The true church, the body of Christ is distinguished and manifested in seven distinctive ways which are as follows;
- The church is appointed to
be a royal priesthood
Members
of the church are the chosen people of the Chosen Stone, of whom it is written;
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the
people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter
2:9-10).
The
main responsibility of the church as a royal priesthood, “is to be holy to
their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings
of the Lord made by fire (zeal), and the bread of their God; therefore they
shall be holy.” And the way the church becomes holy is synonymous to how Aaron
the high priest and his sons were made holy which is stated as follows; “Then
Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the
basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting: They shall eat those things
with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an
outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy” (Leviticus 21:6; Exodus
29:32-33).
The
same way it was the responsibility of Aaron and his sons to eat of those things
with which the atonement was made to consecrate and sanctify them, so must the
church eat of those things with which the atonement was made, which is the body
and blood of Jesus Christ in order for them to be consecrated and sanctified
but an outsider shall not partake of it because it is holy. And so the
admonition is; “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but
chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a
spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).
Unfortunately,
this is the downfall of many so called religious institutions, even labelling
the church as a sanctuary for sinners, what a delusion? This is the stone which
the builders rejected and has become the chief cornerstone," and” a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense:" They stumble, being disobedient to
the word, to which they also were appointed” (1Peter 2:7-8).
The
church is appointed as a nation of priests in order to offer to the Lord the
food for His offerings at their appointed time. And so we have been duly instructed
saying; “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, My food
for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to
offer to Me at their appointed time.” There is one specific offering for every
offering one offers to the Lord, and there are specific times for specific
offerings; for example, there is an appointed time to offer the Lord the
regular or thanks giving offering, which is morning and evening, and also at
the appointed time to have a holy convocation to offer the peace or fellowship
offering (Numbers 28:2; Leviticus 23:37).
God's
covenant with Levi (the priesthood) is continuous, for thus He said; "My
covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he
might fear Me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of
truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with
Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.
“For
the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from
his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed
from the way; you have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted
the covenant of Levi," Says the Lord of hosts. Therefore I also have made
you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept My
ways but have shown partiality in the law" (Malachi 2:5-9).
The
covenant of the Lord with regards to the priesthood is so permanent that He
said to the prophet Jeremiah "For thus says the Lord: 'David shall never
lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests,
the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain
offerings, and to sacrifice continually.'
And
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'If
you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that
there will not be day and night in their season, then My covenant may also be
broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his
throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven
cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the
descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me "
(Jeremiah 33:17-22).
And
so the reason why the majority of us stumble, it is because we are disobedient
to the word to which also we were appointed, which is to be a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special people, that
we may proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His
marvelous light.
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To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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