PRIESTHOOD
[p. 266] PRIESTHOOD
I think that in the minds of christians generally there is a great deal of indefiniteness with regard to priesthood. In evangelical Christianity it is pretty much the custom to claim priesthood for all christians, to set forward the assertion that all christians are priests. I do not doubt there is truth in this, for no one can question for a moment that God has but one thought in regard of christians. None of us would contradict that. The expression of God’s mind with regard to all of us is Christ; He is the perfect expression of that.
But there comes in another point, and that is, what is apprehended by us, because, in christianity, nothing is of much good to us beyond that which we have apprehended spiritually. I have no hesitation in stating that. God may have in His mind many thoughts with regard to us; but if we have not apprehended them, they have not become available to us.
There is a power in every christian by which everything may be available to him, for every real christian has part in the Spirit of God; but then it is equally true that we must avail ourselves of everything.
I do not think it is prudent to claim anything beyond that of which, by the Spirit of God, you have availed yourself. It is wisdom to keep within those limits. In christianity, reality is a great point. If you attempt to claim things beyond your spiritual apprehension you are in danger of getting into unreality, and unreality is a kind of bog that may let you through. None of us can claim to have got very far on in apprehension; there is a great deal more for us, and it is a great thing if we are wakened up to go forward; but as to what we assert, prudence would dictate that we should keep within the limits of our spiritual apprehension, because anything [p. 267] beyond that has not yet been availed of.
Christianity is not like Israel. You would hardly get babes and young men and fathers spiritually in Israel, but you get them all in christianity. There are such distinctions in Scripture, and in marking progress of that kind, evidently the Spirit of God has regard to the point of spiritual apprehension. No one can read the second chapter of John’s first epistle without coming to that conclusion. But whether those addressed were babes, or young men, or fathers, God’s thought as to them was the same. From that point and onwards, John speaks in a general way, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us”.
Now, I would touch upon a point in regard of Israel as to priesthood. I am going to try to make plain how we come to it in spiritual apprehension, so that it becomes really available to us, and we get the gain of it. I do not think that in our meetings we see great evidence of priesthood. We do not see such great liberty of access. Of course, there are comparatively few meetings known to me, but in the few that I know, I have not seen so much of that liberty of access which should mark priests, so that I may be borne with in attempting to shew how we avail ourselves of that which is in the mind of God with regard to us.
Now in Israel priesthood was limited to a special family. The whole tribe of Levi were not priests; the priesthood was limited to a special family of that tribe. God took up the man most distinguished next to Moses to constitute him high priest. Moses was mediator and lawgiver, but Aaron was the high priest. He was called of God, and there never was another called of God except Christ. Aaron was a type; he was not the antitype, the reality, for, after all, Aaron was a poor, failing man; he made the golden calf. The One really called of God to priesthood is Christ; Christ did not glorify Himself to be made high priest, but was called of God, as was Aaron, the difference being that Aaron was the type, and Christ [p. 268] the reality. You get the same idea with regard to “the Head”. Adam was the head only as a figure; the reality has come; the Head of every man is Christ.
In speaking of Israel, one point has struck me, that is, that the application of the sacrifices was general — for all the people. Any Israelite might have offered a burnt-offering; the sacrifices were free to all, they were not limited to priests. The priests offered them; but the availability of the offerings was not limited to them. The book of Leviticus is a very interesting book, for it opens up the terms on which God would be with the people, not only with the priests, because, as I said, any one might bring a burnt-offering for his acceptance, and, in a sense, the meat-offering and the peace-offering stood on the same platform. If an Israelite brought a peace-offering it was usually in connection with thanksgiving; but it was free to all the people to approach God in that way. That is an important point, and shews the distinction between the fact of acceptance and priesthood.
In christianity you cannot run to extremes the same distinction, but you do get a distinction between the fact of acceptance through an offering and priesthood. They may belong to the same persons, but the things themselves are different. You get the principle of offering all through Scripture, from Abel onward. An Israelite might approach God with an offering; it indicated a movement of soul. A man brought his offering and was conscious that he was before God in the acceptance of it. But you have not yet got to the point of priesthood. Now, priesthood hung, to begin with, upon the calling of God. But what about Aaron’s sons? I do not think they are spoken of as being of God. Aaron alone was called of God, and his sons were originally priests by reason of being related to him.
In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah the priests had to prove their genealogy. They could not take the ground of being called of God. If they could not prove their genealogy they were put out of the priesthood. The priesthood in the case of Aaron’s sons was the effect of being kindred to Aaron.
I am now going to speak of the application of these things to christians. In the beginning of this chapter you do not get the thought of priesthood. Certain people are addressed by the apostle, and the ground on which he addresses them is that they had believed in God, had received His testimony. What I understand to be the testimony of God is Christ risen. It is the witness on the part of God that He has broken the dominion of death, Christ is risen, redemption has been accomplished. One man is risen, and the dominion of death has thus been broken. Those addressed had believed in God, who had raised Christ from the dead and given Him glory, and their faith and hope were in God.
But Peter recognises another point with regard to them, that is, they were born again. The work in them had originated with God. Now he says, ‘As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation’. What I understand by that is that in growing by the sincere milk of the word, people leave in spirit the system connected with man down here, and come into the apprehension of that system of which Christ is the Head. God has been pleased to bring into view the second Man, the true Head, and the world to come in connection with the one Man.
I do not quite like the common idea of two men, because the first man was really the type or figure of the second Man; the second Man is the reality, and the world to come is all built up on the reality. That reality was brought into view, and the growing up unto salvation meant turning the back on the world system, coming into the reality of baptism and growing up to Christ, in whom is salvation. Salvation belongs to the system of which Christ is Head. It is in Christ Jesus. You have to change your ground. People often think to get salvation as a sort of experience in themselves. You have to recognise that salvation is in Christ, and to [p. 270] get the salvation which is in Christ you turn your back on the system which has grown up in connection with man departed from God.
You have your face towards Christ and the system which is centred in the Sun of righteousness. Some would ask me what scripture I have for it; I answer, the apostle endured all things for the sake of the elect, that they might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. We are saved in His life, not in our own life. We are undoubtedly confronted with two systems. No one fails to take in the idea of the world system. If you look at the newspapers — I look at them sometimes, but I dislike them — they bring the world system into view. It is a system in which man departed from God is glorified. What dominates in the world more than perhaps anything is the importance of money. I have come across people of position in the world, but I found that they were prepared to bow down to riches. People do not consider if a man is rich what that man is morally; they pay homage to the man on account of the part which he has in the mammon of unrighteousness.
That is one system. But in Christ Jesus we have another system brought into view, the head of which is the Sun of righteousness, like the sun is the centre of the solar universe. We have a system revealed — not yet displayed — in connection with the Sun of righteousness, in which all that is perfect morally prevails — righteousness and holiness, and at the same time in which God is perfectly glorified. Whether people understand it or not the fact remains that two systems are in view, and if you come into salvation you turn your back on one and have your face towards the other, that system where only you can realise what Christ is to the glory of God, the One on whom that blessed system of glory is built up. Salvation lies there. It does not lie simply in an experience of soul, but in the apprehension of Christ Jesus. If you apprehend salvation, you apprehend it in Christ [p. 271] Jesus, the blessed Head and centre and beginning of the moral universe in which God will be glorified, and which will endure.
The line on which I am going at this time is the line of spiritual apprehension, the apprehension of that which is available to us by the grace of God.
Now I pass on to verses 4 and 5. We have here the thought of priesthood brought into view. The beginning of priesthood is that you have come to the Living Stone. So far as I understand this, it is by the power of attraction which is in the Living Stone. I would wish to make that clear. We get an instance of it in Peter. Peter came to the Living Stone; he was drawn, but the attraction resided in the Living Stone. At the beginning Peter was drawn to Christ by Andrew, but he was held to Christ by the attraction which was in Christ. We begin as christians by faith in the Head; there is no doubt about that. The name of the Head is presented to us, and forgiveness of sins in His name, in order to attract us to Him. Christ is the Head of every man, that forgiveness may be presented in His name to every man, and every man may be attracted to Christ. The Lord refers to this in John 12, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me”.
The next step was that Christ gave to us living water, the practical result of which is to attach us to Him. You cannot have the Spirit of Christ without being attached to Him, because the Spirit is given to that end. Now the next point is that we get an apprehension of Him, we begin to apprehend the greatness of Christ, that He has ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. He is great enough to fill all things. He is the good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep, and there is goodness enough in Him to give character to every circle connected with Him. He will fill all things morally.
The sun fills the universe with light and warmth, and that is what Christ will do; He will fill the moral [p. 272] universe with the light of God, and the love of God. Now, being thus drawn, you come to Him as the Living Stone. That means that as He is disallowed of men, you are disallowed of men. You must be in accord with Him. If He is rejected, I am rejected. If He has died, I have died; I am in accord with Him. We witness this every Lord’s day morning. I am in His rejection on the one hand, but on the other hand He is chosen of God. I apprehend Him as the One who is called of God, like Aaron; He is the one elect of God. In Psalm 110 His rejection is recognised, “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”. Then He is selected as priest for ever.
Another thing is, that He is precious. In Christ you have One chosen of God, like Aaron was; on the other hand, He is precious to man. What would be the value of a priest for us if he were not precious to man? There must be a certain reciprocity between Christ and us, else you would not get the true idea of a priest. So the apostle goes on to say, Unto you which believe is the preciousness. The nation did not care for Him; they rejected Him; but to you which believe He is precious. He becomes a link as between God and us; the One who is precious to us is the One who is chosen of God.
The early verses of the chapter do not contemplate priesthood: they contemplate the believer. There are a good many real believers who have never entered upon the ground of priesthood (I do not say that priesthood is not available to them), because they have never found salvation. Salvation is the crucial point to my mind. They have never turned their backs on the world system and got an apprehension of the system of which Christ is the Head. No christian in system knows salvation, because every system that I know of is part of the great world organisation, and any one who continues in that does not know salvation, because salvation is in Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus will not touch the world organisation. If I have anything to say to saints,
[p. 273] it is to put Christ Jesus and all connected with Him in the strongest contrast to the world system. Salvation is the crucial point, the bridge, so to speak. People may have believers’ meetings and all that, but that is not priesthood. When we come to that we are drawn to it by the apprehension of the preciousness of Christ and of His greatness. He went into the lower parts of the earth, as low as it was possible to go, but He has gone up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. What a contrast to all which subsists in the world as it is!
Now I can prove my priesthood; I have my genealogy. I should say, if challenged, I am kindred to the One who is Priest; He has given me of His Spirit. I appreciate Him as the good Shepherd; He knows me and I know Him. I find delight in the thought that He is going to fill all things. Any one that has been attached by the Spirit to Christ can prove his genealogy, like the priest of the line of Aaron. If you cannot prove your genealogy you are not entitled to take up priesthood. The point at which you can do that is when you have been brought, by the Spirit, to the appreciation of Christ. How can you prove that you are kindred if you are not in accord with Him? I am in spirit outside of the world system, and set in that system of which He is the centre. When God raised Christ from the dead, He in a sense brought forth another world; the world to come was brought into view when Christ was raised. He was raised — I am risen with Him; I belong to that order of things of which He is the Head and centre. Not only am I rejected of the world, but I reject it. The friendship of the world is enmity with God. I am crucified by the cross of Christ to the world. I wish I could impress that upon all. There seems to me to be often a hankering after some sort of place in this world, and the consequence is, that saints are hindered in their apprehension of Christ, because Christ will not be connected in any way with the present order of things. We are disallowed, and should be content to be disallowed.
[p. 274] We do not want to be recognised by the world.
We come to the truth, too, that we are elect, chosen of God. We are kindred to Christ by His Spirit — not after the flesh. Every christian is kindred by the Spirit. A Jew might have been so after the flesh; but that no longer subsists. We arrive thus at the sense of His preciousness. Is Christ precious to you? Have you an apprehension of the greatness of Christ? As He is precious to us, we are built up a spiritual house. At the present time God would be well pleased if every christian realised the preciousness of Christ and could prove His relation to the great High Priest, that thus we might get the completely priestly company.
Now I have a word to say with regard to consecration. I think the consecration of the priesthood really took place on the day of Pentecost. I doubt if the consecration is repeated. The consecrated company were there before God. I think a first principle of consecration is having our bodies washed with pure water. You must be in accord with the death of Christ, cleansed from the world. I do not think there can be any idea of consecration if you do not accept that. The apostles had that; they were completely clear of the world system — so clear of it that Peter had to say, “Silver and gold have I none”. I do not know anything that impresses me more with profound satisfaction than the testimony of the apostles in the beginning of Acts. They had the power of the name of the heavenly Man, but they had not silver or gold, and the power of His name could make a poor cripple perfectly sound. Do you think the world is going to be made sound or set right by silver and gold? I do not think so. It is Christ who will do it without silver and gold. Then, on the other hand, they were very conscious of being kindred to Christ. In John 20, we see them kindred to Christ; He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. When they began, in Acts, every one of the hundred and twenty could have proved, without any difficulty, his genealogy — [p. 275] they were kindred to Christ. Every one of them was impressed with the preciousness of Christ. Many had been in His company continually. They had true riches, gold tried in the fire. They had an idea of perfect moral excellency, that which had stood the test of the searching judgment of the altar. Christ was the righteous One, but in death He had taken the place of the unjust. He was the holy One; but when tested by the judgment of God He does not make a parade of His holiness. He confesses the holiness of God; “Thou art holy”. He was perfect in love to the Father, and yet He was forsaken of God. The righteous One, the holy One, the One who perfectly loved the Father and was perfect in obedience to the Father — He was subjected to the searching fire of the altar, and the perfectness stood the test.
The offering was wholly consumed by the fire on the altar. One cannot doubt for a moment that the apostles had the sense of that; they had gold tried in the fire. They were rich toward God, had the sense of the tested moral excellency of Christ. A man that has that sense is rich toward God. It was not simply that they were in accord with the death and resurrection of Christ, but being rich toward God were qualified for priesthood. Their hands were full of the excellency of the One who had been offered a sacrifice to God. They had nothing else to bring to God. They had every qualification in their apprehension of things. That apprehension of Christ was of great value in the eye of God; they had that with which they could come before God with extreme acceptability.
The consecration has taken place; but we, too, enter, so to speak, into the consecration. We are prepared for it; we come to the apprehension of Christ as rejected of men, but elect of God; we can prove our genealogy and we have true riches, in regard of God, in the apprehension of Christ, and so we take up priestly service.
The great result is seen in the heavenly city; that will [p. 276] be entirely a priestly company. They will be perfect according to God’s glory, and perfect, too, in their appreciation of Christ. Whatever appreciation of Christ is given to us now is true riches, which stands by us for eternity. We shall carry the true riches beyond the grave. There is another point in connection with the heavenly city; that is, that it will be the light of the moral universe. Christ will be the light there, but the light will shine through the heavenly city, coming down from God.
What constitutes the light of the heavenly city and qualifies it for priestly function is the appreciation of the moral excellency of Christ. The heavenly city will have a large place in giving character to the universe of bliss. One can see these things, and appreciate the grace and goodness of God that leads us on step by step. No one is able to take half a dozen steps at a time. We can only bear a very little progress. Each step of progress that we make demands a certain amount of disruption here, as well as a kind of readjustment of things in your own mind, and that is not easily done. People do not like to give up or modify any thought which they have entertained, and yet our thoughts have to be continually modified. People would like to go on with everything undisturbed; but you may depend upon it every step in spiritual apprehension is sure to bring about a certain amount of disturbance in the engagements and connections in which we are found. That is not altogether pleasant, and yet it must be. But it is wonderful that God should take such pains with us, and lead us on as we are able to bear it. God can teach quickly; Paul was taught quickly; the thief on the cross was taught quickly; but in a general way, we are led on in spiritual progress step by step, and it is great thing when we come to the Living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, and the preciousness is to us. When you come to that, you will not care for much except Christ. You will be content to work for [p. 277] your living, using the world and not making use of it as your own, but your apprehension will be of true riches. Christ has become precious to you, and you enter by the Spirit of God more and more into the blessedness of that excellency which has stood the test of the fire. What called that fire into exercise? Our condition called in the searching judgment of God, but the fire of the altar only brought out the excellency of Christ. In the appreciation of that, you enter into the consecration, and find yourself acceptable in the presence of God. The man who has that appreciation of Christ can approach God with great liberty; he comes before God in the appreciation of that which has been approved in every way of God.
May God give us a true sense of Christ in that way, and to remember that Christ is the one Man, the Head of every man, of all principality and power, Head of the church, of the nations, of Israel — the divinely constituted Head, and everything for God is going to be developed morally from the Head; the universe will issue from Christ. May God give us an apprehension of the greatness of Christ, the One who has ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.