A Priesthood We Can Enjoy
The priesthood of the believer is unquestionably a foundational doctrine of the Church. God has always intended for every
believer to have access to Himself through one mediator His Son Jesus Christ. Through the years many martyrs went to their
executions over this doctrine. The anti-Christ system coming that was forth told by Christ will be a worshipping, social, and
economic system and worship systems always have a priesthood. One way to look at the coming great and terrible day of
the Lord is as stand-off between priesthoods. Yet in many ways, our minds are offended when He calls us His priests in
this hour. We can learn a different paradigm of the priesthood.
I. GODS DESIRE FOR A PRIESTHOOD
God’s words reveal His desire and passion. In the first church service in the bible (Mt Sinai) God takes full leadership and
reveals His desire, passion and purpose for His people. It is that they be as near to Him as is possible. He gives them the
reason for their freedom, sets them apart and says that they will become His kingdom of priests.
A. God desires an entire kingdom of priests- His desire was not just the tribe of Levi but the nations
Exodus 19:5-6 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special
treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." NKJV
1. He is relentless about it
Psalms 110:4 The LORD has sworn And will not relent, "You are a priest …" NKJV
2. Even the foreigner
Isaiah 56:6-7 "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the
LORD, to be His servants — Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant — 7 Even them
I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." NKJV
B. The Son, who is the High priest forever, is passionate about His house being a revelatory priesthood
1. Jesus flipped the tables over the issue of priesthood – He was in the temple confronting a corrupted priesthood
Mark 11:17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?
But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" NKJV
2. In the High Priestly prayer His desire is overflowing for a people moving in priesthood.
John 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My
glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. NKJV
C. The Creation eagerly awaits for (priestly) sons of God led by the spirit of God
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. NKJV
II. OUR IDENTITY AS PRIESTS
There are 3 primary identities in the kingdom. We carry each of these identities eternally. We are Sons because God is a
Father and we have come into the body of Christ the Son of God. We are a Bride as we will be joined to Christ forever
gazing at His beauty. We are Priests since we are afforded the nearest place to the Transcendent One.
A. Corporate Priesthood
Revelation 5:9-11 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For
You
were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And
have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."
1. The Bride- In the end the people standing before God on the sea of glass, redeemed out of the earth by His blood
are called His bride.
2. Eternal Priesthood- If priesthood is eternal than it is not merely occupational but who we are.
You are a priest forever! Ps 110:4
B. Individual Priesthood- God names us as priests
Isaiah 61:6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the
riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. NKJV
1. The Sons – God called Jesus His son at his baptism. Christ declared His sonship in Luke 4:18 quoting Isaiah 61.
This Isaiah passage goes on to declare a name from God that will be on the individuals of God.
a. The Holy Spirit priesthood within. Men and Women, boys and girls, God makes us mediators of a covenant
individually by putting His spirit on us all!
Acts 2:17-18 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on
My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. NKJV
b. Jesus as a priest and Son had daily direct encounters with God- Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing thus
He beheld the Father as a priest daily.
John 5:19-20 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but
what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son,
and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. NKJV
c. We have by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as sons and thus the opportunity for daily encounters with God
since the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us.
John 14:12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works
than these he will do, because I go to My Father. NKJV
2. A lifestyle- When Christ came He brought a law of the spirit that sets us free from the law of sin and death. This
redeeming ‘law’ is come down from heaven, given on the mountain, and is mediated by the New Covenant priests
a. Sermon on the Mt lifestyle- Matthew 5,6,7 can be seen as Christ’s law of the Spirit
(1) ‘You have heard it said’- Jesus did not remove the standard
(2) ‘By I say to you’- His word empowered by His spirit allows us to mediate this new law.
(3) Pray Give Fast – The primary activities to be repeated as a lifestyle by the priest of the New Covenant
b. We commit to the law of the spirit- That will I seek
Psalms 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days
of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. NKJV
(1) The Priests intentionally encounter God
(2) The Priests redeem time
3. Great Commission Messengers
Malachi 2:7 "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is
the messenger of the LORD of hosts. NKJV
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." Amen. NKJV
a. The knowledge of God
b. The Messenger of the Lord
III. OUR FUNCTION AS PRIESTS
We are priest by identity. When you know who you are then you know what to do. Just as a bride knows to be with her
husband and a son knows to seek out and be with His father so a priest knows to be with His God. To be anywhere else
for a priest does not make sense. The priesthood s all about encountering God.
A. Stand serve minister burn- Hezekiah’s priesthood commissioning is for us!
2 Chronicles 29:11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him,
and that you should minister to Him and burn incense." NKJV
B. Worship- We were called out of darkness to worship.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may
proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; NKJV
C. Intercede- The church will intercede before during and after the judgments as a bridal priest
Joel 2:16-17 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to
the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your
heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is
their God?'" NKJV
D. Prophesy- Forerunner Messengers
Malachi 3:1"Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me and the Lord, whom you seek, Will
suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the
LORD of hosts. NKJV
So which are you? Some would say: “Well I’m a king and I’m called to go”. While others would say “Well, I’m a priest and
I’m called to stay”
The going is for the priests not the kings! The priests in the Old Testament went into the battles and even on the front
lines at times in front of the army. For the most part the kings stayed home during battles.
Likewise the staying is for the priests and not the kings! The priests were called to live daily lives of encountering God
going in before Him like Daniel 3 times daily.
In the kingdom of God there is one King (who happens to be the High Priest) and the rest are to be royal priests going
out in the battles and going in before the Lord. This rhythm of the priests going in and going out is what the lifestyle of
a priest is all about. We can only do this rightly if we abide in Him only doing what he is doing and only saying what He is
saying. Kings are known for their exploits priests are known for their lifestyles. Kings are known in the earth but priests
are known in heaven. That’s why God desires a kingdom of priests, those known in heaven forever.