The Zadok Priesthood — David Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, Post Office Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 or by calling 903 -963 -8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends.

The Two Priesthoods in Scripture

...bibles and if you have your pen and pencil, it'll help want you to put down, I want you to mark down a lot of scriptures tonight. Very rarely do I use any other but King James tonight. I'm using the New American Standard because it brings out certain scriptures very clearly that I want to make known to you.

The Zadok Priesthood and First Samuel 2

Speaking on the subject, the Zadok priesthood, the Zadok priesthood. I'll tell you what, go to 1st Samuel, the second chapter and leave, just leave it open on your lap. 1st Samuel, the second chapter and just leave the Bible open there.

Let me hear the rustling of the leaves, please. Get everyone into 1st Samuel, second chapter and just leave it open on your lap while we pray. Holy Spirit, I must have you. Without you, this message cannot touch any heart.

And I pray the spiritual authority of the Holy Ghost. I take your authority, Jesus, over every spirit that would bind. I ask you to open our understanding that we may understand that there are two kind of priesthoods.

There are two kind of preachers in the world today. There are two kind of churches and we've got to distinguish and we've got to know and walk in the right one. To be the right one and to walk in the right one, God, open our eyes, remove all foolishness.

God, touch us, get deep into our hearts, put the knife in if you must. Anoint by your power, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's get right to it, folks. I want you to go to verse 27. First thing I do when I get to heaven after I see Jesus and embrace Him, I want to talk to this unnamed prophet that came to Eli.

I want to meet him. I want to tell him what he meant to me. Verse 27. Then a man of God came to Eli. We don't know who his name is. He's a prophet. He said to him, Thus says the Lord, Did I not indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh's house?

Did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to carry an ephod before me? And see, that's what God always intended for the ministry. And by the way, when I talk about ministry, that's you.

God's called us all to be kings and priests before Him. I will be talking about preachers, but I'm going to talk about you as well. And did I not choose them from all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go to my altar, to burn incense?

All right. Did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the sons of Israel? Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I've commanded in my dwelling? You honor your sons above me by making yourselves fat with the choices of every offering of my people Israel.

Therefore, the Lord God of Israel declares, I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father should walk before me forever. But now, the Lord declares, far be it from me. For those who honor me, I will honor.

Those who despise me will be lightly esteemed. Now, folks, from here on, you're going to find the introduction by this unknown prophet of two priesthoods that are developing. One of the spirit of Eli, the spirit that's on Eli.

There's going to be another priesthood that we're going to see develop here. It's all prophesied. And these two priesthoods from this moment on are prophesied to exist until Jesus comes. And you're going to understand some things tonight about evangelists and preachers and churches that are dead and dry and full of flesh and self and into success and prosperity.

You're going to understand it all here. This prophet is going to show it to you now. Right here in verse 31 beginning. The days are coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will be not an old man in your house.

He's describing a curse upon the Eli ministry. You will see distress of my dwelling in spite of all that I do good for Israel. And an old man will not be in your house forever. Yet I will not cut off every man of yours from my altar that your eyes may fail from weeping and your soul grieve and all the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.

And this will be the sign to you which will come concerning your two sons Hophniah and Phinehas. On the same day, both of them shall die. But here's the prophecy of a new priesthood coming up. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest.

I'm going to tell you who he is. A priest who will do according to what is in my heart and in my soul and I will build him an enduring house and he will walk before my anointed always. It shall come to pass that everyone who is left in your house, that's the house of Eli, shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and say, please assign me to one of the priest officers.

I'll eat a piece of bread. All right, look this way, please, and follow me now. Here's a prophecy of two priesthoods. One is the priesthood of Eli. And I'll tell you, I'm going to trace that with you and you're going to see it's traced right up to our time.

I'm going to show you a backslidden, self-centered, compromising ministry. And the prophet Eli represents, he's the beginning of this ministry. He was birthed in the soul and embodied in the ministry of Eli.

People-Pleasing and Softness Toward Sin

All right, there are three things mentioned here by this unknown prophet. This kind of ministry, this man Eli had become this. And it's what ministers have become today. Ministers of the gospel. Listen to it, please.

First of all, there would be people pleasers more than pleasers of God. Verse 29, read it again. Why do you kick in my sacrifice and my offering which I've commanded in my dwelling? You honor your sons above me by making yourself fat with the choice of every offering.

Eli made no decisions that would offend his sons, his family. We're talking about the family of God. We're talking now about men who are afraid to reprove their family, the house of God, the congregation.

Never once, only one instance of all the years, in over 50 years, this man Eli corrected his sons. We know on one occasion, and even though they were committing adultery, even though they were raping women, even though they were the most vile sins.

He said, why do you do this? Never corrected because they were afraid. There are churches today that you can attend for a whole year and never once be reproved. Never once hear anything about sin. The church can be corrupted.

There can be adultery and fornication. The children going to hell. Everybody running around. Everybody doing their own thing and not a word of correction from the pulpit. Not a word. Afraid to offend, afraid the offerings will go down.

People will walk out and their pews will not be filled. Bible says there'll be people pleasers more than pleasers of God. This man was soft on sin. And that's the first characteristic of this priesthood that's developing in the soul of Eli.

And it's the mark of every ongoing compromising preacher of the gospel. Secondly, the scripture says they're going to cater to their own needs and comforts rather than giving themselves to the needs of their flock.

Self-Serving Ministry and Material Comfort

You make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel, my people. Until you would happen in the seething pot when they brought the offering. It was supposed to go in the pot and boiled.

The priest had a three-pronged hook and after it was seethed, it was brought out. Whatever came out under the hook went to his table. But Eli's two sons, Hophnon and Phinehas, didn't want that. They wanted red raw prime rib.

And so they would slaughter outside the gate and they would take out the filet mignon. And Eli was eating filet mignon. That's how he got fat. That's how he got lazy. That's how he got careless. If he dealt with his sons, he loses his prime rib.

His own interest, his own table. And that's what we have in the ministry today. And that's why churches are dying and ruined because we're preachers in the pulpit, more interested in their own comfort, having a social security program, having a health program, and not on their knees and coming to the house of God without the fire in their soul.

The prophet's saying, Eli, you're a self-absorbed priest. You don't really care about your flock. You're feathering your own nest. You're more interested in what's going on your table than what's going into their hearts.

He was saying, Eli, you don't think about how your compromise is bringing reproach on my name. You never once think about the people standing out there watching you steal the prime rib and going to your table.

You don't even think about the reproach on my name. Now the prophet comes along next and he pronounces three terrible judgments on this priesthood. And I tell you, every so-called man of God that stands in the pulpit and has the spirit of Eli upon him of compromise and being soft on sin and catering to his own table, concerned more about his own table and his own welfare.

Loss of Spiritual Power and Authority

Here are the judgments. First of all, a loss of all spiritual power and spiritual authority. Verse 31, I will break your strength and the strength of your father's house. As a servant of God, Lord, I'm going to lightly esteem you.

Verse 30, Those who honor me, I will honor. Those who despise me will be lightly esteemed. God said, You despise me because you will not preach my whole council. You sit there just to make sure you have a crowd.

You sit in the house of God and you're not really concerned about the people but your reputation and your success among your peers. And he said, As a result of it, you have lightly esteemed my word. You've lightly esteemed me.

I'm going to lightly esteem you. So the Holy Ghost passes by lightly esteeming this man. He is lightly esteemed. He may be esteemed before men, but he's not esteemed before a holy God. God bypasses this man.

He said, I'll break your strength and the strength of your father's house. They that despise me will be lightly esteemed. And that puts the fear of God on me. I do not want to be lightly esteemed in glory.

I don't want God to look down upon me and say, You really don't have any impact on my kingdom. You stand in a pulpit. You don't have it on you. You're not a man of power. You're lightly esteemed. Go on your way.

Do your works. But I don't esteem you. You're lightly esteemed in my presence. That puts the fear of God in my soul. What it leaves is just a busy priesthood of helter-skelter ideas, works of the flesh that look good, sound good and sound important, but God refuses to touch it because He said, Because I lightly esteem you, I lightly esteem all your busy activity.

God Bypassing a Compromised Ministry

She said, Secondly, I'm going to bypass you when the true anointing comes in the last days. Verse 32, And you will see the distress of my dwelling in spite of all the good that I do for Israel. He said, When I choose to pour out my spirit, you're going to be standing in ruins.

And that's exactly what's happening in America today. Preachers are standing in their churches that are ruined. The anointing is falling on young men that are giving their life. Side in with God. And men are standing there.

They're not even seeing when God is blessing. God said, I'll pass you by. We heard this afternoon in one denomination that a good number of ministers are leaving because of their despair. I think it's more than that.

God's bypassed with the anointing. In spite of all that I do, you won't see it. You will not see the good. Thirdly, the curse is the loss of God's touch in the very prime of life. All the increase of your house will die in the prime of life.

Abiathar and the Eli Ministry

Now that's taken two ways. That was fulfilled literally when Saul sent Doeg up to Nob and killed 85 priests that wore the ephod. They were all the seed of Eli. That was fulfilled right to the letter. There won't be an old man in your house.

They were all cut down, including Abimelech. And one priest escapes. And he's the seed of Eli that has lived till today. And we're going to follow him. His name is Abiathar. Abiathar is the seed of Eli.

And the Abiathar ministry is what is in America today. And in this world, it's an Abiathar Eli priesthood. It happened literally. But it's more than that. It has a spiritual application. The Lord is saying this priesthood is going to look so good up to a certain point.

They're going to be very busy. They're going to be very active. And just at the point where they have the most energy, just when they should be used the most, God says, I'm going to let them... It's going to be a spiritual death.

I'm going to leave them. They're going to die. Spiritually, they're going to stand before my people as dead men. In the prime. Now folks, one of the most tragic things this man said is a prophecy that this kind of ministry will never be cut off from the altars.

Read it and weep. Verse 33. Yet, I will not cut off every man of yours from my altar. He said, You're kind, Eli. You're kind of compromising spiritless dead men are going to exist till the last day. Till Jesus, till the Lord comes.

I won't cut them off. I once thought when ministers backslid. I once thought when the anointing was gone and when they were just misusing people, God strike them dead. I often wondered, Why doesn't God?

A well-known evangelist told me one time, I didn't know he'd fall, but he, before he fell, he said one day, He said, God, these televisions, Why doesn't God cut them down? The way they're robbing people of money.

Why doesn't God kill them? Why doesn't God destroy them? Because he's... The prophecy that was given by this man. He said, God says, I'll never cut them off from my altar. They'll be that kind, exist until the end.

Eli, they'll be your kind serving my altar, but what a grief they're going to be. All right. First Samuel 2, verse 35. Now we're going to see another kind of ministry come up. Hallelujah. Are you ready?

Verse 35. But I, the Lord saying, I'll raise up for who? Myself. A faithful priest who will do according to what is in my heart, into my soul, and I'll build him an enduring house, and he will walk before my anointed always.

Now, if you go to your commentaries, half will say it's Christ, and some others will say that. I'm going to tell you who he is. This priest. His name is Zadok. His name is Zadok, and the Zadok priesthood remains to this day, and we'll talk about that in just a minute.

Zadok and Abiathar in David's Kingdom

But look at me, please. Everything this prophet prophesied is fully illustrated in David's kingdom. David's a type of Christ. Israel type of the church. He had two priests, Zadok and Abiathar. All right.

I want you to go so that you can see it. I want you to go to 2 Samuel 15. 2 Samuel, and you'll see this unnamed prophet, his prophecy being fulfilled right to the letter. Folks, God's going to open your eyes here in just a little bit.

Before we're done, you're going to say, I see it. I see it. 2 Samuel 15 verse 35. David, just to set the scene, David now is running from Absalom. He's the book kid drawn in. He's crossed over. Let's start at verse 35.

OK, verse 34. But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, well, let's go to 35. Are and are not Zadok and Abiathar the priest with you there? So it shall be that whatever you hear from the king's house, you shall report to Zadok and Abiathar the priest.

Look at me, please. Here are two priests running with David. Zadok and Abiathar. And David is saying, no, you don't go with me into hiding. I'm going into hiding. Go back to Jerusalem and you watch and you listen and you stand in the house of God.

We need a holy priesthood in the house of God. They go back and he told me, you're a seer, Zadok, you're a prophet as well as a priest. And send your two sons, send your sons and give me word. In other words, go back as spies on my behalf.

And so I'm trying to establish that David had two priests. How many see that now? Abiathar, Abiathar means peace with God. Zadok, well, I'll tell you what. Let me wait before I give you Zadok's name because I don't want to talk about Zadok first.

Zadok as the Proven-Righteous Priesthood

I want to talk about Abiathar. No, I'll tell you what. Let's talk about Zadok first. His name means one who's proved righteous. One who's proved righteous. Don't turn there, but in 1 Chronicles 12 verse 1, it says that men were fleeing to David when he was running.

David was at Ziglag at the time and people were coming all over to join his forces. And in verse 28, and now there came also to David at Ziglag, Zadok and 22 captains. Zadok is the first priest to leave Saul.

Saul represents the flesh, represents hype. It represents busyness without the call and touch of heaven. And here is Zadok saying, that is not what I want. I don't want that kind of a ministry. It's dead.

The Spirit of God's gone from that. I'm going with David because David has the Holy Ghost. David has the anointing. Zadok followed David. David, a type of Christ. He said, I'm going with this man. Zadok never turned back.

Through every rebellion, through everything, Zadok was there. A man proved righteous. Hallelujah. Folks, we've got preachers like that in our pulpits today. Thank God. Men of God so committed to Jesus.

They walked away from the flesh. They walked away from all the entertainment. They walked away from all the fleshly things of this world. Holy given to God. And you know it when you hear them. It does something in your soul.

Mm hmm. Look at 2nd Samuel 15 verse 23. While all the country was weeping with a loud voice. See David's running now. All the people passed over. And the king also passed over the brook Kidron. And all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.

Now behold, Zadok also came. And all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God. And a Biathor came up. See, I want you to notice that both now, Absalom's rebellion and both Zadok and a Biathor are with David.

A Biathor at this time looks equally pious. Equally holy. Equally dedicated to David. It's a type of Christ. These two men are following David. They're both at the brook when he leaves. Both go back. And while Absalom is up on the rooftop committing open adultery with David's concubines.

And all of Israel has gone berserk with wickedness. In the house of God are two men. Zadok and a Biathor. And folks, I want to tell you something. While the whole world's going to hell. While wickedness is coming.

God still has his holy men at the altar. God still has his men. Hallelujah. How many believe that? Yes, he does. He still has his men. Think of it. Within view of the house of God, he's committing adultery openly.

But there in the house of God, there's a man devoted to David. Zadok. But a Biathor. Same. He looks the same. Everything seems the same. Well, let's talk about a Biathor now. His name actually means at peace with God.

Abiathar, Adonijah, and the Appeal of Prosperity

He's with David, the Bible says. And a Biathor comes up also. But why do suddenly all the prophets ignore him? You won't find him anywhere else mentioned after this. His name dies out. Something happens.

Now see, a Biathor stays with David while Absalom, his son, rebels. But he's got another son named Adonijah. Do you know what his name means? Success and prosperity. That's the name in Hebrew. And Adonijah decides to pronounce himself king.

This is another rebellion. And so what the scripture says, he raised himself up and men went after him. Tell me whether or not people are running after the preachers of success and prosperity. The Bible says they ran after them.

The same group. They've got about 10 ,000. Follow them all over the world. So they go down. Oh, folks, you got to go to 1 Kings and see it. I've got to show it to you. It's shocking. 1 Kings, 5th chapter.

I'm going to show you what happens to the Biathor priesthood. I want 2 Kings, I think. Just a minute. I'll find it here. Be patient with me. It's 1 Kings, but I've just lost my. Well, let me give it to you.

I know it by heart. The Bible says that Adonijah calls a meeting. I'm sorry. It's 1 Kings, 1st chapter. What's what's wrong with me? Sorry, verse 5. 1 Kings, 1st chapter, verse 5. Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself saying, I will be king.

So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with 50 men to run before him or run around after him. And his father had never crossed him at any time by asking, why have you done so? I want you to notice there how everything the prophet said about this kind of minister, this kind of people.

See, no reproof. No reproof. Is that right? Have you ever been reproved? It's self-centered. It's pride. He said, I set myself up king. All of the elements, all of the things that this prophet said would happen in this kind of ministry.

It's in this man, Adonijah. And he was very handsome man who was born after Absalom. And he had conferred with Joab, the son of Zariah. And with who? Abathar, the priest and following Adonijah. They helped him.

Now, listen to me, please. You're going to see. But Zadok, the priest, Benadar, the son of Jehoradah, Nathan, the prophet, Shimei, and the mighty men who belong to David were not with Adonijah. There wasn't a holy man in the bunch.

There wasn't a holy man there. And where did they go? Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zohelith, which means the stone of the shepherd or the stone of the serpent. The stone of the serpent.

Look at me, please. Here's Abathar up to this time, loyal to David. But see, now the word's out. There's a new move, some great new things happening in the land. It's very exciting. You go to Zohelith, a new move of God, new man with a new message.

This old message of David and his old ways is dead. And this grabbed the heart of Abathar because this was a ticket to success and prosperity. He could make it. A new man, a new message. We have preachers come from all over the world and they visit here and they tell, say, this is the first stop.

We're spending three months, my wife and I, two months, three months, because I'm from England, I'm from Europe. They've come from Africa and their churches are dying and things are not happening. They hear about some new work.

They're going to all the big churches. They're looking for new outsider friendly gospels. They're looking for some little vehicle, something to make something happen. A new move of God. I turned to one pastor, I say, I'll tell you what, you both used to pray.

You and your wife were on your face. You wept before God and that's why your church was blessed. You got so busy, you don't know God anymore. And they began to weep and said, that's right. And so they came to America looking for a program, looking for some little work to get ahold of to make it work.

That's the ministry of Abiathar. There are some, I'm going to tell you something, if a preacher has preached for 10 years and he's not learned to pray, he will never pray. He will never pray. The spirit of God will leave him.

I'm going to tell you now, if you're a Christian and you haven't learned to pray in the last five years, you have not learned to really get ahold of God and seek his face, you will never pray. You will never seek his face unless God has you in a death bed or in a crisis.

If you haven't learned by now, you will never learn. It's amazing. Some great new work, Abiathar gets caught up in a fleshly, ungodly work of the devil at the stone of Satan. Now, I want to show you something because Solomon, they find out about it and King David is told and David says, go get Nathan.

See, when God wants to do something really that counts for his eternal purposes, he calls his prophets, he calls those who've been set in with God. He said, go get Nathan. Forget Abiathar, get Nathan.

I like the esteem of Abiathar, go get Nathan. He said, get to Trump, get the oil, go anoint Solomon. Solomon is anointed King and now first he deals with Shimei. He kills Shimei who had cursed David and now he's dealing with all of David's enemies and he calls Abiathar, bring Abiathar.

Go to First Kings, the second chapter. Folks, before you read anything, let me tell you what the prophet said. What did he say about the Abiathar type, the Eli ministry? He said, I won't cut it off. It'll always be there.

Solomon knew that prophecy. I'm proving to you. This is the end of side one. You may now turn the tape over to side two.

Abiathar Removed from the Priesthood

Now, therefore, as the Lord lives, who has established me and set up the throne of David, my father, and who's made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah will be put to death. So King Solomon sent Ben-Hassan of Jihad and he fell upon him so that he died.

Then to Abiathar, the priest, he's standing before Solomon now, he's being dealt with. He said, you cast your lot in with my brother Adonijah and you tried to kill this kingdom. He said, go to Anathoth, to your own field.

In other words, go do your own thing, for you deserve to die. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of God before me, Father David, and because you were afflicted and everything with him.

So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest of the Lord. Why? In order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli and Silo. Solomon says, I can't kill you because of a prophecy.

He said, I don't know who he was, but someone prophesied that your kind will always remain. They're here today. Someone just told me that they just came from a convention down in Texas, a prosperity evangelist came back, said, brother, I'm so glad what I've learned here at Times Square Church, because all it was was money, money, money, money.

Go to your field, do your own thing. Now, I want to show you something most shocking in the Bible, one of the most shocking things. Ezekiel understood this prophecy as well. He understood that these two priesthoods would exist.

Ezekiel 44 and the Defilement of the Sanctuary

They existed in the time of Ezekiel. I want you to go to Ezekiel 44, and I'll tell you what, folks, this chapter, Ezekiel 44, has so gripped my soul. Folks, I'm trying to do this as quick as possible.

Just bear with me, will you? Ezekiel 44. How many love the truth? It's the truth that sets you free, folks. All right, listen to this prophet, Ezekiel. Let's go, let's start verse 5. And the Lord said to me, this is God speaking to Ezekiel.

The Lord said to me, son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning the statutes of the house of the Lord, concerning all its laws. Mark well the entrance of the house with all the exits of the sanctuary.

You know what he's saying? Look at me. He said, stand at my house now. Look at people coming in and going. And look what you see. I'm going to show you abomination. They're bringing strangers, foreigners into my house to defile it.

Look at the exit. Check it. Ezekiel, look at it. See what's happening to my church. Rock and roll. Entertainment. Foolishness. Singers who don't even know God, who use drugs and alcohol, standing in a pulpit, ministering, and people don't know the difference.

He said, Mark, see what's happening. Verse 8 or verse 7. You brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart, uncircumcised in flesh. Means they're still in the world to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even into my house.

And you've offered my food and fat and blood. Verse 8. You have not kept charge of my holy things yourselves. You set foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuaries. Thus saith the Lord God, no foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel shall enter my sanctuary.

Now I want you to see. Here's the Baathar priesthood. But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols shall bear their punishment. Now listen to me.

Look me, before you read the next verse, don't even look at it. He said, look, they're going to be ministers, have idols, have captured their hearts. Men who don't know me. Men who have no anointing. Men who have lost everything.

Lightly esteemed by God. Bringing foreigners into my house. Defiling everything that's holy. Remember what the prophet said? They won't be cut off. Look at verse 11. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight of the gates of the house and ministering in the house.

They shall slaughter the burnt offering, the sacrifice of the people. They shall stand before them to minister to them because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity in the house of Israel.

And I've sworn against them because the Lord that they shall bear the punishment for their iniquity. They shall not come near to me to serve as a priest to me, will come near to any of my holy things, to the things that are most holy, but they shall bear their shame and their abomination.

Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of their house. They're appointed by God to deal with people who have idols in their heart. If you have idolatry in your heart, you'll go to preachers who preach idolatry.

God said you have a congregation not willing to pay the price. I'll give them shepherds with idolatrous hearts to minister to their idolatry. You've got a sports crazy congregation wants to get out and see a 12 -15 football game, dismiss church at 12.

I'll give you a sports net for your pastor. Look what's happening. He said they're in charge of my house. They're at the altar. They're going, they're preaching, they're ministering, they're counseling.

Nobody knows the difference. There's no discernment in the house of God. The man's a crook. He has no touch of God. And the people love to have it so because they love entertainment. They love that garbage.

You've been delivered out of that kind of a church. You've been delivered out of a hell. You've been delivered from men who are going to destroy your soul. The first thing you do when you get right with God, begin to pray.

He gives you discernment so you can know the crooks in the pulpit. You know the ones that don't know God. God said I'll appoint them. Every church deserves its pastor. I've said that many times. You show me a dead church and you give me a handful of people in that church.

Begin to fast and pray. They'll pray that ungodly man out and God will send a holy man out. Clean the church and start all over again. God said they're going to minister to the people. They're not going to come near me.

They don't come near my author. They're going to minister in the outer court. They're going to minister to the people. Isn't that amazing? People can sit in a church and there's a man who doesn't even know God.

God has nothing to do with the man. He's full of adultery. He's an abominable man bringing abomination into the house of God. Going through all the motions and they don't know the difference. And they don't even know that God appointed them that pastor because of the idolatry in their own hearts.

This is scary. I'll appoint them to keep charge of the house and of all of its services and everything that's done in it. They're not ministering to godly people. They're ministering to people steeped in sin and idolatry and they're blind.

God’s Promise of Shepherds After His Own Heart

I want to tell you something. God makes a promise in his book that if the people return to him and repent, God will give them shepherds after his own heart. Listen to Jeremiah 3, 14, 15. Return, O faithless sons, and I'll bring you to Zion.

If you just return to me with all your heart, then I'll give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you on knowledge and understanding. Ezekiel, however, prophesied of the Zadok priesthood. Hallelujah.

The Zadok Priests Who Keep God’s Sanctuary

Look at verse 15. But the Levitical priests, the sons of who? But, thank God for that but right there. But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok who kept charge of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me.

They shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood because, declares the Lord God, they shall enter my sanctuary. They shall come near to my table to minister to me and keep my charge. The last days, whose whole life is a ministry to me, they're going to sit at my table.

And you know what that table is? There are some preachers who think that as long as they don't commit adultery and stay clean, that's all they have to do. You want a secret? Preachers don't pray. Leonard Ravenholt told me one time, he said, Brother David, if you ever want to get preachers run the altar and under conviction just preach about prayer, they don't pray.

I told you of sitting at a table with a pastor of a large church, Pentecostal church. And the wife said, Honey, are you going to tell him or I'm going to tell him? Because he knew he needed counsel. He bowed his head and he said, Brother David, I have a big church, very active, but I haven't prayed in a year.