The Bride of Christ

The Bride of Christ (1)

May 3 2015

What beautiful songs! Amen! You know what we have to do when we hear those songs? Every blessed family and couple must think of their position as they sing that song. When you are singing that song, “Every day, every day with you Lord; sweeter than the day before. “ 

As a sister you have to sing that song as the bride of Christ. You sing that song of love to the bridegroom. Amen? 

We have to stand in the right position when we are offering praise and worship. If you don’t stand in the right position, you are not going to know what’s going on. It’s just a song to sing, but when we stand in the right position, and when the ladies stand in the position of the brides singing that song of love to the Bridegroom, now the Holy Spirit can come, Amen? (Applause) The Spirit can come. 

When you are singing ‘10,000 Reasons’ also ‘Amazing Grace’, “you laid your life down for me.” That is the Bridegroom; he put his life down to love us, Amen? (Amen) Now in Christianity, the bride of Christ is a generic large thing, and it’s a mystery. We researched that in Ephesians 5 where Paul talks about the husband and wife relationship and said, “It is a mystery like the relationship between the bride and the Bridegroom, between Christ and his church.” 

So for thousands and thousands of years, New Testament Christians have believed that the bride of Christ is the body of Christ. Amen? Of course we know that in Catholicism, the nuns marry Jesus. They take the vow of marriage to Jesus. Jesus has thousands of brides around the world; millions. But they are not clear on the position of the man; then what is the man? And that is why we will see a conflict; then the men will believe that Jesus is their lover, and then you will start seeing things that have scandalized the Catholic Church which is what? Pedophilia, homosexuality; these kinds of things appear. 

Because we have to understand what and who is the bride of Christ, Amen? Some say, it’s the chosen people of Israel when Christ will come because they point to the Book of Revelation, when it said – this is John speaking-, “I saw the New Jerusalem coming down from the heaven adorned as the bride is adorned for the Bridegroom.” Some think that the Israelites are the bride of Christ. Amen? So that would be even New Testament Christians. 

As Completed Testament Christians… See we have to get over it; we are also Christians, we have a Christian root, do you understand. We are Completed Testament Christians (Applause). You know what I mean; to be Christians is to be of Christ. So we don’t have to push away and chase away our New Testament Christian brothers and sisters, but we can love them so they can come to the level of the Completed Testament Age.

Look at that title: The Bride of Christ. This has been the mystery of the ages. In fact when we looked at the Scripture last week,  of Jesus talking about the days of Noah as the end days, the end times they will be like the days of Noah, we studied that last week, Amen? 

You remember the last part of it: there would be two women in the mill that are pushing the mill, one would be taken, and one would be left. And we talked about what the difference between those two women would be. What is the difference? We talked about, as in the days of Noah, who will be ashamed of their Bridegroom, and who will not be ashamed. 

But the bride of Christ has been a mystery through the ages. It has been a mystery, until the Lord returned and gave the 3-Day Ceremony. Do you understand why we cannot understand the bride of Christ? Because we don’t teach the 3-Day Ceremony; because the 3-Day Ceremony unlocks what the bride of Christ is. It unlocks what the proper positions are in marriage. The 3-Day Ceremony, which we have guarded in secret and hid from public view for so many years, is the answer to whom the bride of Christ is. 

This is something that we have been ashamed of, because, of the fact that in the 3-Day Ceremony, the wife is on the top and the husband is on the bottom, and we got scared because everybody says, “Oh you know, these are sex rituals”. All these kinds of things, so we got scared and freaked out about it, and we did not teach what the proper relationships and understanding of husband and wife is and how God provides the sexuality in marriage as the great blessing. But it’s in relation to Him. There are relationships within husband and wife that we have to understand. 

Why are so many blessed couples and blessed families un-anointed in their marriages? They are barren, like deserts as we talked about, because they have forgotten the position in which they stand. The 3-Day Ceremony unlocks this mystery. Not all the people at the wedding feast are the bride. Ooh! Did you hear that? Not all the people at the wedding feast are the bride. Isn’t that interesting? 

When you look at the metaphors in the parables that Christ gives, even about the bride and the Bridegroom, there is a whole banquet. There are people there that are not the bride, that are also there, such as the best man; such as the attendants that are helping. But we usually think in terms of just the bride of Christ, and we think that at the wedding feast there will only be Jesus and everybody else is the bride. 

That’s where we get confused and what’s where the Church will stray from its original relationships and will fall into problems and traps of the Devil. Amen?

We talked on Wednesday – Wow, we were deep on Wednesday, right? Who was there on Bible study day, we went deep! We spent one hour talking about “Diabolos”. You remember that? We went deep, because when we swim deep, Satan cannot catch you. 

And we talked about what is the real nature, the modus operandi, of the Devil. We talked about how “Diabolos” is not really a name- in English it’s called the Devil- but “Diabolos” is the mode in which he operates. We talked about, how ‘Dia’ means ‘by means of’ and ‘bolos’ casting nets. This is how Satan catches us, right? We talked about that. 

We talked about how ‘Dia’ also means ‘by means of’; ‘bolos’ can also mean ‘striking you repeatedly’. Amen! ‘Attacking you repeatedly’ and we talked about how Satan needs a place to hide. You remember that? The ‘Topos’: do not give a Devil a place- remember that in Ephesians 4- ‘Do not give him a ‘Topos’ to come in. You have doors on your house; you keep them locked. You don’t just keep them unlocked and you certainly don’t keep them open. We talked about how those are different things, right. 

An unlocked door is safer than an open door. Because the Devil may pass by your neighborhood, and see the door is closed and he will think, “OK, maybe it’s locked” because he checked a couple of the other houses and they were locked. But if it’s opened, now you got a problem. 

We have to understand the nature of ‘Diabolos’, because now we are starting to operate in the spirit world. Father is pouring out his spirit, opening our spiritual senses and now we are starting to enter the spirit world, and to move in the spirit world; well you have to know what is in the spirit world. Amen? You cannot only think it is good angels flying around. There are also some demons in the spirit world. There are also some devils in the spirit world. 

We looked at the real root word of ‘Diabolos’, the real meaning. We know that he is adulterer. Another modern expression of that would be rapist. ‘Dia’ also means ‘to penetrate’ through and through; it means to penetrate. When the ‘Diabolos’ comes he comes to penetrate you, amen? That is not a good thing, right? You must guard yourself from that attack because he doesn’t want to just influence you and hold your hand; he wants to get inside of you. That’s why he is the adulterer, that’s why he is the rapist, really. And that’s why when you are out of your house or you are out and about, you arm yourself because if there is a situation where you have to defend yourself you are able to do it. 

We looked at how in Ephesians 6, God arms us with the whole armor of God, the panoply, the whole armor of God, the resources that are needed to operate in the spirit world. You better bring your weapons in the spirit world. You better have your armor on in the spirit world. You better have your helmet of salvation, your breast plate of righteousness, your belt of truth; you better have your shield of faith, you better have your sword of the spirit which is the word of God. You’ve got to have the equipment that God has for you if you are going to enter the spiritual world. You have to bring your armor if you are going to go in, amen? And as we ask God to open our spiritual eyes and ears and nose and senses and touch, it is also a place where there is evil; so we have to be prepared for that, and God prepares us for that. 

Let us go to Mathew 25 today

Because this is the parable that Jesus gives to the apostles, the leadership training he gives before he goes. This is one of the last parables- there are two more after this, but this is one of the last ones, that he gives and this is the parable of the ten virgins and the bridegroom. 

Matthew 25

” 1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, “give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” 9 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.” 10 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. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” 12 But he answered and said, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”

Ooh! Look at that Scripture. You see if we don’t understand the 3-Day Ceremony- this is why a lot of blessed children are so confused; this is why they have trouble in their marriages; this is why so many break up their marriage. They don’t understand; they’ve never been taught the 3-Day Ceremony. Yes they don’t have to do it, but they should have to learn it to understand the proper positions in the Covenant. Amen?

You have to know what position you are in. If you think as the man you are a bride, then you are in your mind going to start getting confused; you are going to start thinking you are going to have a homosexual relationship with Christ. You understand what I am saying? That can lead to issues, amen?

So we have to be clear; this is why the body of Christ –because this is a mystery- they have not been able to understand the proper positions of the husband and the wife in marriage. The 3-Day Ceremony unlocks that. It shows us that the wife is in the position of fallen Eve who-through relating with Christ and being obedient to him- is remade into the bride of Christ.

We see that the husband is in the position of archangel, or Satan who through obedience and surrender to God is transformed, recreated into what? The son of God; the son of God! Now, when you are relating to Christ intimately as a man and you are clear now that you are not the bride, but you are the son of God, now you got no problem. Now the way you love and seek to be intimate with your Father is not of that nature.

It is as the son that is close, intimate with him. You can bathe with him. I bathed with Father. In Asia, that’s not a big problem. You do that all the time. You have public baths you go to in Asia. Onsan, Oncheon, right, all the Japanese and Asian people, we know that. There is no shame in that. You go with your mommy too; the girls do.

So there’s a different type of intimacy, but yet there is a tremendous intimacy there. When your son is inheriting all that you have done and you have trust in him, and you have given him your greatest blessing, there is a tremendous intimacy there. Amen? (Amen) You can be naked before your son and there’s no shame, because there’s a tremendous intimacy there. But it is different than how the bride is intimate with Christ. There is a difference, a subtle difference obviously.

So when we understand the proper positions of husband and wife, and that through our obedience as men, God gives His bride who He has made new- the Bible talks about the bride without spot of wrinkle- That does not mean none of the brides are without spots or wrinkle. Every single one of them has spot and wrinkle. Don’t push me to say ‘wrinkles’, OK. Don’t push me to say that.

Every bride has that. But it is through the Bridegroom that you are made pure. It said, “Pure, white as snow.” Do you understand? That’s the power of his love for you. You come as the fallen Eve, as a sinner, as a woman who is relating with Satan, but through his love, through his blood, through his sacrifice and laying his life down to save you, you are purified; you’re made perfectly clean. You are made beautiful, clean in the eyes of God, holy, righteous.

The Bible also says that the bride is set apart; she is as a stranger or alien in the world, meaning that you stand out in a different way; you stand out. You have a holiness and righteousness that surround you because of Christ. Amen?

Now you keep that in mind, and in your heart- as you sing those songs of praise- As men when we are singing the song, “Every day, sweeter than the day before”, then as a son of God we are thinking about being with our Father. We may be thinking about going fishing on the Sea of Galilee or Yeosu. We may think of the intimate moments we had with him, right?

As a bride of Christ when you are singing those songs, “Every day with you Lord is sweeter and sweeter” you are thinking of your love, the relationship, the intimacy you have with God; amen? You notice how that is so different than just singing these songs. You are in that song!

But we have to know what position we’re in to manifest those songs into love for the King. (Applause) So it’s so important for us when we sing those songs to remember who you are; remember what position you’re in- the 3-Day Ceremony unlocks it. And sing those songs with love.

Let’s go closer into this one. Mathew 25. There is no way I am going to cover all of this today, but we are going to go in because I think there is some real insight. Some people have asked, “Why are we looking into the New Testament Greek, or the ancient Greek? “The reason we are looking at the ancient Greek is because there are so many nuances in the Greek text, in the New Testament; there are so many nuances. If you just saw the English, you would just see the word “Devil’ but through the ancient Greek we can unpack what it is that the Devil does, how he attacks you, how he comes to trap you, how he casts nets, how he strikes you repeatedly, how he tries to penetrate you.

We can understand all those things when we look at the ancient Greek. And remember- just like Jesus says, “He does not just come to throw away the Law, but to fulfill it.” And in the same way, Father came, not so that the Old and New Testament would be eradicated but that they would be COMPLETED; right? That’s why it’s called the Completed Testament! Amen!

So let’s look at this because there are so many nuances here, that we have to get into if we want to understand the nuances of our relationship with the Bridegroom. Ooh!

The first thing we are going to look at is the word ‘virgins’ here, but I want to first talk about the word ‘bride’. Oh my goodness when I was researching it this week, what a tremendous insight in studying the ancient Greek. The word for bride is ‘numphe’; that’s the word in ancient Greek for bride. The word ‘numphe’ yes it does mean ‘bride’, but guess what? The very same word ‘numphe’ also means daughter-in-law. Oh! Look at the 3-Day Ceremony. It is the only thing on the planet that explains why the bride is both a bride and a daughter-in-law. Do you understand what I am saying?

It is the only thing that shows why the wife is both the bride to the true Adam and the wife of his son- which means daughter-in- law, right? Oh! In Korean you call it ‘myeoneuli’ daughter-in-law, my son’s wife and bride is bride. Isn’t that interesting?

The actual word ‘numphe’ in the ancient Greek has a mystery in there that was not unlocked until two thousand years later through the 3-Day Ceremony and we didn’t even know it. We didn’t even know it! (Applause) It is totally biblical, not only is it biblical; it is right there in the ancient meaning. Ooh!

So it’s important to understand that these women here in this parable-the ten virgins- these are omen who are chase, pure, who are going to meet their bridegroom. Notice they are not going to meet their suitor. There is a very big difference between a suitor and a bridegroom. A suitor is still trying to get you, right? A suitor is still trying to win you and woo you. He is still trying to convince your parents that he is the right guy.

But a bridegroom has already got you. It means that he has already got you. You are already promised to him; he is already promised to you. It is not the suitor stage; it is not a courting stage; this is the stage of consummation.

We have to keep in mind that in the ancient world, and in the Hebrew traditional weddings it’s different from what we have now. When we have wedding nowadays, we have a big party; there’s a cake and all that kind of stuff. And then the bride and bridegroom go on a honeymoon, right? They go on the honeymoon; there’s intimacy after they get married, right?

But you have to understand in the ancient Hebrew weddings that is not the case. The bride and bridegroom, after they are married, first, before they have the party, they go into the marriage chamber and they consummate sexual relations- first, they do that first. Then they come out and then there is a celebration. You understand? It’s opposite from what we are expecting in the modern world. The bride and bridegroom first consummate; all the guests are waiting- can you imagine all the guests are waiting outside your house? Hurry up and finish; we are waiting, the food is getting cold, right? Isn’t it interesting about the ancient marriage?

The ancient marriage is the opposite of what we think; so there’s first the intimacy, then the celebration. So when we think the wedding banquets, the feats of the lamb, we are thinking already step 2; there’s already a step 1. There has to be the step 1 before that.

Now look at this: the ten virgins are there, and they go to meet the bridegroom. The word here is ‘houpo anteo’, and that is the word ‘meeting ‘with no chaperon’. It means meeting without being under the authority of somebody or something. This is a private meeting with the bridegroom.

The bridegroom- it is interesting because in ancient Greek the bridegroom just means bridegroom. But bride means both bride and daughter-in-law. As the ‘numphe’ of Christ you hold those identities;   you are both the bride to the true Adam and you are also the daughter-in-law, because you are married to his son as well. You see. He gave you to his son. Is this making senses?

Can we keep diving deep? We’ve got to dive deep. That’s where Satan can’t see us swimming. That’s where we go with the big tuna with the armor of God on.

And I want to draw your attention to this word ‘wise’. When we think ‘wise’ we are thinking ‘sagacious’, we’re thinking ‘having wisdom’; this is deep when you understand what type of wisdom is the bride to have. The word is ‘phronimos’ – everybody says ’phronimos’. What type of wisdom is this? Notice this is a wisdom that is different from ‘Sophos’ or ‘Sophia’ – the wisdom of artisan skill, the wisdom of knowing a craft, the wisdom of experience. This is different. This is also different from the wisdom, ’Sunetos’ which is the wisdom of intellect, of learning; of learning something and being wise from that. This is different.

 The wisdom required of the bride is the word ‘phronimos’; the root word is ‘Phren’, and the word ‘Phren’ is where we get the name ‘Diaphren’’. Isn’t it interesting? This is what we get the English word ‘diaphragm’ from. The diaphragm helps you breathe. The diaphragm protects your heart. Do you understand? It’s not wisdom of the brain; it’s not wisdom of experience. This is wisdom of the phren, the diaphren, the heart. “Every beat, every breath I take, every move I make, I’m watching you.” This is the type of wisdom; Father would probably call it ‘heartistic wisdom’.

The wisdom of the heart; isn’t it interesting? This is different from ‘sunetos’, the wisdom of the intellect; this is different from the wisdom of experience, or ‘Sophia’, ‘Sophos’. This is the wisdom of love. This is the wisdom of the heart; this is the wisdom of romance. This is different sagacity. Oh! This is a different type of wisdom than we are accustomed to. We are searching for ‘sunetos’ intellectual wisdom; we are searching for ‘Sophia’ like the Psalms of Solomon.

But God is saying, ‘If you’re going to be my bride, you need ‘phronimos’; that’s what you need.” You need the wisdom of the heart; every breath you are taking should be about Me. Every heartbeat should be for Me; that’s the love that the bride has for the bridegroom. She is existing, she is breathing; she is heart-beating for God.

That is what distinguishes wisdom from foolishness. Isn’t that amazing? Once you understand the 3-Day Ceremony, your proper position in terms of the bride of Christ, and then you understand the difference between foolishness –which is this word ‘Moros’ where we get the word ‘moron’. That’s where we get that word, from the Greek ‘Moros’. 31:44

Look at this: this is actually a medical term, which is referring to a physical nerve- physical nerves causing one to become dull and sluggish. How many of us have spiritual nerves that are making us become dull and sluggish in our love for the Bridegroom? You see the difference between foolishness or moron and wisdom.

Look at the whole world wide church; they may be seeking wisdom but it’s not of this type. There are some who are influenced by the mystical circles of theology. They are searching ‘Sophos’, enlightenment, wisdom- that kind of wisdom. There are those who are intellectual; who are trying to understand things that way- that’s ‘sunetos’. Those are not necessarily bad, but they are not the wisdom of the bride. They are not the highest wisdom through which we have intimacy with Christ.

There is a different type of wisdom that we must gain, and this applies whether you are a bride of Christ of a son of God. It is the heart; it is the wisdom of the ‘Phronos’, the ‘phronimos’.

Notice that the word for foolishness ‘moros’ literally means crippled in some way. Your nerves are crippled and they are not allowing you to experience; they are making you foolish. Isn’t it interesting?

In our intimacy with Christ, with Father’s spirit, with Father being alive and in our life, at the center of our life, the brides must avoid being this type of ‘moros’, having dullness, insipidness, sluggishness, in our excitement for him. Imagine if your heart stops palpitating and become sluggish. You will experience severe shortness of breath and discomfort. It has to keep pumping and palpitating and you have to keep breathing in order for you to be nourished and to be strong in that relationship.

So there is the difference between the wise and the foolish. Notice that the foolish virgins –of which there are five; this is the same ratio as we saw last week with one getting left one getting taken- This is the same: five get taken, five are left. Same ratio: one to one.

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