In Hebrews, from chapters five
through seven, we read of the priesthood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we read of how that priesthood
is prefigured by one called Melchizedek. We read towards the end of chapter
6 of how Christ has entered into that within the veil, he's entered
into the holiest place, having laid down his life for sacrifice
for sin, having shed his blood. We read that the forerunner is
for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. He entered into the holy place,
he took his blood as the priest who took the offering of the
sacrifice. But this priest, Jesus, was not
after the order of Levi. He was not a Levitical priest
under the covenant of the law. But here was another priest of
another order, the order of Melchizedek. with another covenant. Even Jesus,
made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 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
nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abide if
a priest continually. There are a few references in
the scriptures to this king, Melchizedek, but he emerges the
pages of scriptures in Genesis and chapter 14 which we've read. Following this battle of the
kings, these kings in the plain, king of Sodom, king of Gomorrah,
kings of all these other nations all at war and here following
the war, Abraham's nephew Lot is taken captive and Abraham,
with God on his side, delivers Lot from his captors. And having delivered him, this
king Melchizedek, out of nowhere it seems, comes and meets Abraham
and blesses him. We read in Genesis 14. And the
king of Sodom went out to meet Abram after his return from the
slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him
at the valley of Shavah, which is the king's dale. 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 have delivered
thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
He comes from nowhere, comes unto Abram after Abram has rescued
his nephew following this slaughter. amongst the kings of this world.
And this king of Salem comes and blesses him, bringing bread
and wine. Blessed be Abraham of the most
high God, possessor of heaven and earth. Now what an encounter
this is, and what a one this is. Melchizedek, of whom we know
very little here in this passage in Genesis, but of whom God tells
us more later in the scriptures, particularly here in Hebrews,
of just who this Melchizedek is, why he met Abraham, and of
whom he is a picture. 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 nor end of
life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest
continually. This King is set forth unto us
in the Scriptures as one who just appears upon the scene.
He has, as it were, no father or mother, no descent. He comes,
as it were, into the scene of this battle, into this scene
of murder, into the darkness of this world, and he meets his
chosen Abraham and blesses him. As such, he's a picture of Christ,
the eternal God, without father, without mother, without descent,
the Son of God. who has neither beginning of
days nor end of life but a Vida for priests continually Christ
came into this world from eternal glory the one without beginning
or end and he came into this battle scene below and he came
unto his own his chosen his Abrams and he blessed them He came bearing bread and wine. He came seeking his own wherever
they were, surrounded by enemies. And he blessed them. As this
Melchizedek come unto you in the darkness, Come unto you surrounded
by your enemies. Come unto you who face death and hatred and enmity from the
world, from your own fallen heart, from sin and from the righteous
judgment of God against it, as He come unto you. in the midst
of battle bring in bread and wine and bless you, bless you. This Melchizedek has a name which
is by interpretation King of Righteousness and he is also the King of Salem,
Jerusalem, Salem which by interpretation is king of peace. He is a king
of righteousness and a king of peace. And he brings forth in his blessing
bread and wine as a picture of that righteousness which brings
forth that peace. 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. Genesis 14,
18, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, king of peace, brought
forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high
God. The priest of the most high God. Bread and wine from the King of Salem, now Jerusalem. A figure, a picture of Christ,
of Jesus, the Son of God, who came into the battle scene of
this world, who came into the darkness, and was led by his
enemies to Jerusalem. and was led outside
the city of Jerusalem and crucified outside. Christ was slain at Jerusalem. The true King of Salem, the true
King of righteousness was slain outside Jerusalem. And this King, when he was slain,
laid down his body in the place of his people and shed his blood
to wash away their sins. This priest of the Most High
God offered himself a sacrifice and brought forth both bread
and wine. bread and wine because when he
was slain he brought forth for his people the righteousness
of God in order that he should bring them to peace with God. This priest, this Melchizedek
came from the God of peace as Hebrews 13.20 refers to him,
into a world of war, a world of violence, a world of hatred,
a world of sin. The God of peace sent his son,
the king of peace, to deliver his people and make them in him to be the
righteousness of God. Psalm 76 too says, in Salem also
is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. In Salem also
is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. This king of Salem,
this king of peace, has his tabernacle as it were in Salem, where he
laid down his life, that he might take it again. and dwell not
in Jerusalem below, but in Jerusalem above with those for whom he
died. His dwelling place is in Zion. Zion. I draw your attention to this
King of Salem, this King of Peace this morning. because in Leviticus
we have considered again four of the five sacrifices and the
laws concerning them. And the final sacrifice, the
peace offering, is considered in Leviticus 7 from verse 11
through to 21, the peace offering. And the peace offering is a picture
of this Christ who offered himself that he should
make peace for his people. This priest, this Melchizedek,
this priest after the order of Melchizedek, this Christ, this
Jesus, offered himself as a peace offering for his people. This is the law of the sacrifice
of peace offerings which he shall offer unto the Lord. If he offer
it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice
of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened
wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine
flour fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer
for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving
of his peace offerings. And of it he shall offer one
out of the whole oblation from heave offering unto the Lord,
and it shall be the priest that sprinkleth the blood of the peace
offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice
of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that
it is offered. He shall not leave any of it
until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering
be a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day
that he offereth his sacrifice. And on the morrow also the remainder
of it shall be eaten. But the remainder of the flesh
of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh or the
sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten at all on the third
day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto
him that offereth it. It shall be an abomination, and
the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. And the flesh
that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten, it shall
be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, all that
be clean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eateth of the
flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that pertain unto the
Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall
be cut off from his people. Moreover, the soul that shall
touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean
beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of
the sacrifice of peace-offerings which pertain unto the Lord,
even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Now we see that Christ Jesus,
our great high priest after the order of Melchizedek, is both
a king of righteousness and a king of peace. And like Melchizedek,
he comes unto his people bringing forth bread and wine, because
he as the priest is the one that makes the peace offering. And
that peace offering is both flesh and blood. Of it shall he offer one out
of the whole oblation from heave offering unto the Lord, and it
shall be the priest that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.
Jesus, this Melchizedek, sprinkled the blood of the peace offering
which he offered for his people. He sprinkled upon the mercy seat. His own blood. And the flesh of the sacrifice
of His peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that
it is offered. He shall not leave any of it
until the morning. He shed His blood and He offered
His flesh. He brought forth bread in his
flesh and wine in his blood. And his flesh was as it were
offered and eaten on the day of his sacrifice. The remainder
of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt
with fire. None shall be left to the third
day. There shall be nothing unfinished
by the third day. Because Christ cried out on the
day he was slain, after three hours in the darkness, it is
finished. And on the third day, he rose
from the grave without one spot or blemish of sin in him or in
his people. These instructions regarding
the peace offering are so stringent because God's demands of righteousness
are so stringent. And Christ took away the sin
of his people and washed away their sins in his blood on the
day he was slain as the perfect fulfillment of this peace offering. remainder of the flesh of the
sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire for an offering but one thing
we note here in this section in Leviticus which concerns these
five offerings again and speaks of the laws of these offerings
and the instructions to the priests in how they may be offered one
thing we note here is that the order has been changed we noted
earlier in Leviticus that the peace offering was the third
of the five offerings it stood in the midst it stood in the
midst of two offerings on one side and two offerings on the
other side and it was very much seen from the offerings on the
one side and the offerings on the other side that as it were
the offerings of the flesh were on one side the burnt offering
the meat offering, and the offerings of the blood, the trespass offering,
the sin offering, were on the other. And in between was the
peace offering. Because in this we see the figure
of the flesh and the blood, the bread and the wine, with the
peace that is brought forth by them in their midst. Melchizedek king of Salem brought
forth bread and wine. The king of peace brought forth
bread and wine. But here in chapter 6 and 7 we
see that the peace offering is left to last. We see the burnt
offering, the meat offering, the sin offering, the trespass
offering and then the peace offering. Why the change of order? Simply
because The peace offering is the consequence, as it were. The fruit, the culmination, the
pinnacle of the offerings which God demands. Offer according to God's righteousness
and peace is the consequence. Peace is the fulfilment. The
peace offering's a figure of it, it's an offering to bring
forth peace, but the fruit of it is peace. And the fruit of
all these offerings, the ultimate aim of these offerings is to
bring forth peace, is to bring a guilty, a fallen, a wicked
people unto peace with their God, is to reconcile these two
divided parties. is to bring through this Melchizedek
a warring, hating, murderous, sinful people into union with a holy and a
righteous and a perfect God. There can be no unity whilst
there is sin. and whilst the guilt of their
sins remain. But when the blessing of the bread and the wine is
applied by this Melchizedek, then there is nothing but peace. Peace. It's the pinnacle, the
summit, the high point. Righteousness wrought. Peace
is the result. Why does this Melchizedek, as
king of Salem, illustrate these two things? Because as a king
of righteousness, he is also a king of peace. It is righteousness
which brings the people to peace with God. There can be no peace
without righteousness. And where there is righteousness
there will be peace. This Melchizedek could not be
a king of righteousness. without also being the king of
Salem. And the king which comes from
Salem must bear the name of Melchizedek, for he must be a king of righteousness. He must, it's inevitable. He
would be an imposter if he was not. If he came from Salem but
was not a king of righteousness, he would be an imposter, a liar.
And if he is a king of righteousness, he must, as Psalm 76 told us,
have his tabernacle in Salem and his dwelling place in Zion.
David knew this king. David knew this king. He'd seen this king. He'd seen
the blessing of this king. This Melchizedek had come unto
David and blessed him. As the priest of the Most High
God he'd come unto him and he brought forth for David bread
and wine. David knew the one that Abram
saw. David knew that blessing. And
in Psalm 110 he speaks of him. The Lord said unto my lord sit
thou at my right hand until i make thine enemies thy footstool the
lord shall send a rod of thy strength out of zion rule thou
in the midst of thine 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 have 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. What a psalm, now clearly when
David was moved to write this psalm by the Spirit of God, he
had the facts of Melchizedek and his meeting with Abraham
and the battles of the kings in his mind. But he saw more
than that historical event, he saw through all of that their
spiritual reality. The Lord, the Father, God said
unto my Lord, The Lord Jesus Christ, the priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. He said unto my Lord, sit thou
at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. We saw Abraham's enemies. We saw the kings in battle. We
saw how they took Lot captive and we saw the victory over his
enemies which God granted under Abram, and how Melchizedek blessed
him. And the Lord says unto Christ,
Melchizedek, sit thou at mine right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Christ can bless his people because
his enemies, their enemies, will be his footstool. And when he
laid down his life upon the cross, he ensured that they would be
his footstool. We may not see them at his foot
now, but there comes a day when this world is no more, when every
enemy of Christ will bow the knee and will be his footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion, for that is this king of Salem's
dwelling place. That's where he reigns, and that
is where he sits and reigns today. From whence the rod of his strength
is sent forth, he sent forth his gospel, the power of God
under salvation into the midst of the darkness by which he comes
in the gospel to his people, pictured by Abraham, bringing
forth bread and wine and a blessing of peace through the righteousness
of God, which he brought forth for them at the cross. Rule thou
in the midst of thine enemies. He does. Abraham was in the midst
of his enemies, and this king, this Melchizedek, came unto him
and blessed him, and blessed him with that knowledge, of victory over all his enemies. 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 have delivered
thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Abram's enemies were delivered
into his hand. because of that one who he met,
because of that King of Salem, that King of Righteousness, that
Melchizedek that came unto him, because of what that Melchizedek
did for Abraham, he would rule over his enemies. Because Melchizedek,
Christ, rules in the midst of his enemies. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. In this gospel day, in
the day of the gospel, when the gospel comes in power unto them,
when the Spirit of God opens their ears to hear, and opens
their eyes to see, and the power of God floods into their heart,
and breaks down the hardness of the heart, and breaks down
all their barriers, and all their resistance, and all their hatred
of God. breaks it all down, breaks down
the walls around the city of their heart, when God as it were
comes around their Jericho and blows the trumpets of his gospel
and the walls of their hearts come crashing down. then they
cry out and they cry out for mercy and they cry out for joy
and they cry out unto a saviour crucified for them and they say
Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief and that people people
like you and I hardened sinners who are brought by God to hear
the gospel in power that people are made willing in the day of
his power. Have you heard that gospel? Has
it come unto you in a day of power? Has it come unto you in
power? Are you amongst that people that
he calls thy people? Christ's people, that people
for whom Christ died, that people for whom He came, that people
whom He would bless, are you amongst the Abrams and Davids,
chosen, elected of God unto salvation, unto whom this Melchizedek comes,
bringing forth bread and wine, under whom He utters a blessing. If you are, then that gospel
will come in power. And no matter how hard your heart
is, no matter how resistant and apathetic you may be, no matter
how far you may try to run away, ultimately the barriers will
be broken down. Ultimately the walls around your
Jericho will come crashing down. And you will be willing in the
day of His power. You whose will was set against
him will be willing. It's not an act of your free
will. It's not the fruit of your decision. It won't come as a result of
you accepting a Jesus into your heart. It will come at the power
of God by his gospel. But you who were once so unwilling
will be made willing in the day of his power. In the beauties
of holiness from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew
of thy youth the Lord have sworn and will not repent thou art
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Oh what a thing
to say of his son what power his son had, what victory he
has over his enemies, what blessing he has brought unto those who
once hated him. He brings forth bread and wine,
the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day
of his wrath, like those kings who were at war that Abraham
saw. Yet that Melchizedek came unto
Abram and blessed him. 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. Where are you? Are you as one of those kings
who battled? Are you dwelling like Lot? in the city of Sodom, serving
the king of Sodom? Or has God delivered you and
brought you unto one called Melchizedek? In Hebrews, from chapters five
to seven, we read the name of Melchizedek nine times. We read there, for 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 take of this honor
under 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 Melchizedek.
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications, with strong crying and tears under him that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared,
though he were a son, yet learnt 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.
of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered,
seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought
to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which
be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become
such as have need of milk and of not of strong meat. For everyone
that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness,
for he is obeyed. But strong meat belongeth to
them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore,
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go
on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of
baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection from
of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will we do if God
permit. For it is impossible For those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put into
an open shame. For the earth which drinketh
in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is
nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved,
we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labour of love, which he hath showed toward
his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that ye be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. For when God made a 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, whither the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus, maiden high priest, forever after the order of Melchizedek. This people had forgotten the
glory of the gospel, and the glory of their Saviour, who came
not of the order of Levi, who came not to lead them by works
under God, but came by the order of Melchizedek to offer himself
as a sacrifice for their sins. To bring forth bread and wine
to deliver them from that law which they could not keep. To
deliver them from their striving to work and to please God. To
deliver them from that futile inability to please God and ever
bring forth a righteousness which God could receive of them. The
folly of man is that he hears something of the gospel and forever
brings in his own works and his own strength and his own striving
to bring forth righteousness. But we read not that Abraham
gave bread and wine to Melchizedek. We read nothing of Abraham giving
something of his own righteousness. to this king. But we read that
Melchizedek gave Abraham bread and wine. Melchizedek did it
all. Melchizedek did everything necessary
to make Abraham, in Christ, to be the righteousness of God. Abraham believed and it was accounted
unto him for righteousness. He simply looked, he simply received,
he simply saw this Melchizedek and knew of whom he was, knew
who he was. knew what he would do, knew what
the bread and wine meant, knew that God had done it all by grace, knew that because of the righteousness
which this Melchizedek, this priest brought forth by the sacrifice
which he offered, that he should be brought to peace with God. Chapter 7 and speaking of Melchizedek
speaks of these orders and speaks of the necessity for a change
of the law for the priesthood being changed there is made of
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
at the altar For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah,
of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it
is yet far more evident, for that after the similitude of
Melchizedek there ariseth another priest, who is made not after
the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life. For he testifieth, Thou art a
priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. For there is
verily a disannulling of the commandment going before, for
the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the
which we draw nigh unto God. then why oh why oh why do you
keep going back to the law as though the law will make you
perfect? Why believer having been brought
to Christ this Melchizedek do you return to that law which
Hebrews makes plain here made nothing perfect as if that law
is that in which you are going to walk When your priest who
has delivered you, your priest who has brought you to peace,
your priest who has made you righteous came after another
order, another order of priesthood and he came with another law.
Yes you are under law to God but not the law of Moses. You're delivered from it. You're
under the law of Christ. You're under grace, not under
law. You're in the new covenant, not
the old covenant. You're wed to Christ. Not, as
Romans 7 tells us, to the law. this Melchizedek, this Jesus
was made surety of a better covenant. And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death
but this man, this Jesus because he continue if ever have an unchangeable
priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an high priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens, who need if not daily as those high
priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then
for the people's. For this Jesus did once when
he offered up himself. The law maketh men high priests
which have infirmity, but the word of the oath which was since
the law maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore. This Melchizedek. offered an offering of righteousness
the consequence of which is peace perfect peace never to be taken
away never to be taken away following his encounter with
Melchizedek in chapter 14 of Genesis. We read that wonderful
account of the blessing of Abraham in chapter 15, and the deep sleep
into which he is put. The deep sleep in which there's
a sacrifice divided in two, and in which Abraham, as it were,
is in the midst of the sacrifice, in the midst of the death, by
which God shows him. the death of his Saviour, who
brought forth righteousness for him. He was in the midst. In the midst, as it were, with
the bread on one side and the wine on the other side. And God
says to him, in that darkness, as a result, in verse 15, thou
shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Because of this death, because
of this Melchizedek. We read in Leviticus 7, of the
peace offerings and of the cakes which are made to be consumed
by the priests. Cakes, consumed, taken within,
but sweet to the taste. For this righteousness, must
be within it must be consumed and if it is the fruit of it
is peace and peace is sweet to the taste like a cake And this
peace must be within. The love of God, the love of
Christ must be shed abroad in our heart. It's one thing to
know of it in the head. It's one thing to hear of it.
It's another thing to have it applied. It's another thing to
feel that blood sprinkled. It's another thing to feel that
you are at peace with God. To know you're forgiven. It's
another thing to feel the sweetness of that sacrifice. within to
consume the cakes. It's sweet to the taste. This
Melchizedek has an offering. He brings forth bread and wine.
He says, take it, eat ye all of it. He says, drink, this is
the blood of my covenant. This was shed for the salvation
of many. This was shed for you. I have
redeemed you. I have made you to be the righteousness
of God. And when you drink of that wine
and eat of that bread, you will know that they are both sweet
to the taste and bring overwhelming, everlasting, endless grace, peace,
and joy in Jesus Christ, this, this Melchizedek. Amen.