"Friend, go up higher"

Luke 14:9-11
[9] And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. [10] But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. [11] For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

To be exalted. We all want it, right? To hear our Lord say, "Friend, go up higher."

Revelation 3:9
[9] Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

"but do lie"

John 8:44-47
[44] Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [45] And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. [46] Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? [47] He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

"I will make them to come and worship before thy feet"

The enemy of the synagogue of Satan. Will "make" is a strong word when used by God. "make" is not an option. "Make" is not a polite request.

To be worshipped. We all want it, right? For the Lord to "make" the enemy plead. To worship at our feet! Our finest moment of "I told you so." How stupid of them to have wasted their opportunity to exalt and worship the Lord when they were given the chance! How stupid of them to miss the opportunity to glorify His mighty name!

"Friend, go up higher."

Luke 1:46-54
[46] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. [49] For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. [50] And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. [51] He hath shewed strength with his arm (Christ); he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. [52] He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. [53] He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. [54] He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

"Friend, go up higher."

Ephesians 3:17-19
[17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
[19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Exodus 25:17-22
[17] And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. [18] And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. [19] And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. [20] And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. [21] And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. [22] And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

God is going to make "the synagogue of Satan" worship before the feet of Israel. So we can be puffed up in the high seat? No. No. No.

The true Israel will know how to rule over the enemy. In mercy. In grace. In forgiveness. And we will declare his wonderful mercy over the enemy and give God all the glory.

"Friend, go up higher."

1 Samuel 16:7
[7] But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Luke 12:25-26
[25] And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? [26] If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

Of course this means "tall" which is also another word for "height". Who has the power over ones statue? Man. Or God?

Luke 19:2-4
[2] And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. [3] And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. [4] And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way .

Luke 19:5
[5] And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.

Come down out of that sycamore tree! Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down! Psalm 78:46-47 He gave also their increase unto the caterpiller, and their labour unto the locust. [47] He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomore trees with frost.

Zacchaeus climbed higher to where he was certain he would have a clearer view of the King. Not so. Zacchaeus climbed higher in the tree associated with "increase". Very few times did Jesus ever rush, but here He says: make haste! Come down. Christ knew what was about to fall upon -the religious of great worldly gain at the sake of others. We also can't forget Zacchaeus was the chief of all publicans. But Christ entered in and "sup" with him.

Ezekiel 17:22-24
[22] Thus saith the Lord God ; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it ; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: [23] In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. [24] And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it .

What is the height of Israel?