Sermon Central
-
The Paths Of The Heart Series
Contributed by Scott Kircher on Oct 31, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: sermon 4 in hebrews series
The Paths of the Heart
The Path of a Hard Heart
Characteristics:
Always Going Astray
Being Spiritually Ignorant
Being an Unbeliever in Christ
The Path of a Humble Heart
Characteristics:
Believer in Christ
Growing in Spiritual Maturity
Persevering in the Faith
Gives and Receives Encouragement
Intro
We are continuing our series in Hebrews today about why Christianity is a Superior way of Life.
In the first 2 chapters we have seen the Author tell us that Christianity is Superior because Jesus is Superior
He is a Superior Messenger
He is Superior to the Prophets
He is Superior to the Angels
He is Superior because He is God
He is Superior because He became Man
Now, the author starts naming names.
We are going to jump right in this morning to Hebrews 3 so go ahead and turn there.
Slide
We will be discussing the whole chapter, but I want to start with the first
1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
Now we read these verses from our vantage point and don’t think this is any big deal.
But to the Jewish reader, this is huge.
Did He just say Jesus is Greater than Moses?
Moses is the Man!
The man of God (Deuteronomy 33:1).
Moses had a relationship with the Lord unlike anyone else in history.
Listen to what God said to Miriam and Aaron when they spoke against Moses.
"When a prophet of the LORD is among you,
I reveal myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD.
God said Moses .
spoke with Him face to face.
God hadn’t spoken to other prophets like that. Moses had a unique and special relationship with the Lord.
Notice also that Moses is called
a servant, faithful in all my house
The author of Hebrews uses those same words about Moses, “5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house” (Hebrews 3:5a)
But the author of Hebrews reminds them again who Christ is.
Christ is a faithful Son over God’s House
He is the heir with all the authority of the Father over us, not just among us.
And even though Moses spoke with God face to face, Jesus was God.
And the author is saying to those in whose mind it is to go back to Judaism, “If you listened and followed Moses, here is One far superior that you need to listen to and follow.”
This is the culmination of these 2 chapters.
Christ is superior so you should listen to and follow Him!
Simple enough.
But now we come to a choice.
It is given in the form of a warning about following the wrong path.
The choice is, knowing what you know about the Superiority of Jesus and of following Him,
Which path are you going to take?
Which path are you going to let your heart follow?
Let’s finish reading
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
9 where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, ’Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
’They shall never enter my rest.’"
12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said:
