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Sermon Notes

Meeting Melchizedek

Monday 11 May 2026 Pastor Craig Ledbetter Genesis 14:17-24
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I. Introduction (Psalm 110; Genesis 14)

  • We are continuing in Genesis chapter 14
  • Abraham gets to meet an example of Jesus in the Old Testament
  • Melchizedek is a really important person to learn about
  • Abraham is an example of somebody living by faith, somebody who fails a lot, and an example for the Christian to learn about how important Jesus is
  • Jesus is greater than Abraham. Jesus is greater than everybody else in the Bible
  • The centrepiece of Christianity is Christ, not us — you look at Christianity, you want to throw up; you look at Jesus Christ, you want to follow Him

A. Psalm 110 — A Priest Forever

  • “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” - Psalm 110:1

  • David, a king, acknowledges somebody above him as “my Lord”

  • “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” - Psalm 110:4

  • God declared the Messiah would be a priest — not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchizedek

II. Review — Abram Rescues Lot (Genesis 14:14-16)

  • Lot was a carnal believer — saved, righteous, but addicted to this life and this world
  • His carnality was exposed by trouble — a war took place and he was taken captive, losing everything
  • Abraham gathered his 318 trained servants, pursued the enemy all the way to Damascus (180 miles!)
  • He routed the enemy and freed not just Lot, but all five captive nations
  • Not one of them was worthy of Abraham risking his life — just as we are not worthy of what Jesus did for us

  • “And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people” - Genesis 14:16

III. Message

A. The King of Sodom Tries to Honour Abram (Genesis 14:17,21-23)

  • “And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer” - Genesis 14:17

  • The king of Sodom comes expressing the gratitude of all the people — they are alive because of Abram
  • They have been freed from taxation, oppression, and everything they lost has been restored
  • But Abraham could only restore physical things — Sodom was only interested in material things
  • These kings honoured Abram as their saviour and deliverer, but they needed God

  • “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself” - Genesis 14:21

  • Abraham refuses the honour:

  • “And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich” - Genesis 14:22,23

  • To him, Sodom’s money was ill-gotten money — dirty money
  • Abraham wanted a clear conscience — he is simply relying on God Almighty being his chief reward
  • Aren’t you glad that Jesus Christ doesn’t ask you to pay? The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord

B. Melchizedek Appears (Genesis 14:18-20)

  • “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all” - Genesis 14:18-20

  • Right in the middle of all these kings trying to honour Abram, Melchizedek approaches
  • He is the first priest mentioned in the Bible — the high priest of Almighty God
  • He makes a great pattern for what Jesus Christ fulfils — a shadow of who Jesus is going to be

C. Who Was Melchizedek?

  • A real person who lived about 1900 years before Christ
  • Not an angel, not a made-up person in history
  • King of Salem — Salem was the early name for Jerusalem; Salem means “peace” (Shalom)
  • He is the first mentioned king of Jerusalem, 400 years before the Jewish nation came out of Egypt
  • His name, Melchizedek, is two words: Melik (king) and Zedek (righteousness) — “King of Righteousness”
  • A strange name for a man living in a wicked nation — that is who we should be!
  • You don’t have to take on the temperature of the world around you
  • He knows Jehovah, he’s a priest of the most high God — a good king in a wicked culture
  • He wanted to meet and honour Abraham, to be a blessing, and to worship God together — that is what church is!

D. The Purpose of a Priest

  1. To mediate between sinful men and a holy God
    • A mediator restores enemies — and before we got saved, our enemy was Almighty God
    • Jesus Christ steps in, our mediator, and turned us to God and turned God to us and brought us together
  2. To offer sacrifices for sinful men
    • In the Old Testament, priests offered the innocent animal to die for your sin
    • Jesus Christ made only one sacrifice — of Himself
  3. To have compassion on sinners
    • A priest doesn’t look down on you — he sits with you, weeps with you, helps you get right with God
  4. To teach sinners the ways of God
    • Opening their understanding, line by line by line
    • That is what church is supposed to do — help sinful people worship God

E. We Are Priests (1 Peter 2:5,9)

  • “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” - 1 Peter 2:5

  • “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” - 1 Peter 2:9

  • We don’t need priests anymore — because we are one!
  • We offer spiritual sacrifices — the praise of our lips, the sacrifices of our love
  • Are you helping anyone know God? Are you that kind of priest?

F. The Most High God — Or Jehovah? (Exodus 6:1-8)

  • Most people understand God as “the most high God” — powerful but far away
  • But God reveals Himself as Jehovah — personal, close, committed

  • “I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them” - Exodus 6:2,3

  • Seven “I will” promises in Exodus 6:6-8 — God saying “I love you, I made promises to your family, and I’m keeping them”
  • The most revolutionary truth: Jesus Christ wanted me and was inviting me to come all the way up to Him — and I didn’t have far to go

  • “Jesus Christ is not far from any one of us”

  • Even demons know Him as the Most High God (Mark 5:7) — but God wants to be known as your God

G. Melchizedek Blesses Abraham and God (Genesis 14:18-20)

  • Melchizedek brought bread and wine — not money

  • “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God” - Genesis 14:18

  • He came to worship God with Abraham — that is communion, togetherness
  • He reminded Abraham: you’re already blessed by the God who owns everything — don’t worry about being paid or rewarded

H. Bread and Wine — The Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-28)

  • “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” - Matthew 26:26-28

  • When Melchizedek brought bread and wine, he was pointing to a future sacrifice
  • Every time we have the Lord’s Supper, we connect back to Genesis 14 and forward to the cross
  • All New Testament truth started in Genesis
  • It is finished — pictured in the Old Testament, fulfilled in Jesus Christ

I. Tithing as Worship (Genesis 14:20)

  • “And he gave him tithes of all” - Genesis 14:20

  • Abraham tithed of all the spoils to Melchizedek — giving is part of worship
  • Abraham refused the wealth of Sodom, but gave a tenth to this insignificant little king of a small village called Salem
  • You’re not giving to people — you give as unto the Lord

J. Jesus: Our High Priest Forever (Hebrews 6:19-20; 7:1-28)

  • “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” - Hebrews 6:19,20

  • Jesus is just like Melchizedek — so learn what Melchizedek was like to appreciate what Jesus is like

  • “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God… 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” - Hebrews 7:1-3

  • King of Righteousness and King of Peace — that is Jesus
  • No record of Melchizedek’s birth, death, father, or mother — God on purpose didn’t record those details so he would be a pattern of what Jesus would be like
  • Abraham, the patriarch, gave tithes to Melchizedek — honouring him as greater than himself
  • Jesus is our perfect High Priest:

  • “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood… what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?” - Hebrews 7:11

  • “Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” - Hebrews 7:16

  • “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” - Hebrews 7:19

  • “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” - Hebrews 7:25

  • He is able to save from the guttermost to the uttermost!
  • He ever liveth to make intercession for us — standing between God and our stupidity
  • He keeps us saved — the devil is the great accuser, but Jesus Christ steps in: “Already paid for”

K. Jesus: Greater Than Melchizedek, Greater Than David (Matthew 22:41-46)

  • “What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David” - Matthew 22:42

  • “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” - Matthew 22:45

  • The Messiah is not just the son of David — He is the Son of God
  • Melchizedek is a cool guy, very important to learn from — but Jesus is better

IV. Conclusion

  • Jesus Christ is the King of Peace and the King of Righteousness — live under Him and you would know both
  • Melchizedek is only a shadow — the real person is Jesus Christ
  • All the people in the Old Testament are outlines of something the Messiah would be in His fullness
  • The Bible is God’s family album, filled with pictures of His Son
  • Are you helping anyone know Him? You get the privilege of telling somebody, “Come to Jesus and He’ll save you”
  • He’s one step away — not far from any of us
  • The Lord’s Supper goes all the way back to Melchizedek — bread and wine, pointing to the cross
  • It is finished — pictured in the Old Testament, fulfilled in Jesus Christ
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