Hebrews chapter 3, and we'll
be looking at verses 3 through 6 this morning, the title of
the message is, More Glory to Christ. More glory to Christ. The scripture says, For this
man, speaking of Christ, was counted worthy of more glory
than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more
honor than the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was
faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of
those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ as a
son over his own house, whose house are we? we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end. More glory to Christ. Now here we see that we as believers
in Christ are called to consider him, to consider Christ. To consider how much better Christ
is than everything else. That's what believers are called
to do. Every time we worship, every
time we meet together, this is the purpose. I want you and me
to be able to see more of Christ. Because there's an infinite measure
here. You hear the same things over
and over, but yet how to fathom the depths of Christ, we don't
know. And I'll tell you, I can't go
any deeper unless I am given this by the grace and Spirit
of God. But yet it is my responsibility,
it is your responsibility to consider Him, consider Christ. Last week, we considered the
faithfulness of Christ, that Christ was faithful. He was a faithful apostle, and
that's a messenger of God. He was faithful to deliver to
us the word of God by his own mouth. He became a man so that
he could communicate with us. I love the way the Lord uses
simple things, simple things. to convey his message. I mean,
you've seen a tree. You've seen a tree produce fruit.
You've seen a tree rooted in the ground. You understand these
things. We understand they're not complicated. You see, he came down so that
he could communicate with us as a man. And he did, and he
offered himself a faithful high priest for our sins. Now, in
verse 3, we are to consider now the glory the greater glory of
Christ as compared to Moses. Now, Jesus Christ was appointed
to the office of apostle and high priest. Now, we know that
both of these offices had to be filled by men. There is nowhere in Scripture
that the angel is an apostle or a high priest. Matter of fact,
they are here this morning looking into the things that we know.
They themselves are trying to search out these wonderful blessings
of grace that they've never experienced. You see, these offices were for
men, the calling of men to be servants of God. That's what ministers are. Ministers
are servants. of God. That's what it means
to minister, to be a slave, a bond slave to God. You see, that word
slave, in our wicked mind, has an evil, negative connotation
to it. But not when it comes to matters
of the gospel. When we are a slave to the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is a joyful thing for us. We are glad to
serve Him. And these are ministers, and
this is what Moses was called to. He said, For this man was
counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Moses truly was a
faithful servant. He served God in a way that no
other prophet, no other prophet was able to serve God in the
way Moses served God. Moses had a specific task. Moses is linked to one specific
thing in Scripture, and that's the law. When everybody thinks
of Moses, the first thing we think about is the law. He is
forever linked to the law of God. And when God chose Moses, Remember
that it was God that saved him from the hand of Pharaoh when
he was a baby. It was God who caused the daughter of Pharaoh
to bring him into the house. And it was by God's grace that
Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and
chose rather to suffer the afflictions with the people of God. He believed
on Christ. And when God called Moses to
stand before Pharaoh, the most powerful man in all the world,
at that time that God had raised up, I'll tell you, I know we
feel comfortable just standing up in front of friends. Imagine
standing up in front of this man, this man Pharaoh, who hated
the Israelites, who disdained them. And yet here was a Jew
that came into the presence of Pharaoh, and God gave him an
audience. God gave him a voice, and Pharaoh
feared Moses. Pharaoh feared Moses. He was
faithful to do what God said. When God said, go forward, and
there was a sea in front of him, Moses was faithful to go forward.
Moses was faithful to lead those people out of Egypt. And I'll tell you this, Moses
faithfully declared the law of God, didn't he? He faithfully
did it. Matter of fact, when they reached
Jordan's river, he rewrote the law in the book of Deuteronomy.
That's what the book of Deuteronomy is. It's a book where Moses wrote
it when he was at the end of his life, right before the children
of Israel crossed over. And I'll tell you this, Moses
was faithful in long suffering. with a very stiff-necked people.
The people of Israel were the most stiff-necked people that
ever existed on God's earth. They were the most murmuring
and complaining group of people that you'd ever want to see.
And yet Moses went with them forty years in the wilderness
and heard their complaints all the time. God sent down manna
every morning, every morning, faithful, faithful. God gave
them birds to eat and so much it came out of their nose. It
was so much meat. And yet they still complained.
They said they were thirsty and God gave them water out of a
rock. What more do you need to know that God is there? He led
them by day. He led them by night. And still
they complain. Remind you of anybody? That reminds me of me. God's faithful to give us these
things. He's faithful to give us faithful
men to preach the gospel, and yet we murmur and complain. Moses was also faithful in his
office to serve God and to intercede for these stiff-necked people.
Do you remember the time that Moses was on the Mount and the
children of Israel were making that calf And God's anger was
kindled against Israel, and he said, Moses, move aside and let
me kill them, and I'll make a nation out of you. And what did Moses
say? No, Lord, please, please. He interceded for them. Moses endured faithfully through
all these years as a servant, and again, This again shows us
that no matter how faithful a man is, Moses was faithful. But Moses
pictured the law, by which no flesh shall be justified in the
sight of God. Even though Moses was faithful
all these years, he, because of sin, did not enter the promised
land. Moses, remember, struck the rock
when he was supposed to speak to the rock. He had already struck
the rock once, which pictured the death of Christ. He's supposed
to speak to the rock the second time to picture our communion
with Christ, and yet he struck it a second time. And God said,
because you've sinned, you'll not enter. You'll not enter the
promised land. So then, no matter how faithful
a man is, You can be as faithful as any man has ever been. But friends, if we struggle,
if we try in some way to obey the law and merit God's heaven,
we will not be allowed to enter in. That's the picture of Moses. Truly, Moses shows the glory
and the justice of God's law. But friends, we could never be
justified by the law. Moses, though faithful, yet was
a sinner saved by grace, kept faithful by the power of God,
and even so it is true of every one of us. We are believers today
because Christ is faithful. You're not a believer today because
of your your your unction, because of your great zeal for the love
of God. You're not a believer today because
of your great faith or because of your great faithfulness to
God. You're a believer because of
God's grace alone. I'm a believer because of God's
grace alone. You see, I'm kept by the power
of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed. Therefore, when we see Moses,
we see that no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God
by the law, for the law is the knowledge of sin. Isn't that something? The thing
that seems most attractive to the natural man is law. Do this, do this, do this. That's attractive to the old
natural man. And yet it does exactly the opposite
of what men think it would do. The law stirs sin. It does not prevent it. I know in your experience as
well as mine, the more we determine to do something, the more we're
going to do it. If I'm determined not to do something, if I'm determined
to say, well, I'm not going to do this, sure enough, I'm going
to get around to it. This is why the scripture says,
if the Lord will, we will do this and this and that. You see,
it is all according to his grace. Anyone who is trusting in their
own faithfulness, in their own self-righteousness, or believing
Christ plus anything they have done, they will not be able to
enter into eternal life. Because this is to rob God of
what rightfully belongs to Him alone, and that's glory. Boasting. Boasting. Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory in anything except the cross of Jesus Christ. Glory, boasting. Therefore, Christ
has come to be the Savior and to redeem us from the curse of
the law. Is that not worthy of greater
glory? Is his office, is his person,
is his work not worthy of the greatest boasting we can give? It is, because his work is to
deliver us from ruin. His work is to redeem us from
the law, not by the law. Not by us and our obedience of
the law, but friends, by His obedience alone we are redeemed. This is worthy of greater glory.
Moses truly was a type, and he spoke of Christ. Look at your
text in verse 5. It says, For Moses verily was
faithful in all his house as a servant, for the testimony
of those things which were to be spoken after." What did Moses write about? Now, we know he wrote the law.
that he wrote the book containing the Ten Commandments, the ceremonial
law, the judicial law, the governmental law, the dietary law, all of
that is the law. Don't try to separate law. The
law is the law is the law, and if a man is guilty of one, he's
guilty of all. And Moses, he spoke of what should
happen after, meaning that he was a type of Christ and all
he wrote about was Christ. When the rich man died, and he
lifted up his eyes in torment, and he saw Abraham, he said,
Father Abraham, send Lazarus back from the dead. to tell my brothers about this
place." And what was Abraham's answer? He said, they have Moses
and the prophets. Let them hear them. Because not even someone who
rose from the dead will be able to convince them of this. It's
only by the gospel. Jesus said, I'm not come to destroy
the law, but to fulfill the law. To fulfill the law. When Christ was raised from the
dead, he said, ought not Christ have suffered these things and
entered into his glory and beginning at Moses. And all the prophets
and psalms he expounded unto them, all things concerning,"
who? Himself. Himself. This is all for his
glory, the glory of Christ. This Bible we have written before
us is for the glory of Christ, and wherever Jesus Christ And Him crucified is not preached. I'll tell you this, the gospel
is not preached there. The gospel is Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. That is the whole message of
this book. That's what Moses wrote about.
Now, did Moses understand all of that? No, Moses didn't understand
all of that. But I'll tell you what, Christ
has come and given us greater benefits than Moses had. Why? Christ has made it plain, it's
clear, it's manifest to us that he has come to redeem us from
our sin, and the only gospel of Christ is the gospel of sovereign
election, effectual redemption, and effectual calling of the
Holy Spirit. That's the gospel. It's powerful. Now, I'll tell you, as every type breaks
down, Moses surely did break down as a type of Christ, didn't
he? Moses revealed the law that could
never save, but friends, Christ has revealed to us who believe
the mystery of the gospel. Mystery. Pastor, didn't you say
it was simple? Yes, but it's a mystery. It's
a mystery. Salvation does not come to sinners
by wisdom or skill of the preacher. I'll tell you what, you should
praise God for that. You should praise God for that. I do. I'm
thankful. But rather, it is by the means
of preaching this mystery that God has chosen to reveal His
grace to sinners. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
both as person and work then, are worthy of all of our praise,
worthy of all of our time. This is our time. When we come
here to worship, we come here and He is worthy of us lifting
up His name in song. He's worthy of us lifting up
our hearts in praise when we hear His Word. He's worthy of
these things. And we gladly give them to Christ. Whereas Moses was faithful to
intercede for Israel, how much more faithful does Christ intercede
for us? How much more faithful is he
to intercede for us who now sits on the throne of God, ever living? Moses died. Do you not suppose the children
of Israel were quite concerned when Moses died? You see, our intercessor never again
is to die. He ever lived. He ever lives to make intercession
because He was successful in all His work. The Scripture says
He shall not fail nor be discouraged. And friends, He did not fail
and He will not fail in His mission. Matthew 1.21 says, You shall
call His name Jesus for He shall save. his people from their sins. Friends, to God alone belongs
all praise and glory. And I'll tell you, this glory
is not seen in the law, it is seen in Christ. It is seen in the face of Jesus
Christ through the power of the Spirit by the means of preaching,
not law, but grace. Grace, mercy. You see, this rings
true, that word mercy, it rings true only to someone in need
of mercy. Only to true sinners in need
of great mercy does this word mercy ring. You see, God is merciful. And he's merciful because he's
gracious. He's gracious. Therefore, of these two men,
who is worthy of more glory? Christ. Christ. Look at this. I want you to see
the position of Moses and the position of Christ. It says in
verse 5, Moses barely was faithful in all his house as a servant,
for a testimony of those things which after were to be spoken
must be spoken after, but Christ as a son over his own house. Who was the servant and who was
the son? I tell you what, somebody could
come over and I could pay somebody to clean my house. But I'll tell you what, who do
you think would take precedent in my affection, in my love?
The servant or my son? My son! You bet! My son would take precedent. And truly, God loved his son. I cannot express the amount of
eternal unfathomable love that God had for his son. You see,
because Christ was like him in every way. He was like the Father
and the Spirit. He was one with them, eternal
with them. They enjoyed communion as one
God for all eternity. But guess what? Because he loved
Christ, he loved us. in Christ. Is that not wonderful? He loves us as he loves Christ. Is there anything that will separate
God from his son? Will there ever be a time God
doesn't love his son? Then friends, there will never
be a time that God does not love me. Because Christ is the Son of
God. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Is the son therefore, because
he was faithful, is the son therefore not worthy of more glory than
the servant? How much glory do you suppose
Moses should receive? All that work. I mean, friends,
we've not even begun to do anything like Moses has done. Gil, how old are you now, 82?
What? Oh, lower, okay. 80? Or 79? 79, okay. Well, Moses started
a year later. Moses started his ministry that
late in life. And yet he continued to be 120
years old and died Imagine, Gil, if God had called
you right now to go do something. To go lead a people. Amazing. Yet how much glory does Moses
get? Zero glory. Zero. Why? Well, because that's
the glory of serving gets. Go to Luke chapter 17. I want
you to see this. Very important. Luke chapter. 17. Verses 5, verse 5. It says, and the apostles
said unto him, unto the Lord, increase our faith. You want
that. I do. I do. And the Lord said, if you had
the faith of a grain of a mustard seed, that you might say unto
this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted
in the seed, and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant
plowing or feeding cattle, was saying to him by and by, when
he has come from the field, go and sit down to meet? and will not rather say unto
him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve
me, till I have eaten and drunken, and afterwards thou shalt eat
and drink. Doth he thank that servant because of the things
he had done that he commanded him?" He said, I trow not, no
way. In other words, servant come in? From the field, a hard day, he
said, hey, servant, won't you sit down and let me fix you something
to eat? No, that's not how it works. Care less what he did out in
the field. He's a servant. He said, you come and fix my
meal. And after I'm finished, then you can eat. So likewise ye. When you have
done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable
servants. We have done that which is our
duty to do." If it were possible to obey the
law and we did all things, You know how much glory we should
receive from that? Nothing. Why? We added nothing
to God. We just did what we were told
to do. But which of us have done that? None of us. Instead of faithful servants,
we were sinners and rebels. Therefore, Christ is worthy of
infinitely greater glory because he obeyed the law of God, not
for himself, but for you and for me. He died on the cross for our
sins that were imputed to him. And he rose again for our justification. Who's worthy of glory? Christ is worthy of all glory. All glory. And he uses this illustration,
I'll close with this. Go back to your text. He uses
this illustration of a house. He said, In verse three, four,
this man is counted worthy of more glory than Moses. And as
much as he who built it, a house have more honor than the house.
I'll tell you what, if I built a house, I know you would be
amazed. I would just be amazing that I could actually put four
walls up and a roof and it not collapse. So if I did that, you
could be amazed. But if I was the most skillful
builder and I built a big house, Would you think for one minute
to thank the house or to praise the house for building itself? Well, that would be stupid. That
would be foolish. Who would you praise? You would
praise the person who built the beautiful house. Who built this church? And I'm not talking about this
building. I'm talking about God's elect, you who believe, who has
done this, who has made us living stones built together as an house. God has. So then who is worthy of more
glory? Us? No. Moses? Nope. Christ. He's worthy of everything you
have. I pray that God will bless you.
We're dismissed.