Well I want you to turn back
to Hebrews chapter 3 which we started looking at last week
and then we ran out of time. But I want to come back to this
chapter which is particularly looking at Moses and hence the
readings that we've had about Moses in 1st and 2nd Corinthians
and the lessons that we can learn from these things. My title for
this message is Learn the Lessons of History, because as all history
students will know, the main lesson that we don't learn from
history is that we don't learn the lessons of history. That's
the main thing to learn. Now last week, we considered,
it says that in verse one, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession. And it's certain people that
are called, it's those who are holy brethren, those who are
partakers of the heavenly calling. are called to consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession. Who's that? Says it there. Christ
Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our
apostle, our messenger, the one who speaks from God, as it says
in the first few verses of the epistle. In these last days he's
spoken to us by his Son. the Apostle and High Priest of
our profession, Jesus Christ, to consider Him, to consider
Him. And it's you who have heard the
call of God, that call of God that the natural man, you and
me as we are in the flesh, cannot hear. Where do I get that from? 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. The natural man cannot receive
the things of the Spirit of God. Man in his flesh, you and me
as we are, cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.
Oh, dress them up in a way that they'll be easy to understand,
doesn't make any difference. The natural man cannot receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him. Neither
can he know them. Why? Because they're spiritual
discernment. Where are you going to get spiritual
discernment? The Holy Spirit must give it. The Holy Spirit
must come and give that spiritual discernment, to see and to hear
these things, for you to hear that heavenly calling, partakers
of the heavenly calling, those who've heard that call of God.
You know, Abraham, an idolater, and so on, down the ages, that
hearing of the call of God. And who are we considering? The
one we're considering is God. God the Son, the second person
of the Trinity, the messenger, the apostle, the messenger of
the covenant, the one who came down to speak and saved to speak
words from heaven, to speak truth from heaven of eternal life.
The one who is the high priest of his people. We don't need
another priest. We don't have another priest. We have one mediator
between God and man. That man is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Only he Where do we need to be? Where do you want to be? In Philippians
3, Paul's talking about where he's pressing toward. He wants
to be in glory. He wants to be in the holiest
of all. Not in the temple in Jerusalem,
which is no longer there and hasn't been there for nearly
2,000 years, but the holiest of heaven. Now how are you going
to go in? Through that veil. You know, the high priest went
through that veil once a year with the blood of an acceptable
sacrifice. And that was the only way he could go. He'd be struck
dead otherwise. But our Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the high priest of our profession, the high priest of our faith,
He's gone in, not with the blood of bulls and goats and lambs,
but with his own precious blood. For he says to his people, you
are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold and
precious stones. They're all corruptible. However
permanent they might look on your fingers and dangling from
your ears, they're corruptible things. You're not redeemed with
things like that. You can't buy it with the currency
of this world. It's the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the high priest of our profession. He is the righteousness of God
to us, that we must have if we want to see God, if we are to
see God. We must have the righteousness
of God, and He is the righteousness of God. And in His death on the
cross, He, who knew no sin, was made sin for us, that His people
might be made the righteousness of God in Him, and thereby be
acceptable in his sight, and thereby be clothed in that seamless
robe of the righteousness of Christ. God's righteousness in
Christ is made over to his people. He's justified his people by
taking away our sin, by dealing with it. There's no more case
to answer. It's gone. The books are cleared.
You know, when somebody's, is this case going to go to trial?
There's no more case to answer. Stamped in the books, that's
it. That's what it is with the people of God. For Christ has
borne it. He's justified his people. Now,
consider him. This is just by way of reminder.
Consider him. Consider his glorious person.
This one who was spat upon. This one who was reviled by men
in the judgment hall of Pilate. This one who was treated so spitefully
and dreadfully. This one who was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, is a glorious person. He's enthroned
in glory. If you or I were to see him now
with these eyes, we'd fall down at his feet as though dead, as
the Apostle John did in Revelation when he saw him. Think of his
true deity. He is truly God. He's not a god,
he is God. He is God manifested in the flesh. Think of his amazing condescension. Think how high he is, the sovereign
of the universe, and yet, as Philippians tells us, he humbled
himself, and came down, and laid his glory aside, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. He willingly adopted
his children's nature. We read that last week, the week
before, about taking on the flesh of his children. He had to be
made like his children in all things that he might be the saviour
of his people. Made like his people in all things.
Willingly laying down his life, paying his people's sin debt
in the currency of his own precious blood. graciously rising and
ascending, God vindicating that this has paid the price, that
this is an acceptable sacrifice, raising Him, declaring Him to
be the Son of God with power in that He raised Him from the
dead. And there He is enthroned, glorious, reigning supreme. He's the heir of all things.
He comforts his people. The one who is God above all,
the one who is sovereign, comforts his people. He says he guides
his people. I will walk with you. When you
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with
you. Don't be afraid. Oh, I know, you go through situations
and you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Don't
be afraid. He walks with his people. He comforts, he guides,
he keeps his people to the end. He's faithful. Look at verse
two of chapter three of Hebrews. who was faithful to him that
appointed him. Who appointed him? God the Father
appointed him. We read a couple of weeks ago
in Isaiah chapter 50 about the appointment of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the savior whom God would send to come and accomplish
his purposes. God appointed him and he was
faithful to him that appointed him. You read the testimony of
the Lord Jesus Christ as he walked this earth and he talked about
his ambition his burning ambition being to do the will of his father
and they said what's the will of your father that of all that
the father gave him before the beginning of time he should lose
nothing John chapter 6 37 to 40 look at it read it read the
words see what it says it doesn't say what these false preachers
of a false gospel have been telling you all these years it says this
is the will of God He'd given a people to Christ, and of all
that he'd given him, he should not lose any, but should raise
them up at the last day. That's salvation. He came, that's
why his name was Jesus. Why was Joseph to call, the angel
said, call his name Jesus, Joshua. Why? Because he shall save his
people from their sins. And what did we read in Isaiah
42 verse 3? in his mission he shall not fail and he hasn't
failed he's triumphant he's glorious he's faithful to his father's
appointment and he is the glorious destination to which his people
look and to which we're going he is that glorious destination
but you know fleshly religion and us in the flesh we're always
tempted to look more at the signposts What do I mean by the signposts?
Well, I believe it's Paul, but Paul has been talking about the
various things that are signposts, the angels who are ministering
spirits, the prophets by whom God spoke in visions and dreams
and other ways, the traditions that came down with that Jewish
religion and that we have adopted with our culture and the religions
that we are associated with. about Moses and the reverence
that the Jewish people had for Moses and the law that was given
by Moses at a superficial level. The Old Testament temple worship
and everything that went with it, the sacrifices, all of the
symbols, the altars, the showbread, the candlestick, the Ark of the
Covenant, the mercy seat, all of these things, all of these
things, signposts, graphic symbols, signposts, but don't get stuck
at the signposts aim for the destination that they point to
and so we got to the point of saying well let's compare and
contrast Moses and the Lord Jesus Christ because that's what this
is about you see he's writing to Hebrew believers Jewish believers
who have this tendency to revere angels to think that the prophets
were wonderful even though their fathers killed the prophets to
think that there's nobody greater than Moses even though Moses
had said there's a prophet coming who will be like me listen to
him he's greater than me he's coming and he was speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ and so Paul is writing to them saying,
look, you revere Moses as Jewish believers, now let's just look,
let's compare and contrast. Moses and Christ. What was all
this about Moses? At the end of the books of Moses,
the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, the fifth book is
the book of Deuteronomy, and in chapter 34, verses 10 to 12,
these are the last words of the five books of Moses, it says
this, and there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face, you know, not in those dreams
and visions that he spoke to other prophets face to face as
a man speaks to his friend in all the signs and wonders which
the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and
to all his servants and to all his land and in all that mighty
hand and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight
of all Israel. Significant. Don't underestimate. Highly significant. Oh, Moses
is very, very significant. In those Old Testament times,
there was not a greater prophet in all Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face. Something very, very special.
But let's compare and contrast. you need to stick tightly to
your Bibles while we go through this, all these verses of this
chapter right, sometimes I'm told I wish you'd spend a bit
more time actually looking at the verses in your Bible, well
I hope that that is not going to be a problem this morning
because we're getting what we're saying from here, so look at
it, look at it with me, verse two who was faithful to him who
appointed him, this is Christ, as also Moses was faithful in
all his house. Oh, Moses, there's a comparison.
Christ was faithful to his father who appointed him, but Moses
was faithful in all his house. Oh, maybe they're about the same
then, are they? Is this a comparison that's saying
they're about the same? But no, look, verse three. And
now, also remember, when you read the scriptures, words that
are in italics are not in the original. They've been put in
by the translators to try and help with the flow of the language
in English. I know it's pretty old English,
but we can understand it. You know, those that say, I can't
understand the King James Version, come on, just try a bit harder,
it's not that difficult, and you'll be much more likely to
get closer to the truth of what God's saying in this version
of the Scriptures than any of the more modern ones, because
all the modern ones were written away from the principles on which
this was translated. So that's why we use it. But
look, man is not in the original. For this was counted worthy of
more glory than Moses. You see, I think man is not helping
us too much there, because he's talking about Christ, who was
the God-man. who is God in human flesh, for
this one, this glorious person, this Lord Jesus Christ, this
God the Son who has spoken in these last days, who is the voice
of God to his people, who is the one who became flesh that
he might save his people from death. This one was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses. Ah, comparison, no. More glory
than Moses? Why? Why is he worthy of more
glory than Moses? Inasmuch as he who hath builded
the house hath more honour than the house. I imagine a number
of you watch that program Grand Designs. We love watching that
program, Grand Designs, you know, where somebody comes up with
a mad scheme to convert some old pumping station in Cornwall,
I think it was this last week, into a really fancy dwelling
on several levels. And if they get to the end of
it and they've completed it, And you look and you think, wow,
that really is good. You know, it's fascinating to
watch it. But you know, what you're really impressed with
is the person that had the idea and implemented the building.
You know, the building itself is just the symbol and the evidence
of how good the designer was, how good the builder was. You
know, you don't bow down and worship the house, you think,
wow, who thought this one up? Who put this together? This is
what he's saying. Inasmuch as he who hath builded the house
hath more honour than the house. Moses was part of the house.
But Christ built the house. He has more honour than Moses.
Christ is the one who is the author of it all. He built the
house. Verse 4. Every house is built
by some man, someone, something, but he that built all things
is God. Again, that man shouldn't really be there. Every house
is built by some person, but he that built all things is God. What's he saying there? there
couldn't be a clearer passage that's telling us that this Lord
Jesus Christ who we're to consider is God who has built the house
this is saying quite clearly it's God who's built the house
he's saying look, Moses is part of the house Christ built the
house so therefore he's got more honor than Moses because he built
the house and every house is built, even this creation is
built by some but he that built all things is God he might as
well have said Christ who built all things is God how do I know
Christ built all things? because in every other place
beginning of John's gospel without him was nothing made that was
made without whom? the word of God who was with
God in the beginning and who was God all things it says in
Colossians were built by him made by him and for him all things
by him and for him He built everything for his own purpose and glory.
He is God who built everything for his own purpose and glory.
And verse 5, And Moses verily was faithful in all his house
as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to
be spoken after. He was in that which God built,
the Lord Jesus Christ built, and he was a servant doing the
will of God, speaking the words of God. But look, contrast, verse
6, but Christ as a son over his own house. all the difference
you know we don't live so much in that in this kind of uh...
landed gentry uh... feudalism of the difference between
the the children of the house and the servants of the house
but you we see these period dramas which which uh... portrayed where
the son of the house is the heir of all things, he's the owner,
he's the master in waiting, he's effectively the boss. The servants
may be chief butler, they may have all sorts of wisdom in the
running of the house, they may have skills, they may be highly
valued, but they're no more than servants, whereas here is the
sun. This is the picture that's being
drawn. Moses was a servant in the house
that God had built, that Christ had built. Christ is the sun
and air in that house. Christ as a sun over his own
house. Which house? The house which
is his church, his people. Whose house are we? Are we? Are you amongst them? Am I amongst
them? if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Oh so it depends
on me? No it doesn't, it depends on God from start to finish but
the sign that you're His is that you will hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. What are we saying
here? We're saying don't let anything
distract you from coming to Christ. All the Old Testament, this is
what he's saying to these Hebrew, these Jewish readers of this
epistle don't let your reverence of Moses distract you you know
he's the signpost to Christ don't let him distract you from actually
coming to Christ from actually coming there no all the Old Testament
points to Christ all of it speaks of him all of it pictures him
learn from Moses by all means oh there are so many things that
we can learn so many things but don't get stuck at Moses at the
signpost Let me give you an example. When Jesus was in his earthly
ministry, there came a point where he took aside Peter, James,
and John, and went up the Mount of Transfiguration, and it's
recorded in a couple of the Gospels, and you probably know the story
well. And they were away from the sight of all other men all
around, and they went up onto the top of this mountain, and
there, this man, who had no comeliness that we should desire him. He
just looked like an ordinary man in the flesh, even though
he spoke the words of grace and truth. This man was transfigured
before them. And it says, his face and his
raiment glowed white and shining. It was God showing, look, this
man is his son. Now, Peter was a good Jew. And
while they were watching, here's the transfigured Lord Jesus Christ
and two figures come down from heaven, it's Moses and Elijah
showing that they're not in some suspended state waiting for the
second coming, no, they're living spirits and they're speaking,
they come down and they speak with the Lord Jesus Christ and
can you imagine Peter, James and John are there quaking looking
at this absolutely amazing sight. And Peter, who was always the
one who blurted it out, blabbed his mouth, as we might say, he
says, oh, in nervousness, I don't know, maybe in great terror.
Think of something to say, and he says, ah, Lord, it's good
for us to be here. This is a great place to be.
You three there chatting away, let's build three booths, three
equal booths, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and
then we can echo the feast of tabernacles, that feast of booths
where the Jews built booths. Let's build one each and we can
have three equal booths, and a cloud came down immediately
and shrouded them. and they couldn't see anything
and a voice came, no not three equal booths effectively, this
is what the voice said, this is my beloved son, he's on a
different level, hear ye him, listen to him, not Moses and
Elijah, yes they wrote the words of God by inspiration but don't
get stuck at the signs, hear ye him, he's the Lord Jesus Christ,
this is his beloved son, hear ye him, No, we mustn't get stuck
at the signposts. So what can Moses teach us about
faith? And what is the lesson that we
must learn? As I've already said, the main lesson of history is
that people don't learn the lessons of history. We don't look back,
we don't take it on board, we don't learn, we don't take advice,
you know, it's like the fella said when he was growing up about
his dad, he said, do you know something, the older my dad gets,
the more sensible he becomes. When I was a young man, my dad
used to say the most stupid things, but now he's getting an old man,
he's getting so much wiser. The things he's saying seem to
make so much more sense. Of course, the young man was
growing up himself and getting a little bit more wisdom on the
way. What can we learn? This chapter is about learning
lessons from this situation. We've compared Moses and Christ. We've seen not on the same level. Christ is far superior. Moses
was faithful in all his house, but Christ built the house. Don't
get distracted by one on the way to the destination which
is Christ. So what can we learn? Look at
verse seven. The first word is wherefore.
You might say therefore, but never mind, this is sixteen or
seventeen hundreds English. Wherefore. And then there's a
bracket, parenthesis, that goes on down to the end of verse 11.
So let's miss out the bracket for a moment and say, wherefore,
verse 12, take heed, brethren. Ah, there's a comparison. Christ
is better than Moses. Therefore, take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. Warning, right? Well, where's
the lesson of history that we're going to get this from? It's
in the parenthesis. It's in the brackets from 7 down
to 11. In there is the lesson from history. Let's read it. As the Holy Ghost
saith, verse 7, today if you will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the
wilderness. When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw
my works forty years, They put God to the test for 40 years
in the wilderness and they were led and they were fed and they
had water to drink and they were guided on the way. They were
kept alive all that time. They proved God, they tested
him. Wherefore, verse 10, I was grieved
with that generation and said, they do always err in their heart
and they have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath they shall
not enter my rest. That's what happened to them
who followed Moses, who were in that time of Moses, seeing
him and hearing him and seeing those things that were happening.
They tempted God. They put him to the test for
40 years in matters of guidance and of providence. But in spite
of this, in spite of all that he did, they disbelieved God. They did air in their hearts.
Look at verse 19. So we see that they could not
enter in to that rest that God had promised, why? because of
unbelief that was the airing in heart that was the hardening
of the heart unbelief they could not enter in because of unbelief
the result verse eleven They shall not enter my rest. And they did not enter his rest. They perished in the wilderness.
You know what God said when they refused to go into the land?
He said this entire generation, apart from a few, was going to
wander around the wilderness for forty years till every one
of them had died and then their children they would be the ones
that under the hand of Joshua and of Caleb and those faithful
men went into the land they didn't enter that rest of God Canaan
was symbolical of that rest that they only had to trust God and
go in and they would enter that rest but they didn't because
of unbelief verse nineteen because of unbelief they did not enter
into the rest of God All of them? No, look, verse 16. Not all of
them. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke. How be it? Not all that came
out of Egypt by Moses. Some didn't provoke by unbelief. Some fully followed the Lord,
as it was said of Caleb. Joshua fully followed the Lord.
Look at Romans chapter 11. Remember, in all things, we're
trying to say, what does the scripture say? This is the test. To the law and to the testimony.
If they speak not according to this word, there is no light
in them. I don't care what your traditions are. The noble Bereans
looked at the scriptures to see if what Paul was preaching was
true. Look at the first seven verses
of Romans 11. Again, it's Paul speaking. I
say then, hath God cast away his people? He's talking about
the Jews generally as a nation being cast off. God forbid. for
I also am an Israelite you see he's proof not all of them he
was an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin
seed of Abraham by the flesh as well as by faith God hath
not cast away his people which he foreknew Do you know that
word foreknew doesn't mean what you might think it means, it
means knew in sovereign electing grace, chose out in sovereign
electing grace. He has not cast away his people
whom he foreknew, what ye not, don't you know what the scripture
says of Elias, of Elijah, You know why you get differences
in words, Elijah, Elijah? It's because one is a translation
from Hebrew and another from Greek. This is from the Greek.
Don't you know what the scripture says of Elijah? How he makes
intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed
thy prophets, they've digged down thine altars, and I am left
alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal
even so then at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace if by grace then it is
no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace but if it be
of works then is it no more grace otherwise work is no more work
see you can't mix works and grace they're one or the other you
can't mix them what then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for. What did he seek for? A righteousness
with God by the works of the law is what he was seeking for,
by his traditions, by it being his birthright. No, but the election
hath obtained it and the rest were blinded. That's the sovereign
grace of God. Now what are you going to do?
Shake your fist in the face of God and say I'm not having it
that way. my God's not going to be one
who chooses to save some and to leave others to themselves
well you can do what you like but that's the God who has revealed
himself in scripture the election has obtained it and the rest
were blinded. No, not all, back in Hebrews
chapter 3 verse 16 not all that came out of Egypt by Moses disbelieved
him hardened their hearts, went away from him. No, because of
the election of grace, some were given the light to see the truth
of it. You see, they're not all Israel, which are of Israel. That's what Paul again says in
another place. there's the Israel of God and the Israel of God
is people of Jewish or Gentile descent in all generations of
every tongue and tribe just as the whole of the Old Testament
foretells as we're seeing in the book of Isaiah this is the
true Israel of God the children of Abraham by promise by faith
the same faith as Abraham was given that same trust in justifying
grace in the doing and the dying of a sinless substitute They
all saw the signs, but the majority hardened their hearts in unbelief.
And I've told you before, I don't understand this. It seems to
defy human logic, but the scripture is clear. If you disbelieve God,
it's entirely your fault. It's your willful disbelief.
If you trust him, it's entirely of his grace, entirely of his
sovereign grace. I can't square that, but that's
what God has revealed. And one day we'll understand,
and we'll know the reason why, and we'll praise him for his
wisdom, and know that the God of all the earth has indeed done
that which is right. They all saw the signs, but the
majority hardened their hearts in unbelief, and they failed
to enter God's rest. And symbolically, in Sinai, a
whole generation died. Verse 17, with whom he was grieved
forty years. Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? You see, they
died because of their unbelief in the wilderness. Learn the
lessons of history. They failed to heed the signpost,
verse 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God, as there had been in them. They'd seen the
signs, the signs that the signpost Moses had given. And in so doing,
they perished in the wilderness. Have you tasted of heavenly things? Have you tasted of salvation,
that the grace of God is good? Will you give any place in your
heart to what he calls here an evil heart of unbelief? Will
you give any place in your heart at all to an evil heart of unbelief? Will you, as it says in verse
12, depart from the living God? And say, no, no, so far but no
further. Don't get too serious about this
thing. Don't take it too far. Don't cut yourself off too far
from everything that you've known and everybody that you've trusted.
No, no. Will you depart from the living God? Verse 14. You
see, we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end. Will you show that you
were never really a partaker of Christ by not continuing in
the faith? Because those who are really
partakers of Christ continue. It's the doctrine of the perseverance
of the saints. He keeps his people. Will you
show that you were never really amongst them by not continuing? In verse one, holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling. Those have been called and who
are partaking of it. Will you show that you were never
really a partaker of Christ by not continuing in the faith?
You say, but hasn't Christ promised to keep his people? Yes, he's
promised to keep his people, and he will. But where you and
I sit, that doesn't give us any license whatsoever to slothfulness,
to carelessness, to neglect of spiritual things. How can you
practically harden your heart in unbelief today? I'll give
you some ways you can do it. You can neglect the reading of
his word. You can fail to remember him in prayer. You know, to live
your life not taking account of the fact that we're walking
under the gaze of God and constantly, like Nehemiah did, a prayer goes
up all the time. We're praying, walking, talking
with him along life's narrow way. Neglect of prayer, neglect
of meeting together, because meeting together is such an encouragement. For those of our virtual congregation
who, as far as we know, have got nobody else to meet with,
oh, that God would give them a family with which to meet.
He sets the solitary in families. Pray for them, because we so
much need the encouragement of meeting together, of studying
together, of seeking God's face together. Because in the flesh,
every day, the flesh wars with the spirit, and there will be
things that will bring us down. But look, you've got brethren
who are praying for you. And look what it says, verse
13. He encourages us, exhort one another in case you fall
into unbelief, in case you fall into hardness of heart, exhort
one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you
be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. You know, think of these
lonely brethren that we have on the internet, perhaps even
listening to this now. Find out who they are. Write
to them. And if any of them listening would write to us, there's a
link on our website. Write to us. Let us know who
you are, where you are, and we'll pass it around. get some of our
brethren so that we can write to one another and encourage
one another and exalt one another daily while it's called today.
Lest any of us be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin to fall
into that same unbelief. They were only looking at the
signpost, the glorious signpost. We're looking at the glorious
destination which is the Lord Jesus Christ. They perished in
the wilderness because they disbelieved God. oh, how dangerous it would
be to disbelieve God concerning Christ and his salvation. We
need to encourage one another. I love that passage in Peter's
second epistle in the first chapter, which seems to, well, it completely
contradicts fatalism, the idea of fatalism, because he's talking
about God in his sovereign grace saving a people, and he says,
but add to your faith virtue. you do this, add to your faith
virtue, and to virtue, I can't remember them, but you know,
add all these things, you do something, diligently, and he
says in verse 10, give diligence, not slothfulness, not laziness,
not complacency, not well it'll happen anyway fatalistically
whether I do anything or not, no, he says give diligence, what?
To make your calling and election sure, that's a contradiction
in terms, it's in the scriptures, God has revealed it, God the
Holy Spirit has revealed it. Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. Because if you do these things,
these are the marks, you see? This is why he says, if you continue,
if you continue. 4, verse 14, we are made partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. Let's do that. This is the mark
of true faith, that we continue. and we go on, and we don't disbelieve
God. We don't do what they did. We
learn the lessons of history. We saw what happened to them.
It's written down, it's marked down in the scriptures as the
history, the consequences of unbelief. We've seen it. Let's
learn that lesson of history. Let's hold on to what we first
trusted in. when it pleased God. Remember,
if you're Christ, you remember seeing how clear and beautiful
and vivid was the gospel of his grace. How effectual was the
salvation which he has accomplished. How powerful is his cleansing
blood to cleanse from all sin. How the position he's put you
in for judgment and for eternity. Ah, continue. Continue to hold
onto it. Continue to hold onto Christ.
steadfast to the end, and the benefit of it, verse six, verse
six, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope,
firm to the end, are the blessings of growing older, maturing, growing
older, getting closer to the time when God will take you away,
but with this rejoicing of the hope, firm to the end. Let's
buck the trend. of humanity. Let's learn the
lessons of history from this example that's given here. Let's
take this thing of eternal life and eternal death seriously. And the one who holds the key
to it all