NUMBERS 6:22-27
PASS IT ON
Many
of you are familiar with email. Email is
electronic mail sent to people through computers. Many of you have email addresses and get
messages from various people you know and many that you don’t know.
One
of the features of email is the ability to forward something you like to
someone else. You receive a message and
share it with others. Some of you
sometimes forward our Mount Union Echoes,
the sermon notes we send out. Whenever
we forward something, we pass it on.
When
there is a prayer need in our church, we place that prayer need on the prayer
chain. Dottie or I usually call Nellie,
Audrey and Barb. They pass it on to
others of you who pass it on to still others until everyone has the message.
When
we know there is a good sale we like to pass it on to others so they can take
advantage of the sale too.
When
there is an emergency and people need to know it, we pass it on.
When
we have found a good restaurant we pass it on.
When
we have found a terrible restaurant we pass it on.
Of
course, after we have been saved and have experienced the good news of
salvation we are to pass it on. We are
to pass on that Good News to those who need to hear it.
1
Peter 3:15
- But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and
fear:
Also,
as Christians we are to learn God’s Word and experience his blessings. As we learn God’s Word and experience his
blessings, we are to pass it on to other Christians.
Hebrews
10:24-25 - And
let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Colossians
3:16 - Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord.
There
is still another way you can pass on the good things that God has done for
you. It is by praying a blessing on
others, especially those who know Jesus as Savior. In fact I want to encourage you this morning
to start praying a blessing on your brothers and sisters right here at
This
morning we continue our series on Old
Testament Treasures, trying to share with you something precious out of
each of the Old Testament Books. This
morning we are jumping ahead of Leviticus, which we will cover next Sunday, to
the Book of Numbers.
It
is in Numbers 6:22-27 that Aaron and his family of priests are commanded to give
a blessing upon the children of
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRIESTHOOD
– Vss. 22-23
THE PRAYERFUL PRONOUNCEMENT
OF PRIESTHOOD – Vss. 24-26
THE POWER OF PRIESTHOOD –
Vs. 27
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRIESTHOOD
– Vss. 22-23
Vss.
22-23 – It
was a privilege of priesthood for Aaron and
his
Sons, the priests, to bless the Children of
The
priests had many privileges that the common people did not. They were the ones who could offer the
sacrifices. They were the ones who could
enter the holy place in the tabernacle or temple, and the high priest alone
could enter the “Holy of Holies” to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat” once a
year.
There
is no Aaronic Priesthood today. We do, however have
our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews
4:14-16 - Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. [15] For we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews
7:24-25 - But
this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. [25]
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them.
Please
turn to 1 Peter 2:4-5
Jesus
is the great High Priest.
But
there are priests today.
If
you are a believer, you are one of those priests.
1 Peter 2:4-5 - To whom coming, as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, [5] Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the
living stone on which the church is built.
Most men have rejected Christ, but nonetheless He is chosen of God and
precious.
We that have believed on the
Lord Jesus as Savior are “living stones”.
He has given each of us life and each one of us is built into what is a
spiritual house or God’s spiritual temple.
Ephesians 2:19-22 - Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and
of the household of God; [20] And are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; [21] In whom
all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
an holy temple in the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Not only are we a spiritual
house, part of God’s temple in Christ, but we are now a “holy priesthood”. As a holy priesthood we are set apart for
God’s service.
Not only are we a holy
priesthood, but we are a royal priesthood.
1 Peter 2:9 - But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light:
As a royal priesthood we
serve the King of Kings and will one day reign with Him.
One of the key things that a
priest did was to offer sacrifices to God.
According to 1 Peter 2:5 we
are also an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
This is a concept that most
Christians really do not understand. As
priests before God we are to make sacrifices.
The ultimate sacrifice for
sin has been made by the Lord Jesus. We
do not have to atone for our sins.
Christ did that on the cross!
But there are sacrifices we
can offer as His priests.
1.
We are to offer our bodies as a living
sacrifice.
Romans 12:1-2 - I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2.
We are to offer the sacrifice of praise
to God.
Hebrews 13:15 - By
him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
3.
We are to offer the sacrifice of good
works.
4.
We are to offer the sacrifice of sharing
in the financial needs of the church, missionaries, and Christians in need.
Hebrews 13:16 - But
to do good and to communicate forget not: for with
such sacrifices God is well pleased.
5.
We are to offer the sacrifice of prayer.
Revelation 8:3-4 - And
another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there
was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of
all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. [4] And the smoke
of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before
God out of the angel's hand.
Matthew 6:6 - But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly.
Ephesians 6:18 - Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints;
James 5:16 - Confess your faults one to another, and pray
one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much.
Now I will not kid you. Any sacrifice that we make as a Kingdom of
priests will cost us something. And this
sacrifice of praying a prayer of blessing upon your church will require the
sacrifices of time, work and faith.
The sacrifice is worth it if:
1.
We love and appreciate God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ and want to please Them.
2.
We love our church and want to see it
blessed.
3.
We love our fellow church members and
want to see them blessed.
4.
We love the unsaved and want to see them
blessed.
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRIESTHOOD
– Vss. 22-23
THE PRAYERFUL PRONOUNCEMENT
OF PRIESTHOOD – Vss. 24-26
The pronouns in this passage
are singular.
The whole group of believers
is blessed as the individual is blessed.
This blessing should be our
desire and prayer upon each and every believer our church.
Numbers 6:24 - The Lord bless
thee, and keep thee:
Notice our prayer needs to be
to the Lord.
It is only He who truly
blesses.
Each Christian has received
many blessings.
·
You have been blessed with
forgiveness of sin.
·
You have been blessed with
everlasting life.
·
You have been blessed with the
indwelling Holy Spirit.
·
You have blessed with grace,
mercy and peace.
·
You have been blessed with the
privilege of prayer.
·
You have been blessed with
Christian friends.
·
You have been blessed with
God’s faithfulness.
In
fact your blessings in Christ as so abundant that Ephesians 1:3 says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
So
if we as Christians already have these blessings why should we pray for them to
be blessed?
1. God honors our prayers when we pray for
others.
2. It helps our own attitude towards others.
3. Although we have all Spiritual blessings in
Christ, most Christians aren’t taking advantage of them.
Our
prayer to bless them might make them aware of the blessings they have and the
blessings they need to appropriate.
4. Our prayer that God bless them is an
expression of our love for them.
The Lord bless
thee, and keep thee:
According
to R.K. Harrison, “The basic meaning of the common
verb samar
(keep) is ‘to exercise great care over,’ ‘to perform carefully,’ ‘to give great
attention to,’ ‘to guard.’
If
It
is God alone who keeps.
It
is God alone who protects.
It
is God alone who keeps us safe.
It
is God alone who keeps us from temptation and delivers us from evil.
Every
member of our little congregation faces trials, tribulations, and temptations.
It
should be our active desire that God keep them through all of these things.
Psalm
121:7-8 - The
Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. [8] The Lord
shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even
for evermore.
You
never know how the Lord will bless when we pray prayers of God’s keeping upon
us and others.
Susan
Starnes wrote, “One night I went into my 8-year-old daughter's bedroom to pray
with her before she went to sleep.
In
the course of her prayer she said, ‘Jesus, please lock the doors if they
haven't been locked.’ I held back a chuckle at her unexpected request and
thought nothing more about it. The next morning I opened the front door to find
the keys outside in the lock. I stood amazed at how the Lord led my little girl
to pray--and thanked him for his protection.”
-- Susan Starnes,
Numbers
6:24-25 - The
Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face
shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
Do
you like having approval?
It
might be the approval of a wife or husband, a child or a parent. It might be
the approval a boss, or a friend, or a neighbor or a church member.
How
about the approval of God?
If
the Lord makes his face shine upon us, that would indicate approval. It would indicate that God is smiling on us.
You
should want God to smile on each one of your fellow members of this
congregation.
You
should want God to work in the life of each member of the congregation, so that
if He can’t smile right now, God will do what is necessary to smile on them
again.
There is at least one person
in this congregation whose life God could not smile on earlier this year. She was doing what was displeasing to
God. God worked in her life in answer to
prayer and God was able to smile again.
Pray that each member of the
congregation will receive the full benefit of God’s smile.
The Lord make
his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The New Testament blessings
recorded in Scripture included a wish for grace, for God’s unmerited
favor. We received that the moment we
trusted Christ as Savior. However we
never outgrow our need for more grace for daily situations and for God’s
richest blessings in our lives.
2 Peter 3:18 - But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory
both now and for ever. Amen.
Numbers 6:26 - The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,
and give thee peace.
We should prayerfully desire
that God would give us full attention, turn his face towards, “lift up his countenance upon” each and every believer.
When God does that,
individual sin has been dealt with on the part of each believer and God is
fully attuned to their prayers.
The final part of this prayer
of blessing is for peace.
It should be our prayer that
the peace of God will rule inside of each believer’s.
This was the desire of our
Lord Jesus. It should our desire for others.
John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Numbers 6:24-26 - The Lord bless
thee, and keep thee: [25] The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee: [26] The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give
thee peace.
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRIESTHOOD
– Vss. 22-23
THE PRAYERFUL PRONOUNCEMENT
OF PRIESTHOOD – Vss. 24-26
THE POWER OF PRIESTHOOD –
Vs. 27
Numbers 6:27 - And they shall put my name upon the children
of
God is saying, “As the
priests put My name in blessing upon the children of
Why do our people not have a
fuller grasp of the blessings of God in their lives? It is because we do not have the love or
faith to ask God to give them those blessings!
Mark 11:22-24 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have
faith in God. [23] For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not
doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall
come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. [24] Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye
desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
1 John 5:14-15 - And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And
if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him.
Here is my challenge to you
for the next 30 days:
1.
Memorize Numbers 6:24-27, one verse a
week.
2.
Pray this prayer of blessing upon this
church every day, at least once a day.
3.
Believe with all your heart that God will
answer your prayer.
4.
Forsake all sin that would hinder you
getting an answer to that prayer.
It is by praying this prayer
of blessing on others that you PASS IT ON!
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRIESTHOOD
– Vss. 22-23
THE PRAYERFUL PRONOUNCEMENT
OF PRIESTHOOD – Vss. 24-26
THE POWER OF PRIESTHOOD –
Vs. 27