I'm going to invite your attention
in a minute to Hebrews chapter 3, verse 6 verses. But before
we go there, let's look over at Mark's Gospel for a little
note. You can go ahead and turn to
Mark chapter 10 and Hebrews 3. The text is going to be Hebrews
3. The title of this message is,
Whose House Are We? Now, the subject of this message,
as you might guess from the title, is how do you know whether you're
in the household of God? How do you know if you're a member
of Christ's house? We can know that. I mean, God
gives us a clear evidence in this passage of Scripture for
us to know whether we belong to the household and family of
God or whether we're still wandering around in darkness. All we have
to do, as we discussed in the back, is just look at God's testimony. Trust His Word. So, with that
in mind, let me make a comment here, and then we'll read a portion
from Mark chapter 10. Every sinner in this world, every
sinner who ever comes in, you and me and every one of us, we
all want to know that we're not under God's wrath. We all want
to know that we're found in the favor of God. Don't you want
to know that? I want to know that. And we all find some measure
of confidence that we are in a faulty, false profession before
God delivers us unto the glorious light of the gospel wherein true
salvation, the salvation that He purposed, the salvation that
Christ worked out, Until we learn about that, that salvation that
he accomplished for every sinner he lived and died for. So I want
us to look first here at a scriptural example of a young man who was
looking for some confirmation that he was saved, that he was
not under God's wrath, that he was in God's favor. Look at Mark
chapter 10 and verse 17. This is a pretty familiar story
to us. Now, I'm not going to elaborate on it a lot. I just
want to use it as an introduction for my message. Mark 10, 17,
And when Christ was gone forth into the way, there came one
running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said
unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but
one, and that is God. And what he's telling them here,
unless you believe I'm God, you don't have any right to be calling
me good, because God's the only one that's good. Verse 19, Thou
knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor
thy father and mother. And the young man answered and
said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
He thought he had kept that law from his youth up. And he had,
according to his way of looking at keeping the law. He had just
never seen the law in the light of the Spirit's testimony of
its demand for perfection in thought, word, and deed. And
Christ answered and said unto him, verse 20, Then Jesus beholding him loved
him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, Go thy way, sell
whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross,
and follow me." Now, what he's telling him, the summary of the
law, Christ said in another place, is summed up in these two commands.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and love thy neighbor
as thyself. Now, if you love your neighbor
as yourself, then sell everything you've got, and give it to your
neighbor. Now, what was he doing? He was
showing him that by deeds of law shall no flesh be justified
in God's sight. If you think you can be justified
by the law, you just don't see the law the way God's law is.
The young man in verse 22, and he was sad at that saying, and
went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus
looked round about and said unto his disciples, How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples
were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again and
saith to them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust
in riches to enter into the kingdom of God. Now, men aren't really
trusting in their money, their riches, but they have riches
they're trusting in. You and I had riches before God
delivered us from them. Any notion that we were accepted
of God based on anything found in us, anything we had done,
or anything God had enabled us to do, that's part of the riches
he's talking about. Verse 25, Christ said, It's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man, one trusting in his works, to enter into the kingdom of
God. Here's what I want you to see primarily. And the disciples
were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who
then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them said,
With men it, salvation, is impossible, but not with God. For with God
all things are possible. Salvation is impossible with
men. In other words, if salvation
is conditioned in any way, to any degree, on anything proceeding
from man, it's an impossibility. It can't be. Thank God He took
care of salvation. God provided Himself a sacrifice. He provided His own Son. And
by His sacrificial death, Christ accomplished the salvation of
every sinner He lived and died for. Now let's turn over. If
you found Hebrews 3, turn to that passage. This is going to
be my text. The first six verses of Hebrews
chapter 3. Whose house are we if... Are
you in the household and family of God? Hebrews 3 and verse 1,
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider
the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.
Paul is, and I say Paul, Paul might not be the writer of Hebrews,
but he's got his name on the first part of it. But whether
it's Paul or someone close to Paul, there are a lot of thoughts
similar to Paul's in this book. So he calls them right off the
bat. We know here from this first
verse that he's addressing those that he considers to be his brethren. Not in nature, but brethren in
the faith. True believers of like precious
faith as he is. And he's asking them to consider
the apostle and high priest of our profession. So he's considering
these his brethren. Verse 2, Consider Christ Jesus,
who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses
was faithful in all his house. For this faithful high priest,
this man, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch
as he who had builted the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. Moses had honor in his
day. As we'll see in the next verse
here, he was a servant in God's house. He was a servant in the
church during his day. But what he's talking about here
is the one who built the house has more honor than the house.
And who built the house? Christ is the one who built the
house. Verse 5, Moses verily was faithful in all his house,
all God's house, all the church, as a servant, for a testimony
of those things which were to be spoken after. He told those
of his generation, the Lord will raise up unto you a prophet like
unto me, and him you are to listen to. Moses and Elijah were on
the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James, and John went
up there. Moses and Elijah were discussing something. What were
they discussing? The departure, the death of Christ,
and what He would accomplish in that death. And Christ Himself
said, Moses, row to Me. His writings are about Christ.
His writings are about how Christ would come and bear away the
sin of His people and establish them in righteousness. Look at
verse 6. Moses was rarely faithful in
his house, but Christ as a son over his own house. Christ is
not a servant in his house. He's the Lord over his house. He established this house in
righteousness. He worked out all the details. God the Father determined who
would be there. And He went to the cross and
paid their debt and brought them into this household. Christ is
a son over his own house, and here's what I want to dwell on
here today. Whose house are we? We're members of this house,
and here's that if we want to deal with. If we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Now, if you've ever heard this
passage preached, you've probably heard it preached that if, if
we hold fast as a condition that a sinner must meet before they
can be counted a member of Christ's house. But the condition here
is hold fast, it says, until the end. So how would we ever
know that we were members of the house until we held out to
the end? You can't find any confidence
in that, is what I'm saying. You can't find any assurance
that you're in this house, as that is what he's talking about.
But that's not what he's talking about. Most people preach that
if you just keep on believing that Christ died for you, that
means that you're in this house. Just keep on believing that.
Now who do you know that names the name of Christ that doesn't
believe that Christ died for them. Who do you know like that?
Nobody. Everybody believes that Christ died for them. Multitudes
believe. But those same multitudes also believe that Christ died
also for the sinners that ultimately end up in hell as well. So, what
did the death of Christ then have to do with the salvation
of a sinner? Well, by itself alone, obviously it had nothing
to do with the salvation of a sinner. There's some condition that the
sinner must meet under that theology. It's not the death of Christ.
He died for those that are saved, as well as those that end up
in hell. Is it not the believing? Is it not the condition that
sinners meet under such theology that gives sinners confidence
that they're in the house of God? So the emphasis in such
theology is on the holding fast here. If we hold fast, if you
just hold on, If you just keep on keeping on. You just keep
on coming. Keep on giving. Keep on praying.
Keep on witnessing. All those things that legal religion
binds sinners in. Or, it might be another popular
message. It might be like this. A statement
made by a popular preacher who claims to believe in sovereign
grace when asked this question, how can I know if I'm one of
the chosen? How can I know if I'm one of
the elect of God? And he said this, he said, come
back to see me in 20 years and I'll tell you. What was he saying? He said, hold fast. Just keep
on keeping on. Just keep on coming back and
listening to what I'm preaching. And if you do that, I'll count
you one of God's elect. Where are you going to find any
confidence in that? You can't. Arminian and Sovereign Grace
Theology are vastly different in so many ways. One believes
that Christ died for all men without exception, and sinners
are saved who meet that condition of faith. That's Arminian Theology.
Sovereign Grace Theology, in some circles, believes that Christ
died for an elect people, and that those people are going to
be saved, but the emphasis of the Arminianism And the preacher
who said, come back to see me in 20 years, they're both emphasizing
holding fast. That's what they're saying. If
you'll just hold on. But as you and I both know, the
if in this verse is not a condition for salvation. It's an evidence
of those that have been saved and are being kept saved by the
blood and righteousness of Christ alone. Verse 6 gives us a genuine
evidence whereby we may know. We may know whether or not we
are truly members of Christ's house, whose house are we, if
we hold fast. But what does he mean? What does
he mean by that? Let's just analyze this verse
in detail here. Start with that if. Now the writer
here, whether it's Paul or someone else, he says, if we hold fast. And he's emphatic. The word for
if is a little word in Greek, P-A-V, and then he adds a little
particle to the end of that word to emphasize, to add force to
it. He is indeed saying, if indeed. It's like, if you indeed love
me. It's like a wife saying to her
husband who stays out arousing or drinking all night or whatever.
He said, if you loved your family, you wouldn't stay out till one
o'clock in the morning. It's the same emphasis. If indeed
we hold on, if indeed we hold fast, the confidence and the
rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end, we are of the house
of God. If is emphatic here. And then he says, if we hold
fast. If indeed we should hold fast or maintain something here,
we can count ourselves in the house of God. And he says, if
we hold fast the confidence, which is better translated, boldness. Boldness of the ones who have
been brought to Christ and understand what he accomplished there in
his death. The early church demonstrated
this kind of boldness. If we hold fast the boldness
demonstrated by the early church, look in Acts chapter 4 with me
for a minute. Acts chapter 4 and verse 10. If we hold fast the boldness. Acts 14. Now this is the incident
where Peter and John healed a man and they were all, well no, that
might not be the incident here. Well, it's when Peter was preaching
at Pentecost, and he told them about the resurrection of the
dead, and they were concerned about his message. In verse 10
it said, Peter's preaching, Be it known unto you all, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, he's talking about a specific person whom they would
identify with. He could have just said, by the
God of redemption, by God Jehovah. And he wouldn't have offended
anyone. But he said, By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the
stone which was set in all of you, builders, which is become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness
Now, I mean, this is boldness. They're facing their very life
here. Now, they're not like us. I mean,
we face some opposition to our message. But these men are facing
death. When they saw the boldness of
Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, not learned in their schools, just fishermen,
you know, who didn't have any formal teaching. But they marveled
at their understanding and they took knowledge of them that they
had been with Jesus, and beholding the man which was healed standing
with them, they could say nothing against it. But they were bold.
It's a boldness. The writer of Hebrews says, If
you hold fast, the boldness. And they prayed for such boldness.
If you'll look on over in that chapter, Acts 4 to verse 29,
the early church Believers prayed for boldness. They said, And
now, Lord, behold their threatenings, the threatenings of those who
would put them to death, and grant unto thy servants that
with all boldness they may speak thy word, thy gospel, by stretching
forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be
done by thy name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had
prayed, the place was shaken, for they were assembled together.
They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the
Word of God, the Gospel, with boldness. Boldness was recognized in the
early church, and believers prayed that they be granted boldness.
And then look back in our text at Hebrews here for another one. Believers in every generation
demonstrate this boldness that we are commanded to hold on,
to hold fast in. Hebrews 4 and verse 14, Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly.
Come with liberty, with boldness, unto the throne of grace, based
on the merits of Christ our Savior, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. And then look on over for
one more, Hebrews 10. In verse 19, Hebrews 10, 19. Having therefore brethren boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, and having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near. with a true heart and full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Boldness. If you hold fast or maintain
the boldness. Alright, let's go on in our verse
here in Hebrews 3 and verse 6. Believers are exhorted to maintain
this boldness and then and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto
the end. The rejoicing. And that word
in other places is translated glorying or boasting. If we hold fast the boldness
and the rejoicing or boasting of the hope steadfast until the
end. Let me quote you some verses
that talk about this glorying or boasting or rejoicing. Philippians
3 and verse 3. For we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice, boast in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Galatians 6.14,
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should boast
in but one thing, and that's the Lord who went to that cross,
and paid my sin debt, and worked out that righteousness. without
which I could not stand before God and be counted just. God
forbid that I should glorify him in the cross of Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. And
in 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31, But of him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is maiden to us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. We are of God's
house if indeed we maintain the boldness and the boasting. And
then on in our verse, of the hope. Now here's what distinguishes
us. Here's why we don't concentrate
on the holding fast. We do hold fast. We hold fast
to some degree. But what do we hold fast in?
We hold fast in the hope. This is what distinguishes those
who are of Christ's house and those who claim to be but are
still deceived. The hope is what distinguishes
that. Our confidence that we are of Christ's house, whose
house are we if, it can't be in our holding fast. It must
not be in our boldness and boasting alone. Everyone in religion boasts
to some extent. Everyone is bold to some extent. Didn't you go visiting on Thursday
night? I did when I was in false religion. I was bold. I was bold
to approach people and ask them if they had accepted Jesus as
their personal Savior, because I thought that's what was required.
So that's what I was bold in. Everyone is bold to some extent.
Everybody rejoices, even in a false Christ. So it's not just our
boldness and boasting. Our confidence cannot even be
in the fact that we've left this world's religion and settled
under the true gospel. We're sitting here where the
gospel is preached, where the true Christ is set forth every
time somebody dons his pulpit. But we can't find confidence
in the fact that we separated ourselves from this world and
sat down here. That's not where our confidence
is to be found. Our confidence is to be found in one place,
and that's in the one who is set forth in truth from this
book, and that's the only place. Nor can our confidence be because
we've stood up to our friends and families in the gospel. I've
heard the testimony this morning, and I know that most all of us
have confronted our friends and family with this message. We've
been confronted by them and said, why do you go to that little
place? Why do you go over there where just a handful are gathered
when you could be over here with us, worshiping in a large congregation
and enjoying all the benefits of this big organization? We've confronted our families
and friends with the particulars of this gospel. and had to face
opposition and some degree of persecution because of it. But
our confidence can't be found in the fact that we faced our
friends. It's to be found in the one we
continue to declare to this world and to our friends. Our confidence
is to be found in the only hope of sinners. It's to be found
in God's mercy revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ alone and that salvation that He accomplished. for every
sinner he lived and died for. What is the hope of sinners of
whom it is said that with them salvation is an impossibility? With man salvation is impossible. That's what he told that rich
young ruler. What is the hope of such sinners?
It's a salvation totally outside the doing and the being of sinners. A salvation born of the mercy
and grace of God and conditioned entirely on the merits of Christ
alone and reckoned, charged, the accounts of His people. The
hope of any sinner is in a Savior that left no condition or requirement
to be met by those sinners He came to save. The hope of sinners
is in a Savior who by His obedience unto death delivered every sinner
He represented from the eternal wrath we all deserve and established
us in an unchangeable righteousness that we could never have earned
and never have deserved based on the best of our obedience.
The only hope of sinners is in a God who provided a Savior who
met His requirements, who fulfilled His law, who satisfied His justice. who established the righteousness
He required to be the just justifier of ungodly sinners, such as we
are by nature. Now, how did God accomplish such
a salvation? I'll just summarize a familiar
verse of Scripture to you. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, God
the Father made Him, Christ the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin. God the Father imputed to Christ
the sins of every sinner He had chosen in divine election before
the world began. He charged to Christ's account
the sins of those sinners. And Christ discharged those sins
by His obedience unto death there at the cross. And at that moment,
God the Father imputed the very righteousness Christ earned by
His obedience unto death to the account of those sinners. He
made us the righteousness of God in Him. Now that's just a
little summary of the Gospel from 2 Corinthians 5.21. Let's
go on in this verse. We are of Christ's house if indeed
we maintain the boldness and the boasting of the hope firm
or steadfast unto the end. Now the interpretation of the
translators here We hold that confidence, that boldness and
rejoicing firm unto the end, steadfast unto the end. The interpretation
gives the impression that if we just hold on or keep on believing
or keep on giving or keep on praying or attending, if we just
hold on until the end, we'll be okay. But that's not the sense
of this verse. That's not the sense of the writer
here. The boldness and boasting sinners are being exhorted to
to hold on to, to hold fast in, to maintain is in the hope, the
Christ of the Scriptures. We are to be bold in and make
our boast in the Christ who has already redeemed and justified
every sinner he shed his blood for there at the cross. The Christ
who will not leave any sinner he has justified in darkness
and ignorance of what he has accomplished for them. that puts
them in an unchangeable state of justification before God.
So the emphasis is not in holding on to the end, the end, it's
not, and the is not in the original. It's not, he's not emphasizing
here just holding on to the end, he's emphasizing in holding on
to hope's end. Hope in the Scriptures, it's
not like we hope. You know, we may hope it'll rain
today, but we got no promise from God that it will, but we
might hope it will. But hope in the Scriptures is
a certain expectation of that which God has promised, that
which Christ has accomplished. It's a certain expectation. So
we're to hold on to hope's end. What is hope's end? It's the
final glory of every sinner that God the Father chose and Christ
redeemed and justified there at the cross. That's hope's end.
And that's where the emphasis is to be put here. Will any of
these sinners fail to believe? No, none of them will fail to
believe. God will bring every one of them
in time and send the Spirit of God to give them life, to quicken
them, to give them eyes to see and ears to hear what Christ
has accomplished on their behalf. They'll believe that Christ's
death alone, His imputed righteousness alone, is all of salvation. Now our thanks ought to be to
God in the revelation of the Savior. who himself has saved
every sinner he was given by God in divine election. And our
desire ought to be that we be found in him, just like Paul
the Apostle was in Philippians chapter 3. He said, that I may
be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, which I worked out
by my obedience to the law, but that righteousness which is of
God by faith. So rather than stating a condition
sinners must meet in order to count themselves saved, this
verse that we're looking at here is providing a simple, plain
evidence of those sinners who rejoice in the Savior who has
saved them by the merits of His imputed righteousness alone and
will keep them unto final glory. Our boldness and boasting are
to be in nothing and in no one except the Christ who has saved
God's elect sinners and will bring them to final glory based
on His work. Now, I've kind of led you down
the garden path here today. I want you all to know that.
You'll come back and hear my next message. All I've talked
about today has been pretty positive and evidence where you can know
Are you holding fast? Are you maintaining the boldness
and the rejoicing that all your salvation is based entirely upon
the merits of Christ's blood and righteousness alone? That's
the evidence that you're in the house and family of God. But
this passage in the context here, it's a warning. And it's a warning
to you and me. Me and everybody sitting under
the true gospel. Not those out there in religion.
Those sitting right here. And here's the warning we're
going to see. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Talk unto the brethren, holy brethren. Take heed, brethren,
he says here, that you be not deceived by an evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. So hopefully in my
next message, Lord willing, I'll be bringing to you that warning
warning to the church, warning to those gathered where the gospel
is preached. But until then, I would pray
that the Lord would grant you liberty to rejoice in this Savior
who worked out the salvation of His people by His obedience
unto death there at the cross.