A Priest Forever

Hebrews #16: an exposition of Hebrews 7:1-10. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, August 3, 2014.

Intro:
He came from nowhere.  He suddenly, un-expectantly burst on the scene of the biblical story.  Just as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished.  His entire story takes only 3 verses in the first book of the Bible.  Yet he casts a great shadow that stretches into the pages of the New Testament.  His name was Melchhizedek.  He was the king of Salem and a priest of the Most High God.  In Genesis 14 a coalition of kings rebelled against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam after being subjected to him for 12 years.  Among the rebels were the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The rebellion was squelched and the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered.  Abraham’s nephew Lot was taken, along with his family in the plunder.  When word reached Abraham he mounted a daring rescue mission.  Abraham took 318 men from his own household and pursued the enemy as far as Dan and in a daring nigh-time raid took back all the possessions including Lot and his family.  On his way home he is confronted by this shadowy figure.  We read about it in Genesis 14.

After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)  19 And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!

That’s it.  That is the entire biblical story of Melchizedek.  That took place around 2000 B.C. And for the next 1000 years there is no mention at all of Melchizedek.  Then in the 10th century B.C., under the inspiration of the Spirit, David wrote, “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”  With that statement God declared He was going to do something new.  There was coming one who, like Melchizedek would be a priest/king appointed directly by God.  In fact God guaranteed it would happen, “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind.”

As the biblical writer is trying to encourage and strengthen that struggling band of believers in Rome, he wonders what he can say that would give them courage in the face of rejection and governmental persecution?  Back in chapter 5 he sought to inspire hope by pointing to Christ our sympathetic, delivering, uniquely qualified High Priest.  Now he is going to expand upon that concept.  Our text this morning is found in Hebrews chapter 7 beginning with verse 1.

Text: Hebrews 7:1-10

The basic idea of religion is gaining access to God.
A means of making God approachable.
Gaining access to His presence.

The problem with law is that man can’t keep it.
The problem with the priesthood is that no man is adequate.

The need is for a new and different kind of priesthood.  A new an effective sacrifice.  This is the backdrop of our text this morning.

From this text we discover…

Thesis: Jesus Christ, as a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, reigns as a superior priest guaranteeing our acceptance before God.

There are 2 reasons given for His superiority in our text.

  1. His superior qualifications.  (7:1-3)
    Note the qualifications of our great high priest.

    • He is both a priest and a king – 7:1
    • This priestly king has no genealogy – 7:3
    • This priestly king is eternal – 7:3
  2. His superior authority.  (7:4-10)
    The writer presents 2 pieces of evidence.

    • Abraham paid him a tithe – 7:4-6a, 8-10
    • Melchizedek blessed Abraham – 7:6b-7

Conclusion:
The point of all this is that these believers should not fear Rome they should fear God!  They should rest in the assurance that their priestly king, who is eternal will grant them piece no matter how great the threat.  Their great high priest and king is far greater than any other so called king.  Child of God take heart.  Rest in peace because you have an advocate who is more than qualified and has supreme authority over all things.

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