Heart Trouble Hebrews Sermon Series Hebrews 3.7-4.11
March 9, 2014 Chester FBC * Chester, Illinois Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A One of the top 15 diseases in our day is called, “arteriosclerosis.”
1 It is a hardening of the arteries. (Restricts blood flow which eventually causes the heart to stop.)
a In recent years, I fear that Christians have developed a “hardening the spiritual arteries.”
aa Their hearts have become hardened towards God.
bb They miss the blessings of being a born again Christian.
b In our text, Paul gave his audience (& us) the second warning against drifting away from the Word of God. (Heb.2.1-4)
Hebrews 2:1-4 (NASB) 1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
2 Paul issues these warning from Israel’s past failures & mistakes.
a Numbers 13:25-33 (NASB) 25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, "We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 "There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
aa Moses & Aaron had sent 12 spies into Canaan; the two we have named are Caleb & Joshua.
bb They had ventured into the Promised Land (Milk & Honey) & saw giants.
cc Ten of the spies saw the occupied land & were paralyzed in fear, “There’s no way we live in that place! It’s overran with Giants!”
dd Joshua & Caleb said, “Yeah, there too big to miss. We can take them!”
Numbers 14:6-10 (NASB) 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 "If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 "Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them." 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
b Israel refused to move, proceed toward the Land so God condemned them to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years.
aa Anybody over 20 died in the Wilderness & would never see God’s promises fulfilled.
bb Israel’s doubt, lack of faith held them hostage in the Wilderness for 40 years when the Promise was only 11 days away.
c Church, what God has revealed/promised/assured us should never be doubted . . . keep walking by faith!
aa I believe many of us give up when the blessing is within our sight, our grasp!
bb We make ourselves to live just out of the realm of blessing where if we had just stayed faithful . . . we’d had made it!
B Paul quotes Psalms 95, written 1,000 years after the Hebrews came out of the Wilderness wanderings to show that lessons of history need to be applied today.
1 Israel had hardened their heart to YHWH & the Word of God.
a When the hardening had set in, the nation paid the price.
b The price? They lived in the rugged, barren terrain of the Wilderness instead of enjoying their land.
aa God was with them (no doubt) but they didn’t enjoy the fulness of God’s blessing.
bb They were “out of Egypt” but they were not yet “in Canaan.”
c The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart.
aa The people of Israel (except Moses, Joshua, & Caleb) erred in their hearts (3.10 KJV/NASB), which means that their hearts had wandered away from the Word of God.
Hebrews 3:10 (NASB) 10 "THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS';
bb They had unbelieving hearts (3.12 NASB), which means they didn’t believe that God would give them victory in Canaan. (They saw the miracles, signs in Egypt, yet they doubted God was up for the challenge of Canaan.)
Hebrews 3:12 (NASB) 12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.
cc When a person has an erring heart & an unbelieving heart, the result will be a hard heart.
d A hardened heart is insensitive to the Word/Work of God.
aa How hard was Israel’s heart? They wanted to go back to Egypt/slavery!!
bb It’s hard to imagine wanting to exchange their freedom under God for slavery in Egypt.
cc Paul’s audience was doing the same thing . . . going back to the shackles of the Law.
2 The writer of Hebrews was anxious for the Christians who started out so good to keep going on to possess all that was promised to them in salvation.
a In citing Psalms, and other Old Testament passages, he is affirming the OT as the voice of the Holy Spirit of God.
aa The O.T. should not be ignored or go unread.
bb The reason many Christians/Churches are adrift is because they have not paid full attention to the full revelation.
cc The Book of Numbers is just as much God’s voice as is the Book of Acts.
b The first four chapters of Hebrews are concerned with the Word of God. (Dovetails the former covenant with the new one.)
aa Hebrews 3:7-19; 4:1-11 (NASB)
7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, 8 DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, 9 WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. 10 "THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS'; 11 AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, 'THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'" 12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 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. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME." 16 For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. 1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS"; 5 and again in this passage, "THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST."6 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, 7 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." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.
bb (Kelsee, find me 2 readers who would read the first set of 7 verses each. I’ll read the last set of 7 verses. Thanks!)
c Before the NT, God was speaking & believers (then & now) must not harden their heart against His Word.
T.S.: Let’s check our heart for spiritual hardening of the arteries through the probing lenses of Scripture.
I The Causes of a Hardened Heart (3.7-13)
A Paul’s audience were already developing spiritual hardening of the arteries (v.7, “. . . Do not harden your hearts.” in the original language we find that there is forbidding of the continuance of an action already going on. Paul’s saying, “stop doing so.”)
1 Our first cause is due to “delay” v.7-9
a TODAY means “right now.”
aa Today, get obedient. . . listen to the Word . . . have faith in His Word . . . trust God.
bb The longer obedience is put off, the more dangerous it becomes. . . the harder the arteries get.
cc IL. In 2011, I tore my Achilles doing something overweight middle-aged men should not do; jump off a high-dive. To this day around the incision I have no feeling. I believe that is what happens in a sense to our hearts/conscience when they are disregarded.
b It was “today” in Moses’ day, it was “today” a thousand years later when David wrote Psalm 95, it was “today” when Hebrews was penned and it is still “today” for us. (We don’t know how long “today” will last, or if “today” is the last day God calls into a ministry, or if “today” will be last day we have the blessing of worship, prayer, reading His Word.)
2 The second cause is “restlessness.” v.10-11
a Israel always found something to gripe about in the Wilderness wanderings.
aa He gave them bread then they griped about the water, He gave them water, they griped because they had no meat, He gave them meat (quail) then they griped about something else. THEY NEVER GOT SATISFIED.
bb Moses called the place Massah and Meribah (Ex. 17.7), which means “provocation and trial”; these same words are used in Hebrews 3.10.
Exodus 17:7 (NASB) 7 He named the place Massah 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?"
b They had seen do the supernatural in the desert but they didn’t know (v.10) He’d keep up His provision.
aa When they got restless they refused to acknowledge that God would provide for them. . . they went to wandering when went to wondering.
bb When you allow your mind/heart to stray into sin/disinterest you run the danger of hardening your heart.
cc “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Robert Robinson
Prone to wander, Lord I fell it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Th courts above.
3 The third cause is Unbelief (v.12.)
a God’s Word has been spoken, to refuse to believe time and again, is to risk a hardened heart.
aa Paul points out to his reader that they are committing a similar sin of their ancestors.
bb The author writes about an “unbelieving” heart; We must be careful this word.
cc There are Christians who can have disbelief present in their hearts and there are people who do not believe (The second are altogether lost for they are controlled entirely by their unbelief.)
dd When a person refuses to really believe God’s Word, there comes a point where believing will become difficult (and even impossible) because their heart is so clouded by doubt & despair.
b The word used here for “evil” is worthy of note.
aa It’s not the word for “evil” used in the abstract (Satan) rather the word that means something far worse.
bb This kind of evil is not content unless he/she is corrupting others as well, and dragging them down into the same destruction with him/herself.
4 The fourth cause is Sin (v.13,14.)
a The more one sins, the easier it becomes.
aa The easier sins becomes, the easier it is for our hearts/conscience to become numb to the Holy Spirit.
bb We become desensitized to Him if we become desensitized to sin.
b The sin that Paul’s audience was dabbling in was apostasy.
aa v.12, “drifting away from the living God.”
bb Apostasy means leaving God by refusing His will for our lives and stubbornly wanting to go back to Egypt.
cc Question: Did God allow Israel to go back to Egypt? NO.
dd He disciplined them into the promise!!!
c Sin always wants us to go back to bondage.
B What causes hardening of our spiritual arteries?
1 Delay
2 Restlessness
3 Unbelief
4 Sin
T.S.; Now that we know the causes, let’s look at its ramifications. Hebrews 3.18, tells us the main blessing that the Israelites missed in the Wilderness ... Rest. (Rest means to settle down, in the text it means to settle down with God; live totally dependent upon Him. Rest is a synonym for a life lived by faith; the antonym is unbelief.)
II The Consequence of a hardened heart (3.15-4.10)
A There are three examples of rest discussed in this passage:
1 Israel’s Rest (3.15-19).
a God had told the Israelites to go take the land, slay the giants, enter into Promise I gave Abraham, have rest from your bondage.
aa When they refused they knew nothing but restlessness, wandering, wilderness for 40 years.
bb They were right on the verge of entering into the Land of rest, all they had to do was take the advice of Caleb/Joshua.
b On the basis of their unbelief, lack of faith, they did in the desert.
aa At the root of all sin is unbelief.
bb God doesn’t really mean He wants me to tithe, lift my hands in prayer, love my neighbor as myself . . . He’ll provide all me needs . . . love my enemy. . . YES HE DOES!
cc God is good. . . saved you . . .but please be careful that your confidence in your salvation never acts as an excuse to sin.
2 The Father’s Rest (4.4)
a God finished His work of Creation and rested on the seventh day.
b What interrupted God’s rest? Sin came in, and thus Jesus would say to the Pharisees,
John 5:17 (NASB) 17 But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working."
c The Sabbath rest is a symbol of the true rest that came in the person of Jesus Christ . . .that’s why Jesus could violate the Sabbath . . . He was/is/forever more will be the REAL rest!
3 Jesus’ Rest (4.8-10)
a The Lord Jesus has now finished His work on the cross & has entered into His rest.
aa All who place their faith in Him are invited to share in that rest.
bb God sent His Son so we could stop trying to earn our salvation and rest totally upon Him.
cc Is your life unsettled? Are you at peace with God? Is your life an obedient life? Are you carrying your own burden ... God wants us to have rest!
b I didn’t do anything to get my salvation and cannot do anything to keep it . . . I put my trust in Him to keep me.
B Our generation is marked by restlessness. (We have plenty of leisure, but no true rest.)
1 Matt. 11.28-30, the secret of real rest is outlined:
Matthew 11:28-30 (NASB) 28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
a We must come to Jesus.
b We must receive His gift of rest.
c We must take His yoke.
d We must learn of Him.
2 We can have rest in our souls by resting in the future promise of eternal peace in heaven, as well as experiencing His comforting presence in the storms of this life on earth.
a vs. 3, “For we who have believed, enter that rest . . .”
b Lost people will never know the rest that a believer faces the hereafter, nor the right now, that we have!
T.S.: It would not be right to give you the cause & consequences of a hardened heart without giving you the cure.
III The Cure for the Hardened heart.
A IL. When I got a sore throat as a kid, my Mom would mix salt & water and have me gargle it for about a minute. Usually, it hurt but it did the trick.
1 The cure for a hardened heart is found throughout this passage.
a 3.7, We should believe His word & mix it with our faith.
aa Hebrews 4:7 (NASB)7 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."
b The combination of these two components (His Word & Our Faith in His Word) results in a medicine for our spiritual hearts.
2 Add to this our obedience to His word, and v.13, encouraging one another . . . then the medicine works itself throughout the entire body.
a We are built to come alongside one another to comfort & encourage each other until the day the Lord returns.
b Christians belong to each other, with each other, and need each other. (V.11)
B When you see a brother/sister struggling, understand the whole body struggles.
Conclusion:
A Jesus has delivered us from the slavery of sin & He desires to lead us into His rest. (A place of total reliance on Him.)
1 We’ve looked at hardening of the Spiritual Arteries.
a Cause, Consequences, and the Cure.
b Let us not become hardened against His Word, but go on into the Promised Land with Him.
c The enemy may surround us, but Jesus is alive and well and is our strong tower.
2 IL. There was a foreign missionary driving into a remote village who saw a native carrying a heavy sack.
a The missionary stopped to give the native (who had never seen a truck before) a ride on the back of his truck.
aa The native tentatively accepted, approaching the vehicle with curiosity.
bb After a few miles the missionary looked back only to find the native still standing, still holding his heavy sack in the back of the truck.
cc When they got to their destination, the missionary asked the native why he hadn’t sat down?
dd He replied, “I was afraid the truck couldn’t hold me and this heavy too.
b Church, you and me are already on board. . . give Him your burden, worry, anxiety . . .He can hold it.
B Invitation
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