Fix Your Thoughts
Hebrews 3:1-6 NIV
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
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,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future.
6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Outline
Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus (v.1).
Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Person (vs. 2-4).
Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Ministry (vs. 5-6).
Good Morning brothers and sisters!
It is always a joy to come together to worship our God and to have fellowship with one another. So let us continue our worship this morning through the preaching and hearing of His Word.
PRAYER:
Illustration
Imagine with me for a moment, that you are watching a basketball game. And it is your favorite team playing in the finals. There are only two seconds left in the game. And your team is down by one point. One of the members of your team has just been fouled. The referee immediately awarded him a personal foul. So he walks toward the foul line to take his free throw. Now, you get so excited knowing that if he makes these two shots, your team will become the champions.
But, not everyone watching wants him to make those two shots. Some people are going to do all that they can to distract him. Some will yell, some will boo, some will call him names, and some will wave plastic sticks to get his attention. They know that if they can distract him for a moment, the ball will fall to the floor without going through the basket. And he cannot ask the referee to tell everyone to be quiet, so that he can concentrate on his free throw. It is not going to happen. The best thing for him to do would be, to fix his thoughts on the basket, and not focus on those distractions. Brothers and sisters, we are like that player who is about to take that very important throw in the midst of all kinds of distractions.
Introduction
There’s so much going on in our lives…. Busy schedules. Health issues. Business deals. Financial crisis. Deadlines at work. Bills that need to get paid. Balancing the checkbook. Thinking about our career. Thinking about family. Thinking about future. And the list goes on… and on… and on.
It is not easy to focus on one thing, when we are surrounded by all these things. There are lot distractions out there that are competing to grab our attention. It is becoming more and more difficult to keep our mind focused on something. And what we normally think about, are the things that we can see, feel and touch. But, Jesus, whom we can’t see and touch, often becomes far from our thoughts. That's why our topic for today is, ‘Fix Your Thoughts.’
If you have your Bibles with you, please, turn to Hebrews 3:1-6. In this passage, the author tells us where to fix our thoughts and he provides two reasons why we must do so.
The author begins with this call in verse 1…
1. Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus (v.1) - He is the apostle and high priest.
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
The author of Hebrews is addressing Christians as “holy brothers and sisters”, meaning those who are sanctified by Christ. Christians are children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. We ‘share in the heavenly calling’, meaning we are together in this call to persevere in our faith and focus on Jesus. The word “fix” comes from a Greek word that has the idea of concentrating our gaze. It is to look away from other things so that we can focus all our attention on one thing. It means to put our mind completely upon Christ. This is not just a call, it a command to fix our thoughts on Jesus.
Here, Jesus is identified as our Apostle and High Priest. Apostle means “one who is sent.” Jesus is the One sent from God to earth as His representative. And High Priest is the “one who is a go-between, who offers a sacrifice so that there can be reconciliation.” As our Apostle, Jesus speaks to us from God. And as the High Priest, Jesus speaks to God for us. As the Great High Priest, Jesus not only performed the sacrifice; He was the sacrifice. He died on the cross on our behalf.
Illustration
There’s a story about a young man, who was determined to win-over the heart of a girl. He really wanted to pursue this girl and marry her someday. So the young man started what he called “The Campaign.” It was a month long campaign. He started sending the girl every day, the most wonderful gift ever. Every day, for a month, the greatest gifts appeared on the girl’s doorstep. Those gifts were delivered everyday by FEDEX. “The Campaign” worked out very well. The girl eventually fell in love. She fell in love – but not with the young man – but with the FEDEX delivery guy!
Application
Brothers and sisters, everyday God offers us the greatest gift, Jesus Christ. And Jesus is in the ‘Campaign’ to win-over our heart. But often, we fall in love with the wrong person or the wrong thing. Fixing our thoughts on Jesus requires time to study God’s word and time to pray. We can fix our thoughts on Jesus, by remembering His faithfulness in the past. We can fix our thoughts on Jesus by replacing our human perspective with a heavenly perspective. As we share in the heavenly calling, let us fix our thoughts on Jesus, our Apostle and High Priest.
Now in verses 2-4, the author explains the first reason why we must fix our thoughts on Jesus. He does that by providing a comparison and a contrast of Jesus to Moses regarding their identity.
2. Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Person (vs. 2-4) –
Jesus is the builder of the house.
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.
If we ask the British people today, who the greatest Briton of all time was, Sir Winston Churchill usually tops the poll. And if we ask the American people today, who the greatest American of all time was, George Washington usually tops the poll. But, if the Jewish people in the first century A.D. were asked who the greatest Jew of all time was, without a doubt, all of them would have said ‘Moses’. To the Jews, Moses was the greatest person who ever lived. It was through Moses that God delivered Israel from Egypt. It was through Moses that God gave them the Law.
The author of Hebrews knew that when it came to faithfulness, it was hard to beat Moses. Let us talk about his faithfulness and patience. There were more than a million people under his guidance for forty years in the wilderness. Those of you, who have been to Israel, know how difficult it is to walk in the wilderness. And it was not just one day; it was forty years. You can only imagine millions of complaints, millions of demands, millions of questions, millions of opinions. Yet, Moses was faithful to God’s people.
“House,” is a key word in this passage, which refers to God’s people. Moses was indeed faithful in all God’s house. He was a part of the house of God, the Jewish people. But the Jews idolized Moses so much that some were even tempted to put Moses above Jesus. That's why the author reminds them that Jesus is greater than Moses to realign their focus on Jesus. Moses is a part of the house, but Jesus is the Builder of that house. Since the builder is greater than the house, He is certainly worthy of more glory and honor. Jesus is greater than Moses because Jesus is the builder of the house.
Application
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the Builder of everything. He is the builder of the house of God - His church. We are the church; we are the house built by Jesus. He wrote the blueprint of our life before we were born. Are we willing to say ‘yes’ to God's master plan for our life? As the Builder, He knows what’s broken and needs to be fixed in our lives. He knows the broken promises, broken relationships, broken hearts. Jesus sees all our brokenness and He wants to fix them. Jesus wants to furnish and prepare us to be ready to reflect His image. Therefore, we must fix our thoughts on Jesus because He is the Builder of everything, creator of our lives.
Now in verses 5-6, the author provides the second reason why we must fix our thoughts on Jesus. Once again he gives a comparison and a contrast of Jesus to Moses; but this time, it is regarding their ministry.
3. Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Ministry (vs. 5-6) –
Jesus is the Son of God
5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
As the comparison and contrast between Jesus and Moses continues, we see that Moses was faithful “as a servant,” while Christ was faithful “as a Son.” This contrast between “servant” and “Son” is underlined by the fact that Moses was a servant “in” all God’s house, while Christ is the Son “over” God’s house. Moses ministered to Israel, the people of God under the Old Covenant. His ministry was to speak about the things to come. But Jesus ministers under the New Covenant; and His ministry is to bring fulfillment of those things. Moses ministered “in the shadows,” while Jesus brought the full and final light of the Gospel of God. Moses led God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land, while Jesus leads God’s people to a New Promised Land. Jesus is the Son of God who faithfully ministers to God’s house.
And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Illustration
Joshua and Caleb
While Moses was leading Israelites to the Promised Land, there were two men among them who exemplified the attitudes described here. They were Joshua and Caleb, who had confidence and hope in God. Everybody else over the age of twenty died in the wilderness, and never entered the Promised Land. They followed God out of Egypt, but got distracted in the wilderness. They lost their hope and confidence in God. But Joshua and Caleb had confidence in God that they would one day enter the Promised Land. God honored their faith; they were able to enter the Promise Land.
Application
Brothers and sisters, it is not enough for us to be "out of Egypt", we must continue to follow God "into the New Promised Land." We should reveal the same kind of joyful confidence and hope as Joshua and Caleb did. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship. We must pursue relationship with the Son of God with confidence and hope. Therefore, we must fix our thoughts on Jesus because He is the Son of God, our Savior.
Closing Illustration
The Story of Martha and Mary – (Luke 10:38-42)
Jesus and His disciples are at the house of Martha and Mary. Martha is busy entertaining her guests and preparing food in the kitchen. But, somewhere in a quiet corner, the Lord Jesus is calmly teaching a handful of people who are intently listening to His every word. And Mary is one of them; sitting at His feet, very focused on Jesus and His teachings.
But, Martha is distracted with many things. She desperately rushes over to Jesus and says, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
Feeling compassion for Martha, Jesus says,
“Martha, Martha … you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, if Jesus could feed the 5,000, He could certainly feed a house full of people. Sometimes we forget how big our God is, and we run around distracted and distressed. I call it the "Martha Syndrome", trying to make everything just right, when all we need to do is just trust in God. It is so easy for us to get distracted by the world. It is easy to get involved in doing “good things” and neglecting the best thing.
Brothers and sisters, since we share in the heavenly calling, we must fix out thoughts on Jesus. Jesus is our apostle and high priest. He is our Creator and Savior. He is the Builder of the house. He is faithful. He is worthy of honor. He is the Son of God. Jesus is greater than Moses. Therefore, we must fix our thoughts on Jesus.
Summary
Three things we have learned today from Hebrews 3:1-6:
1. Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus - He is the Apostle and High Priest.
2. Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Person - He is the Builder of the house.
3. Jesus is Greater Than Moses in His Ministry - He is the Son of God.
Let us pray!
