But ere we turn from this subject, we deem it most necessary to impress upon the reader the importance of distinguishing between ministry and priesthood. The sin of Korah consisted in this: that, not content with being a minister, he aimed at being a priest; and the sin of christendom is of the same character. Instead of allowing ministry to rest upon its own proper New-Testament basis, to exhibit its proper characteristics and discharge its proper functions, it is exalted into a priesthood, a sacerdotal caste, the members of which are distinguished from their brethren by their style of dress and certain titles. There is no foundation whatsoever for these things in the New Testament. According to the plain teaching of that blessed book, all believers are priests. Thus, in Peter, we read, “But _ye_ [not merely the apostles, but all believers] are a chosen generation, _a royal priesthood_.” (1 Pet. ii. 9.) So also in Revelation—“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and _priests_ unto God and His Father.” (Chap. i. 5, 6.) And, in pursuance of the truth set forth in the foregoing passages, we find the apostle Paul, by the Holy Ghost, exhorting the Hebrew believers to “draw nigh, and enter with boldness into the very holiest of all.” (Chap. x. 19-22.) And further on he says, “By Him therefore [_i. e._, Jesus] let us _offer the sacrifice_ of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with _such sacrifices_ God is well pleased.” (Heb. xiii. 15-16.)
How marvelous it must have appeared to Jewish saints—to those trained amid the institutions of the Mosaic economy, to be exhorted to enter into a place to which the very highest functionary in Israel could only approach once a year, and that but for a moment! and then to be told that they were to offer sacrifice—that they were to discharge the peculiar functions of the priesthood! All this was wonderful. But thus it is, if we are to be taught by Scripture, and not by the commandments, the doctrines, and the traditions of men. All Christians are priests. They are not all apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, or evangelists; but they are all priests. The very feeblest member of the Church was as much a priest as Peter, Paul, James, or John. We speak not of capacity or spiritual power, but of the position which all occupy in virtue of the blood of Christ. There is no such thing in the New Testament as a certain class of men, a certain privileged caste, brought into a higher or nearer position than their brethren. All this is flatly opposed to Christianity—a bold traversing of all the precepts of the Word of God, and the special teachings of our blessed Lord and Master.
Let no one suppose that these things are unimportant. Far from it. They affect the very foundations of Christianity. We have only to open our eyes and look around us in order to see the practical results of this confounding of ministry and priesthood. And we may rest assured that the moment is rapidly approaching when these results shall assume a far more awful character, and bring down the very heaviest judgments from the living God. We have not yet seen the full antitype of “the gainsaying of Core,” but it will soon be manifested; and we solemnly warn the Christian reader to take heed how he lends his sanction to the serious error of mixing up two things so entirely distinct as ministry and priesthood. We would exhort him to take this whole subject up in the light of Scripture. We want him to submit to the authority of God’s Word, and to abandon every thing that is not founded thereon. It matters not what it is,—it may be a time-honored institution, an expedient arrangement, a decent ceremony supported by tradition and countenanced by thousands of the very best of men. It matters not. If the thing has no foundation in holy Scripture, it is an error and an evil and a snare of the devil, to entrap our souls and lead us away from the simplicity that is in Christ. For example, if we are taught that there is, in the Church of God, a sacerdotal caste—a class of men more holy, more elevated, nearer to God, than their brethren—than ordinary Christians, what is this but Judaism revived and tacked on to Christian forms? and what must be the effect of this, but to rob the children of God of their proper privileges as such, and to put them at a distance from Him, and place them under bondage?