 September 17 2010 THE BRIDE - THE WIFE OF THE LAMBby Kimberly Lefebvre"Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:9). 
The other night I was reading a portion in a book by Ana Mendez Ferrell. She talks about 3 categories of believers: sons, servants, and the Bride. Sons, she says, are concerned with their inheritance; servants are focused on the eternal rewards for their labors, but the Bride…her consuming passion is God Himself.
There's nothing wrong with being a son or a servant. In fact, when we receive the Lord and become one with His life in us, we naturally grow as both a son and a servant of God. However, there are deeper waters for those who enter into the union of bridal intimacy with Christ. SONSHIP VS. BRIDAL INTIMACY Concerning the above, there is a distinct difference between the heart posture of the son and the bride. As noted, the son is focused on receiving his inheritance. Certainly, Jesus restored our inheritance to us in full by His precious work on the cross and we should contend to see the manifestation of these blessings in our lives. However, we see the distinction between the son and the Bride in the following way: the son says, "God, give me my inheritance. I lay claim to that which Jesus bought back for me." The Bride says, "Lord, I know that all You have is mine, and Lord, all I have is now yours. I lay my inheritance down for Your sake and the gospel. What you have given me I now give back to You." It seems to me that sonship should ultimately lead each believer into bridal intimacy. However, I have observed that often the son who contends for his inheritance seems to get stuck there and fixated on what's "rightfully his" in Christ, as opposed to Christ's inheritance in and through his or her life. As noted above, the bride, on the other hand, goes further than simply contending for her inheritance for she is focused on laying down anything the Lord requires for His sake and that of the kingdom of heaven. This is because her foremost passion is the pursuit of her Beloved - the One who has stolen her heart, the One she cannot live without, the One who is to her as every breath she breathes! Let us understand then, that the bride of Christ will walk as both a son and a servant but these two things will only serve to draw her closer to her Bridegroom; they will neither compete with nor threaten to replace her identity as His bride. In this way, she exists as a devoted worshipper of the One who, in saving her soul, has already given her more than she could ever ask and dream. And there again is the difference - the son knows of the blessings of God, the Bride knows God Himself and she has been captivated, ruined, enveloped by a love that has become more dear to her than her very life. Hence, for the bride, Jesus is truly everything; for the bride, her inheritance is not simply the manifestation of the Person of Jesus, but Jesus Himself! GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR CASUAL SEEKERS In order to expand further on these things, and in particular regarding the distinction between sonship and bridal intimacy I'd like to share the following Scripture: "He (God) made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel" (Psalm 103:7). Did you catch the difference? The nation of Israel knew of His deeds, having experienced the blessings and privileges that came from being called as sons and daughters. However, Moses knew more than just the deeds of the Lord; to Moses God revealed His ways! In other words, Moses, an intimate lover of God, was privy to the very character and heart of the One he loved and knew. It is the same today: those who enter into sonship will know the deeds of the Lord…but those who move beyond infancy to become the bride of Christ shall have a much greater reward: the Lord Himself. Again, the bride of Christ shall know the ways of the Lord, the very character and heart of God! I once had wonderful pastor who emphasized intimacy with God and I remember him saying "God does not reveal Himself (that is, His heart of hearts) to casual seekers." Rather, God reveals Himself to those who, like a bride with her husband, have given Him access to all that they are. Again, God reveals Himself to those who are desperate for His presence, to those whose foremost desire is to know Him and love Him, to those who are not content to merely experience His blessings but who, like David of old, seek His face with their whole hearts. So how do we move from being sons to being the passionate bride of Christ? As just inferred, we must yield our whole hearts to the Lord; He asks that we give Him full access to all that we are and also to all that we have. It is a marriage. After we so yield to the Lord (which we must do it on an ongoing basis), He will test the density of our love. Yes, He will allow tests and trials that will require self denial and hence, shall serve to increase the depths of our love and passion for Him. Although some may fall away when the fire comes, yet His bride will ultimately exclaim as Peter once did: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). SHARING IN JESUS' SUFFERINGS In truth, the wife of the Lamb will not be content to drink only from the cup of blessing; she must also enter into the place of pain where she can identify with the wounds of the One who has immersed Himself into her own pain (1 Philippians 3:10). For there is a bond of intimacy that is known only by sharing common experiences, and all the more when we bear one another's burdens and heartache. In this regard, as the bride opens her heart to share in the Lord's sufferings, her bond of love with Him will only deepen. Even so, in that place of love the bride says to her Husband: "Lord, how can I heal Your heart today? How can I comfort You in Your pain? How can I make You smile and rejoice?" Again, in response to having been profoundly touched by Him in her suffering, she now rises up and says "My life! My all! Let me love You as You have loved me! Let me hear and provide for the deep longings of YOUR heart!" We can understand then, that the Lord will allow suffering in the lives of those who long for Him that they might be enabled to share His life in greater intimacy with Him. In this regard, be assured, God doesn't share His pain with just anybody! He's like us - He's got a tender heart and He's looking for a soft place to fall - He's looking for hearts that truly want to know His! Therefore, we should never underestimate the depth of privilege in being invited to share in His sufferings for it is a sign that He is trusting us with His heart and His very life! He is opening the door of intimacy to us in a way that is sacred. Having said that let me tell you what you may already know: to enter into the Lord's sufferings is not a light thing. You will be asked to embrace things that look very different from the prosperity gospel you have been taught on Sunday mornings for years. Jesus will ask You to identify with the poor because His heart breaks for the poor. He will allow you to feel the depth of His pain and loneliness because so very few have truly embraced Him. He may allow you to be homeless for He was homeless. He may allow you to be misunderstood and like Him, you too will experience the persecution of the religious minded "Christians" in your midst. In all of this He will forge your life into a beautiful canvas for eternal fruit…perhaps at the cost of your own dreams and expectations...but you will have Him! (Song of Songs 2:6). Even so, His love for you and your love for Him will only deepen with each sacrificial act stemming from these two simple words: "Yes, Lord." FOLLOWING THE LAMB WHEREVER HE GOES As you lay your life down for Him and feel the cost involved, you will come to understand in a deeper way the incredible price Jesus paid in laying down His life for you. You will identify with the depth of commitment He has for you as you accept to endure the same kind of trials He endured while on earth. In all these things, you will be sharing His very life as a wife, faithful to follow her husband wherever He goes, whatever happens to Him (Note Revelation 14:4). In this regard, like any truly passionate wife you will follow the Lord not because of what He can give you, but because you are utterly in love with Him and can't and don't want to live without Him! Like Ruth, the devoted daughter-in-law of Naomi, you will find yourself exclaiming: "Don't urge me to leave You or to turn back from You. Where You go I will go, and where You stay I will stay" (Ruth 1:16). Again, like Ruth, you shall discover a Kinsman Redeemer on the other side of your heartache, for to follow Jesus is not only to lay down everything at His feet, but to be received by Him there, lifted up and restored! (Note Ruth 3:13). Hence, at each moment when the cost of following and the pain of the cross pierces your soul, the intimate companionship and love of Jesus will be right there to cover you and make every provision. After experiencing such incredible love in such deep places of your heart you will love this Man Jesus like no other...and you won't be able to go back to your old life anymore. Even so, mere sonship won't be enough for you; you'll be consumed with seeking God Himself until you find Him! CONCLUSION Like John, the beloved apostle, the bride, the wife of the Lamb will sit next to Christ, reclining her head upon His breast…even for eternity, for she will simply continue to know in heaven, the very intimacy she has pursued and found with Him in this life. I don't know about you, but the thought of hearing the heart of Him who passionately pursued me - even giving His life for my sake - beating in love for me throughout all eternity…that's something worth giving my own heart to…even if it hurts at times to follow…even if it costs me to hold fast through the storms…even if I must wait a little longer to experience the fullness of the One whose Presence I cannot live without... And so too the Lord calls aloud to as many as would receive Him as the bridegroom, beckoning you to move beyond the shores of servanthood and sonship into the deep, deep waters of His heart. Yes, He is inviting you to the sacred place reserved for His Bride alone. Time is short… "Whom of you will come?" "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" (Revelation 19:9). ABSOLUTE SURRENDERby Andrew Murray - Absolute Surrender "And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have" (1 Ki. 20:1-4). What Ben Hadad asked was absolute surrender; and what Ahab gave was what was asked of him - absolute surrender. I want to use these words: "My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have," as the words of absolute surrender with which every child of God ought to yield himself to his Father. We have heard it before, but we need to hear it very definitely - the condition of God's blessing is absolute surrender of all into His hands. Praise God! If our hearts are willing for that, there is no end to what God will do for us, and to the blessing God will bestow. Absolute surrender - let me tell you where I got those words. I used them myself often, and you have heard them numberless times. But in Scotland once I was in a company where we were talking about the condition of Christ's Church, and what the great need of the Church and of believers is; and there was in our company a godly worker who has much to do in training workers, and I asked him what he would say was the great need of the Church, and the message that ought to be preached. He answered very quietly and simply and determinedly: "Absolute surrender to God is the one thing." The words struck me as never before. And that man began to tell how, in the workers with whom he had to deal, he finds that if they are sound on that point, even though they be backward, they are willing to be taught and helped, and they always improve; whereas others who are not sound there very often go back and leave the work. The condition for obtaining God's full blessing is absolute surrender to Him. And now, I desire by God's grace to give to you this message - that your God in Heaven answers the prayers which you have offered for blessing on yourselves and for blessing on those around you by this one demand: Are you willing to surrender yourselves absolutely into His hands? What is our answer to be? God knows there are hundreds of hearts who have said it, and there are hundreds more who long to say it but hardly dare to do so. And there are hearts who have said it, but who have yet miserably failed, and who feel themselves condemned because they did not find the secret of the power to live that life. May God have a word for all! Let me say, first of all, that God claims it from us. God Expects Your Surrender Yes, it has its foundation in the very nature of God. God cannot do otherwise. Who is God? He is the Fountain of life, the only Source of existence and power and goodness, and throughout the universe there is nothing good but what God works. God has created the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the flowers, and the trees, and the grass; and are they not all absolutely surrendered to God? Do they not allow God to work in them just what He pleases? When God clothes the lily with its beauty, is it not yielded up, surrendered, given over to God as He works in it its beauty? And God's redeemed children, oh, can you think that God can work His work if there is only half or a part of them surrendered? God cannot do it. God is life, and love, and blessing, and power, and infinite beauty, and God delights to communicate Himself to every child who is prepared to receive Him; but ah! this one lack of absolute surrender is just the thing that hinders God. And now He comes, and as God, He claims it. You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing, and that pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly. This coat is absolutely given up to me to, cover my body. This building is entirely given up to religious services. And now, do you expect that in your immortal being, in the divine nature that you have received by regeneration, God can work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot. The Temple of Solomon was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to Him. And every one of us is a temple of God, in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition - absolute surrender to Him. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us. God not only claims it, but God will work it Himself. God Accomplishes Your Surrender I am sure there is many a heart that says: "Ah, but that absolute surrender implies so much!" Someone says: "Oh, I have passed through so much trial and suffering, and there is so much of the self-life still remaining, and I dare not face the entire giving of it up, because I know it will cause so much trouble and agony." Alas! alas! that God's children have such thoughts of Him, such cruel thoughts. Oh, I come to you with a message, fearful and anxious one. God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you. Do we not read: "It is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13)? And that is what we should seek for - to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn out what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you. Look at the men in the Old Testament, like Abraham. Do you think it was by accident that God found that man, the father of the faithful and the Friend of God, and that it was Abraham himself, apart from God, who had such faith and such obedience and such devotion? You know it is not so. God raised him up and prepared him as an instrument for His glory. Did not God say to Pharaoh: "For this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power" (Ex. 9:16)? And if God said that of him, will not God say it far more of every child of His? Oh, I want to encourage you, and I want you to cast away every fear. Come with that feeble desire; and if there is the fear which says: "Oh, my desire is not strong enough, I am not willing for everything that may come, I do not feel bold enough to say I can conquer everything" - I pray you, learn to know and trust your God now. Say: "My God, I am willing that Thou shouldst make me willing." If there is anything holding you back, or any sacrifice you are afraid of making, come to God now, and prove how gracious your God is, and be not afraid that He will command from you what He will not bestow. God comes and offers to work this absolute surrender in you. All these searchings and hungerings and longings that are in your heart, I tell you they are the drawings of the divine magnet, Christ Jesus. He lived a life of absolute surrender, He has possession of you; He is living in your heart by His Holy Spirit. You have hindered and hindered Him terribly, but He desires to help you to get hold of Him entirely. And He comes and draws you now by His message and words. Will you not come and trust God to work in you that absolute surrender to Himself? Yes, blessed be God, He can do it, and He will do it. God not only claims it and works it, but God accepts it when we bring it to Him. God Accepts Your Surrender God works it in the secret of our heart, God urges us by the hidden power of His Holy Spirit to come and speak it out, and we have to bring and to yield to Him that absolute surrender. But remember, when you come and bring God that absolute surrender, it may, as far as your feelings or your consciousness go, be a thing of great imperfection, and you may doubt and hesitate and say: "Is it absolute?" But, oh, remember there was once a man to whom Christ had said: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23). And his heart was afraid, and he cried out: "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24). That was a faith that triumphed over the Devil, and the evil spirit was cast out. And if you come and say: "Lord, I yield myself in absolute surrender to my God," even though it be with a trembling heart and with the consciousness: "I do not feel the power, I do not feel the determination, I do not feel the assurance," it will succeed. Be not afraid, but come just as you are, and even in the midst of your trembling the power of the Holy Spirit will work. Have you never yet learned the lesson that the Holy Spirit works with mighty power, while on the human side everything appears feeble? Look at the Lord Jesus Christ in Gethsemane. We read that He, "through the eternal Spirit" (Heb. 9:14), offered Himself a sacrifice unto God. The Almighty Spirit of God was enabling Him to do it. And yet what agony and fear and exceeding sorrow came over Him, and how He prayed! Externally, you can see no sign of the mighty power of the Spirit, but the Spirit of God was there. And even so, while you are feeble and fighting and trembling, in faith in the hidden work of God's Spirit do not fear, but yield yourself. And when you do yield yourself in absolute surrender, let it be in the faith that God does now accept of it. That is the great point, and that is what we so often miss - that believers should be thus occupied with God in this matter of surrender. I pray you, be occupied with God. We want to get help, every one of us, so that in our daily life God shall be clearer to us, God shall have the right place, and be "all in all." And if we are to have that through life, let us begin now and look away from ourselves, and look up to God. Let each believe - while I, a poor worm on earth and a trembling child of God, full of failure and sin and fear, bow here, and no one knows what passes through my heart, and while I in simplicity say, O God, I accept Thy terms; I have pleaded for blessing on myself and others, I have accepted Thy terms of absolute surrender - while your heart says that in deep silence, remember there is a God present that takes note of it, and writes it down in His book, and there is a God present who at that very moment takes possession of you. You may not feel it, you may not realize it, but God takes possession if you will trust Him. God not only claims it, and works it, and accepts it when I bring it, but God maintains it. God Maintains Your Surrender That is the great difficulty with many. People say: "I have often been stirred at a meeting, or at a convention, and I have consecrated myself to God, but it has passed away. I know it may last for a week or for a month, but away it fades, and after a time it is all gone." But listen! It is because you do not believe what I am now going to tell you and remind you of. When God has begun the work of absolute surrender in you, and when God has accepted your surrender, then God holds Himself bound to care for it and to keep it. Will you believe that? In this matter of surrender there are two: God and I - I a worm, God the everlasting and omnipotent Jehovah. Worm, will you be afraid to trust yourself to this mighty God now? God is willing. Do you not believe that He can keep you continually, day by day, and moment by moment? Moment by moment I'm kept in His love; 
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 ANDRE LEFEBVRE - LIGHT IN A WOUNDED NIGHT (music) GRAHAM COOKE - STILLNESS (teaching) VIRGINIA SULLIVENT - RAPHA (prophetic healing song) ANDRE LEFEBVRE - ISAIAH'S VISION (music) BRIAN LONGRIDGE - LONGING (music) ANDRE LEFEBVRE - THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING (music) UNKNOWN - VOICES OF ANGELS IN NATURE ? (music) TERRI GEISEL - LIFTING THE BRIDAL VEIL 
E-book: "Preface to the Epistle to the Romans" by Martin LutherE-book: "Marks of a True Conversion" by George WhitfieldE-book: "Four Aids to Heavenly Contemplation" by Richard Baxter |
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THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PRAY FOR US AND FOR EVERYONE!
How beautiful is the Body of Christ! :O). 
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