The Bride of Christ : 07 Ministry and Fruitfulness

There are several different motifs given in the Scriptures to describe growth and fruitfulness in our spiritual life. The prophet Isaiah gives us the picture of a desert blooming into life after rain falls, and becoming a fruitful garden (Isa. ch.35). The Lord Jesus drew on the agricultural parallel of the germination and growth of seed sown into the ground, producing a harvest (Matt. 13:1-43). Similarly, in the context of our relationship with him, he taught fruitfulness as being the outcome of a branch abiding in the vine (John 15:1-16).

However, when it comes to fruitfulness in ministry, the Scriptures give us the parallel of the human conception and birth process. The fact that, when we become believers, we are born of God and are encouraged to crave the pure milk of God’s word like newborn babies, closely supports this parallel (John 1:12-13, 1 Peter 2:2). So this motif of the human conception and birth process sits very well with the concept of the bride of Christ bearing fruit.

Vision and purpose: conceived and imparted in intimacy

A life lived in organic spiritual union with Christ, empowered by the life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit within, is a life grounded in regular intimacy with God, and it is a life through which God can work, move and produce fruit for his kingdom. Success and fruitfulness in our work in the kingdom of God – whatever our particular call, role or activity may be – flows out of consistent and committed intimacy with him. It cannot be separated from this. Indeed, growth into maturity in our walk with God is characterised by a deepening desire for a closer and more committed intimacy with him. It is a foundational axiom of spiritual life, proven countless times over by servants of God down through the ages, that all effective and fruitful ministry comes out of a life lived in intimacy with God.

Just as a husband sows his seed into the womb of his wife within the veil of the intimacy of their relationship, conceiving a new life which is born nine months later, the seed of vision is conceived within us and the purpose of God is unveiled to us in the intimacy of our relationship with him. It is in the secret place with God that the Holy Spirit gives vision and plants the seed of his purpose within us as the bride of Christ.

As the seed of the vision of God is sown within us and begins to germinate and grow, we become aware of a new constraint of the Holy Spirit within ourself, moving us to embrace and follow the leading of this purpose. So we embody this purpose and carry it within ourself, becoming one with it. The use of the Greek verb ekballein, meaning ‘to drive,’ ‘to pull’ or ‘to thrust,’ expresses well the inward force of this constraint and it suggests the strength of a dominating, inward compulsion which leads us to outward action. We can see clear examples of this in the ministries of both Jesus and the early apostles:

‘Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert...’ (Luke 4:1)

‘...the Spirit sent him out into the desert.’ (Mark 1:12)

‘While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia...’ (Acts 13:2-4)

‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem...’ (Acts 20:22)

So through the indwelling Holy Spirit, God draws us into an intimacy of relationship with himself in which he is able to reveal a specific purpose to us. He plants the living seed of this purpose into our heart in such a way that, as this seed grows, we become sharers, partakers and co-workers with him in the outworking of this purpose. God does not work his purposes out in some kind of abstract way which is far removed from our own involvement. No, he co-opts us into them, and he works them out through us as believers as we walk and co-work with him. In this sense, as his bride we become one in purpose with him. Much as a couple are united together, working and cooperating with each other in the working out of a common purpose (such as pregnancy, for example) which they both have it in their hearts to bring to fulfilment.

Carrying the burden within: sharing in God’s heart of love and concern

Through living in intimate and prayerful union with the Holy Spirit within us, we begin to enter into knowing God’s heart, much as a bride begins to know, understand and feel her beloved’s heart as they increasingly get to know each other. In the conceiving of specific vision, God is sharing his heart with us, and therefore we begin to experience something of the burden of his heart concerning the people or situation who are the object of this vision.

The Hebrew word massa was often used of occasions when the Old Testament prophets received a prophetic word from God that they were then to declare to his people. This word means ‘burden,’ and it was used in daily life to describe the work of carrying a load for someone else, for example carrying their luggage. So, in a figurative sense, it refers to the inward burden of heart which accompanied the message or vision that the prophet received (see Nah. 1:1; Zech. 9:1, 12:1; Mal. 1:1). The prophets carried something of God’s heart within them towards his people. As they took his message to the people, their message conveyed not simply words but also the burden of God’s heart to them. So when they preached, they preached with passion and conviction.

God loves people, and he yearns for them to come to know him through Jesus. So when we walk in God’s vision for people, we walk in his love and yearning for them. This becomes embedded internally within us. We bear it within ourself and we carry it in our heart. A heart with a vision is a burdened heart. This spiritual burden within us is akin to the growth of a new life within the womb of a pregnant woman. As the bride of Christ, we become pregnant with the vision and purpose which God is intending to fulfil and work out through us. So we begin to feel towards people as God himself feels towards them, to have compassion on them as he has compassion on them, and to love them as he loves them. God’s vision becomes our vision, and it becomes the focus of our life. The burden of his heart becomes the burden of our heart, and we carry this within ourselves day and night. We are inwardly gripped and consumed by it, so it drives us forward and we run with it. We embody the purpose of God’s vision and, in a sense, it owns us and we own it. We begin to live and work for its fulfilment with sometimes costly obedience, and its purpose is then worked out through us.

If God burdens our heart to reach out to another people group, for example, then we joyfully obey him and go. Through his grace working in us, we can overcome our natural human prejudices and begin to love them as he loves them (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19-23). If we feel the inward call to become a pastor, then we care for and love the flock of believers that God entrusts to us. If we are called to do the work of evangelism, then our heart is burdened to regularly reach out to non-believers around. If we are called to work among drug addicts, trafficked people, or locally among those who sleep on the streets, then we feel God’s heart of love and compassion within us towards their brokenness, and we are moved to go out and minister to them, and so on.

We can see such vision and burden of heart in the apostle Paul. He was moved and compelled by Christ’s love within himself to preach to the Gentiles, and he describes his deep heart affection for those who had become believers through his ministry:

‘For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all...’ (2 Cor. 5:14)

‘God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 1:8)

Travail and birth pains: yearning, groaning and crying out to God

Furthermore, as we experience God’s yearning heart of love and compassion for people, then we naturally begin to express this burden back to God in prayer. We begin to pray, cry out and intercede before God for him to move, work and fulfil this vision. True vision always leads us into prayer and intercession:

‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out labourers into his harvest field.”’ (Matt. 9:36-38, cf. Luke 10:2, John 4:35)

‘Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they might be saved.’ (Rom. 10:1)

Anyone who carries within themself a God-given vision for his work inevitably becomes an intercessor before God for this vision. The Holy Spirit within them wants to use them as a channel to bring about the fulfilment of this vision, and so he groans, yearns and intercedes through them to this end:

‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.’ (Rom. 8:26-27)

All true servants of God become intercessors for the vision that God has given them, because they are gripped in their heart by the burden of this vision. So as they work outwardly in ministry, they also inwardly yearn and cry out in prayer to God behind the scenes (often day and night, and with regular fasting) for breakthrough, provision and fulfilment of the vision. They need to regularly feed and strengthen their faith through the word of God and its promises, in order to overcome doubt, discouragement and the inevitable spiritual attacks which come against them. It is through such burdened prayer and faith that the Holy Spirit within them overcomes and breaks the power of the enemy.

Intercessory prayer is essentially a daily abiding in the concern for which we are praying. We pray for it continually, and we groan and travail over it in his presence until breakthrough comes and God openly answers our prayers. We are then freed from this burden, and we are empowered to minister and preach the word of God with real spiritual authority.[1]

So the person/people praying carries/carry this burden through to its fulfilment and sees/see breakthrough as God works through them, much as a pregnant woman carries the newly-conceived life within her for a period of time and then finally gives birth to it. It is in the place of intercession and prayer behind the scenes that we gain the spiritual victory over the forces of darkness which brings about actual breakthrough in outward ministry.

The apostle Paul’s ministry was grounded in such a life of deep prayer and intimacy with God. He used the concept of labour pains to describe the depth of inward burden and yearning that he experienced in prayer in his own ministry:

‘God... is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times.’ (Rom. 1:9)

‘I thank God... with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.’ (2 Tim. 1:3)

‘My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...’ (Gal. 4:19)

Effective and fruitful ministry

It is these several elements – an empowered life; intimacy with God; vision; heart burden; love, care and compassion; the inward yearning of prayer and intercession; and real spiritual authority – that are at the heart of every successful and fruitful ministry.

Ministry, in order to be effective and life-changing, has to be conceived in and ignited by vision. It has to flow through a burdened heart, be birthed in and bathed in prayer, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Without these, ministry lacks conviction and is ineffective; it does not get anywhere. Ministry that has no vision, that is not conceived in intimacy with God and carried in prayer, has no incisive thrust. It does not move or change anything. Ministry that does not flow through a burdened heart is cold and prayerless. It is barren, gives birth to nothing and is fruitless. The absence of spiritual authority and empowerment yields no breakthrough, whereas ministry that is anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit always overcomes and sees breakthrough happen.

So what God is looking for, and what he really needs, are people who are willing to become channels through whom he can minister to others. But to do this, he needs believers who are surrendered, and who are willing, prepared and able to carry the vision and burdens of his heart.

A call to adult spiritual maturity

Hence it becomes clear as to exactly why we must offer our body as a living sacrifice to God, and why we need to crucify our carnal and sinful desires:

‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ (Rom. 12:1-2)

‘Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.’ (Gal. 5:24-25)

When a purpose of God is conceived within us, this brings forth a corresponding vision within us of new life, and it begins a process which ultimately culminates in the birth and practical realisation of that vision and purpose, much as a woman carries an unborn child through the period of pregnancy. And just as with any pregnant woman, the embodiment of this purpose within ourself possesses and consumes us, and it propels our life in the direction of the fulfilment of this purpose. We develop a deep inward spiritual bond with it, and so God’s purpose becomes our purpose. It possesses our life, and we identify ourself with it as its burden grows within us and begins to take shape, until it is eventually birthed and fulfilled. We become a carrier and servant of this purpose, it controls our life and determines much about the way we live, and we are never free of it until it is fulfilled, regardless of how long this takes.

On the other hand, our carnal and sinful desires will always pull us in a direction contrary to and therefore away from the purpose of God:

‘So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.’ (Gal. 5:16-17)

So, a priori and put quite simply, if the purpose of God in our life is to be realised and his vision fulfilled, then carnal and sinful desires must necessarily be put away. Otherwise, at some point the purpose of God for us will inevitably be frustrated and thwarted. It demands that our life and lifestyle are lived in God’s way. However, self-will will oppose this and will choose another direction, particularly when specific demands are made of us in the outworking of God’s purpose which run against the grain of our own will in any given matter. We will never see the outworking of God’s purposes through us, if our life is effectively a tug-o’-war between God’s will and our will. It doesn’t work. Our own will must be surrendered and put aside, and we must learn to live in close organic union with God. It is all too easy for Satan to trip up a believer who is living an unsurrendered and carnal life.

Spiritual immaturity and childishness must become a thing of the past, and as children of God we must grow up spiritually, if we are to be able to carry within ourself the burden of a purpose of God. Only adult maturity has the capacity to conceive, bear and then nurture a newborn life. A child cannot and should not bear children. Either it is incapable physically, or it is still not developmentally mature enough to bring a child up. Bearing a child also brings with it the responsibility to nurture that child until it grows sufficiently to become independent of its parents.

So if she is to fulfil God’s purpose of fruitfulness, the bride of Christ must in the first place learn to live a life of consistent intimacy with her Beloved. She must live a life of purity and be willing to put away sin. She must be surrendered to being obedient to her Beloved’s will, and she must freely choose to live consistently in union with his revealed vision and purpose, as she walks together in unison with him. So her body must belong to him (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Rom. 12:1-2). She must not only identify herself with her Beloved, but must also embrace deep within herself the specific vision and purpose which he reveals to her and which he actively intends to work out through her life. In her heart, his purpose must become her purpose, and she must faithfully and responsibly keep on carrying it until it is fulfilled, regardless of how long this takes. In this way she will experience God’s good, pleasing and perfect will being accomplished through her.

When expressed and understood in this way, we can see that our identity as the bride of Christ is a call to real spiritual maturity in the Christian life. Clearly, it is not a concept for young or immature Christians who are not yet ready to carry within themselves the burden of a purpose of God. Still less is it to be trifled or played with, and it is far, far more than simply a scriptural motif of the Christian life! It is a call to real fruitfulness in the fulfilment of specific purposes of God through us.

The joy and responsibility of spiritual parenthood

Jesus referred to the joy of a mother who has just given birth to a newborn baby, and such maternal joy has undoubtedly been witnessed innumerable times by husbands and other family members everywhere down through the ages. The culmination of carrying and caring for the new life within her for nine months releases a sudden upwelling of joy from deep within as she sees and holds the newborn baby in her arms for the first time:

‘A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into this world.’ (John 16:21)

In a parallel way, there is a deep and lasting spiritual joy known by all those who have carried within their heart the burden of a particular vision and purpose of God, and eventually seen its fulfilment. The Holy Spirit has taken and used them to give birth to this purpose, and they have produced real and lasting fruit in the kingdom of God. Although others who have observed this process taking place certainly do share in this joy, yet there is a depth of joy and happiness known only to those who have borne the heat and burden of the day in ministry, and have had the privilege of being directly used by God in the fulfilment of this purpose.

The apostle Paul referred to this joy of the bride of Christ in the following way regarding the new believers in Thessalonica and Philippi who had come to faith through his ministry:

‘For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.’ (1 Thess. 2:19-20)

‘Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown...’ (Phil. 4:1)

As spiritual parents, we find deep joy in those who have become believers through our ministry. They came to Christ through us, and we may also then have nurtured them in the faith and had the joy of seeing them grow in the faith. It is this joy which ultimately makes the burdens and responsibilities of the work of God worthwhile, in spite of its challenges and occasional disappointments. The apostle John confirmed this:

‘I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.’ (3 John v.4)

It is not without reason that Paul referred several times to the concept of spiritual parenthood. This plays a vital and crucial role in the development of the family of Christ. I am sure that we can all remember with fondness those under whose ministry we first became believers and began to grow in Christ, and we have learned to be deeply grateful for their commitment to us through thick and through thin in order to nurture us and lay the foundations of our faith in Christ. And I am also sure that we have all known at least some people in the body of Christ who we can describe as having been a spiritual father or mother to us at one time or another, demonstrated again by their relational commitment to us and their mentoring, through which we grew in faith and learned many lessons about walking with Christ. As Paul said to the Thessalonian believers:

‘As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children...’ (1 Thess. 2:6-7)

‘For each of you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God...’ (1 Thess. 2:11-12)

So in maturing as the bride of Christ, we may well find ourselves becoming spiritual parents towards other younger believers. Paul again underlined this when he said to the Corinthian believers:

‘Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.’ (1 Cor. 4:15-16)

Carrying responsibility in the nurture and discipleship of the spiritual life of younger believers (perhaps whom we also led to Christ) is a mark of real maturity in what it means to be the bride of Christ. It is through becoming a responsible spouse and parent that a boy enters into the fullest meaning of manhood, and a girl into the fullest meaning of womanhood. We are not called simply to fulfil a particular role in church life or to exercise a particular spiritual gift, whatever these may be. No, we are called to go further than this and to grow into fuller adult maturity in Christ, to become a man or woman of God as opposed to remaining simply a child of God (1 Cor. 14:20, 1 Tim. 6:11). This in terms of our willingness to learn to be responsible in the care and oversight of younger believers as they grow in faith, through all the joys, struggles and challenges that this involves. And in terms of setting them a good, practical example of what it means to walk with God, an example which they can aspire to emulate, as Paul said above.

Copyright Notice

^{^[1]} Maton, R. Samuel Rees Howells: A Life of Intercession, Chapter 41, Kindle Version, ByFaith Media: UK, 2018.

The Bride of Christ

07 Ministry and Fruitfulness

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