WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC #95

King Of Righteousness

December 16^th, 2001

HEBREWS 7:1 ¶ For this Melchisedec, King of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man [was], unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

For the past few weeks we have been examining this scripture, which brother Branham mentioned in paragraph 95 of Who is this Melchisedec, and we found him mentioning that God held the title of three Kings. First he said, God held the Title of King of Righteousness, and then he told us that God held the title of King of Peace. Finally he told us that God would hold the title of King of Kings, when He incarnates the body of His Son, at the Time of the catching away of the Church. And we crown Him thus.

THE FIRST SEAL 63-0318 161-3 {301} Notice, and when this Holy Spirit that we have, becomes incarnate to us, the One that's in our midst now in the form of the Holy Ghost, becomes incarnate to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, we'll crown Him King of king...?... That's right. See?

We found there is an order to these titles of King. We found that God, first of all, was King of Righteousness, before He could become King of Peace. We examined the Scriptures to find that Peace comes from Knowing Him, and He is the Word.

In II PETER 1:2 we read, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you (and he went on to tell us how Grace and Peace become multiplied to us, or expanded greatly…) Peter tells us the conduit to receiving the Grace and Peace of God is, through the knowledge of God, and (now, remember, and is a conjunction linking two things. In fact Brother Branham said the same thing, he said from PHILADELPHIAN CHURCH AGE 60-1210 paragraph 44 Isn't it strange that many cut off that part there? "And" is a conjunction that ties your sentence together. See?). Through the knowledge of God, and (and what? And through the knowledge) of Jesus our Lord,

Therefore our Grace and Peace comes through knowing God and His Son, and rightfully dividing the word of truth concerning this relationship between the Father and His Son. In fact the Apostle John tells us that we do not even have the right to claim any sort of relationship with God if we do not have the Doctrine of Christ. And John tells us the right understanding of the Doctrine of Christ is that there must be One Who is the Father and another Who is the Son of the Father.

In II John 1:3 we find the formula for peace coming from the Apostle John. He says, Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

So we see that our Grace and Peace comes from knowing God, and knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of The Father. Why? Because when we understand the relationship of the Father to the Son, then we can begin to know our own relationship to the Father as well.

In II JOHN 1:9 We also hear the Apostle John say, Whosoever transgresseth (Now, this word transgresseth is a Greek Word which means to neglect or go around it, to turn aside from or depart from and leave and notice, he is talking about the Doctrine of Christ here. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth (this word abideth means to remain in or continue to be present in, but notice John says, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in, which words not in means the opposite, "to not remain in", or "to no longer to be present with") and he is speaking of, "the doctrine of Christ", (and he tells us that the those who are in this condition) hath not God. And the word hath is a Greek word echo which means literally to possess, or to have, but the word echo also means to be of such a nature as to reflect back again, and we are talking about being able to reflect God here. Whosoever neglects or turns aside from and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ, does not possess God, nor can reflect the nature of God.

Then to make his point complete he says it again, but just the opposite. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. (Notice, he is telling us that the person who has the doctrine of Christ, and remains in the doctrine of Christ, must have both the Father and the Son.) Then he goes on to tell us how important this doctrine of Christ is. He says in verse 10 ¶ If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

Now, in getting back to this understanding where our Peace comes from, the Peace that surpasses all understanding can only come from having an intimate relationship with Him, Who is called The King of Peace. We found in examining the Scriptures that the Apostle Paul, and Peter and John all greeted the saints with Grace and Peace from God and from our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 times in the New Testament we are told that our Grace and Peace come from knowing God and His Son. The Grace of God brings peace from God.

Therefore, He had to be King of Righteousness before He could have been King of Peace. Because Righteousness is Right-Wise-ness, and we know he is the Righteous King.

Now, Wednesday night we began to take this further into the Scriptures to examine this role of King of Righteousness.

Now, in HEBREWS 7:2 we read, To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

Now the word righteousness comes from the Greek word here, dikaiosune and is pronounced, {dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay} and is translated as the word righteousness. It means integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting.

Notice it's main meaning has to do with correctness or being right, thinking right, doing right, etc. Therefore it means right-wise-ness as we have so often used for our definition.

WHO DO YOU SAY THIS IS? 64-1227 90 righteousness is the--the right thing.

And Paul is telling us here that this Melchisedec, was first of all King of Righteousness, or King of Doing and acting and thinking what is right. Then Paul says, and then after that, King of Peace. So even Paul is telling us He was first and foremost King of Righteousness. Now, the Word right means not only correct but true.

HEBREWS CHAPTER 6 AND 7 57-0915M 271-638 Who is this Melchisedec?

For this Melchisedec, King of Salem... (which is Jerusalem),... Priest of the most high God,... (certainly)... who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham give a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness,... (that great Love, that great Spirit in the beginning)... King of righteousness,... after that... King of Salem, which is, the King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, or ending of life; Who was it? He never was born; He never will die. Who is it? It was God (Sure it was.) in the foreshadow of the Lord Jesus. Certainly was.

Notice that brother Branham identifies the title of King of righteousness as god in that great fountain of Life, Love and Spirit in the beginning. Then he quotes Paul as saying, first (Notice, first He is) King of righteousness,... (that great Love, that great Spirit in the beginning)... King of righteousness,... after that...(Notice the order now, then He quotes Paul saying, then after that He is) King of Salem, which is, the King of peace.

So we see the order was first king of righteousness, and then King of Peace and last He will be King of Kings, for in this last Kingdom it will be a kingdom of Kings and Priests, and he shall reign over all of that Kingdom of Kings as the King of kings.

And Jesus told us He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. JOHN 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

This Scripture is what the Oneness love to quote, but as you can see they only quote a part of what Jesus said. What they quote is 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou [then], Shew us the Father? The problem is that they leave off Jesus own explanation of what he said here. Notice he continued on by saying, 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Notice, Jesus own explanation is that God is dwelling in Him and therefore even the words and works are not his own, but the Father's Who is dwelling in Him, he is the One who is doing the works.

Therefore, we know that it was not the Son of God that was talking when he said, I am the Way, the truth, and the Life. Because Jesus told us that it was the Father in Him that was telling him what to say. He said, the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Again in JOHN 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

Therefore, if we are to say it like Jesus said it, we must acknowledge that it is the Father Who The Truth, and the Life. For even Jesus admitted that the Life He has came from God.

JOHN 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Therefore, it is the Father that was dwelling in Jesus Christ that is, "The Truth and The Life", for he is the Righteous God.

The prophet DANIEL tells us in 9:14b for the LORD our God [is] righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

Now, I want you to remember that He is the truth, and the Life. Notice, that the Truth is the Word. And in that Word there is Life. Jesus said, My Words are Spirit and they are Life. So we are looking at the Life that is in the Word, and the Life in that Word which brings life. Therefore, in the very beginning when God was the Solitary God, when He dwelt all alone in and by Himself, He was the Great fountain of Life, and he was the Word.

PSALMS 36:9 For with thee [is] the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

LIFE 57-0602 E-22 The great fountain of all eternity was that spirit of love, joy, that spirit of honesty, that spirit of trueness in this perfection. … again he said, The Word spoke out of them great Fountains of Life and went forth. And there was the theophany, which was God made into Word.

So we see that this Great Fountain possessed certain attributes of Love and Honesty and trueness, which is righteousness. This Fountain was Life, for He is Life, and He is the Word. Therefore, to receive His Life we must receive His word.

Paul tells us in ROMANS 8:10 ¶ the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. And he continues in verse 11 by saying, But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

So we see then that it takes the Word or the Right-Wise-ness of God to quicken our Spirit, that it might receive the Life that is in the Word.

IT BECOMETH US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS 61-1001M 92 And what is His righteousness? His Word.

In the book of JOHN 1:1 we read ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and then we find out Who that Word was, "and the Word was God". And then in verse 4 we read 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

So we see that God Who is the Word is Life. In fact this same Apostle John, who tells us this also tells us he is the Word of Life. I JOHN 1:1 ¶ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I believe we can establish that the role of the King of Righteousness was to bring forth Life, for He is the author of Life. In fact the Apostle Peter tells us that our new birth is brought about by receiving the eternal seed which is the Word of God.

I PETER 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

JOHN 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. And Jesus told Nicodemus that unless you are born again you can not see the kingdom of God. To see, means to understand, and so does "to hear". In fact brother Branham says this very thing in the message HEAR RECOGNIZE ACT ON WORD 60-0221 30 First, faith cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word of God. Then the believer hears It, recognizes It, and acts on It. The carnal man will hear It, the sound of It, but never... "Hear" means to "understand It". Look at, is looking at something; but to see it, is to "understand it". "Except a man be born again, he cannot see or understand the Kingdom of God."

So we see the ministry of the role of King of Righteousness is to bring life by bring the Word to us.

Is that not what we see in Matthew 6:33. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and what? And all these things shall be added unto you."

ENTICING SPIRITS 55-0724 111d "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," not the Kingdom of God or a little noise, not the Kingdom of God and a little emotion, not the Kingdom of God and a little this or that, but God in His righteousness and all these other things will be added to you.

WATCHMAN WHAT OF THE NIGHT 58-1130 E-49 The great thing is the first thing. First the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, other things shall be added.

But the people do not want righteousness. You know what is funny, but I can preach the Doctrine as hard as I can and it just goes right over the head of some people. But let me preach righteousness and a Righteous God Who demands a people to live a righteous life, and they flee by the dozens.

Notice the Word of God tells us to seek ye first the Kingdom of the Righteous God. That is the first kingdom, and then after that the Kingdom of Peace and finally the Kingdom of Kings. Yes, If he is to be crowned King of Kings, it is because there will be other Kings in that Kingdom. Then it will be the Kingdom of Kings.

Messiah The 61-0117 E-23 God called us, and we become kings and priests unto God. Like Jesus was God's High Priest, we become a lesser priest. Jesus was...God in Fullness dwelt in Him to shine forth the expression of God to the world, for God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. And as God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, God comes into His church and anoints Him some Messiahettes. Oh, my. Do you see it? The same things He did is in His church. The same power He had is in His church. And His church becomes His dominion, and He's King over this dominion, and we are kings and priests, offering spiritual sacrifices to God, the fruits of our lips giving praise to His Name. Amen. Oh, my. There you are: Messiahettes, Messiahettes, little messiahs, little anointed ones. Anointed off of what? The main One, anointed off of the great One.

Revelation 1:6, "And He hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Revelations 5:8 And Thou has made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

36-1 REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST - CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 1 "And made us priests." Yes, priests unto Him, offering the spiritual praise of sanctified lips. Spending our lives as a sweet offering unto Him. Worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth. Interceding and petitioning. Priests and kings unto our God. No wonder the world does not appeal to us and we are a peculiar people zealous unto good works. We have been recreated in Him to be children like unto our Father.

That is why we read in Romans 8:16 The Spirit (God's Very Own Spirit) itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (That we are his Children): 17 ¶ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

And how does God's own Spirit bear witness of our Spirit? The apostle John said, I John 3:7b, " he that DOETH (worketh) righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous.

IT BECOMETH US TO FULFILL 61-1001M 161 God wants men and women who'll stand and fulfill all righteousness. Of course, Righteousness is His Word.

118-3 SMYRNAEAN CHURCH AGE - CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 4 Remember He admonished, "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat or what ye shall put on. Your Father knoweth the things ye have need of. He Who clothes the lily and feeds the sparrow shall do much more for you. These physical things are not the true basic necessities of your life, for a man's life consisteth not of the things he possesses. But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all material necessities will be added unto you." The people of God are not material minded. They are Christ-minded. They do not seek the treasures that are below; they seek those above. It is absolutely true, the majority of Christians are NOT wealthy. Rather they are on the poor side. It was so in Jesus' day. It was true in Paul's day and it should be true today. Oh, it is not too true today for the Laodicean Age is one of vast wealth where often the criterion of spirituality is an abundance of earthly goods. My, how rich the church is in goods. But how poor in Spirit. "Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is NOT meat and drink." It is not material. It is WITHIN us. A rich man is rich in God, not in worldly things.