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In The Twinkling of An Eye

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A weird event is mentioned in the book of Matthew. It is known as the Transfiguration of Jesus. What most do not see is that there is a reference to Sukkot revealed in the event. And many do not realize that what happened to Jesus on that mountain was only a preview of the Resurrection of Jesus and all who would trust in His Name. In other words, the bodily transformation Jesus manifested is what awaits all who are His sons and daughters. Matthew 17:1-9 states: And six days after this, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.2 And His appearance underwent a change in their presence; and His face shone clear and bright like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who kept talking with Him.4 Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good and delightful that we are here; if You approve, I will put up three booths here—one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.5 While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud [composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and have always been] delighted. Listen to Him!6 When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were seized with alarm and struck with fear.7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, Get up, and do not be afraid.8 And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.9 And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus cautioned and commanded them, Do not mention to anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. AMPC

Did you catch the Sukkot reference? Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good and delightful that we are here; if You approve, I will put up three booths here—one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah. Matthew 17:4

Peter was thinking of Sukkot or Tabernacles. But hidden in plain sight is a reference to our destiny. Romans 8:30 alludes to this event: And those whom He thus foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself). And those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being]. AMPC

This word glorified refers to a bedrock doctrine of Christianity. What is glorification? Got Questions provides an answer: The short answer is that “glorification” is God’s final removal of sin from the life of the saints (i.e., everyone who is saved) in the eternal state (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17). At Christ’s coming, the glory of God (Romans 5:2)—His honor, praise, majesty, and holiness—will be realized in us; instead of being mortals burdened with sin nature, we will be changed into holy immortals with direct and unhindered access to God’s presence, and we will enjoy holy communion with Him throughout eternity.…Final glorification must await the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13; 1 Timothy 6:14)….How and when will we be finally glorified? At the last trumpet, when Jesus comes, the saints will undergo a fundamental, instant transformation (“we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” – 1 Corinthians 15:51); then the “perishable” will put on the “imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:53). According to Philippians 3:20–21, our citizenship is in heaven, and when our Savior returns He will transform our lowly bodies “to be like His glorious body.” Although it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, we know that, when He returns in great glory, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). We will be perfectly conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus and be like Him in that our humanity will be free from sin and its consequences. Our blessed hope should spur us on to holiness, the Spirit enabling us. “Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).

Sukkot is the time we look up to see if we are about to be glorified with Jesus. Regarding this topic of our physical bodies resurrection from the dead C.H. Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, once remarked: The body, then, is the Lord’s. Christ died not only to save my soul, but to save my body. It is said he “came to seek and to save that which was lost.” When Adam sinned he lost his body, and he lost his soul too; he was a lost man, lost altogether. And when Christ came to save his people, he came to save their bodies and their souls. …Is this body for the Lord, and shall death devour it? Is this body for the Lord, and shall winds scatter its particles far away where they never shall discover their fellows? No! the body is for the Lord, and the Lord shall have it. “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise us by his own power.” Now look at the next verse: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ.” Not merely is the soul a part of Christ—united to Christ, but the body is also. These hands, these feet, these eyes, are members of Christ, if I be a child of God. I am one with him, not merely as to my mind, but one with him as to this outward frame. The very body is taken into union. The golden chain which binds Christ to his people goes round the body and soul too. Did not the apostle say “they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church?”—Ephesians v. 31, 32. “They are one flesh;” and Christ’s people are not only one with him in spirit, but they are “one flesh” too. The flesh of man is united with the flesh of the God-man; and our bodies are members of Jesus Christ. 

Oh God, Wilt Thou Not Give Me Scotland?!

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Excerpt from The Fire That Once Was: Welsh was now at the point where he would soon take his place as one of he great Reformed Scottish Revivalists. After four years at Kirkcudbright he now journeyed to a town “to which his name has ever after been most closely associated.” In 1600, he arrived at the country-town of Ayr. Welsh would spend less than five years in this town, from August 1600 to July 1605, but it was here that revival fires would blaze.

Ayr, locally called Ayrshire, had over the years gospel seeds planted in her by other Reformed ministers. Even Welsh’s late father-in-law, John Knox, had visited and preached there occasionally. But at this day and age the state of Ayr had deteriorated to a rude and barbarous cesspool. The sanitation of the area was no better. On his way to Ayr, traveling on the King’s Highway, Welsh’s senses were overwhelmed with the sight of mounds and mounds of offal (piles of decaying animal parts) and other filth accumulated on each side of the road. The people of Ayr were, as expected, crude, barbaric, immoral, and ignorant. Common people feared to venture out of doors as gangs of ruffians controlled the streets. Welsh saw all this and his spirit was stirred within him: What a nation so polluted with all abominations and murders as thou art? Thy iniquities are more than the sand of the sea, the cry of them is beyond the cry of Sodom.

On his arrival at Ayr, the aversion to him as a minister was so strong that he could find no one in the town who would let him and his wife have a house to live in. He would eventually find a Christian merchant by the name of Stewart, who offered him shelter under his roof.

Strengthened by the Lord and the power of His Might, in prayer always…the Glory of God was falling over the town and Welsh praying fervently and preaching frequently, was having an eternal effect on the masses. Welsh was soon holding two Sabbath services, preaching from nine to twelve in the morning, and from four to six in the afternoon, and in between visiting those who needed grounding in the Word of God. Welsh’s preaching was so moving that those in the congregation could not restrain themselves from weeping under the intense presence of God in the services. Sometimes he would not preach but instead ask those present to just pray for Divine Assistance , at which time the weight of the Glory of God would fall on the shoulders of all.

In 1604, because of the unsanitary conditions which were common in those days, a fearful plague began to spread over the country. The plague moved westward from city to city, and the 3000 people of Ayr became more and more alarmed as it approached their city. Welsh used this time to call the people to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, while at night he would spend hours praying for the mercy of God upon his congregation. Robert Murray McCheyne relates how one night during Welsh’s travailing before God this incident occurred: “He used to keep a blanket on his bed that he might wrap himself against the cold when he rose during the night to pray. One time his wife awakened and found him on the floor weeping. When she complained that he should be back in the bed, he said, “Oh woman, you do not understand. I have the souls of three thousand to answer for, and I know not how it is with many of them.”

Amazingly, the plague swept through all of Scotland but did not come near the town of Ayr. Soon the plague ended and hundreds of visitors would flock into Ayr, the City of God, and from far look into the Garden of Prayer where Welsh would spend many an hour in intercession. He was now renowned for his prolonged seasons of prayer. Borrowing from his late father-in-law, Welsh would cry out, “Oh God, wilt wilt Thou not give me Scotland! Oh God, wilt Thou not give me Scotland!”

Rut, Rot or Revival?

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A.W. Tozer preached a sermon series titled: Rut, Rot, or Revival ~ The Problem of Change and Breaking Out of the Status Quo. In it he stated: “The treacherous enemy facing the church of Jesus Christ today is the dictatorship of the routine, when the routine becomes “lord” in the life of the church….When we come to the place where everything can be predicted and nobody expects anything unusual from God, we are in a rut. The routine dictates, and we can tell not only what will happen next Sunday, but what will occur next month and, if things do not improve, what will take place next year….That would be perfectly alright and proper for a cemetery….But the Church (and the Follower of Jesus) is not a cemetery and we should expect much from it, because what has been should not be the lord to tell us what is, and what is should not be the ruler to tell us what will be. God’s people are supposed to grow.”

We are supposed to be growing…spiritually. But Tozers’ sub-title says a great deal: “The Problem of Change and Breaking Out of the Status Quo.” What ever you want to call it, change, transition, transformation, or metamorphosis – the truth of the matter is it requires “death.” Within the world of everything vegetation there is an important step for the seed to become a plant, bush or tree: it has to be buried in the dark earth. In essence that seed of life has to be thrown into a “pit.” And not just any pit. A dark pit, made up of dark soil. How does soil become really dark? Many things sacrifice their lives, dying, to make the soil rich, and dark. The darker the soil, the richer the nutrients needed to spark life. The darker the soil – the greater the sacrifice. The greater the sacrifice – the grander the resurrection.

Physical truth often points to greater spiritual truths. For the seed to become a life-giving plant a change has to take place. It has to break out of the status quo. You see this symbolically throughout Scripture. Noah and his family are “buried” alive in a “coffin” floating on a flood of death. Joseph is thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers in order to resurrect into a “savior” for Egypt and its surrounding countries, and Jesus’ body was tossed into a “pit” in order to bring resurrection life to all those who would join themselves to His Body. Brad McClendon states, “The best place to sow seed is in the dark ground – then covered up in darkness. That’s what happens to God’s good seed. What happens to the seed – when we take it out of the pit? It dies and transformation is halted. When you reach a spiritual plateau, or “ceiling” – you are in His pit and He is trusting you to remain in order to birth something new in you.”

Ruts, and routines are accompanied by spiritual callouses, and plateaus. What moved us forward spiritually no longer does. It is during this season of the 10 Days of Awe that God reminds us we need soak in the “reign” of His Spirit, and reach for the new heights of His Son. Our spiritual plateaus become Jesus’ pits for our growing upwards.

What do we need to understand and accept? God’s seed – His Word and Spirit in us – grows better in pits, darkness, and storms. Noah, Joseph, and Jesus all trusted the Father for the resurrection. We must do the same. In the meantime, How can we have a good death? Do like any seed: soak up the rain, and stretch for the SON. And be encouraged, His Word is transfiguring you into the image of Jesus. Death is working in you – that His life might be actively at work in others. AS Isa. 60 states: the Glory of God WILL SHINE…upon His people. Be encouraged that you are conscious of the plateau and the callouses. That awareness comes only from the Spirit. That awareness is His invitation to shift, to change, and move to another level in your relating and relation to the Godhead.