Have you ever noticed that the New Testament begins with the priesthood? The priesthood was expressed through Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. We know that John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Lord, but who brought in John the Baptist? It was the priesthood through his father. The priesthood through Zacharias brought in the forerunner of Christ, who brought in Christ Himself. So it was through the priesthood that the New Testament was opened and brought into reality.
We know that Zacharias was a priest, both legally and spiritually. This means that John the Baptist was also a priest because he was the son of a priest. Although he stayed in the wilderness, he was really in the Holy of Holies.
As we read the four Gospels, we realize that no one is as priestly as the Lord Jesus. He was the Priest among all priests. All the time He was one with God and constantly lived in the presence of God.
Even the book of Acts is a full record of the priesthood. In those first ten days, the upper room in Jerusalem was the real Holy of Holies. They were simply in the presence of the Lord. Legally, they were not priests, but spiritually speaking, they were the real priests. They spent their time, their life, and their all in the presence of the Lord. Eventually, on the day of Pentecost, they became one with the Lord.
Today many people talk about Pentecost, but forget that this was the priesthood. They think that Pentecost was a matter of gifts. No, Pentecost was a matter of the priesthood. A gifted person and a priestly person are two different persons. What the church needs today is not gifted persons, but priests. Peter, John, and the others were priests, not merely gifted persons. They lived in the presence of the Lord and lived as one with the Lord.
Further on in Acts, it was while Peter was spending time in the presence of the Lord that the heavenly vision came. At that time, Peter was in the Holy of Holies.
Then, Acts 13 records the story of Antioch. Again, it is the story of the priesthood. Paul, with the others, ministered to the Lord in the spiritual Holy of Holies. They spent their time, their lives, and kept their person in the presence of the Lord. When they were one with the Lord, then the calling came. The calling was simply an expression of the Lord through those people who were filled and saturated with God Himself. This was nothing but the priesthood.
Finally, in the last book of the Bible, John the Apostle is found in spirit. Today, our regenerated spirit, indwelt by the Lord, is the very Holy of Holies. When John was in his spirit, he was in the Holy of Holies. It was there that he saw the Lord, the visions about the church, the New Jerusalem, and even the judgments that will be exercised on the earth. Remember, it was Peter and John who told us that we have been made priests, even the kingly priests, by the Lord’s redemption.
In the priesthood, there has always been failure on the human side and continual recovery on the divine side. Following the restored creation, Adam was put into the real position of the priesthood. When Adam failed, God came in to recover the priesthood by His redemption. Abel was brought back by redemption into the priesthood. He became a redeemed priest to enjoy and contact God, to function with God and partake of God.
Eventually, even this priesthood under redemption was lost by man. Then God came in to select Abraham out of the fallen race and bring him into the priesthood. He became a priest interceding for others. Genesis 18 reveals that God was in the tent of Abraham. That tent was the Holy of Holies. Abraham was in the Holy of Holies being one with the Lord. Therefore, he received the vision about Sodom and the Lord’s plan.
Gradually, Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, fell into Egypt. Thus, they lost the priesthood again. But the Lord redeemed them through the Passover and told them that He intended to make them a kingdom of priests or a priestly kingdom (Exo. 19). There would not be just one priest, but a kingdom of priests. However, it was not long until the whole nation of Israel fell by worshipping the golden calf. Then the priesthood was turned from the whole nation to the one tribe of Levi. Later, during the time of Eli, the situation with the priests of the tribe of Levi was very poor. They were so fallen that they lost everything of the priesthood. But God raised up the kings and the prophets to restore the priesthood. All the kings and prophets who were with God were brought into the real priesthood.
Now we come to the New Testament. As we have seen, the Lord Jesus who was the Priest of all priests, brought us into the priesthood through His redemption. The whole church must now be the priesthood. But this priesthood has also been lost. Therefore, the recovery of the church life is merely the recovery of the real priesthood. It is not a matter of service, work, or activity. It is solely a matter of the priesthood. We all must be recovered into this priesthood, which means we must be brought back into the real fellowship with the Lord.
Clearly, it is not a matter of doing something for the Lord, nor is it a movement. The Lord’s recovery is entirely a matter of the priesthood. We all have to be brought into the presence of the Lord. We must learn how to be possessed and occupied by the Lord until we are filled, saturated, and permeated with the Lord. Let us all forget about any kind of work. That is not our responsibility—it is His. Our responsibility is simply to take care of the priesthood.
The record in the Bible clearly shows that none of the work of God was initiated by man’s thought or activity. All His work has been initiated through the priesthood. We must forget about the work, activities, movements, methods, forms, and even the teachings and gifts. Our one unique need is the real priesthood.
We need some time to be on the “housetop,” on the “island of Patmos,” on the “side of the river,” and in the “wilderness.” This simply means that we need some time to be separated and shut up unto the Lord, that we may spend not just our time, but have our very life and person in His presence. Then He will occupy us, and our whole concept will be changed to the heavenly view of the priesthood.
I must say again that the recovery of the Lord is the recovery of the priesthood. The recovery of the church life is not a movement, work, or activity, but just the recovery of the priesthood. What the Lord needs is a group of people who are brought into His presence and even into the Lord Himself until they are one with Him. Then He will have the freedom to flow out and work out His will for the fulfillment of His purpose.