Our High Priest's Order

Our High Priest's Order (Hebrews 5:10) I. A study like this is difficult to teach to those who are dull of hearing. HEB 5:11. A. For various reasons, their ears received not doctrine. HEB 5:12 c/w 2TI 4:3-4. B. Sharpness rebukes dullness; sharpening overcomes it. 2CO 13:10; PRO 27:17. C. Many of the Hebrew Christians were still overmuch zealous of the law (ACT 21:20) and its Levitical priesthood. To pry them from Levi, Paul sets forth something better. II. Christ's priesthood is after the superior order of Melchisedec. HEB 5:5-6; 6:20. A. This argument would help Hebrew Christians accept that the traditional priesthood of their nation was set aside. 1. Their Levitical priesthood was appointed by God. 2. Paul shows that their O.T. scriptures taught that the Levitical priesthood would be superceded by a superior order. a. The relationship of Abraham to Melchisedec suggested this. GEN 14:18-20. b. The prophecy of PSA 110:4 showed it also. B. The Melchisedec priesthood is a royal one. HEB 7:1-2, 14; 8:1; 10:10-13. C. The Melchisedec priesthood is not derived from descent as was the Levitical. HEB 7:3, 6. 1. Pedigree was necessary to be a Levitical priest. EZR 2:61-62. 2. Melchisedec was a man with a descent, but not from Levi. HEB 7:4, 6. 3. He was “...made like unto the Son of God...” (HEB 7:3). He is a type of Christ. 4. Since his priesthood is a type of Christ's which is not derived by descent nor bounded by time, there is no record in Genesis of Melchisedec's parents, his birth, or his death. a. Christ is a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchisedec. HEB 7:21. b. The Melchisedec priesthood typified a priesthood uninterrupted by death. c. The Levitical priests were made such “...after the law of a carnal commandment...” (HEB 7:16). Their priesthood depended upon and was conferred by fleshly generation. d. Christ was made a priest “...after the power of an endless life” (HEB 7:16). [1] His divine nature was ever immortal. [2] His human nature was raised immortal. ROM 6:9. 5. The Levitical priests ministry terminated with their death. Their death was not part of their priestly work. a. Christ officiated as priest IN and BY His death. b. He “...offered himself without spot to God...” (HEB 9:14). c. His death was part of His priestly work. d. Death did not interrupt the execution of His priesthood. 6. The confirmation of Christ's priesthood by an oath further demonstrates its superiority and perpetuity. HEB 7:20-21 c/w HEB 6:16-17. 7. The perpetuity of Christ's priesthood is the reason He is “...able to save them to the uttermost than come unto God BY Him...” (HEB 7:24-25). a. We are saved by Christ's endless life. JOH 14:19; ROM 5:10; 1CO 15:17. b. Christ ever lives to make intercession, i.e., to intervene before God on behalf of His people. c. Salvation depends on His endurance, not ours! d. He saves to the uttermost. [1] He saves from all evil forever. [2] He does not do part of the saving and then leave the rest to someone else. D. Melchisedec blessed the Levites in Abraham. HEB 7:6-7. E. The Levites paid tithes to Melchisedec in Abraham. HEB 7:4-5, 8-10. 1. Abraham paid homage to Melchisedec, thus showing “...how great this man was...” (HEB 7:4). 2. This was a powerful argument to the Hebrew mind since they highly regarded Abraham. JOH 8:53. F. The very fact that David prophesied of a priest after the order of Melchisedec showed that the Levitical priesthood was deficient and would be displaced. HEB 7:11. G. The fact that Messiah, Who would spring from Judah, would be a priest showed the setting aside of the Levitical priesthood. HEB 7:12-17. 1. It is evident that the Messiah sprang out of Judah. 2SAM 7:12; ISA 11:1; MIC 5:2. 2. God had formerly judged a king from the tribe of Judah for intruding into the priestly office. 2CH 26:16-21. 3. Therefore, if a descendant of Judah was to be a priest, the old order would have to be disannulled. HEB 7:18. III. Christ's priesthood is superior to the Levitical in that they were men of infirmity whereas Christ is the sinless Son of God. HEB 4:14; 7:28. IV. Christ's priesthood is superior to the Levitical in that Christ did not need to offer for His own sins. HEB 4:15; 5:3; 7:26-27. V. Christ's priesthood is superior to the Levitical in that the Levitical priesthood perfected nothing, but Christ does. HEB 7:11, 18-19; 2:10; 5:8-9; 9:9; 10:1, 14.