And the
Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” (Rev. 22:17a).
It is imperative that the church
enter into the “bridal” identity designed for her by the Father on behalf of
the Son. It has been the Father’s
intention, from all eternity, to have the Son’s desire for an eternal companion
fulfilled. (John 17:22-26.) The theme is
continuous from Genesis through Revelation, and all throughout human history,
that the purpose of humanity is to be the eternal companion of the Son of God.
The “bridal identity” of the
church, by default, means entering into our identity as intimate, passionate
lovers and partners of the Lord Jesus, in His Person and His work. The bridal identity of the church is summed up
in the reality of becoming a kingdom of priests. (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10;
20:6.) Priestly ministry primarily
involves worship and intercession. The principle ministry of the Lord Jesus,
right now, is as the great Intercessor. (Heb. 7:25.) It is imperative that the bride enter into
the fullness of her priestly identity before her “kingly” authority can be fully
released. Jesus is the King-Priest after
the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:15.) Therefore it follows that we, the bride of
Christ, are made of the same royal priesthood, called to exercise authority and
dominion. This is first and foremost
expressed through agreement with who God is (worship) and what
God wants to do (intercession).
From this place of unwavering agreement in worship and intercession, the
authority, power, grace, mercy and justice of the Lord are released from heaven
to earth. This happens as the bride of
Christ faithfully agrees with the Lord in worship and intercession. This bridal agreement creates an opening
between heaven and earth, and the kingdom
of God invades earth
bringing transformation and harvest.
The Bridal Garment is a Priestly Garment
“Let us be glad
and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints
(Rev. 19:7-8).
The church makes herself ready
wearing the bridal garment, which is also the garment of a priest. The books of Exodus and Leviticus reveal to
us that the priests, and later the Levites/musicians, were to be clothed only
in linen garments. (See Exodus 28 & 39 and Lev. 6 and 16.) All of the garments, both inner and outer,
were to be made of fine linen, of which we are told in Rev. 19:8, represent the
“righteous acts” of the saints. These
acts overflow from a life of loving obedience to the Lord. When we are born again, we are clothed with
the imputed righteousness of Christ. (2 Cor. 5:21.) By judicial decree, God declares us righteous
because of the finished work of the cross. But the Lord does not stop at
imputed righteousness. He intends the bride of Christ to enter into an
experiential impartation of the righteousness of Christ, or the accusations of
the enemy against God will prove true – “You could bring them out, but You
could not bring them in.” The enemy has
held an accusation against God since humanity fell. The accusation is the same one that he
leveled against God about Job:
So Satan answered
the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge
around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You
have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the
land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will
surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1:9-11).
The accusation against God from
the enemy constantly echoes, “They only serve You for what they can get out of
You. If You allow them to be tested,
they will not only stop following You, but they will become Your enemies.” Sad to say, this has been the testimony of
most of the church throughout history.
Except for occasional occurrences, as in the case of the suffering,
underground church in present day China, and many other individuals and groups
who have refused to bow the knee to compromise, the church has proven the
enemy’s accusations to be true. The Lord
still seeks a corporate bride, worldwide, who will “follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth.” (Rev. 14:4.) Unfortunately,
the character and nature of Judas appears more through the church than the
character and nature of Jesus. Judas
used Jesus to pad his own pockets (John 12:4-6) and to try to further his own
spiritual/political agenda. Jesus was
never Lord over Judas’ life (Matt. 26:25 – all the other disciples referred to
Jesus as “Lord,” and Judas refers to Him as “Master.”). When things get inconvenient, uncomfortable,
or persecution and pressure come, do we do as Judas did…betray Him and walk
away? The Lord will have a corporate
bride on this earth, full of His glory, moving in His power, and, if necessary,
voluntarily suffering because she is ravished with His love before He
returns. This bride will be wearing
white, linen, priestly garments, and because of the love, glory, purity and
power of the Lord that will be revealed through this corporate bride, the whole
world will acknowledge her to the glory of God. (Isaiah 61:1-7.) There will be
a corporate bride clothed in priestly garments who will stand in the gap. This will lead to what scripture refers to as
the “commanded blessing” of God being released from heaven to earth.
The Commanded Blessing – Spiritual, Natural, Cultural and
Geographic Inheritances Released
Behold, how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the
precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron,
running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon,
descending upon the mountains of Zion;
for there the LORD commanded the blessing-- life forevermore (Psalm
133:1-3).
The anointing that releases the
commanded blessing of God is inseparably linked to true unity. True unity involves much more than just
having a good feeling or attitude toward the other parts of the body of
Christ. It involves laying down our
lives for one another, if necessary.
The unity of the Spirit (Eph.
4:3) is much different and less deep than the kind of unity needed to bring the
commanded blessing. The unity of the
Spirit involves having the right attitude toward other Christians, and honoring
and respecting them. This is much
different than living and working together when we have theological or
practical differences. The body of
Christ in a city or region will come together for specific tasks such as
hosting a Billy Graham crusade.
Christians from every segment of the body of Christ will come together
and work and pray, night and day, organizing an event with a view of seeing
lost souls saved through the power of the blood of Jesus. People who normally would never have any
intercourse together, Protestants and Catholics, Pentecostals and Baptists,
etc., will willingly lay down certain theological precepts and practices to
come together for such a work. Out of
this, many thousands of souls might be brought into the kingdom, and this is
wonderful. But, after the crusade is
over, each segment of the body goes back to their own place, remaining
separated with little or no interaction, and although many souls were brought
into the kingdom, the hold of the powers of darkness over the area has not been
affected because there has been no transformation to the city or region. This is not what happened when the day of
Pentecost had fully come (Acts 2:1-4); when the Holy Spirit was poured out in
manifest glory and power. When the Holy
Spirit came, the King and the kingdom came in power
and affected the entire city. Not only
were thousands of souls saved, but an entire new culture was brought into
existence. (See Acts 2:41-47.) The body of
Christ lived, ate, worshipped and cared for one another, on a corporate level,
which released the commanded blessing of God to an even greater extent. The commanded blessing manifested in mighty
miracles, signs, wonders and great displays of generosity, brotherly love and
kindness. The entire societal structure
of Jerusalem
was set on its ear, which, in turn, caused persecution to come to the church.
(Acts 3.) This is also the testimony of
history as one reviews a history of revivals.
True outpourings of the Spirit of God throughout history, such as the
Welsh Revival, Azusa Street, the Lewis Awakening in Scotland of 1949-52, etc.,
came about because a small remnant of people were desperate for God and
for change to come into their lives and communities. They entered into a dimension of intercession
and worship, agreeing with God on Who He is and His will and purposes, and
refused to give up until breakthrough came.
When they entered this dimension of their bridal identity as priests,
what God had promised (2 Chron. 7:14), manifested.
The commanded blessing of God is
everything the Father has promised, redeemed and laid up for us in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says: Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ….
The commanded blessing of God includes everything that belongs to
Christ, and it is available to us. This
includes the entire realm of the Spirit and all that the realm of the Spirit
holds, including experiencing His glory (John 17:22-26), doing
greater works (John 14:12) and unbroken communion. But also, because
Jesus is the fulfillment of the promised Seed to Abraham (Gal. 3:16), this
means that everything promised to Abraham is now available to us who are in
Christ.
Our Inheritance of Abraham’s Promises through Christ
…and said: “By
Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have
not withheld your son, your only son--blessing I will bless you, and in
multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as
the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the
gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:16-18).
When the commanded blessing is
released, the promises given to Abraham become an experiential reality in the
lives of those who are in Christ. The
blessings promised to Abraham include physical, mental, emotional, financial
and family prosperity and blessings, as was demonstrated in the blessing of the
Lord upon Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all their progeny. But there is another blessing promised to
Abraham that all those in Christ have available to them: complete
dominion over every enemy (“your descendants shall possess the gate
of their enemies”). This means there
remains a promise yet unfulfilled that the Lord Himself said would happen. In Matt. 16:18, the Lord Jesus said that
“gates of Hades” would never prevail against His church. This tells me that if the enemy is prevailing
over our lives and churches, then they do not belong to the Lord Jesus, but to
the doctrines and philosophies of men. (Mark 7:13.) Setting ourselves and our corporate churches
aside to the Lord to truly become a “house of prayer,” we will see the church
begin to be clothed with the priestly garment of bridehood. From this place of
intimacy with the Lord, His kingly anointing and authority will begin to flow
down over the whole body. The powers of
darkness will be broken and the commanded blessing of the Lord will begin to
transform our lives, churches and the areas in which we live.
Family, Cultural and Geographical Blessings
When the commanded blessing of
God begins to flow, family, cultural and geographical blessings, anointings,
mantles and authority will be ignited and begin operating. There is an indigenous governmental mantle
that the Lord has placed on people groups and cultures.
And He has made
from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him
and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us… (Acts 17:26-27).
This means that the people groups
that are indigenous in their countries and lands have primary authority over
those lands. When other cultures or
people groups come into a land or nation, much like the European settlers did in
this country, and unrighteously take ownership of the people or land, then
God’s original intentions and authorities have been usurped. I believe it is God’s intention to have every
tribe, nation, ethnic and cultural people group and expression worshipping Him.
(Rev. 5:9-10.) This is the full
expression of the bride of Christ in her priestly role and garments. When one group usurps the authority of
another, then they have lawlessly seized God’s promises for themselves, and
this brings the wrath of God upon them and the land. The only time this was not true was when the
Lord allowed Babylon to come and take possession
of the land as judgment upon Israel
and Judah
because of their rebellion and idolatry.
When God’s people repent and make restitution for sin, idolatry or
unrighteous wounds or acts, He promises to release His grace from heaven to
heal the people and the land. (2 Chron. 7:14; Lev. 26:40-41.) The land, itself, begins to experience the
grace of God, and it brings forth the promised fruit of God. Cultural blessings upon every ethnic group
will begin to emerge, and blessings and promises upon family lines will be
released and families will prosper.
Entering into The Bridal/Priestly Garments
According to Psalm 133:2, the
anointing of unity that brings the commanded blessing of God flows down
from the Head to the body. To receive
the kingly anointing that flows from the Head, the Lord Jesus, we must humble
ourselves. The anointing flows down. In my own life, I have had the Lord deal with
me, showing me that unless I humble myself and get in a position to receive and
hear from others, then I will not come into the fullness of what He has
destined for me.
We have many well-known apostolic
and prophetic ministers come to East Tennessee
and minister. I am grateful for the
generosity and friendship of all of those who honor us with their presence,
ministry and anointing. Each minister
reflects a different aspect of the Lord Jesus and His ministry, and this we
need, as we want to grow up into all aspects of Him. (Eph. 4:11-16). Pride, being very much alive in me, rears its
ugly head at times when I am fellowshipping with some of these wonderful men
and women of God. When I begin to hear
about the wonderful and awesome prophetic experiences that they are having and
enjoying (many who “go to heaven like we go to Wal-Mart”), I sometimes have
to begin to tell of some of the experiences that I have had. The question the Lord asked me one day is
“Why do you need to do that?” Why,
indeed? I don’t. I have done it because I feel a need to show
everyone that I am, at least, at their level, which I am not. My ego needs to be validated, but all it ends
up doing is making me look self-promoting and leaving me more empty because of
the self-exaltation. Jesus said to
humble ourselves and He would exalt us, but if we exalted ourselves, we would
be humbled. (Matt. 23:12; Luke 14:11.)
It is not fun having the Lord humble you. Humbling the self is not His job, it is mine. It is not good to try to make God do your
work for you! If I voluntarily place
myself in a lower position, then the anointing upon the life of the minister
the Lord is using will flow down to me and then I can partake and benefit from
that anointing in my own life. Humility
is a key to entering into the fullness of our inheritance – the commanded
blessing of God.
Putting on the bridal/priestly
garment is also a necessity. The
anointing from the Head, the kingly anointing, will not come if we are not
clothed in this garment. The Lord told
Moses that the anointing oil was never to be poured on man’s flesh. (Ex.
30:32.) There has only been one Human
upon which the anointing could come and that was the perfect Man, the Lord
Jesus. In Psalm 133:2, this kingly
anointing comes from the Head and flows down over the body, but the body has a
priest’s garment upon it. (Aaron was the high priest; Jesus is the Great High
Priest of the New Covenant – Heb. 7, 8, 9.)
The anointing oil first comes from the Head upon the beard, which speaks
of the fact that there must be a level of maturity in the leadership of the
body of Christ, before this level of grace and power can be released. And then, the body must be clothed, with no
open flesh, with the bridal/priestly garment.
Before the priests could be anointed, they had to have the correct garments,
but before they could put on their garments, they had to go through a
sanctification process. The priests were
brought before the whole congregation, stripped naked, washed with water from
the laver, clothed by the leadership, and then sacrifices were made before the
anointing oil could be released. (Lev. 8:1-12.)
When the requirements were met, then Moses clothed the priests in their
garments, which would be passed down to every successive generation.
And the holy
garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed in them and to
be consecrated in them. That son who becomes priest in his place shall put
them on for seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to
minister in the holy place (Exodus 29:29-30).
The garments were passed down
generationally. The anointing that was
upon the father stayed in the garment.
The successive generation not only got a fresh anointing of their own,
but they also inherited the previous generation’s ministry, anointing and
promises. With each successive
generation there should be a greater release of anointing, power and grace,
because it should be joined to the previous generation’s anointing and
promises. Each generation should be
experiencing an exponential increase in power and blessing, but this will only
happen if the present generation recognizes, honors and embraces the previous
generation’s worth and work. The bridal
garment is inherited from the previous generations. This is very important to understand, because
unless the hearts of the children turn to the fathers (Mal. 4:4-6), the full
blessing, power and demonstration the Lord desires for His bride will not be
accomplished. If each successive
generation would submit to the consecration process, and then be joined to the
previous generation in desire and spirit, then the present generation would
receive the previous generation’s anointing, mantle and blessings, plus they
would have new ones added. There is a
spiritual “trust fund” of anointing, authority, blessing, power, prosperity,
revival, ad infinitum, laid up for a final, end-time generation that is willing
to enter into the consecration process and obey the Lord. Jesus consistently told those who desired to
follow Him to count the cost. The cost
of entering the fullness of what He has promised will cost us everything.
Questions for Reflection:
What is the commanded blessing
and how will it be released?
How are we to enter into the
bridal/priestly garments?
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This article was adapted from a chapter in Mike McClung's book, "Restoring the Ruins." For more information on this and other Lionheart Restoration Ministries resources, click here.
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