Scripture
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
~Mark 15:37-38, ESV
Quote
Jesus made a way to the FATHER. Jesus Himself is the WAY.
~Ya’akov
Before Christ atoning death at Calvary, we had to approach God through a priest. I see some good in this and thankfully, we still have a High Priest, the LORD Jesus Himself. He is at the Father’s right hand making intercession for us. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. So we have two intercessors, one within and one in heaven. One to start our prayers and one to finish them. So having a priest is not necessarily a bad thing because he can help us with our prayers. But there was a problem with the Old Testament priesthood. They were not always available twenty-four-seven. You could not go to them anytime day or night. Plus they were not always in the area or accessible. When Jesus died, the veil of the Temple {massive curtain} that separated the holy of holies from the holy place was torn into, a symbol of open access. Jesus made it possible for us to pray anytime day or night and from any place…Jerusalem, New York, London or Moscow. What a wonderful privilege we have; we can carry every thing to the LORD in prayer day or night.
We call this doctrine THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER. It means that Jesus has made a way for every believer to approach as a priest. We can go to the Father in prayer day or night in Jesus name. We don’t have to go through our pastor or a priest. The PRIESTHOOD OF THE BELIEVER is not a license to think and do as you please. This doctrine does not sanction rebellion. It does not give anyone the right to interpret scripture as they see fit. When a person says, “I believe in abortion and I support the LBGTQA and I am a Christian and I claim this right under the privilege of priesthood of the believer,” you know that they have misinterpreted the scripture. This is the exact stance that the Jimmy Carter Baptist take but it is an error. The priesthood of the believer does not give you a right to make your own rules. It gives you the right of access to the Father but He still makes all the rules. Carter if full of it and so are all his followers. The rules have not changed. Child sacrifice is as abhorrent today as it was in the days of Solomon. Sexual perversion is just as evil today as it was in the days of Sodom. The scripture is right and Jimmy and Andy are wrong. I close with the words of John… Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. [1 John 4:1]
Extra
I love this cool weather. I listened to some Christmas music yesterday. You can’t enjoy Christmas music when it is 80 degrees. I do praise the LORD for another good Sabbath. The Holy Spirit was real to me and I thank Him for inspiring me. It was a perfect day, the old flesh always rears its head but I do trust that some were edified and encouraged.
In terms of sickness, the wheels have come off. When Joe David read the prayer list last night, I was overwhelmed. Pray for us that we will be at the right place at the right time and say the right thing. Trust me, it is an awesome responsibility and we take it seriously but we need your help. Some of these people we are ministering to have little hope in this world. Some of them do not have assurance or peace. I do appreciate all my prayer partners and so thankful for the prayers and texts we got last week in our trip to Mobile. God answered a lot of prayers. Thank You!
Last week was a good week for our building program: we got our slab poured. We have a cooking porch to be poured this week and then the red iron will go up. Maybe we will see some by the end of the week; if not this week the next. Once David get a crew here, it will go up fast.
God bless you, have a great week, and thanks for reading the blog.