Let the Glory of the Lord Jesus Prevail and Not the Divining Lies - Part 1067

"So that the priests could NOT stand to minister by reason of the cloud -- for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." (II Chronicles 5:14)

Remember Moses? The Lord went before the children of Israel "by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead the way and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, [from] before the people." (Exodus 13:21-22) Therein, we also learn that Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the "glory of the Lord" filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:35)

"And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." (Exodus 40:38)

Why is this important? Because our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, (Hebrews 13:8) He never changes. The same Almighty God that was in the beginning, is the same Almighty God -- the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, -- that invites us to sup at His table. (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-18; Revelation 22:13-21)

We are invited to come and dine in His presence. (John 21:12-17) Invited to soak in the glory of the Lord, that in this dispensation is within us -- those of us who believe in Jesus by faith.

Under the old covenant, the people who believed (but never knew the promise because the promise that was hid before the world was formed had not yet come) still exalted the Lord God and worshiped at His footstool, "for He is holy." (Psalm 100:5) These trusted the Lord and praised Him for His goodness -- at least in the beginning. The psalmist wrote:

"Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; [for He] is good; for His mercy [endureth] for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? [Who] can show forth all His praise? Blessed they that keep judgement; he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour [that Thou bearest unto] Thy people; O visit me with Thy salvation, that I might see the good of Thy chosen, that I might rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory with Thine inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies but provoked [Him] at the sea, [even] at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.

He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up; so He led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And He saved them from the hand of them that hated [them] and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies. There was not one of them left. then believed they His Words. They sang His praise." (Psalm 106:1-12)

Sadly, however, with the passage of time, the children of Israel soon forgot the multitude of blessings that God their Saviour had done for them. (Psalm 106:21) Instead, they mingled among the heathen and learned their works, and served their idols, which were a snare unto them, "and the land was polluted with blood." (Psalm 106:35-39) "Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions." (Psalm 106:39)

Unfortunately in this current generation of grace, a similar situation exists in our modern world today. Instead of taking hold of His promise, His truths, His wisdom and knowledge, and "therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ" and moving on unto perfection -- "not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment," we have replaced the glory of God and His presence within us with man-made religion. (Hebrews 6:1-2)

We have settled for "mingling" in some unified collective called "church organization(s)" and "learning" the constructs of this world, rather than pressing onward and inward into the King of kings and Lord of lords -- Jesus -- and His righteousness. And, as such, we are in the midst of trading "Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself"  in favor of false prophets and teachers who "through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of [us]." (Hebrews 12:1-3; II Peter 2:1-

But as Ezekiel, the son of Buzi warned us when the heavens opened and he saw "visions of God' -- there is only ONE High Priest and Saviour. The Lord thy God is One God and there is none other. (Ezekiel 1:1-3; Hebrews 7:1-3; Isaiah 45:5) What does Ezekiel reveal about these times in which we live?

"And the Word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Son of man, say unto her, "thou [art] the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they showed [difference] between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

Her princes in the midst thereof [are] like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood [and] to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain, and her prophets have daubed them with untempered [mortar] seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy, yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it but I found none." (Ezekiel 22:17-30)

Note that it doesn't have to be this way. We can be that one who stands in the gap before the Lord. We can become the hedge. And, indeed, we can reach out to those who are less fortunate. The least of those among us. Most of all, we can serve as an example to others by standing firm on the promises of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ, always running toward the Author and Finisher of our faith. Not because of our doing but because we are filled with the glory of His presence in our lives.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also, and from henceforth, ye know Him, AND HAVE SEEN HIM." (John 14:6-7)

So, instead of coming to our Lord God and Saviour empty handed, let's make it a habit to press into Jesus  every day -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, "neither knows Him, for He dwells with you, and shall be in you." (John 14:13-17)

Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." (John 14:18)

As such, let His glory -- the glory of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus the Christ who is Himself the mystery that was hidden in the bosom of the Father until the fullness of time, fill your temple with His presence. Be clothed in His righteousness. Just like those who believed by faith and understood that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, with trumpets sounding, the trumpeters and singers as one, "to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up [their] voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord" they said, "For He is good, for His mercy endures for ever" we need to do the same. (II Chronicles 5:12-13; I Chronicles 16:34; Hebrews 11:1-40; John 1:1-18)

The difference being that the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary whereby the glory of the Lord filled a tabernacle built with hands, and we in this new testament dispensation of grace have the blood of Christ -- who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purging our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:1-14)

"And for this cause, He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions [that were] under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." (Hebrews 9:15)

His glory working in us and through us day in and day out so that we might enter into the heavenly -- because He offered Himself once as a sacrifice to bear the sins of many. Unto them that look for Him, shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28) Stand in the offering plate.