On a foggy morning, July 4, 1952, a 34-year-old woman by the name of Florence Chadwick, waited into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. She had already laid hold of the honor of being the first woman to swim the English channel in both directions. Now it was her ambition to swim across the 21 miles of ocean from the island to the California coastline. Though millions were watching on television, the fog was so thick that July morning that Florence Chadwick could barely see the boats that were accompanying her on either side along the way. It was just as well, repeatedly sharks attempted to draw near to her lone figure in the water and had to be driven away with rifle shots. For after hour passed by, she continued to swim. An incredible physical condition fatigue had never been her problem. The dilemma in this particular swim was the bone-chilling cold of the water. More than 15 hours later, numbed with cold, she asked to be taken out. She could go no further. Her mother and her trainer alongside in a boat pleaded with her to continue insisting that land was not far off. But when she looked up out of the water toward the California coast, all she could see was the thick fog. A few minutes later, 15 hours and 55 minutes since she had begun, she was taken out of the water. As her body began to thaw, she soon felt the shock of her failure. She had climbed out of the water less than half a mile from her intended destination. She was to reflect that she had been defeated not by fatigue and not even by the cold. She had been conquered by the fog which had obscured her goal. She said to reporters, quote, I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it. The fog had blinded her eyes which in turn compromised her will to continue. Athletes from every form of competition tell us exactly the same thing. The key to perseverance is to keep your eye on the prize. Distraction spells defeat. At the Olympic Games in 1920, Jackson Schultz, known as the New York Thunderbolt, lost the gold medal in the men's 100-race, 100-meter race because he broke the cardinal rule of sprinting. In his very last stride, he took his eye off the tape, turned his head to the right to locate the position of his American teammate, Charles Paddock, who in turn thrust his chest into the tape and beat Jackson Schultz by a millisecond. The key to successful perseverance is to keep your eye fixed on the prize. Brothers and sisters, as we now come to this second major section of this letter to the Hebrews, it is the burden of this pastor to say the very same thing. You see, a great anxiety was plaguing his heart. An anxiety I might have that plagues the heart of every true pastor. He was fearful that some among these Hebrew Christians had taken their eyes off the prize, off of Jesus Christ, and as a result they were very close to pulling out of the Christian race altogether as it were a half a mile shy of their heavenly destination. To do so, as he wants to make clear to them, would be eternally disastrous.
Now, beloved, we understand that God preserves those who are truly his, don't we? The God who calls us keeps us. No one can snatch us out of his hand, the gospel of John reeds. Paul tells us in the book of Romans, those whom God calls, he glorifies. I hope you know this to be true this morning. I think without question, this has got to be one of the most comforting truths in all of the Bible for the true child of God. But you see, beloved, the book of Hebrews doesn't seek to undercut this doctrine. You have to realize that the same spirit who inspired Paul and the same spirit who inspired John inspired the writer of this book and the spirit of God does not contradict himself. What the book of Hebrews does, however, is that it presents the flip side of the coin. You see, more than any other book in all of the Bible, the book of Hebrews takes up this issue of Christian perseverance. In fact, Hebrews makes very clear that perseverance, that is, remaining faithful to Jesus Christ to the end is an evidence of authentic Christianity. In fact, look at verse 6, briefly, but Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. Now watch, notice the conditional statement and we are his house if, that if is a very important word, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast, drop your eye down to verse 14. We have come to share in Christ. How can we know, for sure, if we've come to share in Christ, if we hold firmly till the end, the confidence we had at first? Now, beloved, at this point, the writer of Hebrews is not at odds with Paul. He is not at odds with the gospel of John. He's simply establishing the necessary theological balance to this issue. A theological balance that is important for every single one of us where this doctrine of eternal security is concerned. We affirm that those whom God saves, he keeps, but we must not allow this doctrine to become perverted into this kind of thing that says, well, I pray to receive Christ when I was six years old. I never ever again lived like a Christian, but isn't it great to know that I'll be in heaven on the final day? It's not the doctrine of eternal security at all. God keeps His children, but those who are His children prove their pedigree.
And as it were, the writer of Hebrews is standing on the sideline with the bullhorn to his mouth, saying to those Christians who are weary from the race, keep your eye on the prize, keep your eye on the prize, keep your eye on the prize. And why is he saying this? Because under the incredible pressure of spiritual opposition, these believers are beginning to turn their heads to the left and to the right. To the left is the allurement of the Roman pantheon of God's. As far as Rome was concerned, any God or any combination of God was fine in so far as you refused to confess Christ as Lord. To the right, an even more powerful enticement coming at them from family and friends, these Jewish Christians, as it were, come back to Moses. Come back to Moses, the embodiment of everything Jewish. Now, of course, for these Jewish Christians, to take up with the Roman idol or idols was more than they could even consider. I mean, they were raised as radical monotheists. The Lord, our Lord is God, the Lord is one. On the other hand, to embrace Moses in a return to Judaism, would instantaneously lead to alleviate all the present difficulties they were experiencing. Rome would leave them alone and all of their closest loved ones, their families and their friends would take them in once again. Now, beloved you and I can't appreciate this living in the latter part of the 20th century, but the temptation for these Jewish believers was enormous. I suppose it is impossible for us living as we are now. At this time in history, it is impossible, I think, for us to exaggerate the significance of Moses in the mind of 1st century Jews. He was revered as the greatest man in all of Hebrew history. In fact, most of the Jews believed that Moses was the greatest man who ever lived. After all, if you think about it, his life from the very beginning was miraculously preserved, was it not? Plucked from the bull rushes along the Nile River by Pharaoh's daughter, his own mother serving as his tender nursemate, he was given the finest of educations. He was called by God out of the burning bush to be the deliverer of God's people. If you recall through an unparalleled display of power, miracle after, miracle after, miracle, and perhaps the most incredible of all when he took his staff and parted the red sea so that the children of God pass through on dry ground. He was a prophet, a kind of Old Testament apostle sent by God with God's word on his lips. But the amazing thing about Moses, you see, is that God didn't speak the Moses the way he spoke to other prophets in dreams or in visions. God spoke to Moses like a friend, face to face. And if you recall at times the children of Israel would see Moses as face a glow with the very glory of God on it. He was the conduit for the Ten Commandments, the conduit for the libidical laws, the conduit for the sacrificial system, the building of the tabernacle. Under divine inspiration, this man, Moses, wrote the first five books of our scriptures, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. In fact, everything in Jewish religion at times was neatly summed up under this title. The law of Moses. He was God's apostle. He spoke God's word. He spoke for God to men. Now watch this. What is also true is he spoke for men to God. Moses functioned as a priest. Now technically it was his brother Aaron who occupied the office of the priesthood. But the fact of the matter is if you know anything about Moses and Aaron, it was Moses who acted much more like a priest than Aaron ever did. In Exodus chapter 17, when Joshua and the Israelites are waging war against the Amalakites, where is Moses? He is on the mountain overlooking that plane with his hands out stretched in priceless fashion, besieging the enablement of God. And what about that occasion when Aaron and all of the people fashioned a golden calf? And they begin to worship it in a kind of orgyistic fashion. Who is it that abates the anger of God? It is Moses who pleads for the people of Israel. In fact, on several occasions above it, if you recall, God wants to obliterate the Israelites all together. And God tells Moses, I'm going to start with you and I'm going to make a whole new group of people. And who is it that comes to Israel's defense before God? It is Moses who becomes their advocate. He spoke for God to men in a kind of apostolic role. He spoke to God for men in a kind of priestly role. He is the great apostle and priest of the Old Testament. And in fact, beloved, you find this at the end of Deuteronomy when Moses dies, who is it that buries him? God does in an anonymous grave, because in all probability, given the track record of the people of Israel, they would have worshipped his bones. Do you realize that during the time of Christ there were Jewish people that actually believe that Moses would return a second time to be their Messiah? I mean, this is how much these people regarded Moses. Now, beloved, imagine growing up in this kind of tradition, this kind of legacy and heritage, all your life, hearing about God's man, Moses, and by and by then, by the grace of God himself, you're brought out of the shadows into reality. You're brought to faith in the one to whom Moses always pointed Jesus Christ. And for a while, things go rather smoothly. Things are kind of neat in your life, but before long as a result of confessing Christ, pressure begins to mount. Opposition intensifies. Soon, this pressure begins to come at you from a multiplicity of angles. What's more, whispering in your ear are the calls come home. And instead of keeping your eye on the price, you begin to turn your head toward Moses ever so slightly. So what does the author do? He begins by reminding his readers of who they are in the light of what Jesus Christ has done for them. Look at first one. Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling. This is the first time he addresses his readers in the book. Take some three chapters. Holy brothers, he reminds them first of all that they're holy. Now, that does not mean that these people were sinlessly perfect or they were eminently pious. Rather, it means that they now belong to God. They are God's property. They have been sanctified, set apart for God and for his purposes. They uniquely belong to him. Well, how in the world did this happen? We get a hint at it back in chapter 2 verse 11. The writer says, both the one who makes men holy, well, who's that? He's the one in verse 10 who's called the author of their salvation. The same person who in verse 9 is simply called by the human name Jesus. Both the one who makes men holy, that's Jesus. And those who are made holy, that's believers. Jesus is in the business of making people holy, setting them apart for God in a unique way. But how does he do this? Verse 17 of chapter 2. For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful, high priest, in service to God, and that he might make propitiation for the sins of the people. Now, this beloved is how Jesus makes his people holy. The eternal second person of the Godhead takes on human flesh so that the wrath of God that has been trained upon us might be redirected toward himself. That's how our fallenness was taken care of justly. That's how we've been made holy. But even at that point, beloved, this term holy in chapter 3 verse 1 is just a modifier. It's just an adjective. The real emphasis is on the term brothers. Therefore holy brothers. This is the result you see of being made holy. Look at verse 11 of chapter 2 again. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, verse 12, I will declare your name to my brothers, verse 17, for this reason he had to be made like his brothers. I mean, dear friends, you understand what the writer is doing here at this point. He's saying to his readers, have you forgotten who you are? You may have been born a Jew and that in and of itself carries with it certain benefits. But by the very adoption of God, you've been made a Christian, a true Jew. By God's grace, you've been brought into the family of God and do you realize that Jesus Christ himself is not only your Lord, he is your elder brother. How could you turn back to Moses? And then he says of them, you holy, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling. Oh, I fear that you've forgotten who you are as Christians. Holy brothers, I also fear that you've forgotten why you were made Christians. To be sure there was a point in time when you turn from your sins and you trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as conversion, beloved, apart from such an experience. But why did you turn from your sin? And why did you trust Jesus Christ when so many others have refused? Because you were made the partaker of an irresistible call that came out of heaven itself. Not merely the call of a preacher, which may have fallen upon your ears, but the call of God Himself to your heart that brought you willingly, joyfully, repentantly, to faith in Jesus Christ. It was a call that originated in heaven, and it's a call that is preeminently concerned to take you to that place. You can't turn back. You're no longer who you once were to turn back as to deny what you've become. You've been set apart to God. You've been made a brother to Jesus Christ, and you've been called into the family of faith by God's own sovereign grace. Now how in the world can you take your eye off the prize? But that's just his introduction. Now he gets to the heart of his concern. It controls the entire paragraph. Look at it. Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus. Mind the prize. The word here, beloved, is used in the strongest language in the original. An irresist imperative. This is a command. It is not a suggestion. It is not merely a statement. It carries with it full apostolic weight. This is a command. Fix your thoughts on Jesus. It means to give continuous attention, observation, and regard to him. It means to consider carefully to apply one's mind diligently to something, to thoroughly ponder who and what he is. One author says to attentively weigh his dignity, his excellency, his authority to think of what is due to him. Now my dear friends, I want to tell you this morning, this is the key to successful perseverance in the Christian life. It's not just that some Christians kind of naturally have greater staying power than other Christians. In fact, let me put it for you in a simple principle. And we'll keep coming back to this. The successful perseverance of a Christian is the consequence of a steady preoccupation with Jesus Christ. Here it is again. The successful perseverance of a Christian is the consequence of a steady preoccupation with Jesus Christ. I want to tell you something, beloved, these are the people who stand fast in the Christian life. These are the people who are not given to extreme highs and lows in consistencies. These are the people who endure to the end. These are the models that we all look at and long to emulate because they are Christians whose lives are characterized by steadiness, stability, consistency. These are the people who are not turned aside by the allurements and the enticements and the enchantments of the world. And it's not because somehow they are less susceptible to temptation as are the rest of us. It's not because fate has given them a better marriage or a better set of financial circumstances. It's because they are people quite frankly who are steadily preoccupied with the person of Jesus Christ. May I say this to you, beloved? Once and for all, please put to bed this idea that there is a secret to successfully living the Christian life. I weary of books and servants, the secret. There is no secret. That's not the system. That is not Christianity. It is simply a matter of training our thoughts upon Jesus Christ. This is what makes a vigorous, vibrant, enthusiastic, joy-filled, influential, persevering Christian. And you can be absolutely sure, beloved, that the converse is also true when those qualities are absent from the life of a professing Christian. It's because they've lost sight of the prize and they've cast their gaze on some other preoccupation. It's just that simple. Let me speak to those of you who are here this morning, you who are children. I know that there's a lot going on in your lives. And there's a lot of things in your life that are really important to you, your family, and your friends, and your school, and the fun things that you like to do, you like to play soccer, or ballet, or music lessons. All of those things are very important children, but you need to make sure that Jesus is your closest friend, that he's the person you think about most throughout the day. And what about you, young men and women? You're thinking about college, you're thinking about your career, you're thinking about your future, you wonder if God is going to bring a person in your life to marry? Those are all legitimate concerns to be sure, but don't allow anything other than Jesus Christ to occupy the predominant place in your affections. And what about those of us who are adults?
I mean, our tongues are hanging out, aren't they? Are you as tired as I am? I'm tired all the time. I can't remember when I was not tired. We're concerned about schooling our children and improving our marriages and earning an advanced degree, and providing financially for our future, and thinking about how to spend what little recreational time we have, each of those are worthy pursuits to be sure, each meriting various degrees of attention, but beloved when any of those things good and noble as they may be, take on the dominant concern in our preoccupations, then we must not be surprised when our passions for Jesus Christ begin to wane, when things begin to erode at the edges. And at that point, you see our ability to persevere successfully as Christians becomes seriously threatened.
The writer of Hebrews says this to us, remember who you are, holy brothers, who share in a heavenly calling make Jesus Christ the object of your steady preoccupation. In fact, near the end of this letter, you know, he reminds us of the very same thing, doesn't? Many of you have memorized this verse. Let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin which so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance. The race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Keep your eye on the prize. Mind the prize.
Now, having set forth this exhortation, the author now in the next few verses turns his effort toward justifying it. In other words, he now supplies us with three reasons why Jesus Christ should be the object of our steady preoccupation. Here is reason number one. Because Jesus Christ is our fateful apostle and high priest. Because Jesus Christ is our fateful apostle and high priest. Now remember, beloved, he is writing to believers who are being tempted to take their eyes off Jesus. People who are entertaining the possibility of reverting back to Judaism. And so what he does, I mean, this guy is really brilliant, is he takes the best guy that Judaism has to offer and he sets him up against Jesus Christ. First of all, he displays a similarity between Jesus and Moses, only then to follow that up with a couple of radical differences. Look at it. Therefore, holy brothers who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was fateful to the one who appointed him just as Moses was fateful in all God's house. In no uncertain terms, his command is clear. Fix our thoughts on Jesus. But he's not talking about an eastern kind of meditation where we just kind of set our mind in neutral and let it wander in kind of a free form deal. What is it in particular about Jesus that we are to rivet our attention on? That are one of those things about Jesus that are to capture our preoccupations. I submit to you, beloved, those essential things about him that we have come to embrace by faith. Those things that by the grace of God, we boldly confess as our own, namely, that he is our fateful, apostle and high priest. Now, maybe you've never thought about those terms in relationship to Jesus, but they capture what it is to believe in him savingly. Admittedly, it seems a little strange to refer to Jesus as an apostle, doesn't it? In fact, this is the only time in all of the Bible when this term is used to speak of Jesus. But the idea of Jesus being sent to us from God is something that we find over and over and over again in the Gospels in particular in the Gospel of John. That the word of God has been sent to us to speak for God, to make God known to us, to reveal God most fully. The fact is, if you want to know what God is most like, the best exercise for you to do is to plunge yourself in a thoroughgoing study of the life of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John says this in chapter 1 verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. He has been sent from God as God himself to make God known. Now to be sure beloved, Moses was a kind of Old Testament apostle, but he wasn't an apostle the way Jesus was an apostle. What's more, if you take a close look at this, the apostleship of Jesus was directly connected to his work as high priest. He was sent to perform a priestly work. I don't mean to bog you down with technical details, but this really is important, friends, just there with me indulge me for a minute. Notice that the word the only appears once in that last phrase. Notice that it reads the apostle and high priest whom we confess. Notice that it does not say the apostle and the high priest. And the fact that only one definite article is used means that those two nouns apostle and high priest go together. In other words, he was sent as God by God to do one thing in particular. The function is a priest in a way that Moses never could. Is he Moses prayed for his people? Moses interceded for the people of Israel when their sinner roused the anger of God, but in the final analysis, could anything Moses did ever satisfy the justice of God? Not by a long shot. Now to be sure God honored the priestly efforts of Moses again and again, God abated his anger toward Israel, but not because of the efficacy of Moses's priesthood. Of the coming of the greater high priest, Jesus Christ who would effectively once and for all deal with the sins of his people. On his best day, Moses could never do that. You want to know why? Because Moses himself was a sinner in need of a savior. And beloved, this is one of the things that we see in the Bible. This is one of the things I love about the Bible so much and we can't miss. The Bible presents Moses as a fallen man. We don't get all worked up about Moses.
Moses was a sinner in in particular possessing a temper that he could never fully control. And why does the Bible paint Moses in those terms? Warts and all? So that one, we don't become enamored with Moses and two, so we keep our eyes fixed on the greater glory of Jesus Christ. That's why he is to be our steady preoccupation. He is our faithful apostle and high priest in a way that Moses could never be. You think about the illustrations of faithfulness and the ministry of Jesus? Remember him in the temple? Saying to his parents, didn't you know I had to be about my father's business? He was faithful. And what about the early days of his ministry? My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. He was faithful. And what about in his high priestly prayer? John 17, right in the shadows of the cross itself, I have accomplished the work that you've given me to do. I've been faithful. And what about in the garden of Gethsemane, praying, sweating those great drops of blood all alone, beloved? What does he say? Not my will, but dine be done. I must be faithful. I must be faithful. And the culmination of all of it was when he shouted that triumphant cry from the cross itself, Taita Lestai, it is finished. I've been faithful to the full. Now yes, there is similarity. Moses was faithful. Jesus was faithful as well, but the magnitude and the efficacy of each man's ministry was radically different. Moses was an apostle. Moses was a priest, but as an imperfect shadow anticipating the coming of the real thing, that's why the writer says in verse three, for Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, and then he offers us what I would call a simple truism just as the builder of a house as greater honor than the house itself. And every construction worker here said, amen, you don't honor the house? You may admire the house, but you honor the builder. It's a colossal misdirection of honor to exalt the house. But you see, that's exactly what you do, beloved, when you get preoccupied with Moses, when you get preoccupied with any other figure in the Bible, Moses was a part of the house, a reference metaphorically to the people of God. In both old and new testaments, this term, the house of God or God's house is a reference to the people of God, the household of faith. And what the writer was trying to say is that Moses was a part of the house. But guys, let me remind you something of very obvious, the existence of a house presupposes the existence of a builder. Verse four, for every house is built by someone, and in case you've forgotten, this house, the people of God has been brought into existence not because of Moses, rather, but God is the builder of everything. It is a very clear reference to the deity of Jesus Christ. As the creator of everything, a point that the author made very clear in chapter 1 verse 10, this same Jesus as God come in human flesh is the person who is responsible for bringing the people of God into existence of whom Moses was one of us. And how did Jesus Christ accomplish this by faithfully accomplishing his work as a apostle and high priest? Coming to us as the divine son to put away our sin. Does it need to be said, Beloved, that's why he's worthy of more honor than Moses. That's why we must fix our attention on Jesus Christ and not allow ourselves to be turned to the right or to the left, even when the alternative seems to be something as wonderful, as glorious, as majestic as Moses. Now, I realize Moses may not be your struggle this morning as it were for these Jews, but my dear friends, it is absolute foolishness to allow anything or anyone to direct you to divert you from your steady preoccupation of Jesus Christ. To do so would reveal on your part a failure to recognize his ultimate supremacy over every other person and every other thing. Why should your steady preoccupation be Jesus Christ? Because he's our faithful apostle and high priest. He's the builder of the house. Reason two, because Jesus Christ possesses an exalted status and position. Because Jesus Christ possesses an exalted status and position. Remember among the Jews, Moses was the top guy. He was faithful and Jesus was faithful. But notice, Beloved, that their faithfulness expressed itself in all together different spheres. Look at verse five, Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. Now, friends, the term servant here, speaking of Moses, is a very unusual term in the New Testament. It does not mean an ordinary common, lowly slave. It means an honored servant. To be sure, in the house of God, among the people of God, Moses occupies an honored place, doesn't he? We're thankful for Moses and thankful for what God did through him. But as wonderful as Moses is, as a servant, an honored servant, that's not the same as being a son, isn't it? A son possesses an exalted status. Moreover, please notice the change in prepositions. Little words make a big deal. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, meaning that he was a part of the house. Verse six, Christ is faithful as a son. What's the next word? Over God's house. Moses was a part of the family. Jesus Christ is the one who rules. He is the Lord. He is the one who possesses all authority. You want to compare Moses and Jesus? Fine. It's the difference between an honored servant and a sovereign son. They both served faithfully, one served faithfully in the house, among the people of God, the other rules over the house as the exalted sovereign son of God. And this is exactly what took place, beloved, at the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1 says, and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Why should Jesus Christ be the object of your steady preoccupation? Because he's the one who occupies the most esteemed, exalted status and position. He is the son who rules over the household of God. It is interesting to note, by the way, that the author here indicates that the very nature of Moses' ministry was anticipatory. Look at it. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house. And how did his faithful service express itself? Testifying to what would be said in the future. Beloved, everything that Moses ever wrote
anticipated the coming of Jesus Christ. The law, the sacrificial system, the levitical priesthood, all of the ceremonies, the tabernacle itself, all of it was to point people to Jesus Christ. And so you see what kind of evangelistic approach does Philip take in John chapter 1 when he runs up to his friend Nathaniel, and he wants to tell him that he's found the son of God. What does he say? Nathaniel, let me tell you something. We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law. And what did Jesus say to the unbelieving Pharisees in John chapter 5? If you believed to Moses, you would believe me for he wrote about me. And following his resurrection from the dead, what incredible gift did Jesus Christ give to his disciples? I suppose if I could go back in time and experience one thing historically, it would be that scene in Luke 24 on the Emmaus road. Jesus, and beginning with Moses and the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself. Beloved, when you read Genesis through Deuteronomy, you must look for Christ there because he is there. And if you have not found him, you don't understand what that part of the Bible says. All that Moses wrote was aiming at Jesus Christ. He was faithful as a servant in God's house, pointing to the one who would come, the greater apostle, the greater high priest. Moses was faithful as a servant in God's house. Jesus Christ is faithful as a sovereign son over God's house. Are you going to give Jesus Christ up for Moses or any other thing or any other person could you imagine doing such a thing? Is he your steady preoccupation this morning? Have your thoughts been fixed upon him this week? Why should they be? Because he's your faithful apostle and high priest because he possesses an exalted status and position. Reason three, and I'll be very brief because it serves to transition us into what we will see next Lord's day. Jesus Christ should be our steady preoccupation because to lose sight of him is to jeopardize our eternity. To lose sight of him is to jeopardize our eternity. Verse six, but Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And by the way, we are his house if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. Beloved, please hear me carefully, lest you get the wrong into the stick. Perseverance will not save you, but it does prove that you have been saved. When someone falls away from Jesus Christ fully and finally and completely, salvation has not been lost, rather it was never there to begin with. On the other hand, you see God's children endure to the end. It is the corollary to the doctrine of eternal security. Perseverance is the test that proves reality. And you see beloved to get as close as you can, but to draw up a half a mile short of the coast is still to lose. It's to miss the goal. Are you among God's children? Then you will hold on. Hold on to what you ask. Look at what he says. If we hold on to our courage, in the face of pressure to turn away from Jesus Christ, the true Christian will remain steadfast. In fact, the word here for courage, paracia, is often used to speak of courage in speaking the gospel. The true Christian will continue to confess Christ even in the face of hostile antagonism, moreover, if we hold on to the hope of which we boast. Simply it means this. The true Christian is the one who believes that despite all opposition, God will keep his promises. He will save us. Yes, fully and finally and gloriously, but to abandon confidence in those promises, to look for salvation in some other way is to prove that you're not really His and that you never have been. Perseverance doesn't save you, but it does prove that you have been saved. That then begs the question and we're done. How do I persevere? I mean, the hymn writer is right. Is he not prone to wander? Lord, I feel it prone to leave the God I love. Is that your experience or is that just unique to me? So how do we persevere with that unholy undertow that tugs us away from Jesus Christ?
We fix our eyes on Him. We steadily keep our eyes on the prize. And in so doing, beloved, you know what you will find that as you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, you will find Him pulling you to Himself. And that is why we are Christ's community church. This is why we sing of Christ. This is why we teach of Christ. This is why we preach of Christ. This is why we must set forth before our children the glories of Christ. This is why at His table, we must frequently commune with Christ. Frankly, beloved, I know of no other way to secure your passage. Heavenward, an occasional glance in His direction will not do the job. So we must think of Him and read of Him, speak about Him and learn of Him. And He will draw us home. Would you bow your heads with me, please? Our Father and our God, we thank You that Your Word is so clear. And we are thankful that Your Spirit helps to overcome our misnomers, our misunderstandings,
our Father we do feel that unholy undertow of residual sin inside of us. The world does still attempt to allure us and the enemy of our souls seeks to keep us from Jesus Christ.
There is no secret to perseverance, however, our Father you've been so clear to us, we are to fix our thoughts on Jesus. In the midst of everything else we do, in the midst of other important and valuable. And even eternal things, we are to keep our eyes on Him, to think of Him, to speak of Him, to read of Him, to learn of Him, to worship Him. Oh God, make us Christians in the truest sense. And for those here, oh God, not knowing you, may they fix their eyes on Jesus today
and find in Him the gift of eternal life or giveness of sin, call men and women and children this very day to your son, dear God. Make people holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, and we will give you praise in Jesus name. Amen. Beloved, it's a little unorthodox, but you have