Pastor called me yesterday and asked me to sing a song this morning. He said that we were going to be preaching through Hebrews 7 and he said a message of hope and assurance. I was reading that yesterday, last night, and studying, and Hebrews 7:19 says, "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."

I was listening to an interview this week with Nick Foles. He was the Super Bowl quarterback MVP from a few years ago, and they had an interview with him. He said that in all things that he does, he's going to glorify God in all of his actions. He said when he raised that Lombardi trophy for the Super Bowl, he was smiling. He was smiling not because he had won the Super Bowl, but because he was in Christ at that moment. What a reassurance that is for us! His assurance and his hope were all in Jesus.

I've been held by the Savior. I've felt fire from above. I've been down to the river. I ain't the same, prodigal return. All my hope is in Jesus. Thank God my yesterday's gone. All my sins are forgiven. I've been washed by the blood.

I'm no stranger to prison. I've worn shackles and chains. I've been freed and forgiven. Not going back, will never be the same. All my hope is in Jesus. Thank God my yesterday's gone. All my sins are forgiven. I've been washed by the blood.

There's a tiny thing that just breaks a man, breaks him down to his knees. God, I've been broken more than a time or two. You pick me up and show me what it means to be a man. All my hope is in Jesus. Thank God my yesterday's gone. All my sins are forgiven. I've been washed by the blood. 

Doug, thank you so much for that good song. Good message of truth for us today. Hebrews chapter 7, please.

I want to begin with a statement from the psalmist, King David. He said, as the heart that the small desert deer thirsts for a drink of water. That little deer that David pictured is being chased by predators. It's gasping for a drink of water. He said, "So my soul thirsts after the Lord." I want for us to think of that statement this morning relative to our interest right now in God's word. Are you just casual about it? Or deep in your heart, do you have a thirst? Do you have a thirst to believe the good news of this book of Hebrews that we have a better hope? I wonder if we have that kind of thirst.

Our better hope is better than Noah had when God told him to build the ark because a flood was coming. Our better hope is better than Abraham had when God promised to give him a great promised land and make him into a great nation. Hebrews chapter 7 insists that our better hope is even better than that which Moses had, who was on the mountain and received the law from God. 

I'd invite you right now to turn to the book of 1 Peter. I want you to look at a statement about our better hope. The book of 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 3, please follow: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 

And then look at chapter 3 of 1 Peter, also at verse 15: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." Romans 8 tells us that in this kind of a world that's groaning and travailing in agony, we who are believers are saved by our hope. Do you sense that this morning as we come? Do you sense a desire to know more about this better hope that God has given to us who are believers?

When Jesus established the new covenant feast, the Lord's Supper, he announced that the sacrifice of his blood on the cross on the next day was the beginning of God's new covenant, which is better than the old covenant. It gives us a better assurance, a better understanding, a better promise, a better security. What the book of Hebrews is focusing on is the fact that we have a better hope because of the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. We have a better hope.

I'm thinking of a statement that Jesus made in the Gospel of Luke when he was talking to the Jewish people who were living under the old covenant. Listen to this carefully. Here's what Jesus said to those religious people: "So likewise when you've done all these things relative to the law, when you've done all these things which you're commanded, say we are unprofitable servants; we've done what was our duty to do." 

Which one of us today could say we've done all of these things that the Bible instructs us to do? But if a man, if any one of us could stand and say, “Lord, I've done all of these things written in your word,” he would still say, "We're an unprofitable servant." We need a new covenant. We need a better covenant from the Lord, and that covenant is the death of Jesus on the cross. 

And today, if we understand our better hope, then our heart response is like Paul: "God forbid that I should glory, not in I've done all these things. God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus." Hebrews chapter 7 gives us three reasons that we have a better hope. We have a better covenant, a better promise, better assurance, better security because we're saved and we're in Christ.

First of all, in Hebrews chapter 6, if you look there for a moment at verse 19, he talks about this at the end of chapter 6, which is a chapter about our eternal salvation. He said this: "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

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, beginning of days and end of life, but made like the Son of God remains a priest continually.

The first reason we have a better hope, and I hope we might just get a grasp on this one thing: Jesus Christ is our priest in the presence of the Father continually. He lives, said the writer of the book of Hebrews, and he remains a priest continually.

Now what the writer of Hebrews 7 does is he takes us back to an event in the life of Melchizedek in the life of Abraham in Genesis chapter 14. Let's go back there for a moment and just read this statement. Genesis 14, this is the first time he's mentioned at verse 18: "Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of the Most High God, and he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.'"

This occasion was a time when four kings hostile to the Lord and hostile concerning his promises fought against the land of promise in a number of the cities—four Babylonian kings. It would be something like if Iraq and Iran and Syria and Egypt decided to attack some of the cities of Israel, and they fought this battle, this war against God's chosen people and God's chosen nation, and they defeated these cities. The enemies of God defeated his cities; they took his wealth, they took his people back with them to their own land. 

When Abraham heard about that, he decided that he would take his army, 318 chosen servants, and he would go and rescue some of the people who had been taken captive by the enemies, and he did. He rescued his own nephew Lot and came back. As he came back to the city of Jerusalem, Mephibosheth came out to meet him and to bless him and to give him praise. Can you see this scene? Abraham coming back with his 318 servants, and then this priest who served as a priest and also as a king named Mephibosheth, Melchizedek, came back, and the priest, the king of Jerusalem, came out and blessed Abraham. What an amazing story!

Melchizedek, the priest, never heard of before in the scriptures, came out to bless Abraham, and Abraham offered tithes. That's the story that we're reading about now. The author of this new covenant book explains that the king of Jerusalem, who lived long before God gave the priesthood to Moses, who lived years before that, served as a mediator priest in the days of Abraham. God takes that man in Hebrews chapter 7 and makes him an example of Jesus, the king of Israel and the high priest for sinners who made the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

I want to invite you right now to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 to a passage that speaks about this in the new covenant. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, I wish for you to see this in your own Bible, verse 18. This is talking about the sacrifice that Jesus made for all men: "Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. For God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Melchizedek made a sacrifice; he made sacrifice as a priest for the sins of the people. They did not understand that, and Abraham came out after the battle that was fought, and he also worshipped this king, this priest, Melchizedek. I'd like for you to listen to a statement that summarizes it. You don't need to turn to it; just listen to this statement by Jesus: "So likewise you, when you've done all these things, which you are commanded, say we are unprofitable servants; we've done that which was our duty to do." 

And then the writer of Hebrews responds to that: "Therefore, in all things, Jesus Christ had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." I wish I could adequately explain that word "propitiation" this morning. It means he made the perfect, complete, adequate sacrifice. Melchizedek was a king, but he was also a priest who made sacrifices for the sins of the people. 

And I wish that every one of us this morning could just take that word, that one thing: Jesus is the priest who made the perfect sacrifice for my sin. It's called propitiation. That means, dear friend, that God is satisfied with the sacrifice that was made for you and me. And let each one of us this morning ponder that on this first day of a new week. Jesus made the perfect sacrifice. There's nothing that can be added to it. 

So Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and Paul said, "Jesus Christ, our great high priest, has given us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." I think sometimes we forget about that. We miss out on that great promise of the scripture, that Jesus is my priest. He's done everything necessary to satisfy the Father on my behalf. And so now I'm reconciled, I'm justified, I'm saved, I'm cleansed, as Doug was saying, our sins are forgiven. 

The point that the writer of Hebrews 7 makes is that Melchizedek received tithes; he was worshiped by Abraham. See that scene again: Abraham and his 300 servants coming back, bringing back some of the people who were captured, including Lot, and the king coming out to meet Abraham. 

This king, Abraham understood, was a high priest, and every one of us needs a high priest. We worship him as our high priest. There's another verse in Hebrews that explains that for us, Hebrews 13:15: "Therefore, by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God." 

Let's ponder this scripture today and look at it as in a mirror. Does that describe my life? I believe that Jesus is my high priest. He made the perfect sacrifice for my sin. Therefore, I purpose in my heart to worship him, not just on a Sunday, but at all times. This is our attitude; we worship him.

So the first thing that we're told about this man is that we have a priest continually. I would hope that that one truth could be strong in the heart of every person here as we go back to our homes today: to realize that the scripture says, "I have a high priest who made the adequate sacrifice for my sin at the cross."

Secondly, in verses 11 through 19 of Hebrews 7, he tells us that we can draw near to God. I want to admit this morning, folks, that I find this strategic paragraph to be difficult to explain from Hebrews chapter 7. But at the same time, I'm impressed with the fact it talks about our better hope, and that's of enormous importance concerning Jesus, our high priest. He has come to dwell in our life, and now the Hebrews author says we can draw near to God. 

That's Old Testament Hebrew terminology of what it meant for the priest to come into the presence of God. He tells us two things, two revealing insights about this. First of all, he talks about the power of the endless life of Jesus Christ. And this man, Melchizedek, does not have a genealogy in scripture. He doesn't have the time of his birth or the time of his death. He represents Jesus Christ, his eternal, powerful, endless life.

Let us be reminded, folks, when we talk about Mephibosheth as a priest, he lived four or five hundred years before the Jewish priesthood was given to Moses at Mount Sinai. He lived back in the days of Abraham. When the law was given—and the thing is that the writer of Hebrews is talking to people who are clinging to the law of the priesthood—when the law was given, it put people in bondage. 

The law concerning the priesthood given by Moses to the people, 1,500 years before Jesus Christ, could not save the people. And yet the Jewish people diligently followed these practices, these of coming to the priests with lambs and books and offerings and sacrifices, and scripture says they could not save the people. By the law, by that striving to keep that law, Jesus said, "You make the Word of God of no effect." 

So the thing he's telling us about Mephibosheth is he brought, he represents a better hope, because under the old covenant, priesthood, sinners were forbidden to draw near to God. As a matter of fact, under the Jewish priesthood system, practiced for 1,500 years until the time of Christ, men could not enter into the presence of God. 

And Hebrews 7 is telling us now we have the privilege to draw near to God. In the Old Testament system, old law, old priesthood, if men entered into the presence of God, they would be smitten dead. Only once a year could the great high priest go into that Holy of Holies and make a sacrifice. But now, Hebrews chapter 7 encourages all men to come into his presence with boldness, with full assurance of faith. 

And Jesus gave three examples of that in Luke. He told about the prodigal son who wasted his life in sin and disobedience and went away from his home, and his father, who came to himself and said, "I'm going back." He came back. That's new covenant hope. Jesus talked about that man who went into the temple to pray and wouldn't even lift his face toward heaven because of his guilt and sin. He smote his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And Jesus said, "That man is coming to me; he's saved; he's justified." 

There was that thief on the cross beside the Lord on the day when Jesus died. He entered into the presence of the Lord when he just simply turned to Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me." And by calling upon the Lord, he came into the presence of God. Jesus gave a picture of that in Revelation 3:20 when he talked to people who said, "I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and I'll sit down and have supper with him." 

That's a picture of the intimate relationship that we have because of our new covenant priest, Jesus Christ. He's not a priest after the Levitical order or after the tribe of Aaron. He's a priest after the likeness of the man Mephibosheth, Melchizedek. 

And then the third reason that we have this better hope is because he's given us a surety. I'm using one of the words that's in the text of Hebrews chapter 7. Let's turn there again and look, please, at verse 20: "And inasmuch as he was not made priest without an oath, for they become priests without an oath, but he with an oath, by him who said to him, 'The Lord has sworn and will not relent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.' By so much more, now watch this statement, by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant." 

He's given to you and me, just grasp this word right now, a surety. That's the word which means a pledge. Jesus, our high priest, has given us a pledge. He's given us collateral. He's given us a guarantee. He's given us an earnest. As I studied that word, I thought when Mary and I moved here almost 30 years ago, we were looking for homes that we might be interested in. And finally, on the last day, after looking at homes for about seven days, the realtor showed us the home that we own on North Turtle Lake, and we decided we wanted it. And we put down a surety, a down payment, so no one else would buy that house. 

This scripture text that we're looking at today says Melchizedek represents Jesus, our high priest, has given us a surety, a down payment on our eternal salvation, our inheritance with Jesus Christ. Now I want to mention three things relative to that third point. He says the Lord has sworn when he gave us a surety. The Lord has sworn to us a surety, and that's taken from a custom of that time when a man would have a white stone, a valuable white stone in his hand, and he would shake hands with another man that he made an agreement with, and he'd put that white stone, that surety, in that man's hand. 

What this is saying is that this special word means that he's put a pledge in the hollow of our hand. The pledge that God has given to me is Jesus, our great high priest, who paid the penalty for our sin. My relationship with God depends upon Jesus, the pledge that the Father gave to me in his word. My pledge to God is also Jesus, the white stone. 

It makes me ask this question; I want us all to ponder this. What right do we have to enter heaven? When life ends, maybe quickly, what right would we have to enter into heaven? Well, there are only two ways to answer that question. We come boldly to the throne of grace through Jesus, our high priest, to receive mercy and grace, or we stand before God and we say, "Look, Lord, the works that I've performed during this, I've been worthy, I've done good works." Either one of those two.

But this text is talking about that at all times the believer can hold fast to the surety that God has placed in our mind and heart. That surety is Jesus. He's our assurance. And then this text also says concerning that surety, he continues forever. Jesus lives forever. And this is a promise made to those who come to God through him. And I noticed so many different places that talk about coming to God: Luke 13:3, you must repent to go to heaven, to be saved; Matthew 18:3, you must be converted; that's talking about coming to the Lord; Matthew 11, where Jesus said, "Come to me and I'll give you rest"; John 6:37, where he said, "All who come to me, I will know why is cast out." 

All through the scripture, we see this invitation. And the best evidence that we've had, that choice made that choice in our life, is that our heart is turned to him at this moment. The best evidence that we've come to Christ is our mind and heart is turned to Jesus. Listen to this statement by Simon Peter. You don't need to turn to this; just listen: "Jesus himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed." 

Well, listen to this carefully: "For you were like sheep going astray; that's the way it was. But have now returned to the shepherd and the overseer of your souls." I love that word "now." Have I come to Christ? Have I come to him to trust him as my Savior and my great high priest? To have the surety that Jesus is my Lord, a surety given to us from God. The best evidence is that right now, our heart is turned to the shepherd.

And then there's one more statement that this man who wrote the book of Hebrews made. He said, "Once for all"—just get a grip on these two words. Concerning the sacrifice that he made for us, two words: "He did." Jesus did make that adequate sacrifice, and that's why we have this better hope. We hold on to that idea.

Let me give you a contrast. In the Old Testament, one of the prophets said to the people of Israel, "Prepare to meet your God." In the New Testament, Jesus said, "It's finished." Do we prepare to meet God, or do we believe that he finished the work?

A few weeks ago, maybe several months ago, two men drove into our church to work on a project—into our house, our parking lot at our house—in order to work on a project around the house. And when they were going to leave, I gave them John 3:16 and a gospel tract to look at. The younger man looked at the John 3:16 card, and he said, "I was saved when I was 17 years old." He knew it was a finished transaction. His associate, the other man, said, as he looked at John 3:16, "I'm still working on it."

Once for all, Jesus became the priest on our behalf. We don't need to do any work on it. Just trust him. Just come to him. Just know that our heart is turned to him.

So here are the three things that Hebrews 7 reminds us about: Melchizedek teaches us that we have a priest continually. I just hope we might take these truths in our mind and heart today. I have a priest continually who made the sacrifice for my sin. I can draw near to God. I can literally have the Lord living in my life. And he has given me a surety of a better covenant.

There was a time when a man came to talk to me about a tragic event that he'd been a witness for in Wausau. He had been down in the spring of the year at a place called the Rothschild Dam. Some of you have heard me tell of this story before. He watched as young men came up to the dam in the spring of the year when ice was coming over the dam and heavy waterfall. And he watched as two young men came in their boat and were fishing underneath that waterfall in the dam. Fishing was good at that time of year. 

As he stood there, he saw their boat capsize, and both men were plunged into the icy cold water. He saw them struggling, trying to get out. Eventually, he saw they took their life jackets off because they thought they might be able to swim out. As he stood there, he looked around for something of a life rope that he could throw to these men, but there wasn't anything there. He watched these two young men in their early 20s be swept down in the river and drown. He came to talk to me about his grief and his disappointment in seeing that happen. 

These two young men perished because they needed a life rope to hold on to. And it's so interesting to notice that the book of Hebrews uses this kind of a word picture for us to be saved and have the better hope. It tells us, "Let us come to Jesus and hold fast to our confidence in him." Paul uses that same terminology in 1 Corinthians chapter 15: "Hold fast to the truth that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again." 

That's the practical application today for the truth that we've been looking at. We have a priest continually. We can live in his presence at all times. And we have a surety, a pledge from the Lord, that he'll keep us forever as his own. Hold fast to these great promises of scripture. The name of our salvation is Jesus. Call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

Let's bow in prayer. Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit might use these words from Hebrews chapter 7 for our encouragement, our assurance, and our understanding, Father, of our better hope. We love you, Father, and we thank you. You've given us this time to look into your word again today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.