Paul's Epistles – Hebrews – Part 5:
Warning Against Unbelief
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
SERMON INTRODUCTION
The “official” writer of this epistle is
unknown. However, I obviously believe it is Paul since I have included it in
the “Paul’s Epistles” Sermon Series.
I believe there is enough evidence from
early scholars to agree this was more than likely Paul’s work.
Last week we examined Paul’s writings on
Jesus, the Son being Greater than Angels.
This week, Paul will give a warning for
listeners to pay attention, and the fact that Jesus was made fully human.
We have already seen in Hebrews so far;
·
Jesus is greater than angels
·
And that we are to pay the most careful
attention to Jesus and His way so we do not stray
·
And how Jesus (New Covenant) is greater
than Moses (Old Covenant)
TODAY’S SERMON
“Warning Against Unbelief”
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE
Hebrews 3:7-19
So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of
you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of
you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We
have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction
firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they
not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with
whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose
bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom
did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who
disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to
enter, because of their unbelief.
The overall
message of this epistle to the church is;
“The Cure for Lacking Boldness or Courage in
your Christian Faith and Backsliding is a Right beginning for the Glory and
Work of Christ”
I. TODAY,
IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE
a. Do not harden
your hearts as you did in the rebellion
i. The Israelites hardened their hearts against God in the wilderness
ii. Followers of Christ can do the same thing today
iii. To whom is God calling?
1. Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
2. God is calling all of the world in every generation
3. However, few are answering His call
iv. TODAY, if you hear His voice, answer!
b. That is why I {God speaking} was angry with that generation {two
reasons}
i. God was calling ALL but few answered; VS 10b “…their hearts are always going astray…”
1. Our hearts are where obedience and disobedience
lives
2. Joshua and Caleb were the only 2 out of 2 million
who did NOT provoke God
3. 2,000,000 called, 2 answered and did not provoke
God
a. That’s one
ten-thousandths of a percent {rounding up}
b. I can see why God was angry…
4. With the current population of the earth at 7.5 billion people, this
equation if applied today would mean in the entire world, there are currently
only 675,000 people following
Christ.
a. Not even ¾
of a million people out of 7.5
billion!
5. Few answer God’s call.
ii. “…and
they have not known my ways.”
1. They could have known, but had no desire to know
2. Such is the heart of so many in the world today!
c. So I declared
on oath in my anger “They {Those
who heard God’s voice and rebelled} shall never
enter my rest”
i. The rest referred to was the Land of Promise, Canaan, but undoubtedly this
is symbolic of the “rest” and “promised land” to followers of Christ, which is Salvation.
II.
SEE TO IT BROTHERS AND SISTERS {The Holy Spirit’s resolution}
a. That none of
you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God
i. First instruction for the resolution, check yourself
b. Encourage one
another daily
i. So that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness
ii. Second instruction of the resolution, encourage
others
1. Because sin
deceives us
2. Leads us astray
3. Makes us think
there is another, easier, or better way
4. But Christ has
already told us;
5. John 14:6 “I am the way…”, Not one of the ways, but THE WAY
6. And again, Matthew
7:13, “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and MANY enter through it.”
c. We have come to
share in Christ if indeed we HOLD our original conviction firm to the very end
i. As I
just said, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did
in the rebellion.”
ii. Last instruction of the resolution, hold your
conviction firmly until the very end
III.
WHO WERE THEY WHO HEARD {GOD’S VOICE}
AND REBELLED?
a. Were they not
all those Moses led out of Egypt?
i. With whom God was angry for 40
years
1. God’s wrath continued, because their unbelief
continued
ii. Sometimes the unsavory situations in our lives
continue, because our rebellion continues
1. We live our way, and are angry about the
consequences
2. We disobey and make sinful choices, then cry
because the results of our sins return to our lives
3. We turn our back on the Lord daily, and cry out,
“Where are you God?”
4. We chose the wide gate, the broad path, then blame
God when we meet destruction.
b. Who heard God’s
voice and rebelled? Was it not those who sinned?
i. Whose
bodies perished in the wilderness
1. Approximately 2 million died in the wilderness
c. And to whom did
God swear that they would never enter rest, it was those who disobeyed
i. They lost everything because of unbelief
ii. And today’s church is doing the same
iii. Which is the very reason Paul wrote this epistle
CONCLUSION – so we see that
they {who heard god’s
voice and rebelled} were not able to
enter rest because of their unbelief
If the modern
believer has unbelief toward Christ and the Cross, the result will be the same
as it was with Israel.
So TODAY, if
you hear His voice…
Do not harden
your heart, and rebel, check yourself and ensure you do not have unbelief in
your heart against Christ and the Cross.
Encourage
others DAILY so that they too can avoid the deception of sin, which brings
about unbelief.
This is why we
are called to congregate together, for His name, and we must hold firmly to our
convictions in Christ Jesus until the very end.
There is but
one way, Christ
There is but
one path to belief, the narrow gate
Check your
heart daily, encourage others daily, and hold firmly to your conviction until
the very end!
Want to hear the audio to this sermon? CLICK HERE!
