The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; therefore He shall lift up the head. —Psalm 110:4-7
For some, these verses present a problem. For the Jew, the problem would be the son of David being a priest. The priestly tribe was Levi, not Judah, and the Messiah was clearly to come through the tribe of Judah and, specifically, through the lineage of King David. The problem for the Jew is handled easily by the introduction of a priestly order that is neither of the Jews or even of the Levites. In the book of Hebrews, we read: “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” (Hebrews 5:6-10). Melchizedek was a “priest of God” before there were ever any Jews and certainly before the Levitical line of earthly priests. Melchizedek is a type of Christ in that Christ is not limited to human ordinance or life span. He is a priest forever, and it was not through birth that he received his priesthood like the Levites do. The more contemporary problem arises when we look at verses 5-7, where the Lord is presented as judge of the nations, who executes the heads of countries and kings in His wrath. People don’t like to hear that. They only want a God who meets their definitions and even their code of behavior.
Some believe that the Lord lets them define their own moral code, and no one can tell them that they’re wrong and that they won’t be going to heaven. They’d never accept that. This type of thinking is called “universalism,” promoted by many preachers today who seek to build their own kingdoms instead of contributing to growing God’s kingdom.
Christ came once to suffer for our sins, but He is coming back to conquer His enemies. Why should He let into heaven people who hate Him and don’t want to go there? The blatant truth is this: The King is coming, and He will destroy all His enemies. Some of you may not like that, but I’m not trying to make you happy. I’m here to tell you that you must be holy. And you can’t be made holy apart from Christ. And if you’re not made holy, then what are you? You’re God’s enemy. In a not-too-distant future, a soon-to-come generation will experience the fullness of God’s wrath if they enter into the coming Tribulation continuing to reject the Lord’s offer of forgiveness.
True love means not letting one do what he or she wants without consequence. Luke wrote: [Jesus said] “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-26). Jesus makes the same offer to us today. If you want to come after Him, you have to stop putting yourself first and stop living by what you think is right and follow Him and His ways. As for me, I know that God sent His Son to die for my sins, proving beyond question that He loves me—and He loves you too!
The King is coming, first for His church to meet them in the air, and then seven years later with His church, to rule the nations with a rod of iron. Have you volunteered for the Lord’s army? You can join of your own free will by being born again.
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