Word of God privilege to hear that Word of God. This morning we turn to Hebrews, and our text will begin at verse 1 of chapter 7. Let me read back two verses earlier as well that helps give us something of the context. Hebrews chapter 6, then beginning at verse 19. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. 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 tithe of the spoils. And indeed, those who are the sons of Levi who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithe 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 tithe from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here, mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, who was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. So far, a reading of God's word. May he indeed bless it unto us. Let us join together before the preaching of God's word in our, raising our voices again to our God, our psalm of preparation, Psalm 119b. Please be seated. Let us come again before our Lord, asking that he would bless the preaching of his word. Great and holy God, we know God's goal is infinite, and we are finite. Yet you have communicated to us in your word, and we pray that as it is preached, that your spirit may open our understanding to receive words of life, words of truth, that would build us a most holy faith. In Jesus' name, amen. A wonderfully wrapped present with paper adding with bows and arrows, but actually the children are like that. What do you do? You sat on a shelf. I don't know. Parents might think a little differently getting that, but you say, no, I want what's inside. That is the great treasure. That is what I'm looking for. And as we come to our text, we are dealing with another part in the book of Hebrews that The writer is reminding us about the great and glorious treasure that is Jesus Christ. This is the treasure. This is what those who are being written to had embraced. They had heard the gospel, they had embraced Jesus Christ and said, here is our glorious treasure. But then there were the troubles that came and continued. And there was some that began to remember some of the wrappings, as it were, of the Old Testament, of all the priesthood, of the temple, of the sacrifices, all those things that were right there, visible before them, that they could see, that they could smell. And they were tempted to go back to those things. And the writer of Hebrews is concerned for them and writes them. And he wants to remind them of the glorious treasure that is Jesus Christ. There is a truth that they knew they did not see Jesus. He had ascended into heaven, and yet they were to know him, to experience that fellowship with him and not be distracted and tempted by the things that they could observe by their senses. The Apostle Peter writes something similar, reminding those that he writes in his first epistle, where he writes, the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. having not seen you love. And we must ask ourselves again and again, do we know this Jesus, that we would love him and find a joy inexpressible? Or are we tempted to say, if only we had things more tangible, it can be a danger even to us. This morning we look at Melchizedek. The writer of Hebrews is going through and he is reminding the people that all the things that were so significant in the Old Testament that his readers knew and appreciated that Jesus Christ far surpassed them. Whether it was the prophets that God spoke through, It was Jesus who was the final word of God. Where there was the angels in their splendor and glory. And yet Jesus far transcends them. Where there was Moses who went up on the mountain and received the revelation of God. He was only a servant in the house and Jesus is the son And now we turn to Melchizedek. I don't know how familiar you are with Melchizedek. When you look in the Old Testament, you don't find a lot about him. There's a mystery. We'll look at Melchizedek this morning. We'll look at that mysterious aspect of it. We'll look that here is a king and here is a priest. And then what the writer wants us to understand from that. Melchizedek, we read about in Genesis 14, verse 18 through 20. He gets three verses. And yet our writer draws our attention to the significance of this man. A reference again, once more in the Old Testament in Psalm 110. of this priest, and of a priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. And as we think about this mysteriousness of it, we look at our text and we begin in verse 3. Look at what it says there, referring to Melchizedek without father, without mother, without genealogy. having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of Man, remains a priest continually." You think, well, here is something strange. How can somebody not have a father and mother? How can somebody not have a beginning and an end? And we think, wow, this is odd. And because of this, some people have thought that This is actually Jesus Christ presenting himself in the Old Testament before his incarnation. And when we read our text, we see that he's made like the Son of Man. He is compared to Jesus. He is not represented as being Jesus manifesting himself in the Old Testament. But why then this uniqueness of him? Well, in the Old Testament, and in Genesis in particular, you think of those men who are significant. And what do we find? We find always that there is the genealogy connected to them. And you have probably been guilty of skipping over some of those sections in the Old Testament, and you think, oh no, here's another chapter. and it's all names, and you skip over that, and you go, oh no, another chapter, and you go, can I skip over that? But there's a reason. You see, God's plan of salvation is in history. It is connected to the promises that he has made, whether it is to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, David, and all careful followers. Therefore, the genealogies are significant. And this is why Melchizedek stands out so much in contrast. He showed up on the scene. There's no record of father or mother or genealogy. He comes out of nowhere on the scenes. It's revisited, it's had been recorded, and it's a huge sumptuous story. This is Genesis chapter 14. And it is because there is a priesthood. that is true of Melchizedek, that is independent of the priesthood of the Levites and of Aaron and his sons in particular. There is a distinction there. And here is one who is of a different order, a different category, a different classification. He is presented mysteriously, and people must have wondered as they read through Genesis. They said, what is this doing here? There is some explanation of this man. We see that he was a king. Melchizedek, king of Salem. Now his name itself is made up of two words, meaning king and righteousness. king of righteousness, and he is also king of Salem, a place, a city. And Salem is a reference, most believe, to Jerusalem. In Psalm 76, verse 1 and 2, you have a reference calling Jerusalem Salem, peace. And here you have two characteristics of this man. righteousness, and peace. Here, represented in this man. And we think of those characteristics. That this is what is true of those who are in the presence of God, who would approach God, who would worship Him, who would serve Him. Righteousness and peace. that have come together perfectly in Jesus Christ. And here is a man then who is King, who has authority. And he is a picture of Jesus, who is righteous, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and who is that one of peace. who called people to himself to find peace, and who is the one who is king, who will judge every person, who is the judge of all the earth. And Melchizedek then is a king. But even more, what our writer focuses on, beginning in verse 10, is that he was a priest And this seems sort of odd. Where was his connection? How did he gain this status? We look at how he is identified. He is identified as priest of the Most High God. The priest of the Most High God. And the Most High God was the God of Abraham. He worshiped and served the same God as Abraham. And he was a priest. And we look at that and we marvel that there would be this man. He is God Most High. And he is that priest. He was called Abraham, who has entered into covenant with Abraham. And yet here is one who is outside of that call. And though Abraham would be seen as the father of Israel, of the nation, through whom all the nations of the world were to be blessed, yet here is Melchizedek presented as one who was above Abraham. Now think about that. Those who are familiar with the Old Testament, they would think, who are the greatest men as God was dealing with his people? They would think of Moses, who received the law, who organized the people, who led them out. But they would go back and they would say, well, Abraham was chosen by God, called out. He received the promises. Here was a man whose faith is set before us. Who walked with God, who was called friend of God. Abraham, that source of all the people of God, the children of Abraham. And people would say, I didn't get much. And yet, Melchizedek is good. He's greater than Abraham. How was that done? Well, in the freehood, we see his two aspects. He receives tithes. He's a peep of God. And so, from there, Abraham tithes all that he belongs to. And what is that tithe? It was established in a ready long before Moses was established. His message made his wise way to give gifts all the way to the plains. I don't see one thing for the error. He read the letter, God going back even for his teeth. He looked after how great a man he is, and each of them gave a handful. Word from a ten-year-old is a curse, and no, he's one less man. Here's one. Kubram. When we look at it, we see that. Act 14, written on the last year, from August to December of 2018. What I've said is obvious. On all contradiction, the later is not by, the better. The greater. And it is him, who received the King's Gift to Kubram. It worked a little, because who represented God to the people of Israel who were Levites? They were given that glorious status and privilege in Israel. They weren't given land. All the other tribes, they had their allotment, and it came to Levi, and they didn't get any. Did they get shortchanged? No, they were blessed, because God says, I am their inheritance. eye in their portion. And they would receive tithes from the people, the support, the tabernacle, and later the temple, the priesthood of Aaron and his sons, and they ministered before God on behalf of the people. This was their glorious privilege. And the people would say, oh, the Levites, they have that glorious position. They were lifted up, they were set aside because of their position. And yet here, notice the reasoning of our writer. Mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them. Even Levi, who received tithes, Levi who received them from the people on behalf of God that there might be the ministry before God, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was a descendant of Abraham. And as Abraham acted, He acted for those who would follow him. And so Levi also, in that sense, paid ties to Melchizedek. So you get this sense of, as this is being developed, we are being reminded of the significance of this man who is relatively obscure in the Old Testament. I mean, you get three verses in the Old Testament, and you look at Abraham and how many chapters does he get? And one other reference in Psalm 110, yet the greatness of this man. But then what is the point of it? It is going to be that this man was like the Son of God. Melchizedek was given as a picture of Jesus Christ. The original pattern is the eternal Son of God. And there is the pattern that Melchizedek follows, but then it is Jesus Christ who is in the order of Melchizedek, and it is Jesus Christ who ascends again into heaven. And so you have that beautiful circle, as it were, drawing this together to help us to understand that it is Jesus who is that focus. Here is the glorious treasure. And Levi and the priesthood, that the people could see, they could say, here is what happened. They would bring the animal. I would lay my hands on the animal, I would confess my sins, and they would take it away to be killed, and I could say, there go my sins. There is a substitute. But here we are reminded, there's something greater. Yes, Levi was great, but Melchizedek is greater. Well, why don't we have Melchizedek then? Where are the significance? And it is in Jesus Christ, who is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, because he didn't come. from Levi. He came from the tribe of Judah. How could he then be that high priest? How does that fit into God's plan? Would he be excluded from the priesthood in Israel? He was not a Levi, but he didn't have that priesthood. It was after the order of Melchizedek. And here we are reminded Melchizedek was greater even than Abraham and therefore greater than Levi. And that's the picture that we are given to remember that Jesus is greater than all. And that picture draws us away from those things that are external. And do we have to remember that as well? We do. If somebody would ask you, where is the most holy place? Where do you feel that there's a place where you can go and be closer to God? You might say, well, church. You might say, well, let me think about that. Is there an external that is going to define for you a place that is more holy than another? See, those who are being written to, they were being drawn back to the externals, to the ceremonies, to the sacrifices, to that tangible reality. And they are being reminded, those are the shadows. Where there was the prophets, where there was the revelation of angels, where there was Moses, where there was Levi and the priesthood, those were the shadows. And the reality is Jesus. Because for us, all of our life needs to be lived in the very presence of God. Jesus, that reality, that treasure, that if they would take away the church buildings, we would say we can still worship God as well, because my heart treasures Jesus. Trust Him. He is my great high priest, and I don't need all the externals. And there can be the draw of that. And we need to guard against that and to think there are things that can help us. You see it sometimes in men who are drawn away to the externals. Perhaps you have read in the last week or two Hank Hanegraaff, Bible Answer Man, who has gone over to Eastern Orthodoxy. with all of its tangibleness, with all of the visual, with all of the ceremony. And you think, what draws somebody to that? Are those who like high church, as some call it? Who like the externals? And this is what the Hebrews are being warned against. as they are tempted to go back, as if they were missing something. It just wasn't real enough. And he reminds them all the things that you're looking at, and even those things that are greater, greater than Levi, greater than Abraham. It was only a picture of a great revelation of God in Jesus Christ. He is the one that though we do not see, we love. And we cannot make ourselves dependent on the external things. And we think about how we are to apply that in our lives. That we are to remind ourselves of our relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Here is the way to God. And we cannot make it dependent on a certain place, a certain ambience, a certain environment. Jesus Christ alone is sufficient, the way, the truth, the life. And this is to be our great source of joy, of comfort, of confidence, And we think, too, of our worship services. And some people say, you know, they're so plain. They're so ordinary. Can we spice them up a little bit? Have a little more visual? And we say, nothing is to come into worship that God does not give us. They would have nothing that would distract us from the centrality of our relationship to God, coming to Him in every part of our worship through our Savior, Jesus Christ. There is the focus. And sometimes we need to be reminded of that. Because we can all be tempted. I'm sure that you've gone to some cathedral, some church, and the roof just soars up. And you see these massive columns or pillars. And you feel something. You think, wow, too bad our church isn't quite like that. But you see the danger? As if the circumstances would determine my standing in the presence of God. This is what the whole book of Hebrews is about, and here in particular, reminding them, yes, Levi and the priesthood was a part that God had given in the Old Testament, and they had a privileged and a glorious position, but it fades to nothing in comparison to Jesus, who was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is just put in there to remind us, to show that there was going to be something greater than Levi, than his descendants, than Aaron as a Levite and his sons. Because they were born, they had their genealogy, they served as priests from 30 to 50, they retired and they died. And they had to be replaced, and it went on and on and on. And it did not deal with sin in a final way, because the sacrifices kept happening. But it is Jesus, in the order of Melchizedek, who is able to offer once and for all a sacrifice sufficient. And therefore, the writer says, remember Jesus. more glorious than the entire priesthood of the Old Testament, than all the sacrifices, than all the glory and gold of the temple, here is the true treasure. And we see it dimly. Sometimes it becomes obscured in the midst of suffering, of trial, of uncertainty, of And here you are reminded, look to Jesus, that full revelation of God to us. After the order of Melchizedek, a priest who was able to deal with sin once for all, to satisfy the judgment, the justice of God. And here is that picture. and how glorious it is. Jesus' priesthood was necessary. Friedrich Melchizedek, though his death is not recorded, was a true man. He died. It was not recorded because God in his perfect wisdom and providence had this recorded without beginning, without end. It's not recorded that he might be a picture of Jesus Christ. And that's what we need to see. It is Jesus who lives forever to intercede. who is able to intercede on the basis of his one sacrifice of himself, that spotless Lamb of God, that we may come to Jesus and say, here is a sacrifice sufficient for my sin, a sacrifice sufficient for your sin. Think of how many sacrifices in the Old Testament Every day, morning and evening, and then all the other times of the year, when there would be times, the new moon, the feasts, animal after animal after animal. And yet there was never an end to it. And we begin to get a picture of what our sins deserve, death upon death upon death. Then we come to the one sacrifice by the priest after the order of Melchizedek, and it is finished. Justice is satisfied, and we say, this is what I need, that I might stand before God, clothed in the righteousness that I find in Jesus Christ. My sins covered, forgiven, one greater than Aaron, greater than Levi, greater than Abraham, greater than Melchizedek, because He is the Son of God who has come to earth to be that priest, to minister for His people. So think about that. Jesus. Let nothing detract from that. Focus on Him. Understand that though you do not see Him, even as Peter wrote in his letter, do you rejoice? Do you say, I have Him, I know my faith takes hold of Him. There is my hope. There is my glory. For he has done what I cannot do, what no earthly priest could do, but only what the Son of God, incarnate priest after the order of Melchizedek, could and did do. He is our hope. He is our joy. He is our peace with God. Amen. Let us pray. Lord our God, as we come before you, we have but one way, Jesus Christ, for it is his blood shed as that perfect sacrifice that covers our sins, that washes us clean from all our sin, that we may stand before you. It is his righteousness that is ours as we by faith are united to him, that we may rejoice that he is our king of righteousness, that he is our king of peace, that he is that priest to whom we come, because he ever lives to intercede for us, for he is able to perfect, to bring to completion, and therefore we glory in our Savior and pray that we may never lose sight of Him, that we may never be distracted by the externals of the things of this world, whether they are associated with worship or not, but that our eyes may always be fixed upon our Savior, risen from the dead, exalted to the right hand of God the Father, and interceding for us. We pray in his precious name. Amen.