and open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 7, if you would. We started this chapter last week, and how I see it, we'll do verses 1 through 16. 1 through 16 today, and Lord willing, Next week we will finish the chapter. We're in Hebrews chapter 7. If you look in verse 16, we're going to read verses 1 through 16, but I want to show you verse 16 first. It said, Who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. So, there you see two things. You see the carnal commandment, and you see the power of an endless life. There's a contrast there, which you see all through this chapter. You see, in this chapter, what you'll see is there's this continual contrast. He keeps mentioning one, and then he mentions the other. He mentions one, he mentions the other. And he's showing us the difference between the two. And you see that through and through this chapter. But let's pray before we get any further into it. Dear Father, I pray, God, please move through these words. God, please help us that they would go deep into our hearts, Lord, to the transforming of our lives, that we would know and that we would live the things that you teach us, I pray for Christ's glory. Amen. In chapters two through six, I just want to say this first, in chapters two through six in the book of Hebrews, we have seen many warnings and cautions. However, the writer's desire is not that we would live in doubt, but I believe it's quite the opposite. I believe his desire is that as true believers, we would have a great confidence in the salvation provided to us by God. And that those who do doubt, whether it's because of unbelief or whether it's because of immaturity, would come to a full hope and confidence in Jesus Christ. That's my purpose, that's the purpose of the writer here in the book of Hebrews. Is that you would have a full confidence in Jesus Christ. And to have that full confidence, we must see both sides. Like we read in verse 16, there's the carnal commandments that we were all born into. We're all born under the carnal commandment, whether we like it or not. But Jesus Christ offers us an endless life, like we read in verse 16. Now in the seventh chapter the Holy Spirit through the human penman gives us great reason to place our confidence in Jesus and to enjoy the incredible peace and joy that comes from that confidence. The Holy Spirit in this chapter uses a technique that is often used in the scripture. That technique is to show the difference between the lesser and the greater. And you see this through the whole book of Hebrews. It's actually a common Jewish way of thinking. They compare, if you look at the Old Testament, you see this technique also often. They compare the lesser to the greater. And you see that all through this book. You see it more through this chapter. And the difference between the lesser and greater in order that we would leave the lesser and that we would cling to what is greater. In the book of Hebrews we see this contrast on several occasions by the use of the word better. We see this contrast in the book of Hebrews on several occasions by the use of this word better. Why would we continue in something that is lesser when God offers us something much better? Much better. Three betters in the book of Hebrews 7. That's what I want to look at. We'll actually only get through the first one today, and then next week, Lord willing, I want to do number two and three. The three betters in the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, look in verse 7. Verse 7 says, and without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. That's speaking of Melchizedek. Melchizedek. That's in Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 7. And without all contradiction, the less being blessed by the better. So we have a better priesthood, that's what you're going to see me talking about there. A better priesthood, or a better priestly order is what Christ came from. We'll get into what that means in a few minutes. In verse 19, you see verse 19, what does it say? For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. That's verse 18. And the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. So in 19 we have a better hope. And in 22, in verse 22, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. So there you have a better covenant through Jesus Christ. It's a better covenant, a better testament through Jesus Christ. The word better in the Greek means better in value or dignity, nobler and more excellent. If someone offers you something, whatever it may be, but then someone else offers you something better, which one will you take? Which one will you take? God is trying to make it very simple for us. If he offers something better, why won't we take it? God wants to show us the better in order that what is lesser will be exposed for being so, and that we will have great hope in what is better. The first better we see in this chapter is, the first one is in verse 7. And it's that we have the Christ comes through a better priesthood. Look in verses one through 16, let's know what we want through 10. First, let's read one through 10. And then we'll read 11 through 16. Let's read one through 10. First, 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, abides a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of his foils. 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 came out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descendant 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 written that he liveth. And as I may say so, Levi also who received tithes paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now, this Melchizedek is very mysterious and has brought controversy over the years on who exactly he was, which we'll get into in a few minutes. But through this Melchizedek, Jesus Christ has come through a better priestly order. That's the better we see here. Jesus comes to a better priestly order. Now Melchizedek has been the focal point of much controversy over the centuries because the Bible doesn't give us a lot of detail of who he was. Yet the significance of who he was has incredible implications. The first thing I would like to say about that is that God is not obligated to give me all the details. God is not obligated to give me all the details. God gives us what we need to know. And I believe he's given us what we need to know about Melchizedek. And Melchizedek is difficult to understand. He can be difficult to understand who he was for two reasons. First, because he is mysterious. He shows up three times in the scripture. You see in Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and here in Hebrews. Now in Hebrews, he's mentioned several times, but he shows up in those three places, this character Melchizedek. So, first it's the mysteriousness of who he was, but the mysteriousness of Melchizedek would not even be so troublesome if he wasn't so significant. However, the first six verses of this chapter, the writer explains how Melchizedek is greater than Abraham he is greater than Abraham is what we just read the father of our faith and Melchizedek is greater it says wow who is this Melchizedek he is greater than Abraham and which is self evident for how can one bless another unless the one who is doing the blessing is greater. And that's what it says right here in these verses. We also see that Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham. And in Numbers chapter 18, 21-26, it clearly says that the lesser gives the tithes to the greater. And that's what we see. We see Abraham tithing to Melchizedek. Who was this man that was greater even than the patriarch Abraham? Who was he? We have five descriptions. I'll go through these quickly, but we have five descriptions of this Melchizedek as a type of Christ. Melchizedek is a type of Christ. He was a priest of the Most High God, number one. His name means King of Righteousness. He was king over the city of Salem, which means the King of Peace. Here's the tough one. He had neither beginning of day nor end of life. He had neither beginning of day nor end of life. In verse three, And then we see Jesus Christ as our high priest came from the order of Melchizedek. He came from the Melchizedekian priesthood, we could say. He was a priest of the Most High God. Let's look at that one first. Number one, he was a priest of the Most High God. And he was before the Levitical priesthood. Before it even existed. Before Levi was even born. We see this priest, Melchizedek, and this shows us that the sacrifices were continual from Adam to Jesus, even though we don't have all the exact details of how that happened. We know that there was a priesthood that was doing the ceremonies, that was of God, that was not of the Levitical order. And that these sacrifices were happening from Adam. God established them. And they continued. And his name, number two, his name means King of Righteousness. Jesus Christ is also called the King of Righteousness. Jeremiah calls Christ the Lord of Righteousness. If you flip back just a couple pages in your Bible to Hebrews chapter 1, we went over this a few months ago, verse 8, But unto the Son, he says in verse 8 of chapter 1, but unto the Son, he says, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness, is the scepter of thy kingdom. Jesus Christ loves righteousness because He is righteousness. And by interpretation, Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. King of Righteousness. We don't see that term given to anybody else in the scripture besides Christ. And Melchizedek, King of Righteousness. We've been through that, God's love for righteousness. We won't get into it today. But it's a very important point to understand the nature of God, is to understand God's love for righteousness. Number three, Melchizedek was from Salem, which means peace. which means he is the king of peace. Jesus also called the prince of peace in Isaiah 9, 6. That word prince meaning governor or ruler. So Jesus being the governor or ruler of peace, Melchizedek being the king of peace. When the angel announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ in Luke 2, what did they say? They said, peace on earth. peace on earth. Jesus Christ came to bring peace between man and God. And he came to bring peace between man and God where there was an irreconcilable breach without Christ. There could never be peace with man and God except through Jesus Christ. He is the king of peace. And he is the anti-type of Melchizedek. Don't be afraid of words you don't understand. An anti-type is just simply the opposite of what the type is. Melchizedek is a type of Christ. In other words, he represents Christ. Jesus is the anti-type of Melchizedek. He's what Melchizedek represents. He's the real thing. And Melchizedek is the type. Now we come to verse 3, which is the difficult part of this. It tells us that Melchizedek neither had beginning of days nor end of life. Some believe that Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. But I personally don't see how that is possible. Because look at verse 3. 7.3 says, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God. abides a priest continually. So he's made like the Son of God. It doesn't say he was the Son of God, he was made like the Son of God. It doesn't say that he was the Son of God, but it says that he was like, or he was a type of the Son of God. The first part of this verse, when it says that he was without father, mother, and without descent, neither beginning of days nor end of life, most likely means that we simply don't have a record of it. We don't know who his father, mother, or descendants were. We have no record. If you look down in verse 6, because it says, but he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes. I would believe that's implying that Melchizedek had descent, but we just don't know about it. It's not written in the scriptures. We're not sure who his mother and father are. We're not sure who his descendants are. But in that way, he is a representation, he is a type of Jesus Christ's eternal priesthood. In other words, the priesthood of Jesus Christ is eternal. It has no beginning, it has no ending. In Revelation 13, 8, the Bible tells us that Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So Christ was and is and will be the eternal sacrifice for our sins. And it is through his priesthood, him offering of himself to God, that we have eternal life. Without that, there is an irreconcilable breach. There's a breach between man and God that cannot be reconciled except through Christ. Except through Christ and through His priestly order. In Romans 4.17, the Bible says, before him whom he believed, even God who quickens the dead, here's the part I want you to hear, and calls those things which be not as though they were. God's eternal plan and predestinating work is so sure that things that are considered done before they really happen. Jesus Christ has an eternal priesthood of whom Melchizedek is the type. For the Levitical priesthood was not wrong. It was not wrong for the time that God appointed it. But that priesthood was only temporary. The Levitical priesthood was only temporary and was only used by God in time until the fullness of God's revelation was seen in Jesus Christ. until the fullness of God's revelation was seen in Jesus Christ. Some may be here this morning and say, how does this apply to me? I don't know anything about the priesthood. I was never under the Levitical priesthood. How does this apply to me that Jesus has this eternal priesthood? I mean, I think Many of us here understand, or at least a portion of us here understand, that this eternal priesthood brings us the forgiveness of sins, past, present, future. But let's look at it in a more specific way. Go to verse 11. Let's read 11 through 16. And I know I kind of ran through Melchizedek, and there could be a lot of talk about him, and he comes up again in Hebrews. So we'll get back into Melchizedek. But look into verse 11. It says, If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people receive the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. For it is yet far more evident, for that after the similitude of Melchizedek there rises another priest, who is made, here it is, who is made not after the law of carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. After the power of an endless life. You may ask, how does this apply to you? But my friends, here are those contrasts I was talking about at the beginning. of how the Holy Spirit shows us the difference between the lesser and the greater in order that we might choose the greater and in verse 16 verse 16 affects every one of us for every one of us on earth is either under one of these two principles mentioned in verse 16 the first being the lesser the law of a carnal commandment the second being the greater, the power of an endless life. This law of a carnal commandment in this chapter is represented by the Levitical priesthood and it can represent all religion without Jesus Christ. Religion without Jesus is simply a carnal commandment. a carnal commandment. The word carnal meaning fleshly, or we could say outward. The carnal commandment is only dealing with the carnal nature, or the natural man. Listen to me, this is where many, many people cannot get it. I think of that man we talked to Friday night, Demien Joe talked to, who just could not come out of carnal thinking. I mean, he knew Bible verses, And he knew a little bit about the gospel. But he kept going back to changing himself. He kept going back to what he was doing. He kept going back to his religion. He kept going back to the carnal things. He could not see spiritual things. And this is where we must make the difference, make the discernment. Can we discern between what is carnal and can we discern between what is spiritual? You have the carnal law and you have the power of an endless life. And each of us sitting here and everybody in this world is under one of the two. They're either under a carnal commandment or they're under the power of an endless life. This carnal commandment is represented in this by the Levitical priesthood But it could be for any one of us. Our religion, it could be our Christianity. Many are prone to religion. Look around you, the whole world is filled with religion. All kinds of false religion. Man is prone to religion and man can be prone to Christianity in the same way to a false Christianity, not a true Christianity. But a false Christianity in the same way that somebody can be drawn to a cult or a false religion. Man is prone to religion. Every religion without Christ is superficially different, but fundamentally the same. The fundamental similarity is the carnal commandment. They are all under a carnal commandment. They are under a commandment that is trying to reform the flesh. A commandment that, for the sake of an illustration, maybe we could say this. That it takes rotten food and puts spices on it to try to make it better. Will spices make the rotten food better? How many spices do you have to add to the rotten food? to make it better. It doesn't matter. You can add 10 pounds of spices, the food is still rotten. And is there a problem with the spices? No, there's not a problem with the spices. The problem is with the food. Is there a problem with the law? Romans 7 says what? No, God forbid, there's not a problem with the law. The problem is not the law, the problem is us. The problem is sin and dwelling in a man. It doesn't matter how much spice you put on the rotten food, it's still rotten. And if you could take the same illustration, I was thinking about it, of taking a pig and dressing up a pig. You could dress it up, right? But it's still a pig. And so you could dress yourself up, you could change your outward actions. But if your nature, if your carnal nature is not changed, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It's just like dressing up the pig. It's a carnal commandment. You cannot make rotten food better by adding spices. And you cannot change a pig by dressing it up. And you cannot change a sinful person by adding religion. Oh, you may put on the dress, You can teach people to stop doing outwardly bad things and even teach them good manners and morals. But that's all superficial if the heart is the same. It's a carnal commandment. It's trying to make yourself look good on the outside when the inside is rotten. But God, here's the contrast. Here's the contrast. But God offers us something so much better than a set of rules and rituals or a ceremony. He offers us the power of an endless life. This is where you need, and every one of us, need to be under the principle of an endless life. The principle of an endless life. The power of an endless life. And this power of this endless life is not found in rules or rituals or ceremonies. Or even in going to church. I was talking to a lady this morning actually out there. I asked her what she needs to do to get to heaven and she said, I need to go to church more. I need to go to church more. Many people think that that's what will get them to heaven. The power of an endless life is not found in rules, rituals, buildings, religion, without God. It is found in a person. It is found in a person. Jump down to verse 24 and 25. Even though we're not getting this far, we'll just read these two verses. But this man, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he, being Christ, is able also to say to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't offer you some dead religion. He offers you the power of an endless life. An endless life. That's what He offers you. And like it or not, every Every person in this room, every person in this world is under the carnal commandment without Christ. I don't care if someone's an atheist. If someone's an atheist, they're still under the carnal commandment. They're still trying to reform themselves, to make themselves a better person, so that they... And why are they doing that? Do you know why they're doing that? I talked to a psychiatrist one time and brought him to this point. Because his conscience is telling him to do it. His conscience is telling him to do it. And where does his conscience come from? His conscience comes from God. He stands accountable before God. And his conscience tells him that. And he must reform himself to make himself better. And that is the principle that every man is under. Every man and woman today, without Christ, is under that principle. It's the carnal commandment. And it leads to death. It leads to death. But Jesus Christ offers us what? An endless life. An endless life. The law shows us the nature of God and the condition without Him. But when Jesus Christ comes into our lives, we are brought from death to life. We are changed on the inside. Galatians 6.15 says, For in Christ Jesus Neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. What other religion is preaching the new creature? Nobody! Because nobody wants to admit that they are completely ruined. But Jesus Christ, through his eternal spirit, because he is God, has this eternal priesthood. in those who trust in Him are given this new life, this eternal life. It goes beyond the carnal. It goes beyond the natural. What are you concerned with today? What are you concerned with today? That should be something you ask yourself. Are you concerned with the carnal things? With the natural things? Or are you concerned with the spiritual Granted, we must all deal with the natural things. We must all deal with our jobs, our families, and things of that nature. But if that's all you're consumed with, and that's the majority of your thoughts, it's carnal. You're still under the carnal commandment. You're still under the carnal law. But Jesus Christ, through his eternal spirit, because he is God, has this eternal priesthood. and those who trust in Him are given this new life. So here's the contrast. Who wants to continue in the carnal commandment? You might think you're not under the carnal commandment, but you are, unless you are in Christ. Like it or not, every one of us is making judgments, if we're not in Christ, of how good or bad We are. And we're in that system. Or, do you want eternal glory and eternal life in Jesus Christ? This is what he offers through himself. Oh, would you please come to Jesus today? Come to Jesus today! The carnal commandment leads to death, but Jesus Christ leads to eternal life. This is such good news for the lost, that you can come to Jesus today, and He offers you eternal life. He offers you eternal life. This is what Christ offers. Please, don't wait. Don't say, I'll do it tomorrow. Don't say, well, I'm okay, I'm doing my best. That many say, well, I'm okay, I'm doing my best. Come to Christ today. Come to Him today. He offers you eternal life. Eternal life with Him. Who here does not want eternal life? It's the greater. And it's the greater by far. It's the greater by far. For the natural carnal law leads to death. And this is so edifying for the believer, knowing that we have been set free from the bondage of sin and the consequences of sin by our precious Lord Jesus, our High Priest. Our High Priest, who in verse 25, He ever lives to make intercession for us. He's forever, think of this, Jesus Christ is forever pleading my case. He's forever pleading my case. I cannot sin where He is not standing before God, saying, Mark is righteous. He's covered by my blood. He is righteous. This is the most edifying thing for the saints, that we can know that Jesus Christ ever lives to intercede for us. Jesus told Peter in John 21, Peter, Satan desires to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, and that's every one of us. I would so quickly fall into sin and a lifestyle of sin in one moment, but Jesus Christ has prayed for me. He's interceding for me. God would God the Father would be so righteous and right in judging me and condemning me. I have so vilely sinned and violated God's law so many times that the Father would be absolutely 100% right and condemning me and judging me to hell, but Jesus Christ intercedes for me. Jesus Christ stands between me and the Father, and now I am brought into that fellowship, we are brought into that fellowship with Christ, with the Father, we as the saints of God, through the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ. This is the most edifying thing for the saints, the priesthood, the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ. It's amazing. I don't need somehow to become a better Christian. I just need to know Christ and that I am in Him and that He is eternally interceding for me. And now I can live in the power of His endless life. But, my friends, I'll end here because I'm very, I'm very concerned. I'm very concerned for several people here and your spiritual condition. And I would beg you, I would beg you, please, please come to Christ today. Please come to Him today. You are not promised tomorrow. He offers you this endless life. What else do you have? What else do you have? What else do you have to turn? To this world? This world will chew you up and spit you out and step on you. Where else do you have to turn? Sin? Sin will bring you to hell forever. You have nowhere else to turn. Come to Christ. Come to Him and through His eternal Spirit, He will give you eternal life. And He will ever intercede on your behalf before God. It's the greatest hope in the world. And when you come to Christ and turn from the carnal commandment, your life will be changed. And your concerns will be changed for eternal things. because of the work of God in you. And I would pray that you would do that today. Because it's so important. I hate to use that word, but it is. I don't know what else to say. It's so important. You must turn to Christ today. And at the same time, for us who believe, I think we can leave here jumping up and down. Literally in our hearts just jumping up and down saying Christ is interceding for me today Today in the past today and forever there's this eternal priesthood and it's the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ and Those who are trusting him we can just rejoice and have this incredible joy Because it doesn't matter what happens to me whatever happens to me. I I'm in God's hands. God has preordained it. And I am in Christ and found in Christ through His eternal priesthood. So let's pray. Dear Father in Heaven, I pray that you please work in the hearts of each of us here. Lord, I pray, Father, please, for those who are lost here, God, please, please open their understanding, God, to see the lesser and the greater, God, please, that they would see the greater, that they would see the riches in Christ and the destructiveness of sin and its consequences. Please, God, work in the hearts today. I pray also, God, for the hearts of the believers here, God, that we would be filled with great joy and great confidence because of our great Savior, Jesus Christ, and that He has this eternal priesthood, and that my sin could never disqualify me, for Christ is ever pleading my case, and He's forever pleading the case of the saints. I pray that we would have great joy and confidence today because of Christ. For His glory, in His name I pray. Amen.