Evangelist Herman E. Wesley III
WHOSE HOUSE IS IT?
Hebrews 3:2-5
PRELIMINARIES
In the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus, it’s good to be here. We’ve been having a good time here in Kansas City, all the lectures have been encouraging and many have been enlightening, and the fellowship that we are able to nurture, preacher to preacher, church leader to church leader, is very refreshing. To brother Gerald McGill, our fine host minister this week, and his lectureship committee...we commend you for a job well done, in preparation and in fulfillment of the goals and objectives for this year’s lectureship.
We bring you greetings from the State of Alabama, the capital city of Montgomery, and the saints of the NorthPointe Church of Christ where I have been called to labor with some of the best folk in God’s kingdom. I know that some of you are praying for me, and I know that those prayers are getting through. If you’re ever in Montgomery, we extend to you a hearty invitation to come by and worship with us...and if you can’t get to us, we’ve done everything possible to get to you. You can share in our services from anywhere in the world now by accessing us on the world wide web! Our internet address is www.northpointechurch.net
Now the subject assigned to me comes from the third chapter of the book of Hebrews, verses 2-5, however, I’m going to take homiletical courtesy here, and pick up verse 1 and 6 as well. If you have the Word, let’s read it aloud, together, shall we?
"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle
and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 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 honor than the house. For every house is builded by some man;
but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was 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 the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
INTRODUCTION
The subject that I have been assigned really comes to us in the form of a question:
WHOSE HOUSE IS IT?
And after much thought and consideration, I have come to believe that this is a very good question. Honestly, I had my doubts about it when I first received my letter. After all, what in the world am I going to say to a group of Gospel Preachers as it relates to this subject, "Whose House Is It?" Surely there can be no dispute that the "house" referred to in this passage belongs to the Lord. I thought, with myself, what a royal waste of everyone’s time to be given a subject like this. Even if this room were filled with denominational preachers, there would not be much dispute as to Whose House It Is? However, after contemplating on this subject, allowing it to marinate in the juices of my mind, experience and background, I began to see the hand of God being revealed in this text. Now, what I want to do is share some background information with you concerning the text, and then I want to pull this whole concept forward as we stand on the brink of a new millennium. Ya’ll got time for this?
In answering the question, WHOSE HOUSE IS IT? I think it best that I start out by telling you whose house it is not!
I. IT IS NOT MOSES’ HOUSE
These six verses present the doctrine on which the exhortation of the rest of the chapter is built. In order to understand the exhortation, we need to understand the premise; and to understand the premise, we need to review what the Jews of that day thought about Moses. To appreciate how, why, and to what extent Jesus is better than Moses, we need to see how important Moses was even before this. Even before this, we need to ask why it is necessary to prove that Jesus is better than Moses.
Moses was esteemed by the Jews far above any other Jew who ever lived. God had miraculously protected him as a baby and personally provided for his burial. Between those two points in his life are miracle after miracle after miracle. He was the man to whom God spoke face to face. He had seen the very glory of God and, in fact, even had this glory reflected in his own face for a brief while. After he came down from Sinai, the word says:
"The skin on his face shone because of his speaking with Him" (Exodus 34:29).
(Pause)
Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt.
Moses, who was synonymus with the Old Law.
Moses, who carried the Ten Commandments out of the Mount.
Moses, who laid out the Levitical laws that governed so much of Israel’s worship.
Moses, who gave the plans for the Tabernacle.
Moses, who initiated the Ark of the Covenant!
Moses, Moses, Moses... The New Testament even refers to the commands of God as the "law of Moses" (Luke 2:22; Acts 13:39).
Some Jews believed that Moses was greater than angels. God spoke to the prophets in visions, but to Moses He spoke face to face:
He spoke to him in a burning bush.
He spoke to him out of heaven.
He spoke to him on Sinai and wrote commandments with a finger of fire.
He was, above all others, God’s man.
Yet, in this passage of Hebrews the Holy Spirit calls on Jewish readers, especially, to look at Jesus. Moses was indeed great; but Jesus is far greater. Jesus is shown to be superior to Moses in office, in work, and in person:
In His office, He is the Apostle and High Priest.
In His work, He is the Builder of the house.
In His Person, He is the Son.
In our text, the bigoted Jewish party distressed the Christian Jewish party, by urging that the Jewish dispensation was manifestly superior to the Christian, on two grounds:
(1) It was ministered by angels;
(2) Its agent (Moses) was the most remarkable man that had ever lived.
In chapters 1 and 2 of this book the assumed superiority in the ministration of angels has been dealt with. Now the writer deals with the extravagant claims being put forth on behalf of Moses, and he shows that in nature, relation to God, and office, Christ is altogether above Moses. When he says in verse 1, "consider", he is saying that you need to "fix your thoughts attentively on." He wants to "introduce" them to Jesus. He is advancing his argument about the superiority of Christ to the office of Christ. He acknowledges Moses as the "head" of a period of dispensation, and he acknowledges Christ as the head of a dispensation. He compares them in verse 2, and then he contrasts them in verse 3 and verse 5. Both Moses and Christ were faithful, and the writer does not have to "run" Moses down in order to lift Christ up. He recognizes Moses’ faithfulness, but the faithfulness associated with Christ is a different faithfulness. The use of the term "house" as a figure for dispensation, or religious system, suggests the point of contrast. The house is God’s house or household. Christ was more honorable than Moses, as a person, seeing that He was Owner of the house in which Moses was a servant. And Christ’s range of service was higher than that of Moses because Owner-faithfulness must always be on a higher plane than servant-faithfulness.
And so, then, when we talk about this house, we are talking about God’s people (verse 6). The house is composed of all true believers in Christ, "whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end"....I’ll come back to that.
But the house does not belong to Moses. Israel has been expanded. The message and the salvation is now more inclusive and not exclusive. Jesus Christ is greater...
1. Jesus is greater and worthy of more glory than Moses because the
builder of the house has more honor than the house itself.
2. Jesus is greater because He is God! Every house must have a builder,
but the One who built all things is God. We know from John 1:3,
Colossians 1:16 and Hebrews 1:2,10 that Jesus was the active Agent
in creation. Jesus Christ is God.
3. Jesus is greater because He is not a servant. He is the Son.
Moses was a faithful servant, pointing men to Christ. That is why Jesus
said on one occasion, "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me"
(John 5:46).
Yes, going back to verse number 1, you oughtta consider Jesus!
IT IS NOT MOSES’ HOUSE!
However, in the context of the 20th century, the argument is no longer Christ’s superiority over Moses, but rather Christ’s superiority over man!
The challenges to the ownership of the church are being launched by godless men and women who, in some areas of this country, have engaged in an all out assault with activities that "usurp" or "wrest" authority from Christ, who is undeniably the head of the church, but arguably, not the head of every church---and the warnings of Christ, Paul and other biblical writers relative to the increase of those who would...
• turn from the truth
• depart from the faith
• draw away disciples after themselves, and
• make shipwreck of the faith of some...
is becoming, in ever increasing measure, more evident in the 20th century church! We are very good at declaring the gospel truth that the church doesn’t belong to:
- Martin Luther
- Mary Baker Eddy
- John and Charles Wesley
- the so-called Prophet Joseph Smith
- and the Pope,
BUT I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT IT DOESN’T BELONG TO US, EITHER!
II. IT IS NOT THE MEMBER’S HOUSE
Very easily, in the midst of a democratic society such as the United States of America, one can begin thinking that they have undeniable rights in every setting, but God has some rules to govern His house, and every member in the house is subject to these rules (Ephesians 1:22). And while time will not allow me to address many of the egregious assaults on the Word of God, I feel it necessary, in light of some current situations in our brotherhood, to address one or two particular issues, but you and I know that these are just the tip of the iceberg!.
The church has been commissioned by God to carry the Gospel, to perfect the saints, to edify the body and to work the ministry (Ephesians 4:11,12). In being consistent with our interpretation of the Word of God and our submission to it as the authentic and infallible Will of God, we are also commissioned to discipline members in the church.
Many church leaders have grown wary or flat out scared to practice church discipline because of a fear of lawsuits, or retaliation in some form or another, but brethren, we can ill afford to let members run loose in the church. Immoral living that goes unconfronted makes a mockery of the church before the world, and Godly, Spirit-filled members ought to support their leadership when they step out on the water of faith. Some members believe they can do what they want, when they want to, because their "Daddy paid the note on the church", or "my Daddy built this church", or "my family are charter members of this church", but I don’t care if you carved out every pew in the auditorium, and your name is emblazoned on the cornerstone, IT IS NOT YOUR CHURCH!
"Yeah, but we give more money than anybody else down here...you can’t tell us nothing...we pay you!" God’s preacher ought to tell that brother "you can take your money and go to ____ before I let you destroy this local church!"
Church discipline, however, is designed not to destroy the erring member, but to save him. Not to push him away, but to draw him ever closer. Church discipline, in its biblical design, was never intended to be a tool of punishment, but rather a tool of renewal, redemption and restoration (I Corinthians 5:5).
And brethren, we ought to be more careful and considerate before harboring members who are under discipline from another congregation. Even if we doubt the mechanics or the administration of the withdrawal, we ought to encourage those parties to get together and seek out an amicable conclusion, without muddying the waters with our, in most cases, uninvited opinions. We must let God’s Word have free course in HIS HOUSE!
And when a sister or brother comes back to the fold, repenting of their error, we ought to be gracious enough to accept their statement, allowing GOD TO BE THE JUDGE, because it is HIS HOUSE (Galatians 6:1). It is the Lord who adds to HIS CHURCH, and I declare, it is the LORD WHO TAKES ONE OUT!
And I’ll tell you something else...
III. IT IS NOT THE LEADER’S HOUSE
When leadership begins to take the stand that they have a greater knowledge than God, and that they have a better plan than God, they are, in essence, committing mutiny on board of the Old Ship of Zion. They are abusing and overstepping their authority.
Right now, at the Cahaba Valley Church of Christ in Cahaba Valley, Alabama, the elders of that church are in the final stages of a five-year strategy that was designed to offer a wider and free-er sense of expression of praise for all of its members. Consequently, some changes have been made in their worship services. In year one, they allowed women to begin making announcements and reading the scripture. In year two, women were allowed to serve communion and publicly lead in prayer. In year three, women were allowed to make "short talks" from the pulpit. In year four, women were allowed to officially serve in the church as deaconesses and ministers. In year five, women have been totally integrated into the leadership structure of that church. Now brethren, it may have "church of Christ" on the marquis outside, but Christ is not the head of that house. Mutinous leadership has taken hold of the helm of that ship and has steered it out into treacherous seas.
Leadership that will not follow the dictates of God is leadership that should not be followed. While it is incumbent upon leadership to make judgments on issues that are non-doctrinal and non-scriptural, whenever leadership treads upon those already determined and biblically stipulated doctrines that flow from the Head of the Church, through the Holy Spirit , they have in essence, put Christ out of His own House, and the imagery of Revelation 3:20 appears on the computer screen of my mind, as Christ is pictured, standing outside of the door of the church of Christ, knocking, trying to get in:
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
Contrary to popular belief, I think I need to state it loud and clear...
The "House" does not belong to the elders!
The "House" does not belong to the preacher!
The "House" does not belong to the deacons!
The "House" does not belong to the trustees!
The "House" does not belong to the "so-called" leading brethren!
Whose House Is It? It Belongs To The One...
Who is God’s Apostle to man!
Whose House Is It? It Belongs To The One...
Who is man’s High Priest with God!
Whose House Is It? It Belongs To The One..
Who declared "upon this rock I will build my church!"
Whose House Is It? It Belongs To The One....
who came from glory
rode the nine month train of nature,
said, let me off in Bethlehem,
came through the virgin Mary,
raised in the squalor of Nazareth,
astounded the Jewish leaders,
became a threat to the religious establishment,
became hope to the lost sheep of the house of Israel...,
Whose House Is It? It Belongs To The One...
Who Became sight to blinded eyes,
Who Became strength to broken limbs,
light in a dark world, and
Our strength to crush sin,
He died,
one Friday evening,
on the top of a hill called Golgotha,
hanging on an old rugged cross,
pierced in his side with a soldier’s weapon,
but hanging with the burden of your sins and mine...
They buried Him,
in a borrowed tomb,
somebody said, "it was borrowed, because He had every intention of
returning it to it’s rightful owner!"
He borrowed it for three days, and then He gave it right back,
but while He was in it, He snatched the sting out of death,
and when He marched out from it, He robbed the grave of it’s victory...
and because of His victory, I have victory!
WHOSE HOUSE IS IT? --------------------IT BELONGS TO THE LORD!
