This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Let's take our Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter 14. Genesis chapter 14. We're going to read verses 17 through 20. God's holy and inspired word. Then after his, Abram's return from the defeat of Keter-Lamar, And the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom, went out to meet him in the valley of Shavuot. That is the king's valley. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand. He, Abram, gave him, Melchizedek, a tenth of all. This is God's holy and inspired word. In Genesis chapter 14, which we looked at last week, Abram shines with faith and courage. It's a delight, actually, after the dismal failings of the end of chapter 12. And in fact, one writer puts it like this, and I was so captivated by this this week, he says, Abram was prosperous, but he was still only a wandering nomad like so many others around him. There was nothing obvious that marked him out as the divinely appointed heir to the land of Canaan. To the casual observer, he must have looked very ordinary. In this chapter, chapter 14, however, the veil is lifted for a moment and we see Abram in his true colors, acting as the king of the land that is his by right. and that will be inherited by his offspring. This is, as it were, Abram's mount of transfiguration, when his glory is clearly, if only briefly, revealed to those closest to him. In Genesis chapter 14, Abram has actually shown himself to be, first of all, a man of action. He lives out what Daniel would later say in Daniel 11, 32, that those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits. Abram is a man of action and does great exploits in the name of his God. We also see that Abram shows himself to be a warrior king. Now, we say a king, he doesn't actually own any land other than a title deed given to him by faith, but God's blessing on him makes him stronger, mightier, and greater than any of the kings that we see in Genesis chapter 14. We also see that Abram proves himself to be a man of principle. In that moment when the king of Sodom, the evil king of Sodom, comes to him and offers to him what is in essence already his, the question stands, would Abraham actually take the spoils and become even wealthier? Would he take the spoils and in essence take credit for the victory? Would he take the spoils and be more closely allied with the King of Sodom? All of those things would have had temporary advantages and benefits if he would have done that, but rather, Abram, in that moment of temptation, acts on principle. He acts on the basis of a vow that he has already made, and as an act of faith, refuses the allurement of the King of Sodom and declares his dependence on God alone. It's a great chapter. But in this chapter we're introduced to the king of Sodom. But he's not the only one we're introduced to. There's someone else who comes out to meet Abram after his magnificent victory. There's another king that comes out to meet him, and this king doesn't come out like the king of Sodom with the demands of give me, but rather this king comes out bringing something to Abram. And that other king, of course, is Melchizedek. We're going to call him today Melchizedek, the mystery man, because he appears out of nowhere. There are three verses in Genesis 14 that deal with Melchizedek. And yet in these three short verses, we will actually see the appearance of one whom later biblical writers will make much of. Melchizedek will be mentioned, for instance, in Psalm 110. And so, if you would, indulge me and turn there for a moment. So you have to remember, so here's Melchizedek, he appears on the scene, really, out of nowhere, in Genesis 14, nothing is said about Melchizedek for the next 500 years. And then in Psalm 110, he reappears. It's the Psalm of David. It is one of the most quoted Psalms in the New Testament. And it reads like this, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion saying, rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power. In holy array from the womb of the dawn, your youth are to you as the dew. Verse four, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations. He will fill them with corpses. He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside. Therefore, He will lift up His head. And so our Lord Jesus is in the end of His earthly ministry and He says to the scribes and the Pharisees in the temple precincts after they had questioned Him, He says, I have a question for you. Who is David speaking to in Psalm 110? Where it says, the Lord said to my Lord. And of course they don't want to answer that because the answer is obvious. David is actually speaking to Messiah. which means that this psalm finds its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so these words, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, Psalm 110, of course, is relatively brief, one verse. So you have to understand how this goes. Three verses written by Moses around 1440 BC, one verse written by David around 1000 BC, and then Melchizedek is not mentioned in the pages of Holy Scripture again for another 1000 years. And for that, you need to turn to the book of Hebrews. Now you know you're in trouble when we turn to the book of Hebrews. I don't know how many sermons, I didn't look it up, that we spent in Hebrews chapter seven. It was more than one, I can tell you that. The book of Hebrews picks up the theme of Melchizedek. And so here's the thing is that we could stay in Genesis 14 and just say, wow, here's a mystery man. We don't know anything about him other than he's king of righteousness and king of Salem, king of peace. And he comes out and with the king of Sodom meets Abram, actually says some really profound, amazing things. indicating that he too is a worshiper of the true God. And Abram actually recognizes his superiority in that he is blessed by Melchizedek and then offers tithes to Melchizedek. And we could just leave it at that and just say, wow, what an amazing figure, what a mystery. Let's now move to Genesis 15. And I think that would be a huge mistake because we have the inspired commentary on Genesis 14. Now, the writer of the Hebrews, I have to point this out to you, chapter five. Chapter five, he starts talking about the priesthood. and he's gonna start to connect that to the Lord Jesus who he has identified as a priest. And so if you look at verse nine, chapter five, verse nine, it says, and having been made perfect, that is having been made complete in the days of his incarnation, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He's already quoted Psalm 110, a few verses earlier, and then notice verse 11. Concerning him, concerning who? Concerning Melchizedek. We have much to say. You have to appreciate this. We have a lot to say about Melchizedek. Because there are three verses in Genesis 14 that deal with him and one verse in Psalm 110 and I have more to say about him than you can imagine now verse 11 actually he says But we can't really do this right now because you have become dull of hearing Now The writer to the Hebrews wants to jump into this theme of Melchizedek. He sees it vitally related to the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet now he has to say, I wanna do this, but I'm gonna hold off, at least for a chapter, because you've become dull of hearing. And so, he then goes, takes a little diversionary trail of exhortation, and then, notice chapter six, verse 19, The writer says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one that which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest for how long? Forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, I love this about the writer to the Hebrews because He shows only limited self-restraint. I wanna tell you about this, but you're a little on the dull side. All right, let me go ahead and tell you about this anyway, now that I've castigated you for your dullness. And what he does is in chapter seven, he launches in to the most extensive treatment on Melchizedek, who he is, and why he appears on the scene. And so, all scriptures God breathed, all scriptures profitable for doctrine, correction, reproof, and instruction in righteousness, and so I wanna know what the inspired commentary of Hebrews seven has to say about our text. Now, obviously, we will move more quickly than we did years ago, lest we be here until next year. Now, verses 1 to 3 of chapter 7, this is where it gets so good. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him to whom Abraham also apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils was first of all by the translation of his name King of Righteousness and then also King of Salem which is King of Peace without father or without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, He remains a priest perpetually. Wow! Absolutely glorious. Now, we have to understand, the writer to the Hebrews is going to make much of the fact that he is, that Melchizedek receives tithes from Abram, and we'll talk about that, but we also notice that very clearly, the writer to the Hebrews sees significance in Melchizedek's name and his title. His name, Melchizedek, literally means King of Righteousness, and his title is King of Salem, Salem being the shortened form of the city Jerusalem, meaning King of Peace. For the writer to the Hebrews and to us as well, we should see incredible significance in the name and the title, all right? And so we'll come back to that. What's really interesting, though, is what he says when he says in verse three that he is made like the Son of God. Melchizedek, You have to understand what the writer's saying. Melchizedek appears on the scene as one who has been made like the Son of God. Notice it's not the Son of God appears on the scene who has been made like Melchizedek. Okay? Now, what the writer does then is he gives us a number of these statements that seem absolutely mysterious to us. Without father, without mother, without genealogy. Now let me just tell you that the writer to the Hebrews, as he is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when he's reading Genesis 14, the Spirit of God is giving him insight into not only what is said, but into what is not said. Throughout the whole book of Genesis up to this point, who has been, who is the most important person on the scene besides God? Abraham. Do we have a genealogy for Abraham? Absolutely. We have a thorough genealogy for Abraham. In fact, here's the reality. Every important person in the book of Genesis and even lots and lots and lots of unimportant people in the book of Genesis have genealogies. And if they have genealogies, that means that they have a listed father and an implied mother. Now Kisadek, is the only person in the book of Genesis to appear on the scene with no apparent ancestry and no apparent descendants. Now, that's not to say that actually Melchizedek was hatched or Melchizedek was found under a rock or Melchizedek actually just dropped out of heaven. What it is to say, obviously he had parents. But what it is to say is that the writer to the Hebrews sees the silence of him having no genealogy as being absolutely significant in the way in which he compares to the Son of God. Now, if you were to be a Levitical priest, guess what you had to prove? Bloodline, you had to prove genealogy. You had to be in the right line. And so Levitical priesthood depends on genealogy and parentage. And here's a priest who appears out of nowhere with no parentage listed, which means by necessity that his priesthood is not bound to family bloodlines. His priesthood is somehow a priesthood that transcends the ordinary way in which priests come into this world. Notice the next description, nor beginning of days nor end of life. I don't think that that means he was without DOB and DOD. But nothing is recorded. Do we have the record of the death of the first man? Sure. Do we have the record of the death of almost everybody except Enoch? Yes, and yet here is this mystery man who appears and it looks as if because it says nothing about when he came into this world and because it says nothing about when he went out of the world, again, the writer to the Hebrews sees absolute significance in the silence and then it says, being made like the Son of God. Now, here's the amazing thing. Does Jesus, in his incarnation, come into this world with a genealogy? Yes. Two, in fact. Does he come into this world, as it were, with a date of birth? Yes. Second Opinions 14 says it's December 25th. Okay. He has a genealogy. He has an earthly mother. He has an apparent earthly father with Joseph. So what is the text saying? made like the Son of God without father, without mother, without genealogy, nor beginning days, nor end of life. What actually the writer to the Hebrews is saying is not that Melchizedek was made like the Son of God in the Son of God's incarnation, but rather Melchizedek was made like the Son of God in the pre-incarnate eternal reality of God's Son. In other words, Jesus Christ exists He's always existed, all right? There never was a time when the Son did not exist. Jesus Christ still exists as the archetype for Melchizedek, and so since Christ is the eternal Son, the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, and the end, the eternal one, so the writer to the Hebrews sees Melchizedek coming onto the scene into the world as one who has been made like the Son of God, without beginning, without end, one without parentage, made like the eternal Son himself. That's the way God works, by the way. You have to understand this is the pattern of the way that God works. For instance, God doesn't say, boy, I love the fact that I've created marriage. Marriage is great, love marriage. And I've been thinking that the relationship between my son and his bride, the church, is a lot like marriage. It's not how it goes. It goes like this. There is a relationship that pre-exists between Christ and his people, his bride, and the father says, I'm going to make something in time and space in creation that reflects that. The same thing here. God says, you know what, I'm going to make a priest who appears in time and space who reflects my eternally begotten son. Okay? So, Melchizedek appears, and it says he remains a priest perpetually or unto perpetuity. That is, there's no predecessor, there's no successor. Now, of course, what's the problem with the Levitical priesthood? Well, the Levitical priesthood has this recurring problem. It's called priests that die. And so if you have priests that die, guess what you need to do? You need to replace those priests. And so there's this revolving door in the Levitical priesthood and the writer to the Hebrews is going to say, listen, since Melchizedek is made like the eternal son, he represents a priesthood that never needs to be replaced. He represents an order that actually stands in perpetuity. And in fact, is that not what the writer, what David says in Psalm 110? You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. In verses four through 10, let's just read this. Now observe how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the choice of spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi, who received the priest's office have commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although they are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. In this case, mortal men receive tithes, but in that case, one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And so to speak, through Abraham even Levi who receives tithes paid tithes for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him well I bet you've never argued like that before have you now we don't have time to go into all of these details but I think we can sketch it out for us well enough and that is what the writer sees is he sees Melchizedek's superiority to Abraham by virtue of the fact that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. And so behold, how great is this one is the way the writer to Hebrews speaks about it. And then Melchizedek blessed Abraham. And so of course the greater blesses the lesser. And so in terms of tithes and blessing on both counts, Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. When Melchizedek blesses Abraham, to bless, of course, is to communicate some kind of good to someone in spiritual or material or temporal or eternal terms. It could be a prophetic act, it could be simply a prayer for blessing, but it really is a combination of the two. And then the writer wants to make this point, and this is absolutely fascinating. You wanna know how great Melchizedek's priesthood is Levites who received tithes, paid tithes to Melchizedek, and how did they do that when they were all present in the loins of Abraham? What? Well, when you think about this argument, oh, it's complicated for us, it's difficult for us. But guess who sinned when Adam sinned? All of us. He represented all of us, didn't he? And in one sense, he's our federal representative, our legal representative, but also in another sense, we also were all present in the loins of Adam when Adam sinned. Wow. Well, what the writer of the Hebrews is saying is just simply this. Levites who actually get tithes from God's people demonstrate the superiority of Melchizedek's priesthood because the very one who received tithes actually paid tithes when they were present in Abraham's loins. And again, what's happening is that the writer to the Hebrews is actually just simply demonstrating this reality that Melchizedek is this incredibly important, incredibly great figure who appears and his greatness is attributed to the fact that he indeed has been made like the Son of God. Now, that's where we're gonna end in Hebrews, except for just a few other miscellaneous observations. In verses 11 through 14 of chapter 7, the writer's gonna argue that we need a different kind of priest than what the Levites could provide for us. Which is why, which is why the progression goes like this. Abraham, promises, Melchizedek, law, Levites, Melchizedek. In other words, the chronology of redemptive history matters. And so what is happening is the temporal nature of the Levitical priesthood connected with the temporal nature of the giving of the Mosaic Covenant is demonstrated for us in the flow of redemptive history, showing us, listen, he wouldn't have been talking about another kind of priest if the Levites would have been it. The fact that he's talking about another kind of priest, the fact that David, 500 years almost after the establishment of the law and the Levitical priest, why in the world would he be talking about Melchizedek if the Levites were what we needed? The Levites are not what we needed. We need a better priest. We need a better priest who is acting on a better covenant, enacted on better promises. We need a priest who's not gonna die. That'd be a grand improvement. We need a priest who himself does not need a priest. Because here's, sometimes God makes things that are internally broken in order to make a point. And so the Levitical priesthood has two broken parts to it. One, mortal priests who die, and yet second, Priests who are sinners themselves. And if you're a sinner, guess what you need? You need a priest. You need a priest. Who in here needs a priest? Every single one of you needs a priest. I wanna just make this loud and clear. I am not a priest, let alone your priest. Okay? You have need of one priest. It's not somebody that wears a backwards collar. It's not somebody that you address as father. You need one priest, and that one priest has to have two things going for him. One, he himself must be sinless, and two, he himself must be immortal. And there is such a priest. And that's what the writer to the Hebrews is gonna tell us. In 15 to 19, that other priest has appeared. So look at verse 16, for instance. Wow, I could preach on this all day long. So start at verse 15. And this is clearer still. If another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, remember, Why does Melchizedek come into this world? Because he's actually made like the Son of God. Melchizedek is a reflection of the Son of God. So the Son of God is the archetype. Melchizedek is the antitype. So there's a sense in which, okay, so who are we really looking for when we're looking towards Melchizedek? We're looking for the Son of God himself. Okay, so verse 15, this is clearer still. If another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, oh, and there has been one who has become such, not on the basis of a law of physical requirement like the Levites, but according to the power of an indestructible life. The priest that God raised up according to the order of Melchizedek would be one who would actually exercise that priesthood on the basis of an indestructible resurrected life. Verse 19, for the law made nothing perfect. And on the other hand, there is bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. Verse 23, the former priests on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing. But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore he's able to save forever or to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for him. Let's just keep reading. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who does not need daily like those high priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sins of his people because he did this once and for all when he offered up. himself the sinless son of God as a priest offers up himself he does not need like the earthly priest to offer sacrifice for himself and then for the sins of the people but this one who is holy and sinless and undefiled actually comes and he is not only the priest but he himself also now proves himself to be the offering so Melchizedek points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Melchizedek points us to our great high priest. And it is in fact Jesus Christ who is the ultimate king of righteousness. And that righteousness is the righteousness that God requires. And it is the righteousness that you need. And he himself is the king of righteousness. And because when he as the king of righteousness clothes you in his righteousness, he now becomes your king of peace because you now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so there is no way that any human being could have ever fulfilled this. He is the king of righteousness, and in fact, the king of peace. Is he your righteousness? Whatever righteousness you might be able to muster on your own, let me just tell you, it will be a dismal failure before the judgment bar of a holy God. You need a righteousness that is perfect. You need a righteousness that is pure. You need a righteousness that is undefiled, and that righteousness is found only through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you need peace? Peace with God? By the way, that's the most important peace right there, peace with God, because if you don't have peace with God, you're the enemy of God, and so what happens with enemies? They either get subdued or they get destroyed, and so hear me out, you need to have peace with God, and the only way is to trust the King of peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. So, Back to Genesis 14 in a sense, not really, but kinda. So Melchizedek comes out to meet Abram. Now I wanna ask you this question. As Abram encounters Melchizedek, what does he see? Well, Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he'll never see death. The Jews said to him, now, we know that you have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets died also and you say if anyone keeps my word he'll net surely never taste death You're not greater than our father Abraham who died the prophets died to whom do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. And you have not come to know him, but I know him. And if I say that I do not know him, I will be a liar like you. But I do know him. And keep his word. And then listen to this. your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad oh my so the Jews said to him you're not 50 years old yet and you've seen Abraham Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. Ian Duguid says, Thus Abraham recognizes even in his one moment in time that there is right here in front of him another greater than he, through whom he must approach God most high. In Melchizedek he recognizes a forerunner of the great high priest to come, Jesus Christ, who would offer the perfect sacrifice once and for all for him. Abram recognized that the greatness in God's kingdom is not simply a matter of doing mighty deeds for God and rescuing the undeserving. It also involves coming to God through the priest that God has established. And so I ask, what did Abram see that day? He saw a priest and he saw a king. And he saw a priest and a king who pointed him to the ultimate king priest, Jesus Christ. Abram is refreshed that day by the priest's royal banquet of bread and wine. Abram is blessed that day by this priest who is the king of Salem, and he receives that blessing in humility and in faith. And then in turn, Abram recognizing that in this one who is before him is one who is greater than him, pays tithes to Melchizedek what is Abram doing when he gives him a tenth of all that he has he actually is doing nothing less than giving that tenth to God through Melchizedek whom he recognizes in a Mediatorial role between him and the God who had called him out of her of the Chaldees This is an act of worship on Abrams part. He is beholding his God who has delivered his enemies into his hand and he is beholding this priest King, the one whom God sent forth to be his mediator. And through Melchizedek, Abram sees Jesus' day and is glad. What did Abram see? He saw one who was made like the Son of God. I remind you this morning that Abram met two kings that day, and he rightly shuns the one, refusing his pseudo-generosity, and refusing his sham demands, and he embraces the other one, the one who is a priest, the one who refreshes, the one who blesses. And Abram, in turn, gives to Melchizedek. Child of God, listen to me. We have a great high priest in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is, in fact, your king of righteousness. The scriptures tell us that he made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we would become the righteousness of God in him. Here's how Jesus Christ is our king of righteousness. He takes upon himself on Calvary's tree our sin and in turn his righteousness, it clothes us now making us acceptable before God the Father who is in fact the holy God. He is our King of righteousness. He is our King of peace. Do you know what it is actually to lay down at night and to have a good conscience and not to have your sins haunting you and not to feel the burden of unconfessed guilt and to know that if you were to die that night in your sleep and you woke up in the presence of God, you would not be welcomed into God's eternal kingdom, but rather you would stand there naked and corrupt by your own sin, and you would stand under the judgment of God if that's what you go through night after night. If there are some times that you are like, I don't want to die because I am afraid that if I die, I will go to hell. I will tell you that there is one who has made peace between us and God through the blood of the cross, and that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Him. be clothed in his righteousness and receive the peace that he offers as the one who has made peace between God and men through the blood of the cross. We have a great high priest who has actually offered himself up for our sins. When Jesus Christ made that sacrifice on Calvary, he didn't bring the blood of bulls and goats. He brought his own precious blood. He offered himself up for us. What greater love could there be than a man should lay down his life for his friends? We have a loving high priest who offered himself up. We have a loving high priest who was immolated upon Calvary's tree for us. for us undeserving people. We have a great high priest who intercedes for us so that we will be saved all the way to the end. How in the world do you in fact know that right now that you say, I believe in Jesus, how do you know that at the end of your life, you'll say, I believe in Jesus? How do you know that when they decide it's time to take you off the respirator, and you know that you're gonna die. How in the world do you know you'll still be believing in Jesus? It's not the power of your faith. It's the power of the intercessory prayers of our great high priest who prays for us that we'll be saved to the uttermost. When these eyelids close in death, how in the world do I know I'll be safe in Jesus? It's not because of my great faith, but because of his great work on my behalf and his intercessory prayers on my behalf. Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. We have a great high priest who sympathizes with us in our weakness. Some of you, you think of God as this really strict disciplinarian who's just waiting for you to blow it and the reality is that you have a great high priest who sympathizes with you in your weaknesses and whose heart breaks for you in your sin. Can you trust one like that? In our deepest times of weakness, and our darkest times of the soul. We have a great high priest who says, I've entered into your world and I know what you're going through and you can trust me. I'm merciful and faithful and I've been made like you in all ways except sin. We have a great high priest who offers up his life, his blood and his body. And we have a great high priest who offers us refreshment through the bread and the wine. Abram looked forward in faith and rejoiced to see that day. We look back in faith and rejoice to see that day. And what does Abram do? It's an act of faith and love. He gives him his all. What do we do? when you realize that you have such a great high priest who has done everything for you that you need. that there's nothing that you can contribute that will make you more acceptable to God than what He has already done for you. When you realize that Jesus paid it all, there is something that resonates in our hearts even as it resonated in Abram's heart, and that is, Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my life, I give you my very self. I want to serve you. I am yours. When you realize the love of this great high priest who prays for you, who's bled for you, who will come again for you. Can you not say, love, so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all. How could we dare hold back anything from such a one who has given us so much? How in the world could we withhold anything from one who has actually given us his very life's blood? How in the world could we hold back anything from one who has done so much, continues to do so much, and one of these days will do so much for us? He is one who demands absolutely everything from you. Why? Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Are you white as snow today? If you are white as snow in the sight of Almighty God, it's because you have a great high priest. Don't hold back. Give him your life, your soul, your all. Let's pray. Father, we pray for those this morning who have not given themselves to you. Father, we pray that you would simply open their eyes to see the glory and the majesty and the love of what Jesus, our great high priest, has done for us. Lord Jesus, we thank you. We thank you as our great high priest for bearing the wrath of the Father on our behalf, paying the penalty for our sin, clothing us in perfect righteousness. We thank you that you pray for us, you intercede for us. We thank you that one of these days you will come again to receive us unto yourself, and to have a kingdom that will never end. So Lord Jesus, we pray that we would truly give ourselves away to His all that we can do. In Christ's name, amen.