Posted: 06/11/2008 at 2:29pm | IP Logged

At the Threshold of Glory

Francis Frangipane

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 true 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" (Isaiah 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 Your power" (Psalm 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, Your youth are to You as the dew" (Psalm 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, Zechariah, 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" (Exodus 24:10). Of their encounter with the Almighty, we read, "and they saw God, and they ate and drank" (Exodus 24:11).

Think of it: "They saw 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" (Exodus 24:16).

Yet, that unveiling of glory did not stop at Sinai. The entire Hebrew nation followed a cloud of glory by day and was 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 (see Matthew 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 Thessalonians 1:10)?

Indeed, Jesus has not only given us His name and His words (see John 17:6, 14), He has also granted us to partake of His radiant splendor! The very glory that was manifest in the Old Testament, He now has deposited in the spirits of those washed and made pure in His Blood. He said, "The glory which You have 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. In truth, at the end of the age, both realms will be manifested in fullness on earth.

Francis Frangipane
Ministries of Francis Frangipane
Email: francis1@frangipane.org