John G Lake- We Need the Fire of His Glory
John wrote in his Gospel:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1: 14
John brings us into this wonderful experience by saying, “we beheld” or we were brought in and got a glimpse of His glory. The Greek word used here for glory is “doxa.” If we go to the next chapter of John, we read:
“This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.”
John 2: 11
Jesus revealed His glory through His mighty power, His grace, and His truth. In fact, in chapter twelve of John, it says:
“These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.”
John 12: 41
John G Lake explained:
“In every land, among every people, throughout all history, there have been occasion when a demonstration of the power of God was just as necessary to the world as it was in the days of Elijah. It is necessary now.”
We think about the incredible ministry of Elijah and the power he saw as the Lord moved in mighty power. As we look at the Children of Israel and how many times they backslid, God had to move and demonstrate His mighty power to deliver them.
In this dark hour, the Church has once again backslidden, and we need the glory and fire to fall again. John references the wonderful chapter six of Isaiah, where Isaiah has a Secret Place encounter with the Lord and His glory. The Aramaic Bible John would have read says:
“…I saw the glory of the Lord resting upon a throne, high and lifted up in the heavens if the height of the temple was filled by the brilliance of Hos glory.”
Isaiah 6: 1 Targum Onkelos
We need personally like Isaiah to encounter and see His glory, and we need His glory manifested in our churches and in this generation. As Lake explained:
“The people had turned away from God. They had forgotten that there was a God in Israel. They were trusting in other gods, just as people today. If I were to call you heathen, I suppose most people would be offended, but I want to say that there is no people with more gods than the average American. Men are bowing down to the god of popularity. Men are bowing down to this god and that god.”
But how will they know that the Lord is God? Through the Church when it carries the fire of His Presence. Oh, that we would like Moses to cry out to Jesus that we might see His glory. That we might know His glory. That we might be filled with His glory and that we might reveal His glory.
Lake declared:
“There if practically no Christian, let alone an unchristian, who has the real stamina to stand forth and declare his absolute conviction concerning Jesus, the Son of God. Much less have we men with the necessary stamina to declare their convictions as to Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.”
Until we are wrecked and broken by His glory, we are of no use to the Master and bear little fruit. If we are to bear much fruit, we have need of much! Oh, that we recognize our need of much! Yes, much more of Him and His glory. We need a cry, “Break, me, mold me, use me.” We can’t declare Him we don’t absolutely know! Many preach about Him, but we need those who preach Him. Those who can say they have beheld Him and His glory.
Lake explained:
“The only power that will revive the church in this land and the world is that which she will receive when she throws her heart open to God as the people of Israel did and says, ‘Lord God, we have sinned.”
Think about the heart prayer of Jesus:
“And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”
John 17: 10
It is time we glorify Him on this earth that all might see Him.
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
John 12: 32
If we honor Him and exalt Him in our lives, then men will be drawn to Him. We must humble ourselves, and there must be less of us and more of Him. Oh, He longs to fill every empty vessel that comes to Him, thirsting. And He reveals His glory through every vessel broken of themselves.
When you look towards Jesus, do you just see a crowd? Do you just see a man in the crowd? Or do you just see wonderful Jesus?
Lake explained:
“The time has come when the Christian Church has got to give a new demonstration to the world.”
The love of believers starts by our love and longing after Him. We must be wholly consumed and taken over with that love. We can’t fabricate or manufacture this love. It comes as an afterglow of abiding in His Presence. It is His glory realized and manifested in an earth vessel. That love is the true essence of who He is, His nature, His heart, and His attributes. It is His unchangeableness and absolute faithfulness. Jesus declared:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also loved one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 12: 34, 35
His love. His tested and proven love. His love which was His glory so wonderfully manifested on the Cross, is now seen in us.
Lake explained:
“There was no bluffing with the old Israelitish prophets. When the people came, they laid their sacrifices on the altar, and they did not put artificial fire under it. But instead, the soul went down before God. He lifted his heart to heaven and then the fire came down and consumed the sacrifice, that was the evidence that the sacrifice was accepted.”
Does the fire fall in our lives? Do we see the fire fall in our churches? Are we truly put our hearts and lives on the altar? Do we like Moses cry out and long to see His glory? Does our heart burn so long that we say, “God can’t live if I don’t see your glory?”
As long as we are content, we will never burn with holy desperation that refuses to give Heaven rest until we see His glory. But we have become complacent and weary! Let us press in until the early and later rain refreshes us! Let us linger until the vision is restored, and before we stand an open door!
Lake said:
“The time has come when God wants the fire fall and if you, my beloved brother and sister, will pay God’s price and make Christ’s consecration of yourself to God, we will see God’s fore fall.”
Oh, we need the fire to fall. But like Abraham, before we can make the sacrifice, we must build the altar and prepare the sacrifice. There must be a longing and desire after Him. Oh, that we would want more!
Lake added:
“And it will not be destructive either, except that sin and selfishness and sickness will wither under that fire while purity and life and holiness and character will stand forth purified and refined by the glory and the power of the God-fire that comes from Heaven. God’s fire is creative of righteousness as well as destructive of sin.”
We need the Church to be awakened and arise and shine because His glory has fallen on us and is in us. Lake said:
“God is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. And the desire in my soul is that I this city God Almighty may raise up an altar unto the living God, not unto a dead God. Mankind needs an altar to the living God, to the God that hears prayer, to the God that answers prayer, and the God that answers by fire. The time has come when God’s challenge has gone forth. God is saying, ‘If there is a Christian, let him pray. If there is a God, let Him answer.’ God will meet the souls every time you turn to Him and meet Him face to face.”
