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“It's All About Where You Look” • 11.26.17 • Calvary
Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro
- The book of
Hebrews was written at a time when there was a great resurgence in the practice
of Judaism. Herod had finished his large scale renovation of the Temple in 63
A.D.
- Many of our
first century brothers and sisters were beginning to miss the festivities and
were openly wondering why they should maintain the position that they held.
- The
temptation to return to their roots was greater than ever! That is why our
author is writing! Having corrected their perspective on the subject of
Prophets and Angels, he turns now to Moses.
- How does
Jesus compare to the man that led the Israelites out of Egypt and mitigated the
law of God to them? Let's have a look. Verse 1.
Text
•
Hebrews 3:1-4 : "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our
confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was
faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by
someone, but He who built all things is God." : "Therefore" reminds us that doctrine and duty, belief
and behavior are intimately connected.
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Because Christ has become the basis of our unity. Because Christ through His
Spirit, is able to express divine sympathy in our time of need, we have the
capacity to act accordingly!
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His address serves to remined them. They are "holy brethren" that
Christ is not ashamed of!
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He has made them so by His sacrifice and His continual act of sanctifying them
in the midst of their trials. We are joined to Christ and have been made one in
Him. This was their present.
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Note also their future: They are "partakers of the heavenly calling."
They are participants, shareholders, associates with a heavenly invitation.
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This is who you are! Now, from that vantage point, consider Jesus! The author
is grabbing them by the shoulders and trying to wake them out of their
religious delusion.
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"You are a member of a new people! You are living with the expection of
Heaven! Don't look toward the Temple. Look to Jesus!" This isn't a
suggestion. It's written as a command!
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"Consider" can also be translated to "fix your eyes" or to
"set your mind." They are to look upon God's Apostle, His sent One,
His Messenger as well as the High Priest of their confession.
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Every Christian believed the same thing about Jesus. He is our High Priest. He
stands between us and the Father. There isn't another man that can fill that
position!
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When you and I fix our eyes upon Him, we see in Him a faithful one in the same
way that Moses was faithful to the Lord when He was God's servant. These two
were faithful to God.
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That is where the comparison ends because Jesus is worthy of more esteem than
Moses!
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In the climate that this was written, this was quite the audacious claim. The
unbelieving Jews held that Jesus was a false Prophet.
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To say that Jesus was worthy, not of equal honor, but of exceeding honor was a
difficult pill for them to swallow! Moses had been their leader, their law
giver!
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Jesus is worthy of more esteem than Moses because He is the Founder of the
house. This doesn't refer to a structure per se, but of descendants.
-
When a person is named, he is given the individual distinction, but is more
importantly in the Jewish mind, of the house of an original descendant. The
"tribe of Levi." The "house of Jacob."
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The house of Christ then might be built upon by various servants including
Moses, but they will never supercede His Name! God is the One who built all
things!
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Once again, Moses and Jesus were both faithful to the Lord, but only One of
them is God Himself! Jesus holds the title to this House! Verse 5.
•
Hebrews 3:5,6 : "And Moses indeed was faithful in
all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be
spoken afterward, but
Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." : There is no disrespect intended toward Moses. Jews revere him.
Christians genuinely admire and love him.
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The problem is that the Jews raised him above what is appropriate. The author
seeks to set this straight. Moses was faithful in all of Christ's house as a
servant.
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He was a wonderful implement in the hands of God, specifically relating to the
Law that he administrated, which acted as a tutor to keep God's people in line.
But he was only a servant.
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He was a "therapon," from which we gain our word "therapy."
Moses was an attendant and the relation of heat to the word suggests one that
employed that element in their service.
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Think about that when you want to consider your service to the Lord! Your
service might be great among men and effective for generations. In the end, you
and I are simple servants of the Lord.
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In Moses' case, as the NIV says, he served as "an illustration of the
truths that God would reveal later." What does he mean by that?
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The word that is translated "testimony" can also be and is most often
translated "witness."
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When Luke conveys Christ's story
about the Rich Man that died and talked to Abraham, the Patriarch told him that
Moses and the Prophet's testimony was enough to save his kin. (Luke 16:38)
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In Acts 15:21, the Jerusalem council
reported that Moses was read in every city, every Sabbath throughout many
generations!
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In this way, Moses was a faithful and enduring witness of that which would come
afterward!
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Consider then the content of that particular witness. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 18. Moses is talking about true and false
prophets and points directly to One like Him who will come.
•
Deuteronomy 18:17-19 : "And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken
is good. I will
raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My
words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will
not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him." : Imagine that! Our Jewish brothers and sisters from the first
century of the Church were tempted to return to hear Moses over the Word of the
Gospel of Jesus!
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Imagine their surprise to listen to Moses sitting on the proverbial witness
stand, proclaiming that they should be listening to Jesus, not Him!
"Listen to the Son, not the steward!"
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Moses, Mary, Elijah or Isaiah would shudder to think that anyone would put them
in the same category as the Son! Jesus Christ is a Son over His own house!
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Even as a little child, an heir is more valuable than a servant, no matter how
great and well thought of that servant is!
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This proverbial house was built by Christ. Those that believe in Christ ARE
that house if we hold fast, maintain a firm possession of what we have been
given!
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Look at and consider that condition. The only way to differentiate between
those that are truly in Christ and those that make that claim is their
perseverance. They have held on with all they had!
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They will have held on to their "confidence." The word expresses a
boldness in speech, an unwillingness to hide details or obscure what we believe
by employing metaphors.
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That is the outward manifestation of the inward reality which is rejoicing over
the hope, the certainty of our expected end! We must be steadfast in that
belief if we will truly be His house!
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What do you mean? Is there any danger of not holding on? The author has told us
to "Look To The Son." Now
he says, "Look To The Scripture."
Verse 7.
•
Hebrews 3:7-11 : "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
'Today, if you will hear His
voice, do not harden
your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial
in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me,
tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I
swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’" : Our author is leading us to another direct warning. Moses has
been clear in his call to God's people. Listen to the one that God sends, whose
witness will stand.
-
He's about to quote from Psalm 95:7-11,
a psalm with no clear attribution. It's ironic then that he would look to
another anonymous work and recognize the Holy Spirit's authorship!
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The author notes that what Holy Spirit says in this particular passage written
nearly 1,000 years earlier to a Jewish audience, still has applicability to
this audience now.
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I would further add that the Holy Spirit continues to say it to our hearts
today! But there was something even more interesting relating to this
particular passage for these particular Jews.
˚
"Except for the Epistle to the
Hebrews all the NT books are silent in respect to the 95th Psalm. Nor are there
any references to it in the writings of the Early Church Fathers. Yet, its use
in the Synagogue was well-established, for the psalm was regarded as a preamble
of services on Friday evening and Sabbath morning. This practice undoubtedly stemmed
from the Temple ritual which in later years was gradually taken over in the
Synagogue. Pss. 95 and 96 were known as the psalms of the invitation to
worship."[i]
Simon Kistemaker
-
Consider that! The Jews were used to hearing these words recited to them each
Friday evening as an invitation into the synagogue!
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Given that they were listening to this letter on a Sunday, it's very possible
that some of them had just heard this the day before! They had been
"called in" with these words.
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Our author has already told them that they are partakers of "heavenly
calling." It's perfect that he now shows them what this scripture was
intended to mean by the warning it carried!
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"Today, if you will hear His voice!" God's voice through Moses and
through Christ agree! All of scripture contains the very voice of God! "Do
not harden your hearts!"
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The phrase is written in the present tense, meaning that as they are hearing
the voice of God, they have the capacity to respond in this way.
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"Harden" comes from a word which refers to a drying out. The metaphor
refers to stubbornness, an unwillingness to yield, to budge, or to accept a
charge.
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Sadly, we can make our own hearts hard against the voice of God! "Oh,
that's good for them." "I liked what he said about this, so I'll let
that be my takeaway." Be careful friends!
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Who does He point to as the the chief illustration of hardening? Those that
wandered in the wilderness! The Jews who followed Moses, which God calls
"the rebellion!" What an indictment!
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The believing Jews might have wanted to connect to Moses, but not to the
Wanderers!
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They were rebels. The word "rebellion" might better be translated
"provocation." The people incited God to respond by their continual
action. God doesn't stop there. He calls it "the day of trial."
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The people of God were being tried. The bitter circumstances were allowed to
reveal to them what their heart condition was before the Lord. Only suffering
can unveil our character to us.
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They were on trial, but they had the audacity to test and "try" the
Lord! They examined and tested the Lord's authenticity when they saw all of His
works for forty years! Think about that.
-
That is the generation that watched God judge the gods of Egypt, humilating
them with plague after plague. That is the generation that watched the sea open
before them.
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That is the generation that watched the Egyptian army drown under the same sea
that they had just walked through! And that was the only the beginning! Forty
years of that kind of witness.
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Do you ever wonder what God's assessment of that generation was? You don't have
to! Because they hardened their hearts against the Lord, God was angry with
them!
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What was His complaint? Listen and truly comprehend. They always go astray in
their hearts.
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There are many synonyms that bear consideration. They wander. They roam. They
are seduced out of the way. Does that describe you?
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Are you prone to wander after you have been shown the truth? Do you roam
wherever you'd like after leaving a Bible study? Does it take much to seduce
you toward sin?
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Israel was like that because they had not known God's ways! What a statement to
make!? Of course they knew His ways, right? How could they not?
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They listened and followed, but they did not understand His ways, the meaning
of why He led them in the manner that He did! They never quite understood it.
Moses said that directly to them!
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He follows the same path of speech and proclaims to them that God had not given
them a heart to perceive, eyes to see or ears to hear to that very day! (Deuteronomy 29:4)
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Consequently, God decreed that this generation, that had been delivered, that
had seen the miracles of the desert, would not enter His rest. This is a direct
reference to Numbers 14.
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The 12 spies had gone out to look at Canaan for 40 days and were returning. 10
of them came back with a bad report, noting that having seen the inhabitants of
the land, they'd be crushed!
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Hadn't God dealt with greater foes? Hadn't He proven Himself more than able to
protect and provide for them? Because they would not believe Him, that
generation would not enter His rest!
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"Rest" refers to settling in, abiding in. The word is found in Acts 7:49 and seven times here in the
book of Hebrews. That first generation would not enter His rest.
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The author has told us to "Look To
The Son." He has called them to "Look To The Scripture." Now, he tells them to "Look At Those Who Made Similar Choices."
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Here's comes the warning that they were to heed. Verse 12.
• Hebrews
3:12,13 : "Beware, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God; but exhort one another daily, while it
is called 'Today,'
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." : The author claps his proverbial hands and commands his audience
to comprehend this! - This applies to you
brethren! Beware, lest there be in any of you. This shouldn't exist here!
- Wherever this was read, more than likely in a
crowded home, it was all inclusive. Everyone here is a member of this body and
everyone needs to be careful of this condition.
- This is a diseased heart condition, in which
the affections are afflicted by a faithlessness toward God. If this were
employed from a person to another person, it would be betrayal.
- Consider this: A person who has come to
Christ has come to trust Him with all of their life. They are declaring that
they will remain in relationship to Him for what He has shown Himself to be.
- To allow a heart of unbelief will necessarily
issue in you departing, withdrawing yourself from the living God! What a
statement!
- Those that were tempted to move back toward
Judaism were in the throes of a decision. -
To embrace Judaism is to depart from the living God! To remain Christian means
that one clings to the living God!
- This group was in danger of choosing
something that would alienate them from God! So what is the antidote?
"Exhort one another daily!" The word "exhort" means to call
alongside.
- The picture is of a person walking with
another, coming up to aid the other in continuing to walk. Think of the Soldier
that supports his wounded comrade with his own relatively healthier body.
- When you are that healthy soldier, you are
fulfilling this picture. Exhort one another.
- This isn't an invitation to have another
person exhort. This isn't for "someone more qualified." This isn't
for professionals. This is your responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ!
- When a member saw another struggling to
remain in Christ, that member had the call to come up and encourage the other.
And that was to be done daily.
- It's possible that their church held daily
gatherings. It's possible that this church was interconnected through work
relation throughout the week.
- The point is that there was a regular
attention paid BY the members TO the members! They looked out for one another.
- Those that were struggling called out for
help and those that were healthy made a response! That is how the body is meant
to function.
- Do it while you have the opportunity! Do it
while it is called "Today!" The danger will come from the seductive
delusion offered by sin.
- In what ways can we say sin is deceptive?
It's deceptive in what it promises and it's assessment of what it will cost to indulge
it!
- In this case with the Jews, the sin was to
abandon trusting exclusively in Christ in exchange for comfort and relief in
this world, a deadly exchange. Verse 14.
• Hebrews
3:14,15 : "For we have become
partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the
end, while
it is said: 'Today, if you will hear His voice, do
not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'" : These believers could only actualize their confession, become
partakers of Christ, if they held on to the end!
- Their convictions that brought them into the
faith. That which they had based their eternity upon. That which caused them to
leave their lives of sin.
- When they first looked at Jesus and saw in
Him the sufficiency and potency that the Law never possessed. It was their
responsibility to feed that and hold that with greater strength.
- Do you believe in Him as you once did? Is
that conviction as strong today as it was when you walked into Christ? Have you
fed that belief or are your eyes elsewhere?
- "Don't harden your hearts!" That's
how they lived in the time of the rebellion! They didn't maintain their bold
conviction to the end. Verse 16.
• Hebrews
3:16-19 : " For who, having heard, rebelled?
Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty
years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they
would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter
in because of unbelief." : Do you want to talk about
the people that Moses led? They are the ones that rebelled against God!
- The ones that had been delivered from Egypt
were the same ones that God was angry with for 40 years! They sinned against
God and their bodies lay out in the desert sun!
- The wonderful law giver. The faithful
servant. The blessed visual leader of the people of Israel could not bring
God's people into God's rest because they would not obey!
- It wasn't God's fault. It wasn't Moses' fault.
It won't be Christ's fault. It will be the fault of those that fail to allow
Christ to be the center of their lives!
- Ironically, the Christians that were
listening to this, that were tempted to fall back under the call of Judaism,
were not just threatening to repeat history.
- They were on the verge of fulfilling it!
Leaving Christ was to leave them doomed!
Conclusion
- "Today, if you hear His voice." Moses was a great servant of God's, but he can't compare with the Son! Think about it.
- "Today, if you hear His voice." Moses was a great servant of God's, but he can't compare with the Son! Think about it.
- Moses led a nation that God delivered from
Egyptian slavery. Christ leads a people that He alone delivered from demonic
slavery!
- Moses delivered a law that God wrote on Mt.
Sinai. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and build a new copy within the heart of
His people.
- Moses led the "living" to their
graves because of their unbelief. Jesus Christ led the "dead" from
their graves to a life in Christ because of their belief in Him!
- You can't compare Moses with Christ. "Look At The Son." It's His house.
He built it. He sustains it. Moses might have worked in it, but it's not his
house. He serves the Son!
- "Look
At The Scripture." There is a danger of hardening our hearts at the
sound of God's voice. There is a danger of missing out on His rest because of
unbelief.
- Finally, "Look At Those Who Made Similar Choices." This works in every
area of life. Look an older person who has made the choice you are wanting to
make. How did it work out for them?
- In the same way, our author is asking his
audience to look at how it worked out for those that followed Moses. What
happened to them? They lost their lives wandering in the desert!
- "Today, if you hear His voice."
Soften your heart. Trust Him completely. Rest. Settle yourself in Him. There
isn't a better place to live than in His house!
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