Building Through the Priest and King

Zechariah tells us that the Church will be built it through the office of the priest and the king. It won't be built through teaching and preaching and the gifts of the Spirit, however these are necessary. The fivefold ministry Gifts are for the edifying of the Body so that they can do the work of the ministry. The Amplified version of gives us a very clear explanation of the fivefold ministry.

Eph 4:11-13 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.
12 His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),
13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. AMP

You can see by these verses that the ministers were not to build ministries for themselves. Their main function was to equip the saints, to edify them so that the saints then do the work of the ministry to build the Church. It is apparent that most pastors’ today do not know how to build up the saints so that they can minister. Most people can set in a church all their lives and still not feel like they can minister. What people need most from their pastors and teachers is to be told the truth about their true identity. They need to be told the truth that they are not sinners they are righteous and holy before the Lord. They need to know that if they will begin to change the way they think about themselves and focus on the Christ within they will begin to become aware of the beauty that is within them.

Too many pastors and leaders still focus more on the condition of the saints and see them according to the flesh and try to get them to change their conduct. They go by the letter of the law instead of the spirit. The scriptures keep many Christians in bondage who do not follow the spirit in the law of love one another as I have loved you. We should never try to control another. We can give them advice and tell them how we feel but it is not right to try and force them to do what we think is right or expel them from our mist because they still sin. If we expelled everyone that sinned we would all be cast out. Instead of focusing on someone’s sin we should focus on the Christ within them and minister to them. I often tell people who come to me wanting deliverance from sin, “No matter what you are doing it does not change who you are. You are a son or daughter of God and that will never change. If you continue to focus on your sin you will most likely not be delivered, however if you focus on the truth of your being and meditate on lovely things you will begin to see a change.”

The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

The church will be built through the office of the priest and the king. If it could have been built by man's effort, we would have had the glorious church a long time ago. We've had men who have given their very lives in the work of the Lord. Yet the church has not yet been built up to be the manifestation, the habitation, the dwelling place of God. The only thing that is going to save us from our religious concepts and our carnality is to become saturated and permeated, so filled with the spirit of God in a renewed mind that we become not self-conscious but God Conscious.

It is through the priestly office that the church will be built. The first priest according to the Melchizedek order was Melchizedek who came to Abraham after the slaughter of the kings and brought to Abraham the bread and the wine. In Zechariah, it says Jesus will build the church through the office of the priest and the king. The very message of salvation is first of all that Jesus comes to you with the bread and the wine. Jesus comes to you, not as your judge, not as one who would criticize, but He comes to you as one bringing to you the true bread and the wine. The bread is simply our spiritual food.

John 6:32-35 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

To have our spirit fed and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind we must eat the Bread which came down from heaven. Of course we know Jesus taught in allegories and parables. The Bread which came down from heaven was the Living Word. The Word became Flesh. To eat the bread is to assimilate and feast on the living word. The living word is within all of us as we all came from the heavenly realms and was made flesh. We also can give life to the world when we awake to our true identity and realize we also can speak words that give life. Jesus told his disciples, “The words that I speak are spirit and they are life.” The words that we speak that flow from our spirit also give life to those who can hear them.