Hebrews 7:1-28 | Unshakeable

Well , my name is Damian and while this morning won't be my last words that I share as senior pastor , this will be my last sermon as senior pastor of New City and I want to say how grateful I am to have served here as a pastor for over 11 years and as the senior pastor for eight of those 11 years , and so , as I said , there will be time for me to

share more words , but this will be my last sermon . I know those of you who have been around , if you remember , toward the beginning , as we were moving through this transition , we had said that I would be in this role , serving in some capacity through March .

I'm actually going to be continuing on until the end of April just to keep helping us in this transition , but then I promise I'm out . So that's just a little heads up of where we are , and this morning I chose my favorite passage to preach as my last sermon . And this morning I chose my favorite passage to preach as my last sermon Hebrews chapter seven .

I'll let you decide if that's a joke or not , but one of the things that's interesting about Hebrews chapter seven is that we wouldn't know about this connection with Melchizedek if it wouldn't be for this chapter . In fact , we'll speak . There's only two times he shows up in the Bible before Hebrews .

Once is Genesis 14 , which is what chapter seven is talking about , and then also in Psalm 110 , which is also quoted in our passage . But as we reflect on it , we might miss something very relevant to us . You see , all of us need status , we need security , we need significance .

We've been made to experience these things and because we need these things , we actually all , whether we

know it or not , build our lives around these desires . We don't just want a meaningful life , we want a meaningful life . We want a meaningful life that lasts . This is where we get the idea of legacy and how we might be remembered .

These things are hardwired into us and in the ancient world , people had high priests in order to help them with these dynamics . They had religious mediators who represented them before God to give them , among other things , status before God , security before God and significance before God and if you were with us last fall , is this ? What is this ? This spring ?

Yeah , last fall , the Jewish people had the Levitical priesthood , which we talked about preaching through Leviticus , and , if you remember , that's a system designed to make it possible for God to dwell with his people , and a high priest was the one who made atonement , who offered sacrifices , who stood between God and the people .

And while that seems like a bygone era , we have our versions today . Now , we may not bring sacrifices to temple , but we still look for someone , we still look for something to mediate our status , to mediate our security , to mediate our significance . We still have high priests , we just don't call them that .

Instead of offering animal sacrifices , this is what we do we offer our time , our energy and our devotion to these modern high priests , things that we believe will give us status , security and significance . Maybe for you , like many of us , it's your career or your job . More specifically , how do you know ? Well , do you feel worthy only when you succeed ?

Or , to say it another way , do you feel less worthy when you know ? Well , do you feel worthy only when you succeed ? Or , to say it another way , do you feel less worthy when you fail . What about ? For some of you , it's romantic love .

Maybe you believe that if you just found the right person , or if your spouse would finally change like you want them to , then all of a sudden you'd be secure , then everything would be okay . For some of us , it's religion , or our moral performance .

If this is true , it could feel like this we believe that we're acceptable to God and others as long as we're doing everything right , and when we do something wrong , guilt crushes us . Maybe for you , it's self-improvement . Maybe you believe that if you just fix yourself , whether it be through therapy or health or discipline , then you'd finally have peace .

Well , maybe , finally , another great high priest that we seek in our culture that gives us status and security and significance would be technology and progress . Maybe you look to science , medicine or wealth to solve the deepest problems of your life . Well , now , none of these things are bad . So what is the problem ?

Well , the problem is that everything we typically build on

is fragile . It can be lost , and if it's fragile , you are fragile . If you build your status and your security and your significance on anything that can be or will ultimately , at death , be taken away , you are very fragile . This morning . You see , the audience in Hebrews was tempted to go back to a system that had been replaced .

It wasn't that they wanted bad things , but they wanted security in something too weak to hold them . And that's what we have in common with them this morning is that we try to find our status , security and significance in things that are too weak to hold us . What we need is a status , a security and a significance that can survive death .

And so Hebrews chapter 7 tells us where we find this . So this morning I have three points . The first one is a priest who gives us a better status . The second is a priest that gives us a better security and finally , a priest that gives us a better significance . So , first , a priest who gives us a better status .

If you listen to the scripture reading , you know that this is the part in the letter where we , as modern readers , start to find it a little difficult . This is an obscure character with an obscure type of argument . It's almost like you need a cheat code to understand what in the world he's talking about in the sermon .

While that's true , we're not going to dig into it deeply . I'm going to synthesize what I think the argument is , but it is important to know that the original audience this wouldn't have been as lost on them , right ?

This is a sermon and the preacher is preaching to a people , and this would have landed in a way that spoke to their fears that they were experiencing . And so for us where we need to start to synthesize , it is just a reminder that the entire point of the Old Testament priesthood was to provide a way for God to dwell with his people .

This is what God was after . If you remember our exploration of Leviticus , god wanted to dwell with his people , he wanted to be in relationship with them .

And so , as we think about that , what's interesting in our text today is that Melchizedek is called a priest of the most high God before the priesthood is initiated , but not only that he's a priest and a king , which is a no-no . You do not do that . There's a separation of powers in Israel . You do not have a priest king .

But all of a sudden , this crazy guy shows up in Genesis 14 , as we just read . So let's look at it chapter seven , rather verse one , for this guy , this king of Salem , priest of the most high God . There it is met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him . So here's the basic argument .

At first is that we all know he says that those who are superior bless those who are inferior . And so here you have Abraham , who , by the way , is the goat . Until Jesus , moses has nothing on Abraham . Moses is only who Moses is because he's a child of Abraham . Even you and I , if you're in Christ , you are still not children of Moses .

You're children of Abraham , though this is what Paul says in Galatians , chapter three . And so Abraham's a big deal . And yet here you have Abraham as inferior , giving a tithe to Melchizedek . And then not only that , not only does he receive it , which is scandalous , but then he has the audacity to bless the nation , blesser himself .

That he the one who the blessing was supposed to come through to all the nations , that this man blesses Abraham .

And so this is the basic argument that the author to the Hebrews is trying to make , and the reason this is important is because he wants to show that there is a better priesthood , one that doesn't come by descent , in other words , you're not born into it , but rather comes by divine appointment .

That's the argument that he's making , and the author then points out that this idea that the Aaronic priesthood , this Levitical priesthood , was going to go away , was always a part of the plan . And then he makes this convoluted to us . Argument by showing how this happened in Genesis 14, .

Argument by showing how this happened in Genesis 14 , how David brings it up again in Psalm 110 , and then how it is a type of Jesus . And so what is interesting , then , about chapter seven is that we wouldn't know any of this without this chapter , and so it is a big deal , but we're going to move on .

So what he does show is that Melchizedek is a type of Christ . Now , do you know what I mean when I say he's a type of Christ ? There's this thing , there's this way of understanding a text in the Bible , in this case in biblical theology , called typology , and so in this case he is . Melchizedek is a type of Christ in that he's a real guy

, this is a real event in history , and that , in God's sovereignty , he's orchestrating this figure to foreshadow Jesus . And anytime this happens which it happens a lot from the Old Testament into the New Testament is that that type resembles Jesus in specific ways , but it's always incomplete .

Ultimately , they always end up being flawed , it always falls short , but the New Testament authors bring it to the surface to show the final thing , which is that Jesus is the true and better fulfillment of this type and that this type is pointing forward to them .

What this is , is this a theologically intentional way to show the storyline of scripture and to show that Jesus is the center of the Bible . Now , for our purposes today , I want to point out two things that bring together Melchizedek as a type and Jesus as the fulfillment .

The first one is this His status as a priest was not by descent or ascent , but by divine declaration . Look with me . In verse three he is without father or mother or genealogy , having neither beginnings of days nor end of life , but resembling the son of God . He continues a priest forever In Genesis 14, .

It doesn't say what verse three does , it just doesn't mention it . It doesn't say he didn't have father or mother , it just doesn't mention that . Well , why would this be important ? And it's because in the Old Testament , priesthood , your status came by descent . And in this case we don't know his descent .

And that's the whole point he's saying his status didn't come by descent , it came by divine declaration . Okay , well , when you think about this , think about our life right . What we're talking about here is what are his credentials ? What are his credentials ? What are Jesus's credentials ? What are Melchizedek's credentials ?

Well , in more traditional cultures , your credentials came from descent . That is , who's your daddy , who's your mommy , where did you come from , what's your last name , those types of things . In more modern culture , we haven't entirely lost that .

Of course , it's not nothing , but the narrative has shifted really to you making your own credentials right From wherever you started . Have you ascended to a higher status ? So in a more traditional culture , it's your status comes by descent . In our more modern culture , it's more ascent , but in this case it's neither . It's actually divine declaration .

So for Melchizedek and ultimately Jesus , god is doing something different . That's the first thing he wants to show . The second thing is that he is a king of righteousness and peace . You see , even the other priests in the Levitical priesthood needed to make sacrifice for their own sin before they could sacrifice for the people .

But here we see that in Jesus , ultimately , a king of righteousness and peace does not have the same need , and the order always matters . Things have to be made right before there can be true peace . We know this in our own life . In fact , I was talking this week .

I reached out to some friends and said hey , how does this show up in your life , this principle that in order to have true peace , you first need things to be made right , you first need righteousness ?

And one of them sent back a message to me and he was describing how , in his workplace sometime in the recent past , he saw this dynamic working and he told the story about how there was this one team that was underperforming . And when you investigated , the reality was is this team did not trust their leader . They didn't like their leader .

They didn't feel he was a good leader and because of who he was , he wasn't going anywhere . There's no way that they were gonna find another leader . And so what they did is they just made false peace . They just stopped engaging , they disengaged right , they were evasive , they just ignored it as though it didn't happen . So what suffered ?

Well , among other things , their productivity suffered . They begin to be a very underperforming team in the organization and then , through some events , they actually that leader moves on . They bring in a new leader , a leader who was a good leader , a leader who built trust with the team , who made things right relationally again between them .

And then , guess what happened ? They started to flourish . There was this idea of peace in the team and then , from peace , there was flourishing , and from this flourishing there was teamwork , and this team now is one of the highest performing teams . It's performing way higher than it ever had before .

Right , you see , there was nothing that that team could have done to flourish more until relationships were made right . This is how the principle always goes and , of course , biblically speaking , you and I cannot have peace with God until we are made right .

This is how the principle always goes and , of course , biblically speaking , you and I cannot have peace with God until we are made right with God . That's the idea . He is king of righteousness first and peace . You see , we have a leader in Jesus who is also our priest . He is a king priest .

He secures our status of righteousness by giving his own life on our behalf . And so , before we move on , the question is where are you getting your status ? Is it by descent , is it by ascent ? Is it by your achievements , or is it by God's divine declaration , through faith in Jesus ? Remember where we started .

If your status comes from something that can be taken away from you . You are fragile , you will always live in fear , you will never be able to rest . But it's Jesus who gives us a better status . But status alone isn't enough . It's not enough in the argument , it's not enough in your life .

Even if we know where we stand , we'll still wrestle with a deeper question Is it secure ? Can I trust it ? Will it last ? You see , if the priests of the old were temporary , then our security in them was temporary

. But Jesus is not only a priest who gives us a better status , he's a priest who gives us a lasting security . Let's look in verse 20 . 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 . You are a priest forever . This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant .

The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office , but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever . You know , security in a world where everything changes is by nature fragile . And this verse I kept reflecting on . I'll say it my own way verse 723 .

My translation is and the priest kept dying , they just kept dying . Then a new one came in and they died . And then another one , and they died . They kept dying . So we have to slow down for a second . Well , you see , what we need is we need not only a status , but we need a security that outlasts death , or it's not secure , right ?

No matter how well we execute our roles in life , no matter how well those priests , that Levitical priesthood , executed their role , they just kept dying , and so will you , and so will I . You ever thought about that ?

If you put your status and your significance any way in your performance , even your legacy , it doesn't matter ultimately , because you die and , as the old Baptist preacher said , after they bury you , they're all gonna go back and have a potluck .

This is the way it happens , this is reality , and on this point , I just kept thinking this weekend about someone in all of our lifetime most of our lifetime , I guess , if you're alive , the last three years , this would count for you that seemed like they lasted forever and it seemed like they executed their role so well , and it was Queen Elizabeth II .

She served through 15 prime ministers , 14 US presidents and seven popes . Think about that . She visited more than 126 nations . And get this , as one author said , in 1953 , on a single royal tour , she traveled 40,000 miles , many of which were by boat . 40,000 miles , many of which were by boat .

She shook 13,000 hands and received tens of thousands of bows and curtsies . She gave and listened to over 400 speeches , and this was just one of more than a hundred of these royal tours during her reign . In all , she traveled more than 1 million nautical miles by sea and many more by air .

She met more than 4 million people personally and had more than 2 million over for tea .

She gave more than 100,000 awards and , perhaps most impressive out of hundreds of thousands of engagements , events , appearances and meals , which were often preceded by long distance travel and time zone changes , she fell asleep in public only a single time , and it was at a lecture about the use of magnets in biology and medicine .

And , by the way , by the way , she was 78 years old . So which one of you is going to have that type of status ? Which one of you is going to have that type of security ? Which one of you is going to have that type of significance ? I'll wait . Answer no one , none of you , not me . And yet she died . They didn't sing or say forever live the queen .

They said long live the queen . And guess what they say now ? Long live the king . You will die . And they died . They kept dying . They kept dying . We need a security that outlasts death . How can a priest remember to intercede for us when he's dead ? What about the next one ? Well , he's gonna . What about the next one ? Well , he's going to die too .

Jesus is a permanent priest . The author to the Hebrews is saying because he's alive forever , he's always interceding for us . More on that in the final point . Here's one more illustration in this point , just to sort of bring this home what this looks like . I know that you've all had this experience so recently .

This happens in any customer service experience , but this happened to be with a health insurance company which shall remain nameless , even though oh , I wanna say it so bad . But basically , any customer service reality . You call in because you have something that you need to report and you call in .

A lot of people aren't helpful , not because they're not helpful , they just don't know how to help you . And then , all of a sudden , you get someone who goes the extra mile , as we know , and they're so helpful .

And you're on the phone for a long time and you finally feel like you're getting traction and then all of a sudden you get to that dreadful time , which is okay , I've done everything I can do for you . Now you have to . And you're just like no , don't say it . Just you finish this and they give you the assignment .

And then you know you got to hang up the phone now and this is why you're worried , because you don't know who you'll get next time when you call back . So then I've , I've , I've been through this . I'm sure you do the same thing . So then I say is everything we talked about in my file connected to this claim number ?

Yes , sir , yes , sir , mr Sheeter , although that's not what they say . But yes , sir , mr Sheeter , it is , it's in , it is in . Sorry , sorry to you guys over there , it is in your file , it's there . And I say , with very little confidence thank you . And guess what ? What I do doesn't work . I had their email address . No email back .

I had their personal extension . Yeah , that doesn't exist . So then I finally get a hold of the next person and then I say to them well , can't you see it in my file and they say , yes , but because I wasn't the one who said that , I can't do anything about it . It's like , yeah , that makes perfect sense to me . Okay , what , why ?

Why do I belabor this ? Well , we know that feeling right , but with Jesus , we don't even we don't need to start over . We have a permanent advocate who always pleads our case before the Father . We don't have to worry . Well , is that going to be forgotten ? What about that ? Is that in my file ?

No , jesus is our permanent advocate who always pleads our case before the Father . We can trust him for security . What are we trusting in A bank account , an email address , a phone number , a relationship , a job ? Jesus gives us a security that can survive death . But security alone also isn't enough . We have a status . That's not enough .

We have a status and security . That's not enough . It's possible to be safe but still be unloved , unseen ,

unknown . We wonder , does anyone truly know me ? Does anyone love me completely , even in my worst moments ? You see no . Priests , the priest of old . The problem wasn't just that they kept dying , it was that they couldn't offer that kind of intimacy . But Jesus does . He's not only a permanent priest , he's a personal one .

He saves us not just to the minimum but to the uttermost , and that's our final point today a priest who gives us a better significance . Why ? Because he saves us to the uttermost . Look with me in verse 25 . Consequently , I love that word . I love when people say it in actual conversation . I know some people that way .

They'll say and they'll say consequently , I'm like yes , that's awesome . Consequently , he is able to save to the uttermost . I got a little footnote here in my ESV . I'm gonna go down to the bottom . Uttermost , that is completely or at all times , those who draw near to God through him , since he always lives to make intercession for them .

Now , many of us aren't really afraid of losing status because you feel really good in your status . You're not afraid of losing security because you feel really secure . But what you are afraid of is being forgotten . You're afraid of not being known . Who knows me ? Will I be forgotten ? You see , the priest of old lived and died and were forgotten .

But Jesus , on the other hand , he lives forever and he saves to the utter most . Jesus never forgets you . He intercedes for you personally before the Father . And this is where we're going to slow down for the last few minutes we have together . What does it mean ? What does verse 25 mean ?

That he's able to save to the uttermost , since he always lives to make intercession for them . Listen to the uttermost means completely , comprehensively , exhaustively . Jesus doesn't save halfway . He doesn't lose interest halfway , like me and you . He doesn't grow cold like me and you . He doesn't forget you halfway . Think about you .

Know , jesus , some of us are like this . It was his joy and his love for you that took him to the cross and he completed it . But it's not like he's lost that zeal now in the ascension , at the right hand of the father , that somehow he's cooled on you . He doesn't think of you with the same love and intimacy .

Jesus doesn't merely help you , he saves you . He's a very particular kind of savior . So what does it look like right now ?

Well , to answer that phrase , like Ben last week mentioned Dane Ortlund's book , there's a chapter in Dane Ortlund's book , gentle and Lowly , where he expounds upon this verse , following John Bunyan , who wrote a whole book on this verse , and so some of these things I'm about to say are me synthesizing what Dane said .

Okay , he always lives to make intercession for them . Listen , this is not Jesus trying to change the father's mind . As Ortland says , intercession applies what the atonement accomplished . In other words , jesus isn't wringing his hands hoping the father will listen . No , he's the beloved son . The father loves to listen to the son .

I think sometimes when we think of intercession Jesus is praying for you it feels really abstract . But this is personal . Jesus is interceding for you right now . Dane Ortlund has this very simple question , this little illustration .

In that chapter he says imagine if you and I , right now , were in a room and in the next room we could hear Jesus praying to the father for us . What if you heard Jesus praying to the father for you , because he is ? What if you heard what he was saying ? Listen , this happened to me one time .

I was in a room and someone I cared about deeply was in another room and they didn't know that I was in that room and they were praying for me and I heard them praying for me and it was so powerful . What if we could hear Jesus praying for you because he is praying for you ? Wouldn't that fear begin to melt , whatever it is ?

Wouldn't that burden that feels unbearable begin to be lighter ? Jesus is pleading on your behalf , and here's the thing he doesn't stop why ? Because you and I continue to fail and he continues to intercede . Jesus doesn't stop . You're never forgotten . Your name is never dropped . You don't get transferred to another representative .

You have a permanent priest , a personal advocate , a perfect savior . This is the argument of Hebrews , chapter seven , and it's not just that , your sins that draw him in to you , it's also your shame , it's your darkest parts that Jesus is praying to .

He's speaking to To the uttermost means God's redeeming touch reaches down into the darkest crevices of our souls , dane Ortlund says those places where we are most ashamed , most defeated , and he loves us there . If that's true and it is it means that your life matters , you have significance . Your life , your cause , your status , your security .

Your name is on the lips of Jesus right now as he's praying for you . You remembered in the place that matters most , in the throne room of heaven . And so here's the question Do you believe that Jesus' love for you extends into that one part of you that still feels too dark , too messy , too intractable ?

Dane Orland says it this way His heart is most strongly drawn to those crevices , end quote . Listen , he knows you to the uttermost , he says you to the uttermost . So what would that look like this week ? Not just to say yeah , I believe that , like I believe that it's true . Maybe for you , what would it be like to believe it for yourself ?

Maybe believing it this week looks like going to someone in your circle or community and saying something out loud that you need to to confess , and all I mean by that is just tell the truth . Hey , I feel really locked up in fear because , hey , I've been hiding this , because , hey , I need encouragement and prayer

here . Because what does that look like for you ? Maybe it's as simple as sitting still with this truth this afternoon that Jesus is not disappointed with you . He is advocating for you and so often your mind and heart thinks he's disappointed .

He's waiting for you to come back and actually what he's doing is he's busy advocating for you , praying for you , interceding for you right now . And so Hebrews 7 forces us to ask what are we trusting in for status , security and significance ? If we're putting our hope in anything shakable , it will ultimately fail us .

But Jesus is not shakable , he is indestructible verse 16 . Permanent verse 24 . A guarantee verse 22 . Forever verse 17, . Eternal verse 25 , and perfect verse 11 , verse 19 , verse 28 . You need a status . You need a status , you need security , you need significance .

You are made for these things , but you need a status , security and significance that can outlast death , and there's only one person who's outlasted death , who can give that to you , and it's Jesus Christ , the King of righteousness , the King of peace and the great high priest which we'll get into in the further weeks and so Jesus alone can offer you these things

. This is good news . You can rest in that . Let's pray , father , we are grateful and we also know that , as true as these things are , they don't always feel true , and so , right now , we choose to rejoice that , while we experience ourselves and are fickle , you are not Lord Jesus . You are permanent forever . You always live to intercede for us .

You saved us to the uttermost , and so , in just a moment , as we go into this short time of reflection , I ask that you would , holy Spirit , quickly bring things to mind to both confess and to rejoice in . And it's in Jesus' name we pray amen .

The Lord's called us here and he's formed us here by word and sacrament , and now he sends us with his spirit and also with our names forever on his lips as he intercedes for us . Go now receive the blessing from our Lord . May the Lord bless you and keep you . May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you .

May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you his peace . Go now in that peace . With that peace , in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit , you are sent .

Thank you , hold on a second . Hold on a second . For the first time in my life , I feel like a baseball player wondering . I was gonna say it . I was gonna say it . For the first time in my life . I feel like a baseball player wondering do I step out of the dugout now or do I not step out of the dugout ?

But thank you , thank you all , I love you and I you know thinking about this . This role is not the role that's made me feel like I had status , thinking about this sermon or security or significance , but it was significant because it was a serious role that I always loved and was so grateful for to serve you all in this capacity , and I'm so grateful .

Leah and I will continue to be a part of this church as members and I'll be a part of the future , and I'm so grateful , which is why my language is always .

It's my last sermon in this role and so , lord willing , sometime in the distant future I will be up here again and preach , but I don't know what else to say except thank you , thank you , and you really are sent this time .