Ministering Unto The Lord
The Privilege Of Our Priesthood - Part 3

by Rev. Wayne Monbleau

Living Where The Glory Dwells

Oh to live where God's Glory dwells! Doesn't this sound like a good place to be? The place where God's glory dwells. Can you imagine the light, the presence, the peace, the safety, the healing, the love... everything, that is found in the place where God's glory dwells? Isn't this what every true believer in Jesus Christ desires? To, as our Savior said, "be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory" (John 17:24).

The good news is that this is part of God's "good news," His Gospel, for every single child of God. Our birthright in our Savior, as a special, called-out kingdom of priests, is that we indeed are bid by our Lord to come and live where His glory dwells. "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's Own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1st Peter 2:9). It is within this "marvelous light" of Him, Himself, that we see His glory, His excellencies, and then as priests of the inner court, God intends that we would go forth with the marvelous excellent light of His glory into the "outer court" of this world, bringing His message and power of salvation to all in Jesus' name.

We have seen how God highly valued the faithfulness of the priestly family of Zadok. When all others had fallen away, the family of Zadok had remained faithful to the Lord and to the priesthood. Their reward, given to them openly in front of all the people, was this: God invited the family of Zadok "to come near to Me, to minister to Me" (Ezekiel 44:15).

The Ministry of the Inner Court

This was God's most excellent invitation, to enter the ministry of the inner court, the court dedicated to and closest to the very presence of God. The other Levitical families, who had fallen away from God, were allowed to continue ministry in the outer court, ministering before the people. Zadok's family was given the most choice and favored position, the great privilege of ministering before the Lord. In God's estimation, being near Him, serving in the inner court was the single greatest blessing and honor of the highest degree that He could bestow upon an individual.

What we are shown here is that, as far as God is concerned, Ministering Unto The Lord is a first ministry, most precious and privileged in His eyes. Ministering unto man in the outer court is a glorious ministry, essential to God's purpose for His people. Indeed this is our great commission as Christians in this life, to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation" (Mark 16:15).

However this "outer court" ministry, as glorious as it is, is second, only to ministering in the inner court to the Lord. The great blessing, and challenge perhaps, which lays before us in this generation, is to reflect this same holy and balanced ministry, relationship and understanding of God. He is our Center, our Holy of Holies. Apart from Him we can and should do nothing. And yes, we joyfully accept and receive the call to go into all the world, preaching His Gospel of salvation that we ourselves have been privileged to hear, receive and be saved by.

And yes we also embrace, even as we ourselves have been embraced by God, our priesthood in Him. To be a people near His presence, an acknowledged and responsive priesthood ministering thoughtfully and reverentially before Him. As we grow in reflecting this same heavenly pattern of God's temple in our own lives we will be in the highest degree of harmony with God and centeredness within ourselves as we live in this world, bringing forth the light of Christ to this generation.

Life is in the Inner Court

In my own life, I gladly accept and understand that ministering unto the Lord is my first ministry, even before people. I do thank God for the awesome privilege of ministering the Gospel. But I have witnessed, time after time, in my own life, the blessings and benefits of ministering the Gospel to people in the outer court AFTER having first had a time of ministering unto the Lord in the inner court. God gives me life in the inner court, enriching me in Himself, and then allows me go and give this life in the outer court.

This truth of our first ministry is vividly seen in Ezekiel, chapter 44, and we also see this same truth expressed throughout the Gospels in the life of Jesus. Our Savior's first ministry was definitely to the Lord. Jesus frequently spent time alone with Abba Father in prayer and fellowship, even placing that before ministry to people (Luke 5:16 is one example). Jesus also frequently expressed His conviction concerning His Own ministry saying, "the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing" (John 5:19).

Jesus said that God our Father is now looking for people who will worship Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). As we, in this day, begin to pick up our God-given mantle and privilege of our priesthood, we will begin living more fully, more aware, in the Lord, worshiping Him "in spirit and truth" AND, in doing so, we will become more perfectly prepared through God's Holy Spirit to minister to people "in spirit and truth."

Let us not allow our generation of faith, in our lifetime, to be one that does not know how to minister to the Lord. Let us instead become a generation of God's people who do draw near to Him meaningfully, to minister to Him, taking the excellencies of God into this world with new light and conviction. We need to be in touch with this most special portion of our eternal identity and call of our Lord.

If this present generation of Christians only ministers to people, can you see how, perhaps, this most blessed, helpful and centering part of our spiritual life may never be realized? One of the best ways I know of to be about our Savior is the realization that we are priests unto Him, for it is within the practice of our priesthood that we will experience good, quality, continuous faith-affirming time with our Savior day in and day out. We'll be making sure, in actual spirit and practice, that our house is always and continually "built firmly upon the Rock."

I pray these words are creating a greater hunger in your heart even as they bring forth the satisfaction of realizing your own priesthood to God. As the psalmist wrote, "O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells" (Psalm 26:8). If you are well acquainted with ministering unto the Lord, may this be a confirmation of your call and a further blessing to you.

Minister Unto Me

If you're not familiar with ministering unto the Lord, the best thing for you to do is certainly not take my word alone for anything, because I'm only here to encourage you, being your brother in Christ. But look for yourself. That's what did it for me. When I began to look for myself and realized that, throughout the whole of Scripture, this has always been God's call to His people - "Minister unto Me," my life was changed. This IS our first ministry. This is absolutely consistent with the way Jesus lived His life for the three years or so that we are shown in the Gospels. This is also consistent with the way Paul began, and continued, his great work in his life (Acts 13).

And this is absolutely consistent with who God says we are in the Book of Revelation. "To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood - and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father" (Rev. 1:5-6). So this is certainly no small or fringe or esoteric issue. This is heart and soul of God's purpose in creating us. Ministering unto the Lord is a consistent thread running throughout all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. Our gracious Lord and Creator's heart desire has always been to have "a people for God's own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him" (1st Peter 2:9).

This is definitely a "whosoever will may come" invitation from the Lord to His church. When I start to think that maybe God desires this truth to be brought to the forefront now, this starts to excite my spirit. And when I think this way, I start to feel, like, a spiritual intuitiveness inside, saying what could be a better way for God's church to be truly ready and prepared for the return of Jesus Christ than for us to present ourselves before the Lord this way - "Here we are. The people for Your own possession. Your priesthood - just as You have always said You've wanted.

We are here for You first, ministering in Your presence, that we may be humbled and filled with Your glory, to take Your message of salvation, healing and wholeness to this world in Your name, power and Spirit." Wouldn't this be wonderful? It could happen. And it is happening. Every time a child of God says "yes" and enters the revelation of their priesthood, God is one step closer in a generation to getting what His heart desires.