Good morning again. I want to read the last two verses
of Acts chapter two. We didn't get to finish this
passage. This morning in the first hour. And they continued
daily. With one accord. They all believe
the same thing. There weren't. There was no division
in Christ. They continue daily with one
accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house and
to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Oh,
that's a. Lord, make us to be single in
heart. In love for Christ, for his gospel,
his word and his people praising God. And having favor with all
the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. The Lord adds to his church,
doesn't he? Might the Lord be pleased to add to his church
such as should be saved? That's our hope, that's our prayer. Just a quick word of announcement
about our building the interior walls are all finished electricians
are coming tomorrow to start running the electrical and Siding
I think is going on this week so Roofing materials still being
cut and So hopefully that'll be in the next week or so. Things
are progressing along pretty quick. I think they're going
to start moving some dirt around to get things where they need
to be. So if you want to drive by and
take a look, feel free. But things are coming together
pretty quickly. And I've even thought, you know,
this thing comes together quickly as it is, and this coronavirus
continues for a few more weeks, we may have our first meeting
next door. Wouldn't that be great? So, hopefully,
well, just wanted you to give you that update. So, Tom, you
come lead us, please. The Bulletin, the hymn on your
Bulletin. you ? To thy presence we repair ? Lord,
we love to worship there ? When within the veil we meet ? Christ
the Lord, our mercy seat ? Thou through him art reconciled ?
We through him become thy child Abba, Father, give us grace in
Thy courts to seek Thy face, while Thy glorious praises sung. Touch our lips, unloose our tongues,
that our joyful souls may bless Christ the Lord, our righteousness. While we listen to thy word,
fill our souls with sovereign love. From thy house when we
return, may our hearts within us burn. And at evening, let
us say, we have walked with God today. Please be seated. Good morning. I wanted to share
some news that my family recently heard just a couple of days ago.
And number one, I'm so thankful for the words of encouragement
from Pastor Greg. and some other believers, Pastor
Todd Nyberg up in Lexington for my brother and his family. But
just a couple days ago, we found out that my sister-in-law, who's
my brother's wife, has been diagnosed with a very late stage cancer
that's metastasized in parts of her body. And I pray the Lord
give me strength and my family strength and grace in this time
of need. I've been so encouraged and my
brother's been so encouraged by the words of truth. God's people have been providing
my brother and our family a lot of comfort, me especially last
night whenever I spoke with Greg. and they just have all directed
us back to the word, and that has been so comforting to us,
knowing what God's promised, knowing that Christ's blood and
where Christ was on the cross, that he kept our infirmities,
that he took our infirmities, Our sickness is everything there
with him on the cross. And that he gives us boldness
going through his son in prayer and he commands us and allows
us to pray and beg to him. And ask him. If it be his will. If it be His will to heal and
cure her, amen. And if it be His will to withhold
a cure, then amen. And we know that everything happens
according to His purpose and according to the eternal good
of His people. And I'm so thankful for that
promise. And I think about who's praying
for us and who prays for God's people. And that's Jesus Christ.
That is God. God is praying for his people
right now at the right hand of his father. And nothing is impossible
with him, number one. And in the physical realm, that's
not even a question. But more importantly, it's our
spirit, as Greg so beautifully preached this morning. I mean,
we're praying for our spirit. This is a spiritual need, and
we know that she will be healed no matter what. In that day and
all that being said I pray you all would bear with me and I'm
gonna read John chapter 17 and which is Right before the Lord
went to the cross the Lord prayed and this is the type of prayer
we That he prays for us as people and I'm so thankful for this
Chapter 17 of John These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given
him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work. which thou gavest me to do, and
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now, they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them. And
they have surely known that I came out from thee. And they did believe,
they have believed, that thou didst send me. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. For they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and
I come to thee. Holy Father, keep thou thine
hand, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given
me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in
the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I
come, now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world,
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them
thy word. and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but
that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into
the world. And for their sakes I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall
believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us. That the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them. that they may be one, even as
we are one, I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me,
and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that
they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name. It will declare that the love
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them.
Let's pray. Lord, Heavenly Father, thank
you for providing grace and peace. Through the life, death and resurrection
of your son, Jesus Christ, who is you, Lord, thank you. Pray
and that you would give us grace in this time of need. You'd be
pleased. To open our eyes to the truth.
Please be with your people. Please be with my brother. Please
be with Jessica and the kids. Please give them boldness to
come to you. Thank you, Father, for your grace.
Your son's name we pray. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing hymn number 352 from the hardback hymnal, 352. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide. Till the storm of life is past,
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, Hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Leave, ah, leave me not alone. Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head. Above thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
More than all in thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy name, I
am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am, Thou
art full of truth and grace. Plenty as grace with Thee is
found, Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams
abound, Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain art,
Please be seated. You all know Brad and Jessica. coming here last couple of winters
and spending several weeks with us. And Jasper is 10 and Cora
is 7. The Lord enable us to pray for them. I know Jessica is having some
tests tomorrow, so she'll have more information about what her
treatment options are after tomorrow. I want to try to bring a message
this morning on Melchizedek. And I've titled this message,
Our Melchizedek. And by way of introduction, my
text is in Psalm 110, but by way of introduction, I'd like
for you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter five. Hebrews chapter
5. After speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ as our high priest, the writer to the book of Hebrews
says in verse 10, called of God a high priest after the order
of Melchizedek. Now after the order of just means
in the like fashion of or as Melchizedek was. After the pattern
of or in the same way that Melchizedek was priest so the Lord Jesus
Christ is our high priest. Verse 11, of whom Speaking of
Melchizedek and his likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
don't misunderstand that word likeness. We're going to see
in a few minutes of whom we have many things to say and hard to
be uttered. Seeing you are dull of hearing. Now my prayer this morning is
that we would not be dull of hearing because the scriptures,
the writer of Hebrews later on gives a whole chapter to Melchizedek. And we're going to be looking
at chapter seven of the book of Hebrews. But here he warns
us that if we're, if we're slow of hearing, we're not going to
understand what the significance is of Melchizedek. So let's ask the Lord to give
us ears to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Would
you bow with me for a moment of prayer? Our Heavenly Father,
apart from your mercy and grace, we would be hard of hearing,
we would be slow of heart. Lord, we need for you to quicken
us and to give us ears to hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the
churches. Lord, enable us to see Christ
in Melchizedek. For it's in his name we pray,
amen. Now, chapter five of Hebrews,
beginning at verse one, makes it clear that you and I are in
need of a priest. What is a priest? A priest is
one who offers gifts and sacrifices for sin on the part of the people. And there's no coming before
God without a priest. And so all these priests of the
Old Testament made sacrifices for sin. We know that the sacrifices
they made never put away sin, but they pointed to the one who
would lay down his life once and for all and effectually put
away the sins of his people. Christ Jesus the Lord being our
priest, you and I cannot come into the presence of God without
the Lord Jesus Christ interceding on our behalf. He must offer
himself as the sacrifice for sin. If God's going to have anything
to do with us, it will be because of in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ Jesus the Lord is Melchizedek. No question about it. You have your Bible still open
to Hebrews. I want you to see the necessity of a priest. For
every high priest, beginning in verse one, taken from among
men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may
offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now the Lord is making
it clear what the role of the priest is. And he's contrasting
the Lord Jesus Christ, who was chosen and ordained by God, to
these fleshly priests of the Old Testament who were chosen
from among men. But in like fashion, as they
offered gifts and sacrifices for sin, so the Lord Jesus Christ
offers himself not to us, but to the Father for the putting
away of the sins of his people. We cannot come to God without
Christ. Verse two, who can have compassion
on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he
himself also is compassed with infirmities. He's talking about
those Old Testament priests. said they can have compassion
because they themselves are sinners and they have to make sacrifices
for their own sins before they can make sacrifices for the sins
of the people. And by reason thereof, he ought
as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. He
had to offer sacrifices for himself before he could offer sacrifices
for the people. Now, in contrast to that, the
Lord Jesus Christ offered himself for the people. What a glorious
difference. And no man taketh this honor
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Now you remember Aaron. was chosen as the first priest
when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt. And we're
talking 1500 BC. Abraham lived 2000 BC. And we first hear of Melchizedek
in Genesis chapter 14, who met with Abraham after the slaughter
of the kings 500 years before Aaron was chosen of God to be
the high priest for the children of Israel. From Aaron came the
tribe of Levi, from the Levites for the next 500 years, the Levitical
priesthood, who made sacrifice after sacrifice for the sins
of the people. So, Melchizedek, we're going
to go to Genesis chapter 15 or 14 in a moment. Let's finish,
let's finish this. Melchizedek appeared 500 years. There was no temple. There was
no sacrifice. There was no, there was no Mosaic
law. There was no Levitical priesthood.
Melchizedek appears and reveals himself to Abraham as the priest,
the high priest that all these other priests gave likeness to. So also Christ, verse five, glorified
not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto
him, thou art my son today, I have begotten thee. Now the, the begotten
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not his physical birth. It's his
resurrection. So the Lord Jesus Christ was not able to ascend
into glory and be seated at the right hand of God, which we read
about in Psalm 110, until he was raised from the dead to prove
that God was satisfied with the work that he had accomplished.
That's what the resurrection of Christ is all about. It's
not just believing in a historical event. It's believing that God
raised him from the dead because God was fully pleased and fully
satisfied with the work that he had accomplished in putting
away the sins of his people. And so he ascended back into
glory, seated at the right hand, sit down here at my right hand
until I make that enemies, thy footstool. We have a priest who
ever lives, who seated at the right hand of God, who makes
intercession for us. Thou art my son today. I have begotten thee verse 6
and he sayeth also in another place thou art a priest after
the order of or in the same fashion of Melchizedek now Melchizedek
is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament he's mentioned
at his appearing in Genesis chapter 14 and he's mentioned in one
verse in Psalm 110 verse 4 and now The writer of Hebrews is telling
us who this Melchizedek is and what it is he accomplished. Who
in the days of his flesh, speaking of Christ, who was priest after
the order of Melchizedek or in the same way or after the pattern
of or in like fashion of Melchizedek, the things that are said about
Melchizedek are true only of Christ. Now here's my point. Melchizedek
clearly is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let
people debate that all they want. That's what God's telling us
in the fashion of, or in the same order of, the things that
are said about Melchizedek cannot be said about anyone other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there are those who object
to the Lord Jesus, Melchizedek being the appearance of Christ
himself. He appeared many times in the
Old Testament, usually as the angel of the Lord, but he appeared
on several occasions to his people in the Old Testament. And they
object to Melchizedek being Christ because in Genesis chapter 14,
he said he was like unto the Son of God. And they take that
word like and they say, well, he wasn't actually the son of
God, he was just like him. Well, you remember in the book
of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar threw Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego into the fiery furnace for not bowing. And when Nebuchadnezzar looks
into the fiery furnace, which was heated seven times its normal
heat, which would consume flesh, In a moment, he says, did we
not throw three into the furnace? And yet I see four. And the fourth
is like unto the son of God. Who was that fourth man? Who
was the man walking in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego that was consuming the heat of the fire of that
furnace to himself? So that when they came out, even
the smell of smoke was not on them. He was the son of God. And then you said, well, that
was Nebuchadnezzar saying, he said, you know, he was speaking,
well, John, when John saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the book
of Revelation, and he describes him in all of his splendor and
glory, he says, and he was like unto the son of man. So don't
take that word like and say, well, that means Nebuchadnezzar
wasn't Christ. Nebuchadnezzar was, I mean, Melchizedek was
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's being likened to Christ
here. And he's being our Melchizedek
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And God is revealing to us through
Melchizedek, the nature, the character and the accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And some are going to be slow
of hearing. And some are going to be dull,
and some are going to try to make some sort of other theological
thing out of it. But those who have ears to hear
will see that this Melchizedek is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who he is. He's not veiled. He's veiled in mystery to only
those who cannot see Christ. Those who can see Christ will
rejoice in knowing that this Melchizedek was and is the Lord
Jesus himself. Look in, look at verse seven
of Hebrews chapter five, who in the days of his flesh, when
he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crimes
and tears unto him, that was able to save him from death and
was heard in that he feared. Speaking of God, the father saving
the Lord Jesus Christ from death, he conquered death. He conquered
grave because he pleased the father. He is the firstborn among
many brethren and God raised him from the dead, rewarding
him for what he had accomplished. Though he were a son yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered. He was obedient
even unto death. The obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not just that he was actively obedient to the law
in his life. He was passively obedient to
the father in his death. He received from the Father all
the wrath and judgment and was willing, laying down his life.
He received those things. He was obedient even unto death. Who, look at verse nine, and
being made perfect. And brethren, God will settle
for nothing less. If you and I cannot stand perfect
before God, we will not stand before God. If we're not found
in Christ, who is the perfect man, then we will be separated
from God for all of eternity. That's the urgency of salvation. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him, all
them that believe on him, all them that look to him in faith.
That's what it is to obey him, to follow after him. Called of God, a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. All right, go back with me to
Psalm 110. You and I need a priest. We cannot
enter into the presence of God apart from a priest, a perfect
priest, the perfect priest offering himself for sins and making himself
a sacrifice, pleasing the father to put away our sins and make
us acceptable in the presence of God. We cannot come any other
way. Now in the Old Testament, some
of the prophets were kings. David was a king and David wrote
most of the Psalms, many of the Psalms. Solomon was a king and
Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. He was a king
and he was a prophet. Some of the priests were also
prophetic. Samson was a priest, and Samson
was a prophet. Samuel, I'm sorry. But no man
in the Old Testament could hold the office of priest and king. Couldn't do it. Psalm 110, The
whole psalm is declaring to us that the Lord Jesus Christ, the
one who is seated at the right hand of God, is our king and
he is our priest. You remember when in Isaiah chapter
six at verse one, in the year that King Uzziah died, I also
saw the Lord. Isaiah went to the temple that
year thinking that God has taken his hands completely off of Israel. The king has died in shame and
all is lost. Second Chronicles chapter 26,
we have the story. of King Uzziah. King Uzziah became
king at the age of 16 years old and remained king until he was
68 years old. 52 years and he was a good king
and he did a lot of good things and he led the people in the
things of God. And the scripture says that he
was marvelously helped by God until he became strong. And in his strength, in his strength,
he became proud. And he thought, I don't need
a priest anymore. Look at all that I've accomplished.
Look at all that God has blessed me with. Look how strong I am. And he went into the temple thinking
that he could burn incense. He could offer prayers to God
as King of Israel without the help of a priest. And Azariah
was the priest in the temple. And Azariah tried to tell him,
King, you can't come in here. You've got to have a priest intercede
for you. And the scripture says that Azariah
took 80 mighty men and surrounded Uzziah. But Uzziah was determined
to present himself to God without a priest. And immediately, Leprosy
came up on his forehead. And the 80 mighty men drug Uzziah
out of the temple. And here's what the scripture
says, the last thing about Uzziah and his legacy was that he died
a leper. All the good things that he had
tried, that he had accomplished, all the things that that gave
him a good name. His legacy was he died a leper. Why did he die a leper? Because
in his pride, he thought he could approach God. He had been so
blessed by God that he thought, I don't need a priest anymore. God gave us that story to say
to you and me, It doesn't matter how much God's blessed you or
how much you've achieved or how much you know. You try to approach
God without a priest and you're going to die a leper. And that'll
be your only legacy. People in this world might remember
you for something else, but your spiritual leprosy in the book
of God will be that you died a leper. I don't want to die
a leper. Psalm 110. is God's declaration
to me and you that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the only one
who had the right to be both king. And we've seen him as the
conquering commander of his army in the first verses of Psalm
110, haven't we? And look at verse four. And the
Lord hath sworn. Now the word of God is eternal. The word of God cannot change.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away.
I came to fulfill all righteousness and not one jot or tittle be
changed from my word until it's all fulfilled. But this word
is beyond the word of God. This is God confirming his word
with an oath. This is stronger than the word
of God. As strong and as eternal and as immovable as is God's
word. Here the Lord is saying to us,
I have added to my word by making an oath. And I made an oath to
my son, this one who is seated at my right hand. And what is
my oath to him? And my oath, I will not repent. This cannot be changed. This
is forever set by the word, the promises and the oath of God. Thou art a priest for ever after
the order of Melchizedek. Now turn with me to Genesis chapter
14. Abraham and Lot have already
parted ways. Their flocks became so large
that, and their shepherds began to contend with one another.
And they came to the conclusion, the land is too small for us.
You go your way, I'll go my way. Abraham gave Lot an opportunity
to do what he would. And he chose Sodom and took his
flocks to Sodom and his people to Sodom. And Abraham stayed
in the high country. And now in chapter 14, the scriptures
identified nine kings. of different lands in that area. And four kings battled against
five kings. It's called the Battle of the
Kings. And in that battle, Sodom was
overthrown. And Lot and his family were taken
captive. And someone came and told Abraham
that lots been taken captive by these Kings and Abraham put
together his servants and he armed them. And the scripture
says that there were 318 armed servants of Abraham. And they
went after that King that had taken Sodom that had taken lot
and Sodom. And he conquered that Abraham
got the victory over that king and delivered Sodom and his family,
Lot and his family. And when Abraham is back now
with Lot safe, here's what the scripture says. Verse 17, and the king of Sodom
went out to meet him. after his return from the slaughter
of Chedor Lamar and of the Kings that were with him at the Valley
of Shaba, which is the King's Vale and Melchizedek. Other than that one verse we
just read in Psalm 110 verse four, this is the only reference
to Melchizedek in the entire Old Testament. And Melchizedek, king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the
most high God. And he blessed him. Melchizedek
blessed Abraham. That says a lot. And said, bless me, Abram of
the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. and blessed
be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into
thy hand and he Abraham gave him Melchizedek tithes of all. How do you know those are the
pronouns that are mentioned there? Because the scripture tells us
in Hebrews chapter seven what happened. Tells us what happened. Now first of all A priest doesn't
bring bread and wine. To man, a priest brings a sacrifice
to God. What is this bread and wine?
Well, you know what it is. We celebrate it here once a month
at least. It's the body and blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That unleavened bread is his
sinless life of perfection and that wine is his shed blood justifying
us and covering our sins before God. And so the priest brings
to Abram himself. And that's exactly what he does
to us. He brings us his body and his blood. And he says to
us, unless you accept you eat of my body and drink of my blood,
you have no life in you. For my body is bread indeed. And my blood is drink indeed. So here Melchizedek brings to
Abraham himself, his body and his blood. his life of perfect
obedience and his substitutionary, vicarious, sacrificial death
on Calvary's cross to put away our sins. Now the writer of Hebrews says,
I've got a lot of things to tell you about Melchizedek. But because
you're slow of hearing, you can't understand them. And then a chapter
later, The spirit of God leads the writer of Hebrews to tell
those Hebrew people that he was writing to exactly who Melchizedek
was. So turn with me to Hebrews chapter
six. Hebrews chapter six. Verse 18, that by two immutable
things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have
a strong consolation who have fled for the refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set for us." Now, in the previous verse, he talks
about the counsel of God, the immutability of his promise,
and the immutability of his counsel. Now, that's the oath that we
just read about in Psalm 110 verse 4. He swore with an oath
and would not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. You're not like those old Testament
priests who died. You're an eternal priest. And
so the Lord's just confirming in Hebrews what he said in Psalm
110, when he said, not only do you have the word of God, but
you've got the oath of God whereby it is impossible for you to believe
anything else. Believe God, he's confirmed his
word with an oath. And it's impossible for our God
to lie. This is the strong consolation
that we have, brethren. This is the hope that we have.
Our hope is not based in anything we do. It's based on the promise
and oath of God to make the Lord Jesus Christ a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. Now, we sing that song, Jehovah
Sidkenu, and you know the word Sidkenu is the word for righteousness,
and that's the last part of the word Melchizedek, and the first
part of his name is Melech, which translated in the Hebrew is king,
and so Melchizedek's name means king of righteousness. King of
Righteousness, that's what his name is. Only one could be the
King of Righteousness. We have but one righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness before God. God
is confirming once again with this pre-incarnate appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ who our Savior is, who his Son is,
and what it is he's accomplished. And he says, I've promised to
send him, I've chosen him, I've confirmed it with an oath, I
will not repent. You have access into the very
presence of God by the successful, accomplished work of your high
priest. You know, you think about it,
every religion in the world practices priestcraft. by putting a man
in a position between you and God. The Catholic Church is the most
blatant one that does it, but the Hindus do it. The Muslims
do it. They've got their Imams. They've
got their holy men. The Reformed Baptists do it. They've got their elders that
will crack the whip of the law against you if you don't submit
to their authority. Everybody practices priesthood,
priestcraft, by putting a man in the place of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the Lord wrote to the churches
in Revelation, he identified the doctrine of the Nicolaitans
as something that he hated. Nicolaitans is mentioned twice
in the scriptures. A lot of people have speculated
what Nicolaitans means, but since there's no explanation for Nicolaitans,
the only way that we can properly understand what the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans was is to understand what the name Nicolaitan
means. Nicholas means master over the
people. And the doctrine of the Nicolaitans
is nothing but clergy laity. It's priestcraft. It's a group
of people setting a man up to be their intercessor to God. To enforce the law against them
or to offer up prayers and sacrifices on their behalf. And everybody
in the world practices except for the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're the only ones that reject
any man to be their priest. We have the God-man. There is one God, one man, one
mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. He's our
priest. No, we're not looking to another
man to be our priest, are we? You have your Bible still open
to Hebrews chapter six. And by two, verse 18, by two
immutable things, that's the promise of God and the oath of
God in which it is impossible for God to lie. We might have
a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope that is set before us, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entered in within the veil.
The veil was rent, wasn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ put his
blood on the mercy seat. Now for 500 years, the high priest
would go in on the day of atonement once a year and put blood on
the mercy seat. And while he was in there, the rest of the
priests were making sure that no one came close. Don't even
think about coming in here. This can only be the high priest.
He's got to go in, make sacrifice for himself. They were afraid
he would die in there if he didn't do it exactly right, weren't
they? What happened? When the Lord Jesus Christ bowed
his mighty head on Calvary's cross and cried, it is finished,
the veil was rent from top to bottom. God says, hey, it's open
now. Now the priests aren't saying,
stay away, stay away. Now what are they saying? Come.
The spirit and the bride say, come. The priest Melchizedek
has put his blood on the mercy seat and God has sworn and will
not repent that he is a priest forever. We have a forerunner. Look at
verse 20, whether the forerunner for us as entered, even Jesus
made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Could this be any more glorious,
could be more clear? The Lord Jesus Christ went in.
The veil's been rent. The way to God is open. And it's
only in Christ. For this Melchizedek, verse one,
King of Salem, you know what Salem means, peace. We have peace
with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the only thing that gives us peace with
God, we're not going to make our peace with God. You can't
make peace with God. What are you going to offer God?
to reconcile for your sins. You don't have anything, do you?
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, and He is our
peace. For this Melchizedek, King of
Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also
Abraham gave a tenth part of the spoils. Now that's how we
know who those pronouns were speaking of over there in Genesis.
Because God tells us right here, it was Abraham that gave tithes
of the spoils of the war to Melchizedek. And it was Melchizedek that blessed
Abraham. Now clearly the blessing goes
from the greater to the lesser. And clearly the tithes are paid
from the lesser to the greater. What's the Lord telling us? Before
Abraham was, I am. I'm Abraham's priest. To him also, verse two, Abraham
gave the 10th part of all, first being by interpretation, king
of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is
king of peace. That's what his name means. There's
only one righteousness before God, that's Christ. There's only
one peace that we can have with God, and that's through the blood
of Christ. Without father, Look at this, without father, without,
you see Melchizedek just showed up. There's no lineage given
to him. How many characters of this significance
in the Bible and you read nothing of their lineage? You read nothing
of their mother, their father, you read nothing of their children.
No, that was of great importance, wasn't it? What's God telling
us? This Melchizedek is God himself. He's eternal. He's the uncreated
one. And he's the one able to give
you access with God. Without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither beginning of days, neither end
of life, but made like unto the son of God abideth a priest continually. And don't let that word like
confusion. We've already looked at that. This is the son of God. No one liked the Son of God other
than the Son of God. Who were you liking unto me?
Does scripture tell us that? How are you going to compare
me to another? Not only if I'm compared to myself. Now consider
how great this man, and notice that little verb was as in italics. It doesn't belong there. You
just scratch it out. You scratch it out. Notice how great this man was? Notice how great is this man!
That's the meaning of the verse. Notice how great is this man,
the God-man, our Melchizedek, unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils, and verily They that are of the
sons of Levi who received the office of the priesthood have
commandment to make tithes to take tithes of the people according
to the law that is of their brethren though they came out of the loins
of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted
from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that
had the promises and without controversy the less is blessed
of the greater. Now what's the Lord saying? Levi
was in the loins of Abraham. Abraham lived 500 years before
Levi. Levi came out of the loins, came
out of the DNA, came out of the seed of Abraham. So when Abraham
was paying tithes to Melchizedek, so was Levi. And when Abraham
was being blessed by Melchizedek, so was Levi. What is the Lord telling us?
Well, a couple of things. The church is called the seed
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you read writers talk about
Christ being Abraham, Christ being our federal head. All you
want Christ is our seminal head. We were in Christ Jesus when
he was crucified on Calvary's cross, just as really as Levi
was in the loins of Abraham. And we were in our father Adam,
in his loins. When he sinned, we sinned. We fell in him. Now that's what
the Lord's telling us here. You know, there's a big debate
about nurture and nature. You know, what is it that forms
a person more, nurture or nature? And in my younger years, I used
to think, you know, nurture is a lot more important than nature.
You can make a person, I don't believe that anymore, not for
a second. 90% plus of what we are is nature. 10% may have something to do
with nurture. You know, we, we, we, apple doesn't fall far from
the tree, does it? I mean, we just, we, we, we're
so much of what we are in our, in our DNA. You know, it's just,
and that's what the Lord, and in the same way, you bring Christ
who is our priest and you blessed of him with bread and with wine. In
other words, what's, what does, what does milk, what did Melchizedek
bless Abraham with? Himself. And what is our blessing? What is our blessing? Comfort
and ease and prosperity and health and wealth and no. Abraham, I
am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward. Christ is our reward. Our spiritual head is our blessing. May God give us grace to ask
him for the spiritual things that we are in so desperate need
of. This is who Melchizedek is, is
Christ. He is our Melchizedek. Let's skip over to verse 20 in
Hebrews chapter, and you read the rest of this. This is so
glorious. Once the Lord enables you to
see that this Melchizedek is Christ. Verse 17, for he testifies
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, for
there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before
for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the
which we draw nigh unto God. Those Old Testament priests couldn't
save you. Those sacrifices couldn't save you. Hey, we're pointing
to Christ. He's the only one that can save
us. He's our Melchizedek. He's the one who blesses us.
He's the one who brings us bread and wine. And a verse 20 in as much as
not without an oath, he was made priest. He was made a priest forever
with an oath after the order Melchizedek. for whose priests
were made, for those priests, I'm sorry, were made without
an oath. But this with an oath by him that said unto him, the
Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. But so much was Jesus made a
surety of a better Testament. And they truly were made priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this man, what man, Melchizedek,
Because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
For such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. made higher than the heavens
who needeth not daily as those high priest offer up sacrifices
first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people for
this he did once when he offered up himself for the law maketh
men high priest which have infirmities but the word of the oath which
was before the law or since the law make it the sun who is consecrated
forevermore. Now of the things which we have
spoken, this is the summary of all the things that we've
said. This is the summation. This is the total. We have such
a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty of the head in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and
at the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. We have a priest. His name in Genesis chapter 14
was Melchizedek. We call him the Lord Jesus Christ,
the son of God. What a priest he is, what success
and hope we have. And we have the promise and the
oath of God to confirm him. And what are we called on to
do? Believe. Our Heavenly Father. Thank you
for the revelation of Christ that you've given us in your
word. Blessed to our hearts, we ask it in his name. Amen. Number 268, let's stand together
268. you. How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. What more can He say than to
you He hath said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled,
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God,
I will still give thee aid, I'll strengthen thee, And cause thee
to stand, Upheld by my gracious, Omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters
I call thee to go, The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, and sanctify
to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials thy
pathway shall lie, my grace all sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee,
I only design Thy draughts to consume and thy gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell Should
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake.