Simply Jesus
Jesus- The Builder of God’s House
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Welcome!
Call to Worship:
Come, lift up your hearts to the Lord!
To You, O Lord, we lift up our hearts! In You we trust! Do not let us be put to shame.
Our God is full of compassionate love. He brings sinners back to His way,and teaches the humble the way they should go.
Show us the right path, O Lord; point out the way for us to follow. Lead us by Your truth, and teach us, for You are the God who saves. We put our hope in You!
Praise Songs
Intro: The end of last week’s key Scripture and the end of chapter two in Hebrews said this:
18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Jesus the Son of Man and the Son of God, knows us and is able/competent/willing to help us as we are being tempted. He is our high priest, our Counselor, the One who directs our path to righteousness, the One who comforts, forgives, and encourages us to rise up and live as the redeemed children of God that we are. He is the builder of God’s house and we-the Church-are what He has and continues to build.
The very next word in Scripture we read as we head into Chapter 3 (remember this was all one letter in its original form-it’s just been broken up to make for easier reading for us), is THEREFORE.
What do we know when we read therefore? Action for us will follow.
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.
The author is addressing the readers to our holy position in God’s family-saying remember you are holy, because Christ is holy and you share in His heavenly calling and all of His inheritance. Here is what you as holy children of God must do: fix your thoughts on Jesus, because it is He who is the builder of the Church.
What does it mean to fix your thoughts on something?
To laser in on that one thing, to consider it from all perspectives and angles, to meditate upon it, to be certain about it and not waiver in your focus. Fix it right there. Like your favorite radio station when we had to tune them in-you had it right where you wanted it to listen to your favorite songs-now don’t anyone change it. Leave it right there.
Or kids glued to their favorite cartoons and magically able to tune out every other noise around them, especially their parents trying to get them to do some chores. Their attention was laser focused on that show.
We live in a world where we are highly distracted, we have information overload, sensory overload at times, and so much pulling at us, that it is really hard to focus on any one thing for too long isn’t it? It’s a serious systemic problem that is only rapidly increasing as the speed of technology increases. I am reading a fascinating book on Stolen Focus, and ironically, this is a word God gave me for 2025-Focus. And since then, I have had 2 people share books with me about this particular topic not knowing this is what God has for me this year. I think He might be trying to say something to me…but I’m so distracted it’s hard to hear what He’s saying. Just kidding, slightly.
Ever feel like that? I want to focus on You more Lord, I want to be fixed on You, but there is so much pulling at me, that I am really struggling to stay tuned in. I am struggling to hear You. You’re not alone if this is the case-I would venture to guess that is much of our population.
I believe this is why He put it in front of us to remove the distractions, remove the add-on’s to our beliefs and come back to the heart of our faith-it’s Him and only Him. It’s always been about Jesus-all that He is and what He has accomplished on our behalf. Simply Jesus-the Builder of God’s House.
So today as we continue in Hebrews, we hear a call to action and as we continue to read together, we’ll see a warning we should heed. It all begins with our hearts and how we see Jesus. How do we revere Him? How do we tend to the relationship we have with Him?
Because if those things aren’t in a right perspective, we won’t even have a willingness to fix our thoughts on Jesus, and if we don’t fix our thoughts on Him, we won’t listen to what He is saying to us. If we don’t listen, we will live in rebellion to God.
In this book, the author is making a clear distinction between Jesus and anyone else that others might hold up in praise and honor. He is making it clear Jesus is a stand alone and whoever was great before Him, is not His equal, but in fact was a servant to Jesus and His kingdom-including Moses. The Jews held Moses in the highest regard and it was important to understand Moses’ role in making a way for Jesus to come as the true Savior. Moses should be highly regarded, but not above Jesus. We can do things like this too with leaders we admire and hold in high regard. No doubt they have an important place in this world, or even in the kingdom of God as they are called, but we must always keep Jesus as our Head over all. No one person is greater than Jesus, but all persons of influence who are called by God should always be pointing to Jesus for He is the builder of God’s House. He is worthy of the honor.
Let’s look at Hebrews 3 and hear the distinction of Jesus and His role, and the warning and call to all of us as believers. Let us have ears to hear and a heart to receive-for it is only to our gain as we do.
Hebrews 3:3-14 NIV
3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
- Fix Your Thoughts (On Jesus).
Hebrews 3:3 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.
The one who built the house is held in great honor for what he created and how he brought it all together. The house may be beautiful to look upon, but the honor goes to the one who built it.
Hebrews 3:5-6 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house.
Look at the distinction-Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house. He did incredible things for the glory of God and to the rescue and release of God’s people in bondage to Egypt. Faithful indeed! Obedient-yes! Courageous-yes! But He was a servant in the house of God.
Christ is faithful as the Son-not in God’s house-over God’s house. A Son is family and gets the inheritance of the Father. The Father put the Son in charge and gave all authority to Jesus-to oversee the house of God. Huge difference in the roles.
This is true of every amazing leader called upon by God-in any capacity. They are mighty and faithful servants in the house of God and we can share in the joy of what they accomplished with God for His glory. Let us be always careful to not put them higher in our hearts or worship than Christ Himself.
For Jesus is the foundation and sustenance of our faith. Without Him, we have no faith because our faith is in Him. This is a gift from God.
In Chapter 12 of Hebrews we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus. This would be the eyes of our heart-meaning look within for He dwells within us, why? Because Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. We have it because of Him, and it is strengthened and deepened through Him.
Hebrews 12:2 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
That means we all must own our distractions that draw our thoughts and our eyes elsewhere. What are they for you? What do you get sucked into and lost in for more time than you care to admit? What can derail your thoughts? What are your eyes looking upon? Let’s take ownership of this and become aware of our choices.
We need to develop some greater staying power that is becoming lost in this society, and we can’t do that on our own. We need the help of the Spirit to do so. So we have a warning given to us because all of this is at the core of humanity. This ability to remain steadfast, fixed on God, believing in His promises, and enduring to the end has been a problem all throughout history. This is nothing new, so we are reminded what is important to help us finish our race well.
- Take Heed.
Hebrews 3: 7-8 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,
Hebrews 3:9 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.
In this part of our Scripture, we are brought back to a time all Israelites would remember-the great rescue and exit from Egypt and the trek to the Promised Land, that because of their attitudes, took them 40 years. God provided miracle upon miracle, first in their exit with the Red Sea splitting and then closing back up again on those pursuing them, to water coming out of a rock, to manna dropping on the ground each day, to quail being provided, to their shoes not wearing out, to sustaining them in the desert land and yet, like us, because they were uncomfortable, it wasn’t fast enough, it wasn’t the particular food they wanted…they grumbled and complained and rebelled against God, their Savior.
What did the author point out-don’t let your hearts be hardened. A hard heart will always lead to rebellion. What is rebellion? Maybe some will surprise you. Not listening to His Word, not reading His Word so that you learn what is right and true, going your own way, doubting His promises, complaining about His provision, not responding with love and gratefulness to the God who made you. We may not like to think of ourselves as rebellious-but anything that is outside of the will of God-is rebellion.
Do not let your hearts be hardened when you hear His Word.
Romans 15:4 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
All of it is written down, so as we learn about the endurance of those in the Scriptures, we too can learn endurance; we too can be encouraged that if God was faithful to them He will be faithful to us, and as we read and listen we might have hope-for what? To persevere in faith.
- Persevere to the End.
This past week our world lost two mighty people of faith who persevered to the very end and ran their race with grace, a steadfast faith in who Christ is, and love for His people. One is Julie Morse whom we have been praying for, and another is Pastor Terry Sellers who founded Word of Life Church in Philipps, WI. I met him the first time at my very first Winter Fellowship in IMA and he just beamed when he learned I was a pastor and immediately encouraged me by quoting Acts 2:17. (Another reason to read His Word often, because the Spirit will remind us and bubble up inside of us just the right word to speak to someone at just the right time). I didn’t know anyone then and it was a bit intimidating going to that event by myself not knowing how people would accept me or not. He smiled his warm and loving smile, a twinkle in his eye, and said, “I will pout out My Spirit upon all people! My sons and daughters will prophecy.” I knew that was from God for me to hear-I’m right where I’m supposed to be. He proceeded to tell me all sorts of things about his heart for people and how the Lord would speak to him. How he would read the Word for hours every day-of course there wasn’t the internet when he first began.
Then on Good Friday during covid, I received a call from Pastor Terry out of the blue, but he said God put you on my heart to call. We visited a bit and then he said, here is what God wants you to know, “You are sufficient. You are My portion. You are My glory.” Pretty great confirmation for my heart to hear. I wrote it down with the date and carry that in my Bible every day and probably always will.
Julie is absolutely the same-you know this if you know her. She was an encourager, a prayer warrior who stood on the promises of God, and her smile too was always warm and her words always uplifting and full of love. She fully believes in the promises of God and also fully understands His ways are not her ways.
This is how we are called to live-why- so we don’t give into a hardened heart and begin to rebel God.
Hebrews 3:13-14 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.
We do this best by joining with the Church, the Body of Christ. We are called to live in this community of believers for that is where we find strength, hope, encouragement and are reminded in Word and deed to persevere in faith.
Heed Jesus’ words:
John 8: 31-32 NASB 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
In watching the posts of honor, praise, and compassion for those grieving the loss of Pastor Terry and Julie, these words were shared over and over again for each one-by so many who watched them fight the good fight and finish in faith to the end. This is what I desire for my life and I pray you do too.
2 Timothy 4: 7-8 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Conclusion: Jesus Christ is the builder of God’s house. We, the Church, are His house. Let us consider Him as the Word depicts Him, full of grace, truth and glory. Let us receive His Truth in our hearts, and let us hold our conviction firmly to the end.
Let’s pray
Offering:
Prayers:
Final Song
Final Blessing: Ephesians 6:23-24 23 Peace to the brothers and sisters,[a] and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
