Ministry to the House of the Lord

Watchman Nee

Scripture Reading: Ezek. 44:15-18

"But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat (Ezek 44:15-18)."

Let us note at the outset that there is little apparent difference between ministry to the house and ministry to the Lord.Many of you are doing your utmost to help your brethren, and you are laboring to save sinners and administer the affairs of the church.But let me ask you: Have you been seeking to meet the need around you, or have you been seeking to serve the Lord?Is it your fellowmen you have in view, or is it Him?

Let us be quite frank, Work for the Lord undoubtedly has its attractions for the flesh.You may find it very interesting, and you may be thrilled when crowds gather to hear you preach and when numbers of souls are saved.If you have to stay at home, occupied from morning to night with mundane matters, then you think: How meaningless life is!How grand it would be if I could go out and serve the Lord!If only I were there to go around preaching or even talking to people about Him!

But that is not spirituality, That is merely a matter of natural preference.

Oh, if only we could see that very much work done for God is not really ministry to Him!He Himself has told us that there was a class of Levites who busily served in the temple, and yet they werenot serving Him; they were merely serving the house.Service to the Lord. and service to the house appear so much alike that it is often difficult to differentiate between the two.

If an Israelite came along to the temple and wanted to worship God, those Levites would come to his aid and help him offer his peace offering and his burnt offering.They would help him drag the sacrifice to the altar, and they would slay it.Surely that was a grand work to be engaged in ~ reclaiming sinners and leading believers closer to the Lord!And God took account of the service of those Levites who helped men bring their peace offerings and their burnt offerings to the altar.Yet He said it was not ministry to Himself.

Brothers and sisters, there is a heavy burden on my heart that you might realize what God is after.He wants ministers who will minister to Him."They shall come near to me to minister unto me; and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood ... They shall minister unto me."

The thing I fear most is that many of you will go out and win sinners to the Lord and build up believers, without ministering to the Lord Himself.Much so-called service for Him is simply following our own natural inclinations.We have such active dispositions that we cannot bear to stay at home, so we run around for our own relief.We may be serving sinners, and we may be serving believers, but we are all the time serving our own flesh.

I have a dear friend who is now with the Lord.One day, after we had had a time of prayer together, we read this passage in Ezekiel.She was very much older than I, and she addressed me like this: "My young brother, it was twenty years ago that I first studied this passage of Scripture." "How did you react to it?" I asked.She replied, "As soon as I had finished reading it, I closed my Bible, and kneeling down before the Lord I prayed, 'Lord, make me to be one who shall minister to Thee, not to the temple.' " Can we also pray that prayer?

But what do we really mean when we talk of serving God or serving the temple?Here is what the Word says: "But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God." The conditions basic to all ministry that can truly be called ministry to the Lord are: drawing near to Him and standing before Him.

How hard we often find it to drag ourselves into His presence!We shrink from the solitude, and even when we do detach ourselves physically, our thoughts still keep wandering outside.Many of us can enjoy working among people, but how many of us can draw near to God in the Holy of Holies?Yet it is only as we draw near to Him that we can minister to Him.To come into the presence of God and kneel before Him for an hour demands all the strength we possess.We have to be violent to hold that ground.But every one who serves the Lord knows the preciousness Of such times - the sweetness of waking at midnight and spending an hour in prayer, or waking very early in the morning and getting up for an hour of prayer before the final sleep of the night.Let me be very frank with you.Unless we really know what it is to draw near to God, we cannot know what it is to serve Him.It is impossible to stand afar off and still minister to Him.We cannot serve Him from a distance.There is only one place where ministry to Him is possible and that is the Holy Place.In the outer court you approach the People, in the Holy Place you approach the Lord.

The passage we have quoted emphasizes the need of drawing near to God if we are to minister to Him.It speaks also of standing before Him to minister.It seems to me that today we always want to be moving on; we cannot stand still.There are so many things claiming our attention that we are perpetually on the go. We cannot stop for a moment.But a spiritual person knows how to stand still.He can stand before God till God makes His will known.He can stand and await orders.

I wish to address myself specially to my fellow-workers.May I ask you: Is not all your work definitely organized and carried out according to aschedule?And has it not got to be done in great haste?Can you be persuaded to call a halt and not move for a little while?That is what is referred to here - "stand and minister to me."

None can truly minister to the Lord who do not know the meaning of this word: "They shall draw nigh to me and Minister unto me." Nor can any minister to Him who do not understand this further word, "They shall stand before me to minister unto me. " Brethren, do you not think any servant should await his master's orders before seeking to serve him?

There are only two types of sin before God.One is the sin of rebelling against His commands; that is, refusing to obey when He issues orders.The other is the sin of going ahead when the Lord has. not issued orders.The one is rebellion, the other is presumption.The one is not doing what the Lord has required; the other is doing what the Lord has not required.Standing before the Lord deals with the sin of doing what the Lord has not commanded.

Brothers and sisters, how much of the work you have done has been based on the clear command of the Lord?How much have you done because of His direct instructions?And how much have you done simply on the ground that the thing you did was a good thing to do?Let me tell you that nothing so damages the Lord's interests as a "good thing..""Good things" are the greatest hindrance to the accomplishment of His will.The moment we are faced with anything wicked or unclean, we immediately recognize it as a thing the Christian ought to avoid, and for that reason things which are positively evil are not such a menace to the Lord's purpose as good things.You think: This thing would not be wrong, or, That thing is the very best that could be done; so you go ahead and do it without stopping to inquire if it is the will of God.Oh, we who are His children all know that we ought not to do anything evil, but we think that if only our conscience does not forbid a thing, or if a thing commends itself to us as positively good, that is reason enough to go ahead and do it.

That thing you contemplate doing may be very good, but are you standing before the Lord awaiting His command regarding it?"They shall stand before me" involves halting in His presence and refusing to move till He issues His orders.Ministry to the Lord means that.In the outer court it is human need that governs.Just let someone come along to sacrifice an ox or a sheep, and there is work for you to do.But in the Holiest Place there is utter solitude.Not a soul comes in.No brother or sister governs us here, nor does any committee determine our affairs, In the Holiest Place there is one authority only, the authority of the Lord.If He appoints me a task, I do it; if He appoints me no task, I do none.

But something is required of us as we stand before the Lord and minister to Him.We are required to offer Him "the fat and the blood," The blood answers the demands of His holiness and righteousness; the fat meets the requirements of His glory. The blood deals with the question of our sin; the fat deals with the question of His satisfaction.The blood removes all that belongs to the old creation; the fat brings in the new.And this is something more than spiritual doctrine.Our soul-life was involved in the pouring out of His soul unto the death.When He shed His eternally incorruptible blood, He was not only pouring out His own life, He was pouring out the whole of the life man had by natural birth.And He not only died, He arose from the dead, and "the life that he lives, he lives unto God." He lives for God's satisfaction.He offers "the fat and the blood." We too, who would minister to the Lord, must offer the fat and the blood.And that impossible thing is possible on the basis of what He has done.

But such ministry is confined to a certain place."They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge" (v. 16).Ministry that is "unto me" is in the inner sanctuary, in the hidden place, not in the outer court exposed to public view.People may think we are doing nothing, but service to God within the Holy Place far transcends service to the people in the outer court.Brothers and sisters, let us learn what it means to stand before the Lord awaiting His orders, serving at His command only, and governed by no consideration but the consideration of His will.

The same passage tells us how they must he clothed who would minister to the Lord."They shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within, They shall have linen tires upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins." Those who minister to the Lord may not wear wool.Why not?The reason is given below: "They shall not gird themselves with anything that causeth sweat" (vv. 17-18).No work that produces sweat is acceptable to the Lord.But what does sweat signify?We all know that the first occasion when sweat is mentioned was when Adam was driven from the garden of Eden.After Adam had sinned, God pronounced this sentence upon him: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ... in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Gen. 3:17-19)."

It is clear that sweat is a condition of the curse.Because the curse rested on the ground, it ceased to yield its fruit without man's effort, and such effort produced sweat.When the blessing of God is withheld, fleshly effort becomes necessary, and that causes sweat.All work that produces sweat is positively prohibited to those who minister to the Lord.Yet today what an expenditure of energy there is in work for Him!Alas! few Christians can do any work today without sweating over it.Their work involves planning and scheming, exhorting and urging, and very much running around.It cannot be done without a great deal of fleshly zeal. Nowadays if there is no sweat, there is no work.Before work for God can be undertaken there is a great deal of rushing to and fro making numerous contacts, having consultations and discussions, and finally getting approval of various people before going ahead.As for waiting quietly in the presence of God and seeking His instructions, that is out of the, question. Yet in spiritual work the one factor to be taken into account is God.The one Person to make contact with is God.Oh! that is the preciousness of spiritual work - it is related to God, And in relation to Him there is work to do, but, it is work that produces no sweat.If we have to advertise the work and use great effort to promote it, then it is obvious that it does not spring from prayer in the presence of God.Please bear with me when I say that all work which is truly spiritual is done in the presence of God.If you really work in God's presence, when you come into the presence of men, they will respond.You will not have to use endless means in order to help them.Spiritual work is God's work, and when God works man does not need to expend so much effort that he sweats over it.

Brothers and sisters, let us in utter honesty examine ourselves before God today.Let us ask Him: Am I serving You, or am I serving the work?Is my ministry "unto the Lord," or is it "unto the house"?If you are pouring with sweat all the time, then YOU Yourself can come to the conclusion that it is the house you are serving, not the Lord.If all your busyness is related to human need, you may know that you are serving men, not God.I am not despising the work of slaying sacrifices at the altar.It is work for God and - someone has to do it, but God wants Something beyond that.

God cannot secure everyone for service to Himself, for many of His own are reluctant to leave the thrill and excitement of the outer court.They are bent on serving the people.But what about us?Oh, that today we might say to the Lord: "I am willing to forsake things; I am willing to forsake the work; I am willing to forsake the outer court and serve You in the inner sanctuary."

When God could find no way to bring all the Levites to the place of ministry to Himself, He chose the sons of Zadok from among them for this special service, Why did He select the sons of Zadok?Because, when the children of Israel went astray, they recognized that the outer court had been irreparably corrupted, so they did not seek to preserve it, but they made it their business to preserve the sanctity of the Holy Place.

Brothers and sisters, can you bear to let the external structure go, or must you persist in putting up a scaffolding to preserve it?It is the Holy Place God is out to preserve - a place utterly set apart for Him, a place where the standard is absolute.Oh!I beseech you before God to hear His call to forsake the outer court and devote yourself to His service in the Holy Place.

I love to read in Acts 13 about the prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch, that "as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." We see there the one principle that governs work for God in the New Testament dispensation.The Holy Spirit commissions men to the work only as they are ministering to the Lord.Unless ministry to the Lord is the thing that governs us, the work will be in confusion.

In the beginning of the church's history in Antioch, the Holy Spirit said: "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." God does not want volunteers for His work; He wants draftees.He will not have you preaching the gospel just because you want to, The work of the Lord is suffering serious damage today at the hand ofvolunteers; it lacks those who can say as He did: "He that. sent me - - ." Oh, brothers and sisters, the work of God is God's own work, and not work that you can take up at your pleasure.Neither churches, nor missionary societies, nor evangelistic bands can send men to work for God.The authority to commission men is not in the hands of men, but solely in the hands of the Spirit of God.Serving the Lord does not mean that we do not serve our fellowmen, but it does mean that all service to men has service to the Lord as its basis.It is service to Godward that urges us out manward.

Luke 17:7-10 tells us clearly what the Lord is after.There are two kinds of work referred to here - plowing the field and tending the flock - both very important occupations, yet the Lord says that even when a servant returns from such work, he is expected to provide for his master's satisfaction before sitting down to enjoy his own food.When we have returned from our toil in the field, we are apt to muse complacently on the much work we have accomplished, but the Lord would say: "Gird yourself and give Me to eat." He requires ministry to Himself.We may have labored in a wide field and cared for many sheep, but all our toil in the field and among the flock does not exempt us from ministry to the Lord's own personal satisfaction.That is our supreme task.

Brothers and sisters, what are we really after?Is it only work in the field?Only preaching the gospel to the unsaved?Is it just tending the flock?Just caring for the needs of the saved?Or are we seeing to it that the Lord can eat to His full satisfaction and drink till His thirst is quenched? True, it is necessary for us also to eat and drink, but that cannot be till after the Lord is satisfied.We too must have our enjoyment, but that can never be until His joy is full.Let us ask ourselves: Does our work minister to our satisfaction or to the Lord's?I fear that when we have worked for the Lord, we are often thoroughly satisfied before He is satisfied.We are often quite happy with our work when He has found no joy in it.

Brothers and sisters, when you and I have done our utmost, we still have to admit that we are unprofitable servants.Our goal is not ministry to the world, nor to the church, but ministry to the Lord.And blessed are they who can differentiate between ministry to sinners or saints, and ministry to Him.Such discernment is not easily acquired.Only by much drastic dealing shall we learn the difference between ministry to the Lord Himself and ministry to the house.

Nevertheless, if the Holy Spirit has His way in our lives, He will prove equal to the need.Let us seek grace of God that He may reveal to us what it really means to minister to Him!