Serving Before God or Before People

We also have examples in the old covenant showing how God follows along closely to see how each person takes things in his own heart, whether he is pure and free from serv­ing before man, from seeking his own honor and from self­exalting thoughts.

“Thus says the Lord God: ‘No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter My sanctuary, in­cluding any foreigner who is among the children of Israel. And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctu­ary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them. Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them,’ says the Lord God, ‘that they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have commit­ted. Nevertheless I will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be done in it. But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,’ says the Lord God. ‘They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.’” Ezek. 44:9-16. May each of us live so faithfully that we can be counted worthy to serve before God. Unfaithful­ness and impurity cause a person to live before men and serve them. Johan O. Smith writes in one of his letters, “It is no light punishment to be stuck there!” May this quicken our hearts to zeal and faithfulness so that we can be useful instruments in God’s hand, prepared for every good work—instruments of righteousness presented to God for the ministry.

All our service must be done with a blessing, and each ser­vant of the Lord must be anointed for his task. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore.” Ps. 133.

The anointing lies in our spirit. The more we continue in humiliation, the more richly the anointing comes forth from our lives, and the greater help and blessing we can be for oth­ers. If you are anointed by God, what you say and do will be done in the Holy Spirit, and the virtues of Christ will be richly manifested in your whole conduct. Servants like this are ex­traordinarily valuable.

“Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. And he put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the intricately woven band of the ephod, and with it tied the ephod on him. Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate. And he put the turban on his head. Also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Also Moses took the anoint­ing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to consecrate them. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him.” Lev. 8:6-12.

It is extremely rare that people like this—who have been tried and have been trusted co-workers of God—fall away. If it does happen, God will immediately send a prophet to them to preach His will and the judgment that will come if they do not repent. He is merciful and works so that the shame of our nakedness may not be revealed. All of the servants in the churches in Asia Minor whom Jesus rebuked were given time to repent. God’s compassion is very great. His mercies are new every morning. Nonetheless, His mercy does not remove the seriousness of sin. A flame of the Lord must burn inside us so that no sin is hidden in the darkness. Only then can God anoint us for our ministry. The Spirit of the Lord also anointed Jesus for His ministry. Therefore He says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19.