Good afternoon. It seems to me that way anyway. I'm grateful that we have had a weekend with a minimum of heat, which makes it so pleasant to be able to meet together and to think on the things of God. God has been good to us in fellowship together. And I'd like to take this occasion to express thanks to a lot of folks here who have worked very hard. and sometimes thankless jobs like moving tables and chairs and cooking and all of these other things to make this such a very enjoyable weekend for many of us who like me have just come here and have enjoyed all of the fellowship the good food and the good times together and so I'd like to express thanks to all of you here who have made this a good conference I found in so many places that people have found the extra efforts like this a little too much and so they stopped doing this and they stop doing this and pretty soon they stop having the conferences and I think that those of you who are willing to do the hard work are to be commended and we who have enjoyed it thank you very sincerely I'd also like to take just a moment since many of you have asked and have shown an interest in the ministries at Emmaus I'd like to take just a minute to update you if I may as you know we have moved to your fair state of Iowa and we are now fellow citizens of this state with you. We are grateful to be in a very favorable situation. We believe that the new location and campus that God has given us at Dubuque is an excellent facility and really represents great prospects for not only the ministries that we have had in Bible teaching but in some expanded ministries which I hope you're aware. We did make move in record time. In fact, we made the move in two days less than anticipated. But we found that moving is one thing, getting unpacked and settled is quite another. And that took all summer. A lot of people worked very hard, but we are grateful that as the students came in last week, essentially everything was in readiness. We are going full blast. And it's just marvelous to see that empty campus now overrun with young adults. God has given us a fine group of students. Our total number is a hundred and seventy-three at this point. And we are grateful for the opportunity to minister to these young adults in the year ahead of us. We value your prayers. We welcome your visits. And again, let me remind you of the fact that the second Saturday of October, which is the thirteenth We are having an open house for the Lord's people who are friends of the school in this Midwest area, and I'd like to extend that invitation to you personally now. On that day, there will not only be an opportunity to see the new campus facility, if you saw it before, to see all that has been done and a lot has been done, to redecorate and to prepare it for our specific uses, and also to attend, if you can, at four o'clock on that afternoon, our dedication service. So if you're able to come and share that very, very happy time with us, we would certainly welcome your attendance then. And by the way, if you can't make it on that day, the welcome mat is always out for a visit, and we would welcome your visit at any time. More specifically, we value your prayers. We're very aware that the job we have to do, touching lives with the Word of God, is not accomplished in human energy. Now I know that a school is not buildings, a school is people. And God has brought together a remarkable group of people, faculty and staff, to accomplish the work, the ministries of the school. But we need your prayers and we value your prayers. And we will give you a couple of specific things to pray about. First of all, our one fifty-sixth building in Oak Park has not yet been sold. We've shown it, I should say, the real estate people who are handling it have shown it to a lot, lot of parties. There are several specifically interested parties, but we have not yet sold it. We have not yet had a really serious offer. And so we really would ask you to labor with us in prayer specifically that that may be sold because the selling of that and the reinvesting, of course, into our new campus is a very major piece of the puzzle that we are looking at. Also, I'd like to say a very positive way that we are pleased that efforts to pave the way for our students looking for part-time work in the city of Dubuque have really, in the goodness of God, proven effective. And we are finding a very good attitude and a receptive attitude on the part of the business community to our students and finding part-time jobs. The task is not over, however. In fact, we are right in the crucial period of time now. these first three or four weeks of the school year by the time when the students are out looking for these jobs and I would give that as a second specific prayer request that you will pray that God will greatly overrule in many many situations so that our students may find their needed part-time jobs now the unemployment rate in Dubuque has gone down to about five point one or two percent and that's good we're grateful for that measure of recovery But we do need to see the providential hand of God in behalf of students looking for part-time jobs. So pray with us. We would like to see that matter cleared in a very positive way. But then I would remind you, as I remind myself, that our greatest needs are always spiritual needs. And so let me take this occasion to ask that you pray for us that the power of God may be manifested in all of our ministries. And I think you're aware that it's not just ministries in Dubuque on that campus, but the ministries of Emmaus reach worldwide. We have near a quarter to a third of a million correspondence students studying in about a hundred and thirty languages, and that's a pretty big school. You don't see it when you come to Dubuque. It won't look that big, but God has given us a lot of students all over the world, and we certainly need to see his power and blessing. as the word of God is taught so we value your prayer fellowship and we would urge you to keep praying with us and for us for the ministries of the school in these strategic days and we thank you for your prayer fellowship now I'd like for us to turn again to first Peter chapter two and in this which is my final opportunity to share the word of God with you in this weekend we want to come back to the passage we read on Friday night Any study of the priesthood of believers would be terribly lacking if we did not give some consideration to this key passage in First Peter chapter two. So we will read the first ten verses of this as we begin our thoughts just now. Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word. that by it you may grow in respect to salvation if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Let me just pause there a moment and say that I hear statements made about this passage that are very, very opposite of what Peter actually says. Two things I hear among the Lord's people that trouble me. One is I hear of people leaving this assembly or leaving this assembly or leaving this church because, quote, it doesn't meet my needs. And I hear that from people who've been saved for ten, fifteen, twenty years, and I say, wait, hold the phone. What do you mean it doesn't meet your needs? The Scriptures say, by this time you ought to be teachers of the Word, not bottle feeders. What do you mean it doesn't meet your needs? The focus of your attention should be to contribute, not just to suck the bottle. That's what the writer of the Hebrews says. And yet at the same time, in contrast to that, I hear people maligning the sincere milk of the Word. They're sick and tired of hearing the Gospel. And I say, whoa, whoa, whoa. Notice Peter doesn't say, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord, then you shouldn't want to feed on the milk of the Word anymore. What he says is, if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord, you should long for the pure milk of the Word. And I hear people saying, all I hear is the simple things and I can't grow. No, that's not what Peter says. Peter says, long for the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. I'm not working for the American Dairy Association, but you never outgrow your need for milk. I won't argue about physical things. I'm talking about spiritual things. And that's exactly what Peter says. You never outgrow your need for milk. And if you've tasted, if you're a believer, then you should long for the sincere milk of the word. and it is in that that you grow. However, there is another side to that coin. And the other side of the coin is for those of us who minister the sincere milk of the Word. That we don't just take the easy way out and preach on the same two or three verses or passages all the time. Because the whole counsel of God is filled with the milk of the Word. And our gospel preaching ought to include messages on redemption on reconciliation, on propitiation, on justification. You know, we could go on and on and on. The scope of truth in proclaiming the gospel is vast. And yet I find many of the Lord's people that don't know the difference between reconciliation and propitiation. And if they had to define these good biblical terms, they'd be hard-pressed because our ministry is so narrow. And so I think the other side of the coin is that we need to recognize that while the proclamation of the word ought to be carried on even in its basic milk form, and we all need it, it ought to be in such a way that people can grow, which means we must include the whole counsel of God in our proclamation of the milk of the word. Peter goes on to say, And coming to him as to a living stone, rejected by men but choice and precious in the sight of God. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion the choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him shall not be disappointed. This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. For you were once not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Let's pause again and seek God's name. Father, as we focus our attention upon this passage of Scripture, Again, we would consciously remind ourselves in your presence that there is that which is natural in all of us, and the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned. Give us, we pray, the gracious ministry of the Spirit of God to make the Word of God real in order that the Christ of God may be magnified in our hearts. We pray in his name. Amen. Now there are many, many issues that would be good for us to include in an adequate study on the priests or the believers, but we obviously haven't been able to include in this brief weekend. Let me just take a couple of minutes to point out one of those issues, which I believe is, among many others, a very significant one to contemplate. If you go back into Numbers chapter sixteen, you read the account of the rebellion of Korah, And you may recall that incident, the very name Korah ought to bring some flashing lights in the minds of Bible students. Because it is not only in the Old Testament record, but on into the New Testament, in key passages like Jude and Second Peter, that Korah is mentioned. And I think it would be good for you to recognize that Korah was a member of the tribe of Levi. Korah was a priest. And when Korah raised a rebellion within the nation, he was not coming from the standpoint of someone who had no priestly opportunities. Korah was a Levite. Korah had priestly responsibilities and functions. But Korah's problem was that he envied those who were doing different kinds of things than he was doing. And specifically, he had envy and resentment against the leadership of the priesthood, that is Aaron and his family. And Korah was judged of God. You remember the earth opened up and swallowed him and his family up alive. And the nation ran and fled as they heard their cries of terror. They died under the judgment of God, and he dragged an awful lot of people with him. Not only the two hundred and fifty who made their own incense burners, but a lot of other people as well fell under the judgment of God, not because they were not priests, but because they were priests who were envious of other priests and the other functions that God had given others to do. Think about that. I think one of the great problems in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ today, as I said before, is that we are so bombarded with our Western variety of humanism that we cannot accept God-appointed differences and distinction. And yet God is a God of variety. And in everything that he does, God builds in both ingredients of commonality and ingredients of distinction and variety. and it is certainly true of priesthood. Not all have the same gift. And when we look at a man who has a public ministry and say, well, fooey, because I am not a pulpit preacher, forget it. We are doing the same thing that Korah did. And we could go on and on and illustrate the difficulties that we have in accepting God-appointed differences and distinctions in the function of priesthood. Our gifts differ. Our roles differ. And we must, if we're to be Bible-believing people, we must find that God-appointed place of function and be careful to avoid the sin of Korah, which the New Testament warns us about, in presuming against God's appointed distinction. It's a solemn message. And I would suggest, if it's been a while since you've read Numbers sixteen, that you do so because it's one of the important studies on priesthood in the Scriptures. And it reminds us that our responsibility, if we take the warning of Jude and Peter, our responsibility then as priests is to find that place of gift and function that God has for us, as revealed in His Word, and not to presume against the government of God by objecting to the fact that we are different from others in our sphere and in our capacity of function. Well, that's only one of a number of issues that we cannot deal with in this brief study. But we do, of necessity, need to turn our attention to this key passage here in First Peter two, because here are the key statements about the New Testament priesthood, and they are glorious indeed. Now you will notice the language of this passage is absolute. The language of this passage is positional. You are, he said. build up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. It's fact. You may not know it. You may not appreciate it. We may not fully understand it. But Peter says, it is fact. You are a priesthood. That's positional language. Now I hear people that complain about too much positional or doctrinal teaching. They think it's dry. They think it's abstract. I love positional truth. Because you see, our so-called practical or applied truth would not be truth at all if it were not for positional truth. If God had not said, you are a priesthood, then all of our consideration about priesthood may be purely meaningless and possibly presumption. Right? And if we spent our weekend talking about how to function as priests, but did not have the underlying authority of the scriptures that say you are a priesthood, then what use would it be? I find great delight in positional truth because it is the foundation of all of the practical applications and realities of the Christian life. You are a priesthood. Verse nine, you are a chosen race. a royal priesthood. It's a fact. Know it or not, believe it or not, understand it or not, it is a fact. So we're dealing with positional truth here. But obviously in the context, Peter is very concerned about the application and the implication of that positional truth. Some of the ingredients, let's look at. First of all, this statement in verse nine, concerning a chosen race, a chosen race. generation. Now this expression, and we won't take time to go into all of the exegetical details, but this expression really points to the fact that in the new birth, we are given this position. We are chosen. And we are chosen to be a new generation. We are chosen as a race. Now, I know that we hear a lot about racism and being a racist. I really think that if our world understood the scriptures, which they don't, of course, if our world understood the scriptures, they would consider believers to be the worst racists of all. Because the Bible teaches us that it is not the difference in the color of our skin, whether it's black or yellow or white or whatever it may be. that is ultimately significant because God is not hung up on this kind of racism and we ought not to be either. But God looks at mankind and he sees two distinct races. There are those who are in Adam and there are those who are in Christ. And this is an absolute distinction. This is an incredible distinction. This is a racial distinction which is beyond our wildest comprehension. And you, the scriptures say, are a chosen race. And call it racism or call it whatever you will. It is a marvelous thing for believers in Christ to revel in this reality. This position, by virtue of the new birth, we are in Adam's. We are no longer a part of that old dying race. We are no longer a part of a race of mankind that is under the judgment and condemnation of God. We are a chosen race. We are in Christ. If you can't find satisfaction in that, you've missed something, fellow believer. And if that doesn't take the edges off of a long face, you've missed something, fellow believer. It is positional truth that has marvelous implications. You are a chosen race. And we're not going to get hung up on all the issues of choosing an election. The fact of the matter is, it is a marvelous thing to rest in this glorious reality that God wanted you. And that's why He chose me. It's great to know that. It's great to know that. And I realize that there are many implications in this. And I realize that as the great hymn writer expressed it, chosen not for good in me, awakened up from wrath to flee. You see, the motive of choosing is in the heart of God, not in us. We were no better than others. We were a part of a lost race of mankind on our way to hell. We had no merit upon God. We had no credit with God. We had no claim for the salvation of God. We had no way of earning or demanding His favor. It was sheer grace that reached us and chosen. And I love to bask in the scriptures that say, as our Lord said to his disciples, you have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you if you can't fast in that believer you've missed one of the great joys of the Christian life you are a chosen race you know while we think of this I think that we have a very unbalanced ministry in evangelical circles some time ago an extensive survey was done And it was done among Bible-believing gospel-preaching people. And the result of that survey showed that ninety-four to ninety-six percent, that's a lot, of Bible-believing gospel-preaching people have had or have in their lives a significant problem with feelings of inferiority. And I say, does that mean that we're just an inferior bunch of people? I think, rather, reflects an unbalanced ministry. We talk a lot about sin, and we should. We talk a lot about the Adamic nature and depravity, and we should. But we don't talk much about the worth of the individual to God. And probably you've never heard a message, maybe one or two in a lifetime, on the Lord's teaching about the worth of the individual and how much value we are to him. Now you show me what a man invests in and I will tell you something about his whole value system. Right? What does God invest in? When the din and fray of history is over and the dust of time is settled and the eternity is ushered in, what is God going to salvage out of human history? Our great space vehicles, our massive libraries, our awesome computers our houses cars businesses bank accounts no all these things are going to be incinerated all that god is going to salvage out of human history is people do you get the point god invests in people what is god invested in you we're reminded of that of our brother the other evening there is no way for us to describe what God has invested in you. Because you are not redeemed with corruptible things, or we could say measurable things like silver and gold. The price that God has paid, the investment He has made in you and in me, is absolutely indescribable. And He didn't do it because He had to. He did it because He wanted to. And it was because God so loved this world that He gave His only Son. You are a chosen race. But I see an awful lot of long faces out there. You still haven't gotten it. You are a chosen race. Maybe I better stop and preach the gospel then if you haven't gotten it yet. It's an awesome reality, fellow believers. And while we cannot boast of it, we can bask in it. And if we don't, we're missing one of the tremendous realities of New Testament priesthood. Remember, nobody takes this honor unto himself. The scripture says, You don't just decide you want to be a priest of God, and so I will be a priest of God. No, no, no. This. is by divine appointment and choosing. You are a chosen race. Notice this statement down in verse nine again concerning the royal priesthood. Very parallel in its structure and concept to the statement in Revelation one six that has to do with a kingdom of priests. Now this has to do with office. There is an office of priesthood. It is an official capacity. You are a royal priesthood. Now, this in contrast to what we were talking about early, in the variety and diversity of gifts. No. Underlying all that God has revealed in terms of priesthood is this fact that there is a divinely appointed office of priesthood. And you are a royal priesthood. You have been given this official capacity. Now I hear the Lord's people all of the time say, I'm a nobody. Well, there is one perspective in which that's true. But if at all you ever say to yourself, something's wrong, fellow believer. Because while in and of yourself and myself we are nobodies, God has appointed you to an office. You have an official capacity. You are a royal priesthood. Now what happens in the world when a person is given an official capacity and they just don't cut it? They just don't function. What happens? Well, characteristically, you have complaint, you have scandal, you have dismissal, you have something radical and drastic. And maybe that's part of the problem with the body of Christ today. There are just an awful lot of believers that do not understand or respond to the official capacity that they have as royal priests. Not simply priests, but royal priests. It is not only an office, it is a royal office. It has to do with royalty. After all, our great high priest is not only a priest, he is also king of kings and lord of lords. And it is his sovereign prerogative to not only appoint his children to priesthood, but to a royal priesthood. and we live sometimes in such spiritual poverty. Notice the statement that he makes in verse nine again, and you are a holy nation, a holy nation. And in verse five, you will see the expression there, you are a holy priesthood. Now we can quit preaching and go to meddling here. We don't have time. But the fact of the matter is, as we said before, in any passage of Scripture, old or new, and in any dimension of biblical priesthood, old or new, one of the fundamental things that God reveals is this business of holiness. God is vitally concerned about the holiness of his priesthood. characteristically does not use defiled instruments. Suppose you are going into surgery. I wouldn't wish that on you. Stay out of the cutlery department if you can. But suppose you were going into surgery and before the anesthetist stuck the needle in your hand or arm or wherever it is, there were two sets of instruments here. One's all bloody and spattered from previous surgery and one just came out of the autoclave. It's sterile. and the surgeon says, now before you go to sleep, you make the choice. What set of instruments shall I use on you? Tough choice, eh? Not really. Not at all. I mean, after all, it's my carcass that's involved. I know a little bit about infection and all of these other things. By all means, use the sterile instruments. Do you think God is any more particular? It's less particular than we. If you have visitors to your home, now this is theoretical because your home never has dirty dishes in the sink, but suppose it's a hot day and you want to give them a cool drink and you go into your kitchen and there are some dirty dishes in the sink and there are some clean ones in the closet. Which would you use to serve up a cool drink to your friends? It's not our choice, is it? Do you think God is any less particular than you are about serving up a cool drink of water in a clean vessel? The Scripture is full of these statements. Second Timothy two. If a man therefore will purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor. What does it purge mean? It means to clean up. And we have personal responsibility in that. Paul says, if a man will purge himself, the cleanliness of our lives and of our walk is a matter of personal responsibility before God. Now the basis, the provision, the reality is all of God, but there is a personal responsibility with regard to cleanliness. And the Bible is full of instructions. Little children, John says, keep yourself from I. if we confess our sins. See, there's the human part. There's the human element. He is faithful to him. And all through the scriptures, it becomes apparent that the holiness and the cleanliness of the people of God, while it is based upon and made a reality because of the provision of God in Christ, there is that human element of responsibility to avail ourselves of all that God makes available to us. in the necessary cleansing of his priests. You are a holy priesthood. Notice the statement again that follows that. You are a, one of the translations gives a peculiar people. Unfortunately, that word has changed its meaning over a period of time, and I think some of the Lord's people try too hard to be peculiar. And we end up being a bunch of weird ducks in the eyes of the world. The word means different, yes, but not different in the queer or odd or kooky sense, not at all. The word means different because special. You are a special people, a people for God's own possession. Now this refers to the heavenly character of God's people. You see, our whole sphere of life is different. The Apostle Paul talks to us in the Ephesian letter about the heavenlies. And it's there where all of our spiritual blessings are. Mind you, they're already ours. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. There is a sense in which the believer is wrong for praying for blessing. Because God has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings. And I think sometimes while we are busy praying for blessing, the Spirit of God is trying to say, Hey, look, friend, you're wasting your time. You have already been blessed with all blessings. Your sphere of life is wrong. You're groveling in the pigsty of earth and you should be living in the heavenlies because that's where the blessings are. And they're already yours. They're available to you. It's part and parcel of your salvation. There is a heavenly calling. of the people of God. And we grovel so much in the pigsty of earth. But nevertheless, it is true. You are a special people. There is a heavenly calling. Notice the statement again in verse five about being living stones. And of course, the great contrast is the great cornerstone, the chief cornerstone, our Lord Jesus. and all of our priestly association is under his priestly administration as high priest all of our body association as living stones is related to his unifying force among us as the chief cornerstone we are living stones and of course this refers to the individual responsibility the individual service that we render as believers. We are a body. We are a corporate body. But you see, God never loses sight of the individual. Now we like to get lost in the crowd sometimes. It's nice to remain anonymous in a crowd. People will do things in a crowd that they would never do individually, alone, usually negatively. But it's tragic when the Lord's people let themselves get lost in the crowd. Because as Paul says to the Corinthians, you are the body of Christ, but members in particular. You see, God never loses sight of the individual. Never. And you are living stones. And you as an individual are a vital concern to God. Your function, your role, your participation as an individual is absolutely vital to the heart of God. And if you've let yourself become lost in the crowd, you've missed one of the glorious realities about the New Testament priesthood because no one is unimportant in God's family. None. You are living stones. you are members in particular. And if you're bailing out, if you're blowing it, if you're not functioning, then the body is limited and crippled to that extent. If you are not exercising your priesthood, then the overall impact of priesthood in this world is not what it should be to that extent. God never loses sight of the individual. You are living stone and then of course there is that statement in verse five about offering up spiritual sacrifices now I'm back again to the suggestion that I made before it will be a very profitable study for you and you'll have to have a concordance it's not hard but it will be very profitable for you to study the sacrifices of the New Testament priesthood very important You can't function as a priest unless you know what sacrifices are a part of that priesthood. And in giving a guidebook to his ancient priests, the whole book of Leviticus guides them in the sacrifices they were to offer. And I rarely meet a New Testament priest that can just sit down and tick off the sacrifices that a New Testament priest should offer. And yet the New Testament gives them to us, clearly and precisely. and they are spiritual sacrifices. But they are essential to our priesthood. And so priests, get with it. Find out what the sacrifices are that you ought to be offering as a New Testament priest. Take your Bible, take a concordance, and go to work. I'm not going to do your work for you. It'll be profitable for you, I am sure. And finally, there is that wonderful expression in verse five, all of this is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Don't forget, we as a priesthood have access. There is no veil any longer. There is no distance. There is no threat of being struck dead if you don't do everything just right. We have access. our priesthood is already declared to be acceptable. Tremendous isn't it? You know, this is the difference between being married and being an employee. Technically speaking, as an employee, you are continually required to prove yourself. And when you cease to function, your employer has the prerogative to either chide you or dismiss you. That's the nature of employer-employee relationships, according to the scriptures. But marriage is different. You see, in marriage there is a commitment. And if we go about it biblically, which I'm afraid a lot of people don't, in the commitment of marriage is the categorical acceptance of that person from now on as long as we both live. And it's not a matter of having to continually prove myself or I get fired. That's already settled. And the commitment of marriage, if it's biblical, is a categorical acceptance of that person, and that's it. It's marvelous to know that I don't have to keep proving myself in marriage. And it's better yet to realize that my job is not to keep demanding that my wife prove that she really loves me. Oh, and our humanists, we may do this. But the commitment of marriage, if it's biblical, and again I say if, because often it isn't, is a marvelous thing. Because it is true commitment, it is true acceptance, and we rest and we grow together in that. And that's how God relates to his people. And he tells us ahead of time that everything you do as a priest is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It's already settled. We are already accepted in the beloved. And we don't have to earn the favor of God today any more than we did to get saved. And we couldn't do that. We know that, don't we? And so as you've received Christ, so walk in Him. You couldn't earn His favor to get saved. You can't earn His favor to stay saved. We are accepted in the beloved. And the function of our priesthood is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. And don't give me this business. I can't do this. I can't preach like this. I can't. Come on now. Come on, friend. That's not what the Scriptures say. The scriptures say, you are a priesthood. And you are an individual priest, a living stone in the body. And your priesthood has already been declared acceptable to God. If only we would function. If only we would learn what sacrifices we ought to offer. If only we would expend those spiritual energies to be obedient in maintaining that clean walk before him. The provision is there.