How many of you have heard of
the clergy and the laity? Everybody's heard that term,
the clergy and the laity. The clergy is that body of men
or priests or preachers who are set apart especially for the
service of God. They're the clergy. Everybody
else is just laity. There's the clergy and there's
the common rabble. There's the clergy, the men of
the cloth, and there are the common people. That's what the
word means, actually, clergy, God's inheritance. You've heard
of clergy and laity. Even in other terminology, when
we talk about jobs, there are the professionals, And they're
the lay people. The lay people are not quite
up to the standard of the professionals, are they? There's the professionals,
the professional preachers. That's what clergy is. It's a
professional. And then you have the laity. Now, I want you to
turn to a passage of scripture in Revelation, chapter two, for
just a moment. Revelation, chapter two. Verse 15. You know, I'm speaking in a smart
aleck fashion. I hope everybody knows that.
I'm assuming you do, but just in case you don't, I'm being
smart aleck. Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't Get it,
but just in case you didn't, I want you to know that. But
I want you to read this verse 15, Revelation chapter 2, verse
15. The Lord says to the church at
Pergamos, so hast thou also them there that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. You know, there have been a lot
of theories regarding what the doctrine of the Nicolaitans was,
and people have searched all the historical records they could
find during that time to find out what these Nicolaitans believed.
And it's generally thought to be the followers of a man by
the name of Nicholas, who was a heretic. And the Lord was talking
about the doctrine that Nicholas espoused and his followers, the
Nicolaitans. Now, how would you like to have
to In order to understand the Scriptures, you have to learn
historical things outside the Scriptures. That'd be bad, wouldn't
it? That means if you don't get the
right information outside the Scriptures, you're in trouble.
You won't know the meaning of it. But I want you to understand this.
You never have to go outside the Scriptures to find the meaning
of the Scripture. Never. You never have to learn something
that took place in history that's not recorded in the Scriptures
to find out what a Scripture means. All the truth is contained
in the scriptures. Now, this word, Nicolaitan, means
above the people. This is where the idea of clergy
and laity began. Above the people. And Christ says regarding this
thing of being above the people, he says, which thing I hate. That's what the Lord says about
clergy and laity. He says, I hate it. You see,
all of God's people are God's clergy. Every single one of them
are God's Inheritance, we're all saved the same way. I love what Peter said in Acts
chapter 15 verse 11. He said, we believe that through
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved as Jews. We
believe we'll be saved the same way those Gentiles were saved.
How were those Gentiles saved? By grace. All together by grace. And Peter says we're going to
be saved the precise same way. The idea of clergy and laity
in the kingdom of God is an abomination. We are all brethren. There's not a top dog and underdogs.
We are all brethren. You know, I like that passage
of Scripture where the Lord said, you know, you've heard that Those
that are great in the Gentile world exercise authority over
the ones that are not quite up to their standard. He said, but
it shall not be so among you, for you are all brethren. Not one up here and one down
here. You're all brethren. Now, I've entitled this message
to true clergy, and the inspiration for this title came from verse
six of our text in Isaiah 61. where he says, but you shall
be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers
of our God, the true clergy. Verse 4 of Isaiah 61, and they
shall build the old waste places. They shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations
of many generations." Now, when this was written, Israel had
been deserted. They'd been carried off into
Babylon, and all the cities were laying in decay. And no one lived
in them. They were completely uninhabited.
And the Lord makes this promise. He says, these cities are going
to be rebuilt. You're going to be going back
into your homeland. But here is the Spiritual application
of that, by nature, we are desolate. We are a waste place. That would be a very accurate
description of every one of us. But the Lord says you should
be built up again, verse 5, and strangers shall stand and feed
your flocks. Foreigners, they're going to
be serving you. And the sons of the alien, the
foreigners, shall be your plowmen and your vine dresser. Now, obviously,
The Lord is telling his people, your enemies are going to be
used by me to make, to work for you and to feed your flocks and
to build up your buildings. You're going to places where
you didn't do any work. You're going to get the benefits
of it. But we also see from this, the spiritual application and
the main application, all things, according to Romans 8, 28. All
things. Thank God for that word, all
things. All things work together for
To them that love God, to them who are called according to His
purpose. You know something that's amazing to me? How different
that scripture is when the Lord brings it to my mind and impresses
it on me. And when somebody says after I make some kind of complaint,
now all things work together for good. You know how that is. We all do that. I'm ready to
correct somebody. You know, they say something
and I've got to... And you know, it doesn't come
in the same power, does it? Oh, but when the Lord lets you
know. All things work together for good. Everything is working
for your good. All these things, I'm in control
of them. He says in verse 6, But you shall
be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers
of our God. Now, this is said to every one
of God's people, you are the priests of the Lord. What is
a priest? A priest is someone who represents
men before God. God is holy. I am sinful, and I just can't
come waltzing into God's presence. He's holy. He can't embrace me. I'm going to have to have someone
represent me who the Father is pleased with. Now, let me ask
you a question. If you're the one that represents
me before the Father, how much good is that going to do me? Do you have some kind of special
pull with the Lord that somebody else doesn't have? What if I'm the one to represent
you before the Father? You need to get into the Father's
presence. Somebody's got to bring you into His presence. You can't
come in on your own. What if I'm the one that's going to do
it? Will that do you any good? Not at all. I must have one who is pleasing
to the Father to represent me. Now, those Old Testament priests
were given to represent the one true priest, the great high priest. And we come into the Father's
presence by the great high priest. He represents my interest before
the Father. He comes into the presence of
the Father and represents me. And he's got something to offer.
I don't have anything to offer. You don't have anything to offer.
But He does. He presents His own sacrifice
to the Father. And the Father is pleased with
Him and everybody He represents. He's the great High Priest. I love that scripture. Hebrews
chapter 7, verse 25 says, Wherefore, He is able to save them to the
uttermost. Now, I don't even know what that
word means, but it's a great word, isn't it? I don't think
it's definable. He is able to save them to the
uttermost. Whatever that means, it sounds
awful good. He's able to save them to the
uttermost that come to God. Anybody know the next two words?
By Him. That's the only way I'm coming
is by Him. I'm not coming pleading anything
about me. I'm scared to death of the Lord.
You read that passage of Scripture, Brian, where He said, My flesh
trembles at God. I'm afraid of His judgment. I'm
scared to death of the Lord. I am. And the only way I'm going
to come into His presence is through the righteousness and
merits of pleading. As a matter of fact, I can't
even come to His presence. I'm looking to the Lord to bring
me into His presence. I'm not coming in so much pleading
his name as pleading for him to plead my name before the Father.
That's the way we come into his presence, pleading the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest. Now, because of
his priesthood, every believer is a priest. Every believer is
able to come into God's presence. That's what a priest is able
to do. He's able to come into God's
presence and not be driven away. He's got something he can bring
into the presence of the Father that the Father will be pleased
with and He'll accept. So every believer is a priest
of God. We're called a royal priesthood
and a kingdom of priests. And for a man, for a man, any man, to claim
to be a priest over and above or Every believer is a priest,
but if I said I'm a priest of God and I can represent you before
God, that is an act of great evil,
daring presumption. Do I think I have something that
God can accept that I can bring you into the presence of God?
Oh, for a man to claim that kind of priesthood is a great act
of wickedness. There's one great high priest
that brings us into the presence of the Father. Only one. And
because of his priesthood, every believer has a right to come
into the presence of God. We are a kingdom of priests. And next he says, but you shall
be named the priests of the Lord. Men shall call you the ministers
of our God. Now, remember, there is no clergy
and laity. All of God's people are truly
His ministers, His servants. Now, I am a servant of God. But am I any more of a servant
of God than you are? Not at all. I can be just as
much the servant of God, and there's no difference in God's
sight as far as the importance of something. There's no difference
between the one who cleans the toilet and the one who preaches.
All are God's servants. And I love what Brother Mahan
said. I've used this illustration, but I listen to that message
out of John 13. If two angels were commissioned by God for
a task, one to rule the kingdom and the other to sweep the streets,
they wouldn't care which task they were given. As long as the
Lord gives it, it doesn't matter. And they would give equal zeal,
the one who swept the streets and the one who ruled and governed
the kingdom. You're all ministers. There's
no clergy and laity. Yes, there is an office of the
pastor. No doubt about that. The Lord, he's given some pastors
and teachers. There's an office of the pastor
for the preaching of the gospel, but it's an office. It's not
God's special inheritance. And and then the common people,
there is no clergy and laity. You're all priests. You're all
ministers of God. And that's what he says next.
You should be called the ministers of our God, verse six. You shall
eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you
boast yourself. Now, what is the riches of the
Gentiles? Is that talking about material wealth? What is the
riches of the Gentiles? Is this talking about the Gentile
kings who have all these treasuries filled with all kinds of money
and gold? Here's a way to answer that question. How's a Gentile
saved? Now that's the riches of the
Gentiles. How is a Gentile dog saved? How about Colossians 1 for just
a moment? We don't even have to worry about that. I mean,
the Bible tells us clearly what the riches of the Gentiles is.
Colossians chapter 1. Verse 27. Verse 26, Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now it's made manifest to his saints, to whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you. The hope of glory. Now there's the riches of the
Gentiles. How God saves Gentiles. How God saves Gentiles. Same
way He saved Jews. How God saved Jews. Same way
He saved Gentiles. By the grace of God. All of grace through
Christ. Who He is and what He did. That's
the riches of the Gentiles and that's what we're feeding off
of right now, isn't it? That's our necessary food. He
says, you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their
glory shall you boast yourselves. What's their glory? What's a
Gentile's glory that the Lord has saved? Well, he says what
Paul said in Galatians 6, 14, God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's who
we glory in, Christ crucified. That's where our confidence is.
That's where our rejoicing is, that God accepts me for Christ's
sake. I love that verse of scripture, be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake. I love that. That gives me a reason to believe
He'll forgive me. He does it for Christ's sake. That's the
riches of the Gentiles. Now, look what He says in verse
7. He says, For your shame you shall have double, and for confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore, in their land they
shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be unto
them. Now, this is the blessing of being God's clergy. You will
receive For your shame, for your shame, you will receive the double. If you could see what has passed through this
heart in the last 24 hours, I'd never be able to look at
you in the face again. I'd be so ashamed. I wouldn't
come in here. I'd go ahead and resign if you
could see what passed through my heart in the last 24 hours.
You know what's kind of interesting? I really believe this. Same thing's
passed through your heart. Same thing. I have no question
about that. It's amazing how we'd be ashamed
to face each other, yet we know the Lord sees it all. That's
kind of interesting, the way we're like that. But the shame,
the shame that we all possess. But he says, for your shame you'll
receive double. What's this thing of receiving
double? Well, turn to Isaiah 40. Verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, sayeth your God, speak ye comfortably, speak to
the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is
accomplished, and that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. I'm talking about
my shame. He says, for your shame you'll
receive double. You know what that means? That
means I'm not going to get what I've got coming. Aren't you thankful
for that? How would you like to get what
you deserve? I was talking to a fellow yesterday,
and I was telling him about my physical condition. And he was
so shocked to hear I'm a preacher and it's happening to me. You
know, I mean, he said, he said, oh my, he said, why? Why? I guess, I don't know if he's
thinking, what have you done? I'm not sure what he was thinking.
Maybe he was thinking, you know, why did the Lord do this to you?
But why, why, why? And I said to the man, I called
him by name, I said, well, you know, I'll be honest with you,
I really, why not? If God gave me what I deserved,
where would I be right now? I'd split hell wide open if God
gave me what I deserved. But you know what? He's not going
to do it. Not only is He not giving me
what I deserve, He is giving me what I do not deserve. That's called receiving the double
portion. He is giving me what I do not
in any way deserve. For my shame. For my shame. The
Lord is so good. He's so merciful. He's so gracious. That's amazing to me. For my
shame. And I mean that for my shame. When I'm ashamed, I get
the double portion. Look what it says next in verse
7. And for confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. And
that word confusion is disgrace. Instead of disgrace, I shall
be rejoicing in my portion. Now, what's my portion? The Lord
is the portion of my inheritance. I love that hymn. Content. with beholding His face. My all to His pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with a sense of
His love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. And if I have the Lord,
I don't care what happens I really don't. I mean, drag me through
the fire. If I've got the Lord, I'm content
with my portion. I rejoice in my portion. You
think of the portion. You know, the world has their
portion of this. The believer has the Lord as
his portion. You know what that is? He's all. He's all. Now, he says in verse 8, because
of that, you shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall
be unto them everlasting joy. Because of the devil, we have
everlasting joy. Verse 8, for I the Lord love,
and I think this is interesting, he says, I the Lord love, after
what he's been saying, I would think he would say, I the Lord
love grace, or I the Lord love mercy. Or, I the Lord love favor. That's what I would have expected
him to say after making those statements about, for your shame,
you'll receive the double portion. For your confusion and disgrace,
you'll receive all these blessings. For I the Lord love judgment. I love judgment. I love absolute,
strict justice. Now, how many of you feel that
the Lord tolerates you for Christ's sake? Now, when I think about how I
really feel, I feel like the Lord tolerates me for Christ's
sake. I have a hard time entering into
this thing of Him actually seeing me as lovely and righteous and
holy and beautiful. I have a hard time with that.
I believe it, but it's kind of hard to believe it. It's kind
of hard to believe that when the Lord looks at me, He sees
that which is beautiful to him. But notice it says, I, the Lord,
love judgment. In other words, he's giving me
what I have coming in Christ. I actually deserve this in Christ. This is a just thing. In Christ,
I merit the Father's love. In Christ, I deserve the double
portion in Christ. That's how real union with Christ
is. It's so real that whatever he has coming is mine. That's how real this is. I, the
Lord, love judgment. I'm giving everybody what they
have coming. He says. I hate robbery. For burnt offering. Remember
that passage in Malachi where those people brought the poor
and the lame and the blind sacrifice? He said, you bring me the cheap
sacrifice, the blemish sacrifice, and so on. That's what happens
when someone brings their works. It's nothing more than a blemish
sacrifice. And God says it's robbery. I hate robbery for a
burnt offering. Don't dare offer up to God anything
but Christ. Anything else is robbery. Don't
offer up your sincerity. Don't offer up your faith. Don't
offer up your intentions. Don't offer up your experience.
There's one thing to offer the Lord Jesus, or the Father, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is offering up
robbery as a burnt offering. Don't do it. He says, I will
direct their work in truth, and I'll make an everlasting covenant
with Him in verse 8. What a promise! He will not let
His people Offer up robbery for a burnt offering. Now, you know
in your heart when the Lord gives you grace to plead nothing but
the merits of Christ in your heart of hearts, you're scared
to death to plead anything else. You pray the Lord Jesus alone.
Lord, have mercy on me for Christ's sake. Do you know that God the
Father through his Spirit directing you to do that? That's the work
of God in your heart. He says, I will direct them in
truth. And every time we look to Christ,
that's the work of God in us. I will direct him in truth, and
I will make an everlasting covenant with him. And this covenant is
the same covenant that David spoke of in 2 Samuel 23, 5. Although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant. It's ordered in all things, and
it's sure. Oh, thank God for that. And David
said, this is all my salvation. I can say that with just as much
conviction as David. This is all my salvation. And
it's all my desire, though he makes it not to grow. He says,
I'll make an everlasting covenant with them, verse nine, and their
seed shall be known among the Gentiles. and their offspring
among the people, and all that see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed." Now,
in seeing this, all of these blessings upon the people of
the Lord, this acknowledgment will be obvious. Now, this is
the seed. This is the seed that the Lord
has blessed. Now, what is it that proves? You look. at a believer, and you know if
they're a believer, it's because the Lord blessed them. It's because
the Lord did something for them. Now, what is the proof that He
did it all? You know it's absolutely free. This is the thing the Lord
blessed. He did this freely. He did it by grace. They can't
take any credit for this. This is what the Lord did. Not
what they did. This is what the Lord did. Now, how do we know
that's true? What's the proof of it? Well, here's the first
proof, because the Bible says it. Now, that's enough of a proof,
isn't it? If the Word of God says it, that's
enough. That's enough. I don't need anything else. But
you know, there's another proof that this is the seed that the
Lord has blessed freely. That it's all free grass. You know what the next proof
is? Me. You know what I mean by that? The only way this sinner talking
to you can be saved is if grace is absolutely free. And when you see me standing
in glory, accepted, conformed to the image of Christ, you know
what you're going to say? That's the seed the Lord blessed. There's no way he could have
done anything like that. That's the seed the Lord hath blessed. Verse 10. Isaiah makes a resolution. I will greatly rejoice. He makes
a resolution. Now, this resolve is not a revolution
in the strength of the flesh, but it's a resolution nonetheless. I will rejoice. I will rejoice. I will rejoice in the Lord. I'm not going to rejoice anywhere
else. I will rejoice in the Lord. Salvation is in Him. And I will
greatly rejoice in the Lord. And that's why we greatly rejoice. He says, I will rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. And here's why. For He hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. Now, what are clothes for? What
are clothes for? Now, I suppose that there are
some people who think they look so good that they'd like to walk
around naked. I guess some people like that. I don't know. But
most people who wear clothes, they're covering their shame. They're covering that which they're
ashamed of. They don't feel good about the
way it looks. That's what clothes are. They
cover their shame. Now, what does he say he clothes
us with? And this is the heritage of every believer. He clothes
us with the garments of salvation. He clothes us with justification,
a perfect standing in God's sight, not guilty. He clothes us with
sanctification. He declares us to be holy. He
clothes us with adoption. He makes us His children. Every
aspect of salvation, the garments you notice in the plural, the
garments of salvation, He gives us faith. He clothes us in the
garments of salvation. And then he says, he has covered
me with the robe of righteousness. I know what came to my mind when
I read that. That prodigal had been away from home for some
time. He lost everything. And the thought
came to his mind, while he was feeding those swine in degradation,
in poverty, in filth. How many of the hired servants
in my father's house have bread enough to spare and I'm out here
perishing with hunger? And here's what I'm going to
do. I'm going to rise and I'm going to go to my father and
I'm going to say, he got it all planned out. I'm going to say,
Father, I've sinned against heaven and in my sight, I'm not worthy
to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants."
He rehearsed it. He figured out exactly what he
was going to say. And the Scripture says he arose and he went to
his father. And while he was coming, the
Scripture says the father saw him. I have no doubt that the
father was looking for him. And I want you to remember, whenever
we consider the story of the prodigal, who's the star of this
story? The prodigal? No, the father. Father's the story, the star
of this story. He sees him coming and the Scripture
says he runs him down. And I bet when that boy saw his
daddy running at him, what do you reckon he was thinking? You
reckon he thought he was going to come out and whip him good?
Maybe kick him? Knock him down? What are you
doing coming back here? What presumption? That's what
I would have been thinking. I would have been scared to death.
But you know what the Father does? He runs and he falls on
his neck and he kisses him with many kisses. And so he starts his rehearsed
story. Father, I'm not worthy to be
called thy son. And you know, before he could
get the story out, you know what the father said? Bring forth
the best rope. Put it on him. He didn't say,
let him get it on. He said, you put it on him. He
clothed me with this robe of righteousness. He did it. You give him shoes for his feet,
grace to walk in the gospel, and a ring to put on his hand,
and kill the fatted calf. Complete welcome. Now, this guy
didn't expect it, I'm sure. He thought, I can just get back
as a hired servant. And that's the way we think.
Make me as a hired servant. I'll be plumb happy to be a hired
servant." But when we come back, by His grace, He says, bring
forth the best robe. Now what is that robe? You reckon
it's the same robe that's spoken of in this passage of Scripture?
Verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be
joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. He hath covered me, so my shame
cannot be seen with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with jewels. Now, by this covering, and this
is what is amazing about the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he covers me with this robe of righteousness, Not only am
I pretty on the outside, I'm pretty on the inside when
God sees me. This righteousness that covers
me is not one that just is there, but I'm the same. You see, I
have a new nature. I've got a holy nature. I've
got a righteous nature. Now, one of these days, the ugly
parts, when I die, you can say, by that, it's gone. I can't wait
to get rid of this flesh. I can't wait. And what I'm going
to have in heaven, I have right now. Now, that's hard to believe,
isn't it? It's hard to understand. It's hard to get hold of. But
it's true. And that tells you how much the flesh brings us
down. But when I die, that which brings me down is going to be
put in a grave. It's going to be gone, buried, dead, out of His
sight. The Scripture says the believer
is going to shine like the sun. Like a bridegroom decked herself
with ornaments, as the bride adorns herself with jewels. Beautiful. Beautiful through His timeliness,
but beautiful. Verse 12, For as the earth bringeth forth her
bud, talk about springtime. Isn't springtime a glorious time
after the winter and there's dead trees and limbs and no greenery? But as the earth bringeth forth
her bud, Don't you love to see those buds come up on the trees?
And as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to
spring forth, so the Lord God will, and I love this next word,
cause. He'll cause, that's strong language,
isn't it? He'll cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before
all the nations. Just as life comes from the earth
in springtime, the Lord, by His Spirit, creates spiritual life,
a righteous nature, and the praise that comes from that to spring
forth. That is the work of the Lord
and the work of the Lord alone. Now, that's the Lord's true clergy. And this is the inheritance of
every single believer. Everybody in here is a clergy
man or a clergy woman. And that's it. Clergy. The Lord's
true clergy. Let's pray together.