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Series Code: TT
Program Code: TT000506A
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00:10 [Music] 00:21 >>TY: One of the most incredible subjects regarding 00:23 the Protestant reformation, you guys, is what is commonly 00:26 referred to as the priesthood of all believers. 00:29 This is such a phenomenal idea, not just within the 00:33 scope of religion, but within the larger parameters of how 00:38 this idea, this powerful idea impacted society as a whole. 00:43 I think that it would not be an exaggeration to say that we 00:47 live in a world, those of us who live in cultures in which 00:53 human beings can think for themselves and pursue whatever 00:56 they wanna pursue and produce whatever they wanna produce, 00:59 we live in a world that, to some significant degree, there 01:03 are other factors, but to some significant degree, was 01:05 produced by this idea, by this idea, the priesthood of all 01:11 believers. 01:13 And the emphasis that I wanna begin by giving here is just 01:18 on the word all. 01:21 Nobody was saying anything that was universally applying 01:26 to human beings in general. 01:29 All, all who? 01:31 All, everybody this applies to. 01:34 >>JEFFERY: And the word priest, there's a small group 01:36 separated from all. 01:39 >>TY: Yeah, there's the clergy, and there's the laity, 01:42 and the clergy's elite, and they have certain privileges 01:45 and access to God and if you wanna get to God, you gotta go 01:50 through them. 01:51 >>JEFFERY: It's almost a contradiction, priesthood of 01:54 all, 'cause the word priesthood and the all don't 01:56 normally go together, so it's a contradiction. 02:00 >>TY: And so, with Luther and others before him and after, 02:06 everything was flattened out. 02:08 Just, everybody has equal access to the monarch of the 02:15 universe. 02:16 >>DAVID: You just, I got something, keep going, keep 02:18 going. 02:19 >>TY: Everybody has equal access, but then the converse 02:24 of that, if you have equal access, that means that you 02:27 now have the privilege of not only having the access to God, 02:33 but then being a channel through which God does things 02:36 in the world. 02:37 So, it's this amazing sense of sanctified independence where 02:43 you can now impact not just people around you, you can 02:47 impact the world around you. 02:50 And so, out of that idea, this whole new frontier of insight 02:56 came where now, you can be a direct source of doing in the 03:02 world to produce whatever you wanna produce. 03:05 >>JEFFERY: It's a celebration of individuality. 03:07 Yeah? 03:08 An exaltation of the individual. 03:10 >>TY: It's amazing, isn't it? 03:11 Just the idea. 03:12 We don't think it's, we don't think it's anything. 03:15 >>JEFFERY: We take it for granted. 03:17 >>TY: Because we were all raised with this way of 03:19 thinking in a world that takes it for granted. 03:21 >>JAMES: I wasn't raised with that way of thinking. 03:23 So, in my background, being raised a Catholic, when it 03:27 came to religious matters, when it came to the idea of 03:31 access to God, it was always through somebody else. 03:33 It was always through a priest. 03:35 It was always through a human mediator. 03:37 In fact, even the word of God, you know, I'm going to church, 03:41 I'm even an altar boy and experiencing that on a regular 03:44 basis, but I don't really have access to the word of God. 03:47 Not that it isn't available, it probably might've been, it 03:50 wasn't in our home, per se, I might've been able to go down 03:53 to the store in this free world that I lived in in the 03:55 '60s and '70s and buy one. 03:57 >>DAVID: But you weren't at liberty to interpret it 03:59 anyway. 04:00 >>JAMES: The idea that I could actually just read it for 04:02 myself and believe that the Holy Spirit would lead me to 04:04 understand it was just completely foreign to me. 04:06 In fact, when I was 21, my mom sent me a bible. 04:09 I was living by myself in America, she was in England, 04:12 she sent me a bible and I remember opening it, reading 04:16 one chapter in the gospel of John, not understanding or 04:20 comprehending it, closing it, and thinking in my brain, this 04:23 was written for the priest. 04:24 And that was it. 04:26 >>DAVID: You remember thinking that? 04:27 >>JAMES: I totally remember thinking that. 04:28 >>DAVID: This was written for the priest. 04:29 >>JAMES: Yep, and I put that bible on the shelf for one 04:31 year. 04:32 >>TY: Not knowing that you were the priest. 04:34 >>DAVID: It actually was made for a priest. 04:37 >>JAMES: Then, I remember going, a year later, I 04:39 remember accepting Christ in my heart and attending Calvary 04:42 Chapel and being so, so totally hungry for the word 04:47 and just looking at that preacher who was preaching to 04:51 me at Calvary Chapel and explaining the word of God and 04:53 just thinking, yes, yes, yes, still not thinking that I 04:56 could understand the word for myself. 04:58 >>DAVID: 'Cause he's like occupying priestly status. 04:59 >>JAMES: Yes. 05:01 And then, I remember being in a situation where my sister 05:10 was telling me things about the bible and I was just 05:13 telling her, that's not true, that's not true, that's not 05:16 true, that's not true, that's not true. 05:19 Having no idea except for what was being told. 05:21 And here's my thing. 05:22 So, I said, I know what I'm gonna do, this is my plan. 05:24 Not that I'm gonna go get a bible and read it and study 05:26 it, no, this is, and now, you gotta understand, this is the 05:29 1980s. 05:31 This is not the 16th century, the 15th century, the 14th 05:34 century, okay? 05:37 This was the 1980s and this is my plan. 05:40 I'm gonna go to my church, the Calvary Chapel Church, I'm 05:44 gonna go to this church and I'm gonna listen to everything 05:46 he says and then, I'll learn, I'll figure out where my 05:50 sister's off, so I'll be able to talk to the pastor and 05:52 he'll be able to tell me. 05:54 He can tell me what it is that my sister is, you know what 05:57 I'm saying? 05:58 He can tell me. 05:59 and so, that was my plan, and as soon as I did that with my 06:03 sister, you know what she did? 06:06 >>DAVID: I have no idea. 06:07 >>JAMES: She opened the bible. 06:08 [Laughter] 06:10 I'm telling her, this is, you know... 06:13 >>DAVID: You don't have your bible with you, you're just 06:14 talking. 06:16 >>JAMES: I don't have a bible, well, I have that bible, but 06:17 you know, it's like, I don't understand the bible, that's 06:18 King James. 06:20 Who reads the King James? 06:22 You know what I'm saying? 06:23 I don't get that. 06:24 So, I'm telling, basically, I'm telling my sister what the 06:28 preacher said, and she's telling me what God says. 06:31 >>TY: [Laughter] 06:35 You're like, quote, unquote, the preacher. 06:38 She's like, quote, unquote God. 06:40 >>DAVID: Just this week, I learned a word, 06:42 disintermediate. 06:44 Disintermediate. 06:45 A friend, Greg, taught it to me. 06:46 Disintermediate. 06:47 Often used in the financial sector where you have a lot of 06:50 like middlemen and if you disintermediate, you take out 06:54 one of those middle men. 06:55 And you make more money. 06:56 So, what you needed to have a disintermediation. 06:59 You needed to have a middle man removed, whether it was 07:01 the Catholic priest when you were younger, or the Calvary 07:03 Chapel pastor. 07:04 Not that we couldn't learn things from, you know, a 07:07 pastor or an authority figure. 07:09 Of course you did, but the idea that you could take the 07:12 middle man out, disintermediate that 07:13 situation, and go straight to the text like your sister was, 07:16 that's priesthood of all believers. 07:18 And the reason we were laughing in the middle there, 07:19 of course, as we know, that scripture says that you are 07:23 all, there's our word, all kings and priests because of 07:28 what Jesus has done. 07:29 >>JAMES: Where does the scripture say that? 07:31 We haven't even looked at those verses. 07:32 [Laughter] 07:34 >>DAVID: The book of Revelation, chapter 5. 07:36 >>TY: Before we look at the exact text, why don't we just 07:39 paint a picture of that world, because it seems, it seems 07:43 like it's not a strange idea to us, at least right now, 07:47 around this table, that there would be equal access to the 07:51 word of God, but imagine a world in which it's literally 07:56 against the law for you to even have one in your hands. 08:01 In fact, you go to the religious building over there, 08:03 and it's chained to a wall so you can't run off with it. 08:08 And it's there, but it's in a foreign language, and then, 08:14 when the priest does read it to you, he's reading it to you 08:19 in a foreign language on purpose. 08:22 The intent being that you not understand it. 08:26 The intent being that you not understand it. 08:28 Chained to a wall, in a foreign language, you don't 08:30 have access to it and it's literally against the law for 08:33 you to have one in your hands and read it for yourself, and 08:36 if you're caught with a bible, thinking for yourself, 08:41 formulating opinions, you could literally be executed 08:45 for that action. 08:48 That's the world in which the Protestant reformers lived. 08:53 >>JEFFERY: And even bigger, there's two categories, 08:55 there's the sacred and the secular, right? 08:58 And a thick line between the two, so those who dwell or 09:05 function in the sacred realm are the popes, the priests, 09:10 the nuns, the monks, and everybody else is in the 09:13 secular, right? 09:15 In the worldly, in the temporal, and so, these people 09:17 here have no business on this side of the line where the 09:22 bible is, where religious thought is, where doctrine is. 09:26 >>DAVID: And it's not just a bifurcation, that and that, 09:29 but there's a strong sense in which, that's the real thing, 09:32 that's the sacred thing, this is the, not profane maybe, but 09:37 this is the ordinary thing. 09:38 >>JEFFERY: And I think that that's why what Luther did is 09:42 so revolutionary, because what Luther did is he did away with 09:47 that line. 09:48 >>TY: Yeah, not just in people and priest, but he did away 09:50 with the secular and sacred line, yeah. 09:53 >>JEFFERY: He did more than just the common man can now 09:57 read the bible for themselves. 09:59 That sort of fits in a bigger thing that he did. 10:02 He did away with these two categories in society and that 10:07 is profound because now everybody who is inhabiting 10:10 this realm, according to Luther, if you've been 10:13 baptized, if you've confessed the name of Jesus, if you're a 10:16 Christian, you are automatically now also part of 10:20 the sacred realm, so everything you do... 10:23 >>TY: Even if you don't go into full time vocation. 10:25 >>JEFFERY: Yeah, the mechanic, the farmer, the guy, yeah, the 10:29 garbage collector. 10:31 Everyone in this realm now could view everything that 10:35 they are doing, provided that they have faith in Christ, as 10:38 a vocation directly related to their relationship with God, 10:43 right? 10:44 So, this is sacred, that becomes now a sacred vocation. 10:48 >>DAVID: What was this quotation that you read about 10:49 the common man? 10:50 >>JEFFERY: Well, that's actually, that quotation was 10:54 in regard to religious liberty. 10:57 There's another quotation that I wanna read before that, if 10:59 we wanna read, you know, the words of Luther, this is from 11:02 this document that he produced called an address to the 11:06 Christian nobility of Germany. 11:09 And this is really the first time where that line gets 11:12 challenged. 11:14 So, it says, and I quote, it is pure invention that pope, 11:20 bishops, priests, and monks are to be called the spiritual 11:24 estate. 11:26 And princes, lords, artisans, and farmers, the temporal, or 11:31 the secular estate. 11:34 That is indeed a fine bit of lying and hypocrisy. 11:38 All Christians, he says, are truly of the spiritual estate 11:44 and there is among them no difference at all but that of 11:46 office. 11:47 We are all one body, yet every member has its own work, 11:51 whereby it serves every other. 11:53 All because we have one baptism, one gospel, one 11:57 faith, we are all alike Christians. 12:02 And therefore, of the spiritual estate. 12:05 So, that, yeah, so that, to us, seems pretty obvious, 12:12 we're used to that, but in the world he lived in, that 12:13 would've been extremely provocative and revolutionary. 12:17 So, there is no line. 12:19 >>TY: So, farming is a spiritual venture, right? 12:22 Manufacturing furniture is a spiritual vocation. 12:26 I think it was Luther that said something like, you know, 12:30 the best thing for the Christian shoemaker to do in 12:33 order to represent God isn't to put crosses on his shoes, 12:37 but to make good shoes. 12:38 So, in the process of making good products, God is being 12:42 glorified. 12:43 >>DAVID: Whatever your hand finds to do. 12:45 >>JEFFERY: So, this whole thing about reading the bible 12:46 for yourself, that fits under that umbrella. 12:50 See, if that's true, what we just said, therefore, the 12:54 farmer should be able to access scripture for himself. 12:56 Or for herself.. 12:58 >>DAVID: Let me just throw in something on that, real quick, 13:00 James. 13:01 So, Ty said the word, and you just said it just a moment 13:02 ago, access. 13:05 So, I can't get away from Romans chapter 5, verse 1, 13:07 therefore, having been justified by faith, we have 13:09 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I love 13:11 this, through whom also we have access by faith into this 13:16 grace by which we stand. 13:17 The whole idea of what Jesus came to do, at it's most 13:21 fundamental level, was to bring about an access that was 13:24 otherwise unavailable. 13:26 So, he opens up a point of access, a point of 13:27 availability, and we see this in the way that Jesus 13:30 conducted his ministry. 13:31 Who is it that he calls to be his coconspirators in this 13:36 plan to bring the light of the good news to the world? 13:41 He says, oh, yeah, I need some fishermen, and I'm gonna need 13:44 a tax collector in here, and I'm gonna, he's not like going 13:47 to the religious schools, going to the seminaries, it's 13:50 like he bypasses them. 13:52 >>JAMES: He's not even quoting a bible verse, he's just doing 13:53 it. 13:55 >>DAVID: He's just doing it and this point of access, that 13:58 Jesus came to bring access, but what you have with this 14:00 world that Luther's in, Luther's world and the world 14:05 before him and the medieval period, you have this point 14:07 of, you were talking about chains in that, Ty. 14:10 Everything communicates a lack of access, a lack of 14:13 availability, a lack of approachability. 14:16 Oh, wait, wait, wait, you wanna get to him? 14:18 You talk to me and then I'll, and then, and then, and then 14:21 maybe we'll get the telegram through. 14:23 >>TY: I'll broker a deal with God for you. 14:25 >>DAVID: That whole situation needed to be disintermediated. 14:27 >>JAMES: David, what you're saying. 14:29 >>DAVID: I just wanted to throw it in again. 14:30 >>JAMES: What you're saying connects directly to a point I 14:32 was gonna make that really comes out here and that is, 14:35 another wall, I think a gigantic wall between the holy 14:39 people and the common people is the qualifications of the 14:44 holy people. 14:45 Jesus, in his day, he denounced the Pharisees, look 14:49 at them, they look so perfect, so righteous, so holy, so 14:52 worthy of being priests, so worthy of being the mediators 14:56 for all of these common people. 14:58 And when I was a kind, I mean, the whole idea of being a 15:02 priest was repulsive to me. 15:04 It was repulsive to me from the perspective that, that's 15:07 what you have to be to be a priest, you have to be that 15:10 holy and that righteous and that isolated from everything 15:15 around you and that different and I think what Luther is 15:17 doing is he's saying, actually, no, you could maybe 15:20 even get married, scandal of scandals, and still be a 15:23 priest. 15:24 And he did, and you could actually, you can actually, 15:27 you can actually. 15:28 Matthew, you can be a priest. 15:32 Matthew, John, James, you sons of thunders, Peter, Peter, 15:37 even Judas has the potential, Judas has the potential, the 15:41 potential is there. 15:42 Doubting Thomas for sure. 15:43 >>DAVID: It's so interesting, James, hearing you say that 15:45 and you having told your story about having been raised in 15:48 the Catholic situation, it reminded me of something that 15:50 I have not remembered for years. 15:52 So, I wasn't raised in a strong Christian home as such, 15:57 but my mom had been sort of a Baptist and my father was 15:59 Catholic. 16:01 So, when they married, they did what you might call the 16:04 logical thing and they became Episcopalian. 16:06 [Laughter] 16:08 Which is about as close as you can get to Catholicism 16:10 without being that. 16:11 So, I'm raised, you know, in this sort of nominal 16:16 Episcopalian church and my mom wanted me to be an acolyte, 16:21 right, which is like an altar boy. 16:23 Call them acolytes, you know that term? 16:25 So, I was an acolyte. 16:26 And so, I had to go to acolyte training and wear the gown, I 16:31 went to acolyte training and we were taught on how to light 16:35 the candles, many a service. 16:37 We had these candle lighters and I would have to light the 16:40 candle and you're in front of the whole church, the whole 16:42 church, and my hand is shaking like this and I'm trying to 16:44 light the candle and it won't, and I'm trying to get that 16:46 little wick, got it, and then, my job was to light the 16:49 candles. 16:50 And then, when it was done, you turned that little thing 16:51 over, there was a cup on there. 16:52 >>JAMES: And you put the cup down on, yeah. 16:53 Did the same thing. 16:55 >>DAVID: you've been there, too. 16:56 >>JAMES: Absolutely. 16:57 >>DAVID: So, my point was, the whole thing was so procedural. 17:04 It was so, it was so ceremonial, and at the end of 17:09 the day, I can say only in my little 8 year old mind, my 17:12 little 10 year old mind, I did not perceive that it was about 17:16 access to God, it just seemed like this is what you do in 17:20 church. 17:21 Like, you go to church and you put these on and you do this, 17:24 and so, then when I saw, I was the little acolyte and then 17:27 there was the priest, Father Ron. 17:29 Yeah, the big acolyte. 17:31 And Father Steve. 17:32 And these guys, I mean, Father Steve was, he was a cool cat. 17:34 I liked him a lot. 17:35 But I'm with you, there was nothing that was appealing 17:39 about that. 17:40 I just was like. 17:42 If you would've questioned me about it, I'm not sure that I 17:44 would've even known that it was even about God as such. 17:48 It was about church, this is what you do in church. 17:51 >>TY: Okay, so, that's Catholicism and the 17:53 Episcopalian church, this is high church, this is very 17:56 formal, this is very ceremonial, but at the same 17:59 time, it's, we're not saying, yeah, those churches are like 18:04 that and it's lame. 18:06 >>DAVID: No, I'm saying as a child, I just was not taking 18:08 it in. 18:09 >>TY: I know you weren't, but let me just add something. 18:11 The fact is, as human nature is naturally gravitating in 18:16 that direction, religion oftentimes is just a hiding 18:21 place from God. 18:23 If you can go through the ceremonies. 18:25 So, it doesn't matter if its Catholic, Episcopalian, 18:28 Baptist, Adventist, the fact is, even in our own faith, 18:34 it's oftentimes just a spectator sport. 18:38 People just go through, there's certain clothes you 18:40 wear and you go and you sit in certain kinds of seating and 18:44 there's a pulpit and the person comes out and says 18:47 certain things and you go. 18:49 It's a lot where Protestants were on the far liberal end of 18:53 the spectrum ceremonially, but it's still a formal process 18:58 that everybody in concert goes through and feels like, I 19:02 don't know what's going on in everybody's hearts, but in my 19:05 own, oftentimes, we feel like, okay, we did our duty. 19:09 We went to church. 19:11 >>JEFFERY: It's our own version of ritualistic 19:12 religion. 19:14 >>TY: Ours is a little bit more casual, but we're still 19:17 going through, it's the same thing psychologically. 19:20 We're going through a process of trying to get to God 19:24 through layer after layer after layer of accoutrements 19:30 that are religious and it's there and it's blocking our 19:34 vision. 19:35 We need to know in our own hearts and we need to 19:38 encourage, you know, everybody that we possibly can that, 19:43 hey, you could literally be driving down the street or 19:46 flipping burgers at your place of employment, selling real 19:50 estate and pause and open your heart to God as to a friend. 19:53 Right there, in your car, right there at your job, right 19:57 there at your, you can just say, Lord, this is what I'm 20:01 thinking, this is what I'm going through, I can't 20:03 navigate this. 20:05 Direct access to God in your heart, in your mind. 20:14 It's just amazing that we have that privilege. 20:18 Amazing that we have that privilege. 20:20 >>DAVID: And it was revolutionary. 20:21 >>JEFFERY: Do we have time to go to a text? 20:22 >>TY: No, we have to take a break. 20:24 You bring that text right after the break. 20:28 [Music] 20:40 Announcer: Want a seat at the table? 20:41 Well, you're certainly invited. 20:43 Visit our website at lightbearers.org. 20:46 In fact, you may wanna make it your homepage because we're 20:49 always adding something new to strengthen your relationship 20:52 with Jesus. 20:53 At lightbearers.org, you'll find thought-provoking blogs 20:57 and verse-by-verse bible studies on a variety of vital 21:00 topics. 21:02 Our online resource center has an excellent lineup of books, 21:07 CDs, and DVDs that present God's word with clarity 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receipt. 22:15 We're here to serve and equip you in sharing your passion 22:19 for Christ and the global advancement of his benevolent 22:22 kingdom. 22:24 Lightbearers.org. 22:26 There's room at the Light Bearers table for you. 22:30 There's room at the Light Bearers table for you. 22:38 >>TY: Man, oh, man. 22:39 This priesthood of all believers idea has gotta be 22:41 one of the most powerful concepts ever released upon 22:44 the human race. 22:45 It's just incredible to realize that human beings have 22:47 direct access to God and every one of us have that access and 22:52 that everything that we do in life is a spiritual vocation, 22:56 or can be a spiritual vocation. 23:00 Jeffrey, you had some scripture, you had something 23:02 you wanted to bring. 23:03 >>JEFFERY: Well, the text that the reformers actually 23:05 discovered, that they encountered that opened up 23:08 this whole realm, there's several key texts. 23:11 One of them is 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, and it would be 23:17 wrong to have this discussion and not read this passage. 23:23 1 Peter 2:9 and it says, but you are a chosen generation, a 23:29 royal priesthood, and that's the word they latched on. 23:32 A holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim 23:36 the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his 23:41 marvelous light. 23:42 So, you were talking about the different scenarios in the 23:45 car, selling real estate, whatever, you can pause for a 23:49 moment and encounter God. 23:51 This text here tells us, what is it that qualifies you as a 23:54 member of the priesthood? 23:56 I think the second half of the verse is connected to the 24:00 first half. 24:01 The second half says that you proclaim the praises of him 24:04 who called you out of darkness into the light. 24:07 Those are the sacrifices that you offer. 24:10 Those are the sacrifices that qualifies you as a member of 24:15 the priesthood. 24:17 And so, you're not offering, this is spiritual priesthood, 24:21 obviously. 24:22 You're not offering a literal blood sacrifice. 24:25 You're offering the testimony of praise that flows from your 24:29 life. 24:30 You're testifying of the experience of going from 24:36 darkness to light. 24:37 Basically, this is gospel language. 24:39 Your experience of encountering the gospel and 24:42 so, if that's true, then anybody who's encountered the 24:46 gospel has been elected as a member of the priesthood. 24:52 And can offer sacrifices of praise in every and any aspect 24:58 of your life. 24:59 And that was hugely liberating to discover. 25:04 >>JAMES: There's something else here that I think is 25:05 really significant and it goes along with what Ty said 25:07 earlier. 25:08 If you continue with these verses, you find a couple of 25:11 admonitions here that really apply to the idea that the 25:15 priesthood of all believers is supposed to impact us in our 25:17 vocation, whatever it is. 25:20 It's supposed to help us to relate to people in a way that 25:24 gives God the glory and actually testifies to him. 25:28 I'm thinking here, specifically, of verse 12, 25:31 having you a conversation, now, this is we're reading 1 25:34 Peter chapter 2 and Jeffery, you read verse 9, and just 25:37 keep reading, you get to verse 12, and this is the context, 25:40 having your conversation, that is, your conduct, honest among 25:43 the Gentiles. 25:45 That whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they 25:48 made by your good works, which should behold glorify God in 25:51 the day of his visitation. 25:52 >>TY: Well, that's good, I've never seen that. 25:53 So, that's taking you right to daily life. 25:55 >>JAMES: Yeah, and it continues on, it talks about 25:57 marriage, it talks about work, it talks about the king, the 26:01 governor, the president, in other words, in everything we 26:04 do, because we're a priesthood of believers, in everything we 26:07 do, we should be exemplifying God and relating to people in 26:12 a way that we do our best in our vocation so that God gets 26:16 the glory. 26:17 I love that idea because that's a completely different 26:20 motivation. 26:21 >>DAVID: And I love that, and not just exemplifying, there 26:22 is that sort of evangelistic, administorial role, but 26:25 there's also, you become a point of access. 26:27 Not a point of access in the sense of mediation, but just a 26:31 point of, hey, look, this is the gospel, this is what the 26:35 gospel looks like. 26:36 If I'm a cobbler or I'm a seamstress or I'm a truck 26:39 driver. 26:40 >>TY: A cobbler, he said. 26:42 [Laughter] 26:43 A person who makes cobbler. 26:47 >>DAVID: No, cobbler makes shoes. 26:49 >>TY: I know what a cobbler is. 26:51 >>DAVID: How can you give me a hard time about cobbler? 26:53 >>TY: Just such an old word. 26:55 >>DAVID: Well, I'll tell you why it jumped out at me, 26:57 because, listen, I gotta give it context here. 26:59 >>TY: Nobody watching this is saying, yeah, I'm a cobbler. 27:01 [Laughter] 27:03 >>DAVID: The high school that I went to was Stevens High 27:05 School in Rapid City, South Dakota, and our cross-town 27:08 rivals was the Central Cobblers. 27:11 >>TY: Really? 27:12 >>DAVID: Yeah, so it's always been there. 27:14 I just wanna use my words, okay? 27:16 Leave me alone, leave me alone. 27:17 >>JEFFERY: But you said, not in the sense of mediation, but 27:19 this is what God looks like, I don't even have a problem with 27:22 it being in a sense of mediation. 27:24 >>DAVID: Well, it's mediation like, if somebody were to come 27:26 to me, I would say, hey, you don't have to come to me, you 27:28 just. 27:29 So, you're there as an advertisement, you are there 27:31 in the priestly role, 'cause the priests had a number of 27:34 roles, of which mediation was one. 27:36 Education is a role. 27:37 Right? 27:39 When you were saying the thing about sacrifices of praise, 27:41 man. 27:41 Romans 12:1, bam. 27:43 I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 27:45 God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, 27:49 holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable 27:51 service. 27:52 I love the NIV there, which is your spiritual act of worship. 27:56 Present your bodies to God, that is your spiritual act of 28:00 worship. 28:01 >>JEFFERY: So, you're not presenting a sacrifice, you 28:03 are the sacrifice. 28:05 >>TY: We recently did a series at our church called why we 28:08 worship and one of the messages, yeah, one of the 28:11 messages was dedicated to the idea that you come to church 28:16 and you engage in the act of worship in the sanctuary, we 28:21 say, and one of the messages was saying and then, when you 28:25 leave this building, you are the place of worship that 28:29 people are encountering. 28:30 You are the temple of God. 28:32 In your daily vocation, whatever you're doing, you are 28:36 like the tabernacle of Moses and the children of Israel in 28:40 the wilderness, the mobile tabernacle that was just out 28:43 and about, just moving around, and people wherever you go 28:48 have an opportunity to encounter God in your, I'm 28:53 gonna use the word that James brought to us, your 28:55 conversation, your conduct, your life is a point of 28:59 contact for people to access God. 29:02 >>DAVID: So, leading up to the passage that we read, which 29:05 you said was one of the definitive texts for this 29:07 reformers idea of the priesthood of all believers is 29:10 this passage, 2 Peter chapter 2, beginning in verse 4, 29:12 coming to him, Christ, as to a living stone, rejected indeed 29:15 by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, comma, as 29:19 living stones, comma, are being built up a spiritual 29:24 house, a place of worship. 29:26 A hole priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices 29:28 acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 29:31 >>JEFFERY: It's right there. 29:32 >>DAVID: And again, we take this for granted, we take this 29:37 for granted, but in Luther's time, in Calvin's time, in the 29:40 reformers' time, going back even earlier into, you know, 29:42 John Hus, this is wild. 29:48 Because the point is not about access, the point is about the 29:51 church. 29:52 One of the big divisions, like, one of the big picture 29:55 divisions between the Protestant reformer's view of 29:59 church and then, the Roman church's view of church was 30:02 really simple. 30:03 Is the church's primary role proclamational or is it 30:06 mediatory? 30:08 Is the church primarily have something to say or something 30:11 to do? 30:12 If the church has something to say, that's proclamational, 30:15 that's to go tell the gospel that you can go straight to 30:17 God. 30:18 Or, is it, hey, no, no, no, no, no, the church is here in 30:20 a mediatorial role, you come to the church and the church 30:23 mediates through the sacraments the grace of God. 30:26 This is a total turnaround from primarily mediatorial to 30:30 proclamational. 30:31 We got something to say. 30:33 >>JAMES: And one of the reasons, I think for me 30:34 anyway, why it was so appealing, not so appealing, 30:37 but why it was like I'm getting off the hook here is, 30:39 in relation to the mediatoral, in relation to something to do 30:42 was, I can just go to church once a week or once a quarter 30:46 at Christmas and Easter, I can dump all my sins, I can get 30:48 absolution, and then, I can go live my life to live it. 30:51 >>DAVID: The thick line that Jeffrey's talking about 30:54 between that and that. 30:55 >>JAMES: By reason of transgression, the truth was 30:56 cast to the ground and the sanctuary was cast down. 30:58 In other words, because it allows you just to continue 31:00 life as it, you get your ticket to heaven, but you get 31:02 to continue your life as is, whereas, in proclamation, a 31:06 transformation is expected. 31:08 There's an expectation that the gospel of Jesus Christ 31:11 will actually take hold of the heart and the mind and 31:14 transform you so that you will actually want to go from that 31:17 place and be that living temple that you have 31:20 encountered in this. 31:21 >>DAVID: It's not just a legal transaction. 31:23 >>JEFFERY: I wanted to read, again, just following the 31:28 train of thought, I'm trying to imagine, what would it have 31:30 been like to stumble on this truth for the first time, 31:35 right? 31:36 And so, going back to these documents that were written in 31:39 the 1520s, the first time this conversation, you know, took 31:44 place in history, took place around the table, so, when 31:47 Luther thinks about this concept, he now, it's like 31:50 when you see something, you can't not see it, you know 31:54 what I'm saying? 31:55 Like, when I drive, you know, I drive a Civic, a silver 31:57 Civic, and now I see silver Civics everywhere and I never 32:00 noticed them before, because now that I see it, I can't not 32:02 see it. 32:03 So, when you see this truth, you can't not see it anywhere 32:06 you look in scripture, so when Luther goes back to now the 32:09 gospel story, he starts sharing how this is 32:14 everywhere. 32:15 He says, for example, when you think of Mary, when Mary 32:20 received the news that she would be the mother of Jesus, 32:23 he says, what did she do when she received that astounding 32:28 news. 32:29 He says, she went back and continued sweeping the floor, 32:35 cleaning the dishes. 32:37 So, then, he goes further and he says, when Jesus was born, 32:43 what did the shepherds who came and saw and celebrated 32:47 and said, glory to God, this is God, he said, what did they 32:51 do? 32:52 And I just wanna read this to you. 32:53 He says here. 32:54 >>DAVID: This is Luther. 32:56 >>JEFFERY: Yeah, he says, the text says, and they returned, 32:59 and then he picks up. 33:02 He says, where did they return? 33:05 They returned back to their, yeah, yeah, so he says, surely 33:11 that must be wrong. 33:13 And he's mocking. 33:16 He says, there's a mistake there. 33:18 We should correct the passage. 33:21 It should read, quote, they went, shaved their heads, 33:24 fasted, clothed their rosaries, and put on their 33:28 monk, you know, their monk hoods. 33:30 He continues, instead we read, the shepherds returned. 33:35 And then, he says, where to? 33:37 To their sheep. 33:39 And then, he says, the sheep would've been in a bad state 33:43 had they not. 33:45 >>JAMES: I love that, I absolutely love that. 33:47 >>JEFFERY: So, just the simplicity of that, and it's 33:49 what you were saying, right? 33:50 It's, they're sacrifices. 33:55 They are walking priests and walking sacrifices. 33:59 Yeah, shepherding now becomes a sacred act so long as it's 34:05 done in the context of this is an expression of my faith to 34:09 Christ and the reason they're walking priests is because now 34:13 you said the word contact, right? 34:15 That's the point of the church. 34:16 We become a point of contact between other human beings and 34:19 God. 34:20 So, now, be it Mary or the shepherds, they are now a 34:23 point of contact because they've seen, they've 34:25 witnessed something and now, their function is to now relay 34:30 that in whatever capacity they find themselves in and so, 34:33 what can be more liberating than that? 34:35 >>TY: And then, in the larger, biblical context, not only do 34:38 you become a point of contact for other people, you're a 34:41 point of contact for the sheep and for all of life, because 34:46 the human being is a steward over creation and the animals 34:50 in this world should experience the kindness of 34:53 their stewards, right? 34:55 I mean, all of life is to be, the quality of life is to be 35:00 elevated on all levels. 35:01 But, hey, we're doing something around this table 35:03 that I just remembered, Luther actually modeled this by doing 35:10 something called Table Talk. 35:13 We didn't come up with this idea called Table Talk. 35:15 This is namesaked after Martin Luther, because Martin Luther, 35:20 after he left his role as a monk and became a reformer, 35:26 Luther formed the habit in the community of just pulling 35:30 together people, sitting around a table, and they 35:33 actually called it, you can actually Google Table Talk, 35:36 Martin Luther, and the discussions that they had 35:38 around the table with Luther are recorded, and he would 35:41 just spontaneously let them bring up any topic they wanted 35:43 to bring up, he would just sit there and have chats with 35:46 people that, yeah, they weren't recording them and 35:49 airing them on television, of course, but they were having 35:51 Table Talks, and that was a modeling of their priesthood 35:54 of all believers. 35:55 >>JAMES: I really wanna pick up on this point, because you 35:58 talked about church earlier, and I do think that there's a 36:01 place for preaching, but I really do believe that this is 36:04 an important aspect of legacy, this idea of Table Talk is an 36:10 important aspect of the legacy that Luther has handed down to 36:13 us, because I think we can do the same thing, I'm just gonna 36:16 use this phrase with our Sunday school lesson or our 36:19 Sabbath school lesson. 36:21 We can do the same thing that we do with a sermon. 36:23 It can become a second sermon, someone gets up front, they 36:27 open up the lesson and they just begin to monologue, 36:29 monologue, monologue, monologue. 36:31 And something that's really been powerful in pastoral 36:35 ministry for me is a pastor's class. 36:38 I was, in both churches that I pastored, the one that I'm 36:42 pastoring now and the one that I was pastoring previously, I 36:44 received a little bit of pushback to starting the 36:46 pastor's class. 36:47 And after I was finally able to get it, one of the 36:50 churches, which it took about a year to do, the thing that 36:54 was said to me was, well, after this class starts, 36:57 because my point was, there's gonna be a lot of people 37:00 coming to our church that are brand new and they can't sit 37:02 in our regular church, they don't understand, they're just 37:05 starting, they're babies and they need to be nurtured. 37:08 And so, the idea was, well, after you get them nurtured, 37:12 then you can, you know, they all go and we don't need to 37:14 have that class anymore. 37:15 But here's the point I'm trying to make. 37:17 >>DAVID: Why wouldn't they want a class? 37:18 I'm totally confused by that. 37:20 >>JAMES: Here's the point, yeah, exactly, and here's the 37:21 point I'm trying to make, have we come to a place in some 37:25 circles where we are doing the same thing that Luther 37:30 opposed? 37:31 Setting up a ritualistic form that everyone goes to and they 37:35 just sit through it and they sit through it and they sit 37:37 through it. 37:38 So, the pastor's class that I'm having now, it's really 37:41 interesting, the majority of the people that attend that 37:43 class are not members of the church. 37:46 And we sit down and we talk. 37:49 I don't have any agenda, we just talk. 37:51 Hey, how was your week? 37:52 Anything we can pray for? 37:53 How was your week? 37:54 Anything? 37:55 And then, I just take notes so, next time that we sit 37:56 down, hey, how's it going with that issue that we prayed 38:00 about last time? 38:01 Or, give me an update on your situation what was taking 38:04 place with thus and such. 38:05 And then, as we go through, each person talks and we 38:08 interact, whatever, amazing theology, practical theology 38:12 comes out of this. 38:14 And then, when we're done, we have a basic outline, a basic 38:16 scripture outline that we're going through, sometimes we 38:19 get to it, sometimes, we don't. 38:21 Right now, we're going through Matthew 26, which is really 38:23 powerful, the steps that prepared Jesus for Gethsemane, 38:26 because life for us is a preparation in Gethsemane in a 38:29 way, a preparation to understand how it is that we 38:33 can deal with the separation from God that we're feeling in 38:35 our lives, but I really believe that that's what 38:39 people need. 38:40 We need to have Table Talks in every church in every, 38:42 wherever we are, we need to be able to just sit down and talk 38:44 about stuff. 38:46 And not have some guy in an office somewhere who's figured 38:48 out, this is exactly what you need to cover this, these next 38:50 9 weeks, these are the things you need to talk about, here's 38:54 the points you need to make, here's the points you don't 38:56 need to make, make sure, no. 38:58 That's, I'm not downing that, I'm not saying that that's 39:01 bad, I think that's fine, I think that's good, but I don't 39:03 think that's the only thing we should be doing. 39:05 There needs to be a little bit more Table Talk. 39:10 Sit down, what's on your brain right now? 39:12 So, I think this Table Talk idea, we're doing this right 39:14 here and people have, you know, they've said, hey, I'd 39:16 love to sit in, or hey, I'd love, because that's what 39:19 people are hungry for. 39:20 >>TY: Yeah, we've gotten the word from all over the place 39:22 where people are actually doing this. 39:24 They watch the program and they say, hey, let's do one in 39:25 my kitchen. 39:26 This one lady came to me recently and said, yeah, me 39:29 and a few of my friends, we do Table Talk in my kitchen, we 39:32 just sit there and do what you guys are doing. 39:34 There's another guy in Australia, and they've 39:36 launched Table Talk in Australia, they're filming, 39:39 and then, there's one in Germany, in German, that's 39:42 actually doing a 13-part series on the Protestant 39:45 reformation as we're doing, well, they already finished 39:47 theirs. 39:48 I don't know what any of it says, it's all in German. 39:49 But these are friends of ours, these are people in Germany 39:51 who are just saying, hey... 39:53 >>DAVID: And the set looks quite similar to this, it's so 39:55 cool. 39:56 >>TY: It's amazing, people are just doing it. 39:58 >>DAVID: We spent a lot of money on this set. 39:59 This is big money, here. 40:00 The blackness around us. 40:02 [Laughter] 40:04 >>TY: Okay, we have to take our second break, but yeah, 40:08 this is a great discussion, we'll be right back. 40:09 [Music] 40:22 Announcer: A Light in Zambia is a moving video documentary 40:26 that traces the stories of 5 amazing African men and women 40:30 who encountered Christ through the powerful medium of gospel 40:33 literature. 40:35 To receive your free copy, call 877-585-1111, or write to 40:40 Light Bearers, 37457 Jasper Lowell Road, Jasper, OR 97438. 40:48 Once again, to receive your free copy of A Light in 40:50 Zambia, call 877-585-1111, or write to Light Bearers, 40:57 37457 Jasper Lowell Road, Jasper, OR 97438. 41:03 Simply ask for the Zambia DVD. 41:07 [Music] 41:14 >>TY: As we begin this section, I thought it'd be 41:16 good to give the Old Testament background to the New 41:20 Testament passages that we're reading. 41:22 Jeffrey brought to us the Peter passage that we're all a 41:26 royal priesthood, David brought to us the passage from 41:30 Romans 5 that we all have access, I love that word 41:35 access, and Romans 12, but check this out, the Old 41:38 Testament is full of this idea. 41:40 Beginning in Genesis, we have this, and it's not real 41:44 obvious, you know, right on the surface, 'cause it doesn't 41:46 use the word priest or anything like that, but it 41:48 says in Genesis chapter 3 that after God had created the man 41:53 and the woman, there they are in fellowship in the Garden, 41:57 and then, it says, in chapter 3, verse 8, that God came and 42:01 walked in the cool of the day in the Garden. 42:03 So, you've got this direct access, you've got God having 42:06 made human beings to have direct access and fellowship 42:10 with him. 42:11 Well, as the story continues unfolding, we come to the 42:14 story of Abraham, and when we get to chapter 12 of Genesis, 42:18 we have this idea where the Lord says to Abraham, comes to 42:23 him and says, Abraham, I'm gonna do something through you 42:28 and your posterity that's going to be a blessing to the 42:33 whole world. 42:34 Verse 3, in you, Abraham, in your lineage, all the families 42:38 of the earth shall be blessed. 42:41 Okay, then when you come, as the story continues to unfold 42:44 in Exodus chapter 19, God has now brought the children of 42:49 Israel out of Egyptian bondage and he announces to them in 42:53 chapter 19, verse 6, God says to them, you shall be a 42:59 kingdom to me, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 43:04 So, here, God is telling the children of Israel, okay, now 43:08 I've brought you out of Egyptian bondage and now I 43:12 have a job for you to do. 43:13 I have a vocation for you, and the vocation is that you're 43:16 going to be a royal priesthood. 43:20 You are, that's where the language of the New Testament 43:22 comes from, royal priesthood, a kingdom of priests. 43:25 What's fascinating, because the people push back in their 43:30 fear, in chapter 20 and verse 18 and onward, and into 43:35 chapter 21, they push back on this idea of direct access to 43:39 God, because they're afraid of God. 43:40 They have a misconception of God's character and so, you 43:44 have Moses, who goes into the mountain, converses with God, 43:50 he comes out of that direct access to God and talks to the 43:54 people and gives them a little bit of exposure to the glory 43:58 of God and their immediate impulse is to back up. 44:01 Well, as the story unfolds, they're now elevating Moses. 44:05 Moses isn't elevating himself, they're elevating Moses to the 44:11 position of intermedior between themselves and God and 44:16 then, there's this thing that develops in the camp of Israel 44:20 where these certain guys begin prophesying and saying, hey, 44:25 I've got a word from the Lord and the people do something 44:29 that later on, happens in the New Testament... 44:31 >>JEFFERY: Certain guy meaning a non-official priest. 44:33 >>TY: Yeah, these were just individuals, God had given the 44:36 vocation to all. 44:38 Moses was elevated to the unique position by the people, 44:42 and they now imagine that these guys were in the wrong 44:46 for having words from God and Moses responds by saying, 44:51 would that all of the children of God were prophets? 44:54 This is a very fascinating thing. 44:56 This is a very fascinating thing that Moses is saying. 44:59 He said, I don't want to be Moses and then there's the 45:03 rest of y'all. 45:04 I want, God can talk to you. 45:08 And so, quit forbidding these guys from prophesying, listen 45:13 to what they're saying, maybe God is gonna speak to you 45:14 through them, not just Moses. 45:16 That's in the bible. 45:17 [Laughter] 45:19 And this is the priesthood of all believers, so you need to 45:21 look it up because, actually, I'm just going from memory, I 45:23 don't know where the passage is, but it's there. 45:25 >>DAVID: Years ago, probably 3 years ago, I heard Dr. Richard 45:28 Davidson give an amazing sermon, amazing, mate, titled, 45:34 ablazing grace, and in that sermon, he described how, if 45:39 you carefully follow the textual like trajectory of 45:42 Exodus, that God's invitation was not just for Moses to come 45:46 to the mountain and, it was for every single person to 45:49 have the same relationship to God that Moses had, but when 45:53 the people backed up, Moses became the defacto 45:57 intermediary. 45:58 And here's an interesting point on that, by the way, 46:01 this thought occurred to me in the last session. 46:03 When God shows up, he's not showing up only in tabernacles 46:06 and only in holy places, he shows up in a burning bush. 46:10 A common point of access. 46:14 When Jacob is fearing the arrival of Esau, he lays down 46:22 and he puts his head on a pillow or a rock and that's a 46:25 point of access, that becomes the pineal, the place I've 46:27 seen the face of God. 46:29 There's many passages in scripture where God shows up 46:32 in these secular places, right? 46:35 He's not just confined to a singular, there's this 46:40 ubiquity about his availability. 46:42 You can meet him here, you can meet him here, you can meet 46:43 him, he's available. 46:45 I love that. 46:46 >>JEFFERY: By the way, Ty, I have good news for you. 46:48 It was actually in the bible. 46:50 >>TY: Well, I know it's in the bible. 46:51 >>JEFFERY: It's in Numbers 11:29. 46:53 James and I found it at the same time. 46:55 >>DAVID: Read the verse. 46:56 >>JAMES: It's really a good verse, this is amazing. 46:58 >>JEFFERY: It says, and Moses said. 46:59 >>JAMES: You gotta hear this. 47:02 Go ahead, don't let anybody interrupt you, go ahead. 47:04 >>JEFFERY: I'm reading from the King James, by the way, 47:07 just for fun. 47:08 >>DAVID: Do you want us to understand it? 47:09 >>JEFFERY: And Moses said unto him, envious thou for my sake? 47:14 Would God, that all the Lord's people were prophets and that 47:18 the Lord would put his Spirit upon him. 47:20 >>TY: I guess the King James Version is a step away from 47:23 Latin, but it still is kind of a, you know, it's a... 47:27 >>DAVID: We're gonna have a fistfight here. 47:30 >>TY: You gotta surmount the language to get to God. 47:34 >>JAMES: Actually, if you do some research, King James is 47:39 actually the simplest language of all the translations, do 47:44 some research on it. 47:45 >>TY: But nobody knows the first sentence that you read 47:46 or understands it. 47:47 >>JAMES: I'll admit that. 47:48 >>JEFFERY: Did you notice that when the whole let your 47:52 conversation be whatever, he said, let your conversation, 47:54 which means conduct. 47:56 [Laughter] 47:58 Hey, hey, hey, my bible actually said conduct. 48:01 I'm just saying. 48:03 >>DAVID: So, this is a verse that we alluded to earlier, 48:06 but I just wanna throw it out there. 48:07 In Revelation 4 and 5, I'm gonna just transition here. 48:12 In Revelation 4 and 5, when you have the throne room of 48:15 God and then, you see the redeemed, I love this in 48:18 chapter 5, verse 8, now, when he had taken the scroll, the 48:24 four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the 48:26 lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense 48:28 which were the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new 48:30 song, saying, you are worthy to take the scroll. 48:33 Now, this is of the elders, and to open its seals, for you 48:35 are slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of 48:38 every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have 48:41 made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on 48:46 the earth, and that phrase will come up at least two more 48:49 times in Revelation, kings and priests. 48:51 And you get the strong sense that this is not an exclusive, 48:55 clerical class of people. 48:59 This is the people of God, because what was the job of a 49:01 king? 49:02 A king was to reign. 49:04 Well, these are those that are seated with Jesus on his 49:05 throne, as he says in Revelation. 49:07 So, they are coreigning with Jesus and they are priests in 49:10 the sense that they are attached by the humanity to 49:13 Jesus and they occupy a priestly, which is an 49:16 educational, mediatory role. 49:18 Everybody, straight to God. 49:21 Which is, again, we've said this again, but it bears 49:24 repeating, this is something that we take for granted, this 49:26 idea of the universality of access. 49:29 We can come straight to God. 49:30 But this was a revolutionary concept. 49:33 And not only revolutionary, dangerous. 49:36 Dangerous to the establishment. 49:38 >>JEFFERY: If you're reading chapter 5, Revelation 1 says 49:40 the same thing, and in Revelation 20:6, they shall be 49:44 priests. 49:45 >>DAVID: Twenty, verse 6. 49:46 >>JEFFERY: Twenty, verse 6, and so, beginning, end, 49:48 bookends, right? 49:49 It's... 49:50 >>DAVID: Kings and priests, kings and priests. 49:52 >>JEFFERY: It's a theme. 49:55 >>DAVID: That's the one I just read. 49:56 >>TY: Go. 49:59 >>JAMES: Well, I was just gonna say, so the book of 50:00 Revelation, what's really interesting about the book of 50:02 Revelation is it's written in these prophetic cycles. 50:05 It cycles through a whole picture of salvation from the 50:08 beginning to the end and then it stops and starts again and 50:10 cycles through and cycles through. 50:12 So, it's interesting that this idea, like the second coming, 50:14 is repeated, repeated, repeated, repeated. 50:17 In other words, it's significant. 50:19 Not everything's repeated in a cycle, but the things that are 50:21 significant, the things that God really wants us to get are 50:25 repeated every time the cycle repeats, and this is one of 50:27 the things that's repeated every time the cycle repeats. 50:29 >>DAVID: So, this isn't a Revelation cycle, but you have 50:31 Paul, in his writings, repeating the lists of 50:36 spiritual gifts, right, or the list of spiritual gifts in at 50:40 least 3 locations, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4. 50:43 The point, for Paul, was, hey, God, by his Spirit, has given 50:48 gifts to all. 50:50 Some are prophets and teachers and some are, and some are, 50:52 and some are, and some are, and some are. 50:54 This idea that no one is giftless. 50:56 >>TY: But check this out, that's beautiful, but check 50:59 this out, you guys, I just realized something. 51:01 I mean, I knew it before, but it just, in this context that 51:06 when you were saying that God gives universal access and 51:13 that we're all in a mediatoral role, between you and me, I 51:19 have a role to reveal something to you, to 51:23 communicate something to you about God that you don't 51:26 presently know and vice versa. 51:28 You have something to teach me, yeah, it's a community 51:31 thing, so we're all mediating the peculiar, unique insights 51:36 of God that we each have, but this is astounding that 51:41 mediation isn't just a temporary fixture between you 51:47 and me because now that I've shared with you, you know what 51:49 I know and now you don't need me for that piece of 51:52 information anymore. 51:54 But check this out. 51:55 We say that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man 51:57 so that we don't need an earthly priesthood and even 52:02 the mediation of Jesus is temporary. 52:05 Even Jesus, as a mediator, is a temporary fixture between us 52:11 and the Father. 52:12 There are two passages of scripture, at least, that make 52:13 this clear. 52:15 In John chapter 16, Jesus says, this is fascinating to 52:20 me, he says, so far, I've been talking to you, verse 25, I've 52:24 been talking to you in figurative language. 52:26 I've been telling you stories, but the day is coming when I 52:28 will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I 52:30 will tell you plainly about the Father and in that day, 52:33 you will ask in my name, just like you have always done, 52:37 going through me as a mediator, you ask in my name. 52:39 But I do not say that I will speak to the Father for you. 52:42 I'm gonna stop being the one through whom you go to the 52:47 Father, because the Father himself loves you. 52:51 So, the mediation of Jesus, at some point, is even going to 52:54 cease, in a sense. 52:56 The other passage is Hebrews chapter 6, where it says, in 53:00 verses 19 and 20, we have this hope as an anchor to the soul, 53:03 both sure and steadfast, this is amazing, which enters to 53:09 the presence behind the veil. 53:12 So, the presence, there's a veil between us and God and we 53:18 are being led to enter behind the veil, into the presence, 53:22 and this is the role Jesus has, verse 20, where the 53:25 forerunner, that's Christ, our mediator, our priest, has 53:30 entered for us, even Jesus, having become a high priest 53:34 forever, according to the order of Melchisedec. 53:36 So, here, the word forerunner, this is amazing, we're all 53:40 familiar with the term forerunner, fore meaning 53:43 before, this is somebody who's going ahead because he's 53:48 leading somebody behind. 53:51 Mediation isn't a wall, it's a bridge. 53:54 That's what's being taught to us here. 53:56 Jesus isn't saying, I'll go there and you never can, Jesus 54:00 is saying, I'm gonna go ahead of you, come on. 54:03 >>JEFFERY: I'm going so that you may also go. 54:06 >>TY: You need to enter into the presence behind the veil, 54:08 but I'm gonna go before you and I'm gonna prepare, you're 54:11 going to come, and then, in chapter 4, earlier in Hebrews, 54:14 he just, Paul just straight up says that we can come boldly 54:18 before the throne of grace. 54:20 It's amazing. 54:21 >>JAMES: Ty, I really wanna talk about this chapter 16 54:23 because I think it's a great way to summarize what we've 54:27 been talking about. 54:28 >>TY: Summarize fast, we have a minute and 30 seconds. 54:30 >>JAMES: Yeah, I see that on Jeffrey's little stopwatch 54:32 here. 54:33 I think it's a good way to summarize what we've been 54:35 talking about. 54:36 Jesus here, in the chapter, in the context of the chapter, 54:39 the contextual subject matter of the chapter is the Holy 54:42 Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the disciples 54:45 have always been leaning on Christ, and Christ is saying, 54:47 I'm leaving, but I'm not leaving you alone. 54:50 You've been asking me for stuff from the Father, but 54:53 you're not gonna be doing that anymore. 54:55 You're gonna access the Father directly through the gift of 54:58 the Holy Spirit, you're gonna pray in my name, and you're 55:01 gonna be able to communicate directly to the Father, 55:04 without me being here in person. 55:06 That's the point he's making here in relation to the 55:09 disciples and it's so powerful because it applies to us 55:10 today. 55:11 It's the subject matter that we've been talking about for the 55:13 last hour or so. 55:14 >>TY: The priesthood of all believers. 55:15 Man, oh, man. 55:18 David, we have 40 seconds. 55:20 Summarize everything that we've just learned. 55:22 >>DAVID: Well, I think it's a fulfillment of the new 55:24 covenant promise that we talked about in a previous 55:26 session where the idea is that no man, you know, you won't 55:30 have to teach me, there is that community sense, but we 55:32 will all go directly to God, and that disintermediation, he 55:36 knew I was gonna do it, of removing the clerical class, 55:39 the priestly class, the cardinal, the pope, the 55:41 bishop, it was like, hey, I'm going straight to God through 55:43 Christ. 55:44 And then, Jesus, as you mentioned, in his own 55:46 mediatoral role says, hey, look, even that is a just a 55:48 stop gap until we can all be seated with God on thrones as 55:55 kings and priests, all of us access to God. 55:59 >>TY: Face to face. 56:00 >>DAVID: Face to face. 56:01 [Music] 56:12 蛂usic] |
Revised 2018-01-17