We are his house...if

[0:00] Well, good morning. Welcome to this pre-recorded meeting from Calvary Evangelical Church here in Brighton on the south coast of England, the 2nd of August 2020.

[0:15] ! As you can see, we're still meeting in this virtual technology way and hope that in God's mercy we'll be able to meet in person as soon as it's right and proper to do so.

[0:30] We're a church of people living in the south coast of England, in Brighton, in Sussex in the UK. We're believers in Jesus Christ.

[0:41] There's 70 or 80 of us meeting together on what used to be normal times. We're just ordinary people from different nations, different backgrounds, who believe in Jesus Christ, look to him for the forgiveness of our sins and believe his promises both for this life and for the life to come.

[1:02] We believe God has brought us together to love him and serve him and we're going to do our best to express that as far as we're able today. That's including in our music and songs.

[1:14] And incidentally, somebody asked if the music and songs could be available for people to listen to during the week when they're doing the ironing or whatever. And if you look in this YouTube channel, you should be able to find a playlist of songs that you're welcome to listen to.

[1:31] So thank you to Annika for preparing those and hopefully we'll be able to have some more to put up in due course. May God use the teaching and admonition of his word, the word of Christ in those songs.

[1:47] May the word of Christ dwell within us richly as we teach and admonish one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music in our hearts to the Lord. My name is Philip Wells. I'm one of the team of elders here at Calvary.

[2:00] I'm leading this morning and other notices are either up on the screen there or will have been notified to in the usual way. So a particular welcome to you if you've dropped in, as it were, and I'm going to try and click and just show you the things that we're going to be doing.

[2:17] There it is on the screen. We're going to do the things that Christians usually do when they get together to sing or have sung to us or join in at home to sing, to pray, to read the Bible, have a talk on the Bible as it applies to us.

[2:32] And there's the plan up there. We're continuing the series of studies and meditations in a book from the New Testament called the Letter to the Hebrews or Hebrews for short.

[2:46] And that's what we're going to be looking at later. So let's pray. Lord, whatever sort of week we've had, however this finds us as we tune in just now, please may we be found drawing near to the living God and may you in your grace and mercy draw near to us.

[3:11] May we be found in living contact with the living God. May we hear authentically your voice. May we be authentically in your presence and one in spirit, even though we can't meet in the usual way.

[3:27] So may these things be true, not because we deserve them, but because Jesus Christ deserves them. And for his sake, we pray. Amen. So we're going to sing two songs to begin with.

[3:42] And the first of them is a rendition of Psalm 95. And I'll read that to you. Psalm 95 says this.

[3:56] It's a, it begins with adoration and praise, but ends in a rather unsettling way.

[4:07] It has a sting in the tail. It ends up reminding God's people that they need to live in faith and obedience today. We thank God for yesterday.

[4:20] We look to God for tomorrow. But he's given us today. Today is the time to respond to him and not to harden our hearts. That's what the Psalm says.

[4:31] I'll read it. Psalm 95!!!

[5:04] ! I said, They are a people whose hearts go astray, for they have not known my ways.

[5:42] So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. It does have a sting in the tail, doesn't it? But it begins with very exalted praise.

[5:54] So we're going to sing a version of this. It's Psalm 95, I think song number 95, if you've got the praise hymn book. Psalm 95 Come with all joy to sing to God, a saving rock, the living Lord, in glad thanksgiving, seeking His face with songs of victory and grace.

[6:43] In holiness and light arrayed, above all gods that we have made, He is the one almighty, King, and is the glory that we sing.

[7:14] The earth is His from east to west, from ocean floor to mountain crest.

[7:28] He made the sea and formed the lands. He shaped the islands by His hands.

[7:43] Come near to worship, come with faith, bow down to God, who gives us breath.

[7:58] God is our shepherd, God alone. We are His people, all His own.

[8:13] God is our shepherd, God alone. But if you hear His voice today, do not reject what He will say.

[8:29] God is our shepherd, God alone. When Israel wandered from God's path, they suffered thought He is of wrath.

[8:45] God is our shepherd, God alone. That generation went astray. They did not want to know His way.

[8:59] They put their saviour to the test. And saw His power, but lost their rest.

[9:19] The next song we are going to sing is, we call it, Who has held the oceans in His hands? Or Behold your God seated on the throne. I don't know what you call it, but that's the song we are going to sing.

[9:33] The words will be up on the screen. This song quotes from the magnificent Isaiah chapter 40. That's the one that asks these sorts of questions.

[9:44] Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand? Or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket? Or weighed the mountains on the scales?

[9:56] The hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the Lord? Or instructed Him as His counsellor? This is making the point that God is so great.

[10:08] The whole cosmos is just like little bits of dust to Him. And His wisdom is deep beyond finding out. Do you not know? Have you not heard?

[10:20] Has it not been told you from the beginning? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He brings princes to naught, and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

[10:36] To whom will you compare me, or who is my equal? Says the Holy One. So we're going to sing this song, Who Has Held the Oceans in His Hand. Who Has Held the Oceans in His Hand.

[10:59] Who Has Held the Oceans in His Hand. Who Has numbered every grain of sand.

[11:14] Who Has any given any grain of timber? Kings and nations, thankful at his voice. All creation rises to rejoice.

[11:29] Behold our God, seated on his throne. Come let us adore him.

[11:42] Behold our King. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore him.

[11:58] Come let us adore him. Come let us adore him. Who has given counsel to the Lord?

[12:16] Who can question any of his words? Who can teach the one who knows all things?

[12:28] Who can fathom all his wondrous peace? Behold our God, seated on his throne.

[12:45] Come let us adore him. Behold our King. Nothing can compare.

[12:58] Come let us adore him. Come let us adore him.

[13:15] Come let us adore him. Who has felt the nails upon his hands? Daring for the guilt of sinful man.

[13:29] God eternal, humble to the grave. Jesus, Saviour, risen now to reign.

[13:43] Behold our King. Behold our King. Seated on his throne. Come let us adore him.

[13:57] Behold our King. Nothing can compare God let us adore Our God Singing on His throne God let us adore The whole of King Nothing can compare God let us adore Now I'm going to lead us again in a prayer.

[14:49] O Lord our God, we bow before you in all your greatness. You are without compare. We ascribe to you glory and grandeur and majesty and holiness and wisdom and power.

[15:04] We come to you. We're like grasshoppers before you, but we're sinful grasshoppers. We bring to you the burden and the pain of our unbelief.

[15:19] Our attempts to solve our problems in our way and not yours. We bring to you with pain and sadness the sin that dwells within us by which we rebel and neglect and go wrong in thought, word, deed and inner motivation.

[15:37] We humbly confess our sins and ask that you grant us forgiveness and newness of life to live in repentance, turning from sin and living for you.

[15:48] We come to you. We come to thank you for your care of us every day, for answered prayer, for kindness and mercy shown to us, for answers to prayers that we never even prayed.

[16:02] We thank you for your kindness and goodness. We commit our lives to you afresh. Take us, Lord, in every part.

[16:13] Let there be nothing within us that is unresponsive to your spirit and your ways. We pray for our world, that you will show mercy and bring many people to realise that you are God and that Jesus Christ is the only saviour.

[16:31] May men and women and boys and girls turn to you, send and equip your church to be the means of your salvation across the world. We pray for our government and governments across the world.

[16:45] May they be given humble wisdom to govern rightly and wisely. And may they look to you for help and not think that they're clever enough to do it all by themselves, which they clearly aren't.

[16:58] May our world heed the wake-up call of the pandemic. May our world heed the wake-up call of the pandemic.

[17:32] We pray for those who are taking a break over the summer and we ask that you would give them the grace to be able to take rest and get refreshment, but without forgetting you in the process.

[17:47] We pray for health and safety for those moving within our own country and moving internationally. At this point, we stop to bring individual prayers to you.

[17:59] Maybe prayers of particular gratitude this week. Maybe prayers of particular concern this week. Burdens that we carry, that we want to cast upon you so that we should not live our lives perpetually burdened, perpetually anxious.

[18:19] We bring to you our cares, our hopes, our longings, our fears, and lay them all at your feet, knowing that we have a faithful and merciful High Priest, Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven for us.

[18:43] Hear our prayer. Amen. Now let's add to that prayer the Lord's Prayer, which is up on the screen here. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

[18:58] Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

[19:12] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.

[19:26] Amen. Well, Christopher is now going to read to us from the letter to the Hebrews. He's going to start off in chapter 3, going into chapter 4, verse 1.

[19:37] That's the bit that says, Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. So thank you, Christopher. Hebrews chapter 3.

[19:51] Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.

[20:06] Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.

[20:20] Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house, and we are his house.

[20:32] If we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. So, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, and for forty years saw what I did.

[20:56] That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, The hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways. So, I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest.

[21:09] See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it's called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

[21:24] We have come to share in Christ, if we hold firmly to the end, the confidence we had at first. As has just been said, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.

[21:40] Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt, and with whom he was angry for forty years?

[21:51] Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed?

[22:03] So, we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

[22:20] This is the word of the Lord. Thank you. The reading said, Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.

[22:32] He was faithful. Fix your thoughts, perhaps meaning consider or look carefully at. Same word, if I remember correctly, is when Jesus says consider the lilies of the field.

[22:46] Look at them, think about them. So, let's do what he says. Let's consider Jesus our Saviour in this song. It's a song by John Newton.

[22:58] How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away our fear.

[23:08] Written by John Newton. He was a slave trader. And he was converted to Jesus Christ. And then became a loved and fruitful minister of the gospel in various places in England, including in London.

[23:26] So he describes Jesus, shepherd, saviour, friend, prophet, priest, king. Let's sing this together. 2-9-9.

[23:37] How sweet the name of Jesus sounds. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds.

[24:09] Inner believers hear. It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, and drives away our fear.

[24:31] It makes the wounded spirit whole, and calms each heart oppressed.

[24:45] Its manner to the hungry soul, and to the weary rest.

[25:01] And to the weary rest. Dear name the rock on which I build my shield and hiding place.

[25:26] My never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace.

[25:40] By you my prayers acceptance gain. Although with sin defiled.

[25:56] Satan accuses me in vain. Since I am God's own child.

[26:09] Since I am God's own child. Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend, my prophet, priest, and king.

[26:33] My Lord, my life, my way, my end. Accept the praise I bring.

[26:48] For the Lord, my Lord, my Lord, my Lord. Weak is the effort of my heart. And cold my warmest thought.

[27:03] I will praise you as I ought. But when I see you as you are. I'll praise you as I ought.

[27:18] I'll praise you as I ought. Till then I would your love proclaim.

[27:36] With every fleeting breath. And may the music of your name.

[27:49] Refresh my soul in death. Refresh my soul in death.

[28:05] Let's pray again. Before we come to hear the talk. Lord, we thank you for the letter to the Hebrews.

[28:16] We thank you for the one of whom it speaks, Jesus our Saviour. We bow before his utter greatness. And confess our sins and rebellion.

[28:27] And look to him and ask that we might have our eyes fixed on him. Help us fully to consider him. Forgive us if we've let other things become more important than Jesus.

[28:38] Our family. Our selves. Our concerns. Even perhaps our service to you. They're good things, but they shouldn't ever take the place in our thinking which belongs to you.

[28:54] The first and foremost place. Lord Jesus. We ask that as we hear your word, we might be brought to be better servants. More consistent. More appreciative.

[29:06] More devoted. More heartfelt. And to live that way day by day. So change us as we listen to your word. Amen. So before we have the talk, let's think about the U-shaped path of Jesus down to earth, down to the cross, lifted in the resurrection, the ascension and his enthronement till the day when all things without exception are brought before his feet.

[29:38] Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Previous times we thought about this singing, Lord, I lift your name on high. This time we'll sing something different.

[29:50] Same theme though. Number 480. Crown him with many crowns, the lamb upon the throne. We're going to sing 480. While hems eternal anthem drought, all music at its home.

[30:14] Awake my soul and sing. Of him who died to be. Call him with many crowns, the lamb upon his throne. While hems eternal anthem drought, all music at its home. Awake my soul and sing. Of him who died to be. Your saviour and your majest King through all eternity. Crown him with many crowns, the son of God. And the world's began. Let all of themย desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde All who tread where he has trod, Crown him the Son of Man, Who every grief has known, By which we are oppressed, And takes and bares them for his own, That all in him may rest.

[31:19] Crown him the Lord of life, Triumphant from the grave, Who rose victorious from the strife, For those he claimed to save, His glories now we sing, Who died and rose on high, Who died eternal life to bring, And lives and death may die.

[31:54] Crown him the Lord of love, Behold his hands and side, Those worlds yet visible above, In beauty glorified, No angel in the sky, Can fully bear that sight, But down the fence is burning high, That mystery's so bright.

[32:28] Crown him the Lord of peace, Let grace fill every land, From coal to coal, Let war fair cease, His kingdom is at hand, For ever he shall reign, And earthly princes fall, Before his throne, The Lamb once slain, The sovereign Lord of all.

[33:02] Crown him the Lord of peace, The potent date of time, Creator of the rolling smears, In majesty sublime, All hail, all hail, all hail, All hail, all hail, All hail, all hail, All hail, all hail, all hail, For you have died for me, Your praise shall never, never fail, Through all eternity.

[33:41] So, we've prayed, And let's look together at this passage, We're going to just look at Hebrews 3, First six verses. And to introduce, let's look back at this believer to whom the letter was written, As we're sort of imagining it and reconstructing it.

[34:02] Despite the pressures, and there are pressures in this world, And particularly for those people, but we're not exempt from them, Despite the pressures, hold on, Keep on, Run the race, Don't give up.

[34:19] There is a path to heaven, There is a way to follow, And at every point there is an alternative beckoning, Away from the path.

[34:33] Don't be so stupid as to step off the path. In the Hobbit, I think it's in the film version, I'm not sure it's in the book, Gandalf the wizard says to Frodo, Or is it Bilbo? Bilbo, I think.

[34:55] There's Mirkwood, it's a dangerous sort of place, But if you stick to the path, you'll be safe. You'll be safe if you stick to the path. Don't leave the path, Bilbo.

[35:09] And what do they do? I guessed it. They leave the path. They leave the path.

[35:20] So let's look back, just remind ourselves of this letter of the Hebrews. Background, it was written to people who said they were Christians from a Jewish background. He doesn't stop to prove the things that they've accepted, But to remind them of their implication and power.

[35:35] These people had believed in Jesus back in the early days, And had suffered for their faith, But they were now losing their way, And going back to whatever it was, The synagogue, the temple, Hence drifting, don't drift, Don't become lazy, don't become sluggish.

[35:54] And therefore the letter contains promises and warnings. And we'll come back to this a number of times, I'm sure, Dick Lucas's pithy summary of it.

[36:06] The mark of the elect is that they believe the promises and heed the warnings. I don't know whether he made that up or whether he just said it, But it really sums it up. So there are exhortations.

[36:18] And an exhortation can be a positive one. Come on, it's really good to run faster. Come on, keep going. That sort of positive exhortation. And a negative exhortation.

[36:30] If you give up now, you'll never get back up again. You know, if you leave the path, you might never get back onto it. So there's exhortations of a positive nature and a negative nature.

[36:41] So you get the we must pay more careful attention in chapter 2, verse 1. And here, fix your thoughts on Jesus. 3, verse 1. So far, we've said that God has spoken to us in his Son.

[36:56] There's an emphasis on God speaking in these last days by his Son. And he blasted off in 1, 1 to 4 by showing us that Jesus was at the epicenter of all things divine.

[37:07] Creation, eschatology, revelation, providence, redemption. And then he went off to talk about the angels and say they are not as good as the Son.

[37:19] They are different to the Son. The Son is not an angel. And they had a little diagram there of coming down and going up. This would have been relevant to the readers.

[37:30] Moses' law was given by angels as we understand it. And then we looked at Psalm 8, the U-shaped career of Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, or for a little while was made lower than the angels, and is now crowned with glory and honour.

[37:47] But we don't yet see everything totally put under his feet. There's an interim period until things are put under his feet. So this places us in a certain point in history between his first coming and his second coming.

[38:04] And this history has its characteristic attributes. It means that this is the time that we must hold on, press forward, run the race, and so on.

[38:15] We're not there yet. We thought about Jesus being made like us, and we said, how much like us is he? Enough to die for us. Enough to call us family. Enough to take flesh and blood.

[38:27] Enough to reach down to help us. Enough to actually understand us. So the bit that we're looking at now says, We are his house.

[38:38] If we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. That's in verse 6. So I thought we'd think about houses. You know this house? It's a fictional home, Downton Abbey.

[38:52] You may even have heard of it. It represents a bygone age when there were great houses. And at their best, they housed a noble family with an illustrious history.

[39:05] You know, the third Earl and the fourth Duke and Lady this and Lord that. And the house would have contained many servants and at its best they would be valued.

[39:16] Each would have a place. It would form a busy extended family with all sorts of interactions, interconnected lives, fruitful business.

[39:27] Many benefits spinning off if that house was run at its best. And in the halls of this house you could meet Duchess so and so, Lady so and so, the Duke of so and so.

[39:40] Great presences would be found walking in that house. Well, that's fictional. The real High Clear Castle, that's the real place.

[39:53] You can go round it if you prepare to pay. It was actually rebuilt from an earlier house. There had been houses on that site for a long, long, long, long time.

[40:07] It was rebuilt somewhere between 1842 and 49, according to Wikipedia, which therefore it must be correct, by the architect Sir Charles Barry, who, if you're interested, also designed the Palace of Westminster, which we refer to as the Houses of Parliament.

[40:25] There he is. Is he holding a cigarette or is he holding some sort of theodolite? I thought it was a cigar, but now I look more closely. Maybe he's holding a measuring instrument or his iPad or something.

[40:39] Anyway, respect. He did a great job. Well done. Well done, Sir Charles. So, going back to the fictional Downton Abbey, there are two people who are important figures in this.

[40:57] The fictional Downton Abbey was inherited by the eldest son, Lord Crantham. That's him. And it's administered and run by the chief of all the servants, the butler.

[41:12] I hope I'm giving him his correct title. The butler, Mr Carson. That's Mr Carson. And the house, when it says the house, well, it could mean both or either of these things, the building, High Clear Castle, or it could mean the people in it, the household.

[41:30] You're always welcome in this house. I think Mr Carson says meaning. Perhaps a bit of a mixture of both there. Anyway, if you look at the household, you probably can't see all the faces there, but I'm sure you can look them up if you're at all interested.

[41:46] There's the cast with Lord Grantham, Lady Grantham, the Dowager Duchess. Is that right? Mr Carson and all the servants. And one big community of this house.

[41:59] Well, the paragraph we're looking at uses the idea of a house. In other words, I've put it in grand language, the salvation edifice that God is building.

[42:10] God is building a house. And if you just look, verse 2, it says, Moses was faithful in all God's house. Verse 3. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself.

[42:26] So you've got two references there. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Verse 4. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house.

[42:38] Verse 5. Testifying to what would be said in the future. So lots and lots about the house there.

[42:56] I think I've picked up on the right theme. House. And a little word there, if. You might hardly notice it. If. We hold on to our confidence and the hope of which we boast.

[43:08] That word if I'm going to come back to. So here's my plan. If you were doing sermon teaching, you would say, you don't want to do a plan like this. Anyway, it's the best I've got at the moment.

[43:20] So question 1. Let's think about how do we get on to the subject of houses? Question 2. What has meant by house? What is this house? Question 3. Where do Moses and Jesus fit in this house?

[43:33] And question 4. How important is the if? So that's the plan. How do we get on to the subject? What does it mean by house? Where are Moses and Jesus in this house?

[43:45] And how important is the if? So, bear with me. Let's go through the passage and think about it in that sort of way. So, how do we get on to the subject of the house, I wonder?

[43:57] Because we started off, Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

[44:08] So, another thing here about houses. It talks about Jesus, the apostle, the sent one. That's what it means. It's, I think, the only place in the New Testament where Jesus is referred to as an apostle.

[44:20] But an apostle is a sent one. Somebody sent with authority. And Jesus is sent. And he's also referred to as the high priest. So, this, you could neatly say this is to do with his work as a prophet.

[44:35] He's sent to say stuff. And as a priest. So, God speaks through the sun. In these last days, God has spoken in the sun.

[44:48] And then, God saving in the sun. He made purification for sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Two dimensions of his work. God speaking in him and God saving through him.

[45:01] He's the apostle and high priest. And the point being here, we confess. So, that, we need to take that on board. The, confess is the opposite of deny. Deny says, oh, nothing to do with me.

[45:13] Nothing to do with me. I don't know. I didn't do that. I'm not involved with that. But confess says, yes, this is something to do with me. I do own up to this. I'm fully involved with it.

[45:25] In my commentary, the man had written, a binding expression of obligation and commitment to Jesus.

[45:44] The man had written, a binding expression of the man, a binding expression of the man, a binding expression of the man. So, I suppose that must be a navel expression. That your colors are your flag.

[45:57] And if you're determined to keep your obligation and your commitment to the king for whom you are sailing. And you don't want that to be got at.

[46:09] You might take your flag. Instead of holding it up with a piece of string, you might nail your colors to the mast. And the writer is really saying here, when it comes to being a Christian, you've got to nail your colors to the mast.

[46:25] You've got to be absolutely determined in a binding expression of obligation and commitment. So, when you start your new job or go to your new place or meet friends that you haven't met for a while.

[46:37] And they say, oh, you're not one of those weird Christians, are you? Then you don't say, oh, you confess. You say, as a matter of fact, I am.

[46:49] And I'm not ashamed to be a Christian. I'm not ashamed of the apostle and high priest. I confess him. He's my Lord and he's my savior. He's my savior. OK, well, that's where we got to.

[47:02] Now, how does this get on to the subject of house? Well, it's to do with the things that have gone in the mind of the writer. This has sparked some thoughts.

[47:14] And he's got a plan here. So, one thing is that this is to do with Moses. And in Numbers 12, 7, Moses is described like this.

[47:27] When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions. I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

[47:39] With him, I speak face to face. So, there's something there about Moses. The readers would have been very pro-Moses. And the writer says, you're absolutely right.

[47:51] Moses is a great man. A great spiritual giant with great privileges. And we don't want to knock Moses. So, Moses, one thing.

[48:03] Number two. This prophecy against the house of Eli in the time of Samuel. So, here's another quotation. That's completely wrong.

[48:15] The reference is wrong. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.

[48:28] I will firmly establish his house. And he will minister before my anointed one always. The correct reference is 1 Samuel 2, 35.

[48:40] I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. So, here is something about faithfulness. Something about the house. But this time, it's to do with a faithful priest.

[48:53] And, of course, the writer to the Hebrews has been thinking of Jesus as a faithful priest. So, here is something that his mind has gone to. This faithful priest has a house.

[49:04] And it points us to the priesthood of Jesus. Although he's going to say that Jesus' priesthood is somewhat different from a different family. Nevertheless, a right way to understand the person and work of Jesus is that he is a priest.

[49:18] He does stuff between us and God. And he does it very, very well. So, priest and house. And a third reference, which I hope I've got right this time.

[49:31] 1 Chronicles 17, 14. A prophecy to David, the king. I will raise up your offspring. He will build a house for me. I will be his father.

[49:43] He will be my son. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever. So, here is the son.

[49:54] And he has a house. And you'll notice he's over the house. So, here is something about the son that the writer is going to pick up on. And this time we're not talking about a prophet or a priest.

[50:07] But we're talking about a king. The forever king. So, that's how we got onto the subject. Through thinking about these lines of prophecy.

[50:18] Of Jesus being a prophet and a priest and a king. And these all lining up in the manner of faithfulness over the house. Okay.

[50:29] That's how we got onto the subject. Question two. What's this house? What is this house? Is this just a thing that just crops up here as an oddity? So, let's say a few things about this.

[50:42] Number one. It's not a church building. When people sometimes say, welcome to the house of God. They're not. It's only in a manner of speaking.

[50:54] When it says the house, it's not talking about a church building. A dear lady once said, oh, you shouldn't let the boys and girls, the children run round in the house of God. Which, if I may respectfully say, is a mistake about the building.

[51:09] The building is just a place where the people meet. It's not a holy place in itself. So, the house is not a church building. And it's not even the local church.

[51:20] This is, it's not saying houses. It is the whole thing. The, not the local church, but the people of God as a whole.

[51:32] And I've got ahead of myself now, haven't I? So, here's a couple of answers. House. Well, we've already had the house of Israel.

[51:44] Not meaning a building, but meaning a family. In the sense of the Downton Abbey family, as it were. Used then here of the whole people of God.

[51:55] Not the house of Israel. That is to say, an ethnic group referred to as the house. Not the people in the wider sense, the household of God.

[52:12] Hebrews 10, 21, he says, we have a great high priest over the house of God. Meaning the whole people of God. And please notice that there is one house.

[52:24] Moses is in that house. As we shall see in a moment. But it's one house. There's one people. The Old Testament people of God. And the New Testament people of God.

[52:36] Not two separate ones, but one house. One people. Formed in the fullness of it. Of Jew and Gentile alike.

[52:49] And you begin to think what an amazing program this is. What an amazing building program God has. To build a community. Stretching down through the generations.

[53:01] Including Jews and Gentiles. People from all nations. To form them into one household. And you think, wow, what a privilege to be part of this. If we're part of this house.

[53:14] Just imagine who you might meet when you're walking down the corridors of this house. Hmm. Yeah, all sorts of people you might meet. Some wonderful personages in this house. And let's take a second line.

[53:28] House. How is that word used? Build a house for me. Solomon and the temple. A house not made with hands.

[53:39] The temple is the place where God lived. And he lived. And he lived. Not sort of. Um. Quarantined. From his people. At a large distance. But within his people.

[53:50] There certainly had to be special measures. To make it possible. For God to live among his people. And the people. To survive. With a holy God in the midst of them. But.

[54:01] That's what the temple was there for. God living in the midst of his people. And the New Testament uses this idea. Uh. Paul doesn't say house here. But his idea is this.

[54:12] In Christ. The whole building is joined together. And rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him. You.

[54:23] Are being built. Together. To become a dwelling. In which God lives. By his spirit. So he doesn't use the word house. But the idea is there isn't it? A dwelling.

[54:34] Where God lives. A community of his people. The community where God lives. We. We talk about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

[54:45] Or. We ought to talk about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Um. We don't only have indwelling sin. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. But the. Indwelling of God.

[54:57] Is not simply limited. Uh. Individual by individual. But in. He dwells in the community. Of his people. And that's rather a wonderful thing. Isn't it? Um.

[55:08] He dwells in the community of his people. And again you think. What a privilege this is. Uh. Savior if of Zion's city. I through grace. A member. And.

[55:19] Let the world deride or pity. I will glory in your name. Fading is the worldlings. Pleasure. Uh. Treasure. All his boasted pomp and show. Solid joys and lasting treasure.

[55:32] None but Zion's children know. Great privilege. To belong to this community. And. To belong to this community. Okay. Uh. So that's what we mean by house. So question three now.

[55:43] Um. Where are Moses. And Jesus. In this house. And the writer constructs. Quite a careful. Placing. Of Moses and Jesus.

[55:54] In this house. And he says. First of all. Moses was faithful. He was faithful to the one who appointed him. He was faithful to the one who appointed him. Jesus was faithful to the one who appointed him.

[56:05] Just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Uh. Uh. It's rather lovely that. The writer doesn't say. Well Moses messed it up.

[56:16] Moses failed. So we need. A different savior. He actually says. Moses. Was faithful. But the distinction. And the difference.

[56:27] Is. Is not that Moses wasn't faithful in Jesus was. But that Moses was faithful as a servant. Um. Verse five. Moses was faithful as a servant.

[56:39] As a servant in all God's house. Verse six. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. The difference between being. A faithful servant. And a faithful son.

[56:50] And the difference between being faithful in God's house. And being faithful over God's house. In other words. The difference between the way. Carson. Is in Downton Abbey.

[57:02] And Lord Grantham. Lord Grantham is the son. Who's inherited it. Carson. Is the faithful servant. Who plays a valuable role. In it. So. It's not that there's a discontinuity.

[57:13] But they fit together. And. He's not asking these Jewish believers. To forsake Moses. To rubbish Moses.

[57:24] To disdain Moses. What he's asking them to do. Is to see the true place that Moses has. To honor him as that. As the servant. As the servant. Of the son's house.

[57:36] So. Where are Moses and Jesus in this house. Well. Moses is a servant. And Jesus is the son. And let's think about where Moses is in his household duties. This is a very interesting expression.

[57:49] If you care to look at it. Moses was faithful. To what would be said in the future. To what would be said in the future. Testifying. To what would be said in the future.

[58:03] The things to be spoken in the future. This is his job summed up. What's he there to do? To prepare the way. To testify to.

[58:14] The real message. The things that were to be spoken. Through the son. In the last days. The real heart of it.

[58:25] The real summit of it. The epitome of it. Is what Jesus says. And Moses is saying. Listen to him. Listen to him. Listen to him.

[58:37] And it is our job. To listen to what Moses says. He testifies about Jesus Christ. In John's Gospel. Jesus says. Search the scriptures. They don't give you eternal life.

[58:48] They testify about me. It isn't having a degree in. Biblical studies that saves you. It's knowing the Jesus. That the Bible speaks about. That saves you. And.

[58:59] We see of course. That Jesus is there in the whole Bible. The Bible. Now if you've got one of those Bibles. That has red letters. For the things that Jesus says. I really suggest you.

[59:10] You buy a different Bible. Because it isn't just the. The bits. In red. That speak about Jesus. Jesus is speaking through the whole of the Bible. He's there.

[59:21] In the whole of the Bible. That all testifies. About him. And. And. Let's listen. Let's be people who listen to scripture. Who make it our business.

[59:32] To be listening. To the testimony. Of the things. Spoken. In the sun. Where. Where are Moses and Jesus in this house?

[59:45] Let's. Let's just look again. There's a lot in these. This passage. Even though it's just a few verses. There's a comparison. Between. The builder. And.

[59:56] The building. So. Verse three. Jesus has been found more worthy. Sorry. Jesus has been found. Worthy of greater honor than Moses. Just as the builder of a house.

[60:07] Has greater honor. Than the house itself. For every house. Is built by someone. But God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant.

[60:18] Etc. So there's a difference between the builder. And the building. Now. Moses is part of the house. But Jesus is the builder of the house. That's the way it works.

[60:29] Isn't it? Um. He has greater honor. Because the builder has greater honor than the house. So Jesus is the builder of the house. And. The writer also goes. Includes in his thought.

[60:40] That the great builder is God himself. Now. Whether we should take that as. As a direct implication. That Jesus. Is. Is. The. Is God himself.

[60:51] Um. I don't know. Some of the commentators say. That's definitely the implication. I mean. That Jesus. Is. Is. Is. The divine son.

[61:02] But. Quite how it works from these verses. Is a little bit beyond me. But we can definitely say. Jesus. Is. The builder of the house. Uh. Jesus. Is the one who says. I will build my church.

[61:14] I will build it. He's the builder. The great builder is Jesus. Uh. Worth thinking about that. Isn't it? Uh. If you're a Christian. Uh. How did you get to be a Christian?

[61:26] Who was the one who. Uh. Hacked you out of. Uh. The native rock. And made you into a stone that would fit into a building. Who was it who. Who.

[61:37] Who. Who. Who. Who. Who. To place. As Jesus. Wasn't it? What a wonderful thing to think of him. Building.

[61:48] Us. Into his temple. To his house. Okay. Question Four. How important is the if. So we've seen.

[62:00] Uh. Something about the. Moses. And Jesus. In their respective places. In this wonderful project. The house. That God is building.

[62:11] his salvation edifice, the community in which he dwells, where Christ is the high priest over it, the son over it. And the last verse we're looking at says, And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

[62:32] So how important is the if? And having thought about it and read up on it and listened to things during the week, do you know, I think this is right. The whole of the letter is poured through this little word, if.

[62:48] The whole of the letter to the Hebrews could be focused down into this word, if. If. We are his house. If. There is an if.

[63:01] And you say, where does an if come from? I thought it was all fixed. I thought, I don't think there was any ifs, certainly no buts. Now, what about this if? So I'm not going to spend a long time on this, but you might well be thinking, Oh, Calvin? I thought this was a Calvinistic church.

[63:20] Isn't this one of the weak spots in Calvin? Doesn't Calvin deny the if? Doesn't he say, isn't he at odds with the letter to the Hebrews? Doesn't Calvinism say this?

[63:31] God chose people. Okay. That's the election. He chose people before the foundation of the world. Isn't Jesus tasked with keeping his elect till the last day?

[63:45] John 6.39. That he infallibly will bring his elect people to salvation, raising them on the last day.

[63:56] And therefore, you might say, surely, either something's gone wrong here, because how can this if be there? And I think I'm going to say, absolutely from God's side, there is no ifs.

[64:11] There is no ifs and buts. God has his plan. Nothing can thwart it. And he will most surely do exactly what he said. And when we Christians arrive in heaven on the last day, every single one of them will say, I'm here because of God's grace.

[64:33] He chose me. He kept me through thick and thin. And it's thanks to him that I am here on the last day. He's kept me wonderfully, amazingly.

[64:43] I'm so grateful to him. And that is true from God's side. But the writer here is tackling it from the other side, if you like, the other side of the waterline.

[64:58] You know, you think of an iceberg above the waterline, below the waterline. The mysterious deep things belonging to the Lord below the waterline. The things above the waterline for us to hear and do.

[65:12] And here we are above the waterline. The elect believe the promises, but they heed the warnings. And it's right to have an if. If you hold on.

[65:26] If you don't stop believing. If you don't stop praying. If you don't stop reading the Bible. If you don't stop repenting.

[65:38] If you don't stop coming to church. You're his house. If. Yeah. If. Well, what are the ifs more specifically?

[65:49] Well, we thought about that confession, didn't we? Confessing Jesus as our apostle and high priest. The opposite of deny, we said. A binding expression of obligation and commitment.

[66:02] Nailing your colors to the mast. If. If you do that. If you don't flunk it.

[66:13] If when people say, are you a Christian? You don't back off. If you don't shut up. See what I mean? Don't be silenced in confessing Christ.

[66:27] If you are not silent. If you hold that confession. I just want to say, please. Take notice of this. Hmm.

[66:37] There's all sorts of stumblings and half-heartedness and false starts.

[66:48] But you know, end of the day, you must hold on. You can't just stumble your way through. You have to hold on.

[66:58] You have to hold on to a confession of Jesus Christ. And then it's perhaps a little bit more clear in the verse 6 itself. We are his house if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

[67:14] If we do that. If we hold on. If we hold on. You see this thing making us relax our grip. But this says, if we hold on. Well, the first thing to hold on to is our courage.

[67:26] I don't know how to pronounce it. Parisia. It means boldness. The lack of inhibition to speak. Boldness.

[67:38] Confidence. If we hold on to our confidence. Our courage. Our confidence seems to me in what Jesus has done. Does his blood really cleanse me?

[67:49] Well, yes. I hold on to the confidence that that's what happens. I've fallen so many times. Can I be confident that he will still pick me up? I can.

[68:00] His promises are still real and true and can still be depended on. Hold on to it. You know, if you're saying, oh, I'm not really that sure that Christianity is effective.

[68:13] I mean, it's just faith, isn't it? Perhaps there's something more substantial elsewhere. I need a different type of salvation. Maybe something that's to do with meditation or something like that. That seems to me to be a little better way to be confident with God.

[68:29] And the writer says, don't leave the path. Hold on to your confidence in Jesus Christ. And then the second if.

[68:39] If we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. So he talked about holding on to the hope of which we boast. The boasting is to be glorying.

[68:51] It's actually a very strong word. It's like to be proud of something. I'm really proud of that. And the hope is not a wishy-washy thing, but it's a clear, strong expectation about the future, about the last day.

[69:04] The world to come about which we are speaking, said the writer earlier on. It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come. When we will see Jesus, see all things put under his feet, that hope, he says, we have to hold on to the hope of which we boast.

[69:23] So, brothers and sisters, partakers in their heavenly calling, let's boast about the future. He will bring me there. It will be worth it.

[69:33] It will be, what does the song say? I can't remember. A thousand somethings to be there. Look it up.

[69:44] Tell me afterwards. The sands of time are sinking. It's worth looking forward to. That is where I've set my hope. I do have an anchor there. That's my anchorage point in my life.

[69:57] And don't give up making that our hope. Don't say, oh, actually, I'd settle for winning the lottery. That would be fine.

[70:09] I'll settle for a comfortable life. I'll settle for what this world can offer. There are good things that this world can offer. A home, a family, a job. I'll set my hope on that.

[70:20] That's very subtle, isn't it? But the writer says, no, don't let go of the real hope. Hang on to the real hope and boast of that.

[70:32] So, we've thought about the house. We've thought about Moses, the faithful servant in the house. But Jesus, the faithful son over the house.

[70:46] The builder of the house. There's the builder, Sir Charles Barry, wasn't it? And we are members of the house. Isn't that amazing?

[70:56] We are members of the house of God. If, if we hold on in faith. If we hold on to our boldness in approaching the throne of God through the blood of Jesus.

[71:09] If we hold on to a hope that is fixed in the distant future. That's where our hope lies. If we hold on to that. And as the writer is going to say. Today. Do not harden your hearts.

[71:22] Oh Lord, help us today. Today is the day to live in the obedience of faith. Help us to walk that today. To live that today.

[71:33] And Frodo or Bilbo. Don't leave the path. Well, we've heard God's word.

[71:48] And heard its challenge to us. The mark of the elect is that they believe the promises. And heed the warnings. Today, if you hear his voice.

[72:00] Do not harden your hearts. That's what he says. I'm going to close with the prayer in Hebrews 13 verse 20.

[72:13] And following that, we'll play out with Psalm 95 again. That we started off with. It's the one with the sting in the tail. Let's pray.

[72:25] May the God of peace. Who through the blood of the eternal covenant. Brought back from the dead. Our Lord Jesus. That great shepherd of the sheep. Equip you with everything good.

[72:38] For doing his will. And may he work in us. What is pleasing to him. Through Jesus Christ. To whom be glory forever and ever.

[72:50] Amen. Amen. That's it from me. May God bless and keep each and every one of us. Until we meet again.

[73:01] So bye bye for now. Come with all joy.

[73:17] To sing to God. A saving rock. The living Lord.

[73:28] In glad thanksgiving. In glad thanksgiving. Seek his face. With songs of victory and grace.

[73:44] In holiness and light arrayed. Above all gods that we have made.

[73:58] He is the one almighty King. And is the glory that we sing.

[74:14] The earth is his. From east to west. From ocean floor to mountain crest.

[74:29] He made the sea and formed the lands. He shaped the islands by his hands.

[74:44] Come near to worship. Come with faith. Bow down to God.

[74:56] Who gives us breath. God is our shepherd. God alone.

[75:07] We are his people. All his own. But if you hear his voice today.

[75:23] Do not reject what he will say. When Israel wandered.

[75:35] From God's path. They suffered. Thought he is of wrath.

[75:46] That generation went astray. They did not want to know his way.

[76:01] They put their Savior to the test. And saw his path.

[76:12] But lost their rest. To those of us.

[76:25] To those of us. To those of us. To those of us. To those of us. To those of us. To those of us. To those of us.