The Spirit of the Bride Says Come

Receiving Jesus into our lives is meant to be a transformative experience, not a transitory experience, nor a one-time experience. It was meant to be from now through eternity, but sadly it is often a short-lived experience, just like the many broken marriages of today.  

With this in mind, Jesus declared strongly that he came to set sinners free from ourselves and from being ruled by the spirit of this age that is working in the world. Our confusion and struggle is that freedom doesn’t come over night, though it does start with our surrender to God. A spirit of rebellion is at the core of Satan’s infection of the human race through Adam & Eve, and that spirit now infects the world at large. When we surrender to Jesus our freedom doesn’t happen over night, but over a lifetime. It happens as we regularly surrender to the will of God and his direction. Surrendering to God was never meant to be a one time event, but rather a consistent lifestyle. The transformation of our very souls only really happens when Christ becomes the Lord of our life. As a result the real change takes place from the inside out, not from the outside in. Religion, on the other hand, attempts to change the person from the outside in. Rarely, if ever, does that change the human heart, but merely gives the heart excuses for its behavior. We become religious but not born again children of God.

Ephesians 2:2

You formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

If Satan is at work in this world, how do we combat such influence and power? Surely it is not in our own power, but in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. If there is anything we should have learned from being united with God through what Jesus did for us on the cross, it is that we fight Satan and his demons by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by human will power, no matter how noble our effort may be. It was the Holy Spirit who gave power to the 70 disciples as they went out preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, and when the 12 apostles were healing people and casting out demons on their missionary journey. The authority of Jesus released the power of the Holy Spirit so that they could do what was impossible to do with natural human strength or charisma.

Luke 10:19

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

But there is a catch to having such power. God’s power in us is only active as we are active in him, not in ourselves alone. I believe we have to be about our Heavenly Father’s business in order to expect such power to be granted to us. The verse I quoted before is in the book of Luke where Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit to the 70 disciples as they are being readied to go out into ministry. I think many believers think they can just “Declare” they have power when in fact we must first be heading towards, and engaged with, a kingdom mindset that justifies God releasing such authority to us. It is not just our mission which is important but the heart attitude to do God’s work God’s way.

When the 70 returned from their ministry travels and were excited about the authority they were experiencing  Jesus saw Satan being defeated because of their “Partnership” with the Holy Spirit.

Luke 10:18-19

And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

Jesus says he watched Satan fall from heaven is interesting because the scripture points out that Satan is the prince of the power of the air meaning he must navigate in the heavens to do his dirty work on the earth. Maybe we don’t see greater power in the church and individuals because we want the power but not the calling and ministry Jesus wants to give us first. Maybe Jesus hasn’t returned as he said he would because the church is not doing what he called us to do?

The final message Jesus gives the apostle John in book of Revelations was that he is coming quickly to reward those who have “Labored” for the kingdom of God by the word of their testimony and the blood of the lamb. So many believers have lost sight of their calling and are not laboring for the kingdom of God but purely for their own benefit. That means they will not have the power God promised. No labor, no rewards!

Revelation 22:12

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.

Jesus comes to give living water to those that are thirsty and to those who are willing to serve with that same living water, meaning the power of the Holy Spirit. If we who carry the Holy Spirit in our souls sit down and occupy ourselves with relaxation and ease in these last days we will leave the lost to remain in the enemy’s hands and we lose the reward of the authority that Jesus promised.

In the last book of the New Testament Jesus gives us a clear picture of how he expects us to live: he refers to the church as the bride of Christ and tells us to make “HERSELF READY” by being engaged in the work of the Kingdom of God. I wonder how many of us who claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior consider ourselves as being ready for the return of Christ? We can’t possibly believe that is true unless we are giving of ourselves towards the advancement of the Kingdom. That does not mean just attending some local church. It means we are actively engaged in Kingdom living each and every day, not just on weekends.

Revelation 19:7

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

Revelation 22:17

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Jesus says the “BRIDE” has made her self ready. If we are not paying attention we could be in danger of not being ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins getting ready for the wedding. They all started out ready. They all started out enthusiastic about attending, but only half were ready. The other half took for granted they were chosen to have a special place in the wedding, but in the end only those who were ready made the cut and went into the wedding. The others were kept out.

Matthew 25:1-2 

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

Are you about the Father’s business? Can you can expect the power to be released for ministry service?

Questions:

1) Do you realize your salvation means being called to live for God’s glory on the earth? If you don’t, you need to reevaluate what it means to be born again (John 3)

2) Are you filling yourself with the Holy Spirit regularly, or are you like the foolish virgins who fell asleep? If not, you are in danger of being like the foolish virgins who were shut out of the marriage supper of the lamb (Eph 5:18)

The days are short and we must be about our masters service,

Pastor Dale