Wade E Taylor
“And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. And has made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10
This “new song” is not one that we learn. Rather, it is the result of our submission to the dealings of the Lord, and it is a testimony of what we have become – “kings and priests.”
The “twenty four elders” represent the Old Testament overcomers. The “four living creatures” represent the four sides of spiritual maturity, the New Testament overcomer. They are singing – “and has made us.” This song is the result of the “processing” that takes place during our life time, which leads to our being chosen as an overcomer.
“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14
A better way to say this is, “Many are called, but few will pay the price in order to be chosen.”
The outworking of this “song” will take place through a direct intervention of the Lord, in which these “overcomers” will be lifted into a higher realm of apostolic power and authority.
In Exodus chapter nineteen, this was offered to Israel.
“And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.” Exodus 19:6
They were told to be ready by the “third day” (Exodus 19:11).
“And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled… And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.” Exodus 19:16, 20:18
Israel withdrew from the manifest presence of the Lord. When they began to tremble in the intense manifest presence of the Lord, they backed up and rejected this manifestation of the supernatural power of God.
In effect, they said, “Moses, we do not want all this shaking, visible glory, and trumpets (prophetic voices). Moses, you go into the Lord’s presence and then come back and tell us what He said. We want a nice quiet dignified service.”
The manifest power of God will greatly affect our emotions. Our responses will be varied, as we differ greatly in our make up. In our day and time, many criticize these “manifestations” (our responses, or reactions to His manifest presence) in the places where the Lord is testing us to see if we are ready and willing to respond to all that He desires to do and accomplish.
Some years ago, many were saying, “A visitation is coming.” There had been a “touch” of this visitation, as the Lord sent out a “sampler” – up in Toronto, and down in Pensacola. Immediately, as with Israel in that day, there has been controversy. They said, “This is not the way we expected it.” But the Lord has chosen the “foolish things” to test us. There is an established principle. “The recipients of each visitation will become the persecutors of the next visitation.” The Lord may not repeat Himself, and because He moves in ways that are embarrassing to our intellect, many will react and reject.
With the real, there is always the counterfeit. But we must be careful that we do not throw the baby out with the bath water. Today, the world is either ignoring or laughing at the Church, but this is about to change.
We are living in the time of the closing out of the Church Age in which Jesus is beginning to take His place as the manifest head of His body, the Church. The entire world will see this “corporate Jesus” and they will react, just as they did in the time of Moses, when the Lord attempted to reveal Himself to Israel, and also, when Jesus walked among the people of His day.
This tells us that we must be “made ready” for this coming time of visitation. If we are not rightly responding to the process of our being “conditioned” to abide in this powerful manifestation of the presence of the Lord, we also will react and protest, as Israel did. The Lord can wait for another generation, but we cannot.
We are at the end of the Church age, and we are approaching the time of Revelation chapter four. It is very important that we have been prepared through the present manifestations of His presence, and have developed a sensitivity to the voice of the Lord.
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1
Because Israel withdrew from the manifest presence of the Lord, He withdrew from them. Now, the same promise – the sound of a trumpet, saying, “Come up hither,” is being offered to us in our day.
There is a “present” call to come higher, as the Lord is doing things in ways that have never happened before. There are those who will say, as Mary of old when she was asked to give birth to Jesus, “It is impossible, and I do not understand, but be it unto me according to Your word.”
I was in the army during the Second World War. We had officers over us who, because of the urgency, were trained in an intense ninety-day course. The enlisted men called them “ninety-day wonders.” They respected the officers that had come up through the ranks, but they despised those who were exercising authority, but had never been under authority.
The Lord is not caught off guard. There is no “Pearl Harbor” in His kingdom. The Lord is gathering a people for Himself in this day. There are those who presently are being prepared, and in the day of His appearing, will have this new song:
“And they sang a new song, saying… You have made us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10
In the Lord’s time, He will say to these, “Come up.” The Head and the Body will come together and the resurrected glory of the Lord will be seen. As the Body functions in authority under the direct dictate of the Head, the nations will no longer laugh, but rather, they will tremble before them.
May we be found among those who, in this present time, will both welcome and respond to the manifest presence of the Lord.