For The Best Of Baptists-3

For The BEST of BAPTISTS-III—Hebrews 7:1-10

Need:

The writer to the Hebrews described what was available in Christ Jesus to the religiously comfortable.

A higher plane is available to the religiously comfortable.

What heights are available to the religiously comfortable or the Best of Baptists?

7 Higher planes available to the Best of Baptists.

For the Best of Baptists, there is A Higher...

1. KING(:1a, 2)

2. MEDIATOR/Priest(:1a)

3. BLESSING(:1b)

4. INSULATION / BLOODLINE(:3)

5—For the Best of Baptists, there is...

A Higher HONOR(:4)

Explanation:(:4) Deposit/Statement

:4—“Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.”

It is the responsibility of the person being encouraged to “consider/observe” in particular the “great”ness of this Melchizedek & how this applies to & pictures the greatness of Christ.

Melchizedek’s greatness is obvious in that ‘the great patriarch,’ Abraham willingly & desirously surrendered “a tenth” of “the choicest spoils” which he had just re-captured from the 4 kings.

Abraham’s giving‘was a voluntary act revealing thanks to God.’—J. MacArthur

The spoils of war brought income & prosperity to any nation as a whole.

The OT gives specific guidelines as to what our giving should be. Goats, Sheep, Cattle, Grain, Drinks, etc.

The New Testament does not designate an amount or proportion but rather calls us to give offerings freely, cheerfully & generously or bountifully(2Cor. 9:6-11).

The backdrop of the OT tithe, & the offerings being added to that.

This type of giving would place comparatively greater importance & honor upon the giver’s God than upon his/her possessions.

2Cor. 9:5-11—“Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, & prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity & not as a grudging obligation. But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, & he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, & bread for food, supply & multiply the seed you have sown & increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”

To the Pharisees, tithing had become mechanical, so that it became a source of personal pride rather than a pride focused upon God. It had ceased to be an expression of love for their God but instead had become a blind conditioned aspect of mere obedience.

Mat. 23:23—““Woe to you, scribes & Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint & anise & cummin, & have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice & mercy & faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

And likewise:

Mk. 7:9-13—“He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father & your mother’; &, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ “But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”--’ (that is, a gift to God), “then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.””

“Spoils/Choicest spoils/Plunder”—akroqinion—Top of the heap, the first fruits, the best of either spoils or crops. Greeks would customarily offer the topmost portion of the collected plunder to their gods. properly (in the plural) The top of the heap, i.e. (by implication) Best of the booty:-- Spoils. Used 1X.

Argumentation:

Eccl. 11:1-2—“Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, & also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.”

We give not know when or how it will return to us yet knowing full well that it will!

Mat. 6:20-21—““But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, & where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Lk. 12:33-34—“Sell your possessions & give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”