Turn with me to the book of Hebrews
chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. Last time we left off on the
12th verse of Hebrews 3, and I just want to pick up with that
verse and just look at that one verse this evening again for
just a few minutes. Let's read verse 12 and we'll
have a word of prayer. Hebrews 3.12. Take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You this
evening for this blessing that we have to be able to call upon
Your holy name, knowing that, Lord, our approach unto You is
only in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, He who ever liveth to
make intercession for us. Lord, would You help us this
evening to just glean from Your Word? Would You teach us of the
mercy that You've shown us in Christ? For it's in His name
we pray, Amen. Last time we were looking at
this few verses before, we found where a large group of people
had come out of Egypt. The Lord sent Moses into Egypt
to lead the nation of Israel out. And there was a general
appearance of faithfulness. When they came out, they all
looked like people of God, believers. They all crossed the Red Sea.
They all were following that pillar of a cloud by day, a pillar
of fire by night. They all ate manna. They all
drank from that rock. But time began to prove the reality
of unbelief. many that came out of Egypt. Verse 8 of this third chapter,
harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of
temptation in the wilderness. In the irritation is what that
is. The irritation of the wilderness. were stubborn against the Lord.
And they resisted His providence, resisted His dealings with them. Verse 9 says that, Your fathers
tempted me, proved me, saw my works for forty years. They scrutinized
God for validity. tested him for a reason of acceptance. They doubted God. Oh, that unbelief. Verse 10 says that God was grieved
with that generation and said they do all way err in their
heart. They have not known My way. Obviously there were among the
people, there were some believers in that group. You know that.
Joshua. You know that. Caleb. Moses. But obviously there were a lot
of tares among the wheat. Tares are always those that profess
to believe the gospel of God's free grace. That's tares. Tares are not the ones that are
sitting under false religion. That's not tares. Tares are sown
among the wheat. They pretend to believe God Almighty. The Lord said in verse 11, I
swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. Many of them never entered into
Canaan. A picture of the final rest of God's people. But this condemnation that's
set forth in the wilderness, the apostle is warning the Hebrews
that he's writing to. He's warning them. Just like
what he's saying is, just like There were many that came out
and they appeared for a while. Their murmurings and strivings
and doubtings and unbelief proved that they were really not the
people of God. Now, as I said before, and I'm
going to read this again. You turn to 1 Peter. I want this
clearly established in our mind. 1 Peter 1, 3-5. Here it is. All that Almighty God has everlastingly
loved, all that the Lord has called out of darkness, all that
God Almighty has revealed Christ to, they are secure. Now, I do know this. There is
in every believer, we find unbelief in every believer. Now, you know
that. Lord, I believe, help thou mine
unbelief." I'm telling you, there's strugglings and strivings in
our heart that we hate. A believer hates to see the evidence
of that old nature, but he knows it's there. 1 Peter 1, 3-5, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith,
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." So the truth
of God's keepingness. The truth of the sheep being
secure in the Lord Jesus Christ is not the issue. The issue that
Paul is dealing with, with these Hebrews and with each of us,
is whether or not the evidence of salvation or the evidence
of an evil heart of unbelief. Notice the way that That's written. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Scripture didn't say a heart
of unbelief, though I do know that there is unbelief in every
believer. I know that. And I know, as I
said a moment ago, we struggle with it. But he's saying something
here when he says, be careful, take heed, lest there be in any
of you an evil heart of unbelief that evidences itself in departing
from the living God. What we've got in these verses,
what we're dealing with is the evidence of our profession. whether
my profession is genuine or not. Mr. Robert Hawker said this,
"'Cause me, O Lord, to mark that grace which kept back your true
people from murmuring then when you brought Israel out of Egypt.'" God's people, the thought, of
murmuring against God, of doubting God, of questioning God is a
horrible thought to a believer. I don't want to be disrespectful
to him. I don't want to question him.
Many provoke God in the wilderness, but not all of them. All of them,
without a doubt, was touched with that unbelief. But there's an evil heart of
unbelief that will depart from the living God. Brethren, we're
in a world that's warring against us. We're in this world, the
Lord says we're not of it. We're struggling. We're strangers.
We're pilgrims. And if the Lord has truly done
something for us, we know something about this struggle. But thanks
be unto God, He is going to keep us. One day we will be relieved
from the very presence of sin. In taking heed and giving diligence
to make our calling and election sure, what we are actually doing
is saying, Lord, keep me from an evil heart, if I believe.
Lord, help me. Many of them came out raising
that high hand, praised the Lord, everything fine. They that endure
to the end, resting in Christ, believe in Christ, trust in Christ,
struggling against themselves, warring against that which they
see within themselves. Paul said, I see. In me, that
is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. To will is present with me. How
to accomplish that which it would, I find not. O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?" A believer struggles against it. Wars against
it. Many people profess that the sheep of God will never
perish, and rightly so. But we have no right to apply
that eternal security with any kind of confidence unless we
give evidence of being conformed to the character of a believer. I've said before, believers act
like believers. Do believers ever see in themselves unbelief? Oh, you know they do. But what
do they do? They cry unto the Lord, Lord,
I'm so sorry. Forgive me. You know, the quickest is not the word I'm
looking for. The place where I find the greatest
struggle for myself is in prayer. Prayer. Warring against myself. doubting, just striving to pray,
and all of a sudden realizing, where was I? Lord, help me. The Lord said,
My sheep hear My voice. I know them. They follow Me.
The sheep hear the voice of the Master. They know that He's the
way, the truth, and the life. They know that His voice is going
to guide them through the Scriptures. Lord, help me to believe this.
Lord, if Your providence have so directed to place me here. Lord, teach me. You said You'll
never leave me and You'll never forsake me. Help me. Lord, help me to bow to that.
I would desire I don't want to question you. The Lord Jesus
calls personally and powerfully His sheep unto Himself. And they
trust Him. They do trust Him. They follow
after to keep with His revealed will in the Holy Scriptures.
And they follow Him because of love that's wrought within their
heart. So take heed. Be watchful. Be aware of. An evil heart of unbelief strives
and resists against God Almighty and that unchecked. Unchecked. This blessed exhortation is for
the good of God's people. We need to be reminded of faithfulness. We're weak creatures in ourselves.
And we rejoice in hearing the need to be watchful, to take
heed, be careful. When my kids would be playing
outside and I said, be careful. Don't go in the street. Be careful. If you cross the street, Be watchful. It was a warning because I loved
them and I wanted them to be watchful. God's people hear the
warning of Almighty God and recognize it as being a loving warning
from Him who will not leave us and will not forsake us. But in closing, The apostle exhorts
the people in taking heed lest there be in any of you an evil
heart of unbelief. That evil heart is what I want
to make a couple of statements on here and show you the difference
between an evil heart of unbelief and having a heart that often
is found to be with doubt. or questions, and that not being
an evil heart of unbelief. If there's an evil heart of unbelief,
obviously there is something within a believer, because you
know we have doubts, you know we have questions, but if there's
an evil heart of unbelief, Can it be that there's a healthy
questioning, a healthy doubt, if you would? Questions. Because of our lack
of knowledge or having an honorable doubt, let me say this, concerning
the truth of God's will is not an evil heart of unbelief. Let
me say that again. questions because of our lack
of knowledge or having an honorable doubt concerning the truth of
God's Word is not a heart of unbelief. Believers are learning as we
go through this life. If we weren't learning, then
we wouldn't be able to be growing. in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But as we're going, you're
going to find that there are things that come up, things that
you hear, things that you question, things that you, in a healthy
way, doubt. Acts 17, let me read this to
you. 10 to 11. Now, I'm going to give you a
Scripture that shows you what I'm talking about. This is not
an evil heart of unbelief, what I'm about to read about. It is
a healthy questioning, a healthy wondering about concerning God's
Word. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither
went into the synagogue of the Jews. And these were more noble
than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word of
God with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily
whether those things were so." They listened attentively to
the Word of God. They were respectful before the
gospel. They didn't reject it as being
unworthy or unworthy of examination. They affirmed what they heard
according to the Scriptures. That is a healthy wondering,
a healthy questioning. Whenever you hear someone make
a statement Make sure that you confirm it by the Word of God. That's not an evil heart of unbelief. If somebody tells you something
and the Lord has not given you light on it, look it up. That's
the right way to do it. That's not an evil heart of unbelief. Just because somebody says something
does not make it so. Believe not every spirit. That's
what John said. Believe not every spirit. Search
the scriptures. A believer listens well, but
what he hears is going to be based on what God reveals. A
healthy doubt says, I'm not sure, and I must satisfy my questioning
by God's Word. that which He has revealed, hear
it, bow to it. When speaking to the disciples,
our Lord said concerning the end of the world in Matthew 24,
verse 4, He says, Take heed that no man deceive you. But those
words are alive today for every situation. Weigh all things in the balance
of the Scriptures. That is what's going to not fade. That's what's going to endure.
The Word of God. So to wonder or to question whether
or not something is so is not an evil heart of unbelief. An
evil heart of unbelief refuses to believe what God has clearly
revealed to be so. An evil heart of unbelief is
the absence of confidence in Almighty God. It is to doubt,
to question, and to murmur against His dealings with men and His
right to do so. If you want to get to the very
heart of an evil heart of unbelief, let me ask you these three questions.
Number one. Is salvation all of grace or
is it of works? Now you know when it comes right
down to it, this is the heart. This is the heart question of
all places where men sit and listen to somebody stand and
preach. This is the heart of it right
here. Is salvation all of grace or is it by works? Man's works. Number two, is it according to
God's will or man's will? Now I'm telling you, you know
that the Word of God reveals that salvation is not of blood,
nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.
Is salvation according to God's will or man's will? And the question
is, Who gets the glory for these things? All of this sums up. Salvation
is all of grace. When it comes right down to it,
those that were in the desert, Almighty God brought them out
of Egypt. Almighty God had promised Those
that trust Him, believe Him, they were going to Canaan. Many
of them died because of an evil heart of unbelief. Why did you
bring us here? We had it a whole lot better
when we were in Egypt. Almighty God gives His people
a heart that bows to Him and trusts Him and thanks Him. Are
these trials and tribulations, are they not grievous? Yes, they
are. Paul says, but for a moment,
these light afflictions. And when they come, I remember
whenever, oh, a year or so ago, I had gone to the doctor. The doctor told me, he said,
well, I found a tumor on your bladder. Boy, that mulled around in my
mind for a while. You know, that always happens
to somebody else. I called Brother Scott. I told
him, I said, Well, I just went to the doctor and he told me
I had a tumor on my bladder. You know what he told me? He
said, You want to know the worst part of that? It's when you first
hear it. He said after that, he said,
it's not that bad. And I got to thinking about that.
My first reaction was to question God's providence, question God's
dealings. Surely that can't be. I mean,
I've got, you know, I'm going to pastor this church. I got,
you know, I got a wife, you know, I got, you know, Huh? Your mind immediately goes to
the end. But then in the good providence
of Almighty God, the Lord begins to settle His people down. And
you begin to think on this. And you begin to realize, you
know, you've dealt well with me. I wouldn't change that for anything.
Oh, that which He's taught me, I wouldn't trade that for anything.
To see the sustaining grace of God, that Almighty God would
settle my heart. And just that song we sing, Gary,
it's well with my soul. I can just, Lord, thank You. Lord, if You settle my heart,
I'm okay. Lord, keep me from murmuring
against You. Lord, keep me from an evil heart
of unbelief. Lord, teach me concerning Your
ways. Lord, to Your honor and my good,
thank You. Lord, keep me because I can't
keep myself. For the honor and sake of the
Lord Jesus Christ, amen.