In this sermon, the speaker discusses the role of priests and the importance of compassion and mercy. He references a passage from the book of Ezekiel where God instructs the prophet to eat a roll and speak to the house of Israel. The speaker emphasizes the need for prayer and intercession to cancel out prophecies and minister to the needs of God's people. He also mentions the story of Moses and the golden calf, highlighting how God appointed him as a watchman to warn the rebellious Israelites. The sermon concludes with a mention of a vision of a man with flaming eyes and wool-like hair, symbolizing the Lord Jesus Christ and his union with believers.

Help us then. Lord Jesus, how we love you this morning. And Lord, we are desirous, Lord, that you might spread your word, Lord, to every village and every nation and every city and every tongue and tribe under heaven, Lord. Oh, we glorify your name, Lord, and believe that you are doing just that. And we thank you for it, Lord. We thank you for what we see you doing. Oh, praise your wonderful name. Lord, as we come to you this morning, we remember the loved ones of those that are here. Lord, as we devote ourselves to the spreading of your kingdom and your gospel, your word, that you might bring our loved ones into a closer relationship with you. Those that are lost, Lord, you will bring them to salvation. Those who have accepted you, that you will bring them to discipleship and to a true serving of the Lord. We know the times are perilous, Lord, and we want to do everything in our power to reach every person upon the earth. So who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And so this priesthood, now I know it's speaking of Jesus, speaking of Jesus, but it's also speaking of those who are going to be joined unto him. For we hear the apostle Paul saying in the very first chapter, I think it is, or the second chapter, that they that are sanctified and the one who sanctifies are all of one. Therefore he is not ashamed to call them brethren. So that the sanctifier and those who are sanctified, the high priests and those that are set apart with him, they're all of one. They're all together, they're all joined together, they're all of one. It's the truth of the body of Christ, which Paul emphasizes more in other places. They're all of one. And so only the high priest can go into the holiest of all. So we can't go in because we're not high priests. But we can go in if we're one with him. We can go in if we're part of him. Because we're not going in on our own, we're going in joined unto him. And so there is a priesthood that God is raising up, not separate from Christ, but to be joined unto him. And Jesus prayed that the same glory that he had from the Father would be given unto his beloved ones. The same glory. He wanted the same glory to be transferred to his beloved ones. He prayed for that. And the glory thou hast given me, I have given them, that they may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us. That the world may believe that thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. So the high priest prayed for that. And I believe he's praying for that tonight. I believe he gave us a sample of his intercessory work in the heavens before he went away. So that Jesus said, I say these things here in the earth that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. He said it so that they could hear him. And those words have been recorded by the Holy Spirit in the book so that we can read them and know heaven by the spirit of revelation and also by the word to know that he is how as our high priest in the heavens is praying to the Heavenly Father that we will be joined unto him with that same kind of union with which he is joined unto the Heavenly Father. It's part of his intercessory work in the heavens. He's there as our high priest in the heavens, as our advocate with the Father, our helper with the Father, our advocate, our lawyer, our barrister, one who stands there in my stead. You don't know all the complexities of the law, so you get a lawyer and you tell him the story. And so he goes there and he's there in your stead. He knows the intricacies of the law. You don't. And we have an intercessor. We have an advocate in the heavens. We have an attorney. We have one who has taken our cause in the heavens. He presents us before the throne of God, like Brian mentioned, because he bears not only upon our shoulders our names, but in his heart. We're not on his stand because we're in the place of strength on his shoulders, but we share the affection of his heart. We're very close to his heart. He loves us with an everlasting love. Therefore, he is able to save unto the uttermost, to the very end, to complete our salvation, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. And so he could have compassion. And these people are going to be joined unto him who are being joined unto him. They will have compassion because they're joined unto him. You know that you can't work up compassion. You see that one that's sick, that one that's struggling, that one who is struggling against his flesh or some habit, and you know you can't work it up. But as you and I will submit ourselves to the lordship of Christ, as you and I will let the Spirit of the Lord have lordship in our own hearts and in the centering of God's people as we come together, we're going to discover there'll be a compassion begin to flow out. It won't be from your carnal heart. It'll be the compassion of Christ. And because we're getting closer to him and coming into greater union with him, we'll be able to love as he loved, to show mercy as he showed mercy, to show compassion as he showed compassion. And so cherish that when you find that anointing coming upon you of love and compassion and mercy for another. And you know it's not in yourself. But cherish that relationship with the Lord that there might be more of it. Because as surely as the ministry of Christ is effectual in the heavens, so the ministry of the Holy Spirit is going to be effectual in the earth. And they're not two different ministries. But the Holy Spirit is here in the earth just to do what the Lord Jesus Christ is our intercessor is doing at the right hand of God. He's here to do it in the earth. And so we have an intercessor at the right hand of God. And he's praying for us. He's interceding for us. He's saying, make my people one. Make them one with me. He's saying, forgive them. He's saying, Lord, show mercy to them. He's saying, bring them into all truth. He's saying, let love flow out from them. The Spirit hears the voice of the Son of God in the heavens. And he repeats it in the earth through his people. His people will yield to him. And so they become prayer warriors. They become intercessors. And I know a lot of it is mechanical. But as we submit to the Spirit of God, we're going to hear the voice of the Spirit praying through God's people. We call it intercession. The big groanings which cannot be uttered. The big groanings in the Spirit which you will not be able to form into words because it's the Spirit of God groaning in words that he can't bring forth in your language. But it's a groaning that God hears. And he that understandeth the mind of the Spirit, he understands and he hears and he answers that groaning because it's not merely a fanatic that's groaning, but it's the Spirit of God groaning in him and he can't find words to utter. How we need to come to those days. We've had them. We've had tastes of it. And we've known people who've been able to intercede and cry unto God and all night long perhaps just be weighted down with burdens of prayer and intercession. It wasn't them. And so we exalt them and oh to be like that one. We read the great ones in church history and we admire them and oh to be like them. And that is where you get under condemnation again. Because you can't be like that one. You can't do it. God deliver us. Oh we love reading those stories and I'm not making any light of that. It's good to read the stories, the life stories and the workings of God and the great ones of the past, but don't let it bring you under condemnation. And don't say, no I'm just going to do what they did and then I'll become like John Hyde who was an intercessor and whose prayers God heard and he would persist at it until God heard. And so I want to do that, but I can't do that. I'll read his life story and I'll say I'll do what he did, but you won't become a John Hyde. You can't do it. Because God has made every member of the body different. But let your vision be just to come into union with Christ and let him to make you to be what he wants you to be. Whatever that is. And know this, that every member of the body of Christ is different and you can't be like any other member in the body of Christ if you tried. So quit trying and be content to be that member in the body of Christ that he wants you to be a special jewel in his crown. A special ministry. Someone special. A peculiar ministry. And God is giving more abundant honor to those parts which have lacked. He's doing it. He's doing it today and we're going to see more of it. And it might be a source of fear to the professional ministry to see these nobodies, these people who've come out of the woodwork. Where did they come from? What college did they go to? What seminary did they go to? What degrees have they got? And the only degree of God is, well, they used to hammer nails or they used to do plumbing or something like that. And that's all they can say. But God is putting more abundant honor onto those parts which lack. That there be no schism in the body. And everybody's trying to bring unity in the body and do away with the schisms. And God's got the plan. And we won't listen to God's plan. God's plan for eradicating schism from the bodies of Christ is to put abundant honor onto those parts which lack. That there be no schism in the body but that the members might have the same care one for another. Who can have compassion. Who can show mercy. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. This priesthood is going to be a priesthood of mercy. On the end and on them that are out of the way. For that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. If you know that you're compassed with infirmity, God grant that you will look to his Spirit for mercy to flow to others who are compassed with infirmity. For oftentimes even though we know we're compassed with infirmity, when we see someone that's ignorant or one who's gone astray, we're quick to judge and condemn. But this priesthood, because they know that they have the same tendencies and the same potential and are compassed with infirmity, and God has made them to know it through many grievous circumstances, they're going to come forth with a compassion for others who are ignorant or who have gone out of the way. Because he himself also is compassed with infirmity. The Lord is preparing this priesthood, a priesthood of mercy. So what about apostles, prophets, evangelists? I know we've emphasized that a lot, and I believe rightly so, because I think God has had that in his progressive order. That he would restore gifts to the church, and then from those gifts there would emerge, because of the functioning of the gifts in your life, there would emerge this ministry. Prophet, apostle, pastor, evangelist, teacher. But there's been an undue emphasis upon it, because we haven't stopped to analyze the scriptures and to see what it was that made an apostolic ministry valid, or a prophetic office to be valid, or a teaching office to be valid. All we knew here was a man who was a teacher, he was a teacher. Here is a man, the prophet says, thus saith the Lord, thou shalt be an apostle. And so he takes the label and he goes on as an apostle. We haven't realized that though God declares his intention, perhaps, in such prophetic utterances, it takes a mighty working of the spirit of God in the life of an individual to bring forth that kind of a ministry that God is after. And I don't care how mighty is that apostolic office, or how great that prophetic ministry, or how great that teaching ministry. If it does not, if that ministry is not prepared to put that in the background and to pursue the calling which God has given every member in the body of Christ, the calling of a priest, that apostolic or prophetic ministry is going to fade away and will not be vital in this hour. God wants his apostles to be priests too. He wants his prophets to be priests. And we've magnified these ministries beyond all due proportion. And God is going to bring about in the church a change where those who are going to be recognized as apostles and prophets and teachers in the church of Jesus Christ are going to be those who have come into union with Christ and who speak out from the heart of Christ and who show mercy and compassion out from the heart of Christ and who have no work to do but the work of Christ and no words to speak but the words of Christ and nothing to promote except the work of the Lord Jesus Christ himself as the Holy Spirit shall dictate. It's going to be taken out of our hands and it's going to be in his hand. And God will still use men, but they're going to be a people, a ministry like John saw on the Isle of Patmos in the right hand of this one whose eyes were as a flame of fire whose hair was as wool whose voice was as the sound of many waters for the one that John saw was the one that Daniel saw was not only the Lord Jesus Christ that man but that man in union with many members so that his voice was the voice of many waters and in his hand were seven stars in his right hand. We're going to have a ministry coming under such control of the Lord Jesus Christ that they're going to be seen as in his hand not released to do as they wish but released only in the timing of God to be taken by the right hand of our Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish that particular work that he has in mind not a ministry that's been set loose in the world and say go ahead now and do what you can and build my church but they will know that there's one who is building the church and that is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who said I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and he's going to use others and he's going to use ministries but that valid ministry in this day and hour is going to be that ministry that has come into a priestly intercessory ministry of mercy and compassion and truth. We're going to stand before the Lord and the holiest of all clothed upon with holy garments with the old garments of the carnal nature and the flesh put away because there was that voice that came forth take away the filthy garments from him and give him change of raiment and set a fair miter upon his head because of that fair miter upon his head his mind will be under control so that he will think with the mind of Christ and speak forth words from the heart of Christ because he's in union with Christ by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God has become Lord of his life and of his ministry so don't exalt in the fact that you have a prophetic gift or an apostolic gift or a teaching gift don't exalt in that and before you try to promote that seek the Lord for priestly hearts because it's one thing to stand there with prophetic insight and say uh-huh i see yeah you got sin in your life yeah i see something else and all the while you're saying that you know you're you're filling that particular person with all you know at the inside of this man and and yeah i think you're going to fail down the way you're going to fail you're going to drop out you're going to yeah i'm afraid you're going to be a failure um if God shows a prophet a thing like that if he's got a priestly heart he doesn't come out and lay that upon them he's got a priestly heart he's going to cry unto God God what will i do you showed me something about this man what am i going to do about it you pray for me intercede for him if perchance through your prayer and intercession God will cancel it out but you say if it's a prophecy and God showed it God sometimes gives prophecy so that you might he might give insight into the needs of his people so that you might have an opportunity to exercise priestly ministry when Israel had so grievously sinned against God when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the holy oracles and he came down and he saw the people he heard the noise of the dancing and the shouting and and they wondered what it was and then when they came around a bend there they saw what had happened they were worshiping a golden calf and Moses in anger thrust the tables of the law out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain and God said to Moses out of the way Moses I'm going to destroy this people and I'll make of you a greater nation than they are and there is a great opportunity for Moses to become great let us not grasp hold of opportunities that come our way because of the failure of somebody else Moses was not an opportunist and so he wasn't quick to grasp this opportunity to become great and so he started to intercede before the Lord and he said Lord you can't do that he says are you going to be are you going to be let it be said that you brought the children of Israel out here and then you couldn't bring them into the land are you going to have the Egyptians say because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land he brought them out here in the wilderness for mischief to hurt them to destroy them Lord repent of this evil that you thought to do to your people can you can you conceive of a man standing up and saying God I want you to repent and that's what Moses did and God accepted it and the Lord repented of the evil that he thought to do to the people but can you can you feature that God you repent of this now any man to do that in presumption I could see him God smiting him dead but here is a man who talked face to face to God and he wasn't giving out some kind of a a carnal thought he had it was the burden of his heart he loved those people even though they were a perverse and rebellious generation God had given them to him to nurture and to feed and to lead and his heart was for them because Moses was a man prepared of God through 40 long years of a wilderness life in the back side of the deserts of Midian God took 40 years to prepare Moses because he had a great work and God wanted a priest who would have compassion but for a priest to have compassion he had to be dealt with of the Lord very severely sometimes very harshly that God might prepare a man who would be a true priest unto God and when God said to Moses out of the way Moses I'm going to destroy this people but I'll still fulfill my word I'll do it through you God was testing the man God was proving the man to see whether or not he had the true heart of a priest and he found the man Moses faithful and Moses said not in arrogance but with a broken heart of mercy and compassion God repent of this evil that you thought to do unto your people and the Lord heard him and repented I know God is not a man that he should lie or repent I know that and there's no contradiction but when God decrees a certain judgment for disobedience and the true priest of the Lord comes forth and says God spare your people for not for my righteousness sake but for your holy name sake for Jesus sake God then changes his mind he has to do it if man has changed and God's face restored him for evil and the man repents then God must repent part of his nature to do that he doesn't actually change his mind that's in God's heart from the beginning he's a loving God he's a merciful God he wants to change his mind when you change he doesn't want to destroy his people he wants to change that decree of judgment into one of blessing so it's part of his immutable nature to change his attitude toward man when man repents and returns to God and so you see I know Moses was a great man it's wonderful to have the vision of the burning bush and to hear the words of God go back to Egypt and deliver my people it took 40 years for that man to be prepared of the Lord you have a prophetic office teaching office apostolic office I don't say forget it but don't work on that work on the priestly heart you can look at people and see false perhaps and start unveiling the evil of their heart and devastate them totally devastate them but if you get in your prayer closet and seek God say God how will I deal with this God might enable you to come forth and with a priestly heart and with intercession and prayer change the whole thing and cancel it God loves to cancel things like that God make us to be true priests Jonah was a true prophet of God a real man of God I don't want to condemn Jonah but he was so utterly patriotic that when God gave him a word to take to Nineveh he said God I'm not going to Nineveh and you know why he wouldn't go to Nineveh because he said Lord when you tell me to go to Nineveh I know you've got something in the back of your mind I know that if I'm going to go and preach racism in Nineveh you're very apt you're very apt to change your mind you're you're apt to cause them to repent I don't want them to repent I want you to wipe them out because Nineveh was a threat to Israel and they were very zealous Israelites and they weren't concerned about the nations they came to that anyway Jonah was one of that type and he said that if you'll read the book of Jonah he said is not this the word Lord that I said to you back home that if I go to them that you'll maybe repent because I know that you're a merciful God and gentle and kind and repent of the evil I told you that Lord back there and that's why I ran from your face but God made him go and deliver the word but he never seemed to develop that priestly heart he was sort of under compulsion to do it and he had to do it all the time griping under when he gave the word and it true enough it caused the people to repent he pouted went out of the city and sat down there pouting let me die Lord better for me to die than to live God says what's wrong oh he says let me die so God caused a gird of some kind of brush to grow up over sitting there in the heat of the sun I guess he was a bald-headed prophet and this gird went over and covered his bald head kept the sun off and all how wonderful that the Lord provided this little arbor for me to sit under and then the next day the Lord prepared a worm God prepared a lot of things in the book of Jonah prepared a fish prepared the hearts of the people on the ship so that when Jonah was running from God and got on the ship a great storm arose they didn't know what the reason was they worshiped gods of the sea and of the sun and the moon and the dry land and so they cried unto their gods but Jonah was asleep he didn't care if he lived or died he wasn't concerned about his life and they went and woke him up who are you he says I uh I'm a servant of the most high God who made the sea and the dry land and we'll call upon your God and and so uh they couldn't cause the storm to cease so they said it's got to be because of something that's wrong here in this let's draw lots and they drew lots and the lot fell upon Jonah now they said tell us tell us all about it what what's the background here I'm a servant of the most high God that made the sea and the heavens and the dry land and well what did you do God told me to go to preach to Nineveh and I didn't want to go so I got on this ship going to Tarshish well what are we to do about it cast me out in the sea and if you do the storm will cease toss me overboard oh that we don't want to do that go ahead and they tried and they tried but to no avail Jonah says toss me out you'll have calm weather so they were good men and they said Lord God the God of Jonah don't charge us with the blood of this man we don't want to do this but he is your servant and he told us we must do it and and so they tossed him out and immediately the sea was calm and they were converted to the Lord Jehovah of Israel and they offered up sacrifices to the Lord God of Israel so that even in his disobedience God wrought a great work had a little revival there in the ship a little full taste of the revival he was to have in Nineveh but he didn't want that revival in Nineveh but God prepared a whale a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights and then I remembered how that when Solomon dedicated the temple remember in that great prayer dedication Solomon said Lord if your people because of their disobedience are taken off into captivity and if they think of this in the time of their captivity and will turn towards your holy temple and pray towards this house then Lord hear from heaven thy habitation and forgive their sin and so Jonah thought of that and so he turned towards the holy temple now I don't know about his directions how he'd figure that out but in his heart anyway in his heart he was turning towards the holy temple in Jerusalem Lord forgive me Lord forgive me I'm sorry and God heard him and the old fish went over close to shore and vomited him out on dry land what are you going to do now Jonah the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time arise Jonah go to Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the message that I bid thee God aren't you going to change your mind but no arguing this time and he walks towards Nineveh and through the streets of Nineveh with those garments soaked with whatever was in the whale's belly and they knew about it he must have told them because Jesus said he became a sign to the Ninevites and I'm inclined to believe that if he'd gone there the first time as the Lord commanded they wouldn't have repented but here you mean to say you were in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights and God caused that fish to vomit you out to come up here to us heathen people with a message from God yes it caused such a repentance in Nineveh that the whole city repented from the greatest to the least from the king on down and even put sackcloth in the animals that everything in Nineveh might be in a spirit of repentance because of their sin because Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites oh how God deals with his prophets sometimes you want to be a prophet anybody here is a prophetic ministry decide maybe you'd like to change it let's turn to Ezekiel we're talking about God's preparation of a people to become a priestly ministry forget the kingdom part of it forget the power and the glory there'll be plenty of that but not until we come into priestly ministry Ezekiel chapter 1 the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest now let me read verse 1 came to pass in the 30th year in the fourth month in the fifth day of the month i was among the captives by the river chibar and the heavens were opened and i saw visions of God isn't that great the heavens to be open have visions of God prophetic ministry must be wonderful in order have the heavens open have visions of God visions of God but yeah he was a prophet but he was also a priest verse 3 the word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest and the hand of the Lord was there upon him the hand of the Lord came upon this prophet and God was going to give him visions of the open heavens because if we don't have the vision of the open heavens we're not going to be able to to faithfully declare the heavenly realm to the inhabitants of the earth and God wants a people in the earth who will be in such union with the spirit of God that they will be able to speak forth words from the throne a message from the throne a word from heaven the word of the son of God who stands at the right hand of the majesty and high is speaking in the earth through a people who have come into union with him God wants the inhabitants of the earth to know what God thinks about the situation God wants the inhabitants of the earth to hear from heaven God who in sundry times and in divers manners and times past spoken to the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son and the ministry of the son on earth was very precious and wonderful it was short only lasted three three and a half years but the ministry of the son goes on and has been going on these two thousand years for what Jesus did in the earth was only the beginning of his work the great part of his work was to be accomplished in the heavens that's why Luke writing the book of Acts says I'm writing to you O Theophilus concerning the things which Jesus began to do and teach when he was here on earth coming into the epistles of Paul and the others we see what Jesus continues to do in the heavens he continues to bring forth from the heart of God he continues to speak the words of the son in a disciplined people in the earth who are in union with the son by the spirit and so he has a vision of the open heavens as John had a vision of the open heavens God we need that vision of the open heavens but remember if we're going to have a vision of the open heavens we're not prepared to declare what God is speaking from the open heavens until we go through the experiences of eating the little book so after having given him the vision of the glory of the Lord Ezekiel said when I saw it I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of one that spoke chapter 2 verse 8 of Ezekiel but thou son of man hear what I say unto thee be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house open thy mouth and eat that I give thee yeah he was a prophet but he was also a priest a prophet can stand a prophet can be very self-centered and very selfish like Jonah was but he was a prophet who was also a priest but he had to learn and go through the discipline of a priest and Ezekiel says when I looked behold a hand was sent unto me and lo a roll of a book was therein and he spread it before me and it was written within and without and there was written therein lamentations and mourning and woe God was going to give Ezekiel a very very heavy word I'm not saying that because God is raising up a merciful priesthood in the earth that their ministry is always going to be that comforting word there's going to be lamentation and mourning and woe too but God is not going to entrust it to any people except those who have known the disciplining of a priest and who have hearts of compassion and mercy then he said unto me son of man eat that thou findest eat this roll and go speak unto the house of Israel and he said unto me son of man cause thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I may give thee that I give thee it requires some urging didn't look very appetizing then did I eat it and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness because the word of the Lord is sweet if God is speaking it's precious but there are two sides to the word of God one is love and mercy and truth and grace and compassion but there's another side to God which the church has lost sight of in this generation and it's the side of his wrath and of his hatred against rebellion and sin it's that side of judgment but even as judgments flow forth from the house of God and from the lips of his ministers it must be through hearts that know compassion and mercy because even in the midst of judgment God shows mercy and that's why the prophet said oh Lord in your wrath remember mercy but God's wrath can be very severe it's going to be very severe in the earth but there's going to be a priestly ministry you're going to cry out oh God in wrath remember mercy he ate the book it was precious because it was God's word but as he began to digest it became bitter in his belly because as surely as you and I go God's way and do God's will and have his word though it's wonderful as we feel the anointing of his word within us it's going to be bitter as you begin to digest it and you become start to become that person that God wants you to become it's going to be that it's going to be bitter in the digesting of it and he's saying to me son and man go get thee unto the house of Israel and speak with my words unto them and he learned in my bible that word with he didn't just say go and speak my words unto them but speak with my words something that was so fresh from the heart of God it's what am I going to use what what instrument will I use you go with my words he was a man who would not speak from himself because he was a prophet he would speak from the heart of God speak with my words so it goes on we're just touching on a few things here God said to him son a man I've made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me and he shows him how that as a watchman he would be dumb until God gave him his words he wasn't to speak out from himself I'm a watchman to Israel and I'm telling you this no I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth and thou shall be dumb and shall not be to them a reprover for they are a rebellious house that's what God said to one of the watchmen in Israel I'm going to make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth you're not going to be a reprover to them because they're rebellious they wouldn't hear it anyway but you're a watchman I know but listen to this when I the Lord Jesus Christ will be Lord in their midst not in word only not in song only but that will recognize that the Lord is there in our midst for Jesus said where two is here gathered together in my name there am I in the midst earlier days we used to hear it quoted there am I in the midst and that the blessed but it doesn't say that because what more do you want if he is there in the midst you want him to be Lord you you want him to be in charge you want him to stand and speak with an infallible voice you want to hear words of wisdom and knowledge and truth from his lips and that day is coming that day is coming because the Holy Spirit has come into the earth in Jesus stead Jesus went away because he said it's it's for your benefit that I go away because if I go away the comforter will come into you because we look abroad in the land and throughout all the gatherings of God's people and we would think it would be so wonderful if Jesus was there instead of that pastor that teacher that elder that deacon if Jesus was only there Jesus said it's better if I go away because if I go away then that same spirit of truth that is in me will dwell in every member of the body we don't see it we scarcely see any semblance of it but I rejoice in the revelation that God quickened to my heart and it's nothing deep or mysterious that any truth in the scripture which God has brought forth God will not take it back until it has prospered in the thing where until he sent it there in Isaiah 55 I think it is as the rain is the snow cometh down from heaven and rain the earth that it might cause the things that are shown in it to spring forth in bud so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return into me void it shall accomplish the thing that I please it will prosper in the thing where unto I have sent it it's good when God somehow quickens the word then it becomes yours you can lay hold upon it there's no longer any argument God made it real it was there in the bible for hundreds of years but it became real to me God has sent forth certain truths into the earth through various ministries the various outpourings and the truth is there in the earth we don't see it yet in any great fullness it will remain in the earth until it brings forth the desire of God's heart so there will yet come that day when as the saints of God gather together and the Holy Spirit in our midst has his lordship as Jesus intended he should have that he would only speak out from the heart of God he would not speak from himself but whatsoever he should hear that should he speak you say why don't we see it why doesn't the Holy Spirit do that you ask yourself and I'll ask myself if we are the temple of the Holy Spirit then he speaks through my mouth and through your mouth and until you and I have made him to be the lord of our lives we're not releasing the Holy Spirit to fulfill the office ministry that was laid upon him when he came into the earth as the vicar of Christ the Holy Spirit is in the earth as the vicar of Christ the one in here here in the earth in Christ's stead and in Christ's place so that's that's a glorious truth to me and God is yet going to do it he's yet going to fulfill it I not saying he hasn't done it in part but the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former and if we know that there is a great measure of it in the early church as there certainly was all I can say is that glory of it is going to be greater in this latter house for God always works that way he doesn't start out something and when it spoils patch it up and say well I know it's not quite as good as it was when I well you know when it started but you know I passed it up he doesn't do that and all over the world we find people trying to patch up the New Testament church to try to give it some semblance to New Testament order and glory and function and God says no I've got something better than the New Testament church got something better for isn't the watermelon that comes forth in the day of harvest greater than the seed that was planted in the time of spring isn't it much greater much better much more glorious of the same kind of the same nature the same seed produced it but more glorious the day of harvest is it much more much more glorious than the day of planting and so we we have that confidence and that assurance that the Lord Jesus Christ is jealous for the glory of God and the Holy Spirit in the earth is jealous for the glory of Christ for he came to reveal the Christ and he's yet going to be vindicated in the earth as he was in the early church and even greater when God was justified in the spirit God was declared to be just and holy and righteous in the spirit because of the way that the Spirit of God exercised his lordship in the early church and the early church gave him his lordship recognized his lordship and great fear came upon the people because the Holy Spirit was in charge he was Lord in the midst of God's gatherings together unto his name so if I think of I think of these things and I think of that glory and it it's enough to inspire us and to keep us full of faith and hope and let us cherish that hope that God is now about to restore his glory unto his people people and make them to be that glorious church that the scriptures have spoken about that he might present this church in the day of his appearing unto himself a glorious church not having spot not having wrinkle not having blemish or anything like it any such thing nothing like it but holy and without blemish and people say well leave me out I could never be like that well if you want to be left out well that's up to you I guess but it's not a case of whether you and I can be like that it's a case of whether we believe what God has said and whether we believe that he's able to do it and you think that's a humble statement leave me out you know I could never be like that maybe you can but I can you think you're being very humble you just belong believing God said he's going to do it he's able to do it anyway it's not a case of you that little lump of dirt becoming that watermelon the day of harvest you're just the ground in which the seed was planted that out from the soil of your own human nature redeemed by the blood of Christ out from that soil of the human nature of man there might spring forth in the day of harvest the image and the likeness of Christ because of the watering of the word because of the planting of the good seed in the soil because of the tender care of the harvestman harvester and the gardener that in the day of harvest the husbandman might come into his garden looking for the precious fruit for which his heart has yearned he's been dealing with the what has been called the beatitudes the blesseds the blesseds of romans of matthew 5 blessed are the poor in spirit for those is the kingdom of heaven blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth i remember where someone i don't think he was a christian but he quoted this and he says the meek shall inherit the earth serves them right but we're not we're not talking about this old earth the way it is now we're talking about this earth that belongs to god and belongs to the people of god and the earth is going to be changed because of the presence of god in his people talking about how people are going to rise up out of their meekness out of the crushing out of the desolation they've known and because they have learned meekness and they've learned what it is to be hurt they've learned what it is to be crushed they've learned what it is to be broken in the midst of it all not resisting accepting it realizing that it was god's purpose it was god's desire for them believing god in the midst of it they become meek and they're going to inherit the earth robert said this morning when it just said to john in the isle of patmos as he wept when he saw no man worthy in heaven or on earth to come and open the book he wept because no man was worthy until the angel says weep not behold the lion of the tribe of judah hath overcome and he will open the book and loose the seals thereof and john looked to see this lion and he saw a lamb not only a lamb but a bleeding lamb a lamb as it had been slain and he came and took the book out of the hands of him that sat upon the throne the insignia of the nations of the world from as far back as i guess as history records are animals of of strength the leopard the bear the lion the eagle but the insignia of the kingdom of our lord jesus christ is not only a lamb but a bleeding lamb ever hear of anything so foolish but the saints of the most high who were part of this company of overcomers are going to crush the systems of this world john or daniel saw a stone cut out of the mountains without hands and it smoked the image on his feet this great image of all kingdoms from the time in which the vision was given the kingdom of babylon until the end of this world order there was the image of the all the kingdoms of the world from the time of babylon down to now and the last empire to be destroyed was the roman empire and it it fell before the onslaught of the church of jesus christ it literally fell and that stone i'm not saying the full impact of it has been felt as yet but don't talk about a revival of the roman empire it came to naught god brought it to naught it is not going to be revived the next empire is the empire of our lord jesus christ the stone which smoked the image on the feet caused the image to crash and to be pounded into pieces and to be carried away with the wind of the threshing floor and the stone that smoked the image became a great mountain until it filled the whole earth the meek are going to inherit the earth the crushed ones the ones that have been held down the ones that have been trodden under and because of it have become meek they're the ones that are going to inherit the earth and so as god seeks to produce meekness and gentleness in his people in you and i let's not resist it let's not resist it the first inclination is to resist it and so we're condemned and and there's a lot there's a lot of condemnation that's coming forth from the people of god in various areas and and uh boys here in ferney had a visitation just a few days ago of a group that's uh condemning they're judging they're judgmental they lay heavies on people and they've broken up assemblies all over the place and they lay judgment on god's going to condemn you god's going to you're going to die you know you're going to fall under the judgment of god and i've run into these people i've seen many of them that were hurt that were crushed the first thought is you know well retaliate but god help us just to accept it clothed upon with the armor of god it can't hurt you you've got on the armor of god remember that when you're confronted with an attack of the enemy just find yourself clothed upon with the armor of god the helmet of salvation upon your head the breastplate of righteousness covering your body the shield of faith uh the the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace your loins girt about with truth and then you don't have to fight back the battle is the lord you don't have to fight back but you do have a sword not the bible but the sword that proceeded out of your mouth why do i say not the bible because it has to be that word maybe you've studied it and read it and memorized it but it has to become that living word in you that'll go forth out of your mouth not enough to say here read this scripture but as god in hours of attack if god sees fit to give you that living word and you speak it it will be devastating to the enemy if he does not then you can shield yourself with the shield of faith with the breastplate of righteousness and so very little and the enemy is defeated but it's so easy for a meek person a person who's attacked a person who is realizes that he's filled with infirmity and he's attacked and he's under attack it's so easy for him to get under condemnation to get under condemnation and so those attacks come and then perhaps a day or so later we get thinking well yes yes maybe that's right maybe i am no good maybe i am going to miss it maybe i'm going to lose out maybe i am rotten after all and and so you start thinking that and then the devil's right there and he said yeah that's right you're going to miss it you're no good you're you're rotten you you've missed it you fail god there's no hope for you and and so the meek man has to guard against condemnation because there is no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus and we have to guard against that and satan might point out you're false true enough and you might have to admit it's right but you must find yourself hidden away in the righteousness of christ i remember reading where luther said one time when the devil come to him and he'd have seemingly have these personal visitations of the devil once he threw a mink bottle at him and and and the devil came this time and started to accuse him you know and reminded him of all his former sins and he turned and he says the devil he says you're comforting me he says my sins are all under the blood jesus died for sinners he says you're comforting me well you know when you can attack the enemy like that you can cause him to flee resist the devil and he will flee from you let's turn to zechariah chapter three it was the time of the rebuilding of the temple after the babylonian captivity had ended the people of god had gone back to jerusalem to restore the temple amidst much opposition amidst much trial much testing many grievous things were happening and uh and so god was faithful to raise up ministry to go to them to encourage them in building of the temple and two of the prophets whom god raised up at that time were hegi and zechariah and they've quoted that scripture tonight from hegi it also was at the building of this temple and as they looked to the lord for help and for strength because they were a feeble people coming out of captivity with no resources and they looked to god for help god through the prophet hegi i reminded them you need gold for the temple you need silver it's mine god says i've got all kinds of it the gold is mine and the silver is mine and the glory of this latter house should be greater than the former and so zechariah was another one of god's prophets who sent there to jerusalem to encourage the people of god and joshua at that time was the high priest not the joshua read about earlier but joshua was the name of the high priest of this new temple and zechariah looked and he saw in vision joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the lord and satan standing in his right hand to resist him we don't always see behind the veil we know there's opposition but we don't always see as clearly as a prophet sometimes sees but we don't always have to either if we're people of faith we don't have to be dependent upon visions or revelations or dreams though god is faithful at times to give us what we need on certain occasions and so there was a lot of trouble a lot of opposition to the building of the temple a lot of opposition to to joshua and zechariah saw the vision he saw what was happening joshua the high priest was standing before the angel of the lord and he saw satan standing at his right hand to resist him and then he heard the lord say to satan the lord rebuke thee oh satan even the lord that has chosen jerusalem rebuke thee is not this a brand plucked out of the fire now joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel as the priest of the lord he would go into the temple clothed upon with the holy miter with the breastplate that brian talked about with pure white garments with his feet shod and he would be dressed very beautifully but in vision zechariah didn't seem that way because he was seeing in the spirit and this man was not really holy he was not really totally righteous a good man no doubt desiring to serve the lord but he still had that natural flesh to carry around and that's what zechariah saw in vision he was clothed with filthy garments as he stood before the angel but zechariah saw this beautiful incident and he saw the lords rebuking the devil and then he heard a voice which said take away the filthy garments from him and unto him he said behold i have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee and i will clothe thee with change of raiment and i said let them set a fair miter upon his head so they set a fair miter upon his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the lord stood by you see this was a work of the lord you can't be holy we're not asking you to do this this is the work of the new covenant this is the work of the high priest of our new covenant to clothe this people with these garments we know we're full of iniquity many times we know that we carry about these filthy garments we stand before the lord and satan is there to accuse and our brother will accuse and and even so-called teachers or apostles and prophets will accuse and and so we then we begin to accuse ourselves but let's see us standing before god in heaven and our lord jesus christ stands there with five bleeding wounds to intercede for you and i and he says take away the filthy garments from him take away the filthy garments from him you say i've tried to shrug it off i've tried to get rid of it i've tried to do away with all these old habits these old tendencies those you see you can't do that but when the word of the lord comes forth take away these filthy garments then the filthy garments are taken away take away the filthy garments from him behold i have caused that iniquity to pass from thee and i will clothe thee with change of raiment and i said let them set a fair mitre upon his head so they set a fair mitre upon his head don't wait long for that day this day is coming when as god raises up this priesthood in the church we know it's it's not sanctified yet it's not holy yet it's going to be and it's only going to take a word from god to do it and the word of the lord will be set a fair mitre upon his head so we have those thoughts those evil thoughts those condemning thoughts those accusing thoughts we have all those that come and and strike against us because we haven't been enabled to put on the helmet of salvation or the mitre of the priest but all it takes is a word from god let them set a fair mitre upon his head you know that as the word of the lord is given free course in the midst of god's people we're going to see by the living word going forth the substance of that living word taking effect and coming to pass in the midst of god's people and so that's why we encourage god's people to make way for the lordship of christ to make way for the spirit of the lord to have his lordship that he might speak that he might stand up and speak through any one's lips it doesn't matter but whatever vessel he chooses to speak he will stand up and say set a fair mitre upon this one's head he's troubled with accusation he's troubled with condemnation he's accusing himself he's got evil thoughts he's got evil ideas and he can't get rid of it and the lord says set a fair mitre upon his head and i will clothe him with change of raiment so they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments and the angel of the lord stood by and the angel of the lord protested unto joshua saying joshua the high priest thus saith the lord of hosts if thou will walk in my ways and if thou will keep my charge then thou shall judge my house thou shall also keep my courts and i will give thee places to walk among these that stand by here now joshua the high priest thou and thy fellows that sit before thee thou and thy fellows that sit before thee for jesus is our high priest but he has taken unto himself many others to be a priestly company with him joined unto him in one body here now oh joshua for they are men wondered at they are men of wonder the hebrew also i believe brings out the thought they are men that are going to be observed as signs not that they're going to be men merely performing signs but they are men to be wondered at there are men that are going to be observed as signs god wants his people to come to that place where his people will be a sign in the midst of the earth not just by doing some miracle but by becoming in such relationship with the lord that they become a sign they are men to be wondered at for behold i will bring forth my servant the branch god is bringing forth a branch you say it's jesus i know it's jesus jesus is on the vine but he also said you're the branches you're part of me and so he saw god's servant the branch the lord jesus christ but his people who are joined unto him are particularly the branch of our lord for behold the stone that i've laid it before joshua on one stone shall be seven eyes behold i will engrave the graving thereof saith the lord of hosts and i will remove the iniquity of that land in one day and so god has an antidote to condemnation for there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus it's one thing for others to condemn us but let us not linger in the area of condemnation and let us not be involved in the condemnation of others now there's a difference between condemning and judging righteously and god wants us to judge righteously not a case of all the sins that are committed in the church oh wow just you know they're weak and we're weak and i have my faults and he has theirs god wants us to judge righteously and there's a place for true godly discipline in the church of jesus christ but in the midst of judging righteously we do not condemn it's up to the lord what he does we do not take upon ourselves judge judgmental authority but he does want us to judge the house of god with that spirit of judgment the spirit of discernment paul says he that is spiritual judges everything it just doesn't slip by anything goes because we're god's people and we're supposed to be full of love he that is spiritual judges all things and god says even the prophets when they stand up and prophesy let the others judge we're going to have to come to that we're going to have to come to that place when people who stand up and give prophetic utterances the people of god are going to judge and they're going to say no that that isn't right and if the people of god are hearing the voice of god and come to know the voice of god it won't be a case of the pastor saying well i decree this to be right or i decree it to be wrong it'll be there in the audience it'll be there in the congregation the people of god's pasture will know this is not right this is not the right spirit and so cherish your relationship with one another and in the body of christ cherish that we're going to need a relationship in the body of christ in this hours we've never needed it if you've read that article i left here take one and read it god is tempering together the body of christ he's tempering it together for we are members of the body of christ we are the body and we are members in particular and god hath tempered the body together giving more abundant honor to that part which lacks that there be no schism in the body but that the members might have the same care one for the other god is tempering the body together giving more abundant honor to those parts which lack oftentimes the ministry doesn't want it that way because if god starts to give more abundant honor to someone out there perhaps he'll want my position perhaps he'll be aspiring after my position and so reason saw when he saw god giving honor to david and he heard the women singing saul is slain his thousands and david is ten thousand singing it very innocently saul says oh well a thousand for me and ten thousand for david oh and he began to eye david and jealousy sat in and an evil spirit took over first thing you know he had lost the anointing first thing you know he was out to kill david next thing you knew because of the rebellion in his heart he'd gone into witchcraft and went down to endor to inquire at the witch of endor all because he did not allow the lord to so discipline his heart that there'd be no room for jealousy no room for that spirit of jealousy to take hold of him and so the lord is preparing a meek people but they must not dwell in areas of condemnation and i think it'll be easy to stay away from areas of condemnation if we refrain ourselves from condemning others if we're quick to condemn others rest assured there'll be more condemnation coming our way jesus said judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment ye judge so shall you be judged and with what measure you meet so it shall be measured to you again and you'll discover that that if we have a judgmental spirit and we're quick to judge others just wait down the line somewhere you'll find judgment heaped upon you and you won't like it but it's it's inevitable that's just the way the principles of god work that if you're judgmental the time will come when judgment will be heaped upon you but if you have a forgiving spirit and a merciful spirit god willing we'll come to that a little later tonight then you'll find that in the flow of forgiveness and in the flow of mercy your own heart is cleansed as you allow mercy to flow out from you so that flow of mercy in your own life will be a cleansing to you and so blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth there's a quotation from psalm 37 and 11 the meek shall inherit the earth the meek shall inherit the earth and what does it say after that something about their portion shall be the abundance of peace i can't quote it exactly let's go on to the next one blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they should be failed we're talking about principles of the kingdom kingdom truth kingdom truth which so much of it is related to what's going to happen when we take over we're going to take over the governments we're going to have a christian president we're going to have a christian prime minister we're going to rule from ottawa or washington as the case may be we're going to be the big ones in the earth but these are not the principles of the kingdom of god it's a lamb that takes the throne it's a lamb that is called to take the book out of the hand of him that sits upon the throne a lamb a bleeding lamb they are the ones that are going to take the book they are the ones that are going to rule and reign these are kingdom principles and god is teaching it to his people we must learn them well blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be felled there's a hungry people gathered here these days people that are hungry god says you're blessed god says you're blessed but you say i'm so hungry i'm so dissatisfied i can't get what i need you i'm hungry i don't find it in the churches well you're blessed if you're hungry because you can sit side by side with 2 000 people in a church and you might find a dozen people in that whole congregation that are hungry i'm just suggesting that it's very likely that out of the congregation of 2 000 people there might be a dozen or so that are hungry for god a hunger for god is a rarity oh i'm not saying you don't appreciate church and you don't appreciate the sermons and the teachings and and going there having fellowship but are they really hungry for god if you're hungry for god be sure of this that god put that hunger there and thank him for it thank him that you've got hunger because so many that don't have hunger because they're sick please eat no i i don't want to eat why i'm sick i i don't want it and so they're hungry because they're sick there's others who are hungry because they're not being fed and god is going to feed them god is going to raise up shepherds after his own heart that will feed those that are hungry and are not finding the food and they're genuinely hungry they're not sick they're spiritually alive and well but they're hungry and they're not being fed god's going to feed them but you see blessed are they which hunger and thirst for they shall be filled now we're not looking at all these blesseds all these beatitudes from a negative standpoint we're saying blessed are the poor blessed are they that mourn blessed are the meek blessed are they that hunger and thirst but that's the means to an end if you're poor is because god has riches for you and brian brought that out very well if you're mourning is because you're devastated because of the inroads that babylon has made into zion and devastated the house of god and you're concerned about it you're mourning about that if you're meek it's not well i'm just beaten down i'm trodden down i'm nothing i'm nobody you have a hope you have the promise that if you're truly one of the meek ones in god's house god has the kingdom for you god's got a kingdom for you i know you like that aggressive type that can out there out there in the church and get things done some people like that they try and back it up with scripture that the kingdom of god is to be taken by force jesus said from the days of john the baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force and they present that as a pattern jesus is just stating what's going on people are trying to get the kingdom by force they're trying to press into it they're trying to take it by power it doesn't come that way jesus didn't take it by that kind of force he took it by becoming a bleeding lamb people are doing that i know and some of them with some success and they're getting gifts and ministries and they're becoming apostles and prophets because they've insisted on having this and they've taken it by force but it's not god's way the saints of the most high are going to take it the way jesus took it by setting their faces aflint to do the will of god and going to get seminae going to golgotha going to the cross blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy god wants the people who will be merciful and that's why in the scriptures god has invariably brought forth a priesthood before he would bring forth the kingdom the priesthood was always first because the priesthood was a ministry of mercy let's turn to hebrews chapter 5 someone mind bringing me a glass of water please for every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men and things pertaining to god that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins who can have compassion and so that god chooses priests because he wants a people who can have compassion that's why he raises up a priesthood so before the time came to pass when god would have a kingdom in israel he first of all set up a priesthood god's plan for his chosen nation israel was that every man in israel would be a king and a priest unto god and we have that promise back there in exodus that god says ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests a kingdom of priests they didn't attain to it it's a long story but they failed god they were disobedient but god still must have a priesthood and so out from all the tribes he chose one tribe the tribe of levi and out from the tribe of levi he chose one family the family of aaron to be the priests in israel as a temporary thing god's vision was for a kingdom of priests and so it's reinstated in the new covenant and john said god has made us unto him to be kings and priests or a kingdom of priests and peter said writing his epistle that ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a kingly priesthood it's god's plan and god is going to have a royal priesthood in the earth and i know we can quote the scripture from the new testament and shrug it all off and say well we're all priests and kings peter says we're kings and priests and john says we're kings and priests and i know we are potentially but there's something subtle that has come into the teachings of the new covenant something very subtle and it is this that when you quote some scripture concerning god's desire for his people someone can come up with a quotation it's and they didn't say well there now we already have that they've no more thought of exercising priestly ministry than the man in the moon but they can quote the scripture peter says we're a royal priesthood no thought of priestly ministry no thought of submitting themselves into the hand of god that they might be prepared and disciplined and clothed upon us priests no thought of that just quote a scripture we're kings and priests that's what god has made us but the sad part of it all is that most of god's people have no thought of apprehending that which god has apprehended us for and paul though he declared these truths that men are quoting and justifying themselves for remaining in their poverty stricken condition quoting from paul paul himself after 20 or 25 years of a fruitful ministry we hear him saying oh i desire i press on if by any means i might be able to lay hold upon if i might be able to apprehend that for which god apprehended me and he says i haven't done it yet i don't know if that was 20 25 years of ministry he said i haven't done it yet not that i've apprehended yet but he says i press on and so there's an apprehending of that which god has given us i know it's mine and because i know it's mine and because i hear his voice and because i have his spirit i desire to apprehend that for which he's apprehended me and so there's coming upon the people of god who long for him and desire him that desire simply to lay hold upon that which god has given us simply to apprehend that for which god has called us unto and he's called us to be kings and priests unto god we can quote the scripture and sing about it i'm a king and priest unto god but you're not a king unless you suffer as a lamb and you're not a priest until god has so disciplined your life and so broken you and so crushed you that you can have compassion