Would you turn to Hebrews, the
third chapter. What a blessing to be here. I
love the way you all have done this building. Very special. Hebrews chapter three, verse one. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Consider. Perceive. Observe. Understand with the mind and
with the heart by the grace of God. Consider. Think on attentively. The apostle and the high priest
of our profession, Christ Jesus. I've entitled this message Consider. Consider. Now, the people who are called
upon to consider, everybody ought to consider the Lord Jesus, shouldn't
they? Everybody ought to consider him. The only people who will
are those people who are described as holy brethren, partakers of
the heavenly calling. No one else is able to consider
him. I would just as soon expect a
monkey to understand calculus as I, an unbeliever, could truly
consider and understand the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you're
not a believer, listen carefully. Consider, consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession. Now, I love the way Every believer
is described a holy brethren. Every believer. You know what
holy means? Sinless. Sinless. Other. Every believer was chosen to
be holy in eternal election. Declared to be holy by Christ
and his work on the cross. Made holy by God the Holy Spirit
in regeneration. Holy brethren. Partakers of the
heavenly calling. What's more special than that,
to be called by God? We preach Christ crucified. Unto
the Jews a stumbling block. They hear the gospel and they
think, well, that's a license to sin. If you think that you
can preach a message where men have nothing to do with their
own salvation but Christ accomplished salvation for them without their
help, that's a license to sin, I stumble at that. The Greeks,
why that's foolishness, how's that gonna help me in life? How's
that gonna help me to make this world a better place? but into
them which are called. Christ, the power of God. I really believe that Jesus Christ
is the power of God into salvation. Christ, the wisdom of God. I see God's wisdom in making
a way for him to be just and justify somebody like me. Those who consider are those
who have a profession. You know what that word means? You'll notice he said our profession.
Every believer has the same profession. It means to speak the same thing.
Every believer believes the same thing. No difference. No difference. Now these are the people he calls
upon to consider. the apostle and high priest of
our profession. And I want us to focus on the
word consider, but think of how he says consider the apostle
of our profession. You know what the word means? The sent one. The sent one. He is the one God has sent. Think of the scripture, this
is the work of God that you believe on him, what? Whom he hath sent. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that
sent me. We believe the Father sent him,
Whatever was the father sent him to do he did you believe
that? When he said it is finished whatever
was the father sent him to do he did He is the high priest of our
profession What a high priest he is He's unlike the Levitical
priests who were sinners themselves, and they represented the Lord
Jesus Christ, but this is the sinless high priest. And he doesn't
come with the blood of bulls and goats, he comes with his
own blood. In 1 John chapter two, verses
one and two, we read, these things write I unto you, that you sin
not. Every one of us, by the grace
of God, are to make it our personal goal to never sin again. In word, in thought, in motive. When you do, we have an advocate with the
Father. This is talking about our great
high priest. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And let me tell you something
about our advocate. Our advocate makes all of his clients plead
guilty. and he makes every one of them
to be justified, not guilty. Oh, we have an advocate, our
great high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous. Our high priest
is the son of the judge. Consider. the apostle and high
priest of our confession. Now what I want us to do, there's
seven or eight verses of scripture in the New Testament where this
word is used. Consider. Consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession. But would you turn with me for
a moment to Acts chapter seven. Acts chapter seven. Consider may the Lord give us
grace to truly consider think attentively on this Acts chapter 7 verse 30 This is Stephen speaking of Moses
and when 40 years were expired There appeared to him in the
wilderness of Mount Sinai a an angel of the Lord in a flame
of fire in a bush. In Deuteronomy 33, 16, God is
called he that dwelleth in the midst of the bush. Verse 31, when Moses saw, he
wondered, at the site. And that word wondered
is the same word translated considered, same word. And as he drew near
to behold it, to consider it, the voice of the Lord came unto
him. Now we're called upon to consider
this bush that burned and was not consumed. This bush, the fire would continue
and it didn't need the energy of the wood for that fire to
continue. And you looked at that bush,
I don't know how long Moses looked at it, it might have been a couple
hours, I don't know. At some point he said, that bush
is not being consumed. It just kept burning and kept
burning. Consider the bush that burned. and was not consumed. The bush had no need of the wood
to keep burning. This speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ independent. He has no need. You said that at the first of
this service. He has no needs outside of himself. You know what that means? He
doesn't need me. And he does not need you. He
has no needs. He is God independent. Consider him in that light. He
has no needs. That bush, could not be consumed. Now when the fire of God's wrath
came down upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what? It couldn't
consume him. Now do you remember when the
fire came down from heaven on Elijah's sacrifice? You can read
about this in 1 Kings chapter 18. The scripture says, The fire
came down, it consumed the sacrifice, it consumed the altar, it licked
up the water, it licked up the dust, there was nothing left.
That fire came down and there was nothing left. When the fire
of God's wrath came down upon the Lord Jesus Christ, he consumed
the fire so that there was nothing left. And now God says, there
is no fury in me. Consider that. Is he able to
save you with no help from you? Consider. Turn to Luke 12. Verse 24. Consider the ravens, these are
the words of the Lord Jesus. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap,
which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? The consideration of the ravens,
they're not out planting and gardening and making storehouses
and trying to make sure everything's taken care of. They just trust the Lord to feed
them. Nothing else is needed. How unreasonable is it to worry
about anything, materially or spiritually? Romans chapter eight, verse 32,
he that spared not his own son. but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not? What could
possibly prevent him from freely giving us all things? Consider the ravens. They sow not. They're not gathering
in the barns. God takes care of them. Same chapter, verse 27. Consider the lilies. Think about this. Consider the lilies, how they
grow. They toil not. They spin not. Trying to provide their own garment. They don't toil. They don't spin. And yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. How do the lilies grow? Well, they don't read self-help
books to teach them how to grow, do they? They grow by the power and the
grace of God. They toil not, neither did they
spend. They don't try and produce their
own clothing or their own covering. And yet, the Lord says, I say
unto you that Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like
one of these. You see, a man-made garment that
you've toiled and spent can never array you. like the garment of
his providing. I think of that scripture in
Revelation 19, eight, to her was granted. To her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. This fine linen is
the righteousness of the saints. Now I want us to notice that
it doesn't say this is the righteousness of Christ imputed to the saints,
although it is, that's not what the text says. This fine linen,
clean and white, is the very righteousness of the saints. Now, You don't need to worry
about coming up short on judgment day if you have this clothing. I think of that parable in Matthew
chapter 22 of the parable of the marriage feast. And there
at the end, there's one man on there that doesn't have a wedding
garment. Now during that feast, you were provided a wedding garment
when you came in. This man didn't have it. And
the king saw it. And there's only one wedding
garment he recognizes that he accepts. That's the righteousness
and the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now consider the lilies. They don't work for their garment. Solomon in all of his glory was
not arrayed like one of these. In Acts chapter 11, this is after Peter had been
given that vision of the Sheep being let down with all kinds
of unclean beasts on it. Verse six, upon the witch when
I had fastened mine eyes, I considered and saw four-footed beasts of
the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls of
the air. I considered this and I heard a voice saying unto me,
arise Peter, slay and eat. But I said, not so, Lord, for
nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
But the voice answered me again from heaven, what God hath cleansed,
that called not thou common. I considered the vision. All these animals that under
the law you were forbidden to eat, And the voice said, rise, Peter,
kill and eat. Not so, Lord. And then he heard
that voice, and this is what I want us to consider. What God
hath cleansed, call not thou common. And the first thing that I would
recognize in this, there's no Jew or Gentile. There's no difference
between men. None. I think of what Paul said
in Romans 3, 22, there is no difference. Talking about men,
there's no difference. There's no difference between
me and you. There are no races. People say, well, there's the
white race, the black race. No, there's one race, Adam's
race, Adam's fallen race. There's no difference between
men. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You
take the most moral, righteous man alive that's just a man,
and you take the most immoral, wicked man alive that's just
a man, there's no difference. That's what the Bible says. No
difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. There's
no difference. There's no difference between
Jew and Gentile. You can't think that you're somebody because
of your heritage or your whatever it is you think about yourself.
But I love this. What God hath cleansed. What God hath cleansed. Don't you call common. Every believer is somebody that
God has cleansed. Now, if God has cleaned me, if the Lord Jesus Christ put
away my sins, you know what? I'm clean. I stand before God
without sin. without guilt. He took my sins
and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. And now I have no sin. I'm clean. Sinless. You don't look that way. I realize
that, but I still am. Because what God has cleansed,
what God hath cleansed. When he had by himself purged
our sins. You know what that means? They're purged, they're cleansed,
they're gone. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. at the right hand of the majesty
on high. Those sins are purged. The sins
that grieve you right now, do you know what? They're gone.
They are not. Every believer really is a holy
brethren, a partaker of the heavenly calling. Romans 4. Next couple, two or three, we're
gonna look at is what we're not to consider. Verse 17, as it's written. Aren't you thankful for it's
written? Don't have to figure out what,
is that guy telling us the truth? Well, you can find out if it's
written, then you know. It is written. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations. Now, what I love about that passage
of scripture is when God said that, he didn't even have any
children yet. He didn't say, I will make you
a father of many nations. He said, I have made thee a father
of many nations. You see, God's will and God's
action is one. If he willed it, it's so, it's
past tense before it ever takes place. That's how supreme his
will and his word is. I have made thee a father of
many nations before him whom he believed, even God who quickens
the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. who against hope believed in
hope that he might become the father of many nations according
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, he considered not." And here's what he didn't
consider. He considered not his own body,
now dead, when he was About 100 years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb, he didn't consider that. You know what he didn't
consider? Himself. Wouldn't it be a blessing
if me and you could just quit thinking about ourself altogether?
Wouldn't that be a blessing? To consider not anything that
comes from me, it doesn't even count. It doesn't count. Consider
not. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. He didn't consider himself, but
he did consider the ability of the Lord. I love it when those
two blind men came roping up to the Lord. How did they get
in the house? I guess they just followed the
voice. I can't think of anything else. They couldn't see. They
come roping into the home and the Lord looked at them and said,
do you believe that I am able to do this? Yay, Lord! I believe his ability. I believe
he's able, I believe he is able to save me and make me perfect
before his father without any help from me. Turn to James chapter one. James 1 verse 22. James 1 verse 22. But be ye doers of the word and
not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Does that mean if my conduct
does not line up with my faith, I'm deceived? Could be. Could be. There are many people
who, everybody to some extent, whose faith and actions don't
line up with what they should be, and that's a horrible thing.
Our faith and our practice should never contradict one another.
But that's not what he's talking about. Let's go on reading. For if any be a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face. Don't miss that. His natural
face. in a mirror, what he is by nature,
looking at what he is in the mirror of the Word. Now, what
does the mirror of the Word say about my natural face? And God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil nonstop. The heart is deceitful above
all things. Somebody says, trust your heart.
You better not. Scripture says he that trusteth
his heart is a fool. The heart is deceitful above
all things. My heart's deceitful above all
things. I'm able to tell myself a lie and believe it's true,
and you are too. I've done it so many times. Ask my wife, she'll
tell you. She says I'm the worst about
it. Desperately wicked. You know what that means? Incurable. Incurable. It can't be reformed.
It can't be made better. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There's none that understands,
there's none that seeketh after God. They've all gone out of
the way, they've together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good, no, not one. That's me, that's you. Now you
look in the mirror of the word, at your natural face, that's
what it says. But what does he do? For he beholdeth himself, and
that word behold is the word consider. He considers himself,
he sees that. He beholds, he considers himself
and goes his way and straightway forgets what manner of man he
was. Now understand this, the only
way that I can hear the gospel is with some understanding of
what man or man I am, a sinner. I can't hear the gospel without
that understanding. We're not saying our sin's okay.
It's evil. But I cannot possibly hear with
hearing ears apart from understanding that I'm a sinner. Right now,
I'm not talking about the way I used to be, I'm talking about
the way I am right now. I don't have any assurance that Jesus
Christ died for me, except this, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Not good people, not righteous
people, not people that are born again, sinners. When we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners. Oh, may I not forget that? Anytime I forget it, it ain't good. But verse 25, who so looketh
into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein. He keeps
looking. He doesn't forget. Because he's,
you know, you look, you hear the gospel and you're not gonna
forget that you're a sinner. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost hath made him so. And I say that with fear. I don't
want to, there's nothing in the gospel that condones sin in any
way. But this I know about myself.
I am a sinner. Right now. Looking into the perfect law
of liberty. I love the way the gospel is
called the law of liberty the law of freedom stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and Be not
entangled again in that yoke of bondage now look what he says
but who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty and and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work. The work. What is the work? This
is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. He's a doer of the work. And
this man shall be blessed in his deed. Turn to Matthew 7. This may be the most often quoted
passage of scripture in the Bible. I'm talking about by unbelievers
too. This is something, everybody knows this. Everybody knows this
verse of scripture. I think everybody does, most
people do. Matthew chapter 7. Beginning in verse one, here
it is. Judge not that you be not judged. Don't you judge me. Don't you
judge me. Judge not, judge not that you
be not judged. And the Lord says, for with what
judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure
you meet, it shall be measured to you again. Now, does that
mean that if I judge you, I'm gonna be judged by God and sent
to hell? Well, if I don't have Christ, it does. But the fact
of the matter is, do you wanna know who the most judgmental
person you've ever known is? Me. Judging, judging, judging. You know what the Lord says? If you judge somebody, they're
going to judge you. If you judge me, I see every flaw. And I'm looking for them, too,
at that point. You judge me, I see every wrong thing about
you. Now, if you don't judge me, you're
great. I like you. We're real good friends. So when you judge me, don't judge
me. Who are you to judge me? Verse three, and why beholdest thou the mote,
the splinter, that's in thy brother's eye, and here's the word, but
considerest not the bean. the log that is in your own eye. You know, if I'm considering
the beam in my eye, I don't even see the splinters in yours. I
can't. You know, one of my favorite
people that I ever was given the privilege to be, he was a
member of our church, he's been dead seven or eight years ago,
maybe longer than that, Gene Rutledge, maybe some of you know
him, but I remember he would say, I got way too many sins
of my own to be worrying about somebody else's. I wish we would all Beginning
here, always be aware of the beams in my eye, my eye. If I'm aware of the beams, if
I'm considering the beams in my eye, I'm gonna be totally
unqualified to remove your splinters. Can't do it. May God give us
grace to consider at all times the beams. I remember one time
I heard a preacher say, He said the reason most Christians are
hesitant to confront other Christians with sin in their lives is because
they have beams in their eyes. The implication being they need
to get like me where you get the beams out, then you can help
other people. No, the beams don't leave. They're there. Hebrews 10. Verse 25. No, verse 24. Let's start in
verse 23. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering. For he is faithful, but promised. And let us consider one another. Let us consider one another. This is the last. Let us consider
one another. To provoke unto love and to good
works. Let's consider one another. Now
what does that mean? That means if I do what I'm supposed
to, I'm to treat you in such a nonjudgmental, gracious way. Not trying to manipulate you. I'm gonna try to manipulate you
to get what I want out of you. No, a truly gracious, nonjudgmental,
kind, merciful way. But I provoke you to love me. Consider one another to provoke
unto love and to good works. Consider. Consider. Now these are things that all
the holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling are to
consider. May God give us the grace to
consider these things.