Message Twelve

The King Reigning in the Tent of David

Scripture Reading: Isa. 16:5; 24:23;
Luke 1:32; John 3:3, 5; Col. 1:12-13

1. The all-inclusive Christ is the King reigning in the tent of David—the kingdom of David, the Messianic kingdom—in the coming age during the restoration of Israel—Isa. 16:5; 24:23:
   1. The prophets spoke of David and Christ as one—Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hosea 3:5; Amos 9:11:
      1. David is a type of Christ as the King; Christ, the real David, will be the King in the restoration, the millennium, and He will reign according to righteousness and be the real Shepherd of God’s flock—Jer. 30:9; Isa. 32:1; Ezek. 34:23-24.
      2. God’s response to David’s intention to build Him a house to dwell in made Christ one with David and with David’s seed—2 Sam. 7:1-16.
      3. David’s house refers to Christ, David’s kingdom refers to Christ’s kingdom, and David’s throne refers to Christ’s throne; the kingdom of David is Christ’s kingdom, and David and Christ have one throne—v. 16; Isa. 9:7; 16:5; Luke 1:32; Acts 2:29-31.
      4. The Gospels reveal that Christ is intimately related to David—Matt. 1:1; 12:1-4; 22:41-45; Luke 1:32.
   2. In Amos’s prophecy God promised that in a certain day the kingdom of David and the family of David would be restored, and all the nations would be called by the name of Jehovah—Amos 9:11-12:
      1. This prophecy indicates that Christ will come back to be the real David and will rebuild, restore, the kingdom of His forefather David for the restoration of the entire universe—Isa. 9:7; 16:5; Jer. 30:9.
      2. At that time the kingdom of David will become the kingdom of Christ and of God for eternity—Rev. 11:15.
      3. In the restored kingdom all the nations will be called by the name of Jehovah; that is, all the nations will belong to God—Amos 9:12; Jer. 3:17.
   3. Christ will reign as the King in the tent of David in the coming age during the restoration of the nation of Israel—Isa. 16:5; 24:23:
      1. In the Old Testament, when the tent of David was set up and David’s kingdom was fully established, that was a great consolation and joy to the Israelites; in the coming age, when Christ reigns in the tent of David, that will be a greater consolation to Israel—1 Chron. 11:1-3; 12:38-40; 2 Sam. 8:15; Acts 15:16-18.
      2. The Lord Jesus will have the house of Jacob—the nation of Israel—as the center of His reign, through which He will rule over the entire world as His kingdom, first in the millennium and then in the new heaven and new earth for eternity—Luke 1:32-33; Acts 1:6; Rev. 11:15; 20:4, 6; 22:3, 5.
      3. When Christ reigns in the tent of David in the age of restoration, it will be Jehovah of hosts reigning, because Christ is Jehovah of hosts—Isa. 24:23:
         1. In the millennial kingdom Jehovah as Christ will be King over all the earth, and He will be the one God and His name the one name—Zech. 14:9, 16-19; Psa. 72:8.
         2. The Son of Man will sit on the throne of His glory; this is the throne of David, which will be in Jerusalem—Matt. 19:28; 25:31; Luke 1:32.
2. In the age of grace, the New Testament age, we can experience and enjoy Christ as the King reigning in the tent of David—John 3:3, 5; Col. 1:12-13:
   1. The age of grace is a miniature of the coming age, and the coming age is the consummation of the age of grace—Heb. 6:5:
      1. As those who are saved by grace, we are enjoying Christ in the miniature of the coming age of the kingdom—Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:1-2; Phil. 4:23.
      2. The throne of grace is the source of the flowing grace; whenever we approach the throne of grace by turning to our spirit and calling on the name of the Lord, we should enthrone the Lord—Heb. 4:16; Rev. 22:1-2.
   2. As our King, Christ reigns not only in our hearts but also in the tent of David:
      1. For Christ to reign in the tent of David means that He reigns in us with a kingdom—Luke 17:20-21.
      2. Christ’s reigning in the tent of David signifies consolation, encouragement, and restoration—cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-5.
      3. Isaiah 16:5 reveals that with Christ there is lovingkindness, truthfulness, faithfulness, justice, and righteousness:
         1. Christ’s throne will be established in lovingkindness, that is, in tender affection.
         2. Christ sits upon His throne in truthfulness and faithfulness.
         3. As the One sitting upon the throne, Christ, the real David, pursues justice and hastens righteousness—32:1; Jer. 23:5-6.
         4. If we are under Christ’s reigning, His ruling, we will be the same as He is in these virtues—Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:22-23; Phil. 2:5; 1 John 2:6; 4:17.
   3. The kingdom in which and with which Christ reigns in us today is not only the reign of God but also the realm of the divine life—John 3:3, 5, 15:
      1. God is life, having the nature, ability, and shape of the divine life, which forms the realm of God’s ruling—Eph. 4:18; Matt. 6:13b; John 3:3, 5, 15-16.
      2. The kingdom of God is an organism constituted with God’s life as the realm of life for His ruling, in which He reigns by His life and expresses Himself as the Divine Trinity in the divine life—v. 5; 15:1-8, 16, 26.
      3. The kingdom of God has its reality, and this reality is the living of the divine life—Matt. 5:3, 8, 10, 20; 6:33; 7:21; Rom. 14:17.
      4. The kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life is a realm of the divine species—John 3:3, 5:
         1. God became man to enter into the human species, and man becomes God in life and nature but not in the Godhead to enter into the divine species—1:12-14; Rom. 8:3; 1:3-4.
         2. To enter into the divine realm, the realm of the divine species, we need to be born of God to have the divine life and nature—John 1:12-13.
         3. Our second birth caused us to enter into the kingdom of God to become the species of God; now we are God-men in the divine species, that is, in the kingdom of God—1 John 3:1-2.
      5. The kingdom of God as the realm of the divine life is a realm of light (John 1:4-5; 8:12), truth (v. 32; 14:6; 17:17; 18:37), grace (1:14, 16-17), glory (vv. 14, 18; 17:22-24), love (3:16; 13:1, 34-35; 14:21, 23; 15:9; 21:15-17), shepherding (10:10-11, 14-17; 21:15-17), and building (2:19-21; 14:2-3, 23).
   4. The kingdom in which and with which Christ reigns in us today is the kingdom of the Son of God’s love—Col. 1:12-13:
      1. The kingdom of the Son is the authority of Christ—Rev. 11:15; 12:10.
      2. The Son of God is the embodiment and expression of the divine life; therefore, the kingdom of the Son is a realm of life—1 John 5:11-12:
         1. To be transferred into the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love is to be transferred into the Son, who is life to us—Col. 3:4.
         2. The Son in resurrection is now the life-giving Spirit, and He rules us in His resurrection life with His love—1 Pet. 1:3; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 15:45b.
      3. The kingdom in which we find ourselves today is a realm full of life, light, and love—1 John 1:1-2, 5, 7; 4:8, 16.
      4. The Father has transferred us into a realm where we are ruled in love with life, not in fear; under the Lord’s ruling and restriction, we have genuine freedom in love, with life, and under light—Col. 1:13; Matt. 7:13-14.
      5. In the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, the will of God is carried out, and we enjoy Christ and have the church life—Rev. 4:11; Col. 1:9, 12; 4:12.
   5. As the King reigning in the tent of David, the Lord Jesus rules over us by feeding us with Himself as the all-inclusive bread—John 6:15, 27, 35; Matt. 15:26-27, 32-37:
      1. By eating this all-inclusive bread, we are subdued and brought under the Lord’s kingly rule—14:14-20; 15:32-37.
      2. The Lord Jesus is the kingdom of obedience; we need to take Him in by eating Him as bread so that He may be wrought into us—Phil. 2:8, 12.
      3. The more we eat Christ as the all-inclusive bread, the more the royal ingredients are constituted into us to become the ruling element within us and to cause us to become the kingdom as the increase of Christ in His administration; this will prepare the way for Christ to come again as the real David to reign in the tent of David in the coming age, the age of restoration—Dan. 2:34, 35b, 44-45; Isa. 16:5; Amos 9:11-12.