A young man forgives the woman who killed his brother. He wants the best for her because in him mercy rejoices against judgment and retaliation. Adam was made to speak, to minister and fellowship with God, and to have dominion. His fall cost him and all people those things. Christ, however, came as the last Adam. His death covered our sin. His resurrection authority has restored us to be prophets, priests, and kings in Him and for Him. (Luke 24:50; Revelation 1:5; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Genesis 2 and 3)
Set Free as Prophets, Priests and Kings
Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11762
11:00 AM on 10/6/2019
#hope
#King
P. Schaller –
Our Savior King. Our high priest. Halleluiah. Thank you, God. We have assembled in his name to receive
from him his ministry to our hearts today. I’d like to receive from God today. How about you?
Paula Lange is here. I’d like to receive from God what he has for me and you. Isn’t that a great
attitude to come and assemble? James 2:13 have you shown mercy to people? That’ s a good
question, isn’t it? Giving mercy, showing mercy.
I was speeding on the Beltway and pulled over by a state policeman. Do you know how fast you were going? He was very polite actually. He went back to his car, looked on his computer, and did what he did and came back and said, you can go. That’s amazing! Thank you so much. He gave me what? Mercy. He’s there to police the
roads but he gave me mercy. I appreciated it a lot. Vs. 13. Mercy rejoiceth over judgment.
Justice is important.
We all want justice. We look for justice. Do you also look for mercy? People
look for what is right and just but also there is something more. That’s what it says. There’s
mercy. God is a just God but if he dealt with us according to justice, where would we be? We
would be lost. We are guilty. He gave Christ so we could have mercy. In the press recently, I
haven’t seen any TV for a couple weeks because I’ve been traveling and haven’t seen anything.
Someone in the parking lot stopped me and showed me the video of this young man in this
court case with a police officer that had shot his brother. The police officer went to court,
judgment was given, and the brother of the victim spoke from his heart to the criminal. He said
these amazing words. Our message this morning is related to what – and we will show you the
video – is relating to what this man did.
I believe what he did was what God would do for us, what God has done for us and does do for us on a regular basis. We’ll see the video, do communion, have the offering and give the message. This is preparation for the message. How many know of the case I’m talking about? This police officer shot and killed this man. She was in
his apartment. Her apartment was on the third floor. She accidently went to the fourth floor.
She went in and saw this man and thought he was a thief.
I don’t know the details. I’m not interested in the case itself. Guilty or mistake or whatever. I’m interested in the spirit the believer had toward the guilty party. Could we play that video, please? Can you forgive people?
Here’s the lesson. When you’re on the bus or subway and someone steps on your foot and they
say, pardon, excuse me. Is it easy to forgive? Yeah, I got my foot. But if you lose your leg
because of a drunk driver or lose your house or job or your money or your health the rest of
your life, is it easy to forgive?
No, it’s hard. It is. It’s hard to forgive. This is something we witnessed in the video. This man was speaking to the police officer in the courtroom and she was convicted and goes to prison but before she goes, he wanted to say something to her. He asked the judge if it’s okay if I hug her. Didn’t he say please? The judge said yes. In Ge. 2 we see when God made man, he made man with a goal in mind. There’s three things we see where
man is functioning in the beginning of our Bible with three elements that really make him who
he is supposed to be.
In a way, in the video, I want this in your mind that this young man who
said I forgive you is really functioning in a way that encompasses these three things. I can write
them down here for us. The first Adam, this is the sketch for our lesson. The first thing is words.
We have the word “prophet.” These three elements we are going to teach you today have to do
with three offices in the Bible: prophet, priest, and king.
When God made man, he was to be a prophet. He was to have words. God would speak and the voice was walking in the garden. God spoke to Adam and Eve, and Adam and Eve who are one were to have words from God. The
heart of God, the mind of God, the words of God. To have authority with words. Words of life
and Adam was intelligent. He gave names to the animals. It’s interesting it says when he gave a
name to the animal, it says God used that name for the animal.
He agreed with Adam. Adam gave the name and God said so be it. God wanted to make us so he could participate with us. We would actually be like him. We would be his sons and daughters. Words. But because of the
fall, we lost the words. We lost God. We don’t hear God. We hear ourselves. We hear each
other. We have our fears, our confusion, our complexities. We have our trouble, our guilt, our
abstractions, our subjective experiences and objective experiences.
2) Adam was to be a priest.He was to have worship. He was to be a priest. A priest is someone who comes before God and worships God. His primary focus is God. When a priest came into the tabernacle in the Old
Testament, there were two rooms. One room he could go everyday but the other room once a
year and it had to be the high priest. This was very sacred. He had his clothes and fragrance, his
perfume and his manner, the protocols that were needed.
He was a priest. When he came out, he was in touch with the people, but the people were not to defile him. He was to bless them. In the O.T. they didn’t have the authority like a leper. The priest could not touch the leper
because he could be defiled. The principle is that when Adam and Eve where in the garden of
Eden, they were to be thankful and serving God. Their ministry in the garden was a spiritual
ministry of worship and thanksgiving and the knowledge of God, the heart of God.
3) King Adam and Eve were to be in authority on the earth. They were to have dominion. Their garden
was so big, and God intended for it to get bigger. They were to have children and population
was to grow and the authority of the human race was from God through them, so they were
not afraid in the world they lived in. They were kings. They were people of authority. They had
administration, influence, direction. They were kings in the garden. This was lost.
Man became more afraid. He became subject to the elements. Tyrannical kings could rule a country and
murder the population and deprive them of food, put them in prison. The earthquakes and
floods and droughts that happened in history. It’s evidence of how man is made to be a king but
actually he lost it. He’s more afraid and a victim and sometimes a great casualty and a hurting
person who is wanting to know who I am. Who am I? Why am I here? Who am I? What do I
have? Who am I? What’s my purpose, my identity?
The second part of our message is the second Adam. This is Christ coming into the world and he has these three operating in his life. He has words. He’s a prophet. Christ is a prophet. One interesting note in our N.T. is in the
epistles Jesus is never called a prophet but in Heb 1 it says God at different times and in
different ways has spoken to has by the prophets who has in these last days spoken to us by his
Son.
So the epistles make the effort to say he is a prophet but he’s more because of this. In the
O.T. when a prophet said something from God they said thus saith the Lord, but Jesus would
say, verily, verily I say unto you. A prophet in the Old Testament said God said. Jesus would say
it has been said to you of old time, but I say unto you because he is the word incarnated. He is
God. What are these words that Jesus is saying?
They are words of life, from his Father, the words from his Father. Look at our screen. The third part of our message is you and me. I want to talk about that young man in the video. He lost his brother, 18-year-old brother, innocent,
siting on his couch watching tv and someone comes into his apartment and he’s shot dead. The
family is brokenhearted. What words would you and I have when I’m hurt badly. I would have
my words. My words. I would understand that.
The psalms allow us to live through these emotions by the way. When you have feelings of hatred and revenge or feelings of looking for justice or hurt as a person, you are allowed to read the psalms prayerfully. God allows you to
feel and he can feel with you your pain and understand you. That being said, the words of God
are different from the words of men. Words of God are not from a sinner. They are from a holy
God. An awesome living God. They are from God. When Jesus came, he had words.
We can put here words. They are words of life. He had words on the cross something like the words we
heard in the video. Father forgive them. They don’t know what they do. I remember P. Brian
preached a message in Hungary at one of our conferences. He read that verse and said do any
of us really know what we are doing. it’s a good thought. Forgive them. They know not what
they do but who actually knows what they are doing. Yes, we are responsible. Yes, we know
what we are doing. No, do we really know?
What I need is not people talking about life as much as I need God talking to me and ministering to us. That’s why we go to church. We have the hope that God will give us his word. Someone said they went to work, and a sentence came to them about a message and they were able to talk to that person. Where did you learn that? At
church. What did you learn at church? I don’t learn anything at church. No, we learn words at
church. We learn to forgive, to love, to speak, to worship.
Jesus was also not just a prophet but a priest. He said I always do what I see my Father do. We got two directions: people and the world and God. What do we do. We look at what the people are doing. I always do what the
people are doing. I talk about what the people talk about. I’m relating to the world I’m living in.
This is my world. Jesus is saying not me. I see what my Father is doing. How do you do that? I
am from above. You are from below.
I am the word of God incarnated. I have a ministry. It’s not a human one. It’s a ministry as a priest. Notice when Jesus was here with his disciples, he’s before the Father as a worshiper and the Father had lost Adam in the garden. He lost him. Where are you? I like to say it this way, where are you? I long for you. My heart is broken. It’s
like a man losing his wife. I want to talk with you. Where are you? I’ve lost you. You lost a child.
Where are you? I can’t find you. I haven’t talked to you for weeks or months or years. Where
are you? I want to hear and receive.
God lost man, but Jesus wasn’t lost. It’s profound. It’s powerful. We don’t even know how powerful that is. He was here with us and he knew the Father and the Father knew him. He was a priest for Peter when Peter was messed up. The police officer in the video who is found guilty and goes to prison, she is hurting. But that young
man is like a priest. He is saying, could I hug her? I care about her. He said I don’t want anything
bad for you. I want the best for you. And the best thing you could do is find Christ.
That’s what he said. I heard later, a brother told me, that the judge came down and took her personal Bible
and gave it to her and said you will need this. Here’s my Bible, and the best verse in the Bible is
Jn. 3:16. That’s what the judge said. After she sentenced her, I think it was 10 years in prison.
That’s fine. I can pay for my crime. I’m not against that. But I’m saying something deeper. When
I am guilty, will you be a priest for me? Will you love me? God, when I sin, will you find me?
Will you be a priest for me? Can you forgive me? Yeah, I can. I gave Christ so that not only would he
be the priest, but he would be the sacrifice itself. The Lamb of God that would take away our
sin. Jesus was the lamb of God on the cross and became the priest that went into the holy of
holies. On the earth, Jesus never entered the temple. He was always outside in the courtyard
teaching as a rabbi with the others.
He couldn’t go in because he wasn’t a Levite. The temple he came from in heaven was not an earthly temple. His ministry wasn’t in this one, it was in thatone. His ministry has passed away anyway in history. It’s gone, but that one is forever. He went into that one on our behalf, to plead on our behalf, petition on our behalf, Heb 10:22, 9:34-36.
In the O.T., when the high priest would go in and serving and come out, when he came out he’d
be a bit bloody and be able to say because of his physical existence, he didn’t die.
It was a testimony that his sacrifice was accepted. This is like Jesus who went to heaven and when he
returns, basically it’s a statement to the whole world that I have overcome. That I am the priest
forever. I am seated in heaven. It says this, you read the verse, six times in revelation where it
says the throne of God and the Lamb. Six times. God and the Lamb. In the video, I think that
young man had the spirit of the Lamb. He did. He had the spirit – I am not here to be your
judge. I am here to say as a believer I wish your best.
He even said I don’t even want you to go to prison. I want your best. He had a spirit of the lamb. I heard the fall out there is a lot of anger about what he did. That’s not right. We got to get these people and so on. The world, of course. Who understands grace? Where is grace in the world? Not like pardon me on the subway but a
real offense. Jesus knows what a real offense is. The third one is Jesus is the King. Luke 24 and
see a verse that I want to draw your attention to. It’s a piece of a verse.
Luke 24:50. They had been in Jerusalem. They were north. They come down up in Megiddo area, Mt. Tabor. They
come down and he leads them as far as Bethany. This is the 40-day period of his ascension. His
ascension is going to happen. He hasn’t yet ascended. His crucifixion has happened. It’s 40 days
and he’s coming and going and he’s teaching them. Forty days seems like a long time, but God’s
wisdom is to say that Jesus is to be here as a human being for 40 days coming and going.
He has victory over death, victory over our sin and he’s teaching the disciples, so they know he’s not a
phantom or ghost. He’s real, glorified, raised from the dead and they are with him. He leads
them out to Bethany. My question in the earlier service was why didn’t Pilate go after him?
Why didn’t Caiaphas go after him? Why wasn’t there an argument with a Pharisee or Sadducee
after the resurrection from the dead. What do you think is the answer to that?
Do you have any idea? Maybe it’s not interesting to you. What? In Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Pharisee and
Sadducee are hunting.
Jerry and Mary, good to have you here. They moved down from
Massachusetts. Awesome.
In his earthly life, Pilate and Caiaphas, they arrest him. They bring
him and drag him and crucify him. After he is raised from the dead, none of that happens.
There is no argument with the Sadducee, no argument with the Pharisee, no Caiaphas or
Pontius Pilate but he’s raised from the dead. He’s coming and going. He’s Lord and King. He’s
king of Kings. He’s a king. He can walk through. He can be in a demonic world and they can’t
touch him. Before the Father had him here and he was subjected to the evil for the Father’s
purposes. Once that purpose is finished, he is here, and they have no authority over him. Pilate
could do nothing against him. There is no Pharisee that could have any argument against him.
There is no spirit that could touch him. He’s far above all principality and power. He’s Lord of
Lords and King of Kings. God is saying I already did that. We saw what evil can do. Evil crucified
him. Now he’s victorious over it and raised up. Now he can be here and there is no power on
earth that can challenge who he is. He has overcome everything here in this world. He’s getting
his army together.
These are the disciples. He’s teaching them and saying wait in Jerusalem ten
days for the promise of my Father. That H.S. power will come upon you. You will go into the
world and preach the gospel and low I am with you always. These powers, these evil powers are
under you. You are able to minister in a way that is very different. Listen. That video is saying
something to us.
This young man is saying something that is different. He’s saying and as he is
doing this ministry he is showing us the kingdom. Really. Who is a king in that courtroom? That
young man. When he says I forgive you, on what grounds can you say those words? You killed
my brother and this whole courtroom is about that. And you are guilty apparently. I can say to
you that I want something more than judgment.
I want mercy to rejoice over judgment. I want you to find God. I want you to know grace. I want you to find Jesus Christ. Look up at our screen. It means you and I must have new words. We have to have new words. Words from the books we read and the Bible of course. Words of life. There’s no books like the Bible. I said that
maybe backwards. All the words that I have from God that come to me from the Bible and all
those books that relate to that reality is something I feed on by habit as a believer.
Then, we need to be here for others as a priest. I think there are a lot of people looking for someone. Ps
142. No man cares for my soul. The banker cares about my money. The doctor cares about my
blood pressure. The dentist cares about my teeth. Who else? I don’t know. There’s a lot of
people that care about different things, but who cares for my soul? Who cares for my soul?
Jesus does.
The new Adam and you and me and maybe we don’t feel it or think that way but it’s
true. For you and me to grow up and be people who include others. There is the Father and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit got the long arm to include the guy in the ditch or this police officer or
anybody. He will go all the way and draw us to God. The Trinity. We are here as priests. Maybe
for the island of Jamaica we could be a priest.
Maybe for some guilty man in a prison we could be a priest. For the persecuted Christians in Iran. There is an amazing video about the mosques empty in Iran and homes filled with people seeking J.C. in Iran. It’s amazing. I forget the name of the video. I forget. You can find it. It’s amazing work of God. We are priests for others. We
can be a priest for our country, a priest for the people that are leading us. We can be a priest
for the guilty, for the people who are in trouble.
Of course Jesus came as the priest for the world. Knowing the world would not believe in him, he said I pray not for the world but for those that will come to me. But he also said on the cross forgive them. They know not what
they do. He’s a priest interceding and he’s caring. The last one is are you a king? Are you a king?
What does that mean? Maybe nobody notices this because it’s a different kind of king.
You wake up on a Monday morning and you feel like you have some, – you’re substantial. You’re
solid. Some how you’re a king. You have something. You know the way or somehow I’m not
afraid of the climate, the wind and the storm and the hurricane. I will hide if trouble comes. I’ll
be wise but I want to run and hide when it’s appropriate and when I do so, I’m not a little
person hiding in fear.
I want to be understanding and wise in life. Sometimes not run and hide because it’s not time to do that. It’s time to stand. And say what is going on here? Like a father in a house with a bunch of children walks into the bedroom. What is going on in here? It’s like there is something about you now. Your nature, your character, your content. You have the Spirit of God in you. It’s like Jesus in the storm ordering the wind and the waves. And rebuking
the demons and having authority.
Isn’t it in the video something like that. The young boy is saying tearfully these words. Who is the king in the courtroom but the one who can forgive and say I want the best for you. People are maybe proud and put on the façade. Does everyone recognize I am a king? Do you recognize it? You don’t see it? You are my enemy. This is a
different kind. This is solid in the spirit. You feel I can show up and I want to run away. I can
show up and face it. Truth sets you free from yourself.
You become a worshiper. People struggle with things in life. Our weight is sometimes a big struggle for people. Eating habits. Addictions to things, movies and social media. Sometimes we feel guilty and we feel this thing is
getting me. It’s overcoming me. I don’t have any authority. I don’t have the control. I don’t have
the oomph. That’s what we are talking about. You have. This is what we are saying. Jesus had.
And so do you. You are able to say in your spirit, okay. I’m 50 pounds overweight. That’s fine. I
can live with that.
Maybe that’s God’s will. Somehow I get a feeling in my spirit and heart this does not bother me. I’m in control. I can change this because I know who God is or some other thing. I’m trying to illustrate the principle which is a powerful one. I am not losing. Somehow I got hurt by my family or in a divorce or my life or job or house or kids or heath, whatever it might be. We are saying God did not make you to be a slave of sin. He made you to be free and
to make you a priest and a king. That kingship is what we saw in that video.
I believe that. I saw a young man do an extraordinary thing. That touched my heart and touches our country and
the world, anyone who sees it and understands the story behind it. I cannot help but think that
you and I, we all have our place here in this thing that we are a part of. It’s big. It’s important.
God gave his Son so that we would be different. Wherever we go we would have love and
giving grace and helping others.
Arms of God would reach out and include people that are
different from us. They may be very troubled, but we understand the Spirit of God and the ways
of God and the ministry of God and we are thankful that we are part of it. Amen.
Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.
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