Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Here's the thing, you don't need another priest. So reject all offers for priesthood in your life. People call for them all the time, but you don't need one. You are a priest in many ways, and beyond that, you have the perfect priest, the Melchizedekian priesthood, and for you to look out and grasp for another mediatorial role on this planet is an insult to the priesthood of Christ.

Dave Drewery: Welcome to Focal Point with author and Pastor Mike Fabarez. You know what you don't see anymore? Telegraph operators. There was a time when someone who could interpret the blips and beeps of telegraphs was in high demand. But our improved modes of communication have now made telegraph operators obsolete.

Well, there was a character in the Old Testament who was once deemed necessary, but when a better priest came along, he revolutionized the role. Pastor Mike calls this message: Why Don't We Have Priests?

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Why in the world don't we have Levitical priests anymore? And you're not wondering that, are you? But it is a good question. Is God really the same yesterday, today, and forever? Well, then why in the world did he require one thing at one time and now, all of a sudden, he requires something else now? Why is it that God cared about the hair on the side of your head if it were 2,050 years ago, but he doesn't care about it now? What's the deal? Is his style changing? That's what we're trying to deal with.

But for now, let us get a few preliminaries under our belt before we jump into Hebrews chapter seven. And the first thing I want you to remember is that there is an issue in the book of Hebrews of emphasizing Jesus the Christ. And that's what the book of Hebrews is all about. And just by way of review, because we've dealt with this, let us understand that there were three important offices in the Old Testament. Old Testament theology was founded on three very important, God-ordained offices.

The king of Israel, which was God's allowance and eventually his choice with David, was an office that God set up for the function of leading God's people. So the anointed king of Israel, who's often called or occasionally called in the Old Testament the anointed one, is one who is from the tribe of Judah, who has had the sacred oil poured on his head for the purpose of leading God's people as the president or CEO or the leader of the country.

There was another group, the priests. This was the person with various different ranks—there was the high priest, the ultimate priest—who had the assigned function to speak to God for people. He was to go and speak to God on behalf of people and plead for his mercy because he knew the people of Israel, just like us, are sinful people. But he went and interceded on behalf of the people and said, "God, I want you to accept these people and forgive these people." And after all these ceremonies, the priest would go in and speak to God on the behalf of people.

What tribe did you have to be from to serve in this role? Levi. That's why we call them the Levitical priests. They're all from the tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. There was a third position that was very important, a sacred position in Israel, and that was the position of the prophet. Now, the prophet was someone who didn't speak to God for people. His main role was inverted. He was to speak to people for God. God would give him the message and he would deliver the message. Usually to the people of Israel, but sometimes not. Here's what God says. That's what the prophet did.

So, you have the king, he leads on behalf of God. You have the priest, they speak to God on behalf of people. And you have the prophet, he speaks to people on behalf of God. And with that triad of leaders in Israel, we had a functioning society where God was getting along quite well, doing what he needed to do in taking his people from where they were to where he wanted them to be. He was leading his people through those three offices.

Now, the point of Hebrews is establishing the fact that God has done an amazing thing. He's taken the role of king and priest and prophet and he's put them all together in the ultimate one that is called in Hebrews and introduced to us in Hebrews as not the prophet, the priest, or the king, but as the Son. We start to go through the book and we're kind of cool with the issue that he's the prophet. Look at what he did. He revealed his Father. Look also how he led as the great king. We're calling him Lord. So when we see the word Christos starting to show up in the book of Hebrews, we're like, okay, I'm cool with that.

But before we get very far, chapter five, we start hearing about him being a priest, and that starts to cause a few people to scratch their heads. We've got to deal with that. How in the world is Jesus the priest? That's what Hebrews chapter seven is all about. Now we can start the sermon.

Number one, understand that Melchizedek trumps Levi. Understand that Melchizedek, the whole point of chapter seven, is better than Levi and the Levitical priesthood. We read there in the beginning of this text that we have a priest who is a king. That's unlike the Levitical priests who could not be kings. You can't merge those two classes in Israel. He makes that point in verses one and two and then he makes it again, verses 11 through 14. Judah doesn't produce priests, but we have a priest who is a king. Jesus is presented in Scripture as king and priest. He not only leads us for God's sake, he also speaks to God on our behalf. He is our mediator. He is the one who stands in the gap and represents us to God.

Old Testament priests couldn't be kings. New Testament, the king and the priest are one. A reference that you might want to jot down that priests are not kings is 2 Chronicles chapter 26. Look at a king who tries to go because he's so full of himself and burn incense in the altar in the temple. Have you read that story? He goes in there and now he's so full of himself, and that's what the Bible says. His great success in his political campaigns and his military campaigns, he thought he was the guy, so he went in to burn incense and all the priests rallied around and said, "You can't do that." And he goes, "Just watch me." And so they watched him as he went in and tried to burn incense.

The Bible says leprosy started to break out on his forehead just as he started to burn incense in the altar. He couldn't even enter the temple grounds anymore because he was a leper for the rest of his life. And God says, "That's what you get if you think you're a king and think you can be a priest." That is under the old covenant. The old covenant, the tribe of Levi could not merge with the tribe of Judah in their tasks. King, priest—no, two different things.

Without father or mother, without genealogy, that connects with in one case, verse eight, tithes collected by men who die. Then again in verse 15, talking about people that die and people that don't die. Down in verse 23 again, many of those priests, but death prevented them from continuing. But Christ, he lives forever. Do you see the theme reoccurring one, two, three, four times in this text? About the difference between Levitical priests and the Melchizedekian priesthood of Christ.

The point is, priests die and they always need replacements. If you have one and you like him and he's good and every Yom Kippur he represents you, you know what? Don't get too attached because he's dying and you're going to need another one, and your kids will need another one, and your grandkids will need another one. And all that stuff that's done in the temple on your behalf, you're going to have to have replacement priests every generation because they're all subject to death.

The point is, Jesus, of course, he lives because of his resurrection and he needs no replacement. His mediatorial role never ends. And therefore, as this text says, as was predicted a thousand years before Christ came, he is a priest forever and will always intercede for his people.

Thirdly, we've got a section here in verse number nine and verse number, I'm sorry, verses four through seven and verses nine and 10 where there is a discussion here about the greatness of the Melchizedekian priesthood over the Levitical priesthood. Even Abraham deferred to the Melchizedekian priesthood. But you've got the Levitical priesthood, which is as far as you can go in Israel. This one supersedes it and transcends it.

Let's put it this way: third point, priests, they were great in Israel. Absolutely. You couldn't get any greater. Who's the holy guy? Who's the guy who can speak to God for you in Israel? Well, it's the Levitical priests. But of course, the Melchizedekian priesthood is not only great in Israel, he is greater than Israel because the leader of Israel deferred to him in Genesis chapter 14. And the point of the text is the Melchizedekian priesthood trumps the Levitical priesthood.

Why? Because it's a merging of two great offices in Israel, because he lives forever and never needs a replacement, and because Abraham showed and everything about his Melchizedekian priesthood showed that it's better and superior and outranks the Levitical priesthood.

Verses 20 through 22, we had the injection of this concept of oath, which again I said is only there because it comes on the heels of chapter six, which said that the oaths were there for whose good? For our good. Why? Because God needs to promise and swear and double-dog swear or cross their heart or pinky swear or whatever? No. Why? Because he wants us to be absolutely assured. And as a matter of fact, that's where this text goes. It's worth reading again.

He says in verse 20, "It's not without an oath." Other priests, no oath. This priest, verse 21, "It's with an oath." And God said he's sworn. That's a Psalm 110 passage. And then he says, "Because of this oath, Jesus has become a guarantor of a better covenant," which he's going to then elaborate on when he talks about the new covenant, Jeremiah 31. What's the point? It should assure our hearts. What did we have in the Levitical priesthood? Nothing close.

As a matter of fact, let's put it this way: priests were there by prescription, which was because you need something to give you a sense that God will one day forgive you. That's why the blood of bulls and goats never did anything, but it does remind us God cares and he is going to somehow represent us before the Father, the holy one—we're not. But the Melchizedekian priesthood and Christ, the ultimate fulfillment of that, is a priest by God's oath.

And that means that because it's perfect, because it endures, because he doesn't die, because he's greater than Israel—and we as a bunch of Gentiles need that third point—the fourth point is that God said, "This is absolute and I've sworn and I will not change." The point of that is emotional for us. And if you think back to chapter six, God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his promise very clear. He confirmed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things, a promise and an oath, God wants us to say we've got an intercessor and we can be encouraged by that.

Fifthly, if you look at the bottom of this text, the priesthood was weak. Why? Because it was led by sinners. If I go to the golf course and I want to take a golfing lesson, I don't want a guy who's slicing it over the fence. I want a guy who can do it right. And the problem is you've got a priest that has to go into the Holy of Holies and spend time making sure he confesses all his secret sins, all his foibles, all his bad habits, all his bad feelings and sinful thoughts because he is one that, like us, is sinful.

Therefore I'm thinking, how in the world is he representing me very well before God? How does he lead me to God if he himself is a sinner? And that's a point well-taken in this text. And Christ in the order of Melchizedek is the perfect and holy one. And just to read that great text again, verse 28, "Law appoints men, they're weak, but the oath appoints a Son who's been made perfect forever." And to quote verse 26, "What does that mean? Holy, blameless, set apart from sinner. He meets our need." That's the kind of high priest we need. The point of chapter seven is Melchizedekian priesthood is better than Levitical priesthood and he sums up in five ways how that's true.

But the "so what" is going to pop up and let's deal with that. So what? Great, I'm not tempted to be a priest. I've never aspired to be one. I'm not in awe of the priesthood. What does this mean for us? A couple of things. If we understand the priesthood as we tried to in chapter five and a little bit in chapter six, we ought to get to the place where we say this: I am grateful. Just because I thought your hand would be tired, I gave you some extra words here so you didn't have to write them all down.

I want us to be grateful. Why? For the finished, completed, accomplished work of the perfect priest. When I stand here and say I know myself, I'm a sinful person and I want to be right with God so I don't have to go to hell and I can spend eternity in a place that's good and not bad, I need someone to plead my case. I can stand back and say I've got a perfect person going to bat for me. He's the designated hitter. I hand him the bat, I say, "Hey, I can't do it. Judgment Day, I need you to take care of it for me." He goes, "Fine, I'll take care of this. As a matter of fact, I've already hit it over the fence. It's done, deal, score. You're in, you're in the kingdom." We ought to be grateful for that.

Secondly, we've got to realize that our access to God is now so good, it's like we're priests. And that's a bizarre concept. Did you catch that? Realize that our access to God because we're coming in on the coattails of the great high priest who's perfect and holy and set apart from sinners and he said, "Come on, I'm going to make you right before the Father," it is so good and so complete and so perfect and so finished, it's like now I'm a priest. Because you don't go hanging out in the Holy of Holies, you don't hang out with God, because you're a sinner. We'll let the priest do that. But this priest says, "No, you're coming with me. As a matter of fact, I'm placing you in me, in Christ. You now are going to be in the very presence of God."

Do you know that if you look for the concept of the priesthood in the New Testament, this is the only major discussion of it you'll ever have? But you'll have a few mentions of it three times in the book of Revelation as we look at the ultimate dwelling of God being among men and the concept of God pulling people from the world out from among others. He says, "You are now a kingdom and priests to God." What does that mean? There's some mediatorial role? No, the point of that text and those texts and those references is you've got complete access to God. Our high priest was so good, he took us in the Holy of Holies with him.

As a matter of fact, we should look at one passage in this regard: 1 Peter chapter two. There are only six references to the priesthood outside of Hebrews in all of the New Testament. Unless you're talking about in the Gospels, the historical Caiaphas and those priests. But when it comes to New Testament theology, there are only six references. Three of them are all synonymous in the book of Hebrews that one day the eschatological picture is I've got access to the very presence of God. Then there are only two other passages: 1 Peter chapter two and Romans 16. Let's look at this one. I won't turn you to Romans 16, but it's the same concept.

The twofold concept here. One is just like Revelation 1:5 and 20, and it's found in 1 Peter 2. Are you with me? Verse four. "As you come to him," that's a concept that again we just kind of yawn our way through. That's a big thing. We're now in the presence of God. "The living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house." Are you a house? No. Metaphorically are you a house? Well, yeah, I guess we are kind of. But you're not a house, right? You're not a house, you don't have termites. You're not a house, you're not a dwelling. This is a concept, a metaphor.

Keep reading. "And to be a holy priesthood." Are you a priest? Well, not really. Not a priest. But you know, metaphorically and an analogous concept, you are a priesthood. Look at what you do as a priest. "You offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God." Even when a successful Judean king wants to offer sacrifices at the altar, he will be struck with leprosy because it is not acceptable before God. Gotta have the Levites do that. Now, because Christ has done his work so well, I am one who can offer sacrifices directly to him and he accepts it. When you sing praises to God, the Bible says he accepts it as worship as though you were a priest that is fully authorized to bring him offerings. That's a new concept. That's a new covenant concept.

Now, there's another aspect to this. You mean there is no mediatorial priesthood in the New Testament? Kind of. Keep reading. Here's the next aspect of it, verse eight. "A stone..." Now he turns to the negative, the people that reject him. "...that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." A lot of people aren't embracing the stone, right? They're rejecting it. "They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for. But you..." Now we're talking about thinking about the lost people. "...are a chosen people," here it comes again, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you might..." Notice the mediatorial role here now: "...declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Which is exactly what Romans 16 says as well. Paul says, "My priestly duty is to share the gospel to a dark world, to lost people." So we are like priests now, because we've ridden in on the robe of the great priest, the Melchizedekian priest, Christ. And now I can worship God directly and he accepts it and one day we'll live in his presence. But furthermore, I can look back at the lost world and I can say, "You need to get right with God," and in one small sense there is a reflection of the priesthood there. That I'm saying to my lost neighbors and family members and friends, "Connect with me, look at me, come to me, listen to me, and I will take you to him." That's the priesthood function. That's the only two concepts of priesthood outside of Hebrews chapters five, six, and seven in Scripture.

Number three, here's the thing: you don't need another priest. So reject all offers for priesthood in your life. You don't need one. People call for them all the time, but you don't need one. You are a priest in many ways, and beyond that, you have the perfect priest, the Melchizedekian priesthood, and for you to look out and grasp for another mediatorial role on this planet is an insult to the priesthood of Christ. Don't.

Now, I know a lot of people think, well, isn't it just word games? Well, there are some people that it isn't word games to them. They think that they play a mediatorial role in your life. Therefore we reject the priesthood. On that basis, we don't need mediatorial work. It's been done. And to have someone step up and say, "I'll talk to God on your behalf, I'll have..." You know what? Unless we're talking about prayer and intercessory prayer, if we're talking about someone setting themselves up saying, "I am different than you and I have access to God that you don't have, and as a Christian I have to play a mediating role for you," you reject all that.

And even the people, because they haven't sat through this sermon, that want to extract this little interesting mysterious guy named Melchizedek and make a priesthood out of that. Go on the internet and look up the concept of the Melchizedekian priesthood. You'll find a ton of Mormon websites, right? You ex-Mormons, are you with me on this one? The whole Melchizedekian priesthood. You'll find pictures of Joseph Smith receiving the Melchizedekian priesthood from all these angelic beings.

We reject it. Joseph Smith or anybody else who wants to claim the Melchizedekian priesthood is a joke and a liar because the Melchizedekian priesthood was fulfilled in Christ. Therefore we don't need a priest. I reject all priests. Reject all priests including those that want to claim they're of the Melchizedekian order. Okay? There was only one Melchizedekian-ordered priest and that was the one sworn about in Psalm 110:4.

Number four, I think all of this, as I sat back and said, "God, what is this doing for me?" in the study of Melchizedek, which was like a marathon session this week. I'm impressed with God's word and I think you should be too. It is impressive what God has done in not having a guy step on the scene and say, "I'm all these things and it's all new to you, I realize that, but this is what I am."

You have hints and sometimes clear declarative statements that didn't make any sense without Christ. And God put those things in the text some 2,000 years before he came as it relates to the Melchizedekian priesthood, and then a thousand years before he came, and then time just perfectly, the next shoe fell and here comes Messiah saying, "Oh, you know that Melchizedekian thing you didn't understand? Let me explain it to you." And now it makes perfect sense in the New Testament.

Let us pray. God, this is so important for us to recognize that you are a God who has met every need that we have, every real need that we have in the coming of Jesus Christ. That he has been for us, and again it loses its power, I recognize, for us 21st-century Gentiles, but certainly with all of the richness of the Old Testament Levitical law, he has become for us the complete and perfect fulfillment of what we needed.

And whether we recognize the ceremonial connections or not, we stand here today as sinful people in need of fellowship with a perfect God or we're in big trouble because we'll have to pay for our sins for eternity. And we want forgiveness, and the only way to get that is to have someone come and live the life that we need to live in a container of humanity and then to die a death that we deserve to die with the wrath of God being spilled out on him.

And then rising from the dead and pleading our case as the great high priest who has purified sins, not only because he needed some forgiveness himself—no, he was perfect—but he pleaded our case and cleansed our sin and took it away because of his own sacrifice of his own life. What an amazing truth. And God, we stand here today able to talk to you, able to offer you songs because you have done the work through Christ. Thanks for the Melchizedekian priesthood where someone from the line of Judah could also serve as the greatest priest of all, to whom Abraham gave deference. We thank you for that and we praise you in his name, in Jesus' name we say, Amen.

Dave Drewery: That's Pastor Mike Fabarez, and you've been listening to the third and final part of a message titled: Why Don't We Have Priests? Part of our series called Christ Changed Everything, here on Focal Point. Head on over to focalpointradio.org to find this message along with Pastor Mike's sermon notes. And while you're there, grab the free Focal Point app for even more content to fuel your walk with God.

You know, a lot of people read through the Old Testament and feel like they're wandering through unfamiliar territory. The names are strange, the rituals seem remote, and it's hard to know what any of it has to do with life today. But what if every story, every ceremony, every obscure character was quietly pointing to the same person all along? That's exactly the territory Ed Clowney covers in this month's featured resource, a book titled *The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament*.

Clowney takes you through the pages of the Old Testament and shows how the whole of Scripture has Jesus in its sights: his character, his lordship, his saving work. The same thread that runs through the patriarchs, the priests, and the prophets runs straight to the cross. It's the kind of book that makes you want to go back and reread everything you thought you already knew. Request *The Unfolding Mystery* when you make a donation to Focal Point today. It's our way of saying thanks for standing behind this ministry.

Call us at 888-320-5885 or give online at focalpointradio.org. Prefer to mail your gift? We'll send it to Focal Point, Post Office Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654. And if this is your first time reaching out, ask for Pastor Mike's booklet, *The New Covenant Age*. It's a clear, grounded look at how Jesus fulfills the law and what that means for the way we live now. It's yours free, just for getting in touch. Call 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org. I'm Dave Drewery, inviting you to join us tomorrow when Pastor Mike answers the question: Why Don't We Have a Temple? That's Tuesday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know, we live in a culture where every point of view demands affirmation. It would be easy to tell people what they want to hear, but we must teach the Bible accurately, unapologetically, and without compromising, and without editing. God's word is truth. If you want to send me a question, I encourage you to get in touch with us at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Drewery: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.