Well, I invite you now to turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7, we'll read the 28 verses of this chapter, where the writer of Hebrews speaks of Jesus as being a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. This is his word. Hebrews 7. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, And then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. But resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of his spoils? And these descendants of Levi, who received the priestly office, have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham. For he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belong to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah. And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witness of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it is not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. Brothers and sisters, I would imagine that you have a list, if not written down, it's in your head probably, somewhat of passages in scripture that you put at the height. These are the great passages of scripture. These are the wow passages. And if you were to write down a list of four or five of those, we would see passages that are very familiar to us. Psalm 23, Isaiah 53 or 55, for seminarians might be Jeremiah 31, for many of us, John 3 or Romans 8. These are great passages of scripture, the wow passage, or Revelation 21, or Philippians 2. I mean, the list can go on. But my point is, probably very few of us, and maybe none of us, would put Hebrews chapter 7 on that list. Or if we were to write a list, say, of four or five of the most significant figures of the Old Testament, I'm sure there would be significant overlap. Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, maybe. But there would be significant overlap of our lists if we were to do that. The writer of Hebrews here tells us that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham. And he's not found much in the Old Testament. He's found in Genesis chapter 14, where he's mentioned in just three verses. And then he's mentioned in Psalm 110, verse 4. That's about it. And yet, he is superior to Abraham. He's a very enigmatic figure, isn't he? which is probably why he would not make it on your list. You just don't know much about him. He appears kind of from nowhere, and he leaves into nowhere. There's no beginning of where he's from and no end. We don't know what happens to him. And, in fact, this is the very thing that the writer of Hebrews points out that makes him a picture of Jesus Christ. In fact, the author says that in that very way he foreshadows or resembles Jesus. So, what's going on? What's happening here in Hebrews chapter 7? Why does the writer bring out Melchizedek? And so what? What does that have to do with us? Well, the reason that the writer brings out Melchizedek here and that Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek is to show, first of all, that Jesus is a legitimate high priest, And then secondly, that he's a superior high priest. And what I want to say to you is that that is abundantly important for you and me. In the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 12, question and answer 31, it asks the question, why is Jesus called Christ? That means anointed. And the answer is that he is appointed by God and anointed by the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet, great high priest, and eternal king. And then what it says about Jesus being the high priest is that he, as high priest, sets us free by way of the sacrifice of his own body. And at the right hand of God, he makes intercession, continually intercedes for us, for you and me. We're talking here about very central truths of the gospel. Hebrews 7 is a very important passage. And as you dig in and start to understand it, it becomes one of those wow passages. It's a great, great passage. But I think a lot of people, they don't dig into it. It's strange what's going on here about Melchizedek and Levi and Abraham's loins and just kind of weird things. And it doesn't grab hold of us. So my prayer and my desire this evening is to make it grab hold. Melchizedek is brought up here, first of all, to show that Jesus is a legitimate high priest. You look at verse 14, I think that's answering a very possible and probable objection or accusation of the Jews against Christianity. In verse 14, it says, For it's evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. And so the objection of the Jews against Christians is saying, you don't have a legitimate priest. Whatever you think Jesus did for you in his priestly office was illegitimate and therefore useless. Your so-called priest is from the tribe of Judah. And there's no disputing that. And Moses never appointed the tribe of Judah to serve as priests. You don't find that anywhere in the Old Testament. And so for any priest to offer sacrifices for you, that priest must be of the tribe of Levi. The tribe, the one tribe that was appointed to that very purpose of offering sacrifices. And the answer of the writer of Hebrews is, yes, Jesus is not of the tribe of Levi. In fact, he is of the tribe of Judah, but his priesthood is not after the order of the tribe of Levi. It is after the order of Melchizedek, which actually predates the Levitical priesthood. Well, who is this Melchizedek? Well, we read of him most extensively in Genesis chapter 14, which is not very extensive, but it's the most that we have of Melchizedek. In Genesis chapter 14, you can turn there with me, or I'll read it for you if you'd prefer that, but it's verses 18 through 20. That's all that we have regarding Melchizedek. In verse 18, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now, Abraham had just conquered several kings. He was returning back to his home with the spoils of victory. And as he's on his way, we read, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And that's it. That's what we read of Melchizedek. That tells us, though, a few important things. One, it tells us that he is a priest of God Most High who blessed Abraham. And Abraham received that blessing. He clearly was a priest that predates the Levitical priesthood. Of course, that probably should go without saying, but after Abraham is Isaac, after Isaac is Jacob, and after Jacob is the twelve sons of Jacob, one of whom was Levi, and it was through Levi that the Levitical priesthood began. And so all of that came far after Abraham meets Melchizedek. So his priesthood predates the Levitical priesthood. He was the king of Salem, that is, king of peace. Probably king of the area where Jerusalem was. His name means king of righteousness. He was not of a Jewish king-priest, but rather of a universal king-priest. And unlike every other Old Testament figure, the major figure that you read, we don't read anything about his father or his forebears. There's no genealogy about him. And it's not that he didn't have a genealogy. It's not that he didn't have a father or mother. But God intended for Melchizedek to be a picture of Jesus. And so there is none of that recorded for us. And then we read that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. The point here is simply this, that just because Jesus is not of the tribe of Levi does not mean that his priesthood is illegitimate. His priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek. And further, he goes on and says, and his is a priesthood that comes to him by way of an oath. God himself, God the Father himself, swore this oath. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, Psalm 110, verse 4. You are a priest forever, verse 21 is quoting Psalm 110. But the point here is not so much that Jesus' priesthood is legitimate only. More than that, the writer is pointing out that Jesus' priesthood is superior. So whatever the Jews may want to argue against Christianity and against our high priest, the argument is illegitimate, and in fact it is abundantly weak because Jesus' priesthood and high priesthood is indeed superior to that of the Levitical priesthood. And that's necessary given the context. The writer of Hebrews, of course, is writing to Jewish Christians who were being tempted to leave the faith. They were being persecuted because of their profession of Jesus Christ, and they were debilitated. They were worn out. They were tired, and the temptation was for them to return back to Judaism. And returning back to Judaism meant that they would be returning to all of the rites and ceremonies and sacrifices that go along and are just so much a part of Judaism, all of which point to the Levitical priesthood. And what the writer of Hebrews has done and continues to do is show how Jesus is greater than all this he begins Jesus is greater than the prophets goes on to say that Jesus is greater than the angels then Jesus is greater than Moses and now what he is doing and arguing is that Jesus is greater than Aaron the Aaronic priesthood which is the Levitical priesthood Jesus is greater than all of these and showing the absolute superiority of Jesus Christ in fact the writer even says that Levitical priesthood and what they were about in verse 18 was weak and useless Weak and useless And thus needed to be set aside Needed to be replaced If you abandon Jesus, the writer is saying If you leave Jesus, you're going back to what is useless To what is weak And to what is imperfect In fact, you will be turning your back upon the one who ever lives to make intercession for his people. This is what you would be losing. Verse 25 is the peak or the climax of the argument. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. You know, we're living today in a time where people are growing up in Christian homes and Christian families, but then they get a college age and they are leaving the church. And the numbers are staggering and frightening. And what this message says to you is, look at what you would be leaving, you young people. This isn't just a faith that your parents profess and it's just nice that you grew up in a comfortable Christian home in Escondido, Southern California, and so forth, but you know now you're growing up and it's time for greater things there is no greater thing is the point Christ is greatest of all and you would be leaving this one who is the savior of your soul and the intercessor for you forever it's not a light thing melchizedek and his priestliness was superior to that of levi he was of course we said a priest that predates levi and was superior to it the writer even makes this argument that levi who was not yet born but was in the loins of abraham through abraham paid tribute to melchizedek showing that Melchizedek was superior to Levi. And this is the whole point, by the way, of Psalm 110, verse 4. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Every once in a while in the Old Testament, we find interesting, what I like to call flashing neon signs in the middle of the Old Testament history that's pointing to something greater, where God is here flashing some divine revelation, saying that the Levitical priesthood is not the be-all and end-all. That the one who is to come will be a priest, not after the order of Levi, but after the order of Melchizedek. More is needed, God is saying. More is to come. There is a greater priesthood than the priesthood of Levi. The Levitical priesthood is useless, weak. When the writer says that, by the way, he's not disparaging God's establishment of the Levitical order. He is simply stating a fact. God's purpose was always that the Levitical priesthood would be temporary by its very nature. It was never intended to be an eternal priesthood. Why? Well, because the priests kept dying. They kept dying. The priests were themselves sinners, and they kept dying again and again. When one priest died, the high priest died, then the next one would come. Oftentimes it was in the same lineage. Let's say his son would become high priest. And the people would say, I wonder how long this one's going to last. I wonder how long that one's going to last. I hope this is a good one. The last one wasn't so great. That was the very nature of the Levitical priesthood. It was temporary and was meant to be temporary. It was meant to point to something greater, something better. For the law, verse 19, made nothing perfect. Referring, of course, to the whole Mosaic dispensation. Sacrifices, ceremonies, rites, rules, all the work of the Levites could never make anything perfect, was never intended. make anything perfect. It was by its very nature a shadow of something better. And so in Psalm 110 David is inspired to write these words that the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of not Levi, Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And what that means is that he's a priest who cannot die. He's a priest who will not die. He didn't become a priest due to any sort of legal requirement about bodily descent. In other words, it wasn't just his time. You know, his dad served as priest and now it was Jesus' time to be priest. That's not at all what it was, though that's how it was with all the Levitical priests. But not for Jesus. He is a priest by the power of an indestructible life. Our priest cannot die. Our priest will never need to be replaced. That's what the writer is saying. He is a priest who cannot die. And he is a priest who is able to save to the uttermost. He gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins. But he continues to serve as priest and will continue to serve as priest forever, making intercession. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He is a priest who is able to save to the uttermost. And he is a priest who does not need to keep offering sacrifices. He offered himself once for all. No more are needed. He doesn't need to continue to make sacrifices for his own sins, just like the Old Testament priests had to do, or for the sins of the people. He's done it once for all. Nothing more is needed. His mission was accomplished fully and completely. And he's a priest for the whole world. He's not just for Jews. Melchizedek was not a Jew. That is, he was not a descendant of Abraham. And I think that's significant. Jesus said to his disciples, when I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. I'm not here just for Jews. And he has done it. He is the Savior of all those, whatever race they are, who come to him in faith. He is such a Savior. Have you come to him in faith and rested in, believed in, put your faith in that one sacrifice that he offered for your sins? Do you believe? Are you tempted to abandon the faith? Are you tempted to leave the faith? You might read a passage like this and say, well, And I don't see how this has anything to say to me. I'm not tempted to go back to some Levitical priesthood, go back to Judaism. That's not what I'm tempted to do. And it may be that you're not tempted to go back into some Levitical priesthood. But whatever it is that you would be going to, it would be weak, useless, and will not save. That is a certainty. Whatever it is, whether it's American affluence, whether it's some foreign religion, eastern religion, whatever it might be, whatever it is that you may be going to when you leave Christ, it will not save. It is weak, useless, and will not save. It is imperfect. And you would be turning away from the only one, the only one who does save, who can save. No, instead, the answer, which the writer of Hebrews gives later, is not to turn back, to keep your eyes focused on Jesus. He said, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. That's the whole point that we find in the book of Hebrews. The writer is bringing out the superiority of Jesus over all things, but punctuated in there are these calls to you and to me to look to Jesus, these exhortations to look to Jesus, to hold on to Jesus. And that's what you need to do. Run with endurance the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter. Only a priest after the order of Melchizedek could be the perfecter of your faith. Hold with endurance. Look to Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Hebrews chapter 7. it's strange to our ears, our Western ears, in our 21st century lives. It doesn't seem to say much, but it says so much. We thank you, O Lord, that we have such a Savior who accomplished fully what you sent him to do. We thank you, O Lord, that we have such a high priest who ever lives though he gave himself as a sacrifice he lives and he lives to make intercession for us at your right hand hallelujah what a savior amen