The Qualifications and Blessings of Priesthood ---- Prt 1

      I believe that what we call the beatitudes that Jesus gave at the Sermon on the Mount are the qualifications and blessings of priesthood in the Kingdom of God. Immediately following the beatitudes Jesus spoke that we are salt and light in reaching the lost world. Salt is for taste and light is to see, I believe that as we operate in the beatitudes as priest reaching the lost world people will taste and see that the Lord is good.

      (Matthew 5:3-12 NKJV)  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. {4} Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. {5} Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. {6} Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. {7} Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. {8} Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. {9} Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. {10} Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. {11} "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. {12} "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 

      Blessed are the poor in Spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. The phrase poor in Spirit carries with it the connotation of a spiritual beggar. The Spirit gives life and is life. We must crave the Holy Spirit like we crave oxygen, continuously asking God to fill us with the Spirit. (Luke 11:13 NKJV)  "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Children of the Kingdom recognize that the presence of the Holy Spirit gives us everything we want such as love, peace, and joy. The Holy Spirit also frees us from everything we don't want, such as bad emotions, sin, and even temptation; for where the Spirit is there is freedom. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives causes us to produce spiritual fruit, guides us into all truth.

      As royal priest of the Kingdom we must be guided by the Holy Spirit in fulfilling the great commission to bring the gospel to the lost world. To be effective in bringing people into the Kingdom we must be led by the Spirit; led where to go, when to go, what to speak, and who to speak to. Who, what, where, how, and when come together into destiny when one is led by the Spirit. (Romans 8:14 NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Gifts of the Spirit are manifested in the priest life to strengthen the believer, and to convince the unbeliever. The Holy Spirit flows through us in the form of a river of compassion seeking to bring people into the Kingdom, and to strengthen our brothers and sisters that are in the Kingdom.

     

 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Christians mourn because of our spiritual failures, and also for the lost souls that we have compassion for. The prophet Samuel mourned for Saul when God rejected Saul from being king. (1Samuel 15:35 KJV)  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel. Feeling the pain and suffering of others is a part of being compassionate. Jesus gives us comfort through the Holy Spirit, which is the oil of joy.

      (Isaiah 61:1-6 NKJV)  "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; {2} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, {3} To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." {4} And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. {5} Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. {6} But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast.

  

    Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. (Galatians 6:1-2 KJV)  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. {2} Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Meekness is a requirement of the priesthood, the Spirit of meekness is the Holy Spirit. Meekness is not weakness, meekness is Spirit controlled strength. Meekness is the strength of humility, which is submission to God's will rather than our own selfish interest. Meekness is not using your strength, or position, or authority, or knowledge, to force your own will, or your revenge against someone else. Meekness is submitting all these things under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The meek shall inherit the earth not by might nor by power but by being led of the Holy Spirit.

      The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on the earth and an example is given in Numbers 12 1-13. Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. Moses did not answer them, he did not use his position or authority against them he just humbled himself. Instantly the Lord called all three of them out to speak to them and the Lord's anger burned against Miriam and Aaron for speaking against Moses. When the Lord departed Miriam was covered with leprosy. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away." So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!"

      Moses interceded for the ones who had spoken against him. This is meekness, not weakness, and it is being led by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 5:44-45 NKJV)  "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, {45} "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

     

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. We are made righteous by the atonement that Jesus provided for us, and we live a righteous life by being led by the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16 NIV)  So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. In the Old Testament the priest would make atonement for himself first then his household and then the congregation. As royal priest of the new covenant we also must be righteous, that is clean before God so that we can intercede for others. (Leviticus 16:17 NKJV)  "There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. Our priority as priest must be first to make sure we are righteous before God, second to bring our family members into the Kingdom, and then to reach the lost world.

      The priest must pursue righteousness from God. (Proverbs 21:21 NKJV)  He who follows righteousness and mercy Finds life, righteousness and honor. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are free to be righteous before our God, keeping our focus on Jesus Christ, our righteousness, our High Priest, and our example, we are transformed into His image. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NKJV)  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. {18} But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

    

  Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. The word merciful is the Greek word eleemon, which means to be actively compassionate. Compassion is the kind of love that God is. This is the only beatitude where what you give is the same thing as the blessing that you receive. That is because there is no greater reward that God can give us than His compassion, His Love. Compassion is its own reward, an awesome blessing because compassion is the presence of God. Inside of God's compassion are His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, His patience, His faithfulness, His loving kindness, and every other characteristic of God, and Love. Our God is the Father of all compassion, and we are the vessels of compassion that His love flows through.

      When we feel compassion toward someone that is the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding us into actions of love toward that person or for that person. As a priest compassion is what leads us to intercede for a lost soul. Words spoken in compassion carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they penetrate to the heart of man and God. True intercession is always energized and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

      Compassion causes you to feel the pain and suffering of other people as if it was your own. Compassion is loving your neighbor as yourself. (Hebrews 2:17-18 NIV)  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. {18} Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

      Compassion is love in action, it is giving to meet the needs of another person spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. What God gives us, the Holy Spirit urges us to give to others. When you first receive salvation you immediately have a desire to share it with others. If we give in love what we have God blesses us with more to give. (Proverbs 11:24-25 NIV)  One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. {25} A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. As we give, God gives to us, this is especially true as we give compassion (mercy) to others, when we do we are immediately rewarded with the presence of God's Holy Spirit flowing through us.

      When we are interceding for a lost soul, or when we are praying for a brother or sister in the Kingdom, then we feel God's compassion flowing through us, because prayer and intercession are two of the most wonderful and beneficial gifts you can give anyone. Prayer and intercession can be done by any believer and should be done by every believer.

      Every Christian that I know of has an inner desire to serve God and to reach the lost for Christ. But most are waiting for some great opportunity or another location to begin. But God has given every believer the ministry of prayer and intercession to change their world her and now. Prayer and intercession can take you into the depths of spiritual maturity and into awesome revelations of knowing God and experiencing His presence.