Abraham, and then you have all of the

history from Genesis through

the Old Testament showing how God was

using Abraham to bring the Israelites.

And then the Israelites to bring about all

this prophecy preparing

the world for Christ. This law that

prepared the world for knowing how bad sin

was,

so that one day they could recognize how

great their Lord was.

You have this Old Testament that is

bringing man ready to where he

can see the Christ, he can know the

Christ.

And then you have Matthew.

Where we get to see our Lord is born.

He comes to this world. John starts

preaching,

repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at

hand.

Christ preaches the same message.

You have this entire buildup through

thousands of years coming to

the point of Christ preaching salvation.

And then you have Acts chapter two where

the church is established.

Christ has died on the cross. Acts chapter

two now says that men can repent

and be baptized for the remission of sins.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Mankind is

able to be saved and follow this

new law rather than following the old law.

And now we have the book of Hebrews.

Now, for reasons we won’t look into today,

~ it’s thought that Hebrews was written

around sixty-three AD or so.

Now we don’t know who the writer was,

but we can tell that it seems as though it

was written before

The destruction of Jerusalem, which

occurred in AD seventy,

because it refers to so many things about

the old law,

about the Old Testament, about the

priesthood.

It shows so many things that say,

hey, look at what the old law was and

compare it to what the new law is,

how good God’s way is. So you have Hebrews

building up to this point where

the gospel has been preached, and now you

have Jews who are part of that old law,

who have become part of the new law.

They have become Christians.

But now they are facing something.

A right after Acts chapter two,

you begin having the seeds of persecution

grow.

And that persecution is going to become

more and more severe.

It’s first not the Romans who do it,

but the Jews. They’re the ones who are

bringing the apostles to the court.

They are the ones saying, Preach no more

in this name.

And this is going to not just be something

that happens to the apostles,

this happens to all the brethren.

You have Saul who is persecuting the

Christians and they were scattered abroad

everywhere. This persecution has built up

and it is severe.

And just because Saul decided to convert

didn’t mean that all

of that persecution stopped. The Jews were

still hurting their bret hurting

the Christians. They were still

persecuting them as though they were

heretics.

And now you come to the book of Hebrews.

Now, with all of that, they’re wanting to

go back to the old law.

You’ve had this thousands of years where

they look back and they say,

This was the way we were to follow.

And then Christ comes and he changes all

of their reality by saying,

Listen, now the old law is fulfilled,

you follow this now. And then you have old

you have Jews who do not want

to go toward it. In fact, they tell

Christians,

if you try to go toward this, you’re going

to be persecuted.

You are going you are going to be

suppressed for what you’ve decided to do.

So there were Jews that were there were

Christians who were tempted to

go back to the old law.

They were tempted to go back to what they

knew beforehand.

And because of that, you have the book of

Hebrews that shows the fact that

we can look toward the new law and see how

much better it is than the old.

Now, the what we want to focus on today is

going to be the fact that Christ,

with all the things He is, He He is so

much better in so many facets.

But tonight we’re going to focus on the

idea of Him being

the better lawgiver compared to Moses

himself.

Now before that we’re going to prove what

we’ve talked about with

the fact that Christ he is the focus from

the very beginning of this book.

Starting in Hebrews chapter one verse one,

God, who at sundry times and in diverse

manners spake in time past unto

the fathers by the prophets, hath in these

last days spoken unto us by his son,

whom he hath appointed heir of all things,

and by whom he made the worlds.

Who, being the brightness of his glory in

the express image of his person,

and upholding all things by the word of

his power,

when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down on the right hand of the majesty

on high.

We already get to learn so many things

about Christ in these three verses.

It says, God spoke through Christ.

He spoke through the prophets beforehand.

Remember that Old Testament that we

referenced,

where it was preparing the world for

Christ.

But now the Lord speaks through Christ.

God tells us what we need to do through

Christ,

and then Christ, He speaks with His own

words,

the words that are written and read that

we all know and love.

But also He spoke through His apostles.

He told them, Whatever you bind on earth

will have been bound in heaven.

Whatever you loose on earth will have been

loosed in heaven.

He delegates to them authority that says,

What I tell what you say

Is what I want you to say. They are going

to be inspired,

as is shown in his discussion with them,

starting in John chapter 13. The Christ is

now the one through whom

God lets us know what it is we must do.

And this in and of itself is one reason he

is our lawgiver.

A lawgiver is one who tells you what you

must do.

Now, with that, Christ is also the one by

whom God made the world.

He appointed him heir of all things.

He is the one who possesses all things,

and he is the one through whom the worlds

were made.

He is the designer. He is also the owner.

And throughout the rest of this book of

Hebrews,

it’s going to show that he is better than

Moses,

as we will focus on. He is a better high

priest.

He is a better sacrifice. Christ is better

than everything they could have turned

back to, than everything they could have

looked at and said,

you know what, I want this instead.

Christ was what was better.

Now, with that laid before us,

let’s look at Moses himself. Or let’s

let’s look more into Christ being better

than Moses. First, with the Old Testament,

as we have said, it shows that the fact

that Christ was better.

Looking at Hebrews chapter one,

verses four, verse four, and then through

chapter two through eighteen shows that

Christ is better than the angels.

Remember, we’ve talked about the fact that

the Old Testament shows how much

we can look at Christ and say,

Look at how great He is. Look at how

magnificent He is.

Hebrews chapter one, verse four,

being made so much better than the angels,

as he hath by inheritance obtained a more

excellent name than they.

Christ, it it’s not that he was

It’s not that he was made and then now you

are greater than the angels.

Christ was and is and shall always be.

But Christ, after he was willing to suffer

what he wa did,

and even before that, he was greater than

the angels.

He was greater than the ones who were made

to serve the Lord.

And it’s going to show more of why he was

greater throughout the rest

of this chapter. But we’ve just we’ve

established that Christ,

we can better understand the glory of

Christ by these angels.

But also they allow us to understand the

humility of Christ.

Remember with Moses, how is he described?

He was the meekest man to walk the earth

during his time.

Now what is Christ going to be?

Verse 8, Thou hast put all things in

subjection under his feet,

thou being the Father. For in that he put

all in subjection under him,

he left nothing that is not put under him.

But now we see not yet all things are put

under him.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little

lower than the angels,

for the suffering of death, crowned with

glory and honor,

that he, by the grace of God, should taste

death for every man.

For it became him for whom are all things

and by whom are all things,

in bringing many sons unto glory,

to make the captain of their salvation

perfect through suffering.

Angels were amazing, weren’t they?

You have a hundred and eighty-five

thousand enemies against the Israelites,

who were slain in one night by an angel.

Christ is greater than the angels.

But also Christ, not only is he greater,

he was willing to be made a little lower

than the angels.

He was willing to come down to this earth,

literally be lower and on this earth,

not in heaven, with mankind. You have God

the Father who is above all.

You have the angels who are below him.

You have man down here. And Christ decided

that while he was still fully God,

he was also going to be fully man.

He decided to humble himself by taking the

form of a man so that

he could suffer death for us. It says,

for the suffering of death.

But we see Jesus who is made a little

lower than the angels for

the suffering of death, crowned with glory

and honor,

that he by the grace of God should taste

death for every man.

He came down to this earth, being made a

little lower than the angels,

so that he could f face death for us.

You see, a spirit cannot face death,

not in a physical way. They can certainly

face spiritual death,

but Christ could not be our sacrifice

without coming to this earth.

He was greater than the angels,

more powerful.

more eternal than they ever were.

And then Christ was willing to be lower

than the angels.

Now, Moses was the meekest man on the

earth,

but then you have Christ, who was God

himself,

but he was willing to be made lower than

the part of his creation,

and then be made equal with a part of his

creation,

mankind, so that he could serve them.

Now Christ was still God. Christ was fully

God and fully man the entire time.

And if we deny either the fact he was

fully man or fully God,

We deny who he called himself.

He was both the Son of God and He was the

Son of Man.

John chap John is going the book of John

affirms the fact that Christ

was with God and that he was God.

We do not want to take away from that

fact.

But also Christ was willing to be humble,

to be meek, to come down to this earth for

the purpose of not just living among us,

but dying for us. The Old Testament

prepares us for seeing how great Christ

is.

It also prepares us for seeing how humble

he was willing to be,

and why did he do that? For it became him

for whom are all things,

and by whom are all things, and bringing

many sons unto glory to make

the captain of their salvation perfect

through sufferings.

Christ is the captain of our salvation,

and he was made complete through

suffering.

There’s things that we get we can learn

when it comes to suffering.

But Christ was willing to learn by

experience what it was like to suffer,

so that He can make our salvation sure.

You have all of this in the Old Testament

with angels preparing us.

And then after that, you have Moses

himself.

We’ve seen the glory of Christ affirmed by

the Old Testament,

the humility of Christ affirmed by the Old

Testament.

And now it is going to affirm his

authority.

And for this we want to turn to Hebrews

chapter three.

I said we talk about Moses at some point.

We finally made it. Hebrews chapter three.

Starting in verse one, wherefore,

holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly

calling,

consider the apostle and high priest of

our profession,

Jesus Christ, who is faithful to him that

appointed him,

as also Moses was faithful in all his

house.

For this man was counted worthy of more

glory than Moses,

inasmuch as he who hath built the house,

hath more honor than the house.

With Moses he was one who

God appeared to him in a burning bush,

and the Lord said, You’re going to go

deliver my people.

This is one who God worked miracles

through him.

He led potentially two million people

through the wilderness.

We had six hundred thousand men.

If you put an equal number of women with

that,

and then you have children, it grows and

grows.

He led a multitude through the wilderness.

He had the Lord speak to him directly.

He is the one that the Lord said,

He is my when the Bible describes him,

it says, Moses spoke to the Lord face to

face as a man speaks with his friend.

The Lord is going to defend Moses later on

against Aaron and Miriam,

who come against him because of who he had

married.

They don’t agree with it being a

Phoenician woman,

if I remember correctly. And it looks more

like

also in their rebuttal against Moses,

they didn’t like the fact that he was the

authority.

They go against Moses and the Lord is

going to say,

When I speak to this when I speak to this

world,

and I do it through a prophet,

I do it through dreams and visions.

But this Moses, I speak with him face to

face.

And you’re going to speak against him.

You’re going to think that you can come up

and speak against my servant,

also the one who is o who is called in

scripture my friend.

Moses was one who was amazing and he had

authority because he simply spoke what

God wanted to be spoken. Now that’s

something for us as Christians to keep in

mind.

It’s not that we have an authority,

we have a greatness over anyone else,

but we do have a message that is

authoritative to give to those around us,

to give to those who need to hear the word

of God.

If we make sure that what we say is what

God has shown to us,

we can be like Moses in that we show the

law.

That God wants to be given. No,

we are not lawgivers like Moses or a

lawgiver like Jesus was,

but we do show the law that God has given

if we speak what has been spoken

to us like Moses did. You have Moses who

is this great,

he was this amazing, and but the Hebrews

writer is going to show that Christ

is greater. First, while Moses served in

the house,

while he served and he served faithfully,

Christ built it.

As we read before, verse two, Moses,

who was faithful to him that appointed

him.

Verse two, who was faithful to him that

appointed him,

as also Moses was faithful in all his

house.

For this man was counted worthy of more

glory than Moses,

inasmuch as he who hath builded the house

hath more more honor than the house.

You see a mansion and you see all those

beautiful,

those hedged bushes, those trend bushes,

you see every flower that is ornate,

and then you look and you see that

structure itself.

You see those window panes that are clear

and crisp.

You see all the different other aspects of

that house.

So you even realize they didn’t go cheap

on the gutters.

The gutters even look good. It’s like even

today you look at a nice house

and it’s like, you guys did the gutters on

that house cheap.

But you look at this one and no,

they did it right. They did it well.

Every aspect of that house, you look at it

and think,

that’s impressive. I’m happy for them.

I’m glad that they get to live there.

But then you think, you know, someone

designed that house.

Someone built that house. Now,

what’s more impressive? The fact that the

house is there or the person

who built the house? Well, the fact that

that house is there is great,

but that house didn’t have any muscles or

brain to put itself where it was.

There was a person who went to school.

Or learned as a tradesman the ability to

build that structure,

~ multiple men realistically, who learned

the trade to build that structure

and then they made it together.

And they are the ones that are impressive.

That house, it’s just material.

It’s just components that were put

together.

The people who made it, that’s who are

impressive.

Whether we talk about automobiles,

we talk about houses, or whether we’re

talking about something that

is such so spiritual as the people of God.

The designer is greater than what is

designed.

This world we live in is designed.

Christ made the world as we described

earlier,

by whom he he appointed heir of all

things,

and by whom he made the worlds.

That’s what we read in Hebrews chapter

one.

Christ is the maker of all things.

And he’s going to be the maker of what

Moses was over.

Now what are some things that we recognize

when we see a house?

We first recognized as we described that

there was a designer.

Somebody laid out the blueprints for that.

Somebody made sure that when they went and

built it,

they had what they needed to build it.

They knew how to put together what they

had.

They had the plumbing, they had the

electrical,

they had the a the ventilation,

they had all of it set up to where they

knew how it was going to go together.

There was a designer. But a designer is

not enough.

You can have all of the plans in the

world.

But if you’re not willing to carry them

through,

or if you don’t have the power to carry

them through,

they’re not going to do much good.

You have the Galatians who they had many

things that they lay laid up to do,

but then they didn’t follow through.

Now they had the power to do it,

but they decided not to, or they just let

it fall by the wayside.

Our Lord was both the designer of what

Moses was over,

but he was also the builder. Now,

as the builder,

Something interesting about builders

today.

Usually when you see a house built by

someone,

is he going to live in it or someone else?

Someone else is usually going to live in

it.

It belongs to someone else. He’s building

it under a contract.

Our Lord didn’t make this world under a

contract.

Now he has given us the opportunity to be

stewards of it,

but it’s his. And the same is true over

what Moses was over.

Now what was the house Moses served in?

Moses was over the Israelites.

He was over, and this is important,

the people of God. Revelation is going to

speak of that woman who

was trying the dragon was trying to

consume.

And there are those who want to say,

Well, this is the Israelites, or no,

this is the church. Well, if we just step

back and say,

no, this is the people of God,

it all makes sense. This is the people of

God throughout time.

Moses was over the people of God here.

He was faithful in all his house.

Now this house could be his as in it’s

Moses’ house,

or he was over stewarding it. Or it can be

Moses,

he was over the father’s house.

He was over the house that was given to

him to serve in by God.

Now, as we described earlier,

everything was built by someone.

As we described with that house,

all things were built by God.

This house, it says

Everything every house is builded by some

man,

but he that built all things is God.

Now turn back to Hebrews chapter one

verses five through eight,

making sure that we don’t make any

assumptions,

but we pull what this is from the text.

Chapter one starting in verse five,

for unto which of the angels said he,

the Father, at any time, thou art my son,

this day have I begotten thee,

and again I will be to him a father,

and he shall be to me a son.

And again, when he bringeth in the first

begotten into the world,

he saith, And let all the angels of God

worship him.

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his

angels spirits,

and his ministers a flame of fire?

But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne,

O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of

righteousness is the scepter

of thy kingdom. So we’ve established the

fact that a house is built by somebody,

whether it’s a physical house or it’s the

people of God.

A house is built by someone. Now,

and then also he that built all things is

who?

It’s God. God is the one who has built all

things.

But also what we’ve just read,

the Father looked at the Son and said,

Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The Father, the one who has all authority,

looked at the Son. He looked at Christ and

said,

Thy throne is

is forever and ever. God Himself affirmed

that Jesus was God,

right here in the book of Hebrews.

And as we described earlier, it’s done in

the book of John.

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, distinct from

the Father,

but also the Word was God. It was part of

deity as well.

The Lord the Father in heaven calls Jesus

God Himself.

God the Father, the Son, and the Holy

Ghost are the Godhead.

Now, with this idea, turn to Matthew

chapter 3,

verses 16 and 17, just for a brief review

of this idea.

Matthew chapter 3, verses 16 and 17.

Jesus has come to full age, and he is

desiring,

as he tells John,

To fulfill all righteousness. Now the

purpose of baptism for

the whole of man was for remission of

sins.

Even under John’s baptism, they were to b

be baptized in repentance.

And then when Christ came, when there was

that baptism that was under

the authority of Christ rather than the

baptism that is called John’s,

it is still for the remission of sins.

Well, Christ didn’t have any sins to be

remitted,

but he still decided to be baptized.

To to do this, to fulfill all

righteousness,

to be an example of what must be done,

verse fifteen. Now, verse sixteen,

and Jesus, when he was baptized,

went up straight away out of the water.

And lo, the heavens were opened unto him,

and he saw the Spirit of God descending

like a dove,

and lighting upon him. And lo,

a voice from heaven saying, This is my

beloved Son,

in whom I am well pleased. You have the

Son who is being baptized.

You have the voice from heaven saying,

This is my son, therefore that voice is

the Father.

And then you have the Spirit of God

descending like a dove,

Father, Son, and Spirit. You have three

distinct personalities here,

three distinct beings occur doing what is

occurring here.

Now, does that mean that we have three

different gods?

Certainly not. Scripture itself tells us

that we have one God.

Deuteronomy six verse four. Deuteronomy

six four.

It’s a short verse, but ever important.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God,

is one Lord. We have one God.

And yet this one God decides to show

himself as the Father,

the Son, and the Spirit. Now all the

aspects of how the Godhead work

no man can fully explain, and surely not

the immature one standing here before you.

But what we do need to know, and what we

can know is the fact that our Lord

is one Lord. And for whatever reasons he

has chosen,

he has shown himself to us as the Father,

the Son, and the Spirit. We can be sure

that Christ Himself is God.

He is not just a God, He is God.

Just like the Father is God, just like the

Spirit is God.

Every house is built by someone.

As the Hebrews writer says, every house is

built by some man,

and then he that built all things is God.

And also as the Hebrews writer says,

Christ himself is God. Looking back at

Hebrews chapter 1,

verse 2, it says, Christ is the one by

whom he made the worlds.

Throughout this book, it’s go it shows the

fact that Christ is the

one through whom the worlds were made.

He is God himself. In the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth.

Well, if God created the heavens and the

earth,

and Christ created the heavens of the

earth and the earth,

therefore Christ is God Himself.

If A equal if A equals B and B equals C,

then A equals C. Throughout Scripture it

affirms this.

Now we’re going to have those who are out

in this world who they don’t like

to read the book of Hebrews. They like to

say that Christ is not God.

They want to say that he was a created

being.

Instead of looking at what Scripture has

to say.

And we must keep in mind that if we fail

to see the fact that our Lord is

the Son of God, and He also is God,

we lose the key to what we believe.

We are Christians. We follow Christianity.

If we lose the Christ out of Christianity,

then we have nothing that we follow.

Let us keep ever in the forefront of our

minds that our Lord,

the one who made the worlds,

Christ is God, and He is the one who is

over us.

Since he is God, and since he built all

things,

he built the house over which Moses

stewarded.

The people of Israel, they were under

Moses’ delegation,

under his authority. But got God in Christ

built that house.

He was the one who made this people.

It then follows that Christ is in charge

of those people,

and he is in charge of anything that he

makes.

He is the designer, as we described

earlier.

He’s also the builder.

Well, if someone is the designer and the

builder,

they get to decide how it works.

Moses was over the children of Israel,

but Christ had built all things,

therefore is the creator of the

Israelites.

They were Christ’s house. But you have the

Israelites there,

as has been described. But what do you

have today?

You have the church that has been made.

Matthew 16, 18. Christ is going to say,

Upon this rock, upon the confession of

Christ being Lord,

I will build.

my church. Christ is going Christ has

built a new house.

That isn’t the people of Israel.

It is the people that are now Christians.

Now, as we described earlier, we can see

this as the people of God throughout time.

But we today are part of something

special,

something that cr God was preparing us for

since the foundation of the world,

and that is the church. Now, what are the

implications?

What do we need to take home from the fact

that Christ built the church?

He is over

What we are now a part of. If Christ built

it,

then he was able to design the door.

We have a world who wants to say,

you can go into the church this way or

that way.

You can be sprinkled, you can have water

poured on you.

You can just say this is how you you just

say this little prayer.

You we call the sinner’s prayer.

No, you can’t find it in Scripture,

but just roll with it anyway. They want to

say that that’s the way in,

that that’s the door. Well, Christ says

that he is the door,

and he himself said

If any man come after me, let him deny

himself,

take up his cross, and come after me.

And part of that denying self is being

willing to do what the Lord has said,

and one of the things he’s told us to do,

Acts two thirty eight, repent and be

baptized,

every one of you in the name of Jesus

Christ,

for the remission of sins. If we are going

to go through the door that Christ

designed for us, we must ensure that we’re

not following anything that a man made,

but instead what Christ made, since he is

the one who designed the house.

If Christ built it, then who laid the

foundation of it?

Men or Christ? When you build a house,

you need to lay a foundation to it.

Christ, he laid the foundation.

He said, Upon this rock I will build my

church.

And he says, Upon this rock I will build

my church,

after Peter says, Thou art Christ,

the Son of God. Christ built the church on

his identity,

on confession of who he was.

As we described earlier, we must keep ever

in the forefront of our minds that Christ

is God. He is the one who created the

world.

He’s not a created being, he is part of

God Himself.

If we forget that, then we have lost the

foundation of the church.

We have lost the foundation of what Christ

has built,

and what we follow means nothing.

If Christ built it, he got to design the

door.

If he built it, he laid the foundation of

it.

And guess what? It was him himself.

And then

If Christ built it, who chooses how large

it is or what it encompasses?

Christ got to decide the borders of the

house.

No one gets to say, you know what,

the house is going to be this much bigger.

We’re going to expand onto it.

We’re going to make this denomination that

has some different rules when

you come into this house. That’s not it.

There is one house that follows one set of

rules.

You have houses that, you know,

they have rules, you know, if you’re in

this house,

we love each other. We’re going to hug,

we’re going to say I’m sorry.

Well Christ has rules on his house,

the house that he built, and he gives

those rules to us in his word.

If we follow those, we get to be in his

house.

If we don’t follow them, there’s no extra

house on the side that we get to be in.

We must follow his word, otherwise we are

not in his house.

We are not in what he has designed.

Christ is the better lawgiver because he

built the house.

But also he is the better lawgiver because

Because he is the man of the house.

Continuing forward, verse four says,

For every house is built by some man,

but he that built all things is God.

And Moses was verily faithful in all his

house as a servant,

for a testimony of those things which were

to be spoken after.

But Christ as a son over his own house,

whose house are we, if we hold fast to the

confidence and the rejoicing of the hope,

firm

To the end. Now, Moses, as we described

earlier,

he had a special relationship with God.

There was no man like him, as described in

Deuteronomy thirty four,

verse ten. But Jesus had a relationship

with the Father,

not even Moses did. Moses was a servant,

but Christ was a son. Verse six,

but Christ as a son over his own house.

You have fathers who they they go and they

build their income,

they build their wealth, and then they

they might even give a son to the

a house to their children if they have got

ha gained that ability,

if they have that blessing. And if they

give that house to their

son or their daughter, that house belongs

to them.

Now, is it still the same thing if that

person,

if that father gives a house to a servant?

no, that servant’s just taking care of it.

That servant, maybe he’s making sure it’s

dusted,

it’s mopped, it’s cleaned.

But a son, he takes care of the house,

but also it belongs to him. As we

described earlier,

the fact that he built the house makes it

his.

But also not only did he build it,

it is his because the Father gave it to

him.

Verse six Christ as a son over his own

house.

Christ has authority, he has possession of

this house.

Whose house are we if we hold fast to the

confidence of the hope,

firm

unto the end. Christ has authority over

his own house.

And also it shows who are part of his

house.

An idea we will look at more momentarily.

At the moment, turn to Matthew twenty

eight verses eighteen through twenty.

Matthew twenty eight eighteen through

twenty.

Christ has given the great commission to

his apostles,

or is giving the great commission to his

apostles.

And he tells them, All power is given unto

me in heaven

and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach

all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,

teaching them to observe all things

whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even unto

the end the day.

of the world. That first verse that we

read,

all power is given unto me in heaven and

in earth.

The Father had given all authority to the

Son.

He was now king, he was now head over his

people,

or he would be very soon. And the apostles

were therefore to go

and teach all nations. Christ has been

given authority,

He’s been given authority over his house,

as he says in Matthew twenty eight

eighteen.

And we bring that to Hebrews chapter 3,

verse 6. Christ is the Son over his own

house.

He has been given all power and authority

in heaven and in earth,

and certainly in the church. Now,

as we described earlier, if Christ built

the house,

does he not get to lay the design out for

it?

But also if Christ, he not only built it,

he owns it. Well, if Christ owns it,

what does he get to decide? Christ’s

If Christ owns it, whose name should be on

it?

If Christ built the house, should it be

named after Calvin?

Should it be named after Luther?

Should it be named anything else besides

Christ himself?

Now there is not a scripture that says

thou shalt have a church that

is called the Church of Christ.

There are sound congregations in other

countries where they follow God’s word

and they don’t call themselves they don’t

have on their sign Church of Christ.

But they follow His will. They follow His

way.

But then you also have congregations that

have the name Church of Christ

on the outside, but they don’t follow

God’s way.

They have gone to the right or they’ve

gone to the left.

But do we ensure that God’s authority is

written on us in everything that we do?

If it’s not written on the name outside

because that’s just not the name used

in that particular country, do we ensure

that God’s name is written when

it comes to what we follow, when it comes

to the authority that we base

our actions upon? We are the church of

Christ because we belong to Christ.

His name is what is on it, whether that’s

what’s on the sign outside or not,

when we follow his will and his way and

his alone.

Now Christ, as we described earlier,

if he is the owner of the house,

he gets to decide the rules for entering

it,

and no one else can change that.

And also he gets to decide the rules for

how to stay in it.

Verse six, but Christ as a son over his

own house,

whose house are we, if we hold fast and

The confidence and the rejoicing of the

hope firm unto the end.

Now, when we were building up the context

of the book of Hebrews,

what is it that the Hebrews the Hebrew

Christians were wanting to do?

They were wanting to go back to Judaism.

They were being persecuted, and you know

what?

This was discouraging. You know,

if we just go back to Judaism,

we have the temple, we have an entire law

that we’ve been following for generations,

we have an incredible history of.

The fact that we’re even here,

even though the Romans have come,

now we’re under the Romans, but we don’t

like to talk about that.

But we’re still here, even though the

Romans have come and have subdued us,

they could go back and they could be proud

of what they were a part of,

but they could be a part of something

better.

They were a part of something better,

but if they held fast to the confidence

and rejoicing of the hope,

firm and to the end. The condition that

the Hebrews writer shows is

we must hold fast to our confidence,

otherwise

We will not be a part of the house.

Now it’s not the case that if we have a

moment where we struggle,

that it’s immediately, nope, you’re not

going to be a part of the house anymore.

But we must decide that we are going to

hold to it even if we’re struggling,

that his will comes before ours,

his way comes before anything of the world

if we desire to be in his house.

The Hebrews writer is then going to show.

What happens when his will is not

followed,

when God’s will is not followed.

Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith,

Today if ye will hear his voice,

harden not your hearts as in the day of

provocation,

in the day of temptation in the

wilderness,

when your fathers tempted me, proved me,

and saw my works forty years. Skipping to

verse twelve,

take heed, brethren, lest there be in any

of you an evil heart of unbelief.

The Hebrews were tempted to do what?

They were tempted to turn back to the old

law.

They were tempted to turn back from

Christ’s way.

And the way that’s going to be described

is their hearts were hardened.

And how does the Hebrews writer apply it?

How does he say, You know what,

now that you’ve looked at this,

what should you do? He says, Don’t you be

turned away by a heart of unbelief too.

Even if we looked at God’s word and say,

You know that’s right, but I want to go to

something easier,

that is unbelief in itself.

If we decide to turn to something easier,

if we decide to try to justify it,

to try to rationalize it, that is still a

heart of unbelief toward what

God has said. The belief that Scripture

shows,

pistis is a belief that says,

I believe this to the point I’m going to

invest my actions into it.

I’m going to invest my life in this.

We can be a part of this house if we hold

fast to this confidence,

to this hope.

Firm unto the end, but only if we do that.

We have a world where we might not know

what happens tomorrow.

So far in our country we have had the

freedom to worship our Lord,

but if that freedom is taken away,

will we still be willing to preach God’s

word to follow his way,

even if it means danger for us?

Now there are times where wisdom must be

used.

The Christians scattered abroad because it

wasn’t wise for them to just stay

in Jerusalem and to be massacred.

There was also a time where in our own

country there was a disease going around

and elders had to decide, you know what,

we need to do what’s wise. And so many

decided we’re not going to

be meeting right now. But when it comes to

following God’s way,

to being a part of His will, to doing His

will,

are we going to be willing to stand up to

persecution?

We don’t have to stay and try to be

slaughtered by the opposition that comes,

but we certainly cannot back down from the

truth given to us.

We can use prudence, but we cannot forsake

the way God has given us.

There is a difference between being wise

and worshiping where one needs to worship,

and also deciding not to worship because

it’s what is convenient for

me or because it’s too dangerous to do it.

Take heed, my brethren, lest there be in

any of you an evil heart

of unbelief in departing from the living

God.

If we desire to be in Christ’s house,

Christ, who is the better lawgiver,

we must recognize that He built the house,

that He is the owner of the house,

and He has decided that the way we stay in

the house is we hold fast to Him.

And as we have described, Christ is the

way into the house.

The Hebrews wanted to go where?

They wanted to go and enter the land of

rest.

But God is going to swear that they would

not enter into his rest.

Verse 18. But with whom was he grieved

forty years?

Was it not with them that had sinned,

whose carcass carcasses fell in the

wilderness?

And to whom swear he that they should not

enter into his rest,

but to them that believe not. The they

could not enter into rest because they

did not believe what God had said.

And in the same way, if we decide to go

against what God has shown us,

if we decide not to follow

What he has given to us, then we will not

be able to enter rest either.

Now, we aren’t going to try to enter the

land of Canaan,

but we do want to cross Jordan and see

heaven on the other side.

But we must hold fast to what God has

shown us.

Now, there’s an encouragement in that,

a beauty in that. What they could not have

within them was a heart of unbelief.

Now, when God commands us to do something,

is it ever impossible for us to do it?

If God commands us to do something,

that means we can do it. And God has

commanded us to believe.

Well, if God, who has never given us

anything we can’t do,

has told us that we can believe,

then we can go to His Word and be

confident that there is evidence in it

for what we are to believe. Remember that

this pistuo,

this piste, this is a belief that invests

itself into what is believed.

And we can be sure in

Scripture itself. As we looked at already,

Scripture all throughout it shows the fact

that Christ is God.

It is all consistent and shows that fact.

It also shows in its inerrancy.

It shows in the accuracy that even when

the historians say,

No, this isn’t the case, then Scripture

comes and says it is,

and after a hundred years, they dig up

something and they realize,

you know what? The Bible was right.

Of course, just saying that it has all of

the information doesn’t make

it have all the information. But if we

dig,

if we look, which all of us should be

doing,

if we dig and we look at Scripture,

we can be sure what God has given,

so that we need not have an heart of

unbelief,

but a firm foundation of belief in Christ.

Christ is a better lawgiver because he

built the house,

because he is the owner of the house,

and because he is the way into it.

And he has shown us that that way is

believing in him to the point

of submitting to what he has given,

with a firm hope in what he has allowed us

to follow.

Our decision, our question is if we are

going to follow it so that we can

be a part of that house, seeking the

evidence so that we can believe

and one day enter into that rest.

Thank you for your time, plus thirty

seconds.