THE
COMFORTER (Part 8)
14/07/02
Memory Verse: ‘And they
sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because You were slain, and with your blood You purchased men for God from
every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our
God, and they will reign on the earth.” ‘(Rev. 5:9-10. NIV.)
We shall focus on our earthly position as Kings and Priests.
We know the right way to address a King is to begin your
statement with the words, “Your Majesty”. Now if a friend walked up to you and
addressed you as “Your Majesty”, you would consider it a joke, wouldn’t you? Or
if someone addresses you as “Priest” or “Pastor”, you will probably think he is
pulling your legs for being serious with God.
But if God says to the believer, “You are a King, and in
fact a Priest to me”, would we be right in accusing Him of just cracking a
joke?
Thank God that this is the position in which He has placed
us, & we shall be looking at that today.
BACKGROUND
In Eccl 10:7a, King Solomon observed, “I have
seen slaves on horseback,…” In his days, the proper position for a slave was on
his feet, not on a horseback. For him to be on a horseback means he has been promoted, elevated, lifted up,
exalted. It takes the anointing of the Holy Spirit to bring about this
extraordinary change.
o
Think of Joseph in the Book of Genesis.
What was he up to the morning of the day on which he became
the Prime Minister of Egypt?
Slave, prisoner, castaway, presumed dead, forgotten by both
family and “friends”.
All of these would describe his position.
It took the visitation of God to bring about the radical
change we read of in Gen. 41:39-44.
o
Think of Esther in the Book of Esther.
Who and what was she before she was catapulted to the
position of the Queen to King Xerxes who ruled over a kingdom that stretched
from India to Ethiopia?
Slave, refugee in a foreign land, orphan, just one of the
girls along the road in the city of Susan, a no-body. You could say she had no
papers, and was in fact instructed by her uncle to hide the fact she was a Jew.
Esther 2:10.
But then the God Who makes slaves ride on horsebacks
intervened. Esther met the King, and she became the Queen. Esther
2:17-18.
In both examples, we see God changing our situation suddenly, because
His time for placing His own on horseback has come. See Isa.
60:22.
In summary, our God specializes in raising
slaves to ride on horsebacks, and in turning the rejected stone to be the
cornerstone without which the building cannot stand. Psalm 118: 22-23.
Warning: Just as the anointing of the Holt
Spirit brings about the sort of dramatic change we’ve seen, Eccl 10: 7b warns us
that the same Solomon had seen “…princes go on foot like slaves”. And in Eccl. 10:1, the
warning is that “…dead flies give perfume a bad smell…”
The NT puts it this way, “And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, with Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”, Eph. 4:30. See also I Thess
5:19.
If we turn deaf ears to what God the Holy Spirit is saying
to us from the word of God, do not be surprised if you are demoted before God
and men. Think of what became of King Saul who thought he knew better than God,
& modified God’s word to suit his liking.
I Sam 15: 1-3; 13-23; 16:14. (For the
background see Ex. 17: 8-16; Deut. 25: 17-19.)
LESSON OUTLINE: THE KINGLY THRONE OF BELIEVERS
Let us take note of the following points:
o
The Lord Jesus has made us both Kings and Priests unto our
God. Rev. 1:4-6; 5:9-10;
I Pet. 2:9-10.
o
Our position as Kings makes us the head and not the tail. Deut.
28:13.
o
God promises exaltation for believers. I Sam 2:7;
Ps. 75:6-7; Isa. 58:14.
o
The anointing of the Holy Spirit is what catapults the
believer from the position of a “commoner” to that of a King. I Sam
16:1-13 (and note v.13); I Kings
19:19:15-16. (All these men did great deeds in their lives.)
o
Furthermore it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that
provides the required strength and wisdom that the believer needs to function
well in his/her position. Zech. 4:6; Prov. 8:15.
But how do we prepare ourselves to receive this anointing we
have been talking about?
Luke 22:28-29; 2 Tim. 2: 12; Rev. 20:4.
And what do these passages teach about our divine position
as Kings and Priests unto our God?
The
Holy Spirit’s anointing restores the believer to the state of Kingship and
Priesthood in keeping with God’s plan for believers.