My
Calling and the Vision of the Bride of Christ
by
David Stewart
In 1979 I felt a very intense
burden to pray for the lost. I also felt compelled to seek an
anointing for evangelism in my own life. During a period of time that
lasted about eight days or so food became unimportant. I remember
waking up during the night to pray for the lost. There was a
travailing in prayer that I had not experienced before. This desire
was from God. He was leading me toward an unexpected
destination.
After about eight days God answered my request.
But it was not at all what I was expecting. One Sunday afternoon my
wife, our baby, and I were driving into town for the evening service.
Our small daughter had finally fallen asleep and I began to pray.
Because I had been consumed lately with the thought of those without
Christ, naturally I began to turn my prayer toward this matter
again.
Then, it seemed without any conscious effort on my
part, I began to pray for "The Church" - the Church
Universal. This was strange because I had no understanding of this
concept nor had it ever entered my thinking before. Suddenly, a
weeping came over me that I was unable to control. A grief rose up in
my heart that seemed unreasonable to me. It felt as though a knife
were sawing through my heart. A sensation similar - I suppose - to
what I would feel if I were mourning the death of my wife and
children. An uncontrollable, unbearable grief entered my heart.
I
looked out the driver's side window, bewildered by what was happening
to me. What I saw was stranger yet! I saw the Lord come for His
people. He was a distant figure, high up in the sky. I thought to
myself, "Oh, no. I'm a good Baptist boy. We Baptists don't
have hallucinations!" Then in the field below the Lord I saw
a multitude of people. I suppose there were millions. I watched as
they all faded and only one person was left, far away on the horizon.
In the Spirit my vision came up close to this person in an instant.
It was someone standing with their back turned toward me. It appeared
that it was a woman in a long dress, like a wedding dress. But
something was wrong. The dress was stained, filthy, and torn. I then
came up very close behind the woman as she turned her head to look at
me. When I saw her I screamed in horror!
What I saw was not a
woman at all but a young girl - far too young to be in a wedding
dress. Yet she had some features of an old woman. The teeth were
nearly all gone. The hair was present only in patches. I could tell
she was not much more than a skeleton; emaciated, sickly, diseased.
There was a blank, hopeless stare in her eyes that resembled photos
of starving women I have seen from Ethiopia.
At
this moment the phrase came to mind, "the
bride of Christ". I thought, "Lord,
You cannot marry this!" I looked up at
the Lord. He turned His back and left! I looked back at the woman but
she was gone. In her place were the millions again like I had seen at
the beginning of the vision. They all were looking up toward the
place where the Lord had been. They all had their hands raised but,
strangely, no one said a word. It seemed peculiar to me that there
was no sound from such a multitude. No one was praying. Not a voice
was heard crying out. They were not asking the Lord to return or
anything at all. Then I heard the Lord say to me, "GO,
GET MY PEOPLE READY TO MEET ME, FOR I AM COMING SOON!"
It seemed that another infinite burden was laid on me now. The commission seemed ridiculously impossible. I said, "How, Lord?" I really did not expect a reply, but He answered instantly, three words in English, "This is how." I do not mean to be mystical or aloof, but words fail at this point. I am not trying to appear super spiritual toward my readers, but I truly do not understand what He meant or did. I truly would try to put it into words, but I do not have any vocabulary or understanding to describe what He did next. Then He somehow touched me in my heart with a love that removed all the pain I had felt during the vision. I actually begged God to stop it lest I die from pure joy. He did so instantly. The intensity left me so completely that I immediately doubted that I had even seen the vision at all. We went on to the evening meeting at church. I was relieved that this strange experience was over. Things were fine until the people began to gather and the service started. When I looked at the crowd gathered there, an uncontrollable weeping and grieving came over me again as during the vision. This happened at every meeting we attended until I had to simply stay home, the pain was too great to bear. I began to watch preachers on TV on Sunday mornings instead. But when the camera would pan across the audience I would weep for God's people. I wept for two years, from 1979 to 1981 until there were no more tears to cry.
What does the vision mean? Is this the way God looks at us? No, God the Father does not see us this way. He sees us through the blood of His Son, Jesus. So, what then? I believe the vision represents the practical state of the Church. This is a picture of our preparedness and our love for the Lord. We are not ready to enter into the great things of God. We, as a whole, have not cleansed ourselves and prepared ourselves to meet the Lord and to enter into a deep relationship with Him. His heart is grieved for His bride who gives herself to everything except faithful devotion to her Lord. There is no voice of condemnation from this vessel. Just an exhortation to "prepare the way of the Lord". Jesus is coming soon. He is coming for a people that is pure and ready to meet Him. Let us be that people and so we will meet Him as a confident servant and as a workman that does not need to be ashamed.
Dec 8, 2022
Copyright © 1996 David Stewart