Called to Serve: Unpacking Your Identity as a Royal Priest

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Oh Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for drawing us here tonight that we might hear your word.
[00:00:06] Lord, that we might see how as you have made your son a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
[00:00:14] Lord, that you and he and the Holy Spirit have called, as we are in Christ, have called us to be priests.
[00:00:24] and to to serve you and to proclaim you so lord ask that that you will open our hearts and and minds and uh lord that that you will teach us and continue our training in being your priest and your servants and we ask all of these things in jesus name amen you may be seated
[00:00:50] So tonight we're going to be going through James and first and second Peter and
[00:01:00] The theme that we are looking tonight that kind of binds all of this together is in us being priests after the example of Christ and in following him.
[00:01:14] Because as we saw last night with Hebrews that he is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
[00:01:22] And Saul as Melchizedek appeared to
[00:01:27] In Jesus' name we pray.
[00:01:39] Amen.
[00:01:44] In coming to meet Abraham and then so it was that priesthood that was actually superior to the Levitical priesthood and Jesus being the surety or the deposit of a better covenant that he was bringing in aside from the law because we are made righteous by faith in him and his death for us and him offering himself as a priest.
[00:02:13] So a few verses or passages for us to keep in mind before we start reading in James along these lines as we've been talking about is Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2.
[00:02:29] I beseech ye therefore brethren
[00:02:34] By the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[00:02:45] And so you see there that we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.
[00:02:50] So that means that our lives are to be an offering.
[00:02:54] And as we offer ourselves, that is in the language and as a metaphor for a priest, right?
[00:03:04] Do you see that?
[00:03:06] For so many Christians and so many people in reading that, you might not see that.
[00:03:14] You kind of see where, okay, we're supposed to offer ourselves, we're to die to ourselves, die to our sin, to live for Christ.
[00:03:20] But in offering ourselves, it is spoken in a priestly way.
[00:03:25] Verse 2, And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[00:03:40] That in order to offer ourselves, in order to serve Christ in this way, apart from ourselves and our will, we have to be transformed.
[00:03:52] And this is in being born again and
[00:03:54] In having our heart circumcised and in receiving the new heart from God.
[00:04:01] That is, He is the only one who can give this to us.
[00:04:05] In Hebrews 13, verses 12 to 15, it says, Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify or cleanse, this is a priestly term to sanctify, the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate,
[00:04:22] Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach as Jesus was crucified outside of the city and was like the scapegoat where the sins of the people were put on him and he was sent out and then according to the scapegoat's sacrifice the other goat was sacrificed.
[00:04:43] Well Jesus represents both of those goats in the book of Leviticus.
[00:04:49] But verse 14, For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come, that we are looking for a better city, a better land, which is heaven.
[00:05:03] By Him therefore, by Christ, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
[00:05:14] So in offering the sacrifice of praise, it might seem like a simple thing.
[00:05:19] Yes, we are to praise God, but this is a priestly thing of offering that sacrifice of praise.
[00:05:26] So whether you know it or not, you are priests of the Most High God.
[00:05:33] of the Lord Jesus Christ as he is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
[00:05:41] And so this even more gives this idea of how we are, or the reality of how we are to serve Christ.
[00:05:50] We're to serve him with all of our heart, with everything that we have.
[00:05:53] There is nothing that we leave on the table in our service to Christ because we give all to him.
[00:06:01] Another passage to look at in framing this, 1 Corinthians 6, 19-20, Paul says,
[00:06:13] Question from previous verse, but we'll just keep on here.
[00:06:16] Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
[00:06:25] For ye are bought with a price.
[00:06:27] Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[00:06:33] And so if you have professed faith in the Lord Jesus,
[00:06:36] You belong to Him, He puts His Holy Spirit in you, so therefore we are made to be temples of God.
[00:06:46] And if we are temples, it falls right in line with that priestly function.
[00:06:52] We're going to see a big verse in 1 Peter, or some big verses.
[00:06:58] 1 Peter 2, 4 through 5.
[00:07:00] Let's just go ahead and look at this.
[00:07:02] To whom coming, coming to Christ as unto a living stone, because he is the cornerstone and he is also the headstone, showing how Jesus is the first or the...
[00:07:16] The first and the last, the author and the finisher of our faith.
[00:07:21] And so speaking of the temple and the cornerstone that the whole temple is built on, and then the headstone that finishes it as Pastor Joseph has talked about in previous sermons.
[00:07:33] It says that coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
[00:07:56] So not only are we, our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, but we as believers make up stones that make up the whole complete temple of all of the people of God with Christ as the cornerstone.
[00:08:11] So that is one image of the body of Christ.
[00:08:14] Another image of the body of Christ is just the body itself, that we are the body and Christ is the head.
[00:08:24] So, let's see, there was another thing there I was going to mention.
[00:08:31] Oh, and this just again gives the idea that everything that we do in our lives is to be for God.
[00:08:40] So therefore, we should really think and consider about the things that we do.
[00:08:46] Because if it is not according to God's will, if we know that it's something that is not pleasing to God, or if it is selfishly motivated, the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, lives inside of us, right?
[00:09:03] Christ has saved us by His blood, has put His Spirit in us, and so therefore,
[00:09:11] We really need to focus on how we live for Christ in us doing what is pleasing to Him all the time.
[00:09:22] Knowing there is forgiveness when we falter, but just a radically different view of our lives that is not for ourselves, that it is for Christ and for Him alone to bring Him glory.
[00:09:37] Another verse here, 1 Peter 2.9.
[00:09:39] This is a huge verse for what we're looking at.
[00:09:44] But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
[00:10:02] So one thing that I did mention in Romans 12 when it talks about we're to offer our bodies a living sacrifice, that points to the bronze altar, the brazen altar,
[00:10:15] In the tabernacle and the temple where offerings, where sacrifices were made and that we are to offer ourselves and that Christ in Him offering Himself as a sacrifice is what represents or what the bronze altar points to is the sacrifice of Christ.
[00:10:38] Likewise, as we looked here,
[00:10:42] In that we are to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
[00:10:50] What does that light make you think of?
[00:10:54] Okay, heaven, but maybe a little bit more.
[00:10:59] Okay, that Jesus is the light of the world.
[00:11:01] And what in the temple represented God's light?
[00:11:06] the lampstand so it is Christ is the lampstand points to Christ as the light of the world and then that we are that God has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light but as we looked at a couple nights ago in 2nd Corinthians 4 God also shines his light into us when he saves us in in
[00:11:36] John chapter 1, I think it's verse 3 or 4, but it says about Jesus, in him was life, and that life was the light of men.
[00:11:50] So conveys and shows that again, in all that we do, we are shining forth Christ.
[00:11:59] Now, I don't know about you all, but there are plenty of things that I can think of in my life where I have not shined Christ.
[00:12:10] Those are things that I wish I could go back and redo.
[00:12:16] Like I say, I wish I could have a redo on those things.
[00:12:20] But knowing that Christ forgives us and then He propels us on to keep living for Him makes all the difference.
[00:12:28] All right.
[00:12:30] So let's jump in here to James.
[00:12:32] I'm sure Pastor Joseph is kind of like, you know, let's get on with it.
[00:12:38] All right.
[00:12:41] So in James chapter 1, we're going to be looking at verses 1 to 12 and seeing how that points us toward us as priests of Christ.
[00:12:55] James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
[00:13:02] My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations or different temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[00:13:14] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
[00:13:23] If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
[00:13:33] But let him ask in faith, not wavering.
[00:13:37] For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.
[00:13:43] For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
[00:13:49] A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
[00:13:53] Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low.
[00:14:01] Because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away, for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
[00:14:21] Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
[00:14:36] So just as Christ was tempted by Satan when he began his ministry, so we will have to endure temptations and we're to follow after Christ and be holy as he is holy as we're going to see
[00:14:53] in 1 Peter 1.15.
[00:14:57] And just as Christ overcame temptation, so He wants us to do that.
[00:15:02] Talks about in 1 Corinthians 10 how there's no temptation but what is common to man and that we will be able to overcome that.
[00:15:14] As we are looking to Christ and as we are trusting Him.
[00:15:18] But we are again following after Christ as He is our High Priest and He has called us to be priests.
[00:15:26] But notice something in verse 12 because we're going to see this in 1 Peter chapter 5.
[00:15:31] When it says that when we are tried, if we overcome, that we shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love Him, remember as we looked at the other night in 2 Timothy 4, Paul said, see my mind is failing me, in chapter 4 verse 8 of 2 Timothy,
[00:16:00] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me on that day, and not only to me, but unto all them that also love his appearing.
[00:16:13] So of those who love him, but also those who love his appearing, because he is coming back.
[00:16:21] And so he has, as we're going to see in Revelation 1, 5, and 6, that he has made us to be priests and kings forever to reign with him and to serve him.
[00:16:38] We'll get to that in a little bit.
[00:16:43] All right, then in James 2, verses 1 to 13,
[00:16:54] This is James talking about how we are to treat other people in the church, but there's part of it that is still tied into how we serve as priests.
[00:17:06] My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
[00:17:17] For if there come into your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, and there also come a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, or the more wealthy clothing, say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand thou here, or sit under my footstool.
[00:17:40] Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and have become judges of evil thoughts?
[00:17:46] Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
[00:17:58] But ye have despised the poor, or the poor man.
[00:18:02] Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
[00:18:08] Do not blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called.
[00:18:12] And who is the worthy name?
[00:18:13] The Lord Jesus.
[00:18:17] If ye fulfill the royal law of Christ according to the Scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ye do well.
[00:18:26] But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
[00:18:34] And so, again, in following after Christ as our High Priest, we are to be holy as He is holy.
[00:18:43] It's a pretty tall order.
[00:18:46] But it is why God calls us to continual repentance, to fall on our knees before Him.
[00:18:54] and that Jesus says in how we treat people shows his light as the light of the world that is within us.
[00:19:05] Verse 10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all.
[00:19:12] Reason I wanted to read that and get to that is because where does that go back to?
[00:19:18] It goes back to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.
[00:19:22] In Genesis chapter 3, all it took was one sin and the world was, and the universe was forever changed, fell into sin and to death.
[00:19:36] And so that is again why we cannot be saved by our works.
[00:19:41] It is only by faith in Christ, in Him alone,
[00:19:46] is what saves us in trusting in His righteousness and not ours.
[00:19:53] Verse 11.
[00:19:55] For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill.
[00:20:00] Now if thou commitest no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
[00:20:05] Or as Jesus says in Matthew chapter 5, If you even have angry thoughts toward your brother, then you have already committed murder in your heart.
[00:20:19] So speak ye and do so as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty for he shall not have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
[00:20:36] That the only way we are forgiven is by Christ's sacrifice of himself as our high priest.
[00:20:43] And so therefore, because we have received grace and we did deserve it, then we are to give grace to others as priests.
[00:20:54] Alright, in James chapter 3 verse 13 to 18. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?
[00:21:05] Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
[00:21:12] But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
[00:21:20] This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
[00:21:26] For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work.
[00:21:33] What it describes in verses 14 through 16 is what happens when we are selfishly motivated to do what we want.
[00:21:43] It is earthly, sensual, and ultimately demonic.
[00:21:47] Because that is what the devil told Eve.
[00:21:51] Do what you want to do.
[00:21:52] You can be like God.
[00:21:53] Don't worry about obeying Him.
[00:21:56] Do what makes you happy.
[00:22:00] Verse 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, then gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
[00:22:15] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
[00:22:24] Now in the wisdom of God that He wants us, that He gives to us, that He wants us to have according to James 1 that we are to call out for, and He says, He said, I'll give it to you.
[00:22:35] You just have to ask for it.
[00:22:38] He says, this will bear the fruit of righteousness.
[00:22:43] Well, the fruit of righteousness is what Christ did in dying for our sins.
[00:22:50] and in taking the full wrath of God on himself that when he had risen from the dead there were those fruits of righteousness because he had overcome sin and death by his own blood and offering himself.
[00:23:05] We had seen this in 2 Corinthians 5.21, For He made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, speaking of Christ, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
[00:23:22] And so as we are trusting in Christ and trusting in His righteousness and His works for us and not our own,
[00:23:31] Then we are made to bear the fruit of righteousness.
[00:23:35] So that one verse there, John 3, 18, is just packed.
[00:23:43] There are, Amelia, I'm probably not going to do all the verses, but I will announce them here.
[00:23:49] You know, when it talks about, or just in thinking about righteousness itself, a side note, righteousness, to be righteous means the same as to be justified.
[00:24:02] So it's almost like when you say that Christ justifies us by His sin, or Christ justifies us by Him dying for our sins, it is the same as being righteous-fied.
[00:24:16] Do you see that?
[00:24:16] So in the sense that Christ justifies us by His death in our place, we are made righteous.
[00:24:23] The two mean the same thing there.
[00:24:27] And when it talks about that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace, we think from Matthew 5 says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
[00:24:42] We think about in that Jesus is called the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9, 6.
[00:24:51] All right, going to James 4, verses 1 through 10.
[00:24:57] From whence come wars and fightings among you?
[00:25:01] Come they not hence even of your lust that wars in your members?
[00:25:05] Again, this is going to how we can be selfishly driven.
[00:25:10] Ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not.
[00:25:22] And why don't we ask?
[00:25:25] because we're trying to do what we want to do instead of going to God and asking Him to give us what He wants us to have.
[00:25:32] Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lust.
[00:25:41] Ye adulterers and adulteresses, kind of going back to when we were dealing with the prophets,
[00:25:48] The major and the minor prophets of spiritual adultery and worshiping other gods and having idols.
[00:25:56] Anything that we have in our life now that is an idol that we look to fulfill us more than God or in place of God is something that we have to fight against and get rid of.
[00:26:09] So even what James is saying here can apply to us.
[00:26:13] Because we are adulterers and adulteresses in the sense that we have looked to other things for fulfillment other than our husband or our betrothed, the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:26:30] Know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity or hatred with God?
[00:26:36] Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
[00:26:41] Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy, but he giveth more grace?
[00:26:50] Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
[00:26:56] That idea of friendship with the world is enmity toward God.
[00:27:02] Brothers and sisters, as God's people, this is calling us to a radically different kind of life than maybe we realize or maybe we realize that we are to live every day in devoting it to God, dedicating it to Him, offering ourselves as living sacrifices for Him.
[00:27:27] As we have said before, when people look at you, do they see Jesus shining through you?
[00:27:35] This is what we are called to.
[00:27:44] There's more in James 4.
[00:27:47] I have to read it.
[00:27:49] in verse 7.
[00:27:51] Submit yourselves therefore to God.
[00:27:53] Resist the devil and he will flee from you in fighting those things.
[00:27:59] Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.
[00:28:02] Cleanse your hand ye sinners and purify your hearts ye double-minded.
[00:28:07] Be afflicted and mourn and weep.
[00:28:09] Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness over our sin.
[00:28:14] When's the last time you just felt so heavy
[00:28:18] and just and and torn down and just felt terrible over your own sin some of us a lot some of us maybe not so much it might depend on where we are in life and what we're going through but it should hit us like a ton of bricks but there is good news in verse 10 humble
[00:28:45] Yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.
[00:28:49] He will deliver.
[00:28:50] As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.
[00:28:54] I mean, this is the gospel, right?
[00:28:56] That Christ came to us to save us.
[00:29:00] And we were not able to save ourselves.
[00:29:03] And He came because of His great love for us.
[00:29:07] All right, looking at James 5, verses 13 to 20.
[00:29:14] Is any among you afflicted?
[00:29:16] Let him pray.
[00:29:17] Don't priests pray?
[00:29:23] Is any merry?
[00:29:24] Let him sing songs.
[00:29:25] We are to praise God.
[00:29:29] Is any sick among you?
[00:29:30] Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with the oil in the name of the Lord.
[00:29:39] And that's just not something for show.
[00:29:43] It doesn't happen every time, but we have seen God do miracles, do actual physical miracles of healing people when the elders gather together in the name of Jesus and anoint people with oil.
[00:29:58] Just doing what the Scripture says, what God commands His people and His priests to do.
[00:30:07] Verse 15, And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.
[00:30:12] And if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
[00:30:17] And you know, so like if you anoint somebody and God doesn't heal them,
[00:30:21] Physically doesn't mean He's not going to heal them spiritually, right?
[00:30:25] When they die, that person is going to go be with them.
[00:30:29] That's the best healing of all.
[00:30:32] So we praise God either way.
[00:30:35] But God, according to His will, will show in a very visible way that He will answer prayer and do physical healing.
[00:30:47] Verse 16, Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed.
[00:30:53] The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
[00:30:58] When you pray, do you believe that God hears you?
[00:31:03] And do you believe that God is going to answer you?
[00:31:07] That is the kind of faith that He wants us to have.
[00:31:12] Because He is faithful.
[00:31:15] because of the covenant that he has made among us.
[00:31:20] Verse 17, Elias or Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months
[00:31:31] And he prayed again and heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.
[00:31:38] Really cool thing here with Elijah because when he prayed for rain was as we kind of already talked about way back in the early part of the month of October when Elijah had the showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
[00:31:54] And so whatever God answers by fire, He is the true God.
[00:31:59] And the priest of Baal cried out, they cut themselves, they jumped around, and they did that for about six hours.
[00:32:07] And then when Elijah rebuilt the altar of the Lord, offered the sacrifice, doused it with water, and prayed, God made fire come down and consumed everything, even the water, even the stones.
[00:32:22] There was nothing left.
[00:32:25] But Elijah wasn't a priest.
[00:32:28] Could it be that he was a priest in the sense of how Christ makes us priests?
[00:32:35] When I had looked up, well, why was he able to?
[00:32:38] He says, well, in this case, it was like a special case, kind of almost like a state of emergency that Israel was going through because they were so focused on Baal worship and worshiping idols.
[00:32:52] And Elijah...
[00:32:54] was showing them that God is the true king.
[00:32:59] And so he was allowed there as the prophet of the Lord because the times were so much in disarray.
[00:33:10] All right, verse 19 in James 5.
[00:33:13] Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, let him know,
[00:33:19] that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.
[00:33:29] Priests turn people away from sin, right?
[00:33:33] And show God's forgiveness.
[00:33:36] So important for us to show people the love of God, to show them Christ.
[00:33:43] because if we do turn them or help and God work through us to turn them from the error of their ways says that their soul will be saved from death and the multitude of our sins will be covered over because we are showing the grace that God has given to us that we don't deserve and how we offer ourselves as living sacrifices showing how he offered himself for us
[00:34:11] All right, so that's James.
[00:34:12] So now to 1 Peter.
[00:34:19] Strap yourself in.
[00:34:20] Chapter 1 has a lot here.
[00:34:23] Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
[00:34:34] Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ grace unto you and peace be multiplied.
[00:34:54] So the elect is talking about God's people there.
[00:34:57] It says that it is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father or the choosing of the Father
[00:35:05] Through sanctification of the Spirit, of the Spirit sanctifying, cleansing His people.
[00:35:10] Well, sanctification is a priestly term as well, meaning to cleanse.
[00:35:17] When it says, when God sanctifies us, we are to grow in sanctification, it is becoming more like Christ of being cleansed and growing and in following Him.
[00:35:30] And all this is done unto obedience or...
[00:35:34] I won't say, I shouldn't say that it is done for, but we have here unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ that his people are sprinkled with us.
[00:35:44] So for, you know, for all the Baptists, we are more than happy to tell them, I'm sorry brother, I just have to say it.
[00:35:51] Yeah, I wasn't thinking of you, but this is just, you know.
[00:35:55] For all the Baptists, we have to say, unless you are sprinkled, you are not going to heaven.

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Because you have to be sprinkled with the blood of Christ.
[00:36:11] I probably won't enjoy that conversation.
[00:36:24] Peter is saying grace unto you and peace be multiplied.
[00:36:27] We notice how even the Trinity is mentioned there.
[00:36:31] Talks about foreknowledge of God the Father, sanctification of the Spirit, and the blood of Jesus Christ.
[00:36:37] It's just beautiful how our God in all three persons is so active in our salvation.
[00:36:46] Verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[00:37:02] So He has begotten us.
[00:37:04] He has made us alive.
[00:37:07] I mean, showing it is something that only God can do.
[00:37:10] We cannot make ourselves alive.
[00:37:12] We cannot make ourselves to be born or to be begotten.
[00:37:17] And it is only through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and of faith in Him.
[00:37:22] But when it says of this hope that we have of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, it is showing Christ as the firstfruits.
[00:37:32] Well, if Christ is the firstfruits and He's our High Priest, then we are the fruits that come after, right?
[00:37:38] Showing how we are following Him as priests.
[00:37:43] Wanted to read showing the firstfruits from 1 Corinthians 15 verses 20 to 28.
[00:37:53] But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
[00:37:59] For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
[00:38:05] For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
[00:38:12] So, first Adam and second Adam, and the second Adam, the Lord Jesus, gives us life everlasting.
[00:38:21] But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterwards they that are Christ at his coming, that cometh, then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and authority and power.
[00:38:41] For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.
[00:38:47] The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet.
[00:38:53] But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under him, showing that Christ is God, that he is equal to the Father and equal to the Holy Spirit.
[00:39:07] And when all things shall be subdued under him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him, as put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
[00:39:19] So it shows how Jesus is equal to the Father, but he is also a faithful son to the Father.
[00:39:30] Alright, then kind of back to 1 Peter 1 in verse 4.
[00:39:37] that we are given an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time
[00:39:55] wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations at the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ and so in speaking of us being tried by fire is beautiful
[00:40:25] Takes us back to Malachi 3, where the Lord speaking through Malachi is talking to the Levites, the servants of the priest, but still in serving in the tabernacle and the temple, that He is going to purify them.
[00:40:50] He is going to cleanse them.
[00:40:52] And so here he's speaking of us in the same kind of way.
[00:40:56] I mean, you just can't get away from it.
[00:40:59] That we are priests after Christ.
[00:41:02] Because he has made us so.
[00:41:06] All right, verse 8.
[00:41:07] Whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
[00:41:20] Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls.
[00:41:27] Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.
[00:41:35] Searching what or what manner of time that the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified before the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
[00:41:49] Do you see how there by verse 10 and 11, do you see why in going through the whole Old Testament, why how all of the prophets, they are screaming Christ.
[00:42:00] They are screaming Jesus is coming.
[00:42:03] The one who is going to give true and ultimate salvation is coming.
[00:42:10] And it is why going through the Bible in 31 days is good because it gives us
[00:42:15] A compressed view of that where it might take years to see that otherwise and by the time you get to that you forgot what was a year or two or three years before that.
[00:42:30] verse 12 unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things angels desire to look into so the Holy Ghost has been sent down from heaven to live in us to make us his temple
[00:42:59] These things are not to be taken for granted.
[00:43:03] So verse 13, Wherefore, now, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Christ Jesus.
[00:43:20] As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance,
[00:43:28] But as he which hath called you is holy, so ye be holy in all manner of conversation.
[00:43:35] We have referenced that many times tonight, that we are to be holy as he is holy, because it is in the Old Testament.
[00:43:44] I didn't look up the reference, but I'm pretty sure that it is in Leviticus.
[00:43:50] Verse 17, And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work past the time of your sojourning here in fear, forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversations received by traditions from your fathers, but you were redeemed
[00:44:21] with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot pointing to Christ as the Passover lamb who was perfect, who was blameless.
[00:44:33] See, all in that priestly context of offering a lamb and for Christ offering himself for our sins that we might be justified and forgiven forever.
[00:44:48] and not having to need another sacrifice as we saw last night.
[00:44:53] Verse 20, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you.
[00:45:01] Who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God.
[00:45:13] Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
[00:45:29] And so even that last verse there, verse 22, when it speaks of purifying our souls and obeying the truth through the Holy Spirit, what verse in Ezekiel does that make you think of?
[00:45:42] Ezekiel 36 where God gives us the new heart He says I will give you a new heart I will take your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you so that you can obey me and follow me I mean everything of the Old and New Testament just go together of Christ's salvation being screamed to us saying follow me
[00:46:11] Be priests like Jesus after the order of Melchizedek.
[00:46:18] All right, so 1 Peter chapter 2.
[00:46:24] We have already read some of these, so I'm just going to kind of read it again so you can see how this really, really shows this priest theme.
[00:46:40] 1 Peter 2 verse 4 To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as living stones are built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
[00:47:04] Wherefore also it is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, speaking of Christ, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
[00:47:19] This is from Psalm 118 verse 22, but it's also from Matthew 20, I think either 21 or 22 as well and what comes after.
[00:47:32] unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto them which are disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling in a rock of offense even to him which stumble at the word being disobedient where unto also they were appointed
[00:47:59] And then in 1 Peter 2.9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light, which in times past were not a people,
[00:48:24] But now the people of God, which have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
[00:48:31] And this is where we say how beautiful is the salvation of Christ.
[00:48:38] That He has made us His people even in spite of our sins.
[00:48:43] I mean, I don't know about you, but if I were God, I wouldn't love me.
[00:48:53] because of all the things that I do that are against Him that are wanting to do my own way but He loves me and He loves you even still that He came and He died on the cross for your sins and He rose victoriously and He is God and He has made you His people.
[00:49:17] There is nothing better than this.
[00:49:21] Praise God.
[00:49:25] And so, might as well read 1 Peter 2, 20-25.
[00:49:32] For what glory is it, if when ye were buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?
[00:49:41] But if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
[00:49:51] So this is getting into kind of suffering for Christ in following after him because he suffered for us, right?
[00:49:59] So we follow him because he is the high priest and he calls us to be priests, but also in following after his example, he is the one who we suffer because he suffered for us because we hold to him and to his name and the world hates Christ.
[00:50:16] Why does the world hate Christ?
[00:50:18] because he's the only one who can forgive sin and they have to be accountable to him and they do not want to bow the knee.
[00:50:26] But it is why we preach the gospel so the Holy Spirit will go forth and will call his people to himself and will change people and that there might be salvation, that there might be revival.
[00:50:41] All right.
[00:50:45] Verse 21, For here unto ye were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.
[00:51:09] See, Christ had, he had done nothing wrong.
[00:51:13] and yet he was accused and yet he was condemned verse 24 who his own self bear our sins on his body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness
[00:51:34] and offering our bodies as living sacrifice.
[00:51:38] By whose stripes ye were healed.
[00:51:41] For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned to the shepherd and the bishop of your souls.
[00:51:49] Jesus as the good shepherd.
[00:51:53] All right, just a little bit more in 1 Peter here.
[00:51:57] You've seen kind of the suffering that we as Christians will do because we hold to the name of Christ and says that He will be with us through that and that we can actually glorify God and bring other people to faith.
[00:52:11] When we suffer for Him.
[00:52:14] So we're not going to hit everything in chapters 3 and 4, but in verse, well I'll start in 1 Peter 3.13.
[00:52:25] And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
[00:52:30] but if ye suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation
[00:53:01] in Christ.
[00:53:03] And so while we are to testify of Christ and what He has done for us, we are especially need to testify of Him when we are suffering and being persecuted for Christ, explaining why we follow Him, why we have no choice because of all that He has done for us.
[00:53:30] In 1 Peter 4, let's see, 1 Peter chapter 4, we'll just start at verse 12.
[00:53:44] Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you,
[00:53:50] Suffering that will come, as though some strange thing happened unto you.
[00:53:56] But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suffering, and that when his glory shall be revealed, that ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
[00:54:07] If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye.
[00:54:13] For the spirit of glory in God rests upon you.
[00:54:17] On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
[00:54:22] Makes us think back to Matthew 5 where it says, Blessed are you when you are persecuted and reviled for the name of Christ and that we are blessed because even when we are persecuted.
[00:54:40] Let's see, let's jump down to verse 17.
[00:54:43] For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?
[00:54:56] And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
[00:55:04] Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator.
[00:55:14] And so when it says that judgment is going to come upon the house of God, well that kind of sounds scary.
[00:55:21] But didn't we talk last night that God disciplines His children?
[00:55:25] He disciplines them and prunes them so that we will be more fruitful.
[00:55:32] So that he will teach us how we are to live more effectively for him.
[00:55:40] Kind of uses sandpaper on us.
[00:55:43] And we are to realize that and know that it is because of his love for us so that he can shine through us more effectively.
[00:55:54] But also it is why we preach the gospel for those who don't hold to Jesus.
[00:56:01] because we have salvation through Christ.
[00:56:05] But those who don't, their end is destruction for all eternity.
[00:56:13] All right.
[00:56:15] So we're going to go to 2 Peter.
[00:56:18] Just have a few minutes left here.
[00:56:25] In 2 Peter 1, 1 through 9.
[00:56:32] Simon Peter a servant of an apostle of Jesus Christ to him that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and our
[00:56:48] and of Jesus our Lord according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue
[00:57:04] whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises that ye may be partakers of the divine nature in having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
[00:57:16] So if we are partakers of the divine nature in Christ as the High Priest, then we're going to be priests.
[00:57:24] Priests of the Lord Jesus.
[00:57:28] Verse 5, And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity or love.
[00:57:51] And if these things be in you and abound, and they make you...
[00:57:56] and they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ but he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
[00:58:11] But God wants these things to be manifest in us so that we are bearing fruit for him and we are following him in righteousness.
[00:58:23] All right, let's see here.
[00:58:26] The end of 2 Peter 1 talks about kind of more of the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture.
[00:58:40] When people tell you that man wrote the Bible, you can tell them, no!
[00:58:46] God the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible because in 2 Peter chapter 1 says in verse 19 we have a more sure word of prophecy whereon ye do well that ye take heed as a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star rises in your heart that day star is Christ
[00:59:08] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
[00:59:22] If you take that along with 2 Timothy 3.16, for all Scripture is inspired by God, no one can argue against that.
[00:59:33] They can try, but it won't hold water.
[00:59:38] 2 Peter 2 talks about, in the sense of priests having to stand up to false teachers that come into the church.
[00:59:47] In 2 Peter 3 it talks about how Christ is going to make the new heavens and the new earth, that everything of the old earth is going to be overturned in fire.
[00:59:59] Why fire?
[00:59:59] To purify.
[01:00:03] In making the new heavens and the new earth, in making the new Jerusalem that comes down out of the sky as a bride adorned for her people that we're going to hear Pastor Joseph on Friday about.
[01:00:22] But it also talks of judgment against those who are against God, who deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
[01:00:31] So just a few verses to read in 2 Peter 3 as we end.
[01:00:35] It says, verse 8, But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and speaking of how God sees time.
[01:00:47] and a thousand years as one day because he is eternal and the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering to usward not willing that any should perish any of his people but that all should come to repentance
[01:01:08] As we saw in Romans 9.15, God will have mercy on whom he has mercy.
[01:01:15] He will have compassion on whom he has compassion.
[01:01:18] And in Romans 10.13, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
[01:01:26] Verse 10, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, I think we've heard that before, in which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
[01:01:37] And the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up when he remakes the new heavens and the new earth.
[01:01:51] I do have one more verse.
[01:01:53] And we kind of already mentioned it, but this is what we will end on from Revelation 1 verse 5 and 6.
[01:02:02] and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth 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 to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
[01:02:23] Amen.
[01:02:23] This is how good our God is.
[01:02:28] And this is what he has done for us.
[01:02:32] Let's look to the Lord in prayer.
[01:02:36] Oh Father, Lord, we do praise you.
[01:02:40] We have nothing but praise for you because of your goodness to us, because of your mercy and your grace and this grace and mercy that you want us to show other people and even to do that as priests after Jesus Christ.
[01:02:57] who is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek and calls us to be priests and kings for all eternity.
[01:03:08] Lord, our lives should look differently
[01:03:12] Because we are to live for Christ and Him alone and not ourselves.
[01:03:17] As it says in Romans that when we live, we do not live for ourselves, we live to God.
[01:03:24] When we die, we do not die to ourselves, but we die to God.
[01:03:29] Lord, therefore, use us and shine through us that you might be glorified through us.
[01:03:38] And Lord, we praise you.
[01:03:42] That you have not treated us as our sins deserve.
[01:03:48] But Lord, that you have glorified, brought honor and glory to yourself in saving us.
[01:03:54] And we give you all the praise, honor, and glory.
[01:03:57] In Jesus' name, amen.
[01:04:00] If we can stand and sing our final hymn, it is Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, number 616 in the hymnal.