Hebrews Chapter 7 Verse 11

• Major point here continuing to build upon what we looked at last week. We saw last week that Abraham, the patriarch, paid tribute to this other priest. A priest that was before the Aaronic Priesthood, a priest that was before the law and in fact the point was made by the writer that the Levitical priests, the Aaronic line, the law paid tribute to this other priest as well. And the implication is that if Abraham paid tribute then Abraham was the lesser…he was less than, somehow inferior to this Melchizedek because the lesser was always blessed by the greater. The lesser did the tribute, the greater did the blessing.
• But now the writer is taking this negotiation to a whole new level. After Abraham bowed and worshipped and paid tribute to Melchizedek, the Bible is silent on him for 1,000 years until Psalm 110, the only other place he’s mentioned in the Old Testament where it reads, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek!”
• The point? Abraham showed it, the scriptures proclaim it, the point is that God Himself has revealed through Psalm 110 that the “forever” priest, the highest, the superior, the real one (because really forever is the only reality…we just don’t know it yet) the forever priest would not come from Aaron or the Levites but from the order of Melchizedek.
• And so if the high priesthood according to the law, according to Judaism was able and sufficient to make man well then why wouldn’t God bring the Messiah through that line? The answer is obvious, right? The law cannot bring about perfection, the law cannot bring about peace with God, all it ever did was provide tolerance through the rituals, rites and sacrifices, and so God reverts to an earlier priesthood. A superior one, a greater one…

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verse 12

• Oh this is so good because the fact is that if the priesthood is changed, from Aaron to Melchizedek then there has got to be a change to the law because under the law the high priest had to be from the tribe of Levi…which Melchizedek was not!

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verses 13 – 17

• This presentation is so sound, argument so good, it has become almost irrefutable by the Jewish reader! I mean the evidence has been laid out so very crisply in terms of the scriptures and the historical account of Abraham and now this fantastic expositional point! There is no life in the law! That priesthood dies out. Continually having to be replaced with new priests…and the implication there is that it cannot do away with sin, why? Because sin is the very reason for the death in the first place! The wages of sin is death…Romans 6:23…
• But this other priesthood, which mandates a change to the law, a total replacement is what the writer is about to say, and this one is according to endless life! Endless life! Not endless weight of sin and focus upon sin which is the way of religion and the reward of the law but man peace with a holy God!
• I saw a few weeks back a cop car…and on the back was written this, “Keeping the peace since 1865.” First I thought to myself, 1865, wasn’t that the Civil War? Ha! That doesn’t bring to mind any peace…but then I thought, “I’ve seen Cops. Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do!? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you!?” My response to that question as the bad guy would not be, “They gonna bring some peace!” HA! Maybe to the good guy! The good guy, the victim…peace for sure. But the bad guy…well, I’ve seen Cops!
• Here’s the point. That’s the law man…to the good guy, the law brings wonderful peace…but here’s the problem…there are none good, no not one! Romans 3. There are no victims when it comes to origination of sin in our lives…we are all perps. And so for us, the law…brings no peace…the law brings tazers! And Body slams! HA!
• But the new covenant through Jesus Christ…the law is fulfilled…He is and was good…utterly sinless and so through Him…there is peace…I wonder what His car would say…”Bringing peace since infinity!” SO cool!   Through Him, the law has been disannulled because peace has arrived…

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verses 18 – 19

• The law didn’t make anything perfect but what it did do perfectly is show us that we can’t keep it! So if we can’t keep it, then it’s really no help…a pointer, a teacher, a revealer, but not a helper, not a hoper! LOL Doesn’t give us any hope. And so there remains a better hope. One that doesn’t reveal to us our monstrosity but conquers it completely and therefore brings us near to God!

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verses 20 – 22

• So to be a priest under the law all you had to do was be a Levite. To be High Priest, you had to be in the direct line of Aaron. No appointments. No ceremonies. No oaths. It was simply who you were. You’re a Levite? According to the law, you’re a priest and obliged to serve in the temple and at the altar. Not Jesus. He was sworn in. He was endorsed. He was ceremonially exalted by God the Father Himself in Psalm 110 and by that…the Bible says, “So much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant!”

• Sins cleansed, not covered. All elements of transgression forgiven, not passed over! A complete justification bringing peace and communion with a holy and righteous Creator! And it is not fleeting. It is not hokey pokey. It doesn’t require constant payment (religion)…you’re salvation is not leased! HA! It is sure!

• That word literally means, “A sponser!” I love this idea! What we could not afford, He has co-signed. He has prepaid! He has sponsored! Something the priest never did…they just took your payment…Jesus made the payment Himself for you! So much higher and better. No doubt right now some folks were just coming alive like a ton of spiritual bricks just landed on their melons!

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verses 23 – 25

• So first thing, there never will be another covenant…another change to the law…there will never be anything else! The superior has come. The eternally permanent is here and man it feels good, it’s edifying to read that, because I am a follower of The Way!

• And since Jesus is the superior, He is the ultimate, He is the unchangeable, He is able to save to the uttermost. Do you know what that means? Yes He is able to save unto eternity…only One who can but this is also your day. This is also you circumstance. This is also your past! This is your blindness! This is the uttermost. Everything! Every nook and cranny. Every forgotten crevice. Every unperceivable detail of every daily decision…HE is able! Man I am so pumped to follow Him, right?

Hebrews Chapter 7 Verses 26 – 28

• Nothing can be added to the ultimate. If something could be added, this it’s not ultimate. Jesus however was and is. So nothing, no more sacrifices, no more works, no more religion, nothing can make you more acceptable than you are, or can be, right this moment to God.