Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Ephesians 4:1.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Since the time My Son died for you and I raised Him up for you, I speak often of the calling you have received. I want you enlightened to it, Ephesians 1:18, I want you to walk worthy in it, Ephesians 4:1, and I want to reward you for treating it as a sacred charge. Colossians 3:23-24; Isaiah 49:4; 2 John 1:8; Revelation 11:18. And it all has to do with what you do with your tongue and your actions that follow.
I have called you out of darkness into My own marvelous light and consecrated and set you apart as My royal priesthood and a holy nation. Kings and priests. My own people, My own special treasure, shining forth My goodness to those still trapped in darkness so they too can enter My marvelous light.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10.
And how did I qualify you for the call? By the blood of My Son, which though your sins were red as crimson, they have become white as snow.
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. Revelation 1:5-6.
In the same chapter that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, a few lines down you find this prophetic uttering by My Spirit of what this anointed servant of Mine, the Messiah, will cause to come to pass:
But you will be called the priests of the LORD; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs. Isaiah 61:6-7.
And in your calling as a royal priesthood there are three components: to witness to Jesus, to make intercession with your High Priest Jesus for all people to be saved and come to know the truth, pleading His precious blood upon the mercy seat and offering the Lamb who takes away their sins, the spiritual offering of sacrifice before Me by the fruit of your lips, and to let your light shine to show My goodness in operation in the world as you offer the world the Word of Life, and to bring others into My marvelous light as born again believers. And no matter what assignment you are walking in whatever workplace, town, city, state, country or nation, you are in, no matter what your present vocation is, you are still a kingdom of priests ministering unto Me and unto the people.
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5.
At the time Peter wrote these words about your royal priesthood, the only priesthood he knew was that which I had established under the Old Covenant under which He had grown up and which were the only Scriptures at that time. So you must look to the Old Covenant to see why I wanted to make you all My priests in Christ and what the service of the priest was unto Me. For the Old Covenant is a shadow of the good things to come, the substance is Christ. Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 10:1. Luke 24:27. Jesus Himself, who is My Word to you, explained who He was and the events in His life by referring to Moses, the prophets, and all the Scriptures of what you call the Old Testament.
If your recall, even before I gave the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, when I had just redeemed My people out of Egypt to be My own nation, I revealed the desire of My heart that all My people would be priests unto Me.
“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own special treasure among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:5.
Because of the people’s sin of turning away from My voice and worshipping an idol (the golden calf) in the desert when I had brought them out of Egypt and spoken to them from Mt. Sinai, I chose only one tribe of the twelve tribes of Israel that was loyal to Me in that incident to be My priests to minister unto Me for themselves and the people. And that tribe was descendants of Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. Aaron and Moses were both members of that tribe. I honor those who honor Me.
But now, in Christ, the desire of My heart has come to pass, for by His Blood Christ has released you from your sins and made you a people set apart, priests unto Me. By redeeming you, sanctifying you, and making you righteous, Christ has fulfilled My vision and desire that all would know Me from the least to the greatest and all would participate in My royal priesthood.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Psalm 33:11
And what is your work as priests unto Me? Look again to the Old Covenant as the physical representation of what you are to do in the spiritual, for your duties as priests are the spiritual fulfillment of the physical, for the physical comes first and then the spiritual.
However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. 1 Corinthians 15:46-49.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18.
The Levitical priesthood had two main categories of service unto Me:
- To minister unto the people and the nation by offering sacrifices to atone by the blood of lambs, goats and bulls for the people’s and the nation’s sins so that they would be forgiven of their sins and saved from My judgment and just wrath and to heal and cleanse them (Book of Leviticus; Ezra 6:20), by interceding for the people before Me, by blessing them so they could not be cursed (Numbers 6:24-26; Numbers 23:8; Numbers 23:20), by consulting Me and learning My plans for the nation so they could direct the governing officials accordingly (Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; Ezra 2:63), and by instructing all in My Word (2 Chronicles 22:9, Deuteronomy 33:8-10); and
- To minister unto Me by playing musical instruments and singing before Me in My house, making melody at all times before Me (1 Chronicles 25) and to take care of the things of My house (incense, anointing oil, keep the lamps of the golden lampstand burning, showbread, utensils, upkeep, vestments) (Numbers 4:16, Deuteronomy 33:8-10;1 Samuel 2:28).
The Levites were a consecrated, holy people living apart (Joshua 21:41) and belonging to Me and I was their portion who provided for all their needs and more (Deuteronomy 10:9; Numbers 18). And where they lived were cities of refuge, of asylum, where one who committed an unintentional murder could find refuge from the avenger of blood. Numbers 35:6-32.
To fulfill your responsibilities as My royal priesthood you must understand the power of the Blood of the Lamb. The only thing that worked to overcome the power of the tyrant Pharaoh to release My people from the cruel slavery of Egypt was the sacrifice and the blood of the Passover lamb. And it is still the same today. Christ your Passover has been sacrificed, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and you only overcome Satan by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony. Revelation 12:11.
You are to offer spiritual sacrifice. Not the physical ones with the blood of goats, bulls and lambs as was done by the priests of the Old Covenant, but New Covenant offerings, the fulfillment of the old sacrifices of the law by the sacrifice of Jesus once for all in an eternal redemption that spans all time for all men. You are in a whole new realm that transcends time and space.
“Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1 Peter 1:18-21.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” Leviticus 17:11.
In Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. Ephesians 1:7-8.
The Blood of the Lamb spiritually applied gives threefold protection: (i) From divine justice executed in punishment of sin. Exodus 12:12-13; Romans 5:9; Proverbs 20:30. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:9; (ii) from all plagues and disease, Exodus 12:13, 1 John 1:7, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:13; and (iii) from the destroyer (the devil and his demons who come to steal, kill and destroy, John 10:10). Exodus 12:23; Ephesians 1:7; Revelation 12:11. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. Exodus 12: 23.
And the Blood of Jesus intercedes for forgiveness, mercy and grace: And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:24.
And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28.
The Blood of Jesus opens the Way and ushers you into My presence. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-25.
The Blood of Jesus reconciles you to Me so that you have peace with Me. For it was the Father’s good pleasure to make all fullness dwell in Christ and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the Blood of His Cross. Colossians 1:19-20.
The Blood of Jesus cleanses you of all sin. If we walk in the Light (He is the Light of the World and no follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life. John 8:12) as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
So as My royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifice with the Blood of Jesus, you can come pleading the Blood before Me as the law on which you base your case (for your sins it did erase) and spiritually pour and sprinkle the Blood of Jesus over those who are lost and watch it speak for them before the Me louder than any other voice. And the word used in Greek for the scripture that the Blood of Jesus speaks louder than that of Abel’s blood is “laleó,” which means to talk and to speak but it is a word that actually means “talkative.” His Blood just will not keep silent, it continually speaks before Me on the Mercy Seat in Heaven. And of what does His Blood speak? Of redemption, salvation, reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness and of the sacrifice of My Beloved Son. And it not only speaks but also performs by continually cleansing those walking in My light from all sin. 1 John 1:7. Your Great High Priest ever lives to make intercession for you. Hebrews 7:24-25. And as My royal priesthood you are to join with your great High Priest in doing the same. Imitate Him and you will be imitating Me as My beloved children.
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22.
The Levitical priesthood was set apart and consecrated to offer the sacrifices to make atonement for the people, themselves and the nation so the people and the priests could be forgiven and accepted by Me and receive My favor by imputing their sin to a spotless lamb, bull or goat, and using its blood for atonement on the altar. And the offerings set forth for the priests to make were the following: 1. The Burnt Offering: (holocaust), in Hebrew it is (עֹלָ֑ה) which is pronounced “olah” and it actually means “ascent” or go up. This sacrificial offering goes up entirely in smoke. The slain lamb is totally consumed by the fire and leaves nothing but ashes which are taken away outside the camp. Your sin is gone and I give you beauty for your ashes.
- The Grain offering where unleavened bread was offered and broken to bits in atonement. Leviticus 2:6. For the healing of the sinner. Leviticus 14:2. And the priests were given to eat the portion that did not go up in smoke. And every morning, and every evening without ceasing the priest was to offer up a burnt offering of a year old unblemished male lamb along with a grain offering of unleavened bread and a drink offering of a hin of wine. Exodus 29:39-45; Numbers 28:3-8. 3.
- The Peace offering: the sinner was reconciled with Me by the atoning blood of the lamb of sacrifice, and the wave (waving the breast horizontally) and heave offering (raising the thigh vertically) were then offered forming the sign of the cross. Exodus 29:26-28; Leviticus 10:15: Numbers 6:20.
- The Sin Offering: where sin was atoned for and forgiven by the blood of the sacrifice, not by the penitential actions of the sinner. Leviticus 4:20. The penances of the sinner to justify himself meant nothing, only the prescribed atoning sacrifice of the blood of the lamb or bull or goat would do. Leviticus 4:35.
- The Guilt (Trespass, Shame) Offering: this was the offering by which your debt due to Me for your transgressions (acts and/or omissions) was paid, Leviticus 5:16, your debt due to other men whom you had stolen from or cheated was paid and restored. Leviticus 6:4-7.
Jesus fulfills all these sacrificial offerings in Himself and is your one true offering to Me that takes away your sins and bears all the just wrath for sin in your place. He is your burnt offering, your grain offering, your peace offering (which includes the thanksgiving offering, “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father,” Ephesians 5:20), your sin offering, and you guilt and shame offering
As My royal priesthood, come with confidence to the Throne of Grace, Hebrews 4:14-16, not on your own merits, but on the infinite merits of Christ, and that is what it means to pray in the Name of Jesus. Not because of your own righteousness, but with His that has been imputed to you and qualified you to be My royal priesthood.
The success of your prayers and your acceptance before Me does not depend on your merits and penances, but on the quality of your Lamb. And He is perfect, and by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified and you have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:14, 10.
For not through the blood of goats and bulls but through His own Blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12. His Blood is eternal. Because He is God and Man, His sacrifice once for all is outside time and is ever new. The Blood applies to atone for your sin on the Propitiatory in Heaven and plead for your redemption NOW as if it was happening when you sin. His Blood continually cleanses us of all unrighteousness as you walk in the Light. 1 John 1:7.
So as a priest unto Me, you come with confidence to enter the holy place by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for you and, as the priests of Old did physically, you, as His priest of the New, do spiritually: You come before Me in prayer offering Me your burnt offering, Jesus, and you put your sin, the sins of your straying loved ones, the sins of the nation that deserve wrath on Jesus and you shield them from the wrath by pouring out spiritually the Blood of the Lamb on the altar before Me and then you pour it upon the person or nation you are praying for and shield them, cleanse them, and do a deep work in them to sanctify them. And do this all only unto Me in the secret place of the Holy of holies, and I, your Father, who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:6.
Then you bring the grain offering, Jesus, and offer His broken body that bore your infirmities for yourself, for the sick, for the healing of all. He gave His flesh for the life of the world and by His bloody scourging you are healed. Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24.
Then you offer your peace offering, Jesus, and atone for and make peace by the Blood of the Cross for all those who are rebelling against Me. And as you put the Blood over them, do in the spirit the wave and heave offering, that is, sign them with the sign of the Cross from your secret place (you can also trace this sign with your thumb on the forehead of your young children before they go out), and bless them with the priestly prayer of Numbers 6:24-26.
Next you offer the sin offering, Jesus, and put all sins of yourself, your family and loved ones, co-workers, your city, your state, your nation on Him and pour His precious Blood on the altar before My throne and then pour it on all for whom you are praying, and be globally not just locally minded. And remember all whom you touch this with in spirit will be consecrated and those you spiritually pour the Blood on will be washed by Me in the holy of holies.
And then offer your trespass offering and let Me restore to you all the devil stole and all you lost from your own mistakes. And do not forget to bring the national debt unto Me. And thank Me that your debt to divine justice has been paid in full. Here pray for the payment of your own financial debts.
Learn from the physical in the Old Covenant and apply it to the spiritual for your prayers as you fight the winning battle for your loved ones, your political leaders and your nation.
This is the spiritual sacrifices of the New Covenant, because Jesus only needed to die once for all and it is eternal redemption so now to activate it you need only bring to Me the remembrance of it by the words of your prayer, the offering of your lips, and it is as if it were happening right then that Jesus is shedding His blood for you or the one you are praying for and it is speaking to the Me on the altar for forgiveness and mercy. Hebrews 12:24.
Be My priests, do not come to Me empty handed, I have given you the Lamb and His precious Blood. Are you pouring it and sprinkling it in spirit on everyone you see or meet? At the market in line? On the highway over all the drivers and passengers? At your workplace? And as you go down the hall of your apartment house, or down the block before each home’s door imagine yourself reaching with the branch of hyssop into your bowl of the Blood of Jesus and painting it on the lintel and doorposts of that home or apartment and praying for protection and salvation for all therein and for the Blood to do a deep work in the hearts of all who dwell therein. Make someone from a sinner to a saint by pleading and splashing the Blood over them to do a deep work in their life. And don’t forget to put the fat on the altar. It belongs to Me and I consume it (the encumbrances of sin and addiction, excess baggage). Leviticus 9:24.
“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest.” Isaiah 62:6-7.
And as His priests what and who should you be praying for to fulfill My Will?
First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2-6 .
The Testimony of the Holy Spirit under the New Covenant is: “Your sins and lawless deeds I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:15-17. Jesus took them on Himself and you are free. Released by the Blood of the Lamb. The snare is broken now and you are free, Psalm124:7, and the one whom the Son sets free is free indeed. John 8:36.
And the Priests were to bless the people and we have talked about this in another Life Lesson herein but here is the Blessing again:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The LORD bless you, and keep you. The LORD make His face shine on you, and give you His grace. The LORD smile upon you, and give you shalom. So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.”
This blessing put My covenant Name (יהוה) on the people revealed to Moses from the burning bush, and through His Name, His blessing on the people. And what God has blessed, no one can curse and nothing can revoke that blessing. Number 23:8; Numbers 23:20.
You need to be fulfilling your priestly vocation and blessing your children, your siblings, your parents, your co-workers, your neighbors, your friends, your city, state, nation and all the nations. Sing this blessing with raised hands every morning and every evening over all the nations and especially your own household and city. And remember the shalom of Jerusalem too.
Do not ignore so sacred charge. I have blessed you to be a blessing. Give Me the authority to bless everyone and everywhere you speak the blessing over and upon. And you can do it from your secret place of prayer. But speak the words for your children to hear each day as you bless them.
In Jesus, I have blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Heaven. Ephesians 1:3-4. Will you not call upon that blessing and bring it down to the earth?
When Jesus ascended into Heaven to return to the Father, the last thing He did was lift up His hands and bless the disciples, and while He was blessing them He departed from the earth and was carried up into Heaven. Luke 14:50-51. Now you are to do the works He did and greater by the Holy Spirit in you and Jesus interceding for you as your High Priest forever at My right hand. He still has His hands lifted over you in blessing as your great High Priest. Join with Him as His royal priesthood.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14.
Jesus died to give you the Blessing, will you not release it into the world?
Don’t curse your life and that of others. If you curse you risk the fires of Hell. If you call your bother “a fool”, Jesus told you that you shall be guilty of the fire of hell. Do not be releasing the curse over you, your children or your family, do not tell your children they are stupid or foolish, correct but do not curse. If you want to be blessed, don’t beg Me for it like you do not have it. I have already blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the Heavens. You must speak it out of your mouth. As you received Christ as Lord, so live in Him. And you did that by confessing Him with your mouth and believing in your heart. And that is the spirit of faith. And I cannot change, I blessed man from the very beginning, it is My Will to bless and I will always bless if you pray and give Me the opportunity to do so.
You are in a battle, but not one that is to be fought in the physical and political arena.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness that are deceiving our loved ones, our children, and our nation. Ephesians 6:12.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4.
The enemy is the devil, that great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Revelation 12:9
But you have divinely powerful weapons that give you the victory over the devil, his demons and their tactics. And you know what they are: the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.
As My royal priesthood there is only one way to fight evil and win every time: the Blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. You are not fighting your loved ones, your enemies and your neighbors, you are fighting the one who has blinded their eyes and ensnared them. Know the real enemy and how to fight and then you can win every time.
When you pray according to My Will I hear you, and when I hear you, you know that what you have asked for is yours. 1 John 5:14-15. Remain, abide, continue in My Word and let My Word remain, abide, and continue in you and ask what you will and I will do it for you, for My Word is My Will. We will be operating, ruling, and reigning as one.
Are you performing your vocation as a kingdom of priests? And remember that besides offering the sacrifices for themselves, the people and the nation, they were the ones who played the trumpets, cymbals, tambourines, timbrels, lyres, harps and stringed instruments before Me in songs of praise and thanksgiving. As you come to offer the Blood and the spiritual sacrifices, sing your prayers and songs of praise and enthrone Me in your heart. Invite all of Heaven to raise the tabernacle of praise with you as you make melody in your heart with spiritual songs—songs of the Spirit, new songs that well up in your heart as you pray for My Kingdom is within you who are temples of My Spirit.
I love you. Never forget the calling you have received and walk therein no matter where you are or what work you are doing unto Me at that time. The royal priesthood is full time, it sets you apart as Mine. Let your light shine. You belong to Me, the Most High, and there is nothing and no one higher. You have the best, there is no need to look elsewhere for your answers. There is no saving God but Me.