KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES
studies in end-time revelation
LOOKING FOR HIS APPEARING
Part 13
THE EPIPHANEIA OF JESUS CHRIST
In this study we approach the third Greek word related to the "coming" of our Lord Jesus Christ - EPIPHANEIA. This word is to be found six times in the Greek New Testament. It comes from a verb which signifies "to shine upon," "bring to light," "to appear, " "to manifest. " The noun is "manifestation," "brightness." The lexicographers define it, "an appearance, show, display, grandeur, splendor." In its use in classical Greek, it applies to the invisible divinities that become visible. It also applies to the appearance of the sun after the passing away of the clouds. The best possible translation is MANIFESTATION. The EPIPHANEIA of Jesus Christ is ultimately the FULLNESS OF THE MANIFESTATION OF HIMSELF to the saints, the world and creation!
This word is found in the following texts where, with one exception, it is, in the King James version, rendered "appearing." "Keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the APPEARING of our Lord Jesus Christ; which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (I Tim. 6:14-15). "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His APPEARING and His kingdom" (II Tim. 4:1). "There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord... shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His APPEARING" (II Tim. 4:8). "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious APPEARING of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13). "Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the BRIGHTNESS (epiphaneia) of His coming (parousia)" (II Thes. 2:8).
Let us consider for a few moments the difference between the three Greek words presented thus far. We have shown that the word PAROUSIA means "presence." It is the fullness of all that one can conceive of as being the reality of our Lord's promise, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, THERE AM I IN THE MIDST OF THEM," and again, "And, lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, even unto the end of the age." Nowhere does PAROUSIA mean "coming" or "coming again." The PAROUSIA is the ENVELOPING PRESENCE OF CHRIST and is a past, present and future reality. The second word, APOKALUPSIS, means "to take the cover off, to uncover, unveil, reveal or disclose." It implies the drawing away or removal of everything that veils or hides. Since APOKALUPSIS means to reveal, or unveil, there must be something to unveil or which may be unveiled. That something must be PRESENT or it cannot be unveiled; and it must be hidden from sight or it cannot be disclosed. This is exactly what we have shown in foregoing articles concerning the Lord Jesus, namely, that He is PRESENT and that He is hidden from sight of the natural eye because "the Lord is that Spirit." But, praise God, we are now to find that His invisible presence, parousia, is to be revealed, disclosed, uncovered, unveiled, and that, too, to the whole world in due season. Are we looking for a go-called "second coming" of the Lord? Emphatically we are NOT looking into the sky for such a thing BUT, most emphatically, we ARE looking forward for the disclosure, uncovering, revealing of the Lord NOW PRESENT BUT HIDDEN in spirit form. Truly, the APOKALUPSIS of Jesus Christ is a yet future vision for the great mass of Christians as well as for the world, and to all of us there is yet much to be unveiled.
Let us now notice that the EPIPHANEIA of Jesus Christ is something greater and grander by far than either His PAROUSIA or His APOKALUPSIS. God poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Christ came to His church as the blessed Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the indwelling Christ, the Lord, the Spirit; but that was not the EPIPHANEIA of Jesus Christ. From that time until now the Christ of God has dwelt within the regenerated hearts and lives of vast multitudes of men and women who have by faith received Him; but this is not the EPIPHANEIA of Christ. Jesus has been with His people for these twenty centuries, to aid, to comfort, to teach, to quicken, and to bless; but this is not His EPIPHANEIA.
Let us SEE! The PAROUSIA is the reality of His presence with us - though hidden and unseen. The APOKALUPSIS is the drawing aside of the veil or covering that hides Him from view, enabling us by the spirit of revelation to behold the King in His beauty. The EPIPHANEIA is the MANIFESTATION or OUTRAYING of Himself which follows the unveiling. The manifestation is consequent upon the unveiling; when that takes place the hidden One is no longer hidden but seen. Once brought out into view He then springs into action, bares His holy arm, arises in His strength, and the MANIFESTATION of His presence commences. This truth is expressed in a notable verse: "Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the BRIGHTNESS (epiphaneia) of His COMING (parousia)." Actually translated the verse reads "THE MANIFESTATION OF HIS PRESENCE."
Ah - He can be present and remain unseen, and truly this has been one of the more difficult aspects in this tremendous calling of God upon His elect as He has made known in our hearts the beautiful hope of sonship - that secretness, aloneness, hiddenness of His working. "Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour" (Isa. 45:15). How often He veils Himself, and we cry out like Job, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to His seat! I would order my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say unto me. Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; backward, but I cannot perceive Him: on the left hand, where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him: He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him" (Job 23:3-9). At times such as this we yearn to see the manifestation, the awesome display of His working - that we might behold His glory and bask in the sunlight of His love. He can manifest His presence, and manifest it with a brightness above the noon-day sun. The EPIPHANEIA is just this MANIFESTATION of the fact that the Lord is present; the very manifestation of the presence of Himself. Thus we see that the EPIPHANEIA refers to the operation and display of His power and glory which make manifest in an open and discernible way thereality of His presence. It is not just one manifestation somewhere in the indefinte future, but a constant, continuing, progressive and ever-increasing manifestation. Certainly, the presence of Christ has not been manifested to the world in general. Thereforewe endeavor to "keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the APPEARING (manifestation) of our Lord Jesus Christ; which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (I Tim. 6:14-15). The indwelling Christ must become manifest to the outer world. The parousia, the inward presenceof Christ, is to have ultimately an outward manifestation and demonstration.
In these articles on the appearing of Christ, it is not our purpose to merely present another Bible study or more doctrinal views. Rather it is our earnest desire and holy responsibility to present CHRIST and the glorious hope of HIS APPEARING, and to encourage all who read these lines to prepare for the MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST to, in, and through His "many brethren." All of the Lord's overcomers are indeed "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of Christ" (Tit. 2:13). "If God is so wonderful," mused the little Italian girl, "why doesn't He show His face?" And that, precious friend of mine, is precisely what He will do! The Psalmist cried out, "Turn us, O Lord. Cause Thy face to shine and we shall be saved" (Ps. 80:3,7,19). It is only as we turn in the direction of the unveiled glory that we can know transformation. You can read the history of great revivals, you can think of the great visitations of yesterday, you can reminisce all you want. There is not enough power in such things to transform you! Transformation comes only in the light of the present glory and manifestation of Christ Jesus. Praise His name!
May almighty God help us to turn in our thinking, in our heart and spirit to behold Him and see Him as He is, not as He was. The Bible says, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more (i.e. no longer merely as a man)" (II Cor. 5:16). I dare say there are untold millions of Christians today whose experience does not go much further than a bit of knowledge of the historical Jesus they read about in the four Gospels. Oh! that we may see and know Him by the spirit! We must see the revelation and manifestation of Jesus Christ as King and Lord! There is a vast difference, brothers and sisters. The apostle Peter saw Him day after day, performing the miracles. Peter walked with Him and he knew Him to some degree. There was something of revelation coming through in the manifestation of Christ's power. And one day Jesus said, "Whom do men say that 1, the Son of man, am?" And His disciples said, "'Some say you are John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." "But whom say ye that I am?" inquired Jesus. In that moment Peter had an experience; he received a revelation. The veil was drawn aside, he looked by the Spirit and saw into the interior of this One he had known as Jesus. Peter saw Him as the anointed and glorious Son of God. He saw something different that day and declared, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He saw through that veil of the flesh!
Another day Jesus said, "There will be some standing here, who shall not taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God come with power" (Mk. 9:1). And He took with Him Peter, James and John and went up into a mountain. There these men saw something magnificent. The Lord Jesus' very countenance and His whole Person was changed. He was clothed with a quality and a degree of glory they had never seen before in all the days previous to that hour. They beheld another glory, but it was the same Person. It was the same Jesus Christ, but another glory! And this, without question, left a deep, lasting impression upon Peter. He wrote years later, "I will endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were EYEWITNESSES of His Majesty" (II Pet. 1:15-16). Ah, Peter had experienced the unveiling and manifestation of the Son of God!
Saul of Tarsus met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Saul did not see a man six feet tall with piercing blue eyes and a neatly trimmed chestnut beard. He saw a light and a glory that was brighter than the shining of the sun at noonday. It was the glory of Jesus Christ appearing in a different form. It was the manifestation of the Christ of God in power and glory. What I am saying is there are many modes and forms of the manifestation and appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. As much as I know at this moment, I am seeking to prepare myself for His manifestation in this hour. Oh Lord, make YOUR APPEARING! Break forth out of the midst of us! We are longing to see you!
It was the early morning of the most important day in the history of the world. Jesus had died three days before and was laid in Joseph of Arimathea's newly-hewn tomb. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of her beloved Master early in the morning after the Sabbath. Mary looked into the tomb and saw, shockingly, two messengers in brilliant white, one sitting at the head of the sepulchre and the other at the feet right where Jesus' body had lain. Amazed, she saw the grave clothes between them and noticed the napkin that had been used to cover His face rolled up and laid on a nearby rock shelf. Tears streaking her face and her sobs quieted by the shocking sight she saw, she heard one of the men say, "Woman, why are you crying?" She answered, with a voice that was shaking with fear and grief, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don't have any idea where they have laid Him."
She backed out of the tomb, turned towards the pleasant garden place where a few other people seemed to be gathering, and found her way partially barred by another stranger who spoke to her, and he also wanted to know the cause of her sadness. She thought this man was the gardener, and supposing that he had been in the vicinity most of the time since Jesus had died, she didn't think it strange that he said, "Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" She looked at him and said, "Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away, please tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Suddenly, with the tone of voice and accent with which she was familiar, and which on many occasions had stirred her very soul, He now spoke to her, saying, simply, "Mary!" What was that tone? That familiar timbre of voice? This man did not look like Jesus. He was not dressed as Jesus had always dressed. But it was the unmistakable voice - the voice of Jesus. In that wonderful heaven-blest moment she knew. It was Jesus! Stunned almost to the point of fainting, she exclaimed, "Master!"; reaching out a hand, incredulously, thinking, "It can't be! But it is!" She tried to take His hand. Jesus withdrew His hand and said, "No, don't touch Me! I have not yet ascended unto My Father - but I want you to go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and to My God and to your God." Mary knew that she had seen Jesus, but she knew also that now He was different. She hurried up the pathway, went back into the city, and came to the disciples' hideout. She related every word that had been told her - but the disciples looked at her as if she were crazy.
Later that same day two of Jesus' disciples were strolling along toward a village called Emmaus which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. As the men were walking along the roadway, Jesus came up behind them, having stepped out of His spirit dimension and again assumed a body of flesh and bone. He looked so totally different they couldn't have recognized Him, and since He seemed to be walking their way, they continued to speak wonderingly of the shocking events of the past few days, not suspecting the stranger who was strolling along beside them. It was then that Jesus broke into the conversation. They were amazed that a stranger could have been in the environs of Jerusalem, yet seemingly not know of the events that had occurred. He said to them, "What kind of things?" They answered Him, "About Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in work and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priests and rulers gave Him up to be sentenced to death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who would redeem and set Israel free. Yes and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things occurred. And moreover, some women of our company astounded us and drove us out of our senses. They were at the tomb early in the morning, but did not find His body; and they returned saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive! So some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and they found it just as the women had said, but Him they did not see."
We had hoped - we had trusted - and now everything has been dashed into despair, for He was crucified! Our world came tumbling down around us, ending in death. And now suddenly there is this other report that He is alive again. Now we are totally confused, we don't know what to believe. Ah, how often has this been repeated in the lives of the Lord's people! A man arises claiming to have the anointing of God upon him, God's man of faith and power for the hour, his star rises with brilliance, his message seems to give new hope to them, when suddenly it all falls down again - he is proven to be but a huckster, a religious racketeer, faking the gifts, off with a woman, etc. until people become cynical and wary of anything new, they will not trust any man. And well they ought to feel this way. But wait - God has a remnant, God has a man, a many-membered man, THEY ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, His very own nature, character and quality of being worked into them. And, blessed be God! yet again the divine CHRIST-LIFE shall be manifested in power and glory on this earth, and before the face of all nations. Praise His wonderful name!
As the men walked along the road to Emmaus, after their hopeless tale about His death, burial, and the puzzling empty tomb, Jesus, seeing their doubts chided them, "Oh, you foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in everything the prophets have spoken! Wasn't it thoroughly planned that Christ should suffer all these things and enter into His glory?" There followed a quick synopsis, as they walked along, of every major prophecy from Genesis to Malachi, with Jesus interpreting to them in every scripture the events concerning His own life and ministry. Jesus opened their understanding, He gave them the real reason, the divine purpose behind all these events. There was a QUALITY, A MEANING that stretched far beyond anything they could have dreamed of. So also, were our eyes to be opened in this day, we would see a depth in God's purpose in our inworkings which would astound us. No wonder it is written, that when the revelation of His purpose is ultimately brought forth, "The kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall-they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider" (Isa. 52:15).
They were amazed that this stranger could know all of these things, wondering athis words, as they drew close to Emmaus. When they made as if they would turn off the main road to go to the village, it appeared as if this stranger would go further. Cleopas and the other disciple begged Him to stay with them, saying, "It's almost evening, and the day is nearly gone." They went in, and after a light supper was prepared, sat down to eat. Just at the beginning of the meal, as was custom, they asked their guest to bless the food. He picked a piece of the flat bread, blessed it, broke off a piece, and gave one to each of them. At this moment, Luke says, "their eyes were opened" and they knew who He was! With all of His gracious words ringing in their ears, talking rapidly and earnestly all the way along the roadway to Emmaus about the things the Christ would have to suffer, His life, His calling, the training of His disciples, the manner of His death, and His resurrection, they sat-in absolute astonishment as, having reached out to take a piece of bread., and with a jolt realizing it was Jesus, even as they looked at Him smiling at them across the table, He vanished!
They cried out in a combination of ecstatic joy, fright, doubt and wonderment! Shaking their heads, they looked at one another in absolute astonishment. With their scalps prickling and every hair standing almost on end, they sat in stunned silence. Had this really happened? But the piece of bread was still in their hand, and THEY had not broken it! The place was set, the meal was steaming in its common bowl, and yet Jesus, who had just been sitting across from them, unrecognizable to them at first, had instantly disappeared! They said, "No wonder our hearts seemed to burn within us while He was talking so earnestly to us on the way as we walked along, and gave us such understanding of the scriptures!" Hastily, they took a few quick bites of the meal, got up, and began to trot along the road to Jerusalem as fast as they could, until they found the private place where the disciples had been huddling in fear.
When the eleven were all gathered together, they related "how the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon!" They were busily explaining all about the conversation, the stranger who had appeared to join them, relating all the things He had said to them, while the astonished disciples were listening with a mixture of doubt and wonderment, when, shockingly, Jesus flashed into human form right in their midst! They were frightended almost out of their wits! They thought it was some spiritual apparition and were terrified! They knew they had locked the door, because they were terribly afraid their hideout would be discovered by the religious leaders or Roman soldiers, and they themselves be be made to suffer some terrible persecution for being His chief followers.
Jesus said, quietly, "Peace be to you!" Astonished, they stepped back, eyes wide in dumbfounded amazement. With a smile on His lips, Jesus said, "What's bothering you? Why are you reasoning around in your minds? See, these are My hands and My feet! It is I, really!" As if to give emphasis to the fact that He was in their midst again with bodily form as a human being, in the very same body which had been quite literally resurrected, CHANGED INTO SPIRIT (although manifested as flesh), and that He now possessed the ability to instantly materialize once more in His fleshly form, asked, "Have you got anything here to eat?" As their startled eyes widened, He sat down with them at the table, and began to eat the fish! Following the meal Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you. Even as the Father has sent Me and commissioned Me to fulfill His purpose on this earth, so I am commissioning you." He breathed on them each, and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit! Whatsoever persons' sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; and whatsoever persons' sins you retain, they will be retained." Following this brief encounter, Jesus dematerialized again! The disciples were left in bewildered, excited amazement about this stunning event.
It happened repeatedly - in many parts of the country, with different groups at different times. On one occasion, as attested to by the apostle Paul years later, more than FIVE HUNDRED of those who had known Jesus were gathering together in a special meeting when He had appeared before them, and THEY ALL SAW HIM!
Mary had seen a "gardener." Two of the disciples had seen and conversed with a "stranger." The eleven in the upper room saw the Master as He formerly appeared. Later, a group of them saw Him on the lakeshore, and thought it was a "fisherman." He was with them forty days after His resurrection, but they saw Him only on a few brief occasions. The entire time that He was manifest to them, had it all been crowded into one day instead of being at intervals during the forty days, would probably have been less than twelve hours, or one eightieth of that entire time. This being true, it is evident that He was present with them UNSEEN about seventy-nine eightieths of that period of forty days. And even when they did have MANIFESTATIONS, they were not (except once, on behalf of the doubting Thomas) in a form exactly like the one they had known so intimately for three and a half years, and had seen but a few days before. It is not once intimated that they knew Him by the familiar features of His face, nor even that He was recognized by the same appearance as in other manifestations. Yes, He was different, so different that they were puzzled to understand Him, and to know just how they could still be His disciples.
The Lord Jesus comes to us in different ways. There are are many modes and forms of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to have another manifestation, beloved. It is dawning. It has begun even now. Praise the Lord! It is the same Lord Jesus, but manifested in a further unfoldment of Himself, progressively bringing us to the realization of His fullness.
"After that He appeared in ANOTHER FORM unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country" (Mk. 16:12). He appeared unto them in another form - not another Person. It was the same Christ and Lord. But there was some difference of manifestation. That is the plain truth coming to meet us out of the region of mystery where for us the final truth of things dwells. After His resurrection Jesus was to His disciples Jesus with a difference. He was the same, and yet not the same. There was something about him that differentiated Him from the Christ of the Garden, and the hillside, and the country road, and the seashore. The disciples never doubted that He was the same Jesus with whom they had passed through the corn-fields, and traversed the Palestinian highways, and voyaged on Gennesaret. But the human form which was soon to pass from their midst already seemed to be playing a lessening part in their recognition of their Lord. In a little while they should see Him no more - that is, as a man sees his fellow man. Soon the vision of the living and ever-present Christ was to be internalized, reserved wholly for the inward eye of every quickened and transformed spirit. But it would appear that already, in anticipation of this new order of things, the old order was changing, and the outward form of the Master was already becoming less and less an essential medium for the revelation and recognition of His unchanging personality. This much may be gathered from the record of those blessed days between the resurrection and the ascension.
The story of the appearances of the Christ between the resurrection and the ascension tells us that, in the knowing of Jesus by those to whom He manifested Himself, the spiritual senses predominated over the physical, and the spirit played an ever larger part in the work of perception. It is abundantly clear that it was no apparitional and illusionary Christ that the disciples recognized; but it is equally clear that they who had been wont to recognize their Lord in precisely the same way as they recognized one another, now needed that their physical senses should give way to the spiritual faculties of the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God, the eyes of their understanding being enlightened that they might KNOW HIM.
Form plays so large a part in our physical and material reckonings, judgment by appearance is so necessarily a part of our life in a world of appearances. But all who would be sons of God must learn that, even as the same Christ came to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples on Tiberias, and to the two who journeyed to Emmaus in forms which they did not immediately recognize as Him, so that spiritual life which Jesus revealed, and for which He stood, and ever stands, may take unto itself more than one form of manifestation as it makes its way into the hearts and lives of men. "He appeared in another form." He is always doing that. Would that we were able always to find Him! Would that our faith were deep enough, would that our love were broad enough, would that our insight were keen enough, to recognize Him in all the forms and fashions of His coming unto the children of men!
Some find the Christ as Mary Magdalene found Him suddenly when He called her name. Some find Him in the doing of His will, as the disciples who cast the net in Tiberias, and found it was their Master and Lord they were obeying. Some go the journey to Emmaus - the way of many a heart-burning, many a meditation, many a mind and spirit struggle and find Him in the breaking of bread at His hand. At the core of all spiritual experience there lies the same eternal truth, for it is the same Christ who meets us all; but many are the forms experience can take. Some find Him in the blessing, others with Job upon the ash-heap of stripping and desolation, who, being brought very low and tested to the uttermost can shout the triumphant declaration: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee!" (Job. 42:5). Therefore, let not the man who has met the Master in the garden of Joseph doubt that He was ever seen on the shore of Tiberias; and let not him who hath found Him on that dawn-lit beach think it improbable that He ever walked and talked with the travelers to Emmaus.
"HE APPEARED IN ANOTHER FORM." It is the same Christ revealing Himself to men in another form. So, my brother, my sister, as we ponder the mysterious manifestations of the risen Christ among the faithful and devout disciples, let us remind ourselves that this same Jesus is ever in our midst, and we must be ready to recognize Him as He becomes manifested to us from day to day, and from glory to glory, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We will never be able to thoroughly comprehend Christ's presence, His unveiling, or His manifestation until we understand these wonderful truths in terms of the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about, the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, the marching forward of God. There are different degrees and different types of the manifestations of Christ. Individually as well as corporately we have had manifestations of our Lord Jesus in times of worship, prayer, singing, healing, prophecy, and in the walking out of the will of God in our lives. Theyare all part of the revelation and manifestation of Christ. In some way Christ comes through. Every manifestation of Christ serves a purpose. And how often He appears in "yet another form!"
Historically there have been times and seasons of the manifestation of Christ. In those heaven-blest days of the early church the Christ of God was poured forth in such power and glory that it is beyond the ability of any man to fully comprehend the far reaching results of His operation through the apostles and prophets and saints of that generation as they brought to the face of the earth another unique expression of the glory of God. The Christ of Galilee had disappeared from their midst, but again there was a going forth of Jesus Christ, released in another form through a many-membered body. It was a heavenly visitation that shook the entire earth, changing the course of history and the destiny of nations and empires. This was GOD'S GLORY arising upon the people and filling their hearts with joy and gladness, transforming their lives and making them sons of God. Truly, it was the MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST.
Late in the fourth century a Scottish lad by the name of Patricius (Patrick) had spent six long years of his young life subjected to the unspeakable horrors of slavery deep within the forests of Ireland. In this foreign land he served a Druid chieftain, who put him to work feeding the swine. In the midst of his dreadful solitude he had a dream one night. In that dream he had a vision and a voice said, "Lo, thy ship is ready!" The next morning he fled his captors and staggered two hundred miles through the dense forest of Ireland, finally arriving at the sea. And when he came out of the woods, there was a ship, waiting to sail, loaded with Irish wolfhounds. He asked passage on the ship but was angrily cast out. As he walked dejectedly away, someone ran after him and told him to come back, that they had changed their minds. And so, Patrick left the land of Ireland. He sailed to Gaul and after some years returned to his home. But he could never get out of his mind those Irish Druids that had held him captive. For years, he planned the revenge that he was going to have upon his captors. But it was a different kind of revenge; it was a noble revenge in which he would bring to them the light of the gospel. He could hear the thousands of souls in those darkened forests, crying for the Bread of Life, and there was none to break it, he said. Finally, after twenty years had passed, during which he watched the westering sun go down over that benighted island, and his heart would return to those people, one night he had another vision and someone came with a handful of letters and at the top it said: THE VOICE OF THE IRISH. And suddenly, he said, I heard a whole chorus of voices and I saw a group of people standing at the forest's edge, the forests of F. Claugh, and they said, "We pray thee, holy youth, come and henceforth walk among us." He believed that he had been called by God to return to the land of his slavery. So, he set sail for Ireland. There he landed on those inhospitable shores and plunged into the depths of the forests and confronted the fanatical Druids and proclaimed the gospel. He confronted the Druid kings and priests and he overwhelmed them with the power of the gospel. "And the Lamb shall overcome them" (Rev. 17:4). And so mighty was his missionary endeavor that he crossed Ireland from one side to the other, time after time. There was hardly any place in the Emerald Isle where the breath of the revival brought by Patrick did not reach. The results were astonishing! He found the island a completely pagan and savage land, and left it almost totally converted to the Lord Jesus Christ and transformed in mind and heart. Who can deny that this mighty accomplishment was the result of the MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST!
The glorious manifestation of the Christ of God stirred and shook Scotland in the days of John Knox. In Knox's day all of Europe was sunk in the mire of darkness, ignorance and corruption. Scotland was the most backward nation in Europe at that time, its morals were the most degenerate; its church was the most corrupt; and the entire scene was one of gloomy despair. In the midst of this gross darkness Knox went into a garden in Scotland and knelt for hours in agonizing prayer. He finally lifted up his hands to God and cried in a mighty voice: "Great God, give me Scotland or I die!" God gave such power to Knox, and sent such a wave of the glory of God, until the whole nation was brought under the mighty regenerating hand of God and the entire life of Scotland was totally transformed by the Spirit of the Lord.
At times God has raised up mighty men and, as it were, pulled apart but a little the veil, giving a glimpse of the force of a ministry filled with the fullness of His power the harbinger of greater things to come. Such men were John Wesley and George Whitefield who turned England to God in the eighteenth century. Such a man, also, was Charles Finney, an attorney, who upon being apprehended of the Lord left his vocation, waited upon and then followed the Lord. When he entered into a town often all the taverns, theaters, pool halls and houses of prostitution would close, not because of some law, nor out of respect for religious gatherings, but because there was no longer any need for them, there simply weren't any customers, the whole town had turned to God! One man wrote of Finney, "No one has ever approached the gigantic stature of the mighty Charles Finney, who alone, without an evangelistic society, without a radio or television program, without a computer, without 10,000 partners TO APPEAL TO, or a business manager, WON TWO AND A HALF MILLION SOULS TO CHRIST. A hundred like Finney WOULD WIN THE ENTIRE AMERICAN NATION." But - it was not Charles Finney who turned England to God. I do not hesitate to tell you that that mighty move of the Lord was naught but THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST as HE appeared in "yet another form."
At the turn of this century, in the country of Wales, in an hour of great apostasy and degeneracy, many hundreds of people began to fervently pray for God to move in that land. After many months the flood gates of heaven were opened and the Holy Spirit swept as an overflowing stream over the nation. Vast multitudes of people were mysteriously moved upon by the "wind" of the Holy Spirit and sovereignly swept into the Kingdom of God. Soon the valleys and the mountains of the entire land were ringing with the high praises of God. The mighty tidal wave swept hither and thither - men knew not how or why. Visitors from all parts of Britain and the Continent began to flock to Wales to see the "great sight" of God breaking forth in supernatural power upon the sons of men. Practically the entire nation was turned to God by the MANIFESTATION OF JESUS CHRIST THE LORD!
No less striking and wonderful has been the manifestation of Christ in power and glory in the great Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit which came first to America, and then to the world, at the turn of this century and continues to this present hour. I am thankful for my Pentecostal heritage and for those Pentecostal experiences, but I am even more grateful that the Lord in His mercy opened the eyes of my understanding and permitted me to see and experience something of that manifestation of Christ to His people in those hallowed years following 1948. Great and wonderful beyond the telling was the glory of the Lord that erupted in mighty signs, wonders and miracles, in divers gifts of the Holy Ghost, in prophetic utterance and direction by the laying on of hands, in the song of the Lord in the mouth of vast multitudes as the praises of God echoed down the corridors of the soul and the music of celestial choirs on earth went sweeping up the sky steeps. And it is precious to me now that out of this gushing fountain of HIS MANIFESTATION was birthed the precious "present truth" of sonship, the Kingdom of God, and the reconciliation of all things! Truly, the Christ appeared "in yet another form."
We have not yet witnessed the magnitude of ministry that shall be revealed through the manifested sons of God. God is preparing His perfected and mature body, anointed with the fullness of the seven-fold Spirit of God, and this enchristed company shall appear on the cosmic stage of history in these last days with ten thousand times more power than a St. Patrick, a Wesley, a Whitefield, a Finney, or any of the revival showers of this century. God has moved deeply upon my heart in these days to prophesy to God's elect that there is coming a great and glorious MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST before the face of all nations and the whole earth. There will be a fresh revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to come in the midst of a people who truly "love His appearing," and I see and hear signs that already He is beginning to come. We are standing on the threshold of a new and fresh and transcendental manifestation of our Lord. These things are burning like a furnace inside of me. I am being quickened by these things. I know God is on the move, and my deepest desire is to be a part of this manifestation that will usher in a new day for this sin-cursed planet. The Lord wants to reveal Himself in our midst in a new way, and through us to creation. I am asking God to unveil and manifest Himself to me in these days in a fuller way. Oh God! do a new thing. Are you, precious reader of these lines, hungry for that today? Are you anxious and eager for the Lord to appear? Are you truly looking for His appearing, the manifestation of Himself, His EPIPHANEIA?
The whole earth and all creation is waiting for the glory of the Lord to be manifested. The dealings of God in your life and mine are fraught with divine purpose. There is something far greater ahead of us than walking on streets of gold or flitting about in white night gowns strumming harps. This was the mentality instilled into me as a young man. Thank God there is a heaven, but I want to tell you something. All the dealings of God toward us - the cross, the suffering, the processings, the blessings, the glory - are all intended to put something of His nature and character into us. This working will enable Him to be made manifest in this old dark world in which we live. God has purposed that righteousness and glory shine forth before all the nations. This is going to be done through those who are being transformed into the likeness of His Son. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed from the living, completed temple of His body. His glory shall fill the earth. His power will shake the nations and all nations shall come and worship before HIM. The harvest of this age shall be gathered.
Oh, how our love for God grows when once our eyes envision the wonders of His marvelous purposes, which were purposed in Christ before the world began! Have you noticed the precious understanding of Paul when he penned his fatherly letter to Titus his own son in the faith, when full of the Holy Ghost, his soul aflame with the revelation of God's magnificent plan, how he made known the hope of God's glory to his beloved son? "The grace of God," says the apostle, "that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men" (Tit.2:11). This has already taken place, we all know: the all-saving grace of God has appeared where ever the gospel is proclaimed, in the measure that it is proclaimed, "teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world" (2:12).
But is this all? Is the grace of God appearing to all men "in this present world" all there is to God's great purpose? Is there no portion that goes beyond what we have heard, known and experienced of His grace in "this present world"? Is there no expectation which will surpass the limitations of this age of sin, sickness, travail and death; this age of the duality of good and evil, light and darkness, sin and salvation, victory and defeat, hope and despair? The King James version adds - "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Tit.2:13). Young's Literal Translation is more true to the Greek text when it says, "Waiting for the blessed hope and MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." The Diaglott adds its testimony: "Waiting for the blessed hope, even the APPEARING OF THE GLORY of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."
A wonderful experience awaits the child of God when for the first time he sees that there is an expectation right here upon earth of the MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST. The message is clear - the "grace" of God has already appeared: the "glory" of God is going to appear; and THIS IS WHAT WE LOOK FOR - THE APPEARING AND MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOUR! It is not "the glorious appearing," but the "manifestation of the glory," although the manifestation of the glory will certainly be most glorious! And where is His glory to appear? In the same scene where the grace of God has appeared! "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY WHICH SHALL BE REVEALED IN US. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD (who reveal the glory)" (Rom. 8:18-19). This is not a statement about our anticipated removal into some far-off heaven somewhere, certainly not this, but the forthshining of the fullness of God's glory right here upon earth. The Tabernacle of Moses reveals the order. In the "outer court" you may have His blessings. In the "holy place" you may have His gifts, or some overflow of His presence. But in the "most holy place" you deal with the Majestic One Himself! You can taste of blessings from God, learn about God, and periodically experience His operations, but never really get to H-I-M. Beloved, in this wonderful hour we are being brought unto God! We are BEING brought unto an expression of the GLORY OF GOD, the likes of which none of us have ever known! And it is destined to affect the whole earth, to forever alter the course of history, and once for all chase away the night of darkness, sin and death!
His seed has come into us, we have been born of the Spirit of God, God is having a people in whom is the Spirit of His Son, so that there is a relationship with the Father and a forming and a revelation and an outflow of the Father's character, mind, and will. For what reason? So that God can appear IN THE MIDST of His apprehended ones and so that God can appear THROUGH His people at any time He wants and in any form He needs to appear. "When He shall come to be glorified IN HIS SAINTS, and to be ADMIRED IN ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE in that day" (II Thes. 1:10). Long centuries ago the prophet Malachi asked the burning question, "Who may abide the day of HIS COMING? and who shall STAND when HE APPEARETH? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi (the priesthood), and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness" (Mal. 3:2-3).
The unveiling (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ prepares the way for the manifestation (epiphaneia) of Jesus Christ, and the manifestation of Jesus Christ is the appearing of Jesus Christ. As I have stated earlier, there are many different modes and types of the manifestation of Jesus Christ. "Who shall abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when HE APPEARETH?" Ah, Jesus Christ has come as Saviour and has appeared in saving power in the midst of all the saved ones. He has come as Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and has appeared in the glory of the anointing in the midst of all the Spirit-filled ones. He has come as Healer and has appeared in miracle-working wonder in the midst of all the healed ones. How we praise God for all of these appearings - but now He must appear in "yet another form" - as KING, as LORD, as PRIEST, as the SON OF GOD, as G-O-D.
Jesus Christ wants to reveal Himself in dimensions far beyond those of Saviour, Baptizer and Healer. "Who shall STAND when He appeareth?" asks the prophet. I tell you in truth that it is those who have been MADE ONE IN HIM in that in which He is appearing. When He appears as Saviour it is the saved ones who STAND WITH HIM IN THAT APPEARING. When He appears as Baptizer, it is the Spirit-baptized ones who STAND WITH HIM IN THAT APPEARING. When He appears as Healer it is the healed ones who STAND WITH HIM IN THAT APPEARING. Those who KNOW HIM in the manifestation of Himself are able to stand with Him as the embodiment and expression of His manifestation in that realm. God is teaching us the way of overcoming, the reality of His authority and Lordship. Why is He establishing that authority and that Lordship in the hearts of His elect? Because He is the Lord and Head of the body, the church. Of course you will never know His Lordship, except by the Holy Spirit: "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." The Lordship of Jesus Christ must be set up in our hearts, where His will becomes our delight. Why does He want us to come into lordship and authority? So He can appear in the midst as the LORD OF LORDS! If we are not lords, ruling with authority, He cannot come as Lord of lords. He is not Lord of slaves. He is not Lord of babies. He is Lord of LORDS! Why is God bringing many sons to glory? That in the midst of all the sons Jesus Christ might appear as the pre-eminent One, THE SON among the sons!
"Well," you say, "why does He not appear as King of kings?" Because most of us are beggars. "Oh, God, please bless us; Lord, do this, do that; give us this, give us that." And if He appeared as King of beggars we would be ashamed before Him at His appearing. In all our poverty, in all our need, in all our self-pity, in all our limitation, foolishness and carnality, should suddenly the Majesty of the heavens, the blessed and only Potentate appear, why right away we would fall with our faces in the dust in shame before Him. But if we are standing as kings in the presence of God, reigning in life, undefeated and victorious, overcomers and conquerors in all things, rejoicing because His throne is in our hearts, then we welcome the King of the kings in the midst of the kings! And we can STAND when HE APPEARS!
Do we love His appearing? Do we want God to make us a people for Himself, so that in whatever form He desires to appear, He can appear in the midst? The inspired apostle John has taught us that when. HE APPEARS WE MUST BE LIKE HIM. It says, "We shall be like Him," but it also means, "We must be like Him." Can we not see that if we are not like Him in the way He wishes to appear, He cannot appear in that form? We are HIS BODY, the vehicle, the expression and manifestation of the Christ. Because we are His body, whenever He manifests Himself, He will manifest Himself in the form of that body, in whatever form the body is. If He must appear as Saviour, He must appear among and through saviours. If He must appear as Deliverer, He must appear among deliverers. If He appears as the Chief Cornerstone, He must appear among living stones. If He appears as the Son of God, He must appear among many brethren conformed to His image. If He appears as High Priest, He must appear among the priesthood. If He comes as Lord, it must be among other lords. If He comes as King, He must be king in and through other kings. If He is going to be revealed as GOD, He must be revealed among the gods (Ps. 82:2,6).
"Who shall stand when He appeareth?" When He appears as King, only the kings can stand with Him, everybody else has to fall before Him. When He appears as Lord, only the lords are able to stand with Him, the rest will bow before His appearing. When He appears as Judge, only the judges (I Cor. 6:2; Dan. 7:22) can stand with Him, all the rest will cringe before Him. And when He appears as High Priest, only the priests, those elect saints born of a priestly heart, possessed of the priestly nature, are able to stand with Him!
This is the glory of the EPIPHANEIA - the MANIFESTATION OF JESUS CHRIST! May all who read these lines continue to yield their lives under the mighty hand of God, unto his processing, waiting for that blessed hope, the MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST!
J. Preston Eby
P.O. Box 371240
El Paso TX 79937-1240
All writings are distributed on a free-will basis.
(Brother Eby does not have e-mail service)