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THE SYMBOLS OF THE PRIESTHOODTo understand more fully the meaning of "YOUR" priesthood--we must look to Jesus, "the Patternman;" "no one but Christ is given US as an example. He is our true Pattern and each should strive to excel in imitating Him. (1T, 126)." And concerning "looking upon Christ"--one religious writer makes this very
important suggestion; Following that sound advice--let us look throingh the eyes of John, and behold Jesus hanging on the Cross of Calvary. But before we go to Scripture--let us answer a simple question here: Then the next question is: WERE ANY OF THOSE ATTEMPTS SUCCESSFUL prior to Calvary? And the obvious answer to that is no! Now let's turn to John 19--and see if we can determine HOW THEY TOOK THE LIFE OF CHRIST--for it HAS EVERYTHING To DO WITH OUR PRIESTHOOD! John 19:23, 24 tells us that
His two garments are in the possession of the soldiers down in front of Him. There hangs Jesus--TOTALLY EXPOSED TO THOSE STANDING THERE--with not a
garment to cover Him. "OPEN" in the Greek carries the meaning: "To Show the public"--"Exhibit a Specimen" (All parts Exposed to those looking upon Him.) But Jesus DID have something upon His body that He DID NOT come into this world with--A CROWN OF THORNS that was forced into the flesh. To get our first insight into what all this means concerning HOW THE LIFE
OF CHRIST WAS TAKEN, and what THAT means to my priesthood--we must go to a
volume on the life of Christ entitled THE DESIRE OF AGES, and look at
page 709; CLOTHING REPRESENTS CHARACTER! Rev. 19:8 "And to her (Church, cf. chapter. 12 which REALLY is speaking of "church members!) was granted that she should be arrayed (clothed) in fine linen, clean and white, FOR the fine linen IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE SAINTS." Matt. 22:11 "And when the king came in to see the guests (at the wedding), he saw there a man which had not on A WEDDING garment." (King = Christ, Wedding Garment = His name, meaning HIS CHARACTER). And what about that "crown of thorns?" Each time, Christ, then Paul, prayed 3 times that something UNDESIRABLE be removed from then. For Paul it was a "THORN"--for Christ it was a "CUP"--but unlike Paul, who must bear the results of his own sinful experience--Christ was taking something upon Himself of which He had no part--YOUR SINS AND MINE! But, represented by the "crown of thorns," our sins are forced INTO HIS BODY. Ev. 347 "A man may seem to receive the truth, but if he does not overcome his UN-CIHRISTLIKE TRAITS OF CHARACTER, THESE THORNS GROW AND STRENGTHEN . . ." Now lets put all the pieces together! As Christ walked this earth--He was fully dressed, MEANING His character fully reflected that of His Father. As such--NO ATTEMPTS UPON HIS LIFE WERE SUCCESSFUL! Now He comes down to Golgatha's hill -and His clothing (representing His character) is STRIPPED from Him, a crown of thorns (representing YOUR CHARACTER AND MINE) is FORCED into His flesh - and Rom. 6:23 tells us that "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH." THAT'S how they took the life of Christ! And TODAY, what is the message from the Cross that has to do with our
"Priesthood?" Followers of Jesus are called "Christians" today ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? What does the tern "Christian" embody or mean in a practical sense? "CHRIST-LIKE"--OR--"JUST LIKE CHRIST!" So - if someone came up to you one day and pleaded with you to show them
Jesus Christ--your response would be: Sounds much more serious when put in that light, doesn't it! But that is no stretch of the truth! In fact that is one of the reasons why Christ has not come yet--HE IS WAITING FOR HIS CHARACTER TO BE REPRODUCED IN THE MAJORITY OF HIS PEOPLE! SO--What is your message ABOUT JESUS CHRIST--to the world? What are you
trying to tell them--by your life?
Sound Serious? It is! Sound Exciting? It should be! Sound like a "fairy-tale?" It is NOT! I Peter 2:9 the "affirmation" of our calling to be "High Priest"--or "Royal Priests!" But there is more to that text than meets the eye--and to understand our calling--we must first understand WHO WE ARE--AND WHO GOD IS IN RELATIONSHIP TO US! So we will take this passage of Scripture thought by thought now--and let it bring us to an understanding that will empower us to live and work as God's high priests!
SO EVERY SINGLE FOLLOWER OF JESUS HAS THE EXACT SAME WORK To Do--BUT IT IS DONE THROUGH OUR UNIQUE PERSONALITIES! ONLY YOU CAN REACH CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE ON PLANET EARTH--WHICH SAYS TWO THINGS ABOUT YOU AND ME: 1. WE ARE KEY PEOPLE TO GOD! You may say to yoursxlf--"wxll, I'm only onx pxrson. Pro onx will noticx if I don't do my bxst." But it doxs makx a diffxrxncx bxcausx to bx xffxctivx, an organization nxxds activx participation by xvxryonx to thx bxst of his or hxr ability. So, thx nxxt time you think you arx nxt important, rxmxmbxr my old typxwritzr. YOU ARE A KXY PXRSON! 2. We need to make sure WHERE WE ARE AT, WHAT TYPE OF WORK WE ARE DOING, HOW WE UTILIZE THE TALENTS GOD HAS GIVEN US (TIME, MONEY, ETC.) TO ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSION HERE ON EARTH is according to GOD'S PLAN, NOT OURS. To be sure we ARE where God wants us to be, doing what God wants us
doing--all we have to do is answer this question when considering a change: And before we leave the subject of being "chosen by God"--there is another part of the picture that must be brought out--for Hosea 4:6 ("My people are DESTROYED for a lack of knowledge . . .") is truly fulfilled because it is not considered! And the subject begins with the answer to a simple question: But let us recap the PURPOSS for which God formed me, and, in fact,
pre-knew me. Was not all that just simply so I could be His servant? If
so--let me share with you a short scenario: Options are offered this couple--among them ABORTION, Institutional care upon birth, or, if they so desired, they could care for it at home. They choose the later--which involved carrying this "human vegetable" full term. Finally the family goes home--and a care plan is set up, and life, though different than planned, seems to be running fairly smoothly. But as this baby grows, so do the problems in caring for it. One day, in utter desperation over the complexity of meeting the demands upon them by this situation--Mother and Father fall on their knees and cry out "Lord Help Us!" Question: Has that little "human vegetable" accomplished it's purpose for being chosen by God? ABSOLUTELY! All ANY OF US are about is getting others to the Lord! NOW--before you think that I am saying God makes "human vegetables"--I want you to know that that is EXACTLY what I am saying! But let me add quickly--I do not for a minute think that God takes pleasure in their very limited capacity--but it is a truth--God Is LIMITED to what mother and father provide Him with to FORM that baby in the womb! But to say that that "human vegetable" is a mistake is saying GOD MAKES MISTAKES--or worse yet--THE BIBLE DOESN'T REALLY MEAN WHAT IT SAYS. And because of this dilema--people don't understand what is involved when abortion is completed. ABORTION IS INTERFERRING WITH GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION (again read Isa. 49:6), and if no life is in eminant danger of being lost--how dare man take God's work into his own hands. And One last thought--when abortion is performed--how many lives are affected? Mother, Father, the doctor and nurses--yes. But what about the ones that God sees who would have been influenced at some point in their lives by this person? Hosea 4:6 And that is why God said "MY PEOPLE are destroyed for a lack of knowledge . . . !" Now let us return to 1 Peter 2:9 and continue looking at this VERY
IMPORTANT TEXT! "You are . . . an holy nation!" And how do I
belong to a "holy nation?" Here's how! God wants us to bring everything we ARE, and everything we OWN to Him, and
as we do so--He assures us that HE WILL MAKE US HOLY TO HIMSELF! "SHEW FORTH PRAISES"--HOW? There are two (2) ways to do that, and ONLY two! But before we pursue that--I want to go back to our original call--Luke
9:23--and clarify a work in that text that seems to be a real problem for
Christians! Well then, you must mean for us to wait and take our vacations at the end
of the year! Maybe a 2 or three week vacation--right! "If I am NEVER OFF DUTY as a priest--THAN I am NEVER OUT OF UNIFORM as a
Priest!" The sad fact is though-- when folks plan their vacations--they usually plan them around bodies of water. And when you come to the water's edge--folks are TAKING OFF their uniforms--NOT putting them on-- AND EVEN CHRISTIANS DON'T WANT TO BE DIFFERENT! But there is something about "Biblical Priesthoods" we should know: 1 Peter 2:9 is "God's Priesthood"-- Now let's listen to what WE (CHURCH MEMBERS) ARE "SAYING" to CHRIST! (AND LET US NOT FORGET THAT "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS--AND THE SECRET THOUGHTS ARE ALL OPEN TO GOD (cf. Num. 14:28). 1. "We will eat our own bread" A.John 6:51--Jesus said He is the "Living
Bread"--so . . . 2. "We will wear our own apparel" A. Isa. 64:6 "Filthy rags" because it is apart
from Christ. And how do we know that that is what's on their minds? Listen to their
closing request (remembering this represents us TODAY!); So--how do you tell the difference between the two priesthoods? By the UNIFORM primarily! NO. ONE . . . . . . "FOUNDATION" OF UNIFORM--WHITE ROBE And--as the white robe is the foundation garment of the priest's uniform--and the foundation is what gives strength to what follows--so we will build upon the "righteousness of Christ" As REPRESENTED by the white robe! NO. TWO . . . . . . "BLUE ROBE OF THE EPHOD" And that brings us to a name that in given to those Christians who follow
the directions of God-- In contrast--a "true" Christian is one who will put on the "Blue Robe of
Obedience" BECAUSE HE (OR SHE) ALREADY ENJOYS the righteousness of Christ, and
the benefits His fellowship offers. NO. THREE . . . . . . BELLS AND POMEGRANATES A. Ezk. 3:17-19 "I have
called you to be watchmen. . . hear the words at my
mouth, and warn them FROM ME." And Just what WAS it like in the days of
Noah--and now TODAY--that would bring an end to all things? Rom. 1:22, 23 "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And CHANGED the glory of the uncorruptible God into an IMAGE MADE LIKE TO CORRUPTIBLE MAN, AND TO BIRDS, AND FOUR-FOOTED BEASTS, AND CREEPING THINGS." 3SG, 63,64 "The transgressing and fall of Adam and Eve brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, and man followed his own carnal desires, and CHANGED GOD'S ORDER. . . . They loved to destroy the lives of animals. They used them for food, and this increased their ferocity and violence, and caused then to look upon the blood of hunan beings with astonishing indifference. "BUT if there was ONE SIN ABOVE ANOTHER which called for the destruction or the race by the flood, It WAS THE BASE CRIME OF AMALGAMATION OF MAN AND BEAST which DEFACED THE IMAGE OF GOD, and canned confusion everywhere." ibid. 67 "The ark was finished exactly as God had directed. He had laid in store immense quantities of food for man and beast. And after this was accomplished, God commanded the faithful Noah, 'Come thou, and all thy house, into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me.' Angels went before these animals, . . . These beasts, from the most ferocious, down to the most gentle and harmless, peacefully and solemnly marched into the ark." ibid, 75 "Every species of animal which God had created were preserved in the ark. THE CONFUSED SPECIES WHICH GOD DID NOT CREATE, WHICH WERE THE RESULT OF AMALGAMATION, WERE DESTROYED BY TRE FLOOD. Since the flood there has been amalgamation of man and beast as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men." 4SG, 121 "There were a class of very large animals which perished at the flood. God knew that the strength of man would decrease, and these mammoth animals could not be controlled by feeble man." Letter 83, 1901 "The curse was pronounced upon the human family . . . God permitted man to eat flesh meat. This He did that life night be shortened. The punishment of death had been pronounced upon the human race, and the permission to eat flesh was one of the means used by God to inflict the punishment." 4S0, 122 "The curse did not come all at once. It was first felt at Adam's fall, and increased at the murder of Abel, and greatly increased at the flood. Since the flood, as the human family have forgotten God, and have followed in a course of disobedience, and have transgressed his commandments, the curse has rested heavier and heavier upon men and upon the beasts. The trees and all vegetation also have felt the effects of the curse." TIME Magazine, November 6, 1995: "An Early Tale" gives us a pictorial example of what is being portrayed in Scripture and by other research articles! NEXT, what was going on in the days of Lot that are being repeated TODAY? REPRINTED FROM THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD "Gay Revolutionary," Michael
Swift--(See
attached page for more.) THE CHURCH WITH AIDS, (written by Gay and Lesbian Pastors and/or Counselors) and used as a teaching manual at Harvard University, School of Divinity. pp. 62, 119 "Until the Church can love us as Christ does, BECAUSE we are Gay, and affirm that our sexuality is PART OF GOD'S PERFECT WILL FOR OUR LIVES - it will continue to participate in a culture that keeps us in un-freedom. . . . Furthermore, sinning is not tied up with one's sexuality, but with the failure to love, stemming from the desire for the ill-being of the other. Therefore, it is the CHURCH, NOT THE DIFFERENTLY ORIENTED PERSON WHO Is SINS, and the CHURCH IS CALLED FIRST TO CONFESSION." Do those sound like "Bells Ringing" to you! IF THEY DO--then, as a priest
of Jesus--you will warn the world. NOW THE POMIGRANATES--which are fruit about the size of
an apple, but containing lots of seeds. And the seeds are capsulated in
a "pod" with a sweet juice which is "wine colored." MEANING: But then comes the big question: Why are
"Promises" which are supposed to be "gifts" on the "Blue Robe of Obedience?" Example: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins (condition for receiving the promise), he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Gift!)." No. FOUR . . . . . . . . EPHOD ("DOUBLE APRON") NO. FIVE . . . . . . . . ONYX STONES ON SHOULDER NO. SIX . . . . . . . . . BREASTPLATE NO. SEVEN . . . . . . . . MITRE (HOLY CROWN)
E. Psa. 101:2-7 IF MY MIND IS "HOLY TO THE
LORD" then: F. 1 Cor. 10:31 IF MY MIND IS "HOLY TO THE LORD" then IN WHAT I EAT, WHAT I DRINK, IN ALL THAT I DO, I WILL "DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD!" Let me summarize our whole priesthood in a poem entitled: "TWAS A SHEEP" Twas a
sheep--not a lamb--that went astray And out on the hilltops, and out
in the cold, But--why should the sheep be so
carefully fed, For lambs will follow the sheep
you know! So--STILL WITH THE SHEEP we must
earnestly plead .
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