PRIESTHOOD

^[p. 44] PRIESTHOOD

Ezra 9: 1 - 10; Hebrews 10: 19 - 22; Hebrews 13: 10 - 16

I wish to say a word about priesthood, particularly the instincts that mark it, and the clothing, and to show also the sphere in which it is exercised. The instincts of priesthood are of great importance, for without them we either ignore what is of God or act clumsily in regard of it. When Jacob had the great privilege opened up to him of being in the house of God “he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place”! indicating that he was wanting in priestly instincts and sympathies, not to say priestly clothes, he was certainly wanting in them. Now David, referring afterwards to the ark said “we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood” and called upon Jehovah to arise and enter into His rest, He and the ark of His strength. He had priestly instincts, for under David the priesthood was subordinated to the king; the priest was to walk before Jehovah’s anointed, that is, the king had the first place; but then, happily, David was truly a priest; he was a priest in the principle to his instincts and desires; so he neglected his natural comforts, that is one mark of priesthood, and another is that one neglects one’s natural relations. Levi said to his father and his mother “I have not seen him”, he was true to God and so God gave unto him His covenant of peace, “My covenant was with him of life and peace”. Levi was true when Israel proved deceitful. Levi stood by Moses and maintained things for God. And so David had priestly instincts; in fact we are told that he was clothed with the linen ephod and danced before the ark of the Lord, a remarkable exhibition of, not only priestly instincts, but priestly delights; the ark was everything to him, and so He says, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy”. These were the desires ^[p. 45] of David, and so God answers him. I mention this, because it is encouraging when we have right desires. God answers David immediately and says, “I will also clothe her priests with salvation”. Now, righteousness in us necessarily precedes salvation. You must have on the robe of righteousness before you can have the robe of salvation. It is of great importance that we should understand what such clothes as that are, that as we have to say to God and His things we are righteous in all our relations, and, on the other hand, we are free from all earthly influences, we are saved.

Now, I brought those points forward so that you might see how priestly instincts develop and how God answers them, and so I take it that the letter to the Hebrews is that of a priest. Throughout the letter he is concerned as regards what is due to God. He begins by the divine speaking: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son”. That is the language of a priest, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and at his mouth they seek the law”. He does not profess to be that, there is no official assumption in the letter; Christ is said to be the Apostle and High Priest; nevertheless, the whole letter is stamped with priestly instincts and desires, so that he takes up the ark, as one may say, in the first chapter, and speaks of Christ in the most touching and yet the most reverential way; he brings forward what Christ is personally, that is the first thing with a priest, Christ must be considered first, His dignity, His glory. Then he proceeds, in the second chapter, to bring in Christ in relation to us, for he is really laying the basis for priestly exercise and service in the saints, so he brings in Christ in relation to man and says “For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one”. That is the priestly family. It is wonderful, dear brethren, that God is pleased so to regard us. If you recall the genealogy in ^[p. 46] Exodus 6, when the Spirit of God arrives at Levi, He stops. There is no further genealogy given there; that is to say, He has arrived at the priestly family, and then He finally brings in “this is that Moses and Aaron”. If you have the priestly family, then you have the service of God secured, and that is the first thing with God — “that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office”.

Now, I need not say that priesthood in us is not a development. It would be a very great mistake if we were to assume that. Priesthood is a calling, a priest is one who belongs to the family of priests. I was endeavouring to point out this morning how in Luke the atmosphere of heaven is brought down here. Directly the Babe is born there is a ministry of the angels to the shepherds, announcing glad tidings of great joy, and then presently there was a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God. It was priestly. And then, following upon that, you find Simeon coming into the temple by the Spirit. That is a priest. So that Luke brings in, in that way, the priestly family; and the Lord, in the last chapter is seen ascending into heaven in the attitude of the High Priest; He lifts up His hands and blesses His people and “as he was blessing them, he ... was carried up into heaven”, and the blessed ones, returning to Jerusalem, enter into the temple of God and are found there praising and blessing God. So the priestly family is brought to light.

Now in Peter we have the formal statement that we are “a holy priesthood”. It is not that you should be that. I would call attention to that, dear brethren, because, although, no doubt, most here know that, we should be clear about it, that it is not a question of development; it is that I belong to the family, and I cannot make myself a member of the family. Jesus has done it; as the scriptures say, “Unto him that ... hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father”. That belongs to every believer, and I would seek to ^[p. 47] dwell upon it at this time. I wanted to show how in Ezra the things that I have been speaking of came into evidence. He is very careful to tell us at the outset (chapter 7) that he belonged to the family of Aaron. I might say in passing that Ezra makes a great deal of genealogy. I have no doubt that it was he who wrote the Books of the Chronicles, and so in the last days of the dispensation of the church the book of Ezra fits in, because the point is that each of us should shew his genealogy. Am I a priest or not? I may claim it, but I have to prove it. And so Ezra is very careful to prove his genealogy, and having proved it he tells us that he “prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord”. That is what is proper to a priest. If you claim priesthood, then prove it, prove your genealogy. You may ask me, How? By nature I must bring forward in my manner and spirit the traits of the priest; and so Ezra, in unmistakable language, says that he set his heart to seek the law of his God, and seeking it, he became a “ready scribe” in it. We must not deprecate writing. Writing has a great place in scripture. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is really that, if you understand me. It is He who writes, and I believe that His writing on the christian proves the christian’s genealogy. The apostle John speaks of the things that the Lord Jesus did. He says, I have been writing to show seven signs, and he hung up on these seven signs a tablet, which we may read and run: “these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name”. That is what he wrote them for; he did not write in any exhaustive way, he wants us to understand. Not a scriptural writer writes exhaustively: holy men of old were moved by the Holy Spirit and they wrote what they were moved to write, but no scriptural writer attempts to be exhaustive. John says formally, I have made no attempt to be exhaustive. I have simply written these things for you, but if all the other things were written,

he says, “I suppose that not even the world itself would contain the books written”. So that if anybody wants to write christianity exhaustively he has a very big order. But the Lord Jesus can do it, and I believe that everything will find an answer in some way so that things will be written, nothing will be lost. In John’s gospel we are told that the fragments are all to be gathered up so that nothing is to be lost. Ezra was a ready scribe, he wrote the law of God, and I have no doubt that one finds touches, as I said, throughout the Books of Chronicles: he makes a great deal of David, they are written from the standpoint of the house of David and I have no doubt that in the last days of the church the Holy Spirit would work so that Christ should be supreme — as I have remarked on a previous occasion — the Headstone. Zerubbabel lays the foundation, but he puts up the Headstone also and they shout, “Grace, grace unto it”. It is Christ in the affections of the saints.

Well now, Ezra heard that the people of God were contracting unholy alliances. That, alas! is a practice that is very prevalent today among the people of God. As we maintain distance from God in our souls it is inevitable that we should contract unholy alliances, and Ezra, with true priestly instinct, humbles himself about it. One would love to see that now, that the Holy Spirit would bring about a sense that the alliances which many of the people of God have formed are unholy. The priest notices it, because he considers for God, and so Ezra sat down overwhelmed and rent his mantle and his garment and plucked off the hair of his head — remarkable exercise; and now at the evening oblation he arose. That is, as he apprehends Christ as He is before God, he has confidence. He has confidence in God. And we have every reason to have confidence at the present time, for what Christ was at the beginning He is now, not only us-ward, but God-ward. He stands before God in all the efficacy of His work, and the ^[p. 49] fragrance and worth is there in the presence of God. We may have every encouragement to turn to God. I wonder if we are accustomed to that? I am endeavouring to bring before you the great importance of taking up your priestly responsibilities and your priestly privileges, and approaching God in prayer on account of the conditions that exist in the assembly; one is assured on account of the unchangeable efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ in the presence of God. Priesthood is thus assured before God. And then he confesses his sins and the sins of the nation, and he goes on to say of Jehovah, “to give us a nail in his holy place” and then further, “and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem”. These are the two points. God has given these to us, I am assured, at the present time, and I read the passage in Hebrews 10 so that we might see the bearing of the nail. I have no doubt the nail is typically the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you assurance in your soul as to having a fixed place there? The psalmist says “When shall I come and appear before God?” His soul thirsted for God: for the living God; but then he was far away. How many there are like that! And then in a later psalm it is said: “They go from strength to strength: each one will appear before God in Zion”. It is a question of God’s purpose. Zion is always that. God has His own fixed place in which He is to be approached, let us remember that. One rests in that, that one has come to Hebrews 10, it is not simply that you are called to it, the point is to come to it. Hence he brings forward that which is requisite for it first, saying “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies ... and having a great priest over the house of God”. We do not acquire either of these things, they are supplied. We want to see that in christianity it is a time of supply from the divine side. He has accorded to us boldness of access, by the blood of Jesus, to the holiest of all; and then, on the other ^[p. 50] hand, He has accorded to us a great Priest over His house. How wonderful for the soul that God has opened up to me a way, He has accorded to me boldness of access. Christendom has gone back to the old way, ceremonies and rites, whereas the new way is living; the ground of it is the blood of Jesus, but then it is living, which I apprehend involves that I have the Spirit. I approach in the energy of the Spirit and then I have a great Priest over the house of God. Things in Hebrews are new and great; we have a ‘great salvation’, we have a ‘great Priest’ not only a High Priest, there were many high priests that were not great priests. A great Priest has affection and sympathy, but He has power, so that the house being under His influence — for it is that — and under His supervision and control, and His ordering, the soul has perfect liberty. I do not know of anything so blessed as to come to know the influence of Christ in the house of God. In the next statement he does not speak of what we have accorded to us, but what we must bring: “with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water”. Having these things, let us draw near, and so we come to the realization of what Ezra speaks of, we have a nail in the holy place. We have an abiding place in the holiest of all in that sense — a sure footing there, for Christ is there. The nearer you get to God, the more sensitive you become of your acceptance. I repeat that. The nearer you draw to God the more conscious you are of the delight He has in you in Christ. The further you are away, the more the enemy has the advantage, for you are not conscious in the same way of the divine love and interest in you. The nearer you are to God, the more sensitive you are of the fixed abode, that is, the nail. The ‘nail’ in Isaiah is said to be in a ‘sure place’, but the nail here is in the sanctuary.

Well now, the wall in Judah and Jerusalem is another ^[p. 51] matter. The wall is for protection. So that the nail in the holy place is God’s portion — my relation with God, and the wall is the protection that I find in the fellowship of the people of God. I have great encouragement to speak to young christians about fellowship, because fellowship is becoming the dominant feature of the world now, leagues and bonds binding the people of the world together, and one trembles for the young especially. I would call your attention to this, that God has given to us a wall and it is given to us in Jerusalem; that is to say, fellowship is in connection with God’s purpose, it is connected with government. No individual government, no independency can set it up; it is the fellowship of God’s Son, it is the fellowship of the apostles; the fellowship of His death; it is fellowship one with another. If you do not love the brethren you do not value that last statement. Fellowship with one another appeals to my heart if I love the brethren, and so in chapter 13 it is the public position. “We have an altar”. That is the “we” of mutuality. It is an exclusive altar. We have an altar whereat they who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. God in that way issues a warning to all who ally themselves with ceremonial religion, with a revival of the tabernacle system, that they are shut out from the exclusive altar of christians. It is a solemn thing to be allied with that which is a revival of the old tabernacle system, that is, a ceremonial system. We should not be afraid of that word exclusive, because it is quite scriptural. The Lord acted upon it in the gospels: He selected three men to take them up the mount of transfiguration. He left out the other nine. He selected them in His own sovereign right and He excluded others. So the altar which christians have is an exclusive altar; it is exclusive of all that is of the flesh, and then it is exclusive of those who are affiliated with the tabernacle system, human religion, set up in ceremonialism. If there is one here who is serving that, I would call your ^[p. 52] attention to this, that you have no right to eat. If you are a christian, you are a priest, and you should be exercised about the true altar of God and about the true sanctuary of God; that altar is available to you on the principle of separation and only on that principle, for separation from evil is God’s principle. “Therefore let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach”. It is public. I have often said that the Lord went to heaven in private, but He went out of the world in public; and baptism, the fellowship of His table, of His death, are public, so that His reproach is connected with your baptism, and His reproach is connected with your fellowship: we might as well accept that. Now it is not that you have to, but rather that you do: “bearing”, you accept it as a privilege. If in the government of God I am placed in circumstances where reproach comes upon me, it is privilege, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake”. Suffering I apprehend to be the purple of the tabernacle. Purple is a royal colour, but it is a royal colour in suffering. Those that suffer reign. Hence it is an immense advantage to suffer, for the reigning is commensurate with the suffering. So it says, “without the gate” of the city. That is public — terrible to the flesh! There was a man “coming out of the country” when Jesus went out at the gate. The two that went on their way to Emmaus were ‘going into the country’, that was the wrong course, beloved friends. The time now was to be marked by going into the city, the city being a principle. The man was “coming out of the country” and he had the honour of bearing the cross of Christ. It was a marvellous privilege, in a way, unsought for, perhaps, but it was accorded to him “coming out of the country”. According to Mark’s record the two were going into the country (chapter 16, verse 12) without saying to what part, suggesting that they were going away from the divine centre, “Let us go forth ^[p. 53] therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach”. I suppose it is like the man who came up out of the country bearing the cross of Christ, so now we take up the privilege of bearing the reproach of Christ publicly, pending the time when He appears. Alongside of that we have the exclusive altar. Let us emphasize our exclusiveness. I was speaking last night of the rights of christians: the altar of God belongs to us. Let us glory in it, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name”.

If we have an altar, and if we eat at it, it is obvious that sacrifice has to be made, and the sacrifice is such as Peter calls a priestly sacrifice, a sacrifice of praise, spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. So that in that way we come into the public service of God and we are found answering to the gospel of Luke. The gospel of Luke is the gospel of joy, joy that is brought in from heaven, and this epistle shows us the saints offering to God the fruit of their lips, giving thanks to His name.

May God help us. I would especially commend to you the two points that I have named from Ezra, that is, that we have a nail in the holy place, that means a sure footing; and then on the other hand we have a wall and our fellowship is protection. It is a remarkable thing that in Ezra they build the altar to protect themselves. If you read the third chapter you will find that is the first thing they build “for fear ... of the people of those countries”, and the altar being set up. God defends it. You may depend upon it that where God’s rights are owned He will protect you.