OPEN: An old lady had always wanted to travel abroad. Now that she was getting on in years, she thought she would really like to do so before she died. But until now, she’d never even been out of the country. So she began by going in person to the Passport Office and asking how long it would take to have one issued.
"You must take the loyalty oath 1st," responded the clerk. "Raise your right hand, please."
The old gal raised her right hand.
The first question: "Do you swear to defend the Constitution of the United States against all its enemies, domestic or foreign?"
The little old lady’s face paled and her voice trembled as she asked in a small voice,
"Do I have to do that... all by myself?"
APPLY: Let me introduce you to Aaron the high priest (Show picture of High Priest). Whenever people think of the priesthood they think of the High Priest. That’s because the High Priest was central to everything that took place at the Tabernacle. Thus God made it so that everything about how he dressed was distinctive.
All priests wore the white linen robe and turban, but in addition to that the High Priest wore a blue robe over their white one. At the bottom of that robe were bells and pomegranates. Over the blue robe the High Priest wore an ephod. It was like an apron that was made from red, blue and purple cloth with a gold strand running throughout.
On his shoulder were two gold plate engraved with 6 names of the tribes of Israel on each, and on his chest was a breastplate with twelve precious stones – each stone engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
Thus, the High Priest bore the nation of Israel on his shoulders and wore them over his heart.
And attached to turban (on his forehead) was a gold plate engraved with the words: “HOLY TO THE LORD”
The High Priest… was THE priest
Everything that happened at the Tabernacle revolved around him and his ministry before God.
But there were a lot of things that had to be done around the tabernacle.
1. There the daily sacrifices that had to be offered to God (9 am til 3 pm)
2. There were knives to be sharpened
3. Utensils to be cleansed
4. Wood to be cut and stacked for the fires
5. Ashes to be collected
6. Animal waste to be removed
And that doesn’t even begin to mention the labor of packing & unpacking the tabernacle every time the Israelites had to move.
Yes, the High Priest was THE priest before God, but he couldn’t begin to do all the labor required in managing and maintaining the tabernacle. And so, here in Numbers 3 God tells Moses:
"Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.” Numbers 3:6
Now what that meant was this:
Aaron and his sons did the work of the priesthood:
1. They offered up the sacrifices
2. Took care of items inside the tabernacle
They lit the lamps, burned the incense, changed the bread on the table of showbread.
But there other things that needed done and so God gave the entire tribe of Levi to Aaron to do those tasks.
For example, one family of the tribe Levi was called the Kohathites.
Their job was to take care of the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars.
When the people of Israel moved… their job was to carry those items.
Another Levitical family was known as the Gershonites.
Their job was to care for the curtains, hangings, and ropes, of the sanctuary.
The third family in the tribe of Levi were called the Merarites.
Their job was to pack and maintain the boards, bars, sockets, pillars that held the tabernacle together.
I read one commentator that noted that the Kohathites essentially carried the “important” items of the tabernacle (the ark, the altars, etc.) and thus the Gershonites and Merarites were given “less important responsibilities.”
Now, that disturbed me.
The entire tabernacle was holy unto the Lord. The entire tabernacle was to be built according to the pattern God gave Moses on the Mountain. Every board, curtain and rope was exactly according to the dimensions that God had decreed, because the ENTIRE tabernacle stood for heavenly truths – it represented in total the true tabernacle that was in Heaven.
Thus, there were NO insignificant roles in the care of the earthly tabernacle.
The entire tabernacle was holy unto God, every responsibility associated with it was valued by God.
Now, I’m sure these 3 families did other things around the tabernacle but these were their primary duties.
And the reason I’m telling you all of this is because– you need to understand that in order for things to run smoothly in the tabernacle, lots of people had to take responsibility for various activities associated with worship. Lots of people had to work behind the scenes, and each of those individuals had a job that made it possible for others to worship.
Now this is how it applies:
The High Priest is THE priest.
Without him nothing else mattered, nothing else functioned as it should.
And in the Old Testament the High Priest was either Aaron or one of his descendents.
That was in the Old Testament… but we live under the New Testament now.
Do we have a High Priest now? (Yes)
Anybody know who our High Priest is? (Jesus)
Hebrews 6:20 tells us “… Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf (into the inner sanctuary). He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
One of the major reasons Jesus came was to be our High Priest.
He came to offer the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
And now – as our High Priest - Jesus “…is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25
So, Jesus is our High Priest.
Do you think He could do everything that has to be done in worship?
Of course He could.
Who could sing better than Jesus can?
Who could preach better than He could?
He could come on down and pass out communion in half the time we could.
Not to mention, Jesus could witness and evangelize in ways that would put us to shame.
But He’s the High Priest… those technically aren’t His jobs.
Just as Aaron was given the tribe of Levi to help in his ministry, so also Jesus (our High Priest) has been given the church to do His work.
Colossians 1:18 declares: (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
We have been given to Jesus, the High Priest.
In fact, we have been given the responsibilities of being HIS priests in this world.
Peter writes:
“…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy PRIESTHOOD offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1Peter 2:5
And again
“… you are a chosen people, a royal PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1Peter 2:9
Hebrews 13:15 says that we “offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips.”
And Romans 12 tells us we need to “… offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1
We are called to be the priests of God.
Now I know there are denominations out there who try to distinguish between clergy and laity.
The ordained leaders are clergy.
Everyone else is laity.
The Clergy are the priests in those churches… even though there is no such distinction in the New Testament. And sometimes they even go so far as call their preachers “priests”.
One group described their priests this way: The priestly vocation is a mystery. It is the mystery of a wondrous exchange … between God and man. A man offers his humanity to Christ, so that Christ may use him as an instrument of salvation, making him, as it were, another Christ.” (Pope John Paul II)
Now, that’s heresy.
It isn’t found in Scripture.
It is the doctrine of men – not God.
According to the New Testament there is no special class of clergy. No separate priesthood.
If you are a Christian – you are a priest.
You have been set aside by Jesus to do the ministry of the church.
• You can serve communion.
• You can baptize people into Christ.
• You can teach and preach as God leads you.
Now granted, there are different functions within the church for which you may not be qualified: Elders, Deacons and such, but that’s ok. We may have different functions in the body of Christ (just as the different families of Levites handled different parts of the tabernacle), but in the eyes of Jesus – you’re all priests.
You’ve all been called to minister unto Jesus and His people.
ILLUS: A Sunday School teacher was teaching her children the benefits of unselfishness. She concluded by saying’ "The reason you are in this world, children, is to help others."
After a moment’s silence, a little girl piped up’ "Well, then, what are the OTHERS here for?"
Jesus declares this to you: you’re all here to minister to one another.
The reason you’re here in this church is to serve God by serving each other.
One of the things that makes me proud about this congregation is/so many of you understand that
• People visit the sick
• Stock the food pantry
• Support missions
• Teach the youth
• Have Bible Studies and Men’s Prayer Breakfasts
• Work with the Upward Football program.
• Drive the bus
• Pray for one another
• Witness to others/ invite people to church/ Bible Study
• And I could go on and on and on.
I’m just so pleased with you folks I can’t even find the words to express it.
But now, you might ask – how will I know when I’m doing enough?
How will I be sure if I’ve given enough of my life to God as His priest?
Someone named Tex Walton figured it this way:
"He was saying in prayer meeting that he was thinking about tithing and it seemed to him that he should not only tithe his income but that he should also tithe his time. He got down to the hard facts and figured about how much of his time he owed the Lord. The way he figured, there are 168 hours in a week, and the tenth of that would be 16.8 hours. Then he figured the time he spent each week in church, and saw that he still had 1 hour and 20 minutes each day left. So he divided that up into two 40 minute periods:
40 minutes for Bible study and
40 minutes for prayer. – each day.
NOW – I want to be very clear on something here.
That’s just what that young man did.
He set a target for himself based on a tithe of his time ( seven 24 hours days)
But he didn’t do it because it was required of him he did it because he LOVED Jesus.
I encourage you to go home and tally up how much time you dedicate to God during the week
Keep a diary.
Keep a record.
Find out how many hours a week (including worship) you spend with God.
And if you don’t hit 16 hours a week, don’t worry about it.
Just ask yourself what you’re doing now, and - is that enough?
ILLUS: At the first church I served, they required me to give a tally of how many people I visited, how many hospital visits I made, how many people I taught… and I was to average it out on a weekly basis.
So that first year I worked my tail off. I gave the ministry every thing I had. And at the end of the year I averaged up the number of people I visited each week… and I’d only averaged 5 visits a week. I was devastated. I’d worked as hard as I could and I only managed to visit 5 people a week? But I doubled checked my figures and that’s exactly what I’d done.
Then I got to thinking – hey, if I worked as hard as a I could and I only visited 5 families a week… then I would make it a point to visit at least 6 or 7 people every week for the next year.
What I’m saying is this: don’t beat yourself up about what you’re NOT doing for Jesus.
You’ve been set aside to be His ministers in this world.
So, it’s worthwhile – once in a while – for you to do a performance revue.
And then decide – between you and God – if you could do more.
CLOSE: In closing I want to draw your attention to the fact that - in the Old Testament - God had people initiated as priests with a unique ceremony. According to Exodus 29:
* They were to have a sin offering made on their behalf.
* They were to be washed with water.
* And they were to be clothed with new garments.
Isn’t that interesting – that’s how we become Christians.
• Jesus has become our “sin offering.
• We have been washed with water - buried in the waters of baptism.
• And then we have been clothed with the righteousness of God.
ILLUS: The Christian writer Hippolytus, writing about 200 A.D., describes baptism at Rome. Candidates took off their clothing, were baptized three times after renouncing Satan and affirming the basic teaching of the faith, and put on new clothes. Then they joined the rest of the church in the Lord’s Supper.
What they were trying to get people to understand was that – in becoming Christians – they were putting off the old garments of sin, being buried in the waters with Jesus, and they putting on new clothing symbolizing the new garments Jesus gives us when we’re born again.
Lastly, the Old Testament priests become priests because they were related to the High Priest. In the same way we become Christians because – when Jesus saves us - God counts us as being related to Him.
Galatians tells us “… God sent his Son… to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, <"Abba>, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:4-7)
So now – the question this morning is this:
Are you a child of God?
Has Jesus become your sin offering?
Have you been buried in the waters of baptism?
And have you been clothed with God’s righteousness?
