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From: "Laugh N Learn" <laughnlearn@vvchristianchurch.net>
Date: Jan 18, 2010 10:15 AM
Subject: Laugh N Learn Message
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LAUGH 'N LEARN
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Late For Football
By the time Joe arrived at the football game, the first quarter was almost over. "Why are you so late?" his friend asked.
"I had to toss a coin to decide between going to church and coming to the game."
"How long could that have taken you?"
"Well, I had to toss it 14 times."
January 17, 2010
"The Best Deal On Earth, Guaranteed"
Better In Every Way--Hebrews Series (Part 7)
Text: Hebrews 7
The date was the 4th of July, 1976. (I was in High School!). While we Americans were celebrating the Bicentennial year of our freedom, Israel was also celebrating freedom. On that day in 1976 they celebrated a successful rescue operation that freed 110 hostages from Arab terrorists who had formed a coalition with Military dictator President of Uganda, Idi Amin at Entebbe Airport.
On June 27, 1976 armed operatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine surprised the twelve crew members of an Air France jet liner and its ninety-one passengers, hijacking it to a destination unknown. The plane was tracked heading for Central Africa, where indeed it did land under the congenial auspices of Ugandan President Idi Amin. And there it remained apparently secure at Entebbe Airport where the hijackers spent the next seven days preparing for their next move. The hijackers were, by all estimations, in the driver's seat.
However, 2,500 miles away in Tel Aviv, three Israeli C-130 Hercules transports secretly boarded a deadly force of Israeli commandos, who within hours attacked Entebbe Airport under cover of darkness. In less than sixty minutes the commandos rushed the old terminal, gunned down the hijackers, and rescued 110 of the 113 hostages. The next day, July 4, Israel's Premier Yitzhak Rabin triumphantly declared the mission "will become a legend," which it surely has! Israel's resolve and stealth in liberating her people is admired by her friends and begrudged by her enemies.
Actually, Israel's resolve is nothing new, because the same quality can be traced all the way back to the very beginning of the Hebrew nation in the prowess of their father Abraham. The kidnappers in his day were a coalition of four Canaanite kings headed by King Kedorlaomer who attacked the Transjordan, defeating the city-states of Sodom and her neighbors and carrying off a large number of hostages, including Abraham's nephew Lot (cf. Genesis 14:5-12).
Undaunted, Abraham recruited "318 trained men" (Hebrews 7:4) -- proto-commandos! -- from his own household and took off in hot pursuit -- until he closed in on the kidnappers somewhere close to Damascus. And there, under the cover of night, he deployed his small forces in a surprise attack. His troops, riding bawling camels and slavering horses, bore down on the hijackers and their hostages. Deadly arrows flew in the night, and bloody swords were raised gleaming in the dusty moonlight -- and the four kings were put to flight.
The Genesis account gives this Entebbe-like summary of Abraham's success: "He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people" (Hebrews 7:16). Abraham could be formidable. It was not wise to mess with father Abraham!
So when Abraham returned to his home after the slaughter of the kings he was a hero, at the pinnacle of martial success. Can you see him proudly astride his lumbering camel, smeared with the dirt and blood of battle, leading his 318 proud men plus Lot and all the captives and all the plunder through Jerusalem? If so, you have the "feel" necessary to begin to appreciate Abraham's strange, mystic encounter with a shadowy figure of immense grandeur -- Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem. Genesis says:
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High
who delivered your enemies into your hand."
(Genesis 14:18-20)
So mysterious! And think of this -- this is the only historical mention of Melchizedek in the Old Testament. What we have just read is all we know of him! Yet Abraham allowed Melchizedek to bless him and then gave him a tenth of everything.
That was around 2000 b.c., and for a millennium there is no mention at all of Melchizedek, not even in retrospect. But in the tenth century b.c., when the Psalmist David was King of Israel, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write this prophetic word: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek'" (Psalm 110:4). There God declared that he was going to do something new. His intention was to bring into history one who would be a priest like Melchizedek. In the likeness of Melchizedek he would be both priest and king (cf. Psalm 110:1). Also, his priesthood would last forever. And, like Melchizedek, he would be appointed directly by God. It was all divinely guaranteed: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind." What an intriguing prophecy! God was going to establish a totally new priesthood.
Imagine for a moment that you are the writer of Hebrews writing to encourage the soon-to-be persecuted Jewish church. Also imagine yourself reflecting both on Melchizedek's history and this prophecy -- and then you make the connection! Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the prophecy! He is a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Further, you are the first person in history to make the connection. You begin to muse and pray -- and everything falls into place. Now in Hebrews 7 you present what you have learned as a means of encouragement to the storm-tossed church. There is no teaching like it anywhere.
Preaching the Word, HEBREWS VOLUME 1, An Anchor For The Soul by R. Kent Hughes
Focus: Jesus is the guarantee that the New Covenant is the best deal on Earth!
I. The Focused Bottom Line Is 7:22
Let's Start With The Bottom Line, and See How We Got There
Hebrews 7:22 (NIV) Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
- God makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God--one that really works!
- Hebrews 7:22 speaks of a new and better Covenant, A New Arrangement, A New Deal--The best deal in the World
Let's see how he got to this focused bottom line!
A. Genesis 14 x Psalm 110 = Hebrews 7
Melchizedek is Mentioned in only 2 places in the Entire Old Testament.
Genesis 14:18-20 (2000 B.C.)
Then 1,000 years later by King David in Psalm 110:4.
Melchizedek is mentioned in Hebrews in Chapter 5, 6, and 7, and he finally starts explaining his conclusions here in 7.
Hebrews 7:1-7 (NIV) This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. 4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people--that is, their brothers--even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater.
King of Righteousness and King of Peace. These titles fit our Priest-King.
What is a "type"? A "type" is like a photograph of something that is real. The photograph is the type, the anitype is that which is real. So, Melchizedek is like a snapshot of what is to come. But what is to come is greater, and real. A real, "forever" priest - king. As if to emphasize how appropriate this snapshot is, he is the King of Jerusalem, the city of God.
Melchizedek Magnifies the Magnitude of Jesus (7:7)
Hebrews 7:7 (NIV) And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater.
In a telescope or microscope, one lens of power at the correct distance from the other lens of greater power, magnifies the image for the observation of Christ's magnificence.
Only God is able to pre plan and stand back before the history unfolds to bring out the prophetic and typological lenses to magnify the image just so.
In the simplest of terms this is what we learn. Great was Abraham, THE patriarch of Israel, the person through whom all nations would be blessed. Yet, God put a lens of observation into place to demonstrate that Greater still was Melchizidek. Though he is an obscure figure in history, he is greater, and a lens to show that Jesus would be the Greatest. Greatest IS Jesus.
Great Was Abraham.
Greater Was Melchizedek
Greatest Is Jesus.
The Greater Blesses the Lesser
The Lesser gives a tenth to the greater.
Abraham, as great as he is recognizes that this king, who is only a "type" is greater than He himself is, that is, greater than Father Abraham, the one who just led the victorious deliverance, the one who has been promised that all nations will be blessed through him!
Melchizedek is greater, and Christ is greatest!
The Name and Title Go Together
His Name means: "King of Righteousness." His Title: "King of Salem" means "King of Peace." The name and title go together. Jesus is both King of Righteousness and King of Peace. These go together.
Romans 14:17 (NIV) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Righteousness first (by faith), then peace, then joy. That is God's order, God's design for us. They go together. You don't get the King of Peace ruling your heart if you don't get the King of Righteousness ruling your life. The name and title go together. You want Peace and Joy, start with getting right with the King of Righteousness (Jesus) who is priest of Righteousness, Peace, and Joy. That's his kingdom. Righteousness, peace, and joy--that's HIS kingdom, the kingdom and the King, go together!
People try to find peace many ways that don't work:
1. The Peace of Escape. Our lives are a mess, but we turn some entertainment for momentary peace, or joy. But you always have to come back to the mess. It doesn't have to be entertainment only, it can be "spending" or "indulging" or some other form of temporary fix. There are many escapes. Some escapes make coming back harder and the place you return worse.
2. Peace through Procrastination: We just evade the hard stuff. We refuse to face the problems. We evade it. The longer we procrastinate, the more difficult the problem becomes, and the more we want to evade it. We can tell ourselves to ignore something, but there it is gnawing at the mind and heart, like a hidden festering splinter it is getting worse and much more difficult to remove.
3. Peace through compromise: It is a common method, but watch out what you compromise. We might be toning down some important principle by an uneasy agreement. Neither party if satisfied. Loose ends are unresolved, and the tension continues. Depending on what is compromised, compromise is the enemy of peace. Temptation raises the tension in our lives. A compromising sin eases that tension momentarily, only to raise the guilt further and destroy our peace.
4. The way of peace is righteousness. Righteousness, put simply, comes by faith, and resigning to God's will and not my will. When you come to that place, Your will not my will be done, peace floods your soul.
Make sure you too are Blessed by the Priest-King of Righteousness, and the Priest-King of Peace.
B. The LOUD Argument from Silence
3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Melchizedek comes out of nowhere in the Biblical record. He is mentioned only once in Genesis. Then not mentioned again for a 1000 years until David. Then David through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says, that The Christ will be King AND PRIEST, as Melchizedek was king and priest, and he will be priest forever.
His Priesthood is greater than the Levitical Priesthood!
8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. 11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?
His priestly order then is greater than the order of Aaron!
Christ instituted a New Covenant, and with it a change of the law with regard to the priesthood!
Melchizedek has 5 similarities with Christ Jesus, and these similarities mark the Priesthood in the Order of Melchizedek.
1. It is a priesthood of "righteousness" (meaning of the name)
2. It is a priesthood of "peace" (King of Salem "peace")
3. It is a Royal priesthood (Melchizedek was a King)
4. It is a priesthood that is based on personal qualification not a legality based on genealogy.
5. It is a priesthood that lasts for ever (no father or mother, genealogy, or death) This comes from the argument of silence (what the Biblical record does NOT say) as a type for Christ's eternal priesthood.
Reasons Why Christ's Priesthood Is Greater?
1. Abraham (through whom all Levitical priests came) gave a tenth to Melchizedek.
2. Melchizedek blessed Abraham and the greater blesses the lesser.
3. The prophecy (Psalm 110) that another Permanent priesthood is coming demonstrates that the Levitical priesthood is temporary, and will be replaced by a better priesthood.
4. The Levitical priests were sinful, and offered provisional sacrifices.
5. Christ was sinless, and offered himself (the real substitute, as opposed to provisional temporary substitute), and the once and for all sacrifice.
6. Christ's priesthood was based on His resurrection, (his indestructible life 7:16) not the provisional regulations which anticipated him.
7. He always lives to intercede.
8. He sets aside the former regulation.
9. And replaces it with a better hope.
II. Jesus Changed The Priesthood, The Covenant, and The Law
12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,
III. Jesus is Priest NOT on the basis of a Regulation, but on the basis of his Resurrection!
16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus is priest NOT on the basis of Jewish LAW but on the basis of the Power of HIS LIFE! His indestructible Life gives him the right, and ability, to be our ETERNAL PRIEST.
Where the old priesthood regulates failure in the law in a provisional way, Jesus LIFE atones for failure in a perfect, complete, and permanent way.
A. The Former Regulation is Set Aside
12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless
The term used for "set aside" is a legal term used for covenants or contracts when a covenant or contract is annulled, or cancelled. Hebrews will be developing this thought further in the chapters to come. The New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant Law which legislated God's Holiness had to be accompanied by the Old Covenant Priesthood which regulated what to do when there was failure to keep God's Law. This whole system was weak and useless to bring people into a dynamic and holy relationship with God. The New Covenant is a whole new system based on God's Love. It starts with God's love, and follows with God's will, and is maintained by God's love, and the New Priest, who regulates, and atones for our failures, and continues to intercede for us that we might succeed in our relationship with God, and pleasing God with our lives. What the regulations of the Old could not do, because of the weak and useless and tainted priesthood, the New CAN do because of the power of Christ's indestructible Life, and effective sacrifice!
B. A Better Hope Takes Its Place
19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
The Law made nothing perfect. It just called it like it was. It still calls it like it is. Jesus taught us to see it in its complete intent. The Law said do not murder.
"Well, I don't do that."
Oh, Really? Jesus said if you are angry with your brother or call your brother a fool, you have broken this law (Matthew 5:21-22).
The Law says "Do not commit adultery."
"Well, I haven't done that," you say.
Oh, really? Jesus said, if you have looked at a woman with lust you have broken this law (Matthew 5:27-28).
But what good does it do us to tell us we fail as law keepers. First, it helps us admit it. We fail! We sin! We are stripped of our self sufficiency. This is what good it does, it makes us look to the Priest God provides!
The OLD Law told us what we do wrong, but it did not help us do right. The Law identifies how far wrong we are, and points us to the provisional and anticipatory system that pointed to the reality. The entire Old Covenant system anticipated the New Covenant system. The entire Old Covenant priesthood anticipated the true priest who could help us truly draw near to God. Jesus can help us TRULY draw near to God. How? On the basis of HIS Life, we CAN draw near to God! His priesthood works! He not only covers our sin, but he changes our heart, so that we WANT to love our brother, so that we WANT to turn from every lust that is a lie pulling our hearts away from what pleases God. Go to your priest, your only true priest, Jesus! He can help you.
C. Guaranteed ON OATH BY GOD
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'"
The fact that when God's word is spoken, it is as good as done, means that when he takes an Oath on top of that, he is REALLY highlighting something of grand proportions of importance. Let there be no mistake, the Priesthood of Jesus is Permanent, Eternal, and Forever Powerful--Guaranteed by the Oath of God himself! If God has a highlighter for which words are most important, this is IT!
God gave Abraham his Oath. Here in Psalm 110, he gave it to David, and David wrote it down for all of us to sit up and take note! The Hebrew writer while studying this puts it altogether for us!
D. That Jesus Guarantees A Better Covenant!
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office;
Jesus himself is the Guarantee. Put it this way, He is our Overdraft protection! When we step out of bounds, He himself is our overdraft protection. He is the Assurance, our surety, the Guarantee that the New Covenant arrangement for access to God and Peace with God, and relationship with God WORKS, and will continue to work. When you enter into Covenant with Jesus, and stay in Covenant with Jesus, your life is Eternal and will be made qualitatively complete--guaranteed by his indestructible life, and guaranteed by God's Oath!
(7:24) He is Priest Permanently
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
(7:25) He Saves Completely
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
(7:25) His Prayer is Ongoing
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
(7:26) He Meets Our Needs
26 Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
You have a need to be at peace with God. This comes from being right with God through Jesus--Righteous through HIS indestructible life. He meets your EVERY spiritual need. Have you asked him to meet your needs. Do you depend on him to meet your needs. Or are you so busy being self sufficient, you don't depend on him. There is no self-sufficiency before God. It's a lie! On judgment day, none of us will stand before God with any self-sufficiency. The only way we stand before God, is with our needs met by our High Priest, King and savior, Jesus!
(7:27) His Sacrifice Was Once For All
27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
(7:28) And Perfect For All
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
This is the BEST DEAL ON EARTH--GUARANTEED!
Have you entered into covenant with God through Jesus Christ? Have you asked Christ to be your priest and savior? The covenant entrance ceremony is Baptism, accepting Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, as your own, to be buried with him, and raised with him to a new life in him. Today, we will be holding CLASS 101 for any of you who would like to further understand the greatest deal on earth, and how to make sure this deal is yours--FOREVER. Put yes, 101 on your welcome form today, and place it in the offering plate, we will make sure we have enough materials for study, and I'll see you at 2 PM in Building B at the Zalesky site.
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Monday, January 18, 2010
Laugh N Learn Message 17JAN10
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