All the Epistles written by the Apostles were written in this way. For instance, the Epistles to the church in Corinth were written by the Apostle Paul with all the believers composed together as a breastplate upon his heart. He was so much concerned for the Body of Christ that all the saints were composed upon his heart. He had Christ as his light and perfection. And he stayed in the presence of God to receive the fresh, new light. It was in this light that he considered all the saints in Corinth one by one. He read all the brothers and sisters as the letters. This is how he got the materials to write the two letters.
The Apostle Paul did not study the Old Testament to get some wonderful concepts or thoughts and put them together to write to the church in Corinth. The Apostles did not write the Epistles in this way. First of all, they were built up in the church life. And all the churches were composed as materials for that breastplate upon their hearts. In their hearts they were so much concerned about all the churches of all the saints. They had the church life, and they had Christ as their light and perfection. In the presence of the Lord they received the fresh light to read the situation in all the churches. All the saints simply became the letters for them to compose the Epistles.
Today it is the same. If we are going to know the Lord’s will and judgment about His people, we need the redemption, the nourishment, the enlightening, and the building up. Then among us and with us there will be the breastplate, which is the building up of the Body life and the means for us to know God’s will concerning His people. Then we will receive the Lord’s judgment of what we have to do or what we must not do. We will know the Lord’s way. Then the whole church will go on according to the judgment given by the Lord.
Whenever the people of God take action in this way, they will get into the battle. Numbers 4:3 says, “From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.” The American Standard Version changes the word “host” into “service,” but the footnote says that this word for host or service is the Hebrew word for warfare or military service. The footnote of Darby’s New Translation says the same thing. The priestly service is a military service. The same word is found in verses 30, 35, 39, and 43.
This tells us that the priestly service is a kind of warfare to fight the battle for the move of God. The gospel preaching is a kind of fighting, and even the teaching of the Word is a kind of fighting. Our Christian life is simply a life of fighting all the time. We are fighting against the world, the flesh, sins, Satan, darkness, and so many evil things. Our Christian life is a life of fighting, and our Christian work is a warfare. The priestly ministry is a matter of fighting.
Redemption, life, light, and building are all that we might enter into the presence of God with Christ as our light and perfection in order to know the judgment of God about His people. This will bring us into the battle. All the activities in this battle must be according to the judgment through the breastplate. So the breastplate is the very central and ultimate point of the priesthood.