The matter of the priesthood and the kingship being for God’s building can be seen everywhere in the Bible, especially in the New Jerusalem, the consummation of all that God is doing and has planned.
In the New Jerusalem we see the throne of God and of the Lamb in the center of the city, and out of the throne there’s a river of water of life flowing and watering the entire city, with the tree of life growing on both its side.
The throne and the river of water of life in Rev. 22:1 speak of Christ being both the King and the Priest: as the King, Christ is the One on the throne, and as the Priest, Christ as the Spirit flows as the river of water of life, the fellowship of the divine life, to water and supply the whole city of New Jerusalem.
The authority of the throne is the kingship, and the fellowship of life is the priesthood; both of these are for God’s building, the New Jerusalem. This also corresponds to the picture in Zechariah 6:12-13 where we see the offices of the priesthood and the kingship converging in Joshua and Zerubbabel, who are types of the Lord Jesus, for the sake of God’s temple.
On the one hand Christ Himself is the King and the Priest – He is the One with God’s authority and from Him flows the water of life for our supply – and on the other hand we as believers in Christ are kings and priests; we are a royal priesthood to tell out the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:5).
As priests and kings, we need to first contact God, open our being to Him, and let Him flow into us; then, we will take Him as our Head, giving Him the preeminence, and we will flow Him out to others to bring them into God’s presence and under God’s authority.
We simply need to stay in the fellowship of life, the circulation of the divine life in the Body of Christ, and we will spontaneously enthrone the Lord and have His authority, and we will flow Him out as the Spirit to others. Thus, we will be in actuality priests and kings, the reproduction and continuation of Christ as the Priest and King, for the building up of the church as the house of God.
Receiving the Flow of Life (priesthood) and being Brought under God’s Throne (kingship)
The center of the New Jerusalem and the highest point of the city is the throne of God; this throne represents the kingship, the authority, the headship, and the lordship (Rev. 22:1). From the throne issues a river of water of life, which represents the priesthood, the fellowship of the divine life.
It is quite obvious that the throne of God represents God’s authority and Christ’s kingship, but how does the river of life represent the priesthood?
The river of water of life proceeds from the throne of God and waters the whole city, flowing out from the city to reach the whole earth through the twelve gates. The priests are those who come to the Lord, open to Him, and receive His rich flow of life; they allow God to flow into them, within them, and out of them for all of God’s people to enjoy God and see God.
The priesthood is the flow of the water of life from the throne of God; when we come before the Lord and open ourselves to Him, He will flow into us, within us, and out of us for others to see God and enjoy God. Christ is the One on the throne with the kingship, and He flows out as the Spirit with the priesthood to reach man.
It is our birthright as believers in Christ to be priests and kings; we have been born in the house of God as priests and kings, and we now need to be bold enough by His grace to take up this position. We need to live as priests and kings by contacting the Lord, opening ourselves to Him, and allowing the Lord to possess us and saturate us with Himself so that He may flow out of us.
When we open to the Lord and allow Him to flow into us, we are brought under Him as our Lord and King, and He has a way to flow out through us. Then we will have the flow of the priesthood, in which there is the authority of the kingship.
When we meet with the saints we should live and behave as priests and kings; we don’t come together to “teach one another” but to open ourselves to the Lord to flow through us to others. Our meetings in the church life should be a miniature of the New Jerusalem in which we all open to the Lord, receive the flow of life from the throne, are brought under the Headship of Christ, and allow Him to flow through us for others to enjoy God, see God, and be built up.
Once the Lord has a channel to flow through us, He will flow in and out of us to others and the whole meeting of the church will be a flow of living water. We shouldn’t be those who merely outwardly assume to be priests and kings but those who open to the Lord, receive the flow of life from Him, are brought under His authority, and allow God to flow through them to others, thus having both the priesthood and the kingship for God’s building.
Lord Jesus, saturate us and soak us with Yourself for Your corporate expression. Lord, we open to You to receive the flow of the divine life and thus be brought under the authority of the throne. Oh Lord Jesus, we enthrone You in our being and we give You the preeminence in all we are and do and say. Flow into us, Lord, and transform us for Your building. Save us from merely understanding the teaching and bring us into the experience of receiving the flow of life and being under the authority of the Head so that God in Christ as the Spirit may flow through us for the building up of the church!
The Flowing of the Water of Life into us and out of us is the Way to Build up the Church
As priests we need to be those who draw near to God, enter into the Holy of Holies to touch the throne of God, and allow God as rivers of living water to flow through us and into others (John 7:37-39).
This kind of flowing of the water of life from the throne of God into us and then out of us is the only way that builds up the church of God. The flow of the water of life is critical for the building up of the church as the house of God.
In the church today there’s no democracy, dictatorship, communism, or autocracy; in the church we are priests and kings to God, and the only One who is the Head is Christ. As believers in Christ, we need to contact the Lord to receive the flow of life from the throne of God, and we will be brought under the headship of Christ.
When we speak to other believers, when we visit them or do things with them, we need to do everything under the headship of the Lord. As members in the Body we don’t have the freedom to say anything apart from Christ, the Head.
There’s no outward control or regulation in the church, neither is there a “pastor” or “bishop” to regulate our speaking or conduct. Rather, inwardly, personally, and individually, we all need to touch the Lord, receive the flow of life from the throne of God, and allow Him to flow into us and through us to others for the building up of the church. This is what it means to “assume the position of priests and kings”.
Outwardly assuming the position of priests and kings doesn’t work, but when by the Lord’s grace we exercise our spirit daily to take the priesthood in reality and be under the headship of Christ, something will flow from Christ the Head through us for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
We are priests who are kings; we reign in life as kings because we ourselves are under the authority of God, and we don’t say things or do things because we’re regulated by Christ, our Head.
May we be those who have the divine life flowing within and are under the headship of the Lord so that He may have a way to flow freely through us into others for the building up of the church and the consummation of the New Jerusalem.
Lord Jesus, we open ourselves to You to receive the flow of the water of life from the throne of God and allow this water to flow through us into others for the building up of the church. Lord, may nothing hinder or interrupt the flow of the water of life in us and out of us. We draw near to You, enter into the Holy of Holies to touch the throne of God, and allow You as rivers of living waters to flow through us and into others for the building up of the church. Oh Lord, keep us in the flow of life; flow in and flow out of us for the building!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1966, vol. 1, “The Priesthood”, ch. 4, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Recovery of the Priesthoodfor God’s Building, week 1 / msg 1,The Priesthood and the Kingship for God’s Building.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# The flowing of life divine, / In spirit so sweetly flows— / The overflowing life divine, / Nourishing my spirit so— / Bringing the Triune God’s fullness, / In spirit operates and moves, / Bringing me all of His supply— / Life as my supply. (Song on the Flow of Life)
# To the holiest place I’d come, / There within the veil to be; / There to touch the throne of grace, / Let life’s water flow thru me. (Hymns #769)
# River of living water, / River that flows from the throne, / Fellowship giving and making / God’s own authority known. (Hymns #984)
About aGodMan
What we need most is to assume our position as priests and kings. This is our birthright. We have been born in the house of God as priests and kings; now we must be bold enough by His grace to take up this position. However, merely to declare this does not work. We must also open ourselves to the Lord for Him to possess us and saturate us with Himself that He may flow out of us. Then we will have the flow of the priesthood, in which there is the authority of the kingship.
It is in this way that we come to the meetings. We simply behave as priests and kings. We do not come to teach others, but we open ourselves to the Lord that His flow might flow through us to others. We simply open our spirit to express something to the Lord by praying or praising. Once the Lord has a channel through us, the flow out of us into others will be so prevailing that the whole meeting will be a flow of living water. There will not be teaching with the exercise of the mind but only the flow through the exercise of the spirit. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1966, vol. 1, “The Priesthood,” ch. 4)
Christ, the anointed one which we have received abides, dwells in us as we let Him make himself at home in our mind, emotion and will. Furthermore it teaches us in all things and it is the truth and not a lie and even as it teaches us we shall abide in Him.(1 John 2:27).
When we listen to the anointing as we are being instructed or taught we enjoy the flow of Life that keeps us in union with Him…
“As members in the body we don’t have the freedom to say anything apart from Christ, the Head.”
This week I saw that in the body, we the members of the Body really don’t have the freedom to say anything apart from Christ, the Head. We should not speak or say things while we are not in His presence. Therefore we must examine ourselves especially during the week in our daily living and before we gather together to serve the Lord in the various services of the church.
I am so glad to see that so many Saints, believers, young and old are in the flow of life when they come to the meetings. Whether it is in their service to the Lord on children, bookroom, sharing, ushering, preparing food, visiting, taking care of others, speaking or ministering to the saints, etc… In His presence we truly can feel free to sing, pray and speak whatever the Spirit or the anointing leads us say and do according to the needs in the body and His burden within. It is the corporate priesthood He is looking for today and he is building His Church by recovering so many Saints by keeping them in His presence. It is in His presence that we all function as a corporate priesthood for the Lord in whatever service and locality we are. We all must take the lead to speak, work and serve while being in His presence and let the flow of life flow as rivers of living water from our being in whatever way we serve in the churches. The key to remain and abide in the Lord is in Romans 8:6 where it says to set the mind on the Spirit; if we are minding the Spirit in our daily lives and obey the Spirit or the anointing within we have a clear sense of life and peace. The presence of the anointing abides within and it is abiding in us and not lie, we are not pretending to be in the Lord and we are not merely acting to be good servants to the Lord, for the reality of Christ is emanating and expressed on the faces of all those who are kept in his Hand. Christ Himself is shepherding us, feeding us our daily by keeping us in His reality. While being kept by Him in His presence, reality, it is easy to come to the meeting in his where we all can function in all the services of the church life as a corporate priesthood. God is raising up such a corporate priesthood in many churches by keeping us in His presence so that we can take care of others and minister the unsearchable riches of Christ as rivers of living water whenever we meet, whether it be in leading the churches, children service, ushering, arranging of chairs, cleaning, giving, sharing a testimony, giving an opening word, speaking for the Lord by prophesying etc…Praise the Lord that today He is the great shepherd of our soul that keep us in His presence and perfect us to function as a corporate priesthood in many churches all over the earth. Amen.
Remaining under His headship is essential to experiencing Christ, the anointing, as the flow of water of life in our daily living. In big or small things we should obey and follow the teaching of the anointing in all things. Luke 16:10 says, He who is faithful in the least is also faithful in much;” It is when we obey the anointed one within that we receive the flowing of the water of life from the throne for we are and remain under Christ, our Head, experientially. Furthermore we do have a deep sense of life and peace within our being in His presence.
Ephesians 4:30 tells us, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption. “ If we disobey the anointing in our daily lives we grieve the Spirit and lose our position to function as a priest whether it is at home, at work or in the church. We all must learn and practice to not grieve the Spirit and come back to His presence especially if we sense it having no longer life and peace within. We do not want to be as the common people who do not have the real position in his presence, nor the freedom to say anything apart from Christ.
The Lord needs us all to be and remain, abide in His presence daily, moment by moment to function as a corporate priesthood before Him. I am confident that the Love of Christ constrains us all and we are his true sheep who hear His voice. All of our services with the other members of the Body in the presence of the Lord are not in vain but build up the Church, His corporate dwelling place, a unique testimony of the triune God mingled with man, the corporate God man. Ephesians 2:14- 15 speaks of the building of the Church. It says, “For He Himself is our peace, He who has made both one, Jews and Gentiles, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace. Christ is the very element of the new man, making God’s divine nature one entity with humanity, the means by which the new man was created. The new man in Ephesians 2:15 is a corporate, universal man, the Body of Christ that includes all the believers who have been born of God and are mingled with God in Life and nature under One Head, Christ. Praise Him from whom all blessings flow.! See footnotes in Ephesians 2:15, Recovery Version of the Bible, LSM.org).