We owe to Jesus Christ as the principal messenger sent of God to man, the prime minister of the Gospel church, immediate and careful consideration, lest by delay our hearts be hardened and we should be eternally rejected because of unbelief. Turning a deaf ear to His calls and councils is the spring of all other sins, and the cause of final separation from God.
Hebrews 3
1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebrews 3:1 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:2 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:3-6 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:7-9 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:10-13 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:14-15 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:16-19 – J. Vernon McGee
Hebrews 3:1-11 – Superior to Moses.
Dwell on those opening words: – holy, such is God’s ideal for us; brethren, by reason of our union with Christ, and with one another in him; partakers, etc., God is ever calling upward and heavenward. Jesus comes from God as Apostle and goes for us to God as Priest. In his human life, how humble and faithful; but he originally built the Jewish polity and commonwealth! He was and is as much greater than Moses as the architect than the foreman and the son than the servant.
It is not enough to begin the Christian race; we must hold fast our confidence and hope to the end. That was the point specially to be emphasize among these harried people. These Hebrew Christians missed the splendid ceremonial of their ancient faith, and were suffering heavily from persecution and opposition. But was it not worth while to persevere, if only to be recognized as belonging to the house hold of God? Surely for them and for us the experiences of Israel in the 40 years of wandering are full of warning. Be admonished by that Wilderness cemetery! (Meyer)
Hebrews 3:1—Consider… Jesus.
Who are to consider Him? — “Holy brethren.” Because we are the brethren of Jesus, we must consider our Brother. Because we are brethren with all, whom He brothers, we should emulate the saints of all ages in their eager gaze at Christ. We must possess the holiness without which none can see the Lord, and we must live in holy love with all who bear the name of Christ. Do you lack either of these? This is the reason why your eyes are blinded. Step out of the mist into the clear prospect:–
“A step,
A single step, shall free you from the skirts
Of the blind vapour, and open to your view
Glory beyond all glory ever seen
By waking sense or by the dreaming soul.”
What right have they to consider Him? — Because they are “partakers of the heavenly calling.” They have turned from the world, from the fascinations of the sin and the flesh; they are seeking the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. Surely such have a right, given them of grace, to live in daily personal vision of their King!
In what aspects should they consider Him? — As Apostle, whom God has sent out of his bosom to man, and whom man sends back to God. As Priest, who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, who bears our needs and sins and sorrows on his heart. As the Son, compared with whom Moses was but a servant. As Creator, by whom all things were made, and without whom was not anything made. As the Head of the household of those who believe. As the All-faithfull One, who will never resign his charge. Consider Jesus in each of these aspects, and rejoice in Him. (Meyer)
Hebrews 3:12-19 – ”Harden Not Your Hearts.”
There is a peril lest familiarity with God’s words should beget indifference to them. The path may be trodden hard by the sower’s feet. That story of the Wilderness wanderings is for all time. Still men disbelieve and disobey; still they doubt that God is able; still they err in their hearts and therefore fail to understand with their heads; still they wander to and fro, with weary souls and restless feet. But if they who failed to believe in words given by Moses were wrapped around by the winding sheets of sand, what will not be the fate of those who refuse the words of Christ!
How wonderful it is that by just trusting we may be partners with our Lord of his rest, life, glory and resources (v. 14)! But we must listen to the inner voice, soft and low speaking in the Horeb of our hearts (1 Kings 19:12). Obey it, and you will enter into the rest of God; refuse it, and you will be as certainly excluded from the divine rest as they from Canaan. (Meyer)