The Bride is a Corporate Warrior fighting against God’s Enemy by Depending on Christ

The bride of Christ is a corporate warrior fighting against the enemy for God’s kingdom and the corporate man expressing God with His image; as believers in Christ who aspire to be the Lord’s overcomers, we are the weak ones, depending on the Lord in everything and being formed as His armies. Amen, Lord, we love You and we depend on You!

This week we come to the last portion on the preparation of the bride, and our focus is, The Bride as the Corporate Warrior.

Today the Lord is doing a primary work in His recovery, which is His genuine work – to prepare us to be His glorious bride.

As we open to the Lord’s sanctifying work as seen in Ephesians 5:26, we are being prepared to be His bride in Revelation 19:7-9.

We believers in Christ are growing in life day by day unto maturity to be full-grown and perfected in the life of Christ, which we received at the time of our regeneration. Thank the Lord for His life in us!

Thank the Lord for bringing us into the church life in the Lord’s recovery so that we may be prepared to be the bride of Christ!

Ultimately, we will be conformed to be the wonderful Shulammite who, as the duplicate of Solomon, is the greatest and ultimate figure of the New Jerusalem as the counterpart, the bride of Christ.

The Lord today is preparing us to be His bride; He is doing a work inside of us and outside of us to help us grow in life unto maturity, be beautified, be perfected, be adorned, and be readied to match Christ for His satisfaction!

It has taken a long time for the Lord to do this, but He is still working on it.

The enemy’s plot and plan is to hinder and frustrate the Lord from doing the genuine work of preparing the bride of Christ.

In a sense, we as the church have failed God, for what the world today sees as the church is only a facade, something for show, even something that is full of impurities, idolatry, evil people, and fornication.

The Lord, however, is still building up His church to be His bride; He does this in His seeking ones whom He builds up as the church to be His bride.

God has an unchangeable plan, and no one – not even His enemy without and His adversary within His kingdom – can do anything to alter that.

According to His promise and in His own counsel, in His wisdom and sovereignty, God has a contingency plan, a plan B.

Plan A was for Him to gain the church as His bride; because the church has failed God, He makes another call for His overcomers, those who are not super-spiritual or giants in faith but the weak ones who have the Lord’s mercy to see His heart’s desire and who give themselves to fulfill the function of the church on behalf of the church.

They are one with the Lord, whatever He does, and they allow Him to work in them and operate in their being; they simply say Amen, and they are one with Him. May we be such ones today!

The Bride is a Corporate Warrior Fighting against the Enemy of God for God’s Kingdom

In Ephesians 6:10-20, we see the bride of Christ as a corporate warrior fighting against the enemy of God for the kingdom of God.

In the book of Ephesians, we see many aspects of the church; in chapter 5, we see the church as the bride or wife of Christ, and in chapter 6 we see the corporate warrior.

Paul wanted to speak of marriage in Ephesians 5, but then he mingled his exhortation concerning marriage with the great mystery of Christ and the church.

He also said that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He may sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the Word. What a great mystery this is, Christ and the church!

Man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife to be one flesh; in the same way, we see Christ and the church. This is so lovely and positive.

Then, in chapter 6, Paul speaks of the church as a corporate warrior fighting against the enemy of God for God’s kingdom.

This is on the negative side, the church dealing with God’s enemy. The bride is in chapter 5, the warrior is in chapter 6; the church is the bride warrior, the warrior bride, who is both for Christ’s satisfaction and for the defeat of Satan.

We see this in a picture in the book of Song of Songs. When the overcoming lover of Christ becomes one with God to be God’s dwelling place, in the eyes of God she is as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem; however, to the enemy she is as terrible as an army with banners (see Song of Songs 6:4).

The church has many aspects; the church is the assembly of the called-out ones, the Body of Christ, His poem or masterpiece, His corporate new man, the commonwealth of God, the household of God, the dwelling place of God, the mystery of Christ, the fullness of God, and the fullness of the One who fills all and in all.

Besides this, the church is the bride of Christ and a corporate warrior to deal with God’s enemy. In Song of Songs, we see that the lover of the Lord has become the Shulammite, the feminine form of Solomon; she is compared to a dance of two camps.

On the one hand, we need to be those who overcome and love the Lord individually, in our personal life and walk with the Lord; on the other hand, we are built up into the bride of Christ, a corporate bride loving the Lord and pursuing Him to be one with Him.

We go through many dealings with the Lord and have many experiences with Him, as illustrated in Song of Songs, to become His duplication, His bride.

We overcome the attraction of the world by being captivated by Christ. We overcome the self which secludes us from the presence of Christ by being one with the cross of Christ.

We overcome the old creation and anything in the physical realm by living in the ascension of Christ in resurrection after we have been dealt with by the cross.

And we overcome the flesh, the natural man, the old man, by living within the veil. As we go through these experiences with the Lord, we become fully one with God to be His dwelling place, His sanctuary, His habitation.

We become as beautiful as Tirzah, which is the dwelling place of God, and as lovely as Jerusalem, the place where we have the sanctuary of God.

The Lord is preparing us to be such a lovely and beautiful bride, and every day is a day of preparation; we are being adorned by God with Christ through the Spirit’s work in a detailed way.

May we not waste our time but rather, redeem the time, for the days are evil, so that we may be beautified by the Lord.

The fact that there are banners means that the armies are ready to fight and also, the victory has been won; a terrible army signifies that the overcomers of the Lord terrify God’s enemy, Satan.

On the one hand, we stand in the Lord’s victory, for the victory has been won; on the other hand, we terrify the enemy, for we overcome him one with Christ. Jesus is Lord!

Satan has been defeated! Christ crushed the head of the devil on the cross, and we declare it to the enemy and to the whole world.

What we need today is to unfurl the banners of Christ’s victory and declare what He has done!

In the local churches, we should always have resounding praises of victory, for we are prepared as the bride of Christ, a corporate warrior fighting against the enemy for God’s kingdom!

We stand in the victory of Christ, we proclaim His victory, and we are not terrified by the enemy but rather, we become an army that terrifies the enemy!

This army fights the battle for God’s kingdom in the degradation of God’s people to become the overcomers who answer the Lord’s call (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21)! Amen!

Eventually, the overcomers will become a bride collectively to marry Christ (19:7-9); after their wedding, this bride will become an army to fight alongside Christ, her Husband, to defeat Antichrist with all his followers (vv. 11-21). Praise the Lord!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You today. We want to take every opportunity to cooperate with You to be prepared as the bride of Christ. Amen, Lord, make us the overcoming lovers of Christ who are one with God to be God’s dwelling place and part of the corporate warrior! Oh Lord, we love You! We want to be Your warrior-bride who loves You and is terrible to the enemy. We stand one with You today. Grant us the experiences we need for us to grow in life, deal with anything of the enemy in our being, remain under the work of the cross, and live in resurrection and ascension. Amen, Lord, beautify us by the washing of the water in the Word of God. Make us as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem! Make us an army with banners, terrible to the enemy and glorious to God! Praise the Lord, the victory has been won, and we now declare the victory of Christ! Amen, Jesus Christ is Lord, Satan has been defeated, and we stand as a corporate warrior fighting against the enemy to bring God’s kingdom on the earth! Praise the Lord!

We are becoming the Bridal Army of Christ, the Warrior-Bride, by depending on Him

As we advance in our fellowship with the Lord and experience of Christ, we become a garden for the Lord’s personal and private satisfaction; then, as we go on with Him, we are built up to become Tirzah and Jerusalem, showing forth God’s beauty and loveliness.

To the Lord, we are becoming beautiful as Tirzah; to the enemy, we are as terrible as an army with banners (Song of Songs 6:4).

For this, however, we need to be the Lord’s overcoming saints, for the church as a whole has failed God, and He is calling His overcomers today.

We need to answer the Lord’s call and make the choice to be the bridal army of Christ, the warrior-bride, by depending on Him in all things. We hear the Lord’s call for overcomers and we stand with Him to overcome the degradation of God’s people (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).

We are becoming like the dance of two camps; we are like two armies in God’s eyes, celebrating and dancing in victory.

On the one hand, we love the Lord to the uttermost and we seek to be one with Him; we allow Him to wash us with His word and sanctify us to make us His beautiful bride. On the other hand, we’re being prepared as the corporate warrior, the bridal army of Christ.

We want to be there at the marriage dinner of the Lamb, feasting with the Lord and reigning with Him.

After the marriage with Christ, when the honeymoon comes, the wife of the Lamb is one with Christ as the Bridegroom to come and defeat the enemy.

Whether we like it or not, we believers in Christ are becoming the bridal army of Christ, the warrior-bride, and we are marrying a General, the greatest General in the universe. He is fighting the battle, and we are one with Him.

He leads the charge, and we follow Him dressed in white, for the victory is won and we stand one with the Lord. His name is Faithful and True, His eyes are aflame, His head is full of diadems, and He has a name which no one knows, though it is written on Him.

And His name is the Word of God, and we are the armies following Him! Amen!

Day by day we are preparing our wedding garment, and when the Lord raptures us, we can wear it at the wedding feast.

After the wedding feast, our wedding garment becomes our armour for us to fight the enemy and destroy all of God’s enemies one with the Lord!

The bride is the army, and the army is the bride, for we are becoming the bridal army and the corporate warrior fighting God’s enemy one with Christ! Amen!

It is actually He who is fighting, and we depend on Him. The two armies, the two camps, are a reference to Jacob’s experience in Genesis 32:1-2; he was going back toward his parents’ land, and Esau was coming to meet him with his soldiers.

All Jacob had were women and children, with many flocks and herds and little ones; he was met on the way by the armies of God, and he called the name of that place, Mahanaim.

Then he divided his possessions into two groups, two “armies”. This has great spiritual significance. We are becoming the bridal army, the corporate warrior, not by being strong in ourselves but by being submissive to the Lord and by depending on Him in all things.

We are the weak ones, the feeble ones, and we fully depend on the Lord. What the Lord desires to gain as His bridal army is those who are submissive to Him and obedient to Him, having a flexible will.

The way we can reach the highest peak of the divine revelation to be made the same as God in life and nature is by being the weak ones who realise that it is no longer I but Christ (Gal. 2:20).

To the weak, we become weak (2 Cor. 11:29), for we consider ourselves as the least among the saints. It’s not of him who runs or who wills but of the Lord who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16).

As such ones, we are qualified to be part of the bridal army and be the corporate warrior.

The church as the bride is actually the corporate man in God’s intention, who will fulfill the twofold purpose of expressing God and dealing with God’s enemy (Gen. 1:26).

Not only must God’s eternal purpose be fulfilled and the desire of Christ’s heart be satisfied, but God’s enemy must be defeated; for this, the church must be a warrior.

Our walk is for the fulfilment of God’s purpose, our living is for the satisfaction of Christ, and our warfare is for the defeat of God’s enemy (Eph. 4:1; 5:2, 8; 6:10-11).

It is good to have many conversations with the Lord related to this matter throughout the day so that He may gain this in us and with us.

Lord Jesus, we depend on You in all things. We need You. We are the weak ones, the feeble ones, who depend on the Lord concerning all things. We love You, Lord, and we want to be part of Your bridal army. Make us Your overcoming saints today. May we overcome both personally and collectively so that we may become the corporate bride to marry Christ. Amen, Lord, we are one with You. We can’t do it, we can’t be it, and we can’t make it in ourselves, but we depend on You and we one with You. Make us beautiful and lovely to God and terrible to the enemy; make us Your bridal army today. We are here for the satisfaction of Your heart and for the defeat of Your enemy. Amen, Lord, gain the church as the corporate bride of Christ who satisfies You and is one with You to defeat Satan! Oh, our walk is for the fulfilment of Your purpose and our living is for the satisfaction of Christ! Amen, Lord, we stand one with You in spiritual warfare for the defeat of God’s enemy!

Read this article in the Romanian language – citiți acest articol în limba română la următorul link, Mireasa este un războinic corporativ care luptă împotriva vrăjmașului lui Dumnezeu, depinzând de Cristos.

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Minoru Chen in this conference, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “Crystallization-study of Song of Songs,” chs. 7 and 12, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Maturity of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 6, The Bride as the Corporate Warrior – day 1.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The church as God’s warrior, a portion from, Life-Study of Ephesians, Chapter 97.
  – We need to be His Shullamite, His two camps! And His terrible army to defeat the enemy. More via Instagram.
  – The Church in Ephesians Fulfilling God’s Economy, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Preparing Christ’s Bride – The Living of His Overcomers, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Spiritual warfare being a corporate matter, a portion from, Basic Principles for the Practice of the Church Life, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee.
  – When the overcoming lover of Christ becomes one with God to be God’s dwelling place, in the eyes of God she is as beautiful as Tirzah, sharing via Instagram.
  – The church as a corporate warrior in Ephesians, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and critique.
  – Fine Linen for the Bride and the Army, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Seven aspects of the church, a portion from, Seven Aspects of the Church, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Will you be an overcomer? / Christ is calling now! / Will you then be such a follower, / Though you know not how? / Will you be an overcomer? / Will you make this choice? / Christ is calling, Christ is calling, / Listen to His voice! (Hymns #894 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – She is as beautiful as Tirzah / As lovely as Jerusalem. / Through her living in Christ’s ascension / Her dear heart is now His home. / She’s become the sanctuary of God. / Who is this woman I am seeing? / Shining forth as the moon and sun. / She is absolutely heavenly, / From the old creation free; / Overcoming all to live within the veil. (Song on, Lovers of Christ, stanzas 2-3)
  – ’Tis the Church on Christ established / Satan shall not overpow’r; / ’Tis the Body built together / Which resists the evil pow’r. / In the Body, by the Headship, / Sitting in the heavenlies, / Struggle with the wicked spirits / And the principalities. (Hymns #885 stanzas 3-4)