“We have long believed that the lifeless shell of the Masonic Order is all that survives of what was originally the living formula of the Eternal Brotherhood; but, through perversion, it has lost so much of its vitality that what now remains is virtually a dead form, and even that form has been so changed that but a small portion of the original is left. There is, however, still enough of the divine order in it to preserve its existence from the disintegrative forces of the ages. But we know this: That grand order of Melchizedek of which Christ came as a representative – as declared in the foregoing quotations – has always existed and will always exist throughout eternity; and we who are willing wholly to follow the Christ and his teachings will certainly be led into full, conscious membership in that glorified Brotherhood.
We will now consider The Evidence Of The Existence Of This Brotherhood In The Body.
Paul’s reference to Melchizedek and to Abraham will be found in Genesis 14, and all who are interested in this subject should read the account with the new light we have thrown upon it. In Genesis 14 we read the following words: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High (Hebrew, El Elyon). And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.”
There are several thoughts to be considered in connection with this account. One is the misconception that has arisen in the minds of Christian people regarding this Melchizedek. It is thought that, because Paul said that he was king of righteousness or king of peace, he could not have been an earthly monarch, but we must bear in mind that in those days, kings were heads of tribes, or what, in many instances, we would today call mayors of cities; and, as a rule, they were independent rulers. We must also bear in mind when reading this chapter, that the king of Sodom and the king of Salem went out to meet Abraham, and that both are spoken of as kings. This in itself, as you will see by careful reading, is evidence that Melchizedek was the head or ruling spirit of a resident brotherhood, somewhere in the vicinity of Sodom; and that he was known, not as a fighting king, but as a king of peace.
Those who have studied the laws and principles governing true mystics, know that they invariably profess to be men of peace, and that they are supposed to use their mystic powers to perpetuate peace. If there was an organized body of those holy men who lived before the time of Adam, and were gathered from those who are called in Genesis 6:2, “the sons of God”, in contradistinction to the sons of men, then they possessed similar powers to those manifested to the world by the Lord Christ; otherwise the statement in Hebrews that Christ “came after the order of Melchizedek” could not be true.
It is generally supposed that this allusion to the order of Melchizedek had reference in some way to his personality or life; but the word “order” has here a double meaning. It signifies, first, an organization or society of persons having some common rule and obligation, as, for instance, a mystic order; and, second, a system of methods of procedure, usages, arrangements, methods of life, which form the constitution or fundamental principles of an organization of men. As the members of this order of Melchizedek lived from God, Spirit, and were one with him, they possessed powers similar to those possessed by Elijah, Elisha, and the Christ; and through those powers they held the respect, the reverence, the awe, of the child-races, and were enabled to be to those races, guides and instructors, and to control the destinies of men, as we shall see further on.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 