A Priest on the Throne (Hebrews 4:14-5:10- Jeff Kliewer)

Would you stand with me? Let's pray. Lord, we are so privileged to come into this place this morning. We can.

Only gather as the church because you have first made a new and living way into the Holy of Holies, Jesus, because you died on the cross. As you died, your body broken, the veil in the temple was torn in two and access was granted into the holy place.

And so we are here this morning because of Jesus, because he is a great high priest. So high priest, we look to you now to help us to know you more, that we would relate to you, that we would run to you to have our sins forgiven.

I pray that all of us would begin confessing our sins to you and drawing near because you have offered us this throne of grace. Help us now to learn of it through your word. In Jesus' name, amen. The influx of Roman Catholics into America was truly a great blessing on this country.

In fact, did you know that there was one Roman Catholic signer to the Declaration of Independence? Anybody know that? His name was Charles Carroll. After that, though, of course, there were great waves of Roman Catholic immigration to America and the people who came were wonderful people.

They were hard-working. You had the Irish potato famine, which resulted in a whole wave of Irish Catholics coming in the early 1800s. Then there were German Catholics, there were Italian Catholics, and then great waves coming up from South America.

And in each case, the people proved to be a great help to this country and just really hard-working, industrious kind of people upon whose backs much of this country was built. So I say that as a bit of a preface because when I make some comments about the Pope, I don't want to in any way denigrate Roman Catholics who would just need to hear the truth from God's Word and look to Christ as the great high priest.

But I do have some comments about the Pope. Before the first Pope even came about, in fact, before there was a church, there was a Pontifex Maximus. Anybody heard of the Pontifex Maximus? He is the great high priest.

Pontifex Maximus. Now, this did not refer to anybody in the church. This is 300 years before Christ. In the pagan Roman religion, they had a great Pontifex Maximus, supreme priest. Augustus Caesar, before Christ was born, took that title for himself.

And so the emperor carried that title all the way into the 300s. Of course, when Constantine converted to Christianity, before long, as the 400s rolled around, the Pope of Rome assumed that title for himself.

Pontifex Maximus, supreme priest. Constantine built a palace, the Lateran Palace was built for the Pope, and he began to gain prestige in society. He became first among all the bishops, whereas the early Roman bishops did not see themselves as preeminent over all the other bishops.

After Constantine, the power became more and more centralized in Rome. In 1000, around the year 1000, a decree was made by a Pope that priests were no longer allowed to marry. They had to remain celibate, and that became a great source of difficulty for Roman Catholics and for priests throughout the years.

But one of the biggest turning points in the development of the papacy and of Roman Catholicism was in reaction to the Protestant Reformation. Just before the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church sought to build the St. Peter's Basilica, early 1500s.

You guys are familiar with that, right? Who painted the Sistine Chapel? Michelangelo! Yeah, he's laying on his back for like four years painting these beautiful paintings, this Renaissance painter. They say he was a bit of a curmudgeon.

He really liked just be by himself, so those four years were like heaven for him. Didn't have to interact with anybody, just way up high in the air in his own little world. But in any case, the Reformation burst forth just a few years later with Martin Luther, and we'll get into something about Luther later in the sermon.

But the Reformation brought the true gospel, centered on Christ and him alone, scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, the solas of the Reformation. Wonderful time. But in reaction to that, the Pope called a council.

Of course, it's called the Council of Trent, 1545 -1546. And at that council, they actually anathematized the gospel. Anathema means to declare that it's bound for hell, it's cursed. They cursed the gospel by saying that if anyone says that salvation is by faith alone, let him be anathema.

Well, the Bible says that! So there's a turning away from Scripture in the 1540s. 1854, almost 300 years later, a Pope steps forward and declares that the conception of Mary was immaculate. You guys have heard of the Immaculate Conception, right?

Well, the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus being born sinless, which he was. It refers to Mary being born sinless, which she wasn't. The Pope decreed that. Many people questioned that, and so at the first Vatican, Vatican I, a council was called in the 1870s to address what authority the Pope actually has.

Vatican I declared that the Pope has absolute authority. He can now speak infallibly. Ex cathedra, when he speaks from his seat, what he says cannot be questioned by the church tradition, the Bible, anything.

It placed himself as the absolute infallible authority. That's Vatican I. 1960s, Vatican II, the next big council, and they become very ecumenical. That's also where masses begin to be done in English or French or whatever, rather than Latin.

Point being, there has been a progression of centralizing power to the papacy, to the Pope, and he has taken upon himself from around the year 400 the title Pontiff Maximus, Greatest High Priest. Maximus, Maximum, Supreme Priest.

He takes that title to himself, and yet nowadays you can go to hashtag Pontiff and follow the tweets of the Pope, and what you will not find is wisdom from on high. It seems that just about everything that he tweets lacks not only common sense but biblical wisdom, whether it's advancing socialism or just joining into the hysteria and panic of the culture or advancing social justice causes and divisive racial claims, cozying up to Islam, calling climate an existential threat to the world, and being wrong on borders immigration, and we could go on and on and on, but the point is there lacks wisdom from that particular pulpit.

Worse still, though, in claiming himself to be the Great High Priest, he takes on himself a presumptuous authority that does not belong to him, and I underscore this because the passage today is about the Great High Priest, and there is but one Great High Priest.

So whether a Buddhist priest or some Eastern mystic or a Roman Catholic pontiff who represents 1 billion people on this planet, regardless of who it is that makes that claim for themselves, it is a presumptuous claim if it is not biblical, and it's not, okay?

We are going to see today about the calling of the Great High Priest, the appointment of the Great High Priest, and he is none other than Jesus. Another thing about the true High Priest, he is eminently approachable.

He is available. If I desired to go see the so-called Pontiff Maximus, I wouldn't get any closer than his Twitter account. If I went to Rome and demanded an audience with the Pope, I would get the right hand of fellowship.

I would get stiff-armed and sent away. So the Pope is not approachable. You and I can't go see him. He has no help to offer us in time of need, but the point of our passage today is that we have one who has come and suffered in every way that we suffer.

He knows by experience the weaknesses that we have, and he invites us to come to his throne. Now notice, a king sits on a throne, but the king who sits on the throne is also a priest, and because he is the Great High Priest, he can welcome us to this throne, and this throne becomes a throne of grace.

We are invited to draw near to the throne of grace. He is approachable. So let's see this in Hebrews 4 14 through 5 10. Now as you find that passage, I like to situate us in the text before we dive in.

So by way of review, the thesis of the book of Hebrews is the kingly priesthood of Jesus. I would even go so far as to say that the book of Hebrews is really fleshing out Psalm 110. Hebrews 1 3 says that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

He upholds the universe by the word of his power. This is about the greatness of Jesus. So the book is about how Jesus is better. He's better than angels. He's better than Moses, like the builder of a house is better than the house he built.

Here we're going to learn that he's better than Aaron. Notice what does a priest do. Hebrews 1 3, after making purification for sins. That's a priestly work. Priests make purification for sins by offerings and sacrifices on behalf of the sinner.

After he did that, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. That language comes from Psalm 110. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Psalm 110 will become important today, so mark that in your mind. It is the construct of the book of Hebrews. We have on the throne, seated at the right hand of the Father, one who is also a priest. And so the centermost passage of the centermost portion of the book of Hebrews is from this fifth chapter, the end of 4 and 5, through chapter 10.

It's all about the priesthood of Christ. He is a better priest. A better priest. Psalm 110 will be quoted again in chapter 1 verse 13, where that seals the argument that he's better than angels. And we're giving warnings.

It's a very practical book. Up until this point we've had two, the beginning of chapter 2 and then chapters 3 and 4, the warnings that we must enter his rest and come to him as priests. So we pick up at chapter 4, verse 14, and we're coming out of one of these warnings.

We're being told that we must strive to enter his rest. The danger is that some of us would fall away. We might be sitting here on a Sunday morning, going strong week after week, but then by some tragedy in life, some of us may fall away.

The danger is apostasy. That some of you who claim the name of Christ today may 20 years from now hate him with a passion and a fury. I know people like that. It breaks my heart. Apostasy was a real danger back in the Roman era because Peter had been crucified upside down.

Paul, beheaded. Christians were being persecuted in Rome, and many Christians were leaving Christianity to go back to Judaism. Hey, Judaism has a high priest. Little did they know, but within a couple years, 70 AD, the temple will be destroyed and the priest would be put out of work.

He'll be standing in the unemployment line because there's no way to offer sacrifices without the temple. There is still, though, a danger throughout all of Christian history that any of us might not enter that rest, so we're to strive.

From this context, we're told how it is that we can persevere in the faith. It's because we have a priest, and whenever we begin to stumble, whenever we start to lose our way, we can run back to the throne of grace and we will find grace and mercy.

The big idea today is that seated on the throne is a priest, and this throne is a throne of grace that we can come back to, and he keeps us safe when we go there. Let's look at verse 14. We're just going to take it verse by verse through chapter 5, verse 10.

Make some comments out of each verse as we read it. So, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. So again, it's the exhortation to hold on, keep your confession, don't stop confessing Christ, hang on to the faith.

How can we do that? It's since we have a great high priest. We have a high priest. Now, the high priest was chosen from among men. Moses's brother Aaron was the first, then his sons, and after them came more and more high priests, right up until 70 AD.

The high priest, ever since Passover when the Jews were brought out of captivity in Egypt and the tabernacle was built, would go in once a year on the Day of Atonement and make a sacrifice. Now, throughout the year, people would know themselves to have sinned and they would bring their own sin offerings because of their sin.

But once a year, only the high priest would go. And on this day, he could go into the Holy of Holies. In the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God, the Ark of the Covenant was there, Aaron's staff that budded, the Ten Commandments, the mercy seat with the cherubim, where God dwelt, his presence on earth.

The priest could go in once a year. Now, tradition says they would tie a rope to his ankle and they would put bells on him because so holy was that place that if he went in in an unworthy manner, he might drop dead.

God would judge him and they would hear the bells as he hit the floor and they'd need to use the rope to drag his body out because nobody can go into the Holy of Holies. But once a year, he could go behind the veil, through the veil, to the presence of God.

Look at verse 14. Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. This is with reference to the high priest going into the holy place. Our high priest has not only gone into the earthly holy place, he actually destroyed that veil.

At his death, it was torn in two. He has gone into a heavenly temple, which we'll learn about in chapter 10. He has gone through to the heavenly throne room of God. He has gone into the very presence of God Almighty.

Our high priest has done this. This is why we can hang on, because we have a priest. Now look at verses 15 and 16. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We have a great high priest, and he is a help. He is one that you can go to.

He is approachable. No matter what sin you have committed, if you will repent, if you'll humble yourself, go to the throne, you will find a merciful and gracious high priest ready to forgive. Now that is good news.

This is very good news about our priest. He is omniscient. He already knew everything you would ever do, and everything you'd ever think. He discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart, divides them like bone from marrow.

He knows us better than we know us. But there was one aspect of knowledge that was only possible by living the human experience. Maybe some of you have suffered greatly in your life. I remember times in my life where I lost friends.

As a youth pastor, one of the teens stabbed to death, another died of meningitis, and just the heartbreak, or the heartbreak of a miscarriage, feeling what that pain is like. I'll tell you, when you have suffered, you have more compassion for others who suffer in the same way.

You know what it's like for others when they go through pain, if you've suffered yourself. Jesus is our high priest. He was already omniscient. He knew everything, but he also has experiential knowledge.

He has experienced the pain, the suffering of this world, the weakness. It says he can sympathize with our weaknesses. In every way, he was tempted the way we are, yet without sin. Now, much could be said about this.

We don't want to err to the left or to the right. Temptation is not sin, according to this verse, because Jesus was tempted yet without sin. But remember the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus also taught us that sin can be in the heart or in the thought life.

Jesus said, if you even look at a woman with lust in your heart, you violated the deeper meaning of thou shalt not commit murder. And if you have anger in your heart, you're violating the deeper meaning of thou shalt not murder.

So even at the heart level, at the thought level, it's possible for us to sin. There's some people that say, as long as you don't act on a sinful behavior, you're good. In fact, there's a whole conference called the Revoice Conference, Sam Albury, teaching that to have desires is never wrong, it's just that you can't act on them.

That's error, because Jesus said that even desires can be sinful. But we have to be very careful in the other direction as well. Remember how I mentioned Martin Luther? He, before understanding Christ as his high priest, would spend four hours a day confessing sin.

He was so wracked by his conscience that any thought that entered his mind, he took as sin. And there's danger in that way as well. Do you realize that some of the thoughts that enter your mind did not come from you?

Sometimes your brain just creates a wild thought. It's just a junk thought that you need to just dismiss. Dark thoughts that come into your mind? Sometimes demons tempt you with thoughts, whispering thoughts into your ear.

And you need to dismiss those, but recognize that voice is not always sin. It could be temptation. Jesus suffered temptation. So that line between being tempted and then entering into thoughtful sins, errors in your thought life, sinful ideas and thoughts that you entertain, that line is very thin, and it's a fine line that we don't always recognize.

Okay? So you don't want to become like an antinomian, well I can just do whatever I want in my mind and fantasize and all of these things. That is sinful. On the other hand, you don't want to be over scrupulous where you just overthink every thought and condemn yourself for having a thought come into your mind.

So point being, we have a priest that can help us in every area of our sin. Look at verse 16, let us then with confidence draw near. I doubt if there's anybody in this room who will escape the day without a sinful thought, whether it's lustful or angry, prideful, selfish, in some way sinful.

I doubt if there's anybody here that's going to escape December 27th, 2020 without sinning, let alone the next day and the next year. You may have a New Year's resolution to not sin, and that's good, but the thoughts of the heart, the heart is deceitful above all else.

Who can know it? So we can't really find that line of when we've often sinned, but we cross it. And the good news of this passage is that we can still keep coming. We have a compassionate God. We can come confidently and draw near to the throne of grace.

When feeling tempted, run to the throne. Run to the throne because as soon as you come to him, you open his word, you begin to pray, it breaks the power of the temptation. It sets you free. There is a throne of grace for sinners like us.

The Christian message is not one of captivity, but of liberty. Christians live as free people, and as we begin to stumble, all throughout our Christian lives, we have a priest to go to. He's approachable all day long.

He's as near as a prayer. You don't have to go to Rome. He's here. He said in Matthew 28 20, I am with you even to the end of the age. He is here this morning. You can begin to confess your sin. Maybe you've harbored sin in your heart, and you're afraid to go to him.

Right now you can go confidently because he understands experientially what weakness is like. He offers a throne of grace. So let's look a little more deeply at what a priest is. Chapter 5 verse 1. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Jesus did not become an angel to save angels. An angel cannot save a human. He didn't become an animal to save humans. Jesus had to become a human to mediate for humans to God. The definition of a priest is a go-between.

He's a mediator. You have a holy God in heaven, and you have sinful men on earth, and a priest is one who stands in the gap between holy God and sinful men. He's chosen from among men, appointed to act on behalf of men.

The only hope that sinners like us had was that God would come to us to, as it were, scoop us up and rescue us from our sinful condition. To do that he had to become one of us. He had to become a priest to act on behalf of men.

Chapter 2 of Hebrews is about Jesus as a man. He's not ashamed to call us brothers. He became one of us to rescue us and bring us to God. Chapter 5, verse 2 and 3. Now, speaking of priests in general, Levitical priests, he can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness.

That's that experiential compassion. Because of this, he's obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. Aaron in Leviticus 16 .6 was told, first, Aaron, you have to offer sacrifices for you and your family, and then you offer sacrifices for the people.

He himself was a sinner. Of course, Jesus was without sin, so his one offering was on our behalf. Verse 4 through 6, verses 4 through 6, is about the calling of a priest. So, and no one takes this honor for himself, but only when, what?

Called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you. That's Psalm chapter 2.

That's a place where Jesus is appointed, and then Psalm 110, as he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now, in verse 4, no one takes this honor upon himself to be made a high priest.

Only God can call a high priest. When the first one was called Aaron, not everybody recognized that God had specially chosen Aaron. Maybe you know the story. There were some who tried to overthrow Aaron, and they said, you know what?

God is with us just as equally as with you, so why are you claiming Aaron to the priesthood? Nadab said this, and he gathered a whole group of people to join him in this rebellion. Moses wasn't too pleased, and he started to pray for intercession, and God eventually said, separate out those who are making this claim.

And he said, if these people die an ordinary death, then you know that everybody's equal. And I haven't called Aaron in a special way. But that day, the ground opened up and swallowed the rebels, completely consumed them, and closed in over them.

Of course, all the people were just scurrying, running every which way. We're gonna get swallowed by the ground. That would have been terrifying. But in this way, God showed that, no, he had specially chosen Aaron, but he wasn't done.

Follow this. He said, now, take a staff from each of the leaders of the tribes of Israel. There's 12 tribes. Take these 11 staffs, and then take Aaron's from the tribe of Levi, and put the 12 staffs in the holy place.

Now, remember, these are just walking sticks, so they're just like really dry wood. They're not planted in the ground, but God says, I will show you who I have called, who I have designated to be the priest.

Whichever staff buds in the morning is my chosen one. And in the morning, Moses went in and retrieved the staff. They had written the names of each of the tribes on each of the 12 staffs. It was the tribe of Levi, Aaron, written on that staff.

And that morning, the staff had budded, little branches coming off that dry stick, and almonds hanging from the stick. Moses brought that out and showed it to the people, and everyone recognized that God had chosen and appointed Aaron.

John MacArthur makes the point about this story, that if someone is genuinely called to ministry, that person will be recognized by supernatural fruit. Just as Aaron's staff budded, so it is in the ministry today that we are not called of our own volition.

But the evidence is that people will be born again. The church will be edified and built up through the power of the Word. God will do something that a minister can't do. I can't make a staff bud, and I can't bring anybody to saving faith.

I can preach God's Word, and if He gives that fruit, that's an evidence that He is present. And the same for you in the ministries that you're called to do. But here the issue is the high priest, right?

Look at verse 4. No one takes this honor to himself. Well, wait a minute. Don't people do that? They sure do. It's just not recognized by God. It's not genuine. Only those called by God are high priests.

So, how was Jesus called? Quickly, two things. One, God called Him in Psalm 2, where He said, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Earlier, we saw that that included His calling to be king. He was called a son and placed on the throne earlier in Hebrews.

I like the way the Nicene Creed explains this verse and kind of exegetes it for us. The Nicene Creed was written in 300s in response to a guy named Arius. Arius was teaching basically that Jesus was a created being.

Before I read it, just think about it this way. There's a horizontal line. Everything over that line is God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything over the line is uncreated, not made. Everything under the line is creation.

That would include the planets and the stars and us as people. Angels included under the line. It's a creature, a created being. So, you have God and creation and a sharp distinction between the two. Here's the Nicene Creed.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages. God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same essence of the Father.

Through him all things were made. What the Nicene Creed is clearly stating is that when the Bible says that Jesus is begotten of the Father, it's an eternal day, an eternal begetting. He's eternally of the Father.

He's begotten, very distinctly, not made. Jesus was not made by God. He's always been God, of the same essence, the same being, an eternal God. So, how does that then apply to him as a priest? Well, look at the next verse.

As he says also in another place, this is Hebrews 5, 6, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Got it? That fixes it all right there, right? Now we all get it. Okay, this is one of the more complicated teachings in the Bible, and it takes some time, but repetition is good for us.

I was in Dallas. I had a friend named Tom, and one day we decided to go try to evangelize at a local community college, and we ended up meeting a guy named Flick, Bob Flickner, we called him Flick, and he turned out to be the athletic director, and we asked if we could start a Bible study there at that little community college, and he said sure, because he was a Christian.

So, we ended up inviting students to it, and one kid showed up, this one college student. So, me and Tom were there, and my friend Tom, for two months, taught on Melchizedek, and this poor kid sat there for two months trying to understand, just couldn't quite get what was being said, and I think this might fall in the department of meat and solid food, not exactly baby food, meaning we probably jumped in at the wrong place.

We probably should have laid some groundwork, established some parameters, kind of given more of an outline of Christianity before getting into Melchizedek. So, I understand if you're here, and maybe you haven't been in church your whole life, and this preacher's talking about Melchizedek, it's gonna be hard to have a framework to even know what I'm saying.

It'll sound like I'm speaking in tongues, but here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do a quick 10 ,000 foot overview to just lay a little bit of groundwork, and then when we get to chapter 7, where the author of Hebrews breaks it all down for us, that's when we'll spend more time, but I think by giving the big picture, this will at least give you like a context for what I'm saying.

Got it? Okay, here's what happened. Back in the day, way back in the time of Abraham, Abraham's nephew Lot was living in a town called Sodom, and at one point in time, five kings attacked Sodom and destroyed the city and carried all the people away, and Lot got taken captive.

So Abraham sprung into action, and he took off after that raiding party, and he fought them all off with his band of people, like a hundred people fighting thousands. God gave them the victory, and he won the spoil of war, and he rescued Lot, and he's bringing Lot back to the promised land when out of the blue, Melchizedek shows up, and Melchizedek greets him, gives him bread, wine, and then Abraham gives him a tithe of everything that he just won.

This happens from Genesis 18, I mean Genesis 14, verses 18 to 20. So three little verses in the book of Genesis. Then you don't hear anything about Melchizedek. Follow me so far? So basically, he's just this guy that showed up out of nowhere and then disappeared again.

Fast forward a thousand years to a thousand years before Christ, 1 ,000 BC. David is writing a psalm, and he's speaking of the coming Christ. Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

A picture of majesty and kingly authority, the coming king. Verse 4, you are a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Got it? A promise that the coming Messiah will be a priest like Melchizedek, and then it goes silent again for another thousand years.

Just that one little verse, and we're back to quiet. What is the deal with this? Well, the author of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit, picks up that teaching from Genesis 14 and Psalm 110, those four verses, and teaches an amazing revelation about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you're not a believer in Christ, I don't know how you will explain Melchizedek, because it's mind-blowing. Seven things from those three little verses. Number one, Melchizedek means king of righteousness.

Melchi, king. Zedek, righteousness. King of righteousness. There is coming a king of righteousness. See, Melchizedek will turn out to be a foreshadowing of Christ, a type, and Christ is the anti-type.

He's the fulfillment. So king of righteousness is the first thing that indicates that he is something more than an ordinary guy that showed up out of nowhere. King of righteousness. Number two, he is from Salem.

Salem. Shalom. Peace. The city of peace, later conquered by Jeru to become peace of Jeru. Jerusalem. He happens to come from Jerusalem. And who but Jesus Christ, the king of righteousness, the only one who can make people righteous like him.

The only one who can give us peace with God. Romans 5 .1. Making peace through his blood. The prince of peace. Number three, remember what he brought to the war-weary Abraham? Bread and wine. The very symbols of Christianity.

His body, his blood. Christ's body is like bread, broken for us. His blood is spilled out on the cross, represented in the cup of the new covenant. Take this and drink. Do this in remembrance of me. Forgiveness of sin in his blood.

Melchizedek brought bread and wine. Amazing for three little verses, but we're not even halfway done. Number four, Israel's kingly line and priestly lines were separate, but Melchizedek was both king and priest.

We'll get into this more in chapter 7, but just suffice it to say, the king has to come from Judah. Genesis 49 .10. The lion of the tribe of Judah. The priest has to be a Levite. How could a king and a priest be the same?

Well, Melchizedek is both. It's a different priesthood than Levi. So the lion of Judah belongs to the Melchizedekian priesthood, not at odds from the priesthood of Judah. We'll get into that later. I know that one's a little deep.

But number five, this one's simple. The greater blesses the lesser. That's a principle of life. You come and are blessed by the greater. It's Melchizedek who blesses Abraham, indicating that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham.

And in Abraham is the seed of Levi and the entire Levitical priesthood. Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and all that come from Abraham. To reinforce that, who gives tithes, the lesser or the greater?

The lesser tithes to the greater. We give our offerings. We come bring the best of our time and talent and treasure. We give those offerings because he is God and he deserves our best. He's the greater, we're the lesser.

But it was Abraham who tithed to Melchizedek. Again, indicating that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. A higher priesthood than what was within him, Levi. And then lastly, and this one's just amazing, Levitical priests die and get replaced.

But Melchizedek enters by mysterious origins and exits by the power of an indestructible life. If you're reading the the text of Genesis, you come across chapter 14 and you might just miss it, or you might just have the thought like, oh that was strange.

Where did this Melchizedek come from? Who's his parents? What's his origins? And then after these three verses, why don't we ever hear of him again? Where did he go? What's his life? What's his deal? You're left with that thought.

And the author of Hebrews makes this point, that the one that Melchizedek represents has no beginning and no end. He enters from eternity past and he exits by the power of an indestructible life. As Jesus died on the cross and then rose from the dead and will exist forever as priest, so it was with Melchizedek.

No beginning, ostensibly, and no end. That itself was prefiguring Christ. The one who has no beginning and has no end. The Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, the end. It all points to Christ. So in other words, that's the cliff-nose version.

So can you imagine when you get into chapter 7? I told you guys, I warned you at the beginning, that the book of Hebrews is complicated. It's one of the more, probably the most complicated books in the New Testament.

But for those of us who love God's Word, that's just layer upon layer of treasure to build our faith. That we could recognize that this is God who called Jesus. This is not the appointment of man. Somebody wanted to be a great religious teacher and ride around in a Popemobile.

This is not that. This is God's designation that no one can argue with. So lastly, verses 7 to 10, just look at his precious suffering. I know we're running a little late, but that's okay. The precious suffering.

Because the priest brings an offering, a sacrifice for sins. But this priest brings himself to the altar. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death.

And he was heard because of his reverence. Picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He's praying so passionately and in such agony because of the cross that loomed over the horizon. Do you realize Jesus despised the cross?

We cling to the cross and we love the cross because there our salvation was purchased. But as Jesus looked to the cross, he despised it. We're told in Hebrews 12. He despised its shame. He would there have to take our sin on his shoulders and the wrath of the Father all into himself.