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Scripture Reading: Matt. 21:13; Luke 1:8-9; 2:36-37; Eph. 5:18b-20; 6:18-19
The Lord has shown us that there is a great need to build up the priesthood so that the church can be built. Such a vision comes from the Lord’s enlightenment. In this chapter we will consider several important points concerning the priesthood.
According to Revelation 1 and 5, the Lord purchased us for God by His blood out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation and thereby released us from our sins and made us a kingdom and priests to God (1:5-6; 5:9-10). The kingdom is a matter of authority. After we are saved, we are subject to God’s authority, and we have His authority. With such a standing we can be His priests. According to the New Testament, as believers, we are priests to God. On the one hand, we are members of His household. On the other hand, we are in His kingdom; hence, we are under His authority and represent His authority. We are also priests in His temple, His dwelling place. First Peter 2:5 says that we are living stones and are being built up as God’s spiritual house, His dwelling place, and into a holy priesthood.
The church is a corporate body of priests. Many saints understand that the church is composed of all the saints. Now we must go further and see that the saints in the church are a coordinated body of priests, a priesthood. The priesthood is the built-up church. In the Old Testament the tabernacle consisted of furniture, and the priests who served in the tabernacle were a group of people. The priests and the tabernacle were intimately related, but they were separate. This is no longer true in the New Testament. In the New Testament age the tabernacle and the priests are one. God’s priests are His tabernacle, His dwelling place. This dwelling place, the built-up church, is the priesthood composed of every believer.
The focus of the priestly service was to burn the incense, which signifies our praying to God. The priests needed to regularly take care of many things, such as presenting the offerings, spreading the bread of the Presence, lighting the lamps, and burning the incense. All their services focused on burning the incense. The priests needed to present offerings for their burning of the incense at the incense altar. The fire used at the incense altar had to be taken from the bronze altar. This signifies that the prayers we offer in the resurrected Christ must be based on the effectiveness of His redemption on the cross. Only such prayers are accepted by God. The offerings were for the burning of the incense. The priests had to light the lamps before they could burn the incense; otherwise, they would have been in darkness. Therefore, the lighting of the lamps was also for the burning of the incense. The priests also had to eat the bread of the Presence so that they were supplied to burn the incense at the incense altar. The bread of the Presence signifies that the Son of God became our food so that we would live before Him. This shows that the bread of the Presence is also related to burning the incense. Thus, the focus, the center, of the priestly service was burning the incense.
In the New Testament the temple of God is composed of priests who pray, that is, burn the incense. Therefore, the temple must be a temple of prayer (Luke 19:46). The built-up church is a house of prayer. This is not doctrine, nor is it an opinion. This is the requirement for the building up of the church. Some saints must rise up in a practical way to carry out the priestly service of entering the Holy Place and burning the incense; that is, there must be some who will rise up to pray. Otherwise, it will not be possible to build the church.
In the churches we lack saints who are willing to carry out the priestly service of burning the incense before God. The Lord has enlightened us so that we would meet this need.
God desires to enter into a group of people and be their life so that they can be mingled and built up in His life. This process requires much prayer. No one can be saved without prayer. Prayer moves those who hear the gospel to receive the Lord. The Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), and “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). A person is genuinely saved when he calls on the Lord’s name, because he contacts the Lord. A person who has not prayed may believe only in his mind, not in his spirit. When a person prays, something transpires in his spirit.
In the same principle, until we meet the Lord face to face, our contacting the Lord cannot be separated from prayer. Regardless of how good a message is, without prayer we do not have a way to receive it into our spirit. Hence, immediately after we listen to a message, we must pray concerning any enlightenment that we have received. Then what we have heard will remain in our spirit. When we read the Word, we must also match our reading with prayer. No matter how much we read, we must pray in order to receive the Word into our spirit. Without prayer we cannot receive the spiritual supply, because what we hear or read will remain in our mind. It is only through prayer that what we hear or read can pass through our mind to become the spiritual supply in our spirit.
Prayer is the key for us to contact and enjoy God. Only by means of prayer can we be joined to God. In order for an electric lamp to shine, it needs to be connected to the power station. We need to read the Word, listen to messages, read spiritual books, and fellowship with the saints. However, the most important matter is that we touch God, that we are joined to Him, in our spirit through prayer. This was our lack in the past. We often had much spiritual activity, but we did not touch God. This is not to say that we do not need to listen to messages, read spiritual books, and fellowship with the saints. We need these activities, but the most necessary item is that we are joined to God through prayer.
In the past we did not pray enough. The saints and even the full-time serving ones did not pray enough. Hence, the greatest need in the churches is prayer. We must have a change in our concept and see that we need to endeavor to spend time in prayer. God wants us to pay attention to this matter. In order to contact and receive the Lord, we must pray more. Prayer will issue in the practical growth in life.
We must also pray if we want God to flow out of us in order to supply others. It is through prayer that the living water of life can flow into us, and it is also through prayer that this living water of life can flow out of us. Our spirit is weak, and we are short of the supply for others because we do not pray enough. The primary purpose of prayer is for us to exercise our spirit and absorb God. Asking for things is secondary. For example, when we play basketball, our primary concern is to exercise our body; whether or not we win is secondary. Likewise, prayer is primarily for us to exercise our spirit. Sometimes our prayers will be answered, but that is not always the case. God often does not answer our prayers according to our desire. However, whether or not our prayers are answered is secondary. The fact is that we have prayed and thus exercised our spirit. When our spirit is strengthened, we can supply others whenever we open our mouth.
In order for the brothers to have a strong spirit while they give a message, they cannot be short of prayer in their daily life. A brother who lacks prayer and does not exercise his spirit to contact God in his daily life will not have a living, strong, and released spirit when he ministers the word. This is a law. Athletes who run daily are swift when there is a need to run. Those who train in boxing can hit someone with force when there is a need. Likewise, if the brothers would pray daily, their spirit would be strong and released when they stand up to give a message, and they would be able to touch the saints. The brothers who minister the word must not rely on eloquence or knowledge. They must pray daily so that their spirit is strong and enriched.
The early apostles prayed. They said, “We will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). The apostles continued steadfastly in prayer. They placed prayer before the ministry of the word. This shows that in their feeling, prayer was more fundamental and more important than the ministry of the word. They prayed not only to ask God to manifest His power, to save souls, and to bless His work but also to exercise their spirit. In Acts the apostles prayed steadfastly day by day. Hence, it is not a wonder that their spirit was uplifted and prevailing. When they stood up to speak, their spirit was released.
Just as we need to exercise our spirit in order to give a message, we need to exercise our spirit in order to supply the saints through visiting them and fellowshipping with them. We need prayer to receive the Spirit, and we also need prayer for the Spirit to be released. This is the only way for the church to be built. If we are not delivered to spend more time to pray, God will not be able to do anything among us. As a result, the messages we give concerning building will touch only the minds of the saints, and God will not have the real building of the church. Therefore, we must exercise our spirit in prayer. We must function as priests by being strengthened in our spirit through constant exercise so that we can release our spirit in any situation. This is the way for the church to be built up. The building up of the church depends on the prayer of the priesthood. A praying church is a built-up church.
If we want the Spirit to move in us, we must not wait passively. Ten years ago I exhorted the saints to pray according to the move of the Spirit. However, we cannot find a verse in the Bible that tells us to wait until we are moved by the Spirit before we pray. On the contrary, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” It is not a matter of waiting for the Spirit to move us. The Spirit is constantly moving in us. It is a matter of not quenching the move of the Spirit. There are other verses in the Bible, such as Romans 12:11, “Be burning in spirit,” and Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled in spirit,” which are concerning the move of the Spirit. The word be in these verses indicates that we must be active in order to be burning or filled in spirit.
Being filled in spirit refers to the flowing of living water from within us. In the Old Testament, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they often encountered the problem of a shortage of water. Shortly after they crossed the Red Sea, they came to Marah and to the twelve springs of water at Elim (Exo. 15:22-27). At Meribah Moses struck the rock, and water flowed out (17:1-7). In Numbers 20:2-13 the children of Israel encountered a shortage of water again, and God instructed Moses to speak to the rock so that it would yield its water for the people to drink. In verses 16 through 18 of chapter 21 the children of Israel came to Beer. On this occasion they did not strike the rock, nor were there visible springs. Rather, they dug a well for water to spring up. On one hand, they used the scepter and their staffs to dig the well; on the other hand, they sang, “Spring up, O well!” Many Bible students pay attention to the twelve springs at Elim and to the water that flowed out of the smitten rock, but they neglect the digging of the well in Beer. We are focusing on the type of digging a well in order to get water. We are not concerned with the springs at Elim or with striking the rock. The rock has been cleft, and the springs are flowing into us. Our present need is to dig the well. We must dig until the living water springs up.
Digging the well does not refer to seeking the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Bible speaks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit only in Acts, not in the Epistles. The spirit that is spoken of numerous times in the Epistles does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the mingled spirit, that is, God’s Spirit mingled with our spirit. For example, Romans 8:4 speaks of walking according to the spirit. The word spirit here refers to the Spirit of God mingled with the spirit of man, that is, the divine Spirit mingled with the human spirit. We can say confidently that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not referred to in the Epistles. Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” There is a distinction between the love of God being poured out through the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit being poured out upon the believers. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit recorded in Acts was outward, upon the believers, just like water covering people outwardly so that they are submerged in water. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was an extraordinary experience, not a daily matter. It was something done by God to meet a particular need. Now God is in our spirit as the spring of living water. We do not need to search for outward springs or to strike the rock, nor do we need to wait for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We need only to dig the well, to open a hole in our being, so that the spring of water hidden in our spirit will flow out.
We dig the well through prayer. The more thoroughly we pray, the deeper we dig. Ephesians speaks of being filled in spirit (5:18) and of “praying at every time in spirit” (6:18). In order to be filled in spirit, we need to pray in spirit. If we want our spirit to be strong and released so that God can flow out of us, we must exercise our spirit through prayer daily. Then our spirit will be strong, and we will be able to express the sense within our spirit. If we would be faithful to exercise our spirit, in a short time our spirit will be released, and living waters will flow out. Moreover, we will be able to supply the saints and lead them to release their spirit.
Besides exercising our spirit to pray, we must exercise to sing hymns. There is often the need to sing hymns that match our prayer in order for our spirit to be released. We have not practiced singing regularly, so we do not know how to sing in the meetings. Singing greatly affects the release of the spirit. Hence, we need to diligently practice singing in order to make up for our lack. Although it is difficult for those who are over forty years old to learn to sing, it is still better for them to learn and to practice. We do not require the saints to become vocalists, but we hope that everyone will be willing to learn in humility. After a period of time we will see some improvement. We particularly need to learn to sing with our spirit the new hymns that are frequently called in the meetings. Giving a message and listening to a message both involve the mind, but genuine prayer and singing involve the exercise of the spirit. It is through praying and singing that our spirit can be released. At least one-third of our meetings depends on singing hymns. This is particularly true concerning the bread-breaking meeting. If we cannot sing a hymn well, the spirit of the meeting will be dampened. Conversely, if we can sing a hymn well, the entire meeting will be uplifted. I believe that we have experienced this.
If we want to have a strong spirit, we must exercise to pray and sing more. Formerly, we used mainly our mind to listen to messages and to study them. Now we must have a change — we must use our spirit more than our mind in order to pray and to sing the hymns. It is not enough to merely utter words clearly or to sing with a loud voice. Our spirit must come out with the words we utter and with our voice when we sing. This is the way to have a strong spirit and to release the spirit of the saints. This is also the way for living waters to flow among us and for the church to be built.
