Sunday Morning Service 10:30AM- The Priesthood of Jesus ~ Hebrews 7 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

All right. Good morning, church family. Really glad you're here. Before we get started, I haven't been feeling super awesome, so I'm going to sit down today, but I'm going to ask you guys to stand with us. Lord, we just come before you this morning. We just thank you. Thank you for another day. Thank you for allowing us to be here in your house this morning, Lord.

Lord, I thank you for all the wonderful happenings this weekend, Lord, with all the graduations and everything, Lord. But Lord, during this time, I just pray that we would set all of that aside and focus on you, Lord. God, lavish praise upon you because you are worthy of all honor and glory and praise, Father. Lord, may you bless this time. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Lord, we just want to glorify you this morning. Amen.

and defense my righteousness oh god a song to rise to you when temptation comes my way when i cannot stand i'll fall jesus you're my hope and stay when i cannot stand i'll fall jesus you're my just stay with me for the last one you deserve the glory and censure up and daylight and censure up night and day let and censure up incesinatory night and day let incest survive day and night night and day let incest arrive and daylight and censor up and censor me of it all and to you lord god we just come before you this morning Lord, you are worthy of it all, Lord God. You literally spoke everything into existence, Lord God. That alone makes you worthy. But Lord, you didn't stop there.

When we messed up, Lord God, you came and rescued us. You are worthy, Lord, Lord God. And you're not going to leave us here. You're going to take us home to be with you, Lord God. You are worthy. You are worthy of all honor and glory and praise, God. Nobody else could have done what you have done. Nobody.

Lord God, you are worthy. We give you glory this morning because you're worthy. We give you praise because you are worthy, Lord God. We love you. We praise you. And now as Pastor Ryan comes, Lord, I just pray that you would speak mightily through him by the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord God. Move mightily this morning in our lives. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Good morning. If you could begin to find your seat, grab a bulletin. We'll go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A few things to take note of in your bulletins. First of all, you guys will insert in here. I almost forgot this first service, so I'm going to say it first. Reminder about the FLS baby bottle drive that we're doing. So if you need to pick one of those up, they're out there by where the bulletins are.

But what it is, is that Family Life Services has these baby bottles. And what we do is we take them, we fill them up with our change, bring them back around Father's Day or by Father's Day. And all of that money goes to support the work of Family Life Services, which helps support mothers that have found themselves in a position where they just need some help to be able to bring their not only little one into the world, but also to help raise their little one. So that money goes towards that.

So pick up on one of those. Fill it with some change. A little change makes a big difference, as it says underneath that. Cute little purse. And on that flyer. Okay. Some other things. A reminder that we are selling some T-shirts that have some sweet CCAC logos on them and ball caps. And so today's the last day to sign up for that. That's out in the lobby. Vacation Bible School is coming up June 10th through the 12th.

The QR code is in there if you want to get your kiddos signed up for that. That's beginning. And then also, if anyone is interested in serving, you can still talk to my lovely wife. About that. I think that there's still a few spots that she needs some help in. Falls. Excuse me. I almost missed one. Joyful Life baby of babies. One more time with feeling. Joyful Life ladies Bible study is starting a new study in June on 1st John.

There's three opportunities to get plugged into that. There's a Monday night option. There's a Thursday afternoon option. Or if neither one of those work for you, then you can just pick up on the studies. You can sign up and receive them. You can receive those studies and just work on them on your own. Falls Creek Church Camp. The youth is going down there.

And in end of June, late June. And so the deadline for sign up and money is May the 27th. Talk to Jared if you have questions about that. And then this evening, there's a lot going on this week. It's May, right? A lot going on. This evening at Wilson Park, Ministerial Alliance is putting on an event. It's called a day of rededication. So typically we do something for National Day of Prayer,

which is the first Thursday of May. But the president has called for May 17th to be a day of national rededication. So we decided to join both of those two things together. And so tonight there will be an event going on there. There's three different worship teams from from churches in town. Ours is one of them. And so there's going to be some worship time of prayer and just good fellowship together.

So come out to Wilson Park at 6 p.m. Bring a lawn chair. And then the only other thing that's not in your bulletin is that we are needing some help in both the cleaning and the sound ministry. So if anybody is interested in that, talk to me afterwards and I will get you guided to the right place if you're interested in helping. So, all right, before we do our responsive reading,

there's one more thing that we got to do. I'm trying to decide how many of them are here this morning. This is graduation weekend. And so we have several seniors in the church. So what I'm going to ask, ask them to do is if you are one of our seniors, I know I see the excited looks on a couple of faces. I want you to come join me up here so that we can pray for you.

And we've got a little something for you. So if you're a senior, I'm looking at a couple of you right now that are not wanting to get up. Okay, there it is. Yeah, come on up.

I thought there was one more. This camera not able to make it in here. Okay, we got one more coming here. So we're blessed to have and there's several others that are over. She is right there. There's several. Yes, everyone turned and look and I'm just kidding. Come on up here. Several others that couldn't be with us because they're on trips and playing sports and things like that.

But we are blessed to have this this group with us and God has done so much in their lives. And so what I want to do is I want to pray for them. And then my wife is going to grab a little bag for each of them to hand them as they head off of the stage. But we just want to pray over them and over their future. So if you would join me in prayer father, we come before you and I lift up these kids to you right now.

And Lord, I thank you for who they are. I thank you for whose they are. And I thank you for the work that you have done in each of their lives because they each have a testimony Lord of how you have brought them to faith. And so Lord, I praise you for the work that you've done bringing them to this point. And God, I pray that as they begin a new chapter in their lives that they would do.

So Lord with the power of your Holy Spirit father that you would give them the vision the direction and the strength that they need to live their lives and dedication to you. And so father we thank you for them. We lift them to you and trust you with them in Jesus name. Amen. Congratulations guys. Go see Aaron down there. All right, and for our responsive reading this morning,

we are going to be in Psalm 17. Psalm 17. We are looking at the new American standards. So that hopefully we sound the same as you are turning to Psalm 17. If you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading. Of God's word. I will read the odd versus if you will follow along with Pastor Jared and the even versus Psalm 17 here a just cause. Oh Lord give heed to my cry give ear to my prayer,

which is not from deceitful lips. Let my judgment come forth from your presence. Let your eyes look with equity. You have tried my heart. You have visited me by night. You have tested me and you find nothing. I have purpose that my mouth will not transgress as for the deeds of men by the word of your lips. I have kept from the paths of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths.

My feet have not slipped. I have called upon you for you will answer me. Oh God incline your ear to me and hear my speech wondrously show your loving kindness. Oh Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who despoil me my deadly enemies who surround me.

They have closed their unfeeling heart with their mouth. They speak proudly. They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the ground. He is like a lion that is eager to tear and as a young lion lurking in hiding places arise. Oh Lord confront him bring him low. Deliver my soul from the wicked with your sword from men with your hand.

Oh Lord from men of the world whose portion is in this life and whose belly you fill with your treasure. They are satisfied with children babies and read verse 15 with me as for me. I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake and father. I do thank you that you hear a just cry Lord you hear when we call you.

And Lord that that we can find our hope in you. And so father I pray that as we take time in your word this morning. Our hope is that you will speak to our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. And so Lord move as you see fit in our hearts and in our lives as always Lord give us instruction where we need instruction. Give us conviction where we need conviction Lord and bring us comfort where our souls need comfort.

We just praise you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. Chapter 7 Hebrews chapter 7. Well now that we have finished the the warnings that he has given to us. We we get back to the purpose which he had originally which the writer to the Hebrews originally had started with in chapter 5. And that's to tell us about the priesthood of Christ the priesthood of Jesus.

And that's what this is entitled and and we won't be able to make it all the way through chapter 7 today. We will have to finish it next week. But but we want to start with this with looking at it. This priesthood of Jesus in particular through the order of Melchizedek. And so we pick up in chapter 7 verse 1. This is what it 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 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils was first of all by the translation of his name the 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 tenth of the choices spoils and those indeed of the sons of Levi who received the priest's office have commandment in the law to collect. And so Senate, who receive 10th of the people that is from there brethren although these are descended from Abraham.

But the O who's Zhang is not traced from them collected a 10th of Abraham and blessable who had the promise is but without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the creator in this case moral men receive tithes. But in that case, one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives on and so to speak through Abraham, even leave, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. The priesthood of Jesus. Now, there's several different things that we'll look at in this chapter. We're going

to focus on these first 10 verses today, and I've given the title of these first 10 verses, Consider Melchizedek, because what he's going to do is he's going to build a framework for everything else that he's going to teach us about, not only the priesthood of Melchizedek, but the priesthood of Jesus through this. And in the outset, may I say, my wife came to me in between the services, which she always does. She goes, how'd first service go? I said, I think it went pretty good. This is a tough section. And she said, if I would put a title on your teaching in the book

of Hebrews, it would be, this is a tough section. Because the entire book of Hebrews is just really, like I say that after every single Sunday, right? It really is. It's very heavy. It requires a lot of knowledge. And I said, it's really hard to teach because, first of all, in our Western culture, we don't understand the Jewish culture, but also we don't understand the priesthood of

Aaron. We don't always understand the significance of the things that he's teaching us. So I'm going to do the best that I can to build as good of a context as possible. And then in the end, I promise, I'm going to tell you why we care about these things, okay? So in order for us to understand the priesthood of Melchizedek, we start in verse one. 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 and blessed him. And he said, I'm going to tell you why I care about these things. I'm going to I hope a question has arisen in your mind from verse one. What is he talking about? What story is being referred to when he talks about Abraham returning from the battle and Melchizedek blessing

him? Well, I'm really glad you asked that question because I'm going to tell you exactly what took place here. Hold your finger here. And I want you to go over to Genesis chapter 14, all the way back to the beginning. Genesis chapter 14. And specifically, we'll be looking at verses 17 through 20. Genesis 14, verses 17 through 20. Now, before I read the specific section that I want us to pay

attention to, I'm going to build the context of what's taken place here. So remember, Abraham had come into the promised land. And when Abraham came into the promised land, God told him, you need to leave all of your family behind and you need to go to the land that I'm going to show you. Well, Abraham partially obeyed. He went to the land that God showed him, but he didn't leave his family

behind. He brought with him a nephew and that nephew's name was Lot. Well, it reached a point there was no longer room for Lot and all of his flocks and Abraham and all of his flocks, because God's blessing was on them, to dwell together. As a matter of fact, we're told that there was enmity between the shepherds of Abraham and the shepherds of Lot. And so Abraham said, let's do

this. You choose wherever you want to go and I'll go the opposite direction. That way there's room enough for both of us. So Lot looks down at the plain of Sodom, that valley where Sodom and Gomorrah are. And prior to God judging Sodom and Gomorrah, it was very fertile land. So he goes down and he dwells there and it says he set up his camp facing Sodom. Well, before God's judgment came on Sodom

and Gomorrah, there was something interesting that took place. There were two different confederations of kings. One confederation of kings involved the king of Sodom, where Lot lived. They were under the taxation of another confederation of kings. Everybody with me so far? Confederation of kings decided, you know what? We ain't paying taxes no more. They had their

own little Boston tea party and they tried to overthrow the confederation of kings that was over them. Well, that other confederation of kings said, you know what? We're taking them down. And that's exactly what they did. They attacked Sodom and all of the cities of that region and they took them all captive. Well, when they took Sodom and all of them captive, Lot was in that group.

And so one from Lot's household that escaped captivity comes and tells Abraham, you've got a problem. Your nephew and all of his family, they've all been taken captive. And so Abraham goes and arms 136 men in his home. Now, sidebar, have you ever considered just how fantastically successful Abraham must have been in life to have 136 dudes that he could give a sword to, like a trained army? Like Abraham had his own militia. Like we think about Abraham traveling like Abraham, Sarah,

and a couple of donkeys and a few sheep, right? Like that's what we think of when we think of the, when Abraham showed up someplace, everybody knew, right? Guy brought an army with him, literally. So Abraham arms 136 of his men and they go after that confederation of kings. They defeat them in a fantastic battle that we're told about in Genesis chapters 13 and 14. And then they return not only

with the family of Lot, but with all of the spoils of war. Now, as they're on their way back from this battle, we come to Genesis 14 verse 17. And it says this, Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Sheveh, that is the king's valley. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the Most High God,

and he blessed him and said, Blessed be God of Abram Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he, meaning Abraham, was a priest of the Most High. And he was a priest of the Most High. And he was a priest of the Most High. Now, I hope you're asking yourself a question right now. Where did this guy come from? Right?

Like, that's a fair question to ask in this moment. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this king shows up. We're told that his name is Melchizedek. He's the king of Salem, which, by the way, is a shortened version of the name Jerusalem, because that's what it will later be known as. And he brings two very interesting things with him. Did you notice? Let me read it to you again. It says in verse 18,

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. What is that? Well, that's communion, right? So this Melchizedek, king of Salem, brings communion with him. And then he blesses Abraham. And then Abraham gives him a tithe of all things. When I taught this to my high school Bible class, I literally entitled this chapter, Who is that guy? Right? Because he just shows up out of nowhere. Now, you do not read about

Melchizedek again until you get to Psalm 110. And maybe somewhere in your notes or in the margin of 110, verse 4. Psalm 110, verse 4. Because in Psalm 110, it's a messianic psalm. In other words, it's a psalm that declares everything that the Messiah is going to be. It's the psalm that says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Well, he goes on later in verse 4 to say, And I have declared and will not lie, I have made you a priest forever according to the order, of Melchizedek. And then you do not see the name Melchizedek again until you get to Hebrews chapter 5. Who is this guy? Well, there's three main opinions about who Melchizedek is. Either one, Melchizedek is just simply some sort of a heavenly being. Perhaps an angel

that just shows up on the scene at this point in time. Maybe even helped in the battle. Maybe even aided Abram in the battle without him even knowing it. But somehow he just shows up and he gives this blessing. To Abram in this moment. I leaned away from that interpretation myself. The second interpretation is this. Melchizedek was actually an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.

Theologically speaking, we call that a Christophany. An Old Testament appearance of Jesus pre-incarnate before Bethlehem. And Jesus just shows up there. I have no problem with that interpretation. Some people view Melchizedek as simply being a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic, man who we just don't know very much about that was an Old Testament type of the priesthood of

Christ. I also have no issue with that interpretation. Whichever one it is, he's a pretty interesting character. And he creates for us a backdrop that tells us about the priesthood of Jesus. So with this understanding of who Melchizedek is, let's go back to Hebrews chapter 7. I'll give you a second to get back there if you didn't hold your finger there. I know somebody's

going, shoot, I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. I should have put a book in there. And I got to flip all the pages. So, okay, you're there now. Kids crying. We know you're there. So, that's always, I cry when I show up.

So, so we come back here. For this Melchizedek, verse 7, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God who met Abraham was returning from the slaughter of the kings, and he blessed him. The first thing that we read about Melchizedek is that he is both a king and a priest. He is both a king and a priest. is significant because not only in biblical economy, but even in non-biblical economy,

people of the era at that time knew that you cannot combine the power of religion and the power of politics together. You cannot have one leader that is both the political leader and the religious leader because that's too much power invested in one person. So there was always a separation of powers between the political leader and the religious leader. The high priest could not be the king and vice versa. But in fact, there was a couple of times in scripture where

this became an issue for kings. The first time that it became an issue was a guy by the name of King Saul, right? King Saul comes along and he starts off really good, starts doing really good, the first king that Israel had, but he starts making some mistakes in his reign and his heart starts to turn away from God. And then there was one significant event that put the nail in the coffin for his kingly line. And that was that they were waiting to go to battle and he was

the protagonist of the battle. And he was the protagonist of the battle. And he was the father of the king. And he was the father of the king. And he was the father of the king. And he was the supposed to wait for the priest, which was Samuel at that point in time, to come and make a sacrifice so that they would be blessed by God going into battle. Well, Samuel was taking too long to show

up, so Saul took it upon himself to make the sacrifice in order to go into battle. And that was when Samuel said, what have you done? You should not have done this. You're the king. You don't have the priestly job. That was the first time we see an issue with that. Of course, he's not allowed to continue his reign. And the second time that we see it is a guy by the name of Uzziah.

And Uzziah was a really good king. We just read about him not long ago on Wednesday nights. A fantastic king who did an incredible number of godly things. But he had one problem. Towards the end of his reign, when he was lifted up in power, when he was great in power, it says that he went into the temple and offered the incense that it was not his job to offer. It was the high priest's job.

And so God struck him with leprosy. Because God always intended to give him the incense that he needed. And so God struck him with leprosy. Because God always intended there to be a separation between the king and the priest. So this makes this Melchizedek very different. Because he is both a king and a priest. Which significantly, we know that Jesus is both a king and a priest. He is a king from the line of Judah. And he is a priest

according to the order of Melchizedek. The second thing that we read about Jesus, or about Melchizedek, comes in verse two. It says, To whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils. We'll get to that in just a minute. Was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. We find that there's two other things about this Melchizedek that are

important. That he is a king, but he is a king of righteousness, and he is a king of peace. Melchizedek means king of righteousness, and Salem means peace. It's translated out further, it's the Hebrew word shalom, peace be with you. And so that's the idea, is that he is the king of both of these things. And it's interesting to look at that, because first of all, we look at the fact that he is the king of righteousness,

just like Jesus. Jesus is ultimately the king of righteousness. Why? Well, first of all, because Jesus is righteousness himself. Jesus is the standard of righteousness. He was the standard of righteousness in his eternal form. But even when he became a man and dwelt among us, we knew that he was righteous. First of all, because he was born of a virgin, so he was born without the sin nature that we have.

Second, because he passed the test of all of the temptations that came directly from the enemy, and then he lived a perfect life that was sinless, and then he died a perfect death, which was righteous, and then he was proven to be righteous when God raised him from the dead. So Jesus is righteous himself, but not only is he righteous, because he is the king of righteousness, but he is the giver of righteousness. He grants righteousness to all of us, which is why we can come to Jesus with all of our sin, and he takes that and puts it away, and then he grants to us his righteousness, like a brand new set of clothes, making us look brand new in him. And so he's the king of

righteousness, not only because he is righteous, but because he is the giver of righteousness. But then he goes on to say this, he is also the king of peace. And can we say that that is just like Jesus? Because Jesus, himself, is our peace. That's what we're told in scripture. Matter of fact, the book of Ephesians uses those specific words, that he is our peace who has broken down the middle wall of

separation. And it's amazing how the righteousness of Christ brings about the peace of Christ. Well, how is, how is Jesus our peace? We see the work of the gospel that takes place through Jesus Christ is an ultimate work of peace. The first thing it does is it creates peace between us and God, right? Because, before we come to Jesus, we are living in our sin, meaning that we are at war with God.

Because we are opposed to all of the things of God. We are opposed to righteousness. We are opposed to holiness. And so we come to Jesus with all of our sin, and we are told that he made peace through the blood of his cross. And so he now grants to us peace with God when we come and surrender to the peace terms. What are the peace terms with God? Well, you admit that you're a sinner. You accept me as the Savior.

That's my terms of peace. And when we come to Jesus, for salvation, you didn't realize this, but you signed a peace treaty, and you are now at peace with God. But the gospel does not stop there. The gospel now begins to bring peace with each other. And my guess is that's probably what God wants to do with some lives in here today, is to start to make peace with each other.

Because here's what happens when we're believers in Jesus Christ. Once we realize what God has done in us through the work of peace, that he has now made peace with us, listen, it's impossible for us to not be at peace. You know why? Because if God has forgiven me of all of my sins, if God has restored me from everything that I've done wrong, then I cannot do anything but forgive my brother.

I cannot do anything but forgive my sister, because it creates peace in those relationships. One of the most beautiful things to see in the life of somebody that comes to Jesus is how it begins to restore all of the other relationships in their lives. Because either A, you let go of the bitterness in your heart, because you realize you're as guilty as they are, and God still forgave you, and God softens the bitterness in your heart. Or you stop harboring the unforgiveness against them. Or you see the sin in your life, and you realize,

the only way I can be right is if I confess my sin to them, just like I did with Jesus. I come out of the shadows of hiding, and I confess my sin so that my relationship can be right with them. Only, you know what the problem is with sometimes with us as believers in Jesus Christ? God has forgiven us of much, and yet we still hold unforgiveness against the person next to us.

God has done so much to restore me, and yet I withhold restoration from the person who has offended me. God has done so much to show grace to me, but I now hold on to that grace, and I don't let that out into anybody else's life. And can I just say, brothers and sisters, I don't know who's sitting in here that needs to hear this this morning, but I think probably somebody in here needs to hear the fact that it's time to let go of the bitterness, and it's time to own it. Own your own part of the relational issue that you have right now.

Somebody needs to let go of the unforgiveness, and own your part of the relational issue that you have right now. Somebody needs to confess something to somebody else, not because they don't know about it, but because you need to admit that you're wrong in order to have some freedom and peace in your life. Because God wants to create peace, not only between you and Him, but between you and the people that are around you. But the peace that God gives to us doesn't end just between us.

It ends between me and Him, and just between me and you. God gives me peace within myself, because He is ultimately my peace. And I can find peace in all of the turmoil of life, because I can rest in a God who is greater than all of my sin. I can give up the past anxiety of my sins, because I know that those are under the blood of Jesus. I can give up the future fears that I have, because I know that Jesus is already in the future,

and He already has all of that solved. I can give up the present worries that I have, because I know that daily I can cast all of my anxieties upon Him, and now I can live in peace with myself, because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. But listen, we have to understand the order of these words. The order of these words are key. Did you notice that He is first the King of righteousness, and then He is the King of peace?

We need to understand God does not screw up in the way that He puts things in an order. God puts things in His word exactly as He intends for them to be. And can I tell you right now, that if you don't have peace in your life, it could be because you don't have righteousness in your life. Both righteousness in your standing with God, and righteousness in the way that you are living.

I will tell you that almost all lack of peace in someone's life can always come back to my relationship with God isn't right, or my relationship with people isn't right. And if I will solve those things through the righteousness of Christ, I will find that the peace of God will rule and reign within my heart. But it has to begin with the righteousness of Christ. So I have a question for you this morning.

And this isn't just a question for someone in here that's an unbeliever. This is a question for everybody in here, no matter how long you've walked with Jesus. Are you in right standing with God right now? Is the righteousness of God what rules and reigns in your heart? Or is sin and bitterness and unforgiveness and all the garbage of the world, is that what's ruling and reigning in your heart right now?

Because if you don't have peace, you need to stop looking at what everybody else has done, and start looking at what you have done. Because if he's your king, then he's the king of your righteousness, and he's the king of your peace. Amen? And so, we find that he is that king. He's not only a king and a priest, but he's a specific king, a king of righteousness and a king of peace.

But then he goes on in verse 3 to tell us that he is a perpetual priest. Notice what he says in verse 3. 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. I love this verse because this is where I really struggle with not believing that Melchizedek is a Christophany.

This is a pretty specific verse, right? Like, this is what he says here, okay? So, first of all, he's without father and without mother. In other words, he has no family history. And without genealogy. Now, why is that important? Well, first of all, it's important from a theological point of view. A theological stance. Because if Jesus is according to a priesthood that is superior to Aaron,

the Levitical priesthood, then we have to understand something about the Levitical priesthood. In order to be a Levitical priest, you had to prove your heredity. There was not just some vote. It wasn't like, well, I think I could be high priest this year. Vote for Ryan for high priest. I'm going to run against Drew and we're going to run against each other to see who the high priest is going to be, right?

Like, that's not how it works. You couldn't just be like, well, I think I'll do it. I mean, I'm the guy that thinks that. I was in the camp. I think I could be the high priest. No, you had to be of the line of Aaron, right? You had to prove heredity in order to be the high priest. And yet Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy. In other words, he couldn't prove it through his heredity

because he was a different kind of priest. Just like Jesus didn't need the heredity of the Aaronic line because he was a different kind of high priest. But the second thing that we read in this, again, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Now, I don't know about you, but I like to attach a word to that.

It's a really fun word. It's called eternal, right? Like, that's what that would mean. If you have no beginning of days and you have no end of life, that means that you are eternal. And can we just all realize that what he's ultimately talking about here is a fulfillment found in Jesus? Whoever Melchizedek was, the fulfillment is found in Jesus because Jesus has neither beginning of days nor end of life.

And this is an important part to pay attention to because there are some cults out there who will tell you that Jesus does have a beginning. They will tell you, well, you have to understand, yes, Jesus created everything, but first Jesus was created and then he was the agent that God used to create everything, which is non-biblical. As a matter of fact, I love John 1, verse 1 for this. I quote it a lot because it's a pretty powerful verse.

In the beginning was the Word. And if you look at that in the Greek language, what it literally says is in the beginning the Word already existed. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. This is such a powerful truth that one particular cult actually changed the wording of John 1 to say this. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was a God. They had to add that little article a to prove that Jesus was not eternal and having no beginning of days nor end of life, that he was just another in a line of created beings. Problem is, in the Greek, that article does not exist. Meaning that Jesus has no beginning of days, and he has no end of life. He is eternal in his nature. Therefore he is, as it says here, eternal in his priesthood.

He remains a priest perpetually. The eternality of Jesus, the eternal nature of Jesus, the fact that Jesus always has been and always will be is one of the most fascinating truths to me. I can think eternity future, right? Because we all think eternity future. That's what we're looking forward to. It's eternity past that gets me. Because it always comes down to this.

Well, where did God come from? Yes. No, like, where did God come from? Mm-hmm. No, who created God? Mm-mm. He just always said. What do you mean God always has been? How can that be? That's a fantastic question, right? It's kind of what makes him God. The fact that he is eternal. Well, I can't understand him. You don't need to. You just have to believe. You just have to believe him.

Because I can tell you, every other explanation for the beginning can't answer the exact same question, right? My favorite thing when I deal with somebody that is an evolutionist, and even if they get it down to, like, there was this one microorganism that eventually developed into all of these others, the one question you have to ask is, where'd that one come from? And you know what they go? Yes.

It all takes faith, right? Can we understand that evolution takes us away? Can we understand that evolution takes as much faith as creation does? That's another fantastic book. Somebody told me I needed to make a book list because they can't write them down fast enough. I can't focus enough to make a book list, so I'll say it slow. Write this one down. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist

by Dr. Frank Turek. It is a fantastic book where he goes into depth about arguments just like that, including the eternality of Jesus. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Dr. Frank Turek. This is a beautiful spot to point this out because the priesthood of Melchizedek was perpetual, just like the priesthood of Jesus is perpetual. See, here's the thing.

The Aaronic priesthood only lasted so long. As a matter of fact, it is written into the law that the priest could only be the high priest for 30 years unless death came first. for 30 years unless death came first. But 30 years was the max that he could serve as the high priest. as the high priest. Why? Well, because God was showing that that priesthood is only a shadow

of the reality that is to come. That priesthood could never be perfect because its perfection would be found in Jesus, who is a completely different kind of priest. Ultimately, all the first and second kings and even the prophets proves the same thing about kings. It proves that there was never a perfect king that ruled and reigned in Israel. Do you know that?

There were some fantastic kings in Israel. I told you about one of them. His name was Uzziah. Uzziah was an incredibly godly man. As a matter of fact, so godly that when Uzziah died is when Isaiah began to really see the Lord. Why? Because Uzziah was such a fantastic king that everybody said, this guy's the man. But he still had one problem, pride. He went in and did what he was not supposed to do,

and so God struck him down with leprosy. David was considered the man after God's own heart, the king that every other king in both Israel and Judah was ever held up to as a standard, and yet he still sinned in a fantastically terrible sort of way because there would never be a perfect king. Hezekiah is another one who was an incredibly godly king, potentially a better king than David, and yet at the end of his life, he still gave in to pride and revealed all of the treasures of the nation of Israel to the future invading army of Babylon. Because whether it was a king of the Old Testament or the Aaronic priesthood, they were only shadows of the substance that was to come, which is found in Jesus.

And can I just say, brothers and sisters in Christ, that are way too caught up in politics, there is no president that will ever be perfect. There is no leader in our nation that will ever be perfect, and as soon as we start thinking that one is, we have absolutely missed the boat. Because there is only one leader that's ever going to be perfect, who's going to solve it all, and his name is Jesus, not fill in your particular candidate right here. And so he's a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

But I left one little note out. Some of you scholars noticed it. Let me read this verse to you again. Verse three, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God. That word like, I just want to point this out, in the Greek is really interesting. It means to mimic, but literally the word means facsimile, facsimile.

In other words, an exact copy. So this Melchizedek is an exact copy of Jesus, which is why I have no issue with him either being an Old Testament type of Jesus or actually being a Christophany in the Old Testament. And so we see that this Melchizedek was a king and a priest, just like Jesus. This Melchizedek was a king of righteousness and peace, just like Jesus.

He is a perpetual priest, just like Jesus. But the last thing that we look at is the superiority, just like Jesus. Verse four, 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 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. The superiority is seen in three ways. First of all, the Melchizedek received a tithe even from Abraham. Now, that doesn't sound like any big deal to you because you didn't live in ancient Israel. You didn't live in a culture that viewed Abraham

the way that the Jewish culture viewed you. So let me tell you how the Jewish culture viewed Abraham. Abraham was not a patriarch, he was the patriarch. Abraham was not a father of faith, he was the father of faith. Abraham was not a man of promise, he was the man of promise. In other words, everybody looked at Abraham and he was the pinnacle because he is the man who started the nation.

How did the nation of Israel begin? Abraham, party of one, right? He added in Sarah, party of two, and then Isaac, party of three. From there, the entire nation of Israel grew. So they all looked at Abraham and said, he is the man. And yet Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek. Abraham, the future father of Aaron and Levi, all of the other tribes, paid tithe to Melchizedek.

So he shows his superiority because he is the one he paid the tithes to. The second way that he showed his superiority is because he blessed Abraham. Notice what it says, middle of verse six. And from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. This idea of being blessed is so much more

than somebody sneezed and you say, I bless you. This being blessed is so much more than saying, oh, bless your heart, right? This is an intense blessing that he's talking about here. It is literally a bestowal of authority. Think, if you will, of a father looking at his oldest son on his deathbed and saying, the family now belongs to you, right? Like one of those sort of situations.

Think the godfather. That's the blessing that he's talking about right now. And so when he says he blessed him, the greater always blesses the lesser. It's showing the superiority of Melchizedek because he passed along the blessing to Abraham. But then there's one last thing, and that's that he received tithes from the Levites. Notice what it says in verse eight.

In this case, moral 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 receives the tithes, paid tithes. For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. The Levites of that time lived off of the tithe. They didn't have the allotment of land like everyone else did.

So the only way that they could support themselves was through the paying of the tithes. So this priestly tribe who received tithes from the nation ultimately tithes to this Melchizedek, who was far superior to the Levitical priesthood. So we're going to wrap up there this morning with the content that we cover from chapter seven. I'll let you wrap your minds around it just a little bit.

But I want to close this week the same way that I'm going to close next week. I want to close by saying this. I bet you're asking yourself a question right now. Why do I care about this? Right? As soon as I said Melchizedek, you were probably like, why do I care about this? Why do I care about who this guy is? Because it has everything to do with Jesus. So let me close by saying a handful of things.

First of all, I want to remind you of why this book is being written. It's being written to Hebrew believers who have found that their life living as Christians has gotten so hard because they are separated from the old life that they used to live and now they're facing persecution in the current life that they're living. And the idea is, if we leave the current life we're living behind and go back to who we were before, life will be so much easier. Have you ever found yourself saying that?

Like, man, you start walking with Jesus and that first couple of weeks, you're like, man, I am on fire. That guy set me free from my sins. And then pretty soon, spiritual attack starts to happen. And you're like, my life was so much easier before. Was it? Why did you come to Jesus to begin with? Because your life sucked, right? Everything was going wrong in your life

and you're like, Jesus, help. And Jesus comes and saves you. And then it gets a little bit hard and you're like, nevermind. And you're ready to leave. And you want to give up. And he says, hey, don't give up. Look back to Jesus. Because Jesus is better than anything that you could ever go back to. Jesus is far superior to anything that you would ever go back to.

And in your mind you think, if I just go back to the way things were before, if I just go back to my old life, then life will be easier. But we forget that Jesus is far superior to our old life, which is the first thing that I want to point out. Jesus is a different kind of priest. Because Jesus is a priest who is a king. He is a priest. He is our righteousness.

He is our peace. He is eternal and he is superior. So keep looking to Jesus. Keep your eyes focused on a priest who is different than Jesus. Amen? The second thing I want to tell you is this. Jesus is a priest forever. Do you know that Jesus is not going to give up on you? Listen, I gave a really stark warning from scripture the other day, a couple of weeks ago.

And I meant everything I said in that warning. But I want to tell you this. For the heart that is continually surrendered to Jesus, Jesus is never going to give up on you. And you have to just remember that he is a priest forever. Jesus is not going to forget that he's your high priest. Jesus is not going to give up on being your high priest. Because he is the one

who is your advocate before the Father. Because that's what a priest is. He is your advocate before the Father forever. He is on this side of eternity and he will continue to be on the other side of eternity. The only thing that will change between this side of eternity and the other side of eternity is I will no longer have a body that is subject to this world.

And I will see that Jesus, who is my high priest, even more clearly. Because he is my priest forever. But the last thing that I want to tell you is this. I want to read a section of scripture to you. Look over at verse 22 of this chapter. And this is what it says. So much more also, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The former priests on the one hand

existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing. Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, pay attention close, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him. Since he always lives to make intercession for them. The last thing I want to tell you is this.

He is able to save forever all who call upon him. He is able to save forever all who call upon him. So I don't know who needs to hear this this morning, but it's time to call out to Jesus. You see, the day that you called out to Jesus was just the beginning, right? And there's some of you in here this morning that today's the day that you need to call out to Jesus.

Because your life has been bad. Because you have been lost. Because you showed up at church this morning because your life did kind of suck a little bit. You needed to find some sort of a purpose. You need to find some sort of a reason. You need to find your why to live life any longer. And that why, that hope, that peace, it's found in Jesus. And today's the day that you need to cry out to Jesus.

And that's why you're here this morning. You didn't show up here on accident. God brought you here, not your mom. God brought you here, not your friend. Because you needed to hear that today is the day that you need to cry out to Jesus. Because listen, all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What if I'm not one of the elect? Call on the Lord and find out.

Because the minute that you call out to Jesus, He will say, chosen before the foundations of the earth. But brothers and sisters, those of us that have walked with Jesus for a long time, the day that you cried out to Jesus for salvation was just day one. It did not end. And now forever, you find salvation in the exact same place that you found it in to begin with.

The same thing that brought you salvation is the same thing that maintains your life in Christ. And that's to call out to Jesus. Because Ryan in 1998 that called out to Jesus needed Him so much then, just like Ryan in 2026 that calls out to Jesus needs Him just as much now. And the same God that answered me back then when I still had hair on top of my head is the God that answers me now.

Because He is able to save forever all who call upon Him. Back in October, we were getting ready for Fields of Faith and I was in a prayer meeting with a group of people and we were walking around the track there at the football field, just praying over it. And in between praying, we would kind of talk to each other a little bit and I told one of them a story about something that God had done in my life early on in my walk with the Lord. And this young lady looked at me and she said, so is that your testimony?

And I said, that's one of my testimonies. Because I walked with Jesus long enough to know it ain't just one. There's not just one testimony. There's one testimony about when you came to faith for the first time. But now, now there's constant testimonies of what God does in my life and what God continues to do in my life. Because all we can do is call out to Jesus.

Right? All we can do is call out to Him. Raw moment with Ryan, I know you're tired of those by now, but I can't help it. Life keeps throwing curve balls at me. I get hit in the face by the curve ball and then I got to tell you about it. I kept thinking, I kept thinking 2026 is going to be a better year. This is going to be my year. Right? So far, not so good.

Right? I remember last year I was like, I don't ever want to relive 2025 again. I don't ever want to go through that year again because that year was really hard and I feel like I'm reliving it again. And all I know how to do is the same thing I did all last year. And that's cry out to the Lord. Because He is able to save forever all those who call upon Him.

So wherever you sit right now, whatever's going on in your life right now, I just want you to know, keep calling out to Jesus because He's able to keep saving you and keep writing out those testimonies of what He did in your life this week or last week or last year and let that confidence build your faith today. Amen? Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come before you and Lord, I want to thank you for another difficult section of scripture that's so good to our souls, that's so good to our hearts. Lord, I thank you that you are a priest forever that is always ready to make intercession for us, that never forgets us, that never leaves us or forsakes us. Father, that is always ready to hear the prayer of any heart that cries out to Him. And so Lord, I lift up the soul of every person that's in here this morning and every soul of everyone that's watching online and I just ask Lord that in the quietness of their heart, whatever's going on as we sing this last song, that they would cry out to you.

Lord, whether it's crying out to you for the first time for salvation, whether it's crying out to you in repentance because they've been far away and it was time to come home, whether it's crying out to you because life has gotten too heavy and they're tired of bearing the burden, whether they need to cry out to you because they're ready to give up and go back to the old life because quite frankly, walking with Jesus is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, or whether it's just crying out because they just want to praise you. Lord, may the heart of every person in this room and online cry out to you in this last song. Lord, may their hearts be poured out to you in worship and may we just sing at the top of our lungs

about the greatness of our God. We just thank you and praise you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. Oh my God When I in awesome wonder Consider all The worlds thy handsglass I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout The universe display And seize my soul Oh, my Savior, God, to Thee, how great Thou art. Oh, my Savior, God, to Thee, how great Thou art.

And through the woodless blades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook, feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, Savior, God, to Thee, how great. Then sings my soul, Savior, God, to Thee, what joy shall fill my soul. Then sings my soul, Savior, God, to Thee, what joy shall fill my soul.

Well, God, we give You praise for how good and how great You are to us, Lord God. And we thank You for Your Word this morning. Lord, and as we leave here, I just pray a blessing on each and every one of us. And we love You, Lord, and we praise You. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.