The High Priest

Praise the Lord. So glad you guys are here tonight. Thank you for joining me. And this we got a new addition to the class. Um we're going to see how it works. All right. This I'm testing it out tonight. Pastor is going to use it. He might just he might just uh we were at a conference and they had a guy from Singapore come on screen like that and they stood it up like that and it looked like he was there actually preaching. So he might do that and it'd be like just him on the beach somewhere, you know, like uh Yeah.

Uh if you would would you stand with me for just a moment. I know we have several needs tonight, several prayer requests. Um today I uh Sister Tammy uh they carried her to the emergency room. Uh thought she may have had a heart attack, but as I was there, I was visiting with them and doctor came in and and everything was looking good. So, and and they're still doing tests and things like that, but um not not like not as major as they were thinking. So, they're still trying to figure it out. But, uh she she was she was doing really well while I was there.

Just being precautionary. Uh I know that we have several other needs um and and in connection with the body. And if you if you have a need, would you just would you lift it up before the Lord with us? Jesus, we love you, God. We thank you so much for your kindness, for your goodness, and your mercy. You've you've blessed us. You've had mercy and grace upon us, Lord. You've been so good to us. You've been so kind to us, Lord. Lord, we cannot thank you enough for your goodness and your mercy and your grace, Lord.

Your your timeliness in your healings, the timeliness in your blessings, the timeliness and your mercy. But God, I pray Lord tonight that upon these needs, God, for Tammy, for Brian and the Barnes family, God, for Travis Ebahart and Chris Jones and and Kila Carththers and Jim Ransom and Andy Eddie Anderson. God, I ask you, Lord, to touch FA Meltton family. God, I pray Lord upon all these needs, Lord, that you would move upon these needs in in in the timely manner that you know, God, that you would move upon these needs, not as we would we would move upon them as a man would, but God, as an all- knowing God, as a sovereign king would move upon them, because we know, Lord, that your will and your plan is most perfect and most holy and most righteous and that you have an expected end, a a planned end for these things.

And God, we surrender our will to yours today. God, I pray Lord that you would touch the needs, God, and intervene on the behalf of man. God, I pray, Lord, that you would move on us tonight. God, help us, God, as we dig into your word as we move throughout your scripture and we we look at it uh in in studying of your priesthood. God, I pray, Lord, that you would help us, Lord, to to fall in love with you, to fall in love with your will and your plan. God, help us, God, to rightly divide the word.

God, anoint us, God, to rightly dig into your word. God, help us, God, that as we go through it, that that we would we would understand your intent and your purpose in it, God. And as we as we do that, God, that we would fall in love with your intent and your purpose, God. For Lord, we know that you're the divine sovereign God and that we are just your people here to serve you and to know your will. And the church said, "Amen." Well, you may be seated. I thank you so much for for standing with me tonight.

It's a good fall night. I've never felt like more of a fall day than today. just that misty rain when the sun pokes through the the uh the uh leaves just have this glimmer and shine to them. I don't y'all y'all may not like this weather, but I'm telling you, this is this is my jam right here. Like, had hot tea yesterday. I mean, Sister Bonita, you're just gonna have to break down and just move on to Florida if if you don't like this. Like, this is God's country right now. So, She's She's wanting to retire on the beach.

I mean, uh, we we do have several things going on this week. Most importantly, this week is a fall festival. Um, we're excited about that. Supposed to clear up, right? Rain's supposed to clear up. It's going to be cold. Thank God. Who wants a fall festival that it's hot at, right? Freezing weather. frigid weather, it's gonna gonna get pneumonia. That's what my grandma would say. Uh she she would call it punia, but that's that's a different it's a different dialect than here. So, uh, well, class, I appreciate the opportunity to teach and in in front of you guys that I know that some of you, uh, y'all y'all read the Bible through 14 times before I was ever a twinkle in my daddy's eye.

You know, y'all read probably a hundred times before. Uh, but it is such an honor to be able to to teach to you guys. Um, specifically this this month, I've talked about the priesthood. Um, I tried to to I tried to do a divide between what I taught about Wednesdays and what I preached about on Sundays, but invariably it just kind of together a little bit. I ain't going to lie. Like even in my study, I'm like, I'm it just kept coming together. And so, uh, this this month though, uh, we talked the first the first, uh, first Wednesday night, we talked about the history of the priesthood.

Uh, very, uh, how do you say it? Laborious and maybe even a little boring. It was just it was history lesson. uh in that I my my greatest I will say the my greatest takeaway of that was was that every civilization has a um has a some sort of priesthood to it. My thoughts along those lines are that the priesthood is is there to translate values across generations, whatever that culture's values are. because it's really hard to properly communicate generation to generation reference point, right? My grandpa grew up on the farm and I know I sound like I did, but like he grew up he knows how to plow with mules.

I just know how to ride mules. That's, you know, so there's there's something lost in translation. And then AG here, I I don't know that he's going to know where I grew up. And I grew up in the backwoods of nowhere. Now, we live a little bit in the country, but it's it's still not the same. Uh and and so our experiences shape our values, but if you have that across the board in America, we have 350 million people. Um, it's really hard to have a shared experience. Even Even those of us that remember 911, that's a shared experience.

But Carly, were you even born by 911? She was not. So, it's like, well, all right. What about what what happened on December 7th, 1941? Pearl Harbor. The only one of us that would have actually remembered that would maybe be Sister Ethel, who's 89 as of last week, and she's not in here. It's really hard to translate uh or communicate values across generations because the point of reference is just it's hard. It's wild. Um but I do believe the role of the priesthood is to do that is to synthesize that down. I think that's in a very that's in a very um academic way to put it if if I may.

That's a very secular way to look at it, but it's also very practical. Bri, I'm sorry. We're so glad you're here tonight. She just felt like we wasn't seeing her is what it was. I'm just kidding. Picking on Bri. Uh that's that's just that's one way to look at it. But if you if you think about it practically, that's that's why there is a priesthood now. A preacher is is more than just someone that snots and yells and screams and hollers and stomps. There there's someone that that does their best to convey and interpret the word of God and apply it across generations.

Because I'll just I'll just tell you, my grandma be like over here, she'd be washing dishes and be like, "Oh, glory Lord Jesus." this. I'm like, I ain't get nothing out of that. Now I'm scared. What did I do wrong? You know, like that's what my grandma does. But my wife just was like, why are there so many dishes? She throws she throws them at me. No, she doesn't do that. It it there's, you know, it there's there's some there's a different point of perspective for them because there's a different time. There's a different thing.

And so trying to figure out where and how to apply the word across generations is incredibly hard. Then we get into the establishing of the Levites of the the Exodus, the dress, the person, the cleansing, a lot of their dress. And and I I had those guys put up a a picture. It was it was a terrible looking picture. It wasn't their fault. It's just we stopped. I think we stopped. imagining like actual pictures of what the dress of a a priesthood would look like in 1974. None of them progressed past like something that looked like it was made past 74.

It just they were all terrible. All right. Got a couple of y'all that that know what I'm talking about. It just looked goofy. Um but a big part of their wardrobe was was to cover themselves. In reality, when you look at it, the only thing you really kind of saw was like right here, like maybe. And a lot of that had to do with they carried they carried the names. One one thing that was very they they carried holiness to the Lord on their head and their thoughts and they carried the names of the people and the judgment of God over their heart.

You know, you got to you got to be that's a weighty matter being a priest. It's it's a weighty thing to carry the judgment. And if you don't think so, um, try it out sometime because it if if you give advice and it's wrong, who's that on? If you present the word wrongly, divide the word wrongly, who's that on? Uh, and and so there's there's a lot that goes into that that there was the covenant that God laid out and God was very explicit about how they should go about things. uh you couldn't present uh you couldn't present strange fire.

You couldn't you you had to had to go through and and be right before the Lord. You had to present a right sacrifice. And then we looked at uh the sons of Aaron, the delineation of the duties of the of the priesthood. Uh the different the we had a lot of reading that week. The next week it was the roles and responsibilities. Uh a lot of reading. You guys were so kind to help me in that reading. But how the sons of Kohath lived on one side, the sons of Gershon lived on the other. Uh of Maria Maria, I know.

And it was so I was so glad that y'all helped me read those because they were really hard to pronounce. Anyway, uh and all these they they they had different duties. They had different roles and they they lived in different spots around uh around the actual sanctuary. Uh the holiness of the priest, the the offerings to God. And then last week we talked about the legitimacy of the priests of why God established it the way he established it. Uh we got we talked through and we got I talked a lot on my favorite character I think one of my favorite I should say of Melazdc.

Just an interesting topic in the Bible from my perspective. Uh we we run across him in in Genesis chapter 14. Abraham paid tithes to him established a tenth a tithe. um not just a first fruit but then we we started looking at and seeing that somehow or another that ran deeper than just the establishing of tithes. It was Melzdc was both king and high priest of the Lord most high. And we find that that in in Hebrews that the writer of Hebrews addressing a crowd of Hebrews. So he's he is defending he's he's defending the faith to Hebrews.

So he's using things that they would understand um the perspective. That's why Romans it was it was to the Romans and the way the arguments the the the way the scripture was laid out is different because it's to people with a different perspective. Now that means that sometimes a lot of that backstory we have to learn because we want to understand we want to contextualize the word of God. It sounds very simple but it's it's very important. We we don't just take the word of God and apply it to our life right now without some sort of context.

I'm telling you, Ag, what'd you do that for? He didn't do that. You're all right. In in in Hebrews chapter 7, I want to read through this just to to well, I want to I want to start with something else. I'm sorry. I want to start with Acts chapter 2:36. This these are these are areas that I ended with last month, but I want or last week, but I want to go through and I want us to dig into this just a little bit because I want to delineate a little bit a little bit more specifically what it is to be a king and a high priest.

Uh, Acts chapter 2:36, let all the house of Israel know therefore for certain that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. I I was I wondered why he used both Lord and Christ. Why why those two different delineations of thought there of those are descriptors those are those are two offices uh that Jesus was fulfilling why when he is speaking to Jews on the day of Pentecost Peter is is saying it why did he say both Lord and Christ so I've I've done a little bit of digging Lord uh there's the the Greek word for that if you can speak Greek I can't it's it's God only knows those all right but it's a form of do dominus or dominion is is the Greek word in there uh it's of divine beings uh generally refers to God whereas the Lord refers to Jesus the Messiah in this sense the word connotates that the divine beings are absolute rulers kings of the whole world and that we are their slaves or subjects and as the term is also applied to oriental sovereigns and to the Roman emperors particularly particularly frequent in Neero's case in the same sense or in that same time frame the f it focuses on the deadly rivalry between the two powers if you reference acts 26 and 20 or 25 and 26 but it it's Lord is the divine it's God it's it's it's it's giving divine connotations to Jesus this is to a group of people that would not have understood that, right?

This is on the day of Pentecost. He is Peter is up preaching this for the first time and he's saying he is both Lord and Christ. Well, Christ is just a is that is just a Greek word for Messiah. The Hebrew word Messiah uh that was used in in Abrahamic religions. A messiah or a Messius is a savior savior or a liberator of a group of people. Um it originates in Judaism and in the Hebrew Bible in which the ma the Messiah is a high priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. So he is both king and high priest.

He didn't say it here like that, but the context of in in the in the word Messiah and mess messianic came about in in between um as far as like in that actual word that was that was in some of the uh that was used in the culture. It wasn't necessarily used in the Old Testament. It was it was a cultural saying. And so he's speaking to them in their own language, in their own culture. Uh kind of like uh I'm going to get in trouble if I try to use pop culture, aren't I? Yeah.

I'm just going to mess up. Um what was what was something what was something that uh they said back in the 70s, pastor? Groovy. What is it? Steady. Copathetic. Cool. Groovy cool. So Jesus was both groovy and cool. Okay. Maybe maybe not deep enough for that. Okay. Uh he was he was speaking to them in their terms. He's fulfilling the idea that they had that Christ that the Christ the the anointed one the high priest is also a divine king. Now this this this follows through if you go to the writer of Hebrews chapter 7 verse 11 it said and and I'll go through verse 11 through 28 here.

He said now if the perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood for under it the people received the law what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melzdc rather than one named after the order of Aaron. Remember he is writing to a people that understand the establishment of the priesthood. For when there is a change in priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. Uh there's there's some history there. There were certain things that were established for the life of the high priest. the city of and I'm I'm pulling from memory here so if I'm a little off forgive me but the city of refuge you had to stay in the city of refuge until that high priest died.

I am fairly certain like there's there's some there's some things that were laid out that were tied to the high priest's life. Well, this is he said there's a necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah in connection with the tribe of Moses with that tribe. Moses said nothing about priest. This become even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melzdc.

Who ha who has become a priest not on the basis of legal requirements concerning bodily descent but by the power of an indust indestructible life. for it is witness of him. You are a priest forever after the order of Melazdc. For on one hand a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. For if it was not without an oath for those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath.

but is with a it was this one was made a priest with an oath by one who said to him the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guaranter of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number because they they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he who holds his priestly per this his priesthood permanently continue because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

He was indeed fitting that we should have it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no lead need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. Since he did this once and for all, he offered of himself up. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priest, but the word of the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who is made who is made perfect forever.

He is the like those high priests, but he is a high priest of his own kind. There was that delineation of these guys are serving. They're they're giving the sacrifice. They are doing that's they are serving people as we've been studying the high priest. In in Samuel in Samuel chapter 8 verse 10, we wonder what what does a king do? Because there's this side we've been studying is the priestly side, but what's the kingship side? This was this to this came to mind because it was to me a very fitting descriptor. Uh Samuel, if Samuel 8 uh and 10, I believe it's 1st Samuel.

So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who are asking for a king from him. And he said there will be all these will be the ways of the king who reigns over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and be his horsemen to run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands, commanders of 50s, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest to make his implements of war and his equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perform per perfumemers and cooks and bakers.

He will he will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and your female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flock and you shall be his slaves. This is Samuel maybe somewhat angrily and bitterly telling what the king would do. But the king would establish some things, right?

If you look if you look at what if you look at what uh Saul did, he established order. He he was an incredible man. He took he took a tribe, a tribal nation, and turned them into a nation. He established some order. He established an army. He estab a a standing army of some sort. He established some things that uh uh some taxes and some laws and some unity that when they went out to fight, they they had someone to fight with because at that point they had no one to fight with, nothing to fight with.

They had already given up their swords. They'd already given up their blacksmiths. They they had no infrastructure for fighting. He established some things. Now, he took some things and this was this was their this was their perspective of what a king would do. So, Samuel would like I've been a priest. If I may, he we we get in our minds and maybe that's just especially if we have a Catholic background, there's and and not just to them, but because we'd still call them priest, there is some passivity about a priestly role. We don't expect a priestly role to be there there is there's a there is there is bi there's a biblical form of this right it's it's the pastor it's the one that that guides the herd it doesn't you know sheep sheep don't have to you know they don't have to be led violently so that can be interpreted passively but if he's a king and a high or if he's a high priest and a king that means a king is not passive.

A passive king is a bad king. A king has to establish his domain. When when Saul established the the kingdom, he he had to fight some battles. He had to push people out of their comfort zones. You could reread that whole section of verses there in 1 Samuel. You could reread that and depending on your perspective, it could be positive. He's going to take these things and he's going to put them to use. He's going to take these things and he's going to put them to use for us all. It said for his, but he's our king.

We're setting him up. There's in that sense though, we we look at Jesus and and we look at how a king and a high priest, a king challenges and pushes. They just they just do like that's just the nature of how a king is supposed to operate. They're supposed to challenge and to push and a high priest is supposed to care for. So if he is both a king and a high priest, he then I get to bring this thing in. It's really fun. If he's both a king and a high priest, let's see. Then then he can go through and how many of you guys like quadrants?

This is a This is a This is a graph. All right. Like an X and Y axis. Oh no. What happened to it? Hey. Hey. It's the first time using this. All right, Bri. There we go. All right. So, if if I may, this is this is quadrant one. All right. It's the right thing the right way. All right. This is the right thing the wrong way. All right. Let me Let me just spell that out. That doesn't help, does it? Y'all can't read my handwriting, can you? Right thing the right way. All right. This is the wrong thing.

The wrong way. This is This is two wrongs don't make a right. And this is the This is Let's see. Let's see. the right thing, wrong way. Wrong thing the right way. Does that make sense? So, a king would say, "Let's go to battle. Let's let's do whatever we've got to do. Let's let's let's knock this out. Let's accomplish this goal." However you do it, I don't care. As long as it's accomplished, right? So that's the right thing the right way or the right thing the wrong way. Doesn't matter. High priest says, "Well, you need to do the right thing." What if you do it the wrong way?

I don't know, but it needs to be the right. The goal, a king sets a goal, and it's it's up here. The high priest says it's got to be the right thing the right way and it's got to be going directional and it's got to marry those those two things the right things and the right way have to be married. That that means for example if if our life of doing good and right things has to be accompanied by a right spirit and a right attitude. So the right thing and the right motive. Not the wrong thing and the wrong motive.

Not the wrong thing and the wrong right motive. Not the wrong thing and the right motive. Not the right motive and the wrong thing. It's got to be the right thing and the right motive. There there there was a reason that that that Christ was the fulfillment of of the high priest and the kingship. John 14 and 12 says, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than he than these will he do, because I am going to the father." What's that greater do to you?

It pushes you out. You mean I'm going to do greater things than Jesus? Okay. Well, if he's just the king, then that means we're going to conquer a world. You know, it very interestingly, um, Acts one, the disciples came to him. They said, they asked him, they said, Acts 1 and six, so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he just essentially ignored them because they were they were after the the right thing with the wrong motive. early early early Jews even still uh the the the Jewish the Jewish tradition their biggest issue with Jesus as the Messiah as the Messiah was that he didn't establish peace in all the world.

They were they were looking they were looking for someone to establish peace with a strong hand. They were looking for someone to come in and just wipe the world out and say, "This is just peace now because there's no one here. Killed everyone." That wasn't it. He was the prince of peace because he was the combination of being a king and a high priest. So that meant he dealt not with just everyone and everything he dealt with inside. And then he called us to do greater things. So where does he where do you think he looks when he calls us to do greater in in first Peter 2:9 but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

You're a royal priesthood. So we are now a priesthood of believers. We are now a people that are not just called to be passive priests. We're not a people that are called to be passive Christians. We are not a people that are called to be passive in any sort of our life. We're called to be proactive with the right motive and the right thing. The thing is with with I I I I I was like I said these my my preaching and my teaching kind of got a little conflated this month and I tried not to but but Sunday I was talking about the call to giving.

The whole purpose of the call to giving is not that we we are giving of our pocketbook. It's with how we think. It's with how we do. It's within with our intent. It's if if if I am making a decision, if I am going to college, my my purpose for going to college is not just to get a degree. It's to further something for the kingdom. If I am taking a job, it's not just to take a job because I think I'm going to make a little more money. It's to further something for the kingdom to position.

And if we frame our lives in that in that manner, God will bless it. If we frame I I I promise you if we frame our lives to the point God I am doing this as giving unto you whatever it is and we do that with the right way and the right motive God will change the outcome of every situation we can imagine it it I I I wished I wished I I knew how because it'd be a lot easier. here. I I promise you, I wished I did, but I will tell you, I would not be sitting here today had I not made some some God, not because I was perfect, but there were some key decisions I made that God ordained.

Can I tell you, I chose I I listen, this was me, okay? And and God blessed it. And I and I am giving God all the credit for this. I grew up in church. And I was like, I was 18, fing to graduate high school, like trying to figure out if I was going to go to college or not. And finally, I was like, "Sure." And they're like, "What's your going to be your major?" I did no research. I'm your cl I was your classic 18-year-old boy. Like, I didn't know. I barely graduated high school.

Like, I wouldn't I wouldn't even been in the yearbook had my sister not like filled out the form and stuff for me, right? I mean, that's just that's just realities of it. They're like, "Hey, you need to fill this." I I She did it. I didn't even know she did it. So, here I am. And I decided, they were like, "What are you going to do?" And I said, "You know what? I don't know a single church that that has too many problems or knows too much about finance." And so, I was like, I'm just going to go with finance because I don't know the first thing about it.

And, you know, I still don't know a whole lot about finance, but I know a little bit. out of that God. Every step I took, every step I took, God I I guys, I I when I tell you there was one internship in the area, small area, one internship, one conversation that I had that God allowed for that door to open. I didn't arrange that. I didn't even know. But God gave me a job that I couldn't even imagine. I mean, God God and then gave me a career out of that that allows me, if I may, allows me to to be here tonight.

Like, God was very kind to me. And and and I I give all glory and honor to that. It wasn't because I was a good student. I love learning, but I'm not a great student. I get distracted really easily. But God was so kind to me. Not. And and I I I take it back to that moment of God, as dumb as ignorant as that sounds, of I don't know anything about this and I don't know any church that, but you know what? If that's something I can learn about and I can help churches learn about, then that's what I'm going to do.

Now, guess what? I don't work in church finance, but it opened the door for me to work in other areas that I work in the church in and I have helped churches in because God made a way. I I if I may, I decided then that I am going to do my best. I'm going to purpose my life, my decisions. They're going to be wrapped up in that. When when we do that, it doesn't mean that we're not going to be corrected by God. But you know what it does? In Luke chapter 16 and verse 10, Jesus says, "One who is faithful over very little is al is also faithful over much." One who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.

Verse 11, if you've not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, or a different translation might put it as in like worldly wealth in in your job wealth, who will entrust you to true riches? And if you've not been faithful with that which is anothers, who will give you to that which is your own? If you can't be a good steward of what God has blessed you with, how in the world can he trust you with things in the kingdom? How can he do that? Right? We're just stewards. God's blessed us. That's what a tithe and and I it a tithe is a very easy is a very easy example of this.

That's why I keep bringing it up. But God's given us a living. We're just stewards of it. How do we make sure that we are giving him his proper due? How do we make sure I'm going to I'm going to touch on this, but with our time, our talent, and our treasure, how do we make sure in in this here's here's something for you. Now, this thing's this thing's really cool. If you can get it to if you can figure out how to work it. It's a white board, right? So, all right. All right. Y'all see this triangle now?

Time talent. How about this? How about we change that time energy? There we go. Energy and money. Y'all with me? time, energy, and money. Now, my wife taught this to the hyphen here a little while back, and I'm borrowing it tonight because, well, she's a good teacher. So, time, energy, and money. There we go. When you're 18 to 20 or 18 to 30, what have you got a lot of time of? Or what do you what are you talking about? What have you got a lot of money? Anna, can you testify? You got a 18 to You got a lot of time and a lot of energy.

I mean, I told my wife the other day, she was like, we were she was tired. She she works. She's got a little kid. All this maybe I think it was her. I was like, well, I was like, you were actually supposed to have six kids by now, you know, and you know, a few years ago, so you've got enough energy. You're good. In reality, that was I mean, 30, you would have had 10 kids. I mean, my great grandma was like, "Good Lord." Everybody's great grandma because we're all related because they had so many kids, y'all.

I mean, Lord Jesus. When you when you get 30 to 50, what do you have? You got a you got a good bit of energy and you're starting to get a little money. Still got a lot of energy. Little money maybe. And then when you get a little older, you hit your golden years. You get you got a lot of time, little money, but you ain't got no energy. You're like, "Let's go on a trip." Nah. Am I wrong? You're right. Got I got a I got a good sprinkling of each generation in here tonight.

Uh I I I'm I'm driving around. We were driving to church today and I was like, man, babe, I was like, I really just want to go. I just want to go somewhere. I'm dying. I just need to go. I just need to drive somewhere. Love driving, but guess what? I don't have the time. My wife's supposed to have six kids. I ain't got the time. So, and and I'm still I'm still in that ain't hardly I haven't hardly made it to that 30 yet. So, I'm still running a little low on that money. I got the energy.

I just need to go somewhere. But maybe I just need to circle a couple of these then. Yeah, God doesn't ask all of these from us all the time. He doesn't ask everything from us all the time. The reason I I I use those ages, those are adults, adult ages. But when we get to when we get to looking at life at different stages, God's going to ask different things of us. Our our time, energy, and money or talent or treasure. Those we usually have about two of those at I in in the hyphen class.

We we so we so press them because guess what? They've got a lot of energy and time and ideas and they're I don't have a lot of time. It's like trust me. You do. Trust me. You You slept in any day you wanted to this week, didn't you? Well, maybe. Okay. You got a lot of time. That's fair. And you got a lot of ideas and energy. Guess what the church needs from you as a hyphen? Need a lot of your time, a lot of your energy. Guess what God needs from you? Because this is the time that you learn.

This is the time that you invest that when you get you get 30 to 50 and you've got some money but you don't have a lot of time and you've got some energy but you don't have a lot of time because it's spread thin then you've invested in relationships and you're not just doing your training. You've got people that are 18 to 30 that have a little more time than you do and that they can they can move it while you're trying to provide for your family or you're trying to spend some quality time for your family.

There's some balance there. And then as we get older, right, we get a we get a little more money, a little more time. But I haven't seen anyone over 50 volunteering to just hop on the roof and clean out the gutters. He vol pastor volunteered and then he was like, "Hey, will you go clean out the gutters?" Wisdom. Wisdom. That's But as the priesthood of believers, God is calling us to do greater. That means it looks different. at different times but it still is required of us. Do you know Luke 2 that Jesus calls him a good soldier?

He says you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. you have and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust to faithful men who who will be able to teach others also. Hang on, I got the wrong verse there. It's not Luke 2. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, whoever's running propresenter. That is uh Oh, Lord. What's that verse? I I got my I got my notes messed up there. uh that is uh Ephesians Philippians 2 I apologize Philippians 2 and verse one it says and you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses Paul is writing this here of me entrust to faithful men and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also that's that's a challenge to teach others also.

How many's ever tried to teach someone something? How many's ever been frustrated? Yeah, it's hard. Now you know why your teachers were like, "Man, I can't wait for summer." But he said, "Who will be able to teach others also?" So, what does that mean? That means we should be ones that also teach. He said share verse three share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he comp he competes according to the rules.

It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say for the Lord will give you understanding everything. He's just telling them, you got you got to work hard if you're going to be a priesthood of believers. If you're going to if you're going to I am and I'm I'm closing with this. If you're if we are going to be a priesthood of believers that is part of a priesthood that is both what? He's both high priest and king. We we cannot afford to be passive. We cannot afford to say, "Well, the Lord love him." We cannot afford to say, "Well, the world's just going to hell in a hand basket." We can't.

We have to be active. We have to be We have to be Christian activists, so to speak. We have to be very intentional with everything we do, with every job we take, with every word we say, with every interaction we have. We have to think even in those bad ones, man, how can I make this right? Well, why would I do that? That hurts my pride. They were wrong, maybe. So, how can I? That's that's because the high priest is dealing with what? He's dealing with the right the right motive. The king's dealing with the right thing.

The high priest is dealing with the right motive. So, we get them right and we'll be we'll be the priesthood of believers. There was there was a couple disciples that I've seen I've seen and young guys are are a lot of like this, right? You ever you ever if you were a guy and you were on fire for God, you're like, "Right, AG that's a young young guys have been around. They they uh let's just conquer the world, you know, got all that testosterone running through them. Like, okay, guys, come on. The disciples were like this.

They they they said Jesus in in Luke nine, Jesus was in a he was at a Samaritan village and they did they shunned him. They kicked him out. And the disciples said, John, James and John said, 'Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? They're like, we're going to kill them all. It's like, dude, you can't even can't even cast out a demon. Who's calling down fire? You know, like, but they were ready. And Jesus was like, dude, no. He rebuked them. It's like, you're missing the whole point.

And then they went to a different village. Missed the whole point. So, it can't be just the right thing. It's got to be the right motive. There's there's so many examples of that in the Bible. But I will say this, the great commission sums up Jesus's whole uh whole piece. He said, "And Jesus came to them said and said to them, Matthew 28:18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19. Go therefore. That's what the king does. He says, "Go." As the priesthood of believers, that's our job. We're not to be passive.

We're not to be play paddic. We're not to all any of that. We're to be active, intentional Christians. We're not calling fire down. We've got to have the right motive. Got to have the right love, but we've got to have the right actions. Would you stand with me tonight? Jesus, God, I thank you so much for your kindness, your goodness, and your mercy and to us. God, you have you've been so so good to us. God, I thank you, Lord, for as we have walked through this study, as we've walked through this this learning of of the of the priesthood.

God, I pray, Lord, that that you have you have helped us. God, I pray, Lord, that you've helped me to rightly divide the word of truth. But God, I pray Lord that you would help us as the priesthood of believers, as the church, the active body of Christ, God, that you would help us, God, to do the right thing, the right way in the with the right motives. God, I pray, Lord, that you would direct us and you would guide us. God, I pray, Lord, that you would help us to to conform our minds not to what we would have done, not to our will, but to your will, Lord.

That we would conform our ways of doing. We would give ourselves fully to you, God. that you would direct us, you would guide us, God. Help us, God, as we as we are the church in Chattanooga, as we are the church to carrying carrying the gospel into the world, God, that you would help us to establish ourselves firmly in you, God, upon the solid foundation of your word, God. I pray, Lord, that you would direct us, you would guide us, God. Help us, God, to be to be the priesthood of believers, holy separated unto you, God, that we may do your most reasonable service.

Jesus, we thank you. And God, we praise you. And the church said,