Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
INTRODUCTION: This is the 11th of the 12 Embryonic Revival Principles either birthed or brought together during the 1948 Visitation in Northern Canada. Bridal-Love is associated with Jacob's son Joseph. Just as Joseph was perhaps the key son in Jacob's family, so Bridal-Love is the key revival principle that enables the other 11 to function in harmony and usefulness. The church of Ephesus in Revelation 2 left this first love, this Bridal-love. All other good things accomplished by this unusual church could not compensate for the loss of this key-log - this key ingredient - “Bridal-Love.” How could this loss take place? Perhaps because of prosperity, carelessness, forgetfulness or pride.
Though the following comparison may not appear apt - yet there is a parallel between a ship at sea and Bridal Love. We shall consider this under Point Six. Scottish born Peter Marshall was a famous chaplain of the US Senate. He loved the Lord dearly, and saw the way human marriage wonderfully pictures the intimate relationship the Lord desires with us. Salvation commences our approach to spiritual intimacy with the Lord Jesus. We are His many-membered Bride, and His desire is UNITY: we in Him and He in us. In Him there is neither male nor female. Peter Marshall, following the marriage ceremony - ushered the newly wed couple into the “Halls of Highest Human Happiness.” But a caution - we must progress from the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, into the Holy Place - and then right on into the Holiest of all, the Throne Room of God. Here at last human spirit and Divine Spirit become ONE! Our human one-flesh relationship merely points to a place and potential of unity and joy far exceeding the highest joy of human happiness.
Just as there are human marriages that remain unconsummated - so there are many that start out on the path through the 3 areas of the Tabernacle - but fail to press on to realize God's highest desire for Himself and us in His Throne-Room. Many are called, but few are chosen. Not everyone who calls unto Me, Lord, Lord enter this fullness of My Kingdom - but He who truly HEARS and then fully DOES the will of My Heavenly Father. Here then is the entrance to Bridal Love.
One. BRIDAL LOVE: AS SEEN IN JOSEPH.
Genesis 39:6b-12. ™ Joseph was a strikingly handsome man. … As time went on, his master's wife became infatuated with Joseph and one day said, “Sleep with me.” … He wouldn't do it. He said to his master's wife, “Look, with me here, my master doesn't give a second thought to anything that goes on here - he's put me in charge of everything he owns. … He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn't turned over to me is you. You're his wife, after all! How could I violate his trust and sin against God?” … She pestered him day after day after day, but he stood his ground. He refused to go to bed with her. … On one of these days he came to the house to do his work and none of the household servants happened to be there. … She grabbed him by his cloak, saying, “Sleep with me!” He left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house.
Joseph RAN! Thank God for this wise example! DON'T see how strong you are in the face of temptation. Pray, “Lord, may You not lead me into temptation to purge me from areas not consistent with Your character - but if in Your wise Providence this is necessary, then DELIVER me from the additional assaults of satan.” And may I like Joseph nobly do my part and get out of the setting of temptation as fast as I can.
Just compare the life of Joseph with that of our Lord Jesus. You will find amazing parallels between these two lives. Though Joseph is not specifically set forth as a type of our Lord, yet we learn much about Him by diligently studying the life of Joseph with this end in view. Yield not to temptation, for YIELDING is sin. Each victory will help you - Some other to win. Fight manfully onward - Dark passions subdue. Ask the Savior to help you - He will carry you through!
Temptation is not the sin. Jesus in His humanity was tempted in ALL points like as we - yet was without sin - for He did not yield! Read Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33 to see the amazing prophecies the Holy Spirit gave Jacob and Moses concerning Joseph. Though Jesus was descended from Judah not Joseph - yet in character he favors Joseph. Joseph, not Reuben, received the promise of the first-born - two portions in Jacob, double of any other tribe including Judah. It was THIS blessing that Elisha desired from Elijah - the blessing of the first-born - a double portion.
Joseph consistently offered to His GOD that pure Bridal-Love that so pleased His great heart. This was a characteristic of George R. Hawtin. I could see it in the life of Ern Baxter also, and it is obvious that Rees Howells walked in this same heart devotion. To read the 32 “Treasures of Truth” Series written by Brother Hawtin, is to realize the intimacy he had with God.
Two. BRIDAL LOVE - JESUS: THE GREAT FATHER-PLEASER.
John 6:35. ™ Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.”
John 9:5. ™ For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's light.
John 10:9. ™ I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for - will freely go in and out, and find pasture.
John 10:11. ™ I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary.
John 11:25. ™ “You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live.”
John 14:6. ™ Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me.”
John 15:1. ™ “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer.”
It is impossible to escape the clear relationship that Jesus had as Son of Man with His Heavenly Father. It was complete subservience and obedience. Not one word did He speak, nor one miracle did He perform - but it originated with His Father. If HE, the Son of Man and Son of God bore such a relationship to His Heavenly Father - should we not seek to have such a relationship with God's Son? Think of it - the absolute humility of Jesus in His self-emptying (kenosis) when He came to earth. Let us reread Philippians 2 and let us stir up our pure minds by way of remembrance. Let us consider again the 7-fold emptying of Himself, and then His 7-fold exaltation that His Father gave Him following His Passion!
Then let us see the 7-fold profession Jesus made of Himself in the 7 “I ams” noted above. He was at all times perfectly related to His Father. It was the perfect unity and relationship that He prayed in John 17 that we might have with Him and His Father!
Here is Bridal-Love indeed!
Three. BRIDAL LOVE: AS SEEN IN MOTHER BASILEA SCHLINK.
Job 13:13-19 ™ “So hold your tongue while I have my say, then I'll take whatever I have coming to me. … Why do I go out on a limb like this and take my life in my hands? … Because even if he killed me, I'd keep on hoping. I'd defend my innocence to the very end. … Just wait, this is going to work out for the best - my salvation! If I were guilt-stricken do you think I'd be doing this - laying myself on the line before God? … You'd better pay attention to what I'm telling you, listen carefully with both ears. … Now that I've laid out my defense, I'm sure that I'll be acquitted. … Can anyone prove charges against me? I've said my piece. I rest my case.”
I first contacted the writings of Mother Basilea Schlink and the “Sisterhood of Mary” in 1976 in Arcata, California. Of all her books, her autobiography “I Found the Key to the Heart of God (Bridal-Love) - My Personal Story,” has challenged and touched me most deeply. It was in her city of Darmstadt, Germany that God enabled her to see His vision fulfilled. It was in this same city that God gave Steve Lightle an extraordinary vision and called him to write Exodus II in 1983. It was out of this that he came to see over one million Jews make Aliyah to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Steve knew Basilea Schlink, and said there was probably no other German who did more to bring reconciliation between Jews and Germans because of the Holocaust.
In Mother Basilea's personal story we are given an insight into the ways of the heavenly Father as He prepares His child for a ministry that is to be unique in the history of the Christian Church. We turn the pages as we would the score of some great symphony and whether the music is light or whether it is the deep chords that are struck, our hearts respond. The response will be an inner searching of our own hearts and lives followed by love and adoration for our Lord Jesus. The reader seeking a greater fulfillment in his Christian life and service will discover in these pages the key to the very heart of God. In a day when the dark clouds of God's judgment are beginning to gather and the forces of evil are threatening the human race as never before - this book comes as a clarion call and a tremendous source of encouragement to the Christian.
In her own words she says, “In His grace God granted me faith that stretched beyond the abyss of destruction that lay directly before me. He gave me a glimpse far into the future. He was not concerned about small, momentary victories with a little more concord between members of His Body in one country, but rather about the whole body of believers being sifted, purified and prepared, and the bride of the Lamb being completed in number and attaining maturity. Before me I could see the ultimate goal of God's marvelous purposes, which He accomplishes along pathways of death - 'Behold, I make all things new!' How Jesus rejoices at the prospect of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb when the first fruits come home, having been completed in number and having attained full maturity! What a consolation it will be for Jesus to receive the greatest reward for all His suffering - the bride of the Lamb. Then for all eternity He will have the bride at His side - souls who have been made like Him through the power of His sacrificial atonement, and who bear the traits of the Lamb. To live and suffer for this goal is the deepest fulfillment there can be to one's life.” (p. 411 from “I Found the Key to the Heart of God,” Canaan in the Desert, Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, 9849 N 40th ST, Phoenix AZ 85028-4099, www.kanaan.org
Four. BRIDAL LOVE: AS SEEN IN MADAME JEANNE GUYON.
Song of Solomon 1:2-4. (THE WOMAN) Kiss me - full on the mouth! Yes! For your love is better than wine, headier than your aromatic oils. … The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name! … Take me away with you! Let's run off together! An elopement with my King-Lover! We'll celebrate, we'll sing, we'll make music. Yes! For your love is better than vintage wine. Everyone loves you - of course! And why not?
Let the following words by Madame Jeanne Guyon speak for themselves! “God was pleased to send one more messenger. “Oh, my Father!” says Madame Guyon, in connection with the incidents we are about to relate, “it seems to me sometimes, as if You did forget every other being, in order to think only of my faithless and ungrateful heart.” There was a devout man of the Religious Order of St. Francis - his name is not given - who spent five years in solitude, for spiritual renovation and communion with God. With a heart subdued to the world's attractions, and yet inflamed for the world's good, he went out into the field of labor. He thought that God called him to labor for the conversion of a person of some distinction, in the vicinity of M. De la Mothe. But his labors there proved fruitless - or rather, resulted only in the trial of his own faith and patience. The humble Franciscan, revolving in his mind where he should next go and announce the Divine message, was led by the inward monitor, in connection with the indications of Providence, to go to the house of M. De la Mothe, with whom he seems to have had some acquaintance in former times. M. De la Mothe, a man in whom the religious tendency was strong, was exceedingly glad to see him, and to receive his instructions, especially as he was then out of health, and had not much expectation of living long. His daughter, Madame Guyon, desirous of rendering him every assistance in his increasing infirmities, was then at her father's house, although her own health was very infirm. Her father was not ignorant either of her outward or inward trials. She had conversed with him with entire frankness on her religious state and the exercises of her mind, her dissatisfaction with her present spiritual condition, and her earnest desire to avail herself of every favorable opportunity to receive religious instruction. Her father, influenced by the representations she made, as well as by his high sense of the piety and religious wisdom of the Franciscan, not only advised but strongly urged her to consult with him.
Attended by a kinswoman, as seemed to be proper, she visited the Franciscan, and stated her conviction of her need of religion, and her often-repeated and long-continued efforts made without effect. When she had done speaking, the Franciscan remained silent for some time, in inward meditation and prayer. He at length said: “Your efforts have been unsuccessful, Madame, because you have sought without, what you can only find within. Accustom yourself to seek God in your heart, and you will not fail to find Him.”
It is very probable that she had heard a similar sentiment before; but if so, it came to her as religious truth always does come to those in their natural state, who are permitted to hear, before grace has enabled them to understand. But now the hour of God's providence and of special mercy had arrived. Clearly and strongly did the Divine Spirit apply a truth which otherwise would have fallen useless to the ground. These few words, somewhat singular in expression, obviously convey the great principle, that religion does not and cannot consist in outward working - in a mere round of ceremonial duties - in anything which comes exclusively under the denomination of an external action. But, on the contrary, it is inward in the sense of having its seat in the heart's affections, and in accordance with the great scriptural doctrine, that the “just shall live by faith.” From the moment that Madame Guyon heard these words, she was enabled to see the error she had committed, -- that of endeavoring to obtain God by a system of outward operations, -- by the mercenary purchase of formal services, rather than by the natural and Divine attraction of accordant sympathies. Speculatively, there may be a God objective, a God outward, a God recognized by the intellect as a great and majestic Being living in the distance. And in certain respects this is a view of God, which is not at variance with the truth. But still God can never be known to us as our God, He can never be brought into harmony with our nature, except as a God inward, a God received by faith and made one with us by love, and having His home in the sanctified temple of the heart, "Believe in the Lord your God; so shall you be established, Believe his prophets; so shall you prosper” (2 Chronicles 20:20).
“Having said these words,” she says, “the Franciscan left me. They were to me like the stroke of a dart, which pierced my heart asunder. I felt at this instant deeply wounded with the love of God; -- a wound so delightful, that I desired it never might be healed. These words brought into my heart what I had been seeking so many years; or rather they made me discover what was there, which I did not enjoy for want of knowing it. Oh, my Lord! You were in my heart, and demanded only the turning of my mind INWARD, to make me feel Your presence. Oh, infinite Goodness! You were so near, and I ran hither and thither seeking You, and yet found You not. My life was a burden to me, and my happiness was WITHIN myself. I was poor in the midst of riches, and ready to perish with hunger near a table plentifully spread and a continual feast. Oh Beauty, ancient and new! Why have I known You so late? Alas, I sought You where You were not, and did not see You where You were! It was for want of understanding these words of Your Gospel: 'The kingdom of God comes not with observation, neither shall they say, Lo, here! or Lo, there! For behold, the kingdom of God is WITHIN you.' This I now experienced, since You did become my King, and MY HEART Your kingdom, where You do reign a Sovereign, and do all Your will.
“I told this good man, that I did not know what he had done to me; that my heart was quite changed; that God was THERE; for from that moment He had given me an experience of His presence in my soul, -- not merely as an object intellectually perceived, but as a thing really possessed after the sweetest manner. I experienced those words in the Canticles: 'Your name is as precious ointment poured forth; therefore do the virgins love You.' For I felt in my soul an unction, which healed in a moment all my wounds. I slept not all that night, because Your love, O my God! Flowed in me like delicious oil, and burned as a fire which was going to destroy all that was left of self in an instant. I was all on a sudden so altered, that I was hardly to be known either by myself or others. I found no more those troublesome faults, or that reluctance to duty, which formerly characterized me. They all disappeared, as being consumed like chaff in a great fire.”
Pp. 34-37 from “The Life of Jeanne Guyon” by T.C. Upham - The life of the most influential woman in Christian history, late 1800's. This and 15 other books by Madame Guyon, many of them written in prison because of persecution, can be obtained from SeedSowers, PO Box 3317, Jacksonville, FL 32206 - Tel: 1-800-228-2665 - Web: www.seedsowers.com
Five. BRIDAL LOVE: IS NOT DESTROYED FROM WITHOUT.
Numbers 23:18-24. ™ Then Balaam spoke his message-oracle: On your feet, Balak. Listen, listen carefully son of Zippor: … God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through? … I was brought here to bless; and now he's blessed - how can I change that? … He has no bone to pick with Jacob, he sees nothing wrong with Israel. GOD is with them, and they're with him, shouting praises to their King. … God brought them out of Egypt, rampaging like a wild ox. … No magic spells can bind Jacob, no incantations can hold back Israel. People will look at Jacob and Israel and say, “What a great thing has God done!” … Look, a people rising to its feet, stretching like a lion, a king-of-the-beasts, aroused, unsleeping, unresting until its hunt is over and it's eaten and drunk its fill.
Winston Churchill, Britain's World War II Prime Minister, clearly understood the need to build up and preserve Courage, Unity and Perseverance (CUP) within the nation. Because of his wartime speeches he so built up these ingredients, that Hitler from without could not defeat Great Britain and her allies within. Churchill understood the nature of this inward victory so well that he proclaimed, “Though the British Empire endure a thousand years, they will look back and say, THIS was their greatest hour!” Then he added for himself - “I thank God for matching me with this hour!”
We can fully understand Churchill's thinking from which these statements came forth. Yet we who live at the end of this 6 millennia age must say - God has matched us with the Battle of the Ages - and those who individually and corporately know Him in their hearts - are yet more favored than Sir Winston Churchill in his day! Let Bridal-Love for the soon appearing of our Heavenly Bridegroom grip and possess our hearts! Then we will be prepared for this great event planned by God for this culmination -- of which all prophets and apostles have foretold!
Six. BRIDAL LOVE: LIKE A SHIP IN DANGEROUS SEAS.
Psalm 107:23-32. ™ Some of you set sail in big ships; you put to sea to do business in faraway ports. … Out at sea you saw GOD in action, saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean: … With a word he called up the wind - an ocean storm, towering waves! … You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out; your hearts were stuck in your throats. … You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk, you didn't know which end was up. … Then you called out to GOD in your desperate condition; he got you out in the nick of time. … He quieted the wind down to a whisper, put a muzzle on all the big waves. … And you were so glad when the storm died down, and he led you safely back to harbor. … So thank GOD for his marvelous love, for his miracle mercy to the children he loves. … Lift high your praises when the people assemble, shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!
Storm-wracked sailors, despairing of life itself, long for the safety of haven and harbor. I read the verses in the above preface of Psalm 107, and at the age of 19 heard the voice of the Spirit in my heart. I didn't know God experientially at the time, but I read my Bible regularly - one given to me at the age of 7 by a godly Methodist step-grandfather. God's voice came to me with clarity and command, “Join the Navy, and I'll reveal myself to you. You'll see My wonders in the deep, and I will fulfill your heart's hungering and thirsting after Me, the Living God.” That word came to me in the Fall of 1942 while I was attending my Sophomore year at the University of British Columbia. I obeyed Him in July of 1943, and in the Spring of 1944 He fulfilled His promise to me. For the 9 months preceding this New Birth - and for the following 18 months until my discharge from the Navy in the Fall of 1945, the words of what seemed to me to be the Naval National hymn of Canada - spoke strongly to my heart:
One. Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm doth bind the restless wave, Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; O hear us when we cry to Thee For those in peril on the sea.
Two. O Savior, whose almighty word The winds and waves submissive heard, Who walked'st on the foaming deep, and calm amidst its rage did sleep; O hear us when we cry to Thee For those in peril on the sea.
Three. O Holy Spirit, who didst brood Upon the waters dark and rude, And bid their angry tumult cease, And give for wild confusion peace; O hear us when we cry to Thee For those in peril on the sea.
Four. O Trinity of love and power, Our brethren shield in danger's hour; From rock and tempest, fire, and foe, Protect them wheresoe'er they go; Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee Glad hymns of praise from land and sea. Amen.
Eternal Father, strong to save - William Whiting wrote this hymn in 1860 and it was published somewhat revised in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861, No. 222) under the heading “For those at sea. 'These [men] see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:24).'” There exists another version, which is a revision by the author published in the appendix to the SPCK Psalms and Hymns (London, 1869). The present version is the one first published and is most commonly used today. MELITA, composed by John B. Dykes for this hymn, was first published in the musical edition to Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). It is named for the island, now called Malta, where the apostle Paul was shipwrecked. “When they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita” (Acts 28:1).
Americans know this century-old hymn and tune of English origin as “The Navy Hymn.” On November 24, 1963, as the body of the late President John F. Kennedy was borne up the steps of the Capitol Building to lie in state in the rotunda, the hymn was played by the Navy Band. Again the following day, it was played by the Marine Band at the conclusion of the burial service at Arlington National Cemetery.
Seven. BRIDAL LOVE: AS SEEN IN THE HAWAIIAN POLYNESIANS.
2 Corinthians 14:b-21. ™ (A NEW LIFE) Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: … One man died for everyone. … That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. … Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. … Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! ... All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. ... God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. ... God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. … How? you say. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
Hawaiians originated from the Polynesian peoples. Why should one see in these people a relationship with Bridal Love? See Daniel I. Kikawa's “Perpetuated in Righteousness - The Journey of the Hawaiian People from Eden to the Present Time,” Aloha Ke Akua, HCR2 Box 6640. Kea'au, Hawai'i 96749, Ph. (808) 948-3474.
I met Daniel in Hawaii in 1987 and 1988. He heard me minister on “Reconciliation,” which I illustrated by a healing of the land in Northern Alberta, Canada. Extreme rainfall had taken place for the previous 10 years, both seedtime and harvest. Many farmers were going bankrupt, and the government was taking over their land. I remembered how Elisha felt God ought to bless the Shunammite woman for her warm hospitality. She received a son in her old age as a result of Elisha's concern. A farm family in Wetaskiwin, Alberta was suffering severely from the excessive rainfall. On July 1, 1987, I asked God, “Can't You do something to relieve this family - in the light of their hospitality to me, Your servant?” He replied, “Call a prayer meeting of the several interested groups, and seek the reason that brought on My judgment 10 years ago.”
I did, and discovered injustice had taken place by white people against the First Nation's People from the Hobbema Reservation. I sent a friend to petition the reservation leaders of the 5 Nations, and offer with 3 other whites to come before them. Our purpose would be to apologize on behalf of our white brothers, and to ask forgiveness on our behalf as whites. They freely granted forgiveness, and further promised to pray with us for a reversal of the bad weather conditions. We met the first Wednesday of September in 1987 to petition God on the basis of the foregoing. God held up rain from that date until December 11th that year. For the first time in 10 years, every farmer was enabled to bring in a full harvest and prepare the land for spring seeding.
The thought came to Daniel Kikawa - Why shouldn't God bring healing to the land of Hawaii, if the ones who had wronged the native Hawaiians came to them and made peace in a similar manner? This is now well in progress because of the vision of Daniel - and his book “Perpetuated in Righteousness” is a fruit of it. Now back to the rich heritage of the native Hawaiian people - See the deep meaning of their beautiful word of greeting and farewell - ALOHA! This is a very interesting word. When broken down to its root words, aloha is:
(1) Alo - The meaning of many words change over time. To find the following meanings for alo, we must go back to the ancient Samoan language (remember, the Hawaiians were also once the ancient Samoans). There were two languages in ancient Samoa, the common language and the high (chiefly priestly) language. In the first Samoan-English dictionary, printed in 1962, alo is a chief's child. A chief's child was considered to be divine because the chiefs were considered to be divine. In the sacred high language of ancient Samoa, alo meant the son of God.
(2) Ha - breath, spirit, or life
Hence, aloha means - the life or the spirit of the divine son of God. This then embodies the three parts of the One True God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the One True God who created all things with his word and breathed life into all living things. To speak the word aloha to someone, then, is to say, “The spirit of the One True God be with you.” This explains why aloha is used to greet someone and to say farewell also; it is a blessing. This is the same way the Hebrews use the word, Shalom, which means divine peace. To greet someone with “Shalom” means, “The Peace of God be with you.”
The God of all creation is the embodiment of Agape (unconditional) Love. No wonder aloha means love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, grace, charity and beloved; the One True God is all of these things. The next time someone greets you with “Aloha”, think about the blessing that is being poured out upon you. (p. 134, “Perpetuated in Righteousness,” Daniel Kikawa)