Kings & Priests

The Bible declares that our Lord has called each one of us to become kings and priests.  Kings are to rule and reign.  The New Testament was first introduced as Jesus preached the "gospel of the kingdom."  The very concept of kingdom introduces the element of authority. The Bible says:

Revelation 1:6  and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

Proverbs 8:15 By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. 

Psalm 148:5-6 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created. 6 He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away. 

Psalm 2:6-8  "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion."  7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 

The Strongs Concordance says word translated decree in Psalms means:

OT:2706 choq (khoke); from OT:2710; an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage):
KJV - appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree (-d), due, law, measure, necessary, ordinance (-nary), portion, set time, statute, task.

In the lesson on Authority & Faith, we introduced the concept of authority and jurisdiction.  This word translated decree also carries with it an element of an appointed, time, space, quantity, labor or usage.  In other words, there are limits that must be defined.  For example, the same word translated decree above in the Psalms references were also translated in the following scriptures (note that I bolded the words translated from choq/decree).

Job 14:5 Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You;
You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass. 

Job 23:14 For He performs what is appointed for me,
And many such things are with Him. 

Job 26:10 He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness. 

Job 28:26 When He made a law for the rain,
And a path for the thunderbolt, 

Proverbs 8:29  When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth, 

God set limits to our days and the tasks He appoints for us.  He set limits to where day starts and ends.  He set boundaries for rain and lightening.  He "spoke" all of that into existence.  He decreed it.

John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by preaching "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Jesus began His ministry preaching "repent, for  the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  So the question is, what is in your hand?  What are the boundaries or limits that God has appointed you responsibility for?

In the lesson on Spheres of Authority we looked at some practical ways to determine the boundaries of your authority.  It was linked to your responsibility.  It includes:

I believe everyone is called to be a leader.  You cannot lead where you do not go, therefore if you want to establish the kingdom of God in your spheres of responsibility, it has to begin in your own life first.  Romans 14:17 we see that the kingdom of God is not in eating and drinking, but in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Note that righteousness precedes the peace and joy.  

Righteousness means that which is just, right or holy.  We know that we when we accept that Jesus died for our sins, confess those sins and repent, our sins are blotted out and we are made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ.  The challenge we have is that our minds are not totally renewed when we get saved.  It is an on going process that is accomplished through spending time in the Word of God, prayer, being taught the Word, and fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

A Time When Kings go to War

2 Samuel 11:1 indicates that there is a time when kings go out to battle.  2 Corinthian 10:4-6 says that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.  James 4:7 says "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

 
In order for you and I to enter into our destiny we must mature and become like Jesus.  Therefore, the first place we need to exercise our authority is in our own thought life.  We have to have our minds renewed by filling it with the Word of God.  We have to exercise lordship over our thought life.  If you want to think the thoughts of God then get His word in you through reading the word, studying the word, preaching the word and declaring His word in the areas where we have responsibilty.

Do you recall:

Psalm 2:6-8  "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion."  7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 

Note that the decree that was declared, was what God said.  The LORD HAS SAID TO ME!  The key to decree..................hey,  that rhymes, is that we need to pray or decree what God says about our area of responsibility.  If we don't know what God thinks then we need to search out His word while we pray and seek His face.  As we spend time in His word our minds will become renewed and we'll begin to think like He thinks.  Then we'll know how He would act and then, we'll have an opportunity to decree what He would decree.

Isaiah 55:11 teaches us that God's word does not return void but it will go forth and accomplish all that He sent it to do.  God wants us to be like Him.  He is a faithful God.  He keeps His word.  In Psalm 15:4 we see that God wants us to keep our word too. He wants us to be like Him.

Now some may be challenged by this message.  I can hear some say, "this sounds a lot like name it and claim it or the word of faith movement."  You will find that in every move of God where truth was restored, there were always some who took the truth to excess and abused the truth.  God restored a wonderful truth in what was called the "word of faith movement."  It is sad, that some took those wonderful truths and used them selfishly.  Never the less, that does not negate the  truth.  There is power in our words and God intended us to use our words in conjunction with His will to establish His kingdom.

Using my Faith on my Flesh

Hence the first place I want to use the "word of faith" is in my own life on my character.  I want to be like Jesus.  If we look in Galatians 5:19-24 we can learn about the character we should display.  For a great teaching on using our faith on our flesh I'd like to refer you to my friend Al Houghton.  Go to his website, click Word at Work, and check out the last three months of his newsletter.

I Want to Display His Character With His Power

When people see me, I want them to see Jesus.  I want to do all I can to rule and reign on this earth as our King Jesus did.

Let's Focus on the True Apostles and Prophets

In these last days the Bible warns of false apostles, prophets and teachers.  It says that they will do lying signs and wonders. They will display miraculous power.  Matthew 7:16 declares that we'll be able to identify them by their fruit.  2 Peter 2 goes on to reinforce what to look for in the false.  Galatians 5 gives us insight into the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the spirit and Galatians 5:22-24 tells us what to look for in the true believers. 

Hence, that is why I want to use the my faith on my flesh and on my character.  I want to run the race the Lord has set before me and I want to finish well.  I want to please the one who has called me as a soldier in His heavenly army.

So I encourage you to seek to establish the kingdom of God in every sphere of responsibility that God has given you.  Decree what the word of God says and then do what the word of God says do.