Jesus: The More Excellent One #2

Because Christ is greater than the prophets, because he's greater than angels, because he's greater than Moses, because he came to save sinners just like you, you can know with certainty that your faith in Christ is not misplaced. Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hi, I'm Bill Wright, and we're continuing our series titled The Wonder of Jesus, with part two of a message called Jesus, the More Excellent One. Last time, Don began showing us how the book of Hebrews compares Christ to others. We were reminded that Jesus is greater than the prophets. He didn't just tell us about God. He was and is God. Christ is also more excellent than angels.

He is worthy of worship, and he receives it, unlike angels who refuse to be worshiped unless they're fallen. On today's broadcast, Don will reveal yet another comparison. To find out what, or rather who that is, let's join our teacher now as he continues to teach God's people God's Word. Here's Don Green from the Truth Pulpit. In verse 2, the writer of Hebrews says, For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, his point being, you can see this in Acts 7 and in Galatians 3, that somehow the angels were involved in the giving of the law through Moses. And he says in verse 2, And every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty. Watch this.

Stay with me here. This is also very, very important, or we wouldn't be talking about it. His point and his argument is this. Christ is greater than angels, but, you know, the angels were involved in somehow in the giving of the law of Moses. And in that law delivered by angels, every act of disobedience, every sin, every transgression was subject to severe punishment from God. This is the law given by angels. And there was penalties attached for disobedience to the law given and delivered by angels.

Watch his inescapable point as he goes to verse 3. How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? He says, If God punished men for transgressing the law given by angels, what do you think is going to happen when you neglect, reject, and are indifferent to something much greater than that which angels could ever give? Angels on a lesser order gave a law that produced penalties and disobedience and judgment. What's going to happen to you when you reject Christ?

Who's greater than angels? It's an argument from the lesser to the greater. If penalties and judgment were associated with the lesser thing, what do you think is going to happen to those who reject the greater thing? Only greater punishment, only greater culpability, only greater accountability. That's why he goes on and speaks.

He'll return to this theme later on in the book. And so, I could say it this way. The law of Moses was holy. Disobedience was punished. Jesus is greater than angels. My friend, what do you think is going to happen to you if you neglect Christ, if you turn away from him, if you walk away? What's going to happen to you if those who had the laws delivered by angels were punished? What's going to happen to you when the greater one is there and you walk away, you neglect him, you spurn him, you reject him, you mock him, you have no interest in him?

Your guilt is infinitely greater. And therefore, the point of that is, the point of it is, is that therefore, my friends, my brothers and sisters, visitors, those of you who are with us for the first time, the whole point of it is this. Is that it behooves you, it behooves you to pay heed to New Testament revelation, which points you to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you or I were found guilty of neglecting it, rejecting it, in light of the great revelation given to us, then, beloved, the only thing we could say is that our blood is on our own head. And it's no fault of God, it's no fault of Christ, it's your own accountability that brings about the destruction of your own soul. This is important, this matters.

Let's put it this way, let's put it this way. Do you think that the God who decreed this eternal plan of salvation, do you think Christ who left his glories in heaven above in order to come down and pay the price for sinners at the cross of Calvary at great personal cost, at great suffering, as he absorbed the wrath of God on behalf of everyone who would ever believe in him? Do you think that God will be indifferent to those who hear of those most holy, majestic things and say, I'm not interested? You're not interested in the greatest act of the universe of all time? You're not interested in the great eternal plan of God? You're not interested in his great son? You would scorn and insult the King of Kings?

Oh, there's consequences to that, beloved. That means that for your own good, for your own sake, you must pay much closer attention to what's been said in Scripture. Christ is greater than the prophets, he is greater than angels. Thirdly, we can say this, he is more excellent than Moses. He is more excellent than Moses. Look at chapter 3.

Because he is more excellent, you should give attention to him. Because he's greater than the prophets and the angels, therefore you should give attention to him. Look at chapter 3 as he renews his point about paying attention, as he says, Therefore, chapter 3, verse 1, therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession. Turn your mind to Jesus. Turn your heart.

Turn your will. Turn your obedience to him and give it to him. Verse 2, he says, he was faithful to him who appointed him, he was faithful to the work that the Father had given him to do, as Moses also was in all of his house. He introduces Moses to our consideration.

Now, remembering the Jewish nature of the writers that he was writing to, let me just remind you of something really important so that you follow the flow of this argument and see the force of it with all that it is intended to have. Scripture shows us and teaches us that the Jews boasted of their association with Moses. They delighted in being a part of the people that Moses led out of Egypt. In John chapter 9, verse 27, they said, We are disciples of Moses.

And so their thought, their conception was that to be affiliated with Moses was the pinnacle, that was the great thing. And the writer of Hebrews is about to dismantle that faulty thought that Moses was the apex and that there was nothing further to be had or to be said. Now, Moses was a faithful servant, though not without sin.

Watch the argument, beloved. Moses did lead the people out of Egypt. Moses was the human person who delivered the law of God to the people. Moses does have his name attached to the first five books of our English Bibles to this day.

What a great man. He stood face to face, toe to toe, nose to nose with Pharaoh, and didn't back down. But Jesus? Jesus is more excellent than Moses. Look at verses 3 through 6 of Hebrews chapter 3. Speaking of Christ, it says, He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house.

Verse 4, every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses, verse 5, was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later. Moses was faithful, yes, and we're grateful for that, but he was just a servant in the house. Verse 6, Christ was faithful as a son over his house. A servant is of no comparison to the son.

Christ is the son. Moses was a servant. Christ was the architect. Moses was a mere house by comparison.

Christ was the genius of the whole plan of salvation. Moses, by comparison, was a water boy. Oh, he was a good water boy, but by comparison to Christ, that's all he was. And so, we look to Christ and we honor Him greatly, infinitely, far above, infinitely beyond Moses. Moses was a man of like human flesh to us. Moses was sinful and needed a savior himself. Remember, Moses sinned and therefore wasn't able to enter into the promised land. Faithful over all, still weak and fallen and sinful, not Christ, not weak, not fallen, not sinful, God over all, impeccable, did not sin, was not able to sin, incarnate God, uncreated, the second person of the Blessed Trinity. That's who Jesus is. Moses has no part in any of that. So by very essence, you look to Christ, not to Moses. And if you belong to Christ, then the writer of Hebrews is saying you can't go back to the Levitical system. You leave it behind because Christ fulfilled it all.

He satisfied all of its demands. And having satisfied it now, He is the object of faith. He is the one whom you trust. Christ is the one to whom you look, not to the shadows that Moses established. Look at Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12, and in light of all of that, He speaks to them with such kindness but with such directness. He says, take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living of God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

He addresses them directly, and based on His pattern, I address each one of you directly here today. Take care that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from Christ after His excellence has been presented to you. What do you think will happen to you if you do that? What's going to happen to you if you walk away from Christ? What's going to happen to you if you dismiss this word from Scripture?

It can't possibly be anything good. And it is only evil, indwelling sin and your own stubborn will that would cause you to do so. There is nothing in God that would influence you to reject Christ.

That rejection and that unbelief all comes from inside you. What's going to happen to you if you give in and you follow the evil dictates of your own sinful heart rather than coming to this most excellent Christ? He's greater than Moses. He's greater than angels.

He's greater than the prophets. What's going to happen to you? How do you think God will judge you if you look at that and spit on it and walk away? Unchanged, unbelieving, preferring sin in this world to Christ. What's going to happen to you? I shudder at the thought.

I shudder at the thought. Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. The writer of Hebrews makes reference to the fact that Jesus is greater than the rest that Jesus offers. The rest that Jesus gives is greater than the rest that was given by another Old Testament figure, Joshua. We'll not make a separate point of this in the outline of the message, but look at chapter 4, verse 8. If Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day of rest after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his.

Think about it. Joshua led the people into the Promised Land and what was on the other side after they had crossed the Jordan. A lot of years of difficult warfare. What's going to happen to us when we cross into our rest in heaven? Perfect peace, glorification, the fulfillment of everything. Joshua was a great man of the Old Testament. We've spoken about leadership, illustrating principles from his life. But Jesus is greater than Joshua and the rest that he gives is an eternal, heavenly rest, unlike the earthly, temporal, broken rest that Joshua led the people into. Do you see the superior surpassing excellence of Christ?

Have you come to him? Do you see the significance of which we speak? And because Christ is more excellent, because Christ, as we'll see next, is a greater high priest who offered a greater sacrifice. Verse 14 of chapter 4, speaking to these who were trembling on their, as they stood at the fork in the road in verse 14, he says to them in chapter 4, verse 14. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The writer of Hebrews has become very pastoral at this point. He set forth the great contrast and made clear the consequences of rejecting what he says.

But it's not, he's not speaking with just a stick in his hand, not a rod to beat and discipline with. Rather, he has upheld the excellence of Christ in order to give his readers, and by extension us today, to give us every possible motivation that we would need to come trustingly to Christ and to continue to follow him, to make Christ the object of our hope, Christ the object of our faith, and to cling to him and to hold to him even if that faith, that identification with Christ, brings hardship and persecution to us. He says, in Christ we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens. He has gone to the very throne room of God where he represents those who believe in him.

He's passed through it all. And what is he like at the right hand of God? Merciful, sympathetic, understanding, knowing the difficulty, knowing by personal experience the difficulty that life on this earth can bring, knowing by personal experience the opposition that his name brings in the hearts of the unbelieving, knowing, knowing the conflict of this world though he did not sin in it, knowing the crowning act of suffering as he went to Calvary for his people. That's who Jesus is. That's what Jesus is like. That's who our great Lord as we look into heaven, as it were, that's what he's like at the right hand of God. Sympathetic, understanding, and merciful with the call being to you, those of you who are in Christ, those of you who are struggling, those of you who are wondering if it's worth all of the effort to follow Christ in this life, and the writer of Hebrews comes with a resounding answer that says, yes, yes, yes, he is worthy, yes, he is faithful, yes, he understands, yes, he is able to help. That's who Christ is.

That's what he's like. And because he is like that, the call goes to you as a believer. Look at it again in verse 16. Though perhaps you were tempted to turn away, though perhaps you have staggered under the load, though perhaps things are all confusion around you today, this great light pierces the fog of your thinking, the fog of your divided heart, pierces the fog of your circumstances, and calls on you and whistles to you, as it were, and says to you, let us draw near. Let us draw near with confidence, with boldness, with a sense of belonging to the throne of grace to go to Christ and know that in response to our faith, he gladly, freely, abundantly dispenses mercy and grace for you in your time of need. That's who Jesus is.

That's who our Christ is. Christian, I know some of you are greatly beleaguered. Christ says come and find grace in your time of need. Those of you who should be deeply convicted, clearly understanding that you are outside of Christ, that you have not to this moment had any love for him in your heart whatsoever, Christ says I see that and I offer myself to you once more.

Come to Christ and find grace and mercy for you in your deep hour of great spiritual need. Scripture says you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. Have you been born again?

Have you come to faith in Christ? Don't you see that Christ is preeminently worthy of the worship of every man and woman, boy and girl who has ever lived, who lives now and whoever will live. His lofty preeminence demands worship. He graciously calls you to worship, to trust him, to come to him by faith and enter into the kingdom of God, to have all of your sins forgiven and rather than being under the deceitful, murderous taskmaster of Satan that you would be under the good, benevolent rule of the most holy Christ who will gladly represent you and bring you to his Father in heaven and it's not a shame to call those who believe in him brethren. That's who Jesus is.

Friend, I ask you, he's really excellent, isn't he? No prophet can do any of that for you. No one ever did. They were never intended to.

They never could. No angel can bring you to God. No foolish, charismatic vision can bring you to God. Why would God keep giving visions when he's already spoken in Christ? He said all there is to say. Anything said after Christ would be lesser and God doesn't descend from the perfect to the imperfect. He's greater than Moses. Don't try to find your justification with God through obedience to the law.

You can't. Even if you could do it perfectly from this moment forward, which you couldn't, you've broken his law so many ways in the past. You're a shattered pane of glass.

All that's left is to sweep up the pieces and throw them away. You need to be born again. You need Christ to save you.

You cannot save yourself. You must come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. And because he's greater than the prophets, because he's greater than angels, because he's greater than Moses, because he came to save sinners just like you, you can know with certainty that your faith in Christ is not misplaced. You can know with utter confidence that he will receive you and forgive you forever and bring you into his family. God will call you his child. God will keep you and bring you into heaven.

In the weakness of my words and the weakness of my flesh, I've brought you to Christ, but I cannot push you in. You must receive him. You must put your faith in him to be saved. And Christian, brother and sister in Christ here in this room with me today, don't you ever think about going back on him. Don't you ever leave Christ. Trust him.

Follow him. And know that as you do, it's Christ himself that is keeping you in the faith. Jesus is more excellent than the prophets, the angels, than Moses and the law, and greater than any other sacrifice. Pastor Don Green has more of our series, The Wonder of Jesus, next time here on The Truth Pulpit.

We hope you join us then. Right now, though, here again is Don with some closing thoughts. Friend, one of the things that I'm always mindful of when I'm here in studio is I'm mindful that there are people out in the audience that are like I used to be, thinking that they were Christians but not really having the life of God in their soul. You've perhaps read the Bible or gone to church, but you've never really turned your life to Christ in repentance and saving faith.

I was like that. I know what it's like to be self-deceived. I just encourage you, if you've just viewed Christianity as something kind of casual and not all that important, my friend, examine yourself, see if you're truly born again, and let that work of God in your heart lead you to truth, lead you to the Scriptures, so that you would enter into the profound life that belongs only to those who are true Christians. Thanks, Don. And friend, be sure to visit our website at thetruthpulpit.com for important resources and to learn more about our ministry. Plus, you'll find access to Don's full-length sermons, not subject to the time constraints of our broadcasts. Again, that's all at thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time when Don Green continues to teach God's people God's Word from the Truth Pulpit.