Consider How Great This Man Is

So, let me just point you, please, to a few expressions that have come to mind, and in Hebrews chapter 7, I just want to read a familiar expression with you there, please. Hebrews and chapter 7. Hebrews 7 and verse 4, you see how the verse opens, Now consider how great this man. Now consider how great this man.

You'll see the little word was is italicized. It's been added by the compilers, the translators, to try and give sense. But here's this pithy little statement, now consider how great this man.

Which man? Well, clearly, from the context, it's Melchizedek. Very important personage in Scripture. Don't read of him often, but he is an important person.

We come across him, first of all, in the book of Genesis, and when we come across him in the book of Genesis in chapter 14, it's in a verse that is quite remarkable. In that, as most of you know, sometimes, or usually, when a subject which is going to be common, maybe a theme through Scripture, when it's first mentioned, the brethren sometimes talk about the law of first mention. It's not a law in that sense, but it's just something to observe when we're studying our Bibles that if our brother made mention to the love of God, particularly as he was giving thanks earlier.

So if we wanted to know about love, what is the real epitome of love? You might say, well, a love of a mother for a child. But the first reference to love in the Bible is the love of a father for his son. Take now thy son, thine only, whom thou lovest.

And the first mention in the New Testament is of a love of a father for his son. This is my beloved son. And the same in Mark, and the same in Luke.

John, of course, is going to be different, because where you have a four, you very often have a three and a one. One is completely different from the other three. And so the first mention of love in John is that lovely verse in 316.

God so loved the world. So that's the kind of idea. You just follow it through, the first mention, and it gives us a steer for how that's going to be used.

Now, when we come across Melchizedek in Genesis chapter 14, now Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And in that one verse, you've got five important subjects all mentioned for the first time. And the fact that they're all mentioned for the first time together obviously links them.

So it's the first mention of Melchizedek. We know from Hebrews 7 that his name means king of righteousness. But then we're told in Genesis 14 that he's king of Salem.

So Salem means peace, doesn't it? So he's king of Salem, king of righteousness in Hebrews 7, king of peace in Genesis 14. So he's a man associated with rule, he's a king, and he's associated with righteousness and peace, and so immediately our thoughts are going to that blessed man we've been thinking of in Zechariah. The one who will bring unity with the priesthood and royal kingship, he will unite them on one throne.

Our Lord Jesus is the only man God ever intended to be a king-priest. But you say Melchizedek was a king-priest because Melchizedek, king of Salem, first mention of Salem, that will become Jerusalem. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, first mention of bread and wine in Scripture.

And you say, no, it's not, brother, because in Genesis 3 bread is mentioned. Glad you're listening. You're absolutely right.

Bread is mentioned in Genesis 3, but it's associated with a curse. In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread. Wine is mentioned in chapter 9. Noah was drunk.

Wine is mentioned in chapter 9, but once again it's associated with a curse, a curse upon Canaan. But the first time you read of bread and wine together, it's associated with blessing, Genesis 14, verse 18. So he's the king, Melchizedek, first mention, king of Salem, Salem, first mention, bread and wine, first mention, and he was a priest, first mention of priesthood in the Bible.

So this man's a king and a priest, and he was a priest of the most high God. It's the first mention in about 13 or so throughout the Bible. It's the title of God that's particularly associated with the days to come and the millennial reign of Christ.

What a, what a cracking verse. You know, sometimes the preachers like to say, we've got a verse here and I could spend a week on this. Well, actually, as a preacher, you could spend a week on this.

You didn't need to be a preacher to do it. Spend a week on it yourself. Those five things, take one on Monday, go through to Friday, and you've studied them all.

Lovely. All packed into one verse. So Melchizedek's a very important personage, and that's brought out again here in chapter 7 of Hebrews, because we see why he's both a king and a priest.

You'll see as you, most of you know this, of course, this is, this is well known probably to the vast majority of you, but there's some here who will not have learned this yet. So you be patient with me, please. This Melchizedek says, verse 1, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually. Now, Melchizedek did have a father. He did have a mother.

There was a day when he was born, and there was a day that he died. But the point that's being made here is that for such an important man, and he's brought before us again in Psalm 110, again linked with Christ and the throne, the important thing is that very deliberately the Spirit of God has omitted in Scripture all those details which we might otherwise expect to have found. Usually if you've got an important person, something of his lineage will be stated.

His age when he died, you can probably guess his age when he was born, but the age when he died. And these things are normally recorded, but they're not here. So when he's without these things, it's without a record of these things, and it's for this reason.

He's going to be made by the Spirit of God, like unto the Son of God, in his eternality. He's a picture of Christ in his eternality, no beginning, no end, no father, no mother. This is the one who's going to abide a priest continually.

And the writer then says, now consider how great this man. Not so much the greatness of Melchizedek, but the greatness of the one who Melchizedek was made like. Consider the greatness of Christ.

You're waiting for your lunch, so we won't be long. But just let your mind go through the Scriptures. Think for example, our brother's been in John's gospel, come to John chapter 4 in your mind.

When in your mind you come to John chapter 4, and you know full well that's the chapter where the Lord Jesus goes out of his way to meet that dear woman by the well. And in the conversation that ensued, he spoke to her about living water and that lovely conversation that went on. And she asked a question.

She said, are you greater than our father Jacob that gave us this well, which he dug, which he provided for himself and his family and his cattle? Are you greater than he? But you see, immediately she introduced the limitation. Jacob was great. He'd provided the well, yes.

But the limitation she immediately stated was this. It was for his family, his children, his cattle. If you didn't come from Jacob's stock.

If you weren't a descendant of Jacob, this well wasn't for you. It was just for them. What's the Lord's next word? Whosoever.

Isn't it lovely how these things come together? Whosoever, that the one who is ultimately greater than Jacob. Jacob was great, yes. He provided the well, and it was a wonderful thing.

But the man who's sitting there, weary, it's past our understanding, isn't it? But as he engages this woman, he speaks of him being the one who can provide the living water and he can provide it for the whosoever, refreshment of soul, salvation full and free. And thank God that salvation wasn't shut up to Jacob and his family. I don't know you all.

Of course, I regret that. I know a few of you. I don't know if any of you, perhaps, are naturally speaking from Jacob's stock.

I judge most of us were sinners of the Gentiles when God's grace found us and saved us. Thank God for that word, whosoever. Is he greater than Jacob? Of course, he is.

Come a little further in John's gospel, you're in chapter 8 now. And the Pharisees are having a go at the Lord, as they often did, in their foolishness, trying to trip him in his words, trying to find some way of accusing him. And they said, we're not be born of fornication, we've got Abraham to our father, and an interesting conversation then ensued where the Lord pointed out if they were truly the sons of Abraham in character, they would do the deeds of Abraham, their father, but they weren't.

They were doing the deeds of their father, the devil. Just to be able to claim physical descent was nothing. Their character was the character of their father, the devil.

But as the conversation went on, they were full of scorn. As the Lord was talking about Abraham, you're not yet 50 years old, have you seen Abraham? Remember that delightful answer? Before Abraham was, I am. You see, when they asked, are you greater than our father Abraham, because that's what they did, are you greater than our father Abraham, they were going back as Jews as far as they possibly could.

They're going back in history, going back in time. And when the Jew goes back in time and right through that checkered history, something of which we've been following, they come to Abraham. They come to the call of an idolater at the end of Genesis 11.

That's as far as they can go. It's where it all began. That's as far back as they can go.

But the one who was speaking to them, and they said, are you greater than our father Abraham? He says, before Abraham came into being, I am. Not I was. I am.

They could go back a few hundreds of years, a couple of thousand years. They're looking at the one who is eternal. I am.

Everything in the constant present, the Son of God. Greater than Jacob? Of course. Greater than Abraham? Of course.

Come back in your Bible now and thought to Matthew. Go to chapter 12. And, again, as they're seeking to accuse the Lord Jesus because His disciples had been eaten corn on the Sabbath day.

And they were discussing how things went on the day that David had to come and take the showbread when he was fleeing from Saul. And the Lord said, behold, there's one here who's greater than the temple. It's interesting, isn't it? That temple.

Of course, the temple he was in was not the one that Solomon had built. We know how that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. This is the one that was built by those exiles who came back, and Joshua's, a rubbable temple was added by Herod and all this kind of thing.

The temple was the gathering center for the nation, wasn't it? Three times a year, at least, everyone had to go up to the temple to keep the feasts. It was the gathering center for the nation. It had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

It was going to be destroyed again by the Romans in A.D. 70. It's going to be destroyed again in the future. But the one who was talking there is a far greater gathering center.

We gather unto Him, don't we? We gather unto Him. Unto Him, it was said prophetically, shall the gathering of the people be. Is He greater than the temple? Of course He is.

Same chapter. Yeah, I've got a couple of minutes. Same chapter, and you move on a bit, and then you've got the Pharisees, they've come again.

Show us a sign. And the Lord says, a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, there shall no sign be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days, three nights in the belly of the fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days, three nights in the heart of the earth.

And then, what did He say? Behold, a greater than Jonah is here. See, when we're thinking of Jacob, greater than Jacob, the breadth of Jacob's work far exceeded by Christ. When we're thinking of Abraham, the length of his days far exceeded by Christ.

When we think of that temple, temporary, transient, defiled, we think of a gathering center far greater in Christ. But now we're thinking of one greater than Jonah, the man of the depths. I can't imagine how awful I am.

I used to be, not now. You can tell fitness is not my main aim in life. But there was a day quite a long time ago now, I was pretty fit, and I used to enjoy swimming a lot.

I was often on the island of Cyprus, or Malta, and Crete, and places like this with my work, and would go swimming in the Med, like the sea swimming. And one day I was swimming just off the coast of Cyprus, enjoying myself, and suddenly something got hold of my leg. Well, I'm not being irreverent when I say only the Lord and Peter ever walked on water, but I came pretty close to it.

The wake I left behind me as I headed back for the shore. And I got back, and my heart was banging, and what is it that grabbed me? And then I noticed it was just a floating piece of seaweed had wrapped itself around my leg. When Jonah, we refer to in Thanksgiving this morning, when Jonah went down into the depths, so cold, so deep, he said, the weeds wrapped themselves around my head.

Can you imagine the horror of that, dear saint? And it's only a metaphor, something to help describe the horrors, the terrors that the Lord Jesus went into in those awful hours. How can we contemplate? It says, our writer, consider how great this man. Consider it.

Don't just read it, consider it. Think about it. Don't be ashamed, burn the tears flow.

How can we consider the depths of suffering of that lovely man and not weep? But the Lord went on to say, what he's talking about, you see, is the day of resurrection. He said that the men of Nineveh, to whom Jonah eventually went, he said, the men of Nineveh are going to rise with this generation, they'll condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And the queen of the south, the queen of Sheba, she'll rise up in judgment against this generation.

Talking about the queen of Sheba, you see. Now, as the Lord was speaking about her, just to jog their memory, he then says, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. Oh, what a contrast.

Jonah's a man of the depths, isn't he? But Solomon is the man of the heights and we can't even begin to imagine what it was like. The queen of Sheba was used to pretty posh living, not very easy to impress, a lady that was used to all she was used to. And yet when she saw Solomon and she saw the manner of the ascent of his servants and all this kind, there wasn't breath left in her, half hathn't been told, the greatness of Christ.

Jacob, the breadth of his work, Abraham, the length of his days, the temple, the gathering center, Jonah, the man of the depths, Solomon, the man of the heights. Before you have your lunch, let's just read one more scripture, Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians in chapter 3. Just break into Paul's prayer in that chapter in Ephesians 3 and verse 14, and he says, For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, verse 18, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and thus to know the love of Christ, which otherwise passeth knowledge. You'll permit me paraphrasing it, just to give the sense.

It's not the height and length, it's not the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ, that's immeasurable. But he says, I want you to be able to comprehend with all saints, so this is available to you, my brother, you my sister, this is yours, this is yours to claim. Be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height.

You've got four dimensions there. If it were just breadth and length and height, well, we could apply that, say, to the dimensions of this room. But you've got four dimensions.

Length and breadth we understand, but you've got depth and height as well. And I can remember my late father, he went home in 91, but long before that I remember him reading this to us as a family and saying, now, you've got four dimensions here. Where would you have to be to appreciate them all equally? The answer is the center, isn't it? The center.

It's describing a sphere. You'd need to be in a sphere to have these four dimensions available to you, and you would need to be in the center of the sphere. Now what Paul is pointing out to the Ephesians is this.

You start at the center, Christ, the one unto whom we gather, one who's brought us to himself, the one with whom we're united. You start with him, and when you're considering how great this man, whether you want to think about the breadth of his work, whether you want to think about the eternality of his being, whether you want to think about the depths to which he went or the heights to which he's ascended, you can push out as far as you can, as far as you can, as far as you can, and you will never reach a limit. You will never reach a limit.

The limitless dimensions of Christ. You start at the middle, and you move out in whatever direction you choose, and you're in that massive sphere, and in so doing, a love which is otherwise immeasurable and incomprehensible, you start to get an analog of it. However far out you go, it's speaking to you about more and more of the love of Christ which is otherwise incomprehensible.

Isn't it great to be saved, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful to be saved and to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and to be able with the help of the indwelling Spirit of God to do as we shall later in our brother's reading think something about how great is this man. God bless this world.