Have You Considered Jesus?, Part 7

Amen If you got your Bible, Hebrews chapter 3 verses 1 to 6, today is the seventh and final message on this portion of scripture entitled Have you considered Jesus? Now, it's not the end of considering Jesus because the whole book of Hebrews is about Jesus And so we will spend the rest of our time in the book of Hebrews thinking deeply about the Messiah Kat'o is a word that means to have your mind deep down to penetrate something And so we want you to consider Jesus That's what we tried to do over the last six weeks

And my son said to me, Look, if it took you six weeks to cover two verses, how can you cover four in one week? Ah, that's the beauty of being me You can do that And so Hebrews 3: to 6 reads as follows: Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession He was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses was in all his house For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God

Now Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant For a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later 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 We told you why we are to consider Jesus If I was to give you a test today, I wonder if you could repeat to me the three reasons as to why we are to consider Jesus Well, the answer is simple Therefore, verses or chapters 1 and 2 tell us it goes back to the character and nature of God That's why we consider him

Second, because we are holy brethren, we're children of the living God, we should at least consider Jesus And third, because we are partakers of the heavenly calling, we've been called by God, we need to at least consider Him That's the why And then we answer the question: what do we consider about Jesus? We consider, first of all, his prestigious mission, that he is the apostle And then we said that we are to consider his priestly ministry because he is the high priest of our confession

And then we are to consider his proven messiahship because the author calls him Jesus, who is the Christ, the Messiah And you must believe that Jesus is the Messiah in order to be saved from your sins So you believe in his proven or consider deeply his proven messiahship And then fourthly, you consider that he is faithful in all That God appointed him You consider his proven, his proven, or excuse me, his personal motive, and that was to do everything That his father had prescribed for him He was faithful all the way to the very end Which leads us to our fifth point in verse number three

We are to consider his prestigious, his prestigious, pre majesty His pre majesty Listen to what it says For he that is Christ has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses Remember, now he was considered as faithful as Moses Moses wasn 't considered as faithful As Jesus, but Jesus was considered as faithful as Moses was because Moses is that quintessential leader of Israel And by the way, Moses is mentioned 79 times In the New Testament Abraham is only mentioned 72 times in the New Testament

While Abraham is mentioned 10 times in the book of Hebrews, Moses is mentioned 11 times in the book of Hebrews because he was that prophet He was that sing most important prophet in Israel's history That 's why it says way back in the book of Exodus These words, Exodus 7, verse number 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet So Moses was God's prophet, but Aaron was Moses' prophet because Moses would be as a God to Pharaoh because he would speak with all the power and all the authority of God to Pharaoh

And yet, Aaron would be Moses' prophet And so he became the prophet in Israel And it was the Lord God, who Moses, who said these words, the book of Deuteronomy. 18, verse number 15: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me This is Moses speaking from among you From your countrymen, and you shall listen to him Very important phrase Moses says, God's going to raise up a prophet And that prophet is going to be great than me And you're going to listen to him Now, remember on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17

Peter, James, and John with the Christ as he unveiled his flesh Who was also there? Moses and Elijah And the voice came out of heaven, and God the Father said these words: This is my beloved Son What's the next phrase? Listen to him Which would reiterate in the apostles' minds that what Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:15 about the prophet that would come after him, who was greater than him, and you shall listen to him: that this prophet is the son, this son is the King, Jesus is Messiah And they would put two and two together

So now the right of Hebrews says, These words, you must consider his pre majesty because he is worthy of more glory than Moses, much more glory than Moses Why? By just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house, for every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is who? Is God Well, what that does is equate Jesus to God We know that because in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by Him Who's that? The Word Who is that? The Christ

The Bible also tells us in the book of Colossians, the first chapter, that everything came into existence because of the Son, because of Christ Not just the things that we see, but even the principalities and powers of the air were created By the Son So now the right of Hebrews says the Son is worthy of more glory than Moses, this Jesus, this Messiah Why? Because He's God He's God in the flesh He's the creator of all things He is the builder of the house Now, what's the house? Well, the house is the people of God. A house is mentioned six times in this portion of scripture

And remember, back in Numbers chapter 12, God said that Moses Was his servant in his household Okay? Now, Jesus is not a servant in the house He's the son in the house who happened to build the house So, not only is he the builder of the house, he's the son In the house, which makes him heir of all things, based on Psalm 2, verse number 7, which is the best annex Psalm: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations of this world, the Lord God said to his son And so now he's not just the heir as son, he's the creator of the house, which is the people of God

How do we know that? Well, if you got your Bible, turn to Eph chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1. I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter 2 Now remember, we're considering Jesus We are looking at his preeminent majesty Why is Jesus more majestic than Moses? Because in the Jewish mind, Moses is the God So, if you're greater than Moses, you've got to be pretty great Well, to be greater than Moses, you've got to be God because He's the prophet that would come after him, who would be greater than Moses And he was the apostle Moses was a prophet He was sent by God

But Jesus, not only was the creator of all things, Jesus is the high priest of our confession Moses was never a priest But Jesus is the high priest of our confession, the writer of Hebrews tells us Listen to what it says in Ephesians chapter 2 It says, So then, verse number 19: you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are God's household

You are God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, that is, the people of God, being fitted together and grown into a Holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit We are the household of God The people of God are that household, being built up together, being fitted together Based on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets Now, listen very carefully This is so important Turn back if you would to Matthew chapter 16

Matthew chapter 16 Matthew 16 is a prominent passage of scripture that determines whether you believe in Catholicism or you believe in Christianity How you interpret Matthew 16? Catholicism is based on Matthew 16 This is the foundational principle or chapter for Catholicism As Peter being the first pope, based on what they interpret Matthew 16 to mean Well, he can't be the first pope because Peter was married. I mean, come on, people The man was married He couldn have been the first pope, but that's what the Catholic Church says

Now, remember, they're in Caesarea, Philippi, okay? Northern part of Israel, base of Mount Hermon Very important Why? Because the base of Mount Hermon, where Caesarea Philippi is located, is solid rock It's solid rock all around, for as far as the eye can see Very important And that's where Christ asked the question: who do men say that I am? And Peter would say, when I said, Who do you say that I am? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God And Christ says, oh, Peter, that's right But flesh and blood didn't reveal it to you My Father in heaven revealed that to you Now listen carefully

Because Jesus says this. I also say to you that you are Peter Petros. A little stone You are a little stone And upon this rock, Petra, not Petros, but Petra, okay, which is a big boulder Very important to distinguish between the two Peter, you are a little stone You are Petros But upon this rock, what's the rock? Is it Peter? No, it's Petro What is the rock? The rock is the confession that Peter made that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God You are the Messiah of Israel, and the Messiah of Israel is the living God in the flesh standing before us God became flesh and dwelt among us

Christ says, Peter, you're a blessed man And I want to tell you that you are a little stone. A little stone Remember that phrase But upon this rock, Petra, what's he say? He says. I will build my church. I will build the household of God And the gates of hell will not overpower it And I will give to you, Peter The keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven Peter, I'm giving you the keys Here's the key to heaven What's the key to heaven? The key to heaven

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved Peter, I'm giving you the keys The keys give you authority The authority is this You add the ultimate authority to determine Who actually is going to heaven and who is not going to heaven based on the confession that Jesus is Lord, based on their confession that Christ is the Son of the living God

In other words, you can tell someone they are either bound to their sins or loosed from their sins, Christ gave Peter that authority, based on what they confess about Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of Israel That's important And so we understand that Christ is building this Church, this assembly, this household of God So Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 that this household of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets What's the foundation? The foundation is the confession The confession that Jesus is Lord

And that's what they professed and confessed all throughout the book of Acts That's the foundation of the church It's the identity of Christ Himself, it's the identity and ministry of the Messiah Do you think it's not important to consider Jesus? Oh, he is the pre one He has preeminent majesty He has more glory than Moses because he is the builder of the house He's the builder of it Christ said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not overpower it And I'm going to give to you, Peter, the keys Those apostles had the keys To heaven

This is the door, the key that unlocks the door to heaven It is the confession that Jesus Christ Is Lord to the glory of God the Father because one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father That's some good stuff right there. I hope you're writing it down Because, I mean, that's exactly what we are to proclaim And if you go over to 1 Timothy chapter 3 Paul says this in 1 Timothy chapter 3 He says, I am writing these things to you, verse number 14, hoping to come to you before long

But in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how you ought to conduct yourself In the household of God What's that? That's the body of Christ, the church, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth, by common what? Confession By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up into glory Same thing

It's the confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, who came in the flesh, who came to die for your sins and mine, rose again the third day, and is coming back again And then over in 1 Peter, if you've got your Bible, turn me to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2 Remember, I told you to keep that very little stones with you because you need to understand 1 Peter chapter 2 Because this is what it says Verse 4, and coming to him as to a li st, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones

Are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices accepted to God through Jesus Christ Wow, we are living stones Built together in the household of God, we are being built together because Christ said He's going to build His church And behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone He who believes in him will not be disappointed This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the st The very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of off

For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also Appointed They stumble because they were disobedient to the word Remember in Matthew chapter 7, Christ says, who builds his house upon the rock What's the rock? Well, the rock is Christ True But the rock is the understanding of all that Christ said and the opportunity to confess him as Lord And those who don't do that build their house upon the sand When the rain comes, and the storm comes, the wind blows, they can't stand Peter says very simply, these people were unable to stand

They stumbled because of the rock They did not understand They did not comprehend the confession They would not believe in the Christ We consider his pre majesty This is the builder of the house, the household of God He is a son Servants come and go, sons stay Moses was a servant in God's household, but Jesus is the son who is the builder because he is God of all things That's why he is more majestic Than Moses And that's where the author of Hebrews is going: the pre majesty of the Son of God That's point number six Five, I'm sorry Point number six is this: His power Mess

This is why we consider Jesus Because of his powerful message Listen to what the text says For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God Now, Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken of later Okay? Moses was a testimony of all that would be spoken of later In other words, he was one who prepared the way Put it this way Judaism is the root, but Jesus is the fruit Did you get that? Judaism is the root, but Jesus is the fruit In other words, Christianity is the fruit of Judaism It stems from Judaism

For what Moses would say, he would speak of something that would come later because he was. foreshadow of what was to come That's why over in Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 verse number 1 these words are recorded For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never be, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make Perfect, those who draw near In other words, the law was a foreshadow things to come

And Moses, through the power of the living God, would be a A proclaimer of that law, a guardian of that law, as God gave it to him But it was all a foreshadowing of things to come All fulfilled in Jesus Because all the promises of the Father are yes, in who? Jesus He is the fulfillment of everything That's why you consider him because of the message he proclaimed about the kingdom of God It was a powerful message that would save people from their sins While everything pointed to a Savior, Jesus is the Savior While everything pointed to an ultimate deliverer, Jesus is the deliverer

Where everything pointed to a lamb that would be sacrificed, Jesus is that lamb Judaism is the root Jesus is the fruit He is the fruit of Judaism Christianity is the fruit of Judaism We have our roots in Judaism But because of Jesus, we now experience that fruit in its fullness because of who Christ is That powerful message that was given Now, how do we know that? We know that based on what the Bible says Listen to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 You know this well Paul says, For I delivered to you as first importance what else received? That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures

What scriptures? Not the New Testament It wasn't written yet Didn't have it So, what scriptures are you talking about? The Old Testament, the law, and the prophets And that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, according to what? The scriptures What scriptures are we talking about here? What's Paul saying? He's talking about everything in the Old Testament pointed to the coming of the Messiah who would live, die, and rise again All said in the scriptures Paul would say this in the book of Acts as he's in prison in Rome during the last days of his life Verse 23, Acts 28

When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade men concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses And from the prophets from morning until evening How does Paul explain the kingdom of God? Not by using the New Testament But by using the Old Testament, the law of Moses, the law of the prophets He was showing that everything that was foreshadowed was now fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah He did that from morning till evening

Look what it says over in Acts chapter 26 Paul, before Festus, said these words, verse 22 Having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both the small and the great, stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place. I have said nothing Outside of what Moses said. I have said nothing outside of what the prophets have said: that the Christ was to suffer And that by reason of his resurrection from the dead, he would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles Where did Paul get all that from? From the Old Testament

From the law of Moses and the prophets He says, I didn't say anything other than what you already know And that's what he says Look at this While Paul was saying this In his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind Your great learning is driving you mad But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus By utter words of sober truth Meaning that the Old Testament, the law of Moses and the prophets, is nothing but the truth of God

For the king knows these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice, for this has not been done in a corner The king knows Like you know, Thess Nothing was done in secret Everything about the arrival of the Messiah was true, above board, out in the open, because he was the fulfillment of everything that was foreshadowed In the Old Testament And the king knows that Do you not think the Jewish nation doesn't know? Oh, they know They just refuse to believe That is what it says

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do He says, King Do you believe what Moses said? Do you believe what the prophets said? I know you believe the Old Testament Agrippa replied to Paul In a short time, you will persuade me to become a Christian And Paul said, I would wish to God that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these Chains Ah, King, you know You know what the Old Testament says That's all I proclaim to you You know the truth

And that's why the powerful message of the gospel is so clear and concise Moses would testify the things that were to come But Jesus is a fulfillment of all that he testified Listen to this This is so good Christ says this to the Pharisees If you believed Moses, you would believe me You want to know why? He says, because Moses wrote of me Isn't that good? I love Jesus He says, if you believe Moses, he takes him right back to the Old Testament If you believe, when you talk to Jewish people, he takes him right to the Old Testament If you believe Moses, You'd have belie in me

Because Moses wrote about me That's who he spoke about He Foreshad the coming of the Messiah through all the things that he said, and all the sacrifices that were made, and all the laws that God had given Israel Purposed to show them Messiah was coming He will be the final sacrifice There'll be no other sacrifice This is it And now he's here And you won't believe And Jesus said, but if you do not believe his writings, How will you believe my words? In other words, if you don't believe the Old Testament, you'll never believe the New Testament

Because the Old Testament foreshadowed the coming of Messiah, who is the fulfillment of Judaism Isn't that good? That's why we consider Jesus: his powerful message That he proclaimed because he was the fulfillment of all that was spoken by Moses That's why he's greater than Moses Because he is the end What Moses said wasn't the end, it just foreshadowed what was coming in the end Jesus is that fulfillment Then the author says this: Hebrews 6: Christ was faithful as a son over his house Whose house we are? We, the church, the people of God

If We hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end If people say, well, does that mean you can lo your Opportunity to be in the house? No No Get kicked out of the house? No It's that great doctrine of the perseverance of the saints You will hold fast to the end if you know the Lord You won't hold fast to the end if you don know the Lord That's what Matthew 13 was all about Christ gave that in the parable of the sow and the sorrow, right? He talked about how the Word of God will be spread in the kingdom age The kingdom parables, Matthew chapter 13 Great study

And the very first parable that Christ taught in the kingdom centered around how the word of God would be spread, how it falls on hard soil and Satan comes and snatches it away Some it falls on thorny soil, some on rocky soil, and it takes fruit for a while But then, when hardship comes, when disaster comes, with the deceitfulness of riches and the desires of this world, those on the thorny and rocky soil, they fall away Because they would make a profession of faith, but not a confession of Christ They would look like everybody else in the church

That's why he gave the parable following that one about the wheat and the terrace, how they would grow together to the end of the age, because the terrorists looked just like the wheat in the church But at the end, they'll be separated Based on their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ And Christ made it very clear at the very beginning of his ministry in the kingdom There's going to be a lot of people who look like they are followers of me, but they're not And you know them because they'll fall away They'll fall away because of the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for this world

They'll fall away because of destruction and disaster and adversity, because the sun will beat down upon them, and they have no root See, they have no root to sink down deep, and therefore they will wither and fall by the wayside But then he says, some of that seed will fall on good soil, and that soil will bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, some a hundred Oh, it'll be clearly evident that those people love the Lord because fruit will abound in their life over and over and over again In other words, he says, those who consider Jesus and those who believe in the Christ

Have a firm foundation They will hold fast to the end They will confess Christ all the way to the end Remember Revelation chapter 14? During the tribulation, Christ makes it very clear through the pen of the Apostle John: here is the perseverance of the saints Who keeps the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus? He's writing that to those who are being persecuted in the tribulation By the Antichrist, who are getting beheaded, dying, based on Revelation 20, they get their heads cut off They're dying in the end, but they're persevering to the end because they confess Jesus as Lord

They keep the commandments of God They don't waver on their commitment to the Christ They're true all the way to the end They hold firm their confession all the way to the end Oh, by the way, that's why the warning passage in Hebrews 3, verse number 7 is next That's why he gives the second warning in Hebrews about today if you hear his voice Do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the wilderness Today is a day of salvation Because he wants them to understand the import Of what it means to consider this Jesus and to understand who he is and what he has done

It says in John 8, 3, Christ said these words He said, Jesus was saying to those Jews who believed him: If you continue in my words, then you are truly disci of mine If you abide in my words, my words abide in you, you continue in my words, you keep my commandments, you follow me You are math aleth You are truly a disciple of mine You're truly one of mine You're not a fake because you keep my words You will know the truth, and that truth will make you free

John said in 1 John 2. 19, they went out from us, for they were not of us, for if they would have been one of us, they would have stayed with us But because they went out from us, they proved themselves not one of us They left the church They refused to follow Christ They refused to submit to his lordship And over and over again, Colossians chapter 1, that's why Christ gave the warning The very end Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not do many marvelous deeds in your name? Didn we do this for you? And Christ will say, I never knew you

You practice lawlessness See, the warnings in Scripture are voluminous About those who pretend to be in the household of God Maybe you're one of them today. I don't know Maybe you're pretending Maybe you've made a profession, but never a confession of the Christ Maybe you're playing at church. I don't know But over time, that will manifest itself Because those who hold fast to the end, the confession of their faith, who have considered Jesus His priestly ministry, his powerful message, his preeminent majesty, his proven messiahship, his priestly ministry

Those who have considered his prestigious mission, those who think deeply about the Christ, oh, they'll persevere They'll continue on Because they love the Christ They want to serve Him As I close, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews 10, 18 is the dividing mark in the book of Hebrews Hebrews 1:1 to 10. 18 is the first chapter that basically is an explanation about the sufficiency and supremacy of the Messiah

Why is he sufficient? Why is he supreme? In Hebrews 1:1, all the way to Hebrews 10, verse number 18, is all about the Messiah and why he is who he is, why you need to come to him Hebrews chapter 10 verse number 19 begins the exhortation part of the book of Hebrews First part, explanation Second part, exhortation This is what he says Therefore, brethren Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh

Right? Remember, it was the veil that separated the high priest who went in once a year in the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices for sin And as he was doing that at the time of the crucifixion, That veil in the temple was torn in two to give you access to the presence of God But the access to the presence of God the Father comes through the veil, who is Christ the Son He is the only way into God's presence Because he sacrificed for your sins and mine So he says It says we have a great priest over the house of God So he takes you all the way back to Hebrews 3:1 to 6

Why we spend so much time here? Because when he begins the exhortation part, He's reiterating what he's already said in Hebrews 3:1 to 6 We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Christ By a new living way And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, he's already talking about the high priest of our confession He is the one who built the house

Let us draw near with a sincere heart and full ass of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembly together, as is the habit of son, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing Near Let us hold fast our confession You know what? Those who hold fast their confession of the Christ

Are those who do not want to forsake the assembling of themselves together and who want to stimulate and motivate others to love and good deeds? Having experienced the mercy and grace and forgiveness of God You want to now extend the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God You want to do that because it mo others toward maturity in Christ So I ask you, have you cons Jesus? Let me pray with you Lord, thank you for today What a great day What a great day You've allowed us to come and hear your word And our prayer, Father, is that it would take root in the lives of all who are here

And that we would learn more each day How to think deeply about our Christ the Messiah, the beauty and glory of your majesty What a great thing And our prayer, Father, is that if there's someone among us who doesn't know you, that today would be the day of their salvation They would want to truly confess Jesus as Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead For with the mouth, confession is made into salvation, with the heart, man belie unto righteousness Wow Such a powerful, powerful message The gospel is May it revolutionize all who hear it this day In Jesus' name, amen.