THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS: 15. Jesus our Great High Priest: In the Order of Melchizedek Hebrews 7:9 10 February 3, 2019 Pastor Ken Hepner Introduction: This morning we are returning to our study of the letter to the Greek-speaking, ethnic Jewish people had come to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior when they heard the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They responded and received His presence in their lives, His indwelling Holy Spirit. But as our author writes, they are in grave danger of turning away from following Jesus and turning back to legalistic righteousness! So, he writes to refocus his readers attention on Jesus: His atoning sacrifice for our sins, His precious blood shed to cleanse us of sin, His resurrection life and victory over sin, death, and all the powers of Hell! He appeals to them to Follow the Lead of the Holy Spirit who was Dwelling in their Hearts. His role in our lives is to bring us to Jesus, who He is, what He has done, and what He has taught. Where the Holy Spirit comes to dwell, He lives in that life. He makes Himself known in that human life, in character, in mindset, in will, and in our desires! The distinguishing characteristic of His presence in our lives is the agape love of God burning in our hearts and lives. So, the author writes about the primary truth: What we do for God in works and deeds is always a result of having opened our hearts to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us, motivating us to Loving Obedience! Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us. Always and forever the truth remains, the love of God dwelling in and burning in a human heart is the Proof of our Salvation. The presence and power of His Spirit living in us motivates us to desire to obey God s will for our lives because we love Him who has poured out His love into our hearts! Let s read his words from the New Living Translation, which gives us clear word pictures enabling us to see and understand what our author wants the readers to know. He pleads with his readers then and now to persevere in their faith in Jesus, because how we finish our race of faith in Christ is equally important to how we begin our race of faith in Christ! In the Scriptures faith in Christ Jesus, knowing the Father, and perseverance are integrally tied together! Hebrews 6:11, 12 NLT Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God s promises because of their faith and endurance. 1
Listen to his powerful words of counsel and admonition in the text. Keep on Loving Others, for in so doing you make certain what you are hoping for, the salvation of your souls. Remain Faithful and endure to the very end of your lives on earth, so that you do not permit the enemy of your souls to make you spiritually dull or indifferent to the things of God. We choose how we will live our lives and what or whom we will choose to love in life! The author reminds them and us, how they exhibited the works of holy, self-emptying, otheroriented love they shared with one another in their local body of believers in Jesus. He says they were marked by having experienced the agape love of God, the gift of His Holy Spirit s fruit Shed Abroad in their hearts by His indwelling Spirit. And please notice the author says, God is not unjust: He won t forget how they glorify God and honor His name among them by Loving Others deeply! We glorify God by loving others deeply with His love! We simply can t overstate the importance of living a life motivated by the Holy Spirit s presence in us motivating us to think and act in holy self-emptying, other-oriented love for people in our spheres of influence. Our personal walk with Jesus Christ by faith bearing the fruit of agape love motivating our thoughts and actions, is consistently verified by the entire New Testament Scriptures. It is to be the Distinguishing Characteristic of those who know and follow Jesus in life! John 13:34, 35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. Bu this shall all men know you are my disciples, if you love one another. Paul s prayer for the Christians in the church at Ephesus, Turkey: Ephesians 3:16 19 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Crist may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. There is a reason why we must know and understand the truth about being motivated by the love of God shed abroad in our hearts as we respond to what Jesus did for us on the Cross by faith. This entire letter is a call to Perseverance in the Walk of Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. If we are to remain steadfast in our walk of faith in Christ Jesus, we must have greater motivation than our human grit, will, and determination moving us to obey rules and laws! Our author is pleading with his readers to remain in Christ Jesus, so that His Word may remain in us! There is a fundamental principle we have alluded to repeatedly as we have engaged in this study: The Love of God burning in our hearts can Keep us where Obedience to God cannot Take us! Where we left off in the text last Sunday was in how our faith laying hold of Jesus work for us creates an inner Hope within us that motivates all of life. Let s read his concluding words of Hebrews 6:18 20 NLT: So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. 2
Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold on to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. The author pleads with his readers to Diligence, Faith, and Patient Endurance in their personal faith relationship with Jesus. He asks them to follow the example of people who have known Christ Jesus and to imitate them in perseverance in their faith. Deeply personal faith in Christ Jesus affects all of life, the way we think, what we desire, how we live our lives! Knowing and loving Jesus by faith keep us steadfast believing God when our weak and frail humanity would fail us! I. Melchizedek, Abraham, and the Priesthood: Hebrews 7:1 3 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem means king of peace. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Our author began to introduce this thought for us back in Hebrews 5:1 10 when he compares Jesus to the high priests these people had interactions with in the temple at Jerusalem. He compares Jesus with these earthly high priests and he says Jesus is far superior to them as the work He has done to give us access to the Father God is far superior to what these high priests had been capable of providing. His segue is verse 20b Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. He introduces us to Melchizedek as the priest of the Most High God who simply shows up in the narrative of Scripture. Our author says this Melchizedek is a type of the High Priestly Ministry of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. He is simply stating what the Scriptures have stated before, in Psalm 110:4 You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. The story in his mind as he writes this incredible word about Jesus as our Great High Priest over the house of God, is found in Genesis 14, written nearly 2000 years before Jesus was born. In that text four kings who formed an alliance near the Euphrates River came and attacked five kings who were in an alliance around the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Interestingly, Abram hears that the four kings have defeated the five kings who were his neighbors and the four kings have carried off all of the best of their kingdoms, including his nephew Lot, his family, and all of his goods. Abram calls out the 318 men who were in his household, pursues the four kings, overtakes them, and gives defeats them. He has returned to the Canaan Land with all of the goods, with his nephew Lot, his family, and his possessions. Genesis 14:18 20 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram saying, Blessed be Abram by God Most Hight, 3
Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. The main focus of his thought-process is that Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus came from beyond the narrative of salvation history and entered into it through the womb of his mother, Mary. He is the Eternal Priest of the Most High God by reason of His Sonship to the Father, not by Levitical heritage! This Melchizedek king of Salem was a real historical figure, but the author wants his readers to see that as a priest of God Most High, he simply shows up and Enters Into Salvation history from beyond the narrative, and even more to the point, beyond the family of the man of God s Covenant, namely Abram. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Melchizedek serves the living God in righteousness created in his heart and mind because he had a relationship with God Almighty by faith. He speaks truth about the Lord God Almighty from the depths of his being when he speaks the blessing of God over the life of God s man Abram who defeated the four kings. His name means king of Righteousness and king of Peace, which he speaks to Abram as he blesses him in the sight of God. Then the author says Abram knew he was in the presence of a man of God because Abram gave Melchizedek ten percent of all the spoils of war which he took from the four kings! In the Old Covenant the tithe of the goods went to God s priests from His people. Abram recognized Melchizedek as God s man! His point should be clear by now, but it is clearly stated in 7:11, 12 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in priesthood there must also be a change of the law. The truth of the matter is that nothing we can ever do outwardly, keeping commandments and laws has ever had or will ever have the ability to create radical transformation in our hearts, minds, and desires. Laws and regulations do not change our lives. They only point to a standard or what we are aiming for. They have no power to help our aim to improve! II. The Greatness of Melchizedek, Pictures of Jesus Ministry: Hebrews 7:4 10 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people that is, their brothers even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did into trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. There are numerous thoughts our author wants the reader to grasp and understand as he unpacks with us the ways Melchizedek points us to Jesus Christ. However, paramount in his thought- 4
processes is this truth: What Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us all is to make Access to God the Father available to each and every one of us! 1.) Melchizedek was a king of the city-state Salem. He simply shows up in the Scriptures as God-anointed king! The Bible speaks of Jesus our Lord that He also is our King, Lord, Master Jesus a King under God s Anointing; the government is laid upon his shoulders, and he rules over all for the good of his people. 2.) That he was king of righteousness: his name signifies the righteous king. Jesus Christ is a rightful and a righteous king rightful in his title, righteous in his government. He is the Lord Our Righteousness; he has fulfilled all righteousness, and brought in an everlasting righteousness, and he loves righteousness and righteous persons, and hates iniquity. What laws could not do, make a human heart pure and righteous, Jesus Christ our Lord has done when He offered Himself in substitution for us, died the death our sins deserved and rose to life again! 3.) He was king of Salem, that is, king of peace; first king of righteousness, and after that king of peace. So is our Lord Jesus; he by his righteousness made peace, the fruit of righteousness is peace. Christ Jesus walked into the very depths of our sin, what stood us apart from the Father God, and made Peace With God for us all. Jesus speaks peace, creates peace, is our peace-maker with Almighty God our Father! 4.) He was priest of the Most High God, qualified and anointed in an extraordinary manner to be his priest among the Gentiles. So is the Lord Jesus; he is the priest of the Most High God, and the Gentiles must come to God by him; it is only through his priesthood that we can be obtain Reconciled to God and enjoy the Remission of Sin. 5.) He was without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. The scripture has chosen to set him forth as an extraordinary person, without giving us his genealogy, that he might be a clear picture of Jesus Christ. Jesus was without human father, Son of God whose priesthood is without descent, whose priesthood did not descend to him from another, nor from him to another, but is Personal and Eternal. 6.) That he met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him. The incident is recorded Genesis 14. He brought bread and wine to refresh Abraham and his servants when they were weary; he gave as a king and blessed as a priest. Thus, our Lord Jesus is our Great High Priest who meets each of us in all of our spiritual conflicts and battles: Jesus Refreshes our hearts, Renews our strength, and Blesses our walk with Him through life. 7.) That Abraham gave him a tenth part of all that is, as the apostle explains it, of all the spoils; and this Abraham did as an expression of his gratitude for what Melchizedek had done for him, or as a testimony of his homage and subjection to him as a king, or as an offering vowed and dedicated to God, to be presented by his priest. And we are called return love and gratitude to the Lord Jesus for all the rich and royal favors we receive from him, to Revere Him and Offer Ourselves to him as our King, and to put all our offerings into his hands, to be presented by him to the Father in the incense of his own sacrifice. 5
III. Levitical Priests and the Eternal Priesthood of Jesus: The author wants to call to mind for his readers, what the original intent was for the Levitical High Priests, descended from Aaron s priesthood. The reason he is doing so, from Hebrews 5:1 10 through this text is two-fold. First, he wants them to remember what True Holiness looked like in the role of High Priesthood, because what it had degenerated to in this contemporary time was a mere shadow of what God originally had in His heart and mind for this role. The family line of Annas and Caiaphas had so corrupted the office that it was all about political gain, human maneuvering, their appointments made by Roman Procurators, and making money by robbing the worshipers at the Temple! By way of stark contrast, the High Priestly Role as God had instituted it in the wilderness was a call to be absolutely holy before God so that the High Priest could stand in the presence of God and make atonement for the sins of the people! The high priest was to be so clean before the Lord that he could stand in between the holy God and the sinful people and Make Atonement for them, for the forgiveness of sins and iniquities. Secondly, he wants them to remember that because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us all, we may Enter Into the very Presence of the Holy God. Through the destruction of our sins in His body on the Cross, Jesus removed from us what separated us from the presence of the Father. The veil in the temple was torn in two when Jesus died for us guaranteeing Access into the very Presence of the Father! Jesus had accomplished for all of us what no amount of law-keeping, guilt-motivated obedience to rules and regulations could never do. Jesus Christ our Lord Took Away our Sins and gave us the Holy Spirit s Presence and Power to live in personal victory over sin, that we may engage in a personal relationship with the Father God by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord! Hebrews 6:19, 20 NLT Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold on to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:23 25 Now there have been many priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Jesus bids us to enter in to the very presence of God the Father as we pray, seek God s face, and intercede for our needs, our family, friends, and others. When we enter in praying, seeking God s face, we are assured that Jesus Christ our Lord has gone before us, is seated at the right hand of the Father. Scripture says, He is already praying for us when we show up! The realities we experience in the eternal realms have dramatic impact on how we live in the earthly! 6
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. If we have been there with Jesus Christ in the morning, that experience will have great influence on how we live that day!!!! 7
February 3, 2019 AM THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS: 15. Jesus Our Great High Priest: In the Order of Melchizedek Hebrews 7:1 10 Introduction: We are in a study of the Book of Hebrews, which was written to refocus them on Jesus. He appeals to the reader to F the L of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in our hearts! The distinguishing characteristic of His presence in us is agape/love, burning in our hearts motivating us to L O! Romans 5:5: It is the love of God burning in a human heart that is the P of our S. He pleads with them to persevere in their faith in Jesus, in their walk with the Lord to the very end of life. Hebrews 6:11, 12 NLT Keep on L O for in so doing you make certain what you are hoping for, your salvation. Remain F to the end, finish well! They were marked by the holy, self-emptying, other-oriented love of God S A in their hearts. The Lord won t forget how they loved others deeply! Love for God and one another is the distinguishing character trait of those who know and walk with Jesus: John 13:34, 35 and Ephesians 3:16 19 This entire letter is a call to P in our W of F in our Lord Jesus Christ. A fundamental principle: The L of God can K us where O to rules and laws cannot T us! We left off last Sunday: Our faith laying hold of Jesus work for us all creates inner H. Hebrews 6:18 20 NLT The author pleads with his readers, urging them to D, F, and patient E in their personal walk with the Lord Jesus. Deeply personal faith in Jesus affects all of life, how we think, what we desire, and how we choose to live our lives! I. Melchizedek, Abraham, and the Priesthood: Hebrews 7:1 3 The author introduces us to Melchizedek the Priest of God as a type of the P M of our Lord Jesus. The story of Abraham and Melchizedek, Genesis 14: 18 20 He pictures Jesus who is the E P by reason of His Sonship, not by Levitical heritage. Melchizedek simply appears, E I salvation history from beyond it. His name means R and P. 8
Laws and regulations do not change our lives. They only point to the standard we are aiming at. They have no power to improve our aim! II. The Greatness of Melchizedek, Pictures of the Ministry of Jesus: Heb. 7:4 10 What Jesus has done is give us A to the very throne of God: 1. Jesus as K under God s A 2. Jesus is the Lord our R 3. Jesus made P with God available to us 4. Jesus R us to God, R of our S 5. His eternal priesthood is P to each of us 6. Jesus R us and R us 7. Jesus is worthy of our love and gratitude: R Him and O O to Him III. Levitical Priests and the Eternal Priesthood of Jesus: Our author reminds them of Aaron s priesthood for two reasons: 1. He wants them to remember what T H looked like in the original priesthood in view of their High Priests Annas and Caiaphas. The P R was originally given to stand between the Holy God and the people and to M A for sins. 2. He wants them to remember what Jesus Christ has done for us all so we may E I the very P of God! Jesus T A our sins, gave us access to the Father God, poured out His Spirit in us, P to live in personal victory over sin! Hebrews 6:19, 20 NLT and Hebrews 7:23 25 9
Discussion Starter Questions for Home Groups 1. Why do you think it is often an inner struggle to be steadfast in our faith? What is role of trials and hardship in our perseverance in faith in Jesus? 2. What is the role of our faith in our personal salvation experience with the Lord Jesus? How does faith increase and grow in our hearts, souls, and minds? 3. If someone asked you what is the infallible proof of our salvation in Jesus, how would you answer them? 4. Why is it so important to God that we exhibit the characteristic of holy, self-emptying, other-oriented love as we live together in the church? Why does Jesus stress our need to love one another as He has loved us? 5. What are some ways you see the priest of God Melchizedek as a type or forerunner of the High Priestly role of Jesus? 6. What had the Jewish people witnessed in the first century city of Jerusalem in the family line of Annas and Caiaphas, High Priests at the Temple complex? 7. What was the role of the Lord s High Priest called of God to do? Why was it so important for the High Priest to be cleansed of sin as he did his work? 8. Read together aloud Leviticus 16:6-30 and discuss insights you have regarding the role of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Why was the High Priest to make a cloud of incense, see verses 12 and 13? 9. Read together aloud Hebrews 9:6-28 about the rich man, and discuss insights you have regarding how Jesus fulfills the High Priestly role. 10. What did God speak to your heart about the importance of knowing the joy of sins forgiven, taken away from us by the saving work of Jesus? Why is it important for us to know God has purified our hearts from sin and sin s power to enslave us? 10