Heritage Baptist Church of Frankfort IL

The Christmas story is told with many different variations and details. However, many of those details are not found in the Scripture or are misinterpreted. The believer needs to make sure that they know the facts of the Christmas story and be careful of some of the made up details that are taken as Scriptural fact. The Christian should be one who searches the Scripture to see if these things are true.

This passage is one of controversy for multiple reasons. It sounds like the Lord is expecting Christians to be pushovers. However, the Lord is working on a mindset that demands rights and vengeance. The Christian is willing to give up certain rights for the opportunity to share Christ. It at times requires a great deal of grace and forgiveness.

This section ends the writer of Hebrews exposition of Psalm 110:4 that started back in Hebrews 4:14. Jesus is the best high priest in comparison to the all of the priests in the Old Testament. He has character that is unmatched and His ministry is forever. The sacrifice He made is able to save to uttermost.

David penned this psalm after a battle with Edom. However, the psalm has the perspective before the battle took place. Edom had invaded Israel will David was away and brought destruction to the region. David had been winning victories far away, but now there was an obvious lose at home. David recognized the failure as God's displeasure with the nation and with himself. David called upon God to go with the nation again. God made clear that He was in control of the nations. His nation just needed to respond in repentance for Him to help.

God's intention for His church and His people is to triumph. Many believers fail to recognize what God has planned for their lives.

The Pharisees attempted to come up with ways to make oaths that they could break. They would not swear by the name of the Lord, because failure to keep the oath would bring judgment. They decided that they could swear by everything else and be okay if they broke the oath. Jesus desires His followers to be so trustworthy that their speech would always be honest.

The Levitical priests had a shelf-life. They passed away and had to be replaced. Some of the priests were openly sinful and every year they had to offer sacrifices for themselves. Jesus is a priest unlike the Levitical priests. He is better and brings in a new covenant to replace the old.

David was boxed in on all sides by his enemies. His prayer in this passage was for God to deliver him so that his enemies might know who God is. God does an excellent job in making Himself known, but David promised to be a part of the praise that makes God known.

Melchizedek is a relatively unknown individual in the Old Testament. The details about him are found in Genesis 14. The details of that story are significant in pointing out that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham and the priests of Levi, thus he is a better priest. This is why it is important that Jesus is a priest of the order of Melchizedek. He is a better priest.

This psalm looks at the injustices of political leaders. The psalmist prayers to God for the stopping of the violence of leadership. His major illustration of these leaders is that they are snakes that kill while being deaf to to pleas of the innocents.