May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his holy word. Let us turn to the epistle of
Paul to the Hebrews, chapter three, and we'll read verses
seven to 11. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter three, and reading verses seven to 11. Wherefore, As the Holy Ghost saith today,
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 all my err
in their heart. and they have not known my ways.
So I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. The apostle here is speaking
to the Hebrews and of course also to the whole Church of God.
when he addresses them in this way. And how relative are these
words in the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. They are very
instructive to us. And it is very important for
us to recognize the importance of them. We thank indeed for
the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews because it elucidates so many
things. But let us think tonight then
of these words which we have before us. And I read all those
verses because after the first word wherefore, the rest is in
brackets and the whole is therefore all part and parcel of one statement.
Therefore it's not really sensible or possible to break it up. So we say this commences with
this word wherefore, which indicates is therefore referring to the
previous verses, not only perhaps in this chapter, but in the other
chapters which have gone before. But perhaps specifically, as
it comes down and tells us in this chapter, wherefore holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle
and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Well, that's always
a very good thing to consider, a very good exercise to ponder
and meditate upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We read further on in
the twelfth chapter in this same epistle where the apostle says
that we are to consider him. What a blessing it is to consider
him and we will want to consider him if the Holy Spirit shows
us what we are by nature and what we deserve because of our
sinful nature and to realize that we need a Savior, a great
and glorious Savior. And we have one in the blessed
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, indeed the only Savior of sinners. And so how relevant it is that
we do consider him And as we come down in this chapter, he
speaks about, but who was faithful to him that appointed him, as
also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he who has built
the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is
built by some man, but he that built all things is God. We know that the Lord God created
the heavens and the earth, all things were made by Him, everything. And Moses verily was faithful
in all his house and as a servant for a testimony of those things
which were to be spoken after. And then he says, but Christ
as a son over his own house, whose house are we? if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Well that speaks to us of the
hope which the Church of God have, that hope which is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. It is a good
hope And it's a great blessing, therefore, if we hold that hope
with confidence, the evil one, the devil, Satan, is always keen
to discredit what God has said and cause us to doubt his great
word. That's always been his technique,
to cause people to doubt the Word of God by a very simple
question, hath God said? Well, we know that God hath said,
and let us not be tempted by the evil one, but let us hold
fast that which is good. And therefore, the hope firm
unto the end, to never let it go. If you and I possess that
good hope, the Lord has looked upon us, good hope, he's had
mercy upon us. Good hope. He's given us faith
to believe his word. Good hope to rest in what God
has said. Let this confidence not be removed. And therefore, the apostle comes
and says, wherefore? Then he says, as the Holy Ghost
said, well, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, Wonderful it is
if you and I have known the work of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual
life, because the Holy Ghost is the blessed God, part of the
Godhead, who sends to us and shows to us the glories of the
Saviour, shows to us the wonder of his finished work. It is all
through the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. So we have this
statement, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if you will hear
his voice, harden not your hearts. It's very important to remember
this is God speaking and really it's a quotation from the 95th
Psalm, written many years ago. And this is what we're told. in this
Psalm 95. O come, let us worship and bow
down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our
God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of
his hand. Today, if ye will hear his voice,
harden not your heart, as in the provocation and as in the
day of temptation, the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me,
proved me, and saw my work." So that's really what the apostle
is referring to here. That was a very solemn rebuke
really for the church of God in those days. And so we have
this statement then in these following verses to direct us
today. If you will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation, as in a 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 always err in their heart,
and they have not known my ways. So I swear in my wrath they shall
not enter into my rest." Well that's a very solemn statement
really. And as we think about it, I'm
sure we don't want to be numbered amongst those that such a word
is addressed to, who will not enter into the rest that remaineth
for the people of God. That rest which the Lord has
gone to prepare, that rest that he will receive us into. We don't want to be found lacking
in these things and therefore Let us not be found hardening
our hearts. Surely this comes about really
where are those situations when there's that difficult scene,
perhaps before us, which we don't want to do. Perhaps we think
it's just too difficult for us. And really, as we think of these
words, we are directed to Israel of old and what they did. And
what they failed to do, you may remember, it hadn't been long
after they'd been gloriously delivered out of Egypt. And that
was a wonderful deliverance indeed. They came out of Egypt by God. He brought them out. And then
they'd only been in the wilderness really something about a year
or so, and God had wonderfully appeared for them in that time.
And then he told them to go up and to possess the land of Canaan. He come to Kadesh Barnea and
he allowed them to send 12 spies to check out the land and see
what it was like, to see whether it was a good land. So it was
a good land that the Lord had set before them and the land
that they were able to go up and conquer. So those 12 spies,
went into that land, they spent 40 days searching it out and
looking to see what was involved. And they came back and gave the
report to Moses. Well, 10 of them gave an evil
report. It wasn't a good report, an evil
report. And it was only Caleb and Joshua
that gave a good report. Now, sad it was, really, and
we're told about that. When there's a record of it in
Numbers, we're told about Caleb, and it's very good to hear what
Caleb said. Caleb said, he's still the people
before Moses, and said, let us go up at once and possess it,
for we are well able to overcome it. Yes, he knew. He knew that God was with them. But you see, the other 10 spies,
they disbelieved what God had said. And therefore, they decided
they would not go up and possess the land. They'd lost sight of
the wonderful deliverances that God had given them in coming
out of Egypt, the wonderful miracles which had occurred are being
brought safely across the Red Sea, and the Lord appearing for
them on Sinai in that wonderful way, and then granting to them
that pittor of cloud by day and a pittor of fire by night. So
many wonderful evidences that God was with them. And now you
see they harden their heart. They harden their heart. and
they decided they would not obey the Word of God. Now, my friends,
you and I stand before God. You and I know what God has said. You and I know what God has directed
us in, and whether you and I have hardened our hearts, and said,
no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not gonna walk in that path.
I'm not going that way. I think it's too difficult. I think it's too hard. And in
any event, there are other people who haven't followed that pattern.
And therefore, I think I will not hear the word of God. And the effect is therefore,
that we find that we harden our hearts. And that's a very, very
sad situation. And that's why Paul tells the
Hebrews and tells us today. He says today. He's not referring to tomorrow. He's not referring to days ahead. It's very clear he's speaking
of the present, today. And we all know with us that
today in our life, And today, if ye will hear his voice, harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation, as in a day of temptation in
the wilderness. That was the day they turned their back upon
God. As he tells us, when your fathers
tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years, Yes, they
had then to spend 40 years in the wilderness. No short time
was it. Wherefore I was grieved with
that generation that said they do always err in their heart
and have not known my ways. It's a tragic position, isn't
it? I think with all the evidence that such a statement was made
upon them, They do always err in their heart. See, God looks
at our heart. See, true religion is that which
God does in our heart. We may have a wonderful knowledge
of truth in our head, but if that has not come down and touched
our heart, we can realize that it is not. the work of God. It's just our own attentiveness,
perhaps, to the Word of God and to the understanding of it. It's
good, of course, to read and to learn and understand the Word
of God. I'm not speaking against that, but, my friends, we need
more than that. We need the blessed influence
of the Holy Spirit to come and to speak into our souls. What a mercy, therefore, if that
is so, that God does come and speak into our hearts, and then
not to then reject it, turn away from it. That's what we're told
here. Wherefore, I was grieved when
that generation said they do always err in their hearts. and
they have not known my ways. Now I wonder today whether God
is grieved with you and grieved with me. I wonder whether we need to perhaps
examine ourselves to see whether almighty God is grieved with
us. It's a very solemn thought, isn't
it? It's easy for the devil to come
and tempt us and say, well, of course you need Listen to that. You needn't obey that. But we
stand before God. You and I stand before the Holy
God. And that's before whom we have
to answer. No one else. It matters not what
other people think, but it does matter what God thinks. Very strong thought, isn't it?
It's a very important thought because If that is true of us,
then this is the condemnation. I swear in my wrath, they shall
not enter into my rest. Well, I hope none of us are shut
out from that rest, from that glory of heaven. I hope none
of us are found rejecting the blessed Word of God. Israel were given good direction. Israel were given good warning. The people of God are given good
direction. The people of God are given good
warning and may be therefore be found as a true believer and
listening to those warnings and recognizing They are true, and
they are faithful, and they are relevant to us even today. Well says the word here, wherefore,
as the Holy Ghost said, let us not trifle with God's word. You
can trifle with man's word if you want to, but you and I cannot
trifle with God's word. We cannot think it is irrelevant. We cannot, we must not cast it
away. We must not harden our hearts. Oh, that God would give us grace
and give us understanding to hear his gracious words. Because after this long statement,
the apostle comes and says, take heed brethren, lest there be
in any of you and evil hearts of unbelief in departing from
the Living God. Believing is a very important
topic. It's a very important blessing.
It's a very important consideration. And without doubt, every true
child of God is a believer. is one who believes on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Indeed, as the apostle spoke
to the Philippian jailer, when he was asked, what must I do
to be saved? The apostle said, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, tonight,
my friends, Let us not be amongst those who possess this evil heart
of unbelief. Don't forget, we have the devil
at our elbow, pretending that we cannot believe. He may say,
well, you're not able to believe, you're not fit to believe, you're
just too bad. God will never look upon you
Your sins are too vile, they're so terrible. Well, the Bible
encourages us to look unto Him. Look unto me and be ye saved.
Look to the Saviour. Don't look to yourself, or you'll
see a sin, or you'll see his iniquity, or you'll see his failure. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing. What a favour
that is. So we have this statement here,
take heed, beware, do beware, do take heed, lest there be in any of us an
evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. The living
God is set before us so gloriously, so faithfully, so wonderfully,
in the Word of God. And it's a great blessing for
us to be able to read about the Living God. You know there have
been many people in the history of the world, many people today,
who do not possess the Living Word of God, but by His grace
we do possess the Living Word of God. And may we read it, and
may we seek that we may be instructed by it and may we believe it because
it is the truth of God. Many people today turn away from
God's Word. They have an evil heart of unbelief
and it is a very tragic scene and that's really just what these
Israelites did all those years ago. They didn't believe God
was able to deliver of the Canaanites into their hand. They just looked
around, high walls, well-organized people, giants, and their faith
failed them. They looked at it naturally. We must not look at these things
naturally. May God give us a spiritual understanding
because it's God Almighty and none less that gives us grace
to believe, gives us strength to believe, but how necessary
it is. And we think of that man in the
scriptures who was, perhaps we might think doubtful about believing,
But he came with that very lovely statement, and he said, I do
believe, help thou mine unbelief. That means he didn't want to
not believe the gospel. He wanted to believe it. Well,
is that our condition? Is that our position? Is that
our situation tonight? We do want to believe. the gospel. Well, you know, there is an encouraging
word, of course, in lines of a hymn which I often quote, but
it's so appropriate and so applicable really. And it's this, I came
to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. It's wonderful,
isn't it? We don't have to dress up. We
don't have to pretend what we're not. because God knows us, he
knows what we are, exactly. And therefore we can come to
him very boldly, as we're encouraged in that last verse of that chapter
we read, to come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
indeed find help in time of need. We must not forget the wonderful
invitation the Lord Jesus gives to us when we read the last few
verses in the 11th chapter to Matthew. And the Lord speaks. He says to his father, just ponder
this, this is glorious words. In the 25th verse, 11th chapter,
at that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, wise and prudent in the things of this
world, and has revealed them unto babes. What a blessing if
we're a babe in the things of God. Even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight, all things are delivered unto
me of my Father, And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither
knoweth any man the Father, save the Son. And to whomsoever the
Son will reveal Him." Well, it's a blessing. It's the Lord Jesus
reveals to us the Father. The Father who sent His only
beloved Son into this world, that whosoever believes on him
should not perish, but have eternal life. And then the Lord goes
on with his gracious words of invitation, having set the scene
very carefully, come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. I know not, you know, whether
perhaps tonight you are heavy laden with an evil heart of unbelief. The devil's possessing you. You might say you're devil dragged.
The devil does drag us around sometimes and tries to destroy
us. But thanks be to God, he will
not be able to. because our anchor, our hope,
will be cast within the veil. Whether the forerunner is entered,
even Jesus, that's where our anchor will be. And so when we
hear these words, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest, we can take courage. We can be
encouraged. And then the Lord graciously
says, take my yoke upon me, upon you, and learn of me. Yes, there's something to be
done. There's a joining together, there's a uniting with the Saviour,
the one who is the best friend to sinners like you and me. That one who is our friend, as
that bride of Christ say, this is my friend. Oh, is Jesus tonight
our friend? Is he your friend and mine? Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart. That's good, isn't it? That's
the Saviour. He's high and lowly in heart. He's been on this earth. He knows
what sore temptations are. He's been tempted of the devil.
He knows the path that you and I are walking through. He understands
all about us. What a mercy. He tells us then,
for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall, you shall find
rest unto your souls. Well, that's the promise. If
you and I come to him, labouring and heavy laden as we are, we
come to him and take He joked upon us to be that true desire
to confess Him as our Lord and Saviour, not anything that we've
done, but to confess what He has done. And oh, praise God
tonight, if He's given us that faith to believe, not like the
Israelites of old, who looked outwardly to the difficulties
and concluding they were not able, apart from Caleb, who was
able to say, we are well able. And every true believer is well
able, because they are drawn by the cords of a man and his
bands of love. They see something attractive
in the Lord Jesus Christ. They recognize He is the only
Savior of sinners. They recognise in Him is all
my hope for time and for eternity. And so the Lord then tells us,
I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest under
your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. There's
nothing more blessed than being joined, yoked to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He doesn't cast us off. We may
seem to be lame. We may seem to not make much
progress. We seem to be a slow learner. The Saviour is very
patient. The Saviour understands us. He's
the only one who really understands you and me. What a blessing it
is so. We have to come and say then,
what a Saviour. What a glorious Saviour we have. One who saves to the uttermost."
Again, that's a lovely statement, isn't it? The uttermost sinner
the Lord's come to save. And I don't know, but perhaps
you feel to be the uttermost sinner. Do
you not believe God's children do feel, do come there, they
feel the uttermost sinner. And they can't point fingers
and say, well, that person's worse than me and that person
has done far worse things than me when the holy spirit convicts
us we stand before a holy god convicted as the sinner that
sinner yes and what a blessing it is then to receive this great
and glorious realization that the lord has looked upon us,
and the Lord has had mercy upon us. The Lord has enabled us not
to harden our hearts. No, the many temptations we have,
as the Israelites of old, to turn away from God. You might think, well, the way
is just too narrow. I really can't go down that route. Well, let us just remember The
way to glory is a narrow way. The way to destruction is a broad
way. But the Lord is with his people in a narrow way. You might say, well, there's
obstacles before me. The Lord takes the obstacles
out of the way. You might say there's mountains
before me. The Lord removes the mountains and make all my mountains
away. Everything is possible with our
God. So let us not listen to the temptation
of Satan to harden our hearts and take heed to the glorious
words of God. take heed brethren lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief you see it's that
which is within us it's not what we appear it's not what we might
appear to people it's what god sees god sees whether you and
i are a true believer or not we may have tried to impress
people over a long time we may have tried to satisfy people
with a natural religion and that true religion would never get
us to heaven We need a God-given religion. We need a religion of the Holy
Ghost, just like we have here. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith. Well, what a blessing tonight.
If we can stand before a Holy God and plead, plead the blood
that does for Sinatone, The cleansing blood of the Saviour. The blood
which takes away all sin. Complete cleansing. Nothing left. Nothing left. What a mercy. What a favour. What a blessing. I realise then that you and I,
by the grace of God, have been kept from the evil heart of unbelief. As we read through that chapter
and the following one, you may have realised there were a number
of times when the apostle refers to unbelief. Unbelief is a terrible
sin. Unbelief will land you and me
in hell. My friends, belief will lead
us land us in glory. And so let us not be found with
that evil heart of unbelief. And as we came down to the end
of the chapter, we're told, but with whom was he grieved 40 years? Who was he grieved 40 years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, and to whom
he swear he that they should not enter into rest but to them
that believed not." It's a very solemn statement. Let our hearts
not be hardened against the great truth of God. The great truth
of God contained in the Word of God. And the verse that follows
that twelfth verse which speaks to us about the evil heart of
unbelief in departing from the living God. The Word of God is
not all negative. Indeed, the Word of God is very
positive. And this is what the 13th verse tells us. But exhort
one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you
be hardened through deceitfulness of sin. unites rights to encourage
one another. Speak to one another. There's
a great dearth today of spiritual conversation. A great dearth. Go back in history. Go back to
the days of the Puritans. They were tough days, but they
were spiritual days. They were days when the gospel
was freely declared. And it was costly, often in those
days, to speak of what they believed. But the Spirit was mighty in
converting. What a wonderful time it was. And then as we perhaps go back,
perhaps almost to when we were younger, or at least before then,
at least in the last century, there were times when people
used to walk home from the Church of God on the Lord's Day, and
perhaps in the week, and they didn't have cars or public transport,
and they walked. And what did they do? They talked
about the sermon. They talked about the truth of
God. They talked about what God had
done for them. And what was a book heard? A
book of remembrance was written. There was a record of God's goodness. And what were they doing? They
were exhorting one another daily. It's a good word that, isn't
it? It's not once a year when you think you've done a good
thing because you've spoken about the things of God. Perhaps on
one occasion, my friends, this is a daily exercise. A daily blessing. The Word of
God tells us this. Not to covet on one hand, but
covet earnestly the best gifts and behold I show you a more
excellent way and what is the best gifts the gift of conversing
on the things of God yes my friends don't forget the evil one wants
our mouths shut that's what he wants and doesn't he succeed
very well in the day in which we live People are happy to talk
about everything else, rather than the things of God. And yet, the things of everything
else will perish and pass away. The things of God are eternal,
which are more important? Well, you don't need a scholarship,
you don't need to have a lot of acumen to remember and to
realize what that is, do you? things of God are the most important
things. Why do you think such words are
recorded here? To encourage us, encourage you
and me to exhort one another daily while it is called today. And he goes on to say in the
14th verse, for we are made partakers of Christ if We hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast unto the end. The evidence, the evidence of
a good beginning. My friends, we all need the evidence
of a good beginning. It may be different, but it's
a beginning known and it's a beginning felt and it's a beginning brought
into our lives by the work of the Holy Ghost. And what it is, is this. The
Lord shows to us that he's done for us what we could not do for
ourselves. The work of his grace. The work of his favour. work
of his love. What do we say? I hope we do. Blessed be God that he and his
love and mercy has come and revealed it unto me. And then of course
the next verse goes on and it's a repeat. This is what it says. While it is said today If ye
will hear his voice, harder not your hearts as in the day of
provocation. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, albeit not all, that came out of Egypt by Moses. The solemn reality was, my friends,
that everyone who provoked Almighty God over twenty years of age
never entered into Canaan. their carcasses fell in the wilderness. That's a very, very solemn consideration. And you know, may it not be true
of us that we have provoked God, provoked God by not confessing
what he's done for our souls, not confessing that our hope
is in him and his great and glorious work. confessing that He has
blessed us with that spiritual life, that He it is that has
quickened us. Oh, my friends, let us not be
amongst those with whom God is grieved, because we owe Almighty
God a wonderful and tremendous debt if He has given us spiritual
life. Oh, my friends, may we be found
amongst those. are blessed then to know that we shall by God's
grace one day enter into his rest, that rest which he has
prepared for all the Church of God. Everyone who has received
the gift of eternal life will not be turned away at the gates
of glory because they will have that good certificate that certificate
which assures them that the blessed Saviour is dying upon Calvary's
cross to take away all their sins and therefore they are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. What a deliverance! What a mercy! What a blessing! surely that
is so we can rejoice in what Christ has done and surely we
can come to that situation where we say we can indeed exhort one
another daily for his love for his mercy for his grace to such
unworthy sinners and stand away amazed that it should have come
to us and therefore can we not go on our way rejoicing, praising
God, from whom all blessings flow. Amen.