MESSENGERS OF GLORY
(week 27/10)
OLUBI JOHNSON
2 Corinthians 8:23 KJV: Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.
Here, Paul calls the brethren that accompanied Titus messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ.
The Greek word ‘messengers’ here is the word ‘apostolos’ or in English Apostle.
So, these unnamed brethren were called apostles by the Holy Spirit through Paul in scripture.
What this means in reality is that they were operating under covering the apostolic anointing of Paul and Titus and so were also messengers of the glory of Christ: manifesting the glory of Christ by a borrowed anointing taken from Paul’s apostolic anointing.
What this says to us today is that any Christian (who is unnamed: no title or recognition by men), but who by association and submission follows after an apostolic ministry like Elisha followed Elijah can manifest the glory of God in this 3rd. day.
In fact, the message of this 3rd. day is the message of the kingdom and the glory of God: the kingdom or total (not partial as we have experienced hitherto) dominion of God will always result in a manifestation of the presence or power of the glory of God.
Any Christian who chooses to associate with, submit to and follow after an apostolic ministry manifesting the glory of God will manifest the same glory to a degree like the 12 Apostles and 70 disciples did under the ministry of the Lord Jesus:
Matthew 10:8 MKJV: heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received freely, freely give.
‘Heal the sick’: instant healing of internal sicknesses, like the healing of the fever of Peter’s mother in law (Lk. 4:38-39).
‘Cleanse the lepers’: instant healing of external sicknesses or deformities; healing the blind, lame, dumb and such like (Mt. 9:27-35; Mk. 7:31-37).
‘Raise the dead’: this is the highest form of external physical healings because the last enemy that shall be defeated is death (1 Cor. 15:26); like the raising of Jarius’ daughter (Mk.5:22-42); the son of the widow of Nain (Lk. 7:11-16); Lazarus after 4 days in the grave (Jn. 11:39-44).
Casting out demons is common to all these different scopes of the application of the Spirit without measure.
Many times, sicknesses and deformities are enforced by demonic possession or oppression of the sick or deformed person and so to enforce divine healing you need to cast out the devil enforcing the sick or deformed condition:
Matthew 9:32-33 MKJV: as they went out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man, who had been demon-possessed. (33) And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb one spoke. And multitudes marveled, saying, Never was it seen like this in Israel!
It is instructive to note that the scope of the anointing without measure corresponds to the level of spiritual development of the person who has been given the borrowed anointing:
1. Baby—little child (1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Jn. 2:13) ‘heal the sick’: instant internal healings.
We see this in the 12 Apostles and 70 disciples under the ministry of Christ who called them babes.
Luke 9:1 MKJV: and He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases.
Luke 9:2 MKJV: and He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
Luke 9:6 MKJV: and they departed and went through the towns, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.
Matthew 11:25 MKJV: At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank You, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the sophisticated and cunning, and revealed them to babes.
2. Little child—young man (1 Jn. 2:13) —‘cleanse the leper’: instant external healings (blind seeing, lame walking, deaf hearing etc).
After a period of growth, we see the apostles in the Acts of Apostles performing instant external healings, like the lame man in the temple (Ac. 3:1-11).
3. Young man—Father (1 Jn. 2:14) — ‘raise the dead’: instant raising of the dead.
After more growth, we see Peter and Paul raising the dead (Ac. 9:36-41; 20:9-12).
Now, the purpose of the manifestation of the glory of God is to break, rule and disciple the nations and so close this age.
Isaiah 59:19 MKJV: so they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah shall make him flee.
Psalms 102:15-16 ESV: Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. (16) For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory;
Isaiah 40:5 ESV: and the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Matthew 24:14 MKJV: and this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.
So, even if you are an un-named Christian without any reputation or recognition among men, you can become a messenger of the glory of God in this 3rd. day by association with, submission to and following after apostolic ministries operating the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ!
