This is a dream I had on 6/18/14.
I
was getting married, but I had no help getting dressed. The location of the wedding was a huge resort with hundreds of rooms. Seemingly thousands of well dressed "wedding guests" were walking around everywhere,
but even though they were supposedly there for the wedding they seemed to not be concerned
about helping me get ready. My hair was
a mess; I seemed to have gotten white spray paint in it, and I was worried about not being able to fix
it by myself. I was wearing a
short, simple white dress that was not nearly as nice as the garments on the wedding guests. I couldn’t seem to find clothes that were
right for getting married in.
I found my way into the enormous chapel where the ceremony would be held. There was a crowd of at least a thousand sitting and talking and apparently waiting for something to happen at the front of the church. I could see bridesmaids and clergy members wandering around at the altar. I entered from the back, still clothed in my simple white shift and with my hair tangled and matted with white spray paint. I sat down in the very back row, but no one turned around and saw me. The Bride had entered, but no one saw me.
Later I went outside and I saw a huge, spinning disk (sort of like a merry-go-round on a playground, but without rails to hold onto and much more dangerous) that apparently had my hope chest on it. I knew that some beautiful wedding garments had been laid up for me in the chest, and I had to get up on the spinning disk--risking life
and limb--to get the clothes. No one was offering to help me. Finally I got to the chest and opened it, but I was disappointed by what I saw. The clothes had once been white but they were now halfway
stained with yellow from neglect and poor storage. I think it was a
veil and a sash.
"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening." 1 Peter 3:3-6
A gentle and quiet spirit. A submissive heart. Goodness. Courage.
These are the things that God delights to see on His Bride.
Ephesians 5:25-27 gives us more details:
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify Her, having cleansed Her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."
This is the aim of our salvation. This is the reward of Christ's sufferings. Jesus gave Himself up for us so that He might adorn us as a Bride fitly made ready for her Bridegroom.
In Revelation 19:7-8 we have another reference to adorning the Bride:
"Let us rejoice and exult
and give Him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."
and give Him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."
The Bride is clothed in righteous deeds. What is so, so important to understand here is that apart from Jesus we are not righteous. JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Only when we are clothed in Him can we truly be righteous.
What does it mean to be adorned with Jesus?
We find the answer in Galatians 3:26-28:
"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
The only requirement for being clothed in Jesus, with all His wisdom and righteousness and perfection, is to be baptized into Him. Those who are baptized into Jesus have access to ALL OF HIM. They don't need to wait on a spiritual leader to explain things to them. They don't need a library of literature to help them understand. THEY HAVE JESUS. The slave has as much of Jesus as the free person. The woman has as much of Jesus as the man. The Jew has as much of Jesus as the Gentile.
This is a gift received by faith, not by a seminary degree or hours of study. Jesus gives of Himself freely, and those who will receive Him will bear the fruit that He appoints.
This is how the Bride is adorned. By faith. Not by her effort or sincerity, but by her voluntary choice to be buried with Christ and raised to walk in His life.
Who will you allow to adorn you?
The answer must be ONLY JESUS.
Beloved, the Church has tried to adorn herself in many ways, and these false adornments are rotting her like a disease. She tries to walk in her own wisdom and discernment, instead of letting Jesus be her wisdom and discernment. She adorns herself with great orators and spiritual leaders, and when she is confused she looks to them for help. They are as blind as she is without Jesus, and so she stumbles and falls. She is a pitiful child that should have grown up centuries ago, but her dependence on this world's kingdom has left her lame and immature. She tries to adorn herself with the things she is told are righteous and wise, but they are no substitute for JESUS!
This is the picture from my dream. The Bride wanders around her own wedding in nothing but a shift and white spray-painted hair. No doubt someone told her that's what Jesus would want, and she believed them. Her despicable wedding guests are so consumed with themselves and the festivities that they don't even notice the poor Bride stumbling around in need of help. Church, this is YOU! Wake up! Grab her by the hand and take her to the Bridegroom, so He can make things right.
Where are the bridesmaids? Gone! I caught a glimpse of them milling around the altar, happy in their finery and not even considering where the Bride might be.
Where are the proper wedding clothes? Locked in a chest on a spinning wheel! The "Church" establishment likes to create obstacles and hoops to jump through before a person can really be considered a "good Christian" who is allowed to have a powerful relationship with Jesus--4 years in seminary, going on mission trips, reading dozens of books, leading Bible studies, working with youth ministry, preaching sermons, speaking in tongues, quoting the Bible... Only after these "accomplishments" make it onto the resume can a person have access to the deep things of Jesus. Once the person gets there, though, and opens that chest, the clothes are spoiled from neglect and mildew. Church! Only when the Bride is allowed to wear Jesus--and that means THE WHOLE BRIDE, men, women, children, young, old, intelligent, uneducated--will her clothes remain fresh and white!
Lastly, did you notice the most important thing that was missing from my dream? Where is the Bridegroom? HE'S NOT EVEN AROUND! And no one seems to notice His absence!
Church, we are so enamored with ourselves that we don't even notice when Jesus has left the building! We so love our preachers, our buildings, our budgets and our programs, that we cannot see the empty lie they have become without Jesus.
Who will you allow to adorn you? The answer must be ONLY JESUS. There can be no hybrid. No mix. Don't deceive yourselves.
This morning the Lord spoke one word to me: Kirma. I looked it up. It's a Turkish word that means mongrel, or half-breed. It also means to break, to fracture, or to injure. DO NOT DECEIVE YOURSELVES. Mixing Jesus with any small amount of man's ways with fracture the worth and power of what He has called us to do.
Who will you allow to adorn you?
No comments:
Post a Comment