Hebrews chapter three. The writer of Hebrews is bringing
to light the Lord Jesus Christ to the Hebrews, reminding them,
revealing to them, showing them and us by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit that Christ is the fulfillment of all prophecies.
He is the high priest of his people. And he's king, he's seated. He's the successful redeemer.
He's the complete fulfillment of every type and shadow and
picture of the Old Testament. Now, I've titled this message,
The Believer's Profession. And the reason for that is found
in the words in the first two verses, which is our text. Believer's
Profession, let's read that. Hebrews 1, verse 1. I'm sorry,
I wrote that down wrong. Hebrews 3, verse 1. Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who
was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful
in all his house. Let's read that again. Wherefore,
now that's in light of everything that he's already proclaimed
about the Lord Jesus Christ, how that he by himself has purged
our sin, how that he was the fullness, the brightness of the
glory of God, that he by the word of his power, everything
that he accomplished for his people, he's saying, wherefore,
because of all that, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses
was faithful in all his house. First of all, who is the writer
of Hebrews writing to? Who is his, I guess you say,
audience? Who's his intended readers, brethren? But not just any brethren. not
according to the flesh, because he calls them holy brethren. See, being a Jew is not gonna
do you any more good than being a Gentile is in the things pertaining
to God. He says, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling. There's the common denominator.
The partakers of the heavenly calling, those are the brethren
that he's speaking to. He says to them, consider Christ
Jesus, who is described as the apostle and high priests of our
profession. Now the apostle, that's the messenger,
isn't it? What does an apostle do? He speaks
what he knows, what he's seen, the message. He speaks as the
ambassador of the Lord, the representative, but he's not just a representative,
he is the Lord. And he's also the message. What
is the message? calls him the high priest. That
is the chief priest, the one that could enter into the veil
and put the blood upon the mercy seat. The only one by right who
had God's approval, God's permission, God's blessing to enter into
the veil to put the blood upon it for the atonement of sin.
That's the high priest. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. He entered that within the veil to say his flesh When his
flesh was rent entwined from top to bottom and he by his own
blood entered into that veil, placing it upon the mercy seat.
He's the one who offered his own blood and makes intercession
for his people. And what the writer saying here
is consider the message and the messenger of God. It's one in
the same. And consider your profession,
your profession. This is the Lord pointing out
that Christ is the one, he is the lamb, whereby his people
are received of the Lord. He's the only one that we can
be in and the Lord receive us. He's the one that, only way that
we can please the Lord, only way that we can be accepted in
the beloved, only way that we can be partakers of this heavenly
calling, the only one whereby we have been made the righteousness
of God in. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is the believer's profession? He is. He is the believer's profession. What is your profession? What
is my profession? Now, profession as a noun is
stated, what's your occupation? That's not what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about your confession. In religious terms, profession
also could simply just be your confession. But a profession
isn't something that you just came up with on your own. It's
the gift of grace in the heart to profess the Lord Jesus Christ,
to confess him as all your righteousness before God. to believe him in
the heart by faith. That's the gift of God into eternal
life. It's not something we can determine
in and of ourself or come up with or figure out or come to
a knowledge of. This is the gift of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's called the heavenly calling
here. Didn't come from the earth, did
it? Didn't come from the will of man, didn't come from the
will of blood, nor the will of flesh, but of God. That's what
he says in John chapter one, isn't it? That's the heavenly
calling of the Lord to his people. Lord Jesus Christ, and so many
people get called up in justification, being justified. How are you
justified before God? Well, some people say you have
to have this, or you have to do that, or you have to do this.
I'm gonna make it as simple as I can. Christ Jesus is our justification
before God. That's as simple as I can put
it. He is his people's justification. You've been justified by his
blood. Therefore, he was raised again
because of our justification. That word for in that verse is
that could be because just as well, and it's because, isn't
it? He would not have been resurrected if we hadn't have been justified,
if God had not been pleased, but he was resurrected. He was,
therefore his people were justified because of what he did on the
cross. This is our profession. And the Lord reveals when he
gives this heavenly calling that he's talking about here, It's
not a heavenly calling to do. It's the heavenly calling into
eternal life that says it is finished. That's the heavenly
calling. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not a recommendation. It's a command. It's the gift
of God into eternal life. And that calling, brethren, that
calling reveals that Christ is not just a topic of the Bible.
He's not just a good man. There's a lot of people today
that are talking about he is risen. He is. He is, but what
was He risen for? What was the purpose of His resurrection?
Was it to make a way that you can now choose to have eternal
life if you do good or you live a certain way or you make a certain
choice? Why was He risen? And there's the message that's
missing. Men have an emotional stirring about the resurrection
and not know the meaning. He was raised because He was
successful on the cross of Calvary. He was successful in redemption.
He's not just a topic of the scripture. He's the sum and substance
of every single verse, every single letter, every single word
from Genesis to Revelation. As a matter of fact, he's the
sum and substance of all things, isn't he? All things are by him
for him and for his glory. He's all wisdom. He's all righteousness. He's all sanctification and he's
all redemption. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ here
is being pointed out to the previously religious Hebrews. And you and
I may not have been in Judaism and you and I may not have been
Hebrews, but we certainly were previously religious. Somebody
said, well, I really wasn't religious. I was irreligious. Everybody
believes in something. Even the atheist's righteousness
is that they are atheists. That's their righteousness. They
believe they're God. It's that simple. That's the
lie from the beginning. The lie doesn't change. It just
takes different forms. takes different shapes. Either
our profession, Christ Jesus is all, he is God, he is Lord,
he is Savior, and I have no hope in and of myself for salvation
unless he accomplished it. If that's not my profession,
I don't know him. But if my profession is he is
all, he is Lord, he is Savior, he's prophet, priest, and king,
as he's mentioning here, I have a good hope. I have a good profession
because he's the one that has to put that in my heart. He has
to take out the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh that
believes him, that believes him alone. Scripture is clear. It's not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to his mercy, according to his
will. The Lord's being pointed out
here to previously religious Hebrews that he's the fulfillment
of all these prophecies. He is the promise kept. He's
not the evidence of promise. He is the sum and substance of
all promises of God. They're all found in Him. When
the Lord said, I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you,
how can that be? Because of Christ Jesus and the finished work on
the cross. When the Lord says, I loved you with an everlasting
love, how can that be? Because of the finished work
of Christ on the cross of Calvary. There's nothing in us. It's all
about Him and what He accomplished. He alone is the Redeemer. He
is the chosen Messiah of God. He's the one that was ordained
before the foundation of the world to taste death for his
people so that you and I would never have to face death alone.
We would never have to face death at all, not spiritual death.
He conquered death. Only those chosen of God to be
redeemed are enabled to confess Him. There is a lot of men and
women that confess a lot of things. A lot of people say that they
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But the confession that comes
from the mouth is not the same that comes from the heart. You
remember what the Lord said, your lips He said, your lips
confess, your lips praise, but your heart is far from me. Far from me. The Lord looks at
the heart. The believer hears that, causes us to cry out, doesn't
it? Lord, give me the confession
from the heart then. Whatever it is that I must have,
you're gonna have to provide it. Give it to me. Cause me to
be the recipient of your grace, please. And we come begging for
that, don't we? Only those enabled to confess
him, confess him. Nebuchadnezzar in the book of
Daniel chapter two. Let's turn to Daniel chapter
two. Let's look at Nebuchadnezzar.
He's a good example of this. Only those chosen of God to be
redeemed, only those chosen of God for Christ to be revealed
confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in Daniel chapter two, Nebuchadnezzar
has dreamed dreams, the scripture says, and they troubled him and
he was perplexed. He was distressed to the point
he couldn't sleep. And he calls for all the magicians
and all the astrologers and all the sorcerers and the Chaldeans,
anyone that knew anything, about fortune telling, anybody that
had superstitions, anybody that could do magic tricks, he called
for everybody. He was distraught. He was distraught. And says unto them these words,
I can't remember the dream, but I want you to tell me the dream
and the interpretation of it. I can't remember the dream But
now think about that. Well, what do you think the Chaldeans
and the magicians and the astrologers and astronomers and all, what
did they say to him? There's not a man alive that can do this
thing. There's not a man alive that
can do it. I love that the Lord makes people
confess the truth. It's of the Lord if this is gonna
be done is what they said, but they didn't know who God was,
didn't they? They didn't know. There's not a man alive that
can do it. Now get what he says to him. If you can't tell me,
You shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
If you can tell me, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards
and great honor." And they say, there's not a man alive. Nobody
can do this. It's not possible. And what does
the king do? And you got to appreciate, and
because we're the same, I'm just going to say that first and foremost,
we're no different than Nebuchadnezzar. He throws a temper tantrum. He
throws a temper tantrum, he gets mad at them, and he says, kill
them all, kill them all. Well, they're no good to me if
they can't interpret my dream and tell me what it is. They're
useless, get rid of them, kill them. That's what he says to
them, kill all the wise men, throws a temper tantrum. Daniel's
one of those wise men at this time. Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego are those wise men at this time, so they fell under
that umbrella of death, a death sentence. And Daniel hears, and
he intercedes for his brethren, for himself, and he says, king,
if you'll give me time, The Lord will give you the answer. And
the king said, okay, I'll give you time. I'll give you time.
And God revealed the dream and the interpretation thereof, the
scripture says. Now look at what Daniel's profession
is after the dream had been revealed unto Daniel. In chapter two,
verse 19. Chapter two, verse 19. Then was
the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel
blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed
be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are
his. And he changeth the times and
the seasons. He removeth kings and setteth
up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise
and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the
deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness,
and the light dwelleth with him. I thank thee and praise thee,
O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might,
and hast made known unto me now what we desire of thee, for thou
hast now made known unto us the king's matter. That's a good
profession. That's a believer's profession.
He's speaking about who God is, what God has done, what glory
did Daniel get? He said, I received of the Lord
understanding. I received of the Lord wisdom.
He didn't say, I came to knowledge. I came to understand. He said,
no, the Lord gave it. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That's the believer's
profession, isn't it? That's the believer's profession. Why is it a good profession? Well, because it's given of God. The Lord's believers are made
to believe and they're made to profess. It's not in us. It's
not our nature to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It's not
in our nature. Don't kid ourself in thinking
that one of these days I'm going to confess that. No, you won't.
We won't. The clock's ticking and it's
not gonna change, and our human nature's not gonna change either.
We're not getting better, we're getting worse, and the longer
we live, the worse we become. Farther and farther we drift
away from the truth of the Lord, because the truth is not in us
by birth, not according to the flesh, not according, it has
to be of the Lord. This profession must be through
and by grace alone bestowed. Daniel was able to profess this.
God is God and I am not. God is holy and I am not. Salvation
is of the Lord. How many times we read words
that are so similar to that? Did not Noah, after he got off
the ark, what did he do? He worshiped God. Lord, we didn't
know a flood was coming until you told us. We didn't even know
we needed to build an ark until you told us to build it and you
told us exactly how to build it. You sent all the animals
in and you saved all of us from the flood. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord. We had no knowledge, no
understanding, no wisdom. It's all of you. About even Daniel,
when he gets thrown into the lions, then did he come out and
confess to the king, yeah, I showed them lions how to don't mess
with Daniel. No, that wasn't it. Salvations
of the Lord. Did Jonah get spit out on dry
land and say, yeah, I knew exactly what to do in the whale's belly.
I took care of business down there. I made him sick. I knew
exactly what. No, he said, out of the belly
of hell have I cried. Lord, you're going to have to
save me if I'm going to be saved. This is the believer's profession.
This is the believer's profession. Christ is all, you're gonna have
to do it. You're gonna have to do it. Daniel begged the Lord
here, Lord, if you don't give me this dream, we're going to
die. We're going to die. Give me the
dream if it be thy will. And the Lord said, I will. I
will, why? Because Daniel prayed the best
prayer of anybody else? No, because God put a need in
his heart and faith to believe the Lord Jesus Christ. So when
Daniel cried out, the Lord heard it. He had washed it in his precious
blood. He heard it. He heard it. And
that's who he honors is the Son, the precious blood of the Lamb.
He honors his darling Son alone. That's who Daniel needed the
most. It wasn't just a circumstantial need, was it? I mean, obviously
it was circumstantial, but it wasn't just a circumstantial
need. Daniel believed God. Daniel believed
God. Daniel acknowledged who God is,
that he's sovereign. John saw this, didn't he? When
John saw the Lord, saw him as sovereign, saw him as absolute
alpha and omega, the beginning of everything and the end of
everything. If we really see him as that, it's a gift of the
Lord. Men will say he's alpha and omega. Men will say he's
the first and the last, but there has to be something in between
that I have to do. Well, he's not the first and the last then
is he? He's the first and the last in all things, all things
pertaining to salvation, all things pertaining to life and
death. He is the alpha and the omega. Can't be found out. That song we sung the first hour
says, which was, which is, which is to come. He's eternal, he's
forever. Can't be discovered by mortal
man. He must choose to reveal himself and his truth. Otherwise,
we'll remain in darkness. will remain in darkness. What
does Daniel say here in verse 22? He revealeth the deep and
secret things. Who does he reveal the deep and
secret things to? Every person that he died for.
Every person that he loves, he reveals the deep and secret things.
What is the deep and secret things? So many men and people and women,
they get together and they try to have Bible studies to discover
the deep and the secret things. I'm gonna tell you the deep and
secret things. The deepest secret of God is this, Christ is all
and it is finished. That is the deepest secret of
God. And man cannot find it, no matter
how much they read, no matter how much they study. Mankind
cannot come to that knowledge. It's a revelation of the Lord
all by his grace, all by his grace. Daniel goes to the king. You
can imagine if you've ever had a burden and the Lord relieved
that burden, if you cried out unto him, Lord, save me, and
you have been given the peace and the joy of the Lord in your
heart, and you've seen Christ, you've worshiped Christ in the
heart, you know that that that peace that passes all understanding. Daniel had that walking into
the king. He had the right answer. God gave him that answer. Daniel
was not walking into the king's presence bragging on what Daniel
knew. Daniel was going into the king's presence bragging on his
God. The Lord has given me the answer. The Lord has given me
the interpretation of it. Now look at the king's response
in verse 46. Verse 46. Then the king, Nebuchadnezzar,
fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel and commanded that they
should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him. The king
answered unto Daniel and said, that your God is a God of gods
and a Lord of kings and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest
reveal this secret. Then the king made Daniel a great
man and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole
province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all the
wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested of the
king that he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs
of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of
the king. What's the king's confession?
King said, of a truth, yours is a God of gods and a Lord of
kings. Is that a good profession? a
God of gods, not the God of gods. He had some understanding that
something miraculous happened because he fell down and worshiped
Daniel. He had some inkling that this could not have come by any
other source other than the God of Daniel, but what was his profession?
Look at it again in verse 46. Then the king Nebuchadnezzar
fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel. Verse 47, the king answered
unto Daniel and said, Of a truth it is that your God is a God
of God and Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing
that thou couldest reveal this secret. Is that a good profession? Well, a good profession always
comes through and by repentance. The only way you and I can confess
that Christ is all if we've been given repentance and faith. Was
Nebuchadnezzar given repentance to believe here? Called him a
god of gods, a lord of kings? I mean, that doesn't sound too
bad, does it? So is he given repentance is the question? No.
No, how do we know? Because the story goes on. The
Lord reveals in the very next chapter, Nebuchadnezzar builds
a 60-foot statue of himself and says, everybody's gonna fall
down and worship me. That's how we know Nebuchadnezzar
had not been given repentance and faith. Now, by nature, you
and I still want self-worship. Our flesh loves worship. But
the elder shall serve the younger, the scripture says, and the new
man cries out all honor and glory and praise unto the Lord. And
the Lord causes that elder to serve the younger, the old man
to serve the new man, all by grace. How could it be that this troublesome
dream, dreams, plural actually it says, how could this troublesome
dreams that he had, the need that he had be given to him and
yet he decides to make a statue of himself and says, fall down
and worship me. Fall down and worship me. Even
though he acknowledged it was God that did the dream, that
he couldn't, even though he acknowledged that it was the God of Daniel.
How can that be? Because brethren, like in all
false religion, everything is based on what is seen, what you
see and what I see with the natural eye. Today, many men are speaking
about the Lord being risen and they'll have emotional stirrings
about, there'll be plays there. I saw cantatas are going on where
they reenact the crucifixion and everything. It's all about
what is seen. On the TV, they had the Passion of the Christ
on repeat. I remember when that first came out back in, what,
2003 or something. There were people lined up to
see it, people kneeling down all over the place praying. It
was all by sight. Nobody was saved watching that
movie. Nobody's saved by what you can see with the natural
eye. Salvation's of the Lord in the heart. Worship is only
in the spirit. The Lord has to give faith to
believe. Nebuchadnezzar saw something
amazing, didn't do him any good. Matter of fact, if the Lord had
left him at that state to himself, it would have been worse for
him. But he doesn't. He doesn't leave him in that
state. All the emotional staring in
the world. I could get up here and I could be theatrical. I
can say the right words. I can get the right response.
I could if the if the Lord doesn't keep us from ourself is what
I'm saying. Men can. I've been in services before
where I cry and felt really good about the service and false religion
leaving and. There's nothing in the heart,
though, no peace, no true peace. No true understanding of who
God is. No rest that it's finished. There's always something at the
end that left on, a hook of some kind to drag us to do something
else. Rest. If you believe on the Lord,
rest because it is finished. It is finished. There's nothing
left to be done. Nothing we can do will ever change the heart. Very first time, very first sin
in the garden. You remember, no one will confess
Christ by nature. Our father, Adam, and understand
something that we have to realize the sin of Adam alone being passed
on to us is enough to cause us to be guilty of eternal damnation. Be it necessary for eternal judgment
and justice. You don't have to do anything
else. We're born after Adam, after that corrupt seed. Never
mind that we are sin and everything we do is sin. But what did Adam
do when he heard of that? What was the verdict that was
given in the garden? You've sinned, you're going to
die. And what did they do when they knew the truth? They say,
have mercy upon me, the sinner. No, they sewed fig leaves together. They said, we're going to make
our own covering. We're going to do something. We can fix this. We can do something
to please God. I know how to crochet something
beautiful. I know how to sew something beautiful.
And they made garments of fig leaves. God will notice my garments. And it's still happening today
in religion. Some people think their garments prettier than
the other person's garments. There's only one garment that the Lord
is looking for, and it is the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ
and his righteousness alone. If I don't have that, I have
nothing. I don't have a profession of Christ. I don't know him.
I must have that garment. No, nothing we can do can ever
change the heart. But the good news of the gospel
is this, that God who is rich in mercy, wherein his great love
hath he loved us. What did that love accomplish?
Salvation. Salvation for his people. He gives the right profession
by grace. Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego would not bow to that 60-foot statue. They said, no,
you're not our God. You're not even our king. We're
not bowing to you. And he threw another temper tantrum. Like
every man and woman, when they hear that their God is false,
when they hear that what they believe in is not the truth,
unless God gives faith and repentance, they throw a temper tantrum.
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone, you tell them the
gospel, this has happened to me. And they turn ugly. I mean, they turn ugly. And they
say ugly things because it's an offense. You've stripped them
of their righteousness. You've left them standing there
naked. I mean, literally, it's like taking the clothes off and
they're angry about it. All you're doing is telling them
the truth. That's why they hated Christ. He just told them the
truth. And what do they do? Away with this man. We shouldn't
be surprised when people get angry. That's what they did to
the Lord. Away with this man. Let his blood be upon us and
on our children. Away with him. And that's what people will do
today, become angry. Well, that's what Nebuchadnezzar
did. He said, heat the furnace seven times hotter. I'll show
you who's God and who's not. I'll show you who's right. I'll
prove it. Aren't you glad that all the
power of man can't even touch the Lord? Can't even come close
to touching the Lord. Can't do anything against him.
Can't do anything for him. He is God. He has all power. Heats the furnace seven times
hotter, doesn't he? Throws them in. But a miracle happens. King says, did we not throw three
men into the furnace? He said, behold, I see four.
And the fourth is likened to the Son of God. And he commands
that they bring out Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He commands
them forth, come out. Says the hairs were not singed. They didn't even smell like smoke.
If anybody's ever been around, all of us has been around smoke
in here. How quick is it? You get around smoke, it sticks
to you quick, don't it? Doesn't take long, just takes
a second. But they didn't even smell like smoke. How can that
be? Because this is a picture of Christ Jesus enduring the
eternal wrath of God on the cross of Calvary for his people so
that the very smoke of that fire of hell never touches us. That
smoke can't touch us. Why? Because he satisfied the
wrath of God. He put away the sin of his people.
He made us the very righteousness of God in him. You would imagine, we threw three
in, but I see four. Who did he see? Who did he see? He saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
who he saw. Saw him with his own eyes. Looks
like the Son of God. That was his confession. I see the Son of God. So what's his confession then?
Look in Daniel 3, verse 28. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and
said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom hath
sent his angel and delivered his servant that trusted in him
and hath changed the king's word and yielded their bodies that
they might not serve nor worship any God except their own God.
Therefore, I make a decree that every people, nation, and language
which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall
be made a dunghill because there is no God other There is no other
God that can deliver after this sort. And the king promoted them. Well, that's true, isn't it? That's a good profession to know
there's no other God that can deliver after this sort. But
was it repentance given? Was it faith given? Or was it
still all by sight? The miracle he saw with his eyes,
was it enough to cause him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
The answer is no. How do we know? We'll look in
the next chapter, Daniel four, verse 30. The king spake and said, is not
this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom
by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? I, I, I, me, me, me. Repentance was not given to Nebuchadnezzar. How do we know? Because everything
that comes from the believer's profession about God is Christ
is all. It never starts with, I have
decided to follow Jesus. You'll never hear a believer
say that. A believer will never say, I came to an altar and I
gave my heart to Jesus. You'll never hear a believer
say that. Believer will say, Christ in mercy chose to die
to redeem a people, chose to redeem sinners, and I know that
I'm a sinner and my hope is that he redeemed me. That's the believer's
profession. Everything in false religion
points to I. Everything in the truth, everything
about a good profession points to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
Christ has not been revealed, then we would just be leaved
to self. We would be left to self-righteousness. We would
be left to our fig leaves. Well, they might be pretty aprons
to each other, but the Lord don't see it that way. It's literally
taking the place of the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
It's taking the place of the blood of Christ. If we have self-righteousness,
that's exactly what it is. I have obligated God because
look at my fig leaves. But brethren, likewise, there's
those that know the truth in the mind. They know the gospel
in the mind, the right words, the right doctrines. but they
have not considered the object of their profession. Don't let
us think for a moment that because we have some knowledge in our
mind of who Jesus Christ is and the ability to say that he is
Lord, that he has given us a new heart to believe him. No, the
message is believe now on the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have
a book that we've marked that off, checked it and closed it
and said, okay, I believed, I'm good. Believer comes begging
all the time. Every day, every moment, Lord,
save me. Lord, save me. It never stops.
Matter of fact, we become more desperate doing it, don't we?
It's true. I'm more desperate needing salvation today than
I was yesterday, and we will be tomorrow. Until the very last
breath that we take, that'll be our most desperate breath.
Lord, have mercy on me. Salvation's not a knowledge.
It's not based upon an experience. based upon a person, the Lord
Jesus Christ and his finished work. So what is our hope? Our hope is that God makes us
consider. Consider the apostle, the messenger. Who did we learn the truth from?
Our hope is that God makes us consider the high priest, the
only one that can be the mediator between God and man of our profession. He is the message. Now in mercy,
he does something to Nebuchadnezzar that's miraculous, but it's the
exact same thing that he does to every single sinner that he
died for. He makes him a beast. He said,
for seven years, you're going to be an animal. You're going
to be like an ox or a cow. You're going to go eat grass
with the cattle. You're going to, your hair is going to grow.
Your fingers are going to be like eagle claws. Your hair is
going to be like eagle feathers. You're going to know that I'm
God. It's what the Lord's saying. Did you know that the Lord told
him that before he said, I, I, I, me, me, me? He did, told him
what was gonna happen. Look in the next verse here.
Verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell
a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. They shall drive thee
out from men. Thy dwelling shall be with the
beasts of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen. Seven times shall pass over thee
until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men and giveth it to whomsoever he will." In the same hour was
this thing fulfilled. It drove him out. What is your
profession? Is your profession that I am
a beast? Now that's a That's an interesting
question, isn't it? Because nobody wants to think
themselves as bad as they are. Matter of fact, if I tell you
that I'm the chief of sinners and then you tell me I'm the
chief of sinners, there's going to be a difference in that, isn't
there? If I say to you, I'm the chief of sinners, I'm really
bad. And you say, yes, you really are. My pride's gonna rattle
up, isn't it? Think about that. You start pointing
fingers and saying, no, you're a liar. What's gonna happen?
Your pride's gonna get in the way. Understand something, the
Lord's the only one that can make us chief of sinners. He's
the only one that can make us a beast. He's the only one that
can cause us to cry out unto him and say, truth, Lord, I am
the chief of sinners. I am a liar. I am the liar. I'm gonna lie myself all the
way to hell if you don't save me. I'm the beast. I'm the beast
that needs the Savior. In mercy, he makes his people
beasts and gives them the believers profession, which is this. Look
in verse 34. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. And mine understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High." It was no longer
Daniel's God. It was no longer Shadrach and
Meshach and Abednego's God. He said, I blessed the Most High.
And I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion. And his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth.
And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? The same time my reason returned
unto me and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness
returned unto me and my counselors and my Lord sought unto me and
I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added
unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth. and His ways judgment, and those
that walk in pride, He is able to abase. He is able to abase. That's the believer's profession,
isn't it? That's the difference from all three professions. This is the believer's profession.
You are God and I am not. It is finished, not based upon
what I do, but because of what you have done. Lord, have mercy
on me, the sinner. He's the sovereign creator of
this universe. He is both Lord and Savior to
his people. And just as you and I are brought
to the knowledge of that, Nebuchadnezzar was brought to the knowledge
of that, drawing out this confession and drawing out praise unto the
Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Salvation is of the Lord. This is a work of grace in the
heart. Now in closing, I wanna turn
to Romans chapter 10. Then I want to finish back in
our text in Hebrews chapter three. Romans chapter 10. Look at verse six, but the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart
who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring
Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the
word of faith which we preach. Now he just said, verse six,
but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh this. the righteousness
which is of faith. This is someone that's been given
faith, and this is what faith is saying. What saith it, verse
eight? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thine heart. This has already been faith given.
That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart, God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. He says faith
doesn't say bring down the Lord from above, dethrone Him by doing
your part. That's what men are saying whenever
they say you have to do your part to help Him. That's dethroning
Him. That means He's not king, He's not seated, He didn't do
it all. That's what it's saying here. He's saying do your part
or the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, and the resurrection
of Christ will have no effect. It's not true. That's not true,
Christ accomplished everything on the cross of Calvary. That's
why his father resurrected him. Note, to do your part is to bring
him down. Only the Lord's elect are made
to know Christ is the one that descended into the lowest hell
and is now ascended to the highest heavens for his people, for salvation,
thereby delivering his people from their sins. The only way this can be our
profession truly is a heart work. As he said here, the righteousness
which is of faith. That's the Lord's faith, isn't
it? It's the heart work. Nebuchadnezzar only confessed
Jesus Christ as God when he was made to. We've seen that very
clearly. He didn't confess him the first time when he saw the
miraculous dream revealed. He didn't see him the second
time when he literally saw Jesus Christ with his own eyes. It
wasn't until God made him a beast, made him a beast, showed him
what he was, that you're nothing. You're nothing, and that's what
we are. We're a bunch of zeros, but God sent the one. God sent
the one to redeem his people from their sin, making us the
righteousness of God in him, making us something, making us
somebody, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will never confess Jesus Christ
just as Nebuchadnezzar unless we're made to. Now let's read
our text. In Hebrews chapter three, verse
two verses, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus, who is faithful to him that appointed
him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house." The writer
is saying, consider the object of your profession. Consider
the object of your profession. Don't consider an experience
like Nebuchadnezzar with the dream. Don't consider an experience.
Don't look at what you see. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ.
Consider the object of your profession. What is that object? It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
What is your profession? Well, who's the object of it?
Who's the object of it? Am I the object of my profession?
That's not a good profession. Is the Lord Jesus Christ the
object of my profession? If it is, if he is, that's because
it's grace has been given and faith to believe. Understand,
I'm not asking what you've seen. I'm not asking what you know.
Well, that Ethiopia eunuch didn't know much, did he? Didn't know
much. He said, here is water. What
prevents me from being baptized? After he told him the truth of
what he was reading in Isaiah 53. Ethiopian eunuchs, Philip
walked up and said to him, understand this what thou readest. He said,
how can I, unless a man tells me, he told him the gospel from
Isaiah 53. And when they were done speaking,
he said, well, here's water. What prevents me from being baptized?
He'd wanted to confess that he wanted to confess Christ. Didn't
know a whole lot, but he knew Christ was God and that he was
the successful redeemer of his people. That's what he knew.
I'm not asking what you know, I'm asking who. I'm asking what
you believe to be true. I'm asking what is your profession?
Who is your confession? Lord, put it this way. What think
ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Is he
both Lord and Christ to you? If he is, confess him. If he
is, believe on him. If he is, it's because a heart
of faith has been bestowed. We confess with Nebuchadnezzar,
he doeth whatsoever he wills, and who can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? He's God. Confess. The sinner, that's all a sinner
can do is confess. Did you know that? That's all
we can do, confess. Scripture says, if you confess
your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We are the sinner and he is the
only savior of sinners. He alone is the one that put
away the sin of his people. This is the believer's profession.
Christ is all. Christ is all, the successful
redeemer of his people. I love that we have absolute
confidence that Nebuchadnezzar's a brother. Lord don't humble
a man like that unless he's saving him. Lord would have left Nebuchadnezzar
to himself. We have confidence that Lord
will humble you and I if we're his and we'll have the same profession,
Christ is all. Let's pray. Father, cause us
to believe, cause us to see, cause us to know. Lord, we so often in this world
look for things and so often doubt and are full of fears.
The Lord we have a hiding place in the Lord Jesus Christ calls
us to flee to him more and more and give us this profession that
Christ is all in his name.