Hebrews 3:7-19 Jesus - Believe HIM

The transcript is a prayer and a discussion about the urgency of believing in Jesus. The author encourages the audience to not harden their hearts and to remember the consequences of not believing. The author also references Psalm 95 and emphasizes that it was written by the Holy Spirit. The urgency to believe is emphasized because no one knows when their time will end. Let me pray and we'll start. Father, again, we just come to Your presence. Lord, having been washed in the blood of the Lamb, having been declared righteous because of Your righteousness, recognizing there's not one thing we can do to ever earn or deserve Your grace, we're grateful for Your grace, Your mercy, Your salvation. We're grateful for this time tonight for Your Word. As we get into it tonight again, I pray that it would come alive, that it would find root in our heart, bear fruit in our lives, that it change the way we think and the way we live, and conform us to the image of Your Son for Your glory. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Okay, so we're going to look at Jesus, Believe Him. That's the title of the lesson. When I was, again, looking at all the different ways to approach this lesson, it's all negative in approach, so I said, well, I'm going to take the antithesis of that as the title. Because basically what you're going to see is what happens when you don't believe. Okay? And so that's why you should believe. So there's Jesus, Believe Him. And again, the context is the author is writing to Jews, and we're not exactly sure where they were, or really for sure what the context of their lives were. However, it appears from looking at the entire book, or the entire letter, that there were quite possibly three audiences, all probably wrapped up in one in terms of a church, or a geographical location, or what have you. It should be a synagogue, I guess, or the gathering of the saints. And so, you know, audience number one was the Jewish Christians. Audience number two were the Jews that had heard the Gospel, but had not yet acted on it. And audience number three was those that never heard. So you've got three different audiences. The one tonight, from all appearances, is focused on those that heard the Gospel, but have yet to act on it. And so that's the context of this part of Hebrews. I'm going to read this passage of Scripture out of Wiest, just again to kind of give you a flavor of what the Greek says in English. Wherefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if this voice you will hear, do not go on hardening your hearts. In other words, it is not like this is the first time that you've heard and not responded. He's saying, do not go on hardening your hearts. As in the rebellion, in the day of the putting to the test in the wilderness, when your fathers put me on trial, and when they put me to the test for the purpose of approving me, should I meet the test? In other words, they were testing God. Now, how does that make sense? Right? Show of hands. Who in here wants to test God? It's scary, isn't it? It's scary. But that's what the author's talking about here. Put me to the test for the purpose of approving me, should I meet the test and saw my works for 40 years? We're going to look at that. The context of this passage goes back to Exodus, as well as Psalms. So he's quoting a psalm here in a minute, and then that psalm refers back to a passage in Exodus, which we'll look at. So, anyway. Because of this, I was angry with this generation, and I said, always are they being led astray in their heart, and they themselves did not have an experiential knowledge of my past, in conformity with which fact I placed myself under oath in my anger. They shall not enter my rest. Take heed constantly, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a heart perniciously evil, with unbelief in standing aloof from the living God. But be constantly exhorting one another daily, so long as the aforementioned today is being announced, lest any of you be hardened through the stratagem of this sin. For we have become participators of Messiah, and as a present result are participators of Him, and that is shown if we hold the beginning of our assured expectation steadfast to the end. So while it's being said today, if this voice you will hear stop hardening your heart as in the rebellion. For who, having heard, rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt through the aid of Moses? With whom was he angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest, but to those who were non-persuasible? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Thus, you get the title of the lesson. Believe me. Sounds pretty sobering, right? Pretty sobering. So, first segment. Don't go astray. Know His ways. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me in the day of trial in the wilderness. So this refers again, as I said a second ago, this is quoting Psalm 95, 7-11. So let's read that. And somebody read that on your handout there. Just go ahead and start with verse 1. I thought we'd just read the whole Psalm. Psalm 95. Who wants to read? 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 Meribach, 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. Isn't that an interesting song? It starts off with, let's praise God for who He is. Let's acknowledge who He is. Let's give Him all the work He's due, declare all of His worth, worship Him. Bow down, kneel. He's God. But then all of a sudden you go into this segment, don't be like those in the past. So he's contrasting the psalmist. He's contrasting what we should be doing with what historically their ancestors, in this case, had done. And he's saying remember what they did and don't be like them. Okay? So now we need to see what they did. Alright. So, I got ahead of myself. I asked the question, who is identified as the author of Psalm 95? Let's look at it. This is Hebrews 3.7. Therefore, just as who? The Holy Spirit says. No question. Right here in terms of who is the author of Scripture. The Hebrews author right here says the Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture. Because what he's referring to, he's referring to Psalm 95. Who wrote Psalm 95? The Holy Spirit. Well, it was a human, right? Of some sort. It doesn't say here in what I've handed out which way it could have been David, it could have been Asaph, it could have been the sons of Korah. There's about a half a dozen different human authors in Psalm. Right? Ed, are you seeing who it is in your Bible? Ed, it doesn't show anybody. It doesn't show anybody. So we don't know for sure who it was. We do know it was a human that wrote it down. But who inspired the human to write it? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. So, I refer you to 2 Peter 1.21. If Ron was here, he'd quote it by memory. So someone in honor of Ron, quote it by memory. Someone read it then. For no prophecy was ever made by the act of a human will, but man moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Alright. So now, let's go back to the context of Hebrews. The other point the Hebrew author is doing, throughout the entire letter, he keeps referring back to Old Testament Scripture to establish his points. He does it again right here. He's going back to Psalm 95. But what he's doing here is he's saying I want you to understand, Psalm 95 wasn't written by whoever. It was written by God Himself. And what we know about Hebrews is that the Spirit of God has inspired this letter as well. Right? And we've got to understand, this is God talking here. This is God talking. Okay. An urgent warning is given. Whenever you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. Today indicates urgency. In other words, do it now. Right? So ask why the urgency? So let's have a conversation about today. What do we know about today? It's got how many hours? Twenty-four hours in a day. Right? Twenty-four hours. How many hours are you going to be alive and breathing? Who knows? Who knows? Somebody said, who knows? Who said that? There's the gold star answer right there. She gets it online. Way to go, Amy. Who knows? Who knows? Right? We don't know. It's a sobering thought, but we don't. So this urgency is why you've got the chance. You need to take advantage of it. While I was studying this, I read a little excerpt from one of the commentators that referred to D.L. Moody. When he was in Chicago, he was preacher at Moody Institute, he was at the church there in Chicago. He would preach, and invariably at the end of the sermon, he would say something to the effect of, now I want you to go home and think about this. And I want you to get before God and ask Him what you're to do with it. He preached that one time. He ended the service one time like that. That night was the Chicago fire. The Chicago fire. Right? I think it was 3,000 or somewhere in that range of souls perished in that fire. Totally changed the way he approached his sermons. From then on, when he preached, he says you don't know when your day is coming. So I'm not going to tell you to go home and think about it. I'm going to tell you the Spirit of God told you to do it now. Do it now. So that's today. It's urgent. That's what the author is saying. It's urgent that you do it now. It's a period of grace, and no one knows when that period will end. When a person will die. It's a period of grace. So if you hear his voice indicate the condition of when the urgency begins, in other words, the moment you know the truth of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, you have a decision to make. You never know how long you have to decide. Now, all of us can give testimony, I'm sure, about loved ones or friends who had deathbed conversions, basically. My grandfather on my mother's side had a deathbed conversion. The pastor that my mother and grandmother went to church under for years, when my grandfather was on his deathbed, he went in one more time and said to my grandfather, don't you want to get your soul right with God? And my grandfather looked at him and said, I do. And it was actually my great-uncle, who it was, his name was Herman, my great-uncle Herman, right then, presented the Gospel one more time, and my grandfather received Jesus as his Savior. And he was dead within a week. It happens, right? But it could have also happened when my grandfather could have died of a massive heart attack at any point in time and gone into eternity apart from God. That's what's so amazing to me about the power of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel is that someone could live a life, an ungodly life, and see at the very last moments that they live who Christ is and give their life to them minutes before they pass into eternity. That's the power of the truth of the Gospel. That's right. That's right. The comforting thing is, right, that God says in His Word, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, right? I don't want anyone to perish, He says. I want all to be saved. So you have a God that loves, a God that cares, and a God that wants to save. So when the Gospel is presented, you've got the opportunity to respond, and you need to take advantage of it when it comes. Because you don't know when the grace period will be over. The warning given about the decision to be made is do not harden your hearts. So what does that mean? Do not harden your hearts. I'm listening. Ignore. Okay. Tom said be receptive. That's good. I'll give you a gold star for that. That's a good start. Who else said something? Amy? Don't ignore Him. Don't ignore Him. Don't ignore Him, alright? That's a good answer. That's a good answer. When something is hardened, it's not receptive. It's not receptive. That's right. That's right. So here's the pattern, right? You remember the guy that was called Pharaoh, King of Egypt, or whatever his name was, right? You remember how it worked for him? He would say, okay, I'll let you go. Then he'd have a change of heart. Then he'd get whooped up again with another plague, and then he'd say, okay, I'll let you go. Then he'd have a change of heart. And he went on and on and on, right? Ten times. The tenth time he let him go, then he had another change of heart. And he went after him. Right? That's hardening your heart. That's hardening your heart. Because what are you doing? You're saying no to God. That's what you're doing. You're saying no to God. I wrote down here, to disregard your conscience about sin and say no to Jesus Christ. That's hardening your heart. Saying no to His offer of salvation. Saying no to His truth. Saying no to His will. It's becoming spiritually hard, stubborn, insensitive, and he gets to the point that ultimately the Gospel has no appeal. Now, you've heard me tell this story before, and I'll repeat it real quick. I had a boss one time. We sat down together because it was time for us to part ways. And he had been trying for six years to turn me into him in the way he lived. And I had told him early on in that six years that wasn't going to happen. So six years later, here we are. It's time to part ways. And I told him, I said, you know, if you need a manager that's going to manage like you, I'm not your guy. I won't tell you how he managed, but it wasn't Godly in any way, any way, form, right? It wasn't a Godly way to manage. I said, I'm not your guy. He looked at me and said, well, I'm worried about you. I said, don't worry about me. God's already got this. I said, He's already got this. I said, I can tell you, don't worry about me. And all of a sudden he looks at me and with tears in his eyes, he says, I wished I could be like you. I said, you can be. You can be. And he says, no, I can't. I've already made my decision. It turns out that in his family, in his family, there was a gospel singing quartet or a gospel singing family. In other words, he'd been exposed to the gospel all of his life and he had said no to the gospel all his life. His heart was hard and he still was not willing to turn. That's a hard heart. So, don't harden your heart, she says. So then we get a historical example. Israel in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. So let's just look at, let's just relive this event for a second. What has God already delivered, how has he delivered and cared for his people already, right? So we already talked about the ten plagues, right? We talked about, we talked about what's next. Moses takes the staff and raises it up. Oh, I got ahead of myself. No, what's next is a pillar of what? A pillar of cloud, right? That separates the camp of Egypt from the camp of Israel. Right? So there he protects. They couldn't go beyond that pillar of cloud. Now they've got their backs up against the Red Sea or the Reed Sea, whichever sea it is. And all of a sudden, what are we going to do now? Well, Moses, God says, Moses, hold your staff out. He holds the staff out. And what happens? Water, sea parts, and across they go on dry ground. They get to the other side and God does something that's really interesting. He lifts up that cloud and he allows the Egyptians to go following them into the sea. Did you understand this now? Right? This is God at work. And as soon as they all got down into the sea bed, Moses and the Israelites had finished crossing and the staff is removed and the water comes back and covers them up. And what a victorious deliverance that was. So much so, you have songs sung and dancing that takes place and there's a celebration that just is off the charts. It didn't take them long to forget. No, we talked about that last week. It was three days. Three days. It's amazing. Three days. Aren't you glad we're not like them? No, I'm... Here's the warning, right? So we see all that he does. He starts providing food for them. Right? Again, he's got fire by night and a cloud by day. His presence is there. He's providing for their needs. Manna comes, etc. Right? But over and over and over again, they go back to, did you bring us out here to die? Oh, I wish I was back in Egypt where the leeks were there in abundance. I thought, who wants to eat a leek? But man, they liked them. Right? I'm just saying. You know? So, what you get is a puzzling thing, but yet it's going to be explained here as we read Exodus 17, 1-7. So this is where this psalm comes from. This is where Hebrews comes from, ultimately. Exodus 17, 1-7. Claire? He sent all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeying by stages from the wilderness of sin according to the command of the Lord and camped at Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord? But the people thirsted there for water and they grumbled against Moses and said, Why now have you brought us from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? So Moses cried out to the Lord saying, What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me. Then the Lord says to Moses, Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the mile and go. Behold, I will stand before you and there on the rock in Horeb and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it and the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He named the place Mathah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel and because they tested the Lord saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Wow. So I ask the question here. How have they tested and tried God's patience? Well, first of all, what do they do? They exhibit a lack of what? Faith. Lack of faith. Lack of faith. Which is puzzling again. When you watch what He's already done and yet, all of a sudden, no faith. Right? Okay. What else do they do? They... starts with a G. It's in here. They grumbled. They grumbled. Yeah. They grumbled. You know, God has a way of testing to see where you are too, doesn't He? Oh, now you're getting personal. I'm just saying, right? He has a way of testing to see where you are. And my opinion, and this is my opinion at this point, but my opinion, that's what He's doing here. He's testing to see, are you guys going to have faith or not? Right? Well, when you get tested, you can either do one of two things, right? You can do what James says to do, which is what? Count it all what? Joy. Or you can do what they did, and you can... Grumble and whine. Grumble and whine. It's really one of the two. Either you're going to count it joy, or you're going to grumble and whine. So far, they're not passing the test. Right? So, they grumbled. They were not trusting God for water in faith, but they were demanding water from God as their due. And in essence, they turned the tables, and they said, you know what? This is not a test for us. It's a test for you. Are you God or not? I said, what ludicrous question do they ask that reveals their unbelief? Is the Lord among us or not? Wow! Wow! That's a scary place to be, guys. Is the Lord among us or not? David, do we do that sometimes? Sure, we can. When we say, why did God allow this friend of mine to be in this car wreck and die? Or, why did God allow my child to have cancer? It's when we quit looking at who God is and start talking about what we want, that we get in trouble. When I quit looking at work, I mean, this is a simple man's explanation, but when I look at work, when it doesn't always go my way, and I'm thinking, wow, I don't understand why I'm having such a difficult time. I'm tithing, I'm teaching, I'm directing, I'm a deacon, I take care of my widows, I'm naming these things all off, but I forget that what God is trying to do is teach me and grow me. And that He didn't promise that life would be easy and go our way, but He promised. I mean, see, I hate this class and love it at the same time, but what it does is it reminds me that I can be just like them until we stop. When we stop and look and count our blessings, we can see all that God has done for us, and then we get the correct attitude and we say, I don't have anything to grumble about after all that God has done for me. When I see this story of Israel and the way they do it, I think, you know, after they saw the ocean open up, how could they not trust them? And then I say, look at all the things I've seen God do in my life, and I do the same thing. You can. You can. Yeah. So, now back to your question, and we're going to answer it. Why does unbelief refuse to accept the most overwhelming evidence? It's a very simple answer. Anybody want to take a guess? Why does unbelief refuse to accept the most overwhelming evidence? Sin, lies from the enemy. Sin, lies from the enemy. Good. Good. We take our eyes off Him and put our eyes on ourselves. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Pride. Pride. Yeah. Pride. Really, pride is at the root of... It's a B word. Yeah. It's a B word. Pride is at the root of it all. It sure is. But it's real simple. It doesn't want to believe. It's that simple. It doesn't want to believe. A hard heart. A hard heart. Exactly. Amy, you're on a roll tonight. It doesn't want to believe. Back to my example of my boss. He didn't want to believe. He knew the truth. He didn't want to accept it. Why? Because he knew if he accepted it, his life had to change. And he didn't want to change. And at the root of that is the P word. Pride. Pride. Pride. That was true of Pharaoh. Right? That was true of the Israelites. God had brought them miraculously out of Egypt to be His people. And they looked at Him and said, Well, we're trying to decide whether or not we want You to be our God. Wow! But that's what they're doing. Prove to us that You're worthy of being our God. That's what they're saying. Wow! So Jesus actually spoke about this. Look at Luke 16.31. Who hasn't read yet? No? But He said to him, If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Some things never change. Yeah. Right? Now, you remember the context of that was the story about Lazarus and the rich man, right? The rich man Lazarus. And remember the rich man dies and goes to wherever he went. This great gulf is between him and God. Lazarus dies and goes and is in the bosom of Abraham, right? And the rich man cries out and says, Send Lazarus over here to cool my tongue because I'm tormented in this flame. Right? I don't know. We can't cross that divide. That divide is permanent and it's eternal and it's large. You can't get across it now. Well, at least send him back to warn my brothers. That's what He says. And Jesus says, well, I'll tell you what. Even if one was to rise from the dead, they still wouldn't believe. Why? Because their heart was hardened. They had already made up their mind that they didn't want to believe. So, think about when Jesus says that, the context in which that is said, right? He's speaking in front of His disciples. He's speaking in front of Pharisees, right? And followers and enemies. He's speaking in front of a lot of people. And they don't know at this point in time, but guess what He's about to do? Rise from the dead. Right? He's about to rise from the dead. And sure enough, He rises from the dead. And guess what happens? They don't believe. I'm reminded of when Paul goes to Athens. You all remember what happens in Athens? Yeah, you probably do. He goes to Athens and he starts preaching. He starts talking, presenting an argument. And what got some of the Athenians' attention was when he said that Jesus rose from the dead. And so some of them actually responded to that and believed. But most of them said, yeah, right. Rise from the dead, ha. And they turned away from Him and walked away. Because they didn't want to believe. So, Jesus said, it doesn't matter how overwhelming the evidence is, if someone has said in his heart, I am choosing not to believe, he will not believe. End of story. So, let's see what God's response to unbelief is. He says, therefore I was angry, they shall not enter my rest. Angry means incensed. In essence, God loathed them. You want to know how God views people who thumb their nose at Him and turn their back on Him and walk away from Him after He has extended His grace? Right? Once they get to that point to where there's no chance of them returning, He just loathes them. Why? Because they always went astray in their hearts. So I ask the question, how do you keep from going astray? There's a song, an old hymn that we've sung for those of us that have been in Baptist churches for a long time that comes to mind. When you walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, right? And all His glory is shed on the way. When you do His good will, He abides with you still and with all who will what? Trust and obey. There's no way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Trust and obey. That's how you keep from going astray. You trust and you obey. I have another song in mind. Go ahead, Amy. It's the Closer Walk With Thee. Yeah. Where it's, if you please, daily walking next to Thee. I think that's how it goes. Yeah. Like daily. A daily walk. Yeah. Let it be, O Lord, let it be. Yeah. Yeah, let it be. Absolutely. That's good. I like that. That's how you keep from going astray. And they didn't know His ways. So how do you know His ways? There's only one way to know His ways. Say it again. Know Him. Know Him. What did you say? The Word. The Word. There's the gold star answer. It's the Word. I was teaching Sunday. And we were talking about how important it is that you have time alone with God and in His Word. Terry had gotten up before me. Can I tell this part of it, please? Or do you want to tell it? Okay. Okay. I didn't ask for permission, so I don't want to get in trouble. Okay. Alright. Okay. Get this. So we're in a bunch of young couples. We're teaching Sunday. Young couples. And here's Grandma up here. Okay. You didn't have to go there. Well, they know it. That's a term of endearment. We're grandpas. You're grandmas. It's all okay. They know it. They know it. They look at her as mom. They look at her as mom. So she gets up there. She has provided a whole list of resources for them. I wasn't in trouble. I got myself there. Okay. Alright. A whole list of resources. I mean, I mean, I'm talking lists. Three pages front and back. You know, double spaced. Here's this book, that book, the other book, podcasts, you know, sermons, whatever. Just one resource after another, after another, after another. She's providing this. Saying, here, this will be helpful to you. But then she says, but. She says, if you only have 15 minutes that you can carve out for yourself, read his word. Read his word. So I piggybacked on that real quick when I got up. I said, let me tell you what. And I didn't have this when I had my big, my big old New American that's well worn. I held it. I said, you know what I've learned? I've learned that the more I get in here, the more I know and understand who he really is. And the more I know and understand who I really am. And the more I know I ain't got what it takes. And when you get to that point, right? Now you want to hear what he has to say. Because you know you ain't got what it takes. Right? I can't get enough of it. That's how you keep from going astray. And that's how you know his ways. You read and act on his word. It's not good enough just to read it. You got to act on it. Whatever he says to do, you got to do. They shall not enter my rest. Here's what, here's how God responded to the unbelief. He was angry. And he said, they're not going to enter my rest. Now, in the context of the Israelites coming out of Egypt, the rest was going to be where? Where was God taking them to? From Egypt to where? The Promised Land. The Promised Land. They were going to the Promised Land. And when they got to the Promised Land, God was going to establish his people there and they were going to be at rest. Their toil, their toil, remember, 400 years of slavery. Right? 400 years of being under the thumb of Egypt. 200 of it, the last 200 of it was really, was really very strenuous on them. Very oppressive. And God's bringing them out of that toil and that trouble and he's going to put them into the Promised Land and they're going to experience rest. Rest from their enemies, rest from their toil, rest from their trouble, and rest in his provision. Rest in him. That's where they were headed. And their hard-hearted unbelief causes God to say, no, you're not going in. You forfeit. You forfeit. Wow. They shall not enter my rest. They were not allowed to experience the blessing of God's fulfillment of his promise to his people. The Promised Land. Rest from the wanderings. So ask the question. Again, you get in front of the mirror, you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night, and just ask this question. Is my heart hardened to what God has to say? Or am I receptive? What evidence is there in my life to support this position? We better answer that today, shouldn't we? You better answer that today. Good point, Ed. Good point. Well said. Matter of fact, let's do it before we go to sleep. How's that? Soon as you get home. Actually, while you're driving. Oh, my. Good point. Alright, so don't go astray in those ways. Don't fall away. Hold fast every day. 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's still called the day, 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. So he makes an appeal to not follow the example of the Israelites and the wilderness. They rejected God's word delivered by Moses. Right? So whose word were the readers of the letter of the Hebrews warned not to reject? It's not that word. It's the living word. God's word in Christ. The living word. So what happens when you have an evil, unbelieving heart? It says right there, take heed. Right? It says you will not what? Fall away. Fall away. You fall away. You fall away from the living God. You've heard the Gospel and said no to Christ. It's turning away from life itself. Do you understand that? When the person says no, he's saying no to life. He's saying no to life. Jesus said what? I am the way, the truth, and what? The life. You're saying no to life when you say no to God and walk away. Wow. Instructions are given to help each other as long as the opportunity still exists. Back to today, Ed. A believer helping a non-believer to become a believer. So what has to be overcome in order for this to happen? You see that at the end of verse 13. Be hardened by what? The deceitfulness of sin. What does sin always do? What does the deceiver tell you about God's Word in Christ? It's not true. He always lies. He's a deceiver, right? It's not true. He may say to delay. He may say to delay. Yeah, yeah. You still got tomorrow to worry. You can think about that tomorrow. It will be better to do it your way. It will be better to do it your way. It's no fun. Yeah, oh yeah. It is no fun. And by the way, what a lie. Right? I've experienced more joy and fellowship among believers than I could ever have in the world. What a lie. We have fun. Some of us actually play that pickleball thing. That's not me. The guy in the green shirt over here. I mean, you know what I'm saying? We have fun. We enjoy life together. What a lie. You don't have fun as a believer. Really? Come hang out with me a while. I'm not no funny duck. I mean, it looks like that, but I'm not. I'm not. I can have fun. What else did he say? How else does he lie to you? How about this? You're not that bad. You know, you're doing just fine. There's all the do's and don'ts. If you're a Christian, you can't do this. You can't do that. You can't do this. The do's and don'ts, yeah. Not all that you gain. He never tells you the truth. He gives you all the what-ifs, but not the what-is. That's right. That's right. Anything else? I was thinking of the mental gymnastics that goes into the reinterpretation of Scripture to say that homosexual activity is okay. Yeah. That's absolutely from the devil. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's been his method since the beginning, right? Does God really say that? Is that really what he said? Are you sure? Did God say you should not eat of that? Yeah. Did God really say that it's one man, one woman? Is that what he said? Well, yeah, he did. Is that what he meant, though? I've heard a lot of people also say, I can't help myself. That's another lie. Another lie, yeah. I know someone that's heartbreaking. He said, I asked God to take me out, to deliver me from that. He never took away the desire. The problem was he was living in it. How is he going to take away the desire if you choose to live there anyway? Right? If you want out, you've got to get out. And ask God to help you stay out. What a lie, right? What a deceiver. Carol, are you supposed to say something? Did I see your hand up? I think that the enemy, he always says, and God not saying, doubt. Doubt is a big thing. That's right. He did not eat of that tree, but Jesus has not. And I'm thinking every temptation may come from doubt. That's right. That's right. That's good. Doubt. Should I say everybody else does it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. How can it be wrong? How can it be wrong if everybody else does it? That's right, Tom. Or you can say there's no good choice, so you make a bad choice. I think we do that too. Absolutely. There's no way I could be perfect. Why should I try? There you go. I didn't hear what you said. I said there's no way I could be perfect. Why should I even try? Oh, boy, yeah. Yeah. Give you an easy out. Yeah. Yeah. So, sin nature and the devil, they convince you that sin is not as bad. To trust Christ is not as important as the Bible says it is. Becoming a Christian seems too costly, demanding, restrictive, drab, unexciting, and unnecessary. I'm not that bad in the way I live. That's a summary statement, right? What does God declare about overcoming sin? Let's see what Hebrews 10.38-39 says. Hebrews 10.38-39. Who has not read? Chris, you haven't read. You just got here. 10.38-39? Yes, sir. And, but my righteous one will live by faith, and I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. So what does God declare about overcoming sin? It takes what? Starts with an F. Faith. It takes faith. What is faith? What is faith? Trusting when we cannot see. That's right. Trusting when we cannot see. Yeah. Anybody want to add to that? It's a scripture. It says, Faith cometh by hearing, not having heard, but faith cometh by hearing and hearing. By the Word of God. Right. So, Ron Proctor's definition of faith is faith is choosing to live as though the Bible is true regardless of circumstances, emotions, or cultural trends. It doesn't matter how you feel, or what others say, or what your circumstances are. You're going to live according to what God says. That's faith. And when we get to Hebrews 11 in a couple of years, as slow as we're crawling through Hebrews, when we get to Hebrews 11 in a couple of years, we see the faith hall of fame, right? And that's what you see over and over and over. Guys who were given instructions by God, who acted on them even when it didn't make sense, but they trusted that God would come through and fulfill His Word. So, faith. Ron Baptiste. Janice O'Donoghue. Ron Proctor? Uh-huh. Ron Proctor. Okay. Yeah. Ron's a great guy. He's a great guy. So, it takes faith. Believing in the Gospel, and trusting in Christ alone and His death on the cross, taking my place and experiencing God's wrath for me and God's judgment against my sin on my behalf. He took my place. That's the Gospel, right? So, evidence that true salvation exists is defined. What is that evidence? Well, let's see. John 8, 31. Okay. So, one is evidence that you are His is that you continue in His Word. You continue in His Word. Up there in verse 14 it says, Hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. How do you do that? Well, number one is you continue in His Word. Number two, look at 1 John 2, 19. This tells you what it looks like if they don't. Tom? They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out, so that it would be shown that they are all or none of us. So, this was the context of the second letter of John. No, first letter of John. That's right. But anyway, the context is that John is writing a letter to the church and he is saying that there was people causing problems in the church. They were trying to get them to believe a doctrine that wasn't true. Trying to change the way they believed. And so, when they didn't get a response, they left. And what John is saying, well, the reason they left is because they weren't of us to begin with. If they were truly of us, they would have stayed with us. But they weren't, so they left from us. What the Hebrew author is saying here, if you hold fast, that word hold fast, what do you think hold fast means? You take a hold of it and you don't let go. Right? You take a hold of it and you don't let go. If you take hold of this and you don't let go, now that means you don't let go no matter what comes. Right? Because it's going to come. You're going to have the boss that tells you early on in your career with this guy, I'm going to turn you into me. It's going to come. You're going to have the challenges of circumstances that really stretch you. It's going to come. It's going to come when the culture turns against you because of your belief. Guess what? That's here and it's going to get worse. It's going to come. And so what the author is saying is hold fast. Hold fast. Do not let go. If that's you, then you're part of us. That's what he's saying. Hold fast. Isn't another one of Satan's deceptions that someone is saved when they're not? Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Back to my lessons on Sunday. It was out of the Matthew and Luke passages, Sermon on the Mount or Sermon on the Plain, depending on which book you're looking at, right? But in both sermons, or they might be the same, we're not sure, but you talk about the man who built his house up on the what? The rock, right? On the rock. But what did Jesus say that preceded that? He says, the man who hears these words of mine and does them. Hears these words of mine and does them. In Matthew it says he's a wise man. He's a wise man. Well, when you get the tail end of those two passages, but the man who hears these words of mine and doesn't do them, he's what? The fool. He's the fool. Well, I wrote down in my little handout, I said, here, let's get real now for a second, right? Profession, back to your point, Tom, profession plus disobedience equals hypocrite. Equals what? Hypocrite. Yeah. That's to say one thing and do another. Talking the talk but not walking the walk. Exactly. That's hypocrite. But profession, with a mouth, plus obedience, that's a wise man. That's a wise man. So, the evidence that true salvation exists is when you profess and you obey. No matter what comes, you hold on. You continue in Jesus' words. Maybe it's nothing, but why don't you stay as long as it's called today? Oh, well, you weren't here for that part of the discussion. Let's go ahead and educate him. I want to educate him what today means. No, I'm sorry. Okay, never mind. I can go back. No, no, no. It's okay. It's a great question. It's urgent. Don't wait. It's urgent. It's urgent. Don't wait. Yeah. Let me ask you this. Do you know for sure how long your today is? I guarantee the next one. There you go. So, as long as it's called today, you're still drawing breath, right? It's still called today for you. Okay. But you don't know when that day's going to come to an end. Okay. Right? So, as long as you've got the opportunity, you better take advantage of it. Okay. Because you don't know for sure when that opportunity's going to be gone. It's urgent. Yeah, it's urgent. It's a great question. I'm glad you got to revisit that. Okay. Those who don't remain in the faith never had it to begin with. And we've seen people fall away. I don't know about you guys. I've seen people fall away in this church. I've watched it happen. Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. Tears families apart when it happens. It's just heartbreaking. I think John said one time his father was saved while he was pastored. Oh, yeah. Maybe so. I don't remember him saying that, but it could be. It could be, yeah. Well, okay. So the reflection question today, when you get in front of the mirror, what is the evidence in my life that proves I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, have received a salvation, and I'm committed to living for Him? So, again, these are your own reflection questions. You answer them to yourself. You allow God to speak to you through this and show you what, if anything, needs to be done. So don't go astray in all His ways. Don't fall away. Hold fast every day. And don't disobey. Believe today. Don't disobey. Believe today. Well, I said today. Again, today, if you hear His voice. And, by the way, Chris, this goes back to He's quoting a psalm which also refers back to Exodus. Okay? So today, if you hear His voice... I heard it say three times down. Okay. Well, yeah. That's the emphasis of the passage, isn't it? Sure is. 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 He is angry for 40 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 are disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, that believe today, right? The writer repeats his appeal to the unbelieving Jews to respond to the Gospel with a believing heart. He cites again God's response to unbelief, which includes, one, He's provoked, irritated. That same word that we said a minute ago, He loathes when He displays His glory, power, character, purpose, love, grace, mercy, deliverance, provision, yet still people choose to reject Him and not believe He can deliver on what He has promised. He's provoked. Oh, He's angry with, He loathes. There's the loathes. Sorry, I've got to help myself. He loathes those who sin by unbelief. And He punishes those who choose to disobey. Now, I said in that little quotation, and I want to see how many of you guys can figure out what I'm talking about. He said go, and they said no. What am I talking about? The Exodus. But what part of the Exodus? When they were going to enter the Promised Land. Some of them had settled and liked where they were and said there's water, there's good farmland. I'm staying here, this is good. Well, going back before that, they sent the scouts. Right? He sends out the scouts. Well, here's what's interesting there. What's interesting there is 12 of them are sent out. One free stripe. And 10 of them come back and say, man, the giants are too big for us. Again, you scratch your head, right? This is the same guy. The giants are too big for us. God can parse a sea, but the giants are too big. I'm just saying. You look at it, and you go, what? You scratch your head. What? It became normal. The manna and the big became normal, I guess. That's part of it. But what we're talking about here is an unbelieving heart. A heart that chose not to believe. In essence, they really didn't want to go in. For whatever reason, they didn't trust what was going to happen once they went in. Going back to Hebrews 11, if we ever get there. Right? Remember in that chapter 11 of Hebrews, he talks about Abram. And Abram went to a country, right? Not knowing where he was going. Why? Because he was seeking a country that was not of this world. All he knew was his God had a purpose in it, and ultimately that purpose was for him to be eternally with Him. And that's what he was looking for. It didn't matter what the country was here on the earth. Because the country in heaven is what he was looking for. Amazing. Amazing. So, yeah. He said go. They said no. Even in the scouts, right? Ten said no. And two said, let's go. And one of them said, give me the mountain. Do you remember that? He said, give me the mountain. That's what you call faith. Give me the mountain. I love that. Caleb says, 85 years of age, give me that mountain. The one you said I could have. I want it. I want it. I'm going to get it. Let's go. Give me the mountain. Man, that's faith. Give me the mountain. He punishes those who choose to disobey by refusing them entrance into the promised land and they forfeit. They forfeit the blessing of being at rest. I don't know about you guys, but when the day comes that I breathe my last here on this earth, I'm going to experience rest like I've never experienced it before. And I will have it eternally. No more anxiety. No more fear. No more sorrow. No more sadness. No more tears. No more sickness and disease. No more death. Right? Eternally at rest in Him. Who wants to go? You're saying, give me the mountain. Give me the mountain. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in. Right? Right? Man. So, the blessing of being at rest. Again, let's go back to what causes the disobedience. Jude 5 speaks to that. Our last little verse that I've handed out here. Kim, why don't you read that? Now, I desire to remind you, though you know all things once and for all, that the Lord, after saving the people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. Hmm. What causes disobedience? Disbelief. Unbelief. Unbelief. What is required to experience the great blessings God has prepared and desires to pour out on every person, both in this life and for all of eternity? It's not unbelief. It's belief. Faith. Do I live a life of faith in God? Does my faith waver at times and need to be strengthened? Sure. If so, what do I need to do to be more consistent in living a life of faith in God? In other words, when my faith wavers... Remember the passage of Scripture where the man comes to Jesus and says, will you heal my son? I think it was. He said, well, I can't if you believe. And he says, I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief. Right? He was honest. Right? Help my unbelief. Well, listen. God helps your unbelief. He strengthens you in your belief. If you're asking Him to help you with it, He'll do that. Man, but a life of faith. A life of faith is taking His Word and saying I'm going to know what it says and I'm going to do what it says because I know it's what's best. And in that, I'm in His rest. Amen. That's right. Right. Okay. Any other thoughts before we call it a day? A question on the first page. How do you know the place? Yes. Reading His Word. Yes. Romans 12 too. One verse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's right. Then you'll be able to test and prove what God's will is. His good, perfect, and pleasing will. That's right. Good Word. Reading His Word will transform us. That's right. And you've heard me say this too, but the way Phillips translates that in his little translations is don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. David, God is not afraid for you to come on your knees and say, I'm afraid, I don't understand, I'm having trouble trusting you. To me, I believe we're most powerful on our knees. Well, first of all, we're honest with God. That's right. When you come to God, right? Hebrews 11.6, right? The fact that you came to God and you believe that He is, right? He who comes to God must believe that He is, number one, God. He loves us when we do that. We don't have it within ourselves. We have to do it on our own. I've tried many times, complete failure. That's right. When you trust the Lord, even in your weakest point, if you're on your knees saying, God, I am having a terrible time living for You with all that's going around, whatever it is, in your life. And that is the place He wants you. Because He can do something with you when you're willing to trust Him. That's right. It's called humility. When you go to Him with a full understanding that you haven't got it, right? And you know He does, otherwise you wouldn't be going to Him. You're believing that's who He is. It's okay to be that way. That's right. Absolutely. He wants you humble. He wants you dependent. He wants you looking to Him and asking Him. I heard a sermon today by Osterbeck. And one of the things he said, he quoted another person, I can't remember who he quoted, but anyway, he said, prayer is, and I'm going to get this wrong, but the essence of it is this. Prayer is asking God to do what He has been waiting for you to ask Him to do. Not my will, but Thine. Yeah. But that's what it is. Asking Him to do what, number one, only He can do, and number two, He's been waiting for you to ask. Waiting for you to ask. And then we need to do that. Right? Let's do it. Alright. Anything else? Are we going to get out early? Alright. Let me pray this out. Father, just thank You again for Your Word. Lord, help us to take this lesson to heart. To focus on the fact that today is important. Lord, there's an urgency. I'm grateful that everyone was in earshot of what I'm saying right here. I know that I'm sure that they already have an eternal relationship with You through Jesus Christ, the Savior. But Lord, even then, it's a challenge to walk by faith and not by sight. Help us, Lord. Help us to pray, to come to You, to lean on You, to rely on You, to trust You. Help us to get into Your Word such that Your Word gets into us and we live it. Lord, continue the process of conforming us to the image of Your Son. For Your glory, I pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.