The church today is composed of all those who have been called out — from religion, from the world, from our private life — to hear His speaking, to dwell with Him, to build His church. And yet even within our midst, we face opposition. Among us, we are not exempt from this generation of shallowness, grogginess, sickness, and rebellion. Can we still hear Him? Enjoy His presence? Are we where He can do His building work? Or will He continue searching for those truly ready — vigilant, awake, and submissive — to satisfy Him? We may have found ourselves called out of the world by God, but are we yet at the place where God is?
In Exodus, Moses was called up the mountain to meet with God. We know that God’s intention was to reveal the blueprints of the tabernacle, His dwelling place. But when Moses did not immediately return from the top of the mountain, the children of Israel fell into idolatry, forming for themselves a golden calf. Before Moses could even bring God’s desire down the mountain, the people lost their purpose — they became fleshly, rebellious, shallow, and idolatrous. How could God dwell among such a people? How could He find home with such a “stiff-necked people”? He couldn’t — He refused to go up in their midst (Exo. 33:3).
But some still sought Him. Some still sought His presence, vigilantly, wherever He would meet with them. After severely dealing with the people, Moses left the multitudes and set up his tent outside the camp. There, “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his companion,” and “everyone who sought Jehovah also went out to the tent of meeting” (33:11, 7). Today, amidst the multitudes, are we those who can boldly declare that we are for Jehovah (32:26)? Do we have the courage to go outside of the camp to seek Him? Can we even be considered His companion, someone to whom He can speak His heart? All along, He has desired to meet with us, to build a dwelling place for He and man to live as one. But He cannot meet with us in our rebellion, nor can He find home in religion. Are we shallow and sleepy, so easy to turn to idolatry? Are we stuck in the camp, pursuing the outward forms of our faith and yet wholly without the presence of God Himself?
Saints, the church is truly for the called-out ones — those who not only leave the world behind, but also desperately pursue the Lord’s presence. Our Lord is not a religion or a creed. He is not a distant God managing His affairs from afar. He is looking for His home and His rest in His people. And He is ready to meet those who will desperately seek where He is and desire to hear Him. The Lord needs such ones who have seen through the emptiness of religion and vanity of idolatry, who are seeking His Person in everything they do. Not many will take this path, and many reject it. But there must be some on the earth today who are in mourning for the condition of God’s people, who are vigilant to sense and seek His presence, who want to hear His voice, who answer His call truly and unreservedly for the building of the church.
Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For we do not have here a remaining city, but we seek after the one to come. (Heb. 13:13-14)
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 12/15/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)