In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.
And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.
And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.
Now therefore, if ye will indeed obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is Mine:
And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.
And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.
And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and head-tires shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and upon his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:
And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they go in unto the tent of meeting, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and unto his seed after him.
But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister unto Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer unto Me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God:
They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge.
And it shall be that, when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
They shall have linen tires upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat.
Neither shall they shave their heads, nor suffer their locks to grow long; they shall only poll their heads.
Neither shall any of the priests drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.
And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to My ordinances shall they judge it: and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all Mine appointed feasts; and they shall hallow My sabbaths.
Our heavenly Father, we do worship Thee that we may come to Thee to hear Thy Word. We ask Thee, O Lord, that we may not only hear Thy Word, but that we may hear Thy voice.
We ask that Thou wilt speak to us by Thy Holy Spirit. We pray that this morning we may meet Thee through Thy Word. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We have been considering, for some time, different persons in the Old Testament in order to find out what is the man that is after God’s own heart.
We know that God is after the man of His own heart. And, no doubt, that Man is our Lord Jesus, and all those who are patterned after the Lord Jesus.
Indeed, God has to work long in our lives in order to bring us to be that man who is after His own heart. The eight persons we find in the book of Genesis show us how God worked patiently and incessantly until, finally, He had the one whom He wanted.
Now, that is our being, because God always emphasizes our being more than our doing. Or, to put it in another way, unless God gets us, He is not able to use us. First of all, we must be what He wants us to be: a man in Christ, a man after God’s own heart. Then, without doubt, out of such a man, God is able to do the work that He intends to do.
After we finished Genesis, we came to Exodus, and there we find Moses, the servant of the Lord. Moses speaks of servanthood. We who are the Lord’s are His servants. We are called to serve Him in His house, as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.
But we are not only servants; we are also soldiers. This is typified by Joshua, a soldier. We are to fight the good fight. We are to bring the purpose of God from heaven upon this earth.
Now this morning, we would like to go to the third aspect of a man after God’s own heart. What is it that God wants him to do? We who are the Lord’s are a priesthood.
Aaron and his sons typify the priesthood that we, as believers, have before God.
After God had redeemed the children of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them to Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 19, God called Moses to the mountain, and there He revealed His mind through Moses to the children of Israel.
God said, “I have brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand. I have borne you as on eagles’ wings. I have brought you to Myself. Now, if you will keep My covenant, if you will keep My commandment, then you will be a peculiar people for Me, and I will make you a kingdom of priests.”
This is God’s mind concerning those whom He redeemed. The mind of God concerning those whom He redeemed was that they should be a kingdom of priests.
In other words, every citizen of the nation of Israel—young and old, men and women, of whatever tribe he or she might belong to—everyone who was in the nation of Israel was to be a priest unto God; that is to say, to minister unto God. This is God’s original purpose.
But unfortunately, while Moses was receiving the law on the mountain, the children of Israel on the plain broke God’s law. They worshipped a golden calf, and because of this they disqualified themselves to be priests unto God.
Now, I do not mean that God did not want them to be priests, but only that they themselves made themselves disqualified from being priests unto God.
So God, out of the twelve tribes, out of the nation of Israel, chose one family—Aaron and his sons—to be priests. Remember, brothers and sisters, this was not God’s original design. This was only God’s emergency measure.
After the children of Israel sinned against God, Moses came down from the mountain. He saw the scene. He broke the two tables of the law. He ground the golden calf into powder, cast it upon the water, and asked the children of Israel to drink of their own sin.
Then Moses stood at the gate of the camp, and he said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me.” Of all the tribes of Israel, only the tribe of Levi came out of the camp—a camp that was defiled. They came out of the camp, stood with Moses, girded themselves with swords, went into the camp from one end to the other, and smote those whom they met. By that, they purified themselves.
So God set apart the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron to be priests unto God. The rest of the children of Israel were disqualified. They could not minister unto God. They had to come unto God through the mediatorship of the Levites and of Aaron and his sons.
Again I say, this was God’s emergency measure, not God’s original design. And I do believe that one day God’s original purpose for the nation of Israel will yet be fulfilled.
If we read Isaiah 66, we find that God will make Israel priests unto Him. If we read Zechariah 14, we find that every pot in Jerusalem and in the land of Judea will be sacred. In other words, the whole nation will be a nation of priests, because God always fulfills what He has designed.
Under the law, there was an emergency measure, because the law never makes people perfect. But under grace, there is no provision for emergency.
In other words, under grace, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, He has made us priests unto God, and there is no provision for any lack.
You remember Revelation 1:6: unto Him who loves us and washed us from our sins in His blood, and made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father.
Again, in Revelation 5:9–10, it is said that God has purchased us by the precious blood of the Lamb out of every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation, and has made us kings and priests unto God.
And again, in 1 Peter 2:5, it is said that as we come to the Lord Jesus, we become living stones. We are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
In other words, under grace, under the new covenant, through the finished work of Christ, everyone who is redeemed of the Lord, every child of God, every born-again believer, is made a priest.
This is what the Lord has done, because this is God’s original will, and He has made no provision for any other arrangement. Through grace, we all are made priests unto God.
There is no such thing as God raising up a special house, a special family, or a special tribe to be priests because of our weakness, while the rest remain merely laity or common people who do not serve God. There is no such thing in the New Testament.
Under the Old Testament, God did make such a provision. But remember, brothers and sisters, under the new covenant there is no such provision. There is no such distinction as laity and a sacred class, because God does not provide for such failure.
Furthermore, not only has God not provided for some believers to be priests unto God and the rest of the believers not to be priests unto God, but according to the New Testament we find that this kind of distinction is something hated by God.
You remember Revelation 2. To the church in Ephesus, God said, “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Again, in the same chapter, to the church in Pergamum, God said that there were among them those who held the teaching of the Nicolaitans, which God hates.
Now, who are the Nicolaitans? In church history, we cannot find any record of a group called Nicolaitans. There is no such record in church history.
Therefore, the only interpretation we can make—and you will find this is not only true in this case, but in other cases too—is that the Spirit of God is putting words together in order to teach us something.
“Nico” means to conquer. “Laity” means common people. Nicolaitans means conquering the common people.
In other words, we find that gradually in the church there has arisen a class of people, a special class of people, a sacred class. They conquer the common people. They are the holy people. They are the ones who minister unto God. They monopolize all the spiritual work, and the rest of the people are merely laity or commoners.
They have no privilege, no opportunity; they are not allowed to minister unto God. These are the works of the Nicolaitans.
In the beginning, it was merely the works of the Nicolaitans. In other words, there was not yet such a teaching, but there were people doing such a thing. Gradually, this work developed into a doctrine, a teaching.
It became something taught: that not all God’s people can serve God as priests; only those who are specially trained, holy, and sacred can minister unto God. The rest of the people must be content merely to be ministered to and not to minister unto God.
Now, this is something that the Lord says, “I hate too.” It is something God hates.
Brothers and sisters, is it not very strange how many of God’s people today are content with what God is not satisfied with?
We should never be content if God is not satisfied. Only when God is satisfied should we be satisfied.
But, strange to say, among God’s people there are so many—or may I put it this way, the majority of God’s people, the majority of the redeemed of the Lord—who seem so contented not to function as priests unto God, and to let a special class, a minority, minister unto the Lord.
Why is it? Is it because we do not want to take responsibility? Is it because responsibility does cost something?
We like to remain as babes, because babes can enjoy being served and never take any responsibility. There does not seem to be much cost involved. They cost other people a lot, but it does not seem to cost them anything.
Is that not the reason why even today Christianity is such that we take for granted that God’s people are divided into two groups? The larger group is the laity; the smaller group is the sacred class.
Remember, brothers and sisters, there is no such thing in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, yes, under the law, God allowed such things to happen. But ultimately, God will still make Israel a nation of priests.
But under the new covenant, in the New Testament, under grace, dear brothers and sisters, I want you to see this and have it deeply inscribed upon your heart: in the New Testament, there is no such distinction, and God does not allow such a thing.
There is no emergency measure. God has only one measure, and that is His permanent will.
Every child of God, every believer, young and old—the moment you are saved, you do not need to wait until five years later. The moment you are saved, remember, God has made you a priest unto Him. You are a priest.
You may not like to call yourself a priest because that title has been so misused and abused. But in actuality, before God, you are a priest.
Every believer is a priest. The universal priesthood of believers is the teaching of the New Testament.
Even at the time of the Reformation, in the sixteenth century, when God raised up the Reformers, Martin Luther saw the universal priesthood of believers.
You may find that hard to believe, because when you look at Lutheranism today, or Protestant churches today, you may not see it. But if you go back to history, you will find that when God raised up Martin Luther, he preached not only an open Bible and justification by faith, but also the universal priesthood of believers.
But unfortunately, it was not received. Four hundred years have passed, and still we find among God’s people that we do not see the universal priesthood of believers. Or, may I put it another way: we may hear it, we may understand it, but we never act on it.
Do you know that you are a priest unto God? Do you not know that you have such a high honor and privilege to minister unto God?
Why is it that we despise our privilege? Why is it that we do not fulfill our responsibility? I think it is time for God’s people to wake up, that every believer must rise up and minister unto the Lord.
Unless this happens, you do not see the reality of the church of God.
Aaron and his sons, in one sense, typify the holy priesthood. Christ is our High Priest. Aaron is a type of Christ. Aaron’s sons are types of us as believers. We are the children of God, and we are the sons.
So, in one sense, Aaron and his sons typify Christ, our High Priest, and us as priests.
Of course, Aaron and his sons are also a contrast to Christ and His people, because their priesthood was very limited, but our priesthood in Christ is full.
Nevertheless, we would like to take Aaron and his sons from the Old Testament as a type of the holy priesthood of believers today.
We will not go into the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus, which is a subject by itself. I do believe it is something we should look into, because in Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 7 the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus is especially described.
This is most important, because unless we know Christ as our High Priest, we cannot live on earth as Christians. But this is not what we would like to enter into this morning. We would like to concentrate on Aaron’s sons—in other words, the priesthood in Christ.
First of all, we must remember that it is a priesthood. By a priesthood, it simply means that it is not just one priest, nor is it many priests each doing his or her work separately, independently, and unrelatedly.
No. We find Aaron and his sons. This shows that the holy priesthood is a priesthood. That is to say, we who are priests are many, and yet we are one priesthood under the direction of the great High Priest.
That is the way we minister unto the Lord. Sometimes when we think of priests, and read that God has made us priests unto God, immediately we think of priests individually and unrelatedly, each doing something for the Lord.
Instead, we need to see that the priests serve together as a priesthood under the direction of the great High Priest.
We are told that in the time of Christ, when the temple had been restored, there were thousands of priests serving in the temple. They served in twenty-four courses, and they served in turns.
The course of priests serving for that day would gather together in a large room before dawn, and there they would cast lots to determine who was to do what. There were many things to do in the temple.
After the lots were cast, each priest knew what to do for that day. They all worked together coordinately under the direction of the high priest.
This was done before dawn, before the temple gates were opened. So when the gates were opened, the priests were ready. Each was at his post, knew what to do, and was related to the other priests, so that God might be served.
This is the Old Testament picture, but the New Testament reality is that we who are the Lord’s are a priesthood, and we serve God together. We do not serve separately.
We serve God together in His house, and we are His house: a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. On the one hand, we are a spiritual house—not this building, but we are God’s house. On the other hand, we are a holy priesthood, serving under our High Priest, our Lord Jesus.
Today, of course, we do not cast lots anymore. Why? Because there is no need for it. We have the Holy Spirit within us, and the Holy Spirit in us reveals to us the mind of our High Priest, our Head.
In other words, we serve together under Christ by the direction of the Holy Spirit. If everyone takes orders from the Lord through the Holy Spirit, then you will find how we can minister unto the Lord together. What harmony! What beauty it will be!
As we come to Exodus 28, you will notice three things concerning how Aaron and his sons were made priests unto God.
First of all, Exodus 28:1 says:
And bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
“Bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him.” God’s original purpose was to take the whole nation as a kingdom of priests. But because of the failure of the children of Israel, God took Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel.
The principle behind this is that we are made priests, not because of what we are, but because of His mercy and grace. Not because we deserve it, but because He favors us. He calls us to be priests unto Him.
Aaron and his sons did not deserve to be priests. As a matter of fact, in the worship of the golden calf, Aaron was a chief sinner. It was Aaron who made the golden calf.
But strangely, in spite of the failure of Aaron and his sons, just as with the rest of the children of Israel, God chose Aaron and his sons to be priests unto Him. Why?
Not because they had not sinned, but because they repented; because they came out of the camp; because they stood on the Lord’s side; because they were willing to slay their own people for God’s sake, to purify themselves.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember first of all: we are made priests because we are redeemed, not because we are better than anybody else.
We are redeemed. He has redeemed us, and because He has redeemed us, He has called us to be priests.
But many of the redeemed do not function as priests. Why? Probably that rule still holds good: many are called, but few are chosen. All the redeemed are called; few are chosen.
Why are the few chosen? If we transfer what we find in the Old Testament and apply it to ourselves, perhaps we will say that all the redeemed of the Lord are called to be priests by the grace of God. This privilege is the portion of all believers. We are all called.
But why is it that few are chosen? The few are those who repent.
We have all failed. But if we repent, just as you find in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3—where the churches had failed and God was calling people to repent—those who repent will be chosen.
Come out of the camp. The camp may be defiled. Stand on the Lord’s side.
Who is willing to stand on the Lord’s side? Probably most people would like to stand with the crowd. But who is willing to stand on the Lord’s side and be unpopular? Who is willing to cut off all fleshly relationships drastically?
In other words, who is willing to accept the cross to work in his life, that the flesh may be cut off? In so doing, you will find yourself chosen.
First of all, the redeemed are all called to be priests.
Secondly, we find in Exodus 28:2, “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty.”
Verse 4 says:
And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
Not only are the redeemed called, but Aaron and his sons, before they could serve God as priests, had to be clothed with holy garments for beauty and for glory. These were priestly garments.
Exodus 28:43 tells us that these garments were to be upon Aaron and his sons when they entered into the tent of meeting or came near to the altar to serve in the sanctuary, that they might not bear iniquity and die.
In other words, if Aaron and his sons were not clothed with priestly garments and entered into the sanctuary to serve, they would bear iniquity and die.
What does this mean? It means that not only must we be redeemed in order to be priests, but we must also be sanctified.
They had to take off their old garments and put on the priestly garments. They had to be covered with priestly garments in order to serve as priests.
If you turn to Colossians 3:9–10, we are told:
Lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
And have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of Him that created him.
Here we find that we are exhorted to put off the old man with his deeds and put on the new man. The new man is renewed unto full knowledge according to His image.
Again, Ephesians 4:22–24 says:
That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
And that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
And put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
I believe this can be applied as the priestly garments that we must put on today if we are to serve as priests and not bear our iniquity and die.
If we enter into the sanctuary, if we try to minister unto God with the old garments—that is, with the old man and his deeds, with our flesh, fleshly wisdom, energy, opinions, methods, ways, and formulas—then we will bear our sin and die spiritually.
We must put off the old man, the old garments, and put on the new man, which is created according to the image of Christ in holiness and righteousness.
Only when we put on Christ in holiness and righteousness, and serve Him in the wisdom and power of the new man, will we not die. Our ministry unto Him will be accepted.
This garment is for glory and for beauty. What is meant by glory and beauty? To be glorified, to be beautified spiritually, means that we are being transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
This is glory: from glory to glory. This is beauty.
Do you not know that our flesh is shameful? Any time that our flesh is exposed, it is naked before God; it is shameful. Whether it is your bad flesh or your good flesh, when our flesh is exposed, it is shameful and naked before God.
But when Christ is expressed, it is beauty; it is glory.
So we must be sanctified. What is sanctification? Sanctification simply means that we are set apart for God. It means the old man is put off and the new man is put on. It means that we are being transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
That is sanctification. That is holiness. Unless we are holy, we cannot serve God, because our God is holy.
Thirdly, Aaron and his sons were not only called and taken, and not only sanctified by putting on the priestly garments, but according to Exodus 28:41, they were anointed, consecrated, and hallowed.
And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and upon his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.
Aaron had not only to be redeemed and taken, and not only to be sanctified and clothed with priestly garments, but he also had to be anointed, consecrated, and hallowed in order to serve God as priest.
So the third thing is to be anointed. When we apply this to ourselves today, how are we made priests unto God? Redeemed, sanctified, and anointed. We need to be anointed.
By anointing, we simply mean that in the Old Testament the holy oil was poured upon Aaron. When Aaron was anointed, the ointment was poured upon him in a large amount. It was poured upon his head, went down his beard, and all over his garments.
This is the picture. If we want to minister unto the Lord as priests, we need to receive that anointing. Thank God, that anointing is ours.
When our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended on high, God anointed Him as Lord and Christ. The anointing oil, which is the Holy Spirit, came down on the day of Pentecost.
Not only was it upon those on the day of Pentecost, but it flows down to the skirt of the garment. That is to say, every believer is included in that anointing. We are in the anointing.
Because we are in the anointing, we are quickened by the Holy Spirit to minister.
As you read Exodus, you find that after the tabernacle and all the pieces of furniture were put in their proper places, the whole place had to be anointed. Everything had to be anointed.
Not only did the priests have to be anointed, but every piece of furniture in the tabernacle had to be anointed. After everything was anointed, then the tabernacle became a living tabernacle. Service began to flow.
So, brothers and sisters, how can we serve as priests? We can serve as priests only because we are in the anointing. We can serve only when we obey the anointing, when we follow the anointing, and when we serve in the power of the anointing—that is to say, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The flesh has no part in God’s service. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.”
What are the functions of the priesthood? We are priests. We are ready to minister. What are the functions of the priests?
First of all, we must remember that the functions of the priesthood are primarily toward God.
Hebrews 5:1 says:
For every high priest, being taken from among men, is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
And 1 Peter 2:5 says:
Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Priestly functions are mainly toward God. Put it in other words: a priest is to minister unto the Lord.
Not unto the house, not unto men, but unto God. That is the basic understanding of the functions of the priesthood.
In the Old Testament, you find the priesthood and the Levitical service. Priestly service is unto God. Levitical service is unto the house of God. Priestly service is unto the Lord; Levitical service is unto the people. Priestly service is spiritual in nature; Levitical service is physical in nature.
Of course, that does not mean that priestly service has nothing to do with men. You will find that it does. But primarily, basically, and essentially, priestly service is ministering unto the Lord, while Levitical service is basically unto man, though not exclusively so.
I hope that, first of all, we remember that we are priests. What do we do? We minister unto the Lord. That is the basic concept.
We may do things for men and minister unto the house, but we must remember that priestly function is basically, essentially, primarily, and mainly unto God.
Minister unto the Lord. This is priesthood. Do we minister unto the Lord?
In Ezekiel 44, you will notice three things concerning priests.
The Levites who went astray were barred from the priesthood because of their unfaithfulness. But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok—the family of Zadok—kept the charge of God’s sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Him.
They shall approach unto the Lord to minister unto the Lord. Now, that is priestly.
The sons of Zadok shall approach unto the Lord to minister unto the Lord. How? What do they do? Three things.
The first function is to stand before the Lord and present to the Lord the fat and the blood.
This is connected with the altar. There the priests would come and present the blood of the sacrifice, and the fat had to be burned on the altar. The work of the priest was to present the blood and the fat unto the Lord.
Oftentimes, we think of sacrifice in terms of what it does to us. Thank God, sacrifice does many things to us.
Today we do not offer bulls, sheep, lambs, or animals anymore. Why? Because all these sacrifices found in the Old Testament are types of Christ. Christ is the sacrifice and the gift. What we should do today is offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We do not need to offer bulls. We do not need to offer lambs. But we do offer Christ.
We often think of sacrifice in terms of what it does to us. It does much for us. Through the blood, our sins are forgiven. Some sacrifices were burned, while others were food for us to enjoy. That is true.
But remember: Aaron and his sons were to present the blood and the fat unto God. In other words, the blood is for God; the fat is for God. It is for God to be satisfied and pleased.
Blood speaks of the blood of our Lord Jesus that washes our sins away, yes; but it is the blood that satisfies the righteousness of God.
Blood, first of all, is unto God, and then unto us.
The blood of the Passover lamb was put on the outside of the doorposts and the lintel. That is to say, it was not for you to see, but for God to see. The blood is basically to satisfy God’s righteousness, so that God can righteously justify us.
It is to satisfy God’s own righteousness.
And the fat—today we do not like to have fat, but in Old Testament terms, the fat speaks of abundant life. When life is so abundant, it becomes fat.
In the Old Testament, no one could eat the fat; the fat was for God. All the fat of the sacrifices had to be burned for God. In other words, it was to give God pleasure.
The life of our Lord Jesus is like that: so abundant, so rich, and all for the pleasure of His Father. “I come to do Thy will.” That is for God.
The priests are to offer the blood and the fat to God. What does it mean?
Brothers and sisters, do we not know that we are priests? It is our duty and our privilege to present Christ back to God.
The Christ whom we know and experience—His blood, His forgiving grace, His spent life, His abundant life that we know and experience—these are like blood and fat ascending continuously to God for His satisfaction and pleasure.
Daily we stand before God, not on our merit; we have none. Really, we stand before God presenting the blood. It is because of the blood of Christ that we can approach the throne of grace. This satisfies God’s heart.
Daily we stand before God presenting Christ as our life to Him. Whenever Christ, our life, is expressed and offered up to God, God is not only satisfied but well pleased.
If we try to present ourselves, if we present the sacrifice of Cain, we will be completely rejected. But if we present Christ, we will be accepted, because only Christ can satisfy God.
Spiritual sacrifices mean that we know Christ as the burnt offering, voluntarily offering Himself without spot to God, and in union with Him we offer ourselves.
We know Christ as our meal offering. His life upon this earth was so pure, and in union with Him His life becomes our life, and we present it to God.
We know Christ as our peace offering. He has made peace between us and God, and between us and one another. Today we present Christ to Him as our peace offering. We are at peace with God, and we are at peace with one another.
We present Christ as our sin offering and as our trespass offering. Our sins are forgiven; our daily sins are washed away, so that we can commune with God.
Brothers and sisters, daily we offer. Constantly we offer. We do not merely offer on Sunday when we come together to worship the Lord.
No. We are priests. We are in God’s house. Wherever you are, wherever God’s people are, we are constantly and continuously offering up the blood and the fat. We are constantly offering up Christ to God.
This is our worship. Remember, brothers and sisters, our worship is not limited merely to an hour on the Lord’s Day. Our worship is in spirit and in truth. Our whole life is worship, because we are constantly offering Christ back to God.
Not ourselves. God will never accept us in ourselves, but Christ. We appreciate His blood; we appreciate His fat, His life. This is something we need to offer constantly.
The second thing is this: “They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall approach unto My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge.”
The emphasis here is the table. Actually, in the holy place there are three things: the lampstand, the table, and the golden altar of incense. But the table is especially emphasized here.
Why? Because the table speaks of communion.
Brothers and sisters, as priests, what is our function? Our function is to commune with God.
Not merely in the morning when you get up, nor merely in the evening when you go to bed and pray, but throughout the day we should be ministering unto Him at the table. We should be in communion and fellowship with Him all the time.
As we fellowship with Him, this is priestly function. We are functioning as priests.
When you commune with Him, you cannot help but praise and thank Him. Especially at the Lord’s table, this is the time when we commune with Him.
The Lord said, “This is My blood,” the communion of My blood; the communion of My body. As we commune with Him, we render our worship and praise to Him. This is priestly function.
Brothers and sisters, in our daily life, are we functioning as priests? Do we commune with Him through the day and through the week?
If we do, then when we come together to remember the Lord at His table, there will not be any lack of worship or thanks to Him.
Together with the table, you have the golden altar of incense. That is prayer.
Not merely praying for yourself. We should pray for ourselves, but as priests, this prayer is intercessory prayer. When the priests burned incense at the altar, they prayed for the nation of Israel.
So, brothers and sisters, we are priests. Do we pray? Do we function as priests? Yes, we pray individually for ourselves, but when we come together, do we come and pray together? Do we take up intercessory prayer?
That is to intercede, just as in 1 Timothy. Paul said, “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men.”
And also the golden lampstand—that is the testimony. To keep the charge, we as priests are to keep the testimony of Jesus, that the testimony of Jesus may shine and the world may know Him.
These are priestly functions.
Thirdly, “They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to My judgments shall they judge it.”
Here we find that the priestly functions are not only Godward—primarily, yes—but they are also manward.
Because there is ministry unto the Lord, it follows that they begin to minister unto the house, the people of God. They shall teach the people to discern between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. They shall also judge the people according to the judgment of God.
This is also partly our priestly function.
Unless we minister unto the Lord first, our ministry unto the house of the Lord’s people will not be effective.
First we must minister unto the Lord, and then out of that we minister unto the house. Then we are able to teach people what is holy, what is common, what is clean, and what is unclean.
It is not merely bookish knowledge. It is an experiential knowledge of God that you learn when you draw near to Him. Then you also have the discernment to judge according to the judgment of God.
So, brothers and sisters, remember this: we are all priests, and it is God’s will that we should function as priests—not only on the Lord’s Day, but every day of the week.
Our heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us with a high calling. Thou hast even called us into that holy priesthood.
We do pray that we may not neglect our duty, but that we may, by Thy grace, take up our responsibility, that we may function as priests daily and together. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.