And may God be with us and help
us as we turn and consider his word together tonight. We'll
turn again to the chapter we were considering this morning,
the book of Jeremiah chapter 33. This evening I want to focus
on verse 22. Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse
22. As the host of heaven cannot
be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will
I multiply the seed of David, my servant, and the Levites that
minister unto me. Well, to remind ourselves, this
morning we were focusing on verses 17 and 18 of this chapter about
that one who would sit on the throne of David, the great king
of kings, and the one who would be the continual priesthood. And we were considering how both
of these offices, that of king and of priest, were brought together
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There we had a prophecy
of the Messiah, a certainty that he would come. We considered
how the kings of Israel and of Judah came to an end. They often
disappointed the children of Israel, often led in a wrong
way or didn't reprove sin, and as a result the people were taken
into Babylon. We also considered briefly how
the priests often disappointed as well, one of the prime examples
being the high priest Caiaphas in Jesus' day. So therefore,
there was a longing that there would be one, the great high
priest, the great king, who would fulfill these prophecies. And
it was certain that he would come, and we can know today that
he has come. the Lord Jesus Christ, our King
and our Priest. But what we notice here in verse
22, you'll notice the wording is slightly different. Verse
21, we read that there would be of David that he should not
have a son to reign upon his throne than with the Levites,
the priests, the high ministers. There we have the one man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. But verse 22 speaks of a multiplying
of the seed. Here it speaks, I believe, of
more than one man. Indeed, as many as the sand of
the sea, which cannot be measured or cannot be numbered. So here
we are not speaking of one man as the king and the priest, rather
here I believe we are speaking of all of God's people being
known as kings and priests. I will multiply to a great number
the seed of David my servant. There will be a great multitude
of people who could be named as kings, and a great multitude
of people who could be named as Levites that minister unto
the Lord. So here we have an amazing and
humbling truth that the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, is the
great King of Kings and the great High Priest. But we also read
that we, if we're a believer this evening, are also made kings
and priests. What an amazing thought. What
an amazing blessing that the Lord sees us in Christ as kings
and priests. Of course, we read that, that's
why we read in Revelation chapter one. We read those words, that
praise unto God, and it says, 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. So here we have this truth, that
the church are also kings and priests to God. In this verse,
really firstly, we see amazing grace. wonderful, astounding
grace of God. How can we be named kings and
priests of God? You know, back in the 30s, can't
remember the exact year, that George VI became king. How tumultuous it was in those
days. Edward VIII, the elder brother,
had succeeded to the throne, and because he wanted to marry
a divorced woman, he abdicated the throne, and the throne went
to his younger brother, George, who became George VI. You know,
George VI didn't feel prepared. didn't feel able or worthy to
take the throne. He hadn't been trained for it
as it were. It's always his older brother who was presumed would
be king in the days to come. No one expected his younger brother
to take the throne. He didn't expect to and he didn't
feel equipped for that role. But you know, it proved to be,
I believe, certainly in the leadership of the Second World War, that
I think it was far better that we had him rather than his elder
brother as king at that time. He didn't feel prepared. He didn't
feel worthy. But just in a natural sense,
I believe we can see the hand of God in raising up the right
man at the right time. You see, the Lord has his hand
on natural kings, even though they may feel ill-equipped and
unworthy. But to a much, much greater extent
than in just a natural example, we are utterly unfit and utterly
unworthy to be named as kings and priests to God. Because what
are we by nature? Well, we are not kings and priests,
are we? By nature, we are rebels. We
are in open and active rebellion against God in sin. Who do we serve? The great king? No. We serve ourselves, our own
interests, our own pride, our own will. Who do we worship? The Lord God Almighty? No, we
worship our idols. our pleasures, our possessions,
ourselves, anything but the great king himself. By nature, we ignore
him or we run actively against him. We are rebels to God, not
kings and not priests, not his servants, not his children. You see, we are utterly unworthy,
utterly ill-equipped, deserving to be cast out of the presence
of God, deserving to be destroyed, not welcomed, not blessed in
this way. And yet, we are told here that
there would be that seed, there would be this people who are
brought into a heavenly kingdom, brought into a pure, gracious
kingdom, righteous kingdom. The kingdom of God, this surely
is an amazing act of grace. The undeserving, the unworthy
brought into this kingdom and into this family. You see, he
has done it. What does he say? So will I. Multiply the seed of David my
servant and the Levites that minister unto me. Who makes his
people kings and priests? Do we make ourselves kings and
priests? Do we earn the position? Do we pass certain tests or exams
to make our way into the position? Can we appoint ourselves? No,
the Lord says, I will multiply the seed of my servant David. He makes us kings and priests. He chooses us. He honors us. He accepts us. He places us into
this privileged position. It is solely and gloriously an
act of grace. But we also see here a wonderful
promise. And this is a promise which is
so needed to encourage the church today. What is this promise that
he speaks to us? Well, he tells us that as the
host of heaven cannot be numbered, and neither the sand of the sea
measured, so I will multiply the seed of David my servant. Here we have this promise that
the Church of God will be a number that no man can number, will
be a great multitude of people. We'll not be able to stand and
count them. There will be so many that the Lord has brought
into this kingdom. And we also have the promise
that he will go on to build that kingdom. You see, when Jeremiah
is speaking, it's a sad and a low state for Israel at the time. But the Lord is saying through
Jeremiah that, I will multiply the seed. That is, I will continue
that work of adding to this great multitude of people. I will continue
to build my church. I will continue to call the unworthy
into my family. I will continue to call the rebel
into the kingdom. I will continue to make kings
and priests from rebellious sinners. I will multiply them so that
there is more than the host of the heaven and than the sand
of the seaside. What a promise there is here.
There will be a great number in eternity to come, as certain
as day and night. If you can break my covenant
of the day and my covenant of the night, and that there should
not be day and night in their season, then may also my covenant
be broken with David, my servant. As certain as the day, as certain
as the night, it cannot be stopped. so certain it is that I will
go on to work and I will go on to build my church. See, this
is the encouragement that we so much need today. It's a sad
day. We see little fruit from the
ministry, little fruit from the distribution and preaching and
speaking of God's word. We fail to see little fruit of
our prayers over souls And we may wonder, will the church come
to an end? Will the church in the next 50
years be wiped out? Will other religions or atheism
have completely taken over and there won't be found any true
Christians in the world? Seems to be diminishing all the
time. Well, here is the encouragement when we feel like that, when
we feel like giving up. What's the point in praying?
What's the point in preaching? What's the point of the market
stall? What's the point of spreading
the word of God? Well, here's the encouragement for us. I will
multiply the seed of my servant. I will, and the Levites that
minister unto me. There will be an adding to the
church until the Lord returns. There will always be a witness
in this world. The Lord will always be calling his people.
and he will be using the means of evangelism and preaching and
prayers to do it. You see how much encouragement
we need. And yet, here it is, as the host
of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured. So we have wonderful grace to
the unworthy sinner. We have a wonderful promise. But let us consider, as we did
this morning, again these aspects the kings and priests. The Lord
Jesus, we thought, is the greatest king, the one who helps us, who
conquered for us, the one who protects us, and the great high
priest, the one who intercedes for us, who shed his blood for
us, the one who we utterly rely on. But, as we read in Revelation,
He has made us kings and priests. Well, in what sense then is the
believer a king? Well, we read, don't we, that
the believer, his people, are given a throne in glory. A king has a throne. The Lord,
of course, sits on the great throne of justice and of judgment. But here we have the truth that
his people also will sit on thrones. He says, to him that overcometh,
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my father in his throne. So unpick those
words for a minute and consider how glorious they are. I will
grant to sit with me, to be united that close to the Lord Jesus
Christ in glory, not far off and distant, but to his people
who overcome, of course, through the blood of Christ. They will
sit with him. And where? In my throne. In my throne. This is beyond
our comprehension and our understanding, isn't it? What a place of honour! What a place of glory! That we
should be found sitting with Christ on His throne, where He
receives the honour and glory due to Him, how could we share
any part in that? How could we find ourselves even
welcome at His footstool, let alone welcome on His throne?
And yet, he says, we will find ourselves there given a throne
in glory with Christ, to be with him as we so long to be and enjoy
his presence here below. Here we're told, aren't we, that
his church are heirs of God, joint heirs of Jesus Christ,
an heir of God. The heir, the heir, the throne,
receives the kingdom and in due time receives the throne. Prince
of Wales in due time will receive the throne in this country. The
heir receives that throne. And you see, we are called heirs
of God. We have this place set for us
in glory with Christ, this throne of honour to sit as a king in
the kingdom of God. What a immense blessing. What a tremendous thought, when
we consider our unworthiness and what we have been and what
we are, that we find that the Lord has brought us by his grace
to sit on his throne and with him. So as kings, his church
are given this place of glory, it's an assured place, an assured
inheritance, a certain throne, as certain as it is, As long
as the country remains a monarchy, as certain as it is that the
heir will take the throne, so certain that his church will
be received with him. But also, as a king, we live
and we fare as kings. We live and fare as kings. We
receive the great blessings of the kingdom. Kings, generally
speaking, live in splendor, live in riches, have great possessions,
great power, great wealth, many comforts. You see, and the Lord
pours out his blessings so that we receive and fare as kings
of God. It's never deserved, it's never
earned, But the Lord, by his grace, blesses us in our life
and much more in our soul than we can understand or really imagine. And we were, if we can think
back, the believers here amongst us tonight can think back to
the day when we did not know the Lord, we knew no life in
our hearts, we knew no joy of the Lord, we knew no access in
prayer, we didn't know any understanding or blessing from the word of
God, we can think how lean our soul was, how dead it was. And
yet when the Lord opened our eyes and we saw that the word
speaks to us, and we saw that it has an application to us,
when we saw that the gospel of Jesus Christ was what we needed,
and that his grace could extend even to our hearts, and when
we realized that our prayers were heard and our prayers were
answered, and when we realized that there is our great high
priest in heaven who cares for us and pleads for us, And when
we realize that he has prepared a place ready to receive us in
heaven above, and he will help us through our journey, and he
will surely take us over Jordan into the promised land. When
we came to see that, and appreciate it, and understand something
of it, what a blessing. What an immense favor. Felt,
did we not, that we are faring like kings, receiving what we
did not deserve, And yet the outpouring of the blessing of
God was more than our hearts could hardly contain. We think
of that parable that the Lord spoke, the one who was invited
to a wedding, invited to attend, and he says, he put forth a parable
to those who were bidden, when he marked how they chose at the
chief room, saying unto them, when thou art bidden of any man
to a wedding, Sit not down in the highest room, lest a more
honourable man than thou be bidden of him. And he that bade thee
and him come, and say to thee, Give this man place, and thou
begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, that when he that
bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher.
Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that
sit at meet with thee. And you see, that's almost a
picture of what the Lord does for his church. We are in the
lowest place, the lowest room. We're not even in the wedding
feast. And yet the Lord comes, he finds
us, and he lifts us up, and he said, friend, go up higher. Go
up higher. Go to the highest place. Go into
my presence. Sit and meet with me. Receive
the table, the spread that's laid before the highest guests.
Eat here. Receive the abundance of this
blessing for your souls, from the lowest, from the gutter,
to the highest place, the throne of glory. We fare and live like
kings. at the outpouring of the blessing
of God's presence and favor upon us. We are kings, the multiply
of the seed of David, my servant. We are also kings in the sense
that we have conquered. We have conquered. How have we
conquered? What have we conquered? Well,
a king, certainly in older days, a great concern would be to extend
the territories or to secure the territories, to put down
any rebellion or opposition and secure the kingdom. And in order
to do that, many would try and increase the land that they possess. They would conquer other places.
Now, we, The Christian, the Church of God, are more than conquerors. They have conquered, not lands
and people and possessions, but they have conquered sin. They
have conquered death. They have conquered the devil.
They have conquered the curse. How? How could we ever defeat
sin and the devil and the curse? How are we conquerors? Well,
of course, the Apostle Paul tells us, in all these things we are
more than conquerors as kings. through him that loved us. You see, as Christ's wonderful
accomplishment, the finished work on the cross, is given to
his people, as we are identified with it as the church, so we,
through him, become conquerors too. It's as if we have conquered.
It's as if we have defeated these great enemies. We are conquerors
through him. that loved us as great kings. Now we have never defeated the
devil. We would never have done. We
never could do ourselves. We are under his power. Our heart,
our nature is lined with him by nature. We go after what he
tempts us with. We go after the things he puts
before us. We delight in sin. And yet we,
by his grace, if we're a believer tonight, are labeled as a conqueror
over all these enemies through the Lord Jesus Christ. So as
kings, we are conquerors, but we are also, as kings, given
authority to conquer. given authority to conquer. What do I mean by that? Well,
of course, the great work of salvation, the defeating of death,
is all through Christ alone. He has conquered, and we are
conquerors through Him. But we are given, as kings, a
commission to conquer. That is, to build the kingdom. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the great builder. The Lord builds his church. The
Lord gives his people life. He draws them. He calls them.
He blesses them. But that isn't to say that the
church doesn't have a role to play in that great work. And the part we have to play
is to hear and obey the commission. Go into all nations preaching
and teaching and baptizing them in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Preach the gospel. Reach the lost. Declare the great
and glorious news of the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach the church
to build them up. It's God's work to save a soul. But we have the commission to
go out with the word and to declare it to the dying and to the lost. And in that sense, as kings,
we are called to conquer, to go forth boldly with the Word
and with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In that sense, we are
also kings. Show the need that the sinner
has. Point it out, lay it bare before
them where they are by nature. Declare the gospel of Jesus Christ,
that the Lord takes the sin and is born it away. And that the
Lord gives a perfect righteousness to those who repent and call
on his name. And encourage them that they
might also find the Lord themselves. Conquer, build the kingdom, through
our prayer, through our prayers. Oh, may we be kings at the throne
of grace, pleading with the Lord for his blessing, pleading that
the Lord would be with us as a church, pleading that the Lord
would build his kingdom, pleading that he would advance the great
gospel of his son, the Lord Jesus. May we be conquerors in prayer. So you see, in these ways and
in these aspects, we will never be as, we'll never reach anything
like the great King, the Lord Jesus. But in those sense, we
are kings if we're a Christian this evening. But always remember
this, that these wonderful things, these wonderful truths for us
to rejoice in. But remember this, that Paul
tells to Timothy, that we shall reign with him if we also suffer
with him. Reigning and suffering go hand
in hand. What does he say? If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him. There is a great prospect before
us, that throne of God. There is the wonderful blessing,
the privilege, of being in this kingdom, and yet with it comes
suffering. With it comes opposition. With
it comes temptation. With it comes struggling under
a hard heart. There is suffering. Don't forget,
those things go always together. So here we have this seed of
David. So will I multiply the seed of
David, my servant. But also, secondly this evening,
we have these Levites and the Levites that minister unto me. The Lord Jesus Christ, of course,
as we considered this morning, is the great high priest. He is the one who has entered
into glory. He is the one who has presented
the sacrifice, that is, his own blood, for the sins of others. He is the only high priest who
can represent us and intercede for us. But yet we are told by
the Apostle Peter, ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. He are kings and priests, a royal
priesthood. So we are priests. Levites who served in the tabernacle
and in the temple. Levites who offered the sacrifices,
ministered to the people. They served the Lord in that
sense, worshipped him in that way. The Lord's people, a royal
priesthood. the Levites that minister unto
me." Well, in what sense then are we, as his people, are they
priests? Well, we represent God to men. The priests represented, in a
sense, God to the people round about. It was the meeting place
with God. And the priests must be holy,
They must serve the Lord rightly, and they must, through their
actions and through the things they did, and through the explaining
of the word, represent God to the people. They were his witnesses. The Lord's people are his witnesses,
to declare his word and his truth. and to direct others to worship
him as well. Of course, that's very much the
role of preachers, to declare the word and bring others to
worship him as well, but it's the role of all his people, all
who are itemized here as the Levites, the royal priesthood.
Remember, wherever we are, Whatever we're doing, we are a witness. We may be a good one, we may
be a bad one, but we are being a witness. Does our walk, the
things we do, our conversation, the things we say, does it show
that we know and believe that God is real? And in our life,
he comes first. We're a Levite. We're priests,
and my role and my job, wherever I am, is to put Him first. I serve the living God. Do people see that? Do we desire? Do we pray that God would help
us to exhibit that in our lives? Do we speak well of Him to others?
Give an opportunity? Do we defend the ways of God?
Do we speak well of the gospel? Speak well of the Lord? well
of his people as well, of course, our fellow Levites, as it were?
Or do we deride them, mock them, speak ill of them? Do we take
the Lord's name in vain when we're with unbelievers? Do we
promote ourself? What do they see in us? Do they
see a Levite serving the Lord, putting him first, just in the
little things? Perhaps if you think, those of
us who have contact with our friends in Ghana, how often they
will say a statement and they'll say, by God's grace, such and
such, or I did such and such by God's grace. See a small thing,
but what a witness, especially to the unbeliever, that we put
the Lord first. We acknowledge that what we've
done or what we hope to do is only according with his grace,
with his help, according to his will. You see, do we show that
as a servant of the Lord? Or really, do we not look any
different from the world at all? Do the things we do and say reflect
to others that we believe in a holy God? Yes, a loving God,
a gracious God, but also a holy God. that we worship a pure God,
and therefore we will not touch the unclean thing. We will not
indulge in sin. We will flee from it, though
our hearts so often go after it. You see, that we show God
to the people in our love to him, in our reverence towards
him. So as a priest, we represent
the Lord. As a priest, We should also intercede
for others. That's what the roles of the
priests were, to intercede for the people with God. Of course,
particularly the high priests, but others as well. You can think
of the occasion, can't we, of when Peter was in prison and
he was released from prison. Knocking on the door, they hardly
expected him. They didn't realize it was him. They didn't even
believe it was him. But what were they doing? Prayer was made by the
church for Peter that night. they were interceding for him. What a privilege it is as a priest,
a Levite, to intercede for others, to bring them before the Lord,
to pray that the Lord would bless and encourage and build up, to
pray that the Lord would even come into the hearts of those
as yet who don't know him. those perhaps who can't or even
won't pray themselves, and yet we can present them to the throne
of grace, plead for them that the Lord would come and would
bless them. The Levites would intercede for
the people. We are kings, and we are priests. But also, of course, as priests,
one of their primary functions, if not the primary function,
was to offer sacrifices, to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Well, we don't offer sacrifices
in that sense. We do not bring animals, or we
do not offer animals on behalf of others. dispensation has come
to an end. But we are told a number of times
in the New Testament that we are the churches to offer sacrifices. One of those sacrifices we read
in Romans 12, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God
that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. Here's one sacrifice
that the Lord's people should offer up, your bodies, as a living
sacrifice. Ourselves, our time, our effort,
our abilities, to offer our very selves as an offering to him. And that can and will be a sacrifice
at times. It will be hard for us. We don't
want to do it by nature. And yet it is holy and acceptable
unto God, a reasonable service, when we consider what he has
done for us. Present your bodies as a living
sacrifice. We're also told of the sacrifice
of giving, of giving materially to the work of God. He was told
in the epistle to the Philippians how the Philippian church had
given to the Apostle Paul. He says, Now ye Philippians know
also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving, but ye only. And then he says, but I have
all and abound. I am full, having received from
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. So these
gifts they had given to him. An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well pleasing to God. So this is the acceptable
sacrifice of giving. What a privilege it is when we
have excess, the Lord has blessed us with many things to give,
as they gave to Paul, that we can give to those who are in
need, a sacrifice well-pleasing to God. We also have, don't we,
the sacrifice which David tells us about in Psalm 51, the sacrifice of a broken heart and of a contrite
spirit. What does he say? The sacrifices
of God are a broken heart, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise. There is a sacrifice, a spiritual
sacrifice, that his people bring to him, a broken spirit, a heart
of repentance, A heart that mourns what they are. A heart that acknowledges
their need of a saviour. A heart that desires and longs
to serve him better. A broken heart. A broken and
a contrite heart. That sacrifice you will not despise.
That sacrifice you will not turn away. See, as Levites, that is,
as priests of God, there are these sacrifices that we offer
up and that the Lord finds well-pleasing. Finally, of course, we read also
in Hebrews of a sacrifice of praise. A sacrifice of praise. As the sweet-smelling odor of
the sacrifice ascended the burnt offering unto the Lord in the
days of the Old Testament, there was a sense of worship, A sense
of praise to God, an offering to Him in thanksgiving, an offering
to Him in thanksgiving that through the sacrifice, their sins could
be removed. The sacrifice of praise and of
thanksgiving unto our gracious, kind, and loving God. True, heartfelt,
spiritual worshippers, priests. we offer worship to God, not
only on occasions like this, but I hope throughout our lives,
an attitude of worship. So you see, there are these different
sacrifices that the priests offer to the Lord. So what a wonderful
privilege conclusion this evening we have here. Our great King
of Glory, Our great high priest in heaven tonight also calls
us, his church, kings and priests. Also has given us that most privileged
position and that most wonderful calling. I hope and pray that if not today,
in the years to come we will come to know that we are amongst
that number. The Lord has blessed us with
that privilege as well. But if this evening we hope by
his grace that we do delight in the great King and the great
High Priest, that he is all our hope and all our desire, then
let these words challenge us this evening. Ye are kings, ye
are priests. Do we walk worthy of that calling? Do we walk worthy of that wonderful,
glorious blessing? Does our life show what the Lord
has made us? And do we desire to offer this
sacrifice of praise throughout our days? Every day we fail,
and every day we must bring the sacrifice of a broken spirit. Remember, he doesn't turn that
sacrifice away. Remember, he gives strength for
the next day as well. And another day is another step
closer to that place where we shall find by his grace that
we are placed with him in his throne. I wish I could understand
and grasp that more, but let us just leave this evening with
that thought, with him in his throne. As the host of heavens cannot
be measured, numbered rather, neither the sand of the sea measured,
so will I multiply the seed of David my servant and the Levites
that minister unto me. May the Lord add his blessing
to all that's been said and done here today. Amen.