The Order of Melchisedec

Temple Baptist Church - 4-10-2019

Hebrews 6:19-7:3

Introduction:

A.  Over the next few weeks, we will look at the Priesthood of Christ.  Jesus Christ had a three-fold office:

1.  Prophet - Deuteronomy 18:15  The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;  (The work “Prophet” is capitalized in Scripture, a direct reference to the coming of Christ.)

Matthew 13:57-58  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.  (58)  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.  (When in the Synagogue in Nazareth, where He was raised, Jesus referred to Himself as a Prophet.)

2.  Priest – which we will look at here in Hebrews.

3.  King – Revelation 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Zechariah 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

B.  The key word of the Book of Hebrews is “better.”  Jesus Christ is the ultimate and last High Priest.  Chapters 6-7 of Hebrews gives an analogy between the Priesthood of Christ and that of the Order of Melchisedec.

C.  This portion of Scripture begins with the surety of our anchor of hope.  Our Anchor is Christ!  The Bible declares our blessed hope to be both sure and steadfast as we have fled to Him for refuge.  (Hebrews 6:17-18)

D.  Our hope is in Christ’s vicarious atonement, resurrection from the dead, and eternal priesthood.  If it is in anything else, it is a false hope.

E.  I want to take a short look at Melchisedec and Christ’s comparison.  Melchisedec is a beautiful type of Christ our High Priest.  He is not a Christophany.  The bible describes him in such a way as to portray Christ; he was not Christ.

1.  His name: Melchisedec.  This name, in verse 2, means King of Righteousness.

Proverbs 29:2  When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Isaiah 32:1  Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

2 Samuel 23:3  The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

Jesus Christ is the Righteous King of all.  Acts 10:36  The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)

2.  His Office:  King of Salem.

a.  Melchisedec was evidently a well know King-Priest as Abraham recognized him immediately. 

b.  Salem, according to verse 2, means Peace.  One of the Old Testament words for Jerusalem is Salem. 

Psalms 76:1-2  In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.  (2)  In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

c.  Christ is our Peace.  Ephesians 2:13-14  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

3.  His Appointment: Priest of the most high God.

a.  Earthly high priests under the law, except for Aaron—were appointed by men.  Melchisedec, before the Law, shows no such appointment. was appointed by God.

Hebrews 5:1-5  For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:  (2)  Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.  (3)  And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.  (4)  And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.  (5)  So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

b.  Christ’s appointment came by God.  Luke 9:35  And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

4.  Melchisedec’s Position. 

a.  “Who met Abraham … and blessed him.”  Hebrews 7:7  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

b.  Christ is blessed above all.  Ephesians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Philippians 2:9-11  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  (10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  (11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

5.  His Descent:  “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.”  (Hebrews 7:3)

a.  Melchisedec had no recorded genealogy, birth, or death—though he was a man.  Hebrews 7:4  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

b.  As God—Christ had no recorded genealogy, birth, of death.  John 1:1-2  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  The same was in the beginning with God.

1 John 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

6.  His Eternality: 

a.  The bible does not say that Melchisedec was eternal, as he was a man.  He had no recorded birth of death.

b.  The bible does say that Christ is an eternal High Priest after the Order of Melchisedec.  Hebrews 6:19-20  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;  (20)  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

7.  Melchisedec was a Universal High Priest:

a.  Melchisedec was a King-Priest to the Gentiles in Canaan.  He was also a King-Priest to Abraham, the beginning of the Jewish people.

b.  Christ is a Universal High Priest.  He died for both Jew and Gentile.  He is both the Saviour of the world and the High Priest of the redeemed of all nations.

Revelation 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;