This week we have been both enjoying and prayerfully studying the definition of a priest: what is a priest according to the Bible, and how can we be priests to God today.
Christ Himself is the High Priest, and the way for us to be priests is to have Christ reproduced in us. A priest, therefore, is one who spends much time in the Lord’s presence to contact God, receive God, enjoy God, be filled with God, be saturated with God, and be permeated with God until he expresses God.
A priest is a person who lives solely for God’s interests and serves only Him; he is one who is so infused with God’s element that he cares for nothing else but God’s interests and serves God – and only God. A priest is a person who is filled, saturated, and permeated with God.
A priest is a person who is mingled with God and who contacts God in this mingling; the key to contacting God and being mingled with God is the mingled spirit (the divine Spirit mingled with our human spirit).
All believers are priests to God, and therefore all believers in Christ should be those who live solely for God’s interests, serve God, are filled and saturated with God, are mingled with God, and contact God in the mingling of God with man. This is all related to the being and living of a priest.
In his work, a priest is a person who ministers to the Lord; he doesn’t merely serve God outwardly by doing many things “for God” but he inwardly serves God in newness of spirit and he ministers to the Lord. Much Christian work is being done today, and most of it is done “in the name of God” and “for the church”; but are these works initiated by God and commissioned by Him?
According to the pattern of the Lord’s move in Antioch (Acts 13), the brothers were ministering to the Lord and praying with fasting, and the Holy Spirit chose Barnabas and Saul for the work which He commissioned them. We need to be brought back to the pure revelation in the word of God and realize that it is not us who initiate the work or choose what to work for God but we should first minister to God, and He will initiate the work and commission us to work for Him in the Body.
A Priest is one who Serves in Newness of Spirit and not in Oldness of Letter
As believers in Christ, we have been discharged from the law since we died to the law which used to hold us, and now we should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter (Rom. 7:6). Day by day, as we contact the Lord in our mingled spirit, we are being renewed; though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed (2 Cor. 4:16).
In the whole universe, only God is new; everything and everyone else is old, but God is new, fresh, and living. When we touch the Lord daily, we are being renewed in the spirit of our mind and we are getting newer and newer day by day!
Our body is getting older and is “dying” daily; our soul is getting older and is loaded with all kinds of experiences, moods, attitudes, and dispositions; but our human spirit is mingled with the divine Spirit and is NEW! Hallelujah, our mingled spirit is new, and whenever we turn to our spirit by setting our mind on the spirit we are being renewed (Rom. 8:6).
Everything that’s related to our regenerated spirit is new, and everything that comes out of our spirit is new (2 Cor. 5:17). Our regenerated spirit is the source of newness because the Lord Himself, the life of God, and the Holy Spirit are there. As priests we need to be those who contact the Lord in the spirit, live in spirit, and exercise the spirit continually, and our service to Him should be in newness of spirit – and not in oldness of letter!
May the Lord save us from serving Him according to the letter of the Bible yet without the exercise of the spirit! In our daily living we need to exercise our spirit and live in spirit, and in our service to God we should be in spirit and serve in newness of spirit! May the Lord renew all the churches and all the saints all over the earth!
Lord Jesus, thank You for mingling Yourself as the Spirit with our spirit, thus making our spirit new! Lord, keep us turning to our spirit and living in the spirit so that we may be renewed day by day. Oh Lord, may our service to You be in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of letter. Save us from serving You without the exercise of our mingled spirit. Lord, we want to enjoy You, Your life, and the Holy Spirit mingled with our spirit as we serve You in newness of spirit today! Oh Lord, renew all the local churches and all the saints all over the earth!
A Priest is one who Ministers to the Lord
In Acts 13:1-4 we see a pattern of how priests serve God and work for God. There were some brothers in the church in Antioch, and they were ministering to the Lord and fasting; the Holy Spirit then said, Set apart for Me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. They then, when they have fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away; Barnabas and Saul, having been sent out by the Holy Spirit, went on their first gospel preaching trip and the Lord was with them.
This is the pattern: neither Barnabas nor Saul initiated anything; rather, they were ministering to the Lord (not to the church or to a certain mission or denomination), and the Holy Spirit chose and commissioned Barnabas and Saul for the work. Everything in working for God should come out of our contact with the Lord and our being mingled with Him, and He will flow through us.
There is much Christian work done “in God’s name” today on earth, and much of it is initiated by man, commissioned by man, and carried out by man; therefore, the Lord’s blessing is not present, and the impact is not there. If we are for “working for God”, this can be a snare from the enemy; Satan is subtle – he may not attack us face to face but he will gradually cool us down until we become old and we don’t even know it.
We need to set ourselves apart for the Lord, set our course for the Lord and to the Lord, and then, He will commission us to do something for Him – and the Body of Christ will approve it and bless it. We should not choose what to work for God; our natural choice has no place in our work for the Lord.
Brother Watchman Nee has a message entitled, Ministering to the House or to God; in it, he encourages us to examine ourselves very honestly before God and ask Him, O Lord, am I really ministering to You or to the work? O Lord, is my ministry unto the house or unto You?
There are a lot of believers who do an outward work for God, being busy in the “outer court” to do this and that for the Lord; but the Lord wants that His people would minister to Him, that is, come forward to the Holy of Holies to contact Him personally and in the Body, and be open to Him to just enjoy Him and be filled with Him; then, from this ministering to the Lord there will be a commission and a sending forth.
How good it is not to have our own choice, our preference, our inclination, or our convenience, but to minister to the Lord and as He speaks, we’re separated for the Lord, for the work He called us to, and we’re sent out by the Spirit in the Body – and we go on in the flow! All our work for the Lord must issue from our priestly service of ministering to the Lord; this is the unique principle for the work of the New Testament. It is good to be honest with the Lord and tell Him,
Lord, we don’t know what it means to minister to You but we come to You and we open to You about it. Train us, disciple us, shepherd us, and encourage us to spend more time with You and to minister to You! Lord, may we take time to behold You and be filled with You before we try to do any work for You! Lord Jesus, we want to minister to You, have Your calling and sending, and be commissioned by You in the fellowship and approval of the Body of Christ!
If we don’t place ministering to the Lord as the top priority, everything will be out of order. But if we stop, open to the Lord, turn to Him, and let Him saturate and permeate us, the order will be there and the Lord can do something. What would happen if the Lord would restore the organic order in all the churches in His recovery and if we all would be in order?
In an organization it is simple: there’s a big boss who can fire a small manager and replace him with someone else brought from across the country; but we are not in an organization: we are in an organism, the Body of Christ, and we would rather struggle and agonize in the Body than enjoy the benefits and efficiency of a dead organisation. Only at a time of ministering to the Lord will the Holy Spirit send some forth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Ministering to the House or to God (by Watchman Nee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Priesthood or God’s Building, week 2 / msg 2, The Definition of a Priest
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# We’re walking in newness of life / And singing a joyful new song; / In newness of spirit we serve, / This new one accord makes us strong. (Song on Newness of Life)
# Buried with Christ, and raised with Him too; / What is there left for me to do? / Simply to cease from struggling and strife, / Simply to walk in newness of life. / Glory be to God! (Hymns #483)
# Serve and work within the Body, / This the Lord doth signify; / For His purpose is the Body, / And with it we must comply. / Serve and work within the Body, / Never independently; / As the members of the Body, / Functioning relatedly. (Hymns #913)
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