Draw near to God
Ralph Green
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted
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Draw Near to God
Hebrews 7:11-28
Introduction - One time when I was a K-9 officer in McAllen, I responded to a burglary of vehicle at an apartment complex on Jackson Ave in the wee hours of the morning around 1 or 2 a.m. The witnesses had seen the suspect running east when they scared him off. I grabbed my dog Wolf and the great thing was that the wind was blowing right in our faces and Wolf’s head came up and he started running and it was all I could do to keep up! I knew from my experience that he was hot on the trail of this crook.
In no time we were in a citrus orchard blasting past orange and grapefruit trees. All of a sudden, Wolf stopped on a dime & charged straight into an citrus tree and started growling. I turned on my light and there’s a guy hiding in the leaves of the tree, trying to graft himself to the tree! Well now it’s not illegal per say, to hang out in a grapefruit tree, maybe criminal trespassing but the property wasn’t posted. Wolf knew it was the crook, I knew it was the crook, but I had to have evidence to make the case that tied him to that vehicle that was broken into. I radioed back to the officers and found the only thing taken, was the radio knobs of the stereo as the crook was going to steal the radio. I had to pat the crook down for my safety and guess what I felt in his pockets? Two round, small & firm items I figured to be radio knobs. Well guess who was under arrest? But it still wasn’t enough, I mean a lawyer would argue he just had some in his pocket.
We needed more. So we matched his tennis shoe prints to prints found in the dirt near the truck, we also had the owner of the vehicle identify those knobs as his and we found the crooks fingerprints inside the truck! Boom. An iron-clad case tie up in a nice bow for the prosecutor and the courts.
Well in our study through Hebrews, the writer is summing up his case that Jesus Christ is the permanent, perfect High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. His case is reaching the climax and he’s tying it up nice and neatly for his readers.
Here is his argument of the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek as a type of Jesus’ priesthood can be summarized in three short notes:
Melchizedek’s priesthood summarized -
1. Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek. vs. 4
Melchizedek did not go out with Abraham to fight against the kings who kidnapped his nephew Lot in Genesis 14. He wasn’t entitled a part of the spoils. He had not provided Abraham priestly services. Yet Abraham recognized him to be a faithful priest of the Most High God & voluntarily gave him a tithe of the spoils as an act of worship and & and thanks to God! It is important to note this tithe was given way before the Law of Moses from God required a tithe of the firstfruits.
2. Melchizedek blessed Abraham - vs. 6
The Bible doesn’t give us much detail about Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek except three brief verses in Genesis 14:18-20. No record of how Abraham knew to tithe to Melchizedek. We don’t even know how Melchizedek knew to bless Abraham but he did. Here Heb. 7:7 sums this up nicely by saying: “Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.”
3. Melchizedek’s priesthood is eternal - vs. 8
As we said last week, priests could only serve from age 25-50 so their ministry was always designed to be temporary. Their sacrifices were temporary but Melchizedek’s ministry lives on in the person of Jesus Christ who lives on forever.
Now in vs. 11-28, he gives us more important information as additional evidence:
Jesus Christ is from the tribe of Judah, not Levi - vs. 11-14 He clearly says in vs. 11 if perfection was possible through the Levitical priesthood of Aaron’s line, why did God raise up another priesthood not through Aaron?
Vs. 12 - If God changed the priesthood, then God needed to change the law.
Vs. 13-14 - God raised up Jesus to serve at the altar from the tribe of Judah from where no one has ever served as a priest before.
Melchizedek isa type of the everlasting life of Jesus Christ - “the power of an endless life.” vs. 15-16
Vs. 17 - The writer quotes the only other place in the OT where Melchizedek is named from David’s Psalm in 110:4.
Vs. 18-19a - The Levitical priesthood had to be annulled b/c it was weak, unprofitable, it was temporary. The law made nothing perfect. As a matter of fact, the law revealed imperfection!
So what are we to make of this “new & improved” priesthood of Melchizedek as a type of the priesthood of Christ?
What are the results of it? The writer lists 7 results for us:
1. We draw near to God - vs. 19b
Abraham drew near to Melchizedek and received a blessing from him. We as Christians can now draw near to God through our superior High Priest Jesus Christ and we receive all the “spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.” Listen to Paul in Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” Then Paul lists a ton of them like He chose us, He’s made us accepted to God, we’ve been adopted, we have the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance.
2. Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant - vs. 22
Jesus can guarantee His covenant because He in fact is God! Notice it’s a covenant, not a contract. A contract provides ways for people to get out of their legal obligations, a covenant means we will sacrifice our resources for the benefit of the person we’re in a covenant with! What greater sacrifice than Christ giving Himself for us as a ransom for many?
3. Jesus’ priesthood is unchangeable & eternal - vs. 16, 24.
We have God’s promises He will not change the rules or requirements of salvation mid-stream or at the end of time on judgment day. It’s sad we have hyper Calvinism on one hand arrogantly boasting they are the elect; but it’s also sad we have a lot of “daisy Christians.” You know, “He loves me, he loves me not...” The writer of Hebrews hammers home the point God doesn’t change His eternal promises, covenants and what is required for salvation! Abraham gave a tithe in faith to a priest who served the Most High, Invisible God. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. We’re told that 3 times in the NT: Rom. 4:3, Gal. 3:6, & James 2:23! When we come to God in faith, there is another result and blessing from the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ:
4. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him! Vs. 25a
“Uttermost” - Compound word in GK: “Pan” - all & “telos” = complete or whole. In other words, Jesus Christ can save the vilest of the vile, the worst sinner you can imagine! This was clearly illustrated in Mark 5:1-20 with Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac of Gadera. Guy couldn’t be chained or restrained, naked, cutting himself in the graveyard. People were terrified of him. Not Jesus. “What’s your name?” Legion for we are many the demons growled. Yet Jesus delivered the man with somewhere around 2000 demons living in him. We know that because Mark recorded there were about 2000 pigs who had more sense to run off a cliff, than let those demons live in them! I don’t care what you’ve done, there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Folks, if Jesus can save that guy, He can save anybody.
5. He always lives to make intercession for us - vs. 25b
We generally & sincerely mean it when we tell people we’ll pray for them and I believe we try. But our prayers for people are intermittent and feeble at best. Yet Jesus likes to talk to His & our Heavenly Father about issues related to His children. According to Romans 8:26-27, the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers by translating them to for the Lord Jesus and the Father, Jesus takes our feeble, weak and ugly prayers, cleans them up, gives them power and influence b/c He prays according to the will of God.
Kent Hughes says “There is a beautiful aroma from Jesus’ perfect prayers, offered confidently as He sits at the right hand of God. Every prayer hits the mark and graces our lives. The reason He can save completely is that truly “He always lives to intercede for us.” Though we are finite, He is infinite. Though we are temporal, He is eternal. He prays with the ease of omniscience (all knowing) & omnipotence (all powerful) perfected through His own human suffering. He’s praying us right now!”
Abraham received a blessing from Melchizedek. How great a blessing that Jesus’ Priesthood is an eternal priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, who is praying, interceding to the Father on our behalf!
6. Jesus offered a one-time, permanent and effective sacrifice. Vs. 26-27
Notice the writers descriptions:
He is Holy
Harmless - Innocent Lamb
Undefiled - lived a sinless perfect life
Separate from sinners - He was like us, but not like us.
Higher than the Heavens - God has exalted Him above every name!
He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices daily - for His own sins b/c there were none. He just offered Himself - “Once for all” - Hallelujah what a Savior!
7. Jesus has no weakness, He’s perfect forever - vs. 28
As the old Hymn says “I am weak but Thou are strong, Jesus keep me from all wrong. I’ll be satisfied as long, as I walk, let me walk close to Thee. Through is world of toils and snares, If I falter Lord who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but Thee dear Lord, none but Thee. (Just a closer walk with Thee # 473).
Applications:
1. Don’t settle for second best.
The writer of Hebrews was writing to Jewish people, Hebrew people who are seriously playing around with settling for 2nd best by going back to the sacrificial system that was outdated, ineffective and unnecessary. How do believer’s settle for 2nd best? Having Jesus + mindset. IE Jesus plus being a legalist will make God love me more. Jesus plus going to church and bringing my Bible. Jesus plus anything I’m hope will give me favor with God. Now don’t get me wrong, having Biblical standards of holiness and righteousness are good things, important things. Going to church is critical to your spiritual health, steady Bibel intake, are all important. We should do those things out of love and gratitude for Christ but stop trying to do them acting as if God will give you more favor and blessing, or He’ll approve of you more than He already does! Let me ask it this way: How arrogant do you have to be to think you can offer God something more special, splendid and perfect that what He has in Jesus Christ? Absolutely nothing!! Enough with the Jesus Plus anything mindset.
2. Draw near to God through Jesus Christ.
Vs. 19 - There is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Today, I was reading Psalm 141 from our SOAP Journaling reading plan and David beautifully illustrates this: He said in vs. 1 “Lord I cry out to You; make haste to me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.”
Make haste to you David? Who in the world do you think you are? You’re a nobody, you’re the last of 7 sons from a nobody family from nowheres-ville Bethlehem. You’re a puny little shepherd boy, so insignificant you own daddy forgot about you when the famous prophet Samuel showed up at your house to anoint a king. Make haste to me Lord when I cry out to you. Why you can almost see the angels and the host of Heaven, turn their heads in utter shock at the brazen request of David.
Yet David is an Old Testament Saint living out by faith New Testament promises! He believes the Lord is His Heavenly Father, so he says in effect: “Daddy I need you.” David’s plea to God is to keep him from the evil lurking in his heart. He’s practicing what the writer of Hebrews would write in Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” How can we come with boldness? Our permanent, perfect, sympathetic High Priest named Jesus Christ gives us that kind of access. James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Oh what a joy to be able to say to our Heavenly Father: Daddy I need you.
Close - In my reading and studying this morning about David in Psalm 141, I read about a simple country fried guy named Jim who understood what it means to have access to God through Jesus Christ. He used to pray things like:
“Hello Jesus, this is Jim. Jesus, my wife Mary is in distress. I’d appreciate it so much if You’d heal her.”
Hello Jesus, this is Jim. I sure enjoyed that passage the preacher was telling about you today in church.
“Hello Jesus, this is Jim. We sure could use rain Jesus because the crops are going fail.”
Hello Jesus, this is Jim. Would save my neighbor farmer Joe? He’s angry b/c it hasn’t rained and his wife died last year.
All through Jim’s life, that’s how He prayed, starting off with “Hello Jesus, this is Jim.” When Jim got to the end of his own life, a friend reported Jim’s last words. He said “Jesus just came, and do you know what He said to me? Hello Jim, this is Jesus!”
Wow! Just wow! Because of Jesus, we don’t have to be fancy, we can draw near to God because He is the perfect, permanent High Priest.