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==Then there is Mount Zion.==
<p>Mount Zion is the Christian Church. It is located in the Land of Light. The home of every genuine Christian is Mount Zion, that is to say, his or her born-again spiritual nature is there in Christ at God's right hand. </p>
<p>When Christians speak of "Heaven, They are referring to Mount Zion in the spirit world. The spirits of righteous people are being made perfect in Mount Zion in the spirit world. Mount Zion will descend to the earth after the final resurrection of the dead. </p>
<p>Mount Zion is the Royal Priesthood. Mount Zion will descend to earth as the new Jerusalem. At the time of the coming down of the new Jerusalem, every member of the priesthood will have been made perfect in Divine righteousness. </p>
<p>However, some of the members will have reaped Christ to a hundredfold extent, and some to a sixtyfold extent. </p>
<p>It may be true that those who are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion in the spirit world, have reaped Christ a hundredfold while living on the earth. They will ride with Christ when He descends to establish His Kingdom on the earth. </p>
<p>They, with Christ, will govern the nations of the earth for one thousand years. </p>
<p>It is my opinion, based on the eighth chapter of the Song of Solomon, that some of these rulers will return to the heavenly Zion on occasion and teach and minister to those members of the Royal Priesthood who are growing in maturity. </p>
<p>Every member of the Royal Priesthood must be prepared to descend to earth and govern and minister to the nations who have been admitted as citizens on the new earth. </p>
<p><em>Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15) </em></p>
<p>Referring to those standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion in the spirit world: </p>
<p><em>And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. </em></p>
<p>We in America live in a democratic society. We may find it difficult that God would select from society a special group of people and give them a song that no one else could learn. </p>
<p>Yet, this is exactly what has happened or yet shall happen. </p>
<p>Such saints will be tested more rigorously than is true of other Christians, because of the responsibilities flowing from their high place in the Kingdom. </p>
<p>They have been chosen for such a position; but they must lay hold on, as Paul said, that for which they have been grasped. </p>
<p><em>These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. </em></p>
<p>I don't believe the defilement with women is speaking particularly of physical women. The "women" can be a career, a talent, money, a ministry, or anything else that a believer in Christ, male or female, seeks and grasps. </p>
<p>When we are living by our own will, instead of by the will of Christ, we may fasten on some person, or object, or situation, and make an idol of it or him. "Oh if I only had her, or him, or it, or that profession, I would be happy." </p>
<p>This is idolatry, and it is defiling. Christ wants the heart of His follower. He does not want love for Him mixed with love for someone or something else. </p>
<p>The Apostle Paul advises us to set our heart on things above, not on things on the earth. The believers who have the hope of being resurrected and caught up to meet the Commander-in Chief in the air must be free from all emotional attachments. They must be "virgins" in this sense. </p>
<p><em>They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. </em></p>
<p>This condition is found also in First Thessalonians: </p>
<p><em>After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (I Thessalonians 4:17) </em></p>
<p><em>We will be with the Lord forever. </em></p>
<p><em>They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. </em></p>
<p>Search your heart right now. Do you truly want to follow the Lamb wherever He goes? Or do you have a separate, competing interest? </p>
<p><em>They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. (Revelation 14:4) </em></p>
<p>"They were purchased." Sounds as though God picked them out, doesn't it? </p>
<p>This is true, although we do not always realize the sovereignty of the Lord as He builds His Kingdom. </p>
<p>Think of the Apostle Paul. No other person wrote as much of the New Testament as did the Jew, Saul of Tarsus. </p>
<p>When we read the narrative of Paul's life, from the moment he was blinded on the way to Damascus, it is obvious that God selected Paul for this unparalleled work. </p>
<p>Yet as we read Paul's testimony of his sufferings, of his counting all things loss that he might gain Christ, of his endeavoring to grasp that for which he had been grasped, we can see that God does the selecting but man must respond with total obedience. </p>
<p>Thus it is true that some people are purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. But their response must be unblemished. </p>
<p>Think about Abraham and Isaac! </p>
<p><em>No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. </em></p>
<p>Lying is a besetting sin of human beings. We lie in order to accomplish or obtain what we desire. </p>
<p>If we were to ask a Christian if it is possible for a Christian to be blameless, it is probable that the answer would be, "No. God saves us by grace. There is nothing we are to do or can do." </p>
<p>They say this because they do not realize that God's grace not only forgives us but also can make us blameless if we cooperate with God and obey Him as He directs us. </p>
<p>The Bible speaks of people being worthy and also of being blameless. </p>
<p>I firmly believe the "grace" doctrine, while it is biblical, has been misapplied. It is used as an excuse for obeying Christ. </p>
<p>"I realize that I am sinning, but God loves me and saves me by grace." </p>
<p>It must grieve Paul if he can see from Heaven how his doctrine of imputed righteousness is used as an excuse for sinning and disobeying Christ. </p>
<p>If Heaven is filled with people whose only righteousness comes from grace and is imputed, maybe we would be better off in Hell. Every work of the flesh, the behavior that Paul said would keep us from inheriting the Kingdom of God, would be present. </p>
<p>Perhaps if we thought of grace and imputed righteousness as being God's Presence in Christ to help us grow in God's image, we would be more in line with the thinking of the Apostle Paul. </p>
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