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The Intensifying Presence
Pastor Francis Frangipane
"He is the sole expression of the glory of God the Light-being, the
out-raying of the divine and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's]
nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His
mighty word of power." Hebrews 1:3 amplified
I know the unrepentant world is destined for the Great Tribulation, and that
many worldly Christians will become spiritual prisoners of the Antichrist. But
as far as the living, praying church is concerned, if we continue to climb
toward the standard of Christ likeness, ahead of us lies a time of great glory
and harvest. In support of this holy goal, let me submit to you an encounter I
had with the Lord.
The year was 1973. I was pastoring a small church in Hilo, Hawaii and had been
in a month of intense prayer and extended fasting. It was an earnest time of
drawing near to God. At the end of this period, I found myself awakened during
the night by a visitation of the Lord. It was not as though I saw His physical
features; I saw His glory and was overwhelmed by His Presence. Immediately I was
like a dead man, unable to move so much as a finger. Spiritually, however, the
heavens unveiled before me without boundaries. My state of awareness was
heightened beyond anything I have known. I felt like one of those "living
creatures" in the book of Revelation, as though I possessed "eyes
around and within" (Rev. 4:8).
With my "inner eyes" I discovered the truth about my righteousness.
Remember, I felt close to the Lord. I thought my spiritual condition was fine.
Yet, I suddenly became aware of my true human condition. The flaws in my life
became unbearably vivid and utterly sinful. I saw my iniquity not as something I
occasionally committed but as something I perpetually was.
I became instantly aware of the many times I could have been more loving or kind
or sensitive. I also saw how selfish nearly all of my actions were. Yet, for all
that was resident within me of unrighteousness, I felt no rebuke from the Lord,
nor condemnation. No voice came from heaven to convict me of my wrongs. The only
voice condemning me was my own; in the light of His Presence, I abhorred myself
(see Job 42:6 KJV).
Without any buffer of self-justification or deceit, with no other person but God
to whom to compare myself, I saw how far short of His glory I truly was. I knew
why mankind needed the blood of Christ. And I knew that no amount of personal
attainment in and of itself could ever make me like Jesus. In the most profound
way I understood that only Christ could live like Christ. God's plan was not to
improve me but to remove me so that the Lord Jesus Himself could actually live
His life through me (Gal. 2:20). In His indwelling would rest my hope of
becoming like Him.
I observed things that were intimately personal. And I also gained an
understanding of Christ's expansive Presence and the impact His glory will have
on the church at the end of the age. In what seemed to be a far distant night
sky, I witnessed the most glorious, heavenly procession. The divinely
"electrified" atmosphere which I felt in my bedroom was being
broadcast from this very distant passage of supernatural beings.
In the forefront were pairs of magnificent angels: archangels, cherubim,
seraphim, thrones, and dominions. There were angels of every class and order.
Each pair was uniquely clothed in a radiant splendor all its own.
About one third of the way back was the Lord. The light of His glory was like
the sun in the midst of a string of beautiful, multicolored stars. Behind Him
were innumerable saints, but I could not see clearly into the Lord's glory; His
brightness so enveloped those following Him, it was as though they had become a
part of His being. It was obvious that the brilliance which illuminated the
entire procession issued from Him.
I realized that the Lord was not just coming to judge the earth but to fill the
earth with His glory. I cannot tell you in words about this glory but, even
though the Lord was so far away, the radiance of His Presence was like a living
fire upon my consciousness. The energy was almost painful. Then, without
warning, the procession came closer, not just to me but I am convinced also to
this world. It was as though a mark in time or a spiritual boundary had been
crossed. Instantly, my spiritual consciousness became so overwhelmed by the
intensity of the Lord's Presence that I could not no, not for another moment
bear the increase of His glory. I felt as though my very existence would be
consumed by the blast furnace of His radiance.
In the deepest prayer I have ever uttered, my entire being begged the Lord to
return me to my body. Suddenly, mercifully, I was cocooned once again in the
familiar world of my senses and my bedroom. Night passed into dawn and I rose
early, dressed, and went outside. With each step, I pondered the vision. The
Lord brought my attention to the sun as it ascended above the eastern horizon.
As I looked, I saw parallels between the radiance of the sunlight and the glory
of the Lord. I realized in a new way that "the heavens are telling of the
glory of God" (Ps. 19:1).
I saw that even though the sun is 93 million miles from the earth, we feel its
heat and live in its light. It is inconceivably far away, yet its energy is also
here. It warms us and in its light our life exists. So also the expanse of the
Lord's Presence emanates from His glorified body in heaven. Physically, He is
distant, yet at times we actually feel the out-raying of His Presence here; we
are, in truth, warmed by His love.
The glory of Christ, like the out-raying of the sun, is "safe" as long
as He remains distant from us in heaven. But imagine if, with each successive
decade, the sun were to steadily move closer to the earth. Radiation, heat, and
light would increase dramatically. With each stage of its approach, the world as
we know it would radically change!
So also will this world change as the person of the Lord Jesus and His
millennial reign draw near. The radiance of His Presence will increasingly fill
the spiritual realms surrounding our world. And not only will the world as we
know it begin to experience dramatic changes as demonic strongholds are
confronted and toppled by the Lord, but among those whose hearts are open and
longing for Him, a great transformation will occur!
If the sun drew closer, the increasing heat and light would soon be all we would
think about. While the righteous are experiencing "glory and honor and
peace" from His Presence (Rom. 2:10), the same glory will cause terrible
"tribulation and distress" to the unrepentant world (v. 9). The wicked
will cry to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us." From
what? "the Presence of Him" (Rev 6:16, italics mine). As the Lord's
nearness increasingly intensifies, the hearts of the irreconcilable will harden
like Pharaoh's.
Yet the same sun that hardens the clay also melts the butter. So, as He draws
nearer, the prayer of the righteous will be, Fill us with the Presence of the
Lamb! The Presence of Christ will be all that fills our minds. Those who love
Him will experience the increase of His pleasure; they will taste the nectar of
heaven. Whether we are for or against the Lord, everyone's mind will be flooded
with thoughts about God.
"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace;
and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is
coming will set them ablaze," says the Lord of hosts, "so that it will
leave them neither root nor branch."
"But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness
will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like
calves from the stall." "And you will tread down the wicked, for they
shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am
preparing," says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 4:1-3
Simultaneously two events will manifest from one eternal source. The same
increasing Presence causes wrath to descend upon the wicked, while glory rises
and is seen upon the righteous. For we who fear the Lord, the "sun of
righteousness" will rise with healing in its rays.
Same Jesus, New Splendor
When Christ returns to this world, He is coming clothed in the splendor of the
Father (Mark 8:38). My prayer is that each of us will perceive this reality: it
is God Himself who is drawing near to earth! Habakkuk, the prophet, gives us an
awesome view into the actual day when the Lord reveals Himself to the world. He
wrote:
God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah. His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise. His
radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, and there is
the hiding of His power. Habakkuk 3:3-4
There will be a time when the Lord Jesus actually is revealed in the heavens. In
that final moment His splendor will literally flood the skies like "the
sunlight." Every eye will see Him with power flashing like terrible bolts
of lightning from His hands.
Yet, before He appears, while He is near but still invisible, that same radiance
of glory will be poured out on "all flesh" (Acts 2:17-21). For as He
is in power and glory when He appears, so He is beforehand though unseen! And it
is this out-raying Presence which will grow ever more resplendent in the church
prior to His second coming.
With each surge of His glory many things will be quickened on earth. Satan, and
the nations under him, will rage against the Lord and His purposes.
Demonically-manipulated social and ethnic upheaval will intensify, increasing
lawlessness, rebellion, and hopelessness in the world. The earth itself will
suffer as droughts, and air and water pollution, cause unpredictable and, in
many cases, disastrous changes in the patterns of life. There will be
earthquakes in regions where earthquakes were unknown. Coastal cities will have
mass evacuations, for there will be "dismay among nations, in perplexity at
the roaring of the sea and the waves" (Luke 21:25).
At the same time, we who are open and yielded to Christ will watch in amazement
as His Presence in us also intensifies and increases! He will invade our
thoughts, plunder our unbelief, and purge our carnality. He will present to
Himself a bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
The church will be beautified with His glory and filled with His radiance before
He physically comes for her! A time will come when our repentance and
reconciliation will be complete. At that time the Scripture will be fulfilled
that the bride of Christ "has made herself ready" (Rev. 19:7).
The church will find in Christ a new level of holiness and purity which will
manifest in a radiance that is both "bright and clean" (v. 8).
Many promises given to the church, formerly thought impossible, will be
fulfilled by the fullness of Christ in us. The days ahead will be seasons of
glory. The Shekinah Presence of Christ, as He is enthroned upon the praises of
His people, will manifest and abide in unfading glory. We have not yet seen
worship services like those that await us in the future. The day is coming when
the command of the worship leaders shall be to "make His praise
glorious" (Ps. 66:2)! A spiritual majesty will accompany the worshipers of
God. Even among the most simple peoples of earth, those who love God will be
companioned by His royal Presence.
In the most profound ways, the magnificence of the Lord will unfold before us.
We will marvel at how God has humbled and brought low the kings of the earth.
But one King shall ever rise in prominence. To Him every knee will bow! And
while we too shall bow at His splendor, our highest joy shall be that we have
personally known Him!
As each new level of glory arrives and unfolds, the Holy Spirit will require
fresh and frequent examinations of our relationship with Christ. Whether our
backgrounds are evangelical or charismatic, traditional or Pentecostal,
all who love the Lord will change. For whatever inhibits the fusion of our lives
with Christ will be consumed like chaff in the fire of His Presence.
In this season of transformation, we will know Him both in the fellowship of His
sufferings and in the power of His resurrection. We will know the fullness of
Christ. And it shall come to pass not because of our righteousness but because
of His increasing fullness. He must increase and we must decrease until
everything, everywhere, is filled with the intensifying Presence of God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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