Have You Considered Jesus?, Part 3

Today we find ourselves back in the book of Hebrews. So if you got your Bible, Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3, verse number 1. That's where we're at, part 3, on what it means to consider Jesus. Now, Granted, if I was to rename this sermon, or the two previous, and this one and the one next week, and probably the one the week after that, I would name it Life's Most. perfect pursuit or life's most quintessential quest in learning to consider Jesus Christ our Lord. There's nothing greater than to take the time to consider Jesus.

In fact, the Bible tells us, Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, verse number 4, that no good soldier of Jesus Christ entangles himself in the affairs of this world. In other words, we are. Soldiers in the army of God, and no good soldier ever gets so involved in the different affairs of the world that he forgets about his mission. Now that's not the worldliness or the sinful things of the world. It's the everyday activities. We can become so distracted, we can become so disrupted by just the everyday events in life.

As parents, we have children, and so many times our children can consume us that we forget to consider Christ. Our job can consume us, and not that our job is wrong, but that it can consume us from considering the Christ. Our recreation can consume us so that we don't consider the Christ. And Paul tells Timothy: Look, don't become so absorbed in the things that you do every single day. Go to the grocery store, pumping gas, making sure you do things right in your home and do your yard work, all those things.

Don't be so consumed in those things that you forget. That you're a good soldier of Christ in His army. And we take the time on Sundays to consider Jesus, but you just can't take Sundays to consider Him. It must be an everyday effort in our lives. To consider Christ. Now, it's been six weeks since we've done this, since Mother's Day. Because it took us six weeks to get through a Mother's Day message. But yet, yet, we need to go back and understand the importance of what it means to consider Jesus.

In fact, if you look at the sermon we just did, the series we just did on the marks of a godly mother, you can say the same thing: the marks of a godly mother.

Man, or the challenges to God's children. No matter how you phrase it, all the principles, all ten principles apply across the board to everybody in the room. And one of the points we said was that the godly mother, she listened intently to the word of God. She learned incessantly about the work of God, the ways of God, the will of God, and the wonder of God. And she looks insight at the wisdom of God. That's the godly mother. And we could have summed up those six weeks in one simple phrase by telling you that the godly mother simply considers Jesus.

That's it. Just consider Jesus. Because that's what she does. That's what he does. That's what we do. We consider the Christ. If you got your Bible, you're there in Hebrews chapter 3, verse number 1. I was visiting my mom's church this past week, and the preacher said, Look, I want you to turn with me to the book of Acts.

And if you don't have your Bible, look at At it on your mobile device, and I'm thinking, mobile device in church?

Are you kidding me? But that's what people were doing. Looking at their Bible on their mobile devices, whatever. Technological instrument you want to use, he says. I would hope you carry your Bible to church, that you don't use a mobile device, that you really actually carry the Word of God in your hand. Okay, I know you can use your mobile device. I know you can do that. But you know what? There's something about having God's Word in your hand, hearing the pages turn. Crumpling the pages in your hand, writing in your Bible, keeping notes in your Bible.

There's something very important about that. We can become so technical in our approach to everyday life that we forget about the important things. God's word's important. And hopefully, you never cease to carry the Word of God to church, open the Word of God at home. And if I offended you, I didn mean to do that. Don't want to do it. Maybe I did. Yeah, I guess I did. But the fact of the matter is, I want you to realize that God's word is crucial. And just to hold it in your hand, the treasure of God's gospel is a precious possession.

But Hebrews 3 verse number 1. I know we're supposed to cover the six verses, but we've only gotten to verse 1 and we won't get off verse 1 today. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. The point is, you need to consider Jesus. Cata nuest, which means to mind deeply. In other words, your mind is to go deep into the facts of Jesus. You are to think and penetrate the Christ. Look deep into the Christ. That's what our minds are to be entrenched in.

We are to consider Jesus. Now, if I was a professor and you were in class and I said, Now, listen, seven weeks ago we said this word is used how many times in the New Testament, you would say, You don't remember.

Ah, see, that's why you got to come to church. We got to take notes. See? Five times. Remember that? Five times it's used in the New Testament. And it's used one other time in the book of Hebrews. And the chapter it's used in is You don't remember.

Now, either, thank you. Somebody remembers. Thank you, Terry. Hebrews chapter 10. Now, either I'm a bad communicator or you're bad listeners. One of the two. So I'm going to assume that I'm the bad communicator and you. Are the good listeners, okay? And I just didn't communicate it properly to you. So I'm going try to communicate it a little bit better, a little bit clearer to you, so you understand it and get it. Okay, it's used five times in the New Testament, one other time in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 10:2 and 25.

You your Bible. Turn to Hebrews 10 because we're many, many months away from Hebrews 10. All right? Hebrews 10, it says this: and let verse 24, and let us Cons, same word used. Let us mind deeply. Let us put our minds deep into something. What? Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together. As is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Wow! Look around the room, okay? Everybody, look around.

Don't look at the walls, don't look at me, look around the room and all the different people in the room, okay?

Now I have to Yourself question: When was the last time you thought deeply enough about someone else in the room that you would stimulate them, motivate them to love and good deeds? When was the last time you spent your time on Sundays looking for the opportunity to stimulate somebody else? To motivate them to love and good deeds. Because he says, as you see the day drawing near, as you see the day of Christ coming, as you see the fact that Jesus is coming again, you need to be on the aggression, on the aggressive side, on the The side that's looking to motivate people to do things that honor and glorify the Christ.

You can't do that if you forsake the assembly of yourself together, right? You got to be together. We gather together, we worship the king together that we might consider Jesus and consider how we might sim. Another love of good deeds. Now, now the write of Hebrews separates it from chapter 3 to chapter 10. Okay? But in reality, the two go together. Because the reason we don't think deeply enough about one another is simply because we don't think deeply enough about the Christ. Let me show you how that happens.

Let me show you how Jesus illustrated that. Remember the last question asked of Jesus during his earthly ministry. Remember what that question was, right? The last question asked of Jesus, very important because after the question was asked, Jesus gives the answer. No one dare ask him any more questions, it says in Mark chapter 12. Because once he gave the answer, he convicted everybody around him. The scribe came to him in Mark chapter 12 and said, Good teacher, what is the most Foremost, or what is the foremost commandment of all?

And Christ said, The foremost commandment is this. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. And the second is likened to the first: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

He says exactly the same thing that the writer of Hebrew says. Because loving God has a natural outflow of loving the brethren. It's not two commandments, it's one commandment in two phases. If you love God, you'll love the brethren. In fact, the way we know you love God is that you love the brethren. That's what John says over in 1 John chapter 4. He says this: verse 7: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

And then he says in verse 19, we love because he first loved us. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. So John says the same thing to write. Of Hebrews says the same thing that Jesus Christ said: that listen, loving God flows naturally into loving your brother. If you're considering Jesus, if you're thinking deeply about Jesus, if you are Seriously penetrating the depths of the knowledge of God, the natural outflow of that is you're going to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds because you're not going to forsake the assembling of yourselves together because the day of the Christ is coming soon.

Did you get that? That's just crucial. That's important. But the writer of Hebrews says, consider Jesus. Why? Why? Well, he says, therefore, so he begins the chapter 3, verse 1. Therefore, therefore, is based on what? Chapter 1 and chapter 2. Chapter 1 is about the identity of the Christ. Chapter 2 is about the ministry of the Christ. And in between there, chapter 2, To four is that section, that very first warning in the book of Hebrews.

How many warnings are there in the book of Hebrews? Five. All right, we're getting there. Somebody's listening. There are five warnings in the book of Hebrews, the first one chapter two, verses one to four.

And in that warning, he says, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Escape what? The judgment and the penalty of God. So he gives the identity and the ministry of Christ, and coupled in between there, or centered in between there, is that warning passage. Based on who he is and what he's done, you can't neglect so great a salvation. Therefore, based on the identity and ministry of the Christ, based on the character of the Christ, we are to consider Jesus. And then he says, Therefore, holy brethren, wow, holy brethren, who's that?

That's people who have been sanctified by the Christ, who have been set apart by the Christ. These are believers. Therefore, not just. Because of the character of Christ, but because of the fact that you are a child of God, you are holy brethren and partakers of the heavenly calling. Not only are you a child of God, the reason you're a child of God is because. Because you've been called by God, and the reason you've been called by God is because of the character of God. Wow, this is so amazing. Therefore, because of all that, consider Him.

See that? That's how it works. So important. Think deeply. Make your mind penetrate all there is to know about the Christ. I wish we all did that, myself included. Now I know that I'm a pastor and I get paid to study the Bible. I know that, okay? I get paid to study the Bible. But before I was a pastor, I wasn't paid to study the Bible. But I knew about the importance of Bible study and the importance of understanding who the Christ was. And learning to consider him and to think deeply about him.

And that led me ultimately into the ministry, realizing that I wanted to tell others about the Christ. I wanted to share what I was learning with others. And so I did in Bible studies and one-on-, but eventually the Lord led me into pastoral ministry, and that's where I am today. But there is nothing greater than considering the Christ. It is life's most quintessential quest. This quest is crucial. Why? Because of the character of God, because we are the children of God, and because of the call of God.

I told you last time, remember, it is a heavenly calling. It is a holy calling. It is a high calling. Paul speaks of the heavenly, high, and holy calling of God because that's exactly what it is. And so the right of Hebrews says, cons Jesus. Then he says the apostle. What do we consider about him? We are to consider, number one, that he is the apostle, the sent one.

Now, let's see how well you listened seven weeks ago. Okay? There are six points I'm going to give you. Point number one speaks about the fact that he is the apostle and we are to consider him, which speaks to us about point one, his what?

No. That's okay. I'm going to review it for you. That's why we review. Because we forget, right? But of course, I might not have communicated it clearly to you. So I'll take that responsibility. And I'll make sure that I do all I can over Hebrews 3:1 to 6 to communicate all six points to you so clearly that you'll write them in the margin of your Bible and that you will never forget them again. Okay? Because you need to consider Jesus. And if you're going to consider him, we know why, because he spent the first two weeks talking about the why.

This is week number three. So, what are we to consider about Jesus? And this leads us into week four and probably into week five about what it means to consider Jesus, to think deeply, let our minds penetrate the depths and the knowledge of the living God. Because of his wow, even I forgot. Oh, yeah. His prestigious mission. Remember that? His prestigious mission. He is the sent one. That's a phrase used by the Christ how many times in the New Testament? Who recalls that number? I don't throw numbers out at you because I just wanted to get a bunch of numbers.

I throw them out at you because they're important for you to grasp and understand why the phrase is there. How many times is it used? Where is it used? Why is it used? A part of Bible study. It's all a part of knowing what the text says. It's used 133 times in the New Testament, speaking of the Christ Himself as the ultimate sent one, the Apostle. Okay? That means he had a mission. He was on a journey. He had a purpose. And that mission is the most prestigious mission in all the world. That's why point one is: what are we to consider about the Christ?

We are to consider his prestigious mission. Write that down so you don't forget it because I going to ask you next week, all right? His prestigious mission. Why is it prestigious? Because it entails his submission to the Father and the salvation of lost souls. Remember that? Who remembers that? All right. We're working on it. We're going get there. Okay? Take us a little bit of time. We're going to get there. His submission to the Father and the salvation of lost souls. He came to do the will of His Father who is in heaven.

My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, He said, right. My whole purpose for coming was to do what my father said to do: his submission to the father. And he came to seek and save that which is lost. The salvation of lost souls. That's his mission. That's why it's so prestigious. Because he is the ultimate king of the universe, and yet through humility, he submitted himself to his father that he might save lost souls. Souls. That's the mission. It's the most prestigious mission in all the world.

That's what we are to consider about Him. And when you consider that mission, you cannot help but cons our mission. Now, if you've been with us for a little time or for a long time, it makes no difference how long you've been here. You know. You should know. That I can take a text, a topic, or a tiny phrase of a text and preach on it for weeks, even months. You know that, right? And to be honest with you, I have a hard time not doing that. I really do. Because every phrase I come across, I want to camp out on.

That's why it took us nine years to get through Luke's Gospel. Okay? And that really truly was just a cursory study of Luke's Gospel. We could have spent 90 years in Luke's Gospel. Of course, you'd all be dead. I'd be dead. The next preacher had to pick it up. But the bottom line is that I know, I know that when I do this, or have done in the past. Some of you can be very irritated with me. I understand that. Me doing this to you is irritating. But remember, what is irritating to one is illuminating to another.

Think about it. What is irritating to one, get off the text, move on, get to the next phrase, get to the next verse, get to the next text, get to the next book, get out of Hebrews, get to whatever it is you gonna do next. Whatever is irritating to one is illuminating to the other because there are minds. Are lit up with the truth. So I know that what is irritating to one is also illuminating to another. I also know that what is in to one is inv to another. So, while you might become infuriated with the fact that I can't get off a phrase or get off a text, to another one, it becomes very invigorating because they are learning more and more and more, and they're grasping the knowledge of God, and they can't wait to share.

That truth, and while in the midst of your infuriation with me, others are invigorated with the fact that they are learning more about the Christ. So please remember that. I also know. That for some of you, it can be very inundating because it's an overload of information. But for others, it truly is infatuating with the passion and knowledge of the Christ. And for others, It could be intimidating because there's so much given that you can't even begin to grasp it. You're overwhelmed by that knowledge, and it's intimidating, but to others, it truly is.

Innovating. They look for ways to respond and to do what they have been taught to do. So I know all that. Okay, so don't think that I'm up here and I have no understanding of what you're thinking about me or the text or what's happening. I get all that, right? But my job is to get you to consider Jesus. That's my job. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Oh, you want to see Jesus? You better consider Jesus. And my job is to get you to know Christ. That's my job. To let you understand that what you are doing is the greatest, is the quintessential quest of life, is the most perfect pursuit in all of life to know the Christ, to consider the Christ, to think deeply about the Christ.

To think seriously, to let your mind penetrate more and more the pages of the text that you might learn Christ. That's my job. That's what I do, that's what I live for. And so to do that, we camp out on phrases. We are to consider, as holy brethren. Partakers of the divine calling, the holy calling, the high calling, consider Jesus. Consider what about Jesus? He is the. Apostle, the sent one who in his coming was submissive to his father. Because he came to save lost souls. That mission is so prestigious.

So amazing that in John 20, 21, Christ said, As the Father has sent me, so send I you. As you recall, seven weeks ago, we talked about that phrase. We talked about how the Son was sent, right? How he was sent by promise. He was sent in purity, okay, for people. Remember that? You guys remember that one? No, you don't. That's okay. That's all right. But all that's important. So let me help you understand this because this is crucial to us understanding.

Him as the apostle, the one with the most prestigious pursuit. Because now he says to his men after the resurrection in John 20, as the Father has sent me, the chief apostle. So now, send I you. Think about that. I'm going to help you think about that. Because that is the most ind mission there is. Indescribable mission. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. The Father did not send Gabriel to us. He didn't send another angel to us. He didn't send one of the ser or one of the cherubim to us. He sent the best.

He said a son, his only begotten son, right? As the Father has sent me and I'm the best, now the best is going to send you, you're the best. But you're not the best because of who you are. You're the best because of whose you are. That mission is indescribable. We are sent as the best representatives of the kingdom of God. And we look around the room, we think, well, they're not the best. They can't be the best. Surely God's got another best than that. But in all reality, we are the best because of who indwells us.

The living God ind us, right? And so now his life is being lived through us. In essence, the best sends the best, he sends him through us. It is an indescribable mission. That we as sent ones, apostles with a little A, Christ is the apostle with the big A, right? All caps. We are just a little A, little apostles, little sent ones. That mission is indescribable. Not only is it indescribable, that mission is inc. As the Father has sent me, so now send I you. He left the comforts of joy. He left the comforts of glory.

He humbled himself and became a servant. He left everything glorious to come and to serve sin man. That mission is incomparable because now the Lord says, as the Father has sent me. So send I you. That's why Jesus said in Luke 9: If any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Self-denial is all part and parcel to the gospel message. He goes on later and says in Luke chapter 14: if any man come after me, let him deny himself. Take this once to follow me. Let. He says, I'm sorry, Luke 14.

He says, in verse 24 and 25, he says, If any man come after and hate not his father, his mother, his brother, his sister, yea, even his own life, he cannot be my dis. See, the mission is incomparable. It's indescribable. It is ind. It's indisputable. You can't get around it. Wh? Simply because we are children of the living God. We are partakers of the heavenly calling. It is an indisputable mission. We are the ambassadors of the living God. No matter how hard we try, we can't get around it. It is an indisputable mission.

So, whatever my sphere of influence is, okay, whether it's a small sphere of influence or a large sphere of influence, whether it's Small Bible study or a large church, whether it's my home. Or the workplace, or whether it's my school or a portion or a classroom in my school, whatever my sphere of influence is, no matter where it is, it is an ind mission that, as the Father has sent me. So now send I you. It is an incomparable mission. It is an indescribable mission because it is the most prestigious mission because it Folllows on the heels of Christ Himself, the Apostle.

That's why, considering Christ is life's most quintessential quest, nothing greater than this. On top of that. On top of that, it's life's most inescapable mission. It's inescapable. Not only is it indisputable, it's inescapable. You can't escape it. Paul said, the love of Christ compels me, it constrains me, it moves me. We, who are children of the living God, cannot escape the mission that God has placed us in to represent His glorious kingdom. It is an inescapable Mission. It is an ind mission.

It is an indispensable mission. What is God's method of reaching man? It's man. That's how God's going to reach man. He reaches man with man. It's an indispensable mission. As the Father has sent me, so send I you. I came to reach man, now you are going to reach man. Christ said to Peter, James, and John, and Mark chapter 1. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. You have been fishers in the Sea of Galilee all your life. But now you're going to fish for something different. You're going to be fishers of men.

If you follow me, you are a fisher of men. My friends, we have been given a mission, and that is to reach others with the gospel of Christ. As we submit to the Master for the salvation of lost souls, we Are engaged in life's most prestigious mission. If we consider Jesus properly, if we consider who He is and what He's done, we can't help but be involved in the mission. Listen, there is never an excuse for an empty seat in the church. You can make excuses, but there really is never an excuse if the church itself understand the prestigious mission given to them by the chief apostle himself, Jesus.

Christ our Lord because it's man reaching man, it's family reaching family, it's reaching out, sharing the gospel, inviting your friends, telling them to come and be a part of The knowledge and understanding of the knowledge of Christ Himself. Think about it. How do we know we have considered Jesus? As the apostle, the ultimate sent one, who is submissive to his father for the salvation of lost souls. How do you know that we corporally as a church understand that? I'll tell you how you know. There are no empty seats in the auditorium.

If there are empty seats in the auditorium, that means corporately we have not considered Jesus as the apostle. Because we are involved in that mission. Man reaching man. And we should be making every effort in this indispensable, ind, inexhaustible, in Whatever it is, whatever phrase I've already used, mission that we've been entrusted with. This is what we have, this is what we do. That's why we consider Jesus. See, once you consider him, you can't help but tell others about him. You can't. If you're having a hard time telling others about him, you haven't truly considered him.

Because in considering the Christ as the apostle, sent For the salvation of your soul in submission to his father, I realize that now, as the Father has sent him, now he's sent me in that mission. Indescribable, incomparable, indisputable, inescapable, indispensable, and lastly, invaluable. Invaluable. Why is it invaluable? Remember Matthew 13? The treasure, the parable of the lost treasure in the pearl? About how the man would sell all that he has to obtain it because he understood the value of the gospel.

We have the most invaluable treasure known to man, the gospel of Christ. And God has entrusted us with a mission, a prestigious mission. Because it involves telling others about the beauty and the glory of the Christ. How great is that? That's why we're here. That's what we do. See that? Have you considered Jesus? Have you, with your mind, deep penetrated the person of the Christ? First of all, in the area of his prestigious mission.

Secondly, in the area of his priestly min. The high priest of our confession. Do you know that half of Hebrews The book that describes the sufficiency and superiority of the Christ is about the priesthood of the Messiah. Half of it is. And so, if we're going to consider Jesus, we must consider his priestly ministry because he lives to make intercession for you and for me. He lives to do that. He intercedes on your behalf and my behalf. That's what he does. And have we considered that priestly ministry enough to understand the beauty of what it means to have an advocate?

In the glories above Christ Himself. But that's next week's message. I just want you to understand that as we partake of the Lord's table, we are doing this because of his mission. As prestigious as it was and is, this was his mission. And now he says, I'm going to entrust you with that mission of telling people what I've done. And that's why, as long as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And we are involved in that proclamation until he comes again.

We pray with you. Father, we thank you for today. Truly, Lord, you are so great, so amazing, so indescribable. Our prayer, Lord, is that we would come to grips with you being the apostle. We are here because you were sent by your Father above. And you came to save us from our sin by your substitutionary work on Calvary's Cross. We are here today to worship you because we have given our life to you as our K. May we serve you in that way. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.