Sermon Tone Analysis

Recap of Hebrews 3:1-13

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

Then the Author Tells Us What the Holy Spirit Still Says to Us

Then He Quotes From Psalm 95, Where the Psalmist Reminds His Audience…

That the Children of Israel Hardened Their Hearts in Faithlessness…

And So God Would Not Allow Them to Enter His Rest in the Promised Land

The Holy Spirit Still Speaks that Message to the Hebrew’s Audience and Us Today

Instead of Having an Unbelieving Heart that Leads Us to Abandon Faith in Jesus…

We Should Encourage Each Other Every Day So That We Won’t Be Hardened or Deceived

Now We Will Finish Chapter 3, Beginning With Verse 14

Then We Will Move On to Chapter 4

Hebrews 3:14–19 (NASB95)

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 3:14 (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 Adds an “If”

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

This Word 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.

The Word Means the Basic Structure or Nature of Something

Jesus is a Perfect Representation of What/Who God is

Faith is the Basic Structure of Our Hopes

This Word Can Allude to the Determination that Produces the Endurance of a Soldier or Martyr

Not the Endurance Itself, But the Determination to Endure

So What Does That 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 Resolve/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

Hebrews 4:1-10

Hebrews 4:1–10 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.”

Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.

So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.

For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Hebrews 4:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

“Therefore” = “Since the Israelites Were Not Able to Enter into God’s Rest Because of Their Unbelief…”

Hebrews 4:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

“Let Us Fear”

The Author is Connecting His Audience to OT Israel

Their Unbelief Led Them Not Being Able to Enter God’s Rest