Live Streaming from Toraja
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme is Royal Priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9
2:9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
The meanings of a priest are as follows.
Why do we have to be the priests and kings?
The duty of the priests and kings is testifying.
1 Peter 2:9
2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
The second one is ministering in the building of spiritual house or the one body of Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The ministry of building the body of Christ begins from the marriage, shepherding, inter-shepherding, up to the one perfect body of Christ between Israelites and Gentiles.
John 17:11,21-23
17:11"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be oneas We are.
17:21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
17:22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be onejust as We are one:
17:23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Jesus prays four times for the unity of the perfect body of Christ. It means as follows.
The requirements to enter the unity of the body of Christ are as follows.
God blesses you.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme is Royal Priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9
2:9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
The meanings of a priest are as follows.
- A holy person.
- One who bears the priest offices given by God.
- One who serves and ministers to God according to the ministry entrusted by Him.
Why do we have to be the priests and kings?
- Because there is a difference between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
Malachi 3:18
3:18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.
Malachi 4:1
4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
How great a man in the world is, he is only like useless stubble which will be burnt forever if he does not serve and minister to God. - One who serves and ministers to God gets the double promise of God, namely the guarantee of life from now on up to the eternal life.
1 Timothy 4:8-10
4:8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
4:9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
Therefore, we must fight for the service and ministry to God more than all things in the world.
The duty of the priests and kings is testifying.
1 Peter 2:9
2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
The second one is ministering in the building of spiritual house or the one body of Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The ministry of building the body of Christ begins from the marriage, shepherding, inter-shepherding, up to the one perfect body of Christ between Israelites and Gentiles.
John 17:11,21-23
17:11"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be oneas We are.
17:21 "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
17:22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be onejust as We are one:
17:23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Jesus prays four times for the unity of the perfect body of Christ. It means as follows.
- The longing of God.
- The figure four refers to the four corners of the earth.
Thus, the longing of God is that His servants from all over the world can enter the unity of the perfect body of Christ. We can be the perfect bride of God who is worthy to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds. - It is difficult even impossible to reach the unity; even it is more difficult than reviving Lazarus who has died for four days. Jesus only speaks once to revive Lazarus.
Uniting a husband and the wife is difficult because there are many physical differences. Therefore, the husband and the wife must be one spiritually.
Moreover, it is difficult even impossible to unite the Israelites and the Gentiles. Nevertheless, there is nothing impossible for God.
The requirements to enter the unity of the body of Christ are as follows.
- There must be one Head, namely Jesus Himself.
John 1:1,14
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus as the Head is God who was born as human or the true teaching Word which was born as human.
Thus, Jesus as the Head is the true teaching Word.
Having one Head means that we have the one true teaching Word.
We must have the one true teaching Word so that we can enter the unity of the perfect body of Christ.
The unity without the true teaching Word will last in the world until the person dies or it is not eternal.
The fellowship in the marriage, shepherding, and inter-shepherding must be based on the one true teaching Word so that it can aim at the one perfect body of Christ with Jesus as the Head. This is eternal and the death cannot hinder it.
Hebrews 4:12-13
4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
The true teaching Word is the Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to sanctify our whole life. It begins from the heart. If our heart and mind are sanctified, our deeds and saying are too.
We must be sanctified from the desires of evil and uncleanness, bitterness, and deception.
If we are holy, we can be the one holy and perfect body of Christ. We do not stumble in word anymore.
James 3:2
3:2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
The one body means the one voice of worship. We can worship God through saying "Alleluia" on the glorious clouds when Jesus comes a second time. We will worship Him day and night in the New Jerusalem. - We must have the ministry and the gifts of Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:11-12
4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
4:12 for the equipping of the saintsfor the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
The requirement is the holy heart, mind, deeds, and saying.
The ministry and gifts of Holy Spirit are our place in the body of Christ or position in heavenly kingdom.
The ministry and gifts of Holy Spirit are different, but we must cooperate by the encouragement of the true teaching Word or the one command. One will be confused if there are two commands.
Cooperating means working together, but the Head must be one.
2 Timothy 1:6
1:6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
We get the ministry and gifts of Holy Spirit through the laying on of the hands of a pastor. Both the person who lays the hands on and the person who gets the laying on of the hands must be pure.
1 Timothy 5:22
5:22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure.
If we minister to God according to the ministry He has entrusted to us in the holiness, faithfulness, and togetherness, we will wear the tunic of many colors. It means that our ministry, life, marriage, and future are beautiful, even eternal.
If one ministers to God without the holiness, faithfulness, and togetherness, he will lose the beauty. Judas Iscariot is a star, but he is not holy and faithful as well as cannot work together, so he becomes a wild beast that betrays Jesus.
We must keep the holiness, faithfulness, and togetherness. It begins from our marriage. - We must have the peace or a sincere heart.
Ephesians 2:13-16
2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
2:15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
2:16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
The sin of uncleanness, evil, bitterness, envy, revenge, and deception will cause there is no peace or sincerity in our life.
The sin of self-truth will too. It means the truth which is not in line with the Word. One who is good may be unrighteous, but the righteous must be good.
The process to get the peaceful heart is through making peace with God and others. We must confess our sin when we are sinful. After being forgiven, we must not repeat the sin. When we are righteous, we must forgive others' sins and forget them. The sins are finished and we get the peaceful and sincere heart. We become the dwelling place of Holy Spirit.
The functions of Holy Spirit are as follows.- Holy Spirit helps us keep faithful and fervent in spirit in serving and ministering to God until the end.
Romans 12:11
12:11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; - Holy Spirit is able to make the mountain a plain or solve all impossible problems right in His time.
Zechariah 4:6-7
4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts.
4:7 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'"
If the mountains are made a plain, there will be the beautiful successful future life. - Holy Spirit sanctifies and changes us.
Romans 15:16
15:16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit burns the Gentiles whose characteristics are like the dog and swine. The dog refers to the idle words. The swine refers to the repeated sinful deeds. Holy Spirit burns our life so that we can produce a sweet smelling aroma before God.
It continues until we become the one perfect body of Christ. We are worthy to welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds.
- Holy Spirit helps us keep faithful and fervent in spirit in serving and ministering to God until the end.
God blesses you.