Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20110717.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Numbers: Lessons From Spiritual Casualties And Conquerors
Part VIII: Utilizing Our Own Priestly Standing With God For Blessing
(Numbers 8:11-26 with 1 Peter 2:9-10)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    (1) Many people look to government leaders to help with their well-being in life: Peggy Noonan's article, "We Need a Ronald Reagan'" in The Wall Street Journal, July 9-10, 2011, p. A15 reported how eight days of celebration in Eastern Europe and London honored the leadership of Ronald Reagan. Noonan noted that ". . . stunningly, the leader of Hungary's government bluntly ended his speech with a sentiment . . .: We need a Ronald Reagan. Is he there, somewhere, already?' The world misses him as much as we do. It misses grand leadership as much as we do." (Ibid.)

    (2) Many look to religious leaders for help from God as well:

    (a) The Roman Catholic Church's Council of Trent that is authoritative for Catholics today claims: "The priest remits sins as God . . . Wherefore they are justly called not only angels, but also God, holding as they do among us the power and authority of the immortal God.'" (cited in Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, 1978, p. 51)

    (b) Then the Mormons have a lesser and a higher priesthood composed only of men that ministers to meet the needs of their devout followers, Salem Kirban, Mormonism, 1971, p. 30.

    (2) However, government and religious officials are perpetually letting their people down regarding their well-being:

    (a) Tom Miller of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D. C. had a letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2011, p. A14 to claim "a long line of unfortunate and flawed Supreme Court precedents regarding the broad scope of the powers granted to Congress" counters individual and states rights in America.

    (b) News this last week national debt crises in various European countries like Italy and Ireland, and of the threat of national debt here in the United States reveals there have been decades of poor government leadership in world nations!

    (c) Then, a long list of ministers of all kinds of faiths have been charged and convicted of abusing their parishioners.

    We then ask, "In an absence of good leaders in government and religious realms, how can I obtain God's help?!"

    Need: "With the lack of good overseers, how can I get God's help?!"

  1. The Levitical Priesthood, like the kings and priests of Egypt from which Israel had come, had the deep flaw of apostasy-spreading sin in its overseers that left the common man without God's help:
    1. Israel had just come from living 400 hundred years in Egypt (Exodus 12:41), a land with a spiritually ineffective royalty and priesthood:
      1. The Exodus occurred around 1,450 B. C. (Bib. Know. Com., O. T., p. 105) when Egypt's priesthood was collecting much wealth and influence to rival the power of the pharaoh kings. (reshafirm.org.il, "The Priests of Amen-Re and the Theban Kings").
      2. This priesthood was turning into a professional, hereditary office, with the common people somewhat alienated from it. (Jimmy Dunn, "Piety of the Common Ancient Egyptians," touregypt.net)
      3. Two centuries after the Exodus, Egypt was run by an elite family of priest-kings. (newadvent.org, "The Pagan Priesthood")
      4. The common man in Egypt was thus estranged from the true God.
    2. God accordingly instituted the improved Levitical Priesthood to be a bridge for God to help the common man, Numbers 8:11-26:
      1. God sought to replace Egypt's format of a power struggle between elite priests and kings who alienated the common man in making Israel's people a NATION of KINGS AND PRIESTS, Ex. 19:5-6.
      2. Accordingly, in place of Israel's firstborn sons, the Levites were representatives of the common man before God, Num. 8:14-18.
      3. They were thus consecrated to serve God in the tabernacle and to teach Israel's people God's Word, Num. 8:11-13; Deut. 33:8-10.
      4. In this representative priestly order, the common man did not approach the tabernacle like the Levites and priests, and the Levites were subject to the Aaronic priests (Numbers 8:19-20), being limited to serve between the ages of 25 and 50, and after 50 to help the younger Levite men in their ministries, Numbers 8:25-26.
    3. However, this representative Levitical Priesthood order was flawed to the harm of common men by SIN in its Levitical representatives:
      1. The priests (and with them the Levites) failed to teach the Law to the people or even to fellowship with God in heart, Jeremiah 2:8.
      2. They eventually led many of the common people to sin by godless example and errant teaching, Malachi 2:7-8.
  2. Thus, GOD established in CHRIST an ULTIMATE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD in which ALL INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS could be BLESSED EVEN OVER THEIR OWN SINFUL FAILURES:
    1. God established the PERFECT HIGH PRIEST in JESUS CHRIST:
      1. Hebrews 8:1-9:28 teaches Jesus is our perfect, sinless High Priest Who intercedes as God-incarnate in our behalf to God the Father.
      2. He is our sole Mediator with God (1 Timothy 2:5), and we can come to Him boldly (Hebrews 4:16) as a merciful and faithful High Priest (Hebrews 2:17) Who empathizes with our sufferings and temptations since He faced what we face, (Hebrews 2:18).
    2. Then, God made EVERY INDIVIDUAL believer in Christ BOTH a PRIEST AND a KING for DIRECT, PERSONAL divine blessings:
      1. In Christ, Who is both King and Priest after the Melchizedek order (Ps. 110:1-4), believers in Christ are priests and kings, Rev. 1:5-6.
      2. This is not an Egyptian priest-king hierarchy or a Judaistic representative order: 1 Peter 1:1-2; 2:9-10 asserts a "generation," "nation" and "people" of believers scattered all over Asia Minor comprised this "royal priesthood" so that EACH BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST IS A KING AND PRIEST BEFORE GOD!
      3. Thus, each can pray effectively to God about needs, each has ruling influence if he adheres to God's wisdom (Proverbs 8:12-16), and each will rule on earth in Christ's kingdom, Revelation 5:8-10!
      4. This ministry is not limited by age as in the Levitical Priesthood: believers are continually to offer the sacrifice of praise, He. 13:15, as they will serve Him forever throughout eternity, Rev. 22:3c.
    3. Yet, God anticipated sin in individual priest-kings, so He provided opportunity for each one to gain cleansing from sin so he ALWAYS might have MEANS for gaining God's blessing by GRACE:
      1. All believers have sin natures and still commit sins, 1 John 1:8, 10!
      2. Yet, if we confess our acts of sin to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9!
      3. Thus, as individual king-priests, we believers ALWAYS have the MEANS to gain access to God's BLESSING by His GRACE!
Application: For blessing today, (1) may we trust in Christ for salvation (John 3:16), and (2) apply the ministry of our Great High Priest and His provisions in our royal priesthood! (3) May we pray for and lead the lost to become kings and priests by faith in Christ!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 We apply this sermon's lesson in realms of need as follows:

(1) Regarding the vacuum of good leadership in government, as believer king-priests, we can (a) read Scripture for insight on how to manage ourselves and our resources and (b) ask God for the wisdom to apply this in our experience (James 1:5), (c) which wisdom Proverbs 8:12-16 tells us will make us good overseers in our local realms. (d) That influence will be extended outward by God in ever widening circles of contact to God's glory, Revelation 3:21 with Isaiah 55:3-5!

An illustration of how this works is the life of President Ronald Reagan. Paul Kengor, Ph. D., in his February 25, 2004 Heritage Foundation lecture, "The Intellectual Origins of Ronald Reagan's Faith," claimed: "(T)he single most important force in Ronald Reagan's life has been woefully neglected: his faith in God." The end result of his faith was so good, leaders of the world now celebrate his memory as reported in Peggy Noonan's article in our introduction!

(2) Regarding the vacuum of good leadership in religious realms, as believer king-priests, we should do the following:

(a) First, we must resist elevating priests above the laity as in Mormonism or Catholicism or elevating ministers or scholars as our representatives before God as often Protestants psychologically do, for that only reflects failed priestly formats God has removed in Christ!

(b) Second, we every-believer king-priests in Christ should confess what sins we do to God for cleansing and effectiveness in prayer (Psalm 66:18; 1 John 1:9). Then, in line with God's will in Scripture, we should pray and trust God for His aid (1 John 5:14-15).

An illustration of how this works was seen in an event this last week in the life of a woman in our Church. She overheard her medical doctor, who is not a professing Christian, tell another Christian patient of her need to trust her God for a serious problem she faces!

After giving this advice, the doctor asked this woman in our Church whom the doctor knows is a committed Christian: "Don't people of (the Christian) faith have all (of the spiritual resources) they need to handle the problems they face?!"

This lady strongly agreed! Amazingly, a NON-Christian doctor has figured out by observing that we (king-priest) believers in Christ need only to relate well to our God to meet our needs!

May we utilize the king-priest position we have in Christ!