back in the old stomping grounds, as it were, and we're very thankful the Lord has brought us your way, and we're thankful that we get to fellowship with you all together. I have mentioned before that the Lord's use of this church in my life, and I know in many of your lives, really can't be estimated in terms of earthly benefits. It really has to be estimated in terms of heavenly benefits. And we trust that the Lord will continue that work for many years to come. And we know that He will for His name's sake. If you would, please turn to the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews this morning, Hebrews chapter seven. As I'm sure you're aware, this chapter falls in the middle of a very long argument that basically amounts to one phrase, and that is that Christ is better. Chapter 1, He is better than the angels. Chapter 3, He is better than Moses. And as we'll see this morning, He is a better high priest even than Aaron was. We're gonna take the time to read the entirety of the seventh chapter. We'll just have a good amount of reading this morning from verse one all the way down to verse 28. Let's give our utmost attention to the reading of God's word this morning. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also 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 Abraham gave the tenth part of the spoils. And verily, they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest, for those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath, by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's. For this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests, which have infirmity, The word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore. Amen. And we know the Lord will add his own blessing to the reading of his holy word for his name's sake. Let's all pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, we are so thankful this morning that we can be found in the Lord's house We are thankful that we can draw nigh by the blood of Christ, by the blood of the one that we have just read about. We're thankful that we can come and worship him in spirit and in truth this morning. We do not come on the merits of our own zeal or on the merits of our own works. We come on the merits of Christ and his shed blood for us. We pray that as John Bunyan's Christian always kept his eye on the cross, so we would do this morning. We pray that we would not hear the opinions of a man. We pray that we would hear the word of God as it is in truth. Give us a word in season for our souls, especially if there are those here who are downcast and need encouragement. We pray that today would be life-giving for them We ask that the Word of God would encourage and rebuke and exhort as each heart has its need. Give us help, Lord. We pray that the Holy Spirit would come to each heart this morning and give us enlightenment as we consider the things of this passage and the things of the Word of God. And we pray all of these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. So Christ is better. That is the argument of the book of Hebrews. We start in chapter one where we read the words, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. This is the great and climactic point of God's revelation and it climaxes in his Son, Jesus Christ. Read further down in the chapter, and Christ did not assume the nature of angels, but he took on our nature, so that he might be our high priest. He took on our nature, and unto none of the angels did the Father ever say, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. That phraseology is reserved only for Christ. And you go into chapter two and we have the very first warning of the book of Hebrews. And it basically says, if the law that came from Mount Sinai through the angels was tremendous and they did not listen, how shall we escape if we forsake the law that comes through Christ? And we have that great question in chapter two, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? We go into chapter three, and the author begins to compare Moses and Christ. And still, Christ is better. He is the fulfillment of everything that the Mosaic law portrayed, all the ceremonial sacrifices, everything that we read in the book of Leviticus and Numbers. Christ is the fulfillment of all of that. And we get into chapter four and Now the author really becomes warm and says, in light of all of this, let us draw nigh unto the throne of grace to have grace to help in time of need. In light of the fact that our Savior is the fulfillment of all of this, let us draw nigh unto the throne of grace. We get into chapter five and we start getting introduced to the topic of today, the priesthood. But then the author draws back in chapter six and he has to address something first. He said, some of you and some of the people that have been with us have apostatized. I think if we have been Christians for any length of time, we know stories like this. People who have left the faith. And there are many warnings about that in chapter six. I love that phrase in the middle part of chapter six, but he turns and he says, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation. And then the author gets back on his main argument course where he was here in chapter seven. The last verse of chapter six is, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And so we start chapter seven. I am going to try to preach the whole chapter this morning, but I'm also gonna try not to let the roast burn. And so, I forget which theologian this was. I think it may have been J. Gresham Machen, after whom Machen is. named, but he had a sign outside his office for the seminary students when they came to ask him questions. It said, be short. So I feel a little bit of that pressure this morning, because we have this whole chapter to go through. So it may do us well to listen fast. We're not gonna deal with a lot of the details in the nitty-gritty of the text. We're gonna just take a helicopter flyover. So if we can listen fast, I think the Lord will really, well, I know the Lord will bless us with His word this morning. So, Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, The first thing I really want us to see this morning is the typology of the better priesthood. The typology of the better priesthood. As I'm sure you're aware, these first three verses are referring to the incident in Genesis 14. Abraham is coming back from rescuing his nephew, Lot, from the hands of the kings of the land. And on his way back, he meets this mysterious figure named Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness. And the city that he rules is called Salem. And the name Salem, as I'm sure you're aware, as we live in Winston-Salem, means peace. King of Righteousness and King of Peace. Then verse three starts to talk about his lineage. There's been a lot of ink spilled over this, and I won't go through all the views that the commentators have, but I think the best way to understand this is that Melchizedek is a type of Christ. There are some that think that he was a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ himself. I don't think the evidence quite bears that out, but certainly he is a type of Christ. And the references in verse 3 there basically indicate this man is a type of Christ in that we know nothing about His beginning or His end. And Christ does not have a beginning or an end. We know nothing about His having a beginning of days nor an end of life. He is made like unto the Son of God. This is a remarkable fact. And in that there is nothing recorded about Melchizedek's father, his mother, his beginning, his descent, his beginning of days nor end of life, so also Christ does not have a starting point and he has no ending point. He is the eternal Son of God. Joel Beeky's Reformation Heritage Study Bible takes this view, takes this position. In all of these ways, Melchizedek is being placed before our eyes as a divinely chosen type of Messiah. And in that he is like unto the Son of God, he abides a priest continually. I remember when David Hamilton was still here, he did a sentence diagram of Ephesians 1, because that whole passage is one long sentence. Well, this, the first three verses of chapter 7, are one long sentence. And if you take the first part of verse 1 and add it to the last part of verse 3, this is what you get. For this Melchizedek abideth a priest continually. That's the first and last part of the sentence. That's the sentence, and everything else in between is modification. This Melchizedek abideth a priest continually. And so, Melchizedek is the typology of the better priesthood. But notice, secondly, the hierarchy of the better priesthood. Verse 4, consider how great this man was. Melchizedek was a great man, and this is evidenced by the fact that no less than Abraham paid him tithes, as we mentioned earlier. Verse 5, The Levites, who were descendants of Abraham, were commanded in the Old Testament to take tithes from the rest of the children of Israel. And the way they had it set up, Israel would pay the Levites tithes for their living, which they had apportioned to themselves for the tabernacle service, much in the same way that we pay the pastor. But Levi was a descendant of Abraham, and Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. And verse seven is very clear. You don't pay homage to someone who is inferior to yourself. The hierarchy is always this way. When you bestow blessing, you are superior. When you pay tithes, you are inferior. And that's basically what the author is arguing here. There is a hierarchy that basically has Melchizedek right at the very top. And Abraham, and Levi, and Aaron, and everybody else, they fall underneath of that. So the typology of the better priesthood is Melchizedek, but the hierarchy of the better priesthood is that Melchizedek is at the very top, and he typifies Christ. But notice thirdly, the necessity of the better priesthood. And this brings us down to verse 11. If therefore perfection were by the Old Testament Levitical priesthood, the old priesthood, for under it the people of God received the law, if that were the case, If redemption could be accomplished by the blood of bulls and goats, if you could take a bull and lay him on the altar and sacrifice him and be saved that way, the author is asking, why do we need another priest? We read elsewhere in the book of Hebrews, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. And so the author is making a compelling argument here. He says, why do we need a Melchizedekian priesthood when we had this previous priesthood? And the implied answer is that the old priesthood could never attain to redemptive perfection. It wasn't possible. It's not possible that an animal could take away your sin. No animal could take away my sin. This must be accomplished by means of a better priest, one who has much more in common with us than just an animal. And so, the author continues on, verse 12. If you're going to change the priesthood from Aaron's to Melchizedek's, then the ceremonial law has to change too. Why? Verse 13. because the ceremonial law stipulates that the tribe of Levi, not Judah, the tribe of Levi, not Judah was to officiate at the altar. And this new high priest, verse 14, this Jesus of Nazareth is descended from Judah. It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah. And Moses never said anything about a descendant of Judah being a priest, much less a high priest. And furthermore, verse 15, the priest arising after the similitude of Melchizedek is, verse 16, made a priest not according to fleshly descendant or fleshly ordinances, but according to the power of an endless life. Eternal duration and powerful application according to the power of an endless life. Now there's proof for all of this. When the New Testament wants proof of the theological arguments that it's making, it goes to the Old Testament. And in this case, it goes to the Psalm that we sang this morning, Psalm 110. And right in the middle of that Psalm, David, in prophesying about Christ, says, The Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So here's the bottom line in verses 18 and 19. The Old Testament sacrificial system was, I love this word, dis-annulled. It was dis-annulled because of its weakness and because of its unprofitableness. The old ceremonial law and the old priesthood was only a shadow of the genuine article to come. I remember Uncle Greg standing up here and preaching through each of the points of the sacrificial system and demonstrating how each referred to the person and work of Christ. It was wonderful. I forget how long it took him to do that, but it was a while. And all of that was just a shadow. of what Christ would do. So, the end of verse 19, this is that by which we, quote, draw nigh unto God. What a wonderful phrase. We draw nigh unto God by this better priest. There is a typology. His name is Melchizedek, and he typifies Christ There's a hierarchy and Melchizedek is at the top. Thus Christ is superior to all of these other priesthoods. And there's a real necessity behind this change of priesthood because the old priesthood was incomplete and was only the shadow of him who would actually accomplish redemption. And that brings us to the last point of the message this morning, and that is the supremacy of the better priesthood. Verses 20 and 21, and inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest, For those priests were made without an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And those verses, they bring up an important theological point about the difference between a Levite priest and Christ as a Melchizedek priest. And basically it's this. The Levite priests were made priests by God's divine word, which is an eternally strong divine word, but Christ was made a priest with an oath from God. And that is a divinely strong oath. And so even there, Christ is seen to be better than the Levitical priests. And then verse 22, this is really where this comes into play. It says, Christ has been made a surety for us. That word is a legal word for a person bound to perform the obligations of another. Verses 23 and 24 basically recap all of that and the fact that perpetuity, a perpetual priesthood never characterized the old priesthood because all those priests died. You had Aaron and he died. And you had Eleazar, his son, and then he died. And then Phineas and he died. Every priest, they served for a time and then they died. Nothing about perpetuity characterized that old, old priesthood. But Christ's priesthood as perpetual because he liveth ever is utterly unchangeable. And we're gonna lower the helicopter just a little bit because what comes next is truly wonderful. Verse 25, read it with me if you would. Wherefore, because of all of this and because he lives forever, wherefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. I was listening recently to a sermon by the late Dr. Alan Cairns, and he referenced this verse. And he said, there's only one other place in the New Testament where this phrase, to the uttermost, is found. And it's in Luke 13, you don't have to turn there, but Luke 13, verse 11, Christ meets A woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and was bowed together. Think of someone with severe spinal stenosis just bowed down. And then it says this, and it says, and she could in no wise lift herself up. It's the same Greek phrase. One is stated positively in Hebrews, the other is stated negatively in Luke. And when you render it literally, it literally says, Luke 13, she was unable to the uttermost to lift herself up. Hebrews 7, he is able to the uttermost to save. And Dr. Alan Cairns commented, what a picture of the sinner and the savior. unable to the uttermost to lift himself up. Christ, able to the uttermost to save. This is our great high priest. Verse 26, back here in Hebrews 7, verse 26, just continues the wonder of it all. Such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. If you've been in this church for any length of time, you know that these are the recipe items for the doctrine of imputation. The imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. and it is a double imputation. Our sin was imputed to Him, and His righteousness, that He lived in a perfect life for us, His righteousness was imputed. It was reckoned, in the words of Martin Luther, it was reckoned to our account. And this is the reason for our rejoicing and will be the reason for our rejoicing forever in heaven. He became a man and lived and died for us. And he doesn't need, verse 27, to make a sin offering for his own sins, like the Levites did. Because for one thing, he never, ever, ever, ever sinned. Hallelujah. He never sinned. But furthermore, he offered himself for the sins of his people once. And then verse 28 concludes the matter. What was the result of the old Jewish law? Priests with infirmity. What is the result of the new covenant? A priest who is eternal without any infirmity. And this is our great high priest. So that is the theological argument of Hebrews chapter seven. So what does it mean for us? As one scholar I was listening to, he said, is this just interesting doctrine? What does this actually mean for us? Well, I have three points of application and then we're finished. First of all, theology matters. And if you know the preaching of men in this church and of Pastor Kimbrough, Pastor Bowman, theology matters. The conservative, fundamental Christian circles in which we run, they afford us with a really rare commodity. And that is when it comes to what is provided on Sunday morning and Sunday evening in the midweek service, Lord's Day by Lord's Day, midweek prayer meeting after midweek prayer meeting, service after service. And for those of us who attend a sound, orthodox, expositionally focused, Christ-centered preaching, living orthodoxy type of church, We are afforded, on a regular basis, the finest of spiritual food. And this is not the norm. Especially in the days in which we live, it is becoming increasingly not the norm. That is a rare phenomenon. And we really must not throw that away. I hope you don't ever go away from a sermon like this or from one of Pastor Kimbrough's sermons or one of Pastor Bowman's sermons and say to yourself, that kind of Bible really hits a little too close to home. What I do in my repentance and whatever priesthood I decide and whatever religion I decide to take, that's my personal business. That type of Bible is a little too close to home. I hope you don't ever do that. Or perhaps you say, that's just way too much theology. It's just way too much. Dearly beloved, what we have here in the preaching of God's Word is no less than the deepest mind and heart exercises of divine revelation, and they are for us. They're for us. It has been communicated to us from the mind of God to the mind of man. And it reaches the deepest needs of people. This is preaching that presents Christ in all his fullness to people in all their need. And that is really what we need. Oh, that we would embrace it every time we sit in these pews. And oh, that we would, after hearing such preaching, conclude with the Apostle Paul at the end of Romans 11, oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. So theology matters. But secondly, having the right high priest is vital. You know that the history of this church really arose as a significant response to liberalism but also to the errors of Roman Catholicism. And having the right high priest is essential. And it's really impossible to read a passage like this and not come to that conclusion. The text of Scripture drives you to that conclusion. Man's religion will always insinuate that you need another priest or an additional priest to Christ. Or that you might need Mary. Or that you might need an imam to plead to a Muslim saint. In some way, shape, or form, man's religion will always push someone additional or someone other than Christ alone. That's why one of the great Reformation cries that came out of the 1500s was, sola Christos, Christ alone. And the Apostle Paul is very straightforward when he says to his young preaching fellow soldier Timothy, he says, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Who is himself God? And we are told furthermore that whereas the priests of the Old Testament had to make offerings on a repeated basis, that's the other thing that man's religion will tell you. You have to make repeated confession. You have to make repeated, repeated offerings. Christ has to be offered more than once in the mass. But Hebrews chapter seven says he died once. And then he said, it's finished. He died once and then it was finished. Having the right high priest is critical. And then thirdly and lastly, this better Christ is our worthy Savior. For those of us who have embraced Christ, He is our Savior. He is our Lord. This is the one we serve. This is the one, day to day, in whose presence we live and move and have our being. Such an high priest became us. Christ is ours. He is the only better high priest whom scripture alone presents as the means whereby sins may actually be forgiven and actually be propitiated. And his offer of salvation is granted through the completely unmerited grace of God, which is a little bit of a repetition because grace by nature is unmerited. And the believer's faith in Christ as its object is simply the extended hand of utter helplessness and inability that accepts God's terms of repentance, and then in turn glorifies God, who is worthy of all our worship and our praise. I didn't realize this, but apparently the Reverend John Greer retired recently. He was preached in Northern Ireland for many years, used to be in Malvern. And I went back and I watched his retirement service. And the Reverend John Wagner spoke at the retirement service because they've had a relationship for many years. And actually, I don't know how long ago that was. I think I was eight or nine. and we had a minister's week of prayer here, and we had John Greer and John Wagner at our house together. And we've always commented, you really couldn't get two more opposite personalities. One was very subdued, Pastor Greer was just not that talkative and Pastor Wagner was not. So, two very different personalities. But Pastor Wagner stood up at that service and he began to weep. And he said, John Greer is the best friend I have ever had. And it began back in the early days of their ministry. I think this was before John Wagner was ever a minister. And Pastor Wagner was struggling with the assurance of his salvation. And Pastor Greer came to him and he said, John, the question is not, are you enough for Christ? But is Christ enough for you? And he said, that settled it all. That settled it all. Christ is better and he is enough. Dearly beloved, the atoning work of Christ is sufficient. It is sufficient for the complete redemption of your soul and of my soul. And that is the conclusion of Hebrews chapter seven and of the whole Bible. May we believe it for His glory alone. Amen. Let's all pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for Thy help which we have received this morning Truly we have seen the finest of the wheat in these verses. As Christ, our propitiation has been lifted before our eyes. We pray that the devil would not snatch away the good seed that has been sown this morning in hearts. But we pray that the Lord would indeed send forth his word and may it accomplish the purpose for which it was sent forth. Give us a good Sunday afternoon, and may our hearts rejoice at the meditations of Christ today. We pray all of these things in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen.