I've titled this morning's message, A Perspective-Converting and
a Life-Changing Consideration. In the third chapter of Hebrews,
you want to open your Bibles there, is the target text, which
will read the first six verses. The Scripture says, 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. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath built 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, if we hold fast
the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Of the many things that the Holy
Spirit of truth accomplishes, with the epistle of Hebrews,
one of them is specifically the revelation of Christ's ministry
on our behalf in heaven or in eternity. It truly is a heavenly
epistle. The premise of its presentation
of the gospel of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ actually
begins there. Hebrews 1, Verses 1 and 2 tells
us at the very outset, God, who at sundry times and in diverse
manners, that is in many periods of the history of fallen humanity
and in many different ways and means, spake in time past, or having directly communicated
in former days and times, unto the fathers," it says, from among
the masses of fallen sinners that make up the entire history
of fallen humanity, unto those chosen to be the patriarchs of
the faith, God in particular spoke. By, or literally in, it
should be read, the prophets. That is, in their Holy Spirit-inspired
writings and sayings, hath God spoken. Verse 2 says that He
hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Although
there is a significance as to the wind that the expression
these last days makes, the stress of the difference between then
and now is hereby said to be the source of God's direct speaking
and communication. He declares that it is now, by,
or once again, literally, in His Son. That is, God's eternal,
only begotten Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things,
of whom he hath fixed, or set, or purposed, or predestined to
be the heir of all things." The idea of sonship easily passes
over into that of heirship. For example, in speaking of us,
for whom Christ represents, Galatians 4.7 says, Wherefore thou art
no more a bondslave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir, an
heir of God through Christ. Through Christ. By whom, Hebrews
1 says, also he made the worlds. or literally by whom also He
made the ages. The word there is a time reference. This includes all the facets
of eternity that literally encompass our present age of sin and death.
None are left out. The Son, as seen in the Lord
Jesus Christ, truly is Almighty Creator God. The eternal person of the Son
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted by the Holy Spirit
so much throughout the epistle of Hebrews. And the first two
chapters declare the Savior Son of Man to be none other than
the eternal Son of God. Hebrews 1.3 tells us that this
same person who purged our sins and sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high is the brightness of His glory." Literally,
the word His is not there. He's the brightness of glory. And the express image of His
person. And upholding all things by the
word of His power. There is none other, this is
none other than Almighty God. And this is the beginning of
the declaration of the gospel of His glory from the book of
Hebrews. Verses four through six make
it clear that although He was born as a man into this world,
He is, as it says, so much better than the angels. In fact, the
Word says, and let all the angels of God worship Him. Verse 8 and
9 reveals that God the Father said to His Son, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. This means that He reigns and
rules eternally. And he reveals what sort of regime
of rule that he has when he also says, a scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Verse 9, thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. And how pleased that he, God,
is with his son's rule. Therefore, God, it says, even
thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows, that is, above all thy companions. Verses 10 and 11
puts the authority of Christ's sovereignty over all creation. It says, And thou, Lord, being
the eternal Son of God in human flesh, in the beginning has laid
the foundation of the earth." The earth, which is the very
staging arena where it is predestined to be revealed and unfolded,
His person and work as the only eternal sovereign Savior substitute
for elect sinners that there ever was, is or ever will be. And it says, and the heavens
are the work of thine hands. The very universe in which the
earth is placed and put on display is the work of his hands. They
shall perish, it says, as the consequence of man's sin, the
present heavens and earth are only temporary. But thou remainest. Why? because He is God, the Son
Almighty. They shall wax old as doth a
garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall
be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not
fail." This last phrase isn't to say that time will never end,
but that for him, and by conclusion from the scripture, those placed
in him in eternity, that is his progeny, the years of time will
just fade away and transition into eternity where time has
all been done. But the years of time won't pass
away without first accomplishing all that the sovereign ruler
of providence has determined to do as the God-man. It's what
we're living out. Hence the point that God did
not commandingly say to the angels. Psalm 110.1. And Hebrews 1.13
quotes this text and tells us this when it asks the question,
but to which of the angels did he at any time say, sit on my right hand until
I make thine enemies thy footstool? And then verse 14 explains, are
they not all ministering spirits? sent forth to minister for them
who literally are about to inherit salvation. That is through the eternal Son
of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ. The angels minister to
us. And all of this successful work
of Jesus Christ here on the earth, in time and space, in and among
the history of fallen humanity, begins and ends with Him as being
the eternal Son of God. And Hebrews keeps explaining
this fact to us. Hebrews 2, 1 through 3 says,
Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have heard. lest at any time we should let
them slip or literally run right by us. For if the word spoken
by angels was steadfast, or literally the giving of the word of the
law confirmed as being truth because it was spoken to Israel
through angels, and every transgression and disobedience
of the law received a just recompense of reward or a just and righteous
requital, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation,
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard it? Then this chapter unfolds for
us that all things that have been put under subjection to
the Son of God, our Savior, are the all things
of creation. When I say all things, I mean
everything. Even though at the present time,
we do not see all things put under. Nevertheless, they still
are. Hebrews 2, 9 and 10 tells us
that we see Jesus. He was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned literally as
victor with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
literally should taste death for every That's how the scripture is,
literally, for every. It not being identified exactly
every one of whom that it is that he tastes death for makes
it presumptuous to say every man, quote unquote. For that is just too general. And because of the words declared
success of the atonement of Christ, we dare not risk being in error
about such a significant matter. Verse 10 goes on to say, for
it became Him, again, literally, for on account of all things,
the all things that He has in subjection under His sovereign
rule and authority. in bringing many sons unto glory."
Here it is identified what in truth belongs at the end of verse
9, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
son. In bringing many sons unto glory,
to make the captain of their salvation. That is the same as
Acts 3.15. The word captain is what's used
in the original for the word prince, when it speaks of the
prince of life, whom God has raised from the dead. And Hebrews
12.2 uses this same word, only here it translates it, the author
and finisher of our faith. and bringing many sons unto glory
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."
That is, Jesus was made to be perfectly suitable as a substitute
and a propitiation for chosen sinners through His sufferings
for their sin. From temptation, although He
never sinned, to punishment, as if he did sin as a human being
and in likeness to a bond slave. The eternal Son of God had to
live and die as a human being in order to make effective in
time His heavenly ministry to us. He had to live and die as a human
being in order to substantiate the eternality of His adoption
of us into God's family. Romans 4.25 declares that He
was delivered, that is delivered over to death for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification, which also must
mean our reconciliation because it hinges upon our justification. In Ephesians 1, 5-7 declares
that God, having predestinated us unto adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto Himself, according to the good pleasure
of His will, the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He
made us accepted in the Beloved. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, literally the remission of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. By which the word says in verse
nine of Hebrews, one, two, by the grace of God, he tasted death
for every one of us, his sons, his children. And then the point is firmly
made from verse 11, that both he that sanctifyeth, which is
the Holy Spirit, according to 2 Thessalonians 2.13, chosen
us from the beginning through sanctification by the Spirit,
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause? He is not ashamed to call them
brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. In
the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And
again, literally, I will be trusting in him. And again, I and the
children which God hath given me. showing that the children's
trusting in God is all because of Christ, their substitutes
trusting in God. These are the elect of God unto
eternal salvation. Not one of the many spiritual
blessings that are necessary for their eternal salvation is
contingent upon any of them or anything in them. They are every
one received and made eternally effective through the Lord Jesus
Christ. All of the blessings without
exception. Hence the explanation, verse
14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself, literally, in
like manner, took part of the same. That through death He might
destroy, or literally render powerless, him that had the power
of death, that is the devil, and deliver, or literally set
free, Them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage. That is specifically the bondage
of sin. Sin and death always go together. For verily, he, literally, taketh
not hold of the nature of angels, but he taketh hold of the seed
of Abraham." That is the seed of the chosen. Those of every
family of fallen mankind that are promised by God to be blessed
in Abraham. Wherefore, or consequently, in
all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren. that he who is the truth might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining
to God. For by mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged." Proverbs 16, 6. And to make reconciliation, it
says. That literally is the word for
propitiation. for the sins of the people. And again, verse 18 explains
how perfectly suited to being our substitute, our Lord Jesus
Christ has become. For it says, in that he himself
hath suffered, and literally having been tempted, he is able
to succor them, or that is to help them that are being tempted. Then we come to the context of
today's message, that which issues to us the injunction for us to
seriously consider, to set our minds focus upon, to take into
account the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 3, 1 through 6 says,
in drawing a conclusion from chapters 1 and 2, Consequently, as a result of
the things said in chapters 1 and 2, holy brethren, these are the
elect of Christ, the holy one from God. These are the people
and family of God by Christ. They are the partakers of the
heavenly calling. They are partakers of the eternal
Son of God, having been sealed by the Spirit of grace in an
eternal standing in Him. Consider, it says, the apostle
and high priest of our profession, which word literally is confession. Consider Christ Jesus. who was
faithful to Him that appointed Him. It is God the Father, whose
will and Word He came, and in perfect obedience He fulfilled. As also Moses was faithful in
all his house, that is, God's house. For this man, that is the God-man,
Christ Jesus, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch
as he who billed the house hath more honor than the house." This
is referring to the appointed time that the ministry of Moses
was billed. or established in redemptive
history, or prepared on the timeline of the history of fallen humanity
by God. Moses did not thrust himself
forward as the prominent figure of the hour for God and the children
of Israel. He did not even want the leadership
position that he held. God made him to be the man that
he was and brought him forward to be the leader that he was
for the children of Israel. This was the time of the types
and shadows of the historically yet to come Messiah, Christ of
God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus. This was the time of the Old
Covenant. That whole period was constructed
and conducted by the Lord. It was God's house of the hour
in history and Moses was put in charge of it. He was faithful in a fallible
kind of way, but this house of types was not destined, not purposed
to last. It was only temporary. It stood
only until all its types and all its shadows were all fulfilled
in and made real by Christ. Who Hebrews 1.3 says, was all
the time upholding all things by the word of His power. Praise
His name. Hence, he who rules over the
providence of the existence of a regime, causing it to come
to pass, overseeing all of its circumstantial ups and downs
and ins and outs, as it seems, is worthy of more honor than
even the main character of the time. Why? Verse 4. For every house is built by some
man, that is, established and prepared by some man. But he
that built all things, that is, sovereignly establishes and prepares
all things, is God. And Moses verily or truly was faithful in all. his house."
Again, that's God's house, all God's house, as a servant, as a servant. This is not from
the usual word that is most often used in the New Testament as
servant, which means namely bond slave, but is a unique one-time
use of a word that pictures a person that is appointed as an attendant
of the particular duties discharged upon him to perform. The performance of the duties,
however, are guaranteed to be performed by the one who issues
the charge." In this case, that one is God. He will accomplish through Moses
that which He has intended to be done. Moses wasn't about to go anywhere
or do anything until God assured him of his enabling grace. Show
me now thy way, he says, that I may know thee, that I may find
grace in thy sight. Exodus 33, 13, God told him in
verse 14, my presence shall go with thee and I will give thee
rest. This was enough. Moses was chosen by God and elevated
to the position of leadership that God thrust upon him to hold. Moses, try as he did, could not
choose to not lead Israel throughout the last 40 years of his whole
life. Hence, it says in Hebrews 3.5,
He was to serve in this manner for a testimony of those things
which were to be spoken after. That which God had ordained for
Moses would forever earmark this time as his time in the whole
history of all of humanity. It would forever distinguish
him as being a figurehead of great significance in redemptive
history. And so it has. Verse 6, But Christ as a Son
over His own house, it says. Again, that's God's own house. And the Son is over His own house. Whose house are we? That is to say that just what
the children of Israel were in relation to Moses as a testimony,
so are we in relation to Christ. We are to Him His Israel. We are identified by Him as His
people. And as our Savior, He, simply
put, is the faithful attendant of the duties discharged upon
Him by God the Father for our eternal benefit. All that God
has ordained for Him, has predestined for Him to perform in regards
to our eternal salvation, He has performed. And He has successfully done
that for us. Here's the catch, but it's not
a catch. It's a description. If we hold
fast, it says. If we literally keep in memory
the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm until the end. This statement is descriptively
designed to draw the distinguishing difference among all of us fallen
sinners. It is to identify experientially
all God's elect unto eternal salvation. It is to show whom
are the ones that He chooses and causes to approach unto Him. Psalm 65. regardless of all the
hardships and trials that just such an approach through this
world does indeed entail and engage. Who are the ones that
are the saved ones? All who hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. So then, the ones that make up
the house of the Lord, who hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing
firm and to the end, are the same ones who seriously consider the apostle and high
priest of their confession. We want to see clearly why. Taking in serious consideration
the Lord Jesus Christ as the apostle and high priest of our
confession truly does change our lives. There are two questions
then that we would like an answer to. Question number one, how
do we come to seriously consider and truthfully confess the Lord
Jesus Christ as our eternal savior? And two, why does our serious
consideration and truthful confession of Him make such an impact, such
a dramatic change on the way that we live? For the first question that we
wish to answer, how do we come to seriously consider and truthfully
confess the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle and High Priest of
our confession and our eternal Savior? The answer, the book of Hebrews
from the very beginning describes for us God's method of communication
unto us, how he has spoken unto us. In time past, he spoke directly
to us through the fathers in the prophets. And now he speaks
directly to us in the son. It is He who has orchestrated
the communication of His Word to us from eternity into time. Angels have even played a role
in this, the communication of God's Word unto us. They were
there at Mount Sinai. That's why it asks the question
of Hebrews 2, 3 and 4, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him? That is,
the apostles. God also bearing them witness.
God also validating His word, both with signs and wonders,
with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to
His own will, who in turn is the one who causes us to hear
the Lord and obediently respond to Him from our hearts. God has used preaching as the
principal means. of communicating His Word from
heaven, from eternity unto us. From 1 Corinthians 1.18 it says,
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us who are being saved, it doesn't say that it is reasoned
out by us to be right and wise to accept, but that simply It
is the power of God. That is why all true believers
are not at all ashamed of the gospel of Christ, even because
it is, as Romans 1.16 declares it to be, the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believes. And 1 Corinthians 1.21 tells
us, For it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. Hebrews 3, 7-11 quotes from Psalm
95, when it tells us, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you
will hear His voice, Let me repeat that. Today, if
you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation,
in the day of temptation in the wilderness. When your fathers
tempted me, proved me, saw my works forty years. Wherefore,
God says, 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. And then the Word from the Holy
Spirit says, verse 12, Take heed, brethren, elect children of God,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. Oh, we're touching on the answer
to our second question here. Verse 13, but exhort one another
daily, it says, while it is called today. That is, while this time,
this history of human frailty is still being lived out, occupy
your time exhorting one another, encouraging one another, lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And then verse 14 gives us the
good news. For it says, we are made partakers
of Christ. That is literally, we have become
partakers of Christ in the past. And that union with Him still
proves to be consequential in the present and future. If we hold fast, that is, this
time, keep a firm possession of. I just hold it in our memory. Now it's more solid. We hold
fast the beginning of our confidence. That is the source of our assurance,
which is the pure truth of the gospel. Steadfast unto the end. Once again is this descriptive
of verse six repeated, only this time it is elaborated upon with
more emphasis. Verse 15, while it is said, today,
if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. That whole period of time in
the wilderness, The wilderness journeys of Israel. The wilderness
journey, which is the judgment of God upon them, is categorized
as the provocation. This was the time that Israel
irritated God with their stubborn desires for their flesh to be
appeased. God hates that. To be fleshly minded, Romans
8 tells us, God's word says, is death. And they died. God provided for them all the
days of their life, walked them around until they each one individually
ran out their days and died under God's judgment. Verse 16 says, for some, when
they heard, did provoke. That word means they exasperated
the situation. They made it worse. Then it counters, how be it not
all that came out of Egypt by Moses. And we know Joshua and
Caleb didn't do this. They had to live through it.
They had to abide in the midst of it, but they did not provoke God in such a manner. Verse 17 says, But with whom
was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? Their whole
experience showed who they were. And to whom swear he that they
shall not enter into my rest? But to them that believe not. So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief. Which, after all, there again,
believing is the work and operation of God. Hence it says, they could not
enter in. God did not work that work in
them. But you believe not, Jesus says
in John 10, 26, because you are not of My sheep. Hebrews 4, 1-3. admonishes us
and explains to us. Let us therefore fear, or literally,
let us be in awe and be alarmed, lest a promise being left us
of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short
of it. In other words, lest a promise
of which all are yea and amen in Christ, we should seem to
come short of it not being truly represented by Him. Not being true believers in the
pure truth about Him. For, verse 2 says, literally,
also unto us was the gospel preached, as well as literally also unto
them. All those people who died in
the wilderness, the gospel was preached. That is, the particular pure
truth of the report of the gospel of the glory of Christ was preached
unto us as well as unto them. The same word is used here for
preached as is found in Romans 10, 16, and 17 for report. Which says, but they have not
all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who hath believed
our report? So then faith cometh, literally,
by hearing the report. And again, literally, hearing
the report, three times that word used there, comes by the
Word of God. But Hebrews says that the Word
preached did not profit them. not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it, which is why they did not seriously
consider what was said and truly confess the gospel. Then verse 3 says, for we which
have believed Do enter into rest, as He said, literally, so I swore
in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest. Which statement
does have immediate and urgent warnings and ramifications on
us? And rightly so, it should. Although, it says, the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. Or literally, although
the works from the foundation of the world were done the way
it is translated right out of the text. Or whatever happens
that will make up our particular response to the gospel truth
that we hear will be exactly as it is purposed and planned
and completed to be as it is. This brings us to the second
question that we wish to answer. Why does our serious consideration
and truthful confession of Him make such an impact, such a dramatic
change on us? The answer is love. God's everlasting love for us
is the beginning point of all of our salvation experience.
Jeremiah 31.3 says, The Lord hath appeared of old unto me,
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. And His love pours over unto
us and saturates even our response back to Him. We love Him because
He first loved us. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, the Bible says. That is, it forces us to act.
It compels us. It even holds us together to Christ. We love the truth of
the gospel whenever we hear it proclaimed, no matter how many
times we've heard it before. When we first heard it by the
Holy Spirit, although there may indeed have been many occasions
that we heard it and we rebelled at its pride-stripping, self-emptying
message, when we heard it by the Holy Spirit, we knew in our
hearts that it was the truth. And not long after, we came to
love it and want it, and even knew we needed more of it. The
impact of it literally converted our perspectives and changed
our lives. Hence, we in turn gained a new
perspective of other people. We now love everyone who also,
in truth, loves Christ. Love for the pure truth of the
gospel has converted our perspective and changed our lives, has it
not? It has become the gauge by which
we form and maintain our relationships with other people. 1 Peter 1.22
declares, "...seeing ye have purified your souls, and obeying
the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that ye love one another fervently." 2 John 6 delivers to us this, and
this is love, that we walk after His commandments. This is the commandment that
as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. And then there's 2 Thessalonians
2, 8-10, which reveals the consequences of not truly loving the truth.
And then shall that wicked one be revealed, it says, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming. even him whose coming is after
the literal effectual working of Satan with all power and signs
and literally wonders of falsehood and with all deceivableness and
unrighteousness in them that perish because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved." Or literally,
because the love of the truth they received not. for them to
be saved from eternity. Finally, Ephesians 5.2 tells
us, And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath
given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savor. So when we hear from God the
gospel of the glory of Christ, and by His grace seriously consider
it, and then by His Holy Spirit confess it, that is, say the
same thing as the Word of God purely reports it, because we indeed love it, then
we truly will fulfill that phrase in Hebrews 3, 6, and hold fast
the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope. firm unto the end. Amen.