Living Within the Veil and Following Jesus outside the Camp to Bear His Reproach

As believers in Christ who follow the Lord Jesus as the warring Christ in the midst of sufferings, we are those who go forth unto Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach, and we live within the veil.

This week we have been enjoying the deeper significance of Abigail and David; David is the most thorough of Christ, the longest in time type of Christ, and his wife Abigail is a type of the church.

It is significant, however, to see what aspect of the church Abigail signifies.

If we read the story with Abigail, she came into David’s life when he was fighting the battles of God on his way to bring in the kingdom of God.

In other words, she joined David in him being reproached, persecuted, despised, and rejected, and in his fighting the battles of God to bring in the kingdom of God on earth.

The aspect of the church signified by Abigail is a very particular one: it is the warring church in the midst of sufferings.

Christ, as signified by David in this story, is the warring Christ in the midst of sufferings. Both in His life on earth and even today, Christ is suffering; He suffered for redemption and now even more He suffers for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ.

We cannot share in His sufferings for redemption, for only He is qualified to be the perfect sacrifice for our redemption.

However, we are called to share in the Lord’s sufferings for the producing and building up of the church as the Body of Christ.

Paul in particular filled his part of the sufferings of Christ, and he yearned to be conformed to His death by the power of His resurrection.

Also, we as the church are not only the Body of Christ and the one new man but also the corporate warrior joining Him in His battles to defeat the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.

On one hand, we join Him in His sufferings for the church, and on the other hand, we are being produced as the bride of Christ who fights one with Him to defeat the enemy and bring in the kingdom of God.

There is one more aspect related to the church as typified by Abigail, as seen in the writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee.

As the Shulammite, we Enjoy the Lord inwardly; as the Abigail, we Follow Jesus outwardly

Our Christian life has two aspects – an inward aspect and an outward aspect (Heb. 6:19-20; 13:13).

These two aspects are typified by two women in the Old Testament: the Shulammite and Abigail.

As typified by the Shulammite, we have an inward aspect of our life with Christ in which we enjoy Him and experience Him in an intimate, sweet, personal, private, and spiritual way.

As typified by Abigail, there is an outward aspect of our Christian life in which we follow Jesus, in particular following Him in His reproach and being despised and persecuted.

The Shulammite has become the reproduction of Solomon, showing that we are becoming the reproduction of Christ as the first God-man.

We are becoming God in life and nature, in constitution, in expression, and in function, but not in the Godhead. This is an inward process in which we’re being broken and reconstituted with Christ.

We are called to live in the Holy of Holies, we’re being empowered by resurrection life of Christ, and we’re constituted with Christ in a joyful way.

On the one hand, we are within the veil, in the Holy of Holies; on the other hand, we are following the persecuted and despised Christ.

The more we touch Christ and enjoy Him, the more we will be able to live a life just as that of Jesus the Nazarene, following in His footsteps.

The inward aspect of our life with Christ can be compared to the Shulammite and the outward aspect can be compared to Abigail.

We need to have both aspects: we need to be in the Holy of Holies one with the Lord, living in intimate fellowship with Him and experiencing Him in a private and sweet way, and we also need to follow Christ outside the camp, outside the city, bearing His reproach.

When we contact the Lord in a personal way, in our time with Him in the morning, praying and reading the word of God, we touch Christ.

This can be likened to the Shulammite and Solomon living and fellowshipping together in the palaces of ivory (Psa. 45:8).

As we contact the Lord in the inner chamber of our mingled spirit, we enter the Holy of Holies and touch the throne of grace in the secret place; this is the inward aspect of our Christian life.

Then, we testify for the Lord and work for Him, fight the battle and bear His reproach, to be like Abigail wandering with David in the wilderness.

Every day we experience these two aspects. On one hand, we contact the Lord and enjoy Him personally and privately, and we experience the resurrected and glorified Christ.

On the other hand, we are outside the camp as Abigail, living in the world and following the lowly Jesus.

These two aspects complement each other, and the inward aspect is the supply and strengthening for the outward living.

On one hand, we enjoy the resurrected Christ as our strength, life, life supply, and power; on the other hand, we follow the suffering Jesus and are conformed to His death by the power of His resurrection as we bear His reproach.

Inwardly, we enjoy the resurrected Christ, and outwardly we follow Jesus (Heb. 6:19; 13:13).

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for being our inward life and life supply, even the resurrection life strengthening to live one spirit with You. We love You, Lord, and we love to spend time with You to enjoy You in the innermost chamber of our spirit. We open to You to enjoy and experience You as the resurrected Christ who supplies us to be one with the suffering Jesus on earth. Amen, Lord, Your resurrection life is the supply for us to be identified with and follow Jesus the Nazarene in His persecution, suffering, and being rejected. Keep us enjoying Christ in the Holy of Holies, in our mingled spirit, and keep us following Jesus and bearing His reproach.

Living Within the Veil and Following Jesus outside the Camp to Bear His Reproach

As believers in Christ, we inwardly live within the veil and outwardly follow Jesus. We are those who follow the Lamb wherever He may go.

Our living within the veil one with Christ enables us to follow Jesus outside the camp to bear His reproach.

When we touch the Lord in the inner chamber of our spirit, in the secret place, we are the Shulammite (Heb. 10:19-20; Song of Songs 1:4; 4:10; 6:13).

When we testify for the Lord and work for Him in our outward living, we are like Abigail, wandering with David in the wilderness (1 Sam. 25:40:42).

We experience this day by day, and when we meet with friends from the past we realize that we have been following Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

As we day by day live within the veil, contacting the Lord and living in the mingled spirit, we live in the Holy of Holies and enjoy the resurrected Christ.

Then, we are supplied to follow Jesus outside the camp to bear His reproach. Before we try to go outside the camp by preaching the gospel, engaging in warfare, and working for the Lord, we need to first be within the veil, beholding the Lord.

As we live within the veil, beholding the Lord and enjoying Him, we will spontaneously go outside the camp, living in the world and following the lowly Jesus.

The Lord Jesus prayed that the Father would not take His disciples out of the world but rather, sanctify them so that they would manifest Christ.

Here we are today, in a world that is increasingly anti-God; we are those not ashamed to be what we are, the followers of Jesus and the God-men.

The One who lives within us is the resurrected Christ, and the One without is Jesus the Nazarene (Rev. 1:17-18; Matt. 2:23).

Inwardly, we enjoy Christ in the secret place, and outwardly, we serve the Lord and follow Jesus.

This is a cycle day by day: as the Shulammite we live within the veil being infused with the essence of God in glory, and as Abigail, we’re outside the camp following Jesus and bearing His reproach.

As we enjoy the Lord inwardly, we are not ashamed of Jesus and of those who love Him and follow Him.

Others may call us names and persecute us, they may revile and despise us, but we love the Lord and enjoy Him inwardly, and we follow Jesus outside the camp outwardly, bearing His reproach.

Like Paul, we yearn to know Him and the power of His resurrection, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10).

In the Lord’s case, He first suffered and then experienced resurrection; in our case, we first experience resurrection and then are conformed to His death.

No one can take the way of the cross by himself, and no one is willing to follow the footsteps of Jesus the Nazarene by himself.

Only when we touch and experience the resurrected Christ within can we be enabled and supplied to declare, It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20).

May we be those who enter within the veil (Heb. 10:19-20) and go forth unto Him outside the camp and bear His reproach (13:13).

Only those who enter within the veil can go forth unto Him outside the camp and bear His reproach.

Only when we experience the resurrected Christ can we follow the suffering Jesus.

May we follow the Lord Jesus by enjoying Him inwardly and following Him outwardly.

Lord Jesus, we come to Him to enter within the veil, enjoying You in the mingled spirit. Amen, Lord, we come to enjoy Your resurrection life and power so that we can be enabled to follow the despised and persecuted Jesus. Oh Lord, in ourselves we can’t take the cross and follow You. Keep us enjoying You as the resurrection life and power so that we may be conformed to the death of Christ. May we contact the resurrected Christ within until we can declare that it is no longer us but Christ who lives in us. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to walk the way of the cross by the power of resurrection by our living within the veil to follow Jesus outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

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“, pp. 113-114, 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:
  – Enter the veil and go without the camp, / By heaven’s presence will the earth depart; / If heaven’s glory doth my spirit charm, / How can earth’s happiness possess my heart? / Enter the veil, behold the glorious Christ, / Go out the camp to Jesus, let Him lead; / If throne and crown my spirit here enthrall, / Manger and cross cannot my steps impede. (Hymns #549)
  – Lord, Thou art now within the veil, / As our unique Forerunner, / That by Thy life, without the camp, / We’ll in the race be runners. (Hymns #188)
  – Through Thy precious body broken— / Inside the veil; / Oh! what words to sinners spoken— / Inside the veil. / Precious as the blood that bought us; / Perfect, as the love that sought us; / Holy, as the Lamb that brought us— / Inside the veil. / When we see Thy love unshaken— / Outside the camp. / Scorned by man, by God forsaken— / Outside the camp. / Thy loved cross alone can charm us; / Shame need now no more alarm us; / Glad we follow, nought can harm us— / Outside the camp. (Hymns #550)