Okay, we're going to be in the
book of Hebrews one more time. In chapter 6, we're going to
read a little bit and then we're going to see where we're going
on this. And I'm going to call this the
King of Righteousness and King of Peace. And we're going to
start in chapter 6 of Hebrews. I'm going to start We are going to start with verse
13 and reading down through verse 20 of chapter 6 Hebrews. It says,
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear
by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will
bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after
he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men
verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation
is to them an end of all strife. wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Whether
the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made in high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Let's have a word prayer as we
start. Our Heavenly Father, we pray that you would be with us
this morning as you open the word, that you would give us
those things that we can share together and that you'd reveal
yourself to us. Pray that you'd be with those
that aren't with us today that are away for various reasons
that you'd watch over us wherever we might be. Again, open our
eyes and our hearts to what the word has to say this morning
in Jesus' name. Amen. In the previous lesson
we looked at this portion, the same portion, 13-19. And it was called Heirs of Promise.
And it speaks here about God and promise that he swore to
Abraham, but also to all of his people, the church of all time,
that he swore these things. And it says that we might have
strong consolation, verse 18, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil. And we spoke about above here,
the promise, and it says that, that declares to his people that
immutability of his counsel, it's never going to change. His
counsel, his determinations, the everlasting covenant that
he has that, that procures and comforts and guarantees the church,
those things will never change and have a hope, it says, as
an anchor of the soul. And then in verse 20, Hebrews
chapter 6 verse 20, it says, whether the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And we're going to look a little
bit this morning at Melchizedek and what the scripture tells
us about Melchizedek and more importantly what it tells us
about our Lord and Savior himself. And we're going to spend a little
time in Genesis and Psalm, but the bulk of our time is going
to be in the book of Hebrews. Melchizedek is a word made up of two words,
and what little I know about Hebrew, Greek, or any of the
other languages, but what I read, melech, king, and tizedek, justice
or righteousness, and king of justice or king of righteousness.
And we'll read where it says that Melchizedek, king of Salem,
king of peace. And how it points to our great high
priest Christ. And we're going to read some
descriptive things about Melchizedek and then we'll see what the scriptures
have to say about that concerning our Lord. In the book of Genesis,
to start with Genesis chapter 14. And a couple of verses here
in Genesis 14. Starting the verse 17 of Genesis
chapter 14, it says, and the king of Sodom went out to meet
him, Abraham, after his return from the slaughter of Keldor
Lamor and of the kings that were with him at the Valley of Sheba,
which is the King's Dale. In verse 18, 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. You see, Melchizedek, king of
Salem. It says the priest of the most
high God. And then in Psalm 110, 110th
Psalm, some 110 and reading the whole
of this. It says, Psalm 110 verse 1, The
Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thy
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. In the beauties of holiness,
from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The Lord hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge
among the heathen. He shall fill the places with
the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over
many countries. He shall drink of the brook in
the way. Therefore shall he lift up the head. in verse 4 where it says, the
Lord has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. And that's speaking about the
Lord himself, a priest forever. And that phrase A priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek is used a lot of times and we're
going to see that as we continue on. And then also several, this
is a very important psalm because a lot of it is quoted a lot of
times. Verse one, the Lord said to my
Lord, set out my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
And also, Verse three, thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness
from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
And then verse four, that Lord has sworn and will not repent,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So
these verses are quoted many times in scripture as we've seen
and heard many times. Back in the book of Hebrews, starting with the first chapter,
and we're going to spend the bulk of our time in the book
of Hebrews because it's quite a commentary on Melchizedek and
our Lord and Savior, of course. Chapter 1 of Hebrews, starting
with verse 8. But unto the Son, he saith, thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall
perish, but thou remainest. They all shall wax old as doth
a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall
be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. But to which of the angels saith
he at any time, sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation?" And speaking here of, obviously, the eternality
of our Lord. He has laid the foundations of the world
as it says here and it says in John and other places that he
is the creator and he is the one that the works of his hands
and speaks of his not changing and
never changing and as that phrase about his priesthood shall never
change after the order of Melchizedek and it being an eternal thing. And in chapter 2 of Hebrews it starts speaking about
the Lord as being the high priest in verse 17 and not to slight or to go over these without emphasizing them, but for time,
it says in verse 17, chapter 2 of Hebrews, wherefore, in all
things that behooved him to be made like unto his brethren,
speaking of our Lord, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. He might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in all things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people. Pretty important point. Pretty
important point to the church. The priest, as we read on, will
see that the priest in the Old Testament could only do a service
in a picture of what was needed. Those sacrifices couldn't really
make reconciliation for the sins of the people. They were a picture
of the true sacrifice and God working in the the people's hearts even then,
the remnant, it was always there. There were those somehow, and
by his spirit, we don't know exactly how much they understood,
but they knew that their hope was not in that sacrifice that
the priest was presenting. That was a picture of it, and
they had hope in that picture of that, that the real was fulfilled that, that sacrifice,
the scapegoat, when that was taken off and their sins laid
on to that in picture, that in reality, truly, in our true high
priest sacrifice, our Lord, that indeed did take place and fulfilled
that picture of that in that way. In chapter 3, right next door down here. In
chapter 3, starting in verse 1 and reading down just
a little bit, it says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus, who is faithful to him that appointed
him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man
was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who
hath built the house hath more honor than the house. For every
house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God.
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant,
for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after.
But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we
if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope,
firm unto the end." And again, it says, consider, it says, the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. And as those priests did those
things and carried out those things, and as Moses said, was
faithful to do those things that God required him to do, pointing
to Christ, who is much more faithful over the house that he built,
his people, his church, and that secured those things that he
said would be secured. And again, as the apostle and
high priest of our profession, He's the captain of our salvation.
He's the one in charge and the one that sees these things through
and sees the work that needs to be done through. And in chapter
4 in Hebrews, starting with verse 14, again
speaking about the high priest, speaking in the early part of
this, about the rest that only Joshua couldn't give rest, but
our Lord is the one that can give rest. But starting with
verse 14 of chapter 4 of Hebrews, it says, seeing then that we
have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities, but was in All points tipped like as we
are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in the time of need. For every high priest taken
from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
and 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 also for himself
to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour
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. And he saith also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
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. Starting with verse 14 again
of verse 4 or chapter 4 Hebrews seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of
God Let us hold fast our profession for we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeding of our infirmities
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin
a Couple of things I'd like to mention at that point those high
priests are Even while they were doing the sacrifices, as clean
as they can get in their garments and the different things that
were taking place, they were sinners. They were carrying out
the office of the priest in picture of the true high priest, but
only in picture because they were sinful men. And as it says
in other places, they couldn't continue because of death. One
priest served, died, next one come up, served, died. Our high
priest is not one that's limited by anything and he was forever
that priest. And also that when he, as that
role of the priest as we're looking at it, offered himself as that
sacrifice It says he was touched with our infirmities but was
all points tempted like we are yet without sin. He was not tempted
like we are in the same sense that we have a temptation and
we kind of should I or shouldn't I kind of thinking and we many
times do the wrong way. That was not an option for our
Lord. It never entered in his mind.
Things that tempted him were not tempted as we are that it
could go either way. There was no possibility. He's perfect. He did not sin
and he didn't contemplate sinning. It wasn't a consideration. It just is not possible. If we
have any understanding of who our Lord is, and in the Book
of Hebrews it speaks highly of Him as a lot of other places,
that it's not just that He could have sinned and He didn't, and
He just lived a good life that way. It was not possible for
it. And those that contemplate I think whether Christ could
have sinned or not, and when he was tempted, I think they
have a very poor view of who God is, and a very poor view
of who our Lord and Savior is. He had to be the perfect one.
He was God, and he not only lived a perfect life physically, but
there was no option. It wasn't a, we'll wait and see
if he lives a good life. It was determined, and he's God,
and there's no possibility that he would be the temptation would
cause sin. So we know that it was a perfect
sacrifice that the perfect high priest offered of himself. In
chapter 6, back where we were, we're going to start at verse
18 again of chapter 6 of Hebrews. And we're gonna see a little
bit more about the mentions of Melchizedek and his priesthood
again and himself. It says in verse 18 of chapter
six of Hebrews, that by two immutable things that which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have
fled for refuge to lay hope upon the hope set before us. Which
hope we has in an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil, whether the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek." And that is, it said, those that
have a strong consolation, that have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope, and the hope is indeed in that high priest, the
true high priest, and that true sacrifice he offered that it
for his people and that uh and it it says it's an anchor of
the soul both sure and steadfast and that can only be there because
of what god causes that by grace we're saved through faith and
that has to be instilled in us by by him by god almighty because
we don't have that confidence in that that uh uh steadfastness
and understand those things unless he reveals it to us and that
he is that indeed that anchor of the soul to his people and
then continuing on in chapter 7 verse 1 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, without father, without mother, without descent,
having neither beginning of days or end of life, but made like
unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually. Now consider
how great this man was, unto whom even the 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." I'd like to stop for just a second and up here
where it speaks about this King Melchizedek. It says, King of
Salem, priest of the Most High God, in verse 1, who met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings, to whom Abraham
gave the tenth part of all, first being interpreted King of Righteousness,
and after that also King of Salem, which is King of Peace. We have
to stop for a second there and ask ourselves who this is talking
about. We know that there's only one that's going to be the king
of righteousness. There's only going to be one
that is truly the king of peace. There may have been some peaceful
kings and there may have been some Good kings and some not
so good kings as we saw in the Old Testament speaks to this.
Some of the kings were a lot better than some of the others.
But they were all sinful men. They were still men. And that's
brought to us on each of those that were godly men that they
were sinful men. They were still men. And here,
speaking of this, the only one that has these attributes is
our Lord and Savior himself. And it attributes him to this
man. And it says in verse 3, without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,
abiding a priest continually. And depending on how you read
this particular verse there, This Melchizedek, there's no
record of his father or his mother. There's no record of his beginning
of days, et cetera, his descendants, nor end of life, but made like
unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually. There's
no record of this in that regard. There's no record in the same
manner, the true high priest, there's no beginning of days
with him or end of days. Now we know his, we know, We
know more about him than we do of Melchizedek here. In an earthly
sense, we know that the lineage of God's people come down from
Adam to our Lord, and we can follow that along. We know that
parentage on that part, and we also know who his father is. because God's Holy Spirit caused
that to become upon Mary and we know his lineage as far as
that goes. And he's 100% God, always has
been, always will be, without beginning of days and without
end of days. So whether this is speaking of,
and there's some different thoughts about whether this Melchizedek
was the Lord himself appearing to Abraham or a very strong picture
of him, because of some of the descriptions here. I think there can be some discussion
on it, but I don't think that there's any discussion of who
it's speaking of and who the picture is of. And that this
picture of Melchizedek and his continuing priesthood is used
a lot, a lot more than some of the other appearing of the Lord in in the
scriptures to people and before he came in an earthly body in
that manner. So those things I think can be
looked into, can be discussed some and talked about, but at the very least this is a very
strong picture of who the Lord is to his people. I don't think
there can be much stronger in that. And it said, made like
unto the Son of God, abideth the priest continually. Okay. And then as we go on, verse five, it says of chapter
seven, Hebrews, 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. And without
all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here
men that die receive tithes, but there he receives them of
whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say,
Levi also who received paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in
the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. If therefore
perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the
people received the law, what further need was there that another
priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not
be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood Being
changed, there is a necessity, a change also of the law. For
he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe,
of which no man gave attendance to the altar. For it is evident
that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning the priesthood. Christ, and it is yet far more
evident, for after the similitude of Melchizedek there arises another
priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment,
but after the power of an endless life. For he testified thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And if we, it
says here in 15, that after the similitude, verse 15, of Melchizedek,
there arises another priest who is not made after the law of
a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
After the similitude of that, after the picture we see of Melchizedek
without descendants or without descended from father, mother,
or any lineage like that, we have a a priest after that picture
who is, it says here, that after the endless power of an endless
life, and our Lord we know is that one indeed. And again, here in verse 17,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And
as I said before, at least after the strong picture of that, there
are some, and I can't take exception with the thought that this one
Melchizedek when they met him was the Lord himself incarnate,
pre-incarnate from days past as in Jacob when Jacob wrestled
with the Lord and other pictures we have. I don't think I could argue with
that. There are those, Brother Hawker,
and one of his comments on that is the scripture doesn't specifically
spell that out, and he said, well, I'm not going to take it
any farther than what the scripture shows. But we'd be, I think,
doing a great harm if we didn't see how strong that picture is
of him indeed. And then a couple more spots
in Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. An important section here. It says,
starting in verse 1, now of the things which we have spoken,
this is the sum. We have such an high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens, a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle, which
the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts of sacrifices,
whereof it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to
offer. For if he were on earth, he should
not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer
gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished of God
when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, he saith,
that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee
in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better promises. It says, here's the sum of what
we've been talking about. We have a high priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who has sat on the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens, minister of the sanctuary and
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched in not man.
For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices
where of its necessity that this man have somewhat to offer, For
if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that
there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who
serve unto an example in the shadow of heavenly things. As
Moses was admonished, it says, to build those things after the
pattern that is shown me. And it says, he hath obtained,
the Lord, a better, more excellent ministry minister of a better
covenant, which is established on better promises. Again, speaking
of him, we have a high priest that did not do the earthly service
in that picture way. He is the true, and he was set
on the heavens above. And our high priest, as we've
seen other places, he sat down on the right hand. of the throne on high. He is
rested from that. The work has been finished and
as when he said on the cross, he said, it is finished. Those
things that speak of the priesthood, those things and the sacrifice,
those things were finished and accomplished as only that he
could do that. And then a couple of places in
chapter nine that I'd like to read. Starting with verse 11. And not to, like I see, slight
these because it contrasts back and forth the Levitical priesthood
and our true priesthood. And you read some of those other
things. We're concentrating on what it says about the Lord here
today. But in chapter nine of Hebrews, starting with verse
11, it says, But Christ being come
and a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls
and goats and the ash of an heifer sprinkling The unclean sanctified
through the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? And for this cause he is the
mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament,
they which are called, might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance. How much more the blood of bulls
and goats couldn't They could purify the flesh,
as it were, in that type. But how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? And I underlined that, have a
star by it, and two exclamation points in the margin there. Through a couple of things, the
blood of Christ, the true sacrifice, the only sacrifice that was effective
and effectual for the needs of the people, of that reconciliation
of putting away sins, of blood of Christ, eternal spirit offer
himself without spot. That should be the definitive
final answer to any questions whether how clean that sacrifice
was. It was without spot. And any
question I think that's brought up against that or in challenge
or looking at that point some other way is arguing with what
the scripture have to say. Very plainly, very plainly as
that lamb that was offered in the Old Testament, they had to
pin it up and look at it and make sure that thing, that animal
was, there was nothing wrong that they could discern. They
couldn't look inside, but they could look outside. And they
penned it up, and I probably washed that thing up and just
kept a good eye on it. It had to be spotless in that
way, as that picture. And here it says, without spot
offered to God. And that's the only way it could
have been not only offered, but that's the only way it could
have ever been accepted. It had to be a perfect spotless. And
as it said, he's the mediator of the New Testament. that by
means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the law, they which were called might receive the promise
of eternal inheritance. That speaks clear back to chapter
5, 6 that we were looking at here in Hebrews of the promise
that God made to Abraham. That promise was not just a piece
of real estate. There are people that take and
look at that as those things. Those were passing minor things
that people keep an eye on and not in the eternal things, in
the eternal hope that those promises gave to Abraham and to all of
his people and before. And then in the same place, in
verse 24 of chapter 9, verse 24, Through the end of the chapter
it says, for Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands,
which are figures of the true, but of the heaven into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet
that he should offer himself often as the high priest entered
the holy place every year with blood of others. For then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Another verse that I've got a
couple of exclamation points by. that he was offered once
for sin. He fulfilled in the high priesthood
for his people that that earthly one, whether it was Melchizedek
or any other earthly priest, could not fulfill except in picture. And those pictures are great,
but still pictures. We know other than Christ, speaking
of the King of Peace, the King of Righteousness, the King of
Justice, those things that we know that other than Christ and
the Godhead, none other fulfill these roles. Can it truly be
called that? And in the King James, whether
it's proper or not, both King and Righteousness and King and
Peace and King and Salem are capitalized. Those are not just
roles or titles or something. They are who our Lord and Savior
is. And there's none other like Him. There's none that can be like
Him. And it's a wonderful picture of our true great high priest, or possibly the pre-incarnate
Lord. Read the word. Seek light to be given. And that's
what we do. We pray to God to reveal these
things to us. I have a different view now of
when it talks about our Lord and Melchizedek and that priesthood
and that similitude of that. And I hope that the scripture
we read today made some sense and shed some
light on those things. With that, as Mike says from
time to time at the end of the lesson, breathe free. Thank you.