GYC West 2014: I Am The Conflict Continues

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GYC West

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Winston Green

Content With Christ

Patrick Dillon

Redemption and Conflict

Confidence through the Conflict

Redemption and the Church

It's great to see the bright faces this morning.

We have to get through the challenge of being able to display this and charge it at the same time.

You had a good rest so that you could rest today, right?

Well, I have the privilege of sharing with you this morning Hebrews chapter 3 and 4.

This is a continuation of what we have been talking about, or what we had talked about on Thursday.

And what we talked about on Thursday was how to be content in Christ.

We've seen that in the first century that the Jews were encountering a lot of issues within the church, and this was distracting them.

This was distracting them, the various false doctrines and debates were distracting them from what Christ had done and what he was doing for them in the heavenly sanctuary.

And so, as we continue on, we'll see that Hebrews, like I had mentioned before, is a continuation all throughout the book.

Has anyone studied through Hebrews here before?

It's, along with the book of Romans, it's 1 of the most thorough expositions of the gospel.

So if you place Hebrews and Romans side by side, you're getting the big picture.

And although I'm not able to grasp the big picture, I think we have a powerful message because this is something that I've experienced and that I've gone through, and I hope that if you're going through the same thing or you do in the future, that you'll be able to have confidence in Christ.

And that's the title of the sermon this morning.

Let's bow our heads before we get into the word this morning.

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, we thank you for this Sabbath day that we can enter into your rest.

It's our desire this morning to learn from the book of Hebrews.

We know that there's a special message there for all of us.

We desire to learn from your early movement and learn why they did not enter into that full rest that you had promised them from the beginning.

May your name be glorified and praised today.

Please engage all of our minds in your word, because this is all about you, and help us to consider Jesus this morning.

Please turn with me this morning to Hebrews chapter 3.

We pick up in Hebrews 3 to explore how to consider Jesus.

Actually, before we get to 3, we'll go to chapter 2.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, that is Jesus, likewise partook of the same things.

That through death he might destroy the 1 who had the power of death, that is who?

The devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Paul here is doing what any brilliant pastor would do.

In chapter 1, He hits on a main point in salvation history, and that was in Eden, and now he's working through the narrative, and he comes to exile, from Eden to exile.

And he's trying to help the early Christians consider Jesus through this salvation history.

And so, In this little section here, it leads in the chapter 3, Paul's explaining how Christ took on human nature to identify with suffering humanity so that he could die the death and destroy the devil to rescue Earth's captive inhabitants.

This then is the basis for which Christ can be considered as apostle and high priest.

Patrick had mentioned yesterday morning that The gospel can only be seen in the context of the great controversy, and isn't that what Paul's doing here?

Therefore, holy brethren, therefore, knowing these things, you who share in the heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all of God's house.

You see, before someone could be a captain of anything, they have to be a crew member.

He had to go what we went through, suffer what we suffered.

He had to be tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.

And then he could become the captain, and then he could identify with us, and Paul's saying, consider Christ through the conflict.

And it's interesting that he says apostle and he says high priest.

You kind of get this idea that an apostle is 1 who's sent out to build the church, and we know that the high priest was there to maintain the church.

So having laid the foundation then for the church, he says consider Jesus, because he's building upon that foundation.

And then once he's built it, he'll maintain it.

You know, in early Judaic tradition, Moses is highly revered, very highly revered.

In fact, in some of the rabbinical writings in the late first century, you'll see that he's almost seen as a god.

And here, Paul wants to make sure that he confirms that Moses, yes, he was important, but Christ is far more better than Moses ever was.

But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son.

And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting firm unto the end.

1 thing that I failed to mention was that that word consider in the Greek is kataneo, which means to contemplate.

So here what we're doing is we're contemplating how Christ has built the church in order for us to see how he's going to maintain it.

So we need to consider his life and ministry.

So come with me, in your minds, to Christ's ministry.

The conditions that surrounded the life and ministry of Christ was very adverse.

He had to deal with their unfaithfulness and their hard-heartedness.

He had to deal with a lot of opposition and at the same time train these disciples and completely invest his life in them.

Meanwhile, He had to stay faithful himself.

I mean, this was intense, and I'm sure you've read in Desire of Ages and whatnot, when Christ goes through the wilderness experience, that was the most intense temptation that anyone could ever go through.

And I believe that it continued that way to Gethsemane and even to the cross.

He had to help the sick and the suffering.

But yet, but yet after all of that, he could say that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church.

Yet he could say, Father, I have done everything that you have sent me to do.

And so, once again, a pastor wants to let his congregation know, yes, you can have confidence, but this is what you don't do.

He'll continue to speak and in verse 7 he says, Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as in the day of rebellion.

On the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

What was threatening Israel from maintaining their confidence and rejoicing in God's plans and purposes for them was their unbelief and their hard-heartedness.

You know, it's interesting in Psalms 95, in Psalms 95 it adds something that Paul doesn't add here.

It doesn't necessarily detract from it, but it gives us a little bit more of insight on what he's trying to say.

Psalms 95, 7 to 9 says, "'For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah on the day at Massa in the wilderness.

So this is a specific place that he's referring to.

He's saying don't do what they did at this specific place but why this place?

Well it's interesting because at Meribah and at Masa this was the the first testing.

This was the first place of testing for Israel.

Series

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Confidence through the Conflict

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

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