Follow This Model for Textbook New Testament Christianity

There is a throne in the tabernacle. There was one in David’s day. There is one in our day. And there will be one forever in the age to come.

It is oversimplistic to say that James was only speaking generally about the spiritual access and the grafting of the Gentiles into the Messianic kingdom and promises. It was that and so much more.

He was not only defining the theology of inclusion for the Gentiles but the methodology of what that inclusion would look like. He was telling the Jewish church that the Gentiles have now been given the Davidic order of worship. He listened to the reports from Antioch and Cornelius, and he recognized it as the tabernacle of David that was beginning and would soon fill the earth.

When the tabernacle of David filled the earth, convergence points between heaven and earth would begin to open over cities and regions which would result in the gospel breaking in with power (Acts 10) and laborers being launched into the nations (Acts 13). In other words, the kingly authority of the church would come out of the priestly ministry at its’ center. This is what the church was supposed to look like. The church cannot continue to try to exercise the kingly authority to rule without the priestly rhythm, the leitourgeo, in place.

Otherwise, we will sow much and reap little. We will work for a wage and put it in a bag with holes. We will keep prophesying revival when there is no revival. It is time we step back as we consider our ways. The first Gentile churches provide the prototype; David provided the blueprint. If we want the kingdom to expand in our cities, our worship must expand.

Remember what makes the church distinct from every other business or institution. It is not that we have better branding and marketing—it is that God is in our midst. That is what makes us distinct. We are being built together to be a dwelling place for God.

“In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22, ESV).

When the glory of God lifts, there is nothing that makes us distinct. We are just an empty temple structure with no convergence point. God wants a dwelling place in your city more than you do. God wants to raise up the incense in every place for the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ.

God wants to release the blueprint of heaven into communities across the earth more than we do. It is not a supply problem—it is a demand problem. There are enough anointed musicians, prophetic intercessors and lovers of God’s presence in my city alone that it should never stop singing.

God has provided, in this generation, everything we need for the tabernacle of David. The problem is that we have lost sight of what it’s about. Everyone is running after kingly influence while the convergence point is closed over our cities.

God will raise up presence centered families across the earth before Jesus returns. They will minister to the Lord with the fragrance of generous, obedient lives and the incense of worship and prayer. They will be multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-congregational families that have determined that what they need most is God in their midst.

This will shift the way they spend their resources, spend their energy and how they see themselves within their city and community. Together, they will start ministering to the Lord: leitourgeo. Out of these tabernacles, the kingdom will expand and the name of Jesus would be made great. The tabernacle of David is about to explode across the nations and these convergence points will pierce the 10-40 window, displacing the strongholds of the Islamic prayer movement, the Buddhist prayer movement and the Hindu prayer movement, and millions will begin to see and sing of the worth of Jesus, night and day.

The Holy Spirit is preparing the nations to receive the Son of David when He returns and places the tabernacle of David back in Jerusalem. Continue reading here.

This is an excerpt from R.A. Martinez’s A Throne in the Tabernacle Series.

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