Jesus - Greater than the Greatest

Think about that phrase we were singing, "A great high priest whose name is love." I'm going to deal with that in the message this morning. I look forward to that portion of the message, but not just that portion, but all that we're going to study here in verses 1-6. I don't know if you have figured it out yet, but Hebrews is packed. It's loaded for bear from the beginning to the end. So what we do here is we just study the best we can, try to get our arms around it all, and just grab a hold of it and let the Lord teach us. Part of that teaching is going to be learning about our great high priest. Thankful for that song. It's very worshipful.

Well, if you would, take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews chapter 3. Like I said earlier, we'll be in verses 1-6. We'll mention a few other verses, and you can write those down for your own study. Now, of course, we're starting a new chapter in our study through the book of Hebrews. And very soon we will see that in chapter 3 the author makes a very big shift in what he was writing to this small Jewish congregation. But what is the shift? What is the shift that we're going to see here in chapter 3? Well, chapters 1 and 2 are all about how Jesus was and is greater than angels.

We know that because we saw that over and over and over all throughout our time in chapter 1 and chapter 2. But in chapter 3 and on into chapter 4, that teaching is all about how Jesus was and is greater than Moses. And we will see this theme, we'll see this truth regularly over and over all throughout these verses. But just like with all of the fuss about angels, we can see this teaching about Moses as really anti-climactic, because we are not Jews. And because we do not come from this particular context that this letter was written to, we can see what is said here about Jesus being greater than Moses as kind of less important.

We can be tempted to see this as insignificant as anti-climactic. So, just like when we got started in how Jesus wasn't as greater than the angels, we need to understand the context of the background here as well. I say this often folks, context is king. If we take passages of Scripture, even books of the Bible, out of context, we are on thin ice. You see for the Jews, and even the Jews in the day of this letter, Abraham and Moses were seen as the most important figures in Jewish history and in their religion. Abraham was the father of their faith, while Moses was the great lawgiver. But Moses was greater in their eyes for many reasons.

You could say that for these Jews, Moses was greater than the greatest. First off, Moses had been miraculously protected by God at his birth. And then on the other side, God personally provided in a unique way for his burial after death. But in life, Moses had been the great leader chosen by God to bring the Jewish people out of Egyptian slavery, and he did so by leading them miraculously through the Red Sea. And it was under the leadership of Moses that the Jews actually started to become a nation promised by God. He also was the great lawgiver.

Moses received the Ten Commandments directly from God, and he was instructed to take those Ten Commandments and give those to the people. Moses also wrote every word of the Pentateuch, which is the section of the Old Testament that the Jews saw as the most important part of the Old Testament which was their Bible. And the Pentateuch, that's the first five books of the Old Testament, these books were important to the Jews because these books laid out the Levitical laws, and all that governed every aspect of how they lived. God also gave Moses the plans for the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.

God even elevated Moses before the people when Aaron and Miriam, that's Moses' sister, presumed to place themselves on the same level as Moses, God said that he revealed himself to the prophets in dreams and visions, but not so with Moses. In Numbers 12-8 God said, "With him I speak mouth to mouth clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord." In this verse right here in Numbers speaks of the unique relationship that Moses had with God. Exodus chapter 34 tells us that Moses spoke face to face with God, and that he even saw the very glory of God.

So much so that when he came down off of Mount Sinai, Moses' face had to be covered, it had to be veiled because it reflected the very glory of God. Simply, Moses was the greatest of the greatest in the eyes of the Jewish people, even greater than Abraham, and that might shock some of you. Moses was chosen by God to be the one to lead their forefathers out of Egyptian slavery to become a nation. He had given them the law of God, both the Ten Commandments and the Levitical Law, and how the Jews viewed Moses and the law can be seen in the fact that both the Old and the New Testament declared the law of God as the law of Moses.

Have you ever thought of that? And as a result, some of the Jews even saw Moses as greater than the angels. See how it all ties together? This makes perfect sense. God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments, and they were written by the very finger of God, and God gave Moses the first five books of the Bible which contained only the Levitical Law, and this was as good as it gets for the Jews. Because for the Jews, the greatest thing in the world was the law. And scholars tell us that it is no exaggeration to say that Moses and the Law were one in the same in the eyes and the hearts of the Jews.

So all these things naturally led these Jews to believe that Moses was the greatest of the greatest. In their eyes he was greater than even Abraham, even greater than the angels. Therefore it was natural and necessary for the writer of Hebrews to enter into another argument. And this argument was meant to prove that Jesus was greater than Moses. Now this leads me to the title of the message. It's rather simple Jesus greater than the greatest. Jesus greater than the greatest. Now let's look back at our verses and then I will explain how we will divide the verses, verses 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." Verse 4, "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 in our boasting in our hope." Now this is how we will approach the verses. First from verse 1 we will look at Jesus the Apostle and High Priest, then from verses 2-4 Jesus the builder of the house, and then 3rd from verses 5-6 Jesus the Son. So number 1, Jesus the Apostle and High Priest. That's right there in verse 1. Jesus the Apostle and High Priest. Now right away we can see that the author calls the ones he was writing to holy brothers. And he says that they share a heavenly calling. Now notice what the writer is doing here.

He calls them holy brothers which was a reminder of their relationship to God and their relationship to one another. And their affection for one another. And he mentions their heavenly calling which is a reminder of their calling from God. So he starts off with their consecration before God. They were holy. Then he moves into their affection for one another. They were brothers or brothers and sisters. And then he reminds them of their relationship to God. They had a heavenly calling because they were called by God to God and for God. This reminds me of what we studied Wednesday night in Philippians 4.2.

We saw how Paul called the Philippian believers saints. And I explained from Philippians 4.22 and some other scriptures that we see the true identity of the believer. Believers are saints. It doesn't matter how mature you are. It doesn't matter how long you've been a believer. If you were a believer you are a saint. And that is what we have here in verse 1. The author was speaking of their identity as believers. They were consecrated before God so they were holy. They were set apart. They were brothers meaning that other believers were truly family. They were brothers and sisters. They had a heavenly calling.

Meaning they had been called by God to God and for God. And I go back to something that I shared Wednesday night. This is all about our identity. We need to understand that we are the saints of God. And we need to understand that we are holy brothers and sisters. We are set apart as the family of God and we have received a heavenly calling. Now at Grace Live Church we are all about certain phrases and language that speak to certain truth. We are all about every member ministry. If you are a member we believe you are truly born again and you have gifts and giftedness and you should use that in the life of the church.

We are about a regenerate church membership. Our membership role is not for those who are not the redeemed. And what I'm going at is this. When folks see Grace Live Church Brookhaven those who are members of Grace Live Brookhaven they should see saints, holy brothers and sisters and those who take their heavenly calling serious. But notice what the writer does next which is really at the heart of the verse. He calls them to consider Jesus. Now this word consider in the original it means to observe fully. It means to perceive even to understand. And the language indicates that this is an ongoing understanding. And the point here is this.

The author was calling these Jews to do more than look at Jesus casually. He was calling them to observe Jesus fully to the point of understanding Him. And notice that He is calling them to consider two things about Jesus. First He was God's Apostle. Now if we know our Bibles it seems strange to see Jesus as an Apostle. Isn't that right? We know that Jesus had Apostles and we know what an Apostle was. The word Apostle here means a messenger. It means a delegate or one that has been sent with a message and a purpose. We can say that being an Apostle is like being an ambassador. Do we know what an ambassador is? In government in our day.

An ambassador is a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or a sovereign. An ambassador is the resident representative of their government or sovereign. An ambassador is appointed for a special and sometimes temporary diplomatic assignment. And that is what Jesus Apostles were. They were appointed by Christ and sent by Christ for His purpose and purposes. Jesus Apostles were of the highest rank within Gospel work. They were Christ's resident representatives in the world. They were appointed for a special purpose and that was to preach the Gospel all over the known world and to be the church fathers.

So we have to ask then what does it mean that Jesus was an Apostle? The idea here is that Jesus was God the Father's ambassador. He was God the Father's Apostle. Jesus was of the highest rank. He was and He is God. He was God's representative in the world and He was sent for a special purpose. What was that purpose? Christ's purpose and mission was to die on the cross, the substitute for the sin of men. And then second He was God's high priest.

Now if we know our Bibles it is strange to see Jesus as the high priest although we have seen this already in chapter 2 but we know that there were high priests and there was a high priest singular in the Old Testament. We need to ask what was the role of the high priest in the Old Testament? What did they do? Basically according to Leviticus 16 one time a year on the great day of atonement the high priest alone was to enter the Holy of Holies in the temple before all of the people for the purpose of sprinkling the blood for the sin offering on the mercy seat and that was to cover or to make amends for the sin of the people.

And the point of the high priest was to go before God to offer up the appropriate sacrifices so as to cover or to provide expiation for the sin of the people. So what does that mean that Jesus? What does it mean that Jesus was a high priest? Whereas those Jewish high priests went year after year, year after year into the Holy of Holies to place the blood of animals on the mercy seat to appease the wrath of God for the sin of the people, Jesus offered for all time a single sacrifice for sin and he sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 13, 11.

He was the Lamb of God that the Father put forward as the propitiation or the atoning sacrifice for the sin of His people by His blood. Romans 3, 25. Not only did Jesus once and for all provide His blood for the sacrifice for sin, He also became the great mediator between His people and God, between God and His people. Romans 8, 34 says that Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. Interceding meaning He pleads the cause of the redeem. Interceding meaning He presents the interests and the needs of the redeemed before God. So notice what the author says here about Jesus. He was in His God's Apostle.

He was sent by God for the purposes of God so as to redeem a people for God. And He was sent to be high priest. And as high priest, He made atonement for sin. For all time a single sacrifice for sins. Hebrews 13, 11. And as high priest, Jesus is the mediator between His people and God, between God and His people. And Jesus indeed is interceding for the redeemed right now. Right now. And the point of these things for those Jews was this. The author was establishing more and more who Jesus was. And He was calling them to consider Jesus. You see that? He was calling them to consider Jesus.

He calls them to see and to understand and to keep on understanding these things about Jesus. And one very important thing. He was calling them to make their confession. There at the end of verse 1 we see this word confession which simply means to acknowledge and to profess. Now look at what this meant for those Jews. For them to go back to law keeping. For them to go back into the old covenant. They would have kept Moses as their greatest spiritual leader who was nothing more than a man and nothing more than a servant for God. The author was trying to prove to them that Jesus had a greater office than Moses.

But in considering this Jesus and confessing this Jesus, they would have been serving not a servant of God but the son of God who was sent by God to be the one and only true, perfect and final high priest. But notice what this means for us in our day. How many are holding on to some type of law keeping or some type of religious performance to make atonement for their sin and to mediate before God for them? How many are considering and confessing some Jesus of their imagination in their own construction other than this Jesus who is and was God's great apostle and who is the one and only, the true, the perfect high priest.

So Jesus, and I'm going to change some language here, not the apostle, not the high priest, Jesus our apostle. We're the redeemed, right? Jesus our apostle, our high priest, and He certainly holds a greater office than Moses. And then number two, I want us to look at Jesus the builder of the house. That's out of verses 2-4. Jesus the builder of the house. Now here in verses 2-4 the author gives several reasons why they should have considered Jesus as their apostle and high priest. And then he gets into his argument that Jesus was and is greater than Moses. And he does this by making some comparisons between Jesus and Moses.

Actually he makes these comparisons starting in verse 2 all the way down to verse 6. But I want to get at these verses by looking at three comparisons the author makes. He compares Jesus to Moses in their faithfulness, the glory and honor they received, and what they built. Now let's read the verses verses 2-4. I'm going to read it in the Amplified. You read it in your copy and read along and see if you can notice their faithfulness the glory and the honor they received and what they built.

Verse 2, "He," this is Jesus, "was faithful to him," that's God, "who appointed him apostle and high priest as Moses also was faithful in all God's house." Now that's a reference to Numbers 12-7. Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater glory and honor than Jesus just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. Verse 4, "For every house is built by someone but the builder of all things is God." Now let's get into the verses here and I want us to look at their faithfulness, the glory and honor they received, and what they built. First, their faithfulness.

Verse 2 reads, "Who was faithful to him who appointed him just as Moses also was faithful in all God's house." Now a question, how was Jesus faithful? This is easy. In one sense, the author is speaking of Jesus' faithfulness as God the Father's apostle and high priest. And in another sense, the author is speaking about Jesus' faithfulness to God the Father in all that he did and all that he was in the incarnation. So how faithful was Jesus? As God's apostle and high priest, he was perfectly faithful in all things. As one commentator said it, the language construction here implies that he still is.

Now this reminds me of one of my favorite Sovereign Grace songs. You know that we sing a lot of Sovereign Grace music here, but it reminded me of this particular song. I printed off the lyrics and as a matter of fact, I was listening to this song and worshiping to this song this morning. Listen to God is Faithfulness based off Psalm 1.14. Listen to this. Verse 1, "God brought out his people with a strong and mighty hand, took them out of slavery to behold the promised land. Mountain fled before them and the seas turned back and ran and they saw that he was good." And the chorus "God is faithful to his promise, he is with us, he is with us.

God is faithful, God is faithful to his own." Now he transitions. "God has come to free us from the bondage of our sin. Tasting of his kindness, we cannot go back again. Leads us through the desert to the rivers of his grace, working all things for our good. We have known your mercy and your love as in the past. If days be few or many, you will guide us to the last. You have said it, we believe it, every promise holding fast for we know that you are good. God is faithful to his promise, he is with us, he is with us. God is faithful, God is faithful to his own." You might say, "Pastor, why do you take the time there?

Some of you need to be reminded that our great apostle and high priest is faithful. He was faithful, he still is faithful, he always will be." But a question, how was Moses faithful? Notice that the verse says that Moses was also faithful in all God's house. And if you do some study, you will see that this is a quotation from the Old Testament. I referenced it earlier, number 12-7. That verse says of Moses, "He is faithful in all my house." But what does that mean? Actually this is simple. God's servant, Moses was faithful. His faithfulness to God was even remarkable, even great. Moses' faithfulness was unusually great.

But another question, was Moses' faithfulness perfect like Jesus? Of course not. If you look at Moses' life, you can see his faithfulness in two parts. For 40 years, Moses was God's great leader to lead his people. And through many different hardships, Moses faithfully led God's people even when God's people were very, very rebellious towards God and even towards his great leadership. God's people even provoked God to great anger. But the first 40 years of Moses' life was much different. The first 40 years of Moses' life can be characterized by unfaithfulness. And there's a great lesson here. Church, there's many lessons here.

John MacArthur says of Moses, and I'm quoting, "It took 40 years for God to make Moses usable. Then, for 40 more years, God used him." And look church, it takes God making you usable before you can be usable. It takes God purging you of your unfaithfulness before you can be faithful. And there is some great comfort here as well. As a true believer, if you have struggled with unfaithfulness of some sort in your life, allow God to purge that out of you, repent of that unfaithfulness, and allow God to change you and make you faithful. And look church, especially leaders, especially men, we must see that believers are made faithful.

They're not automatically faithful. Let me repeat that. We must see that believers are made faithful by their life experiences as believers through their trials, both positive and negative. It takes time. It takes time. It takes proving. It takes purging to make believers faithful. If you get one thing right here, get this. It takes time to make believers faithful. And also, it takes the believer making themself faithful. It takes obedience to God. It takes obedience to His Word. It takes a hatred for sin and a repentance of sin. It takes a striving for holiness and usefulness.

It takes the believer making themselves useful for God and the faithfulness of God. You see? So we see their faithfulness, both Jesus and Moses. And then second, the glory and the honor they receive. Verse 3 reads, "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." Now, notice that the English Standard Version uses the word "worthy" and "honor." And these words are very, very similar in their meaning.

This word "worthy," it means "honor," it means "dignity," it means "praise," it means "worthy." This word "honor" here, it means "precious," it means "price." Together we see "glory and honor," "glory and honor." That which is precious of great price, of great value. That which is worthy of honor, worthy of praise, because they are precious or of great price. And what we see here is this. Moses received glory and honor because he was faithful to his calling. But Jesus received more glory and honor because He was faithful to His calling.

And as we will see in verses 5-6, Moses received a certain amount of glory and honor because he was a unique servant. But Jesus was much different. Jesus received and still receives more glory and honor because He was and is God. But what is this language about building a house? It can be confusing. Third, let's look at what they built. Verse 3, "For Jesus had been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of a house is more honor than the house itself." Now these verses do not directly say that Moses built anything. But there is a comparison here that the author is making that we need to see.

But to see this we must remember the background, remember context. We must understand the background of what is written here. This was written to those Jews who were tempted to see Moses as an unhealthy, even unbiblical servant of God. And the author was making an argument that Jesus was greater than the angels, even Moses. But in mentioning Moses like this, it would have been impossible for those Jews not to think of the Old Covenant, not to think of their old former life in Judaism, and the place Moses had in all of the Old Covenant. God had used Moses to provide His law to their forefathers and to them.

And at the heart of the Old Covenant was Moses and the Law of God. Remember, the Law of God was often called the Law of Moses, both in the Old and the New. And to help understand how these Jews saw Moses we need to understand that to these Jews the Law of God and the Old Covenant were all built by Moses and given to them. As one commentator said, and I quote, "The Old Covenant is essentially the legacy of Moses' ministry to the people of Israel." That's how these Jews saw these things. So in a sense, and definitely in the eyes and in the hearts of these Jews, Moses was the builder and the provider of all of these things.

But notice that verse 3 says that Jesus is the builder of the house. So what is the house? Now to understand what it said here we need to look at this in two ways. First the meaning of this word "house" in verse 3. In the original this word simply means an inhabited house, a house, a household, or people. And then second how this word is used on down in the verses 3-6. It is clear from the use of the same word in the original down to verse 6 that the writer is talking about people. So what is the house that Jesus has built? Jesus was the builder of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

In fact Jesus fulfilled all of the Old Covenant in Himself. As one commentator said it, Christ was the founder and the established of all in the Old and the New. And Jesus was the builder of all of God's people, both those true believers who were under the Old Covenant and those true believers who were and are under the New. He was the builder of all those Jew and Gentiles who believed before the dawn of the New. And He was and is the builder of all those Jew and Gentiles who believe in Him as seen in the New. And notice how all of this relates to Moses. Moses built a portion of the house. It is God's servant.

He gave the law of God which was and is at the heart of the Old Covenant. But it was Jesus who built the house. Jesus built and gave the Old Covenant and He fulfilled the Old Covenant in the New in and through Himself. Moses was just a servant in all of these things. So notice what the author is saying here. Both Moses and Jesus were faithful. But only Jesus was and is perfectly faithful. Both Moses and Jesus received glory and honor. But only Jesus received and receives glory and honor as God. Both Moses and Jesus are seen as builders. In a sense Moses was a builder of part of a house, but Jesus built the entire house.

And notice what this meant for those Jews. The Bible scholar Leon Morris says those who clung to Judaism over against Christianity were wrong on two accounts. They preferred Moses the servant to Jesus the son. And they did not see that the Jews had forfeited their place as the people of God. So those Jews who were going back to Judaism they were truly forfeiting their place as the true people of God. And as absurd as that sounds to us people do the very same thing today. They have salvation in Jesus right before them.

But instead of savingly believing in Christ they hold on to something else instead of becoming a part of the people of God, the household of God, they forfeit those things for something else or someone else. So Jesus the builder of the house, Jesus performed a much greater work than Moses. And then number three Jesus the son. See this in verses 5 to 6. Let's read those verses. Jesus the son. Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant to testify to the things that were 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.

Now here the author continues to contrast Moses and Jesus and he does so by contrasting who they were and again what they did. First we see Moses as a servant. We see this in verse 5. But the servanthood of Moses was very interesting. And all the translations that we use uses the word "servant." And in the original this is an interesting word in that it is only found one time right here in these verses. The author uses a particular word which speaks of an honored servant. This was even seen as an honored position, one with dignity not like a slave.

So this means that Moses held the position of a servant but an honored position, a high office, a position of a servant that came with dignity, respect and a certain amount of freedom. But notice what he did in this position. Verse 5 says that he was faithful in God's house as a servant. Notice to testify to the things that were to be spoken later. But what did Moses testify of? Simply Moses testified of what is said in Hebrews 1 verses 1 and 2. God spoke long ago in a variety of ways under the Old Covenant. In his final complete and definitive revelation was and is seen through his Son.

So Moses testified of what was to come in the New Testament. Moses testified of what was to come in Jesus. Moses testified of the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. So Moses was an honorable servant that testified of God the Son who was to come. And then second we see that Jesus was and is God's Son. We see this in verse 6. But Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. Here we see really the climax of what the author is saying in all of these verses. Moses was a servant, an honorable servant but still a servant. But Jesus was and is the Son. And the verse says that he was God's Son. But what did he do? Simply he was God's faithful Son.

And he was over God's house as God's Son. And he was and is God's faithful Son in all of these things. He still is faithful folks. So Christ Jesus was God's Son and he was and is faithful over God's house, God's people. And look at how this applied to those Jews, that original audience. For them to turn back to Moses was to turn back to a servant over and above God's Son. Moses testified of the Son. So if they turned back to Moses then they would have been turning their backs on the Son that Moses testified of. How ridiculous is that? How absurd is that? How unreasonable is that?

As one commentator said it and this is a loose quote, Moses was no more than a member or a portion of the house even though a distinguished member of the house he was essentially one with all of the others. Now what does he mean by that? All of these Old Testament figures were just part of the house. But Christ has innate superiority. Why? Because he is the Son, he is God and he is over the entire household. But how does this apply to us? I see this applying in two ways. First as born again believers we are God's house. We are God's household and we have a faithful Lord who is over his people.

And no matter what goes on in the world, no matter what happens in our lives, no matter what trials or difficulties come our way, as the redeemed we are God's household and our Lord is faithful. Remember our song? God is faithful. God is faithful. And this should be very comforting to us. It should be very reassuring to us. But second those who are not true believers they are not of God's household. And if you have not been born again, if you have not come to a place whether you were 8 or 18 or 88, if you have not come to a place where you have been born by the Holy Spirit of God, you are not a part of God's household.

You are on the outside of God's household. I know I have used this testimony for years, but I remember years ago we had a teenager in the life of our church. She since moved on when she came to faith in Christ and she gave her testimony. She said all of her life she saw herself on the outside. Those who were Christian were on the inside but she saw that she was on the outside. And look if that's you. Would you come to saving faith in Christ today and become a part of a household of God? Don't be on the outside, be on the inside. So Jesus the Son of God, He was and is greater. He was and is a greater person than Moses.

Moses was a servant but Jesus was and is a son. Now I want to close by reminding us of the title of the message, Jesus Greater Than the Greatest. But before we leave the verses and the message, I want to pose a question. This is very important. Usually when the pastor says in closing we start closing. Our minds, our attention, our hearts, our Bibles, don't do that. Follow me here. And the question is this. How do we prove that Jesus is the greatest? How? How do we prove that Jesus is greater than the greatest? Do we need to become a great athlete and put Bible verses on our face paint to prove that Jesus is the greatest?

Tim Tebow did all that. I'm not saying that was bad. I don't know Tim Tebow. Do we need someone like Kanye West to come to faith in Christ to prove that Jesus is the greatest? He followed that story. It's really sad, his journey. I'm not against famous people coming to faith in Christ. I'm really against those who prop them up too soon. It really seems like Kanye went out from us because he never was of us. Do we need to become a famous missionary and make great sacrifices to prove that Jesus is the greatest? Jim Elliot did that. And all those who died with him did that. Of course I'm not against that.

Do we need a 250 foot cross outside of our church to prove that Jesus is the greatest? Some do those things, some do not. Look church, listen to your pastor real close here. There are hundreds of ways that people can say they prove that Jesus is the greatest. Some of these ways are good. Some of these ways are not so good. And some of these ways are bad. But verse 6, the end of verse 6 says that we can prove that Jesus is greater than the greatest if we hold fast our confidence and our boasting and our hope.

Simply we prove that Jesus is greater than the greatest when we endure, when we faithfully endure, when we victoriously endure with great hope in the Christian life. Look church, listen close. This is our call. This is our responsibility. This must be our life's work to prove that Jesus is greater than the greatest by enduring in the Christian life. Not gritting our teeth. By enduring faithfully, victoriously, in love, in hope, in a great love, in a hope, in the Christ that has saved us. And we do all of these things all the way to the end.

And when we get to the end being faithful in all of these things at our funeral, the preacher won't have to say that he proved or she proved that Christ was the greatest. See? So Jesus greater than the greatest.