Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. I'd like to look at one verse
tonight, verse 6. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 6. The Scripture says, Also in another place, thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening as we
come before You, we come with thankfulness And Lord, we come
with anticipation. Lord, the Scripture that we deal
with tonight is so wonderfully rich. I ask You, would You help
us to see, help us to hear, help us to know, comfort us, teach
us, we pray of Yourself. Watch over us. Guide us and direct
us. For Christ's sake, Amen. We're going to be looking at a man. He was a man. There's
a lot of speculation on who this priest was. Some say he was the
incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Some say it was one of the sons
of Shem. Oh, there's just speculation,
speculation, speculation. But, you know, the Scripture
doesn't say exactly who this priest was. Tells us some things
about him, but there's some great mystery about this priest, Melchizedek. He's talked about in the book
of Genesis. He's referred to in the book
of Psalms. And he's referred to in the book
of Hebrews. But this priest right here, this
scripture right here, says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. He saith also in another place.
Now, when he was saying that, he saith also in another place.
That's when he was talking about Psalm 110, verse 4. Let me just
read this for you. The Lord has sworn and will not
repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek." Now in this mysterious, and I
mean that, you're going to see some things. Melchizedek is dealt
with quite a bit in the book of Hebrews. Seven chapters just
about totally taken up. study in this family. And we're
going to look at it. And as I was looking at this
passage of Scripture, the more I looked, the more I realized
I needed to look. I'm going to just touch, I'm
going to tell you tonight, I'm just going to touch on a few
points of this priest who was a picture, a type. We're going
to look at Christ. That's who we're going to see.
The Scripture says, Thou art a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. Well, you've got to look at something
about Melchizedek, what the Scripture does reveal about him, in order
to see how was it that the Lord was a priest forever after this
priest's order or his arrangement? Not after the the order of Aaron. Not that way. And we're real
familiar with that order. There's a whole lot written about
the order of the priesthood of Aaron. Aaron and this priest
died and this priest and his son. He died and he died and
another one. Not that way. This man, Melchizedek, This is
what it says. If you want to turn with me to
Psalm 110, I'll read a little bit from that. Let's see what
the Scripture says. Just a few thoughts to get our
minds. The Lord has sworn and will not
repent. This is what it says concerning
the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ That's after the order
or the arrangement or the similitude. It's pictured is what he's saying. Look at Melchizedek, how that
order was, and that was but a type, a picture of Christ Himself. The Lord has sworn, Psalm 110.4,
and will not repent. This is what we know so far.
The triune God has given His Word. He has given an oath. He is not
going to change His mind. God does not change. Thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now, I know this, that based on Proverbs chapter 8, He was
set up, the Lord Jesus Christ, from everlasting. And I know
this, that nothing is going to revoke His office. You see, we
need a priest. We must have one to approach
God for us. Can you imagine trying to approach
the thrice holy God who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity? God Almighty He is a consuming
fire. You try to approach God without
a priest, without the accepted priest, without the holy priest, Almighty God will not be approached. He is a priest forever. This blessed priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, who, as I said, was a picture. Melchizedek was a picture of
him. Melchizedek was a man. Amazing story about him. But this is what he was a picture. The Levitical priesthood. That
priesthood is long gone. It's not there anymore. That priesthood was raised up
and for that time, for that moment, for that period, there was a
priest and God Almighty set forth that priesthood as a picture. But they died. God's people must have a priest. Melchizedek was a man That died. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Scripture sets forth, was a priest forever after the order, after
the type of, after the picture of. There is no priest like Christ. There is no priest save the Lord
Jesus Christ that is forever. God never swore concerning the
Levitical priesthood. He did not swear that he was
going to remain forever, but Christ's priesthood. Thou art
a priest forever. There is the key. Before the
foundation of the world, when we were chosen in Him, He was
our priest then. When time shall be no more and
eternity, has long since set in. And this world is gone. The heavens are gone. He's still
the priest. He ever liveth to make intercession. Do you understand something?
Do you know how long we're going to exist? As long as our priest
exists. As long as our priest answers,
we've got an eternal priest. Melchizedek. He was a picture. He was a type. We're going to
look at some of those mysterious things that were said about Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ, a priest
forever. You know, Scripture says He was
made a surety of a better testament. Here's what it says, He continueth
forever. Think about this right now. You
that believe, You that trusted Him, you that God Almighty has
revealed Himself to, you have a priest right now that is seated
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. As I've said before,
what does that mean? That is so gloriously wonderful,
I can't even enter it in, but I know this, just hearing the
word seated means He's finished the work. He's done. This priest is done. The priesthood
and the Levites, the Levitical priests, they never sat down.
He's seated, ever living to plead His worthiness for His people,
saving them to the uttermost. Thou art a priest forever after the order. It doesn't say He was of the
order. It was after the order. It was
a type. That's what I want you to understand.
Christ never came from Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a picture. Great speculation of who that
man was, but I can tell you this. The Scripture is silent. As I
said, we're going to be silent too on who he was. Let me tell
you what I do know about him. Genesis 14. Turn to Genesis 14
and let's just look. Here's the first account. In
fact, I'll tell you this. This is the first account ever
of a priest in the Scriptures. I looked up the word priest just
to find out where it's recorded first. Here it is right here.
First time priest is ever mentioned. The order of Melchizedek of which
the Lord Jesus Christ was made a priest forever after that order,
according to that picture, according to that similitude. That order
was very unique. Genesis 14, verse 17 to 20, And
the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from
the slaughter of Cherulemer, and of the kings that were with
him at the valley of Sheba. which is the Kingsdale. 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 he said,
Blessed be Abraham 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, look at this. the uniqueness of this priest,
Melchizedek. At the time that Melchizedek
met Abraham, there was only one high priest
of the Most High God. Verse 18, And Melchizedek, king
of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, He was the priest of
the Most High God. No mention of any other priest. Hebrews 7, verse 3 says, of this
man, Melchizedek. And Lord willing, I'm just going
to read this Scripture because here we are in Hebrews chapter
5 and we'll have to get into chapter 7 and at that time we'll
look at this, but I want to read this Scripture Hebrews 7 verse
3 says of Melchizedek, without father, without mother, without
descent, that is pedigree, having neither beginning of days nor
end of days, there is no record. There is
no record. You cannot look at a record and
find out where did Melchizedek come from. No record of his father,
no record of his mother, no record of where his pedigree, nothing.
Neither don't know what his birthday was, don't know when he died. There's no record of it. A man,
yes, he was a priest, but there's no record. Oh, the eternality. that is pictured
of our Lord Jesus Christ in that. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He said, I was ever before Him
as one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, the
eternal God. What record is there of the beginning
of the Lord Jesus Christ? There is none. He is God Almighty. This priest right here, unique. The Lord Jesus Christ in this
order, the order of Melchizedek, He stands alone there. There's
a picture. Now Aaron, we can go back and
find his birthday, when he died, when his son was born, when his
son died. Not Melchizedek. Don't know. The Spirit of God in absolute
wisdom just eliminated all that information. Why? Because he
was a picture of Christ. No beginning of days, no ending
of days, no pedigree. As to the order of Melchizedek,
there's no mention whatsoever that any priest ever came before
him, that any priest after him, after that order. Now, whenever
God told Moses, now we're going to set up another order, the
Levitical priesthood, here again, Good records. Good. But not this
man. Here was a glorious picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is a priest forever
after that order. Picture that. Secondly, first
of all, the order is unique. Secondly, the order of Melchizedek
magnified the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here again,
let me read you in Hebrews 7, 1 and 2. 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 interpretation,
king of righteousness." Now, this is what that means. First
being interpretation, king of righteousness. That's what the
name Melchizedek means. Righteousness. Isn't it marvelous
how the Spirit of God took took that name, El-Kesedek. That was
his name. That name meant righteousness.
That set forth the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah
53.11, By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. Righteous. Holy. Perfect. That's Christ Himself
and being found in Him. Now, you remember something. A priest, he approaches God for
men. Prophet comes from God to men. I want you to listen to the glorious
blessing of this great high priest, I mean of Melchizedek who pictured
our great High Priest, back in Genesis 14, verse 19. And it says when Melchizedek
came and met Abraham after the slaughter of the kings, Genesis
14, 19 says, and he blessed him. He said, Blessed be Abraham of
the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. That's verse
19. That's what Melchizedek said to Abraham. Bless you, Abraham. And he turned right around verse
20 and said, And blessed be the Most High God which hath delivered
thine enemies into thy hand. He blessed Abraham and blessed
God. What a picture of the glorious
Lord Jesus Christ. God-man. One that can bless man
and bless God. One who is familiar with both. Oh, this is a Melchizedek's marvelous
picture. of Christ. And the more I read
of this man, the more I see how mysterious. But is our Lord not
that way? Who is a God like unto Thee?
Oh, that which we know of Him. He is the great God. Mysterious,
wonderful, majestic. And being found in the Lord Jesus
Christ, I'll tell you this, all that he represents, Melchizedek
means righteous, righteous. Melchizedek, king of righteousness. All that the Lord Jesus Christ,
our righteous great high priest, represents, they're righteous
in Him. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. This is the great high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. His name means the King of Righteousness. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
King of Righteousness. And thirdly and lastly, the order
of Melchizedek magnified the royalty of the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ who is the great high priest. back in Hebrews
7, 2, I'll just read you this again, reveals that Melchizedek
was king of Salem, which is the king of peace. Now here he was. He was a priest and a king. You didn't find that. You didn't
find the priest in the Levitical priesthood. They're not kings,
and kings are not priests. I'm trying to think of the name
of the priest. today, I mean, of the king that came in and
he wanted to offer it, and the priest told him, he said, don't
do that. It just came to my mind. I wish I'd have looked it up.
Now, Lord willing, I will. The priest told him, he said,
this pertaineth not to you. He was a king and God struck
him with leprosy. Remember that, Carl? This Melchizedek, he is the righteous
priest, priest of righteousness. And he's the king of peace also. King of Salem, which is king
and priest. A royal priesthood. A kingly
priesthood. Melchizedek's office and title
set forth the Lord Jesus Christ who is the king of peace. He
who rules and reigns in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. As King, He's conquered death and hell and the grave,
established righteousness by the sacrifice of Himself, shedding
of His own blood. All of our need is in Him. That's what Paul said, My God
shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. The order of Aaron, that priesthood,
You know who that was for? That was for the Jews. It was
all for the Jews. But this priest, Melchizedek,
he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ who is the great high priest
for all of God's elect. The Lord Jesus Christ wasn't
after the order of Aaron. Only the Jews. after the order
of Melchizedek, Prince of Salem, Prince of Peace, King of Righteousness. Out of every nation and kindred
and tribe and tongue, God has a people. And our great high
priest, who is the altar, the priest, and the sacrifice himself,
he has established righteousness before God Almighty by His own
obedience, by the putting away of guilt of His people. He has
given Him by His blood, King of peace. I'll tell you how peace
was established between us and God Almighty. The Lord Jesus
Christ was made sin for us. He who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him, to approach God Almighty. We must approach Him with no
guilt. As I'm going to close out for
this evening, I want to leave you with this thought on the
significance of a priest. that God accepts. We must approach
God with no guilt. How can I be just before God? I was conceived in sin and came
forth from my mother's womb speaking lies. who has done nothing but absolutely
wallowed in rebellion against God because there is no good
thing in me. This is the office of our great
high priest. The priest, you remember this,
was the one that sacrificed the animals. Put those animals, the
blood of those animals on that altar. That altar was a great
smelling savor, sweet savor unto God. God accepted it as a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what I must have as a
sinner. I must have one that can deal
with my sin. Only the great high priest could
take what I am and make Himself to be that. He Himself made Himself
the Lamb." That's what Abraham told Isaac, Father, here's the
fire, here's the wood, where's the Lamb? My son, God
will provide Himself. and the great High Priest, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself made Himself the Lamb. God Almighty gave the Lamb. God will provide Himself a Lamb. And the Lamb Himself willingly
laid Himself upon the altar in submission, just like Isaac.
When Abraham took that boy and laid him up there, no record
of kicking and screaming. God Himself intervened. There's
substitution. There's no end to the beauty
in that blessed story. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
the priest that offered Himself and His blood, that blood that
was shed, On the Day of Atonement, remember back in Levitical priesthood,
on the one day of Atonement, that priest would go into that
Holy of Holies and he would take and sprinkle that blood on the
mercy seat. God met right there. I'll meet
you between the cherubims. One day a year, the Lord Jesus
Christ went in with His own blood, sprinkled His own blood, answered
by His own blood, I must have no guilt. Our great high priest
took the guilt of his people and made it to be his own. Psalm
40 says, mine iniquities. He was without sin. And he made
the sin of his people to be his own. Made sin. That guilt was
put away by the substitute. So I have to have no guilt. I've
got to be perfect. I have to have nothing to answer
for. The law must look at me. The
law must look at me and say, justified. No guilt. No record. No record of guilt. And then secondly, I've got to
have a righteousness. I must have a holiness before
God Almighty. I must stand before God Almighty
holy. There is only one way that I
can stand before God Almighty with no debt and absolute holiness. Christ Himself must be made sin
for me. He who knew no sin that I might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." Now let God be true and let every
man be a liar. How should man be just before
God? I'm going to tell you there's
one way. There's one God and there's one
Mediator between God and men, and it's the man, Christ Jesus.
There's one great high priest. And the Scripture sets forth
that he was made a priest forever after the picture of, after the
similitude of, after the arrangement of this One that was brought
into this world to picture the Lord Jesus Christ, Melchizedek. Only in Christ has our sin been
paid for. Now, you think about this. How
much weight do you think that our little decision is going
to make in the day of judgment? I was listening to a message
today Brother Scott preached in 1980. And he made this statement. He
said, What you rest the security of your eternal soul on right
now, ask yourself this, will it stand in the day of judgment? What you rest, what you think
you've done, what you think's been accomplished, what you think. Do you think that in the day
of judgment, He entitled the message, I never knew you. Do
you think that what you're resting in right now, and you remember this, whatever
you've done, whatever you think you've done, it had to have been
done in absolute perfection. You must have had to have been
perfect before you did it and since you did it. And it's got
to have been done in absolute righteousness according to the
standard of God's law. And there can be no infraction
before or after and it must stand eternally accepted by God. Now answer that question again. Do you think that what you've
done is going to be accepted in the day of God's judgment?
We've got one hope. One hope. One mediator. We must have Christ as our great
High Priest. And I'm telling you, without
Him, there is no salvation. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the light. No man comes to the Father. Not by your church membership. Not by your baptism. Not by your
daily Bible readings. Not by your prayer life. I'm
telling you the truth. There is one hope. And it is our great High Priest. The Lord Jesus Christ, God's
Lamb, look to Him and live. Amen.