Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
In this hour the Father is removing the grave clothes from His beautiful bride so we may all shine forth with His glory. This is illustrated in the resurrection of Lazarus. The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him and let him go”. John 11:44. This is the Father’s heart for us as we have been resurrected with Christ, He intends to free us from the grave clothes of our past life, religion and in particular, the “wrappings of cloth” or the mask that is on our face.
A young woman asked a very searching and insightful question recently, she said, “As someone who works full time in the church, how do you keep from being religious?” My first though was, “I have never considered this.” In my mind I asked the Lord, “How do you do this?” Immediately I remembered a short message I did many years ago on the Greek meaning of the word hypocrite. I used the Wuest Translation of the Bible, which is an expanded translation that uses more English words than the standard translations do, in order to bring out more of the richness of the Greek text.
How can you be saying to your brother, Brother, allow me to draw out the tiny splinter of wood, the one in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log in your eye? Actor on the stage of life, playing a role of something that you are not, first draw the log out of your eye and then you shall see clearly in order to draw out the tiny splinter of wood that is in the eye of your brother. Luke 6:39-42 (from The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest)
The Greek word here for hypocrite was used in ancient times to refer to one who judges under a mask. It also referred to the person who played a part on the stage, an actor who pretends to be what he is not. Here the person judging another from behind the mask of his self-righteousness plays the part of an actor, giving out something that he is not.
My response was something like this, “You have to be who you are, and you can’t have a mask on acting like something that you are not. Who you are on the inside is the real you. The enemy tries to convince us that we do are not acceptable therefore we put on a mask. This is why it is so important to deal with the orphan spirit and all the inward hurts in our lives; so the real person can come forth. This is the best way to overcome being religious, be the real you.”
Jesus said, “The true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” John 4:23. If we are going to be true worshippers it will take the Holy Spirit and we must get real with others, the Father and ourselves. In many ways the Christian life is a battle for reality.
A few months ago Becky had a dream about this.
“I dreamed I was dreaming (a dream within a dream). I was walking into an old antebellum house. As I walked through the house I noticed the house didn’t have many furnishings and there was a balcony. I walked to a back room where there was a young man crouched down in a corner. He was dressed in white and wearing a mask. I said to him, “I’m here to tell you it’s time to take off your mask.” He then took his mask off, and he was a beautiful young man. My feeling was that he was all cowered down hiding behind a mask and didn’t realize how beautiful he really was.”
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18.
It is only when we take off our mask, even our Christian mask, that we will be transformed into that beautiful man, Christ Jesus. It is time to take off your mask.
Many Blessings, BW