The fact is that, between these two comings there is a third... The first two comings are obvious, but this one is not. For in the first coming the Lord was seen on earth and went about as a man—he himself testified that they saw him and hated him. In the latter coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God and they will look upon him whom they pierced. But the intermediate coming is hidden; he is seen within themselves only by those chosen and it leads to the saving of their souls.

In the first he appeared in flesh and weakness, in this intermediate coming in spirit and in truth, and at the last he will come in glory and majesty. In the first Christ was redemption; in the last he will appear as our life; in this one he is our rest and consolation. Adv 5.1

It is clear that each one of you here has knowledge of him. If anyone says “I know him not”, he is a liar like the seculars. For if you have no knowledge of him, who is it that has led you to this place?  How is it that you have arrived here? How else could you have been persuaded to renounce of your own free will the affection of your friends, the pleasures of the body and the vanities of the world? How else could you have been led to cast all your thoughts on the Lord and to make over to him all your concerns since, as your own conscience testifies, you merited 'nothing good but only punishment?

I repeat; who could have persuaded you of this unless you knew that the Lord is good to all who hope in him, to the heart which seeks him, unless you had recognised for yourself that the Lord is gentle and kind and full of mercy and faithfulness? How else could you have known these things unless. the Lord has come not only to you but into you? Adv 3.3-4.

I admit in all foolishness that the Word has visited me many times. When he enters I do not usually advert to his coming. I sense that he is present and I remember that he had been absent. Sometimes I have been able to anticipate his entry, but I have never been able directly to experience either his arrival or his departure.

I confess that I am ignorant of where he comes from when he enters my soul, and where he goes to when he departs. I do not know the manner of his entry, nor how he leaves. This is in accordance with the text of Scripture, "Nobody knows where he comes from or where he goes to". This should occasion no surprise since he is the one of whom it is said, "Your footprints shall not be known". SC 74:5

[The Word] does not come in through the eyes, for he has no colour; nor through the ears, since he makes no sound. It is not through the nose that he comes: he does not mingle with the air, but with the mind; to the atmosphere he gives being not odour. Nor does he gain entry through the mouth, being neither food nor drink. He cannot be experienced by touch since he is impalpable.

I ascended to what was highest in me and, behold, the Word loomed loftier. Earnestly I explored the depths of my being and he was found to be even more profound. If I looked outside, I saw [the Word] beyond myself. If I gazed within, he was even more inward. It was then that I realised the truth of what I had read: In him we live and move and have our being". Happy are they in whom dwells the One by whom they live. Happy are they who live for him and are moved by him! SC 74:5

It is only by the movement of my heart, as I have already said, that I perceive his presence. It is by the expulsion of my vices and the suppression of carnal desires that I recognise the power of his might... It is by some slight improvement in my behaviour that I experience his gentle goodness. It is from the reformation and renewal of the spirit of my mind that I perceive his beauty and attractiveness. SC 74:6

When the Word departs, it is as though you were to remove the fire from beneath a boiling pot. Immediately the water becomes lifeless and

lukewarm and begins to cool. SC 74:7