Hebrews chapter 7. We'll continue with where we left off last week, verse 11.
Hebrews chapter 7, verse 11 is where we will start. We will read through verse 24.
We're still talking about Melchizedek, the author of Hebrews, had wanted to talk
about him for some time and he finally in chapter 7 is able to talk about
Melchizedek. If you miss any of our sermons and ever want to find them,
they're always available online. You can go to EnterpriseBaptist.com if you
want to catch up if you miss some. But today we're continuing on. We're still
talking about Melchizedek today. We kind of were introduced to him a little bit
last week, but there is still more to be said about Melchizedek. Hebrews chapter
7, verse 11. We'll read through the text and then we'll pray. If then perfection
came through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law,
what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be in the order
of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron. For when there is a change of the
priesthood, there must be a change of the law as well. For the one these things are
spoken about belong to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar.
Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah and Moses said nothing about
that tribe concerning priests. And this becomes clearer if another priest like
Melchizedek appears, who did not become a priest based on a legal command
concerning physical descent, but based on the power of an indestructible life. For
it has been testified, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. So
the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable, for the law
perfected nothing. But a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to
God. None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without
an oath, but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him, the
Lord has sworn and he will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. So
Jesus also became the guarantee of a better covenant. Now many have become
Levitical priests since they are prevented by death from remaining in
office, but because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Let's
pray. Father God, we come to you this morning and we read these words and God
there is a lot for us to wrap our head around here, a lot for us to consider and
God some of this stuff we kind of look at it and we say what does this
mean God? I pray that you would help us to see what it means. That God your word
is not confusing, but sometimes we just need a little help and so God I pray
that today that you would help us, that you would help me to preach and teach
your word in a way that brings glory to Jesus Christ. God that we see Jesus
as our high priest today. I pray God that if there is one that does not know Jesus
Christ, God that your Holy Spirit today would speak to their heart. God I pray
that we would see the greatness of who Jesus is this morning in your word. I pray
that you would hide me behind the cross, that you'd take away my fear, I'd take
away my pride dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit would speak through me this
morning. I pray that you would help us not to be distracted by the worries of
this world dear Lord. There's things that went on this past week and things that
will go on this next week in our lives and and God those things are probably
competing for our attention now, but I pray God that your Holy Spirit would
grab a hold of us today. Your Holy Spirit would speak to us today and I ask these
things in Jesus name, amen. It's a lot for us to consider when we talk about
Melchizedek and some of this stuff that we see today it might not make perfect
sense to us when we read through that text and we kind of say what does this
mean? Well we talked last week about Melchizedek and kind of were introduced
to him and in the Old Testament his name is mentioned exactly two times, but yet by
the time we get to the book of Hebrews in two chapters the author mentions his
name nine times. We know almost nothing about Melchizedek but from the nothing
we know the author of Hebrews has kind of made this the focal point of his
argument for his audience. His audience is Jewish Christians, that is people who
were raised up living by the law that came through the priesthood, but they
have put their faith in Jesus Christ and through hard times they are tempted to
go back to the old way and that's why the author of Hebrews is focused so
much on this point and so he tells us of Melchizedek and we talked last week
about some of the significance to Melchizedek. One, he was a king and two
he was a priest and that is significant because when God established the law the
priestly line was going to come through Aaron and that was going to be through
the Levites and then the Kings were going to come from a different tribe. Now
he's not so much focused on Kings in this passage as he is priest. What he
really wants to talk about and this is important for us today too maybe not in
all of the same ways as it was to his audience but it is important to us that
we understand some of this history so that we can really grasp the point of
this whole book. Now what he really wants to focus on is the idea of Jesus being
our high priest and that's why he brings up Melchizedek because it says in the
Old Testament that Melchizedek was both a king and a priest and the
significance is is Melchizedek is pointing us forward to Jesus because
before Jesus in the time between Melchizedek and Jesus those offices
could not be held by the same person but when Jesus comes along it is
established that Jesus is better than what has come before and that's what the
author of Hebrews wants us to know that Jesus serves as both priest and king. Now
he's focusing on the priestly part of Jesus's ministry here but Melchizedek
that came before was at the very least a type of what was to come. Now we see this
in some Old Testament characters. We see lots of prophecies about Jesus. We see
some Old Testament characters that are a type that is they're foreshadowing.
They're kind of giving us a glimpse of who Jesus is and what he will do.
Maybe a good example is Joshua. Okay so Moses led the people out of Egypt out of
slavery but it was Joshua who was going to lead them into the promised land and
give them some level of rest although not the ultimate rest that God desires
and we can look at Joshua as a type of Jesus kind of a foreshadowing of
one who would lead his people into the promised land and more importantly would
give his people rest as we've seen in the book of Hebrews that Joshua didn't
give God's people the ultimate rest they desired but that rest was going to be
given by Jesus who would to come. So Joshua is a type of Jesus who is to come.
Now at the very least Melchizedek is a type of Jesus simply saying look there's
a better priesthood one that is forever. Now we see that mentioned in Psalm 110.
You can read that this week. We see this idea that God swore an oath. Now this
Psalm 110 is pointing us forward to Jesus and it says that God swore an oath
that Jesus would be a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Now what we're
establishing here is this idea of a priesthood that was before that that
came through the law and a priesthood that is better than that that came
before the law. So there are several different ways that we could look at
Melchizedek. I'll tell you a couple of them. One of them we kind of talked about
last week that look he may just be a normal guy. He was just a normal guy who
was a king and the significance to who he was was that he was a king and a
priest and therefore that's a fitting comparison for who Jesus is and maybe
that's all Melchizedek was. That's one view. Now there are a couple of other
views. We'll only talk about one of them here for just a second. The other view is
that Melchizedek was a Christophany. Now we've talked about that before but I'll
refresh you on what a Christophany is. A Christophany is the idea that Jesus
Christ appeared in some form in the Old Testament before he came in the New
Testament that he took on flesh in some way. Now we also use the word sometimes
theophany. Now that is to say that God took on some human form in some way. Now
we see examples of this when when the vistas came to Abraham. It were angels
but it was men and it was in fact God was one of them. That would what that'd be
what we'd call a theophany or some would say maybe that was Jesus a
Christophany or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and there was another in the
fire who was like a man but who was it? Well some have said well maybe that is a
Christophany that is Jesus Christ appearing in some way. Some have
suggested and maybe rightfully so when we really begin to look at the language
that is spoken of of Melchizedek that Melchizedek in fact was Jesus that that
was Jesus who blessed Abraham and the fact that it says that Melchizedek's
priesthood forever is certainly a good argument to say that maybe Melchizedek
was a Christophany. There's no real way to know for sure. We know at the very
least that the the idea of who Melchizedek was certainly pointed us to
Jesus and maybe even was Jesus in some form in the Old Testament and so the
author of Hebrews uses Melchizedek to bring about what he wants to talk about
and that is the priesthood. Now the Jewish people they loved the priesthood
they loved the law and rightfully so because God had given them the law once
he brought them out of Egypt he had given them the law and he had given them
instructions and he had established the priesthood to offer sacrifices and so
the author begins to talk about the priesthood here and he uses that also to
talk about the law but what he really wants to talk about is the new covenant
now we saw that in the passage we just read today that God has established a
better covenant through Jesus Christ and that's what he wants to get to we will
get there but today we're kind of moving kind of in between the priesthood and
the law now God established the priesthood through Aaron and that was a
great importance because in the priesthood it pointed us forward to
Jesus we see this all through the Old Testament everything we see is pointing
us forward to Jesus it's a shadow of what is to come it kind of shows a
little bit about God's what God's doing and what God wants to do and how God is
going to accomplish it and so we see that when he established the priesthood
because it was the priest who had offered sacrifice for the sins of the
people it was the law that would give the people the instruction on how they
were to live it would let them know what is right and what is wrong and those
things are pointing us forward to Jesus and so God had established a priesthood
and he had established the law and it was good and this audience who grew up
under the priesthood and the law it was good it was right it was the thing for
them to do until Jesus came on to the scene and what the author of Hebrews is
telling us is that something better than the law has come something better than
the priesthood of Aaron has come and it has come through Jesus Christ so the
author is trying to make this point by saying that the priesthood that you are
tempted to go back to and the law that you are tempted to go back to is of no
significance to you it has no power and to show you that there is a better
priesthood I'm telling you about Melchizedek that there was a priesthood
established forever before that of Aaron that is to say that the priesthood of
Aaron was temporary and it has served its purpose now he tells us that in the
beginning of the passage in verse 12 he said for when there is a change of the
priesthood there must be a change of the law as well he's making the point
throughout this passage if the law would have been sufficient if the old
priesthood would have been sufficient there would be no need for Jesus if the
old law was sufficient and the old priesthood was sufficient then that's
what we'd be doing today well probably not because they wouldn't have met on a
Sunday but but if the law was sufficient and then we'd have somebody that was a
priest and we'd be gathering our animals and we'd be going for the high priest to
sacrifice once a year for us that was the high priest job but what the author
of Hebrews says is he said there has been a change in the priesthood who is
the high priest the answer is Jesus Jesus has become our high priest and
what is the significance of a new priesthood the significance is this that
there has been a change in the law there's been a change in the law through
Jesus Christ what does he say as we continue to read in the passage he says
in verse 18 so the previous command is annulled because it was weak and
profitable okay so it's not to say that the law did not have a purpose it did
have a purpose but at its very best the law that God gave through Moses was
weak and unprofitable it was never going to fulfill what Jesus was going to
fulfill for us now it's certainly the law served a purpose the scripture tells
us in Matthew 5 that Jesus did not come to destroy the law okay the law had its
purpose but what else does it say in the rest of that passage Jesus did not come
to destroy the law but to fulfill the law Jesus came to do what we could not
do so when Jesus came onto the scene he did not say okay well well the law is
done there's there's no purpose to the law no the law had to be fulfilled
justice had to be served the law told what sin was but that sin had to be
dealt with and the law could not deal with that sin and so he sent Jesus
Christ now Jesus didn't just come and do away with the law he fulfilled it the
law has been fulfilled for us today through Jesus Christ and that's what the
author of Hebrews wants his audience to know is we do not live under the law
Romans chapter 6 tells us that we are not under the law but we are under grace
now this was a problem for his Hebrew audience because they wanted to go back
to the way of the law now certainly there is some difference of opinion among
Christians today some Christians would say we are totally and completely free
in Jesus Christ and I would agree with that I believe so some Christians would
say well we're free in Jesus but we're still under some parts of the law and I
think we need to be careful when we look at that I think Jesus Christ has freed
us from the law when we get into the New Testament we see that the law is summed
up in one word to love your neighbor as yourself I can't think of the passage
right now but it's there look it up and check me on that but but what we see in
the New Testament is this new command this new law which really is not new at
all and that is to love the Lord our God with all our heart mind soul and strength
and to love our neighbor as our self so what the New Testament tells us is that
we are under a law of love and what we see sometimes among Christians may not
be so different from what we see among the the audience of the Hebrews here is
that they're trying to live maybe with one foot on Jesus but also trying to go
to the law when they when the New Testament seems pretty clear that the
law is done away with that Jesus has fulfilled that you and I could not
fulfill that praise the Lord if the law was still here we'd still be trying to
fulfill it yet trusting that Jesus had fulfilled it but no we no longer try to
fulfill the law because Jesus Christ has done that on our behalf praise the Lord
because when we look at the Old Testament laws the things that are
commanded in there are impossible for us to do we can try it with all our might
and as much as we may desire to we cannot fulfill the works of the law and
so we are fully and totally dependent on Jesus Christ today we need to be fully
and totally dependent on Jesus Christ today but sometimes we fall into this
trap sometimes we fall into this trap that somehow we think we need to earn
God's favor by our good works that somehow we can we can live in a way
that's good enough that that's going to be good enough for God that somehow that
we can obtain some righteousness by living by the law but we cannot be made
righteous by the law today we cannot be we will only be made righteous through
Jesus Christ who fulfilled everything in the law that you and I could not
fulfill Paul spends the whole book of Galatians talking about this point he
talks about the point of the law having a purpose but its purpose was only until
Jesus came if you want to turn to Galatians you can Galatians chapter 3
Galatians chapter 3 verses 10 through 13 this is relevant it was relevant to the
audience that Paul was writing to in Galatians the same idea is relevant
similar to what we've seen in the book of Hebrews and it's relevant for us
today Galatians chapter 3 verse 10 says this for all who rely on the works of
the law are under a curse because it is written everyone who does not continue
doing everything written in the book of the law is cursed okay well that's still
true for you and I today the law gives us the commands of God but we sin we
fail to live by those commands and as a result what does Paul say those who live
under the law so if you're just living by the law today you're in trouble
because you're cursed because you cannot live up to what the law commands verse
11 now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law because
the righteous will live by faith but the law is not based on faith instead the
one who does these things will live by them Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law by becoming a curse for us because it is written everyone who is
hung on a tree is cursed so the law is not based on faith but our relationship
in Jesus Christ is based on faith so what does the scripture tell us this is
good news we cannot live up to what the law calls us to but Jesus has become the
curse for us Jesus has been nailed on the cross for you and I today now there
may be some of you in this room and you've been trying to be good enough but
you can't be good enough nothing we can do is good enough but I've got good news
what Jesus did for you on the cross is good enough it is through Jesus's
righteousness that our sins are forgiven we're not justified by the law
we're justified and made righteous by our faith and that's what Paul is trying
to tell his audience and the whole book of Galatians is that they are freed from
the law there were some back in those times who were trying to live by the law
there are some today that would teach that we need to live by the law but the
Bible teaches us that we are free in Jesus Christ he goes on to say in
Galatians chapter 3 verses 24 and 25 the law then was our guardian into a Christ
so that we could be justified by faith but since that faith has come we are no
longer under a guardian okay so the law had a purpose it was to guide God's
people along it was to keep them in check it was to show them the desires of
God but the law could never accomplish what God desires and that is forgiveness
of sins it can only accomplish that for a little while but every year the priests
would go year after year to offer sacrifices for the people and so the law
had a purpose it was until Jesus and Jesus came and he fulfilled the law Paul
tells us in Galatians chapter 3 so what about those who were still trying to be
justified by the law well in Galatians chapter 5 verse 4 it says this those who
seek to be justified by the law have fallen from grace now we've seen that
language throughout the book of Hebrews this is common this is the warning that
we see the author of Hebrews given to his audience here in chapter 2 be
careful that you don't drift away in chapter 6 we had that strong warning
about those who have who have tasted the Word of God and and the works of God and
who's who's lived that out to some extent and yet they have fallen away so
the author of Hebrews is giving a very similar warning to that of Paul in
Galatians chapter 5 those who were trying to be justified by the law have
fallen from grace so the author of Hebrews says all this stuff about Mel
Chesedek a character that we don't know much about but what we do know about him
is he established a priesthood that was far ever as Psalm 110 verse 4 tells us
and Jesus is a high priest forever in the order of Mel Chesedek which means
what before Jesus came there was a priesthood that was serving for a little
while it was that of Aaron but there have been a has been a change in the
priesthood and what does Hebrews tell us when there is a change in the
priesthood there is a change in the law so there's no more benefit to animal
sacrifices there's no more benefit to any of that there are certainly a few
Jewish people who would love to rebuild a temple and love to re-establish animal
sacrifices and maybe they will and maybe they'll sacrifice a million animals but
they will receive no salvation from that because salvation does not come from the
law in the old priesthood because Jesus has established a new priesthood and the
old priesthood is annulled when there is a change in the priesthood there is a
change in the law and that's what the author of Hebrews wants his audience to
know so what do we see of Jesus and his new priesthood if we're not justified by
the law but justified by faith do we see that in who Jesus is absolutely
absolutely we see that throughout the New Testament the law had lots of
commands the law have lots of things and in the law what the law did was it made
people sinners not that not that people weren't sinners before but it made
people aware of who they were the law pulled the wool off their eyes they knew
for sure this is what is required by God there are lots of commands in the Old
Testament but what Jesus did was he accomplished things that no priest could
do that no one in the Old Testament could do now we see some examples of
this idea of faith coming through through the teachings of Jesus and people
having faith and here's the effect that Jesus had when he came and a new
priesthood was established he made things clean in the Old Testament in the
law there were lots of ways in which people could be made unclean but when
Jesus came onto the scene he was not made unclean by the things that were
unclean instead he took what was unclean and he washed it and made it pure so we
see some good examples of that in Matthew chapter 8 and chapter 9 we see
in the Old Testament that one who touched a leper would be unclean but yet
what do we see of Jesus in Matthew chapter 8 that a leper came to him and
Jesus what did he do he touched the leper does that mean that Jesus was
unclean absolutely not because Jesus had the reverse effect you see before Jesus
came there were things that would make us unclean but what Jesus shows us in
the scripture is that Jesus wasn't made unclean by the unclean but instead Jesus
made the unclean clean we see that as we continue reading in Matthew chapter 9 we
see a woman whose daughter had died and Jesus went and what does it say he do he
took the daughter by the hand but in the Old Testament law it said that if he
touched the dead body you'd be made unclean but yet what did Jesus do in the
story he touched the dead body it says in the Old Testament law that a that a
woman who was in a in a time of bleeding if they were touched they would be
unclean but what do we see of a woman of a problem of bleeding for years came and
touched Jesus and in all of these instances Jesus was not made unclean but
the reverse happened when they came to Jesus they were made clean that's the
power of Jesus because the power of sin is a curse to us it is a curse to us we
see that in first Corinthians chapter 15 if you want to turn there this morning
you can first Corinthians chapter 15 first Corinthians chapters 15 verse 56
says this now the sting of death as sin and the power of sin is the law the
sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law but what Jesus has done
as he has come and he has fulfilled everything in the law what Jesus has
come and the things that would once have made us unclean the things that would
have once made us sinners and we still are sinners by the way are made clean
through Jesus Christ and so the power of the law has lost its sting the power of
sin has lost its sting why because Jesus Christ is a better high priest and his
priesthood is established forever there are no two priesthoods there's not the
priesthood of Aaron and the priesthood of Jesus that's simultaneous the
priesthood of Aaron is ended and it is the priesthood of Jesus that is eternal
and that's what the author of Hebrews says look don't go back to the old ways
because Jesus has come and he has set up a priesthood forever in the order of
Melchizedek and where the old priest would have been made unclean by the
things of the law the new priest has come and he has freed us from the the
curse he has freed us from our sin and that is good news for us today that's
good news for us today because the old priesthood and following all the law
that we could follow was never going to be enough to to justify us to make us
righteous but Jesus has come for us today and what Jesus has come to do is
reverse the effects of sin now we still sin but before the wages of sin was
death and through Jesus Christ now we have a way of escape we have a way that
when death comes in our life that it does not have the final say but that
victory over the curse has come because Jesus has become the curse on our behalf
and so today we need to be as those we see so often in the New Testament those
who so often are unclean and they come before Jesus and when they come to Jesus
and they seek Jesus we see time and again that they are made well and time
and time again in the New Testament we see the phrase your faith has healed you
your faith has made you well this is what Jesus calls us to today this is the
law to love God and to love our neighbor it's summed up in that way when we love
God we will serve him we will be obedient to him we will give to him we
will worship him we will praise him when we love our neighbor we will not kill
them we will not steal from them we will not commit adultery we will not lie to
them we will not do any of those things this is the law of love that Jesus has
established and that we are called to what Jesus does is offer forgiveness of
sins where the priesthood of the of the past and the law of the past could not
do and so there are perhaps some of us today that need to come before Jesus and
we need to realize this morning that we'll never be saved by our works you
come to church every day you can put money into play you can do good stuff
but that's not enough to save you because that only comes through Jesus
Christ everything in the Old Testament all this priesthood stuff all the laws
all pointing us to Jesus Christ to a better priest who would establish a
priesthood forever a priest who would wash us of our sins today have you been
washed of your sins today if you hadn't put your faith in Jesus Christ I can
tell you you haven't but if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ you've been
made clean today maybe there are some of you today and you need to come to Jesus
Christ you need to come and you need to seek him and you need to realize that he
is the only hope we have that's what the author of Hebrews said in this passage
that Jesus is a better hope that brings about a better covenant it's built on
better promises and that's what we see in Jesus Christ it's better hope than
what the world shows you today there's hope in Jesus Christ he'll make you
clean he'll forgive you of your sins if you'll come to him if you'll seek him
with faith because that's what God calls us to if you put your faith in Jesus
Christ today I hope you have let's pray dear Lord we come to you this morning we
thank you for your word dear Lord a lot to like to think about but God I pray
that we don't miss the point of all this Melchizedek stuff God I pray that we
don't miss the point that Jesus is better dear Lord that Jesus has
established the perfect way God that yeah you gave a lot of ways in the Old
Testament as far as instructions for the people to follow and how to live and that
was all pointing us forward to who Jesus was dear Lord there was never going to
be salvation through the law it was good for a time dear Lord it guided your
people for a time but dear Lord you have provided something better than the law
for us today and we thank you for providing Jesus Christ for us God I pray
that we never fall into the trap of being legalistic of thinking that we
will be justified by the law trying to live by the law and trying to be good
enough dear Lord God we can't be good enough this morning but Jesus was good
enough dear Lord I pray for any in this room or in this world today that may be
seeking to be justified by the works of the law but instead dear Lord that they
would be justified by the works of Jesus Christ God I pray today that that maybe
there is one here today and they just realized that they need help God maybe
their life feels hopeless God I pray that today they'd see that there is hope
in who Jesus is that he has become a better high priest and he is seated on
the throne today because he has offered a sacrifice for their sin dear Lord and I
pray today that if there are some in this room that do not know Jesus Christ
that they would repent of their sin turn from that sinful way that they would ask
you now in this moment to forgive them dear Lord that they would come to faith
in you that they would not try to be justified by their works but they would
trust in who Jesus is God let us come before you today with our uncleanliness
with our with our sickness that is our sin dear Lord let us come to you let us
seek you dear Lord let us seek you with all of our heart to know that that there
is forgiveness that there is hope dear Lord so God I pray that we would be
those of faith today not those who have faith in the law and in the priesthood
of of old but that we would be those who have faith in Jesus Christ and who Jesus
is because God there is salvation in no other this morning so God I pray today
that we would be those who seek his righteousness and seek his help God
maybe there are some today that are struggling I pray that you'd help them I
pray that they'd seek you I pray that they'd find you I pray that you'd make
them well today in their soul and in their in their worldly struggles
whatever it may be that they're going through dear Lord I pray that you'd you'd
bring healing to their life today and I ask these things in Jesus name amen