Hebrews 3:7-19

Recap

Last Week (3:1-6), We Saw How the Audience (Holy Siblings and Partners in a Heavenly Invitation and Responsibility)…

Were Told to Consider (Think Carefully About) Jesus, Our Apostle and High Priest

Jesus was an Apostle Sent From God to Humans to Represent God and Deliver His Message

And He Went Back to God to Represent Humans and Make Atonement for Us

Moses Held a Similar Position as a Mediator Between God and Israel

He Played the Role of an Apostle and the Role of a High Priest

And He was Faithful in That Role, Just Like Jesus

But Jesus Deserves More Honor Than Moses

Moses was a Part of the House of God (Israel)

But Jesus is the Builder of the House of God (Church)

We Can Remain a Part of that House if We Hold On Dearly to Our Confession of Faith and Hope in Jesus

That Leads Us to:

Hebrews 3:7-11

After the Author Calls Upon His Audience to Consider Jesus…

And Hold Firmly Onto Their Confession of Faith & Hope…

He is Now Going to Warn Them

The People of Israel Hardened Their Hearts Against Moses and God

And They Were Punished for it

The Point is:

If These Hebrew Christians Harden Their Hearts Against Jesus and God

They Will Be Punished Too

Hebrews 3:7–11 (NASB95)

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years.

“Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’; As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Hebrews 3:7 (NASB95)

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice,

Keeping What We Just Talked About in Mind…

Just as the Holy Spirit “Says” (Present Tense)

The Author is About to Quote From the OT

But He Says the Holy Spirit is Still Saying These Words Today

The Bible is Not Just a Book That “Said” Things

It is a Book that Still Says Things

The Spirit is Still Speaking to Us Through the Scriptures

What is the Spirit Still Saying?

Hebrews 3:7 (NASB95)

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice,

The Author is Quoting From Psalm 95

Psalm 95 (NASB95)

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

This Psalm Begins as a Psalm of Praise

But Then it Turns into a Warning

It is Reminding Us of When the Children of Israel Hardened Their Hearts Against God in the Wilderness

After the 10 Plagues and Crossing the Red Sea…

Israel Began Complaining and Distrusting Moses and God Because of the Lack of Water

And Later They Distrusted God When 10 Out of the 12 Spies Doubted They Could Enter the Promised Land

The Psalmist is Saying, in His Day, “Listen to God Today!”

“Our Ancestors Didn’t Listen to and Trust God, But You, Today, Listen and Trust Him!”

To Harden One’s Heart Against God is to Distrust or Question His Goodness and Faithfulness…

Even Though You Have Experienced His Goodness and Faithfulness First-Hand in the Past

Hebrews 3:7–9 (NASB95)

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years.

The Author of Hebrews is Making the Very Same Point as the Psalmist With the Psalmists Own Words

“Today, Listen to God and Don’t Harden Your Hearts Against Him!”

“You Have Experienced His Goodness and Faithfulness Through the Apostle and High Priest, Jesus.”

“Don’t Test God as Israel Did By Distrusting and Questioning Jesus…

Just Because Things Aren’t Going Exactly as You’d Like for Them to Right Now.”

Hebrews 3:10–11 (NASB95)

“Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they did not know My ways’; As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

God was Angry With the Wandering Israelites Because of Their Hardness of Heart

And He Swore They Wouldn’t Enter His Rest

To Them This Meant They Wouldn’t Be Allowed to Enter the Promised Land of Milk and Honey

But When the Hebrews Author Directs This Toward His Hebrew Christians Audience…

He is Referring to God’s Ultimate Rest He Has Planned for Us

When Jesus Returns, Those Who Harden Their Hearts Against Jesus…

Will Not Enter into the New Promised Land of Rest

Now the Hebrews Author is Going to Explain This to Us Himself

Hebrews 3:12–19 (NASB95)

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 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 not able to enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12 (NASB95)

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

The Author Commands the Audience of His Siblings in Christ to “Take Care”

“Take Care” = Look, Watch Out

They Were to Watch Out So That Their Hearts Don’t “Become” (Future Tense) Evil and Unbelieving

Literally - “A Wicked Heart of Faithlessness”

A Heart that Refuses to Trust and Obey God is a Wicked/Evil Heart

This is the Type of Heart that “Falls Away From the Living God”

“Falling Away” Sounds More Like Something that Happens to You, Instead of Something You Do

But to “Fall Away” = To Depart, Abandon, Distance Oneself

The Author Commands His Audience:

To Watch Out So That Their Hearts Don’t Become Wicked, Faithless, and Cause Them to Abandon the Living God

To Abandon/Turn Away From Jesus Wasn’t Just…

Turning Away From a New Law or Code of Conduct

Or Rebelling Against a Set of Policies or Procedures

It was Breaking Off a Relationship With a Living and Loving God

It was Forsaking a God Who Would Sacrifice His Own Son in Order to Adopt You

It was Breaking the Heart of a Loving Brother Gave His Life for You

And Who Sits in Heaven to Intercede for You

Hebrews 3:13 (NASB95)

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Instead of Allowing Your Heart to Abandon God By Becoming Evil and Faithless…

What are We to Do?

Encourage One Another

Encourage = To Strongly Urge Someone to Action

How Often are We to Strongly Encourage Each Other to Action?

Day After Day

Every Day that is Called “Today”

Notice it Doesn’t Say Every Sunday and Wednesday

We as the Church Have to Start Getting in Each Other’s Lives More

Because Only When We are Spending More Time Together…

Can We Encourage One Another Properly

In What Ways Can We Encourage One Another Daily?

Study Groups

Spiritual Conversations (In Person, Phone Calls, Text Messages)

Sharing Meals (In Home, at Restaurants)

Writing Cards

Social Media (Share Uplifting, Faith Building, Loving Things)

Our Ladies Have Started Doing More Things Together

I Would Love to See Our Men Start Doing More Things Together

The Church Ought to Be a Group of People that Form Strong Relational Bonds Together

What is the Purpose of Encouraging One Another Day After Day?

“So that None Will Be Hardened By the Deceitfulness of Sin”

Whenever We Aren’t Constantly Encouraging One Another…

Our Hearts Will Become Hardened

Sin is Deceptive

The Devil Lures Us in With Half-Truths and Things that Look Harmless and Attractive

Without Constant Encouragement From Other Christ-Followers…

We Will Eventually Fall Prey to the Devil’s Deceptive Ways

And We Will Become Hardened and Abandon the Truth of God for the Lie of Sin

Here’s a Quote About the Deceitfulness of Sin From One of Charles Spurgeon’s Tabernacle Sermons:

If sin comes to us as sin, we are swift to hate it, and strong to repel it, by the grace of God. When we are walking with God, we only need to know that an action is forbidden, and straightway we avoid it; we shun the evil thing when it is plainly evil. But sin puts on another dress, and comes to us speaking a language which is not its own; and so, even those who would avoid sin as sin, may, by degrees, be tempted to evil, and deluded into wrong.

Sin Says, “It’s Not that Bad.”

But It’s Always Worse than Imagined

Sin Says, “It’s Just This Once.”

But Rarely is a Sin Ever Committed Just Once

Sin Says, “It’s Not Going to Hurt Anyone.”

But Sin Always Hurts Someone

Sin Says, “I Can Always Reconcile With God Later.”

But So Often, Later Never Comes

We Have to Be Encouraging Each Other Everyday in Order to Not Be Hardened By the Deceitfulness of Sin

Hebrews 3:14 (NASB95)

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

The Author Uses the Same Word that He Used in Verse 1

We are Partakers/Partners/Sharers of Christ

But This Time He Add an “If”

We are Sharers of Christ if We Hold Firmly to Our “Assurance”

This is a Different Word Than “Confidence” in Verse 6

It is Used 2 Other Times in Hebrews

Hebrews 1:3 (NASB95)

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB95)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 1:3 is Referring to How Jesus is the Exact Representation of God

Jesus is a Physical, Tangible Being Who Represents a Spiritual, Intangible God

Hebrews 11:1 is an Amazing Definition of Faith

Faith is Recognizing the Reality of Our Hope and Proof of What We Can’t See

So What Does This Tell Us About Hebrews 3:14?

Hebrews 3:14 (NASB95)

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,

It’s a Firm Underlying Belief in the Truth/Reality

We are Sharers of Christ if We Hold On Tight to the Deep-Seated Belief that We Had at the Beginning of Our Faith

These Hebrew Christians’ Faith Used to Be Firm, Strong, and Confident

But it was Starting to Fade Away

If They Wanted to Remain Sharers of Christ, They Would Need to Hold On Tight to it Until the End

Hebrews 3:15–16 (NASB95)

while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

The Author Again Shifts Our Focus to the Israelites in the Wilderness

Then He Asks a Series of Rhetorical Questions Intended to Be a Lesson to His Audience

Who Provoked God? - The Israelites

And Were They Not Led By Moses Out of Egyptian Slavery?

The Point the Author is Making is:

Those Israelites Were Delivered By God Through His Apostle, Moses

These Israelites Who Benefited From God and Moses Had No Excuse to Disbelieve and Rebel Against Them

These Hebrew Christians Who Have Been Saved By the Sacrifice of God’s Apostle, Jesus…

Have No Excuse to Disbelieve and Rebel Against Them

Hebrews 3:17–18 (NASB95)

And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

God was Angry With This Generation of Israelites Because of Their Rebellion and Faithlessness

And Because of His Anger Against Their Faithlessness, They Died

If These Hebrew Christians Walk the Same Path of Faithlessness and Rebellion as the Israelites…

They Will Receive the Same Reward, Death

They Will Not Be Permitted to Enter into God’s Eternal Rest

Hebrews 3:19 (NASB95)

So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.

What was it Ultimately that Lead the Israelites to Not Enter into God’s Rest?

Unbelief

They Didn’t Trust in God’s Promises or His Apostle

The Same Will Be True for These Hebrew Christians if They Continue Down the Road of Unbelief/Faithlessness in God’s Promises