Manifest His Glory by His Spirit in You*

     "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain." Psalm 104:1-2

      Last week we talked about having a Spirit life in these last days. This week we will continue to learn more about this. In art, saints were depicted as having halos. This had to do with a supernatural light that is connected with believers in Christ. As the prophet Daniel wrote the Word of the LORD pertaining to "the time of the end", He said: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." (Dan. 12:1-3). This speaks of the Lamb's Book of Life, and the resurrection of the dead at the coming of the LORD.  The wise will shine with a light like the stars. Jesus spoke of these wise ones who shine, as we will see below. Daniel also mentioned a man clothed in linen who appeared to him and revealed to Daniel that these things were for the time of the end, and that Daniel was to seal his book until that time (v. 4, 8-9). Linen is associated with the pure white garments (of the saints) signifying light and righteousness. We know that we are in these times of the end spoken of here, because Daniel's book is no longer sealed to our understanding.

     Jesus spent some of His last hours praying to His Father for those who were His disciples, and for those who would come to believe in Him from the words of His disciples, which would include us (Jn. 17:20). He spoke of their and our purpose: "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them (who are sanctified by God's Word, which is truth)." (Jn. 17:17-18). Jesus also prayed for our oneness in Him, joined with the oneness that He had with His Father (v. 21). Christian Nationalists falsely claim that they will bring the whole world into that oneness, even though the world shows that it rejects the Gospel of Christ. However, the oneness with the Father and the Son doesn't come from either forcefully, nor politically imposing our faith on unbelievers, but it comes through our obedience to 2 Chron. 7:14.

     Jesus continued in His prayer for His present and future disciples, including us: "And the glory (doxa - splendor, brightness like that of the moon, sun, stars) which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (v. 22). Peter also wrote of this glory as an eyewitness of it in Jesus Christ when He shone with brightness on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was a glory that Jesus received by the voice of God (2 Pet. 1:16-18): "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto the light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star (Jesus) arise in your hearts." (v. 19). This is Christ in you the hope (expectation) of glory (Col. 1:27). 

     What does the Holy Spirit, as mentioned in our title, have to do with manifesting this glory in us that we have received from Christ? Paul wrote of the glory that accompanied the giving of the Law to Moses, and how Moses' face shone after he had been in the presence of God. If the glory of the old covenant, which was written on tablets of stone, faded from the face of Moses: "How shall not the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory...For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious...Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 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." (2 Cor. 3:7-18, excerpt). Paul wrote contrasting the fading glory of the old testament with what we, as the ministers the new testament, have received from God which "is not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (v. 6). He also described the Gospel as glorious, but those who are lost have been blinded to its light by the gods of this world, whom they serve (2 Cor. 4:3-4). Paul wrote: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." (v. 5-7). The prophet Isaiah wrote that we will look upon and see the marred face and body of the Messiah/Christ. The Shroud of Turin also brings us the image of His face. Our calling by God to be ministers of this new testament full of glory is "not according to works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (see also Rev. 13:8, 1 Pet. 1:19-20) ....who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Tim. 1:6-10). In John Ch. 1, Jesus, the Word of creation, was life, and that life was the light of men (v. 1-4). It also connected the glory to Jesus, the Word: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (v. 14). The darkness cannot hold back the light. Do we believe this promise by living in the Spirit?

     As Jesus told the familiar parable of the tares (the harvest of the wicked for destruction), He also spoke of the wise in the same terms as we read in Daniel earlier: "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Mt. 13:40-43). In another parable about the five wise and five foolish virgins, only the five wise had enough oil (reference to the Holy Spirit) to light their lamps to go out to meet the Bridegroom (Christ) when He returned (see Mt. 25:4-8).

     Isaiah prophesied of this light and glory that was purposed by God for us:  "Aise, 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...The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. " (Isa. 60:1-3, 19). Immediately after this, the Word of the LORD revealed the connection of the Spirit of the LORD God to the works of righteousness and glory which Jesus fulfilled (see Isa. 61:1-2, Lk. 4:17-21).  Isaiah also wrote about the glory of the Bridegroom and His Bride, or as we know it to be Christ and His Church: "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (V. 10, see Also Rev. 19:7-9). The Bride of Christ prepares her wedding garment of His righteousness by His Spirit. The Bride is clothed in His glory by the Spirit of righteousness in us, given to us by the Son of God who transforms us by His Spirit from glory to glory. Instead of "playing church", we are to be manifesting the light of His glory by the Holy Spirit in us.

     *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 2/25/24 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.