Sunday Morning Service 8:30AM- The Priesthood of Jesus ~ Hebrews 7 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

You may be seated if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7.

Well this morning. We kind of get back to what? He originally started talking to us about and that is the priesthood of Jesus. And that's what I've entitled this the priesthood of Jesus. It will take us two weeks at least to get through chapter 7. So this is part one of the priesthood of Jesus. But what I'd like to do is I like to read the first 10 verses to you and then we'll get into the study here starts like this chapter 7 verse 1 for this Melchizedek King of Salem priest of the

most high God who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the Kings and blessed him to whom Abraham also apportioned a 10th part of all the spoils was first of all by the translation of his name King of righteousness and then also King of Salem which is King of peace without father without mother without genealogy having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like the son of God.

He remains a priest perpetually now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a 10th of the choicest spoils and those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive of the priest's office have commandment in the law to collect a 10th from the people that is from their brethren although these are descended from Abraham but the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a 10th from Abraham and blessed. So this is part one of the priesthood of Jesus.

The one who had the promises but without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater in this case mortal men receive tithes but in that case one receives them of whom it is witness that he lives on and so to speak through Abraham even Levi who received tithes paid tithes for he was still in the loins of his father Melchizedek or of his father when Melchizedek met him now let's once again build the

context for where we are here because I bet I just read all that and you're like I why do I care about this I will bring it to a point at the very end both services or both weeks I will do so but remember the writer to the Hebrews has been building a case for the superiority of the high priesthood of Jesus Christ these Jewish believers were wanting to slip back into the law to fall away from Jesus and go back to the old covenant and what he's been doing has been building a case for the fact that Jesus is so much better than the old covenant.

He will even do so within this chapter but one of the ways in which Jesus is better than the old covenant is that his high priesthood is superior to the high priesthood of Aaron and one of the ways that he says that the high priesthood of Jesus is superior to the high priesthood of Aaron is that Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek now as he told us about that in the beginning of chapter five he says but you're not ready for that are you you're not ready to hear about all this stuff.

About Melchizedek because you have become immature as a matter of fact you're in danger of falling away but we have hope for better things for you that you have hope as an anchor for the soul and that there's better promises that you're going to believe because you have a better priest who is a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek now let me tell you about who this Melchizedek is in relationship to Jesus and let me do the exact same thing for you so what we're going to do this

morning is we are going to consider Melchizedek there'll be three other things that we cover next week but we need to build a case build an understanding for who this guy is so he tells us this in verse one he says for this Melchizedek king of Salem priest of the most high God who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him and I hope you're asking yourself a question right now when did all of this happen and I'm really glad that you asked that question otherwise this is gonna be a much shorter

study than it should be because this all began in Genesis chapter 14 so I want you to hold your finger here and go back to Genesis chapter 14 we're gonna look at a little story that takes place there I want you to specifically look at verse 17 and before I read that passage of scripture to you which is going to tell the story of what he just mentioned let me give you the backdrop of what's going on so remember last week we talked about Abraham well when Abraham came into the promised land

he was supposed to have left all of his family behind but he did not there's one family member that he brought with him to the promised land and that family member's name was Lot and so he and Lot who was his nephew they dwelt together for a really long time but eventually God was blessing Abraham in such a fantastic way that the flocks of Abraham and the flocks of Lot could no longer be together because both of their households had grown too big and so Abraham being the being the man that he was looked at his

nephew he said here's the thing there's not room for both of us so what I want you to do is I want you to choose where you're gonna go I'll go the opposite direction if you go east I'll go west so on and so forth well Lot looks down at the land of Sodom which was a very fertile land at that point in time and he said that's where I want to go and so Lot goes down he moves to the area of Sodom now there's a whole other story that goes into that later but we won't get into that this morning so so so Lot sort of establishes himself in this area of Sodom. Well, while he's there, there is a five king coalition that rebels against another five king coalition and says, we're not going to pay your taxes anymore. We're not going to pay

your tributes anymore. So the other five king coalition says, well, fine, then we're going to take you over. And that's exactly what they do. They come against Sodom and they end up taking captive a good number of people, among whom which was Lot. Everybody following the story so far? Lot got captured. Oh no. That's kind of where we need to get to, right? So Lot and his family

get captured. So Abraham arms 136 of his men. Listen, if you ever want to know what a stud of a dude Abraham was, he had 136 soldiers that he could arm. I don't know if you ever think about how great the household of Abraham was. We think about like Abraham and a couple of dudes with him, right? No. God had an army that went with him. He arms 136 of his men and they go

down to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom and they go to Sodom. by the grace of God and they not only take over this evil five king coalition, but they also rescue Lot. And after they rescue Lot and they come back to the promised land, we come to verse 17 of chapter 14. And after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh, that is the king's valley.

All this makes sense so far. And then in verse 18, it says this, And then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now he was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed him. And he said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.

This is such a fascinating story, because all of a sudden this guy named Melchizedek shows up out of nowhere, right? You kind of find yourself going, well, where did this guy come from? Matter of fact, when I taught this to my Bible class, the title of the chapter was, where did this guy come from, right? Because you kind of find yourself asking that question.

He appears out of nowhere. He's the king of Salem, which I will tell you means that he was the king of Jerusalem. So he's the king of the city that will later be known as Jerusalem. And he shows up, and did you notice the implements that he brings with him? Look at it again. It says, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought, bread, and wine. What did Melchizedek bring with him?

He brings communion with him. He brings a communion supper with him. And then he blesses Abraham, and then Abraham gives him a tenth of all of the spoils. And you find yourself going, who is this? And there's a lot of different thoughts on who Melchizedek is. One thought is that Melchizedek was somehow a heavenly being, perhaps an angel, that sort of shows up out of nowhere.

Maybe he even was... He was assisting in the battle somehow in a spiritual sort of way. And so Abraham has this moment with this angelic sort of being. There's a thought that Melchizedek is actually an Old Testament appearance of Christ. We call that a Christophany. An Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ before the incarnation in Bethlehem. That this is who this is that shows up in this moment.

I have no problem with that, although some of the commentators that I read were like, we absolutely know that he was not a Christophany. I'm like, what? I don't know if we absolutely know that. And then there's the thought that this was just a human being that we know very little about that was an Old Testament type of Jesus. Whatever it is, it gives us a very interesting example.

Now, the name Melchizedek does not show up again in Scripture. This is the only time he's mentioned until you get to, and you might write this in the margin of your Bible somewhere in your notes, Psalm 110, verse 4. Psalm 110 is what's called a... Messianic Psalm. And this Messianic Psalm is all about the Messiah. It's where he says, The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The entire Psalm is Messianic in nature. And in Psalm 110, verse 4, it says, I have sworn that you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, who is a different kind of priest because he is not of the line of Aaron, and he is a king. And he is a priest. Now, that builds for us the context of what he's going to tell us in Hebrews chapter 7.

Everybody with me so far? Shake your head if that's a yes. And if it's a no, then I don't know what else to do for you because I've explained it pretty well, I feel like. Okay, let's go back to Hebrews chapter 7. Now, look at verse 1 again. It says this, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter,

of the kings, blessed him. Now, the first thing that we take note of about this Melchizedek is that he was two things. He was both a king and he was a priest. This is a very uncommon thing, not only according to the law, but it was a very uncommon thing even in Eastern culture at that point in time. It did not take people long to realize that you cannot invest all of the religious power

and all of the political power into one thing. That's too much power for one human being. There has to be a separation between the religious power and the political power, lest one be used to control the other. And so, from the very beginning, God had always established that the high priesthood would be separate from the king, which is why any time that the king tried to do anything of priestly service, God dealt with him.

There were two times specifically that it happened. One was King Saul. When he made the sacrifice that the high priest was supposed to make before they went into battle because he got impatient, and that caused Saul to be X'd out as far as the kingly line. He said, that's it. The kingly line stops with you because you took on the role of the priest when you're a king.

The other time that we see this take place in the Old Testament is a guy by the name of Uzziah, who is an incredibly good king. The one mistake that he made is he went into the temple and he offered incense, which only the high priest was supposed to do, and God struck him with leprosy, and he died a leper at the end of his days. Why? Because there was never to be that much power invested in one person.

And yet, this Melchizedek, who is a type of Jesus, or an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, was both a king and a priest, indicating that there's something very different about Melchizedek. So, the first thing is that he is a king and he is a priest. The second thing that we take note of about Melchizedek is given to us in verse 2. It says, To whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth of all the spoil, was first of all, by translation of his name, the king of righteousness, and also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

So, this king and priest was a king of two specific things. The word Melchizedek, when translated, literally means king of righteousness. And he was the king of Salem. And the word Salem, means peace. And so, this Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest, was a king of two specific things. He was the king of righteousness, and he was the king of peace.

So, let's look at these two things, because I think that they're really important. Of course, he's the king of righteousness, which is just like Jesus. And so, whether he was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, or he was just an Old Testament type of Jesus, we know that he is like him, because he is the king of righteousness. Because, obviously, Jesus is both righteous in himself, and the giver of righteousness.

Right? Jesus is the righteous standard. If we want to know what righteousness is, we look at him, because he set the standard for what righteousness is, because righteousness is the very character, the very nature of who he is, which is what he lived out in his life. That's why everything that Jesus did in the Gospels is so important, including and beginning with the fact that he was born of a virgin, meaning that he was born righteous.

He passed the test of the temptations with Satan, and then he lived in the kingdom of God, and he lived his life in a righteous way, and he died a very righteous death, because Jesus is the king of righteousness. But not only is he the standard of righteousness, but he is also the giver of righteousness. Because to everyone who comes to Jesus, he grants to them his own very righteous nature, his own very righteous character. And that's what happens to us when we become born again.

Not only are our old sins cleansed, but we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And so, he is the king of righteousness. But not only is he the king of righteousness, he is also the king of peace, just like Jesus. Because first of all, Jesus is our peace. We're told in the book of Ephesians that he is our peace that has broken down the middle wall of separation.

And that middle wall of separation is so important for us to pay attention to, because the middle wall of separation is what keeps us from God, and ultimately is what keeps us from each other. Specifically in Ephesians, when he gives that statement about the fact that he is our peace who has broken down the wall of separation, he's talking about the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile, but it goes even deeper than that. Because the first thing that he did is he broke down the wall of separation, of enmity that was between us and God. Because at a point in time, we were at war with God because of our sin.

Our sin caused us to not be at peace with God. He had to be at war with us because of sin in our lives, because God has to judge sin. And he is righteously opposed to sin. And so the first thing that he does is he makes peace with himself. And so peace between us and God is accomplished through Jesus. But not only that, peace between us and each other is accomplished through Jesus.

Because the work of the gospel of restoration does not just restore our relationship with God. The work of the gospel of restoration restores our relationships with each other. Which is why one of the greatest things that happens after you start walking with the Lord is you find that other relationships start getting restored as well. At least on your part.

You now can forgive those who have hurt you. You now can give grace to those who cause you the need for patience in your life. You can give grace to those who struggle in sin in their lives. Why? Because now there is peace between you and other people. But God also gives peace in yourself. God gives you peace of heart and peace of mind. It's amazing how many people are walking around right now

that just do not have peace in their lives. They are living in turmoil. And it's something that God continually does for us as he gives us his peace in our lives so that we don't have to live in the turmoil of the world. So that we don't have to live in that constant turmoil either of the guilt of my sin or fear over the future or anxiety over the past. Whatever it is,

God gives us peace within ourselves. And so he is the king of peace because he is not only our peace but he is the giver of peace. And may I say, those two words are put in a specific order. That he is both the king of righteousness and the king of peace. This is no accident. Do we know that? Do we know that everything that God places in his word, even the way he places it in his word,

is a specific purpose and order? Because you cannot have peace in your life unless you have righteousness in your life. You can't have peace in your heart unless you are right with God both clothed in the righteousness of Christ and living the righteousness of Christ. Because once we've been clothed in it, we now need to live according to it. If those are the clothes that we wear,

then that's the life that we should live. And so if you want peace in your life, it begins with righteousness. Righteousness in your life. First the right standing with God in salvation and then right living according to what God has given you in the sanctification of your life. And I would ask you a question. If you lack peace in your life, you should ask yourself why.

Why am I at turmoil? Why am I in turmoil right now? Why do I feel conflict in my life right now? And I would tell you that a really good place to start is, Lord, am I right with you? And then Lord, am I right with other people? Because I can almost guarantee, if you're lacking peace in your life, it's because one of those two things in your life is off. Because when you have righteousness in your life,

then you have peace in your life. Because he is the king of righteousness and he is the king of peace. And so that's what we learn next about him. Not only is this Melchizedek a king and a priest, just like Jesus is a king and a priest, but he is the king of righteousness and he is the king of peace, just like Jesus is the king of righteousness and he is the king of peace.

But the third thing that we learn about this Melchizedek is that he is a perpetual priest. He is a perpetual priest. I want you to notice what it says in verse 3. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. It's always kind of interesting to look at this.

And I love reading different people's opinions on it because this is one of the sections where people that don't believe that this was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, we have no problem with either one of those. But the people that don't believe that are like, now listen, we know he really did have a father and a mother. It's just it's not recorded that he had a father and a mother. And so the writer to the Hebrews is using a Hebrew argument, which is an argument from silence that if it's not listed that he did not have.

And I'm just going, who cares? Let's just look at what it means for Jesus, right? So he has no father and he has no mother. And he is without genealogy. Now, this is important from an Aaronic priesthood point of view because in the Aaronic priesthood, heredity was important. In other words, not just anybody can step up and be like, well, I think I'd like to be the high priest.

Vote for me. Vote Ryan for high priest, right? There was no election. There was no just I just want to throw my name in the hat. No, you had to be a descendant of Aaron. Your genealogy, your father and your mother, they mattered. Because if you could not prove genealogically that you were of the heredity of Aaron, you could not be the high priest. Well, this would be a problem for Jesus, right?

Because Jesus was of the line of Judah, not of the line of Levi. Jesus was of the line of David, not of the line of Aaron. And so this would be a problem for Jesus. But Jesus is a high priest according to Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek, who had no father, no mother, no genealogy. It's a different kind of priesthood. But not only did he have no father, no mother, no genealogy.

I want you to notice what it says. He has no beginning of days nor end of life. I still find it fascinating that you just have two sections of Scripture besides this in the entire Bible that even mentions Melchizedek. You read nothing about his birth. You read nothing about his death. He has no beginning of days and no end of life. Listen, just like Jesus. This is a sticking point for some of the cults out there

who want to say, no, Jesus was a created being. He was one of the earliest created beings. Jesus was created and then he created everything else. This is a sticking point for some of those cults. And they struggle with places like this. They also struggle with places like John 1.1 that says, in the beginning was the Word, which if you read that in the Greek, it says,

in the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God. Matter of fact, they hate that verse so much they've actually added a little article in there, the article A. They say, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a God, which is a subtle little change that's made because they don't want to be able to say that he was the eternal God.

But places like this are really important because we realize he has no beginning and he has no ending. And then it goes on to say, and he remains a priest perpetually. He remains a priest perpetually. An eternal priesthood foreshadowing Christ's eternal priesthood. But there was one little phrase that I missed in there that I think is really important to pay attention to.

Let me read this verse to you again. Without Father, without Mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God. He remains a priest perpetually. That word like is very interesting in the Hebrew there because that word like means to mimic or literally a facsimile. In other words, an exact copy. So this Melchizedek is an exact copy

of Christ whose priesthood remains eternally. The eternal nature of Jesus and the eternal priesthood of Jesus. It has no end. Why is that important? Because the Aaronic priesthood had an end. They could serve for no more than 30 years. Either death or 30 years, whichever came first. Their priesthood had an end. Why did God design it to where the Aaronic priesthood

had an end and had all of these other things? Because it was never intended to be forever. It was always intended to be a shadow that would point to the substance of Jesus. It was always intended to be a shadow that would point to the reality of the eternal priesthood of Christ. Which is why it could never be enough. Just like every king that Israel had could never be enough.

Have you ever noticed in the reading of Kings and Chronicles that every king had some kind of an issue in his life? I just told you about Uzziah. Uzziah was a fantastic king. From all intents and purposes he did everything perfect except one thing. He went and offered incense on the altar when he wasn't supposed to. And that disqualified him from being a perfect king.

Hezekiah was as close to a perfect king as you get. And yet in pride he displayed all of the treasure of the nation to the people of Babylon. David was an amazing man of God. He's considered a man after God's own heart. The king that every other king was held up to in comparison. And yet David sinned in a fantastically terrible way. Because no earthly king would ever be enough.

They would only be a shadow of a perfect king that is to come and his name is Jesus. This is important that we pay attention to. Because the eternality of both the kingship and the priesthood of Jesus speaks volumes about the Savior that we worship. And so he says he remains a priest forever. Jesus is a priest forever. No end to the term. But the last thing that he tells us

is he tells us about the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek. It says in verse 4, Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the choice of spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who received the priest's office have the commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

What made him superior? Well the first thing that made him superior is that he received a tithe from Abraham. Now listen, that doesn't mean much to you and I because we grew up in a different culture than the Jewish people would have grown up in. The Jewish people grew up in a culture that put Abraham on a pedestal that was pretty fantastic. Abraham was not just a patriarch.

Abraham was the patriarch. Abraham was not just a man of faith. Abraham was the man of faith. Abraham was not just a man of promise. He was the man of the promise. And when they looked at Abraham, they held him up as the standard because he is the father of the nation. The greatest man of Israel to ever live. And he says this Melchizedek is superior because even Abraham,

the patriarch, the man of faith, the man of the promise, paid tithes to him. In other words, when Melchizedek shows up, Abraham with all of the men that are under him bow down to this Melchizedek and they pay tithes to him. And so it shows the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek. And if Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood that is far superior because even Abraham paid tithes to him, then how much far superior is Jesus?

He goes on from there to say, not only is he superior because Abraham paid tithes to him. It says, look at verse 6 again, but the one whose genealogy is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promise. But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. So the second thing that makes him superior is that Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

In the economy of the time, the greater always blessed the lesser. And the blessing that's spoken of here has more to do with just you sneezing and someone saying bless you. No, it's a blessing. It's a bestowal of a blessing saying that I put my blessing upon you. Therefore, it gives you authority because of what I have spoken over you. Think, if you will, a father passing on

the blessing of the family name to the son in that sort of a culture. That's the idea of the blessing here. This is not just some casual thing that's done. This is something that is done ceremonially and specifically showing the greatness of this Melchizedek. This Melchizedek who doesn't trace his lineage through Abraham and doesn't trace his lineage through Aaron has not only received tithes

from Abraham, but he also blesses Abraham which puts him in a far superior place to Abraham. Why is that important? Because who would the Aaronic priesthood eventually come through? It would come through Levi, one of the descendants of Abraham, and yet this Melchizedek is even greater. And so, not only is he greater because he received tithes from Abraham, not only is he greater because he blessed Abraham,

but the third way that he's greater is this. In this case, verse 8, mortal men receive tithes. But in that case, one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And so to speak, Abraham, or through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. The Levites were the ones who lived off of the tithes.

As a matter of fact, according to the law, the temple tax, or the tithe, the tenth off the top that was taken was given to the Levites. That was how they supported themselves. They didn't have the same inheritance that everybody else did. This was their support from the people. It was how they supported themselves in the land. And so, Levites were the ones who received the tithes.

And yet, he says, if you think about it, this one who we can't trace his genealogy actually received tithes from the Levites, the very ones who were supposed to receive the tithes from the people. And so this Melchizedek is far superior in the things that he did. Now, we're going to end off here because there's so much left to cover that I could not accomplish all of it through this, but I did find myself asking a question, and we'll spend the last few minutes closing with this. I found myself asking a question.

Why do we care? You ever find yourself, when you're reading a passage of scripture, like, that's all really cool stuff, and I just learned a lot of really good information. I do not know why I care about this. I don't know why I care about this at all. Well, I'll remind you, first of all, of why this book is written. The book of Hebrews is written to a group of Jewish believers

who are ready to give up. They're ready to go back to the law because their lives have gotten very hard. They're ready to go back to the old covenant because it feels like in this newfound religion of Christianity that they have, they have faced nothing but issues. They have faced nothing but problems. They face nothing but trouble, and perhaps it's easier just to go back

to the old covenant, to go back to the way things were before because, after all, my life was a lot easier then. Have you ever found yourself saying that? You ever found yourself saying, you know, if I just didn't care, if I just went back to not caring about things anymore, then my life would be a whole lot easier. If I didn't care about whether or not I was holy, if I didn't care about whether or not I was following Jesus, if I would just live according to this world, maybe my life would be a whole lot easier.

First of all, that's a lie from the enemy. Because your life wasn't easy before you came to Jesus, that's why you came to Jesus, right? But that's what the enemy's going to tell you. He's going to tell you that if you'll just quit trying so hard, if you'll just quit seeking the Lord, if you'll just go back to living according to the world, to living the way that you did before, if you'll just go back to doing all of the things before, it's going to be so much easier.

And in the moment, the temptation seems really real. If I will just go back, then I won't have to think about it anymore. And I can just live my life and pretend all these things aren't here. Problem is, all the same problems are going to arise. Now you won't have Jesus. And so that's why he's writing this book. And so he does so to remind them of Jesus and who he is.

Remember, that's what we said this entire book is about, is to get our eyes back on Jesus. So what has he done here to put our eyes back on Jesus? Well, the first thing he's done is he reminds us that Jesus is a different kind of priest, a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. A priest who is not only a priest, but a king. And not just a king, but the king of righteousness

and the king of peace. You see, this Jesus is so different than anything that you've ever seen before. This Jesus is so much better than anything that you've handled before. This Jesus is so much better than anything that you've handled before. Better than all of the things before. And yet, in the middle of the hardship, sometimes we forget that. And so he's reminding them, Jesus is better.

He has a far superior priesthood to Aaron, because Aaron can only serve for so long. Aaron can only save you for so long. Aaron can only provide so much. Jesus is the king of righteousness. Jesus is the source of your peace. And so get back to Jesus. Jesus is a different kind of priest like Melchizedek. But the second thing I'll remind you is that Jesus is a priest forever.

Jesus is a priest forever. Listen, nothing will ever stop about the grace of God. Nothing will ever stop about the work of Jesus on this side of eternity. And it will not end on the other side of eternity. Because Jesus will continue to be your high priest on the other side of eternity. You'll just see him face to face. The priesthood of Jesus never ends. And I'm reminded consistently that nobody is beyond the work of Jesus in their lives.

Nobody is beyond the work of Jesus in your walk with him. You will never outgrow your need for Jesus. You will never outlive your need for Jesus. You can never out-sin the grace of Jesus. Because he's always there. Because he is a priest forever. And that reminds me of the third thing. And this is what we're going to wrap up here with this morning. Because, and I want you to look over at verse 25.

Because this is actually starting verse 22. This is what we'll wrap up with next week too. This is what I want to wrap up with today. So much more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The former priest on the one hand existed in greater numbers. Because they were prevented by death from continuing. But Jesus, because he continues forever.

Holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able also to save forever those who draw near to him. Since he always lives to make intercession. Jesus is able to save forever all who call upon him. Jesus is able to save forever all who call upon him. And that saving work begins with the saving work of salvation. The saving work of salvation to all who will call upon him.

Again, I get asked sometimes. So do you believe that God is sovereign? Or do you believe that man has free will? And of course I always answer with yes. Because both of those things are in scripture. And they try to give me all the different arguments. And I say, I'm going to always take you back to one place in scripture. And that's in Romans, I believe it's chapter 11.

That God saves all who call upon him. And so if you know somebody that needs Jesus. If you're somebody that needs Jesus. I will tell you right now. Jesus can save forever all who call upon him. Because he is a far superior priest. But that calling upon Jesus does not end the day that you get saved. The calling upon Jesus begins the day that you get saved. And that's probably the biggest thing that I have learned in my walk with Jesus.

Especially here lately. Is that my calling upon him did not end the day that you get saved. It did not end the day that I got saved. It did not end then. That was the beginning of me calling upon Jesus. I shared this with a group that I spoke to last fall. I was in a prayer meeting right before Fields of Faith. And we're walking around the track praying. And so we'd stop and kind of talk a little bit.

And I shared a story from something that God had done in my life. Because they had asked me a question. So I shared a little bit about something that God had done in my life. And one of the young ladies asked me. She said, so is that your testimony? And all I could think was, that's one of my testimonies. Seriously. Like sometimes we think our testimony is the one time God worked in our life and that's it.

Man, I have so many testimonies. Because I'm old, I've walked with Jesus for a long time now. So I've got a lot of testimonies of what God has done. Because God continues to save all who call upon him. Because he ever lives to make intercession for us. That calling upon Jesus began in April of last year. In April of 1998. And it continues in May of 2026. Because I'm here to tell you right now, you don't survive stuff in life without calling upon Jesus.

You don't survive the difficulties of life without calling upon Jesus. I keep saying, I don't want to relive this year again. Only the year keeps going longer. I'm like, wait a second. I didn't want to relive 2025. I didn't know we were doing it over again in 2026. But we are. Here we are. Killing it again. Right? And I'm doing the exact same thing. I'm doing the exact same thing.

I'm the same God that was called upon by Jesus. I can trust and know that since he is a high priest forever that his high priesthood never ends. That he ever lives to make intercession for me. That the same God that was answering Ryan in 1998 is the same God that's answering Ryan in 2026. And he is the same God who will be answering me when I call out to him another 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 years from now.

Because since he is a priest forever, he is able to save all who call upon him. To save all who call upon him. Amen. Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me.

Father we come before you. And Lord I praise you for who you are. Lord I praise you for being the. I praise you for being the God of all grace. I praise you for being the God of all righteousness. I praise you for being the God of all peace. And so Father right now. We cry out to you. We cry out for your strength. We cry out for your hope. Your peace. Your righteousness in our lives.

Lord we cry out for a fresh filling from you. And so Father move in the hearts. Of everyone that's in this room this morning. Move in the hearts of everyone who is watching online. And Father I just pray that you would continue the work that you have begun. Father that song that we sang this morning. Lord I need you. Is definitely the cry of my heart. Because Father we need you.

We need your work in our lives. Father we need your peace in our lives. And so Father continue the work that you have begun here this morning. Lord I lift up every soul in here. Who maybe has never come to know you as their Lord and Savior. And today is the day that they need to cry out to Jesus for salvation. Lord every soul that's watching online. That needs to cry out to you for salvation.

I pray that today would be that day. Lord that they would know it takes no magic. Lord that they would know it takes no magic. Lord that they would know it takes no magic. All it takes is the condition of the heart that says I need Jesus. Lord I lift up every person that knows you. But they're struggling with things in their life right now. The heaviness of life.

The difficulty of life. And God I pray that you would give them the grace to carry it. And Father as they cry out to you during this last song. I just ask that you would meet them right where they are. Father that they would sense your presence. That they would know that you are near. And that they would know that you are near. And that they would know that you are God.

And so Father do the work as you see fit we pray. In Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed. Oh Lord my God. When I in awesome wonder. Consider all. The worlds thy hands have made. I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout. The universe displayed. Then sings my soul. My Savior God to thee. How great thou. How great. Then sings my soul. My Savior God to thee.

How great thou. And through the woods and forest glades I wonder and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down mountain grandeur and hear the brook feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my Savior God to thee. How great thou. And through the woods and forest glades I wonder and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. Then sings my Savior God to thee.

How great thou. How great thou. How great thou. How great thou. How great thou. How great thou. How great thou. And take me home. What joy shall fill my heart. How great thou. Oh Lord God we give you praise. For how great and amazing. you are, Lord. We give you thanks for who you are, for how much you love us and for what you've done for us, Lord. We give you praise. We give you honor. We give you glory because you are worthy

of it all. We love you, Lord. We praise you and we thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Guys, have a wonderful week. God bless you.