Most Holy Call to Pray (CTP, 13th April, 2021)
Topic: The Ministry of the High Priest Against Fear
Minister: Rev. Kayode Oyegoke
“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:17-18). It is the High Priest who can officiate the ministry of reconciliation; it is not what a Priest can do. The most that a Priest can do is to make an end of sins or turn people away from iniquity (Mal. 2:5-6). However, the fact that a man is turned from iniquity does not mean that he has been saved yet.
A Levite is one who can make men to come to the Outer Court. He typifies the stature of one who has left the realm of men and has entered into the Kingdom of God. The reign of the life of God starts in the Outer Court, which is the first level of entrance into the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom means dominion. Therefore, a man is a king if he is able to gain entrance into the least dimension of the Kingdom called the Outer Court. However, the man will only become a king of Righteousness when he has walked the distance of the Outer Court and is set to break the veil into the Holy Place. Similarly, a king of Peace is one who has finished the service of the Holy Place and is ready to go into the Most Holy Place (Heb. 7:1-2). Therefore, a Levite who has journeyed past the Outer Court, and now has the law of life and peace in the Holy Place, is a Priest. Whosoever comes into any dimension of the Kingdom becomes God's own.
Various levels of sins are washed as we move from one dimension of the Kingdom to another; but sins are only completely remitted on the golden altar. A full priest is someone who has come to the golden altar (in the Holy Place) and is preparing to enter the Holiest of All. One cannot have entrance into the Kingdom of God or have dominion without the removal of sins. The presence of sins in a man depicts the dominion of the adversary in him. Sin is more than just obvious offences; it begins from an allegiance in the heart.
Our distance from God is proportional to how well we can worship Him. The nearer we are to God, the more the weight of our worship and the stronger our service to Him will be. This will happen as our service to the Kingdom of Satan is gradually being cut off. This is why Satan assigns principalities and rulers of the darkness of this world to make sure that men continue to service his kingdom (Eph. 6:12). The peak of freedom or salvation is to break off from Satan, who is the dragon. Satan is iniquity epitomized and does not want any man to live. He will war with us to ensure that the things he has kept in us remain.
God wants to make/bring an end to sin in our souls while we are here on earth, and not when we get to heaven (Dan. 9:24). The extent to which God dealt with sin is not just supposed to end with the provision of the cross concerning the human spirit; there is also a provision of the cross to deal with sin in the soul. This is why the ministry of New Testament Priests are needed.
The ministry of the High Priest has not really flourished in the present-day Church because of wrong mindsets towards and around the covenant. Evil spirits resists people from getting to this point because they know that the testimony is what will break men’s allegiance to sins.
After resurrection, Jesus went into heaven with the status of Eternal Life to make offering for our sins (Heb. 1:3). Purging needed to be done on the altar in heaven because many of our sins are heavenly. There are sins that will stop a man from becoming a Priest. The Sanctuary and the Court are rooms for remission of sins. The Outer Court is not earthly; it is the first heaven before the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary (or Holy Place) is the second heaven while the Holiest of All is the third heaven that precedes the world of glory.
"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (Heb. 10:12-13). These enemies are sins, and they are in beings. These beings are fallen angels who have also extended their lifestyle to men. They do not engage in obvious offences like fornication but can induce men to commit such acts. They do this so that men would be completely broken down and unable to combat the actual sin. Fornication breaks the will of a man; but adultery destroys his soul. These acts make a man stay under the writings of sin.
God wants us to learn of Him because without Him, we cannot be humble. Any other knowledge that a man gains outside God will puff him up beyond measure. We have enemies who want us to disdain God and they have their sins that they culture in men. For example, the spirit behind civilization and advancement is very unresting; it sets everyone on earth in an unhealthy competitive race. Many people want to maintain their worldly status and do a lot of things outside God because of the fear of becoming irrelevant on earth. However, the prosperity and flourishing of men on earth should be according to what is inside the tabernacle of God.
“From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” (Heb. 10:13). Jesus’ enemies will be made His footstool when men can obviously disobey sin. Every man has an allegiance to some particular spirits and these spirits know those who are obeying them. Those who are becoming spiritual or divine might not have a total allegiance to some evil spirits, but there is still a form of obedience that still ties them to those spirits. One way to judge our allegiances to evil spirits is to check the things we fear. We can live above fear.
There are forces that will not make men to attain rest. This is so that they can continue in the way of iniquity. Fear is a sin of Satan because he became afraid from the beginning. Fear is the beginning of iniquity; it is a sin of the Holiest (1 Jn. 3:8, Ezek. 28:15). Fear is what makes us not to relinquish our will for God’s will. Fear is what makes us want to do things in our own way. What a man loves the most is what he is afraid of losing.
On the other hand, there is a holy or godly fear which we must possess (Heb. 12:28). Fear and love are synonymous. A high love is tantamount to a great fear. The love in the Holiest i.e., the first and last love are all levels of fear. We must possess fear so that we will not break the rule of everlasting works that ought to be done in us. Jesus loves the Father and reverences Him. We also need to learn how to reverence God because the Bible tells us to do so.