THE IMPACT OF GLORY IAN JOHNSON Papatoetoe New Zealand www.papelim.org.nz
The impact of the ministry of Smith Wigglesworth in New Z ealand is still being felt to this day, my own mother in law was a young person in Sunday School at the time and her light has never grown dim even now at 92.
The brothers and sisters were so touched by the Glory of God at the time that they used to say to one another; is your heart burning brother?” They weren’t just a series of healing meetings, or an Evangelistic crusade, rather they were a release of Glory into Wellington which affected the nation. The impact of these meetings is still being felt to this day.
In 1922, when Smith Wigglesworth was ministering in Wellington, New Zealand, he called for a special prayer meeting with a group of eleven leaders. After each of them had prayed, Wigglesworth rose to seek the Lord, and the presence of God began to fill the room. Soon the glory of God became terrible. The light became too bright, the heat too intense. The other men couldn’t take it any longer. Every one of them left the room! Only Wigglesworth could continue in the midst of the Shekinah.
Another minister heard what had happened and determined at the next gathering, no matter how strong the presence of God became, he would stay until the end. Once again the scene repeated itself: Wigglesworth began to pray, the holy presence of God filled the room, and the glory became unbearable. Everyone left, except this one leader. He would not be overcome and driven out by the manifest presence of the Lord. But it was too much. Wigglesworth was caught up in the Spirit, radiant with holy fire, and even the determined minister couldn’t stand the intensity. Soon enough he was gone too!
That is the presence of God that comes with revival. It becomes unbearably intense. Its light breaks through the darkness. Its heat raises the temperature all around! It cannot be localized or confined. By its very nature, it must make an impact on its surroundings; otherwise it is not true revival. And while it will not completely change the world, it will make a radical impact. It will drive sin out!
In His message “The power of the name” July 1915 Williglesworth said
“When I was up on that mountaintop I was reminded of the transfiguration scene, and I felt that the Lord’s only purpose in taking us into the Glory was to fit us for greater usefulness in the valley”
I have seen it. When men and woman get touched in the heavenly glory of God they are ruined for the ordinary, programmed meetings no longer lift them to the lev el they want to ascend to. There are two choices to made at this point,
1) We settle back down to the mundane and live frustrated lives
2) We allow the Glory to transform us into the image of Christ, Daily changing from Glory to Glory.
There are at least six things the Holy Spirit will commonly do in times of a release of Glory and revival
1) He will sanctify (Heb 9:13-14);
?13? For if ?v?the blood of bulls and goats and ?w?the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, ?4?sanctifies for the ?5?purifying of the flesh, ?14? how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without ?6?spot to God, ?x?cleanse your conscience from ?y?dead works ?z?to serve the living God? ?15? And for this reason ?a?He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that ?b?those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.[1]
The Blood of Jesus and its ability to save mankind to the uttermost is released into the atmosphere when glory is released. If a revival has no mention of the redeeming power of the risen Lord, then you would have to say it is no revival at all. For what is it that we are reviving? . When the glory falls it is often noted that some people spin–out, why is this? It is because a religious mindset cannot cope with a God who wants to cleanse our conscience, by His work not ours.
Sanctification is a forgotten message in 2006, I am often surprised by the response of people who are confronted with the Glory. For instance I spoke to a woman in one of our meetings who had received a powerful touch from the Lord of Glory there was conviction of sin, She had been living in an immoral situation, the Grace of God offered her a way out. Time to get married and live a clean life, she chose not to because it would mean she would loose a welfare benefit. The truth is she now seems to be very unfulfilled in her life and is not walking with the Lord.
Sanctification is an on-going process that involves our co-operation; sometimes it will place a cost on our lives and offer us a choice, the choice is most often; will we stop working to free ourselves from dead works and move into a living Glory. The choice for the woman was hard, she needed to let go the dead works of relying on the government to meet her needs and begin to walk in the freedom of the provision of God. She chose the dead works and sanctification was not allowed a chance, so around the mountain she goes again.
2) He will Convict (John 16:8-11);
?7?Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but ?g?if I depart, I will send Him to you. ?8? And when He has ?h?come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ?9? ?i?of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ?10? ?j?of righteousness, ?k?because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ?11? ?l?of judgment, because ?m?the ruler of this world is judged.[2]
In the Glory the Holy Spirit brings powerful conviction of Sin. But more than that it transforms
In 2004 a man was walking past one of our high worship times when the manifest presence of God filled the room and also the street outside the building, He was on his way to commit murder, the Glory of God arrested him and he was propelled into the meeting. Powerfully convicted, repented of his murderous intentions and gave his life to Jesus. He had been released from prison only hours before and would have gone back for sure if the Glory of God had not touched him. Today he lives in Wellington NZ and is changing day by day into the image of Christ.
3) He will Glorify Jesus (John 16:14);
q?He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ?15? ?r?All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I s aid that He ?3?will take of Mine and declare it to you.[3]
The measure of a true move of Glory is; JESUS is lifted very high. I am still overwhelmed by the tears of Joy and the shouts of acclamation when Jesus turns up.
Last week the Lord led a homeless man into our meeting, He saw Jesus, he saw compassion, He saw hope, He saw the glory of God, now he has a home, he is seeking work and his hope levels are at an all time high! Why? Not because of any fancy preaching, or slick programs but because he saw Jesus. A move of Glory will see the name of Jesus lifted on the tongues of men to new levels of worship and new levels of revelation of His Glory. If Jesus is not in the middle of the revival it’s not a revival at all!
4) Deliver and Heal (Acts 10:38);
c?God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who ?d?went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ?e?for God was with Him. [4]
In 2003 a young man who was oppressed of the Devil came to one of our meetings, he had been everywhere trying to get free, had lots of prayer, but he was still oppressed. In an amazing time of Glory worship he walked to the front of the meeting the power of God hit him and he so mersaulted backward and fell to the floor under the Glory and in the manifest presence of God he remained there for some time and when he got up he was free. He phones me from time to time and he is still free, He is a builder and was able to return to work after a long time living in an oppressed state.
Around the same time a woman was brought to us, (I don’t recommend this unless you hear from God) She had suffered a stroke an hour or so before she came to us, and was paralysed on one side and unable to speak. She was able to write down that she wanted to come to us, and against her children’s wishes her husband obeyed God and brought her into the Glory meeting. As she reached out for Jesus she began to shake, I was a bit worried I have to say but the Lord had it under control, She burst out and was trying to say something but it was just garbled, Then as the Glory hit h er she shouted the name of Jesus and her speech was fully restored, her left side received its power back, and she hasn’t stopped talking since!
5) Empower (Acts 1:8);
? 8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[5]
In 2003 a young Maori man came into one of Judith Gardens meetings in New Zealand, He hadn’t even been in the main part of the meeting but the Glory hit him so hard that he fell to the ground and was away for several hours. When he returned to this realm he couldn’t talk he couldn’t walk and he couldn’t see, as his senses returned over the next few days it was obvious that he had been transformed in the Glory. Unable to read before he had this experience he was now devouring the Bible reading and sharing fresh manna with all who would listen. He was filled with the Fathers heart of love for everyone and he couldn’t stop singing and talking about His Father in heaven, three years later he still moves from place to place sharing the Fathers heart and singing praying and sharing the word with all who will listen. He doesn’t fit the mold of programmed Christianity and has found it hard to fit in, but the fruit of this touch of Glory is being seen in New Zealand & Australia as he obeys the Father and shares the heart of God. I believe he has the true model of an Evangelist in his life, Market place kingdom life! When will the Church learn?
6) Refresh (Acts 3:19).
?w?Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, [6]
Ah repentance!
Wigglesworth in his sermon “Faith that leads to the treasures of God” says “The living God is lifting you out of thyself and into himself” Oh beloved have you come out yet? You say out of what? Out of that you know you didn’t want to be in!
The act of repentance is lost in the seeker friendly world of Church in 2006, but I think Wigglesworth put it well, Come out of that which you know you don’t want to be in! That’s repentance, a turning away from the old and into the new, into all that God has and is. Have you ever wondered how some Christians can be full of joy even in the midst of seeming disaster? They have come out of the world system and into Jesus, yes they still have many trials but they belong to a different system, a glorious system, so they are full of joy and seem refreshed e ven in the midst of turmoil!
Come out of yourself and into Jesus! Repentance is an act of Joy and something to be embraced and a true hallmark of revival!
I want to finish with a quote from Wigglesworth “The Holy one which anointed Jesus is so abiding by the Spirit in the one who is clothed in Glory and called to use the name of Jesus till this glory is manifested and the demons flee, they cannot stand the glory of the manifestation of God in Jesus”
We sit back and wonder at the power Wigglesworth moved in, and the results that he saw, but he was seeing something different, it was the glory of God, that’s where he lived and that’s where he tried to get others to live.
So today will we read this message and settle back into our mundane lives, or will we allow the Glory to impact us and transform our mortal lives into something truly world changing?
