The Old Testament priesthood is over and done away with – God has begun the New Testament priesthood with the coming of John the Baptist! Even though John the Baptist was born in a priestly family, he didn’t continue “in his father’s footsteps” by serving and worshipping in the temple. Instead, he worked and lived in a “wild way” – he lived in the wilderness eating wild honey and locusts, dressed in a garment made of camel hair(not in the fine linen).
Also, John the Baptist did a wild work – he preached the gospel of repentance for the kingdom of God, and when people came to him, he “threw them into the water” – he baptized them! Instead of serving with his father Zechariah in the temple, John the Baptist stayed in a wild place, wore wild clothing, ate wild food, and did a wild work!
This all shows that God wanted to have a radical change of anything old from the Old Testament to something new, in the New Testament. The sacrifices the priests offer to God are no longer “bulls and goats”, no longer “lambs and doves”, but sinners that repent and turn to God!
John the Baptist was the first priest of the New Testament priesthood! He offered repenting sinners to God through his preaching of the gospel of repentance (Mark 1:5). Eventually, John the Baptist brought the repenting people to the Lord Jesus, testifying that He is the Stronger One – and He will baptize people with the Spirit!
This is what we all as New Testament priests do – we bring people to Christ, through repentance, that Christ may give them the Spirit for imparting life (Mark 1:7-8).
From the time of John the Baptist, the age turned and the New Testament priesthood was brought in – now if you want to serve God as priest, you don’t need to offer animals to God as sacrifices, but people who repent and believe, even those who experience Christ! It is just like the apostle Paul says in Rom. 15:16,
That I might be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, a laboring priest of the gospel of God, in order that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, having been sanctified in the Holy Spirit.
What we as believers – as a part of the universal New Testament priesthood of the gospel – offer to God is now the Christ experienced by the believers and the believers themselves, as they experience Christ! The sinners are offered to God in Christ, with Christ, and one with Christ as the very enlargement of Christ. Christ is now real to us, we can experience Him, we can enjoy Him, and we can offer Him to others and bring others to enjoy Him and experience Him more.
As we enjoy the Lord and experience Him, Christ becomes our experience and Christ becomes the experience of those we take care of.
This is what we offer to God – the sinners saved into Christ as the main sacrifices! We tell out the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light – and this speaking of the gospel brings others to be saved and experience the Lord more!
We daily need to offer these sacrifices – we daily need to preach the gospel of God and bring others to know the Lord more! Hallelujah, we are now priests of the gospel, offering spiritual sacrifices to God! [enjoyment from, The Advance of the Lord’s Recovery Today, by brother W. Lee, as quoted in the morning revival on the Crystallization-study of Isaiah(2)]
Thank You Lord for making us a royal priesthood! We are priests of God, and we can offer You spiritual sacrifices! Lord, we want to spend more time with You to be infused with You so that we may flow You out to the ones around us! Make us those who minister You to people and who bring others to know You and experience You more! We want to be those who know You and tell out Your virtues to the ones You put us with – so that they may grow in life and experience You more! Lord, may we all have our hands full with sinners saved and sinners experiencing You! May we all have some that we can offer to You every day – to offer You their advance in experiencing Christ!
