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Ex 34:29-30 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. (NKJV)
Moses just spent days up on the mountain in God’s Presence, soaking in the Glory realms. But when he came down the mountain, the people were afraid because of the glory he manifested. So afraid that they didn’t want to come near him. If anybody has ever called you weird or crazy because of the unfading glory you manifest from spending time in the Presence of God, you’re not the first one. Also since the New Covenant Glory is ever-increasing, people will be ever-increasingly freaked out when it is manifested. Especially if the Glory is manifested WITHOUT the Gospel. The two were never meant to be presented separately. The Glory was also never intended to bring people into the Gospel. The Gospel was intended to bring people into the Glory. For all have sinned and fall short of the GLORY, meaning the Gospel is the doorway back into the Glory of God because it removes sin. But some groups out there get so focused on the Glory that they forget about the Gospel. These groups are the ones who scare people away, especially unbelievers. You cannot present a holy righteous God in all His Glory to people without showing them there is a way into this Glory. Their guilt and shame scares them away. That is why there is no condemnation in Christ, because then the Glory doesn’t scare you away, but draws you closer in.
How can you present the Glory apart from the Gospel? In my own humble opinion, it is when we try and use the physical manifestations we experience in the Glory to try and prove to people that God is real, and that is just not the Gospel. The goodness of God draws men unto repentance (Rom 2:4), not the shakings and fallings of gibberish speaking drunks. When the 120 disciples were accused of being crazy and drunk after the Holy Spirit was given in Acts 2, Peter got up, stopped being drunk and spoke to the unbelievers in their own language, presenting the Gospel as the doorway into the Glory. 3000 people took the step over that threshold that day. The same 3000 that were laughing at them 5 minutes earlier. You don’t see Peter saying: ‘Let them think what they want, we will press in and not be ashamed of the manifestations.’ No, he was Gospel-before-Glory minded, not Glory-before-Gospel minded. If he didn’t stop to preach the Gospel, those 3000 would not have entered into the same Glory. Likewise Paul also told the Corinthians that when unbelievers are in their meetings, they should not freak them out with speaking in tongues, or other such manifestation I would assume. (1 Cor 14:23-26) We need to be mindful of how and what we present to people around us. I am a shaking falling gibberish speaking drunk when I am in the Presence of Almighty God, but if I have to represent Him to somebody and I only show them the Glory, I would more than likely scare them off. That is why people run out of churches when believers start flopping over or speaking in tongues. Now I have nothing against any of those manifestations, but it breaks my heart to see people running away from God because we neglected to present the Gospel. If we would just show them Jesus, they would run into the Glory themselves.
2 Cor 5:13 For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit, (AMP)
You can shake rattle-‘n-roll until you fill pillows with feathers, but is it worth the cost? Is half an hour of shaking worth not seeing a few souls saved? If you take 10 minutes to actually share and demonstrate the Gospel first, you can shake and rattle with the joy that you just got another person saved, and they will rejoice with you, instead of running away from you. That is worth celebrating with New wine! Don’t wear the Glory as a badge that judges those who don’t also wear it. All of heaven rejoices when a soul is saved. If that makes heaven rejoice, why is it seemingly so low on our agendas?
Yours in Grace,
Cornel Marais
Click here to read a preview of Cornel’s new book, “So You Think Your Mind Is Renewed?” If you’re tired of religion, legalism and the traditions of man, this book will be a great starting block for you to starting living the life you were destined to live in Christ!
October 7th, 2009 at 9:23 PM
I thought this was a profound message Cornel. This teaches us to put the focus on others and on God instead of on ourselves.
It’s time the church (including me) started learning what to do with the glory & the power God had given them, and when the manifestations come, to learn to stand and minister to others in that power.
In Grace
Andre van der Merwe
http://www.NewCovenantGrace.com
October 8th, 2009 at 1:25 AM
Thank you Andre.
Your comments are always very encouraging to read. They bless me so much. Glory to God!
Bless you!
October 9th, 2009 at 6:10 AM
Hi Cornel! This was well said and so on point! Bless you bru. Keep the messages coming. Maybe you will write a book on this about putting the Glory and Gospel in the RIGHT order. No doubt, you will continue to preach this because it is needed!
October 29th, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Hey Cornel…Awesome stuff…i love this statement “The Glory was also never intended to bring people into the Gospel. The Gospel was intended to bring people into the Glory.” I know of a well known church in our area that 15 years ago (through the Toronto blessing) were full of the glory (shaking, baking & quaking) and today they have a morning meeting of 20 people (all over the age of 65 and no evening meeting…15 years ago there were +-500 people with +-100 youth…something went terribly wrong…The problem? They had no understanding of the Gospel of Grace! Legalism kicked in and blew the whole thing apart!
February 26th, 2010 at 3:55 PM
Haha, awesome Cornel. You’ve put into words what I knew in my spirit.
February 28th, 2010 at 7:02 PM
I think we should take heed of this – for me a lot of words of wisdom in this. Some things on the mark, in others not so sure.
For me – this is the difference between wisdom/maturity and the Holy Spirit. The anoiting doesnt necessarily come packaged up with wisdom / maturity / charachter. Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
Firstly – my take on this is being drunken or manifesting for the sake of it (and yes it can be learnt) in front of unbelievers indeed can really freak out people. Im not up for being offensive dilberately. The gospel is by nature offensive – lets not make it any more offensive than it already is. I appreciate the heart of some ministeries out there teaching us to press in deeper, but i dont agree with being deliberately offensive to either fellow members of the Church or the world.
However, i would say that the church should never be held back from going as deep as it possibly could. I dont agree with seeker sensitive church at all. The Church isnt necessarily the arena for salvations – Jesus went out to people – not stayed in one place.
there is some things that are worth noting, while others do not.
I will say this though – he should have not really used the stuff he was saying about moses. That is allegorical and is ok – but not for teaching. But at least he pointed some good stuff out.
March 16th, 2010 at 6:07 PM
hey Cornel,
I like this post. And I all for seeing the sick get healed and stuff, but what are your thoughts of the Gospel and healing the sick? I know Ryan (from Revival or Riots) has talked about this a little bit. How do you think the two go together, especially in light of your post? And I hope I don’t sound argumentative, I’m just curious, but doesn’t healing sort of count as a physical manifestation? Thanks so much! =D
blessings!
sam
March 16th, 2010 at 7:45 PM
Hi Sam,
Ryan and I pretty much of the same opinion regarding healing and the believer’s responsibility based on the new creation and being co-workers with Christ. Healing is a physical manifestation of the atonement and finished work of the cross. The gospel without healing is not the whole gospel. Tongues and the other gifts are spiritual manifestations of the atonement. They all fall into the category of manifestations of the glory or God. Moses asked God to show him His glory, and God did it by showing Moses His goodness. God’s goodness is His glory, and His glory is His goodness. Healing is part of His goodness/glory as are the gifts of the Spirit and other manifestations. Both the physical and spiritual manifestations have their part to play in getting people reconciled when they are used correctly. That is why Paul wrote to the Corinthians in the first place. They were using the gifts but in a wrong way. That means we can also use any of the manifestations in the wrong way. In regards to healing specifically, Jesus used it to confirm His Word. Jesus didn’t use tongues, gold dust or angel feathers. Those can be powerful signs and miracles that do make people wonder, but it is difficult to personalize them to show an individual unsaved person that God loves them. He used healing to prove He loves people and that He has the power to forgive sins. When we start using healing like that I believe we will get the same response Jesus had, multitudes following you to be set free.
I hope that helps!
Cornel
March 17th, 2010 at 6:59 PM
cool, thank you very much Cornel! it helps! =)