Biblical Essays
THE CHRISTIAN PRIESTHOOD
“Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Let us open the Bible and read 1 Peter 2:1-9. In this lovely Scripture we find three words on which we will briefly dwell. They are words of weight and power; words that indicate three great branches of practical Christian truth; words conveying to our hearts a fact we cannot too deeply ponder – Christianity is a living and divine reality. It is not a set of doctrines, however true they may be; a system of ordinances, however imposing they may be; a number of rules and regulations, however important they may be. Christianity is far more than any or all of these things. It is a living, breathing, speaking, active, powerful reality; something to be seen in the every-day life; something to be felt from hour to hour in the scenes of personal, domestic history; something formative and influential; a divine and heavenly power introduced into the scenes and circumstances through which we move as men, women, and children from Sunday morning till Saturday night. It does not consist in holding certain views, opinions, or principles.
Christianity is the life of Christ communicated to and dwelling in the believer – flowing out from him in the ten thousand little details that make up our daily practical life. There is nothing ascetic, monastic, or sanctimonious about it. It is genial, cordial, lightsome, pure, elevated, holy, heavenly, and divine. Such is the Christianity of the New Testament. It is Christ dwelling in the believer, and by the power of the Holy Spirit reproduced in the believer’s daily practical career. This is Christianity – nothing else; nothing less, nothing different.
“Living”
We now turn to the first of our three words, “To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up” (emphasis added).
Here we have what may be called the foundation of Christian priesthood. There is evidently an allusion here to that profoundly interesting scene in Matthew 16 to which we turn for a moment. “When Jesus was come into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?1
There was endless speculation, simply because there was no real heart-work respecting the blessed One. Some said this, some said that; and in result no one cared who or what He was. Hence, He turns away from all this heartless speculation and puts the pointed question to His own, “But whom say ye that I am?” He desired to know what they thought about Him – what estimate their hearts had formed of Him. “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Here we have the true confession. Here lies the solid foundation of the whole edifice of the Lord’s church and of all true practical Christianity – “Christ the Son of the living God.” No more dim shadows; no more powerless forms; no more lifeless ordinances – all must be permeated by this new, divine, heavenly life that has come into this world, and is communicated to all who believe in the name of the Son of God. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Evidently the apostle Peter refers to this magnificent passage in the second chapter of his first epistle when he says, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones [the same words], are built up” (emphasis added). All who truly believe in Jesus are partakers of His risen, victorious rock life. The life of Christ, the Son of the living God, flows through all His members, and through each in particular. Thus we have the living God, the living Stone, and living stones. It is all life – flowing down from a living source, through a living channel; imparting itself to all believers, making them living stones.
Having been tried and tested in every possible way and having come forth victorious, this life can never again be called to pass through any process of trial, testing, or judgment whatsoever. It has passed through death and judgment. It has gone down under all the waves and billows of divine wrath, and come forth at the other side in resurrection, divine glory and power – a life victorious, heavenly, and divine, beyond the reach of all the powers of darkness. There is no power of earth or hell, men or devils that can possibly touch a life possessed by the smallest and most insignificant stone in Christ’s assembly. All true believers are built upon the living Stone, Christ; and are thus constituted living stones. He makes them like Himself in every respect, save of course, in His incommunicable Deity. Is he a living Stone? They are living stones. Is He a precious Stone? They are precious stones. Is he a rejected Stone? They are rejected stones – rejected, disallowed of men. In every respect, they are identified with Him. What an ineffable privilege.
We repeat, here is the solid foundation of the Christian priesthood – the priesthood of all believers. Before anyone can offer up a spiritual sacrifice, he must come to Christ in simple obedient faith and be built on Him, as the foundation of the whole spiritual building. It is contained in Holy Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth in him shall not be confounded” (Is. 28:16).
How precious; God Himself has laid the foundation, and that foundation is Christ, and when we truly believe in Christ enough to simply obey the commandments coming from His loving heart2, giving Him the confidence of our hearts, resting satisfied with Him, then we are made partakers of His resurrection life and thus made living stones.
How blessedly simple; we are not asked to assist in laying the foundation. We are not called on to add a feather-weight to it. God has laid the foundation, and all we must do is reach out and take hold of it and rest thereon; and He pledges His faithful Word that we shall never be confounded. The feeblest true believer in Jesus has God’s own gracious assurance that he shall never be confounded; never be ashamed; never come into judgment. He is as free from all charge of guilt and every breath of condemnation as that living Rock on whom he is built.
The greatest question before us is whether or not we are on this foundation. Are we built on Christ? Have we come to Him as God’s living stone, and given Him the full confidence of our heart? Are we thoroughly satisfied with God’s foundation? Or are we seeking to add something of our own; our own works, our prayers, our ordinances, our vows and resolutions, our religious duties? If so, if we are seeking to add the smallest jot or tittle to God’s Christ, we may rest assured, we will be confounded. Does anyone actually think that God would allow such dishonor to be placed beside His beloved Son in order to form with Him the foundation of His spiritual edifice? The bare thought is an impious blasphemy. No; it must be Christ alone. He is enough for God, and He must be enough for us. Nothing is more certain than this: all who reject, neglect, turn away from, or add to God’s foundation, shall be covered with everlasting confusion.
Holy Priests
Having glanced at the foundation, let us now look at the superstructure. This will lead us to the second of our three weighty words. “To whom coming as unto a...living stone ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (emphasis added).
All true believers are holy priests; made this by spiritual birth just as Aaron’s sons were priests in virtue of their natural birth. The apostle does not say, “Ye ought to be living stones,” and, “Ye ought to be holy priests.” He says we are such. Therefore, being such we are called on to act accordingly. But, one must be in a position before being able to discharge the duties belonging to it. In other words, we must be in a relationship before we can know the affections that flow out of it. We do not become priests by offering priestly sacrifices. But through grace being made priests, we are called on to present the sacrifice. If we were to live twice a thousand years, and spend all that time working, we could not work ourselves into the position of holy priests. But the moment we truly believe in the faith of Jesus – the moment we obey Him in simple faith – the moment we give Him the full confidence of our hearts, then we are born anew into the position of holy priests, and then we are privileged to draw nigh and offer the priestly sacrifice. How could anyone under the old law have constituted himself a son of Aaron? Impossible; but being born of Aaron, he was thereby made a member of the priestly house. We speak not now of capacity, but simply of the position. This latter was reached not by effort, but by birth.
Let us now inquire regarding the nature of the sacrifice we are privileged to offer as holy priests. We are “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” We also read in Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.”
Here we have the true nature and character of that sacrifice we are to offer as holy priests. It is praise – “praise to God continually.” What a blessed occupation, hallowed exercise and heavenly employment. And this is not an occasional thing. It is not merely at some peculiarly favored moment, when everything around us looks bright and smiling. It is not to be merely amid the glow and fervor of some especially powerful public meeting, when the current of worship flows deep, wide, and rapid. No; the word is, “continually.” There is no room, no time for complaining and murmuring, fretfulness and discontent, impatience and irritability, lamenting about our surroundings, whatsoever these may be; complaining about weather, finding fault with those who are associated with us, whether in public or private, in the congregation, in business, or in the family circle.
Holy priests should have no time for any of these things. In holy liberty, peace, and blessing they are brought nigh to God. They breathe the atmosphere and walk in the sunlight of the divine presence, in the new creation, where there are no materials for a sour and discontented mind to feed on. We may set it down as a fixed principle – an axiom – that whenever we hear anyone pouring out a string of complaints about circumstances and about his neighbors, such a person is not realizing the place of holy priesthood, and, as a consequence, not exhibiting its practical fruits. A holy priest is always happy, always bright, always praising God. When he is tried, perhaps in a thousand ways, he does not run to others and complain. No, he brings his trials to God in communion. “Hallelujah” is the proper utterance of the feeblest member of the Christian priesthood.
But we must now look, for a moment, at the third and last branch of our present theme. This is presented in that highly expressive word “royal.” The apostle goes on to say, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal...priesthood that ye should show forth the virtues [see margin] of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (emphasis added).
This completes our brief consideration of the lovely picture of Christian priesthood3.
We draw nigh to God as holy priests, presenting the sacrifice of praise. As royal priests we go forth among our fellow-men, in all the details of practical daily life, for the purpose of showing forth the virtues – the graces – the lovely moral features of Christ. Every movement of a royal priest should emit the fragrance of the grace of Christ.Mark does not say, “Ye ought to be royal priests.” He says “Ye are;” and as such we are to show forth the virtues of Christ. Nothing else becomes a member of the royal priesthood. To be occupied with self; to take counsel for personal ease, personal interest, personal enjoyment, to be seeking personal ends, and caring about personal things, is simply not the act of a royal priest. Christ never did so; and we are called to show forth His virtues. In this the time of His absence, He grants to His people anticipation of the day when He shall come again. Until that time we are called to be the present expression of Him.
And let none suppose that the actions of a royal priest are to be confined to the matter of giving. This would be a grave mistake. No doubt, a royal priest will liberally give, if he has it; but to limit him to the mere matter of communicating would be to rob him of some of the most precious functions of his position. “Silver and gold have I none;” and yet at that very moment the writer was acting as a royal priest by bringing the precious virtue of the Name of Jesus to bear on the impotent man (Acts 3). Our Master never possessed a penny; but He went about doing good and so should we, nor do we need money to do it. Sometimes we do mischief instead of good with silver and gold. We may take people off the ground on which God has placed them – the ground of honest industry, making them dependent on human alms. We may also make hypocrites and sycophants of people by our injudicious use of money.
Therefore, let no one imagine that he cannot act as a royal priest without earthly riches. What riches are required to speak a kindly word; to drop the tear of sympathy; or to give a soothing genial look? None whatsoever, except the riches of God’s grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ, all of which are laid open to the most obscure member of the Christian priesthood. One may be in rags, without a penny in the world, and yet, by diffusing around him the fragrance of the grace of Christ, carry himself blessedly as a royal priest.
But, perhaps we cannot close these few thoughts on the Christian priesthood more suitably than by giving a vivid illustration drawn from the inspired page – the narrative of two beloved servants of Christ who, under the most distressing circumstances, were enabled to acquit themselves as holy and royal priests.
Let us turn to Acts 16:19-34. Here we have Paul and Silas thrust into the innermost part of the prison at Philippi, their backs covered with stripes, and their feet fast in the stocks, in the darkness of the midnight hour. What were they doing? Murmuring and complaining? No. They had something better and brighter to do. Here were two “living stones,” and nothing earth or hell might do could hinder the life that was in them expressing itself in proper accents.
But what were these living stones doing? These partakers of the rock life; the victorious resurrection life of Christ – how did they employ themselves? In the first place, as holy priests they offered the sacrifice of praise to God. Yes, “at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God.” How precious, morally glorious, and truly refreshing. What are stripes, stocks, prison walls, or gloomy nights to living stones and holy priests? Nothing more than a dark background to throw out into bright and beauteous relief the living grace that is in them. The petty annoyances of daily life are often more than enough to cause us to lose our mental balance. Paul and Silas were truly in trying circumstances; but they were there as living stones and holy priests.
Yes, and they were also there as royal priests. How does this appear? Certainly not by scattering silver and gold. It is not likely these dear men had much to scatter. But what they had was so much better – “the virtues of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvelous light.” And where do these virtues shine out? In those touching words addressed to the gaoler, “Do thyself no harm.” These were the accents of a royal priest, just as the song of praise was the voice of a holy priest. Thank God for both. The voices of the holy priests went directly up to the throne of God and did its work there; and the words of the royal priests went directly to the gaoler’s hard heart and did its work there. God was glorified and the gaoler saved by two men rightly discharging the functions of “the Christian priesthood.”
Footnotes:
1 Let us note this title, “Son of man.” It is infinitely precious. It is a title indicating our Lord’s rejection as the Messiah, and leading out into that wide, universal sphere over which He is destined, in the counsels of God, to rule. It is far wider than Son of David, or Son of Abraham, and has peculiar charms for us, because it places Him before our hearts as the lonely, outcast stranger, and yet as the One who links Himself in perfect grace with us in all our need – One whose footprints we can trace across this dreary desert. “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” And yet it is as Son of man that He exercises that universal dominion according to the eternal counsels of God.
2 We must always remember that the devil “believes” in the Lord but he does not obey Him; thus he is not saved. So, there is obviously more to salvation than “believing” in Jesus Christ – we must also obey His words.
3 The intelligent student of God’s Word does not need to be told that all believers are priests, and, further, that there is no such thing as a priest on earth save in the sense in which all true Christians are priests. The idea of a certain set of men, calling themselves priests in contrast with the people – a certain caste distinguished by title and dress from the body of Christians is not Christianity, but Judaism or worse. All who read the Holy Bible and bow to its authority are thoroughly clear regarding these things.
