To be continued. Royal Priesthood 17

The Three Separations of the Royal Priesthood, 17

Take, my brothers, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy [blessed] which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:10,11)

Patience in affliction. There is no truer mark of God's saint than that of patience in affliction. Patience in affliction separates self-rule from us.

At the beginning of his ministry the Prophet Jeremiah was given great authority by the Lord:

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jeremiah 1:10)

Anyone who is placed over the nations of the earth must be ruled by the Lord, not by his self-will and self-centeredness. The preparation of Jeremiah for the full exercise of his God-given role as lord over the nations involved patience in affliction:

Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? (Jeremiah 15:18)

God is the Ruler of all rulers. Under God is Christ. God has given all authority and power in Heaven and on the earth to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ demonstrated His absolute obedience to God during the years of His suffering on the earth.

Next in line is the royal priesthood. We are required to suffer many things so our obedience will be demonstrated beyond doubt. The patient endurance of afflictions is a necessary part of our separation from self-rule to the rule of Christ.

Wrestling unto integrity. In the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Genesis we read of Jacob wrestling with God.

Jacob was a schemer, a supplanter, and a trickster. He cheated Esau out of his birthright as the firstborn son. He cheated Laban out of much livestock and then sneaked away with his possessions (Genesis 31:20).

Jacob, like all of us, was full of conniving. He ruled by cunning.

There is to be no conniving, no scheming, no trickery, no guile in the members of the royal priesthood. We are to meet God and man in integrity and honesty, letting our yes be yes and our no be no.

The world and the Christian churches are full of conniving and supplanting.

There comes a time in our development when we are forced to wrestle with God for our life. During that wrestling match we begin to see ourselves for what we truly are and God for what He truly is. The trickery flees from us and we find ourselves with our feet on the earth speaking to God in absolute honesty—perhaps for the first time in our life.

God touches the "thigh" of our personal strength and cunning and makes us people of integrity. He changes our name from Jacob (supplanter ) to Israel (he struggles with God ). Until we contend with God and prevail we are deceitful. We gain our desires by trickery and supplanting.

As we struggle with God we become a person of integrity. We speak honestly with God and man. We change from self-rule to the rule of God in Christ in us. Such Divine rule in men is the Kingdom of God.

To be continued. Royal Priesthood 18