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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 81
THE
UNIVERSAL SONG
(continued)
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood
(Rev. 5:9).
Redeemed what a glorious word! How
deep, how high, how broad! Oh yes, it is true
that we have been redeemed, but, like salvation, redemption is no single act or
experience; as one has stated, it is a crisis leading to a process as
we are progressively loosed away from one realm to another, from one mind to
another, from one nature to another, from one state of being to another. Truly we are being freed from the dominion of the
carnal mind, from a world of flesh-centered, self-assertive religious activities, and from
the power of sin and death, first in spirit, working outward into the mind, will,
emotions, and desires of the soul life, and finally in body by the mighty working of His
power whereby He is able to change even our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto
His body of glory (Phil. 3:21).
The prefix re in re-deem means again (as in
re-copy, re-wash, re-write). The main part of
the word is from a root that means to purchase, to buy. So an article that is left in a pawn shop can be
redeemed by paying the money that was borrowed, plus the interest charges. The item is thus re-bought or bought back. The word is also used when a company finds it
possible to call some of its indebtedness, pay the borrower, and cancel the obligation:
this is the redemption of bond issues. Spiritually,
it means a return to that place, wisdom,
knowledge, life, glory, and dominion which we once had in God before the ages were framed,
ere this present cosmos or world-arrangement began.
The English word redeem translates three Greek words, each of which has
a rich meaning in connection with our salvation and transformation. One Greek word, apolutro, means to
loose, untie, deliver. Another Greek
word used in the scriptures and translated by our word redemption is agorazo,
the common Greek word for marketing. The noun
agora means the market place, and the verb agorazo means to buy. In the New Testament the word is applied to souls. This would be readily understood in the ancient
world, since there was a slave market that operated almost every day, and the traffic in
slaves was very great. That Christ should
have walked into the slave market and purchased, or redeemed, men who were slaves to the
realm of carnality, sin, and death, would have been easily comprehended!
A missionary was working on a Bible translation for the Bambara people. Realizing that the idea of being
redeemed might not mean much to them, he asked his Bambara translation helper,
How do you say God redeemed us so that your people can understand? Why, we would say God took our necks
out, the helper replied. But
how would your people understand that? Oh,
we remember that, long ago, raiders would come and take our people into slavery. They would put heavy iron collars on our people
and chain one captive to the next in long lines to be taken to the coast. Sometimes a chief or friend would see a friend
being led away and would want to free him, or redeem him.
He could do this by paying the slave traders gold, silver, brass, or ivory. In redeeming his friend, he would take his
neck out of the iron collar! What
a beautiful way to say that we are no longer slaves, unable to free ourselves from slavery
to self, sin, and death! Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has redeemed us by His
own precious blood! He has taken our neck out
of the collar!
There is another Greek word which gives additional light on the thought of
redemption. The word is exagorazo (agorazo
with the prefix ex), and carries the idea of buying something out of the market.
There is a difference between a purchase that is for resale and a purchase that is
made in order to take an article out of commerce. For
example, a dealer in rare books and works of art might purchase an item at a London or New
York sale, and hold it for resale to a customer. Some
pictures, books, manuscripts, and other art objects are bought and sold again and again. But finally, when a great work of art is bought by
a museum, it is thus TAKEN OUT OF CIRCULATION PERMANENTLY.
In consideration of these facts which I have briefly stated there is another truth
to which I would draw your reverent attention. The
song of Gods kings and priests proclaims, Thou
hast redeemed us to God
Redeemed
unto God! We have been bought back to God as His own
peculiar possession for a special and wonderful purpose.
Thou hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation; and hast made us unto
our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
You have read what the scripture says of Moses: This Moses whom they refused,
saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? The same did God send to be a ruler and A
DELIVERER by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush (Acts 7:35). We find that this word deliverer is
the same Greek word which in its various forms is translated ransom, redemption, redeem,
and redeemed. The question follows, How was
Moses a deliverer, a redeemer, or a redemption-price for Israel in Egypt? Did Moses pay a price to Pharaoh for Israels
redemption? Did he promise Egypt anything in
return for allowing Israel to leave? Absolutely
not! Moses paid Egypt exactly nothing.
And yet, he was a redeemer and redemption for Israel! How can this be?
It was his own life which he poured out for Israel, it was the freely
giving of his life to Israel which led them up out of the house of bondage.
This is the most beautiful type of Christs redemption! When Jesus Christ became our redemption He
didnt have to pay redemption money to God. He
didnt take His blood and say, Here, God, is a price for the people. Nor did He go to Satan and say, Here, Satan,
is a redemption-price, now you let Gods people go. NEVER! He,
like Moses, poured His life out and freely gave it to the people! I am the living bread which came down from
heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will
give is my flesh, which I WILL GIVE FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. As the living
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by
me (Jn. 6:51,53-57). We are the ones
who are receiving the redemption money, and receiving of His life we are able to get up
and leave the filth of self, sin, and the world behind, and walk in the higher realms with
Him.
Can you not see the mystery? In the
natural the redemption price was paid to the slave owner or creditor; and it will clearly
be seen that God operates by the same principle once we understand that that which had us
bound was in very fact something inherent
within ourselves. Paul goes into a
penetrating discussion of this in chapter seven of the book of Romans. He talks about each of our experiences in which
the good thing we want to do, we dont do, and the evil that we dont want to
do, we do. He says that in me, that is, in my
flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. He
goes on to say, For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin and death which is in
my members. O wretched man that I
am! Who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:13-25).
Ah, the law of sin and death works within, the carnal mind operates within,
and the devil himself is but a figure for the bestial spirit of this world which sits
enthroned within the very nature and heart of man.
People have painted Satan as a huge, ugly, impish personage with horns, bedecked
with a red suit, having a long pointed tail and carrying a pitchfork. In our minds he belongs in dark pagan jungles
where frenzied worshippers hysterically practice devil worship. He belongs in ancient voodoo ceremonies where
primitive peoples offer human sacrifices to appease his anger. He belongs to the garden of Eden, spoiling life
for Adam and Eve; to the Judean wilderness, tempting Jesus; to Berlin during the
1930s and 1940s , possessing and using Adolph Hitler, masterminding
historys great atrocities. Certainly
Satan is present in the above listed activities. But
may I hastily add that he is not present there one whit more than he has been in your life
and mine! The pen of inspiration truthfully
records the fact that You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:1-2).
That ancient serpent slithers about in the lowest realms of mans earthiness,
in the crooked thoughts, perverted desires, and unbridled emotions of the carnal nature,
in all the corrupt motions of the flesh. Within
man lies the seat of satan. We
have been the captives of a power within us, slaves to our own bestial nature. So Christ did not pay a ransom to God in heaven,
nor to the devil in hell, in order to redeem us and gain our release. Rather, He gave His life and poured it into us
that the transcendent power of His Spirit within might break asunder the bands that bind
us! Victory over the carnal mind is gained
only by putting on the precious mind that was in Christ Jesus. Victory over the flesh is wrought alone by the
mighty power of the Christ-life within. HE
GIVES HIS LIFE TO US WHO ARE IN BONDAGE, AND THEN WE HAVE THE VITALITY AND STRENGTH TO
ARISE AND RETURN TO FATHERS HOUSE TO CLAIM OUR INHERITANCE. We cannot do it on our own, by any self-effort of
our weak and helpless flesh, fettered by the shackles of our human consciousness and the
power of sin and shame, but when He gives His life, and fills us with His strength, then through
Him we are able to rise up out of our slave house and return to Fathers house. Praise God, His life is given as redemption TO US, so that, as the
apostle says, Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
REDEMPTION (I
Cor. 1:30). Hallelujah!
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to
open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood
(Rev. 5:9).
I am indebted to the writings of the saintly Andrew Murray for some of the thoughts
shared in this portion.
What is this stream of life from the Lamb upon the throne with the power
to redeem us? The wonderful answer comes,
Thou art worthy
for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood. It is the blood of the Lamb that bestows
this worth upon Him. The blood of Jesus is
the greatest mystery of the ages, the deepest mystery of divine wisdom. Let us not imagine that we can easily grasp its
meaning! God thought four thousand years
necessary to prepare men for it, and we must take time in His presence, if we are to gain
a knowledge of the awesome and marvelous power of the blood. I know of no word in the Bible or in human speech
that contains such glories! This great and
eternal truth shines with ever increasing brilliance from Edens fragrant garden of
long ago to the jasper walls of the New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven; from
Adams covering of skins and Ables humble sacrifice of the firstfruits of his
flock to the very throne of God Himself where, glorious in power and might, the Lamb
reigns and the seven spirits of His divine life are sent forth into all the earth.
The blood of Jesus is of such vast importance to God the Father that He has decreed
that there shall be (1) no remission (2) no salvation
(3) no atonement (4) no redemption (5) no propitiation
(6) no cleansing (7) no justification (8) no peace
(9) no new covenant (10) no
sanctification (11) no reconciliation (12) no entrance into the Holiest of all (13) no sonship, without the blood of Jesus Christ
whose blood is called by Paul THE BLOOD OF GOD (Acts 20:28; Heb. 10:19-20).
Never forget, my beloved, that Jesus came as THE PRICE WHICH COVERS, the substance
in the scale that replenishes all deficiency. He
shed His blood His divine life pouring it out for us. Life and blood are synonymous. Spirit and blood are synonymous. Spirit, blood, and life are all different names
for the same element. Jesus performed His
mighty works by the shores of Galilee, but then He died, resurrected, ascended, was
glorified, and then returned in mighty spirit
power to indwell His body and to be the miracle
worker within. Nothing less must become ours, than His Life the divine life He lived
in human flesh. As I live by the
Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me, Jesus said. The truth is so simple He poured out His
blood-life to us to quicken us again to the glory of God that belongs to man. When our spirit is quickened by His spirit we are
brought to union with God! Christ gave
Himself for us and to us.
Our spirit must be quickened by His Spirit. THAT
IS THE POWER OF HIS REDEEMING BLOOD, OF HIS LIFE THAT RESTORES US TO OUR TRUE IDENTITY AS
SONS OF GOD. Oh, the mystery of it! That He might liberally pour His dear-bought
treasures into benighted human storehouses, was the inspiration of Jesus intense
human sacrifice.
Some hold not to this truth, choosing rather to believe that they are a
self-sufficient god within themselves, needing no Redeemer beyond the development of their
own inherent divinity. Thus they bring in
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them (II Pet. 2:1). Do away with this wonderful stream of the
precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, and every room
within the towering temple of spiritual reality comes crashing down to earth! The love of God became a man, the love of God
became human flesh, the love of God in Jesus Christ has flowed into our spirits and souls
and bodies as the precious blood of Christ to wash away the veil of carnal consciousness
and quicken us again to our true heritage in God. Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed by such corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Hallelujah for the blood!
Multiplied millions of believers in all lands hold the blood of Christ to be
precious. The word precious means of
great price or value, costly, of great desirability, honored, esteemed, or beloved. But there must be a reason why the blood is
precious! Through many years of my Christian
walk I never learned of any reason why it is esteemed except that God counts it
to be the most valuable and precious of all blood to Him.
I was never told whether it was intrinsically valuable or if it was valuable
because of what it could and did accomplish. To
be intrinsically valuable or precious means that it is of itself precious and does not
necessarily need to accomplish any work to get its value.
For example, the value of precious gems is determined not so much from their
usefulness but from what they are within themselves their intrinsic value
and that is why people desire to own them even though they can really do nothing. On the other hand, there are certain medicines,
extracted from plants, which cost a thousand or thousands of dollars for one pill or
injection. These actually have little
intrinsic value, but their value is derived entirely from what they can do! My sincere prayer is that the spirit of wisdom and
revelation may enlighten the eyes of our understanding so that we clearly see that the
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was and is precious both in respect to its intrinsic value (for it is the life of
God!) and because of what it could
and did and does now do!
In the blood of Jesus the power of the divine life dwelt and worked hence
its intrinsic value. He was a specially
prepared body to contain a specially prepared blood that was to be the life
of all humanity. This blood was precious from
the fact that it was a unique blood which would do something for all humanity that no
other blood could ever do. It was the Word
that became flesh, who was made man. It was
the life of God that dwelt in Him in a measure that no other man had known! God gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him! If
the spirit in Jesus, which is the life and the blood of Jesus, was in no way different
from the spirit or life of every other human being, then why is it that He was able to
walk through this realm of sin and death and both remain sinless and manifest the very
fullness of divine life on the human plane, while each and every other son of Adam has
sinned and come short of the glory of God including you, my precious brother, sister,
and including me! The fullness of divine
life gave His blood, every drop of it, an intrinsic value.
The blood of a man is of more worth than that of a sheep. The blood of a king is counted of more value than
hundreds of common men. The blood of the
firstborn son of God! It is in vain the mind
seeks for some expression of its value; all we can say is, it is His own blood, the blood
of the Son of God!
Oh, the wonder of it! Jesus Christ was
the Word made flesh; He was not old
Adams flesh imbued with Gods life. He
was the second Man, the Man from heaven, the God-man, head of a new species of Men, a new
creation of God in the earth, each member of which is a SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE MOST HIGH! The life is in the blood. As the value of this life, so the value of the
blood. In Christ there was the life of God;
infinite as God is the worth and the power of that blood!
In Christ there was the life of man in its perfection; in His humility, and
obedience to the Father, and self-sacrifice, that which made Him unspeakably well-pleasing
to the Father. The blood of Jesus, God and
man, poured out in death, was the perfect fulfillment of Gods will, and a perfect
victory over self and sin and death. Therefore
it was, that in the blood of the everlasting covenant Jesus was raised from the dead; that
in the power of that blood He entered the highest heaven; and that precious blood is now and forever available
to us with all its incorruptible power. His
blood is His divine spirit of life which has come into us, and he that is joined to the
Lord is one spirit. The precious
blood of Christ is just Christ Himself, Christ in us our hope of glory!
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to
open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God
and hast made
us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth (Rev.
5:9-10).
Many translations use the word them, as this is the song of
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders.
A number of Bible scholars disagree with that and confirm that us
is the better and correct translation. Dr.
Seiss in his Lectures on the Apocalypse gives the following explanation:
Some of the best manuscripts read them in place of us;
but the sense is not altered by it
for the subject is settled by the preceding
declaration to be the persons singing the song, namely, by the phrase redeemed
US; the genuineness of which must be considered established since the discovery
of the Codex Sinaiticus. It is
therefore the four living creatures (kingship) and the twenty-four elders (priesthood) who
are both redeemed unto God and made kings and priests unto God!
Never under the Old Testament Aaronic order of priesthood, apart from one example,
do we find where a king exercised the office or ministry of a priest. In the Levitical order the offices of king and
priest were separated, there were those who reigned as kings, and there were those who
were the Lords priests. Kings could not
intrude into the priests office, and priests could not sit on the throne. Judah produced the kings, and Levi produced the
priests. On one occasion Uzziah, king of
Judah, tried to assume the role of priest and went into the temple of the Lord to
burn incense upon the altar of incense and was smitten with leprosy in his forehead
(II Chron. 27:16-20). God had separated the
two offices for that time, and the one was not to intrude into the other.
Melchizedek is the sign, the symbol, the first example of a priest designated in
the word of God. He was called a priest of
God long centuries before the Old Covenant order was established for the Levites to be the
priests of Israel. Thus, the first or
beginning example represents the pattern or true design of God for what He considers a
priesthood. Melchizedek had royal blood in
his veins, he claimed the title of kingship. The
very meaning of the name Melchizedek is KING of righteousness and this
righteous King was also the Priest of the Most High God.
What was always kept asunder under the Law Covenant, by divine wisdom and purpose
was united in Him who was made like unto the Son of God. Melchizedek was made like the Son of
God, and we find in the book of Hebrews that the Son of God is made a high priest
after the Order of Melchizedek.
It is the glory of Christ and His many brethren as KING-PRIESTS that Melchizedek so
wondrously prefigures! A new order has arisen
in Jesus Christ. He is a King-Priest! And He has made us to be Kings and Priests, a
Kingdom of Priests, a Royal Priesthood unto God! They
shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with
Him
(Rev. 20:6).
The principle idea attached to the title king is that of authority and
rule; to the title priest that of mediation, mercy, ministry, and
reconciliation, drawing men nigh unto God, and God nigh unto men. Why is Jesus seated as a priest upon the throne of
the heavens? It is that man may be blessed,
and that God may be glorified in man! As
priest He lives only for others, to bring them near to God.
He lives as king only that He might reveal the kingdom the power, authority,
dominion, and glory of God in and through us!
Deep down in the heart of men there is a strong and instinctive demand for a
priest, to be a mediator, to lay one hand on man, and the other on God, and going between
both to bring the two together into unification. This
instinctive consciousness of the need for someone to help us to enter into oneness with
God is the reason why all the ancient pagan religions had a priesthood. A priest or priesthood infers that there is a
reason why such has been called into play. It
denotes that there is an estrangement between God and His creatures and the
priest ministers to bridge that gulf and bring about peace or at-one-ment. Many today proclaim that there is no estrangement,
no separation between God and man, that it is only a false sense of duality in mans mind,
that he has only to see that he himself is God, and as soon as his true identity
is recognized, he can proceed to manifest out of his divine self. If that is the truth then man did not truly fall,
there was no sin in Eden, and no penalty for that sin; God did not Himself drive
man out of paradise, Adam just sort of stumbled out while sleep-walking, there was no need
for Jesus to come to ransom us with His precious blood, and there certainly would be no
need for the Melchizedek Priesthood! Nor
would there be any purpose in any scriptural teaching of forgiveness by God, atonement,
justification, regeneration, new birth, or the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Jesus should have just come and told us who we
really are, and explained to us that none of these things can add anything whatsoever to
our inherent divinity, and gone back to heaven.
Websters dictionary defines priest as: a mediatory agent between God and man. In the Old Testament the word priest is translated
from the Hebrew word cohen, the root meaning of which is one who stands up
and draws nigh for another. The Greek
word, in its root, means to minister. Thus,
a priest is one who draws near and ministers on behalf of another. And the priest always draws nigh and ministers in two directions drawing nigh to God on
behalf of the people and drawing nigh to the people on behalf of God. The priest stands and ministers to the Lord on
behalf of the people while, on the other hand, he ministers unto the people on behalf of
the Lord. The ministry of the priest is an
intermediary or go-between ministry. He
reaches out with one hand and takes hold of God; he reaches out with the other hand and
takes hold of humanity; and he brings the two together by virtue of his priestly
administration.
Thou hast made us kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
earth. Made us are words
pregnant with meaning. Let me give you an
illustration. The name of the Son of God is
Jesus. That is His correct name. That is His full name. The name of the eternal Word of God who stepped
across the stars to the planet earth to be born in a stable in the village of Bethlehem,
is Jesus. That is His complete, proper, full
name. His name is Jesus! The angelic messenger appeared to the virgin girl
Mary and announced, Thou shalt call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people
from their sins (Mat. 1:21). Someone
says, But the angel didnt say His name was to be Jesus because thats
English His name was given as Yahshua. Incorrect. The common people of Galilee did not speak Hebrew
in the time of Jesus. They spoke Aramaic. Undoubtedly the name was given to Mary in the
language she understood. We know it in
English as Jesus. And whatever language it is
spoken in it still means the same thing, the salvation of Yahweh. So when the mighty Gabriel appeared, he said,
Call the child that which will be descriptive or characteristic of what He is going
to be and do. Call His name that which will
describe His accomplishment. The
messenger said, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, or thou shalt call His name Saviour,
FOR He shall save His people
call Him Gods Salvation because He is the Son of
God MIGHTY TO SAVE.
Since He would be the salvation of Yahweh unto His people, call Him Saviour. Some who read these lines are now saying,
Hold the fort, Eby; isnt His first name Lord and His last name Christ? NO! Neither
Lord nor Christ is a name. It is important
that we understand that. Christ is not a
name. Christ is a position. Christ is an office. Christ is a title, as also is Lord. Christ is a description of an individual who holds
a particular office. If I were to say to you,
What is the name of the first man to hold the highest office in the United States of
America, you would say, His name was George Washington. And if I said to you, What was his
office? you would say, President. He
was called President George Washington. You
understand immediately that his name is distinct from the title which designates his
office. Now we might call him Mr.
President, but thats not his name, were calling him by his office. His name is George Washington; his office is
President. When I speak to you about King,
that is an office. When I speak to you about
Prime Minister, thats an office. Christ
is an office its not a name. Christ
comes from the Greek Christos and means anointed, or better,
The anointed One. When were
talking about the Son of God, were saying that His name is Jesus Saviour. His office is Christ the Anointed One. Jesus is
the Christ, the anointed One of God. And God
has made this same Jesus to be both
LORD and CHRIST. Made! Jesus
was made Lord, and Jesus was made Christ. It is something He became after He was named Jesus. And now the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders proclaim, For Thou hast made
us unto our God kings and priests:
and we shall reign on the earth!
This passage is one of rare beauty. It
is like a precious diamond, the effulgence of whose radiance dazzles the mind. It is a drop of pure distilled essence, whose
fragrance fills the rooms of the heart of every man and woman who has been apprehended of
the Father for His high and holy purpose. It
is a joy forevermore and a challenge to all who comprehend its message. It must be engraved deeply upon every heart of
Gods Royal Priesthood. It exalts and
glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. THOU
HAST MADE US! THOU! There is so much depth to that word that I am
afraid we often do not perceive it. It is
like a beautiful star-studded sky on a bright clear night and one cannot even begin to
grasp the vast depth that lies above us. So
it is with these marvelous words: Thou hast MADE US TO BE KINGS AND PRIESTS!
Hear now the testimony of the prophet
Isaiah. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall
call you the ministers of our God
for as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord will cause
righteousness to spring forth before all nations (Isa. 61:6,11). The inspired prophet summed up in one bold
statement what it means to be a priest of God. Ye
shall be named the priests of the
Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God.
There is a marvelous significance in that word named. Named! You
shall be NAMED the priests of the Lord. This passage forcefully reveals the great
truth that all who would be priests of God must be re-named, they MUST UNDERGO A CHANGE OF
NATURE, to become priests by name, that is, by nature, so that priesthood is not merely a
title given to them but a nature lived out through them.
Oh, yes! If our spiritual minds can
grasp the fact, to be named the priests of the Lord means to be natured
the priests of the Lord, to be so imbued with the priestly nature until we become a
priest in our very state of being. We
think like a priest. We speak like a priest. We act like a priest. We love like a priest. We minister like a priest. We reconcile like a priest. We represent men to God, and God to men as a
priest. This is what the four living
creatures and the twenty-four elders are declaring, Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests!
Kings and Priests! Can you see the
parallel between those two? It is the king
who reigns and the priest who serves. All the
holy sons of God shall reign as kings, and they shall serve as priests! These kings and priests reign over the
earth. It is evident that our reigning
as kings and priests over the earth is directly related to the fact that the
seven spirits of God are from the throne of God sent
forth into all the earth. These two
statements are made in the same chapter, only four verses apart. Can we not see by this that the seven spirits of
God are sent forth into all the earth through the agency of those kings and priests who
are given authority over the earth and are made ministers of God unto the earth realm.
He makes us kings and priests! That is
the present work of God in the life of each member of Gods elect who has received
the call to sonship. Though in our natural
constitution we may have had a very different disposition, God is breaking, purging,
changing, and transforming us, working into us the character of a king and the heart of a
priest! We may once have been vain, but God
is making us solid, serviceable and useful! We
may have been proud, but God is making us humble! We
may have felt empty and useless, but God is filling us up and making us valuable! Some of us have been very weak, but the Spirit is
now making us exceedingly strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! We may have once been ignorant and unlearned among
men, but today the Lord is filling our minds and spirits with divine wisdom and spiritual
understanding! Our nature may previously have
been shy, cold, distant, and indifferent, but the fire of the Holy Spirit is making us
bold, warm, concerned, caring, and out-going! Perhaps
we were once critical, angry, hateful, or spiteful, but our Father is transforming us to
be loving, kind, gentle, sweet, long-suffering, merciful, forgiving, and reconciling! It is indeed wonderful! Our mighty God is in this hour dealing with all
His sons and truly He is making us to BE KINGS
AND PRIESTS!
Jesus, the High Priest of our profession, and the King over all the kings, does His
wonderful work within us. He imparts
His own life, power, and ministry. We cannot
have the kingship and the priesthood in full power except as the power of His Life
is fully inworked in us. As we truly come to
understand this, we then see what is meant by the fact that we are called to be kings and
priests, because we have the very life of the King and the High Priest in us not
merely imputed, but the King of glory and the High Priest of the heavens Himself dwelling
powerfully within us and working effectually through us, praise His wonderful name! This is something far greater and higher than my
own Higher Self. This is His
Spirit joined to my spirit one spirit in the union of life.
Why is Jesus seated as a priest upon the throne of the heavens? He reigns as King to bring the dominion of His
kingdom into our lives, and as Priest He lives only for others, to bless and lift us with
His life, to bring us near to God. He makes
us kings to give power and efficacy to the priesthood.
He reigns as a priest! It is because
of this that the idea of authority stands out so prominently. Jesus fills us with a kingly disposition; He
enables us to rule over sin, over the flesh, over the devil, over the world, over MEN. In the midst of all circumstances and
difficulties, of all opposition or cruelty, of all powers of the flesh, the world, and the
devil, the son who yields himself to be made king by Christ lives in the joyous certainty
that he is one with Him who has won the victory, and that He that is in him is
more than conqueror!
He makes us priests that we might serve; that we might bring men near unto Him;
that we might be filled with the fullness of the seven-fold intensified spirit of the Lord
so as to be a channel for the outflowing of His glorious life unto creation. How else shall the creation be delivered from its
bondage to corruption and find its identity in the glorious liberty that belongs to the
sons of God? As priests through the blood of
Jesus we live for others, to pray for them; to work among them; to love and bless them; to
reconcile and redeem them; to bring them to God! To
be a king is marvelous beyond words, but to be a priest is no idle self-seeking
blessedness. It is a compelling power to
enter into Gods presence on behalf of mankind; the power to receive from the Lamb
all the blessings, benefits, and provisions of His wonderful life, and to receive and
carry and distribute them! And I
beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne
stood a Lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns (power, kingship) and seven eyes (vision, discernment, communication,
priesthood), which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth
and
hast made us
kings and priests:
and we shall reign over the earth.
However clearly we see by the eye of revelation and faith the truth of this realm
of kingship and priesthood, however earnestly we desire it, however firmly we think we
grasp it by faith, all will not avail GOD HIMSELF MUST DO IT! God Himself must admit us into His presence, and
make His face to shine upon us. And as the
path to kingship and priesthood, God Himself must write His law in our hearts, unfold in
us the new divine nature in such power of the Holy Spirit, that it is HE that works within
us both to will and to do. God Himself must
by the Holy Ghost so shed abroad His love in our hearts, that to love becomes as natural
to us as it is for a dove to be gentle. God
Himself must by the Holy Ghost so fill us with the nature of righteousness that to be
righteous becomes as natural to us as breathing. God
Himself must by the Holy Ghost so clothe us with the mind of Christ, that to think the
thoughts of God becomes as natural to us as are the self-serving thoughts and desires of
the unregenerated man. God Himself must by
the Holy Ghost so make us vessels of mercy that to be merciful becomes as natural to us as
the emotions of anger and retaliation are to the carnal nature. And God Himself must through the Holy Ghost give
us His power!
Consider, dear brother, sister, is it not God Himself who has faithfully directed
all your steps, who has initiated each circumstance of your life, who has given sight to
your poor blind eyes and caused you to behold the majesty of His purpose? Is it not God Himself who has led you out of the
blinding traditions and enslaving bondage of Babylonian religion, and nurtured you and
brought you to the place in which you stand in Christ today? I do not hesitate to say that no more than you can
save yourself can you make yourself an overcomer, bring yourself
to perfection and maturity, or of yourself apprehend the beautiful ministry of
kingship and priesthood to God! Those who
apprehend in this hour are those who rest in His love, trust in His power, embrace His
promise, and have no confidence in the flesh.
There is a teaching about shape-shifters that is prominent among
certain occult, new age, and UFO cult movements. The
belief is that there are certain aliens or space creatures, namely
those specified as reptilians, who possess the ability to shape-shift or change
their forms to appear as humans or other entities. One
writer (David Icke) who is deep into this explains, Shape-shifting is the ability to
change physical form, in this case between a human and reptilian appearance. The ancient Danaan brotherhood of initiates and
magicians called Telchines on the island of Rhodes could shape-shift into any form,
according to the Greek historian, Diodorus. Shape-shifting
is a common theme in tales of esoteric magicians and high initiates. I have been told by hundreds of people all over
the world, from every walk of life you can imagine, about their experiences of seeing well
known and less well known people transform into a reptilian form before their eyes and
then go back again. There have been reports
of shape-shifting reptilians for thousands of years.
In the Indus Valley and Hindu culture their serpent gods called the Nagas were one
example. The serpent sea or
fish gods of Sumer and Babylon were said to be able to change shape and look
human whenever they chose. Another version of
shape-shifting are the so-called Men in Black who appear and disappear
according to witnesses. The story of Jekyl
and Hyde is also symbolic of shape-shifting
end quote.
Personally, I take such theories and claims with a very big grain of salt! Yet there is a true realm and
reality of shape-shifting! We see it in the
post-resurrection appearances of Jesus during the forty days prior to His ascension. Most of those who saw Jesus did not immediately
recognize Him only after some subtle familiar action were their eyes opened and it
dawned upon them who this person was! In the
garden of the tomb Mary had seen a gardener.
Two of the disciples had seen and conversed with a stranger. The eleven in the upper room saw the Master as He
formerly appeared. Later, a group of them saw
Him on the lakeshore, and thought it was a fisherman. He was with them forty days after His
resurrection, but they saw Him only on a few brief occasions.
The entire time that He was manifest to them, had it all been crowded into one day
instead of being at intervals during the forty days, would probably have been less that
twelve hours, or one-eightieth of that entire time. This
being true, it is evident that He was present with them unseen about seventy-nine
eightieths of that period of forty days. And
even when they did have manifestations, they were not (except once, on behalf of
the doubting Thomas) in a form exactly like the one they had known so intimately for three
and a half years, and had seen but a few days before.
It is not once intimated that they knew Him by the familiar features of His face,
nor even that He was recognized by the same appearance as in other manifestations. Yes, He was different, so different that they were
puzzled to understand Him, and to know just how they could still be His disciples.
After that He appeared in another
form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country (Mk.
16:12). He appeared unto them in another form
not another Person. It was the same
Christ and Lord! But there was some
difference of manifestation. That is the
plain truth coming to meet us out of the region of mystery where for us the final truth of
things dwells. After His resurrection Jesus
was still to His disciples Jesus but with a difference. He was the same, yet not the same. There was something about Him which differentiated
Him from the Christ of the garden, and the hillside, and the country road, and the
seashore. The disciples never doubted that He
was the same Jesus with whom they had passed through the corn-fields, and walked the
highways, and sailed on the blue water of Galilee. But
the human form which was soon to pass from their midst already seemed to be becoming less
recognizable to their view. In a little while
they would see Him no more that is, as we see one another in the flesh. Soon
the vision of the living and ever-present Christ was to be internalized, reserved wholly
for the inward eye of every quickened and transformed spirit. But it seemed that already, in anticipation of
this new order of things, the old order was changing, and the outward form of the Master
was speedily becoming less and less the essential medium for the revelation and
recognition of His unchanging personality.
The record of the appearances of Christ during those forty days before the
ascension tells us that the spiritual senses were now predominating over the physical, and
the spirit played an ever larger part in the realm of perception. It is abundantly clear that the Christ they saw
and recognized was no mere apparition or illusion, but it is equally clear that those who
sought to recognize the Lord in the same way they recognized one another now needed their
physical senses to give way to the spiritual faculties of the spirit of wisdom and
revelation from God, the eyes of their understanding being enlightened that they might
truly KNOW HIM!
Form plays an important part in our physical and material reckonings, outward
appearance is so necessarily the basis of our judgments in this gross material realm. But all who have been called to sonship to God are
now learning the important lesson that, even as the same Christ came to Mary Magdalene, to
the disciples by the sea, and to the two who journeyed to Emmaus in forms which they did
not immediately recognize as Him, so that spiritual life which Jesus revealed in His
resurrection, and which He revealed in even greater measure by His ascension and return as
the power of the Holy Spirit, may express itself in more than one form of manifestation as
it is raised up in the hearts and lives of Gods elect. He appeared in another form. He is always doing that! Would that
we were always able to see and recognize Him! Would
that our faith were deep enough, would that our love were broad enough, would that our
insight were keen enough, to recognize Him in all the forms and fashions of His coming
unto the children of men!
Some find Christ as Mary Magdalene found Him in an instant when He called her name. Some find Him as they are led in the paths of His
will, like the disciples who cast their net in the sea of Galilee, and found it was their
Master and Lord they were obeying. Some take
the journey to Emmaus they meditate upon Him, converse with Him, and their hearts
burn within them then they discover Him in the breaking of bread by His hand. At the center of all spiritual experience there
lies the same eternal truth, for it is the same Christ who meets us all; but many are the
forms we encounter as we each experience Him in a different way! Some may find Him in blessings and experiences,
while others find Him with Job in the severity of testings and trials, being brought very
low upon the ash-heap of stripping and desolation, tested to the uttermost until at last
they break through the gloom and shout with the voice of triumph, I have heard of
Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee! (Job 42:5). Therefore let not the man who has met the Christ
in the form of a gardener doubt that He was ever seen by the waters of Galilee; and let
not him who has encountered Him on that dawn-lit beach think it improbable that He ever
walked and talked with the travelers to Emmaus.
HE APPEARED IN ANOTHER FORM. That
is Christ the great shape-shifter! It is the
same Christ revealing Himself to men in another form.
So, my beloved, as we ponder the mysterious manifestations of the risen Christ
among the faithful and devout disciples, let us remind ourselves that this same Jesus is
in our midst, and we must be ready to recognize Him as He becomes manifested to us from
day to day, from realm to realm, from glory to glory, by the power of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus comes to us in different ways. There are many modes and forms of the appearing of
the Lord Jesus Christ! To those who suppose
that they have attained to all God has for them, whether in the precincts of Babylon, in
the deliverance of the feast of Passover, in the glory of Pentecost, or some who think
they have already ascended into the highest heaven of their high calling in the feast of
Tabernacles, to each I now say by the word of the Lord we are going to have another
manifestation! It is dawning. It has begun even now. It is the same Lord Jesus, yet even now His many
brethren are beginning to behold Him in the glory of His Kingship and Priesthood, the Lamb
in the midst of the throne, sending forth the seven-fold intensified spirit of God into
all the earth, to be manifested in a further unfoldment of Himself, in the glory and power
of manifest sonship!
All of us have this treasure in earthen vessels, and we are continually being changed
from glory to glory! For years the Lord
had put me on His potters wheel and made me a certain shape. For years I was an evangelist and, whenever the
Lord wanted to move in the soul-saving, evangelistic realm, I was right there. No problem at all!
I was in the evangelistic shape. My
whole mind and desire was conformed to that ministry, my whole heart, everything. All about me was conformed to that. But if God wanted to move in any other way through
me, He could not. That was my shape! If He came in that shape I said, Come, Lord
Jesus. If He came in another shape I
couldnt handle that, so I said, Go, Lord Jesus. I had not yet learned about shape-shifting!
Most of us have had a certain shape and we have been hardened to that. The only way the Lord could appear to us and
appear in us and appear through us, would be in that form.
It has been the Baptist form, the Pentecostal form, or the Charismatic form. It has been the evangelistic form, the apostolic
form, the prophetic form, the divine order form, the healing form, the deliverance form,
the miracles form, the tongues-speaking form, the prophesying form, the worship form, the
word of faith form, or a hundred other forms. But
the highest glory of the ministry of Christ is embodied in those two wonderful offices:
KING and PRIEST. He is indeed the King
eternal and a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek! And while we truly praise God for all the
manifestations and ministries of this present in part realm, so graciously
bestowed, yet our hearts cry out mightily for a greater
reality and a higher ministry
that proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb for the deliverance and
transformation of the entire creation. Our
deepest desire is that He may so thoroughly transform us into HIS IMAGE, so completely
CHANGE OUR SHAPE until we fully become all that Kingship and Priesthood mean.
There is a wonderful contrast drawn in Revelation 4:11 and 5:10, wherein it is
stated, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast
CREATED ALL THINGS, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created
and Thou hast MADE
US unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. Oh child of God, consider how great and full of
meaning these words are! Thou hast
CREATED all things
Thou hast MADE us. There is a world of difference between the terms
create and make. Away
back yonder in the dim and distant ages that are gone it was written, And God
blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His
work which God CREATED AND MADE (Gen. 2:3). The
phrase created and made is a faulty translation, and it is so
indicated in the margin of some Bibles. It
should read, which God created to
make. Youngs Literal Translation
renders this verse, And God blesseth the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it
He hath ceased from all His work which God had PREPARED FOR MAKING. Another translation says, And God
proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it He has been resting
from all His work that God has CREATED FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING. In other words, God created the whole vast
universe for the purpose of forming or making it into something He still had in mind!
And now comes the word Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood
and hast MADE US unto our God kings and priests. Ah, things are created, but
kings and priests are MADE! If
you are a king-priest, there is something about you that is not ordinary; you have
distinct and distinguishing characteristics. You
are no longer a part of the problem you have been so thoroughly transformed from
the spirit of self and of this world system until you have become in your very state of
being the solution to the problem. What is a king?
What is a priest? Who are the
king-priests today? They are those who are
indwelt by the Christ and are living in the Christ and by the Christ to manifest Christ! None of us are the finished product, but, praise
God, as this reality is raised up in us more and more God is MAKING US to be kings and priests unto Him!
Make means to alter the form or change thoroughly. There can be no kingship or priesthood without
first a thorough change! Sin, self, greed,
hatred, criticism, retaliation, ego, unconcern, immaturity, pettiness, unrighteousness,
condemnation, all must be dealt with by the cross. Thus,
we are not seeking just a salvation experience, the forgiveness of our sins, covering over
the past, and hoping for the best in the future, but we desire that the Spirit of God,
working mightily within, shall bring a thorough change in us, until every word, will,
attitude, action, and reaction shall flow from His
heart unto all about us. You can be
a believer and die and go to heaven without such a thorough change, but you can NEVER BE A KING OR PRIEST WITHOUT IT!
It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure (Phil. 2:13). GOD
working in you. What a marvelous
expression! We know how combustion works
mightily in the cylinder, forcing up and down the piston, giving power to the engine. We know how sap works mightily in the branches,
forcing itself out in leaf, blossom, and bud. We
know of incidents where men were so possessed of devils that they spoke and acted as the
inward promptings compelled them. These
express but weakly the idea of the inward working of God, which towers
infinitely beyond. Have we not all been
conscious of some of these workings? We have
known them when the breath of holy resolution has swept through our natures: every sigh
for the will of God; every strong and earnest desire to be like Him; every appetite for
spiritual things; every impulse to live and sacrifice and give for others; every
aspiration to love and lift and restore the groaning creation; every prayer lifted
heavenward in intercession for weak, needy, suffering and sinful humanity; every cry of
the heart for the kingdom of God to come and His will to be done in earth as it is in
heaven all these are the result of His inworking and the promise of the Kingly and
Priestly Ministry!
To be continued J. PRESTON EBY
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