Apprentice Priests

Has anybody here ever been an apprentice? He's been an apprentice. You've been an apprentice. Okay, we got... well, even he's been an apprentice. Or he thinks he has. Anyway, okay. An apprentice is a person who works for another in order to learn a trade, a job, or a skill. Some synonyms are trainee, a novice, a beginning, beginner, a cadet. And in religious terms, they actually, in a religious order, they call it a seminarian. Or you are in seminary, learning these things. But an apprentice is someone who works with a supposed experienced or expert person to learn a skill or a job. I ask you the question today. Are you an apprentice priest? Are you an apprentice priest? I have mentioned two or three times here, Acts 13 verse 36, from the... actually, the New England version, where it says, David fulfilled God's purpose in his generation. Are you fulfilling your purpose in your generation, in your life, right now? And I want to give you a different mindset today, hopefully, in the time that I have. Because a lot of people have this thought that they come in, two services, they come, they listen, they go home, it's done. They've done their duty. They did their job. I want to shine a different light on that today, because we're not just here. You're not here just to obey the Sabbath. There is a much bigger picture, a much bigger picture. God had a purpose for physical Israel. Remember Exodus 20? He laid out the Ten Commandments, which was just after they left Egypt, right? But in Exodus 19, after they had left Egypt, matter of fact, in Exodus 19 verse 6, he says, And you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And he was talking to the entire group. He was talking to everyone, man, woman, child, that I want you to be a kingdom of priests. We would have to say great expectations, wouldn't you? He's going to take two and a half to three million people and tell them, I'm going to make you a kingdom of priests, and I'm going to set up a priesthood that is going to teach you how to be priests. So they eventually, down the road, this whole nation that will take up this large part of the Middle East will be a holy nation. And people will come from miles around to find out how they should live. And all these priests, everybody, will be able to teach the millions of people. It was a wonderful plan.

God has a purpose for spiritual Israel today, and that's us. That's all of us. No matter where you're from, no matter what your background, we are spiritual Israel if you believe in Jesus Christ and the plan of God. Been called out of this world. We are spiritual Israel, and he has the same plan for us today. So much like it was way back, just thousands of years ago. And we have been called a royal priesthood, a chosen generation. 1 Peter 2.9. You want to turn there? 1 Peter 2.9. 1 Peter 2.9. And priest is not a male word. The gender is male, but priests mean you can be a female priest, you can be a male priest. We're talking the kingdom of God. There will be neither male nor female when you're spiritual. But let's turn there. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9 says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 2 Peter 2.9. Wow! His own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him, who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. 2 Peter 2.9. Light! What an incredible verse! He says, We need to get out of darkness and into light because you're the priesthood. I've been attending church 40 years. Nobody ever told me that. That I'm just not there because I'm commanded to be there. But that I am training to be a priest. Wow! Think about it. That really elevates us all to a very serious and prestigious job. Revelation 1. Revelation 1. I'd like you to turn there.

Revelation 1 and verse 6. I think we all know it. Revelation 1 and verse 6, he said, He has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. We know from the Greek that it actually means, and it's in the newer translation, he says, You are made a kingdom of priests. We are a kingdom of priests. That's what it's about. Revelation 20 verse 6. Revelation 20 verse 6 said, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such a second death has no power. But they, those in the first resurrection, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for how long? A thousand years to start with. That's just a start.

So if you're sitting here today, even these guys right here, training to be priests.

As we talked about earlier, we don't know how old Samuel was, but he's somewhere between two and four years old. He was already assigned to be part of the priesthood.

But we've been called to be a kingdom of priests to rule with Christ in his kingdom. So our predecessors, the ones who, we must say, failed, the job, the expectations for them to become to train the whole nation, it failed through. But there wasn't anything wrong with the plan. The plan was so great, it's so great now that God says, I'm going to use it. And I'm going to start with spiritual Israel, because the problem was with the priesthood, not with what was being taught. It was the problem was with the people teaching it.

So let's go back.

And one of the things that he taught was so important for the priest at that time. The Levitical priesthood. And he says this in Leviticus 10 and verse 10. And one of the key parts was, you must be able to distinguish between the holy, and it says unholy, or as the New American Standard Bible says, profane. So one of the things that he wanted the priesthood to be able to teach you is first, you need to know between the holy and the profane. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Is it that simple for you and me? Not always, is it? I got a piece of paper. Is it holy or is it profane?

In life, we come across things every day, usually in your work, usually in your family, usually in your travel. Well, we have to distinguish between the holy and the profane. And this is such important stuff that I wanted to bring it out today, because I want you to leave here, better trained apprentices, and come back next week to learn a little more. But it's so important that God snuffed out Aaron's two sons. They had just taken over as two of the priests, and they dabbed in a body. Two sons, and he said, you're a priest, and they were operating in that position. But God took them out because they could not distinguish between the holy and the profane. I mean, poof! God lit them up. You do not want God lighting a fire under you like that. It's like Kentucky Fried priests is what there was. It was quickly done. But why did he do it? Can we turn back to Leviticus 10? Because I think it's important because none of us want to want to come unto the wrath of God, especially since you're being trained. Leviticus 10. Leviticus 10, and I mentioned verse 10, but I want you to look at 2. Let me just go back to verse 1. Leviticus 10, verse 1 said, Now they dabbed in a body of the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. So they did something they weren't supposed to do. Right? That's what it lifts here. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord spoke, saying, By those who come near me. Did you go near God this morning? Are you going to go near God this evening? When you prayed? Do you come near? I did. I came very near. I came to the very throne of God. Here's what's important. Here's what we're to remember. It says, I must be regarded as holy. And before all people, I must be glorified. Hmm. You know, we above all people on earth must understand. We are God's priesthood in training now. And there are only three things we need to have. God, this book, and His Holy Spirit. That's it. That's enough. You don't need anything else. You need God who says you cannot come to Christ unless He calls you. You're sitting here. Obviously, He has. This book, which is your study book, this is what you're tested on. Okay. Everything you need to know about life and distinguishing between the holy and the profane are in here. And to help you, which makes you different than the Levitical priesthood, He gives you the Holy Spirit. And that's all unique. That's it. That's enough. You know, where much is given, much is required. As Christ told them in Luke 12. And you know, you can go back and you can read this incredible story in Exodus 24, where actually God called Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the leaders. He called them for dinner. One night. At the foot of Sinai. And He said, you're going to see something. And He gave them a vision of this throne. And someone who set upon it, and even on the sidewalk, was of the sunfire. And so they all got to see this. There were at least 72 or 73 people who got to see this. But they were all the leaders and the priest. He gave them a vision so they could see that, wow, it's not some made up piece of wood that people worshiped. But this was a real God. The God. Not something made up. What an incredible vision it must have been. And you would think, if I saw that, like if God came down, even if God sent an angel into this room now, don't you think it would change your life?

Imagine seeing what they saw. Can you judge between the holy and the profane? Now. Can you do it? Are you good at it? Are you instructed by this? When you pick up the Bible, you say, well, you know, it's kind of like showing up at services. I'm supposed to, I'm told to, I'm commanded to. Do you get, well, you know, I'm supposed to read this book. Let's see. Let's just read right here. Ah, King Hezakiah now sent word to his or Judah. I read the book.

If you were an apprentice, you were, you were tested on things to see what you'd learned. God gets to see how much we read this and whether we take it to heart. Whether we read the Bible or whether we truly study the Bible. And for years, I could show you, I think I still have it. I don't think I left it in Tennessee. I could show you my Bible that I got the year we were married. Mary and I got married. And I had that Bible for about five years. And I'd show it to you, because I actually did this sermon once before and brought it in and opened it. I could barely get it open, because there wasn't hardly any pages that had ever been opened or turned. Yeah, I didn't read it. Oh, I might have read just a story I read when the pastor was giving a message. Oh, yeah, well, there we go. Yeah, I got that one. But I didn't study it. I didn't realize that, little did I realize I would be doing this 30 years later. Much the less did I realize that now it's more, just more important, is that I have the responsibility of training you so that we all will be handling the entire world and not the two distant future. Be teaching the entire world what's left of it after Jesus Christ returns. So are you good at it? Are you good at this? See, I'm a priest, teaching priest. It's that simple. See, you're an apprentice priest. That means you're a part-time priest. Okay, you're learning. I'm a full-time priest. It's my job. 24-7. It's my job to study this book every day. You have jobs, but you're learning. So I must tell you, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I had no idea I would be doing this. I didn't want to do this. And my wife definitely didn't want me doing this. But somebody else wanted me doing it. That's why I'm doing it. And somebody else wants you doing and preparing for this incredible, incredible job of the royal priesthood, not just the Levitical priesthood. He says the royal priesthood because we will be a kingdom of priests. And we're given our diadem, our crowns, by Jesus Christ Himself. But see, it starts somewhere. There has to be a mindset. So that's why I kind of want to talk, because we're going to continue to talk over this subject during the next year, as hopefully you will have the vision to see that you're just not here to keep the Sabbath. But you're training for the next job, the next world, the next full-time job, which will last eternity with all power, all glory. Awesome! The mindset is in Psalm 89, verse 7. It says, God is greatly to be feared. And we know that also means revered. But say, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. That's about we priests. Okay? That's about us priests. We must have reverence for God. He has to be way up here, because how are we going to be the example to other people? You want to talk about the Catholic Church? I don't. But do you want to see the example?

Those with little boys, you want to go to the Catholic Church? I don't think so. No, you don't.

Your mama will explain to you why not.

But here's the thing. We come daily before the throne of grace. We come daily because, as you well know, only the priests could come before the Holy of Holies. Go into the Holy of Holies. He made sacrifices every day, literally. But He would only come in before the throne, before the mercy seat, one time a year on the Day of Atonement. And the reason you were not allowed in is if you came in at any other time, you were dying. God said it. He must be regarded as holy. You think that had anything to do with Nadab and Abbiah? The profane fire. But, you see, Jesus Christ, when He died, the veil was torn, as we know. The veil was torn in two. And now, mankind, the priesthood, people who pray, can have access directly to God the Father through the high priest, Jesus Christ, who's sitting on the right hand. It's a beautiful plan. And you're studying to be a priest so that you're going to take your orders, and we're all going to work together with Jesus Christ, the high priest, when He becomes King and Lord of Lords. Beautiful. Beautiful plan. So we can come directly to God's throne. Like He'd go back to Leviticus 10 and verse 8. This is what I want to finish this of what He's talking about in Nadab and Abbiah, so we can kind of get this. Because He said, you came and you offered profane fire. We've already seen that, right? And He says, I must be regarded as holy. But then in verse 8, He says, then the Lord spoke to Aaron. See, Aaron had just lost his two sons. And He says, do not drink wine or intoxicating drink. You, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle meeting, lest you do what? Die. Are we seeing something else here? Are we seeing here? This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Now, I want to go over to Leviticus 16. He finishes the store here in Leviticus 16, just in two verses. Leviticus 16 and verse 1. Because here He's about to tell Him about the Day of Atonement. But He says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, Tell Aaron your brother not to come at simply any time into the holy place. Inside the veil before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die, for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Do we see it now? There's more involved than just profane fire. From what it shows, two boys, two young men, were obviously thinking they were pretty important. Okay. So they had some wine. Ah, yeah. Hey, Nadab. What about you? You see how everybody looks at us because we're dressed different. We're pretty important people. How many of them bottle that wine? They have some. You know, we could just probably just offer incense and fire before God because we're the priesthood. And you know, we can probably enter the holy of holies anytime we want because we're the priesthood. And what happened to them? I mean, God lays this out so you get the, you kind of get the story a little bit at a time as He tells this.

And the work of God, the churches of God have always had men in the priesthood that thought they were something special. Well, guess what? We're not.

We're a priest teaching apprentice priests, but we're also teaching you by how we act, how we live, how we serve you. We are here to serve you. That is what leadership is all about. That's Christ-centered leadership was served. He told His Disciples Act. It isn't to think you're somebody. Yes, I'm important. It's a privilege to be a priest. You should consider it a privilege that He's called you to be a priest, but it isn't something you should feel important about. It's an important job. It's like, I'm going to bear my mind into this book. I'm going to bear down. I want to be a good priest.

When you read Leviticus 16 verse 1, don't just come at simply any time. At just any time, that's a scary thought. What about the Sabbath? We have people who take the Sabbath lightly because they think they, well, don't really know that I feel that good. I'm a little tired. Or, well, it's not that important. This is a priesthood. This is God's plan. I can't go before Him and tell Him, I just really didn't think, is that important? I don't know what happened. I just didn't feel like going to services. So, Maurice will come up with something. But, Barto will do something.

The Holy Days? They're not optional. To the priesthood, you're training so that you can go all about the Holy Days so you can teach.

And prayers? I sometimes, how many of you? I'm sure I'm not the only one. I actually got so sleepy during my prayers. Dose off. Oh, wow.

Brethren, it's important you pray for me because my job is to pray for you. Every day. This congregation is at the top of my list. So, that's very important for me to take it seriously. Now, yeah, I'm a little tired.

I'd like you to go back to Ezekiel 22. You turn back to Ezekiel 22. Here's this thing. I'll read it from the New Living Translation since they do a better job of it. Ezekiel 22. Here we have Ezekiel, the prophet of God.

Ezekiel is told because he's in captivity with most of the nation at that time. And so, God tells Ezekiel, you know what the problem's been for the last 500 years? The priesthood! The priesthood! And what was the main problem with the priesthood? Why they were in captivity? Ezekiel 22, verse 26. He said, your priest! See, God didn't say they were his. Are you his priest? Can you say that now? Are you his priest or not? Because if you're not, God asks you a question.

Why are you even here? It's that serious. It's that serious. I mean, this is a privileged responsibility and job. Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not, or the profane. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and inkling.

And they disregard my Sabbath day so that I am dishonored among them. Laid that out pretty clear. So, why were they in captivity? Because of the priesthood! What did the priesthood teach them? Look over to Ezekiel 6. I'll read it from a new Living Translation. Ezekiel 22 and verse 6 said, Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls has been on murder. Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wrong and oppressed among you. You despise my holy things and you violate my Sabbath day of rest. And you can go down and see the other.

Why were the people doing this? Because they didn't have priests telling them what to do and what not to do. Just let them do anything. They saw the example. You want to lead the example and show the kids how you can steal something?

You think your kids aren't going to see that? Say, well, Dad used to do that. Well, the holy priests used to do that. And they're the priesthood. They answer directly to God. See, we in our lives, our families, and you may be in a family where you're the only Christian.

You're the only one. And the other people need to look at you and see you. But, you know, here's the amazing thing. I'll turn it over to Ezekiel 44. Ezekiel 44. See, the one thing about this is when God works with Ezekiel, the first 39 chapters he's talking about in Ezekiel, how they got to this position. How they got and became captives. And what they've done all this time. In chapter 40, he starts this amazing story of he takes Ezekiel and shows him his vision of quite a few thousand years ahead.

He shows him what it's like, what it's going to be like. He got to see it. He got to see the whole kingdom of God laid out. And he describes it for each and every one of us. And it starts in chapter 40. In chapter 44, he goes over in verse 4, he says, Then the man brought me through the north gate to the front of the temple.

I looked and saw the glory of the Lord, fill the temple of the Lord, and I fell down on my face. Isn't it something we should do a little more often? When we come before God, realize, we're before the throne of God. And I am a priest. But he says this amazing thing in verse 23. And I'll read this from the New Living also. Chapter 44 and verse 23. This is a priesthood. And this is, you can read it earlier in verse 15-16, because at the time Jesus comes back, he says that although it's been thousands of years, he had one priest he could count on the entire time in the Old Testament.

Others let him down. One never let him down. And he said, I'm going to make sure your sons will live. They're going to be alive on this earth when the kingdom of God comes back. And I'm going to set them over the priesthood. The physical priesthood that's going to be set up in Jerusalem, just like it was.

He describes it, and those are the sons of Zadok. Zadok was a dedicated priest. So somewhere on this earth today are the sons of Zadok. They may not even know who they are, but they will. And those sons will set up and be the priesthood that run the physical operations in Jerusalem when Jesus Christ returns. And they are going to teach all of Israel.

You remember the 144,000? The 12,000 Egypt tribes are coming back to their own land? That he's saying, hey, I'm going to bring you back, and I'm going to put you back in that land. He's going to seal and make sure they don't die. So he's going to build the original model that this whole area of the Middle East is going to be taught out of Jerusalem.

All these people who didn't know anything about Christ, who didn't know anything about anything that they really cared about, are going to be taught God's ways by the sons of Zadok in the original territory of the 12 tribes. But then, and it says, as we read about in Isaiah, that all the people in the world will let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, where He will teach us His way.

All that will be taught. But what about the people in the rest of the world? That's ours! That's the priests. That's the royal priesthood. Spiritual people. We can be here. I can be in Iceland in less than a second.

We will be teaching. How many cities? What did Christ talk about? In my kingdom, you'll be given a city. You'll be given five cities. You'll be given ten cities. Take care of it. You're going to train the rest of the world all over the entire world, so the whole world will know. The plan of God. Our job. And you'll be the royal priesthood. And people will be doing this, and they're going to hear this voice. It says, no. This is the way. Walk you in it. What a beautiful plan. But in Ezekiel 44, verse 23, this is what the Zadok, this is what's going to go out of Jerusalem, right there. It says in 23, they will teach my people. Why are they his people? Anyone alive on earth when Jesus Christ is going to do that? They're his people now. Is that important? They will teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is profane. What is ceremonially clean and unclean? They will serve as judges to resolve any disagreements among people. Think we are being trained now? Is your life perfect? Do you have any problems you have to work out with people? With family? With jobs? This is all training. This is why we do it. Don't look for it and go, oh man, I wish I didn't have another problem. Well, you know, I realize that I've got a problem in Trinidad next weekend. I'll have some others. I'll have this and this and this. If I didn't have trouble, you know what? They wouldn't need me. And it's training me. See, you have to learn to be a spiritual fireman. You know when there's a fire, what a fireman does? Everybody else is running away. What's he doing? You run to it. Whether you're a priest, you're training to be a priest. Don't run from your problems. Stand there and face it. Run to them. And with God's help, His Holy Spirit, and this book, there's not a one you cannot solve. Not one problem.

He said, their decisions must be based on my regulations. That's his book. Oh, wow. The priests themselves must obey my instructions and decrees, and all the sacred festivals of the sea to it that sabbaths are set apart as holy days. Isn't that a wonderful plan?

Holy, profane. You know the difference? Holy is godly. Holy is anything God makes holy. Only He can make it holy. God didn't make Sunday holy. He didn't make Friday holy. He made the Sabbath holy.

I won't argue with you on that. But once you come out well, I know I say, don't even speak. I don't know. I don't go there. Holy is in this book. Profane is night and day from holy. Do we understand that? Profane is night and day. Is it crystal clear? Not always. Profanity. Do you know it when you hear it? Do you?

You know, if I were to blurt out the F word, right? F this and F that, we would all agree that's profanity. That's vulgar. That's obscene. Why would you expect a priest to be using profanity? Would you? Would you expect me to curse? Would you expect me, if you saw me getting gas, and I go, well, what the f***? Would you go, oh, that's my pastor. That's my priest. He's teaching me how to be a priest.

Right?

You know, the law of first mention, as I've mentioned many times, law of first mention says, anytime something's mentioned the first time in the Bible, it sets a tone for the rest of the time to use. And profane is actually used the very first time in Leviticus 18, around verse 20. And it actually says that because you had your children, you put your children, like the world does, through fire, offering them to Molech. You have profaned the name of God.

So it's very important we do not profane the name of God in any way, shape, or form. Because that's why he said, I must be regarded as holy. Holy people don't profane the name of God. They don't get involved. The priesthood does not get involved with pagan stuff, pagan traditions. We don't do that. Holy people do not live that way.

You know the word profane in Hebrew is qua'la. C-H-A-L-A-L. And it means to pollute, to womb, to stain. To stain. And God does not want his name stained. You remember he got all over David for that? He gave David everything, and then David went and committed all these sins. And he said, you have profaned the name of God, and the other nations can all look and go, that's God? How about your family and neighbors and people you work with? We have to make sure. Are we going to make mistakes? Absolutely. But what is our way of life?

You know, our English word profane came from the French, who actually got it from the Latin profanus. Profanus. And actually pro, you would think, means forward, actually means strongly against or away from, and phantom. The other part of the word is the actual word for temple. So what profane means is strongly away from the temple. Have you gotten strongly away from the temple? Because if you do, that's profane.

Something profane is literally against the temple, and the temple was where God was. The temple is where God is. You understand that? You know, God spent the biggest part of the book of Deuteronomy teaching people clean living and what is holy and what is profane. Where is the temple of God on earth today, according to the New Testament? Anybody know? Where? Yes. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16 says what? You are the temple of God! 1 Corinthians 6, he wanted to make sure those Corinthians, because they didn't really get it. They're kind of like us, already did it. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, he says you are the temple of the living God, because God's Spirit, God's essence, God's part is in you. That makes you holy. Do you know when you are away from the temple? Do you know when you, you know, we all know, haven't we all, we've all done something and it pricks our conscience, and we know we shouldn't have done that, we know we shouldn't have said that, we know we shouldn't have acted that way and we did, but priests know what to do about it, don't we? We go to the source and become cleansed again, purged of those sins, and turn 180 degrees, it's going to be a long time before I do that one again. And boy, we do it the next day! And that's frustrating. But we're learning. We're not there yet, but we're on the road. We are here to learn to judge between the holy and the profane.

Yep, as I know I do that, I shouldn't do. He battled that too, right? And even Nicodemus in the third chapter of John, when Jesus Christ was talking to him, he brought it down to the fact that here he was part of the teachers of the day, of the religious teachers, but he had to tell him, you need to know the difference between light and darkness.

And Paul had to teach that. I want to turn, just have two scriptures left. Colossians. Let's go to Colossians 3. Paul is teaching a priesthood in Colossae. And it may seem simple, but this is part of what we need to make sure we lock in our minds. And chapter 3, verse 8, he says, but now you must also put off all these anger. Anybody got a problem with anger? Okay. Wrath. Wait a minute. Isn't that the same thing? No. No. No. Malice. Blasphemy. Filthy language out of your mouth. Oh. So obviously it was a problem then. I don't know if they had the F word, but they were using some word. And many of them in the church. And he says, verse 9, do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. We're in that image. That's how we tell what we need to be, studying the life of Jesus Christ. One last verse. One last verse in Ephesians. Because Paul really had some lessons to teach people. And this one's a big one. Ephesians 5. And I want to read this. No, I want to read this from the New Living Translation, because you're going to be there. I want to read this, because it does a better job of describing this. Ephesians 5, verse 3 through 5. You want to read it? Read it. Just read it silently, and whatever translation you have, it'll take you 30 seconds to read that. Read it, because that's to you. You apprentice-preach you.

Okay, now, I'll read it from the New Living Translation. It says, Let there be no sexual immorality. Actual Greek word was porneia. You may have read it as fornication. It's a deeper word than that. Porneia. Any sexual immoral act. Okay? Impurity or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people. Obscene stories. Foolish talk. And coarse jokes. I knew a guy I worked with every morning. He'd come in and have some coarse joke he had to tell. Ever had that? You know, my problem was I listened, and I actually laughed a few times.

Thankfully, when I get up in the morning, I'm just around Mary, so hopefully Mary's not going to bring me any coarse jokes in. She hasn't yet. But it says, obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes. These are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the kingdom of Christ and of God, for a greedy person is idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

Sexually immoral.

Can you distinguish between the holy and the profane? You see it in TVs? You see it in movies?

You know, I see commercials on TV. I see billboards. And nothing shocks me. But it should. But it should. What about you? Have you become so seared in your conscience? Seen everything? Your mind's been poisoned?

Talked to a guy last night on the phone. And I know he's the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan. And I was a Cowboys fan, too, growing up. And I told him, it's just, I realized, I asked him, and he wondered what I was giving a sermon about. So I told him. And I said, I never realized, but the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders are profane. And I said, you know, I watched them for years. I didn't think that.

They got to show just how much they have up here or how much they've added, probably, up there. Then they have to have the shortest thing here. They show as much skin as possible.

It's definitely not holy. And so to a priest, it is what? Profane. Do I need to see that? No, I don't. I don't.

Profane or filthy? Things that come out of the radio. You can hear it when you're not even intended to. Be somebody driving by, playing some song. This is something just filthy. Profane. Where does our mind go? You... It's been two years ago. I was on a plane. And in the airports, I'm always walking through because you're always waiting on it, or they're waiting on you or whatever. And so here they always have the bookstore. So here, this bookstore was in there, and it just had this whole... Like, the first area there took up 20% of the store. All had this book laid out at the best seller. Fifty Shades of Grey. Well, I didn't know what Fifty Shades of Grey was. But I saw a lot of people reading it. Now they're making a movie on it. And they say it's going to be a big movie. And what is it about? Something profane. About sexual, immoral people. Not married. S&M. Bondage. All this stuff. I don't need to read the book. And I don't need to watch the movie. Because I'm a priest.

You know, even the treatment of the poor can be profane. You realize that? Now you see people standing on the street corners, asking for money, and I've been here long enough after three years that I see the same guy standing out there all the time. Said now they have new tennis shoes and everything else. So, you know, that's different. But we've been given the Holy Spirit to tell the profane from the Holy. Because you are holy when you help the poor.

Does that mean everybody? No. Christ said, the poor you shall have with you always, because they do the things that make themselves poor. But there are people who God brings into your life, and He brings them into my life to see what we're going to do. To see if we are going to help those people who really desperately need it.

You and Isaiah said, when He came before God, I am a man of unclean lips. And I think Isaiah was probably a pretty righteous guy. It's a good example to us as priests. Let's make sure we watch our lips. Make sure we have some clean lips. Holy temple. So if you get nothing else, I'd like you to remember this. God is teaching us that holiness is not transferable, but uncleanness is. Okay? Let me say that again. God is teaching us that holiness is not transferable, but uncleanness is. In case you need me to explain, having a holy leader like Moses did not make the people. Having a holy leader like Elijah did not make the people holy. Having Jesus Christ as their leader didn't make all of them holy and live righteously. Having a good minister will not make you holy. It's not transferable. You have to do it.

Are you going to ask God and call him? Phone call from God. Can you put him on hold for me until I finish this? I only have a couple of minutes. I think you'll understand. But you know, it's teaching one thing. Our contact with this world and the people of this world can contaminate us. Okay? Holiness is not transferable, but the contagious people in this world, they can give us that unholiness. It must be the same time. Everybody's like, you need to end 10 to 1.

You know, we righteous priests have to live in an unrighteous world. That's the way it is. Are you able to adapt to that, brethren? Unrighteous priests will have to live in an unrighteous world. The example is Lot's wife. What happened? She was vexed, wouldn't she? She lived too long, and she kind of enjoyed it. She kind of enjoyed the life. That's what the real exegesis of the scriptures meant. We're going to have decisions every day to distinguish between the holy and the profane. It's part of our training program. Okay? Part of our training program. I'm going to pause.

Yes.

So are you ready to make those decisions when you leave here? Are you equipped to make those decisions? Are you going to continue to equip yourself as priests?

I'll tell one story as I am.

I was an Ochoerius. Ochoerius about a year or so ago, maybe a year and a half ago, for services. We started services at noon. We had services. Went two hours. Something to eat. Had a Bible study. Lasted another hour. Then we had questions and answers. And then I had counseling. Then I had anointings. And by the time I was done, it was like after dark. And I walked back to the hotel, exhausted, about eight, nine hours. Okay? And I go back to this place called Room's, which is right, Ochoerius. Not an expensive hotel. It was where I was staying. And I walked back there that night, took up the jacket off and went up to the room. My tie off. Left it. Just had nice shirt and pants. I was so tired. And they have a little bitty bar there. Down by the... Not too far from the hotel by the beach. And there was... I looked there and there was nobody there. Just a bartender. And I thought, boy, I'd sure like a glass of wine. So I walked down there. It was just me. And I asked the guy how much glass of wine was. He said, be smart to do that. So he says, $1.95. I said, boy, that's cheap enough. For that? Okay, give me one. I sat there and just thought, I want to enjoy my sleep tonight. I'm just so tired. And then a young lady comes up.

And she is probably in her 20s. And she is a low cut dress and cut way up here. I guess I couldn't figure out where to cut. Because I cut here. I cut there. And she was very endowed. And so she came up and obviously there was nobody sitting around this bar except me and the bartender. And so she obviously knew her. And he nodded and got her a drink. And so there's 20 chairs. And where does she sit? Right next to me. She sits down, has a couple of drinks. I'm looking out at the ocean.

And then she turns to me and says, sir, would you like to buy me a drink?

Yes, it was. And she says, sir, would you like to buy me a drink? To which I said, why? You already have one.

But I bring that up because I am there to help people. And I have worked with women who counseled, women who had been strippers, women who have sold their bodies. For sex, sold their body.

And I had to think to myself, can I help her? And but you see, she wasn't looking for my help. She was looking for my money. Okay. So we have to, just an example, we have to distinguish between the holy and the profane and live in this life and make the decisions and let God, let God guide you. So can you distinguish between the holy and the profane? No, you cannot, without God, this book and the Holy Spirit. It's great to see you, priest, today.