‘Made manifest’ means ‘brought into the light, brought out of
hiddenness’. What day will bring this revealing? The Bible speaks of a day that
is coming that burns like an oven when what has been built by the church shall
be tried and tested by fire. Jesus Himself said everyone shall be salted with
fire. At present the church looks much like the raw plank of wood. It is
difficult to accurately see what the image is locked within the wooden canvas.
The veil of what is wood, hay and stubble is covering the true Bride of Christ.
She is hidden amongst the mixture of 21st century Christianity but as
the Spirit of Burning applies fire with His expert brush strokes, a separation
begins to happen. What is truly of gold, silver and precious stones begins to
emerge and become clearer to the observing world. God will reveal His Bride to
the whole of creation which is groaning and looking for light in an increasingly
dark atmosphere. She will emerge to truly be the light of the world once again,
a city set upon a hill, mount Zion, where the church of the First-Born
gather.
Son 3:6 Who or what is this [she asked] that comes gliding
out of the wilderness like stately pillars of smoke perfumed with myrrh,
frankincense, and all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
Even
now, glimpses of the true Betrothed of the Lamb of God are being seen, just as
the first panel of the painting above depicts. The features are not clear just
yet, but as God shakes everything that can be shaken, the true Bride of Christ
arises out of the wood, hay and stubble of what man has built to obscure the
foundation of Christ. Her beautiful face comes into focus. She is not just any
woman ~ she is arrayed as a Bride for her Husband and she doesn’t clothe herself
in the latest fashion trends from Paris. She has chosen the good old paths, the
garments Heaven has designed for her – white linen; ageless, timeless class and
style, worn by generations of the faithful before her as they walked the fiery
path to the wedding chamber. She has been prepared by heaven, not
earth.
Around her neck are pearls, formed from the tears she has shed at
the altar of God as she has surrendered all, a willing living sacrifice, and
been willing to drink the cup of the Bridegroom and be counted as His alone. Her
eyes look beyond the earthly to the heavenly as she seeks only the face of Him
Who paid the bridal price for her with His own blood. She is willing to follow
the Lamb wherever He goes; willing to leave her people and her father’s house,
for the King who desires her beauty (psalm 45).
As the shakings
continue, only that which is unshakable will stand amongst the rubble and ashes
of the wood, hay and stubble of the doctrines of man and all which has been
brought forth from intimacy with the world. The Bride of Christ will be seen
clearly and completely distinct from all that has previously veiled her. Until
now, she was hidden in plain sight but as Malachi so clearly describes, those
who fear the Lord, shall become plainly visible to any who care to look for
them.
Mal 3:17 And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My
special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man
spares his own son who serves him. Then shall you look back and discern between
the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not
serve Him.
Many years ago, in the hallways of Babylon, Daniel and
his friends made a choice not to bow their knee in idolatry. Before that, they
had just been servants of the king of Babylon, working in his employ amongst a
drove of other servants from many conquered nations; given names he chose for
them to obscure their God-given identities. Then the day came when they were
thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow the knee - and only the ropes
holding them were burned. All who gazed upon them, as they emerged unscathed
from those flames, acknowledged that they served the supreme God and had walked
with Him in the fire.
Son 3:11 Go forth, O you daughters of Zion,
and gaze upon King Solomon wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding, on the day of his gladness of
heart.
King Solomon is a type of the Bridegroom and the virtuous
wife is the crown of her husband so here in Song of Songs, we see all gazing
upon this beautiful Bride of Christ which has been given to the Bridegroom. We
see the glimpses now of this Bride in stories that are being brought to us about
the church in Iraq, living in tents and shining with the glory of God. We see it
in the teenager in the west who is determined to remain pure before marriage in
a culture within the church where premarital sex is considered acceptable. We
see the Bride who is making herself ready in the chaplain who is prepared to
lose his job rather than be silenced concerning the truth of what is evil and
what is good in God’s sight. Look closely at the church in Nepal, surrounded by
the rubble of buildings made by man and recently levelled by great shakings and
discern the emerging beauty of the Bride. Gaze upon the persecuted church in
Nigeria who have lost everything for the sake of Christ and know you look upon
His set-apart people, holy unto Him. Every culture, every nation, every tribe
and tongue will contribute to the beauty of this Bride who emerges unshaken and
clothed in the glory of God from the ashes and the chaff of the systems of this
world around her.
‘And I will bring the third part through the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried:
they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people:
and they shall say, The Lord is my God.’ Zech 13:9
In Song of
Songs, the Bride proclaims, “My beloved is mine and I am his”. Is this not the
same as what the Lord says in Zechariah 13:9 – “you are Mine” and the people
answer, “You are my God”. In these phrases are the echoes of the vows between a
bride and groom. As the Bride makes that journey to complete oneness, the
fulfilment of the wedding ceremony, each step takes her further and further out
of the systems of this world which have cloaked and hidden her. God is busy
separating the precious from the vile and the gold and silver from the wood, hay
and stubble. To do this, He comes as a Refiner’s fire. Only those who can dwell
with the everlasting burnings will see Him face to face:
Isa 33:10
‘Now will I arise, says the Lord. Now will I lift up Myself; now will I be
exalted. You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire
that consumes you. And the people will be burned as if to lime, like thorns cut
down that are burned in the fire. Hear, you who are far off [says the Lord],
what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might! The sinners in
Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the godless ones. [They cry] Who
among us can dwell with that devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with those
everlasting burnings? He who walks righteously and speaks
uprightly, who despises gain from fraud and from oppression, who shakes his hand
free from the taking of bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and
shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil. [Such a man] will dwell on the
heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be
given him; water for him will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His
beauty’
In China, India and the Middle East, the trying by fire is
more advanced but the western Church’s day of being salted with fire is rapidly
snowballing. At present, only those with discernment can see the first glimpses
of the face of the real Bride of Christ...but soon, even the world will stand
and acknowledge those who are arrayed as a Bride adorned for her Husband. God
intends to make manifest the counsels of men’s hearts and then we will look and
clearly discern him who serves God and him who does not. Even as the beauty of a
new day is unveiled by the retreating of the darkness of night, so too will this
Bride of Christ emerge out of the wilderness of preparation and be brought into
sight. Hear the words of the Bridegroom as He gazes at her with His eyes of
fire:
Son 6:9 ‘But my dove, my undefiled and perfect one, stands
alone [above them all]; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one
of her who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed and happy,
yes, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Son 6:10 [The ladies
asked] Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, clear and
pure as the sun, and terrible as a bannered host?
He is coming as a
Refiner's fire, to remove the chaff which has obscured the kernel of true wheat,
as Malachi 3 speaks of. Who can endure the day of His coming? Arise and be the
light of the world once again, Bride of Christ. Stand and be seen as a city set
on a hill, radiant with the seven Spirits of God and clothed in the glory of the
Lamb. Dense darkness shall be upon the peoples but His glory shall be seen on
you as you gaze only upon the Sun of Righteousness, coming with healing in His
wings.As you gaze upon Him with unveiled face, you shall be changed from glory
to glory! The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that grows
brighter and brighter until the full light of day.
Selah
Be
blessed!
Christine
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