You'll remain standing and if you have a Bible that you may have brought with you where you can turn to Hebrews chapter three or take a provided Bible, which is hopefully underneath the seat in front of you, page 1002. We're continuing our look into the book of Hebrews. We're considering a series on Advent called Jesus, the better gift. So we're looking this morning at Hebrews chapter three, verses one through six, and I'll read those verses for us. Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Oh, God, would you please help us to hear, help us to understand Help us to respond to and apply your word this morning. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. I was thinking just the other day that. I have already in. My life attended many cross country meets. I believe it or not, I ran cross country in high school and I have two sons that have followed in my illustrious footsteps and have taken up the sport as well, and they run cross-country, and so I've been to a bunch of them. And, you know, cross-country is just kind of a different sport, you know. It's just endurance. There's not much glamour to it. And it's just, you know, the t-shirts that the kids can get at their cross-country meets will say on the back, you know, my sport is used by your sport as punishment. That's more or less true. And so when you're at a cross-country meeting and you're cheering on your own children or their teammates, you're just pleading with them to push on, push through the pain, push yourself, hang on, endure. That's the type of cheering that goes on at a cross-country meeting. Really, that's the type of cheering we're getting from Hebrews chapter 3 this morning. The whole book, for that matter, is a call to endurance. It's a call to persevere. The Christian life is likened to a race, to a marathon. Let me read to you from 1 Corinthians 9. The Apostle Paul says, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. You know, the Greek culture would give that wreath with which you're familiar to the winner. And so Paul likens Living the Christian life to running the race, enduring, hanging on, persevering. And this really relates well to the season of Advent, because Advent is that season in which we're looking forward. Now, truly, we don't necessarily look forward because Jesus has come, but we're engaged in that season of anticipating Christmas. But do you remember Simeon? Remember that name Simeon from Luke's Gospel, Chapter two? I'm going to read that for you. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting, he was waiting, he was enduring, for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And as we're told in Luke 2, Mary and Joseph come to present Jesus in the temple as an infant, as was the custom for the firstborn son. They're following that custom. And Simeon sees this baby held in the arms of his mother. And he says, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, that you prepare the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. So Simeon had held on until God's promise was fulfilled. He held on by looking forward and he rejoiced to know that promise was kept. He endured. And that's the call upon us this morning is to endure, is to hang on. Now, we're not looking forward like Simeon. We, in a sense, look back. And let's be reminded that this whole epistle, this whole letter was written to people who are wrestling with doubts and questions. And the nature of their doubts and questions was this. Have we made a mistake by turning from Judaism, so to speak, to turn to Christianity as one way of expressing it? We put our faith in Jesus. Is this misplaced trust? And the author of Hebrews, he's writing to Hebrew Christians, he's saying it's well-placed trust. Jesus is better. He's better. He's superior. And last week we saw he's better than angels. And what we've read so far this morning is, look, he's better than Moses. Now, if that wouldn't rock the boat of a Hebrew Christian with a background in Judaism, that would certainly get their attention. Jesus is better even than Moses. And so this this passage is to call us to hang on, to persevere, to keep on keeping on. And we're going to structure our look at these first six verses in this way. How are we to persevere in this way? Let's don't give in. Let's don't give up and let's don't give out. Don't give in. Don't give up and don't give out. Just one way of summarizing the truths of this passage, let's think, first of all, then about how this passage would would urge us, don't give in, don't give in. Look at just the first half of verse one, chapter three. Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling. That's how this portion of scripture begins, it starts with who we are. What it means to be a Christian. What is it saying about Christians? What is it saying about those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ? We're saying you're holy. You're set apart for God's purposes. You're sanctified. You're holy. You're brothers. In other words, you're part of a family. You're united to God. You're united to his people. Later in the same epistle, the writer will say that Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers. So you're holy, you're brothers, and you share in a heavenly calling, a heavenly vocation. You're called to be God's special possession. You share in a glorious position. You're given a glorious new status as sons and daughters of God. And so this passage and exhorting us to hang on and persevere starts with remembering who we are, who we are. So I would say don't give in means don't give in to doubt. Don't give in to doubting who you are. Lincoln Duncan says this regards to this passage. You must live by faith. Sometimes you do not feel like any of these three things are true about you. But if you are a believer, if you're trusting in Christ, all three of those things are true of you. And even when you don't feel it, you must walk by faith. Believe it or not, I feel like we could sum up an exhortation here in one you've heard many times from this pulpit, and that is. Spend more time talking to yourself than listening to yourself. Spend more time talking to yourself, being reminded and reminding yourself of the truth of Scripture about who you are than listening to yourself, listening to doubt. Listening to questions. If indeed you are in Christ and your trust and hope is in him, you know this. Practice seems to be going a bit by the wayside, and that's big family reunions. I just. I mean, I haven't been a part of one in a long time. Now, when I was a kid, I remember that we would make this a pilgrimage to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. That's where my mother's family is all from. So you need to know we're the prodigals in the family by virtue of having gone away from Tuscaloosa to the loveliest village on the plain, Auburn. All right. So we're not we're we're persona non grata. Maybe that's why they're having the reunions or not inviting us. I don't know. But they would always be in Tuscaloosa. I was a kid and it was the Kaiser family reunion. That's my grandmother's maiden name. And so we would go and there'd be all this food. And as a kid, I just I just have, you know, I have images. I can remember my great grandfather being there, the patriarch of that side of the family and everybody gathering around him. And I can remember talking to him briefly. They were big deals. But one of the things I've noticed, certain families still have those traditions, the big family reunion, and they'll have T-shirts made up. You ever seen these? The so-and-so family reunion. They'll wear them. They'll have them made up. Everybody gets one. They'll wear them to the reunion. And it's this mark of identification that they're part of the family. It just heightens the celebration, the joy of being together. Well, can I suggest to you, as I have already, that's what we've done this morning by applying the sign of baptism. We've given a jersey. We've given a mark that we belong to God's family, and we need to be reminded, even as we see others being baptized, we're reminded of our own baptism and that we bear that mark as well, that we belong to Jesus' family. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are here for us to get vivid and strong and powerful reminders. This is who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are a set apart. holy family of faith, and we share in a great and glorious destiny. Now, when I say holy family of faith, I don't mean we're a church full of perfect people who never sin. That's not the point. We are holy in Christ. We are holy because we are united to him by faith and his record becomes our own. And that enables us to pursue a life of holiness. That's who we are and we're to be reminded so we don't give in, we don't give in to doubt. We spend more time talking to self rather than listening to self. Don't give in. I think this passage tells us, but also would tell us, don't give up. Don't give up. Look at the latter half of verse one. I just read the entire verse, therefore, holy brothers, you share in our heavenly calling. Consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our. Confession. Not only should we remember who we are, we should spend time and more importantly, Remembering Jesus, he says, consider Jesus, in other words, give very thoughtful, careful consideration of him, think on him, study him, fix your attention on him, ponder him, meditate on him. There's no better use of our time than to consider and think on Jesus. I mean, that's a sermon in itself. Think of the him. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. That's what we're to do. He's the apostle and high priest, this verse says. The apostle really means he's one who's been sent by the father. He's God's representative and he's the high priest. He's our advocate. He is God in the flesh. He's Emmanuel. That's what we celebrate this season. Is it not God with us? He's the high priest. He's our advocate. He takes our place. He bears our our sin burden on the cross. And now having been raised from the dead and being at the right hand of the father, he represents us before the father. That's who he is. And the author goes on to say, and look, he does this in a much greater way than Moses did. Look at verse two, who was faithful to him who appointed him just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now, Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant. to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. Did you hear the contrast that was given here? I mean, Moses was God's representative. I mean, he he appeared before Pharaoh representing God and his people. Moses was God was was an advocate for the people. He he prayed on the people of Israel's behalf to God. But, you know, his his work was temporary. The work of Jesus is permanent. Do you see how it says that Moses was a servant in God's house, pointing to that which was to come? Jesus is a son over God's house, God's house being the church, being his people. If you look at verse four, he says every house is built by someone. But the builder of all things is God. You see how this passage is clearly showing us Jesus is God. He's the builder. And the verse says, The builder of all things is God. Jesus is God in the flesh. And how did he build? How did he build the church? Well, he purchased it with his own blood. Jesus is better than Moses, and so the clear implication to the first audience and to us as well as then don't give up, persevere, hang in there. Don't look back at Moses or where your faith used to be. Look to Jesus. Remember who he is, remember him in all his glory, that he is the propitiation for our sin, the wrath averter. Remember Jesus in all his glory. He was our advocate before the father. Remember him. Think on him. Consider him. My degree from Auburn University was in business administration with a focus on management. Which was. not my favorite course of study, but we'll leave that for another time. But one of the courses I had to take that I actually remember was a course in international business. I can remember the building it was in, I can remember the room, and I can remember the professor. And I can remember one of the assignments we had in this course in international business was, he said, look, you know, international business class, I want you guys to learn the map of the world. So near the end of the quarter, there's going to be a quiz. I'm just going to give you a blank map of the world, and you've got to fill it in. So I left that class and went right across the street to Haley Center, to the university bookstore there on the first level, and I bought a world map. And I took it home to where I was living and taped it to the wall of my room. And so what I did for several nights leading up to that quiz, I'd just go lay on the bed and stare at that map. Now I'm sure on more than one occasion I fell asleep doing that, just because that's the person that I am at night. But anyway, but I remember, I studied that map. I just looked at it, and I looked at, you know, I probably, I can't remember, it's been so long ago, but I probably came up with a few little memory devices, but I studied and gazed at the map for a long, long time and passed the test. Now, it wouldn't have done me much good if the professor said, you're going to have a test on this world map, and I went home and just got a list of the countries and looked at that list. That would have been an incomplete method. That would have been an incomplete map. And if we're not careful, we're told here to consider Jesus We may be considering an incomplete Jesus. What do I mean by that? If you're looking to Jesus as just the person who comes in and swoops in at the last moment to clean up your messes and solve your problems, and that's all he is to you, that's an incomplete Jesus. If you're looking at Jesus as merely an inspirational figure, one of the greater philosophers of our time who spoke a great message of peace and sharing and giving, if that's all you're looking to Jesus to be, then that's an incomplete Jesus. You see, the Jesus, the scriptures whom we must consider is one who's the apostle, the representative, God in the flesh, who is our high priest, who takes our place, who bears our sins and then can stand before the father and plead our case. Father, these are your sons and daughters because I've died for them. I purchased them with my own blood. That's the Jesus we must consider and study, who is the son over God's house. And so we need to spend our time thinking on him and resting on him. And again, isn't it great to have the Lord's table before us this morning, because here's that opportunity to consider Jesus in a fresh way to think about as we take the bread. Jesus really lived. He was as real as this bread I'm holding. He really lived a life of perfect obedience. And this cup that I'm holding reminds me of his death on the cross for sinners, for me. And as I take these things, And as I literally feed on them, what I'm doing is, in a way, I'm feeding my faith. Nothing changes about the bread or the cup, but it's a way for me to commune, to fellowship with Jesus, to consider him. So we don't give in. We don't give up. And lastly, don't give out. Don't give out. Last half of verse six says, And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and are boasting in our hope. This is a call to perseverance. It's a call to hold fast. Now, some of us, maybe all of us, we get tripped up on the use of that word, if. If. Wait a minute, what if that's not me, we might think? Well, I want you to remember one thing, first of all, is that this epistle is written to encourage. It's not there to discourage. That's the point. And so the thought is, worrisome or bothersome to you that that if really bothers you, that's a good place to be. You see, the worst place to be is to be in apathy. That's the worst place to be apathy and neglect. No, if that bothers you, then that's a good place to be. But also, I want you to look at the context of how this call to perseverance is given. Let's let's not forget what has come before this call. I mean, look at how Jesus is described. Among other things, he's described as being what? Faithful. Verse two, consider Jesus, who was faithful. Verse six, Christ is faithful. So I think one way to put this exhortation is to say this. You be faithful because Jesus is faithful. You be faithful because Jesus is faithful. You hold firm. You hold fast. Jesus is holding firm and fast. Now, to what are you holding on to this morning? Again, it needs to be asked, is it I have confidence before God because I'm just this moral person, because I've tried to live a good life. I've got a record of church membership. I've got a good code of ethics that I really seek to follow. I'm better than most people I know. I mean, I'm not I'm not done anything really that bad. If that's where your hope is, it's misplaced hope and trust, because the gospel message is that we rest in who Jesus is. The gospel is at its core an announcement. It's good news, an announcement of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. And so the call here is to don't give out. In other words, hang on, persevere. And as I was studying this passage, the middle image that popped in my mind was one of the last scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Return of the King, that film. And if you remember the story of Frodo and his Companion Sam and they're taking the ring that volcano Mount Doom to cast the ring to be undone. I mean, the ring represents evil and it's corrupting the the world in which they live and they've got to destroy it. At the last second, it certainly appears like Frodo is going to fail in his quest because he decides the last second he's going to wear the ring, he's going to wear this ring of doom, the ring of power and become everything we would hope he would not become. And then, you know, Gollum, the great character, comes in, takes the ring. I won't describe how he gets the ring, but he falls into the flames and he tumbles over the edge of this cliff into this river of lava. And there's Frodo hanging by his fingernails off that same cliff. If you remember, Sam reaches over and grabs him by the hand and he screams at Frodo, don't you let go. And that's what Hebrews is telling to us, don't you let go. Hang on. Persevere, consider Jesus. Consider how great he is, consider what he's done for you, grab him by faith and fix your eyes upon him. The table set before us is for those who are resting and trusting in Christ alone, and if that's you, I would urge you to come to this table as we distribute the red cup together. and to be encouraged to hang on. But if you're not a believer, if you're not one who is actively trusting in Jesus Christ this morning, have turned from sin and turned to him, then don't take the bread and don't take the cup. I would encourage you to take Jesus instead, to cry out to him and admit your need of him. Pray that you might trust and rest in what he has done and commit your way, your life to him as he would be your king. Don't give in. Don't give out, don't give up. Remember Jesus. Let's pray to him together.