Now open your Bibles with me
to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. This morning I want to speak
to you a little bit on this subject. The tragedy of unbelief. The tragedy of unbelief. The writer of Hebrews, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, had spoken or written back in chapter two,
in verse one, these words. He says, therefore, we ought
to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip. And what he's saying there is
because of the greatness of the message of the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace in and by the glorious person and finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glory of that message, the
uniqueness of that message. It's not a common message. I
tell people all the time, I wish, I wish that whenever you drove
through Albany or through any other town in this world and
you saw the word church, I wish that you could walk inside and
be comfortable and confident that you could hear the true
gospel, but I'm afraid to tell you that is just not the case.
It's not the case. The Lord warned us of a time
coming when there would be so much deception So many false
gospels, false churches, false preachers. He said that some
of them would be closer to the truth than others. In fact, he
made this statement in Matthew 24. He said some of them would
be so close that if it were possible, they could deceive the very elect.
And that's something to think about, isn't it? So whenever
we find the true gospel, Whenever we find the true Christ
preached according to the Word of God, we can certainly understand
the words of the writer here. We ought to give the more earnest
heed. We ought to really listen. We
ought not ignore it. We ought not confuse it. We ought
not just drift on by. That's what that means. And so,
When he comes to chapter 3 there, he talks about the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the household of God. He says in verse 6, but
Christ as a Son over His own house. Whose house are we? Is this the house of God? Or
is this a place where a false gospel is preached? Now, you
need to understand that. I'm not just, you know, somebody
told me one time, he said, well, you think you're the only one
preaching the gospel. No, I don't think that, but I
think I'm one of the few. Now, if that sounds arrogant
to you, I'm sorry, but it's just the truth. And what I'm saying is this.
I want to know that this is truly God's church, Christ's church. that we're his people, and not
just plain religion. Not just coming together in some
social, you know, most churches today, they're just nothing more
than social gatherings. I've been thinking about this
a while, you know, where to go to church? Why do you go to church?
Well, we're looking for something that'll keep our kids busy, or
something that'll entertain us, or something like that. Why do you come to this? Well,
I hope it's because you're searching for the truth. Most worship services anymore,
the popular worship services, the preaching is set in the background.
And when they do preach, do they preach Christ? That's what you
need to be concerned with. Do they preach the Word of God?
That's why I had Brother Jim read those passages in Psalm
119. That's what the psalmist David's talking about. He's not
talking about being saved by keeping the law. If he was, he
failed. You ever read about David? He
wasn't a perfect man in himself. He said, I've refrained my steps.
I'm keeping the law. Well, how are we keeping the
law? That's in a gospel context. Salvation
by grace. And that's not relieving our
responsibility to try to obey God in all things, not at all.
But our salvation is not conditioned on our works. And if you think
your salvation is conditioned on your law-keeping, you're in
trouble. You say, well, I'm a pretty good
guy. You're still in trouble, pretty good guy. Because you can't be good enough.
That's what the rich young man, when he approached Christ, How
good must I be, must I do to be saved? He said, well, keep the law.
The fellow said, well, I've done that from my youth up. And Christ
said, well, let's put it to the test. Go sell everything you
have and give it to the poor and come follow me. And he went
away sorrowful. The law condemns us based on
our works. The only way we can find the
perfection of righteousness in the law is to look to Christ.
And that's what this message is all about. It's not look in
yourselves. You say, well, doesn't the Bible
say examine yourselves? Well, read the rest of it now.
Examine yourselves to see whether you be in the faith. Am I really
looking to Christ for my salvation? That's what that's all about.
What is the faith? For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. So when we examine
ourselves, it's to see, am I really believing this gospel? Am I really one of those whom
God by his spirit has revealed the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ? Or am I just playing games? Or
am I just a warm body in a pew? That's the issue. So he says in verse six, Christ
as a son over his own house, whose house are we? If we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope from unto the end.
What's he saying there? The if is an evidence, this is
an evidence. If we hold fast that confidence,
what is our confidence? Paul wrote in Philippians chapter
three in verse three, for we are the circumcision, which means
circumcision of the heart, the new birth, which worship God
in spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, we have confidence in
Christ Jesus and no confidence in the flesh. I'm not looking
to myself for salvation. We preach not ourselves, Paul
wrote, but we preach Christ. I don't want you to look to me.
I don't want you to look to yourself. I want you to look to Christ.
For all salvation, for the forgiveness of your sins, for the righteousness
that God requires for you to stand before Him. I want you
to follow Him. I want you to follow His Word.
I want to be able to honestly say, I love thy law. Now how
can I say that? His Word. Only as I see it fulfilled
in Christ. You're not gonna love something
that condemns you. Well, how can I know I'm not
condemned by the law? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. What is it to walk after the
spirit? To walk looking to Christ as the author and finisher of
our faith. So look at verse seven. He says,
wherefore, for this reason, as the Holy Ghost saith, And
he's quoting here from the Psalms. He says, today if you will hear
his voice, hear God's voice, the voice of God. How do you
hear the voice of God? Will you have a dream? Take a
drug? Go to church and have some religious
experience? Now, this right here is the voice
of God, my friend. right here in this Bible. Somebody
said, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe all the words of the
Bible. That's impossible. You may not know all the words
of the Bible. You may have never read all the words of the Bible.
But this right here is the word of God. This is the word of God. And so he says, if you will hear
his voice, verse eight, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation,
in the day of temptation, testing in the wilderness. Now who's
he talking about? He's talking about the Hebrew children. Having
been delivered out of Egypt by the power of God through the
prophet Moses, and here they are wandering in the wilderness.
You remember the story how God delivered them out through miracles? How they came to Mount Sinai
and God gave them the law. And they were just a picture
of faith, weren't they? You say, well, what Bible are
you reading? No, they were down there worshiping a golden calf.
You remember the story. You know how that went. And finally,
they moved out from Mount Sinai towards the promised land. And
when they came to the border of the promised land, what happened?
They became another picture of faith? No. They became a picture
of unbelief. Remember how they sent spies
over? Remember that? They had a majority report and
a minority report. The majority report came back
and it said something like this. We're not able to take the land.
They're too big over there. They're giants. Oh, it's a plush
land. It's a very fruitful land. They have grape vines with grapes
as big as bowling balls on them, that kind of thing. But we can't
take that. We're not able. We're not able.
We can't do it. Well, the problem with that is
it was never dependent upon their ability. And the minority report
came back and said, wait a minute, fellas, you're all thinking wrongly. It's not based on our ability,
our power to take it. It's already ours. God gave it
to us. Let's just go over and have it.
Let's just possess it, because it's ours already. So they're unbelief. And what
happened? Well, they wandered in the wilderness
for 40 years. You say, well, have they finally
learned their lesson? No. Read about their wilderness
journey, the book of Numbers. They're 40 years. How they continue
to provoke God, disbelieve God, that's why it's called the day
of provocation. He says in verse nine, when your fathers tempted
me, proved me, and saw my works 40 years, they saw some wonderful
things, didn't they? He says in verse 10, wherefore
for this reason I was grieved with that generation and said
they do all we err in their heart. And they have not known my ways,
so I swear in my wrath." Ooh, that's something there. God swore
in his wrath. They shall not enter into my
rest. Think about that. You know, the
history of Israel is a glorious history, but it's also a very
tragic history. And when I say the history of
Israel is a glorious history, I want you to understand, All
of that glory goes to God. None of it goes to Israel. None
of it. It all goes to God. You know,
that's a picture of salvation. That's the way it is with the
salvation of spiritual Israel, the salvation of God's people.
It's a glorious history, but all the glory goes to God. None
of it goes to us. That's why Paul wrote, God forbid
that I should glory. That means to boast, to have
confidence, save, accept in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ gets the glory. In my salvation, in your salvation. If you give any glory to yourself,
you're wrong now. If you think that you did something
or or acquired something or attained something in order to put yourself
in a position where you've earned or deserved God's blessings and
favors and benefits, you got it wrong. People today, they think they
earn and gain God's blessings by what they do. That's not what
the scripture says. The tragedy, all the glory goes
to God alone and none of it to Israel, and the tragedy is the
fact that throughout their history as a nation, being brought out
of bondage in Egypt, being given the law at Sinai, and wandering
in the wilderness, occupying and living in the promised land,
and in their last days under captivity, what stands forth
is this, their ignorance, their unbelief, their rebellion, and
their idolatry. That's what stands forth. But don't get puffed up and say, well, those rotten Israelites,
how could they have done that? No, that's just a picture of
fallen, ruined humanity. Did you know that? It's not just
an indictment on Israel. That's what we all are by nature. The scripture hath concluded
all under sin, Jew and Gentile. What are we by nature? We're
unbelievers. What are we by nature? We walk
in darkness, self-righteousness, religious pride. The recorded
history in the Bible is a glorious testimony to the power of God
and his faithfulness to keep his promise, mainly to send Christ
into the world. It's a sad testimony of the sin
and the rebellion and unbelief and unfaithfulness of Israel
and all of us by nature. But we have to remember that
this is not simply an indictment on this one nation, but a model
of the whole of humanity by nature. And I emphasize that. Ruined
by the fall. Born spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. But why would God record all
this mess sinners. Why would God, why would
He show me the rottenness, the depravity of my human nature? Why would He do that? Well the
purpose is to show us our need of His grace. Our need of His way of salvation. Our need of Christ. Our need
of righteousness by Him. Our need of forgiveness. Here
he talks about the unbelief of Israel. God the Holy Spirit has
testified throughout this book that there's no salvation for
sinners, but through Christ Jesus. By the grace of God, there's
no other choice. There's only one way. I've been
told, I don't know, I've not gone around to the other churches
in this town, but I've been told this, that there are churches
in this town, Albany, Georgia, who believe in progressive Christianity. Now, have you ever heard that
term? You know what progressive Christianity, according, now
this is according to a lady that left one of these churches, and
I asked her this. I said, I know what progressive Christianity
is, but I want you to tell me what you think it is. You know
how she described it? She said, they believe there
are other ways to God other than Christ. Now, my friend, that is a false
gospel. You say, well preacher, you're
being too hard. I'm just telling you the word of God. Christ said,
I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, no one comes under
the Father but by me. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There's none other
name given among men whereby we must be saved. He is the one
way to God. There's no other way. He's the
one way of forgiveness of sins. He's the one way of righteousness. He's the one way of eternal life
and glory. You want to live forever with
the Lord? You must come this one way. Now there are false ways, many
false ways. There's only one right way. There's
many false ways. And there's many ways that Satan
disguises the many false ways and calls it Christianity, calls
it grace. There are false Christ. Did you know that? This book
here, The Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, you know what
that is? It's a biblical portrait of Jesus Christ and what he has
accomplished on the cross for his people. And so if I tell
you I'm preaching Jesus, or here's Jesus, or there's Jesus, here's
Christ, or there's Christ, and my words do not, are not supported
by this word, what am I doing? I'm preaching a counterfeit.
A counterfeit. No matter how I appear outwardly. The problem that plagues us,
now think about it, there's one way to God. And here's the problem
that plagues us, is that this one way is a way that we by nature
don't want. And don't desire. Why? Why don't
we want? Why don't we desire? Because
it gives glory in ourselves. It doesn't allow me any room
to boast. It gives all glory to God and none to me. It also
exposes the things of which we're so proud to be nothing more than
evil deeds. Even dung, the scripture says,
has compared to the merits of Christ. What are people proud
of today? Proud of their religious experiences,
all of that. God's voice comes forth in the
gospel that calls on us to believe in Christ and repent of those
things of which we're proud. believe in Christ for all righteousness,
and admit that my righteousnesses, those things which I think are
righteous by my deeds, that they're filthy rags. And it takes the Spirit of God
to bring a sinner to that point. God sending Christ into the world
to save his people was the very reason for Israel's existence
as a nation, but as a nation they refused to believe God.
But you know what, that's the way we would be if God hadn't
intervened, isn't that right? If God had not powerfully, sovereignly,
and invincibly intervened in my life, I would be no better
off than the nation of Israel. He said, harden not your heart.
How do people harden their hearts? Well, certainly we would recognize
a person who out and out rejects the gospel. as doing that, wouldn't
it? But I'll tell you another way,
probably a more common way that people harden their heart. They
ignore it. That's why he said, we ought
to give the more earnest heed. Don't ignore this now. Any of us who believe the gospel,
it's because God has appointed us unto life. It's a miracle
of God's power and grace, not ours. God will save his chosen
people by his grace and power in Christ. Having been justified
by God based on Christ's righteousness, imputed, charged, accounted to
us, and redeemed by his blood, we'll be born again. Given spiritual
life and faith to believe and continue to the end, and it's
all by God's grace in Christ. And listen to what he says here
in verse 11. Verse 11, he says, so I swear in my wrath, they
shall not enter into my rest. Now, the physical application
of that is to the promised land. You see, they were wandering.
They were nomads. They couldn't put down roots
because they didn't believe. And so they wandered. God said,
you'll not enter into my rest. There's a spiritual application
of that. Look at Hebrews chapter 4, just over one page. Verse
1. He says, let us therefore fear
lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any
of you should seem to come short of it. Any of you who are here
in the gospel. Verse two, for unto us was the
gospel preached as well as unto them. Do you know they heard
the gospel? They had Moses in the, you know
Christ said Moses wrote of me. And even before Moses, Abraham,
he said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was
glad. They had the law of Moses. They had the ceremonial law,
the types and the pictures. That was all types and pictures
of Christ. The blood of lambs. Behold the
Lamb of God. That's Christ. They heard the
gospel. You're hearing the gospel. And
so what does he say? What is God's rest? Well, God's
spiritual eternal rest is the rest that God's people have because
Christ did the work. Christ did the work, and I'll
talk about that later on in chapter four. Do you know what the Sabbath
is for the people of God today? And this may offend some people. The Sabbath for the people of
God today is our rest in Christ by faith. My friend, it's not
a day. That day was a type, a picture.
Christ did a work. What did He do? As the surety,
the substitute, as the redeemer of His people, He obeyed the
law unto death, the obedience unto death, even the death of
the cross. He did all that work. And our
great high priest did something that no human high priest under
the old covenant law could do. You know what he did? He sat
down. Why? Well, he said in John 19,
30, it's finished. What was finished? He made an
end of sin. He paid the penalty of the sins
of his people charged to him. He satisfied justice. He finished
the transgression. He brought in everlasting righteousness. By His obedience unto death as
our surety, substitute, and redeemer, He brought forth by His work,
by His deeds, by His death, an everlasting righteousness of
infinite value by which God is just to justify his people. And
we, when God gives us the gift of faith through the power of
the Holy Spirit in the new birth, what does he do? He brings us
to stop trying to work our way into his favor and just rest
in Christ. That's our, he's our Sabbath.
You say, well, what is Sunday? It's the Lord's Day. It's the
day the Lord appointed that we should, in the New Testament
church, meet together and worship the rest that we've entered in.
That's what it is. But Israel couldn't do that because
they believed not. So look at verse 12. Here's the
warning. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. in departing from
the living God. Now he's talking to people who
are hearing the true gospel. That's the warning to professing
believers. He says in verse 13, but exhort
one another daily what is called today, lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. Verse 14, for we are made
partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end. There's another evidence, that
if is not conditional, it's evidential. Do you hold fast the beginning?
What does it mean, the beginning of our confidence? Well, the
way it started, that's the way it's gonna end. I begin the Christian
life trusting in Christ, that's the way I'm gonna end it. I don't
begin trusting in Christ and then end up trusting myself. I don't begin trusting in Christ
for all salvation and then as I grow in grace and knowledge,
feel like I'm getting better and I don't need him as much.
No, right now. I've been doing this over 30
years now. Right now, if God were to mark
iniquities, I wouldn't stand. Right now, if God were to judge
me based upon my best efforts to serve Him, I would be damned
forever. Right now, I'm just as much in
need of the blood and the righteousness of Christ as I ever was, and
it'll be that way. Always. And when I go to be with
Him, my song will be the song of the redeemed. Not worthy I
am, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And I'll spend eternity testifying
that my whole reason for being is the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's the beginning of my confidence
And that'll be the end of my confidence. Christ crucified
and risen from the dead. And so he said, and that's evidence. That's not a condition I met
in order to gain or attain. It's the evidence that God has
freely given me salvation with all of its blessings and benefits
based upon the merits of the perfect righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ imputed to me. So verse 15, what is said
today? Today, if you will, hear his
voice. Harden not your hearts, as in
the provocation. Could I be deceived by what I'm
hearing? Well, do what the psalmist in
Psalm 119 said, look to the word of God. If they speak not according
to this word, there's no light in them, the scripture says. You know why most people who
claim to be Christian don't know, read, and study their Bibles?
You want to know why? Because it's easier not to. That's right. It's just easier
not to. It's easier just to go into some
religious organization, sit down, and let the preacher or the deacons
or the elders do your thinking for you. Check your brain at the vestibule
and then come on in. And we'll have a big old time.
Isn't that what it is? But what does the scripture say?
Test the spirits. Try the spirits. For every spirit
that claims to be sin of God, they're not. Do they preach the
Word of God? Do they preach the Christ of
the Bible? Who He is? What He did? Why He
did it? Where He is now? Who is Jesus Christ? How do I
know I'm trusting the true Christ? Well, the Scripture tells us
it's by the standard of what is called the doctrine of Christ.
What does the Bible teach about Christ? Who is He? He's God in
human flesh. He's Emmanuel, God with us. That's who He is. What did He
accomplish on Calvary when He died for the sins of His people?
He ensured the eternal salvation, eternal life of everyone for
whom He died. That's called a propitiation.
That's called redemption. Could I be deceived by my own
heart? Well, what does the Word of God say? He that believeth
on him, on Christ, is not condemned, but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. That's what the Bible says. It says in John 5, 24, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Who is your
hope? What is your hope? Who is your
comfort? When you go into despair for
your sins, where do you find relief? Where do you find peace?
Where do you find forgiveness? Where do you find comfort? Tell you where a believer finds
it, only in Christ crucified and risen from the dead. He who
is seated at rest at the right hand of God, he's my rest. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, and all other ground is sinking sand. Is my faith that which God gives
to His people? Well, faith has a foundation. Faith has an object. And it's
the Christ of the Bible. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Where do you find righteousness?
In yourself, that's not the Bible. That's self-righteousness. I
find it in Christ. That's what that book's all about.
What is the righteousness of God? I find it in Christ. Nowhere
else. And is it that faith that God
gives the gift of faith, but he also brings with it the gift
of repentance? Am I holding on to a false gospel,
to false religion, false experiences? which I used to call salvation,
but now I realize it was nothing more than natural conscience
or whatever. But I stand in Christ. Do I love
the Lord? Well, I know I don't love him
perfectly, but am I like the psalmist David? I love his law. I love the word of God. That's
what I want to hear. I can't live without it. How
about you? I've told our young people in
classes before, you know, who've brought up under the gospel.
They weren't brought up under a false gospel. And they might
think, well, how can I know when I really come to believe it?
And I told them this. I said, well, can you live without
it? I asked them one time, I said, how many of you would be here
at church this morning if mom and dad didn't make you come? We have some young people here
who the Lord has graciously been brought to faith in Christ. They
know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you? You'll be brought
to a point by the grace of God that you can't live without it. It's life to the dead. Well,
let me close there and we'll pick up there next week.