Maintaining the
Perception of God’s Glory
“Give glory to
Him.” Revelation 14:7.
“All have sinned,
and come short of the glory of
God.” Romans 3:23.
Soul Filled With the
Heavenly Vision
John the Baptist did
not allow anyone or anything at any
time to weaken his soul’s vision
of the glory of God. He lived in his
retreat in the wilderness for many
years, studying the scrolls of the
Old Testament until his soul was
filled with the heavenly vision.
“Isaiah’s
rapt portrayals of the Messiah’s
glory were his study by day and by
night, the Branch from the root of
Jesse; a King to reign in
righteousness, judging “with
equity for the meek of the
earth,” “a covert from the
tempest…the shadow of a great
rock in a weary land;” Israel no
longer to be termed
“Forsaken,” nor her land
“Desolate,” but to be
called of the Lord, “My
Delight,” and her land
“Beulah.” Isaiah 11: 4; 32:
2; 62: 4, margin. The heart of the
lonely exile was filled with the
glorious vision.” DA 103.
Likewise with us.
Every day is an exciting, wonderful
new day in which our constant vision
and conceptions of the Living God are
to increase in depth, breadth, and
height. Then we will begin to see
other things, just as John did at the
baptism of Jesus.
At Jesus’ Baptism
Only a Few Saw the Heavenly Vision
At the Jordan River,
when John baptized Jesus, John was
one of only a few, other than Christ
Himself, who saw the heavenly vision:
“The Father Himself will answer
the petition of His Son. Direct from
the throne issue the beams of His
glory. The heavens are opened, and
upon the Savior’s head descends
a dovelike form of purest light, fit
emblem of Him, the meek and lowly
One.
“Of the vast
throng at the Jordan, few except
John discerned the heavenly
vision. Yet, the solemnity
of the Divine presence rested upon
the assembly. The people stood
silently gazing upon Christ. His
form was bathed in light that
ever surrounds the throne of God. His
upturned face was glorified, as they
had never before seen the face of
man. From the open heavens a voice
was heard saying, “This is My
Beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” DA 112.
Realizing By Faith
What the Physical Eye Can Not See
At the time of
trouble, those who have caught the
heavenly vision will realize things
that they cannot see with their
physical eyes.
“Could men see
with heavenly vision, they would
behold companies of angels that excel
in strength stationed about those who
have kept the word of Christ’s
patience. With sympathizing
tenderness, angels have witnessed
their distress and have heard their
prayers. They are waiting the word of
their Commander to snatch them from
their peril. However, they must wait
yet a little longer. The people of
God must drink of the cup and be
baptized with the baptism.
The very delay, so
painful to them, is the best answer
to their petitions. As they endeavor
to wait trustingly for the Lord to
work, they are lead to exercise
faith, hope, and patience, which have
been to little exercised during their
religious experience. Yet, for the
elect’s sake the seven last
plagues will be shortened.
“Shall not God avenge His own
elect, which cry day and night unto
Him? … I tell you that He will
avenge them speedily.” Luke 18:
7,8. The end will come more quickly
than men expect. The wheat will be
gathered and bound in sheaves for the
garner of God; the tares will be
bound as fagots for the fires of
destruction.” GC 630, 631.
Be Not Disobedient to
the Heavenly Vision
“If you have
caught a glimpse of Heaven’s
truth, turn not away. Be not
disobedient to the heavenly vision. Walk
in the light you have
received, and your pathway will grow
brighter and brighter.” ST
5-27-03.
John Took Radical
Measures to Preserve His Soul From
the Collateral Damage of Apostasy
At all times we must
maintain and increase the depth of
our perception of God’s glory.
No person, no experience, nothing
must be allowed to damage the full
perception of God’s glory. We
are the antitype of Elijah and John,
two of the mightiest men who ever
trod the earth. The antitype is to be
greater than the type. If John
took radical measures to preserve his
soul from the ravages and collateral
damage of apostasy, today, in time of
far greater apostasy we must likewise
take action.
Under the Control
of Christ Alone
The gospel of Jesus
Christ is designed, is calculated, to
lift the person out of the
controlling influence of man and
place him directly under the control
of Christ Himself.
Lifted Above the
Controlling Power of One’s Own
Psyche
The gospel of Jesus
Christ lifts a person above the
controlling influence of the closest
relatives, and even the
controlling influence of his own
psyche-of his own self.
“If any come to Me, and does not
hate the father of himself, and the
mother and the wife and the children
and the brothers and sisters, yet
and also the psyche of himself, he is
not able to be a disciple of
Me.” Luke 14:26. [Greek]
Self-surrender
Absolutely Necessary For Freedom and
Transformation
This absolute
self-surrender to Christ alone, free
from all control of man and
submission to Christ alone, is
not only fundamental to freedom of
conscience, but also is absolutely
necessary for there to be any change,
any transformation, in the soul by
the Spirit of God, by the Christ Who
came to cast fire on the earth.
Nothing happens in the
soul to transform it into the image
of the divine, to place it under the
control of God Himself, to mold it
under the vivifying influence of the
mighty Third Person of the Godhead,
the Holy Spirit, until this break
with the control of man, including
the person’s own psyche, takes
place. Only then can the fire
of God be unleashed in the
soul-lifting it above satanic
control, and putting it in union with
the infinite Christ.
Baptism With Fire
“I myself,
indeed, certainly, baptize you with
water into metanoian – a
complete change of mind and
heart-repentance, but the One
coming after me is stronger,
mightier, more powerful, more firm,
more fortified, more resolute, more
violent, than I, of Whom I am not
worthy, qualified, the scandals to
touch, to pick up and carry [the work
of a slave in Judea, Greece, and
Rome]. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:11.
Jesus declared, “Fire
I came to cast upon the earth,
and why, wherefore, how-I will, if
already it be kindled, set on
fire.” Luke 12:49.
Jesus came to cast
fire on the earth, to set the earth
on fire, with an utterly transforming
power unleashed from the heart, will
and soul of God Himself.
Only Those Who Submit
to God’s Consuming Fire, Purging
Away All Sin, Will Enter Heaven
“The prophet
Isaiah had declared that the Lord
would cleanse His people from their
iniquities “by the spirit of
judgment, and by the spirit of
burning.” The word of the Lord
to Israel was, “I will turn My
hand upon thee, and purely purge away
the dross, and take away all thy
sin.” Isaiah 4:4; 1:25. To
sin, wherever found, our God is a
consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29.
In all who submit to His power, the
Spirit of God will consume sin.
However, if men cling
to sin, they become identified with
it. Then the glory of God, which
destroys sin, must destroy
them.” DA 107.
God Will Not Permit
Anyone Into Heaven Who Would Turn
Heaven Into Hell
God cannot allow any
soul that refuses the consuming fire
of Christ into heaven, for they would
immediately turn heaven into hell.
Only those with every sin
repented of, confessed, and purged
away with the fire of Christ will
pass the gate that is guarded by
divine Justice.
A Fire Consuming
Completely
The Greek in Hebrews
12:29 reads, “For our God is a
fire consuming completely.”
So powerful is this
fire of the presence and control of
Christ, so radical is this fire of
Christ that a person cannot even
believe in Jesus if he receives honor
from men and not from God only. The
Sanhedrin, as well as the mass of
people, could not believe in Jesus
because they received honor from men:
“And the Word of Him you do not
have remaining in you, because Whom
That One sent, This One you do not
believe.
“Search the
Scriptures, because you think in them
to have life eternal. However, they
are the ones testifying concerning
Me. And you do not will to come to Me
in order that you might have life.
“Honor, glory,
splendor, opinion, notion,
expectation, judgment, reputation,
report, estimation, from men I do not
receive.
“But I know you
that the agape (love) of God you do
not have in you.
Why the Followers Of
Self Are Accepted By Man, and the One
Coming In the Name of the Father is
Rejected
“I Myself have
come in the name of My Father, and
you do not receive Me. If another
should come in the name of himself,
that one you will receive.
It is Impossible For a
Man to Believe if He Receives Honor
From Men and Not From God Only
“How are you able
to believe, glory from one another
receiving, and the glory (honor,
splendor, opinion, judgment,
estimation) from the God only you do
not seek”? John 5: 38-44. Greek
literal translation.
In these words, Jesus
depicts the problem of a life
oriented to the approval of man, the
judgment of man, the estimation of
man. The problem is that man seeks
the approval of man and does not seek
the honor, the glory, the splendor,
the judgment, the estimation and
approval, from God only, from God
alone.
Break Every Yoke
“Brethren and
sisters, break every yoke that man
would fasten upon you. Take upon you
the yoke of Christ.” SM 249.
The point Jesus is
making is that until man can break
free from the chains of the subtle
controlling power of man that comes
from man seeking the approval of man,
until those chains of controlling
influence are broken, and a man seeks
the approval, honor, and glory of God
alone, he cannot believe. The Jews
thought they would find eternal life
studying the scriptures. However,
while they studied the scriptures day
and night, the Word of God did not
remain in them, the love of God was
not in them, because there was no
way that they could be believers in
the very one the scriptures testified
of – Christ, Who alone can give
life- because they were seeking the
approval of each other, and not the
approval of God alone.
While One Seeks the
Honor of Men Heaven Has No Influence
Upon Them
Thus, though the
Jewish religious leaders studied the
Word day and night, it had no
effect on them, because they could
not come to Christ to have life while
the real motivation of life was the
approval of man instead of the
approval of God alone.
A Church That Receives
Honor One From Another
Why would they receive
anything in his own name, instead of
receiving the Christ? Because the one
coming in his own name operated on
the same principle that motivated
them-seeking the approval of each
other, complimenting each other,
having their egos flattered by each
other, feeling good because each of
the other ones thought they were
great because they bowed to the
controlling influence of man seeking
the approval of man.
Christ Reigns Supreme
Or He Reigns Not At All
“He can admit
no rival in the soul, nor accept of
partial service…” AA
541.
Only when those chains
are broken, Jesus declared, with a
true discipleship that comes to Him
hating father, mother, brother,
sister, wife, children, and even
one’s own psyche, and Christ has
absolute control-only then can a
person be a disciple and be baptized
with the Holy Spirit and with
fire-being transformed by the mighty
renewing power of the Holy Spirit and
being transformed by the fire of
Christ’s presence.
Christ’s soul was
in agony until He could see the
entire earth caught on fire with the
all-consuming fire He came to cast on
the earth.
