Genesis 14:17-24 The Gospel Blessing

The Text

Genesis 14:17–24
¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley).

¹⁸ Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

¹⁹ He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²⁰ and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹ Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

²³ that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

²⁴ I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”

Our God

Who alone is our King of Righteousness?

Psalm 24
A psalm of David.

¹ The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the LORD;

² for he laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers.

³ Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?

⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully.

⁵ He will receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶ Such is the generation of those who inquire of him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

⁷ Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.

⁸ Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.

⁹ Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.

¹⁰ Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD of Armies, he is the King of glory. Selah

Who alone is our King of Peace?

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be named. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Romans 15:33 May the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-28 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will do it. Brothers and sisters, pray for us also. Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the brothers and sisters. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus — the great Shepherd of the sheep — through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 May the Lord of peace himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send you greetings. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Philippians 4:9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

1 Corinthians 14:31-33 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

Who alone is our King, Priest, and Prophet?

Hebrews 1:1–2 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

Who alone is greater than Father Abraham?

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

What does the bread and wine symbolize?

Matthew 26:26-30 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Who alone can give this?

John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Who alone is God Most High?

Luke 1:32-38 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man? ”

The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth — even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Psalms 57:1-3
Be gracious to me, God, be gracious to me,
for I take refuge in you.
I will seek refuge in the shadow of your wings
until danger passes.
I call to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He reaches down from heaven and saves me,
challenging the one who tramples me. Selah
God sends his faithful love and truth.

His Gospel

Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God

Hebrews 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace. Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

He is greater than Father Abraham

Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him. The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people — that is, from their brothers and sisters — though they have also descended from Abraham. But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham, for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

He is our Perfect Priest Forever

Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron? For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. For one, these things that are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests.

He is our indestructible life

And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life. For it has been testified:

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

This is unlike the Mormons claim

The Mormons use the name Melchizedek to name their high orderly priesthood after the Order of the Son of God

Hear what I just said: "Melchizedek", "high orderly", "priesthood", "Order", "Son of God" and you would falsely assume that Mormons and Christians are referring to the one and the same thing.

Do not be deceived: Mormons who is the same terminology but heretically believe something totally different.

A Mormon and a Christian can say the same words:

Father
Jesus
Holy Spirit
Satan
and in our context, Melchizedek

To the unknowing ear, that seems like five things.

But between two different religions, one being a false religion ruled by a demon:

Deuteronomy 32:16–17 They provoked his jealousy with different gods; they enraged him with detestable practices. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your ancestors did not fear.

1 Corinthians 10:20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

And the other being the only true religion because we worship the one true God, we must be aware that those five persons are in fact ten different persons when properly defined by each faith. (I digress. That is a sermon for another time.)

Christ Magnified & Glorified the Law of God

So the previous command is annulled because it was weak and unprofitable (for the law perfected nothing), but a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

Isaiah 42:21 Because of his righteousness, the Lord was pleased to magnify his instruction and make it glorious.

The Father made an oath to the Son that he would perfectly save his people from their sins

None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, but he became a >priest with an oath made by the one who said to him:

The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever.”

Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Ephesians 1:3–14 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time—to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

Christ Alone is the Fulfillment of Every Covenant

Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Christ Alone is our Priest Forever Because He lives forever

Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

The Death of Christ Full Saved His People From Their Sins to God forever and Ever

For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do — first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.

He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?

Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect?

God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns

Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?

Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
Because of you
we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us>from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Theologicus