The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Tabernacle of David, #13

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:23,24)

Abiding in the Lord Jesus requires laying down the present world and carrying our personal cross in stern obedience to God. How many Christians of our day are living according to the standard required for the Divinely chosen elect?

We think relatively few believers will rule with Jesus. Only a few will appear with Him in the clouds of glory. Of these, some will be taken from the members of the new covenant and some from prior workings of God with men.

The Mount of Transfiguration is a model of the coming of Christ in His Glory. Jesus is there in transfiguration glory. There are Moses and Elijah, representing the righteousness, holiness, obedience, and power of those who walked with God in days gone by. Then there are the three Apostles who were the closest to the Lord Jesus: Peter, James, and John.

Although the members of "David's Tabernacle" are drawn from the true saints of all eras of world history, it is our point of view that many who are last in time will be first in the Kingdom of God. We believe it is in the present hour, when we have the opportunity to draw on the experiences of the saints of the past, that many of the Lord's heroes of faith will come forth.

How strict, how thorough, how total must be our preparation! We must be willing to allow the Lord God to deal with us until every trace of Satan, every trace of the world, every trace of self-will has been removed from us. We must learn total obedience to the Lord. Such purity requires the fires of tribulation. It is during the great tribulation that the holy remnant will be separated from organized Christianity and made ready for marriage to the Lamb.

The fourteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation portrays the perfection of those who are of Zion, of the Tabernacle of David so to speak.

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)

The number 144,000 signifies a perfect representation of all Israel, of those who truly are of the Lord.

The sons of God, the deliverers, are standing on mount Zion, on the stronghold of Jerusalem—exactly as prophesied by Obadiah:

And saviours [deliverers] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau [the flesh]; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. (Obadiah 1:21)

The Father's name is written in their foreheads. This signifies they are in one accord with the Father's will. To be at one accord with the Father's will is to be in the Kingdom of God, in the rest of God.

Earlier in our pilgrimage we endure our Gethsemanes. We learn to say, "Not my will but Your will, O God." As our will and God's will are ground together in the mortar the two wills become one. We think as God thinks. We plan as God plans. God's desires become our desires. We react to people and circumstances as God reacts. Only then are we free and joyous in the Lord.

To be continued.