At The Threshold Of Glory
Before Jesus comes to be glorified in the earth, He is coming to be
glorified in the church.
Our
salvation grants us more than just church membership and a
conservative perspective. We have, in truth, become one with
Christ. The
Lord Jesus is our head, we are His body; He is our husband, we are His
bride; He is the vine from which
we, His branches, draw our life and
virtue. These images, and many more, speak openly and passionately of our
eternal
union with the Son of God.
Yet on a personal scale, only in the briefest of flashes have we glimpsed
His mighty power working with
us. We pray, we ask, we travail; but we give
birth, as it were, only "to wind" (Isa. 26:18). Most of our sick receive
just enough grace to endure suffering; they are not healed. On a national
scale, only during the heights of revivals
and spiritual awakenings has
the church truly seen the arm of the Lord revealed and society
significantly transformed.
However, as the day of Christ's return draws near, this seeming absence of
power is in the process of
dramatic change. Indeed, the promise of the
Father to the Son, which shall be fulfilled on the highest level prior to
the Lord's return, is that God's people "will volunteer freely in the day
of Thy power" (Ps. 110:3a).
There is a "day of . . . power" at hand. Yet, not only this, but
accompanying this time of power will
be a glorious holiness, a radiance
that will also appear upon God's people: "In holy array, from the womb of
the dawn,
Thy youth are to Thee as the dew" (Ps. 110:3b). As the day of
the Lord draws near, we shall shine like the dew lit by
the first rays of
the millennial morning.
At the end of the age, the world will see the Lord Jesus Christ leading
His church in ever-increasing
displays of glory. Great power from God
shall rest upon those who are choosing now to humble themselves before
Him.
Without hype or self-promotion, the Presence of God shall again be
revealed among His people.
The God of Glory
Nearly every Christian I know believes we are in the closing hours of this
age. How close to the end,
no one knows; and when Jesus will return, none
presume a guess. If our hope has truly come from heaven, then the praying,
hungering church of Jesus Christ is about to enter a season of
extraordinary manifestations of God's glory. We are
about to engage in
what Bible scholars call a "dispensational" moving of God's Spirit. During
such times, the Lord
has always manifested Himself in glory.
It is true that no one has seen the Father's glory, but God the Son has
manifested Himself in glory
numerous times in the past. Abraham saw
Christ's glory while he was in Mesopotamia. Isaiah beheld Him in the year
King
Uzziah died. Ezekiel fell before the Living One by the river Chebar.
Daniel, David, Habakkuk, Solomon, Zachariah, and
Haggai all saw the glory
of the Lord. In truth, the Bible was written by people who had seen God's
glory!
Moses beheld Him, then Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy Hebrew elders
as well. Exodus tells us these
men "saw the God of Israel; and under His
feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky
itself"
(Ex. 24:10). Of their encounter with the Almighty, we read: "and
they beheld God, and they ate and drank" (Ex. 24:11).
Think of it: "They beheld God!" Could anything be more wonderful? Is there
not a jealousy within you
for that experience--to actually gaze upon God?
To behold the Lord's glory is not only scriptural, but typical during
dispensational moves of God. The fact is, over three million Israelites
saw God's glory on Mount Sinai. Young men,
old women, and little
children--people of every age and physical condition--all saw "the glory
of the Lord [as it]
rested on Mount Sinai" (Ex. 24:16)!
Yet, that unveiling of glory did not stop at Sinai. The entire Hebrew
nation followed a cloud of glory
by day and were illuminated by a blazing
pillar of fire-like glory at night. This happened not just once or twice
but
every day for forty years! How much more shall the Lord of glory
manifest Himself to us at the end of the age?
Jesus said that he who is least in His kingdom is greater than those under
the old covenant (Matt. 11:11).
In what ways are Christ's followers
"greater"? Those in the Old Testament saw His glory from a distance, but
He has
chosen to reveal His glory in and through the church! Is it not
written, He is coming to be "glorified in His saints on
that day, and to
be marveled at among all who have believed" (2 Thess. 1:10)?
Indeed, Jesus has not only given us His name and His words (John 17:6,14),
He has also granted us to
partake of His radiant splendor! The very glory
which was manifest in the Old Testament, He now has deposited in the
spirits
of those washed and made pure in His blood. He said, "And the
glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them" (John
17:22).
Yes, God will again reveal His glory at the end of the age. His divine
integrity requires it be so.
The unsaved world will receive from God one
last, legitimate opportunity to choose, not merely between the church and
the sin, but between the radiance of heaven and the horrors of hell. For
among those living at the end of the age,
both will be manifested in
fulness.
This message is adapted from "The Days of His Presence".
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