If we want to enjoy and participate in the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we must have the Lord’s presence, His smile, even the firsthand presence of the Lord; as we enjoy Christ as our Emmanuel, we will become the consummated Emmanuel, the New Jerusalem, God with us, the city called, Jehovah is there.
Amen, Lord, keep us in Your presence today. We treasure Your presence. We love to be with You. We want not only Your help and Your blessing; we want even more to have Your very presence. We come to You and we open to You. We empty ourselves to be filled with You! Amen, Lord, make us persons after Your heart, those who have Your presence all the time! Amen!
This week we have been enjoying two wonderful names of the Lord Jesus – Jesus as the name given by God, and Emmanuel as the name called by men.
When He was born, Christ was called Jesus; this was the name given by God, and Jesus means, Jehovah our Saviour, or, the salvation of Jehovah.
He came to save us from our sins; even more, He came as the great I am to be everything we need.
On the positive side, Christ came and became everything to us – our life, our light, our bread, our food, our drink, our peace, our way, and everything we need. On the negative side, He saves us from anything that is negative.
We only need to call on the name of the Lord; the name of Jesus is above every name!
In the name of Jesus we believe, we are baptised into, we are saved, we are healed, we are washed and sanctified and justified, we call upon, and we breathe in, for when we call on His name we receive the Spirit. Hallelujah!
We today call on the name of the Lord so that we may be saved, rescued from distress and trouble, participate in the Lord’s lovingkindness and mercy, partake of the Lord’s salvation, receive the Spirit, drink the spiritual water and eat the spiritual food, enjoy the riches of the Lord, and stir ourselves up.
The name of Jesus is for us to pray in, for us to be gathered into, for us to cast out demons, for us to speak boldly in, and for us to proclaim.
We have little power, but we don’t deny His name but rather, call on His name! When we call on the name of Jesus, we get Emmanuel, God with us. Emmanuel is our Saviour, our Redeemer, our life-giver, and the all-inclusive, indwelling Spirit.
Today Emmanuel is with us practically as the Spirit of reality, the presence of God in our spirit. We have His presence with us all the time, and we want to be in His presence.
Enjoy the All-inclusive Christ by the Presence of the Lord: God’s Presence is everything to us, for we Treasure His Smile and Firsthand Presence
If we believers in Christ want to enter, possess, and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land, we must do so by the presence of the Lord.
The Lord promised Moses that His presence would go with him, and He would give him rest (Exo. 33:14).
God’s presence is His way, the very map that shows us as His people the way that we should take.
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us; this doesn’t just mean that the Lord is with us all the time, but that we need to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ by the presence of the Lord.
We need to have His firsthand presence, even His moment-by-moment presence today.
In order for us to fully gain and possess Christ as the all-inclusive land for God’s building, we must hold on to the principle that God’s presence is the criterion for every matter (Matt. 1:23; 2 Tim. 4:22; Gal. 6:18; Psa. 27:4, 8; 51:11).
We may rejoice and agree with the fact that Jesus is Emmanuel, and we may really be encouraged that God is with us; however, do we have the Lord’s presence with us right now?
Regardless of what we do, we must pay attention not just to having God’s blessing or His help but even more, to having God’s presence.
If we have God’s presence, we have everything, but if we lose God’s presence, we lose everything.
The only way we can enjoy Christ as the all-inclusive One, the reality of the good land, is by being in His presence.
It is one thing for the Lord to be with us, and it is something else for His presence to be with us. Many times the Lord will go with us, for He is within us, but His presence is not with us.
Many times the Lord may even help us and give us things, and He may even bless us, but He is not happy with us.
We may receive His help and some amount of blessing, but we lose His presence. He may bring us to our destination and bless us, but throughout the trip, we may not sense His presence. Oh Lord Jesus!
We all can testify that so many times the Lord has helped us; we wanted to do something, we needed something, we thought we really needed one thing, and we prayed, so He gave us the help we needed.
We may have even desired a particular person as our spouse, and the Lord granted us our wish. But His presence was not with us. Oh Lord!
Because He is in us, He is with us wherever we are; however, His smile, His presence, may not be with us.
It is like the example of a group of brothers who travelled together on a train, but because one of them had a problem with the others, he was travelling in a different carriage than them.
They were all on the same train, going to the same destination, but he didn’t have their presence and they didn’t have his.
The Lord may be with us, but His presence may not be with us. Sometimes He may help us, and He may even bless what we are doing, but His presence is not with us. Oh Lord Jesus!
Sometimes we may convince ourselves that we have the Lord’s presence, for He truly helped us and what we are doing seems to be under His blessing; however, we do not have His smile. Oh Lord Jesus!
We need to pray that the Lord would enlighten us concerning this matter so that we may be governed not by the Lord’s blessing or by His help but by His presence, His smile.
His help is not the governing factor. Even in the Lord’s work, the governing factor is not the Lord’s help or His blessing; it is His presence.
It is good to stop before the Lord, be silent before Him, and enquire of Him, Lord, do I have Your smile? Do I have Your presence? Do I live in Your person, in the index of Your eyes?
Paul forgave a particular brother in the index of the Lord’s eyes, even in the Lord’s very person (2 Cor. 2:10).
When we look at someone’s face, their eyes, we see whether they are happy with us or not. The presence of the Lord, the smile of the Lord, should be the governing principle of our life.
May we learn to be kept, ruled, governed, and guided not merely by the Lord’s blessing or His help but by the direct, firsthand presence of the Lord (Psa. 27:8; 80:3, 7, 17-19).
We need to pray much about this before the Lord. We need to be before Him and ask Him to keep us in His presence.
We need to ask Him to cause His face to shine on us so that we may be saved.
When we see His face, we are saved; the illumination of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ saves us and infuses God into us.
In the Old Testament we see Joseph who, as a representative of the reigning aspect of a mature life, enjoyed the presence of the Lord, and with it the Lord’s authority, prosperity, and blessing (Gen. 39:2-5, 21; Acts 7:9).
He was in terrible situations, but he was guided by the Lord’s presence, and he had the Lord’s smile.
Similarly, Moses was a person very near to God’s heart and according to God’s heart; hence, he had God’s presence to a full extent (Exo. 33:11).
The apostle Paul was one who lived and acted in the presence of Christ according to the index of His whole person expressed in His eyes (2 Cor. 2:10).
What we need is not just different ways to overcome, be victorious, be holy, and be spiritual; none of these ways work – only the Lord’s presence works.
His being with us is everything to us. It is good to be before the Lord regarding this matter, for we are full of strength and power for us to possess the all-inclusive Christ as the good land when we enjoy the Lord’s firsthand presence! Amen!
Lord Jesus, we love You and we love Your presence. We treasure Your presence. Oh Lord, we treasure Your presence above everything. What we want is not merely Your blessing and Your help; we want to be guided by Your very presence! Your smile is the governing principle for our Christian life. May we be kept, ruled, governed, and guided by the direct, firsthand presence of the Lord in our daily living. Amen, Lord, may Your presence go with us. May Your presence give us rest. May Your presence be our way, the map showing us what way we should take. Oh Lord, we want to fully gain and possess the all-inclusive Christ for God’s building, so we take Your presence as the criterion for every matter! We want to pay attention to whether or not we have Your presence. Amen, Lord, if we have Your presence, we have everything, but if we don’t have Your presence, we lose everything! Keep us in Your presence today. May Your presence lead us and guide us. Keep us in the index of Your eyes today!
The New Testament is an Emmanuel, and we’re Part of the Great Emmanuel Consummating in the New Jerusalem!
Thank the Lord for unveiling us to see that Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us.
The entire New Testament is an Emmanuel, and we are now a part of the Great Emmanuel that will consummate in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Matt. 1:23; 1 Cor. 6:17; Acts 9:4; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Rev. 21:3, 22; Ezek. 48:35). Wow!
The New Testament begins with a God-man, Jesus Christ, who is “God with us,” and ends with a great God-man, the New Jerusalem, which is “Jehovah is There.”
The entire New Testament is an Emmanuel, and we as believers in Christ not only have Christ as our Emmanuel, but we become part of the great Emmanuel, the corporate “God with us” wherever we are! Amen!
The New Testament begins with the fact that God is with us – Emmanuel, the name given to Jesus by men.
Then we see that we believers in Christ, through faith in Christ, are being joined to the Lord as one spirit; now we are one spirit with the Lord.
Wherever we are, He is, and where He is, that’s where we are.
As we are guided, governed, and directed by the direct, firsthand presence of God, we are part of the Emmanuel of today, God with us today.
We are one with Christ; we are part of the corporate Christ, Christ and the Body of Christ; the church is the house of God, the church of the living God. Now God is manifested in us, the human beings, for we are His corporate expression today.
In Revelation 12:3 we see that, in the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God is with man, and He will tabernacle with them, and they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. Wow!
God is with us, we are His people, he lives in us, He dwells in us, and He tabernacles with us and in us.
We are the tabernacle of God for Him to dwell in us, and He is the temple for us to dwell in. Praise the Lord! And the name of this place is, Jehovah is there (Ezek. 48:35).
Christ is Jesus, Jehovah the Saviour, and Emmanuel – God with us.
He is the Baptiser, the light, the teacher, the healer, the forgiver, the bridegroom, the shepherd, the friend, the wisdom, the rest, and the greater temple.
Christ is the real David, the Lord of the Sabbath, the greater Jonah, the greater Solomon, the Sower, the seed, and the Feeder.
He is the crumbs under the table, the Christ, the Son of the living God, the rock for the church, the Builder of the church, the Founder of the kingdom, the present Moses, the present Elijah, the head of the corner, the Lord, the resurrected One, the One with authority, and the One ever present to His people in resurrection.
He is rich and all-inclusive to us, and He is with us until the consummation of the age. He saves us and is our salvation, and He is Emmanuel, God with us.
When we experience Christ, we are brought into the reality of the kingdom.
As we enjoy and experience Christ as the all-inclusive One, the Great I am who our Emmanuel is, we become one with Him, we become His reproduction, and He is expressed through us.
He and we are one, and He lives in us and is expressed through us. We become part of the great Emmanuel, and when others come among us, they say, God is there!
Amen, God is with us and among us whenever we are in our spirit, remaining in the Lord’s presence and taking care of His direct presence, His firsthand presence with us! Amen!
Lord Jesus, thank You for being God with us. Thank You for being everything that we need in our spirit. We open to You, Lord. We want to enjoy You. We want to remain in Your presence. Oh Lord, we are one spirit with You today! Amen, Lord, live in us and be expressed through us today. Make us part of the great Emmanuel, God with us, Your presence among men today! Build us up together, dear Lord, and gain in us what You are after. Save us from anything negative and bring us into the full enjoyment of all that You are as our Emmanuel! May we be ruled and governed by the firsthand presence of the Lord in our daily living. Oh Lord, make us the same as You are, the great Emmanuel, Christ and His Body, for others to see that God is with us and among us! May we be those who express You and bring Your presence to others. May Your presence be among us and may we bring others into Your presence in our daily living and in the church meetings! Hallelujah, we are becoming a great Emmanuel, Jehovah is there!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1961-1962, vol. 4, “The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 11, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The All-inclusive Christ as Revealed in Matthew (2025 Thanksgiving Blending Conference), week 3, Jesus—the King-Savior’s Name Given by God and Emmanuel—the King-Savior’s Name Called by Man – day 6.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Each time when of heavenly blessings I think, / O let my heart long to be raptured to Thee; / My only hope here is Thy coming again, / My only joy there, Lord, Thy presence will be. / Lord, teach me each day in Thy presence to live, / From morning to evening my one world Thou art; / O let not my heart be contented or rest / When loving or seeking what with Thee doth part. (Hymns #389 stanza 4)
– Dear Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, / When Thy presence does depart, / Seems the dawn has lost its traces, / Hidden are my smiling faces; / All I yearn for is Thy coming / And Thy presence’ sweet embrace. / Dear Lord Jesus, precious Jesus, / Can I tell it all to Thee? / Thou my love and satisfaction, / Thou my everlasting portion; / Thou art all that I desire, / Nothing else I would pursue. (Hymns #1158 stanzas 5-6)
– Look! God’s tabernacle now is with the saints; / Emmanuel—God with us, we proclaim. / Everything is done, so let His children come; / Christ and the church—where God and man are one! / Lift up your heads, ye cities of the earth; / Open your gates, and let the King come in. / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! / Shout to His praise—He’s coming in to reign! (Hymns #1222 stanza 4)
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