Fix your eyes… Apostle and High Priest | Carlos Velez | Calvary Church

Well, hey everyone. I hope you're having

a good day. Uh, now here's the deal.

Some of you may be thinking over there

that it's a snow day, so I can kind of

relax. I don't have to keep going in

Hebrews. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

We're going to continue on in Hebrews.

In fact, uh, we're going to go to the

next chapter. And what we've said is

that in this book, the author is writing

to a group of people that are going

through some difficulties that they're

going through some hard times. And in

the midst of those difficulties,

they start to tend to drift a little

bit. They're not rejecting Jesus, but

they're questioning if Jesus is actually

worth it. and and then they start to

drift towards things that were familiar

before, things that were more

comfortable, things that they knew.

And what the author of Hebrews is saying

is, "Hey, hey, hey,

whatever it is that you're tending to

drift towards, here's what you need to

understand. Jesus is better. Jesus is

better than any substitutes that you

might have."

And so he begins to make all these

different comparisons in the book of how

Jesus is better than this person or that

person or this thing in the Old

Testament. Jesus is better.

Now before we go into today and talk

about what we're going to learn from

Hebrews chapter 3 today, before we do

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

that, I'm going to take you behind the

scenes a little bit.

I'm going to take you behind the scenes

into how we prepped for today's message.

You see, we meet every Tuesday as a

preaching team. There's Charles, myself,

Brad, and Steve.

And this week, what we had planned on

was that I would preach in Solderton,

and Steve would preach live in Quaker

Town, and we would both cover the same

chapter. And so what we did was we

prepared and we studied and and we began

to email our outlines to each other,

Steve and myself, and we began to email

our manuscripts to each other. And what

was fascinating and and a lot of fun was

the fact that we were very similar and

we were lined up in a lot of ways in our

sermons even before we started talking

about it with each other. And that was a

lot of fun. But what was also fun was

that we were also different. We were

presenting it in different ways.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I really liked Steve's

introduction. I really like the way that

he started his sermon so much that I'm

going to steal it. Don't worry, he's

probably shoveling the snow. He has no

clue. It's fine. He'll be fine. But if

you like the next two to three minutes

of the sermon, you just need to

understand that you're like Steve's

preaching right now, not mine. So here's

what Steve observed.

Steve observed that in our culture, in

our world, in our in our life around us,

if you look closely, what you'll see is

that the world has a formula for

everything.

And here's what he meant. Take a look at

this. Here's one of the formulas. Money

plus security

equals peace. Right? That that's a

formula that many of us and many of

people we know may live by. How about

this?

Comfort

plus convenience

equals contentment.

You ever you ever live by that formula?

Here's another one. Image

plus approval

equals worth.

Now, this one stung a little bit because

this one actually resonated a little bit

with me and I was like, "Oo, Steve, how

about this? Control

plus certainty equals safety." Huh? You

live by that formula? You live by any of

those formulas? And and what Steve is

saying is he's saying these formulas

tend to be some of the things that we

drift towards, some of the things that

we try to live our lives according to.

And nothing in those formulas are are

necessarily bad. Money isn't bad. Um,

comfort isn't bad. Uh, certainty isn't

bad.

They're all good. But here's the danger.

The danger arrives when we begin to

trust in these formulas instead of

trusting in Jesus.

But Steve didn't stop there. He said,

"Let's take it up a notch." Because

we're just talking about our cultural

formulas. We're talking about the

formulas of our world, but the reality

is in the church, we as Christians

sometimes have formulas. They might not

be uh uh as in-your-face. It might be

subtle, but they're just as formative.

And here's what he was saying. Here's

how the formulas usually start.

If I pray enough, if I stay consistent,

if I avoid certain sins, if I show up,

if I serve, give and read my Bible, then

God will be pleased with me. He will

love me. He will bless me.

You ever live according to any of those

formulas?

Again, there's not anything wrong

necessarily with the elements of those

formulas. Obviously, prayer, good,

reading your Bible, good.

But the problem is is when we begin to

trust in those formulas that we design

instead of the person whom the formula

is pointing to

instead of Jesus whom those formulas are

pointing to.

The author of Hebrews is writing to a

group that tended to drift back to old

formulas that they were trusting.

Old formulas that they had put their

trust in. And and here's what we need to

understand about drift. Drift is often

backwards.

Drift is often backwards. Uh drift tends

to return us to what once helped us.

It brings us back to formulas that we

thought were saved.

And here's the thing about drift. Drift

rarely tends to reject Jesus outright.

What it does, what it does, drift tends

to downgrade Jesus.

It takes him from where he's supposed to

be and downgrades him.

And what the author of Hebrews is doing

is reminding us over and over and over

again that Jesus is better than anything

we could drift to. He's better than

anything we could drift to. So with that

in mind, let's jump into Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

3.

Hebrews chapter 3, starting at verse 1.

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

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.

He was faithful to the one who appointed

him, just as Moses was faithful in all

God's house.

Jesus had been found worthy of greater

honor than Moses, just as the builder of

a house 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 in all

God's house, bearing witness to what

would be spoken by God in the future.

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.

Okay,

here's the big idea for today. Okay,

here's the big idea. Because Jesus is

the faithful son over God's house, we

must fix our eyes on him and hold fast

in persevering faith. Did you get that?

The big idea is this. Because Jesus is

the faithful son over God's house, we

must fix our eyes on him and hold fast

fast in persevering faith.

Okay, so how do we do that?

How do we live out this big idea? Well,

the author of Hebrews tells us by giving

us different reminders. And those

reminders are are three things. He says,

here's what he wants us to remember. He

wants us to remember who we are. He

wants to remember to consider who Jesus

is. And he wants us to hold fast to

Jesus. Okay, let's look at that first

one. Remember who you are. Remember who

you are.

How does this chapter start? Let's go

back to it. How does it start in verse

one? Therefore, holy brothers and

sisters who share in the heavenly

calling, stop. Okay, we're going to stop

right there.

What we just read is huge.

What we just read is huge and we need to

not just kind of take it in real quick.

We need to slowly slowly chew it apart

bit by bit today. Okay, let's go through

it slowly.

Let's start. Therefore,

holy. Stop.

Therefore, holy,

the adjective being used is holy.

Now, if my wife uh is watching this

right now, she's thinking to herself,

"Yeah, you're not I mean, your socks

have holes in them." That's about as

holy as I think you are. Holy, let's

remind ourselves what holy is.

Holy is being set apart.

A a holy is separate from the ordinary

or the profane.

He holy is is sacred. It has a with a

divine purpose.

This is the adjective that is being used

at the beginning of Hebrews 3:1.

Hebrews 3:1

Holy. What does this mean? It is a

reminder that we have a new identity in

Christ.

And that new identity includes this

holiness.

I it's not a holiness that means that we

have some sort of moral perfection that

we have manufactured. No, it's a

holiness

that is brought about by Jesus's

sacrifice.

Holiness is given to us. It's not

achieved.

And so that's the first thing that we

are reminded of in this verse of

remembering who we are. And then what

does it say if it goes on? What does it

say? Therefore, holy brothers and

sisters.

Brothers and sisters, this new identity

comes with a new family.

We are part of a new family that is

formed by Jesus. last week. If you uh

attended church, you would have heard

Charles talk about Jesus, our big

brother. And if you if you didn't hear

the sermon, I invite you to go back and

watch it on the Not now. Not now. No,

wait until I'm done. Then go back and

watch it on our website or on our app or

on Facebook,

but watch it and look at what Charles

unpacked about Jesus, our big brother.

Jesus forms this family that we get to

be a part of. We are part of a new

family as holy brothers and sisters. And

as a result, what happens? As a result,

we share in the heavenly calling. What

does this mean? It means with our new

identity comes a new purpose. And our

lives are oriented upward and forward.

They are oriented upward and forward.

We belong to heaven even while living on

earth.

When we choose to accept Jesus as Lord

and Savior, we are part of God's kingdom

work, God's kingdom life now.

Not simply when Jesus returns or after

we die. We get to participate in his

kingdom now. And we are part of his

heavenly calling.

And this is huge.

this sentence and the reason we pause to

just go bit by bit and looking at this

beginning of chapter three is so

important. Why?

Because what the author of Hebrews is

reminding us is this.

Identity has to come before exhortation.

Here's what he doesn't do. The author of

Hebrews doesn't say, he doesn't begin

with do more.

Now that you are FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, DO

MORE. DO MORE. Do more. Do more of this.

Do more of that. No, he begins with

remember who you are.

Remember who you are. You see, identity

fuels perseverance.

Identity fuels perseverance.

And what we need to understand when it

comes to drift and identity is this.

When we forget who we are, that's when

danger happens. When we forget the

identity we have in Christ, that's when

danger happens. That's when drift

happens. Forgetting for who we are, it

pulls us back to old loyalties and old

formulas.

And so the author of Hebrews tells us,

remember who you are. Remember who you

are.

Who you are in Christ.

And once he makes that identity clear,

then then at that point the command

follows. The command follows.

And the central command

of Hebrews chapter 3 is this. Consider

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

who Jesus is. Consider who Jesus is. The

central command is consider Jesus.

Consider Jesus.

If we were to read this again

and we would read it uh in a different

version of the Bible, if we would read

it in the English Standard Version,

here's how it would read. It would say

this.

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share

in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus

the apostle and high priest of our

confession.

Jesus is not meant to be in our

peripheral vision. He's meant to be

central. He's meant to be central. And

we are to fix our attention, our

thoughts, and our trusts on him.

Whether life is good, whether it's bad,

in between,

what ends up happening is we have a

tendency to to shift our focus and and

we begin to shift our focus

horizontally,

looking to our left or right and making

comparisons to other people or looking

at other settings. And what Hebrews is

saying is stop looking horizontally and

begin to look vertically. Begin to look

up to Jesus.

fix your eyes and your thoughts on

Jesus.

There's a a hymn uh that many people in

the church uh at large have grown to

know and they've sing it in churches and

that hymn says this, listen to the

words. It says this, "Turn your eyes

upon Jesus.

Look full in his wonderful face

and the things of earth will grow

strangely dim in the light of his glory

and grace.

Did you notice what happens when we turn

our eyes to Jesus? When we look full in

into Jesus's face, what happens?

Everything horizontally, the things of

this earth begin to become dim. They

begin to fade away. And that's exactly

what the author of Hebrews is telling

us. Turn your eyes towards Jesus.

Consider Jesus. Well, what do we need to

consider him? Well, we learn two things

about Jesus in Hebrews 3. As we consider

him, we learn about his titles and we

learn about a comparison.

There are two unique titles Jesus in

Hebrews chapter 3. The first one is

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

this. The title of apostle.

That's an interesting title, right?

Apostle.

When we hear that word in the church, we

usually don't think of Jesus. We think

of the one the ones whom Jesus has sent.

We think of his disciples, the apostles.

But apostle simply means one who is

sent.

Jesus is the ultimate apostle, the one

sent from God to us.

And this is the only place in the New

Testament where Jesus is called

apostle. And it's so huge because what

it does is continues to unpack how Jesus

is God's final and full revelation.

And so we get this title of apostle but

then we get this other title high

priest.

So the apostle

Jesus is the one sent from God to us as

high priest. He is the one who

represents us before God.

You see that

he's the one who represents us before

God. And he not he doesn't only offer do

an offering of a sacrifice, but he

becomes the sacrifice. And these two

titles are huge. Apostle and high priest

are huge because they represent two of

our greatest needs.

And here's what's going on. Our lives

need to be accessed by God and we need

access to God. Our

lives need to be accessed by God and we

need access to God. And what ends up

happening with these two titles is that

we see Jesus fully God, fully man, and

also the perfect bridge.

Because of our sin, we are separated

from God.

And there's nothing we can do, nothing

we can do to get back to him. So, he had

to come to us in the form of Jesus.

Jesus the apostle sent to us from God.

Jesus the high priest who represents us

before God.

Jesus

bridges the gap

and makes a way for us to be with God.

So those are the titles that we get

when we consider Jesus. But then there's

this comparison that's also there.

There's titles and then there's a

comparison. What's what's the

comparison? The comparison is this.

Jesus is greater than Moses.

Now, if you were reading this as a

Jewish background

Christian, you'd be like, whoa. Because

Moses,

Moses was the ultimate figure in the Old

Testament. Through Moses, the people of

Israel were uh delivered from Egypt.

through Moses, the law was given by God

to us.

Moses is like the pinnacle of all the

Old Testament.

And what the author of Hebrews is doing,

he's not he's not making Moses look bad.

He he he's not he's not bringing Moses

down. What he's saying is like, yes,

Moses is this person and he's faithful,

but Jesus is greater. He is better. He

is more faithful.

And he uses these powerful images, these

powerful images uh uh to to describe

this. He talks about a house and and he

talks about how Moses is a part of this

house and it's a faithful house,

but Moses is a part of the house.

Jesus is the builder of the house.

Moses just a creature. Jesus is the

creator. And by being the creator, he's

superior to Moses.

But not only is Moses just a part of the

house and Jesus is the builder of the

house, the roles they play play in that

house are also different. Moses plays

the role of a servant in the house.

Moses is playing the role as a servant

in the house. He's a part of the worker

of the house. Yes. But Jesus is the son.

And as the son, Jesus is lord over the

house.

Not only are they different in nature by

one being the builder and one being a

part of the house, they're different in

role and responsibility in that one is

son and lord and the other is a servant.

Jesus is greater than Moses.

And so as we do this search in Hebrews

3, what we do is we see we remember who

we are and then we consider who Jesus

is. And when we look at the two

together, what we are given is this

command, this exhortation to hold fast

to Jesus.

Hold fast to Jesus.

What does it say in the verse 6 of

Hebrews chapter 3? says, "But Christ is

Hebrews 3 · chapter mention

faithful as a 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."

If indeed we hold firmly to our

confidence, the hope in which we glory,

there's a tension in that verse.

There's a tension that that on first

reading might make you uncomfortable.

And the reason it might make you

uncomfortable is because sometimes

people approach this verse incorrectly.

A and when you read this verse

incorrectly, what it does, it creates

this fear. This fear of salvation being

uncertain

that that that salvation is dependent on

how strong my faith is.

But that doesn't make sense because

Hebrews consistently affirms the

sufficiency of Jesus's saving work

consistently throughout the letter. It

affirms the sufficiency of Jesus's

saving work. So then what's going on

here?

There's a scholar named Albert Mohler

and he writes it this way. He says,

"Only those who persevere in faith will

be saved,

and all who have genuine faith will

persevere."

Did you get that?

Only those who persevere in faith will

be saved, and all who have genuine faith

will persevere.

This is not telling us h about to be

confident in our faith. It's telling us

to be confident in the one whom our

faith is in.

I was trying to think through like what

does that look like? I'm trying to

figure out what what does that look

like? And I was thinking back to when my

kids were younger, uh, you know, maybe

like five, four years old, and we were

at a pool

and and they they wanted they didn't

know how to swim yet, but they wanted to

go swimming. And and I remember I was uh

by the edge of the pool and I was

holding out my my arms to them so that

they could jump in the pool and I would

catch them. Now the younger one um she

would just leap into the pool. Uh I I

barely would get my hands up. Sometimes

I had to like really quick rush my hands

up to catch her. She just loved the

water and so she was just leaping into

the pool. Reckless abandon. And

sometimes we think of faith as having to

be like that. that we have to have

reckless abandon, that nothing should

come our way, nothing should stop us, we

should just boldly jump into wherever

God leads us. And parts of faith are

like that.

But somehow we elevate that faith to

like this is the only kind of faith that

that is acceptable.

Let me tell you about my other kid.

This is what would happen when they got

to the edge of the pool.

Oh, they didn't jump in. I mean, they

they stood there and they, you know,

they rocked back and forth like

pretending like they were going to jump

in,

but this is what they did. They looked

at me and they kept their eyes on me and

then they would go like this, crouch

down low

and reach forward until they were

touching my hands. And then they would

just slip into the pool.

Just slip into the pool.

That's kind of what I think the faith in

Hebrews is actually talking about.

It's not talking about some superhero

faith where we are just confident in our

ability to be faithful.

It's a faith that is just staring

straight at the one we want to be

connected to as we lean in towards the

one we're trying to be connected to,

keeping our eyes fixed

on him.

Hebrews 3 is not telling us to cling to

our own self effort. It's not telling us

to trust in our consistency.

It's telling us that our confidence is

in the gospel and that the our

confidence is in the person whom the

gospel proclaims.

What we need to understand is we do not

enter into a relationship with Jesus by

faith

and then remain in that relationship by

works.

You get that? We do not enter

by faith and then remain by works. We

don't have faith in our faith. We have

faith in Jesus.

Jesus is our unfailing

hope.

So here's what we need to understand

that in Hebrews 3, the call of Hebrews 3

1:6 is this. Remember who you are.

Consider who Jesus is and hold fast to

Jesus.

Hebrews 3 is not TELLING US TO TRY

HARDER TO HOLD ON.

and saying look harder at Jesus. The

whole point of Hebrews 3 1-6 is look at

Jesus.

Look at Jesus.

There's a reason all of the commands of

Hebrews are anchored in a clear vision

of Jesus. Only by fixing our eyes

squarely on him, squarely on him, can we

live the way that Hebrews calls us to

live.

So, how do we do that this week?

What are we going to do to fix our eye

on Jesus? What are we going to do to

look at Jesus?

Well, we're in the third week

of a book that is all about Jesus. We're

in a third week of a book that is

constantly

telling us who Jesus is and what he's

done and why that matters to us.

So for this week, revisit Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1-3. Just revisit chapters he

1-3 in Hebrews. Read them again. Read

them slowly. Take some notes. Rewatch

the sermons if you want to.

Revisit what scripture has to say about

who Jesus is and what he's done.

The whole point is to look at Jesus. So

let's make sure that we are looking at

Jesus consistently and accurately.

And as we do that,

as we do that, we will resist the

tendency to drift. We'll stop looking

horizontally

and this week we'll look vertically.

We'll look up at Jesus.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you so much for your love

and your goodness.

We thank you for the ability to actually

use technology so that we can still come

together and learn from your word today

and and and sing and worship you.

God, I ask you that you would help us to

keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

that we would turn our eyes upwards

and that we would look vertically

instead of horizontally,

that we would stare in Jesus's wonderful

face and allow the things of this earth

to grow dim.

that whether life right now is good, bad

or in between,

we will resist drift not by putting our

faith in our efforts or faith in our

faith,

but instead

by putting our faith in the person

who we are trusting in.

Help us to look at Jesus

to remain focused

and to press forward.

We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

[Music]