Who is the Bride of Christ

Who is the Bride of Christ? Is it a system, a church structure or you? How you see yourself is how you will react. If you see yourself as merely just an unworthy Christian who is far from Christ, you won’t have such a personal intimate friendship with Jesus, as if you see yourself as a Bride of Christ who has been redeemed and made Holy by Jesus. Only as a Bride of Christ will you automatically act differently and be more loving to God and others, as you will be devoted to Jesus because He reigns supremely in your heart and you will seek to do His Will. Why is it that Jesus clearly said that it isn’t those who say Lord, Lord, Lord who will be saved, but those who do the will of the Father? Think about it, do you truly seek to do God’s Will at all times, or is it only when it suits you? Do you like being the centre of attention in the choir, or do you sing for love of God? How do you see yourself in relation to God?

Please read the passage on the Wedding Feast. Matthew 22:1-14 (KJV) 22 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,² The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,³ And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.⁴ Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.⁵ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:⁶ And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.⁷ But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.⁸ Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.⁹ Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.¹¹ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:¹² And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.¹³ Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.

It is interesting that everyone is called to the Wedding feast, but who is the Bride of Christ? We believe that those who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ and show that they love Him by obeying His Commandments and seeking to do His Will are the Brides of Christ. See the Bible verse. . (Hosea 2:19-20) (KJV) I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.

The Bible says that God is our husband as seen in Isaiah 54: 5 (KJV) For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Isaiah: 62:5 (KJV) …..as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.   The Bride of Christ knows God and has love and integrity and is ready, so he or she doesn’t compromise and puts God first before anyone or anything and does everything out of love for Him, and is only taught by God and not man.   Now read what the Bible says about the Bride of Christ. Revelation 19:7(KJV)

⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

In the passage below see what happens to the virgins who have been converted. These particular virgins are the Brides of Christ, and they all had the Holy Spirit, which is the oil in the lamp. Some Brides had gone back into the world and compromised, and didn’t co-operate with the Holy Spirit and therefore fell asleep, while the others co-operated with the Holy Spirit and were ready for Jesus’ return. Matthew 25:1-13 (KJV) Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

You have got to give your life to Jesus Christ and in order to do that, ask His Holy Spirit to fill you with His love, and put God in first place in your life before anyone or anything. When you do that, it isn’t you who live, but Jesus who lives in you and reaches other people with His love. It is waking up every morning and wanting to make God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit happy and to comfort them by the life you live. It is involving God in everything that you do so that everything is done for His glory. When you do that you are ready for Jesus’s return. Have you done that and have you no shadow of doubt that Jesus won’t leave you behind but take you with Him? If you aren’t sure of the answer, then you need to have a closer relationship with Jesus.

Religious people will tell you that as a Christian you can’t dance and you can’t have entertainment, and you can’t do this and that and put all sorts of obstacles in the way until you feel stifled. Yet that is not what Jesus said. Jesus told us to be like little children as seen in Matthew 18:2-4 (KJV) And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Well, children are free and enjoy themselves and have fun, but the difference is that they want their parents’ attention all the time. That makes all the difference and that is exactly what we must do because it is what God wants. We must do everything for God’s glory from the tedious housework to the jobs we do, and the entertainment that we enjoy. We must offer everything that we do as a continuous prayer to God, making Him the center of our lives.

We therefore believe that there will be two different types of Christians in Heaven at the Wedding feast. The closer you have been to Jesus, the closer you will be to Him in Heaven. There will be the spectators at the Wedding feast and there will be the Brides of Christ who have had an intimate relationship with Jesus and have put Him in first place in their lives. What do you want to be? The choice is yours. In order to make the right commitment you must have prayer time, receive the Lord’s Supper and read your Bible and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you the Bible rather than a person because otherwise it becomes like a history book. You must be non-judgemental but merciful. You have no right to judge as to who is saved or not saved. This is particularly true when some denominations in the Christian faith consider themselves to be saved while condemning other denominations as unsaved. When you do that you actually judge others and place yourself above everyone else and you play God, when the Bible clearly tells us not to judge. Only God is capable of reading hearts and not you and He is the only one who has the power to save. Look at the passage of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple, and when you judge you have the same attitude as the Pharisee and God abominates that attitude of self-pride as seen in

Luke 18:9-14 (KJV)9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:¹⁰ Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.¹² I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.¹³ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

If you judge someone for being sick and taking medication as being punished by God and not knowing God, you are being cruel, unmerciful and unloving. Once there was a lady who made a statement as regards to another Christian who took tablets and said “me I don’t need medication, I have Jesus.” Her attitude was totally un-Christian and she was being just like the Pharisee in the temple by having self-pride and being judgemental.

On the contrary go out to love everyone without judging and seek the good in people. Turn

this world into a better place by letting Jesus reign supremely in your heart and have a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone. When the Lord has changed your heart refuse to think negatively about yourself because that would be putting Jesus’ accomplishments down but instead focus on our Precious Saviour and thank Him for the way he is transforming you.

Written by Marie-Helene and Dominic Bradshaw