Restless Unbelief

Paul Hamilton

Exposition of Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Transcript

Read: Hebrews 3: 7-19 > Pray

We saw that last week that JESUS is FAITHFUL! He is the builder and worthy of all glory and honor! THEREFORE – or because he is faithful THEN..

How should we respond? If we are convinced that JESUS CHRIST is the faithful, prefect savior who is glorious and worthy of honor, we will REST in HIM.

REST! That’s a big theme for this morning. And we’ll see that continuing in chapter 4. As people - created in God’s image but laden with sin,

We long for rest, but the rest that is in view here—the REST that our souls long for is not INACTIVITY - it is a SOUL REST where we are at peace with GOD, and not warring against our purpose our joy and our life by pursuing sin.

When we pursue sin we are WARRING against peace and purpose and joy and life because we warring against GOD – the source of all those things!

Jesus says to all of us:

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV) — 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

In our sin we labor for what will never satisfy and fight for what is worthless, and damning. Jesus calls us to come and rest in him – not by doing nothing but by taking his yoke upon us and learning from him.

There is our rest – bearing the light burden of JESUS. Living in the peace of the Lord, in the joy of believing, living as we were made to live. That is what our SOULS deeply long for!

It is SIN and our SELFISH PURSUITS that makes us RESTLESS – unsatisfied, never fulfilled and always weary in the labor. All striving but only getting more tired, never finding rest – like drinking salt water – always drinking but only getting thirstier. That the RESTLESS UNBELIEF.

THIS morning the writer of the HEBREWS is warning us of the RESTLESS UNBELIEF!

So we’ll be looking the effects of unbelief and the ultimate and horrible restlessness that comes from that unbelief.

In this passage the writer is unpacking an Old Testament passage from the Psalms. He’s illustrating his point from the psalm, verses 7-11.

He’s applying it to his readers - verses 12-15, and he’s clarifying why he’s applying it to them by answering some clarifying questions in verses 16-19.

FOR our sermon, we’ll take this a little out of order, we’ll start with the ILLUSTRATION from the Psalms, then look at the clarifying questions, and end with the application.

I. ILLUSTRATION of RESTLESS UNBELIEF (Hebrews 3: 7-11)

He quotes from the Septuagint version of Psalm 95:

Hebrews 3:7–11 (ESV) — 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ”

A. The Speaker

We see the writers understanding that the HOLY SPIRIT is the speaker here, speaking through the Psalmist. The psalmist is writing to his first readers pointing back even further.

This is actually pretty neat we can see GOD’s SOVEREIGN power wisdom, superintending all of the SCRIPTURES...

So that, here in 2021, we can look back to HEBREWS (written in AD60 something) who was writing to his audience who was looking back to the Psalmist (back even further) writing to his audience looking back to the works of MOSES (even further still) writing to his audience! The audience of MOSES, the PSALMIST, the HEBREWS, and TODAY…

AND the HOLY SPIRIT is speaking to all of us, in all our different situations, and different cultures in different times and different circumstances but his WORD is what we ALL NEED!

So, the writer picks up in the middle of the Psalm, right where the Psalmist is warning his readers.

B. The Warning

TODAY if you hear GOD’s VOICE, don’t harden your hearts! Look back and take warning, Look what happens if you harden your heart! so he points back to the people of Israel in the wilderness.

In fact the word “rebellion” is a translation of the word Meribah and the words “of testing” is a translation of the word Massah. If you look at Psalm 95 you’ll find those words.

Psalm 95:8 (ESV) — 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

That points us to Exodus 17 – the people of Israel had been delivered by God from Egypt. They were delivered from the plagues, God passed over them in the tenth plague where the first born of all of Egypt was killed. They were protected by the cloud and fire – the RED sea parted before them, the army of the Pharoah was destroyed in the sea.

They saw all that… but when they ran out of water they didn’t believe! Hey had a hard heart! And unbelieving heart!

Exodus 17:2–3, 7 (ESV) — 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” … And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

But that was just the beginning of their grumbling and testing. Again and again they complained until finally God brings them to the PROMISED LAND – their REST. But they refuse to enter it. Remember they sent the spies to see if the land was good, and all but CALEB and JOSHUA reported that the people were too strong for them. They complained…

Numbers 14:3 (ESV) — 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”

The hard heart – it would better for us to go back into slavery than follow God. God responds:

Numbers 14:22–23 (ESV) — 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.

The Psalmist and then the writer to the Hebrews interprets that to mean they could not enter into God’s Rest. The rest he had purposed for them. That is the warning that is being illustrated.

C. The Rest

Before we get to the clarifying questions let’s look at the REST that is in view here. We’ll see this more in a couple weeks when we get into Chapter 4, Lord willing, but let’s see how that is being used here.

The rest of God was pictured in the promised land. But even for the Israelites that was only an image, the true rest was being in right relationship with God, trusting him and living in his peace.

The promised land was the place where they could work and worship, believe in God and obey him and enjoy that relationship of rest. So the land pictures that rest. Even though they never actually experienced that, they never recieved that fully (we’ll see that in Hebrews 11)

The rest we’re talking about is God’s rest, when he had completed his work, the rest that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden. A rest of activity and joy in right relationship with God. where everything they did was fulfilling and good and soul-filling.

It was the rest that was lost when they did not believe God, but believed the serpent, and they disobeyed.

They were removed from the Garden and removed from God’s rest. They found restlessness. The wilderness. Cain’s striving restlessness ended in murder… DEATH!!

Then God, in his mercy, led them (kicking and screaming) into the rest of the promised land, but Still they did not obey and believe God even then, Until, after many generations of FAITHLESSNESS they were exiled – they lost that rest.

And ultimately this rest is the REST that CHRIST purchases for us on the Cross. Making peace with God and bringing us into his rest, which we will experience perfectly in the New Heavens and the New Earth – there is the rest of God experienced completely.

So, in this illustration – the people, rejected God, they did not believe, so they would not obey and so they could not enter into his rest.

Temptation – like in the garden, tempts people away from God’s rest – something else seems better, suffering and hardship – thirsty in the wilderness – will God really save us?

That question- “will God save me” - in the a hypothetical is one thing.

It is something all together different in the reality of suffering - where trusting God doesn’t make sense, unless he is real. staying in the desert with no water doesn’t make sense, it is actually better to go back and be slaves than to die and watch your children die - you have to believe God is real.

It is that the REAL situation of suffering that tempts us to disbelieve and grumble.

And that unbelief results in disobedience resulting in the loss of God’s rest. Now we’re not going to WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS HERE. the Gospel is God’s grace to save us. But this is an objective REALITY. REJECTING GOD is REJECTING GOD’S REST.

Today, when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts!! I know it’s tempting, the hardships are real! But trust JESUS! REST in Jesus, and flee the RESTLESS UNBELIEF.

But let’s look at the clarifying questions to dig into this further.

II. CLARIFYING QUESTIONS (Hebrews 3: 16-19)

The writer asks and answers three questions:

A. Who heard and rebelled?

Hebrews 3:16 (ESV) — 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

Who heard and rebelled? Those who had received God’s Law that was given to them through Moses. The faithful servant, as we saw last week. And they had seen God working. They had experienced something of God’s power!

But that was forgotten when they were thirsty. It was forgotten when the enemies in the land seemed so strong. They had heard, they had seen! but they rebelled!

Why ask this question? The writer is not thinking primarily evangelistically, that is, he is not writing about the world out there not hardening their hearts, he’s writing to the church. Those who have heard God’s word and have seen God working.

It’s like the writer is saying, don’t look out there! I’m talking to you! Today when YOU hear God’s voice, don’t harden your hearts!! You who have heard God’s word! You who have seen God working! Don’t harden your hearts!

2. Who Provoked God?

Hebrews 3:17 (ESV) — 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

Who provoked God? In those forty years of wandering it was God’s people who provoked and provoked God with their unbelief!

Here the writer is clarifying this lack of faith that leads to disobedience is sin. And what a provocation! For those who have received God’s blessing, for them to fail to trust God, and to grumble and complain and disobey!

This is the sin in the camp, the sin among God’s people. Their disobedience lead them to die in the wilderness. Which leads to the last clarifying question -

3. What kept them from God’s rest?

Hebrews 3:18–19 (ESV) — 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

Those who in their unbelief were disobedient could not enter into God’s rest. And we have a vivid picture here.

The path of UN-Belief leads to death in the wilderness and the path of trust and faith leads to God’s rest.

Look and see the end of those who had seen God work but because of their UNBELIEF the were unable to enter into God’s rest. So get that image clear -REST on one side, unrest on the other. That doesn’t sound so bad.

REST – is peace with God in his garden, it is fulfilled, it is joyous, it is SHALOM – whole person rightness.

UNREST – is death in the wilderness – ultimately it is hell – the eternal striving and never finding, the torment of being excluded from any rest. That is a horror. That is the end of unbelief – because unbelief leads to disobedience – and in that sin there is no peace with God.

III. APPLICATION (Hebrews 3: 12-15)

Remember this whole letter or sermon, or however it was initially given was written to ENCOURAGE these Hebrew Christians to hold on. Challenges were coming. Difficulties were coming, persecution was coming.

The temptation to fall away, to take the easy road - that nice smooth broad way, that was so alluring. That was going to be alluring to people in the church. There will be a temptation to fall away!

A. Take Care!

Hebrews 3:12 (ESV) — 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

You, church! Watch carefully! Be on your guard! Take Care!! Family! Take care.

This same word is used by Jesus many times In Mark 13 you don’t know when the end will be… so

Mark 13:33 (ESV) — 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Matthew 24:4 (ESV) — 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.

Be careful. Be on your guard. Watch over your hearts!

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) — 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Look to your hearts, and be careful with each other. That unbelieving heart is nothing to ignore, that is serious. That is road that leads away from the living God and leads away from his rest.

That doesn’t mean we should be skeptical of each other, or look sideways at each other,

AND it doesn’t mean we need to be living in constant fear.

it means we need to BE CAREFUL. Take sin seriously.

Those things can lead away from the living God. If we realize that sin is dangerous, unbelief is dangerous, when anxieties and pressures pull at us – away from Faith that is serious. It’s understandable – but it is serious.

There will be times of questions and even doubting, but we must come to the point where we see that REST can only be found in turning back to Christ – and RESTLESSNESS –comes from this path of doubt and sin. So we can repent again and again and turn back to Christ – to find REST!

Assurance of salvation comes from RESTING in CHRIST - not from looking at ourselves. but there is a careless false assurance. it ignores sin, where there is no repentance where Christ is a ticket to heaven and our hearts aren’t changed.

Hear the warning! TAKE CARE - makes sure there is no unbelieving heart in you! Take Care.

We don’t see each others hearts, so we bear with each other, and we keep pointing each other to Christ. That doesn’t mean we always have an answer, but in our love we show the love of Christ to each other –because that is what we need.

but above all we are CAREFUL with each other -not careless.

Are you careful with your brothers and sisters? Careful to pray for them that they will hold on. Careful to love them and forgive them. Careful to bear with them, careful to correct and admonish?

B. Exhort!

Hebrews 3:13 (ESV) — 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Here the writer clarifies the community aspect of our Christian calling. We are to be careful with one another most basically that means we Exhort one another - that is the Parakaleo to urge on or encourage.

When we believe that sin is deceitful. That means I am prone to be deceived, and you are prone to be deceived.

And when we believe that sin is dangerous, it leads us away from rest and towards hell. We take it seriously, not standing in judgement and condemning – but ENCOURAGING each other EVERY DAY -on towards the truth!!

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) — 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

We don’t have time for corrupt speech – exhort and encourage each other! Use your words for the building up of the body! Encourage each other onward!!

Colossians 3:14–17 (ESV) — 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Love one another and study God’s word so you are changed and you can speak God’s word to your struggling brothers and sisters. We cannot know each other’s hearts, but we do know what is at stake – so we encourage one another!

James 5:20 (ESV) — 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins

If a brother or sister is faltering, struggling, failing – what is going on? At some level they are being deceived by sin that something is better than Christ, or something is more powerful that Christ, or something is worth more than Christ.

That is the deceitfulness of Sin, and that unbelief is the soil of disobedience and that disobedience lead away from the peace and rest God and leads to Hell.

If you love them, you will not want them to be hardened into that unbelief so that they fall away, condemnation doesn’t help.

They need to see Jesus! Give them Jesus, give them his words, show them his love. So be careful and Exhort one another, every day – as long as it is called TODAY. Is this TODAY? These words are for you! Here are your orders!

C. Hold Fast!

Hebrews 3:14–15 (ESV) — 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

True believers persevere to the end, BECAUSE God is holding on to us.

But what is particularly of interest to the writer, is the reality that when we believe we keep holding onto him, because at the core of faith is the absolute conviction that if God does not save me nothing can.

And so with whatever we have, we cling to that. with whatever strength i have left in my fingers. We hold on. Because there is my joy. If i lose him i lose my joy, my life, my peace - when we lose that conviction we start sliding into sin. and if we don’t repent, if God does not call us back to life, we will be lost.

This is found throughout the New Testament:

Colossians 1:22–23 (ESV) — 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Matthew 24:13 (ESV) — 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The reason we can endure and continue in the faith is because God his holding on to us. But still it is an undeniable fact, that to be saved you must hold on.

We don’t have access to tomorrow. We don’t know what will come, what temptations, sorrows, sufferings.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV) — 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

TODAY is the day of salvation. TODAY in all of it’s trouble, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.

Trust God today, don’t give in to the temptation to be unbelieving, looking at the challenges instead of looking to Christ JESUS IS FAITHFUL! HE WILL HOLD ON TO YOU!

If you focus on the challenges they are dire, desperate even – it was dire to be out of water in the desert. That was real. YES that was too much for them, YES it is too much for you!!

BUT GOD delivered them from EGYPT! Parted the Red Sea. COULD YOU DO THAT? So yes things are dire, things are scary, things are OUT OF OUR CONTROL.

BUT JESUS IS FAITHFUL! Don’t harden you heart in unbelief. That is the path to restlessness – dying in the desert – whatever comes, TODAY, trust in JESUS. HE is faithful!

If you have never believed on Jesus, if you hear his voice today, in this message, in these songs, in the communion meal – DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEART! There is no peace there! There is no REST.

Come to Jesus, come rest in Jesus, come and find life and joy and peace!

Come to him and live!

Pray

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

LORD’S SUPPER

We are One in Christ. One Body

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 (ESV) — 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Family we are ONE in CHRIST HOLY and BELOVED! This table proclaims the FAITHFULNESS of CHRIST!! Here Christ accomplished this GREAT SALVATION for us! And here is the proof of God’s unfailing commitment to build us up and keep us in Christ!

So, the Supper is a time to EVALUATE and CELEBRATE.

We evaluate ourselves, we see our need for change, we have sin, we have failed. We have not believed in Christ as we should, we’ve given in to anxiety and doubting – we’ve disobeyed. We have not trusted in Christ enough, we’ve valued him too little and take this salvation for granted.

In repentance, then we turn to find help. And at the table we remember, there is boundless help for us in Christ Jesus. There is help, so we CELEBRATE! WE REJOICE We are not defeated, we are victorious in Christ. We are at PEACE!! We are not BEYOND GOD’s Power to change! so from that GOSPEL Power we move forward together in peace, for the glory of God.

THIS is for DISCIPLES of CHRIST

“Our understanding of being a disciple of Christ in the New Testament is one who has been transformed through FAITH in Christ, has been baptized into Christ and into his church, and continues to be committed to and serving CHRIST in the body of Christ – a local church. The Lord’s Supper is the fellowship meal for the covenant family of Jesus Christ.”

For those who are not Christians, and this is not for you. This is not for you, you have said no to this, with your life. No to this community, no to Christ. but this SALVATION is for you, Jesus is for you! You’ll see the emblems passing you by… don’t let salvation pass you by again. Make no more excuses, take hold of Christ and live!

Children – boys and girls. I know some of you are believing on Christ, as you wait to take that public step of baptism, and openly commit to be a disciple of Christ, it is good for you to wait to take the Lord’s Supper. For you, feed on Christ as this passes you by, think to yourself, I won’t let this day pass me by without Christ, and call out to him, and then turn and follow Jesus. I know your mom and dad would be delighted to talk with you about what that might look like. Believe on Jesus and live.

BREAD

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 (ESV) — 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

CUP

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 (ESV) — 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

731 Doxology

2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV) — 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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