Our Eternal High Priest

1. Our Eternal High Priest Louis G. Hulsey August 12, 2012 Casa Grande, Arizona

2. Jesus Our Eternal High Priest • Jesus is our eternal prophet, priest, and king. • Hebrews 5:5-6, “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6, As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

3. Jesus Our Eternal High Priest • Jesus did not glorify Himself or exalt Himself to be made a high priest. • Isaiah 53:2, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”

4. God’s Covenant With Abram • Genesis 12:1-3 • 1, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” • 2, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:” • 3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

5. Genesis 12:4-6 • 4, “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.” • 5, “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.” • 6, “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.”

6. Genesis 12:7-8 • 7, And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. • 8, And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

7. Abram Was Very Rich. • During a famine Abram went into Egypt for a while then returned to Canaan. • God gave it to Abram all the land of Canaan. He was the rightful owner of the land. • Genesis 13:1-2 • 1, “And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.” • 2, “And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.”

8. God Blessed Abram • Abram and Lot separated because their herds were too large to live together. • Lot went to a city of the plains called Sodom. • Abram lived in Canaan.

9. Lot Got Carried Away • Four kings invaded five of the cities of the plain. • Each city had a king. • Two of those cities were Sodom and Gomorrah. • The four invading kings carried away all the goods, the food, and the people of the five cities, including the household of Lot.

10. Lot Got Rescued • Abram took his trained servants and went after these invaders. • Gen 14:14, “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” • Gen 14:15, “And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.” • Gen 14:16, “And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”

11. Abram Returns • Abram does not make himself a king. • He does not take tribute or taxes or soldiers from any city. • He is simply a servant of the Most-High God. • Abram refused to accept the spoils of war, Genesis 14:23. • When Abram returned with the citizens of the cities and with their goods, he was met by the leaders of the region and Melchizedek, Genesis 14:17.

12. Who is Melchizedek? • Melchizedek is the king of Salem, Jerusalem, and priest of the Most-High God. • Salem is Jerusalem. Psalms 76:2, “In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.” • The priesthood of Melchizedek came before the priesthood of Aaron. • This priest is a mediator between God and man.

13. Melchizedek Met Abram • Genesis 14:18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” • No doubt Abram and his men were tired and were refreshed by the bread and wine. • There must have been a great deal of bread and wine, maybe about like it was at the marriage in Cana.

14. The Bread And The Wine • Albert Barnes Notes on this passage says: • “In after times they were by divine appointment placed on the table of the presence in the tabernacle Exodus 25:29-30. • They were the accompaniments of the Paschal lamb Matthew 26:26-27, • and they were adopted by the Messiah as the sacred symbols of that heavenly fare, of which, if a man partake, he shall live forever John 6:48-58.”

15. Barnes Continues: • “…the bringing forth of bread and wine was a priestly act, and, accordingly, the crowning part of a sacred feast. • The כהןkohen, or priest, who is here mentioned for the first time in Scripture, was one who acted in sacred things on the part of others. • He was a mediator between God and man, representing God holding out the hand of mercy, and man reaching forth the hand of faith.”

16. Melchizedek blessed Abram • Genesis 14:19-20, “And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20, And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”

17. Why did Melchizedek bless Abram? • Because he liked him? No. He blessed Abram because of his faith in the Most-high God. • Abram had already left Ur and followed God into Canaan. • Abram had already been greatly blessed by God because of his faith. • Melchizedek had royal authority to bless Abram.

18. Jesus Is Our High Priest • Jesus is our Eternal High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. • He shall reign forever from the City of Jerusalem. • Revelation 11:15, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

19. Melchizedek In Hebrews • Hebrews 6:20, “Whither [to within the veil] the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” • Hebrews 7:1-2 • 1, “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; • 2, “To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;”

20. Hebrews 7:3-6 • 3, “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” • 4, “Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.” • 5, “And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:” • 6, “But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.”

21. Hebrews 7:7-10 • 7, “And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” • 8, “And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.” • 9, “And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.” • 10, “For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.”