Read part 1 here.
The people who seek to know the disposition of our hiding God, to find Him and abide in Himโthese are the people who become His priests, carrying out the fellowship and bringing men to God. God desires to have a nation of priests. But do you know what the priestly life is all about? The life of a priest is a life of always prayingโalways coming to the Holy of Holies, always coming to the throne of God. The Bible asks us to pray, and not just to pray, but to pray unceasingly (1 Thes. 5:17); the Bible also asks us to abide in Him (John 15:4). Actually, praying and abiding are not separate because prayer is not an occasional action, but a condition and disposition of abiding before Him at His throne. The life of a New Testament priest is one of abiding before His throne.
In Revelation chapters 21 and 22, we see two major things: the throne of God and of the Lamb, and the living water. These elements constitute our priesthood today. The throne represents the authority and the living water represents the fellowship. When we approach the throne, we are conquered. It is no accident that every time we go to the Lord, we are subdued by this shekinah gloryโsomething beyond us. And out of this throne comes a river of living waterโa supply and direct connection of constant fellowship with our God. ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌโ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ. To whomever is conquered by His throne and seeks after the living water, He opens the door and unveils the mystery.
In our life as priests, these two perspectives of the throne and the living water both manifest in a hidden way. How do you submit yourself under authority? Thatโs hiddenโsomething only you know. How do you produce living water? Thatโs hidden, too, because our supply isnโt physical. ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ, ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐. Other people only look to the physical things; they desire outward endorsement, praise, authority, and respect. But these ones can never recognize who is their hidden authorityโand thus their serving has no living water and no power.
If we want to be powerful to save people and to serve, we first need to be conquered. Being conquered isnโt equal to being sorry or feeling bad about our failures. That will not change us, and certainly will not change other people. ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐-๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ, ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌโ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐. Likewise, He isnโt in our good, religious self, either; when we try to serve others, we can lecture, quote the Bible, and argue, but we will not bring people to salvation until we ourselves are as priests, conquered by His throne, under His authority. Contrary to our own natural desire to serve, the life of a priest is a life of simply abiding and doesnโt require us to ๐๐ anything. No matter how smart, talented, or good-hearted we are, that will not help us to find Him. In the gospels, God hid Himself from the smart and religious people, yet opened Himself to babes and children. What a disposition!
In being conquered, God is able to supply the living water. We are all sinners. And in His multifarious wisdom, God allows us to fail because, in our failures, we can meet God. But we need to have a real seeking, a real pursuit, real experiences, and real salvation. If we struggle, we know where to go: to the throne of God. Be a priest. Live before Him, under His authority. Learn to be simple, learn to be pure, learn to be submissive. Praise the Lord we have failures! Praise the Lord we are not perfect! Praise the Lord we are sinful! For some people, living in sin is permanent corruption. But when we are touched by our sins, we are saved because we have a spirit and we know where to turn. Then, our personal experiences from this authority bring out the living water! These failures are just signs of wonder for us to be conquered by the throne of God, enjoying and dispensing the flow of living water. Once we have been conquered, we find an overflowing supply of living waterโthe fellowship. The only reason our life will be dry is because we are not before the throne. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ; ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ.
Take David as an example. God loved Davidโa man after His own heart. And yet David experienced such a serious failure! David saw Bath-sheba bathing, committed adultery and even had her husband killed (2 Sam. 11-12)! In our eyes, he should have been stoned to death. But God didnโt. David turned, repented and was restored back to God. Out of Davidโs failure and Jehovahโs dealing with him came the continuance of the kingship and the one who would build His temple. We are all sinful; no one is righteous before God. Who can cast the first stone? Our life is not about what is moral or immoralโit is about building up the temple, Godโs dwelling place. ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ. ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ง๐จ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ. How else can we say that we love Him, even though we donโt see Him physically? How can we love someone who is invisible? He is, and we do. 1 Peter 1:8 says,
๐โ๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ฃ๐; ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐คโ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ข๐โ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก, ๐ฆ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐, ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ…
๐๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ. Glory is not something far above us. Full of glory means full of transformation; full of glory means we ourselves are replaced by this very Personโraptured in such a joyful way. This condition of transformation is far beyond any earthly sins or failures; it is overcoming and full of glory. It is sourced from our living before God, being subdued by His throne, and enjoying and becoming that living water to carry out the heavenly serving of the priesthood. It is a life full of glory, exultant with joy.
Carrying out the serving of the priesthood, however, is not only an individual pursuitโit is part of the mystery hidden from the ages:
1 ๐ถ๐๐. 2:6 ๐ต๐ข๐ก ๐ค๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐-๐๐๐๐ค๐, ๐ฆ๐๐ก ๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐โ๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ข๐โ๐ก;
2:7 ๐ต๐ข๐ก ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐โ๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฆ, ๐กโ๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐โ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐คโ๐๐โ ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ,
2:8 ๐โ๐๐โ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐; ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ฆ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐, ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ก โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ;
2:9 ๐ต๐ข๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐, โ๐โ๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐โ ๐๐ฆ๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก โ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐โ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ โ๐๐๐๐ก; ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐โ ๐บ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ป๐๐.โ
2:10 ๐ต๐ข๐ก ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐บ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก, ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ , ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐กโ๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ. ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐, ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ. God knows everything, and God allows everything for a reason because He loves us. Because He loves us, we love Him. And thus He allows all things to work together for good for those who love God (Rom. 8:28), including not just our salvation or our justification, but also our transformation and glorification unto His eternal purpose on the earth. The way we carry our church life is to hold this key to unlock the mystery. God gave it to Peter, and this very key was passed on Paul, to John, and to all the generations of people who are on this line of life. Today, we can live a joyful and exulting life because we carry this key.
And in the midst of living this abundant, joyful, priestly life comes the true gospel for humankind. As priests, we bring men to God. If we understand this, our life on the earth has meaning; our life is spontaneously attractive and colorful. People are drawn to us because we are gushing out living water. We are not serving the Lord because someone told us to. We simply love Him, and we love His body. This overflowing, living water supplies our individual salvation, our household salvation, our gatherings, and our church life. We have a bountiful and attractive lifeโone that we live together in a mysterious way. Let us protect this church life and guard this bright testimony. Donโt hide anything and donโt open the door for the enemy to come in. Go to Him and put yourself under Him. Confess and be real. Let this Person inside us judge you today. Let the judgment release the living water in you. Then the gospel will come.
What is the answer to the current chaotic world situation? What is the answer to this pandemic, to these signs of the times? We are! We are the answer to this corrupted, fallen universe. We hold the key to the meaning of our existence. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ. We cannot trust man or the world because their default setting is lyingโsinful. They are fearful because they are sinful. They are fearful because the hook and the power of death bind them. The older people grow, the more they taste sin. But we are like childrenโlike suckling babes. We donโt even know what sin is. Hallelujah that the reality of our human lifeโof the true humanityโis not in fear! It is in simply abiding before His throne, enjoying and outflowing the living water. And that makes us qualified to become the true humankindโa mysterious human being, the center of the universe. Hallelujah for the Lordโs multifarious wisdom! How can we not be humbled? How can we not praise? We should stop our religious life and start to live a priestly life, bubbling with living water. We cannot get old. The more we live, the more we should be new!
In this condition, the church life can have living water continually flowing from this hidden source. This very God likes to hide Himself, out of past eternity in the hidden way. ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ. And this mystery includes usโour life, our upbringing, our experiences, why we are here and why we are who we are. Out of the throne of the lamb, there is a river of living water. Throughout the entire Bible and throughout 6,000 years of human history, God has worked Himself into us and administered His own eternal plan in such a hidden way. The exercise of His authority and the fellowship between Him and His creation is hidden under His multifarious wisdom. We are living proof of this living yet hidden God. We are the New Testament priests, living out a life that is overflowing with joy and exultingโa true full-of-glory church life.
(Above is part 2 of a series compiled from notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 11/20/2020, not reviewed by the speaker.)ย