Greater Than (6)
Notes
Transcript
Greater Than
Greater Than
Good morning everyone. I am so excited that you chose to join us this morning. THis is a great time to be part of GCC. We have VBS coming up, a mission trip to New Mexico, we are moving forward with getting all the approvals to build. We are seeing new faces and ministries are growing. God is doing things that only he can get credit for.
I hope you are seeing this and it is encouraging you. It has everything to do with us trusting God and taking Him at his word.
We are continuing our journey through the book of Hebrews. We have already seen that there is no leader, religious or otherwise that is greater than Christ. He is is our Great Hugh Priest and the only Savior we need. Last week we were challenged to grow and mature and that it should be evident to the world around us. We do our part, but we can be sure Christ will see us through.
So, please open your Bibles, swipe your phones or tablets, or un-scroll your scrolls to Hebrews 6.
As you are doing that, how many of you feel things in our world are changing so fast you can’t keep up with it?
It is like every time you turn around, everything changes.
Who remembers AOL? You’ve got mail, or if you want ed to get online you hoped no one called you on your home phone.
Speaking of phones, who remembers when they were just phones.
Remember rushing home so you could get to Blockbuster to try to ge to the new releases before anyone else. If you were lucky enough to get one, you usually had to rewind it before watching (that would be aVHS tape for you all), or if you fancy with a DVD player the DV was scratched.
I remember video games and the sure all fix was blowing into the cartridge.
Don’t even think about having to wait a week for the next episode of your favorite TV show, now they are all streaming and in my house we wait for weeks so we can binge it all at once.
Culturally if we have 1000 followers on Social Media we are popular and liked. I do miss the un-friend button.
We are are all so desperste to show our individualism we ended up looking and soundiong like everyone else.
Don’t even get me started online shopping. I sound like the old man with his cane yelling get off my grass.
With all the shifting going on it is hard to hold on, but this morning I want to tell you there is a firm foundation. There is an ever constant never changing truth that we can stand on.
So if you will, please stand with me as we read the most important words you will hear today.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”
15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Let’s pray.
Greater Than
Greater Than
Hope is powerful thing.
We need it. Without it, it is nearly impossible to get out of bed.
h National Institute of Health say:
In healthcare, hope is a powerful clinical factor that motivates patients to engage in treatment, buffers against mental health struggles, and physically supports recovery. It transforms passive medical care into an active partnership by giving patients the resilience and goals necessary to navigate complex health journeys.
For us that have surrendered to Christ, hope means even more.
R.C. Sproul once said
Hope is called the anchor of the soul, because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.
Greater Than
Greater Than
It is not just wishful thinking. It is based on unbreakable promises.
We not only have great hope, but we have an even greater assurance.
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Great Hope Greater Assurance
There is no one greater that we could trust our lives with than with Christ. As we do that and grow in understanding and mature in our knowledge of Him and His word we gain confidence and an unshakable assurance.
Pastor easy to say, but life is crazy and complicated. I know.
There may be times we are ot making the progress we should be making, but Christ does not give up on us.
That’s why Paul could say:
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Great Hope Greater Assurance
The author of Hebrews gives us 3 arguments for the certainty of our salvation.
We have greater assurance due to God’s promise.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
We have greater assurance due to God’s promise.
Remember God’s promise to Abraham - He would have a son, then when he does God tells Abraham to go sacrifice him.
God stops Abraham and then says:
16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,
We have greater assurance due to God’s promise.
This promise was not dependent on Abraham’s character, but is was based on God’s faithfulness.
We have so many promises today. More than Abraham, and God has kept them all thus far.
It begs the question then why do we struggle with trust and stepping out in faith?
A farmer does not sit on a porch waiting for a crop to grow.
He has to plow, plant, weed, and cultivate and water the soil.
If we don’t neglect the fellowship of believers, Bible study, and prayer, we will reap a faith beyond this world’s circumstances.
One more thing on this point , did you notice God swore on Himself.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
When we swear on something it is always something greater than ourselves.
Nothing is greater than God, so who else would he swear on. That leads to the next
We have greater assurance due to God’s oath.
16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
We have greater assurance due to God’s oath.
Not only did God make a promise, He swore an oath.
He swore on Himself.
This not just for Abraham but also a promise and oath to the heirs of the promise.
Abraham and his descendants are the first heirs, but what about us?
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
We have greater assurance due to God’s oath.
God goes a step further by 2 unchangeable things:
God cannot lie
We find refuge as those who have fled
THe phrase “fled for refuge” is a reference to the OT practice of “cities of refuge”. These were 6 cities that God designated as places where someone who accidentally killed another could flee to for safety. The elder would investigate, and if it was found to be manslaughter or accidental, the person could stay in the city and not be killed by someone to avenge the death.
The person would stay in the city until the death of the high priest.
Christ is our eternal refuge we have fled to. As our Great High Priest, He will never die, and no avenger can touch us.
It does not matter what our accuser says, we have refuge.
We have greater assurance due to God’s Son.
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Our hope in Christ is an anchor for our soul.
Anyone who has been on a boat knows an anchor is to hold it steady and in place.
The issue is the world is constantly shifting and ground is moving or weakening.
When you place an anchor without a sold hold you are going to drift.
But our spiritual anchor is different.
As followers of Christ, we are anchored upward not downward.
We are anchored in Heaven.
We are also anchored not stay still, but to move forward.
Our anchor line cannot break and cannot slip.
Not only is Christ our anchor, He is our forerunner.
HE has gone ahead to Heaven that we would one day follow.
The OT Priest was not a forerunner. No one could follow him into the holies of holies.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
We have greater assurance due to God’s Son.
Through Christ we have access behind the veil.
Not only can we come we can come boldly
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Listen, there is no one better to trust than Christ.
We must grow in that or we will not be able to withstand or even stand in a world that is spinning out of control.
Where is your trust paced today?
Is it in jobs, or positions, or families? All those and everything else can change in a moment.
There is only one sure thing that will not change, will not bend, and will forever stand.
That is Christ.
We do nothing to earn or deserve it, it is Grace and iit is permanent.
Charles Spurgeon once said:
If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; and then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever.
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Great Hope Greater Assurance
Where is your hope, where is your assurance
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.
Let’s pray.
