In "Our Great High Priest," Don Fortner addresses the critical theological topic of unbelief and its consequences as illustrated in the biblical narrative of the Israelites. The author emphasizes that unbelief, as the most grievous of evils, results in spiritual peril, warning that many who profess faith may ultimately perish if they reject the truths of the Gospel. Fortner draws upon Hebrews 3:7-11 to demonstrate how the Israelites' hardness of heart led them to defy God’s voice, resulting in their exclusion from the Promised Land. He further connects this narrative to current believers, asserting that those who harden their hearts against God's revelation and persist in rebellion are under similar condemnation. The doctrinal significance of this message lies in the Reformed principles of perseverance and the necessity of genuine faith, highlighting the dire warnings against presumption in one's faith.
Key Quotes
“The Spirit of God identifies unbelief as the greatest of all evils and gives us a strong warning against it by example.”
“A hardness of heart that is acquired by the rejection of truth despising the light of the gospel...”
“Those who harden their hearts against the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ shall be forever shut out of heaven by their unbelief.”
“If we perish as they did in unbelief ours will be the greater condemnation.”
What does the Bible say about unbelief?
The Bible warns that unbelief is the greatest of all evils, leading to condemnation and separation from God's rest.
Hebrews 3:7-11, Psalm 95:7-11, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 1:1-2, Matthew 11:20-24, Proverbs 29:1
How do we know God's grace is sovereign?
Scripture illustrates God's sovereignty in grace, showing that salvation is entirely His work, not ours.
Ephesians 1:4-5
Why is Christ our Great High Priest important for Christians?
Christ as our Great High Priest symbolizes His role in mediating between God and humanity, providing access to grace.
Hebrews 1:1-2, Hebrews 3:7-11
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) They...: Gr. if they shall enter - Hebrews 3:7-11Our Great High Priest
"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)"
There are many, very many, who, while professing faith in Christ, yet perish in unbelief. In these verses, the Spirit of God identifies unbelief as the greatest of all evils and gives us a strong warning against it by example (Ps. 95:7-11).
The Israelites professed to be and were called God's people, but they were a rebellious, murmuring, unbelieving people. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor. 10:11). Four things are here stated about the unbelieving Jews who perished in the wilderness under the wrath of God. Let us lay them to heart and be warned.
Those who perished, perished because they would not hear God’s voice as he spoke to them by Moses. God speaks to us by his Son. He declares, “This is my beloved Son, hear ye him” (Heb 1:1-2). God has given us greater light than he gave the Jews. If we perish, as they did, in unbelief, ours will be the greater condemnation.
Those men and women perished because they hardened their hearts. There is a natural hardness of heart with which we are all born; but this text speaks of a willful, deliberate, voluntary hardness of heart, a hardness of heart that is acquired by the rejection of truth, despising the light of the gospel and the warnings of Holy Scripture, by a willful continuance in rebellion and unbelief (Matt. 11:20-24; Pro. 29:1).
Those who perished in the wilderness perished because they dared to defy God. They tried his patience, despised his and long-suffering, and murmured against his providence. Though they had seen his goodness, lived upon his provisions, enjoyed his protection, and witnessed his miracles for forty years, still, they believed him not.
God was grieved with that nation. They wearied him with their sins, displeased him with their unbelief, and provoked him to anger with their complaints. He therefore declared that they could not enter into the land of Canaan, the promised land of rest. So, too, all who harden their hearts against the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ shall be forever shut out of heaven by their unbelief.
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