In Hebrews chapter 3 and chapter
4, the writer to the Hebrews refers three times to Numbers
chapter 13 and 14, and three times to Psalm 95, 7 through
11. I told Lynn while we were driving
over here, some of these messages out of Hebrews 3 and 4 will necessarily
sound the same, but they're different. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed, is not grievous, Paul said, but for you it's safe. I've entitled this message, While
It's Said, today. The way the Holy Spirit words
everything is exactly as he would have it said, all scripture. is given by inspiration of God,
God-breathed, and said exactly as God would have it to say. This will not always be said
while it's said. For this time, that it can be
said today, if you will hear his voice. Harden not your heart. I'd like to read a passage from
Matthew 25. You might want to turn there
with me. This is the parable of the foolish virgins and the
wise virgins. Then shall the kingdom of heaven
be likened unto 10 virgins, which took their lamps and went forth
to meet the bridegroom. Now, if you would have looked
at these 10 virgins, they all look the same on the outside. You couldn't see the difference,
but the scripture says, or the Lord says five of them were wise
and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their
lamps and took no oil with them. Oil is representative of the
grace of God, oil is representative of the Holy Spirit, the anointing
of oil. They had the lamp, they had no
oil. But the wise took oil in their
lamps, in their vessels with their lamps, and while the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered. and slept. Now, if you would
have looked at these 10 virgins at this time, they all looked
the same, didn't they? They all had a lamp and all 10 were asleep. And if you would look at them
at this time, you couldn't tell which ones were wise and which
ones were foolish. And at midnight, there was a
cry made, behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. That's something right now, isn't
it? Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and
the foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our
lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying,
not so, lest there be not enough for us and you. But go ye rather
to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, time increment represented by
the word while. Same while that we read of in
Hebrews chapter three during this time. While they went to buy, the bridegroom
came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage
and the door was shut. The while was over. Afterward came also the other
virgins. This period of time was over.
Afterwards came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open
to us. But he answered and said, Verily
I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know
neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man Now, if you
were here last Sunday, I made the statement that the two biggest
false refuges men hide in are yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday, I look to yesterday's
faith, yesterday's experience, yesterday's feelings. What happened
if you ate yesterday's manna? It would breed worms and it would
stink. Faith is only and always for
the present. If I intend to do something tomorrow,
well, I don't know if I'll even have tomorrow. And that's making
something in the flesh. I'm gonna do this tomorrow, I'm
gonna do that tomorrow. If you hide in the past, you're
hiding in what you did. If you hide in the future, you're
hiding on what you plan to do. Both situations are salvation
by works. While he said today, faith is always for right now. Just like you only ate the manna
that fell that very day today. While it's said today, verse
15, if you will hear his voice. Now don't you want to hear his
voice? I do, and I know you do too. And this is not talking
about hearing his voice audibly. More powerful than that, when
you hear his voice. Now he speaks, he's the God who
speaks. He speaks by creation. The heavens declare the glory
of God. What an eloquent message that
is. He speaks by providence. Everything
that happens to me and you is him speaking. I don't care what
it is. The good stuff, the bad stuff,
the blessings, the trials, the difficult things, the joyful
things, everything that takes place is him speaking. He's the God who speaks. Oh,
he speaks in his word. Aren't you thankful for the word
of God, the scriptures? And he speaks in the preaching
of the gospel. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. He speaks. Thank God He speaks. Now, notice it says in Hebrews
3.15, while it said, today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. As in
the provocation. And he's talking about what took
place in Numbers chapter 13 and chapter 14. We'll consider that
in a moment. But he says, today, if you will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Now I know the Bible
says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. As a matter of fact, it says
that a whole lot more times than it says that Pharaoh hardened his own
heart. But the Bible still says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. What really hit me when I was
thinking about this thing of a hardened heart, to where you
don't hear the gospel, as you once did, I thought of those
people in Numbers chapter 21. They murmured, they complained,
they said, we don't have any food, we don't have any water. Now that very day, water came
from that rock. And that very day, manna came
down from heaven. But they said, we don't have
any food. We don't have any water. And our souls loathe, that's
the word, our souls loathe this light bread. Bread hadn't changed. They did. That's the point. Their hearts
had hardened. Manna from heaven was now light,
insubstantial bread, light bread. Go to the store and get some
of that light bread, only 30 calories a slice, it tastes like
a dude, doesn't it? Now, he says, today, if you will
hear his voice, Harden not your hearts as in the provocation. Now here's what took place. Numbers chapter 13 and chapter
14 is the story. This was just a few weeks after
they had left Egypt and they were getting ready to enter the
promised land that God promised he would give them. And they
decided to get a committee together to go check it out and see if
it was what God said it was. And they sent 40 spies. No, 12 spies, I'm sorry, for
40 days. 12 spies for 40 days. And they looked throughout all
the land and they saw everything God said was true. It was a land
that flowed with milk and honey. They bring back a cluster of
grapes so big that it had to be set on a staff between two
men, them carrying it in. Can't imagine that. And they said, everything God
said about this place was true, but Now remember, they'd seen
God destroy Egypt for their sake. They'd seen the parting of the
Red Sea. They'd heard the giving of the law. They'd seen the bread
come from heaven. They'd seen the water come from
a rock that was smitten. That's the gospel. But they say,
we can't take these people on. They're too big. They're giants.
And they got upset. They began to murmur at Moses
and murmur at God and said, why did you bring us out here for
us to die in the wilderness and bring our children here that
they should be prayed to this land? Let's make us a captain
and go back to Egypt. It was better in Egypt. Let's
make us a captain. And Caleb and Joshua said, we
can take the land easily if God's for us. You see, if God's for
you, who can be against you? Nobody. And they had confidence. You know what the people wanted
to do? Stone them. Put them to death right now. That's when
God said, how long will these people provoke me? All they'd seen and they could
not trust him. Isn't that what unbelief is?
It is saying, I cannot trust him. And what did God say with
regard to those people? He said the 40 days that they're
going to, that they spent in the land, it's going to turn
into 40 years. And they're going to wander in
the wilderness for 40 years. And every single one of them
are going to die in the wilderness and never enter the promised
land. As far as the people that left
that were over 20, you know, there's no such thing as an age
of accountability in the scriptures. You probably heard that, but
if there is one, it's 20. I don't think that represents
an age of accountability, but with regard to them, it did.
If you were under 20 years old, when you went into the land,
you got to enter the promised land. But if you were over 20,
you spent 40 years in the wilderness. And the only two people that
made it in were Joshua and Caleb. Joshua, the savior. Moses couldn't bring him into
the promised land, could he? He represented the law, Joshua,
the savior. Caleb, I love Caleb's name, faithful
dog. That's what a believer is. He
knows his master, faithful dog. But the rest of them did not
enter in. Verse 16, for some, When they had heard did provoke,
they provoke God with their unbelief. We can't trust him to bring us
in. We can't handle these giants. We can't handle the children
of that. We're like grasshoppers in their side. Uh, isn't everybody
grasshopper on God's side? He says that, doesn't he? But
they weren't thinking in those lines for some when they had
heard did provoke. Albeit not all that came out
of Egypt by Moses, but with whom was he grieved 40 years? Was
it not with them that had sinned? Whose carcasses fell in the wilderness. Of over two million people, most
estimate that left Egypt, you know at least a million of them. were over 20, probably more than
that. How many of those people entered
the promised land? Two. How many people were saved
when God flooded the world? Eight. Don't you know that Moses
preached the gospel 120 years to those people? Verse 18, and to whom swear he
that they should not enter into his rest. Now this is a concept that comes
over and over again in Hebrews chapter three and Hebrews chapter
four, this concept of rest. What is meant by rest? Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter one? This is where we're introduced
to the Sabbath. You know, I think it's interesting
when you drive down the highway, about every time you're gonna
run across the Ten Commandments posted at some point. And I think,
wonder why nobody even deals with the Sabbath. I know why
they don't deal with it, because they don't know what it means.
And they think that the Sabbath has to do with a day where you
don't work. Well, it does have to do with
that, but not what they think. It has to do with not working,
but resting in Christ. Now look in verse 31 of chapter
one. This is the end of creation. And God saw everything that he'd
made and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the
morning, With a sixth day, thus the heavens and the earth were
what finished. Finished. You remember what the Lord said
from the cross? It is finished. Finished. And all the host of them, verse
two, and on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he
had made. Let me give you a New Testament
commentary on that. Christ is the what? End of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. And he rested on the seventh
day. Now let me remind you, he didn't
rest because he was tired. He's all powerful. God doesn't
get tired, he doesn't get weary. He never has to wipe his brow
from too much exertion. He rested
because the work was finished. Now, if you wanna understand
what faith is, here it is. Turn back to Hebrews four. We're going to look at this more
next week, Lord willing. But in Hebrews chapter four,
verse nine, There remaineth therefore a rest. And my marginal reading says,
and this is the only time this word is used in the New Testament,
there remaineth therefore a Sabbath-keeping. Now here is Sabbath-keeping.
It's not cooking on Sundays, for one thing, Since when did
the Sabbath change from Saturday to Sunday in the first place?
It didn't. People say, well, the Christian
Sabbath. No. Lord's Day is on Sunday, and
it's called that, the Lord's Day. But Sabbath, Sabbath's still
Saturday, the end of the week. But so if you're gonna try to
keep a Sabbath, don't be like a Seventh-day Adventist. They
keep with Saturday. That's their righteousness. We
do it on Saturday. But the point is, the Sabbath,
people have made a work out of not working. And that's the problem. No understanding of the Sabbath. Now look what he says in verse
nine. There remaineth therefore a rest. And as I said, this is
the only time this word is found in the new Testament, literally
a Sabbath keeping a keeping of the Sabbath. Now, how important
was it to keep the Sabbath? You remember, uh, when some children
of Israel found some people like gathering up sticks on Sabbath,
they said, what do we do with them? God said, stone them, kill
them. Uh, if I don't enter into this
rest, I won't be saved because this is the rest of faith. When
you rest, what do you do? Nothing. Boy, that's a hard to get hold
of. I need to do something, don't I? Nothing. It's a rest in response
to a finished work. God rested. on the Sabbath day,
there wasn't anything left to do. The work was finished, and
he was very good. And we rest in the finished work
of Christ. As soon as I think of that, if
the Lord gives me the grace to really, I feel tension go out
of my body. I'm resting. I'm not working,
I'm not doing, I'm resting. Now, an unbeliever will say,
well, you need to give us something to do. No, I'm resting. I'm resting. I'm resting in him
who finished the work. It is finished. You know what that means? That
means there's nothing to do. The hardest thing that me and
you are ever called to do is nothing. Rest in what Christ has done. What else can you do? What else
can you do? Rest. Let's go on reading Hebrews
four. There remaineth therefore a rest
A Sabbath keeping to the people of God. You know, God's people
are the only ones who ever rest. Nobody else rests. Everybody's
working, doing, trying to establish a righteousness that they think
will obligate God to save them. I've done this, I've done that.
That's what unbelievers do. Working. Remember what the Lord
said to the Pharisees? They said, what must we do that
we might work the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God. that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. Beloved, rest. Rest. Verse 10, for he that is entered
into his rest, here's what that looks like. He ceased from his
own works. There you have it. Have you ever
done that? Ceased from your own works as
God did from his. Now, why did God cease? Why did
he rest? The work was finished. It was
very good. It was ended. And he didn't do
anything else because there was nothing left to do. that's entered into his rest
hath ceased from his own works as God did from his." And I think
the verse 11 is so telling. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest because the one thing that you'll find more difficult
than anything else is just a rest. Let us labor. Let us give every
effort. Let us give all diligence to
labor, to enter into that rest, ceasing from your own works. Right now, when Christ said it's
finished, it's finished. Everything God requires of me,
I have. I can't do anything to enhance that. I can't do anything
to make it better. Don't want to. Don't want to. The Lord said, come unto me and
I will give you rest. Now, if you do not rest in him,
it will be because you didn't want rest. That's the only reason. You don't really find any safety
in that. You don't find any security in that. And the bottom line
is, you think your works are more important than his. You
wouldn't say that. But if you fail to rest, if I fail to rest,
it's because deep down, I think there's some merit in something
I do. And I fail to rest. Unbelief. You see no safety in
what Christ did. You would rather be saved by
your works than his. And you know, that's crazy. That's
insane. That's mad. Why would someone
want to be saved by their own works rather than Christ? Because
they really believe their works are better. Now, they never say
that. No one would dare. Oh, my works are better than
the works of Jesus Christ. Nobody's going to say that. But if I fail
to rest, that's what I believe. Let me repeat this. I'm not going to refuse to come
to Christ because I'm not elect. or because Christ didn't die
for me. Well, I'm afraid I can't come because I'm not elect. Don't
even talk like that. Don't even think like that. It's wrong.
I'm afraid I can't come to Christ because I don't know that he
died for me. Come to him and rest. And if
you don't, it's because you see no safety in resting in Him. You're really like the children
of Israel who are provoked in Numbers 13 and 14. We can't do
this. We're not able to do this. Your
ability has nothing to do with this. Wherefore, He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by Him. now unto him that's
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Oh, his
ability. Abraham staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he
was able also to perform. Now look what it says in verse
18. And to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not. He that believeth on the son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the son.
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Unbelief is evil. It's evil. It says what Christ
did is not sufficient. I see more safety in me trusting
myself than what he did. These people who failed to enter
him to his rest were people who would not believe they're saying,
you are not worthy of my trust and you are not worthy of my
confidence. Turn with me for a moment to
first Peter chapter two. Verse seven, unto you therefore, which believe. I love the simplicity of this.
He is precious. That's what folks believe who
believe unto you, which believe he is precious. He's precious in his person.
He's God, man. He is God over all, blessed forever,
the man, Christ Jesus, perfect humanity. He's precious in what
He did. He shed His precious blood to
put away sin. He's the Savior. Oh, isn't this
so to you which believe? He's precious, isn't He? He's
precious. But to them which be disobedient. Now that word disobedient is
usually translated believe not. To believe not is disobedience. To be disobedient is to not believe. To them which build not, that
believe not, to them which are disobedient, stone which the
builders disallowed." Disapproved. You see if you don't believe
it's because you don't approve of Him. You don't approve of
being saved by Him. You find safety somewhere else. You don't approve of being having
only His righteousness. You don't approve of relying
only His blood. You don't approve of that. The
stone, which the builders disallowed the same as made who made him
this way. God, the same as made the head
of the corner. Now this one who's the head of
the corner is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to
them, which stumble at the word being disobedient. That's the
same word. Not believing, not believing. And Peter says, whereunto also
they were appointed. Now, I'm not gonna apologize
for what God says. I'm not. God says this. He says, concerning
these people who did not believe, they were appointed to this. Now, I don't claim to understand
all that's behind that. I know that it says what it says.
It means what it means. And I know if I am lost, I can't
blame God. I can't say, this is God's fault.
It's all my fault. Every bit of it. I take full
responsibility. If anybody's in hell, it's their
fault they're there. You don't go to hell because
you're not elect. You don't go to hell because Jesus Christ
didn't die for you. You go to hell because you will
not believe. That's why people go to hell. And also know this. If I go to hell, I was appointed
to it. That's what God says. And I make no apology for that.
You can find that, that, uh, concept four different times
in the new Testament where God said this. Look at verse 19 of our text. Hebrews three, the last verse. So we see that they could not enter in
because of unbelief. They could not enter in. They would not because they could
not. They could not because they would
not. They could not enter in because of unbelief. Now I want to close by saying
some things about this thing of unbelief. This is what the
scripture says with regard to unbelief. Here's the first thing
I want to say. All believers have unbelief. No exceptions. It's what that
man said in Mark 9, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. All believers have unbelief.
Somebody says, well, how can you believe and not believe at
the same time? Well, I know how to answer that. The new man believes. He always believes. He cannot
not believe. The old man never believes. Two natures in one man. And the reason this can be so
difficult to understand in our experience is because we only
have one consciousness. We don't have two different consciousness.
We have one consciousness and the works of the old man and
the works of the new man flow out of the same consciousness.
And we experience that. I can't look at anything and
say, well, that was holy. No, if I did it, it's not holy. Uh,
I can't see I'm justified. I can't look at myself and say,
yep, he justified. No, I believe it by faith, but
every believer has faith and unbelief. Now, Every unbeliever
has nothing but unbelief because they have only one nature, the
nature they were born with. They've never been born again. Secondly, all believers have
unbelief. Secondly, the Lord does not work
through unbelief. Why should he? Mark chapter 13 verses first
58 says he did not many mighty works there because of their
unbelief. Do you remember when the disciples
came up to the Lord in Matthew chapter 17 and said, why couldn't
we cast out those demons? You know how he answered that?
Because of your unbelief. That's why. You see, the biggest
problem you and I have in our lives is unbelief. That's the
besetting sin. Somebody says, well, my besetting
sin is, you think of some bad habit. Another one says, my besetting
sin's pride. Your besetting sin, my besetting
sin is unbelief. That is the sin that does so
easily beset us and trip us up, and it's the mother of all other
sin. Every other sin comes from the sin of unbelief, saying to
God, you're not to be trusted. I cannot trust you. I like this. In Mark chapter
six, verse six, Christ is said to marvel at their unbelief. He marveled. He said, this is
amazing. Something so groundless, so wrong,
so stupid as unbelief that we all have. The Lord marveled at
their unbelief. It's so unreasonable to have
unbelief because of who he is. You know, after the resurrection,
The scripture says he upbraided his disciples for their unbelief
and hardness of heart right after the resurrection. Mark chapter 16, verse 14. Now
I'd like you to turn to Romans chapter three for a moment. Romans chapter three. Paul says in verse three, for what if some did not believe? He's speaking of the Jews who'd
received the oracles of God. What if some did not believe?
Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Shall their unbelief make void
God's purpose? God wanted to do this, but it
didn't happen because of their unbelief. I love Paul's answer, God forbid. Man's unbelief is not going to
disannul God's purpose. Nothing will disannul God's purpose.
You can just write that down. Nothing will disannul God's purpose. My unbelief, your unbelief, the
unbelief of devils, the unbelief of demons, the unbelief of unbelievers. God's purpose shall stand. The foundation of God stand assured,
having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His." God's will will always
be done and the unbelief of men or devils cannot hinder that. Even a man's unbelief is going
to glorify the justice of God. Now, I've already quoted this,
let me quote it again. What is said of Abraham, this
is found in Romans chapter four, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief. God said to Abraham when he was
an old man, you're gonna have a child, through Sarah, your
wife, who's already gone through that time of life. And he didn't
stagger that. He believed what God said. He
didn't have any evidence it was going to take place other than
the word of God. He believed God. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. You know how you glorify God
most? By believing Him. By believing
Him. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded. You know when you're going to
believe? When God persuades you to. And when He persuades you,
you're persuaded. being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, he was able also to perform. Paul put it
this way in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed. This is
so important. He doesn't say, I know I'm saved.
I've had people come up to me and say, I know I'm saved. Nobody
can tell me different. Just as soon as you say that,
I think, yeah, I really believe you. Or somebody will say, do
you think I'm saved? What difference does it make
what I think? If I think you're saved, does that mean you are?
No. If I think you're not, does that mean you're not? No. Paul said, I know whom. Not what, not anything about
me. I know whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded. I'm convinced. God's convinced me that he is
able. to keep that which I've committed
to him, the salvation of my soul, against that day. Paul said in
Romans 8, I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us. from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let me tell you what the cure
for unbelief is. God persuaded us. And if you believe it's because
he persuaded you. Let's pray. Lord, we confess the sinfulness
of our unbelief and pray for deliverance and cleansing, but
Lord, we do believe. We do believe your gospel. We
do believe that thy son is able to keep that which we have committed
and entrusted to him. Lord, we've entrusted to him
the salvation of our souls and we look wholly to him. Lord,
give everybody in this room the grace to commit the salvation
of their souls to thy blessed son, believing that he is able
to save. In his name we pray, amen.