We turn this evening to Hebrews chapter 7,
and we will begin our reading with verse
1.
Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 1, 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, Hebrews
chapter 7, and now verse 2, 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, abideth a priest continually.
Now consider how great this man was, and
to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a
tenth of the spoils.
Verse 24, But this man, because he continueth
ever hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is
able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them.
For such an high priest became us, who
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens.
May God speak to us this evening through
his word, and add his blessing to our
meditation in this portion of the scriptures.
I would like to suggest to you tonight
that we live in an age in which
the voice of Christianity is being heard in
the midst of many other voices.
I can remember over 30 years ago that
in the Dominican Republic, missionaries as we know
them represented about the only foreigners who came
with a religious message.
That is not now true in our country
and in many other parts of the world.
There is a very dynamic Islamic missionary movement
spreading around the world today, backed up by
a great deal of wealth.
There is a continuing fascination on the part
of those of us who belong to the
Western world with the religions from the Eastern
world.
It is very strange to understand that for
their bankruptcy can be seen in the conditions
that exist in many of the nations from
where these religions come.
Yet today there is great fascination, even in
the Dominican Republic, for religions that come from
the Orient.
Today in my room in the Lodge, I
heard on one of your radio stations a
program on astrology broadcast every day to Orient
people about their lives in connection with the
stars.
They must have a great number of listeners,
I judge, from the program that I heard
today.
Interest in supernatural things is greater than ever
before.
Films and books, many stories, many people believe
that they have actually seen things from outer
space.
There is a great deal of interest in
things beyond this world.
Now, in all of this confusion and superstition
and deception, we who are Christians really believe
that the Lord Jesus is the only Savior
of mankind.
Many people look at us and they call
us arrogant.
Many religions in the world are quite happy
to accept the Lord Jesus as one of
many religions and many religious leaders and many
forms of salvation.
But when you say that he is the
only Savior, then we are accused of being
arrogant.
But in all of this confusion and superstition
and deception, you read in the portion that
we have read this evening, down in verse
26, "...for such a high priest became us."
One of the translations reads, "...he is the
high priest that we need indeed."
Only the Lord Jesus is the Savior, and
this is seen in verse 25, where you
read, "...wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost to come unto God
by him."
This is the very essence of the Christian
message.
First, that the Lord Jesus is able to
save.
That is not a superficial statement.
Of all sources of possible help, there is
only one who is able to save.
I was at a camp in British Columbia
many years ago, a camp called Camp Anvil
Island.
We were at a camp with boys, and
I remember the last night there was a
meeting around the bonfire and some of the
boys gave their testimonies.
When an hour had gone by, the camp
director said to the young fellows, he said,
"'Well now, if no one else has anything
to say, we'll have a partying word of
prayer and we'll go to our camp.' The
little boy put up his hand and said,
"'Sir, I would like to say something.' So
the camp director said, "'Well, what would you
like to tell us?' He said, "'Sir, I
was saved twice today.'" That made most of
the boys sit up and take notice.
So the camp director asked him how he
had been saved twice.
He said, "'This afternoon we went up the
mountain behind the camp, up a very steep
incline full of rocks.
We went up very carefully, and following our
leader, we tried every stone first, and then
we put our weight on it, and thus
we went up the mountainside.
I tried a stone, and then when I
put my weight on it, it slipped and
I fell and began to go down the
mountainside.
And my counselor was right there and he
stretched out his hand and he grabbed me
by the arm and he saved me."
That was the first time.
Some of the boys listening began to smile
a little, and the camp director said, "'Well,
tell us, son, when was the second time?'
He said, "'We came down from the mountain
and we were all tired and perspiring and
we went swimming.
I don't know how to swim,' he said,
"'but we were so anxious to get into
the water that I threw myself in farther
than I thought, and I wasn't able to
touch bottom, and I gave one yell.
And the counselor was right there and he
grabbed me by the hair and he pulled
me out.
He said, "'That was the second time I
was saved.'" Well, by this time a number
of the boys were giggling, and one little
boy said to another, "'He doesn't know what
it means to be saved, but I want
to assure you tonight that the little boy
knew exactly what it means to be saved.'"
He didn't know anything about the dimensions of
spiritual danger and salvation, but he knew what
it meant to be saved.
Twice he had been in danger and twice
he had been saved.
Those of us who are older know by
the experiences of life and by the word
of God just how real are the spiritual
dangers that surround us.
The power of sin and death.
The Bible says there is only one, in
spite of all the messages we hear, who
is able to save.
And he not only is able to save,
but he can save to the uttermost.
That is a beautiful word, and all you
have to do is to compare some of
the translations to see how rich is its
meaning.
I share with you some of the translations
tonight.
He is able to save completely, absolutely, for
all time, fully and completely.
And one has written in a paraphrase, he
can guarantee their total and final salvation.
So he not only can save, but he
saves in the most wonderful way.
It is a full and final salvation, when
finally he will bring us into the presence
of God, totally glorified to share in the
glory of the Lord Jesus forever.
This is not a vain boast, and I
speak tonight to mature Christians, but we must
go back and remember we are not arrogant.
This is not a vain boast.
In the Bible, God very carefully lays the
foundation on which the Lord Jesus stands as
the only Savior and one who can save
to the uttermost.
In Hebrews chapter 7, there are three reasons
given why the Lord Jesus is able to
save and why he can save to the
uttermost.
We will take one tonight, one tomorrow night,
and the last one, Lord willing, on Friday
night.
First of all, and we will go over
the subject carefully tonight, in our age all
moral standards are below.
One reason why the Lord Jesus is able
to save and save to the uttermost is
because of his moral character, because of who
the Lord Jesus is.
We start with the story of a very
mysterious person called Melchizedek.
The story itself is found in the book
of Genesis chapter 14.
You need not turn to it this evening,
but in Genesis you find there are four
invading kings from the east.
They come sweeping into the Transjordan area and
they carry all before them.
A great number of kings, five in number,
are put under their domination, and for twelve
years they serve the four invading kings from
the east.
In the thirteenth year they rebel, and in
the fourteenth year the four invading kings return
from the east, sweeping even a wider circle
through the Transjordan area, carrying everything before them.
Then they finally surround the five rebellious kings,
and they go to battle, and the kings
from the east win.
The kings from the Transjordan territory flee in
despair before the power and might of these
invading kings.
One of the kings who was defeated was
the king of Sodom, and as he was
defeated, the invading kings from the east took
all that he had, including Lot, the nephew
of Abraham, and his family and his goods,
and they were all carried away as part
of the spoils of their time in the
Transjordan area.
Jesus brought to Abraham, and Abraham gathered together
318 of his choice men beyond them, and
under cover of night he finds the four
kings from the east, and he destroys them.
Then he takes all of their spoils, which
must have represented a tremendous wealth, and he
made his way back home.
On the way home he was met by
Melchizedek, a very strange and mysterious person that
appears in Genesis chapter 14.
We don't know very much about Melchizedek, but
what we know about him is of vital
importance, and our subject tonight is his character
as the background for the character of the
Lord Jesus.
All we know about his character, which as
far as this writing to the Hebrews is
concerned, is sufficient.
Any more would be superfluous.
All we know is that his name was
Melchizedek, which means King of Righteousness, and that
he was the king of Salem, which later
became known as Jerusalem.
Salem means peace, and Jerusalem means foundation of
peace, or city of peace.
Or some have recently thought it means vision
of peace, but the basic thought is peace.
These are almost political slogans in our contemporary
world today.
In the Dominican Republic we have recently gone
through a political campaign.
The president in office lost the election, but
his slogan was, Balaguer es la paz.
His name is Balaguer, Balaguer is the peace.
The man who won the election, President Guzman,
now in office, spoke a great deal about
the need for righteousness and justice in government.
Justice, righteousness, peace.
Right now, with slogans in the Dominican Republic,
and you hear them mentioned all around the
nations of the world today.
Now, in ancient history there was a man
who in his person was good and righteous.
The result was that his kingdom was a
kingdom of peace.
In the Dominican Republic we have unrighteousness in
high places, and we have people who are
confused and frustrated and who send a great
deal of indignation.
In other words, there's a lack of peace,
for there's a lack of justice and righteousness
in the ruling powers.
It was not like that in the kingdom
of Melchizedek.
In his person he was a good and
righteous man, and his kingdom was characterized by
peace.
Isaiah chapter 32 deals with the subject in
detail.
Verse 1, "...a king shall reign in righteousness."
Verse 17, "...and the work of righteousness is
peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness
and assurance forever."
What is lacking in the world today is
precisely peace and quietness and assurance forever.
It's missing because there is no righteousness in
the high places of government around the world.
But Melchizedek was a good man.
He was a righteous man in his character
and person, and thus he was the king
of Salem of peace.
His kingdom was characterized by peace.
As we leave Melchizedek and we come to
the person of the Lord Jesus, I would
like to share with you this evening the
message of verse 26 of chapter 7 of
Hebrews, where you read, "...for such an high
priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled."
Now, those three words deal with the person
and the character of the Lord Jesus, and
we must not rush over them this evening.
For again, I repeat, everything round about us
today minimizes the importance of holiness, of morality.
The Lord Jesus, in order to be able
to save and to save to the uttermost,
must be without blemish in his person and
his character.
So this high priest that becomes us is
precisely holy, harmless, and undefiled.
It has often been mentioned holy Godward, undefiled
selfward, and the middle word is the word
in the King James Version, harmless, which is
better translated in other translations as guileless.
That is manward.
Godward holy, manward guileless, selfward undefiled.
Now, in connection with the word holy, it
is used of God.
A number of times in the Bible I've
jotted down only one reference to share with
you this evening.
"...who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and
glorify thy name, for thou only art holy."
That is a synonym in that verse for
God himself.
He is the Holy One.
It is used of the Lord Jesus in
Psalm 16, and then mentioned in the Acts
twice, "...because thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy
one to see corruption."
The Lord Jesus is the Holy One of
God.
But in the Old Testament, the word is
used technically of that which is separated to
God, and I suggest that it is in
that sense that this word is used in
Hebrews.
He is holy in his person, and it
is fully and wholly separated and dedicated to
God.
Remember, this deals with the Lord Jesus here
in the world.
In Hebrews, in connection with his coming and
his ministry, it is stated that through the
eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to
God.
Peter quotes from Isaiah, and he says concerning
the Lord Jesus that he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Then the Lord Jesus himself said, "...my meat,
my sustenance, is to do the will of
him that sent me."
All through his life, in every moment, we
witness one who is fully and completely separated
joyfully and spontaneously to the will of God.
Remember the temptation, as we usually say, although
it has been pointed out that the more
accurate word is the testing of the Lord
Jesus.
For six weeks in the desert, he underwent
great and severe testing, and the Lord Jesus
never yielded.
The testing never became a temptation, and temptation
never led to sin.
But he was tested as no one else
has ever been tested.
It has been suggested that all the testings
that the Lord Jesus received are precisely those
which Israel received, and as a nation did
not stand the test and yielded and fell
in sin.
In the generation of the Lord Jesus, the
Herodians, their policy, their political policy was to
give food to the people, keep them quiet
and submissive by giving them food from time
to time.
I've seen that in the Dominican Republic.
The President, who is now out of office,
many times passing his home, I've seen long
lines of people, numbering sometimes into the thousands,
waning all through the hours of the night.
And then in the early morning they go
by the gate one by one, and by
a representative of the President they were given
a little bag of food.
That never met their basic needs, never dealt
with their real problems in life.
It was simply a way to try and
keep the people quiet and submissive, and of
course it didn't work.
He lost the election on May 16.
The Herodians wanted just simply to give the
people food from time to time and keep
them quiet so that they would have their
way and power in the nation of Israel.
The devil comes to the Lord Jesus and
suggests he turns the stones into bread to
satisfy his appetite.
To do that would have been to move
out of the will of God and to
do that which was contrary to his will.
And the Lord Jesus, whose meat was to
do the will of him that sent him,
would not do that, and he stood fast
in the testing.
The Sadducees in their generation with the Lord
Jesus wanted to cooperate with the Roman authority
and that will maintain their power and influence
in the nation of Israel.
Satan comes to the Lord Jesus and he
suggests, shows him all the nations of the
world their power and their glory, and offers
them to the Lord Jesus.
And the Lord Jesus said no.
Again he was tested, and he did not
yield to the temptation from the evil one.
The Pharisees believed that through direct intervention of
God the problem of Israel would be solved,
but they had their own concepts about that
miraculous intervention.
Satan says to the Lord Jesus, throw yourself
off the pinnacle of the temple and they'll
believe and follow you, for God will protect
you through divine intervention and they'll see how
great and marvelous you are.
And he resisted the testing and the temptation
of the evil one.
The Lord Jesus in all of this was
tested.
Notice that when we are tested, often we
yield, and in yielding we fall into sin.
And because we yield, we never exhaust the
full force of the testing.
We never feel its last final thrust, for
we yield and we fall in sin.
The Lord Jesus never yielded.
Thus in all testing or temptation, the Lord
Jesus felt the full thrust, the intensity of
the testing, right to the last strain, and
he never yielded.
For God-ward, the Lord Jesus was fully,
completely and fully dedicated to God in active
obedience to the will of God.
Now, the second word that is mentioned is
the word harmless, and I've already suggested to
you that the word perhaps should be guileless.
You remember that the Lord Jesus said about
Nathaniel when he saw him under the tree,
he said, Behold an Israelite in whom there
is no guile.
The Lord Jesus then, in his dealings with
the people of Israel and all mankind, there
was no guile.
That is, there were no selfish interests.
I'm a visitor at Park of the Palms,
and I have a little radio, and I
listen to the news from time to time,
and I judge that in this general area
there is a political campaign, and I've heard
some of the politicians and I've heard some
of their promises.
It is characteristic of most politicians to make
great promises.
Not many of them, thank God for some
who do, but not many of them fulfill
their promises.
The giving of a promise is just the
way to power, and they make the promise
for they want the power.
There is a selfish interest in giving the
promise.
In all that the Lord Jesus did with
those that surrounded him, there were no selfish
interests.
He did not come to be served, but
to serve and to give his life a
ransom for many.
I emphasize once more, no selfish interest in
the Lord Jesus.
In Philippians chapter 2 it is stated that
he existed in the form of God and
thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation.
He came down into our world as a
servant, and the word really is slave.
The basic thought in Philippians 2 suggests that
the Lord Jesus did not cling to his
prerogatives and rights, but was willing to come
down into our world to serve, even as
a slave, in order to help us.
There were no selfish interests.
He was guileless, manworthy in his relationship with
men and women.
And Peter, like concerning the Lord Jesus, who
when he was reviled, reviled not again when
he suffered.
He threatened not, but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously.
The climax I suggest to you is Calvary,
and we go back so often to Calvary.
And you remember again that the Lord Jesus
misunderstood from the cross, cried from the innermost
part of his being, Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do.
There was no guile in the Lord Jesus.
It was not the way they thought it
was.
He had come to his own.
By his own he was rejected, but he
only came to serve and to help and
to save those that were in need.
No wonder God said from heaven, This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased, giving his witness as to the character
and person of the Lord Jesus, holy and
guileless.
But the last word, we must dwell on
it for a moment, he was undefined, so
unlike all of us here this evening.
I'd like to note with you some of
those portions in Hebrews which are just a
little difficult to understand.
I've jotted down some of the verses, and
I share them with you.
In chapter 2 you read, In all things
it behoves him to be made like unto
his brethren.
Thus we establish right away that the Lord
Jesus went through the experiences of life that
are common to us.
I've lived in the Dominican Republic over 30
years.
I am not a Dominican.
I was not born there.
I am not a Dominican citizen.
I love the Dominican people, but because I'm
not part of the race, there are things
I understand that I have not yet grasped
about the Dominican people.
Sometimes I have sat with them, even in
recent times, talking about certain problems, and they'll
smile and say, Mr. Cochran, you don't understand,
for you aren't really one of us.
That can never be said of the Lord
Jesus.
It doesn't matter what problem you have.
It became him to be made like unto
his brethren in all points, and the Lord
Jesus went through all the experiences of our
lives, and he knows all about it.
In that experience, you go on and read
in Hebrews that he was made perfect through
suffering.
That is, as the captain of our salvation,
he was made perfect through suffering.
In chapter 1, even though he is the
brightness of the glory of God and the
very image of the substance of God, yet
to be fully qualified as our salvation, he
had to be made perfect through suffering.
The word perfect means fully qualified.
How?
By the experience of suffering and death.
To become one of us down in our
world with our same nature but without sins,
to understand all that we are and all
that we experience.
God opens his heart, and he will not
work by proxy.
It became God that in bringing many sons
to glory, the captain of their salvation, to
be made perfect through suffering.
He came down and was born into our
world, went through all the experiences of life,
including suffering and then death, and became fully
qualified to be the captain of our salvation.
That is, the road from this world of
sorrow right up to the presence of God
where there is the eternal glory is a
road that must be opened by the captain,
the pathfinder of our salvation.
He goes through first and we follow in
the grace of God.
Thus he became fully qualified through the suffering
and through the experience of death.
Then again, in Hebrews, you read that son,
though he was, he learned obedience by the
things which he suffered.
Now, this is not an ordinary son of
God.
I speak most respectfully.
This is the unique, own son of God.
And yet, son, though he was, he learned
obedience by the things which he suffered.
Now, we learn obedience by the unpleasant things
that happen when we are disobedient.
It was not that way with the Lord
Jesus, for he was never disobedient.
In connection with the Lord Jesus, I share
this verse with you from Isaiah, "'The Lord
God hath opened my ears, and I was
not rebellious, neither turned the way back.
I gave my back to the smiter, and
my cheeks to them that plucked off the
hair.
I hid not my face from shame and
sinning.'" How then did the Lord Jesus learn
obedience?
He learned that in this world, to obey
the will of God brought into his life,
as it does into our lives in a
lesser measure, ridicules and ill-treatment.
And this verse that comes from the prophecy
speaks of the shame that the Lord Jesus
suffered.
He was the object of open ridicule and
ill-treatment.
Why?
Because he did the will of God.
But by doing the will of God in
perfection, he learned the cost of obedience.
And son, though he was, he learned obedience
by the things which he suffered.
Then again, another verse from Hebrews reads as
follows, "'He himself hath suffered being tempted.' And
again, he was at all points tempted, like
as we are, yet without sin."
While we very briefly referred to the temptation
and testing of the Lord Jesus, I simply
repeat that because he never yielded, he experienced
in a degree that we never experience the
full intensity of testing right to the last
strain.
But he held firm, and he never yielded
in the testing or temptation.
Thus the Lord Jesus, who went through all
the experiences that are common to all mankind,
he emerged undefiled, selfless.
In our case, the contaminations of the world
have stained us and lingered with us.
The Lord Jesus went through them all, and
he emerged undefiled.
Godward he was hoped.
Manward he was guiled.
Selfless he was absolutely undefiled.
That is why the Lord Jesus, who unlike
the priests of the Old Testament down in
verse 27, first of all offered sacrifices for
their own sins and then for the sins
of the people, the Lord Jesus had no
personal sin or guilt.
Again in Hebrews, he was without spot.
In that way he offered himself to God,
but his blood is precious blood.
And then again, he knew no sin.
So Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, he becomes
sin for us, and the Lord Jesus, taking
our place and carrying our sin, then places
on us his righteousness, which is the righteousness
of God.
Now, as I close this evening, I want
to read to you once more from the
Old Testament a very important and beautiful phrase
in Isaiah 42.
Listen carefully as I read these verses.
God said, Behold my servant, whom I have
sold my intellect, in whom my soul delighted,
I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth righteousness to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the
street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and
a smoking flack shall he not quench.
He shall bring forth righteousness unto the truth.
Now, notice these following words.
He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till
he hath set righteousness in the earth.
Now, righteousness is conspicuous by its absence in
the world today.
But God says, Behold my servant, and then
he adds, He shall not fail, nor be
discouraged, till he hath set righteousness in the
earth.
What is the answer, then, to the promise
and the fact that we do not see
righteousness in the world today?
The Lord Jesus said, Before I went to
the cross, I have glorified thee on earth.
I have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do.
There is one work, then, which is finished,
and I suggest that is the groundwork on
which the Lord Jesus, in his second coming,
will introduce righteousness on a cosmic scale.
The work was done at Calvary where he
became the sin bearer, where because of his
moral character and person he was the only
one who could die for.
You remember the old hymns?
There was no other good enough to pay
the price of sin.
He only could unlock the gate of heaven
and let us in.
That's why the Lord Jesus was able to
save and save to the end.
There was no one else who in his
person was holy who could pay the price
of our sins and open the door into
the presence of God.
Thus the foundation was done, the work was
finished.
But the Lord Jesus returns and Peter speaks
of that coming day, and he says, We,
according to his promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Righteousness, constituted by its absence today, will be
the very atmosphere we breathe in that new
creation when the Lord Jesus returns in his
power and his glory.
In the meantime, when you are justified, you
have peace with God.
Melchizedek was a righteous man.
His kingdom was the kingdom of peace.
The Lord Jesus in his person is righteous.
Those who know him are made righteous and
they live in peace.
That peace is not tranquility of spirit.
That peace is the peace that refers to
the state of peace with God.
We were at war with God in evil
and wicked works.
The Lord Jesus went to the cross and
took our place.
There is now a state of peace, and
those who come to the Lord Jesus and
receive him, they are made righteous and they
are brought into a state of peace with
God, and from that state of peace flows
quietness of spirit.
Peace, as we often use the word, commonly.
Now, in closing tonight, remember, the servant of
Jehovah did not take.
He is not discouraged.
He has done the work.
He waits for the Lord to return, and
then what the world longs for today, righteousness
and peace.
There is a king who will reign in
righteousness, and the work of righteousness shall be
peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and
assurance forever.
Thus I conclude by saying once more, it
is because of the moral character of the
Lord Jesus, without fault, without blame, that he
is able to save and praise to the
enemy.
Tomorrow night our subject is the greatness of
the Lord Jesus and Friday night his unique
priesthood.
So turn to hymn number 51, and we
will sing a verse or two of this
hymn, especially the second verse, which reads, There
in righteousness his transcendent, lo, he doth in
heaven appear, shows the blood of his atonement
as thy title to be there.
Let us stand and sing verses 2, 4,
and 6 of hymn number 51.
Shall we stand and we'll sing verse 2.
There in righteousness his transcendent, lo, he doth
in heaven appear, shows the blood of his
atonement as thy title to be there.
May the Savior
Jesus Christ be glory both now and forever.
Amen.
You may be seated.