We Are A Kingdom Of Priests

Tonight I want to begin with the basic truth of our standing and position in Christ, and I’d like to turn for my opening text to the epistle to the Ephesians and begin in chapter 1 and I want to start with verse 13 and also 14. In starting with these verses my purpose is to point out that the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians was addressed to Christians, committed believers in Jesus Christ, who had experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He was not urging them to become Christians nor was he impressing upon them the need to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He took it for granted that these experiences were already there. In other words, in modern language, he was writing to Charismatic Christians, such as I suppose the great majority of you here tonight are. And this immediately raises the question of how do we evaluate the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

My background is in the Anglican Church and then in the Pentecostal movement. I’ve spent a long time in both of them, I must say somewhat more profitable in the second then in the first, and I think I’m pretty familiar with those backgrounds. I realize the tremendous struggle that it cost Pentecostals to get where they got to, because I was part of that struggle, and I never belittle or look down upon Pentecostals. Those who were not with us in those days will never realize the pressures that were against us—the opposition, the ridicule and the misunderstanding.

However, I think it is true to say that in many cases for Pentecostals the baptism in the Holy Spirit represented a goal that they were striving to reach. And when they received it, in many cases, their attitude was, ‘Now we have arrived, that’s it. Praise God, I’m saved, I’m baptized in water, I’m baptized in the Spirit, I speak in tongues; here I am.’

While I sympathize with all that went with that attitude, I believe it is fundamentally unscriptural. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a goal, it’s a gateway. It does not come at the end of the Christian life, it comes at the beginning of the Christian life. On the Day of Pentecost when the convicted but unconverted multitude asked the apostle Peter, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Peter gave them a very simple three-step answer—‘Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Spirit.’

And as I read the book of Acts, those were not experiences to be separated by a period of many months, they were almost simultaneous. As I understand it, on the Day of Pentecost three thousands persons repented, were baptized, and received the Holy Spirit. There’s no record anywhere in the book of Acts of believers every tarrying to receive the Holy Spirit. And in almost every instance in the book of Acts where people were converted to Christ immediately, usually the same day and within a few hours, they were baptized in water. So I understand that that is the complete entrance into the Christian life—to repent of your sins, trust Christ, be baptized in water, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is not the goal. It’s the initial gateway. When you’ve received those experiences you haven’t arrived, you’ve just begun. Then it’s up to you to find out what lies ahead.

Now notice that Paul wrote to these Ephesian believers on this basis. Speaking about Christ he says in chapter 1 verse 13:

“In whom [Christ] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”

So they had heard the gospel, believed it, trusted Christ, been sealed with the Holy Spirit. He was not urging them to receive these experiences. He took it for granted that all of them had already entered into these experiences. Then I want you to notice that on the basis of these experiences he prayed for them a very specific prayer, and this commences in verse 15:

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; . . .”

Now the King James Version maybe does not bring this out very clearly, but the verses that follow represent what Paul was praying, ‘Making mention of your in my prayers that…’ This is what he was praying:

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, . . .”

So, for these Spirit-baptized believers Paul was praying that God might give them the or a (in the Revised Standard Version the translation is a) a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God—of God and of Christ. Notice, they had not received this automatically at the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It was something that was to follow on after the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

And he also prayed that the eyes of their understanding—but the literal translation is heart—might be enlightened. Now this is the challenge that I want to bring to you tonight and in these messages, that there is a great deal more beyond the baptism in the Holy Spirit. That is merely the starting point. And that to enter into what God has for us we need to pray for ourselves the same prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesian Christians: That God may give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, and that as a result we may come to know…

You see, the Christian life begins with believing, but it should move into knowing. Believing is not the ultimate. It’s the doorway. And when you receive something by direct revelation from the Holy Spirit, you no longer merely believe it, you know it. In 1 John chapter 5, verses 13 and following, the apostle John wrote to the Christians and he said:

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, . . .”

So, believing in God’s purpose leads to knowing. We are not to rest merely content with believing, and as a result of the revelation of the Holy Spirit we know directly, without question, without shadow of doubt, we come to know things that previously it may be we merely believed.

And then it says there are three things that particularly we need to know. The first and the second of these three things are found in verse 18. The first one may be summed up in one single word—that ye may know what is the hope of your calling… Hope in the New Testament means ‘a certain assurance concerning the future, a confident expectation.’ So God desires that every one of us has a confident expectation of what lies ahead for us in the future, both in time and thereafter in eternity. The final hope of the Christian is the blessed hope of the coming again of Jesus Christ and eternity in glory with Him. But there are sure hopes also set forth along the way that leads us to that meeting with Christ. And every Christian should walk with an assured expectation of what God has in store for him.

And then the second things that he prayed is also in verse 18 and the key word is inheritance, and it speaks about ‘the riches of the glory of [God’s] inheritance in the saints,’ I don’t believe that this means what we inherit in God. I believe it means God’s inheritance in us, which we don’t think about many times. We’re so self-centered that we don’t often view things from God’s point of view. But God has an inheritance in us.

I’ve explained it this way sometimes: that God is in the development business. Some time ago, my wife and I had four corner lots in Fort Lauderdale, occupied by two houses and three guest houses, which we’d purchased for a certain purpose that later we were not able to use them for. So in the end I decided to sell them. And I went to a prayer meeting one night with only about fifteen or twenty persons there, and I made this a matter of prayer. I said, ‘I would like you to join with me in praying that I may sell my lots.’ And I got one of the quickest answers to prayer that I ever had, because at the end of the prayer meeting a man walked up to me who’d been in the meeting who said, ‘I’ll buy your lots.’ And he did.

Now he was a developer, and as soon as he bought the lot and his title was assured, he went to an architect and drew plans for a thirty-five unit condominium, which now stands upon the lot. And then he went to an artist and got the artist to draw a beautiful picture of what the architect had planned. And then he planted this thing up in front of the lot. And one day going past I stopped and I gazed at this beautiful picture and I said to myself, Do you mean to say that our lot one day is going to look like that? It seemed to me almost incredible, and I didn’t see how he could get thirty-five units on a place that had accommodated only two houses and three guest houses. But, as a matter of fact, he achieved what he had set out to do and today that condominium building stands there.

But this was a lesson to me. God buys up lots. You and I are the lots, and some of what He buys is only fit for demolition. But He doesn’t buy it for the sake of what’s there now. He buys it for the sake of what He’s going to make out of it. And then the divine architect draws His plan and the divine artist produces His illustrations and they’re right there in the pages of the New Testament, and we stand back and say, ‘You mean to say one day I’m going to be like that?’ And God says, ‘Yes, that’s how it’s going to be. That’s My inheritance in you. That’s what I redeemed you for, that’s what I want to produce out of you.’

So God has an inheritance in His safe, and Paul prays that we may know this. In other words, we may know what God is going to do with us and what He’s going to bring forth out of our lives. Again, the key word is know. We aren’t groping, we aren’t fumbling—we have a confident assurance of what God is going to do.

And then the third thing that we need to know is expressed in verse 19; and again, there is one key word which is what—power.

“And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, . . .”

And it always thrills me to believe that there’s only one basic requirement for having God’s power available, and that is believing. It’s all available as we believe. You will find from time to time that there are groups that spring up that represent themselves of what I might call ‘the in group,’ ‘the super spiritual group,’ ‘the group that have got a higher light and the deeper revelation.’ And their attitude is, ‘If you want to be right, you’ve got to join us. And if you’re not with us, you’re not with it.’ And I would offer this comment on such groups which spring up frequently: If you ever meet a group that says, ‘If you want to be right you’ve got to join us,’ and you join them, you can be sure one thing: You’re wrong, because that is not the spirit of God, nor is it the spirit of Christ. The Bible says in Jude—I think it’s the 19th verse:

“These be they [that] separate themselves, sensual [or soulish], not having the Spirit.”

They think they’re spiritual, but in actual fact they’re soulish. God’s primary, basic requirement for entering into the experience of His power is in one simple thing—believing.

And then Paul absolutely beggars language by trying to describe the measure of the divine power that’s available to us. I think Greek students will tell you that he uses in those verse the four main Greek words for power, one after another. And at the end, he still hasn’t said it. He’s run out of language but he has not exhausted the sources of God’s power. But he gives us one yardstick by which we can measure the power that’s available to every believer, and he compares it to the power that raised the dead, mutilated body of Jesus Christ from the rocky tomb and lifted Him to the highest place in glory, at God’s right hand. And he says the same power that did that is available to every one of us who believes. But the actually enjoyment and experience of that power in our lives will largely be hidden from us until we receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation that causes us to know it. So, the full enjoyment that God here sets forth before us is dependent upon our receiving from God this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Don’t confuse that with the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The baptism is the doorway, but here is part of what we enter into through the baptism.

Now at this point I want to apply this in a practical way in this sense: that I want to pray, and I invite you pray with me, to God here tonight in simple language that He will give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that we may know the things that God urgently desires us to know. So I’m going to pray a simple prayer. I don’t have the words memorized. I just pray extemporaneously, and I invite every one of you who’s a believer to unite with me in praying this prayer. Don’t say the words with me because that will lead to confusion, but say them out loud after me sentence by sentence. Don’t bother about me, don’t look at me, your prayer is not addressed to me, but to God.

Now if you desire to enter into these things, I’m going to pray this prayer. I’m going to pray it for myself, I’m going to pray it for you, and I invite you to join with me in praying it and in believing that God will actually do what we pray. We have a right to believe that because it’s clearly revealed in the Scripture that it is God’s will. And if we ask anything according to God’s will we know that He heareth

us, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. So, would you unite with me in prayer at this time? Say these words after me.

Our God and Father, we come to Thee tonight through the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, our Savior and Redeemer. According to the teaching of Thy word, we ask Thee to give to us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (Christ), that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, that as a result we may know with absolute confidence, with total assurance these glorious truths which are part of our inheritance and which You want us to know. And by faith, tonight, we receive the answer to our prayers and we thank You for it and give You the glory for it, in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

All right. Now we’re believing that things will be different here tonight because we prayed that prayer.

Now I want to go on to chapter 2 of Ephesians, just pause briefly to point out that the first three verses describe our condition apart from Christ. I don’t know whether this describes you as you see yourself, but it certainly describes me as I was until met Jesus Christ: Dead in trespasses and sins, walking in the way of the world, under the power of the prince of the power of the air—that’s Satan, the god of this world—deceived, disobedient, rebellious, following our own evil lusts and ambitions and propensities, alienated and cut off from the life that is in God.’ We don’t need to go into that picture in detail. It’s a very terrible picture, but it’s a completely true picture.

But at the beginning of verse 4 we have two beautiful words, two simple, short English words: ‘But God.’ Nothing of ourselves, it’s all of God. We didn’t deserve it. We had no claim upon it; ‘But God,’ in His infinite grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, moved in and came to our help. And in moving in and coming to our help He did for us three things on the basis of our relationship to Christ. And it’s these three things that we want to look at now:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: . . .”

Now there are three things that Paul says that God has done for us. Right from the beginning I want to emphasize the tense. These are not things that God is going to do. They are things that God has already done because of our relationship to Him through Jesus Christ. The first thing is found in verse 5. What’s the key word there? ‘To quicken.’ What’s that in modern English? ‘To make alive,’ that’s right. So the first thing that God has done for us in Christ: He has made us alive.

The next two things are both in verse 6. What’s the second at the beginning of verse 6? ‘He has raised us up.’ What one English word covers being raised up? Resurrection. So He has resurrected us. And then, what’s the third thing He’s done? He’s ‘made us to sit in heavenly places.’ This also is in the past tense.

Now what kind of a seat is Christ sitting on? A throne. So we have been made to sit on a throne. What’s one English word for being made to sit on a throne? To enthrone. I love the New English Bible version of that for it uses the word enthroned. So understand this: Solely out of God’s grace, not because we have any claim upon Him, but in virtue of our relationship to Jesus Christ, God has done—is not going to do—but has done three things: He’s made us alive, He’s resurrected us from the tomb, and He’s enthroned us at His right hand.

Now it’s most important that we emphasize from the beginning all these things are in the past tense. None of them is going to happen in the future. Every one of them is already an accomplished fact. God has made us alive when we were dead in sins; He’s resurrected us from the tomb of our sins; and, praise God, He didn’t leave us standing around outside the tomb anymore than He left Jesus there. There was an angel to say that He wasn’t there any longer. The third thing He’s done, He has enthroned us with Christ at His right hand. What kind of a person sits on a throne? A king, that’s right.

Now I want to take a parallel teaching of Paul in Romans chapter 8 verses 29 and 30. Speaking about us Paul tells us in these verses that God has done five things for us. The first two things are in verse 29, the last three things are in verse 30. The first two things God did in eternity, before creation ever took place. What was the first one in eternity? He foreknew us. I want to emphasize the basis of everything that God has done subsequently is His foreknowledge. God didn’t work at random. It wasn’t left to chance. It was a matter of God’s foreknowledge. Everything is based on that.

Where He foreknew us and after that He did what? He predestinated us. I say that means ‘He arranged the course that our life should take,’ in simple language.

All right. Now those two things happened in eternity. They were all settled before the world was created, before you and I ever came into being. But then in time, in the course of our earthly experience He did three more things for us as Christians, and they’re in verse 30. The first one He called us. He invited us to Himself through the preaching of the gospel.

“When He had called us and we answered the call, the second thing He did was He justified us. And having justified us the third thing He did was He glorified us. ”

Now please note all those are in the past tense. He has called us, He has justified us, He has glorified us.

To justify, as I understand it, means ‘to reckon righteous, to acquit of guilt,’ and in actual fact also, ‘to render righteous.’ To glorify we’ll look at in a moment.

Again notice the tenses. And let me challenge you this for a moment. How many of you believe God called you? All right. How many of you believe God has justified you? Praise God. Now how many of you believe God has glorified you? You can’t believe otherwise. That would be totally illogical and inconsistent interpretation of Scripture. You’d be drawing a line where Scripture draws no line.

Now let me say, in order that you don’t start with a prejudice in your mind against me, I don’t believe that our bodies have yet been glorified. All right. I don’t have a glorified body; consequently I feel the strain of the journey from Fort Lauderdale to Vancouver. If you meet anybody who says he has a glorified body—and I’ve met some people who were silly enough to say it—my advice is just stick a pin in them and see what happens next. But in a certain very valid and extremely important sense, God has already glorified us. We’ll come to that a little more fully in a minute.

Now I want you to compare Ephesians 2 and Romans 8. And I’m going to do it on my fingers. I think I’ll use my left hand for Romans, my right hand for Ephesians. I want you to see the three stages that took place in time are exactly parallel from Romans to Ephesians. Now going back to the ones that took place in eternity, the first thing that God did for us in Romans He called us, and in Ephesians He made us alive. All right, those correspond.

The second thing He did in Romans, He justified us, and in Ephesians He resurrected us. Some of you are not altogether with me at this point. I’ll go over it once more. The third thing He did in Romans, He glorified us, and in Ephesians He enthroned us. You see the exact parallel.

All right. Now let me say one thing about justification. Justification is on the basis of resurrection. So you see how close they are, so if you just keep your finger in Romans 8 if you need to, and look at Romans 4 for a moment, the last verses of Romans 4, in fact the last verse is really all we need to look at. Romans 4:25, speaking about Jesus Christ:

“Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again [was resurrected] for our justification.”

We’re justified by His resurrection. So you see the close tie-in. So let’s go through them once more and see if the whole class can get them right this time. Last time we just had a few bold pioneers. So Romans 8 on my left hand, and Ephesians 2 on my right hand.

The first step in Romans 8, He called us. And in Ephesians 2 He made us alive. The second step in Romans 8 He justified us, and in Ephesians 2 He resurrected us. The third step in Romans 8 He glorified us and in Ephesians He enthroned us. All right. Let’s say them quickly now. Called—made alive. Justified—resurrected. Glorified— enthroned.

You see, they’re exactly parallel. They’re two different ways of stating the same truths, and in each case they’re all in the past tense. We are already enthroned, we are already glorified. It’s not going to happen, it has happened.

Now let me take this a step further and illustrate it from the figures of the tabernacle. I have to assume that you’re familiar with a little Old Testament truth, you are aware there was a man called Moses who led God’s people, Israel, out of Egypt into the wilderness, and that God instructed Moses to build a particular building which was called a tabernacle which was to be a dwelling place of God in the midst of

these people Israel where they were to come to Him, worship Him, offer their sacrifices and so on. Now the tabernacle is a fascinating building. The more you go into it, the more truth comes out of it. I don’t know of any passage in Scripture that more emphasizes to me personally the need of holiness than the teaching of the tabernacle. If there’s one thing that makes me long for holiness, it’s the teaching of the tabernacle, without going it into it in detail.

Now there are many aspects to tabernacle truths. One essential, basic fact is that it was a triune building. In other words, it was three in one—one single place, but with three areas: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and then the Holy of Holies (or the Holiest of All).

Now in this we find many references to eternal truth. For instance, God is three in one—Father, Son and Spirit, three persons, one God. Likewise, man is triune—one man but made up of spirit, soul and body. Likewise, I believe, that heaven is triune. This is an opinion which I offer you. I believe there are three heavens—the visible heaven which we see; an intermediate heaven, which is the headquarters of Satan’s kingdom; and a third heaven, which is where God dwells and where Paradise is now located. Now if you don’t go along with that, that’s all right.

But I also believe that the three areas of the tabernacle correspond of the three areas of human personality—the Outer Court with its natural light of sun, moon and stars corresponds to the physical body with the physical senses which are the source of understanding or perception. The Holy Place corresponds to mans’ soul, and it speaks about revealed truth. And then the Holiest of All corresponds to mans’ spirit and speaks about directly apprehended truth. Truth that is apprehended by direct, personal contact with God, for it is the spirit of man alone that is united with God. ‘He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.’ Not one soul or one body, but one spirit. So direct contact with God is Spirit to spirit, and that’s where direct revelation comes.

Now it’s fascinated me to see that it’s in the soulish realm that man has his problems. Our soul is really the source of our problems without going into detail, it’s the self-will, stubborn, emotive part of us that has ideas and opinions that are not always in line with what God’s truth says, and it’s the soul that has to be humble itself, it’s the soul that has to be saved, it’s the soul that has to be renewed and

transformed. And what fascinates me is this, that if we take the comparison between the three heavens, the second heaven corresponds to the realm of the soul. The second heaven is Satan’s area in the heavenlies and Satan exploits the soul of man. That’s the area where he works.

Now I don’t want to go into this in detail because it’s not part of our real theme, but now I want you to see that we have three things that go parallel. We take now—I don’t know what I’m going to do now… I’ve only got two hands that’s my problem but I’ll find a way through it somehow. We’ve got Romans, Ephesians and the tabernacle, and again the parallel is exact. All right, the first thing He did for us in Romans He called us. The first thing in Ephesians He made us alive. The first area in the tabernacle the Outer Court. You hear the gospel with your senses. You respond, and you’re accepted by God in Christ. That’s the initial encounter.

Secondly, in Romans He justified, Ephesians: He resurrected, the area now is the Holy Place. Everything beyond the Outer Court is revelation knowledge. It all relates to that which happened after the death of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ is portrayed in the Outer Court by the brazen altar. But His resurrection is only revelation knowledge. It’s not sense knowledge and you have to go within the first veil into the realm of the soul, and there within the first veil you have the three items of furniture which typify the three functions of the soul. The Table of Shewbread, which typifies the will, the Candlestick, which typifies the intellect, and the Gold Altar which typifies the emotions. And I believe in those three areas and in that order, God renews and transforms mans’ soul—first his will, second his intellect and third his emotions.

Now going back to Romans, the third phase in Romans was He glorified us, in Ephesians He enthroned us and in the tabernacle the Holy of Holies. And that’s, I believe, exactly how it is. It’s in the third realm, the realm of the Spirit, that we are able to apprehend that we are glorified and enthroned with Christ, and there, beyond the second veil, there was only one piece of furniture, the golden mercy seat on top of the ark, covered over with the cherubims—which typifies Christ reigning as priest and king. That’s the life within the second veil. That’s where we’re headed.

So often we stop short at contact with Christ, but this is not the end that God has set before us. ‘Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust [Why?] that He might bring us to God.’ And in Hebrews it says, ‘Having therefore boldness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, let us enter into the Holiest.’ God is never satisfied until we’ve made that third step beyond the second veil into the Holiest of All. And this thought really consumes me and absorbs me today. I’m fascinated by what lies beyond the second veil. I have to say, there’ll be no satisfaction in my spirit until I’ve passed beyond that veil.

Let me also offer this thought without going into the explanations which I could produce. I believe within the first veil, that is, within the Holy Place, we have in a sense the operation of the five church building ministries—apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. But within the second veil we have the two highest ministries of all, which are little spoken about but which we are going to be dealing with—priest and king, making up seven ministries.

Now I believe in the realm of the soul, and ladies hear me to the end before you get angry with me, I think it’s obvious in the realm of the body there’s a difference between male and female. I should hope we have no problems with that fact. All right, now I believe in the realm of the soul there is also a very real difference between male and female. The soul of a woman does not respond in the same way as the soul of the man. There are many differences and every husband’s got to learn to cultivate a woman’s soul in dealing with his wife. I have to confess in my life it took me many years to grasp this fact. And let me say again, as lovingly as I can, I believe that in the area of the second veil there are ministries which are not scripturally open to women. I don’t believe it’s totally scriptural for a woman to be a pastor, nor do I really believe God’s perfect plan is for women apostles, though over the years it’s been mostly women who’ve been doing apostolic work on the mission field. And to them goes the credit. The shame is to the men who weren’t there to do it. You know that until recently every foreign missionary society estimated that for those volunteering for overseas mission service there were eleven women for every one male candidate. So this is no condemnation of women, but it’s an interesting analysis.

So there’s still a difference between us within the Holy Place. But when we come into the Holy of Holies, I believe in the spirit there is no difference. I believe there’s neither time nor sex in the spirit. And ladies, just think what awaits you there. King and priest—the two highest ministries of all. Why not let the men do the work in the building and just move quietly past them through that second veil? I’m getting some ladies’ claps now. I really believe at the present time there are far more ladies ministering beyond the second veil than there are men. There are far more women who have conceived what it is to rule with Christ as king and minister with Him as priest. Thank God, there’s an area all our divisions are blotted out and done away with in a sense, but they still remain real within their respective realms.

All right, so we have this glorious picture of the progression. Now I think you can see it as progression. The Outer Court called, made alive. The first place, the Holy Place, justified, resurrected. The Holiest of All beyond the second veil, glorified, enthroned.

And oh, it’s so fascinating about the light there. The light in the Outer Court was natural—sun, moon and stars. The light in the Holy Place was artificial—from the seven-branched candle stick, the olive oil set on fire. That speaks about revelation knowledge granted to our understanding by the Holy Spirit. But within the second veil, remember that the coverings of the ark were very dense, of the tabernacle were very dense. There was no light whatever unless it was filled with the personal presence of Almighty God. That which the Jews call the shekinah glory, the manifest presence of Almighty God, perceptible to the senses.

You see, God is always present, but His glory isn’t always present. And when His glory is present we feel it with our senses. When the glory of God filled the tabernacle or the temple, the priests could no longer stand to minister. They could not remain physically upright in the presence of God’s manifested glory.

All right, that’s where we’re headed. I hope you’ve got a kind of glimpse of the journey. We have set our faces to go through the first veil, beyond the Holy Place, past beyond the second veil into the Holy of Holies and dare to be in the very presence of Almighty God Himself, direct, person-to-person, Spirit-to spirit. One of the things that fascinates me about the tabernacle is the further you go, the fewer options there are, until you’re just shut up in a cube—ten cubits by ten cubits by ten cubits. And there’s something in every one of us that fears and wants to draw back, but I believe we have to set our face and determine with our soulish will to move in there. Nobody is compelled to go. It’s a decision each believer must make.

Now I want to illustrate this truth once more from 1 Corinthians chapter 2. First Corinthians is one of my favorite chapters, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and 2, because it really is my testimony. If you want my testimony I think you’ll find it in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 21:

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

I was a student of the wisdom of this world. I was a professional philosopher at Cambridge University. But in all my philosophizing, I never came to know God. And then I heard some preaching, and believe me, it was the most foolish thing I could conceive of. But it saved me. I’m glad I was foolish enough to get saved. And I think if you read the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, I think you’ll count the number of times that Paul warns Christians against the wisdom of this world, which is essentially philosophy. It’s not higher education, but it’s philosophy. I think there are ten times he warns us that philosophy does not reveal God. And I say ‘Amen.’ That’s my testimony.

But in the second chapter he comes into the area of the revelation of the wisdom of God, and he, in the first four and five verses, he declares the only gateway to this hidden wisdom of God. And I’ll read them without pausing to comment at length.

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [Notice he sets aside wisdom and eloquence.] For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

That’s the door. There’s only one door to the wisdom of God and that door is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If you come by that door, you gain admittance. If you go any other way, you are excluded.

“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom [notice again he sets aside human wisdom], but in demonstration [supernatural demonstration] of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

First of all he sets aside all forms of human wisdom as a means of knowing the truth of God. But when he set that aside and reveals the only doorway, which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, then he says there is a secret, hidden wisdom of God and I’ll begin to talk about it. So he goes on to say:

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: . . .”

Or in modern English, ‘mature.’ And I have to say that the teaching I’m bringing you is essentially for those that are in some degree mature. It is not milk. You may have noticed that already. I preached milk so long that I got tired of it, and I decided regardless of how people might react, I was going to move beyond milk into something more solid. And I’ve found that God’s people basically have responded enthusiastically, even though it means a considerable greater measure of effort and concentration and prayer to enter in.

“[But] we [do] speak wisdom [he says—verse 6:] among them that are [mature]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, . . .”

I think the Revised Standard Version says, ‘We speak a secret hidden wisdom of God.’ And that phrase fascinates me, I think, because of my background. It just is like I don’t know what—it beckons me. ‘We speak a secret hidden wisdom of God.’ Do you know that there is a secret hidden wisdom of God? Do you want to know it? Oh, I tell you, I want to know it. I’m desirous to enter into God’s secret hidden wisdom.

Now look at what it says at the end of verse 7. I wonder if you ever noticed these words before in your life.

“…[this secret] wisdom, which God ordained before the world [look at the last three words] unto our glory: . . .”

Not His glory, but our glory. Did you notice that? The Revised Standard says, ‘For our glorification.’ To make us glorious, to bring us to glory. See, everything God did through Jesus Christ was not for His glory in a sense, because He had all the glory. It was for our glory. Jesus left the glory, came down to earth, that when He returned to the glory He might take us with Him. The whole thing was planned for our glory. Now you see the link-up. When we’re called, then we’re justified, and when we’re justified, then we are glorified. That’s it. That’s where Paul’s headed for—beyond the second veil where we’re enthroned with Christ. All right.

“…a [secret hidden wisdom of] God ordained before the world for our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

Now you see the implication? This secret hidden wisdom reveals Jesus as the Lord of glory. Anybody who has this wisdom recognizes the Lordship and the glory of Jesus. But those who do not have this wisdom cannot see it. So the princes of this world rejected the Lord of glory not knowing who He was. It’s clear to me that Pontius Pilate was in some measure a philosopher, because when Jesus spoke to him about the truth, he asked a typical philosopher’s question. He said, ‘What is truth?’ That’s one hundred percent philosophy. And interestingly enough, in two thousand, five hundred years, philosophy has never satisfactorily answered that question. Still don’t have an answer today. What is truth? But the significant thing about Pilate was that he asked the question when the truth was standing right in front of him. And I think he asked the question to avoid the truth, and I know a lot of philosophers that ask questions for the same reason—not because they want to know the answer, but because they want to avoid the truth. The truth challenges you. Once you’ve seen the truth, there’s no more neutrality. Jesus said, ‘He that is not with Me is against Me.’

All right, now speaking about this secret hidden wisdom, Paul then goes on to describe it. He says in verse 9:

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Notice, he rules out two means of revelation. It’s not by the senses, it’s not in the Outer Court, and it’s not by the imagination and reasoning, it’s not in the soul, but it’s in the realm of the spirit beyond the second veil. And then it says, verse 10:

“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit [notice again the tense. God isn’t going to reveal them, He has revealed them]: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?”

There are things in me that my mind and my soul don’t know about, but my spirit knows. This is a remarkable truth. I’ve seen it illustrated so many ways. I’ve seen when the Spirit of God in revelation begins to work, people begin to know things about themselves they never knew with their natural mind or memory. It’s happened to me, myself.

I don’t want to take time to illustrate it now, but have you ever noticed when people get the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a strong, self-confident, unemotional man will break down and cry like a little baby? You know what that is? The Holy Spirit has laid bare a wounded spirit that his mind never acknowledged. Maybe his mother wasn’t good to him when he was three years old. He’s carried that wound in his spirit all those thirty or forty or fifty years. But when the Spirit of God comes in, He goes beyond the mind and the soul into the spirit. The Bible says, ‘A wounded spirit, who can bear?’ There’s a deep truth there. We need to bear this in mind. Our mind, our soul, doesn’t tell us all that we need to know about ourselves. There’s an area below that where a lot of things live that sometimes we’d be embarrassed if we knew they were there. All right.

“…even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. [Now verse 12:] Now we have received . . . [Notice again not we’re going to receive, we have received. All of it is in the past tense.]
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world [which tells us the things of the world], but the spirit which is of God; . . .”

Now why have we received the Spirit of God? That we might what?—what’s the next word—know. Not believe but know.

“…that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

And notice, these things ‘have been freely given.’ They’re not going to be given, they have been given. If we don’t enjoy them, the reason is not because God hasn’t given them, but because we don’t know about them. Why don’t we know about them? Because we haven’t received the spirit of wisdom and revelation that gives us the knowledge of them. Keep your finger in 1 Corinthians 2 for a moment, and go with me to 2 Peter chapter 1. I love the King James Version, but sometimes it’s a struggle to bring the truth through it to modern readers, or modern hearers. Second Peter 1, without going into the background verses 3 and 4. All right.

“According as his [God’s] divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, . . .”

Notice the tense—God has given us everything we’re ever going to need for time and eternity. There’s nothing more He has to give us. When He gave us in Christ He gave us everything, once and for all. And then it says:

“…through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: . . .”

Or the acknowledging in the Greek. Everything we need is already ours when we come to know it and acknowledge it in Christ. It’s all provided for us in Christ. It’s contained in Christ. Paul says in Colossians, ‘In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ That’s what thrills me. I don’t want to go for the cheap things. I want to go for the treasures. And all the treasures, every treasure of wisdom and knowledge, is hidden in Christ. All right, going on back to 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4:

“. . . whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises [notice the next fact—the provision is in the promises. Everything that we will ever need for time and eternity is ours through the promises of God. And then it says:] that by theses ye might be partakers of the divine nature [the result of appropriating the promises is that we become partakers of God’s own nature, and the negative aspect of that is that we thereby] escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

You can’t be partaker of God’s nature and in the same area be partaker of corruption, because God’s eternal nature and corruption never mingle. So notice those statements. There are five statements there.

God’s power has already given to us everything we’re ever going to need—spiritual, material, temporal, eternal. It’s all contained in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It’s available through the promises. By appropriating the promises, we become partakers of God’s nature, and in becoming partakers of God’s nature we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Now the point I want to emphasize is this, it’s already given. Going back now to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12:

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know [what?] the things that are already freely given to us of God.”

Freely given means ‘given by grace.’ They can’t be earned, they can’t be worked for, they must be appropriated by faith through revelation knowledge. Verse 13:

“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual [or unfolding spiritual things to spiritual persons].”

Please note that the jargon of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and related studies are not suitable vehicles for conveying spiritual truth. We have to use the words the Holy Spirit gives. Now the moment I hear people, preachers, using psychiatric jargon like fixations, and subconscious, and so on, I begin to think they’re straying from divine truth. Because divine truth cannot be contained in categories of human wisdom, but they must be expressed in the words which the Holy Spirit giveth.

Now when we turn to the tabernacle, those are the words that the Holy Spirit has given to express divine truth. All right. So you see that there is an area of revelation, of knowledge, contained in Jesus Christ which we can only enter into as we receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. It’s spiritually revealed Spirit to spirit. And when we enter in we find that this knowledge is for our glory. It tells us that not only as Christ beyond the second veil on the throne at the Father’s right hand, but we are there with Him. We are glorified and enthroned with Christ.

The next thing I want to say, God’s purpose in man’s creation. Let’s go to Genesis 1:26. This states

the initial purpose of God in the creation of man.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:”

Notice, it was a collective decision of the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit were of one mind about creating man. This tells me an awful lot you know. It tells me a lot about the government of the church. If the Godhead operates on plurality I reckon the church ought to too. See, I don’t find that the Father ever did anything without consulting the Son. Or the Son ever did anything without checking with the Father. And they both agreed in the Spirit.

You know, a young man, I mean, really, you know, only two or three years in the Lord, we were talking the other day at the breakfast table, a group of wonderful spiritual young men, about government, church government, plurality versus the one man concept. And I was talking about a sermon I’d heard on Moses, taking the children of Israel out of Egypt. And this young man said something and it’s not exactly in line with my message, but it’s so good I don’t want to keep it from you. He said, ‘It’s true in the Old Testament, God had one man who did things. He had Moses who was the leader of his people. He had David who was a king. He had Elijah who was a prophet who was alone without an equal. But,’ he said, ‘in a certain sense all these were only types of Jesus Christ as King and Prophet and Priest. But when you get to the climax of divine revelation in the book of Revelation, the last picture of government—what is it? It’s one Lamb on the throne with the Father and four and twenty elders round the throne. And that’s how the church is to be governed. There’s a unique place for Jesus Christ and around the throne there’s a plurality of elders.’ That excites me because it shows me that eldership is eternal. Right from the beginning and right into eternity eldership is the principle of divine government. It starts right in the book of Genesis and goes all the way through. Praise God. Well there’s no extra charge for that. In fact it isn’t even mine. I couldn’t charge for it anyhow. That came from a young man that was saved from the life of being a hippie just about four years ago, and it really—as Bob Mumford would say—it blew my mind.

“God said, Let us make man in our image,…”

That’s the outward physical likeness. The Hebrew word is the word used in modern Hebrew for having your photograph taken. It’s a word that describes form and appearance. Man outwardly represents God in a way that no other creature does. And if that gives you problems, let me just ask you this, would it have been appropriate for the Son of God to come to earth in the form of an ox or a beetle? No. There was an appropriateness that He came as a male human, because that particular form was designed by God to represent Him even in its outward appearance. And then he says:

“…in our likeness: [that’s the inward likeness—the spiritual and moral nature of God, the capacity for faith, for creative activity, and so on. And then the purpose for which man was created] let them [notice it’s the human race, it’s not just Adam] let them have dominion [or rule] over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

Man was created to be God’s personal, visible representative showing forth His likeness and exercising His authority over the whole earth and the birds of the air—so his authority extended as high as the eagle could fly, which is the lower air contiguous with the earths surface. So man was created to be a king subject only to one condition—his obedience and loyalty to his Creator. But you know the story—he transgressed, he was disloyal to God, sold out to Satan, believed the devil’s lie, and not only sold himself out but sold his kingdom out. That’s how Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air. He took over the entire kingdom which God had initially committed to Adam. And so, instead of living like a king he became a slave—a slave of sin and a slave of Satan.

And I want to suggest to you that every man alive, every human being has just got two alternatives— you can live one or other of two ways. You can live like a king or you can live like a slave. And if you don’t live like a king, you must live like a slave. There’s no alternative. So sin brought man down from his position as a king to the position of a slave.

Now the truth that I want to bring out, and this will close our message, is that redemption always restores man to his place of kingship. That’s the immediate result of redemption. The great type of redemption in the Old Testament the great type I believe is the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. And if you turn to Exodus 19 you’ll see what God said to Israel through Moses after their redemption. And remember that they were not redeemed by the keeping of the law. The law never redeemed anybody. They were redeemed by faith in the blood of the lamb, which is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God said to Moses, ‘This is what you’re to tell them,’ in verse 3 and following.

“…Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, [I believe that’s the supernatural, miraculous power of God] and brought you unto myself.”

Notice, the first purpose of redemption was to bring God’s people to Himself. Not to the Promised Land, not to the law, but to Himself. And here, I believe, Israel completely missed God’s purpose. They really never saw that God first and foremost wanted them to be His. And they became absorbed in the law and its promises and the inheritance in the land, and virtually turned their backs on God. And I find multitudes of Christians make essentially the same mistake. They’re interested in promises, blessings, healing, deliverance, ministries, but our primary purpose in redemption is to come to God. God brings us to Him. Everything else is secondary to that. Then he says in verse 5:

“Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed,”

And notice the one basic requirement in all dispensations to belong to God is to obey His voice. Jeremiah 7:23, God said, ‘When I brought Israel out of Egypt did I ask them for sacrifices and offerings?’ He said, no. I asked one thing: ‘Obey My voice and ye shall be My people and I will be your God.’ That’s all through every dispensation. The basic requirement of God can be summed up in three simple words: ‘Obey My voice.’

You see, a lot of people hold up the Bible, and they say ‘This is it.’ Is the Bible God’s Word? You could answer many ways. But what is the Bible? Materially, it’s white paper with black marks on it, isn’t it? Can you burn a Bible? Sure you can. Can you burn God’s Word? No. So there’s a difference. Can you hear black marks on white paper? No. But God says, ‘Obey My voice.’

And Romans 10:17 says, ‘So then faith cometh’ by what? Reading the Bible? No. ‘Hearing the word of God.’ What makes the Word of God audible? One thing that changes black marks on white paper into a voice? What is it? The Spirit—that’s right. Without the Spirit you can’t do it. You don’t even know what God wants. You can read the Bible without the Holy Spirit and end up with the most ridiculous ideas of what God wants. God’s one requirement is ‘Obey My voice.’ And that demands a direct personal relationship to God. There’s no substitute. You can’t keep any set of rules and do it, because God says, ‘You listen to My voice and do what I tell you.’ All right,

“If therefore ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me [what?] a kingdom of priests, . . .”

Okay. What’s included in that? Two things—kings and priests. They were transferred again from the condition of being slaves to the condition of being kings. What did that? Redemption through the blood of the Passover Lamb.

Now I believe that the majority of Israelites never comprehended or entered into their inheritance. But please note though God’s purposes may be delayed, they can never ultimately be frustrated. God created man to be a king and sooner or later man is going to be a king. Even if it takes God several thousand years, He’ll work at it till He gets it.

So in the New Testament we come to the language of Scripture to believers in Jesus Christ and we find—turning to Revelation chapter 1, Revelation 1—I’m getting fairly near the end. Hold out, keep the kids quiet, sit on your hands and we’ll make it. Revelation 1 verses 5 and 6. If you think you’re tired, what about me? As a matter of fact, I’m not the least bit tired. Praise the Lord! In fact, if you’re not careful I can go on another couple of hours. All right. Revelation 1 verse 5 beginning in the second half:

“Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; . . .”

What’s the tense? Past. When you were washed in the blood of Jesus, you have been made a king and a priest. Nothing else is needed. Now the literal translation is a kingdom and priests. In actual fact, it corresponds exactly to Exodus 19:6: a kingdom of priests.

“Notice Revelation 5:9 and 10:
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 out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: . . .”

The moment you’re redeemed by the blood you’re constituted a king and a priest. As a matter of fact, it’s fascinating how this runs through. I never saw it so clearly. Even if you look in Revelation 20 verse 6:

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

Notice the combination—priests who reign. What kind of people reign? Kings. So they’re priests and kings. It’s all the way through. So redemption restores us to the position of kingship and priesthood in Christ. Now one final passage to look is 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 to begin with. Speaking to believers in Jesus Christ:

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, . . .”

What does the word royal tell us? Kings, that’s right. We are a kingly priesthood, or a kingdom of priests. Not going to be, we are. Then look back in 1 Peter 2:5:

“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood [Verse 9 is a royal priesthood, but verse 5 is a holy priesthood], to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

So we are both a kingdom and a priesthood. Now, let’s understand what this means. Let’s make it practical. What one word describes the unique special function of a king? To reign or to rule. Now take a deep breath and don’t answer too quickly. What one word, and I only want one word, describes the unique special function of a priest? Sacrifice. That’s the one distinctive function of a priest is to offer sacrifice. And fascinatingly enough under the old Mosaic covenant these two offices were separate by divine edict. The kingship went to the tribe of Judah. The priesthood went to the tribe of Levi. And they never could be united. Two kings were severely judged by God because they usurped the priestly office of sacrifice—one was Saul, the other was King Uzziah of Judah. Saul lost his kingdom; Uzziah was smitten with leprosy in the forehead, because as a king he usurped the function of a priest, which is to offer sacrifice.

So you see they each have one supreme function. The king to reign, the priest to offer sacrifice. Now you see where Peter speaks about our being a priesthood, he immediately goes on to speak about what we have to do to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Now why does Peter say spiritual? Because the Levitical priesthood offered up physical sacrifices. They offered up the bodies of birds and beasts and flour and wine and oil and frankincense and so on. But our sacrifices are not physical, they’re spiritual. But still to be priests we must offer sacrifices, otherwise we are not functioning as priests.

Now take a long deep breath and don’t answer too quickly, can you think of one word in the English language which sums up our spiritual sacrifices? Praise is a good one but there are many more. I say the one word which can be used to cover them all is prayer if it’s used in its widest sense. Basically I believe there are seven main forms of prayer—worship, praise, thanksgiving, petition, supplication, intercession and command. If you lump those together under the one title of prayer, those are our spiritual sacrifices.

All right, now this is the logical application. See, this is where it comes down to: Are we dong it? We’re a kingdom of priests. If I’d said we’re a society of botanists, what kind of a person would you have to be to be in the society? A botanist. Or if I said we’re a race of giants, what kind of person would you have to be to be in that race? A giant. All right, so if we’re a kingdom of priests, what kind of person do you have to be to be in the kingdom? A priest, that’s right.

Now here’s exactly where it’s at. In other words, in order to reign as kings, we have to minister as priests. If we do not minister as priests we have no right to reign as kings. How do we minister as priests? By prayer, or if we don’t pray, we can’t reign. Or more simply still, we reign by prayer. Now that’s where it’s at. There are two reasons why in my opinion, ninety percent of Christians have no concept of reigning with Christ. Number one they’re ignorant of Bible truth because they haven’t received the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Number two even it they know the truth, most of them are not willing to minister as priests. But the qualification for reigning is ministering as a priest. It’s a kingdom of priests. So if you want to reign, beloved, you’ve got to learn to minister with priestly sacrifice in prayer. In other words, God’s will for us is to reign by prayer, and until we learn to pray we’ll never know what it is to reign.