Real Men – Men as Prophets, Priests, and Kings (Genesis 14:18)

– Man it’s an honor to have you. It really means the world to me, I’m here every week, for the most part because you guys matter. You matter, your life matters, your job matters, your wife matters, your kids matter, your grandkids matter, your life, your legacy matters and you just need to know that you are a tremendous encouragement to me, and you are a tremendous encouragement to our pastors and leaders here at the church, as well as the other men. And in a world that really has just lost its mind, it’s nice to get together with guys who have the same mind. Like, you know, we know what North is, we know who the Lord is, we know what the book says and now we’re trying to figure out, how to be the man that God has called us to be and have the influence that God has created us to have. And so that’s really why we’re here. And I just wanna share a few stories from my week just to encourage you guys. A couple of weeks ago, pastor flew in from out of state and I was meeting with him, he’s like, I’m thinking of quitting. So churches are running about 50% pre COVID attendance, and about 50% of pastors according to a recent Wall Street Journal article are looking at quitting. They’re really discouraged and, you know, he’s like, you don’t seem discouraged, like, well, I’m actually doing great. I’m having a great time. And he’s like, why? And I said, well, come on Wednesday night and just see why. So this guy flew in, and he was ready to quit. He came into real men, and he saw you guys he’s like, oh, that’s why you’re not discouraged. I was like, no, I’m really encouraged. He’s like, and that’s why you’re hopeful for the future. I was like, yeah, ’cause there’s an army of great men and he saw you guys and he started crying. He’s like, I don’t have men like that. I was like, well you can’t take these but I’ll pray that you get some. I’ll pray you get some and then this week I talked to a guy, brand new Christian. He came here about a year ago, didn’t know Jesus, didn’t have a dad actually, didn’t have parents, grew up kind of in the system and got saved here, radically saved God just touched him in service about a year ago and, you know, he loves the Lord, he’s trying to do everything right, he’s reading the Bible and he’s making great progress. God’s made great momentum in his life. Businesses come together, lives come together as he’s trying to do it God said God’s really helping them out giving them a good tailwind and he’s a single dad, and he was in the back, we have the bouncy houses and the slides for the kids and he was there and his daughter’s going down and there’s this cute girl next to him and her kids are going down. They start talking, she’s a single mom. Hey thanks Lord so that was easy. So he’s like, hey, you know, maybe that’s it. So they’re got to know each other and they’re praying about their relationship and they’re keeping it pure but he’s like, you know, maybe it’s time for me to you know, be a husband, be a father, grab two kids that don’t have a dad, be their dad. Like that’s awesome and I met another young man this last weekend it was his first time at Trinity and I said hi and he just walked in and he looked kind of weird. I said, what do you, what’s up? He’s like, there’s a lot of beards. I was like yeah, yeah, we have a beard ministry, we lay hands, we pray for your beard and he said, I’ve never seen so many dudes with beards. He said, but they’re all dads and they got kids. I said yeah, that’s our brand like beard dad. You know dude dad, that’s our brand. I said, he got, so he’s so he’s like okay, well I’m coming to this church then. He said ’cause I need to learn, I said great we’ll teach you how to grow a beard and be a dad. So you guys just need to know that your presence means a lot and it’s an encouragement and even as men come in they’re like, okay, these guys love the Lord, I wanna follow their example. And so you guys are a tremendous encouragement, we love

and appreciate you very much and so the way it works is I tend to preach through books of the Bible, we’re in Genesis right now and then we do a leadership lecture for men. And if you’re a man, you’re a leader, that’s your circle and sphere of influence. You lead at work, you lead at home, you lead at church and in your community. And this last week, we’re looking at the life of Abraham, and he’s a case study and one of the most significant people in the history of the world. And we looked at this week, he’s 75 years old, his relative Lot gets taken as a prisoner of war and so Abraham takes 318 soldiers that he’s raised from youth in his home, he’s got his own militia, he rides over 100 miles, he leads a multi kingdom war to liberate and deliver his relative and all of this, he’s 75 years of age and if you’re 75, you know, the moral of the story is, we wanna see your fight. So Abraham runs off to war and he’s still got a little fight in him and he’s willing to fight for what’s right, and he’s willing to fight for his family. After the victory, the kings get together and they’re kind of talking about, okay, how do we divide the spoils? And what are the terms of peace? And the kings come out and there’s one king who walks into the scene out of nowhere, his name is Melchizedek. He’s the king of Salem, which means Jerusalem, and he’s the king of righteousness and what happens with Melchizedek, people keep asking, well, who is he? Who is he? Who is he? I don’t wanna deal with that, I wanna focus instead on what is he? He’s a prophet, priest and king, and he is a leader and he leads as a prophet, priest and king and these three offices point to the Lord Jesus who is our Prophet, he’s the word of God. he’s our priest, he intercedes for us and he’s our king who rules over the kingdom. And so I wanna talk to you as men and this is kind of like, almost like a personality test where it’s like, well, who am I and who are they, and this prophet, priest, king category, it’ll help you understand you and how God made you to lead, it’ll help you understand other people, maybe family, friends, relatives, and also give you some areas to work. So let me jump right in. Genesis 14, Melchizedek, king of Salem, that’s Jerusalem. So he comes out to meet with Abraham, he brought out bread and wine, he was a priest of the Most High and so Melchizedek blessed Abraham and said, he’s gonna speak so that makes him a prophet, blessed be Abraham by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hands. So you see there he is a king of Salem or Jerusalem. He’s a priest of God and then he’s a prophet, he speaks on behalf of God and he says, let me tell you why you won the war, God gave you the victory. So let’s look at these three, prophet, priest and king and I want you to think of you and then the people that you lead. So for those of you who are prophets, your strength is preserving truth in facts, right? You like truths, and you like facts, that’s your thing and if somebody’s not telling the truth or they’re giving you fake news, that causes you to freak out, you get your nervous side twitch, and you don’t like that. You have a strong sense of right versus wrong, good versus evil, discernment, God versus Satan. You’re willing to say hard things. You will tell people what you think, you’re willing to have conflict, you’re overt, not covert, you’re very direct, you just let people know what they, what it is you think is right and wrong. You have a strong sense of urgency. Hey, things need to change. This is a problem. We’re not in alignment with the truth and reality in the facts. You need to repent, you need to get right with God, this needs to change, you need to stop, you need to knock it off. And you get a strong positive or negative reaction from people, people like you or they really don’t, right? How many of you? How many of you are more of a prophet? That’s you, okay? What am I? I’m a prophet, yeah, this is me, this is me. And I don’t even need to pray

about it like this is so obvious, this is me. So you’re a prophet, this is you, you tend to do well with concepts and truth and you tend to be bold and brave and courageous and direct and when you lead, you lead through your words, you lead through your personality of force, your innate authority and your directness. And for some people, this really works. For some people, it doesn’t work. Each of us is gonna have an area as a man where we’re really strong, and you’re like, I’m good there and then there’s other areas where we’re weak. It’s almost like your left and your right hand. In some areas, you’re like, I’m really strong here and over here, man, I gotta really work hard ’cause this isn’t an easy for me and this doesn’t come naturally for me. How many of you are now prophets? That’s not you. Or you’re like, man, just, you know, letting people have it? That’s not my spiritual gift. Instead, some of you are gonna be more the priests and the priest, your strength is caring for people, right? It’s not just preserving facts in the truth, it’s caring for people. You have a strong sense of mercy. Somebody blows it, you have compassion, empathy for them. When somebody makes a mistake or fails, you kind of understand their perspective. Well I know how you got there, I love you, I see how you got there, I think we can fix this, there’s hope for you, there’s encouragement for you. You’re willing to walk with hurting people. True false prophets tend not to do that. Prophets are like, hey, you need to figure this out. The priest is like, well, who’s gonna help ’em? Somebody’s gotta walk with them, somebody’s gotta pray with them, somebody’s gotta talk with them, somebody’s gotta help ’em. And so you have a strong sense of patience for people in their process. You’re like, yeah they’re not there but they’re gonna get there. You know, I’m seeing good steps. And you find that most people appreciate you and hurting people find you. So let me just say this, most prophets, people don’t love them. Now they may respect them, but they don’t really love them. I mean they respect them. Priests, you love ’em because they’re there to help and what happens with priests, hurting people find them ’cause they know you’re gonna be patient with me, you’re gonna give me compassion, you’re gonna give me empathy, you’re gonna help me, you’re gonna meet with me, you’re gonna pray for me, you’re gonna hang in there. You’re not gonna just tell me what to do, you’re gonna walk alongside of me and help me to get it done. And so what happens with priests, people tend to really love priests. ‘Cause when you’re having a bad season, they’re good people, okay? Jesus is prophet, he comes and he proclaims the truth, he preaches, he says that a prophet is without honor in his hometown, he’s talking about himself and what he says is, that he’s gonna get put to death and murdered and that’s what happens to the prophets. The only way to silence the prophet is to kill ’em. So there’s always an attempt to silence and ultimately to stop a prophet. Jesus is also a priest. The Bible says in Hebrews, he’s our Great High Priest, who right now lives to make intercession. Right now Jesus will listen to you, He will hear your prayer, He will comfort you and what the Bible says is we don’t have a high priest who’s unable to sympathize with us, he’s been through it. He knows exactly what you’re going through and it says that he has grace for us in our time of need, that he’s there to forgive you when you blow it, he’s there to help you, to fix it. He doesn’t give up on you, He doesn’t walk away from you, He doesn’t abandon you instead, He hangs in there to help you. That’s Jesus our priest. How many of you are more of priests? You’re not a prophet you’re priests, you’re like, that’s me, and you can tell who the priests are ’cause the hurting people find them, they just do. People that have a priestly disposition or gifting, they don’t need to hang out a sign that says I’m looking for hurting people, hurting people just find them and they’re just

drawn to them and they appreciate them and there’s great affection for the priests. And then there’s the king. And so the king, your strength is stewarding resources. Prophets are good with ideas, priests are good with people, kings are good with things. Real estate, money, technology, organizational systems, structures, this sort of leadership and what a king does, a king builds a kingdom, that’s what they do. They’re always building something, they’re growing something, they’re planning something, they’re strategizing for something, they’re increasing efficiency and output. You have a strong sense of responsibility for excellence. You want things done right, you want things done well, you want things on time, you want things according to the budget, you want things to be efficient, you want things sequence. You like to plan, architect and forecast. Okay, we’re gonna do this and then we’re gonna do this and then we’re gonna do that and we’re gonna do that and we’re gonna do that and our kingdom is going to expand. Your kingdom could be your family, could be your portfolio, could be your business, it could be your ministry, but you like to see stewardship things utilized for maximum impact and effect and you like to see multiplication and expansion. You don’t mind making decisions and giving directives. You’re like we’re gonna do that, we’re not gonna do that. You want my opinion, I have an opinion, I will give it to you. Hey, if somebody needs to be the boss, I nominate me, I’m good to go. I know what we need to do, and I know what we need not to do, okay? Now in addition, you find some people struggle to relate to you ’cause the truth is, there’s not a ton of kings in the world. So a lot of people are like, well, you’re unique, you’re an outlier I don’t really relate to you and sometimes as well, the king, so the prophet can seem a little rude, a little aloof, a little curt, a little emotional, a little loud, a little pushy. The priest in the wrong sense, can seem a little weak, a little passive, a little cowardly, a little too patient and the king can seem a little indifferent about people and they’re more worried about things and outcomes and results and as a result, people have a hard time relating to them because you don’t really know much about the king, what you really know is about his kingdom. How many of you are more of kings, our case? Are you guys, leaders, CEOs, CFOs, those guys, okay? Jesus is also a king. He is the king over the kingdom of God and he’s right now preparing a place for us which is in His kingdom. The point is this, Jesus leads in all three. And again, Melchizedek comes out and he’s a prophet, priests and
king, Jesus is a perfect prophet, priest and king and how many of you when you think of Jesus, how many of you think of Him more in terms of a prophet? How many of you think of Him that way? That probably means you’re a prophet. How many of you when you think of Jesus, you think of Him more of as a priest? All right, if you think of Him as a prophet, you’re thinking of his preaching and His teaching and His doctrine and His theology and His verse quoting and His fighting against the false teachers and the religious people and he’s a prophet and if you’re a prophet, when you read of those things of Jesus in the Bible, those are the things that you connect with. You’re like, that’s my guy and then if you’re a priest, you read the Bible you’re like, oh, look at that, kids liked him. People wanted to hang out with him. He got invited to parties. He prayed for people. He goes and he heals Jairus’ daughter and He has compassion for people. The number one emotion of Jesus in the Bible is compassion. That’s a priestly disposition. How many of you when you think of Jesus, you think of those pictures where he’s more like a priest, okay? That probably means you’re more priestly and so when you read of Him as a priest, that identifies with you that, that calls to you. How many of you, when you think of Jesus, you think of king and Lord and ruler and thrown and authority and commander in chief, and he’s the dude of

dudes, that’s your guy? If that’s you, you’re probably more of a king, okay? And each one of us probably has an area that we are strong, an area that we are moderate, and an area that we are weak, okay? For me, my strength, just me, prophet then king and I really gotta pay attention to priest and that’s why God gave me daughters. See what happens is, you can lead people that are like you, but you need to lead differently for people who are unlike you. And if you’re the leader, the people don’t adjust to your leadership. As a leader, you need to be the leader that they need, especially in your family, right? I can’t look at my daughters and be like, I don’t do priest, compassion, empathy, mirth, seat. No, I’m gonna yell at you and give you a chore chart. That’s not gonna work with my daughters. So even though being a priest isn’t my strongest inclination and disposition, I gotta work on that, I gotta pay attention to that, I gotta grow in that ’cause if I wanna be like Jesus, I need to what? I need to learn how to be a prophet, and a priest and a king. And I can’t just be one or two, I need to learn how to grow in all three. Now one’s gonna be easier, one’s gonna be a bit easier, and one’s gonna be really hard for me. The same is probably true with you, and what I even found with my kids, how many of you are raising kids? Like if all you do is prophet, priest or king and you’ve got a bunch of kids, you’re probably gonna have success with some of the kids and failures with others. If you’re a prophet, you’re like, well, I just, you know, I lay out the case, I provide the evidence, I give the verses, I tell them what they, I present the whole argument and that kids like, okay, that’s what I’m gonna do. The kid who is the priests are like, you didn’t pray for me, you didn’t hug me, you don’t know me, you kind of raised your voice, and you’re not any fun. So they’re not listening and so ultimately thinking about not only what are you like, what is your spouse like. How many of you, your wife is a prophet? Like she’s gonna give you the truth? And we’re gonna lay, we have a prayer ministry, we’re gonna intercede for you in a moment. I’m married to a girl that is prophet. She, people all the time are like that poor woman she lives with that man. Well it’s, we’re equally yoked. I’ll just tell you that. We both are okay stating the facts. My wife is, she just tells me the truth and she’s truth girl. Like she and you can tell the people that are like the prophet truth people they have no problem with hell. Like the priest struggle with how could God some people have prophets are like, oh, yeah, no problem. Yeah, that’s what they deserve. That’s what we all deserve, that’s what you deserve. So you know, so that’s the prophet. My girl is a truth girl. She will tell me, still tell me the truth. So I don’t have to, you know, if she was a priest, I’d need to pull it out of her ’cause she wouldn’t want to hurt my feelings. That’s not really the struggle. So her first is more prophet so we’re both prophet but we gotta be careful that we talk to each other, not just at each other and that we’re not just sort of head on collision with facts and so I gotta work on priest and now my wife second is actually priest. She is a great mom, she is very affectionate with the kids. I would say that my kids experience of their mom is as priest. Very affectionate, very present, very loving, very compassionate, very emotionally connected. Think of you’re not only yourself and your spouse, but what about your kids? How many of you got a kid and you’re like their prophet? Oh, my gosh, they’re gonna tell me what they think and unless I, and if I ever lied to that kid, they’re gonna stab me in my sleep. They just don’t, they they like the truth and the facts that’s just… How many of you your kid is a priest? Compassion, love, mercy, empathy, connection, relationship, right? You’re gonna need to really build the relationship before they’re gonna open their heart to you. And if you’re just a prophet and you’re raising a kid who’s a priest and you’re single, I just need to, I need to raise my voice and I need to give more information.

It’s gonna make it worse. It’s just gonna make it worse. How many of you, you’ve got a kid who’s a king, okay? And let me tell you this too, if your kid is a priest, their room is usually a mess. If your kid is a king, it’s put together real nice. You can sometimes tell who the kings are in a family with the kids by just walking into the room. Like one of my sons, he’s a minimalist. He throws out everything he doesn’t use. Everything is organized, everything is color coordinated, everything is put together. My one of my kids won’t say which one, but you walk in, you’re like, oh my gosh, we’ve been robbed and, ’cause stuff’s everywhere and it’s like an episode of Hoarders, and you’re like, what, and they’ve been cleaning their room for 10 years. But they started and then a friend calls or a text comes in, or an email, and they’re so priestly, they’re about the relationship and they get away from the task. See the king is gonna stay focused on the task, the priest is gonna stay focused on the person and the relationship and so ultimately, as we’re even leading our families, and we’re parenting our kids, and we’re leading people at work, how many of you at work you’re like, I gotta talk to this person this way and that person that way, they’re just different? How many of you in your spheres of influence your guy coaches one of your kids sports teams, or you’re leading in ministry, you’re like, that person is a priest and if I’m gonna help and lead them, I’m gonna need to start with love and compassion and mercy and grace? That person is a king, I gotta make sure I’m organized, I show up on time, I follow up on my obligations, duties and responsibilities and commitments, they can depend on me that I’m a person that gets things done, and I’m efficient and dependable, otherwise, they won’t respect me. Or I’m gonna lead somebody who’s a prophet and it is, I better always tell them the truth and if I’m going to, you know, use God’s word, I better use it rightly ’cause they don’t have ears to hear anybody who is not truthful or not careful with God’s truth. Does that make sense? Okay, so here’s gonna be the discussion around the table. This will be the questions. Of the titles prophet, priests and king, how do you mostly see Jesus? How many of you primarily see Him prophet? How many of you priest? How many of you see Him as king, okay? Which of the three are you strongest and weakest at? You’re like, I’m prophet but I’m not good priest. Like, I’ll tell people the truth, but I’m probably not gonna lay hands pray over ’em and walk with them. How many of you you’re like, I’m primarily priest. I love people, I’ll meet with them, I’ll pray for ’em, I’ll care for ’em but I struggle to just tell ’em the truth? And that is, you need to knock it off. Like I feel bad but these are all self inflicted gunshot wounds. You’re hurting yourself, how? And then lastly, just how do we pray for you? How do we pray for you? And then I want you to be thinking about and even asking the Holy Spirit like, okay Lord, if you’re married, how am I and who am I and what’s my wife like? And am I leading her in the way that she needs me to lead her? ‘Cause oftentimes as men what we say is, I’m the leader, you need to adjust to me. The truth is not all, if you’re the leader, you need to be the leader that they need, okay? This is what Jesus does for us. What I love about Jesus, Jesus doesn’t come as prophet, priest or king, He comes as prophet, priest, and king and He ministers to and He loves and He leads us and He does so out of all three capacities, offices and abilities but then as men, we’ve gotta ask ourselves, am I willing to be like Jesus? Do I want to be like Jesus? And part of being like Jesus, and loving like Jesus, and leading like Jesus, is figuring out what that person needs, and how to best love and lead them not with the way that you and I are most comfortable, but the way that is most caring for them. And so like, this is where for me, I’ll close at this, like this is where my daughters are one of the greatest gifts in my whole life. ‘Cause they have to have a priest for a dad, they have

to. So I need to learn how to be a better priest. And I’m still learning that all the time. You know, for me, prophet and king is a lot easier. I can tell the truth and build something but then being emotionally present, to listen and to care and to have compassion and understanding that’s where my daughters have been a tremendous gift. So let me say this, sometimes the people in your life that you struggle the most to connect with or understand are actually gifts from the Lord, to help you become more like Jesus in an area that you need some growth and that’s true for all of us. Father thanks for a chance to teach and God as we pivot our time together and eventually have time around table for discussion, God I pray that each of us would just, Holy Spirit that you’d help us through it. Am I a prophet, is that me? Am I a priest, is that me? Am I a king, is that me? What’s my wife like? What are my kids like? What are my friends like? What are the people that I have influence over or leadership of what are they like? And God how can I be unselfish and not just say, well this is how I am and how I lead but how can I be like Jesus and have a servant attitude and hard and disposition and say, what is the leader that they need? And how can I learn to grow in those areas and to lead in those ways, and Jesus, we just say thank you that you are prophet, priest and king. You are the Word of God, you tell us the truth, we can completely trust you, you don’t lie, and you don’t sugarcoat, and you don’t change the truth and the facts that you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. God we thank you that you are our priest. You don’t just speak to us, you walk with us, you help us, you love us, you serve us, you forgive us, you care for us, you’re relational in your pursuit of us but God we also thank you that you’re a king. That you have a plan for our life, you have a plan for our family, you have a plan for our legacy and our destiny and our eternity. We thank you that you’re working out everything according to your plan. You know exactly what you’re doing. We thank you that you don’t waste resources, that you take everything that we are and have an experience and do and you invest it for something that is meaningful, valuable and purposeful and so God I just pray for each of us as men and the discussions around the table. God the guys are different and the reason that they’re together is ’cause they’ll be better together and I pray in the areas that the guys are weak that they would lean on the guys who are strong, to learn to grow in those areas so that we would all be better leaders, and more like Jesus Christ, our prophet, priest and king in whose name we pray.