Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 14. Genesis 14. I'd like to look at verses 17
through 24. Coming up to these verses right
here. The faith of Abram was surely tried when hearing of
Lott's capture, Abram took 318 armed servants and went against
four kings, led by a king, Charlemagne, and he did that to rescue Lott.
Now, humanly speaking, the odds would seem insurmountable. But anything, nothing is impossible
with God. Abram believed God. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Abram went after Chedulemer, and the other three
kings, pursued them, the scripture said, onto a city called Dan,
divided his forces, and by night, smote them. And took back a lot,
lost goods, lost family, the people of that community. He finished the work. And there's a beautiful picture
in type in that battle right there. It set forth the finished
work, the rescue, the delivery of God's people. And you look
at what Lot had lost. There's a lot now, type, figure. of man in the fall, all God's
people found in the loins of Adam. And everything that Lot
lost, it was recovered. Just as everything that we lost
in our fall in Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ restored that which
He took not away. That's what the Lord said. A
lot lost. He lost his life. He's now in captivity. We lost
our life. The Lord told Adam in the day,
you eat and you're going to surely die. And that image of God that
was in man in the fall, restored by the Lord Jesus Christ, love
for God, peace with him, fellowship with him. Abram took back All that was lost, the Lord Jesus
Christ took back all that was lost for his people. Now, no
sooner had Abram returned victoriously. He'd been tried. 318 men, four
kings against four kings. That was faith. He believed God. But now no sooner has he come
back and he's getting ready to have another trial. He's going
to meet with the king of Sodom, Scripture says, in verse 17. And the king of Sodom is going
to make him an offer. And it's going to be a trying
offer. Scripture says in verse 17, and
the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from
the slaughter of Chattelahomer. and of the kings that were with
him at the valley of Sheba, which is the king's dale. But before
there was a conversation between Abram and the king of Sodom,
an event took place that's mentioned very few times in scriptures.
It's mentioned here. It's mentioned in Psalm 110 verse
4. And it's mentioned in the book
of Hebrews about this man. His name was Melchizedek. And the scripture says in verses
18 to 20, this is the account that's given of that meeting
between Abram and Melchizedek. It says, and Melchizedek, King
of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest
of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said,
blessed be 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
gave him tithes of all. Now at this point we would do
no better. There is much speculation, I
guess I could say, concerning who this man Melchizedek was. Let me just go ahead and just
tell you from the outset right here. I'll tell you who I think
he is. I think this is a pre-incarnate visitation of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. That He's come and met with Abram
and blessed him. I know the Lord's going to meet
again with him before he goes into Sodom. Came there with two
angels and it was the Lord that was there, but that's who I believe
He is. I'll leave that up to to your
direction by the Spirit of God, to who you think He is, but we
would do no better than let's look at the Scriptures and see
what the Scriptures has to say concerning the account of this
man, Melchizedek. Hebrews 7.4 says, I'll read this
to you, now consider how great this man was. unto whom even
the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of spoils." Now his name,
a compound name of his name, it's Melech, means king, and
Tzedek, means justice, and you put those together and it comes
out Melchizedek. And he was revealed to be, in
this scripture right here, verse 18, in Melchizedek, king of Salem,
king of peace. In fact, in the New Testament,
Hebrews 7, verse 2, says concerning this man, Melchizedek, right
here it says king of Salem, king of peace. Hebrews 7.2 says, to
whom also Abram gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation
king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which
is king of peace. Now, when we start talking about
kings and priests in the Old Testament, God's peoples, kings
and priests, a king was set up to rule, to govern, to support,
to reward the subjects of his kingdom. And the king in Israel
was to come from the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49.10 says, the
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be." So we know that the kings in Israel were
from the tribe of Judah. Revelation 5.5 says, And one
of the elders said unto me, Weep not, behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah. The root of David hath prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. So concerning
Melchizedek, he was a king. Does it say the tribe that he
was from? But our Lord, as King, was King, powerful over all the
earth. A kingdom, the Scripture declares,
that is forever and has no end. He rules in the army of heaven
among the inhabitants of the earth, and all power has been
given unto Him as King. and He shall give eternal life,
being King, being all-powerful to as many as the Father has
given Him. And we know that our Lord and
Savior is King, Isaiah said, in the year that King Uzziah
died. I saw also the Lord sitting upon
a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."
In the New Testament, in 1 Timothy 6.15, concerning our Lord, it
says, who is blessed, who is thee blessed, and only potentate. I looked up potentate to make
sure I understand what it means. I think I know what it means,
but I want to know I know what it means. or officer of great authority. That's what it means. He is the
blessed and only potentate, King, capital K, of kings, little k,
Lord of lords, ruling in authority in heaven and earth. And as Melchizedek
was King of Salem, He is King of peace, not priest. He is King of peace, King of
Salem. And Hebrews 7, 2, King of righteousness,
only the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of peace. He is the King of righteousness. The Scripture says that Colossians
1.20, having made peace through the blood of his cross, and by
his obedience imputed to those who believe on him, many shall
be made righteous. He is the king of righteousness. He is the king of peace. Melchizedek is said to be king
of Salem. He's king of peace. Hebrews 7.2 says He's the King
of Righteousness. So, not only do we behold our
precious Savior as being King of Peace, King of Righteousness,
the Scripture says concerning Melchizedek, He was Priest of
the Most High God. I want you to look in your Bible
in verse 18 and look at the exact wording. Notice that when we
get down to the word was, and it says, and Melchizedek, king
of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he, the priest
of the Most High God. The word was is in italics. It's
added. It wasn't there. Just read it
without the was. And he, the priest of the Most
High God. This is the first place in scripture
where the title the office of priest is ever mentioned. Now there were kings in the scriptures,
they were from the tribe of Judah, they were priests, and they were
from the tribe of Levi, but a particular house in the tribe of Levi. Hold your place and turn to Numbers
3. Numbers chapter 3. Numbers chapter 3. I wanna read verses five to 10.
Now this is how specific God was when it came to the priest.
Numbers chapter three, verses five to 10. And the Lord's speaking
to Moses saying, bring the tribe of Levi near and present them
before Aaron the priest that they may minister unto him. And
they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation
before the tabernacle of the congregation to do the service
of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments
of the tabernacle of the congregation and the charge of the children
of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt
give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons. They are wholly
given unto him out of the children of Israel. And thou shalt appoint
Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's
office. And the stranger that cometh
nigh shall be put to death. Now, where were the priests to
come from? They were going to come from
the Levites. But they were going to come from
the house of Aaron. If you were not from the house
of Aaron, you were not going to be the priest. It was specific. It was specific. You remember
when Korah told Moses, he said, you know, you take a whole lot
on yourself. And Korah decided he was going
to kind of push his weight around and he was going to show him
that they could, you know, they could be priests, you know. And
God just opened up the earth and sent them alive to hell. You remember Saul? What position
did Saul have? He was a king. He was supposed to have been
waiting on Samuel. Samuel was the priest. And Saul got ahead
of himself. And Saul decided he was going
to make the sacrifice. God took the kingdom from him. You remember Uzziah? Uzziah was
a king. And he decided he was going to
go ahead and make the sacrifice. And the priest told him, he said,
Uzziah, this appertaineth not unto thee to do this. And he
did it. What happened to him? God struck
him with leprosy. And Isaiah, that's what he wrote,
in the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. The office of
the priest, the office of the king, they were separate offices. Didn't overlap. The kings ruled,
the priests offered sacrifices. This man, was king and priest. He was king of Salem, king of
peace, king of righteousness, and he was priest of the Most
High God. Whenever the priest was taken
for the use in the sacrifice, it had
to be a man. He was a man. And he was a man
that that born of woman to fulfill and obey the demands for righteousness
had to be a man representing the Lord Jesus Christ who must
die to fulfill the law's demand for justice, who could suffer
and be buried and raised from the dead. Christ alone could
do that. All the other priests pictured
Him as God's priest Our blessed Savior, He's sovereign and willing
to act as mediator between God and man, truly God. One with the Father, truly man,
made flesh. God to give merit and efficacy
to the offering. God Almighty to have the power
in the offering. God who is worthy alone to be
worshipped. who would die and who would suffer. Now here we behold our great
high priest. Listen, turn to Hebrews chapter
5. I want you to consider this blessed
savior, the great high priest, Hebrews chapter 5, verses 1 to 10. Every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that
he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Who can have compassion on the
ignorant and on them that are out of the way, for that he himself
also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought,
as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. And
no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called
of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec. who in the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death,
and was heard in that he feared. Though he were a son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him, called of God and high priest after the order. of Melchizedek. So, here's our
blessed Savior. He's a King, King of Peace, King
of Righteousness. And He is Priest of the Most
High God. He was taken from among men,
made flesh. And He, as a priest, He would
offer gifts. He offered the gift of Himself. in obedience to God, in the sacrifice
of His blood, to the laws, demand for justice, and putting away
the guilt of His people. Hebrews 2, 16, 17 says, For verily
He took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him
the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
and to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Oh, the
glory of our blessed Lord and Savior, our great King and Priest. He who was brought up with the
Father, He who daily was the Father's delight. Now I want
us, as I begin to close this day, I want us to just consider
this man, Melchizedek. Who met with Abraham? Who is
it that is the Savior of his people, that rules with his people,
is the great high priest of his people? It's one man. It's one
man. Turn with me to Hebrews 7, verse
6. Hebrews 7. Hebrews chapter 7, listen to the account of this
man, Melchizedek. I read, I'll just tell you this,
I read some of the accounts. Some of them said it was Shem.
They believed that Melchizedek was Shem. I want you to read
this account. We know who Shem's lineage, we
know who Shem was. We know who his daddy was. Who
was Shem's daddy? Noah, Noah. They said it was
this one, they said it was that one. Hebrews chapter 7 verses
1 to 6, 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 all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after
that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, Now listen
to this. Without father, without mother,
without descent, without pedigree, where did he come from? There's
no record. There's no record. No record
of his daddy, no record of his mama, no record of his family. Having neither beginning of days,
when did he start? There was no start. having no
end of life, but made like unto the Son of God. One writer said, well, I know
it couldn't have been the Lord because it just said He was made
like unto Him. To whom are you going to compare the Lord? You're
telling me that there was somebody that was made like unto the Son
of God? Abideth a king continually. I'm sorry, a priest, Abbot is
a priest continually. Now consider how great this man
was unto whom even patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the
spoils. And verily they that are of the
sons of Levi who received the office of the priesthood have
a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the
law that is of their brethren though they come 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. So concerning back in Genesis
chapter 14, consider this man, Melchizedek. The account again
in chapter 14, verse 18 to 20, and Melchizedek, king of Salem,
Brought forth bread and wine. The priest would come to offer
gifts. Those priests in the Old Testament,
what did they give? They gave the blood of animals,
the blood of bulls, goats, and they gave just exactly what God
ordained that they would give. What did this man bring? He brought
bread and wine. When our Lord ate with his disciples,
you know where I'm going with this, Neil. When our Lord sat
down at Last Supper, what were the elements? Bread and wine. What do they symbolize? This
is my body that's broken for you. This is my blood which is
shed for you. As often as you eat this bread
and drink this wine, you do show the Lord's death. What did Melchizedek
bring? He brought bread and wine. And he, the priest of the Most
High God, that's who he was. This is what he brought. This
is who he was. He's the king of Salem, king
of righteousness. This is who he is. That's who
he is. What did he bring? He brought bread and wine, symbols
of his broken body and his shed blood, sacrifice to establish
that peace before God. And what did he do? Verse 19
said, and he blessed him. He blessed him and said, blessed
be Abram. From who? From the most high
God, possessor of heaven and earth. You know what a priest
is? He's one that intercedes for
God's people before God. Here is the mediator, the great
high priest, whoever liveth to make intercession. Here he speaks
to Abraham and tells him, God has blessed you. That's what
he said. Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor
of heaven and earth. And there's what he did for Abram
before God. Next verse, 20. And blessed be
the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into
thy hand. And he, that is, Abram, gave
him tithes of all. So he told Abram, first of all,
God has blessed you. And then as the ever-living great
high priest, he blessed God on Abram's behalf. The scripture sets forth that
Abram gave tithes unto him, gave offerings, gave tithes of all
the spoils. One of the writers said, He said, well, what he did was
he didn't give, he'd gone and gotten a lot. And he brought
back a lot and he brought back all the stuff, the spoils. And one writer said, he said,
well it wasn't the tithe of the spoils because he wasn't going
to take all of that. Later we'll see that in just
a minute, I'll finish this up. when the king of Sodom says,
you take all the stuff, and Abraham said, no, I'm not going to take
anything. But I'll tell you what Abraham did. He did give it out
of the tithe, out of the spoils. Because I read it a while ago.
I'm going to read this to you so you can know. It says back
in Hebrews chapter 7 to clarify exactly where he got the tithes. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 4, now
consider how great this man was upon whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." So he gave exactly what
the scriptures said he gave out of the spoils. He gave that unto
Melchizedek. That was a tithe. It was for
the maintenance of the priest is what it was for. You know,
the tithe was God's provision for the priest. They didn't have
any other inheritance. They had the Lord. They were
in the temple. And they didn't have land. God
gave them provision. And it was out of the tithe. They were to pay a tenth. That's
what it was. What do we do today? I'll just
read this for you, 2 Corinthians 9. Somebody asked me one time,
how are we supposed to give? 2 Corinthians 9, I said, I'll
tell you exactly how you give. 2 Corinthians 9, verses 6 to
8. But this I say, he which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He which soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully, every man according as he purposeth
in his heart. So let him give, not grudgingly
or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is
able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye also, having
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
So Abram gave tithes. That was the maintenance for
the priest. Melchizedek was a priest, and
Abram did exactly as he was commanded. Now after that meeting, there's
that glorious meeting where Almighty God, I'm convinced in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, came and met Abram when he came back
from the slaughter. And now that king of Sodom that
had come up and he was getting ready to talk to Abram before
Melchizedek got there. And I was just taken back at
the power Whenever Melchizedek got there, the King Sodom said
nothing. But now, Melchizedek has spoken
to Abram. And now the King of Sodom is
gonna speak and we'll end this up, verses 21, 24. And the King
of Sodom said unto Abram, give me the persons and take the goods
to thyself. Now here comes, here's a trial.
Here's a trial coming up right here. And Abram said to the king
of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most
high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take. Now this is something he had
already done. He had already done. I have lift up my hand,
that I will not take from a thread, I will not take from a thread
even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that
is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich. Save only that which the young
men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me,
Aner, Eschol, and Mamre, let them take their portion." Now,
here we conclude the words spoken. to the King of Sodom after Abram's
victory over the kings. Another temptation. Here's what
the King of Sodom says to him. You take all the spoils. You take all the booty. Give me the people. And Abram
said, I lift up my hand unto the Lord. I don't doubt that the Lord had
moved upon Abram. I don't doubt that Abram had
prayed. It's not recorded, but he says here, I've lifted my
hand unto God. And I'm not going to take anything,
anything from you so that you can't say, I made Abram rich. I'm not going to take anything.
It was enough that God had given Lot and Lot's possessions that
Melchizedek had met with him and blessed him. He said, I'm
not taking. I'm not taking anything. I'm not going to have you say
that you rewarded me and that now I'm rich because of something
you've done to me. He would take nothing except,
now listen to what he did. Save only, verse 24, that which
young men have eaten, what these men ate, They were deserving
of that. And the portion of men which
went with me, he didn't restrict. I mean, when they took things,
they got the spoils. Whatever portion would go to
these men, you let it go to these men, but you'll give me nothing.
You're not going to give me anything. You're not going to say that
you rewarded me. God is my reward. God is my provider. Oh, the blessing
that Abram had in meeting with the Lord. In that blessed meeting
with Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, the King
of Salem. And he blessed him. He blessed
him there. And blessed God on his behalf. I pray that the Lord
bless this to our hearts. Blessed to our hearts that we
might realize this same Lord Jesus Christ meets with us right
here. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, I'm in the midst of you. May we behold him
by faith this night for his glory and our good.