“To Him who loves us
and has set us free from our sins by His blood and made us a Kingdom of Priests
to His God and Father – to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5b-6. The desire of
God for us after saving us is for us to be part and parcel of His Kingdom of
Priests, some versions say He made us ‘kings and Priests’ and that is who we
are! In Numbers 25:12-13, the Priesthood has attached to it a covenant of Peace
which has within it – Life! Malachi 2:5a “My
covenant was with him, one of life and peace…” This covenant is already in
place in our lives as disciples but if we walk contrary to the conditions tied
to the covenant, then we fall short of the blessings therein (life and peace).
In these times, however, the Priesthood is riddled with unprintable compromises
and lives that negate the Word of the Chief and High Priest Jesus Christ. A
purging of the Priesthood has begun even as we prepare for the Rapture of the
Saints: when Christ will appear in the clouds and we will be caught up to be
with Him forever. As Priests, God expects us to walk in a certain manner that
portrays to the world that we are His Priests. Our Priesthood is to be a light
to a dying world in order to lead it to Christ. For this reason, certain
qualities a Priest of God MUST
possess are enumerated in Malachi 2:5-7 “My
covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called
for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction
was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with Me in
peace and fairness and turned many from sin. For the lips of a priest should
guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he
is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts.” We saw these conditions fulfilled in
the life of Christ when He walked on earth as man. The Bible then tells us in
1John 2:6 that “the one who says he
remains in Him should walk just as He walked.” Let’s take a look at the
conditions once more:
1. Walking in the fear of the Lord. Since
our lives are not our own but belong to Him, we must reverence Him in all we
do. In the Scriptures, nothing Christ did that He did on His own; He kept
emphasizing that He only does and say what He sees the Father say or do. Friend,
what you say and do, who authorized you?
2. The Word of Truth in his mouth. The
Bible tells us that the mouth of the priest should keep knowledge and people
should seek the word of God from his mouth because he is a messenger of God.
This is uncompromisable! We must never forget that as a messenger of God, we
must deliver the exact word of God
and not our opinions as His Word!
3. Injustice was not found in him. It is
quite disheartening when the Priests of God occupy positions of authority and
use those same positions to oppress the people under them especially the
brethren.
4. Walk
with God in peace and equity. This simply means living good and righteous
lives in the Presence of God. “No one
born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin,
for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm,
remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is
born (begotten) of God.” 1 John 3:9.
5. He must turn many away from iniquity.
The heartbeat of a priest is to use every medium, position and resources at his
disposal to turn many away from iniquity because the life of a priest is the
living epistles that people will read.
Friend, the days of having a form of godliness and
denying the power of God in our daily lives as Disciples of Christ has gone.
This is the time to live lives that are worthy of our upward call in Christ
Jesus. God bless you.
Comments
Post a Comment