The true Christian does not vaunt himself or seek to supplant another. He thinks soberly according to the measure of faith God has given him. He is at rest in God's Presence being neither careless nor ambitious regarding his salvation.

If we continue behaving in an unrighteous, spiritually unclean manner we cannot have fellowship with the Lord. We will come under the judgment of God.

If we fail to bring the Lord's Presence into some aspect of our life such that we are not depending totally on His wisdom and strength we will waste much of our life in the fruitless endeavors of the flesh.

If we neglect our salvation, our Kingdom talents, we will not rise to meet the Lord at His coming and we stand in danger of outer darkness.

If we are spiritually ambitious we will experience the wrath of God as did Korah and the other leaders. The Lord will have no ambitious individual in His army who is seeking to set himself over his fellow members of the Body of the Christ.

The boards that formed the sides of the Tabernacle of the Congregation were all of the same height, symbolizing the fact that only Christ is the Master among the holy priests of God.

And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of Shittim wood standing up. Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board. (Exodus 26:15,16)

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. (Matthew 23:8)

We are not to seek to be more important than others in the Kingdom of God. Whomever God chooses to exalt shall be exalted in the Kingdom.

And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (Matthew 20:23)

If God promotes someone in the Kingdom, and envy arises in our heart, then we are to go to the Lord immediately and beseech Him to remove the satanic impulse from us. We are to be content with our own ministry and place in the Kingdom, neither being neglectful nor ambitious. We are to be content in the state in which we find ourselves in God.

Aaron's rod alone brought forth buds. God had spoken. He had chosen Aaron. Those who would supplant God's choice went down alive into Sheol.

Let us cease from every trace of envy, every attempt to supplant another, every attempt to be first among our brothers and sisters. Then the Lord will be pleased to bring us into the inheritance designed for us from the beginning of the world.

The goal of the victorious Christian life is the first resurrection from the dead, the resurrection that will precede our being caught up to meet the Lord in the air. In the day of resurrection we shall be rewarded precisely according to what we have practiced while living on the earth.

Perhaps the greatest of all the hopes of the Christian is that of being raised from the dead and rising to meet the Lord in the air at His coming, to walk with Him in white at His appearing. This is our traditional hope. We must remember, however, that participation in the first resurrection is promised to the victorious Christian, to no one else. To our knowledge there is no passage of Scripture stating that everyone who is saved will rule with Christ over the nations.

To be continued.