Shut The Gates To A Dead Priesthood

Today’s Word Of Encouragement From Wayne:

“‘Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from you. For from the rising of the sun even to it’s setting, my name will be great among the nations. But you are profaning it.’”

Malachi 1:10,11a,12a

A true priest of God manifests and speaks the name of the Lord as great, greater than all else, on a regular, consistent, and faithful basis, “from the rising of the sun even to it’s setting,” every day, because this is what we truly believe, and this is also what we truly desire to do.

We know and accept: God is in us, He loves us, and we are His New Covenant, new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), blood atoned for people and kingdom of priests.

We are blessed to know who God has made us to be! We are grateful, humbled, joyful, fully responsive to, and growing “in the grace and knowledge of” (2 Peter 3:18) our priesthood in Christ.

Yes Lord , we revere You, God, and stand in awe of Your name!

What a privilege, for in His presence is our fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)! To be God’s own “special treasure,” His kingdom of priests, that we may genuinely “proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9), is a spectacular, every day, blessing available to us every single time we meet with and minister to our Lord in His presence in our “inner room”!

However, look at the sorry state of the priesthood at the end of the old covenant, in Malachi. God actually expressed His desire that just one of these spiritually dead priests would have at least have the sense to honor and respect His name by shutting down this decrepit, empty, ritualized, meaningless priesthood, so at least they might stop lying about God’s truth and misrepresenting Him through their offensive behavior.

When a priest of the Lord forgets God’s Lordship and love, and neglects God’s covenant priesthood call, then the priesthood is, in God’s sight, spiritually dead. “You have corrupted the covenant of Levi” (the priesthood covenant), God said. “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name” (see Malachi 2:1-9).

Let us make sure to shut the gates on dead and empty ritualism that we might, instead, live, walk, and be filled with God’s life and light, in His presence, as His faithful and grateful New Covenant priesthood (Revelation 1:5-6, 5: 9-10)!

In this present day, empty religious ritualism and superficial confessions, which do not point to the light of our living resurrected Lord and High Priest of the New Covenant, Jesus our Christ, is perpetually missing the mark and coming up short of the full revelation of Christ, Who is our “Lord” and “Priest forever” (Psalm 110:1&4).

Kindling fire uselessly represents, I believe, the mere performing of a religious ritual, without any spiritual insight, understanding or quickening within, regarding truly being in God’s presence, glorifying Him and, in our case, recognizing and serving Jesus Christ, our New Covenant King and High Priest forever, Who sits on the throne, in heaven AND in our hearts, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27)!

In the last book of the old testament, it appears there was zero interest in and understanding of God, Who had been reduced to superficial ritualism, while hearts and minds remained far from Him.

A Messiah was needed, One Who would cleanse the temple, through introducing a New and eternal Covenant, in which Messiah would fulfill all promises in the old covenant, in Himself, so He might now be known and recognized as both our indwelling “Lord” and “Priest forever,” “Thus He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices,” (Zechariah 6:13)!

This is the true God Whom I am directed to and joyfully serve, every day, to the praise and honor of my heavenly Abba Father, through the spirit of God’s Son within me, my eternal New Covenant “Lord” and “Priest forever,” Jesus Christ! It is just as simply and fully as Paul wrote, “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba Father!’” (Galatians 4:6). Yes Abba Father, Hallelujah forever to You Lord God!

Beloved child and priest of God, never give up interceding before our Lord, for the sake of His testimony, that all professing Christians will indeed come all the way into the New Covenant revelation light and truth of Christ, our very present moment King and High Priest!

Let us not “uselessly kindle fire on the altar” of a stale, spiritually cut off, and ineffectual priesthood, as God expressed through Malachi at the end of the Old Testament. No, Praise God, let us instead, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6). Amen! Let us minister to our Lord today in His pure presence, and become lit up in Him. Let’s keep the fire burning! “They looked to Him and were radiant” (Psalm 34:5)!

Yes, Lord, may Your light fill Your temple in this day and may all of Your children flock to You, in Spirit and in truth, seeing and realizing themselves as your greatly beloved “Royal Priesthood.”. Hallelujah!