The Scriptures paint a most glorious picture of Zion, which refers to something absolutely spectacular, for Zion is a city, and a mountain, and is in fact the reality of “God with Us” — it is His Kingdom, His true Church. So it refers to the Heavenly City itself, New Jerusalem, but it is also His Church here on the earth, a body of faithful believers who have inherited a Kingdom not made by men (the Rock not carved with human hands of Daniel 2). When the people of God embrace the reality of the Kingdom that Jesus demonstrated, then we will start to see the many promises of this glorious city Zion manifest on earth.

But these promises, like most promises in the Bible, are somewhat conditional.

They depict the inheritance that will vest in ‘the remnant’ of the people, those who have sincere faith working through love, who have been tested and tried by fire, who have not loved their carnal lives unto death, and have been proven to be faithful stewards of His heavenly treasure.

So in many ways this picture of Zion is our goal for church life on earth, a promise we ought to seek the Lord to fulfill, for it is available to us as our destiny if we are found “faithful.”

But talking about the goal without explaining our present condition will lull people into a false sense of wellbeing — people will feel rich, when like the Laodiceans, they are truly impoverished. It is like telling people “Heaven awaits” and forgetting to mention the small caveat that it only awaits those who have made their robes clean in the blood of the Lamb! In a moral universe heavenly blessings are only received by sinful people through a sacrificial cost. The cost to receive anything from the Kingdom of God is to turn from the wicked ways of man — a sacrifice of walking in the evil ways of the flesh to embrace the ways of the Lord. The reward is surely Kingdom Riches in all their glorious dimensions, but to teach that prosperity is a gift from God that has no cost attached to it is an awfully false hope.

So it is right to say the Church will be made spotless, and the Lord will return to rapture His glorious bride who will leave the earth in a supernatural flourish to demonstrate that she was not defeated by evil, but desired by the King. But we must also teach the reality of where we NOW stand as a Body, and it ain’t such a pretty picture.

Where the Church Now Stands

So yes, the Church will be Glorious; however, currently, the Church is sick. The Lord said to me it is not sick with a disease but with man’s ways. I believe that if we correct these ways, she will become glorious. But if we fail to correct them, she’ll miss her Prince when He comes calling. There are five wise and five unwise virgins, only five will be ready and go in unto the marriage supper of the Lamb when the bridegroom comes. The unwise will be left behind. This is a mystery that we must understand.
This oil is an intimacy; it comes from being devoted in heart to the King of kings, not from being devoted to an institution, doctrine or ministry.

KEY IDEAS:

This is a summary of the symbols in the dream; a detailed description follows.

1. The Church was made to look like a business — its administration was disorganized.
2. They were providing incomplete garments of salvation, righteousness, etc.
3. The garments were to make everyone look like worldly businessmen.
4. There was competition, ambition among projects and a ‘dynasty’ mentality.
5. Discussions were tied up by ‘red tape.’
6. The Mandate to care for the needy was unclear and certainly not a priority.
7. Resources were misallocated, ‘stored up’ and not used to fulfill their Mandate.
8. Modified doctrines prevented people from easily becoming humble.
9. There was a mixture of flesh and spirit — the old and the new.
10. “Fool’s Gold” idols, embedded with “dragon” ideas, were prominently placed.

Modeled After a Business...

I briefly shared some of this message last issue but this is the whole message, starting with a dream where the Lord explained some of the ways the church has become sick with man’s ways. I pray that as you read this, the Lord gives you a spirit of discernment, as the Holy Spirit is your guide, to allow you to understand the heart and mind of the Father.

First, I dreamed that I was in a church but it looked more like a business, like a department store selling posh clothes.

[I think this is saying many churches are being modeled after businesses — instead of for example a temple or family.]

I didn’t get a good look at the boss’s office, but I clearly saw the secretary’s office, which had glass walls so I could see into an inner room which had a couch and table that was piled up with paperwork that had not been put away.

[I’m still not clear why I couldn’t see the boss’s office or why the secretary’s office was ‘transparent’ (are churches already being transparent, or is this to show that God can see everything?) but the messy inner room may refer to the administrative state of many churches: cluttered and disorganized.]

The clothes that were being sold were hanging in ranks and racks, but they were all of dark material like men’s business suits; there were no children’s clothes, or women’s clothes. When I looked closer I realized the suits were not in fact completed outfits but were still only fabric hanging on hangers, but being sold as if they were completed suits.

[I think this has to do with several things. One, the church is not ‘clothing’ the people properly with salvation, righteousness and praise — partial lessons and works are being presented as if they are finished, but in truth they are incomplete and lacking.

Second, the church is making everyone into the same image without personal distinction — without care for their own personal callings or identities. The fact that everyone was being made to resemble businessmen — a model of carnal prosperity — was very clear.]

Then a man came up from behind me and upon hearing that the pastor’s assistant’s daughter was being selected as the marketing manager, said to me, “That guy’s daughter is going to get a promotion too, but your daughter can do that job just as well. We can try to push your daughter forward.” There was a large ball of tape that was being passed back and forth between us, and the pastor and his assistant — the ball of tape was being used like a baton and you could only talk if you were holding it — the funny thing is we never actually talked about anything.The pastor’s assistant finally threw the ball too hard and the man who was being pushy next to me missed it and had to run after it to fetch it.

[I don’t actually think this was referring to my real daughter (who is only 10), although it cautions me because in the dream I did get pushed into this discussion. Instead I believe this is really talking about having a ‘dynasty’ mentality in many churches, but second about having competition and ambition to fight for whose “daughter” (personal projects and plans) would be “promoted” within the organization.

The ball of tape I think has to do with “red tape” meaning man’s procedures being used to ‘tie up’ discussions and not make decisions (because we never actually discussed anything), instead of relying on prayer, the Holy Spirit’s guidance or God’s Word for decisions.]

Then in the dream my role became more clear in that I was an external consultant, brought in to help diagnose the “company’s” condition.

An older man walked over. He was maybe in his 60s, and in his hands he carried a small clear plastic box, like the packaging a toy or computer component may come in. Its lid was open and he was very concerned as he held out the box and said, “Our old folk’s home needs to be enlarged!” I looked around at all the empty space: in the secretary’s office, in the clothing showroom, and then out to the front doors which opened into a two-story open space or atrium, and saw that some of this could surely be used for the old folk’s home.

[First, what I understand is that this man was concerned about needing to get permission from the church to enlarge the work for needy people, but the truth is, this is already the church’s mandate — to take care of those less fortunate. He was unclear about this and sought permission to do what they are already commanded to do.

Second, as I realized in the dream, there was so much wasted space that could easily be reallocated to this purpose, which makes me think this is also referring to either misuse or misallocation of church resources, or of “storing up riches in the end times” since the space was not being used.]

Then I wanted to look around and asked to go out to the front door, but as I walked down the stairs I realized the staircase had been renovated and was now blocked off. The new blue carpet was patchy with sections of the old purple carpet in places.

[I think this is very important because I think this talks about new doctrines (renovations) that have been introduced that prevent people from easily “going lower” or becoming humble. These new doctrines are modifications of the original gospel.

I have been hearing the Lord say that we have been teaching people a gospel saying they can receive blessings of carnal prosperity without having to pay any “cost” or “sacrifice” to enter the Kingdom, which is unfortunately untrue. God provides freely … for those with faith. Walking in faith is a real sacrifice of not walking in man’s ways.

Second, the carpet had new and old patches together, which I think refers to the parable of NOT cutting a new garment to patch up an old one. (Mark 2:21-22) This parable is talking about the flesh and the spirit — the new garment is the spirit and the old is the flesh. Jesus tells us not to take a cutting from the spirit to patch up the flesh, but instead to throw away the old ways of the flesh, and put on the new ways of the spirit — which is the regenerated, born-again character modeled after Christ by the Holy Spirit.

This mixture of flesh and spirit was a part of the renovation of doctrines that are now preventing people from being able to easily find the way to become “lower,” humble and contrite in spirit.]

I somehow found the way downstairs and went out the front doors. There was a large red brick entrance section that led to and intersected with the grey public sidewalk. I asked if this area could be used in any other way and the person showing me around said, no, it was a public area and could not be reallocated.

[The red bricks I think refer to the Lord’s sacrifice of blood, and the grey are man’s ideas and secular ways of the intellect.]

I accepted that reason and walked back to the church doors where I saw a three-part golden idol to the right of the entrance! This three-part sculpture was actually made of ‘fool’s gold’ (pyrite), which I immediately recognized because I could see the square crystals indicative of fool’s gold (real gold has no crystals).

The middle section of the idol featured a dragon’s body, and what looked like a coral structure that people were sticking their tithing and maybe correspondence envelopes into. I asked the man indignantly, “Why do you have this fool’s gold idol here?” To which he replied, “Oh, we need that so we have a place to put our envelopes,” indicating the envelopes stuck in the coral structure. I said firmly, “No, you do NOT need this idol to stick your envelopes in!”

[A gold idol represents worship of money. What the Lord has recently shown me is that when we believe we need money, we are worshipping an idol. Actually we don’t need money, believe it or not, what we need is a Provider! When we have the idol, it stands in place of God’s reality to us and blocks us from being able to see the “I Am” for who and what He can and wants to be to us. Again, we don’t need money, we need a Provider. It is very different. One is an idol, an object — the other is a Living Person who provides money and food and favor and opportunities to us when we are in need, material or otherwise.

This idol was fool’s gold as well, which I think may be a reference to valuing and hoarding carnal wealth instead of valuing True Kingdom Riches such as love, and generosity (by generously giving money away to those in need).

Within this false gold idol there was also a dragon motif, a symbol I believe of satan and his kingdom — I don’t really understand the meaning of the coral.]

A Day Late...

I woke up and I felt a strong stirring, and the Lord said He’d show me my focus for the rest of my time on earth, and I was eager to sit down and pray to understand it — but the rest of the day I was distracted and too busy to pray.

The next day I sat down with my notebook to write down his words to me and He said, “My church is sick, not with a disease but with man’s ways,” and said he was sending me to help cure her.

I said I knew He was going to tell me the day before but I didn’t set aside time, and He later said that this was itself a sign. He said, “I was going to tell you yesterday but you wouldn’t listen — a day late but not a dollar short because I will redeem all that has been lost to man’s ways,” suggesting He would be doing or at least accelerating this work now in this season.

He continued to explain, “This is the great falling away as I prune those I love so they can become even more fruitful.” And this was when I felt his love so deeply for the people He was pruning (which I partly shared last month) that it has left a lasting impression! He continued, “I love my church. I have a heart of compassion — perfect love casts out fear and I have a perfect love for my fallen, wasted church. I will redeem … ashes to beauty.”

He then continued with a short poem, “My church is a day late” : It is later than they think / They sleep as they blink / They think they can play games / Joke around using my name.” Well that’s not going to win any poetry contests, but that’s what I heard Him say. He may be speaking in such a poem to reference our immaturity; then He continued, “There is no rest for the wicked because they are harried and harassed beyond measure, some of them. But My Kingdom is the Answer. It is a mind-set in a way — a place you go to in your spirit.

“Your inner-most being goes there when it’s lonely and desperate, broken down — so is it not a blessing to find yourself walking through the valley of the shadow of death? — yes, you can and will see clearly. My Ways are not your ways — My Thoughts are not your thoughts — you can say, My Day is not your day.”

The whole of the next day I felt odd pains and lethargy, indigestion and discomfort. I prayed for one pain and it moved, indicating it was a demon spirit, but other pains seemed like they were related maybe to not eating right … what I realized is that this too was a sign.The church is suffering from pains and discomfort that it cannot clearly diagnose, and it needs to eat right (of spiritual food), exercise (do the right works of repentance) and get deliverance from confusing demonic affliction.

I am sure we are on the brink of a global revival that will soon eclipse anything seen in previous moves of God. But revival is always preceded by repentance of man’s ways. May our hearts be obedient and our spirits contrite to truly acknowledge any conviction the Lord reveals to us, so that we are set free, prepared and able to experience His Glory in these crucial times. Amen!

Edward Johnson • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it