KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

The third Greek word related to the "coming" of the Lord Jesus Christ is EPIPHANEIA. 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!

Let us now notice that the EPIPHANEIA of Jesus Christ is something greater and grander by far than either His PAROUSIA or His APOKALUPSIS. 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 broughtout 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."

The story of the appearances of Christ between His resurrection and the ascension tells us that it was necessary for the spiritual faculties to be quickened in order to perceive the Lord in His varied manifestations. Almost on every occasion when the Lord manifested Himself to His disciples it was as it had been with the men who walked the road to Emmaus, "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 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. The Lord Jesus comes to us in different ways. There 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.

There is one wonderful trait that identifies the sons of God, and that is that they LOOK FOR HIS APPEARING - indeed, they LOVE HIS APPEARING. Paul taught the Thessalonians to "wait for His Son from heaven" (I Thes. 1:10). The word used (wait) is instructive. It is a word which would not be used of a patient sitting in a dentist's chair; nor of a sick man dying of an incurable disease, resignedly waiting the end. The word involves eagerness, longing, expectancy. It expresses an earnestness and intensity of desire which can only be characterized by the magnificent phrase - "that BLESSED HOPE."

Oh beloved reader of these lines, what scenes are before us! What grand realities! What brilliant glories! May we live in the light and power of these things! How we love His appearing in all the wonderful ways in which He has already appeared and in those in which He shall yet appear! We will never be able to thoroughly appreciate the Christ's appearing until we understand clearly this wonderful truth in terms of the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ. There are different degrees of the manifestation of Christ. One of the biggest lies ever foisted upon gullible babes in Christ is the foolish notion propounded by the church systems that there is to be but one single "appearing" of the Lord at some indefinite date in the future. I would have to tear my Bible all to pieces if I taught that. The grand truth is that He appears unto His elect from glory to glory, in ever-increasing unfoldments of Himself. He appeared; He continued to appear; He appears; He continues to appear; He shall appear; He shall continue to appear. Praise His wonderful name!

We are distinctly told that men SAW the Christ following His resurrection. "To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, having been seen of them forty days" (Acts 1:3). And in Acts 10:40-41 we read: "Him God raised up the third day, and gave Him TO BE MADE MANIFEST, not to all the people, but unto witnesses that were chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead." The list of those who saw Him is given in I Cor. 15:5-8. He appeared to CEPHAS. He appeared to the TWELVE. Then to above FIVE HUNDRED BRETHREN at once. Then He appeared to JAMES. Then to ALL THE APOSTLES. "Last of all," Paul says, "He appeared to ME also." That doesn't mean that after Paul He would never appear to anyone else - if that were true, how could WE look for and love His appearing? Many years after Jesus appeared to Paul He appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos! Time had marched on. The glory that John had seen in the days of Jesus of Nazareth was now a thing of the past. It had done its work, and had left an indelible impression upon John's being and its mark upon the world. But, nonetheless, it was a thing of the past. Likewise, the glory of the New Testament Church had risen to great heights. The disciples had gone throughout the entire civilized world and spread the glad tidings of redemption through Jesus Christ, and the ushering in of the grace of God. But we find that by the time John arrived on Patmos there was a waning. All the other apostles had vanished from the scene. Even the great Paul was dead. The glory of God upon that infant church had lifted. There was a scattering, and much persecution and tribulation. There were also many problems, with heresies, confusion and rampant carnality.

John was at this time waiting for a further revelation from God. He was not lamenting and saying, "Oh, if I could just tell about those good old days with Jesus when He was here ... if only we could have continued in those blessed years of joy and victory and glory in the early church." He was not trying to recapture the glory of the past. He was there for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus in that day! Thus a tremendous unveiling came in that bleak island. The Lord Jesus appeared to John in a glory greater far than any glory in which He had beheld Him hitherto. And this manifestation of Christ was the herald of a new and glorious dealing of Christ in the midst of His people!

But let us go back to Paul for a moment. "Last of all He was seen by me also." Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. He came in religious zeal breathing threatening and slaughter Against the disciples of the Lord. He was a man who was filled with indignity and hostility and bitterness. If he found any Christians, men or women, he sought to bind them and bring them to Jerusalem where they might be tortured and killed, if they refused to recant of this Christian heresy. He went to the High Priest to secure papers to go to Damascus. As he drew near, there suddenly shone a light from heaven so bright as to pale the sun by comparison, and it caused him to be thrown from his horse to the ground! In this blinding light Saul heard a voice which called his name, saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Trembling with astonishment, Saul asked, "Who art Thou, Lord?" The reply thundered back, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest."

In that moment Saul saw a vision that was to change his entire life. Everything was changed in the brilliance of that light. His world was turned upside down - rather, right side up! His right, he discovered, was wrong; his faith was unbelief; his earnestness was treason; his truth was error; his zeal was rebellion. Everything suddenly turned topsy-turvy and he realized that this Jesus, whose name just a moment before had been an epithet, an object of derision, of laughter, of scorn, of hatred, now suddenly was the Lord of glory, the All Holy One, the Altogether Lovely One, the Creator and Redeemer of the world! In that moment Saul was changed from the persecutor to a disciple. He fell to the ground a sinner, and rose a saint; he fell to the ground a sighted man who was blind, and rose a blind man who could see. He saw the greatest sight in all the world. He saw his God for who He really is. In that moment Saul bowed low before the God of grace and power; he was brought to submission to Jesus Christ. And through Paul's life and ministry the church was established throughout the far-flung Empire and the course of history was forever altered.

Skeptics down through the centuries have tried to explain that conversion and the dramatic events it precipitated. But, precious friend of mine, there is no explanation other than the SUPERNATURAL SOVEREIGN WORK OF GOD. That is our God! And I do not hesitate to tell you, beloved, that God is getting ready to move again! All over the world in this particular moment in history, the Spirit of God is speaking to His apprehended ones concerning the imminent manifestation of the sons of God. The trumpet has sounded the appointed time has come. Elect saints in every nation have heard the voice of the prophets, foretelling of this most awesome intervention of God's power that is about to sweep the earth and shake all nations.

Although Jesus Christ appeared in glory to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, that was not by any means the end of His appearing in Paul's life. Nearly thirty years later, in recounting his experience before king Agrippa, Paul reiterated the words of the Lord Jesus spoken to him that eventful day: "But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I HAVE APPEARED unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I WILL APPEAR unto thee" (Acts 26:16). "I W-I-L-L APPEAR!" Ah, the Lord obviously appeared to Paul more times than just the one initial experience. In fact, Paul said of the gospel he preached, "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:12). Is it not plain to be seen that the appearing of the Lord in Paul's life was an on-going reality from glory to glory? He was TAUGHT by the REVELATION of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! Only one who had encountered the Lord in a personal and real way could pen these meaningful words: "For I have RECEIVED OF THE LORD that which I delivered unto you..." (I Cor. 11:23). The Lord appeared to Paul and continued to appear to him throughout his ministry, imparting the transforming truths he proclaimed.

I say again - I repeat it with assurance of His Word of truth - "looking for His appearing" does not mean gazing into the skies for Jesus to flash down from heaven on a cloud. There are many modes and forms of the appearing of the Lord Jesus. EACH MANIFESTATION IS ON THE PLANE OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE PERSON TO WHOM HE APPEARS, AND EACH IS DESIGNED TO MEET A NEED. Understand this truth, my beloved, and you will comprehend a great mystery of the Kingdom of God. Every man and woman on the face of the earth, regardless of spiritual stature, should, on the plane they are on, LOOK FOR HIS APPEARING, for men are always transformed thereby. It is impossible to emphasize too strongly the fact that the Christ appears to men right where they are and on a level of manifestation they are capable to receive. He appears to us in greater and greater glory as we walk on with Him. That is why we see, in the scriptures, an ascending scale of glory with each manifestation of Christ. There was one degree of glory in His appearing in Bethlehem on the night of His miraculous birth. There was a greater glory when at Cana of Galilee He turned the water into wine, showing forth His glory that His disciples might believe on Him. In that glory He walked and showed Himself to Israel with mighty signs and wonders for three and a half years. Greater still was the glory disclosed in His astonishing resurrection and the manifestations that followed. And the glory seen by Saul of Tarsus along the road - the glory brighter than the noonday sun shining in its strength - was greater still. But the glory witnessed by the beloved Seer of Patmos as transfigured he beheld One standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks - was greater and grander than all! Oh, yes, my beloved, in our individual lives and corporately, the appearing of the Lord is ever "FROM glory, TO glory"!

Some time ago a friend shared the following experience which wonderfully illustrates the point I am endeavoring to get across. "Last fall, the Lord began to show me what was the cup that passed to Jesus in the Garden. It was not physical death. No one could ever convince me that Jesus was afraid of physical death, because He has released me from such fear. If I am not afraid, then He could not have been afraid either. No, that cup which He so dreaded was something far more than death to His physical being. I saw that it was that cup of Proverbs that says, 'Look not on the wine when it is red in the cup, for at last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder.' That word, 'red' is, in the Hebrew, 'Adam.' 'Look not upon the cup when it is ADAM!' The dregs of that cup, while looking beautiful and sparkling and clear on the top, are shown to be a serpent. It was that cup that was passed to Jesus in the Garden, and that brought from His holy lips, 'If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me!' And then-the Lord quickened to me that word which says, 'Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord.' It was the cup of Babylon, with all her dead forms and perverted, twisted, carnal doctrines that the Father offered Jesus. He who was pure ESSENCE, free from all dead form, to become identified with form! Such love!

"THIS is the real death that Jesus Christ died - and is still dying! It is the death that He died from the foundation of the world, and has continued to die again and again, in every age - as He has stripped Himself of His glory, come down to be contained in forms - candles sitting on an altar, images placed around a wall, doctrines that belie His very nature - identifying - pouring His anointing into them to bring forth a measure of His life! This is the sacrifice of Christ Jesus! As I sat in a meeting one Sunday morning, I saw it so beautifully illustrated. There the Spirit of God was moving among the people, their pastor just having been filled with the Spirit not long before...the Spirit moving amongst all that foolishness of crucifixes and candles, of ritual and form, even in clerical garments. But Christ was there - in Life! MOVING, yet fixed to the cross of that dreadful tree of legalism and form! I sat there and looked at the altar and the idolatry there and murmured a prayer of thanksgiving: 'What a God you are to allow Yourself to be brought down so far IN ORDER TO SERVE!' Nailed to the cross of form, shedding the blood, which is the New Wine of the Spirit, the very essence life of Christ" - end quote.

There is a remarkable testimony of the appearing of the Lord, altogether as sovereign and glorious as that of the apostle Paul, that comes to us from one of England's great preachers of the eighteenth century, a man by the name of William Huntington. His testimony begins at a time of hopeless confusion in his young life when he was searching after God but was helplessly enslaved by the unyielding shackles of sin, fear and ignorance. He wrote: "While I was standing on my ladder, sinking in despondency, or rather despair; wishing for more books of prayers, and fretting because I could get none that would suit my case; behold, suddenly a 'great light shined round about me,' quick as lightning, and far superior to 'the brightness of the sun.' My hair stood upright, and my blood rankled in my veins, for fear this was to bring me to my dreadful and long-expected end, for I knew not as yet which class I was to die a member of, not being pardoned. I now came down from my ladder, and stood looking this way and that, but could see nothing except the vision. I cried out, 'What is it? what is it? what is it?' fearing it was something to bring me to my end, and that I should have no part in that sweet line of promises and invitations which I saw belonged to the elect, who are emphatically styled heirs of the promise. Immediately I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me in plain words, 'LAY BY YOUR FORMS OF PRAYERS, AND GO, PRAY TO JESUS CHRIST; DO NOT YOU SEE HOW PITIFULLY HE SPEAKS TO SINNERS?' These are the words VERBATIM, for I think that I shall never forget them.

I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but went to my little tool-house to pray, yet I cannot remember that I had at that time any faith in the Saviour or expectation of being heard or answered - to all appearance I was sunk too low for that. I rather thought this vision was to bring me to my final end. Therefore I trembled in myself, and was almost desperate, fearing that I should shortly sink under that awful line of and curses. When I came into my little tool-house, to the best of as I usually had done - that is, I pulled off my blue apron, and covered my head and face with it; for I was like the poor publican, I could not even look up to God - I was afraid He would damn me if I offered to do it. I kneeled down, and began to pray extempore, the language of one desperate, precisely thus: 'O Lord, I am a sinner, and Thou knowest it. I have tried to make myself better, but cannot. If there is any way left in which Thou canst save me, do Thou save me; if not, I must be damned, for I cannot try anymore nor won't.'

"The very moment the last sentence dropped from my lips, 'the spirit of grace and of supplication' was poured into my soul, and I forthwith spake as the Spirit gave me utterance. I immediately prayed with such energy, eloquence, fluency, boldness, and familiarity as quite astonished me; as much as though I should now suddenly speak Arabic, a language that I never learned a syllable of. And the blessed Spirit of God poured the sweet promises into my heart, from all parts of the scriptures, in a powerful manner, and helped my infirmities greatly by furnishing my faltering tongue with words to plead prevalently with God. Yea, that blessed Spirit enabled me to compass the Almighty about with His own promises, which were so suitable to my case, that His blessed Majesty could not get out of His own bonds. It came to pass that, after I had been wrestling in this manner for about the space of a quarter of an hour, behold, Jesus Christ aapeared to me in a most glorious and conspicuous manner, with all His body stained with blood! He appeared in His aspect as one greatly dishonored and much abused, and yet inclined to pity me. I turned my eyes from Him, but He pursued me, and was still before me. I fell to the ground, and laid on my face, but could not shun the sight.

"The more I strove to avoid Him, the nearer He approached, the vision opened brighter and brighter, and the deeper impression was made upon my mind; and the more I condemned myself, and tried to creep into darkness from His sight, the more He smiled upon me, and the more He melted, renewed and comforted my soul. When I found I could not shun Him, nor shut out His dissolving beams, I arose from the ground, and went into the garden. Here I found that all my temptations were fled; my hard thoughts of God, and the dreadful ideas I had of Him in His righteous law, were dissipated; my sins, which had stood before me during so many months, with their ghastly and formidable appearance, had spread their wings and taken flight. My darkness was dispelled by the rays of the Sun of righteousness, and life and immortality appeared in such a glorious point of view, that I swooned in the soul-renewing and soul-transporting flames of everlasting love. All the horrors of the damned, and my meditations upon their irrevocable doom, vanished; confusion and despair sank into oblivion; the self-existent Jehovah, the God of armies, had put all to flight, and kept both throne and field alone, waving the banner of eternal love. I went into the tool-house in all the agonies of the damned, and returned with the Kingdom of God established in my heart. O happy year! happy day! blessed minute! Yea, rather, blessed be my dear Redeemer, who 'delivereth my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.' JESUS CHRIST WAS COME - it was the year of Jubilee with me" -end quote.

Another testimony of the same magnitude comes from far away India. Sadhu Sundar Singh was born of wealthy parents, September 3, 1889, at Rampur, in the state of Patiala in North India, the youngest son of his father, Sundar was brought up in the midst of luxury. His parents were Sikhs by race, but in religious thought and practice were almost as much Hindus, frequenting the places of worship, reading the sacred books and keeping in close contact with the teachers of both religions. Alluding to this period ofhis life, with a playing upon words which was characteristic of his speech, Sunday Singh said, "I was not a Sikh, but a seeker-after Truth."

By age sixteen he had read the Granth of the Sikhs, the Muhammadan Quran, and a number of the Hindu Upanishads - a remarkable achievement. But it was all in vain. His mother had taken him to priests and sadhus (holy men) who might point out to him sacred texts which would show him the way; and for some time, under the direction of a Hindu sadhu, he practiced a form of Yoga - one of the methods, much esteemed among Hindus, of seeking identification with the Supreme Spirit, and the resultant peace and illumination, by concentration leading up to a state of trance - but with no avail. There was no peace! With the Bible he first became acquainted at the Presbyterian Mission School in his village, but it repelled him as being utterly subversive of the religion of his fathers and offensive to the proud traditions of his Sikh blood. He little thought that from this unlikely source he would ultimately gain the Peace he so earnestly sought.

The story of his conversion is best given in his own words, quoted from one of his addresses. "Preachers and Christians in general had often come to me and I used to resist them and persecute them. When I was out in any town I got people to throw stones at Christian preachers. I would tear up the Bible and burn it when I had a chance. In the presence of my father I cut up the Bible and other Christian books and put kerosene oil upon them and burnt them. I thought this was a false religion and tried all I could to destroy it. I was faithful to my own religion, but I could not get any satisfaction or peace, though I performed all the ceremonies and rites of that religion. So I thought of leaving it all and committing suicide. Three days after I had burnt the Bible, I woke up about three o'clock in the morning, had my usual bath, and prayed, 'O God, if there is a God, wilt thou show me the right way or I will kill myself.' My intention was that, if I got no satisfaction, I would place my head upon the railway line when the five o'clock train passed by and kill myself. If I got no satisfaction in this life, I thought I would get it in the next. I was praying and praying but got no answer; and I prayed for half an hour longer hoping to get peace.

"At 4:30 A.M. I saw something of which I had no idea at all previously. In the room where I was praying I saw a great light. I thought the place was on fire. I looked around but could find nothing. Then the thought came to me that this might be an answer that God had sent me. Then as I prayed and looked into the light, I saw the form of the Lord Jesus Christ. It had such an appearance of glory and love. If it had been some Hindu incarnation I would have prostrated myself before it. But it was the Lord Jesus Christ whom I had been insulting a few days before. I felt that a vision like this could not come out of my own imagination. I heard a voice saying in Hindustani, 'How long will you persecute Me? I have come to save you; you were praying to know the right way. Why do you not take it?' The thought then came to me, 'Jesus Christ is not dead but living and it must be He Himself.' So I fell at His feet and got this wonderful Peace which I could not get anywhere else.

"When I was converted by the vision of Christ a power like electricity entered my soul and took possession of it. With it came the joy I was wishing to get. This was heaven itself! When I got up, the vision had all disappeared; but although the vision disappeared the Peace and Joy have remained with me ever since. I went off and told my father that I had become a Christian. He told me, 'Go and lie down and sleep; why, only the day before yesterday you burnt the Bible; and you say you are a Christian now.' I said 'Well, I have discovered now that Jesus Christ is alive and have determined to be His follower. Today I am His disciple and I am going to serve Him' " -end quote. Sundar Singh devoted His life to the Lord and became an Indian "sadhu" or wandering "holy man," traveling across India proclaiming the love of God in Christ Jesus. He was a true mystic --receiving innumerable visions of the spirit world, and abundance of revelations of that bright realm which lies beyond the vale of flesh. It is interesting to note in passing that one of the spiritual truths revealed to the Sadhu by the Spirit of revelation from Jesus Christ was the wonderful truth of the ULTIMATE SALVATION OF ALL MEN. Blessed be God!

I am certain that many of my readers who are of mature years remember reading or hearing the "Betty Baxter Story." I personally heard Betty Baxter give her extraordinary testimony more than thirty-five years ago, and have never forgotten the profound impact it made on my young life. She began by saying, "As far back as I can remember, I can never recollect a day without pain and agony in my body. From the time I was just a baby, and all my life-long I suffered pain in my body. From the time I was an infant when the doctors said I was born abnormal, there was something wrong with my spine and with my heart. My daddy began to take me from one doctor to another. He took me from specialist to specialist, to clinics and hospitals. Every doctor, after X-rays, gave the same answer - there was nothing that could be done for me. At the age of eleven I was taken to the large University Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was kept there almost three weeks as they X-rayed and did tests, trying to find out whether there was anything they could do, at least for the pain and suffering in my body. When the three weeks were up they told my parents that there was nothing that medical science could do for me, and sent me home to die.

"I grew worse as I was shut away from the world in my bedroom at age eleven; my spine curved, my chest sunk in, until at the age of fifteen when they stood me up I stood as tall as my four year old brother. There were knots the size of hen's eggs beginning at the base of my neck, one after the other down to the base of my spine. My arms were paralyzed from my shoulders to my wrists, I could only move my fingers. My head was twisted and turned on my body. And in this condition, with all hope given up for me, my parents were advised not to spend any more money on doctors as there was nothing medical science could do. My mother was a devout Christian who deeply loved Jesus. She was desperate, she didn't want me to die. She began to read and study God's Word. She found the answer to what she was searching for in the Word of God. One day, very excited, she came to my room and exclaimed, 'I've found the answer! It says here that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. It says here that ALL things are possible, if you can only believe.' She said, 'Betty, this lets me know that if I have faith and really believe, you're not going to die, but God is going to heal you, bring you out of that bed, make you whole, and you will walk by His power.' "

There is neither time nor space to relate the numerous details that ensued. There were many and varied crisis' in Betty Baxter's condition, climaxing in an out-of-body experience as she came to the river of death, only to be turned back by the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, on a hot August afternoon, sitting in the living room in a big overstuffed chair piled high with pillows, as she prayed, the Lord Jesus spoke in an audible voice beside the chair, and said, "I am going to heal you completely on Sunday afternoon, August 24, at three o'clock." He gave her the day and the hour. Following a number of consequent events we now take up the thread of her story again.

"August 24 finally came. Daddy and my brothers and sisters went to Sunday School and Church. That afternoon mom had invited a few friends together to pray for me. At a quarter till three she came into my bedroom, leaned over my bed and said, 'It's fifteen minutes till three. Do you want mother to carry you and put you in the big chair in the living room?' I told her, 'Yes,' and thought, 'fifteen minutes! And I've waited over fifteen years for Jesus to come and heal me.' They carried me into the living room and put me into the chair with the pillows with my head resting on my knees and my arms hanging at my side. When I'm happy I always cry. So the tears were rolling down my cheeks because it was time now for me to be healed. My baby brother knelt in front of me and shook his little head and said, 'Don't cry any more Sis, it will only be a minute and you'll be bigger than I am.' They knelt around my chair and mom said, 'It's ten minutes now, what do you want us to do?' I replied, 'Start praying, I want to be praying when he comes.' The last thing I remember hearing was my mother saying, 'The hour is come; you won't fail me, will you Lord? You're going to come and heal her because the hour is come.'

"Then I didn't hear any more. There was no wind that day but suddenly a great rushing wind swept through our living room. The drapes swirled in the wind; a door slammed somewhere, and then the wind subsided and all was silence. In this calmness and stillness I knew now that Jesus would really come. My eyes were glued to the opposite side of the room; I watched and waited, it seemed I dare not breathe. As I looked I saw taking form before me a white, fleecy cloud. As I watched, stepping out of that cloud was the Lord Jesus Christ! He stepped forth out of that cloud dressed in flowing garments of glistening white. His face shone with a radiance so bright that I closed my eyes and opened them again while my eyes grew accustomed to His brightness. He stood there a tall man with outstretched arms. I can't describe Him to you. If I were an artist I could not draw Him as He really was. He came walking toward my chair and the closer He got the better I felt. But I felt so unworthy, too unworthy for Jesus to touch me - but if I can touch His garment I know I'll be healed. My fingers reached out trying to touch His clothes, and in the stillness I heard my mother cry out, 'Jesus! You'll have to come closer, she can't reach that far.' But He didn't come closer, and soon the strength that was in my fingers was gone and they fell at my side. He showed me by this that my last feeble effort had failed. It must be HIM and Him alone to heal my body.

"As He stood there I saw beside Him two rows of trees and they stood tall and straight. As I watched, one in the center began to bend until the tip of it touched the ground. I wondered why the one little tree was all bent over while the others stood straight and tall. Then I saw Jesus walk through that row of trees. When He got to the little bent tree He reached out His hand and placed His hand where it was bent and with a loud crack and pop the tree straightened up like the others. I said, 'That's me, alright! He's coming by today. He'll put His hand on my spine, the bones will crack and POP as the vertebraes go into place, and I'll be straight like other girls.'

"Then He took a final step and stood just beside the chair. He leaned down and looked straight into my face and said, 'Betty, you've been patient, kind and loving. Henceforth I promise you joy, health and happiness.' With the final word, 'happiness,' He stretched forth His hand and my body became tense waiting for the hand of Jesus. I felt a hot sensation rush through my body. Two hot hands were placed on my fallen organs and I felt everything inside of me move into place. I knew that internally I was healed. Two hot hands - as hot as fire - took my heart and squeezed it and for the first time I could take a deep breath without gasping and I knew that my heart trouble was gone. And then I felt His hand pressed on the very center of one of the knots on the center of my spine - there was a tingling sensation as though I had touched a live electric wire the bones snapped and cracked as the vertebraes went into place. In the presence of those who were there they saw the knots fade and disappear. My hip snapped into its right position, my paralyzed arms were raised high and in ten seconds I stood on my feet straight as I'm standing tonight, healed by the mighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ!" end quote.

A sister in Christ relates how that in recent years in Agra, India, she met a former "holy man" (sadhu) from the Hindu religion who had had a strange and marvelous experience. While he was praying in the temple, he heard an audible voice speak to him in a language he did not understand. He looked all over but could not find anyone. So he went to his "guru" and told him what had happened and asked him if he could explain it to him. The guru asked him to repeat the words that he had heard and when he did, the guru turned pale for he understood it, as it was in English and he knew the English language. The words that he had heard were, "Jesus is Lord, worship Him." When the guru told this to the sadhu, the sadhu asked who Jesus Christ was. He had never heard of Him. The guru said, "He is the God of the Christians. And He is the greatest of all Gods." "Then, why didn't you tell us about Him?" asked the sadhu. "Because if I had, you would have killed me." "What must I do then?" asked the sadhu. "You must go and search for Him, apparently He is calling you to be His disciple." So that is how the sadhu came to Agra where he found a missionary. He gave his story to him and asked him where he could find this Jesus Christ. Through the ministry of this brother, he was led to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is still serving Him today. When this same sister was in India in 1983 she learned that Jesus Christ had appeared to the gypsy people along the Rajasthan and Gujarat border and they were coming out by the score, looking for Him. He has appeared to the Nepalese and to many others.

Just this past year a precious brother on our mailing list wrote and shared his experience. He said, "I have met with considerable criticism over the past for having put forth this understanding. In 1942, I was baptized in the Holy Spirit on the kitchen floor at home on the farm. The Lord Jesus appeared to me at that time, and because of this I have been unshakable in certain knowledge. He has appeared on various occasions since, but not in the same way. If He can appear to me, there is no reason why He would not appear to any saint."

While we praise God for all of these beautiful experiences of those who have received a manifestation of the Lord, let us never lose sight of the principle that EACH MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST EXISTS ON THE PLANE OF CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE PERSON TO WHOM HE APPEARS. He will always appear on the level and in the manner and form that men can receive Him and that meets their need. You will note in connection with all the appearances of the Lord related in this article that in every case the Lord manifested Himself in a physical form to either an unconverted person or to a saint who had as yet received no call or vision of the deep things of God. Let not those who grow up into the stature of the Son of God imagine for one moment that Christ will appear to them in the same mode or form as He appeared to sinners and to babes in Christ!

After His resurrection the blessed Christ of God appeared to His followers in various forms. Mary saw Him as a "gardener." Two of His disciples saw Him and conversed with a "stranger." The eleven in the upper room saw the Master as He formerly appeared, but not as crucified, with scars. Later a group of them saw Him on the lakeshore, and thought it was a "fisherman." But Thomas doubted. He said that he would not believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead unless he could see the nail prints in His hands and feet and the spear wound in His side.

There are few recorded instances of Christ's appearings more enlightening than the account of Christ's personal revealing of Himself to Thomas. Eight days later, while they were gathered in a room with the doors closed, Jesus suddenly materialized in their midst. They were awe-striken. Jesus looked straight at Thomas and said, "Thomas, come here!" Thomas took several hesitant steps forward, eyes searching the face, studying intently to see if there were anything familiar about this person whose voice seemed identical, yet filled with an even greater note of authority. "Come on," He said, "Go ahead, Thomas, I want you to put your finger right here into My hand." Thomas reached out his finger and actually put it inside the large tear in Jesus' hand where the bones had been separated and the flesh grotesquely torn. Thomas' finger was tingling from its contact with the cold flesh and bare bones of Jesus' hand. The figure took off His outer garment, and pulled up His shirt underneath to reveal a gaping, livid wound in His side. Jesus said, "Go ahead, put your hand into My side!" Trembling with fear, Thomas reached out and actually put his hand completely into the gaping aperture that had been left by the Roman spear. Thomas' stomach was churning, his mind reeling, his eyes glazed with shock. It was He! It really was! This. was in fact the very same Jesus he had himself seen proved dead, standing here before him alive! His legs went limp and he fell at His feet, at those mangled feet, and he looked up into that compassionate face and there was wrung from his soul, from the very depths of his being, a confession, and He cried, "MY LORD AND MY GOD!" In that instant, as though some mighty wind had swept away the cobwebs of his mind, Thomas' doubts disappeared and he KNEW that He was alive; and he could SEE, and he could understand!

The undeniable truth is that Jesus appeared with the nailprints and the wounded side ONLY TO DOUBTING THOMAS. Can we not see by this that unless Jesus chose to show the scars they were not visible - that for the moment He descended to the point of CONSCIOUS THINKING where Thomas, who could only believe by seeing with the human eye, could see? NO BLESSING WENT WITH THOMAS FINDING OUT ABOUT THE RESURRECTION. Jesus said kindly, "Because you have seen Me you have believed! I'll tell you, B-L-E-S-S-E-D are they that have NOT seen and yet have believed!" Blessed are they that have not seen Me in this form with the scars - for He appeared to many - and yet have believed! Blessed are they who receive Me in whatever form I manifest Myself. Blessed are they who do not cling to any manifestation that is past. Blessed is the one who does not have to handle with his hand the unseen things of the Spirit. That one WILL be able to see and handle and experience the hidden things of God, the all-glorious Christ revealed WITHIN.

Believers as a whole are not moving to that. They hate to hear it and the majority of Christians refuse to admit it, but they are one and all "DOUBTING THOMASES." They will not believe that "this same Jesus" has returned unless and until they SEE HIM AS THOMAS SAW HIM. "Except I shall see - I will not believe," said doubting Thomas, and he has and will have his innumerable successors as long as time remains. The cry of almost all Christian people today is, "We want to see Jesus." Men think it is so spiritual to want to see Jesus with earth-bound eyes. We used to sing a song and one line in the chorus said, "And I shall know Him by the nail prints in His hands." We have sung that, in order to KNOW Jesus, we would have to see the nail prints. Oh fools, and slow of heart to believe! We have preached about poor old doubting Thomas, but the great majority of God's people really are "doubting Thomases." They have to see the print of the nails and the wound in the side of Jesus. They are telling the Lord that He MUST manifest something which they can see and understand by the flesh. Something they can handle. And I do not doubt for one moment that there is in the church of God today a vast THOMAS COMPANY unto whom the Lord will manifest Himself in just such a manner. But I do not hesitate to tell you that there is NO BLESSING attached to any appearing of our Lord which is necessary to accommodate unbelief! There is great blessing and heavenly wealth stored up for those who will lay aside the grave clothes of yesterday's manifestation to receive Him as LIFE ON A HIGHER PLANE.

Several months ago a dear sister from Arizona shared by letter the following incident which is both interesting and instructive. "Many years ago when I was involved in some prayer groups where people were talking about the Lord having appeared to them, I had an interesting thing happen to me. I spent one late evening in my living room, leaning on a hassock, where a Bible was also resting. I was praying up a storm, trying to get the Lord to materialize and appear before me. Yes! I know it is humorous now - but what I learned was a gem. While I was working so hard at praying, my elbow hit the Bible, knocking it to the floor. The sound startled me in the darkness and I jumped about three feet off the floor in panic. Then I was quiet and the Lord spoke to me in that still, small voice. First, He asked, "What would you have done if I had appeared?" I realized, then, that I would have been terrified! Then most simply He said, "You are looking for me wrongly; you will not find Me or see Me this way or in this form." I knew then that He had come to me - that was almost twenty years ago" -end quote.

Yes, HE CAME, but not in the form the sister expected. Seeing with the natural eye and hearing with the natural ear are not all there is of seeing and hearing. "No man hath seen God at any time" thus, yet all God's children have seen Him, and known Him, and held communion with Him. We HEAR God's call, our "high calling," we HEAR the voice of our Shepherd, and are constantly LOOKING unto Jesus, and while we see not yet all things put under Him, we do SEE JESUS crowned with glory and honor and with unveiled face we BEHOLD the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same image, for God hath shined in our hearts giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the FACE of Jesus Christ.

"And they shall SEE the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Mat. 24:30). "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall SEE Him" (Rev. 1:7). Every one who is a scholar knows that the words "see" and "know" are identical in their spiritual meaning. When I tell a brother something He did not see before, and I am trying to get him to see it, all at once there passes over his face the illumination which indicates intelligence. He says, "Brother Preston, I see it!" What does he mean? He does not mean that he sees anything with the eye of flesh. He means that he "knows" it. I talk to a blind man who has no eyes to see at all. I explain something to him and presently he says, "Brother, I see it." Does he see anything? No! But he KNOWS it. How many times in the day do you say, "I see it." Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall SEE GOD." Suppose I give you the meaning of this passage: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall KNOW God." The apostle Paul said, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall SEE the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). The real message of this verse is just this: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall KNOW the Lord." It is the pure in heart who see God, who know God.

As one has written, "In the midst of turmoil Job cried, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and He shall stand in the latter days upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I SEE GOD: Whom I shall SEE FOR MYSELF, and MINE EYES SHALL BEHOLD, and not another.' He was positively sure in his own mind that in some distant future day he would SEE GOD, but what he did not know was that AT THAT VERY MOMENT God was leading him into the coveted experience. Within a few days he would shout with ecstatic joy, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: BUT NOW MINE EYE S-E-E-T-H THEE!" (Job 42:5). It is easy to put off spiritual experience for the millenniums to come, but God would have us enter them now. 'That I may KNOW HIM' was the ceaseless longing of Paul's heart. Too many sermons are preached ABOUT GOD, but too few people come to KNOW HIM personally. You can never know people by hearing about them even from their closest friends. You must see them, know them, and understand them personally. However vivid a description may be given of an individual, you could still pass him on the street without knowing who he was or even live in the same house with him without knowing he was the person in question. So also it is with God. You will know many things about Him by hearing, but you will only KNOW HIM when your eye SEE HIM. 'No man can see God and live,' but that does not mean that he will live the same anymore, but will live as God lives in the Spirit" - The Page.

To see the Christ with the understanding, to perceive Him with our spirit, to know Him experientially dwelling in our "deep," our innermost life, this is the vital necessity for our day. The place where you really find Christ is WITHIN. "Christ liveth in me." As His life matures within, as HE grows up within you, you can continually LOOK FOR HIS APPEARING, HIS MANIFESTATION. From the deep of your spirit He will move in His operation outward into soul and body, reconciling, changing, transforming all. That is the greatest place you will ever SEE HIM.

"Even so, come (manifest) Lord Jesus!"

Next to Part 15

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