Well, we're back in Hebrews,
end of chapter six, and on into the first half of chapter seven. We're dealing with profound,
high, glorious truths of God. You might have heard of a thing
called the Holy Grail. It was a legend of King Arthur's
knights, the Holy Grail, and all sorts have taken it up, all
sorts have taken this legend up, to try to pursue it and uh... hollywood's made movies about
it i don't know whether it's exactly the same because it was
the temple of of doom and the raiders of the lost ark and all
this sort of thing the indiana jones sequence of things was
like this there was even there was even a comedy made out of
such a thing But it was claimed, if you look back into what is
this Holy Grail, it was claimed to be the cup that Jesus drank
from at the Last Supper. And even the cup that Joseph
of Arimathea caught the blood from the cross in. Things which
are completely without any foundation at all. But when you look it
up, it says this about it. Why has it been such a cause
of fascination to mankind? It says this, the grail became
the holiest of quests as it signified the pursuit of union with God. That's important. It signified
the pursuit of union with God. Yes, this thing about a cup and
Arthurian, King Arthur's knights, it's myth and it's superstition.
And even if it was true, a good king like King Hezekiah If it
was found, he would grind it to powder. Do you know why? To
stop it being made an idol, because that's what he did with that
serpent that Moses made, you know, the one that they were
to look to when they were bitten by the snakes. He ground it to
powder because the people had made it an object of idolatry. Nevertheless, there's a connection. The pursuit of union with God
remains the highest of this life's objectives. Think about it, some
of you are young, some a lot older, but it remains true. Some of you are in one condition,
others in another, but the pursuit of union with our glorious God
remains the highest of life's objectives. We were just reading
this morning in Job 23, verse three, Job says, in the midst
of all of his sorrows and his anguish, he says, oh, that I
knew where I might find him, God. Oh, that I knew where I
might find him, that I might even come to his seat or come
before his presence. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him. Oh, it's good when somebody wants
to find God, but many or most all around us In this society
in which we live, they say, as Job observed in Job 21, 14 and
15, talking about people in general, they say unto God, the majority
of people all around us, they say unto God, depart from us,
for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. They're not seeking
after God. Go away from us. We desire not
the knowledge of our ways. Like the people in the Gadarenes,
when Jesus had healed the man that was possessed of devils
in the tombs. And what did they ask Jesus to
do? Go away, please leave us, we don't want you here. What
is the Almighty that we should serve Him? And what profit should
we have if we pray to Him? Is that not the view of the majority,
it would seem, in society today? Even so, Can you think of anything
higher than seeking union with the living God, seeking fellowship,
communion with the living God, the true God? But how is that
union to come about? Because there's a chasm, as you
know, that is so wide. God dwells in unapproachable
light. He is holy, holy, holy. Even
the sinless angels hide their faces from the glory of God.
And we are sinners. We are worms by comparison. We are vile by comparison. How is there to be union? Union
needs reconciliation. Union needs mediation across
that gap. Union needs the opening of a
barred way. Union needs someone able to save
the sinners from their just separation from the Holy God. We need what
Hebrews 4 verse 14 says, a great high priest. We need a great
high priest, because a priest, a priest is an intercessor, a
mediator between God and people. He's a mediator. The priest is
the one who represents his people before God. A priest is the one,
the people are barred from going, but the priest intercedes, and
he mediates to bring them together. Now, heathen religions have priests. Joseph, when he was sold down
into Egypt. Joseph went down into Egypt,
and by the time it came that he had interpreted Pharaoh's
dream, and he was second only to Pharaoh in the whole land,
Pharaoh gave the daughter of the priest of On to Joseph to
be his wife. There was a priest of On, priest
of heathen religion. All religions have priests, heathen
religions today, going by the name of Christian. Yes, I did
say that right. Heathen religions today going
by the name of Christian. There's a lot of religion that
calls itself Christian, but it's actually heathen, heathen religions. They have priests, they have
priests, and what I said last week, they're all of them impostors. None of them are able to lead
you to the desired union with God. So what is the way? What is the way? What is the
way to the believer's hope? Look in verse 11 of chapter 6
of Hebrews. Hebrews 6 verse 11, we desire
that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full
assurance of hope unto the end. That's the objective, the full
assurance, confident now, of hope and to the end. You're confident
now of the fact that there is a solid hope for you right to
the end. You are, as Paul said, was it
in Timothy, I am persuaded, I know whom I've believed, and I'm persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him
against that day. full assurance of hope to the
end, a hope that is promised by God who cannot lie. We saw
that in the latter verses of chapter 6. God cannot lie. It's promised to his people and
it's the result of his immutable purpose. What's his immutable
purpose? The gospel of grace. The gospel
whereby he determined before the beginning of time to save
a people for his own glory out of this fallen world. That triumphant
kingdom of God. We saw it last week in Romans
8. You read those verses 28 to 31.
Whom he justified, those he also glorified. It's quite clear there that salvation
is not some accident that God sat there twiddling his thumbs
wondering who's going to accept him. It was determined, it was
ordained from before the beginning of time. And that purpose is
immutable. It cannot be changed because
God cannot lie. And he's, just because we are
weak and don't understand sufficiently, he made it like men's promises. God swore an oath. that this
would be the case. And who did he swear it by? You
know, we swear an oath on the Bible, we swear an oath on my
mother's memory, or something like that. People swear on something
greater, but because God couldn't swear on anything greater, because
there's none greater, he swore an oath by himself. You who trust and believe in
Christ, this is important, listen, you who believe and trust in
Christ cannot fail to populate God's kingdom in the bliss of
union with your God. You cannot fail. I said, well,
that's a bit risky, isn't it? What has Paul said about falling
away in chapter six? Don't people fall away? No. God's
true people do not ever fall away. You cannot fail to populate
God's kingdom of bliss in union with your God. Guilty sinners,
we have fled for refuge to grasp that promise of God. We've fled
for refuge. Where does it say that? in verse 18 of chapter 6. You
who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. Lay hold? Grasp with a death
grip. You grasp it like your whole
life depends upon it. You fled for refuge, like the
cities of refuge, to grasp that promise of God. In this storm-tossed
world, this hope is an anchor of the soul. This hope, it says
it there. We read it earlier. An anchor
for the soul. By faith, we have this solid
hope now. By faith, which is the sight
of the soul, we see that which God has promised. That which
you cannot see with physical eyes, but we know. They looked
for a city. which has foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. It's going to say to us in chapter
13. In chapter 11 it says of Abraham,
he looked for a city which has foundations, builder and maker
is God. Here we have no continuing city,
but look for one to come. We have solid hope by faith now.
But it's not just now, because it carries us through, through
into the holiest. Here we glimpse the fellowship
of God, and our sin always gets in the way. But then we will
go into that holiest of all, the holy presence of God. And how can we go in? We cannot
go in with our sin. It must all be taken away, and
in Christ it has been taken away. And when we enter there, we will
have no sin in God's presence. Are you sure? Are you sure? What
will convince you? Look at verse 20 of chapter 6.
The forerunner is for us entered. Someone's gone in before. Someone's
gone in before us. You know when somebody says,
oh, come and do such and such a thing, and you say, oh, I'm
not doing that. Come and jump out of this aeroplane with a
parachute. Oh, I'm not going to do that. And what do they
say to you? But look, so-and-so's done it and had a really enjoyable
time. Somebody else has done it and
had a really enjoyable time. Come and do this dangerous thing.
Why should I do that? Because somebody else has done
it and had a thrilling time. How do you know you're going
to go into that presence of God? The forerunner is entered for
us. Who is the forerunner? Even Jesus. Even Jesus. Jesus, the man. That speaks of Jesus, the man.
Jesus, the saviour. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Jesus, the man, like you and
me, in flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without
sin. He has gone before us into that place. He's already done
it. He has gone in. Look to him. You will go in.
He is made a high priest. He is made the one that we need
to intercede for us. He is made a high priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. He's gone in. And if you're united
eternally with him in unchangeable electing grace, you certainly
will go in. What is it that gives this assurance?
He's a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Look back
in chapter five, verse 10. It says there of him, our Lord
Jesus Christ, called of God and high priest after the order of
Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to say and hard to
be uttered, seeing you're dull of hearing. There's many things
to say, says Paul here, many things to say about Melchizedek,
important things that are vital to the attainment of that sought-after
union with God. The Jewish Christians to whom
this was initially written had priests of the tribe of Levi. Aaron, the brother of Moses,
of the tribe of Levi, 400 years after Levi lived, but Aaron was
of that tribe of Levi. And in accordance with Mosaic
law, he was ordained a priest to represent the people before
God. But Melchizedek, who is this
one? Who is this Melchizedek? He's
better than they. He's better than this priest,
Melchizedek, of whom Jesus is made a high priest after that
order. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a priest,
not after the order of Levi, but after the order of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek is better than all of those priests. Look in chapter
seven, from verse five down to verse 12. In verses 5 to 12,
we read it earlier, the law required people, the Mosaic law required
people to pay tithes. Do you know what tithes are?
It's a tenth. You know, as there were, The tribes of Israel, and about,
I'm not going to get into pedantics about the fineness of numbers,
but they were each to support the Levites. The Levites didn't
have property. The Levites were the priesthood
to God. And the others supported them. And tithe means a tent. They were to give a tenth of
their substance so that the Levites had wherewith to live whilst
they carried out the service of the temple. The law required
the people to pay tithes, to pay of their substance, of their
resources, to keep the Levitical priests. But what is this passage
saying? Levi, in Abraham, paid tithes
to Melchizedek. Look at verse 7. Without contradiction,
the less is blessed of the better. He whose descent, verse six,
is not counted from them, from the Levites, received tithes. Melchizedek wasn't counted as
descent from the Levitical tribes, the priesthood tribes, but he
received tithes of Abraham and blessed him. Melchizedek is the
better, blessed Abraham and Levi, who was in him, the less. That's
what it's saying here in verse 11. If therefore perfection were
by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law of that priesthood, what further need was there for another
priest? That another priest should arise
after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order
of Aaron. If that Levitical Aaronic priesthood enabled us to find
God truly, what need was there for another? But the Levitical
priesthood cannot make perfect. If perfection were by the Levitical
priesthood, there wouldn't be need for another, but it cannot
make perfect. So it needs another priesthood
that can make perfect, that can make his people fit for union
with God. Verse 12. the priesthood being
changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. The law which ordained Levi and
Aaron and all of that regime through the Old Testament from
Moses on downwards, that law which ordained Levi priest required
perfection. It says, that law says, cursed
is everyone who continues not in all things written in the
book of the Lord to do them. The law pronounces a curse. And we believers, with a certain
hope of glory, we cannot be made meet for the presence of God
by Mosaic law. We cannot. Lots in religion that
calls itself Christianity tell you that it can. It cannot. It
cannot. It says it clearly here. That
cannot make you right with God. What was it for? Galatians 3.24.
The law, this Mosaic law, was our schoolmaster unto Christ. It was that which would teach
us that we must go to Christ and Him alone. Christ is the
end of the law. for righteousness. Christ is
the end of the law for fitness, to be in union with the living
God. Glory cannot be attained by mosaic
law. Just as Moses was not permitted
to lead Israel from the wilderness wanderings into that picture
of rest, that picture of Sabbath rest, of the promised land. He wasn't allowed to lead them
in because Mosaic law cannot lead you into that promised rest.
It was Joshua, Savior, it was Jesus of that time, the Savior
of his people, that led them in there. No, we need a change
of priesthood because the law has been changed. Verse 12, a
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity also a change
of the law. One after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is that great high priest. And I use his name as a man,
Jesus. You shall call his name Jesus. Jesus is that great high priest. If you want a high priest, you
want a priest, you want a mediator, you do not look at any who claim
to be priests. They are, as I've said again
and again, they are just imposters. Feel sorry for them in their
utter delusion. You say, how on earth can you?
Who on earth are you? to go against hundreds if not
thousands of years of religious tradition and wisdom that's been
built up down the years. I'll tell you who I am. Someone
that God has revealed the truth of in his word. 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 has said, you who unto
Jesus for refuge have fled. This is how I can say it with
such authority that this is the truth, because God has written
it and God has revealed it. And I don't care how many of
them there are and what resources they have, they're imposters
and they are false. Jesus is the great high priest
of his people. He is a man like his people. You know, the Levitical priests
were taken from among the tribes of Israel. They were men like
the men that they were representing. He is a man like his people,
yet without sin. But he's not just a man. He's
not just a man. This one is almighty God. This one is our mediator between
God and man. So how is Jesus a priest after
the order of Melchizedek? Well, who is Melchizedek? Let's
think about that now. I know we've covered some of
this fleetingly, but there's a lot here to get your head around.
But the more you meditate on it and the more you feed on it,
the more it will bring blessing to your soul. In Genesis chapter
14, We read about Abraham's nephew, Lot. You know they'd separated
and they'd gone their separate ways, and Lot had moved down
to the city of Sodom and the fertile plains, and Abraham had
stayed on the higher ground away from it. There was a great battle
between the kingdoms of that area, of that plain, and Lot
and all of his family and all of his resources were taken captive,
and Sodom, the city, was overrun by these. And Abraham heard that
his brother, his nephew, but his brother had been captured.
There's another one who heard that his brother had been captured,
the Lord Jesus Christ. knew that his brethren, his people,
had been captured into Thraldun under Satan. And so Abraham gathered
a force, a small army. It was numbered, what was it,
300 and something. And he went out and he fought
with all of the military resources of those kings of that plain.
And he defeated them. He and that band defeated them.
and led them and brought Lot and his family and his resources
back to Sodom. And the king of Sodom was so
grateful to him. Obviously, Sodom was an evil
place that you learn more about in later chapters of Genesis.
But nevertheless, Abraham rescued Lot in that situation. And on
his way back from that battle, in verses 18 to 20 of Genesis
14, this mysterious character Melchizedek met Abraham. He met him, and he brought bread
and wine. What's he speaking about? There'd
just been a miraculous military victory. Lot had been rescued. Abraham then, Abraham to whom
were given the promises of God. Abraham, who was the recipient
of the promises of God concerning the kingdom of God, concerning
the salvation of God, concerning the seed of the woman that would
come from his loins, the Lord Jesus Christ, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem those who are under the law,
the promises that him and all of his people, the seeds, plural,
in him, who believe what he believed, would be taken to eternal glory. And Melchizedek, this man, brings
bread and wine. Symbols of what? Symbols of gospel
accomplishment. How are those promises going
to be accomplished? How are sinners going to be taken to the holy
presence of God? by gospel promises, by gospel
accomplishment. Gospel accomplishment is the
broken body and the shed blood of a worthy substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. This is my body, which is broken
for you. This is my blood, which is shed,
the blood of the new covenant. This is gospel accomplishment
of those promises. Now, who is he? Look at verse
two of chapter seven. to whom also Abraham, to Melchizedek. Abraham gave a tenth part of
all, he gave tithes, first being by interpretation, this is Melchizedek,
this is what his name means, Melech Zedek, king of justice,
first being by interpretation, king of righteousness, and after
that also King of Salem, which is king of peace. Jerusalem is
God's peace. That's what the name, that's
what the city means. And he's without father and without mother
and so on. He's a king who is a priest. The Levitical priests were never
the kings and vice versa. The Levitical priests were never
the kings of Israel. But here is a king who is a priest.
I'm turning to Zechariah chapter six and verses 12 and 13. Zechariah
6, verses 12 and 13. And speak unto him, saying, Thus
speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is
the branch. That's the name of the Messiah.
You can study it, we haven't got time now. But this is speaking
of the Messiah, the Christ. He shall grow up out of his place,
and he shall build the temple of the Lord, Even he shall build
the temple. What's the temple of the Lord?
It's the body of Christ. It's the body of the Messiah.
What's the body of the Messiah? The church of Jesus Christ, which
is his body. That's his body. He shall build
it. He shall build his church. Nothing shall prevail against
it. He shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear
the glory. It's speaking of Christ. It's
speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. He shall bear the glory, and
he shall sit and rule upon his throne. He shall be a priest
upon his throne. and the counsel of peace shall
be between them both. A priest upon the throne of a
king. This is our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is Melchizedek, king of Salem, king of peace. This is
who he is. It pictures it there in Genesis
14. He's a king who is a priest.
Now look at verse three of chapter seven of Hebrews. He's without
father. He's without mother. Here's a
man who's without father, without mother. without descent, ancestry,
genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but
made like unto the Son of God, this Melchizedek abideth a priest
continually." He abides a priest continually. Now let me show
you one or two other scriptures, because that's You could chew
that over for the rest of your life and you'll never plumb the
depths of that. That is so profound. Micah chapter
five, verse two. Thou Bethlehem Ephrata, which
means in the land of Judah. Thou Bethlehem Ephrata, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of he, Sorry,
out of thee, Bethlehem, shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old,
from everlasting. This is speaking of the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, prophesied hundreds of years
before he came. Hundreds of years before he came.
But who is he really? Look at it there. Whose goings
forth have been from old, from everlasting, without father,
without mother, without descent, neither the beginning of days
nor the end of life, made like unto the Son of God, abideth
a priest continually. Now look at Daniel, in Daniel
chapter two. This same one, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, is pictured again in chapter 2 verse 34. This is the dream of Nebuchadnezzar
about the great big statue and it was a picture of world history.
He was the head and then there was the Persians that followed
him, and the Greeks, and the Romans, and the feet of clay.
And there was, in the dream, there was a little stone, and
here it is. Daniel tells him what he dreamt.
He says, you saw, verse 34 of chapter two, you saw until a
stone was cut out without hands, without hands. It wasn't made
by man. Which smote the image, the big
statue, upon his feet that were of iron and clay. and break them. See, they're brittle. They've
got no strength. Break them in pieces. Then was
the iron, the clay, this world and all its powers, the brass,
the silver and the gold, broken to pieces together and became
like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind
carried them away, but no place was found for them. And the stone
that smote the image became a great mountain, and fill the whole
earth. That's the triumphant kingdom
of God. We're not dealing with things
that are so profound. Turn to chapter 4 of Daniel,
chapter 4 of Daniel, which is the account of Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego. Sorry, no, chapter 3, sorry,
chapter 3. you know, he'd set up a... even
though he'd seen things of God, he set up another image and had
it made that when a trumpet sounded, they all had to bow down to the
image. And the three friends of Daniel, whose Babylonian names
were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they refused to fall down before
the... the image, and so they were condemned
to be thrown into the burning, fiery furnace. And they threw
them in, which would have been instant evaporation. And verse
24 of chapter 4, then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. I don't
know what the difference between astonished and astonished is,
but I think it means the same, was astonished and rose up in
haste and spake and said unto his counsellors, didn't we cast
three men bound into the midst of the fire? And they answered
and said to the king, true, O king, And he answered and said, lo,
I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God. Wow, wow. The fourth is like the Son of
God. Verse three of chapter seven, made like unto the Son of God,
made like unto the Son of God, consider the greatness, it says
next, in verse four, consider how great this man was. Consider
the greatness of this man Melchizedek. Some highly respected commentators,
I think John Calvin even, does not see Melchizedek as Christ. I fail to see how. Who else can
he be? other than the pre-incarnate
Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. How can any man have a name equivalent
to the Son of God? He has a name which is higher
than any name, that at his name every knee should bow. We never
read of people bowing at Melchizedek. It's Christ. If Melchizedek was
just another man, albeit a special man, if Melchizedek was a son
of Adam, He was a sinner, as flawed as the Levitical priests
were who were sons of Adam. God who made the promises to
Abraham appeared to him as a priest. God who made the promises of
salvation to Abraham appeared to him as Melchizedek, this priest. This is Christ appearing as Melchizedek
and preached unto him, redeeming grace in symbols of bread and
wine, which are the symbols that we remember when we share communion
in bread and wine. So then there's a change of priesthood,
a change of priesthood, verse 12. The priesthood being changed,
there is of necessity a change also of the law. He came from
the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is, as Romans 1 verse 3 says,
he is of the seed of David, of the tribe of Judah, according
to the flesh, not of Levi. Jesus, our God incarnate, is
our priest. He is the only one able to intercede. Where do we get that from? There
is one God. And there is one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus. That's 1 Timothy 2 verse 5. The
real mediator is him, not the picture. All those that followed
in the line of Aaron as priests were mere pictures. And what
flawed pictures they were too. Aaron, the first one of them,
did he not lead the people? Well, he didn't lead them, but
he submitted to the people's desire for idolatry when he made
the golden calf. Jesus Christ is his people's
high priest, great high priest, after the similitude, like Melchizedek,
not after the Mosaic law. Look, verse 16, he is made, our
Lord Jesus Christ is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment,
that's a fleshly commandment, a commandment given to Moses
and then perpetuated through the tribes of Israel, in the
tribe of Levi as the priests. but after the power of an endless
life. It's the decree of the living God because he says, what
does he say? What does God say? He testified,
verse 17, to Christ, thou art a priest forever. It's of an
unchanging priesthood. It's by the power of an endless
life. Thou art a priest forever after
the pattern, the order of Melchizedek. So then, the pursuit and attainment
of union with God. What's the realization of this
hope, this hope that is set before us? We as sinners must be reconciled
to a holy God. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18, God
has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. How did he do
it? Read two verses, three verses
later on. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, he made him, Christ, who knew
no sin, to be sin for us, to take our sin in his own body
on the cursed tree and pay for it that we, his people, might
be made the righteousness of God in him. How has he done it? Here it is again. 1 Peter chapter
3 verse 18 Christ our priest after the order of Melchizedek
Our king, our prophet, Christ, also has once suffered for sins,
the just, that's him, for the unjust, that's his people. Why? That he might bring us to God.
Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I would even come
before his presence. Christ has suffered the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He's opened
the way into the holiest place, the forerunner He has justly
gone before us to open that way to his people. When that veil
of the temple was rent in two when he died on the cross, he
is the way. Thomas said, how can we know
the way? Jesus said, Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Eternal union with God is the believer's objective.
Here, in this life, we have no continuing city. Believers, please
stop living as if here we have a continuing city. He who is
God has become man to satisfy divine justice, to qualify his
people for his presence, to take us all who believe him, to be
with him forever. Now that's a solid hope. That's
an anchor for the soul in the sea of uncertainty and danger
that is this life in the flesh.