Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
5. I'd like to read verses 9 through
11 of Hebrews chapter 5. 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 you are dull of hearing."
And he dealt with this issue of dull of hearing for some time,
and he picks back up on his subject of verse twenty of chapter six.
Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made
an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Now, if you ask the average religious
church member in a typical Baptist, Mass Fetish Catholic church,
who is Melchizedek? You reckon many people would
know. I dare say most people would
think, I don't know, I've never heard of him, or he's somebody
from the Old Testament, one of those obscure figures. I was
asking Rich about that last week. He said they probably think it's
one of the three kings. I guess it sounds like a king's name.
Melchizedek. Who is this man Melchizedek? I dare say that the great majority
of people would not know who he was, but did you know that
the entire theme of the book of Hebrews is built around the
significance of Melchizedek. There is the priesthood of Melchizedek,
and then there is the Levitical priesthood. And the priesthood
of Melchizedek came before Levi, Levi and the Levites. As a matter
of fact, as we go on reading, we find out that Levi himself,
who had the people pay tithes to him, paid tithes in the loins
of Abraham. Melchizedek and his priesthood
is actually much older than the priesthood of the Levites. And
Melchizedek signifies the doing away of the Old Covenant, the
law. Melchizedek signifies grace as
opposed to works. That's the importance, that's
the significance of this man, Melchizedek. Notice in our text, he is described
as one who had an eternal priesthood. Look in verse 20, "...whether
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek." Forever, it says. Look in verse
15 of chapter 7, "...and 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." Now,
I think it's interesting. He refers to the law regarding
the Levites as a carnal commandment, a fleshly commandment with no
saving benefit. He calls it nothing more than
a carnal commandment. He said he was made a priest
not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power
of an endless life. For he testifieth, thou art a
priest forever. after the order of Melchizedek.
Now, evidently, a requirement for this priesthood is an endless
life. If you can die, you're disqualified. Now, I personally believe that
Melchizedek is what is called by theologians, it's a big word,
a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he shows us the superiority to the gospel over the law. Look how he is used to describe
verse 18 of Hebrews chapter 7. He's talking about the priesthood
of Melchizedek, where there is barely a disannoying of the commandment,
talking about the law of God, the law of the Ten Commandments,
the priesthood, the sacrifices. He says there's barely a disannulling,
a doing away of the commandment, going before for the weakness
and the unprofitableness thereof. Now isn't that amazing? He talks
about God's law, the Old Testament, and he speaks of the weakness
of it and the unprofitableness of it. Why is it weak? It won't
save. The problem's not with the law,
the problem's with us. But this is a law that cannot say, so
he actually describes God's law as weak and unprofitable. Look
in Hebrews chapter 8, verse 6. But now hath he, the Lord Jesus,
the Melchizedek, 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 for the first covenant. The Levitical
priesthood had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second, for finding fault with them. God found fault
with them. He says, Behold, the days come,
sayeth the Lord, when I'll make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, with the house of Jacob, or Judah. Now, what is
the problem with it? It won't save. That's enough,
isn't it? It will not save. I have no doubt in my mind that
this Melchizedek, I'm going to show you this from the scripture,
was nobody less than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now, he brought Abraham bread
and wine. We're going to go to that passage
of scripture in a minute in Genesis chapter 14. He brought Abraham
bread and wine. Since when can a mere man come
without a sacrifice, without a blood sacrifice? I have no
doubt that this priest figured the Lord's table. He comes bringing
bread and wine. You see, his sacrifice had already
been accepted. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and now he brings bread and wine. No mere man could
bring bread and wine. And who else could this describe? Look at Hebrews chapter 7, verse
1. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, king of peace, priest of the Most High God. Now, nobody
else in the Scripture was both a king and a priest. This can
only refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the great king-priest. Why? He was crucified as a king.
He's crucified as a priest. That's who he is. 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. Now, can that describe anybody
but the Lord? King of righteousness and king of peace. I thought
of Psalm 85, 10. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed one another. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
king of righteousness and 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. He abides a priest
continually." Now consider how great this man, and look at the
way he was as an italics. It's supplied there by the translators,
but I think it darkens the meaning. I'm thankful that the King James
Version, when something is not in the original, they'll put
it in italics to let you know this is supplied there. It wasn't
in the original. Consider how great this man.
Naughty was. Yes, he was, he is, he is to
come. He's the eternal son of God.
And look back at verse 3. without father, without mother,
without descent, without pedigree, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life. Who is that but the Lord Jesus
Christ? But made like under the Son of God, he abides a priest
continually. And I've heard people say, well,
he was made like the Son of God. That doesn't mean he was the
Son of God. He was someone who was like the
Son of God, to typify the Son of God. And that language, made
like, tells us it wasn't really the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll
turn with you to Daniel chapter three for a moment. Daniel chapter three, verse twenty-three. And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego, fell down, bound into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar, the king,
was astonished and rose up in haste, and spake and said unto
his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst
of the fire? They answered and said unto the
king, True, O king. 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."
Does that mean he's somebody that was just like the Son of
God? Or was this the Son of God Himself? Obviously, this is the
Son of God Himself. I truly believe that Melchizedek
never began to be and never died. He's nobody less than the Lord
Jesus Christ. And in order to be a priest after
the order of Melchizedek, here's the one requirement. You've got
to have an endless life. If you die, you've been disqualified. Now let's look at what the Bible
has to say about this mysterious figure, Melchizedek. Other than
here in the book of Hebrews, he's only mentioned two other
times, in that Psalm I read, Psalm 110, and in Genesis chapter
14. Let's look at Psalm 110 once
again together. Psalm 110. Now, let me repeat. Melchizedek
was around the whole lot a long time before Levi ever came around.
This is the true priesthood. This is the priest by which believers
have always been represented. Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look in Psalm 110. You remember the Lord quotes
this. The Lord said unto my Lord, God the Father said to the Lord
Jesus Christ, this is David speaking, Remember when the Lord said,
if David called him Lord, how could he be the son of David?
If you learn that, you've learned the gospel. The Lord said unto
my Lord, shift 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 thine
enemies, thy shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the
beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, thou hast
the due of thy youth." I know what that means now. You know
what that refers to? It refers to the fact that he'll never
die. He always has the due of his youth. He's always eternal. He's always forever young. He always has the strength and
vigor. He never dies. That's what that's
a reference to. Thou hast the due of thy youth.
Lord Jesus never gets old. He is eternal. The Lord hath
sworn, and will not repent, thou art the priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek." This special order. Now, here's another reason I
believe that Christ is Melchizedek. His due of youth, he never gets old. Let's go over
to Genesis chapter 13 and see the other mention of Melchizedek.
And remember, this man signifies the doing away of the old covenant,
the doing away of salvation by works, the doing away of law. And he actually calls it weak
and unprofitable. I've met all kinds of people,
but well, he's an ant. I know him saying something like that. How
can he talk about God's holy law like that? Well, this was
inspired by the Holy Spirit, and this is the way he talked
about God's law in light of Melchizedek, the superior priesthood. Now,
in Genesis chapter 14, we have the story of Abraham rescuing
Lot and Melchizedek coming out to meet him upon his return and
blessing him. And then Abraham gave him tithes. First I see in this story where
Abraham actually is a beautiful picture and type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, Lot. Let's talk about Lot for just
a moment. If you didn't read the New Testament's account of
Lot, what would you say about him? You'd say he probably wasn't
saved. That's what I'd say. That's the
judgment I'd make of him. He's probably not saved. I mean, you
look at the decisions he made, the way he pitched his teeth
toward Sodom, the way he seemed to... He didn't care about Abraham. He took the well-watered plains
to himself and just let Abraham go with whatever way he wanted
to go. I mean, he was a conniving, sinful man. That's what he was
in himself. Yet, what does God the Holy Spirit
say about him? He says, just lot. He speaks of his righteous
soul. And that righteous man vexed
with the filthy conversation of the wicked. Now, God tells
us that man was a believer. Now, I believe that Lot gives
us some understanding of what a believer is in and of himself.
He's worthless. He's sinful. But he truly is
righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. If God calls Lot righteous, you
know what? He's righteous. He really is righteous. He doesn't
treat him as if he's righteous. He is righteous. He had a righteous
soul. That's Lot. He's a believer.
Now, he gets himself in trouble. Look in chapter 13, verse 8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let
there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between
my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we're brethren. Is not the whole
land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee,
from me. If thou wilt take the left hand,
then I'll go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right
hand, then I'll go to the left." What a beautiful spirit Abraham
shows here. I would have said, I'm the older,
I'll take what I want, you take the leftovers. Not Abraham. He
says, you take what you want. And that's the attitude a believer
ought to display at all times. Taking the lowest seat. giving
preference to the other. That's Abraham's character. You see that in his view of Lot. Verse 10, And Lot lifted up his
eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan that was well watered
everywhere before the Lord God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou
comest into Zohar. This was a really nice place.
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed
east And they separated themselves one from the other. And Abram
dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of
the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked
and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." Now, in the first part of Genesis
chapter 14, we read of a conflict that was going on between five
nations, and somehow, during this time, Lot moved into Sodom. He began pitching his tent toward
Sodom, and when you go in that direction, you're going to keep
going. He ends up living in Sodom, and there's a big fight, and
these kings come and take him. He's carried away, and all of
a sudden, Abraham hears this news about his nephew Lot. He's
been taken away. Now, Abraham, with 318 men, goes
and destroys five nations and goes after Lot. Lot got himself
into trouble, but Abraham went and got him. Now, can you see
how that's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? Lot got himself
in that mess, but oh, the mercy of the Lord that he went and
got him with those 318 trained servants and brought him back.
I'm so thankful for that. I'm thankful for the Lord coming
and getting me. I get myself in a mess, and the
Lord, in His mercy, comes and gets me, just like Abraham got
Lot. And Abraham's also a type of a believer here. You can see
this. He faced insurmountable odds,
humanly speaking. He had to face five nations,
and he had 318 men. And he came by night, and he
smote them all and delivered Lot. We have a battle, we have
insurmountable odds, humanly speaking, but if the Lord's on
our side, we can't be defeated. Abraham typifies a believer. Now, let's look in chapter 14,
what happened after he comes back from delivering Lot. Verse 17, And the king of Sodom And he
delivered all of the inhabitants of Sodom. And the king of Sodom
went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of
Chedorloamer. And if the kings were with him,
it was at the valley of Sheba, 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. Notice he didn't say, I
want the Lord to bless you. You know what, I want the Lord
to bless you. I want the Lord's blessings on you. I sincerely
do. But can I confer on you the Lord's
blessings? No. Only the Lord can bless somebody. Only the Lord himself. Now if
he blesses me, I'm blessed. But he's the only one who could
do it. Now look at the language. And he blessed him and said,
Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven
and earth. Now, he's saying when he says
Abraham, blessed be Abraham, it's the most high God, me, the
possessor of heaven and earth that's bestowed this blessing
on you. Abraham knew that. Abraham knew exactly who he was.
And the scripture says Abraham paid him tithes of all. You see,
he was demonstrating by that his utter dependence on him for
everything. He paid him tithes of everything. Now, let's go on reading verse
20. And he said, Blessed be the Most
High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. He didn't say you did this, did
he? He said God delivered your enemies. into your hand. This
is the work of His grace and His grace alone. Now, Abraham
was used to do it. And Abraham went through all
the difficulties that he had to do in order to deliver a lot. I mean, you think of the courage
that was involved. You think of the planning that was involved.
He came in by night and he did everything he could to make sure
it worked. But what does Melchizedek say? Melchizedek said, The Lord
delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Now, this was done before the
giving of the law. He gave him tithes of all. Now, does this teach tithing?
I don't know. I don't know what the scripture teaches about that,
but I know this. I like what Henry Mahan said.
If you tithe, you're under law. If you don't tithe, you're not
law. So, the only safe thing to do is give more than a tithe.
And I like that. He gave him tithes of all. Now, verse 21, And the king of
Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods
to thyself. And he was grateful that Abraham
did it. He thought, Abraham, you've got all the goods, the
spoils coming. Just give me the people back and we'll start all
over again. I'm very grateful for what you did. And Abram,
verse 22, said to the king of Sodom, I have lift mine hand
unto the Lord. I know people that have used
this to say, well, see, you ought to wave your hands in services. No, no, I don't believe that. That is indicative of what he
was saying by this. He's saying, I've lifted up my
hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven
and earth, that I will not take from thee a thread even to a
shoelatch. Notice what he says. He says,
I won't take a thing that's yours. I don't want it. I won't even
take a thread. And here's why I won't take a
thread. I don't want you saying, I've made Abraham rich. He was
so careful to give God all the glory. He said, I'm the one. You're not going to get anything
from me unless you say, I've made Abraham rich. The Lord would
not allow that. First, let's think of what he
says, that I'll not take a thread even to a shoelace, and that
I'll not take anything to sign, lest thou should say, I have
made Abraham rich. Now, here's the first thing I
want to think about. And this is true regarding every
believer. I'm rich. I'm rich. I've got a bank account with
an infinite amount of money. I am a child of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm a joint heir of the Lord
Jesus Christ and I am rich. I've got rich spiritual blessings.
I've got perfect justification before God. You see, he made
me rich. I know who made me rich. I'm
rich, though. I myself am rich. You're looking at a very wealthy
man. All of God's children are wealthy, wealthy, wealthy. I
have perfect righteousness. I have holiness. I have redemption
for all my sins. I have a perfect standing before
God. I've got God, the Holy Spirit. I've got a new nature within
me. I'm rich. I'm so I make Bill Gates look
like a pauper. I am wealthy. I have God on my
side. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I'm rich. Oh, I've got such wealth. You know, I feel rich right now.
I'm a wealthy man. Wealth untold in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, what wealth I have. Melchizedek has blessed me. And
if Melchizedek has blessed me, I have true and genuine blessedness. Look over in, hold your finger
there in Genesis 14 and look over in Romans chapter 4. This is a description of our
blessedness. You know, isn't it glorious with
all the economy falling apart? We're not even worried about
it. The Lord will take care of me. I'm wealthy. I'm rich. Look at this state
of blessedness the believer has. Verse 6, even as David also describeth
the blessedness. the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works." Now, is that
a state of blessedness? For God to take His righteousness,
His glorious righteousness, and impute it to you, make it yours,
to where it's yours, to where you're not guilty. He imputes
righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. My sin is very
real to me. And thank God He doesn't charge
me with any of it. It was all charged to my Redeemer.
And His righteousness really is mine. Now, is that rich? Is
that a state of blessedness? To have the very righteousness
of Jesus Christ covered? You're a joint heir with Christ?
All that God has. That's rich, isn't it? Abraham
was rich. And he knew who made him rich.
He said, I won't take a shoe latchet from you, lest you say
I've made Abraham rich. I know who made me rich. And
here's how. I love that scripture in 2 Corinthians
8 and 9. I quoted it this morning. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though he were rich, and he was rich, He was rich
in possessions. Everything was His. He was rich
in praise. He had the angels praising Him.
He was rich in glory. He had the cherubims falling
at His feet. He was rich in love. He had the
adoration of His Father. He had the adoration of angels.
Oh, He was rich! Yet for your sakes. Get that. Yet for your sakes. For my sake. He became poor. He became poor in material possessions.
He said the son of man doesn't have a place to lay his head.
He was like the street people out here. He didn't have any
material possessions. He became poor in praise. He
became the butt of jokes. He became poor in righteousness. He was made sin. I mean, he lost
everything. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he were rich, yet for your sakes,
he became poor. That you, through his poverty,
might be rich. Now he says, I've lifted up my
hand to Jehovah, the Most High God, the Possessor, the Sovereign
of the Universe. He only made me rich. And I won't
take a thread from you. I won't even take a shoe latch
from you. A believer will refuse to give the flesh any credit. Now let's go back to Hebrews
chapter 7. And let's just read this passage
of scripture together. Do you see where the priesthood
of the Lord Jesus Christ is superior to the priesthood of the legalist?
And what is the superiority of it? Well, first, the power of
an endless life. You see, he did die, but he lives
now and he represents every single one of his people. And he's never
going to die again. Now, let's read this in light
of this being the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse one to this Melchizedek. King 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 the 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." 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 came out of the loins
of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted for 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 receiveth them of whom is witness that
he lives. And as I may so say, Levi also,
who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in
the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. If therefore
perfection, complete salvation, 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 also made of necessity a change also
of the law. For he of whom these things are
spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance
at the altar." Talking about the Lord coming out of the tribe
of Judah. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah,
to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood. And
it is yet far more evident, for that 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 testifies, Thou art a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, for there is
barely a disindulging of the commandment. Talking about all
of the Old Testament economy, it's been disannulled because
of the weakness and the 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, and insomuch as not without an
oath Remember, the Lord swear and would not repent. You're
a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That's the oath
he's talking about. The Lord made an oath to let
us know this is the only priest. This has always been the only
priest. Melchizedek is a whole lot older than Levi is. And in
so much, verse 20, by this we draw nigh unto God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't you want to have Melchizedek
representing you? If Melchizedek represents you, you're in good
shape. I mean, what else do you need? If he owns your name before
the Father, he's got the power of perfection. He's got the power
of an endless life. He's not going to die on you.
He always represents his people. In so much as not without an
oath, he was made priest. Those priests were made without
an oath. But this with an oath, by him
that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repeat, thou
art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. By so much
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were
many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Wherefore, he is able." Now,
this is what I want you to get hold of. He is able. Jesus Christ the Lord is able
to save me and to represent me before the Father and make me
perfect before God. He is able to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by Him. Don't miss that. I come to God. How? By him. No man, our Lord said, cometh
to the Father, but by me. I come by Melchizedek, the eternal
priest. 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. And right now, Melchizedek
is at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for every
one of his people. Let me remind you about his intercession.
It's not like I sin. And he says, forgive him this
time. And I sin again. And he says, well, forgive him
again. And I sin again, and he says, forgive him again. And
I commit the same sin over and over. And he over and over says,
well, let him go this time. No, that's not the priesthood of
Melchizedek. He stands before the Father. And I stand in him without sin. Now, that's our Melchizedek.
He represents us in such a way as we stand before God without
sin. This is a whole lot better priesthood
than the Levitical priesthood, isn't it? Thank God for Melchizedek, who is God,
and he ever lives to make the intercession for his people.
Let's pray together.