The Ruling Priesthood
The Ruling Priesthood
"'Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." (Exodus 19:6)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (I Peter 2:9,10)
Have you ever noticed that the Apostle Paul never refers to the believers as "Christians"? Rather, Paul uses the term "saints."
Why are we called "saints"? The Catholic Church refers to specially dedicated Christians as "saints." But the Bible applies the term to all true Christian people.
The term means "holy ones." Why are we holy? We are holy for one reason. God has chosen us out of the world for His own purposes.
We, if we truly are part of the Lord Jesus, one with Him, are no longer of the world, just as He is not of the world.
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more I than am of the world. (John 17:14)
I do not believe this fact is emphasized enough in today's preaching. It is as though Christian people are nothing more than members of a religion.
This is not the case. If we will look closely at our two introductory verses we will notice that we are infinitely more than just members of a religion.
Please notice also that the Christian Church is not separate from Israel. Rather, both groups have been called out of the world for the same purpose—to be a kingdom of priests, the Royal Priesthood.
The first Christian church, as recorded in the Book of Acts, was composed of Jewish believers, all keeping the Law of Moses fervently.
The Christian Church is a continuation of Israel, being grafted into the one Olive Tree. The Christian Church is the Seed of Abraham, the one Olive Tree, Jew or Gentile by physical birth.
True Israel and the Christian Church have the same calling. That calling is to reveal God to the rest of the people of the world. The Law of Moses was given to keep sin under control until the Seed, Jesus Christ, came. Now the members of the ruling priesthood have the Word, Christ, being written by the hand of God in their mind and heart, just as the first covenant was written by the hand of God on tables of stone.
But it is all one Church, one people called out from the remainder of mankind.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:14-16)
"One new humanity"! Satan understands that Israel and the Christian Church are one Church, one called-out ruling priesthood. This is why Satan works tirelessly to keep both groups separate. Divide and conquer!
But just look at the common commission:
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. The Israelites did not and could not keep God's commandments because of the sin nature of human beings.
Under the new covenant we have the grace necessary, Christ being formed in us plus the Spirit of God, to keep the eternal moral law—and increasingly so as we grow in Christ.
Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The Israelites were not of the world just as we Christians are not of the world.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession.
I do not know how to emphasize it more. The Jews who have been called to be part of the Body of Christ, and the Gentiles who have been called to be part of the Body of Christ, are one new Man in Christ.
Can you imagine how often today we speak of a Jewish Christian or a Gentile Christian; a Jewish Church or a Christian Church?
How long will it be before these terms are seen to be irrelevant?
THERE ARE NO JEWISH CHRISTIANS, ONLY CHRISTIANS. THERE ARE NO GENTILE CHRISTIANS, ONLY CHRISTIANS.
It appears to me that the Jews of today, as well as the Christian people, do not always realize that they belong to God in a manner not true of the remainder of mankind. They are seeking assistance and understanding from the United Nations and the rest of the world. They will be delivered when they rely on Him who has chosen them out of the world.
That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. The Lord Jesus told us Christians that if we would live a righteous holy life, doing the good works of God, people would worship God. Both God and man are looking for righteous behavior, but they do not always find it in the Jews or the Christians.
And then speaking to the Gentile believers:
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
I have the impression that neither the Jews nor we Christians are happy with the idea of being a holy people, separated unto God for His purposes. This is one reason God chastens us so severely. It is so we may become partakers of His Holiness.
First God refers to us as holy because He has chosen us to be members of the Royal Priesthood. Then God, with our cooperation, makes us actually holy in personality and behavior.
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (II Corinthians 7:1–NASB)
The Old Testament speaks often of the role the members of the Church will play during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, and then throughout the new sky and earth reign of the God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus.
I have a sense that the tremendous revival of the future, at which time the world can see that the Church is one in Christ in God, and that God loves the Church as He loves Jesus, will remove every last taint of Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian terminology.
At the spiritually darkest hour in the history of the world, the Glory of God will fall upon Israel. Do we suppose it will fall only on Jews, or only on Gentiles? The idea is nonsensical!
Do we believe that the Body of Christ is part Jewish and part Gentile and that the two parts are distinguishable—that somehow the Jewish part is different from the Gentile part?
I have noticed that some Bible teachers claim that the new Jerusalem on the earth is composed of Jews, while a Gentile Church is in Heaven. All I can say is in that absurd doctrinal position, the Jews have the better deal, because the Throne of God and of the Lamb no longer is in Heaven but on the earth in the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is the glorified Christian Church.
Let us keep in mind that not all those born as Jews are part of Israel.
It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. (Romans 8:6-8)
True Israel is not merely the physical lineage of Abraham. True Israel is by the prophetic calling. They are the Seed of Abraham, just as the true Christian is the Seed of Abraham and has the Spirit of God.
It appears that Judas Iscariot was descended physically from Abraham, but Judas was not of true Israel.
True Israel, the Seed of Abraham, consists of each person whom God the Father has brought to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive eternal life.
So there are Jewish religious organizations on the earth, and there are Christian religious organizations on the earth. But neither of these organizations is the Body of Christ. There may be members of the Body of Christ in them, but they themselves are not the Body of Christ.
In the last days, the true Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike, shall come together as one Kingdom of God. The Glory of God shall come upon them. The Lord Jesus Christ shall be King over them. Then the Kingdom of God shall come to the earth and righteousness shall be brought to the nations of the earth.
Isaiah, Chapter Sixty-one tells us about the Royal Priesthood, the one Church of Christ; the one new Jerusalem that shall come down upon the new earth, and its relationship to the saved people from the nations.
Verse One speaks of the anointed Head of the Royal Priesthood, the Lord Jesus Christ:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1)
The verse above tells us of the ministry of Jesus to the members of His Body, the Royal Priesthood.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 15:24)
Isn't that a remarkable statement? Jesus is saying that He has not come to save the people of the world but to minister to the needs of Israel. Those who are called of Israel are the ruling priesthood. They must be built up before they can serve to minister as priests to the saved people of the world.
Remember, I am using the term Israel to mean the Jews and Gentiles who have been called out of the world by the Spirit of God to be part of the Body of the Messiah.
Notice the description of the present members of the priesthood:
To bind up the brokenhearted.
To proclaim freedom for the captives.
Release from darkness for the prisoners.
The brokenhearted, the captives, and the prisoners.
If the above is not a picture of the believers in the present day, I do not know what is.
They have been taught they have to serve sin as long as they are in the world.
They have been presented with an unscriptural "rapture to Heaven" to save them from the coming spiritual darkness. This is not going to take place, and so they will be left helpless. They have not been taught how to stand in Christ.
They have been taught that if they "accept Christ" they will go to a mansion in Heaven and live there forever, doing nothing of significance. They have no idea that God wants to transform them morally so they can serve as His representatives during the thousand-year Kingdom Age, and then throughout eternity during the new sky and earth reign of the Lord Jesus.
In place of deliverance they have been offered a "grace" that is an alternative to the new creation of righteous behavior.
Many of today's believers are helpless when oppressed by the demons. They do not know how to fight spiritually. The demons of sexual lust that are increasing in number every day are taking them captive, preventing their spiritual growth and destroying their witness of God's Person, way, will, and eternal purpose in Christ.
Before the members of His Body can appear with Christ and govern the saved people of the nations, they must be healed. This is why Jesus has been sent to the chosen of Israel, including the Gentiles who have been grafted into the Olive Tree.
To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:2)
There is a coming of the Lord to those who obey Him, described in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, that will precede His worldwide appearing. The purpose of this prior coming to is prepare the faithful saints to receive a Spirit-filled body, to be caught up to meet Christ in the air, and then to descend with Him to bring righteousness and justice to the meek of the nations.
It is the "year of the Lord's favor," and it has begun now, I believe. This "year" includes "the day of vengeance of our God," as well as the giving of comfort to those who are looking earnestly for the appearing of the Lord Jesus.
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27,28)
"To those who are waiting for Him." This is not the appearing of Christ to the world, but to dedicated believers who are keeping His commands.
The "day of vengeance of our God" is set forth in the Book of Hebrews as the doctrine of "eternal judgment."
Instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:2)
It is my opinion that the promised Day of Redemption has begun. It would be impossible to overemphasize the importance of what the Spirit of God is doing in the present hour. It is the start of the war against Satan, a war that shall conclude temporarily when an angel binds Satan and throws him into the Bottomless Pit.
Since we may always have supposed that sin will continue forever, the thought that it finally shall be destroyed may be new to us. But it is plain enough in Matthew:
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41,42)
The Spirit of God is viewing the Christian people in our day to determine who is obeying Christ steadfastly. The Spirit is alerting them to the sin and self-will that are affecting their behavior.
As soon as we become aware that there is spiritual darkness in us, motives that are not of the image of Christ, we are to confess them clearly and renounce them with all the strength we can muster, calling on Christ to assist us. As we do this, Jesus helps us and the angels remove these spirits that are in our flesh and spirit.
Should you doubt what I am telling you, try it and see. Those stubborn "kings" of rebellion will flee as soon as they understand you are absolutely determined to have nothing more to do with them.
As for our self-will, this is destroyed out of us when the Lord permits Satan to put us in some sort of prison. We then are to remain there for as long as God wants, meanwhile, without complaining, praying for deliverance. In this manner our self-will shall be slain.
It is the "day of vengeance of our God." It is the eternal judgment against all that is of Satan. When we follow Christ in the program of confession and renouncing of evil, that which has been killed in us will not be mentioned again. We have appeared before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
We have "died in the Lord," and so judgment has taken place. This is our source of deliverance in the coming Day of Evil.
Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." (Revelation 14:13)
"From now on." From the rising up of the Day of Evil.
You know, I got to thinking this morning. It was in 1948 while in Bible school that Jesus spoke to me that the Old Testament Day of Atonement symbolizes the time when God will judge His Church. Just think! It is coming to pass now, so many years later.
Of course, the judgment is directed toward Satan and his followers. The judgment sets free the members of the Royal Priesthood.
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. (Isaiah 1:27–KJV)
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