Article of the Month
December
| Article of the Month December
|
|
 |
End-Time Restoration of the Glory
of the Lord I counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in the fire. Revelation 3:18a This
counsel is given by Jesus
to the Because you say, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and know not that you
are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17 The
word naked tells us that they still were spiritual babies. As newborn babes, desire the sincere
milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. I Peter 2:2 They
did not realize that they should be, but were not covered with the glory. Their emphasis was on the external blessing
and provision of the Lord, rather than upon their being changed within,
so the glory might radiate out through them. This
gold that is to be refined
in fire, is the divine nature
of the Lord Jesus Christ made manifest through the witness of His glory. It is our lives purified - with all the
dross and sediment removed in the refiners fire, so that His life in resurrection
glory might be revealed through our lives. And before the throne there was
a sea of glass like to crystal. Revelation 4:6 As
we both allow and cooperate with this outworking of the refiners fire, we will become so transparent
in His presence, that we will become as being a sea of glass. And I will bring the third part
through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will
try them as gold is tried. Zechariah 13:9a But who may abide the day of His
coming? and who shall stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiners fire, and like fullers soap: And he shall
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons
of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the
Lord an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:2-3 Another purpose in our being tried in the fire is to prepare us to
be a container of His glory. Out of His mouth went a sharp two
edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shines in His strength. Revelation 1:16b Arise, shine; for your light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness
the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be
seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to
the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3 The glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
This prophecy relates to the end-time, the time in which we presently
live, and is about to be fulfilled.
It will produce the greatest visitation ever, and if rejected,
result in the tribulation judgments of God. Glory is a substance that can be both
seen and felt. It appears
as being a vapor that has color and weight. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory. II Corinthians 4:17 This
manifestation of the glory
of the Lord through us is the result of a proper response to all of the
dealings and struggles of life, along with the chastenings and scourgings
that we experience (our
becoming an overcomer), in order for us to be prepared
for this revelation of the glory of the Lord, when Jesus returns to be
seen through our lives. And be ready against the third
day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the
people upon mount Sinai. Exodus 19:11 And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the
Lord has spoken it. Isaiah 40:5 For the earth shall be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14 Paul
said, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). The goal that Paul is pressing toward is
his placement (level of attainment) in the kingdom. He understood that he had to be made ready for this. I follow after, if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12b Let us be glad and rejoice, and
give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7 Jesus
ascended in glory, and He is increasingly releasing and imparting His
glory, especially in these last days. But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:18 But
we all, with open face ... are
changed into the same image from glory to glory. This open face is the result of the veil having
been rent when Jesus died on the cross, so we can again enter into the
manifest presence of the Lord. The
reason why we behold as in a glass
the glory of the Lord is that this glass acts as a shield which allows us
to experience as much glory as we can handle. As our capacity increases, the level of
glory that we experience will also increase. The
glory of the Lord appears as being a vapor having a golden hue, or color. Many years ago, during a visitation of
the Lord, suddenly, I was standing within a column of visible glory. The intensity of this glory increased
until I could stand no more, then it lifted. As a result, my life was drastically changed,
and I became increasingly aware of the realms of the Spirit, and that
there was much more available than I had presently experienced. The
Apostle Paul was on his way to persecute the Church when the Lord suddenly
appeared in such glory that he fell from his horse and was blinded. The manifestation of glory was so great,
that he had to be prayed for to restore his sight. Much of what Paul said of his pressing toward the mark was that he
never forgot the manifestation of glory that he experienced, and he contended
to again experience this level of glory. One
of the many facets of the
glory of the Lord is that it has an effect which is like our looking into
a mirror. When the glory appears, we see the reflection
of ourselves as we presently are, in contrast to the image of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We see how
far we are from what we should be.
We need to experience the glory, not because we have prayed enough
or that we have done all the right things, but rather, so we can truly
repent. There
is an example of this effect
of the manifest glory, and the repentance that resulted, in Isaiah, chapter
six. In the year that King Uzziah died,
(when
I came to the end of my dependence on the earthly) I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne,
high and lifted up, and His train (His glory) filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1 Those
of royalty wear robes that trail behind them. The Lords robe, the train of His garment,
fills the temple. We are
the temple, so this tells us that He is much closer to us than we realize. Heaven in not a distance, rather, it is
a dimension into which we can enter. Above it stood the seraphims;
each one had six wings. Isaiah 6:2a These
six wings are three sets
of wings, which reveal an overcoming life.
With two, they cover their face, as Jesus is the head. With two, they cover their feet, as we are to walk in submission
to His will. Now, we are
ready to fly in a cooperative
relationship with our Lord. These
seraphim are the overcomers
in Revelation 3:20 who are with the Lord in His throne - To him that overcomes will I grant to sit
with Me in My throne. And one cried to another, and said,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the whole
earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door, moved at the voice
of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Isaiah 6:3-4 These
posts of the door that moved,
is the barrier (closed
door) between the earthly and the heavenly.
As worship flowed up to the Lord, these posts (hinges
on the door)
moved, and the house was filled with smoke - the glory of the Lord. In the functioning of the heavenly, and
in the reflection of glory, Isaiah saw how short he was of the relationship
with the Lord that was available to him, and he said: Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen
the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 6:5 True
repentance will result in deliverance and change. An angel came with a coal of fire, and all that was unlike
the Lord was purged, and his life purified. Our becoming as Gold tried in the fire comes through
repentance in the presence of the glory of the Lord. Ezekiels vision reveals the functioning
of the glory in the last days. And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind
came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and
a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of
amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living
creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man
... their wings were joined one to another;
they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. Ezekiel 1:4-5, 9 This
is a picture of the functioning of the corporate Body of Christ in the
end-time. Now as I beheld the living creatures,
behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with its four
faces. Ezekiel 1:15 The
wheel can be said to be our
lives fully submitted to
the Lord, and moving in harmony
with Jesus, as being a wheel within
a wheel. The wheel, and the will of God, are interchangeable,
and speaks of the functioning, or moving in the
purposes of God. The appearance of the wheels and
their work was like to the color of a beryl: and they four had one likeness:
and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle
of a wheel. Ezekiel 1:16 We
are living during the time in which the Lord is preparing a people for
His end-time purposes. This
is the wheel within the wheel - my life merged
into His life in order to become the expression of His life, which will
greatly affect all mankind, and the nations.
There are forerunners whom the Lord is preparing, who will greatly
affect the world systems of our day. The
greatest visitation this world has ever seen is about to begin. There is a two-fold purpose - the out-calling
of a people into an end-time cooperative relationship with the Lord, and
the judgments on the nations, which will begin through the functioning
of this wheel within the wheel. This
glory is a moving glory. Not
only are we cleansed and purified in glory, (Isaiah 6:5), but we are being changed from glory to glory (II Corinthians 3:18). This is the wheel within the wheel that
will lead to the establishing of the government of God in the earth to
bring into being the Millennial Kingdom of God. |
Website
Created by:
