The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Ruler, #4

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)

Isn't it true that both of these aspects of redemption are working in your life right now? Isn't the Spirit of the Lord prompting you to turn away from the pursuit of money and material treasures and to give your attention to serving the Lord and bearing witness of Him?

In addition, isn't the Spirit of the Lord working the circumstances of your life so you are being pressed into Christ's death and also discovering in yourself the incorruptible resurrection life of the new spiritual man who is coming forth?

Thus we understand that the two principal tasks of the Christian Era are:

The preaching of the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15,16).

The forming of the Body of Christ, the perfecting of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16).

Chapter 10 of Revelation tells us that the seventh trumpet is about to sound.

Chapter 11 of Revelation announces the worldwide preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom with unprecedented power. This is the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 and Mark 16:15,16. Chapter 12 of Revelation portrays the forming of Christ in the members of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16) to prepare deliverers for the nation of Israel (Romans 11:26), and to bring forth righteous rulers for the Gentile nations (Revelation 2:26,27).

The two aspects of redemption accomplished in the Church of Christ (the Spirit-empowered witness of Jesus as Savior and Lord, and the bringing forth of Christ in the members of the Body of Christ) are portrayed symbolically in the story of Gideon's 300 men.

The number 300, as used in the Scriptures, symbolizes the termination of one age by judgment and the beginning of a new age. You may recall that Noah's Ark was 300 cubits long.

Also, the sum of the square cubits of the three hangings of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was 300 square cubits. As soon as one passes the veil which leads into the Most Holy Place he has gone through 300 square cubits, as it were. The Most Holy Place symbolizes the rule of Christ and His saints during the thousand-year Kingdom Age. (The volume of the Most Holy Place was 1,000 cubic cubits, the number of years in the Kingdom Age.)

The number 300 figures prominently in the story of Gideon, indicating that the incident is a type of the coming of the Lord from Heaven to establish His Kingdom upon the earth.

The members of Gideon's original army were eliminated until only 300 remained—a type of the small remnant through whom the Lord God will bring victory in the Day of the Lord.

To be continued.