Fire On Your Head

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.“ Song of Solomon 2:14-15 (ESV)

I originally wrote an article on this a number of years ago specifically about the insights I had at that time about the effects of praying in tongues, but with the revelation and insight into this Bridal paradigm God’s giving me lately–and to flow with the articles I’ve been posting in the last few months–I couldn’t help but feel that a re-working and revisit to this subject were necessary.  Especially in light of our spending significant time lately reflecting on truths of Christ based in the Song of Solomon and talking about “love being more excellent than wine”.  I have always had a profound revelation from this passage about the way speaking and praying in tongues builds up the believer and helps them overcome in their life and ward off the foxes and demons trying to ruin the work of the Spirit in our lives.

The whole book, whether you read it allegorically or just as a song, is about the love between the Bridegroom and His Bride.  We can glean from it in more specific and personal ways for our individual journeys with the Lord, and not just the collective Body of Christ.  When I read these simple yet profound verses in the Song, I’m compelled to think of passages like the following in the Gospel of John:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:1-8 emphasis mine)

We go to the “hiding place”, signifying a place of privacy, but more specifically that of intimacy with Christ in our relationship with Him.   It speaks of letting Him hear our voice, hence re-enforcing that you can’t only think your prayers, but He desires to hear it out of our mouths as well.  Click here for more articles on the importance of confession and just what it is exactly.  Hearing our voice is also applied to our worship of Him.

The Hebrew for the word “ruin” in S.O.S. 2:15, is Châbal: A primitive root; meaning to wind tightly as a rope, or to bind, specifically by a pledge. It also means figuratively to pervert, or destroy; also to writhe in pain, especially of parturition.  The English Standard Version I quote from uses the word spoil, which shows the same concept.

The foxes represent the devil or demons, and could also be applied to our flesh and our carnal leanings & tendencies.  I believe it represents both: in our own neglect of our relationship with Christ, the opportunity is created for outside spiritual and demonic schemes to come in when we’ve let our guard down through neglect or lack of personal devotion.  In either case, if the foxes are not dealt with at this time, they will cause more damage and be more difficult to overcome.  When we’re growing and the vineyard is in bloom and ripe, THAT is the time they are the most vulnerable and sensitive.  Little foxes can destroy the vine that yields fruit. They do this by gnawing and breaking the little branches and leaves, and the bark, by digging holes in the vineyards, and so spoiling the roots by eating the grapes, and any other way to hinder the growth of the vine.

Our First Fruits

What are vineyards for? Grapes.  And what are grapes used for?  To produce wine.  Chapter 5:22-23 of Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit, and these are some of the evidences there will be in our lives if we’re intimately connected to the vine, we’ll produce fruit and become more like Him whom we’re beholding and Whose image we’re being transformed into. Though many times different symbols are used in different ways in Scripture, the vineyard is often a type or a symbol of the Church in the New Testament, Israel in the Old Testament, and just the people of God in general. And of course, if you’ve been reading my series on “Love, the More Excellent Way” you’d already be familiar with examples of how wine is correlated with the work of the Holy Spirit, and used in chapter 1:2, and 4:10 in the song as representative of GOOD things and finer pleasures of this world.  The devil is always seeking to destroy us in any way he can.  He desires to ruin the work of the Spirit, in our lives individually and collectively as the Body of Christ, and there’s no better way to do it than at the foundational root level, like the foxes seek to do to the vineyard.

More specifically, we know one symbol for the Holy Spirit is new wine–which is made from fresh just-picked grapes, and the passage here in Song of Solomon talks about how the foxes ruin the vineyards that are in bloom–when they’re young, tender or sensitive.  Most plants and trees require that you remove the first fruits as soon as they appear, and then after that the fruit appears in larger size and more quantity.  But if it’s not obtained properly in that first fruit stage, the tree will never grow properly and yield very much fruit–in other words, will never realize its full potential.  I’m sure there’s a sermon in that on giving God our first fruits with all things in our lives, but that’s another post.  Suffice it to say, it’s the first fruits the foxes are trying to spoil, so the vine never comes to its full potential.  Therefore it’s at this crucial moment the foxes must be stopped from doing any damage or else it will be irreparable and the young one in Christ may not fully recover from the damage caused.

Intimacy with God

God calls us through this passage to the hiding place in the rock (the Rock Christ Jesus) and wants to see our face and hear our voice.  This is indicative of prayer, and definitely indicating intimacy.   Viewing these verses in that lens, we see that going and being alone with God and praying, we’ll wind up “catching those foxes” that ruin the Spirit’s work in our lives because we’re bound to them instead of walking in freedom.  When the vineyard is getting watered with the Word of God (Eph 5:26), then the things of the Spirit, such as the gifts and the fruit, and new wine revelation will flow, and it’s THIS the foxes try to destroy, stop or pervert and prevent from happening.

If you are struggling with fleshly tendencies, or overcoming habitual sin, experience and my understanding of this passage encourages me to encourage you to go be alone with Christ and ‘behold Him’ in this manner. Doing so will help you catch the foxes in your life that spoil the work of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit in turn will help you grow strong in your inner man to overcome these areas.

Notice how it states in verse 14 that He loves the sound of her voice, so what better thing to be offering up with our voices than tongues since according to Romans 8:26 we don’t know what we ought to be praying?  Jude 20 mentions praying in the Holy Spirit to build ourselves up in the the most holy faith.  Another way of saying it, is that praying in tongues builds up the inner man and helps keep those foxes from spoiling the vine.  Jude was writing to the early Church–which was young and still in formation like ‘tender grapes’–to contend for the faith because false doctrine (foxes) had gotten into the Church and was rendering it powerless at this crucial moment in its history.  Early on, while the Body of Christ was still young and getting established, much like the vineyard with grapes in bloom in spring time–was the most sensitive and important time for false doctrine to be weeded out from spoiling things.  So the remedy to that is verse 20, praying in the Holy Ghost. Praying in the Spirit is our inoculation against false doctrine (the foxes) because it is how the Holy Spirit teaches us.

The Apostle John stated in his epistle: “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing [of the Holy Spirit] that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1 John 2:26-27, emphasis mine, and parenthesis mine).  The Holy Spirit, and abiding in Him IS the way you’ll avoid and be protected from deception.

So the application of this teaching?  Be intimate with Christ, and pray a whole lot in tongues as well. Not only will it help with your understanding and revelation of the Word of God, but it will help crucify your flesh and overcome the foxes that are holding us back.  As you dwell in the pure Word of God and allow it to ‘water your vineyard’, it will result in wine being produced.

The Holy Spirit is more easily able to flow through those who are intimate with Christ.

Related posts:

What Are You Feeding Your Tree?

How’s Your Connection To The Vine?

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears has not been made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18

In our first part of this series, we looked at how the love of God as motivation for operating in and serving with the Spiritual gifts was more important than any use of the gifts in and of themselves.  Our phraseology has been that ‘love [agape] is better than wine [works of the Spirit] but not excluding them as mentioned in Song of Solomon 1:2, and 4:10.   We’ve been establishing the context for which I’ve been saying those things: that the gifts and ministries of the holy Spirit are not either/or, but both/and and that true filling and operating in the Holy Spirit will also be characterized by love for God and for one another. Then in our second part, we looked at Ephesians 5:17-33 for another witness in Scripture about this and how it ties into the Bridal paradigm of the New Testament. Reading the first two parts of this study will be highly beneficial for proceeding further, but not necessary.  Hopefully we’ll destroy some misconceptions about the fear of God.  Let’s face it, how can we be intimate with someone if we’re afraid of Him?

The reason I’d like to look at these verses from 1 John for some reflection and meditating in this context of our series, is because most of us still view God with fear, instead of awe.  Many people feel obligated–myself included oftentimes to be completely honest–to obey God out of fear instead of out of love and appreciation of Him.  Many preachers I love listening to and reading emphasize the consequence of disobedience, and the consequences of sin, and talking about what we’ve been saved FROM, but they don’t nearly emphasize as much what we’ve been saved TO.  The side effect as a result, is fear, shame, and guilt motivating much preaching rather than obedience as a fruit of intimacy.

Love Instead of Fear as a Motivation For Obedience

In Revelation 1: 17 we read the Apostle John say upon seeing Jesus in all his glory in the verses preceding, that “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” Most of us don’t finish the sentence and read Jesus’ reaction to this: “But he laid his right hand on me saying, “Fear not.” Even though Jesus is clothed in all his splendor–and the human heart’s reaction would be to be fearful of being struck by lightning or something of that sort–we are SAFE in the presence of the Savior.  He reaches out His hand, yearning for us to come near and not fear.

A friend of mine once remarked to me that most of us are so preoccupied with loving God with all our heart, that we forget to realize and accept how much He loves us. Author, speaker and teacher S.J. Hill says this:

Personally, I’m deeply troubled by messages that use the fear of punishment as a motivation for obedience. Jesus deserves so much better! In fact, if our obedience is not motivated by love, it’s not the kind of obedience Jesus is wanting from us in the first place. If some want to talk about God testing our motives, then let’s talk about the proper motivation for walking in holiness. Our obedience must be affection-based. If it isn’t, then it’s not true obedience at all. How can an obedience motivated by a fear of punishment in this life or the life to come really be pleasing to the Lord?

In my book, ENJOYING GOD, I write, “Passages such as 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 have been used to provoke individuals to radical obedience. However, what’s overlooked is John’s statement in 1 John 4:16-18 (Emphasis mine)

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears has not been made perfect in love.‘”  (v 18)

Most of us mistakenly view fearing God as the same thing as being afraid of Him.  How on earth could we be intimate with Him if we were afraid of Him?  How many children have had deep meaningful relationship with their earthly fathers if they were afraid of them–maybe growing up in abusive situations?  Afraid that at any given moment the father might fly off the handle and snap.  When you’re afraid of a parent, you’re not going to be close to Him.

We’re not going to spend eternity with God afraid He might wake up one day in a bad mood.  There won’t be some day in the year 5 million, where we hear a loud grouchy thunderous voice, and have fear instilled in us as we ask someone nearby ‘what was that?”

“Oh, that was God–He’s in a bad mood today!  Don’t look at Him wrong!”

Of course not!  He is the most pleasant person to be around, and our worship of Him should reflect that.

The fear of the Lord is more rightly translated as the awe of Him.  We are to be in as much awe and fascination of Him as possible.  The idea that He dwells in unapproachable light is not to be taken to mean HE is unapproachable, but that that is our reaction in holy fascination of His beauty.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is a very important and sobering concept and you might not have heard it put this way before, but hear me out: I’ve heard fear-based messages on this taught more times than not, using this passage to point out that just because people do things in the name of the Lord doesn’t mean they’ll be in heaven.  I don’t disagree with that, but I think it’s over-emphasized by most.  Notice the things mentioned–these people were proclaiming to Jesus that they were prophesying, casting out demons in His name, and performing mighty works which one cannot do in His name without being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. They were boasting of all the great ministry they were doing in His name.  His response isn’t that he merely didn’t know them, but the text says never.  Not just because they didn’t know him, but because they didn’t know Him and then after the comma, in the same sentence He states, “you [are] workers of lawlessness“–or as other translations put this phrase–’workers of iniquity.’

I’d like to submit for consideration a different angle to view this from:  it’s not just that these people were workers of lawlessness or iniquity who this will be said to on that day when the sheep are separated from the goats, but that doing anything–even of the spiritual gifts–WITHOUT agape love and coming from a place OTHER than out of agape love and intimacy with Christ–is itself iniquity. Even when our motives are good, our righteous deeds are still as filthy rags (Isa 64:6).  Hosea 6:6 mentions how God desires mercy–or as some translations say loyalty–more than sacrifice, which could signify the ‘right’ religious rituals and activity. God wants us, and stands at the door knocking so that He may fellowship with us, first and foremost.  Anything ministry-wise that we will ever do effectively for God must come from a place of intimacy with Him.  It is such a reason as this that He will take one look at many, and say “I don’t know you.  In fact, I never knew you.“  It’s not that spending time in intimacy with Christ is important so that He won’t cast you aside on that day, but because NONE of the works you could ever do for Him to present to Him on that day will have any significance if they aren’t birthed from an intimate relationship with Him.

The point is not to put fear in our hearts for why we’re doing things for the Lord so that on judgment day we will not be cast aside as people He doesn’t know.  Rather, I want to encourage you to just focus on your intimacy with God first and foremost, and then take ministry and your deeds for the lord–your operations in the gifts of the Spirit such as the prophesying, healing and casting out demons like mentioned–let these things flow FROM your intimacy with Christ.

I speak from experience as well as just posing the question: how many of us rely on our works, our ministry, our deeds for God to replace our relationship with God? How many of us are so preoccupied and busy doing ministry, that we have no relationship with God? Friends, never allow yourself to get to a place where you’re too busy to spend time with the lover of your soul, because you’ve put the cart before the horse and are finding yourself too busy to spend time with him.

For further discussion on these matters, be sure to check out our most recent episode of the Fire On Your Head Podcast where we discuss love-empowered holiness and asked the question “Do Happiness and Holiness Mix?” with speaker and author S.J. Hill and missionary & world traveler Gregg Montella.

Download this episode (right click and save)

“Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:6-10, ESV)

After initially posting my first article on the verses 1-5 of the second chapter of John’s Gospel, where this account is found, I’ve since been reflecting on it and had some things pointed out to me by the same friend who inspired me to write that first post, showing me just how deeply prophetic this action of Christ’s at the wedding truly was.  We simply must reflect some more on it.

When the wine ran out people didn’t go on with the emotional hype as usual.  There was a lack.  There was a need, and Mary was honest about the spiritually poor condition (so to speak) of the fact that the gathering lacked wine.  She doesn’t continue on with the celebration as if nothing is wrong, nor does she make excuses concerning why the wine ran out or why enough may not have been prepared.  She realized the need and goes straight to the source–Jesus Christ, her earthly son.  This took a tremendous amount of confidence and humility of her to ask–because as we learned in the last post on this–providing the wine and any other thing was the groom’s responsibility and not that of any of the guests–of which Jesus was one.

When you come to Jesus with your need not hiding or covering anything up, be ready for Him to speak and do exactly what he says.  Follow His instructions.  He said to get the vessels and fill them with water.  HERE is where the lesson is…

What kind of vessels were they?  They were the ceremonial vessels used in the Jewish synagogue for ritual or ceremonial cleansing, and they were dry, and empty.  The vessels that were designed and used to wash iniquity and impurity lacked water, and thus were not fulfilling their purpose.  The Church and our pulpits today lack a true fresh right now Word from God, and because the pulpit is anorexic the Church is sick because there is no washing with the water of the Word.  The vessels designed to WASH or bring purification themselves lacked the pure water.

Fill your life with the word of God.  Devour the Bible in your personal life, not just for study, blogging or preaching, but just fill up on it.  Then out of that, you will fill your ministry with the Word and fresh revelation.

The wedding lacked wine, but the vessels designed to cleanse from sin lacked water.

When you get filled with the Word, there will be cleansing from sin, and revival can then break out.  But we often times want to go straight to the wine, but first you must ALWAYS be filled with the word, and cleansed.  How can there be joy if there is no cleansing or forgiveness?  How can there be washing or cleansing if there is no water in the very ministries designed to bring cleansing from impurity?  In this account, the vessels, the instruments–representing the ministry or the ministers designed for cleansing–were dry and empty.

Jesus instructed to fill them with water (or fill em with the Word) and draw out of that which it is filled with, and it had now turned into the fresh new thing.  This is what happens when we fill up on the Word of God–joy and anointing of the Holy Spirit will flow from our lives and be manifested.  This is Jesus’ “little secret” for bringing new wine or revival.  I use the term ‘little secret’ kinda loosely when I really mean to say ‘forgotten or neglected truth’ because it’s plain, but many still don’t seem to know it.

Jesus’ solution is that the vessels He desires to use–they can be people, or ministries, etc…be filled with the fresh revelation of the Word.  And only when you draw from that fresh filling–not with a pseudo-superficial emotional filling–but a real genuine soaking in the WORD, then what you draw out will be an aged matured product that produces fruit–fruit matured and pressed, that produces joy, the wine of the Holy Spirit.

Isn’t it interesting that there was no wine, but there was also no water where there should have been water–in the Church, in the pulpit.  Jesus’ first instructions were not immediately wine, it was filling [the Church] with water, or filling those vessels first.

Saving the Best Wine For Last

The master of the feast in this account remarked that the best wine had been saved for last.  I believe personally that this is a picture of the Church, that in the early form as documented in Acts chapter 2, there was an outpouring of the Spirit that birthed and sustained the Church, but that right before The Wedding of the Lamb, the best wine will have been poured out and the Church will have made herself ready.  Revelation 19:6-8 states how the great multitude is gathered and clothed in white linen representing the righteous acts of the saints.  There will be no possible way to be so clothed except for the power of the wine of the Holy Spirit poured out on a people cleansed and washed by the power of the Word of God.  Joel 2:28-32 gives us a glimpse of that:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.” For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”

This account details what those ‘last days’ will look like, however, Peter referenced that in Acts 2:17-21, but refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as being evidence of the last days already being up on us.  It’s been the last days already for almost 2000 years (see Are We Living in The Last Days?).  It’s probably little to no secret to any historian or student of Church history the Church started with an explosion, and then went into a significant spiritual dark age, and for the last few hundred years has been gradually having forgotten truths restored to it ever since the great Reformation.  We are getting nearer and nearer to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, subsequent to the return of Christ the Bridegroom.  He is and has been saving the best wine for last.

If Jesus is going to purify us to present us to Himself ready for that day, then that means in these last days the Lord is going to also confront us more and more because He loves us and longs to be with us.  The purpose of tribulation on the earth will not be specifically to yank His Bride from it to avoid that hour, but to prepare and further purify Her for the Wedding.  This is also how I read the book of Revelation–through the Apostle John’s perspective–the friend of the Bridegroom whom Jesus’ loved.  I read it through a Bridal Paradigm, and see the Bridegroom coming back in full force ready to finally obtain His Bride He longs for.

If we don’t get a good grasp of the dealings of the Lord now we will become offended at Him and His work when He comes with the water of His Word and begins to put us under the microscope and also allow us to go through intense persecution we’ve not previously known because He just wants to be with us, and have us prepared for it.

Are you ready for the fresh outpouring that’s breaking out and coming?

“How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!” Song of Solomon 4:10b

“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2

We began in our previous article with this verse from the Song of Solomon to establish our premise for these series of articles on the love of God flowing through the believer.  The context surrounding that verse establishes that the Bridegroom, Christ, is speaking to His Bride, the Church stating we have ‘captivated His heart’ (verse 9).  Our worship and adoration–and just simply our obedience to come follow Him and be in awe and reverent fear of Him–does something in his heart.  He gets some type of satisfaction from our worshipful, fasted lifestyles that He doesn’t get in another way.

We also began in the last post to elaborate on the fact the wine speaks of the best this life has to offer and not sinful or guilty pleasures.   Since most oftentimes wine is associated with the Holy Spirit, we’re then assuming that the Spirit being poured out is a good thing, BUT a foundational starting point for this love walk we’re going on.  So allow me to show you another part of this journey, of just what happens when the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

^“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,  giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:17-21, emphasis mine)

As we established in our previous article by looking at 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 to show that the gifts of the Spirit are foundational–but love is the more excellent, and the greater way–then it makes sense also that one of the evidences of a born again believer truly being filled with the Holy Spirit, is going to be love.  If we are operating in all manner of gifts of the Spirit, but have not love, then it is pointless and we are nothing (see 1 Cor 13:1-2).  If we are constantly, and regularly being filled with the Holy Spirit on an ongoing basis, then it won’t just be evidenced by speaking in tongues, prophecies, psalms, hymns and so on, but we will also be submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Dare I say it: the REAL evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit, is love for one another–not at the expense of the gifts such as tongues, but on top of it, including the gifts.  How do I know this?  Well, I could post too large a list of Scriptures dealing with commandments to love, but let me focus on a few things that tie into our Bridal paradigm specifically, and the direction I’m going in with this series of articles:

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. (1 John 4:19-20, emphasis mine)

We must remember a few things about the Apostle John: he had a revelation of the love of God which obviously would affect his perspective.  He referred to himself in his gospel account as the one Jesus loved.  In the end of that Gospel, he said that if all the works Jesus did were recorded, the world would not be able to contain the books (John 21:25).  Therefore, what we have written in our Scripture canon does not contain any wasted pages.  All of it is divinely arranged to be there for a reason.  John lived to be a ripe old age and it’s commonly held by many that he wrote this and his other two epistles towards the very end of his life, even after he wrote The Revelation he received while exiled on the island of Patmos.  It is for this reason then, we can reasonably interpret the book of Revelation through the lens of the LOVE of God he had, and when one does, we see the matter of the coming of the Lord in a whole different light than just stuff that belongs in Left Behind fiction books–but one of a marriage finally coming to realization. The book is a revelation of the Bridegroom–lovesick for His Bride–coming back to finally marry her.  John had that revelation, but I digress a little from where I’m going with this.

If John took the time to write these 5 chapters, then this stuff MUST be some of the most important things he felt worth sharing with the recipient of this letter, and the Church.   Therefore, if at the ripe old age of 90 or maybe even 100 this was what he had to say after decades of intimate relationship with The Bridegroom–after decades of public ministry– then it’s wise of us to take seriously, and meditate and ponder things from his perspective.   We need the perspective of the one who knew his identity in the Bride of Christ, and knew himself as the one Jesus loved.

How do I know this whole “wine of the Spirit and being filled, speaking to one another, and submitting to one another” thing ties into this whole Bridal paradigm?  Because the rest of the chapter goes on to say so:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. (Eph 5:22-24)

Sometimes I really hate the chapter breaks and title headers the publishers of our Bible translations put in there, because the original manuscripts were not broken down into chapters and verses, and certainly didn’t have subject headings like most of our Bibles say.  I’m only mentioning that because even though they’re helpful for finding specific passages and parables, when reading they sometimes inadvertently give the reader the impression new topics are starting.  However, this is a part of the same flow of thought the author had.  Jesus taught in complete subjects, even if the English Standard Version I’m reading this from breaks things down into seemingly different topics, when the apostles and epistle writers wrote in entire concepts.  Let’s keep reading:

“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. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Eph. 5:25-33, emphasis mine)

Remember, we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and Christ has sought out His Bride since before the foundation of the world.  He is talking here of presenting His Bride to Himself at the marriage of the Lamb.  Christ cherishes the Church.  She’s His own Body.  He nourishes her.  Christ ‘left’ His Father, in the eternal heavenly realm, to come down to our earth that He may gather His Bride to bring her where He Himself is.  He cried out on the cross “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46) as he bore the sin of His Bride so as to make her pure and spotless before God.  As Jesus was feeling that weight of sin, He was experiencing separation from God for the only time in all of eternity. It was at this time that 2 Corinthians 5:21 occurred, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Now, if we have truly been born from above, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we’re going to respect Christ the way the wife is to respect her husband.  So if we respect Christ, out of the response we have towards Him as he loves us, then we will not do anything to hurt His Bride that we’re apart of.  We will lay our life down for one another.  We will speak encouragement, not gossip.  We will submit to one another, preferring the other as better than ourselves.

Let’s submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, for He finds that to be better than wine.

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

“On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her,  “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:1-5)

I’d like to take you on a bit of a journey to see something totally fascinating in Scripture that I had never seen before until recently when a missionary-friend laboring in Mexico posted some comments on a status update of mine on Facebook.  I think this ties in perfectly with my series lately on “Love, The More Excellent Way” but is more like a footnote, as opposed to an actual entry in that series, and I will post the second part in the next week or two.

This revelation pertains to both the love of God, and the ‘wine’ we’ve been talking about, and we have already been meditating on and studying how “love is better than wine.” (SoS 1:2, 4:10).

If we read from Genesis to Revelation, Scripture begins with a wedding, ends with a wedding, and all through out The Bible the Kingdom of heaven is likened to a wedding; God’s desired relationship and covenant with His people Israel in the Old Testament, and The Church included in the New Testament–it’s always likened to a marriage covenant.  We see books like Hosea, Ruth, and Song of Solomon really exemplifying this in the OT.   In the New Testament, we read Jesus and Paul talking about the mystery of marriage being about Christ and us His Bride–the Church. Parables of Jesus’ point to this as well (check out Matthew 22:1-14 – the wedding feast, and Matthew 25:1-13 the ten virgins, for further mediation on this). Revelation, the final book shows a multitudinous crowd rejoicing because it’s time for the marriage supper, and the Bride has made herself ready–grown in maturity through this process of love, devotion, and obedience (see Rev 19:6-8).

I’m convinced that the Song of Solomon is one of the most fascinating, profound, and beautiful books of the entire Scripture canon, and this short book of eight chapters is relevant to all Christians, everywhere and in every generation.  Whether you read it allegorically or not, it’s a key that helps unlock much of the rest of the Word of God and the ‘mysteries’ contained therein only make sense through the lens of the Love of God.

When Jesus was at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-12) and they ran out of wine, His mother came to Him and addresses the issue. And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” (v. 4) For years, we have been taught and thought that it refers to it not having been Jesus’ time for public ministry.  Others have taught this refers to Jesus’ work on the Cross that He is referring to in some kind of abstract kind of way.  Both views and others like it are impossible.

Jesus stated that He only did what He saw his Father doing and whatever the Father does, the Son does (John 5:19).   If it was not time for Jesus to have performed a miracle and He did it anyways, He would have been doing something outside the time and will of God.  In that very moment, He would have sinned, but we know this was not so of the sinless lamb of God.  No, Jesus knew no iniquity.  Therefore, He could not have been referring to it not being the time for His public ministry.

What did He really mean?

It was the Jewish custom for the groom’s father to have worked out with the family of the bride the details concerning the wedding arrangement, including the date of the actual ceremony.  The Bridegroom would go to his father’s house and build a place for himself and his bride to live, usually attached to his father’s house.  Remember, Jesus told His disciples–probably when their understanding hadn’t yet been opened to the fact He was viewing them as His collective Bride: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)  The Bridegroom would not know when the day was, but sometime after building the house, the father would then tell him “go, it’s time.”  Jesus also told us regarding His return, “concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matt 24:36, Mark 13:32)

At that appointed time, the groom and his friends would leave his home and proceed to the home of the bride, where the marriage ceremony was conducted, often at night. Usually a servant was sent first some time ahead of the bridegroom, to ‘pave the way’ and awaken the bride and the virgins.  Since the servant would not know which one was the bride, she would sleep in her wedding dress since the wedding ceremony would customarily be at night, and she more than likely would be awakened from sleep for it. After this the entire wedding party returned to the groom’s home for a celebratory feast.  This engagement process could last any number of months, possibly a year or more if the bridegroom was preparing their place in a far distance away to travel to, and return from.  As mentioned, many of Jesus’ parables or teachings regarding His return to the earth used wedding and marriage imagery they would be familiar with.

Why does this really matter?

It was also the Bridegroom’s responsibility to prepare enough wine for the reception and celebration of His own wedding. When Jesus was stating that His time had not come and what did that have to do with Him, he was saying: “It is not time for me to prepare the wine of my own wedding yet.” Jesus went ahead and did the miracle because it was the Father’s timing for him at that moment to perform that miracle.  Why? Because Jesus had to give just one more little glimpse that he is a lovesick Lover looking to prepare and present to Himself a pure and spotless Bride one in whom HE makes pure by washing her with His Word!

Remember Jesus’ disciples for a moment:  these guys ran with Jesus, and at one point in Luke’s Gospel after Christ’s resurrection, it says He opened the Scriptures to them and open their eyes to understand, and they ‘recognized Him’. (Ch. 24:31-32)  Of course you are gonna have a group of single guys, or gals, adults or married folks who in hearing they actually don’t unless understanding has been opened to who they are as His beloved.  Of course they are going to be dull in hearing and totally misinterpret Scripture!  We should not be surprised in any way at the reactions of the disciples had to some of the things Jesus told them and the crowds prior to this moment in their lives. Hence the reason we need to be washed with the Word, and have our mind renewed (Rom 12:1-2).

The reason this matters, is because it was and is all a part of The Plan.  The Gospel is the ultimate love story.  God loved you before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).  He didn’t wait to see how you’d turn out before He decided to love you.  He, in the form of a man on the cross, died to make a way for you to be included in His Bride, while you were yet dead in your sins (Col 2:13).  Not only that, He made Himself vulnerable to your rejecting of His gift of eternal life, and relationship with Him, before you even entered the earth. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Eph 2:4-5)  Before you even had a chance to make a commitment to Him or to reject Him, and spend eternity separated from Him, He loved you and desired you.  Before you even committed any sin that led to His sacrifice even being necessary.  Ultimately,  He died before His Bride even knew about it and that that was the plan.

There’s coming a time, a consummation of the ages, where The Wedding Feast will finally take place–and for the joy set before Him who endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb 12:2), Christ who died that you may be able to know Him and spend eternity with him–will finally get to.  It’s up to you to decide if you want to be a part of that, since He’s done His part and is waiting…

By Robert Gladstone

Reading Philippians this morning, one thing Paul says really jumped out at me.  “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus” (2:21).

So, what are the interests of Christ Jesus?  The context explains clearly. His interests are people.  God’s burning concern, and the concern of His imprisoned apostle, is the well-being of His family – both as individuals and as a community.  Read the whole chapter carefully.  It’s all about people getting along, caring for each other more than themselves, serving the purposes of the gospel.

Paul’s spirituality was not some abstract mysticism.  It was essentially people.  For him, the second great commandment was the natural outflow of the first.

Notice how he exhorts a somewhat divided church to take Christ’s attitude and example.  Philippians 2, one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture, sets them forth for us:  Jesus did not insist on His own greatness.  Rather, He emptied Himself of His inherent, heavenly status and lowered Himself to the place of total abasement.  All of this, for people.

Jesus Christ did not become a slave and die to establish Christian religion.  He did not suffer affliction for buildings and ministry programs.  He did not submit to shame and torture to exalt celebrity-styled ministries. Jesus died for people! He died to create born again, whole, supernatural individuals who together make up the family He always dreamed of.

Paul pleaded with the Philippians to have this same attitude toward one another.  How can we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” in any other way but to pour our lives out for those around us?  Paul told them, in so many words, “I gave my whole life away.  I have given up my own dreams and ambitions (Phil 3).  I suffer immensely even in prison… all for you to prosper in Christ.  And, greatest of ironies, in this do I find my own deepest joy!  In fact, I’m sharing this joy of mine with you so you will have it!  Would you do the same for one another?  This would make my joy complete, and yours too!”

Paul bemoaned the lack of ministers in his day that had this kind of attitude.  “They seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.”  There were few gospel ministers he could entrust with the care of his churches.  Too many wanted to use the churches for their own well-being, rather than to be used for the churches’ well-being.

It’s sadly similar today.  We live in a culture – including a religious culture – that promotes individualism and self-centered happiness as the goal of life.  But God calls us to break the mold.  Let’s embrace Christ’s interests.  Let’s lay our lives down for people.  Let’s make it our ambition to use our time, energy, and gifts to make the lives of those around us better in Christ.

That is Christ’s own heart and happiness – people, the Family of God.  Listen again to the words of the great hymn…

“Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.”

Bob Gladstone is director, and professor of practical theology at the FIRE School of Ministry in Concord, North Carolina.  To visit his blog go to HeavenRules.org.

To hear messages of his at last year’s Fire For Life Summer School, in the Netherlands, click on this link.

Editor’s note:   Britt Williams is the pastor of Consuming Fire Fellowship, in Woodville Mississippi. The following article is something I came across on Facebook when several of my contacts posted this article on their profiles.  I was challenged and convicted by many of the points, and though we don’t agree with every point or feel that some of the ministry methods the author engages in are of our personal preference or style, we did feel enough in common with this article to share with our readers to be given a challenging perspective on the role of conviction.  Any comments and thoughts are welcome.  And we hope and believe it will be of benefit to you as you read.

In this article, we revisit an often overlooked and forgotten fundamental of gospel preaching; the convicting power of God, an essential component in the experience of conversion. Conviction is that divine power that convinces and draws the sinner to Jesus. Thus, unless men are convicted and convinced of their awful sinfulness before a holy God they will never come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
-John 6:44

Jesus presents us with an absolute, the theological implications thereof, are often overlooked/neglected in this hour of seeker-sensitive, easy-believism. Sadly, the tendency today is to overlook, redefine, or ignore altogether the necessity of conviction in the new birth experience. If we fail to understand the dynamics of the gospel, and conviction in particular, we are ill prepared to be a witness for Jesus. Now, if conviction is absolutely essential in the conversion of souls, then we must desire to see lost sinners come under conviction, yes? This being true, let us consider what the Bible tells us about true Holy Ghost conviction.

I. FIRST, HOW MIGHT WE DEFINE CONVICTION?

John 6:44a No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

Now, we’ve heard this term “conviction” many times before, but what does it actually mean? According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, “conviction” can be described as…

The act of compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sinfulness; the state of being convinced; the state of being sensible or aware of guilt. By conviction, a sinner is brought to repentance.

Thus, conviction is the experience of the sinner being awakened to the sinfulness, the penalty, and the only remedy of his sin. There is perhaps nothing in the human experience more disturbing, unsettling, and gut wrenching than Holy Ghost conviction. If it were not for its glorious end, it would be accurate to call conviction awful and terrible torment of the mind and soul. And remember, we, above all, must desire/have this happen to those we hope to win to Jesus.

II. AS I MENTIONED, CONVICTION IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR CONVERSION.

John 6:44a No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

Our text irrefutably teaches the absolute: no man will come to Jesus apart from God’s convicting power. Now, contrary to popular thought, fallen humanity has no innate interest in God, but rather, is predisposed to evade and hate Him. And thus, there has never been even one man who sought God of his own accord: not because we can’t, but we won’t.

Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

I heard a preacher say, “the increased popularity of the occult proves men are spiritually hungry, searching for a God they don’t know.” Such a statement presupposes three unscriptural and illogical concepts:

a. Sinners can seek God apart from God.

Romans 3:11 …there is none that seeketh after God.

b. Sinners can sincerely seek God and not find Him.

Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

c. Sinners are completely oblivious to God, His nature, and His law.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse…

Such unscriptural notions reveal how little we understand about the gospel and the new birth. No, men infatuated with the devil may mean many things, but certainly not that they are hungry for God. The Bible teaches that sinners, by their sins, are utterly alienated from God. This separation is not merely a difference of opinion, or a philosophical misunderstanding. No, the sinner has willfully set himself against God: his ultimate enemy. The sinner is a rebel against God, His authority, His law, His gospel, and His Son. Sinners are willfully separated from God and have chosen to remain in a hostile position of opposition toward Him.

Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

We no longer believe this, the sinner is somehow, unconsciously seen as some kind of victim. And this one truth alone necessitates the utter need for the prevenient grace of conviction: they will never come, except the Father draw. Thus, as our text teaches, without conviction, no sinner will ever seek God.

III. THERE ARE THREE ESSENTIALS IN HOLY GHOST CONVICTION.

John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove (convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…

There can be no Holy Ghost conviction apart from the reproof regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment. And perhaps there are no three topics more rejected in the professing church, and more hated in the world. Should we wonder why there is so little Holy Ghost conviction? Yes, the gospel preacher’s message, if anointed and led by the Spirit of God, will emphasize reproof. And his rebuke will concentrate on the sinner’s sin, his lack of righteousness, and the judgment he will soon face. Now, the world and religious hypocrites hate such preaching, accusing it to be, “judgmental/offensive/counterproductive.” Over the years, the professing church, carnal, backslid, and seeking the approval of man, has been seduced by such reasoning. Above all, they seek to avoid the preachy image, bending over backwards to be non-offensive and make the sinner feel comfortable. There is an obvious denial of Biblical conviction. That leads me to our next point…

IV. THE CATALYSTS FOR CONVICTION.

Romans 10:14 …how shall they hear without a preacher?

Without a true Gospel preacher there can be no Holy Ghost conviction to draw the sinner. Gospel preaching is God’s ordained means to communicate the gospel. And as we pointed out, his message, for the most part, will be a message of reproof: declaring the law to expose sin, lifting up Jesus to define righteousness, and boldly warning of the great and terrible day of God’s judgment. If we don’t get back to preaching the fundamental gospel message, men will never truly be drawn to Jesus. There can never be Holy Ghost conviction without Holy Ghost preaching (not Holy Ghost singing, not even Holy Ghost living alone). No, the human vessel, consecrated wholly to God, filled with God’s Spirit, declaring God’s Word is essential to God’s method of drawing.

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Yet, the modern church, Biblically illiterate and carnally motivated, has thought to promote the gospel like a bargain rummage sale. They say, “if we are prosperous, joyful, blessed, folks will come to get what we have.” Indeed, they may, but this is not the right motivation (see John 6). Or, they reason, “if they see miracles, they will believe the gospel.” They apparently forget that Jesus, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, renounced such thinking…

Luke 16:31 …if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Others say, “If they just see Jesus in us they’ll come knocking at our door.” But the Bible says…

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

In light of the absolute stated in Isaiah 53 how can this be? No, as the Bible teaches, we must first GO, before they will ever be under conviction and then COME.

VI. THE NATURE OF THE CONVICTION EXPERIENCE.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

As we’ve mentioned, conviction is synonymous with reproof for sin, which produces a crisis. Holy confrontation always draws a line, gives an ultimatum, and forces a moral choice.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous…

Conviction literally compels lost sinners to do what they would never do themselves. To consider what they would never consider otherwise: look at the Greek word translated draw in John 6:44…

Draw: {Greek} hel-koo’-o, Literally or figuratively to drag.

It is a crisis, not a circus: serious, grave, and sober. A man diagnosed with cancer has some hard decisions to make, nevertheless, they are necessary. Likewise, the man under the eternal sentence of divine conviction realizes his latter end. It is no laughing matter. Conviction is, above all, loving, compassionate, and merciful beyond human comprehension: but to the unregenerate it seems tormenting. It is an affront to the sensibilities, a slap in the face of fallen human pride, and an offensive and brutal attack on sinful self-worth. And it will only lift when the sinner either repents or resists to the point of grieving God’s Spirit.

VI. FINALLY, THE DIFFERENT RESPONSES TO CONVICTION.

John 7:12, 41, 43 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people…Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? So there was a division among the people because of him.

Conviction brings men face to face with the Biblical Jesus, and then they must make a gut-wrenching choice. They must either believe the gospel and therefore forfeit their own life to gain Christ, or reject Christ, so as to justify their sin. There is no middle ground, conviction either breaks a man or hardens him. For those who resist conviction reactions can run from insanity to violent persecution, but react, all men do.

May God help us to get out of the way and allow God’s Spirit to drag sinners to Jesus.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

When I was younger and worked at a day camp, we were given Scripture verses we had to memorize in order to know how to share the Gospel with kids who may be interested in giving their lives to the Lord. I think memorization is a good idea for helping get the Word in us, and therefore I’m not against having an understanding of where the Word of God says certain things we base our hopes and understanding on.  However, I usually hear the concept of Jesus standing outside, “knocking at the door of our hearts” used in an evangelistic sense towards unbelievers. It’s not.

Though I’m not discounting its meaning for the unbeliever to enter into that relationship and let Christ in, I think there’s such a deeper meaning to it than just ‘letting God in’ as if He’s lonely and wants us to let Him in so He can have some company–as though Jesus is a loner and giving our lives to Him is a favor we’re doing Him like letting him sit at our table in the cafeteria during lunch.

We have to remember that Christ was speaking to seven churches, and in this specific context was saying this to the Church of Laodecia.  Previously we’re told the Lord found them lukewarm and would spit them out of his mouth ( 3:16), and that He finds them wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (v.17) despite their perception of themselves to be rich and lacking nothing.  He goes on to state “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (v.19-20)  Interesting how leaving that verse in its context helps shed clear light, but I digress.

I stated in a previous article that I recommended reading the book of Revelation right after reading the Song of Solomon, and therefore I’m of the opinion that what this passage is really talking about is displayed in the fifth chapter of that Song.  We’re gleaning heavily from S.J. Hill’s “Song of Solomon: Rich Language For a King’s Devotion To His Bride.”

I slept, but my heart was awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking.”Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is wet with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.” I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?  My beloved put his hand to the latch, and my heart was thrilled within me.  I arose to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.
I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had turned and gone. My soul failed me when he spoke. I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.

(Song of Solomon 5:2-6)

The Bridegroom’s knock here refers to the initiative God takes in bringing His Bride into new dimensions of His Spirit.  Jesus’ purpose in knocking is to get her to open up completely to Him.  He wants all of us.  The context–being in bed and having expected that Her Bridegroom would be there as well–demonstrates that she is in a place of mature obedience, and not one of refusing to get out of bed and answer the door for Him.  Sleep speaks of being in a place of rest.  The Bride has complete confidence in the Lord, and she is resting–but her heart is ‘awake’ in the sense that she is willing to walk in obedience without any conscious area of compromise, without any hesitation.  She was at a point where normally, He was there next to her, but on this occasion, she awoke to find He was gone, but calling her–knocking from outside.

“I have taken off my robe; how can I put it on again?”

Her robe (garments) speak of her own works (see Rev 19:7-9).  She’s simply saying, “I’m not standing before You on my own merits.  I’ve taken off my robe and I’ve put on Your robe of righteousness.” Her statement “…I have washed my feet, how can I defile them?” is not reflective of her refusing to obey Him, but instead, a commitment to avoid spiritual defilement.  How could she defile herself by disobeying Him in light of the great love He had for her?  She is simply saying “I’ve done it my way.  My feet were dirty with my own walk, but now they have been cleansed by the Lord.”

The ‘hand’ of the Beloved on the latch of the door, signifies the grace of God (see Acts 11:21-23).  The “latch of the door” itself representing the door of her heart.  The Bride’s heart yearned for Him as she heard His voice, and she arose instantly in response to open the door of her heart to Him.  This depicts Her full obedience. Her response was not one of compromise, lethargy or lukewarmness.

“…my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the bolt.”

Myrrh in Scripture speaks of suffering and death.  This is a picture of the Bride opening up her heart so the Cross will touch every area of her life.

This is also the type of fellowship Christ–the Bridegroom–is seeking and looking for.  He is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and seeking for the same response and reaction as He obtains from His Bride in the Song: immediate and unquestioning obedience and loyalty.  “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” We are to respond to this call, not just let Him carry the relationship.  We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). He longs for a people whose heart skips a beat at the thought of Him.  He is looking for a people whose breath is taken away at the sound of His voice, not out of fear and trembling alone–though an appropriate response–but out of delight and fascination.

I recently learned that when a Jewish man wants to take a wife, the girl’s father instructs her to prepare a meal for a man who wants to marry her, but he does not tell her who. On the appointed day, the girl has been cooking all day and the man comes and knocks on the door. She opens the door, and he asks, “May I come in and eat with you?” if she does not want to marry the man standing there, she shuts the door in his face. If she lets him in, she is accepting his proposal. They eat the meal together, then the betrothal covenant is read and to enter into the covenant, they drink wine from the same cup and eat off the same piece of bread. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20).  John–”the one who Jesus loved”, raised in Jewish tradition and custom–must have recognized Jesus’ words as a proposal to His Bride–the Church! Some say that communion is reminiscent of sharing the bread and cup in the betrothal covenant as well.

Jesus Christ delights in us, His people.  He is fascinated with you and I, and it is true that He longs for the same passion to be reciprocated towards Him.  He longs for a people He can have fully to Himself.  Not out of fear, or out of religious obligation, but out of holy fascination that He is worthy of such instant obedience.  From a place of delight and joy, not out of fear of punishment or reprisal for not measuring up to a religious standard.  He’s looking for a people He can rest with.  The Son of God is looking for a people who are not bored with Church, but consumed with a passion for Him and His presence.

There is much ministry and activity going on today in the Body of Christ.  The statistics of pastors burning out annually and dropping out of the ministry are staggering.  The amount of ministers who continue plugging away at church endeavors, and running programs for the people–though good and noble, but yet void of the presence of God–is higher than it ever should be.  No ministry, church, or leader will ever produce any fruit except it come from the secret and intimate place with the Lover of their soul.  Jesus longs to work through, and live in a people who will let Him.  Not just to bless our programs that we run and ask Him to be involved in as an after thought, but to allow Him to have all of us.  There will be no earth shaking revival fire spreading across the earth without a people who are wholly consumed with Him.

He’s looking for, and seeking…you.  Will you answer Him?

“The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.“ (Leviticus 6:12-13, ESV)

This is a continuation of my previous post, All Consuming Fire, and is not necessary to read before continuing further, but doing so is highly encouraged.

If you took a match and lit a curtain with it, the flames would spread, but the initial spot you lit on fire would die out almost immediately once the fire has consumed all there is to consume, and leave behind ashes.  This is why you need to continually add the fuel to the fire to keep it burning.  That way the fire doesn’t just affect what it touches and move on, but continues to burn in the same spot as well.

This is also why the priests were continually adding wood to the fire night and day. The requirement for the them mentioned in our opening text concerning the burnt offering would serve as a special exhortation for the priests to be faithful in their duties so that the worship of the Lord could continue uninterrupted. The bush Moses saw in Exodus chapter 3 was burning but didn’t disappear or get destroyed.  This is a profound symbol of the torch the Christian believer is supposed to be.  If the Christian would burn for the Lord and keep maintaining his fire, allowing passion and zeal to consume him like a fire, then there’s no reason we can’t continually burn for Him, and destroy the works of darkness, changing the atmosphere wherever we may find ourselves.

In Exodus 25 we read of the instructions for how the different items for the tabernacle were to be built, and we notice that the lampstand was such that it had 3 branches on one side and 3 branches on the other. And in each branch there were 3 knobs. You will notice that there are 9 sections on each side, which this writer believes represent the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit on one side and the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit on the other side.  The oil used for this was from the olive, of which there could be no oil unless it was pressed, symbolizing that the oil of the Spirit doesn’t flow from the inner man until the outer man–our flesh–is completely crushed. We could do a whole study that would edify the reader concerning the symbolism of the olive oil and olive branches, but suffice it to say for today, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

That being said, we read in Matthew 25:1-13 the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins waiting for the Bridegroom to come back for His Bride. Jesus is likened here to the Bridegroom, and the Church (Christians) are His Bride.  Since the warning at the end of this parable is intended for the listener/reader, we can assume then we are also likened to the virgins in this parable.  Therefore, we are in charge of whether we will be foolish or wise–whether we will remain filled with the Spirit of God or whether we’ll be foolish like the ones who did not have enough oil for their lamps and the fire went out by the time of His return.

It was the Jewish custom for the groom’s father to have worked with the family of the bride details concerning the wedding arrangement, including the date of the wedding ceremony.  Oftentimes women were betrothed in their teenage years, and the groom would go to his father’s house and build a place for himself and his bride to live, attached to his father’s house.  Jesus said “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:3)  The Bridegroom would not know when the day was, but sometime after building the house, the father would then tell “go, it’s time.”

At that time, the groom and his friends would leave his home and proceed to the home of the bride, where the marriage ceremony was conducted, often at night. Usually a servant was sent first some time ahead of the bridegroom, to ‘pave the way’ and awaken the bride and the virgins.  Since the servant would not know which one was the bride, she would sleep in her wedding dress since the wedding ceremony would customarily be at night. After this the entire wedding party returned to the groom’s home for a celebratory feast.  This engagement process could last any number of months, possibly a year or more if the bridegroom was preparing their place in a far distance away to travel to, and return from.

The lamps they used here were large dome-shaped torches, fueled by rags soaked in oil and used for walking outside.  With extra containers of oil, the torches could last for hours, and as a result they needed regular refilling.  Therefore, since the bride and the virgins did not know how long it may take before the bridegroom returned, they had to always be prepared. Who knows how much oil they needed to buy in the first place, but in keeping with other Scripture, they probably had to do it sacrificially in order to continually afford to buy oil to keep their lamps constantly refilled.  The foolish ones, didn’t count the cost, and were only prepared up to a certain point–’just enough’ in their own estimation.  But the wise ones kept their fire burning.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid much of the Body of Christ is like the five foolish virgins.  The five foolish ones had lamps, but not enough oil, which speaks of having form and style, but no substance.  Many a church and its programs are going on continually without the fire, without the power of the Holy Spirit, the oil of gladness (Psa 45:7). This isn’t a stretch since we still have a large portion of the Body of Christ that doesn’t even believe in being filled with the Holy Spirit.  But on that day when He returns for His Bride, some will not be ready, and at that time it will be too late to refill the oil in their lamps.

Ephesians 5:17-18 says “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” The words used in the original Greek refer to a continual on-going filling, so as to more accurately say keep being filled [with the Spirit].  The Holy Spirit is a like a fuel, or oil to the fire of God’s presence in our live.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2.  The same way the fat and flesh of the animal was placed on the altar to be burned up, we too are to have none of our flesh in the way that the flowing of the Holy Spirit through us would continually burn that which needs to die.  Doing so helps us to be filled with Him, and to know what His perfect will is.  The more we’re burned up with His fire and His presence, the less like the world–and like our old man–we’ll be.

Colossians 3:16 says ^“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Jeremiah referred to the Word of the Lord as a fire that burned in his bones (Jer 20:9).  Let the Word of the Lord dwell in you richly, and stay continually filled with the Holy Spirit, and you will keep the fire of God burning in your life, and you will be ready for His revival presence when He comes in power.  The oil of the Spirit will ignite the Words of Christ in you if you are storing them in your heart.

__________________________________________

More fuel for your fire:

A message from Jerome Ocampo on Keeping The Pure Fire Burning that is similar in content, and preached at a past Fire For Life Summer School in the Netherlands.

Download mp3 (right click and save)