There are many benefits from spending time in the Lord’s presence and beholding His glory. After looking at Moses and what happened to him as God spoke with him and Moses beheld His glory, we turn now to what happens to us in the day of the Spirit when we see the glory of the Lord. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Notice the following points:
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I have written before about Moses, who desired to see God, be with Him on Mount Sinai, hear God speak to “Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” and see His glory (Exodus 33:11). Now I want to consider the effect of that encounter. “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” (Exodus 34:29). Did the people of Israel (the crowd) suddenly have a longing to experience the same thing that Moses did? “Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.” (Exodus 34:30). Is that our reaction when we see others enjoying intimacy with God? In the case of Israel, Moses had to put a veil over his face in order to accommodate the distance and fear that lay on the hearts of the people. How do you react? Paul is very direct in his assessment of the glory that Moses saw and why the people reacted as they did. The glory that Moses saw came with a ministry of death because it was tied to keeping the law. In the next breath, Paul draws a contract with the ministry of the Spirit which brings “even more glory. For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:8-9). As if to make the point abundantly clear, Paul continues; “For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory” (3:11). My dear reader, “Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). God wants us to draw near and behold His glory in the person of His Son. In coming to Jesus, there is no fear! Log in tomorrow as we look at what this glory does in us as we gaze on Christ. Two days ago we looked at “The Wonder of Wonders” that God by His grace saved us from the guilt and penalty of our sins and made us “saints” and “children of God”. But consider the glory of God that is revealed in creation alone. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), and, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9). This is not all that we should consider about the glory of God. “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord” (Isaiah 66:1–2). He desires a place within His creation where He can dwell that is in perfect harmony with His glory and character. How can this be in a sin cursed world? We who “were dead in the trespasses and sin in which [we] once walked” are “made…alive together with Christ” so that “in Him [we] also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:1, 5, 22). God has done this only with that part of His creation that has the capacity of communion with Him. That is why Paul says twice in chapter one that we “might be to the praise of His glory” (1:12, 14). Let us live for this purpose! It is a marvel to our hearts to watch God working on our behalf in areas of the world where we are burdened to impact the church with God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC). Just today, we heard that the Mandarin translation of GPHC is complete and will now go through the proof reading phase. While the church in China has been growing faster than anywhere in the world, there are still 456 unreached people groups in that land. Our passion for this area of the world is to equip the church through renewal so they will be sent by the Holy Spirit to these frontiers.
At the same time, God has moved in the heart of a dear brother in South America to renew translation of the Spanish manual. WE NEED YOU TO PARTNER WITH US IN PRAYER FOR THESE TWO FRONTIERS. We say with Paul, “I (we) thank my God in all my (our) remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3–5). God is working! Let us partner together with Him! According to secular historians, there are “Seven Wonders of the World”. All of these were built through human ingenuity and effort. Then they added the “New Seven Wonders of the World” which are also human creations. Both groups require God-given intelligence, skill and resources. SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD NEW SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD Great Pyramid of Giza Christ Redeemer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Hanging Gardens of Babylon Great Wall of China: China Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Machu Picchu: Peru Statue of Zeus at Olympia Petra: Jordon Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Pyramid at Chichén Itzá: Yucatan Colossus of Rhodes Roman Colosseum: Rome, Italy Lighthouse of Alexandria Taj Mahal: Agra, India There is one “wonder” in this world that surpasses all of these put together, plus every invention, every medical achievement, and every advancement in electronic capabilities. All of these put together are as nothing compared to the wonder that God planned in past eternity, to redeem sinful man and set him free from guilt and condemnation. There was absolutely no compelling reason in man that gave God cause to extend mercy or to devise a means of salvation. Paul says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4–6). THIS IS THE WONDER OF WONDERS! One of the greatest motivations for missions is what God has done in yourself. If you do not consider your own salvation as a miracle, then you don’t understand the gospel. If you see your sins in the holy light of God’s righteousness, then forgiveness is a grace that surpasses every wonder in this world. Your only response must be worship. It always gives me satisfaction to see a couple walking hand-in-hand. It says something about their relationship, especially if they are having a good conversation and exhibiting interest and joy in each other. Can you imagine walking with God on earth for three hundred (300) years (Genesis 5:22)! What was it that drew Enoch into this close relation? Did Adam pass on the story of God walking in the Garden of Eden looking for Adam? Was there disappointment in Adam’s heart that he missed the choicest moment in human history – time alone with God? Did he tell the following generations not to miss this opportunity? I could easily conjecture answers to these questions, but I want to stimulate your thinking and examination of your own heart. Do you think it is impossible to have a close walk with God? Excuses will not work! Have you known others who had a close walk with God, but have not chosen to have the same for yourself? Think about the life-changing conversations you are missing! With no formal education, no social status, and in a sin cursed environment, Enoch treasured 300 years of walking with God. This brought such delight to God that a man in these conditions would make this his first priority that “God took him” (5:24). He wants to delight in your walk with Him! “We have only the Lord to look to for means, for health, for encouragement – and we need no other. He gives us all and He best knows our needs. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a Savior?” (Hudson Taylor in Early Years; The Growth of a Soul, Howard Taylor, China Inland Mission, 1912, page 503). In realizing how great the task is in getting the gospel to those yet unreached, we must be careful that we are asking the right questions about how this task is to be accomplished. The question is NOT, ‘how are we going to finish the task?’ BUT, ‘how will our eyes be opened to see how great our God is!’ What He has promised, He will fulfill. My burning desire must be to partner with Him in what He is already doing--then I will see the task fulfilled. The Lord has given us years of fruitful work through a dear brother in this country. When we first met, he had already planted churches in the Congo. After going through God’s Plan for His Church training and realizing that one of the missing key ingredients was the Holy Spirit as seen in the Book of Acts, he went back to “replant” these churches on a biblical foundation. Since that time, God has blessed his work, though opposed by others. As the truth of Matthew 24:14 brought conviction to his heart, the Lord pushed him out to evangelize the Pygmies, one of 4 people groups still unreached with the gospel in Zambia. Please pray for God to greatly encourage this brother through the meeting in Nairobi. There is still much work to be done in this, and the surrounding countries. What will God do as these key leaders meet September 19 to 22? “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). God is at work and He wants you and me to partner with Him in what is humanly impossible. It will all be for His everlasting glory! COME, LET US JOIN GOD AT WORK THROUGH HUMBLE, PRAYERFUL OBEDIENCE! URGENT PRAYER NEEDED: As the Lord has led us in bringing together key leaders from six different countries, there seems to be another hurdle we must overcome with Uganda. Please pray that this key leader will come and be open to receiving instruction by the Holy Spirit through God’s Plan for His Church. God is looking for a key leader in this land filled with vision, passion and the missionary Spirit of Jesus. Since 1986, there have been widespread prayer movements with a strong evangelical presence that accounts for 36% of the 40 million people. Why then are there still 5 unreached people groups that need to hear the gospel? Has the habit of prayer descended into a ritual or tradition with little fervency? This question we must ask of ourselves in America. The rate of Christian growth in the USA is about 0.5%. The only real answer is what Jesus gave the churches in Revelation 2 and 3; REPENT! Pray with us that God will move through the meeting in Nairobi to bring about a revival, first in the hearts of those present, and then through them in their churches. |
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