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Preparing for the Glory By Rev. J. Patrick Bowman For a large segment of the Church, it is the season of Lent.

In what we term the Mainline Protestant churches, as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, a period of around 40 days before Easter is set aside to remember the 40 days and temptations of Christ in the wilderness, the 40 years of wandering of the Israelites, and a time to think about the things that hold us back and separate us from God. Lent is meant to prepare the church to receive the resurrection life that Easter commemorates. I believe we are in a preparation time now for a future glory that has nothing to do with the holiday of Easter, yet has everything to do with the reality of the resurrection truth we hold so dear. Im not referring to a future glory, set in Gods mind from before the foundations of the world, when Gods kingdom will be established perfectly and permanently. That future glory has been set in time by Gods own hand and He reserves the day and the hour for Himself. The future glory Im referring to tonight is a glory that we arent waiting on God for. I believe we are in a time of preparation for a here and now manifestation of the Kingdom that He is waiting on us for. The future glory Im referring to is a manifestation of the Kingdom of God that first happens in us and then through us. It must first happen in us so that it will shake the foundations loose from every edifice that we have ever erected for our own glory. Only then can we be a church that sees the Kingdom, embraces the Kingdom, and then acts accordingly with the Holy Spirit to see His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. We notice that in scripture, the Kingdom of God is associated with repentance. They go hand in hand. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that both John the Baptist and Jesus connected the Kingdom with repentance. (Mat 3:1-3 KJV) In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The quote is from Isaiah 40:3-5 Isa 40:3-5 KJV (3) The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (4) Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: (5) And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The whole message here is one of change. The low places made high, the high places brought low. The crooked places made straight, the rough places smoothed out. Sounds like repentance to me. But what is true repentance? Repentance is a word we sorely misunderstand much of the time. We like to put great emphasis on a change of action, which is the result of true repentance. But without that change of mind, which the word repentance means, any change of action in our own strength will be short lived. When we try to work sin out of us without that change of heart that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish in us, we come up short. And after an inward change of heart and mind that produces an outward change of

actionthen the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together. Why? Because the glory shall be manifest in us and through us in ways that we have never imagined.

As we read further here in Matthew, we see Jesus seeking out John at the Jordan for water baptism, we see Him driven by the Spirit into the wilderness and withstanding Satans temptations, we see John the Baptist thrown into prison, and then we read Mat 4:17 KJV (17) From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Its no accident that the last of the Old Testament prophets and the One they prophesied about had the same message. If we look at many of the recorded teachings and conversations of Jesus, we see He was consistently working to change mindsets in the people around him. One of my favorite examples is in John 3, when Jesus has an encounter with Nicodemus. John 3:1-21 KJV (1) There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: (2) The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (4) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? (5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (8) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (9) Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? (10) Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? (11) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. (12) If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

(13) And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (18) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (19) And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

This whole discourse with Nicodemus was one of changing his mind and heart. The purpose of Jesus interaction with Nicodemus was one of presenting an opportunity for repentance so that Nicodemus could see and enter the kingdom of God. And so the Holy Spirit works with us. I want us to look at Judges, chapter 6, and see what we can find in the life of Israel that reflects, what I believe, are some ways of thinking that hinder us in our preparation for the glory. Jdg 6:1-6 KJV (1) And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (2) And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. (3) And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; (4) And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. (5) For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

(6) And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. We see in these first six verses a way of thinking that can cripple us from coming to a point of true repentance, the first requirement of preparing for His glory. We see in verse one that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. We can so easily slip into sin and continue in sin that we lose our conscience. Our hearts become hard. If we look back at the last words of Judges 5, we see that the land had had rest forty years. It only took a generation of peace and plenty for Gods people to slip back into their wicked ways. Evil had become good, and good had become evil. Their thinking was warped. We then read in verse six that they cried unto the Lord. Why did they cry? Not because of their transgressions before the Lord, but because they were impoverished. They were sorry because of the outcome, not because of the cause. They were blaming the enemy for their lack rather than taking responsibility for the sin of their nation that opened the door for Gods judgment against them. The fact is, they did not recognize their own sin. How often do we blame the enemy for something that, in reality, is our own fault? How often do we ascribe to him power that he really doesnt have. How often has our own sin opened the door? Lets continue in verse seven. Jdg 6:7-10 KJV (7) And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, (8) That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; (9) And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; (10) And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. Its interesting here that they cried because of the Midianites, and God sent a prophet that said nothing about the oppressors or the oppression. God said, through the prophet, fear not the gods of the Amorites, but you have not obeyed my voice. The prophet named their sin and admonished them not to continue in their sin. It is grace and mercy on the surgeons part to remove the gangrene as soon as possible before it spreads and the whole arm or leg has to be removed. The cutting away is grace and mercy for the body. Using the rod on a child who is continually in rebellion is the grace and mercy needed for repentance. It is a saving grace. The prophetic voice is a voice of grace and mercy, when heeded, and judgment, when not. Prophets were sent then and are sent, today, with an offer of repentance. The children of Israel repented not. They did not heed the prophetic voice. As we look on to verses 11-13, we can see this rejection of the prophetic voice. Jdg 6:11-13 KJV (11) And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

(12) And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. (13) And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Even Gideon is asking God why this is happening. In fact Gideon is claiming that the Lord forsook them. Even this mighty man of valor didnt get it. Hes blaming God. So we see the children of Israel so far slip into sin, not recognize it as sin, blame the enemy for their troubles, not heed the prophetic voice and then accuse God of forsaking them. Gideon was chosen to save the nation, not because they repented, but because they failed to. Had the nation of Israel heeded the prophetic voice and repented for their sin there would have been a far different story told. It would have been a story of glory like their nation had never seen. In verses 14-24 we see the Lord commission Gideon to deliver Israel, we see Gideon present a sacrifice before the Lord, and we see the Lord reveal himself to Gideon as Jehovah shalom. Then in verse 25, we see what their sin was. Jdg 6:25-27 KJV (25) And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: (26) And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. (27) Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.

Here we learn that Joash was the caretaker of a community altar of Baal. Baal was worshiped as a god of productivity of the soil. So God brought judgment on the very thing they were worshiping this false god for. The Midianites had come in for seven seasons of harvest, used up all the productivity of the land, and left the children of Israel impoverished. Sometimes its the very things we worship that ruin us. Wealth, our comfortable American lifestyles, our successful church programs, etc., etc., etc. We must be careful of what we worship. You can read the rest of story for yourself. God came through in spite of the hard hardheadedness and hard hardheartedness of His children. Yet he did it in a way that they could not pride themselves with the victory. So do we have a happy ending? Not really. If we read what happened at the end of Gideons life, we actually see a tragic outcome.

Jdg 8:28-35 KJV

(28) Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. (29) And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. (30) And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. (31) And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. (32) And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (33) And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. (34) And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side: (35) Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel. So in this season of Lent, in this season of preparation for the glory of God to be revealed in us and then through us, what can we do? As others in the church world give up chocolate, meat, nights out at the movies, what can we give up? Well how about our propensity to blame others; other people, the enemy, even God, for the results of our own sin. How about we give up not heeding the prophetic voice in our midst? What about giving up the worship of our affluence and our success? Let there be peace in our lives because we have repented of our wicked ways, and God has heard us, and healed our land.

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