December 14 Dt 18:1-8 Fifth Commandment (Part Three): The Priesthood of Believers

You've heard of the priesthood of all believers.

But what does it mean?

What does it mean that YOU are a priest?

At the most basic level,

a priest is someone who receives the blessings of God and gives them to others;

a priest is someone who enters God's presence on behalf of others,

and mediates between God and man.

And so for YOU to be a priest,

means for YOU to be in Christ, who is our Great High Priest.

In Exodus 19, before God had instituted the priesthood,

He spoke these words--Exodus 19:4-6

"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians,

and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.

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.

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

So Israel--as a body--was to be a kingdom of priests!

They were to be a holy nation,

one which would receive God's blessings,

and give them to the Gentiles.

The priesthood of all believers is an Old Testament idea.

And when Peter explains it in 1 Peter 2, he draws on the OT--quoting from Isaiah, the Psalms, and Exodus:

Turn to 1 Peter 2:4-10 (read)

You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

You are what Israel was supposed to be.

You are what Israel failed to be.

God has called you to proclaim his praises

--for you have been called out of darkness into light!

But what are you supposed to do with this mercy?

Read vv11-12

You are to demonstrate by your lives and by your conduct,

that you are holy--that you are called out and separate from the world.

Just as Israel was to be unique--different from the nations around them

--a kingdom of priests,

So also you are called to be unique--different from the people around you--

--a kingdom of priests.

Those who have received God's mercy,

are to live by that mercy,

and in turn show mercy to others.

But if the priesthood of all believers is an OT idea,

what will keep us from failing in the same way that Israel did?

After all,

we are sinners!

If priests are supposed to live holy lives,

receiving the blessings of God and giving them to others,

what will happen to us?

How often have you been a curse to others rather than a blessing?

How often have you been selfish and lustful,

rather than humble and loving?

How often have you placed your own selfish interests ahead of the interests of others?

Children, when was the last time your sister or brother took the toy you were playing with?

Why did they take it?

Was it because they were being selfish?

Probably.

But were you being selfish too?

Were you thinking of how to share the toy with them?

Or did you want it all to yourself?

If God has blessed you with good things,

then you should want to bless your brothers and sisters with good things too.

But how can we do this?

Only by the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

So let's look at what it means to be a priest:

first, from the priesthood in the OT,

and second, from Jesus Christ, the great High Priest

and then we'll see what it means for us to be priests.

Deuteronomy 18 tells us that the priests and Levites were not to have a separate inheritance;

they were placed in perpetual exile,

with no land of their own,

as a reminder to the Israelites that they were dependent upon God.

The firstfruits of the harvest, and of the flock

were to be given to the priests and Levites,

as God's representatives.

We saw in chapter 15 that the firstfruits were to be given to God.

Here Moses explains that when you come to offer your sacrifice,

you shall give the first portion of the sacrifice to the priests and Levites.

Why?

18:5--"For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes

to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever."

While the priests were all to remain with the tabernacle--and later the temple,

the Levites were scattered throughout the land of Israel.

Who were the Levites?

The tribe of Levi.

Aaron and his descendents were the priests,

but all of the tribe of Levi was set apart by God to minister before the Lord.

But what did the priests and Levites do?

FIRST they offered sacrifices

1) Only the sons of Aaron could do this.

Only the priests could enter the presence of God in the Holy Place.

Leviticus is something of a manual for priests.

It tells them how to offer the various sacrifices,

how to distinguish between what is clean and unclean,

and what it means to be Holy before God.

The sacrifices were crucial because of sin.

You see,

God hates sin.

God cannot tolerate your sin in his presence.

Yet he calls you to come to him.

How can God allow sinners like you and me in his presence?

Our sin must first be removed.

The sacrifices in the OT--could they remove sin?

yes and no.

No--in themselves they were weak and powerless.

Like everything Moses gave the Israelites,

they could not save based on their own power.

But according to Jesus, in Luke 24,

the whole point of the OT was to teach the Israelites about HIM.

So the sacrifices of the OT COULD remove sin,

if the people believed in the Promised Messiah.

It's sort of like baptism.

Can baptism remove sin?

No! Not in itself.

But Acts 22:16 says "Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins,

calling on the name of the Lord."

Baptism can only wash away sins if the people believe in the Messiah.

So the sacrifices were essential,

because without the shedding of blood, there IS no forgiveness of sins.

If the people didn't offer the sacrifices, then they would be condemned.

But the sacrifices by themselves did not have the power to save.

2) But in Christ we have a sacrifice which in ITSELF does have the power to save.

How does Luke open his gospel?

Luke 1:5-17

The coming of Christ was FIRST proclaimed to a priest

as he was offering incense in the temple.

Fitting isn't it?

The priests were those who offered sacrifices for sin,

and the tidings of the final sacrifice were first revealed to a priest.

And then at the end of Luke 1:67-79 we hear of another priest:

Zacharias, when his tongue was finally loosed,

was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: (read)

Zacharias prophesies of his son John,

that John was to be a prophet who would prepare the way for the final sacrifice

Don't forget--John was the son of a priest.

That means that John the Baptist WAS a priest.

Perhaps he never offered any sacrifices,

but he was a priest of the line of Aaron,

who went before Christ.

But Christ was not of the line of Aaron!

How could he become the great High Priest?

Hebrews 5 explains the nature of the priesthood (read)

and then skipping over to chapter 7...(read 7:1-19)

The problem was that the Levitical priesthood was incapable of removing our sins.

But Psalm 110 had prophesied that a new priesthood would be established,

the order of Melchisadek!

The priesthood of Aaron was weak and unprofitable.

It could not save.

Because the Law has no power to save in itself.

It can only point us to Christ.

And through many pictures it shows forth the final sacrifice of Christ.

Hebrews 9:11-15 tells us about Christ's sacrifice. (read)

There are two temples--the earthly and the heavenly.

All the earthly sacrifices were pictures of the heavenly sacrifice--namely, Christ's.

(read 22-28)

Christ's sacrifice fulfilled all the OT sacrifices.

His suffering--once for all--provided the atonement for our sins.

3) How do you partake of that sacrifice?

We partake of that sacrifice though the blood of Christ,

As Hebrews 10:19-25 says: (read)

We enter the Most Holy Place IN CHRIST.

We draw near in full assurance of faith,

our hearts sprinkled by the blood of Christ,

our bodies washed with the pure water of baptism,

We now draw near in worship to God through our High Priest.

But if you reject that sacrifice--

if you who have heard the gospel sin willfully against God,

what will happen to you?

Heb. 10:26-31

To reject Christ's sacrifice,

to trample the blood of the covenant underfoot,

this will bring God's judgment.

Hebrews concludes with a clear statement that the OT priesthood is finished.

(Heb 13:10-15)

We have a new altar.

No longer do we sacrifice animals.

No--our altar is not a bloody altar.

We eat from the heavenly altar--not from the earthly one!

You see, in the OT, after the animal was slain,

the meat would be brought to the family,

and they would partake together.

Christ was slain once for all.

And so in the Lord's Supper, Christ is brought to his family--to us,

and we partake together of the heavenly altar.

So rather than offering bloody sacrifices,

We offer the sacrifice of praise.

v15 explains this as the fruit of our lips--our songs of thanksgiving and praise.

Our sacrifices are merely the fruit of Christ's sacrifice,

the results of what He has done in our lives.

So the primary function of the Priest is to offer sacrifices and to preside at the altar;

but SECOND--they also blessed the people

1) Priests--Numbers 6:22-27 explains that the priests were to bless the people:

"And the Lord said to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying:

"This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:

"The Lord bless you and keep you:

The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,

And give you peace."

"So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.""

In blessing the people, the priest would place the Name of the Lord on his people.

2) And that is what Christ does for us.

Remember that Heb 7 emphasized the blessing aspect of Melchisadek's priesthood?

We are told that Melchisadek blessed Abraham,

which meant that Melchisadek is greater than Abraham.

And the author even points out in v5 that the Levitical priesthood

must then also be lesser than that of Melchisadek,

because the sons of Levi were still in the loins of Abraham at the time!

So when Abraham pays the tithe to Melchisadek,

God is demonstrating that Aaron's priesthood is lower than Melchisadek's!

And so Christ is a greater priest than Aaron;

and even so, his blessing is greater than Aaron's blessing.

Remember what Paul says in Eph 1:3,

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing

in the heavenly places in Christ"

Do you hear the priestly language?

Christ has entered the heavenly temple and poured out every spiritual blessing.

We, who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world,

have been chosen.....for what?

to be "holy and without blame"--v4

Just like the sacrifices were to be without blame,

so now we are without blame.

Just as God had called Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,

so now God has chosen us to be a holy people.

Christ has received all spiritual blessings from the Father,

and so now he has poured them out on his people.

Because that is what a priest does

--he receives blessings from God and gives them to others.

3) We receive His Blessing through pastors today

We see the apostles throughout the NT blessing the people of God.

At the end of virtually every letter you hear them blessing the people.

But remember what a blessing is?

Numbers 6 says that a blessing is receiving the name of God.

You see,

a blessing is more than just words,

otherwise it would be no different than preaching.

A blessing is the communication of God's great covenant blessing

from God's appointed messenger.

When I bless you at the end of every service,

I am placing God's name upon you.

I am declaring God's blesssing, and giving it to you.

So that you may go throughout your week,

with the confidence that God's name--the name of Christ--is upon you.

You remember that baptism is a very similar thing.

We are baptized into the NAME of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Mt 28)

We are baptized into the NAME of Christ. (Acts 2)

In our baptism, God places his name upon us.

And every week, that baptism is confirmed.

Every week, God's blessing is renewed.

Every Sunday, you receive God's name stamped on your forehead,

sealed to your heart.

In the benediction,

I receive God's blessing through His Word,

and I give it to you.

Now, parents,

think about what it means to bless your children.

We are told that before the days of Moses,

fathers functioned as priests for their families.

Noah offered sacrifices to God.

Abraham blessed Isaac,

and Isaac Jacob,

and Jacob blessed his twelve sons.

Job would offer sacrifices for the sins of his children.

Christ is now our Great High Priest.

And he is the One who blesses us and our children,

but we are the instruments of that blessing.

And just as I declare Christ's blessing to the congregation,

you are to declare Christ's blessing to your children.

So we've seen the two main functions of a priest:

to offer sacrifices to God, ministering at the altar;

and to bless the people.

And in conclusion, we finally come back around to Deuteronomy 18--

Just as the priests were to live from the ministry,

so also the pastor is to live from the ministry--I Cor. 9:8-14; I Tim 5:17-18

as reminders to the people of the resurrected Christ

to whom all tithes and offerings are given.

We have no hereditary priesthood.

The Levitical priesthood passed away with the death and resurrection of Christ.

We have but ONE priest--Jesus Christ,

who lives forever as a priest of the order of Melchisadek.

His sacrifice has taken away our sins, once for all.

And in him you have become a royal priesthood--a holy nation.

You are now to teach and bless one another,

giving to each other the fruits of Christ's sacrifice.

using his gifts for his glory and the good of others.

How can you do this?

Hebrews 13:10-18 tells us

1) bear the reproach of Christ (v13)

If the world hated Christ, they will hate you.

If he suffered unjustly, then so will you.

You don't have to go looking for it,

if you REALLY seek to receive Christ's blessing and give it to others,

then you will suffer!

Do you want to know Christ?

Do you want to experience the power of his resurrection?

Then be prepared to experience the fellowship of his sufferings first.

2) seek the city to come (v14)

Where is your heart?

It's real easy to get caught up in the earthly city.

You've got family to please,

events to plan,

people to see.

Where is your heart?

Are you seeking the heavenly city?

Is your first thought to please Christ?

In whatever you do,

keep repeating in your heart,

"how can I please Christ?"

"how can I give his blessings to others?"

Just Do it.

3) offer the sacrifice of praise (v15)

As a royal priesthood, offer up the sweet sound of the fruit of your lips.

Not merely in your singing,

but let your everyday talking be a sacrifice of praise.

How do you do that?

Ask yourself, "how can my words please Christ?"

"how can my chatter bring blessings to others?"

4) do good and share (v16)

God is well-pleased with such a sacrifice.

Remember what we saw a few weeks ago about the tithing of firstfruits:

the firstfruits were to go to God.

God was teaching them that obedience is costly.

obedience means giving up what you have;

because what you have belongs to God.

and if all that you have belongs to God,

then you should give the first part of your money,

of your time,

of your energy, to HIM.

Will you do that?

Will you sacrifice your time, your energy, your money,

to bless others?

Children,

will you sacrifice your toys?

will you be greedy and keep them all for yourself?

or will you take those gifts that God has given you and

use them for others?

Husbands, what about you?

will you sacrifice your time and energy to bless your wife?

what can you do that will make her life easier?

When I was in Eritrea I told husbands to help their wives with the dishes.

One of the missionary doctors pulled me aside afterwards,

and told me that I shouldn't have said that,

because in Eritrea, men DON'T DO DISHES.

But the Eritrean men, I found out, got the point.

I don't know how many actually helped with the dishes,

but they realized that blessing their wives

required a REAL sacrifice!

Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

5) obey those who rule over you (v17)

As we approach the election and ordination of elders, this is important.

We watch out for your souls because we must give an account.

And so if you are eager to learn, to grow, and to follow Christ,

then be a blessing to us--and it will be of great profit to you.

Otherwise....it causes grief not only to the elders, but to Christ as well.

6) pray for me, and for pastors everywhere (v18)

Recall Luke 1

--remember what was happening while Zacharias was offering incense?

The people were gathered outside the Holy Place, praying.

You now have the great blessing of entering the Holy Place;

indeed, together we enter the Holy of Holies in Christ.

How much more should you be praying for the one who ministers.

Even now, while I'm preaching--pray for me.

And pray for other ministers in the presbytery, and throughout the church catholic;

pray for the missionaries we hear about.

Because Christ is our Great High Priest who has offered himself once for all

as the sacrifice for our sins,

therefore let us

as a royal priesthood,

offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

Let us pray.

Benediction: Hebrews 13:20

"Now may the God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,

that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

make you complete in every good work to do his will,

working in you what is well pleasing in his sight,

through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.