#262 Kingdom: The Continuity of Priesthood
Question: Is there an interruption of this “eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek” that is caused by the death of the body? Probably not!
Isaiah 61: 6] But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. [7] Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.
Isa 56:6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant; [7] Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
Isaiah 66: 20] “Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the LORD, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. [21] “I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the LORD. [22] “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “So your offspring and your name will endure.
Priesthood is a matter of the spirit and functions by the power of an indestructible Life. While we must minister to God while we are in this body, we do not minister “body” but “spirit and life.” Since this priesthood is after the power of an endless Life it is not affected by the death of the body of the priest. When God brings His priests and Levites to His holy mountain is not certain but the fact that He will is certain. This Holy Mountain is the heavenly Zion and Jerusalem is the heavenly City, the New Jerusalem! Will there be an earthly fulfillment? Maybe, but our inheritance is in the New Jerusalem. This time is mentioned as when He makes the New Heaven and New Earth.
Isaiah 60 :19] “No longer will you have the sun for light by day, Nor for brightness will the moon give you light; But you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And your God for your glory. [20] “Your sun will set no more, Neither will your moon wane; For you will have the LORD for an everlasting light, And the days of your mourning will be finished.
Isaiah 60: 14------- And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Since this priesthood after the order of Melchizedek is an eternal priesthood it is, most likely, not interrupted by the death of the body of the priest. Still, consecration is requisite! 2 Tim 2: 19] Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.” We must be counted worthy of the Kingdom and we must be qualified to be priests after the order of Melchizedek. The common statement of “Oh, we are all priests” is very misleading and deceptive. It is true that we are all CALLED to be priests but to a Kingdom of priests that are counted worthy of the Kingdom. The exclusive priesthood that can possibly qualify as Kings and priests is only a priesthood after the order of Melchizedek who is the King / Priest of eternity. He had no beginning of days or end of life and holds His priesthood for ever, therefore, that means for eternity.
The question that remains is how can we participate in this original priesthood? Why is this Important? Because the Kingdom of God will be made up of “priests after the order of Melchizedek! Therefore, this is a call to every believer to make the transition to this eternal priesthood now, in this life. Why now? Because we must qualify for the priesthood and be counted worthy of the Kingdom. How can we know how we can qualify? The graphic example that is given as our pattern is the preparation of the priesthood after the order of Aaron. This priesthood no longer exists except as a type and shadow of the New Testament priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. Exactly what does that mean for us today and how can we begin?
The various preparations of the priests, the sons of Aaron, that is revealed in the Tabernacle of Moses are pictures of the preparations of the priests after the order of Melchizedek.In other words the first veil speaks of repentance from dead works. This experience should birth us into a life of repentance. Not just from sin and rebellion but from everything that will keep us from qualifying for the Kingdom. Repentance means to “take a new mind” for the purpose of participating in the Kingdom of God. It is not just a sorrow over past sins and behavior that is suggested by the English usage but joyful expectation of entering the Kingdom government of God. This means to think in terms never before considered. This is what we are calling being “birthed into a life of repentance.”
Then the Altar of sacrifice speaks to us of forgiveness of sins through faith in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon Calvary. This should create in us a new birth within our spirit. With this renewing of our spirit we should “see the Kingdom” and begin to experience all the provision of Calvary that is in addition to forgiveness of sins. This should produce a new creation within and a conversion to a totally different life-style, a radical change! The “say these words after me” is too shallow to open the gates to the Kingdom of God because the “believer” can soon revert back to all he was before and just to the powers of the old carnal mind.
This birth should immediately lead us to lay aside our old manner of life and quickly remove our filthy garments that have been stained by the world, by sin, rebellion and by works that bring death. This then prepares us for the death and burial in the waters of baptism at the laver. This should immediately lead us into a new resurrection life by which we prepare for entrance into the Kingdom. In water baptism there must be a valid birth take place to prepare us to enter the Kingdom. The Kingdom is in view for each Outer Court experience. Still, there are several more preparations necessary before we can qualify as priests.
For example we must be clothed with totally new garments that are white that cover us from the shoulders to the ground. These are the garments of righteousness, the garments of praise and worship and now we are clothed with Christ. We are then “In Christ” and put on Christ as a garment. After the priestly bonnet is put upon the head, our head is covered indicating that we are under the headship of Jesus Christ and stand in the divine order. We are no longer our own head to make our own decisions and go our own way. The priestly bonnet [covering our head] is a permanent part of the priestly ministry to God. To uncover our head dishonors our true Head, the Lord Jesus Christ! The Romans 7 effort is laid aside in preparation for the Romans 8 experience.
Now we are prepared to receive the anointing which is a picture of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is our introduction to the priesthood and is the down payment upon our real inheritance within the Kingdom of priests. 90% of the anointing still remains to be fulfilled in the Holy Place. Now the Spirit of the Lord is upon us but the full result of the anointing follows the Holy Place Life and ministry instead or preceding it which was the failure of the Charismatic movement to establish the next restoration.
The seventh Outer Court experience is the Consecration Offering in which the priests gave up their earthly inheritance in the promises of God so that God, Himself, could be their inheritance. We therefore, have “sacrificed our natural life” in order to participate in the priesthood ministry of the Holy Place. If we save our natural life and earthly inheritance we will lose our priesthood ministry which is after the power of the indestructible Life of the Holy Place.
This may seem like quite enough preparation but the real gate / entrance is the Second Veil which is the separation between the natural light and the spiritual light of the Lampstand.. We have identified the First Veil as “Jesus the Way.” The Second Veil is identified as “Jesus the Truth” and the “Third Veil” that was torn when Jesus laid down His life as the “Jesus the Veil of Life.” Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father except through Him {through these three gates of experience, not doctrine}
The next restoration [ of which we are expecting now], that will qualify us for this eternal priesthood, involves these first two Veil / gate/ entrances. The Veil confronting most of us is this confrontation of the Truth about who He is and the Truth about who we actually are in comparison to who He is in His exalted and glorious state. It is the Father’s will for Him to bring many sons to the same glory that He is presently experiencing. Adam was clothed with the glory of God but lost it. On the Mount of transfiguration we see Jesus demonstrating that same glory that Adam lost. When John saw His glory after His resurrection and who He is now, he fell like a dead man.
Consecration is one thing but the clear revelation of Christ and who He is in His exalted and glorified state is quite another. Before this we may have had some fantasy about how mature, wealthy, rich and how we had arrived and had need of nothing. After this revelation of Truth we know for sure that we are really bankrupt and need everything. Our image of “self” is destroyed along with all “self help” programs that build up a positive “self image.” Self is revealed as a great enemy of the priesthood ministry and a stumbling block in the Kingdom.
Carnal ministries are revealed as dung, garbage and trash that proceed out of the unconsecrated life and mind of the natural man. The motive behind pretend commitment is
“ what can I get out of it.” If I make a fresh commitment, God will bless me. I can change my mind after I receive the blessing. The Second Veil experience of Truth destroys these carnal attempts at priesthood.
It is following this devastation and personal revelation that we are “birthed into the Holy Place” Life and ministry. “Birthed” means that we enter as babies without a clue. Now a new preparation and maturity is needed to participate in the priesthood ministry after the order of Melchizedek. We may forfeit this “birth” if we hold on to the old life and fail to make the transition. Of course the casual believer and the lukewarm will reject all of this as unnecessary since they are “saved by faith plus nothing.”
Without full consecration and presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, when the fire comes to refine the gold ore into pure gold to be hammered into the pure gold Lampstand, we will turn back and God will take no pleasure in us. Only those who are seeking to fulfill God’s purpose and have a clear vision of eternity will be interested in the next restoration. Those who are willing to become disciples of the Kingdom must also be willing to become disciples of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek that they may participates in the Kingdom of priests. All this will seem to be too costly for those who don’t yet have a vision of eternity and the glories that follow. Jesus became our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. To be His disciples we must become priests after the same order.
Since most of the Holy Place Life and ministry is still a mystery because we only see “in part”, the actual function of this priesthood ministry is hidden from us. However, there are some types that will give us a clue to this ministry. For example; David sat in front of the Ark of God in the Tabernacle of David with no Veil at all. This was unlawful for even the consecrated priests to do under the Law of Moses. Since this was such a radical departure from the “Law,” it must have an explanation connected to these extremes and why David was not incinerated.
In David’s Tabernacle there was no Incense Altar, no Table of Showbread and no Lampstand. Still David spoke of his prayer and praise as rising as the incense. The fruit of his lips as the evening sacrifice. The 3rd Veil was gone and where was the Altar of Incense?” It is clear that David, himself, became the Altar for the burning of Incense. We see the Church, which is people, is the Lampstand Church. The people [priests] become the Lampstand. In that same way the “priests” become the Table for showing the Bread. These articles of furniture are types and shadows of the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. David is also a foreshadowing of this restored priesthood of Melchizedek. He was a King / priest but not after the order of Aaron. If this seems strange, the Priests must also become the whole Temple of God with the boards and veils, the pillars and posts. Rev 3: 12] `He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Since both the Spirit of Christ AND the Holy Spirit have come to dwell in us, both aspects
of the ministry after the order of Melchizedek dwell in us. That means the preaching and the teaching of the Kingdom [ reflecting the Spirit of Christ] and the restored priesthood after the order of Melchizedek representing the priesthood assigned to us.[reflecting the Holy Spirit]
There is also the two aspects of the Kings which represent Christ and the priests that represent the Holy Spirit. There is also the objective ministry and the subjective work that must be accomplished in us. Within the illumination of the Lampstand we also see the eating of the Showbread and the burning of the Incense.
The continuity of the priesthood does not just refer to its permanence but to its progressive function. If our function is not deepening and increasing and becoming our Life then we should examine our “priesthood.” If we actually “become the Altar of Incense” to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, it is apparent that our revelation of Christ and His eternal purpose must be clarified. Our concept of what it means to “worship in spirit and truth” will certainly take on new dimensions of reality. For example; What kind of drums do we need for that level of worship? Which worship leader will do the best job with the music?
Since we have focused upon the tambourines, dancing and noise in the Tabernacle of David we have missed the real importance of becoming the Altar of Incense and becoming the instruments of praise and worship. First the natural and then the spiritual!
A few years ago, the late 1970's, the prophets were saying now is the time for the restoration of the Tabernacle of David. This was certainly true. However, the application was applied to dancing, loud music, many, many tambourines, and all the instruments of Psalms 150. The prophesies were correct but the application was natural, carnal and physical. The prophesies were of a Holy Place ministry but the “fulfillment” was only in the Outer Court. It soon failed because there was little reality connected to the demonstration. This is also true of some prophesies today about priesthood.