Priests are Made of the Spirit of God

Today's passage is very important. The theme of this chapter is: You shall be priests of the Lord. To be a priest of the Lord God is a very wonderful thing. It is not a thankless and arduous task, but a task that yields double the benefits. This passage from Isaiah 61 was quoted by Jesus in the New Testament, specifically in Luke Chapter 4, where Jesus entered the synagogue and opened the Book of Isaiah, reading from Chapter 61:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

After Jesus finished reading, He said: Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. We must be very clear about the kind of mentality we have within us. Some priests genuinely have the mindset of a priest, while others have the mindset of a merchant. When we talk to others about building a church, some will say: Building a church requires money! This is a typical merchant's mindset. Does building a church really require money? Not really. Building a church does not need money; building a church needs God, needs the Holy Spirit. Priests are made of the Spirit of God. What kind of person is a priest? It is when the Spirit of God is upon him that he becomes a priest. The priest is when the Spirit of God descends upon a person, and He anoints us, that we become priests of God.

A priest has the Spirit of God on him, and a priest has the anointing of God. The anointing is God's appointment of a person to be a priest, and after being anointed, he is to take on a mission, a heavy responsibility. In our current generation, it seems that everything has to be linked to money and the market, but priests are an exception. Priests are to be linked to God and bear the mission given by God.

Brothers and sisters, we must know: Building a church does not need money; building a church needs people. What kind of people? It needs priests, the kind of people who carry the anointing of God. Such people, with a destiny in their hearts, will begin to thirst for God. When I started building the church, I had neither people nor money. Although I was ignorant at the beginning, I had the mindset of a priest in my heart.

The mindset of a priest is: I want to build a church, and I only need God. My logic is very simple: Since God can create the universe, can He not take care of my church? God's work is wondrous. Creating the universe is beyond my imagination. For instance, the Earth is like a speck of dust in front of the sun. If you draw the sun as big as a soccer ball, the Earth is like a grain of millet. How did God create such a vast space? The Earth is so small, and we are so small. Man is very insignificant in the vast universe. I am not talking about the insignificance of man, but that man cannot use his own logic to judge the work of God. To build our church, we need to have God's mindset: with Him, all things are possible. With God, we have everything. Today, you will face many problems and troubles. Do not measure God with human abilities. He created the universe. He has anointed us. We are all priests of the eternal God. This is a very honorable office.

Today, the Spirit of God is upon you. What the Spirit of God can do, He can also do through us. Who is greater, the priest or the king? The days of the priest on Earth are when God acts on your behalf on Earth. Why does our church have so many testimonies? Because we have the power of God. What God does among us is beyond our requests and thoughts. This is the office of the priest. Taking on the office of the priest is the most important thing in a person's life.

Our Responsibilities as Priests

What priests do is to preach good news to the humble. If a person thinks he is great, he cannot receive the Gospel of God. But if you are a humble person, then you will receive good news. Believing in the Lord is good news. If a person is already very tired, and then you say to him: You should follow me and believe in the Lord. Why should I follow you and believe in the Lord? I am already very tired, and I still have to go to church. So we must know what the good news we preach is. The good news we preach is definitely not to make people more tired and miserable. If you ask me how much sorrow there is in a person's life, there is indeed a lot. But God has good news to comfort all who mourn and to heal the brokenhearted. We have a lot of sorrow inside, which is very uncomfortable, but this Gospel is good news. If I meet someone who is heartbroken, I will open my mouth to comfort him, trying to help him see the essence of life. God has sent me to heal the brokenhearted.

Why is a person heartbroken? Because he discerns good and evil, and he cannot find hope. Today, our inner problems are difficult to solve. I see that many people have this feeling, and this feeling is actually not good. If we are trapped in sorrow and grief, you need to start yearning for an answer. This answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel can comfort us and set us free. We begin to be restored and become joyful people. A person's joy is very important. No matter what happens, being joyful every day means you will have a joyful life. No matter what happens, being miserable and sad every day means you will have a miserable life.

This Gospel can bring us out of sorrow and grief. It is not that I have no sad things, but God has the destiny of a priest on me, and I put those things down. What is the use of sorrow? No use. But as we begin to build God's glorious church, distribute blessings, and transmit the power of God, God replaces our mourning with the oil of joy.

And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:4)

This is the vision of a glorious church. I think what Isaiah described is the situation we are in today. Many truths revealed in the Bible have not been implemented in the building of the church, and brothers and sisters are still in captivity. Today we must begin to restore the original meaning of God's revelation in the Bible.

The most powerful trick of the devil is to turn the powerful Gospel into a powerless Gospel. This Gospel has no influence on the devil. Romans says I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Today these words must be fulfilled among us. God will avenge Himself on the devil and deliver us from the dominion of the devil.

I have found that many churches lead people to believe in the Lord in this way: Do you want to believe in Jesus? Do you want to confess your sins and repent? Do you want to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? Doing this is the end of it. Actually, the most important thing has not been done. In the Book of Acts, it is recorded that Paul and Peter led people to believe in the Lord by asking: Do you want to believe in Jesus? Do you want to confess your sins and repent? Do you want to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? After asking these questions, they would continue to ask: Have you received the Holy Spirit? Why receive the Holy Spirit? Because the Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Witnessing is witnessing the power of God. The knowledge of the Lord shall fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. I often ask myself if I am like Jesus? I am far from it! Jesus commands me to imitate Him, and Paul commands me to imitate him. Why can't I imitate? In terms of the power of healing and deliverance, I am more powerful four years ago than five years ago, more powerful three years ago than four years ago, and more powerful next year than this year, because the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and I have received the power of God. The church will become a glorious church, and desolate cities will become prosperous.

There is a book called The Sacred Challenge, which is a very good book. It mentions a concept called Paradigm Church. Several years ago, when I first read it, I found that we were too far from what it described. I was very sad: When can we become a model church? Many churches are far from being model churches. In the blink of an eye, it was October last year. When I opened the book again, the things described in the book happened to us one by one. It happened too fast. The end of the book is that the day of the Lord's vengeance has come. The desolate days of the church are over, and the church is entering a period of rapid growth and rapid revival.

The end of this book is: The day of the Lord's vengeance has come. If the enemy devil steals one sheep, he will pay you back with five sheep; if he steals one ox, he will pay you back with four oxen. This is recorded in Exodus. These words mean that if the devil corrupts one brother or sister among us, he will repay us with four brothers and sisters; if the devil corrupts a leader among us, he will repay us with five leaders. This is the day of God's vengeance, and the desolate days will pass. God will give a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations (Isaiah 61:3-4). When the church is revived and built up, the priests will receive all the benefits.

The Benefits of Being a Priest

Then foreigners will stand up to feed your flocks, and people from other lands will work your fields and tend your vineyards. But you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. (Isaiah 61:5-7)

How well this is said! These are the benefits of being a priest. To be a priest of God is to receive everlasting blessings. To be a priest of the Lord God is to receive so many benefits. God makes foreigners serve you, God will place you above all nations; this is the greatest blessing. To be a faithful priest is to receive double the benefits and joy; when we receive so many benefits, other problems disappear.

Brothers and sisters, arise, be priests of the living God, arise and shepherd. Do you really receive benefits by not shepherding? No. Brothers and sisters, I urge you by the mercies of God, be priests of the living God, take on this blessed office, and you will surely receive benefits.

The Covenant Between Priest and God

The priest has a covenant with God, and God gives the priest authorization; you act according to the authority God has given you. Moses had a staff in his hand, and the staff represented authority. Moses could perform miracles before Pharaoh on behalf of God; he was God before the people. The priest has a covenant with God, and God will administer retribution according to the covenant. God hates sin and robbery and loves righteousness and justice.

If you are a royal priest of God, then you have a covenant with God; you have made a covenant with God, and everyone around you can see it. That is, their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed. (Isaiah 61:9)

Brothers and sisters, if we are priests of God, our descendants will be blessed with us. Having this covenant, we begin to rebuild the ancient ruins, to restore the places long devastated, to renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. You become a real estate developer for the eternal God; this is a big business! You will receive double benefits and inheritance; how can you not rejoice?

Do you think it will be very hard to be a priest of God? Even if you face challenges, God will help you. So we can say: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. (Isaiah 61:10-11)

What a glorious sight! God delivers us, righteousness and praise spring up among all nations; what a good thing it is to be a priest of God!

Conclusion

Let us set our hearts on being priests of the living God, taking on this blessed office, beginning to set the captives free and the oppressed free. This is to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God! Go and deliver the powerful gospel of God, go and comfort those who mourn, and God will surely glorify you. You don't have to worry about stealing God's glory; God has already given you authorization; your glory is God's glory.

The priestly identity is glorious; we receive a glorious Mingding Destiny and office. Do not despise this Mingding Destiny and office; Esau despised his office. Today, work is not a blessing; the priestly office is a blessing. The day of vengeance is near; this is the gospel; we will receive double the benefits and inheritance.

Today, a brother who usually doesn't like to talk told me a lot about his own experiences. I was also very sad after listening. His father passed away when he was very young, and it was not easy to grow up. But God wants to comfort him, so I passed the gospel to him, and God personally gave him comfort and hope. He usually speaks very little, but he told me a lot of words and spiritual things. He said that the place where he lives is very spiritual, and I know that evil spirits and the spiritual realm are so real.

But the priest is God's warrior. The Spirit of God on you can release the captive souls, brothers and sisters rise up, become priests of God, preach the gospel, and set people free.