TEXT: I Chronicles 28:9

SUBJECT: Priesthood of Believers #2

We come this evening to the second sermon in that series entitled "The Priesthood of Believers". As Evangelical Christians, we believe that the "priesthood" is not confined to a select group of believers, but is shared by all belivers alike. "You are--wrote Peter indiscriminately to his Christian friends--a royal priesthood". Every Christian, therefore, is a "priest".

But what is a "priest"? A priest is fundamentally, a holy person. Under the Old Covenant, this holiness was largely ceremonial. He wore holy garments, was anointed by holy oil, and performed holy tasks. The engraving on his mitre was appropriate: "Holiness to the LORD". But under the New Covenant, the ceremonial law is replaced by a higher standard. Thus, we are called to holiness of character. That is what a priest is. But what does he do? Many things, of course. But in the final analysis, he does one thing only: "Present offerings to God".

But this "giving", of course, assumes a gift of one sort or another. In days gone by, he gave things like bulls and goats, sheep and doves, grain and drink. But today, the priest is called to give something else. Something far better and more costly than the gifts of old. He is to give God his most valuable possession: himself. He is to give God his all. His life and death. His body and soul. His time and money. In short, nothing is to be kept back. Everything must be returned to the One who gave it.

But this "everything", of course, can be divided into "particular things", can't it? It is easy to say, "I place my all on the altar"; but considerably harder to place any one thing there.

And so, if you are to give your all to God, you have to start somewhere. And, following the verse before us, you must begin with your mind. As Miss Havergal put it,

"Take my intellect and use,

every power as Thou shalt choose".

The primacy of the intellect needs stressing in this day when a "gooey sentiment" is felt to be superior to a "ready mind". Thinking is, presently, out of vogue. Feeling is "in". This is true of unbelievers, to be sure. Some years ago, I spent countless hours watching a congressional hearing, listening to one senator after another, question a man who was accused of scandalous behavior. As I listened to men of both parties, I noticed a word popping up every few seconds, "feel". "Do you feel the President knew?..."What was your feeling about the diversion of funds?..."Did you feel you were doing the right thing?..."In my heart, I felt it was the thing to do". And on and on it went. I was intrigued. I started counting. I found dozens of "feels" for every one "know" or "think". I won't make a fuss about a word. But it seemed that "feel" had replaced "think" in the vocabulary of these men. And these men, please remember, are among the most highly educated in our country. And they make their living with words. Thus, it seems unlikely that they were just using the word "feel" accidentally. It appears to betray a fundamental dislike for thinking.

If this anti-intellectual mindset is so among unbelievers, it is--I'm sad to say--doubly true among Christians. The typical Christian book or sermon of today bypasses the mind and makes a direct appeal to the emotions. The preacher who can make his audience laugh or cry is interesting. The one who would have them think, dull. Popular Christian books fire the imagination. Dust-collectors challenge the mind. One ignorant preacher declared, "God wants warm hearts, not level-heads". Another, put it this way, "It is better to spend five minutes in prayer than ten hours in study". We've all heard this one: "It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you love Jesus". Such examples, alas, could be multiplied.

But God is displeased with such nonsense. He who gave you your mind, would have you give it back to Him...with interest! If, therefore, you would exercise your New Covenant Priesthood, you must begin by giving God a precious gift, namely, your mind.

And so, to the point: God commands you to give Him your mind. That is the obvious meaning of our text, isn't it? Solomon is to "serve the LORD with a perfect (i.e., sincere) heart and with a "willing mind". But what is "serving God", but the opposite of serving oneself? And what is the opposite of "serving yourself" but "offering a sacrifice to God"? Solomon, therefore, was to dedicate something more that "the fatted calf" to God. He was to give Him his mind.

And what was demanded of Solomon is equally required of you. For your Savior urged you to "Love the LORD your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind". Now, what the distinction is between these elements, I am not ready to say. But I can say that this commandment at least includes "the mind". If, therefore, you do not devote your intellectual powers to the love of God, then you are trangressing the Divine Law. And not just "any law" at that--but "the greatest of the commandments, the one on which hangs all the Law and prophets".

This devotion of mind is more explictly called for in Romans 12:1-2. There we see (#1): that we are to "Present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is (then defined) as "your reasonable service". And "reasonable" here is not the opposite of "immoderate or excessive" (as though you could be too devoted to God), but "irrational or thoughtless". Then, in v.2, we find a reiteration and explanation of this command: "And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God". Hence: you offer your sacrifice to God, not by "tugging on your heart strings", but by "renewing your mind". God is more pleased by one substantial thought than a thousand empty tears.

The Scripture everywhere links holiness with thinking. In John 17:17, our Lord prays, "Sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is truth". Holiness of life, therefore, is advanced by "the truth". And "the truth" is conveyed in "the Word". And "the Word" is received by the mind. The power of the word lies, not in its beauty, but in its content!

A complementary passage is I Timothy 6:3, where Paul urges his young friend to preach that "doctrine which is according to godliness". From this, we learn that "what you believe has an effect on how you live". Some "things" lead to godliness, other "things" lead to ungodliness. And what are these "things"? Doctrines! And a "doctrine" received assumes some serious thinking. For, "Paul, our beloved brother, wrote many things and hard to understand".

Peter--who unlike Paul was no intellectual titan--still stressed the importance of thinking. In his first epistle, 1:13, he wrote, "Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind".

And so, the idea, "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you love Jesus" is preposterous! To love Jesus assumes believing the right things. And no one ever believed such things without a sober and prolonged reflection upon them. And that means "using your noggin".

The Bible also praises good thinking and condemns--not only bad thinking--but "non-thinking".

The former is everywhere applauded. Psalm 1:1-2, Philippians 4:8.

The latter is is often reproved. Two examples, among many, will do. Isaiah 5:12-13, it seems to me, aptly describe the so-called "average Christian": "The harp and the strings, the tambourine and the flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD nor consider the operation of His hands. Therefore, my people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge..." Follow the reasoning: These people are "destroyed for lack of knowledge". But how did they come to this state of ignorance? Not through the conscious thinking of erroneous thoughts. But simply through no thoughts at all! They allowed "entertainment" (harps, violens) to dull their minds. Replace that with "TV and movies", and you have just described today's Christian. Entertainment is lawful, to be sure. But not when it is allowed to deactivate the mind!

But I needn't weary you with a long exposition of this passage. A single verse, easily memorized will do: Psalm 119:113, "I hate vain thought, but thy Law do I love". David relished the intellectual challenge presented by God's word. And hated its opposite, "vain, i.e., empty or stupid "thoughts".

Finally, the Book of Proverbs everywhere commends "wisdom, knowledge, uderstanding, prudence, and discretion". This requires no exhaustive proof. It is self-evident to anyone who has even scanned that Sacred Volume.

The Scripture, therefore, commands you to think, to think deeply, and to think continually. That is "a sacrifice, acceptable to God". To blunt the force of this argument will require you to find other Scriptures which encourage you to not think, which praise ignorance, or which forbid continued studies. And I suspect, you'll be hard-pressed to find such verses. For the whole Christian life is summarized in these simple words, "But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ".

In sum: As a New Covenant Priest, you are to offer gifts to God. And the first one you must give Him is your mind.

But how is this done? How are you to devote your mind more fully to God's service?

Offering God your mind, therefore, will require "a sacrifice" on your part. It will be cost you something in time and effort. But who ever heard of a "free sacrifice"? A gift that costs you nothing means nothing to you...or to God. Let the words of David be ours: "Neither will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD which cost me nothing". If, therefore, you would exercise your Priesthood, then begin by offering to God a sacrifice most precious, "your reasonable service" which is a "renewed mind".

But I know that some of you are intimidated by such words. You think that other people are intellecual, but you're rather dull. They took advanced degrees. You didn't even graduate from high school. They read profound books. You can barely read at all. They have plenty of time to read. You've got a dozen kids to take care of. Thus, you might suppose yourself incapable of offering your mind to God. Or, if you did, it would be of no value to Him. But this is not true. The Parable of the Talents makes that plain. The man given one talent was every bit as responsible to use it well as the man given five. The simpleton is to devote his simplicity to God. The genius must dedicate his brilliance to God. The question, therefore, is not "How big is your brain?" But "How much of it is given to God?" As it is written, "It is required of a steward, that he be found faithful".

If you would just use the little that God has given you, you would know His blessing upon it. But if you will not, then expect His curse. For it is written: "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him".

It behooves you, therefore, to lay down your mind (whatever its capacity) on the Divine altar. For He is worthy of this, your most precious gift.