In the church life the saints are of different ages. Some are very young, and others are old enough to be grandparents. Moreover, the younger ones among us are students, and others have various occupations and professions. But regardless of our age or occupation, when we come together in the meetings, we all should be priests. We have heard the terms clergy and laity, and we often declare that we do not want anything of the clergy-laity system. In the church meetings we are neither the clergy nor the laity—we are priests. Individually we all are priests, and corporately we are priests also. We are the priesthood; we do not have the clergy-laity system.
In the Bible the word priesthood has two meanings. First, it denotes a priestly body, that is, a group of priests. Second, it means the priestly service, the service of the priests. We are not only priests; we are a priesthood. We are priests together, priests in a corporate way. Because we are a priesthood, when one brother gives a message in a meeting, he is not speaking alone. Rather, the entire body of priests is speaking with him. Whenever such a speaking takes place in the meeting, the lamps are lighted, and the meeting is full of divine light.
We have emphasized the fact that the divine light, the holy light, includes the embodiment of the Triune God, the divine nature, the humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ. Christ is the One who has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. When we light the lamps, using the oil of the Spirit of Christ, we cause the lamps to ascend. Literally, “to light” the lamps means “to cause to ascend” (v. 20). It is to cause the lamps to arise. When the holy priests speak in the church meeting, the light ascends, and the sanctuary is full of light.
Exodus 28:2 says, “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” As those who are part of the priesthood, we need to know what these priestly garments are and to have the reality of these garments in our experience. Verse 4 says, “And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of woven work, a turban, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and for his sons, to serve as priests to Me.” What is the spiritual significance of all these garments? The significance of the priestly garments is the expression of Christ in the priesthood. This means that the garments signify Christ lived out of the priesthood. We have not only Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, the divine nature of Christ, the uplifted humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ with all the steps of Christ’s process, but we have also the expression of Christ.
If in our daily living we do not have the expression of Christ, then whatever we do in the church meetings will be hypocrisy. Our speaking and activities in the meetings will be hypocritical. If we do not have the priestly garments, we are not qualified or equipped to light the lamps. The qualification for a priest to light the lamps in the Holy Place is the expression of Christ. As priests who would light the lamps, we need the adequate expression of Christ. The conjunction “and” at the beginning of chapter twenty-eight indicates that the priestly garments are needed for the lighting of the lamps.
As a priest, what kind of garments, what kind of expression, do you have in the church meetings? If you try to light the lamps in the sanctuary without the adequate expression of Christ typified by the priestly garments, you will suffer spiritual death. This means that you will experience a divine killing because you are not properly clothed in the sight of God. Priests need a long robe to cover them completely. This priestly robe is Christ.
If our speaking in the meetings is hypocritical, not genuine in expressing Christ, we shall experience death, and this death will bring in darkness. Therefore, if we would light the lamps in the sanctuary, we must wear the priestly garments. In forthcoming messages we shall consider in detail the significance of the different garments. We shall see that they describe various aspects of the expression of Christ. In this message my aim has been to point out in a general way that we need the expression of Christ so that we may be equipped and qualified to light the lamps in God’s dwelling place. We all must wear a priestly robe.