The careful reader of the book
of Hebrews will certainly discover that
there's a two-fold thread that runs through this book. There's
a two-fold theme that as you read the book of Hebrews you
will discover, and the two-fold theme is this, it is a book full
of precious promises in Christ. Precious promises. And it is
a book of severe warnings to those who depart from the faith
of Christ Jesus. It's a book of promise, but it's
a book of warning. Like our text here in verse 12,
take heed, brethren, the people to whom the promises are made,
take heed. I warn you, Paul said, lest there
be in you, any of you, an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. One of our dear friends, said
this to me years ago. He said, in the book of Hebrews,
where believers are hedged about on both sides, keep us in the
middle of the road. We're hedged about on one side
with the wonderful promises of God, the promises of faith. all of the rich, comforting promises
of God to keep us from despairing. Being sinners and knowing ourselves
and our nature, we need to be encouraged and comforted with
promises. But on the other side, we're
hedged in with warnings, lest we presume unless we presume on the grace
of God. We don't want to do that. We
don't want to despair. We don't want to throw in the
towel and give up, but we don't want to presume on the grace
of God. Now, you see that in chapter
3. Let's head right into our study. You meet that theme head on here
in the third chapter of Hebrews, as you do in every chapter. And
let's just look at some of these things Paul says to us here,
wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Now
you know immediately to whom he's speaking. He's certainly
not talking to unbelievers, is he? He's not talking to rebels.
He's talking to people who are brethren. Holy brethren, made
holy by the righteousness of Christ. This is written to you
and to me. And he calls us partakers of
the heavenly calling. Isn't that what Paul talked about
over in I Corinthians when he said, you see your calling, brethren,
brethren, partakers of the heavenly, holy calling? How that not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called. For God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world. to compound the wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to compound the things
which are mighty, and the base things, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things that are not, to bring
to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly holy
calling. Now watch this. Consider, consider,
carefully consider, meditate upon, think about Christ Jesus. That's what he says here. Consider
the apostle and high priest of our profession. Christ Jesus.
Why is he called the apostle of our profession? Well, the
word apostle here is messenger. Messenger. Back here in chapter
1, he says in verse 1, God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us. by his apostle, his son,
his messenger. He's the last messenger. And
back in Hebrew, or rather in Malachi, turn over there a moment,
Malachi chapter 3 in Malachi. And he calls John the Baptist
his messenger and then he calls the Lord Jesus Christ his messenger. In Malachi 3 verse 1, Behold,
I send my messenger, and he'll prepare the way before me, and
the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the apostle, the messenger, the prophet of the covenant,
whom you delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. So consider him. Holy brethren,
partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the messenger of the
covenant, the apostle, the high priest of our profession. We have a high priest, a high
priest who has entered into heaven, not into the holy place made
with hands, but into heaven itself. And having such a high priest
over the house of God, we come boldly before the throne of grace
to find to obtain mercy and find grace to help. Now, consider
him how? Well, look at verse 2. He was
faithful. Our messenger, our representative,
our apostle, our high priest was faithful. Faithful to him
that appointed him and to him that anointed him, to him that
sent him. Turn to John 17. This is what
our Lord is saying in that great high priestly prayer in John
17. He lifted his eyes to heaven and said, Father, John 17, 1,
the hours come, glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify
thee. As thou hast given him authority,
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent." God appointed him. Now listen, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I finished the work he gave me
to do. Consider the apostle, the messenger
of the covenant, the high priest, mediator, advocate of our profession,
only one mediator, who was faithful, who was faithful to him that
appointed him, that sent him. I finished the work you gave
me to do. He said in John 6, all that my
Father giveth me will come to me. And him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven. I came
down from heaven, not to do my will. As the messenger, I came
to do the will of him who sent me. I finished the work you gave
me to do. I came not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me, and this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I lose nothing. Raise it up. when he died on
that cross. He said it's finished. There's
nothing that needs to be added by you, me, or anybody else.
He was faithful. Now back to the text. Now Moses
was held in great esteem and honor by Israel, and rightly
so. Rightly so. It says here, He
was faithful, verse 2, to him that appointed him, as also Moses
was faithful." Moses was faithful in all his house. But this man,
now watch this, this man, you'll find that through the book of
Hebrews, but this man. It talks about the priest of
the Old Testament said, but this man. hath a more excellent priesthood."
Talks about the angels, but this man. Talks about the sacrifices,
but this man. Oh, this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses. I tell you, Moses was part of
the house. Christ is the builder. Look at
that verse. This man was counted worthy,
the apostle, And high priest of our profession is counted
worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who built the
house hath more honor than the house." You go and look at a beautiful
structure that a man has built. He sat down and drew the plans
and built the house. And you look at the fine workmanship. But when you're admiring that
house, you're admiring not so much the house as the skill of
the man who built it. And that's what this is saying.
Moses is worthy of honor and esteem and respect. But this
man worthy of much more honor and consideration than Moses
As the builder of the house hath more honour than the house. Moses
was a servant in the house. He's the son. Now there's a difference. Moses was faithful to show us
the way. What's the next word? He is the
way. See the difference? Moses showed
us the way. He is the way. Moses is of no
value. actually becomes a hindrance
unless he is fulfilling what God sent him
to do according to Christ. That's right. Moses is of no
value except as he leads us to Christ. Isn't that right? He's a hindrance. You know, when Christ came to
these Jews, they rejected Him. They said, we have Moses. Ah, that's terrible. Moses would
find that terrible. And Christ said, if you had believed
Moses, you'd believe Me. He wrote of Me. They said, we'd be Abraham's
disciples. No, no, no, He said. If you were
the sons of Abraham, you'd love me. Abraham saw my day and rejoiced."
There, Moses, don't take away from him any esteem, or respect,
or gratitude, but just remember, our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy
of more glory. And Moses' glory is reflected,
comes from Christ. And Moses said, verse 5, was
faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of
those things which were to come along later be spoken after. Ah, yes. I want to show you a
scripture over in 2 Corinthians 1. You've got to go over here
and look at this. 2 Corinthians 1, verse beginning
with verse 18. It's all in Christ, all in Christ,
all of Christ, through Christ, for the glory of Christ. Everything
God has for the sinner is in Christ. Every promise is in Him. And all of these patriots and
prophets Point us to him. Look at verse 2 Corinthians 1,
18. But as God is true, our word,
our preaching toward you is not yea and nay. It's not perhaps,
maybe so, yes and no. But the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silas and
Timothy, it was not yea and nay. But in Him, yes. Not yes and
no. In Him, yes. Paul, listen. Here
it is. Underline it. All the promises
of God in Him are yes. And in Him, amen. So be it. To the glory of God. All in Christ. The promises of
God are not perhaps and maybe and yes and no and here and there. It's yes. So be it, in Christ. Now, in this text, as I said
a moment ago, there's the promises. Boy, that's, that, that not only
enlightens me but enlivens me and causes me to rejoice with
confidence. My salvation does not rest upon
me, it rests upon Him, in Him, because of Him, through Him.
His righteousness, His blood, His intercession, His glory. Boy, that's a promise. I can
lay hold on that. But now watch verse 6. But, here comes the danger and the
peril of unbelief. Christ, as a Son over His house,
who built the house, the living temple, whose house we are, whose
temple we are, We're living stones, isn't that right, in the temple.
He builds his house. He said, I'll build my church.
I'll build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail
against it. And we're his house. We're his
temple. We are the living stones in that temple. If we hold fast, let's continue Hold fast that confidence in
Christ, that rest in Christ, that trust in Christ, that confidence
in Christ. That's what Peter said in my
message this morning. He said, I just know this, you're
the Christ. You're the Son of the living
God. I believe it and I'm sure of it. And I'm not going anywhere
else. I know you're the Christ. That's
our confidence. He's the Apostle, High Priest
of our profession and our confidence. Our hopes in Him. And not only
the confidence in Him, but the rejoicing in Him. Rejoicing in
Him. I'm glad He is my Advocate. I wouldn't have it any other
way. I hold not only my confidence in Christ, but my joy in Christ.
I hold not only my confidence, but my joy. My rejoicing. Now these words are not to be
understood as a condition of sonship. Those stones, those
living stones in that temple are not there because they stay
there. They stay there because they're there. Right? In other words, they don't
become stones in a building because they stay in the building. They
stay in the building because he put them there. That's the
reason. Because he put them there. And
this doesn't indicate that some stone will fall out that he put
there. Or that some son of God can and
will depart from him after he's in the building. No, sir. Paul
is saying this. Genuine stones stay in the building. False, fake stones decay and
rot. They may appear for a while to
be stones, but they fall. Understand that? That's what
he's saying. That's what he's saying. He's saying that genuine,
true living stones put in that temple by God, planted by God,
will continue. They will continue. They will
continue in confidence, in faith, in rejoicing, and in walking
with Christ. That's the evidence that he put
them there. That's the proof that he put them there. And that's
the result of him putting them there. He says, Christ has more
honor than the house, as the builder has more honor than the
house. Christ is the builder. And he said, I'll build my church.
And he builds that living temple, and in that living temple he
puts these living stones. And the evidence that I'm a living
stone in that temple is that when the ages roll, I'm still
where He put me. See that? Christ is a son and
a builder over His own house, His habitation, His temple, whose
house are we. If we continue, if we stay where
He put us, if He put us there, we'll hold fast that confidence. That's the reason John, turn
to 1 John just a moment, 1 John chapter 2. This is what John
is saying. He's saying that perseverance
and continuing in the faith is not a condition to salvation,
it's the results of salvation. It's the evidence of salvation.
When a man quits, When a man falls away, when he chooses this
instead of Christ, it proves Christ didn't put him there.
He professed to be that. Listen to 1 John 2, 19. They
went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went
out, that it might be made manifest, that it might be clear, that
they were not of us. When the stone stays in the temple
where Christ put it and continues in the confidence and joy and
faith of Christ, it's evident that they're true and living
stones. If they depart, it's evident that He didn't put them
there. See that? And that's the warning. And then, now watch this. Wherefore,
verse 7, now if you will look, every Bible in every hand here
tonight has a parenthesis after wherefore. And we are regarded
as such. Now watch this, wherefore, and
he talks about Israel. This is a quotation from Psalm
95. He says, as the Holy Ghost sayeth
today, if you will hear his voice. They didn't hear his voice. Israel
didn't. They didn't hear the words spoken
by Moses. It didn't profit them because
it wasn't mixed to faith in them that heard it. They didn't hear
it. Verse 8, don't harden your heart, don't harden your heart. As in the provocation and the
day of temptation in the wilderness, I know there's a natural hardness
of our heart. The heart's deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked and there's a natural tendency
to hardness. But I'll tell you what he's talking
about here is not that natural hardness, it's an acquired hardness. An acquired hardness that comes
by rejecting light. It comes by rejecting truth and
warnings. He that being often reproved,
and hardeneth his heart, shall suddenly be destroyed." That's
what he's talking about, acquired hardness. There's a natural hardness. I know that among all human beings. There's just that natural thing
that says, don't preach to me, don't tell me what to do, don't
crowd me, don't, you know, I want to do my thing. There's that
natural. But this is, he says, harden not your heart, it's when
I know I'm wrong. And someone tells me, preaches
to me, and counsels me, and in spite of the light, in spite
of the truth, in spite of the warning, he that being often
reproved, and hardens his heart. Don't do that. That's what he's
telling me, don't you do that. Now watch the third thing, verse
9. Your fathers, tempted me, proved me, saw my works forty
years. These folks tried God's patience with their murmurings and their
complaints and their rumblings and their quarreling and their
rebellions and their backsliding, although He was good to them.
I think how good God is to us. Oh, how good He is to us. This
start with, I don't have time to talk about His goodness, and
it's in Numbers. Start with our country. Start
with our freedoms. Start with our food and our shelter
and clothing. Start with our salvation, redemption,
spiritual light. But go to all what He's done
for us. And He was good to them. And
they just kept trying His patience. Kept on crossing the grain. And
he said, verse 10, I was grieved with them. I was grieved with
that generation. I said, they do air in their
heart. That's where their problem is. As a man thinketh in his
heart, so is the other heart the mouth speaketh. They air
in their hearts, and they do not know my ways. They won't
walk in my way. Therefore, watch it. I swear
in my wrath they will not enter my rest." Parenthesis closed. You see it there? And when you
study the Word, Paul especially puts, he writes
with parenthetical statements quite a bit. Ephesians and here
and other places have parenthesis. Now, what he did here is he gave
us an example of unbelief. He gave us an example of people
who had the light, who had the truth. In other words, the Bible
says the gospel was preached unto them, but it didn't profit
them because it wasn't mixed with faith. And I go back to
verse 6. Go back to verse 6. Now watch
this. But Christ is a son over his own house, whose house are
we. If we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore, now
stop right there. Take the parenthesis out. That's
an example. Don't act like those people.
Look at verse, starts with verse 12 now. Wherefore, take heed
brethren, lest there be found in you an
evil heart of unbelief. You see it? You see what he's
doing there? He's saying, We belong to Him,
we're His children, we're His temple. If we stay with Him,
walk with Him, love Him, believe on Him. Don't be like those people who
harden their hearts, who wouldn't hear His Word, with whom He was
grieved. They rebel. And He said, they're
not going to enter My rest. I'm not having it. So take heed,
brethren, lest there be found in us the same problem. That's it. That's it. That parenthetical statement
is an example. And I'll tell you those people,
they left Egypt and trudged across that wilderness for 40 years.
And then when they came to the day when Joshua would take them
in, they didn't go in. They didn't go in. They died
in the wilderness. Not anybody that left Egypt,
not anyone who was over 20 years of age when they left Egypt,
went to the Promised Land. Everyone died in the wilderness,
except two. Know who they were? Joshua and
Caleb. The rest of them perished, because God said they're not
going to enter in. What did you read that last verse, Frank,
verse 19? They couldn't enter in because of unbelief. Unbelief is the first sin of
man. Unbelief is the mother sin of
all sin. Unbelief is the greatest sin.
Unbelief is the only sin that will never be forgiven. That's
right. A songwriter said this, how sad
our state by nature is. Our sin, how deep the stain.
and sin will bind our captive souls fast in its slavish chain. But there's a voice of sovereign
grace sounding from His Holy Word. Oh, ye thirsty, weary sinners,
come and trust our redeeming Lord. My soul obey that gracious
call and run to this relief, I will believe your promise,
Lord. Oh, help my unbelief." You see,
unbelief makes the Word of God unprofitable. Unbelief shuts
us out from the mercies of Christ. Unbelief insults the living God. He said, he that believeth not
the record that God hath given concerning his son makes God
a liar. It insults the Lord. Unbelief
closes the door of mercy. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. And he's the rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. And unbelief brings upon us the
wrath of God. He that believeth not on the
Son of God hath not life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now look at verse 13. What shall we do? How can we
help each other? How can we help each other in
this walk of faith? How can we encourage one another?
It says here in verse 13, but exhort one another daily. The
word exhort means to comfort. To encourage, to teach. That's
what I'm doing, I'm exhorting. That's what our elders, that's
what Winston and I, Tom, will be doing. Next Sunday, Brother
Bob will be doing. Exhorting, exhorting. Exhort,
listen, one another. It's not just the pastor's responsibility. Exhort one another. You know
what it says? Exhort one another. You see that? Well, go on Sunday and hear the
pastor. Yes, but exhort one another. When? While it's called today.
Daily. Not just on Sunday, but daily. Exhort one another. Encourage
one another. Comfort one another. Teach one
another. Show me what God has shown you. Encourage me. While it's called today. That
means something else. While I'm in the time of life
when I can still hear you. and understand what you're saying. I'll tell you about old age. I'll tell you what Solomon says
about old age. He says in Ecclesiastes 12, he
says something like this, Remember now thy Creator in the days of
thy youth, while the evil days come not, Nor the days draw nigh
when you say, I have no pleasure in those things. I have no interest. I have no understanding. I have
no desire for those things. That's what he's saying here.
While the evil days come not when you say, I have no interest
in those things. When men and women go through
the days, of youth and good times of good clear thinking
and memory and understanding and observation, that's the time
for you to exhort one another. Because the day is coming when
you get old and weary and tired and set in ways and about all
you're interested in is when the next meal is going to be
served. The most difficult place in this
world to preach the gospel is a rest home. Did you find that?
They're not with it. They're just not with it. It's
too late. Remember now thy Creator and
the days of thy youth. I'm telling you the truth. I
know these are hard, but this is the truth. This is the truth. That's right. Because the day's
coming. Now watch this now. He says,
you exhort one another daily while it's called to day, while
it's, you're in the gospel dispensation and the time of life when you,
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Heightened. Heightened. Any suggestions,
pastor? Yes, I have three or four here.
Number one, by worshiping, praying, and praising God together. Forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together. I tell people who write
to me from other places, they say, all I got is a tape recorder.
Well, that's all right in its place. But a tape recorder is
no substitute for a pastor. A tape recorder is no substitute
for a warm body next to you rejoicing with you in the things of Christ.
A tape recorder won't replace this fellowship and preaching
of the Word. God, there's a time, and I know
I exhort you to study your Bible at home and read your books and
listen to tapes and so forth, but this, there's a time when
God says two or three are met together in my name. I'll be in their midst." And
there's a special anointing at this time of the man whom God
calls to preach and teach, and you need it, the anointing. God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching, preaching. And that's the reason He said,
don't you forsake the assembling of your sister, don't you leave.
And I tell people, I write too. Sell out and move where you can
have a gospel church. Sell out. Oh, I couldn't do that. Well, dry up, because that's what you're
going to do. That's right. You need to be
together. I'm telling you. Secondly, study. Study the Word. Discuss the Word.
Talk about the Scriptures. Talk about the Scriptures. You
say, well, we don't discuss religion. I don't either. I'm not interested
in religion, but I'm interested in Christ. I didn't tell you
to discuss religion. Don't discuss prophecy and religion
and uncertain, unknown, unrevealed things. Discuss the gospel, Christ. When our Lord healed that demon-possessed
demoniac in the land of the Gadarenes, he said, go home and tell them
what the Lord's done for you. He didn't say, go home and teach
them the five points of Calvinism. He said, go tell them what great
things God's done for you. You can do that. Let your conversation be seasoned
with grace, like you season meat with salt. You don't have to run around
and say, well, hallelujah, well, hallelujah, well, praise the
Lord, well, isn't God good? No, I'm not talking about showing
off. I'm talking about just discussing between yourselves the good things
of God as it flows. And talk about divine things
and a little less about foolish things. We live in a foolish,
foolish generation. Everybody's got to say something
funny. Everybody's got to say something funny. I think we're
like a bunch of kids walking by a cemetery late at night,
and they're all whistling. Make a noise, and then we won't
have to think, you know, about the fears and the dangers. And
that's the reason everybody's got to make jokes. Let's do some
serious talk. Let's talk about some serious
things, divine things, and less about silly, foolish things.
And then pray for each other. And if you see a person who's
showing indifference, and you know he's going the wrong way
and doing the wrong thing, tell him. Now that's too hard. No. Tell him. Tell him. Warn each other. Warn each other. If you see signs of indifference and division, Like
a pastor said to me not long ago, there's a fella in our church
that's just out of sorts. He's not with the flow, he's
not with the unity, he's not in the spirit of things, he's
just out of sorts. And he said, that person just
agitates me and causes me so much grief. Well, that man needs
to be told, doesn't he, by somebody. He needs to be told. He needs
to be warned. Somebody needs to take him aside now. Now straighten
up, fella. Just get right in your attitude
and your spirit. Get right. I wouldn't be, for
all the gold in Fort Knox, a person that caused my pastor concern
and tears and agitation. Would you? Oh, God help me. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
be a hindrance to the flow of the gospel. I'd commit suicide
before I'd do that. Hinder the flow of the gospel.
I wouldn't do that. So warn a fellow. Warn a fellow. While it's called today, exhort
one another. Now watch this. Here in verse
14, I'll quit. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. Hold it steadfast to the end.
I took this from Mr. Spurgeon. I took this from Spurgeon
some time ago. What does this mean to hold the
beginning? Hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast to the end. What does that mean? Well, in
the beginning, we came to Christ as sinners in need of mercy. forgiveness, blood to cleanse
us. Stay there. We're still sinners,
needing righteousness and blood. Secondly, in the beginning, we
cast aside our works, our deeds, our prayers, our righteousness,
and we relied on Him alone. Like Paul, I counted all things
lost for the excellence in the knowledge of Christ my Lord.
That's what we were in the beginning. Stay there. I still count on
things but love. Thirdly, in the beginning, we
worshipped our God in spirit, rejoiced in Christ, and had no
confidence in the flesh. But we're still there. That's
still the marks of the redeemed. Stay there. Fourthly, in the
beginning, when we came to Christ, if the Lord had said, Now, I've
taken you into my house. You'll be a servant, a lowly
servant, a servant of the saints. We would say, well, so be it.
I'm just glad to be here. I'd rather be a doorkeeper, Lord,
in your house than dwell in the tents of the wicked. We're still
there. Make me as a hired servant. That's what the Particle Son
said. And let's say the same thing now. Servant. Number five,
in the beginning we hungered for the Word. Oh, for a Word
from God. We couldn't wait to get to the
service. Each sermon was welcome. Each
message was delightful because it revealed Christ. The sermon
might have been rusty, it might have been unpolished, it might
have been elementary, but it blessed us because we were hungry. We weren't interested too much
in the vessel, we were interested in the food. It wasn't so much
who preached as who was preached. Well, let's get back there. Back
there. Stay there. The beginning. Oh,
at last. In the beginning, we were very
careful to guard our conduct and our testimony for the glory
of God. very careful about how we talked
and how we walked and how we behaved, what we did, to avoid
every appearance, not only avoid evil, but the appearance of evil.
Not so much what people knew as what they thought. Even the
appearance of evil, that's at the beginning, wasn't that right?
When we first came to Christ, we were so careful, so careful
about our conversation, our conduct, and our walk, and we were generous
with our love, and generous with our gifts, and quick to forgive,
and faithful to the gospel, and we could be counted on, depended
upon. Stay there. That's what that
means. Verse 14 says, we are partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. It doesn't change. It doesn't
change. Still the same. I'm still where
He found me at the cross. Still a sinner saved by the grace
of God. All right, I hope that's helpful.
I hope it's a blessing. And you know, I apologize for
something I said in the message. I got to thinking, you ought
not say that. I said if I was disturbing the
gospel, I'd commit suicide. I wouldn't do that. You didn't
think I would. Okay. Get back in your place. All right. But we say things
that we shouldn't say. Take the hay and leave the briars.
Any donkey knows to do that. He spits the bars out and he's
saying, and I just shouldn't have said that. That just shows
us a lesson that even when you get 70 years old, you still say
dumb things, don't you? All right, by His grace, His
grace alone.