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Greater Faith (Hebrews 3:1-19)

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Greater Faith (Hebrews 3:1-19) Greater Assurance; Greater Faith (Hebrews 3:1-19) Main Pt: For believers, Christ has called us to continue our faithfulness in belief. Assurance, [1 John is book “How do I know I am saved?”/ Hebrews = Assurance of salvation] Unbelief, Rest - For the Christian, assurance of salvation is based in the calling and work of Christ, not in man. He is the author & finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2) - For the Christian, assurance means actually continuing to believe in Christ for the rest of our life. = We continue to believe B/C we ARE saved; we are saved and demonstrate our continued salvation B/C we continue to believe w/o faltering. Context: This chapter intended for Christians: “To holy brothers who share in heavenly calling” Vs. 1 “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; 2 He [Jesus] was faithful to God who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. 3 For He [Jesus] has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. 7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,9 Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. 10 “Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’; 11 As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” 12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” 16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Vs. 1-6: Moses = the spokesman, the figurehead of Judaism, and the LAW of God: Accolades for Moses: 1) He was a servant. He was faithful to lead the “House” of Israel BUT …….. Jesus is greater = As High priest, Jesus was sent by God (apostle), Jesus was not only a servant, but the Son, and the Creator of the “House” of Israel & the Church, and He was faithful in His duties on the earth as Prophet, Priest, and King – the Threefold Office: (Rev. 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood”): He is faithful to lead His “House” = us. As Prophet, Jesus pronounced an end to all our sin. He came not just proclaiming the Word of God; He is the Word of God (John 1:1). He came to the world because of sin (Matt. 1:21). He proclaimed our need to repent and believe on Him (Mark 1:15). And He proclaimed our pardon and forgiveness for sin (Col. 1:14). As Priest, Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for all our sin. In the Old Testament, the high priest was the mediator between Holy God and His sinful people. As mediator, the high priest entered the Holy Place and offered a sacrifice to God on behalf of the people once a year on the Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur (Lev. 16:34). He sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat “because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins” (Lev. 16:16). Christ, as our Mediator and High Priest, not only offered the sacrifice (once and for all), but He is the sacrifice. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Heb. 9:11–14 As King, Jesus rules in such a way as not to allow sin to reign over us any longer. In the Old Testament, the monarchy was established for the peace, prosperity, and welfare of the nation. The prototype king was David. No king was ever as beloved as he was. He was God’s viceregent among the people. He is “the ruler of kings on earth” (Rev. 1:5) and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16), including David. He rules with perfect justice and equity. As our King, He has fought our battles and now rules in such a way that sin never can reign over us (Rom. 6:7–14). The question is are we faithful??? Are truly in Christ, a part of His body? Have we tasted and benefited from His being our Prophet, Priest, and King = (Our Savior and Lord) Lordship salvation debate/antinomian controv. He was faithful to God may be expressed as “He did everything that God told him to do.” In some languages this can be best expressed as “God could trust him completely.” The context shows that the writer is thinking especially of Christ’s performance of the tasks God gave him as High Priest. Vs. 6: We are part of Christ’s household (saved) “if we hold fast (continue in) our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” OR “If we continue to be courageous and trust” - Courage/confidence = freedom we have to approach God via prayer/worship - Our hope = based in Christ (Person & His work on the cross & His ministry of intercession for us even now) - **Does not mean that we earn or keep salvation by our actions; but rather we “prove” or demonstrate our salvation by continuing to trust & hope in Christ. Vs. 7-11: The Israelites of old, were given special opportunity to be rescued by God from Egypt. But were all the Israelites saved? Some/many were disobedient, unfaithful, & they “tested” God to see if their willful rebellion, open disobedience, complaining spirit would be overlooked by a gracious God . They were judged & killed by God 7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they [Israelites] provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,9 Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. 10 “Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’; 11 As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” - “I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” Exodus 32:9-10, NIV - “But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown. Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started.” So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.
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