FBC Morning Light – September 14, 2022

Christ’s Unchangeable Priesthood After the Order of Melchizedek

Well, good Wednesday morning to you. Here we are in the middle of the week already, and I hope your week is going well for you. Well, we're back in the book of Hebrews today, and we talked about this Monday about how the Lord Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, according to the order of Melchizedek.

We talked about who this Melchizedek was and how he served as a wonderful type of Christ, and especially emphasizing the eternality of Christ. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, the Lord said.

And that same statement is repeated twice here in Hebrews chapter 7. In verse 17, the Lord God testifies to the Son, God the Father testifies to God the Son, says you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

And he says it again in verse 21, the Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now this chapter ends, and this chapter in this discussion of Melchizedek, it ends with two very important and wonderful truths about this priesthood that doesn't end.

The Lord Jesus being a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. One of these things has to do with the nature of his priesthood, and the other, the nature of and the character of the priest. And both these things have wonderful implications for you and me as followers of Jesus.

The Unchangeable Priesthood That Saves to the Uttermost

So for example, in verse 24, the character of the priesthood itself is unchangeable. So verse 24 says, because he continues forever, Jesus continues forever, because he is eternal, he has an unchangeable priesthood, he has an unchangeable priesthood.

So think about this, the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven almost 2 ,000 years ago, and he did so to function in heaven as our high priest. And that priesthood, that work of the priest, our high priest, has not changed in all of that time.

With the ebb and flow of world history, and the rise and fall of the quality and the caliber of believers throughout church history, with all of that flux and change, the priesthood of Jesus is unchangeable.

And here is the implication of that for you and me. Therefore, verse 25 says, because he has an unchangeable priesthood, he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

That word uttermost means to completion, to fully. He is able to save completely, fully, totally, those who come to God through him. And how is it that he is able to do that? Because he has an unchangeable priesthood, he ever lives to make intercession for them.

So the Lord Jesus Christ is our unchangeable priest, in his unchangeable priesthood, he is constantly interceding in our behalf to this end, that he might save us completely. So that's one of the qualities of his priesthood.

The last couple of verses of chapter 7 talk about the quality and the caliber and the character of our priest himself. Verse 26 says, for such a high priest was fitting for us, he was suitable for us.

In what way? What was he like? What made him so suitable for us? Well, he says, he is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. This is exactly what we need.

We need a priest who is holy, a priest who is harmless, a priest who is not defiled, a priest who is separate from us, and one who has become higher than the heavens, so that he can actually intercede in behalf of us.

And one who doesn't daily need, verse 27 goes on to say, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the people's. This he did once when he offered up himself, not for his sins, but for the sins of his people.

And he was able to offer himself up as a perfect sacrifice because of his character. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. And this has wonderful implications for us, because that means our priest who saves us to the uttermost, saves us completely, is a perfect priest.

One who's not marred by sin himself. One who can himself never fail in his work as a priest. He is a perfect, holy priest serving in our behalf. Let's rejoice today in the character of the priesthood, and the character of the priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you, Father, for our Savior and his priesthood. Thank you for his unchangeable character in that priesthood. And thank you that he himself is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from us, and he's ascended into heaven where he intercedes in our behalf.

He is a perfectly suited priest for us. Thank you for our Savior, our priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless these thoughts to our hearts today, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, I hope you have a wonderful day reflecting and meditating upon the fact that even right now, even today, through the course of your day, your Savior is interceding for you.

Have a great day.