A New Priesthood-Standing Between The Porch & Altar | Abigail Collins | Faith Church

Oh, God is good, no? He's so good. Many of you

were here last night. For those who may not know,

Dad already said it. And Abigail, we've been

coming to the Midwest for over 30 years now.

And we just love Jesus. We really love Jesus.

That's why we come. That's why we came. That's

why we come again. But we also love you guys,

and we come, too, because we love you guys so

much. It is a joy, joy to be with family. It

is a joy. That's why I can tease Pastor Darren

from the pulpit, because he's been teasing me

since I was a wee little lass, so now I get to

sit on the front row and tease him back and enjoy

it, maybe a little too much. No, we're so, so

grateful to be here. And I just, I love the way

the Lord works, because the Lord had spoken this

word to me a few weeks ago, but I just didn't

feel, I felt like this contending in my spirit

of what is the fullness. I felt like I could

see it from afar off, but Lord, what is it you're

wanting to speak fully here? He was speaking

different scriptures to me and different things.

And this morning, as I woke up at Dennis and

Linda's, and the Lord was just speaking to me

and speaking to me, and then again. in worship,

it was just like, oh, it's just kind of like,

you know, when gears click together, it's like,

oh, this isn't me. This isn't in my head. The

Lord is speaking this. It is just, it is rich

in the atmosphere this morning. It is from the

moment you shared about worship to the exhortations

from Pastor Darren and the very song choices.

I always love watching the way the Lord coordinates

and aligns things. And he speaks. To his people.

And if you're listening, you're going to find

yourself. We go all over the world and you're

going to find, oh, the Lord's been speaking the

same thing to my brothers and sisters in Africa

than he is here. But they have a different perspective

because, you know, the body is, it's one body

but many parts. And I get to see Jesus through

the eyes of my brothers and sisters in other

cultures. But it's the same Jesus and he's speaking

the same things to his body, to his bride. So

we're going to talk about stepping into the fullness

of our priesthood, our place of priesthood with

the Lord today. I want to talk about the call

of the Lord, calling his body to stand in the

gap between porch and altar, and how we have

authority in that place because of our relationship

with Jesus Christ and our intimacy with the Father.

Amen? All right. So if you came here needing

some encouragement, buckle up. I was... My father,

many people have asked me over the years, so

how would you describe your dad? It's a running

joke in our family when people try to introduce

him to speak. And Jeff is... Jeff's... Well,

he's not a pastor, but Jeff's, and they struggle

for words, so we laugh, but if you ask anyone

who knows him closely, you'll know that first

and foremost, my father is an evangelist. So

I was born and raised in an environment of...

the go of God. We're going to go to the nations.

We are going to, you know, he came to seek and

save what is lost, and he's passed that mandate

on to us, the ministry of reconciliation. So

I am also an evangelist at heart, and you're

going to probably hear that a lot today. But

where does that come from? You can't give what

you don't have, right? And I don't want to save

people into survival. I don't want to preach

fear and fire and brimstone for them to come

into a place of sitting on a church pew, living

a life of settling and compromise. So when we

stand in that place of intercession in the gap,

when we stand in that place of and live out of

that place of evangelism, of reaching the lost,

what are we offering them? What are we inviting

them into? You can't give what you don't have.

So I want to remind you today who you are and

what Christ paid for you to walk in. Amen? Okay.

I want to start in Joel chapter, sorry. If at

any point you can't hear me well enough, just

go like this really good and I'll try and use

my big girl voice. All right, Joel chapter two,

verse 17. I'm gonna start with this mandate from

the Lord that I feel him speaking over this region.

I love this region, and I know you do too. Let

the priest, say I'm a priest. I'm a priest. Who

minister to the Lord. This is always our first

goal, is vertical. Can't go horizontal, at least

not in a healthy way before you've gone vertical.

Let the priests who minister to the Lord weep

between the porch and the altar. Let them say,

spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your

heritage to reproach, that the nations should

rule over them. Then the Lord will be zealous

for his land and pity his people. The Lord will

answer and say to his people, behold, I will

send you grain and new wine and oil, and you

will be satisfied by them. I will no longer make

you a reproach. I'm going to skip down. To verse

23. Be glad then, you children of Zion. Be glad,

O Illinois, and rejoice in the Lord your God.

For he has given you the former rain faithfully.

And he will give you the rain to come down for

you. The former rain and the latter day in the

first month. The threshing floor shall be full

of wheat. And the vats shall overflow with new

wine and oil. And hear this prophetically in

the spirit. Verse 25. So I will restore to you

the years that the swarming locust has eaten.

Verse 26. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied

and praise the name of the Lord your God who

has dealt wondrously with you. And my people

shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know

that I am in the midst of Israel. I am in the

midst of central Illinois. I am the Lord your

God and there is no other. My people shall never

be put to shame. I have so much here to share,

but I'm going to read this next part because

it's too good not to. Please don't hear this

numb to the fact that you've heard it 30 times.

Hear it as a now word in the spirit. And it shall

come to pass afterward, after we've stood in

the gap, after he has released his provision.

that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men

shall see visions. And also on my men servants

and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit

in those days. In these days, y 'all. In these

days. Look at your neighbor and say, in these

days. In these days. I don't want to take too

long, but I just want to underscore. I want to

highlight, if it were. If you could see my Bible,

you'd see a whole lot of that. But I want to

underscore some things from this passage today.

I want to highlight them for you for today and

just in the spirit. So we are priests. And we

minister to the Lord. What is the significance

of weeping between porch and altar? I love the

word, but for the sake of time, I might reference

some. But if you go back through chapters and

chapters and chapters of the Old Covenant, the

Old Testament, there is... Just line upon line,

so many instructions and details the Lord gave.

And I don't believe they're supposed to just

be relegated to the past. I think he was very

intentional. The porch was where only the priest

could go. I mean, the altar was where only the

priest could go to offer sacrifice. The porch

was where the assembly would gather. And when

we see the priest, weeping between porch and

altar. They were crying out for mercy. They had

tasted the goodness of God, the mercy seat. They

had been in the presence of the Lord, which we

now have free access to. If you are a believer

in Jesus Christ, saved by grace, you have access

to his presence 24 -7. But I want you to feel

the significance of how... revelatory this was

when the prophet Joel spoke these words. We are

now kings and priests and the altar of God, and

we're standing in the gap for those that have

yet to come in, have yet to have access to that

presence that we live by as our daily bread every

day. Is this making sense? So, if not us, who

else? Who's going to call them into that place

of presence? Who's going to weep and grieve over?

Did we forget how to grieve over the state of

our neighbor's souls? Have we forgotten what

a privilege it is to walk in this grace in which

we now stand? Never, ever, ever, ever let yourself

grow dull to the wonder of salvation. Never let

yourself grow complacent for the salvation of

others. All right, I'm going to move forward.

When it says in verse 18 that then the Lord will

be zealous for his land, it's not that he wasn't

already zealous. It is a mysterious, beautiful

co -laboring that we get to do. We have the privilege

of doing with Jesus that we get to partner with

him. He is so longing to pour out glory, salvation,

revival, to call in the lost. But what does it

say? Who will go for us? And it just takes someone

willing to say, Here am I, God. Send me. Here

am I. Use me. Use me to be a conduit. We're like

Holy Ghost lightning rods. We can see and know,

oh, we've tasted, and we get to pull it down

to earth and release it. He's just waiting for

those to stand in the gap. Now, I love that we

are in, Even Pastor Cammie had a word last night

just about the harvest being plentiful. I love

driving through the fields when I'm here. When

he says that latter rain and that former rain,

that wasn't natural. He was speaking to a people

of the land, of farmers. They know that's not

normal. He said, I have more than enough. I've

just been waiting to pour it out. Are you hearing

me? There's the latter rain and the former. There's

all, anything we've ever seen, every testimony

we've ever seen him do, that former rain, the

glory, the miracles I've seen, the miracles I've

received, I've walked in, it's all that and it's

more, and he's just waiting to pour it out. I

don't know. Maybe I have to be excited enough

for all of us today. He's waiting to pour it

out. Can you feel it in the atmosphere? I could

be blind. Thank God I'm not. I love seeing the

beauty of creation, but I could be blind and

walk outside and tell you if a thunderstorm was

coming because you can feel the humidity, the

weight in the atmosphere. You can smell the scent

of rain. As people of God, we should know how

to be like the sons of Issachar and know the

times in which we live and feel. Oh, Lord, I

feel the heavens are pregnant for what you're

wanting to birth in this region. Here am I, God.

Use me to bring it. Here am I, God. Use me to

bring it. All right. And if you're not convinced,

I'm going to take you over. into First Pier and

just remind you what the Lord says about you

today. Because I'm going to be relentless and

if there is any excuse in your mind, if you walk

out with it today, it's not my fault. I just

want to say it is not my fault and it is not

for lack of trying. Okay, I told you I get a

little feisty sometimes. 1 Peter 2. I'm going

to jump down quickly to verse 9. Let's start

in verse 9. But you are a chosen generation.

Look at your neighbors. Say, you are a chosen

generation. And I'm just going to come across

a real obvious one real fast, come against a

real obvious one, age. I could spend the rest

of this sermon taking you to scripture after

scripture. Don't disqualify yourself because

you're too young. God's not done with you because

you're too old. I'm in the middle. I haven't

arrived yet. I have to come into my own. I have

to go to Bible school three more years. No. Okay,

if I had like a list from Pastor Cameron, okay,

we're going to X that one off. Excuse number

one, bye. Age is not a disqualifier. Never has

been, never will be. In the kingdom, God is eternal.

We are an eternal people of God. He is the God

of three generations walking in unity. The healthiest

churches I've ever found on this earth are walking

in unity. In spiritual unity, racial unity, and

generational unity. That's the healthiest, most

book of Acts, Christ -like, form of church you'll

ever see, in my opinion, and in my reading of

the word. You are a chosen generation, a royal,

what's that word? Oh, priesthood. You are priesthood,

a holy nation, his own special people, that you

may proclaim the praise of him who called you

out of darkness into his marvelous light. Anyone

else just feel the power of God hit when Pastor

Darren started to sing about the light coming

out of darkness and exhort about coming out of

darkness into the light and remember what God

brought you out of? We can't forget. We can't

ever forget. We can't grow comfortable in the

darkness either. It is for freedom he sets you

free. Do not be enslaved again. Hear me in the

spirit. Do not be enslaved again to those works

of darkness. I feel that so in the spirit. There's

a call against compromise. Because God's nitpicky

because he's looking for an excuse to judge us?

No. Because he knows those things numb us to

our purpose and bind us from our calling. He

called you out of darkness into his marvelous

light. I love what it says back in verse 3. It

says, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord

is gracious. If there's anyone in this room today

that has not yet tasted that graciousness, you

came on a good day. Any day of the week is a

good day to taste the graciousness of God. But

today is like a buffet. We have people that will

pray for you. People that can tell you how good

this graciousness is. So I challenge you, if

anyone here has not experienced the saving grace

of Jesus Christ, we're going to have you come

forward after this service, and we're going to

pray with you, and we're going to welcome you

to the most beautiful family you'll ever be a

part of. Still working out a few dysfunctional

kinks, but beautiful family. I love the body

of Christ. I do, I do, I do. Someone thinks I'm

funny, praise the Lord. All right. I'm just going

to do one more little death blow to an excuse

here in Revelation. Revelation chapter 1. We're

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

going to start in the latter part of verse 4.

Grace to you. This is my heart for you today.

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who

was and who is to come. He's the God of the present

and the past and the future. But he's first and

foremost naming himself the God of the present.

who is and who was and who is to come, and from

the seven spirits who were before his throne,

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,

the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of

the kings of the earth, to him who loved us.

Oh, how he loves us. Who loved us and washed

us from our sins in his own blood. May we never

forget, Lord. May we never forget that you loved

us first and you washed us with that. costly

price of your precious blood. And that nothing,

nothing can stand against or conquer that blood.

There is no greater word than the blood of Jesus.

There's no greater power than the blood of Jesus.

And there is no greater love than he who laid

down his life for us, who he now calls friends.

He has made us kings and priests to his God and

Father. To him be glory and dominion forever

and ever. Amen. We give you glory, glory. Why?

Because he loved us. Every song today, I was

like, just stirring in my spirit, because yes,

he loved us and he paid for us. Is our life reflecting

that value with how we walk it out? Are we living

a life worthy of the calling with which we were

called? All right. So, you can't tell me you're

not a priest. King and a priest. You can tell

me, but I won't listen. I'll say it that way.

I want to go to Ezekiel quickly. Ezekiel chapter

Ezekiel 22 · chapter mention

22. Because some of you have known me since I

was about eight years old, or any time between

now and then, about the last 30 years. Some of

you don't know me from Adam, so I want to make

sure you hear my heart. I am not here to, I'm

here to encourage, not to bring condemnation.

So when I get stirred up in the spirit and I

make statements and quote scriptures like, are

you living a life worthy of the calling with

which you're called? It's to point you and remind

you of the value of your calling. Not to point

out any shortcomings. Do you hear me? Please,

please, please hear my heart today. In Ezekiel

22, chapter 22, verse 30, it says, it's the Lord.

And I've gone back to the Old Testament, but

I feel like he's still crying this. He's still

seeking the same thing, still crying out. So

I sought for a man among them who would make

a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf

of the land that I should not destroy it. At

the close of the service last night, Pastor Cammie

gave a powerful, powerful prophetic word. I wish

she were here. You're going to have to remind

me the name of those in the fields, the ditches

she was speaking about, waterways. She had seen

this prophetic picture in worship of how the

harvest is ripe, but we are called to be like

waterways. And she was repenting before the Lord

for how we have failed to stand in the gap as

waterways. to simultaneously, correct me if I'm

wrong here, what she shared, but she was saying,

we're to stand in the gap so that it's not destructive

and it doesn't destroy the crop, but it also

nourishes it and waters it. We're saying, God

have mercy, bring favor, bring your rain, but

God have mercy. And it was such a powerful picture.

She had no idea what I was planning to share

this morning, but the Lord is calling. for intercessors

and evangelists to stand in the gap, for breakthrough

in the heavens and on the earth here in Illinois,

here in this nation. He's looking for people

to stand in their identity, confident in their

calling, only by grace. I can't emphasize that

enough. Insecurity is no substitute for humility,

but confidence is no substitute for anointing.

I'm going to say that again. Insecurity is no

substitute for humility. We have to walk humbly

before our God. It's only in humility that we

can become confident. Any confidence of our own

strength, no comparison for his anointing. Moses.

led a nation. He talked with a stutter. How many

prophets, people, apostles we've seen battle

insecurity in the word. But when they chose to,

even in the midst of their fears, walk in obedience,

nations were delivered. Are you hearing me? I'll

use myself as an example. You can see me up here

preaching and loving it now. Less than an hour

away. Oh, I can't believe I'm going to say this

out loud and it's being recorded. Oh, my Lord.

All right. I'm going to get real with y 'all,

okay? I was the little girl who spoke with a

lisp, who was terrified of strangers. And when

you live as a traveling evangelist family, a

new place each week, pretty much everyone's a

stranger. I was the one, you know, the little

kid holding mommy, clinging to daddy's hand.

I was the one that, can you say that again, honey?

Because I was so nervous. Or so excited. I was

the one. Oh, I keep going to be saying it, and

I'm like, oh, God, help me. I'm going to say

this on the microphone. Dad, we need a little

laughter break. Dad called us all up as a family.

I'm one of four children, and we were at the

church over in Groveland, and he wanted to introduce

his family to the congregation. So sweet. That

meant I had to get up in front of people. I was

about seven years old. I was so nervous. Let's

just say mom had to do laundry later that night.

So I was so nervous. I was so nervous. I had

to run out the back doors to the restroom because

I was just terrified. I was so terrified. Okay?

Now that was supposed to be a laugh break, I

guess. That was probably TMI. Uh -oh. All right,

come back, come back, Holy Spirit. Why am I sharing

that? Why would I say that? It's not because

it's something I just thought, oh, this is something

they need to know. I want to tell you how God

can take someone terrified and trembling, never

wanting the microphone. My sweet Papa, he took

years, decades of my life. And before I preach,

I'm going to have my daughter, Abigail, come

pray for me. Jesus, bless Daddy. Help him share

a good work. In Jesus' name, amen. To get me

used to speaking from the microphone, because

he and my mom, they saw my calling. They knew

my heart, that I wanted to serve the Lord. They

also saw their nervous, sweet little girl. But

they wouldn't let me shrink back. So if I sound

a little, any way, I don't know, not aggressive,

but if I seem impassioned and just like, come

on, step into your calling today. I want to encourage

you the same way I was encouraged. Did that help

anyone? Because I'm feeling a little like, oh

my goodness, I just shared that. Is anyone hearing

me? I told you. I told you. If you walk out of

here with a single excuse in your mind, it is

not my fault. If that does not purge me, I do

not know what will. I tried my hardest, y 'all.

This is bigger than us. This is more important

than my fear, than my doubts, than my compromise,

than my thinking, my choice of, well, God's going

to move. He'll do it. He's sovereign. I'll just

stay in the shadows. Can I tell you like Mordecai

told Esther today? Surely, he's going to have

his way. He will work deliverance. But what a

privilege. Who would want to miss out on the

privilege of partnering with him? That he's for

such a time as this called us. For such a time

as this, he's called us. Are you hungry to be

used by God today? Because there is no doubt

that he's moving. There is no doubt that he wants

to pour things out. So, Lord, we pray that you

would find a company of volunteers. It says your

people will be volunteers. We don't have to be

voluntold. That we would be volunteers in the

day of his power. Lord, when you look across

Illinois, would you find a company of willing

volunteers? Willing volunteers. I'm going to

close out in Isaiah 61. And I want you to put

yourself, as you hear this, put yourself in the

me. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because

the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings

to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening

of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim

the acceptable year of the Lord. It's been a

rough few years, y 'all. But I just proclaim

this is the acceptable year of the Lord. The

day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who

mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to

give them beauty for ashes and the oil of joy

for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit

of heaviness. that they may be called trees of

righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that

he may be glorified. There are people in the

room that are mourning today, and there's joy

on offer for you. to close with this and if you

were here last night this dies into the word

there also but they shall rebuild the old ruins

and they shall raise up the former desolations

and they shall repair the ruined cities the desolations

of many generations verse 6 but you shall be

named the priest of the Lord and they shall call

you the servants of our God When we partner with

him, there's transformation for us as well. As

we pour out his vessels, we are ourselves filled

in the process. I just, I want to give a call.

If you want to say, Lord, here am I, send me.

Put me in whatever gap. You want filled. If you

want to come and say, God, speak to me. Tell

me how you see me. Tell me who I am in you. If

you need to hear fresh words of calling and promise,

the altar is open. The Lord is ready. releasing

identity on his people today. And there's commissions,

there's holy commissions like mantles hovering

in the atmosphere waiting to be picked up and

run with. If you want to say, Lord, here am I.

Use me. We're going to invite you to come down.

Lord, right now, we just want to follow up with

this. He's the God that sees you. He's the God

that knows you. He's the God that loves you.

Here's the faintest cry. You were born to release

the kingdom of God. You were made, crafted by

the hand of the Father to give yourself to love

and good. works but right now we ask you for

sons and daughters to come back home Missions,

mandates, and movements that are awaiting for

someone to say, I don't want to just live like

this where I am. I want to get up. I want to

see. I want to have a break. however you want

to do it you want to stretch your hands you Holy

Spirit, just get on you, get near you, get over

you. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. God

of breakthroughs, we pray for greater breakthroughs,

God. Open up the gates. kingdom of God. Can we

just begin to pray out as you would? If you want

to come, you can come. Here's my life, Lord.

Here's my heart, Lord. Any of those things that

naysayers have spoken against you, let that thing

be broken. This afternoon, thank you, Father.

We thank you, Lord. We thank you for this church.

Lord, just say, here I am, Lord. Take me, here

I am. Go ahead. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.

The Lord's been showing me some pictures, and

I just want to release some prophetic words,

if that's okay. And I don't want to embarrass

you, but right here in the front row of the pond,

I kept looking at you in worship because I kept

seeing a vision over you. But I feel like there's

more in the room. I'm going to share this with

her. But if you feel this in your spirit, grab

hold of it, okay? I saw you like standing against

a wall in the shadows, right on the edge. And

you were so, it was like you could see the Lord

and his beauty and everything. And you were so

drawn to it. It wasn't that you wanted to be

in the darkness just for the darkness sake, but

you were just. It's like I saw the Lord reach

out and just pull you out of the shadows. And

there's a calling on your life. And the Lord

is calling you out of the shadows today. He's

not going to let you hide in any, I don't know

what, any insecurity, any lie, any thought that

hinders you from stepping fully into who he's

called you to be. He is calling you out today.

He knows you by name and he is calling you. And

I feel that there are nations in you. There's

a calling to nations in you. You may not know

it. But there's a call in your life bigger than

what you understand or know yet. And it's because

you love him. And it's because he loves you.

As we were singing about light and darkness.

and the Lord was speaking to me in worship, I

saw this picture. And it's like so many people,

they have, as believers particularly, we have

this thought in mind of what darkness is. We

think of the drug addict, of, you know, the drunk,

abusive father, the crackhead. Darkness. Darkness

can be fear. Darkness can be insecurity. Darkness

can be anything that hinders you from stepping

fully out. We are children of the light. I worked

social work for a while, and do you know the

percentage of criminals imprisoned and drug addicts?

Do you know what the percentage is that they

grew up without a father? See, we can look at

things and label them darkness, but God wants

to get to the root. And I feel there's people

in the room today that the Lord is breaking an

orphan spirit off of. That feeling of insignificance

of I'm not worthy of, I don't belong. There's

no place for me at the table. You are accepted

in the beloved. You are accepted in the beloved.

You are welcome at the king's table. He is the

father like no other father. The lover like no

other lover. If you, again, I'm not trying to

put people on the spot, but if you have battled

feelings of insignificance and unworthiness,

I don't care what you've done. I don't care what

has been done to you. I don't care. Because I

know my God and he's bigger than anything. And

the Lord wants to break that off of you today.

So I encourage you, step out in boldness, come

get prayer because there's freedom in the house

today. Freedom isn't just raising our hands and

singing. It's walking out changed. And there

is... There is transformation available today.

Don't let it pass you by. Don't be like a duck

that's just like water off a duck's back. Don't

come and sit in the presence of God, but have

this thing on you that says, oh, God is good,

but not for me. Come receive. Hallelujah, hallelujah.