Better Priest, Better Way, Better Result
Notes
Transcript
Lewis Baker
Lewis Baker
My great grandfather. He died when I was 2 or 3. I have vague recollections of being around him. I know about him and I know his legacy and his reputation.
I’m named for him. My middle name is Lewis. I never heard it unless I was in trouble; STEVEN LEWIS....!
I called him Poppy. I’ve taken his name for my grand children to call me. Or, Pop pop.
He was a mail man in 1940s in Wichita. Door to door. If ever there was an example of steady Eddie.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds
Add tornados, sleet, and hail then you’ve got a typical spring day in Wichita.
He was on the board of his church, Broadway Christian, a D.O.C. church, and spent time as the board chmn.
He is the godly patriarch of our family.
My grandfather was a good man. But, spiritually left a little to be desired. And my dad’s life was a train wreck.
His vices killed him at 53.
This is Lewis Baker’s bible and pocket watch.
His watch was the standard for the family. It kept perfect time and he kept it wound all the time.
His bible. An old King James Version. It still has some of his notes from sermons, classes and church conferences in it.
[Read a passage]
It amazes me to think that 100 years ago he would have been in his 40s. He and my great grandmother, Nettie, had their only child in 1906, my grandmother Hazel. She would have been 15 in ‘21.
They all believe in and worshiped the same God I do.
They were all saved by the same Jesus I am.
They were all members of a branch of the same church, different denomination, but same fundamentals that I am.
His bible is way different than mine. Leather bound paper. King James Version. Edition?
My bible is the NIV, ESV, NLT, NASB, NET, plus about a hundred others on my iPad.
I’m sure I can find this in my software somewhere.
Same God. Same Savior. But, we worship differently than he did.
What do you think he’d think of Linda and our music if he were to walk in this morning?
She’s beautiful, talented, but the music is way too loud, rock music is saloon music and of the devil.
A concert.
They had their organ, sang 100s-year old songs out of a hymnal, accompanied by and organ or grand piano.
Their choir sang traditional songs wearing traditional robes.
And, their preacher, Ting Champie, wore a robe, too.
Here I am, sitting down, in blue jeans, and my shirt is not tucked in.
Heresy. He couldn’t listen to me.
Shortly after college was the last time I visited that church with my grandparents. Different preacher, same music.
All cotton balls, cue balls, and Q-tips. No one under 70.
They didn’t do a very good job changing w/ the times and young families lost interest in the church.
The style, the music, even the sermon was not something that was relevant to anyone under their golden years.
Broadway Christian church is long gone. Taken over by an inner-city church in Wichita. Very urban and multi-cultural.
Very different.
Churches, overall, have not done a very good job changing w/ the times. Sometimes we try to change the wrong things. Sometimes we don’t change the right things.
The result is churches are dying as their aging members do the same. Young people are leaving, or not even coming b/c either by perception, or reality, the church is irrelevant.
God is never irrelevant. Jesus is never irrelevant. The gospel message and God’s Word are never irrelevant.
But the church can be.
If we don’t change the right things, or change the wrong things, we die on the vine.
If the right things stay the same, and the right things change, it makes it possible for all of us and our great grandchildren to be right with God for all time.
The same God never changes. The same Savior always saves.
The same Word of God describes the same character of God and we derive the same fundamentals of our faith in God.
We can’t change the things that stay the same. We change how we interact w/ what stays the same.
Our style changes and facilitates a relevant and close personal relationship w/ God who doesn’t, so people of faith living in stressful times can find peace of mind.
Hebrews ch.7 affirms what stays the same and what needs change so that believers can be close to God in the a.d. 20s, 1920s, 2020s, 2120s, and beyond for all time.
The preacher is speaking to ppl who are stressed out of their minds. Their lives have never been harder. And, it’s only going to get worse.
When Jesus came, something had to change b/c what they had been doing wasn’t working.
The idea of returning to that was a bad idea.
The best idea was to stay with the best priest,, who led to a better way, that brought a better result.
Stand firm on the fundamental truth that Jesus is not only the best answer, He’s the only answer is the only way they will find the peace of mind they desperately want.
Jesus is the better Priest who provides a better way with a better result.
The Better Priest
The Better Priest
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
He just got done talking about how great Abraham was and what a great example he set for all of us.
As great as Abraham was, Melchizedek was greater.
He is talked about in 4 verses in Genesis 14 is all. But, this is what the preacher knew about him.
He came long before Moses set up the tabernacle where the descendants of Levi served as priests. He came long before the law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
So, he was different. He was from a different line than the Levitical priests.
Melchizedek was both a priest and a king. None of the Levitical priests were kings. And none of the kings of Israel were priests. He was the only one to have both roles, until Jesus.
The name, Melchizedek, means king of righteousness. Melek in Hebrew means king. And zedek means righteous.
Salem, Shalom in the Hebrew, means peace.
So, he was the king of righteousness and peace. Again, the only one in history to be described this way until Jesus showed up.
And Abraham just came out of a winning battle against several kings of the region, he rescued his nephew Lot, and took a great bounty.
He gave a tithe, literally, 10% of the take to Melchizedek indicating he recognized him as a great priest of God.
Long before the law req’d a tithe go to the priests in the temple Abraham recognized the importance of surrendering the sacrificial amount to God’s representative.
He is not saying Melchizedek lived forever, but the line of his priesthood did. It did not end w/ his death.
Jesus picked up that line of priesthood at his birth. And Jesus lives forever.
The line of the Levitical priests ended. Jesus marked its end at his death on the cross. That ended the admin of the entire law including the work of the priests as representatives between God and men.
As great as Abraham was, Melchizedek was greater and Abraham acknowledged it.
v. 4 starts out, “Think...”
This was an especially difficult time for them.
Emotionally, they were spent.But they needed to engage their brains to what they knew was true and not allow their emotions to run away leading them to run away from Christ.
As good as Melchizedek was, Jesus was better.
Jesus brought changes to the way things were done that led to better results in the lives of His followers.
He is the better Priest that provides a better way.
The Better Way
The Better Way
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
This new way is so much better for so many reasons.
If we still worshiped the old way, we’d be trekking to Jerusalem at least annually to slaughter a lamb every Passover. Wouldn’t be Easter.
Weekly we’d be getting together at a synagogue on Saturdays to talk about the rules, rites, and rituals on the calendar.
There would be little or no talk of a relationship w/ God. Only perfect ppl have a relationship w/ God and none of us is perfect.
Following Abraham’s example.
B/C of the inadequacy of the old way, it had to be replaced by a better way.
The law, not only didn’t make us perfect, it points out all of our imperfections. Oops. Oops. Oops. More reasons to sac the lamb.
But, an animal, annually, didn’t save anybody. It didn’t make anybody perfect. It was supposed to point to a time when God would make one final sac of His own special lamb that makes us perfect.
Perfect does not mean w/out flaws, but a fulfilled goal, a successful accomplishment. It is something we can’t do ourselves, it done for us and to us. It has to be.
And, it’s done in the context of grace. Since we can’t, somehow God has to overlook the deficit we create when we can’t do things the way He wants them done.
But He can’t overlook the deficit, justice requires the deficit be atoned for. And, someone who has their own deficit can’t do it for anyone else.
So, it had to be someone who was special to God, sinless, willing, forgiving, and capable.
Do you know anybody like that?
It couldn’t be someone in the line of Levi and Aaron. It had to be someone from a different line. Jesus belonged to a different tribe, not Levi, but Judah.
He was made a priest by an oath from God (Ps. 104:4), and like we saw last week, God cannot lie and He cannot, not keep a promise he makes thru an oath.
So now, the levitical laws and worship practices ended b/c the better Priest leads us in a better way.
We no longer worship on Saturdays, the Sabbath, we worship on Sundays commemorating the day Jesus rose from the dead.
We no long slaughter animals on the Passover. We celebrate what the Lamb of God did for us on Good Friday and Easter.
We sing relevant songs as our corporate prayer to God.
And we study the Word of God which is timeless in its ability to educate us, change us, and elevate us to resemble the character of God.
We no long need a priests b/c we have a high priest who make all of us priests.
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
The role of the priest in the OT was to be a representative, mediator, go-between between God and men.
There was a high priest, he was in charge. But there were many priests who rep’d God to the ppl and the ppl to God.
Only the priest could sac the animal that atoned for deficit the ppl created when they did things wrong.
Only the priest could confess the sins of the ppl.
Only the priest could go into the presence of God.
Only the priest could receive the word of God.
Only the priest could relay the word of God to the ppl.
Only the priest could pray and talk to God on behalf of the ppl.
Jesus changed all this.
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
The most significant change to the way we worship today is Jesus made us all priests. He is our high priest and has his job to do.
But we are all priests and have the opportunity to personally go into the presence of God, receive the Word of God, talk to God, confess our own sins to God, and be changed by God.
No more need for a 3rd party.
The old way of doing things was weak and ineffective. Now we can draw close to God ourselves b/c Jesus, the better Priest leads us in a better way.
And the better way produces a better result
The Better Result
The Better Result
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
We have a guarantee. A guarantee is only as good as a guarantor.
You ever try to get your money back on a product that doesn’t work only to find out the guarantee wasn’t as good as the paper it was printed on?
The new way that produces the better result is grace-based.
Anybody else would be resentful. Their resentment would be off the charts.
“I did that for you. And you did what for me?”
“How bad did you mess up again?”
Jesus is the gracious and forgiving lamb of God. He is the Son of God who guarantees we will live forever if we believe because He lives forever. Fact-based faith.
Forever. All generations. My great grandfather and my great grandchildren, I hope.
Lewis Baker. Poppy. He worshiped the same God and was saved by the same Savior. He had a different pastor. And he had a different way of worshiping. But it was the same message.
It will be the same message about the same God and same Savior 100 years from now. And 1000 years from now.
If we’re still here.
Saves us completely. Permanently. The package is wrapped and a bow is tied around it for us to open when we leave this life and enter the next.
It’s a done deal.
And it starts the moment we believe here. Eternal life does not wait to begin when we leave this life.
There are great things available to us now. We just need to unlock them by staying close to the One who saves us.
Jesus prays for us.
Paul wrote the same thing in Romans 8:34. Jesus, sitting at God’s right hand is talking to God about you right now.
You want me to pray for you? You want our prayer warriors to pray for you? How about this. Jesus is praying for you.
Does it get any better than that?
You don’t know what to pray for? What’s best for you situation? Who would know better than the One who spoke you into existence?
When He prays, he probably spends less time praying for stuff we need and more time praying for our reaction to what we get.
Isn’t that the greater need?
B/C, ...
He meets our needs. He knows what we need.
We can come to Him any time, all the time, and He will give us exactly what we need. We may not get what we want. We may not get what we think we need. But we will get what’s best for us in that moment.
Peace of mind. Self control. Patience. Wisdom. Courage.
We can relax. Have the ability to not do something stupid. Ability to wait for the right time, know what to do, and have the courage to do it.
It may not change what’s causing your stress. But it will change how you react to it minimizing the stress and maximizing your management of it.
What happened was, these c.1 Xians were so stressed and not getting what they expected from God, they stopped taking advantage of the opportunities being a priest of God offers.
They pulled back.
Something had to change. They knew it. They felt it. It wasn’t working for them the way it was going. But, they made the wrong change.
They stopped praying, talking to God, praising Him for Who He is, thanking Him for what He’s done, confessing what they did wrong.
They jumped right to asking God.
How do you like it when your kids only call you when they want something? Or, do you have that friend who only reaches out when they need something from you?
How do you think God feels?
They stopped studying the Word of God. The Word produces life-change and maturity. They stopped being in the Word therefore, they stopped maturing.
Again, they expected the maturity to continue regardless and when it didn’t they did not go where they needed to go to get it.
They stopped hanging out w/ other believers. And they stopped talking to other believers about godly things. They stopped doing godly things w/ other godly ppl.
Compounding their issues w/ God creating a greater distance from God who had made it clear that the things they wanted would happen only if they stayed close. And, as priests, they had opportunities their parents never got to be so close to God.
They were trying a different way to get what they wanted and it wasn’t working. They weren’t even doing the Jewish way. They weren’t doing it the Jesus way. They were doing it their own way.
And they weren’t getting the results they hoped for.
No peace mind.
No patience w/ the government mandates nor each other.
No self-control to stop doing destructive things.
No wisdom to make better decisions.
It wasn’t working for them.
But you know what will work for us?
Keeping the right things the same. Same God. Same Savior. Same gospel and way to discover the character of God so we know what to expect and get the full extent of what God offers.
Know the right things to change to stay relevant to our own lives and the lives of those who need the same Savior.
If we do this, we’ll stay right w/ God and we will create the place where our great grandchildren can be right w/ God in about a 100 years.
Imagine what this place will look like in 100 years, if it’s still here.
Applications
Applications
Priest
Priest
You’re a priest. You have direct access to God. You can talk to Him and He’ll listen. He will speak to you, if you will listen. You have what He directed others to write on His behalf and the words lead us to his character and our maturity.
If you had $100 million would you live in poverty?
So, if you have such access to God, why live as if you don’t?
Take advantage of the access you have.
Stay close
Stay close
If you’re not getting what you want from God or what you expect from God then something needs to change.
Don’t change by distancing yourself from God.
Don’t go places, do things, and hang out w/ ppl that take you farther away.
Change what you’re doing and who you’re doing it w/ so that you can get closer. See above.
Don’t quit on God. He will never quit on you. Surrender to him. Don’t try to tell Him how to be God or what to do.
Perfect
Perfect
You are perfect. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Jesus made you perfect. It doesn’t mean you’re not w/out flaws. It means your flaws don’t mean that much when Jesus made up for them.
The rule, rites and rituals point out where we fail.
The relationship we have w/ Jesus points out our perfection in God’s eyes.
So many better decisions are made when we focus on our perfection. There is no reason for arrogance b/c we didn’t do perfect ourselves.
It was done to us and for us.
Don’t focus on the flaws. Focus on perfection and live as if.
God is never irrelevant. Jesus is never irrelevant. The gospel message and God’s Word are never irrelevant.
But the church can be. We can be. But we don’t have to be.
If we don’t change the right things, or change the wrong things, we die on the vine.
If the right things stay the same, and the right things change, it makes it possible for all of us and our great grandchildren to be right with God for all time.
The same God never changes. The same Savior always saves.
The same Word of God describes the same character of God and we derive the same fundamentals of our faith in God.
We can’t change the things that stay the same. We change how we interact w/ what stays the same.
Our style changes and facilitates a relevant and close personal relationship w/ God who doesn’t, so people of faith living in stressful times can find peace of mind.