We enter the veil so that we can go outside the camp and follow Jesus in His sufferings and persecutions; we are empowered by the resurrection life subjectively to suffer one with the Lord taking the way of the cross and follow the suffering Jesus.
This is a deep experience in our Christian life and it is our portion in the Lord.
The Old Testament doesn’t tell us too much about Abigail, but what it tells us is that she saw that David was fighting God’s battles for His kingdom, and she saw his sufferings – even she tried to soothe his sufferings.
When she was married to Nabal, she heard the way her husband dealt with David, so she appeased him with a present and with her wise words. Later, when her husband Nabal died, being struck by Jehovah, she gladly and humbly accepted David’s proposal to marry her.
She knew what she would be involved in; she knew he was suffering, he was being persecuted, and he was warring God’s battles, yet she joined herself to him. In this story, David typifies the warring Christ in the midst of suffering, and Abigail typifies the warring church in the midst of suffering.
The church is the counterpart of Christ and, on the positive side, she enjoys Him, takes Him as her life and everything, and loves Him very much.
On the negative side, however, the church is the reality of Abigail today: she knows that Christ is still fighting God’s battles and that He is still suffering for the producing and building up of the church as the Body of Christ, so she joins herself to Him in His battles and suffering.
Actually, it is not the whole church who does this – even though it should be the whole church – but it is, in particular, the overcomers, the components of the bride, the ones who know what is in God’s heart and who join themselves to Him in His desire.
The Lord is looking for such ones; He’s looking for those who see that He is still fighting to defeat the enemy and to bring in the kingdom of God, and He’s still suffering, yet they join themselves to Him for this.
As believers in Christ, there are two aspects of our Christian life – one is inward and the other is outward.
Inwardly we are like the Shulammite, loving the Lord, pursuing Him, and enjoying Him for our satisfaction with Him.
Outwardly, we follow the suffering Jesus who was rejected, persecuted, and despised, and we suffer with Him.
Inwardly we enjoy and experience His resurrection power, entering within the veil to be inwardly strengthened into the inner man. Outwardly, we are willing to be conformed to His death by the power of His resurrection.
We Enjoy the Resurrection Power inwardly and are Empowered to Join Jesus in His Sufferings outwardly
The Lord Jesus is our Forerunner; He has entered within the veil for us, and He opened a new and living way for us to follow Him.
When He was on earth, He suffered very much and was persecuted, despised, and rejected; then, He died and entered into resurrection.
Now He is resurrection life itself, and when He comes in us, we enjoy and experience Him as the resurrection life.
Like Him, we are outwardly being rejected and persecuted, and there are many hardships and troubles, but we enjoy His resurrection power inwardly to face the outward environment.
We may weep outwardly but are joyful inwardly.
Outwardly, we’re pressed and in pain, but inwardly we enjoy the resurrection power that causes us to be supplied and strengthened.
The inward experience of the resurrection power is signified by the Shulammite, and the outward conformity to the death of Christ is typified by Abigail.
The type of the Shulammite is not just for the future, when the Lord return; it is for us today, for it is our subjective experience.
For example, we may be persecuted and rejected, but because we enjoy the Lord inwardly, we are strengthened within and the expression on our face is full of joy.
This is what Stephen did: he was outwardly being put to death by stoning, yet he was inwardly enjoying Christ’s resurrection life.
There are many testimonies of people who were touched and later received the Lord when they saw that some Christians were persecuted yet they were full of joy, even though they were led to be put to death.
Resurrection life is our portion not only when the Lord returns and all the dead saints will be raised with Him; we enjoy the resurrection power inwardly and are empowered to join Jesus in His sufferings outwardly today.
For example, the Shulammite lived with Solomon in the palaces of ivory; this is a type of the church having fellowship with Christ in the Holy of Holies.
The emphasis is not on how this will take place in the future but on how we experience this today.
God doesn’t want us to try our best to take up our cross and follow the Lord; He never intended for us to take the way of the cross by our own perseverance and in our own strength.
Rather, He wants us to come in, be enjoyed by us, and strengthen us into our inner man so that we willingly take the way of the cross being supported and motivated by the resurrection life and power we enjoy and experience.
Inwardly we are the Shulammite and outwardly we are Abigail.
Inwardly we enjoy the Lord and experience His resurrection power, while outwardly we follow the suffering Jesus and are being conformed to His death.
These are not two separate experiences – they exist simultaneously, one being inward (and not necessarily seen with the human eyes) and the other being outward.
We cannot avoid suffering, persecution, difficulties, and hardships; these are our portion allotted to us by the Father’s hand.
As we wander about in the wilderness, inwardly we enjoy the resurrection power and outwardly we are conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10).
It is by experiencing such a power of resurrection inwardly that we can follow the suffering Jesus on the path of the cross outwardly.
When we have such an experience, we are up to the biblical standard.
May we realize that the Lord is calling us to live with Him within the veil so that we may follow Him outside the camp being strengthened and supplied by our enjoyment of the resurrection life.
Lord Jesus, give us the experiences we need for us to enjoy the resurrection life inwardly and follow the suffering Jesus outwardly. Strengthen us into the inner man as we enjoy and experience You in the Holy of Holies, in our mingled spirit. Dear Lord, it is only by Your inward empowering that we are able to follow You on the pathway of the cross. May we all as the church fellowship with Christ in the Holy of Holies to be filled with and strengthened by the resurrection life and power. We do not rely on ourselves, Lord; we trust in You, and we rely on the resurrection power to motivate us and support us to take the way of the cross.
We can take the way of the Cross when we Live within the Veil in Fellowship with Christ
When we as believers in Christ live within the veil, the inner chamber of fellowship, we are able to take the way of the cross and follow the suffering Jesus (Heb. 6:19; 10:19-20; 13:13).
We cannot reverse this; in our experience, we first enter within the veil and live there, in fellowship with the Lord, and then we can follow the suffering Jesus and take the way of the cross.
None of us can bear it, none of us can overcome on our own, none of us can reign over or transcend whatever is coming our way.
The Lord knows this, so He prepared a way for us to overcome and transcend: we can live within the veil.
When a believer in Christ comes out from within the veil, the inner chamber of fellowship, he’s able to take the way of the cross and follow the suffering Jesus.
Day by day, starting from the morning, we begin by contacting the Lord. Early in the morning, we need to be revived by beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord.
We apply His precious blood, we have faith in His blood that opens the way to the Holy of Holies.
And we just want to gaze on the Lord and let Him gaze on us to infuse us with Himself.
We start by contacting the Lord in faith in our fellowship with Him; we allow Him to infuse Himself into us.
And then, we are enabled to go outside the camp to take the way of the cross and follow the suffering Jesus.
It is only those who enter within the veil can go forth unto Jesus outside the camp and bear His reproach.
As we experience the power of His resurrection, we are enabled and empowered to follow the suffering Jesus.
When He was on earth, He walked the way of the cross and entered into resurrection; today, He is leading us to take the way of the cross and follow Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
With Him, resurrection came after death, but with us, we can be conformed to His death by the power of His resurrection.
This is what makes us beautiful to the Lord and lovable in His sight: our following His pattern, being one with Him to enjoy Him inwardly and follow the suffering Jesus outwardly.
In this way, we are prepared and equipped to be His counterpart, His bride that matches Him in every possible way, even in His sufferings and His battle to bring in the kingdom of God.
He is producing us to be His warrior-wife who is also the loving bride.
On one hand, we are the Shulammite who loves Him and inwardly enjoys Him, and on the other hand, we are Abigail who follows Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
May the Lord Spirit move steadily and gently in our life and in the lives of many saints that we may be the Shulammite-Abigail that He desires.
When He gains the church as Abigail, the heavens will rejoice, and the Lord Jesus will return for His bride.
The wedding feast will begin, and we will be His warrior-bride who returns with Him to the earth to deal with His enemy.
May we cast all our anxiety and worries on Him and may we not worry how this will be carried out but simply come to Him as we are to enjoy Him and experience Him.
The Lord is more than willing to give us the experiences we need for us to be His Abigail, His counterpart.
May we be simple and tell Him,
Lord Jesus, we love You. We love to spend time with You in the secret place, the innermost chamber of our spirit. We apply Your precious blood and we believe that You cleanse us and wash us from all unrighteousness. Oh Lord, how we love to be in Your presence, beholding You and allowing You to behold us and infuse us with Yourself. Keep us here, within the veil enjoying You in the inner chamber of fellowship so that we may be able to take the way of the cross and follow the suffering Jesus. Amen, dear Lord Jesus, give us the experiences we need to experience the resurrection life and be enabled to follow the suffering Jesus, take the way of the cross and bear His reproach. Work this out in us.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ron Kangas, and portions from, CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church“, p. 119-121, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 11, entitled, David and Abigail Typifying the Warring Christ and the Warring Church.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Death cannot hold the resurrection life, / The more interred, the more it multiplies; / All kinds of suff’ring only help it grow / And fruits of life abundant realize. (Hymns #639)
– Enter the veil for resurrection pow’r, / Go out the camp to bear the cross and woe, / If I His radiant face in heaven see, / His footsteps I will follow here below. / Enter the veil, on heaven’s fatness feast, / Without the camp, in hardship persevere; / Though earthly trials sorely pain my heart, / Heaven’s communion doth my spirit cheer. (Hymns #549)
– ’Tis not hard to die with Christ / When His risen life we know; / ’Tis not hard to share His suff’rings / When our hearts with joy o’erflow. / In His resurrection power / He has come to dwell in me, / And my heart is gladly going / All the way to Calvary. (Hymns #481)
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