Intro: Title is – When most of us hear the word Priest we
think of a man wearing Black - white
collar / or long robes ( Liturgical
background)
A)Some might think of the Priest in the O.T. – Aaron and the Levitical
Priesthood and their many offerings
B) Word Priest might –convey to
some a holy man / wise man / serious man
1)
But
in the Verses that we have just read – we see where Peter writing
under the inspiration of the
H.S.– says we are a Holy & Royal
Priesthood
C) Now Something that a lot of Christians fail to
realize is this: the minute that you become a believer in J.C.
1)
You
become a part of the Lord’s Priestly Family / Priest & Priestesses
to the Lord !!!!
D) The Very idea of being a Priest – just bothers
some people - so think of it in this
way – You are the Lord’s Representative
1)
the Function of
the Priest was to: Stand before People to represent God & to stand before God on
behalf of the People
E)That is what Priestly ministry is all about !!!
1st We stand before People representing the
Lord
A)At
HOME – Priest in your family – stand before your spouse and kids as a
visible illustration to them of what the Lord is like !!
B) They learn the Lord’s heart
– thru watching us – listening to us – seeing what is important to the Lord –
what is important to us
1) Sometimes – poor examples – last night upset
at my son - ( Apologize )
Matt Jukes – Bible Illustrator – righteousness
So we represent the Lord at Home & in the World – The
world is our Pulpit : At work Teacher Your desk / Mechanic – shop
A)You are a Priest
representing the Lord to those who are around you
They know you are a Christian – watch you / Church
C) We are
Priest and the Privilege that we have as Priest is to stand before
People on behalf of the Lord
2nd –We also get to stand before the Lord on
behalf of the people in Prayer in interceding
A)This past Thursday was the
national day of Prayer – this yr. We didn’t have a special gathering like we
have had in past yrs
B) We had the Surf out reach – women’s retreat next
day – But I have to say I like the concept of setting time aside to pray
1)
Wed. was a blessing –seeking God’s will Provision / direction / This Sat. once a month –
Interceding Church / Community
C) I think it is good for us to set aside time to
pray & to think that there might have been millions of believers gathered
in prayer Thursday awesome
1)
But we are to be interceding for our nation / community / friends all the time / It is part of our Calling and Function
as Priest
D) I’m afraid that in some cases – w/ some Believers
the only time that they take that calling seriously is on special occasions
& events
But as the Lord’s
Priesthood we are to constantly offer up Prayers for family / friends / Church/
Community/ Nation
A)Your Prayer list- should
include all of those things
B)So we are to stand before
People representing the Lord & we are to Stand before the Lord on behalf of
the people !!!! Why?
In V.9,10 I get the idea from this that the Lord really
wants us to Know
two things 1st How special we are
to Him / 2nd How privileged we are in Him
B)IN DARKNESS =
that which is wicked and evil / unenlightened / it is the opposite of God ( God is light ….. at all)
C) v.10 We were not a people – living in Obscurity w/ no purpose for life no real identity – wondering why we were here
1)
But
Now we become the People of God !! – His own special people
D) People who
at one time were void of mercy lost in our sins – but now we have been
shown mercy
1)
God’s
undeserved favor – revealed to us in Christ Jesus
E) For which we have been made a Royal Priesthood
1) Royal in
the sense that we serve the King of Kings
F) So we are Special
: we have been called out / Chosen to be His special people
1) Privileged – We are His
Royal Priesthood – Serving the King
Now in Ex. 29 &
Lev. 8 we are given the account of the ordination Process for the Priest in the
O.T.
A)This was the Preparation that they went thru before entering into their Priestly Ministry
Now we want to
notice that there were SIX things done to Aaron and his sons to SEPARATE
them to the office of the priest
A)The
emphasis for us is that they were DONE TO Aaron
and his sons, NOT DONE BY Aaron and his sons
B)
They were NOT DOING something that EARNED them the
right to minister
1) There was something being done to them
allowed them to minister
C)Many
people think that for God to chose and use them that they must be successful in getting their lives together
1) Become a scholar... Get a degree.....
eliminate sin from my life
D) But our being used by the Lord is really a
matter of His Grace in calling us/ His
Unmerited... unearned favor
1) And His Thoroughly equipping us for any
task that He would call us to and that is what we see here !!!!
1st
they were Brought to the door v.4
A)STEP
ONE - They were BROUGHT to the DOOR of the Tabernacle
B)
Jesus is the Door to God – and we have been
BROUGHT to Jesus
John
6: 44No one can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him;
C)
Your coming to Christ began w/ the Lord by His spirit – drawing you to Him by
convicting you of your Sin / showing need of a Savior
1) You had to respond to that – drawing by placing your
faith in Christ – opening up your heart
D)
Maybe the Spirit is drawing you today – why you are here
So first they were brought to the door – 2nd Cleansed : V.4 WASHED W/ WATER
A)This
symbolized being Purified from all uncleanness
B)So
too the first thing the Lord does to us when we come to Him is He cleanses us
from all of our Sin !!!!
C)The
Water speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ
TRANSFORMING the life of the believer through the truth of His Word
1Ths. 2: 13For
this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the
word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men,
but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who
believe.
D)
That word effectively – Translated Shows itself mighty in working – it is power
in exercise
1) Word of God has a Powerful Transforming work in our
lives especially when we open our hearts to it
Isa. 55:11 So
shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void, But it shall
accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which
I sent it.
E)
To SERVE the Lord we need to be washed from SELF SERVING motives and from
WORLDLY ways and wisdom
1) Jesus will use His word to accomplish that work in
you that He desires
3rd V.5
They were DIVINELY CLOTHED
A)Now we don’t have time to
go into each aspect of their clothing so I will only mention 3 / Cover at
length in a few weeks Ex.29 Wed .
B) Where we will also make
mention of why Aaron the High Priest garments were diff. From his sons ( App.
To us Jesus is H.P. / we are His Sons)
1st Coats
- Speak of our righteousness
A)Isa.
61:10 I will
greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has
clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of
righteousness,
B)When we come to minister before the Lord we don’t come in a Righteous of our own
1) But a Righteousness that has been imputed to us – thru Christ
3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments, and was standing before the LORD 4Then He answered and
spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments
from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and
I will clothe you with rich robes.”
D) Preachers biggest nightmare - Zipper down – Hasn’t happened yet
1)
2
Friends – ( 1 Whole sermon on Morality – whole time zipper down
E) Sometimes we go thru life – exposed – what we see
is ugly / sharp words critical attitudes -
1)
But
what we see is not what God sees – Clothed in His Righteousness
2ND Girdle In the Priest case It was a sache.... a big belt that tied in
front A) Men wore robes and thus they needed to be GIRDED UP to free him up
to run or work
B) The Girdle speaks of
Freedom for service Speaks of SERVICE and USEFULNESS
John 8:32 And you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
C) Jesus has set us free
–From the bondage of sin and Knowing
our Place in Him – gives us Confidence to serve ( Amazed God likes to use us ) 1)
Same way I don’t need my kids help – ( Blesses them & us )
3rd
–Turban – Head covering -
A)Exodus 28:40 - And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty.
B) Psa.90:16-17 Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to
their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon
us, And establish the work of our hands for us;
C)Truly our Lord has put upon
his people his own glory and beauty. We are not merely acceptable, but beloved:
not passable, but
admirable:
1) We not only Under No Condemnation – but God has imparted to us – His LOVELINESS
SPURG. Jesus so falls in love with his own image
in each saved soul, that his heart is captured. Here is “ the glory and beauty
“ with which he has invested us. Every believer is looked upon by God as if he,
were Christ. Christ took your place, and was cursed for you; you take Christ’s
place, and notwithstanding all the blemishes, all the back-slidings, all the
hardness you may feel within, if you are truly in Christ, you are so clothed
that glory and beauty, and that Divine, is yours!
4th
ANOINTED This
speaks of the ANOINTING of the Holy
Spirit
A)Zech. 4:6 Not by might nor by
power, but by My Spirit,’
B)There is an EMPOWERING that must accompany the CALLING
1)
WITHOUT
that Anointing you can NOT be effective
C) Teaching in a Class /
Witness in the World / APOSTLES – be
my witnesses – WHEN? – after Baptized in the Spirit
C) WHY is it that one man who is unlearned and not eloquent can share from the Word and people get saved/challenged/touched by God....
1)
While
perhaps another man with more natural qualifications can share on the same
subject and no one seems touched?
ANNOITING
D) Ministry is NOT a matter of
“I want
to.... I study hard”
E) It is ANOINTING- Being
energized by the Spirit – allows the ordinary to do the EXTRAORDINARY
1) Peter and the Apostles
5TH CONSECRATED VERSE 20
20“You shall
slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s
right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their
right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of
the blood around on the altar.
A) Blood was placed upon the RIGHT EAR, the RIGHT thumb and the RIGHT big
toe
1)
Speaks
of Covering and Possession
POSSESSIONS
1 Cor. 6:19-20 do you not know
that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a
price; therefore glorify God in your £body and in your
spirit, which are God’s.
B)To his EARS the
things that he hears
1) To his hands....ACTIVITY the things that he does
To his feet..- LIFESTYLE the
way that he walks Hands feet / ears
C)
So first Possession / 2nd Covering
A person who has
been BROUGHT to Jesus.... WASHED and transformed by the Word.... CALLED and EQUIPED for ministry..... ANOINTED and
EM- POWERED with the Spirit
A)STILL needs to have the
BLOOD applied to his life
B) WHY is this listed AFTER
the anointing?
1)
Because
I need the BLOOD of Jesus applied to my life AFTER I have ministered.... BECAUSE I miss the mark
D) I don’t hear the Lord as clearly as I should
1) I don’t reach out w/ my hand as warmly or as much as I should
I don’t walk as correctly as I should while I am
ministering
NOTE: The blood
was applied BEFORE they went into service and AFTER they came out
A) We can NOT really be
effective without the CLEANSING of the blood of
Jesus Christ removing the STENCH and the STAIN of our sin
B)Then when you are THROUGH
ministering you need the blood
1) Because AFTER ministry you are vulnerable to 1 of 2 things
C)Puffed up..... Put down
1) If effective: Wow did I have it together
D) If ineffective: Wow did I blow that
one
1) The blood needs to be applied in either case
#6 Their hands
were filled v.24 Wave offering
A)NOTE: The Lord filled their hands... they did NOT fill their own
What we have to give to the Lord is from Him in the first
place
B) John the Baptist said: John 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
James 1:17 Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
C) That which they received
they gave back to the Lord
BACK TO 1 PETER – rap up
LASTLY – PRIEST
OFFER UP SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
4 TIMES IN SCRIPTURE for the BELIEVER
1ST YOUR HEART Psa. 51:17 The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a
contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
2ND YOUR BODY Rom. 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
3rd
YOUR SERVICE PHIL 4:18 18Indeed I have all and
abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you,
a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.
4TH YOUR WORSHIP 1 PET.2:9 PROCLAIMING PRAISES
HEB. 13: 15Therefore
by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.