September 30, 2020
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
In our previous message we introduced the subject of glory in general and the glory of God specifically. In this message, we want to share with you some more thoughts about the glory of God. Then I want to share with you some of my personal experiences with the glory of God.
We know, from Hebrews 2:10, "God is bringing many sons unto glory."
Moreover the glory of God will be revealed in His sons.
Romans 8:18, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."
Everything that God made was/is good ... good in the sense that all things work together for the good of those who love God ... those who fulfill the purpose for which they were created.
Everything and everyone that God created is surrounded by an "aura" or an emanation which is identical with and corresponds to the nature of the substance from which it comes. Every personality is possessed with an emanation and extension of themselves into their surroundings. It is a radiation which can be sensed when someone walks into a room where we may be seated. Our personality is affected by their personality.
Likewise the glory of God is the radiation of His nature into the universe. God can be everywhere and fill the universe with Himself because of the radiation of His glory into the whole world. Just as our aura is the extension of our nature and personality into our surroundings, so God is able to extend Himself to fill the whole universe.
The sun is about 93 million miles from earth. It radiates light, heat, energy, and life to everything on earth. Without the sun no life can exist on this earth.
God is like a Sun, and what the natural sun is to this earth, God is to the universe. He is the life, the light, the energy that pervades and radiates throughout the universe and supports and sustains the universe and all creation. God radiates Himself into the entire universe to support and uphold everything He has created.
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see:" (1 Timothy 6:16).
In the natural realm there is no such thing as pure, infinite light. The greatest light we can have is still mixed with some measure of darkness ... that is why we have shadows. But in God there is no darkness at all; and no man can approach unto this pure, absolute light that God is.
The glory of God usually manifests itself as light. When Jesus appeared unto Saul on the road to Damascus, He appeared as a light that was greater than the noonday sun. The light was so bright that Saul was blinded for 3 days by the brightness of it. When Jesus was transfigured in the sight of Peter, James, and John on the mountain, the light that radiated from His being made even His clothes look whiter than anything on earth.
In the tabernacle of Moses, the outer court was illuminated by the natural sun and subject to natural weather of all kinds; the Holy Place had a seven-armed lampstand to give light; but the Holy of Holies had no windows and no lamp to give it light ... the glory of God was the light within the Holy of Holies. God, like the sun, is also a consuming fire.
The first picture we get of the world was, "And the earth was without form and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep." Jeremiah 4:23 and 28 says that even the heavens had no light. Then God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." That light was not the sun because the sun was not made until the 4th day. The light was the glory of God. Wherever God is, there is light.
In Revelation 21:23, we read, "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." As it was in the beginning, so shall it be at the end. In the beginning, the glory of God and the Lamb were the light, as they will be in the end.
The next thing God did was to separate the light from the darkness. That was the first day. The second day He separated the waters and made the firmament, which is called heaven. On the third day, God separated the seas from the dry land and brought forth all vegetation. All these things happened before the sun and moon were made. Our solar days did not begin until the sun was made. The sun makes our day and night. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day. The earth was made and was fruitful without the need of the sun or water. Water, in the form of rain, came to earth for the first time in the days of Noah. The glory of God gave life to all the vegetation and caused everything to grow and be fruitful; and they had no need of the sun or water ... the glory of God and the Lamb were the light and the life thereof, as they will be in the end.
Time did not begin until the sun and the moon were made. What happened before that belonged to the realm of eternity. Day and night, seasons, days and years began with the creation of the sun and moon. Before this, time did not exist and everything depended upon God for its existence.
This realm we call time will come to an end in the not too distant future. Then the universe will have no more need of the sun and moon, and the glory of God and the Lamb will be the light and life of all creation, just as they were in the beginning. The end of time and the beginning of eternity can be ours now, when we come into the relationship with God where He is our light and our life, and we are completely joined to Him and completely dependent upon Him for our all.
The natural life depends upon the sun and the rain for its existence. When the Lord has become our light and our life and glory, then we will have entered into a realm of freedom and liberty from the bondage and limitations of the natural realm, and entered into a realm of the Spirit that belongs to the eternal. Paul talks about that in Romans 8:21, "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Deliverance, safety and life are to be found only in God. He is the dwelling place where we have absolute security and safety from all the destructive forces that are coming on the earth. This is a secret place, known only to those whom God is pleased to reveal it, and they are the ones who are seeking God with all of their heart. God has no shadow. James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." "In Him we live and move and have our being."
As we become partakers of the divine nature, we will also radiate the glory of His nature. This is the real purpose of our calling. There is no other way in which we can enter into the glory of the Lord.
Habakkuk 2:14, "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world." We are to become that same light that will shine into the darkest parts of the universe. But this can only be fulfilled as we are filled with His fullness.
Isaiah 60:1-3, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."
This will happen when the world is in darkness. "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." Who can doubt that the past few years has witnessed a huge increase in darkness in the world? The light of the glory will attract people: "The Gentiles shall come to thy light ..."
No more will we have to go out and try to persuade men to come to Jesus. They will come, attracted by the light of the glory that will be seen upon us. That is what happened for a short period of time on and after the Day of Pentecost. But Christ in you, the hope of glory, will be the One who is seen, not man. When He is lifted up and is manifested in the glory that will be seen in us, then will all men be drawn unto Him.
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43).
Experiencing the Glory of God
Many years ago I drove to a gathering of believers one Sunday morning, about one hour and 30 minutes from where we live. I knew they had a guest speaker so I knew that I would not be sharing the word of God. I also knew personally the man who was to be the guest speaker. My purpose in driving that far was simply to greet the speaker and support him. He spoke about the glory of God. All he did was to read about 20 different scriptures pertaining to the glory of God. Now anyone can use a concordance and look up many good verses about the glory of God and read them to the believers at any gathering. We should never limit the moving or power of God, but I must have doubts as to how anyone was actually challenged or changed by the man's presentation. We must minister out of our experience that which the Lord has made real in our heart. Therefore we want to emphasize the need for the reality of experiencing the glory of God.
I am sure that all of us have experienced the glory of God to some extent. Just think about the intricacies of the human body. I heartily recommend that you read a book by Brand and Yancey, titled, "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made." A few descriptive words from the book are "mysterious, intricate, pulsing with energy ... the human body is an endlessly fascinating repository of secrets. The miracle of the skin, the strength and structure of the bones, the dynamic balance of the muscles ... our physical being is knit according to a pattern of incredible purpose." The authors compare the cells in our natural bodies with ministries in the body of Christ. Our present human bodies are certainly wonderfully made. Did you know that our body has 50 billion active white blood cells with a backup force one hundred times as large in our bone marrow? We humans are not an accident; neither is the Church in which the Spirit of Christ dwells.
Then consider the beauty of nature ... sunsets, sunrises, rainbows, trees that always point upward to their Maker, waterfalls, vivid colors of animals, birds, fish, and flowers, the moon and the stars. Who hasn't experienced 'goose bumps' upon hearing majestic music that glorifies the Lord? And who has never experienced the saving grace of God? We have very much to be thankful for!
As a little background, I am not the type of person who is naturally oriented toward a great display of emotion. I remember, as a little child, when I still believed in Santa Claus, getting up on Christmas morning, going down the stairs to see what Santa had left, but never shouting with glee, even though I was showered with many Christmas presents. But many years ago, for one of the few times in my life as a believer, I thought that I might be translated. I was listening to two songs on a cassette tape over and over again for a period of about one hour. There was no other person in our house. There were times when I sang the words myself (the tape was an instrumental) and other times I just listened to the music. I found myself weeping deeply. I believe it was because I was so caught up with the goodness of God in my life and the glory of God. I had no thought of anything for myself, my family, or other believers. I was just overcome with the Person of the Lord Himself. Somewhere during that time period I heard a word from the Lord.
The essence of the word that I heard was that if there were an assembly of saints in any geographical area, and if the hearts of the believers who assembled were all in one accord to minister to the Lord and only to the Lord, then the result of 2 Chronicles 5:14 would be repeated; i.e., the glory of God would fill the house such that the priests could not stand to minister. Two major conditions to that word must be emphasized:
(1) the hearts of the believers assembled must be in one accord to minister to the Lord; and
(2) ministry would be only to the Lord Himself; i.e., no ministry to other believers.
The second condition rules out much of the activity in church gatherings at all levels today; i.e., no teaching and no preaching. Of course there is a time and place for ministry on a horizontal level, but that would not be the purpose of the gathering that I heard about.
When I heard that word, I did nothing for a short season, partly because I had been in such a high spiritual state at that time. About two weeks later, I heard the same word. But that time there was no music involved and no possibility of an emotional high.
A few years later when I was in another state for a weekend of meetings, after the Friday night meeting, I arose early the next morning, went into the meeting room in our host's home, closed the door, and listened to some songs on a CD. I began to worship the Lord all by myself and soon found myself weeping, again because of the goodness of the Lord in my life. Very soon, it was like a cloud of glory filled that room, such as I had never experienced before. It lasted for at least 30 minutes or more. Later, when my host got up and another good brother was present, I went into the kitchen and said, I know that Jesus said that "where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). Then I asked, "Does that not count if there is only one person?" I do not recall that anyone answered.
The meeting of a gathering of believers that Saturday night was all glorious. It was well after midnight before I got to bed, on a pull-out sofa in the living room of the host. Very early the next morning, the Lord woke me up and what I had experienced the previous morning was like nothing compared to that Sunday morning. It was like a cloud of glory in the form of smoke had filled the room. The presence of the Lord was so powerful, all I could do was to lie there and weep. It seemed, as before, to last at least thirty minutes. Then the Lord gave me a word for our host and gave me a word for the saints who were to gather that morning. The word, which I had never heard before was, "The Master Key." I have never experienced the glory of God before or since like I did early that Sunday morning in the living room of our host. Again, I was all by myself, except for the presence of the Lord.
That was the fourth time that I experienced the overwhelming presence of the Lord. Furthermore, I had no thought or hint of motivation to get something for myself, not even things that are ordained by God for His saints. It is one thing to experience the glory of God. It is yet another thing to glorify God with no thought for myself.
Therefore I decided to relate this word to you for your consideration and possible action. I have had some major thoughts concerning the essence of this word. First of all, a repeat of the effects of 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 could occur in any geographical location, provided the pre-conditions are met. But this is a very difficult word to communicate and an even more difficult word to implement or walk in. Is there any genuine believer who would not want to see the glory of God manifested? I think not. But therein lays the difficulty. Our major purpose should not be to see the glory of the Lord. Rather, our purpose should always be to glorify the Lord through all that we say, do, and become.
The Holy Ghost quickened to me the significance of the fact that in all four of the above occurrences when I experienced the glory of the Lord, I was alone. In other words, I was one with myself and with the Lord. Just think of the magnitude of the presence of the glory of the Lord if there were twenty-five believers who were all in one accord, as on the day of Pentecost and on the day of the dedication of Solomon's temple in 2 Chronicles 5!
In 2 Chronicles 1:10, Solomon said that he wanted wisdom and knowledge in order to judge God's people. That attitude was very favorably received by God, culminating in 2 Chronicles 5:14. Now compare, please, Solomon's attitude and the motivation that I am trying to express. Which of the two do you believe would be more acceptable?
A good verse to summarize what our motivation should be is found in Colossians 3:2, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
Lord, help us to get our priorities straight. Lord, help us to identify with You in all things. Lord, help us to see things as You see them. Lord, help us to purify our hearts, that we may stand before You to minister to You, with no thought for ourselves.
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