A Better Hope – A Better Covenant (Part B)

I don't care what's happening to me. I care about how I performing in the presence of the king is so easy to preach, what's up dude get but is not easy to live right there in your face when you can't have what you want and it hurts. That's what we called so early on we pack that into a haversack part of us.

Now we understand it, this is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Hebrews. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching today.

Pastor Rick brings you part two of the study called a better covenant in Hebrews chapter 7 there were these truths about the future that came from God to him and were backed up by Scripture already written and Melchizedek is 110 song is all about Messiah we know is Christ. The Hebrew word from Christ as Messiah. The Greek word for Messiah is Christ's same word the new one which culture what what emphasis you want to place upon Psalm 110 verses three and four. David writing the song says your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power.

He's talking about coming Messiah will tie that in momentarily. He goes on in the beauties of holiness, and then he adds the next verse. Yahweh has sworn and will not back down. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Now is the time. This is a dilute direct link between David dancing before the ark with the thought of a priest with the crown of the king is saying prophetically. There is coming a Messiah, he will be both priest and king.

We never had anything like this before, but it's coming. And he will follow that pattern of Melchizedek, who long ago.

In the days of Abraham was both.

Melchizedek was a king and a priest and so we go to that moment in first Chronicles which talks about David dancing before the ark and the Psalm that he delivered at the delivery of the ark to Jerusalem and the ark represented the presence of God.

It wasn't Noah's Ark with all the animals that chest that had the mercy see the top of it. The Angels facing each other. The cherubim that is I don't want to get that wrong somebody will correct me of the cherubim and we want to make sure we we get that right first Chronicles 1629 give to Yahweh, the glory due his name.

This is the song he delivered at the delivery of the ark bring an offering, and come before him all worship Yahweh in the beauty of holiness. See the connection. Psalm 110 that I can see that right in front.

Psalm 110 in the beauties of holiness. First Chronicles 16.

The beauty of holiness. In other words, David's mind was fixed on Messiah coming in the beauty of holiness.

He connected the life of Melchizedek. With the coming of Messiah, and he demonstrated it in the dancing before the ark. As King priest and God honored it all. He will radicalize the nation.

He brought a wave of worship and that Israel had not seen since the days of Joshua and he did all this God is doing all of this without insulting the Old Testament just moving pastor.

Sort of like change of seasonal software developers. They bring in new software. They insult me by the end user.

But they don't insult the old software they just move forward on the strength of prior discoveries.

Now that might not be the best analogy of how the word develops, but it makes the point that change is constant and when it comes from God. It is wonderful another words in another. Another words the prophecy of Melchizedek was a sleeper prophecy you have sleeper cells and we know about that. There are those agents that are out there and is waiting for a command to to do whatever it is that they do is been in history from the beginning of insurrections and overthrows of time well with the Lord. The prophecy of Melchizedek was sort of a sleeper prophecy waiting for activation and then got activated right according to plan. In Christ, so we have Galatians but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, you might say what is all this have to do with my problems. I don't know. Verse 13. Now get the word of God is living and powerful. That's what no matter what you going through.

No matter which way it ends up, so long as you stick with the Lord there will be a day all because you will be with the Lord in glory forever and Satan knows this and so he devotes himself to pushing you off and if he cannot push you off the faith. Then he just wants to shut you up so you don't preach the faith and we come back we say will wait a minute. My Scripture is so mapped out that only the hand of God could have done it. I will decide with God's word, no matter what's happening to me I will stick with the Lord. Even though I may think that he is not sticking with me. By faith I accept. He will never leave me nor forsake. Why else would a pastor spend so much time digging into versus not just me. Other pastors would do this.

Why else would we waste our time if it was a waste of time but it's not a waste of time is the very thing hate health fears that Christians will get it. The delightful turn on and they will be stronger because of it. In the face of opposition.

There are those opposing forces that we face that we can beat because God empowers us, but then there are those opposing forces that are more subtle and we don't find ourselves as confident in the faith. When facing, we begin to complain to God to whine about his methods and his systems, and God lets us go just to see when it's all said and done, where we will be and so it's critical we make up our minds and I don't care what happens around me. I will stick with the Lord. 10,000 may fall at my right hand, the thousand that Myla will not come your me, that's the idea. Well, back to this development, Christ the end of the law. Romans 10 for let me read the verse Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, not without it to everyone who believes. What happens if you don't believe I wouldn't want to be you test the first thing in the second thing you don't have to be you.

You can be you in Christ Jesus like David Jesus, the greater King has changed everything.

David never lost sight of that, he wrote of an assault. He said the Lord said to my Lord, this one higher than me and he's coming and I love him.

I'm not seen, neither have you.

We love.

We know because God is a God has moves that we could never never understand because they are that high. Verse 13 for he of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no man has officiated at the altar for verse 14. It is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

Well, if you are a Jew in that system.

Only those who were descendents from Aaron who was from the tribe of Levi could be a priest Judas Tribeca no one there could be a priest writer is talking to Jewish people.

He they know this and is saying Ellis remember, Jesus came and he was not from Levi. He was from Judah and he is systematically establishing the prophetic fulfillment of Christ as Messiah. According to Genesis, and according to Psalm 110 that all system bar Jesus from being priest but not the order of a decade invited him to be priest demanded he be priest and forever see Aaron strive never received from God. This word, you are a priest forever order of Melchizedek did from which Christ is going to assume in his ministry will get to this one in verse 22. All I owe you I owe you nothing but love in verse 22 we get there and verse 15 now and it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest to his column, not according to the law fleshly commandment, but according to the power of endless life, for he testifies you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

How many times this morning. Have I said no kids at that and I'm not done this more. So you see again. We started off this Hebrew consideration with these words, it is a pile driver is going to hit that piling over and over until it hits the bed rock and it won't stop until then. And you know if you've ever listen to it pile driving for enemy. The little job. I mean a big skyscraper got little beat to speech and on and on until finally a light shot that thing all again back just a minute that a hard hat on short sleeves and everything so on the basis of his indestructible life where it says here that the arises another priest. Verse 15 then in verse 16. But according to the power of endless life.

This is what what overrules everything.

This priest unlike Aaron and Eleazar his son and all those after him. They drop dead, this one did not Christ died on the cross. He did not. Dropdead he gave up the spirit lives forever and then he got up the distinction of Jesus Christ that we recognize without it we cannot be Christians cannot be a Christian if you don't believe in the resurrection of Christ which presupposes the crucifixion and death on the cross of Christ Jesus. No ordinary person. No ordinary man son of God. I like to say, God the son focuses a little bit more just where he came from and who he is.

We pray to Jesus. We are praying to God. Well, the Jews, after hearing this might say to themselves after this whole endless life thing, not according to Levi, but Melchizedek as he made the point earlier, without mother, without father, without beginning, without end, they might so here we forgot about with thinking about going back down to the temple and offering sheep and goat.

We forgot Jesus is no ordinary priest and he is just that a priest you know early in the church's history.

Even priest were converted to Christianity. Acts chapter 6 then the word of God spread in the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priest were obedient to the faith X6 verse seven.

So this was not new stuff which makes it more dangerous, more dangerous. In this way, it was dealt with years ago at the beginning of their faith with now laid into Christianity. It's resurfacing.

It's come back as a problem. God says let me put this in writing one more time.

Let me put this next Romans and Galatians. Let me add Hebrews to that may be my people will appreciate the word that they have. We know what is the Bible Scripture would God says to man in the various ways he said. I mean, it's amazing God uses scoundrels to make his points. Altar scriptures are men like Cain alum Saul Judas of Ahab and Jezebel there all over the screen. Let's let's emphasize that woman Jezebel us has Jesus called her and in Revelation. God uses people then and now mean something. It's important that we be one of those people. If you are preoccupied that this is an old there's an old Christian saying self-pity and faith can't dwell together when I'm having my self-pity fits. I hate that saying but it's true because faithful say I don't care what's happening to me. I care about how I'm performing in the presence of the king is so easy to preach what subdued again but is not easy to live when it's right there in your face when you can have what you want when it hurts, that's what we called this early on we pack that into a haversack is part of us. Now we understand it. Verse 18 for on the one hand there is the there is an unknowing of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitable illness. So the Holy Spirit is saying to the prophet, the system the Mosaic system. It was weak and was not as beneficial as you might have thought it was a straight out calls the law in adequate and on beneficial again compared to the world's religions at that time it was superior. Jesus said this about how the law played itself out in the day that he walked concerning the Pharisees and scribes said they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. The law is too big.

So to sidestep it. They sort of had surrogate bird embarrass payment they enslave others in acts chapter 15 Peter says now therefore why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear the talking about that Old Testament system of law seems too heavy for us all it did was condemn condemn condemn never gave relief faucet. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ is made us free from what the sin and judgment yes, but he's talking about the law and he says and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Yes, sin is and that of course no way getting that out but includes that system next to the New Testament in their risk and returning to that was as going toward the shadow of the thing and not the thing itself may again imagine imagine the Old Testament was a shadow of the New Testament. Imagine a loved one being away on a trip coming home and you go to the airport to pick them up and you run over and greeted shadow and ignore them or imagine the sign you're driving toward the airport. You see the sinuses airport to stop at the sign to stay there. It's it's only a sign it's not the substance that's what the apostles were trying to tell everyone that Old Testament was the sign was the shadow, it was not.

It Christ is, he is the one. Once he comes, there's of an abandonment of the sign in the shadow we go to him. God is never saved anybody for the keeping of the law. Everybody who kept the law when they die they did not go to heaven.

They want to write you. She'll there's never been anyone that's able to keep the law, except Christ. God saves on this basis. On this basis basis alone, faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ. The bloodstained cross of Christ which puts your sin and my sin in your face until it's repented of and washed away.

It is forever more. After that, by faith, we except love it believe it. We know there's no other way. In the end, there is no other way for us to be with God unless he does something about our sin. The very thing the world does not want to hear.

Verse 19 the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope to which we draw near to God. So again, if they're not comfortable with this rearrangement, the lost that this they have to admit that his points are indisputable from Scripture and reason, logic, righteous logic. The cold truth. They had to face all the law could do was pronounce men guilty could do nothing.

It was like an x-ray just as X-rated is the break can do anything about it, not the x-ray.

You will need someone who's able to to provide to cure the solution so the law offered no remedy in that sense not satisfy God.

It could not satisfy man verse 20, and inasmuch as he is not made decrease without an oath. Now this we know we think of an old reason raise your right hand slap your neighbor on the razor writing you solidly with human old like that that's not how this is mentor used. This means the final word of God.

When God speaks it's it's an oath hidden, since that is as full force is pure holy and undefiled and so he is saying Scripture says God says that's how we would unders the Bible says that we would say he is saying inasmuch as Jesus was not made a priest after Melchizedek according to Psalm 110, which is God's word. That's the distinction he's making.

Verse 2190. The contrast between the priest of Aaron, for they have become priests without an oath, but he with an oath by him who said to him, is not qualified. The Lord has sworn and will not relent, or back away from.

You are a priest forever according to Melchizedek the order of Melchizedek.

Yeah, the others they will put empowered by God's word. But not forever.

Whereas, this priest according which is Christ Jesus. According to the pattern shown in Melchizedek, ratified by David and now brought forth in truth and logic and contrast here in Hebrews, the writer is saying this is a done deal.

It's distinct is nothing like it. The Levites were not so sealed that that's a book too many yeses there. The Levites were not established this way.

Only Christ only his priesthood has this with. So what if there's present now listening someone who doesn't have this working knowledge of the Old Testament Scripture and you just completely lost it.

This wonderful how you can be completely lost in God's house and God still finds his way of making his point do you you can listen and say will I have lost this, but I still understand what's going on. Overall, I understand that the sovereign hand of God is not only present but willing that he is interested in me that there's a lot to the Christian faith. I thought it was maybe just a bunch of people who sat down and wrote things about God on their own, you know, as as some creative writer would do, but actually there's something more to do something more powerful to all of this we know that as the Holy Spirit who, when Jesus said I will not well will use this verse were two more gathered there I am in the midst is always here in his house belongs to him, so long as we don't chase them away with blatant flagrant sin.

Verse 22 by so much more. Jesus has become surety of a better covenant that by so much more Jesus.

Those five words, how much logic and goodness and emotion is built into that just those five words by so much more.

Jesus, how much with that of stood out in their heads reminds as it was read as they went and reread it as it was being copied a better covenant.

He says flat out a better testament in all we say New Testament is the same as a new covenant testament is covenant 19 times that work covenant shows up in Hebrews more than any other New Testament book. It is about the covenant. The agreement with God is about the New Testament. This too was baked into the Old Testament, not just with Melchizedek in Genesis and Psalm with David Psalm 110 with Jeremiah now told you we did. We got promise this verse and and here we are. We all should know this verse even if we don't have it memorized. We should we should know of the verse, Jeremiah 31 versus 3132.

The prophet says behold, the days are coming, says Yahweh when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says Yahweh. So again, none of this is showing up mysteriously. The pastor is told to convince to rebuke to exhort with all long-suffering and teaching because the time will come when they will give them they will heap up for themselves teachers pulses wanting their ears to be tickled and so the pastor is to convince, rebuke, exhort, he is doing this in this writing is convincing them with logic and Scripture is rebuking them for daring to turn away from and he is being gentle in his teaching towards them passively very gentle and this teaching, but if what if it gets to guilty to guilty on ready to admit that the guilty. It can seem brutal, but that's on them though you've been listening to cross reference radio the daily radio ministry of pastor Rick asked Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast. Today's teaching is available free of charge at our website.

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