Turn now to the sacred scripture and to the three passages wherein this mysterious figure called Melchizedek is mentioned in the Bible. First, we would turn to the history of Melchizedek in Genesis chapter 14. Then we'll be turning to the psalm that speaks of him in Psalm 110. which Psalm itself is the most often quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament, Psalm 110. And we'll be going to our text from which we'll be speaking of this wonderful mystery of Melchizedek and Christ, Hebrews chapters six and seven. First of all, Hebrews chapter, or Genesis chapter 14, Abraham has just returned from the slaughter of the kings. who had taken, among other things, the booty, the loot, and the people of Sodom, including Lot, Abraham's nephew. Abraham, with his 318 servants, had given the route to these kings and had returned the goods that were taken and the people. Lot was restored to Abraham's fellowship. At this point, In verse 17 of Genesis 14, we read that the king of Sodom went out to meet Abraham at the Valley of Shavuot, that is, the king's valley, after his return from the defeat of Chidolaiomar and the kings who were with him. Then this, then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him. That is, Melchizedek blessed Abraham. He blessed him and said, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God the most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him, Abraham gave Melchizedek, a tithe of all. That's as far as we'll read. We'll be referring to this passage in Genesis. But now, Psalm 110, verses 1 through 4. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers or made willing, King James, in the day of your power. In the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth. And then the Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." There's the mention of Melchizedek, children. Now we go to Hebrews in chapters 6 and 7. where Melchizedek has already been spoken of, but the full implication of that not yet expounded. Chapter six, there's this wonderful truth that Jesus Christ is ascended on high into the presence of God behind the veil, chapter 619, which is where he has gone as the forerunner, the one who goes ahead of us all. He's entered there in heaven behind the veil. Even Jesus, And here's what is said, having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So there was an exaltation to that office that he had ever, and he have also in his humiliation, but which he was bestowed upon or bestowed with, especially in his exaltation as a reward. He was given to become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. And then let's read the first seven verses of Chapter 7, the Word of God. 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 translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed, those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. And then, for lack of a better place to stop, we'll stop there, but to remind ourselves that the narrative goes on, the apostle goes on to describe just how superior Jesus is to anything that comes from the loins of Aaron. So we have here this wonderful Jesus, who is high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. And this is before us. We want to consider this and remind ourselves that Jesus has, from different angles, been considered in the book of Hebrews as this great culmination of all that God ever said, He's the final prophet, the last word that God gives with regard to everything, explaining everything, fulfilling everything, and revealing God our salvation in everything. Jesus is the great God himself, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person. He's even greater than the angels. so lest we should be tempted to worship them. The narrative in Hebrews has said, think twice. There's one greater than the angels, and that's Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is greater also than anything that was ever great in the old covenant. like Moses and like the others who went before, Joshua, and also those priests of the order of Aaron. He is this great one, and now what happens in Hebrews, the very center of Hebrews is chapter 7, where the high priesthood of Jesus is exalted, explained, and urged upon the people as something that they ought to consider. and consider and live by and bow to God because of, because Jesus being the great high priest this way, according to the order of Melchizedek, is the greatest thing that could have ever happened to a people. And so we want to consider Jesus according to the order of Melchizedek. We'll be rather brief today, beloved, not only because I'm under the weather, but because I don't want us to get lost in this concept and this truth that could be expounded in a thousand sermons. So Jesus, according to the order of Melchizedek, and I want to start out by speaking to you of a mystery in a mystery in a mystery. And that's a pretty deep mystery, a threefold mystery. And so we want to consider that. And then we want to consider that Jesus is this wonderful priest, according to Melchizedek, for perfection and for the perfection of sons. Not only us, but himself. There is a perfection or a fulfillment, an end that he achieves in his work and in his person. In fact, if you look closely at Hebrews chapter 7, perfection is an ongoing and repeated concept. Verse 11, therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should arise according to the order of Melchizedek? Perfection. Then verse 19, for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is in the bringing of it a better hope through which we draw near to God. And finally, the very last verse, Hebrews 7, 28, for the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, But the word of the oath which came after the law, that is Psalm 110, the Lord has sworn you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The word of the Lord, oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever. But finally, we want to consider the blessing and the tithing in response to the blessing. So we have a mystery within a mystery and within a mystery. And what I'm referring to, first of all, is that this Nechizhdek was called a priest of the Most High God. I want to consider that. He's called a priest of the Most High God. And in the first level of this mystery, level one of the threefold mystery, I want to consider that whole idea of there being a priest of the Most High God on the earth. And that whole idea, beloved, that concept, that truth, that historical reality, is that there's this God who's very holy, and yet there's this God who will have something that shows there's a way to please this God, even among sinners, and a way, therefore, to God, who's called a priest. And in religions, we need to know, in all religions, there's always a God and there's always his priest, like his right-hand man. And here in Hebrews, we're dealing with that concept now in our supper sermons, this priest. A priest is a mediator, a go-between. whom God appoints. He's of this God, whoever this God is. And the priest has powers from this God to bless and to curse even. You have the witch doctors of heathen tribes who are supposedly invested with powers. quite often to curse or to bless. And people are afraid of them because, well, they know somebody who got bit by a snake because this priest pronounced a curse upon him. Or they're not afraid and they worship this witch doctor because He has pronounced healing and there has been healing. And I wouldn't doubt some of the realities that occur of cursing and blessing, even through witch doctors and demons today. God gives even the strangest creatures and wicked people some powers to demonstrate how wicked is wickedness, but how good is God. But high priests and priests of gods have been around all the time ever since there's been the fall and gods that people have made up. And they realize that they couldn't themselves handle life, not only, but they couldn't gather people around themselves to have a religion just based on themselves. So they invent a god or two or usually 20 or 1,000. God of the sun and the moon and the stars, the God of the springtime, God of frogs, people who are so strange and desperate, and they'll have high priests. And these high priests will pronounce ways to get to their God. Here's what you got to do. You got to walk around the block 15 times, or you got to give me an eye of newt, and I'll stir it into the pot. And we'll stir that up, and there's going to be this incantation, and things will get better. Or your enemy will have the gout the next morning. So high priests of false religions are often known, and this is the result of the Fall. But when, long about the time in Abram's life, Genesis 14, there's this Melchizedek, he's said to be the priest of the Most High God. And I don't want to deal with Melchizedek yet, he's next, and very quickly. But this idea that there would be a priest of the Most High God, the only God, whom all creatures know is, he's the only God, is amazing. There is this false religion, and there's all kinds of priests and gods and people going their way in the vanity of their worlds and of their religions. And then at the same time, there is among the people some vestige or remnant or some revelation, a glimmering of light of the God who is and who has a priest. as a priest of this God, and meaning there must be a religion of this Most High God, this holy, infinite, sinless, judge, this wise God and judge of all the universe. And he's got this priest, and this priest he's appointed, And now, of course, the world doesn't have any of this revelation in this general revelation. Stars aren't priests, and they don't tell of a priest. But God has always been with a witness in this world ever since he came into the world and visited Adam and Eve and said, I'm going to promise that there's going to be a seed of the woman. He's had a witness of a way. And the way has always been the truth and the life and the true religion of how people may please God. And how people may please the true and only and most high God. That's the idea of that El Elyon word. He's the only God. There are no other gods besides him. And there's this priest that he has that people somehow are apprised of, they're made aware of, who are given revelation of God, special revelation, this way in the darkness, this way out of the paper bag and vanity of false religions, this way away from false priests to God. That's the mystery of God's righteousness and His grace. The mystery, we don't deserve this thing. And it seems to be on becoming of this most holy God, that he would somehow present a way for most unholy people to come to him and to please him any way, any way since, that is, they've fallen. And though they've fallen, he is a way anyway, a way of love, compassion, and pity. And you think of that, beloved, that's the essence of our religion. There's this way, this way out of ourselves and out of our terrible plight of humanity, this way out of our false religion, this way that God has said is my way, and to which he calls us, now you come this way. So that's the mystery, and then there's this other mystery within that mystery, this revelation of Melchizedek. What a strange being. And I mean that with all reverence. He's God's being. He's a real man. A man met Abraham, who was a king, who was the king of Salem. Psalm 76 verse 2 reminds us that Salem is short for Jerusalem. And so he was the king of Jerusalem in Canaan. And he was the king of righteousness. His name means Melchizedek, king of righteousness, and king of Salem, which means, according to Hebrews 7, king of peace. He's king of peace. So his place, Jerusalem, becomes a namesake for what he is. He's the king of peace. This is Melchizedek. This man meets Abraham, greets Abraham, blesses Abraham, receives tithes from Abraham, as Abraham has just come from the victory of the kings. And Abraham is blessed through him. This Melchizedek, the further mystery of him, or maybe the principal mystery of him, is that he's not Abraham. Abraham is the center of the Jewish religion. It was the center and still is of the Jewish religion. He'd be the father of all the priests that would ever come. Abraham. Abraham was a great man. And Abraham meets this one and acknowledges that this one he meets is greater. And surely the less is blessed of the greater, as is the conclusion drawn in Hebrews. Melchizedek is greater, but we don't know where he comes from. We don't know his genealogy, in fact. We don't know if he's the son of Shem, Ham, or Japheth, the sons of Noah. In fact, the Bible deliberately has kept his genealogy out. That's the idea of verse three. He's without father, without mother, without genealogy. And for all intents and purposes, such is the idea, because he doesn't have this genealogy, he doesn't have a beginning of days, nor end of life. He's like and presented as the Son of God, who's eternal. And this one, who is the Son of God, actually remains a priest continually. But you see, it's not that Melchizedek is more than a man. Some have fallen into that trap. They try to allegorize Melchizedek as if he was an angel, for example. But the Bible doesn't speak of him as an angel. Or they like to say that he's this divine person, maybe other than the son, because he's this one who doesn't have a genealogy. And therefore, they conclude he wasn't born. He never had a beginning. He never had an ending. Or they'll think that this is a Christophany, which is closer, which means an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. Now, there are Christophanies and appearances of Christ. We've met with one of them in our Joshua series. And that was the captain of the host of the Lord that met with Joshua at the time of the fall of Jericho. But this is not a Christophany. This one here is a man. And though he doesn't have a recorded genealogy, he's a real man. He's a real king of a real place. And he's not the son of God, but he's made like the son of God, verse three says. And we are to consider how great this man was, though he not be the great Jesus himself. Melchizedek. Now, the mystery of Melchizedek, the awesomeness of it all, is, however, that he is a type of Jesus. He's not Jesus himself in this, in Old Testament, pre-incarnate visit, but he's a picture and type of Jesus designed to show various of the attributes of Jesus' own priesthood. Melchizedek is this king of Salem who's the priest of the Most High God, a picture of Jesus in his two-fold office as king of our salvation and priest. That's the idea, first of all. In the Old Testament, it usually was the case that the kings and the priests were separate. And so you have David, who was a king, but who could not be a priest. And you had the priest after the Order of Aaron, who was a priest, but who could not be king. But here Melchizedek combines himself the office of king and of priest, even as Jesus did. In fact, the very name of Jesus, whose lamb, reminds us that he's this perfect offering for sin, and he is a high priest who offers himself as a lamb. But the very name of Jesus' lamb, with which lion is included in the book of Revelation, Jesus' lion and lamb, reminds us that he's this priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was a king and who was a priest, lion and lamb together. Amazing power and ferocity and righteousness and also peacefulness about him. The idea of Melchizedek being also a king or a high priest who is a type of Jesus is seen in his being this king of righteousness and king of peace, which are virtues which are joined together in Jesus. I'm thinking of Isaiah in chapter 9, where Jesus, who is the child is born, verse 6, is also the son who's given, who has a government which shall be upon his shoulder, and whose name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. There he is, the King of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, there he is the king to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. And even that time forward forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. So Jesus is typified in Melchizedek. We need to say that because this is exactly the argument of the apostle in Hebrews. There is this one who comes, and he doesn't come according to the normal priesthood of Aaron, which the Jews were stuck on. The priests with all of their genealogies, and they knew this priest was descended from that priest, was descended from that priest, and ultimately they're all descended from Aaron, and that was the holy line. But Jesus is not a part of that line. He's superior. In fact, the wonderful truth of the matter is Jesus is this priest by an oath of God and not according to the law of God at all. And that's what's made a lot of in this chapter. There's a line according to law, but then there's a line that cuts through that and makes that unnecessary. It's the line of God's own oath, which existed long before the law was given and is seen to be in Melchizedek and now in the fullness of time in Jesus. So God says in the psalm, Psalm 110, you are a priest forever. after the order of Melchizedek. And the Lord has sworn this. This is his inviolate oath. There's something very beautiful about this. And we know this beautiful result of this oath of God to be Jesus. And that's the mystery within the mystery within the mystery. There's the very idea that there would be a priest of God. That's mystery enough. Priest of the Most High God. Then there's this wonderful type, Melchizedek, and this fulfillment in Jesus that says it all. That's the height and the depth and the breadth and the length of the love of God, beloved. That is it. There is the power of God, the right arm of God, There's the way we draw near to God. And we see this, and we know this in our bones and feel it. And this is something that invigorates us and gives us confidence that life will go on not only but be filled with hope even more than a beautiful spring day. Jesus, Jesus, the one who's the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, who's come. and has poured out his blood and broken his body for us. That's the second thing. For a long time, there is this giving of the law on which it would be seen. Excuse me. this high priest and necessity of high priest in the law of sacrifices, in the law of those priests who would come, in the law of their intercessions, in all the pictures and the shadows. In a long time, And this was the whole old dispensation after the sons of Abraham were born and established this nation, and God constituted them his people. And there was one reason why God did this, why he brought Fourth, this whole economy of pictures and smells and bells and priests and sacrifices of bulls and goats and so on. And the one reason was to picture the way to God and the way that a people would be consecrated to God, the way they would be holy. That was the Old Testament. set aside his people at Sinai, having ordained them before the foundation of the world to be his. He set aside those people to show the way of holy fellowship with God, the way of atonement in that high priest once a year offering the blood of the bull upon the altar and the mercy seat, the way of intercession through the sweet-smelling aroma of the incense that's offered, the way of continual thanks, the way of answered prayers, the way of drawing near to God and knowing His forgiveness. It was all there in Israel and nowhere else. It was for, you see, the presentation and advancement of a race that would itself Be gods on the earth, His sons, His daughters, His forgiven ones, His glorified ones, His lovely ones, His. And so day after day and year after year, the blood of the bulls and the goats and the lambs, the slaughter of the animals would be repeated and priest would come after priest and would take the place of priest. And these would all show forth the praises of the God who says there's a way and the way is the way of blood. That was the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. And yet it never, ever could satisfy God or actually perfect the people. Now, was this vanity? No. Was this vanity? Absolutely not. This was God's law, holy law. A teacher of righteousness, the law is holy and good, the apostle says. And it always is and even is today. In the law of that way of the Old Testament, that Levitical priesthood, very important. Light in the world, light of the nations, no other way than this way. And believing this way. But after all, perfection, reality, fulfillment of promise, actual satisfaction of the sins of the people, could never be. Could never ever be. And Hebrews goes on to make this a huge point. In chapters 8 and chapters 9. But the point I want to leave with you right now is this. That's why Jesus comes and perfects. Because his blood is of great avail, he atones. Jesus, the way to God really. And that's what the supper is all about. the sacrament of the reality of the death of the Son of God, which was the death of death and the beginning of life. Because when he died, it was actual conquering of death for himself not only, but also for the many sons of God who were given to him, his sheep. That's Melchizedek. Jesus, after the order of this one who's above the law, who came under the law, and yet who satisfies all of the requirements of the law for a people and not for himself. He is this wonderful sin bearer. And he blesses us, beloved. That's the idea of Melchizedek. He comes out of nowhere. out of the womb of the counsel of God, as some have said. And he comes and he's there on this earth visiting and typified and Christophanies and Theophanies and promises and there's this king and there's this priest that all speak of Jesus and there's this prophet who is the word of Jesus. And then in the fullness of the time and on the cross, and now ever living at the right hand of God to make intercession for us that perfect priest after the order of Melchizedek, our Jesus, blessing us. Abraham was blessed. There's a surprising blessing of Abraham here. by Melchizedek, Abraham, who God had visited, Genesis 11, Genesis 12, who would need confirmation of the faith, because remember, he's the father of the faithful. And when Melchizedek comes, he's this word out of nowhere, as it were, but also understood to be the way to God, who blesses Abraham, speaks to Abraham, gives him food and wine, to comfort his body and his soul and blesses him so that there is this knowledge of God advanced in Abraham's soul, in his mind, and he can go on as the father of the faithful, go on and have the son Isaac, go on and be this one who will be a father of us, children of Abraham. sons of that believer, sons of God. So we give tithes. People make a lot of hay out of this. When Abraham gave to Melchizedek tithes of all he had, the idea of beloved is not a number. People like to say now the rule of the law of the tithe, we give a tenth of everything we have. is even before the law of Leviticus and the tithing that was called for there. And therefore, it is today. It's not a civil law, civil and ceremonial law. And we ought to tithe today. Well, beloved, of course we ought to tithe. But it's not a number. In fact, we could translate. when Abraham gave a tithe to, in this way, Abraham gave right off the top. He had this bag of loot, this gold and silver, whatever he'd taken from the kings, and he didn't sift through the bottom and look for what was good to him. He took it right off the top and he gave that to God. That's the idea of our giving, beloved. It's not about numbers. If you want to do the calculation, it would be impossible to figure out just exactly what a tithe meant in Israel. But it's certainly not about the numbers. It's about the attitude. It's about the fact that God has come in Jesus Christ, this mystery within a mystery within a mystery, this perfecter of the sons of God, this blesser of the unlovable people. And it's about understanding that, receiving that, and being glad to give everything to God. That's the point of the Christian life now, because Jesus is our life. Give everything to God. A tenth? Not near enough. 99%? Not near enough. You give everything. Right off the top, right before your cares and your needs are met, you think, right off the top, we seek the kingdom first. and his righteousness and his peace. And God will bless us as we are blessed to give unto him. Remember, beloved Jesus, after the order of Melchizedek, what a mystery. God with us, God who poured out his blood for us, broke his body for us, It's all about love and truth and the praise of our God. Amen.