A prophet is needed to correct and adjust when the priesthood is weak and when the kingship is wrong. Although Samuel was a priest, he became a prophet for the kingship. David the king also became a prophet to predict and prophesy. But among the Lord’s children today, the basic ministry is not the prophethood, but the priesthood and kingship. What we need primarily in the church is the priesthood and the kingship.
During the degradation of the people of Israel, there was no proper king or priest. Therefore, Elijah was called by God. When Elijah began to function as a prophet, all the priests had disappeared; even the doors of the temple were closed. The kings also were ruined and corrupted. It was at such a time that God brought in Elijah and Elisha. When the priests failed and the kings were ruined, then the prophets were raised up.
In Christianity today, we have many preachers, but few priests and kings. When a preacher comes, people gather to listen to his preaching, but when the preacher is gone, the people are scattered. This degraded concept is within us all. We all expect to hear a big prophet. This is wrong. All the brothers must be helped to be the proper priests and kings. If we would all exercise for the priesthood and kingship, the church would be enriched.
Have you ever realized that 1 Corinthians is the book where the gift of prophecy is mentioned? We know that the situation in the church at Corinth was carnal, ruined, weak, and confused. There was no priesthood or kingship—only confusion. Therefore, they needed the prophet to teach, correct, and adjust them. When a church needs prophecy, it is no longer strong, but weak; it is no longer rich, but poor.
If we all are real priests and real kings, the preachers will not be as necessary as they are today. Today’s Christians are too poor and too weak, and the priesthood has nearly disappeared. Many times the brothers in different places have told me how much they need someone to minister to them. This simply means that the priesthood is neglected. We must learn the lesson of how to function as a priest.
Let us apply these things to our daily life. Suppose a brother has a real problem with his wife. Does he need a prophet or a priest to help him? If I function only as a prophet, I will say, “Brother, you must confess to your wife and learn the lesson of humility. You also must love your wife, etc.” This is the ministry of the prophet. This dear brother may say inwardly to himself, “Brother, I know all these things quite well, but I cannot do them. I know that I must confess to my wife that I was wrong, but I cannot do it. I know that I must be humble, but I cannot be humble. I know that I must love my wife, but I cannot. What shall I do?” Then the prophet will say, “If you do not do this, your wife will divorce you!” This is a typical prophet.
But what is the ministry of the priest? If I am a priest, I will bear this brother upon my shoulder (all the tribal names of the people of Israel were upon the shoulders and on the breasts of the high priest) and stay in the presence of the Lord, praying for him all the time. Then I will visit him—not to teach, instruct, condemn, or rebuke him, but to impart the life of the priesthood into him. I may sit with him for half an hour without saying anything. Then eventually I may say, “Brother, will you pray-read with me?” The priestly ministry is to spread the showbread, light the lamp, and burn the incense within him. After such a time of prayer, something within will nourish and enlighten him. Something within will burn as a kind of incense. I did not even talk about the problem he has with his wife, but I did minister something of Christ into this brother! This is the ministry of the priesthood.
Eventually, the life ministered into him will energize and strengthen him. It will even subdue and convict him. After three days, he will confess to his wife in tears. Not only will the problem be solved, but death will be swallowed up by life! This is what priestly ministry means, and what prophetic ministry can never do. This is not the prophet teaching others, but the priest ministering Christ into others. This is a priest setting forth the showbread, lighting the lamp, and burning the incense.
Doubtless, the church today needs the teachings and messages, but the most important thing the church needs is the living function of the priesthood. If the priesthood were exercised, we would not so much need a prophet or a teacher as today’s Christianity does. All the brothers and sisters would simply minister life to others. It may be they cannot preach, but they can minister life. Prophecy is a gift, but the priesthood and kingship are not; they are a development of life. When the inner life develops to a certain degree, there will be the priesthood. It is not a gift, but the result of the growth in life.
During the past century many teachings have been recovered in Christianity. Since the middle of the last century, the Pentecostal gifts have spread from England, through the U.S.A. and the Orient. But after more than one hundred years, the results have been only divisions and confusion. Divisions have come out of the teachings, and confusion has come out of the so-called manifestation of the gifts. Let us look at the facts of history. We must believe that the Lord’s recovery is not in teachings or gifts. The Lord’s way of recovery is in the inner life through the priesthood and the kingship, rather than in so many teachings and so many gifts of the prophethood. The more teachings we have, the more divisions we will produce. The more gifts we have, the more confusion we will spread.
It is more important that we exercise the spirit to contact the Lord, spend time in the presence of the Lord to be saturated with Him, and learn the experiences and lessons of how to minister life to others. This is the priestly ministry. We need the life-imparting, life-supplying ministry of the priesthood and the kingship.
My heart is longing to see in every city a group of dear ones knowing how to exercise the priesthood and minister life to others, rather than paying their attention to teachings and gifts—all of them being priests and kings, rather than prophets. This is the real way for the Lord’s recovery. Whenever we come together, we should not pay attention to teachings or anything else, but simply exercise the priesthood. How wonderful this would be! I do believe that this is what the Lord is seeking in these days. May His grace work it out!