Kings and Priests Continued

Rev.  Lonnie C. Crowe

Jesus is the only one who is both King and High Priest.  Yet He has called His followers “a royal priesthood.”

1Peter 2:9:  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

We will reign with Him during the Millennial Kingdom.

Rev 5:10  And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.  

We are both kings and priests.  Those positions have specific, but different, functions. Kings are called to govern.  Priests are called to come before the Lord to worship, pray and intercede.  We are also called to evangelize and disciple.  That ministry begins in our homes.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7  And you shall love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart. And you shall carefully teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 

It is the ministry of the church, of those who Jesus has called to be priests, to lead our people in prayer.  If Christian schools receive no government funds, they are under no obligation for follow government rules on prayer. They can pray in school.

We are naïve if we do not understand that no prayer in schools is a protection for our students.  If some prayer is allowed, all prayer is permissible.  My son once said, “If people are upset because prayer has been taken out of our schools, imagine how upset they would be if Mr. Abdul Mestopha, a Muslim, asks his students to kneel facing east 7. and pray to Allah.”  

As priests of the Most High God, do we want a practicing Wiccan to take our children outside and have them dance around a tree praising Mother Nature?

Spiritual warfare is the ministry of believers.  The purpose of government, of kings is to protect that right. Many people who advocate for prayer in schools do not have consistent prayer in their homes. Prayer had been taken out of many homes long before it was taken out of the schools.

Rember James 5:16b: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous one avails much.” 

It is not the job of federally funded schools to pray in our students.  However, it is the job of the government to protect our freedom to worship. 

 

Kings and Priests

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

In the Bible, kings and priests serve distinct yet complementary roles with kings governing and protecting God's people, and priests mediating between God and humanity, a pattern pictured in Melchizedek and ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ and extended to believers.

Genesis 14:17-20: And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's valley. And Melchizedek the king of Salem brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of Heaven and earth.  And blessed be the most high God, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 

Melchizedek means King of Righteousness.  He was the king of Salem.  Salem mean peace.  Melchizedek was the King of Righteousness and Peace.  He was both a king and a priest. This event was a preincarnation appearance of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 7:15 -17: And it is still far more evident, since there arises another priest after the likeness of Melchizedek, who is made, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." 

Jesus is the only one who is both King and High Priest.  Yet He has called His followers “a royal priesthood.

1Peter 2:9:  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

We will reign with Him during the Millennial Kingdom.

Rev 5:10  And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.  

We are both kings and priests.  Those positions have specific, but different, functions

We rule and reign with Jesus during the Millennial Kingdom. In the meantime, we have a dominion only over what God has entrusted to us.  We need to know the boundaries of that dominion.  A relative said that I was the matriarch of my clan.  A matriarch is a ruling woman, often the oldest woman in the clan.  I am the oldest, but I am not the ruler.  I am the Grandma, and I function as a priest in my clan.  I love them and I pray for them, but I don’t rule over them.  I am busy enough, just keeping myself in line.  This currently is the extent of my dominion.

We must understand the equivalent, yet different, functions of the king and the priest.

I received a phone call that the Holy Spirit used to lead me into the path way of the Kingdom and the functions of the king and the priest.

I have an associate who has reached out to me for advice and prayer for several years.  He is a Christian journalist. He has an understanding of the need for spiritual warfare, but has no idea how to go about it because he doesn’t understand the roles of kings and priests.  He feels that world leaders need to call their citizens into spiritual warfare against the Prince of Persia.

The "prince of Persia" appears in Daniel 10:13-21, where an angelic messenger explains that he was delayed for twenty-one days by the prince of Persia before Michael, one of the chief princes, came to assist him: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Daniel 10:13 KJV).

As believers, we have been given authority to engage in spiritual warfare. That is a priestly function, not a governmental function.

 Luke 10:19: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” This verse reassures believers of the authority granted to us over spiritual enemies.   

The need for spiritual warfare against the Prince of Persia is vital. However, it is not the job of political leadership to engage in spiritual warfare as part of their office. Perhaps in their personal lives, but not in their office.  It is the job of the Church to engage in spiritual warfare. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

Progressive Christianity preaches another God, one without the power to save, heal and deliver.

Isaiah 29:13 “And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men.”

The hearts of many, who name the name of Jesus, have moved away from Who God says He is and have received the fatalistic viewpoint of man, of ancient Greece, where everything that happened was thought to be fate and that fate was inescapable. If fate is inescapable, it must, therefore, be acceptable. Paul wrote described the resulting consequences.

2 Timothy 3:1-5: “Know this also, that in the last days grievous times will be at hand. For men will be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unyielding, false accusers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good, traitors, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS BUT DENYING THE POWER OF IT; even turn away from these.”

The Word says that the God of the Bible is still the God of today. He is still our deliverer from the works of Satan. One of His names in Hebrew is Jehovah Maphalti (deliverer). “Yeshua” also means to save, to rescue, to deliver.

It is the ministry of believers to bring the word of God into world. Not the job of the federal government.

Deliverance is in the hand of God and is available to those who truly desire to be delivered.

Psalm 18:2 “Jehovah is my strength, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock; I will trust in Him; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.”

Deliverance comes from a relationship with Jesus. I encouraged my associate to seek out leaders in the Church about the importance of spiritual warfare against the forces of evil including the Prince of Persia.

Our God is an awesome God. Our God can and will save, heal and deliver.

 Laying the Axe to the Root of “Progressive” Christianity

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Matthew 3:10 “And now also, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.”

What is the root of the tree of “Progressive” Christianity?

Isaiah 29:13 “And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men.”

The hearts of many today have moved away from Who God says He is and have received the fatalistic viewpoint of man, of ancient Greece, where everything that happened was thought to be fate and that fate was inescapable. If fate is inescapable, it must, therefore, be acceptable. Paul wrote described the resulting consequences.

2 Timothy 3:1-5: “Know this also, that in the last days grievous times will be at hand. For men will be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unyielding, false accusers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good, traitors, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS BUT DENYING THE POWER OF IT; even turn away from these.”

The axe that we must lay to the root of is the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Word says that the God of the Bible is still the God of today.
Hebrews13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.” The delivering power of God has not waned. It is eternal. God can and will deliver us from settling for less that what He desires for us.

Psalm 18:2 “Jehovah is my strength, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock; I will trust in Him; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.”

Psalm 34:17 “The righteous cry, and Jehovah hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.”

Our God is an awesome God. Our God can and will save, heal and deliver.

 Scriptures the Lord has laid on my heart to share warning those who are promoting falsehood and perversion of truth at this moment.

Matthew 18:6 But whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believes in Me, it would be better for him that a millstone were hung around his neck, and he be sunk in the depth of the sea.

Isaiah 5:20-21: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those wise in their own eyes, and bright in their own sight!

2Timothy 3:1-5: Know this also, that in the last days grievous times will be at hand. For men will be self-lovers, money-lovers, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, unyielding, false accusers, without self-control, savage, despisers of good, traitors, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it; even turn away from these.

 

Ambassadors for Christ

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

2 Corinthians 5:20a  “Then we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ.”

In the Bible, ambassadors were representatives sent by God or a king to bring messages, negotiate, and act on behalf of the one who sent them. We Christians called to be ambassadors for Christ.

We are to speak truth and to live our lives in truth because Christ is the truth, the way and the light (John 14:6). In His truth, we are to negotiate, that is, to navigate the complexities of this life led by the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit has all knowledge (John 14:6). We are to live out every aspect of our lives in the light of Jesus. “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked, tempting Him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the Law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:35-37).

As ambassadors of Christ, we must let His light shine through us.

 Sometimes It Takes a Mountain

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Sometimes It Takes a Mountain

By Gloria Gaither and Mark Mathes

“Sometimes it takes a mountain

Sometimes a troubled sea

Sometimes it takes a desert

To get a hold of me

Your Love is so much stronger

Then whatever troubles me

Sometimes it takes a mountain

To trust you and believe.”

This song has captivated my heart. It resonates in my spirit even in my sleep. It has caused me to meditate on the mountains, the troubled seas and the deserts of life.

In scripture, mountains often represent difficulties and hardships that must be overcome.

Jesus assures us, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:22-24.)

Holding onto the promises of God, we discover that those mountains of obstruction in our lives can be removed, most often one layer at a time.

However, the mountain image is not one-sided. We often describe those victory moments in our lives as “mountain top” experiences. Remember the ark rested on Mt. Ararat. Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah and received the provision of God for salvation. Later, Solomon built the Temple on that sight. Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Elijah called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. Golgotha gave us the ultimate mountain top experience when Jesus cried, “It is finished” and died to pay the price for our sin.

Whether the mountain offers obstruction or deliverance, a mountain top experience opens us to the revelation of God. God gets a hold of us on the mountain.

On the troubled seas of life, we can either be like Jonah or like the Apostle Paul. Jonah tried to escape the Lord on the tumultuous sea. Jonah asked to be thrown overboard in the storm and found himself in an unlikely and uncomfortable place of protection. God got a hold of him in the belly of the great fish.

God got a hold of Paul on the road to Damascus. Later, when the tempest arose, Paul prayed and fasted during the storm and received the assurance that though the ship would be lost, all the lives on board would be saved. When the stormy sea arose, Paul prayed because he knew his Lord.

God's love surrounds us even in the most turbulent times.

Then we come to the desert times when we feel empty, deserted and spiritually lethargic. During those times, we must remember the Israelites in the wilderness. God found his people in that desert: "He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert. He shielded them, cared for them, guarded them as the apple of his eye" (Deuteronomy 32:10)

When the people of Judah were exiled in Babylon, God told them to return to their homeland. The desert wilderness that lay between them and Jerusalem became a pathway back to God: "A voice proclaims: In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!" (Isaiah 40:3.)

We are not deserted in the desert.

What we must learn in difficult times is that His love is stronger than anything that might trouble us. It is in those seemingly impossible situations that we learn to trust and believe. Sometimes it takes a mountain for us to accept that.

 

Haggai’s Message for Today

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

The biblical prophecies all have a message for their time and for all times. God’s message for Israel through Haggai is a relevant for our time as it was for ancient Israel.

The Lord spoke to the prophet Haggai after the Jews had returned from their exile in Persia. The people of God had been diligent in rebuilding their own homes and lives, but had neglected the Temple and the worship of the Lord.

Haggai 1:3-8 (NKJV) Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the LORD.”

As He declared in the time of Haggai, the Lord is speaking to the church today. We have not only built beautiful homes for ourselves, but we have also often constructed elaborate edifices designated as places for worship. Yet, we have even more often neglected the building of God’s temple. God has set us aside for a time to consider our ways.

Consider Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. According to Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Corinth “was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people.” Paul wrote the letter when he learned of the strife and sin practiced by members of the congregation. The purpose of the letter was to address the different factions within the church and to correct doctrinal errors.

The Corinthians had neglected personal sanctification and had, as a result, neglected to build the true temple of the Lord.1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV) “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Paul addressed the corporate Body of Christ in Ephesus as the temple of the Spirit of God. Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJV) “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Individually and corporately, we are to be the sanctified temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Individually and corporately, we are to consider our ways. If our emphasis is on material wealth, we are impoverished and malnourished. If we are not good stewards of our wealth, we are putting our funds into bags with holes.

Like the ancient Israelites, we are to go to the mountains, to go up higher in our relationship with the Lord. We are to take the wood, the message of the cross and build on that relationship.

In Acts 7:48-50, the first martyr, Stephan, quoted Isaiah 66:1-2,:“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest? Has My hand not made all these things?'” (NKJV)

It is time for us to lay aside the divisive philosophies and practices of the world, to take up the cross of Jesus Christ and to build, both individually and corporately, the true temple of the Lord.