Psalms 136:1-12 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is
good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For
His mercy endures forever: To Him who alone does great wonders, For His
mercy endures forever; To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His
mercy endures forever; To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
For His mercy endures forever; To Him who made great lights, For His
mercy endures forever—The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures
forever; The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures
forever. To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, For His mercy endures
forever; And brought out Israel from among them, For His mercy endures
forever; With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, For His mercy endures
forever;
Father God, thank you for the great weather
and the beauty of your sunrises, sunsets, and autumn colors. Bless us and open our
hearts to your Word. We pray and ask for this in Jesus name, Amen!
Book of Hebrews 7:11-19 NKJV
This lesson
is still about the priesthood of the Judah and Levi, but a very good lesson with
meat.
11
Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for
under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should
rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the
order of Aaron?
Therefore,
if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people
received the law); What
this phrase is saying is that there is no perfection in the Levitical
priesthood of the Old Covenant. The key word that signifies this is, “if”. The
Old Covenant was all based on law and keeping the law in all aspects. This
covenant was an inferior covenant due to the inherited sin nature that we
obtained from Adam. This is why the Levitical priesthood was necessary so they
could offer up temporary atoning sacrifices for the sins of the people on an
ongoing basis. If the Levitical priesthood could perform something that would
make a person perfect, then there wouldn’t have been a need for God to send His
Son to earth.
It is Jesus shed blood
that covers us when we accept Him as our Saviour and we place our faith in Him
for all things, that makes us perfect in God’s eyes. God’s word tells us our
blood is what keeps us alive. Without blood we perish. That is why Jesus blood
gives us eternal life when we die to our sinful ways and place our faith in
Jesus. Jesus blood is perfect and eternal. Leviticus 17:11 For the
life of the flesh is in the
blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your
souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'
This is why the animal
sacrifices were only temporary and always had to be repeated for the
forgiveness of sins, because the blood was not perfect, therefore the Levitical
priesthood was imperfect and insufficient for salvation.
It was under the Levitical
priesthood that law was introduced which was to be a tutor and point people in
the right direction toward fearing God and living by faith, but with the human
nature of the people, their focus was in trying to keep the letter of the law.
The Levitical way was religion, just like we have religion of many
denominations today. Religion is to teach us about salvation through Jesus
Christ and what He did on the Cross for us along with His Resurrection and
fearing God and His wrath against sin. But today’s religions preach a gospel of
sugar n spice and everything nice.
What
further need was there that
another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek; This is telling us that if the
Levitical priesthood was sufficient for salvation then there wouldn’t have been
any need for Jesus to come to earth. With the Levitical priesthood being
insufficient, then it was senseless for priest to come from the Levitical order.
That is why Jesus was called to the priesthood which was of a different nature.
The sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood pointed to the sacrifice Jesus would
be for us, and through His resurrection, our High Priest forever.
And
not be called according to the order of Aaron; This phrase tells us that the Order of
Aaron must give way to the Order of Melchizedek, a better Priesthood, which it
was always meant to do, therefore Jesus came from the royal tribe of Judah.
We know from the Word of
God that the Eternal Priesthood of Jesus was typified by Melchizedek. It
existed some 400 years before the Levitical priesthood. The Word also tells us
some 600 years after the Levitical Priesthood, that a perfect Priest would
arise, like the order of Melchizedek. David mentions this fact through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in a Psalm. Psalms 110:1-7 A Psalm of
David. The LORD said to my Lord,"Sit at My right hand, Till I make
Your enemies Your footstool." The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength
out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be volunteers In the day of
Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have
the dew of Your youth. The LORD has
sworn And will not relent, "You are
a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall
execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He
shall fill the places with dead
bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook
by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head.
Did you pick up another
similarity in this Psalm between Melchizedek and Jesus. Melchizedek is a King
and our Lord Jesus Christ is our King.
God took an oath to make
Christ a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus, during the church age,
is a King-Priest ruling over the church from heaven. He, during the Millennial
age, will be a King-Priest ruling all the peoples of the earth from Jerusalem, Zechariah
6:13. Christ’s
Melchizedekian priesthood is an eternal one and so will go on even after the
close of the Millennium.
12 For the
priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
For
the priesthood being changed; As
stated above the Levitical priesthood was not sufficient so a change was needed
for a more perfect priesthood that would last for eternity.
Of
necessity there is also a change of the law; With the change of the priesthood the law would be
affected also, therefore a change in the law was necessary. The law was a part
of the Old Covenant just like the priesthood, but with Jesus dying on the Cross
and becoming our High Priest, the Jewish laws were done away with (not the 10
Commandments). The Prophets predicted that something better was coming, and
more particularly, someone, that being the Messiah, Who would fulfill all the
symbols of the Law. Ezekiel
11:19-20 Then I will
give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the
stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they
may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My
people, and I will be their God.
(Ezekiel 36:26–27).
When a person repents and
accepts Jesus as their Saviour the Holy Spirit takes up residence within their
heart and convicts a person of wrong, therefore assisting the person in not
sinning or gradually breaking the chains that are binding a person to a habit
that is sinful. The law a Born Again Christian has is; Love God with all your
heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor; these two commandments
will fulfill the Ten Commandments.
13 For He of
whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has
officiated at the altar.
For
He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe; This phrase is referring to Jesus and
as stated previously Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. Matthew 1:1-2 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the
Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob
begot Judah and his brothers.
Judah and Levi were two sons of Jacob. Genesis 35:22-26 ……Now the
sons of Jacob were twelve: 23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, and Zebulun; 24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;
25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's
maidservant, were Dan and
Naphtali; 26
and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were
the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram. The Levitical priesthood came from
the roots of Levi.
From
which no man has officiated at the altar; Here again it is referring to Jesus and His High
Priesthood. There were no priests from the tribe of Judah only the tribe of
Levi, who ministered at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord arose
from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
Paul is repeating himself
here, only using different words for those of us that might understand this
terminology better. He wants to make it very clear that Jesus came from the
tribe of Judah and that He is a priest of a different order, that of
Melchizedek. The only priest during Moses time and afterwards was from the
tribe of Levi. There was never a priest from the tribe of Judah.
15 And it is
yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another
priest
16 who has
come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the
power of an endless life.
These
two verses are referring to the Old Covenant which was Law, a “fleshly
commandment” that represents weak frail flesh, which characterized the
Levitical order. Christ was not of that order, He offered Himself up as the sacrificial,
atoning sacrifice. He is a High Priest of a spiritual nature through the power
of His resurrection, therefore and endless life.
No
Levitical priest ever offered themselves up as a sacrifice. Even if they did,
it would have been an abomination due to their sinful flesh. Only Jesus did
this, and only Jesus was capable of doing this. He was sinless and through His
death, burial, and resurrection He became our High Priest that will rule
forever.
17 For He
testifies: "YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF
MELCHIZEDEK."
Again Paul repeats
himself. I don’t know what else to say about this scripture but this: The
phrase, “Thou art a Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek,” is the
fifth time that Paul has made this statement (Hebrews
5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:11, 17), and it will be stated again in
Verse 21.
As
I’ve said in the past when scripture is repeated many times, we need to take
note of this and meditate on what is being stated by the writer through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Repeating of scripture has a purpose. While we
must not ignore anything that God says, considering that something is said a
number of times, we should understand the significance of it, realizing that
the Holy Spirit doesn’t want it to be lost in our thinking. This statement
concerning Christ being a “Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedek” is
one to remember, ponder, and fully understand what is meant. You also have to remember
Paul is speaking to the Hebrew believers who are set in their ways, like many of
us and refuse to open our heart to Jesus.
18 For on
the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness
and unprofitableness,
For
on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment; This phrase is going back to verse 16
referring to, “law of a fleshly commandment”. When Jesus died on the Cross the
way of laws was abolished.
“The Law was actually made
up in three parts, the Civil, the Ceremonial, and the Moral. One might say it
was made into two parts, if we look at one part of it being the Moral (the Ten
Commandments), and the balance of the Law falling into the category of that
which is non-moral, which included both the Civil and the Ceremonial.
At any rate, the question
must be asked, did the annulling of the Commandment included the Ten
Commandments, which was and is the Moral Law?
The answer is somewhat
incongruous, in other words, “yes”
and “no!”
THE
MORAL LAW
When Jesus died on the
Cross, He annulled the entirety of the Law, which includes the Moral Law as
well, and we speak of the Ten Commandments. By annulling all of this, we refer
to the fact that He kept it perfectly in every respect, and satisfied its just
demands. In other words, He was the fulfillment of all the Feast Days, the
Sabbath, etc., which includes all of its ceremonies and rituals. As well, and
without fail, He kept the Ten Commandments perfectly, which of course, is the
Moral Law. And then by His voluntary death as a Sacrifice on the Cross of
Calvary, He also satisfied it’s just demands by paying its penalty. In other
words, the Law demanded death as a penalty, and Jesus, therefore, died.
So, when Paul said, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to His Cross,” he meant exactly what he said. Or I should say,
the Holy Spirit meant exactly that! (Colossians
2:14).
And yet all of us know,
that the criteria for Christianity, and by that I refer to the standard by
which we must abide, is a standard of Holiness and Righteousness, which in
effect, is the highest moral standard that man has ever known. In fact, only in
Christ was the Law perfectly kept. This means that it was not kept by one
single individual in all of the some 1,600 years since it was given to Moses on
Mount Sinai, until Christ.
So what does that mean for
the Christian?
THE
BELIEVER AND THE LAW
The Scripture plainly
tells us as Believers, that we are “dead
to the Law” (Romans 6:14; 7:4).
Now if one is to notice, the Scripture doesn’t say that the Law is dead, but
only that the Believer is dead to the Law. The idea is this:
The Moral Law is still
very much alive and demanded of all humanity. In fact, moral law cannot change,
as should be obvious. When God some 3,000 years ago, said it was wrong to
steal, He, to be sure, is still saying the same thing today, etc.
So what does that mean,
that we are “dead to the Law,” but
the “Law is not dead”? How does that
affect the Child of God? The idea is this:
If one is dead to
something, one does not think about that particular thing. In other words, the
Law doesn’t exist as far as the Believer is concerned. The reason is this:
Jesus has fully kept the
Law in every respect, and as well, satisfied its just demands by dying on the
Cross. Also, this which He did was not an incident or accident, but rather a
planned program, actually planned from before the foundation of the world (I Peter 1:18–20), and planned in its entirety
for you and me. In other words, everything that Jesus did, was done totally and
completely for humanity, and not at all for Himself. If man was to be saved,
these were things that man had to do, but of course what man couldn’t do. So,
Jesus did for us, what we couldn’t do for ourselves. As stated repeatedly, this
was the greatest act of love the world has ever known.
This is the reason that
Paul referred to Christ as the “Last Adam”
(I Corinthians 15:45). The idea is,
that He had to do what the first Adam didn’t do (render a perfect obedience),
and as well, undo what the first Adam did do (to pay the penalty for the first
Adam’s disobedience).
Whenever the believing
sinner evidences Faith in Christ, which refers to the initial Salvation
experience, at that moment he is actually placed “in Christ” (Romans 6:3–5; 8:1),
as a result, he now becomes a recipient of all that Christ has done. To say it
in another way, Faith in Christ and what He did at the Cross on our behalf,
grants to the individual all that Christ did, which is the intention of God.
Simple Faith in Christ puts us in Christ, and thereby, a recipient of all that
He has done, and all that He is. That’s the reason that Paul used the phrase “in Christ” or one of its derivatives
such as “in Whom,” some 170 times in
his 14 Epistles. No two words express the Salvation experience, and the
experience of victory, more than these.
THE
CROSS, OUR FAITH, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
The moment the sinner
comes to Christ, at that moment he is placed “in Christ,” and he is to remain there all the days of his life, and
actually, forever. It is all done by the person evidencing Faith in Christ and
His sacrificial work at the Cross (Romans 6:3–5).
Now that the Believer is
in Christ, he must continue to exhibit Faith in what Christ did at the Cross,
which will guarantee the help of the Holy Spirit, which will then guarantee
total and complete victory, which refers to one keeping the Moral Law in every
respect. To say it another way, our business is not to keep the Ten
Commandments, simply because Christ has already done that, and in effect, did
it all on our behalf. Our business is to continue to trust Christ and His
Cross, and then the Moral Law is guaranteed to be kept. Simple Faith and Trust
in Christ and what He did at the Cross on our behalf, guarantees all of this,
because those are the parameters in which the Holy Spirit works.” (JSM)
Because
of its weakness and unprofitableness; The
law was weak because of our inherited sin nature in trying to keep it for
salvation, therefore it was unprofitable. Without the Holy Spirit living within
us, we don’t have the power to abide by the law. It’s like a powerful motor
mounted to and insufficient frame, the frame will collapse at some point in
time. The law was also unprofitable for us as Gentiles because the law was
given to the Jewish people. Had Jesus not come to executed His Fathers New
Covenant, we would be lost souls.
19 for the
law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw
near to God.
“The
law” is referring to
the Law of Moses; “made nothing perfect”
refers to the purpose of the law in that it was to show man what he was, but
had no power to change an individual; “but
the bringing in of a better hope did” refers to Jesus dying on the Cross
for us; ”by the which we draw near unto
God” refers to Jesus death, burial, and resurrection opening the Holy of
Holies so that now we can go directly to Him for all our needs.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him
and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe
it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I
am a sinner. I confess my sins to you; I
am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful
lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all of my
sins. I believe that only you can
forgive sin. I commit my life to you and
ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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