Those who responded to Standard 8, the “Emerald” dream, said they recognised the “glassy stone”, and decried the excesses being exercised within the Charismatic movement these days, in particular the “party atmosphere” that abounds within all the offshoots of the Toronto affair that began in 1994.
Very often it is difficult to explain to those caught up within this movement just what is lacking in this hyped-up atmosphere, particularly if they have been immersed in such activities for some years. All sorts of objections are thrust at us, such as, “How can you criticise and condemn all the good things that God has been doing in our church?” However, it is best to refrain from answering such questions, but rather to insist on looking at the underlying cause of the problem, the problem which so many are refusing to admit exists.
The “Emerald” dream contains the answer, but at the same time shows how difficult it is for many to detect the difference between the real gem and its glassy counterfeit. In this continuation article, we should like to suggest what it means to be a “jeweller”.
A few days ago the Lord brought to mind a brief word He gave me on 20th October 1980, which obviously connects with the dream. Here it is.
“Let me call forth my special treasures, says the Lord. Let me show the world the beauty of my gems. For that which I have accomplished in the darkness, and through the furnace, I now desire to display before all nations. And each gem will glow within by self-productive light, and to those who care to look, many veins and fissures will show themselves, but the “wounding of the stone” enhances its beauty. Whence came my treasures?”
The Jeweller who looks carefully at the true gem and then the glassy copy will immediately detect that the difference lies within the stones, rather than that which is obvious by a casual glance at the outside. The word the Lord gave spoke about “veins and fissures” that are the normal structure of true emeralds. We have seen this for ourselves when examining the emerald on Rosalind’s engagement ring.
The veins and fissures figuratively represent the results of discipleship training exercised by our Lord in the lives of His children, the “wounding of the stone”. And as Hebrews 12 so clearly expresses it, “If you are without discipline, (of which all have become partakers) then you are bastards and not sons.” The writer goes on to say that God has disciplined us “for our profit, that we may become partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems joyful but a cause of grief, but afterwards it yields peaceable fruits of righteousness to those exercised by it.” (12:8 and 12:10-11)
The Christian life was never meant to be a “bed of roses”. On the other hand one must not suggest it to be a miserable affair. There is that inner sense of calm and rejoicing that comes from the “peaceable fruits of righteousness”, that come from the Master’s hand upon our lives. Jesus referred to His discipline as “the way of the cross”, and it is the basic lesson for all those who become His disciples. Any brand of Christianity that speaks a different language is false. To encourage people to think well of themselves, to encourage a sense of self-esteem, and to speak of victory, triumph and easy joy; a false destiny and hope; to plant them in a happy-go-lucky atmosphere of “worship”, and tell them that they are “kids of the King” and can attain great achievements for God instead of teaching the way of the cross, is a very subtle deception. It is subtle because it can look so right on the surface. It is very appealing to the natural mind, making it very difficult to persuade its adherents it is unacceptable to the ways of the Lord. But, as our Lord said to Peter, it is of Satan, and he savours the things of man (fleshly appetites) not the things of God.
This does not mean however, that we should be looking within ourselves or within others. That is the Lord’s prerogative. He is the Chief Jeweller. It is our Lord Who looks within our lives and brings about circumstances that are restricted (the narrow road) which is His discipline in our lives. Remember that the work of the antichrist is to deceive God’s people, to prevent them from obeying Him and following Him by going the way of the cross. This is the one who will be seated in the midst of the Church as a glassy stone, a substitute for the real Christ, the one who encourages Christians to walk the broad road to the destruction of all their hopes.
In September 1974, just as the Charismatic Movement began to get under way, I was given a remarkable vision which, as the years have passed by, seems to be one of the most important impartations of divine wisdom I have ever received from the Throne of Grace. I called it “The Sugar-Ice Duck Vision” and have presented it on our website more than once. Others have asked permission to use it on theirs, having appreciated how vital it is. We recommend another reading of this, to see how it explains the Emerald dream.
The earlier prophecies received by Edgar Parkyns and Arthur Wallis are of great importance. These were received during a “Prayer and Waiting Conference” at Exeter in December 1967, as we gathered to seek the Lord’s understanding for the days ahead.
