KASUMIGAOKA
2017/12/03
SERMON: “A Savior Greater Than Moses” 「モーセよりも優れた救い主」
TEXT: Hebrews 3:1-6
I. INTRODUCTION
The epistle to the Hebrews frequently urges Christians to remain faithful to God. Believers long ago, just as today, faced distractions and temptations that beckoned them to give up their quest for the kingdom of God. So the writer of Hebrews repeatedly insists, as he does in 3:6, that we who are Christians must “hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” In Hebrews 2:1 he had said, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” For, “how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?” (2:3) Christians must persevere in their faith, even when the road before them is rough and steep and discouraging. We may think, “There must be an easier way!” And, of course, there is an easier way. But it will not lead us where we want to go. “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13-14). The life that Christ calls us to lead in this world is often difficult and always challenging. But we must not give up. Hebrews shows us how we can be successful in living by faith in this fallen world. We are given both positive encouragements, and warnings about what we must avoid. The first 6 verses of chapter 3 contain positive encouragements. Let’s examine these encouragements more closely.
II. ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PERSEVERE IN FAITH
A. Set Your Mind on Jesus
The first of these great encouragements is shown to us in 3:1. Here, Hebrews tells us to set our minds upon Jesus. We often set our minds, instead, upon the things of this world—our health, our appearance, our families, our jobs, etc. When we do this, we tend to become either proud of our successes, or discouraged by our failures. Hebrews says, “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.” Thinking about Jesus should give us encouragement. He is the “Apostle” whom God the Father has sent to lead us. God the Father has spoken to us through Jesus the Son. Furthermore, Jesus is the “High Priest” who represents us. He is the One Mediator between God and man. He has interceded with the Father for our sakes, and He has offered up the only sacrificial offering that can atone for our sins. Think about this Savior whom God has provided for us. The apostle Paul gives us the same advice in Colossians 3:1-3. “Since, then, you have died and you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Jesus Himself also taught His disciples, “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20). “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). What kind of treasure was Jesus talking about? It was not silver and gold and the riches people seek in this life. We can take none of those things to heaven! The treasure we have as Christians is the hope of eternal life, eternal joy, and peace with God; in fact, our treasure is in Christ Himself, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven! We who have received a “heavenly calling” should think more about Jesus, and less about ourselves. We should think more about the hope that is laid up for us in heaven, in the presence of Christ, and less about the riches and the pleasures that most people around us are seeking. This will encourage us to be faithful to Christ, the “Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.” Remembering Jesus will encourage you to persevere! Hebrews 12:1b-3 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with endurance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” If we fix our thoughts upon Jesus and consider His exalted glory and power, we who serve Him will be encouraged to persevere.
B. Jesus’ Faithfulness to the Father.
Hebrews offers us a second reason for encouragement in vv. 2-4. It says that Jesus was “faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.” Why should this encourage us to persevere in serving Christ? We can understand this if we consider how God blessed the work of both Moses and Jesus. Hebrews compares Jesus to Moses, the great prophet who led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and guided the establishment of Israel as a nation. Because Moses was faithful to God, the Lord God blessed him and gave him success. Just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house, so was Jesus faithful to the One who appointed Him. Of course, Moses was faithful to the people he led, too. But the most important things Moses accomplished, he did because he was faithful to the Lord God. We must remember this, too. The people of Israel were guided safely out of slavery and eventually to the promised land because Moses was faithful to the Lord. God blesses those who are faithful to Him. Because Moses was faithful to the Lord who appointed him, the Lord also blessed those who followed him. Through Moses God’s blessing also came to his people. How was Moses faithful in all God’s house? There are two things that we should remember about Moses’ faithfulness to God. First, we should remember that Moses had to make a difficult choice when he was a young man. He was a descendant of Abraham, but he had been raised and educated in the royal household of Egypt. When he was grown up, he had to choose whether he would live his life as a poor man among the people of God, or whether he would continue to enjoy a life of wealth and privilege as a member of the royal Egyptian household. He chose to serve God and join the people of Israel. In Hebrews 11:25-27 it says, “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” Moses chose to follow the Lord God, even though he had to give up the pleasures and the treasures of the king’s palace. This shows the depth of Moses’ faith in God and the “cost” of being faithful to God. But Moses made the right choice; he chose to belong to God’s family.
A second thing we should remember about Moses is that he was faithful to God over many years, in very difficult circumstances. The most difficult time of Moses’ life did not begin until he was 80 years old! The last 40 years of Moses’ life was a time of severe physical and spiritual testing. That was the time that Moses spent in the wilderness, leading the stubborn and complaining “people of God.” If Moses had not persevered, surely no one would have arrived safely in the land that God had promised. But Moses was faithful. He led the people as God had instructed him, through many difficult experiences. They faced hunger and thirst, wild beasts, and enemy armies. All of those hardships tempted the Israelites to renounce their hope of a new life in a better land. They often felt like giving up and returning to the life they formerly had in Egypt. But Moses kept his eyes upon God. Because Moses focused on God and His promises, he was able to deal with the daily challenges and difficulties facing his people in the wilderness. Because Moses was faithful to God, God eventually brought the people to their promised “rest” at the end of the journey. We will learn more about how God fulfilled this promise in chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews. God cared for the people of Israel because Moses was faithful to the Lord. But the main point in our text does not concern Moses or the ancient people of Israel.
The main point is that Jesus is a faithful Savior of His people, like Moses who led his people to freedom long ago. But Jesus is worthy of even more honor than Moses. Jesus is worthy of greater honor than Moses for two reasons. First, Jesus was faithful to God as the Builder of God’s house, but Moses was faithful as a member of God’s household. The word “house,” in Hebrew as well as in Greek, means both the “building” and the people who live in it. So the word “house” came to mean “household” (all the people living in one house). Moses was faithful to God as a member of the “house of God”—that is, the “house, or family, of Israel.” But Jesus was faithful to His heavenly Father as the “Builder” of His house. As Jesus had said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “I tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” As a wise builder, Jesus plans His church carefully. He chooses the location where He will build. He gathers the building materials. He lays a solid foundation. And He designs every feature of the “building.” No house—and no church—can build itself. Jesus is the Builder of God’s house. Just as a builder carefully places each stone in its proper place in the walls of a house, so also Jesus places each person—like a “living stone” in the place He has prepared for him or her in the structure of His Church. Consider the following verses that describe the “house” that Christ Jesus is building: (Eph. 2:22) “And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” (1 Tim. 3:15b) “God’s house is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
As Christians, do you ever criticize the Church that Jesus is building? I know that I do. The Church is in such terrible disarray. There are so many different denominations and the churches seem so divided and weak! All of these churches hold such diverse opinions about how Christians should live and what they should believe! And Christ’s Church is often despised and ridiculed among those who are called cultured and wise. If we think that the Church is merely one of man’s many inventions, it is difficult to avoid being discouraged. But Hebrews tells us that the Church is not being built by men, but by God. The Lord Jesus is building His Church. If Jesus is the Builder, His Church will not fail. He will make His Church strong and glorious, because it is the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit. This is a great encouragement for Christians who are tired and disheartened. Christ is building His Church in the world to show His glory, and we are like “living stones” being built together according to Christ’s perfect design. We should not be discouraged!
In verses 5-6, Hebrews tells us that there is a second reason why Jesus is worthy of more honor than Moses. Moses is a “faithful servant” in God’s house, but Jesus the Son is Master over His house. The Son has far more authority and power than a servant. Jesus the Son is the exact representation of His heavenly Father, and He completes the work that only God could accomplish. He redeems His people by making atonement for our sins. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future.” As Moses faithfully served the Lord in his day, he also prophesied about how God would complete the redemption of His people in the future. Moses faithfully declared God’s word to his own generation, and he faithfully led the people of Israel out of Egypt and through the desert in their journey to the promised land.” But Moses could not redeem his people. He could write God’s Law on tablets of stone, but he could not write that Law on the hearts of his people. Only Christ could accomplish that. God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people” (Jer. 31:33). Christ is the Mediator of that New Covenant. He completed the redemption of God’s household. “Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house.”
God’s house belongs to the Son! He is the heir of all that belongs to His Father. Of course, He cares for His own house. Of course He will protect it, maintain it, and make it beautiful, because a house reflects the character of its owner and occupant. Christ, the Son of God, who sits at the right hand of His Father is building His Church to display His own glory in the world! He is building His house to last forever, and there His glory will dwell. “And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.” Surely that is great encouragement for us to persevere.
III. CONCLUSION
Today’s message should be easy to remember. First, set your mind on Jesus, not on the passing pleasures of this world or its riches. If you do this, you will find encouragement to cast off the sin that entangles you, and persevere in your faith and Christian obedience. Second, remember both the example of Moses and the incomparably greater work of Jesus. Both were faithful to the Lord, and the Lord blessed those who were led by them. If you are following the Lord, He will bring you safely through the challenges of this world, because He is absolutely faithful. He is the Builder of God’s house—the Church. And He is the Son–the Master of God’s house–whose house you are, if you hold firmly to your confidence and hope in the gospel to the end.