Priesthood and Sacrifices Part 2

One thing is sudden, if you stick to the Word, you will come back with a testimony.
What God wants to give in your life is not a healing.
What God wants to give in your life is not a job.
What God wants to give in your life is not money.
What God wants to give you is the Word of God in your spirits.
It'll make you what it talks about.
And you are shining, and you are shining by the power of the Holy Ghost.
You are shining by the power of the Holy Ghost.
You are shining and nothing can stop you.
It is your season.
It is your time.
Nothing can hinder you.
This is your time.
This is your hour.
Debo is yours.

Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your kindness, for your love, for your grace, for your presence with us.
Thank you for the Holy Spirit, our teacher, our guide, our instructor.
Thank you for opening our hearts to the Kingdom of God.
Thank you for helping us understand the Scriptures.
Thank you.
fulfilling us with your divine presence.
What grateful to you, what thankful, that we can receive the word, that we can acknowledge your truth.
Thank you for your grace.
And now again our hearts and our minds are open to hear and receive the word of God.
We receive it gladly with faith,
and meekness in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Hallelujah.
Praise God forevermore.

We started discussing something last Wednesday night.

Continue with that tonight.
First Peter chapter two, from verse five.
Ye are so as lively stones, and that means living stones, are built up of spiritual house.
and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
And it was something along the lines of our priesthood and sacrifices.
And I'll tell you why that is important.
You know, we have come to Christ.
We say that we are children of God, because that's what the Bible says we are.
And God does so many things for us.
I mean, He blesses us in so many different ways.
So our lives are full of testimonies.
Is that right?
But then what do we do for the Lord?

What is our own responsibility?
What does God expect of us?
What does God want?

I always had those concerns for many years.
I, while growing up, I always thought about, what is it we do for God?
You know, some people think God is there to answer our prayer.
They think that's what He exists for.
God doesn't exist for us.
We exist for God.
He doesn't live for us.
We live for Him.
He is not there for us.
We are here for Him.
And we need to realize this.
If we change our thinking along these lines, it'll change our attitude and our way of life and our expectations.

Hey, who made who?
We didn't make him.
He made us.
We're not the words that have a purpose for his life.
We don't have a plan for God.
It's God who has a plan for us.
Because He put us here.
So the question we ought to be asking is, why am I here?
See, what's the purpose for my life?
What does God want of me?

Why weren't you still born?
Why didn't you die at birth?

Why didn't you die when you were growing up?
Why are you still here?
Not because you're better than others.
So you ought to make up your mind, there must be a reason for you still being here.
And if there's a reason for you being here, fulfill it.
But you know, a lot of people who are, they were raised selfish, born selfish, self-centered.
All they think about is their own life.
All they think about is themselves.
Their prayer is full of requests for themselves.
All they have ever thought about is themselves.

Don't be that kind of a man or woman.

All they think about is themselves.
What a life.
What a wasted life.

People who always only think about themselves.
What they want for themselves.
Everything they've ever done for themselves.
All the time.
Now, you know, in 7 Corinthians chapter number 5, verse, I'll read to you from verse 14 into verse 15.
It says, for the love of Christ constrain it us, because with us judged that if one died for all, then we're all dead.
in that he died for oral, that there which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.
That Jesus died for all, for all of us, everybody, so that those who live should no longer live unto themselves.
put onto the one who died for them.
If you truly believe in Jesus Christ and that He died for you, He says that you ought to live for Him.
You ought to live for Him because the only reason you live today is because of Him.
And if you believe that, then you live for Him.
Praise God.
And so our understanding of God's requirements can help us in our way of life.
I explained something.
I said, what is God's dream?
What is His dream?
And we read from Exodus chapter 19, verses five and six, you remember?
When he said to the children of Israel that if they would obey him, he would make out of them a kingdom of priests.
If they would obey his commandments.
And then we talked about the fact that over in the New Testament, the gospel came to us.
without our having to obey his laws.
He brought the gospel to us that in Christ Jesus, life has been given to us and that if we will accept his logic and come into his kingdom by virtue of the logic of Jesus Christ, then we become
kingdom of priests.
And so we read in 1 Peter chapter 2.
Let's go back there.
Verse 9, where he said, but he are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.
That's a kingdom of priests.
Royalty.
That's a kingdom of priests.
This is a royal priesthood.
A holy nation of peculiar people that he should show forth the praises of him who had called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not of people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Oh, glory to God.
wonderful.
And so we read in that verse five of the same chapter, the same book.
He also has living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
So here expects us to offer spiritual sacrifices
This is very powerful.
Would you turn to the book of Hebrews?

I'll show you something.
Chapter 8, Hebrews chapter 8.
I want you to read something for me, verse 3.
1, 2, go.

Did you see that?
The Bible says every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore, it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
He's talking about Jesus in the context.
And it says every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices.
See, they do that to God.
in that it is also of necessity, that this man, that he was talking about in the context about Jesus, that this man also has something to offer.
Because if he's a high priest, he's got to offer something.
And Jesus became our high priest.
When, after the resurrection from the dead, he became our high priest.
Praise the Lord.
You remember that occasion when he had resurrected and Mary Magdalene had come to look for his body and didn't find the body in the cave and noticed that the stone had been rolled away and she was wondering where they had taken his body to.
Then she saw a man that she thought was the gardener.
It turned out to be Jesus.
She said to him, sir, where have you taken his body to?
And then while she was still looking around, Jesus turned and said, Mary, then she's found out it was Jesus and ran toward him.
And Jesus said, don't touch me.
For I have not yet ascended to my father.
Now that was significant.
Why did he say so?
Because, you see, back in the law, when the High Priest was going into the most holy place, which we call the 2nd Tabernacle, to offer the sacrifice, the blood, the annual sacrifice of blood on behalf of the people to God, when he was going into that place, nobody touched him.
In fact, if he died there, because if something was wrong with him, he would die in the presence of God.
They couldn't even go in there to bring him out.
He always had to have a chain around his waist.
And then he had bears around his waist.
And every time he took a step
the priests in the 1st Stephenacle heard the chingling of those bears, then they knew that the high priest was still alive.

Are you still there?
Now, if they stopped hearing the sound of the bears,
they knew the high priest was dead and nobody would go in there beyond the veil, the second veil, called the second veil, into the most holy place.
Nobody went through.
They would pull him by the chain to bring him out.
before they took his body to bury.
So Jesus now was to ascend to the Father with his blood as the sacrifice for our sins.
When you study the book of Hebrews, you'll see all of this.
So Jesus Christ was taking his blood
to the most holy place in heaven.
And that's what he said to Mary, don't touch me for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go and tell my brethren that I have sent to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
Hallelujah.
So he had something to offer.
It was his blood.
Praise God.
It was his blood.
That's remarkable.
So what he says is every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore, it is of necessity that this men have somewhat also to offer.
Now, the priests also were there in the service of the sanctuary.
They offered gifts and sacrifices.
The high priest was the most senior priest.
You got it?
And so it was the high priest who went into the most holy place which he went to once every year.
But all the other gifts and sacrifices were offered to God by the priests.
So every priest was also ordained to offer what?
Gifts and sacrifices.
If the Bible deficits that we have been made priests unto God, and that we are a royal priesthood, a kingdom of priests, it means we also have something to offer.
That's why he said in that verse five that we were reading in first Peter chapter two.
He also has living stones built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
In other words, you don't just offer what you want or what you choose, it must be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Hallelujah.
It must be acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Not just what you want.
In Hebrews chapter 13, turn the book of Hebrews for a moment, chapter number 13.
I want to read to you in verse 15.
Are you there?
Verse 15.
Behim, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
By Him, by Jesus, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, not just ones in a while, continually.
He says, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.

Now,
You know, when we talk about praising God, some people don't understand what it really is supposed to be.
And the scripture here will enlighten us a little farther.
How do we praise God?
How do we, you know, I can say, I just praise you Lord.
It's not enough.
It's good, but it's not enough.
I praise you.
I praise you.
I will praise you, Lord.
It's nice, but it lacks content.
All right?
It's nice.
It's good.
It's positive, but it lacks content.
It lacks content.
Listen to this scripture, very enlightening.
It is by him, he's referring to Jesus, the previous verses would tell you that.
By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
He says, the sacrifice of praise to God.
Continually.
That is a heart.
Now he explains what it is.
The fruit of our lips, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.
What do you mean by fruit of our lips?
Words.
Words.
Now he says, giving thanks to his name.
Interestingly, the words giving thanks there is from one word, a Greek word, homologio, and it's a verb.
It actually means to make confessions.
That's what it means.
It means to make confessions.

What do you mean make confessions?
It means to say the same thing in consent.
Making confessions there doesn't mean I confess that I truly lie yesterday.
That's not what he's saying.
He means to speak the same thing.
The noun is homologia.
It means speaking the same thing in consent, speaking the same thing in agreement.
saying the same thing.
That means, if God says something, you say the same thing that He has said in agreement with Him.
If God says something about you, you say the same thing that God has said about you in agreement with Him.
For example, if I say, I am a new creation,
Because God says, I am a new creation.
See, the word says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
I am in Christ, and therefore I am a new creation.
I am making confessions.
You see that?
I am making confessions.
I am saying the same thing with God in agreement with him.
In other words, you say those things that are consistent with what God has said.
in agreement with him.
Now, this is very important.
He says here, by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
He says, the kind of praise is talking about.
He says, that is the fruit of our lips, words coming from us, making confessions to his name.
That means we say those things that God has said about himself concerning his name in agreement with him.
Wow.
And that's what he calls a sacrifice of praise.
That's what it calls a sacrifice of praise.
It is a celebration of the name of Jesus.
That's the sacrifice of praise.
And it's about time that as God's children, we mature to that level where we come into church and we offer spiritual sacrifices.
This is one of them, the celebration of the name of Jesus.

There has to be a consciousness of that.
See, we may praise him for giving us a good job.
We may praise him for giving us a good health.
We may praise him for this and that and that and the other.
That's not what he's talking about.
He's talking about making confessions to his name.
Speaking the same things that he has said, making the same claims about his name in agreement with him.

I said, it's a celebration of the name of Jesus.
Can you have a celebration of the name of Jesus?
He's telling us that that is something we are required to do as priests of God.

Hallelujah.
Now, there are things that when you find yourself doing them, you'd be amazed at the way your life will just be catapulted from success to success, from glory to glory.
It's what he expects of us.
Tell somebody I'm a priest in office.
Hallelujah.
Have a celebration of the name of Jesus.
Oh, glory to God.
Glory to God.
I don't know where you're at right now.
Are you in this place?
Man, oh my.
Mm, mm, mm.
Glory to God.
I want to show you something.
In Genesis, Genesis chapter number 14.
Hmm.
Genesis chapter 14.
Listen to this, you'd love it.
In Genesis chapter number 14, he says, hey,
Do you study your Bible?
You study your Bible often?
Because you know, we can't always start from class one every time we want to share the word of God.
Do you understand what I mean?
So if you're in class one, it might be difficult.
But hey, in verse 18, he says, and Melchizedek, king of Salim, brought forth bread and wine.
And he was the priest of the most high God.
And He blessed Him.
He blessed Abraham.
He blessed Abraham and said, blessed be Abraham of the Most High God.
Possessal of heaven and earths!
And blessed be the Most High God, which had delivered that enemies into that hand.
And he gave him tithes of all.
And the Bible says he was Abraham who gave tithes to Melchizedek.
And that Melchizedek was the priest of the Most High God.
And when he met Abraham, who was coming from the slaughter of the kings, the Bible says Melchizedek the High Priest brought forth bread and wine.
significant emblems.
He brought forth bread and wine.
He brought forth bread and wine.
Why?
He would come over in the New Testament over here in Book of Hebrews.
Would he go again to the Book of Hebrews?
This is something there.
Verse 4, chapter 7, the book of Hebrews.
Are you there?
Now, consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the taint of the spoils.
He's telling us to recognize the greatness of this man, Melchizedek.
whom even, listen to Paul's language, whom even the petrak Abraham gave the tides.
He says, consider how great this man was.
What was he like?
Let's go to verse 1.
Chapter 7, Book of Hebrews, for these male kids are the king of Salim, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tent part of all.
First, being by interpretation, that means when you say king of Salim, he's telling you the interpretation, all right?
He says, first, by interpretation, king of righteousness.
And after that also, king of Salim, which is king of peace.
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of day nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abided a priest continually.
Oh, hallelujah.
Verse seven, and without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better is telling you that Abraham must be less than this man as great as Abraham was.
And here, you know, for those people who talk about why do we give tithes, etc., etc., just look at this scripture here.
And here, men that die, remember, when he says, here, here, he was, you've got to understand it in the context.
You've got to study it from all the way from chapter 5, actually.
to begin to understand what he's talking about.
Now here he says, this is the book of Hebrews.
It's written to the Hebrew people and Paul was presenting an argument to help them understand that the old order was obsolete and that there was a new order.
And that this new order had to be recognized because the priesthood had been changed.
And that if the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed.
This is what is trying to let them understand, that there is a new priesthood.
And that this priesthood is not in the order of the Aaronic priesthood, but in the order of Melchizedek.
And that Melchizedek was greater than Aaron and greater than
Levi, are you still there?
Because he was greater than Abraham.
In that Jesus Christ, oh dear Lord, dear Lord, dear Lord, are you still in this place?
Let me just read, let me read, it's here.
He says, and here men that die receive times.
He's talking about the priest, the earthly priests, okay?
In the Hebrew nation, he says, here men that die receive tithes.
But there he received at them of whom it is witnessed that he live it.
And as I may so say, live also who receive tithes, pay tithes in Abraham.
For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
He therefore perfection way by the Levitical priesthood.
For under either people received the law.
What for the need was there that another priesthood rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron.
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity, a change also of the law.
Hello?
Then he says, for he of whom these things are spoken, talking about Jesus, patented to another tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses picked nothing concerning priesthood.
and it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek they arise at another priest who is made not after the law of a canal commandment but after the power of an endless life.
For he testifies it thou what a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Oh, glory to God.
I could go on and on, but I just wanted to get there where He made the promise, where the Word was spoken concerning Jesus.
And Paul lets us know that that promise was unto Jesus, that God made a note and said, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
So the Christ, the Messiah, was to be a priest with an ended life.
Praise God.
Now here's the point.
Here's the point.
There's a new order of priesthood.
Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine.
Okay, turn to the Book of Matthew.
I am reading to you from verse 26, chapter 26.

Are you there?
And as they were eating,
I always tell people, you know, it's amazing how, I don't know how people get these names.

Have you ever heard of the last supper and the Lord's Supper?
The last supper and then the Lord's Supper, huh?
Okay, before I read this,
Let's just kneel this one.
Okay?
I just want to show you something.
Doh Ragi School, Shala Mande.

First Corinthians, chapter 11.
Are you there?
I'm reading from verse 18, chapter 11, 1 Corinthians.
For there must be also heresies, no, 18.
For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it.
For there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
That's a nice place to stop, but not now.
I have something to tell you there another day.
When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper.
For in eating, everyone take it before other his own Supper and one is hungry and another is drunken.

What?
Have you not houses to eat and drink in?
Or despise you the Church of God and shame them that have not?
What shall I say to you?
Shall I praise you in this?
I praise you not.

Praise the Lord.
Now, I want you to observe that He said, some are, some go hungry, some are full.
Okay?
when we come together to eat.
What could they have been eating?
Sapa.
Say, Sapa.
There's a difference between the communion and the sapa.
Praise the Lord.
But here is the significant thing.
We come to Matthew.
Let's go back to Matthew where we were.
from verse 26, chapter 26.
And as they were eating, what were they eating?
That's supper.
As they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take it, this is my body.
This was not the supper.
They were already eating supper.
Then he brought bread.
Sapa was going on.
Are you still there?
All right.
Then he says, he broke it and said, take it, this is my body.
Remember, Melchizedek brought what?
Bread.
And what?
Wine.
Okay, significant emblems.
Now, verse 27, and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drinky all of it.
Ah, when did this happen?
Let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
I'm reading from verse 23, for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take it.
This is my body which is broken for you.
This due in remembrance of me.
That's an instruction.
25, after the same manner or so, he took the cup when he had soft.
That means at the end of supper,
You read that ends in Luke's gospel, you read it in Mark's gospel, they're telling you the same story.
That at the end of supper.
Now, they already started the supper before he brought the bread.
They finished the supper, then he brought the wine.

Are you there?
Okay, now look at it.
It says, verse 25, after the same manner also, he took the cup when he had stopped saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood.
This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me.
Now, Melchizedek the high priest brought forth bread and wine to Abraham.
Okay?
And he blessed Abraham, which means he served that communion to Abraham.
He served it to Abraham.
Hallelujah.
And blessed him and received his tithes.
And proclaimed him, blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.

Now Jesus comes in as our high priests, and he gives the indication of what he's going to be called.
Bread and wine.

Then he dies for us, he's raised from the dead.
As our high priest takes his blood to heaven,
We receive eternal life and get in His shoes as priests of the Most High God, going forth again with bread and wine.
The same emblems in the order of Melchizedek, with the power of an endless life.
Can you shout amen to somebody?
The power of an endless life.
Bread and wine.
bread stands for the word of God, wine stands for the Holy Ghost.
Can you shout Hallelujah somebody?
We live by that bread and wine.
Melchizedek, belonging to not order.
The word and the spirits.
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Are you a priest?
I said, are you a priest?
Even at this moment, we will offer up spiritual sacrifices.
In another service, we're going to be talking about what are spiritual sacrifices.
But one of the first ones that we've talked about tonight is the fact that we are to make confessions to His name.
Confessions is celebration of the name of Jesus.
That's what it is.
Can we do that now?
Let's pray, rise.
You see, sometimes you find Christians, God's people praying, praying, praying about something, asking God for the same thing they've been asking for.
If you will have a celebration of the name of Jesus, that name will do something for you.
Hallelujah.
That name, you see, you proclaim the name of Jesus over every circumstance of life.
Proclaim the name of Jesus.
Hallelujah, the Bible says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous run it into it and it's safe.
Celebrate that name.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
Oh, thank you Lord.
See, bravado, longo, rongo, schlo, bravado, la hasta te.

The message that you have just heard is a production of the Love World Media Ministry.
For this and other messages by Pastor Chris, visit our Christ Embassy bookstores.
Or better still, log on to our website at Christ Embassy OnlineStore.org.
And that's just a click away.
God bless you.