Salvation

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation?

Salvation is God's deliverance from sin and its consequences, revealed exclusively in the Scriptures. The Bible teaches that salvation is deliverance from sin, the kingdom of darkness, and the condemnation of God. It is only through the written Word of God that we come to understand true salvation, as emphasized in Hebrews 7:25, which states that Christ is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. Therefore, salvation is not found in traditions, rituals, or religious forms but is fundamentally rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture. The purpose of the Bible is to point us to Christ, who is our hope and means of salvation.

Q: How do we know salvation is true?

Salvation is true because it is anchored in God's unchanging Word and the intercession of Christ. We can be sure of the truth of salvation because it is based on the unchangeable promises of God and the personal intercession of Jesus Christ, our high priest. Hebrews 6:17-20 confirms that our hope in salvation is assured by God's oath and the immutable nature of His Word. Furthermore, Hebrews 7:24-25 emphasizes that Jesus Christ, who continues forever, holds an unchangeable priesthood. This evidence provides a strong consolation for believers, affirming that our salvation is secure in Christ's accomplished work and ongoing mediation on our behalf.

Q: Why is belief in Christ necessary for salvation?

Only through Christ can we approach God and receive true forgiveness and salvation. Belief in Christ is essential because, as Hebrews 7:25 indicates, He is the sole mediator between God and man. Jesus Himself declared that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through Him. This exclusivity is crucial because salvation is not just about believing in a deity but about having a personal relationship with the Savior. Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection enable us to receive forgiveness for our sins and eternal life. Without faith in Christ, individuals cannot experience the true deliverance from sin and its consequences.

Q: What is the extent of Christ's ability to save?

Christ's ability to save reaches to the uttermost, encompassing every sin and every believer. The extent of Christ's ability to save is illustrated in Hebrews 7:25, stating that He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. This means that no matter how deep our sin or how far we have strayed, Christ's redemptive power is sufficient to cleanse us completely. Psalm 139 supports this by affirming that even in the farthest reaches of human experience, God's presence—and thus His saving power—is there. His ability to redeem extends to the full breadth of human sinfulness and guarantees the holiness required to stand before God.

Q: What is the relationship between salvation and good works?

Salvation is by faith alone in Christ, resulting in good works as evidence of faith. While salvation is through faith in Christ alone, evidenced by His redemptive work, good works are the natural outcome of true faith. Ephesians 2:8-10 states that we are saved by grace through faith, and we are created in Christ for good works. These works do not earn salvation but are a response to it, displaying the transformative power of salvation in our lives. Therefore, while we cannot rely on our works for salvation, we can expect that genuine faith will produce a life characterized by good deeds as we reflect Christ's character.

I had a young coal miner from
up in the mountains of West Virginia call me last night. I asked him how far away from Ashland
he was. He said about four hours or so
where he lived. He said he'd been watching our
television program for the last two weeks and he was interested
in what he'd been hearing. asked me some questions in a
letter the other day, and I answered his letter, and he had received
my letter yesterday, and he called me last night. We talked a little while, and
toward the end of the telephone conversation he said, When you preach the same way
at your church as you do on television, and I said, I don't know what
you mean." He said, well, do you preach like you preach on
television? Oh, I said, not exactly. I said, now the television messages
are made in a studio, in a television studio, and you're confined to
the camera. You've got to give your attention
to the camera. But I said, now at home I have
a little more freedom. I said, I move around. more than
I do on television. No, he said, that's not what
I mean. He said, up my way, he said,
the places where I've been going to church, when the preacher
gets in the pulpit, he starts hollering and carrying on, and
you can't understand what he's saying. Do you preach that way?
I said, no, I see what you mean. No, I preach in the pulpit at
home like I do. on television, because preaching
is teaching. If you're not teaching the word
of God, you are not preaching. You see, pastors are called pastors
and teachers. And we're not entertainers, we're
not cheerleaders. We're pastors and teachers. And
my message tonight is going to be just that. I want to teach
and preach. and talk to you about salvation. One of the best compliments that
I've received in a long time, I received down in Tyler, Texas,
a few weeks ago. I preached my message and then
an individual came up to me and this person said, you know, I
like your style of preaching. I felt like we were sitting in
my living room and you were talking only to me about the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what I want to do
tonight. You know, we have a lot of questions about, Are you saved?
Am I saved? Have I been saved? What is salvation? What is the hopeful salvation?
Do I have a good, hopeful salvation? Well, we're going to talk about
that tonight. And if you'll turn to Hebrews 7. And I just want
you to take that scripture and hold it there before you, Hebrews
7, and we're going to get into it in a moment. Now, I'll make
some introductory remarks. First of all, and I said this,
I believe, Wednesday night, I'll repeat it a little differently.
But this thing called salvation, salvation, and that's deliverance,
deliverance from whatever, the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom
of darkness, the depth of sin, the body of death, to the kingdom
of God's Son, that's salvation. Salvation has come to this house.
Christ said to Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, salvation has come to this house.
Salvation is only revealed in the written word of God. Now,
please remember that. God reveals his majesty, God
reveals his wisdom and his power and his greatness in many ways.
in many ways is his majesty and wisdom, power and greatness.
But I find salvation, grace and mercy to center nowhere but in
the word of God. Is that right, Bill? Nowhere.
I mean flat nowhere. If you don't have the diligence
and the interest and the concern enough to search the scriptures,
you can forget salvation. If you don't have the diligence
and interest and concern enough to listen to somebody teach the
word of God, I don't mean entertain you. Nobody has ever been saved
by listening to singing. They are saved by listening to
the preaching of the gospel. That's just so. Salvation is
revealed in the written word of God, nowhere but in the scriptures. And if a man will, if he'll just
do this, if he'll lay aside his traditions, Saul of Tarsus had
to do this. He had to lay aside his traditions,
he had to lay aside his customs, he had to lay aside his worldly
wisdom and turn to the scriptures alone. If a man will do that
and count these things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ, he'll learn the way of life. A man said to Spurgeon
one time, he held out the Bible, and he said, salvation is to
be found somewhere in this book. And I intend to bury myself in
this book till I find it." I believe that can be done. Spurgeon made
this statement, salvation is to be found in the scriptures
and in the scriptures only. For we can read nothing of salvation
anywhere else. He said, I hold that the special
purpose of the scriptures, the special purpose of the is to
reveal to men how Almighty God can be just and justifier of
those who believe in Christ. That the purpose of the scriptures
is to reveal Christ in his redeeming character. John said that, these
things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ
and believing you might have life. That's why these things
are written. The Bible was not given to teach
me history, but to teach me grace, grace. The Bible was not given
to teach me a system of philosophy, but a way of life. The Bible was not given to teach
me religious form, or ceremony, or how to be a New
Testament church. That's not why the Bible was
given. The Bible was given to reveal Christ to my heart, Christ
who is my wisdom, sanctification, righteousness, and redemption.
To that I say, Amen. So it's salvation, salvation
from sin, salvation from the curse of the law, salvation from
the condemnation and wrath of God that you and I need. I want
salvation. We don't need religion. We've
got enough of that. This nation is choked to death
with religion. And I don't think we've seen
anything yet. Literally, we've got religious indigestion. We've
got religion from the White House clear down to the prisons. Different
styles and forms of religion. We don't need religion. We don't
need religious form and ceremony. We need salvation. And it's salvation
that I desire above all things for you and for me, salvation. And it's salvation that I desire
to preach to all who will hear my voice. I don't want us to
miss Christ playing the game of religion. I don't want us
to miss Christ going through the motions, do you? I don't
want to miss Christ sitting in there studying, preparing messages
and Sunday school lessons and Bible conferences, and you miss
Christ coming in here, going through the ceremonies and the
program and so forth. I want us to know him, whatever
it takes to know him. So now in Hebrews 7, let's look
at one verse of scripture first and see if we can build this
message on salvation. In verse 25 of Hebrews 7, it
says, Wherefore, and I know when you find a wherefore or a therefore,
you're going to have to look back and see what it's there
for. But I want to start here. Wherefore, he is able also to
save, to save, to save them to the uttermost, to the uttermost,
that, coming to God by him, see he ever make intercession for
them. Now, here are three questions.
Who are the people who will be saved? Who are they? Secondly, our Lord's ability to save, to
what extent does it reach? To what extent does his ability
to save reach? How can he, or what is the reason
why, that he can do all this, that he can save us? Are there
reasons? There are. Well, first of all,
this question. Who are they who will be saved? It says here he
is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God. Now, brethren,
this is the first thing. Men will be saved who come to
God. I'm not talking about coming
to church. Coming to church is not synonymous with coming to
God. We've got the idea that this building is a church, and
it's not. A church is made up of people,
baptized believers, an assembly of believers. Coming to the building
is not coming to God. And even coming to the assembly
is not coming to God. And coming to an ordinance is
not coming to God. And coming to an altar is not
coming to God. And coming to understand a doctrine
is not coming to God. And coming down front to shake
a preacher's hand or going to a priest is not coming to God.
But those who come to God, come to God in heart and spirit and
soul, seeking the living God. Paul expressed it this way, O
that I may win Christ and be found in him! O that I may know
him and the power of his resurrection! Turn to Psalm 130, while you
hold Hebrews 7 there, but turn to Psalm 130, and listen how
David has captured this thing, coming to God. Coming to God. He said in Psalm 130, Out of
the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. This is coming to God. Hear my
voice. Let thine ear be attentive to
the voice of my supplication. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark
iniquity, O Lord, who would stand? This man is doing business with
God. He's not stopping with a soul
winner or a preacher or a priest or someone in between. This man
has come to God. Lord, if you should mark iniquity,
who would stand? But there is forgiveness within,
that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord. Oh, my soul
doth wait, and in his word, in his promise, in his truth do
I hope. My soul waited for the Lord more
than they that watch for the morning. I say, more than they
that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him there is plenteous
redemption, but hope in the Lord. Let's not hope for mercy, let's
hope in the Lord. If we have him, we have the mercy.
There's no hope for the blessing, let's hope in the Lord. With
him is the blessing. If you have him, you have the
blessing. People are going to be saved who come to God. As
David said, as the deer panteth for the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, the living God. Go right back to the text. Who will be saved? Those who
come to God. Those who come to God, those who have an interest.
and a concern and a hunger and a thirst for knowledge of God. Religion is not enough. A profession
is not enough. A ritual is not enough. Going
through the motions is not satisfying. I want to know God. I want to
walk with God, like Enoch walked with God. I want to talk with
God, like Abraham, friend of God, talk with God face to face. I don't just want to know God's
judgments, I want to know as Moses, God's ways, don't you?
God's will. I want to feel his presence.
I want to know God, to come to God. Secondly, who will be saved? Men who come to God. Look at
the text. He is able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by him. By whom? By Christ. My friends, call me narrow-minded. Old Brother Mews used to say,
some people are so narrow-minded a gnat could sit on the bridge
of his nose and tickle both of his temples at the same time.
That's narrow-minded. But I'm telling you this, our
Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life,
no man cometh to the Father but by me. That's as narrow as the
Word. That's as narrow as the Word.
They said, Show us the Father. He said, He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father, and no man knoweth the Father but the
Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Christ said, I am the door, by
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Go in and out and find
pasture, just one door. The Apostle said, Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. Again, he said, there is none
other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Paul wrote there is one God and
one Mediator. I'll tell you, down here on this
earth, back here in the days of Moses and Amon and the people
of Israel, it was a big world. But I'll tell you, there was
one tabernacle, and there was one Holy of Holies, and there
was one mercy seat. And it was one high priest, and
it was one atonement. That's just it. And that's the
way they came to God, or they didn't come. God Almighty appointed
the priest, he appointed the sacrifice, and he appointed the
mercy seat, and he appointed the time. And that's as narrow
as you can make it. And all of those, all of those,
the tabernacle, is a picture of Christ who tabernacled among
us. You see, that tabernacle sitting out in the wilderness
is where God met men and men met God. And it was there for
one specific purpose, and that is to identify and picture, symbolize
our Master, our Lord Jesus Christ, who tabernacled a body thou hast
prepared me. And I'll tell you, when he walked
this earth, you could point to him and say, that's where men
meet God and God meets man. behold the Lamb of God. It's
just one Lamb, just one Lamb. So men are going to be saved
who come to God, but not just who come to God in desperation,
not who just come to God in consideration, not those who just come to God
in frustration or those who come to God some other way, those
who come to God by Christ, decisively, on purpose, knowing how they're
coming. That's just so. They come by
Christ. You don't know Christ, you don't
come to God. That's right. Now, there was a famous evangelist
who said this, and if I had to, I could go get the magazine out
of wherever they keep old magazines. It was in January or February,
McCall issue, 1978, it's there if you want to look it up. Well,
the evangelist said this, he said, I used to think the heathen
were lost. who had never heard the gospel. Well, who had never
heard of Christ, that's what you're saying. He said, I no
longer believe that. There are other ways to God.
Well, not according to the scripture. Now, salvation is to be found
in the scripture. Now, the trees may tell you there
are other ways to God, but God didn't say it in his word. Preachers
may tell you there are other ways to God, but God never said
there was any other way in this book. Very plainly, he says,
there is one God and one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus. Who is
going to be saved? Men will be saved who come to
God by Christ for salvation. Now, for salvation. I know we
are concerned about our health, but just come down to it. Really,
of what great importance is my health? David Brainerd died when he was
29 years old, one of the greatest preachers this country has ever
heard, missionary to the Indians. Died at 29. And he died of tuberculosis. He was a sick man, a sick man. He used to ride that old horse
to preach to the Indians. and they'd find blood along the
trail in the snow, where he'd spit blood. That sounds terrible,
but that's David Boehner. He was engaged to marry Jonathan
Edwards' daughter. Jonathan Edwards said, any system
of theology that produces a man like David Boehner is worthy
of your study. Well, Spurgeon lived to be 58. Augustus M. Toplady, who wrote
Rock of Ages, lived to be 35. John Calvin lived to be about
80. What difference does it make? God uses us for whatever purpose
he is pleased to use us in a given time, and then we pass on. But
the glory is Christ. It doesn't matter how long you
hang around here, life is just a vapor anyway, just a puff of
smoke, just a weaver's shuttle. Life is just a fading flower. It doesn't matter how long a
man lives, if he is dead, he is dead. It doesn't matter if he
lived 20 years or 70 years or 90 years, he died. It's time
spent. And the only thing that matters
is if he knew Christ. So we're concerned about health,
but health is not where it is, and we're concerned about our
families, I know that. We're concerned about our children
being educated and our children getting a good job and our children
earning a living and our children being comfortable. It would be
better if they lived in poverty and knew Christ. Yeah, you want
your daughter to marry well, she may marry a banker or a lawyer
and be a pagan. She may marry a plumber and be
a Christian, live a godly home. I'd heap whether she lived in
a home that didn't have but two rooms if they knew Christ, than
to live in a mansion on the hill if they were all pagans and heathens.
You'd be going to hell, hadn't you? I tell you, this thing of status
and social prestige and all that is for the bird. To know Christ, that's where
it is. It doesn't matter about all these things. We are employed
to make a living, we've got to make a living. But having food
and raiment, let's be content. That's what God says, be content
with such things as you have. Avoid covetousness. We're just
clamoring and reaching and grabbing and snatching and doing all these
things to get a little more of something we don't need anything
of. We need to know him. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. And God will add your daily need.
David said, I'm young and I'm old. I've been young, but I've
never seen God seek begging bread. I've never seen him begging bread,
that doesn't happen. That which ought to concern us,
and believe me, you've heard me say it and may not pay attention,
I don't know, but what ought to concern us is salvation. It said, Thou shalt call his
name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. The Son
of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. This is a faithful saying, Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We need a little more time to
spend seeking the Lord, don't we? A little less time given
to the things of this world. You say, I'm too busy to worship,
too busy to read, too busy to study, you're too busy. You won't be too busy to die
one of these days. And you won't be too busy to stand before God
at the judgment. And I guarantee you, he won't
be too busy to send you to hell. Now, it's sad, but that's so.
That's so. Oh, I tell you, a right relationship
with God will correct all other relationships. A right relationship
with God will make us content with what we have. It will make
us content with what we are. And it will make us content where
we are, a right relationship with God. It will. That's salvation. That's salvation. That's not church membership.
That's not ritualism. That's not legalism. That's not
ceremonialism. That's salvation that gives peace
and rest and joy and happiness. Let's answer the second thing
now. The extent of our Lord's ability to save. It says, watch
this, "...wherefore he is able," he is able, he is able, "...to
save to the uttermost in that come to God by him." He's able. Now, this is an important question.
How far can the salvation of Christ reach? Christ is a Savior. How far can he save? Christ is
a physician, physician of souls. How far can he heal? Christ is
a Redeemer. To what extent can he actually
redeem? Do you know the word? To the uttermost. And you know
what I thought about when I read that? I thought about, why don't
you hold Hebrew 7 and go back to Psalm 139. I wanted to find that word again
in the Bible, to the uttermost. He is able to say to the uttermost,
to the uttermost. Where is the uttermost? Watch it. Psalm 139, verse 7. David says, Whither shall I flee
from thy spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there. If I make my
bed in hell, thou art there. There, if I take the wings of
the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even
there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold
me." The uttermost is everywhere God is. It's everywhere God is. The uttermost
is as far as God dwells, as far as God's presence reaches. So
the power of Christ to save reaches to the uttermost, as far as God
dwells, as far as the power of God extends, and that's infinity. So he can save to the uttermost
extent of sin. There is no sin so black that
he cannot make it pure and white. There is no sin so great that
our Lord cannot completely forgive it. He said, though your sins
be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson, though they
be devil-dyed, I'll make them as white as God's snow. That's
the uttermost. But every one of us spends so
much time Mourning over our sins, grieving over our sins, we think
about our sins of thought, our sins of the past, our sins of
this, that, here and yon, our sins that David said are constantly
before me, but they're not before God. He said the blood covers them.
Did he not? God said, I'll remember them
no more. He's able to say to the uttermost extent of sin,
but wait a minute. We need more than just cleansing.
We need a holiness, and he is able to save to the uttermost
requirement of God's holiness. Not only is he able to put away
my sin to the uttermost, but he is able to give me a righteousness
to the uttermost, even to make me sufficient to
inherit Glory itself. I am in Christ right now sufficient
to walk straight through the portals of glory. I'll have to
lay this flesh down. That's why I've got to die. But
I'm sufficient in him. Nothing needs to be done, nothing
needs to be added, nothing needs to be contributed by me or anybody
else. When I die, don't pray for me.
Pray for me now, not then. I won't need it then. That's
right, don't pray for the dead, you're wasting your time. Because
when a man dies, if he's in Christ, Paul said to be out from this
body is to be right side by side with the Lord, present with the
Lord. And that sufficiency is in Christ. I'm going to see if
I can get better so I can go to be with Jesus. You'll never
be that, because anybody with that understanding doesn't know
the Lord Jesus. would be totally miserable in
his presence. He is able to say to the uttermost,
to the uttermost, that psalm I read a while ago, he is able
to lift the beggar from the dunghill, and set him among princes, that
he may inherit the very kingdom of God. Boy, that's a long ways,
isn't it? You talk about transferring somebody
from nowhere to somewhere. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin, where sin did abound, God's grace did much
more abound, where sin did overflow. And it did. I tell you, there's
nobody here worse than anybody else here. Do you know that?
You're sitting there and you say, well, I'm the worst person
here. No, you're not. No, you're not. Oh, if all sin comes short
of God's glory, Sin is just busted out in different places, just
takes different directions, but there's no person here who is
the chief of centers. We're all the chief of centers. To come short of God's glory
is to come short. It's to fail. And to offend in
one point of the law is to be guilty of what? The whole law.
Is that right? I don't know why any worm would
look down on another worm. I don't know why any lump of
coal would boast against another lump of coal. I don't. I don't
know why any maggot would say he's any better than any other
maggot, because they're all in a dead carcass. And that's what
we are. We're just wiggling maggots in
the same dead carcass of the world. We need the same cleansing
and purifying. We need to be made holy by the
power of Christ. We're all in the dunghill. You're on a higher pile of garbage
than I am, you know better than I am, you're still on the dung
hill. That's right, everybody's the same. Everybody's guilty. Everybody. We all need Christ.
But he's able, he's able, he's able to save to the uttermost! Now, why? Oh, right here it is,
seeing, seeing, he ever liveth. to make intercession for them. Now, look at Hebrews 7. Let's
go back to Hebrews 6, just a moment, verse 17. I want to just read
this and comment briefly. Hebrews 6, verse 17. We're in God. Be sure and read
it. This is why Christ can save us.
This is our consolation, comfort, and hope right here. This is
my salvation I'm fixing to read to you. This is my comfort and
hope. Verse 17, Hebrews 6, wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability, that word means
unchangeableness, of his word, his counsel, confirmed it by
an oath, that by two unchangeable things, that is, God's word and
God's oath, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we, sinners,
might have a strong consolation Is that what we want? A strong
consolation. That's what I want to tell you,
a strong consolation that we might have it. "...who have fled
for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us,
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."
which entereth into that within the veil." Our hope is within
the veil. Our hope is not in an altar,
or a pool of water, or an ordinance, or a preacher, or a priest, or
going through the motions. Our hope is within the veil.
That's where our hope is. When you say, I'm hoping that
my faith is strong enough, a bad place for you to hope, our hope
is within the veil. That's where our hope is. Look
at verse 20, "...whether the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
Now, don't run from that. Don't say, that's getting too
deep for me. Now, wait a minute, a high priest,
Jesus Christ, our high priest, is not in the holy place made
with hands. He's not ministering behind some curtain in a Catholic
church. He's not running around here
with his hands folded, holding a cross, spitting water on people.
He's in the veil, he's within the veil, he's in the heavenly,
he's sat at the right hand of God. And he's our hope, and he's
a priest, not after the order of things here at all, but after
the order of Melchizedek. And, my friends, it says that
four times in these scriptures. Here in verse 20, he's a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7, verse 15, it is yet
far more evident, for after the similitude of Melchizedek there
must arise another priest. Verse 17, Hebrews 7, for he testifieth,
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Verse
21, the last line, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Have you met Melchizedek? You must be born again. It's
built in the Bible one time. And everybody is just popping
off about all over the world. Right here in one page, four times,
there must be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And
the average person is as dumb, as Don Bell says, as a bucket
of rocks when it comes to Melchizedek and his priesthood. But this
is our comfort, and this is our consolation. And this is the
reason Christ has the power and ability to save us, is because
he is that priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Let's get introduced to him in
chapter 7. 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 Abraham gave a tenth
part of all. He gave respect, Abraham gave
obedience, Abraham gave an offering, and this Melchizedek 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, that is, pedigree, having neither beginning of days nor
end of life. but made like unto the Son of
God, abideth the priest continually." That's our priest. Let us read
on. Now, consider how great this
man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the
spoke. And verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who
received the office of priesthood, they have a commandment to take
tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their
brethren, though they come out of the lorns of Abraham. You've
got Abraham, and you've got the sons of Levi who are the priests
who minister about the tabernacle and the temple according to the
Levitical law, and you've got all the other 11 tribes of Israel,
and they all pay respect and pay obedience and pay tithes
and give offerings through the priests or the Levites. But wait
a minute, Abraham, who is greater than them, paid tithes to Melchizedek. gave obedience to Melchizedek,
worshiped before Melchizedek. Now, watch this. But he whose
descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham. Melchizedek
didn't come through that priesthood. No, sir, he didn't count as being
descendant of them. And blessed him that had the
promises. Abraham had the promises, and
this man blessed him that had the promises. And don't you know
without contradiction, the less is always blessed to the better?
It's called Abraham less there, isn't it? Less than Melchizedek.
Now, Abraham greater than the sons of Levi. The sons of Levi
came out of his Lord. This earthly priesthood came
from Abraham. This priesthood, ministering
about the tabernacle, offering the sacrifices, taking tithes
of the brethren, all that came from Abraham. And Abraham paid
respect and obedience and tithes to one who is greater. And the
less is always blessed to the greater. That's who we're talking
about in Melchizedek. Paul is talking to these Hebrews
who had so much confidence in this priesthood, so much confidence
in this law, so much confidence in this ritualism. He's pointing
them to someone above Abraham, above the law, greater, like
unto the Son of God. Read on. And here, verse 8, men
that die receive time. These priests died. A priest,
here is Aaron, he lived and died. Here is another priest, he lived
and died. Here is another who lived and died. They passed that
priesthood on down the line. But there he receives them, of
whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say,
Levi also, who received tithes, he paid tithes to Melchizedek
in Abraham. How did he do that, you say?
He was yet in the lorns of his father when Melchizedek met him.
When old Abraham met Melchizedek, all these sons of Levi were in
the lorns of Abraham. They hadn't even been conceived,
they hadn't even been born. And Abraham was representing
every one of the faithful when he paid tithes to Melchizedek.
Verse 11, "...if therefore perfection were by your Levitical priesthood,
for under it the people received the law." What further need was
there for another priest? If you have perfection in that
priesthood and through those sacrifices and ceremonies, you
don't need another priest. It wouldn't be any use for a
priest to rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called
after the order of Aaron. For the priesthood being changed
is made of necessity a change also of the law. You know the
only people who could be a priest then? Sons of Levi. That's all, that's the tribe,
and they were the priests. But there's a change. What's
this now? "...for he of whom these things
are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man ever gave
attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord
Jesus Christ came of the kingly tribe Judah." He was not a son
of Levi. He didn't come through the Levi
tribe. of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood,
nothing the tribe of Judah was never spoken of concerning the
priesthood, always the sons of Levi. But our Lord Jesus Christ
was born of the tribe of Judah. And it is yet far more evident,
for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there riseth
another priest." Melchizedek didn't come through the line
of Aaron and Levi, either. Melchizedek is greater than Abraham.
He didn't come from Abraham. He's without mother or father,
without beginning of days or end of life. He's a priest forever. And that's the kind of priest
we've got to have. Verse 16, "...who is made not
after the law of carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life. For he testified in Psalm 110,
the heart of priests forever, after the order of Melchizedek."
It would be worthwhile to turn to Psalm 110. I want you to turn
over there a moment. We've quoted this one verse out
of this psalm several times, but I want you to turn over there
a moment. Listen, in Psalm 110, verse 1. Are you with me? Now, the Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Do you remember when the Pharisees were talking to the Master? And
he said, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they said,
He is the son of David. And Christ said, Then why did
David say, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand? There is the scripture, the Master himself referred to,
referring to his own person. Watch this as we go on. The Lord
shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the
midst of thine And thy people shall be winning in the day of
thy power, in the beauty of holiness, from the womb of the morning
thou hast to do of thy youth, the Lord hath sworn and will
not change. Thou art a priest forever, after
the order of Melchizedek." There it is again. It's talking about
Christ, talking about Christ. Let's go back to our text. Verse
18 of Hebrews 7. This is where it is. This is
so exciting. It's like Cecil, this didn't
pass by me what you said while I was going to study. You said,
start reading Hebrews, there's no place to stop. There's hardly
a place to begin. It's all so exciting, it's all
so revealing, it's all such a manifestation of where salvation is. Where
God saves men, where God deals with men, where God accepts men,
where God pardons men, where atonements are made and blood
sacrifices and acceptable sin offerings, it's not all just
that old thing, well, I'm going to repent today and do this tomorrow
and give them a tithe the next day and have a family altar and
a promise to do this and win a soul. You're playing games! If you ever come to the feet
of Melchizedek, If you ever come to the great day of atonement,
if you ever come to get some conception of God's greatness
and power to forgive and the person of Christ, these other
things will fit in. It will all get straightened
out and it won't be so infantile and silly. Religion is silly. You watch them on television,
they are stupid. They just plumb silly, all this carrying on and
yackety-yack, and all this, God did this for me, and I had a
bump on my neck and it went away, it turned in. It's a dimple now
instead of a wart. I just get so tired of that stuff.
God found me a job. Oh, God's in great things. He's
not playing your game. You've got a bigger sack of marbles
today than you had yesterday, but they're going to weight you
down. You need Christ. Verse 19, the law made nothing
perfect. Never did, nothing, nothing,
nothing perfect. The law and all the ceremonies
and rituals of the law. But I'll tell you, the bringing
in of a better hope did, by which we draw nigh to God, and inasmuch
as not without an oath Christ was made a priest. He was made
a priest by an oath. Those priests were made without
an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The
Lord swear and will not change. Uh-oh, we saw that a while ago
in Psalm 110, didn't we? Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Who made him a priest? The heavenly
Father. Whom did he make a priest? The
Divine Son. What kind of priest is he? An
eternal priesthood, having neither beginning of days nor end of
days. That's right. Verse 22, By so
much the oath of God, the purpose of God, the design of God, was
Jesus made a surety of a better covenant. And they truly were
many priests back in the Old Testament, and they were all
just pictures. They never had any power to save. They never
had any authority to cleanse. Their sacrifices never put away
sin. They were just pictures and types
and symbols that people with true faith in Christ performed
to reveal that they did believe in Christ. That's right. That's why they went through
these things. See, baptism doesn't say. Baptism is a confession,
an identification. It shows what I believe. That's
what James says. Your soul is justified before
God by Christ. Your faith is justified before
men by works. You see that? They can't see
your soul, but God can. But they can see your works.
And these priests back there, there were many of them. They
lived and died. Their priesthood ended. They
offered animal sacrifices, they worked in an earthly tabernacle. There were many priests, verse
23, they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, but this man, Jesus Christ, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. He has an unchangeable atonement.
He has an effectual sin offering. He has a total, complete, perfect
sacrifice with which he perfected forever them that are sanctified.
And when he presented that blood on the mercy seat of glory, having
finished all that was put in his hands to do, he did something
that an earthly priest never did in the tabernacle. He sat
down, having finished his life. Read verse 24 again. Because he continueth ever, hath
an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able to say to the uttermost,
to the uttermost, them that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth, he continueth eternally, he hath an unchanging priesthood,
and he makes intercession to them. Brethren, I tell you, read
the next verse. For such a high priest became
us. We needed him. We had to have him who is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher
than the heavens. Our priest needeth not daily
as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own
sins and then for his people. This he did want when he offered
up himself. For the law maketh men high priests
who have infirmities, but the word of the Lord which was since
the law. Make it the son of a high priest
who is consecrated forevermore. Boy, that will give you a place
to hang your hat now. If you want to talk about salvation,
people talk about, have I mourned enough and grieved enough? That's
not the question. Have you looked to Christ? Well,
have I joined the right church? Have I been baptized? Am I tithing? Have I done this? Have I kept
the Sabbath? That's not it. Have you looked to Christ? I
have a high priest. the only one, the eternal high
priest, made with an oath by the Father, and he's gone within
the veil, and there he prays for me. And brother, that's my
hope. That's my calling. And that's
where salvation is. And if you can't live on that,
and rest on that, and die in that, then you don't see it.
But if you ever see it, if you ever get weary of all this commotion,
and weary of all this ado, But you do about nothing under the
guise of religion and all these raise your hand, raise your hand,
do this, do that, and just rest and look to Him. You say, well,
how are you going to get people motivated? Brother, that'll motivate
them. Oh, I tell you, that'll turn
parts of earth into heaven. That will. Take care of pride,
too. Take care of all those things.

Salvation

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know salvation is true?

Why is belief in Christ necessary for salvation?

What is the extent of Christ's ability to save?

What is the relationship between salvation and good works?

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Salvation

What does the Bible say about salvation?

How do we know salvation is true?

Why is belief in Christ necessary for salvation?

What is the extent of Christ's ability to save?

What is the relationship between salvation and good works?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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