Turn back to Hebrews chapter
3. Hebrews 3. We'll begin with verse 12. This passage will serve as our
text this morning. Hebrews 3, look at verse 12. Brethren, take heed, brethren. Now here we have a word of warning,
a word of caution. Take heed. Take heed, brethren.
And all too often, all too often I think our words of caution frequently or in anger, maybe with suspicion. But this one, this word of caution is given
in love. He says, take heed, brethren. There's a gentleness to that,
isn't there? There's a tenderness to that. Take heed, brethren. Now, is
there any matter that would be worthy of all of our thought,
worthy of all of our attention, worthy of all our care, anything
more important than the salvation of our souls? Take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief." Now much is said in scripture
about the heart. Jeremiah wrote, he said, the
heart is deceitful. This heart, it is deceitful above
all things. It's desperately wicked. Who
could know it? In Matthew 5 verse 19 we read,
out of the heart. You hear man talk about the heart
and it's just the rosiest, happiest thing in this world. But scripture
says, out of the heart proceedeth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemy. Back in Genesis, Almighty God,
He said this before He destroyed this earth the first time. It
says that He saw the wickedness. God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts
of what? The heart was only evil continually. An evil heart. Is it any wonder
David prayed unto God and said, create in me a clean heart? Renew a right spirit within me. A new heart. A new nature. A right spirit. That which only
God can give. Take heed. Brethren, take heed
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief." A heart
in which unbelief prevails. Now listen, there's one in every
one of us. We've all got that same evil
heart, an unbelieving one. Our Lord is speaking to a group
of religious folks in John 5. John chapter 5, he said in verse
38, he said, You have not his word abiding in you, for whom
he hath said, Ye believe not. They had Moses and the prophets. They had the Word of God. They
had the Son of God standing smacking their face. They weren't just
reading about it. They weren't just being told
about it. The Lord Himself was standing right in front of them. And He says, Whom He hath sent,
whom God hath sent, you believe not. God's Word has been given
to us that we might believe. These are written that you might
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And believing,
believing you might have life through His name. Turn there
to John 5 if you haven't already. Our Lord, He makes some charges
against those. who do not believe. Now again,
these are people that would have identified themselves as probably
the holiest people walking the earth at that time. Religious
folks. Yet they did not believe. He said this, our Lord said,
search the scriptures. He said, "...for in them you
think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify
of Me." That's what this book's about. It's about Him. He said,
"...these testify of Me." And yet they said things like
this. They said, "...if thou be the Christ, It's all a sign pointing right
to Him. And these men would say, well,
if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He told them, didn't
He? And yet they did not believe. In John 5 verse 40, look there. Here's another one of these things.
He said, you will not come to me. You will not come to me. that
you might have life. Why is it? Why is it that so
many of the children of Israel never entered into the Promised
Land? What's Scripture say? Hebrews 3.19 says this, So we
see they could not enter in for one reason, unbelief. Unbelief. They were not willing
to believe God. They did not trust the true God. They would not rely on Him and
Him alone. So in unbelief, they were shut
out. That's a small word, but there's
serious implications there, isn't there? Unbelief. Look at John 5.42. What else did he say of those
who did not believe? He said, I know you. I know you. And you have not the
love of God in you. You know, had they believed him,
had they believed him, they would have loved him. They would have
known him and they would have loved him. Look at verse 43 of
John, chapter 5. I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. You receive me not. Take heed,
brethren, lest there be in any of you a heart of unbelief. Our Lord, He came in His Father's
name. He came preaching the gospel.
He came declaring the truth. He said this, he said, I and
my father are one. And rather than believe him,
what did they do? They took up stones to stone
him. They accused him of blasphemy. They said, Thou being a man,
make us Thyself to be God. He didn't make Himself to be
God. He is God. And yet others would come seeking
glory from men, preaching salvation by the works of the law, by the
deeds of the law. That which is contrary to the
Scripture, that man would come and what do people do then? Oh,
they believe. They receive and believe then.
That's a picture of our nature. That's a picture of our depravity. John 5, 44. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another and seek not the honor that comes from
God only? Look at verse 45 and verse 46. He said, had you believed Moses?
They always went back to Moses, didn't they? He said, if you'd
believe Moses, you would believe me. Why is that? Because Moses wrote of me. You don't believe His writings.
And if you don't believe Him, how are you going to believe
my words? If you don't believe the Scriptures
which are so plain and you believe not... You know, they carried
on like they had such a great regard for Moses. Men do that. It's no different in our day.
Great preachers of the last few centuries that men hated and
would get in a shouting match or even a fist fight over. Now
they're quoted everywhere. If you don't believe Moses, if
you don't believe the writings of Moses, it's certain that you're
not going to believe Christ. Well, back to Hebrews 3. Look
at verse 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you An evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. To depart from the living God. To depart from Christ. Oh, what a great sin to depart
from His gospel. Now, there are those who will
depart from Christ, those who will depart from His gospel,
those who will depart from His people. In 1 John 2, 19, we read
of some of those who departed, and it says this, they went out
from us. Why did they go out from us?
They weren't of us. They were not of us. Had they
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that it might
be manifest, that it might be clear, that it might be revealed
that they were not all of us. Sadly, false, and this has been
the case throughout the centuries. False professors find their way
in to the congregation for a time. Wolves, dressed in sheep's clothing,
and they keep up a masquerade, living and acting under false
pretense, but sooner or later, sooner or later, they fall away
and they depart from the fellowship of the gospel. And that departure, that departure
clearly reveals that they were never God's sheep to begin with.
Never truly regenerated by his love. Because if they were truly
of us, scripture says, they would no doubt have continued. Continued
in the faith, continued in fellowship. There are others, there are others
in God's Word that fall away, but not permanently, just for
a little while, for a season, like Philemon. We read of him in Scripture.
But a true believer can't run them off. You can't keep them
going forever. Remember that young man? I think
of that young man that took his inheritance. Remember that? He went to his father. He'd had
enough. He'd had enough living at home
and he went to his father and he said, give me that which is
mine. Give me the portion of goods
that follows to me. And he took that and he went
into a far country and he wasted away his life. That's what scripture
says, he wasted away with riotous living. You know, as awful as he was, and scripture doesn't go into
great detail what that riotous living was, but I think we can
all probably in our minds quickly come to some conclusions there. But you know, despite that, he
never ceased to be his father's son. Never. And in time, he came to himself. That's what scripture says. And
he said, I will rise and I'll go to my father. And I'll say
to him, listen, I've sinned against heaven and before thee, and I
am not worthy to be called a son. I believe we could all say that,
couldn't we? If we're honest with ourselves, we're not worthy,
not worthy to be called a son. Just make me. Make me like a
hired servant. Is he worthy to be called a son?
No. Is he a son? Yes. He's still his father's son.
You know, Paul said of Philemon, he said, for a while, he's been
unprofitable. But now, he's profitable. He said, you receive him. Receive Him like you would receive
me." I think of our Savior when I read that. Again, isn't that all of us?
Isn't that all of God's people? Not worthy to be called a son.
I've been unprofitable. And yet the son says to the father,
receive him as you would me. The father said to his servant,
bring forth the best robe. Not that we had over there in
the stack that we were going to give to Goodwill. You bring
the best robe. This is my son and he's worthy
of the best robe and you put that on him and put a ring on
his hand and shoes on his feet and you go kill that fatted calf
and let us eat and be merry for this my son was dead and yet he lives again. He was lost and now he's found
and they began to be merry, rejoiced, rejoiced. More secure is no one
ever than who? The loved ones of the Savior. David wrote this in Psalm 125.1.
He said, they that trust in the Lord shall be like Mount Zion. which cannot be moved. It abides how long? Forever. Take heed, brethren. Take heed
of yourselves, of your hearts, of the unbelief in them in departing
for Christ, even for just a little while. Read on there in Hebrews,
he says, but exhort, comfort, encourage, pray for,
who? One another. When? Daily. Daily. Not just Sunday morning
and Wednesday evening, but daily. How do we do that? How do we
exhort one another? Well, we do it by what we're
doing here this morning, by worshiping, praying, and praising God together. Listen to these words from Hebrews
10. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is, but what? Exhorting one another. and so much more as you see the
day approaching. What a privilege it is. Truly,
what a privilege it is to gather together to worship. A time of praise, a time of fellowship,
a privilege to hear the word, A privilege to preach the Word,
a privilege to worship together, to believe together. We exhort one another by spending
time in God's Word, the Holy Scriptures. Paul, writing to
Timothy, he said, continue thou in the things which thou hast
learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them, and that from a child, from a child you've known the
holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture, from Genesis
to Revelation, all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and it's profitable, it's good for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of
God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. It's through his words. not our commentary, not what
we have to say about God's Word. It's through His Word that we're
instructed. It's through His Word we find
comfort. It's through His Word that we
exhort one another. We exhort one another by, listen,
talking together about these things and less about foolish
things, spiritual things rather than the things of this world.
talking together, walking together in love and unity, being like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. I was thinking about this scripture
this morning. How good, how good it is, how
good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together how? in unity. As one. As one. The scriptures
say it's like precious ointment that ran down from the head even
to the beard that went down to the skirt of Aaron. It's a good thing. We exhort one another with with
the hope we have of eternal life in Christ. Turn with me to 1
Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. Listen to these words, follow
along with me. Verse 16 of 1 Thessalonians 4. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then, we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, what's he say? Comfort one another. Exhort one
another with these words. What are these words? We just
read them, huh? But here's the summary of it
all. We shall be forever with the Lord. That's our comfort. That's our hope. That's our expectation. Listen, exhort one another daily. while it's called today lest
you be hardened through the deceitfulness, the deceitfulness of sin. How's sin deceitful? Well, go
back to the fall. Go back there to Genesis. Remember
the woman saw that the tree was good for food. It was pleasant
to the eyes. A tree desired to make one wise
and she took and ate. What did God say? Don't eat. Don't eat of it. Don't eat of
it. And the day that you eat thereof,
you're going to die." And she took that and she gave
it to her husband, and he must have saw the same things because
he went right along with her, didn't he? The pleasure, the pleasure of
sin for a season. Be not hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin. Think about this, just Eve's
experience there. God had said no, right? That's
clear. But to Eve, listen, it looked
good, right? It was pleasant to the eyes.
It was desirable, right? Desired to make one wise. Did it make them wise? Or were they deceived? Their
eyes were opened to shame, to guilt, to fear,
to hate. And that's just one, right? We need to be warned of the deceitfulness
of sin. And listen, don't be deceived
by the consequence of it either. There's a consequence for sin. Scripture says, when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it's finished,
it bringeth forth death. Well, back to our text, back
to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 3. Look at verse 14. We are made partakers of Christ. Hebrews 3 verse 14. For we are made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the
end. Made partakers of Christ. The believer is a partaker of
His pardoning mercy. We're partakers of His grace,
partakers of adoption, partakers of sanctification, partakers
of preservation, partakers of all the covenant blessings. But
listen, we're made partakers of Christ. Christ of whom it
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Made partakers of Christ. In and of ourselves, what are
we? Sinful. Sin, we could just use the word
sin. We're covered in transgression, dead in trespasses and sin, But
as a partaker of Christ, I'm washed in His blood. I'm
whiter than the snow. In myself deserving of vengeance
and wrath, but as a partaker of Christ, we receive mercy. Partakers of His sin-atoning
sacrifice. Deserving of, listen, ourselves
again deserving of damnation. Yet as a partaker of Christ,
free from condemnation. There is therefore now, right
now, no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. As a
partaker of Christ, His righteousness is my righteousness. We're made the very righteousness
of God in Him. We're partakers. You know, as
we gather around His table, we partake of that bread and that
wine. His body. We partake of His body
which was broken for us. We partake of His blood which
was shed for us. We partake of His blood which
cleanses us from all sin. As partakers of Christ we have
union with Him. We're one with Him. And Scripture says this, as He
is, as He is, So are we in this world. Oh, Lord, remove from
me a heart of unbelief. You know, it was unbelief that
kept Moses and Aaron out of Canaan. They failed to honor God. Remember
that? He said, speak to the rock. What
did they do? They struck it. They didn't, apparently they
didn't believe that when the Lord said, speak to the rock, they struck it. They failed to
believe. And listen, punishment. As a
result of that, punishment came upon them. They did not inherit
the land, which they had toiled and labored. Listen to the words
of our Lord in John 8, 24. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins. For if you believe not..." What
did he say? If you believe not that I am
He, you'll die in your sins. That's the bottom line, isn't
it? If you believe not I am He, who's He declared to be? The
true God. the eternal Son of God, God manifest in the flesh,
He's the true Messiah, He's the only Savior of sinners, He's
the one and only mediator between God and man. What's Scripture
say? He's prophet, priest, and king. If you believe not that I am
He, you'll die in your sins. No salvation for those who refuse
to receive and believe Jesus Christ as God and Savior. Believe. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe Him. Turn with me to
to Mark chapter 9. I'm almost finished here. Mark
chapter 9. Verse 23 of Mark 9. There was a man that had brought
his son to the Lord for healing. And that boy, I don't know how
old he was, but he had suffered that ailment since he was a child.
And that dad said, he spoke to the Lord and he said, if thou
canst do anything, have compassion on us, help us. Do you have verse 23? Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe. If thou can do what? Believe. If thou canst believe, all things
are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of
that child cried out, and he said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Could we cry the same? Lord,
I believe. I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Those that are partakers of Christ,
partakers of the heavenly calling, partakers of His promise, partakers
of His grace, partakers... As a partaker, it means we share
in the blessing. Partakers in the blessing, partakers
of the promise, partakers of the inheritance, partakers of
Christ. if we hold fast the beginning
of our confidence steadfast to the end. Believers will continue in the
faith. Believers will not quit. We rest.
The believer rests in Him. Steadfast. That means firm. That means sure. It means with
boldness. It means with confidence, steadfast
to the end. Oh, that He would deliver us
from unbelief. That He would cause us to exhort
one another daily. That's what Scripture says. And
make us. Make us what we are not by nature. Make us partakers of Christ. Enable us to just rest in Him. All right.