Recently, in a dream I had, I saw a small candle with a burning wick inside a sealed plastic bag sitting on an open Bible. The Bible was opened to the book of Revelation. Inside the sealed bag the wick was burning with a small constant flame at first. Then the flame intensified and began to almost violently burn it’s way out of the bag. It was like the fire knew that it was starved of oxygen and needed to get through the barrier of plastic to the air outside in order to keep burning.
The short candle in this dream I feel is speaking of the last great revival before the end. It’s the bride’s revival. It’s been preserved & sealed (represented by the sealed plastic bag) with a sure destiny for the end. The book of revelation is like a love letter written for the bride of Christ. It contains the wooing, the romance, the struggle for love, and the overcoming victory of the bride and her bridegroom. Let read about John’s words to the church in (Rev.2) as He speaks of the “first love” of the bride.
(Rev.2:1-7)
1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:
2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;
3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.
4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.†’
Have you ever heard the saying, “You never get over your first love”? This is a saying that circulates in the world and in culture, but the reason why it’s caught on and it’s circulated so much is because there’s some truth to it. This is why the bible warned people to “not awaken love til’ it pleases” (Song of Sol. 2:8; 3:5; 8:4). This is why the bible teaches against pre-marital sex and intimacy of any kind before marriage, because there are soul ties that are made, bonds that are created, and impressions that are made when it’s “first love” which, in many cases, will stay with someone for the rest of their life. Although there is hope and redemption for those who have had multiple lovers and who have squandered the gift of their “first love”, ultimately this is the way we are designed because this is the bridal paradigm for lovers of Christ. We were born to awaken love when it pleases for the “One” that we’re destined to walk with for the rest of our lives. In this way which we’ve been created, it prophetically speaks of the call of the bride of Christ. Christ is meant to be our first and last love. This is one of the main meanings for why Christ revealed himself to John at the beginning of his revelation as “The Alpha & the Omega”. John (being a type of the bride) is to see Jesus as His first and his last love. He was to look to Jesus as his only true love for eternity.
THE LORD’S MESSAGE TO THE BRIDE AND THE CHURCH THROUGHOUT THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES
When the Lord addressed each of the seven churches through John’s letters He was equally addressing the overall church as well as the bridal remnant within each church (which ultimately was addressing the seven church ages). The bride would have to overcome these weaknesses addressed in each of the seven letters. The number seven for seven churches represents a complete full message and strategy for the church and the bride to overcome.
As the Lord addresses the church of Ephesus he commends them for their “works, labor, patience, & perseverance” (Rev.2:2-3). These are attributes and characteristics which are important for a lasting enduring strong relationship and marriage. Love is patient (1 Cor.13:4), and the love that is kept burning between a married man and woman must have this quality to it’s flame. They must be patient with one another, even if some things take a lifetime, in order for the flame to burn on.
A married couple must labor, work together, persevere. This goes for inside the home and outside the home. Whatever work that is done for income, it’s done in cooperation and fellowship with one another, even as different gender roles are realized and lived out. The labor and works done inside the home, unto the glory of God, must be done with patience, cooperation, and fellowship one with another. Raising children is the work and labor of both, not one over the other. Keeping a home (even though biblically the primary weight falls on the wife/mother in a traditional ideal biblical marriage (Titus 2:5)) is the work and labor of both in love, patience, and fellowship with another. These are the traits that the Lord commends the church of Ephesus for having. Ephesus is the first, the Alpha church, which is addressed. This first church age, composed of the apostles of the Lamb’s and the Apostle Paul’s foundational ministries, epistles, and messages represented the “first love” precedent which was set. It was the first kiss of heaven for the gentiles, the unforgettable impression of love, and the ultimate expression of true authentic supernatural Christianity. They showed us the way of walking with God through the power of the cross, which has been inescapable as the model church since.
The heroes of this age were fiery hot in love with Christ. Their love was so great, so hot, that it manifested in their great devotion to and sacrifice for Christ. They set the mold, they blazed the trail, they showed us what bridal love looked like. Now, at the end of the age, the Lord is calling forth the Omega Church, the last generational bridal company which will crown the church age with the bride’s revival! She will show forth glorious fiery hot love for Christ, just like the Alpha church did in the beginning of this age. The bride will represent the company of people who found Christ as their first love and last love, and have stayed faithful to him no matter what comes upon the earth to distract, detract, or take away love for Christ.
A STEADY FLAME OR A FIERY HOT FLAME OF FIRST LOVE
In my dream the flame was small, but steady and constant. This is the flame which many married couples come to hold and keep. It’s not out completely, but it’s not blazing like it once did when they first fell in love. This is commendable. This is honorable. This is a great blessing, to keep the flame burning, to keep the flame constant, to not lose love for one another, to stay in loving union through the communion you share in life, in labor, in works, and in perseverance together. But it’s not God’s best. God would have our love for our spouses to stay fiery hot. God would have our love for our spouses be such a magnificent flame that you don’t just maintain and survive, but you’re driven by such a love into “greater works” together. This, of course, is the spiritual message for the church. God doesn’t just want faithful church attendance, dutiful reading of the scripture, or religious compliance with the moral tenets of the faith for the sake of religiosity. God would have us be the bride of Christ, to burn with the fire of our first love for him, and to be driven into the greater works which He has promised for those who love him! (Jn.14:12).
THE MEANING OF THE SEALED BAG
(2 Cor.1:22) KJV
“who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
The earnest is the “downpayment” or the “promise”. In marital terms it can be likened to an engagement ring. The presence and working of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the evidence of the promise to be married to the Lord, to be fully joined to him bodily, spiritually, and in soul. The Spirit of God which we carry “seals” us; the Holy Spirit ensures our eternal destiny with Christ, but the bride is not satisfied just with promise or assurance. The bridal flame burns and drives the bearer into union with Christ; into marital experiential intimacy with the Lord. This is what is meant by the flame in my dream that begins to quickly and violently break through the seal. This is the burning passion of the bride of Christ, to go beyond the “Seal of the Spirit”, the simple “earnest/downpayment”; to go beyond the promise into manifestation with the Lord. The bride must have the bridegroom now! She must know him even as He is known! This is likened to the young couple who move up their wedding date because they can’t stand to be apart that long. The bride puts a demand on the Lord and his manifest glory on her life which is likened to the “hoopa” in the Jewish wedding, which is the white shroud overhead as the vows are made. Traditionally this is taken from the glory of the Lord which covered the Mount when God married the nation of Israel to himself (Ex.24:17). Bridal love propels us into bridal intimacy and experience with the Lord.
When the Lord promised to take away his lampstand in retribution for him not receiving the fiery hot love of the bride which is his by right (Rev.2:5), he was speaking of his manifest presence, his glory, which accompanies the bridal ministry, which the early church had for a time. When the bride steps forth in her true bridal ministry the Lord comes to stand at her side to burn like the lampstand. When He takes her side and begins to manifest his sevenfold flame, the seven spirits of God begin to manifest in the fullness of the ministry of the Spirit. This is not the earnest ministry of gifts, but the fullness ministry of the Seven Spirits of God. The early church fell short and ultimately lost the lamp of bridal first love that the apostles demonstrated. The bride in the last days will recover this first love and will show forth the glory and the majesty of the king just as the early church fathers did. Will you be apart of that bridal company? Will you burn with the lamp of first love for the Lord?
In His Service,
Stephen Powell
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