The Lord wants us to serve Him more than He wants us to work for Him. Ministering to the house and serving before the Lord’s table are different things. Working for the Lord and serving the Lord are different things. Tilling the field and shepherding the flock are different from serving in the presence of the master.
What the sons of Levi did was different from what the sons of Zadok did. The Levites ministered to the house in the outer court; they killed the sacrifices before the people and ministered on their behalf. The sons of Zadok ministered to the Lord’s table within the Holy Place and served the Lord by offering the fat and the blood. The work of the Levites in the outer court was apparent. The work of the priests in the Holy Place was hidden. In the outer court one ministered to the people. In the Holy Place one ministered to the Lord. The ministry in the outer court appears to be serving the Lord. Actually, it is very different from serving the Lord in the house.
Many people like to exercise their muscles in the outer court. They like to help others move and kill the sacrifices, but they do not like to serve the Lord in the Holy Place. Many people like to run around in an outward way; they like to save sinners, edify the believers, and serve the brothers. But the Lord wants us to pursue a service to Him.
God’s work has its interests and attractions. The attractions of the flesh do exist within God’s work. Many people love to run around and work because this is what their flesh is inclined to do. Outwardly, they are saving sinners and serving the brothers. Actually, they are serving their own flesh and their own pleasures. One believer who has passed the veil and who is on the other side of the veil prayed after reading Ezekiel 44: “Lord, may I minister unto You, rather than unto the house!”
“They shall come near to Me to minister to Me” (Ezek. 44:15). In the outer court one comes near to the people. In the Holy Place one comes near to the Lord. It is possible to follow the Lord “at a distance” (Matt. 26:58), but it is not possible to minister to the Lord at a distance. In order to minister to the Lord, one has to come near to Him. The prayer that brings one near to the Lord gives him strength. It also requires that he exercise his strength.
“And they shall stand before Me” (Ezek. 44:15). Not only must one come near to the Lord, but he must also stand before Him. Many people cannot stand and wait. To stand is to wait for an order. All those who cannot stand and wait before the Lord cannot minister to Him. We have two kinds of sins. One is to receive a command and not obey it; this is rebellion. The other is to have no command and yet do something; this is presumption (Psa. 19:13). It is not a matter of good or bad but of having or not having God’s command. Good things can damage the believers very much; they are a great enemy to God’s will. In the outer court one takes orders from the offerers of sacrifices. In the Holy Place one takes orders from God.
“To present to Me the fat and the blood” (Ezek. 44:15). God’s righteousness and holiness fill the Holy Place, and His glory fills the Holy of Holies. The blood is for God’s righteousness and holiness, while the fat is for God’s glory. Glory is God Himself. Holiness is God’s nature, while righteousness is God’s procedure, His way. The blood is there for the forgiveness of sins; it satisfies God’s righteousness and holiness, and it enables us to come to God. The fat is to satisfy God Himself. The blood deals with the old creation, while the fat is for the new creation. When the Lord poured out His blood, it meant that He poured out all His natural life. Today the Lord has flesh and bones (Luke 24:39) but no blood. He does not have a drop of blood. Every day we have to learn to deny our natural life before the Lord; this is the aspect of the blood. At the same time, we have to offer up the resurrection life; this is the aspect of the fat (Rom. 6:13).
“It is they who will enter My sanctuary” (Ezek. 44:16). To be in the sanctuary is to be in the presence of the Lord. We are very afraid of being in the sanctuary because if we remain in the sanctuary it is easy to be misunderstood, slandered, and criticized. But we should dwell in the house of the Lord. We are not narrow; our hearts are broad and ambitious. Paul said in his Epistles that he was determined to be well pleasing to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:9). We have to pursue ministering to the Lord rather than to the house.
“No wool will come upon them” (Ezek. 44:17). “They shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat” (v. 18). Sweat is a condition of the curse (Gen. 3:19). To sweat is to be without the Lord’s blessing and to labor by the flesh. One can sweat when he kills the bulls and the goats in the outer court. But he cannot sweat when he is ministering to the Lord in the Holy Place. One can exert spiritual strength before the Lord, but he must not sweat. Committees, discussions, and propagandas all belong to the realm of sweating. Spiritual work touches God alone, while fleshly work touches men alone. The more spiritual a work is, the more inward it is. But the work of the flesh is all outward.
God did not command all the Levites to minister to Him in the Holy Place. He only ordered the sons of Zadok to minister to Him in the Holy Place. God invites men to minister to Him in His Holy Place. He wants men to preserve His Holy Place, shine out from there, and separate the holy things from the common things, and the clean things from the unclean things. Acts 13:1-3 tells us when “they were ministering to the Lord and fasting,” the Holy Spirit sent them out on their missionary work abroad. Our work abroad should start with our ministering to the Lord. The Lord is after drafted workers, not volunteer workers. Hebrews emphasizes two things: our ministering to God within the veil and our suffering the reproach of the Lord without the camp.
In Luke 17:7-10, “plowing” is preaching of the gospel, while “tending sheep” is caring for the believers. To “serve me” means that one has to minister to the Lord even after he has worked. To “eat and drink” is to remember and to enjoy the fruit of our work; we must first allow the Lord to “eat and drink” before we enjoy eating and drinking. The result of our work should first satisfy the Lord’s heart before it satisfies our heart. After we have worked, we should not eat, drink, and enjoy; rather, we should say, “We are unprofitable slaves.” “Gird yourself and serve me” means that after one has worked, he should still be on the alert to minister to the Lord. May we pursue a ministry to the Lord. The work in the field is not as good as the ministry in the house, and the field and the sheep are not as good as the Lord Himself.
(Morning, January 22, 1934)