Well, congregation, our text for this evening comes from the epistle of the Hebrews and the seventh chapter. We'll certainly refer to Genesis 14, but to give us our focus, we find in Hebrews 7, verse 4, the beginning part, the words of our text. But allow me to read at this time Hebrews 7, 1 through 4. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abram returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abram gave a 10th part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that, king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abram gave the tenth of the spoils, thus far God's word. So particularly these words, now consider how great this man was. Well, congregation, there may not be a more mysterious person in all the scriptures than Melchizedek. Melchizedek. He appears without father, without mother that we know of, without children or descent, simply, suddenly on the page of human history. He appears and he disappears for centuries. He's not heard of again until David, who must have studied this matter that was written down by Moses in Genesis 14, and says in Psalm 110 that there comes one who is made a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And again, without any more reference, for all these many centuries in the scripture, We meet in the book of Hebrews this man once again. And we learn what his function and place was all about. And that is to prefigure, to foreshadow the Lord Jesus Christ, the great priest king. And so in our studies of various characters of the Old Testament, we come now to Melchizedek. Melchizedek, the great priest king. As we said, he certainly was great, because children and young people, you know Abraham. Abraham was great. He was a great man of God. He's called the friend of God. He's a man to whom great promises were made. And he proved in his experience too to have accomplished by God great feats, great victories and triumphs of faith. But even this great Abraham, he bowed before this greater Melchizedek and paid him tithes. I say once again, this is probably the most mysterious man in all of the scriptures. But there are wonderful lessons that we wish to learn from the passage there in Genesis 14, taking into account also what the Spirit says in Hebrews regarding this Melchizedek. Practical lessons for faith and for godliness. I pray for each and every one of us here. And the first lesson I wish for us to see is that none of us can ever rest, no matter what battles we fight, save at the feet of the greater than Melchizedek. There's no place that we can rest, no matter what battles we fight, other than at the feet of the greater than Melchizedek, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, children, you know the story, at least I hope you heard it. Abraham was called here to fight for his nephew Lot, who had come under the dominion of these four kings. at the head of which was Cheddar Laomer, kings of the east. They had come against Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot who had separated from Abraham and had gone down towards Sodom and then finally into Sodom. He is taken here captive by these four kings. And we see here the heart of Abraham, don't we? Despite the fact that Lot, in a certain sense, had done him ill, certainly had not honored him as he ought to have, and had gone astray, really. Towards Sodom and then into Sodom Abram's heart was very much bound up with with his nephew and hearing of his captivity Abraham went after him and he went in the power of God and through the power of faith he went with only 318 men and against no doubt thousands, tens of thousands of forces led by this Cheder Leomer. How could he do this? By faith, Abraham, we might say in line with Hebrews, he rescued his nephew, Lot. But no doubt this was work, faith working by love. And there was tests involved here with all of this. There was hardship. Abram was certainly not a young man at this time. And he went with his servants who were not trained warriors, but he went in the power of God. And he went to pursue and rescue his nephew Lot. And after they are victorious, it is at that point that Abraham comes to the feet of this Melchizedek, this mysterious person there in the region of what would later be Jerusalem. He's king of Salem, we'll say a bit more about that later. But the point we wanna draw from that practically speaking and spiritually speaking is this, that Christians are called to fight many battles. Battles against sin and Satan and the world. Battles which in life can so overwhelm us and so overtake us that we become battle weary as we recently saw. Providence, temptation, discouragement, doubt, all these things can conspire, at least in our experience, they can conspire to overtake us and to make us battle-weary. We don't read specifically that Abraham suffered from that. But no doubt in the heat of this battle, there were times when he cried, as the Psalms often speak, Lord, fight on my behalf. Be my shield, my buckler. Be my strong defense, my strong tower in which I can hide. Those of you who are believers, you know that that is your experience. that you need the Lord, that without the Lord, you can do nothing. Without the Lord, you're bound to fail and to falter and to lose and to be defeated. And dear friends, if you are there in this very moment where you feel like giving up because the warfare is too hard, let this be known to you, that there is rest at the feet of the greater than Melchizedek, the one who says, in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And it is in his power that we ought to fight, taking to ourselves the whole armor of God, not imagining to fight in our own strength, but rather to obey him, to lean on him, to depend on Him, to go with Him, knowing that one day, dear Christian, it will all come to a place of rest at the feet of the captain of our salvation, the greater than Melchizedek, the great Lord Jesus Christ. And He is, dear child of God, your rest even now. He is your fortress. He is your high tower. In Him, you have strength. In Him you have victory. In Him you can scale a wall. You can leap over a wall. You can defeat the enemy of your soul. But do look to Him and go in His strength. And don't lean or depend on your own greatness. Consider how great a man this Lord Jesus Christ is. Consider how great a man this Lord Jesus Christ is. Yes, he's God overall. He is without beginning and without ending, without father and mother from eternity. And he is greater than Melchizedek. But he is also man. And as such, he is touched with the feeling of your infirmities. He saw it fit in the fullness of time to be made bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh in order that he might destroy him that had the power of death, even the devil, and to free all the captives that were held by Satan. And he did so in our nature. We have not a high priest king who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but who was tempted in everything like unto us, who fought many a battle fiercer than anyone has ever fought. In fact, the battle was the Lord's, and he fought it for his church and people. Behold how a great man, this greater than Melchizedek is. And for those of you in the battle right now, It is not your greatness that matters at all. In fact, our greatness, our strength is but weakness in the sight of Him that sits upon the throne. And the sooner we realize that, the sooner that we realize that we are perfect weakness in ourselves, that the Lord knows that, and that the Lord has ordained this, which Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 12, When I am weak, then am I strong. And then we learn to boast, even if it's 318 men, even if it's three men, even if it's less than that, because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. That's how it is, and that's how it will always be. And that's why with Paul we learn to say, I will rather glory in infirmities, that the power and the glory and the honor might be his. And so dear afflicted soul, dear tempest-tossed soul, rest right now, whether before a battle, in a battle or after a battle. Rest at none other than the feet of this greater than Melchizedek. Consider how great a man my Jesus is. But we have not only here a lesson regarding a place of rest at the feet of this greater than, Melchizedek, we also have here a lesson regarding the gospel and how beautiful and adorable this gospel is. And we see this in the name, especially, of this King Melchizedek, whose name, children, means King of Righteousness. Melki is king, melk, or malk means king in Hebrew. And Zedek is righteousness. So he's the king of righteousness. But we're also told that he is, at the same time, the king of Salem. You can see this in verse 18. And Melchizedek, king of Salem. And Hebrews makes this abundantly clear that he has those two names. King of righteousness and King of peace. And here's the mystery and the blessing that I want you to see this evening. It fortifies the soul so much when we truly see it. Because at the end of this war to rescue his wayward nephew, Abram lands at the feet of one whose name is King of Righteousness and King of Peace. And how much don't we need that peace? The world seeks for peace. It's one of the great things that the world strives after. It wants peace. Peace between nations, peace between people. People are after peace, aren't they? Of course, many people are after war as well, but you understand what I mean. Deep in the heart of man, there is this lost peace. Man is restless. Man is at war with God and with each other and with himself. Man is a rebel. He's cast off all peace. In paradise, that's what we did. We turned away from the peace that was with God and in God, and we sought out inventions, and we sought out war, and we became rebels and enemies, ungodly ones. And yet there is this craving for peace. And so we have the world nations, and we have the UN, and we have all these organizations that are striving after peace, but do they ever get it? It eludes them, doesn't it? They might have some agreement for a while, but soon it gets broken, and there is no end to war. There are fresh wars, new wars each and every year. There's bloodshed. There's horrible, terrible bloodshed the world over. And many seek for peace in their souls. There's this restlessness that is palpable. They have no rest. The Bible says that they're like a restless sea. They can't find rest. It's like the churning water of a restless sea kicking up mire and evil and wickedness. That's man by nature. And also in marriages and in family. And for that matter, in churches everywhere, there's discord, disunity. People are at war. People are at enmity with each other. I wonder if you're here tonight or you're listening in and you lack this peace. If you're a child of God, you do know something of that peace which passes understanding. But maybe you're in a place right now in which peace eludes you. You wake up in the morning and the disharmony in your family, or at work, or just in your own soul overwhelms you. Sometimes it keeps you from sleeping, or if you sleep in bed, you wake up and you're tempest-tossed, no peace. You long for it. Perhaps there's circumstances in your life that put everything into commotion. And of course, when we look at our world, we can't help but be profoundly restless when we see what a mess man makes of it at every level. So there's this quest for peace. But dear friends, the Bible tells us one thing. If only this would get into man's mind, There will be no peace except in the way of righteousness. You see, we can't have a peace at the expense of righteousness or setting aside God's righteous judgments. It can't be. We need a peace that is in harmony with the character of God and the attributes of God, including that of rightness and righteousness, just as is the habitation of his throne. God can do anything apart from his righteousness, and it's right. God delights in his righteousness, and so should he, and so must he. But congregation, you and I are unrighteous by nature. You can compare it this way, children. If righteousness is a straight line, like a ruler line that's perfectly straight, and that's what God calls us to be. That's what God made us to be. He made us in rectitude, in righteousness, originally. But our lives as a result of sin are all over the place. They are scribbles, they are squiggly lines. No righteousness. There's none that seeketh after God. They have all gone astray. We are all together unrighteous. Is there then a way whereby I may escape the righteous penalty of God against my sin? See, the justice of God demands that I make payment by myself or by another in order that there might indeed be peace, but it needs to be a redemption through blood. through righteousness in accordance with God's righteousness. And dear friend, you can scale the highest mountain. You could go to the lowest depths of the earth. You could live out thousands of years, but you will never find righteousness. For you, sinner that you are, apart from one place and one place alone. And Abram knew it in a type. He knew it at the feet of this King Melchizedek, King of Salem. There was peace in the way of righteousness. Dear congregation, this is the gospel of Christ because Christ lived a perfectly righteous life in terms of his act of obedience. He came into this world without original sin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. There was no blot on him, no sin, no stain. It was all holy, harmless, and undefiled. And from conception on, through birth and through all his life, he fully obeyed the law of God. He lived a straight line perfectly. Not simply for himself, but as the federal head of all his people. As a public person, we say. As the covenant head of sinners. His church and people. And not only did he fulfill an act of obedience, not only is that displayed in him, he accomplished that. He magnified the law and made it glorious, but he also procured a passive obedience. He endured the just punishment for sin for all those who would believe from every tribe, tongue, and nation the world over. And because of his one sacrifice for sin forever on Calvary, where he as the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. God declared himself to be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus and being justified by faith. We have peace with He is our peace, who has broken down the middle wall of partition, who has nailed the ordinances that were against us, that were contrary to us, spoiling principalities and powers. He put them out of the way. And dear friends, because of that, there is a gospel for sinners, not the righteous, not the righteous, but sinners. this greater than Melchizedek came to save. And we may proclaim peace to them that are far off and peace to them that are near. All because consider how great this man, this greater than Melchizedek is. And then my dear friend, unconverted one, you need not be lost because there's hope in him. You need not go all your days restless, tormented, a rebel against God without peace in your soul. There is a peace that passes understanding all in Him. But please consider, consider How great a man my Jesus is. Not only is there rest at his feet, but there is peace flowing from his wounded side, his wounded hands and feet, and his crown of thorns. It's righteousness through blood, and it's peace, peace with God, peace forever. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace. All because of this Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's peace in the right of righteousness. And my dear friends, he's the king of righteousness. He's the king of peace. And what a gospel this is. I know of none else. There is none else. This, the world needs to hear. This, you need to hear. Not just the first time. Because you, dear believer, you need it again and again. You need to end up at the feet of this King of Righteousness, King of Peace, because he shows you his nail-pierced hands and his wounded side, and he says, Peace I give unto you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Are you considering how great a man my King of Righteousness is? Well, congregation, we must rest at his feet and find rest there in the midst of all our battles. We must secondly adore the gospel in Jesus Christ, the King of righteousness and the King of peace. But we must also in Him find strength. through fellowship with him. There's a remarkable ending to this story in our text passage. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine. And he was priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham of the Most High God. He blessed him with spiritual blessings in heavenly places. He said, as it were there, the Lord bless you, Abraham, and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, needy Abraham, fresh from the battle, and give you peace. He blessed him. He blessed him. And Abram paid tithes of all that he possessed. He offered a tenth to testify that he owed everything to this God and this king of righteousness and this priest of Salem. And that's what you, dear believer, you too do and you must do again and again. Paul says it this way, he says, I beseech you brothers by the mercies of Christ that you offer your bodies as living sacrifices. God deserves it all, he deserves all of you. Look at what he has done for you, look at the mercies of God in this king of righteousness, in this king of peace, and will you then not offer your bodies as living sacrifices to him I am thy servant, bound yet free, a handmade son whose shackles thou hast loosed. Lord, I owe thee my all. I will live for thee, not another. That's what Abram does here. But notice how the Lord gives so much more than Abram even gives. He brings him bread and wine. Now that's remarkable, isn't it? Bread and wine, the tokens, the very tokens of the blessed supper that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted so many centuries later when he as King of Righteousness and King of Peace, he said to his disciples, this is my body broken for you, take. Eat cup of blessing which I bless. It's for you and abide in the vine he said. and abide in me and I in you, and you will be safe, you'll be secure, and you will bring forth so much fruit. And it is in the fellowship that Abraham enjoys with Melchizedek that he finds the strength to resist what must have been, at some level at least, at least to his nature, as it is to ours, a temptation from the king of Sodom. Look with me at verses 21 and following. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. In other words, this king of Sodom who has enjoyed this rescue from Abraham, who rescued him together with all the people, the wives, the children, together with Lot. This king of Sodom is basically saying, Abraham, take the goods. Take the goods, they're yours. And dear friend, if you don't think that that's a temptation, Look at what the world is doing to you and me just right now. Take the goods. Take the goods. Live for the things of time and sense. And like the king of Sodom, the world dangles it in front of you and me. We don't have to go anywhere and it's there. It used to be that you had to drive down 131 or so and you had these billboards that dangled all these things that the world wanted you to buy and to have. But dear friends, it's in our homes. It's right there. You open your phone, you open your screen, and it's right there. And the world is saying, take the goods. Take the goods. Live for the goods. Live for stuff. It's right here. It's so easy. It's so fulfilling. This is what you need. And the world is pushing that into our lives. Take the goods. Dear friends, this is a great idol in our day. If you don't know the force of that, then you must be blind and unfeeling. There's something in all of our hearts that desires stuff and happiness through stuff. But none of these things can ever give us what our souls need. It cannot fulfill our soul's deepest yearnings. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet. and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich. In other words, he says, I have sworn an oath. That's what you do in the Old Testament times. You lift up your hand, you swear an oath to the Lord. I belong to the Lord. His servant I am. He is my master. I will live for him. He is the full compass of all that I need and want. And don't come to me with mammon. You cannot serve God and mammon. So King of Sodom, keep your goods. I swore an oath and I'm gonna live for God. He's going to be my all and in all. And world, you can have these goods. With food and raiment therewith be content. And yes, use whatever God has given you generously for the cause of the gospel, for the good of those around you, especially for the poor. But I have lift my hands up to the Lord. I belong to Him. I will live for Him. I've sworn an oath, and gladly I'll obey. And world, you can't mesmerize me anymore with your goods. I've lift up my hand unto the Lord. And dear friends, this is it. When the Lord gives you to experience something of that communion with himself, then you say, whom have I in heaven but thee? And what on earth can satisfy my soul's deepest yearnings? It's God alone. God is my all. And in all, He alone is the cup of my salvation. He is better than anything. And dear young people and children, that's the best life. That's the best life you could ever live. To live for God. And then you won't be rich here on this earth. And then you won't have the fastest and nicest and fanciest automobiles and all the rest of that. All the stuff which perishes with the using and which is consumed in a day. And it crashes and it's awful. But God is my portion, Seth, my soul. I will hope in him. The Lord is good and does good. May he grant that we would see in him and in his son the Lord Jesus Christ such greatness that we would find a rest in him for our needy souls. Consider how great a man my Jesus is because he gives me rest. Consider secondly how great a man he is because he is my gospel. He is my king of righteousness and he is my king of peace. And consider thirdly how great this man is that he comes and he feeds me with food convenient for me, bread and wine as tokens of his broken body and his poured out wine. And I see in those emblems, I see my king of righteousness and my king of peace. And I fall before him. And I say, I am not my own. May I belong to Thee, O precious Savior, O great Melchizedek, O great Jesus, who is like Thee. Dear friends, then this great, great Jesus makes everything so small. than my struggles even, which loom in front of me and can sometimes consume me because they seem so big. But compared to my great Jesus, they're small. and my sins. Oh, He's the King of righteousness. He's the King of peace. He has a full redemption from all manner of sin. He's not only made my sins small, He's covered them. He's covered them fully, completely under His blood. And God sees no more iniquity in his Jacob because of this king of righteousness, king of peace. And dear friends, then communion with him, I live for it. And death, what is it to die? To die is to exchange imperfect communion here below. with perfect communion with him forever, all on the basis of blood, all on the basis of this great Jesus. Dear friends, won't you consider in the quietness of your soul, even just now, whoever you are, if you've never considered him before, You've never really taken the thoughts of your mind and heart and considered Him in this. Oh, my friend, consider Him now. Look to Him. Lay your weary, empty, needy soul at His feet, and you will have peace in the way of righteousness for Christ's sake. Amen.