THE 144,000 ON MOUNT ZION
(continued)
“And
I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion,
and with him an hundred forty and four thousand…these are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins”
(Rev. 14:1,4).
It
is our purpose in writing these truths to set forth in awe and simplicity the
things the Spirit is saying unto the Lord’s elect in this significant
hour. As we approach the subject
presented in the scene described in the passage above, let us remember, these
things God did “signify by His angel unto
His servant John” (Rev. 1:1).
Signify — tell by signs, communicate by symbols. May God ever give us understanding by His
Spirit to discern what the signs mean!
The
word “defiled” in our text determines the meaning of the passage. It is the Greek word moluno meaning “to soil” or “defile,” thus denoting not a proper
union with one’s wife, but an illicit intercourse or fornication with others
resulting in impurity or unchastity of life.
This has no reference to literal, natural, fleshly things. It does not indicate that the 144,000 is exclusively
made up of “males” and in no way refers to physical celibacy. Celibacy is not the subject or virtue in this
description, but purity, freedom from
contamination by an improper conduct.
Nor does the fact that they are all “virgins” suggest that they are all
women! Again, these are all symbols of spiritual realities! The inspired apostle spoke of this when
he wrote, “I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity (singleness) that is in Christ” (II
Cor. 11:2-3). With a pure heart these
144,000 worship God and follow the Lamb, thus “they are virgins.”
We must
keep in mind that fornication and adultery in scripture are the symbols of
spiritual impurity. In that sense Esau
is called a fornicator, not because he had relationships with women, but
because he despised God’s covenant and joined himself with his fleshly desire
instead. In the same sense Israel
in the Old Testament is very often pictured as an adulterous woman, even a
harlot, whoring after other gods and departing from the worship and service of
Yahweh, their covenant God. In like
manner, then, these one hundred and forty-four thousand have not become
defiled. All the church systems of man
have been committing fornication in the spiritual sense. All have gone awhoring after the beast. All have been defiled by the spirit, ways,
and methods of the world. But the
144,000 have remained faithful to their Lord.
They have followed hard after the Lamb.
They have kept themselves unto Him and unto Him alone. They have not been stained by the defilement
of the carnal systems, doctrines, and practices of religion. They are “without blemish”!
Ray
Prinzing commented on this thought with these words of wisdom, “Singleness — ‘He that is joined unto the Lord is one
spirit.’ If, in any way, we turn
from that singleness, and yield our mind and spirit to the spirit of the world,
we have defiled ourselves. Works is a
filthiness unto grace. The flesh is
filthiness unto the spirit. The spirit
of the world is filthiness unto Christ.
We dare not prostitute the anointing, by using it for the satisfaction
of the flesh. When our inward desire for
God has turned elsewhere for its satisfaction, we have defiled our spirit, lost
our virginity, and only our Redeemer can restore us to a virgin state
again. It is truly a further ‘revelation
of Jesus Christ,’ that we see Him revealed in a company of
virgins — undefiled ones. Only He can
bring forth such a company of PERSONIFIED PURITY to stand with Him!”
These
were redeemed from the earth-realm, from among (natural) men — the firstfruits
unto God and the Lamb. They have been
snatched as brands from the fire. The
prophet Isaiah, in describing the condition of the churches in the days of “the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication” (Rev. 17:1), says, “In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will
eat our own bread,
and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our
reproach.” The church is represented
by a woman; and the relation of Christ to the true church, as the relation of
the husband to his wife. The husband
gives his name to his wife, and supplies her food and raiment; but apostate
church systems, while claiming the name of Christ, eat their own bread, that is, they
formulate their own carnal, man-made doctrines and static creeds, spurning the
living word and revelation of God by the Spirit. They also wear their own apparel, that is,
they clothe themselves in their own works of righteousness, of rules,
regulations, laws, commandments of men, traditions of the elders, good works, etc.,
spurning the true robe of righteousness which is the inwrought nature of Christ
by the Spirit. To conceal their reproach they loudly claim the name of Christ,
profess that He is their Lord, call themselves “Christians,” yet go their merry
way “doing their own thing,” ignoring the living
Christ altogether! It is in contrast
to these that we have the vision of the 144,000 “virgins” standing on mount Zion!
Again,
I quote the timely words of Ray Prinzing, “John speaks of the ‘great whore’ who
is also “the mother of harlots,’ one having many daughters who, like their
whoring mother, are also harlots in their own right — and it is a fact we find
their whore-houses everywhere. We shall
not amplify this at length — they who have ears to hear what the holy Spirit is
saying to His called out ones, are coming out of Babylon, and leaving these harlot women
behind. They will no longer give their
strength unto these women, nor pour their resources into her coffers. They refuse to be defiled by her whoredoms,
and will not play her games. It has
taken some tremendous purgings to become free from the taintings of the spirit
of religious institutions. We find that
for many, upon first being called out, literally go through a period of
‘withdrawal pains’ spiritually speaking.
They feel great pains for fellowship, yearning to be with people, to get
‘another high’ from a service, etc., and it takes much time ALONE WITH GOD to be cleansed until their
spirit is pure, and wholly joined to His.
Methinks there is yet much purging needed to free us from ‘religious-ism’ in one form or another. We will not condemn nor point a finger,
rather we cry out with the Psalmist, RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT WITHIN ME!
“There
are those who make their withdrawal only in the natural — they leave a
religious system, ‘come out from among them,’ and feel they are free, and know
not that their spirit is yet deeply defiled — and soon they have surrounded
themselves with a little religious realm, which in due time has grown up to be
another harlot in its own right, and they love her, defend her, fight for her,
and do their best to say she is a true woman, but the spirit is the same as the
old sectarianism they came out of, and they birthed another of its kind. But, there are those, praise God, who are being
(process) redeemed from the earth, redeemed from among men, not defiled with
women, for THEY ARE VIRGINS. They have a
pure ‘virgin spirit,’ undefiled, a spirit that is free from the spirit of the
world, free from all foreign spirits, free from all familiar spirits, free from
all religious spirits. Praise God!” — end quote.
Sects,
denominations, and cults have all come into existence through the love of
something else rather than the Lord.
Some are followers of a man — some eloquent, charismatic leader who can
captivate people in their emotions. Some
even name their “church” after the man — Lutheran, Mennonite, Wesleyan
Methodist, etc. Some are given over to
specific doctrines and unless one believes exactly as they do they will have
nothing to do with that person regardless of how much their heart is toward the
Lord. Various of these go on to name their denominations after their pet doctrine — Seventh Day
Adventist, Baptist, Universalist, Christian Science, etc. Different forms of church government have
divided believers into separate groups, each believing they have the best or
most scriptural form of government. Some
of these even name their
organizations after their form of church
government — Congregational, Presbyterian, etc. I have no hesitation whatever in telling you
that all of this is gross carnality and utter defilement!
“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you, as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. For while one saith, I am of Paul; and
another, I am of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ; are ye not
carnal? Is Christ divided? was Paul
crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but
ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” (I Cor:1:12-13; 3:4-5). It matters not whether you call yourself a Roman Catholic, a Unitarian, a Methodist, a
Baptist, the Move, the Church of God,
the Church of Christ,
the Order, the Word
Church, Pentecostal,
Charismatic, or any other, they all
belong in the same category and are inspired and controlled by the same
religious sectarian spirit. It matters
not whether the leader or leaders are called popes, moderators,
superintendents, presidents, pastors, senior pastors, presbyters, bishops, apostles, or prophets;
if it is the same divisive spirit, the same love for something other than the
Lord Himself, then those who make up the firstfruits company cannot and will not be defiled with these
women! These systems, one and all,
are called harlots because the love which should only be for the living Christ has been transferred to a
man, a doctrine, a system, or something else.
Some churches call themselves a “Bible Church,”
but even the Bible, the Word, can be loved, esteemed, and exalted into an idol
— a place in our affections above our true Beloved. Many years ago George Wylie related how he was talking
with a precious brother who had been an elder in one of the local churches and
who had left a group known as “the Move”; George asked him why he had left and
he answered, “Because the Move was being preached and exalted above the
Mover!”
Throughout
the long history of the church age the established church systems of man have a
record of rejecting every true visitation and outpouring of the Spirit of
God! And, in our present generation,
they have not gotten any better, but continue to get worse! The religious systems of this world, because
of their spiritual carnality, fornication, and defilement, are anti-Christ in
nature, and will reject any future outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord that
Father sends into the earth — until the hour arrives for God to judge them unto
correction, and break them unto repentance.
And that will surely happen, as we hope to show as we progress through
the book of Revelation! Our God is sufficient
for His purpose! But, as of now, the
natural mind of man that governs the carnal, man-made systems, is directly
opposed to the sovereign Lordship of Christ, opposed to any fresh outpouring of
the Spirit that disrupts their static forms, opposed to any deeper revelation
that brings into question their established creeds, and opposed to any new
truth that is given by the Spirit as we move higher into God. Their numerous false doctrines prevent them
from accepting and receiving Christ as He appears in a greater and more
glorious unveiling of Himself. No wonder
the cry of the Spirit to all His apprehended ones continues to be, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” ((Rev.
18:4).
Those
who follow the Lamb must not be “defiled
with women.” They must not be
defiled with the error and shame of the fleshly ways and religious spirit that
defiles the harlot woman called Babylon
and her many daughters. Those who follow
the Lamb have been called and separated and chosen by the Son of God to be a
pure and holy virgin unto Him. Behold, I
show you a mystery and a divine paradox beyond the wisdom of man. In the world one starts out as a virgin and
may become a harlot; but in the church one begins as a harlot and eventually
becomes a virgin! All the elect of the
Lord must be comprised only of those
who have been called out of both the world and the church system. They must follow only and always the
Lamb! They must cleave unto Him, and to
Him alone! They must not be defiled by
man, and they must be cleansed from all other religious or spiritual
relationships, to give themselves wholly and unreservedly to HIM! Then
they shall be pure and holy, qualified to receive His fullness, and prepared for
that greatest of all events, known in scripture, as “the manifestation of the
sons of God.”
There
is also an individual and personal application of this truth, for we know that
our individual soul life is also
presented in scripture as a “woman.” On
the individual and personal level, they, in their spiritual walk, no longer lie
down with, and have a relationship with, their soul — their religious soulical
nature and self-will. Rather, their soul
is called upon to follow always and only the spirit whithersoever HE
LEADS! Madame Guyon wrote of this
personal experience within ourselves: “There is ‘a virginity’ of the soul in
keeping the grace of God. A soul that is
perfectly free from earthly things is a virgin soul. The Adam in them is completely destroyed. These follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They cannot part from Him because of the
unity that their nothingness has accomplished.
These are redeemed from among men, that is, withdrawn from all human
corruption in their nature — self-love and carnality. They are also the first fruits unto God,
specially sacrificed to Him.”
The
following beautiful word from the pen of Paul Mueller is a blessed inspiration
to all who seek HIS FULLNESS in this great day of the Lord. He writes, “The last verse of chapter four of
the Song of Solomon closes with this sentence: ‘Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.’ Chapter five begins by saying, ‘I HAVE come into my garden, my sister, my
(promised) bride; I have gathered my myrrh with
my balsam and spice, from your sweet words I have gathered the richest perfumes and spices. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I
have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O
friends, feast on, O revelers of the palace; you can never make my lover disloyal to me! Drink, yes,
drink abundantly of love, O precious one, for now I know you are mine,
irrevocably mine!” (Song of Solomon
4:16; 5:1, Amplified).
“When
our Beloved came into the ‘garden,’ which we are, He came to partake of the
fruits that His ‘bride,’ ‘sister,’ or ‘spouse’ provided. Our worship of Him in spirit and in truth are
those ‘sweet words’ from which He has
gathered ‘the richest perfumes and spices,’ which
He also calls ‘my honeycomb with my
honey.’ When we fully understand
this great truth, we will then realize how important our worship of the Lord
is, in spirit and in truth, to the whole plan and purpose of our Father! And then our Beloved invites the friends of
the Bridegroom, including ‘the revelers
of the palace,’ to join Him in eating and drinking. When He invites them to eat and drink, the
bridegroom, according to the natural example, also realizes that some of the
revelers may attempt to ‘flirt’ with His betrothed. So he makes this bold assertion to them: ‘You
can never
make my lover disloyal to me!’ Those who are betrothed to the Lord will never give in to the seducers or to the counterfeit
lovers of Babylon,
but will remain true to Him forever!
“As the
chosen, elect of the Lord, we should never,
ever think of going back to the harlotry of the corrupt church system, for we
are betrothed to the Lord in an
everlasting covenant that binds us to
Him and to Him alone forever and ever!
And then, as if to assure and affirm the eternal relationship He has
with His ‘spouse,’ which we are, our Beloved says to His ‘spouse’ or to His
typical ‘bride,’ ‘Drink,
yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one, for now I know you are mine, irrevocably mine!’ How can we fail Him when our Beloved
says such beautiful things about us? The
entire spiritual celebration involving the Bridegroom (which is Christ) and His
spouse (or, the body of Christ, which we are), is just like a wedding
celebration in the natural. This union,
or this wedding, brings together two separate entities: Christ the Body and
Christ the Head, making one complete Christ!
And that is great cause for celebration, for the two then become ONE
SPIRIT, joined together by the Spirit of Life in Christ! We then function as ONE BODY, OR ONE
CORPORATE MAN, BY THE SPIRIT!” — end
quote.
FOLLOWING THE LAMB
“And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood
on the mount Zion,
and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand…these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth” (Rev.
14:1,4).
“A relationship with Christ requires
that WE FOLLOW HIM WHITHERSOEVER HE GOETH.
The Greek word for ‘follow’ is akoloutheo
meaning ‘to be in the same way with, i.e. to accompany as a disciple.’ He has given us ‘an example, that ye should follow in His steps’ (I Pet.
2:21). This is not just an historical
way of life, trying to be imitators of Him as He lived two thousand years ago —
we are not called to consider, ‘What would Jesus do?’ and then be imitators,
but PARTAKERS of Christ. It is BEING IN
HIS WAY TODAY, as the Spirit leads us onward step by step. Eliezer said it so well, ‘I being in the way, the Lord led me…’ (Gen. 24:27). We’re going the same direction HE is going,
following Him!
“Following the Lamb whithersoever He
goeth does not mean that we dash across the country, escaping all of our
responsibilities. MUCH OF THIS FOLLOWING
IS INWARD! We continue with the normal
duties which He has given us to do, but with an attitude of constant surrender
to His will, that HE be first and foremost in us at all times. We do not take our religious stance and
insist that God do things in our way, in our timetable, according as to how we
feel His word should be fulfilled. It is
true, there are times when He will test us as to our commitment to Him, and
there is a literal forsaking — yielding up our all. ‘Then
Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or
children, for the kingdom
of God’s sake, who shall
not receive manifold more…’ (Lk. 18:28-30).
But most of the time this is INWARD — upon the altar of our heart
everything remains offered up, so that whatever possessions we have, they do not
possess us. Paul wrote, ‘As having nothing, yet possessing all things’ (II Cor. 6:10). And when INWARDLY all is surrendered, it
matters little if He requires an outward expression of this, or not. Relinquishment is an attitude of the heart,
and when all is loosed within, there will be no exterior grasping.
“The secret of staying in the will of
God is to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth! Even if it does not make sense to us in the
light of what we have always known as ‘revealed truth.’ It must have seemed most incomprehensible to
Abraham, at least at first, that God would ask him to sacrifice that for which
he had waited so long, and in whom his confidence rested. Especially since this was clearly that which
had been given by God in such a miraculous manner, as the fulfillment of so
long-standing a promise. Yet God’s purpose
continued to unfold, and Abraham must follow.
“To follow the Lamb whithersoever He
goeth requires great flexibility. It is
possible that when we adhere rigidly to a promise, as we understand that
promise, without taking a step in any direction, we could suddenly find ourselves
outside the will of God. And not only
outside the will of God, BUT INSIDE THE RIGID WALLS OF LEGALISM, and in danger
of crucifying our Lord afresh. We might
claim it and stand on it, and insist that God honor His word on the level we understand it, when He
has a far greater meaning for that promise, if we are willing to LET GO OUR OWN
SELF-CLAIMING-WORKS, and just let the Spirit lead us where He wills. Hence we often find a prayer in our hearts,
‘Lord, I do not understand what all this Word
means, but, whatever You mean by it, that is what I desire.’ Why limit Him to our understanding? Why not yield ourselves to Him — and follow
whithersoever He goeth? There are such
heights and depths to be experienced in
Him!
“‘These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth.’ What processing this
one sentence covers, for it requires that we be LOOSED from all the binding
restrictions of religion, to be free to follow as He leads. Our English word ‘religion’ comes from the
Latin religio, meaning: taboo, or
restraint. It bespeaks a system of faith
and worship with all of its ‘do, and don’t,’ exercised by the will of man to
gain favor with God. The Greek word is threskia, meaning: outward ceremonial
observances — which were done primarily for an appeasement. Religion can be, and may well be, the
greatest enemy of the Spirit, for it was religious belief that crucified
Jesus. It was religious belief that
hindered the entry of men into the kingdom
of God. As Paul wrote,
‘O foolish Galatians,
who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you’ (Gal.
3:1). Having begun in the Spirit, they
were ready to revert back to the works of the flesh, to obey days, months, times — back in
bondage to form and ceremony, rather than the free flow of His life through
them by the Spirit. Turning back to
legalism is in effect crucifying Christ afresh, for it is a turning from the
life of the Spirit, to man’s own works and self-effort” — Ray Prinzing.
To follow the Lamb whithersoever He
goeth means to trust in, lean upon, give allegiance to, be guided by, accept as
authority, imitate, emulate, pursue, run after — NO ONE BUT THE LAMB! I was blessed reading the testimony of a
brother who in his conversation with the Lord said, “God, I just don’t feel
that I am what I ought to be.” God said,
“What would you like to be like?” I
said, “I don’t know.” My Bible was lying
on the floor by me and I pulled it over to me and hugged it. I said, “Lord, look at these great men of
God. If I could just be like them.” The Lord asked, “Who do you want to be
like?” I replied, “I would like to be
like Moses.” “Why do you want to be like
Moses?” God asked. I said, “Lord, I need
to be more humble. Moses walked before
you in humility, the meekest of all men.
If I could just be like Moses!”
God said to me, “Let me ask you a question: If you saw my finger of fire
write on tablets of stone, and my glory was revealed to you, and you heard my
audible voice, would you disobey
me?” I said, “God, I have seen
your glory. I have heard your voice. I have never
seen your finger of fire, but I would
not knowingly disobey you, especially after that.” The Lord responded, “Moses did! Moses so disobeyed me I could not let him go
into the promised land.”
I said, “All right, God, forget about
Moses. Let me be like Abraham.” God said, “Abraham? Why do you want to be like him?” I said, “Lord, Abraham was the father of faith. He had such tremendous faith and trust in
you. I do not have anywhere near the
faith I should have.” God asked, “Son,
do you love your wife?” I responded,
“Lord, what do faith in God and loving my wife have to do with this — of course,
I love her.” He said, “What would you do
if three men knocked on your door in the middle of the night and said, ‘We hear
your wife is very beautiful and we want to take her. Give her to us.’ What would
you do?” I said, “God, you know
exactly what I would do. I would kill
them!” At this point the brother said
to those listening to this testimony, “I
hope you don’t feel any less about me, but that is true. You may think that is a terrible confession
but I am telling you the truth. I would
kill them, or they would have to kill me first and walk over my dead body
before they would get to my wife. That
is how much I love her.” He then
continued, stating that God said to him, “That is true. I know you.
But Abraham went through a strange land and became afraid. This great man of faith pawned his wife off as
his sister in order to protect his own life.
I had to intervene and stop that man from sleeping with Abraham’s
wife!” Then God asked me, “Now — who do
you want to be like?”
I told Him, “God, please have patience
with me. One more. Let me be like David.” God said, “David?” Have you ever read the Psalms? What kind of heart David must have had to
write as he did! The scripture testifies
of him that he was a man after God’s own heart!
How he sought God and walked with God!
I said, “Lord, I don’t seek you enough.
I don’t cry out enough to you. I
don’t long for you, yearn after you enough.
I want to be like David.” Again
the Lord said to me, “Son, did you ever kill anybody?” I said, “No.”
He said, “Did you ever take another man’s wife?” I said, “No, I never have taken another man’s wife.” God said to me, “David did!” By this time I was weeping. I said, “Lord, I understand what you are trying
to tell me!”
Ah, the message is clear — the
144,000 do not follow, trust in, lean upon, give allegiance to, be guided by,
accept as authority, imitate, emulate, pursue, or run after any man!
These are redeemed from among
men. They follow the Lamb
whithersoever HE goeth! As He is The
Lamb, so are they also lambs. They are conformed to the image of the
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren! They are like Him, entirely like Him, exactly
like Him! They emulate no saint, no
preacher, no bishop, no apostle, no
prophet — for they follow the Lamb. They
listen for no voice but His, they step only where He steps, and stand with Him
upon His holy mountain. They continually and constantly “look unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
One translation renders the passage, “Let us run…looking to Jesus the pioneer and
perfecter of our faith.” Pioneer — this is a word in the
vocabulary of travelers. Those who have
grown up in the United States
and Canada
are familiar with this kind of traveler.
Unlike explorers, who set out to discover what territory is beyond the
horizon; unlike surveyors, who plot out the ground; pioneers travel to places
where they can settle for the rest of their lives. The pioneers of the American West,
for example, traveled in Conestoga wagons pulled by teams of oxen. At night they would draw their wagons into
circles to protect themselves from Indian
attack. The author of the book of
Hebrews calls Jesus “the pioneer.” Jesus came not to explore, or to
partition, or to sight-see. Nor was He a
pilgrim, making a journey to visit a place someone else had made sacred. Oh, no!
He was Himself the pioneer, claiming a calling, a purpose, a position,
an attainment, a destiny, the very highest place in God for Himself and for all
who would follow Him. It was not easy! Jesus the pioneer struggled against great
odds to secure a stronghold for all the sons of God. His opponents were the religious leaders of
the day and the corruption in society.
Like a sturdy pioneer, Christ
prevailed; He persevered through a world of sin, through the arrogance
and hostility of the entrenched religious system of the day, through the
temptations of the adversary, through the subtilty of His own human mind,
through His own natural will, and through obedience unto death, even the death
of the cross — THE PIONEER! Pioneers
prepare the way for those who follow. In
this case, the promised land is mount Zion. No wonder we read, “Let us run with perseverance the race that
is set before us, looking to Jesus the
pioneer…” In the words of the
old hymn, “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, and all I have to do
is follow…” It is indeed wonderful!
The mystery of God in Christ is
exceeding great and the longer we walk with God, the deeper the mystery
becomes, yet the depth of the mystery is not that which beclouds the
understanding, but that which shines with scintillating brightness revealing
the glory of God. Sometimes I am brought
into seasons of deep meditation and contemplation concerning the majesty of the
Lamb and those who stand with Him upon mount Zion. There has been a mystery in the fact that all
the sons share the fullness of His glory, reflect His image to which they are
fully conformed, and sit with Him upon
His throne, which is also His Father’s throne.
The question presents itself — how can we know equality with Christ while at the same time acknowledging HIS
PREEMINENCE in all things? As I have
waited before the Lord I have come to see that the idea of equality with Jesus
has two levels of application — rank and
function.
As to rank, He is the firstborn among many brethren, the pioneer of
our faith, the Head of the body, and the King of the kings. As to function as sons of God, we are His
“many brethren” who “share His glory” and “reveal His fullness” under the yoke
with Him.
Let me give you an illustration. I have been called to serve on juries a few
times during my lifetime. When a jury is
formed the first matter of business is to appoint a “foreman.” No one else can fulfill the rank of foreman — he guides, leads,
moderates the proceedings, and makes requests of the judge if necessary. However, as to function, each of the twelve jurors is equal. The foreman is no more a juror than any of
the others. He bears the same
responsibility of looking at the evidence, forming a conclusion, and casting a
vote. Being foreman gives him absolutely
no advantage or superior power as a juror.
His vote carries no more weight than any other. Each vote is equal. In like manner, as to rank, our Elder Brother
has a superior rank, for He is the Leader, the Pioneer, the Firstborn, the
Captain of our salvation, and the Lord of all the lords! He leads — we follow. But as to function, our sonship to the Father
is one of equality — we all stand upon the same height of the mount Zion
— He takes no advantage over us — for as
He is in this world, so are we! He is not more of a Son than we are, He
sits no higher on the throne, He has no greater degree of life, wisdom, knowledge,
victory, holiness, glory, and power — for HE HAS FREELY GIVEN UNTO US ALL
THINGS! Oh, the mystery of it!
There is another truth hidden in this
blessed experience of following the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth. John the Baptist announced
Jesus that day at the Jordan
river with these telling words, “Behold the Lamb of God which
takes away the sin of the world!” As the
Lamb of God Jesus’ first stop on His journey to mount
Zion
was at another mount called Calvary. The flesh is wont to romanticize this idea of
“following the Lamb,” while missing the great
truth that in scripture the purpose of a lamb was, first and foremost,
to become a sacrifice. As one has
pointed out, “We hear Him call us, ‘Come and follow me,’ and we think He wants
us to join Him in a walk by the sea
of Galilee. Or perhaps He would sit with us under the
shade of an olive tree, and tell us more about the power and wonder of His
kingdom. We are sure that He wants us to
help Him gather up the fragments after He feeds the multitudes bread and fish. It sounds
like an excellent example of prosperity.
Or perhaps it is time for Him to give us power to heal the sick, cast out devils, and raise the
dead! All of these things have their
time and place, and we rejoice in all that He does. A revival time in the camp is most welcomed —
but this, this call from mount
Calvary,
‘Come, follow me, yield your life to me as a whole burnt offering’ — are you
sure you heard right?
“‘For
the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the
high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify
the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us
go therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach’ (Heb.
13:10-14). It is to be noted that when
Jesus went forth without the gate, it was not a celebration time —
there were no musical bands playing — no singing and dancing in the
street. Without the camp He
suffered, without the camp
He
was crucified. He left us an example, a
footpath, consecrating for us a new and living way, and He leads us outside the
camp, drawing us onward to where HE IS. ‘For even hereunto were ye called: for
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in
His steps’ (I Pet. 2:21). It is a
way that includes ‘the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable
unto His death’ (Phil. 3:10).”
There are ways in which we can trace
the footprints of the Lamb’s glory upon mount Zion. Every step that He took was also ordained for
us, that we should follow in His steps.
His whole life was marked by unswerving commitment to the purpose of His
Father. It was not broken into fragments
by many side issues of self-interest, or distracted by lesser pursuits. There was no cross-current of personal
ambition. He never allowed the whims of friend or foe to
interfere with His devotion to the Father’s plan and will. The whole nature of Jesus was united in one
single aim — to prosecute the purposes of God.
To that one grand point He related all His words and works, His hopes
and aims. He never narrowed His vision to the outer
world. He looked at it in relation to
the Father and the establishment of the kingdom in the earth.
This path led Him into the valley of
misunderstanding, dispute, controversy, hostility, and danger. And finally Calvary laid its track before His feet! The judgment hall, the spittle of His
enemies, cruel mocking, the crown of thorns, His beard plucked, His back torn,
the weight of the cross, the pain of the nails, the agony of thirst, blood, and
death, the darkness of the tomb — the pathway to mount Zion wound its
treacherous way through all this! And
for everyone who would attain to the unsurpassed glory of Zion’s holy hill, there is nothing that the Lamb will not share with us. Even Calvary
lays its trail before our feet! Those
who “follow the Lamb” shrink from no part of the Lamb’s life, whether on earth
or in heaven. There is a fellowship of
His sufferings for those who will dare that great enlistment. The law of sacrifice lays its claim upon us: ‘Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.’ ‘I am crucified with Christ,” said one
who dared the uttermost renunciation, and entered into sacrificial partnership
with the Lamb of God. Oh,
yes! It is His purpose to transfigure
our lives, confer upon us His glory, and lead us all the way to His throne. But with this in mind we reverently trace His
footprints from Nazareth to Jerusalem,
from Jerusalem to mount
Calvary,
from Calvary
to the tomb, from the tomb to the resurrection, from resurrection to ascension
to the dizzying heights of the holy mount and the pinnacle of glory, majesty,
and redeeming power. Saviours come up
upon mount Zion — via another mount — Calvary. That is the mystery.
The
King there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen;
It
were a well-spent journey,
Though sev’n deaths lay between:
The
Lamb, with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion
stand,
And
glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s band.
When
Jesus was here on earth He never
asked very many to follow Him. Though
there were thousands who believed on Him and who followed Him around as He went
from place to place, even walking all the way around the sea of Galilee
to meet Him on the other side when He had crossed the sea by boat. They followed Him to hear Him teach, to see
the miracles He did, and to eat of the loaves and the fishes; but this is not
what He meant when He said, “Follow me,” to Peter and his brother Andrew, and
to John, James, and a few others. This
following Him was something different.
They followed Him on their own account.
He had never
bidden them to follow Him! To those men
that Jesus had called to follow Him, He said, “Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the
regeneration when the Son of man shall sit upon the throne of His glory, ye
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”
(Mat. 19:28). Those who sit with Him
upon His throne are those who have been called to follow Him. Just following is not enough! If one has not received the call to
sonship he will never
complete the journey. The multitudes
followed Jesus around the lake, but when He ceased to multiply bread
and fish and commenced to speak the deep mysteries of the kingdom of God,
the multitude began to filter away and
followed Him no more.
I heard His call, “Come follow,” that was
all.
The world grew dim, my soul went after Him,
I rose and followed; that was all.
Who would not follow, if they heard Him call?
The sad truth is that some can even
receive the call, and still fail or refuse to follow the Lamb. To follow the Lamb all the way is not an easy proposition! Of the three would-be followers Jesus
encountered on His way to Jerusalem
to be crucified, only one of them said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus
saw through His presumptive words, replying, “Foxes have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.” Jesus wasn’t telling this man that if he
followed Him he would have to spend his nights sleeping on the hard, cold
ground. That would have indeed been enough to
discourage some from following! But the
words of Jesus carry a deeper meaning and message than a mere physical
discomfort. Jesus was pointing to HIS
HEADSHIP and the fact that He had yet to find a people so abandoned unto Him,
so committed to follow Him, so consecrated to follow none other but Him, so
ready to forsake everything else, so determined to go to Calvary and onward and
onward down the pathway of the Lamb, that HE COULD CONFER HIS HEADSHIP UPON
THEM. Ah, this is what constitutes
Christ the Head and Christ the body — a body that is so attached to the Head
that it goes whithersoever the Head
directs with no hesitation whatsoever!
It is upon such a people that the Son of man lays or places HIS HEAD!
To another Jesus said, “Follow
me.” But his response was, “Lord, let me
first go and bury my father.” He was told, “Leave the dead to bury their
own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” This man wanted to first bury all of the old
order, in order to then walk in the new.
But that cannot be done! When we
begin to follow on to know the Lord
we soon discover that the old order will take care of itself. The way into the new is not to bury the old,
but to follow the Lamb. The new will
unfold before us, and the old will fall away of its own accord. Isn’t it wonderful!
The third would-be follower said, “I
will follow you, Lord; but let me first say
farewell to those at my home.” Jesus
replied by telling him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for the kingdom
of God.” Peter also promised to follow Jesus, not only
to prison, but also to death, but failed to keep his word. Only those who take an irrevocable stand for
the Lamb can follow Him wherever He goes, for they alone follow Him out of
unselfish love, without reservations, and without looking back. Only they are fully committed to do His will
no matter where it leads. Only they are willing to give up their rights
to themselves and lay down their lives for Jesus. Only they are ready to follow the Lamb not
only beside still waters and through green pastures, but also through troubled
waters and the valley of the shadow of death.
Wherever He goes, they follow!
And these have no request to return to tell the old order of the flesh and Babylon “Goodbye,” for it holds nothing for
them anymore. Oh, my Father! What a word is this!
Charles Allen related the fascinating
story of the migration of the Pacific
Golden Plover.
“Those birds are hatched in the northlands of Alaska and Siberia. Before the young ones are old enough to fly
great distances, the old birds desert them and fly far away to the Hawaiian
Islands. The young birds are left behind to grow
strong enough to follow their parents. One
day these birds rise into the sky and set their course out over the
Pacific. They have never made that journey before and they must
cross two thousand miles of ocean, with no marks to guide them. During this trip they have not even one
opportunity to stop for rest or food and frequently they encounter high winds
and storms. Yet unerringly they fly
straight to those tiny specks in the Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands.”
How do you explain the flight of
these birds? Surely God has provided
them with something akin to our radio beams, something they can follow without getting lost. And it is within them! Has God not
made the same provision for His sons?
Jesus, our Forerunner, has gone before.
He has ascended to the heavenly mount Zion. He reigns upon the throne in the heavens of
the Spirit. And now, blessed be His
name, within all who have received the call to sonship God has provided our
very own INTERNAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM! This
internal guidance system is discovered as we grow in the Lord — the secret,
innate knowledge of our origin and destiny, that inward, irresistible
compulsion of divine purpose, the deep mysterious urging of the inner spirit of life by the
mind of Christ raised up within us — something we can follow without getting
lost! As our lives are brought into
harmony with our Father’s will, by the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God, even though
we cannot see the way ahead, we possess an instinctive sense of the right
direction, and with understanding, courage, and confidence we move steadily
forward without any fear of getting lost or missing the goal, knowing that
through the storms, desert places, dark valleys, and rough and rocky roads, we
shall arrive at last to stand with the Lamb upon the mount Zion. Aren’t you glad!
Consider with me an actor preparing
for his role in an upcoming drama. He
pours over his lines. Striding back and
forth in his room, he commits to memory the lines he has been assigned for the
play. It is a major part; he will be the
dominant actor. The action will swirl
around him. He needs to get the lines
memorized, know the director’s instructions about where to move in each scene,
and get a “feel” for how each scene is to be played. He spends hours and hours to get this drama
to fit the director’s expectation. When
the curtain is raised on the drama, he will be judged on how closely he stays
with the script. The play will become
unintelligible if he doesn’t follow the script!
Jesus had walked out every step of
His ordained pathway and was now approaching the cross, resurrection, and
ascension — the “end game” of His journey to mount Zion. On the night of His last supper with His
disciples He said to them, “The Son of
man indeed
goeth, as it is written of Him” (Mk.
14:21). It was written of Him! One can reverently say that His life was
scripted for Him. All the major events
were foretold in scripture. Yes, it was written in the scriptures, but it
was also written within Him in the scroll
of His life. The Father dwelt within
Him, spoke within Him, worked within Him.
The revelation of who He was and what He came to do was not merely
learned out of the scriptures — it was learned from the voice of the Father
within, out of the very mind of the Father written in His forehead! At every step Jesus shows that He knew this
script by heart! This script, this
inward knowledge, this inner revelation, this voice from out of His innermost
Being — this was Jesus’ INTERNAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM! This is what He followed, how He journeyed
from heaven to earth and all the way up to mount Zion. And now, my beloved, WE FOLLOW THE LAMB. By hearing the voice of the spirit within, by
receiving the call within ourselves
to follow the Lamb, and by stepping forth day by day to walk out the revelation
of the spirit we find the “script” for our
lives is easier to know and understand!
It is leading us to mount
Zion!
To
be continued… J. PRESTON EBY