Hebrews 3:7-19 - Hear and Believe - Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
The concept of rest goes all the way back to the book of Genesis.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Although God never tires, He provided us with a blueprint for life. Rest was something that was supposed to be regularly prioritized. I would argue that it is something that many of us struggle with in our world today. However, it has been commanded since the beginning. The idea of the Sabbath rest predated the Law. We are made to be a people who regularly take time to rest.
But there is something even more important than earthly rest - namely a heavenly rest that is eternal. There is a rest that will last forever. And this term ‘rest’ in our Scripture for today and for our next time together encompasses this idea of eternal life with Jesus Christ.
A sermon on heaven would be an enjoyable one to preach. We could spend time considering the fact that there will be no more sickness, no more sin, no more tears, no more pain, no more cancer, and so on. We could discuss the fact that all evil will be destroyed for all eternity.
However, the author today has a different message for us as he writes the Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit.
He wants to urge us to hear and believe. He wants to make sure that we truly are in the faith.
Let’s go ahead and pray and then jump into today’s message.
Prayer
Today we are going to see three ways that people fail to enter eternal life with Jesus Christ - namely His rest as stated in today’s Scripture. The first is…
I. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Hear and Not Be Hardened (7-11)
I. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Hear and Not Be Hardened (7-11)
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
The author of Hebrews obviously knows the work of the Holy Spirit in writing the Word of God as he is currently a vessel being used to write a book of the Bible. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reminds us that men didn’t write the Bible - God wrote the words through them. As we have already mentioned many times, the only source that the author of Hebrews ever quotes is God. There are no references given in any of the Old Testament quotes throughout this letter. The author understands that the power of the Word of God comes from God and not man.
After starting off referencing the Holy Spirit, he goes on to quote Psalm 95:7-11.
This reference begins - Today, if you hear His voice…
Brothers and sisters - I can promise you one thing this morning - you will have heard the Word of God. As we read through this Scripture - you will hear the Lord speak through His Word. This isn’t because of anything special in me - it is because of the inerrant Word of God.
I can guarantee to you that you will hear God speak this morning through His Word.
But I have an important challenge for you before we move forward…
Do you truly want to hear the voice of God? Do you really want to hear the Word of God?
Did you come here this morning out of obligation or expectation?
Because friends, if you are ready to hear the Word, you are going to leave here changed. I don’t say that because I think I am anything special. Like the author of Hebrews, I realize that I am but dust. But I also realize that the Word of God is living and active - sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). I realize that the Word doesn’t return void (Isaiah 55:11). And if you are willing to hear and not harden your heart - God will speak to you through His Word today.
May your ears be opened to the truth of His Word.
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.’ ”
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. This speaks of Israel in the wilderness. This people rebelled against the Lord time and time again.
Likely speaking to the church in Rome which was had a strong Jewish presence, the author implores his readers not to be like Israel was in the wilderness.
The people of Israel were a rebellious people. God, using Moses, had just delivered the Israelite people from the hands of Pharaoh and they were already rebelling and complaining. They complained about food, water, the blandness and lack of diversity of food, among others. They continually doubted the Lord’s ability to provide – even after seeing an entire sea opened up for them!
The Psalmist in Psalm 95 actually refers specifically to a time where the people hardened their hearts toward the Lord. He speaks of Massah and Meribah. The words Massah and Meribah literally mean testing and strife, respectively. These two words appear in Exodus 17:7 when God miraculously gives Israel water from a rock at Horeb during one of their complaining episodes.
Unfortunately, this attitude of ingratitude continued throughout their wilderness journey and the anger of the Lord was kindled.
Only two men of the large multitude of Israelites in the wilderness were able to enter the Promised Land - Joshua and Caleb. Exodus 12:37 tells us that 600,000 men were among those who left Egypt in the Exodus - meaning that there were likely over 2 million people among the multitude of Israel who walked across dry land through the Red Sea when including women and children.
Numbers 14:29 tells that the only ones who would enter the Promised Land were those under 20 years old along with Joshua and Caleb. All of the others who were 20 years old and upward were not able to enter due to their rebellion and hardness of their hearts.
May this remind us that narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and wide is the way to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
This also provides us with a difficult reminder that it isn’t about how we start - it is about how we finish. This doesn’t speak of salvation by works. But this speaks of true persevering faith.
Many may be excited about following God at first. However, when things get difficult - like Israel when they became hungry and thirsty - or more modernly - when people see the persecution that might be coming their way - or the things they might have to give up - or any difficulties that may arise - they decide that it isn’t worth it to keep going. Obviously, we know that these people were not truly in the faith to begin with Scripturally speaking. Yet there are many in our churches who are just like this.
Laying politics aside, it appears very clear why Charlie Kirk was killed. He was killed because of his views on the Bible - specifically his Biblical views on sexuality.
There are many who might hear about this shooting and quickly fall away. They might lose their boldness in standing for Biblical values such as standing against abortion or standing in support of Biblical sexuality, righteousness, justice, and most of all the Gospel which understands that Jesus is the only way to God.
Yet, those who are truly in Christ, will respond like Joshua and Caleb did in the face of opposition. To put this in context, Joshua and Caleb and 10 other Israelite spies were sent to check out the land of Canaan - namely the Promised Land - and bring back a report.
When returning, the other 10 spies came back with this report:
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
Sounds good so far right… but then comes the following
However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”
They saw the beauty of the Promised Land, but they had no faith that God could deliver them from the people of the land. They saw the giants and fortified cities and their lack of faith became apparent.
But listen to Caleb respond (Joshua is obviously with him in this response as seen in Numbers 14:30):
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”
What amazing faith is present in Caleb and Joshua! They see the Promised Land. They know the power of their God. And they are ready to go.
Unfortunately, the judgement of God as we have already mentioned, fell upon those in the wilderness. They were unable to enter the rest of the Lord - the Promised Land - because they hardened their hearts.
Friends, do not harden your hearts today. Hear the Word of God and respond to it. We have an eternal rest to look forward to - namely heaven. But we must trust the Lord in faith and follow Him as the Lord of our lives. We must repent of our sins and place our faith and trust in His finished work on the cross. Jesus took on human flesh some 2,000 years ago being born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and was crucified on the cross in our place. He took on the wrath of God that we deserved. And then He rose from the grave three days later - showing that He had defeated death and the grave.
And because of this wonderful victory - you can enter the Promised Land - the eternal rest of our souls in heaven. If only you hear His Word and respond. Do not harden your hearts.
As Warren Weirsbe once said:
“The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart.”
Warren Wiersbe
May our hearts be softened to the Word of God.
Some of you may have had an exodus experience in your own lives. Maybe God delivered you from an addiction. Maybe God delivered you from a difficult situation. However, we must not just be ok with an experience of deliverance. We must truly have a saving faith.
Jesus told a parable about a man who was cleansed of a demon in Luke 11:24-26. However, because the man was not then filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus says that the evil spirit returned with seven other evil spirits worse than even it was. And the state of the man was even worse than before.
My friends, be sure that you are in Christ. Be sure that you are filled with the Holy Spirit - born again as John 3 states. If you aren’t sure if you have a true saving faith - talk with me after the service. I’d love to discuss this further with you.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: Genesis 2:1-3, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Psalm 95:7-11, Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:11, Exodus 17:7, Exodus 12:37, Numbers 14:29, Matthew 7:13-14, Numbers 13:25-30, Numbers 14:30, Luke 11:24-26, John 3
II. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Hold Fast and Not Be Hardened (12-14)
II. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Hold Fast and Not Be Hardened (12-14)
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Verse 12 issues a dire warning. It tells us that there may be some within the church that have an evil, unbelieving heart.
Verses such as this are often used by some to describe how one can lose his salvation. This teaching is out of step with the Scripture as we have mentioned many times before - The Lord does not lose those who are His (John 10:28) - He provides a guarantee of salvation - the seal of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Instead, this word of warning is not to the saved - but to unsaved.
Though the term brothers most often refers to fellow believers - especially in Paul’s letters - here this term likely references unbelieving Jews which is how it was used in the book of Acts.
Sadly, throughout the ages, there have been many within the church who are not true converts. They appear like one of us, but they are not one of us (1 John 2:19).
Maybe they made an emotional decision but didn’t go all in. Maybe they liked the idea of salvation, but they didn’t like the idea of needing to follow and obey Christ. They didn’t want to submit to the commands of the Scriptures.
Like the Parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13, many may receive the Word gladly - but quickly fall away as they are without root. They are not rooted in Christ as Pastor Adam has been preaching about.
Brothers and sisters - hold fast - persevere - and do this by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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.
Church, there will be a day without anymore chances. Once this life is over then our time for being saved has run out. But until then, there is time for you to be saved - there is time for others to be saved. But as we run this race, we need exhortation. This word carries with it the concept of encouragement as well as warning and reproof.
And we are to exhort one another today. We cannot do anything different yesterday. We cannot change the past. And we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.
The only thing we can really do to make an impact on our own eternity and the eternity of others is to do something today.
Friends - be sure that you are in the faith today. Be sure that you on the narrow path that leads to heaven’s rest today.
The deceitfulness of sin is a strong force. It’s hardening forces are ever present in our world. The desensitizing work of sin in our world is all around us. Don’t be deceived.
The deceitfulness of sin lies within its familiarity to us. When we surround ourselves with sinful media, sinful music, and other sinful influences - we can be lulled to sleep by the deceitfulness of sin.
May our conscience stay soft and our heart remain ripe toward God’s Word and the Gospel. God will continue to soften our heart through His Word and through prayer.
However, the author alludes to another way that we must avoid the deceitfulness of sin - namely community.
Theologian George Guthrie said:
“Community is a key to consistency in the faith.”
George Guthrie
If we want to persevere in the faith, we need to have Gospel community. We need to be a part of a local church. We need to be active and doing life with a local church. I urge you all to come to our Wednesday Night study on a book called Together (which is based on the Acts 2 church) - as we seek to be the community God has called us to be.
Community is of the utmost importance as we walk the Christian walk.
The author finishes this thought with a difficult verse:
For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
This is another beautiful picture of perseverance of the saints. True believers will persevere until the end by the power of Christ working in and through them.
The author teaches here that you cannot lose your salvation if you are truly in Christ.
He says at first - for we have come to share in Christ. This speaks of believers. Namely we have been saved. We have been adopted as children of God. We have a heavenly calling. We have held fast to our confession of faith.
And the condition for whether this has occurred or not is found at the end of the verse - if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Don’t miss this great truth here. Be sure to look at literal translations to understand this well. Go back to the Greek if needed. But the ESV, NASB, and LSB get this right.
It isn’t persevering that saves you. We aren’t saved by works. The opposite is true. Those who are truly saved will persevere by the power of Christ working in and through them.
It is obvious that the author of Hebrews understands salvation as something that cannot be lost. It is something that one either has eternally or never had to begin with.
May each of us persevere in the faith by holding fast to Christ. And maybe better stated - may we persevere as Christ holds us fast. And finally…
Scripture References: John 10:28, Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 John 2:19, Matthew 13
III. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Heed His Warning and Not Be Hardened (15-19)
III. As the Gospel is Preached… You Must Heed His Warning and Not Be Hardened (15-19)
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?
Again, the author pleads with his readers - do not harden your heart to the Gospel. So many today are in and out of churches and continually hear the Word of God. They see the working of the Holy Spirit in other people’s lives. They see the resurrection of dead souls that come alive in Christ. Lives that were full of sin cleansed by the blood of Christ.
And yet, like Israel in the Old Testament that saw many amazing works of God - many in our churches continue hardened and refuse to repent and submit to Christ.
The author reminds us that those who rebelled were those who heard and saw the wonderful works of God.
It isn’t enough to have experiences. I hear many people talk about their experiences with God. I’m not saying that God doesn’t move in certain ways in our lives and show His glory in certain situations through the answering of prayers, providing wonderful peace in the midst of suffering, among other wonderful mercies of God.
However, many people instead of speaking of the goodness of Christ only speak of what I might call spiritual experiences. Sadly, like Israel who could speak of this amazing experience of crossing the Red Sea, many people don’t actually love God. They don’t speak of the salvation offered by Christ. They don’t seek a relationship with the Savior of the world. Instead, their focus is what they get out of these so-called spiritual experiences. They seek a transactional type of relationship with God that is far from Biblical.
Is that you? Do you follow Christ for what you can get out of the deal? Is it just to get your proverbial get out of hell free card? Is it to appease your family or friends? Is it to hopefully receive respect from society? Is it to try to prevent bad things from happening to you and hoping for some sort of luck or favor?
Why do you follow Christ? Why are you here this morning?
We must follow Christ because we love Him. We must follow Him because we believe the Gospel. We must follow Christ because we desire a relationship with Him and see Him as the greatest object of our affection.
In verse 17, the ESV gives a more PG rating here with the word bodies fell in the wilderness. The literal translation here is actually that their corpses fell. These were dead men walking. They were not making it to the Promised Land. They were not going to enter His rest.
Many today are dead men and dead women walking. They refuse to respond to the Gospel. And one day, their corpses will fall and their souls will be sent forever to hell.
I pray with all of my heart that no one here and no one who will listen to this in the future can be described as a dead man or dead woman walking.
I pray that you have repented of your sin and placed your faith and trust in Christ alone.
I pray that you heed this final warning given in today’s Scripture…
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.
Do not be like the Jews were in regard to the Exodus. They saw God provide a way of escape from Egypt, but still refused to place their faith and trust in God. They trusted in idols. They refused to obey the commands of God. They were a rebellious people.
So many are satisfied only with the idea of avoiding hell. They feel that giving Jesus a quick head nod for their fire insurance is enough.
This is not true salvation. You cannot be God’s child if you live your life in complete rebellion to His Word.
As John 14:15 asserts - if you love Him you will obey His commandments.
God swore that those Israelites who were stiff-necked and disobeyed Him would not enter His rest.
For Israel, this rest referred to the Promised Land. However, the author of Hebrews is using this metaphor to teach about a different rest as we mentioned earlier - namely eternal life in heaven.
Those who were unable to enter the rest of the Promised Land were unable to enter because of unbelief.
And the same result is there today for those who are unable to enter heaven.
As the late theologian John MacArthur once stated:
“The greatest sin in the world is unbelief.”
John MacArthur
It is the grievous sin of unbelief that leads to eternal life in hell.
My friends, do not harden your heart as Israel did in their rebellion.
Do not hear the Word of the Lord and turn a deaf ear unto it.
Some of you may hear a teaching like this and be feeling guilty. You may have a list of things you are going to start doing for the Lord. Reading the Bible, praying, being more active in church, etc. These are not bad in and of themselves. I would love for you to do all of that. However, the biggest issue in many people’s lives is the issue of unbelief.
Be sure that you are truly in the faith first and foremost. If you don’t desire to go to church, read the Bible, pray, talk about the Lord, etc - it is more likely that you have a heart problem.
People with cancer often have something called cachexia. Anyone who has had cancer or been around with someone with cancer understands this dreadful condition.
It is a weight loss caused by a host of factors - but one of the biggest factors is the loss of one’s appetite. However, no one with cancer would say that their number one issue is their appetite. Of course not. Their number one problem is cancer!
In the same way, if you find yourself not having an appetite for the things of Christ - namely prayer, His Word, His Church, serving Him - you need to look beyond the symptoms.
It’s not your lack of appetite for the things of God that is your biggest problem - it is your heart!
It is a heart problem and a sin problem that keeps us from loving and desiring Christ. Repent, my friends. Be sure that you are in the faith.
If you are not, repent and place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. He has paid the penalty for your sin upon the cross. He died, rose from the dead three days later, and now is at the right hand of the Father ready to intercede on your behalf.
For those who are in Christ but still struggling a little with this idea: be sure that you are not working in your own strength. Our salvation is not secure because of our works. It is secure because of Jesus Christ. He is the one who holds us securely for eternity. Be sure that you are working in His strength. Allow Him to work in and through you. Allow Him to sustain you.
And if I might also add - be sure that you are plugged in to our community. It isn’t enough to just come every once in a while on Sunday mornings. You need to be plugged in and doing life with others in a local church. Hebrews 10:25 does not provide us with a suggestion to meet together - it commands us to do so.
Scripture References: John 14:15, Hebrews 10:25
Conclusion:
As we come to a close, we have had quite the message from the Lord this morning.
But what matters now is what is our response to this message?
You have heard - now be sure that you are not hardened.
Hold fast to Christ and heed His warning.
If you need to discuss what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, please chat with me after the service. I’d love to discuss this amazing good news with you.
And for those here who know they are in Christ - preach the Gospel to others. Spread the Good News. When others complain and grumble around you, show the joy of Christ. When others speak like the Israelite spies acting like God cannot come through, speak like Joshua and Caleb who understood the faithfulness and power of God.
May we be faithful unto the end. And may those who hear the Gospel preached, believe the Gospel.
