KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

One of the major ways in which God has displayed His glory has been in the form of a CLOUD. This glory cloud of God has taken different shapes and different sizes on various occasions. When it was time for the children of Israel to begin their exodus out of Egypt, the glory of God took the form of a pillar of fire enshrouded within a cloud. "And the Lord went before them by day IN A PILLAR OF A CLOUD, to lead them in the way; and by night IN A PILLAR OF FIRE, to give them light, to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people" (Ex. 13:21-22).

What did the glory cloud of God signify every time it appeared? The glory cloud of God signified the unique presence of God. It always told the people of Israel, when it appeared, that Jehovah was uniquely present at this place, at this time, for a special purpose. When the shekinah glory of God as a cloud led the children of Israel out of Egypt it signified to the people that God was with them in a very real and sovereign way. "And the LORD went before them IN a pillar of a cloud." God was IN the cloud!

In the previous article on this subject we pointed out a most significant fact of scripture which been entirely overlooked by the average Bible student and almost all preachers and teachers in the church systems. All the way through the scriptures, from the crossing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel to the ascension of Christ from the mount of Olives, God consistently manifested Himself in ONE GLORY CLOUD. There was always just the ONE SINGLE CLOUD. One cloud over mount Sinai. One cloud resting upon the tabernacle in the wilderness. One cloud shining in the Most Holy Place. One cloud filling Solomon's temple. One cloud overshadowing the virgin, implanting the seed of the Christ. One cloud shimmering over the summit of the mount of Transfiguration. And finally, we read, "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and A CLOUD (only one!) received Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). Christ ascended in ONE SINGLE CLOUD of God's shekinah glory - the very SAME cloud in which He had manifested His presence throughout the long ages of time.

The question follows: Why are there MANY CLOUDS attending Christ's coming again, and what are these clouds? To aid our understanding of this truth, let us not for one moment forget that we are dealing with THE CLOUD OF GOD'S GLORY AND PRESENCE. The shekinah. When Jesus, the firstborn Son of God, was in the world John said of Him, "And we beheld HIS GLORY" (Jn. 1:14). How very significant that at the end of Jesus' earthly ministry He said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may BE ONE IN US ... and the G-L-O-R-Y THOU GAVEST ME I HAVE GIVEN THEM...I in them, and Thou in Me. Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, BE WITH ME WHERE I AM; that they may behold MY GLORY which Thou hast given Me" (Jn. 17:20-24). And this is the crux of the whole matter! From the dawn of creation's light until Jesus stepped upon this planet, God manifested to His creation in a singular way HIS OWN GLORY. He, the one eternal God exhibited His presence in the form of ONE GLORY CLOUD. But as Jesus approached the cross and the glorious events to unfold following His resurrection, He disclosed the grand truth that God purposed from eternity to SHARE HIS GLORY WITH HIS VAST FAMILY OF SONS ... that glorious body which is the fullness of Him who filleth all in all!

It should not be difficult for any believer to understand that since the majesty and glory of God is now to be shared by and imparted to a vast company of sons of God, each of these sons to whom is given that same glory that Jesus had from eternity shall stand ultimately in his OWN REALM OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD. The glory is shared, so the CLOUD which represents that glory IS SHARED. Each elect son becomes a manifestation of the glory - of the CLOUD - of the shekinah! The one glory has become the multiple glory. The one God has reproduced His life into a many-membered body. The ONE CLOUD of His presence has become MANY CLOUDS of His presence IN HIS PEOPLE. Isaiah foretold of this day: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the GLORY OF THE LORD IS RISEN UPON T-H-E-E. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and HIS GLORY SHALL BE_S-E-E-N_U-P-O-N_T-H-E-E" (Isa. 60:1-2). The "sign" of the coming or presence of Jehovah has always been the shekinah glory cloud. It was His sign to Moses, and when our Lord comes again in fullness in His many-membered body of saints, it will be IN THE CLOUDS OF HIS PRESENCE AND GLORY.

In all matters of revelation and spiritual understanding it is impossible to overestimate the absolute necessity of the illuminating influence of the Holy Spirit, who comes to take the things of God and show them unto US. The natural man CANNOT understand the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, for they are SPIRITUALLY discerned. The truth of the matter is that the Bible could be read a thousand times, yea, ten thousand times without shedding a ray of light on thecarnal mind of a natural man. In fact, natural minded people, even Christian people, have searched the scriptures day and night throughout endless years, yet, because they read with carnal understanding, destitute of the help of the Holy Spirit while depending entirely upon their natural intellect, the Lord withholds His light and understanding from them.

Some people get bent all out of shape when we tell them that Jesus is not returning riding upon a rain cloud. Let me assure you - the prophecies of the Bible are to be believed! But let us be careful that we do not make them mean something which God did not intend. The mistake that many make is to say that all those prophecies are to be fulfilled in a very physical and natural sense, when the New Testament interpretations indicate that the prophecies do indeed have a literal fulfillment but with a spiritual interpretation. We need to understand that much of the language of the Bible is couched in symbolism, metaphors and allegories. The beauty of things is sometimes enhanced by the descriptive language that God uses, such as when He describes the church, the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:21-33), as a "great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God" (Rev. 21:1-2,9-10). God's use of earthly language to describe His holy Zion in these two chapters of Revelation 21 and 22 is absolutely fantastic and marvelous. I doubt that John could have ever thought up this picture by himself!

Likewise, think of many places in the Bible where God uses symbolical language. In Isa. 7:20 it says, "In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired." The shaving would include His head, His beard and His feet, it says. Physical or symbolical? In Ex. 14:21 we are told that the Lord "caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided," but in singing about this later, Moses said, "...with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were gathered together" (Ex. 15:8). Beautiful language indeed, that God could blow His nose and cause the Red Sea to part for the children of Israel to cross on dry ground; but we certainly understand this is symbolical language as to the method used in describing the real thing that happened.

I am reminded of the little girl who picked up a book on the vegetable kingdom. She read in the book that cabbages have heads. She asked her father, "Do cabbages have heads like we have?" He told her, "No." Then she said, "Well, the man that wrote the book wrote a lie!" "No," her father replied, "the man didn't lie." "But if he did not write a lie," she persisted, "then cabbages must have heads like ours!" Patiently her fattier explained, "No, honey. He is talking about another form of life, and that life form has a head, but it is a different kind of head from ours. Therefore he wrote the truth, but you put the wrong interpretation on it. The man who wrote that knew what he was talking about, but you, not understanding the things he spoke of, suppose that a cabbage has a head like a man's. But that does not make it so. The man was and is right, but your interpretation of what he wrote is wrong." Now, that is how the carnal mind reads the Bible. It understands spiritual realities in terms of fleshly or worldly things. All who interpret the scriptures with the natural mind are just as mistaken in their conclusions as was the little girl who looked for a cabbage possessing a human head complete with eyes, ears, nose and mouth and adorned with hair! The natural mind looks for Jesus to come on a fleecy-white rain cloud, but the spiritual mind sees that lie comes in the shekinah clouds of glory radiating from the glorious living temple of His body.

Another proof that the "clouds" with which Christ comes are in reality the sons of God IN THEIR GLORY is couched in the terminology of the scriptures on this subject. Note that in most places the passages in question speak of Christ coming "WITH CLOUDS." There is only one other group or plurality of objects of which it is stated that Christ comes "with" them, and that is - the SAINTS! The Bible never says that Jesus returns "to" the clouds or "out of" the clouds. It is very careful to tell us that lie comes "with" clouds. And it also tells us that tie comes "with" His saints. "To the end He may establish your hearts ... at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ W-I-T-H ALL HIS SAINTS" (I Thes. 3:13). Jude says, "And Enoch also ... prophesied ... saying, Behold, the Lord cometh W-I-T-H TEN THOUSANDS OF SAINTS" (Jude 14). The Amplified is helpful, when it reads, "Behold,the Lord comes W-I-T-H MYRIADS OF HOLY ONES - ten thousands of His saints." But the Interlineary reading from the Diaglott translation gives the clearest of all renderings from the Greek text, so we note, "Lo, comes Lord I-N HOLY MYRIADS OF HIMSELF." "Myriads of HIMSELF." All of them partakers of His divine nature, conformed to His image, filled with His life. Myriads of Himself, of His own kind, born of His seed, a many brethren company of SONS - all His sons. And again we read the testimony: "And the Lord my God shall come, and ALL, THE SAINTS W-T-T-H_T-H-E-E" (Zech. 14:5). The beloved John sees this same scene in wonder-filled vision and speaking in prophetical language writes: "Behold, He cometh W-I-T-H CLOUDS; and every eye shall see Him" (Rev. 1:7).

Rom. 8:17 contains a marvelous truth. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER." To be GLORIFIED TOGETHER is the hope that springs perennial within the breast of all who have by the spirit beheld HIS GLORY. This wonderful experience of being GLORIFIED TOGETHER is a reference of our union with Christ as members of His body, and speaks of a time to come when this entire company of the sons of God, IN UNION WITH CHRIST THE HEAD, shall be GLORIFIED TOGETHER - IMMERSED INTO THE LIFE OF CHRIST, sharing with Him in the fullness of His glory. This entire company shall be joined to Christ to share with Him in the blessed glorification experience when we shall partake of HIS GLORY, bcing fully transformed into the body of His likeness. Verse eighteen of Romans eight refers to that glory as "The glory which shall be revealed IN US." Therefore, it is a glory which is yet to be revealed IN US, that is, in these bodies we shall experience that great glory of Christ when we shall be clothed upon with our heavenly house so that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

We are plainly taught that when Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear WITH HIM in glory (Col. 3:4). He can do nothing without us. We are His body. Oh, marvelous thought! Christ has bound us to Himself with ties so strong (no man would sprak of his own hand as being near or far, his hand is part of himself; no man would undertake anything without a full participation on the part of every member of his body in that event), Christ has bound us, I repeat, so eternally and utterly to Himself that we MUST figure in His movements. Of course we shall appear with Him! It could not be otherwise - we are His body. Each elect member of His body has been so grafted into the trunk of the eternal Godhead, so incorporated in His life that He and His body are one. Oh, the unutterable glory of this union with Christ! To what an ineffable destiny it commits us. We no longer concern ourselves about whether or not we shall "go to heaven." The truth of the matter is, we would rather not go, if Christ were not there. Ah, He IS heaven! The faintest glimmer of light from His holy countenance beside which the sun is but a shadow, suffices the heart. Paul could not have done otherwise than sing there in prison when at midnight with Silas, he rejoiced. His back was bleeding with the stripes; it was midnight; he was in prison. But he sings as a participant of Christ; heaven's ineffable light bursts in about him, the glory of the Lord is upon him, and the Lord manifests Himself in this cloud!

We are to participate in Christ's coming. We are moving toward the most stupendous transactions in the history of the human race. Nothing can befall Him that does not befall us. We are yet to participate in a fuller measure in the fruits of redemption. We shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. With Him we shall reign. The stream of life, which proceedeth from the throne, and from the Lamb and which breaks in upon us, so that even NOW "rivers of living water" flow from our innermost being, is going to just overflow all its banks in this day, so that death will be literally SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. Oh, that God may give us a heart to make due preparation for the participation in the yet unfulfilled history of Christ. For as we have been made to partake of the death of the Federal Head of the new race, and in Him were resurrected and made to sit in the heavenlies, so, in that sublime event toward which the church moves, the coming of Christ with clouds, we too, shall participate. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!

Often clouds are used in scripture to symbolize something that has been lifted up or exalted. David declares that God's mercy and truth reaches unto the clouds, that His strength is found in the clouds and that He "maketh the clouds His chariots" (Ps. 36:22; 57:10; 68:34; 104:3). We know that these verses are not referring to the bright, fluffy cumulus clouds that we can see with our physical eyes, because Christ has ascended far above all such clouds, sitting at the right hand of the glory of God. He has passed through all heavens and He alone has all power and might, and mercy and truth. All those that are risen with Him and ascended to this place of authority are forming a great BODY through which God is revealing Himself today.

The clouds are meant to set forth the MIGHT, as well as the majesty of His coming. "Ascribe ye strength unto God: His excellency is over Israel, and HIS STRENGTH IS IN THE CLOUDS" (Ps. 68:34). This was the royal token given by Daniel the prophet in his seventh chapter, at the thirteenth verse, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like a Son of man came with the clouds of heaven." Not less than divine is the glory of the Son of God, who once had not where to lay His head. "Behold, He cometh!" not with the bands of swaddling clothes of His infancy, the weariness of His manhood, the shame of His death, but with the all-glorious tapestry of heaven's high chambers. He comes with tens of thousands of like ones unto Himself who have been transformed by His life. He comes in a people with power and glory such as we have never witnessed before. The force of His coming will be such that all people and all nations will be compelled to acknowledge: THINE is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen!

I pray that the Spirit of God will grant me help to expound the thing that is in my vision and that He, being doubly gracious, will take these things of God and reveal them unto every believing heart. The Lord was "transfigured," we are told and Moses and Elijah "appeared in glory" with Him (Lk. 9:31). The glory was Christ's glory, and He it was that was transfigured, but these two men APPEARED in His glory. And that, in fact, is a picture of what is going to happen when Christ is manifested in the saints; the saints are to appear WITH HIM IN GLORY! "When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). It is participation in the Transfiguration glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, just as Moses and Elijah appeared in His Transfiguration glory. The scriptures teach that this Transfiguration is for us. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (Greek: transfigured) by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed (Greek: transfigured) into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. 3:18).

The open face is the "unveiled" face. The reference is to the veil which Moses wore over his face to hide the fading glory from the eyes of the Israelites, when he came down from the mountain. But when he went in to speak to the Lord, he took the veil off. Paul, therefore, exhorts the Corinthians to take the veil off. This is the day and hour of God's great Unveiling - even the Unveiling of the sons of God! And as our eyes and hearts and minds become UNVEILED before God, we are going to be TRANSFIGURED into the SAME IMAGE! These words are unmistakable in clearness. The SAME IMAGE! And this IMAGE is developed and manifested as we partake of His Transfiguration, with minds and hearts and eyes unveiled before the Spirit of God. What Peter beheld, therefore, on the mount of Transfiguration was a true picture of the POWER AND COMING of our Lord Jesus Christ into the midst of His people in this great hour of His power and Kingdom. But it was just a picture; and when the real meaning of the scene is fully revealed to us by way of experience, it will far outshine any attempt to describe it.

"His strength is in the clouds" (Ps. 68:34). With that staggering, challenging thought in mind I ask myself, How much strength does He have according to ME? Reader, how much strength does He have according to YOU? The world today is full of that weak, watered down, insipid, lukewarm laodiceanism. Everywhere we look we see it. It flashes out at us from the television screen, and packs great auditoriums with vast crowds of thousands of people. False teachers, false prophets, and religious racketeers abound. Hollywood singers and entertainers make themselves rich by crooning and recording our precious hymns, which once were written in holy brokenness at the feet of Jesus. Preachers are making themselves millionaires by their flamboyant deception, using the desperate needs of suffering humanity as a pretext to rob the widow, the simple and the well-meaning. I do not hesitate to tell you that they brazenly fake the sacred gifts of the Holy Spirit, in order by this blasphemous pretense to appear before the people as great and powerful men of God. My spirit loathes it all, and I cast it far from me. Such conniving and deception is not of the truth. It is no nearer to light than darkness and no nearer to Christ than Belial. It is the horrible delusion of Mystery Babylon from which every follower of the Lamb is warned to flee as he would from an adder.

The next thing in order is the reign of Christ with all His sanctified sons gathered out of the ages. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ... and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man COMING IN THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY" (Mat. 24:30). Not these clouds floating by in earth's atmosphere, but HEAVENLY CLOUDS. A heavenly cloud of people, or a heavenly people in the form of clouds. This people comes with power and great authority! How can you tell when Christ comes as a cloud within a saint of God? There develops within that one a ROYAL KINGSHIP, a kingly authority, the expression of the power of God in the inner life. Ah, we have seen His coming. He is coming with power and great glory, in clouds of power, IN CLOUDS OF POWER, I-N_C-L-O-U-D-S_O-F_P-O-W-E-R! I see the coming Power. I realize something of the touches of that coming Power, and the great Glory and I am solemnized thereby.

Why does God identify Himself with clouds? There is a most remarkable incident which took place in relation to the glory cloud when the children of Israel came out of Egypt. This incident is little known by God's people, but it happened to testify to us of the great PURPOSE for which God has enveloped His presence in a cloud. It pointed forward to the great work of the Holy Spirit during this and subsequent ages. Paul refers to this event in I Cor. 10:1-2: "Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were UNDER THE CLOUD, and all passed through the sea; and were all BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD and in the sea." Note that Paul says that the Israelites were "all BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD and in the SEA." And then in Exodus chapter fourteen it is repeated no less than four times, that they passed "on dry land" through the midst of the sea. Now, how can you pass through on dry ground and at the same time be BAPTIZED IN THE CLOUD AND IN THE SEA? The fact is, God baptized those Israelites on DRY GROUND. The sea was indeed rolled back by a great wind and the gound became dry, but let us notice in Ps. 77:15-17 and 20 what else happened at that time: "When Thou with Thine arm redeemed Thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. The WATERS saw Thee, O God, the waters saw Thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The CLOUDS POURED OUT WATER: the skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. Thou LEDDEST Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." THE CLOUDS P-O-U-R-E-D_O-U-T_W-AT-E-R when the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea by the hand of Moses! How many of my readers ever heard of that rain storm? Israel was thus "baptized" IN THE CLOUD and in the SEA.

Drawing upon the imagery of this first recorded "baptism," God all through the scriptures has enshrouded Himself in a cloud to declare that He shall RAIN all He is UPON US! Through Isaiah He declares: "For I will POUR WATER upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will POUR MY SPIRIT upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses" (Isa. 44:3-4). David prophesied in spirit of the coming of Messiah and described His coming in these words: "HE shall come down like RAIN upon the mown grass: as SHOWERS that water the earth. In His days shall the righteous flourish" (Ps. 72:6-7). Joel prophesied: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will POUR OUT MY SPIRIT upon all flesh ... and also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I pour out My Spirit" (Joel 2:28-29). That our Lord is coming in a great spiritual outpouring of Himself is made plain in Hos. 6:3: "Then shall we know, if we FOLLOW ON TO KNOW THE LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and H-E SHALL COME UNTO US AS THE RAIN, as the former and latter rain unto the earth." Hallelujah!

A cloud is made up of millions of tiny droplets of water in a big group. The clouds you see in the sky were formed when a mass of warm, moist air rose from the earth and reached a section of colder air. The moisture in the air condensed and made a cloud, just as your breath condenses on a cold day. When a cloud becomes so heavy with droplets that it can no longer hold them, it spills over, and we have rain. "O Lord my God, Thou art very great ... who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters: who maketh the CLOUDHIS CHARIOT: He WATERETH the hills FROM HIS CHAMBERS" (Ps. 104:3,13). The clouds are the chambers of God containing the water of life. A cloud is full of water and water speaks to us of life. Water typifies the Word of God and the Spirit of God (Eph. 5:26; Jn. 7: 37-39). A cloud speaks to us of a vessel which contains water or contains life. Even so, God by His Spirit gives LIVING WATER to refresh and impart life unto His creation. It is the nature of a cloud to empty itself. "If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth" (Eccl. 11:3). When the cloud gets filled up, it rains. That is the nature of the clouds - rain pours out. All that God is was emptied into Jesus Christ. All that God is was poured into Him, He became a receptacle, a vehicle for all the fullness of God (Col. 1:19; 2:9). He was filled up with the life-giving properties of God. Now, all that Jesus Christ is, is being emptied into His body until we are filled with all the fullness of God - having all the life-giving properties of God. HE IS FILLING THE CLOUDS! The nature of each son will be to pour out that life just as God poured it into Jesus and Jesus poured it into us. Every eye shall see His glory. They shall SEE HIM IN THE CLOUDS.

If the saints be full of God they will pour Him out upon the earthy-natured, unconverted and unspiritual ones. A true ministry has life to give, and is willing to empty himself in order to be a blessing to a dry and thirsty people. Pour out his life for others - that's what Jesus did! We must empty out that same life on a groaning creation and break the bondage. The whole creation is awaiting this son company of people who will be the clouds of glory. Their life-giving rain will be emptied upon a dry and cursed earth and creation itself will be released into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. The sleeping church, of course, wherever they see a "coming" mentioned, can think of little else but a physical ride into the rain clouds of our lower atmosphere, being whisked away into an ethereal state and experience of their own invention, where they intend to float around dressed in white night gowns or some such attire, eating - eating - eating what?

Rain comes out of clouds! Have you ever seen a drenching, soaking rain when there wasn't a cloud in the sky? No way! Rain comes out of clouds. There are clouds that don't bring any rain. There are many clouds floating across the religious heavens today that are not full of rain. These empty clouds Peter, Jude and Solomon all tell us about. "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: CLOUDS THEY ARE WITHOUT WATER, CARRIED ABOUT OF WINDS; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ... these are wells without water, CLOUDS THAT ARE CARRIED WITH A TEMPEST; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved to the age" (Jude 11,12; II Pet. 2-.17).

False ministries are "clouds without water." Like the fig tree with leaves but no fruit, they give the appearance of the real thing, but there is no life-giving property in them. I remember as a child, when the land would be needing rain so badly, the people would watch the clouds in hope; but sometimes when dark, swirling clouds driven violently by the wind were approaching I would hear someone say, "I believe that is just a wind cloud; I don't believe we are going to get any rain from it." And so it was. It was noisy, with flashing lightning and crashing thunder, but gave no benefit to the dry earth, which needed a good soaking rain. There are many messenger clouds in Christianity today that are being "carried with a tempest" of religious fanfare but leave a place just as dry spiritually as it was before they blew in. Prov. 25:14 says, "Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain." What a picture of some present day ministries! WINDS of doctrine (Eph. 4:14), and CLOUDS without water! Wanting only to float through the heavens to be seen of men. But no willingness to be a POURED OUT LIFE to bless God's thirsty creation!

The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians of a blessed event wherein "the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them IN THE CLOUDS, to MEET THE LORD in the air" (I Thes. 4:16-17). Christians have generally supposed that "clouds" signifies the clouds of the atmosphere, but there is no definite article in the Greek text before the word "clouds" to make it THE CLOUDS, so that the sentence literally reads "caught up IN CLOUDS." Where the identifying article is missing, it speaks of quality, or being used as a descriptive term. The Greek word for "cloud" is often used in the Greek Classics of a large body of individuals, and it is so used in this symbolic way in Heb. 12:1-2 speaking of that great cloud of witnesses" which surround us.

After elaborating upon the exploits of the great heroes of faith in the Old Testament dispensations, the apostle says, "And these all, having obtained A good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 11:39-40; 12:1-2).

"Cloud of witnesses" means STADIUM OF SPECTATORS in Greek. In some of the more spacious amphitheatres of olden times, the spectators rose in tier above tier to the number of forty or fifty thousand; and to the thought of the combatant as he looked around on this vast multitude of human faces, set in varied and gorgeous coloring, these vast congregations of his race must have appeared like clouds, composed of infinitesimal units, but all making up one mighty aggregate, and bathed in such hues as are cast on the clouds at sunrise or sunset by the level of the sun.

We are surrounded by a stadium of spectators and we're all playing a game on the field. And this great "cloud" of witnesses of which the apostle speaks is simply the OVERCOMERS gathered out of all the ages ... those who were either literally or figuratively sawn asunder, beaten, slain by the sword, being destitute, tormented, they were stoned, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, "that they might obtain a BETTER RESURRECTION" (Heb. 11:35). This old world is soon to be RULED by a great "CLOUD" of witnesses, of overcomers; by those who will exalt the Lord of glory, and not try to exalt themselves above the glory of the Lord. And though in their day they received not the promise, yet God prepared some better thing for us that they, apart from us, might not be made perfect. And they are most certainly the ones who now, with us, are going to be perfected (Heb. 11:40): who are going to receive all the glorious fullness of the Lord for this new day. They are going to manifest His glory and power and majesty, not their own. In other words, HE, the LORD OF GLORY, is coming to be glorified "IN His saints:" coming to be exalted and magnified and lifted up before the world, in and through those who suffered and overcame in order that they might reign.

The word is: "Seeing we also are compassed about by so great a stadium of spectators, LET U-S RUN THE RACE..." Ah, in the beautiful allegory of Elijah's experience, "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand" (I Kings 18:44). Out of the sea of humanity there arises a little cloud, a firstfruit company, the remnant of this last hour of the age which is being joined to that great cloud of witnesses which have already been assembled from past ages. The significant fact is the little cloud is arising, THEY ARE ARISING, they are ascending up to the place of glory which God has founded for them, and for which they are being formed and prepared. When the full revelation of the CLOUDS OF GLORY comes it will be a wonderful moment, and a deeply impressive scene. All His messengers and saints and sons form His retinue, and there has never been such an assemblage since the world began. Hark! Brethren, hark! Do you hear the chariot wheels rolling along the sky? Can you not hear? Can you not see the heavenly hosts are gathering from all the heavens? Do you not hear? Have you seen - have you seen a cloud, small as this man's hand? Already the clouds are passing across the sky, and I hear the sound of abundance of rain, and beyond it, I see the glories of the fullness of the Kingdom of God!

These precious truths are vividly portrayed by a dear sister to whom the Lord has revealed Himself in multiplied visions of the spiritual world. She writes, "The Lord was there also in His great fiery Cloud of much glory. He bade me look and as I looked to the farther end of that vast temple there in still another room I saw a tremendous, cloud of glory huge in size and terribly unquiet. In constant movement it ever enveloped and enfolded itself. This cloud LIVED with its own tremendous LIFE. But even more strange I knew - without knowing how I knew that this great cloud was identified with the glorious Christ who was at my side. THEY WERE UNITED. THEY WERE ONE. Fully identified they were as if fully connected one with the other.

"Oh, I cannot ever find any way to describe Him in His great Cloud! So terribly immense and His glory is so great! The highest angels pale beside Him. Such immensities of power and rushings and thunderings! Even in His state of most relative calm the wonderful and beautiful glory and dread of Him is totally indescribable.

"Before the Cloud of gold I saw a limited number - too many to count, yet not a great multitude of flaming fires also of this same golden material but also like clouds. They seemed to be exactly like He was, the only difference being that they were smaller in size. Though very large, they were still not as large as He. Otherwise they were exactly like Him in the cloud in all other respects. Along the sides and round about the living fires I saw golden, flaming, living-stones made of the same material as the Cloud but unlike the other living-stones in that they were much larger and more aflame. Slightly smaller than the living fires, the living-stones were so aflame that they seemed to be ever consuming themselves yet never being consumed.

"Then He spoke saying that these - indicating the fires and the flaming stones - were just like He was and were A PART OF HIMSELF. These fiery clouds and the flaming stones were specially loved and chosen by Him. No one else, no other living-stone, could ever enter into this place. The flaming stones would go out and minister unto the other stones, but the cloud-fires would stay within with Him forever, ever reigning with Him. He further said that these beings, chosen by Him and specially loved, were those who had been made fully into His image, and that even now they were a very part of Himself. These great beings were so far above all other beings, even far above all the angels. In truth, they were just like Him. I wondered greatly and could not understand and was greatly distressed in spirit because of what I had seen. He spoke to me, quieting my spirit, 'These things are true and shall shortly come to pass.'

"Then there came out from Him in a huge wave something that appeared to be His very own self in mighty glory and in the Cloud, yet He did not leave His high place in the heavens either, yet He did. He was in so much activity and moved about over the heavens that opened below Him. This great wave of Himself in the Cloud also descended with tens of thousands of mighty angels down towards the earth. It did not descend slowly nor softly, but in great haste and speedy activity. When it was as yet some distance from the earth it hovered there for a while suspended over the heads of the people, but they did not see it nor did they know it was there. And there it rested. Then He spoke, saying, 'This which you see will not take My loving sons by surprise, because they are waiting for it to take place. They are already knowing and have been advised and are waiting for Me to come to them in love, for they will love My appearing.' He also said that His hour had been fulfilled and that it was now the time that these things must shortly take place.

"I looked far below Him down upon the earth and He told me that everything and every being that I saw above with Him WAS ALSO DOWN BELOW UPON THE EARTH. I could see it as in a reflection, yet I could not see it directly. He in His Cloud was no longer poised above the earth, but now had come down directly upon the earth. It completely covered the whole earth as He spoke to me with a great voice, saying, 'I am there to gather together My own, for they shall be filled with My glory and this glory shall be seen by all. Now is the time when My own shall be raised up to be with Me in My glory. My Cloud shall no more be raised up from the earth, but shall remain there so that we shall be together forever" - end quote.

Many who read these lines have heard or read the vision given to Evangelist Tommy Hicks a number of years ago. I am led to share here a portion of this remarkable vision as he recorded it, requesting the reader to note especially the reference to CLOUDS. "On the morning of July 25, 1961, at 2:30, I received a vision from the Lord that has entirely revolutionized my whole life and ministry. It seemed as though I had hardly gone to sleep when this vision came before me...three times, and then again on July 27, two days later.

"Suddenly, in the vision, I was standing with the full view of the whole world before me. From out of the heavens came great thunderings and lightning. Accompanied with this phenomena came a voice ... a GREAT voice... for it was the Voice of God. My face was turned toward the north. With a great flash of lightning covering the whole earth, I looked down and beheld a massive form that appeared like a huge giant. I was amazed as I saw this giant cover the earth. Its feet seemed to reach to the North Pole and its head extend to the South Pole. The arms were dramatically spread from sea to sea. Again, with another great flash, I saw that this giant was alive... and yet, strange to say... struggling for life. I said, 'Oh, Lord, what does this mean?'

"This massive being was covered with debris and seemed to be fettered. As I viewed this being, it began to quiver, then almost go into convulsive gestures. As this took place, I saw thousands of strange creatures. Every time the giant would quiver, they would withdraw. However, when it ceased to MOVE they would return again. I was definitely made to know what these creatures were. They were instruments that had bound the body of Christ through the ages. Suddenly, the right hand of the giant came up, and with that, came a loud voice like a roar of thunder from heaven itself. Then his left hand was raised ... and as I looked, I saw its hands extend into the very heavens. Then, very slowly, the giant began to rise. With giant hands, it began to cleanse the debris from off its body. I saw it rise to its feet, with hands outstretched to heaven. It was so great that its hands were in the heavens, while one foot was in the sea, the other was on the earth. I trembled immensely, for never before had I seen such a sight.

"Presently, the sky was filled with CLOUDS...heavy clouds...but lo, they turned to silver...until from the very silver clouds themselves came liquid drops of light and power falling upon the form of the giant. Then I saw the giant MELT to the earth itself ... as though it were being POURED OUT from heaven itself. The form had seemed to dissolve and now in its place I saw millions of people. I cried out to the Lord: 'What is the meaning of this?' A voice so clear and vibrant said, 'I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army, which I sent among you' (see Joel 2:23,25).

"As I listened to the Voice and watched the multitude of people, - from the CLOUDS came great drops, like liquid light ... this majestic heavenly substance made everyone it touched lose his identity...and their identification was JESUS. I saw no barriers, no denominations, nor sects - but the transcendent glory of heaven that rested upon these people compelled them to lift their hands in praise and adoration. I watched to see who this company was worshipping. At that point, I saw a great white figure COME OUT OF THE CLOUDS...pointing His finger to one, then another. It seemed that He was giving directions, for as He would point they would go... some to the east, some to the west, and in each direction I could see them marching through cities, towns and villages ... some through deserts, forests and jungles.

"God is going to have a perfect Church. He is going to have a people that are so endued with power that it will not be an exposition of SELF, but it will be Christ in them, the hope of glory. I saw these people pass through the fire, unburned ... cross rivers as though there was no water there ... they crossed oceans with ease, escaped persecution as though a hand transported them from their surroundings. In spite of the roaring of wild beasts, attacks by men with swords and weapons of war, nothing seemed to hinder them. They moved over mountains, and down through valleys ... they moved like the hart skipping upon the hills. Their faces shone with the countenance of VICTORS! They were CONQUERORS!

"I hesitate to tell this part of the vision because it was with great trembling I received this revelation. I saw the man, clothed in white, point with a sceptered hand. Again, there was pouring forth from His hand this that I call 'liquid power'. As soon as it would touch the person, that person would have his hands bathed and dripping in the same heavenly substance. Upon receiving this anointing they would walk into hospitals ... through the streets ... into the institutions, and on and on, marching throughout the length and breadth of the land. I could hear them saying, 'ACCORDING TO MY WORD, BE THOU MADE WHOLE.' As the liquid power flowed from their hands, each one they touched was instantly healed and made whole!

"I saw people transported in the Spirit from nation to nation. I saw them going to Siberia, to Africa, to Canada - to the ends of the earth! I saw them literally lifted up and placed by the Spirit in the respective countries. Then I heard a Voice ... not a thundering Voice this time, but a Voice that was low and beautiful as the murmuring of the waters. This tender Voice said, 'My little children, I have given unto thee My treasures. You are Mine - you belong to Me. I love thee with an everlasting love. Now My power shall be IN YOU. The gifts that I have given unto thee shall be made manifest to a lost and dying world. I am going to restore to thee ALL.'

"I realized that this whole panoramic picture was the demonstration of the Kingdom of God through those who follow HIM. I continued to see a stream of people marching healing - blind eyes opened - deaf ears unstopped - literally millions of people receiving of the power of this great manifestation. It seemed so 'fluid' in its operation. There was no exaltation of a man. Simple words were constantly repeated - simple but profound: 'ACCORDING TO MY WORD, BE THOU MADE WHOLE.'

"Folks, the Kingdom is here. The very power and Spirit of the Kingdom of God so possessed me, I knew it was the revelation of the King in all His Kingly authority. I could see that the Lord was showing me that the Kingdom of God was coming into view. This was the revelation of the Kingdom of God coming to man. The very Spirit and power of the Kingdom so gripped me, I felt like one caught away to the third heaven. Daniel saw the everlasting Kingdom... no power in the world will be able to destroy this Kingdom. Once again, I saw this giant Body being lifted into the heavens..." -end quote.

From earth's teeming millions of all ages there is a people arising in the image of Christ. We who watch the spiritual heavens shall soon see a cloud as we have never seen before. We have seen inky black clouds, and clouds of snowy whiteness; clouds brightly tinted and many silver lined; clouds made brilliantly gorgeous by the afterglow of the setting sun. But we never yet have seen a cloud made magnificently glorious by the blazing splendor of the Son of God. We have seen clouds charged with thunder and lighted up by flashes of lightning. Not yet have we seen a cloud charged with the power of omnipotence and flashing with the incorruptible radiance of the Son of God. Afar off we have seen the morning clouds as they have enwrapped the distant mountain peaks and splendidly capped the hilltops. We have yet to see the cloud which shall enfold the awful form of the Mighty One. We have seen clouds driven as chariots to carry rain to the dry and thirsty fields. A CLOUD IS FORMING IN THE HEAVENS THAT WILL BE SEEN, THAT WILL BE THE CHARIOT OF HEAVEN'S KING OF GLORY WHEN HE COMES TO REFRESH AND RESTORE AND QUICKEN ALL THINGS.

What a sight it will be! How it enraptures the faithful ones who "love His appearing," and who have hoped to the end "for the grace that is to be brought unto" them "at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Of a sudden the blazing light of day will take on a new brightness, above all the glory of the sun, and grow still more light, more bright, and more dazzling, until there is revealed to us the advancing glory of the King of kings. And with the glory clouds of myriads of like ones unto Himself the all-conquering Christ will appear again on earth! These brilliant bands will fill the glory-flashing skies from end to end and flood the world with life and light and love. How magnificent will be the advancing pageantry of the skies! How sublime beyond all mortal comprehension will be the blessed Lord Jesus when He "shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day!"

Behold, He comes with CLOUDS!

Next to Part 24

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