A Kingdom of Priests

Meera Short

November 16, 2025

 

My hope today is to share with you some things that I hear the Lord speaking to my heart about. It is the ministry that every believer has the responsibility to fulfill.

 

Our vision at Victory Church is to help every person who calls us their local church become who God has created them to be.

A local church leader can’t teach you everything. What is possible for us here at Victory, and truly every local church leader, if we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, is that we can teach you foundational teachings from the Bible and teach you how to self-feed. We desire to teach you how to win in everyday life.

 

We must be intentional about these things, and here at Victory, we take Biblical principles seriously. We have a responsibility to shepherd, teach, and nurture you all in your growth, in your walk with Jesus, and with others.

 

I Peter 2:1-12 HCSB

So rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. ² Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow by it for your salvation, ³ since you have tasted that the Lord is good. ⁴ Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God— ⁵ you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it is contained in Scripture: Look! I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame! ⁷ So honor will come to you who believe, but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this One has become the cornerstone,^{[g] 8} and A stone to stumble over,^[h] and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the message; they were destined for this. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession,so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you. ¹²Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation

 

This passage of scripture talks about Jesus being the living stone, the stone that was rejected by men, but valuable to God. It also tells us that we, too, are living stones being built into a spiritual house for the purpose of being a holy priesthood.

 

We have all seen houses that have been built with stones. The stones selected must conform to the perfect fit, chiseled down and refined, to be used by the builder. This scripture also speaks that the stone that the builder rejected became the cornerstone.

 

A cornerstone is the principal stone that is laid in any foundation. It sets the direction that all other stones are placed. It is usually the largest stone that provides stability and support for a structure. This is Jesus; He is the chief cornerstone. No one can fit into God’s kingdom without being joined to Jesus.

 

God wants a Kingdom of Priests:

Exodus 19:6 AMPC

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation [consecrated, set apart to the worship of God]. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites.

 

Isaiah 61:6 AMPC

But you shall be called the priests of the Lord; people will speak of you as the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and the glory [once that of your captors] shall be yours.

 

1 Peter 2:9 AMPC
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

 

Revelation 1:5-6 AMPC
And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ever loves us and has once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood, ⁶And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

Revelation 5: 8-10 AMPC

And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each was holding a harp (lute or guitar), and they had golden bowls full of incense (fragrant spices and gums for burning), which are the prayers of God’s people (the saints). ⁹And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰ And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!

In the Old Testament (OT), the role of the priest was one of mediator. It was established by God through Moses. The responsibility of an OT priest was to minister to God on behalf of the people. The OT priest was the go-between between God and man. They were administrators. They taught the people the law; they led the people in worship. They were those who took care of the sacrifices that people made to God and took care of the day-to-day activities of the temple. They had the responsibility of distinguishing between what was holy and what was common and unclean. There was a higher consecration for those called to the priesthood, both in purity and conduct, as priests were personal representatives of God.

 

And then there was the distinct role given to one, known as the High Priest. This role was directly given to Aaron by God Himself in Exodus 28. This was no ordinary responsibility. He had access to the Holy of Holies, behind the veil of the temple, only one time a year. The process for him to be able to go behind the veil was great, time-consuming, and met with a great fear of God. One thing done wrong, and he could have died.

 

God’s original intent –

 

Gen 1:26-28 HCSB

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. ²⁸ God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” ²⁹ God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, ³⁰ for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.

He planned right from the start to walk with us and speak directly with us.

 

The people rejected God’s desire to speak directly to them and asked Moses to be their mediator.

Exodus 20: 18-20 HCSB

¹⁸ All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ¹⁹ “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” ²⁰ Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not sin.” ²¹ And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Once the rejection of God speaking directly to the people came, God instituted the priesthood through Aaron, the line of Levi. As scripture progressed, and the roles were defined, and the building of the tabernacle was established. The mercy seat, which was where the presence of God was manifest, there was a veil that was placed there to keep the presence from the people.

 

Jesus became our only Mediator when the veil of the temple was torn. He gave us immediate access to the Father!

 

Jesus became our only Mediator when the veil of the temple was torn.

 

Matthew 27: 50-51 AMPC

And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. ⁵¹ And at once the curtain (the veil) of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split.

 

Jesus was sent to satisfy the sin offering once and for all, for all sin, past, present, and future. No longer were ceremonial rituals necessary once a year by a man. Jesus paid it all. His sacrifice gives us the ability to directly engage with God.

 

A Priest has:

-Direct access to God

-Ministers to God

-Ministers to others, reconciling others to God

 

Direct access to God

Hebrews 14:14-16 NKJV

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

We have been brought back to the garden with God. A place where we can fellowship closely with Him.

We no longer need a go-between, someone else to speak to God for us. We can go to Him directly. Straight to the mercy seat.

 

Ministers to God

 

In the passage of 1 Peter 2:5

you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

 

We are told that we are being built up into a spiritual house and that we are to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are pleasing to God.

 

When God had Moses instruct the people to build the Tabernacle, and when David was instructed as to the building of the Temple, the details that went into building these earthly buildings were explicit. There was great care in the picking out of the materials, the vessels, the construction; the entire building process was impeccable. There were absolutely no shortcuts allowed.

 

All the vessels used for the ceremonies to minister to God and the articles of clothing for the priest to even go before God had to be sanctified and dedicated before they were ever to be used in service.

 

In the OT, the Levites were the only ones who were allowed to minister to the Lord. They also had no portion of an inheritance in the land where the rest of the Israelites were. The Lord was their inheritance (Deut 10).

 

All of these were symbolic of what we would one day be called to do as believers in our ministry to the Lord.

 

Consecration

 

The temple had to be consecrated and purified. Just like the physical temple, our spirit man must be consecrated to God.

 

The Bible teaches us that we are to present our bodies.

Romans 12:1 NKJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

 

Jesus made a strong admonishment when he said in

Matthew 23:25 NKJV

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

 

Colossians 3: 1-14 MSG

^1-2 So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

^3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

^5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

^9-11 Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

^12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

 

Obedience

John 14:19-24 NKJV

¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and ^[a]manifest Myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

We cannot afford to have our loyalty to the Lord divided. James 1 teaches us about being double-minded. It is displeasing to God.

We minister to others

 

2 Corinthians 5:20 AMPC

8So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.

We represent the Lord by being a safe place for His people.

A priest would intercede for people. Like Abraham did for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Like Moses did when God wanted to destroy the Israelites for their sin. Like Jesus did for us.

I think of how Jesus feels about the way we treat others.

 

Matthew 25:37-40 NKJV

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

 

When Saul (Paul the apostle), was persecuting the early Christians, Jesus took issue with it.

Acts 9:1-6 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

 

We represent the Lord and reconcile others to God by praying for them, by serving them, by teaching them, by being an example to them. We reconcile others to God by living in an uncompromising way amongst them.

Our identity should be intertwined with that of Jesus.

1 John 4:17 NKJV

17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

 

Practical ways to examine ourselves:

• What “spiritual sacrifices” (e.g., praise, prayer, self-dedication, obedience, kindness, love) are you currently offering to God in your everyday life?
• Which of these sacrifices do you find hardest to offer, and why?
• As a priest, you have direct access to God. How are you living into this access through prayer, both for yourself and as an intercessor for others?
• How have you shared the gospel with others? What prohibits you from doing this?