Our Covenant Meal

Hebrews chapter 7. We’ve been in a study through the book of Hebrews. And for those of you that don’t know, last week we took a family vacation and visited some family. We went to Florida and went to one of my daughter’s lacrosse tournaments. We had a great time. We swam with manatees. Do you guys know what that is? It’s just a chunk of meat that floats in the ocean. It’s the most useless thing, and I’m like, they are living the dream, because they have no predators. They live in fresh water, and they just migrate, and all they do is eat, sleep, and just enjoy, right? So you’re swimming with manatees, and they’re just as chill as can be, and they’ll bump into you because they’re clumsy. It was a good time.

My full intention was to come back and go into a Christmas series. We were going to put a little pin in Hebrews and come back to it after the Christmas season. And I just had the sense that there was so much that the Lord wanted to say in the next few weeks. We’re going to be talking about the incarnation — about God becoming man and being with us — and I think there’s something so special that the Lord wants to bring to us. I felt like the Lord wanted me to tell you: do not miss the next several weeks. Because I really do believe that the Lord is going to reveal something to us and show us more of Himself, and that’s what we’re here for. Amen.

Don’t miss out because, “Well, you know, I just need a break,” or, “I just need a week.” Listen, there is no better place to be than in the presence of the Lord. Amen. We are going to worship Him. He is going to come, and He’s going to show Himself to us. We’re going to be talking about the incarnation, but that’s going to start next week. Everybody say “next week.” Don’t miss it. Look at your neighbor, tell them, “Don’t miss it.” If you have plans, cancel them. If you aren’t from here, cancel the flight. Stay here. We’ll see you next week. Okay.

Melchizedek, king of righteousness and peace

All right, are we at Hebrews 7 yet? Hebrews chapter 7. We’re going to continue in this series, and we’re going to receive communion together. But I want to start in verse 1 this morning, and we’re going to read through verse 10. It says:

“For this Melchizedek, 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 translated ‘king of righteousness,’ and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘king of peace,’ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

We’re going to break this down just a little bit. We briefly talked about Melchizedek a few weeks ago, and we found that he was mentioned in the book of Hebrews even though his appearance in scripture was only three verses. There are only three verses in the Old Testament that speak of Melchizedek. But it was a bright three verses. It was a glorious three verses, if you will. It was short, but it was bright. And in those three verses we are introduced to this man, Melchizedek, who appeared to Abraham after Abraham had defeated the foreign kings.

The foreign kings had gathered themselves against the people of God — Abraham and his family, the ones who were in covenant with God. Abraham defeated the foreign kings, and then out of nowhere this man Melchizedek just shows up. We see this in Genesis 14, and I want to look at those three verses really quickly, and then we’re going to come back to Hebrews 7, so keep your place.

We see these three verses in Genesis chapter 14. Verse 18 says, “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him” — he blessed Abraham — “and said: ‘Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he” — Abraham — “gave him a tithe of all.”

So Melchizedek shows up after Abraham’s victory over these foreign kings. Now, these foreign kings are a representation of the forces of darkness, the things that would come against those who believe in Him. They gathered against the children of covenant, and Abraham defeats the foreign kings, and Melchizedek shows up. All we get are those three verses. But Hebrews 7 gives us a little bit more of a glimpse of who Melchizedek was.

Look at verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 7. It says, “For this Melchizedek, 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 translated ‘king of righteousness’” — everybody say that: king of righteousness — “and then also king of Salem, meaning ‘king of peace’” — everybody say “king of peace.” Notice verse 3: “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.”

So what do we know about Melchizedek? Well, we know his name. We know his name, Melchizedek. Now how many of you know a name means something? Did you know that your name means something? I think we undervalue that sometimes. Something that we do here with some regularity is baby dedications, where the parents bring their children in front of the congregation, in front of the church, and they dedicate their children to the Lord, and then we pray over them. And one of the things that I enjoy doing is identifying what their name is and what it means.

Because how many of you know your name is one of the things that you’re going to hear most through life, right? People are going to try to get your attention; they’re going to call your name. People want something from you; they’re going to call your name. I want you to consider the power of your name. Because your name means something, and every time someone speaks your name, it is like they are prophetically declaring who God has called and created you to be. Does that make sense? So if your name means “man of God,” every time someone speaks your name, it is a prophetic declaration to the heavens and all of the spirit: this man of God. So don’t name your children lightly. Don’t take that lightly. Ask the Lord. He probably has an opinion about what your children’s names should be. Okay? Are we good?

So here’s Melchizedek, and we know his name, and his name is a joining of two ancient words which means “king of righteousness.” King of righteousness. So we know his name. We also know his office. He was the king of Salem. Salem was actually the ancient city of Jerusalem — Jerusalem, which means peace. King of peace. So we know his name is king of righteousness. We know he is king of peace. And we also know that he’s a priest of the Most High God.

Now that blows my mind, because at this point in scripture, in Genesis 14, the priesthood had not yet been developed, right? There was no priesthood of lineage. It had not been instituted. It did not exist. And yet Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God, and here he is. Out of nowhere he shows up.

The victory meal and the tithe

We also see him function in a priestly role. We see that he comes to Abraham after his victory, and he brings and offers a meal. What is that meal? Bread and wine. Everybody say “bread and wine.” It is interesting to me that this meal of bread and wine is offered as a victory meal. Abraham had defeated the foreign kings. Melchizedek offers a meal, and the victory meal was bread and wine. How many of you know Jesus is our bread and our wine? And when we partake of Him, we are receiving that victory meal. Somebody say amen.

So this victory meal of bread and wine is offered, and to this day — and what we are going to do in just a little bit — we are going to partake of the bread and the wine. And what we are celebrating is the victory of Jesus over sin and death. Amen.

We also see that he receives a tithe from Abraham. For those of you that don’t know, a tithe means a tenth. Abraham had defeated these foreign kings, and it says that he gave a tenth, a tithe of the spoils of that war. Why did he give? Let me tell you something. I think that there is some misconception over what a tithe is, and what we’re really to bring, and what we’re to offer to the Lord. But I want us to notice this: Abraham brings a tithe, and this man Melchizedek is so great and so worthy that he receives a tithe from Abraham. Let me ask you: how great do you actually have to be to receive a tithe from someone as great as Abraham? You’ve got to be pretty awesome, right? You’ve got to be pretty great.

So here is Melchizedek, and we see the power of giving an offering in the same setting as the meal. Are you guys with me? There is power in bringing our offering to the Lord in the same setting as the meal — to bring our offering with the King of Salem, the King of Jerusalem, in our midst. There is something powerful when we bring our offering in that space.

So this king of righteousness, this king of peace, the priest of the Most High God, whose priestly office was recognized by someone as great as Abraham — we can understand that this person had to be a very significant person, right? Even though he appeared briefly, he appeared brightly. But I want us to notice the even greater statement in verse 3. He was “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” And so this is why many believe that Melchizedek was not just a great man, but was actually an appearance of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Himself.

Now, we actually see this in scripture several times. When we think about Christmas, what are we celebrating? We’re celebrating the birth of Jesus, right? Everybody say “Jesus.” Okay, we’re going back to Sunday school. What’s the answer? Jesus. Yep, it’s Jesus. We’re celebrating the coming of the Lord Jesus, the birth of Jesus, when God left His heavenly throne and came to earth and became man. But there are instances throughout the Old Testament where, for whatever reason, God wraps Himself and comes and appears to people here on earth before the incarnation.

Again, we’re going to talk about the incarnation over the next few weeks. Do not miss it. Tell somebody next to you, “Don’t miss it.” No, you didn’t tell them. That was not convincing. So many believe that Melchizedek was an appearance of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Himself.

Presence, meal, and offering

So I want to just quickly recap, and then we’re going to begin to receive communion. We see several things in these few short verses. We see the presence of the Lord: the king of righteousness, the king of peace, came to Abraham. The presence of the Lord was there. We see a meal is brought; this is speaking of communion. And then there was an offering that was given. So what does this translate to today? What does this mean for us as a church?

Well, number one, we go to church and we invite the presence of the Lord in our worship. Did we do that this morning? Yes, we did. Another thing is we gather together and we partake of the body of Christ. And the other thing that we are to do is give our offering.

I want us to picture this. I think sometimes as believers we can treat our offering to the Lord as a tax or as a bill. How many of you know God is not a bill? He is not a tax. He is to be honored. He is to be glorified. And I’ve heard it said that unless Jesus has the first place in your finances, He doesn’t have your whole heart. You see, we hold on to the things that are most important to us. But Jesus is to have the first place and preeminence in all things. Amen.

But I want us to consider this for just a moment. We see this beautiful picture of the presence of the Lord, the king of righteousness, the king of peace. A meal is presented — this covenant meal, this meal of promise, this meal that represents the sacrifice of Jesus, where His body was broken. When Jesus instituted communion, He broke the bread and He said, “This is My body, which is broken for you.” And then they took of the wine, and He said, “This is the blood of the new covenant, which has been poured out for you.” And so here they are in the presence of the king, and this meal is offered, and what was Abraham’s response? Take the first. Take the best. Can you see the honor? Can you see the heart?

You see, I believe that for us to fully understand and encounter Jesus in our worship, a big part of that is that we worship Him through our giving. We worship Him with our resources, with a heart that says, “Lord, all I have is nothing without You. Without You I have nothing. And so, Lord, let me give to You.” Now, the Lord in His goodness — when we honor Him like that, how many of you know He blesses us? It is His heart that He would take care of us, that He would provide for us. But we have to have hearts that trust Him.

Have you ever heard the expression “Actions speak louder than words”? Jesus said, “Why do you honor Me with your lips, but in your heart you go astray?” God cannot be fooled. We think we can fool God. Come on. We gather together, we worship, we give glory, and we say, “Well, that is offering enough.” But there is something so sweet that the Lord wants us to experience. And it doesn’t happen just by giving money and saying, “Here, God, take it.” No, it happens when we come into the presence of the Lord and we receive of His sacrifice — we receive of the body that was broken, we receive of the blood that was shed — and in response we bring our offering to the Lord.

I believe that our offerings, when we give to the Lord, should be in the very same breath as receiving the sacrifice of Jesus, in that atmosphere of worship. You see, we should give our offerings with gratitude and with a worshipful heart in the presence of the Lord. Let me say that again, because I think some of you missed that. Listen: we should give our offerings with gratitude and a worshipful heart in the presence of the Lord. And that’s what we see here with Melchizedek. Giving is meant to be done in the same breath as receiving the sacrifice of Jesus, while being in an atmosphere of worship. Amen.

The meal of deliverance and strength

Now I want to talk about the power of this meal for just a moment, as we’re about to receive communion. In Exodus 12 we see the story of the Passover. For those of you that don’t know, the Passover marks the day that the people of God were delivered out of bondage, out of slavery, out of Egypt. It was the final plague, where God killed the firstborn throughout the nation. But He gave the instruction. He said, “Take a lamb, sacrifice it, put its blood on the doorpost, and any dwelling that has the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, the angel of death will pass over.” That is why it’s called the Passover. And after that, they were to be dressed and ready to go, because the Lord was going to deliver them on that day.

So we see the Passover in Exodus 12, and we see that there was this meal. Everybody say “a meal.” And I want to look at Psalm 105, verses 36 and 37. This is speaking of what took place in Exodus chapter 12. It says, “He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their strength. He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes.”

I want you to notice something. On this Passover there was a meal, and this meal meant something. As they received this meal, they were healed. They were protected. And they were strengthened. So when we look at the story of Melchizedek, and we look at the Passover story, we see that there is power in these meal-type settings. And what happened on the night of the Passover, when they received the covenant meal? They were liberated. How many of you know this is the meal of deliverance? Amen. It’s the meal of deliverance.

I want you to notice it says He destroyed the firstborn of the land, “the first of all their strength.” When we receive this this morning, I don’t want you to just go through the motions. I want you to recognize and reflect on what this is — to think and consider what it is that you’ve actually been delivered from. You see, Egypt represents the bondage that was in our lives before we were set free. And I want you to notice that when they partook of this meal, God removed the first of the strength of the enemy.

How many of you know in the same way He wants to do that in your life? Whatever has come against you, whatever things may puff themselves up in your life, whatever things are set to hold you back or to hold you down — the Lord is saying, “Would you receive of Me and allow Me to tear those things down and to bring deliverance to your life?” This is the meal of deliverance. Everybody say, “It’s the meal of deliverance.”

And we see in Exodus 12:11, it says, “And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.” In other words, God was saying, “Eat with haste, because we’re out of here. Your time of deliverance has come.” This is the meal of deliverance, of breakthrough, of exiting Egypt and journeying to Mount Sinai, which represents the glorious presence of the Lord. How many of you know you do not have to be in bondage anymore, but you can come to the throne of Jesus and be free in Jesus’ name, by what He’s done?

They were delivered, and they received strength. It is the meal of strength. Say, “It’s the meal of strength.” Verse 37 says, “There was none feeble among His tribes.” This is a miracle, because when the people of Israel were delivered out of Egypt, there were approximately 3 million people of Israel journeying out of Egypt and heading into the promised land. Three million, and not one was feeble among them. Why? Because they partook of the Lord. It is the meal of strength. Maybe you’re here and you feel weak. You feel beaten down. You feel discouraged. Maybe you feel depressed, sick. When you come and you receive of this meal and you partake of the Lord, I want you to believe that’s what He will do. He will bring strength to your life.

A table in the presence of my enemies

I want to close with this, out of Psalm chapter 23. Verse 4 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

Many of you have heard this psalm before. It’s a lot of people’s favorite psalm. And yes, this is a psalm of David, but it is more than that. It is a prophetic word of the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the one who walked through the valley of the shadow of death. But I want you to notice Jesus’ approach. He was surrounded by enemies. The night He instituted this covenant meal — when He said, “This is My body that’s broken for you; this is the blood that was shed for you” — that night He was surrounded by enemies. His betrayer, Judas, was at the table. And not only that, the whole city was about to turn on Him. He was surrounded by enemies.

But I want you to notice Jesus’ focus. His focus was on the table. His focus was on the table in the presence of His enemies. So here is God in the city of Jerusalem, as the King of the city, yet He was surrounded by enemies. And what does He do? He comes to the table. Everybody say “the table.” And He brings those who are close to Him, and He establishes covenant. When you are feeling surrounded, remember your covenant with Jesus. He was surrounded, and He focused on the table. Remember your covenant with Jesus.

Listen, you cannot tell me communion is just a tradition. You can’t tell me that this is just a religious duty or a religious act, or something that we do because Jesus said that we should. There is power in this meal. There is power in this meal. It’s more than just crackers that were broken and grape juice that’s been in the fridge for six months. I promise you, we serve it fresh. There’s so much more. But your heart and your approach to this will dictate what you receive from Him. He wants to fill you with Himself.

Communion literally means co-union. It is a becoming one with the Lord Jesus Himself. I mean, just that word — the intimacy and the invitation that is being offered. The perfect One came and gave His life, and He is saying, “I want to be one with you. Will you let Me fill you with Myself today?” And when we come with a right heart, when we come with a heart that says, “Lord, I give You everything. Lord, I want more of You” — a humble and a sincere heart, a broken heart — when we come with that, He says, “Okay, now there’s space for Me to fill.” He’s so good. He’s so good.

But He is not a genie in a bottle. He’s not just going to magically make things better. He’s not just going to overcome your desires and say, “I’m just going to wipe all that out, and you’re just going to be a robot, and I’m going to be your puppet master, and you’re just going to do whatever.” No. He’s looking for hearts that are yielded to Him, that are available to Him, that trust in Him, that make Him priority. That’s why Jesus said ask, seek, knock. If you seek, I will be found by you, if you seek with all your heart.

Many of us would say, “I want more of the Lord.” But do you have a heart that truly hungers and thirsts for Him? Because there is a significant warning about going through the motions. It is a dry and empty road. There are so many believers who are dry in their spirituality, and it starts when we say, “I’ll give God some, but not all.” Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Being in this room is not going to stir you up. Only a heart that receives of Him. Amen. Amen.

Receiving the covenant meal

We’re going to receive, and I’m going to ask that we all stand together this morning, and I’m going to close us in prayer. I’m going to ask that every head would be bowed and eyes closed. Can we just lift our hands to heaven, and with our eyes closed just begin to fix our eyes on Jesus? And right now just begin to thank Him. In your own words, just say, “Thank You, Jesus, that You gave Yourself for me, that I can receive freely. Thank You, Lord. You are holy. Lord, I give You everything.”

And, Lord, as we come to receive, we thank You for the power of Your blood and the power of Your body. Lord, we thank You for this family — that we come together in Your presence to receive this covenant meal from You. And, Lord, I pray right now the power of the blood and the body of Jesus over every person here today, in Jesus’ name. Lord, we receive of You, and we thank You, Lord, for what You’ve done.

And if you are here today and there’s sin in your life, I want you to just right now begin to confess that to the Lord, and just begin to thank Him for His forgiveness. Begin to thank Him for His grace. Thank You, Lord, that You forgive us. Lord, Your Word says that if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, we can now come boldly to the throne of grace and receive of You.

What we’re going to do is receive our communion. I’ll just begin playing guitar here in a moment. We’re going to come up in a line, and we’re going to receive the juice and the bread — the juice that represents the blood of Jesus, and the bread that represents the body. But what I would like us to do is take the elements to our seats. Before you receive, I want you to begin to pray for one another. If there are things that you need — we’re in this together. Amen. We’re the body of Christ, and He says pray for one another, right? Lift one another up. Weep with those who weep. Mourn with those who mourn. Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. But begin to pray for one another as you’re about to receive.

And then when you’re done, I want us to receive in faith, knowing that this is the meal of strength. This is a meal of deliverance. This is a powerful meal, and we’re receiving of the Lord Jesus Himself. Amen. Amen. So let’s go ahead and begin to come up. Take the elements to your seat and begin to pray with two or three people. Two or three people — begin to pray for one another, and when you’re done, receive of the elements together.

Unless you’re still praying, let’s just stand together. We’re going to close our time in worship. Let’s just stand. Let’s lift our hands to the Lord and just begin to thank Him for what He’s done. Just begin to lift up those things that have held you back from Him, those dark places that have brought condemnation to your life. Just begin to speak, and begin to thank Him this morning.

Holy, holy, holy. Thank You, Lord Jesus. We thank You for what You’ve done, and, Lord, we give You praise. Lord, may we never stop worshiping You, giving thanks, Lord, for what You’ve done for us. Lord, as we partake of You, You wash us, You cleanse us, You fill us, Lord Jesus. And, Lord, I pray that as we go out from this place, we would be empowered by Your Spirit to declare Your goodness, to declare Your love. Lord, fill every person here to overflowing, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

And amen. The Lord is good. Amen. If you are here today and you need prayer, we’re going to have people available up here to pray with you.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.