Being Priestly Kills the Flesh

~Saints, we as The Church need to get a grip on a concept that we don't like to address, but it is Godly...it is the essence of being a priest of God, because as a western, American church...we want the the resurrection power without the death to our flesh. As Leonard Ravenhill implies in his sermon, "Are We Willing to Drink His Cup", there is no pentecost without a death, and that we are looking for/seeking a deathless resurrection - a revival without personal cost: http://www.ravenhill.org/drinkcup.htm It is time for the Church to realize that if we are truly going to see revival, then we must realize what it is to be priests of God and to crucify the flesh.

~James 1:27 "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." Galatians 5:24 "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

~You see, we have gotten to the place that there is so much flesh parading itself as "saved" in the Church, that we are no longer willing to address that which is unholy for fear of offending someone. God tells us in His Word to "be holy as I AM Holy", and when we do, somebody begins to scream "religious spirit"! Church, we need to be reminded that Jesus prayed in John 17, in the Garden of Gethsemane, that God would sanctify us - separate us from the world so that we would be in the world but not of the world. Jesus prayed that we be kept pure and separated from society's values and norms which are contrary to the Word of God and Who He Is.

~One of the priest's responsibilities in the Old Testament was to be able to differentiate the holy from the unholy. And I have to ask: Are we truly able to do that today? If we are truly, living stones, a holy priesthood, a chosen generation that the Lord wants us to be as stated in 1 Peter 2:5,9 then are we truly living out our priesthood? Because being a priest, means that the flesh has been dealt with...it is dead...and that Church...is the essence of the symbolism of baptism...dead to the flesh and all it's earthly desires - the old has passed away...there is a spiritual rebirth and with it there is a new creation in Christ, who will desire and live to walk out that which is Godly and Holy and Pure and Righteous....It is only that which is sown to the Spirit which reaps everlasting life....he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. (Gal. 6:7) In other words, my wants, my desires, my this, my that....From where do these wants, needs, desires generate? Are they generating from the flesh or the Spirit? Am I seeking first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness so that all these things shall be added unto me....God taking care of the things which concern my life, because I am first seeking Him and His Kingdom? Or am I just approaching The Throne of Grace as a "quick fix" to my problem?

~Church, the Lord's desire for us as His Body, is that we "look" like Jesus in Word and deed....and what we need to understand is that in order for this to happen, there is a death...a baptism...a submersion of the old man....so that the new man is able to arise in His resurrection power.

~For a greater, more in depth study of the concept of being priestly and all this involves, I invite you to read the book, "Apostolic Foundations - The Challenge of Living an Authentic Christian Life" by Arthur Katz, c. 1999/Burning Bush Press. Art Katz is now Home with the Lord, but his writing is so profound that it causes me to be speechless; gasping for breath.

~I will leave you with this quote from p. 22-23 "Priestliness must both precede and accompany the apostolic walk. We urgently need God to breathe upon us the spirit of true priesthood, and to touch and transform every aspect of our lives, our walk, and our ministry. There is a requirement to minister unto God before one ministers to men. If we lack the sense of the sacredness of God, which is to be found only in the holy place, by those who have the posture of the priest, that is to say, prostrated as a dead man before Him, then there is going to be something brittle, something lacking, and something plastic in the ministry we bring. There is a cry of God for the restoration of priesthood that alone will save us from the superficial demonstrations that a ostensibly performed in His Name."

~"Lord God, Our Father Who lives in Heaven, fill me with Your Spirit. May the desires of my heart generate from Your Heart, O God. Strip me of all earthly desires for what is contrary to You and Your Word. Cause me to come before Your Throne....for You and You, Alone. Create in me the image of Christ in all ways...for Father, it is only You and You Alone Who deserves the praise, glory, honor and blessing. In Jesus' Name, Amen."