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Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:5; John 3:22-30; Rom. 1:9; 15:16; Col. 1:27-29
I. John the Baptist:
А. Rejecting the Old Testament priesthood.
B. Turning to the New Testament priesthood.
II. The duties of the priest:
А. Offering sacrifices — offering up sinners.
B. Arranging the bread of the Presence — supplying life.
C. Lighting the lamps — releasing light.
D. Burning incense — praying for others.
Prayer: Lord, may this meeting afford You another chance to take a further step among us. May You open up the heavens to us and reveal to us Yourself and Your mysteries. Lord, we are gathered together before You. We are fully open to You and are willing to be delivered. We do not want to stay in the same condition as before, nor do we want to be satisfied with what we have. Lord, take us on and open up the light in Your word to us once again. May You stir us up and kindle us from within that we would not stay the same. Lord, we also pray for every brother who is taking the responsibility of the eldership here. May all their spirits be burning and on fire. May they desire to have more and more experience in the new way, to taste more of Your riches, and to behold more of Your glory. Lord, give us the clear leading of what You want to speak and what You want to fellowship. Cleanse us again with Your precious blood, and anoint every one of us with Your rich anointing. Amen!
When we came into the Lord’s recovery, from the beginning we saw clearly that God’s intention is for all His people to fulfill the duty of the priesthood. In the Old Testament, God saved the children of Israel out of Egypt, saying, “I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself...and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exo. 19:4, 6). God’s desire was for the nation of Israel to be a kingdom of priests in which every individual was a priest. Regrettably, due to their rebellion and failure, most of the Israelites lost the priesthood. Originally, God ordained that the whole nation of Israel were to be priests. Later, only the house of Aaron became the priests. Those of the tribe of Levi were made only helpers to the priests in miscellaneous affairs. Because of this, in the Old Testament there was a separation between the clergy, who were the priests, and the ordinary people.
In the New Testament we see in 1 Peter 2 that “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired for a possession” (v. 9). Revelation 1 also says clearly that He “loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (vv. 5-6). We who are saved and are cleansed by the precious blood of the Lord are separated by God specifically to be His priests. For this reason, in the New Testament God reiterated His intention to make every one of His children a member of the priesthood. Regrettably, the failure of God’s people in the Old Testament was repeated by His people in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the people of Israel lost the priesthood due to their failure. As a result, God had to change His way of making the whole nation the priests to one of making the house of Aaron the priests. In the New Testament age the separation between the clergy and the laity has gradually become a custom and a tradition. This is something man-made and is not pleasing to God. In Christianity today the terms clergy and laity are very frequently used and are subjects which are often talked about by people.
We have inherited from the British Brethren the light concerning the practice of the universal priesthood. Fifty or sixty years ago when we began meeting, the universal priesthood was not too common among us. Gradually, there was a little improvement. But during the past years, the practice has declined again. Using the church in Taipei as an example, those who actually function in the priesthood are less than one-third in number. Most of what we call church services are just works of the Levites. These works include cleaning, serving the bread and the wine at the Lord’s table, ushering, and other practical affairs. They are not the work of the priesthood, in which one contacts God directly and offers up sinners. Of course, the Levitical service is necessary also, but it is not the focal point of the New Testament.
The service in the New Testament is almost entirely on the spiritual side and is of life. There is not much said about practical affairs. From the beginning we have seen this clearly, and the co-workers have been faithful in holding fast to this. They try their best to encourage the brothers and sisters in order to stir up the gifts within them so that everyone would fulfill the function of the priesthood. In the Old Testament the most important duty of the priests was the offering of the sacrifices. The sacrifices were offered in the outer court. After the priests completed the work of offering the sacrifices, they entered into the Holy Place to take care of the bread of the Presence, to light the lamps, and to burn the incense. In addition to this, the high priest had to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year. All these types are very clearly seen in the Old Testament.
I have studied the Bible for many years and have expounded the types many times. It has always been unclear to me how the Old Testament priesthood is to be applied to the New Testament and what the New Testament spiritual sacrifices actually are. It was not until recently that I was enlightened by two passages in the Bible concerning these matters.
One of these passages concerns John the Baptist. John was born into a priestly family. His father, Zachariah, was a chief priest, one who took the lead in the priestly order. John was born a priest, yet he did not fulfill his function in the temple. Instead, he went to the wilderness. He did not wear the priestly garment, nor did he eat the priestly food. Rather, he had camel’s hair for dress and ate locusts and wild honey. He went to the wilderness and told people, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). This is how a New Testament priest begins. The duty of a New Testament priest is to offer up sinners. John was a priest, being born into a priestly family. Yet the age had changed. He would no longer be a priest of the Old Testament; he came to be a priest of the New Testament.
In the New Testament the first one to fulfill his ministry was John. The second was the Lord Jesus. John 3 says, “After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He spent some time with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people came and were baptized...John’s disciples...came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you across the Jordan, of whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him. John answered and said, A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves testify of me that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease” (vv. 22-30). My point is to show you that John came out to be a priest of the New Testament age. What he offered was sinners. He was not the High Priest. The High Priest was the One who came after him. He was only a priest helping the High Priest offer up the sinners.
The other passage is in Romans 1 where Paul says, “I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son” (v. 9). The word serve in the original language has the sense of a service in worship. Paul considered his preaching of the gospel not only a work but a service and a worship to God. After he preached the gospel and saved the sinners, he offered up these sinners. Hence, in Romans 15:16 he says, “That I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, a laboring priest of the gospel of God, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable.”
What then do the priests of the New Testament do? How can all the brothers and sisters be priests? We know that the most important work of the New Testament priests is to offer the sinners to God at the altar of the cross. Our preaching of the gospel is to bring the sinners in and to offer them up. This offering up is mentioned in a simple way in the book of Romans. There Paul says, “That I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, a laboring priest of the gospel of God, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit” (15:16). The offering in Colossians, however, is not that simple. “To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ” (1:27-28). The offering here is presented by making the Gentiles know that with God’s mystery there is a glory. This glory is Christ in them as the hope of glory. They must be this kind of people. Only then can they be offered up as offerings to God.
The type in the Old Testament is very clear. In the outer court there was the offering of the sacrifices. In the Holy Place there was the arranging of the bread of the Presence, the lighting of the lamps, and the burning of the incense. The bread of the Presence is for the supply of life, the lamps are for the releasing of light, and the burning of the incense is for the intercession for men. The presenting of every man full-grown in Christ is the perfecting in Ephesians 4. The perfecting will qualify one to be presented full-grown. Hence, the offering at the altar in the outer court in Romans 15 is the initial offering. The offering in the Holy Place through the bread of the Presence, the golden lampstand, and the golden altar in Colossians 1 is the progressive offering.
In building up the small groups, we are admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ. This presenting is the work of the priests. In order that all the brothers and sisters may function in the priesthood, there is the need of bringing every brother and sister into the service of the gospel so that everyone would have a share in the gospel. Only then will the service among us be a universal priesthood with everyone serving.
The first step of the new way is for everyone to preach the gospel. The work of the evangelists in Ephesians 4 is not mainly a work of preaching but a work of perfecting the saints. This is like a teacher teaching his students. When the saints are perfected, every one of them will become a priest of the New Testament. The work of the New Testament priest is to build up the Body of Christ. One item in this work is to gain the sinners and to minister Christ into them so that Christ within them would become their eternal hope. These ones will then become the offerings for God in the hands of the evangelists. Paul was such a priest of the gospel. He brought in the Gentiles, offering them up as sacrifices, and was an example to these saved believers in everything. He was not kneeling down every day in prayer. Rather, he was bringing in the sinners one by one so that every one of them would have Christ in them as glory and would become acceptable sacrifices in the eyes of God.
After we bring people in, we need to nourish them. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2 that he was “gentle in your midst, as a nursing mother would cherish her own children” (v. 7). When you look at a nursing mother, you can realize how one should cherish her own child. A nursing mother is not a hired nurse but a child’s own mother. When a mother nurses her baby, she puts the baby in her bosom. Hence, she is both the bed and the cradle to the baby. She is even everything to the baby. When the baby is not happy, she would rock the child back and forth. This is what is meant by cherishing. While she is cherishing, she is also nourishing at the same time. After we baptize people, we have to set up home meetings to nourish and cherish them. This kind of nourishing work also should be done by everyone. Only then will the priesthood be universal.
After a person is nourished for a month, he will be somewhat established. By then he should immediately be brought to the small group meetings to be in touch with other brothers and sisters. This will bring him into a communal life and will usher him into the church life. In the small group meetings there must not only be the teaching, but there must be the nourishing as well. Moreover, the small groups must be organic. Everyone has to teach, and everyone has to learn. In this way the Body of Christ will be built. First Corinthians 14 is a chapter specifically on the building up of the church. How can the church be built up? It is built up by prophesying. Paul says, “You can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged” (v. 31). “If all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is examined by all” (v. 24). We see here that everyone should prophesy. Therefore, the prophesying should also be universal.
We have spent more than four years in Taipei to study the new way. Today we can say that the basic framework is here in the church in Taipei; the church is now on the right track. There is now the basic framework of the gospel, the homes, the small groups, and the districts. But the content must go up to match the basic framework. The key to a breakthrough depends very much on the elders.
Before you practice the new way and have the three levels of meetings in the homes, the small groups, and the districts, you must first be a revived person. In addition to a revival every morning and overcoming every day, you must pray, follow the Spirit, live Christ, and labor diligently. I hope that you would rise up to pick up this burden. The Lord Jesus gave two examples in Luke 14: “Which of you, wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (v. 28). “Or what king, going to engage another king in war, will not first sit down and deliberate?” (v. 31). Both these examples show that a Christian’s life is one that should be planned. How should I conduct my life? Other than my office hours, how much time should I give to the Lord? There must be some form of planning and reckoning. We have lived foolishly for a long time. From now on we must not be foolish any longer.
As elders, you have a heavy responsibility upon you. There must be planning and reckoning. To work, to raise up a family, and to improve oneself are all necessary occupations. But I also believe in the sovereign hand of our Creator, God, who is arranging all the environments. As long as we work according to the proper principle, we should not have any difficulty. Today you are in the Lord’s recovery. You can no longer be as foolish as you were before. You have to be like Paul who ran not without a clear aim and who boxed, not as though beating the air (1 Cor. 9:26). You must have a goal. Since the Lord has set you in the eldership here in Taipei, you have to treat the matter seriously. You have to pray much before the Lord. If you are not clear yourself, you should seek the fellowship of two or three brothers together. Find out from them what an elder should do. If you would live an overcoming life every day and would touch the Lord every morning, having a fresh beginning every day, and walk according to the Spirit, your time will not be wasted.
Dear brothers, as long as you are willing, there is nothing that is impossible to do. Every week, other than the Lord’s Day, you should devote at least two entire evenings for serving the Lord. Either you should go out to preach the gospel by visiting people, or you should go to home meetings or small group meetings. On the Lord’s Day you will invariably meet with the brothers and sisters. In Taipei most people work during the day and rest during the evenings. In addition, most people have a day and a half rest during the weekend. This kind of arrangement is very suitable for us in order that we might serve the Lord. As long as we would plan a little and devote two evenings out of each week to the Lord, we can surely accomplish something. This is an effective way. We have studied it already, and the basic framework has been set up. The rest depends on you elders.
Now we are very clear that the first work of the New Testament priest is to bring in the sinners and offer them up as offerings. After this you have to do some fine work, constantly arranging the bread of the Presence through the supply of life and dressing the lamps through releasing the truth. The arranging of the bread of the Presence and the lighting of the lamps are done in the small groups. In addition to this you must pray for others. This is what Paul means in Colossians 1 when he says that he announced this Christ, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that everyone might be presented full-grown in Christ. If everyone would do this, the result will be a universal priesthood. Everyone should preach the gospel. Everyone should feed the Lord’s sheep. Everyone should learn to function and teach in the small group meetings. And everyone should prophesy in the district meetings. In this way the whole church will be priests, and the clergy will disappear.
We have to cover another point concerning the division of the small groups. It is not easy to group the small groups. If the number increases, it is imperative to subdivide. But it is also important that subdividing not be done too soon. Those who are more experienced should observe closely the actual condition of the small groups. For example, after you preach the gospel and people are saved, you should have three or four people under your care. You should do your best to bring them to the small group meetings. If each one would bring one, eight would bring another eight, and sixteen people would make a good meeting. This way of meeting will enable the new ones to learn. They will not know anything about the religious worship service but will only know how to meet in this kind of organic way. After meeting in this way for three months, more people will be brought in. Perhaps the number will increase to twenty-five. By then, you will have to subdivide. In this subdividing, each group will have some older saints as well as some new ones. Gradually, the groups will repeat the cycle to multiply and spread over and over again.
The most difficult thing to do in the district meeting is to prophesy. All of you have to strive. You must strive to teach and strive to speak. You must seize every opportunity to practice. On Saturday you should put together the inspiration you received during the daily revival throughout the week and make a composition out of this for your prophesying on the Lord’s Day morning. This is the right principle. However, you must remember that you cannot speak as long as in a sermon. The best way is to prophesy concerning one point only. In a district meeting on the Lord’s Day morning, if fifteen people would stand up to speak on fifteen points, the meeting will be rich. The leading ones must teach everyone and should correct them. In this way no one will become lazy among us.
If everyone would be busy preaching the gospel, and if after the babies are born, everyone would be busy nourishing them, and if after they are nourished, every one of them would be grouped into the small group meetings, and if those who have received light, experience, and revelation from the Lord’s word would prophesy in the district meetings to build up the church, I believe in one to two years’ time, a good foundation will be laid. As long as we all would strive, the new way will not only be here with a basic framework but will be rich in its content as well. In this way the reality of 1 Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 4 will be fulfilled among us in a living way, and God’s goal will be attained.
