Kings and Priests

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Rev 1:6)

Satan hates it when we are in balance with the Kingdom of Heaven. He's fine with us having some of the Word of God, just as long as it's without the Spirit and vice versa. In the same way he'll tolerate us being either a priest or a king unto God, but will fight tooth and nail to keep us from operating in both in balance. Why? Because the role of the priest is to prepare the showbread (logos), trim the lamps of the candlestick (rhema), and burn fresh incense (prayers of faith) on the golden altar daily. When all of this is done faithfully, access to the Holy of Holies (Spirit of God in us) becomes available, granting us both authority and power to act against satan's purposes. This is where our role as king takes over as we take up the "sword of the Spirit" and exercise what the priest in us has already obtained -- our rhema authority to "bind the strong man and spoil his house".

By definition, a priest has no business wielding a sword. That is the right of a king. Yet too many of us in the body of Christ have limited our spiritual warfare to prayer and rebuking the enemy which is like a priest waving around a sword. The opposite is also true in that many are going in where angels fear to tread (government, business, education, entertainment) without the covering and authority afforded through our priestly office.

Consider King David, whom God called a "man after My own heart". All of His great victories, including his first over Goliath, were won first on his knees as he was fulfilling the spiritual office of a priest unto God.

So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, "Do not pursue them directly. Circle down away from them and attack them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then march out to battle, for God will have marched out ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines." So David did exactly as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. Then David's fame spread throughout the lands, and the LORD caused all the nations to be terrified of him. (1Ch 14:14-17)

Satan fears the day when all God's children understand, as David did, the power of operating as both a priest and a king in the service of God. The priesthood is about more than prayer, it's about the prayer of faith which comes only to the one who balances rightly the Word and the Spirit. Just as being a king is about more than fighting battles, it's about fighting with the sword of the Spirit in the full power and authority of the Kingdom.

He (Christ) shall build the temple of the LORD; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both (king and priest). (Zec 6:13)