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Arthur A Pilgrim Chapter-9

9. GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD

It began on a star-filled, full moon night along the Amazon River in Peru. The night air was cool after a hot day and in the late night, Gina, my lovely 15-year old daughter, Mike Ooten, my friend and companion, and I decided to take a swim. The awesome adventure of taking the cross by boat down the Amazon River lay ahead. The presence of the Lord was so real as we swam and basked in the beauty of nature, reflecting on the creative glory of God.

Back in the room I began to read from the book of Samuel in the Bible, “And I will raise me up a faithful priest that will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before mine anointed forever.” I Samuel 2:35. These words seemed to leap inside me.

I always study a special part of the Bible on every trip, for even as others are blessed, I too hunger and thirst for all the fullness of God and His word. Flashing through my mind was the fellowship God had in the Garden with Adam and Eve. God walked with them, spoke and listened as they enjoyed Paradise together. God enjoyed the ultimate of His creation: Man made for eternal union with God, but the horror of sin. Oh, how God must still want the fellowship with us.

After my study I lay in the bed praying, “Lord, if there is anything you’d like to say tonight, you can speak whatever is in your heart and in your mind and I will do it for Thy glory.”

Words cannot express the passion in my heart for God to reveal His thoughts. An invitation… God had told me to invite Him to reveal Himself afresh. It was 2:00 in the morning as I went to sleep. At 3:00 I was suddenly awake. My watch was showing the time as I lay in this room. It was as if I could see far beyond the room into distant outer space, beyond everything we knew there. A distant glow, growing closer and closer, past all of the galaxies coming toward earth, growing larger and larger as a bright rolling, swirling glow (all the colors of brightness, like red, gold, yellow, and orange), sweeping toward the earth, swirling not from the top to the bottom like ocean waves, but from the bottom to the top. It was like a fiery stream coming closer and closer. I tried to cry out but was speechless. I could not move. The mighty wind of the golden glory was rushing in. There was a host of people and angels just beyond the golden swirl of glory. The brightness just behind the glory was blinding silver and ultra-white, then the words before my eyes, “Arthur, proclaim the glory of the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

Those words stayed before my eyes the entire vision. It was the coming of the glory of the Lord, the glory swept over the earth, leaving it white, sparkling clean behind, then into my room and it swept just over me by inches and then it would recede and return again and again. From the bottom of my feet to the top of my head, like ocean waves, the glory swept over me.
After an hour or so my groaning woke Gina. I could not speak for awhile, but finally said to her and Mike, “Can’t you see the glory of the Lord? Look! Look!”

But they could not see anything. I crawled out of bed, over to Mike’s bed, putting my hand upon his eyes. I said, “Lord, Lord, open his eyes and let him see like Elijah’s servant in the Bible.”

But Mike said, “….. nothing.”

I sat on the floor and said, “Lord, I don’t need a vision. I love you. I will follow you. I don’t want to get off preaching Jesus into something else.”

But the Lord interrupted me and said, “Be free, fear not, receive what I am giving you. Release yourself to me.”

All strength left my body and I lay as dead on the floor for four hours, until 8:00 in the morning. I cannot tell all I saw, but I could see and experience the glory of the coming of the Lord. Oh, how indescribably wonderful! If you like art, nature and true beauty, you cannot afford to miss the glory of the Lord!

Then He would let me see and experience the horror, the awesome painful horror that first moment when one realizes he has missed the glory of the coming of the Lord. All of what life is they have missed it. Everything lost for eternity. I missed it all… oh, horror of horrors, pain in mind, body and soul. Oh, I would burst into tears, agony gripped me, then the beauty and the glory of the coming of the Lord would be before me and I would thrill inside every part of my being in the glory, the glory… oh, my Lord and my God. This would change again and again as I experienced the agony and the ecstasy.

Finally the Lord spoke: “I have chosen you. It has taken a long time to prepare you for this time, but the time is at hand. Arthur, proclaim the glory of the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
I tried to protest, for I had never emphasized the second coming of Christ in its detail, I always spoke of now more than the future. Trying to get all of the prophesy concerning Syria, Iran, Russia, China and the other areas in its exact place had confused me. The Lord spoke again as I concerned myself about correct theology. “Don’t consider anything; just proclaim the glory of the coming of the Lord is at hand.”

I thought, “Where? … How? I’m not able. I’m just a road man, dirty blue jeans and a cross. You have big television preachers, huge crusade evangelists, and large organizations to reach the world.”

But the Lord spoke. “Don’t ask questions. Proclaim my message. To this end you were born. You have always known it. Now is the time. Fear not; proclaim the coming of the glory of the Lord is at hand.”

Mike and Gina sat for hours watching over me. Mike reassured Gina, saying, “Arthur is with the Lord.”

Now the vision receded. I motioned for a glass of water and after drinking it I could speak. My body was exhausted and I fell back into bed and went into a deep sleep, resting in the glory of the Lord.

DANIEL 7:9, 10, 14, 15, 28; CHAPTER 8:27-“His throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth before him and there was given him dominion and glory, and I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, changed in my heart, fainted and was astonished at the vision.”

EZEKIEL 1:26-28-“Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance. And on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of his loins and upward something resembling glowing metal that looked like fire all around within and from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw something like fire. And there was radiance around him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”

REVELATION 21:10-11-“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.”