Good morning to everyone. Wonderful singing. We sang about so many promises this morning in these wonderful hymns, the truth of what Jesus has done for us. 

We're going to talk this morning about a better hope in Hebrews chapter 7. This is a chapter we've been kind of building towards. I just wanted to mention that we went down and saw Ralph and Harriet yesterday. Had a wonderful visit with them. Ralph didn't like the food too much in that place, so we went and got him a sandwich and an ice cream. He looked like he was doing pretty good, especially with the ice cream. 

We had a nice visit and then we were there for a while and then Harriet said, when are we gonna hear a word from the Lord? So we took the Bible, we read from John 14, and I was just thinking about a better hope, a promise that we have from Jesus. That passage in John 14 is so good. 

"Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." 

This is our hope, this is our anticipation, this is what we look forward to, and we can have this hope because of what we have in Christ, because of what he's done and the promises he's given to us, and we're going to consider that today in Hebrews 7. 

In our recent studies, especially back to chapter 5, we've been laying a groundwork for the significance of the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek, and this Melchizedek is a mysterious man to us. We don't have much revelation about him in the Scriptures, but I think this is purposeful. He's only mentioned, only brought up, and briefly described in order to fulfill one purpose, and that is to be a type of Jesus Christ. 

Just as we've seen all the law and its sacrifices and rituals and ceremony are types of the fulfillment that we find in the New Covenant consummation, so Melchizedek is a pre-law type or picture or foreshadowing of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. It's very important that we understand this and we come to this, as we come to the seventh chapter. Types are very important in the Bible. They give us examples and instruction that help us to understand better the substance, the reality or fulfillment of those types, and that's really what's going on here in this seventh chapter. 

We have to keep in mind as we study that the writer is writing to Jewish people in a very Jewish context, and the argument that he lays out in this chapter is absolutely powerful and effective in showing that the New Covenant is better because it has a better mediator and a better priesthood with a better sacrifice. 

You see, this would be a big obstacle in the writer's way because the Jews saw the priesthood as central to his worship of and fellowship with God. If the New Covenant had no priesthood or if it were inferior in some way, this would indeed be a deal-breaker for these Hebrews. Also, we should bear in mind that the continuity of the nation, of the heritage and lineage of the Jewish people was of utmost importance to them, and Abraham was the patriarch, literally the first father of Israel. 

So if the author can demonstrate somehow effectively that Jesus and his New Covenant priesthood is better than that of the old, even better than Abraham, the patriarch of the nation, then he could go a long way in showing to the Jewish mind that this New Covenant in Christ's blood is far superior to the Old Covenant in the blood of bulls and goats. And it is Melchizedek, the type of Christ, the eternal continuing King and priest of God, that serves him in this purpose, to form and execute his argument. 

Well, in chapter 5 he brought up the subject, but you remember he had to put in a parenthetical warning in chapter 6 for those who had become dull of hearing. But here he moves on to what he wanted to say. He moves on to his central argument in the type of Melchizedek and the fulfillment in Christ. 

So prepare to give your full attention to these tremendous details that form this flawless argument, and strap on your thinking caps, because we will see as we move through these 19 verses this morning that in the bringing of the New Covenant there is a better hope through which we can draw near to God. 

Let's look at our text in verse 1, Hebrews 7:1. "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils." 

And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 

Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 

Therefore, this is really the important part of the text in verses 11 to 12, "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? For the priesthood being changed of necessity, there is also a change of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood." 

And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For he testifies, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 

For on the one hand, there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 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. 

Well, I've given you three points on your outline. First, we're going to see a type of Christ. Second, a superior priesthood. And third, a better hope. 

In the first section of our text, we see that Melchizedek is a type of Christ. You'll remember the account in Genesis 14 where we first meet Melchizedek in the Scriptures. Abraham was coming back from a victorious battle, the slaughter of the kings, and he met Melchizedek, the king of Salem. The author tells us that his name means king of righteousness, and that he was king of Salem, or peace, which was at the time the name of Jerusalem. So here we have a Gentile king and priest of the Most High God. 

We don't really know much about this situation. It was before the law, before the nation of Israel, and God has His king priest in His city. And this is a major aspect of the typology because we know that under the law there were no kings who were priests. In Levitical priesthood, where priests were of the type and lineage of Aaron, a man could not be a priest and a king. 

We considered this back in chapter 5 with the story of Saul and Samuel when Saul, king of Israel, acted as a priest offering the sacrifice in the place of Samuel, and God judged him and it cost him the kingdom. The Jew knew very well that a priest could not be a king under the law of Moses. But this Melchizedek, according to their own scripture in this account of his meeting with Abraham, was a king, king of righteousness, king of peace, and he was also a priest to the Most High God. 

The author builds his argument in that in this account, Abraham the patriarch, first father of Israel, paid tithes to this king-priest. Literally, it says he gave him a tenth of the spoils, the choicest part of the lot. Let's look at that passage in Genesis 14, if you'd turn there with me, please. 

Genesis 14, at verse 14. "Now when Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his 318 trained servants who were born in his own house and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought back all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods as well as the women and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shavuot, that is the king's valley, after his return from the defeat of Cheddar Lomer and the kings who were with him. 

Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High and he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.' And he gave him a tithe of all." 

Well, the Holy Spirit in the seventh chapter of Hebrews makes clear that it was Abraham who gave the tithe to Melchizedek. Now there were no laws in effect here. You see, the priests after the order of Aaron were to be paid tithes according to the law. It was commanded of the people. So the children of Israel paid tithes to Aaron out of obedience to the command, but Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek of his own choice and volition because of the greatness of this man and his office. 

Look at verse 4 of our text in chapter 7. It says, "Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are the sons of Levi who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises." 

Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Well, his argument here is simple. In the strong tie to lineage that existed in the Jewish mind and culture, the fact that Abraham was the first father of Israel, the patriarch, and he gave a tenth of the choicest portion and paid tithes to Melchizedek. It is logical in the mind of the Hebrew, as the author goes on to say in the next verses, that Levi, still in the loins of his father Abraham, paid tithes to Melchizedek. 

Now the lesser pays tithes to the greater, but the greater blesses the lesser. And what we saw was that Melchizedek blessed Abraham in this account in Genesis 14. All this is to say to the Hebrews to which he writes that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and also his priesthood is greater than that of Aaron. 

And this in the Jewish mind we see in verse 7 is beyond all contradiction; it's not able to be argued with. This is what he's trying to convey to them and that's why he uses Melchizedek as this type of Christ. So we're considering our first two points that Melchizedek is a type of Christ and that his priesthood is better than Abraham and better therefore than Aaron and his priesthood under the law. 

Genesis 14 in those short verses is all that we have as a record of Melchizedek, except one mention in Psalm 110 and then here in the book of Hebrews. God does not tell us about his birth, he does not tell us about his father or his mother or his death, and this is what really serves the author in using him as a type of Christ. According to the record of Scripture, Melchizedek has no beginning or end, he has no father or mother, no genealogy. 

And you see this was absolutely essential for the Aaronic priesthood. They had to have the lineage, they had to be from that tribe, but he has no lineage. It says therefore he remains a priest continually in type and historical record in the Bible. And it is Jesus who fulfills this type in the New Covenant. He ever lives, and this becomes a major component of why the New Covenant priesthood of Christ is better and thus the New Covenant itself is superior to the old, and you'll remember my brothers and sisters this is the essential argument of the book of Hebrews with so many important applications. 

So we see in verses 1 to 10 a type of Christ and a superior priesthood. Now the author will build on his argument beginning in verse 11 as we see a better hope. Verses 11 to 12 are so important, look at those again with me, please. 

He says, "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? For the priesthood being changed of necessity, there is also a change of the law." 

Well, we see the word therefore as the author is establishing his argument based on the truths that we have already looked at in the first ten verses. And one of the key words here is perfection. It is a specific word that speaks of consummation or completion. 

Wiest says about this word, it speaks of completeness, and he says an institution is perfect or complete when it affects the purpose for which it was instituted and produces a result that corresponds to the idea of it. 

What was the purpose of the priesthood? What does a priest do? The purpose of the priesthood was to remove the obstacle of sin which kept man from God and make a way of access for man to come to God. He's a mediator between God and man. He brings man to God. The Levitical priesthood could do this only in type, only in a typical way, but not in an actual way. The whole system only pointed to the cross; it was a picture, it was not the substance. 

Because the Levitical priesthood and sacrificial system could not accomplish the salvation of man, it follows that a new priesthood and a new covenant must be instituted that could. That's what he's saying. 

Turn over to Romans 8 with me, please, Romans 8 at verse 3, and we'll see Paul explain this in a couple of familiar passages. Romans 8:3, this may seem basic, my friends, but this is a really important truth for us to understand and it's often not applied in Christendom today. 

He says, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." 

You see, the law was weak and unprofitable in the sense that it couldn't accomplish salvation. Now turn over to 2 Corinthians 3 with me also and we'll look at Paul's words there concerning this truth. 

2 Corinthians 3:5, Paul writes, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter, the law, kills, but the Spirit gives life." 

"But if the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation," look at the words he uses to describe the law, "the ministry of death, the ministry of condemnation, the law kills." 

"If the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious." 

"For since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech, unlike Moses who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day, the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 

But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Because the Old Covenant law and its priesthood could not accomplish salvation, but could only picture and point to salvation in the once-for-all sacrifice of Messiah, there had to be a change. 

And that's what verse 12 in our text tells us and what Paul was showing in 2 Corinthians 3 and Romans 8. Verse 12 says, "For the priesthood being changed of necessity, there is also a change of the law." This is so important for us to understand, my friends. 

Back in verse 11, the author uses the word another, referring to the priest and the priesthood. The word is heteros. It means another of a different kind. He could have used the word allos, a word that means another of the same kind, but he used heteros, another of a different kind. It was necessary that the priesthood change. 

The Aaronic priesthood under the law of Moses could not accomplish salvation, so there was the necessity of a change to a different kind of priest and priesthood. The new must abrogate the old. It must replace the old. That's why we see all this language in the New Testament about the old passing away, becoming obsolete. 

And here we have specific language showing that the old has been completely replaced by the new. And this has great application for the Hebrews, to leave the old, to hold fast to the new. But it also has great application for us in the church today. Because there's a lot of confusion, not only about justification, but also about sanctification by the law in the church today. 

There are many false churches, denominations that call themselves Christian, that try to mix the law with the New Covenant in terms of justification or salvation. These churches preach a false gospel in line with the Judaizers of old, such as Paul is dealing with in the book of Galatians, and he said they should be cursed to hell, anathema be upon them if they preach any other gospel than the one we've preached to you, the one we received. 

We should avoid and separate ourselves from and actually warn against and call out by name those who preach a false way of salvation, a gospel of law mixed with grace, mixing the old with the new for justification. But there's another application we must understand. And that is for those who preach the true gospel, who understand justification by grace through faith alone, but then they want to bind the law on the believer as a means of sanctification, or conforming to the likeness of Christ. 

And this is quite prevalent in the church today. Many Christians understand clearly that justification, salvation, is by grace through faith alone, but are confused about the role of the law in the believer's life. We talked about this last week, I know, but it's so clear here in our text. Paul says that just as we received Christ, so we are to walk in Him by faith. 

He makes this abundantly clear in Galatians 2 when he writes, "Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" The key to the new covenant life is understanding that we live not by the works of the law, by the letter, but now by the Spirit, by Christ's life in us as He lives in and through us as we abide in Him by faith. 

So we see clearly the foundational truth for the new covenant life here in Hebrews 7:11 and 12. The law of covenant has been completely abrogated, replaced, done away with by the new. The law is not a means of justification or sanctification. For the priesthood being changed, there is a necessity of the changing of the law. 

There's now another priesthood, another covenant, another high priest, not of the same kind, not of Aaron, but a different kind, that of Melchizedek. Look at verse 13 in our text as we continue here. 

"For he of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life." 

"For he testifies, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.' For on the one hand, there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness. For the law made nothing complete, nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God." 

Can you see the clarity of his words, of his argument? It's so forceful and effective, especially for the Jew to which he writes. Jesus is not after the order of Aaron. He's not associated with the law of Moses or the old covenant. He is after the order of Melchizedek, and He has not come according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 

He lives. That's why we live. He's alive. He's our Savior because He rose from the dead and defeated sin, and He came to live in us, to make His home in us, and to live His life through us. Thus there's an annulling of the former commandment. You see this, my brother, my sister in Christ. Do you believe it? How do you apply this truth? 

The old covenant has been annulled, done away with, replaced by a better covenant, and this because of the weakness and unprofitableness of the old covenant to accomplish salvation. It's not that it was wrong; it was given by God. It's not that it was bad. The law is holy and righteous and good. It was intended to point us to Christ. It was intended to show us our sin. It was intended to lead us to faith in Him, but it was not given to save us. It was not given to bring completion or perfection as so many in the church now try to use it for that purpose. 

Listen to these abundantly clear words of Paul in Galatians 3. He says, "What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. He says, is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 

But the Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed, therefore the law was our tutor; it was our schoolmaster to teach us, to discipline us, to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 

Now listen to what he says, but after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." 

On the one hand, there's the annulling of the one, the former commandment. The law made nothing perfect. But here's the good news, the great news. On the other hand, there's the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. 

It's important and true that the law cannot save us, cannot sanctify us. It is true that every man is a sinner, separated from God, without life, destined for the lake of fire, apart from grace, apart from a perfect sacrifice in His place provided by God. Man is in a hopeless position apart from the new covenant promises and completion in Christ. 

But the good news is that God did not leave us in that hopeless, doomed place. He brought a better covenant. He fulfilled and replaced the old with the new, a better covenant built on better promises. And it is in this way, through this covenant of grace, by faith alone in Jesus alone, in His death, burial, and resurrection, in my place for my sins, that I can have this hope, that I can have this salvation, that I can know that I have eternal life, that I can enter this new covenant and draw near to God. 

The law is a picture of man's sin and need, of God's holiness and unapproachability. The old covenant saints looked forward to the fulfillment, to the promise of the sacrifice, the institution of this new covenant. We now have the substance that is Christ. We look back to the cross in faith and experience the institution of these promises in a pre-fillment of all that God has promised Israel and anyone who will turn to faith in Jesus. 

In the old covenant, there was nothing clearer in the Jewish mind than His sinfulness and God's holiness and the truth that He could not approach God. This was demonstrated most vividly at Sinai in the giving of the law. The purification was necessary for three days in preparation. The boundaries were set around the mountain and anyone who transgressed them would be stoned or shot through with an arrow. Only Moses could go up on the mount to receive the law. The thundering and blackness were such that they could not take it and they trembled in fear. 

The voice of God came and those who heard begged that these things would no longer be spoken. Moses was exceedingly afraid and trembling. This is a picture of the old covenant law of man's sinfulness, God's holiness, and the separation that existed. They could not draw near to God. They had no access. 

But now, through the bringing in of a better covenant, built on better promises with a forever living High Priest who is actually the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, now that we have the fulfillment, completion, perfection in Jesus Christ, the veil has been torn in two from top to bottom. Access is granted directly to God through this one-time final sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in His burial and resurrection. 

We have such a High Priest who is seated at the right hand of God and ever lives to make intercession for us. He has accomplished our salvation, He has justified us from every sin, and He has regenerated us and made us new men. He's taken out our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh. He Himself has come to live in us and produce life and fruit and abundance for the glory of God. 

As we walk in faith, looking to Him, trusting Him, depending on Him, one day, one moment at a time. As our life is a living sacrifice of thankfulness and obedience to Him, trusting Him to work His will in our lives. And do you know what His will is for you? It is your sanctification. It is an outward conforming to the inward reality of who you are in Christ. 

It is His life manifest out through the members of our body to bring Him glory. To show the transforming power of the new covenant gospel of Jesus Christ and to be a witness in this world to lost men. To bring them the good news that there is a Redeemer. That fulfillment and perfection has come in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The old is gone, the new has come. And that by God's abounding grace, through faith alone in Jesus alone, each and every man can have life, can be saved from the wrath of God to come, and each and every man can draw near to God and have a better hope, a confident assurance that they are saved forever in Christ. 

I just want to leave you with the encouraging words of Hebrews chapter 4, a revelation, a bombshell for the mind of the Jew and something that should be a bombshell to our minds every day as we preach the gospel to ourselves, as we give praise and thanks to God each step of the way. 

Hebrews 4:14, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Look at what he says in verse 16, imagine this in contrast to Mount Sinai and that scene we just described with the law. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." 

In Romans 8, Paul says He is our Abba, He's our Papa, our Daddy. We can crawl right up into His lap because He loves us and He wants to help us. What a contrast with the Old Covenant. What good news for us, my friends, for those who believe Jesus, who have access, who have boldness to approach the eternal throne of grace, to find mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

What a Savior we have, what a priest, what a sacrifice, what a hope. What a salvation in Jesus, our Savior and Lord. And we say to Him, be the glory forever and ever. Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful that You continue to teach us by Your Spirit through Your Word to understand the greatness of Jesus Christ and the new covenant and promises and hope that He has brought, that He has accomplished, that He has given to us freely by grace through faith in Him. Thank You, Lord, that You're so good to us and so faithful that You're our Father. In Jesus' name.