Genesis chapter 14 is where we'll read today as we get into the second or third message in the series on Jesus and the Old Testament where we come to the subject of Melchizedek, a type of Christ. His first mention, the only mention of Melchizedek in the Old Testament is in this chapter, Genesis chapter 14. We'll be reading in unison together following the wording of the King James, shall we stand together out of reverence for the word of God We begin in verse 14 of Genesis 14 and continue through verse 20. If you have trouble pronouncing some of those names, that's fine. Who knows the correct way to pronounce them anyway, right? Okay. Beginning in verse 14. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hula, which is on the left hand of Damascus. and brought back all the goods, and also brought in his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the King of Sod went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Peter the Lord, and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheba, which is in the Kingsdale. And yonder today, King of Salem brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand, and he gave him tithes of all. As I read the New Testament commentary on Melchizedek, the heart of it, found in Hebrews chapter 7, and I'll read the first ten verses. Would you listen, and you can see the wording on the screen. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth the priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, and to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises." And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. And all God's people said, amen. Let's pray. Lord, a lot of ignorance clusters around this subject today, but I pray we'll be enlightened by the time we leave. And I pray the Holy Spirit will be our teacher and that He will be the one who unctionizes these lips of clay and empowers me as your instrument. Well, thank you for what you do as a result of that in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated. As I said last week, I believe the blood of Jesus is the scarlet thread that runs through the whole Bible, amen? It was the resurrected Christ, on the afternoon of His resurrection, walking with those two disciples to the little village of Emmaus, just a few miles away from Jerusalem, who, beginning at Moses, the Pentateuch, and then all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scripture, all the Old Testament, the things, what? Concerning Himself. Not the things of history, not the things of ethics and jurisprudence as fascinating as the law of Moses is, not the elements of good literature as wonderful Hebrew as we find in the book of the Song of Solomon. No! The things concerning Himself. You know what? Jesus gave us the method to study the Old Testament. If you're not looking for Jesus when you study the Old Testament, you're missing it. And your soul. will not be fed." Well, we've seen in our first two studies that the very first mention of Jesus in the Bible is in chapter 3, verse 15 of Genesis, what we call the Proto-Evangelium, the first gospel. The way it happens is rather unusual. This first mention of Jesus, this first mention of the gospel comes in the form of a curse from Jehovah. specifically upon the serpent. And then, of course, the man and the woman are cursed. Who is the serpent? Well, we don't know from Genesis, but from two places in Revelation we know the serpent is Satan. So God told the devil, God told the devil that the seed of the woman, the seed of Eve, would ultimately bruise his head. Although the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. You know, I'd a whole lot rather have my heel bruised than my head crushed. Now it's so interesting to trace that word seed through the Bible. And if we do that, The very next mention after Genesis 3 verse 15 is in Genesis chapter 12 verse 7 where God tells Abram who had newly come from Ur of the Chaldees, that idolatrous place, into Canaan. God tells him, unto thy seed will I give this land. Just take a look around, Abram. Your seed is going to inherit this land. And then He tells him a couple of chapters later that his seed would be as great as the stars of heaven. We know there are billions of stars. We know they are infinite in number. But that's what God said Abram's seed would be like. Abram was an old man by now, and Sarah his wife, Sarai, she was called then, was well past childbearing years, so this would have to be a miraculous conception, and the conception of Isaac was just that. And yet we read that Abram believed God. Against hope, he believed in hope. And it was counted to him for what? Righteousness. Now if you're just reading Genesis, you wouldn't necessarily detect in that singular word seed a reference to Jesus. But when you come to Galatians chapter 3, the inspired apostle makes it clear that's who's in view there. The seed is none other than Christ. Now, Jesus is found in the Old Testament in many ways. He's brought before us. There are direct references such as the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. But then we find Jesus in what is called types. You say, Pastor, what is a type? Is that like Blood type, you know, I know my blood type, you might say. Some of you are O negative, you're a universal donor, you're in big demand. Maybe you're A positive, A negative or something. When you say type, is it like a blood type or is it like a font that is used for printing for my computer? I know what type means in those instances. No, this has nothing to do with anything like that. Typology. As it relates to the Bible, listen carefully. You'll learn something this morning that will help you. Typology is any object, any person, any ritual, any institution, any event that represents some deeper spiritual truth or some great spiritual personage. That's a type. The Old Testament is filled with types, these symbols of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, of the church, of marriage, of John the Baptist even, of heaven, of salvation. Types. Typology of Christ in the Old Testament, as far as using a person to represent Jesus, begins here in Genesis 14. Now you could talk about the ark of the time of Noah being a type of Christ, and it is, but as far as a person in the Old Testament, typology begins with the mention of this mysterious man who just pops up out of nowhere and just as quickly disappears with a name, Melchizedek. Melchizedek. And we know he has to be a great man because he receives tithes from no less a personage than Abraham. How great was Abraham, the father of the faithful, the great patriarch that founded the Jewish race, the nation of Israel. But as great as Abraham was, he knew his betters. He recognized the greater. He recognized in Melchizedek the priest of the Most High God, who came to him after the slaughter of some kings, very powerful chieftains that had probably come from what is now the country of Iraq, from Mesopotamia, and they swept down and conquered these cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah, near the Dead Sea region. This great personage named Melchizedek, about whom these three verses are devoted, the only verses in the Old Testament that tell us about Him, He prefigured, no doubt about it, the coming Christ. We know that because of what we just read in Hebrews chapter 7. Perhaps Jesus had this in mind when He said, as we read in John chapter 8 verse 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, Jesus' day. And he saw it and was glad. Now I'm sure Jesus had in mind the offering of Isaac by Abraham. What a wonderful type of Christ that was. Faith in the resurrection of Jesus. But I'm sure there was, I believe that he had reference also to the appearance of Melchizedek to Abraham. Now before we get into the body of the message, I need to give a little word both of exhortation and caution. I hope you do not misunderstand me here. When the writer to the Hebrews, and by the way, we'll just go ahead and turn to Hebrews 7 because I want you to see some things in surrounding passages. Keep your finger or bookmark or something in Genesis chapter 14. We'll be back there too. When the writer to the Hebrews first mentions Melchizedek in chapter 5, he merely states two times that Jesus, we know who he is, was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He actually says that in chapter 3, verses 6 and 10. And then it's mentioned again in chapter 5, verse 10, Look at that, if you will, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now the Holy Spirit doesn't repeat something without a reason. And then the writer to the Hebrews, strangely, puts on the brakes, as it were, as far as giving any more teaching about Melchizedek. And he says in verse 11, look at this, of whom we have? Of Melchizedek. of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing." In other words, the writer to the Hebrews says, I really want to tell you more about this Melchizedek guy and how Jesus is a priest like him but not Aaron, but you are too spiritually stupid and immature to handle it. You can only handle milk. the first principles of the teaching about Christ, you cannot handle the strong meat of this teaching. And then he goes on in chapter 6 to give some strong warnings to people to leave apostate Judaism, to which they're tempted to go back into, and just cling to Jesus Christ. And so, when you hear these words you know, I want to say more about it, but you can't handle it, you're too immature. What if I were to tell you that? You know, there's some things I really want to preach to you today, but you're just not ready for it. You know, God bless you, I love you, but you're just not ready to handle this, so I'm not going to do it. Wouldn't you expect me to wait months, if not years, before I did get back into it? Huh? If you're too immature to handle it, do you think you're going to grow up overnight? But this guy, this writer to the Hebrews, whoever he is, and we haven't found out, we don't know, we'll find out when we get to heaven, two chapters later he resumes. It's as if he said, okay, that's the end of it. These guys are still immature. It's going to take time for them, but I want you who are spiritually mature to get this. In chapter 6, verse 9, He said, "'Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, things that accompany salvation, even though we thus speak.'" The writer realizes that some in his audience are not Christians, they're in danger of falling away, they're sorely tempted, they've been suffering so much, they've been persecuted. So he warns them, he says in effect, "'Now, as I was saying to the rest of you, Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.'" And this is what he means. Now, let me just say a word of application before I go on. And God knows I am not here to put anybody down or to alienate you from listening to the rest of the message. That would be a very silly thing to do. I'm not here to insult you. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. But I'm just saying what the writer of the Hebrews is saying here. Are you spiritually mature enough to handle this sermon on Melchizedek? Or even by the mere mention of the subject, have you just kind of turned me off and said, oh, there's so much disagreement. That's just high-sounding theology. A lot of theologians aren't even agreed on who He is. I'm just going to turn this one off. If you do not thrill to hear these deeper truths about how Jesus is your High Priest. I say, without apology, you better examine your heart to see if you really got the goods when you thought you got saved, because things that accompany salvation include wanting to know more about your Savior. Yes, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto But if you are tuned in to the frequency of the Holy Spirit, you're going to have an appetite for the strong meat about Jesus, not just the milk. We're into some strong meat today and next week. I hope you'll be back. I hope you remember what you hear. We can see from Hebrews chapter 7 and the surrounding passages two sets of truths, and these will form the two basic points of the outline. Number one, how Melchizedek is a type of Christ, and number two, how this analogy, this typology, should impact us as Christians. The Bible is very practical. So we'll just cover the first point today. How is Melchizedek a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, the name Melchizedek itself really comes from a compound word. It combines two roots that mean king and right. King and right. And maybe the first thing that comes to your mind is the saying, the divine right of kings. Now that has nothing to do with this, okay? Melchizedek has nothing to do with the divine right of kings. But even in Hebrews chapter 7, it says in verse 2 that His name is by interpretation the King of righteousness. The word interpretation means translation, okay? So King of righteousness is a translation of Melchizedek. So let's take in order the truth revealed here, especially in Hebrews chapter 7, and then we'll make references to Genesis 14, truth about Melchizedek and why Abraham treated him with such reverence, respect. Number one, he is king of righteousness and he is king of peace. That order is significant. There must be righteousness before there can be peace. Don't ever forget that. There are a lot of pacifists running around out there saying, peace not war. A lot of them are very disappointed that Bernie Sanders didn't get to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. I'm old enough to remember all the beatniks and hippies of the 60s and 70s. I remember Woodstock. No, I didn't. I wasn't there. I wasn't there. And they're going around saying, peace, peace. They were so stoned, most of them, they wouldn't have known if it was war anyway. And they were involved in immorality and wickedness. Listen to me. Peace is not the mere absence of hostility. The word shalom translated peace in the Bible means far more than that. Peace, are you listening, is the settled assurance that comes from knowing that God is no longer angry at you, but He is appeased. He is reconciled to you because of the blood of His Son. When that blood is applied to your heart, His righteousness is imputed, credited to And then when there is peace with God, you can enjoy the peace of God. There must be righteousness before there can be peace on any level, personally, ecclesiastically, nationally. Listen to the Bible, Isaiah 32, verse 17, and the work of righteousness shall be peace. and the effect thereof quietness and assurance forever. The work of righteousness, peace." That's Isaiah 32, 17. Romans 5, verse 1, therefore literally having been justified. What does the word justified mean, class? Declared righteous. Therefore having been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 85, verse 10, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. That's what happened on Calvary, folks. And even in the history of Israel, you might jot this reference down, 2 Kings 9, verse 22. Please don't turn there. We don't have time. 2 Kings 9, verse 22, there's a wicked king of Israel by the name of Joram. He's the son of Ahab. And he sees Jehu, who became a king. He sees him riding furiously in his chariot. Remember that chariot of Jehu? And Jehu is the instrument of God to wreak vengeance upon the household of Ahab. And when Joram, the wicked son of Ahab, the son of Jezebel, sees Jehu coming to him, as soon as he gets an earshot, he says this, is it peace, Jehu? I love Jehu's response. He said, what peace? What peace? So long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many." Do you get the point here? There could be no peace with the sins of Jezebel still unpunished. What peace? No peace. Now getting back to Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the personification of both righteousness and peace. He was first of all king of righteousness and then king of Salem. which means peace. Now, I know what you're thinking. Well, where was this Salem of which Melchizedek was the king? Many people feel, many Bible teachers and writers feel that this was Jerusalem, that Salem was just an ancient name for Jerusalem, that this was the hometown of God and always has been. The Eternal City, and I must say, boy, when you come up over the brow of the Mount of Olives like I've done twice, going over to Israel, and you see that city at sunset, you get a lump in your throat. Something about that sight. The Eternal City. But was Melchizedek from Jerusalem? There's only one problem with that high-sounding designation. Not quite a thousand years later, when David came to conquer that city, it was not known as Jerusalem, it was not known as Salem, it was known as Jebus. It was the stronghold of the Jebusites, wicked, wicked Canaanites. The reputation of the original Jerusalem was not a good one. It's hard to imagine that a godly king would have been king over such an ungodly place. What does the Bible say about the origins of Jerusalem? Well, let's turn to the book of Ezekiel. Would you turn to Ezekiel chapter 16? Ezekiel chapter 16, I want to read just the first three verses. And if you still disagree with me, hey, we're not going to part fellowship. It's not going to be a test of fellowship or a test of orthodoxy. Again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, and say, Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity, here it is, is of the land of Canaan. That's the origin of Jerusalem. Thy father was an Amorite. thy mother a Hittite." It wasn't a godly place, folks. That changed when David captured the stronghold of Jabuz. So, what was this Salem where Melchizedek was from? There are some far-fetched ideas out there. Just Google that and see what you get. There are some Seventh-day Adventists, not all, that think that Melchizedek was the unfallen Adam from another planet. They really believe that. Where was this Salem? Well, you're going to accuse me of being a cop out here, but the Bible doesn't say. It is futile to speculate. But somewhere this godly king ruled over a kingdom. And if he was venerated by Abraham, he must have been loved by some grateful, godly subjects. It must have been a place where peace and righteousness, not violence and sin ruled. If he received tithes from Abraham as God's representative, don't you think he probably received them from a people other than Israel? I'll rest my case. We'll find out for sure when we get to heaven. But let me just say this. When you think of Jesus being the King of Righteousness, as prefigured by Melchizedek, He is not only the Righteous One, but He is the Prince of Peace. At His birth, the angels sang, peace, goodwill toward men. He was the one who calmed the winds and the waves by saying, simply, peace, be still. The soul of Jesus was like the eye of a hurricane. It remained tranquil and unruffled. You never see Jesus panicking. He was never tyrannized by the urgent to the neglect of the important. His legacy to His disciples was His peace. He said, My peace I give unto you. Wow, what kind of peace that is. That's the peace I want. He greeted them after His resurrection with the words, Peace be unto you. Yeah, Dave Ramsey is right when he says, you will not know peace until you enthrone the Prince of Peace in your heart. I'm glad he's willing to say that on Nationwide Radio. I hope you've trusted him. Trusted in this King of Righteousness, this Prince of Peace, received His righteousness and the gift of eternal life. Only then can you have peace with God and the peace of God. You will not know peace until you know the Prince of Peace. But could I make another application which comes in somewhat the form of a warning? I hope you'll be careful not to speak a false piece to yourself or to others. That's happening a lot these days. The prophet Jeremiah condemned the false prophets of his day. In two places it's recorded, chapter 6 verse 14, chapter 8 verse 11 with essentially the same words. What were these false prophets guilty of? They were guilty of this, of healing the hurt of the daughter of God's people slightly, the King James says. The word means lightly. Saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. God had not decreed peace for backslidden, wayward apostate Judah. God had decreed war from Babylon. Punishment, not peace. Isaiah chapter 57 verse 21 says, There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. And yet you know what? In the Old Testament, and it's still true today. There are those who bless themselves in their hearts and they say in the words of Deuteronomy 29, verse 19, I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart. Boy, so those people are in for a rude awakening. You ask, Pastor, how do I know if I am speaking peace to my own heart or if God is truly speaking peace? That's a great question. With the God, everyone would be willing to ask that question. I could spend a series of messages on that. You can know by several ways. But could I give you a principle way that you can know whether you're speaking peace to your heart or whether God has spoken peace to your heart? Here it is. Test yourself with this. Do you avoid sin? because of the trouble it causes you? Or do you detest it because of the pollution and defilement it brings? Can I ask that again? Do you avoid sin just because of the trouble it brings you? Because what you sow you'll reap. Or do you detest it because of the pollution and the defilement that it brings? If you just avoid sin because of the trouble and the heartache it brings, that means you're still savoring it under your tongue. You're still making a secret provision for it. The Bible says in Romans 13, don't do that, make not provision for the flesh. When the right opportunity arises and the consequences seem nonexistent or minimal, I promise you what will happen, your heart will erupt in wickedness. Though you may have avoided it for a long time, you spoke peace to your heart. God didn't. Righteousness, then peace. Melchizedek was the king of righteousness. Melchizedek was the king of peace. And then the second thing that's revealed to him is that he was, as we go back to Genesis 14, is priest of the Most High God. We find that expression twice, first of all in verse 18. latter part, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And then notice what he said in verse 19 to Abram. He said, "'Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.'" The Hebrew, if you've ever studied the titles for God in the Old Testament, the Hebrew is El Elyon, El Elyon. Isn't it interesting? that Melchizedek did not identify himself as the priest of Jehovah. I hope you realize that Jehovah is just a way of vocalizing the four consonants that make up the name of the covenant name of God in the Old Testament. Yahweh, the tetragrammaton, the four consonants. It's just a way of being able to vocalize that. The devout Jews would not even say the name, the covenant name of God. So when we say Jehovah or Yahweh, you know who I'm talking about. That is the covenant name of the God of Israel. El Elyon is different. El Elyon is the universal name for God, the possessor of heaven and earth. It's interesting, Gentiles called the God of Israel El Elyon. When Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by God, remember he ate grass and straw like an ox for seven years before his kingdom was restored? When he finally had his kingdom restored and he came to his senses, you know what he said? Now I know that the most high, El Elyon, rules in the kingdom of men, Gentile king. Not just Gentiles, we come to the New Testament, and the demons recognized who Jesus was. One such place is found in Mark 5, verse 7, and they shrieked. They cried out, what have we to do with thee, thou Son of the Most High God? They couldn't use the covenant name, Jehovah. El Elyon. You say, pastor, what is so significant about that? The significance here is this is the first revelation in the Bible that Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is for everybody. If Melchizedek is a type of Christ and He was the priest of the Most High God, then Jesus is not just for the seed of Abraham through Shem, Jesus is for the descendants of Japheth also. That's us. God chose Israel to be His kingdom of priests, to reveal Himself to all the earth. God told Abraham, in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed. But you know what happened? Sadly, the nation of Israel became very complacent and proud and prejudiced. Where in the Old Testament do you see Israel eager to share Jehovah with other nations? Where? You don't find it. They became a country club. They became an exclusive nation. They were a closed society. If you want to see where things came to a head, just look at Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of Israel. God said, go to Nineveh, the capital of the empire of the world, the Gentile empire of the Assyrians. I want you to go preach to that Gentile city. You know what happened. Was he eager to do that? No, no, no, not at all. He ran the opposite direction and only when he got re-indoctrinated in the University of the Great Fish was he willing to go to Nineveh, and even then he still went under protest. And when thousands of those Ninevites repented of sin and embraced the God of Israel, did that make Jonah happy? Oh, no. He sits under a gourd and pouts. Judaism was a closed system, had absolutely no room for Gentiles. The only good Gentile was a dead one as far as most Jews were concerned. Thank God Jesus is the Savior of the world, Jew and Gentile. As Peter would finally concede when he went to the household of the Gentile Cornelius, I love what he said in Acts chapter 10, verses 34 and 35, after the Lord had worked him over on the rooftop with that vision. This is what Peter said, I perceive. I've come to a conclusion here. God is no respecter of persons. Really? Yeah. He that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him." I like that. You see how the universal priesthood of Melchizedek, in sharp contrast to Aaron, shows us that Jesus is a Savior for the whole world, Jew and Gentile. Only the sons of Aaron could succeed Him. The big thing with the Aaronic priesthood was the tribe, the lineage. But the big thing with the Melchizedek priesthood was his character, his quality. He's a universal priest. Third thing that's revealed about Melchizedek is found in Hebrews chapter 7. We're going back and forth a lot, but isn't that what we ought to do? Huh? Shouldn't we go to the New Testament to understand the Old? Hebrews chapter 7, verse 3, notice what it says. without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth the priest continually." The third point is Melchizedek was made like unto the Son of God. Now if you look just at the beginning of that verse, all those phrases, those gerunds or participles or whatever they are. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, you would say, man, the only person that fits that description would have to be God or have to be the Son of God. I mean, who but God has no father, no mother, always existed and will eternally exist. And because of that, many good men have concluded that Melchizedek must have been a pre-incarnate form of Christ, a Christophany, a Theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. Many good men, I could name some that I love, respect. Let me just say that's a very tempting conclusion, especially in view of the fact that it would certainly solve the dilemma about where Salem was. I mean, if Melchizedek is Christ, if he was a pre-incarnate form of Christ, then Salem could have been a heavenly city, right? It didn't have to be somewhere here on the earth. You say, preacher, where do you come down on this? Well, since you asked me, I'll tell you. I have to respectfully differ from that view. Why? Because it hits a snag when you come to that phrase we just read, made like unto the Son of God. Made like unto the Son of God, Melchizedek was. Jesus doesn't have any clones. Somebody can be like Jesus to an extent, but no one can be Jesus in essence. There's only one Jesus Christ. There only will be one. Jesus was the original. Melchizedek was the copy. He was made like unto the Son of God. You say, preacher, but what are you going to do with all those descriptions in the first part of verse 3, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life and so forth? Well, it obviously means that as far as the record of Genesis is concerned, these are not found. In fact, in the word descent here in Hebrews, it's the Greek word, genealogitos, which means without a genealogy, unregistered. We have undocumented immigrants or aliens, whatever you want to call them, depending on your political point of view. Unregistered. They still exist but they're unregistered, without pedigree. By the way, that word that says without dissent, that word dissent there is the only time that word is used in any Greek writing. It's as if the Holy Spirit invented that word to use just right here. In Genesis 14, Melchizedek just pops up out of nowhere, this living guy. There's no wording there like we usually find in the Old Testament. It doesn't say, Melchizedek, the son of the son. No, it doesn't say that. It just says he's the priest of the Most High God. In Hebrews, we find that out. It just says he's the king of righteousness. He's the king of Salem. He was a priest. Now, Jewish priests could begin at age 25. They could serve with other priests for five years until they kind of were apprenticed Then at 30, they would serve on their own until age 50. Then at age 50, they had to step down. There were still some things they could wait upon the other priests, but they couldn't do the work of a priest. And then at 70, that was it. Nothing of the sort is said about Melchizedek, nothing of the kind. To summarize, and if you differ with me, I'm not going to have fallout with you. Certainly Melchizedek was a man. He was made like unto the Son of God. Certainly he had a father, a mother, a descent. But because divine revelation presents him as a type, those things were unimportant. He was not chosen because of his heredity like Aaron. He was chosen because of his quality. Jesus is like Melchizedek and the superior nature of his priesthood. So that brings me to the fourth thing about Melchizedek. He is an eternal priest. He's an eternal priest. The writer to the Hebrews repeatedly emphasizes this in several places in the book of Hebrews that Jesus has an eternal priesthood in Hebrews chapter 7, 16. Jot down these references if you will. It says He was made not after the law of a carnal or fleshly commandment, but after the power of an endless life, Jesus. Now wait a minute. That's not like Aaron. Aaron had a well-documented death. It's told for us in Numbers chapter 20. When God said, your time is up, bud, Moses and Eleazar, Aaron's son, they went up into Mount Hor. Aaron was stripped of his high priestly garments. He was put on Eleazar. Aaron didn't come down. He died right there. Aaron died. well-documented death because he had well-documented sin when Israel danced around the golden calf that he had made. But Jesus is a priest forever, not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek. And that is repeated several times in the book of Hebrews. That is a quote. That statement, Jesus is made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, is a quote from Psalm 110, verse 4. And you check me out. Psalm 110 is quoted more times in the New Testament than any other psalm. Great psalm. It's about Jesus. And the Father is speaking to the Son. Jehovah has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever, the Father says to the Son." After the order of Melchizedek, Jesus has an unchangeable priesthood. Chapter 7, verse 24, He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Chapter 7, verse 25, you get it? Jesus has an eternal priesthood. After the order of Melchizedek. You say, well, what's the big deal about that preacher? Well, we'll say more about this next week as we get into some practical application of this truth, but let me just say this right now. The fact that Jesus is a priest forever is how you and I can know that we are eternally secure. Remember the Athos cities of refuge in the Old Testament? If somebody had killed a man, even if it was an accidental death, the manslayer could flee to one of six appointed cities of refuge scattered throughout Israel. And they could stay there without fear of reprisal at the hands of the avenger of blood until what? Until the death of the high priest. All of those high priests that were the descendants of Aaron, they would eventually die. And then that man could fear that he might be delivered up to the Avenger of Blood. But listen, Jesus, our High Priest, lives forever. We know we are safe if we have fled to Him for refuge because He never dies. The Avenger of Blood will never be able to get to us. Thank you, Brother Gary. I'm glad you got happy about that. Beloved, let's live and work in the full assurance in which Jesus lives and works in the power of an endless life. Jesus is not like Aaron. Aaron had to do the same things over and over and over, year after year after year until he went up on top of Mount Horondi. But our Melchizedek is seated at the right hand of God. He's seated because his work is a finished work. You say, well, but he's doing something. He's praying for us. And you know what? Many Christians have a wrong conception of Jesus' present ministry. Maybe you're guilty of this. I don't know. I hope this will help you. I hope this will correct you. A lot of Christians have the idea that Jesus is actively praying and pleading with God his Father, begging him to keep him from changing his mind and breaking out in wrath upon us. That's not the picture of Jesus right now at all, folks. That's not it at all. We sang, I hope you noticed what we sang in Charles Wesley's great hymn, Arise My Soul, Arise. He just shows those five bleeding wounds. He's still the Lamb of God that will bear forever the marks of your sin and my sin. When you and I get to heaven, you'll never know I was a sinner. I'll never be able to tell you are a sinner, but there will be one who will bear forever and ever the marks of your sin and mine. He's the Lamb of God. He shows his wounds. He's not begging God. all He has to do. The Bible says He's in the presence of God for us. That ought to melt our hearts. That's more important than His death. You say, preacher how can you say that? Because the Bible says it. Romans chapter 5 verse 10, for if we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more Being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life, His present life right now. If you don't get excited about what Jesus is doing right now, I have some doubts about you. Without a doubt, Jesus is a priest of a better priesthood that was ever known or practiced among men. He's a universal priest. He's a perfect priest. He's an eternal priest. He's both priest and king. He's greater than Abraham. He's greater than Moses. He's greater than Aaron. He's priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Our great need as believers living in a fallen world and living in bodies of sin is to do as we will do more next week, God willing, to understand and appropriate the glory of the Melchizedek priesthood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We'll look more into Hebrews. I can't resist the temptation to show you one more verse, okay? It's 1217. If I have to make it up next week, I will. But anyway, turn to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8, look at verse 1. All this development about Jesus, the preeminence of Jesus, and the fact that He's greater than Moses and greater than than Aaron, and that the new covenant is greater than the old covenant. Here's the summation, here's the chief point of it, notice what it says, now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum, this is the chief point. Notice the next few words, we have such a high priest. We have him. He's ours. He's active on our behalf. Can anybody say amen? Oh, I hope we can say it from our hearts. Hope you come back next week. Father, thank You for letting us see a little bit more of the glories of Your Son in Your Word this morning. Thank You that Jesus is the righteous One. And I pray that if there be even one present who has not been made righteous by trusting in the perfect sacrifice of this divine priest, that today will be the day when they, like the publican of old, will go down to their house justified, declared righteous because of pleading the blood on the mercy seat. And Lord, for those of us who are saved, will you help us to see how much more we need Jesus as our High Priest right now than we ever needed Him as our Savior. We ask it in His name. Amen.