Do this. Hebrews chapter 3. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that
appointed Him, as we saw that this morning, as also Moses was
faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath 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. And Moses verily was
faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of
those things which were to be spoken, after, 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 to the end.
Wherefore, and I read this to you Psalm 95, as the Holy Ghost
saith, today if you 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 always err in their hearts, and they have not known thy ways.
So I swear in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest. Take
heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief, and departing from the living God. But exhort one
another daily, encourage one another daily, build up one another
daily, while it is called today. Lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto
the end. While it is said today, if you
will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke, albeit not all that
came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved
forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them
that believed not? They did not believe him. So
we see, here's the conclusion of why they could not enter into
His rest. It was because of unbelief. They did not believe God. God said it, and they said, I
don't believe you. I don't believe you. Our Father, help us to believe. Help us to lay hold of thee. Help us to listen. Help us to
learn this morning. Help us to believe. Lord, when
you speak, help us to hear your voice. Not just the preacher's
voice, but God's voice. Speak, Lord, to our hearts. Grant
us the spirit of worship. Enable us to leave here this
morning rejoicing in God our Savior. In Christ's name we pray,
and amen. And Thursday night, when we meet,
I want us to take the Lord's table Thursday night, whoever
takes care of that. Getting it prepared. You see, I'm used to being under
Henry. He was the greatest delegator
in the world. He delegated and held you responsible.
I promise you he did. So, I just shot myself there,
didn't I? Well, I'll take care of that
matter. Okay. Hebrews chapter 3. I titled the message, Believe
Now. Believe Now. That's what the Scripture says
here. Today, today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your
hearts. I can't tell you how sobering, can't express how sobering this
message is. I may never come this way again. I may never hear the gospel again.
I may not do it. God may not speak again. He may,
but He may not. If He does, He's merciful, isn't
He? You see, God deals in the present, and therefore we must deal in
the present. Too often people, they look back to the past when
talking about salvation. They look back to a time. They
look back to a place. Salvation, and let me ring this
loud and clear, is looking to Jesus Christ now. I don't know
about yesterday, but I know right now. I'm here right now. Paul
said, forgetting, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forth, looking to Him. The Scripture always speaks
of looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We're
not looking back. You know, when we preach the
cross, we preach Christ crucified, we're looking to Christ crucified
now. John said when he was taken into
heaven and received the revelation, he said, I saw a lamb as it had
been slain. He saw him in a sacrificial character
in the present, in the present. I know there was a time when
I heard the gospel and believed. I know that. But salvation is
not looking to that, it's looking to Christ now. Looking back, just smells of
words. I'm trying to find an experience. I know a man that
I believe God's done something for him. I've talked to him over
the years, but he always kept talking about way back there
when he was under Arminianism, And he says, I believe God saved
me then. I said, well, you know, God has to convince a man of
salvation. But now you don't talk like that.
Now he talks completely opposite. Now he talks about salvation
in the present. He talks about salvation in Christ. I believe
the Lord's done something for him. I did tell him this, God doesn't
save anyone under a lie. It doesn't save anyone. Another
man told me once, he said, when I heard, and this troubled me,
he said, when I heard the doctrines of grace, it changed my whole
theology. I said, you can't change your theology and not change
your God. You can't do it. If my whole theology changes,
God changed, didn't He? Something happened. Something
happened. Faith is always looking unto
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then there are those who look
to the future. The king said, when I have a more convenient
time, I'll hear you again. I'll send for you. I'll hear
you again. And he never did do it. It's not recorded. He never
sent for Paul again to hear that message. There's not one person
living, there's not one person in this room that has a promise,
a guarantee, of living tomorrow. Not one of us. There's not a
doctor on this earth that can say with certainty, I guarantee
you, you'll live tomorrow. No, you can't. That rich man said, so thou ask
much goods. I tell you what I'm going to
do, I'm going to tear down my barns, they're going to be bigger
barns. And God said, you fool, this night your soul is required
of you. through clarity. Now back in
verse 6, the apostle, he writes, whose house are we? If we hold
fast to profession, firm to the end. He goes from speaking of
the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first part of this
chapter to warning us about being religious but lost. I don't want
to be religious but lost. I don't want to be that way.
The apostle is not trying to get us to doubt our salvation,
and that's not what I'm doing this morning. I am not trying
to stand up here and trying to get you to doubt whether God
has saved you or not. But what I am trying to do, what
I hope to do, is that you and I will leave here sober-minded
about our relationship to God in Christ. Be very sober-minded
about that. Salvation is not to be taken
for granted. It's not to be taken lightly.
A relationship with God is the greatest relationship ever. There's
no greater relationship. And that relationship can only
be had through His Son. No man comes to the Father except
by Me. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Now we have God's inspired word
on this in verse 7. as the Holy Ghost saith, the
author of this Scripture, as well as all the Scriptures here
in the Word of God, are breathed, they're God-breathed by the Holy
Spirit. They're in 2 Timothy 3.16. And
why is Paul pointing this out? He's pointing this out so that
you and I would understand that the Holy Spirit is giving weight
to this matter of unbelief, even though he claimed to believe.
Every one of them claimed to be a child of God. But they didn't
believe God. They didn't believe God. And
we'll see this, in light and face of all the miracles that
they saw, they did not believe God at all. And he says here,
today, if you will hear his voice, If you will hear, God speak.
If you've come this morning to hear God, and His voice is the
voice we want to hear, what's He saying to me? Speak, Lord. What are You saying to me? Speak
to my heart. I want God to speak to my heart. God preserved Israel's rebellion
in the wilderness. In His Word, He wrote it down,
and He did it for our admonition. Look over in Jude chapter 5.
In Jude chapter 1 verse 5, I will therefore put you in remembrance Though you once knew this, how
that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that believed not." He didn't destroy
all of them, but He did destroy them that believed not. They
didn't believe Him. I want you to note the urgencies
of these words. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith today, if you'll hear His voice, harden not your hearts,
Don't be like the king that said, I'll hear you at another time.
I'll call for you at another, at a more convenient time. What
is more convenient than now? Is there ever a time, is there
ever a time that something is more convenient than now? In
hearing the gospel. Hard not your hearts as in the
provocation in the day, the temptation in the wilderness when your fathers
tempted me. proved me, and saw my works forty
years." They saw, they ate manna every morning. Every morning
they went out and got a free lunch, or a free breakfast. They
got manna, they got their daily food. They got water out of the
flinty rock. They saw the Red Sea parted and
walked across on dry ground. God flew quail right into the
camp for them to eat. They saw this. They saw kingdoms
greater and mightier than them fall before them. They saw this. He says, you saw my work for
40 years. And wherefore I was grieved with
that generation. We looked at a few of those,
here a few, been a few several weeks ago, how much they murmured
and they complained. Every time he turned around,
they were murmuring and complaining. God would bless them, and then
they'd go through a hardship, and then they'd turn on God.
They'd turn on God's servant, Moses. He said, they do always err in
their heart. Here's the problem. I can assure
you this is always our problem. It's a heart problem. It's a
heart problem. Their heart was not right with
God. Simon Magus, It says that he believed a book of Acts, and
he was baptized. And then when he saw that the
apostles were given the gift of the Holy Ghost by laying on
of hands, he pulled his billfold out, let me buy that. Let me
purchase that. And Peter said, Simon Magus,
your money perish with you, your heart is not right with God. That's the problem. It's a heart
problem. And they have not known, listen,
my ways. You know, he says in one place
in the Psalms, I made my ways known to Moses, my acts unto
the children of Israel. You see, Moses understood the
Lord's way. Most of the children of Israel,
they just saw what was happening. They just saw the sea parted
and didn't give too much thought to it after they got across.
I want God to reveal to me His way, not just see His acts. You can watch a hurricane come
across the ocean. That's the act of God. But the
way of God is salvation, and that's Christ. That's Christ. Now, there's a difference. There's
a difference between the way of God and the act of God. We
see the act of God of providence every day. Every day. But now we see the way of God
in His Word. We just stand here and read it. So I swear in my
wrath they shall not enter into my rest, my rest." Where is God's rest? Jesus Christ. That's God's rest. That's where
God's at rest at. And you don't want to meet Him
anywhere else. We know the salvations of the Lord. We know that God
has a chosen people. And we know that He will call
them out by His Spirit. But I tell you this, When I stand here and preach,
when Paul wrote this, and when Paul preached, I want to be able
to preach with an urgency to all people who are listening
to me. Everybody listening to me. I preach with an urgency.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I promise you, on God's Word,
He said, you'll be saved. You'll be saved. Paul said this
in one place. Knowing the terror of the Lord,
we persuade men. Oh, that God give me a heart like
He gave Paul. He said over there in Romans
10, He said, I could wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren's
sake. If it would save my brethren,
Could you say as a parent, now listen, as a parent, can you
say, I would to God that I could be separated from Christ and
sent to hell if it would save my children? That's even tough
to say, when you really sit down and consider what you're saying.
And Paul said that, and he meant it. And that's the heart I would
to God that he'd give us. If he would give us that kind
of heart, you'd be shocked at the ministry this church would
have in this community. To have that kind of heart. But also he writes this, that
we should never, never presume that God will speak to our hearts
at any time. At any time. He may not. He may
not. There's a time, listen now, there's
a time for the gospel to be here. I believe the gospel's here. But there will come a time that
the gospel will move on. It's like a wave of the ocean. It washes through and then moves
on. Where is the church of Ephesus?
Well, the church of Ephesus is in heaven, but where's that place
now on earth? Where are those places that we
read about in the scriptures? Where are they? Those places
hate the gospel right now. And while we have today, while
we have today, believe Him, serve Him, worship
Him, because someday, Someday it'll go. It'll be gone. It will. Someday it'll be gone. You just
look at the history. All you've got to do is look
at the history. And I know this. I know that
because of today's pressure to get people to make a decision
to accept Jesus as their personal Savior in order to swell the
attendance of the congregation, true preachers get guilty of
going the other direction. We get guilty of that. We get guilty of not calling
on sinners to believe God. Every person in this room ought
to believe God this morning. God is a God to be believed.
He's not a God to say, well, you know what, I can think about
that. God is to be believed every time
He speaks. And we ought to expect people
to believe God. We ought to expect it. God cannot
lie. He cannot lie. We are not to abandon biblical
methods just because someone else abuses it. Someone else
abuses it doesn't mean I'm going to go completely the other direction.
No. Just correct it. And here's the warning. Harden
not your heart against the truth. What we have read is the truth.
What you're hearing is the truth. A hardened heart is the same
as an evil heart of unbelief. That's what it is. And this was
Israel's sin in the wilderness. They did not believe God. They
didn't believe God. They murmured. They refused to
enter into the promised land. You know why they refused to
enter into the promised land? Because there were giants in
the land. Our Lord said, fear not what
man can do to you. They were afraid to enter the
promised land because when the spies came back, Joshua and Caleb,
they said they're giants. And the people just melted. They
just melted. They repeatedly did not believe
God. In the face of all miracles,
all that they saw, they did not believe God. They professed to
know God. They professed to be the people of God, but they didn't
believe Him. They didn't believe Him. They denied Him. By their
conduct, by their conduct, they denied Him. I ain't going over
there. Them guys are seven feet tall. They just fall harder is
all. Is it harder for God to take
down a seven-foot man than a three-foot man? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? God could take a tall, robust man and give him just
a little microscopic germ and bring him to the grave. And you and I would be afraid
of that. Who would be afraid of that man? If you fear God, if you
and I ever learn to have a real proper fear of God, we won't
fear nobody else. You won't fear nobody else if you have a proper
fear of God. If you do not have a proper fear
of God, we will fear everything and everyone else. We'll live
in fear. Now he says, take heed, brethren.
Take heed. Now give attention to this. Don't
fall asleep on it, he's saying. Lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God." Our Lord
said this to the disciples when they were sitting around the
table there. He said, one of you is going to betray me. One of you is going to betray
me. And one by one, you know what they said? Lord, is it I? They didn't say, I bet it's Peter.
He hasn't been acting right lately. I bet it's Judas. They didn't
say that. They didn't suspect him either. Every one of them said, Lord,
is it I? Am I the culprit? If you know yourself, that's
the exact answer you'll give. That verse right there, it makes
me shudder. Lord, don't let that happen to
me. Because if you do, it will. It will. This is serious business. Now, he calls them brethren.
The reason he calls them brethren is because they don't profess
to be a bunch of atheists. They all profess to know God.
And on that premises, he calls them brethren. Israel saw his works time and
time again, and they were not thankful. How many times has
God blessed me? How many times has God brought
me through? only for me to complain again.
I never have anything to complain about towards God. Towards me,
yes, but not towards God. It says in Romans 121, because
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were
thankful. I can tell you what, one of the
greatest marks of an unbeliever, I don't care what they profess,
is unthankfulness. unthankfulness, ungratefulness. You can mark that down. That
person is lost as a dead dog. But they became vain in their
imaginations, and their vain imagination had to do with God.
God said in Psalms, you thought I was altogether like yourselves. He thought I... I didn't have
a low estimation of God, and a very high estimation of myself. You know, I've learned I've learned
over the years that people who are easily offended are people
who think too highly of themselves. Isn't it? They just think too
highly of themselves. I learned that from me. And their
foolish heart, he said, was darkened. Oh, unthankfulness, ungratefulness. It's a sign that a person has
missed grace. They saw God. This is how Israel saw God. And this just struck me. They
saw God as one who existed only to meet their needs. Isn't that
good? That's a good thought. That's
an awful way to think, but it's... To see God As the only reason for His existence
is to serve me, take care of my needs, pay attention to most
of your prayers. Pay attention. I pay attention
to my prayers. Lord, give me this, help me there. Think about your prayers. Ninety-nine
percent of our prayers is more help or this and that about me
than it is praise. You ever think about just praying
in a sense of just praising God and not asking for anything?
That'd be new. God doesn't exist to serve my
wants. God is someone to be worshiped.
Now anyone short of God would be idolatry, it would be terrible
sin to worship. To worship anything but God.
But because of who He is, it's only right that he be worshiped. It's arrogance and it's sin and
it's pride if I thought anybody ought to worship me. Because
that's what I'm... I'm a sinful man. But God is
absolute perfection. And perfection deserves and demands
worship. It's the only right to worship God.
It's not an ego trip. It'd be an ego trip for me. But
it's only right for God. It's only right. Beware, you
and I, beware of this kind of spirit. That God exists to supply my
needs. I ask you a question. Is Jesus
Christ your life or is He a part of your life? I heard someone on the radio
not too long ago say, Make Him a part of your life. Who wants
a part of my stinking life? My wife has put up with that
for 41 years. I want His life. I want the life
of God, that perfect life. That's the life we want. But
exhort one another daily. This is not just for me now.
It's not just for me standing here doing this for you. This
is for you also. Exhort one another. When? When
should we do this? When's a convenient time? When's
the best time? Right now. While it's called today. Lest
any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Sin
has a hardening effect on the heart, on the heart, on a person. It's like you take a piece of
clay, you put it out in the sun, you just let it sit there and
see. After a while, if you don't keep moisture in it, it gets hard. You know there's
such a thing as gospel hardening? You can hear the gospel over
and over and over and walk out that door time and time and time
again, till one day, you don't hear a thing. You're as hard
as granite. That's called gospel hardening. Well, let's call today, lest
any of you be hardened through deceitfulness of sin. Now, this
word exhort means to stir up one another. And how are we to
stir up one another? First of all, by our own faithfulness. There's no need for me to tell
you to be faithful. If I'm not, that's foolish. We stir up one another by love.
Love to Christ and love to one another. Love not in word only,
but in deed and in truth. That's how you stir it up. The
word says provoke one another to love. Now you know what provoked
me. That can provoke you to anger.
You know what I can do. I can slap you in the face and
do that. That works every time. So how do you provoke one another
to love? You love. You demonstrate it. You demonstrate
it in your talk. You demonstrate it in your deeds.
You provoke one another by the very thing you're provoking them
with. If it's anger, it'll be anger. If it's love, it'll be
love. Sin is deceitful and has a hardening
effect if left alone. If God does not take hold of
you, you will grow harder and harder and harder. People usually
leave the gospel. You know how they usually leave
it? Little by little by little. That's how they usually leave.
And they don't even realize what's happening. Don't even realize
it. They have this excuse. They have
that excuse. And before long, they don't even
have an excuse. They don't matter. There's just
no interest. There's no interest. But he says
here in verse 14, and I'll wind this up, we are made partakers
of Christ. We are beneficiaries of Christ.
We are beneficiaries of all that Christ has. All things are yours
in Jesus Christ. If we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end, if we continue in the faith,
I told you this morning, The Word of God holds out no hope
for those who just quit. Because it's evident when a person
quits, they never had it. They never had it. They may have
gone for years, but if they quit, they never had it. We continue in the faith. We
continue to look to Christ alone for all that we need to the end
of our lives on this earth. We keep on believing. You know,
salvation is like this. I have been saved. I'm being
saved. And I shall be saved. That's
the process of salvation. By grace, have you been saved?
I have been saved. God saved me back before the
world began. Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. I've been saved. I heard the gospel. And I'm being
saved. I'm being saved. God's saving
me every day. Saving me from myself. my sins, my ignorance,
my darkness. The darkness is passing away
and the true light, he says, is now shining. Someone said this, don't think
that our perseverance qualifies us for heaven. It just reveals
that we are truly born of God. That's what it reveals. Now,
while it is said today, you don't have tomorrow, you don't have
it. If you will hear His voice, harden
not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard,
did provoke, albeit not all came out of Egypt by Moses. Some heard,
some heard, but they still provoked God by their unbelief. God told
them to go in and possess the land, and they said, nope. Can
you imagine that? God says, go do something. We
said, no, I don't think so. And the only reason why is that
they're bigger. They're just bigger. In Deuteronomy 1.8, listen, God
said to Israel, Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in,
possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob. Go in, possess it. To give unto
them and to their seed after them. Go in, possess it. And
it says in verse 26, Notwithstanding, you would not go up. I told you
to. I told you to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. But rebelled against the commandment
of the Lord your God. Let me tell you something. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
is not an invitation. It's not an invitation. It's
a command to believe God. and to do it is to call God a
liar and shake your fist in God's face. That's what it is. It's
a command. It's not an invitation. We are
not invited to believe God. Oh, I invite you to believe me
today. No, I command you to believe me. A king commands. A president
won't invite, but a king will command. You've heard a great call. You've
heard it this morning. Right here in the Word. Heard
it. You've heard the call of the Gospel. You've heard the
call of grace. If you'll remember, going back in this Scripture,
in chapter 2, take heed to the things which we have heard, lest
at any time we let them slip away. Slip, it means slip away. It's like running out of a...
It's like taking a bucket that's got holes in the bottom. You
fill it up, it's running out. It's just running out, not retaining
what you heard. But with whom was he grieved
forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he that they should not enter into his rest? Here's the
only reason a person will not be in heaven, will not be with
Christ. They don't believe God. They
don't believe God. And the only reason those who
are there, they believe God. And you know why they believe
God? Because they're born of God. They're born of God. God's given them faith. He granted
faith and repentance. Now, don't you ask me to explain
human responsibility. Because I can tell you right
now, God is sovereign and we are responsible for everything
we hear. So we see they could not enter
in, and this is the only reason why, because of unbelief. Unbelief. We've been delivered from the
bondage of sin. We profess to believe God. And
by His grace, we are not going to draw back from it. But I sure
don't want to presume. I don't want to presume. Okay.