2007 Book of Hebrews Series – “Today”
Hebrews 3:7-19
Sermon preached at Curwensville Presbyterian Church – February 25, 2007

Prayer Introduction: Even the most devout believers have moments of unbelief – in mind and life. There are moments in which we, consciously and unconsciously, think – “God I just don’t understand why this is happening [or] I don’t think your commands make sense.” There are also moments when our actions show unbelief as we pursue our own desires rather than God’s desires.”

            Some of these moments can last longer than a moment – and we can begin to find ourselves more and more entrenched in the unbelief. We spend more time thinking about the problem than about Christ. Our devotions stop – or become automatic. We may stop coming to church – or come, but without really engaging our heart.

            All of us, right now, have areas of unbelief happening in our lives – some are just more intense than others. The question is what will you do about it? The first step is to be honest about it. The second step is to come to God with it. Let’s do that right now…We pray now for the preacher in the pulpit. He is not worthy, but by your grace he is able. And so it is through Jesus Christ that we pray – Amen!

Sermon Introduction: This morning we are going to look at God’s Word in Hebrews 3:7-19, in which we see the reality of unbelief – even among (and especially among) God’s people – and what we can do about it. READ Hebrews 3:7-19.

I. Yesterday (vv.7-11)

This passage begins with the word “So” – which is the same thing as saying, “Therefore.” And so we must see “what it is there for.” What is it pointing back to? It is pointing back to what was just said at the end of verse 6 – “And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.”

            Last week we looked at this verse and the big “if” in verse 6. It is not your profession of faith, but the perseverance of faith that shows you to be a holy child of God; and part of God’s house – his eternal kingdom. And so we must put more time, money and effort into the spiritual maintenance of God’s house.     We must be aware of the fact that our (and others’) faith breaks down from time to time, and fix it rather than expecting it to fix itself.

            Did any of you have anything break down this week? Especially in cold winter weather there are parts on the car and parts in the house. Do we expect those things to fix themselves?

Oh, don’t worry honey, I’m sure that transmission can fix itself.

Oh, don’t worry honey, I’m sure that frozen pipe bursting out water will be fine – let’s go out to eat and leave it alone to fix itself.

            That is as foolish as expecting unbelief to fix itself. Expecting sinful temptations to go away by itself. Oh, don’t worry honey, I’m sure my rebellious heart will be fine – just leave me alone.

            If something is busted you need to fix it (or replace it). If our faith is busted we need to fix it (or replace it).

            “So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert.’”

            There are 2 things we need to take from this:

            (1) God is always speaking to you. The question is not if God is speaking, but whether you will harden your heart.

            No matter what your unbelief, trial, temptation is – God is speaking an answer. His answer is fully expressed in His Word. Notice how the first thing we do in our moments of unbelief is to stop looking to his Word – in our daily devotions, in the preaching and teaching of the church. We are like little kids who plug their ears and shout, “La! La! La! La! I’m not listening to you!”

            We know God is speaking. We know that God has an answer to our unbelief. We know that it is in His Word. Rather than running from God’s voice, we must listen to it.

            (2) It is in our nature to rebel. There is a reason why we run from God’s voice. It is in our nature to do so. This is true not just of the secular world, but of God’s people. These opening verses of our passage (7b-11) are a quote from Psalm 95:7b-11, referring back to the rebellion of God’s people in the wilderness – following the grand Exodus from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

            Earlier in the service we read Numbers 14:1-24 to see this rebellion of God’s people. It was consistent during the 40 years in the wilderness. In fact, God’s people have rebelled God consistently since mankind’s fall into sin. This wasn’t just true yesterday. The church continues to rebel. We continue to complain and bicker – usually about really dumb stuff.

            This passage is a warning that our hearts are no different than the people of old. The question is whether or not we will respond differently. Will we harden our hearts – continue in our rebellion – or remember that Jesus Christ came to set us free from our rebellion?

            You don’t have to remain in rebellion against God for one more minute. You can ask God to soften your heart with his grace. He may not change your situation, but he will change your heart; because that is what He is ultimately trying to do – continually raising up situations and circumstances in order to continually work on your heart – fixing your faith.

            This is why James 1:2-3 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” [ESV] (i.e. perseverance).

II. Today (vv.12-13)

And so verses 12-13 tell us, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

            Thank God it is still Today – this is still a day for grace. We are in the last days, and the “day of the Lord” is coming when Christ will return and there will be no more time to delay our response to God’s mercy; because His judgment will have come.

            It is a dangerous thing to remain in a hardened moment of rebellion – because that may be the result of an unbelieving heart – and we never know how long “Today” is going to last. How can we make sure that none of us has a sinful, unbelieving heart, when the “day of the Lord” comes?

            The answer is the first words of verse 13 – “But encourage one another daily.” This is a call to be involved in the Christian community of the church – “encourage one another.”

            Earlier we recognized that in our moment of unbelief we stop listening to God’s Word. One of the key ways that we do this is to pull away from God’s people.

            When we are struggling with something in our life we do the opposite of what we need – we pull away from other people when what we need most is other people.

            When men get upset they pull away from other people – some go fishing, hunting. Others go out to the garage and try to work on the truck – instead of letting someone come to their spiritual garage to work on their heart.

            When women get upset they pull away from other people – some turn to talk shows. Others go into busy mode getting involved in the lives of others – instead of letting others get involved in their life.

             When you have a moment of unbelief, a moment of trial or temptation, notice your tendency to run away from God’s people.

            This is why Galatians 6:1a says, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness” [ESV]. We must “encourage one another daily.”

            The power of the gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to do the opposite of what sin’s deceitfulness tells us to do. Sin’s deceitfulness says, “You just need some time to figure this out on your own.” The Holy Spirit says, “You need to let God’s people encourage you, correct you.”

            Do you want to see God change your heart? Change your life? Invite a godly friend to enter into your life, instead of trying to figure it out on your own.

            The words they offer will not always be “encouraging” as the world defines it. A godly friend should not just tell you what you want to hear. They should “encourage” you to come to God. They should encourage you to let God do whatever He is trying to do to your heart.

III. Tomorrow (vv.14-19)

This cannot wait until tomorrow. Verse 14 says, “We have come to share in Christ IF we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

            The original audience of this letter could each tell you the first time they trusted Christ with their lives. They could tell you the day, the moment, when they believed that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah; and trusted Him as their Savior and Lord. They could tell you of their heart-melting moment.

            Yet for some their moment may not have been true. They may have had a “spiritual” moment – but they hadn’t really come to share in Christ fully. How can you tell whether you have or not?

Do you still trust in Christ fully? Is your faith still firm? Are you still professing faith with your mouth and living it’s reality in your life?

            The same question is posed to us. It doesn’t matter whether you can remember the first moment you had confidence in Christ. What matters is what is happening right now?

            (1) Do you have a firm confidence in Christ right now? Do you know for sure that you are forgiven of all your sins through the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross?

            (2) Is this showing itself to be true in your life? Do you see evidence of God continually changing your life?

            God is not interested in simply “getting you to believe in him.” God is not a one-hit wonder.

            You know what I mean by that? In the music business there are musical artists known as “One-Hit Wonders.” They have one musical hit and that’s it.

            The Penguin’s “Earth Angel” from 1955.

            Barry Mann’s “Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp) from 1961.

            Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” from 1975.

            Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” from 1988.

            Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” from 1999.

            Every decade’s got ‘em. They had one hit and one hit only. Some people treat God as a one-hit wonder.

He created the world, but that’s all.

Jesus forgave me back in 1978, but that’s all.

I already believe, but that’s all.

What is God doing in your life right now? What is he trying to do in your life right now? Are you letting Him? What is God saying to you? Are you hardening your heart towards him?

God is always at work in our lives. He is always speaking to us. He is always trying to change something. Sometimes these are minor changes. Sometimes they are major. Are you dealing with a minor crisis in your life to address a minor heart change; or a major crisis to address a major heart change?

Whether it is major or minor, we have the same need – God’s grace. We always need to encourage and be encouraged to see God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

God is speaking his grace to you right now. Don’t harden your heart to it. Don’t run away from His Word. Don’t run away from Him. Let Him in. Let others in.

This can’t wait until tomorrow. Receive His grace while it is still called Today.

MAY THE TRUTH SET YOU FREE – AMEN!