Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What an incredible testimony.
[00:00:02] Just clear gospel. It's not because of what we do, but it's because of what Jesus has done for us. That's actually what we're going to look at. If you've got a Bible, you can turn to Hebrews, chapter seven.
[00:00:12] And we're going to walk through this whole chapter and I'll just tell you up front. I was talking to a friend and he said, you know, I read the chapter beforehand and I've read my Bible quite a bit, and I felt like I got thrown into the deep end and I was drowning. And so I'll just preface with that. But my hope is that by the end we'll have learned to swim and we'll have learned to read God's word and really that my goal is that we will just end with worship. That as we walk through this, we're gonna see that the author of Hebrews takes so much of the Old Testament. Many people say that Hebrews is just an Old Testament commentary, takes so much of the Old Testament and tells us just the classic Bible answer that Jesus is.
[00:00:59] Answer. I mean, that's what Hebrews is doing is it's just pointing us to Jesus and says, look, see that? That was pointing to Jesus. See that? That was pointing to Jesus. See that Jesus is better. See this? Jesus is better. And so at the end, my hope is that we would just be in awe of who Jesus is, that we would come to the realization and recognition that Jesus has offered to us something which we could not achieve or accomplish on our own. And that it's by faith that he says, come on, come to me.
[00:01:33] And he saves us and he redeems us. And he calls us an heir, and he calls us a brother or a sister, and he calls us the children of God. And it's all because of what he has done for us. And so let's pray, and then we're going to jump into this and we'll work through the argument that Hebrews is making and come to the conclusion together at the end. Would you pray with me?
[00:02:01] Well, Lord, we are thankful for your word, Lord, and that your word is understandable, Lord, that even if it may seem confusing as we just first read it, Lord, that you have given us your spirit and that you have made your word understandable, Lord. So I do ask this morning that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see and a heart that's willing to receive the encouragement and the rebuke which your word would give us that we might run to you, our Great High Priest, that we might run to you, the one who is able to save. That we might run to you, the one who continually makes intercession for us.
[00:02:39] Or that we would be reminded of that which is true.
[00:02:43] That in the midst of our failing and in the midst of our sin, we wouldn't run and hide from you, but that we would draw near, Lord. So I pray that this morning, Lord, your spirit would move in our midst. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:02:57] Well, we finished Exodus, and in Exodus we saw the character of God lifted up. But we also had this question, how can a sinful people dwell with a holy God? How can a holy God be in the midst and in the presence of an unholy people? And so that's the question that really kind of Exodus lifts up for us. And so we saw several answers in that. That that God graciously gave this priesthood, this mediator, that would go between a holy God and a sinful people, that there would be priests and a priesthood. God graciously gave the tabernacle a place where God would dwell among his people. But with the tabernacle, there were all these rules and there were all these sacrifices that had to be made. And the priests had to make sacrifices for themselves before they could go in. And then the priests had to offer sacrifices for the people. And this was morning and evening, and every day there were all these sacrifices that they. They had a need for, for a go between.
[00:04:00] But that we saw the character of God, that he desired to dwell with his people, a holy God in the midst of a sinful people.
[00:04:08] We see in Exodus 28 that God appoints Aaron and his sons, who are of the tribe of Levi. And this is going to be important. He appoints them that they would be priests. And so from the tribe of Levi, we get this term, the Levitical priesthood, that Aaron would be priests and he would train his sons to be priests, and they would train their sons to be priests. And it would just pass on through the line of Levi, all these priests. Now again, who was Levi? Well, Levi was one of Abraham's children. You know, Father Abraham, the one who had many sons, the one that they become the 12 tribes of Israel.
[00:04:53] And so out of Abraham, the one who had received the promise from God. What was that promise? That I'm going to make you into a great nation.
[00:05:03] I'm going to bring you into a land, the land of promise, and I will make you a blessing to the nations. He gave them this promise to Abraham. Abraham has these children, one of these Children is Levi. And then Levi is appointed to be a priest, and the priests was the mediator. Man, it'd be incredible to be of that line, to have that role.
[00:05:26] And yet Hebrews 7 tells us that there's a line and that there's a priest, not from the tribe of Levi, but from a different priesthood that is even better. So let's jump into our text. I'm actually going to begin in chapter six, verse 19, because we pick up a name that we'll need to carry through chapter seven.
[00:05:54] Hebrews, chapter six, verse 19 says this.
[00:05:58] He says, we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of. Of Melchizedek, not the order of Levi, but the order of Melchizedek. And so, as readers, we go, whoa, wait a minute. Who's this Melchizedek guy? Well, that's what we're about to find out. So let's begin.
[00:06:31] Chapter seven, verse one. Here's the big heading I want us to see, is that Jesus is a greater priest. Jesus is a greater priest for this Melchizedek, the king of Salem, the priest of the most high God. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and he blessed him. And to him Abraham apportioned a tenth of the part of everything he is, first by translation of his name, King of righteousness, and then he is also King of Salem, that is, the king of peace.
[00:07:02] He's without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God. He continues a priest forever. Okay, so y' all got all that.
[00:07:16] Let's keep reading, and then we're going to unpack it. All right, we're going to keep adding. And you're just like, I'm lost already.
[00:07:21] Don't abandon me. Stick with me. Verse 4.
[00:07:25] See how great this man was from whom Abraham the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.
[00:07:32] And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have commanded in the law to take a tithe from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these are the descendants of Abraham.
[00:07:44] But this man, who does not have his descendants from them received a tithe from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
[00:07:54] It's beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
[00:07:59] In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in another case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Okay, so what is the author of Hebrews doing here? He's making us confused, right?
[00:08:25] You read this in your Bible reading, and you're like, what do I do with that? Well, let's begin to unpack this. What the author is doing is he's taking us back to a reference which probably many of us have read in our Bible reading. It's in Genesis 14. And so you at least made it 14 days into your Bible reading plan. So you covered this, right?
[00:08:43] That in Genesis 14, we find out that Abraham, you know, father Abraham, the one who God has made promises to, the one who God has blessed, that Abraham returned from this war where he's found victory and he has all the spoils of war. And so he's returning and he meets this guy along the way. And all that we really know about this guy is his name's Melchizedek.
[00:09:05] And it says that Melchizedek is the king.
[00:09:09] He's the king of Salem. And so he's got this role of king, but we also find out about him that he's the priest of the most high God. So he's a king and a priest. Now, this is pretty foreign, especially with what we know about kings and priests, because kings come from the line of Judah, but priests, they come from the line of Levi. So you couldn't have a king and a priest because they were of two different lineages.
[00:09:39] But Melchizedek, he's a king and a priest. He's a king of Salem, which is the king of peace, not a king of war, a king of peace. But he's also the priest of the most high God that this is. This is God, Yahweh.
[00:09:56] And so this man meets Abraham, and Abraham's a pretty important guy, especially for Israel and the Jewish people that Abraham, like you don't get higher than Abraham. Abraham's the top guy because he's the one that all the promises came to. So everyone underneath just points to him.
[00:10:16] But then what happened in this text is that Abraham meets this guy and Melchizedek blesses Abraham. Well, why is that important?
[00:10:25] Because the superior blesses the inferior.
[00:10:30] Okay, so Melchizedek is more important than Abraham was. Yeah, but then Abraham does something else in recognition of this, that then Abraham offers tithes.
[00:10:43] He gives offering to Melchizedek.
[00:10:47] Rather than Melchizedek giving something to Abraham, he gives to Melchizedek. And so we see in this that the author of Hebrews is reminding us. He's showing us something that even before Abraham was Melchizedek had this place of superiority in kingship and in service to God, such that Abraham would bless, would go to him to be blessed, such that Abraham would offer this tithe to him.
[00:11:21] We see in this that there's really not much more known about Melchizedek. That's the extent of it.
[00:11:28] We hear about him in a couple other spots. In just reference to that Genesis passage. We find out actually in Psalm 110 that it's going to mention Melchizedek. We'll get to that in just a minute. But.
[00:11:39] But the author of Hebrews is making an argument that there is a priestly line that is of greater importance than the Levitical line. And that's where he goes towards the end of this, he says, but one might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes to Abraham through Abraham because he was still in his loins as an ancestor. That this Levitical priesthood, the mediators for the people of God to go to God, the people who were the go betweens that God had set aside, like through you, you're going to mediate a sinful people to a holy God.
[00:12:23] Hebrews is telling us, but there's a priesthood that's even better than the Levitical one.
[00:12:30] So we ought to ask the question, so why the Levitical priesthood? Why would God have even given the Levitical priesthood?
[00:12:37] It's as a signpost.
[00:12:40] It's as that which would create anticipation for the one who would come.
[00:12:46] Let's keep building this argument. He goes on to the next. And what I want us to see is that Jesus comes through this line of Melchizedek. Jesus doesn't come as a priest through the line of Levi. He comes through the line of Melchizedek. Here's why this is important. Look at verse 11 is that Jesus provides a better priesthood.
[00:13:06] Verse 11.
[00:13:07] Now, if perfection had been obtainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, then what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? He's asking us the question, if the Levitical priesthood could accomplish everything that was needed, why would you have a priest of a different line and not just another one of Aaron's descendants?
[00:13:41] The question points us to the answer that the Levitical priesthood couldn't accomplish all that was Needed.
[00:13:51] The law couldn't save anyone.
[00:13:54] People have been saved by faith in the Old Testament, just as they are saved by faith in the New Testament. It's not by works, it's not by doing enough, it's not by showing up to church enough, it's not by obeying enough scripture that any of us are saved. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ, God's appointed sacrifice, and by faith in his atonement. That's how people were saved all along.
[00:14:18] The Levitical priesthood couldn't save anyone.
[00:14:21] The Levitical priesthood couldn't cleanse your conscience.
[00:14:25] The Levitical priesthood could only point you to your need for a savior.
[00:14:30] How do we get that? Well, let's keep reading verse 12.
[00:14:34] For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
[00:14:41] For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it's evident that our Lord was a descendant of Judah.
[00:14:54] And in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests.
[00:14:59] So the argument he's making, if you're tracking with it, is he goes, so the Levitical priesthood couldn't accomplish everything that was needed. Therefore Jesus is coming from a different line, a different priesthood, that there. There hasn't been someone serving at the altar of the order of Melchizedek because Jesus is coming to serve as the priest.
[00:15:23] But we go, but Jesus isn't a priest. He's not a Levite.
[00:15:28] Right.
[00:15:29] Because those who serve under the order of Melchizedek aren't there by lineage. Look at this verse 15. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek who has become a priest not on the basis of legal requirement concerning bodily descendant, but by the power of an indestructible life.
[00:15:53] That as much as you would want to be a priest if you were not born a Levite, you could not be a priest, no questions asked.
[00:16:01] Jesus was born of the line of Judah.
[00:16:04] He cannot be a Levitical priest.
[00:16:09] But the Levitical priesthood couldn't accomplish all that we need.
[00:16:13] But Jesus comes of a different line, a better priesthood, a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek. So look at verse 17, and here's where we see this. That he's there not because of this lineage. He's there because of his life. Verse 17. For it is witnessed of him that you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That this is a reference from Psalm 110. I just encourage you to write that down. It's a great psalm. It's a psalm of David. It's a psalm that Jesus actually questions some of the Pharisees about, about Jesus.
[00:16:46] Because in this psalm, David, who's the king? You know, you get Abraham, who's father of Israel, and then you get David, who's the anointed king. And so both these guys are pretty top notch guys. You don't really get above them.
[00:17:00] And yet in this psalm, David says, the Lord said to my Lord, that God the Father, my Lord would say to God the Son, Jesus, my Lord, my Lord said to my Lord, and he says this, you are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek, after the order of the one who came without genealogy, after the order of the one that even Abraham recognized as greater, that Jesus comes as a greater priesthood.
[00:17:40] He continues, Verse 18 and 19. Look at this.
[00:17:43] So because of this greater priesthood, on the one hand, the former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness.
[00:17:51] For the law made nothing perfect.
[00:17:56] The law can't save you.
[00:17:59] People get this misunderstood all the time by thinking that if I could just keep the law, then I'll be good.
[00:18:06] You can't.
[00:18:07] You can't keep the law. And the law only condemns.
[00:18:11] It only shows us that we can't measure up to God's standard, that we can't keep the law. You heard it in the testimony, like, I couldn't do it.
[00:18:20] And the law brings us to a place where we go, I can't, I surrender.
[00:18:28] And Jesus goes, I did it.
[00:18:32] Come on, look at this. This is what's so cool. Verse 19.
[00:18:35] He says, the law made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. This is the whole goal that how does a sinful people draw near to a holy God?
[00:18:48] Through the better covenant, through a better hope.
[00:18:51] Well, where did that come from? It wasn't from the law, it was from Christ.
[00:18:56] It's from the better priest who makes intercession for us that Jesus provides a better priesthood. There were limitations to the Levitical priesthood and so it passed away. You ask the question, why do we not still have Levitical?
[00:19:11] Why do we not still have to go through a priest in order to draw near to God? Because we have one who is of the order of Melchizedek, who has already provided the access that we can go through him. And this is the argument he's about to make, that we have access, we can draw near because of what Christ has done.
[00:19:33] It's not by genealogy, it was by his life.
[00:19:38] Look at this final piece from verse 20. 25 we see that Jesus is our eternal priest, that these priests from the order of Levi, they had to be replaced because they died.
[00:19:54] But the priest from the order of Melchizedek, he goes on forever.
[00:19:59] Look at verse 20. It was not without an oath, but for those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath. But this one was made a priest by an oath, by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever. Okay, so let's think back about Exodus and what happened.
[00:20:21] Well, God said that these Levitical priests in Exodus 28, that they are going to be set aside and they've got to go through this ceremonial washing, the ceremonial cleansing. And then they killed these animals and they took the blood and they sprinkled them, and they were set aside for the office of priests. And so they would have to go through these ritual cleansings. They had to wear this ritual garb to set themselves aside, this holy garments, these garments that had the names of Israel on their shoulders and on their breastpiece, that they represented the people, but they too themselves had to be set apart and had to make sacrifice for their sin in order that they could go in and represent the people for their sin.
[00:21:04] And yet it wasn't by an oath that they were made a priest.
[00:21:08] It was by the ceremonial rituals.
[00:21:12] But this priesthood, Jesus priesthood, is different. Again, in Psalm 110, it says that the Lord has sworn and he will not change his mind, that you are a priest forever, that this is an eternal priesthood.
[00:21:28] You can write down First Samuel chapter two. We get a glimpse of this actually from the Old Testament as well, that in 1st Samuel, chapter 2, verse 35, then we see that this line of priests is really not doing their job, that they're doing some terrible things. And so these priests who are supposed to be holy, who are supposed to represent the people to God, are doing things that aren't good, they're sinning and miraculous, spectacular ways. And God says this. He says, and I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.
[00:22:13] Forever eternal. That Jesus priesthood is eternal, that he's a better priest, that he has a better priesthood, and that he is an eternal priest. Look at how he finishes this verse 22.
[00:22:28] This is what makes Jesus the grantor of a better covenant. Maybe you made an agreement, maybe it was with a landowner or a renter or something like that, and you made an agreement with that person, and then that person either dies or sells the place. And so you go to the new person and you're like, hey, we had this agreement in the past.
[00:22:52] And it's like, oh, it's a new day.
[00:22:54] That agreement doesn't work. It's a new day.
[00:22:58] Well, that's really confusing, right?
[00:23:00] Especially if it's about your access to a holy God.
[00:23:04] Wait a minute.
[00:23:06] I thought you were my priest, that you represented me and now you're gone.
[00:23:10] Well, who's going to represent me now?
[00:23:13] See, Jesus is a better priest because He's a better granter, because he serves eternally and he does not change.
[00:23:20] This makes him the granter of a better covenant. Verse 23. For the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in this office.
[00:23:30] But he, Jesus, holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.
[00:23:38] And so, look, verse 25. If you're a Bible reader and a Bible writer, circle this, memorize it, star it. This is probably the most important verse in chapter seven for sure. But possibly it just builds. Hebrews builds to this. And he tells us this. So because Jesus is a better priest, because he serves in a better priesthood, because he serves as a priest eternally, look at what he can accomplish consequently. So because of that argument, three truths.
[00:24:07] Number one. He is able to save.
[00:24:12] He is able to save.
[00:24:14] He's able to do what the law couldn't do.
[00:24:18] The Levitical priests couldn't save you. All they could do was offer sacrifice on your behalf. They couldn't save you.
[00:24:25] But he is able to save when we're bound in our slavery and sin, just like the people of Israel in Exodus, that they could not save themselves.
[00:24:39] Jesus could save them.
[00:24:41] God could save them. That with his mighty hand he saved them. He brought them out of slavery, he brought them out of bondage. That he is able to save.
[00:24:52] Second truth is that he is able to save completely.
[00:24:57] He is able to save to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through him.
[00:25:02] Listen, this is one of the most encouraging things. It's one of the most hopeful things, because this combats the lie that Satan loves. You're too far gone.
[00:25:13] Oh, no, you're not.
[00:25:15] Because he can save to the uttermost.
[00:25:18] Oh, but my family members, they're too far gone.
[00:25:22] No, he can save completely to the uttermost.
[00:25:27] But you don't judge. You don't know what I've done. You don't really know me. You're right, I don't.
[00:25:33] But he does.
[00:25:34] And he's able to save to the uttermost. Not partially. Not like when you clean yourself up first. Not like when you start coming to church enough. Not when you get your act together, when you start doing good things. No, none of that. He's able to save you right where you're at. At the farthest reach.
[00:25:50] He's able to save.
[00:25:53] Listen, this ought to change the way we pray for people, that it's not that you gotta start coming back to God. You just turn around.
[00:26:02] You just turn around and he's there. He saves us to the uttermost completely.
[00:26:08] This combats the lie that we can't come back to God. Yeah, we can.
[00:26:14] He's right there.
[00:26:18] The third truth that we see in this is that he always makes intercession for them.
[00:26:27] Says he's able to save because his job is he stands at the right hand of the Father.
[00:26:35] The one who said that he's gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. But the one who said he will by no means clear the guilty, that's who God is, that he will not pardon the guilty.
[00:26:52] And we go, well, that's me. I can't come.
[00:26:55] And yet our defense attorney stands at his right hand and he says, I paid the penalty. They can come.
[00:27:05] He makes intercession. He's the go between that we can come into the presence of a holy God because Jesus on the cross finished it.
[00:27:14] He paid the penalty, not partially, completely, that we can draw near.
[00:27:21] Because he always makes intercession for them.
[00:27:26] God, I haven't been living the way that I know I should. And so I just got to clean myself up first to come back. No, you don't.
[00:27:32] He says you can come not because you're living right, but because he paid the ultimate penalty. He spilled his blood for us.
[00:27:44] Just come back.
[00:27:46] Just come back. Sure, we should live our lives in response to this, and we should live for his glory. But don't believe the lie that you can't come because he daily makes intercession for us. He always lives to make intercession.
[00:28:02] We have a mediator who does not die, who does not get tired, who does not sleep, who does not slumber, who lives to make intercession for his saints.
[00:28:16] He finished it.
[00:28:19] I love this because as a priest in the book of Exodus in 28, we find in their garments that they would carry the names of the tribes of Israel into the holy of holies, literally it was engraved on their shoulders and their chest piece. And so their job as they went to make intercession for the people, they carried their names.
[00:28:43] We sing it that Jesus has our names engraved on his hands and that he bore our sin on the cross.
[00:28:55] As he makes intercession on his heart. He not in some symbolic garments, but in his heart and in his blood that he shed for us. He bears your name at the altar.
[00:29:12] The last thing I just want us to see in this is that from verse 26 to 28, we see that Jesus is the perfect high priest.
[00:29:22] Jesus is a better priest.
[00:29:24] Jesus provides a better priesthood. Jesus is our eternal priest. And Jesus is our perfect high priest. Just listen to this and let your heart just worship. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest.
[00:29:42] It was fitting that this would be our priest.
[00:29:46] Holy, innocent, unstained, separate from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily for his own sins and then for those of the people.
[00:30:04] Since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
[00:30:10] For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests. But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.
[00:30:23] And if he's been made perfect forever and he lives forever, he makes intercession for us forever.
[00:30:34] And he says, come, come.
[00:30:37] So the response.
