Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20000906.htm
LEVITICUS: GOD'S CALL FOR A SEPARATED WITNESS
Part I: The Path To Gaining Fellowship With God (Leviticus 1-10)
L. God's Revelation Of The Believer's Preparation For Effective Service
(Leviticus 8:1-36)
- Introduction
- Once a party believes in Christ as Savior, he longs by the indwelling Holy Spirit to serve God, Phil. 2:13.
- However, serving God is generally done in relation to and conjunction with the whole body of believers as, in the Church era, our service is geared to the building up of one another (Eph. 4:11-16).
- So, to prepare for effective service, a time of proving before the congregation is in order (as follows):
- God's Revelation Of The Believer's Preparation For Effective Service, Leviticus 8:1-36.
- Leviticus 8 speaks of the ordination of Aaron and his sons for service to the nation Israel whose needs they as priests were to address before God, B.K.C., O.T., p. 186; McGee, Thru The Bible, vol. I, p. 354f.
- Hence, the following details revealed in the passage are applicable for adequate service to God's people as Christians are believer-priests in ministry to one another and for the lost today (2 Peter 1:5):
- Twelve times in Leviticus 8, we read God commanded things of Moses, and once we read Aaron and his sons obeyed all the Lord commanded through Moses, McGee, Thru The Bible, vol. I, p. 355. Thus, the believer-priest has to align totally with God's will for valid preparation for service!
- The ordination was to occur in full view of the entire congregation so that there would be no question by the congregation as to the rightful qualifications of these priests, Leviticus 8:1-5. Hence, a believer-priest today must "first be tested" by a credible life BEFORE others as a necessary condition for their accepting his service as credibly from God. (cf. 1 Timothy 3:10; 3:2-7; 5:9-10)
- The ordination had to occur under the jurisdiction of the established leader, Moses, 8:1, 4-5. Thus, believers are to serve under the jurisdiction of Biblical leaders, cf. Acts 13:1-3 with Acts 9:10-16.
- The ordination began with the ceremonial cleansing of the priests by water, followed by their clothing for service, Lev. 8:6. Likewise, today the believer must be cleansed for service and donned with Christ's righteousness by salvation through faith in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21) followed by the confession of post-salvation sins (1 Jn. 1:9) and a regular application of Scripture, Jn. 15:3.
- One of the items donned by the High Priest was the Urim and Thummim used to determine God's will, Lev. 8:8. Hence, the believer-priest today must be led of God and His Word to be sure of the location, placement and type of service God has for him, cf. Acts 13:1-3.
- The items of the tabernacle and the priests themselves were annointed by the oil, Lev. 8:10-12. As the oil often prefigures the Holy Spirit, believer-priests serving God today must be dependent upon the indwelling Holy Spirit for all service actions to be blessed in service, Rom. 8:3-4; 2 Tim. 1:6-7.
- The animal sacrifices used to consecrate the priests added the special ritual of annointing the right ear, the right thumb and the right large toe, Lev. 8:22-24. Hence, the believer-priest must yield to the voice of God in His Word, he must yield to God's empowering in serving, and he must yield to God's leading in his walk in life to be effective in service, Ibid., McGee, p. 358-359.
- Aaron and his sons were to eat the food that was left of the sacrifices of their consecration, doing so at the door of the tabernacle in full view of the congregation, Lev. 8:31-32. They were to repeat this all during a seven day period before their ministry began, Lev. 8:33-36. Hence, believer-priests are to feed upon the Word of God and power of the Spirit of God as their WAY of LIFE before those whom they serve to REMAIN credible and effective in serving the Lord, cf. 1 Timothy 4:14-15.
Lesson: To QUALIFY for effective service with God's people, the believer-priest must PREVIOUSLY have (1) given evidence of true conversion and a (2) maturing walk with God (3) over a period of time (4) as SEEN by God's people. Namely, (a) he must regularly have ALREADY been seen as being led of God (b) and in submission to Biblical leaders over him. (c) He must have been seen as regularly confessing his sins, (d) feeding upon and heeding the Word, (e) depending on the Spirit and (f) obeying God's leading in his or her life, 1 Timothy 5:22, 24-25.