Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

THE PRIESTHOOD IN THE HOME

1. That the priesthood of God's people carried:
   1. By the heads of the families in the days before the flood - Gen. 4:1-9, 26
   2. In the days of the Patriarchs they followed the same practice - Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 22:9; 35:1-3
2. As the people of God grew in numbers and the work of God increased in its influence:
   1. God gave to Aaron and his sons the priesthood.
   2. Later this same work was given to the tribe of Levi - Heb. 7:1-28

1. The priest of the house was:
   1. A representative of God in his own home.
   2. He was a connecting link between God and the members of his family. EXAMPLES -
      1. Noah and his family - Gen. 8:20-22
      2. Abraham and his household. He has a large family, about three hundred persons - Gen. 18:17-26
      3. Jacob, too, had a large group of people in his household - Gen. 35:1-8
      4. Job is another example of the work of the priesthood in the home - Job. 1:1-5
      5. Joshua is still another wonderful example of the priesthood in the home - Josh. 24:15
2. The work of the priesthood in the home is fourfold:
   1. Intercession - to make intercession is to plead the case of someone in serious trouble in the family - EXAMPLES -
      1. Abraham made intercession for his nephew Lot and his family, as well as for Sodom - Gen. 18:23
      2. Moses interceded for Israel - Ex. 32:9-12
      3. The woman of Canaan for her daughter - Matt. 15:22-28
   2. Stepping into the gap or breach. Read carefully Ps. 106; Ex. 32:32
   3. To serve at the altar - that means that the priest in the home keeps the family ready and willing to lay their lives and themselves upon God's altar. Compare Rom. 12:1 with Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:5
   4. To teach the way of the Lord - this shows that the family altar includes more than prayer; it includes the study of the Word of God -
      1. That was the program of Abraham - Gen. 18:17
      2. The Bereans followed a similar plan - Acts 17:11, 12

1. Our finite minds shall never be able to fully comprehend the benefits derived from the priesthood in the home:
   1. It gives the home the connection with God that it needs to be saved.
   2. It becomes a wall of partition between the members of the family and the world - Josh. 24:15; 2 Cor. 6:14-17
   3. It is a living barrier to sin - Isa. 26:1; Job. 1:10
   4. It binds the heart to God and the family at the same time.
   5. It prepares the members of the family for service in the case of God. The history of the church of God and its activities indicate that the deeper roots of dedication are to be found in the training received in the home.
2. What people miss when they do not have the priesthood in the home:
   1. They lose their connection with God and that means that they are in a lost condition.
   2. They cannot claim the promises of God for themselves and their household when they fail to keep connection with the Lord, the source of life and hope.
   3. They expose themselves and their loved ones to the working of Satan, and that means ruination in the end.
   4. God pronounces a curse upon the families that do not call upon the name of the Lord - Jer. 10:25
   5. The Lord calls it "iniquity" - Ps. 14:4; Isa. 43:22