Gems: From Artifice to Edifice artifice - 1. a clever trick or stratagem. 2. trickery, guile, craftiness. 3. cleverness, ingenuity. 4. a skillful or artful contrivance. artificer - 1. a person who is skillful or clever in devising ways of making things; an inventor. 2. a skillful or artistic worker; craftsperson. artificial - 1. made by human skill, not natural. 2. imitation; simulated; sham. 3. lacking naturalness or spontaneity. 4. full of affectation; stilted. artificer in the Bible, Strongs #2790, 2794, 2796: to scratch, to engrave, to plow; to be a fabricator, craftsman, engraver, mechanic; to devise in a bad sense; to let alone, not speak, to be deaf. "And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in bronze and iron." Genesis 4:22. ____________________________________________________________ edify - 1. to instruct or benefit morally or spiritually; uplift, enlighten. edification - 1. an act of edifying. 2 - the state of being edified. 3 - moral improvement or guidance. edifice - 1. a building, especially a large or imposing one. 2 - a complex system. edifice (edify) in the Bible, Strongs (Greek) #1430, 3618, 3619, 3624: to build, build up, to be a house-builder; a family dwelling, a home, house-hold, temple; a structure; a roof, a housetop. "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church." I Cor. 14:4 ____________________________________________________________ The Bride of Christ will wear real gems and precious stone, not costume jewelry. Costume jewelry is a counterfeit. It is vain baubles and beads worn garishly by paupers pretending to be princesses. Costume jewelry is fine for children. It is not the adornment of a Bride. The Lord is calling his church to be real. But He is also calling us not to mix the counterfeit with the genuine. The costume jewelry must be thrown aside. Disposed of. The church must make room for the real. We must exchange the artificial for the edified. The church is to be an edifice, not an artifice. The original meaning of "edifice" is "building a hearth." It is the building of the home and family of God. An idol was an artifice in that it was created from stone and wood by the hands of man but it was deaf and dumb. It could not hear and it could not speak. It draws attention from God, not toward him. It offers no Godly counsel or wisdom. The living temple is built by the living Word. It is an edifice that edifies through morally and spiritually uplifting instruction. It is time for the church to put aside childish things and discard the costume jewelry. For a season, the princess will seem stripped and vulnerable but this is only as the fire of purification melts all the masks and purges the plastic. This same fire will shape and form the jewels within. True precious gems, worn by the Bride, will reflect the beauty of holiness that is within the Bride and magnify it to the world. >>>>  Page 4  >>>>