Seize the Day
One of my favorite movies is Dead Poets Society. There is a particular scene in the beginning that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) shares a poem by Robert Herrick in which he introduces the phrase ‘Carpe Diem’ to the students. The poem itself doesn’t exactly encourage a godly lifestyle. It’s more in the realm of “eat, drink, and be merry.”
But, the scene in the movie brings up a profound question.
How will you spend the time that you have?
Every one of us gets a certain number of seconds to live on this earth. Every day we have the chance to seize the moment given to us, or waste them away on trivial matters.
Today, as we continue our look at the Book of Hebrews, we will find ourselves with a choice to make. Will we seize the opportunity to hear from the Lord and enter His presence, or will we harden our hearts and follow our own desires?
Consider the Greater Jesus | Hebrews 3:1-6
Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Hebrews 3:1-6
Hebrews uses a few metaphors here to compare the greatness of Moses with the even greater Jesus. Once again, the chapter begins with the ever-important “therefore”. In chapter 2, Jesus is described as the merciful and faithful high priest who has walked the road of temptation that we walk. He understands our struggles because he also struggled. Because we have such a Great High Priest, let’s take a closer look at this Jesus who is greater than even Moses because he has given a superior salvation.
I mentioned a few weeks ago, the idea of Jesus being even greater than Moses would be controversial for first century Jews. It is still controversial today in unbelieving Jewish circles. Moses was the Servant of God who established Israel as a free and holy nation. Hebrews agrees. Moses was indeed “faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.” But, Christ Jesus is "faithful over God’s house as a son.” The Son of God came down to establish a fuller Kingdom of God—not just an earthly kingdom, but an eternal kingdom.
Through Moses, God established a temporary geo-political kingdom for His people, but through Jesus, He established an eternal kingdom.
And so, as we consider Jesus in our own time, take another look at verse 1. Moses acted in the past, and his kingdom has passed. But, the sense of the Greek in verse 1 is “Consider Jesus [who is] the apostle and high priest of our confession.” Jesus still is our apostle and high priest. We can learn a lot from studying Moses, and we should study Moses and the rest of the Old Testament. But my hope for today and tomorrow is not in Moses, it is in Christ who still is, and was, and forever will be the Author and Perfecter of my Salvation.
Verse 5 reiterates the point. Moses was the servant of the house of God. Jesus built the House of God. The builder receives greater honor than the building.
And then, take a look at verse 6 again. Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. “And we are his house.” Hebrews will return to this idea, but already we see that God’s Temple is no longer the building that Solomon built. We are God’s Temple. The Holy Spirit is given to us and resides in us, if we have surrendered to Christ, or as verse 6 says, “if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
But, for those of us who know the story of Moses, we know the story does not end very well for those first generation of Israelites who left Egypt. They hardened their hearts against God, despite all that He had done for them. And that part of the story leads us to the warning that comes beginning in verse 7.
Rebellion or Rest? | Hebrews 3:7-19
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:7-19
Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 which is a psalm that celebrates the majesty of God and His offer of salvation, but the second half of the psalm is what is quoted here. In that half, the psalmist tells the people to not harden their hearts like their forefathers who wandered the wilderness. And notice how verse 7 begins—“as the Holy Spirit says”. Hebrews reminds us here that all Scripture is God-breathed, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16. It is not just the psalmist that penned these words, it was God Himself who inspired its writing. The same God who inspired it centuries ago is the same God who speaks to us today through these very words.
And, even though we may not be ethnically Jewish, the Israelites are still our spiritual forefathers, and the warning to not harden our hearts extends to us. We are reminded through Hebrews and the story of Moses, that first generation of freed slaves did not actually make it into the Promised Land.
The Exodus and the Wilderness Wandering story is a typology of Christ leading us into salvation.
A typology is a historical foreshadowing of God’s work. The story of God leading the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land is not only a partial fulfillment of God’s deliverance for humanity, it also serves as a pattern for what God does later through Jesus. So, let’s take a look at this pattern because Hebrews is telling us something by bringing up this story.
They saw the Lord perform miracles in Egypt. They saw the Red Sea split. They saw the same sea collapse onto Pharaoh and his army as they chased the Israelites across the seafloor. They came right up to the border of the Promised Land and did not enter because they refused to trust God. And, adding salt into their own wounds, as they wandered in the wilderness, led by the glory of God—smoke by day and fire by night—they continued to complain against Moses and God.
That same psalm 95 mentions the rebellion at Meribah where Moses struck the rock to bring the grumbling Israelites water. You may recall this same act (Numbers 20) is where Moses lost his chance to enter the Promised Land, also. He was supposed to simply call for water from the rock. Instead, he lost his temper and struck the rock. Even more importantly, he did not give credit for the water to God, but rather himself and Aaron. Even the great Moses had a weak moment where the rebellion of his people brought him into rebellion with God. And because of this weakness, he also missed out on entering the Promised Land. Now, is Moses in heaven? Of course he is. He was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, so that’s a given. But, he missed out on an earthly blessing because of his disobedience.
It would appear it is possible to receive some of God’s blessings, possibly even a sort of freedom, but miss out on the Promised Land because of disobedience. So let’s ponder this idea of getting out of Egypt, but not quite making into the Promised Land. It is worth us pausing here to consider our own walk.
The Israelites received freedom from Egypt, but they did not actually enter the Promised Land. Could we say they were “saved” then?
Were they God’s people? Yes.
Did God save them from Egyptian slavery? Yes.
Did God have a plan for them to make them a holy people for Himself? Yes.
And yet, they did not receive the Promised Land, because they hardened their hearts.
What does that mean for our own salvation? Now, if you happen to believe it is possible to lose your salvation, then this passage makes perfect sense. But, if like me, you believe ‘eternal life’ means once it begins it does not end, then it may conjure up more questions or confusion. So let’s take a closer look at the effects of hardening your heart against God and how the Exodus story is a typology of the fuller salvation in Christ.
Verses 12 and 13 help us understand Hebrews’ point here. He warns us to “take care” otherwise one of us may develop an “evil, unbelieving heart.” That kind of heart will lead us to “fall away from the living God.” An evil, unbelieving heart is a rebellious heart against God.
The opposite is a faithful heart that “exhort[s] one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’.” It prevents hardened hearts that are deceived by sin. It is the same difference that existed between Joshua and Caleb and the rest of the spies. Joshua and Caleb said, “Yes, we can take the Promised Land.” It was the 10 others whose hearts were fearful and distrusting of God that led the rest of the people to rebel against God.
And that is the question we have before us today. Will we be part of the 10 that doubt God, or will we be like Caleb and Joshua who encourage “Yes! The Promised Land is ready for us!” And that is the real test for whether we are part of the people of God. Are we willing to be obedient to the Lord’s call in our lives?
All of Israel was blessed to exit Egypt seeing God do amazing things. But only 2 Israelites would actually enter the Promised Land. It would appear Hebrews is telling us we should not mistake blessings from God as security of our salvation. To put another way:
A good life filled with great things is not necessarily a life on the way to heaven.
I know this can be difficult to hear in our day and age, but keep in mind the Pharisees were considered highly blessed for first century Jewish standards, and yet John the Baptist and Jesus called them ‘dogs’ and ‘vipers’. Today, we may consider ourselves “doing well” when we have a good family, a good job, and a good community. And, yes, those are all good things. But does it necessarily mean we are being obedient to God?
Can a moral person still have a hard heart?
The Israelites were blessed to be freed from Egyptian bondage, but they disobeyed and failed to enter the Promised Land. We can be freed from certain earthly bondages, but if our desire is not to know and love the God who saves us, we will not enter the Promised Land. We will not enter the presence of God.
But what about those who are saved. They have surrendered to Jesus and received eternal life. Is it still possible to “fall from the living God”? In the sense of “not going to heaven”, I would say ‘no’, but there is a sense of missing out on God’s promised blessings on earth. Again, the story of Exodus is a typology of Christ’s work in our lives. It would be poor hermeneutics to try and make everything a 1:1 symbol. The Israelites missed out on an earthly blessing. Did they make it to heaven? I have no idea. That’s not the point of the story nor is it my call to say who gets to enter heaven. (I’m the messenger, not the King.) But this story, and what Hebrews is reminding us is:
If we harden our hearts to the voice of God, we will miss out on the blessings of God and His rest.
Next week, Pastor Bob will dive into the idea of “God’s rest” as he shares Hebrews 4. For this week, I simply want to end chapter 3 with this short definition. When Hebrews 3 & 4 talks about entering God’s rest, it is talking about being in the presence of God.
Look once again at verse 14.
For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end
Hebrews 3:14
Have you considered you are able to share in Christ—meaning we can share in the union Jesus had with God. Though we are not the Divine, of course, we have the Divine Holy Spirit in us and can have regular communion with our God. Just as Christ heard the voice of God, so can we. Just as Christ was empowered to do the Father's will, so too can we. We have the same connection with God that Jesus did, if we hold our confidence. It is a matter of walking in the Spirit, listening to His call, and obeying His voice when He speaks to us.
As we close today, consider how well we are listening to God’s voice. Can you hear it clearly, or does it seem far away? Have you heard it at all?
Perhaps the reason you have not heard it is because your heart has grown hard. It is easy for this to happen in this life. We have a myriad of distractions and temptations that can deceive us. And even worse, every evil, unbelieving heart in this world has easy access to our homes through media and the Internet. Not everything on a screen is necessarily evil, but it can be if it keeps us taking time to listen to the voice of God.
If you want to hear God speak, here is a quick list of things to try this week.
Read your Bible. Turn off the screens and whatever else is taking up your time. Maybe you’ll need to wake up 30 minutes sooner. Maybe you’ll need to cut out something fun. Whatever it takes, prioritize a period of time reading Scripture.
Pray. Again, it takes some prioritizing, but also remember Jesus taught us to pray in a quiet place of solitude. Find a place to be alone, offer your prayer, and then sit quietly and listen.
Fast. Fasting from food is the traditional method, and there is still value in this practice. In our modern age, it may also be helpful to fast from certain activities—especially social media or tv. Whatever you cut out for a short time, the point of the exercise is to devote the time regained to the Lord, listening for his direction.
Now, there are other spiritual disciplines that we can look at another day, but I specifically chose these three because they all have to do with listening for God’s voice. Notice also, all three of these work together. It is possible to do all of these at once, and if there is something particular you would like to hear from God, then I would recommend you do just that.
Find a time this week to carve out to prioritize listening to God. If this is something new for you, then start small. One 15 minute quiet time this week is better than nothing. When you’ve done one, plan for two more. After two, plan three more, and so forth. After awhile, you’ll find it easier to meet with God daily. Eventually, you’ll learn to walk with God even during the mundane tasks of life, but that’s another sermon for next week.