WWUTT 1816 Jesus is the Greater Moses (Hebrews 3:1-6)

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You have heard it said many times that the book of Hebrews talks about how

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Christ is the greater than. He is the great high priest. He is the greater

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Moses. And that's the section we'll be looking at today, when we understand the text. Many of the

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Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it.

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Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. Back to our study in Hebrews, we're on to chapter 3 this week. If you want to open up a

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Bible and join with me there, I'll begin by reading verses 1 -11 in the

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Legacy Standard Bible. This is the word of the Lord. Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession,

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Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was in all his house.

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For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, insomuch as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.

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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.

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But Christ was faithful as a son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast our confession and the boast of our hope.

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Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years.

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Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways.

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As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

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Chapter three of Hebrews is broken up into three parts, and we're going to be looking at these three sections between today, tomorrow, and Wednesday.

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Part one, we have this initial statement that Christ is greater than Moses. Now, this argument is going to carry on into chapter four, but we have the statement made first here in verses one through six.

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The second part is supporting that statement with a reference to Psalm 95, and most of Psalm 95 is quoted in verses seven through 11.

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The third part is an exposition of Psalm 95, supporting the argument that Christ is greater than Moses, and that is verses 12 through 19.

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But like I said, that'll continue on into chapter four as well. So for today, we're going to consider

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Jesus' superiority to Moses. He is not simply a faithful servant in God's house.

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He is a faithful son over God's house. Moses was just a servant in the house of God, but Jesus is the son that has been appointed over the house of God.

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So moving into chapter three, we have this statement, therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling.

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Now, why is the preacher saying therefore here? What is the therefore, therefore?

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You've probably heard that said before. Well, remember what we had read at the end of chapter two.

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We are brothers and sisters of Christ, not just in Christ, but of Christ because of his incarnation, because he suffered.

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He went through the same sufferings that we have gone through. And since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to help those who are tempted.

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That was what we read there at the end of verse 18. So we have become brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

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He being our elder brother and the firstborn of the dead, as said in Romans 8, 29.

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He was the first to rise from the dead, the first to conquer death. And there will be others that will follow him.

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We who are in Christ will likewise rise from the dead. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us, as also said there in Romans 8.

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So therefore, because we are brothers and sisters of the

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Lord in his incarnation, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession.

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So we're holy brothers. We're holy brothers because he is holy and we are his brothers. We are partakers of a heavenly calling because we are partakers with Christ in his suffering, in his death.

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Therefore, we are also partakers of his resurrection. So consider the apostle, not just consider an apostle, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession who is

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Jesus. Now, what does apostle mean? Apostle means one who is sent.

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So even the apostles of Christ who have been sent out to preach the gospel, they were commissioned for this.

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Hence, they have been given the name apostle. They are to the New Testament what the prophets were to the

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Old Testament. But the apostles even greater for they actually were with the

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Lord and witnessed his ministry and then with the Holy Spirit in them testified to those things and affirmed what they and affirmed what they spoke came from God by the miracles that they perform.

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We had read that previously in chapter two, verses three and four. So they were sent by Christ.

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Jesus was sent by the father. He was the one who was sent from heaven. So as the sent one, there's others that he sent out, but he is the one who was sent.

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Therefore, he is the apostle and the high priest. There was only one high priest in Israel, but there were many names that were called high priest, because once one high priest was done with that position, he would pass it on to the next person who would become high priest and on and on down the line.

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There was one priest who was higher than the rest. So there was only one high priest in Israel, but there were different men that filled that role.

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Jesus is the high priest, and he has a position that will never be taken away from him.

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He will he will never pass on the position of high priest to someone else. He is the one who holds it eternally.

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Now, as our high priest who was atoned for our sins, the high priest would go into the place of atonement, into the holy of holies there in the tabernacle.

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He would sacrifice. He would sprinkle the blood of the lamb on the top of the Ark of the Covenant, and he would do that on behalf of the sins of the people.

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Jesus has done this once for all. He is our great high priest, and there is no one greater.

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So here you have right at the very start here. He is the apostle and the high priest of our confession.

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Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him. Jesus was faithful to God as Moses also was in all his house.

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But the argument is going to be here that Jesus is the greater Moses. Moses was indeed faithful to God and everything that he handled for the

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Lord as the Lord had a commission for him to do. But we know that Moses did not do that perfectly, did he?

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In Numbers chapter 20, we read about where the Lord told Moses to speak to the rock, speak to the rock in Meribah and water will come from it.

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But Moses, becoming frustrated with the people, went up to the rock and whacked it twice with his staff.

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He disobeyed God, and he also disrespected that which was holy because Christ was in the rock.

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So it was like Moses was striking the place where Christ was dwelling, and this was disobedient.

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And therefore, God punished Moses by preventing him from entering into the promised land.

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We know that all that generation that was younger for 40 years, they wandered in the desert.

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The younger generation was the one that was allowed to enter the promised land, along with Caleb and Joshua.

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They were the only two from the previous generation, from Moses and Aaron's generation, even that were allowed to enter the promised land.

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But Moses could not because he disrespected the Lord. He did not obey him there at the rock at Meribah.

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And the Apostle Paul talks about this in First Corinthians 10. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was

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Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

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Now, these things happen as examples for us so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.

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So knowing that Christ was there in the rock, and yet Moses struck the rock instead of obeying

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God and speaking to the rock to yield water, and therefore Moses was punished.

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He was not perfect in his service unto the Lord, but Jesus was.

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In all that he did, he perfectly fulfilled the Father's will.

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And therefore, verse 3, he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.

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When you look at a house and you say, oh, what a fantastic house. My wife and I love house hunting, even if we have no intention of buying anything.

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We just love looking at houses. And I grew up in the south, the southeast in particular, in the

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Carolinas, and I love that southern home look with the front porch that expands at least the whole front of the house.

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If it doesn't wrap around, it's covered. You can sit out there on the porch in your rocking chair and watch the neighborhood go by and drink your sweet tea and just enjoy the day right there on the front porch.

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That's the kind of house that I like. We lived in a Tudor -style home when we lived in Kansas.

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I kind of liked that too, but I hated that there was no porch. There was just a stoop out there.

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The architecture of it was kind of nice, but I just didn't like that it didn't have a porch.

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Anyway, we enjoy looking at homes and we like to look at houses and understand different styles of houses that have been built and things like that.

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But when we look at that, when we're looking at a really nice house, you say, what a great house.

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You're not praising the house. The house didn't do anything. The house did nothing to come into its own existence.

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You don't praise a house when you admire the beauty of a well -constructed home.

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You are honoring the builder. The builder of the house has more honor than the house.

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And you can certainly appreciate a good house. You can take care of it. You can be a good steward with it.

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But ultimately, the one who has the honor of a job well done is the one who built the house.

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Verse four, for every house is built by someone. But the builder of all things is

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God. Now, God is the one who is building this house that we call the church, building this house unto his name.

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God is the builder. And the son, Jesus, is the one who has been appointed over the house.

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He is the head of the church, as talked about in Ephesians five and in other places. And we are being built up as a spiritual house unto

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God. That's in First Peter chapter two. And we also read in First Corinthians three, nine, where Paul says to the

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Corinthians, you are God's building. So God is the one who is building this.

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This is God's house. And he is appointed over the house as caretaker of the house, as the servant of the house,

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Jesus Christ. Every house is built by someone. But the builder of all things is

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God. And God is the one who has built this house. He is building this house unto himself, a spiritual house unto the

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Lord. Verse five. Now, Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant.

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That's an Old Testament reference there for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later, meaning they would be spoken by Christ.

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These were all the precursory things, the types and shadows that Christ would later come and fulfill.

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Moses spoke of them in his generation. He gave a testimony of those things, but they would later be revealed in Christ.

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God spoke through the prophets one way. But when Jesus spoke, he is actually the word of God speaking.

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So we read about that at the beginning of Hebrews. This is the very way this sermon started.

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Hebrews one, one and two. Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

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But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he is appointed heir of all things.

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Now, let's come back to this Old Testament reference here in verse five. Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant.

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If you're reading the ESV, there might be a little letter there that will point you to a reference in numbers.

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If you are reading the LSB or the NASB, whenever you have an

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Old Testament reference, it's put in all caps. So that passage there, a verse fragment from something in the

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Old Testament, where does it come from? It's in Numbers 12, and it's really interesting considering this particular statement being used and put here in chapter three, where that comes from when you consider the whole context of Numbers 12.

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This is where Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses, and they believe that they are just as worthy of being prophets like Moses, of being someone who gets to go into the holy of holies and talk face to face with God as Moses got the chance to do.

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We should be able to do whatever he gets to do. Let me read it to you here from Numbers 12, beginning in verse one, that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the

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Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife, or he had taken a Cushite woman, and they said, has

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Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us as well?

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And Yahweh heard it. Now, the man Moses was very humble, the text says, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.

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Some translations say meek. He was the meekest man on the earth. Verse four, suddenly

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Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, you three come out to the tent of meeting. So the three of them came out.

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Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and he called

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Aaron and Miriam, and then both came forward. And he said, hear now my words.

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If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, shall make myself known to him in a vision.

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I shall speak with him in a dream, not so with my servant

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Moses. He is faithful in all my household. With him

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I speak mouth to mouth, indeed clearly and not in riddles. And he beholds the form of Yahweh.

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Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

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So the anger of Yahweh burned against them, and he went away. But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold,

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Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

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And then Aaron pleaded with Moses on her behalf. But consider those words there that Yahweh said to Miriam and to Moses.

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If you're a prophet, if there's a prophet among you, how do I speak to those prophets? I make myself known to him in a vision, or I speak with him in a dream, but not so with Moses.

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Moses was a prophet above the rest. God had a unique relationship with Moses, in that Moses got the chance to go into the tent of meeting and would speak with God face to face, is what the text says.

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Now, it wasn't literally God's face and literally Moses' face speaking face to face, but the text relates it as if Moses was speaking to God like one man would speak to another.

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And so this was the way that God communicated with Moses. And Moses, in this way, becomes a type or a shadow of the

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Son who is to come, but the Son is greater. Hence why it is said here that Christ is the greater

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Moses. Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, a testimony of those things which were spoken about or which were to be spoken later.

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Verse six, 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.

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So just as God's relationship with Moses was unique as compared to any other prophet or as contrasted with any other prophet, you might put it that way.

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So the Father's relationship with the Son is even more unique than God's relationship with Moses.

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Christ was faithful as a son over the house. Moses was just a mediator for a time.

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But Jesus is faithful over the house and will be eternally whose house we are.

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We are that house. Again, the spiritual house unto the Lord, first Peter two, nine, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope, what is our confidence?

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Our confidence is Christ. What is the boast of our hope? Our boast is in Christ, as it says at the end of first Corinthians one, let he who boasts boast in the

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Lord. You know, it's OK for a Christian to boast. But let our boasting be in Christ and not in ourselves.

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Christ is our confidence and Christ is the boast of our hope.

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Now, I used to take verses like that out of context all the time long before I learned how to exposit the scriptures properly.

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But that statement there in Hebrews three, six, I used to take that out of out of out of context.

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We will be richly rewarded if we hold fast to our confidence. Our confidence is not our own personal strong will or our determination or our motivation to get something done and work hard at it will be rewarded if we hold fast to our confidence.

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No, our confidence is Christ and we have no hope apart from Christ where the preacher says here.

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We are his house if we hold fast our confidence and boast of our hope.

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This is similar to a statement that was made previously in chapter two, verse three.

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How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? There was a warning that was given there.

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We have come to know this hope. We have come to know the truth through the gospel that has been proclaimed and affirmed to us.

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So how will we escape the judgment of God if we neglect so great a salvation? So here we have the statement of us being the house of God given in somewhat of a of of a warning.

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We are his house if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope.

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If you don't hold fast to the confidence to our confidence, who is Christ, if you don't boast in Christ, who is our hope, then you will perish.

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You will fall and be destroyed like every other building or structure that will be judged apart from the foundation that is

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Christ. Any building that is built on any other foundation, that foundation is sinking sand.

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That building will be destroyed when the judgment comes. But whatever is built on the foundation of Christ will hold fast.

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Hence, the illustration that Jesus gave at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Whoever hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

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But whoever hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand.

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And when the storms came and beat against that house, it fell and great is the fall of it.

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But if we have a life that is built on Christ Jesus, we can withstand any storm.

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Any trial, any circumstance, any temptation, we turn from it to Christ and hold fast to our confidence and our hope.

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And if we do these things, we stand forever and we live forever with God.

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See, these things that we have read here, the practical application of Hebrews 3 verses 1 through 6 is we hold fast our confidence and nothing in this world will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our

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Lord. Even death itself will not separate us from God for death becomes just that last step in our sanctification that then puts us in the very place with God if we are in Christ Jesus and we will dwell with him forever in glory.

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Hold fast to Christ. Don't let anything diminish your faith, deconstruct your faith.

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Make you feel ashamed of Christ. Continue to hold fast to him and you will live forever.

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Heavenly Father, we thank you for this good word that we have been given, reminded of our confidence who is

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Christ. Let our boasting be completely in Christ so we would share this message with others. For it is only by the gospel of Jesus Christ, he who died for our sins and rose again from the dead, whoever has faith in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

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Lead us in these things. Give us confidence in these things. May we hold fast to this in Jesus name.