Chain Reaction in Realms of the Spirit
Beauty For Ashes Part 4 - George H. Warnock

CHAPTER 11 - THE LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS IN ONE

The thought of our Lord Jesus having a people in the earth like Himself is abhorrent in the eyes of most of God's people. They cry out that we are seeking to rob Christ of His Glory. Rather it is the very opposite that is happening. It is when God's people refuse to walk in the full array of God's glory that God is being robbed. The glory that God gives always redounds back to Himself. "The woman is the glory of the man," and the virtuous woman, because of her virtue, causes her husband to "safely trust in her... she will do him GOOD..." (Prov. 31:11-12). God wants a holy and a virtuous Bride in the earth to reflect and show forth the glory of Christ; for she is to be THE GLORY OF THE MAN. She is to be His like, His completeness, His glory in the earth. Speaking of the glory of the heavens the psalmist says:

"In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber..." (Psa. 19:4-5).

He is seen as coming forth from His chamber, radiant with expectation as He goes forth to receive His Bride--this One who is to radiate and express His own glory in the earth. The moon, as we know, has no glory of its own. It only reflects the glory of the sun. And the radiant Bride of Christ is said to be,

"Fair as the moon, Clear as the sun, And terrible as an army with banners" (Song 6:10).

Strange as it may seem, she is going to be clothed in battle array and engage the Enemy in strong spiritual conflict. But her battle garments do not change; they are one and the same, "arrayed in white linen, clean and white," for she must "overcome evil with good." (See Rev. 19:7, 14; Rom. 12:21).

Now Isaiah saw this glorious moon shining with the same brilliance as the sun: "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun..." (Isa. 30:26).

Did Jesus not say, "And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them?" (Jn. 17:22). And is this robbing Christ of His glory? FAR FROM THAT--IT SIMPLY MULTIPLIES THE GLORY, SO AS TO MAKE HIM ALL THE MORE GLORIOUS! For God's glory is not only that which is inherent in His own Being--it is that which He becomes in increasing splendor and brightness in the eyes of all creation. Angels give Him Glory. Celestial hosts bring Glory to His Name. The inhabitants of the earth, when they fulfill their destiny in God and return to Him--they give Him Glory! For the shining forth of His Glory is designed of God to bring about a radiancy and a brilliancy in His creatures that makes the All-Glorious One to be more, and more and still more glorious, as they reflect the wisdom and the knowledge and the love and the beauty of the One who created them. It is only as we fail to return to Him the glory and the honor that He has put upon us that we, like Lucifer, totally frustrate and defeat God's purposes and end up in darkness. As long as we abide in His will, and thereby fulfill the purpose for which He created us, we are giving glory to His Name:

"Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, Give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His Name" (Psa. 29:1-2).

And so God says to His own: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee" (Isa. 60:1).

It is the passion of God's heart that His people partake of the fulness of His Glory; for God wants His people to show forth His Glory in the earth the same way Jesus did when He was here. THAT IS WHY HE WENT AWAY! (See Jn. 17). To make us like Jesus? Yes! Because Jesus was the First Man of a New Creation order--the First Man WHO TRULY GAVE THE FULLNESS OF HONOR AND GLORY TO THE HEAVENLY FATHER. AND GOD WANTS A WHOLE FAMILY LIKE HIM IN THE EARTH. So it is by God's decree that "THE LIGHT OF THE MOON SHALL BE AS THE LIGHT OF THE SUN..." (Isa. 30:26). A people radiating the very light and glory of the Lord Jesus in the earth! A holy Bride, radiant with His holiness, His splendor--GOD'S DESIGN BEING THAT WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE LIVING CHRIST WILL SHINE WITH A SPLENDOR SEVEN TIMES GREATER THAN WHAT HE HAS NOW! AS THE LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS!

"Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, AND THE LIGHT OF THE SUN SHALL BE SEVENFOLD, AS THE LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS..." (Isa. 30:26).

No! We are never going to come to equality with Jesus! The more we love Him and serve Him and glorify Him the more do we partake of His Glory--AND BY SO MUCH MORE IS HE GLORIFIED!

Great and glorious, but sometimes shameful and disgraceful, have been the "seven days" of Church history. Many have been her days of darkness, and many her defeats, But in every hour of darkness and of calamity God has been faithful to rise up on behalf of His Church, and manifest still greater and greater Glory. If we have eyes to see, we cannot imagine any greater hour of darkness than the kind that permeates the earth, and that has overwhelmed the Church, in this hour. But God is crying out WITH CREATIVE VOICE: "Arise, shine, for thy LIGHT is come." And when His people partake of the glory of the Sun of righteousness THE LIVING CHRIST SHALL BE SO BRILLIANT AND SO RADIANT IN "HIS GOING FORTH" THAT HIS GLORY SHALL BE AS THE LIGHT OF SEVEN DAYS! I believe the glory to be revealed SHALL EQUAL THE TOTAL EXPRESSION OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST THROUGHOUT THE SEVEN DAYS OF HER WHOLE HISTORY.

For now we have come to the seventh day--the SABBATH DAY of God's great working in the midst of His people. This is what the book of Revelation is all about, and I believe God will give increasing revelation concerning this wonderful book as it unfolds before our eyes. I am confident it applies to the whole Church of Jesus Christ from her beginning until now; otherwise the Lord would not have pronounced a "blessing" upon those who would be reading it all these centuries. But now we have come to the "seventh day," and the "seventh day" must shine not only with the light of THIS DAY in which we live, BUT WITH THE LIGHT OF ALL PREVIOUS DAYS OF THE CHURCH, SO THAT THE GLORY OF THE SEVEN DAYS ARE GOING TO FOCUS TOGETHER IN THIS FINAL HOUR OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. For we must remember that this book is not the Book of Revelations; it is not just a book of things, of happenings, and so forth. These happenings take place, it is true. But it is the BOOK OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, in the seven days of His glory; AND THE SEVENTH DAY IS TO SHINE WITH THE FULL GLORY OF ALL SEVEN DAYS!

This is why the book of Revelation is replete with the number "SEVEN." It is all through the book. It is everywhere. And central to the whole book is NOT ANTICHRIST, NOT JEWISH TEMPLES AND PRIESTS, NOT WARS AND TURMOILS, NOT FAMINES AND PESTILENCE. Great are God's judgments. and great the conflict that rages against the Enemy. BUT CENTRAL TO THE WHOLE BOOK IS THE GLORY OF THE CHRIST WHO RISES UP AS THE LAMB IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE IN HEAVEN... AND WHO RISES UP IN THE MIDST OF HIS CHURCH IN THE EARTH, WITH THE SEVEN-FOLD SPLENDOR OF THE NOON-DAY SUN.

And finally in the consummation of it all there is a Holy Bride, walking in union with Him, AND CRYING ALOUD IN THE EARTH. "COME! COME! COME! THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY COME!"

In what day does the prophet Isaiah see this brilliant Sun of Righteousness arising in the glory of seven days? "IN THE DAY THAT THE LORD BINDETH UP THE BREACH OF HIS PEOPLE, AND HEALETH THE STROKE OF THEIR WOUND" (Isa. 30:26).

And how is all this going to happen?

"And His breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity..." (Isa. 30:28).

God says He is going to send forth His breath as an overflowing stream, to sweep away all the vanity of the nations.

And are God's people huddled in a corner, like sheep being marauded by the wolves? No! They are rejoicing in what God is doing!

"Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel, And the LORD shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones" (Isa. 30:29-30).

And do you really want to miss this brilliant display of the glory of God? Do you want to miss this song in the night when God rises up on behalf of His Church? Let us be confident of this: "the indignation of God's anger" and "the lighting down of His arm" is against His enemies, not against His precious people! Imagine the children wanting to run away and hide when Father comes on the scene to rescue them from the cruelty of the strong bully! I am not insinuating that the days of trouble that lie ahead are going to be easy sailing for us. There are going to be many troubled waters which God's people will have to pass through. But when the Lord Jesus told His disciples to "go over unto the other side," He meant that. When the storm arose they thought they were going to go "under," but the Lord told them to go "over," and His faithful eye was upon them in their distress. We anticipate great and awesome and fearful times, but God is our refuge in every time of trouble.

Your doctrine of "missing it all" will very quickly be shattered, as it was in Russia and in China and in other places of the earth, when great tribulation settled upon those lands.

And your doctrine of "going through it all" will have to be translated into an abiding place in Christ, or your doctrine will rise to haunt you in that Day.

God wants His people to have the same confidence, the same trust, the same faith that good king Jehoshaphat had when the people of God were harassed by enemies far more numerous and more powerful than they. Listen to his prayer: "O our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: BUT OUR EYES ARE UPON THEE" (2 Chron. 20:12). God showed them clearly what to do. The battle was the LORD's! All they were to do was to go down and watch the battle! They were not to fight! But to sing songs of triumph, and trust in their God, as He routed their enemies!

Let us not fear to seek the same glory that Jesus had when He was here. He went away so we could partake of it! BUT LET US FEAR RATHER THAT WE DESPISE THIS GLORY, AND THIS TRUTH THAT GOD WANTS US TO ENTER INTO, AND GO IN OUR OWN REBELLIOUS WAYS SEEKING TO RADIATE OUR OWN GLORY. FOR THIS WE INEVITABLY DO IF WE ARE NOT RECEIVING THE RICHES OF HEAVEN AND BESTOWING THEM UPON HIS PEOPLE. Jesus said, "HE (the Holy Spirit) SHALL GLORIFY ME." How? "HE SHALL TAKE OF MINE, AND SHALL SHEW IT UNTO YOU" (Jn. 16:14-15).

IF WE FAIL TO COME TO THIS WE ARE ROBBING OURSELVES. BUT WORSE THAN THIS, WE ARE ROBBING CHRIST OF HIS GLORY!

Chapter 12 - Rend the Heavens, O Lord, and Come Down!
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