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The Order of Melchizedek

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THE TEXT

4 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.”

6 As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”;

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing (Hebrews 4:14–5:11).

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The Supremacy of Christ and His Salvation

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INTRODUCTION

Christians can grow sluggish in their Christianity. They can start to loosen their grip on the faith once for all delivered to the saints. And they can do this as recipients of the heavy blessing of God. Cotton Mather once said, “Religion begat prosperity and the daughter devoured the mother.” Moses said something similar. He sang of God making his people ride on the high places of the earth that they might eat the increase of the fields. And then, “Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked” (Deuteronomy 32:15).

The solution of course is not to go on a diet from the blessings of God. The solution is to truly taste and see that the Lord is good and so give thanks. That’s the logic of the text before us. The original hearers, like us today, needed to pay closer attention to what God had said to them and done for them through his Son (ch. 2:1-3). And where we will we get strength to do that? In God’s Son (ch. 1:1-14)

THE TEXT

Hebrews 1–2:3.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins by pointing out that God spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets (v. 1). And he contrasts God’s manner of speaking back then with his manner of speaking in “these last days” (v. 2). In these last days, God has spoken to the saints by his Son. Many things are acknowledged of this Son through whom God spoke to his people: He has been appointed heir of all things, not just some things (v. 2). He was the one through whom God made the worlds (v. 2). He is the brightness of God’s glory, and his express image such that if you have seen Jesus Christ then you have seen the Father (v. 3). This Son upholds all things by the word of his power, the same all things that he is inheriting, remember (v. 3). This Son purged our sins and is sat down at the right hand of God on high (v. 3).

The Son of God has obtained a better “name” than angels (v. 4). Now, this assertion can be confusing. Why does it need to be made? Doesn’t everyone already know that the Son of God is better than the angels? Well, yes, they do. Paul isn’t speaking to the supremacy of Christ’s divine nature to the angels. He’s speaking to the supremacy of the Godman, Jesus Christ, and particularly his mediatorial office as the Godman.

This idea is further expressed in verse 5 and 6. In verse 6, the angels of God worship the Son when God brings him into the world. The point is not simply that the angels worship the second member of the Trinity. The point is they worship the Son of God made flesh. In verse 5, Paul signals that God has not exalted any angel like he has the Son. For God said to the Son, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Paul is quoting Psalm 2 here. And the “begottenness” happened on a “day.” And that needs explaining. (Remember Peter said that Paul wrote things hard to understand).

When the Apostle John refers to the “only begotten Son” in John 3:16, he speaks of Christ’s eternal Sonship to the Father. That eternal Sonship is, of course, eternal. Therefore, it did not happen on “a day.” Psalm 2 and Hebrews 1:5 speak to a different begotteness, a different thing. Psalm 2 signals that “this day” was the day of Christ’s resurrection. And the begotteness refers to the Father raising the Son from the dead. Paul makes this very clear in Acts 13:33. He cites this same verse from Psalm 2 while referring to the Father raising the Son from the dead. God has not done the same for angels, they are ministering spirits (v. 7).

Several Old Testament texts are referenced as Paul points out the supremacy of the Son. God the Father says many things of the Son. He speaks of the Son’s never-ending throne (v. 8), his love of righteousness, hatred of iniquity, and exceeding gladness (v. 9). The Son laid the foundation of the earth, built the heavens with his hands, and will remain after they grow old and he folds them up like a dress (v. 10-12). Christ is better than angels for he has ascended to the right hand of God with his enemies being made his footstool, while the angels minister to Christ’s people (v. 14).

The application of all of this is that the saints must pay closer attention to what God has said through this exalted Son, lest we let his words to us slip (ch. 2:1). If God’s word delivered by angels in time past was so steadfast that every disobedience was punished, how much more will be the case for those who neglect the great salvation brought by Christ himself (ch. 2:2-3)?

CHRIST WHO PURGED OUR SINS

Paul’s logic runs something like this: Would you leave God? Would you slip away from him? May it never be! God has not only saved you. He has saved you through his Son.

The passage is not concerned with the supremacy of Christ abstractly considered. It is not merely a matter of putting God’s Son on one side of the scales and the prophets and angels on the other side. The Son, whose supremacy is in view, is the Son who purged our sins. He is the Son of God who entered the world. He is the Son who was “made a little lower than the angels” and then was raised from the dead and exalted above the angels as the Godman. And when he was raised up there in the heavens, he took you all with him for you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).

This Christ is not merely the Word spoken to you that you must hear. He is the Word that binds you. What does he bind you to? He binds you to God. Would you slip away from God’s word? It is the Word made flesh that binds you to God. Would you loosen your hold on the Word? It is the word that upholds you and all things.

THE LAST DAYS AND OUR DAYS

Paul says that God has spoken to his people by his Son “in these last days.” These “last days” can be easily misunderstood. So a word about them is in order. We do not live in these last days. And these last days are not in our future. Rather, these “last days” refer to the Jewish age or the old covenant. When Paul wrote, the Romans were soon to destroy the temple in Jerusalem. The destruction of that temple was an act of God signifying the vanishing of the old covenant. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 24:1-2 when he said to his disciples that not one stone of the temple would be left on another.

That temple destruction was not merely about the destruction of temple worship. It signified the removal of the old covenant, the end of an age. We see Paul expressing this same idea later in the book in Hebrews 8:13. There he speaks of a new covenant that God is making. And he writes, “In that he saith, a new covenant, he made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

That old covenant was glorious. It was so glorious that Paul says “the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance” (2 Corinthians 3:7). But, he adds that this old covenant glory was coming to an end. And it would be replaced with a new covenant that was even more glorious.

You live in the epoch of the seen Christ, of the revealed mystery. The veil of the temple has been torn in two. You live in the time of the gathering together into one both things in heaven and things on earth. You are members of the new covenant. And the Virgin-born Son of God is the mediator of this new covenant and Lord over all things in this new covenant era.

You live in the days after the last days. And they are days of great wonder and glory. How then should you live? You should give more earnest heed to the things God your Father has said to you through his Son (Hebrews 2:1).

PROPHETS, ANGELS, AND GOD’S SON

Speaking about the word of God, Paul stirs up the saints to reverence for that word by contrasting the various ways God has delivered his word to his people. In time past, God spoke by prophets. And in time past, he spoke “by angels” (ch. 2:2). And the word that he spoke by prophets and angels was steadfast. We’re not dealing with a shaky word back then and a stable word here and now. We’re dealing with a rock-solid word back then, (the kind of rock you could build a house on), and diamond-hard Mount Everest word here and now (the kind that supports the world-wide growth of an everlasting kingdom).

In both cases, God speaks. The contrast is not between prophets and angels themselves speaking in the old and the Son speaking in the new. The contrast is that God spoke by prophets and angels in the old. And he has now spoken by his Son in the new. Think book publishing. There is an author from whom the word originates and there is a publisher of that word.

Paul says in Galatians 3:19 that the law was “ordained by angels.” God spoke the law by these angels on Mount Sinai. John Owen said these angles “raised the fire and smoke; they shook and rent the rocks; they framed the sound of the trumpet . . . and therein proclaimed and published the law.” Not many men would not complain about having an angel as his publisher. That’s a sure word.

How much more then ought we to take confidence in the word published by the Son of God, the Word made flesh? Take this to heart. Man often cast his doubts in a humble light, “I just don’t know. I haven’t quite made up my mind, still exploring.” We often do the same with anxiety. But the doubting man and anxious woman do not doubt an idea. They do not doubt a sentence in the sky. They doubt a person, and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the only way to snap out of your worrisome unbelief. God the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, Listen to him!” God said that on the mount as Jesus was transfigured and his face shone as the sun. And his face still shines today. So, hear him. He’s the Living Christ. Hear him.

The only appropriate response to this word from God is that of the disciples on that mount, “The fell on their face and were sore afraid” (Matthew 17:6). That’s it. No more huffing and puffing, no more what-iffing. Hear him and fall on your face in fear.

THE ETERNAL THRONE AND KINGDOM

We have every reason to because this Christ through whom God speaks to us not only purged our sin. He not only ushered in the new covenant era. And he not only is superior to prophets and angels. He has been raised up and seated on an eternal throne (ch. 1:8). And he is a happy king, anointed with the oil of gladness.

This king rules over his kingdom. And here is glory, you are in that kingdom. Look around, you are fellow members in that kingdom. And the kingdom that we find ourselves in will be around after Christ folds up the heavens like a curtain on moving day. The Palouse hills will be wrapped up like a bed sheet. And the kingdom we are in right now will still be here. And the King of this kingdom will still be here.

Do you feel shaky? That’s because things are being shaken. Well who is doing the shaking? God is. He says so in this very book, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (Hebrews 12:26). Do you feel breakable like a clay pot? That’s because you are a clay pot. Do you feel like a brick that could be pulverized if dropped from too high up? That’s because you are a brick. You are a brick being placed one upon another. And you are a dwelling place for God. The designer and builder of this house is God. He is building this eternal kingdom and we are receiving it even now, “And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:27-28).

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Militant Hospitality

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INTRODUCTION

We live in a day when human interaction is too often mediated via screens & satellites. The scheming of wicked men aim to further isolate us, control us, and convince us it is all for our health & safety. Christian hospitality, in this era and all others, is an act of war on the rebel city of Man.

THE TEXTS

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor (Prov. 22:9).

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares (Heb. 13:2).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Proverbs give wisdom in riddle. The godly son is set to the task of searching out that wisdom. This Proverb offers a counterintuitive lesson. Give your bread away & receive blessing. If your eye is set on generosity, you find that by giving away your bread, blessings end up in your barn, cupboards, bed, and offspring. This is a Solomonic way of saying to save your life you must lose it, but if you lose it, you gain it. Wisdom knows that wealth isn’t increased by hoarding, but by generosity and prudent investment.

Two observations can be made about this brief admonition in Hebrews. First, Christians are told to not forget this duty. It’s easy to let days & weeks go by without opening your home to others. Thus, we’re warned of how easily we forget to wield this potent weapon. Second, this hospitality is to be shown particularly to strangers. The admonishment is to be a “lover of strangers;” exemplified by faithful saints hosting angelic messengers on significant redemptive errands.
The OT episodes in view are when the Lord Himself visits Abraham, along with two angels; Abraham responds with hasty but generous hospitality. The two angels then proceed to Sodom for its destruction; but first Lot, like his uncle, bring the angels into his home to show them godly hospitality––only later discovering their angelic nature (Gen. 18-19). Samson’s parents, likewise, spread a feast for a guest that they only later discover to be an angelic messenger announcing a miraculous conception (Jdg. 13). By hosting a stranger, the implication is that you might, though unaware of it at the time, be used in God’s providence to bring about a happy turn of history.

Putting this together, Scripture repeatedly admonishes the saints to practice a generous hospitality. In so doing we find that in giving away of our substance, blessing sneaks back in through the back door to bless not only us but the whole world.

HOSPITALITY: THE OVERLOOKED VIRTUE

Taking a step back, hospitality isn’t a peripheral activity for Christians. It isn’t an optional add-on. Throughout Scripture we are taught to practice the virtue of being hospitable to the stranger. We see this in Moses’ Law, which carved out numerous provisions for how the stranger was to be treated, and why he should be treated with generosity and charity (Ex. 22:10, 23:9; Lev. 19:10, 33, 24:22; Deu. 10:18-19). The stranger, however, wasn’t permitted to violate Israelite Law (Lev. 24:16). But he was most welcome to come in and enjoy the blessings of the covenant community whether permanently (Ex. 12:48, Num. 9:14) or only for a time of sojourning (e.g. Jethro, Naaman, Ruth).

In the NT a requirement laid on elders is that they be given to & love hospitality (1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:8). Likewise, hospitality must be demonstrably present to consider enrolling a widow-indeed (1 Tim. 5:10). Saints are often admonished to remember this good work (Rom. 12:13, 1 Pt. 4:9, Acts. 20:35). Paul describes Gaius as “my host (stranger).” Apparently, hosting strangers & being hosted by a stranger were both expressions of “loving the stranger (Rom. 16:23).” In this regard, Christians endeavoring to be hospitable must learn to be both a good host & a good guest.

MARXIST MARBLES

The “pronoun-invention-Olympics” are merely a symptom of a deeper disease. Rampant individualism has so infected modern man that he’s invented new ways to be isolated. The pursuit of self-expression has entered a new mutation where whatever imagined identity someone wishes to attach to themselves must be affirmed, acknowledged, applauded. Modern man demands that society look like a Venn Diagram of a billion circles, none of which overlap, but which are all encompassed by the State.

Like the London air-raids, the Sexual Revolution, in particular, bombarded all the lawful covenantal bonds. This has left us like a drawer full of marbles, shaken by whatever whims are found in the heart of the WEF, UN, or Social Media CEOs.

Thus, Christian hospitality isn’t simply backyard BBQs. Our hospitality opens the door to isolated, lonely, wandering souls––in many cases with mutilated bodies, haunted by having butchered their offspring, and perverted with a pornified mind––into the warmth of our fellowship with God. And from that union with God, the stranger is brought into our covenantal joy in each other. Our hospitality is militant.

HOSPITALITY AS SACRIFICE

It should be noted that hospitality requires sacrifice. In the OT stories mentioned earlier, the animal was slain to feed the guests. The act of opening your home, pantry, and wine cellar is sacrificial. In the words of Charles Bridges, “Sacrifice, not convenience, is God’s acceptable service.”

However, you don’t have a right to others’ sacrifice. There’s a certain approach to hospitality that imagines that to counteract the poison of individualism all distinctions between individuals must be erased. This is what the cancer cell does. It cannot stay within the confines of its own cell walls, and must invade & overtake every other cell in the system.

Hospitality, while a sacrifice, is still a gift. As such, the glory comes from it being freely, and sacrificially, given. There’s no glory in jack-booted thugs forcing you to house enemy soldiers. But there are many instances of great saints in history who opened their homes, and the case could be made that without their sacrifice we wouldn’t know the names of men like Luther, Calvin, or Tyndale.

NUTS & BOLTS

Do you have a table? Then you can show hospitality. Find recipes that feed multitudes, that don’t break the bank, but taste like you did. Learn to ask good questions & listen intently. Remember names & backgrounds. Knock out a wall if need be. Scrounge for folding chairs by the dozen.

How the buffet line should flow in your home differs from another Christian home. The method is indifferent, but the principle is that Christian homes should be regular hubs of hospitality. This militant hospitality means your home will sometimes have folks in it who don’t have good manners, might be a bit rough around the edges, and need to be brought along firmly but gently. Remember, selfish guests & grumpy hosts are alike a perverse Gospel.

All this requires diligence, patience, and creativity. As with any skill, it takes time to get good at it. The French proverb gets the idea, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs.” It’ll be messy. Stains will be left behind. But you’re waging war, what did you expect?

STRANGERS NO MORE

Paul tells the Ephesians that while they were once strangers, through the cross they are strangers no more (Eph. 2:19). Jesus tells us that by hospitality to the least of these, we feed, clothe, and serve Christ Himself (Mt. 25:40). Has Christ welcomed You to the Father’s table? Then come. Afterwards, go & imitate Your Father who opens His doors wide, piles the table high, with extra scoops of ice cream all around.

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Another Rest

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THE TEXT

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast ourconfession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4 NKJV).

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Today

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THE TEXT

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief (Hebrews 3 NKJV).

MOSES THE FAITHFUL SERVANT

We know the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. God performed miracle after miracle, delivering the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt and preserving them throughout their journey through the wilderness. But again and again, the Israelites turn and grumble and complain against God. One incident, relevant to today’s sermon, comes right on the heels of God sending quail to feed the Israelites. Aaron and Miriam complain against Moses because he had married an Ethiopian wife (Num. 12:1). But God rebukes Aaron and Miriam, telling them that Moses was his faithful servant (Num. 12:6-8).

HOW MUCH MORE THE SON?

Remember that Hebrews has been arguing that the Son, Jesus Christ, is so much better than the expectations of his Jewish audience. The Son is better than the angels, who moderated the Old Covenant (kal v’chomer). So here is another example of this same argument. Moses was a faithful servant, to whom the Jewish people listened carefully. But Moses was just a servant in the house. Now the faithful Son of the house has arrived. So how much more ought the Jewish people to listen to him?

TODAY

Hebrews now turns to Psalm 95, and will continue to draw on this Psalm into the next chapter. This Psalm takes the readers back to the wilderness, where God’s faithful provision was on constant display. And yet the Israelites regularly responded to this steadfast display of faithfulness with doubt, grumbling, and apostasy. Hebrews notes that the warning given in this confined to a very particular time period – “today.” As long as it is called “today” the sin of the Israelites in the wilderness needs to be looked out for.

It is a deceitful temptation, set on dislodging your confidence in God’s goodness for you. God’s claim on our lives is exclusive. But over time it is very easy for priorities that we had intended to be lesser to slowly climb up to compete with our love of God. This deceitfulness prompts Hebrews to recruit our friends into holding us accountable – “exhort one another daily,” (v. 13).

OBEDIENT TO THE END

Hebrews is ultimately about warning us against the great tragedy of falling away from the faith, something that can seem so impossible some moments and, yet, in other moments can be a real threat. This is a warning intended for the covenant people. Covenant Christians, circumcised people, baptized people, can fall away. There is a real warning here. Perseverance is the outward distinction between saving faith and temporary faith. And this faith is the obedience that the Gospel requires of us.

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