I would like you to turn again this
evening to Hebrews, chapter 7.
We'll read from 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, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth
part of all.
Verse 4.
Now consider how great this man was, and
to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the
tenth of the spoils.
And verily, they that are of the sons
of Levi, who received the office of the
priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of
the people according to the law, that is,
of their brethren, though they come out of
the loins of Abraham.
But he whose descent is not counted from
them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him
that had the promises.
And without all contradiction the less is blessed
of the better.
And here men that die receive tithes, but
there he receiveth them of whom it is
witnessed that he liveth.
And as I may so say, Levi also,
who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.
For he was yet in the loins of
his father when Melchizedek met him.
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."
Again, we trust that God will add his
blessing this evening to the portion of his
word we have just read together.
When we speak of the greatness of the
Lord Jesus, we must find a background against
which to deal with the subject, and in
the Bible this is done in different ways.
It is done historically by thinking out of
sacred history, not history in general, but that
special history of God which we have recorded
in the Bible, certain incidents which we understand
and can grasp.
And then, against that background, we see the
greatness of the Lord Jesus.
It is done sometimes by taking a ministry
in the Old Testament, and then against that
ministry which we can understand and grasp, of
the ministry which is incomparable of the Lord
Jesus.
Then it is also done sometimes by just
making a contrast between time and eternity.
All the things that belong to time and
that we understand, and especially those things that
are set out in the word of God,
only serve as object lessons to take us
to the eternal reality.
If it wasn't for that background, it would
be very difficult to speak about the greatness
of the Lord Jesus.
In our subject this evening, the historical background
is the man called Melchizedek.
We find in verse 1 that he is
both a king and a priest.
That itself gives us reason to understand just
how great this man was.
He was a king and he was a
priest.
In Psalm 110, which we have not read
but which is quoted in chapter 7 of
Hebrews at least twice, references made to the
Lord Jesus, he is ordered, commanded, to sit
at the right hand of God and wait
until all his enemies are placed under his
feet.
That is, he is the rightful king.
He does not strive to become king.
He is king in virtue of his person,
and he sits at the right hand of
God and he waits until all his enemies
are placed under his feet.
But in verse 4, God gives his word
and his quote as he states concerning the
Lord Jesus, Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek.
The background for those words in Psalm 110
undoubtedly are the victories of David.
When the people of Israel entered into the
promised land, many of the tribes went to
the northern part of the promised land.
Some of them remained in the southern part.
Running right across the promised land was a
rise, and on the highest part of the
rise was a stronghold.
That is the place that today is called
Jerusalem.
That is the place that Melchizedek governed as
king of righteousness and king of Salem.
But when the people of Israel entered into
the new land, that particular place was in
the hands of people called Jebusites, and they
were strong people and they had this fort.
And the tribes, as they moved into the
promised land, did not conquer that high place.
Rather, they settled round about it.
Many years went by, and because of that
natural division, the people, instead of being one,
almost developed into two separate and distinct nations.
When David became king, one of the first
things he did was to go and conquer
the Jebusites.
They mocked him.
The story is found in 2 Samuel.
They laughed at this man who came to
conquer them, but David came with purpose and
determination in his heart, and he conquered that
place.
He not only conquered it, but he made
it his home in the capital city of
a united kingdom.
As he took that place, it was named
Jerusalem, which is the place that Melchizedek governed
so many centuries before.
Now, David and his heirs symbolically become the
successors both to the kingship and the priesthood
of Melchizedek.
Now, in spirit, David speaks about his coming
son who will be the chosen Messiah, and
in that voice of prophecy, reference is made
to his lordship.
He is to sit at the right hand
of God until his enemies are made his
footstool.
But then also the voice and promise of
God is heard, his word and his oath.
Thou art a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek.
David only symbolically occupied that position.
There was already established by God the Levitical
priesthood, and it would not have been right
to have two function at the same time.
But when David took that place symbolically, he
became, and his heirs, the successor to the
kingship and the priesthood of Melchizedek.
Let this man Melchizedek, from ancient history, is
truly a great man.
He is king, and he is also priest.
Now, to understand his greatness, just a comment
about Abraham.
Abraham was the great man.
Verse 1, he returns from conquering the pagan
kings from the east.
We referred to that last night.
They had come in, and they conquered all
before them in Genesis chapter 14.
After they established their rule over the conquered
kings of the Transjordan area, that went on
for some years, but the kings finally rebelled.
Then the kings from the east came back
in the fourteenth year, and sweeping in a
wider circle, they conquered all.
Then they conquered the rebellious kings, and when
they conquered the king of Sodom, they took
with them lot and all that belonged to
him.
And when news came to Abraham, Abraham with
his trusted men went after the kings from
the east, and he found them, great strategy,
went under the cover of night, and he
found them, and he destroyed them.
Now, in that particular moment in the life
of Abraham, he is a man of unequal
greatness.
Kings from the east are destroyed by Abraham.
All of the kings of the Transjordan area
have fallen before the kings of the east,
so that when Abraham conquers the kings from
the east, he is the unequal victor, conqueror
over all of that territory.
He comes back then in great wealth with
a spoil of the wars.
He comes back with great glory and great
victory.
Not only is he great in that particular
moment in his life, but back in chapter
12 of Genesis, he becomes great for all
time through the promises that were given to
him by God.
God would not only bless him and his
descendants, but through Abraham and his descendants, God
was going to bless all the peoples of
the world.
But potentially, Abraham is an extremely outstanding man.
He receives the promises of God, and then
in chapter 14 he is the unchallenged conqueror
of all the Transjordan area.
He is a great man.
But Melchizedek is greater.
For you find here in this particular portion
in Hebrews that two things are mentioned about
Melchizedek which are mentioned to point out that
he is greater than Abraham, but that can
only be understood when we grasp how great
Abraham really was.
The first thing that is mentioned about Melchizedek
at the end of verse 1 is that
he blessed Abraham.
Now, if you move quickly down to verse
7, you read, And without all contradiction the
less is blessed of the better.
That is, in the very fact that Abraham
received the blessing from Melchizedek, he recognized how
great Melchizedek was.
This is not a blessing from Melchizedek himself.
According to Genesis chapter 14, he blessed Abraham
with the blessing of Almighty God, the Most
High God.
In giving that blessing, and especially as Abraham
receives it, the greatness of Melchizedek is established.
He is greater than Abraham.
But not only did he bless Abraham, but
you'll find that he also received from Abraham
a tenth of all the spoils.
This is mentioned in verse 4.
Now, consider how great this man was, unto
whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth
of the spoils.
There is no indication in Genesis 14 that
Abraham did that reluctantly.
I would judge from the story, though very
concise with very few details, that Abraham gladly
spontaneously gave a tenth of the spoils to
Melchizedek.
Remember that the tenth, or the tithe, were
not just the tenth part.
They are the best part.
It's inconceivable that any spiritual man would take
from the things that belong him a tenth
part which represents the inferior part.
When a true man of God gives a
tenth to God, he not only gives the
tenth part, he gives the best part to
God.
And Abraham, coming back, and it must have
been great wealth that he brought in the
spoils from that victory, he gives the tenth
and the best part to Melchizedek.
Very possibly, in doing this, it is a
frank offering to God, the Most High God,
and a recognition that God helped him in
the victory over the pagan kings.
He gladly spontaneously gives to Melchizedek the tenth
of the spoils.
In doing this, I emphasize once again, Abraham
recognizes the superiority of Melchizedek.
Abraham was grim, but Melchizedek is great.
The author of this book to the Hebrews
seems to have a feeling that he wants
to really establish how great Melchizedek is.
Now, you know the book is directed originally
to Hebrew Christians, with reason they were very
proud of the Levitical priesthood.
Now, beginning in verse 5 of chapter 7,
and right down to verse 10, the writer
of this book wants to establish that in
giving the tenth part to Melchizedek, Abraham was
recognizing not only personally but nationally in Israel
how great Melchizedek is.
Now, the argument is a little complicated, but
follow it with me in verse 5, and
verily they are of the sons of Levi
who receive the office of the priesthood, have
a commandment to take tithes of the people
according to the law, that is, of their
brethren though they come out of the loins
of Abraham.
Now, this is written many long years, many
long centuries, after Abraham gave a tithe to
Melchizedek.
From this point of view, the author refers
to all of Israel.
They are the direct descendants of Abraham.
In the great multitude of people, there is
a select few who have been chosen to
serve as priests of God.
They belong to the tribe of Levi.
They, by the word of God, have right
to receive from their brethren who are also
descendants of Abraham the tithes.
In receiving the tithes, they are recognized as
superior.
This is done by the word of God.
Even greater than the priest is Levi.
He is the father of the tribe.
Even greater than Levi is Abraham, who is
the father of the whole nation.
Now, it is not uncommon in the Old
Testament that in ancestors the thought is given
that in them they contain all of their
descendants.
There are many cases of this in the
Old Testament, just one which is the most
outstanding case.
It is referred to by Paul in Romans
chapter 5, and I read the verse to
you, "...wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned."
One man sinned, but in the mind and
the heart of God, all his descendants sinned.
All sinned when Adam sinned, for they were
all contained within their common ancestors.
Now, this is the argument in connection with
the payment of the tithes to Melchizedek.
You see, it is not just Abraham who
paid the tithes.
Levi paid the tithes, who is his direct
descendant.
Also, the priests of the tribe of Levi
paid when Abraham paid, and not only the
priests, but all the nations of Israel.
Thus, symbolically, when Abraham gave joyfully the tenth
part to Melchizedek, all of his descendants did
likewise, and they all recognized how great Melchizedek
is.
There is a little awkward phrase in verse
9 which reads, "...and as I may so
say," and let me say that again, "...and
as I may so say, Levi also, who
receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he
was yet in the loins of his father
when Melchizedek met him."
That little phrase means, as an illustration, symbolically,
"...as I may so say, Levi, the priests
in all Israel recognized in Abraham, their common
father, just how great Melchizedek is."
Now, if Melchizedek is great, the Lord Jesus
is infinitely greater.
Remember that the priesthood of the Lord Jesus
is not patterned after the priesthood of Melchizedek.
Rather, Melchizedek is made like unto the Son
of God.
The whole story of Melchizedek is presented in
such a way that he beautifully describes the
reality, referring directly to the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus is not patterned after Melchizedek.
Melchizedek is made like unto the Lord Jesus.
When the contrast, Melchizedek disappears before the true
greatness of the Lord Jesus.
Now, his greatness is referred to down in
verse 26, the last two phrases.
Last night we referred to the opening phrases
in connection with the moral perfection of the
character of the Lord Jesus.
Remember that old beautiful hymn, "...there was no
other good enough to pay the price of
sin."
The Lord Jesus, the stopless one, gives his
life for us.
He carries our sins.
He dies for our sins, and no one
else could do that.
Let me remind you, briefly, without going back
again into the subject of last night, that
even in the Bible, the great men of
God, Abraham was known as the friend of
God.
But a careful study of Abraham brings out
the flaws of his character, and some of
those moments when he was deceptive.
David was called the man after God's own
heart.
But the blunders and the stains in the
life of David, there are some cases in
the Bible like Nehemiah and Daniel of whom,
as far as I know, nothing is recorded
of them in an adverse way.
They appear without any moral stain, but they
were great men.
You may remember the birth of them.
When they come before God in intercession for
the people of Israel, they don't stand aside
and point over and say, Lord, I pray
for the people of Israel who have sinned.
Rather, they say, we have sinned before God.
And though there's no record of Nehemiah's sin
or of Daniel's sin, they include themselves amongst
the people of God, the sins which we
have committed before the Lord.
For they, too, were men of sin and
of like passions of ourselves.
No one could take our place and pay
the price of sin, only the Lord Jesus.
And having made that purchase of our redemption
through his own blood, he today stands out
in in a greatness that is unequaled in
any other character in the Bible.
And tonight there are two phrases that come
to our minds in verse 26.
First of all, he is separate from sinners.
Now, he always was and is morally.
That was the subject of last night.
But now, in his resurrection and exaltation, the
Lord Jesus is separate from sinners.
While he was here in the world, he
was the object of their ridicule, of their
mockery, of their malice, of their hate and
of their injustice.
Now, in his resurrection and exaltation, he is
separate from sinners forever.
Never again will the Lord Jesus be the
object of their mockery and injustice and cruelty.
Let me remind you that the Lord Jesus,
his heart is always open to receive any
repentant sinner who comes in faith.
But he is separate now forever from sinners
as to their malice and their mockery and
their injustice.
Never again will our Savior be the object
of such things.
He is separate from sins.
Phillips renders the phrase, and I think it's
a beautiful rendering, beyond the very reach of
sin.
It's not just the sinners in themselves, it's
what the sinners did to the Lord Jesus,
and the Lord Jesus now is beyond the
very reach of sin.
His exaltation is of such a nature that
sin never again will pass by the Lord
Jesus.
He is in that place of glory and
brightness for us.
The second phrase refers to his exaltation, and
it reads, "...made higher than the heavens."
Let me share with you that in Hebrews
there are a number of references to the
exaltation of the Lord Jesus.
They are all very beautiful.
Chapter 1, on the right hand of the
Majesty on high.
That is confirmed again in chapter 8, in
verse 1, where you read that he is
set on the right hand of the throne
of the Majesty in the heavens.
Now, let me take the key words in
these phrases.
Majesty, referring directly to God and the incomparable
glory of God.
I don't know what concept you have of
God, but the brilliance of what God is
is referred to as Majesty, and the Lord
Jesus sits on the right hand of the
Majesty on high, that great, incomparable glory of
God.
The word throne refers to his unchanging sovereignty.
I remember Psalm 22, and think of it
often in the confusion amongst the nations in
the world.
There is a phrase there that refers to
the Lord.
He is governor above the nations.
God is unchanging in his sovereignty.
Not only glory, but there is a throne,
the sovereignty, the authority of God.
Then in chapter 1 on high, in chapter
8, in the heavens, and both of those
phrases refer to the supremacy of God.
There is nothing, and words are inadequate, but
there is nothing beyond or above God.
He is absolutely supreme.
Was it last Sunday we referred to the
phrase, he is God of God and Lord
of Lords?
He is absolute Lord and supreme God.
Now, this one in that eternal glory, who
is Majesty, where there is a throne on
high above all things, in supremacy at his
right hand, sits the Lord Jesus.
And again, the thought is that for the
Lord Jesus there is supremacy over all things.
I was reading this afternoon when Gabriel came
to talk to Zechariah as he ministered in
the house of God, with the announcement of
the coming child who would be John, the
forerunner of the Lord Jesus.
That great celestial being said to Zechariah, I
am Gabriel, but stand in the presence of
God.
All angels, all spiritual beings, they stand in
the presence of God.
It is an attitude ready to obey the
will and the word of God.
The Lord Jesus sits at the right hand
of the Majesty on high, and the beautiful
illustration from the Old Testament is that of
David.
The Bible says, and King David went in
and sat before the Lord.
Only a simple illustration from ancient history of
one today who does not struggle for his
position, but he sits at the right hand
of the Majesty on high.
Let me remind you this evening what the
Lord Jesus said while he was here in
the world.
He answered, Shall the Son of Man sit
on the right hand of the power of
God?
He said that when he was here in
the world.
He said that because that is his place
by right, and having finished the work of
redemption, he returned to that pinnacle of eternal
glory, and he sits there tonight at the
right hand of the Majesty on high.
It is difficult to describe this.
Paul says, Therefore God also hath highly exalted
him.
And our understanding of that exaltation is always
linked to our understanding of his deep humiliation.
He came down so very low in order
to win us and bring us back to
God.
In contrast, he has been highly exalted.
The actual phrase in verse 26 of our
chapter reads as follows, He was made higher
than the heavens.
In this connection, there is a similar phrase
in Ephesians 4, and I read it to
you, Ascended up far above all heavens.
We referred to that earlier this week.
The Lord Jesus, now in his exaltation, is
above all created order.
There is nothing above him.
He sits at the right hand of the
Majesty on high.
You remember his words in that great high
priestly prayer in John 17.
The Lord Jesus said, And now, O Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with
the glory which I had with thee before
the world was.
Now, to understand those words, I take you
back to Isaiah 42, where the Lord speaks,
I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to
another.
There is a glory, a glory that belongs
to God, because God is God.
That glory cannot be shared with another.
God says, I am the Lord, that is
my name, my glory I will not give
to another.
The Lord Jesus, when his work was finished,
his prayer was, Glorify me with thine own
self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was.
That is above all created order.
The Lord Jesus existed in eternal glory, and
when his work was finished in humiliation, he
returned to that place of glory.
He is made higher than the heavens, the
transcendence of the Lord Jesus.
Not just supreme, but transcendent.
And then in chapter 4 of Hebrews, precious
thought for all of us tonight, where you
read that he passed through the heavens, the
Father, in passing through he opened the way
whereby those who belong to him will follow
him into that sphere of endless glory.
The Lord Jesus, then, is made higher than
the heavens.
It is because of his exaltation that he
is able to save to the uttermost those
that come unto God by him.
Now, I take you in closing tonight back
to Isaiah again.
We referred to a similar portion last night.
Here again is the testimony of God.
Behold, my servant shall be prudently, he shall
be exalted and extolled and be very high.
Now, that's God's promise concerning his servant, the
Lord Jesus.
You and I believe that today.
We believe as an act of faith.
There is nothing in the world that we
can see that confirms to us that the
Lord Jesus has been exalted, extolled, and made
very high.
The very opposite is what we see in
the world today.
But God says, Behold, my servant shall be
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and
be very high.
Now, God in his grace, in the book
of the Revelation, takes that curtain which separates
us from eternity, and he just moves it
aside so that though we are still in
time, honor, part of history, we can look
out and see that it is true that
he has been exalted and extolled and made
very high.
You remember chapter one?
The Lord Jesus moves amongst the candlesticks.
He moves amongst the local churches, for he
is the head of the church, and in
that capacity he is seen with all the
glory of deity.
The ancient of days in Daniel, the term
symbolism is used of the Lord Jesus.
Now, I speak kindly tonight and respectfully.
Many of us have been impressed when we
read that the new Pope, John Paul I,
has requested that there be no coronation, no
infirmment, no use of the triple crown, not
to be carried on the shoulders of twelve
men, but he wants to walk, and the
beginning of his administration will be marked by
a simple but solemn mass.
We respect that, but we come back to
the scriptures and we remember that in the
exaltation of the Lord Jesus, the first thing
that shines out in the Revelation is that
he is the only and true head of
the church, and he is clothed with the
brilliance of deity, and he walks amongst the
candlesticks.
Look in his exaltation.
He is seen as the head of the
congregation of the church.
In chapter five, you have the revelation of
God's throne, and in his right hand there
is a book, and no one in heaven
or on earth can approach the throne and
take the book.
And John weeps, and he weeps with grief,
and then one speaks to John and tells
him, Don't weep, John, anymore.
Here comes the line of the tribe of
Judah, the rote of David, and he turned
and he saw a lamb as it had
been slain.
In connection with the headship of the church,
the Lord Jesus is seen in the brilliance
of his deity, but that book in the
hand of God has to do with the
destiny of our mankind, of the culmination of
our history, of God's plan for all times
in the future.
And he holds that book, and the one
who comes and takes it from his hand,
not in a struggle but by right, is
a lamb as it had been slain.
That is, the one who was rejected by
the world comes into the presence of God.
All heaven bows in worship, and he takes
the book, the one who has been rejected,
and he will bring to fulfillment God's purposes
for man and for history and for the
world.
When you go over to chapter seven, as
we mentioned on Sunday, the Lord Jesus, in
his greatness, his exaltation, he does not forget
his people.
He feeds them, he shepherds them, and the
lamb who is in the midst of the
throne has the heart of the shepherd.
He follows every detail of those that belong
to him.
When you come to chapter 14, he stands
on Mount Zion, not the ancient Mount Zion
of the Holy Land.
This is the heavenly Mount Zion, the city
of the living God.
Again, the thought is he sits and he
stands in that place of unequal glory.
When you come into chapter 9, he bursts
out of heaven on a white horse.
His name is the Faithful One, the Word
of God, King of kings and Lord of
lords.
And though you see him as the lamb
in the midst of the throne shepherding those
that belong to him, also in his exaltation
the moment comes when he comes forth from
heaven on that white horse to do battle
with the evil powers of our world and
cosmos.
It is not done in the form of
the battles that we know of in history.
Rather, out of his mouth there comes a
sharp sword.
The battle is fought not in a struggle
with tanks and airplanes and guns.
It is the battle that is won by
the authoritative proclamation of the Word of God,
and the nations are smitten as he speaks
the Word of God.
And then the Lord Jesus takes the dragon,
that old serpent, that is, the devil and
Satan, and he is put away for a
thousand years in which there will be peace
and prosperity amongst men.
In his exaltation he deals with the problem
of the evil in the world in which
we live today.
Finally, in the last two chapters, don't miss
that beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus.
It is the throne of God and of
the Lamb.
The whole new creation moves around the exaltation
of the Lord Jesus.
Don't take the phrase, the throne of God
and of the Lamb, as a distinct separation
between God and the Lamb.
Take it in the sense of John 1.
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
That second phrase, and the Word was with
God.
In the reality of God we perceive the
plurality of persons, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit.
Thus the Word was with God, that eternal
theme.
There is the throne of God and of
the Lamb, that is, his brilliance as God
is seen, his glory as man is seen,
and he is the very center of the
new eternal age.
No wonder, then, that the writer of this
particular book says he is able also to
save to the uttermost.
There is no one that comes anywhere near
the greatness of the Lord Jesus.
Abraham was a great man.
Melchizedek was a greater man.
The Lord Jesus is in a unique class,
alone in his greatness, and he is able
to save.
I don't know what fears you have, what
doubts you have, what problems you may have,
but if you really know the Lord Jesus,
you are being kept by someone so great
that no other power can touch you in
time, in death, or in eternity, for he
is unequaled in his greatness.
Now, take your hymn book, and we'll sing
tonight in closing.
Hymn number 102.
Hymn number 102, and it reads as follows,
O may my Savior glorified, now the heavens
open wide, show to faith exultant eyes, run
in beauteous majesty.
Hymn number 102, and we will sing verses
1, 2, 3, and the last verse.
Now let's stand and sing 102.
Here we stand.
Oh my