The Danger of Unbelief

Hebrews 3:7-19

Introduction & Context

You may have noticed that essentially calling us all “Grinches” in the children’s sermon is my attempt to bring a little bit of light-heartedness to what is really a serious matter that we’re faced with in the Scriptures today. I’ve given it the title “The Danger of Unbelief” because the author of Hebrews pulls no punches in this section of his sermon. He gets straight to the point and gives a stark warning about unbelief. But we cannot divorce it from the message so far or else we’ll be at risk of misapplying it. Before we dig into the content of the warning you need to understand two short, but important things from the context of the warning. Who is it given to? And why is it given? Our context answers these questions.

Who is it given to?

Peek back up at verse one of chapter 3: “...holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling” Now look back to chapter 2 verse 17, “...he had to be made like his brothers...” verse 11, “...he is not ashamed to call them brothers” the author is using this term brothers in the sense we see in verse 14...”the children share in flesh and blood, (therefore Jesus) he himself, likewise partook of the same things...” these brothers are those whom are frail, finite, and fragile beings.

And yet that isn’t the only qualifier given here, he calls them, “you who share in a heavenly calling”. But what is this calling? Chapter 2 verse 10-11, “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one source.” Salvation, sanctification through suffering this is the heavenly calling. You’ll remember how it’s not been neglected to mention each week that this book is written to a group of Christians who are suffering from the threat of persecution from outside of the church, and assuredly who have doubts and frustrations within themselves. Which brings us to why this warning is given.

Why is it given?

Chapter 3 so far has been a testimony to the faithfulness and worthiness of Jesus. The readers of this letter would have been familiar with the faithfulness of Moses. They would have held him in high esteem as the one who mediated the law of God to the people of Israel. And the author of Hebrews affirms Moses’s faithfulness, but as he says he was just a servant to the household of God in order to speak about the things to come. What has come is Jesus Christ. The builder of the house. The ruler of the house. The one who has always been faithful to God...not as servant...but as a Son. Who, according to chapter 2 verse 9, is now crowned with glory and honor because of his suffering unto death, tasting death for everyone. And because he suffered when being tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. This is good news for frail and fragile people. In fact this is the sole confidence and hope for such a people. Therefore, we are given this warning. Beware of the danger of unbelief.

Now, one last word on warnings. Do not despise the blessings of the warnings of Scripture. This is the precious Word of God able to equip you with everything good needed unto salvation. And it is all to easy to love the promises of Scripture and yet shrug off the warnings. Please don’t do it. Understand this in light of the Proverb we read earlier in the service. Do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” So, hear then, this warning as a reproof of love.

You have in your outline just two simple headings. Take Note and Take Care. We instructed to learn from the past in order to persevere in the present.

1. Take Note...(A Lesson from the Past)

Hebrews 3:7–11;Hebrews 3:16–19

So, Take Note- this lesson from the past.

The Holy Spirit says...

History is a great teacher. And in this case we have an infallible source for our history that was intentionally written for future instruction. What’s quoted here is the last half of Psalm 95, the Psalm we just sang earlier. And what you’ll immediately notice about the way it’s quoted is it is the Holy Spirit speaking. Later in chapter 4 he’ll specifically note that it’s the Spirit speaking through David, but understand the author’s view of Scripture. Thus says the LORD. The Holy God is giving man a history lesson. Take note from the history of Israel.

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.” Of course, he’s referencing the Israelites after God had brought them out of slavery to Egypt. This period of rebellion or the day of testing; the terms we sang earlier as Meribah and Massah, these were the names given to the place where the they tested the LORD. They were in the desert, thirsty, and their desire for water made them question the entire legitimacy of their journey. We see them say in Exodus 17, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” “Is the LORD among us or not?” Their mouths go dry and their hearts grow hard. What, is his purpose to make us suffer? Was this even a work of God or does this guy Moses just have some fanciful idea of freedom that’s going to get us all killed? Unbelief wells up in their hearts when faced with a threat. Earlier in chapter 16 they were hungry and didn’t see any prospect of food, and rather than trust God for it they said, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” You can almost hear them grumbling among themselves with fond memories of their lavish lives in Egypt. Remember how good the food was? You remember those little utensils we used to eat with, I always liked those. Oh, and how the steam from those meat pots would waft in the wind and it smelled soo good. It was to die for...wait, what are we out here in the desert for again?

The author of Hebrews says in verse 16, “Weren’t these the people who were delivered from Egypt?” Those whose backs broke all day long in the heat as they made and laid bricks? And even more importantly, who were barred from worshiping their God because of their unrelenting taskmasters? They were a people under oppression, with no real freedom, yet now as they sit under the suffering of empty bellies and dry mouths they think...”Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just go back...” You see, the object of their greatest desires evidences the unbelief in their hearts. The object of their greatest desires evidences the unbelief in their hearts. They desired manna. Not the God of manna. They thirsted for water, but not for the God of water. They had seen his works in crushing the earth’s greatest nation with plague after plague, and how he split the sea like a toothpick in order to deliver them through it and they followed because they wanted deliverance; not the God of deliverance. But for what purpose were they rescued out of Egypt? Was it in order that they would eat and drink until their hearts content? No. The LORD’s refrain that he spoke through Moses when he issued the command to Pharoah to let his people go tells us why they were rescued, “That they may serve me in the wilderness...” Worship of the living God is the reason for their deliverance. They saw his works, and they heard his word, and yet they rebelled because they never knew his ways.

See it is not sufficient to merely see God’s works and hear his words. It is not sufficient to have perfect church attendance and only listen to christian radio or christian podcasts or sermons. It is not sufficient that you have a bible reading plan that you religiously study through year after year. Unprofitable hearing is attested to many times in the Scriptures: Mark 4:18–19 compares it to the seed sown among thorny soil. It says, “They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Nor is merely having the word of God on our lips sufficient, Mark 7:6, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, “...“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;” You see you can taste and see that the LORD is good through his word and through the fellowship of his people and yet still be consumed by the desires for the things of this world. You can have his word very near in your mind and ready on your lips and still be far from him in your heart.

The quote in our text ends, “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.” And verse 18, “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.”

We can conclude then, the author tells us, that disobedience is the outward manifestation of the inward reality of unbelief; disobedience is the outward manifestation of the inward reality of unbelief. Do you believe that it is necessary for you to take in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide in order for you to continue living? All of your bodies prove to me right now that this true. You do believe this. Do you believe that there is One True God whose commands are good and have authority over you? The actions of the Israelites said they do not. They did not know his ways...and therefore were unable to enter his rest because of their unbelief.

2. Take Care...(A Warning for the Present)

Hebrews 3:12–15

So we have taken notes from the Holy Spirit’s teaching on the Israelites, now we need to take care that we ourselves don’t fall to the same peril. We need to know, what does it mean to take care? Why do we do it? How do we do it? What gets in our way? And what is our reward? If you’re literally physically taking notes, that doesn’t mean I’ve got like 6 more full length points. You don’t have to be like, O shoot strap in for another hour...these are just some of the aspects we need to consider under this idea of taking care. So what is meant here? To take care?

Take Care

I’ve always had a love for older homes. And when I say old I don’t mean like, “Oh, this kitchen design is too closed off from the rest of the house, we should knock a wall down…” I mean like, “this thing withstood General Sherman’s march on the south” old. These old homes are so fascinating, they feel like they transport you to another time. Have you ever been in one where you walk in and it’s just in impeccable shape? I mean everything is original, but it looks like it was just built yesterday. What’s the first thing we all say? Wow...this thing’s been taken care of. Right? Or maybe I’m just getting old and that’s a dad thing. But, it’s amazing! 150 year old home and it looks brand new...it’s hard to believe. But why is it hard to believe? And why is that the first thing we say? Because its rare. Because most of homes from that age, we only know what they look like as result of not being taken care of. Run down, broken, ragged, and that’s even if they’re still standing. Taking care, requires persistent daily work over an entire lifespan. The word here is Blepete or to see. “Have eyes, brothers!” “Be watchful!” See to it that you aren’t just among the house of God, but that you ARE the house of God. See to it that you don’t have, what?...an evil, unbelieving heart. For those who profess belief what does this mean? He’s saying inspect yourself! Does the work of your hands match the words of your mouth? Is there evidence of true belief?

It’s true that for many years there has been a strong tendency in American Evangelicalism (and I’m only referencing it specifically because it’s with it that I’m most familiar), there has been a strong tendency to place weight on “making a decision” for Christ. Whether it’s at a church where they ask people to raise their hands if they believe or its signing a card at a tent meeting or praying a prayer after a conversation with an evangelist. Of course there is nothing inherently problematic with someone indicating that they want to submit themselves to Christ. If you’re here today and you have never professed belief in Jesus Christ to another person and you are convicted that it is true that He is the Son of God sent for the once for all atonement of sinners, brother or sister, please share that with someone. We want to rejoice with you of the work God has done to soften a calloused heart. But friends, the Christian life is not evidenced by a single decision in a persons life. The evidence of the Christian life is that we remain in him all our days. This is the point of this warning. Brothers and sisters, it does no good to make a decision for Christ if at the end of our days because of the hardship of this wilderness we ask “Is the LORD even among us?” This letter is written to fragile people then and fragile people now in order that you would remain in him. That you would persevere to the end.

What does the author of Hebrews say? The effect of disobedience, or the result of unbelief is to fall away from the living God. To “apostenai” is the word in the greek. The word from which we get apostatize. To turn away from or to forsake. How does this happen? Typically not all at once, and typically not in an overtly noticeable way. Verse 13, by the hardening work of the deceitfulness of sin. As I was working through in this passage this week, and speaking with others around the office, the wise comment was made that by definition, it can’t be deceit if you know it’s happening. Deception requires your belief in something other than the truth. If you are driving in the wrong direction down a one way street, it does not matter how much you feel like the road flows that way. You have either been deceived or are deceiving yourself. And the result ends in a head on collision. Friends I am compelled by this text to tell you that we are all succeptable to the deception of sin, and to implore you because of that, to examine yourselves. Where might you be particularly succeptable to deception? One place to start, taking notes from the failure of the Israelites, is to ask yourself, “What thing in my life, if I did not have that thing, would cause me to question the goodness of God’s plan for my salvation?” Is it money? Is it health? Is it the relationship with your spouse or your children? Whatever you deem to be success in your endeavors, are you willing to say that that thing is not necessary for God to be God? Do you actually believe the words that we often confess, that all these things must be subservient to your salvation? Friends, the deception of sin, to use the old phrase, is to take good things and slowly turn them into Gods. You will serve that which you believe to be true. And where sin is successful in its deception, it will harden you to what is actually true. Beware of the deception of sin in its hardening service toward unbelief.

The author gives one last weapon to fight against unbelief and that is the community of those who do believe. Now we have the word “community” in our name as a church so that kind of ‘de-facto’ means that we do it pretty well, right? I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works, but I do sincerely hope that we, as Christ Community Church would have a robust understanding of what it means to be a community of believers. It does not mean that we just attend church services together. It does not mean that all of us just put the little tree logo sticker on our cars. In order for us to fulfill the heavenly calling as brothers and sisters who share in Christ together, here at Christ Community Church we must be calling each other to account. We must be daily exhorting one other out of unbelief and back into the glorious truth that salvation in Jesus Christ is our sole hope in this life. To the extent that we are not willing to listen to exhortation from others or to the extent that we withhold speaking the truth in love to one another...we open the door to the deception of sin. If you look at the person next to you or in front of you, or behind you; they are facing the temptation to be deceived by sin in some way in their lives. And why are we waiting for God to place someone in their lives to minister to their deepest need? Our text tells us, “You, today, as long as it is called today...which is everyday...exhort one another. That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” We may face deceit on a daily basis, but by the grace of God and through the service of each other, we can endure the wilderness.

As we close today, you may be thinking: whew, this warning sure does have a lot of exhortation in it. Seems like a lot of law and not a lot of gospel...friends, this sermon would make no sense if it were not for the gospel. “The wisdom of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.” We’ve spoken a lot of the evidences of unbelief, and of course the contrary is true with belief. Disobedience evidences unbelief, obedience evidence belief. But don’t think that what I’m saying is that what evidences your faith merits your faith. If you speak like a southerner that doesn’t make you a southerner. You are a southerner by birth, and that southern draw is an indication of where you were born and to whom you were born. The gospel truth from our text today is that Jesus Christ is so glorious and faithful to the house of God as a son that he changes hearts and gives new birth status to an otherwise wicked and rebellious people. There is no other reason for boasting, save in the death of Christ the Son living God. Not in health or riches or might, but in our weakness. For it is in our weakness that his power his made perfect. And for those frail and fragile people whose only hope for confidence to the end is in the power of Christ alone, he promises eternal rest. See to it today that this is your hope. Let’s pray.