Hebrews 3:7-19 The Heart that Departs

Intro:

The heart is an amazing muscle

It beats 100,000 times a day

That equals to 2.9 billion times over the avg lifetime

Your heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood a day

That’s amazing considering men have 12 pints and women have 9 or 1-1.5 gallons

That means your blood goes through your heart 2,000 times a day

Most heart attacks happen on Monday

The most common day is Christmas

Interesting note it is the hardening of the arteries that cause those attacks

The heart is as equally important spiritually

If you let your heart grow hard spiritually there are ramifications

The Israelites in the wilderness let their hearts grow hard and they faced wrath of God

Read Hebrews 3:7-11

Transition:

There are five warnings in the book of Hebrews

Each warning gets more dire

In Chapter two we were warned not to drift from the Word of God

We saw that to drift meant that we didn’t have to do anything

Today we see a warning about our heart

The writer warns us not to let our heart depart from believing in Jesus

He is going to show us what causes our hearts to depart and then give us some encouragement on how we can keep our hearts

If we let our heart wander or grow hard it will

1. A Hardened Heart vs. 7-11

The first cause of a heart that has departed from the Lord is one that has become hardened

The writer starts off his warning by quoting Psalm 95

Psalm 95:7–9 ESV

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

In this passage we are going to see a couple of things that cause hardness of heart

vs. 7-9 Starts w/ Rebellion & Testing

The first two indicators of a hard heart are rebellion and testing

Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years

The end of that time was in slavery to Egypt

The Egyptians saw how God was blessing Israel and they were growing in size and were afraid they would turn on Egypt

God set them free and led them into the wilderness

The 40 years they were in the wilderness they complained and rebelled

They were constantly testing the Lord’s patience

This caused their heart to grow hard

What caused all of this?

They stopped listening to the voice of the Lord

They had become insensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit

Rebellion & Testing are often a result of ignoring good counsel

People know the right thing to do, but choose to do their own thing

They resist leadership and test the limits

1 Samuel 15:23 (ESV)

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

The result of rebellion is that your heart grows hard

Fortunately, God is able to heal a hardened heart

Jeremiah 33:8 ESV

I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.

If you are feeling distant from God it may be that you have been in a state of rebellion

God wants you to do something, but you want to do your own thing

vs. 10-11 Didn’t Know the Way

One of the ramifications of a hardened heart is that you go astray

Israel wasn’t listening to the voice of the Lord, didn’t know the way, and went astray

The same can be said of immature Christians

They may have been Christians for decades but they are still lost

Hebrews 5:12–13 ESV

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

Maybe the reason so many Christians seem lost is because they haven’t been listening

2. An Unbelieving Heart vs. 12

The second reason a heart departs from the Lord is that become full of unbelief

The thrust of this whole section is vs. 12

The ESV uses “take care” but the proper term is Beware

A hard heart leads to an unbelieving heart and that is a heart that departs from the Lord

The writer here calls it, “falling away from the Living God”

The debates rages on whether you are once saved, always saved or if you can leave your salvation

We’re not gonna answer that debate today, but the writer of Hebrews is talking about believers, calls them Holy Brothers who are drifting and departing from the faith

vs. 12a Be On Guard

You have to be on guard over your heart

Many good things will take you away from the faith

Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ve been tricked

It clearly describes the heart as evil & unbelieving

That means it was a choice on the part of the believer

They chose to chase after other things in their life besides Jesus

King Solomon gives us some good advice

Proverbs 4:3–5 ESV

When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Guarding your heart isn’t just being on alert for danger

But it is obtaining wisdom and insight that will help you be more obedient

vs. 12b Leads to Falling Away

Next the writer goes on to tell us that an unbelieving heart leads you to falling away

To withdraw, remove oneself, forsake, desert, retire, cease from something

There is an important term here: Evil

This shows us that this is all our choice

When we purposely rebel or choose to go our own way it produces an unbelieving heart

3. Encourage One Another vs. 13-15

The cure to a hardened heart is to encourage one another

Exhort = To aid, help, comfort, encourage

vs. 13 Against Deceitfulness of Sin

Sin is both deceptive and seducing

Proverbs 13:5–6 ESV

The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

vs. 14 Hold onto Confidence

4. Results of Departing vs. 16-19

If we fail to abide in Christ there will be some ramifications

vs. 16 Heard & Rebelled

Numbers 14:11 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?

vs. 17 Angry over sin

Numbers 14:22–23 ESV

none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

vs. 18 Punished Disobedience

vs. 19 Barred for Unbelief

1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV

Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.