1 Peter 2, verses 1-9. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby, if indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. 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, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. May God bless his word. Let's pray for his blessing on the preaching. Father, we give you thanks that you are indeed precious to us, and that Christ is precious, and that the promises which you have given are precious. We ask that you bless the preaching of your word, that you would encourage us by it, instruct us, correct us, and reprove us where needed. But above all, O Lord our God, we pray, be worshiped and adored, that we should love you, that we should love others, that we should fulfill the vocation which you have given to us in your beloved Son. We pray these things together in his name. Amen. I draw your attention back again to those words of verse 9. 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. We know that our only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ, or as Messiah, He is the Anointed One. That is what the word signifies. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One. And what were those offices of the Anointed One? It is to be a prophet, a priest, and a king. Those offices which were particularly common and ordinary given to Israel under that age that they should know the Lord and follow Him. And yet in union with Christ, friend, we are made prophets, priests, and king, subservient to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what we see. That's what it means to be, as the church, the holy nation. The people of the Lord are God. You see this, a prophet. You see in verse nine, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." That is the work of the church. Together, proclaiming. Prophecy is not just foretelling, like telling the future. It was also, and primarily was, foretelling. It was telling it like it was. It was taking the law. It was taking the gospel and applying it. That's what the prophets primarily did. They said, this is the law. Hear the word of God. We are prophets under the great prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who speaks to us things better than even the blood of Abel. But not just that, prophets and priests. You are a royal priesthood. This is what our consideration is today, this afternoon. But also you notice we are a kingdom. We are made kings and priests. We're a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Elsewhere, it says that we are kings and priests, and we'll see that in a moment. But from Exodus 19, Revelation 5, But this afternoon, we'll consider particularly, what does it mean that we are made a royal priesthood? What does it mean that the church together corporately and that Christians as members of the church are priests unto the Lord our God? Another way of saying is, what does it mean that we are a priesthood of believers? Well, in order to understand this, we'll consider that in the four points, we'll understand, have an exposition of the text, Secondly, we'll draw some doctrines from the text, namely 10 things. 10 doctrines regarding the priesthood of believers. Third, we'll answer the big objection that's always raised to this doctrine. And then fourth, we'll draw some applications or uses from the text. But first, the text itself. It says there, you are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Now the question is, is this something new? Is this a new identity of the church? And the answer to that is no. This is a reiteration of Israel's identity. In fact, when the Lord draws them out before he gives them the law at Sinai in Exodus 19, he tells Moses to speak to them this. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests. and a holy nation. This is, the church is the Israel of God, has always been a kingdom of priests. In fact, what do you have at the end there? Verse 10, once you were not a people, now you are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained mercy. That's a repetition from Hosea 1. The church is the Israel of God, has always been the special people of God and has always been a kingdom of priests. And so the saints together constitute a priesthood, constitute a priestly line. You see this again reiterated in Revelation chapter one and Revelation chapter five. It says this to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priests to his God and father. to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. And then in chapter five, they sing a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth. Even as we read in Revelation chapter 20, When there's a time of great gospel advancement for generation after generation after generation of the Lord blessing his people, it's still the continuation of the same mission given to the church, to be kings and priests, to reign with Christ. That reigning and that priesthood is something that was established there from the garden Adam was to have dominion, to subdue the world. Adam failing that, God enters into a covenant of grace through Christ with his people. And they are still to fill the earth and to subdue it and to have dominion over it. Why? For the purpose of God's praise, filling the earth. That the knowledge of the glory of the Lord should cover the earth like the waters cover the seas. What is that? That's kingdom and priesthood and prophecy. That's going and telling. That's ministering where you are as a priest, and that's ruling and reigning with Christ. That's being a kingdom of priests to the Lord our God. And so this is what is called the doctrine of the priesthood of believers. Another way of saying it is sometimes we talk about the offices in the church. God has instituted offices you see that you see the list and in first Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12 where you have Apostles and you have prophets and you have teachers and you have preachers you have elders rulers governors in the church you have Deacons those who serve those who bestow those who do mercy you have these offices in the church one of the offices which we Neglect to speak about is the general office of the believer the general vocation of the believer. There are some who have special vocations, a special calling to a particular office in the church, whether today that be to be a pastor, to be a ruling elder, to be a deacon. That's a special vocation, but there is a general vocation that all have in the church, and that is to be priests to the Lord our God. In fact, when you think about the special offices of the church, that flows out from the general office. Why is it that pastors are pastors? It's not because they're pastors, and then they are Christians. It's because they're Christians. They're Christians first, and then they're pastors. Why are ruling elders ruling them? It's because they're Christians. And then the Lord calls them to something particular. Why are deacons deacons? It's because they're Christians, and the Lord happens to call that too. Anything in the church. Why do you do what you do? Why do you go volunteer with Love Life? Why do you go and serve and teach a catechism class? Why do you go to your neighbor's house? Why do you take food to your neighbors to introduce them and help them move in and you share the gospel with them? It's because you're a Christian. It's because you have a general office. The Lord may call some to particular offices, but it springs from the foundation that we have a general calling together to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the doctrine of the priesthood of believers. And just like everything, what Luther says is always, in this case, is always true. There's two ways of falling off a horse. There are two ditches on the side of the road. At times, There is a proclivity to undervalue this doctrine of the priesthood of believers. That's when you get clericalism, right? Roman Catholicism, where it's just the priest does the work and all we're doing is sitting and watching. But don't think it's just Roman Catholicism. Don't think it's just Eastern Orthodoxy. This sinks into evangelical churches. This sinks into reformed churches. Well, the minister is the one who's supposed to know the word. So whatever he says goes Or the you know, well, whatever whatever that's not my job to go and be super godly That's the job of my deacons my elders and my pastors to be really godly I can go in and do whatever I want the family worship. That's something for the really spiritual guys to leave No, that's that that belongs to the general office There are times when even in Reformed churches, we view worship almost as a show. where you have a guy here preaching, giving a TED talk, doing whatever it may be, and we're just passive receiving it rather than actively worshiping God by meditating upon the words as they're said, discerning whether or not they come from the scriptures and are true and faithful to the word, that worship is an active thing, to bow oneself down before the Almighty God, whether it be in singing, praying, preaching, coming to the table, whatever it is, that's an active work. of an active priesthood of believers. Not just the work of one minister behind a pulpit, but a whole church worshiping the Lord God. And so there are times when we undervalue the priesthood of believers, and then there are times when we overplay the priesthood of believers. And we'll deal with that in the answering of the objection, but that generally flows like this. If we're all priests, then we don't need offices in the church. It's the same kind of argument when people say, every day belongs to the Lord, therefore every day is the Lord's day. That's not what that means. You could say every person belongs to the Lord as regarding creation. God has a propriety over everybody because he's the creator, and yet here he says, you are a special people. There's a special propriety. There's a special vocation. So sometimes it's undervalued, at other times it's overplayed. But in any case, we would believe and confess and should apply the general office of believer and be encouraged as we consider and meditate on this. This is for our encouragement. Christian, this is your calling. It is the most glorious calling. to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be enrolled and enlisted as a citizen of his kingdom, and to be appointed to his priesthood. So, let us then consider 10 doctrines concerning the priesthood of believers. First, we need to start with our ordination, our consecration to Jesus. Our consecration is from the Spirit and is secured by the blood of Christ. How is it that you are made a priesthood of believers? In Leviticus 8.2, there is a particular process or offering for the ordination of priests. It says, take Aaron and his sons with him and the garments and the anointing oil and the bowl of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. There's a way that they ordain and it's by the anointing oil the oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit. And it is by the sprinkling of the blood, the blood of Christ. This is what we need to think of. How is it that we are brought into this priesthood? It's by God through his word, through his prescription, through the proclamation of his word, calling to us. and opening our eyes, taking a heart of stone into a heart of flesh, that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, and that Jesus Christ is that Savior. And by His Spirit, He draws you to believe and to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He died for our sins and rose from the grave, that He is God and man, our Redeemer. And that we cast everything we have, all of our eggs are in the basket of His salvation, of His finished and accomplished work. And by the Spirit, and by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, He calls us and enlists us in that priesthood. It is not from ourselves. Remember from John 10, the very beginning of John 10, and Jesus says, I am the game. And the one who, essentially, the one who hops the fence rather than going through the gate is like a thief and a robber. And so it is in the church. The shepherd, the so-called shepherd, who bypasses the gate of Christ and bypasses the gate of his church and just hops and ordains himself and says, this is it, I'm a shepherd now. That's a thief and a robber. But it's the same thing with the Christian who hops the fence and says, look, I'm a priest, I'm a king, I belong to the Lord, but he hasn't gone through the gate. Friend, you must go through Christ. You may not come to God apart from Christ. If you come to him, he is a consuming fire. He will destroy you. But if you come to him, oh friend, the church is like the bush that is full of fire and yet is never consumed. That's what it's like to be in the presence of God as the church, surrounded by that fire but never consumed by the Lord. And so we need the Holy Spirit to apply this work of Christ. Are you in faith? Do you believe in this gospel? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus? And if so, you are a priest unto the Lord our God. Secondly, Jesus is our great high priest. So you are a priest unto the Lord our God, but only because Jesus Christ is the great high priest. It says in Hebrews 4.14, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. How is it that Christ is a priest? How does he execute this office? Shorter Catechism 25. Christ executed the office of a priest in his once-offering up of himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, to reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us. Friends, it's only because Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest that we are made priests unto the Lord our God. It's only because of Him. It's because we've been united to Him. Out of Egypt, I brought my son, says the Lord. And he says that regarding Israel. As Israel is coming out, he says, out of Egypt, I brought my son. And then in Matthew 2, you have, no, that is about Christ. Out of Egypt, I brought my son. Why is that applied to Christ? It's applied to Christ because Christ is in union with His church. The same reason Christ, the glorified, ascended Christ says to Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Because Christ is in such union with His church that everything He is, we are. And everything we are, it is because He is and we are in Him. The reason why we are given The office, the general office of priesthood of the Lord our God is because Jesus is the great high priest. The reason why there's any prophetic in the sense of a speaking of the word ministry of the proclamation of the gospel from the church to all the nations. The reason why that's given is because Jesus Christ is the word. The reason why there's any ruling that goes on in the church, whether it's the church as the whole, as they compare to the world, the church's reigning with Christ over the world, or whether it is in the offices of the church, the ruling that the officers are given within the church. The only reason there's kingship present there, ruling present there, is because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ. And he gives that authority immediately through himself. And so we follow him as a priest, as he is great high priest, we follow him even in the example of his death. We can atone for nobody. We can't do what he did on the cross for other people. But yet Peter says at the same time in first Peter two, he goes on to say, but even his death, he has left an example for us. to suffer as he suffered, even as the son learned obedience through suffering. We follow him in the example of his intercession. And as we do, though, and as we consider that, we should be greatly encouraged because there we have an advocate in our great high priest. We have this advocate, this friend, this one who died for us, this one who intercedes for us. So Jesus Christ is our great high priest. Third doctrine here, because we are a priest of the Lord our God, none to the Lord our God, the Lord himself is your inheritance. This was really one of the whole points of the priesthood in the Old Covenant, was that they were not given a specific land of inheritance, but they were scattered through all the peoples, and the Lord himself, it says in Leviticus 18, 1-2, it says the Levitical priests All the tribe of Levi shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord's food offerings as their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. The Lord is their inheritance. Glory upon glory. Forget the land. The Lord is our inheritance. And this is an eternal inheritance. In the eschatological temple of the end of Ezekiel, it speaks of the faithful priest and it says, I will be their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. This is the experience of every believer in Lamentations 3. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They're new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. Friend, to be a priest unto the Lord our God means that the Lord himself is your portion. What does it mean to have God as your portion? It means that you will be before the face of the Lord for all eternity. It means that you will have communion with the living and triune God for all eternity. It means that you will have your happiness, because that's what blessedness means. You will have your happiness in Him. Not in the things He gives, but in Himself. Like when you receive a gift from a loved one, the thing you're really excited, I mean you enjoy the gift, but the thing you're really excited about is the love that you receive from that person. The fact that this person loves you. That's the happiness of that. That's the happiness of being a priest unto the Lord our God. That it's not just, it's not the stuff, right? It's not the golden streets, it's not the gates of pearl, it's not the glorious walls of gems that makes heaven heaven. It's that we're there in gracious communion with the Lord and that he himself is our portion. That's what makes heaven heaven. And that little slice is what makes earth a precursor to heaven for the believer. That you get to have that now. That the Lord is your portion now. Now and forevermore. And this should produce in us great contentment. Contentment is not just stoic resignation. when something's going wrong, and you think you're being very pious and content by saying, well, I guess that's just what it is. As if you're receiving something that's, it's bad or it's fine, but you know, it really could be better. Friend, the best thing that you have is the thing that God has just given you, because he's given you himself. He's given you the best thing for all eternity. You can have contentment now. You can have contentment in bad circumstances. That's why Paul says like in everything I've learned to be content. Why? Because you're rejoicing in the Lord. You're not rejoicing in your stuff. You're not rejoicing in your circumstances. You're rejoicing in the Lord. Why? Because you're a priesthood of believers. Because God has given you himself as your portion. He's given to you all that you could want, all that you could need, and all of it for all eternity. Consider in Matthew chapter 5 in the Beatitudes when he says, happy are those who mourn. Why? For they shall be comforted. Not happy are they who mourn because the Lord will give them their stuff back, or because the Lord will make it okay. You are happy because God himself will comfort you, because God himself is your portion. And so this is the great blessing. To be a priesthood of believers means that the Lord is your portion. The Lord is your possession, your inheritance. Fourthly, the priesthood of all believers is most manifest in the New Testament. This is something that we see clearest in the New Testament, not in the old. And that's because the ceremonial law is now fulfilled. It's vanished away. There's not a host of priests and Levites offering sacrifices in a temple night and day. So that we get to see in a more real sense, a constant, consistent offering of a spiritual sacrifice by all of God's people. The priesthood of Aaron is dissolved and it's superseded by Christ, the priest after the order of Melchizedek. Because there's no other mediator than Christ. The priests were go-betweens between God and man to make atonement through sacrifices, but it's not so in the New Testament. Grace, or the law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The idea there is there's a mediator in the giving of the law, and now there's not. We have the fullness, Christ himself, God, the word made flesh himself. And the nations are now being baptized and are coming to these priests. The churches are being filled throughout the nations. And this is what you have in Isaiah 61, five through six. It says, strangers shall stand and tend your flocks Foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers, but you shall be called the priests of the Lord. They shall speak of you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Friends, how far are we from Jerusalem? We're on the other side of the world. There are a lot of churches in America. There's a lot of worship of God going on in every nation This is what we see the priesthood of believers throughout every nation Scattered among the peoples and this brings us to our fifth doctrine because we are priesthood of believers. We are scattered We're scattered throughout the nation as the priests were scattered throughout the tribes. I 1 Peter 1 begins this very way in his letter, he says, to the pilgrims of the dispersion. That's what it means to be priests. You're wandering, you're a sojourner, you're a pilgrim. And you're scattered among the nations. And that's what we are, as pilgrims, as priests, to the Lord our God. Sixthly, each Christian as a priest is granted rule and responsibility according to their general office of believer. The keys of the kingdom are given to church officers alone, but there are aspects of authority that has been given to every believer. And theologians have considered these in two ways. There's a passive and an active power that's given by Christ to every Christian. There's a passive Power, and that is to receive, the Christian is to receive the ministry of the word, and to receive the ministry of discipline. Those are the two keys of the kingdom, the word and discipline. But there's also an active power and an active authority that has been given to every Christian, and that is to actively discern, to discern the word, to test the spirits, to have our Bibles open, to apply actively to our lives what we hear. Not to just be spoon-fed, but to be fed by the Lord and to grow and to graze on those green pastures and still waters. There's an active responsibility that every Christian has to rebuke others when needed. So that I would say in Psalm 141, when the righteous smite me, it's a kindness. There's an active power and authority that we have to minister to one another, to care for one another, to bear one another's burdens, to fulfill all of these one another commands. And so as priests, each Christian is granted that kind of rule and responsibility in the church, according to their general office of believer. Seventhly, each believer has access to the throne of God and communion with Him at all times. Not just one day in a year on the Day of Atonement to go into the Holy of Holies, but at all times being able to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help to help in time of need. The veil of the flesh of Christ has been torn. The partition of the temple, we have access We have access to the Lord. And this is true, not just now, this is true forever. In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is described this way. The city is laid out as a square. Its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with a reed 12,000 furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Why is that significant? Well, the New Jerusalem, the heavenly temple, is a square. It's a cube. And that was the Holy of Holies in the temple. In the temple and in the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, the most holy place where the priest would go and offer blood on the mercy seat for the atonement of the people of God, that place of holy communion, was alone and uniquely acute in its measurements. And that's what heaven is. Heaven is this constant communion before the presence, the most holy presence of the most holy God for all eternity. We will be appreciative believers, not just now, but from everlasting to everlasting, world without end. And lastly, Friend, you are not just priests, you are royal priests. Our service as a royal priesthood is rendered to the King, Messiah the Prince. We are a kingdom of priests. We are kingly priests, as Christ is a priestly king. And we are priests of the King. Zadok was a faithful priest under the king under the reign of David. He remained faithful. Zadok remained faithful under the attempted usurpation of Absalom. He was a royal priest. He was there ready to serve and minister the Word of God to David. He was ready to take the Ark of the Covenant and follow David around and David said no. Zadok was a faithful priest. What do we have in the eschatological temple of Ezekiel? But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to minister to me. They shall stand before me to offer me the fat of the blood, says the Lord God. This is what we have from everlasting to everlasting as the church. To be a kingly priest, to be like Zadok the priest, to be faithful, even in the midst of treachery, even in the midst of apostasy, the church is to be faithful, is to be stalwart, is to be steadfast, and is to serve the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Next, our focus, another doctrine, our focus as priests is on the gospel. as the priest's primary focus was on sacrifice. That was one of their primary duties. Our focus is to be on the gospel. 1 Timothy 1.4, Paul warns, he says, don't give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in cape. Don't get distracted. Don't get distracted into all this sideshow superstition and speculation. Stick with the word to the laws of the testimony if they speak not according to these things There is no light in it stick to the word stick to the gospel friend. Keep the main things the main things We believe that all truth is God's truth that that we are to obey all of this law But make sure that you're coming guns a-blazing first and foremost with the gospel Exclusive psalmity is biblical don't evangelize with it Bring the evangel bring the gospel Lastly last doctrine here. This is a corporate column to be a priest is to be a part of a particular tribe. I Where do you see in scripture solitary, lone ranger priests? Only think of one. That's Micah the Levite at the end of Judges. How did that go? It was very bad. When we're solitary Christians, that's only going to lead to our destruction and to our apostasy. When churches start to separate themselves, for instance, from Presbytery, and you notice this, when a church is not active in the Presbytery, the elders are not active in the Presbytery, that's typically a sign of a dying church. Or of a church that needs to have some focus and care because they might be hiding something. Christians and churches should not be hiding in corners from one another. To be a priest means you belong to a tribe and we belong to one. It's the priesthood of believers, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the doctrines of the priesthood of believers. Let's answer the primary objection. And it goes something like this. Well, if every Christian is a priest, why then have church offices? If every Christian is a priest, then I'm a minister, you're a minister, everyone's a minister. Let's answer this in five ways. That's not the case. There was order and there was hierarchy even within the priesthood. There's the high priest, there's his immediate sons. There were priests, there were Levites. There was hierarchy even within the priesthood. Second, ministers of the word have a distinctly priestly service. They're described as such in Romans 15. It says, Romans 15, 15 through 16, but on some points, I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. So Paul is writing to the church and he says, now remember, I have a distinct priestly calling role as a minister. And so there's a recognition of the distinction between a general vocation and a specific vocation, a general calling and a specific calling. Third, we are also made kings, but we still maintain the legitimacy of civil government. So we say we're priests, therefore there's no ministers, elders, and deacons. You ought to also say we're kings, therefore there is no government. But that's absurd. Government is established by God. There is no authority except in God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Romans 13.1. Fourth, if all Christians were ministers, in that sense, were governors of the church, in that sense, then the scandalous, the ignorant, women and children also, would be placed in authority. And that's contrary to Scripture. It's also contrary to reason. That's absurd. Lastly, to respond to this, the clarity of scripture on church officers being distinct from other members of the church could not be more clear. To give you an example, Hebrews 13.24 says this, greet all your leaders and all the saints. There are leaders, there are saints. The leaders should be saints. Not all saints are leaders. All are priests, and to the Lord are God. But there's a distinction between church officers and church members. And we could just summarize this in this way. Grace does not abolish, but aid nature. It's the nature of any society, whether it's family, church, or state, to have order in offices, as appointed by its creator. And the work of grace is not to hinder, but to help that. Grace is cumulative, not privative. It does not destroy, it builds up. It perfects and makes more mature. And so we have a priesthood of believers, but we also have church offices as well. Let's conclude now with some applications. First, be diligent, priest. Be diligent, Christian, in the service of the temple. Just before this, in verse 5, you are a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Your singing and your profession of faith, the fruit of your lips, is called a sacrifice. Romans 12, your whole life and the transforming of your mind is a sacrifice to the Lord. And so, serve the Lord in the temple. Serve him in the temple of your body. 1 Corinthians 6. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, whom you have within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Glorify God with the thoughts you think, with the actions you take, with the words you say, with the affections you have. Glorify God as a priest in the temple. and glorify God in the temple of the church. 1 Corinthians 3.16, do you not know that you, plural, you are God's temple, church, you are God's temple, and that God's spirit dwells in you? God dwells in us individually, 1 Corinthians 6, God dwells in us corporately, 1 Corinthians 3. So glorify God not just in the temple of your body, not just about what you do when no one's watching, or what you eat, or what you drink, glorify God also in the church. as priests together to the Lord our God. Spur one another on to godliness. Weep with those who weep. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Be diligent in the service of the temple. Second application, have a zeal for purity. We sang about Phineas in Numbers 25. We have what's recorded about what we sang in Psalm 106. Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, and he turned back the wrath of God. He was zealous, it says, because he was zealous with my zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel. Therefore, say, behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. It shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel. Jesus Christ is the greater and the truer Phineas who was who didn't just pierce but was pierced for us and for our salvation But in him we have this covenant of peace in him We have this everlasting priesthood to have zeal for the purity of the house of God remember the end of Joshua when the people are starting to go to their different tribes and then the tribe that has crossed over the river and They make a monument to remind everybody that they're Israelites. And they've made this monument, and the rest, the ten tribes of Israel, gather together to go into march and to kill these other tribes across the river because they were concerned that they offered false worship to God, that He did not prescribe. Does the church have that kind of zeal for the regulative principle of worship? That God would be worshipped according to His words. That stuff wouldn't just get thrown in. Ballet and dancing and drama and all kinds of things just getting thrown in because that's what the people want. Do we have that kind of zeal for the house of the Lord? You are to have a zeal for purity. That's a part of having this everlasting priesthood and this covenant of peace. Third application. Christian as you are a priest you are to know and then to teach the difference between common and holy one of the things that That happened that the priests were supposed to do Was to teach this it says in Ezekiel 44 and this is citing from I think it's Leviticus 10 or so they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the clean and the unclean and We're supposed to teach the difference between what is common, all of life, and what is holy. God's name, his worship, his attributes, his acts. To know the difference between common and holy. To know the difference of how you treat them. Where it's okay to make a joke about this thing, but it's not okay to make a joke about God. Because he's holy. And we treat holy things differently than we treat common things. And so know the difference between common and holy. Much of the theological debates that are going on about practicalities of what do we sing, when do we sing it? A lot of this is going on because we don't know the difference between common and holy. Worship in times that are not worship. And so know the difference and teach it, pass it on. There's this amazing, interesting command that the Lord says. He says, when you come into my house, this is in Deuteronomy, in the beginning of Deuteronomy, he says, when you come into my house to feast, bring only the feasts that I've commanded. And then any other time you want to feast, invite whoever, eat whatever, whenever you want. That's the difference between common and holy. Fourth. you are to grow in and to teach the faith according to your station. Ezra 7.10 says, Ezra set this in his heart, because he's a priest, he set this in his heart, to study the law, to do it, and to teach it. Okay, those are three things that every Christian as a priest of the Lord and God should do. Study the law, do it, and teach it. We need to study it ourselves. Boys, girls, men, women. Study the law. We want to raise boys that are sturdy trees and girls that are palace cornerstones. We want Othniels and Jayels, who study the law, who know how to do it, who are like sons of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do. Men who were very few were the smallest tribe that came to war with David at Hebron. Smallest tribe, and it says all of them were in the lead. All of them took the lead over their delegates. Why? Because they knew what to do. We need to know what to do, and to teach it, to hand it down. We teach one another when we sing. We teach one another when we're at the table, and sometimes we have to correct one another. You shouldn't see this this way. This is actually God's kindness of blessing. There are small things of teaching. Mothers teaching their children. Teaching that goes on in the home. Older women teaching younger women. Older men teaching younger men. There's all kinds of teaching that goes on in the life of the church. And so we should do that as a priest, as priests unto the Lord our God. Study the law, do it, and teach it. And then lastly, last application. Friend, never forget to offer the daily sacrifice morning and evening. Never forget the morning and evening sacrifice. Every day, to go to God in prayer, to praise him. Most especially on the Sabbath day. That's the work day. It was the day of rest for everybody, but the priests were always busy. Friend, sometimes you may get vexed. We have two services, everything's back to back. Sometimes it's tiring. Define rest how God defines it. To rest in Christ, to be a reminder of the faith, to be instructed, to know that his commands are not burdensome. That what he brings to you as Christians, what he brings to you in his word is comfort, comfort my people. And so offer the morning and evening sacrifice to the Lord. Go to him in prayer. And don't just go to him for yourself. Now do, you must, you must bring him your praise. Not others praise, bring him your praise. Praise him for what he is doing in your life. You must bring him your needs, your petitions. You must bring him your confessions. But don't stop there. Bring in others as well You must bring in others Bring in praising God for his work in others lives Bring in the petition for others Particularly fathers bring in confession for your family Job offered sacrifice. He says I don't know if my children had sinned and so Lord, please cover them and he makes confession for his first children and That's the kind of confession that we need going on. That's the kind of prayer, the intercession that we need. And just as encouragement, if you're like, I don't know where to start, there's so much to pray for. Sometimes it's overwhelming. You have this in prayer meeting about every week, twice a week. There's so much to pray for. Start in, work out. Not gonna bind your conscience to that, but for your counsel, start in and work out. Start where you are, start local, start with the church, work out. If you have friends or family, and then go to them. If you know of needs in this area or in this community among others, and then work out. We did this in prayer this morning, where you start with your congregation, work out to the Presbytery. Go to the nation, your community, your state, and then to your nation, and then go to all the nations. But whatever you're doing, however you're doing it, bring the sacrifice, bring the offering morning and evening, bring praise, bring prayer to God. Come and bring to him his own word and his promises. But in all these things, friends, remember this is not a burden. You are called by the Almighty and Holy God, full of grace and mercy and compassion, this glorious calling. He has called you too, dearly beloved Christian. He has called you too to be a priest unto the Lord our God. May we be faithful of such a calling. by his grace. Let's pray. Father, we give you thanks for this great calling to be priests and you unto the Lord. And we ask that we would be faithful and that you would bless us and strengthen us. We pray that you would bless your word now as we have considered it in Jesus' name. Amen.