By Robert Anthony
May 25th 2024
(L. Glotzle depiction of Melchizedek blessing Abram, who would become Abraham, father of many nations.)
The Fundamentals for Revival Series
Part Four
“A New Covenant includes a New Priesthood”
In this Article* you will Read:
Let us open ourselves up to receiving something New of God!
The Mediator of the New Covenant from God (with man) was of a New Priesthood and fulfilled the old covenant, to perfection.
What do we actually know about this New Priesthood? The scripture declares it is the order of Melchizedek.
But we love our traditions so much! I am worried that we allow our traditions more prominence than the actual Word of God.
In Closing: What is in fact the fullness pertaining to the Church for which Jesus is returning?
*Suggested Reading: most (if not all) of the book of Hebrews, Psalm 110, Genesis 14 and Jeremiah 31:31-36
1. Many of us around the Church and preaching for years, many of us who went to Bible Colleges and seminaries, many of us raised in organized religion have heard of the things pertaining to the gospel of Christ and perhaps thousands of times but how much do we really know of the holy and eternal things of God?
Whether or not we admit it to ourselves, we are like children looking into eternity, something that we simply cannot comprehend with our natural minds and trying to make sense of it all – and then often trying to teach it. Some of us, more convinced than others, declare to the congregation, “We See!” But the trouble is, all of our forefathers, of whose foundation we are all now building upon, agreed quite to the contrary, saying, “We see in a mirror only dimly and we only know in part, only then we will see fully even as we are fully known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)
What we have we hold to by faith. And Jesus teaches us to live humbly, and of this matter He rebuked the religious leaders of His day, saying, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.” (John 9:39) It would be better that we would remain humble, teachable, like children, understanding that in all our years seeking Him, even into our eighties or nineties, we will still be merely as children to the Living God, peering into eternity as if almost blind.
Our God is a mystery and yet we know Him! He is past finding out and yet He is our Father. We seek Him and we find Him and yet we will still be discovering Him well into eternity. Throughout our walk with God, we are peeking into eternity and trying to grasp something literally out-of-this-world! Wisdom would perhaps tell us, let us minister the holy things of God with a modicum of reverence, Godly fear and humility – and allow God to lift us up and to give us the eyes to see.
Amen?
2. In all our preaching, church services and studies, what has actually been revealed to us about this mysterious figure, Melchizedek? Hebrews actually has more to say of him/Him than anywhere else in the Word of God. But there is a very revealing passage of scripture in Psalm 110:4, “The LORD-Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for-ever after the order of Melchizedek.” And then Hebrews recites this prophecy over and again, 6 times the author of Hebrews refers to Jesus being of the order of Melchizedek (and not of the order of Aaron, of the Levites)!
One would think we would have entire courses in Bible college and throughout Christendom unraveling this mystery and yet, this foundational truth almost never even discussed. Jesus was not a Levite but according to Moses’ first covenant, the covenant given to the Israelites and Jews, a High Priest had to be a Levite. Hebrews does a wonderful job explaining how Jesus could make intercession for the whole world (who would believe on Him) and yet be of Judah, not Levi.
Hebrews also explains a new covenant comes with new laws! “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” (Hebrews 7:12) This story is getting deeper and deeper the more we read! A New Covenant, A New Priesthood and now New Laws!? What an amazing mystery!
Let’s begin more or less at the beginning, where this all this newness began, Jeremiah 31:31-34:
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
And it has been written,
“Behold I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5 and 2 Cor. 5:17)
3. But what really do we know of this new covenant, priesthood and new set of laws? What we tend to preach all throughout the churches very well pertains to the forgiveness of sins, the sprinkling of blood, the exaltation of Messiah who is the Son of God and some of the prophecy of the end of the age. But whereas the old covenant was to be administered around a tabernacle, a holy place, a land and a people, we lose sight of the administration of this New Covenant - I fear we, as the Church, hardly understand the distinction in two covenants at all.
We know well that the old covenant gave power over to the priests to make intercession for the people, to offer sacrifices for the remission of sins and to pay gifts unto God upon an altar. We know well the old covenant ways of seeking out a man to be our mediator, raising him up, giving him titles and honor and looking to that flesh and blood for our way to God. And yet the whole of the old covenant way of abiding with God was all but fulfilled and is about to be done away with. Return to Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 1:
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God…”
Did we just read to “leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ!? The author of Hebrews is encouraging us on to perfection, to not remain as babes forever drinking milk, but to mature, to stop sinning, to come up higher and sit at the feet of our Messiah and learn of His ways! To be brought before the very presence of God and come to know Him, individually, uniquely.
But just as the people would not go up the mountain with Moses to meet God, today’s church is too often content to find for themselves another man (pastor/priest) to make the attempt in him to live their faith. Brothers and sisters, this must not be so. We may not have complete understanding of this new priesthood and covenant but what we should be able to see clearly throughout the gospel of the kingdom is that thru Messiah, God is now our Father – and we were restored to be with Him, uniquely.
Melchizedek was clearly king and priest (we learn throughout scripture). The Son of God we know now was King of all creation, the heavens and earth, but we also know that He is our High Priest - making intercession for us before the throne of God. We of His Church are now of that order of Melchizedek thru Christ Jesus our Lord. Scripture is unbelievably clear on this subject. Jesus teaches us clearly, “No man might come to the Father but thru me.” But that also means to us, WE CAN GO DIRECTLY TO THE FATHER!
This concept of being able to go directly to God was not introduced in the Old Covenant. Of the things we don’t see clearly about this New Covenant, certainly we should be able to see this: in Christ Jesus, God is now our Father.
4. There is plenty throughout the New Testament of scripture pertaining to this new priesthood, although it is not referred to as a priesthood because in Christ we are ALL PRIESTS AND KINGS! We have to lose a lot of tradition to get this truth into the deep places of our soul. We do not need another man to come before the throne of God, the Son of God already made the way.
Paul, one of Messiah’s apostles, writes plenty pertaining to the administration of the Church. Most all of his letters, as given by the Holy Spirit, are explaining the day-to-day function of the Church. But Paul focused his writings exhorting the flesh and blood leaders as opposed to function, as if to say, how the church might function. In fact, we have very little about how the church should function outside from the stories in Acts.
Throughout the whole of scripture there is very little about how to have something called a “Church Service” or “Have Church”. Those commandments regarding function are simply not in the entirely of scripture. Let me explain:
In Acts we learn that they gathered “Daily” and met “House to house” and “Breaking Bread” they ate together and gathered daily in prayer, “with gladness and unity (singleness) of heart” (Acts 2:40-47). Even as the church spread the nations, we learn that they were having meetings in their houses. In Romans 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Colossians 4:5 and Philemon 1:2, Paul asks at least five times throughout his letters to the churches, “Greet the churches meeting in your houses!”
But again, throughout the whole of the New Testament we simply do not find anywhere it lays out to us a method of “Church Service” but almost to the contrary we are taught often commandments of how we engage when gathered together. 1 Corinthians 12-14 are fundamental chapters teaching us what to do as we gather, not necessarily as a format but as how the church should esteem one another and exhort each other in Christ. I will write about this more later.
Foundationally, we have to reintroduce into the body of Christ that every one of comes before Him uniquely, that there is an order to the function of the family and a way in which we are to behave ourselves as the body of Christ, left to lighten the earth.
In Melchizedek now we are all Kings… and Priests!
5. I don’t think it is clear to us how the entirety of the New Testament is actually our blueprint from God, given to reveal and explain to us what is this New Covenant! (Remember, the Word New Testament literally translates, New Covenant.)
And to understand the fullness of this New Covenant is to come to know its administrator, its minister. Who was and is the minister or mediator of this New Covenant? We have called upon Him, Jesus! And He saved us. Amen! But then He left… remember? So who remains the minister of this covenant now?
Jesus quite literally told them/us, “I am leaving you.” In fact several times He told them so… But He promised not to leave them/us comfortless. He told us He was sending us the Promise of His Father, from heaven! (This is all from John 14-16) And this same Spirit, the Holy Spirit from God, would lead us into all truth, comfort us, help us find our way and reveal to us things from the future! Now again, fundamentally, there was simply no church until the Holy Spirit was given in that upper room.
The whole of the ministry of that first church was administered entirely by God’s Holy Ghost. They would (daily) follow the leading of God as revealed by His Holy Spirit and they would not move until they were filled with His holy presence. Reread the book of Acts with these things in mind. The first Church was wholly devoted to following God by obedience to the Word of God and surrender to His Holy Spirit. This is the New Covenant we were given by God and Acts explains it, chapter 2, verses 16-21:
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Melchizedek was a foreshadowing of things to come in Christ. He quite literally did communion with Abraham, blessing him with the breaking of bread and wine! And it was AFTER the blessing of Melchizedek that Abram’s name was changed to Abraham! The “Ham” in “Abraham” being added signified “The Breath of God” or the “Spirit of God” being imparted to Abram – another foreshadowing of things to come in Christ!
But men will create their own religion when they do not want to surrender to the ways of God. Even more concerning, is that if men do not want God’s way, then aren’t they in essence making themselves out to be their own god… yet again?? This was also the sin of Cain when he offered to God a sacrifice that was unacceptable unto heaven.
The truth is we are incapable of ministering to the God of eternity. We are far too broken, fleshly, limited and powerless to minister before Gods’ throne… that is another reason why our Father sent to us His Spirit. “It is not by (our) might nor by (our) power by His Spirit says the Lord.” His Spirit will even make our offering, sacrifice and worship pleasing before the Father… Amen??If we are to come into the fullness of the things of God in Christ Jesus, if the bride is going to make herself ready, all these things will come by the power of God, and thru His Holy Spirit. (And His Holy Spirit manifested His Word, and these two agree, perfectly.) We know that Jesus is at the right hand of God, they watched Him depart into heaven. But now, Jesus is continuing His ministry to us thru His Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who will finish the work that He started.
It could be therefore summarized that the whole of the New Covenant was laid upon Christ Jesus, God’s only Son, who made intercession before the throne of God and so the Father gave to us His Own Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. And His Spirit now ministers to us, bringing all things to the glorious New Beginning that will be revealed come His day… Amen!!?Still plenty to pray about hidden in the mystery of this Melchizedek.
But I hope this inspires you all further into the mystery of God!
To know Him
And to be known by Him…
Greatest love
Because we are now His!
- Robert
(This is a great 10 min. mini sermon that compliments this article.)
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