Life Ministries

The Bride of Christ - Part 2

I want us to look at several scriptures this morning in order to get a feel for the real purpose of the church, the Bride of Christ:

Rom. 15:5-6 – “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Eph. 1:11-12 – “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”
Matt. 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
1 Peter 2:12 – “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 4:11 – “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”
Phil. 1:9-11 – “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
Phil 2:9-11 – “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 Cor. 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Rev. 4:8-11 – “Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,”
Rev. 5:13 – “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!”
The three common words in these and other scriptures are: “Praise, Glory, and Honor.” 
In all that we say and do as Christians, we ought to bring praise and glory and honor to God. All of the ministries of the church ought to bring praise and glory and honor to God.
    There are basically four main ministries in the church or of the church, and they conveniently spell the word WIFE. They are: Worship – Instruction – Fellowship – Expression ( actions )
                           (W)           (I)                 (F)                 (E)

    The true foundation of ministry is character. What do think of when I say that someone is a person of “character”? Character is what flows out of the life we live. Sometimes we may say that a person has some character flaws; would you say that the church, the bride of Christ, has some character flaws? What are they? I think if we really tried to bring praise , glory, and honor to God in all that we do and say, we – the bride or the wife- could greatly improve our character flaws.

    The nature of ministry is service.  Serving God and serving one another. Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters…we cannot serve God and money; nor can we serve God and self! It is always “self” that causes the flaws that make the bride look bad.
    The motive for ministry is love.  It is love that motivates us to do our best for God. It is love that helps us to build people up. It is love that motivates us to use our gifts and talents to build the church and grow the kingdom. It is love that glorifies God. Paul said that if we do or say anything that is not motivated by love, we are just a clanging symbol!...The bride becomes like watching the Gong show.
    The greatest tools of ministry are the Word of God and Prayer.  The Apostles said “we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word”. If we have the Word and no prayer, it’s like light without heat… If we have prayer and no Word, it’s like heat without light… the two together produce the fruit that glorifies God.
    The power of the ministry is the Holy Spirit.  That goes without saying. The power of the Holy Spirit goes before us; is within us; and backs us up!”
    And, finally, the model for ministry is Jesus.  He is the “foundation of character”; He had the nature of “service”; He is “love”; He came to show the truth of God’s Word and teach us to pray; and of course, He gave us the Holy Spirit to enable and empower us to do the ministry of his church.
The Bride is to be all of these things so we can be presented “holy and blameless” before the bridegroom.