Sometimes, even looking back, it's still astonishing how God can orchestrate people and events to His purposes.
It was the fall of 1986 and I was at a Sunday night worship service at my church. The song leader was singing a prophetic song from Psalm 24. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty in battle!" The song had a decided militancy to it and went on for some time. As this prophetic declaration was sung repeatedly, I began to "see" a banner, tall and very gold with long gold streamers, marching and claiming spiritual territory. I made the banner in about a week. It was twelve feet tall, extremely glittery and was very different from anything our church had ever seen. We introduced it into the worship service immediately. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a plan on how to use it in the worship time, and a strong anointing was on it, but its real story began the following week.A few days later, I saw a friend who was planning to leave the next week to attend the Feast of Tabernacles celebration in Jerusalem. She said that God had spoken to her to bring a banner to the Feast. She was lamenting that she wanted to obey God, but didn't even know anyone that had a banner. So I said, "I've just made a banner. You may take it if you like." She was thrilled to accept my offer. So we packed up the King of Glory banner and off to Jerusalem it went. I later found out that the theme for the feast that year was "Jesus Christ, King of Glory over the nations".
The banner was featured throughout the week's celebrations. The banner was also chosen to lead a march down the Mount of Olives and to the Temple Mount.
There is more to this story. As the Christian marchers with the banner approached the wall of the Temple mount, they saw some orthodox Jews in the plaza near the Wall. These men turned and saw the assembly coming toward them, led by the tall, gold banner. They said to the marchers, "Who is this 'King of Glory'?" A large, bold Texas intercessor ignored the anti-prosytelization laws and replied, "His name is Jesus, boys--Jesus is the King of Glory!" The Jewish men immediately realized what had fallen out of their mouths--they had declared Psalm 24, and knowing that this was a Christian march, had unwittingly proclaimed Jesus as "this King of Glory". They became angry, forced the banner to the ground and dispersed the march. We believe that was the last year that Feast pilgrims made a march to this site.
When I agreed to send the King of Glory banner to Israel, I had no idea of the magnitude of what God intended to do. I am awed to realize that this creation of my hands and the Holy Spirit spoke the theme of the Feast and was an instrument used to proclaim the Messiah to his people at the very wall of the Temple Mount. Even more, that the Jewish men themselves made that proclamation provoked by the ministry of the banner. Because of the political unrest, I had wondered if the banner would come back to me with bullet holes in it. Instead, it returned embedded with the dust of Jerusalem--and a testimony.
King of Glory has continued to carry a strong anointing throughout its years of ministry. In another visitation, God taught me that I must be willing to expand my expectations of how He might use these weapons of the Spirit.
I believed that the ministry of King of Glory was to be a war banner. After all, didn't Psalm 24 declare the Lord to be the "King of Glory, strong and mighty in battle?" I was amazed one day to see God use it another way. It was a Sunday morning, and the musicians were singing quiet worship songs about the glory of God. As they sang the chorus, "See His glory come down", one of the men felt the urge of the Spirit to begin moving the banner slowly through the congregation. As he walked the aisles, the long gold streamers gently brushed over people's shoulders. Later, there were many testimonies of how God was revealing the nearness of His glory. As the banner moved through the people, I noticed a small boy who came out into the aisle, and was dragged back to his seat by his aunt. This happened several times. Finally, she allowed the boy to remain in the aisle, which he quietly did. After the service, the aunt came to me and said that she saw me watching the boy and wanted to explain what happened. She said that after retrieving him the third time, she became exasperated, and said to him, "Sean, why do you keep going out into the aisle?" The little boy looked up at her and said earnestly, "Auntie, He's looking for me. I have to go where He can find me."
Sean's story touches that deep part of me that longs for real connection with God. Just like that little boy, I think that all of us want to be where God can find us. On this occasion, the Holy Spirit used the banner as an emblem or icon of the presence of God, and communicated the powerful truth of His nearness. In these two stories, God used a piece of cloth on a pole to bring a confrontation of truth, and be a catalyst to a connection with the glory of the God of the universe. I could not have anticipated either of these two events. I was only obedient to do what the Spirit had put on my heart to do. And then, my part was to step back and see the plan of God unfold.
These are stories of divine encounters. The Holy Spirit used the lifted banner as a visual touch-point and spoke to human hearts. I believe it is an aspect of the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to us when he said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me."
