Privileges for God's People, Part 2b

You see, we need to believe in the priesthood of the believer. We need to understand the priesthood of the believer because that is where our identity lies. That's who we are in Jesus Christ, our Lord. We have access into His presence at any time because of what he himself has done. And just as that anointing symbolized the spirit, the power and presence of God upon the life of these people. priest the Old Testament. Isn't it not true that when Christ said to his men in Acts chapter 1 and the Holy Spirit shall come upon you and you shall be my witnesses and you shall receive power, right?

Power comes, presence comes because of the Spirit of God in our lives. And our responsibility now is to walk in the spirit so we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. We are to filled, controlled by the Spirit of God that we might honor God in our lives. And yet there's more. Not only did he choose them, not only did he cleanse them, not only did he clothe them, not only did he consecrate them, but he charged them. He charged them to speak one thing. and that's the truth. Back to Deuteronomy 33. Deuteronomy 33 speaking to Levi, the sons of Levi and Moses said they shall teach thine ordinances to Jacob and thy law to Israel.

You see the priesthood had one specific charge. that was to speak the truth right speak the words of god speak the law of god the ordinances of god it says in the book of malachi these words chapter two verse number four then you will know that i have sent this commandment to you that my covenant may continue with levi says the lord of host my covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence, so he revered me, and stood in all of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and in righteousness was not found on his lips.

He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity, for the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. The priest was the messenger of the Lord of hosts. In today's world, in the 21st century, who is the messenger of the Lord of hosts? The priesthood of believers, the believer in Jesus Christ, you and me, we are God's messengers. That's our privilege. That's our responsibility.

That's our duty. But it is a great privilege that God has granted to us to speak. for him, right? Over in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. It talks about it this way. Verse number 18. It says, now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were entreating through us.

We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. See, we are the messages of God. That's us. That's the priesthood. We have been charged with the message. We have been commanded to give that message to a lost world. That is the priesthood. of the believer. See that? And that's our privilege. He calls us a holy priesthood. He calls us a royal priesthood. But we've been chosen by God. We have been cleansed by God. We've been clothed by God. We've been consecrated by God. And we've been charged by God to speak the truth to a lost world.

That's what we've been called to do. that's who we are now listen we struggle with our identity when what we don't speak for god we struggle with our identity when what we live in unrighteous life we struggle with our identity when we struggle with our identity when we live with unconfessed sin and and peter wants us to understand that we are a specific kind of people, a particular kind of people. We're priests, and we need to understand that. That's the man. What's his mission? Let me get that to you.

He says this. Back to 2nd Peter chapter 1, 2, sorry. He says, we are a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. This is our ministry. This is our mission. Who we are allows us to do what we've been called to do. If we are a holy priesthood, we have to offer up sacrifices to God. Now listen, there are no physical sacrifices we have to offer because Jesus Christ was the last physical sacrifice. He was the last one. So Peter says we are to offer up not a physical sacrifice, we are to offer up a spiritual sacrifice that needs to be acceptable to God.

What are the spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable? acceptable to God. Well, the first one is this, your own life.

Romans 12, 1 and 2. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, what? A living sacrifice. So if you want to begin by offering up a sacrifice to God that's acceptable to him, if you're going to live out your identity in Christ, then you need to offer your life up as a living sacrifice. sacrifice to God. Now what is a living sacrifice? Simply this. Genesis 22. When Abraham offered up his son, Isaac, on the altar, when he was willing to sacrifice his beloved son, his one and only son, to the Lord God, Jehovah, he would kill all of his hopes and his dreams if he slaughtered Isaac on the author.

And Isaac would have been the dead sacrifice. And Abraham would have been the living sacrifice, right? Because he was willing to give up everything that he had because God said so. That, my friend, is a living sacrifice. And Paul would say, this is your spiritual, logical form of worship. This is the logical way to live your life and that is to offer it up as a living sacrifice to God. Let me say it to you this way.

I'm going to give you an illustration. Because I ask this quite frequently, and here it is. People ask me what I think about social drinking. I love it. it when they asked me that question. Because I have an answer. I've been asked on many occasions, especially when I was a college pastor and work with college students for a little over 10 years. They always ask me, do you believe in social drinking? Why or why not? And do you have a biblical reason as to why? Or do you have a biblical reason as to why not?

And my answer was always, of course I do. I'm not going to give you a reason based on my own reasoning. I'm going to give you a reason based on what God says.

let me give you two reasons why I don't believe in social drinking number one I believe in the priesthood of all believers and I would always ask them do you believe in the priesthood of all believers and of course they said well what's that you're taking the first peter chapter two you talk to them about a holy priesthood a royal priesthood right now it's very important to understand that the priests according to the leviticus 10 verse number nine were to have no wine touch their lips.

None. Now, if you believe in the priesthood of the believer, then you must understand that if a priest in the Old Testament was chosen by God, cleansed by God, clothed by God, consecrated by God, and charged by God, just like we in the New Testament are, Let's bring the whole thing into perspective and say, you know what, if the priests were not allowed to have wine touch their lips, would it be that we as a priesthood of believers would not have wine touch our lips either? Because their mental capacities were not to be marred in any way, not to be tempted in any way.

It says over in the book of Proverbs, the 31st chapter, Proverbs 31, verse number four, these words, is not for kings, O Lemuel, there's not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink, lest they drink and forget what is decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. The Bible calls us a kingdom of priests. We are a kingly priesthood. I believe that gives me ample evidence to support the fact that there should be no social drinking on the part of the believer. Now that's me.

You might not believe that? That's what I believe. I also say there's another illustration. It's from the Hebrew word Nazir, where we get the Nazarite vow. The highest vow anyone could ever take, who's taken by three men for life. Samuel, Sansom, Sampson, and John the Baptist. And the Nazarite vow was a vow to have no wine ever touch your lips. It was the highest form of consecration to God. None. Now, I know that a lot of you don't agree with me. You don't have to agree with me. That's okay. I have to be able to give a biblical answer to my children when they ask me.

I have to be able to represent what God says when people ask me about that. And I really believe in the priesthood of the believer. I do. I take it all the way to the end as much as I can. Because if I believe that I've been chosen by God and I am, am and if I really truly believe that I've been cleansed by God and I am and God has clothed me with his righteousness and I am and I've been consecrated unto him for his service because the spirit of God is upon me and if I am charged to be the messenger of truth for God if I believe all that I must believe everything about that priesthood of the Old Testament that made them represent their God when it came to talking to people about their God and making judgments on people about their relationship with God.

See that? That gives you biblical support. Now, there's a lot of people who won't agree with me, and that's okay. You know me. I don't really care if anybody agrees with me or not. I never based my ministry on the agreeability of people. Okay? But the bottom line is you need to least think about it, at least weigh it in your own mind, right, and examine it in light of that. So when you say you're going to present your life a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable into God, which is your logical form of worship, when we offer up a spiritual sacrifice into God, we are willing to sacrifice maybe some of the things that we'd like to do so that we might honor God in all that we do.

Think about it that way. that I'm willing to forego those things that would keep me from being all that God wants me to be. That I'm willing to sacrifice my hopes, my dreams on the altar of God, that I might live for him and glorify his name. That is a living sacrifice. Giving my life to God, hook, line, and sinker, throwing myself on the mercies of God saying, God, here I am, use me in any way, shape, or form. I want to be used by God. Take whatever you want to use away from me, God. Just take whatever you want.

It's all yours anyway. I want to be used by you. My life is a living sacrifice. That's a sacrifice acceptable into God, right? Offering up my own life. But it goes beyond that. Turn over to Hebrew, Sept 13. Hebrew chapter 13. Verse 15, through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of the lips that give thanks to His name. If our mission as priest is to present our lives a living sacrifice, our mission as priest is to offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the lips, our lips are to praise his glorious name. It doesn't mean that we go around saying, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. That's not what it means. It means that we are praising God for who He is. We're going to sing those praises. We're going to lift our voices high. We're going to praise him for his works. We're going to praise him for his will. We're going to praise him for his way. We're going to praise him for his mighty acts. We're going to praise him sacrifice of praise.

They offer up the sacrifice of their own lives. But it goes beyond that. What's it say? It says in verse number 16, and do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices, God is pleased. God is pleased when we do a sacrifice of good deeds. And God is pleased when we share of our material possessions. That's a sacrifice that's to God. A sacrifice of good deeds, helping someone, coming alongside someone, mentoring them, discipling them. Maybe it calls for the reproof of someone because of the way they live their life and restoring that one back to the fold.

But that's a good deed. That's a good work because it brings glory to God. And God wants you to serve him. That's a sacrifice that's acceptable to God. Plus, there's a sacrifice of material sharing. Do you know that whenever the offering plate is passed, you are offering up a sacrifice to God? Did you know that? It's a sacrifice of sharing, it's a sacrifice of giving to God. I wonder when you give if God is pleased with your sacrifice. over in Philippians chapter four. Listen to what Paul says in verse number 15.

And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.

For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account, but I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from Epaphroditis what you have sent, here it is, a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. You gave to my needs. Other churches didn't, but you did. You saw the need, and you didn't give to me, but you offered up a sacrifice.

It was like a sweet, smelling aroma. in the nostrils of God. Oh, he loves the smell of a sacrifice. And that's what it was when you gave to me. It was a sacrifice to the living God, and it was an acceptable sacrifice to God. That's the mission of the priest. That's the priesthood of the believer. The living sacrifice, the giving sacrifice, the sharing sacrifice, the praise sacrifice. But there's more. Romans 15. Verse number 16. Pick it up in verse number 15, but I have written very boldly to you on some points.

So Esther reminds you again because of the grace that was given me from God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest, the gospel of God, that my offering of the Gentiles might become acceptable, sanctified. by the Holy Spirit. Paul says there was an offering of sacrifice that was acceptable to God because I'm a priest, he says. And as a priest, I am to dispense the gospel. I am to minister to the gospel. And when I do, people who come to Christ, that is a sacrifice offered up to my God that he accepts.

When we go tell people about Jesus Christ, the good news of the gospel. gospel, then those people who give their lives to Christ become a sacrifice, a sweet sacrifice in the nostrils of God, and thus God is honored. And yet there's more. Ephesians, fifth chapter. Ephesians chapter 5. What to say? It says, verse 1. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us. What? An offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

When Christ gave us. himself up, he was demonstrating the highest form of love known to man. And when we willingly sacrifice for those we say we love by giving ourselves to them, by sacrificially and unconditionally loving them, that is a sacrifice that's acceptable unto God. And as priests, that's our mission, that's our ministry. That's what God has designed us to do, to offer us. that sacrifice that's acceptable to him that sacrifice of love that's unconditional to the one we say we truly love how about you how you doing in the in the priesthood of the believer are you a good priest or you a bad priest you see that's one that's one thing that we have over the roman Catholic Church, right?

We're all priests. Every one of us are. We understand our identity in Christ. They got to go to somebody to confess their sins. We don't have to go. We go to God. We have access to His presence. That's good news. That's great news. But how are you doing performing your priestly function? That's who we are. That's our identity. And Peter spells it out. You are a holy priesthood. He goes, I'll say, you are a royal priesthood. You are a kingdom of priests. All being built up together around the cornerstone, the chief stone, the living stone.

And just let me introduce the next one to you. Can I do that for you tonight? This is so good. You know, I knew I wasn't going to get to it tonight, but I just got to share it with you. It says this. for this is contained in scripture behold I lay in Zion a choice stone a precious cornerstone and he who believes in him shall not be what disappointed you know what the third privilege you have as a believer is satisfaction satisfaction this is so rich it just over it just oozes with richness It's like a big, it's the positive side of pus.

You know, when pus just like oozes out, you know what I'm saying? So it's like oozing out of richness out of a, out of a, not a sore, but a storehouse of riches. We're not disappointed. Do you know the believer is never disappointed in God? He's never ashamed of God. He is completely satisfied with His God. Because he who believes in him will never be disappointed. Because that one is the precious stone, the one that's costly, the one that's prized, the one that's of highest value. And because of that, you're never disappointed.

Now, let me share with you the verse that Peter refers to. Peter doesn't quote the verse. He doesn't say, it is. is written. He just says it's contained in scripture. So Peter's not quoting Isaiah 28 verse number 16. He's just referring to Isaiah 2816 because he doesn't quote it word for word. Listen to what Isaiah 2016 says. Therefore, thus says the Lord of God, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed, he who believes in it will not be disturbed.

Or literal Hebrew will not be in a hurry. What does that mean? Come back next week, I'll tell you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and thank you, Lord, Jesus, that we can never be disappointed in our God. Thank you, Lord, that you've made us a kingdom of priests being built up in a spiritual house that you yourself are making for your glory and honor. We do praise you, Lord, and thank you that you chose us when we were so unworthy. And not only did you choose us, you cleansed us from all unrighteousness, and clothed us with your righteousness, and consecrated us for your service, and charged us with this great mission preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

May we offer up acceptable sacrifices to our God. May we be priests that please our God. In Jesus' name, amen. it.