To Coincide with Upgrading Service for Priests and Priests To Be Session II
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in Revelation 2-3 (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014).
We are learning Revelation 3: 14-22 about the church of the LAODICEANS. This is the last or the seventh church in the book of Revelation that shows the condition of the church in the last days (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, June 14, 2015).
Revelation 3: 16-19
3:16. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' --and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
3:18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
THE SPIRITUALITYof the church of the Laodiceans is in LUKEWARMNESSor neither being cold nor hot and neither being dead nor alive.
It means that they are rich physically and do not lack of anything, but the spirituality is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Consequently, they are vomited by God. They are useless before God, disgusting, unclean, cursed, and separated from Him until they perish forever.
Therefore, in verse 18-19 God rebukes and adviseswith the teaching Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword to make the church of the Laodiceans or all of us buy the treasure of heaven. If the rebuke and advice are ignored, God will chasten.
There are three kinds of heavenly treasurethat must be bought or possessed by the church of the Laodiceans or all of us as follows.
AD. 2. WHITE GARMENTS, 'that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.'
The white garments refer to the garments of God's mercy and trustas follows.
2 Corinthians 5: 18-19
5:18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Men are sinful and naked, so all of us MUSTbe reconciled firstby the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Our sins are forgiven or our nakedness is covered so that we are trusted with the ministry of reconciliation or the white garments. We are worthy to be consecrated or appointed as the priests and kings.
Exodus 29: 1
29:1. "And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bulland two ramswithout blemish,
'for ministering to Me as priests' = Aaron and his sons received the white garments or the ministry of reconciliation.
Aaron and his sons must offer the animal offerings to get the consecration as the high priest and priests. The animal offerings are as follows.
All animal offerings have been fulfilled by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, so we do not need to bring them anymore.
We learn about RECONCILIATION OFFERINGS.
THE TREATMENTto the young bull or the reconciliation offerings with the spiritual meaning is as follows.
God blesses you.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in Revelation 2-3 (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014).
We are learning Revelation 3: 14-22 about the church of the LAODICEANS. This is the last or the seventh church in the book of Revelation that shows the condition of the church in the last days (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, June 14, 2015).
Revelation 3: 16-19
3:16. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' --and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
3:18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
THE SPIRITUALITYof the church of the Laodiceans is in LUKEWARMNESSor neither being cold nor hot and neither being dead nor alive.
It means that they are rich physically and do not lack of anything, but the spirituality is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Consequently, they are vomited by God. They are useless before God, disgusting, unclean, cursed, and separated from Him until they perish forever.
Therefore, in verse 18-19 God rebukes and adviseswith the teaching Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword to make the church of the Laodiceans or all of us buy the treasure of heaven. If the rebuke and advice are ignored, God will chasten.
There are three kinds of heavenly treasurethat must be bought or possessed by the church of the Laodiceans or all of us as follows.
- Gold refined in the fire (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 12, 2015to Prayer Service in Surabaya, July 15, 2015). It refers to the pure faithor permanent and perfect one like Abraham's, namely the faith with the works that cannot be moved by anything.
- White garments (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 19, 2015) that refer to the garments of mercy and trust of God.
- Eye salves to anoint the eyes.
AD. 2. WHITE GARMENTS, 'that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed.'
The white garments refer to the garments of God's mercy and trustas follows.
- The shepherding garments (it has been explained from Bible Study Service in Surabaya, July 20, 2015to General Service in Surabaya, July 26, 2015).
- Ministry garments (it has been explained from Prayer Service in Surabaya, August 5, 2015).
2 Corinthians 5: 18-19
5:18. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Men are sinful and naked, so all of us MUSTbe reconciled firstby the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Our sins are forgiven or our nakedness is covered so that we are trusted with the ministry of reconciliation or the white garments. We are worthy to be consecrated or appointed as the priests and kings.
Exodus 29: 1
29:1. "And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bulland two ramswithout blemish,
'for ministering to Me as priests' = Aaron and his sons received the white garments or the ministry of reconciliation.
Aaron and his sons must offer the animal offerings to get the consecration as the high priest and priests. The animal offerings are as follows.
- One young bull = reconciliation offering.
- The first ram = surrendering offering.
- The second ram = consecration offering.
All animal offerings have been fulfilled by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, so we do not need to bring them anymore.
We learn about RECONCILIATION OFFERINGS.
THE TREATMENTto the young bull or the reconciliation offerings with the spiritual meaning is as follows.
- Exodus 29: 10
29:10. " You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.
The first treatment is as follows.- Putting the HANDSmeans there is a fellowship.
The servants of God or priests must always have the fellowship with the sacrifice of Christby MAKING PEACE or confessing sinsbecause of the encouragement of the true teaching Word that is sharper than any two-edged sword. It shows our sins and pierces our heart until we have a broken heart and confess the sin to God and others. We do not repeat the sin after being forgiven. We have peace in our heartand there will be fellowship with God and others. It begins from our marriage or household without the enmity, envy, revenge, or bitterness.
Leviticus 4: 1-3
4:1. Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
4:2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and does any of them,
4:3 'if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering.
The sin of a priest will cause disadvantage to or be born by the congregationIt is said as the debt of blood that cannot be paid by anything. - 'Aaron and his sons shall put their hands onthe headof the bull'
THE HEADmeans the mind or thought.
The thing that is thought by a priest or servant of God every day should be about the righteous and holy life that is set free from sin or the peaceful life. What to eat, drink, and wear is the concerning or God whom we serve.
The sin that often attacks the mind of the priests is unbelievingbecause of using the logic.
Matthew 14: 15-17
14:15. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."
14:16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
14:17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."
John 6: 7
6:7. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of breadis not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."
'Two hundred denarii worth of bread' = the situation and moneyoften disturb in our ministry.
Ministering to God without believing in Him means there is no faith. One does not know the direction.
John 6: 28-29
6:28. Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Himwhom He sent."
The beginning of our ministering to God is BELIEVING AND ENTRUSTING OUR LIFE FULLY TO HIMalthough maybe we are in difficulties and busy. God calls the busy person to perform the miracle for the glory of His name. The five loaves and two fish could feed the five thousand men, even there were the remnants. Lazarus had died for four days and Jesus said 'Take away the stone!' Martha still used the logic by saying 'Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.' Nevertheless, Jesus said 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?'
If the servants of God are believing and entrusting themselves fully to Him, the congregation who comes to the church bringing problems will be helped by God.
- Putting the HANDSmeans there is a fellowship.
- Exodus 29: 11
29:11. "Then you shall kill the bullbefore the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
The second treatment is the young bull is killedto get much blood.
The young bull was killed before three witnesses, namely the Trinity of God as follows.- 'before the LORD' = Father God.
- 'youshall kill' = Moses with his staff refers to Jesus with His cross = the Son of God.
- 'by the door of the tabernacle of meeting'
The Door refers to the fullness of Holy Spirit = Holy Spirit God.
- THE CONFESSION OF SIN IS SEEN BY THE TRINITY OF GOD.
We must confess our sin honestly and completely and forgive as well as forget other's sin. - THE APPOINTMENT OF THE PRIEST IS SEEN BY THE TRINITY OF GOD.
This is the high appreciation of God to a priest.
- Exodus 29: 12
29:12. "You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour all the blood beside the base of the altar.
The third treatment is to the blood of the young bull or the blood of Jesusas follows.- The blood is put on the horns of the altar.
The horn came from the material of the bone that refers to the power of resurrection like a dead body was alive after touching the bone of Elisha.
We also know 'the horn of salvation'.
Thus, the horns of the altar refer to the resurrection power to save the sinful men.
For example, Adonijah apointed himself as king. He was afraid knowing that David appointed Solomon as king. He ran away and held the horns of the altar, so he was saved.
1 Kings 1: 50-52
1:50. Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and took hold of the horns of the altar.
1:51 And it was told Solomon, saying, "Indeed Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, 'Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.'" 1:52 Then Solomon said, "If he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die."
The person who holds the horns of the altar is a worthy man. It means that he dares to confess the sin regardless of any risk he has to take. Not daring to confess the sin, one is a coward.
There is the resurrection power to save the sinful in the horns of the altar until 'not one hair of him shall fall to the earth' because there is the blood there.
We are like the hair that keeps being on the head although we are weak, powerless, and nothing. Jesus becomes our Head. It means as follows.- Jesus as the Head will be responsible to save usand make us precious like a hair that remains on the head. The salvation is more than all riches in the world.
- Jesus as the Head is able to preserve us.
- Jesus as the Head will be responsible to save usand make us precious like a hair that remains on the head. The salvation is more than all riches in the world.
- The blood is poured beside the base of the altaror to the ground.
It means that God always remembers that we are only dust or clay with many weaknesses.
If we confess our sin, God will forgive and forget our sin or throw them awaylike we never do such sin. There is no remnant of it like the blood that has been poured out to the ground.
- The blood is put on the horns of the altar.
- Exodus 29: 13
29:13. "And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneysand the fat that is on them, and burn them onthe altar.
The forth treatment is all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneysand the fat that is on themmust be burnt on the altar.
They are inside the body. It means that they cannot be seen, but felt. It refers to the INNER SANCTIFICATION. The inmost feeling that is always sad is sanctified.
The fat covers these three organs.- The entrails--digestive system= Table of Showbread.
- The two kidneys -- for absorping water= Golden Candlestick.
- The liver--it is related to the blood = Golden Altar of Incense - the tearing to the flesh.
- the entrails= Table of Showbread = perseverance in doing Bible Study Service with Holy Communion; fellowship with the Son of God in the true teaching Word and the sacrifice of Christ.
- the two kidneys-for absorping water = Golden Candlestick = perseverance in doing General Service; fellowship with Holy Spirit God in His gifts.
- the liver- there is relationship with blood= Golden Altar of Incense = perseverance in doing Prayer Service; fellowship with Father God in His love.
It means that all things are goodand do not stop working.
The three main services are the absolute requirement for a priest.
Leviticus 3: 16
3:16. 'and the priest shall burn them on the altaras food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the LORD's.
The fat must be burnt. The fat is the best part of an animal offering. It must be burnt to be the sweet aroma because it is God's. It refers to the tithes. As a result, our spirituality is healthy and our life is good. We give the best to God and He gives us the best.
On the contrary, one will not be healthy in his spirituality if he consumes the fat.
If we have been shepherded well and correctly and able to return the tithes and the best offerings to God, He will able to make all things good in His time. - Exodus 29: 14
29:14. "But the fleshof the bull, with its skinand its offal, you shall burn with fire outsidethe camp. It is a sin offering.
The fifth treatment is the flesh of the bull, with its skin, and its offal must be burnt outside the camp or THE PHYSICAL SANCTIFICATIONto our sinful deeds and saying.
It is the same as Jesus who must be crucified outside the Jerusalem city.
Hebrews 13: 10-13
13:10. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
13:11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outsidethe camp.
13:12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outsidethe gate.
13:13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
'Jesus also suffered outsidethe gate' = Jesus who is holy is supposed unholy, unclean, and dirty like the offal of a bull. He gets a great reproach to bear and sanctify all of our outer and inner sins.
Moreover, Jesus suffers in His outer and inner manbecause Peter has denied Him and Judas Iscariot has betrayed Him.
The holy person is supposed as the offal of a bull and the offal of a bull is supposed holy. The Lord is supposed as ghost and the ghost is supposed as the Lord. The house of Israel supposed that the calf is god. God is supposed as a calf, even the offal of a bull. This is false teaching that creates the hardness of heart.
'Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach' = the priests or all of us must bear the reproach of Jesus. It means as follows.- We willingly suffer in the flesh and feelings to stop sinning and live in righteousness and holiness.
Sinning means that we despise and trample the sacrifice of Christ.
It is enough that Peter has denied Jesus and Judas Iscariot has betrayed Him. Do not add with us, the priests or servants of God. - We are willingly humbled, slandered, isolated, and so on to do these things.
- Stopping sinning.
- Glorifying God= we can bear His glory.
Soon after we can bear His reproach, we are able to bear His glory.
Hebrews 13: 15-17
13:15. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
13:16 But do not forget to do goodand to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
We can glorify God through these things.- Good deeds to others (verse 16).
Do not harm others! - Obedience to God's command (verse 17).
How great we are, our life will be heavy if we are not obedient. On the contrary, there is God's hand that opens the door if we are obedient although we are simple. - Our mouth testifies and worships God or cries out His name (verse 15). We lift up our two hands to God and He will stretch out His hands to lift up and glorify us in time of need.
- Good deeds to others (verse 16).
5:5. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
In the book of Revelation chapter one is written that a star is in the right hand of God. It means that the priests are in the right hand of God that is mighty to lift them up and glorify them in time of need.
We only need to wait for His time as follows.- All problems are solved, even the impossible ones. God gives us victory.
- He uses usin the revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain or the ministry for building the body of Christ.
- He sanctifies and changes usuntil someday we are as perfect as He is and lifted up to the glorious clouds. We can enter the throne of heavenly kingdom where we serve and minister to God day and night. We see His face and there is no more tear.
- We willingly suffer in the flesh and feelings to stop sinning and live in righteousness and holiness.
God blesses you.