["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church in the Wednesday Mean Bible study.
Let's open up in a word of prayer.
Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord.
Thank you for these people coming out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you.
We pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord, for your blessed service and the preaching to come.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
All right, turn to your song books, page number 260.
We're going to sing, He is Able to Deliver Thee.
That's page 260, 260.
He is Able to Deliver Thee.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Tis the grandest theme for all the ages rung.
Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue.
Tis the grandest theme that the world there sung.
Our God is able to deliver thee.
He is able to deliver thee.
Though my sin of rest go to Him for as our God is able to deliver thee.
Tis the grandest theme in the earth are made.
Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain.
Tis the grandest theme to the world again.
Our God is able to deliver thee.
He is able to deliver thee.
Though my sin of rest go to Him for as our God is able to deliver thee.
Let's sing it out on the last.
Tis the grandest theme let the tidings roll to the guilty heart to the sinful soul.
Look to God in faith He will make thee whole.
Our God is able to deliver thee.
He is able to deliver thee.
Though my sin of rest go to Him for as our God is able to deliver thee.
Great singing.
Amen. We want to welcome you to the midweek service here at Verde Baptist Church.
We're glad you're with us. We call it the most encouraging service of the week.
And we are going to have a great service tonight.
Let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll get some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you.
The verse this week, 1 John 5-3, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments
and His commandments are not grievous.
And that's a good verse there. We like that if you open up your bulletin,
you see our service time Sunday morning service 1030 a.m.
We do, of course, invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Safer Church,
Sunday evening service at 6 p.m.
And we're glad you're here for the midweek Bible study.
But our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Thursday and Friday is postponed for now, but we do have a soul winning time at 2 p.m.
And of course, we are a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents for any reason.
However, we do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
So let's not allow the children to be a distraction during the service.
If you need to, you can step out and use the mother baby rooms, of course, as needed.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, the big announcements is we have the workdays back this week.
So if you guys could help us with that, we would appreciate it.
And that's Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
There's three days, three shifts for every day.
So if you don't mind going by the main foyer and looking at the clipboard,
we would really appreciate your help with anything that you can help us with.
And of course, there's several different areas that you can sign up for.
But just to give you an idea of things that we'd like to get done,
all the lights are actually in now, so we can install all the lights, and that would be great.
There's also outlets that need to be installed for anybody that's able to do that.
And there's just all sorts of different things.
The mechanical arm for the projector, there's baseboards.
We got all the baseboards today, so praise the Lord for that.
But they need to be cut and painted and installed, all those things.
So there's just lots of different things that need to be done,
mudding and texturing the main foyer, running wires for the monitors for the mother-baby rooms,
for the security cameras, just a lot of different things on the list there.
So if you can help with any of that, we would appreciate your help, and you can go by there and sign up.
And then, of course, we have our sermon series.
We're going to continue in the book of Hebrews tonight.
Nine chapters a day. We hope you're sticking with it.
Don't quit, and stay at it, all right?
And you'll be glad that you did.
And then, of course, we have the Ladies' Weight Loss Accountability Group.
They meet every Wednesday at 6.15 p.m. in the mother-baby room that's closest to the foyer.
So you're welcome to be a part of that, ladies, if you'd like.
Home School Group, they've got PE class on Thursday, January 25th.
There's other things there for you to look at.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service
so that they're not a distraction to anybody.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for this week.
We had Laurel Meniere's birthday on January 14th.
Eric Meniere's birthday on January 14th.
Sophie Lee Wilson's birthday was January 14th as well.
And Brother Matt and Ms. Riselle Lee Wilson's anniversary was on the 14th.
Ms. Sarah Coffney had a birthday on the 15th.
Madeline Gonzalez had a birthday on the 15th.
Brother Sean and Ms. Ava Rodari had their anniversary on the 15th.
Shanu Her had his birthday yesterday on the 16th.
And then tomorrow is Yaseline De Diosa's birthday, January 18th.
Brother Moses Thompson has a birthday on the 19th.
And Ms. Tamara Cervantes has a birthday on the 19th.
Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and take our song books.
We're going to go to page number 169.
Page number 169.
And we're going to sing Come, Thou Fount as we prepare to receive the offering this evening.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Good.
169.
Sing it out on the second.
Good.
169.
Sing it out on the second.
Good.
169.
Sing it out on the second.
Good.
169.
Sing it out on the second.
Good.
169.
Sing it out on the second.
Good.
169.
Finishing the opening
of thing heart to be
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it
Prone to believe the God I love
Here's my heart
taking, culp Morgan
by courts above
Amen.
Good sing.
We ask that you would meet with us as we take time to pray for our church family, and of
course that you would help us as we open up your word and study the Bible together.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
All right, well let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight.
If you did not get a prayer sheet on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our
ushers will get one for you.
If you need a list, just put your hand up and we will get one for you.
And of course, just want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet
is through your communication card on the back of the card that is placed right down
to request.
Make sure you mark whether it's private or public.
If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out, but if you mark it, then we'll
put it on there.
If it's private only, I will see it.
If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet.
And just keep in mind that they are added in the order that they are received and they
are removed after a couple of weeks, so if you'd like it to be longer, then you'll have
to write in another request.
Let's go ahead and take these requests to the Lord now, and I'm going to pray out loud.
I ask that you would follow along in your mind and your heart, and let's pray together.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church
family, Lord, and we pray beginning with Ms. Olga praying for her family, also Ms. Maria
praying for Roma and for healing and recovery from drug addiction, also Ms. Liliana Perez
praying for her uncle Joe and her auntie Jeannie, and Lord, we ask for these individuals, Ms.
Christine Ortiz praying for her niece, Tanya, that she would be found for the Sabbath, praying
for his family as well.
Lord, we pray for all these individuals.
We ask that you would help them and be with them, that you do a work in their lives, and
we also pray for these that are mourning, Ms. Ormalisa praying for herself and her family
as they mourn the loss of her father-in-law, Matthew Beard praying for his sister Patty
as she mourns the loss of a loved one as well, and Lord, we ask that you would comfort these
individuals, that you would help them, that you would be with them, and we also pray for
these that have health requests, Ms. Verna Ray praying for her healing from complications
from gallbladder surgery, also Ms. Laura Beth praying for her grandma Jeanette's recovery
from hip surgery, Ms. Nicole Johnson praying for her family and her health as they deal
with a lot of family health issues, Ms. Natalie praying for her mom's health and healing for
her pain, that it would go away, her breathing, that it would improve, and that she'd be able
to walk again, also praying for her wife's daughter Serena, that her stomach would be
healed, and that God would help her family, Lord, and we're just praying for these individuals,
Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her own health and also for her sister Judy's health as she
battles cancer, Brother Sabato praying for his health, Ms. Dogma praying for relief of
her pain, Brother Edgar and Ms. Alina continuing to pray, of course, for Lili Uretzi that she'd
be healthy and strong, and our missionary, Dave Camutella's wife, Ms. Angel, praying
for her treatment of breast cancer, Lord, we ask for all these individuals, we pray
Lord, that if it would be your will, that you would heal them, that you would help them
to recover, we pray Lord, that you would give wisdom to the nurses dealing with them, and
we ask that you'd be with them, we also pray Lord, for the ladies in our church that are
expecting Ms. Victoria, Ms. Julissa, Ms. Ruby, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Esther, Ms. Ariel, asking
that you give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications, and Lord,
we also pray for these that have requests regarding salvation, Ms. Natalie also praying
not only for her mother's health, but for her mom's salvation, and Ms. Christine Ortiz
praying for her family's salvation, Ms. Dogma praying for her daughter and her family's
salvation as well, Lord, we ask for all these individuals, we pray that you would help them
and that you'd be with them, that you'd help them to come to the place where they would
be willing to hear the gospel, and that a soul winner would communicate the gospel clearly
to them, but we also pray for Ms. Christine, Brother Sabato, for their walk with you in
their faith, Lord, that you strengthen them, pray for Brother Sabato's finances and work,
Lord, that you would just help him with regards to that, and then, Lord, we pray for all these
that have unspoken requests, Ms. Laura Beth, and Brother Aiden, Ms. Ruby, Brother George,
and Brother Salvador, Ms. Dogma, all having unspoken requests, and Lord, you know what
their petitions are, you know what they're asking for, we pray that you would answer
according to your will and that you would help them and be with them, Lord, we also
pray for our church, of course, the prison ministry, that you continue to bless that
and the workdays, Lord, help us to be able to get all the work done that needs to get
done over on the new property so that we can get moved in and help us have a smooth transition,
we also pray for our missions work in Manila and Pampanga and Bicol, and Lord, we pray
for our church here in Sacramento, that you would just continue to help us and strengthen
us and be with us, Lord, we ask that you'd be with us tonight as we open up your word
and take another portion of scripture and say it together, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen, please open your mouths to Hebrews 7.
Hebrews chapter number 7, if you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand, and unless
you can bring your Bible.
Hebrews chapter number 7, just keep your hand up as you will come by.
Hebrews 7, we read the entire chapter as our custom.
Hebrews 7, beginning at verse number 1, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of
the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed
him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king
of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days 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 receive the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren,
though they come out of the loins of Abraham.
But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him
that had the promises.
And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better.
And here men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed
that he liveth.
And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was
yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law, what further need was there that another priest should arise, after the order
of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
For the priesthood being changed, it is made of necessity changed also of the law.
For ye 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 riseth
another priest, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the
power of an endless life.
For he testifieth, and thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
For there is verily a disannoying 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.
And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made a priest.
For those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto
him, The Lord swear and will not repent, there art a priest for ever 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 also to save them to the uttermost that cometh to 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 needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins,
and then for the peoples.
For this he did once, when he offered up himself.
For 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
for evermore.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, and for our church, for everyone that's here,
as you please meet with us tonight, as you please be the pastor, please strengthen him,
and for the rest of the spirit.
We love you.
In Jesus' name, pray.
Amen.
All right, well we're there in Hebrews chapter number 7, and of course on Wednesday nights
we are going through a verse-by-verse study through the book of Hebrews, and tonight we
are here in Hebrews chapter number 7.
I'd like you to look at verse number 1, Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 1, and I just want you
to see this first little phrase just as we get started tonight, and the Bible says here,
For this Melchizedek, for this Melchizedek, Melchizedek is an extremely interesting character,
intriguing character in the Bible.
He's been brought up already several times here in the book of Hebrews.
Earlier in the book of Hebrews we learned of Jesus and his position of a high priest,
and then in chapter number 5, if you remember, if you want to flip back to chapter number
5 just real quickly in verse number 10, Hebrews chapter number 5 and verse number 10, the
Bible says, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
So we're told that Jesus is a high priest, and he is a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek.
It's brought up there in Hebrews chapter 5, and then in Hebrews chapter number 6, we see
that it's brought up again right at the very end of the chapter.
Look at verse number 20, Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 20, the Bible says, Whether the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.
So we see that this idea of Melchizedek and the order of Melchizedek and the high priestly
order of Melchizedek is brought up several times in this chapter, and we've been talking
about the fact that Melchizedek is brought up, and then the writer of Hebrews feels the
need to get sidetracked and explain some things about Melchizedek before he can delve into
the subject of Melchizedek, and what we find here in chapter number 7 is that he gets into
that.
He gets into that context.
He gets into that teaching here in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse number 1.
Now just by way of introduction, let me just say a couple of things.
First of all, when it comes to Melchizedek, he's a character that is not brought up a
lot.
He's extremely interesting, extremely intriguing, but he's not brought up a lot in scripture,
and we actually only see him in the book of Genesis, and then about a thousand years later
he's brought up in the book of Psalms, and then about a thousand years after that he's
brought up in the book of Hebrews.
So there's not a lot that is said about him, but what is said is extremely interesting,
and just kind of by way of introduction, let me explain just a couple of things about Melchizedek
or positions about Melchizedek that people take.
One position that people take regarding Melchizedek, and some people believe that Melchizedek is
a type of Christ, and we actually talked about types of Christ on Sunday.
If you remember on Sunday morning, we talked about different types of Christ when we were
looking at the story of the fiery serpents, but some people believe that Melchizedek
is a type of Christ, meaning that he was somebody who represented the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he was not the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's one position that people take.
Another position that people take is that Melchizedek was what's theologically referred
to as a theophany or a theophany, and a theophany or a Christophany, depending on which term
you want to use, is pretty much an appearance of God, or an appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ, theophany would be God, Christophany would be specifically the Lord Jesus Christ,
an appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament in a visible or perceivable
way.
Of course, in the Old Testament, we have times when God appears in bodily form, and that's
very well established.
By the way, every time that God appears in bodily form, it's always the second member
of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We learned here in Hebrews earlier that he is the express image of God's person.
But some people take the position that Melchizedek is a Christophany, that he is a theophany,
that he is an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament.
Now, you may ask yourself or be wondering, why does it make a difference and why does
it matter?
If he was a type of Christ, what that would mean is that he was a normal person like anyone
else, meaning he was born, he lived his life here on earth, and he died.
And he just pictured Christ at particular moments.
And I brought up on Sunday morning that, for example, Isaac was a type of Christ, or Joseph
was a type of Christ.
Obviously, they weren't Christ.
They were normal people who were born, lived their entire lives, died.
But at certain times in their life, they picture or symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ.
If he, Melchizedek, was a Christophany or a theophany, then that would mean that this
individual simply appeared in the Old Testament.
He wasn't born.
He didn't live a life there.
He didn't die.
He didn't live anywhere or have a daily existence.
He appears when we see him in Genesis and then disappears after that.
And that's kind of the two main camps, the two main differences.
Now, I'll just tell you up front what I believe about it.
And if you can disagree with me, if you'd like, that's fine.
But my position is that Melchizedek is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that he is what we would call a Christophany or a theophany.
And I'm going to explain to you why I believe that.
And I think when you look at it here in the passage, hopefully maybe you'll agree with
me regarding that if you don't have a position on that or if you've never thought about it.
I'd like to point out for you several things here about Melchizedek and who he was.
And if you're taking notes tonight, and I do encourage you to take notes, on the back
of your course of the week, there's a place for you to write down some notes.
Tonight we're going to answer this question, who is Melchizedek?
Who is Melchizedek and what can we learn about him?
And specifically here, because I would say Hebrews 7 is where we have the most description,
the biggest description of Melchizedek in the Bible.
And I'd like you to notice, first of all, we see the position of Melchizedek, the position
of Melchizedek.
And notice that the Bible highlights for us his position, Hebrews 7, look at verse 1,
for this Melchizedek.
Notice what it says, King of Salem, King of Salem.
Now the Bible is telling us here that Melchizedek is the king of this area known as Salem, referred
to here as Salem.
And I'll just let you know that the area that's being described here as Salem is going to
one day be known as Jerusalem or Jerusalem is what's being referred to here.
And the Bible tells us that he's the king of Salem, he's the king of Jerusalem, priest
of the most high God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, we're going
to see that story here in a little bit, and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tenth
part of all, first being by interpretation, king of righteousness, we'll come back to
that in a minute.
And then I just want you to notice this phrase, and after that also, king of Salem, which
is king of peace.
So I want you to notice, first of all, that here's an example of how the Bible will act
as its own dictionary, and the Bible will tell us what words mean.
We're told here that he's king of Salem, and we know that that is a reference to the city
that's going to one day be called Jerusalem or Jerusalem.
But then we're also told that the word Salem means peace.
Salem means peace.
So we're told that he is the king of Salem, which is king of peace.
Now again, I believe that this is an Old Testament appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you might ask yourself, well, how can that be if Jesus wasn't physically born until
the New Testament?
And we'll talk about that, and I'll answer that here in a minute.
But let me just, let's just run some verses tonight.
So that's going to be very much of a Bible study.
There's lots of different things and material that we need to cover, so we'll try to move
as quickly as we can.
Keep your place there in Hebrews chapter 7, and go with me if you would to the book
of Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter number 9.
If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the
book of Psalms, and then right after Psalms you have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon,
and then the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah chapter number 9, and look at verse number 6.
Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6.
So in Hebrews 7, the first thing we're told is that Melchizedek is the king of Salem,
which means he's the king of peace.
Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6.
Now Isaiah 96 is a very famous messianic prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's an Old Testament prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don't think anybody argues that this is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's pretty clear and pretty well established.
Notice what the Bible says about Jesus.
Isaiah 9 and verse 6.
For unto us a child is born, obviously this is a prophecy of his birth, unto us a son
is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called
the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
Then I want you to notice this little phrase, the Prince of Peace.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and in Hebrews chapter 7 we're told
that Melchizedek was the king of peace.
Now don't let the word prince confuse you.
Sometimes we have this British monarch or medieval monarch mentality and people think
well if he's the Prince of Peace then how can he be the King of Peace?
The word prince just means first.
It's the same word that's used with principality, it's the same word that's used for example
in the school system where there's a principal, it's just the first of the teachers.
The principal is a teacher but he's the first of the teachers.
And here we're told that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
Later on in Revelation we're going to see that he's the Prince of the Kings of the Earth.
So don't let those terms confuse you but the point is this, that he is the King of
Peace or the Principality of Peace, the Prince of Peace.
We're told that Melchizedek is the King of Salem and which is King of Peace and then
the Bible tells us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
Look at verse 7, Isaiah 9 and verse 7, of the increase of his government, notice these
words, and peace.
There shall be no end.
Now I want you to notice this phrase, upon the throne of David.
Because Jesus is not only the Prince of Peace but one day he's going to come to this earth
physically and he's going to reign on this earth that's known as the millennial reign
of the Lord Jesus Christ and he's going to sit, the Bible tells us, here and many other
places on the throne of David.
Now the question is where is the throne of David or where will the throne of David be?
And of course we know that it will be in Jerusalem.
It'll be in Jerusalem where Jesus will reign from so I want you to see the connections
between Melchizedek who we're told is the King of Salem, the King of Jerusalem, he's
also the King of Peace and Jesus we're told is the Prince of Peace and he's going to sit
upon the throne of David which is in Jerusalem and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever as the Lord of hosts will perform
this.
So we see that he's the King of Peace and we see that Jesus is the King of Peace.
They're both the King of Salem or Jerusalem.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 7.
Notice the second thing here about Melchizedek.
Not only is he the King of Peace but the Bible also tells us in verse number 2 that he's
the King of Righteousness.
Notice there in verse 2, to whom also Abraham gave the tenth part of all, first being by
interpretation King of Righteousness.
The Bible tells us, the Bible's interpreting itself here and it's telling us that he is
the King of Righteousness and again the word righteousness, the term righteous is associated
with the Lord Jesus Christ.
You don't have to turn here.
I'll just read this for you from the book of Romans and in fact if you'd like I'd like
you to go to 2 Chronicles chapter 26, if you can find the 1 and 2 books towards the beginning
of the Bible.
We've got 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, I'd like you to find 2 Chronicles
26.
While you turn there let me read to you from Romans 3.22 because the Bible tells us that
Melchizedek is the King of Righteousness.
Notice what the Bible says about Jesus regarding righteousness, Romans 3.22, even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that the righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all that believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus.
And that's just one portion of scripture that really connects the fact that it is the righteousness
of Christ that justifies us.
It is the righteousness of Christ that declares us just and his righteousness is by faith
of Jesus Christ.
So we know that Jesus is the only righteous one.
And here we see that Melchizedek is the King of Peace, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
We're told that he's the King of Righteousness and Jesus is the one who brings righteousness
and that he lived a righteous life and we are saved by his righteousness.
And then of course we see that it's a reference to the physical location of Jerusalem.
Now let me just say this, at the time that Melchizedek shows up in the book of Genesis,
we're going to go look at that here in a minute, Jerusalem is not inhabited.
So the fact that the Bible tells us that he's King of Salem is looking forward to the fact
that that city is going to be the city from which the Son of God is going to rule and
reign and of course the Son of God is going to be physically a descendant, a son of David.
Because Jerusalem is not a city yet.
If you remember when Abraham takes Isaac up on the mount, the way that that entire story
is foretold, it definitely doesn't seem like they're in the wilderness.
They're somewhere where there's no location there.
It's not till later on that we see that there's a city there that's not called Jerusalem or
Salem, it's called Jebus and of course David takes it and makes it Jerusalem.
So the fact that Salem is being brought up, it's being brought up, even the city when
we're told that Melchizedek is the King of Salem, even that is prophetic looking forward
to the fact that Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, from Jerusalem.
Now I want you to notice another thing.
Not only do we see that he is a king, he's the King of Peace, he's the King of Righteousness,
the Bible also tells us something that's very peculiar and it is this.
You're there in 2 Chronicles 26, keep your finger right there, we're going to come right
back to it but flip back to Hebrews chapter 7 just real quickly because I do want you
to see this.
Hebrews chapter 7, look at verse 1, not only is he a king but the Bible tells us he's also
a priest.
Hebrews 7 and verse 1, for this Melchizedek, King of Salem, notice these words, Priest
of the Most High God.
The Bible tells us that he's the Priest of the Most High God.
Some people who think that this man Melchizedek is just a type or a representation of Christ,
they believe that Melchizedek actually was born and lived a life and died.
They think that he served as some sort of a priest at that time and that he was some
sort of a priest of deities or of false deities but the Bible is clear about the fact that
he's the Priest of the Most High God.
Whoever this Melchizedek was, whether you want to believe it was Jesus or not, if it
was someone that lived just a normal life, which I don't believe that, I don't think
you can get that from the text but you have to believe that he was the Priest of the Most
High God, that he served the God of the Bible, that he understood who the I Am, the Jehovah
God was.
So we see here that he's not only a king but we see also that he is a priest, the Priest
of the Most High God.
Now remember, the book of Hebrews was written, it's for all of us, all scriptures given by
expression of God and it's all profitable for all of us.
We can learn from it and I hope you've been learning a lot as we've been studying the
book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights going verse by verse, chapter by chapter but we
know that it was primarily written with the intention at the time that it was written
by the writer to help first century Jewish believers, to help them transition out of
the Old Testament into the New Testament, to help them make sense of the fact how is
it that we go from the old into the new and how do these two correlate with each other.
There's also a theme in the book of Hebrews which is this, that Jesus is greater, that
Jesus is better, that Jesus is better than anything they had in the Old Covenant or in
the Old Testament.
Now for a first century Jew, this would have stood out as very unique because of the fact
that we're told that Melchizedek is not only a king but he's also a priest.
He's a king and he's also a priest.
This is unique because in the Bible and specifically in the Old Testament, there was never a king
that was a priest and there was never a priest that was a king.
In fact, there's even a story in the Bible that highlights the fact how these two things,
these two positions were never to connect.
They were never to overlap and there's a story that highlights that for us.
Let's look at it together.
It's highlighted in other places as well but look at 2 Chronicles 26, look at verse 16.
Second Chronicles 26 and verse 16, the Bible says this, but when he, now just to catch
you up in the context, that he there is a man by the name Uzziah, it's King Uzziah.
The Bible says, but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction and
I'm not preaching on this tonight but let me just say this while we're here.
This is often the case that happens with people is once things start going well in their lives,
you know, they show up to church and their marriage is falling apart.
Things aren't going well.
They're all humble.
They need help but then we help them.
We're here for them.
We strengthen them.
Then they get a little job, they get a little money and all of a sudden their heart gets
lifted up but notice the Bible says to his destruction because pride goes before destruction
is what the Bible says.
So here we're told that he was strong.
He had some success and his heart was lifted up to his destruction for he transgressed
against the Lord his God.
He broke one of the commandments of God.
What did he do?
Notice.
And went into the temple.
So we have a king here who's filled with pride and he decides I'm going to go into the temple
of the Lord.
Notice what he wants to do is not a bad thing.
He wants to burn incense.
He wants to go into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
He wants to burn incense in the right temple to the right God.
The problem is he's the wrong person.
He's a king.
Look at verse 17.
And Nazariah the priest went in after him and with him four score, that's eighty priests
of the Lord that were valiant men and they withstood Josiah the king and said unto him
it appertaineth not unto thee, Josiah.
That word appertain or appertaineth.
What they're saying when they say it appertaineth not, they're saying it is not appropriate
for you.
You do not have the authority.
You do not have the proper position.
They said it appertaineth not unto thee, Josiah, to burn incense unto the Lord.
But they say here's who it does appertain to, here's who does have the authority but
to the priest.
They said look, you can't be here.
This is not your place of authority.
It appertaineth not unto thee, Josiah, to burn incense unto the Lord but to the priest,
the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense.
The priests have been consecrated and set apart to do this task.
Notice what they say to him in verse 18, go out of the sanctuary for thou is trespassed
neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God.
They said we don't understand you're trying to honor God but you can't honor God by not
following God's direction and God does not want a king to do this.
He's given this to the position of a priest.
Look at verse 19, then Josiah was wroth and had a censer in his hand to burn incense and
while he was wroth with the priest, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead.
This is a miracle that God performs a punishment upon this king for trying to do the job of
a priest.
The leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priest in the house of the Lord from beside
the incense altar and as the eye of the chief priest and all the priests looked upon him
and behold, he was leprous in his forehead and they thrust him out from thence, yea,
he himself hastened also to go out because the Lord had smitten him and Josiah the king
was a leper until the day of his death and dwelt in a several house being a leper for
he was cut off from the house of the Lord and Jotham his son was over the king's house
judging the people of the land.
So why don't you notice that here we have a king who tries to cross into the position
of a priest and the Bible gives him, God gives him leprosy as a result.
He goes into the temple that he shouldn't have done.
Now he can't be with the people of God at all because of his leprosy and this story
just highlights for us that God wanted to keep these positions separate.
The king was separate from the priest, they were not to overlap.
So it's interesting then when in the New Testament we have this king Melchizedek who's also a
priest.
He's king of Salem, priest of the most high God, he's king of righteousness.
There's this mixture of a king and a priest.
Now to give further evidence of the fact that this is the Lord Jesus Christ, let's go to
the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 1.
Last book in the Bible, should be fairly easy to find.
First chapter, Revelation chapter 1.
When you get there do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're
going to leave it and we're going to come back to it and I want you to be able to get
to it quickly.
We're going to come back to Revelation several times so please put something there so you
can do that quickly.
Revelation 1 and verse 5.
Here's what's interesting.
Under the Old Covenant, there was no king and priest.
That wasn't allowed.
You tried to do it, God will give you leprosy.
But then there's this character, Melchizedek, who's both king and priest and the Bible seems
to indicate, I think the Bible's clear about the fact, that it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then in Revelation 1 and verse 5, the Bible says this, Revelation 1 verse 5, and from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and notice
these words, the prince of the kings of the earth.
It just means he's the first of the kings.
He's the principle of the kings.
The prince of the kings of the earth and to him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood.
Who are we talking about?
Jesus Christ.
He's the prince of the kings of the earth.
He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
And this is verse 6, and hath made us, don't miss it, kings and priests.
He's made us kings and priests unto God and his father, to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever.
Amen.
So in the Old Testament, this was a big deal.
We're not allowed to have a king that's a priest.
But then we have Melchizedek, who's both king and priest, and then the Bible tells us that
Jesus has made us, under the New Covenant and the New Testament, he has made us kings
and priests unto God and his father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
So we see the position of Melchizedek.
And I don't know about you, but the position of Melchizedek to me seems to indicate that
it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of the fact that he's a king, he's the king of Salem, Jerusalem, he's the king
of peace, the prince of peace, he's the king of righteousness, we're saved through the
righteousness of Christ, and he's a priest.
We see that Jesus makes us kings and priests unto God and his father.
He replaced that in Revelation.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 7.
Hebrews chapter 7.
So we see the position of Melchizedek.
And then I'd like you to notice, secondly tonight, the person of Melchizedek.
In Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 2, we begin to talk about the individual, Melchizedek,
himself as a person.
Notice that there's several things that he did not have.
Hebrews 7 and verse 2, to whom also Abraham gave the tenth part of all, first being by
interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king
of peace.
And we're going to, whatever we haven't hit yet, we're going to hit that in a minute.
But look at verse 3.
Notice what the Bible says.
Without father, without mother, without descent.
The Bible tells us that he had no descendancy.
He had no one that he descended, there was no lineage that he came from.
Without father, without mother, without descent.
Now let me just answer a couple of things here.
When the Bible says here without father, it's obviously not referring to the fact that he
doesn't have God the father.
Because in the exact same verse, verse 3, notice it says without father, without mother,
without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto
the son.
You see the word son there?
Son of God abideth the priest continually.
Obviously if he's the son of God, then God is his father.
When it says here that he's without father, what that is referring to the fact is that
he's without an earthly father.
There's no earthly lineage for Melchizedek.
There's no father.
He's without father.
And then, just I'll answer the other question, it says without mother.
So then people will say, well wait a minute, if this is Jesus, then his mother would have
been Mary.
But please understand, we're talking about Melchizedek, who's an Old Testament appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Melchizedek, first of all, Mary hasn't been born yet.
And Jesus has not been begotten through Mary physically yet.
Melchizedek, there was no virgin Mary for Melchizedek.
Melchizedek wasn't born and lived his life.
Melchizedek just appears.
He's a Christophany.
This is why the Bible says that he's without father and he's without mother.
He's without descent.
There's no lineage.
Now look, did Jesus have a lineage?
Go back to the Gospels.
What do we have in Matthew?
What do we have in Luke?
And Luke, we have lineages of Joseph and of Mary, but not Melchizedek.
He's without father, without mother.
He just shows up.
He just appears.
He's without descent.
And again, to me, this proves that he's a Christophany.
Because look, did Isaac, who's a type of Christ, have a father?
Yes, he did.
Did he have a mother?
Yes, he did.
Did he have a descendancy and a lineage?
Yes, he did.
How about Joseph, who's a type of Christ?
Did he have all those things?
Yes, he did.
But Melchizedek, I don't believe is just a type of Christ because he shows up in the
Old Testament in the book of Genesis and the Bible says when he got there, he was without
father, without mother, without descent.
He just showed up.
And then the Bible says this.
So we see that he has no descendancy.
And then we also see that he has no beginning or end.
Look at it.
Having neither beginning of days nor end of life.
Again, I don't see how anybody could look at this and be like, oh, this is just a normal
guy that represents Christ.
He has no beginning or end of life, the Bible tells us.
We see that there's no beginning and no end.
Did you keep your place in Revelation?
Let's just run some verses real quickly.
Revelation 1, look at verse 7.
Revelation 1, 7, the Bible says this, Behold, Revelation 1, 7, behold he, the he here is
referring to Jesus, he cometh with clouds, this is a reference to the second coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and
all kindreds of the earth shall well because of him.
Even so, Amen.
Look at verse 8.
Notice what Jesus says, he says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith
the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty.
In the Old Testament, when we see prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're told that
he's from everlasting.
So look, Jesus was not created the moment that he was conceived in the womb of Mary.
That was not when he came into existence, he's always existed.
He's the Alpha and he's the Omega.
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega, last letter of the Greek alphabet.
It's like saying he's the A to the Z, he's the beginning and the ending.
He is the Almighty.
He is that, he is he which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty.
Go to Revelation 22.
Look at verse 12, Revelation 22.
In verse 12, the Bible says this, and behold, Revelation 22, 12, and behold, I come quickly
and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.
Look at verse 13, this is Jesus speaking in the book of Revelation.
He says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last.
This is what the Bible teaches about Jesus, that he's always, he's the second member of
the Godhead who has always existed.
There is no beginning, there is no end.
So when the Bible says about Melchizedek, that he's without father, without mother,
without descent, and having neither beginning of days nor end of life, that can be none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ, who's also the King of Jerusalem, who's also the King
of Peace, who's also the King of Righteousness.
You start matching these things up.
Look, you got a column going that says, here's all the characteristics of Melchizedek, and
you get another column going, here's all the characteristics of Jesus, and it's the same
guy.
It's the same individual.
So we see that he has no descendancy.
He has no beginning and he has no end.
Then I want you to notice another thing.
Keep your finger right there in Revelation.
Go back to Hebrews 7, look at verse 3.
The Bible says here in Hebrews 7, 3, without father, without mother, without descent, having
neither beginning of days nor end of life.
Now people who want to argue, and if this is you, I'm not mad at you, you're not my
enemy.
Honestly, you can have whatever beliefs you want.
We are free in Christ, praise God.
I don't necessarily want to talk to you about it after service, but if you really need to,
that's fine.
But here, it says without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life.
And people who say that Melchizedek is not Jesus, they ignore all that.
And then they come to this phrase where it says, but made like unto the Son of God.
Now to me, the fact that it says the Son of God, it's like, okay, this is Jesus.
There's only one, the only begotten of the Father.
Obviously we're all children of God, but we're adopted in.
We were not begotten.
He was made like unto the Son of God, the Bible says.
And here's what people will highlight.
And look, I know when we got saved, we were created, we were begotten.
Someone's going to come up to me and try to show me some verse or whatever.
But made like unto the Son of God.
And the emphasis will be this, like unto.
And they'll say, well, here the Bible says he's like unto.
So it says he's like unto, so therefore it doesn't say that he is.
And this is the big argument, right?
It says he's like unto the Son of God, he's like the Son of God, so it doesn't say he's
like the Son of God.
Okay.
But let me show you something.
Go to Revelation chapter 1.
Revelation chapter 1.
Now Hebrews 7-3 says he's like unto the Son of God.
In Revelation 1, we have John who's on the isle of Patmos.
He's exiled on the isle of Patmos.
And at the beginning of the book, the first chapter, the Lord Jesus Christ in his resurrected
body appears to John.
Notice John, Revelation 1, look at verse 12.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
This is John speaking.
He hears a voice speaking to him.
He turns around.
He's describing for us what happened.
He says, and I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, now let me just say this.
Revelation 1, nobody argues this is Jesus.
The person that appears to John on the isle of Patmos is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now notice what John says about Jesus.
Verse 13.
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one, notice these words, like unto the Son of Man.
So John says, hey, I saw someone that was like unto the Son of Man.
Son of Man is a phrase that you use about Jesus all over the New Testament.
More times of the phrase Son of God.
And he said, I saw someone that was like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down
to the foot, girt about the past with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and his feet like undefined brass as they burned in a furnace, and his voice
as a sound of many waters.
Obviously, he's in his glorified body.
He's in this body that is glorified.
His head and his hairs are white like wool, as white as snow.
His eyes are as a flame of fire, his feet like undefined brass.
But he says that he was like unto the Son of Man.
Which is what the writer of Hebrews said.
And nobody argues that in Revelation 1, that's Jesus.
And then in Hebrews 7, 3, the writer of Hebrews says he's like unto the Son of God.
So don't let that confuse you.
The fact that it says like unto, he's not saying that.
He was like, but he wasn't, is the wording that's used in our Bible.
And what I believe what's going on here is that when the Bible is saying here that he's
like unto, he's pretty much saying that's what he looked like.
Because keep in mind, when Jesus appears on the isle of Patmos, he's already ascended.
And he's in a glorified body, so he describes his body, his head and his hair were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like
undefined brass.
But if somebody were to ask him like, okay, his head and his hair were white like wool,
as white as snow, his eyes were as a flame of fire, his feet were like undefined brass.
But what did he look like?
He would have said, he looked like Jesus.
He was like unto the Son of God.
It'd be like if I was out on the street and just by surprise I ran into Donald Trump,
right?
And I just went to Donald Trump, I'm surprised, and I'm telling somebody like, man, you never
believe it.
I was just walking down the street and Donald Trump was there.
And somebody's like, oh, really?
What do you look like?
And I'd be like, well, you look like Donald Trump.
That's what he's saying.
He's on the isle of Patmos.
They're like, what do you look like?
I mean, his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, his eyes were
as a flame of fire, and his feet were like undefined brass.
But other than that, he looked like the Son of God, the Son of Man.
And Melchizedek, we're told, was made like unto the Son of God.
So we're being told that's what he looked like.
Here's what I'm saying.
If you would have looked at Melchizedek in the book of Genesis, and you would have looked
at Jesus in the gospels, it would have looked the same because it was Jesus.
Because what did he look like?
He looked like Jesus.
That's not saying he wasn't Jesus, we're just telling you he looked like Jesus.
He looked like unto the Son of God, he looked like unto the Son of Man.
So we see the person of Melchizedek.
We saw the position of Melchizedek.
He was a king and he was a priest.
And Jesus has made us kings and priests unto God and his father.
Then we see the person of Melchizedek.
No descendancy, no father, without father, without mother.
We're talking about physically.
All descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the
Son of God.
We see that he's like unto the Son of God.
And of course we know that's Jesus.
Then I'd like you to notice thirdly tonight, go back to Hebrews chapter 7.
We saw the position of Melchizedek, we saw the person of Melchizedek.
Then thirdly tonight, I'd like you to notice the prominence of Melchizedek.
All of that to say this.
The main reason that the writer of Hebrews is bringing this up is not just to bring up
this cool thing like, hey, let me tell you something, Jesus appeared in the book of Genesis.
He brings up the fact that Jesus appeared in the book of Genesis to make a point.
And the point is this, that Jesus is better.
Notice Hebrews chapter 7, look at verse 1.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, here's the story.
Who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
Now there's two Old Testament passages that bring up Melchizedek.
One is in Genesis, one is in Psalm.
I'm not going to get through this whole chapter tonight.
We're going to look at Melchizedek over two evenings in chapter 7.
We'll look at verses 1 through 10 tonight and we'll look at verses 11 through the end
of chapter next week.
Next week we'll look at the Psalms passage.
Today we're going to look at this Genesis passage because the Bible tells us that Melchizedek
who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
Now let's look at the story real quickly in the book of Genesis.
Go back to Genesis chapter 14 if you would.
First book in the Bible, Genesis 14.
Just to catch you up, Lot is living in Sodom and a war breaks out where Sodom is taken
captive and as a result Lot is taken captive with Sodom.
And young people, here's a lesson for you.
Be careful who you hang out with because when they get into trouble they're going to drag
you into that trouble too.
Lot is taken with a bunch of Sodomites and he's taken captive and of course Abraham goes.
You can read the whole story.
Abraham goes and he rescues him and Abraham is coming back from that mission where he
rescued the king of Sodom appears to him and they have a conversation.
And then in Genesis 14 and verse 18 the Bible says this, this is what Hebrew 7 is referring
to, and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth, I want you to notice what he brings
forth, bread and wine.
Bread and wine is associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, just think of the Lord's Supper.
He brought bread and wine and he was the priest of the Most High God, verse 19, and
he, Melchizedek, blessed him, Abraham, and Seth.
Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Seth.
Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.
I want you to notice that the Bible emphasizes a couple of things here.
First of all, that Abraham met Melchizedek, that Abraham came in contact with Melchizedek.
You don't have to, I know you're there in Genesis, keep your place there, but in Hebrew
7 and 1 it says for this Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who
met Abraham.
Now here's what's interesting, let's just run a couple of verses real quickly.
Go to John chapter 8, John chapter 8 in the New Testament, keep your place right there
in Genesis, keep your finger right there, we're going to come right back to it.
Go to John chapter 8 in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
John chapter 8, look at verse 58.
John 8, 58 is a very famous passage about the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the book of John, in the Gospel of John, you have those seven great I am statements
that Jesus makes.
He makes the I am statements.
I am the bread of life, I am the door, I am the way, the truth and life.
Well here's one of those great I am statements in John chapter 8, John 8, 58.
Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.
Before Abraham was, I am.
What does that mean?
He says before Abraham existed, I existed, I am.
A testament to the deity of Christ, why?
Because he's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is and which was and which is to come, the almighty, he is God.
Before Abraham was, I am.
But here's the context that leads to that great statement.
Look at verse 56, John 8, 56.
This is Jesus speaking to the Pharisees.
He says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad.
Jesus, because we tend to focus, when we look at John 8, on this statement, before Abraham
was, I am.
And great, that's a great statement to focus on.
Before Abraham existed, I am.
Before Abraham was born, I am.
Before Abraham was, I am.
Great statement.
But in the same context, Jesus also says, Abraham saw me.
Look at it.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to, notice this word, see my day.
And according to Jesus, he saw it and was glad.
So we got to ask the question, when did Abraham ever see Jesus?
Now, I could be referring to the fact that Abraham died, went to heaven and saw him there.
But that's not, if you look at the context, he says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day and saw it and was glad.
And they respond, verse 57, then said the Jews unto him, thou art not yet 50 years old
and hast thou seen Abraham?
So they take it with this idea that they say, well, you're not even 50 years old.
How did Abraham see you?
You're not even 50 years old.
Abraham lived a long time ago.
And instead of Jesus saying, well, he saw me in heaven, he says, before Abraham was,
I am.
And I believe what Jesus is referring to here is that Abraham rejoiced to see Melchizedek
and when he saw Melchizedek, he saw Jesus.
He rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad.
Well, how can that be?
You're not even 50 years old.
Well, before Abraham was, I am.
I am without father, without mother.
I was that man, Melchizedek, without beginning of days or end of life.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, they say of the Lord.
I want you to notice that there's an emphasis that's being said here.
Go back to Genesis, if you want.
And there's a couple of things that are being brought up.
First, a blessing and secondly, tithing.
And let's just look at them quickly.
I don't want to spend too much time on it, but we got to look at it.
Hebrews 7, look at verse 1 again, Hebrews chapter 7 verse 1.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham, returning
from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, look at verse 2, 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.
Remember, he's a priest.
Now consider, look at verse 4, how great this man was.
Now remember, why is this whole thing being brought up?
It's being brought up.
What's the theme of the book of Hebrews?
That Jesus is better.
We've already seen that Jesus is better than the prophets.
He's better than the angels.
He's better than any other high priest.
He's better than Moses.
And now the writer of Hebrews is going to bring up the fact that Jesus is better than
Abraham.
And to prove that point, he says Abraham was blessed of Melchizedek.
Verse 4, now consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave
the tenth of all these spoils.
Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, and verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive
the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to
the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.
But he whose descent is not counted from them, meaning from the Levitical priesthood, received
tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises, verse 7, and without all contradiction,
notice it, the less is blessed of the better.
What is he saying?
He's saying when Abraham met Melchizedek, Abraham did not reach out his hand to Melchizedek
and say, I bless you.
No.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham.
You say, why?
Well, the point that the writer of Hebrews is trying to make is that the less, the person
in the lesser position is blessed of the person in a better position.
You understand that?
Jesus is better than Abraham.
Melchizedek was better than Abraham, which is why Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek,
not vice versa.
The point being made is that Jesus is better than Abraham.
Melchizedek is better than Abraham, and Jesus is Melchizedek.
But there's an application here that I think has been lost in our modern times.
And I also realize, I think it's been lost even in church life.
And I realize that in a church like ours, many of you were not raised in a church culture.
And I've learned that when someone's not raised in church, there's a lot of things that need
to be overcome because there's some cultural things that maybe they just don't understand
and they need to be taught.
But one of the things that the Bible emphasizes over and over, it doesn't just explicitly
say it, but it's emphasized.
If you look at it in the Bible, as you read the Bible, you'll notice that you'll begin
to see it.
And it's something that's being brought up here, is that the less is blessed of the better.
The Bible indicates that there are positions of authority.
Now, when we come to human beings, obviously we as human beings are all sinners and we're
all equal in the sense that we're human beings.
But in positions of authority, some have a better or higher or more authoritative position
than others.
And the Bible says that it matters who blesses or doesn't bless.
And for example, I'll just give you a real practical example.
What do we often call prayer?
Don't we call it a blessing?
We pray a blessing on this meal.
You know, I don't think it's right.
And look, you can say whatever you want, and if this applies to you, I'm not thinking
about anybody in particular.
Honestly, I'm just trying to teach you the Bible and help you grow in grace.
But you know, if I was, let me just put it this way.
If I was having dinner with Curtis Hudson, I realize Curtis Hudson is dead.
If I was having dinner with Jack Hyles, I realize Jack Hyles is dead.
But if I was having dinner with a great man like Jack Hyles or Curtis Hudson, and it was
me and you and Curtis Hudson, you know, I wouldn't say, let me pray for the meal.
You say, why?
Because I'm having dinner with Curtis Hudson.
And the less is blessed of the better.
And just, you say, well, you're a pastor.
Yeah, I'm a pastor, but I'm not Curtis Hudson.
I'm no Jack Hyles.
I'm going to humble myself and say, I always think, look, you do whatever you want with
it.
I always think it's interesting when there's a group of ladies, and there's a pastor's
wife there, and they'll ask some random lady to pray.
Why do you do that?
Or a pastor is present, and they'll ask some random guy to pray.
Like, there's three pastors here.
You ask an usher to pray?
Nothing against the ushers.
But you know, the Bible teaches that the less is blessed of the better.
And like, I'm not saying this because I need you to honor me.
I don't care what you do.
Honestly, I could not care less.
But I do want you to understand this, that there is a principle here, and if you're ever
in the presence of a 70-year-old saint who's served God, honor them.
Let them bless.
Let them bless you.
You don't bless them.
The less is blessed of the better.
That's what the Bible teaches.
I don't need you to ask me to pray.
Look, I pray enough.
I'm not saying this because I am.
But I am telling you this, is that it's rude when there are people who have higher positions
than you or higher authority or have accomplished more in their lives for you to just be like,
I'm going to pray for the meal.
I know you're Curtis Hudson, one of the greatest—okay, what if it was the apostle Paul?
I know you're the apostle Paul, but let me just pray for this meal.
Dear Jesus, thank you for this food.
Look, I'm just saying that if I was having dinner with somebody who was obviously greater
in position than me, I'm going to say, no, you pray.
You know, what's funny is that in our home, in our Christian home—I'm talking about
my family, my extended family—I appreciate my family.
They've always understood the position of a pastor.
And look, I'm the youngest in my family.
I'm the baby of the family.
But I've always appreciated the fact that obviously my wife does this, but my siblings
and my parents—and I've never asked them to do this.
They've always, around church people, they've always addressed me as pastor.
You say, wow, just so they have a lot of respect.
No, they have a lot of respect for the position, I hope.
And what's interesting is that at meals at home, my dad will be like, let's ask the pastor
to pray.
And I'll say, no, dad, you pray.
And you know, in that situation, sometimes I pray, sometimes he prays.
But there's this idea that there's respect for authority.
There's respect for position.
And again, look, I don't need you to let me pray.
I don't care.
But what I'm telling you is that in life—and God seems to indicate that in this passage—I've
said 2,000, 3,000 years later, the writer of Hebrews is saying, hey, did you notice
that Abraham didn't bless Melchizedek?
Because the less is blessed, the better.
So we see that there's an authority here regarding blessings.
We also see that there's a tithe being given here.
Abraham tithed to Melchizedek.
Look at it again, verse 2.
To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all.
Look at verse 4.
Consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth
part of the spoils.
Look at verse 6.
But he whose descendants not counted from them received tithes of Abraham.
So not only do we see that Abraham had enough wits about him when he got around Melchizedek
to realize, I'm the inferior one here.
So I'm not going to try to bless him, I'm going to let him bless me.
But we also see that Abraham realized that I need to give this man 10 percent of my goods,
the tenth part, 10 percent of the income.
And let me just say this regarding tithing.
Because people today who want to attack tithing, they'll say, oh, tithing is connected to the
Old Testament law and it's been done away.
A lot of the aspects of the Old Testament law have been done away, and we've learned
about that in this very book of Hebrews.
But it's interesting to me that in the book of Hebrews, he brings up a story about Abraham
tithing before the Mosaic law.
Before Moses was ever even born, Abraham tithed.
So let me tell you something, tithing is not connected to the Mosaic law.
Abraham and Jacob, for sure, and people in the Old Testament did it before Moses.
And the Bible teaches us that we should do it after Moses.
So it's not connected to the law.
If you're going to say, oh, I don't tithe because it's connected to the law, well, then
Abraham tithes.
So the Bible teaches the concept of tithing.
And look, if you don't like that, you know, the Bible says where your treasure is, there
where your heart be also.
You ought to just examine your heart.
Because if you, I don't like preachers bringing up money.
Well, take it up with whoever wrote Hebrews, because he's the one that brought it up.
So Melchizedek is better than Abraham.
And not only that, but we see that the priesthood of Melchizedek, right?
Because Jesus is a high priest of the order of Melchizedek.
We see that the priesthood of Melchizedek is better than the priesthood of Levi.
Look at verse number five.
And verily, they that are the sons of Levi, who are the sons of Levi?
The Levites and Aaron was the son of Levi, and the sons of Aaron are high priests.
And verily, they that are the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people.
So the Levites were to take the tithes of the people under the Old Testament law.
We know that Abraham tithed before the Old Testament law.
But under the Old Testament law, the Levites were to take the tithe, according to the law,
that is of their brethren.
Though they come out of the loins of Abraham, notice verse six, but he whose descent is
not counted from them, whose descent is not counted from the Levites, 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 it is witnessed
that he liveth.
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.
Do you understand what's being said here?
Levi and the Levitical priesthood, who were given the authority to receive tithes, they
were in the loins of Abraham when Abraham tithes.
So in the sense, Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, and Abraham was blessed with Melchizedek,
showing that Melchizedek was greater and better than Abraham, but also we see that Levi was
in the loins of Abraham, and what the writer of Hebrews is telling us is that Levi also
who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.
Levi, the Levitical priesthood, paid tithes in Abraham to Melchizedek, for he was yet
in the loins of his father.
The point that's being made is this, that not only is Melchizedek greater and Jesus
is better than Abraham, but the priesthood of Melchizedek is better than the priesthood
of Levi, because both priesthoods were allowed to receive tithes, but the Levitical priesthood
paid tithes to the order of Melchizedek in Abraham.
What is the point?
Again, you may say, well I don't care about that, but a first century Jew would say, well
then Melchizedek must be greater than Abraham, who's the greatest patriarch, and the order
of Melchizedek must be better than the Levitical priesthood that we were handed, which is the
whole point of the book of Hebrews, because the book of Hebrews teaches us this, that
Jesus is better.
That Jesus is better.
We've looked at it throughout this book.
We've seen that Jesus is better than prophets.
Remember Hebrews 1, 1, God who has sundry times and diverse manners, spake and time
passed by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, Jesus better
than prophets.
We saw that Jesus is better than the angels.
Remember Hebrews 1, 4, being made so much better than the angels.
We saw that Jesus is better than Moses.
Remember Hebrews 3, 3, for this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses.
We saw that Jesus is better than the Sabbath day.
Remember Hebrews 4, 3, for we which have believed do enter into his rest.
Not a day, but to the individual.
We saw that Jesus is a better high priest.
Remember Hebrews 4, 14, seeing then we have a great high priest, which is passed into
the heavens, Jesus, the son of God.
We saw that Jesus tonight is better than Abraham, Hebrews 7, 4, now consider how great this
man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth part of those spoils.
And we saw that Jesus is better than the Levitical priesthood, Hebrews 7, 9, Levi also who received
tithes, paid tithes in Abraham to Melchizedek.
Here's a takeaway for us as we finish up tonight and it's this, that the New Testament was
not an afterthought.
The dispensationalists, they'll say, well God tried the Old Testament and they kind
of really messed it up when they crucified the son of God.
So then he had plan B, which was the New Testament.
No, Jesus was always the plan.
And Melchizedek to me is like a character in a book, or for you that are worldly, a
character in a movie, who shows up at the beginning of the movie and they're kind of
insignificant, but then they end up playing a really major role at the end.
God, who sees the beginning from the end, just put Melchizedek right there, right at
the beginning, who met Abraham on the way.
Why?
So Jesus could say, your father Abraham, he saw me.
He saw my day.
He saw it and he rejoiced.
So they would say, you're not even 50 years old.
How does Abraham seen you?
And he would say, before Abraham was, I am.
Jesus is greater than Abraham, he's greater than Moses, he's greater than any high priest,
he's greater than the Levitical priesthood.
He's king and priest, and he's made us kings and priests unto God and our father, and we
love you for it.
We thank you for the teaching on Melchizedek, and we thank you for our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
We love you.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
We're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Just want to remind you a couple of things.
First of all, I want to remind you to be back for the Saturday morning soul winning
rally at 10 a.m.
If you're a soul winner, make sure you're here, and if you're not a soul winner, become
a soul winner and make sure you're here.
And I'm going to continue teaching.
Last Saturday morning, I began a little series of lessons on how to be an effective soul
winner.
I'm going to continue that this Saturday.
I'd love for you to be here for that.
And then of course, don't forget that we have Thursday, Friday, Saturday workdays.
We've got clipboards in the foyer.
Please go by there.
Please sign up.
Please help us.
We're on the downward part of this thing, but we can't stop, so if you could help us,
please help us.
We would appreciate your help.
If you have any questions, of course you can ask me or the staff.
You can ask Brother Joel Usher.
He's the one leading things over there, and he can answer any questions that you have.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
We'll have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Turn to your song books, page number 262.
Page 262, we're going to sing The Light of the World is Jesus, page 262.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Like sunshine at noonday, his glory shone in.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Come to the light, it's shining for thee.
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Page 262, let's sing it out on the second verse.
No darkness have we who in Jesus abide.
The light of the world is Jesus.
We walk in the light when we follow our guide.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Come to the light, it's shining for thee.
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Ye dwellers in darkness with sin-minded eyes.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Go walk at his bidding and light will arise.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Come to the light, it's shining for thee.
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Let's finish it strong on the last.
No need of the sunlight in heaven, we're told.
The light of the world is Jesus.
The Lamb is the light in the city of gold.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Come to the light, it's shining for thee.
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see.
The light of the world is Jesus.
Great singing.
Can I please have Brother Allen close us in a prayer?