Many developments in the world right now may seem apocalyptic with no hope and glory in it. Many Christians are suffering from fear, pain, economic difficulties, and even death as a result of these shakings in the world, together with the masses. Yet, if the Word of God, the workmanship of Jesus, and the ministry of the Spirit are anything to go by, we have a great hope of glory if we remain faithful through the shakings, and arise out of the ashes of desolation in faith.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11
But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
The church of Jesus Christ looks far from glorious today, especially when it is being shaken like the rest of the world by pests, pestilence, and natural calamities, yet seemingly without the power to do the works that Jesus did, let alone greater works than those He did (like when He commanded the sick to be healed, the storm to be calm, the dead to be raised, and the works of Satan to be shut down), even after prayer and fasting. We talked about Goshen that was distinguished from Egypt, where God protected His people from the plagues, pests, and calamities that came upon Egypt, and where Egyptians literally saw the contrast between light and darkness, mercy and severity; and yet, it is not happening to our churches. So, what have we missed? Where have we built incorrectly? What is God saying in the midst of the fire? What is Jesus doing in the midst of the furnace? Beyond the din of so many voices within the church, what is the Holy Spirit indicating as our required response?
Many churches today – both the corporate body and its individual body-members – have not built themselves up according to the patterns that have been shown to us from His Word, with some having even built themselves on the worldly ideologies of the “golden calf” (Exodus 32). Thus, we do not have the image, hence the power, of the true image of Christ, in the corporate body.
Yet, despite His house not being built according to His blueprints by His people, God is still protective over His building, and He remains faithful to His ongoing workmanship. In fact, as part of His refining and building process, God has allowed the present shakings to shake the church and test its materials, so that whatever that is not built according to specifications will be shaken away, and whatever that remains will be the firm foundation for the next building block on it. Indeed, God will keep shaking with greater intensity until everything of human wisdom, worldly ideologies, and false teachings will be shaken away, leaving only those things that are built on truths of the Spirit and designs of the Kingdom that are unshakeable.
Just as in any construction site, we will not see the glory of the building until all the labourers have completed their ongoing work according to plan, and commissioned the building for a glorious dwelling of heaven. Only then will the world see the glory of the building and the materials used, as well as the glory of the Architect and Builder who dwells in it.
Thus, let us not focus our eyes on the seeming mess of the construction site, on what crumbled from the shakings, or on the virus infecting the workers and locking down the site. Let us focus on the final product and how we should rebuild according to the Master’s intended design as revealed in His Word.
We are not talking about a physical building, are we?
Zechariah 6:12-13,15
“Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’… Those who are far off will come and build the temple of the LORD.” Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And it will take place if you completely obey the LORD your God.”
John 2:19-21
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Matthew 16:18-19
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
For clarity, when we speak of “church” (or “ekklesia” in Greek), we speak of the “called-out ones”, that is, the elect who have been called out from the kingdom of darkness into God’s Kingdom of marvellous light. Thus, the church is a highly distinct entity that is separate from the world. This church is the body of Christ, comprising the Head, who is Christ, and body-members, who are individual believers. Thus, when we speak of the church, we speak of two dimensions: The corporate body-assembly, and its individual body-members. The corporate body is a dynamic company of people divinely appointed and spiritually joined together as diversely gifted body-members, such that each body-member functions interdependently for the missional expressions of the corporately body, whose Head is Christ. Thus, the church is defined by a symbiotically knitted body of people expressing the identity and mission of the body, not just a gathering of people in a building. While both dimensions are mutually dependent, both have unique features, operations, and attainments. For simplicity, when we use the word “church” here, you can apply it in broad stroke to either the corporate body (your local church or churches) or individual believers (yourself).
As we can see from the earlier verses, the church that Jesus is building, by the ministry of the Spirit and the co-labouring of His holy people, will not fail to be of greater glory than the former glory. Here, we are not speaking of a “spiritual” glory that is unseen, but a visible glory that will come upon the church that Jesus is building for a testimony to the whole world. This glory will be as visible as the glory on Moses’ face, to which Apostle Paul was comparing, and the transfigured glory on the incarnate-body of Jesus Christ on earth, to which “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18), until we attain to the standard of the stature which belongs to the fullness of the Christ in us, the hope of glory (Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:27).
Since the ministry of righteousness (being free from wicked ways) will not fail to be of greater glory than the ministry of condemnation (on account of sin), we can build a future church – as individuals and as a corporate body – that will shine brighter than Moses’ face, prevail mightier than the three boys in the furnace, dwell more securely than Goshen, and be more glorious than the glory that came upon Solomon’s Temple in times of deep darkness and great shakings in the world.
Indeed, what had glory has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. So, just as the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel, and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel; the church of Jesus Christ in its surpassing glory will be the administrator and steward of the keys of the unshakeable Kingdom of heaven on earth, and no gates of hell can overpower it.
It is in this abounding glory in and through the church that nations will be saved and delivered, including the nation of Israel who will be provoked to jealousy by the glory that surpasses those experienced by their forefathers, “to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises” (Romans 9:4).
Make no mistake about it, then, that this future glory is precedented and yet unprecedented by the former glory in the present age (or sin age). It has happened before in ancient past, and it will happen again in greater measure in the last days; for the latter glory of the house of God will be greater than the former glory (Haggai 2:9).
This hope of glory is a hope that we have in all circumstances, even through present sufferings; it is an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. (Hebrews 6:19-20)
Let us consider this for a moment. Visualise the glory on Moses’ face upon your face. Visualise Goshen surrounding you wherever you go. Does it liberate you from the self-defeating narrative that says “we are mere sinners who can never be made perfect, or shine forth the glory of God in our flesh”? Do you feel a sense of empowerment in your soul that says “I now know that I can finally attain to the glorious image and stature of Christ by the enablement of the Spirit if I work out my salvation with fear and trembling”? Is freedom from sinning an impossibility if glorification on this side of the grave is a possibility? Can we count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing glory in Christ Jesus? Can we consider the sufferings of this present time as being not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us?
Therefore, if we think right, we will live right.
As we have read earlier in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Ephesians 4:13, our hope of glory can only be realised when we are transformed from glory to glory, until we conform to the image and likeness of the stature and glory of Christ. In other words, if our image carries the image of the world, image of darkness, or image of the golden calf, we will not shine with the glory of Christ.
Today, God is shaking us out of any image that does not conform to His Son; He is shaking us out of our lifestyle that is built on the systems of Babylon; and He is shaking us out of our “buildings” (what we have built with the work of our hands) that are not faithfully founded in His truth; so that we can be transformed from glory to glory, and He can raise up faithful co-labourers who will build the unshakeable church as a testimony of His surpassing glory dwelling and shining forth in their midst. As such, if we are shaken, and things that we have built into our lives and our churches are removed, it means that God has destined something more excellent and more glorious for us if we allow Him to speak and work in us.
So, our shakings and sufferings according to the will of God today are the building blocks of glory tomorrow. This is the unfailing hope and ongoing workmanship of the Father upon His sons.
Therefore, we must continue to ask questions of ourselves in the midst of our crumbling world so that we can gain a heart of wisdom and change the way we build our lives and our churches; for if we think and do the same things over and over again, we will surely be shaken by the shakings of the future, just as we are shaken by the shakings of today.
The book of Judges has shown us that we do not change much after God has delivered us, or after the crisis is over. We will pick up the pieces and return to business as usual, continuing to do what is right in our own sight until the next crisis shakes us.
Yet, today, God has a glorious future for us, according to His perfect workmanship, if we are willing to consider where we have fallen short of His glory, repent, turn from our ungodly ways, and henceforth build our lives and churches right in His sight. It is in the crucible of a shaken environment that we can understand the will of the Lord, and learn how to build a more accurate, unshakeable, and glorious one.
Ephesians 5:13-17
But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
So, let the light of the future glory expose the darkness in the belly of Sheol, for this light is the light of the coming reformation of the church. This light is the Spirit of the Lord; it is the Spirit of reformation whenever there is a day called “today”; it is the Spirit of redemption and healing from our past; it is the Spirit of the increase of the government of Christ and of peace without bounds; it is the Spirit of truth, righteousness, justice, and lovingkindness that proceeds from the throne of God; it is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord that will come upon us to lead and guide us unto glory; it is the Spirit of the zeal of the Lord of hosts who will accomplish this glory.
Church, now is our time to shake off “every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Now is our time to rise to the next level of glory, for the cloud of witnesses who had witnessed and testified of the former glory are cheering us on to the next level of greater glory, “because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:40). Amen.
Therefore, come from afar, you pruned branches of the Branch; you living stones of the Rock; and you who arise out of the dust of the shakings; and build the church that Jesus Christ is building, so that the church will have the holy stature, priestly authority, princely power, and surpassing glory to unlock heaven’s resources, and exercise Kingdom dominion over all the powers of the gates of hell and the enemies of Christ on earth; for it is in the glory of the church that “the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)
This glory will surely take place if we completely obey the LORD our God. Yes, completely.
Do you believe it? Will you trust God at His Word?
You may wish to read my previous post, Our Response in Times of Shaking, for a more complete context and response.
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