Priests in the Kingdom of God (1 Chronicles 15:1-24)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.960 --> 00:00:05.559 If you're able, please remain standing and let's hear God's word from first chronicles. 2 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:15.429 First Chronicles, Chapter Fifteen. I'm going to read verses one through twenty 3 00:00:15.509 --> 00:00:23.820 four. David built houses for himself in the city of David and he prepared 4 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:29.019 a place for the Ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then 5 00:00:29.019 --> 00:00:33.539 David said that no one but the Levites may carry the Ark of God, 6 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:39.289 for Jehovah had chosen them to carry the Ark of Jehovah and a minister to 7 00:00:39.369 --> 00:00:44.649 him forever. And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the Ark 8 00:00:44.770 --> 00:00:50.359 of the Jehovah to its place which he had prepared for it. And David 9 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:55.719 gathered together the sons of Erin and the Levites, the sons of Kohath Uriel, 10 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.640 the chief with a hundred and twenty of his brothers, of the sons 11 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.390 of Mary I, Assaiah the chief with two hundred and twenty of his brothers, 12 00:01:04.069 --> 00:01:08.590 of the sons of Gershum Joel the chief with a hundred thirty of his 13 00:01:08.750 --> 00:01:15.829 brothers, of the sons of Elis Aphan. Shemaiah the chief with two hundred 14 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:19.260 of his brothers, of the sons of Hebron Eliel the chief, with eighty 15 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:25.219 of his brothers, of the sons of Uzil, Amendab the chief, with 16 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:30.780 a hundred and twelve of his brothers. Then dvid summoned the priests Zadok and 17 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:38.489 Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Assiah, Joel Shema yet Shamiah, Eliel 18 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:44.170 and Aminadab, and said to them, you are the heads of the father's 19 00:01:44.250 --> 00:01:49.359 houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that 20 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:53.640 you may bring up the Ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel, to 21 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.319 the place that I have prepared for it, because you did not carry it 22 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.709 the First Time Jehovah, our God, broke out against us because we did 23 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:07.670 not seek him according to the rule. So the priests and the Levites consecrated 24 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:13.110 themselves to bring up the Ark of Jehovah, the God of Israel, and 25 00:02:13.229 --> 00:02:16.539 the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the polls, as 26 00:02:16.659 --> 00:02:23.580 Moses had commanded. According to the word of Jehovah, David also commanded the 27 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:28.060 chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers, who should play 28 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:32.930 loudly on musical instruments, on Harps and Liars and symbols to raise sounds of 29 00:02:32.969 --> 00:02:38.729 joy. So the Levites appointed Hemon, the son of Joel and of his 30 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:44.560 brothers, Asaf, the son of Barachiah, and the sons of Mary I, 31 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:50.280 the brothers or their brothers, Ethan, the sons of Kushiyah and with 32 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.840 them their brothers, and the second order, Zachariah, jaws, zeal, 33 00:02:54.599 --> 00:03:04.469 Shemira, shamiramof Je Keel, uney Eliab Benniah, met Maassia, that's a 34 00:03:05.509 --> 00:03:15.900 Mattathia, Ella, Feluhu and Mikniiah and the gatekeepers Obed Edom and jl the 35 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:21.740 Singers Hem on, Assaf and Efan, were to sound bronze symbols. Zachariah, 36 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:29.849 Aziel, Shem Arama, Sheem Miramaf Jahel, uney Eliab Maas Sieia and 37 00:03:30.849 --> 00:03:38.289 then Aiya were to play harps, according to Alamof but Mattithiah and Elie Elf 38 00:03:38.449 --> 00:03:46.360 fell Ahu, Micnai, Obed Edom, Jel and Aziiah were to lead with 39 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.240 liars. According to the Chemin if Cheniiaf, leader of the Levites and music, 40 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:58.509 should direct the music. For he understood it, Barachiah and Elkanah were 41 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:03.509 to be gatekeepers for the Ark. Sheebniyai, Chebnayah, Josh A, Fat 42 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:11.900 Nethaniel, Amasi, Zachariah, then Ania and Eliezer, the priests, should 43 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:16.139 blow the trumpets before the Ark of God. Obed Edom and Jehiia were to 44 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:31.170 be gatekeepers for the Ark. You may be seated. I hope you'll excuse 45 00:04:31.250 --> 00:04:39.680 my pronunciations and remember that, despite of weaknesses there, the names are important. 46 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:46.560 They are names that are connected with real people in a real time, 47 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.199 in a real place, people that had, as we see here, very 48 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:58.310 very particular duties to do one thing and not another, according to their stations, 49 00:04:58.350 --> 00:05:02.750 according to their callings, according to the things that God had given them. 50 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:09.139 This is a lesson that David, as we have been reading first chronicles, 51 00:05:09.180 --> 00:05:14.980 it seems, he and the people had to learn. Have you ever 52 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:19.259 made a mistake and learned a lesson from it? Yes, of course we 53 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:26.009 all have, at least we hope so. We all make mistakes, sometimes 54 00:05:26.170 --> 00:05:30.449 some from ignorance, and perhaps there was the first time that you realized you're 55 00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:34.569 not supposed to leave the gas on very long before you light it. Or 56 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:41.240 maybe the mistake was an outright sin. You did something you knew you ought 57 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:46.079 not to do and you suffered the consequences for it and said to yourself and 58 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:50.910 to the Lord and to those whom you harmed, never again. Look, 59 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:57.430 we learn our lessons through the consequences that we face in this life, and 60 00:05:57.470 --> 00:06:02.110 David was very much like that in this particular instance. He references that here 61 00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:09.180 in first chronicles fifteen and if you remember from the past chapters, there was 62 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:15.019 this particular incident that happened with the ARC. You Remember, back in chapter 63 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:20.290 thirteen, they were rightly had this plan. They were going to carry the 64 00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:27.009 Ark of God back to Jerusalem and it would be a placed there. Eventually 65 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:31.170 it would become it would be placed in the temple. But they made a 66 00:06:31.850 --> 00:06:36.519 mistake, they committed a sin. They did what they ought not to do, 67 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:41.279 and it was this that, instead of carrying the ARC as they do 68 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:46.560 here in Chapter Fifteen, with the Levites particularly in charge, carrying the arc 69 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:50.230 on polls, they put it in a cart, something that God had not 70 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:57.829 commanded and indeed forbidden. They carried it on a cart, the cart, 71 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:04.180 the oxen that were driving the cart stumbled. Aza reached out his hand touched 72 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:11.740 the ARC to catch it, and the Lord put him to death. These. 73 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:18.569 Particular Word is used that the Lord broke out against the people. It's 74 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:24.410 the same word that's used in first chronicles fourteen, when the Lord breaks out 75 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:30.279 against the Philistines through David. And here we see that even in the success 76 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.800 of David on the battlefield, there is a reminder that David is not immune, 77 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:41.639 that the Israelites are not immune from the discipline and wrath of the Lord. 78 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.470 They are to do as he has commanded. And in particular, the 79 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:55.189 duty required here is one concerning the arc more broadly, the Levites and priests 80 00:07:55.269 --> 00:08:00.220 in general. You see what's going on here in Chapter Fifteen is David doesn't 81 00:08:00.220 --> 00:08:03.420 merely get it right with the arc this time and have the Levites carry it. 82 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:09.620 We see the Levites and the priests taking a central role in the theocracy. 83 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:16.209 Remember, in this section of first chronicles, David is ascending to power, 84 00:08:16.050 --> 00:08:22.529 God's anointed one is taking his rightful place on the throne to rule over 85 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:28.000 his people, to defend against their enemies. But of central part of that 86 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:37.759 theocracy is the Levites and the priests. When you think of Israel as a 87 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:41.950 theocracy, maybe this isn't the first thing you think of. You think of 88 00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:45.389 the king and the people. But there is this other aspect to it, 89 00:08:45.549 --> 00:08:50.629 this whole area of power, we might say, of the of life in 90 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:56.580 Israel, which was central to who they were as a people, and it 91 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:03.940 was described and is found in these persons, these offices of the Levites and 92 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:09.980 priests. So underlying this action of carrying the arc in the proper way, 93 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:15.330 but then this additional calling of all of these people with their particular names to 94 00:09:15.409 --> 00:09:22.090 these particular tasks, we see something very important. We see that David understands 95 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:28.879 something about, something important about the Levites and the priests and, honestly, 96 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:33.879 as Christians, it's something that we need to understand as well. It's not 97 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:41.590 just a obscure portion of Israelite religion connected somehow to life in the Old Testament. 98 00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:46.149 It's a central part of who they were. It's in fact so important 99 00:09:46.230 --> 00:09:52.269 that many places in the book of Hebrews, most of the book of Hebrews, 100 00:09:52.309 --> 00:09:56.779 is devoted to this particular point, understanding who they were and how our 101 00:09:56.899 --> 00:10:05.019 Lord and Savior is connected with them. To understand the priests and the Levites 102 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:11.049 is to understand David's action here. It's understand why the Holy Spirit, through 103 00:10:11.090 --> 00:10:16.210 the chronicler spends the time to really show how the system is being properly put 104 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:22.279 in place, even as the king ascends and rules on his throne. It 105 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:28.720 helps us understand David's action. It helps us the understanding the Levites and the 106 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:33.080 priests help us, helps us to understand Christ is our high priest, and 107 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:39.870 it also helps us to know who we are as priests of God. It's 108 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:43.429 not so. It's not a way that we often think of ourselves, but 109 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:48.389 the New Testament does indeed call us the Church of God, a kingdom of 110 00:10:48.629 --> 00:10:56.779 priests, a royal priesthood. How do you live as a priest? It 111 00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:03.690 is your calling. It's explicitly put this way by our Lord and his apostles. 112 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:11.809 How do you live your life as a priest of God? Understanding all 113 00:11:11.850 --> 00:11:18.169 of these things as under is is understood by focusing on this particular institution in 114 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:22.639 the Old Testament, and it's worth our time here, as the chronicler focuses 115 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:30.399 our attention on it. The first thing we want to know, to which 116 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:35.269 I've already pointed out, is it's importance. You see it in God's action, 117 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:41.789 God when he breaks out against his people for their failure to carry the 118 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:48.100 ARC. This way isn't some kind of random thing that God does, just 119 00:11:48.259 --> 00:11:52.700 a persnickety thing that he has decided. Now he does this and he has 120 00:11:52.779 --> 00:12:00.179 made this particularlar law to remind us of the importance. Perhaps this is why 121 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:05.289 this is as even as David is ascending to the throne, God makes and 122 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:11.570 impresses this point on him, this particular thing. The role of the Levites 123 00:12:11.610 --> 00:12:18.000 and the priests in the life of Israel as a nation is not to be 124 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.240 neglected. To understand why that would might be, it's helpful to know what 125 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:30.669 the priests and Levites did, and we get that from many places in scripture, 126 00:12:30.710 --> 00:12:35.350 including here in first chronicles. We see and read of many of their 127 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:41.269 different duties. We have singers, gatekeepers, guards, all kinds of different 128 00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:46.820 things. Way You might sum up the role is they were all working in 129 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:52.860 connection one way or another, with the temple, the ARC being a central 130 00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:58.929 point of that, but many other parts as well. The priests were involved 131 00:12:58.009 --> 00:13:03.169 in the sacrifices and indeed brought sacrifices, but that wasn't their only job, 132 00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:09.210 and in fact the people themselves had an important role in that, often sacrificing 133 00:13:09.330 --> 00:13:15.360 the animals themselves. The priests, however, we're often connected with that altar. 134 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:20.360 In particular, the sons of Aaron were given the job of maintaining the 135 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:28.269 space between the holiness of God and the unholiness or commonness of the people. 136 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:37.350 The priest did several other things, not just in connection with with the altar. 137 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:41.299 There was gate keeping and guarding, for example, that had to be 138 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:46.419 done. You remember that there were these very clear divisions in Israel between what 139 00:13:46.620 --> 00:13:50.980 was holy and what was not, between what was clean and it was unclean, 140 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:56.250 and it was the priests particular task, and the Levites task to make 141 00:13:56.409 --> 00:14:03.649 these kinds of distinctions, even to the point of the Sword Standing Guard over 142 00:14:03.809 --> 00:14:09.009 particular places, making sure that no one entered into the places they should not 143 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:15.759 enter. There was also treasury supervision, musicians that had to be organized and 144 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:20.840 PLO played, baking that went on, various kinds of legal functions and one 145 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:28.830 of the most important things teaching. In both Leviticus and Deuteronomy we read that 146 00:14:28.950 --> 00:14:33.870 the Levites were called to this particular rule of teaching people the Law of God. 147 00:14:35.309 --> 00:14:37.980 This, of course, happened a lot in the making of distinctions. 148 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:43.539 You would bring an animal or you would present a disease on your skin and 149 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:48.500 they would be called to apply and teach God's word. This thing is cleaned, 150 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:52.700 this thing is not clean, this is holy, this is common. 151 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.169 But these teachings not only went on as they expounded the word of God or 152 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:01.210 as they applied it, but also in the symbolism of everything that was going 153 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:05.450 on, in the way that they guarded the holy places, in the way 154 00:15:05.570 --> 00:15:13.960 that they enacted these sacrifices and symbolized all of these things. One Way to 155 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:20.480 think about it all together is that the Levites had this particular role of shaping 156 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:26.350 reality in Israel, of playing out in real time, through words and through 157 00:15:26.429 --> 00:15:33.909 actions, who God is and what he commanded. Over and over again, 158 00:15:33.269 --> 00:15:37.419 when you saw a Levite, when you came into contact, especially with a 159 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:45.820 priest, you would be reminded of these distinctions and, in particular, of 160 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:54.009 your failure to remain clean, to be holy, the barriers that were between 161 00:15:54.049 --> 00:15:58.490 you and God, the sins that constantly kept you apart. They had to 162 00:15:58.570 --> 00:16:03.409 be atoned for. The author of Hebrews brings this up and he says that 163 00:16:03.490 --> 00:16:10.480 in the sacrifices there was this reminder year after year about sin, Sin. 164 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:15.320 God was holy and he wanted a holy people for himself. But Sin and 165 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:22.350 uncleanliness are always getting in the way, and the office of the Levites and 166 00:16:22.389 --> 00:16:26.909 the priests were a reminder of this. Their presence, their actions, their 167 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:36.179 teaching, this was all very, very, very important. But you can 168 00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:41.980 think of reasons perhaps why a king might want to overlook these details, why 169 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:48.490 a king in particular would be tempted to disregard this particular way of life. 170 00:16:48.529 --> 00:16:56.370 In Israel, the priests and Levites in many ways operated independently of the king. 171 00:16:56.289 --> 00:17:00.330 They were supported, for example, not by the King's treasury but directly 172 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:06.599 from the people. Throughout the Bible we see various ways in which the priests 173 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:11.559 would sometimes put a check on on the king and even engage in certain political 174 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:18.349 actions from time to time. There was a way in which they remained independent 175 00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:25.589 and they and they, and they also maintained a kind of loyalty among the 176 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:30.940 people to God that, if they weren't there, I'm perhaps could be more 177 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:37.220 easily brought simply unto the king. You can see why kings in the time 178 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:44.329 of Israel would at various times establish other places of worship, would mess around 179 00:17:44.450 --> 00:17:48.970 with the priesthood, establish their own priests, create new ways. It's often 180 00:17:48.970 --> 00:17:55.329 a temptation of man to take the things that belong to God and take them 181 00:17:55.410 --> 00:18:03.200 under himself. We have often seen in history where kings and emperor's desire worship 182 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:10.559 for themselves to bring the religious aspects of a society all under them. The 183 00:18:12.390 --> 00:18:18.789 independence of the Levites and priests, in a formal way, in an institutional 184 00:18:18.950 --> 00:18:26.109 way, prevented this. It was a constant reminder of God's sovereignty over them 185 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:32.339 all. And it wasn't I'm just the king. So we have this kind 186 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:38.700 of importance in the general life of Israel, in the theocracy. We also 187 00:18:38.740 --> 00:18:45.450 have this theological importance, not only in teaching the distinctions between holy and common, 188 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:52.970 between clean and unclean, but in particular, as I was mentioning earlier, 189 00:18:52.890 --> 00:19:00.680 they pressed over and over again the law. That's what Israel was remember. 190 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:06.319 They were under the law. They were being taught constantly that they were 191 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:11.789 incapable of doing the things that God commanded, that they needed their sacrifices to 192 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:18.109 be atoned for. To Take that away would be to take the king, 193 00:19:18.390 --> 00:19:22.390 that take the people out from under God's law and put them under man's law. 194 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:27.579 To Take that away from the people would be also to take them away 195 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:36.539 to these great pointers that they had to grace and to forgiveness. So this 196 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:40.970 is why it was so important for David to do what he did. In 197 00:19:41.130 --> 00:19:47.609 First Chronicles Fifteen, David doesn't just set these people up because they need some 198 00:19:47.769 --> 00:19:49.970 jobs and they need some places and he wants to keep them busy. He 199 00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:56.519 sets them up, he calls them particularly by name, with their brothers, 200 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:02.240 to their particular stations, because the holiness of God had to be maintained, 201 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:08.230 that he had a responsibility to not ignore and neglect this part of Israel, 202 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:15.230 but to uphold it and protect it. Well, this way that you see, 203 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:21.539 David, I'm doing this in many ways reveals to us what Christ did. 204 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:30.140 Christ does something even more than David. Not only does he not neglect 205 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:37.930 the priesthood, he supersedes it and he even takes it on under his own 206 00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:45.450 offices. We see that in Christ these things that the priesthood pointed toward were 207 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:52.160 made very, very great. In Christ, instead of offering sins over and 208 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.319 over again, as the priest died, came as a final sacrifice and offered 209 00:20:56.359 --> 00:21:03.480 himself. This is very remarkable because it means that he didn't just bring us 210 00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:07.230 or keep us under the law but he brought us out from under it, 211 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:12.230 no longer needing a sacrifice and a reminder sit of for sin year after year, 212 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:18.859 because Christ was our final sacrifice. He brings us under the law, 213 00:21:18.140 --> 00:21:26.299 he establishes US under him, and in that the promises of God that we 214 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:33.690 would be a kingdom of priests are fulfilled. From the beginning, God never 215 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:40.130 wanted a bunch of sacrifices and a bunch of Atonement for sin. God wanted 216 00:21:40.170 --> 00:21:45.130 a people that would worship him and offer themselves as the sacrifices, that wouldn't 217 00:21:45.170 --> 00:21:52.160 offer their deaths through these animals, but would offer their lives in obedience, 218 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:59.640 in praise, in thankfulness. But as long as sin remained there, as 219 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:04.710 long as pollution and corruption and uncleanliness remained there, would never be possible. 220 00:22:07.150 --> 00:22:11.230 But when Jesus comes, in a sense, to his throne, he also 221 00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:15.859 takes on the role of a priest, he takes on the rule of someone 222 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:22.619 who can take care of this sin problem once and for all. And he 223 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:30.009 does this he forgives our sins in a way that is complete, in a 224 00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:34.490 way that is final. He gives to us his spirit that brings about obedience 225 00:22:34.569 --> 00:22:41.569 in our lives, that is truly pleasing to God, and this is how 226 00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:47.079 we are priests. We're not priests in the way that the Levites were or 227 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:55.039 in the way that Aaron was. We are priests in and through Jesus. 228 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:03.430 We belong not to the Levites, but to Christ and in him and in 229 00:23:03.509 --> 00:23:07.509 light of his perfect and final sacrifice, we don't offer up sacrifices for sin. 230 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:15.740 We offer up the obedience, the spirit wrought obedience, that God desires 231 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:22.019 from his people, and in that God is creating the people that he has 232 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:27.490 wanted from the beginning. And this is why, in the New Testament, 233 00:23:29.490 --> 00:23:33.009 we have versus like this in Romans twelve one, where we are called to 234 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:40.930 present your our bodies, your bodies as a living sacrifice wholly and acceptable to 235 00:23:41.089 --> 00:23:47.480 God, which is your spiritual worship, or Hebrews Thirteen, fifteen and sixteen. 236 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.640 Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to 237 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:57.910 God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledges his name. Do not 238 00:23:59.109 --> 00:24:03.670 neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are 239 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:10.500 pleasing to God. You See, under the Old Testament, the Levites and 240 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:15.380 priests were part of a system that was always commanding obedience, and then they 241 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:22.299 were parting a part of a system that was always forgiving disobedience. But in 242 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:26.529 Christ we act as a part of a priesthood that, instead of doing those 243 00:24:26.609 --> 00:24:33.410 kinds of things, offers up obedience, instead of sacrifices for sin, we 244 00:24:33.529 --> 00:24:37.960 give him the thing that he wants. Now we do that not because we 245 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:44.640 are perfect in ourselves, but because Christ is working in us, because we, 246 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:47.640 who are united to him, are united to him not only in his 247 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:53.869 kingship but in his priesthood as well, and so we have the promises of 248 00:24:53.950 --> 00:25:02.029 God fulfilled. In Jesus, that David's greater son, we are a part 249 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:11.339 of a royal priesthood that we may proclaim the Excellency's of God. Revelation one 250 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:15.539 six, to give you one more verse, says to Him who loves US 251 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:18.980 and has freed us from our sins by his blood and has made us a 252 00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:26.650 kingdom priests to his God and father, be glory and dominion forever. This 253 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:32.690 is who we are. We are these names that are written here in first 254 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:37.920 chronicles fifteen, when they just as they served in the temple, we also 255 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.759 serve in the temple of the Lord, but we know now that that is 256 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:47.640 his people gathered together in his name, and that is the remarkable thing that 257 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:51.789 we do. When we give of our lives to one another in love, 258 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:56.150 when we lift up our hearts in thankfulness and praise to God, we are 259 00:25:56.309 --> 00:26:03.630 workers in his house, servants in his name, those who have been consecrated 260 00:26:03.670 --> 00:26:08.460 by the very blood of Christ to be wholly and to be good servants of 261 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:15.539 him. Throughout the Bible there are reminders that it is good and pleasant to 262 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:22.210 serve the Lord, to be wholly and to be known and called to serve 263 00:26:22.329 --> 00:26:27.250 in his name. This is our calling, this is our blessing, as 264 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:33.359 it comes to us in Jesus. So let us serve him, let us 265 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:38.359 rejoice in him, let us offer up our whole bodies as sacrifices of praise 266 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:45.119 that are acceptable and pleasing to him. Let's pray and ask that God would 267 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:45.920 make these things so.