The Prophets Have Landed! (Celebration Service 10/17/10)

Posted by pastorjohn on Oct 18, 2010 in What's Up | 2 comments

The Prophets Have Landed!

Part I

 

I do not know about you, but my cup ‘runneth over’. I’m still downloading heavenly treasures from the children’s conference and now I get hit with the Dr. Paul Cox express train. “OH DANG!” as sister Michelle would say. God is aligning us and doing it quickly. He means business. My head is still spinning from these past few months. “Jesus, I’m ready to explode. Joy bubbles are expanding out of my chest. Enough! No, I want more! Ahhhhhhh!”  

 

We started off Sunday morning with Rodney leading us with They That Wait. It’s a song of hope and encouragement centered on Isaiah 40:31. The believer is symbolized as an eagle, rejuvenated by His hand, seasoned through waiting, full of strength, ready to soar. He had no idea how prophetic this song would be for the rest of the service. God told him to lead off with this song. God truly is in charge of our celebration Sundays. His planning and timing are inscrutable.

 

As we moved along in our prayer time, the Lord prompted us all to spread our wings and soar around the sanctuary.  Everybody clicked in or clucked in (some flapped around like chickens). Freedom reigned in this place. We soared, flapped, zoomed, zipped, squawked; we made like eagles because God was ready to unleash us into greater freedom. We prophetically stepped out in faith into the new thing God was about to do.

 

The service started with Dean sharing that this Sunday (10/17) was the nine-month anniversary of Unified.. .; nine signifying a full-term birth. Exactly nine months earlier, Paul Cox was here with Randy Clark to kick off this new move of God. An apostle started us off and now a prophet was here to set our foundation right.

 

Paul began by sharing about an enigmatic figure in the Bible named Melchizedek. My curiosity was peaked. I was at a gathering last night and could not stop thinking about this person, who Dr. Cox said was key to this season. Really? I needed to know why. Many had the same thoughts. In between bites of spare ribs, fried chicken, fellowship, and kids playing with caterpillars, I kept musing about Melchizedek. This is my take on what God was trying to say through Dr. Paul Cox, along with some extra insight.  Please understand my heart, this is an interpretation that is still in process. God is slowly revealing more stuff. Even Dr. Paul Cox stated he is still wrestling with these things. This is my best shot on a very deep subject. Here it goes.

 

First, Melchizedek was the king of Salem, who met Abraham after his defeat of King Chedorlaomer and his allies (Genesis 14:17-20). He blessed Abraham and Abraham blessed him in return with a tithe of ten percent. You do not hear about the dude again until Psalm 110, a Psalm prophesying about the coming of our Kingly Messiah. Then things got really interesting when I studied Hebrews 5-8.

 

The theme of Hebrews is Jesus. He is compared to Melchizedek in Hebrews chapters five through eight, and was given two titles: king of righteousness (the meaning of his name) and king of Salem (peace). He had no mother or father, no geneaology, no beginning, no end, but made like the Son of God. He is a priest forever (Heb 7:1-3). 

 

From this description, it’s very clear that Melchizedek was not a human being, but a spiritual being. Also, his titles and characteristics mirrored Jesus. Jesus has no beginning and end (Jn 8:58, Rev 22:13). Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus is also called The Righteous Branch (Jer 23:5) and King of Kings (Rev 19:16)!  

 

Another interesting observation was that Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek. You don’t give tithes to humans. Also, Melchizedek gave Abraham wine and bread; thus, foreshadowing the New Covenant that Jesus inaugurated at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20). Who was and is Melchizedek? I believe he was and is Jesus, a manifestation of Jesus. The Lord Jesus then appeared again to Abraham in Genesis chapter 18 before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

Why is Melchizedek important to us? He fits right into the theme of what God is doing throughout the world wide church at this time: bringing us back to the beginning; bringing us back to basics. We are not to look to the Levitical priesthood as our example anymore, but the Melchizedek priesthood, or more accurately, the Jesus priesthood. We are not under law, but grace. We are not to follow the letter of the Law, but the spirit of the Law. We are not to be circumcised in the flesh, but in the heart. We are not called to follow dead doctrine, but a real person. We are not called to a RIP religion, but a living relationship. We are not called to complexity, but simplicity. We are not called to tithe based on the Levitical model, but the Melchizedek. We are not only called to live in the natural, but moreso in the supernatural. 

 

We are also called to move out of the elementary teachings of continued repentance, faith in God, baptisms, works, and rest in the intercessory prayer of our Eternal Priest, who continually commends us before our Father in heaven (Hebrews 7:25). He is Melchizedek, Jesus, our Eternal High Priest.

 

He showed up when Abraham gained the victory. We also gained the victory over sin and death through His Kingly Priesthood. We gain victory today over our daily spiritual battles through his prayers. Dr. Paul Cox further explained that He literally shows up today in the manifestation of Melchizedek when His church gains the victory.

 

I do not doubt this manifestation of God because he manifests as the Angel of the Lord, Wisdom, the Lion of Judah, and other forms to get his message across. He appeared as Wisdom, a golden haired woman, to me. That was a wild experience, but I realized from that time on, God could not be placed in my safe theological boxes. The Pharisees and Jews tried and they missed their visitation. They never realized their Messiah would come as a lowly carpenter. Their lack of discernment proves deadly.  

 

We need to walk in victory in this life because Melchizedek represents a kingly priesthood. We, the church, are also a kingly priesthood (1 Pet 2:9).  We need to rule in this world, reign in this life, and reach out to the lost in the power of God; following in the spirit of this new priestly royal line.  We have regained all the lost treasure and more from the enemy of our souls, the thief (Genesis 14:16, John 10:10). We are a kingly priesthood! We are from the line of Melchizedek!

 

Melchizedek, based on his description and role, didn't carry a lot of baggage. The Levitical model did. The church is stuck in the Levitical priesthood (static structures, programs, legalism, stifling roles, dead doctrine). We need to move into the true freedom of the Melchizedek, or Jesus Priesthood, and walk in God’s unconditional love! It’s about His grace, not law. It’s about freedom, not bondage. I will share more about this service in the next installment. It gets more interesting!