The new things that have come; The Royal Ambassadorship and the Royal Priesthood. Part 1

The new things that have come;  The Royal Ambassadorship and the Royal Priesthood. Part 1.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

E. We are now ready for the fifth principle of doctrine as a part of the new things which have come that have never existed before which is the two unique royal commissions:
The Royal Ambassadorship and the Royal Priesthood.

In union with Christ, every Church-age believer belongs to the most exalted priestly order of all time.

Every believer in the Church-age is under the High Priesthood of the resurrected Jesus Christ.

Throughout the Bible a priest is a human being who represents some segment of the human race before God.

Throughout history, there are three categories of priesthood.

A. The family priesthood in which the patriarch of the family functioned as the priest for the family.

This was known as the age of the Gentiles which had a family priesthood.

The firstborn became a priest after the death of the father, as illustrated by Abraham, Job, and Melchizedek.

B. The Levitical priesthood of Israel.
This priesthood is limited to the Jewish age and the Millennium.

The age of Israel had a specialized priesthood of those who were born from the loins of Aaron and the tribe of Levi.Under this priesthood, the person could have no physical defect,
LEV 21:17-21. The spiritual function of this priesthood was related to ritual
and to the teaching the Word of God, HEB 10:1-4.

The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan which was to come.

Since the Law wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it.

Instead of removing awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over and over they actually heightened awareness and guilt.

C. The royal priesthood.
During the Church-age, Jesus Christ is our High Priest.
We are in union with Christ; therefore, we are royal priests,
1PE 2:5, 9.

As the High Priest, Jesus Christ is the minister of spiritual things, HEB 5:1.

Our legacy is Bible doctrine and as our High Priest, TLJC ministers to us through the Canon of scripture in things pertaining to God.

In previous dispensations, membership in the priesthood was severely restricted.

In the Old testament, under the Law, the priests all had to come from the tribe of Levi.
In EXO 28:4, they had to wear a breast piece, a robe, a turban and a sash.
In EXO 29:9, they had to wear headbands.

It was quite an exclusive priesthood. NUM 3:5-10.

The Church-age is unique in that the priesthood has been extended to include every believer;
1PE 2:5, REV 1:4-6; 5:10.

1PE 2:5, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1PE 2:9, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,

REV 1:4-6, John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us [Church-age believers] to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

REV 5:10, “And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
ROM 12:1, I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

The royal priesthood is the basis for the believer’s spiritual privacy in which He lives His own life before the Lord, ROM 14:4,10, 2TH 3:11-12.

ROM 14:4, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
ROM 14:10, But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.

2TH 3:11, For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
2TH 3:12, Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.

Under the royal priesthood it is important to note that the faithful intake of Bible doctrine, which is the basis for spiritual growth, is a priestly function. Spiritual growth is a result of the believer-priest’s function before God.

In the earlier priesthood’s the setting for the priest’s took place in material temples and physical altars.

However, now the setting is in God’s predesigned plan and the altar is the believer’s very own soul; HEB 13:9, Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were thus occupied were not benefited.

However, although all believers are a fully
ordained priest at the moment of salvation, his priesthood only becomes more effective as He attains spiritual growth.

For never before the Church age and never after the Rapture of the Church is there ever another universal priesthood; it is only for us in the Church-age.

In the Church-age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents himself before God, thus establishing a system of privacy.

Because he made you a priest so that you now represent yourself before Him.

As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, he offers prayer for himself, and he gives offerings to God.

Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right of assembly with other believers to learn doctrine from whomever is your right pastor-teacher in a group, where your privacy is respected.

The privacy of your priesthood permits both your positive volition toward doctrine plus the right to metabolize and apply that doctrine to your own experience.

MAT 18:15, And if your brother sins (against you) go and reprove him in private.

or as the Rieu translation says,
“Go and have it out with him privately.”

The Phillips translation says,
“is that your business, your business is to follow Me!”

2TH 3:11, For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies [violators of privacy].

2TH 2:12, Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and mind their own business."

1TI 5:13, And at the same time they [in context, certain women] also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

1PE 4:15, by no means let any of you suffer as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler [which is a busybody or one who violates the privacy of others].

The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine provision of your very own pastor-teacher, and consistent positive volition under his teaching ministry.

(a) Rebound as the basic technique for the recovery of fellowship.

(b) A consistent prayer life.

(c) Perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine to your own experience.

(d) Worship.

(e) The sacrifices of life, e.g., praise, which is your doctrinal momentum resulting in spiritual adulthood and virtue love.

(f) Divine viewpoint mental attitude from metabolized doctrine.

(g) Self-motivation from metabolized doctrine.
You have to motivate yourself; you can’t depend on someone else’s leadership.