The Bride´s Dress and Ornaments Study of Pastors Pastor Efraín Estévez Guatemala, May 19th Year of Abundance
It is very important to know the work to which the Lord Jesus Christ has called us to; this doesn´t means that we should be servants seeking a salary, but we must know his characteristics in order to set a starting point. All things that we do must be under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we need something to focus on to make it happen, therefore the question arises: What is that to which we have been called? The answer is: To prepare the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4:11 (LBA) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. We need to remember that we were called by the Lord because He found us to be faithful, worthy, and with many other virtues, and all this happened because God justified us; all what we are and all what we will be is because of God´s love, not because we are very skillful. Ephesians 4:12 (LBA) for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. This verse shows us clearly that we were called to edify the saints; we were not called to do business within the Church or with the Church. Isaiah 49:17-18 (LBA) Your sons shall make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you. Lift up your eyes, look around and see; All these gather together and come to you. As I live, says the Lord, “You shall surely clothe yourselves with them all as an ornament, and bind them on you as a bride does. Who are those who will adorn the Bride of the Lord? These are described in Ephesians 4:11. As God´s people we need to gird ourselves adequately, let´s see what things gird us; the Bible describes 5 things that must be girded. The hand The fingers Eyes Heart Neck
Apostle Prophet Evangelist Pastor Teacher
Deuteronomy 6:8a Proverbs 6:13 Deuteronomy 6:8b Proverbs 6:21 Proverbs 3:3
Each element is identified with the 5 primary ministries according to their function. Revelation 19:8 (LBA) And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. As God´s ministers, He assigned to us some tasks, and one of our duties is to clothe the Bride Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not according to the world´s concept but according to the teachings that God wants His Bride to practice. We need to highlight that God has called us to the great privilege of being His ministers, but we must be very thankful and not underestimate the work we are doing today, all what we do is because of the work of God´s hand.
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The Bride´s Dress and Ornaments Study of Pastors Pastor Efraín Estévez Guatemala, May 19th Year of Abundance
Genesis 24:53 (LBA) Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. We must recognize and be careful about the things that God gave us, we must invest them in the Church´s ornaments; one of this is the KNAPSACK and the JEWERLY. This means that if we are going to equip the Church we must do it completely. The same word (jewelry) means WEAPON, this should be used not only to defend the Church, but also to counterattack the deceivers of this time; this attack is not to belittle others, but for the Church to be well rooted in the truth and not be moved of her way of thinking regarding God´s commandments. Our responsibility is to preach, to teach and to equip the Church, but if someone rejects our teaching, we should pray for him so he could reconsider his attitudes. We can´t force people to eat the spiritual bread we share, this is an individual decision. A minister´s responsibility is to study the Bible and pray before God to be full of His knowledge, on the other hand, the Church´s duty is to practice God´s commandments. Another interpretation of the word JEWERLY is DRESS, which can be translated as CLOTHING MADE WITH PRECIOUS MATERIALS, this means that we must not scant efforts to beautify the Bride. Let´s not forget that God will provide abundantly for the beautifying of His Church, which will marry Him. The same word DRESS can be interpreted as COAT, which is used to protect the body of Christ from various spiritual attacks. This word also means SKIRT; as God´s ministers we need to cover the bride in every way so the enemy can´t see any weakness in the Lord´s bride. Ruth 3:3 (R60) Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. This verse teaches us how the confession of our sins is very important for the cleaning of our soul, this way the enemy cannot stop the walking of the Church, neither his accusations can prevent the rise of the Bride. The Church must be anointed so she can abound in oil of the Holy Spirit. The word GARMENT, can be translated as MANTLE, which refers to the covering that must be upon the Bride, namely, the five ministries and not only one or two ministries, therefore we need the bread of the Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers in order to have a well-balanced spiritual diet. The CLOTHING can be interpreted as a VEIL, which tells us that if we are going to teach the Church about subjection, as ministers we also need to be subject to the minister who leads the mission we belong to. The Church will walk according to our example of life and also by the teaching we provide to them.
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The Bride´s Dress and Ornaments Study of Pastors Pastor Efraín Estévez Guatemala, May 19th Year of Abundance
The word EAT, is related to the word SEE; the Church must set her eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot pretend she is falling in love with Christ while setting her eyes on us. He who redeemed the Church was Jesus and He did it with his holy blood. The word EAT can be related to the word HEAR, which represents faith, this faith is activated when we speak the word of God in the name of Jesus; what we really need is the Spirit of God to use us, exposing His teaching through us, since we are only vessels in God´s hands. The word EAT can also be interpreted as SMELL, which refers to the level of holiness we need to achieve as God´s ministers in order to transmit this to the Lord´s Bride. Esther 2:9 (R60) Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king´s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women. This passage says that when the Church pleases God´s heart, He will be pleased to provide whatever she needs to keep going forward in Jesus´ name. That is why we constantly need to purify ourselves; this is a restoration process which will allow all disease and obstacle to be removed. As God´s ministers, we were called to restore and edify the Church; if she falls we must not condemn her, lest her heart faint and she returns to the world. Therefore, within the service to the Church, we must call men and women who please God´s heart and not only appear to be worthy. The Spirit of God will choose His genuine servants, therefore He is seeking laborers who have a friendly face and whose lives are truly full of joy and happiness, this way the people will feel welcomed to the House of the Lord and know that they can be restored in the name of Jesus.
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