As has been said, we're looking through the book of Hebrews this year in our studies and tonight we come to Hebrews chapter 3. We've already looked at Hebrews chapter 1 where we saw Christ as the Son of God and last month we looked in Hebrews chapter 2 where it exhorts us to see Jesus and see Jesus there as the Son of Man. This chapter we come to, chapter 3, it immediately links us really to chapter 2. It starts off with that word wherefore. So it links us to chapter two. And so we follow on through chapter two. And if you look at chapter two, you'll see chapter two started with the word therefore, which again links it to chapter one. And so we see this book carries on. It goes on from chapter to chapter. It's one long letter written by the apostle Paul, I believe, to the Hebrew Christians. No divisions. And so this chapter really links in to what we thought about last month, really, with that word there, wherefore. And as we come into chapter 3 here, we see that first verse there, the apostle writes to us and he says there, wherefore consider, consider Jesus Christ, consider Christ Jesus. And perhaps this is a feature throughout the whole book, looking to Jesus. We saw in chapter 2 verse 9, we see Jesus. looking unto Jesus. Go through chapter 12 there and you'll see in chapter 12 it talks about looking to Jesus. And so the whole epistle really turns us to the Lord Jesus Christ, to think upon him, to consider who he really was, who he is, and how he is so much better, so much better than all the types, all the shadows from Jewish history, from the Old Testament. In this chapter here, we're going to consider as Christ being superior, Christ being greater than Moses. In the previous chapter, we saw Jesus seem to be above and superior to the angels, although at the time there, he was made lower than the angels. Paul, I believe in the scriptures here, is seeking a delicate way to show that all the Israelites, what they found to be special, what they found to be sacred, are actually inferior to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was seen as he was that great lawgiver. He was the great leader of the people of Israel. He was a mediator of the old covenant. And even he was not superior to angels. By all this, Paul, yes, he exalts a savior, but he doesn't seek to take away from Moses at all, to defame him or take away from that specialness that he had in the land of Israel. For Moses, he truly was a great prophet. He is called in the scriptures, the friend of God. He was the man who saw God face to face. Don't we see Paul? He was the best place, perhaps, of all New Testament writers to write on this subject. He had been in his forelife, that violent advocate for the virtues of the Mosaic law. He had been violently opposed to the new church that grew up in Jerusalem. He was violent. He was a way of life that was against Christ. against all those things that the apostles, those early apostles stood for and yet he was graciously saved, graciously saved by the power of a merciful saviour on that Damascus road. He too came face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ there. The close of the previous chapter, it closed that theme of faithfulness, is it not? You'll see in verse 17 there, that merciful and faithful high priest. It shows us Jesus Christ, he really is that faithful and merciful high priest. So as we move into this chapter, as we've said already, it's linked by that word wherefore. And I would like to take for this chapter we study tonight, the theme of faithfulness. the theme of faithfulness. And so we start off really not on faithfulness but faithlessness and how we see faithlessness exampled in this chapter here. Turn to verse 12 there and you'll see in verse 12 the faithfulness of the nation of Israel. It says here, take heed, brethren, lest there be any among you of an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Is there not faithfulness? Here we do not see the faithlessness of the children of Israel. If you look through this, Paul warns us, take heed, beware. Be on our guards. Do not fall into the same ways as the Israelites fell into. And we have seen this, have we not, as we look through this heart, through this chapter here. The Israelites of old, they had an evil heart of unbelief. They were not faithful to God despite all his faithfulness to them. So we should take care in our own hearts. Isaiah, he speaks in his prophecy of God saying all day long he stretched out his hand to rebellious and again saying people that was Israel. That was Israel of old. Paul says that same thing when he talks in Romans and writes in Romans that God held out his hand all day long. to rebellious and again sane people. We can look, can we not, all through the history of Israel, right from when they were taken out of the land of Israel by God under the leadership of Moses, and we can see it as a catalogue really of disobedience, a history of faithlessness to God. If you ever need an example not to follow, the people of Israel were that example. They do give throughout their history lessons to be learned of errors to avoid at every hand because every hand they seem to turn away from God. Yet we can see throughout history of times of faithfulness there were leaders, there were prophets. Moses is an example. There were leaders, there were prophets who were faithful. There are those men who sought to be faithful to the God. They sought to stand steadfast. Generally, it was a catalogue of disaster, right through to when they were taken into captivity. Why was this? Why was this? Verse 13 tells us really or not, they fell under the deceitfulness of sin. They fell under the deceitfulness of sin. They were deluded by what sin had to offer. We can see this when Jesus spoke the parable of the sower, or the parable of the soils. The sower, he sowed the seed. Some seed, it fell on stony ground, and on the ground it was overgrown with thistles. The stony ground wheat, it had no roots. Oh, it grew, but it soon fell in a time, Jesus said, of persecution and trials, and it fell away. It fell away. We think of the thistles and how those thistles, they choked the seed. So when it grew up, oh, Jesus said, the cares of this world, the sickness of riches overtook it and it did not bring forth fruit. his rights. They always had his opinion, this view, that the grass was always greener on the other side of the fence. And they sought to be, do we not, like the nations round about them. But they were a different people. God tells us in his word, they were a different people. They were a chosen people. They were a special people. They were a peculiar people unto God. He had chosen them in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But so we read on through scripture. And they rejected God. They rejected God. They rejected the kingship of God. They rejected the leadership of God. They rejected of being a theocracy. And they would rather put their trust in men. Trust in men, the arm of flesh. And they wanted to have a king. I read an article recently, and it showed that the middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118, verse 8, and how the whole of scriptures turns on this word. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men. Oh, how we see through the history of Israel. They sought to put their confidence in men. They wanted the king who ruled over them. They did not want to trust in the Lord. And so we see, do we not, the whole Bible really turns on that verse. Trust in the Lord. Do not put your confidence in men at all. Israelites of old, and perhaps still many do today, they have an evil heart of unbelief. They have departed from the living God, and their hearts have been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. we see the apostle. He doesn't speak of all the number of sins. The times Israel tempted God in the wilderness, but he only majors on that one sin, that sin of unbelief, that sin of faithlessness. They didn't trust in an all powerful God who displayed so many signs, so many wonders, so many miracles, throughout their wilderness journey. We can read through Exodus journey, can we not, as we read through Numbers, and there we can see they tempted the Lord God 10 times. Numbers 14, verse 22 tells us, they tempted the Lord 10 times. And as you follow through, you can trace those 10 times, the murmuring, the groanings, the lustfulness, the idolatry, the Sabbath breaking, presumption, disobedience, and many others. Paul says here, it was because of their unbelief, their unbelief. How we see faithlessness, an example so vividly in the history of Israel, and in this verse here, says faithlessness, examples by the nation of Israel through all their history, that history of unbelief, that history of departing from the living God, that history of being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. But let me come on to something better, do we not? We then see the faithfulness example. And here we turn to Moses, really. And there we see in verse two, it says there, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. The Holy Spirit inspired the writer to write here, then gives us over that error to avoid, but also gives us that example to follow. Yes, the errors to avoid of not following after Israel, but how he then tells us to follow Moses and look at Moses and how we see what a great example he was. Yes, Moses, he was that great leader of the Israel nation. One that all, if not most, or most if not all, Israelites look up to and hold dear in their hearts. And here we see the scriptural account of Moses is, the testament of God is, that he was faithful to God. He was faithful to God. The verse 2 tells us that he was faithful to him who had appointed him. It's speaking of Christ, really, I suppose, because it comes on from that first verse there, where it says, consider Christ, who was faithful to him who appointed him. But we can give it to Moses too, can't we? Because Moses was appointed by God. We can read that appointment, can we not? In the backside of the desert, before the burning bush, when God, the great I Am, met with him, met with Moses, and he appointed him to be a leader of his people. Moses was appointed long before that, really, long before that. He was chosen of God as a special baby. He was chosen of God as a special boy, rescued from the hand of Pharaoh. Oh, how wicked Pharaoh was. He sought to kill all the Israelite boys, the Jewish boys. But God had chosen Moses, and God saved Moses. Not only that, he was saved by Pharaoh's daughter, and he was brought up in the house of Pharaoh to know all the wisdom and the ways of the Egyptians, how God looked after him through all those 40 years there. And then he cared for him in the backside of the desert, where he was taught the ways of being a shepherd and a leader, how God had appointed him, how God had chosen him. And then he meets with God in that instant of the burning bush. Oh, we read that incident. Yes, Moses, he knew his limitations, and he had momentarily shied away from the job, but he did it. He went and did it. He went back to the land of Egypt, a land he feared to be in, a land he'd run away from because he feared for his life, but he trusted God. He went with God, he was faithful to God, and he went to challenge Pharaoh, just as God has appointed him to do. And despite the apparent obstacles, Despite apparent failures, as Pharaoh's heart was hardened against God, and he refused to let the people go, yet Moses, he was still faithful. Despite all the groaning of the children of Israel, both in Egypt and in the Israelite journey, still Moses was faithful to God. He was obedient to God. He sought to honor God in all he did. which is that Moses was faithful to God in all that God had him to do. He stood before Pharaoh. He led the people out of the land of Egypt. He led them all through the desert ways. And he there, he gave the law in the desert. He gave the law to Israelites. And he was so attentive to what God told him to do. God told him specifically what to do. And Moses was obedient. He followed God in all things. God gave commands into the feasts and festivals of the nation. Moses obeyed. God gave commands in the building of the tabernacle. Moses obeyed. God gave commands in the building of the contents, the making of the contents of the tabernacle. Moses obeyed. He gave commands in the role of the priests and the high priest. Moses obeyed. He was faithful. He was truly a faithful servant. The scriptures record this. Verse five tells us that Moses was faithful in all his house. That's a testimony of the Holy Spirit in relation to Moses. He was a faithful man. He was given a role by God to do, and though he felt his weakness, though he felt his lack of strength and wisdom to do the job, yet still he was faithful and went on and did the job. He did all that was demanded of him. Yes, he made mistakes. Oh, he made mistakes. and how we see he made those errors, oh many errors, but truly humbled himself before God and sought against all the groaning and moaning of the people he was leading, he sought to serve God in a faithful way, in an obedient way. If ever there was an example to us in this our generation, when so much seemed to go against us, When it also seems that the people of God do not have that same zeal, just as Israelites do not have that same zeal, that same faithfulness as Moses had, then we need to be faithful in all that we do. And how we ought to follow the example of Moses in all that we do, in all that we are called by God to do, how we need to be faithful. Moses was a servant and he sought to serve God in a faithful manner and I believe if you look through the life of Moses you will see the key to his faithfulness. He sought God, he communed with God, he obeyed God. The only blot, if it were, on his own life, a blot that excluded him from entrance into the promised land, was he disobeyed God at the rock when he struck the rock twice. But even as he ascended Mount Nebo to view the land, his eyes were not dimmed, and he went forward in obedience, in humility, and in faith. The exam to us in this is not to disbelieve and to be deluded by the deceitfulness of sin, but to believe, believe in our God, our God who makes all things possible. But more than that, to believe in Him, to commune with Him, to read our Bibles, to be those that seek to study our Bibles, to find out what God is saying. And not only find out what God is saying, but to hearken to what He is saying. But not only to hearken to what he's saying, but to be obedient, to be faithful in all he says. Oh may we, in this our day and age, be those then that, like Moses, are faithful in all our ways, faithful in all our house. But then we come on to the third point I want to make, and that is faithfulness excelled. Faithfulness excelled. And we turn to verse six of this, and there we see, but Christ. As a son of his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end? This whole chapter, indeed, in fact, the whole book of Hebrews, it shows us the excellence of Christ, how Christ is more excellent than all things. here he is so much better than all that went before him for in reality all of them before him was just a foreshadowing it was just a shadow it was just a shadow it was not the real thing it had no real substance it was a shadow It's an outline of the real thing when light is shone behind the real thing. God is a light in the world. Christ is the real thing. There wouldn't even be a shadow if there was no light. There wouldn't be a shadow if there was not the real thing. Do not look to the shadow, look to the real thing. And here we have the reality, the existence of Christ himself. We are given the exhortation in the first verse to consider Christ. Consider Christ as the apostle, the great apostle. Consider Christ as the great high priest. This is the only place in scripture where we have this name given to the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle and high priest. Just as Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, so Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant. An apostle is a messenger from God. And as we see the opening verses to the epistle, Christ is God's last message to this world. For as it says in Hebrews chapter one, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. He is that last great message to this world. Or God sent many prophets before Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus is that last great message. He is the apostle sent by God to mankind. He's also the high priest, the great high priest that represents his people before God, a dual role. And as Paul tells us in his writings, there is only one mediator between God and man, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. And it is he who represents God to mankind. to fallen mankind, and it is he, the Lord Jesus Christ, in his role as our great high priest in heaven above, who represents fallen man to God. And so Paul tells us, consider him. And he tells us that Christ is faithful to the one who appointed him. He is faithful to God who appointed him. But as you come to the end of verse six, we see the difference, do we not, between Moses and Christ? We see the difference between Moses and Christ. Moses, we said, he was faithful, presiding as a servant in the household of God. But Christ presides as a son of the household of God. He is faithful in presiding as a son. The son is always greater than the servant. always greater than the servant. We read the parable of the prodigal son and how he came back to his own house, his father's house, and how he stated when he came back he was no longer worthy to be called a son. but one of the hired servants. A son is always greater than a servant. Christ, he is the son of God over his own house. He is God. Moses, he was a great man in the nation of Israel. Read through history, you thought already, and you will see he was willing to die for the people. He was willing to die for the sake of the people of Israel. But when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, Not only was he willing to die, he actually did die for the sake of his people. How he excelled, how he excelled over and above Moses. The one sin we've mentioned already that was recorded against Moses was his striking of the rock twice, as he struck the rock twice. And as we read the episode, we see he did it in anger and displeasure. Yet our Saviour, when he came to the cross, When he came to all the agonies that are associated with his rejection, his trial, his crucifixion, he showed nothing but mercy and love. And as he hung on the tree, oh, he cried, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And the message he sends out is not of vehemence. Oh, it's not of anger. It's not of impatience. It's not of displeasure. It's of love. It's of mercy and it's of grace. It's a measure of salvation for the lost and the guilty. Oh, how excellent is our Saviour. The faithfulness of Moses, it was finite, it was temporal, it was changeable. But the faithfulness of Christ is infinite. It is eternal. And as with all his attributes, it is totally unchangeable. He is ever the same. The glory of Christ being so much better than Moses is also spoken of by Paul when writing to the Corinthian church. Turn back to Corinthians chapter two, 2 Corinthians chapter two. You'll see in 2 Corinthians chapter two verses six out of 12, you'll see there, No, it's not 2 Kings chapter 2. 2 Kings chapter 3 rather. 2 Kings chapter 3 rather. who also hath made us ministers of the New Testament, not of letter, but of spirit. The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away with, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be more glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in its respect, by reason of the glory which excelleth, that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing them with such a hope, we use great plains of speech, but not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded, for unto this day remaineth the same vow untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which vow is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses read, the vow is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vow shall be taken away. And how we see there, it talks about Moses' glory, but it talks about that glory that exceleth, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the vow should be taken away when they trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. How then, as we come to faithfulness, we should see him more like our Saviour. Consider him in all his excellence, how he was so much more glorious than Moses, so much more excellent than Moses. Moses, he was faithful, yes. Moses, he was a good example. how much our Lord Jesus Christ is a more excellent example, a more excellent example of faithfulness. Moses was the shadow, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the real thing, so much more excellent. The next one to look at in verse 7 is faithfulness exhorted. Faithfulness exhorted. We see an exhortation, do we not? Paul gives an exhortation to be faithful. Paul has shown us, has he not, the disobedience of the Israelites. He's displayed to us the faithfulness of Israel. He's showed us the excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we come to verse 7, we once again see that word, wherefore, links us in. It comes in exhortation, we say. Moses was faithful. Christ was excellent in all his faithfulness, but how we see there now, Paul is saying, how we need to be faithful. And he starts off the exhortation with the word today. Today. How important a word is this? It's not about tomorrow. It's not about next week, next month, next year. This is a message for today. Why is this? It's because we don't know what a day will bring forth or a night will bring forth. We cannot, as the Bible so clearly makes known to us, boast ourselves of tomorrow. We do not even know if tomorrow will be here for us. Doesn't our news media tell us so many times those people who thought they would survive the next 24 hours, they didn't. Something happened, and they were thrust into eternity suddenly, and perhaps without any thought of preparation, without preparation themselves alone, of what would be to follow. Oh, how this message comes to us today. Yes, Paul's message is here for today. Don't put it off. And what does he say here? He speaks about hearing the voice of God. Today, if ye will hear his voice. Paul says, today if ye will hear his voice. It's about hearing the voice of God. It's about hearing the promptings of the Holy Spirit. How often we hear that voice, do we not? Whether it be in the glories of creation round about us, and the psalmist talks in Psalm 19 about how creation speaks of the Lord Jesus of God. It speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who was there, creating it, all things created by him and for him. And in Psalm 19 verses 1 to 4, it says there, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament show forth his handiwork. Day unto day ushers speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. And you can read on through there, and you will see how creation, it declares our God. It speaks of our God. All creation In this way, here's the words of our creator God. We hear it too. We hear it tonight. Each one of us here, we have heard the word of God in the reading of scripture, the exposition of the word of God. We each have no excuse. And so Paul goes on in his words here today, and he informs us in a negative way what we shouldn't do. So he tells us what we should not do as we are left the exhortation of what we should be doing. And here he tells us, we should not harden our hearts. Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in a day of provocation, in a day of temptation in the wilderness. What does it mean to harden your hearts? What does it mean to harden your hearts? And again, we can look at that parable of the sower and the parable of the soils we spoke about some time ago. And there we can see in the first instance there, there was that pathway that goes around the edge, or perhaps even through the middle of the field, a track trodden down by the foot of men. And the Savior said in that parable that some seed fell on the pathway. It fell on the pathway, but because it had been trodden down, because it was hardened, it never took any root. just got blown away or the birds of the air came down and devoured it. and how we go on, the verses go on here. And they speak about how the fathers of Israel, they tempted the Lord their God. They sought to prove him. They sought to prove him. Verse nine tells us, when your fathers tempted me, prove me and saw my works 40 years in the wilderness. The children of Israel, they always questioned did not the voice of God. They were too stubborn in their own heart to believe what God has said he would do and that he would perform it. And how when God says something, He will perform it. He will do it. And so when God said, go up and take the land, they questioned, were there strong enough? Were there enough of them? They were not like Moses. Moses believed God. When God said, go up and take the land, they could go up and take the land. He saw the land was there for the taking because God was with them. So did Caleb. So did Joshua. And they had that mindset not 40 years later when Caleb said, give me that land. But the people of Israel, they didn't. They were stubborn. They sought to test God. They sought to prove God at every opportunity. They would not take his word as he spake it. They heard the word of God and it had no effect upon their lives. Moses, he was faithful in all his ways. And he heard the word of God, and he believed it. And he tried to act as that mediator between God and man. God spoke to the people through Moses. He showed them many wonderful and powerful signs and miracles, yet the response of Israel was one of faithlessness, as we have seen, and one of unbelief. So what happened to them? The last verse tells us they could not enter in because of unbelief, because of the hardness of their hearts. They could not enter in because of their stubbornness. They would not believe God what he said. They would not trust God. They wouldn't be faithful unto God and believe his word. And so their hearts were hardened. They would not believe. The word of God was taken away from them just as the wind blows the seed away from the pathway, just as the birds come down and snatch it away. They would not believe. And so we can see what happened to Israel. when the faithful servant Moses taught them and spoke to them, how they did not believe. How much more guilty then if there is such a position? How much more dangerous is our position if we neglect so great a salvation? And does not the Word of God say that? How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? If we are not faithful, if we are not obedient to His words and the teachings of the Saviour, how much more guilty, or as guilty, are we? And so the exhortation to be faithful comes to each and every one of us. Take heed. Paul says here, take heed brethren, lest there be any of you of an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. And then he says in verse 13, by exhort one another daily. While it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through deceitfulness of sin, take heed. That's exhortation. Trust in God. Exhort one another in the word of God. Hold that beginning of our conference steadfast to the end. Be a partaker of Christ and his words. Be faithful. And then we can shout with Paul, can we not? Paul when writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4 verse 7 and 8, he says there, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Paul could say that. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing. How we need then to be faithful in all we do, and how this exhortation comes to us, written by Paul in chapter three here. Take heed. Harden not your hearts. Exhort one another while it is day. Do not be hardened through deceitfulness of sin. And lastly, I want to come and look at faithfulness endorsed. Faithfulness endorsed. What is it that faithfulness bring us? Where will our faithfulness to God end us up? In this chapter, there's a couple of times it says there about the end. It says about the end, verse six says it, but Christ, as a son of his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end? It speaks in verse six there of those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have this faithfulness as being part of his house. Paul says we are his house. The house which he has built, not we have built, it's the house that the Lord Jesus Christ has built himself. The house which he presides over, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Turn back to Ephesians and you'll see once again there, Paul speaks to the Ephesians about his building of the house. Ephesians chapter two and verse 19 and 20. And Paul says there, now, therefore, ye are no more strangers than foreigners. He's been going through there saying how we were far from God and foreigners to God. Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. It's Christ's house. One that he has built, one that he was a foundation stone of, that chief cornerstone. Turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 3. You'll see there Paul writing to Timothy. In 1 Timothy chapter 3, and he says there in verse 15, again, about this house. And he's talking about the office of deacons and the offices in church. But he says there, for they that have used the office of deacon will purchase themselves a good degree and great boldness. I should be on verse 13 there. But these things are right to thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou oughtest may know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And so we see it's that house that Christ built. It's his people, his children. Come down to verse 14 in our chapter, Hebrews chapter 3. And you'll see that word, the end, again. It says there, Paul speaks at the end, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. We should be partakers with Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. We spoke earlier about the parable of the sower and the soils from Matthew 13. In that same chapter Jesus tells another parable the wheat and the tares another one of those kingdom parables and in verse 49 there of Matthew chapter 13 he talks there about the end. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 49, and it says there, we'll go to verse 47 to get the context I suppose, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net. I've got it wrong there. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels. They shall gather out of the kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as a sun in the kingdom of their father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. So we see there it talks about the end. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just, just as the tares are separated from the wheat at the harvest time. This teaches us that there is an end coming. There is an end coming. In Matthew chapter 24, the disciples, they asked the Savior, what would be the sign of his coming? You can read it there in the third verse there. And he sat upon the Mount of Olives. The disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming? And the end of the world. The end. of the world. A time we should come in power and in great glory. They want to know what that time speaks of. Verse 13 and 14. In Matthew 24, it talks about an end. And it tells us there, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. The preaching of the gospel, it must go on until the end of time. Come down to verse 30 and 31 in that self-same chapter. And it talks there, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of glory, of power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. He will appear, our Lord Jesus Christ. He will appear in power and in great glory. And at the sound of the great trumpet, the angels shall gather the elect and the saved from the four corners of the earth. Just as the parable of the wheat and the tares told us, the angels go forth and gather in. They will gather it in. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And you'll see in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 52, in a moment, in a twinkle of an eye, At the last Trump, we spoke about Trump before him in Matthew 24, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised in incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. At the last Trump, we shall all be changed. We should all be changed. This corruption must, incorruption, must put on corruption. And this mortality must put on immortality. And death shall be followed up in victory. Turn to 1 Thessalonians. Paul here again speaks about this end time. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. You'll see there in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 down to 18. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Revelation chapter 20, that tells us about the aspects, some more aspects about this time of the end time. And that tells us really when the Lord will come. Read down through that chapter there, and you'll see that when the Lord will come, he will descend, and there will be that return of Christ, the reigning for a thousand years, the ultimate judgment, and destruction of Satan, and all those who are faithless and disobedient, who are not written in the book of life. And there we see they would not write the end there. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Does that mean much about the end of Hebrews 3? So we see they could not enter into glory. They could not enter into rest because of their unbelief. Because of their unbelief. But we're exhorted, we're not, to be faithful. We're exhorted to be faithful, to believe. And so to enter into that rest, that rest that Revelation, John talks about in Revelation 21 and 22, where it says there about blessed are they that do his commandments. and they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city, for without are all those who disbelieve, the dogs, the sorcerers, the whoremongers, the murmurers, the idolaters, and whoso loveth and maketh a lie. Those are the ones that do not enter into the rest. Those are the ones that are outside. But pour in writing to Timothy, who has spoken already in 2 Timothy chapter 4, where he spoke of his life and how he fought that good fight. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 7 to 8. 2 Timothy 4, verses 7 down to 8. He said, I have fought a good fight. It's probably already. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me that crown of righteousness." He looked forward, did he not? Paul looked forward to that crown of righteousness, that crown that the Lord Jesus Christ would give him in that great day. As Christ was faithful in all that he did, so we are exhorted to be faithful in all that we do, faithful to him. One has said in the past, this is not a retention of our salvation based on a persistence of faith, but it's a possession of salvation as evidenced by a continuation of faith. We've not so much as retained our salvation, for salvation that is retained can be easily lost. But we possess that salvation, possess it for all eternity. It's that free, eternal gift of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't necessarily persist in our faith, but there is an ongoing continuance of faith, right to the end, just as Paul spoke about. And we see other passages, too, where we see a crown. He spoke there about a crown of righteousness. Turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and the verse 19, and there you'll see another crown. Paul speaks about, for what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even yet in the presence of Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Another crown at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five, and you'll see another crown mentioned there in the verse four. It says there, but when the chief shepherd shall appear, the chief shepherd, that's our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, it's speaking of his appearing, his coming. Ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. A crown of righteousness, a crown of rejoicing, a crown of glory. Turn to James chapter one. James chapter one, the verse 12. There we see another crown. Blessed is the man that endure of temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him. A crown of righteousness, a crown of rejoicing. a crown of glory, a crown of life. And that is really emphasized really in Revelation chapter two and the verse 10, where we see there, fear not these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you to prison, ye will be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. And then Jesus says here, be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. What comes at the end? What comes at the end? The last two verses in Hebrews 3 really tell us that. And how we see, and to whom swear here they should enter his rest, but to them that believe not. So we see they could not enter in because of unbelief. Those Israelites who disobeyed. Those Israelites who did not believe. Those Israelites who were faithless. They did not enter into the rest of the promised land. They never even saw the promised land. Why? They didn't see it because of their unbelief, because of their faithlessness. And so the implication here really is that those who believe not will not enter into Christ's rest and be forever with him in his rest, as Paul says, Paul spoke about when he was writing the Thessalonians. But Paul speaks that time yet future. He speaks about that time of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he should come in power, when he should come in all his glory. The house will then be complete. That which was and is faithful in should have been completed. Christ would have been faithful in all he's done. He'll receive us unto himself to present us faultless before his father's throne for all eternity. That's what comes at the end. That's the end that Paul is speaking about here in Hebrews. How our faithfulness will truly be endorsed in that day when like Paul, we receive that crown of righteousness, that crown of life. that crown of glory, that crown of rejoicing from our Saviour. And how we can say if we're not, oh hasten that day, oh hasten that day. We have spoken about faithfulness. And how we speak of faith, our minds cannot be drawn to that 11th chapter of Hebrews. And there we see if we're not, through Hebrews chapter 11, that great catalogue of men and women men who we should revere, men and women who we should have in awe, look up to, and even seek in some way to emulate. Moses, he's amongst that catalogue in Hebrew chapter 11. Some are named, some are unnamed in the scriptural account, but all have a crown of righteousness, all have a crown of glory, all have a crown of life, all are rejoicing in heaven above. Paul goes on, does he not, through that chapter 11, and he comes into chapter 12. And once again, there's that linking word, isn't there? Wherefore, wherefore, it links those two chapters and tells us that since we have this great list of people, this great cloud of witnesses that we can look to, we can point to, Paul exhorts us to lay aside all those sins. Lay aside the unbelief. Lay aside that deceitfulness of sin. Lay aside that faithlessness, those things that so easily beset us, those things that are around us that cause us to disbelieve, those things that delude us, those things that deceive us, and he warns us there, he exhorts us to look to Jesus. Look to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Oh, may we on this day Look more to Him, just like Moses did. Moses communed with God regularly, daily. He sought God's word, such as he had. He obeyed God's word. He sought Him in prayer. And oh, may we too see Jesus. May we consider what a great apostle He is. He's God's last message to mankind. Oh, learn more of what the Savior says. May we consider him as our great high priest, and as we read his word, oh, send our prayers to heaven above. Seek his face, and Christ will present them before the Father's throne. And how we do pray, that in thus reading his word, seeking his face in prayer, our faith may grow. We may have our faithfulness strengthened and deepened. And looking to Jesus, and as Paul writes to Titus, in those words in Titus chapter two and verse 13, how we may be those who are looking for that blessed hope, that glorious appearing of our great God and our great savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, see Jesus, consider him, that great high priest, and live a life that is faithful to God, and may enter into that rest that rest when he returns to take his children home. Amen.