Bible Study - November 11, 2020

Okay, so we got up to Hebrews 2 verse 13, I believe, last week. But before we go there, let me just kind of give a recap, a brief recap of where we've been, because the first three chapters of Hebrews here are very, are quite, quite important, and God is laying the groundwork for us, excuse me, laying the groundwork for us of what the rest of the book will be. You know, if you recall, the book of Hebrews was written somewhere in 62 to 68 AD, written to the group of people that were probably still in Jerusalem, Christians that were in Jerusalem. They had been in the church, if you will, some 20-30 years at that time.

But as we look at the warnings and the admonitions of the book of Hebrews, we can see where some of their shortcomings have been. We talked last week in Sabbath services about drifting, and so we know the people back then were beginning to drift away. They were getting a little axe in their beliefs and their application of doctrines. They might have found themselves just floating away from the church and floating away from the truth ever so slightly, which can be very dangerous if we're not watching what's going on. But the book of Hebrews has some of those warnings to us as well, as we'll talk about.

But the people back then were facing a very uncertain time. They may not have known exactly what they were facing as this book was given to them, but in the very few short years ahead of them, some of the things that they considered foundational in Jerusalem there and in Judea was the temple.

By 70 AD, the temple was going to be completely gone. And as much as they may have come out of Judaism and understood what the temple was, it was still in their backgrounds, and they ended up having to flee. They ended up going to Pella, and they watched their entire world just fall apart around them if that was the world they were looking to. But to their credit, they followed God. So we see the background of the book of Hebrews, and it can't go escaped on any of us why this book is so important for us today and written for us in the 21st century as well.

We too live in a time where, you know, the church has been around for a couple of generations, you know, 90 years if you will. If we go back to the time that Mr. Armstrong, you know, first started preaching the truth in 1934, many of us have been in the church for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. And as we are longer in the church, we can find ourselves drifting, if you will.

And we too have to listen to these words. And we also live in an uncertain time. We have no idea what lies ahead of us as we look at the world around us and we see the things that are happening and the unfamiliar territory that we find ourselves in with some of the words that are being said and some of the politics of the land. You know, we find ourselves too, that the entire foundation of what we've always counted on could just disappear in the years ahead.

You know, the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of religion, the bedrock of American society, that could all disappear. And much like the Hebrews, we could find ourselves in a situation that we too would have to flee and certainly completely rely on God for our time ahead.

So it can't be escaped on us and we should look at this book of Hebrews as it is a message to us today as much as it was for the Hebrews, the Hebrew Christians back in the 60s AD. As we have gone through the book of Hebrews, you know, we've talked about the the first three chapters. It's as if God, who is the author of the book of Hebrews, regardless of who the physical author may be, prepares us and reminds us of how important our calling is. In the first three chapters, and we'll get through most of chapter three today, is God laying the groundwork for us to remind us just how significant our calling is. In the first chapter, he talks about Jesus Christ.

He talks about how we've been, you know, in times past, it was in Old Testament times spoken to by the prophets, but in New Testament times by Jesus Christ and then those who followed him. He talks to us in the first chapter that Jesus Christ, as much as we might look at angels who are spirit beings, who serve us, who are there at God's throne, who serve him, who we might look at and say they're perfect beings, they have spirit life, you know, who do their jobs perfectly where God is concerned, doing exactly what God created them to do.

You know, he makes the case that Jesus Christ is greater than the angels. He's greater than the angels. And then he makes the comments in chapter one that Jesus Christ, you know, he lived, he died, he was resurrected, he sits at God's right hand, and God has appointed him heir of all things. And he makes the point that to us, you and me, those who if he is called mankind, you know, mankind who is man that you should be mindful of him, he didn't call us to be angels, he called us to be this new group of heavenly bodies, you know, whatever hosts, whatever words we want to call it, that he's creating in us now if we yield to him.

And for those of us who follow his call, who yield to him, who don't drift away, but who are earnestly following him, that mankind would be co-heir with Jesus Christ. And he draws our attention to the magnificence of our calling. It's no one, no being in all the universe more important than God, and he himself has called you and me, invited us, if you will, into this future, into his life, into truth, and that we should never discount it, and that we, as we follow him, as we follow Jesus Christ, we would be, of all things, co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

It should boggle our minds when we look at what God has done, what God has done for us. So chapter one, he makes that point as if in saying, are you really cognizant of, are you really paying attention to the calling that you have?

In chapter two, as we've gone through the first 13 verses, you know, we'll see as we complete chapter two, he's making the point Jesus Christ, you know, he, he was better, he was better than flesh and blood. He conquered flesh and blood. We all have these temporary bodies. We all have these, these bodies that are going to pass away. And Jesus Christ, you know, he went before us, he was in flesh and blood, and yet he won the victory over flesh and blood.

He won the victory over death. He won the victory over Satan in a flesh and by a flesh and blood body, just like you and I have. He did it, he did it for us. We'll talk about that a little bit here as we get in the verse 14. And then as we get into chapter three, then he'll make the case, you know, for someone, a man who was so important in the Jewish life that they look to that God held in high, you know, in high regard the man Moses. And in chapter three, he'll make the case that, you know, as faithful and as loyal to God as Moses was, Jesus Christ has more glory than Moses does.

So we'll kind of look at those things, and then when we get into chapter four and the last part of chapter three, we'll see that we're going to get into some doctrine. But God puts these chapters in here to kind of wake you and I up. Like, remember your calling. Pay attention to what you are. Pay attention to who has called you. Pay attention to your high priest, your elder brother, who's there working with you and wants you to succeed. And so we got through chapter two and verse 13. Let me read verse 13 again as we move into verse 14. You know, we're talking about Jesus Christ being the captain, the captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory.

And in verse 12, he says, I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in him.

You know, something that we have to continually remind ourselves. Our calling and our progress in this life has to be continually for putting our trust, all our trust, in God. Doesn't happen overnight. We can say the words, but it's what happens in the decisions that we make and the choices that we make along the way. I will put my trust in him. And again, here I am and the children whom God has given me.

And so we talked a little bit last time about, and the time before, how we are God's children. When God calls us and we repent, we're baptized, we have hands laid upon us. And as God gives us His Holy Spirit, He sees us as His children. And just like we love our children, we find out we're going to have a child born to the family. God loves us and He wants us to be everything we can be to develop, to be developed perfectly so that when we're born into His kingdom, His Spirit bodies, we can do what He wants us to do and assume the roles that He wants us to have.

But Jesus Christ says that too. He says, Here I am and the children whom God has given me. People that God is working with, people who the plan is that they will grow up and serve God in the way He has planned from the foundation of the earth, you know, from the foundation of the world, you know, that mankind would do. So let's look at verse 14 then, continuing on from there. It says, Inasmuch then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death.

That is the devil. Well, we can pause and look at that verse for a moment. One thing I'm realizing more and more is, as we go through the book of Hebrews, you could almost give a sermon on every verse or a couple of verses in the book of Hebrews. There's so much in here. It covers just a little bit of what the truth is, but it's there to remind us of our calling and the things that we know. So as God reminds us of Jesus Christ, and here He's even drawing attention to the fact that, you know, we all are flesh and blood.

We're partakers. We're all members of the same body in that way. Partake, in this sense, when you look at the Greek word, is kind of like the word fellowship. We all share in this body. We all share in the fact that we're in temporary bodies now that can decay. And it says, Inasmuch as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, Jesus Christ, He shared in the same thing. He shared in the same thing. You know, He could have stayed up in heaven, and He could have made mankind flesh and blood exactly what the plan is.

And the plan could have been, He'll go as Holy Spirit, and there will be some way for sins to be forgiven, whatever the plan might be. But in order for the plan to go forward, Jesus Christ had to become like us. He had to become flesh and blood. He had to share in that same state that we're in. It was just part of the plan that God had He had. I sometimes stop and think, God and Jesus Christ have been together for eternity, which our minds can't even conceive.

And as they worked out this plan, I find myself wondering, did this just come to them? Did they just automatically agree to this? How many decades, how many centuries, how many millennia might have they worked on? Because certainly just looking at the earth wasn't something that happened overnight. It was created overnight with the planning, not overnight in seven days, but the planning took, you know, who knows how long.

How long did it come? How long did they discuss the plan? How long did they discuss? You know, in order for this to work, in order for these temporary physical human beings to be born and spirit beings that we know their character, that we can trust them, that they that we know that they would never move, they will never go astray, and that they will be able to do the jobs that we have them to do, and the purpose for which we're developing them.

How long did it take for them to decide, you know, and Jesus Christ and God the Father to come to agreement, Jesus Christ, the logos, He needs to be flesh and blood. He's not going to ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself, just as a good leader would do. He's the one who went before.

He's the leader. He's the example. He's the one who gives us the inspiration. We know it can be done because He did it in flesh and blood. And so, you know, we see this, and as we read this verse, of all the things that we've already been reading about Jesus Christ, we see that He humbled Himself to become flesh and blood. It should tell us, again, how important you and I are to God the Father and to Him, that He would be willing to do that, that He would be willing to live in a temporary body, experience what you and I go through, and then set the set the way for us, and suffer the way He did.

He participated with us. He was partakers of flesh and blood. And as we pay tribute to Him, as we bring glory to Him, as we remember who we are and the calling that we have, remember too that He was flesh and blood. He's saying He Himself likewise shared in the same that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death. That is the devil. So He who was eternal and who is eternal, He died. The purpose of mankind, you know, is as we discussed last week, that we live a temporary physical life.

And the first part of our eternal life, as God looks at you in my life, He doesn't see just the physical life. He sees where we are now, but He sees the future. Just like when we have a child about to be born, we don't see just the child in the womb then. We think about the future. We think of what we can do with Him, the things we're going to do together, what He's going to grow up to be.

And God looks at us the same way. He sees the entire perspective and the entire panorama of our life. And Jesus Christ, you know, this is just the first part of it. Jesus Christ went through it all. He died. Later on in Hebrews 927, it says it's appointed unto all men to die once. We all go through it. Jesus Christ did. He died. And then He was resurrected in His Spirit being now the same plan, the same outlook for you and I.

But He did it for us. He didn't do it for Him. It was awful, you know, what He had to go through for you and I. And so we see then that, you know, He lived a perfect life. We know that. We don't have to discuss all that. You can spend some time contemplating that yourself. The only one who could ever have the victory over death would be a man who lived the perfect life.

Jesus Christ came to earth. We're told that He lived the perfect life. He didn't sin. He yielded to God completely. He trusted in God completely. He was the perfect model of what we are to become and what God is working in us to become. And so when He died, when He died as the perfect sacrifice for us, you know, God will get the word propitiation here a little bit in verse 17. God was willing to accept that sacrifice on our behalf because there was nothing you or I could do or any group of men could do no matter how righteous we are after God calls us or how righteous we might be at the end of our lives.

Not one of us could pay the penalties for what we've done to God. We've all earned death. There's only one, only one being who could ever, who could ever pay that price for us. And I think we sometimes take that for granted because Jesus Christ did it, did it, but we shouldn't. We should keep that in mind, what He did for us again in light of what our calling is and what our responsibilities are.

But He did that, that He would be able to destroy the power of death. You know, let's pause there for a moment. Let's go back to 1st Corinthians 15 and just read that part of it that we didn't read last week. 1st Corinthians 15 and beginning down around 1st 54, I think. Yeah, 1st 54. You know, we read down through the resurrection of the first fruits. And so 1st 54 and 1st Corinthians 15 says, so when this corruptible, you know, this decaying, decayable body that you and I are in, when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

Jesus Christ is the one who did that. He's the one who brought the victory over death. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's what he's saying there in Hebrews. That's what he's reminding us of. You know, it's Jesus Christ who gave us the victory. The only reason we have any hope of eternal life is because he died, he was resurrected, and he was brought to eternal life paying the sins for us, and God accepted his payment of his life for ours.

You know, in verse 58, if we are thankful, if we really do yet what God has done for us, if that's the forefront of our mind, you know, in verse 58, Paul concludes this section here of the chapter saying, therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. If you get it, he's saying, if you really appreciate Jesus Christ, what he said, it's more than just words saying, I appreciate it.

Show it by the way you live your life. Live it steadfast, holding to the truth. Be immovable. Don't move from the truth. Don't drift away from the truth. Stay there. Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and do the things he has called us to do and put your commitment to him. Now, let's turn back to Psalm 8 as well.

We look at Psalm 8 last week because that's the song where David is asking, what is man that you are mindful of him when we were talking about the angels. But up front in Psalm 8, the first couple of verses, we see that Jesus Christ, when he was born as a babe, there aren't as a nursing infant as you and I were, as he was born flesh and blood.

That's what he did. Psalm 8, verse 1, says, O eternal, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength. These weak, insignificant human beings that can't do anything by themselves, out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.

You know, we have the strength that comes from God's Holy Spirit, too, but it's Jesus Christ, flesh and blood, born as a babe just like you are, nursing infant just like you and I were. And out of him came the victory over the enemy, over Satan, over the devil. And so there in Hebrews 2, there in Hebrews 2, we have those verses that remind us of that. And one little verse, we're reminded of everything that Christ did because it's so much and so much he was willing to give up.

And again, in these chapters leading up to the doctrine that the people back then and the people today, you and I need to be refreshed on and make sure we are adhering to it in the way that God called us to. He reminds us of this. So we looked at verse 14 there. Let's move on to verse 15. Just remember, if you have a comment, you want to add something, just hit your microphone there and you can speak at any time and I'll pause.

Let me see. That he might destroy... okay, let me just pick it up in the middle of verse 15. You know the verse in 14 rather than me reading it all over again.

And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. He paid the price, you know, he shared in our physical bodies, our mortal bodies. He won the victory over death and Satan so that all of us could be released who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage. You know, fear of death, when you look at the word fear there, it can also be translated dread. And I don't know, I suppose that people do fear death. You know, sometimes I wonder if I wasn't in the church and as you get older and as you find yourself, you know, with a health problem here and a health problem there, do people fear death? And if they do, it may be because they just don't know what the future is. They have no idea is this all there is? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? What does life after death mean? And I suppose in that uncertainty, you would probably fear death, having absolutely no idea what was going to happen when you took your last breath. But you and I know the truth. You and I know the truth, but there is still some fear of death. We do whatever we can to avoid it. You know, that seems to be what happens in many cases. Fear of death, but Jesus Christ, while he knew his death was going to be painful, you never sensed that he feared it. You know, he knew what the future was. He knew on that last night that he would be resurrected and that he would then sit with God at his throne and that he would live forever. He had no doubt about that.

He had complete faith. And so this passing from this life was just part of the plan of God. And as you read of Paul, as he was facing death, he had the very same thought. You don't sense the fear in him. He didn't cling to this physical life with everything he could, and I'll do anything to hold on to it, because he really knew what the next phase was. He believed that. And we should, you know, this life is valuable. It's a training ground for us. We learn a lot through it, and I'm not saying we should take it flippantly. We should. We should cling to life. We should learn what it is that God gives us this time to learn and become who he wants. But as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, as we really are understanding everything that God has, the fear of death disappears. You know, when we read in 1 John 4 and it says, perfect love casts out fear. I think that probably has to do with the fear of death as well. Certainly the other things that we talked about a few weeks ago, and we talked about, you know, a world being held captive by fear. But certainly the fear of death, you know, that we understand that this is just the first part of our lives, of our eternal lives. And that if God determines at this time it's time for us to die, then the very next moment of consciousness will be there. So there is a release in knowing that truth and a release from that fear that's there, but those who are all their lifetime subject to bondage. And that word bondage, you know, is there an important word as well. You know, we talked in months past about slaves, and you know, how we were all slaves to sin in Romans 6, you know, verses 16 to 23. You remember those verses and it talks about, you know, we once gave ourselves and we were slaves to sin, but now God has called us and we are to be slaves to righteousness. Now we give ourselves to Him. Now we yield to Him. Now we don't do what our old evil carnal minds do, but now we do what God leaves us to through His Holy Spirit as He works in our mind and as that mind of Christ develops in us.

All our lives before that we were subject to bondage, but through Christ's death He released us from that bondage. Now there is that opportunity to to be free and to live with all the potential that God had in mind for us.

And that's something notable that Jesus Christ had because those in the world and those who don't understand the truth, that's something they don't get at all that you and I live with. And maybe, again, take for granted that we should always remember it's because Jesus Christ did all those things for us, we really do owe Him everything, our lives. And if we're not yielding our lives to Him, then we really are. Then we really are, you know, showing Him that it's just not that important to us. We just don't consider it that important. And I think sometimes when we make choices, you know, we need to stop and think, what does God think when I make this choice and tell Him in the face of everything He's done for me? It's just not that important, what you have said. It's more important what I want. You know, sometimes we can put ourselves, and as we've had children and over the course of their lives, you know, they know what our will is, and we learn, you know, they just like us will do things, and we can be frustrated with them. And we think, man, if you appreciated everything we did for you, you would have this feeling that you don't want to disappoint us, that you would do it because you appreciated and really loved the life that you have. But it's the same process that we go through. God looks at us, and, you know, thankfully He's very merciful with us as we learn. So, but, you know, verse 14 and 15, it reminds us of what Jesus Christ did. And then in verse 16, He takes it back again and shows us how important we are to Him, that He did these things. Verse 16, for indeed, He doesn't give aid to angels. You know, which of the angels did He ever become like them? Which of the angels did He ever lay down His life for them? Which of the angels did He do anything that He's done for us? For indeed, He doesn't give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Look at what He does for us. Look how important we are to God. Our is God that, and pleasing Him, that important to us, you know, we might ask ourselves.

I do want to stop there on the seed of Abraham, because I know that, you know, sometimes there are still questions about the seed of Abraham. When it says of the seed of Abraham, you know, some will look at it as kind of an ethnic comment, and it's talking about physical Israel. And certainly in the Old Testament times, it was physical Israel God was dealing with. We can read about the times after Jesus Christ returns, that there will be physical Israel that is brought back to their land. But when God is talking about the seed of Abraham in verse 16, He is not talking about physical Israel. He's talking about spiritual Israel. So none of all of us should know that, you know, you and I, once we're baptized, once we have God's Holy Spirit, we are His seed. Without it, without it, we are not. With it, we are His seed, just like that child that's in our wives' wounds, are our seed as it's being developed. Let's go back to Colatians here. Just make sure we all have the same understanding of this, and there's no confusion about what God is saying there as we go through Hebrews, and that we all, just like Jesus Christ, and we all are partakers of the same flesh, we all participate, we fellowship in that, you and I are partakers of, we're all participants in the seed of Abraham. Galatians 3 and verse 26. Anytime anyone doubts, anyone wonders about it, always go back to these verses because you and I are all the same in God's eyes. Galatians 3 and verse 26. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

No one excluded there. If God calls, when God calls, when we repent, when we're baptized, when He puts His Holy Spirit in us upon Jew and genuine repentance, you are all, we are all, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And he, you know, Acts 4 and 12 tells us it is Jesus Christ. There is no other name through which salvation comes than through Jesus Christ. God has given Him all honor and glory. He has put all authority under Him. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You made the right decision. You chose Him. You acknowledged what God has done for you and His calling for you. And you chose to have Christ in your life. You chose Him. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. It makes no difference what our ethnicity is. It makes no difference what our background is. It doesn't make any difference what color we are. We are all one in Christ Jesus.

That's simply the way it is. So, you know, when and then verse 29 here ties us right back to Hebrews 3. And if you are Christ's, which we are all, if we have gone through that process, if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So when we read an heir in Hebrews about the seed of Abraham, we know exactly who he is talking about. In the 60s AD, he was talking about the Christians who had chosen Jesus Christ, who were baptized. In the 21st century, he is talking about you and me. You and me and everyone who has gone through this. And he is reminding us, you know, look at the aid I give you. And then he describes what some of that is and why he is able to give that aid. In verse 17, therefore, and remember, whenever we see that word therefore, especially as we go through Hebrews, but really anywhere, think back on what we've just been talking about. Think back to what the author has just put in writing for us because he's drawing a clue conclusion. Okay, because we've talked about this and this and this. I reminded you of all these things. Therefore, in all things, he was be made, he had to be made like his brethren. That was part of the plan. There was no other choice. He had to be made like his brethren. That he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. You know, in order for him to be our example, in order for mankind, physical mankind, to move from physical, corruptible, mortal life into immortal life, we had to have a captain. We had to have that leader. We had to have that author and finisher of our faith. We had to have someone go before us that shows us it can be done and that he understands what we go through. You know, we can look at, well, if you want to flip over to Hebrews 4 verses 14, 15, and 16 there, it says, you know, we see our high priest, Jesus Christ. He was on earth. He went through the same things you and I do. Much worse things that you and I have gone through. The trials he went through are, uh-oh, our trials are nothing compared to him. The pain he went through, our pain is nothing compared to him. The faith that he had to show in God through all of that, you know, we will learn to have that same faith that he has. But he's been tempted in all points as we are. He's been tried in all points as we are. He knows what we're going through. He knows what it's like to be a human. When we have aches and pains, he knows it. When we get a bad health diagnosis, he knows what it, it's mean. He, he saw the people. He healed people of all problems at the time that he was on earth.

He knows it. And so he can empathize with us. And he's merciful. And he understands. And he can give us what we need. He can give us what we need because he very much wants us to succeed.

We have to trust in him and rely on him and learn to look to him for what we need. Not, you know, to forget about what our resources are, to forget about what the world's resources are, but to look to him in our times of trouble, in our times of need, in our times of trial, and learn, as we read in verse 13, that we may trust him.

And so there in verse, you know, verse, verse 17, it tells us why Jesus Christ had to be born as a human being, why he needed to, why he needed to, to become flesh and blood so that he could be merciful and that he could understand our frame and how weak we are. And he could be our faithful high priest who's watching out for us in things pertaining to God. He really watches out for us in all our ways, but really our lives, what we do at work, what we do at home, what we do in our marriages, what we do in child rearing, what we do in everything, it all pertains to God because we're not just Sabbath day Christians.

We're not just Holy Day Christians. We're not just evening Christians. We're 24 hour a day, seven days a week Christians, and all our lives pertain to God. How we, how we handle our jobs, how we handle our business, how we handle our interactions with other, how we handle our relationships with those in the church as well as those outside the church, everything, you know, so he's a faithful high priest and things pertaining to God because all we do pertains to God and our calling and the life that he's, that he's developing in us.

He had to be made like his brethren to make propitiation for the sins of the people. I think the old King James says for the, for the reconciliation of the people and reconciliation isn't really a good, isn't really a good translation of the Greek word there that that is translated in the new King James's propitiation. You know, yes, it's a propitiation has to be there before or Christ's sacrifice had to be there before there could be any reconciliation and so we are reconciled to God through his sacrifice. But the propitiation, if you recall, because I know a couple years ago I gave a whole sermon on propitiation, you know, it, it, what it really means is it's like an appeasement.

You know, God doesn't, didn't have to accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice. We all sinned. We all earned death. That's the bottom line. We all earned death. But the plan was that if Jesus Christ came to came to earth, that he was born in flesh and blood, that he would taste death for all of us, that his life, that his death, God would be appeased with his sacrifice that we, that our sins could be forgiven, and that he would pay the penalty of death that we've incurred for each of us.

You know, so there's, there's this appeasement process to propitiation. And when you look at the Greek word there, propitiation, there's only other, one other time in the New Testament that that Greek word is used. It's used here in Hebrews 2, 17, and the other place is back in Luke. And Luke 18, and I think it's noticeable because there are two other places that the word propitiation shows up, but they're not exactly the same Greek word.

Back in Luke 18, and verse 13, here in this account, Luke 18, Luke 18 and verse 13, here in this account where you have the publican praying, and then you have the tax collector praying, and the difference between their prayers as they come up before God. In verse 13, it says, the tax collector, standing afar off, wouldn't so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

The word merciful there is exactly the same Greek word as is translated propitiation in Hebrews 2, 17. Because when you look at the word, the Greek word there, well, it talks about appeasement. It talks about paying the penalty for someone else, and it has to be accepted by God to be that appeasement. There's an element of mercy to it, and it's notable, I think, that in that verse it talks about Jesus Christ's mercy. God's mercy on us is another thing I think we may take to for granted. God is a merciful God because he wants us to succeed. He knows our frame.

He knows our mindset. He knows what we're coming out of. He knows what our mind was like and how we have to progress from the time we're called and bathed to the time that we become spiritually mature until the time that Jesus Christ returns. He's merciful, but we shouldn't look at that mercy as something that we should, I mean, we can always count on it, but we need to be progressing and not needing that mercy as we grow and not just, oh, I sinned.

God will forgive me. Oh, I sinned again. God will forgive me. Because there comes a time when we are accountable for what we know, whether we're baptized or not, that we're accountable for what we know, and God will hold us accountable for that. So there is this element of mercy in this propitiation.

In Romans 3.25 when it talks about propitiation, it's the Greek word that's, I think, this one is 46.33. I don't know if I wrote that down. The other one is 46.35. When you look at it, it's got the same definition, but mercy isn't part of it. It's just the appeasement. So when you look at Romans 3.25 and the other place, I think it's in 1 John where it's mentioned, it's still appeasement. It's still paying someone, you know, Christ paying the penalty for us, and God accepts that. You know, remember that Jesus Christ, he was accepted by God when he rose up to heaven.

He was the sacrifice for mankind. It's the same word, but a little different. Mercy is not part of that word, which is interesting. Whatever God means by that, it's just something for us to contemplate, I guess. And then in verse 18, in verse 18, it says, for in that he... Mr. Shavey? Yes, ma'am. What chapter was that in Luke?

Luke 18. Luke 18 and verse 13. Thank you. For in that he himself... I'm back in Hebrews 2 verse 18.

For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted.

He can help us in a way that he couldn't help us if he had never partaken of being flesh and blood. If he hadn't participated with us in this frail, feeble, mortal body that we have now, he can do that. He can do that because he was a... he was a mortal... he was a mortal being, just as we are. So through chapters 1 and 2, we've learned an awfully lot as God reminds us, who is Jesus Christ, everything pointing to him, who is God the Father, he's there in heaven, he's directing things, he's commanding things. Jesus Christ is his willing, submissive servant who yields himself to him, who has done all these things and who did it for our benefit, you know, because the plan was that mankind had this tremendous future ahead of him that we haven't seen yet, as we're told in Hebrews 2, but we will see. We will see if we endure to the end.

So then as we move forward in this letter, this essay, or this treatise, whatever we want to call it into chapter 3, we see that word, therefore, again. So we see, you know, we've seen therefore in verse 17, drawing the conclusion, remember what Jesus Christ has done for us, then we've been given a little bit more. Chapter 3 verse 1, therefore, okay, pay attention to this, he says, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. We spent two chapters talking about Jesus Christ, better than angels, victor over flesh, victory over death. Now, our captain, our salvation, who is there to help us and to be an aid to us because he so wants us to be part of that kingdom that he has called us to be part of. And here's another verse we can spend a little bit of time on, therefore, holy brethren. So we see who this book is written to. You know, it's written to God's people. You know, holy brethren, holy means sanctified, people who are set apart, people with whom God is working. Should remind us of 1st Peter 2.9. We don't need to turn there. You know the chapter where it says, you were a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation who weren't the people before but now are the people of God. He has called. He is the one who has brought us together. And he has made us holy. It's his Holy Spirit in us that makes us holy. We're set aside for a purpose different than what the rest of the world is at now. Therefore, holy brethren, the book is written to you and me, to you and me and all that God would put in that category, those that have been called, that are led by his Holy Spirit, that he sees as children. Therefore, holy brothers, right? Brethren, you know, it's a family term. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers. There's that word partakers again, you know? Jesus Christ was our partaker with us in the flesh. We're all partakers and participants with each other in the flesh and blood. We understand what we go through. We understand, you know, not all the details, maybe of every single thing that we go through, but we understand we're frail bodies. We have tests, we have temptations, we have pains, we have aches, we have diseases, we have problems, we have relationship problems, we have the whole nine yard because we participate in this life together so we can empathize with one another, and we can encourage one another, as we'll see here in a few verses. But we're also partakers of the heavenly calling. God called. God called you and me. We were told very early on in chapter one, God the Father, no more supreme being in the entire universe or whatever word you want to use, God the Father looked down and said, I call you. He called us. That itself should motivate us and help us to see how important. Therefore, Holy Brother and partakers of the heavenly calling.

Consider, he says, consider the Apostle and High Priest. And let's pause on the word consider because it's an everyday word that we use all the time. But here when you look it up in the Greek, consider means to observe fully or attentively, to put one's eyes upon. Look at this one. Observe fully. Observe him fully. Don't just consider him like, yep, I know who he is. I know who he is. Look at him. That's what we've been doing through chapter one and two, right? We've been looking at Jesus Christ as God has painted the picture. Look at all he's done for us. Consider him. Consider him as we move into the next phase here of where he's going to compare Jesus Christ and how we need to look to him. Consider him. There's one other time in Hebrews that that word consider is used. And remember, it means to observe fully and to observe fully or attentively. And that other time it's used is in Hebrews 10 verse 24.

This is a verse that some may say I refer to too often, but I think it's a, you know, these verses are very significant to us in this day and age and well, all the words of the Bible are. But in verse 24 of Hebrews 10 it says, and let us consider, let us consider one another.

Let us, let us observe fully one another. Let us observe attentively one another. Let us keep our eyes on one another. Now that's more than just casually saying, oh yeah, I know, I know who they are. He's a good guy. She's a good lady. They're a good couple. Let us consider one another in one another in order to stir up love and good works. That tells me if we need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, if we need to consider who he is, and God uses the same word about us who are of the heavenly calling, partakers of the heavenly calling, who are part of the body that God has placed us in, you know, whatever congregation you are in, he wants us to know each other and he wants us to know each other for a reason. Remember that oneness that God is looking for. So if we go back, you know, here to chapter three and look at that word again and just read this verse again and see how much he's saying in this, therefore, as we move into another section of the letter here, therefore, holy brethren, addressed to you and me, partakers of the heavenly calling, God has called us all. We all have the same calling that he's given us. Consider Jesus Christ, our apostle, our high priest, Jesus Christ. Look at him attentively. Study him. Become disciples. Remember, disciples means that we not only study the words, but we study how he is. How did he behave? How did he interact? What was he like in life? That we become like him in mind and spirit and thoughts and the words we speak and the way we conduct ourselves. You know, not that we're all just like carbon copies of each other, but, you know, in the way that Jesus Christ did, with the unique personalities that he's given us as well, because when you look at the apostles, you don't see them all carbon copies of each other. They all had their own individual personalities, but they were of the same calling and they were all of the same mind. So therefore, brethren, consider Jesus Christ, verse 2, who was faithful to him, him being God the Father, who was faithful to him, who appointed him. Remember, God is the one who sent him to earth. God appointed him heir of all things. It was through Jesus Christ that all the heavens and the earth and everything in it was created. God the Father knew it. He's part of creation. Jesus Christ is the one through whom it was created, and Jesus Christ willingly submits to him, who was faithful to God. And remember the plan that he went, that he was even willing to let himself become partakers of flesh and blood, participate with us in that for us, you know, who was faithful to him, who appointed him as Moses, also was faithful in all his house. So now, so now we have one more thing to look at before we get into some doctrine, and that's Moses. And again, let's look at, you know, let's look at the Hebrews when this was written. They all, you know, the Hebrews would have come out of the Jewish religion.

They, as we, would hold, and as God holds Moses in high esteem. You know, Moses was a man who was faithful to God. He started off, you know, not sure of himself, giving God excuses. I can't do this. I can't do that, but look what God worked through him, through his life, as he yielded to God and simply did what he, what he had them to do, and God showed him every step of the way, I'll give you the power, I'll give you whatever you need in order to get this job done. And Moses did it.

So the Jews looked at Moses as, here's this man. He led Israel out of Egypt. He was there. I mean, he was there at Mount, you know, the base of Mount Sinai when God was slandering down, and Israel was like, don't even let God talk to us. You speak to him, Moses. We don't want to speak to him. You know, and God thundered down the commandments to Israel. But Moses brought him down from the mountain in those tablets of stone that God wrote those commandments on with his own finger, and God gave Moses the statutes, and through Moses, God did all the miracles that they saw during the times in the wilderness, the Red Sea, the water from the rocks, the meat, the manna, all those things that they saw. They held Moses in high esteem. In fact, back in Deuteronomy 18, you know, a verse that would have been so well known, so well known to the Hebrews at that time because they knew the Bible so much, know so much better than we do, you know, and verses that would just pop into their minds as they would hear these things. Deuteronomy 18, yeah, 18, actually.

18 verse 15. Yeah, 18, 15. The Lord your God will raise for you, will raise up for you a prophet, Moses is talking, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, him you shall hear. Now, that's a pretty big statement, right? You know, and God inspired it, and he preserved it for us, but you know, there will be a prophet like me. Moses was a considerable figure in the Old Testament. The Jews would have looked to him.

When we get into chapter 3 of Hebrews, God is addressing that. As important and as faithful and as loyal and as committed and as whatever word blameless of why we want to use and righteous that Moses was, Jesus Christ is more so. Better than the angels. He's had the victory over death, the victory over death, the victory over Satan. He's been mortal, and he's better. He's more glory than Moses, people. Moses you hold in high esteem. What about Jesus Christ? So that's what he's going to here in verse 2, and that's the next section here is as in look at Jesus Christ, let me get your attention here. What you're calling is what you should be looking at. What should be stimulating you as you think of these things. Verse 3, back in Hebrews 3, says as Moses in verse 2 was faithful in all his house for this one, speaking of Jesus Christ, has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Pretty blunt statement. For those who were reading in that day, they would have looked at that and thought, ah Jesus Christ, yes, more glory than Moses. There is no one to whom is more glory than him than God the Father, for this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in as much as he who built the house has more honor than the house.

Brother Shabe. Yes, sir. Say it here.

The comparison here is rather fine because there's a verse in John chapter 12 where Christ, because Moses, whatever guy, before that, in Isaiah last week we read a verse where Christ spoke of himself from the view of the Father. And also in Psalm 45, here he does the same again in Deuteronomy, where he's saying, okay, you guys don't want to hear me thunder from the mountain. Here's what the Father and I are going to do. I'm going to come because you said, let Moses speak to us. I'm going to come as a fleshly man. I'm going to speak to you. Let's see what you're going to do. And then in John 12, he says, anyone who doesn't hear the words that I've spoken from the Father, those words are going to be your final judgment. With Moses, you died once, but with this one, you will die the second day if you do not argue. But that shows the superiority, glory of its ministry. Very good. Very good. Yeah. Excellent. Yeah, the verses in that John 12, Marked on John 12, we can read that later. So that's very good.

I guess so. Yes. Yeah, this is Ted Rudd. Yes, Ted. Along these same lines, this was got to be one of the big contingents between the new Christian sect or whatever you want to call it back then. And the Jewish leadership was that the Christians, Paul and Peter and the others, were always being accused of wanting to do away with God's law and things like that.

And the contention was that Jesus was superior to Moses and the biggest hero to the Jews was Moses.

The Jews had many heroes. Joshua, they had King David and other heroes, but their biggest hero, the one they always respected the most, was Moses. And here was blatant statement that Jesus Christ is superior to Moses himself. And this was one thing that the writer of Hebrews had to get clear to the Hebrew people, especially his writers, readers, I mean, that Jesus is superior to Moses. And this was a clear statement now that couldn't be taken back any longer, that Jesus is superior to Moses himself. Yep. Very good. That's exactly the point he's making there. You know, as we look at it, maybe some of those Hebrew Christians who knew that found themselves maybe drifting away a little bit and going back and looking at Judaism and some things and whatever, and we're forgetting that for the author here to draw their attention to it. Moses was a good man. Cannot, you know, we can't say anything negative about him, but Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is more glory to him than Moses. And he, then in verse three there, he says, you know, he's telling us that Moses, the house that Moses built, right? Not that house that Moses built. The house that God built in Moses, right? You and I, we talk about this, you know, God is building a temple in you and I individually. He's building a temple in his church as well. So the collective temple that he's building, there's an individual temple that he's building in us as well, as we allow him to build it. You know, we have to be willing participants. We have to have him as the chief cornerstone and never forget that. We have to add bricks and add the mortar and all those things from the Bible as we allow him to build that house. But he is the builder. We're the house. If we build our house upon that rock, if we build our house to his specifications, as his Holy Spirit gives us the ability, the power, the desire to do that, you know, that's good. That's commendable. That's exactly what we should be doing. But our house doesn't at all compare to the one who built that house in us. More glory goes to the builder. You and I are the house. Moses was the house, but Jesus Christ is the one who built the house. Therefore, he has more honor than the house. The house has some honor for a job well done, for following the instructions and the specifications and doing the building job over the course of time and getting it done in time, ready for when, ready for when Christ returns, I guess.

But it was God who built the house in Moses as Moses yielded to him, as God who builds the house in us individually and collectively. You know, we should just take a minute just to go back to Acts, you know, just refresh our minds on that, you know, in Acts 7 and also Acts 7. And then I wrote that down. Acts 7 verse 48, also in Acts 17 verse 24.

You know, it tells us, it tells us that God doesn't dwell today in temples made by hands.

You know, as the Jews, in a few years from the time the book of Hebrews was written, they were going to watch that temple just be taken away. It was going to be destroyed. Not one stone left upon another. And so whatever they might have felt about it, they watched that that God no longer was dwelling in that temple. He was not dwelling in them. Stephen is about to be stoned here for what he's saying to, you know, to the Pharisees here.

It says, verse 48, however, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says. He dwells in temples that are you and I, spiritual temples, as our hearts and minds are converted and transformed into who he wants us to be. Verse 49, heaven is my throne, he quotes from Isaiah 66, heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has my hand not made all these things?

So he's saying, you know, what could you possibly do on your own? Your house can only be pleasing to me if I build it, right? And verse 51, you know, he goes right from that, as Stephen is talking to here, the same thing that we're going to see later on in Hebrews 3 here. He says in verse 51, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so do you. Now, God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, he dwells in us. That's where he's building his temple today. And there is a group of people who just won't listen.

And as we go through Hebrews 3, we're going to see that here in a few verses.

People, remember this is addressed to the holy people in verse 1. Christians, you know, that are receiving this essay, treatise, sermon, whatever we want to call it. And so, you know, we know what God is talking about here in verse 3 when he's talking about him building his temple in us. In verse 4, back in Hebrews 3, it says, for every house, every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God. He's the one who builds it, you know? Every house has to be built by someone. It's God. You know, we won't turn to 1 Corinthians 3 verses 9 through 16 or 17 in that area where it talks about, you know, we are the temple of God. And when we defile the temple of God by what we do, what we say, what we are doing in our lives, I mean, we're defiling the temple of God. When we allow our bodies or our minds to do the things that we allow it to do that are apart from what his purpose, what his will, what his way of life dictates to us, when we do that, we're defiling that temple. And the author here in Hebrews 3 is reminding us that it's God who's building the house. We should be building it to his specifications. Verse 5, Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. So God continues to commend Moses here. He's not putting Moses down. He's not saying, you know, Moses is inferior. There was a problem with Moses at all, just as he did with the angels. What the angels do in heaven, they do their jobs perfectly, exactly what they were created to do. And there's joy in heaven as they do what God created them to do, and they do it willingly, and they do it exactly the way God has trained them to do that. And Moses did the same thing. Moses indeed was faithful in all his house. He was a man, you know, he God calls David a man after his own heart. Moses was there too. He had given his heart to God. He was faithful in all his house as a servant, as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterwards. Now the word servant there, you know, we talked back when we were talking about slaves and the word doulos, if you recall, back the Greek word doulos, and we went through all those verses about slaves, and we were slaves of sin, we're slaves of righteousness, and what it meant to be a servant or a slave in those days. You know, this word servant that's translated servant here isn't doulos. This word isn't doulos, and it is something, it is another word that has higher meaning than that.

I meant to go back and write that down. I didn't write down what that word servant means when you look it up in the in the in the Greek, but it's just a higher thing. It's something that's commendable. So God is giving Moses a compliment here. Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant. He was there someone who was attending to God. I mean, what higher commendation than that is. I'm a servant of God. You know, slaves, slaves, yes, but this isn't slave. This is someone who's been elevated, someone who, this word servant means a little bit more, a lot more than slave does. So God is commending Moses and saying, yeah, Moses, yeah, he's good. Look to his example, but his example is nothing like Jesus Christ. He was a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterwards. He did what God said. He was worthy to bring down the law and God trusted him to pass on the words to his servants. But verse 6, but, you know, he was good when he did, but verse 6, Christ as a son over his own house. Moses was a good servant. Moses was a good attendant. Moses was a good whatever that word is in the Greek there, you know. But God, but Jesus is a son. He's his son. Christ is a son over his own house. More glory to the son than to the servant. More glory to the builder of the house than to the house itself. But Christ is a son over his own house. Whose house we are. Whose house we are. If, if we, I'm sorry, if we hold, let me finish this, then I'll stop. If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, firm to the end. Okay, let's go ahead. Mr. Shaby. Yeah, just a real quick comment.

I looked up the word in the Greek and in the servant, right? It's not translated anything else. It actually is servant from the Greek. So yeah, so I don't know what were you thought it might have been. Well, you know, I said that this afternoon and whoever looked it up this afternoon gave what the meaning of it was too. And it wasn't just service. It's not slave, we know that, but it had a little different meaning than that. So I'm not sure they were looking at the same thing I did. I just looked at it in the long screen coordinates. Well, they may have been looking at the modern Greek, not the Korean Greek. Okay. Right. I just looked up in the old Greek just now and it was servant the way it was translated there. Okay. Well, yeah, they must have been looking in Strong's. It has a little bit different definition to that. It is. Yeah, that's possible. It is servant, but but not slave. Yeah, Mr. Shaby. Yes. Yeah, in the Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown commentary, it says, translate as a servant. It says not here the Greek for slave, but it says a ministering attendant marking the high office of Moses toward God, though inferior to Christ, a kind of a steward.

That's a steward. I thought about steward, too. Yeah. Okay. A cherished attendant.

So God is showing what he's showing you. Say Moses. Hey, Moses. Good guy, right? Jesus Christ is the son, though. Mr. Shaby? Yes. Yeah, this is Ted Rudd, again, in here. I recall that Miriam and his sister, Moses' sister, and others back during that time had often questioned Moses' position and what right he had to speak for God over and above all the other people, including Miriam and like that. And Jesus Christ, or God, answered and said that with other people, he would speak to them in visions and dreams. But with Moses, he spoke to him face to face, and he referred to Moses as his friend, which placed him superior. Also, thinking about this, we've already read and gone over previously that the children of God are joined heirs with Jesus Christ. God used Moses back then to build his physical nation of Israel.

Jesus Christ today is building his spiritual nation in here, which we are all a part of.

So we consider that Moses was used by God to build a spiritual nation, I mean, his physical nation. Christ is used to being used to build a spiritual nation. So it places Christ superior to Moses as Christ is building a spiritual nation, not just a physical nation of kings and priests and things like that. So that's how one main way that Christ is superior to Moses. Moses was a servant and a joint heir with Christ, but Christ is the one in charge.

The firstborn among many brethren. Right. Okay, very good, very good. Since Jesus Christ is God, he's been spiritually perfect since eternity. That's a big difference. Before he turned it back, absolutely. Yep. Okay, well, let's look at the rest of verse 6 here, because whenever we see an if, we should pay attention to what's if. Christ is the Son over His own house, whose house we are if, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. You know, firm to the end. Just like Jesus Christ said, enduring to the end. As we read in the book of James, the epistle of James, enduring to the end, patient endurance until the end.

It's not no matter of just being baptized and receiving the Spirit, it has to be the continual growth and the endurance to the end and standing firm and steadfast, immovable, as it said in 1 Corinthians 15 at the end of the chapter we read there, until the time of the end. Whose house we are if we do that.

Okay, verse 7. Here's another therefore. Now we've drawn this conclusion, Jesus Christ, in all things that we can throw up, you know, to God, if we want to throw these things at Him, better than this, better than this, better than this, better than this, better than most is therefore, as the Holy Spirit says. Today, right? Today, this New Testament age, 62-68 AD, whenever the book of Hebrews was written, today in 2020, today in this New Testament age, if you will hear His voice, and there's that word if again, if you will hear His voice.

Now, I'm gonna, we're gonna go back to Psalm 95 and just read it out of Psalm 95 because the author there quotes from Psalm 95, and whenever we see the very many references back in the Old Testament, it's a validation of the words that were said there.

It's the same gospel, same doctrine, same law between the Old and New Testament, physical Israel versus spiritual Israel, yes. But let's go back to Psalm 95 and we'll see the exact words that were written here. Put in the context of what God was looking at in physical Israel. There they saw God's miracles. They saw the physical things that He did. Today we see God at work in our lives, not in the same way as the Red Sea, unless we're really looking at our lives and looking for the miracles, you know, that may come more and more as we as we head toward the return of Jesus Christ, but we'll see what His plan is.

At the end of verse 7 of Psalm 95 is where this quote begins. Today, today, if you will hear His voice, you know, we're gonna look at this and say, you know, again, will you hear His voice? You may hear the words, but are you getting the message? Today, if you will hear His voice, don't harden your hearts, as in the rebellion. Don't harden your hearts. Back then they saw all these wonderful physical miracles God did, but you know what? They just didn't do what God told them to do. They just didn't. They just didn't do it. It's like, you know, we don't have to. That doesn't apply to me.

We can do this anyway. You know, they would look at the nations around them. They would do this. They would do that. Don't harden your hearts as in the rebellion. We can do, and where there's this in Hebrews is because as Christians, we can do the same thing. We can hear the words, but do we hear His voice? We can hear His words, but we can harden our hearts and think, you know, I've heard it all.

It doesn't apply to me, and we just keep doing the same thing we're doing because we don't, we're not building the house, and we just kind of, we just kind of put a veil over ourselves. I'm going to pull something up here that, um, did I not have it? Well, now you know what? I had something here. I must have, uh, I must have, uh, closed it out already. Anyways, on hardening our hearts, and it talks about how when we're hard, and it came from Barnes' notes, that when we harden our hearts, we're just kind of stubborn.

We just don't pay attention. We don't let it sink in. We justify it for ourselves what it is we're doing and think, ah, I'm doing God's will, even though others might see what we're doing isn't God's will, even though the Bible, we're not doing it exactly to the way the Bible is written, but we just kind of steal it.

So, you know, we can, we can, we can keep doing the same things even when we overhear the words and lull ourselves to sleep, right? Today, if you'll hear His voice, don't harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness. We're in a day of, we're in the day of trial in the wilderness. I mean, we're living in this wilderness time until God brings us to the promises that He's given us. We have trials, we have temptations. This is a time of testing for us, just as it was for the physical Israelites, when they were wandering the desert for 40 years.

For us, too. Don't harden your hearts. I'm perfecting you. I'm training you. I want you to be there. I want you to do it, but you're going to have to do it my way, and you'll be my way, God is saying. Don't harden your hearts, as in the day of rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness. When your father's tested me, you know, we know how they tested him. We don't believe you can give us water. We're going to complain about this. We're tired of manna. We want meat, and everything that God did. We're not going to do it his way. When the scouts went and God said, you're well able to take the land, they said, no, we can't.

There's no way we can take the land. The people are too big. The cities are too fortified. When your father's tested me, you know, God was merciful through all of that. They tried me, though they saw my work.

Do we test God? Do by the things that we do, even though we're told that that isn't the way God would have us do it, the way we behave ourselves, the way we conduct ourselves, maybe the way we even keep the Sabbath day? No. When your father's tested me, they tried me. Though they saw my work, they knew I called them. I was leading them. For 40 years, I was greed with that generation. And I think in Hebrews it says, for 40 years, I was angry with that generation. God was, you know? It's like how thick-headed, how stubborn, how obstinate can you be? Do you see what I've done for you? Do you see I brought you out of Egypt? Do you see that I'm taking you to a promised land? He would say the same thing to us. Do you see in here first three chapters of Hebrew, do you see what I've done for you? Do you see the opportunity? You know, such a physical word that there's no word that fits what God has given us. You know, do you see the calling I've given you? Does it mean anything to you? For 40 years, I was grieved with that generation.

They just had said it's the people who go astray in their hearts.

I think in Hebrews it says they always go astray in their hearts. You know, the people back then, they didn't have God's Holy Spirit. We do. And we're called to love God with all our heart, mind, heart, mind, and soul. It's the people who go astray in their hearts. They make excuses. They justify. They do the things that they want to do. And they don't obey me, and they don't follow me, and build the house that I'm building in them exactly to my specifications. And they don't know my ways. And they don't know my ways. You know, he says that same thing there to the holy people in Hebrews 3. We might read Matthew 7 verse 21, where it says people come to God and say, you know, Lord, Lord, didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do these things in your name?

And he says to them, get away from me, you who practice lawlessness. Lord, Lord, he said, I don't know you. I don't know you. Those words are written to the holy people.

You know, will some of us be some of those people? Certainly the so-called Christian religions in the world, certainly, who disregard everything in the Bible and worship God on the day they want and the way they want and the holidays they want. But even people in the church may one day find themselves with God saying to them that I don't know you. You didn't follow my ways.

You didn't follow my ways. You didn't hear my voice. John 10, my sheep know my voice, and they follow. They follow their shepherd. Verse 11, verse 11, you know, here it got fulfilled for the Old Testament Israelites. So I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. And they didn't. They didn't get into the Promised Land. They all, they all fell. It was a later generation that went in there. But he says that again in Hebrews 3, if we go back there.

They will not enter into my rest. You know, that that word rest bears a little bit of discussion, you know, that we're not going to do tonight. But you may be thinking about that word rest, because the word rest is thrown around a lot in cultures. And we may, you know, this rest is something, something we want to pay attention to. And God says to His holy people in 62, 68 AD, in 2020, you know, so I swear in my wrath because they haven't known my ways, because they haven't listened to my voice, because they become dull of hearing, as Jesus Christ said, right, just a few months ago, I, I spoke about being dull of hearing. And what Christ said in Matthew 13, they become dull of hearing, if they would just open their ears, if they take the earplugs out, if they take the blinders off their eyes, if they would do what I say, and not look at it through their own eyes, but my eyes, if they would hear it not through their ears what they want to hear, but my ears, what I want them to hear, I'd heal them. I'd heal them. But they don't do it. They do it their own way. Verse 11, so we swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest for those of us in this day and age, we want to enter into God's rest. We want to enter into those promises.

But he gives us some things here in a warning in, in, in verses 7.

You know, do not harden your heart. Don't become dull of hearing.

I swore in my wrath because they angered me. They tested me. They tried me. They didn't listen to what I said. I was patient with them. I was merciful to them.

But when the time came to there, they just weren't there. So I swore they won't enter into my rest.

Now later on, you know, we're going to begin a section here that's going to take us through chapter 4. That's, you know, that people still have some questions on. We get that in the chapter 4, verse 9. But, you know, we'll begin here. Two more verses and then we'll call it a night.

Beware therefore. Again, here's a warning. The author is telling us, you know, listen, because here in your ages, those of you who have been in the church 20, 30, 40, 50 years, beware. Are you hardening your hearts? Are you dull of hearing? Are you really paying attention to my law? Are you really getting it? Are you really listening? Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. You know, we know from Jeremiah 17, 9, we know from Romans 8, 7, our hearts are evil. You know, they're wicked. They're wicked. Who can know it? So God says, you know, people who have this attitude, who are just hardening their hearts and it doesn't apply to me, I'm going to do what I want, and you know, I've got one foot in and one foot out, and I'm not moving in God's direction consistently and on an ongoing basis.

Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart, he says, of unbelief. Unbelief. You know, faithlessness, that is. You don't really believe. You don't really trust. As we read back in chapter 2, verse 13, I don't put my trust in him. I'll say I put my trust in him, but I'll do these other things along the way because I don't fully trust in him yet. We all progress to the point where we fully trust in him and the things that we do and in the trials that confront us. Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. I remember, as I've said many times, when you look at the word believe and believe and faith in the Bible. It's it's histoio, it's pistis, it's the faith that's life-changing, that goes down to the soul. That you believe so much that it changes your behavior, it changes the way you think. Evil heart of unbelief. You know, you are probably thinking, as I give that word, belief, of the man who, you know, Jesus Christ cast the demons out of his son. And Jesus Christ said, back in Mark, I wrote it down here, Mark 5, Mark 9, Mark, yeah Mark 9, tomorrow says 23 to 24. And Christ said, everything is possible if you believe.

And the man said, Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief. You know, he wanted to believe. Well, you all want to believe, but maybe we need to ask God sometimes, could there be, could my heart have any unbelief in it? Is what I'm doing, could you open my mind to understand, is there a heart of unbelief in me that I need to be weeding out that needs to become more like you? Because there apparently are some people in the end times who have a heart of unbelief that won't enter into the rest of God because of this heart of unbelief, because he says, beware, don't let it happen to you. Don't drift away. Don't let these things happen as you get further and further and further from the faith which was once delivered to you to what you learned in the beginning.

Notice what he says in the last part of verse 12 there. Beware, there's any, unless there's an evil heart of unbelief in departing. You know, starts with drifting and departing from the living God. None of us want to depart from God. Verse 13, ending verse here, because it's throughout Hebrews, we can't get away from it, but exhort, but encourage. There is the word, but, okay, there may be some you may see of the people around you when you're paying close attention to them, when you're getting to know them, when you love them, and when you're praying for them to be in the kingdom as well, you may see some people who have a heartened heart. You may see some people who are just disregarding things and acting like they're not paying attention, but they just keep doing the same things. It's like, are you listening? But exhort one another daily. Daily, right? Not just on the Sabbath. Daily. Get to know each other, communicate with one another, develop a relationship that's more than just, hey, how you doing? How'd your week go? But exhort one another daily. Well, let's call today. Today, the new Christian age, the age of the Holy Spirit, that God is working with his people until the return of Jesus Christ, when this age ends and the new age begins. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. You know, we've read many times what sin can be when it's not of faith and it was not of trust as of sin, and sin can blind us, pride can blind us, the deceitfulness of sin can make us think we're doing okay and we don't have to do, we don't have to pay attention to the degree that we, God, tells us to pay more attention.

Let's stop there for this evening and I will open it up for any comments or any discussion.