In the last message we said that our Christ is subjectively objective. What does this mean? This is a very exciting matter. One night, in 1968, a brother said to me, “Brother Lee, in the whole U.S.A., the preachers, pastors, and ministers have been telling people for years to look to the Lord who is in heaven. But since coming to this country, you have been telling people to turn to their spirit to meet with the Lord. This is absolutely different. It seems that there are two directions.” Yes, there are undoubtedly these two directions. As we pointed out in the last message, the Lord today is no longer here on earth but is on the throne in heaven. There is no doubt about this. But if the Lord were only on the throne in heaven, how could the people on earth have Him as their life? If He were only in heaven, He would be too far away from us for us to have Him as our life and our daily life supply. How can the Lord, who is in fact objective, become subjective to us in our daily life? This is the problem.
The secret to the answer to this question is in the book of Hebrews. This secret in the book of Hebrews is in Heb. 4:12, which speaks of the dividing of soul and spirit. It seems that the writer introduces this point suddenly for no apparent reason. Chapter four deals with the Sabbath rest. Doctrinally speaking, there is apparently no relationship between the Sabbath rest and our human spirit. The Sabbath rest is the Sabbath rest, and our human spirit is our human spirit. These two things seem to be far removed from one another. But 4:14 goes on to say that we have “a great High Priest Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,” and verse 16 tells us to “come forward with boldness to the throne of grace.” Our great High Priest is on the throne in heaven. How can we touch Him? How can we experience Him?
The writer of Hebrews tells us to “come forward.” I need to say a word about this phrase. It is used several times in Hebrews: “come forward to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16); “come forward to the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:22); ”come forward to God” (Heb. 7:25; 11:6). We need to come forward to three things: to the Holy of Holies, to the throne of grace, and to God Himself. Do not shrink backward — come forward. In Greek, the words “come forward” are one word. Most versions render it either as approach, draw near, or come near. According to the best Greek lexicon, however, the primary meaning of this word is come forward.
We need to understand the background of the book of Hebrews. As we have already seen clearly, the recipients of this book, the Hebrew believers, were in danger of shrinking back. They were staggering and hesitating, and the book of Hebrews was written to encourage them to come forward. The writer did not tell them to go forward but to come forward. This means that the writer was in a particular place and that he wanted his readers to come forward to the place where he was. So he told them to come forward to the Holy of Holies, to the throne of grace, and to God. Where is God? He is on the throne of grace. Where is the throne of grace? It is in the Holy of Holies. At the time of the writing of this book, the writer was there in the Holy of Holies, calling the Hebrew brothers to come forward.
At this point we have a problem. Where are the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace? According to our experience, we would say that they are joined to our spirit. If they, the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace, are joined to our spirit, then undoubtedly God must be in our spirit, because God is on the throne of grace. As long as the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace are joined to our spirit, God must be in our spirit.
If you were to ask many Christians where the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace are, they would say that they are in heaven. There is a strong ground in the Bible for saying this. Doctrinally speaking, it is absolutely correct to say this. Nevertheless, we need to ask this question: If the throne of grace is in heaven and we are on earth, how can we come forward to it? Is there any way for us who are on earth today to touch the throne of grace in heaven? According to their theology, many Christians have no way to touch the throne of grace today. The throne of grace is far away from them. The Holy of Holies in heaven is also far away. Yes, doctrinally speaking, the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace undoubtedly are in heaven. Since we all are on the earth, how can we enter the Holy of Holies and touch the throne of grace today? And today Christ is also on the throne in heaven objectively. How can this objective Christ be our subjective experience? According to the objective teachings, there is no way.
The Bible speaks of a place called Bethel, the house of God (Gen. 28:19). In this place there is the ladder joining earth and heaven (Gen. 28:12), and on this ladder the angels of God are ascending and descending. This indicates that the ladder joins earth to heaven and heaven to earth. Between earth and heaven there is a great deal of traffic, as indicated by the angels’ ascending and descending. This traffic is not found in any place on earth except in one special place — Bethel, the house of God.
We may use electricity as an illustration of the traffic between earth and heaven. An electrical power plant may be far away from your home, but between your home and the power plant there is the traffic of electricity. Wires bring the electricity from the power plant into your home. Likewise, there is traffic between earth and heaven. Christ is the ladder that affords this traffic. Upon this ladder there is much ascending and descending, much going and coming. This ladder is in the house of God.
All of this, however, is still doctrinal. Where is the house of God on earth today? After studying the Bible for many years, I eventually found out that today Bethel, the house of God, is in our spirit. Ephesians 2:22 (Gk.) says that we “are being builded together into an habitation of God in spirit.” The church today is the habitation of God, the house of God, and this is in our spirit. When we, the church people, all meet together in our spirit, the house of God, Bethel, is here. Immediately, that very place is joined to heaven, for there is a ladder joining earth to heaven and bringing heaven down to earth. Spontaneously, we have traffic between earth and heaven. However, whenever we get out of our spirit and into our mind or emotions, Bethel disappears. Where is Bethel today? It is in our spirit. Since Bethel, God’s house, is in our spirit, our spirit is the very place where Christ, the heavenly ladder, joins us to heaven and brings heaven to us. According to this revelation and according to our experience, we may boldly say that the Holy of Holies and the throne of grace are joined to our spirit.
This is why the writer of Hebrews told us in 4:12 that firstly we must experience the dividing of our spirit from our soul and that, following this, we can come forward to the Holy of Holies, to the throne of grace, and to the very God who is on the throne of grace in the Holy of Holies. The secret of this experience is the dividing of soul and spirit.
Is Christ objective to us? Yes, He is, in fact, objective. Nevertheless, in experience, He is subjectively objective to us. In fact, He is objective because He is there in heaven. But we do not need to go to heaven in order to experience Him. While we are on earth today, we may experience in our spirit the Christ who is in heaven. Christ is objective, but our experience of Christ is subjective. We have the subjective experience of the objective Christ. How can the objective Christ be transmitted into our subjective experience? By the heavenly ladder that joins us to heaven and brings heaven to us. How can the objective electricity far away in the power plant become the subjective application of electricity in our homes? By the wires that carry the current of electricity from the power plant to our homes. In fact, the electricity is objectively in the power plant, but in application, it is subjectively present in our homes. In like manner, we can subjectively experience the objective Christ. While we are on earth, we can experience the Christ who is in heaven. This is wonderful. Day by day, I experience the very Christ who is in heaven. Though He is objective, in my experience He is subjective.
Where is Christ today? This question cannot be answered in such a simple way. We must say that, in fact, Christ is objectively in the heavens, but, in our experience, He is subjectively in our spirit. In this way, the objective Christ in heaven becomes our subjective experience in our spirit. In the last message we saw that we need to be on the second floor of the experience of Christ. Where is this second floor? It is joined to our spirit. Because this second floor is joined to our spirit, we must turn to our spirit to experience the very Christ who is in heaven.
The Christ in heaven who can be experienced by us subjectively in our spirit is mainly the High Priest. The book of Hebrews is focused on the heavenly Christ, and the chief point of this heavenly Christ is that He is the High Priest. The main point here is not that Christ is the Savior or Redeemer but that He, as the heavenly Christ, is the High Priest. This is the reason why the book of Hebrews is primarily concerned with the priesthood of Christ. Please remember the following statements: the focus of Hebrews is the heavenly Christ, the main point of the heavenly Christ is that He is the High Priest, and Hebrews is concerned primarily with the priesthood of Christ.
Among most Christians, the priesthood of Christ has been very much lowered. Whenever most Christians speak about Christ as our High Priest, they still cling to the concept that He is the High Priest offering sacrifices to God for our sins. This, of course, is correct. But it is on the negative side. Christ as the High Priest offering sacrifices to God for our sins is typified by Aaron. That was in the past. Today Christ is no longer offering sacrifices for our sins but ministering God to us as our supply. In the past, Christ offered sacrifices to God for our sins as typified by Aaron. Today He is ministering God to us as our supply according to the order of Melchisedec.
This is proved by the coming of Melchisedec to Abraham (Gen. 14:18-22). The first mention of the word priest in the Bible is with Melchisedec. Melchisedec was the priest of the Most High God. As the priest of the Most High God, Melchisedec did not offer sacrifices to God for Abraham’s sin; he ministered bread and wine to him. As indicated by the symbols of the Lord’s table in the Bible bread and wine signify the processed God as our supply. Our High Priest, Christ, is not according to the order of Aaron offering sacrifices to God; He is according to the order of Melchisedec ministering the processed God to us.
Who are we? We are no longer poor sinners but victorious fighters. When Melchisedec came to Abraham, Abraham was not a pitiful sinner, begging, “O priest Melchisedec, be merciful to me. Look at how sinful I am. You need to take care of my sins. My situation is so poor. You need to bring all the offerings to God for me.” Abraham was not in such a situation. When Melchisedec came to him, Abraham was the victor, the fighter, the slaughterer. Abraham had just slaughtered Chedorlaomer and the other kings (Gen. 14:17). Abraham was a victorious fighter who had taken many spoils. What are you — poor sinners or victorious fighters? I am glad to say that in the church life we are not pitiful sinners but victorious fighters.
No longer are we in the book of Leviticus with Aaron; we are in Genesis 14 with Melchisedec. We do not have Aaron any longer, for Aaron is past. We are now with Melchisedec. Our Christ today is much superior to Aaron. In the book of Leviticus we need to appreciate Aaron, but when we come to Hebrews, we must say that Aaron is past. In the book of Hebrews, Melchisedec is our High Priest. We do not want to linger in Leviticus but go all the way back to the beginning in Genesis. This is a real recovery. Let us go back to Genesis 14 where we see that the priest did not offer sacrifices for pitiful sinners but ministered bread and wine to glorious victors.
How happy we would be if, before we went to bed at night, Melchisedec would come ministering to us the bread and the wine because during the whole day we had slaughtered many Chedorlaomers. We need to slaughter some Chedorlaomers all day long. We need to slaughter Judaism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and so many negative things. If we slaughter the enemies during the day, every evening we shall have the chief spoils. Then our Melchisedec will come and say, “Are you tired after your victory? Here is bread and wine, the processed God for your enjoyment.” This is the ministry of the priest of the Most High God who comes not to offer sin offerings for pitiful sinners but to minister God to victorious fighters. Tell me honestly, have you ever seen before that we have such a High Priest? I never saw this when I was in religion.
This High Priest is of another order, not of the order of Aaron but of the order of Melchisedec. Melchisedec was a king, and his name means the king of righteousness. In Isaiah 32:1 we see that the title, king of righteousness, also refers to the Lord Jesus. Christ is the King of righteousness, today’s Melchisedec. As the King of righteousness, Christ has made all things right with God and with one another. He has reconciled man to God and has appeased God for man. Righteousness issues in peace (Isa. 32:17). By His righteousness Christ has brought forth the fruit of peace.
Melchisedec is also the king of Salem, which means the king of peace, signifying that Christ is also the King of peace (Isa. 9:6). As the King of peace through righteousness, Christ has brought in peace between God and us. In peace He fulfills the ministry of His priesthood, ministering God to us for our enjoyment.
Neither Aaron nor any of his descendants has ever been a king. They were just priests. They were not of the kingly tribe but of the priestly tribe. The kingly tribe was the tribe of Judah, and the priestly tribe was the tribe of Levi. Christ came out of the tribe of Judah (7:13-14). So we should not rank Him with Aaron, for He does not belong to Aaron’s tribe. Christ is a kingly Priest.
Christ is the High Priest, but His status is that of a king. As He functions as a Priest, He is a King. He is the King to be the Priest; so His priesthood is kingly, royal (1 Pet. 2:9). He combines the kingship together with the priesthood (Zech. 6:13) for God’s building and for His glory. Christ’s kingship maintains a peaceful order through righteousness. This peaceful order is necessary for God’s building. The building of God’s house is in a situation of peace. Christ’s priesthood ministers all the supply needed for the building of God. In this His glory is manifested.
A priest who offers sacrifices for pitiful sinners does not need to be a king. In order to have such a priest, you do not need a king of righteousness or a king of peace. But, in order for the High Priest to minister the processed God to a victorious fighter, He must be both the King of righteousness and the King of peace.
Do you believe that before Melchisedec came to Abraham and ministered the processed God to him, God did not come to Abraham? I have already said that in the evening you need to spend some time with Melchisedec. But this does not mean that during the morning and afternoon God does not come to you. Genesis 14:20 says, “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” Do not think that Abraham was able to slaughter Chedorlaomer and the other kings by himself. He did not do it by himself. According to Genesis 14:22, before Abraham went out to fight the battle, he lifted up his hand to the Most High God. This means that before he fought with the enemies, he contacted God. So it was not Abraham who slaughtered the enemies but God.
When Abraham lifted up his hand to God, the situation was without righteousness and peace. There was no righteousness because Lot and all of his things had been captured by the enemies. There was no peace because the enemies had not been defeated. But as Abraham went out to fight the battle, he trusted in God. After Abraham had slaughtered the enemies and Melchisedec had come to meet him, there was righteousness and peace. Who brought in this righteousness and peace? Melchisedec, the priest of the Most High God. While Abraham was slaughtering Chedorlaomer and the other kings, Melchisedec must have been praying. It must have been through his intercession that righteousness and peace were brought in.
Do you believe that while Abraham was fighting Melchisedec was sleeping? Do you believe that after Abraham won the victory, Melchisedec suddenly awakened and came in a hurry to minister the bread and wine to Abraham? I do not believe this. I believe that while Abraham was fighting the enemies, Melchisedec was praying for him. The Most High God answered Melchisedec’s prayers and delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hands. After this intercession and Abraham’s victory, Melchisedec appeared. Perhaps he said, “Abraham, how are you doing? I know that you are fine because I have been praying for you. Are you tired? I have come to minister bread and wine to you.”
If you read Hebrews 7 again, you will see that the Christ who ministers as the High Priest is the interceding One. As you are fighting during the day, slaughtering the negative things, Christ, the High Priest, is interceding for you. This is clearly mentioned in 7:25. At the end of the day, when you have finished your fighting and He has finished His interceding, He comes to you with bread and wine to have a good time with you. This is our High Priest. While the victor was fighting, Melchisedec was watching and interceding. He saw Abraham’s victory and knew when to come with the bread and wine. The Bible does not need to tell us certain things because if you see the front side you automatically know the back side. If you see the front of my face, you know something about the back of my head. The ministering Melchisedec must also have been the interceding high priest. This is the kind of High Priest that we have today in Christ.
Our High Priest, Christ, is not according to the order of Aaron but according to the order of Melchisedec. Aaron is past. I am sorry to say that many Christians still hold on to the past Aaron. But how many Christians have the present Melchisedec? Very few. We need to be occupied with the present Melchisedec. Melchisedec is not a High Priest for the purpose of offering sacrifices to God for our sins but for ministering the processed God as grace into us. Now sin is over and grace is here. Sin has gone and the enjoyment of God has come. It is no longer a matter of offering sacrifices for sin but of ministering bread and wine for our enjoyment. This is the priesthood in the book of Hebrews.
While so many Christians still stay with Aaron, we need to be recovered back to Genesis 14. Hebrews is a continuation of Genesis 14. Between these two books is a bridge — Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is the bridge that brings us from Genesis 14 to the book of Hebrews, passing over the book of Leviticus. The book of Hebrews, being concerned with the heavenly Christ as our High Priest, refers to this psalm a number of times.
Before our Melchisedec ministers the processed God to us, He intercedes for us, praying that we may take up our sword and slaughter the enemies. We must slaughter the self, the natural mind, the wild emotion, the stubborn will, and other enemies. While we are slaughtering the enemies, He is interceding for us. After we have finished our slaughtering, He will change His interceding to the ministering of bread and wine. The proper Christian life is to slaughter the enemies during the day and to enjoy the ministry of our Melchisedec with the bread and wine in the evening. At the end of every day, when the slaughtering and interceding have been accomplished, He and we, we and He, may have a good time enjoying the bread and wine in righteousness and peace.
Melchisedec was the king of righteousness and the king of peace. After he came, there was righteousness and peace. It was in such an environment and condition of righteousness and peace that Melchisedec ministered the bread and wine to the victor. It is the same today. We need to fight for righteousness, and righteousness will issue in peace. Eventually our environment and condition will be full of righteousness and peace, and our Melchisedec will appear to have a good time with us. This is the ministry of our kingly High Priest.
Our kingly High Priest is perpetual, eternal, without beginning or ending. Hebrews 7:3 says of Melchisedec that he is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, abides a priest perpetually.” According to Genesis 14, Melchisedec suddenly appeared and then disappeared. He seems to have had no coming or going, no beginning of days or end of life. Because our Melchisedec is eternal, He has no genealogy. For all the important persons in Genesis there is a genealogy, but not for Melchisedec. In the divine writing, the Holy Spirit sovereignly gave no account of the beginning of his days or of the end of his life so that he might be a proper type of Christ as the eternal One to be our High Priest perpetually. This is like the presentation in the Gospel of John of the Son of God, who, being eternal, has no genealogy (John 1:1). But as the Son of Man, Christ has genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). It is such a Christ who is the kingly, royal High Priest ministering the processed God to us as our daily supply. He is the perpetual One, the constant One, the eternal One, having no beginning of days or end of life. He may come to us in the evening and, while we are experiencing Him, He may seem to disappear. He never says good-bye to us, and we never say good-bye to Him. But when we awake the next morning we find that He is still there. With Him there is no coming or going. He abides the High Priest perpetually.
Our High Priest, Christ, is great, much greater than Aaron and all the Levitical priests. He was also greater than Abraham. This is proved by the fact that Abraham gave tithes of the choice spoils to Melchisedec (7:4, 6; Gen. 14:20). When Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, the Levitical priests, who, as descendants of Abraham were in his loins, also paid tithes to him in Abraham. Therefore, all the Levitical priests are lesser than Melchisedec, and the order of Aaron is inferior to that of Melchisedec.
Melchisedec blessed Abraham (7:6). Verse 7 says, “But without dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.” This also indicates the greatness of Melchisedec. He was greater than Abraham and he blessed him with God as the blessing (Gen. 14:19).
Christ is very ancient, much more ancient than Abraham. John 8:58 proves this: “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I am” (Recovery Version). We see by this that Christ is greater than Abraham. Before Abraham was, Christ was there already. Christ is not old, but He is ancient. As our Melchisedec, Christ is more ancient and greater than Abraham. Hence, He is greater than all the Aaronic priests. Our High Priest, Christ, today does not offer sacrifices for sin but ministers the processed God to the victorious fighters. This is the kingly priesthood in the book of Hebrews.
