back to indexBerean Community Church - Sunday Service 5.24
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Invited by redeeming love before the throne of God above. 00:03:55.540 |
When condemnation grips my heart and Satan tempts me 00:04:11.500 |
to despair, I hear the voice that scatters fear. 00:09:12.540 |
One day when heaven is filled with his praise. 00:09:29.020 |
who have joined us this morning for our worship. 00:09:36.000 |
And I'm sure you've been reading up or seeing things online. 00:09:41.000 |
But before we do that, we have the most important part 00:09:47.000 |
that you're doing a great job in helping the parents 00:10:06.020 |
We're taking, again, a short break this week. 00:10:15.020 |
Typically, we have summer off during this period. 00:10:24.520 |
and so we decided to keep this going at least 00:10:30.540 |
I think it's till the end of July or early August. 00:10:33.540 |
And then we'll be taking a break at that time 00:10:37.540 |
So again, we have a one-week break this week. 00:10:40.040 |
And then after that, we'll pick right back up 00:10:42.040 |
and finish the study of the book of Ephesians. 00:10:47.040 |
have been waiting to jump into the Bible study 00:10:50.540 |
and because we're not taking a break, we're going, 00:10:53.540 |
you still want to do that, you can email Pastor Mark 00:11:01.040 |
Another announcement is with our Indian pastor support. 00:11:12.540 |
are committed to for a year is going to be up in June. 00:11:19.540 |
to sign up again for one more year from June to June next year. 00:11:28.540 |
You may have been reading that India has been on lockdown 00:11:33.540 |
and especially the poor people in the villages 00:11:40.540 |
And so the government has been sending out support, 00:11:46.540 |
And the local government, many of the local governments 00:11:51.040 |
are preventing the Christians from getting access to that. 00:12:02.540 |
our pastors and the local churches that they're supporting. 00:12:08.540 |
we ask you to, again, recommit for the next year. 00:12:13.040 |
and then he'll give you more instructions on that. 00:12:22.040 |
And if you haven't, this would be a good time 00:12:25.540 |
And it'll be about $50 per pastor and their family. 00:12:29.540 |
So if you're able to do that, please let us know. 00:12:39.540 |
from the government, from the local government, 00:12:43.540 |
again, has been changing literally day to day. 00:12:51.040 |
We hear one thing from the federal government, 00:13:13.040 |
in California who have scheduled to open their church 00:13:19.040 |
We will not be opening up officially on the 31st. 00:13:35.040 |
to make a big announcement tomorrow about churches, 00:13:37.040 |
and the likelihood is that he's going to open it up 00:13:41.040 |
And so we're hoping that we'll be able to do that 00:13:55.040 |
We're asking everybody who comes to wear their masks. 00:14:01.040 |
We're going to have certain parts of the church shut down. 00:14:09.040 |
And so, again, so that's another reason why we're waiting 00:14:13.040 |
another week so that once the announcement is made, 00:14:15.040 |
we can speed that up and make sure that we're ready 00:14:18.040 |
and not to hurry the opening up when we're not ready. 00:14:22.040 |
And so watch out for some more specific announcements 00:14:25.040 |
of what to prepare for when you do come to church, 00:14:31.040 |
which doors to use, which doors to use to go out. 00:14:37.040 |
so that you can watch that, and before you come, 00:14:42.040 |
As we mentioned, as of now, we have all three services, 00:14:46.040 |
830, 1030, and 1230 services are at least on paper full. 00:14:50.040 |
We're asking if you signed up for one of those services 00:14:54.040 |
and you are not planning to come out immediately, 00:15:03.040 |
And so before we even consider opening up another service, 00:15:06.040 |
we want to make sure that all three services are full 00:15:09.040 |
and the people who signed up are planning to come. 00:15:11.040 |
And so if you are planning to come on June 7th, 00:15:14.040 |
starting from June 7th and consistently come, 00:15:16.040 |
then again, please keep your name on the roster. 00:15:20.040 |
But if that's not the case, you have your name signed up, 00:15:23.040 |
but you're thinking maybe sometime down the line 00:15:29.040 |
If that's your case, please let us know ahead of time 00:15:32.040 |
because we have some people that we need to make room for. 00:15:37.040 |
and it may change, but as of now, that's our focus, 00:15:42.040 |
we'll be able to see many of you back at church. 00:15:46.040 |
All right, let's pray, and we'll start our worship. 00:15:48.040 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for sustaining us, 00:15:54.040 |
especially through these rough times, Lord God, 00:15:59.040 |
We know, Father, that you are completely sovereign, 00:16:03.040 |
that whatever good or difficult things, Lord God, 00:16:10.040 |
we know, Father, that your love covers all of it. 00:16:24.040 |
I pray for much wisdom that we would not open in flesh, 00:16:43.040 |
and that not only would we be worshipping you 00:16:48.040 |
but that we would do our best to be a good witness 00:16:53.040 |
And so we ask for your blessing over this time, 00:16:57.040 |
may it be given to you in the abundance of joy in our hearts, 00:17:00.040 |
and may it be multiplied for your use, Lord God, 00:17:32.040 |
And what a privilege it is for us to gather again this morning 00:17:37.040 |
If you're able, would you please stand with us as we worship? 00:17:59.040 |
As we gather, may your spirit work within us. 00:18:13.040 |
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, 00:18:39.040 |
As we gather, may your spirit work within us. 00:18:53.040 |
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, 00:28:53.040 |
We're finally jumping back into Hebrews chapter 7. 00:28:57.040 |
I'm encouraged to see how many of you are excited to get back into Hebrews, 00:29:06.040 |
Hopefully your enthusiasm will be the same after we study it, 00:29:10.040 |
because it is something that really requires your commitment to work toward understanding. 00:29:17.040 |
But it is also really rich in knowing that God had prepared this deep into the Scripture. 00:29:24.040 |
I think, personally, when I study about Melchizedek and what he means in the redemptive history, 00:29:33.040 |
you can see God's intricate work that's going on behind the scenes that sometimes we don't see, 00:29:38.040 |
and that all of this leads to a greater confidence in who Christ is. 00:29:42.040 |
So let me read the passage that we're going to be covering. 00:29:46.040 |
We're going to be in chapter 7 for at least two to three weeks, 00:29:49.040 |
but let me read you the first part of it in verses 1 through 10 before we get in. 00:29:54.040 |
"For this, Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, 00:29:59.040 |
who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 00:30:04.040 |
to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, 00:30:08.040 |
was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, 00:30:12.040 |
then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 00:30:15.040 |
Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, 00:30:21.040 |
but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. 00:30:25.040 |
Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. 00:30:30.040 |
And those indeed of the sons of Levi who received the priest's office have commandment in the law 00:30:37.040 |
to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, 00:30:43.040 |
But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham 00:30:50.040 |
But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. 00:30:53.040 |
In this case, more men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, 00:31:00.040 |
And so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received his tithes, paid tithes, 00:31:05.040 |
for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him." 00:31:16.040 |
We pray that the study of Hebrews, and specifically the priesthood of Melchizedek, 00:31:22.040 |
would open our eyes to see your intricate hands of your sovereignty 00:31:28.040 |
and how you work together all things according to your good purpose. 00:31:33.040 |
So help us, Lord God, to have eyes to see, ears to hear, 00:31:37.040 |
and a heart that can be molded, Lord God, as you desire. 00:31:43.040 |
All right, so again, we're living in really crazy times, 00:31:50.040 |
and I'm sure some of you have been following the news carefully. 00:31:53.040 |
I've literally been watching probably about an hour or more of different information 00:31:58.040 |
that comes out every day, seeing what kind of judgments we're going to make, 00:32:03.040 |
what is the government saying, what are the numbers, what's going on around the world. 00:32:06.040 |
And so all of this, obviously, is so that we can have a better grasp of what to expect going forward. 00:32:12.040 |
But right now the information coming out is so all over the place. 00:32:15.040 |
I mean, you have the extremes of, "If we come out, we're going to die," 00:32:19.040 |
to, "All of this is a hoax, is a fake, this doesn't exist." 00:32:24.040 |
And some will say, "Well, science says this," and the other side will also say, "Science says this," 00:32:30.040 |
and they have their own doctors and own professionals, own experts, that will back up whatever they say. 00:32:35.040 |
And so it's very difficult to discern where do we put our confidence. 00:32:41.040 |
And I'm sure we all have our different opinions about all of that. 00:32:45.040 |
But from the very get-go, for Christians, our confidence should have never really been with all of those things. 00:32:52.040 |
Because whatever it is that we study, wherever we put our confidence, 00:32:57.040 |
if we put our absolute confidence in anything outside of Christ, 00:33:03.040 |
eventually it will be exposed for what it is. 00:33:07.040 |
Even with the best of intentions, mankind does not have the ability to have the truth and be consistent all the time. 00:33:15.040 |
And so, you know, the reason why I say all of this is because all of this is really connected to what 00:33:20.040 |
the author of Hebrews has been saying about Jesus all the way up to now, and he will continue to say this. 00:33:27.040 |
If you are anchored in anything outside of Christ, you will already have seen your heart drifted. 00:33:34.040 |
And I think, you know, one of the things that this exposed, this pandemic exposed, is if your heart was already somewhere else, 00:33:43.040 |
in the last two to two and a half months, my guess is many people have already drifted in their faith. 00:33:49.040 |
Because whatever they were anchored in, it wasn't Christ. 00:33:53.040 |
As soon as they weren't able to gather, as soon as there wasn't people or fellowship, they began to drift. 00:34:00.040 |
And so as we make our way back into Melchizedek, I want to make sure that we understand why we're studying this to begin with. 00:34:08.040 |
Our main point is not so that we can be better theologians and say, you know, Melchizedek, 00:34:13.040 |
Archer taught about Melchizedek, and I know who he is, and you know, you may be able to know more than 99% of other Christians who this guy is. 00:34:20.040 |
That is not our point. If you have all that knowledge and it doesn't transform your heart, your life, your hope, 00:34:29.040 |
then you've really missed the whole point. In fact, it probably does more harm than good to know a lot of theology, 00:34:35.040 |
and your head gets bigger, but your life doesn't reflect that. 00:34:39.040 |
Well, the study of Melchizedek. We're in chapter 7, and he's going to be the main character, 00:34:45.040 |
and who he is, his priesthood, all the way to chapter 10. And so we're going to be on this subject. 00:34:50.040 |
His name may not be specifically mentioned each week, but again, his priesthood and who he is, 00:34:55.040 |
is going to be the central subject from chapter 7 to 10. In fact, we can say the meat of the book of Hebrews 00:35:02.040 |
is between chapter 7 and 10. That everything that's been happening up to this point is really to set up for chapter 7, 8, 9, and 10. 00:35:09.040 |
Because the argument was, starting from chapter 1, that Jesus is greater than the angels. 00:35:15.040 |
He's greater than the prophets. He's greater than Moses. He's greater than Aaron. 00:35:20.040 |
And so all of this to say, to pay attention to Christ. That was his main point. 00:35:25.040 |
But the heart of the matter really comes to his priesthood. 00:35:30.040 |
Because the natural tendency for a Jew was to drift back into his old way of life. 00:35:37.040 |
And say, well, Jesus may be a great man, and he fed thousands, and performed miracles, and maybe he's a great man. 00:35:43.040 |
But to a Jew, the temple, the sacrificial system, was his life. 00:35:51.040 |
So he may be a great man, but what does that have to do with my life and my relationship with God? 00:35:56.040 |
Well, that's the point that he's trying to get at in chapter 7, 8, and 9, and 10. 00:36:03.040 |
But, again, I'm going to read some verses with you before we jump into the three-point that I have this morning. 00:36:11.040 |
Melchizedek is not first mentioned in chapter 7. 00:36:14.040 |
So I hope some of you who are excited about studying chapter 7 may remember that Melchizedek actually was introduced to us in chapter 5. 00:36:23.040 |
He actually is introduced...actually, let me read that to you. 00:36:27.040 |
In Hebrews 5, 9-14, "And having been made perfect," talking about Christ, 00:36:33.040 |
"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." 00:36:42.040 |
So he actually introduces Melchizedek, right? 00:36:45.040 |
That Christ is our high priest according to Melchizedek. 00:36:49.040 |
But then in verse 11 he says, "Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. 00:36:57.040 |
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, 00:37:04.040 |
and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 00:37:07.040 |
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant, 00:37:14.040 |
and solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." 00:37:21.040 |
So even before he gets to chapter 7, he kind of has to pause. 00:37:25.040 |
And I'm pretty sure if you've been at our church for any period of time, 00:37:28.040 |
any time that I think I'm going to lose you, you probably kind of remember me saying, 00:37:35.040 |
"Hey, you need to pay attention to this," or, "If you're going to stay awake for any part of the message, 00:37:39.040 |
this is the part of the message that you need to pay attention to." 00:37:41.040 |
I say all of that because I know it requires soberness to understand and engage. 00:37:47.040 |
And if you just kind of casually listen, there are certain things that may go over your head, 00:37:53.040 |
Well, that's what the author is really doing here. 00:37:55.040 |
He's going to get into the details of Melchizedek. 00:37:58.040 |
There are some parts of what he says about Melchizedek that if you sit there casually listening, 00:38:04.040 |
like, you know, I could talk about the love of God and grace of God, 00:38:07.040 |
and all these things are central issues of Christianity, 00:38:10.040 |
but you probably heard those messages so many times that you can kind of casually listen 00:38:17.040 |
Well, Melchizedek, because most people don't know who he is, 00:38:24.040 |
and most people don't know the significance of who he is and how he's connected to Christ and his priesthood. 00:38:29.040 |
So there's a lot of things that the author is going to say that if you don't pay attention, 00:38:36.040 |
if you don't commit to pay attention, if you go to sleep at 4 and wake up at 7, 00:38:47.040 |
"I can't tell you if you're not paying attention and if you're not committed to this, if you're immature," 00:38:53.040 |
and then he gets to chapter 6 with a stark warning that if you've been in the church 00:38:58.040 |
and you've tasted the goodness of God and you had all the blessing, all the teaching, 00:39:03.040 |
all the benefits of being in the church, and yet all of it goes over your head 00:39:08.040 |
and you're still drifting back into your old way of life, he says there's no hope for you. 00:39:13.040 |
So in other words, all of chapter 6 is to get them to pay attention. 00:39:18.040 |
Here comes the meat. That's what he was trying to do, right? 00:39:22.040 |
Here comes the meat. I want to tell you about Melchizedek, 00:39:25.040 |
but you really need to commit to this and pay attention. 00:39:28.040 |
There's consequences if you just remain as infants. 00:39:32.040 |
And then he wraps it up at the end of chapter 6 before we get into chapter 7, 00:39:36.040 |
starting from verse 17. This is what he says. 00:39:40.040 |
"In the same way, God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise 00:39:44.040 |
the unchangeableness of his purpose interposed with an oath, 00:39:48.040 |
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, 00:39:52.040 |
we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us." 00:39:58.040 |
So again, pay attention to that. The whole reason why he gets into Melchizedek 00:40:02.040 |
is to make sure that the hope that we have in Christ is secure. 00:40:07.040 |
Are you anchored in Christ? That's the question. 00:40:11.040 |
We're not talking about a piece of paper. We're not talking about the church that you attend. 00:40:16.040 |
We're not talking about the confession of the friends around you. 00:40:23.040 |
Are you firmly anchored in Christ? And what I'm about to tell you 00:40:28.040 |
is so that you can examine to make sure that you are anchored in Christ. 00:40:32.040 |
Okay, in verse 19, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, 00:40:37.040 |
a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil, 00:40:43.040 |
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever 00:40:51.040 |
So I hope you notice that he ends chapter 5 introducing Melchizedek, 00:40:55.040 |
giving a stark warning to pay attention, and then he goes back at the end of chapter 6 00:40:59.040 |
saying, "I'm going to talk about Melchizedek now. Stay with me." 00:41:10.040 |
My guess is some of you who are listening to this sermon right now 00:41:15.040 |
may never have even heard of his name because he is only mentioned 00:41:20.040 |
in a few verses in Genesis chapter 14 and again in the book of Psalm one time. 00:41:28.040 |
So in totality, he's mentioned his name maybe about two or three times. 00:41:33.040 |
And yet, three, four, five chapters are dedicated 00:41:38.040 |
in that what a huge role he plays in redemptive history. 00:41:47.040 |
And that's why, again, so many chapters are dedicated, 00:41:50.040 |
and why he spends a whole chapter telling them to watch out and pay attention 00:41:56.040 |
So just to kind of give you a broad outline since we're jumping back in, 00:41:59.040 |
chapter 7 is about the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek. 00:42:05.040 |
Okay? So that's what we're going to be talking about today in a few more weeks. 00:42:08.040 |
Chapter 8, "Therefore, because of the superior priesthood, 00:42:13.040 |
the superior priesthood introduces a superior covenant." 00:42:20.040 |
And in order to have the superior covenant, there needs to be a superior sanctuary, 00:42:25.040 |
meaning that the old system, the whole system of approaching God 00:42:29.040 |
has been replaced by a whole new system of priesthood, covenant, and the sanctuary. 00:42:35.040 |
And then ultimately, all of this points back to Christ and his ultimate sacrifice. 00:42:40.040 |
So chapter 10 is about the superiority of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. 00:42:46.040 |
So that's a broad outline that we're going to be covering. 00:42:49.040 |
Chapter 7, "Superiority or ority of the priesthood." 00:42:56.040 |
And "Superiority of the sacrifice" in chapter 10. 00:43:00.040 |
All right, so all of that is an introduction. 00:43:03.040 |
So if you fall asleep now, it's completely your fault. 00:43:12.040 |
The main point today is the superiority of Melchizedek over Abraham. 00:43:25.040 |
And so, again, if you are following the outline, you can see. 00:43:30.040 |
Hebrews 7, verse 1, "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, 00:43:36.040 |
who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him." 00:43:43.040 |
In order for us to fully appreciate what he says here about Melchizedek being superior to Abraham, 00:43:50.040 |
we really have to have a good idea of who Abraham is. 00:43:55.040 |
Because without that, again, you might have some loose understanding of who Abraham is. 00:43:59.040 |
And without a deeper understanding of who Abraham is, 00:44:04.040 |
you wouldn't hear like the first century Jews that he's talking to. 00:44:14.040 |
In fact, let me go back early on where Abraham is introduced to us in Genesis 11. 00:44:20.040 |
But, again, the promise that God makes to Abraham, 00:44:24.040 |
which is a covenant that he makes with Abraham to his descendants and ultimately to the rest of the world, 00:44:28.040 |
and this is what he says, "I will make you a great nation." 00:44:34.040 |
"And I will bless you and make your name great. 00:44:37.040 |
And so you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you. 00:44:43.040 |
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." 00:44:50.040 |
According to the scripture, Abraham is not simply the father of Israel. 00:44:57.040 |
Abraham is the source of blessing for mankind. 00:45:03.040 |
So if you hear Abraham as, "Well, God started Israel through Abraham," 00:45:08.040 |
it wouldn't really make the kind of impact, what he's saying. 00:45:15.040 |
Because according to God's promise, all the other nations outside of the blessing of God 00:45:23.040 |
but yet the God of the universe who created all things isn't blessing them. 00:45:28.040 |
So the real blessing that only God can give is going to come through Abraham. 00:45:34.040 |
The rest of Israel's history, the rest of the Old Testament, is the fulfillment of this promise. 00:45:42.040 |
Every part of what you study in the Old Testament from a Jewish perspective 00:45:56.040 |
How are the other nations being blessed by this? 00:45:59.040 |
So the origin of their faith begins with Abraham. 00:46:05.040 |
In fact, God calls Abraham, and Abraham and his family obeys, 00:46:10.040 |
and they set out on this journey that God calls them to. 00:46:14.040 |
In a short period of time, they become so wealthy, 00:46:21.040 |
that his nephew and Abraham actually have to split. 00:46:25.040 |
So within one chapter, they've accumulated enough wealth 00:46:29.040 |
where they couldn't even share the same space. 00:46:33.040 |
This is not like New York, where you've got limited apartment space, 00:46:43.040 |
We're talking about just acres and acres of land. 00:46:49.040 |
And so again, the fulfillment of Genesis 12, 1, 2, and 3 00:46:56.040 |
that they become so rich, and they can't even stay together, so they split. 00:47:07.040 |
and he goes where we know later on Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:47:11.040 |
they come out, and so he settles over there, simply because of space. 00:47:16.040 |
Well, where Melchizedek comes in is in Chapter 14. 00:47:24.040 |
they're just enjoying their life, and they're enjoying the blessing of God, 00:47:28.040 |
but the kings of the Canaanites, four separate kings, they unite, 00:47:32.040 |
and they go into battle with the kings near Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:47:38.040 |
So those four kings attack them, and Lot happens to be on the losing side. 00:47:43.040 |
Not that he was in the battle, he just happened to be in the land. 00:47:46.040 |
And so the four kings of the Canaanites come and conquer them, 00:47:49.040 |
and they take all their possessions, and they're on their way back. 00:47:52.040 |
Abraham hears about this, as his nephew has been caught up in this, 00:48:08.040 |
But again, it's very important that you understand what's going on historically. 00:48:22.040 |
And he had enough fighting men to take with him, 00:48:32.040 |
Again, you have to understand the historical context in which Melchizedek shows up. 00:48:36.040 |
So when he says, "Melchizedek is greater than Abraham," 00:48:43.040 |
Abraham has been tremendously blessed by God. 00:48:48.040 |
He's not even a nation yet, and yet he's able to conquer four kingdoms by himself. 00:48:54.040 |
And after he regains possession of all that was lost, 00:49:03.040 |
is when he comes and encounters Melchizedek, the king of Salem. 00:49:15.040 |
because the point that he's trying to make is, 00:49:29.040 |
Greater than all these men. Greater than all the possessions. 00:49:32.040 |
So, whatever was happening during history at that time, 00:49:39.040 |
So imagine if you were a Jew hearing this, knowing the historical context, 00:49:49.040 |
He shows up from nowhere, and Abraham bows to him. 00:49:56.040 |
Abraham has so much possession in chapter 13, 00:49:59.040 |
he can't even stay in the same place as Lot, they separate. 00:50:05.040 |
Remember, these four kings conquered five other kings. 00:50:09.040 |
Abraham has become strong enough in chapter 14 to even conquer them. 00:50:16.040 |
And then here's this guy, literally one or two verses, 00:50:42.040 |
Other than way over in Psalm chapter 110, he says, 00:50:45.040 |
well the Messiah is going to come in the order of Melchizedek. 00:50:50.040 |
So the only other thing that we know about Melchizedek 00:50:53.040 |
is that Abraham considered him greater than himself. 00:51:00.040 |
that he is a king priest, received the tithe, disappears, 00:51:04.040 |
and then he says the Messiah is going to come in the order of Melchizedek. 00:51:07.040 |
So if you've been studying the Old Testament, 00:51:12.040 |
and all of a sudden the author of Hebrews says, 00:51:19.040 |
You want to really understand what God has been doing in history, here it comes. 00:51:30.040 |
But before I get into this meat, you need to pay attention. 00:51:37.040 |
and all you want to know is Jesus loves you and died for you, 00:51:43.040 |
and you're not curious enough to dig into his glory, 00:51:47.040 |
and you're not curious enough to ask deep questions, 00:51:56.040 |
Well, all of that, again, to give you the background understanding 00:52:02.040 |
of how a first-century Jew who knew the history would have heard, 00:52:12.040 |
Now, we're going to be on this subject for the next two, three weeks. 00:52:16.040 |
But for today, I'm going to give you three things that this passage says 00:52:22.040 |
Number one, the one who collects tithes is greater than the one who gives it. 00:52:30.040 |
"Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch 00:52:39.040 |
"Observe how great this man," Melchizedek was, 00:52:42.040 |
"to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the choice's spoils." 00:52:54.040 |
until the Mosaic law in Leviticus chapter 27. 00:52:58.040 |
So those of you who are with us studying Leviticus chapter 27, 00:53:05.040 |
But tithing actually shows up way before that, 00:53:08.040 |
here in Genesis chapter 14, and probably before that, 00:53:11.040 |
because there is no instruction given to Abraham. 00:53:13.040 |
Abraham knew to give tithe even before any instructions are written down. 00:53:18.040 |
So in other words, the sacrificial system outside of the Mosaic law existed. 00:53:25.040 |
He shows up, and the meaning behind the tithe, 00:53:28.040 |
whether it was pre-Mosaic law or post-Mosaic law, 00:53:34.040 |
"Thus all the tithes of the land, of the seed of the land, 00:53:37.040 |
of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's, and it is holy to the Lord." 00:53:43.040 |
Tithing was commanded to the nation of Israel as an act of lordship. 00:53:50.040 |
Giving a tenth of the best of the harvest was given to God 00:53:55.040 |
to declare that all of this ultimately belongs to you. 00:54:01.040 |
It was a first sign that whatever, whether I was a millionaire, 00:54:07.040 |
that in His sovereign will, God gave me what He gave me, 00:54:11.040 |
That's what tithing was in the Old Testament. 00:54:14.040 |
Well, he says, Melchizedek shows up, and Abraham, if he was rich before, 00:54:23.040 |
Because he just beat four kings, and everything that they took became his. 00:54:30.040 |
So you see this progression of God blessing him, 00:54:34.040 |
and he gives a tenth of that as an offering to Melchizedek. 00:54:39.040 |
And so he says, "The one who receives the tithes is greater than the one who gives it." 00:54:44.040 |
So immediately, Abraham recognizes him as greater. 00:54:49.040 |
Hebrews 7, 9, it says, "So to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes." 00:54:57.040 |
Again, I hope I didn't lose any of you, okay? 00:55:00.040 |
I hope you're putting your thinking cap on and straining to understand. 00:55:04.040 |
And if you don't understand, please ask, right? 00:55:07.040 |
Don't just kind of, you know, just kind of, "I don't understand." 00:55:11.040 |
If I don't understand, it must not be important. 00:55:14.040 |
I think part of the reason why there's shallowness in Christianity 00:55:17.040 |
is because there's shallowness in the interest in the things of God. 00:55:21.040 |
And so it's kind of like seeing, you know, seeing beautiful things from a far distance. 00:55:29.040 |
Those of you who ever traveled to maybe Seven Wonders, you know, 00:55:34.040 |
maybe, I don't know, like Dam for, you know, like you've gone to Machu Picchu, you know, the Great Wall. 00:55:41.040 |
Those are the only thing I can think of right now, right? 00:55:46.040 |
It's not the same hearing other people describe it. 00:55:49.040 |
It's not the same, right, as when you are able to physically watch it. 00:55:54.040 |
Well, I think in the same way, many Christians are satisfied with the explanation 00:55:58.040 |
that other Christians give about who Christ is. 00:56:03.040 |
And the reason why many people's faith remains shallow 00:56:06.040 |
is because they're satisfied with just staying, keeping their distance and not really digging in. 00:56:11.040 |
Well, again, this is one of those things that the more we dig, the more of glory of God gets revealed. 00:56:19.040 |
The more we dig, the more you see just how deep this thing goes, right? 00:56:25.040 |
So when he says, just by him giving the tithe, it can show, it shows 00:56:31.040 |
that Melchizedek is greater than this guy who just conquered all these kings. 00:56:40.040 |
Remember when Jesus says to the Jews, he said, 00:56:45.040 |
"If you abide in my word, then you shall know the truth, and you will be my disciple, 00:56:49.040 |
and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." 00:56:53.040 |
To set free? Well, you're not talking to slaves. 00:56:56.040 |
You're comparing us to these bond servants, these indentured servants. 00:57:05.040 |
We've never been slaves. How dare you call us that? 00:57:07.040 |
And then he says in John 8, 33, they answered him, 00:57:10.040 |
"We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone. 00:57:14.040 |
How is it that you say you will become free?" 00:57:25.040 |
You know, at the beginning of all this pandemic, right, and fear gripped the world. 00:57:32.040 |
We were seeing scenes of people dying on the street, 00:57:35.040 |
and we were hearing crazy numbers of over 2 million people going to get infected or even die. 00:57:40.040 |
And so we thought at the beginning of all of this that every single one of us is going to know somebody personally, 00:57:46.040 |
that there's some people in our church who's going to get it, and they're going to die. 00:57:49.040 |
And so fear gripped not only us, but the rest of the world. 00:57:53.040 |
And that's why they did something really radical, 00:57:55.040 |
shutting down the economy for this long, even with all the consequences. 00:58:00.040 |
Now that the information is coming out, and it is still serious, 00:58:05.040 |
but it wasn't anywhere close to what they were fearing in the beginning. 00:58:09.040 |
And so slowly the economy is coming back, and slowly people are coming back to work, 00:58:14.040 |
and churches are starting to open up, and I know that there's still a lot of fear. 00:58:21.040 |
How safe does it have to be for people to gather? 00:58:26.040 |
Is it a 100% guarantee that no one is going to get sick? 00:58:30.040 |
100% that you're going to live a long life, you and your children, and die at a ripe old age? 00:58:44.040 |
There are some things that we do as Christians that a lot of non-Christians wouldn't do 00:58:54.040 |
Living a long, safe, healthy life is the promise that the world gives, not Christ. 00:59:04.040 |
Because we believe in Christ, because we are anchored in Christ, 00:59:07.040 |
our decision-making is not purely made on safety. 00:59:15.040 |
Our satisfaction, our hope, our foundation, our security is grounded in Christ, in Christ alone. 00:59:23.040 |
See, these Jews thought that they were safe because they were descendants of Abraham. 00:59:28.040 |
We're not like these Gentiles. We're not like these pagans. 00:59:31.040 |
We said, "No, there's something greater than Abraham." 00:59:34.040 |
Well, if there's somebody greater than Abraham, where does that put us? 00:59:38.040 |
There's something outside of Israel greater than us, then where does it put us? 00:59:42.040 |
And all of a sudden, it completely abolishes their security. 00:59:49.040 |
Whatever it is that you are anchored in, you're not safe. 00:59:54.040 |
And that's why I said, "You're drifting back thinking that you're going to be safer if you go back to your old system." 00:59:59.040 |
He says, "No, Christ brings in something greater than that." 01:00:05.040 |
So just by the tithe alone, you can see that Melchizedek is greater. 01:00:09.040 |
But secondly, the one who blesses is greater than the one who is being blessed. 01:00:16.040 |
Verse 7, "But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater." 01:00:22.040 |
But without any dispute, you know what that means? 01:00:26.040 |
Abraham met Melchizedek, and it seems like, at least according to Scripture, that he's never met him before. 01:00:34.040 |
But immediately he recognizes somebody greater than him. 01:00:36.040 |
Again, just so that we understand the context. 01:00:40.040 |
If there was any period of time Abraham would have been an arrogant person, I think it would have been then. 01:00:55.040 |
He's got so much possession, he had to separate even before this happened. 01:00:59.040 |
So imagine how much wealth that Abraham has at chapter 14. 01:01:07.040 |
But all of a sudden he sees this strange guy coming, Melchizedek, and he immediately submits himself under him. 01:01:21.040 |
You know, like a lot of people play basketball, and maybe you're really good, and you're king of the court. 01:01:26.040 |
And if you play, you know, you get to play in four, five, six games straight because you're the best guy on the court. 01:01:32.040 |
And all of a sudden Michael Jordan shows up, or Kobe, or LeBron, whoever you're a fan of, or Steph Curry. 01:01:42.040 |
You can't open your mouth. There is no dispute. 01:01:46.040 |
Maybe in street ball and maybe at LA Fitness there's some competition, and maybe you might be a little bit better than them. 01:01:53.040 |
But all of a sudden if one of those guys shows up, there is no disputing because no one would take you seriously. 01:02:00.040 |
Even if you mentioned that, they would laugh at you. 01:02:03.040 |
He says that Melchizedek's superiority was so obvious. 01:02:09.040 |
Now we don't know what he saw. We don't know if there was some glory upon him. We don't know. 01:02:15.040 |
But as soon as he saw Melchizedek, he recognized God's presence upon him and his authority. 01:02:25.040 |
There was no jockeying. There was no questioning. There was no "Who are you? Why should I give you?" 01:02:30.040 |
There's none of that. As soon as he saw the Lord's anointing upon him, he, without dispute, 01:02:39.040 |
he gives him the tithe and he receives a blessing. 01:02:42.040 |
Now this blessing for Abraham's family is huge. 01:02:48.040 |
Because remember, Abraham already had God's blessing upon him. 01:02:53.040 |
Remember Genesis chapter 12? We said, "I will bless you and through you I will bless all the other nations." 01:02:58.040 |
And because of God's blessing, they're getting filthy rich and then they're able to conquer other nations. 01:03:03.040 |
And yet, he saw the blessing of Melchizedek greater than him. 01:03:14.040 |
And that should really cause us to take a step back and say, "There's something upon this guy." 01:03:23.040 |
It was not like any other kings. It wasn't like he just happened to be a great king. 01:03:29.040 |
There was some anointing upon him that he recognized. 01:03:32.040 |
And this blessing upon Israel, again, comes back again. 01:03:40.040 |
Esau, Jacob is the slippery one. Esau is the hairy one. 01:03:45.040 |
And whenever I read that story, I think, like, humanly speaking, I naturally gravitate toward Esau. 01:03:51.040 |
Because he's a manly guy. He's the guy who's hunting. 01:03:55.040 |
And Jacob's the guy who's a mama's boy. He's home, you know, playing something with his mom. 01:04:03.040 |
And so Jacob is staying home and he's maneuvering to take his older brother's blessing away. 01:04:12.040 |
And he said, "Well, if you give me your birthright, your blessing, as a firstborn, I'll give you this bowl of soup." 01:04:22.040 |
So what does this blessing mean to me when I'm going to die? 01:04:26.040 |
And it's just kind of drama. He's over-exaggerating. 01:04:29.040 |
Well, that little event, that little twist that Jacob carries out, causes the blessing to go through Jacob instead of Esau. 01:04:40.040 |
Later on, in Hebrews 12, verse 16, he warns us not to be like Esau, who sold his blessing and became immoral. 01:04:57.040 |
When we look at that, it's like, wow, he lost his blessing from God because he got hungry. 01:05:08.040 |
Now you have to understand that this blessing, this firstborn blessing upon Esau, 01:05:13.040 |
was not an ordinary blessing of any other family. 01:05:18.040 |
When he rejected the blessing, he wasn't just rejecting the inheritance of his forefathers. 01:05:24.040 |
He was rejecting God's blessing, God's promise that he made upon this family. 01:05:29.040 |
And so when he rejected, he was literally saying, "You know, what good is God to me? 01:05:34.040 |
What good is all the promises that God made to me, to my fathers and my grandfather, if I can't eat?" 01:05:43.040 |
And that's why he was called immoral and godless, because he rejected God for a bowl of soup. 01:05:51.040 |
What is my point? The point is to receive Abraham, who had this anointing from God, 01:05:59.040 |
to meet Melchizedek and to say, "Your blessing. I need you. Your blessing." 01:06:11.040 |
The one who was being blessed is less than the one who is blessing. 01:06:16.040 |
You know what this tells us is, our greatest hindrance in our walk with God is pride. 01:06:29.040 |
When we are not able to recognize, we're not able to recognize who God is, 01:06:40.040 |
That is our greatest hindrance to true worship and is the greatest hindrance to, ultimately, our life. 01:06:47.040 |
But when we're in the presence of God, there is no disputing. 01:06:52.040 |
When you go to heaven, you know, like even on earth, even in the church, 01:06:56.040 |
there's always discussions about whose opinion is right, whose is wrong. 01:07:02.040 |
Right now, you have the whole country, whole world divided as to who's right and who's wrong. 01:07:07.040 |
I don't think we're going to know for years, to be honest, like which information is right, which is wrong. 01:07:12.040 |
And everybody is absolutely convinced, "My party is right. My information is right. 01:07:17.040 |
My facts, the doctors that I rely on, we're all right." 01:07:20.040 |
And I don't think we're really going to know until years have passed and everything that we know. 01:07:25.040 |
And when we are separated from our emotions, our own opinions, 01:07:29.040 |
and we just purely look at the facts, what's going on today? 01:07:34.040 |
That happens oftentimes even in the church. Who's right? Who's wrong? 01:07:37.040 |
My education, my experience, my understanding, my giftedness over your giftedness. 01:07:45.040 |
And some, "No, mine better." No, you're better. 01:07:49.040 |
But when you look at the scene in heaven, there is no disputing. 01:07:54.040 |
If you've ever seen the picture of what heaven looks like, angels, elders, holy creatures, 01:08:01.040 |
the multitudes, Jews and the Gentiles, are all bowed down at the throne of grace in eternal worship. 01:08:15.040 |
When we're in the presence of God, it automatically causes us to be humble. 01:08:20.040 |
I would think Abraham would have been a very difficult person to bring to his knees at that point. 01:08:26.040 |
And yet as soon as he recognized God's anointing upon Melchizedek, he became humble. 01:08:35.040 |
Even though it was just a blip in history, it was a shadow that if you've been paying attention, 01:08:42.040 |
"Who is this guy? Why would Abraham submit himself to him? 01:08:47.040 |
Why would Abraham, with God's blessing, receive blessing from him?" 01:08:51.040 |
So that when Christ came and he said, "Jesus comes in the order of Melchizedek," 01:08:59.040 |
Now it makes sense why Abraham submitted himself to him. 01:09:05.040 |
Now it makes sense why Melchizedek did not dispute. 01:09:11.040 |
Third and finally, the one who serves perpetually is greater than the one who serves temporarily. 01:09:20.040 |
All the other priesthood that the Jews knew was temporary. 01:09:23.040 |
In fact, they had a time limit as to how long they could serve. 01:09:29.040 |
In Hebrews 7-3 it says, "Melchizedek is without father, without mother, without genealogy, 01:09:35.040 |
having neither beginning of days nor end of life." 01:09:39.040 |
Some people have read this and thought, "This sounds like Jesus." 01:09:45.040 |
And so there's been a lot of discussion as to, "Is this Jesus? Is this not Jesus?" 01:09:50.040 |
Because so many of the descriptions that he gives about Melchizedek sounds like Jesus. 01:09:55.040 |
Well, clearly he is not Jesus, and I'm going to explain that a little bit later. 01:09:59.040 |
What he is saying is that Melchizedek doesn't come from the same line of the Levites. 01:10:06.040 |
And when he says he's without genealogy, it means that his authority does not come from his birth. 01:10:17.040 |
Because if you remember the Old Testament, the Old Testament is filled with genealogies, right? 01:10:24.040 |
It's filled with genealogies, and sometimes we read these genealogies, 01:10:27.040 |
"What is the purpose of these genealogies? I don't understand who these people are. 01:10:30.040 |
Why are there so many pages and chapters that talk about genealogy? 01:10:35.040 |
Maybe if I was closer, maybe if that was my grandfather, that would make more sense." 01:10:39.040 |
The reason why there's genealogy is because genealogy traces the authenticity of that person's position. 01:10:47.040 |
Because God said that the seed of the woman is going to come, and he's going to crush the head of the serpent. 01:10:53.040 |
So he was constantly tracing the genealogy of how this Savior was going to come. 01:10:59.040 |
But they also traced the genealogy of the Levites, because only a Levite can participate in the temple work. 01:11:07.040 |
So when he says he is without father, without mother, without genealogy, means he is outside of that system. 01:11:14.040 |
That his authority doesn't come because his parents were Levites, or because his grandfather was blessed. 01:11:23.040 |
There is a separate system, separate priestly system, that is not submitted to human system. 01:11:30.040 |
Okay? So again, hopefully you're following me. 01:11:35.040 |
Remember when the disciples asked Jesus to pray, right? 01:11:40.040 |
This is what Jesus said to pray. He said, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 01:11:45.040 |
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." 01:11:52.040 |
That's the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, right? 01:11:56.040 |
That his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 01:12:01.040 |
Meaning, whatever God is doing, whatever system that God has, 01:12:06.040 |
whatever order that exists in heaven, will eventually be reflected on earth. 01:12:14.040 |
The problem that we get into is, we want the earthly things to be reflected in heaven. 01:12:22.040 |
A lot of times, the way we even imagine what heaven will be like, is utopia on earth. 01:12:29.040 |
Whatever is the most beautiful thing that I can imagine on earth, 01:12:35.040 |
The prayer and the activity of Christians is to recognize that even the most beautiful thing that you and I see on earth, 01:12:46.040 |
Sin affected not only human beings, but it also affected animals. 01:12:53.040 |
So everything that you and I see, all the systems that we see, have all been affected by sin. 01:13:01.040 |
And it will all be done away with when Christ comes. 01:13:05.040 |
So a Christian's prayer is to have his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 01:13:12.040 |
Well, the reason why I say all of this is because the Melchizedek's priesthood is a heavenly priesthood. 01:13:20.040 |
That wasn't meant for a temporary system where Christ came and it's done away with. 01:13:25.040 |
That temporary system, ultimately, was to prepare for the eternal system that was coming under Melchizedek. 01:13:41.040 |
When I see your face and I mention Melchizedek and you have a blank look, 01:13:45.040 |
I'll know if you paid attention or not, or if you got it or not. 01:13:52.040 |
Melchizedek, his priesthood, comes from heaven. 01:14:01.040 |
So I didn't mention this in the beginning, but I think it's important that I mention this. 01:14:07.040 |
Why does God use Melchizedek as a type, as an impression, to prepare for the coming of Christ? 01:14:16.040 |
Why doesn't He just say, "Melchizedek is a system made in heaven. 01:14:26.040 |
And then we find the reflection of that in Christ and then tells us a detail in Christ. 01:14:31.040 |
Because first of all, it wasn't about Melchizedek. 01:14:44.040 |
Hebrews 1, verse 1, it says, "God spoke in many ways in the Old Testament, through many avenues, in order to prepare." 01:14:58.040 |
So in other words, everything that you knew about the Gospel has been spoken through poetry, 01:15:05.040 |
through illustrations, through proverbs, through narratives, and through various kinds of types and pictures. 01:15:16.040 |
But now in the New Testament, the New Covenant, God speaks clearly through His Son, 01:15:33.040 |
India has the heaviest concentration, the largest concentration of illiteracy in the world. 01:15:38.040 |
In fact, they say that 39% of every illiterate person in the world is in India. 01:15:44.040 |
That's a large number of people who are illiterate. 01:15:48.040 |
And the majority of these illiterate people are in villages who are poor because they don't get education. 01:15:54.040 |
So you have young children as young as 3, 4, 5, even up to 10, 15, 16, 17-year-olds who have never gone to school. 01:16:03.040 |
We have several of our pastors who have no education. 01:16:06.040 |
And so when we go there and try to teach the Bible, and we do expositional teaching, many of them cannot follow. 01:16:12.040 |
So a lot of the mission work that is done in India are telling them how to tell stories 01:16:21.040 |
So, and here's what's interesting, and this, hopefully this will kind of help you to understand why the Bible is told a certain way. 01:16:30.040 |
In the time of Christ, an average Jewish community, what do you think their illiteracy rate is? 01:16:40.040 |
According to studies, literacy rate in an average Jewish community during the time of Christ 01:16:49.040 |
was somewhere between 0 to 10%, depending on which village you lived in. 01:16:56.040 |
In fact, most scholars believe it was much less than that. It's anywhere from 0 to 3 to 4%. 01:17:01.040 |
That means over 90% of the people that Jesus was speaking to could not read or write. 01:17:07.040 |
Over 90% of the people that the Bible was written for them to understand could not read or write. 01:17:14.040 |
So they were completely dependent upon coming to the temple. 01:17:18.040 |
And that's why the Bible says over and over again to commit yourself to what? 01:17:21.040 |
Public reading of the scripture because they couldn't read it for themselves. 01:17:26.040 |
And that's why they were so susceptible to wolves coming in. 01:17:31.040 |
Because they were completely dependent on them to tell them what the Word of God says. 01:17:36.040 |
And so God communicated these important things through poetry, through many different channels, 01:17:42.040 |
through particular types, Melchizedek, so that when Christ came and they saw who he was, 01:17:52.040 |
Even though the way we're studying it, we're expositing words and verses and paragraphs and syntax and grammar, 01:18:00.040 |
the early church could not study it that way because they didn't know any of that. 01:18:04.040 |
So God left impressions. God left stories to make it clear that here's a clear connection of who he is. 01:18:13.040 |
And he says that Melchizedek was made like the Son of God. 01:18:17.040 |
And this is why we believe that this is not Jesus because he said he was made, first of all, like the Son of God. 01:18:25.040 |
The Son of God was not made like Melchizedek. Melchizedek was made like the Son of God. 01:18:29.040 |
In other words, Christ existed before him. Christ was there before him. 01:18:33.040 |
And so Melchizedek took a reflection of him and then now Christ comes to fulfill what God placed in history through Melchizedek. 01:18:49.040 |
A Jewish priest could only serve between the age of 25 and 50. 01:18:53.040 |
So even if he had a long career, it would only have lasted 25 years, he says. 01:19:00.040 |
And again, in Psalm 110.4, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 01:19:04.040 |
'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'" 01:19:09.040 |
Now, remember what I read at the end of chapter 6? 01:19:13.040 |
The reason why he talks about Melchizedek is for what purpose? 01:19:17.040 |
So that our hope will be firmly grounded in the truth of Christ. 01:19:24.040 |
That wherever that we are anchored in, that is not Christ, is always going to shift. 01:19:30.040 |
That Christ, his priesthood, is not one time done and over with. It is perpetual. 01:19:36.040 |
In other words, he is constantly interceding for us. 01:19:39.040 |
Not only while we live, but even after we die. 01:19:44.040 |
Even in eternity, he is a perpetual priest interceding on our behalf. 01:19:51.040 |
So our foundation, our hope, is not just during this lifetime. 01:20:01.040 |
At all times, perpetually, eternally, he stands before us and God. 01:20:11.040 |
So therefore, because Christ has fulfilled that role, 01:20:21.040 |
Which is really interesting because as soon as Christ came, 01:20:35.040 |
Remember when Jesus is coming into Jerusalem and he weeps over them? 01:20:38.040 |
Because only if you knew today what would bring you peace, 01:20:41.040 |
but because you did not recognize the coming of the king, 01:20:48.040 |
He was prophesying about the judgment coming on AD 70. 01:20:52.040 |
The Roman government got sick of the Jews and they came and completely obliterated the temple. 01:20:57.040 |
Every stone was just taken out and there's no remnant of the temple 01:21:02.040 |
because the Romans completely obliterated it. 01:21:04.040 |
Now the reason why that's significant is one, it fulfilled Jesus' prophecy. 01:21:13.040 |
Because all the genealogies was kept at the temple. 01:21:19.040 |
So if somebody comes and says, "You know what? I come from the line of the Levites, 01:21:23.040 |
so let's set up the sacrificial system." They can't. 01:21:27.040 |
Because genealogy is gone. And they can never establish the king of Israel either. 01:21:32.040 |
Because he had to come from the line of Judah. There is no record of that. 01:21:36.040 |
And even if they were able to somehow find it, the temple is utterly destroyed. 01:21:54.040 |
Just like John the Baptist came on the scene to prepare the coming of Christ, 01:21:57.040 |
and as soon as his work was done, he was gone. He went to be with the Lord. 01:22:02.040 |
All the sacrificial system, the Levites, right? All of it. 01:22:10.040 |
And now he stands before us in the heavenly sanctuary, 01:22:14.040 |
in the new covenant, with a greater priesthood, with a greater sacrifice, 01:22:24.040 |
Can you imagine? This was half of the sermon that I prepared for today. 01:22:32.040 |
Until yesterday I had, actually three times longer than this, 01:22:37.040 |
and I said, "There is no way I'm going to be able to go through all of this in one day." 01:22:40.040 |
And even now, as I'm wrapping up, it's like, "I could have cut this in half." 01:22:52.040 |
First of all, if you're not in the Word, if you're not in the Word, 01:22:56.040 |
it doesn't matter how much counsel you get, and, "Oh, you know, church people are so encouraging to me. 01:23:02.040 |
You know, I really love our pastors, and I really love our community." 01:23:06.040 |
It won't last. I guarantee you it won't last. 01:23:09.040 |
If you yourself are not in the Word regularly, and your anchoring is not Christ, 01:23:14.040 |
it's on people and system, and so I strongly want to encourage you, 01:23:19.040 |
if you're not in the Word, to get into the Word. 01:23:25.040 |
and you're used to just kind of getting elementary understanding of the Word of God, 01:23:31.040 |
and when it comes difficult, Leviticus, you know, like Revelation, Ezekiel, 01:23:37.040 |
minor prophets, some of the things that are a little bit more difficult to understand, 01:23:41.040 |
we kind of shy away from, and say, "Oh, that's for the pastors. That's for the people in the seminary." 01:23:49.040 |
The gold, the gold is buried. It's not deeply buried, but it's buried. 01:24:02.040 |
He wants us to seek Him, and those whose hearts get enlightened, whose eyes become open, 01:24:09.040 |
are the people who recognizes the treasure that is in Christ, 01:24:13.040 |
and so He goes out and sells everything so that makes sure He has it, 01:24:17.040 |
and in comparison to what He has, all of the other things become rubbish. 01:24:20.040 |
Who does that happen to? For those who are continually pressing on, pushing forward, 01:24:28.040 |
to take hold of that which He was taking hold of. 01:24:34.040 |
Melchizedek is one of those treasures that I believe that if you strain to really deeply understand, 01:24:42.040 |
even this blip in history, even this thing that you may have never properly understood, 01:24:57.040 |
God had all of that covered, even in this little tiny glimpse that He showed me, 01:25:08.040 |
And you'll see, the more you dig into the scripture, 01:25:12.040 |
maybe you've been looking at the trees and you're looking at the fruits, 01:25:15.040 |
but you don't understand the depth of these roots because the real fruit is really underground. 01:25:23.040 |
And that's when you really see, man, this is the Holy Spirit. This is God. 01:25:31.040 |
And again, that's how it affects me when I study Melchizedek. 01:25:35.040 |
It reminds me that even the things that I have no understanding, 01:25:39.040 |
that eventually when I do dig it up, when I do understand it, wow. 01:25:45.040 |
So I hope that that's where you are, or hopefully that's where you will be, 01:25:50.040 |
so as we continue to study through the book of Hebrews, that it will impact you deeply, 01:25:55.040 |
and that you would fall in love with the redemptive history and the Word of God afresh, 01:26:00.040 |
as we continue to study together. Let's pray. 01:26:04.040 |
Gracious and loving Father, we pray, Father, that your Word, 01:26:09.040 |
which is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, 01:26:15.040 |
that what you have intended it to do, that it would do in our own hearts. 01:26:20.040 |
Lord, we are so easily amused by foolish things in this world, 01:26:26.040 |
knowing, Father God, that so much treasure is in your Word. 01:26:32.040 |
Help us, Lord God, to fall in love, not just to be students, not just to memorize, 01:26:37.040 |
but to fall deeply in love with your words, knowing that it is your words, 01:26:45.040 |
So we pray, Father God, that as you strengthen our hearts, as you anchor us in Christ, 01:26:50.040 |
that you would give us a clearer and clearer vision of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 01:26:55.040 |
that our confidence would not come from the leaders of this world, 01:26:59.040 |
or many statistics, anything that we see around us, 01:27:04.040 |
but that we may be firmly anchored in Christ and Christ alone. 01:27:24.040 |
Before the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect plea 01:27:33.040 |
A great high priest whose name is love Whoever lives and pleads for me 01:27:43.040 |
My name is graven on his hands My name is written on his heart 01:27:52.040 |
I know that while in heaven he stands No tongue can bid me this depart 01:28:15.040 |
Satan tempts me to despair And tells me I'm a hill to a pan 01:28:24.040 |
Upward I look and see him there Who made an end to my sin 01:28:34.040 |
Because the sinless Savior died My sinful soul is counted brave 01:28:43.040 |
For God the just is satisfied To look on him in condemnation 01:29:14.040 |
Behold him where the rose divine Perfect spot in his righteousness 01:29:24.040 |
The great unchangeable I am The King of glory and of grace 01:29:33.040 |
One with himself I cannot die My soul is purchased by his blood 01:29:43.040 |
My life is lived with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God 01:29:57.040 |
One with himself I cannot die My soul is purchased by his blood 01:30:06.040 |
My life is lived with Christ on high With Christ my Savior and my God 01:30:16.040 |
With Christ my Savior and my God With Christ my Savior and my God 01:30:39.040 |
For today's benediction I want to read from Psalm 121 01:30:43.040 |
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains From where shall my help come? 01:30:48.040 |
My help comes from the Lord Who made heaven and earth 01:30:52.040 |
He will not allow your foot to slip He who keeps you will not slumber 01:30:59.040 |
Behold he who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep 01:31:03.040 |
The Lord is your keeper The Lord is your shade on your right hand 01:31:07.040 |
The sun will not smite you by day Nor the moon by night 01:31:11.040 |
The Lord will protect you from all evil He will keep your soul 01:31:15.040 |
The Lord will guard your going out And your coming in 01:31:56.040 |
An empty grave is there to prove My Savior lives 01:32:36.040 |
And life is worth the living Just because He lives 01:32:46.040 |
Oh praise Him Oh praise Him Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah 01:33:06.040 |
Let all things their Creator bless And worship Him in humbleness 01:33:28.040 |
Oh praise Him Hallelujah Praise praise the Father praise the Son 01:33:40.040 |
And praise the Spirit three in one Oh praise Him Oh praise Him Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah