He Is Faithful

Dogs are considered faithful, while cats are often called fickle. Why are dogs considered faithful? All my research didn’t really come up with a satisfactory answer.

So, let me give an example and I will trust that we can move on after this amazing proof.

Consider Lassie who had his own television show. He saved Timmy from trains and wells and who knows what else, over and over. Seemingly, he had the ability to understand questions and responded with the appropriate bark, as per cue cards, of course.

Then consider Garfield. Need I say more? Garfield has been marketers greatest advertisement for lasagna. Also, he’s a great decoration for the side or rear windows of cars with children (or college students).

Let’s move on to something that we can truly consider faithful without any arguments about it. In Yellowstone National Park, located in Wyoming, there is a geyser that is called “Old Faithful.” Why would this natural wonder be called “Old Faithful” as opposed to a more scientific sounding name? There is an interesting amount of information about this incredible landmark in our nation that gives us some insight.

Yellowstone was actually the world’s first national park, beginning in 1872. Old Faithful geyser was named for its frequent and somewhat predictable eruptions. Old Faithful can vary in height from 100-180 feet with an average near 130-140 feet. Eruptions normally last between 1.5 to 5 minutes. These eruptions are predicted with a 90 percent confidence rate, within a 10 minute variation, based on the duration and height of the previous eruption. Scientists estimate that the amount of water that comes out each time, ranges from 3,700 gallons (for a short duration of 1.5 minutes) to 8,400 gallons (for a longer duration of 4.5 minutes). During an eruption, the water temperature at the vent has been measured at 204°F (95.6°C). The steam temperature has been measured above 350°F!

In all of these examples, faithfulness is often assigned to our belief about dogs or cats, or about an analysis of the outcome of a large body of water spewing up about 20 times per day. Interestingly, you could tell me that even though the geyser was a better example of being faithful, it doesn’t really have a choice in being faithful. It’s simply working according to God’s design. It doesn’t choose to be faithful. And you’re absolutely right.

Today, we want to look at the first 6 verses of Hebrews 3, where we discover another reason why God is greater. And in this situation, Jesus is greater than Moses.

Even when we experience doubts and a lack of faith, Jesus is always faithful.

He Was Faithful as an Apostle and Priest. - 3.1

Hebrews 3:1 NASB95

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;

As a result of everything we have learned about Jesus’ willingness to subject Himself in order to save us, the writer of Hebrews wants us to consider Jesus. Even this little phrase carries with it the idea of keeping our focus and our attention on Jesus. Don’t get sidetracked and distracted by everything else that clamors for your attention.

It’s important that we continue to understand that this was written to believers, primarily Jewish Christians, who were tempted to go back to the old ways. The writer address them as holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling. We can also apply this in our own lives, even though we are not part of that original audience. This is not just to brethren, in general, with whom they or we could all identify. For the word holy makes it clear that there is a setting apart. We are holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling. In other words, partakers means partners.

In addition, the calling is a heavenly calling. If they were to go back to the ways of Judaism, they would be focusing on an earthly call with an end focus of earthly blessings. The believers’ calling is a spiritual calling, with eternal blessings. We struggle, as well, with keeping our focus where it needs to be. We are prone to discouragement and frustration, as well. It is so easy to think that what we see and experience with our senses is true reality. It seems much less difficult to hold onto earthly religious rituals and routine, rather than walking in faith and trust in the One Who is faithful. I understand the comfort we feel in being familiar with certain things. I recognize the safety that we may think we’re experiencing when we go with what we know. However, if Jesus really is faithful, can we not experience an even greater comfort and sense of safety by trusting Jesus, Who is greater than all, and simply walk in faith as we consider Jesus, keeping our eyes on Him.

It seems to me that the reason so many Christians experience traumatic struggles, wrestle with bouts of doubt, fight through and with fear, is because we have stopped consider[ing] Christ. When we take our eyes off Jesus, it is so easy to sink into the spiritual doldrums. I feel badly for those who seem to be living in such a depressing and discouraging state, because this world has caused us to take our eyes off of Jesus in our distraction with whatever may be going on around us. My friends, let me plead with you and encourage you to keep your focus on Jesus and be amazed at how He will reveal Himself as all that you and I will ever need.

John MacArthur gave an excellent illustration to amplify what this means. We learned very soon that you cannot run while watching your feet. You look straight ahead. When we ran sprints we set our eyes on the tape, and we kept our eyes on it until the finish. Looking at the tape helped motivate the desire to win and it kept us going in the right direction. It also kept our attention off ourselves and those running next to us. When we are running in the Christian race, we must get our eyes off our feet, get them off ourselves, and off those around us. We look to Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. We look at Him and then we are able to run. Looking at Him we know why we are running and where we are running, and have the power and the joy to keep on running.

What is pointed out as unique and special about Jesus in this verse? Jesus is called the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. In other words, Jesus is the Apostle; He is the One who was directly sent from God with a special assignment. He is also the High Priest of our confession. What is our confession? It is the reality that when it comes to being born again, we all have the same testimony to share. It is all of Jesus.

Jesus is not just an ordinary high priest; He is the One Who fills the role perfectly and completely. Consider this everyone. There is no need for someone else to come to speak on God’s behalf, for there is no other sent one with such an amazing assignment to not only teach and speak about God and His kingdom, but He provided the opportunity for us to become a part of God’s kingdom by giving us eternal life. There is no need for another in the line of succession of high priests, Jesus is the final and perfect High Priest. Why would anyone want anyone or anything else?

An apostle technically means one who is sent. The apostle was given all the rights and authority of the individual who sent them. Jesus carried with Him all the rights of His Father. We see a little later in today’s passage that Moses is being discussed. In this, we recognize that Jesus is greater than Moses, especially in the fact that Jesus brought a better and an eternal covenant, making it effective by His ultimate sacrifice on the cross.

I won’t go into a lot of detail about Jesus role as the High Priest, since the writer of Hebrews deals with that more in later chapters. But we do know that one of the roles of the priest was that of mediator. Obviously, Jesus is the one true and perfect mediator between us and God.

It has been stated that as the Apostle, Jesus was sent by God to represent God to humanity. As the High Priest, Jesus represents humanity to God.

He Was Faithful as a Builder. - 3.2-4

Hebrews 3:2–4 NASB95

He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For 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. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

These verses present us with some interesting thoughts. We might be tempted to first of all think of a physical building only. We might tend to focus on Moses’ work on following the Lord’s blueprint and instructions for the building of the tabernacle while the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land. We might even be looking at the fact that Moses was basically the caretaker and leader in the eyes of the Jews as they were led out of bondage and into freedom, much like George Washington being labeled the father of our country, here in the U.S.

However, the intent of this writing is more than that. The writer of Hebrews continues to point out that Jesus is greater, and in this situation, Jesus is greater than Moses. You recall how the Jewish people looked up to Moses and held him in the highest esteem. Thus, it would be easy to go back to that which was extremely well-known and appreciated. So, knowing this, the Holy Spirit caused the writer to not tear down Moses, but to show the likeness between Moses and Jesus, then go on to deal with their differences, which shows the superiority of Jesus.

We see the description of faithful applied to Moses, as the word is also used of Jesus. The Old Testament even speaks to the fact that Moses was faithful in doing what God wanted him to do. Even though Moses would have a few failures along the way, he still is described as faithful. How encouraging for each one of us. We, too, may experience many failures in our journey, but if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, He will enable us to be faithful. Jesus was also faithful, yet completely so. Jesus always did exactly what the Father wanted Him to do.

Then we take a look at the word house, when means household. So, immediately we understand that this isn’t about a structure, but about people, or a family, if you will. Moses was worthy of . . . glory. He took care of the people of Israel, who were God’s chosen people. He was like a steward or a manager of the Israelites. He passed along all the information that God shared with him to tell the Israelite nation. However, this was limited to just the nation of Israel and all those who chose to become a part of that nation, by following the Lord God.

Yet, Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. We who believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior are considered part of this household. Jesus did for us exactly what the Father had assigned Him. The Israelites did not belong to Moses, they belonged to God. Moses was part of the household. Jesus is the one who made the household. The church belongs to God, as well, and we are co-heirs with Jesus, as He also takes care of us and through His Holy Spirit guides, comforts, and teaches us for the Father. By the way, Jesus is the One Who sent the Holy Spirit. Jesus is also the One Who created Israel and the church, showing once again, that He is God.

He Was Faithful as a Son. - 3.5-6

Hebrews 3:5–6 NASB95

Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

We see again a comparison in Moses faithfulness and that of Jesus. The key difference is seen in the middle of the verse, Christ was faithful as a Son over His house. That seems to be a very important difference to note. Moses was a servant, whereas, Jesus is a Son. The word for servant as applied to Moses is a very different word than we would normally think. We are most familiar with the Greek words for servant as diakonos or doulos, meaning deacon or slave. The word here is therapon, which carries the idea of dignity and freedom. It pictures a servant who voluntarily serves because of affection and love. Incidentally, this is the only place I could find where this word was used in the New Testament. Moses is shown as a very caring, faithful, obedient servant.

As we’ve been discussing in Sunday School, the Old Testament continually presents a shadow or a type of what is uncovered in the New Testament in Jesus Christ. So, it would make sense, that if the Jewish Christians who received this letter were enamored and focused on that which was only a shadow, they should much more readily be drawn to the reality which is found in Jesus Christ. Even Jesus referred to this in John 5.46.

John 5:46 NASB95

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.

I remember for many years, hearing the comment about the church building being the Lord’s house. In reality, it’s just a building where we, the church, gather together for worship, instruction, and edification. In other words, all believers in Jesus Christ make up the Lord’s house; we are it. And to show that we are truly the Lord’s house, it will be seen as we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Now, please don’t misapply this, as so many have over the years. We cannot tough it out, as it were, in order to hold onto our salvation. Salvation is all of God. What is meant by this phrase in the context of the passage and book and the entirety of the Bible, is that this proves that we are a part of God’s household.

All those individuals who had fallen away, or who were simply close, but not totally committed, were never truly saved. Making an outward profession, saying the right words, does not make it so. Those who are truly saved are those who persevered because of God’s enabling power. This is what is meant by the often used phrase, the perseverance of the saints. It has nothing to do with my discipline, yet everything to do with the Son’s faithfulness. What does Jesus say about this?

John 8:31 NASB95

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

John 6:39 NASB95

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Try as I might, I don’t have the ability to save myself, nor keep myself saved, nor do I have the ability to lose my salvation. Jesus is greater than all.

Final Thoughts

Just like the Jewish Christians who were reading this sermon in the first century, many today can be tempted to just throw in the towel and go back to what we consider tangible activities thinking that can cause us to be okay with God. It’s easy in the midst of walking by faith and not being able to see God at work the way you think He should, to just look for that checklist of do’s and don’ts and take comfort in seeing supposed proof of a biblical walk by what we do. However, that just ends up in legalism and misses the point that Jesus is all we need. All that we are, our lives on this earth and our eternal salvation, are all because of Jesus.

Take a moment and just stop everything. Then listen to what the writer of Hebrews said; consider Jesus. He is greater than Moses, greater than the angels, greater than the law, greater than anything or anyone. Jesus is completely faithful and is all we need.