["In the Hall of the Mountain King"]
Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church and the Wednesday Evening 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.
I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord.
I pray that you would bless the service and the preaching to come.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
All right, turn to your song books, page number 23.
Page number 23, we're going to sing
There's Power in the Blood.
Page number 23, now this is a song that you have to sing out,
so let's do a good job on the first verse.
Would you...
Whoa, whoa. Let's restart that.
Yeah, that was not a good one.
Let's sing it out on the first verse.
Page number 23, There's Power in the Blood.
Would you be free from your burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you or evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the blood of the Lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.
That first verse was a test. You guys, you did good.
We can do better on the second.
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide.
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the blood of the Lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.
Would you be wider, much wider than snow?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Sin's saints are lost in its life-giving flow.
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the blood of the Lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.
Let's sing it out on the last verse.
Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood.
Would you live daily as praises to see?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the blood of the Lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
in the precious blood of the Lamb.
Great singing.
Amen. We want to welcome you, of course, to the Wednesday evening service here at Verity Baptist Church.
We're glad you're with us. Let's take our bulletins this evening and we'll look at 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 will get one for you. The verse this week, Psalm 136.1
will give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever.
And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time
Sunday morning service 10.30 a.m. We, of course, invite you to be with us
on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church Sunday evening service
at 6 p.m. and we're glad you're here for the midweek service. If you look at our soul winning times,
our main soul winning times are on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And on Saturday mornings we have our
big soul winning rally. We want to encourage you to be here for the
soul winning time, of course. And we have additional soul winning times. Thursdays and Fridays are postponed
right now, but on Sunday at 2 p.m., the Thursday and Friday
are postponed due to the workdays. If you look at the announcements there, of course,
if you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we're glad you're with us.
We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this evening
if you go out our main foyer or if you go out our secondary foyer, you'll see a little table set up
and on that table you'll see these little gift bags. Please
grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this
evening. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one
I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made,
very interesting. We think you'll like it. And hopefully the gift bags out there look a little nicer
than this one, but we want to make sure you get one of those on
your way out. And if you are a guest, of course, we ask that you please take a moment to fill out the
communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand and one of our
ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. You're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us
as well. We'd love to have a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need
your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. And when we're done
with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. As the offering plate goes by,
you can drop this card in the offering plate. Or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll
be standing at the main door greeting people on the way out. If you look at
the announcements there, we of course 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.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
So if you have a child that's been distracting during the service, or if you need some privacy, we would
encourage you to please use those rooms as needed. Let's not allow the children to be a distraction
during the service. Let's get up promptly and move into those mother baby rooms as
you need them. If you're not sure where those are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll
see a layout of our church building and it will show you where everything you need is.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course we've got
the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday workdays this weekend
and if you can help us with that, we would appreciate it. We've got three clipboards in the
main foyer and you can sign up for three different shifts on three different days
and there's lots of things that need to be done and we're just going to keep working away over there and getting
those things done. And of course we want you to be aware of the Married Couples Sweetheart Banquet
coming up on Friday, February 9th at 6.30 p.m.
This is for married couples and it's a fun night. We'd love for you to
be a part of it. You can sign up on your communication card and of course
it's a catered dinner so we need to know you're coming so that we can have
dinner for you and we'll have preaching from the Word of God of course
and we'll play the Not So Newlywed Game and it's always a fun game to just
be able to ask questions and see how well you know your spouse, alright? And it's nothing serious
so don't get too concerned with that. It's just funny little
questions and we'll see how well you do. The couple that wins
will get a $100 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory so get a little
date on us. Nine chapters a day challenge. Stay at it. We're
moving with it so make sure you don't quit on that.
Make sure you don't give up. And then of course Ladies Weight Loss Accountability Group if you'd like to be
a part of that. The ladies meet on Wednesdays at 6.15 p.m.
in the mother baby room closest to the front entrance.
And then Home School Group. I do need to announce that there's supposed to be
PE class tomorrow but we're going to go ahead and cancel that, alright?
So please moms make a note of that. There's going to be no PE class tomorrow just because it's been
raining all day and the field's going to be all wet and
so we're going to go ahead and postpone that for now. No PE class this Thursday
January 25th. We do want you to know for the Home School Group
that there's a Valentine's Day party on Wednesday, February 11th
excuse me, February 14th at 11 a.m. and you can sign up on
your communication card. If you need information make sure you see my wife. She has
a field trip flyer and everything you need. And then of course there's
some opportunities for you to be able to help us and volunteer.
There's clipboards in the main foyer so please make sure you go by there.
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 they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and
anniversaries for the month of January this week we had
Celeste Cruz's birthday on January 21st, Brother Montel Johnson's birthday
on January 21st, my dad Felix Jimenez had a birthday on January 26th,
Brother Michael Beale had a birthday on January 23rd, Oliver Gonzalez
the 2nd had a birthday on the 23rd, Joe Maples the 2nd had a birthday
on the 23rd and today is Edgar De Dios the 2nd
birthday January 24th. All those seconds there, they're all the 2.0 versions
and Andrea, Miss Andrea McQueen is
her birthday is later this week, January 25th. 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 sing page number
185, page number 185
and we're going to sing My Savior's Love
as we prepare to receive the offering this evening and let's go ahead and sing it
out on the first
stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene
and wonder how he could love
me a sinner condemned unclean
how marvelous
how wonderful that my song
shall ever be how marvelous
how wonderful is my
savior's love for me
185, sing it out on the 2nd
for me was in the garden
he prayed not my will but mine
he had no tears for his own grief
but sweat for mine
how marvelous so wonderful
and my song shall ever be
how marvelous so
wonderful is my savior's love for
me he took my sins
and my sorrows he made them
his very own he
suffered into Calvary and suffered
and died alone
how marvelous so wonderful
and my song shall ever be
how marvelous so
wonderful is my savior's love
for me sing it out on the last
stand with the hands of the glory
I at last shall sing
well be my new to thee
just to sing of his love for me
how marvelous so
wonderful and my song shall
ever be how marvelous
so wonderful is my savior's
love for me
Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this
time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father,
Lord we do love you and thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord we pray that you'd bless the offering
to give from the giver. We pray that you'd bless the time set aside for prayer and of course
our Bible study tonight. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Amen. Alright well before we get on our prayer sheet I do have a couple of
baptism certificates to hand out. Let me go ahead and read these quickly tonight.
We have a certificate of baptism. This certificate is
awarded to Teresa Salazar in recognition of her baptism on the
first day of January of the year 2024 presented by Verity Baptist Church
with the verse therefore we are buried with it by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we should walk in the units of life and we have pictures for
Ms. Teresa to remember the day of her baptism and then we also have a
baptism certificate says the same thing for her son Michael Alex
Salazar for his baptism and pictures of his baptism
as well. So let's go ahead and give them a round of applause.
And praise Lord
for that. Alright well let's go ahead and take our prayer sheet tonight and we'll go through our prayer list. If you did not
get a prayer sheet on your way in just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a prayer sheet just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. Of course
the way that you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card. There's a place
for you to write down a prayer request. Make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's
private only I will see it. If it's public we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it we'll do our best
to figure it out. We usually don't add those so make sure
you take the time to mark that. And then of course we add the request in the order
that they are given and they are in the prayer sheet
for a couple of weeks and then they are removed. So if you'd like it to be longer you'll have to fill out
another communication card. And we're going to go ahead and take this request to the Lord.
I ask that you would pray with me. I'm going to pray out loud and if you would
bow your head and pray silently in your mind and your heart and let's pray together.
Father, Lord we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family.
Lord we begin with the request regarding
health. Ms. Laura Beth praying for her grandma Jeanette's
recovery from hip surgery. Also Ms. Nicole Johnson
praying for her family and their health and they're just dealing with a lot of health issues right
now. Brother Fred Ramirez praying for Presencia Morales'
health and that she would get better. Ms. Natalie praying for her
mom's healing as well that her pain would go away, that her breathing
would improve and that she'd be able to walk again. Also she's praying for her
friend's daughter Serena that her stomach would heal
and that God would help her family. Lord we pray for these individuals. We also ask
for Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her own health and for her sister Judy's health
as she battles cancer. Brother Salvador praying for his health. Ms. Docma praying for her
pain and for relief there. Brother Edgar and Ms. Selena praying
of course for Uretzi that she would continue to be healthy and strong and we continue to pray
for our missionary Dave Cabuntal's wife Ms. Angel as she's
battling breast cancer as well. Lord we ask for all of these individuals. We pray that
you would heal them if it's your will Lord. We are believing in faith
that you can heal them, that you are the great physician. We ask that you put your healing hand over
them. We also pray Lord that you'd give wisdom to the doctors and the nurses dealing with them and that
you would help them. We also pray Lord for the ladies in our church that are expecting
for Ms. Victoria, Ms. Julissa, Ms. Ruby, Ms. Taylor, Ms.
Esther and Ms. Ariel that you'd give them all healthy pregnancies with
no issues and no complications. Lord help them to have healthy babies and we pray that
you would be with them during their pregnancies. We also pray for these that are praying for their
friends and family. Liliana Perez praying for her Uncle Joe and her
Auntie Jeannie and Brother Mike praying for
the well being of his family spiritually, physically, financially.
Maria praying for Roma and for healing for drug addiction
with that and Brother Salvador praying for his family as well and
Lord we ask for these individuals. We pray you'd help them and be with them, that you'd guide
them, that you would protect them. We also pray for Ms. Christine Ortiz
and Brother Salvador praying for their walk with you and also Brother Salvador praying
for finances and work that you would help him in regards to
that. And then Lord we pray for these that have requests regarding salvation. Brother Ron
praying for his mom and his family's salvation. Ms. Natalie not only praying for her mom's
health but also for her mom's salvation. Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for
her family's salvation. Ms. Dogma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation. Lord
we ask for all these individuals. We pray Lord that you would help them
and that your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their lives. We pray Lord that
you would allow a soul winner, help a soul winner to
cross their path, to present the gospel clearly to them. We pray that you would move
circumstances in their lives to bring them to the place where they'd be willing to hear
the gospel Lord that they might be saved. And we pray for these that have unspoken
requests. Ms. Laura Beth, Brother Aiden, Ms. Ruby, Brother George,
Ms. Denise all having unspoken requests. Also Brother Salvador, Ms. Dogma
having unspoken requests. You know what their petitions are Lord. You know what they're asking for.
We pray that you would answer according to your will, that you would make your answer
clear to them. And then Lord we pray of course for our church family here.
We pray for the prison ministry that you would continue to bless the prison ministry
as we minister to hundreds of prisoners all over
this country that you would bless the sermons that they receive and that they would
be used in their lives to help them grow and to
become disciples and of course for those that aren't saved that they would get saved. And
Lord we pray for the workdays over on the new property that you would help
us to get everything done that needs to get done and help us to have a smooth transition
over onto the new property. We pray for our missions work in the Philippines
for VBC Manila, Pampanga, Bicol. We pray for Pastor
Stuckey and his family. We pray for the church that they started
in Poland as well Lord that you would bless these ministries and of course we pray for
our church here in Sacramento. We pray that you would continue to help us and strengthen us.
Lord I pray that you would help us in the next few moments as we open up your word
as we study the Bible together. Help us to minimize distractions Lord.
Help us to prepare our hearts to hear from your word. Help us to learn and be ready
and to draw close to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Please open your mouth to Hebrews chapter 7.
Hebrews 7. If you need a Bible please raise your hand
and I know you can read your Bible. Hebrews chapter 7.
Just keep your hand up and show it come by.
Hebrews 7. We read verses 11 through 28.
Hebrews 7 verses 11 through 28.
Hebrews 7 beginning verse number 11.
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
there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe
of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is
evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah of which tribe
Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more
evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there
arises another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal
commandment but after the power of an endless life.
For he testifieth, thou art a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going
before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
For the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better
hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God.
And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest.
For those priests were made without an oath but this with an oath by
him that said unto him the Lord swear they will not repent
they are the priests forever after the order of Melchizedek.
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament
and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue
by reason of death. But this man because he continued with
ever hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is
able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.
Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
For such an high priest became us who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens.
Who 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 a son
who is consecrated forevermore. Let's pray. Heavenly Father thank you
for this evening. God I thank you for your word and for our church and I say please give us
all a tender heart to the message and I say if you are the pastor tonight please strengthen him and
in the familiar spirit. We love you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Amen. Alright
well we're there in Hebrews chapter number seven
and of course on Wednesday nights we are going through a
study in the book of Hebrews a verse by verse chapter
by chapter study through the book of Hebrews and tonight we find ourselves here
in Hebrews chapter number seven and if you remember last
week we looked at the first part of this chapter verses one through ten
and last week we looked at a very interesting and
mysterious intriguing character in the Bible by the name of
Melchizedek and we studied that out last week
and we answered the question who is Melchizedek and
today tonight we're going to continue finishing up
chapter number seven here and we're going to continue on this theme of Melchizedek
but we're going to shift here in verse eleven
and we're going to be focusing less the writer of Hebrews
is going to be focusing less on the person of Melchizedek and
more on the priesthood of Melchisedek and you'll see that
in verse eleven begins this theme regarding the order
of Melchizedek and the priesthood of Melchizedek and what we're going to see
is what the order of Melchizedek shows us and what the order
of Melchizedek teaches us. Specifically we're going to learn about
the priesthood of Melchizedek but we're going to see
how it relates to the Old Testament law
and to the Old Testament covenant.
Let me just go ahead and say this up front.
The portion of scripture we're gonna look at tonight,
verses 11 through 28, is a dense portion of scripture.
So tonight is gonna be very much
a Wednesday night Bible study.
I think that's why you came to church on a Wednesday night
for Bible study, and that's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna dissect this portion of scripture.
But I want to remind you, the theme,
there are several themes for the book of Hebrews.
Of course, one of the themes is that Jesus is better.
We've been seeing that as we've been traveling
through the book of Hebrews,
and we'll see that again tonight.
Another theme, or the context that we need to remember
when we're studying the book of Hebrews is this,
that the book of Hebrews was written,
of course, we know that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God,
and we know that all scripture is profitable,
and it's all good for all of us.
We can all learn from it.
But the book of Hebrews was primarily written
to first century Jewish believers,
and it was written to help them understand
how to correlate the Old Testament and the New Testament,
how to transition out of the Old Testament
into the New Testament.
And these Jewish believers who had grown up
in the Jews' religion but are now saved,
apparently, we see from the book of Hebrews
and we see from other portions of scripture,
were having trouble leaving some of those things behind.
They were having trouble transitioning out of that,
and that's really the main emphasis of the book of Hebrews
is to help them learn how to transition
out of the Old Testament.
The writer of Hebrews is doing that by explaining to them
that they don't need to hold on
to the Old Testament covenant
because of the fact that Jesus is better.
Jesus is better than Moses.
Jesus is better than Abraham.
Jesus is better than the Old Covenant.
Jesus is better than the Sabbath.
We've seen all these things in the book of Hebrews.
Jesus is better than the prophets.
He's better than the angels.
He's better than the Old Testament law.
We've seen these things in the book of Hebrews,
and we're gonna continue that here
with this order of Melchizedek.
And what I'd like to do is give you three thoughts tonight
regarding what we learn from the order of Melchizedek
or what it is that the order of Melchizedek teaches us.
Because if you remember, the writer of Hebrews
has brought up Melchizedek
and is bringing up the order of Melchizedek for a reason.
I'd like to give you three thoughts this evening,
and I'd love for you to write those down.
And I always wanna 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.
And let's begin here in verse number 11,
Hebrews chapter seven, verse 11.
Notice what the Bible says.
If, therefore, perfection.
Now, when you see this word perfection here,
you need to understand that in the King James Bible,
usually when we see the word perfection,
it's not the primary way that we use the word perfect.
When we say something's perfect,
we mean that there's nothing wrong with it,
but there's another definition for the word perfect
or perfection, which means to complete.
Primarily in our Bible, when we see the word perfection,
that's what it means.
And here, it means to bring something to completion.
And the Bible says here,
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 rise
after the order of Melchizedek?
The question that's being asked
and the point that's being made by a question is this.
If the Levitical priesthood brought completion,
brought perfection, if it was complete,
then what further need was there?
What point would there be?
Why would there be a need that another priest
should arise after the order of Melchizedek
and not be called after the order of Aaron?
The question being asked is,
if the Levitical priesthood could get it done,
then why would we need this additional priesthood,
this other order of Melchizedek?
And the answer is this.
And if you'd like to write this down,
then you can jot this down for your notes.
The order of Melchizedek shows us
that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable.
The Old Testament priesthood was incapable
of bringing what is being referred to here as perfection.
The question being asked is,
if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,
then why would we need another priest?
Why would we need another priesthood?
Why would we need a priest after the order of Melchizedek?
Now we're gonna go through all the verses here
in Hebrews 7, verses 11 through 28,
but just skip down to verse number 18 just real quickly
just to show you this emphasis
on the fact that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable.
Look at verse 18.
For there is verily a disannoying
of the commandments going before.
We're gonna come back to that phrase here in a minute.
Notice these words though.
For the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
I want you to notice that the Bible says
that there was a disannoying,
and the reason for the disannoying
was because of the fact that it was weak
and it was unprofitable.
Notice verse 19.
For the law made nothing,
and here's our word again, perfect.
The law made nothing complete.
The law made nothing whole.
And the idea is this,
that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable
to bring those under that priesthood
to completion, to maturity,
to the will of God for their lives.
Now let's just real quickly fast forward a little bit
into Hebrews chapter number 10.
And since the book of Hebrews
primarily deals with the subject matter,
it's hard to not use the book of Hebrews
as cross references to show these things.
There's nothing wrong with that
other than we haven't got to Hebrews 10 yet,
and I don't wanna use too much of the scriptures
that are ahead of us
because we're gonna spend time, of course,
studying those later on as we continue through.
But let's look at Hebrews chapter 10 just real quickly.
We'll fast forward in the book just for a little bit
and look at verse number 10.
And here's what I want you to understand.
The Bible is saying here that under the old covenant,
there was an inability
to be able to bring them into completion.
Notice how it's stated here in Hebrews 10 and verse one.
For the law, and the law, of course,
is referring to the Old Testament covenant,
to the Old Testament law.
For the law having a shadow
of good things to come.
And the good things to come being referred to here
is the New Testament covenant.
And what the Bible is telling us is that these,
and we've seen this many times
as we've studied these things out.
The Old Testament had all these things
that were symbolic, that were a shadow.
They weren't the thing,
but they were casting a shadow of things to come.
That's what's being said here.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come
and not the very image of the thing.
Notice these words, can never, with those sacrifices,
which they offered year by year continually,
make the comers thereunto, notice the word, perfect.
Those sacrifices could never make someone complete.
Could never make someone whole.
Look at verse two.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered,
because the worshipers once purged
should have had no more conscience of sin.
Verse three, but in those sacrifices,
notice what the Bible says here,
there is a remembrance again.
Because if we ask the question,
okay, if the sacrifices offered year by year continually
could not make the comers thereunto perfect,
then what was the point of the sacrifices?
What was the point of doing those things?
If it could not take away sin, then why did they do it?
And the Bible is telling us here
that those were done ritualistically as a remembrance.
Notice verse three, but in those sacrifices,
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Kind of like we do the Lord's Supper every year
and we look back to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ
as we pour the juice and it pictures the shed blood
of the Lord, or as we break the bread
and it pictures the broken body of our Savior.
That is a memorial where we remember the sacrifice.
The Bible is telling us here that in the Old Testament,
all those sacrifices, and look,
people need to understand this because there's a lot
of just false doctrine that comes as a result of this.
Especially among Baptists,
there's a lot of dispensationalists who will teach
that in the Old Testament, they were saved by the law.
And they'll say that in the Old Testament,
that was the age of the law or the dispensation of the law
and we're in the dispensation of grace
and we're saved by grace,
but back then they were saved by the law.
And they'll literally teach that they were saved
by keeping these commands and by sacrificing these animals.
And look, the writer of Hebrews is telling us,
those animals can never with those sacrifices,
which they offered year by year,
continually make the comers there unto perfect.
Nobody was saved in the Old Testament
by sacrificing animals or keeping the law.
There is no such thing as the,
and here's what the dispensation will teach.
They'll say, well, back then they were saved by the law.
They were under the dispensation law.
Today we're under the dispensation of grace.
But they'll say that there's coming the millennial reign
where people will again get saved by the law.
That's not true.
No one was ever saved by the law, period.
The law was there as a remembrance again,
made of sins every year.
Look at verse four, Hebrews 10 and verse four.
For it is not possible.
It is not possible.
Now it's interesting to me that the Bible sometimes,
some of the greatest verses in the Bible tell us
that with God all things are possible.
But here I love the fact that now God,
who can make all things possible,
says there are some things that are not possible.
He says for it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take away sins.
Under the old covenant,
and here's what you need to understand.
Under the old covenant, there was a reminder of sin,
but no removal of sin.
There was a remembrance of sin.
There was a ritual that they did.
And as they sacrificed that animal,
they were supposed to be looking forward,
not trusting in that sacrifice to save them,
but saying this lamb, this ox, this sacrifice
pictures the fact that one day a Messiah is coming
who's going to be sacrificed for our sin.
They were supposed to be looking forward.
It was a remembrance.
The old covenant gave them a reminder of sin,
but no removal of sin.
Look at verse 11, Hebrews 10, verse 11.
Just skip down to verse number 11.
This again is being emphasized.
For every priest
standing daily, ministering and offering,
notice the emphasis here, oftentimes,
oftentimes the same sacrifices,
notice what it says, which can never take away sins.
Those sacrifices under the old covenant
could never make someone perfect,
could never make someone whole,
could never make someone clean.
Hey, when Jesus would forgive sins on this earth,
when he walked on this earth, we read in the gospels,
he would tell people, thy faith hath made thee whole.
Thy faith has made you complete.
I've made you whole.
And what Jesus could do with his forgiveness,
the old testament covenant could never do.
It could never bring perfection.
It could never make them perfect.
It could never make them complete.
Why?
Because those sacrifices could never take away sins.
It is impossible.
It's not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.
But I want you to notice verse number 12, Hebrews 10, 12.
There's the compare and contrasts.
And we've been talking about the fact
that the old testament covenant could not take away sin,
but then here's the contrast to that, verse 12.
But this man, referring to Jesus,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever.
Now there's an emphasis there because of the fact
that the other sacrifices were offered
year by year continually, right?
They were sacrifices given, verse 11,
daily offering oftentimes, or oftentimes.
And here the Bible tells us that this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down on the right hand of God.
The old covenant gave us a reminder of sin,
but no removal of sin.
Here's a compare and contrast of the old covenant
and the new covenant.
The old covenant, you had a remembrance of sin
with no removal of sin because those sacrifices,
it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats
to take away sins.
The new covenant gives us a removal of sin
that'll never be remembered again.
Because the Bible says that when we are saved
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
he separates us from our sins
as far as the east is from the west.
He says that he cast it behind him.
He says, their sins will I remember no more.
So in the Old Testament,
there was a reminder with no removal.
In the New Testament, there's a removal with no reminder,
praise God.
The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
And you know, we can make a New Testament application today
in the sense that even today,
there are those who are trying to not sacrifice animals
like the Old Testament Jews,
but those who are through personal sacrifice
hoping that their sins will be atoned for.
If they go to church enough,
if they get baptized enough,
if they repent of their sins enough,
if they keep the commandments and the laws of God enough,
they're hoping.
But what I would say to them is this,
that it is not possible,
it is not possible that the waters of baptism,
it is not possible that church attendance,
it is not possible that turning over a new leaf
could ever take away sins.
Those things cannot be atoned for through sacrifices.
It can only be atoned through one sacrifice,
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I like the words to the song that says,
I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small,
child of weakness, watch and pray,
find in me thine all in all.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow.
It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.
Go back to Hebrews chapter seven if you would.
So the order of Melchizedek,
because the argument being made by the writer of Hebrews
is this, the fact that a new priesthood was in the works,
was already in place, ready to be brought out,
this tells us something and it tells us this.
The order of Melchizedek and the existence
of the order of Melchizedek tells us
that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable.
That's the argument being made here.
We're being told here in Hebrews seven and verse 11,
if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood,
what further need was there that another priest
should arise after the order of Melchizedek?
And there was a need because of the fact
that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable.
It's what we learned.
The order of Melchizedek teaches us,
it shows us that the Old Testament priesthood
was incapable, but there's a second lesson.
I'd like you to see it in verse number 12,
Hebrews chapter seven and verse 12.
And it is this, not only do we see
that the Old Testament priesthood was incapable,
but we also see this, verse 12.
For the priesthood, I want you to notice these words,
being changed.
Now today there are those who will argue with us
and they'll say, you know, what you believe
is replacement theology.
And they'll say, you're uneducated,
you didn't go to Bible college,
and that's not what most Christians believe.
Well let me tell you something,
most quote unquote Christians are gonna die and go to hell.
So that's not, you know, how about we start there?
But they'll say, well you believe in replacement theology
and that's wrong, that's not correct.
There's been no change.
Well wait a minute, Hebrews seven verse 12,
for the priesthood being changed.
The Bible tells us here that the priesthood was changed.
And it's not just the priesthood, notice,
for the priesthood being changed,
there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
I said number one, the order of Melchizedek teaches us
the Old Testament priesthood was incapable.
Number two, the order of Melchizedek shows us,
it teaches us that the Old Testament law was invalidated.
Here we're told that it was changed.
The priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity
a change also of the law.
No, no, there's no change in the law.
Well that's not what Hebrews says.
That's not what the writer of Hebrews says.
He's saying there was a change also of the law,
verse 13, for, the word for means because,
he, referring to Jesus, of whom these things are spoken,
what things are spoken, the fact that Jesus
of the order of Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek
versus the order of Aaron, for he of whom these things
are spoken pertaineth to another tribe.
He, the word pertain there or pertaineth
means that he belongs.
And again, remember, the writer of Hebrews
is writing to first century Jewish believers
and he's telling them, look, there's been a change
in the priesthood, there's been a change in the law.
And they would say, well why is there a need for a change?
And he would say, the reason he says,
because of he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth
to another tribe of which no man gave attendance
at the altar.
You say, what does that mean?
He's saying, those that gave attendance at the altar,
those who served at the altar, referring to the priests,
they all came from the same tribe.
We've been studying the book of Numbers
in our Sunday services, if you've been with us,
this should be a familiar theme to you,
that God chose Aaron.
God chose Aaron and his sons to be the priests,
he chose the Levites to minister along with the priests,
and they all came from the one tribe of Levi.
And here, he's telling us, but the person we're talking
about now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he pertaineth to another tribe of which no man gave
attendance at the altar, verse 14,
for it is evident that our Lord Jesus sprang out of Judah,
of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
Here's what he's saying, the Old Testament Covenant
says nothing about a priest coming from the tribe of Judah.
But yet, we have a high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who's coming out of the tribe of Judah.
You say, well, how can that be?
That goes against the Mosaic law,
and what he's saying is, the priesthood being changed,
there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Verse 14, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out
of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing
concerning the priesthood, and it is yet far more evident
for that after the similitude of Melchizedek,
there ariseth another priest.
Now, last week, we talked about who is Melchizedek,
and we looked at all the similarities
between the Lord Jesus Christ and Melchizedek,
and there were so many similarities that we concluded
that Jesus is Melchizedek, without father, without mother,
without descent of days, without beginning of days.
He's the alpha, he's the omega, he's the son of God.
And here, he's telling us, look, the law was changed.
And here, he's making the point of the law being changed
regarding the priesthood, but all over the New Testament,
we're told the law has changed
when it comes to ordinances and ceremonies.
So all the washings, all the Sabbath days,
all the sacrifices, anything that was ritualistic,
and look, just for you to understand it,
just think of it this way.
The law can be divided, the Old Testament covenant
can be divided into two sections.
Parts of it have to do with what we would call moral laws,
right and wrong, don't lie, don't steal, don't kill,
those types of things.
And then there's the ceremonial law.
That had to do with the rituals of the temple,
rituals of the tabernacle, sacrifices, washings,
certain things, certain holidays they kept.
There was nothing moral about any of those things.
Those were just ceremonial, religious rituals.
All of those things we're gonna see in the book of Hebrews
have been done away with.
And this is what he's referring to,
look at verse number 16.
Who is made, Hebrews 7 to 16,
the who here is referring to Jesus, who is made,
referring to the fact that he's being made a high priest.
He is made, notice, not after the law of carnal commandments.
Now the word carnal, of course, has to do with flesh.
And here, usually when we think of the word carnal
or carnality, we think of things that are sinful.
But here the reference is to the fact that it has to do
with something that's human, something that's flesh,
something that is temporary because our lives
are but a vapor that appear for a little time
and then vanish of the way.
Notice what he says, verse 16.
Who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment
but after the power of an endless life.
The comparing contrast is carnal commandments
versus endless life.
Fleshly commandments versus eternal life.
Temporary commandments versus a life that is endless.
Verse 17, for he testifieth thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.
Now we're gonna look at the,
he's quoting from the book of Psalms
and we're gonna see it here in a minute.
He brings it up again.
But before we do that, I want you to look at verse 18
because he told us that there was a change to the law,
the law being changed.
He says there's a necessity of change.
And then, in case you didn't like that,
I don't like you preaching there's a change.
Well, then he gets even worse
because then he says this in verse 18,
for there is verily a disannoying.
Now to disannoy means to make void, to cancel.
He said, look, there's a disannoying of the commandments
going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
He says the law has been changed
and the commandments have been disannoyed.
He said there's a disannoying of the commandments.
And of course, we're talking here about the priesthood.
And everything that pertains to the priesthood,
all the rituals, the sacrifices,
he says there's been a change.
He says they have been made void.
They have been disannulled.
Keep your place there in Hebrews chapter seven.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter three.
2 Corinthians chapter three.
In the New Testament, you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians.
And look, you might think,
why do we need to make a big deal about this?
I think we all know that.
We're at the Baptist church.
And look, praise God.
I hope most people here know this.
But look, there's major movements today
of Christians who are being Judaized
and becoming Judaizers where they're teaching,
no, we gotta go keep the Sabbath.
No, we gotta keep these special feasts and these sacrifices.
We gotta keep all these things.
And they don't understand that the Bible says,
hey, the priesthood, it's done.
That the Old Testament ceremonial laws,
they've been changed.
They've been disannulled.
The commandments are gone.
Notice 2 Corinthians chapter three and verse six.
And look, this is all throughout Hebrews.
It's all throughout the New Testament.
2 Corinthians three and verse six,
who also have made us able ministers.
This is Paul speaking to the Corinthians,
and he's saying, look, we have been made able ministers,
notice these words, of the New Testament.
The New Testament is referring to the new covenant.
Not of the letter, but of the Spirit,
for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.
But if the ministration of death,
that is referring to the Old Testament law.
Because remember, the law all it brings is death.
But if the ministration of death
written and engraven in stones,
that is a specific reference to the 10 commandments
that were written in stone.
Notice what he says.
But if the ministration of death
written and engraven in stones was glorious,
and look, let me just say this.
Just because we say, hey, the Old Testament
has been done away with,
we're not saying there's anything wrong
with the Old Testament.
It was glorious.
Praise God for it.
And there's still lots we can learn from the Old Covenant.
We don't apply it today.
We don't live under the Old Covenant.
We can learn from it.
And look, he's saying, but if the ministration of death
written and engraven in stones was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance.
Remember, Moses came down off the mount
with the commandments and his face shone
and it was a glorious thing.
But notice what's being said here.
But if the ministration of death
written and engraven in stones was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance,
notice these words, which glory was to be done away.
Here's what he's saying, it was glorious.
But if it was glorious and it was to be done away,
look at verse eight, how shall not the ministration
of the Spirit be rather glorious?
Now you may not understand these terms,
but here's what you need to understand.
One of the major differences between the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant, we're gonna come back to it
in the book of Hebrews in chapter seven
and we'll come to it in chapter eight
and we'll deal with it.
One of the major differences between the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Covenant, there was no indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
Now the Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals
at times to do great works.
And by the way, let me say this,
the Holy Spirit comes upon certain individuals today
to do great works.
Not every believer, old or New Testament,
is filled with the Holy Spirit
or has the Holy Spirit upon their lives.
In fact, sadly, the vast majority do not.
But in the Old Testament, there was no indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
In the New Testament, there's an indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
You say, well, why is that?
And here's why it is.
Under the Old Covenant, there was a house of God.
There was a place where the people of God met with God.
It was a tabernacle.
Later on, it was a temple.
But if you remember, when both the tabernacle
and the temple were commissioned to be used,
they would do these sacrifices.
And the Bible tells us that the glory of the Lord
would fill the temple.
The glory of the Lord would fill the tabernacle.
And that represented the presence of God there
where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
And when Moses would go and meet with God in the tabernacle
it was a picture of the fact that God was there,
his presence was there.
So the temple was filled with the glory of God
or the Spirit of God.
It represented the presence of God.
But in the New Testament, there is no one location
where there's a building or a temple
that we go and do a pilgrimage to worship in.
In the New Testament, my body is a temple.
And your body is a temple.
And in the same way that the Old Testament temple
was indwelled with the Spirit of God
and the presence of God, in the New Testament,
we have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us
because we are the temple of the living God.
There's a difference.
And this is what he's referring to when he says in verse 9.
Because he said, look, the Old Covenant was glorious.
He says, how shall not, verse 8, I'm sorry,
how shall not the ministration of the Spirit
be rather glorious?
For of the ministration of condemnation,
and people will talk to us like,
you're talking about the Old Testament
and you're saying that it brings death and it condemns,
and they'll act like we're not spiritual.
Hey, then you're more spiritual than Paul
because Paul uses those words
about the Old Covenant as well.
For of the ministration of condemnation,
that's what he called it,
be glory much more that the ministration
of righteousness exceed in glory.
For even that which was made glorious had no glory.
Look, don't get caught,
don't get confused by the wording here.
Think about what he's saying.
For even that which was made glorious, the Old Covenant,
he just told us, yeah, it was glorious.
He says, but even that which was made glory,
he said, had no glory in this respect.
He's using an example,
by reason of the glory that exileth.
He's saying the Old Testament was glorious,
but when compared to the New Testament, it had no glory.
Do you understand what he said?
For even that which was made glorious
had no glory in this respect.
Not saying that it didn't have glory,
but it did not have glory in this respect
by the reason of the glory that exileth.
For if that which is done away was glorious,
much more that which remaineth is glorious.
He's saying, look, that which remaineth
is much more glorious than the glory that was taken away.
Isn't that exactly what the book of Hebrews is telling us?
The New Testament is better than the Old Testament.
The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant.
Everything about Jesus is better.
Go back to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number seven.
We see that the order of Melchizedek teaches us,
it shows us that the Old Testament priesthood
was incapable, and it shows us
that the Old Testament law was invalidated.
It was made null and void.
It was changed, and it was disannulled.
Then I want you to notice, thirdly, tonight,
and we've already started talking about it
because we saw it in 2 Corinthians chapter three,
but we'll see it here in Hebrews chapter seven,
and it is this, that the Old Testament covenant,
the order of Melchizedek, it shows us,
and it teaches us that the Old Testament priesthood
was incapable, that the Old Testament law was invalidated,
and it also shows us, and it teaches us
that the Old Testament covenant was inferior.
Notice verse 19.
So it's interesting to me
because these Judaizing Christians today,
these Hebrew roots people who want to take us back to law,
they don't realize the Bible says,
hey, that old covenant, it was inferior to what we have now.
That's what the writer of Hebrews, who I believe is Paul,
is writing the first century Jews.
He's telling them, look, that old covenant,
yeah, it was glorious,
but compared to the glory we have now, it had no glory.
It's inferior, notice verse 19, Hebrews 7.19,
for the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a, notice these words, better hope.
We're gonna see in chapter eight and nine and 10,
he starts saying, look, it's a better covenant,
built upon better promises.
For the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope,
by which we draw nigh unto God,
and as much 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,
thou are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now, last week we saw the fact in chapter number six,
I'm sorry, earlier in chapter seven,
we saw that Abraham met Melchizedek.
We saw it in the book of Genesis.
That's the first reference of Melchizedek in the Bible.
The next one is by David in the book of Psalms.
Let's look at it quickly,
because that's what's being quoted here.
Psalm 110, if you open up your Bible,
just right in the center,
you're more than likely following the book of Psalms.
Psalm 110, and look at verse number four,
Psalm 110 and verse four.
I'll just show it to you so you can write it down
for your notes.
The Lord has sworn and will not repent.
Here's the quote, thou are a priest forever.
That's the emphasis.
I'll show it to you here in a minute.
Thou are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The writer of Hebrews is quoting that,
Psalm 110 and verse four, in Hebrews seven and verse 21.
Go back to Hebrews if you would.
You have the cross reference there for your notes,
so that when you preach through the book of Hebrews,
you have that.
Hebrews chapter seven, verse 21.
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.
Thou are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Look at verse 22, Hebrews 7, 22.
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a,
here it is, look at it, better testament.
We call it the New Testament,
and there's nothing wrong with calling it that,
but you know what, we would also call it
the better testament.
It's a better testament.
Now there's nothing wrong with the Old Testament.
In fact, we're gonna see in Hebrews chapter eight
that the problem with the Old Covenant
was not a fault with the law, but a fault in the people.
The problem was with the people.
The New Testament, the beauty of the New Testament
is that it's all dependent on not a people,
but a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is made a surety of a better testament.
Now why is the New Testament
or the testament of Jesus better?
Why is the order of Melchizedek better
than the order of Aaron?
There's lots of reasons, but let's look at the reasons
that the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter seven.
The first reason is this, it's in verse 23.
And they truly were many priests.
He says, look, that Old Covenant
and that Old Testament priesthood,
they had a lot of priests.
And they truly were many priests.
And he's not just talking about priests that lived
at the same time or additional priests or the Levites,
he's just saying over history,
even just the position of a high priest.
So there was lots of individuals
that held the position of a high priest, he says,
and they truly were many priests.
Why were there a lot of priests?
Here's why.
Because they were not suffered,
the word suffered means allowed.
They were not allowed to continue.
Why were they not allowed to continue?
By reason of death.
They kept dying.
We saw it in the book of Numbers.
Aaron died, Eliezer takes his place.
And there was many priests because these high priests,
they lived their lives and they died.
And someone else had to take their place.
That's what he's saying, verse 23.
And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered,
they were not allowed to continue by reason of death.
Why were they not allowed to continue?
Because they kept dying.
Verse 24, compare and contrast.
But this man, because he continueth,
look at this word, ever.
Because he continueth ever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood.
His priesthood never changes, why?
Because he continueth ever, verse 25.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost.
What uttermost means to the fullest, to the highest degree.
He can save, look, he can save everyone.
He can save anyone.
He can save to the uttermost, why?
Because he continueth ever.
Look at verse 25.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Why?
Because he's a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.
See, the high priests of the Old Covenant, they kept dying.
The high priests of the New Covenant died once for all.
And now he liveth forevermore.
And he continueth ever, seeing he ever liveth.
He has an unchangeable priesthood.
His priesthood never ends.
The Old Testament Covenant was inferior.
And one of the reasons it was inferior
is because the priests kept dying.
But the high priests of the New Covenant,
he never dies, and here's why it's important.
He never dies, and he liveth to make intercession for us.
See, I don't have to, when Aaron died,
they had to go find another priest.
I don't have to go find another priest.
My priest lives forever.
He's sitting at the right hand of the Father,
and he's ever making intercession for us.
Look at these words, Hebrews 7, 26.
We're getting ready to end this thing.
Let me just give you the points again,
in case you like them.
The order of Melchizedek shows us,
it teaches us that the Old Testament priesthood
was incapable.
It shows us, and it teaches us,
that the Old Testament law was invalidated.
It shows us, and it teaches us,
that the Old Testament Covenant was inferior.
Just as we conclude this evening, look at verse 26.
For such an high priest, this is referring to Jesus,
notice these words, don't miss this, became us.
He became us.
This is a reference to the fact
that the Word was made flesh,
that God was manifest in the flesh,
that Jesus became the humanity of Christ.
For such an high priest became us.
What does that mean?
It means he became sin.
Now, he wasn't sinful, but he became a human being,
and then he took upon himself the sins of the world.
For such an high priest became us,
notice, who knew no sin, who is,
notice the description here, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners,
and made higher than the heavens.
He became us, but he had no sin.
We understand that.
Look at verse 27, who needeth not daily
as those high priests,
here's another way that the priesthood of Jesus
is greater than the priesthood of Aaron
and every other high priest.
Jesus needeth not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins,
and then for the people's, for this he did once
when he offered up himself.
Here's what he's saying.
Jesus got close to us.
He became us.
He who knew no sin became sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And here's the beautiful thing about our high priest,
verse 27, who needeth not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins,
and then for the people's, for this he did once,
notice these words, when he offered up himself.
He not only offered the sacrifice, he was the sacrifice.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
He's the high priest, he's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world,
he's the offer of the sacrifice and the sacrifice.
He did it all.
The song says this, the hymn says this,
for nothing good have I whereby thy grace to claim,
I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's lamb.
And when before the throne I stand in him complete,
Jesus died my soul to save.
My lips shall still repeat.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it wise now.
He not only offered the sacrifice, he was the sacrifice.
He paid for our sins.
Now here's, look at verse 28 so we can finish the chapter
and then let me make an application, look at verse 28.
For the law maketh men high priests who have infirmities,
but the word of the oath which was since the law
maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore.
The law makes men who have infirmities,
who have weaknesses, who have sicknesses,
it makes them the priests, but the oath of God,
what oath, the oath we saw in Psalm 110,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
that oath maketh the son who is consecrated,
the high priest, forevermore.
That's what is being said here in Hebrews 7, 28.
Verses 26 and 27 are telling us this,
he got close to us, he became sin who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He is a high priest, the Bible says there in verse 28,
for such an high priest became us.
But here's what I want you to see,
and I'd like you to look back at verse number 19
just real quickly, we'll be done here in five minutes,
Hebrews chapter seven verse 19.
He got close to us, look at it,
that we might get close to him.
Hebrews 7, 19, for the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did.
Notice these words, by the which we draw nigh unto God.
So what makes the priesthood of Melchizedek better
than the priesthood of Aaron?
Go to Ephesians just real quickly, Ephesians chapter two,
I'm gonna show you two verses, we'll be done, okay?
Ephesians chapter two, if you kept your place
in 2 Corinthians, I'm not sure if I told you to do that,
from 2 Corinthians you have Galatians,
then Ephesians, Ephesians chapter two.
The priesthood of Aaron was all about keeping people out.
You understand that?
People did not have access to God.
They, if they wanted access to God,
they had to come to a priest.
There was a temple that they weren't allowed to enter.
They could come into certain sections,
only the priest could come inside the tabernacle
or inside the temple, and only the high priest,
only on one day a year, could enter into the holy of holy.
There was this whole system of separating people from God.
The people could not enter into the holy of holies.
Only the high priest on a certain day could do that.
Only the priest could enter into the holy place.
Only certain individuals could have access to God
through the priest and through the priest system.
The Old Testament covenant kept people away from God.
The system, because it was not individualized,
but as a nation, you have to approach corporately
through the system of the nation,
through the temple and the priest and those things.
In the New Testament, the Bible says
that you are the temple, and you have the Holy Spirit.
And I don't have to go to a priest
because I can go directly to the Father
through his Son, Jesus Christ.
We already saw in Hebrews chapter four,
I can enter boldly into the throne room of God,
into the throne of grace, because of the fact
that I'm not a priest of the order of Aaron,
but I'm a priest of the order of Melchizedek.
I've been made a king and priest unto God and his Father.
Ephesians two and verse, I think it's important
because we talk a lot as Baptists about the priesthood
of the believer, the priesthood of the believer.
But let's remember, the priesthood of the believer,
okay, we're not Catholics here.
It's not a Levitical priesthood.
It's not pope priesthood.
If you wanna get technical, I'm a priesthood
of the order of Melchizedek
because Jesus is my high priest.
Ephesians two and verse 12.
Here's what Paul said to the church at Ephesus.
We'll finish up here.
That, at that time, I like how Paul
likes to compare and contrast.
That, at that time, ye were without Christ
being aliens, the word alien means foreigners,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers, just another way to say foreigner,
from the covenants of promise.
The old covenant kept us, especially those of us
as Gentile believers, it kept us at bay.
At that time, when we were without Christ,
we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
By the way, that's the way you describe people
that are without God, they have no hope.
No hope, without God, in the world.
You believe that, we'll see you here for soul winning.
Look at verse 13.
But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off,
notice these words, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
We can draw close.
We are made nigh by the which we draw nigh unto God.
We are made nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you realize the benefit that we have
as New Testament Christians?
Hey, you know what, these people that wanna keep
the Sabbath day and do all these weird rituals
and blow the horn of a ram on a full moon
or whatever they're doing, they can have their garbage.
I like the better testament.
Do you realize that you and I have access to God
through Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit?
By the blood of Jesus Christ, we can draw nigh to God.
So that's a better testament, it's a better covenant.
But you know, we should take advantage of it.
Wake up tomorrow morning and open up that spiritual book,
that unspiritual people, I'm talking about unpeople
that do not have the Spirit of God in them,
they cannot understand it, but you have the Holy Spirit
of God because you have a benefit of the Holy Spirit
indwelling you and you can actually open a spiritual book
and read it and understand it.
But you won't read it, but I won't read it.
We have access to God through prayer, we won't pray.
We have the ability to go with the Holy Spirit of God
and bring life to the unsaved, not because of my words,
but as I go with the Holy Spirit and preach the Word of God,
it can bring life and salvation to another individual.
But we won't go.
We have this amazing benefit to draw nigh to God
and yet we stay far away.
Don't waste the benefit.
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Let's bow our heads now, what a prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your Word.
Thank you for the Bible.
Lord, I realize that this portion of scripture was dense
and maybe the wording even complicated at times,
but I pray you'd help us to understand these things.
They're important.
The order of Melchizedek shows us some things.
It teaches us some things.
It tells us that there's been a change
and there's a change because it's better
and we can draw nigh to God.
We can be close to God.
We have access to God.
We don't have to travel to a temple.
We don't have to go to a priest.
We can at any moment speak to God
and we can at any moment have God speak to us.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to draw nigh to you
to take advantage of the better testament.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.
All right, we're gonna have Brother Moses come up
and lead us in a final song.
Just wanna remind you a couple of things.
First of all, don't forget for you homeschool moms,
don't forget that the PE class is canceled for tomorrow.
No PE and sorry about that.
I know the kids don't like to hear that,
but it's just, it's really wet out there
and we're just gonna postpone it for now.
So no PE, but there is, start getting ready
for the Valentine's Day party on February 14th.
Make sure you go by and see my wife
and get the flyer if you need it
and also make sure you sign up for the volunteers.
And then men, tomorrow we've got workdays,
all day, just whenever you can.
We'd appreciate your help if you wanna go over there
and sign up.
There's three different days, three different shifts.
Obviously, you don't have to be there the entire day.
You can be there whenever you can,
but there's lots of things to do, lots of work to do.
So please go by there.
We'd appreciate your help with that.
If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
My brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Please send her song books, page number three.
We're gonna sing Jesus Paint It All.
Page number three.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse.
I hear the Savior say,
Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of meekness, watch and pray,
Find in me thine all in all.
Jesus paint it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left the crimson stain,
He washed it white as stone.
Page number three, let's sing it out on the second.
Lord, now indeed I find,
Thy power in thine alone,
Can change the leper's spots,
And melt the morn of stone.
Jesus paint it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left the crimson stain,
He washed it white as stone.
For nothing good have I,
Whereby thy grace to claim,
I'll wash my garments white,
In the blood of Calvary's lamb.
Jesus paint it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left the crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Let's sing it out on the last.
And when before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
Jesus died my soul to save,
My lips shall still repeat.
Jesus paint it all,
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left the crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Great singing. If you're a visitor and you have any questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership,
you can see pastor in the front.
And can I please have brother RJ close us in a word of prayer?
Amen.