Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | More
Hebrews 7:1-10 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; v.6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”
Derived from the Genesis account
Genesis 14:18-20 NKJV 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him [a]a tithe of all.
Only three books of the Bible mention Melchizedek: Genesis, Psalms, and Hebrews.
Melchizedek lived during Abraham’s time–After God called Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans, he finds himself in an interesting situation: his nephew Lot has been kidnapped. Chedorlaomer, the king who had been controlling the city-states of the region was off conquering the nearby world. While he’s away, five of the vassal kings back home rebel—including the king of Lot’s town. Chedorlaomer drives the five rebel kings into hiding, then takes the spoils from Lot’s city. Unfortunately for Lot, his family and herds are part of the king’s spoils of war. The king makes Lot his prisoner and moves on.
Abram takes 318 trained warriors, beats the king in battle, and takes Lot (and the spoils) back to Canaan with him. It’s at this time that Melchizedek meets Abram and blesses him. (before the name change)
Melchizedek has no recorded family. The Jews were all about genealogies— yet Melchizedek has none. The author of Hebrews contrasts the lineage-based priesthood of Aaron with Melchizedek, who has no recorded birth or death.
This is where the discussion on Melchizedek gets really interesting, and goes in many different directions. Was he just a righteous man? An apparition of Jesus before he was born in the flesh (called a “theophany”)? An angel sent to govern the city of Salem?
That’s not really the author’s point. The author of Hebrews is more interested in showing off Jesus’ superior priesthood to these Hebrew Christian converts who knew the history of Abraham, Aaron’s preisthood and Melchizedek (remember they were in a time of hard persecution and were warned in several passages to not go back to what God delivered them from)
This Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High- Melchizedek is the king of Salem. “Salem” means “full, complete, safe, whole, peaceful.”1 The author of Hebrews calls attention to this when likening Melchizedek to Jesus—Melchizedek was the king of “Peace,” the ancient town of Salem later becomes known as Jerusalem.
Melchizedek’s name means “king of righteousness”- The order of Melchizedek is royal and everlasting- The 110th Psalm is a Messianic prophecy that tells us two things God promised to do for Jesus: make Jesus the king in Zion and make Jesus a priest.
Psalm 110:4 NKJV 4 The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
The permanence of Melchizedek’s priestly order is important to the author of Hebrews, since Jesus is the resurrected great high priest of the new covenant between God and man.
Melchizedek was greater than Abraham and Aaron. Melchizedek was greater then Abraham—so much so that Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of all the spoils. And if Abraham looked up to Melchizedek, and Aaron looked up to Abraham, that puts the order of Melchizedek greater than Aaron’s priesthood.
Melchizedek blesses Abram. Abram has just returned from defeating four kings in battle, and Melchizedek brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram. I want you to notice, Melchizedek brought to Abram bread and wine. The greater blessed the lesser.
BEFORE, Abram honored Melchizedek with a tenth of his increase, Melchizedek blessed him.
Jesus gave us bread and win, He gave us of His blood and His Body BEFORE we gave back to Him.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We did not deserve it, we did not earn it, we could not work for it. God saved my physical life during a time of drug overdose, and I still did submit until another 2 years. Not only did He save me, forgive me, cleanse me, make me a new creation where all things become new and reconcile my life back to the Father…. (things I can never repay Him for, and all this He did on the cross 2000 years ago before I was even thought of) I know my own sinfulness
Important to note: tense changes starting v. 6 from past events to present and ongoing events, “but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.” The writer is speaking of something that is current and continual….which our only reference then has to be to Christ. Christ lives not just to intercede on our behalf but to continually bless
He left us with gifts of bread and wine- The Word of God and the Holy Spirit
The Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path and the Spirit leads us and guides us into all truth. He is our Teacher and our Comforter in a dark and sinful world. He keeps our feet firmly planted on the Truth. These things work together for our good. Think on the goodness of these gifts in a beautiful conjunction
Word without Spirit makes you legalistic and dry, staunch. Too much wine makes you drunk, emotional and not grounded in reality.
Eating and exercise- both are needed to maintain optimal fitness, you cannot outrun a bad diet
AND if He continually blesses us how can we not honor Him? WE are less and He is greater. HE is wonderful beyond description and His greatness is unsearchable, yet He gives me His BEST gift, how can I not honor Him by giving Him back my everything? My body, my mouth, my praise, my worship, my obedience, my time, my money, my family, my children…..my best gifts?
1 Samuel 2:30 NKJV “Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”
Honor, (Hebrew) to Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; reverence; veneration. Honor is a manifestation of our respect and reverence to an Awesome and Almighty God
Here’s a few ways to honor the Lord:
Honor the Lord by honoring His Word:
Acts 13:48 (NKJV)48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified (also translated as honored) the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Just as children honor parents by obeying them, we honor our heavenly Father by obedience.
Christ was Word became flesh. His life was an ‘incarnate’ life living out God’s Way perfectly. All His life He obeyed God’s will and exalted the words in the Scripture. Even at the threat of death, He ensured He fulfilled every word on earth. Therefore, honoring Christ naturally entails following His example in treating God’s words seriously: heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s words will never pass away. We can lose our limbs and even our life, but we cannot disobey God’s words. (Read Ps 119 for a ref of loving, honoring and obeying God’s Word)
Honor the Lord with your body:
1 Corinthians 6:20 (AMPC) You were bought with a price [purchased with a [a]preciousness and paid for, [b]made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
2 Timothy 2:21 (ESV) Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[a] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
Our bodies are the temple of the HS- how are we treating our bodies? Do you treat it like a temple or a trash can? What are you wearing? Our bodies are for our spouses- are we showing off parts that are not meant for others? Are you yielding to sin or yielding to righteousness? Paul told Timothy, “flee lusts and pursue righteousness and peace, avoid strife, and do not quarrel”- these things are dishonoring to God
Honor the Lord with your Words:
Psalm 71:8 ESV Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.
Psalm 19:14 ESV Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [a]strength and my Redeemer. (no foul, obscene, cruel words)
What words are coming out of our mouth? Truth or lies? Edification or tearing down with gossip and slander? Unity or division? Foul language or honoring language? Praise or complaining? Complaining shows we are not satisfied with God’s provision. Our words are either honoring our Lord or dishonoring Him. When you honor others with your words, you honor God, the same is true
Honor the Lord by honoring His House:
Ecclesiastes 5:1 AMPC Keep your foot [give your mind to what you are doing] when you go [as Jacob to sacred Bethel] to the house of God. For to draw near to hear and obey is better than to give the sacrifice of fools [carelessly, irreverently] too ignorant to know that they are doing evil.
Leviticus 19:30 ESV ‘You shall [a]keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
And reverence my sanctuary–The way to reverence the sanctuary, according to the definition of the Jewish canonists, was for an Israelite not to come into the sanctuary when legally defiled, not to ascend the mountain of the house of God with his staff in his hand, with his shoes on his feet, in his working clothes, with the dust on his feet, or carrying bags of money about his person, not to spit in the sacred precincts, or make them a thoroughfare. It is in reference to the last-mentioned rule that we are told Christ “would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the Temple” (Mark 11:16)–He would not allow them to use the House of God as a short cut. THINK ON THIS- are you using God’s House as a “short cut”? Short-cut an accelerated way of doing or achieving
Yes, this is a building, but it is a dedicated house of God. We come here to worship, praise, fellowship with God’s holy people. It is sanctified, holy ground
And if God does not care about church buildings and everything that goes on in them and around them, then why did He tell His people in Haggai 1:2-9 ESV,
““Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.” ’ ” Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “ Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the LORD. “ You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the LORD of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.
If you do not believe God cares about the church building, then stop praying over your house- stop asking Him to give you a house to live in and stop asking Him to bless your house.
Are you constantly late to church? Do you respect the House of God as you would respect the White House? (I rubbed the green velvet wall paper). Can you say, “The zeal for your house has consumed me?”
Honor the Lord by honoring His people:
Notice what Jesus told Paul in Acts 9:1-5 ESV
9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [a]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
What we do to other Christians, we do to Jesus. When we persecute other Christians, we are persecuting Jesus. When we slander God’s people, we are slandering the Lord. When we do/do not things to God’s people (the sheep separated from the goats, when I was in prison you did not visit me), we are doing them or not doing them to Jesus.
Philippians 2:3 ESV Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Romans 12:10 ESV Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Remember the less is blessed by the greater. Love keeps no record of wrongs. There two kinds of pride, two faces of the same coin. Those who say, “I have done nothing wrong” and those who say, “I have wronged you, but you wronged me”. The first is always right, never wrong and see themselves on high moral ground, the second always has a justification for their behavior. Humility counts others greater than ourselves and willing takes all the blame
Honor your leaders and elders:
1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.
This one is always so curious to me- people love to honor those who “help” and serve others (which they absolutely should), but the Bible says that those who teach and preach the WORD of God (honor God’s Word) have a greater honor. Title “pastor” is a respect title, just like sir or m’am. I don’t like it when kids call me by my first name
Ephesians 6:2-3 ESV “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Leviticus 19:32 ESV “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
Teach your children respect for adults and authority. I used to get a crisp slap from my grandma for disrespect. I learned to respect my elders. Don’t be that parent of the children who say, “You’re not my mom! I don’t have to obey you” then they look right at you while they continue to do the thing you told them to not do”
Honor the Lord with your tithes:
I would be remiss in not talking about tithes seeing how Abraham paid tithes after he was blessed and the Scripture tells, “there he receives then of whom it is witnessed that he lives”
Christ as our High Priest and ever makes intercession for us in the heavenly realms, receives all things from us, including our tithes
Proverbs 3:9-10 NKJV “Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”
You do not have to tithe. You also do not have to stay faithful to your spouse. But you will eat the fruit of these actions 100% of the time. The tithe is a tenth or our increase and is for the storehouse- the place you are fed the Word. Increase– my son used to believe he had to give a tenth every week of whatever money he had
God says where the tithe goes, we do not get to determine that. Offerings are free will offerings for you to give as you are led, but the tithe goes to the church.
I cannot even tell you how many times I have seen the above Haggai verse played out in the lives of people. You are free to not tithe, but you are not free from the consequences of not tithing. If you ask me, I will tell you that you are robbing God of the honor that is due Him. I have watched people go from having everything to barely scrapping by because they stopped tithing. No, it did not happen overnight, but slowly over time the enemy devoured all
I am prophetically warning you, this will be of the utmost importance in the coming years. This is not about being legalistic, it is about honoring the Lord who has so richly and greatly blessed us
In honoring the things that the Lord tells us to honor, we commend Christianity to those living outside of God who watch us with judging eyes and tongues ready to pounce and accuse. Give them NO reason for the false accusations so that we may freely stand before God uncondemned.
For more sermons please visit our SERMONS PAGE
Please subscribe to our YOUTUBE PAGE