Clean Transcript

The Warrior Priest

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• Now, before I begin today, let me tell you that I hope—I genuinely hope—that some of you are going to say, "Brother Weaver, some of this material sounds familiar." I hope you're going to say that because I preached along this theme here four years ago.

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• Now, I'm preaching this message today for three particular reasons. Number one, because I want to include it in this series. Number two, because I know some of you have probably already forgotten what you have heard four years ago. And number three, many of you have never heard this at all. And I certainly want to make sure that this is included in the study on the biblical doctrine of war. So if you look in your Bibles, 1 Peter chapter 2, let's begin reading with verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5.

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• "You also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Now I want you to note verse 5. "You also as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house." Note this next phrase: "a holy priesthood." Now skip down to verse 9. He says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

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• Now if you will turn to the book of Revelation chapter 1 and let's look at verses 5 and 6. Revelation 1 verses 5 and 6. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be

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• glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." I want to call your attention to the fact that the Bible says that Christ has made us kings and priests unto our God.

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• Now, I want to bring a message today which I've entitled "Warrior Priest." I think you'll understand when you see the context of what I'm dealing with. Let me begin by giving you a definition of priest. A priest is a duly authorized minister in sacred things.

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• Now, in order to become a priest, one must be chosen by God. You see, the Bible says in the book of Hebrews chapter 5 in verse 4, "And no man taketh this honor unto himself." In other words, a priest is one who is chosen by God. You do not become a priest by self-appointment. You do not become a priest by election of the people or by political influence, but rather you must be chosen of God.

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• The priesthood is a divine institution, and therefore the priests were divinely appointed. Let me make another statement. Not only were priests divinely chosen and appointed in the Bible, but also their duties were divinely appointed as well.

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• Now, just simply because one happened to be a priest did not mean that he could just simply do whatever he wanted to do. For instance, here was Aaron, who was the high priest, and only the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year, and not without the shedding of blood. The other priests could not even enter into the Holy of Holies. There were Levitical priests that had duties and functions that the Aaronic priest did not have. And moreover, the Aaronic priest had duties and functions that the standard or the average Levitical priest did not have.

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• Now, Scripture specifically speaks, then, of our priesthood in 1 Peter 2, verse 5, where we're called a holy priesthood. And then in verse 9, we're called a royal priesthood. Moreover, in Revelation 1:6, 5:10, and 20:6, the Bible also speaks of the fact of our priesthood.

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• Now, the truth that God's people is to be a kingdom of priests began in the Old Testament. I want you to turn back in your Bibles, please, to the book of Exodus 19. Exodus chapter 19 and look, if you would please, at verses 5 and 6. Exodus 19 verses 5 and 6. Note what the Word of God says, Exodus 19, beginning with verse 5.

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• "Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar people unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine." Now look what he says, "And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." And so the Old Testament Israel was to be a kingdom of priests.

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• Now the truth is, we are now in the New Testament priesthood era, and the truth of the matter is, as New Testament priests, we have certain duties and responsibilities unto God. One of those, according to 1 Peter 2 and verse 5, is that we are to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God. According to 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, we are to, as priests, show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. According to Hebrews 13, verse 15, as priests, we are to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable unto God, that is the fruit of our lips through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 12, verse 1, as New Testament priests, we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. You ask, "Well, are those all of our duties and responsibilities?" Well, of course not. There are many others.

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• Let me just name a couple in particular. First of all, as priests, we have the ministry of intercession. That is, we pray not only for ourselves, but we also pray for others as well. But there is another particular function that most people never entertain in their minds. And that function is what is known as a warrior priest. Now, let me explain that this is not a carnal function, but rather it is a spiritual function. It is a function that has not been delineated from the Word of God on a regular basis. And so the warrior priest is indeed a spiritual function.

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• Now, in order to understand this concept, we have to go clear back to the beginning. I'm going to show you first of all the historical context of the warrior-priest. And we're going to begin with Adam's guardianship. So I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 2. And let's begin reading there with verse 15. We're going clear back to the Garden of Eden, and we're going to begin looking at Adam's guardianship so that you can understand this function. Notice Genesis chapter 2 and verse 15. "And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to dress it and to keep it." What did God do? God created Adam, and he placed Adam in the garden to dress it and to keep it. You see, Eden was originally organized as a sanctuary, and in that sanctuary it was a temple in which God could meet with the creatures that he had created in his image. In this sanctuary, God placed Adam, and he gave him two particular functions.

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• Look in verse 15 again. He put him into the Garden of Eden, number one, to dress it, and number two, to keep it. Now, the Hebrew word for the word "dress" is the word "abad," A-B-A-D. And the word "dress" literally means to serve, to tend, or to till. So Adam then had a function of serving, or tending, or tilling the garden. But that's not all. Note, if you would, secondly, the Bible said he not only had to dress it, but to keep it. Now the word "keep" is the Hebrew word "shamar," S-H-A-M-A-R. And that word "shamar" means to keep, it means to guard, it means to protect. Please understand this. I'm going to show you verse after verse. The word "keep" means to guard and to protect.

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• For instance, if I happen to have a thousand dollar bill, which I don't have, and I don't think they're even in existence anymore, but if I happen to have a thousand dollar bill, and I gave it to Dr. Bracey, and I said, "Doc, would you keep this for me?" What do I mean by the word "keep"? Guard it, protect it. I'm not telling him to go out and spend it. I'm not telling him to throw it away. I'm asking him to guard it and to protect it. So Adam then had a responsibility not only to serve the garden, to tend and till it, but also to guard it and protect it. Now, what happened? Adam failed to guard and protect the garden.

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• The serpent came in and deceived his wife. Adam failed to protect his wife. And according to the book of Genesis chapter 3, God kicked Adam out of the garden. Look at it. Genesis 3, beginning there with verse 23. "Therefore, the Lord God sent him," that is, Adam, "forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken." Now watch this. He kept one of his functions, but he lost the other one. He still had to tend the ground, but watch verse 24. "So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." So Adam then lost his guardianship. When Adam sinned, when Adam disobeyed, when Adam failed to keep and guard that which God had committed to his charge, God literally defrocked him. He took his guardianship away and sent him out of the garden.

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• So, he forfeited his position and his privileges by his disobedience. Now, I want to show you very quickly several passages where the same Hebrew word, "shamar," is used so that you can understand the importance and the significance of it. If you would look in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4 and verse 9. Genesis 4 and verse 9. Everyone knows the story of Cain and Abel, how Cain has murdered his brother Abel. In verse 9, "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?"

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• And he said, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" Now, the word "keeper" here is the word "shamar." Literally, what Cain said is this: "Am I my brother's bodyguard? Am I my brother's protector? Am I my brother's guardian? Do I have time just to run around and guard and protect my brother?" So very obviously, you see, in this context, the word "keep" means more than to hold. It means to guard and to protect. If you would turn over in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 28 and look at verse 15, you'll see the same Hebrew word again. Genesis 28 and verse 15.

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• Now, in this passage, God is speaking to Jacob, and look at what God tells Jacob. Genesis 28, verse 15, God says, "And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places where thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

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• Now, let's go back to the first part. God tells Jacob, "And, behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places where thou goest." Now, what does the word "keep" there mean? God says, "Jacob, I want to guard you. I want to protect you everywhere you go. I'm going to make sure that nothing happens to you." So the word "keep" means to guard or protect.

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• Now, if you turn right over to the book of Deuteronomy and look in chapter 4 and verse 9. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and look in verse 9. Note what God says in this passage, Deuteronomy 4, verse 9. God says, "Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thine heart all the days of thy life, but teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons." Now note the warning in verse 9, "Only take heed to thyself and keep," that is, guard and protect your soul diligently. Now how do you guard and protect your soul? By keeping in mind the plain teachings of the Word of God and communicating those teachings to your children and to your children's children as well.

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• So here is Adam's guardianship. We find that God had constituted Adam a warrior priest. Adam failed to protect his charge and thus God defrocked him and kicked him out of the garden and gave his protecting privileges to the cherubim. Now, let's continue, but let's go now to the Levitical guardianship, because you know that God chose the Levites to serve him. Now, these two terms of working and guarding appear very frequently in the lives of the Levites.

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• In fact, this theme is developed throughout the Bible. So let's go in our Bibles to the book of Numbers chapter 1. And you hold the book of Numbers because we're going to be looking at an awful lot of verses there. Numbers chapter 1. And let's begin with verse 53. Numbers 1 and verse 53. Numbers 1 and verse 53. Look what God says. "But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel, and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony." Now, let's go back to verse 53 and look at it very carefully. The Levites are to keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. Where were the Levites to camp? They were to camp surrounding the tabernacle. God says these Levites now are charged with keeping or guarding or protecting the tabernacle.

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• Now, I'm going to give you another word. Look in verse 53. He says, "And the Levites shall keep the charge."

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• Now, the Hebrew word for "charge" there is "mishmareth," and it literally means a watch, a sentry post, or an act of custody. So actually, what the Levites were then around this tabernacle is they were the guards. They were the sentries who were protecting and guarding the tabernacle.

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• Now, I want you to turn to the book of Numbers chapter 3. Let me show you how thoroughly this is developed in the Bible. By the way, the word "charge," as you may have well guessed, is a military term. "Keep the charge of the tabernacle." So in Numbers chapter 3, let's begin reading with verse 5 and let's see how serious God was when he gave the Levites this guardian protector position. Numbers chapter 3 verse 5, "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest." Watch carefully, "that they may minister unto him. And they," that is the Levites, "shall keep," that is guard and protect, "his charge." Did you hear that? Who is to protect the high priest? The Levites. "And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Verse 8, "And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge," that is the sentry post, "of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons."

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• "They are wholly given unto him out of all the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office." Watch! "And the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." Well, let me ask you a question. Who's doing the killing? The Levites. Who were given the charge? The Levites. Who were they to protect? Not only the tabernacle, they were to protect Aaron and his sons. And God says, if a stranger comes nigh, that stranger is to be killed. Well, who would do the killing? Well, very obviously, it would be the Levites.

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• Now, I'm not just simply making this up, because I want to show you this several times in the Bible. I want you to look, first of all, before we continue, in verse 32 and 38 of the same chapter. Watch verse 32, because you're going to come back to this verse in a little while. "And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be chief over the chief of the Levites and have the oversight of them that keep," or guard or protect, "the charge," the sentry post, "of the sanctuary." So the Levites had a chief, but the chief of the Levites had someone over him, and that someone over the chief of the Levites happened to be Eleazar, the son of Aaron. So here these Levites, then, were given to guarding and protecting not only Aaron, but the sanctuary as well. Now look in verse 38. "But those that encamp toward the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses and Aaron and his sons." Watch. "keeping," guarding, "the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel, and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death."

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• Now, that's two times God has said that. If only the Levites are surrounding the tabernacle and the stranger that comes nigh is to be put to death, that means it is the Levites who are executing the stranger. Let me tell you, if you were alive in the Old Testament days and you thought that you would just run into the tabernacle unannounced, uninvited, and talk to Aaron or to one of his sons, you're mistaken. You'd end up dead. And in the days of the temple, if you thought that you would just simply run into the temple and do your thing, you're mistaken. You'd end up dead because these Levites had a charge and responsibility to protect Aaron and his sons and also the tabernacle.

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• Now, I want us to look in chapter 4 and verse 3. I'm going to read several verses and then I'm going to call your attention to a special fact. Look in Numbers 4 and verse 3. He is now telling how the Levites are to be numbered. He says in verse 3, "From 30 years old and upward, even until 50 years old, all that enter into the host to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation." Now, I want you to note that phrase "to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation." Now look in chapter 4 and verse 23. Once again, he says the same thing, essentially. "From 30 years old and upward until 50 years old, shalt thou number them all that enter in." Now he says "to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation." To do the work in the tabernacle of congregation, look in chapter 4 in verse 30, "From 30 years old and upward, even unto 50 years old, shalt thou number them."

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• "Everyone that entered into the service to do the work of the tabernacle of the congregation." Isn't that interesting? I'm going to show it to you one more time, whole chapter 4, but look in your Bibles, Numbers chapter 8 and look at verse 24. Numbers 8 verse 24. Worded a little differently, but it's the same principle. Numbers 8 verse 24, "This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation." Now, we have read "to wait upon the service" or "to do the work." How many of you have marginal references and there is a Hebrew translation in your margin of what it means "to do the work of the tabernacle"?

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• Who has it in their Bible? Anybody have it in their little margin? I have it in my Bible. Do you have it in yours, Don? Oh, did you hear that? Say it a little louder, Don. The Hebrew says they are to war the warfare. That's what the Hebrew is when it's translated here "to do the work of the tabernacle." It's "to war the warfare." So God then has appointed these Levites as warrior priests literally to war the warfare. Now I'm going to go further and show you once again this protecting or guarding that the Levites were to do. Look in Numbers chapter 8 and verse 26. We're still talking about the Levites. In fact, verse 25 says, "And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof and shall serve no more." That is, they shall cease doing the warfare. Watch verse 26, "But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and thou shalt do no service."

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• "Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge." Now, he says they can be relieved of their warfare when they reach 50, but they still have certain guarding and protecting responsibilities, which I'll explain a little bit later.

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• Now turn over to Numbers chapter 18, Numbers chapter 18, and let's begin reading with verse 3. Let's see exactly how serious God is when he says something. By the way, let me just ask you. How many times does God have to say something to make it true? Once. So if something is repeated over and over, it is done so for emphasis. So let's look at Numbers chapter 18, beginning with verse 3.

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• We're still talking about the Levites. In fact, just glance back at verse 2, "And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi." So we're talking about Levi. Skip down to verse 3, "And they," that is Levi, "shall keep," or guard, "thy charge," or sentry post, "and the sentry post of all the tabernacle. Only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they nor ye also die." In other words, there were limitations that the Levites had. "And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep," that is, guard, "the sentry post of the tabernacle of the congregation for all the service of the tabernacle. And a stranger shall not come nigh unto you." Whoa! Watch verse 5. "And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary and the charge of the altar, that there be no wrath anymore upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel to you. They are given as a gift for the Lord to do the service," or to do the warfare, "of the tabernacle of the congregation."

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• "Therefore, thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for everything of the altar and within the veil, and ye shall serve. And I have given your priest's office unto you as a service of gift, and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I have also given thee the charge of mine heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel, and to thee have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons by an ordinance forever." Now go back to verse 7, "And the stranger that cometh near to thee is to be put to death." Who's to put him to death? Once again, the Levites.

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• That is three specific times God has told us exactly the same things. So God is telling us that these Levites, these Levitical priests, had a warrior function. They went around armed. I'll show you more later. But look in your Bibles now to the book of Numbers, chapter 31, Numbers 31. And look, if you would please, at verse 30, Numbers 31, verse 30. Just once again, showing you the word "shamar," which means to guard and protect, and how God is taking care of these Levites as they execute their office. He says that "of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, who keep," who guard, who protect, "the sentry post of the tabernacle of the Lord." Look in verse 47, he'll say the same thing. "Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and beast, and gave them unto the Levites, who kept," or guarded, "the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses."

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• Now, I want you to turn to 1 Samuel, chapter 7, in verse 1. Here's the passage that I think makes exceedingly clear the fact of the guarding and protecting responsibilities of the priest.

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• Now, let me just tell you a little bit before I read this. You remember, the children of Israel had a war with the Philistines. And the children of Israel were defeated by the Philistines. In fact, they were so apostate they said, "Let us send forth and fetch the Ark of the Covenant that it may save us," not the God of the Ark. They were treating the Ark much like modern-day folks treat a rabbit's foot or four-leaf clover.

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• You know, it's going to bring us good luck. Well, of course, very obviously, there's no such thing as luck in a world ruled by God, and the Ark did not save them. In fact, the Israelites were defeated, and the Ark was captured by the Philistines. It was taken to the house of Dagon, their god, and of course you remember how Dagon fell over in front of the Ark.

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• The next day they came in and picked him back up. The next day he fell over, they came in and set him back up, and the third day they went in, man, his hands were broken off, his neck was broken off, and that's not all. God smote the lords of the Philistines with emerods.

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• Now, I honestly don't know if that was hemorrhoids or not. It certainly sounds like it, but I know this, whatever it was, they didn't want any more of the Ark of the Covenant. So they kept moving that Ark. And finally, all the Philistines said, "Let's send this jewel back. We don't want it anymore." And so they got them a cart with heifers that had never been broken to yoke. They put that Ark on it, and sure enough, those heifers went straight to the land of Israel, taking it right back where it was to be. Now, if you look in chapter 7 and verse 1, the Ark comes to Kirjath-jearim. Watch what happens. 1 Samuel 7, verse 1. In fact, let's read verse 21 of chapter 6, "And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down and fetch it up to you." Now watch verse 1. "And the men of Kirjath-jearim came and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill," watch, "and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord."

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• What do you think Eleazar was doing? He was guarding it. He was protecting it. He did not want anyone to come back and try to steal it or to claim it. He did not want anything to happen to it. Eleazar is sanctified to guard or protect.

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• Now, let me tell you something that may shock you. Did you know that in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle and in the temple, there were armed guards at the doors? Armed guards. These Levites protected. He said, "Brother, you'll have to show me that in the Bible." OK, turn to 2 Kings, chapter 12. 2 Kings, chapter 12. Look in verse 9 to begin with. 2 Kings 12, verse 9. Watch closely, Jehoiada the priest now is collecting money for the temple. In fact, let's read verse 9.

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• "But Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in the lid of it and set it beside the altar on the right side, as one cometh into the house of the Lord. And the priests that kept the door," that is the priests that guarded the door, "put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord." Did you notice that? Had priests, armed priests, guarding the doors. And anybody who brought money, they put it in that chest.

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• If you look in your Bibles, 2 Chronicles chapter 34 and verse 9. 2 Chronicles 34 verse 9. Here again is another illustration of the same fact. 2 Chronicles 34 verse 9, "And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim and of all the remnant of Israel and of all Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem." Did you get that? The Levites who kept or guarded the doors.

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• Now that throws a little different light on what David said in Psalm 84 and verse 10. When he said, "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." He said, "I'd rather be one of those armed guards who did nothing but stand at the door of the temple and protect it than to dwell in the house or the tents of wickedness."

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• Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles, chapter 23. 1 Chronicles, chapter 23. And I want to show you a passage that is just absolutely amazing to me. And I remember reading this passage about five or six years ago. And all of a sudden, this passage just jumped out at me and I thought, "How many times have I read this and have never seen this truth?" But in 1 Chronicles, chapter 23, you have a listing of the duties. If you want to know what the functions of the Levitical priests were, here they are listed. Watch this. 1 Chronicles 23, and let's begin with verse 27. "For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above, because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord in the courts and in the chambers and in the purifying of holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God." So he's going to delineate now the duties of the Levites.

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• Here's what they did. They had functions, verse 29, "both for the showbread and for the fine flour for the meal offering and for the unleavened cakes and for that which is baked in the pan, for that which is fried and for all manner of measure and size." That's not all. Remember, these Levites were also singers, and they also had to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord. Likewise, it even so they offered music morning and evening. Watch verse 31.

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• "Moreover, they had to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the Sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set days by number, according to the order commanded of them continually before the Lord." Now, watch this conjunction. That is, in addition to those functions, "and that they should keep," that is guard, protect, "the charge, the sentry post of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the sentry post of the holy place, and the sentry post of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, in the service of the house of the Lord." Did you see that?

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• Yes, they sang and praised God. That was not all. Yes, they helped with the offerings of the meal. They helped with the offerings that were burnt, but that's not all. Beside that, they had this charge of guarding and protecting the tabernacle and Aaron and all the holy things.

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• Now, let me show you something that may set your mind aflame, get you to thinking. I want you to turn to 2 Chronicles chapter 23. 2 Chronicles, chapter 23.

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• Now, I have been preaching for the last 14 weeks on the biblical doctrine of war. And I have shown you many things from the Bible about war. This one truth ought to forever settle something in your mind. You remember, I spent four weeks on the concept of holy war, showing you that war was not evil and sinful in and of itself. Because many times in the Bible, God not only commanded the war, but engaged in war himself. In fact, you remember I showed you the scripture that says God is a warrior. Now, so many people think that weapons in and of themselves are somehow hurtful or sinful. And that's not so. Many of you will remember a few years ago when the federal government went against the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas and literally murdered those people, burned them to death. You remember one of the things that they said was that they had weapons stored in that building. How horrifying.

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• What they did not tell you was this, that a couple of those men there had a federal firearms license and that they made monies by buying weapons and reconditioning them and reworking them and selling them, and everything they did was perfectly legal and lawful. They did not tell you that. But something else they did not tell you was the fact that David Koresh had invited the ATF to come in and to check all the weapons and to make sure there were no illegal weapons, and the ATF refused to come in.

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• Now, I am not taking up for the Branch Davidians when I say that. By that I mean their theology. I don't even know what all they believed. I certainly would not agree, I'm sure, with their theology, because they were a branch or a break-off of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. But the point I'm trying to make is this. The news media tried to horrify Christians everywhere by saying that that church—they never even called it a church, they called it a compound, you remember—had weapons in it.

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• Well, let me show you something that may shock you. I want to show you what was in the temple of the Lord. 2 Chronicles chapter 23, beginning with verse 6.

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• Now, let me just tell you, Josiah is being crowned. He is the boy that's seven years old. And his grandmother, Athaliah, had murdered all of her grandchildren. She was on the throne. And so, Jehoiada, the high priest, is making sure that the king is not murdered. Look in 2 Chronicles, chapter 23, and let's begin with verse 6. Here's what Jehoiada, the high priest, says. "But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests." Watch now. "And they that minister of the Levites, they shall go in, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand, and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death. But be ye with the king when he cometh in and when he goeth out." Now let me just stop right there. So here's what Jehoiada says. "We're going to have the Levites in the temple with their weapons. They're going to be surrounding the young king."

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• "You army men, you stay outside, you guard the outside of the temple. If anybody tries to come in here, the Levites will kill him." OK?

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• Now, I want you to look very carefully at verse 7. "And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his" what? Were the Levites armed? Well, of course, they have their own weapons. Why? Because they had a charge.

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• Now, you think that's something? Skip down to verse 9. "Moreover, Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds"—we're talking about the army now—"Moreover, Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears and bucklers and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God." Where do they store the weapons? In the temple. In the temple. You see, folks, if you understand that the Levites were supposed to be warrior priests, that God had given them a ministry of guarding and protecting, then it makes perfect sense that they had weapons and they kept weapons in the temple.

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• Now, there are a multitude of scriptures that I could show you on the word "shamar." I think these are sufficient. But I want you to understand that the word means to guard and to protect.

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• Now, I want to go ahead and get in just a moment into the New Testament, because I want you to see that it is impossible to understand the New Testament without having a concept of the Old Testament warrior priest function. For instance, I want you to turn in your Bible to the book of Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4.

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• Now, if I were to ask you today, could someone in here tell me who the Pharisees were? Most of you could. If I were to ask you, tell me who the Sadducees were. Most of you could tell me that. If I were to ask you who the Herodians were, some may be able to shake you on that point, but probably some of you could tell me who the Herodians were. So we know about the scribes and the Pharisees. We know about the Sadducees. We know about the Herodians. But you know, there's a group that most people know nothing about.

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• Look in Acts 4 and verse 1. "And as they spake unto the people, the priests," whom we recognize, "and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them." Whoa! The captain of the temple? Who's this captain of the temple? I want to tell you that there happens to be more than one captain of the temple. I'll show you. Look at Acts chapter 5, beginning there with verse 24. Acts 5, verse 24. Watch carefully. "Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow." Skip down to verse 26. Watch carefully. "Then went the captain with the officers," he had officers under him, "and brought them without violence." Why? "For they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned." Now did the captain and his officers have the authority to do violence? Yes. Were they armed? Yes. Why did they bring these disciples without violence?

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• Only because they knew they were outnumbered. And they said, "We're afraid if we start something, we're going to be the ones that end up dead. They'll stone us." OK, so now, so far, we've read two passages. Acts 4 and Acts 5. We've seen that these captains of the temple were armed. And they had authority to use weapons.

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• Now look in the book of Luke chapter 22 and verse 4. Luke 22 and verse 4. Watch carefully, Luke 22 and verse 4. All right. Watch what is said, Luke 22 verse 4. "And he," this is Judas.

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• "He went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains," plural, "how he might betray him unto them." So there was more than one captain of the temple.

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• Now, if you would look in your Bibles, verse 52 of the same passage, Luke 22, verse 52. Show it to you once again. "Then Jesus said unto the chief priests and the captains," plural, the captains of the temple, "and to the elders who were come out against him, Be ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves?" Now, wait a minute. Did these captains come out against Christ armed? Yes.

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• Did they have the authority to use those weapons? Yes. Jesus did not deny their authority to have them or use them. He just said, "Why are you coming against me? I ain't done anything." It's just like today, folks. We see a policeman walking down the street and he's got a .357 on his side. Most of us don't question him as to whether or not he has authority to wear that pistol.

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• But I'll tell you one thing. If you're walking down the street and you turn a corner and there stands a cop and all of a sudden he pulls that pistol out and throws it in your face, points it between your eyes, the first thing you're going to say is, "Why are you pointing that thing at me?" You're not questioning whether or not he has the authority to have it or use it. You don't know. Why is he pointing at you? You haven't done anything. That's what Christ said. "Why are you coming out as against a thief? I'm not a thief. You don't need weapons against me." OK, now watch this. They have weapons. They have the authority to use those weapons.

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• Now I want you to turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 16. To save time, I'm not going to read all these verses, I'm just going to point them out and point out the word. Five times in Acts chapter 16, this word appears. Acts chapter 16. Look in verse 20. Acts 16, verse 20, "And they brought them to the magistrates." Look in verse 22. "And the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates." Note verse 35. "And when it was day, the magistrates"—look at verse 36—"and the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates"—look in verse 38—"and the sergeants told these words unto the magistrates." Five times the word "magistrates" is used in this one short passage. Let me tell you what the Greek word for "magistrates" is. And someone tell me what English word we get from it, OK? The Greek word for "magistrates" here is "strategos." We get our English word "strategy." Do you realize that strategy is a military term? "Strategos" comes straight from the Greek word "strata," which means army.

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• Now, let me tell you something interesting. If you will take a Greek lexicon, which is much like a dictionary, and look up the Greek word "strategos," you're going to find an interesting thing. The word "strategos" means, are you listening? A general, a governor, a commandant, a military officer, the chief of the Levites. Ah, do you remember that verse I told you about back in Numbers 3 and verse 32 that you would see again? Turn back there right quickly. Hold Acts, but look back if you would. Numbers chapter 3. Numbers chapter 3 and verse 32. Watch this. Numbers chapter 3. Look in verse 32. Are you ready? "And Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be chief over the chief of the Levites and have the oversight of them that guard the sentry post of the sanctuary." And so what does the word "strategos" mean? It means then a military officer, a commandant, a governor, the chief of the Levites. Now, the interesting thing is this. That means the captains of the temple in the New Testament

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• are no one else other than the Levites who guarded the Old Testament temple and tabernacle in the Old Testament, same people. That's why they're there around the temple in the New Testament.

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• Now let me show you something. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 42. Psalm 42. We're not going to read this psalm. We're going to read the heading of it. Psalm 42. And I want you to see what this says. Psalm 42, and we're reading the heading, the heading only. Psalm 42. The heading says "David's zeal to serve God in the temple," and then under that, it says "To the chief musician, Maschil," which means an ode or a song, "to the chief musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah." What's that mean? It means David wrote Psalm 42, which is a song for the sons of Korah to sing.

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• You remember, the Levites had the responsibility of singing to the Lord morning and evening. You remember that? So he wrote this psalm, then, for them to sing.

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• Now I want to ask you this question. Do you remember who Korah was? You may not, so turn back in your Bibles to the book of Numbers, chapter 16, and let's look there, beginning with verse 1. There were three men that united in rebellion against God, Moses and Aaron. Who were they? Well, let's look Numbers 16 verse 1. "Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi." Someone tell me what tribe Korah was of? Levi. All right.

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• And then there was Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben. Now, so Dathan and Abiram were Reubenites. Korah was a Levite.

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• Now, I want to call your attention to something. I want to point this out now, and I'll show it to you from Scripture. You see the word "Korah" in verse 1. He was the son of Izhar, who is the son of Kohath, who is the son of Levi.

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• Now, sometimes in the Bible you will see people listed as the Korahites and the Kohathites. All that is, is a family of the Levites, the family from Korah and the family from Kohath. That's all that is.

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• Now, I'm explaining this to you because somebody's going to say, "Now wait a minute, Brother Weaver, I read Numbers chapter 16. I know what happened. Moses came along and he told the people, 'Separate yourself from these evil men.' And most of the people did. And then Moses said—and he got on his knees and prayed—'Lord, I pray that a new thing will happen. I pray that the earth will open up and these folks will go down alive in hell.' And guess what? The earth opened up and down went Dathan and Abiram and Korah and all that were with them." You say, "But wait a minute, Brother Weaver. If Korah and his family died, how could David write Psalm 42 for the sons of Korah to sing?" Well, look at Numbers chapter 26 and verse 11. Numbers 26 and verse 11. We need to read the whole story. This is talking about the death of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

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• Watch what the Bible says. Verse 10, "And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, and they became a sign. Notwithstanding, the children of Korah died not." How did the children of Korah not die? Because when Moses said, "Separate yourself from these men," the children of Korah left their father and went with Moses.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 9. Now, I did all that just to show you that these Korahites are Levitical singers. They're Levites. Remember that? So look in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles 9. Let's see what some of these Korahites did. 1 Chronicles 9. And notice, if you would please, verse 19. Remember now, we're talking about the Korahites, who were sons of Korah, who were Levites. Verse 19, 1 Chronicles 9, "And Shallum, the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren of the house of his father," there it is, the Korahites, "were over the work of the service."

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• Watch now, "keepers of the gates of the tabernacle," or the doors of the thresholds, "and their fathers being over the host of the Lord, were keepers of the entry." Now, what did some of these Korahites do? They guarded the gates. They guarded the threshold. They were some of the Levitical guards. Now, watch this, "and their fathers being over the host of the Lord." Someone tell me what the host of the Lord was? The army. So some of the Levitical priests then were leaders in the army. That's not all.

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• I want you to look at this. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 12. 1 Chronicles chapter 12, here is a listing of some of David's mighty men. Now these were men that were valued in warfare. Let's see who some of them were. Let's read verses 1 and 2. "Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war." Did you get that? They were among the mighty men, helpers of the war.

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• "They were armed with bows and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow." Now, watch this. Let's see who some of these mighty men were, these skillful fighters. All right, skip down, if you would, to verse 6. Here are some of them named. There was Elkanah, and Jesiah, and Azriel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites. Who were the Korahites? They were Levites. They were Levitical priests. And here they are listed as David's mighty men of war.

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• I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 15. 2 Chronicles, and hang on with me because I'm going to try to tie everything together for you. 2 Chronicles chapter 15. I want to show you what happens when a priest fails to keep his charge. OK. Watch closely, 2 Chronicles chapter 15. Let's begin reading with verse 1. "And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin."

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• "The Lord is with you while ye be with him. If ye seek him, he will be found of you. But if ye forsake him, he will forsake you."

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• "Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found of them. In those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in. But great vexations were upon the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city. For God did vex them with all adversity." Now let's stop. Let's go back.

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• First of all, to verse 3. He says, "Now for a long season Israel has been without the true God." How can a people be without the true God? Here's how, because they did not have a teaching priest who taught the law of God. What happened? They abdicated their responsibilities of guarding and protecting the Word of God and the people of God. Consequently, listen now, since the people did not have the Word of God, they did not have anyone to teach them the Word of God. They were without the true God because God only makes himself known through his Word.

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• Now, let me show you what is the result. Watch in verse 5. "In those times"—what times? In those times when they didn't have the law of God, in those times when they did not have people who taught the law of God—"in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries, and nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity."

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• What happened when the priests abdicated their position? Confusion, turmoil, trouble, war. Let me explain something to you. This has happened in my lifetime. I remember when I was a boy. Every year, my father used to take us down to Miami, Florida, for a two-week vacation. Because we had relatives down there, we would go down and visit those relatives and stay with them. Well, we lived out on a farm. Do you know, when my father and his whole house left to go down to Miami, Florida for two weeks, the doors were left unlocked. The windows were left unlocked. And when we came back two weeks later, everything was exactly as we left it. No one bothered. You go off today and leave your house unlocked. And when you come back, you will consider yourself blessed if you even have a house standing. You leave a car out on the interstate with car trouble for a few hours. When you come back, you may not have tires. You may not even have a radiator. People steal everything.

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• Drive-by shootings, murders, rapes, thefts. We say, "Man, this country is going to the dogs." Do you know why? There's no true teaching of God and the law of God, and we have great vexation and great trouble. You see, every time a priest abdicates his position, there's trouble.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. Let me just show you how Paul dresses down Israel as a nation for forsaking her priestly function of guarding and protecting. Watch this. Look in Romans chapter 2, beginning there with verse 21. Look what he says. And he's dealing primarily now with the Levites and with the priests, the teachers. Watch it. Romans chapter 2, beginning with verse 21. He says, "Thou therefore, who teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?"

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• "Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision." Also, what good has it done you to know the law of God and know the truth? You haven't obeyed it yourself.

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• Now, let's get the Christian context. Let's put the New Testament context in this. What happened when Adam failed to keep his charge? God defrocked him. God took it away from him. What happened when Old Testament Israel failed to keep her charge? God defrocked her. He took it away from her as a nation. Look in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21. I'll show it to you black and white. Matthew 21. Let's begin reading there with verse 42. Matthew 21, verse 42.

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• Jesus, in talking to the leaders, he says this, "Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, and whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

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• "And when the chief priests and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them." They got the message. He said you lost it. So what do we have in the new covenant? In the new covenant in Jesus Christ, it is Christ who has made us kings and priests unto God. We have inherited the priesthood. That means we as Christians then have the responsibility to lead the world in righteousness and to protect ourselves and to protect others by holy, godly living in obedience to King Jesus, who is the great high priest.

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• Let me tell you something, folks. Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 28 looked at his disciples and said, "Go into all the world and make disciples," listen, "and baptize them." That's not all. What else did he say? "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you." What are we supposed to be doing? We're supposed to be duplicating ourselves as warrior priests by teaching people, after they've been converted by the grace of God, how they're to stand, how they're to fight.

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• Have you forgotten 1 Timothy 3, verse 15? The Bible says that the church is the pillar and the ground of truth. Where is the truth today? The truth is reposited in the church because we have the Word of God. It's our responsibility to teach. It's our responsibility to establish the truth of God. And the best way to protect the truth and to guard the truth is to establish it squarely in every sphere and in every area of life. We must declare it. We must pronounce it. We must enunciate it. We must insist upon it. We must seek to establish it. That is our mandate.

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• Now, listen to me, everyone in here can tell you probably what Ephesians 6, 10 through 18 is all about. You remember what Paul wrote, "Put on the whole armor of God," he goes about the helmet and the breastplate and the shield and the shoes and the sword. You know, the interesting thing is when most people talk about that armor that Paul mentions in Ephesians chapter 6, they try to equate that with a Roman soldier. Paul had no such thing in his mind when he wrote Ephesians chapter 6. You say, "How do you know?" Because Paul knew the Word of God. If you will study Exodus chapter 28, Isaiah 59 verses 17 through 21 and Isaiah 61 in verse 10, you will find out that what Paul had in mind was the military uniform of the high priest. In fact, in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5 and verse 8 and Romans chapter 13 and verse 12, this armament is called the armor of light. In other words, it is a righteous armor.

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• It is a godly armor. You know what most of us have forgotten? We have forgotten that the Bible pictures Jesus Christ as a great warrior priest who leads his people against the enemy and defeats them. Read Psalm 110. Read Revelation chapter 19. Jesus Christ is the great high priest leading an army of warrior priests. You know what one of our biggest problems is in America? One of our biggest problems is as Christians, we have retreated from and abdicated our position as warrior priests. We've left it.

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• We don't fight for anything. We don't stand for anything. I mean, pornography comes in and nobody lifts up a voice. New dancing clubs come and no one says anything. We've abdicated our positions. You remember what Jesus told Peter, Matthew chapter 16 in verse 18? He said, "Verily, I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock," that is Peter's confession, "and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

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• Now, let me tell you something, folks. Gates in the Bible speak of authority. That's where the courts were held, in the gates. That's where the rulers sat. But let's suppose we're in this room. This room is made of concrete blocks, all except the doors. They're made of wood. If we were going to defend this building from the inside, where would the weakest point of our defense be? The doors. That's very obvious.

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• So here you have a walled city. What is the weakest point? Gates.

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• Now let me ask you a question. Listen to what Jesus said. Think this through now. He said, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It is not that hell is attacking the church. No, no, no. The church is at the gates of hell, attacking hell itself. You see that? The problem is, dear friend.

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• We have all developed a defensive posture. You know what our attitude is? "I'll leave them alone if they'll leave me alone." But I've got news for you, folks. Even if they leave us alone, what they do is still wicked and wrong and contrary to the Word of God. And we're to still lift up our voices like a trumpet and do everything within our power to stop wickedness and ungodliness. Let me tell you, the power that we have as warrior priests.

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• Let this sink down in your mind. James 4 and verse 7. God says, "Submit yourselves unto God. Resist the devil and he will" what? He will flee from you. What is the most powerful leader that the wicked and the ungodly have? The devil. What does God say? God says if we submit to him and then we resist evil, what will evil do? Evil will flee. If the head honcho of the evil forces will flee when we resist, what will all the other underlings do?

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• The trouble is we're not resisting. We say, "Well, if they leave us alone, we'll leave them alone." And we let them go their way and do their thing. Lord willing, in the next few weeks, I'm going to bring a message on what our attitude should be toward ungodly rulers. I had a verse jump out at me as I was reading through my Bible this past week, and I thought, "Man, that's strange."

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• Let me check this word out, see what this word is. And did I get an awakening? You will be amazed at what the Bible says. But you see, folks, the pattern that I've just told you is repeated again and again in the Bible. Adam failed to protect his charge and the whole earth was crushed under the judgment of God. Do you remember in the book of Numbers? Aaron, the high priest, failed to protect his charge, and he made that golden calf, and 3,000 people were killed in the judgment of God because Aaron failed to protect his charge. The book of Judges, which we've gone over, illustrates this over and over.

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• The truth of the matter is, folks, we have so compromised the truth of God's Word today that there are professing Christians that advocate premarital sex, extramarital affairs, therapeutic divorce, compassionate abortion, and Christian homosexuality, along with benevolent socialism and governmental tyranny, which is nothing more than legalized fraud and theft. You know what we've done? We've lost our minds. Because we don't know the law of God. And moreover, we've lost our willingness to fight and to resist evil. Adam was a warrior priest until he lost it. The Levites were warrior priests until they lost it. And if we don't wake up and fight, we're going to lose our nation, too. To the very same judgment, the judgment of God. God calls us to be warrior priests.

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• Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day. We ask you to teach us, to build us up in the most holy faith, and Lord, let us see, let us know, let us understand the importance, Lord, of fighting against wickedness and standing for righteousness and truth. Enable us, Lord, to live for Thee. In Thy name we pray. Amen. This program was produced by Dominion Ministry. For more information about Pastor Weaver's sermons, you may contact Dominion Ministry by mail at 7400 Abercorn, that's A-B-E-R-C-O-R-N, Street, Suite 705, P-M-B, 175, Savannah, Georgia, 31406.

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• Or give us a call at 912-... You can also visit our website at www.dominionministry.com.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:49:00Z