In the New Testament God ordains that every believer should be a priest of the gospel. Moreover, the service of the gospel priest is a priesthood. Every believer has to be a priest from the time that he is saved. A priest is one who serves God. The New Testament priest is a gospel-preaching priest; that is, he is a priest that serves God in the gospel. This is not the duty of a few people. Rather, it is the universal responsibility of all the saints. This, however, is not what we see in Christianity today. Christianity employs a few clergymen who have studied theology and have learned some biblical truth to serve God. These clergymen are only a minority among all the believers. Most of the others are considered laymen.
What about the situation among us? We have had the proper teaching among us in the past, but there was not the practice. We said that we are all New Testament priests of the gospel and that as priests we should offer up gospel sacrifices. The gospel sacrifices are not bulls and goats; rather, they are the saved sinners. When you save a sinner and offer him up to God as a sacrifice, you are a priest of the gospel. Paul said in Romans 15:16, “That I should be a minister of Christ Jesus to the nations, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, that the offering of the nations might be acceptable.” Paul said that as a priest of the gospel, he offered up the nations to God as offerings, which are the sinners saved through his gospel.
Perhaps you would say, “But this is Paul. I cannot do the same thing.” This is a “feudalistic” mentality, one under an ecclesiastical and clerical concept. It is “feudalism” within Christianity. Paul said that as far as being a Christian is concerned, he was less than the least of all saints. On the other hand, according to the Bible, God chose Paul to be the pattern to all those who believe in the Lord Jesus. Since he was a pattern, whatever he did should be done by us. Whatever he could do, we should also be able to do.
Our way in the past was wrong. Whenever we talked about preaching the gospel, we considered that a certain brother would stand on the platform to release a message. He was the one that had the ecclesiastical position and clerical power. As to the other brothers and sisters, their job was just to help that one to lead the songs, pray, and read the Scripture. Some would also help in cleaning the hall, arranging the chairs, inviting the friends, and preparing the love feasts. During the time of the meeting, they did not have to say anything. All they needed to do was to help the gospel friends turn the pages of the Bible and hymn book and help them write down their names after the meeting. Because we took the wrong way, the gospel service which should have been for everyone was left to a few who were capable in preaching the gospel. The rest of the brothers and sisters all became Levites. This was a deception of the enemy.
In God’s wisdom He wants everyone to be a priest. Satan’s deception is not to stop people from preaching the gospel entirely. Rather, it is to turn God’s wise way into human ways. God wants every saved person to be a living member of the Body of Christ, but man’s way is to invite big evangelists to conduct campaigns. All of the other believers then become the Levites helping in miscellaneous affairs. Everyone depends on the particular one to preach the gospel. There is no need to go out to knock on doors or learn to speak. In this way everyone’s spiritual function is killed. Even today many Christians still do not know how to preach the gospel.
Today’s Christianity can be considered half paralyzed. Among us, four and a half years ago, the situation was similar. I observed the situation and knew that the condition was wrong. The Lord’s recovery had fallen into a condition of stagnation, and there was no progress. Although through our publications the Lord’s recovery was sent to all the continents of the world, the rate of increase and spread in all the churches was not satisfactory. Hence, I knew that our condition was wrong. This stagnant condition was a sign. I cast aside all considerations and dropped the work in the West to come to Taiwan. I have spent the past four years specifically on the study of the new way. I have re-studied the Bible and reconsidered church history as well as the practices among us.