Christ, the Conquering King and Priest

Once again, we'll be returning to Genesis 14. However, we will be spending quite a bit of time in Genesis 14, Psalm 110, primarily verse 4, as well as Hebrews 7. I almost forgot to print out notes, but Brother Steve Lynch came back to my office with tears in his eyes, running down his face, saying, Brother Hunter, after almost two years of you being here, not that that sermon was particularly good, but after two years of you being here, I can finally understand just some of what you were trying to say throughout that whole sermon.

None of that actually happened whatsoever. However, he did help me remember to print off these, so hopefully they'll be a help to you as we go through this sermon here this evening. A little bit of sobriety concerning preaching again, as I'm reminded that the last time that I was here preaching on the beatific vision, I made eye contact with Kevin Coy, and that was the last sermon that Kevin was present with the congregation for. And just considering the brevity of our lives and the weightiness of the Scriptures, and that we are a dying man preaching to dying people, it adds weightiness to the handling of the Scriptures, and so we trust that you would pray for me as we look in the Scriptures here tonight. But also, the privilege of being able to covenant together as a local assembly and to walk together in fellowship, performing to one another, holding one another accountable, and partaking the Lord's table like we will tonight, looking at one another, celebrating the covenant that God has brought us into together by His grace. It's a privilege and an honor, and this could be our last Lord's table together.

And let us not take it lightly, nor the preaching of His word. As we look in Genesis 14 tonight, we will find ourselves in the middle of an interesting episode in the epic of Abram's life. Now, in the preceding chapters, God has called Abram out of the Ur of Chaldees and has established a covenant with him that promises that through him a multitude would come forth and that out of them the earth would be blessed. It is in the middle of this covenant's unfolding, because the covenant and its unfolding takes place in Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17.

It's in the middle of this that we find ourselves here in 14, and we have landed in the middle of a massive military conflict. It's apparently consisting of four Mesopotamian kings facing off against five Canaanite kings, and apparently these Canaanite kings have been serving beneath the hand of the Mesopotamians for 12 years, and we learn that on the 13th year they get fed up, and so they rebel and a war breaks out in the conflict. Well, as things come to a head, the mighty kings of Sodom and Gomorrah decide that they're going to run away, and they're going to abandon their kingdoms and their spoils and their people, and they're going to go hide in the mountains. In leaving their people open, these Mesopotamian kings come in, and among the spoils sits a man by the name of Lot. Now, if you're familiar with the book of Genesis, Lot is the nephew of Abram, or Abraham. And in the chapter just before this, we learn that these two, Abraham and Lot, become so successful.

The Lord really prospers them so much so that their cattle workers get upset with one another, and there is just so much going on there, they have to split up. And so we see the epic of that breaking down in chapter 14. Anyway, this man by the name of Lot is caught up in the looting of the victors, and he is kidnapped. And where we began in our reading tonight in verse 13, one of these citizens in the crossfire escapes and finds his way to Abram to tell him about all of this.

So Abram jumps up, he calls together 318 of his men, and Abram goes full Rambo on these Mesopotamian kings, and he chases them out of the land, taking back all the goods, taking back all the captives, among which is his nephew, Lot. So everything is good in the world again, even the cowardly king of Sodom comes out of hiding, and Lot escapes to live another day, and Abram is on his merry way until he meets an interesting character by the name of Melchizedek in verse number 18. Now there isn't loads of information about this guy, but one thing we need to realize through the book of Genesis is that genealogies are really important. The name in Genesis is very important, and this guy doesn't have one. It's quite interesting, and the writer of Hebrews picks up on that and correlates him to Christ. Now there isn't loads of information about this guy, but there are bits and pieces of information laced throughout the Bible that give us some insight into who he is, at least in some sense. In verse 18 of our chapter, Genesis 14, we find that Melchizedek is the king of Salem, and that he brings out bread and wine, and that he's a priest of God the Most High.

Now the name Melchizedek, it's not something that we often hear people naming Junior or maybe even their animals today, but Melchizedek is a name that means he is the king of righteousness. And not only is Melchizedek king of righteousness, but it goes on to tell us that he is king of Salem. Salem is another word for peace, so he's the king of righteousness and the king of peace, and we would really know nothing about Salem if it was not for one little verse in the Psalms that tells us everything that we need to know. It says this, Psalm 76 verse 2, in Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion.

Okay, what does that tell us? It tells us that Salem is another name for Jerusalem. Now we find this man being the king of righteousness, the king of Salem, peace, Jerusalem, and third he is the priest of Yahweh or a priest of the Most High God. So this man is the king of righteousness, the king of peace, priest of the Most High God.

What does this man do? He comes to Abram after this great victory with bread and with wine. Another interesting bit of information here is in verse 19 we find that the first word out of Melchizedek's mouth is blessed. Blessed. And we are supposed to hold that intention against the first words out of the mouth of that cowardly king of Sodom. Melchizedek's first words are blessed, the first words out of the king of Sodom's mouth, give me.

Blessed, give me. And Melchizedek goes on to pray for blessings from God upon Abram and then exalts the name of God for blessing Abram. Now if that's all that we take away from this and we go skipping on our merry way, we will simply walk away having a really cool story full of action that we can tell our sons, maybe a cool story about familial commitment and sacrifice no matter the risk for your loved ones and we leave with a happy ending knowing that there's some cool mountain king who comes out of nowhere really nice and gives you a full belly and prays for you.

But that's not all that we're supposed to get here, is it? Or we would be going home very early tonight. What I want us to highlight here tonight is first the kingly behavior of Abram, second the priesthood of Melchizedek and third where Jesus is at in the midst of it all and why it matters to you. If you find yourself here tonight and you're going through the motions as we approach the enjoying of just another Lord's table, well this is for you. If you find yourself struggling with doubt tonight concerning your safety within the covenant that Christ has established, this is for you.

Maybe you're not a believer, maybe you're here this evening trying just to peek in and see what this is all about. This is also for you because this evening as we look at Genesis 14 and find Jesus in the midst of it all, we will find that Jesus is our conquering high priest. And we will find that first and foremost as we look at the kingly behavior of Abram. First, the behavior of Abram. It is true that Abram is never called a king throughout his life, at least to my knowledge. However, in Genesis 17 verse 6 he is told by God, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, I will make nations of you and kings shall come from you. And I believe that Moses is looking back upon the epic of Abram's life and in this passage with the promise of the kings coming forward in Genesis 17, Moses is setting up a hint of this kingliness that belongs in the life of Abram. Now, what we know about Abram is that he is called of God to leave his father's house and to go on his own. And you say that's just how society is today, that's not a big deal.

Well, back then it was. We didn't have sheriffs riding around necessarily and so the protection that you had came from your father's house. The wealth that you had, the inheritance that you would receive, the protection, your name, your safety, your civilization for instance, all came from that and Abram is called to leave it all. And God brings him out but prospers him immensely. So much so that we read that he has 318 men that are just sitting around ready to ride with him into war. But guys, this does not mean that Abram simply has 318 servants and that's it.

This is 318 servants that the scriptures say were brought up in his house. This allows us to understand that this is not including the aged parents of these warriors. This is not including their young children. This is not considering the young women.

This is not considering the wives. So to put it simply, Abram has kingly wealth to put it very lightly. But not only that, Abraham engages in conflict, in the conflict of kings as we've discussed earlier. What's interesting to me about Abram is he hears this story, gets together his men, chases down opposing kings, apparently wins the conflict and comes back.

Now what we find interesting about Abram is that this is no fool. The man knows how to fight apparently because in Genesis 14 verse 15 it tells us that he divided his forces against them by night and he and his servants attacked them. So he knows military strategies as he's splitting up his troops. He is obviously wise enough to attack them at night and he's obviously bold enough to attack an opposing kingdom. So this man knows how to fight as a king does. He's commanding his armies. He's wealthy as a king is. And lastly, he's a somebody. He's approached by two kings, the king of Salem and the king of Sodom.

So he's a man of high, almost kingly stature, especially in light of his victory. So that is what we see in the life of Abram. We will also see this in correlation to David.

That's point B on your notes. Now as we look at the life of David in 1 Samuel 30, it's quite interesting. In 1 Samuel 30, we will find ourselves one step closer to seeing the significance of where I'm heading today because you see in Genesis 14 7, we read of the Amalekites. In 1 Samuel 30 verse 1, we find that the Amalekites are the ones who invade David's city in Ziklag. In Genesis 14 7 and 1 Samuel 30 verse 1, the same words for attacked are used. And in Genesis 14 14 and 1 Samuel 30 verse 2, the same words for taken captive are used to refer to the kidnapping of Lot and for the kidnapping of the women of Ziklag. And you say, well, you're just being pedantic. No, the Hebrews are very intense and purposeful on the words that they are using.

And you have to realize that papyri was not an easy, easily found or utilized resource then. So they're being very purposeful with their correlations here with what they're using in these storylines. In 1 Samuel 30 verse 11 through 16, David comes upon a man and he nurses him to health and that man tells him about all that's going on and where to find the enemy. And in this story in Genesis 14, Abram is approached by a man who escapes and that man tells him everything that's going on.

Are we seeing the correlations here, how they're fitting together? Now where this gets interesting is this. This same David hears this story and did this story, both stories. The hero pursues the enemy. They both strike the enemy.

They both recover what was lost and take the spoils. Now where it gets interesting is this. This same David is the king of Israel where Jerusalem is, the city of that ancient king Melchizedek where he used to reign. Now one thing we know about David is David was a skilled writer and a skilled musician.

So what I believe, going around our elbows to get to our nose here for a moment but I'm going somewhere. What I believe and you can find more on this from men like Jim Hamilton is that David looked back over his life and he has seen correlations between this event in his life and the event of Abram and this leads us to Psalm 110. Because David, according to his knowledge, is writing simply about the providential work of God in his life and he's doing it as he considers Melchizedek.

How do I know that? Because he says so in verse number four. Let's read Psalm 110. It says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers and the day of your power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning you have the dew of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord is at your right hand. He shall execute kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries.

He shall drink of the brook by the wayside. Therefore, he shall lift up his head. It is here that I believe in Psalm 110 that David is rehashing much of these similarities. Because in that passage we find a marrying together of kingship and priesthood in Melchizedek being recalled. And ultimately we find that this Psalm is a prophecy of Jesus Christ himself.

We've already read this passage together and so we will continue to move forward. Recalling that in verse 4 of Psalm 110 we see reference to the oaths or the promises of God that he will establish Melchizedek as a priesthood forever and will not change his mind. This is referring back to the life of Abram. The covenant promises of God to Abram where he promises him to be a great nation. In Genesis 15 God passes through the pieces and takes the burden upon himself to keep up the covenant. In Genesis 22 16 God gives an oath that he will not change his mind and that's not all.

That's not all. Because in Psalm 110 1 it says the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies a footstool. This is the exact passage that the Apostle Paul has in mind. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20. He says this which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Going on far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. Now where are we going here?

We've got all of our ingredients out let's snap our fingers and bring it together. To put this all together I believe that what we have just seen here is the providential work of God in the lives not only of Abram but in the lives of David. To so align these things that David considering his life and the scriptures and the lives of Abram. He has moved to write a song that not only recalls his life and the life of Abram but a song that will prophesy the coming of Jesus Christ.

A song that will prophesy that he will be exalted above all the earth as the king of kings and the Lord of lords. In Genesis 14 Abram takes the spoils and he tithes it to Melchizedek as an act of worship to God. But in Ephesians 1 Jesus is the conquering king who takes the spoils of his holy war and those enemies that he conquers he does not discard but he uses them to build his church.

Do we see the correlation here? This is seen in Ephesians 1 22-23 where it speaks of Christ as the king who is the head of the church and whose fullness fills all things. Paul is also pulling from Adam here but we don't have time to go through that. But what we are finding here tonight church is that we serve a king. A king who stands up and who conquers his enemies in this holy war and he is not just any king but he is the king who rules over all. He is the king who sought us when we were in the kingdom of darkness when we were like lot and we were held astray.

He has pursued us and in his loving kindness he has captured us and translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Beloved this king Jesus is exalted on the holy mount of God. This king draws the nations unto himself. This king is exalted above all. This king, our king reigns supreme and he is drawing myriads of the earth to himself.

And if we find ourselves doubting the extent of his reign because of the wickedness of men on this earth then we will be surely disappointed in this life. But let me remind us here tonight that the fact that he rules over all, the fact that Jesus is the king and rules over all and the fact that he does that while tolerating his enemies to still remain shows two things. First it shows the brilliance and the power of Jesus Christ that he would allow his enemies to remain and he is still accomplishing absolutely whatever he plans to. No matter the fact that his enemies remain upon the earth Jesus' plans will not be thwarted. Regardless of all that they have taken Christ is claiming from darkness his own people and bringing them out and he is using those spoils, that is us, that he takes to build his kingdom that is the church of the living God. Not only that but it also magnifies his glorious grace. The fact that Jesus allows his enemies to remain upon the earth for more than a millisecond and grants them the breath and the strength to remain upon this earth magnifies the fact that he is immensely gracious.

And as the church we can get very frustrated with this until we remember that there was a point in which we too were the enemies of God and we praise him for his graciousness and his delay in his wrath towards us. Jesus is king and we might not see it come to fruition in the way that we would like to see it right now but again his ways are higher than ours. Jesus is king, his plans will not be thwarted and he is building a kingdom that is higher than all others and cannot be matched. And if we belong to this king and again this isn't just any king but the all powerful ruler of heaven and earth as Melchizedek says he is the possessor of heaven and earth then we have reason to rejoice tonight because we are safe for he is in control. And there is not one single ill that will befall us that he is not aware of and that he will not allow to come upon us for our own good and for his glory. We belong to a king who is mighty, who is in control and who cares for the well-being of his kingdom citizens. We were taken captive by the enemies of darkness and Christ has stormed them, he has bound the strong man and he has ransacked their kingdom and brought us back as the spoils of his war. He's done that for us. But wait, there's more. Do you remember how I mentioned Melchizedek and how Psalm 110 connects this kingship and this priesthood together? Well this leads us to our second point tonight. I would like to say they get quicker.

I think they get quicker but I don't know what to tell you because I don't want to lie. But secondarily we find the priesthood of Melchizedek and we find this priesthood demonstrated in Genesis 14 but it's correlated to Exodus 7 through 14. In Genesis 14-18 we read that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine after Abram conquers his enemies but this isn't just an isolated event. In Exodus you might remember that the people of God have been taken into bondage or have been taken into bondage but God heard their cries, he raises up Moses to tell Pharaoh to let them go and however Pharaoh wouldn't listen. So God sends forth plagues upon Egypt each in such a way that it is a direct attack and insult towards the gods of Egypt.

To point it out this way, I won't take time to say it all but for instance the Egyptians worshiped the god of peace. He was the god of the Nile and they worship Isis, the goddess of the Nile and they worshiped Numm, the guardian of the Nile. And what does God do in Exodus 7-17? Well, he turns the Nile to blood.

It's an insult and an attack upon their idols. The second thing he does is they also worship the god named Hekhet. This is a frog-headed goddess of birth and so God sends an invasion of frogs into Egypt where they overwhelm them and die and they reek. And what God is doing is he is waging a direct attack, that's in Exodus 8-13 by the way, he is waging a direct attack upon the gods and the goddesses, the idols of these enemies and he is insulting them and overcoming them.

But that's not where we stop. What happens in the midst of this just on the eve of the final plague in Exodus 12? Right before God slaughters the firstborn of the children of Egypt, God institutes the Passover, which was a command for the men of each household to slaughter a lamb, to mark their doorposts with its blood and to feast on it as a family that evening. And after this, God will send a death angel in and he said he will kill the firstborn of every house not marked with its blood. That's in Exodus 12-13, it says, Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this would be the final attack of God versus his enemies in Egypt and it would be the plague that would result in the victorious delivery of the Jews from Egyptian bondage.

What I'm highlighting here is that just as Melchizedek provides a feast following Abram's victory, God similarly provides a meal in the middle of his conquest over his enemies as well. And as interesting as this connection is, that isn't all because as we look into the writings of David, we find that this is further seen as supported by David in Psalm 110 4. Now earlier I said that Psalm 110 4 prophesies that Jesus is a priest of the order of Melchizedek. It serves as an insight into the eternal counsel of God. We are allowed to look into an oath that the Father is giving the Son that he is going to exalt him as a priest and entrust him with a people. That's what's happening in Psalm 110 verse 4.

Now how can we be sure that that's happening? It's because Hebrews 7 20 verse 23, the writer of Hebrews takes Psalm 110 4 and uses it in application to Christ. He says this, and inasmuch as he was not made priest without an oath, for they have become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

By so much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests because they are prevented by death from continuing. Now what the writer of Hebrews is arguing here, and we will explore this more later, is that Jesus is the greater priest than this former institution of the Levitical priesthood. As a matter of fact, Jesus isn't of the Levitical priesthood at all.

He is of, according to the writer of Hebrews, the priesthood of Melchizedek. And he goes on to tell these Hebrews that these other priests weren't given an oath, but Jesus was given an oath by the Father himself that he would be an eternal priest. Therefore, those struggling Hebrew Christians would have a strong assurance that Jesus would serve to settle them from turning back to the old covenant system because Jesus is the ever living high priest by the oath of God himself. Now here's the question you've been dying for, and we've got a lot of questions here tonight, is how does this tie to the whole victory and meal aspect that we've been discussing? How does Jesus seen as this priest, this eternal priest, tie to this topic of victory and of meal? And we find that in Matthew chapter 26 verse 26 through 29. We read that before Jesus goes forward to act as a priest offering himself and the sacrifice being offered, he sets forth a meal for us. It is what sits before us tonight. It is what we known as the Lord's Supper. And it is there that Jesus tells us in Matthew 26, 28, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

What are we seeing here tonight? What we see is that on the day of the observation of Passover, Jesus fulfills it with the institution of the Lord's table. And in the words of Jim Hamilton, we are seeing a pattern of heroic defeat of enemies whereby captives are liberated, followed by a priestly celebration with bread and with wine. Or to say it like this, Jesus is the greater Melchizedek, who instead of bringing provisions to nurture Abram after his victory, Jesus gives us nourishment from the acts of his own victory for us.

And to pull all these ingredients again together into one great nugget for us to feed on, we can sum it up like this. In the Lord's Supper, we find our mighty conquering priest comforting and refreshing us weary pilgrims with a feast that reminds him that he has delivered us. Jesus is the king who has bound the strong man, has stormed his goods and has freed us. And not only has he done this himself as our king and priest, but he has also set forth this meal to nourish us weary saints and to remind us of all that he has accomplished for us. Think about it.

We haven't done a thing. He did all the storming. He did all the work.

He did all the liberating. He deserves all the glory and he is worried about nurturing us tired weary saints who have not done a thing with reflections upon what he has done for us. What a great and gracious and mighty God he is that in the Lord's Supper, Jesus encourages us with reminders that he has purchased the victory on our behalf. Christian, do you feel defeated tonight? Jesus has won for you. Do you feel like you've been unfaithful to the Lord? Jesus has remained faithful to you. Do you feel like your eyes have gotten distracted by the things of this world?

You feel overwhelmed? You feel like you've forgotten the Lord and the seed of overwhelming regret or heartache or pain that you felt? Well, he gave us this meal to remind us that he's overcome the world. Jesus has claimed you as his own. He has delivered us from the damnation that we deserved and he has marked us with his own very name. Your King, your high priest has done this for you and he wants you this evening to find joy in that as he reaches out his arm and he waves you in from the fight to come and to sit around the table and to find rest and strength for your weary souls.

He is a conquering king and victorious and nurturing high priest. This is where we find Jesus in Genesis 14. Now, seeing that this is a sermon on Melchizedek, I can't ignore the remaining presentation concerning Melchizedek which is found in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 20 through 28.

If you will turn there with me. For context, the Hebrew Christians are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have professed Christ as Lord and Savior. However, hardships have led them to wonder whether it's worth it to remain in Christ at all or if it would be better to return to the old covenant way. In Hebrews 7, the pastoral heart of this writer explodes and comes out as he fights tooth and nail to show them and us the supremacy of Jesus over the Levitical priesthood. These people are doubting in the midst of their current circumstances and they find themselves struggling because although they originally believed that Christ was Savior in the first, they are wondering now if he is able to save them in the midst of the hardships of their present time.

Is that you tonight? Maybe you were tired and beaten down in your Christian walk and you find yourself wondering if Jesus still cares. You find your heart tempted, like the songwriter once said, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Do you find your heart tormented and torn in two, pulled to different directions and find yourself tempted to wonder from the Lord, tempted to return back to that life at which he has delivered you from? He is able to keep you. He has redeemed us and he will preserve us, his people, until the end. Perhaps that's you tonight.

You feel so defeated that you aren't even sure if there's any help for you anymore. Well, if so, Hebrews 7, 20 through 28 gives us two assurances and a few sub points. Of course, the first assurance is this. What he wants us to know is hold on, God has promised. Hold on, God has promised. He says this in verse 20, inasmuch as he was not, that's referring to Jesus, was not made a priest without an oath. And then he goes on to say, for they have become priests without an oath. Now, when he says they have become priests without an oath, he's referring to the Levitical priesthood, which would typically come down through a way of secession, but here we find that Jesus is not like them.

He is rather given an oath. And what the writer is here trying to bring to our mind is the supremacy of God and his faithfulness to keep true what he says will happen. In the Hebrew mind, when God said something, it was as good as done.

Something we should strive to recover today. When God says something, it's as good as done. They actually believed it to be so powerful that whenever God spoke it, the word itself was so powerful that was able to bring in to existence whatever had been spoken. But lest these doubting Hebrews let themselves veer off into thinking that he might change his mind. The writer says by quoting Psalm 110 verse 4, he says, for they have become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. When Christ came and assumed the office of priesthood on our behalf, this was promised by God himself and that it would absolutely never end. So when you take the Lord's table tonight, remind yourself that this is what is often called a visible sermon, a visible sermon. God is assuring us in this act of the sufficiency of Christ and our belonging to him that through that work that Jesus has done, and we are reminded of it tonight as we taste this bread and this cup, that Jesus is our priest forevermore and we are safe because God has promised it. Do not leave the rock that God has sent you upon. Do not turn back to where you came from.

You are safe here. God himself has given it an oath if you reside in Christ. That is what he wants them to know. Hold on, God himself has promised it. He continues on to assure them that not only has God promised it, but that we are to find assurance as we, second, look upon the person of Christ.

He wants us to look upon the person of Christ. In verse 22, the writer uses the words surety, better, and covenant. By so much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

Now the phrase better is going to appear a lot throughout this book, and the writer often utilizes it to communicate the supremacy of Jesus' work for their security, their purity, their pardon, and their access to God. That word covenant is also a very common word through the scriptures. A covenant is a promise that is guarded about by threats, and so we have a better covenant, a better promise that is established. In the new covenant, we find that Christ has borne in himself the fullness of these threats, and as we belong in him, we receive the fullness of all those promises. We are lavished with the rich covenant of grace, and this inheritance is belonging only to those who are in Jesus, and God has been happy to enter into this covenant with you, whom he has called into the Lord Jesus Christ. How can we be so sure of this? He says that Jesus has become a surety.

A surety is one who sets forth his own life as the guarantor for another. In the Greek, the name Jesus stands out emphatically here, as though the writer is intended to highlight the humanity of Christ. It stands out like this. Your guarantor is Jesus.

That's how it stands out here. What this would communicate is that Jesus our surety, Jesus the one by which we know that we are kept safely, Jesus knows, as he has stepped into our shoes and walked the mile perfectly, Jesus knows what we need. Jesus can sympathize with you. He has lived among us. He has suffered with us.

He knows what it's like, and because that is the case, he is a sufficient guarantor to stand in for our faults in the midst of our hardships. That's what he wants them to know. That's what he wants them to be sure of. You are safe here because God has promised it and that this covenant that you have is kept by a covenant head who knows what it's like and he can sympathize with you. That's what he wants them to know.

Now he's going to give them five aspects and we're going to fly. The first is that he wants them to know that you can rest because the work of Jesus is a permanent work. The work of Jesus is a permanent work. He says in verse 23, Also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing.

So look at the Levitical system. They keep dying. They can't keep serving because they always die. And he says, verse 24, But he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. You want to go back to the Levitical priesthood? Their priests can't even live.

They continue dying. But in this priesthood, in this covenant, your priest lives forever and will never die. He is our permanent priest. He is our undying priest.

Raymond Brown writes this, For some, the persecution had intensified. Nobody doubted the earlier manifestations of Christ saving activity. But the question is, could he save people now? It is for all time, says the author. What he achieves for us is done forever. You were kept safe because your priest permanently serves forever. Second, not only is his work permanent, but his power is limitless and his help is present.

I am alliterating like a great Baptist does. We have his work is permanent. His power is limitless. A lot of peace here. And his help is present.

If you have a problem with your peace, I apologize if you're going to try and reiterate anything that we are going over here tonight. His power is limitless. Verse 25, it says, Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him. In verse 25, the word for save is in the present tense, which communicates, as Westcott puts it, that support comes at each moment of trial.

The word there is sozio. It is a present tense word intensifying the fact that your support will come at each moment of trial, each moment of trial. In this text, the writer encourages these believers of the far reach of the saving work of Jesus, and that because he is our priest forevermore, he is able to save and support all of those who have come to him. What he is wanting us to understand here is that Jesus has unending interest in the welfare of his people.

Repeat that again. Jesus has unending interest in the welfare of you. And we can add here, though, that his interest is not so much so in our happiness as it is our holiness.

And he is unendingly interested in that fact. And because of this, our faith and hope should be strengthened in the fact that not only is his work satisfactory, but his work interceding for us is unending. The fact that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us, verse 25, shows us that Christ is for us. Christ is for us. Christ is with us. And he is able to meet the present need of every one of his people.

He's able to meet the need of every one of his people. We will quickly move that his character is pure, verse 26, and his sacrifice is perfect. Verse 26, For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Those first three are referring to his character, that he is holy, truly harmless, truly undefiled by sin. Those other priests had to make sacrifice to cleanse themselves of their sins. But this priest was so pure that he was able to be the sacrifice in himself, untouched by sin. There has never been one as perfect as he is.

Why would you go back to the other thing? He's sinless himself. And not only that, he says he is separate from sinners. Now, when I looked at this, I was thinking, well, surely that means that he was untouched by sin.

And while that is true, I don't think that that's actually how it is utilized here. I am convinced that what's being argued here is it was referring to the location of Jesus. Because the reason is that in the Old Testament parallels, the word utilized here is always referring to location, locale, and is not referring to moral separateness, which would mean that Jesus was not only separate and not sinning, which is clear, he was holy, harmless and undefiled, but that he is presently apart from sinners because he has ascended into the heavens, which goes along with the next phrase and become higher than the heavens. Your priest is better than them all because he's never sinned and your priest is better than them all because he doesn't minister on earth, but he is seated in the heavens. He is separate from sinners. So why is Jesus a qualified priest?

Because he is absolutely sinless and he is seated in the heavens for us. Not only this, but as we see in verse 27 and 28, his self-sacrifice, his self-sacrifice, referring to his death on the cross for us, was so wonderful that it forever satisfied the wrath of God. The Levitical priest, verse 28, argues, as it says, for the law appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses. The Levitical priest had weaknesses, frailties, sinfulness, sinfulness. But this Christ, the one promised of God, is perfect forever. It says, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the son who has been perfected forever. What this writer is doing for these Hebrews is adamantly presenting the undeniable reality of the Lord Jesus as the priest in whom we can rest. Have you forgotten that?

Have you forgotten that reality lately? When you fall into sin, do you find yourself trying to atone for your sins by stepping away from the Lord until you can do better so he's happy to have you back again? That is not the life of a person who recalls the priestly finishing work of Jesus on their behalf. Do you find hardship steering you to console every person, place or website without considering the Lord who is consciously aware and consistently interceding for you? If so, remind yourself that he is ever-present, he is always aware, and he is calling you to run into his warm embrace. He is in the business of strengthening the bones of wearied saints, and he does that tonight as he calls you and I to his table to ponder what he has done for us. In conclusion, if you find yourself discouraged tonight, or perhaps find yourself even doubting your faith, we are called to remember the overcoming, ever-present Lord Jesus, who is aware of our hardships and can sympathize with our weaknesses. And as we consider this, we find rejoicing in the fact that our salvation isn't in ourselves, but rests in the finished work of this loving, this victorious, this gracious high priest.

This is where Christ sits in the midst of Genesis 14. Praise be to God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the word of God tonight. I pray that you would take the truths of your word and drive it to our hearts, that as we have heard an audible word, may we look upon your table for this visible sermon to remind ourselves that so surely as we take these elements, so surely has Jesus died for me, and because of that, I am safe within him. May we examine our hearts to see where we stand in our faithful pursuit of Christ. May we see ourselves as faulty, but find ourselves basking the remarkable truth that the Lord who has redeemed us is not faulty, and therefore our safety in this communion rests not in us, but in him for us. We love you, Lord. Thank you for your word. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.