THE GLORY OF HIS PRESENCE
THE GLORY OF HIS PRESENCE
Sunday, October 1, 2017
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Friday night I had another vision of the night of the glory of God. It began with me standing amongst golden angels in an atmosphere where everything was gold. They were singing the song, Glory, Glory, Glory, That’s My Story. I was preaching to our congregation about another dream I had about the Glory of God. Then there appeared a wagon/cart piled high with golden glory. It was not gold dust. Perhaps it was a golden cloud, but the cloud was of substance, not airy like a cloud.
When I awoke, the vision of the night was so vivid that I really thought I had been preaching about a dream of glory. I wanted to write down the dream and scriptures, but I no longer remembered either the dream within the dream or what I was preaching. (A dream within a dream is a vision).
What does this mean? I don’t know.
I looked up scriptures on wagon/cart.
The wagon/cart carried the Ark of the Lord.
The Ark of the Covenant Represents:
- The throne of God in the earth. (Mt. 28: 18-20) – All power in heaven and earth give to Jesus.
- The Presence of God in Christ, by the Spirit, in the midst of the redeemed.
- The glory of God revealed in divine order, worship and ministry (1 Cor. 14:40).
- The government of God in the earth. (Mt. 6:10).
- The fullness of the Godhead bodily revealed in Jesus. (Col. 1:19; 2:9).
- The enthroned Jesus as the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
- The total and complete victory of Jesus Christ over all enemies. (Ro. 5:10)
- The glorious church in perfection (maturity). (Eph. 4:13; 5:25-27).
- The Melchisedec Priesthood Ministry of Christ the Head and Body. (Heb. 7).
- The Kingdom of God in power and manifestation.
The Ark of the Covenant journeyed with the Israelites from Sinai in the wilderness to Solomon’s temple. It was moved to the tabernacle of David on Mount Zion (2 Sam 6:12-23). 2 Sam. 6:17: They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the Tabernacle that David had pitched for it.
It was afterward moved to the Temple of Solomon (its final resting place) and its staves were drawn out. (1 Kg. 8)
1Ki 8:1-2:Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
Ethanim is the ancient name for Tishrei, the first month of the Jewish New Year, which began this year on September 20th-21st.
Solomon’s temple was totally covered in gold.
1Ki 8:3And all the elders of
Israel came, and the priests took up
the ark.
And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof. They drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. It came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD. So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
They drew out the staves. The Church’s long wilderness journey shall be over, and now she will enter into her long-awaited rest. Now, therefore, arise O LORD GOD, into thy resting place, you and the ark of your strength; let your priest, O LORD GOD, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness. (2 Chron. 6:41). The great Church victorious is destined to press into her heritage by the Holy Spirit and appropriate the blessedness which is hers in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. This Feast of Tabernacles was probably the greatest in Israel’s history. How little did they realize their joy and gladness of heart were merely fulfilling the rites and ceremonies of a fading type and shadow, and one day it would give way to the unveiled glory of God in the Church of Jesus Christ.
(The Ark must have been taken out of the Temple during a period of apostasy, but then replaced again under the ministry of King Josiah. The last mention of the Ark in the Old Testament is Jer. 2: 16-17. After Solomon’s Temple was destroyed (586 B.C.), the Ark is seen no more.)
The one and only mention of the Ark in the New Testament is in the Book of Revelation. The TRUE ARK (Christ the Head and Body) is seen in the TRUE Temple which we are, and of which Jesus Christ is the Headstone.
The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightning, and voices, and thundering, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Was I shown the glory of God in a wagon, a cart, a chariot? The chariot throne of God is always moving. The ark of God (His Presence) is the place of His Glory, the place of His rest. The atmosphere in the dream was totally permeated with glory before I saw the wagon/cart/chariot.
He longs to abide in our presence more than we long for His presence. He does not come unwanted, undesired, unsought, unappreciated. Jesus said that the father will make his abode with us.
John 14: 23-24: Jesus answered, if a man loves Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make Our abode with Him. He who does not love me will not keep my sayings. The word which you hear is not mine, but of the Father, who sent me.
This is an amazing statement in an amazing chapter. The “We” includes the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit by both the Father and the Son. We will come unto him and make Our abode with Him. Since we have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit abiding in us, why would a Christian ever look upon, identify ourselves, or attach ourselves with that which is not Holy. This is the tabernacle of God in his people---the true Shekinah. The Shekinah is in us. What then is the real dignity of man when the God of glory is able to dwell within him? The basis for this privilege is heart obedience to the Word of God.
Jesus said we can have the ark of God (abode of God) within us. All kinds of movements and schemes have been devised by people. Or they will even search out the records of church history, and try to duplicate a method that seemed to work back then, only to discover that nothing will work except as we move with God, and seek to know His way and His intention for His people in this present hour. We are not able to initiate anything. Once we discover God’s intention then we must seek Him earnestly that He will show us His way.
Man’s way is to build a “new cart.” A lot of excitement and hype follows. Everyone rejoices that God is moving in revival, restoration, and renewal. The Lord does not accept man’s device to keep the move of the Spirit steady---free from error, free from false doctrines---and to keep the ark of His presence and glory from going on the rocks.
God is very jealous for His own glory. No man can touch it, no matter how great he is. Let us not point fingers at those who have fallen. Often their gifts and callings are taken over by a spirit of seduction which is encouraged by the people idolizing them. The people are ignorant of how exceedingly jealous God is for His own glory.
Lord reveal to your church that the Spirit of God in the earth today is the representative of Christ in the Church. We are the abode of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Ark of the Covenant abides in each one of us.
The Ark of God is to be on the shoulders of anointed men and women of God. Lord bring us to the place where we learn to walk with You, and abide in Your anointing. We need no other credentials for ministry in the House of God, apart from the Anointing…the Anointing that comes down upon us from the garments of our High Priest in the heavens, Who has been anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows.
David pitched a new tent on Mount Zion for the ark of God. Then the ark was brought forth with shouting and great rejoicing. God was returning to His people, and this time the people were prepared.
David danced before the LORD, clothed upon with the garments of a priest; a linen robe girded with a linen ephod. Then the ark was brought into the Tent of David and set in the place that David had prepared for it, there on Mount Zion. Never again did the ark of God enter the courts of the old Tabernacle that Moses had built. God had found for Himself a new Resting Place. He ever leads His people on from glory unto glory.
God had given David direction to put the Ark on Mount Zion. This was God’s new order:
For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for his habitation
This is my rest for ever;
Her will I dwell; for I have desired it,
I will abundantly bless her provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
I will also clothe her priests with salvation;
And her saints shall shout aloud for joy. (Ps. 132: 13-16)
Jesus and His many brethren will rule and reign forever on His throne. The Zion of God is where His Presence is, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Heb. 12:22: But you have come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels…
For the first time in God’s dealings with man he has brought into union with Himself and into His Temple, a man who is both king and priest in Israel. In David’s Tent a structure that is both Throne and Temple. Jesus must have a people in whom He can have is abode in the fullness of priestly fellowship and communion, and through whom he can reveal Himself to the nations in kingly authority and power.
God’s plan from the beginning was to bring us out of the earthly and into the heavenly…out of the carnal and into the spiritual…out of old creation life and into New Creation life. God’s order is first. That which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (1 Cor. 15:46).
In the Ark, we see the Lord Jesus as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who is risen and exalted, seated at the Right Hand of the Father, Resting in His total victory over all enemies; the principle of propitiation (Ro. 3:25). The throne of God; the glorious church; the Melchizedeck Priesthood; the Feast of Tabernacles, including the great Day of Atonement; the fullness of Sonship, the realm of our full maturity and coming to the fullness of the stature of the Christ; obtaining our full inheritance, which includes the redemption of the Body and immortality.
In the Feast of Tabernacles, the events are of a threefold nature; the Blowing of the Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Ingathering. These three blend together to form one great Feast. This is a type and shadow of the Harvest of the earth. This great revival of gifts and ministries of the Spirit is by no means the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. But it is the promise and the earnest of this fulfillment, the beginning of the end. For the move of the Spirit must rise and rise and rise (through much sifting, testing and trial), even unto the fullness of the Feast of Tabernacles itself.
As the day of glory and triumph begins to dawn upon the eastern horizon, we are experiencing a foretaste of that glory as the first rays break upon the Church.
We must go forward to explore the infinite realms of the Spirit of God…We must pass out of the realm of the natural and into the realm of the spiritual…We must progress from the length and breadth…and begin to comprehend the height and depth of spiritual things…The to and fro experience must give way to an ascending and descending experience of Jacob’s ladder…We must pass from a knowledge of the understandable…to a knowledge of the inconceivable…We must rise from the visible to behold the invisible…We must hear the inaudible…grasp the intangible…explore the unsearchable…and declare the unspeakable.
For God has set eternity in our hearts, and we will not rest---nor will we give Him rest, till He establish, and until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Church must yet bring forth a child that shall rule all nations with a rod of iron. (Rev. 12:5) For it is given unto the overcomer to rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter, shall they be broken to shivers. (Rev. 2:2
The Melchizedek Priesthood is a priesthood of life, and of fadeless glory. It is a priesthood of eternal fellowship and communion with Christ, and not like the Aaronic priesthood which experienced the presence of God only on a certain occasion, once in the year. It is a priesthood that is established by the word and oath of God Himself. It is a priesthood which cannot pass away, for there is no death in the fullness of this new order. It is a priesthood of royal power and authority. Gone shall be the bondage of the world, the flesh and the Devil. This priesthood introduces the royal-priest behind the veil, behind the flesh. The flesh is rent asunder, and the glory of God is unveiled. The Head has already entered into this priesthood---and if He has entered it means the way is open for others.
Have I interpreted what the Lord showed me in the dream surrounded by His Glory? I don’t know. However, this is what the Spirit gave me and until He gives me more, this is all I know.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
I entered into the labors of From Tent to Temple and The Feast of Tabernacles by George H. Warnock. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.