The Principles Of A People Of God (5)

by J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Category: The Principles Of A People Of God | Nov 1979

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let My people go, that they may serve Me" (Exod. 8:1).

Such a verse expresses the unmistakable purpose of God in the people of Israel. The slavery of Egypt was to be replaced by the joyful, orderly, obedient service of the Living God. The subsequent ordering of their national life points to the grand collective purpose of God in His people. Each individual Israelite's exercise in bringing an offering to God was set in a context of worship and divine service. The constitution and pattern of the people we have already referred to in connexion with the words of the Lord at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:5,6). There the peculiarly treasured people, the kingdom of priests, the holy nation, found the basis of its constitution in divine grace and human obedience.

God had already made a promise to, and set a goal before, Moses in the words of Exod. 3:12 - "when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain". So up into the holy mount had gone the man of God to receive the specifications of the dwelling-place of God with all the details of its service. This national service of God was to be led by "Aaron thy brother and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto Me in the priest's office" (Exod. 28:1). The divine service of the people of Israel found its focus in a divinely selected and appointed priesthood. The priest was the man who stood before God in a life of service - before God first and also before his fellows whom he both represented and served. His highest and most solemn service was in the sanctuary of the divine presence, its holiness symbolized by the pure linen garments of the representative high priest. Wide-ranging was the priest's service to his fellows at other times, and all in intimate daily relation to that dwelling-place of God, first expressed in the tabernacle in the sandy desert, and later in the glorious temple which Solomon built in the land. Further elements of service, the music and singing for example, were introduced with the temple, but always according to the instructions God gave.

The book of Psalms is full of the joyful service of God's people Israel; nowhere more exuberantly expressed than in Psalm 100 where the nation calls upon "all ye lands" to "serve the LORD with gladness". "We are His people... enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise". We pause to think reverently of the tabernacle court's curtains (N.I.V.), their whiteness and height expressing divine righteousness; and, thankfully, of the gate of that court which spoke of Christ. The parable in all of this for the time now present has already been stressed in these articles.

Reverting to 1 Peter 2 with its sad record of the disobedience of the builders of Israel in rejecting the Stone, now the Head of the corner, we note the words, "for you therefore which believe is the preciousness" (v. 7). This preciousness is associated with the exaltation of the Lord Jesus as Son over God's house. He is, "Great Priest over the house of God" (Heb. 10:21), the spiritual house, without doubt, of 1 Pet. 2:5. Thus a priesthood with the Great High Priest is made ready for a sanctified service; not an Aaronic-type priesthood, as the epistle to the Hebrews makes clear, but one where the High Priest is after the nobler order of Melchizedek with all of God's people who are gathered into His house, serving as a priesthood to God's glory.

In the book of Revelation the priestly service of the churches of God in this age is likened to that of Israel in the past. Exod. 19:5 answers exactly to Rev. 1:6 - "and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father". The same principles of priestly service governed the life of the people of God, then and now. So in 1 Pet. 2 the thought of the spiritual house leads immediately to that of the holy priesthood, and this in turn to the offering up of spiritual sacrifices.

It is to the epistle to the Hebrews that we must turn for further enlightenment on holy priesthood service today in "the sanctuary which the Lord pitched and not man" (Heb. 8:2). No detailed study of this unique New Testament epistle can be undertaken here. Editors of this magazine hope to feature 'Hebrews' as a major subject in the year 1980, God willing. The theme of the high priesthood of Christ, associated with the New Covenant, dominates the book from chapters 2 to 10, and culminates in the exhortation of 10:19 - "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holy place... let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith...". This "let us draw near", we suggest, has to do primarily with priestly service. Attention is drawn again to the order of events in 1 Pet. 2. There, it will be recalled, living stones were "built up" a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. This exceedingly high service of the holy place is set in the context of all we have indicated about the order and unity of the people of God; not necessarily, it must be repeated, embracing all believers. Many, we fear, seem unwilling to give effect to the pattern of divine service today as a' people for God. It is a pattern which answers to that given to Moses so long ago. And, said God, "See ... that thou make all things according to the pattern that was shewed thee in the mount" (Heb. 8:5).

In addition to the description "holy priesthood" in 1 Pet. 2 we have the designation of God's people as a "royal priesthood" (v.9) with the immediately following words, "that ye may shew forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light". While many of the excellencies of Christ are unquestionably shown forth in the sanctuary service of a holy priesthood, verse 9 of 1 Peter 2 introduces us to a much wider sphere. Here the service of God's people relates to the whole world of men, in presenting to them the excellencies of the One who dwells in light unapproachable. Fitting indeed is the epithet "royal" to such service. The Jewish high priestly garments "for glory and for beauty" reflect this. No eye appreciated that glory or that beauty like God's. But men do not miss, however little they may appreciate, the exhibition by the disciple of the moral splendours of Christ - however imperfectly this is achieved. Some took note of the early disciples, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). This too, it should be noted, was while these noble early Christian leaders launched the collective service of God's people beginning with the church of God in Jerusalem. The Lord Himself had said, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples if ye have love one to another" - a splendid starting point for the royal priesthood service of the people of God.

Flowing from this is the ambassador role of the Christian. "We are

ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ. . . we beseech you. . . be ye reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). An ambassador's work may be very individual in character - even lonely at times. So may be the witness of the Christian. But the ambassador is an honoured member of a "diplomatic service"; all members, however far separated, owing allegiance to the Sovereign. So the Christian should be part of a witnessing people truly a royal priesthood, showing forth the excellencies of the King whom God has set on His holy hill of Zion (Psa. 2:6).

Consider Him before Pilate. "Art Thou a king then?". "Thou sayest". Patience, grace, humility, dignity - all in superlative degree. With such a royal armoury the Man born King went into the conflict of the ages. "Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, 0 mighty One, Thy glory and Thy majesty. And in Thy majesty ride on prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness" (Psa. 45:3,4). And by God's grace a redeemed people today is called upon to follow in His train; to be a kingdom of priests; a royal priesthood.

Having thought a little about the SERVICE of God's people, we shall conclude this short series next month, God willing, with a brief consideration of the principles of IDENTITY and SEPARATION in the rather confused scene which collective Christian life and service presents around us today.

J.D. Terrell, Carlisle | Nov 1979
The Principles Of A People Of God