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End-Time
Restoration
of the Glory of the Lord
Wade
E Taylor
I
counsel you to buy of Me gold tried in
the fire. Revelation 3:18a
This
counsel
is given by Jesus to the Laodicean Church, who said that they were rich
and increased in goods.
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 (comments
added)
Those
of royalty wear robes that trail behind them. The Lord's 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.
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