Melchizedek | Jeffrey Smith

[0:00] So I'll just start by saying good morning to everyone and to all the mothers out there. Happy Mother's Day. It's always a privilege to share God's word. And especially on days like this that are a bit unique.

[0:15] And so I just want to say, first of all, thank you to all the moms out there. You're doing a great job. We love you. We appreciate you. For many of you, your hard job has gotten even harder, you know, as we're kind of stuck inside with the kids.

[0:33] And, you know, some of us are homeschooling and just doing a variety of different things that make, like I said, the job more difficult. So we love you and thank you and happy Mother's Day.

[0:46] Just to kind of start with something, if we kind of rewind the clock a little bit. And when I was looking at, you know, the schedule in, say, mid to late April, I was thinking about how things were progressing with quarantine.

[1:04] And I thought, man, how great would it be if we had Mother's Day as our first day back together and we were able to exchange flowers and really cherish the time together in person.

[1:22] But unfortunately, that is not the case. Here we are, another week in Zoom. And while I have to say I would much rather be with everyone in person, it has always been a dream of mine to wear gym shorts while preaching a message.

[1:39] So that dream has finally come true. It's finally a reality. As we broadcast here from the penthouse suite of the Smith household.

[1:50] The last two months, this room that you're looking at has not only been my bedroom, as it always is, but it has become my office and it has now become the pulpit as well.

[2:01] So a very versatile room. So let's go ahead and get started. I'm really excited about the message this morning. It's going to be a bit of a curveball. I'm just going to tell you that right now.

[2:14] But let's go ahead and get started. If you had looked at this speaking schedule, I don't know if you can see it at all. If you had looked at this speaking schedule before this morning, you would have noticed that today is a break from our study in Joshua.

[2:32] And I would be doing it a disservice if I didn't just pause for a minute and say that I feel like this study has been great. It has been very profitable. I've learned quite a bit.

[2:44] You know, just even kind of looking back at the last couple of weeks, you have tense message talking about, you know, the inheritance of the land and the allotment of the different territories to the different tribes.

[2:54] I could go into several things there, but I'll kind of leave it at that. Thinking about the week before when David kind of talking about Caleb and it just struck me as, you know, Caleb, here he is 40 years later coming back to the promised land and deliberately choosing to go to the area where the giants were.

[3:15] And so this morning we're going to actually look at something totally different. And something that quite frankly, I didn't know much about.

[3:28] And so when the topic is an open one, like it is Mother's Day today, and Dave, to your comment, I think before the break, I'll just tell you right now, this is not a Mother's Day message per se.

[3:42] It is a message on Mother's Day. And I'll make maybe one loose connection, but just to kind of set the table there. This is a topic that I really didn't know much about.

[3:55] And as I'm studying through this book of the Bible, I just kept coming upon it, and it just kept just glaring at me on a page, just jumping out at me.

[4:06] And I just couldn't stop thinking about it and studying it, and so I thought this has to be something that I share this morning. Like I said, this is something that I don't have a great, you know, understanding on.

[4:20] And in fact, I'm somewhat embarrassed to say this, but through my entire time in college, right, four years at SEMO, I went to Cape Bible Chapel.

[4:30] And I think, I'm pretty sure about this, I think Dan Green spoke on this book the entire time I was in college. And it still didn't get through my thick skull.

[4:46] It didn't click very well. And so what I want to do this morning, I know we have about 45 minutes, I'm not going to take near that amount of time. But I want to take you on a bit of this journey through this exciting passage.

[5:03] And I pray that this passage, that the Lord speaks to you, and I pray that the main message behind this draws you closer to himself.

[5:14] So let's go ahead and start by praying, and we'll jump into it. Heavenly Father, we, as we say often, say thank you this morning.

[5:26] We are looking forward to the day we can gather together in person, but we appreciate this opportunity that we have. Thank you for your word, your truth. Thank you for just the way it speaks to us.

[5:40] And I pray that this message this morning would be 1,000% from you, and that it would have an impact on the hearts and minds of those here on this call, on this Zoom meeting.

[5:55] And we just thank you again for this time. In your son's name, amen. So to keep you waiting no longer, this morning I want to share from the book of Hebrews, and specifically chapter 7.

[6:15] So if you have your Bibles, we're ultimately going to get to chapter 7. I'm also going to just warn you right now, the lead up to the main point is probably going to be longer than the time we spent on the main point.

[6:26] But when we get there, I pray that the message and the main point is made clear, and then we'll end from there. I mentioned, you know, before we prayed that at Cape Bible Chapel, we spent, I think, like I said, my entire four years there going through the book of Hebrews.

[6:46] And part of the reason it took so long was, one, you know, Dan Green did a very good job of really studying it and drawing out, you know, the main points.

[6:58] But the other reason why it took so long was the book of Hebrews is packed full of substance. Like, page after page, chapter after chapter, you're going to see verses that you recognize and main points.

[7:11] And there's just so much packed into this one letter. And I'll get to that here in a second. But it's a bit of an odd book, too. You know, we don't really know who the author is.

[7:24] You know, many suspect the likes of Barnabas or Paul. And quite frankly, the book of Hebrews doesn't start like a typical letter. You know, there isn't kind of that traditional greeting.

[7:38] And so, in fact, until you get to the end of the book, when you kind of read that salutation, that final greeting at the end, you may have forgotten that you're actually reading a letter to these Jewish believers.

[7:51] But from a big picture standpoint, you'll see that the author is teaching the Jews about how Jesus, or the former Jews, now believers, about how Jesus is better.

[8:08] How he's superior to the likes of angels, to the likes of Moses, to the likes of the Old Covenant, to animal sacrifice.

[8:18] There's also this smattering of warnings to believers, right? You know, many of us kind of recognize these passages that are kind of sprinkled in, you know, where it talks about, you know, it's warning believers against the neglect of such a great salvation and the hardening of hearts.

[8:37] There's warning against falling away and so on. But going back to the topic of Jesus being superior, there's one aspect of this that I kept running into and it kept jumping out at me.

[8:54] And that was the fact that Jesus is superior to the Aaronic or the high priesthood coming from the line of Aaron.

[9:06] So I'm going to just stop right there. I'm going to say, you may be thinking, what? You know, why does Jesus, the superior high priest, stand out to you?

[9:20] And are we really going to spend a Mother's Day message on this topic? I'll explain the first part here in a second. And the second part of that answer is yes, we are.

[9:33] And it's going to be good. So as I'm going through Hebrews, okay, we're not yet to chapter 7, but as I'm reading through Hebrews and studying it, I keep reading about how Jesus is, quote, unquote, after the order of Melchizedek.

[9:51] Let me repeat that. It keeps saying that he's after the order of Melchizedek. If you have your Bibles, turn to Hebrews 5.

[10:06] I'm just going to touch on these. Don't try to understand the context necessarily if you don't want of what's going on. Just listen to what it's saying and listen for the phrase after the order of Melchizedek.

[10:18] Verse 5 in chapter 5, it says, So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest. He was appointed by him who said to him, You are my son, today I have begotten you.

[10:31] As he says also in another place, You are a priest forever. After the order of Melchizedek. It goes on in verse 7.

[10:42] In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. And he was heard because of his reverence.

[10:53] Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

[11:10] That in verse 6 where we just read that, that is a reference back to Psalm 110. And it says in Psalm 110, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, You are a priest forever.

[11:27] After the order of Melchizedek. The last verse in Hebrews 6 says, Where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

[11:43] After the order of Melchizedek. After the order of Melchizedek. After the order of Melchizedek. We keep running into this phrase, After the order of Melchizedek.

[11:54] And after this, the author of Hebrews spends the entirety of chapter 7 talking about the priestly order of Melchizedek.

[12:08] So if I can just pause for one second and ask you a question. And give me some kind of nod or thumbs up if this, if your answer is yes.

[12:19] If it's no, don't answer. Do you have a desire to know the Lord Jesus more? Do you have, do you want to know his character, his superiority, his necessity in God's plan for salvation?

[12:37] Okay. I'm answering yes to these questions. And so as I'm reading, and as I keep hearing that Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek, the natural question that I'm asking in my head is, and I'm going to title the message this, who the heck is Melchizedek?

[13:01] Who the heck is Melchizedek? And more importantly, what does he teach us about Christ, our Lord and Savior? How does understanding the order of Melchizedek bring worship to God?

[13:21] That, those are the questions I want to answer this morning. This is a bit of a curve ball. It's, it's not in line with Joshua. It's not in line with mother's day, but it just became so prevalent in my study that I had to dive in and I was excited to see the result.

[13:37] And I wanted to share that with you this morning. Let me, let me, let me kind of take a break for one second. Teresa and I have been, we're in the middle of watching this ESPN documentary on Michael Jordan's last championship run with the Chicago Bulls.

[13:52] I think it's called the last dance. And it's been interesting to really see. I thought I knew a fair amount about Michael Jordan and a lot has been kind of shown behind the scenes of what happened in that last year and, and everything that kind of led up to his last championship season with Chicago and in general.

[14:15] But even if you had never seen this documentary, most of you know who Michael Jordan is. So if I made a comparison, if I said, Hey, that, that basketball player over there, he really, he really competes like Michael Jordan.

[14:31] You know, that would give you some frame of reference as to like how much of a competitor that guy is. Or if I say, man, that guy is super athletic. He could, he could jump and he could dunk like Michael Jordan.

[14:43] That would do the same. Or if I said that, that soccer player is the Michael Jordan of his sport. You would probably understand he, he, he is probably the best in his sport and maybe the best of all time.

[15:01] If you're, if you're Tom Broadwell, you'd say definitively he is the best of all time. But my point is it, it helps, you know, you may know nothing about soccer or whatever, whatever athlete is being compared to Michael Jordan, but the point of reference to Michael Jordan helps you to understand that player's character and his skill and, and, and who he is and how he relates to maybe other players.

[15:33] And so for the Jews, Melchizedek by no means at Michael Jordan, but he, they were, he was more of a familiar reference point. And, and to me, it, in a very surprising way, let me explain.

[15:51] Other than what I just read to you in Hebrews and in Psalms 110, Melchizedek is only mentioned how many other times in the Bible? One time.

[16:04] And that was 2000 years prior to what is being written about in Hebrews. In Genesis 14, the chapter just before what Dave style read in, in, in communion, you know, talking about the covenant.

[16:19] If you rewind the clock in Genesis 14, you'll see, you'll see the, the primary story of Melchizedek. And it takes place shortly after.

[16:30] Abraham, Abraham, then Abraham, or then Abraham, you know, later Abraham, but, but shortly after Abram and Lot separate, right?

[16:41] Abram and his, and his nephew, Lot, they're together. There's a little bit of conflict amongst the, the, the shepherds, I believe. And, and they decide one's going to go right. One's going to go left.

[16:52] And Lot says, you know what? I like the fertile ground in the Jordan Valley. That's where I'm going to go. And he sets up camp near this wicked city called Sodom. And to, to, to, you know, kind of shorten the story, four of the nearby Kings join forces and they go down and they defeat Sodom and Gomorrah in battle.

[17:14] And in this process, they ultimately take Lot and his family and his possessions captive amongst the defeat. And so Abram hears about this, and this is a pretty cool story, but again, to keep it short, Abram hears about this and he gathers 318 of his own trained men, his own family.

[17:36] And they go and they defeat these four Kings at night, driving them back, bringing home Lot and his family. It's just this, this great victorious, you know, war story.

[17:49] But on his way back, Abram is met by this misstead, mysterious man. Who, who kind of appears out of nowhere.

[18:02] And it says in Genesis 14, 18, these are the three verses that mentioned Melchizedek. After all that we read in Hebrews, the one verse in Psalms, you would think that there'd be an entire book written on this guy.

[18:14] Here's all we read about Melchizedek. In Genesis 14, and Melchizedek, King of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God most high.

[18:26] And he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram by God, most high possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God, most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

[18:40] And Abram gave him a 10th of everything. And there you have it. There is the elaborate three verse story of Melchizedek.

[18:52] He meets this victorious Abram on his way back from battle with bread and wine. He, he, he goes to bless Abram and the God most high. And then Abram gives him a 10th of everything.

[19:05] That's it. So on the surface, this doesn't seem to be substantive. How does Melchizedek, how does a Melchizedek comparison draws to Christ?

[19:20] Please hang in there with me. We're going to get there. And in fact, think about it this way. Melchizedek is mentioned in Genesis 14.

[19:32] That's 2000 years BC. Another thousand years passes. David writes them about him in Psalms. And then it's not until another thousand years later that it's mentioned in Hebrews.

[19:45] So, so let, let me share this. Let's, let's go to Hebrews seven. And let's read from the scriptures in Hebrews about, about what we can learn and what we can be taught about Christ as it compares to Melchizedek.

[20:04] And remember, we're answering the question, who the heck is Melchizedek? But more importantly, we're going to see how Jesus didn't just, like I said, satisfy.

[20:17] And surpass the role of the high priest. Not only was he superior to the high priest and the sacrificial system, the law in general, he rewrote the script. He redefined the whole position.

[20:32] He fundamentally changed the priesthood itself. It was a complete paradigm shift. And I'll explain what I mean here in a second. So, so just read with me here.

[20:43] Um, in, in, in Hebrews seven, starting one, it says, for this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the most high God met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.

[20:58] And to Abraham apportioned a 10th part of everything. He is first by translation of his name, King of righteousness. And he is also King of Salem.

[21:09] That is the King of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy. I'll just pause right there for a second. That also jumped out at me. And I'll explain that here in a second.

[21:20] Not a great, not a great phrase on mother's day to say that this guy was out father or mother, but we'll get to that. Having neither beginning of days nor end of life.

[21:31] But resembling the son of God, he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch gave a 10th of the spoils.

[21:43] And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people that is from their brothers. Though these are also are descended from Abraham, but this man who does not have his descendant from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

[22:05] It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.

[22:22] One might even say that Levi himself who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

[22:36] In these 10 verses, you know, there's a bit of a summary, so it kind of helps, you know, hearing it twice. But in these 10 verses, we see a comparison between Jesus and Melchizedek.

[22:50] I'm going to mention three of those comparisons. First, Melchizedek and Jesus are this rare combination of a king and a priest.

[23:03] I don't know if this is really mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. One who not only rules on the throne, but is also, you know, paying for sin or, or, or, or sacrificing.

[23:16] Zachariah prophesied that Jesus would be the priest on his throne. So that's the first big comparison that they're both this king priest combination.

[23:30] I almost think in basketball, to go back to that analogy, a player coach, a king priest, it's, it's a rare position that has kind of two roles brought to one. The second comparison is like Melchizedek.

[23:44] Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi. Like all the other priests before him, he was from the tribe of Judah. I think we probably covered that last week.

[23:57] He was from the tribe of Judah. When Abraham, when, in, in, in, in similar, in similarity, Melchizedek was not, he was not from the line of Abram. He was therefore not a Levite.

[24:08] He was, he was also outside of that. We know Moses and Aaron, both from the tribe of Levi, Aaron being the first high priest. So when Abram tithed to, to the superior Melchizedek, when he gave a tent to Melchizedek, it represented that not only was Melchizedek and therefore Jesus superior to all other priesthood, but it's saying that because Abram gave a tent and ultimately through the lineage, Levi is the great, great grandson or whatever it is of Abram.

[24:49] It is showing that even, it is showing that even, even Levi in, in the loin, in Abraham's loin, um, was blessed by Melchizedek and tied to Melchizedek.

[25:00] Ultimately, Jesus, Melchizedek superior to all other priesthood. And the last thing I want to just compare here is Melchizedek, uh, King of Salem represented both righteousness and peace, righteousness, uh, in the name Melchizedek piece in Salem.

[25:23] And it says that he had no father or mother beginning or end. And I'll just pause for one second there. Like I said, this also jumped out at me as I keep reading after the order of Melchizedek, what does this mean?

[25:37] Who is this guy? Now he doesn't even have a father or mother. He doesn't even have a beginning or end. I gotta know more about Melchizedek. I will say, you know, there are some that, um, some theologians would believe that he was the pre-incarnate temporary appearance of the son of God.

[25:55] Um, other theologians, and I would probably, you know, put, put my tent in this camp, um, would say that this is, this is just simply meaning his, his birth and death and his parents were not, um, were not, were not documented like every other priesthood, you know, where, where the definitive genealogy and the dates of their births and deaths were written down.

[26:21] Melchizedek did not have that. Um, and so simply that means it was a representation of, of this eternal nature of Christ, the eternal priest.

[26:33] And that's important to hear. And I'll get to that here in a second. Um, we're kind of going quickly, but if we, if we continue to read on in verse 11 in Hebrews 7, hang in there with me, it says, now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood for under it, the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron?

[27:02] For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe for which no one has ever served at the altar.

[27:18] For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah and in connection with the tribe of Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

[27:45] For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing perfect.

[28:04] And on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.

[28:26] You are a priest forever. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. So before I wrap this up in verse 25, I want to just acknowledge a struggle that many of us might have.

[28:41] I'll put myself in this camp. We read these verses about the priesthood and specifically the imperfections of this Levitical priesthood.

[28:52] And quite frankly, we have a little bit of a hard time understanding the role of a priest to begin with. If you don't have a Jewish or Catholic background where there's, where there's someone designated as priest, doesn't it become, isn't it, isn't it a bit of a foreign concept?

[29:12] It feels sometimes like it's hard to really understand. I've never, I've never, you know, I haven't spent much time around a priest.

[29:23] I don't know if it really resonates as to what that looks like and, and, and how that feels to have a priest or to, you know, to interact with that. And so in my mind, I was just thinking, how, how does this make more sense?

[29:38] Like what, what comparison can I make? And the only thing I could come up with was, you know, in a much more secular kind of government type of term, I compared it to the role of a president.

[29:53] And you think about, you know, the role of a president headed the executive branch, often kind of the point person for, you know, communicating on behalf of the country and, and, and, you know, passing on, you know, information and messages to, to the people.

[30:11] But you also think about presidents serve terms. They ultimately die. Things change from one president to the other. Obviously, you know, depending on the party, the, the, the, the actions of a president can vary quite a bit from one to the other.

[30:27] I think we would all agree. Presidents are not perfect people. The, the process of electing a president is not one without its flaws. There's, there's requirements around age, around where presidents born around citizenship.

[30:42] Um, there, there's a lot of similarities between, I think somewhat of a president and a Levitical high priest. Um, again, the president being a much more secular kind of example of that.

[30:55] It was, you know, the priest job to, to speak the word of God and, and to sacrifice, um, in many cases daily, but, but also in, in kind of, you know, annual, um, traditions as well.

[31:09] They're sacrificing on behalf of, behalf of the people and themselves for sin. And, you know, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies, uh, the most sacred part of this temple.

[31:22] And there would be sacrifice of animals and a sprinkling of the blood. And, and, you know, the priests themselves had a lot of requirements to, you know, to, to be met, to, to actually take this, to take this position on.

[31:35] I think there was 140 plus, you know, kind of physical requirements of a priest. They have an entire garb that is worn. Um, genealogy wise, they, they, they have to come obviously from Jewish parents.

[31:51] I think their father had to be a priest. And so despite, despite all of this, and despite the high standard, um, that there, that there was for a high priest, there was still major issues with the whole system.

[32:06] And, and these priests were sinners and the whole system of sacrificing animals, um, and the sacrifice being done by a sinner, it did not take away sins.

[32:17] It did not alleviate their conscious. You know, Hebrews 10 says that this system, the law was just, but a shadow of what was to come. You know, Jesus Christ.

[32:28] What does John say when he sees Jesus behold the lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world. And so Jesus, the man after the order of Melchizedek, the point I want to make here is he's not just another president in this, in this line of, of, of, of past high priests.

[32:51] Uh, he didn't just meet these requirements. He didn't, he didn't just meet them and even outperform them. You know, it says, we're going to read this here in a second, but there were, there were many high priests before, um, in, in this whole process from Aaron all the way through, you know, roughly the, the end of the, uh, the destruction of the second temple.

[33:14] Some, some say that there were 300 high priests and he didn't just, he wasn't just the best high priest. Um, he exceeded, he exceeded the typical role of a high priest, but he did it in a way that the Jews could not imagine.

[33:32] And so let me just end the message. With verses 23 to through 25. And I really want you to just pay close attention to this last verse.

[33:43] It says the former priests were many in number. Like I said, some say 300 ish because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.

[33:58] Here's the kicker. This, this is what really draws it together. Consequently, he is able to save to the utter most. Those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

[34:17] That is awesome. Jesus, the ultimate high priest after the order of Melchizedek is the singular, eternal, holy high priest who ushered in this new covenant.

[34:30] You know, it says when Jesus gave up his spirit, that thick veil, which divided the Holy Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom. And so when you're asking who is Melchizedek, He was a representation or a type of Christ that foretold 2000 years prior, the story of the greatest high priest, the eternal, perfect high priest, who is also the ultimate sacrifice.

[35:06] And when it says in verse 25, that he is able to save to the utter most, some versions may say completely. It's the idea of eternality for all time.

[35:18] There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood and the shedding of animal blood by a sinful priest was not going to satisfy.

[35:30] It took a holy high priest and a perfect sacrifice for salvation to be had. I gave you the example of the president.

[35:42] If you, if you wanted to go to the president and you wanted to ask the president a question, or maybe you had to share something with the president.

[35:55] This is how I'm feeling. This is a challenge I'm going through. A request, a feeling. If you wanted to have a conversation with the president, how would you do that?

[36:08] And this president may be a little bit different. You could send a tweet, perhaps probably not going to respond, but, but in the traditional sense, how would you communicate with the president? Maybe you'd maybe write a letter.

[36:21] You'd reach out to some low level, you know, secretary or some local politician. Perhaps you would call a hotline and you would just like, I mean, it's going to be a one in a million chance, but like, you're going to, you're going to try to, you know, get through.

[36:34] This is something else that has been totally rewritten. Jesus is not only the new high priest, but he is one that allows us to draw near to God through him.

[36:50] Since he always lives to make the intercession for us, as believers, we can dwell with the God on high. We can draw near to him.

[37:03] We can lay our sin and our worries and our pride and our control and our anxieties and our plans, everything before his feet.

[37:16] It says in the Bible that a day with him is better than a lifetime spent elsewhere. And so I pray that this picture of Melchizedek from, or this, this picture of Jesus from the order of Melchizedek, the superior high priest has pointed your eyes to him, the maker of all things, the God most high.

[37:41] By no means in my small brain, can I fully depict Jesus after the order of Melchizedek, but, but I pray that in this, in this, in this time together, this points you to seek his face, that we not only have this high priest that was better than anything else, but we have a high priest that desires this intimate relationship with his children.

[38:11] And who allows us to intercede. We're in a time of mixed emotions right now. And, and what, there could not be a better situation for us to, to lay it before the Lord.

[38:24] Lord, I don't know what things are going to look like in six months, in a year. I don't, I don't know what this means for me, my family, whatever it may be. Let me lay it before you. I pray that we are seeking his face, that we are seeking to know more intimately the qualities and characteristics of God.

[38:50] He is our high priest. To end with just one last mention. And I was just thinking about this in Hebrews 11. It talks about the, the, the, the hall of faith, right?

[39:06] Or the wall of faith, whatever you want to call it. And, and just to read one last thing, it says in, in Hebrews, Hebrews 11, six, and without faith, it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to God, draw near to him, must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

[39:32] Let's go ahead and close in prayer. Lord, we, we thank you for, for your message here in, in Hebrews. And, uh, for some of us, the, the idea of a, of a high priest and what that looks like is a, is a foreign one.

[39:49] You know, you may not have that kind of background. Um, but Lord, your, your word makes it clear that you are superior to all that. That not only have you satisfied it, that you have met requirements, but you have exceeded them.

[40:04] And, and we thank you for that, Lord. Thank you for being not only this, um, this all powerful high priest that's that, that sits on his throne, that, um, is righteous and holy, but, but one that desires peace and one that desires relationship with his children.

[40:21] And I just pray that all of us on this, on this call and in this meeting would, would draw near to you. The opportunity is, is here, Lord. Today is the day, um, to, to draw near to you and to bring worship to your name.

[40:36] And so we just, we just thank you for your word, uh, here in Hebrews in your sins name. Amen. Amen. Transcription by CastingWords Transcription by CastingWords