INTRODUCING THE FRIENDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM MINISTRY
I. THE FORERUNNER MINISTRY
A. The Holy Spirit is raising up a Forerunner Ministry to precede the Second Coming of Jesus. These forerunners
will help to prepare the Church for the great and terrible day coming upon the earth. The Spirit is raising up prophetic
ministries that will equip the church with knowledge of God and apostolic lifestyles by declaring the word of the Lord.
That will in turn point us and equip to lay the sermon of the mount foundation in our lives so that we can stand under the
coming of the great end-time storm.
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, (Mt 5-7) and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who
built his house on the rock (Mt 25 wise virgins): and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds
blew and beat (the great eschatological storm, Amos 1:14) on that house; and it did not fall, (wisdom and
knowledge are the stability of the times Is 33:6) for it was founded on the rock. (the foundation of Christ)
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on
that house; and it fell. And great was its fall(2 Thessalonians 2:3).” Matthew 7:24-25
B. The sermon of the mount is the measuring rod by which God measures the fruitfulness of our lives. We want
to have signs, wonders and divine authority on our spirit so that when we speak we produce the reality of the sermon
of the mount in the lives of our listeners. We want to have eschatological impact.
C. Men and women who are called to the Forerunner Ministry will be living oracles, they will carry the word of the
Lord that will be matched by a realm of power that combines the power ministry of Exodus with the power ministry
of Acts.
“As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.” Micah 7:15
D. Moving in this dimension of power during the greatest drama of glory and crisis is going to require a fierce focus
on fasting, prayer, the word and consecration in the grace of God.
II. FRIENDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM – MINISTRY PARADIGM OF THE FORERUNNER
A. John the Baptist was the forerunner announcing the 1st coming of Jesus to the earth. He called himself the friend
of the Bridegroom. At the end of the age the Holy Spirit is raising up forerunners, friends of the bridegroom who will
prepare the way for the 2nd coming of Jesus to he earth. The friends of the bridegroom reality is a ministry paradigm.
B. John describes himself as the friend of the bridegroom. Jesus also called the apostles by this reality in the Holy
Spirit and Paul seemed to have operated under that paradigm also.
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, (John the Baptist) who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. (John 3:29)
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom (the apostles) fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long
as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. (Mark 2:19)
And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom (the apostles) fast while the bridegroom is with
them? (Luke 5:34)
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom (the apostles) mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matt. 9:15)
1. Jesus has the bride – understands that the people of God belong to God.
2. Jesus is the Bridegroom – encounter the bridegroom: the God who is glad, tender, ravished and radiant in
beauty.
3. The friend of the bridegroom stands and hears – primary occupation is ministry to God.
4. The friend of the bridegroom rejoices in the Bridegroom’s voice – word of God primary diet.
5. The friend of the bridegroom joy is fulfilled – the primary identity is in being loved and a lover.
C. The forerunner at Jesus’ first coming, John the Baptist, was characterized by his happy heart. His heart was
filled with the revelation of the Bridegroom God. The revelation of the heart of God was the source of vitality and might
in John’s heart as he had a heart that marveled at the beauty of God character and personality. The Forerunner
Ministry only works effectively out of the overflow of a lovesick heart, a heart that has been fascinated by the beauty of the Lord.
35 “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” John 5:35
III. THE PURPOSE OF THE FORERUNNER MINISTRY
A. The forerunner ministry announces ahead of time the unprecedented activities of the Lord that are just around
the corner. They will declare what is unprecedented and uncommon in this generation. They declare these truths in
order to make sense of what is happening to the people of God.
B. The Holy Spirit will globally bring forth three prominent faces of Jesus associated with the supernatural activities
of the Holy Spirit in the earth.
1. Jesus as a passionate Bridegroom – restoring 1st commandment to the 1st place.
2. Jesus as a transcendent King – gather the Great Harvest with supernatural power.
3. Jesus as a righteous Judge – release of temporal judgments to remove obstacles of love.
C. A revelation of 3 faces of Jesus' beauty – a new paradigm of God.
1. Jesus as a passionate Bridegroom – The Book of Song of Solomon.
2. Jesus as a transcendent King – The Prophecy of Isaiah.
3. Jesus as a righteous Judge – The Book of Revelation.
D. God has determined from before the ages that He would have a people who would be voluntary lovers, holy (set
apart and beautified) and blameless (intimacy with God without shame). There is no heart response more powerful then
that of the heart of one who is a lover voluntarily. The Father wants more than mandatory obedience from His people
for His Son.
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small
and great!” 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of
mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him
glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her it was granted to be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts (sermon on the mount Mt 5-7) of the saints.”
Revelation 19:5-7
E. Revelation 19:5-8 gives us a powerful picture of the church in her identity of a bride. John sees the bride as one
prepared by God’s unprecedented activities at the end of the age and His preparation ministry, during the greatest crisis
in the history of the earth.
1. Confident and rejoicing in God’s leadership - the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
2. Filled with joy unspeakable without offense - Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory.
3. Pure and spotless, complete in obedience - the fine linen is the righteous act.
IV. WILDERNESS: THE FASTED LIFESTYLE
“So the child grew (John the Baptist) and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to
Israel (in the place of encounter until the breakthrough).” Luke 1:80
“Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch
of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while
Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God (the encounter and breakthrough) came to John the son of
Zacharias in the wilderness (the place of encounter)” Luke 3:2-3
A. The Holy Spirit allures His people into the wilderness to encounter the Bridegroom and be transformed
(Hosea 2:14–16). There are various types of circumstances in which the wilderness reality can exist. Some wilderness
experiences take place in literal deserts. We see this in the lives of the saints of old like Moses, David, John the Baptist
and Saint Anthony of Egypt. Some wilderness experiences don’t take place in the literal desert but they are considered
wilderness experiences nonetheless. We can see examples of this in the life of Joseph, Job and others. In these cases
the wilderness experience is a season of intense pressure.
B. The wilderness experience does not have to be any of the previously mentioned. The ‘wilderness’ is entered into
by embracing principles of voluntary weakness, like fasting, giving, prayer and solitude. Many people are allured into the
wilderness and they enter in voluntarily, while others enter involuntarily (i.e. King David).
C. The basic principle of the wilderness life is the embracing of weakness in exchange for divine strength. Divine
strength is that which sustains the yearning and the longings of the heart. Divine strength also means the grace or the
anointing to accomplish more in the Kingdom with greater effectiveness and impact (authority in preaching, healing the
sick, casting out demons, grace to lead God’s people). The Spirit of revelation on the life of a believer is also a form of
divine strength.
9 “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
D. The wilderness in the scripture is the place of encounter where those who enter in it get receive new paradigms
of God.
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the
desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the
midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed … 3 Then
Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me
to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.”
And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:1-3, 14
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her. 15 I will give her her
vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in
the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. 16 “And it shall be, in that day,” says the LORD, “That you will call
Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master’”…” Hosea 2:14-16
E. Those called to the forerunner ministry are to embrace the wilderness lifestyle while having their minds filled with
the word regarding the knowledge of God as Jesus the Bridegroom, King and Judge, along with searching the scripture
concerning the activity of the Spirit at the end of the age.
F. The wilderness lifestyle can also be referred to as the fasted lifestyle (Mt 6:1-7), which is the lifestyle in the grace
of God that leads to an enlarged heart. Many forerunners will have relatively small ministries but large hearts.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the
seashore. (1 Kings 4:29)
G. The fasted lifestyle includes food but is not just about food. It includes several areas of our life. We are to fast in
the four realms of power which include our time (pray), our physical energy (fasting food), our money (giving) and the
realm of our reputation (forgiveness). This represents the three most substantial realms of human strength.
H. The three main activities that Jesus highlighted in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6 are money, prayer,
and fasting. It is not a coincidence that these were only three activities that John the Baptist preached on.
I. Jesus introduced a new paradigm of fasting. It is paradigm that is added to the existing paradigm of fasting in the
Old Testament, which is the fast of repentance and intervention and are still valid and powerful. The bridegroom fast is
related to longing for the Bridegroom and have our capacities enlarge to experience more of the grace of God’s presence
upon our heart. It is a fast the moves our heart and accelerates the process of hearts being tenderized by God’s
presence and God’s word.
And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the
days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matt. 9:15)
J. A mourning heart in the context of Matt 9:15 is a heart that has been wounded by the love of the bridegroom. The
mourning heart of the apostles led them to fast and it accelerated the revelation of the beauty of God upon their hearts.