Have you ever noticed that sometimes the quickest
way to explain who a person is is by comparing
them to somebody else? If I were to tell you
that this new young basketball player who's just
come into the NBA is the next Steph Curry, well
if you were a basketball fan you would immediately
begin forming in your mind a picture of to who
this player is. You would think about his size,
his shooting ability, his court vision, his leadership,
his work ethic, what he brings to the game. The
comparison tells you something important before
you really know anything else about the person.
Or if I were to say that this young politician,
this up -and -coming politician is another Abraham
Lincoln, you would instantly think of certain
things. Integrity, courage, being able to lead
during difficult times. Comparisons are a powerful
way to allow us to understand something unfamiliar
by connecting it to something else. And that's
exactly what the writer of Hebrews is going to
do in chapter 7. The readers know Jesus. They
know He is the Son of God. They know that He
died and rose again. They know that He is their
Savior, but there's one aspect of the ministry
of Jesus that the writer of Hebrews desperately
wants them to understand. He wants them to get
it. He wants them to get that Jesus is their
great high priest. The problem is, is that Jesus
was not from the priestly tribe. Jesus was from
the tribe of Judah. So how can he be our great
high priest? And to answer that question the
writer is going to reach back nearly 2 ,000 years
before Christ and he's gonna pull this mysterious
figure out of the pages of Genesis. A man who
appears for only a few verses then disappears
just as quickly only to be mentioned again a
thousand years later in one of our Psalms. Of
course, we've already encountered him a couple
times. His name is Melchizedek. Back in chapter
five, the writer mentions that Jesus was a priest
forever in the order of Melchizedek. He brings
him up again in chapter six, but each time when
you think that maybe he's going to explain to
us who Melchizedek is or why he's bringing up
Melchizedek, he just keeps stopping short. So
he brings up Melchizedek and you're like, Melchizedek,
what's going on with this? And then he just stops
and he goes to something else. And then he brings
him up again and you're like, Melchizedek, what's
going on with this? And then he starts to warn
the people. So he's been hinting at that using
this person as a comparison for Jesus all along.
And finally in chapter seven, he returns to this
mysterious figure and he reveals why he brought
him up in the first place. Now at first glance,
Melchizedek seems like a strange place to build
an argument. As I said, he's just briefly mentioned
in Genesis 14, yet the writer of Hebrews is going
to build an entire chapter, we'll do some of
it this week, Brother James will finish it next
week, Lord willing, and yet he's going to discuss
Melchizedek for an entire chapter. And the question
has to be asked, well, why? Why are you bringing
up this mysterious figure that kind of comes
out of nowhere in Genesis 14? And the reason
why he does it is not because Melchizedek is
the hero of the story. Not because we're supposed
to become so fascinated with Melchizedek. He
brings up Melchizedek because Melchizedek is
a God -given portrait of Jesus. The writer is
essentially saying, if you want to understand
how Jesus Christ is your great high priest, you
need to look at Melchizedek. And as we do that,
we are going to discover that every point that
the writer of Hebrews brings up about Melchizedek
points to Jesus. It's not about the man himself.
It is about the greatness of Jesus Christ. Does
that make sense? It's not about Melchizedek.
It is about Jesus. So let's turn to Hebrews chapter
seven. We're gonna read the first 10 verses and
then we're basically gonna look at a couple things.
What he reveals about Melchizedek and then the
proofs that he gives to show that Melchizedek
is in fact great and why he points. to Jesus.
So let's read these first 10 verses and then
we'll begin discussing the shadow of Melchizedek
pointing to Christ. For this Melchizedek, king
of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings and
blessing. And to him Abraham apportioned a tenth
part of everything. He is first, by translation
of His name, King of Righteousness. And then
He is also King of Salem. That is, King of Peace.
He is without father or mother or genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but resembling the Son of God, He continues a
priest forever. See how great this man was, to
whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of his
spoils. And those descendants of Levi who received
the priestly office have a commandment in the
law to take tithes from the people that is from
their brothers, though these also are descendants
from Abraham. But this man, who does not have
his descent from the received tithes of Abraham
and blessed him, who had the promises. It is
beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by
the superior. In one case tithes are received
by mortal men, but in the other case by one of
whom it is testified that he lives. One might
even say that Levi himself, who received tithes,
paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still
in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek
met him. Let's break down this argument. Let's
break down why he's bringing up Melchizedek.
Now, the writer begins by introducing us to this
man. But this isn't, again, this isn't merely
a history lesson. Every detail is going to highlight
and is intended to reveal us something about
Christ. The writer is identifying the ways that
this character Melchizedek resembles Jesus. Melchizedek
is not the destination. He is a portrait of the
better priest king. Here's the first thing that
we see, verse one. This character, Melchizedek,
unites two offices together. It says in verse
one, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest
of the Most High God. Notice there, king and
priest. Now that may not sound unusual to us.
We've talked about this before. It would have
been completely unusual for the Jews to have
a king -priest. Kings came from the tribe of
Judah. Priests came from the tribe of Levi. They
didn't come from the same tribe. Yet centuries
before the law was given Melchizedek appears
on the pages of Scripture holding both offices.
He was king and he was priest. Now why does that
matter? Because Melchizedek is pointing us to
Jesus. Jesus is the king who rules his people.
And he is also the priest who represents his
people before God. Think about how wonderful
that is. The one who possesses all authority
is the one who intercedes for you. If you had
a king without a priestly compassion that king
could become a tyrant. If you had a priest without
kingly authority that priest could become powerless.
But in Jesus you have perfect authority and perfect
mediation meeting together. He truly is our better
priest king. So the first reason, the first revelation
that we're getting from Melchizedek is that he
was a priest king, pointing to the better priest
king, holding both offices together. The second
thing that he reveals is that he brings righteousness.
It says first in verse two, by translation of
his name, king of righteousness. Now the name
Melchizedek literally means king of righteousness.
But the writer isn't giving us this name. He's
not just doing like a Hebrew word study for us
so that we can be smart and just think that we
know the definition of His name. He's showing
another way in which this points to Christ. Because
righteousness is at the very heart of God's kingdom.
It is at the very heart of God's kingdom. Jesus
is righteous in His character. Amen? He is righteous
in His life that He lived. He perfectly fulfilled
the law of God, and Jesus always did what was
pleasing to the Father. And through faith in
Jesus, His righteousness becomes our righteousness.
Okay? We don't have any righteousness of our
own. This is one of the greatest truths of all
of Scripture. When we stand before God in Jesus
Christ, We do not stand in our own righteousness.
That would be standing in filthy rags. It would
be pointless and it would be an abomination before
God. But instead, in Christ, we stand there with
His righteousness. We stand before God clothed
in the purity of Jesus Christ. And Melchizedek...
bore this title, King of Righteousness, and the
author of Hebrews is saying, Jesus is the real
King of Righteousness. Melchizedek just pointed
there. He bore the title, but Jesus fulfills
the reality. He's the better priest king because
he brings righteousness to his people. Then he
gives us a third revelation of this king. Verse
two, he secures peace. It says, he then, And
then he is also king of Salem. That is king of
peace. Salem means peace. So Melchizedek is both
the king of righteousness and the king of peace.
Now don't miss the order here. This order is
very important. He doesn't say first he is the
king of peace and then he is the king of righteousness.
He says no, he is the king of righteousness and
he is the king of peace. And this is very, very
important. The order is not accidental. The Bible
never teaches peace with God apart from righteousness,
ever. That's why when people say, you know, I
think I'm gonna go to heaven one day because
I'm a good person. The question is not if you're
a good person or a bad person. The question is,
are you perfectly righteous? And if the answer
is no, then you don't have peace with God. It's
impossible. Peace cannot come without righteousness.
It's impossible. God does not make peace by ignoring
sin. He doesn't make peace by sweeping sin under
the rug. God establishes righteousness first
and then peace follows, and that is exactly what
Jesus accomplished on the cross. What does Romans
5 .1 say? Therefore, since we have been justified
by faith, you remember, what is justification?
I always like to describe it in the words of
Paul George, that's a basketball player, Bob
George. Always like to describe it like he described
it the great exchange. I bring all my sin and
I give it to Jesus Jesus takes it he died for
it and then he takes all of his righteousness
and gives it to me. It is the great exchange
So to be justified is to be righteous before
God in right standing before God because of Jesus.
So in Romans 5 .1, therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, made righteous by faith,
we have peace with God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
So there's the order. We become righteous because
of Jesus' righteousness, because of the King
of righteousness, and then because He is the
King of peace, we have peace with God. Don't
get that order messed up. That is a very deep
theological truth that we cling to. Justification
then peace. Righteousness then peace. And our
better priest king secures both for us. The fourth
and final revelation from these first three verses
is that he reigns forever. Now verse three is
probably the most misunderstood verse in this
passage. The writer says of Melchizedek that
he was without father or mother or genealogy
having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
This has made some people conclude that Melchizedek
must have been some type of celestial being.
Maybe he was an angel. Others have suggested
that maybe he was a pre -incarnate appearance
of Jesus Christ. But I do not think that is what
the author is saying. The writer is describing
Melchizedek as he appears in Genesis. Follow
me here. He's not describing all the details
about Melchizedek. Did Melchizedek have a mother?
Yes. Did Melchizedek have a father? Yes. That's
a reality of Melchizedek. He was a human being.
However, what he's doing is not describing the
actual genealogy of Melchizedek. That's not the
point. What he's doing is he's using how Melchizedek
appears in Genesis to point it to Jesus. In Genesis,
Melchizedek has no father or mother. He just
shows up. And so he's grabbing a hold of that
picture and he's saying, look, he didn't have
a father or mother in Genesis, he's just there.
And so he's not, Genesis, because it records
no genealogy, there's no ancestry, there's no
birth, there's no death. He is using that portrayal
of Melchizedek to point it to Jesus. By the way,
this was Genesis 14 that we're gonna read about
in a minute, is inspired by God. Why did God
inspire Moses to write about Melchizedek and
not mention his father and mother? Because Melchizedek
was always going to be a picture of Jesus. It's
one of the great principles of one of the great
defenses of why we believe the Bible's inspired.
God is not coming to the author of Hebrews and
saying, hey, you know, I just thought of something.
That's a great idea. Let's use Melchizedek to
point to Jesus. And then the writer of Hebrews
is like, that's great, God. And then wrote it
down. This was being planned. 2000 years ago.
That's why he's not mentioned as having a father,
mother, or any kind of genealogy, or ancestry,
or death. Because Melchizedek was always going
to be written the way he was written so that
he could point to Jesus, and years later we could
use Melchizedek as a picture in a portrait. Does
that make sense? Now, let's get to the point
of not having a mother, father, or ancestry.
The Levitical priesthood, you became a priest
because of your genealogy or because of your
ancestry, correct? Now, not every Levite was
going to be a priest, but you couldn't be a priest
unless you were a Levite. So your ancestry and
genealogy was a requirement in order for you
to become a priest. And another thing that happened
to every Levitical priest is that their ministry
ended because they died. Now, in fact, I believe
they had to stop being a priest at the age of
50. So I think at 50 they would stop being a
priest and then others that they had trained
would take over. And then sometimes they would
die even before 50. So their ministry would end.
But there's no death mentioned of Melchizedek.
There's no ending of Melchizedek's priesthood,
which results in him becoming a perfect fitting
picture of Christ. Jesus does not hold the priesthood
because of his genealogy. Doesn't matter what
tribe he's from. He becomes a priest because
of who he is, not his genealogy. So being from
the tribe of Judah doesn't matter for being the
great high priest of God in the new covenant.
Because this priest is not going to be priest
because of his ancestry. Jesus holds the office
because of who he is. And unlike every priest
that comes before him, his ministry never ends.
He never dies. He never needs a successor. He
never ends in his intercession. His ministry
never ends. Right now, at this very moment, our
better priest king is seated at the right hand
of the Father praying for his people. and he'll
continue to do it forever. It's why we can trust
him. It's why we can draw near to him. It's why
he is our better priest king. John Calvin wrote,
whatever excellency was in Melchizedek, it was
just a shadow of that which was found perfectly
in Jesus Christ. So here's the first thing he
does in these first three verses. He gives us,
he reveals to us these specific points. about
Melchizedek and why Jesus is better than anything
in the Levitical priesthood, because he's a priest
in the order of Melchizedek. Also, by the way,
as a side note here, one of the main reasons
textually why I don't think Melchizedek was a
pre -incarnate Jesus Christ is because it says,
in verse three, at the end of verse three, but
resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest
forever. That word resembling, the weight of
that word means that basically he just points
to him or is like him. And so that leads me to
believe that he's not a pre -incarnate Jesus.
He's just one that God inspired to write about
so that we could point to Jesus. Then after revealing
what's been revealed in these first three verses,
the writer is now going to prove how great he
was. He even says at the beginning of verse four,
see how great this man was. And then what he's
gonna do is he's going to give us three reasons
for how great Melchizedek was. Namely, how he's
greater than Abraham and Levi. Now that's a huge
statement to Jewish people. that this man Melchizedek
was greater than Abraham and Levi. And then he's
going to give the proofs for why that's true.
In order to do this, he's going to take us all
the way back to Genesis chapter 14. We need to
understand Genesis 14 in order to understand
the argument. Now many of us know Abraham as
the father of faith. We know him as the man who
left Ur... the man who received all the promises
of God and believed those promises. But in Genesis
14, there's a story here leading up to Melchizedek
that pictures Abraham in a different role. And
it's really the role of a warrior. We don't think
about Abraham as a warrior. But in Genesis 14,
we actually have a story of him being a warrior.
Here's what happens in Genesis 14. Four powerful
kings come together. and they decide we are going
to attack the kings in the land of Canaan. So
these kings from the east attack Canaan. And
there's five kings that then join together to
basically create a coalition to fight off these
other four kings. So you got four kings that
create a coalition, you've got five kings in
Canaan that put together a coalition, and they
go to war with each other. Now, two of the the
kingdoms are Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay, now we
know Sodom and Gomorrah because who chose Sodom
and Gomorrah when Abraham said we can't fight
anymore, this is ridiculous, our servants are
fighting, we've gone too big, you choose where
you want to go, I'll go to the other place. Who
chooses it? Lot, his nephew. Well what happens
in Genesis 14 is that these kings from the east
who attack Canaan, they win. And they take possessions
and they take captives to be slaves. and they're
taking them back home. Well guess who is one
of the persons that gets taken and taken captive
by these Eastern kings? Lot. Abraham finds out
about it. So what has happened now is these kings
have attacked. Abraham finds out my nephew has
been taken and probably his family has been taken
in to basically slavery by these kings. So he
gathers together 318 of his highly trained soldiers.
We don't even often think about Abraham having
soldiers, but you would think, well that makes
sense. He's got to protect his crop. He's got
to protect his flock. He's got to protect his
family. He's trained these 318 soldiers and he
leads them to go get lost. And in an amazing
victory, 318 men led by Abraham go and attack
four kings and win. Now it's not described how
they won, but they win. And he gets Lot and all
the possessions back and he brings them back
to the kings. Can you imagine how this must have
looked? Here these kings with all their soldiers
and all of the resources that they have lose
to these Eastern kings. And then all of a sudden,
here comes Abraham out of nowhere, with Lot's
family and all the other people that were taking
slaves, and just tons of all the possessions,
and he comes walking back into Canaan, and they
say, hey guys, I got your stuff. How? How do
you have our stuff? Well, we went and got it.
Well, where's the rest of your army? Oh, this
is it? These guys? We have Yahweh, in case you
were wondering. And the king of Sodom is so blown
away by all of this, he tells Abraham, you can
have all the possessions. Like, you can just
have it all. You're greater than all of us. Here,
Abraham, take the possessions. Now, Abraham refuses
it. We'll talk about that in a minute, but he
refuses it. Mainly because this is the possessions
of a wicked king and a wicked city and wicked
people, and I don't want to have anything to
do with it. You can have it back. And in Genesis
14, What has happened is God has presented Abraham
as this mighty hero, right? I mean, he just comes
walking with everything that he's won and redeemed,
but he just comes walking back in, and all these
kings are like, dude, you are the greatest. Here,
have our stuff. And it's right then that Melchizedek
shows up. Why build up the story of the greatness
of Abraham to then bring Melchizedek. Why not
bring Melchizedek before? Why bring him after?
Well, I think we see in Genesis 14, why all of
this has happened. Because he's going to use
this as the foundation to give us these proves
that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. So
Abraham has just been set up in the story as
being great. And then Melchizedek shows up and
the author of Hebrews is going to say, yeah,
and Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. So here
are the proofs that he uses. First, Abraham honors
Melchizedek with his tithes, with his treasure.
Genesis 14 tells us that Abraham gave Melchizedek
a tenth of everything. So Abraham refuses the
king of Sodom and reveres the king of Salem.
That should tell us something about how Abraham
views this king. Now remember who Abraham is,
not just what he has just accomplished, but remember
who he is. This is the man that God gave the
promises to. This is the father of the covenant
people of God. This is the man through whom all
the nations of the earth are going to be blessed,
and yet Abraham tithes to Melchizedek. Why? because
Abraham recognizes Melchizedek's greatness. The
writer's point is very simple. The greater receives
honor from the lesser. Abraham's tithe was an
acknowledgement by Abraham that Melchizedek held
the position of superiority above him. Got that?
That's one of the proofs. Second proof, because
the writer's not done yet, Abraham receives a
blessing from Melchizedek. Genesis 14 tells us
that Melchizedek then blesses Abraham. And notice
the point that the author of Hebrews brings up.
He says, it is beyond dispute. The inferior is
blessed by the superior. Okay? The inferior doesn't
bless the superior. The superior blesses the
inferior. Who does the blessing in Genesis 14?
Abraham and Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Why? He's
superior. Abraham is inferior to Melchizedek.
And Abraham receives the blessing. Abraham, the
man who received all of God's promises, the patriarch,
the father of Israel, yet he stands before Melchizedek
receiving the blessing from him humbling himself
and admitting, I am inferior, you are superior.
So the writer, his argument is crystal clear.
The one who blesses is greater. The one who gets
blessed is lesser. And Abraham was the one who
received the blessing. The third proof of the
greatness of Melchizedek, probably the most surprising.
The writer argues, that Levi himself paid tithes
to Melchizedek through Abraham. Now, obviously
Levi hadn't been born yet. Isaac hadn't been
born yet. Jacob hadn't been born yet. We are
generations away from Levi. And yet the writer
says by nature of Levi being in Abraham, Levi
was paying tithes to Melchizedek as well. Abraham
was representing all of the Jewish people, including
the Levitical priesthood of Israel. The Levitical
priesthood was paying tithes to Melchizedek.
Receiving, I think it's appropriate for us to
say receiving the blessing from Melchizedek.
Admitting then what? He is superior. we are inferior.
The entire Levitical priesthood acknowledges
the superiority of Melchizedek. And that is exactly
what the writer of Hebrews wants, the conclusion
he wants us to arrive to. If Abraham honored
Melchizedek, if Abraham received Melchizedek's
blessing, if Levi acknowledges Melchizedek's
superiority, then Melchizedek's priesthood is
greater than Levi's priesthood. And if Jesus
is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, what's
the conclusion we're supposed to come to? His
priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
That's the conclusion that he has been working
toward and building toward. It's the reason why
he's bringing up Melchizedek It's the reason
why he's revealing who Melchizedek is and revealing
how great Melchizedek is because he's wanting
these these Jewish Christians who came out of
Judaism to come to this conclusion Jesus His
priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood
He is greater than anything that the old covenant
could ever provide. This is why John Owen said,
all the glory of the Levitical priesthood was
but a shadow of the glory of Christ's priesthood.
This brings us to my third point today, and it's
really the heart of the author of Hebrews. He
has not simply spent 10 verses scratching an
itch for the Jewish people to know more about
Melchizedek. He is not going out of his way to
go, and while we've been talking about Jesus
this whole time, let's talk about Melchizedek,
because I know you guys are confused about him
and want to know who he is. It's not what he's
doing. He has done all of this to increase their
confidence and our confidence in Jesus. Remember
the original audience. What were they being tempted
back to do? What did he just begin warning them
about in the previous chapter? Don't go back.
Don't go back. If you go back to Judaism, you're
rebelling against Christ and there's no salvation
there. If you go there, there's no salvation.
Cling to Christ, hold on to Christ. This is what
they're being tempted to do, to return to the
temple, the sacrifices, the Levitical priesthood.
For them to turn back, the temple hasn't been
destroyed yet. 70 AD hasn't happened. There's
still Levitical priesthood stuff going on while
he's writing this. And so what he's saying is,
don't go back to the Levitical priesthood. Don't
turn away from Christ. Why would you go back
to the inferior when you have the superior? This
is the argument that he's making. Why would you
go back to the shadow if you have the substance?
Why return to the temporary when you have the
eternal? And so the argument of Hebrews 7 is
not just that Jesus is a different priesthood.
It is that Jesus is superior. That he is better,
he's better than Levi, he's better than Aaron,
he's better than any priest who has ever lived.
He is the ultimate better priest king. And because
of that, he is to be embraced with everything
you are. He's to be embraced for his righteousness.
As we said, we have no righteousness of our own.
We can't stand before God based on our works.
We cannot stand before God on our own and be
accepted. But Christ brings righteousness to
His people. He lived a life we could never live.
He fulfilled the law that we could never fulfill.
And He freely gives us His righteousness. So
stop trying to establish your own righteousness
with God. You say, well, I don't do that. Yes,
we do. We do it all the time. We think God is
going to love us more if we perform better. That's
what we think. That's what we feel. It's probably
not what we think. We probably know in our mind
I'm accepted by God no matter what because of
Jesus, but we feel like we're not. And so we
come to God If we've been performing well, we
come to God thinking He's gonna love us more.
If we haven't been performing well, we might
even feel like God doesn't love us as much. He
doesn't accept us as much. And the reality is,
He doesn't love you because of anything you've
done. He loves you because the righteousness
of Jesus. And so when you come to God, I don't
care how you're feeling. Come to God based upon
this truth. My Savior is the King of righteousness.
And He gave it all to me. And I don't come to
God based upon my own works. Embrace His righteousness.
Embrace His peace. People are looking for peace.
Peace in circumstances, peace in relationships,
peace in their heart. But true peace begins and
ends with Jesus. And that peace has already been
secured through Jesus Christ. The better priest
king has removed your guilt. He has reconciled
you to God. And we do not live in fear. You know
that passage that says, That he has not given
us the spirit of fear for perfect fear or perfect
love cast out fear We think that's that's in
relationship to circumstances. It's not it's
in relationship to God When we understand that
we have been loved perfectly We no longer fear
coming to God because we have peace with him
So we haven't been given the spirit of fear we
get to come to God not with with with with Timidness
or or this idea that we may not be accepted we
know no God loves me perfectly and because he
loves me perfectly It casts out any fear that
I have of coming to him because I'm at peace
with God no matter what He is the king of peace
We do not live in condemnation we can rest in
the peace that Christ has secured for us and
then We need to embrace his eternality, the eternal
nature of his priesthood. This may be the most
comforting truth in this entire passage. The
point of Melchizedek's unusual description, appearing
in Genesis without record of beginning and end,
is not because he's eternal, but the one he pointed
to is eternal. He's pointing to the one who is
eternal. Levitical priests came and went. Our
Christ died and no one ever took His place. Why?
Because He rose again. Levitical priesthood,
generation after generation, a new one would
come, century after century. No priest remained.
No priest lasted. No priest continued forever.
But Jesus died and rose again. Jesus ascended
to the right hand of the Father. Jesus lives
forever. And what that means is, there has never
been a moment since his ascension when he has
not been your high priest praying for you. We
gotta stop right there. I'm gonna introduce this,
and then we're going to, it'll be fleshed out
over the next several chapters. But I'm gonna
introduce it right now. When Jesus died on the
cross, did he die to make you saveable? That
maybe one day you'll put your faith in Jesus
and you'll be saved or did he die to actually
save you? He died to actually save you Then he
enters into the Holy of Holies not made by human
hands before the throne of God Jesus enters in
with the blood of his sacrifice and who is this
sacrifice for all of his people and he enters
in Presenting that sacrifice to the father as
a high priest And when does God, when did Jesus
Christ begin interceding on your behalf and for
your salvation? Right then when he entered into
the Holy of Holies not made by human hands. Please
catch this. We'll flesh it out later, but please
catch this. Your salvation was not just secured
by the death of Jesus, it was secured by Him
being your high priest. When He entered into
the Holy of Holies as your high priest, He is
the sacrifice and He is the priest who brings
the sacrifice. And when He brings the sacrifice,
He begins praying for your salvation, interceding
for your salvation, mediating for your salvation.
What was the chance when Jesus died that you
would get saved, Christian? 100%. Ain't no ifs,
ands, or buts about it. 100%. He paid for your
salvation and mediated for your salvation before
you ever existed. Those he foreknew, he also
predestined to be in the image of his son. And
those he predestined, inside of time, what does
he do for them? He calls them, and he justifies
them, and he glorifies them. But it was secured
before you entered into time. There has never
been a moment, Christian, that your great high
priest king has not been praying and interceding
and mediating for you. Think of that. When you
were a rebellious, wicked, lost God -hater, Jesus
was up there mediating for your salvation that
was gonna happen inside of time. How comforting
must that be? I fleshed it out a little too much,
but it will continue to be fleshed out in the
next several chapters as we keep talking about
His priesthood. That means there's also never
been a day when Christ was unavailable to you.
Never been a crisis too great for His attention.
Never been a sin confessed by one of His children
that He did not hear. Never been a prayer offered
by one of His saints that He did not accept.
None of them escaped His notice. And at this
very moment, He's doing for you what He has been
doing for you for 2000 years. And because His
priesthood is eternal, He's been doing it for
2000 years. And guess what? He'll never stop
doing it. His promises are eternal. His salvation
is eternal. The one who saves you keeps you.
The one who called you intercedes for you. The
one who died for you will safely bring you home.
As Robert Murray Mishan once said, if I could
hear Christ praying for me in the next room,
I would not fear a million enemies. Yet it makes
no difference. He's praying for me. So we come
to Hebrews chapter 7. It's easy to be fascinated
by Melchizedek. One of the most mysterious figures
in all of the Old Testament. People have debated
his identity. But if all we leave with is more
information about Melchizedek, we have wasted
our time here this morning. We have missed the
points altogether. His goal is not to make us
marvel at Melchizedek. It is for us to marvel
at Christ. Melchizedek was a shadow. Jesus is
the substance. Melchizedek was a portrait. Jesus
is the reality. Melchizedek was a signpost. Jesus
is the destination. Church, there is no greater
priest king than Jesus. He is the king who rules
us, who represents us, gives us the righteousness
we could never achieve. gives us security that
we can never imagine, gives us peace. He never
dies. He never stops interceding. And because
He lives forever, all who belong to Him are eternally
secure. So why would we settle for something
lesser? That's the point. Why would we settle
for something lesser? Don't look for righteousness
anywhere else, no matter how you're feeling.
Don't look for peace somewhere else. Don't look
for acceptance with God somewhere else. Look
to Christ. Trust Christ. Draw near to Christ.
Hold fast to Christ. There is no greater priest.
There is no greater King. There is no greater
Savior. There is only Jesus Christ, our great,
better, Priest King.