You are a Priest

We are going to start looking at the first part of the book of revelation. This book has the reputation of being hard to understand and many people avoid it because of that. I find that interesting because this book has a particular promise that no other book has. Blessed in he who reads this and the one who hears the prophecy. You are literally blessed by reading or having this book read to you. No other book promises that. Notice it doesn’t say you have to understand it or be able to quote it, just read or listen to it and you will be blessed. If you never understood a bit of it and had no idea what to do with it you would still have a promise from God himself that you would be blessed just by reading or listening to this book. So here we go.

Revelation 1:1–8 NASB95

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. 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 firstborn 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 to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The first thing you might notice is that this is not the revelation of John the Baptist. In fact the first line tells us that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. We immediately know whose revelation it is and then the next thing he tells us is who and what it is for. This revelation was given to Jesus Christ from God the father specifically so it could be shown to the servants of Jesus. In other words God gave this to Jesus specifically so he could pass it on to you and me. It is the revelation of Jesus given to all of us, his servants.

It is addressed to the seven churches. Now if it is given to Jesus for all of us who do you think the seven churches represent. They represent us. We are the seven churches. Many people divide these churches up into church ages but I think they overlap in time and place. Seven is the number in the bible that stands for completion so the seven churches would be the complete set of churches. All of us.

Then, just in case you are still confused we have a description of Jesus, Revelation 1:5-8

Revelation 1:5–8 NASB95

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn 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 to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Right in the middle of telling us who he is and giving us information about himself he tells us something about us.

Revelation 1:6 NASB95

and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

According to Jesus he has made all of us a kingdom and he has made us priests to His God and Father. So what does that mean to us.

We have been made into a kingdom. You may live in the United States or the United Kingdom but if you are a servant of Jesus you have been made into another kingdom. You are part of the Kingdom of God. The New Testament often speaks of the kingdom of God. Have you ever wondered what it is, it is you. You are the kingdom of God, Jesus has made you and all of his other servants into a kingdom. You share something with every other Christian in the the world, you are all part of a kingdom, a kingdom established by Jesus Christ. We are all part of one kingdom, one nation literally under God. Established by God for the purpose of God and ruled by God, we are already part of that nation. All of us together.

As part of the nation/kingdom of God we have responsibilities just like any other citizen of any other nation or kingdom. We are responsible to our ruler to pay taxes (tithes) and to obey the law of the land. Just like other kingdoms today our laws are written in a lawbook. It is called the bible. It gives instruction for what to do and not do, how to act, and how to be a good citizen. You are part of God’s kingdom subject to God’s law, obey it.

There is another title given to us in that description

Revelation 1:6 NASB95

and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

We are priests. Do you ever think of yourself as a priest? Jesus said he has made you a priest. So what does a priest do. Well, in the Old Testament a priest made sacrifices, he conducted ceremonies, there were certain parts of the temple that were only accessible to the priests. Regular people could not go there only the priests designated by God could go there, there were certain things that only the priests could do. Everything the priests were responsible for doing had to do with restoring the relationship between God and the people. So what do you think a priest is in the kingdom of God. What is it you are supposed to do or to be since you yourself are such a priest.

Well, you don’t have to go places other Christians can’t go and do things other Christians can’t do for themselves since very servant of Jesus has been made a priest just like you have. But if being a priest has a lot to do with special access to God and being a go between between God and man and every servant of God is a priest then what special access do we have and who are we going between. If a priest was all about restoring the relationship between God and but every believer is a priest then what relationship do we restore, who do we represent. Isn’t it obvious. We represent those who are not servants of Jesus, we go between God and those who are not his children. We are his witnesses whose life’s work is to restore the relationship between the lost and their God.

What is your job as priest. The priests of Israel had special training and special access to God himself that not everyone had, you have the holy spirit and the right to enter into the throne room of God to take your prayers and petitions directly to him. When you pray, you are promised that God hears your prayers and that he is your God and you are his child. The lost do not have that position. You have an advantage they don’t have, when you pray for them you know things they don’t know and you have relationships they don’t enjoy. You can be priest to them.

The priests of Israel spent a lot of their time and effort performing elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices. They used their special knowledge of the law, their training and their position to do the things that God required for individuals to restore themselves to a right relationship with God. The priest was the one who knew what to do, who guided the petitioner and performed the ritual, It was the responsibility of the petitioner to bring the sacrifice and to do the repenting but they didn’t know the steps to do or the process to follow, the one coming to the priest just had to come willing to do what God required. It was the duty of the priest to show them what to do and to know the law of God and what the right process or ceremony was. The individual came willing to get right with God and willing to do what God required and the priest was the one who showed him or her what to do and how to do it. The priest did not provide the forgiveness or the sacrifice but they were the ones who knew what God expected and what the petitioner needed to do and say and believe. so what is your job. To lead people to Jesus. You don’t forgive people or save people, it is not your job to be God or to be the lost person, it is your job to be the go between, to make the introduction, to connect the kingdom of God and the world of the lost person together, to show them the bridge between where they are and where God is.

You are their priest, you are the one who is already on the inside, already in the kingdom, you are the one in the know and the one who can stand with one foot in each world and make the connection. You are the go between between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the lost. You have an incredible important and incredibly wonderful job. You are a priest.

Do you know what else a priest did. They made prayers and sacrifices for the entire nation. There were certain ceremonies and sacrifices that were performed by the priest for everyone not just for a particular person. It was their job to keep the nation of Israel as a whole in right standing with God. Do you think there might be a rift between the kingdom of God and the country we are living in? If the nation itself sins and strays from God it is the office of the priests who are responsible for restoring that relationship. It only makes sense right. How can anyone else do it. How could someone who has no contact with God and no part of the kingdom of God restore the relationship between their kingdom and God’s kingdom.

Pray for our nation, we need it. There is a rift between the kingdom of God and the United Stats of American and you are a citizen of both worlds. The closer together Gods kingdom and the U.S. become the easier it is to be a good citizen in both nations. The further we grow apart the harder it is for us to be part of both. The best solution for us is to bring the two together. Since God is not willing that any should perish but that all should inherit the kingdom of God then it is in the best interest of the kingdom of God for the U. S. to be brought closer to the kingdom of God. Since God’s way is best and God is the ruler and the one who blesses nations and controls their destinies then it is in the best interest of the United States to be brought closer to the Kingdom of God. And it our job as priests and members of both nations to bring them together.

I have some disturbing news for you. If you think America is going down the tubes and we are getting further and further from what we should be and further and further from the Kingdom of God then I can tell you exactly who is responsible for fixing that. It is the priest, and the priest is you. We should all be praying for our country, we should all be witnessing to the lost, we should all be serving as priests in the Kingdom of God. It is not just for evangelists, or prayer warriors, or pastors or some other special calling. We are all part of the kingdom of God, even you, we have all been made priests by Jesus Christ himself. Would you like to try and tell him he doesn’t know what he is doing or that he did it wrong. You are a priest. You are part of the solution, you are responsible, you are the one. You are a priest of God. Make sure you act like one, live like one, pray like one. It’s your job, assigned to you by Jesus Christ himself, you are something special, something holy, you are a priest of God. Go forth and perform the duties of your office, an office given to you by Jesus Christ himself. You are worthy, you are chosen, you are special, you are set apart by God for a purpose, the very definition of being holy. You are a priest of God, act like it.