(Priest and Priests To Be Upgrading II)
Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:16-20 is about the command to preach the gospel or the spread of the light or shekinah glory, meaning we are used in the great revival according to the great commandment of God.
There are two kinds of great revival according to the great commandment as follows.
Thus, the growth of the Church in quantity and quality is signified by the figure “12” and “70” or the figure of the sending out.
The proof that the Church grows in quantity and quality is being employed or sent by God to become the priests and kings.
The priest is one as follows.
There are at least three things that a priest must have as follows.
The true consecration or ministry cannot be separated from the garment of ministry. The consecration is written in Exodus 29 while the garment is written in Exodus 28. We will discuss about the garment in this priests upgrading service
Exodus 28:1,4
28:1 "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
28:4 "And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.
There are seven parts of High Priest garment as follows.
The seven parts of the garment can be divided into three groups as follows.
We will study the first group, namely the garment in the sign of death.
Exodus 28:6
28:6 "and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked.
There are four colors of the ephod as follows.
The four colors form a cross. Thus, the ephod means the journey of the cross or death of Jesus as High Priest. It must also become the experience of the priests. The priests who reject the cross do not have the ephod. It means they are naked and not allowed to minister to God.
The practice of having on the ephod is as follows.
There is gold embroidery in the ephod. It means there is Spirit of Glory that is poured to give us extra power when we must bear the cross, so we do not become disappointed or desperate or so gives us heavenly joy.
Why does God let the priests to experience the cross or death together with Jesus?
Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:16-20 is about the command to preach the gospel or the spread of the light or shekinah glory, meaning we are used in the great revival according to the great commandment of God.
There are two kinds of great revival according to the great commandment as follows.
- The revival of Holy Spirit at the early rain, namely the revival in the Gospel or Good Tidings to bring the sinful to the salvation through water baptism.
Matthew 28:18-19
28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizingthem in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
This revival results in the growth of quantity. It is described as Jacob who has twelve sons, and then they become seventy people and multiplied exceedingly. It is written in the Old Testament [Exodus 1:1-7]. In the New Testament, it starts from Jesus alone, then He is with the twelve disciples, and then He sends the seventy disciples until His followers grow exceedingly.
Nevertheless, 'many are called but few are chosen', therefore we should not be satisfied only by the growth in quantity. The house of Israel is delivered from Egypt but they are disobedient, so there are only two men can enter Canaan. - The revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain, namely the revival in the true teaching Word or the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ or Bride Tidings to bring the saved people to have sanctification and perfection as Jesus is. It is to bring the saved people to enter the building of the perfect body of Christ.
Matthew 28:20
28:20 "teachingthem to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Thus, the growth of the Church in quantity and quality is signified by the figure “12” and “70” or the figure of the sending out.
The proof that the Church grows in quantity and quality is being employed or sent by God to become the priests and kings.
The priest is one as follows.
- Holy one.
- One who bears the ministry received from God.
- One who serves and ministers to God, not only to serve and not only to minister.
- One who is employed in the building of the perfect body of Christ.
There are at least three things that a priest must have as follows.
- Good characteristic.
- Good potential, especially the gifts of Holy Spirit or the miraculous ability coming from God.
- True consecration or ministry.
Matthew 24:40
24:40 "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
There will be a separation in the field between the priests who have the true consecration and the others who have the false consecration. The first ones will be lifted up when Jesus comes a second time but the second ones will be left.
If we have the true consecration or ministry, we will have good characteristics and potential with the gifts of Holy Spirit we receive from God.
The true consecration or ministry cannot be separated from the garment of ministry. The consecration is written in Exodus 29 while the garment is written in Exodus 28. We will discuss about the garment in this priests upgrading service
Exodus 28:1,4
28:1 "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
28:4 "And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest.
There are seven parts of High Priest garment as follows.
- Ephod.
- Sash.
- Breastplate.
- Robe.
- Skillfully woven tunic.
- Turban.
- Plate.
The seven parts of the garment can be divided into three groups as follows.
- The garment in the sign of death (ephod, sash, breastplate).
- The garment in the sign of resurrection (robe).
- The garment in the sign of glory (skillfully woven tunic, turban, plate).
We will study the first group, namely the garment in the sign of death.
Exodus 28:6
28:6 "and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked.
There are four colors of the ephod as follows.
- Purple, referring to Jesus as the King.
- Blue, referring to Jesus as a Servant.
- Red, referring to Jesus as a Human.
- White, referring to Jesus as the Son of God.
The four colors form a cross. Thus, the ephod means the journey of the cross or death of Jesus as High Priest. It must also become the experience of the priests. The priests who reject the cross do not have the ephod. It means they are naked and not allowed to minister to God.
The practice of having on the ephod is as follows.
- Suffering in the flesh in order to repent or stop sinning, so we can live in the righteousness according to the will of God.
1 Peter 4:1-2
4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
4:2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
We repent, starting from the eight sins causing one to enter the hell as follows.
Revelation 21:8
21:8 "But the (1) cowardly, (2) unbelieving, (3) abominable, (4) murderers, (5) sexually immoral, (6) sorcerers, (7) idolaters, and all (8) liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Keeping the eight sins, one becomes naked and serves Satan and enters the hell. - Suffering in the flesh without any sin or because of Jesus, namely because of the true teaching Word or ministry.
1 Peter 4:12-14
4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
4:13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
There is gold embroidery in the ephod. It means there is Spirit of Glory that is poured to give us extra power when we must bear the cross, so we do not become disappointed or desperate or so gives us heavenly joy.
Why does God let the priests to experience the cross or death together with Jesus?
- We can know Jesus, Himself, with the four characteristics through the cross experience.
Luke 6:20-23
6:20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.
6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.
6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.- [Luke 6:21b] Blessed are those who weep because they will laugh. It refers to Jesus as a human.
When does Jesus weep?- He weeps when He is born.
- He weeps when Lazarus has died for four days.
- He weeps over Jerusalem because of the hardness of heart.
Luke 19:41-44
19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
19:42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
19:43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
19:44 "and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Jerusalem is in the hardness of heart because of not appreciating the visitation of God. The hard heart will cause destruction.
2 Corinthians 7:10
7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
We weep many more because of realizing our sins, regretting and confessing them to God (vertical line) and other people (horizontal line). Being forgiven, we do not repeat the sin. We stop sinning, so we will laugh in joy forever.
Laughing because of sinning is same as weeping forever in the hell. - He weeps when He is born.
- [Luke 6:20] Blessed are those who are poor because theirs is the kingdom of God. It refers to Jesus as the King.
2 Corinthians 8:9
8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Jesus is rich but He is willing to be poor in order to make us, the poor, become rich. It is in spiritual meaning.
The king is one who defeats the sin. It means we are poor of sin but rich of righteous good deeds.
2 Corinthians 8:1-2
8:1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:
8:2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
The Church of Macedonia is in poverty but they are rich in righteous good deeds.
The righteous good deeds do not rely on the poverty or riches but our heart whether we are bound by money or not and whether we know Jesus as the King or not.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8
9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
If we are rich in the righteous good deeds, we will receive the grace of God. As a result, we will not lack of anything. The grace is able to preserve our life abundantly until we can always give thanks to God. We always abound in the righteous deeds. Such deeds will become the garment of the Bride of God.
Revelation 19:8
19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
On the contrary, stingy and greedy priests are naked and they are not allowed to minister to God. - [Luke 6:21a] Blessed are those who hunger because they will be filled. It refers to Jesus as a servant.
Jesus as the servant hungers. Satan comes to test when Jesus is fasting. He commands Him to change stone to become bread. Jesus does not obey him because it is not according to the will of God. Thus, Jesus is let hunger to do the will of God.
We, the priest, must minister to God with hunger. It means as follows.- Ministering to God with serious need and responsibility.
The ministry is different from occupation in the world related to money. The ministry must be a serious need and responsibilityas the mother of Moses who cannot nurse him in the beginning but then she is called by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse Moses. - Ministering to satisfy God or please Him.
John 4:34
4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
It means to do the will of God with obediencewhatever risk may come and to be faithful doing the ministry until the end line.
Satisfying God, He will satisfy us for sure.
- Ministering to God with serious need and responsibility.
- [Luke 6:22-23] Blessed are those who are hated by other people because of knowing Jesus as the Son of God.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewedday by day.
4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
The physical things will decrease but let us be fervent in the spiritual ones.
The purpose of God when He allows us to experience the persecution is as follows.- To make us experience the renewal from carnal man to spiritual oneas Jesus is.
1 Peter 3:3-5
3:3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward––arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel––
3:4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
3:5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
The spiritual man has spiritual adornment, namely meekness, quietness, and obedience. We are renewed continually until we are same as Jesus is to inherit the kingdom of heaven. - To wash the robe in blood, so Satan cannot remove our robe of ministry. We can keep it until the end line to receive the reward in heaven.
Revelation 22:12-14
22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.
22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."
22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
- To make us experience the renewal from carnal man to spiritual oneas Jesus is.
- [Luke 6:21b] Blessed are those who weep because they will laugh. It refers to Jesus as a human.
- \To make us know and experience the activity of Jesus as the Son of God or Heavenly Bridegroom.
Matthew 11:7-11
11:7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
11:8 "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
11:9 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.
11:10 "For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
11:11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
John the Baptist is the greatest person in the world. He is also the standing reed, meaning he has a firm standing in the faith and he knows Jesus as the Son of God [John 1:29].
Matthew 11:2-6
11:2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
11:3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
11:4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
11:5 "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
11:6 "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
John is a great man but he doubts Jesus as the Son of God when he is in prison, suffering. The doubt begins from questioning and commenting many more. It is dangerous as the condition of bruised reed. Continuing in it, one will be disappointed until he rejects Jesus. He is lost until perishes forever. We must be alert because the great John can be doubtful. Who are we, comparing to John?
Praise the Lord, John does not hear false thing when he is in the doubt. He hears the Word of God, namely the true teaching Word that is repeated, so he can be strong and of good courage. He is willing to be beheaded because of the true teaching Word and ministry. He believes that there is resurrection power in Jesus, the Son of God, and there is miracle.
As a result, the resurrection power of Jesus is able to remove all impossibilities and sanctify as well as renew us until we are perfect as Jesus is. The dead will be resurrected in glorious body when Jesus comes a second time and the alive will be changed in glorious body also in the twinkling of an eye. Both of them will become one perfect body of Christ to be exalted on glorious clouds and welcome Him.