Alright, I'm not going to deny
to you this morning is another one like last week. It's a very
difficult thing for me to separate what we're going to be looking
at here in Hebrews chapter 3 from what I'll be preaching on in
the next service. Those of you who the Lord has
blessed, you'll notice a great correlation between these two
services because it's all about the same thing. It's all about
our Christ. It's all about our witness, our profession. Look with me, if you would, once
again at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1. And I think we'll move on
after this week. from chapter 3 verse 1. I think
we'll move on after this, but this first verse has just been
so full. Wherefore, because holy brethren,
we're holy in the sight of God. Not this flesh, not this person
that walks before you, not this one who we look at in the mirror
every morning. in the flesh, but in the spirit.
Our spirit is perfect. We're in Christ. We were in Him
when He walked this earth. We were in Him when He went to
the cross and shed His blood. We're in Him right now as He
sits on His throne. We're holy, and we're brethren.
We're partakers. We're brethren in Christ. I call
you brothers and sisters. I've got to be honest with you.
I love some of you more than I do my own family. Some of my
own family's tough to love. Tough to love. Partakers, joint heirs of the
heavenly calling. And we all know that's what we
were called by, the power of God through the heavenly calling.
Consider, it says next, and this is our subject for this morning.
Consider. Stop and ponder for just a moment. Close your eyes if you want to,
if that's what it takes. Ponder with the Lord who this
one, the Lord Jesus, is. It says, consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Now, there's several
points here, but you can actually turn this scripture around a
little bit to understand it a little better. Now it's not changing
the Word of God. We're taking the Word of God because sometimes
the Lord says something here and he'll say something else
just before to clarify it before he even said the first thing.
So it's just turning things around a little bit to understand. It's
a consider and just consider Jesus Christ. Isn't that what
our message is? That's what the word profession is. Who do you
and I profess? Who do we witness about in our
lives as we walk through this world? We witness about our God. I'm telling you, you may not
see it in yourself, but the world does. The world sees our witness,
our profession. When we're doing something, And
I'll use this as an example once again. You've heard me tell a
story about when Kathy and I were on the motorcycles. And we were
rolling through the hills of Canada through these beautiful
ice fields, which is what they're called, the ice fields of Canada.
Absolutely gorgeous country. Just the most beautiful country
around. We're on our motorcycles just
cruising through. And I'm looking at this up here like this. And
I'm looking like this. And we stop. And I'm like, wow.
Look what God has made. Now Kathy didn't know who the
Lord was at that time. In fact, she got a little angry
about this. She said, oh, you gotta give, you gotta bring Him
up every time. You see what I mean, though?
That's common, is it not? In us? Do we not give our God
the credit for things that goes on in our lives? I'm not worried
about those things going on over in Israel right now. What? What
do you mean you're not worried, John? That's a war that could
come right here at home. My God got it in control. That
is our profession. We profess that God is God. That means he's controller of
everything. He's sovereign in all things.
And you cannot be a child of God and not profess that, witness
that very thing to those around you. That's why I've said many
times, people who know us know who our God is. Plain and simple. Oh, you're one of those cowardly
people who believe that God is everything, don't you? Consider
this one whom I profess. That's the word that God is saying
to us today. Consider this one who Paul, and
I believe Paul, there's a lot of dispute about who wrote the
Hebrews. It doesn't matter. God has put the book of Hebrews
here in the Bible as his truth. The word is inspired by him,
whoever wrote it. But that's what this writer is
writing. He's saying, consider. Stop, if you will, for just a
moment. of what you're thinking and whatever it is you're thinking
of in this world and consider him. the one whom I profess. You know who I profess he is?
I profess that he's an apostle. He's my apostle. That just means
a messenger. I know you think there's only
12 apostles. At that time of the world, there were only 12.
But when Christ walked this earth, he was the messenger of God.
And that's what the word apostle means, messenger with power. The apostles had a certain amount
of power to prove who they were. Christ has all power. So he's
the messenger from God. We know that to be so. Turn over
to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, we read, God
at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom he has also made the world. Consider this one Christ,
this one who is my apostle that I professed him to be. He is
my high priest. Consider him who is my apostle,
my high priest, the one that I professed to you to be. We
reconsider Christ the messenger, the apostle, the high priest
of our profession. Christ, folks, Christ was sent
here with a message. Was he not? Did he not come here
with a message? Look over at John chapter 17.
Mark your spot there in Hebrew. Turn over to John chapter 17.
What does our Lord say in his priestly prayer in John chapter
17? Look at these words with me beginning
at chapter 17 verse 6. Beginning at verse 6. Our Lord,
praying to His Father, God the Father, the Great Three-in-One,
He says, I have manifested, that means proclaimed, this is the
message, He came with a message, I have proclaimed Thy name unto
Thee. Did you notice that? This is
our Lord declaring that who he manifested his name to, and it
wasn't to the world, it was to the men which thou gavest me. Does that not coincide with all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me? I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine
they were, and thou gavest me them, and thou gavest them me,
and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee." Who's the message
from? The message is from God. God
the Father. He says in verse 8, For I have
given unto them the words, the message, which thou gavest me,
and they have received, that word them is not in the original
language, they have received, and have known surely that I
came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
send me. So we see here this message that
the Lord came with is God's Word, God from the Father. Now turn
over to Hebrews chapter 9 and let's see what it is, what is
the message. Consider, if you will, the message
that he came with. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
9. I'll try not to spend too much time on it, because I want
to dive deep into this when we come to this in our studies.
Right now we're in Hebrews chapter 3, Lord willing there will be
some great time between now and then. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
10, and let's begin at verse 9. What was the message that
Christ came to the world with? What was the message that He
came here, sent of the Father, to give to those that the Father
hath given Him? Verse 9, Hebrews 10, verse 9,
Then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God. This is the message. Christ was
sent here to deliver a message that he was here for a reason.
He came here to do something. He didn't just come to the world
to hang out for a bit with us. He came here purposefully. Remember what we said a moment
ago? What I have purposed, I shall do it. What did Christ purpose?
He purposed to save a people, did he not? Shall he not save
that people? That statement we have, I have
put up there, that statement from Mike Loveless that he wrote,
if your God is trying, your minister is lying, your pastor is lying. That is true, folks. If you're
not preaching about the true and living God, the one with
all power who does what he wants with his creation as he wants
to, then you're not preaching about the true, living God. He
said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He had taken away the
first, that was the first covenant, the covenant of works, the covenant
of works that drove men to see their true sin, that he may establish
the second. Well, what's the second? The
second is grace. God's grace and His love to His
people. By the witch will, we are sanctified. It's by his grace that we are
sanctified, made holy by this one who is coming, this one whom
we profess, this one who brought a message to you and I through
the offering of his body of Jesus Christ once and for all. Here's
the message. Now remember, this is our apostle. We profess him as our apostle,
as our messenger, but he's also the message. He's the messenger
and that's the message is that we need a high priest. You can't
enter into the holiest of holies with anything you have done.
You can't get into heaven on your works, on your decision,
on what you have done in this flesh. You need something perfect
to get in there. That's what our high priest has
entered into the holiest of heavens to do, to present his perfect
righteous blood that paid for the sins of his people. By the
witch will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once and for all, verse 11, and every priest
stand at daily ministering, that's talking about priests of the
flesh, mankind, and offering sometimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins, but this man. Here's the message. This is what the picture of the
high priest is, the message of what he is, going into the holiest
of holies. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice, what did the priest go in with? With blood. With
the sacrifice for sins forever set down on the right hand of
God. Verse 13, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. In John
10 verse 11 we read this, the Lord says, I am the good shepherd,
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. That's the
message. That's what the picture of a
high priest is. Those high priests didn't go
into what was called the holiest of holies where no one else could
go. And there is a reason no one else can go in there because
none of us can go into heaven without our high priest, our
representative, the one who is interceding for his people. Our
Lord says, I am the good shepherd. That's our message. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Now this is the message.
The high priest, the one who was anointed of God, has come
into the holiest of holies, not without blood. And that precious
blood, that holy, righteous, precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ is sprinkled on the seat. And where is the seat of mercy?
It's in the holiest of holies right now, sitting on his throne. Folks, this is our profession. Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe. Sin has left a crimson stain,
but He washed it white as snow. Is that not a good psalm? Is
that, I can say that, you know, Pastor Gene, I used to laugh,
we'd all kind of give a little giggle when he said, that's my
favorite song. You know, I know what he means. Do you? Do you know what that means?
This is my favorite song. Oh, when the Lord takes the words
of a hymn and applies it to my heart, whether it be Amazing
Grace, whatever the song might be. But when he applies it to our
heart, it makes it our favor, doesn't it? You're musicians,
you know what I mean. When he sprinkles that blood
on the mercy seat, we see the picture, the message, that God's
justice has been satisfied. God's people have been redeemed. His blood that He enters into
the holiest of holies with redeems those that He has loved from
before the world was. Redeeming His people to the fullest. Listen to Isaiah chapter 49 verse
26. And all flesh shall know that
I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer. The Mighty One
of Jacob. This is our profession. We profess
Christ and His blood shed for us. Not of anything we have done,
but what He has done. Consider Him. Think upon Him.
Think upon Him. Folks, there is no other salvation
other than in Christ. Look at Hebrews chapter 9, verses
1-14. Hebrews chapter 9. Then verily
the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly
sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbridge,
which is called sanctuary. And after the second veil, the
tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the
golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about
with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's
rod that budded, and the tables of the Covenant, and over it
the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
now speak particularly," in other words, in detail. Now, when these
things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the first
tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. They would go
into the first tabernacle where everybody was allowed to come
in, those who wanted to come in and hear the word priest,
accomplishing the services of God, as it says in verse 6, verse
7, but into the second. This is where the high priest
would go. This is where the only, only the high priest could go.
But into the second went the high priest alone. This is our
profession. Christ didn't save us with Christ
plus something. He went in alone. With His blood
alone. He went in alone once every year,
not without blood. Now that's talking about the
picture of our true and living high priest. They went in. once a year, not without blood,
which they offered for themselves and for the error of the people.
The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is signifying
the way that the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure
for the time then present in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service
perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Verse 10, which stood
only in meats and drinks and divers washing and cardinal ordinances
imposed on them until the time of reformation but Christ. Verse 11, but Christ. Being common high priest of good
things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle Not made
with hands that is to say not made of this bill not of this
building neither by the blood of goats and calves But by his
own blood He entered in once into the holy place having obtained
that means done That means it is finished. That's what the
Lord said on the cross. It is finished obtained, having
obtained, past tense, eternal redemption for us. For if the blood, verse 13, of
bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled be unclean,
sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, how much will it purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? How much will it
purge your conscience to turn away from the dead works that
we do in this flesh and serve God by professing declarative? witnessing our apostle, our idol. The Lord made a covenant with
his Father. God the Father gave the Son a people, but this people must be redeemed. Sin entered into the world. Man
was separated from God's perfect righteousness. This people must
be redeemed. Justice must be met and Christ
was faithful to the Father's desire to deliver this people
from their rightly deserved death. Just as Moses was faithful, yet
the Lord was better than him. Remember what this book of Hebrews
is about? Remember what I said in the beginning,
you can sum up the whole book of Hebrews in this way, Jesus
Christ is better. Look at verse 2 of our text. Speaking of this one that we
profess, this one that the writer says, consider, consider the
apostle and the high priest of my profession, of our profession,
This one we call Christ Jesus, verse 2, who was faithful to
Him that appointed Him. Remember what we read in John
17? Who appointed the Lord Jesus Christ? God the Father did. He
sent Him with a message. He was faithful to Him that appointed
Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. Our Lord is
Jehovah's faithful servant. who was faithful to him that
appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all of his house.
You know why the Lord uses this here? Jews were pretty adamant
about who Abraham was, who David was. These men who stood out
as great men of God. Well, Moses was one also. Moses
was a picture to Israel as their deliverer. God even calls him
the deliverer of his people in Egypt. And he uses Moses. And Moses was faithful in going
up before and standing. Think about that for a moment.
Think about what it was for Moses to stand before the king of Egypt,
the one who had the power to take his life, right there on
the spot, and tell that man, the man who people thought was
a god, let God's people go. That was a faithful man to do
that. That's what it's talking about
here. Moses was held in high esteem. You think Moses was a
faithful man? Jesus Christ is the epitome of
faithfulness. Everything he does is perfect,
including his faithfulness. He was faithful. He was faithful
to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all
of his house. Christ is God's perfect servant,
completely, perfectly obedient in all things. He came and did
his father's will, as we read in Hebrews chapter 10. He came on the appointment of
his father, as we read in John 17. As Moses was typical and
representative of him, The point Paul is making here is the fact
that Christ is far greater and more glorious than Moses is. Moses was faithful, yes, to the
trust and the responsibility that God had given him. Well,
so was Christ, only much, much more. Nothing can stop Christ. Moses had a lot of flaw. You
and I read that now. People who don't spend a lot
of time reading God's word, they think Moses was more than what
he was. Israel thought, the people of Israel, the Jews, thought
Moses from northern Alaska. Our Lord has said, as I read
to you a moment ago, I am the good shepherd. He will bring
all of his sheep to safety. Doesn't say he might. Doesn't
mean, doesn't say that it's possible. He shall save his people. He shall not fail. Lord Jesus Christ shall accomplish
all that was given to him to do. Turn over to Isaiah 42. We'll
look at two scriptures and then we'll bring this to a close.
Turn over to Isaiah chapter 42. Our Lord shall accomplish what
he was sent here to do. That's the message. The message
is that God sent a man. A man to redeem his people. And
here in Isaiah chapter 42, we begin reading at verse 1, Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause any voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till he hath set judgment in the earth, and the isle shall
wait for his law. That's our Lord. That's the one
whom we profess. This is the faithful one that
it's talking about back here in our text in Hebrews. Now I'm
going to go ahead and finish out reading chapter 3. If you
would, join me in verses 3 through 12. For this man was counted
worthy of more glory. Remember, what is the theme of
this book? Christ is better. He's a better sacrifice. He's
a better messenger. He's a better high priest. He's
a better everything. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, insomuch as he that builded the house
hath more honor than the house. Who is it that built the house?
Who is it that created all things? Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ?
Verse 4, For every house is built by some man, but he that buildeth
all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful
in all his house as a servant for a testimony to those things
which were to be spoken hereafter. But Christ, as the Son over his
own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope from firm unto the end. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation of the day of temptation in the wilderness."
Remember, there are those who heard the same word of God, yet
in the wilderness they turned to their own hardened hearts.
Verse 9, when your fathers were tempted. They proved me and saw
my works 40 years, wherefore 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 into my rest. Take heed, brethren. Take creed,
lest ye be deceived. in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. Do you know what
the unforgiving sin is? I was speaking about this with
a brother just the other day. Do you know what the unforgiving
sin is? People always say, oh, it's this
or it's that. There's only one sin that God
has not provided forgiveness for. That's the sin of unbelief. Well you say, well my faith is
so weak. I struggle with my unbelief.
So do I. So do I. God has given us a faith
in his son that cannot be thwarted. Kathy and I were talking about
this the other day. We all have struggles in our own lives, folks,
that make us doubt. How could the Lord save a person
who acts like that? How do I know if I'm saved? I don't. But I know whom I believe. And I know who's given me that
belief. I believe God. This is our profession. Salvation is of the Lord. Believe
on Him and live. Believe not, and you will die
in your sin. Verse 13, but exhort one another
daily while it is called today. Let any of you be hardened, lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, brother
or sister, has called me and said, I don't know. Sin has swelled up around me
like the waters of the sea against that ship that the apostles were
in. Exhort one another. I know, brother
or sister, what you're talking about. But I deal with it, too. Exhortment. For we are made, verse 14, partakers
of Christ. Family. Partners. If we hold
the beginning of our confidence steadfast, firmly, until the
end, while it is said today, if ye will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts, as the provocation For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, albeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But
with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that
had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them
that believe not. So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief. This is our profession. Salvation,
including your belief. It's not your decision. It's
not something you made a decision for. It's not your free will.
Salvation is of the Lord. Believe and live, believe not
and die.