Hold Fast

Take your Bibles, if you would, please, and turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 through 6 are our text today. And I'd like to preach to you a message entitled, "Hold Fast." And so I would lead off with a question and ask you, what areas of your spiritual life do you need to hang on for dear life, hang on, to what you have acquired, to hang on, to the character and the spiritual disciplines to hold fast in Christianity. Today's message is aimed straight at you and your life to be able to hold fast. And we're going to do this in consideration of what Christ has done for you. He's tasted death for you. And in honor of who Christ is and what he has done, now we hold fast in him.

Read with me in the text, if you would, in Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 through 6, and see this for yourself. "Therefore, holy brethren," what a high calling to be holy, to be called holy, brethren, hold fast in our holiness. "Partakers of a heavenly calling," what a calling to hold fast in our heavenliness, to be called heavenly, to be partakers in the heavenly things, what a calling. Consider Jesus, and this is the reason why you hold fast, is in consideration of Him and what we have already learned in chapters 1 and 2 and now going into 3, and that He is an apostle. When you see the word apostle in the text, think authority, okay? He's ascribed as one who is an apostle for the reasons of authoritativeness. So consider the authority of Christ. Consider Jesus the apostle and high priest. Consider His high priestly ministry, not only interceding between you and your sin that deserves God's wrath, but a holy God, His priestly ministry in that He gave Himself as a propitiation for the payment of your sin. He stepped in between you and God, and He's offered a sacrifice of Himself so that you may be saved, gloriously saved. His duties have been fulfilled, and not only is He an apostle and a high priest, and then it goes on to say that this is of our confession. And so we are to confess Christ. We're to be confessing Christ, to have Him on our lips coming out of our heart. This is a regular part of our life, to be confessing Jesus Christ.

In verse 2 it says, "He was faithful to him." And if you write in your Bibles, you can say, "God was faithful to Christ." That's what that verse is saying. God was faithful to Christ, so He was faithful to Him who appointed Him as Moses also was in all of His house. Now you see a comparison. We'll go on to explore this. In verse 3 it says, "For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses." Now Moses was by all standards perhaps the greatest character in the Old Testament, and you see that Christ is worthy of more glory, even that of Moses, by just so much as the builder of a house has more honor than the house, for every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

Now Moses was faithful in all of His house as a servant. Here's another comparison coming up as Moses was faithful as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later. But Christ was faithful as a son. And so the comparison then Moses was faithful as a servant to his house, but Christ was faithful as a son. Now that comparison is being made for you to be able to hold fast to Christ. In verse 6, "But Christ was faithful as a son over His house, whose house we are, if we hold fast, our confidence in the boast of our hope firm until the end."

Pause and pray with me if you would. Lord, thank you for this passage. And as the preacher of Hebrews starts to lean in now, I pray that we would be encouraged by this text to hold fast in consideration of Christ and His crucifixion and His high priestly office and what He's done for us. We love you. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

In verse 6, you see the words "hold fast." And so if you hold fast, your confession. But you also see it repeated in verse 14, chapter 3 and verse 14, "Look with me, for we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast." This is very important to realize that your part in this relationship between you and Jesus Christ is to be encouraged to hold fast. You see, Christ has deposited not only the Holy Spirit as a seal in your life, but He is also depositing spiritual growth points in your life. And so as you go on to grow in Christ, may you hold on to what you have attained. May you continue to grow and to be built up more, and more, and more in Christ, becoming more, and more like Jesus.

Don't be like the homeless man who received a new shirt and takes off the old shirt and discards it and throws it away and puts on the new shirt. You see, there's no advance there. He's only made a lateral move. He's still got one shirt. But see, if you were to gain Christ and to continue to become more, and more in Him, you're going to acquire more, and more knowledge of God, more, and more scripture memorized in your heart, more, and more character that points to Jesus, less of you and more of Him. Hold fast to what you have. And so not only do you see hold fast in chapter 3, verse 6 and verse 14, but also look to chapter 10 with me. Flip forward to chapter 10. I want you to see verse 23.

Chapter 10 and verse 23, the preacher here of the letter of Hebrews is driving home this point so that we hold fast. And these warnings and these encouragements are peppered throughout all of the book. I hate them all, but I want you to see Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering." There's the standard. You've got Christ in you as the hope of glory. You've got character that has been established in you. Do not shrink back.

I mean, this is not just a simple call to not shrink back into cursing again or to not stop smoking again or to not stop. I'm talking about inner Christ-like character, Christ in you. I mean, this is a being that you have inside of you, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the living God. And as He is transforming and renewing you into His image, from the very beginning you've been made into an image bearer of God. In Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, you're encouraged to be renewed in your mind and transformed in your heart more, and more into the will of God, which is your sanctification, Paul said, to the festival-like church. These ideas are peppered throughout all of Scripture.

Now as you hold fast, let us hold fast the confession, which I might say the confession is Christ, the confession of our hope without wavering. For He, Christ, He is our promise. He's faithful to us. We're to be faithful to Him. And so in consideration of Christ being crucified, back to chapter 3 as our base for the text today and holding fast, I want you to notice that we're to consider Christ, we're to hold fast to Christ because of the fact that He, in many different ways, but one specific way textually, died for you. In chapter 2 and verse 9, the very last phrase is that He tasted death for everyone. That's not everyone without qualification. He died for many sons specifically. And so the fact that He died for you, you had better be considering Christ, because every single day is another day to glorify Christ. And so in consideration of Him stepping into your cross and bearing your sin and your shame, honor Him, consider Him, be confessing Him. And He did this in the flesh.

Look in chapter 2 and verse 14 with me. Chapter 2 verse 14, "Therefore, since the children share in the flesh and blood He Himself likewise also partakes the same." And so God wrapped in flesh, Jesus Christ, is the one who died for your sins. And He was resurrected. Consider Christ as you're being prodded and encouraged to hold fast. Not only do we consider Christ, but we also consider the fact that He's greater than angels. The premise in chapter 1 and chapter 2, you see the repeated word of angels, and Christ is better than angels. And so consider Christ as the Hebrew preacher goes on to compare in the minds of those Jews being converted to Christianity, not to shrink back into considering angels more so than the Lord Jesus Christ, which was a temptation for them.

And we have our own temptations to consider or to revere or to think and dwell about something other than Christ as ones who would worship perhaps a ball going through a net or a ball through uprights or kicking a ball down. And we would scream and we would passionately proclaim who we want to win. We need to make sure that our passions are more for Christ than for the things of this world, especially things like angels. Angels could be mystically applied to the different mystical things that we have available to us today when it comes to all of the psychics that are available and all of the places where you can go and read tarot cards. How these places stay open, but they're everywhere. They're road front buildings available for people to be able to walk in and have a psychic read their palm and all these different things. Hold fast to Christ and do not allow people in your circle to feel or to think that that's okay to go to these places. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We are to be confessing Christ.

And this is the thrust in the passage for you to confess Jesus Christ, not only in honor of the fact that He died for you, but also for the fact that He died for you in the flesh. Right? And then also He is greater than angels and He's also greater than Moses. Moses is mentioned in the text here in chapter three. So chapter three and verse three read with me. Hebrews 3:3. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Okay, more glory than Moses. I want you to go back to the Old Testament with me and see something. Exodus chapter 34 draws out an important point as to how God honors Moses. And in this passage, you're going to see some fascinating things.

Moses's face was reflecting the glory of God for a considerable amount of time. And this is a magnificent passage. And I just want to read it and allow you to see that Moses was one who was highly revered in his day, highly exalted, not only a prophet, but a type of Christ, one who would usher in God's law to the people, a mediator for the people. I mean, the people looked up to Moses like no other. And here in Exodus chapter 34 and verse 29, I'll read to the end of the chapter.

Exodus 34, 29. "It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses's hand. And he was coming down from the mountain that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him, that being God. Verse 30. And so when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. This is a good fear. Verse 31. Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers in the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. Afterward, all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them to do everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take off the veil until he came out. And whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel, what he had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses's face shone. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went and to speak with Him."

This is a tremendous passage. It's just an example of how God used Moses in miraculous ways and people truly revered and looked up to this man of God. And as an example of a godly man, Moses is highly esteemed. And to the point to which he is esteemed and used of God is but dirt compared to the deity of Christ. That's the point of the passage. Jesus Christ is worthy of way more glory than even Moses. And so anything that you can grab onto and think that is high and lofty and built up is absolutely nothing. In the text, you see that Christ is over His house. Moses was faithful to His house, but Moses was a mere man in the house of God, and yet Christ is over the house.

And so at every turn in the book of Hebrews, you were seeing some type of foundation that is built, that is credible, but yet Christ is better. Some type of foundation that is built that is worthy of either glory or worthy of ever your respect and honor, but Christ is better. Christ is better. Christ is better. Christ is superior above, and above all things. Christ is better. Always remember that your heart's attitude must reflect the heart of this passage. Not only are you to be holding fast to the right things and doing what is right and disciplining yourself to be godly and to do right things and to say right things, but your heart attitude, the motivation that you have, the desires of your heart, you can conform your desires to the word of God by your thinking.

And as you are saturating your mind with Scripture, it formulates the desires of your heart. You're responsible for that. And so the desires of your heart will be then coming out of your mouth and you'll be confessing Christ, worshiping Christ, witnessing to people. You know, I call the gas stations evangel stations, because I can trap people for just at least a couple minutes, whether they're pumping their gas or they're making their coffee. I got them. Just for a minute or two. And I've mastered being able to share the gospel in just 30 seconds or a minute or two, and however long I got with them. And oh, this wonderful lady was screaming at her cell phone coming in. I decided to do an act of kindness. I held the door for her as she was coming in. Profanity, F-bombs, all that kind of stuff. So fly in for me. I held it. I said, "Come on, right in. Ladies first." It's thunder. Then I would do an act of kindness for someone who was acting so vulgar. She put her cell phone in her pocket.

We ended up side by side making coffee. And I looked over and I said, "Have you ever heard of the power of the gospel and the salvation?" She said, "No." But my ex is a Hebrew Israelite, and my auntie is trying to tell me I'm a little god. I said, "Let me further explain the gospel." And I shared the gospel with this dear lady. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking it's so rare that someone would actually share the gospel with someone. No one has actually ever, ever, ever shared the gospel with me publicly. Save one man, and he's here right now. Dr. Anthony Sylvester shared the gospel with me in a hotel lobby as I was getting breakfast.

How rare it is! For someone to actually share the true gospel. So I think in my mind as I'm sharing the gospel, this may be the last time that she gets to hear the way, the truth, and the life. So I give her all her God. And then she asks me if I can speak with her ex-husband. And I said, "Sure. In public, I'll bring a friend. If he's willing to speak cordially, I would love to talk to a Hebrew Israelite about the truth of Jesus Christ."

And then it stunned me that she asked if I would follow her today. The police are exhuming her two-year-old out of her backyard because her ex had her son, and he died of exhaustion, and he buried him in her backyard. I was stunned. So I did whatever a good preacher would do. I pawned her off with my secretary and said, "Even though I'm my secretary, I'd love to help anyway I can." And what a shock.

There's things that are absolutely awful going on right here in our own city. And we need to be ready, be able to hold fast to the gospel and to be able to share Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. She invited me, right, not knowing I'm a pastor or anything, just to come and say a prayer over her son as they were doing what the police and the fire department has to do in those horrific circumstances. Would you agree that this lady needs Jesus? Would you agree that her 10 children minus the one whom God showed mercy on and taking him to heaven at two years old also need Jesus? Amen.

Lord, help us to hold fast and to share the gospel and make disciples. Don't be dishonoring the name of Jesus and shrinking back when you have the opportunity to share Christ. I'm telling you, He died. Christ died. Consider Christ. His high priestly work. No priest in the Old Testament ever even thought about putting himself on the altar. Jesus, our high priest, our Lamb of God, sacrificed Himself and took on the punishment that we deserve. Consider Christ in your life to hold fast. So important to hold fast. Consider Christ above, and beyond. Not only angels, not only godly men that you have in your life. Consider Christ.

Have Christ dwelling inside of you. Be having Christ percolating inside of you. Have Christ ruling and reigning in your hearts as Lord. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. So at the moment of the need of the gospel, you're able to share Jesus the way, the hope, and the life. Lord, give us the ability to be honoring to Him. If you are esteeming anything more than Christ, if I was focused more on coffee, perhaps coffee was the Lord of my life at the moment instead of Christ. More on my life and what I want. Maybe I was not satisfied with the vehicle I drive, where I'm going, what I got to do. If I was all about me, if I was dwelling upon me in my life, then I'm the Lord of my life at the moment. And I've displaced Christ. You've missed the gospel opportunity, which are so rare.

So may we hold fast to what we have attained. If Christ has given you faith and you have exercised that faith and confessed Him as Lord and Savior and you have been saved, gloriously saved, that is the greatest thing that has ever happened to you. And you should never get over that and be waiting and willing to share that with anybody whom you come across. And if it's not pushing out of you, consider Christ in His high priestly work, not just the apostleship, the authority of Christ. Yes, we revere and we honor and we respect the high office, the high deity, the way, the truth and the life on the throne, ruling and reigning, everything that we've learned thus far in the preceding chapters and all of this content. Yes, His authority. Yes, we should hold fast out of obedience, but move beyond duty and to delight.

It's such a delight to be able to thrive in Christ. It's such a delight to be able to share Christ. It's such a delight to be able to make disciples, to spend time with people and to cultivate Christ inside of their hearts, to remove little things out of their life and replace it with Jesus. And to help minimize the things of this world and replace it with Jesus to make disciples.

The mission cannot be secondary. Making disciples. How do you make disciples? We're starting with you holding fast in your own faith. Christ is better than angels. There's a warning in chapter 2 verse 1. I want you to see it. Chapter 2 verse 1. "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it." This warning to not drift away is a warning not to neglect the greatness of your salvation and what Christ has done for you and the greatness of His deity because there's a penalty for drifting.

Who knows what that penalty is? But the judge will administer the penalty for drifting away as the need is. And so whatever merits punishment in your life, He's willing to turn up the heat of circumstances in your life to get your attention if need be. I would prefer to learn God's lessons through my ears and not my tears. I'd rather delight myself in the Lord and him give me these desires. We continue to be faithful in Him, wouldn't you?

There's a warning. And then in chapter 2 verse 6, there's also a sober statement. What is man? What is man? Remember who you are in comparison to Christ. You're worthless dirt apart from a worthy Christ. And so it's really, truly all about Jesus. We're mere men and Jesus is a magnificent Master. He's crowned with glory in verse 7 and honor. And He is the sustainer and creator of all things. And He's over all things and all things have been made for Him.

And so we are then to illuminate the significance of our Savior because of who He is and what He's accomplished. This is described as being a faithful Christian. And so now in chapter 3 verses 1 through 6, Jesus is not only an apostle, He indicates Himself with His duty by giving Himself as a significant and sufficient sacrifice. He completed His mission. He came to live a perfect life, die on the cross, and to be resurrected. He came to preach. He came to live a perfect life, Give Himself as a sacrifice. He accomplished His mission. It's done. We are truly a part of a mission that is done and still being done. Comprehend that one theologically, huh? It's a done deal.

It's already been written. The future settled. God, as the author of His story, is truly unveiling His plan as we see it. You're a part of that. Your faithfulness is a part of that. In verse 2 and chapter 3, I want you to know this, the word "as." I'm sorry, chapter 3 and verse 2. "He was faithful to Him who appointed Him as Moses." Okay? So these words indicate a comparison. And the person in ministry of Moses then is being compared to Jesus to show everyone that He's worthy of more glory.

In verse 3, "For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, just by so much as the builder of a house has more honor than the house." And so the deduced truth from the text is this. Moses was faithful as a servant over his house, and he had a high estimation of honor. But with such a greater honor we are to glorify Jesus Christ as He is a Son. And this point is then for us to hold fast to the Son. Chapter 3 verse 6, "Hold fast to the Son. Confess Christ as your Lord and your Savior."

You know, it's sometimes humbling to be addressed as a holy brethren. Right here at the top, it's "therefore holy brethren." I know I'm working backwards in the text, but follow my train of thought. "If you are going to hold fast to what you have attained, then you're going to work on your holiness continually." Leviticus 11 too says, "You shall be holy for I am holy." The Apostle Peter reiterated that command in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 16, "You shall be holy for I am." The wonderful name of God, I am holy. You are to be holy because God says, "I am holy. You're to be like Me."

Here's a litmus test for you. This is the Christian standard, a decisive and determinative question to answer the test and to give you a quick gauge as to whether or not you're in the faith. Where do you stand with the Savior? You need to know. You need to be able to pass this litmus test before the actual test comes. Judgment, you need to know if you are passing or failing this test. The most honorable and the most glorious judge of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, our Lord, the most high and supreme court in heaven, over earth. He is the one who determines what is final and eternal, and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews 10:31.

And so God will judge Christ is coming again soon. Your litmus test is hidden in this word, "therefore." At the beginning of chapter 3 in verse 1 it says, "therefore." Therefore is connecting the concepts that have already been established that Jesus Christ tasted death for everyone in verse 9. And His work then moves on through the saved who were called brothers, who were called holy by sanctification. Read with me in verse 9, 10, and 11, chapter 2. See how therefore is connecting the concepts of holding fast and being faithful.

Through the whole text as we are being developed in Christ through sanctification. Chapter 2 verse 9, "But we do see Him, and He was made for a little while, lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it is," okay, so now you have those who have been saved coming up, "for it was fitting for Him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, and bringing many sons to glory." There's been many sons brought to glory, many sons brought to salvation, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings, okay? Verse 11, "For both He who sanctifies," oh, do you see salvation and sanctification connected between those two verses? It's inseparable. "For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father."

If you're of God, then you're being sanctified. That's the litmus test. Are you being sanctified? When you sin, do you fall under conviction? Does the Holy Spirit of God assault your sinful conscience when you fail? And do you run to Jesus in repentance? Do you weep over your sin when you are sinful? Because of how holy God is, if you focus on holding fast to Jesus Christ and His holy deity, you see your sin for what it really is, and you weep over it, you hate your sin.

God is working that in you, and He is refining you, and you are passing the litmus test if you're being refined by Christ. But if you enjoy your sin, you continue in your sin, you don't care about God, you're aloof to Him. Warning, warning, listen, there's only one sacrifice, and we'll get to it, and Christ is not going to be sacrificed again. And if you have tasted the goodness of God and fall away from Him, there's not another sacrifice. Don't harden your hearts. Don't remain aloof to God. Respond to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. Respond and repent of your sin. And truly, truly walk—I'm telling you, it's—once you respond by way of duty to His authority, it becomes a delight.

This whole attractional church model abroad gets it backwards. They want you to delight in Christ first, as if He is to make you excited, to raise your emotions, to make you feel good. I'm telling you, if someone is tickling the flesh, warning! Someone is building up man, warning! Because the Bible reduces man. Moses has been brought low in comparison to Christ. The apostle John said in John 3:30, "I must decrease, and He must increase." We think humbly of ourselves—Moses was the most humble man in all of Scripture. Did you know that?

As man is being reduced to where he should be, Christ is becoming more, and more glorious. And so a true worship service is going to lift up Christ, and lift up Christ, and worship Christ. And a false worship service is going to entertain man, and lift up man, and make you feel good about where you are as a person. And you could do it! It's a prep rally. It gets you through the week through your own endorphins. But the Scriptures don't do that. They say, "Hold fast in Christ, deny the self, and take up the cross, and follow Christ."

So therefore, it's essentially saying, if you are a Christian, you're being made holy. In order to be made holy, you've got to be refined. Just like gold is refined, it's heated up, you absolutely melt it through life circumstances, and the sin that you have within you rises to the surface, and you see your sin because of the harsh and difficult circumstances that have made you to respond in sinful ways. And you're like, "Ah, my sin is ever before me." And then, as a good goldsmith would sift off the top impurities and refine the gold, so are you as you repent of your sin. You see your sin, and so the hardships are actually helping you to see what's in you that needs to be repented of.

Hardships help you when you're a Christian. Christians are made better through battles, not bitter. The end result of trials of your faith is Christian maturity. That's the litmus test. Are you being made better? Are you enabled then to hold fast? If you're a Christian, you're being made holy. Textually, the Jews would say, "I'm of Abraham, chosen of God, chosen people." But it's not from a nation that you are gaining salvation. It's only by the salvation that is offered through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, a substitutionary death. It's not by birth. It's by rebirth.

And so we, too, have the same problem in America. Have you witnessed to someone they think they're a Christian because they were born in America? This is what we do. We go to church. It's what we've always done. And they have Christianese, a language that has been shaped and conformed to how Christians talk. But they profess Christ, but they possess Him not. You know Christians because they repented their sin, they're being made holy. They're not the same as they were five years ago. They've been growing in their faith.

If I've known you for five years, I know particular areas of your life that you have grown in because as a good shepherd who shepherds the flock and the sheep and knows you by name and loves you and walks with you through trials and temptations, I'm at the birth, I'm at the deaths, I'm at the birthday parties, I'm at the victories, I'm at the tragedies, and they're with you. I know you and I know where you've grown. So does the great Shepherd.

So Christians then are called holy and they're called brethren. Check this out. Just as a quick observation I went through and I said, you know what? True Christians are in the text in chapter two, verse 10 called sons of glory. In chapter two, verse 12, they're called brethren of Christ. In chapter two, verse 13, children of God. In chapter two, verse, I'm sorry, that's 13, verse 15, they're freed from slavery. In chapter two, verse 16, they're the recipient of God's help. God helps His children. In chapter two, verse 17, the sinner purchased by Christ's propitiation knows that he has avoided God's wrath. And then in chapter three, verse one, we're called holy brethren. Chapter three, verse two, we're called partakers of a heavenly calling. In chapter three, verse two, we're now members of God's house.

And if you was to go through the entire book of Hebrews, you would get more, and more descriptive words for who we are in Christ as Christians. If you was to go through the entire New Testament and the Old Testament, you could enjoy all of the descriptive language as to who we are in Christ. And so if you have heard the voice of God and responded like the sheep hear the Shepherd's voice, then you are also holding fast in holiness. Moses held fast. He was faithful. He delivered God's people out of Egypt. Moses was a deliverer, but Christ is the greater deliverer in the text.

Would you not rather be delivered from sin rather than being delivered from circumstances like in Egypt? Hey, give me Egypt all day if I can be saved. Christ is the greater deliverer. And so we've been called out of Egypt. And Egypt is like typology of being trapped in slavery, trapped in sin. Moses delivered the people out of slavery out of Egypt. I called my son, Hosea prophesied this in Hosea chapter 11 and verse one. Look there if you want. Hosea 11 went out of Egypt. I called my son. And then this very same thing was fulfilled in the life of Christ in Matthew chapter two and verse 15, "Out of Egypt, I called my son." Matthew 2:15 fulfills Hosea 11:1, and then Christ started His earthly ministry. Matthew quotes Hosea's text referencing the Israelite delivery.

That's significant for our text here in Hebrews because Moses is the one who delivered, was the deliverer, was used by God to deliver the people of God out of Egypt. And now deliverance from sin is by Christ. And through this mediatorial work and His guidance and His delivery of us out of Egypt or out of sin and into the light of Christ merits more glory than Moses. And so we should be confessing Christ in Hebrews chapter three and verse one. Look with me. I want you to see this word confession. This is important for how we live as Christians. And so be confessing Christ. Chapter three, verse one, "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession."

Who is our confession? Christ is our confession. He is who we confess. And so the apostolic authority that's ascribed to Christ combined with the high position of the high priesthood then merits our confessing Christ in the text. And you add the whole Bible to it if you would like. So this was to be confessed as doctrinal truth. This was to be confessed, warning to you those who drift away and stop confessing Christ and amusing yourself with things that are of this world as Christ becomes dimmer in your life and you decrease your sin will naturally increase.

And so Jesus is Lord, period. And as we hold fast to the lordship of Jesus Christ, He is also holding fast to us. I would encourage us not to be stubborn like the Israelites in their single-mindedness and lift up the angels and lift up Moses and revere the things of this world more than Christ. I would make sure that we are all confessing the Lord Jesus Christ over and above what they were tempted with the law. In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1, the preacher strikes right at the heart of Judaism. And it says, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways," this is the Old Testament covenant, the Old Testament law, the law of the prophets, the Psalms, the Torah, verse 5 books of the Bible, "God spoke through the fathers in many portions and in many ways." Verse 2, "In these last days, He has spoken to us in His Son."

So all of these things lead you to Jesus Christ. Everything should be pointing to Jesus Christ. You do not lift up the law more than the Lord because the law leads you to the Lord, you see? And the same thing with confessions. It's a temptation for good-hearted people to talk more about a confession than they do about Christ. But Christ is our confession. Confessions are not without error, but Christ is. And so we talk more about Christ than we do confessions.

It's very important that we make sure that Christ is at the forefront of our mind. People hear Christ. They don't hear a confession. They hear you confessing Christ. Paul, if he be the preacher of Hebrews, which I think so, many people do, and Luke as the amanuensis, the recorder of it in Greek, Paul preaching in Hebrew, Luke recording in Greek, makes sense to me. If that be, then the preacher of Hebrews is striking right at the heart of Judaism and saying, "The law is supposed to lead you to the Lord. It's but a shadow."

The substance is Christ. Have you ever seen your shadow before? What caused the shadow? You. You are the substance of the shadow. Christ is the substance of the law. The law is a shadow pointing to Christ. We don't lift up the shadow. We don't lift up confessions. We don't lift up the law. That leads us to the fulfillment of the law, the Lord of the law, Jesus, Jesus Christ. And so confess Christ over, and above all things. Don't be known for a confession. Be known for Christ. Be confessing Christ.

Don't be known for a particular theologian that you love because all theologians have flaws. Don't try to lead people to Christ by quoting theologians. Lead people to Christ by quoting Scripture. Make sure that we are lifting up Jesus Christ and confessing Christ. He is our confession. And oh, how my wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ have erred a serious error by being known more for a confession than for Christ. Because in those, you have errors. They are not inerrant. There's nothing that's inerrant. Save Scripture.

So be confessing Christ, not a person and not a confession. Men are flawed, but the Son of Man is flawless. So as we continue through the text, you see that Christ held fast. Moses held fast as a faithful one over his house, but Christ held fast over his house as a son. And building in the text is a metaphor. You see the word house in verse two and in verse three and in verse four and in verse five and in verse six. Repeated word house means a household and Christ is the builder of this household. It illustrates that honor then is to be given to the builder of the house, the one who is over the house, Jesus Christ.

And so ultimately, everything is built by God. So you give honor where honor is due. God is truly in control. And if you have not rested in that complete peace that God is in control, I want you to memorize Job 42:2. Job 42 says, "I know that You can do all things and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." I know that You can do all things and no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. I pray that you learn that through your ears and not your tears. Job confessed that after a lot of trials, a lot of bad advice and some correction from God, but you can learn that now. You can have, you can confess Christ and you can believe that He is the way, the truth and the life and that God is in control.

And you can continue in Christ and be pleasing unto Him. I want to end with a doctrine of perseverance and help to explain to us how to hold fast, because this command in chapter three and verse six to hold fast to Christ is really illuminating a particular doctrine that we all should be familiar with. And that is the doctrine of perseverance. It's a high calling of the called to hold fast. True members of God, they really, truly remain faithful and endure to the end. Hebrews chapter three, verse 14 says, "We have become partakers of Christ. If we hold fast, the beginning of our assurance firm until the end." Hebrews chapter 10, verse 23 says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering."

Now, this is a very important point for you to be able to hold fast without wavering, because Hebrews 10:23 goes on to say, "For He who promised is faithful." He who promised is faithful. Okay, Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is faithful, not forsaking. And then as well, moving on, speaking to us and how we continue to assemble and remain faithful, but focusing upon Christ in you, this hope that we hold fast to. This doctrine is not teaching that believers persevere on their own. Perseverance is their part, but preserving is God's part. And so the doctrine of perseverance could be better explained by God's preserving you.

It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. Philippians chapter one and verse six explains it like this. I am sure of this, okay, this confidence that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. This is confidence in Christ working in you, and then you simply respond and remain faithful. This doctrine teaches that true people of God will persevere to the end. They will remain faithful. They're not going to shrink back from Christ. They're not going to remain away from Him. If they do, they repent and bounce back. Those who leave us weren't really among us or of us.

First John chapter two, verse 19 says, "They went out from us, but were not really of us. For if they would have been of us, they would have remained until the end." And this really then, by way of application, speaks to our union in Christ. Our union means God brought us into Him and He keeps what He saved. And we keep ourselves in Him. He preserves us as we persevere in Him. His power works in us as we strive according to His power. He is faithful to fulfill His promises in us as we are faithful to remain in His promises. God helps us as we rely on His help. He maintains us as we work on being maintained in Him. And He guides our walk as we walk in Him.

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is how we are to hold fast in Christ. I want to leave you with a few appeals. Take home truths to think on how you can apply these truths to your life. Number one, hold fast to your household. If you're going to hold fast, then you're going to need encouragement through all kinds of trials to be able to endure. And in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, it says, "Not forsaking our own assembly, but encouraging one another." You need other people. No person can do this alone. God did not design you to be able to thrive alone.

He designed the local church and gave various gifts to various people to work together to achieve God's will in and through your life. It literally necessitates the local church. You must be in church. If you can't be in church, start a home church. Worship God. Read, pray, sing. Got to be worshiping God. Got to be in church. Got to have church. Got to worship together. The people have to come together. Hold fast to our household. I know I'm biased. I hope you are too, but I love our household. I love this particular local church. We've eliminated all the unnecessary things and scriptural things over the years and are simply doing what needs to be done according to what the scriptures say.

And so everything that we do, you can have confidence in participating in because it is achieving what God's will is in your life. And so hold fast to this local church. A church then is the pillar and the support of truth. 1 Timothy 3:15 says, "God's household, the church, the pillar and support of truth." You need to be supported in the truth. You need to be participating in supporting the truth. You are the pillar that needs to be proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. So point number one, hold fast to our household. The church educates. The church strengthens. The church upholds. The church encourages. You just never know how you may impact someone else's life for eternity.

Sometimes it's a look. Sometimes it's a word. Sometimes it's a conversation. Sometimes it's the preaching. Sometimes it's the teaching and Bible study. Sometimes it's the prayer. Sometimes it's the worship. Sometimes it's the lyrics of the hymn. It all works together to achieve what God wants. And believe me, what He wants done in your life, He can do it. Whether it's an elderly lady that can barely speak, sometimes just the whispers. Shake your life like a mountain or an earthquake. God can do it in your life. You're part of the church. So be faithful to be the church, be the people of God, the people in church. Help achieve God's will in and through us.

Number two, confess Christ continually. Confess Christ continually. Keep confessing Jesus Christ. Keep talking about Jesus. He's the greatest subject ever. He's the greatest person ever. He's the most glorious person ever. He's the greatest subject to think about, to talk about. Theologians haven't mastered it. Authors haven't written everything about Him. If the books contained in this world, we're talking about Jesus. Just getting through the introduction. The last chapter in the book of John talks about how all the books of the world could be contained with Jesus Christ. It still wouldn't be enough to contain just what He did in three years in ministry. This is a wonderful subject.

So be confessing Christ and talking about Christ. Not only holding fast to Christ, but confessing Christ is the thrust of today's message. And so be confessing Christ. And by the way, Satan tempts us with doubt, right? Satan tempts us with sin. Satan attacks us, especially in our feelings. If you are ready to confess Christ, then you can do what Jesus did in Matthew chapter four and simply say, "It is written. It is written. It is written." You can hold up your shield of faith and you can swing your sword of Scripture and you can defend yourself and hold fast to where you are and not be slaughtered by the wiles of the devil.

Standing fast in Christ requires for you to be able to say, "It is written. It is written. It is written." And so be ready to continually confess Christ. Just a little tad bit of a tip. What do you struggle with? Write that down. Get a concordance. Look it up. Memorize a verse according to your struggle. Memorize a verse according to your struggle. Prescribe Scripture to your struggle. Prescribe it. Memorize it. Review it. And then hold fast in it. This is how you hold fast to Christ.

And then number three, we don't test God, but trust God. If I was to skip down to verse eight in the text, it says, "Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness." Hey, don't harden your hearts when you're in the trial. Don't become hard-hearted when you're in a wilderness like is being referenced here. Don't become aloof from God and bitter towards God when you're going through a wilderness experience. You know that these things are working for you to strengthen you, to refine you. Keep an optimistic attitude about God and know that God's purposes will not be thwarted. That includes you and your life. So it's not only Job chapter 42 verse 2 and in Job's life learning that lesson, but it's you and your life, Philippians 1:6.

It's going to be accomplished. You trust God through the trial. "Do not shrink back from God and therefore test Him." And so we trust God. We don't test Him. And it's only by pride that people shrink back and hang on to heartache. It's only by pride that they hold on to an angst against God. It's only by pride that someone hardens their heart and they're hanging on to pride that's going to keep you from the spiritual promised land.

And so it is truly then unbelief and pride, resistance from God leading you to the Son that will cause you to not hold fast to Christ. I hope today's message has been encouraging for you to be able to hold fast and to continue to grow in your sanctification in Christ. Pray with me if you would. Lord, we do thank you and we love you. We ask that You would help us all to hold fast in our faith, to continue in the Word and to prove that we're disciples of Yours. Your Word says in John 8:31, "Help us, dear Jesus, to prioritize the scriptural priorities and to minimize the things of the world. May we not go after possessions, but we go after the one who possesses all the possessions. May we seek after You with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength."

Your Word says in Matthew 6:33, "To seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." Everything that we need, food, shelter, and clothing, everything that we need, You and You alone, will be added to our lives, to our hearts, if we are seeking You and Your righteousness. Dear Lord, if someone here has looked at this text today or heard this message and it is strange to them, they've never experienced Your refining hand through trials. They've never experienced conviction of sin. They've never known You as a good Shepherd. I pray, dear Jesus, that You would grant them the faith to be able to confess You as Lord and Savior, to be able to confess You as the one who died on the cross and rose again for their sin. Grant them repentance and faith, dear Jesus, towards You that they may, in the posture of their heart and the attitude of their heart, run to You, dear Jesus and be saved.

I pray, dear God, that they would move forward to not only being saved but biblically baptized, and not only that, to belong to the church. If there's any dear saint here today who wants to belong to this church, to join this church, I pray that they would come forward and confess Christ and their testimony and how they were saved, what they believe about the church, what they love about this church, and state that they would love to be a member. I pray, dear God, that saved people would not only be baptized, but that they would also belong to a good Bible preaching and believing and hearing church, and they would also study the Bible, know how to study the Bible for themselves to be able to know You more, and then to go forth and make disciples in like fashion, show people what it is to believe in Christ, to be biblically baptized, to belong to a church, and study the Bible. May we all be disciple makers. May everyone here be discipling someone. May we be faithful to Your great commission, be faithful to hold fast in our sanctification, and continue to be grown by You.

Oh Lord, if there's one who is drifting away and shrinking back, I pray for that dear soul that You would lovingly and kindly bring them back with the top of Your staff, that You would corral them and bring them closer to You dear God. We would rejoice in that.