The priesthood of all believers is a scriptural concept that contrasts with human-made religious hierarchies. The sermon explores biblical priesthoods, beginning with Melchizedek and the patriarchal priests like Abraham and Job, who offered sacrifices and interceded for their families. It then details the Aaronic priesthood, established due to sin and the law, highlighting its temporary, shadowy nature and its replacement by Christ's new covenant priesthood. The core lesson emphasizes that in the New Testament, there is no separate priestly class; all believers are priests, worshippers, and are accepted in the Beloved through Christ's sacrifice. The sermon concludes by describing Christ as our eternal High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, who intercedes for us and enables us to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise, service, and witness.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 1.91 → restored 4.28
The priesthood of all believers. This may be an unfamiliar term to some, but it's a perfectly scriptural one. Section number one. Farmer priesthoods. I'm not now talking about priesthoods such as you'd find in various organizations or religions. so-called Christian or otherwise, but Bible priesthoods. Number one, Melchizedek. Spelled N-E-L-C-H-I-Z-E-D-E-K.
Melchizedek, which is a compound name that means king of righteousness. Malchizedek is a king in Hebrew, and Sedeck is the word for righteousness. So his name means the king of righteousness. He's described in Genesis fourteen. He's mentioned again in Psalm one hundred and ten, and this is quoted in Hebrews five, where the Lord Jesus is said to be after this order. He was the only one of that order in the Old Testament, but he was definitely a priest of the Most High God, evidently a Gentile. And number two, the patriarchs.
I'll give you four examples of these and you can look them up. A. Abraham. Abraham was definitely a patriarchal priest for his family. He offered sacrifices. He interceded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He served as a priest. And bing ye Jacob. Jacob did the same thing, although he was a great failure at the beginning. At the close of his ministry, he pronounced blessings in the last two chapters, or rather the forty-eighth and forty-nine chapters of Genesis, pronounced blessings on his sons and their descendants.
And see Moses. Moses served as a priest before his brother Aaron was appointed to the new priesthood. And D, you have the case of Job. Job offered sacrifices for his family in the first chapter. And then in the last chapter, he offered sacrifices. Well, we assume he did. He prayed anyway for his friends. He interceded for them. So he served as a patriarchal priest. Although the Book of Job comes over about halfway in the Bible, he was probably a contemporary with some of the very earliest.
And the Book of Job is the oldest piece of literature in the Bible and in the world. So he was one of the very early patriarchs. Now, division number three, Aaron. The priesthood of Aaron... was a necessary because of sin and the giving of the law. If you read the Twentieth of Exodus, which records the giving of the law, you'll see that at the end of that chapter he describes how to build an altar. And immediately after that he describes the tabernacle and then the priesthood.
So the priesthood of Aaron was necessary because of sin and the giving of the law. The law shut people out of God's presence. The law put a veil between God and the people. And then they had to have a priest who could go inside the veil and intercede to God for them. He and his sons chosen arbitrarily without merit. Now this is important to see because Hebrews five makes a great deal of this. Aaron was not chosen because he was a better man or because he was more worthy, but God arbitrarily chose Aaron and his sons to be the priesthood.
We'll see how this pictures us. It's not a matter of you being worthy to be a priest now, it's a matter of God's choosing. And see They were anointed and clothed. Exodus twenty-eight and twenty-nine, these two chapters. The ceremony of anointing the priesthood with oil pictures our being anointed with the Holy Spirit. And then their clothing pictures our acceptance. They could not go into the presence of God without wearing this specified clothing.
And, of course, we are spiritually clothed and made fit for God's presence. And D, their service carefully circumscribed. Circumstcribed means to draw a circle around it. God told them just what they could do and what they could not do. And you have this laid out in the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus is the book that concerns the tribe of Levi. the priesthood and the other Levites served with them. It was an imperfect priesthood.
In Hebrews seven, he says, if perfection came by the Levitical priesthood, why should there be another? And in the close of that chapter, he says, This priesthood was not continued by reason of death. So it was an imperfect priesthood. Aaron could only be a priest in a limited circle for a limited time. F. It was merely a shadow of heavenly things. And all of the eighth chapter of Hebrews, and up till the tenth verse of chapter nine, goes into this quite in detail. shows that we now have a better covenant established on better blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Therefore you have a better priesthood, that the priesthood of Aaron was served in a worldly sanctuary, that is an earthly tent here on this earth, while the Lord serves in the presence of God. So it was merely a shadow of heavenly things. And G, it was replaced by the new covenant and the new priesthood. Hebrews ten, the first twenty-five verses. It begins by saying, the law is a shadow of good things to come. And then he says that in the sacrifices of Aaron, there was a remembrance of sins made again every year.
But now through the Lord Jesus and his one sacrifice, we're able to come inside the veil to be made welcome, and we have a high priest, the Lord Jesus. So the Aaronic priesthood has been replaced. In the Mormon church, they have what they call the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood, and anybody who would read the book of Hebrews and see that you couldn't have the two simultaneously. And in the ritualistic churches you have the same thing because you have people who dress in a certain garb and are set apart to be called a certain kind of priesthood as distinguished from the rest of the believers.
And you'd never have this if you'd read the book of Hebrews. Now, division number two of this study, there is no sacerdotal or priestly class in the New Testament. A class means a group separated from the rest of the believers. There is no sacerdotal class in the New Testament. One, distinguish priests from elders, gifts, etc. An elder is no more a priest than the youngest believer in the assembly. He has other responsibilities that are different.
A gifted man is no more a priest, no more capable of leading the assembly and worship. He's more capable of teaching or preaching or whatever gift he has, but don't confuse the priesthood with those who serve in various ways. Number two, the clergy laity heresy. It's historical development. You find nothing about it in the New Testament, except a rebuke. In the early writings of the Church Fathers in the second and third century, you see it developing.
Until finally, be, you have a monstrous growth. It has become a universally accepted thing, and people say, well, how could you operate a church without it? You've got to have a pastor. You've got to have a man who is the pastor. There has to be a head to this thing. See, failing to recognize the Lord Jesus is our head in heaven. And see, this was rebuked as Nicolaitan deeds and doctrines. in Revelation chapter two. In writing to the first church, Ephesus, he said, you have the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
And then in writing to the church of Pergamos, he says, you have the doctrine of it. So what starts out to be practiced after a while becomes a teaching. They started out by one man doing the whole thing, being the head man. And they got so used to this that they taught that this was the right way to do it. And there's a strong tendency in this direction among those who claim to be meeting as simple New Testament churches today. There's a strong movement toward hiring a pastor to do everything for them. Now, when this is first done, it seems to work because he comes in and takes charge and everything moves off sharply.
And you say, well, this is the answer. This is doing the job. This was what we should have done a long time ago. But then, as the thing goes on, Gradually you find out that the other Christians are not developing and that this man is getting more and more of a stranglehold on things, so after a while he becomes a despot. There's no way of avoiding this. It'll happen invariably. Even if he's a very spiritual man, he's put in the position of temptation in this line. And third, all believers are worshippers. The Lord Jesus himself taught about this in John four, twenty three to twenty four. And in Philippians three three, he tells us again how that all of us ought to worship.
A, this is our Lord's teaching. B. It is proved by the rent veil. Rent means torn. When the Lord Jesus died, Matthew twenty-seven, fifty to fifty-one says, there was an earthquake and the veil of the temple was torn into from the top to the bottom. Now Josephus says that this veil was made of material so heavy and interlaced with gold wire that that it would have taken several teams of horses, hitched to opposite sides, to have torn the thing.
And it was some fifteen feet high, and it was torn from the top to the bottom. So we know that God himself tore that veil in two. And this is developed in the tenth of Hebrews, and he says that this was done in order to show that the way into the holiest is now made perfect. That's why the veil was torn in two, to show that no longer are we shut out and must be represented by a priest. And see, we are accepted in the beloved one. Ephesians one, three to seven. Colossians two, nine and ten says, in him all fullness dwells, and you are complete in him.
So this is how we can be worshipers. Just as Aaron and his sons were chosen, but on any merit of their own, so you and I. have been saved by God's grace, and have been made worshipers. And it is no credit to ourselves. Now, section three, our high priests. One, he could not serve after the order of Aaron. Hebrews seven, twelve to fourteen says that he came from the tribe of Judah, and no man from the tribe of Judah could be a priest. David wanted to be a priest.
He prays about this in at least one of his psalms, perhaps two. David wanted so much to be a priest that he was only a king. He recognized that it was far better to be able to draw an ear to God in worship than it was to serve him as a king. This is something that many Christians don't see today. We think service is best. However, our Lord could not serve after the order of Aaron because he was not of that tribe. Number two, he is after the order of Melchizedek. A psalm of hundred and ten four, which is quoted again in Hebrews five, tells us that he is a priest after this order.
What is meant by this? Well, A, he is a man. Malchizedek was not a supernatural being. He was not an angel. He was not a pre-incarnation of Christ. He was a man. Because it says that he was without father and mother and without descent doesn't mean that he wasn't a man. It just simply means that there's no genealogy and there's no record of his descendants. Of course, he had a father and mother, but they're not listed. All the other important people in the Old Testament are listed by their genealogy. But Melchizedek isn't because he had no predecessor and no successor until the Lord Jesus came. Our Savior also became a man, a true man, in the incarnation without ceasing to be God.
And B, he was a king priest. Melchizedek means the king of righteousness. So he was a king, and he was also a priest. Zechariah chapter six tells us that the Lord Jesus, when he comes back, is going to be a king, or rather is going to be a priest upon his throne. But David wished for the Lord Jesus will actually have. David could only be a king, he could never be a priest. Our Lord Jesus is going to be a king when he comes back, but he will be a priest upon his throne. Read that section in Zechariah six and you'll see it's very interesting.
Now see, he is righteous. Melchizedek means king of righteousness. And our Lord Jesus in Isaiah eleven and five is said to have righteousness as a girdle for his loins as the king. He's going to be a righteous king. He is predicted to reign in righteousness. And D, he is also the king of peace. And in Isaiah eleven, where he describes the kingdom of the Lord Jesus, he says that the wild animals are going to lie down with the tame animals and a little child is going to lead them. And nothing shall hurt and destroy in all his holy kingdom.
It's the marvelous day ahead when the Lord reigns for a thousand years as a king of peace. And E, no successor, just as Melchizedek had no successor in the Old Testament. So our Lord Jesus will never need to have a successor. Now you can see what this would mean. When the Jews had a good priest under the Aaronic priesthood, they hoped that he would live a long time. But when he died, his son became priest, and he might be a rascal. He might be a very bad man, but he became priest because it was in the natural order. Now we know what our Lord Jesus is like, and we're thankful that He'll never be superseded by any other.
And finally, E, he is divinely appointed. Hebrews five, just as Aaron was made a priest, so the Lord Jesus was made a priest by an oath. God swore to him, that is, made a solemn promise to him, saying, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, number three is characteristics. And you should read these passages in the second, fourth, and seventh chapters of Hebrews very carefully. Here are his characteristics. A, he is merciful and faithful. Merciful and faithful.
It's hard to find these two characteristics together in any person. And B, he is touched with feelings. for our weaknesses. Infirmities is the word in the King James Version. He is touched with feeling for our weaknesses. And see, he is holy, harmless, and undefiled. This could not be said about Aaron. Aaron had his fault. Aaron's sons and so on down the line. But our blessed Lord has perfect access to the presence of God.
Aaron had to bring a sacrifice for his own sins first before he could sacrifice for the people. But our Savior doesn't need a sacrifice for his sin. He had none. And D.E. is exalted. Exalted to the right hand of God. Not simply exalted to the priesthood. But our Savior serves right in the very presence of God. and E, he is able to save to the uttermost. That word uttermost means as to time, endlessly, as to what he can do for us, unlimited, as to who he can represent, any person who has the need.
It's an inclusive term to the uttermost. And F, because he ever lives. Our Savior is alive forevermore. He died for us, but he rose again, and he lives to intercede for us. Now, don't say the Lord Jesus has gone into heaven to build mansions for us. That isn't said in the Bible at all. That's a very low idea about what the Lord is doing. The fact of the matter is he doesn't say you're going to have a mansion. He says, I go to prepare a place for you, all of you. We're going to be with the Lord. I'd hate to think I was going to be stuck away in some mansion somewhere.
That isn't what the Lord's doing at all. He prepared the place immediately upon his going into the presence of God. But now he is busy interceding for us. And this brings us to his work, number four. I've given you some references here that you can look up. What is his work? A. He made propitiation. The first act of Aaron, the high priest, was to offer a sacrifice for sins. And the first act of our blessed Lord Jesus, as priest, was to make propitiation. And be He helps us. He is able to succor.
This is an old English word that means to help. All that come to God by Him. He helps us. Remember that the Lord Jesus is called our advocate and the and the Holy Spirit is called our comforter, and that both of these words are translations of the word paracletos, which means one called alongside of to help. So the Lord is there helping us, and the Holy Spirit is here helping us. No matter how weak you are, you can't fall, and you've got one helping you on each side. You're pretty sure to stand with a helper like this. And see, he is our forerunner. Now, a forerunner... is one who goes in ahead to represent.
Now because he is in there, you and I can come in. Now this doesn't mean when we die. This means now, day by day, we are welcome in the presence of God because our forerunner is there. And be, he offers our gifts. Now you don't need to bring a sacrifice for sins. It would be an insult to his finished work to do so. But you can bring all kinds of sacrifices. We'll see what these are later. He offers them. And to all our prayers and praises, He adds His sweet perfume. And love, the censer raises their odors to consume. E, He intercedes for us. And finally, S, He shall appear to bless us.
You're very happy to think about the coming of the Lord and the coming of the King and coming... of the Son of Man and so on, well, you ought to enjoy also the coming of the high priest. Just as our Lord Jesus went into the presence of God in the act of blessing his disciples with his hands lifted up, that's the last sight they had of him. That's the way he's coming back. And as they waited outside the temple for Aaron and his descendants to come out with a message of blessing from God, so we're waiting for the Lord Jesus to come back. to bring us into everlasting blessing. Now for we are a holy priesthood.
And you should read First Peter chapter two because it tells us a great deal about both of these priesthoods, holy and royal. One, God made us such. Revelation one and six, we are a kingdom of priests. Two, to offer spiritual sacrifices. Why are these? A. Our bodies. Romans twelve one. Don't try to give God anything else if you're not willing to give him yourself. And B. Praise to God. Hebrews thirteen and fifteen. By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, naming his name.
Just saying the name of the Lord Jesus. in gratitude before God is like incense offered by the priests. C, to do good. And D, to communicate. That doesn't mean to call him up on the telephone. It means to give their money. Part of our worship, when we come to the Lord's Supper, is the giving of our money. Because in so doing, we are expressing our appreciation for the Lord. and we are doing a priestly service. And E, ministering or serving others. Philippians, two, twenty-five. Now that word minister, where it speaks of Epaphroditus, ministering to Paul, is really a word which means priestly service.
And then five, we are a royal priesthood. One, a people purchased and set apart to God. Just as God chose Aaron, so he has chosen us, and we are called a peculiar people. That doesn't mean you're to be an oddball. It means that you're to be peculiarly his, belonging to him because purchased by him. And two, to represent him to others. Now the difference between the Holy Priesthood and the Royal Priesthood is that the Holy Priesthood is going as we're going in to worship.
And the Royal Priesthood is as we are going out to witness. We're still serving as priests when we go out to tell others about the Lord. A, as those who are called out of darkness and delight. That means that you want to live like a person who lives in the light. and B, to show forth his virtues. And the word show forth means literally to tell out, to talk about his virtues to others. When you do that, you're serving as a royal priest. And C, as pilgrims and strangers.
I don't settle down in this world. You don't belong here. Their job is to represent the Lord Jesus here. We saw that we represent him as ambassadors. Now we're seeing that we represent him as royal priests. And finally, D, by honest and godly lies, to glorify God. Read this whole section, First Peter, two, nine to twelve, and you'll see that the royal priesthood is to stand for the Lord, to live for the Lord, to witness for the Lord, to speak well of the Lord to others.