The Ultimate Proof of Christianity!

Lord, we come to you excited about the word that you have given us here in Genesis, the Hebrews, Psalms, understanding that Christianity is the truth, we see the ultimate proof. Lord, we pray that as we study, as we consider the reality of Melchizedek, we see that Jesus is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, he is the High Priest.

Pray that you give Jeff the words, that you speak through him today, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Well, this guy is not only a great ref, an umpire on the baseball diamond, he's also great at tee ball, because he has teed me up for this lesson, by teaching Melchizedek, and then giving me the opportunity to bring us into the New Testament, and bring it all together.

I love Melchizedek. This study is, it's gotta be one of my top five. You got Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and then it's Melchizedek, it's gotta be my top three. Let's go, all right. So, thank you, John, thank you for opening a prayer.

The Gospel went out to the Roman Empire, and it was an authoritative proclamation, that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died on the cross to atone for sins, of those who believe in him, and that there is repentance, and the forgiveness of sin in his name.

Now, when the preachers began to say such things, not everybody said, oh, yeah, well, okay, we accept that. Many people needed proof. They needed to understand, how can we know if this is true, and not just your religious opinion?

And the most adamant opposition came from who? The Jews, the Jewish people, because they knew the Old Testament, and one of their strongest arguments that had some early Christians befuddled for a little bit of time was this question about, if Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah, then he's fit to be king, but you're telling us he's the priest that atoned for sin.

The priests have to come from Levi, not from Judah. So we can, if he were Messiah, yeah, the Messiah has to come from Judah. We all recognize that, say the Jewish people, but you're telling us that he is the great high priest who made atonement for sin, and yet he doesn't even come from the right tribe.

Today, we're gonna open up to Hebrews chapter seven, and we're gonna work backwards to Genesis. There are three passages about Melchizedek of note, and that is Genesis 14, where he makes his appearance.

That's only three verses, and then there is a psalm right in the middle of the Bible, Psalm 110, and then near the end of the Bible, you have Hebrews chapter seven. So beginning, middle, end. Beginning, middle, and end, and as you think about this beginning, middle, and end, what's really remarkable is that Abraham is the key person in Genesis 14, in that story.

He's the one that God uses to rescue his own nephew and even deliver the Sodomites out of the hands of the wicked king, but Moses is the one who wrote that down. So Moses wrote the Torah and recorded the story of Abraham, and then 1 ,000 years after Abraham, you have King David.

The New Testament tells us that King David was also a prophet. When he would write the psalms, he would be writing prophetically in the spirit of the living God and would often reveal things yet unknown, like Psalm 16 about the resurrection of the son of David, or Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

David was a prophet. He wrote prophetically about this Melchizedek and applied it to the coming and future Messiah. So all of these strands come together in a most remarkable way. If there is any proof for Christianity, which there is, you have the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the testimony of those who saw him.

Right alongside the apostolic testimony of the resurrection, you have the Old Testament prophecies. These are the two halves that fit together as a whole and that established the truthfulness of Christianity.

This is the ultimate proof that God spoke beforehand through the mouths of prophets for telling what he was going to do. Jesus said in John chapter five to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life, but these are they that testify of me.

The scriptures of old testified about the coming Messiah and Jesus fulfilled the prophecies. This is Christianity 101, right? This is so important. The road to Emmaus, the two men were walking along and they were talking about the death of Jesus and how all the remarkable things that they had heard that had happened and all of a sudden Jesus himself walked along with them on the road and they did not recognize him until he broke bread with them in their home and then disappeared, but as they walked along the road, he opened their hearts to understand the scriptures and everything that pointed to him, how he fulfilled all of it.

This is how we know that Christianity is true. The ultimate proof of Christianity is the prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and perhaps chief among them or at least right there with Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 is this message about Melchizedek.

So we're gonna go right to left. I always work right to left, folks. So Sandy, you're the first reader. Would you read for us Hebrews chapter seven verses one and two? Hebrews seven. We're gonna go Hebrews seven and then jump back halfway through the Bible to Psalm 110 and then finish up where John teed us up in Genesis 14.

Just real quick.

Yeah. So this is a recapitulation of a sermon on Psalm 110. Yes. Where does it start?

Back in Hebrews five? No, well he mentions Melchizedek in Hebrews five. The whole of Psalm 10 is expounded in the book of Hebrews. I believe that the book of Hebrews is a sermon that Paul preached that someone like Luke recorded and that's why you get the Lukan version of Greek rather than the Pauline.

And so many scholars say, well, Paul couldn't have written. The Greek is very different. But I think Paul preached a message where he tied this all together and I think his sermon was Psalm 110. It was an exposition because even from Hebrews one, it culminates.

Hebrews one culminates in Psalm 110. Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And then he expounds how Jesus is that promised one. He is the priest with the better covenant.

Everything flows out of Psalm 110. So basically Hebrews is an exposition of David's Psalm 110. Okay, so here we go. Let's read Hebrews chapter seven, verses one and two.

For this is Melchizedek, king of Sabaoth, Sal, Sal, Sal, Salad, Salad, thank you. Priest of the most high God who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. To whom also Abraham apportioned a translation of his name, king of righteousness and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

Yeah.

In Hebrews 5 .10, Paul is about to begin teaching on Melchizedek. You'll notice Hebrews 5 .10, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The author is going to explain that Jesus is the great high priest from the order of Melchizedek, but he has a little interlude from 5 .11 through the end of chapter six where he has to chastise them a bit for not being ready for this form of teaching.

They're only ready for milk, not solid food. But people who come to the Wednesday Bible study are ready for solid food, this much we know. If you've sat here for the book of Isaiah, as we talk verse by verse through that book, you love the meat of God's word.

Well, Melchizedek will give us the meat of God's word. And that's what Paul now does when he returns to the subject that he had only begun at 5 .10. And now he does it. And in chapter seven, verses one and two, he reminds you of the story.

Now I say John, tee this up. If maybe a listener hasn't listened or heard this, they should go read Genesis 14, verses 18 to 20. Three little verses where a guy named Melchizedek shows up after a battle and he blesses Abraham, receives a tithe from Abraham, gives him some bread and wine, and then boom, he's just gone.

You never hear about Melchizedek again in the Genesis narrative and really for 1 ,000 years when David brings him up again prophetically about the coming Messiah. Now we have Hebrews seven, verse one.

This is just a recounting of that story, what Sandy read for us. And after that, the meat of God's word will be so delicious because the author of Hebrews will show us 10 ways that this reveals that Jesus is in fact, not just in our religious opinion, but revealed by God to be the king and the priest.

He is the Messiah. He is who Christians have claimed that he is. It's not just our own opinion. It is the very word of God. So Barb, would you read the first one? And this is the second half of verse two, but I'll just have you read verse two.

Hebrews seven, two. Yeah, no, you're good right there. Yeah, you can stop right there.

Thank you, perfect. So Paul, or whoever the author is here, author of Hebrews says, he is first, by translation of his name. So here's the first big light bulb moment that this is something huge and significant.

The name Melchizedek itself, Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Melchi means king, zedek means righteousness. His name means king of righteousness. And we are a people that proclaim that there is one king, the Lord Jesus Christ, and unlike any other king, he is perfectly righteous.

He's sinless, God in flesh. So first of all, the name Melchizedek means king of righteousness. But there's another thing about his kingdom and his kingly rule. That is, he's called there the king of Salem.

How do Hebrews greet one another in the marketplace? Shalom. Who said it? Rick. Shalom. Shalom, Salem, same root. What is that word? Peace. What city does Melchizedek come from? It said he was priest of Mosai from Salem.

When that city, which is right there, as John showed us on the map last week, near and just south and inland from the Dead Sea, when it was conquered by a man named Jeru, Salem began to be called Jerusalem.

And then David conquered Jerusalem and it became the city of David and still called Jerusalem. The heavenly city, the place that God has chosen for his temple to be built, where he would be worshiped and where Christ himself will place his foot on the Mount of Olives.

This king came from there. Coincidence? I think not. Salem. So the first thing is he is a king. Now, why do you think God would have implanted that word peace to describe this king? Because Messiah will be the prince of peace, the king, but he's also the one, the unique one, who can make peace between God and man.

The gospel, our claim, is that we are alienated from God and we need one to reconcile us to God and bring us to God. So he is the one who makes peace, Romans 5 .1. We have peace with God, therefore, through this king.

So the first thing, the first big idea about Melchizedek, his name literally means king of righteousness. He's also called king of Salem, king of peace. He is the only one in the history of the world that was righteous without sin and who can make us righteous, can make peace for us.

This is the kind of king we have. 7 -3. Carol, you've got it. Let's move on to the second point about this incredible proof of Christianity. There is no record. Okay, so what's the claim of the Jew who rejects the deity of Christ and says he cannot be a priest, even if you call him a king?

Let's suppose we could grant that. He can't be a priest. He doesn't come from Levi. His genealogy doesn't fit the bill. The answer is, and we'll get into this a little bit more in depth in a few minutes, he has no genealogy because even before the Levitical priesthood, there was another priesthood, a higher order of priests that have no genealogy.

In the text, where did Melchizedek come from? Who does he descend from? How did he get here? That's the point. He just shows up out of nowhere as the king of peace and he's called the priest of the most high God.

And this is before Levi and all of those who descend from Levi. So what we're gonna discover, and it gets even more amazing than the fact that he comes out of nowhere, Levi himself will be subordinate to this priest through Abraham, his father.

We'll get to that in a minute, though. Can I ask a question? Yes. The end of verse three. Yes.

Yeah, let's talk about that for a minute. So the ESV translates that resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. There are two schools of thought on this. John's in the theophany camp. I'm agnostic on this question.

Is this actually Jesus himself, the second member of the Trinity, before he receives the name Jesus in Luke 1? Is it the second person of the Trinity who shows up and Abraham interacts with him? I actually think that is right.

I think it is. I'm not agnostic. The other, yeah. The other idea is he could just be someone prefiguring, because that also happens in the Old Testament. He could be an actual human being who's serving as a priest in Jerusalem, in Salem.

And the reason for that argument is this word resembling. He resembles. That's the strongest point that's on that side. But what happens in Genesis is the three figures appear in Genesis 18, just chapters later, and one of them is called the Lord, and the other two are clearly angels, the ones that go to Sodom.

So the Lord then calls down fire from the Lord, Father sending down wrath on account of the Son. So Abraham had been pleading, I think, to the person of Christ, pre-incarnate. Then you also have the Trinitarian references in Genesis, Genesis 1 .1 and 1 .27 and 28.

So I think it's more than likely, resemble actually is understating the fact that it's actually him, yeah.

Yeah, it's a tough call because later on in Genesis, you'll see the three angels come, the angel of the Lord, and that's at the oncoming. Yes, but what was I just saying?

That's at Christophany. One of those is the Lord. Is the Lord, correct.

So, yeah. Palm of Kezenech, that's where the camps divide. Yeah. Kezenech, I mean, even Sproul would say he's just a guy, he's just a man. So you have people with different views on that, but when you put that context that the three angels, now you got.

That's why I took that line. And the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are tied to this visitation, so it gets very.

I agree, I think it's more than likely actually Jesus pre-incarnate. Having either beginning of days or end of life is pretty convincing. Yeah, and the other side of it, the Sproul side of that would be, he just appears out of nowhere as the person prefiguring, and that's what resembles Christ who has no beginning, and that's the big idea there.

He's not just like the procreation of a mother and a father. There's something different going on here. He is pre-incarnate, he actually is eternally existent. That's the idea about Christ.

It's also fascinating because when you look at this, there's so many ways, there's so many lenses to look at this through, but he did, he did for all men. It's done, what he did is done. There's no one has to die for sin no more, it's done.

So the world, he calls, kind of like I believe in Thessalonians 2, I think it's 2 .13, where he basically says, you come to Christ because before the foundation of the world, he was there, like, well, because that guy has no beginning of days, no end.

Christ has no beginning of days, no end. We have a beginning of days, and we have an end. But we have no end in Christ.

And as you read through Hebrews 7 here, the author's gonna make that point very deliberately. Yeah, awesome, yeah. Carol, did you read already? Yeah. Okay, so that brings us to candy. Let's go on to point number three.

If you could read verses four and five. Priests receive the tithe, but when you give an offering on a Sunday morning, are you giving it through the priest, or are you giving it to God? Who are you offering to, ultimately?

The Lord. The Lord, you're giving your offering, because everything you have comes from him, and the priest is the mediator of that, who receives it, right? Now, in the church, there's a priesthood of all believers.

Christ himself is our great high priest, so we don't need earthly human priests. But think about this whole concept here. Tithing is to indicate who is the greater, to whom you give your blessing. Not blessing, your offering back to him.

So in our story, who's greater? Melchizedek or Abraham? Melchizedek. Melchizedek, he's the receiver of the tithe. Consider how great this person has to be if Abraham, the patriarch, had to tithe up to him.

That's the first indication that he's greater than Abraham. This kind of priest, whoever he is, is greater than Abraham. We're gonna learn in a minute, and therefore everybody who comes from Abraham, including the Levites, okay?

So priests receive tithes, and the greater always receives tithes from the lesser. Number four, verses six and seven. Yes, and Judy, if you would. What this? Okay, in case you didn't get the first line of witness, who tithes?

The lesser tithes to the greater. Who gives blessing? Blessings come from God down upon us. The greater, and he makes that point explicitly, it is beyond dispute. Case closed. That the inferior is blessed by the superior.

Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, okay? Slam dunk there. Verse eight, we're on to Bob.

In the one case, the tenth is.

And this will be expounded upon in verse 25. The priest who ever lives. This is what Don was telling us, and he's absolutely right. Another line of argument. The greater receives the tithes, the greater offers the blessing, but how about this?

How much greater is the kind of priest who never dies? Human priests, like Levites, they're gonna have to die. But here's the first introduction of this idea of an indestructible life. The one who ever lives is superior to mere mortals.

Sue, would you read for us verses nine and 10? This is point number six. We've already had five incredible points that prove Melchizedek greater in a revelation of Jesus. Even Levi. Wow. Isn't that interesting?

So the Jewish objector, who knows his Old Testament, says Jesus can't be our priest. Priests have to be Levites. What's wrong with you? He can't atone for any sin. Priests have to be Levites. And now the Apostle Paul, perhaps, or some other Christian theologian, looking in the scripture, carried along by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of revelation, sees in Genesis 14 what was there all along.

And what is it? That the whole entire Levitical priesthood is inferior, subordinate, to a higher priest because Levi himself paid a tithe to him. Well, how did he ever do that? He wasn't even born yet.

By federal headship. That Abraham is the federal head from whom comes the 12 patriarchs through Isaac, Jacob, and the 12. A few generations down, Levi comes from Abraham. And the way that the author put it can't be improved upon, it says he was still in the loins of his ancestor.

Isn't that a great picture? He's within Abraham. He's part of Abraham and comes from Abraham. Therefore, he's inferior, like Abraham was, to whoever that priest is. You get it? Levi, and that's why it's not just a random like, oh, there was a priest who showed up that just randomly was great.

But something happened in Genesis 14. Abraham himself paid the tithe and received the blessing. And in that, it showed that within Abraham was Levi. That Levitical priesthood is itself inferior to a higher priesthood.

There is a higher priesthood and Levi is not it yet.

Would you say one thing? So, I'm just, because I'm piecing this together and I'm drawn to other scriptures. Right. In that Christ, when he was before he came to his people, what did he say to them? Before Abraham was, I am.

Yes, John 8, 58. Yeah, so, yeah, he knew himself.

So, in a sense, he's referring to this concept that in the loins, they should have recognized these things. These were teachings. They should have believed him when he said it. Well, they should have recognized, wait a minute, before Abraham was, I am, well, Levi was, even just in the loins, even in the loins of Abraham at the time.

That's very well said, Don.

Thank you. Yeah, that's the pre-existence of the son. He was there even before Abraham. Stan, would you read for us verses 11 to 14?

If perfection could have been attained to the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of a lesser VA chain, he of whom these things are said belong to a different tribe. And no one from that tribe has ever served at Judea.

Moses said nothing. Very good.

And we've made that point. Now, think about it for a second. Moses is writing later, 500 years after Abraham. Aaron is brought into it because he comes from that Levitical line. And they're saying from Moses that priests have to be from Levi, from Aaron, from this line.

Not from the tribe of Judah. But Melchizedek was a king and a priest, a higher priesthood. So it's just, again, reaffirming this point that there was something lacking in the Levitical priesthood. That there had to be a higher one, something greater.

Somehow this priesthood was falling short. It didn't do it. And if you think about it, did the Levitical priesthood ever accomplish what needed to happen? They killed a lot of bulls and goats. They shed a lot of blood.

But was sin ever really atoned for? No. It was only the offering of a greater priest, a better priest, who offers not a bull or a goat, but his own body, the Lamb of God. He offers himself. And that is what could take away sin, a better priesthood.

And how do we know Christians aren't just making this up because their Lord was crucified? That's it. Specifics of the crucifixion. And that's what we're doing here, to show that God embedded this truth way back in Genesis 14, that there is a higher priesthood that doesn't come from Levi, to which Levi is subordinate.

And that is this better priest who is Christ. All right, verses 15 and 16. Don, you're up. Point number eight.

And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, who did not become a priest, but based on the power of the warrior.

Okay, you can stop there. Not only is the Melchizedek priesthood better because Levi tied up to it, showing that there was need for a better than the one that could never do it, but this one is validated by another point of reference.

The power of an indestructible life. That when his life was given as a sacrifice, he took it back up again. They could kill him, and he had the power and the authority to lay down his life, but he also had the authority to take it back up.

The resurrection of Jesus. Here's a priest that rises from the dead and will ever live and never die again, never go away, will always be the priest that we needed. This is the power of an indestructible life.

You need proof that Christianity is true. I know you guys don't any longer because you believe, but somebody listening isn't sure. Who else has an indestructible life but the one who rose from the dead?

Jesus Christ, that's the point. Yeah.

There's no record of his family. He was called the King of Righteousness and Peace. He had no beginning, he had no end. He's like the Son of God, had no genealogy. The priest received the tithe from the lesser, the lesser gift of the greater.

He was inferior to, Levi was inferior to Melchizedek. Last two, it says he's indestructible and a priest forever. Why didn't they start there?

It's like you save your big hitter for the end. The resurrection, it's like you bring in Bryce Harper after the other guys have gotten on base. All right, Ken, number nine is verses 17. And we still have two left, Bob.

And great summary right there. Ken, verses 17 to 19. And that's the question. We've been talking about Genesis 14 and all these parallels like tithing and blessing. Oh yeah, we saw that in Genesis 14.

But where did somebody testify? Answer, Psalm 110. There's yet another witness. You have Genesis 14 with Abraham and Moses giving us that, right? 1 ,000 years after Abraham, Psalm 110. We're gonna read it in a minute.

Where David speaks prophetically and says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The father said to the son, be seated on your throne of glory until I conquer your enemies.

And then the father says to the son, what? You are a priest forever. According to the line of Melchizedek. The order of Melchizedek. Isn't that amazing? A prophecy was given in 1 ,000 BC. That's what he's referring to.

In verse 17, it is written, it is witnessed of him. You are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek. That's significant because Psalm 110 has always only ever been regarded as a messianic psalm.

The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The coming Christ, the king, will reign at the right hand of the father from his throne of glory. And all enemies will be conquered.

In this millennial kingdom, he will be known and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that very psalm, David said he's also a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

So that's the testimony. A prophecy. This is number nine. A perpetual priest was made by David. And lastly, number 10, verses 20 to 22. I think we're up to Jack.

And it is much he was not made for they had.

You can stop right there. There are very few places where God swears, where God takes an oath on his own name. There's a few places. This is one of them. In Psalm 110, it doesn't just say you're a priest forever, but the text actually reads the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

The author of Hebrews will explain this that when God wants to make a certain thing more sure to us, he will impose that with an oath. And that's what God did here. And the 10th and final point is God did not want us to miss this.

When he promised that Messiah would be a priest in Melchizedek's line, he confirmed that with an oath. The Lord has sworn. That's pretty strong language. If God speaks, you should take it, right? Because he's the Lord.

But when the Lord says that he has sworn and will not change his mind, your ears better perk up. That the promised Messiah will be a priest like Melchizedek from that order. And these are 10 things. Now I'm gonna ask Rick if you'll just read verses 23 to 28 because this is a summarizing now of those 10 points.

He's gonna tie the knot, pull it all together, and explain this indestructible priest who doesn't die is better than Levites who have to die and get replaced. Rick, read it for us.

The former priests were many in number. He has no need like them. Since he did this for his high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints the son who has been made perfect forever.

I almost don't wanna comment on those words because they're so perfect. In the summary, verse 25 is one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. We have a great high priest who ever lives to make intercession for us sinners. He's not like the Levitical priest who had to die and be replaced, but he is once and for all the priest of priests, the ultimate priest.

He died once to atone for sin, and he ever lives to uphold us before the Father. May peace with us through his own blood. What a priest he is. And so I wanna close in the last five minutes by reading Psalm 110, and then Greg, you're just those three verses in Genesis 14, 18 to 20.

Let's see what we've been referring to, and hopefully the richness of what's there will just jump out now that we have eyes to see. Given us, taught by the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God in his word, that when David wrote these words in Psalm 110, he was a prophet.

He was saying things no one could have known a thousand years before Christ, but the spirit of the living God carried him along and he told about a coming king, a Messiah at the right hand of the Father who would be a priest.

In the last three verses, it's about his victory at his second coming when he will drink by the brook by the way. That means he will have conquered enemies, put all kings under his rule and authority, and he will be satisfied.

It will be complete. So the coming king who will conquer is also the priest who brings the people to himself. Tim, read Psalm 110 for us. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments. From the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses.

He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way before he will lift up his head. Amazing prophecy. I mean, just the name Melchizedek is an unusual name, isn't it? It should stick in your mind.

Well, who's this Melchizedek? We haven't seen him except three little verses. Greg, turn there. And there's one more. We gave you 10 just incredible indications of the prophecy referring to Christ, but there was one more that the author of Hebrews didn't bring up.

I think he left it in there that we would discover it and say, wow, there's even more. Yet another layer of depth to this. Read it for us, Greg. Genesis 14, verses 18 to 20. And that slam dunk final conclusion is he brought out bread and wine.

John told us this last week. The symbol of his body and blood that we take in communion, that we were told to do in remembrance of him. You wanna remember who Jesus is? Remember the one whose body was broken, whose blood was shed.

And here's Melchizedek, just randomly, of all things, brings out bread and wine. Anyone who says that Christianity isn't true must be blinded because the evidence is right here. The evidence is here, yeah.

Well, think about that, Luke 24. They're walking on the road to Emmaus. They don't recognize him. They go and sit down at a table, but at the breaking of bread, their eyes are open to see him. Here's the bread, here's the wine.

His body, his blood. Wow, it just, yeah, that's when the light goes on. And for many people, hopefully just hearing about this, they will believe Jesus is who he claims to be. So what do we see in the text here?

We have one minute. Let's summarize it, verse 18. Melchizedek, what's that name mean? King of Righteousness, Melchizedek, King of Righteousness. Look what else he's called, King of Salem. What's Salem mean?

Who's the only king that can make peace between God and man, Jesus the Christ. He brought out what? Bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. Even though the Jewish people later would hold priestly line, kingly line.

The twain shall not meet. But here they have met. David could not be a priest because he was a king. But David's not the Messiah. There was an earlier one, pictured in Melchizedek, or perhaps the son of God himself, pre-incarnate here, who is both king and priest of Most High God.

Verse 19, and he blessed him. Who blessed us who? The greater and the lesser. The greater blesses the lesser. Melchizedek greater than Abraham. And said, blessed be Abraham by God Most High. Well, if he's blessing him, wouldn't that make him God Most High?

He actually literally is. You can give a blessing in God's name, but here's a case where our Melchizedek actually is God. So, all the more reason. Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

John taught about that last week, about this was God's sovereign deliverance. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Who tithes to who? Lesser to the greater. Lesser to the greater. Where's Levi in this story?

Inside of Abraham's loins. A lesser priesthood to the greater and the true, the great high priest.

John, would you pray for us? We come to you, Lord, in just incredible awe of the consistency of the prophecy, totally fulfilled in our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. We read about Melchizedek and how you, in your sovereignty, brought him out to Abraham.

And he came with bread and wine, picturing the body and the blood. He blessed Abram, the greater blessing, the lesser in Abram tithing to him. Lord, the truth of your word is so obvious. We rejoice in the reality that Christianity is true.

We say thank you for these words in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.