Harden Not Your Hearts – Part II
HEBREWS 3:7-19
“HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS” IS A SOLEMN WARNING, THE SECOND WARNING OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS.
SPEAKING GENERALLY, MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE CHRISTIANS WOULD AGREE IT IS NOT COMMON in today’s churches to hear sermons issuing solemn warnings from Scripture. Passages that deal with such things that the average “Christian” would find unsavory are either euphemistically glossed over or skipped entirely. It is sadly rare that the unadulterated Word of God is weekly preached from modern pulpits…
“IT IS UNUSUAL IN OUR EASYGOING DAYS FOR CHRISTIANS TO BE WARNED. Indeed, there is such a spirit of toleration abroad that language of the kind used here would be considered inflammatory. Yet the writer’s words flow from a deep pastoral concern for his readers, and where such care exists, even today, it will always find expression in biblical terms. The warning is still appropriate today. Let us read the ancient Scripture then, and learn to our own spiritual benefit.” – Andrews
“GOD SEES OUR INNER HARDNESS AND WARNS CONTINUALLY AGAINST IT until He is forced to judge it.” – Ray Steadman
“SCRIPTURE TEACHES UNIFORMLY THAT THOSE WHO ARE REDEEMED by Christ cannot fall away and be lost. But among those who profess to follow Christ (and even make a fair show of doing so) are some who remain unregenerate. They have ‘evil’ hearts, that is, hearts willfully inclined to a state of unbelief and rejection of the living God. They lull themselves into a false sense of security, often aided and abetted by their teachers, who tolerate the absence of spiritual fruit in people’s lives and fail to apply Scripture vigorously to their hearers. It is vital that believers should make sure” (that they’re saved and commit to living lives in obedience to God’s revealed will in the Bible – TAR). – Newell
NET 2 Peter 1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.
NAS Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
VERSES 12 AND 13 MAY BE SEEN AS AN APPLICATION. They tell us things to do. Verse 12 says “take care,” “be careful,” “beware”; v. 13 tells us to “encourage one another.” …
WARNING AND APPLICATION JUXTAPOSED IN THE SAME VERSE.
WE ARE TO ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER DAILY. That means we are to be in fellowship with one another. That means we are to help one another. The Greek words could even be translated “help one another.” The root meaning of the verb παρακαλέω (pa-ra-ka-lay-o) is to help. The word is a compound word that means “to call alongside.” When we encourage someone, we come alongside them in their suffering and help them.
HERE WE SEE JUST HOW A HEART CAN BE HARDENED. “The deceitfulness of sin.” My computer dictionary says “deceit” is “the quality that prompts intentional concealment or perversion of the truth for the purpose of misleading.” So, we see that deceit is calculating. It is not just fraudulent; it is purposeful fraudulence. Satan, the father of sin, purposely leads us astray. Again, I think of the beer commercials as a classic example of the deceitfulness of sin. I know I have used this analogy before, but I have yet to improve upon it. When we see a beer commercial on TV the people are all slim and healthy and having the time of their lives. There is not even the slightest hint that there might be a downside to all the hilarity. No hangovers, no missed work days, no anger resulting from drinking, no car wrecks, no high blood pressure, no psychiatric wards. Beer commercials are deceitful. They purposely distort the truth and conceal or pervert the truth. Beer commercials are good examples of the “deceitfulness of sin.” Beer commercials are purposely tricky; sin is purposely tricky. If we do not watch out, sin can make us think there are no costs to pay for the temporary pleasure.
NAS Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;
DID YOU CATCH THE “IF”? Verse 14 contains another of the significant, controversial “if”s in the book of Hebrews.
CONTINUANCE IS THE GREATEST PROOF OF SALVATION. Falling away is, in all likelihood, proof you were never saved in the first place. If you have sincerely believed the gospel and truly trusted Christ for salvation, you are saved forever.…
NAS Hebrews 10:38-39 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
LISTEN CAREFULLY ALSO TO THE WORDS OF JESUS…
NAS John 8:31 Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
IN MY MEDITATIONS ON THIS MESSAGE THIS WEEK I thought long and hard on the question of whether or not a Christian can lose his or her salvation. As I have said, this is a big question both in the book of Hebrews and in Christianity today. I believe strongly that the Bible teaches the eternal security of the believer. “Eternal security” is “once saved, always saved.” It is my prayer that the biggest benefit we all receive from our study of Hebrews is greater assurance of that wonderful truth.
THE PRIMARY MESSAGE OF THE BOOK OF HEBREWS IS NOT that the believer can lose his salvation, but that perseverance of faith, a continuing maturity in Christ is proof that one is truly saved. God does not save us so that we will remain just as we are until we go to heaven. He saves us so that we will go on from where we are to perfection, so that we will become like Christ…
ESV 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
SALVATION IS AN EVENT, YES, BUT IT IS ALSO A PROCESS. We are saved, past tense. That happened when we received Jesus as Savior and Lord. That is the theological term “justification.” We are being saved, present tense. That is happening now. That is the theological term “sanctification.” And, finally, we will be saved. This dimension of salvation refers to when we get to heaven. That is the theological term “glorification.” Salvation, therefore, is three-dimensional: past, present, future. Many people, including some who should know better, often get confused by certain passages in the Scripture by reading the Bible’s words into the wrong dimension. Sometimes the Bible talks about the past of salvation. Sometimes it talks about the future of salvation. But most of the time it talks about the present of salvation. It is in this present of salvation that the battle for our minds is fought. It is in this present of salvation that we can fall away. Remember, please, I am not suggesting we can lose our salvation, but it is, I believe, possible to harden your heart against God – even while you are a true believer – and miss the rewards He has for those who persevere. Therefore, the writer of Hebrews, operating under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (the writer is not inspired; it is the Scriptures that are inspired – 2 Tim 3:16), wrote the book of Hebrews: to warn true believers not to harden their hearts, not to fall back, not to drift away from God, but to go on in faith in their Christian lives. If the person goes on, the proof of salvation is demonstrated. If the person does not go on in his walk with God, that is clear evidence that he is not saved, that he was never saved…
I MUST IN GOOD CONSCIENCE PLACE A CAVEAT LIKE A FOOTNOTE BENEATH THAT PARAGRAPH. Even though I firmly believe every word I’ve written is true and supported by the Bible, over the years I’ve learned – or maybe better put, I’ve disciplined myself to always remember that I’m human and no matter how many years I’ve been studying theology and how many books I’ve read, I don’t know everything. I could be wrong. So, almost all those dogmatic statements I’ve written about salvation above, I should add “most probably” or “as far as it is humanly possible to ascertain” to them. It’s a difficult dichotomy: God wants us to be absolutely certain of the essential truth of our salvation, and yet that’s probably not entirely possible…
NAS Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
BACK TO HEBREWS…
NAS Hebrews 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
- 14 ALSO SAYS THAT IF WE GO ON IN OUR FAITH we have become “partakers with Christ.” “Faith is personal union with God. Unbelief separates from God.” – Marvin Vincent
THE WRITER OF HEBREWS USED THE SAME WORD IN 3:1…
NAS Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.
THE GREEK WORD μέτοχος (me-tox-os) MEANS “PARTNER.” It’s a word that speaks of intimacy, companionship. If you are lonely in your life, become a partner with Jesus. By God’s loving mercy we are one with Christ and participate in His purpose…
NAS John 17:22 (Jesus’ high priestly prayer to God the Father before He went to the Cross:) And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;
NAS Hebrews 3:15-19 while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
THE NATION OF ISRAEL “PROVOKED” GOD IN THE WILDERNESS. Some have wrongly interpreted these closing verses of chapter 3 as signifying that those whose bodies fell in the wilderness went to hell, that they lost their salvation. But it is most probably more correct to see not the wilderness as hell, but Egypt, the land from which they came before they were lead into the wilderness. Even though the Jews hardened their hearts and provoked God’s righteous anger, He did not allow them to go back to Egypt. They did not lose their “salvation”; they lost the rewards of being partakers with God…
“THE IDEA IS EXQUISITELY, EMPHATICALLY PUT: we keep on enjoying Christ as we keep on enduring. We keep on being delivered from disobedience, rebellion, callousness of spirit, sin, and death as we keep on believing. Though the unbelieving Hebrews were unable to enter the Promised Land because of disobedience, we who maintain our faith and endure to the end are assured of entering God’s rest.” – Broadman Press Publication
I WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO SAY ABOUT “REST” IN NEXT WEEK’S BLOG as we look at chapter 4. We will learn that the writer/preacher of Hebrews is not describing one single rest here and in chapter 4, but three rests (1) God’s Sabbath rest when He ceased his creation [Gen 2:2]; (2) Israel’s rest in Canaan – which they never really saw [Deut 12:9; Josh 21:43-45]; and (3), the future rest all believers will share in heaven [Rev. 14:13]. The rest that applies to us today is rest in Christ. It is rest from works as we come to Him by faith at salvation; and it is submissive rest in Him through the wilderness of life.
AS WE CLOSE, LET ME BE CERTAIN I HAVE NOT MISLED YOU. I said in a previous writing that I did not want to discourage you in anyway with this study in Hebrews and its numerous warnings. Hearing God issue warnings can cause us to fear. Some of that fear may be unnecessary. The great theologian of the 16th century John Calvin said this about warnings and fear, “This fear is commended to us, not as something that drives away the assurance of faith, but as something that inspires us with concern that we do not grow slack with carelessness.” When the Scripture says in v. 19 that “they were not able to enter because of unbelief,” this does not mean occasional doubt. Many strong, wonderful Christians can experience doubt…
KJV Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
THE BIBLE IS NOT SAYING THAT DOUBT OR EVEN TEMPORARY SPELLS OF FALLING AWAY FROM GOD will prevent you from attaining your destiny in Christ. What is in view is persistent, hard-hearted unbelief. Ray Steadman wrote on this passage: “The loss of promised blessing is traceable only and solely to long-continued unbelief. The cause of this recalcitrance lies deeper than a wrong attitude or wrong behavior; it lies in a (hardened – TAR) disobedient will.”
THE MIND IS THE BATTLEFIELD. We decide whether we will go on with Christ or fall by the wayside. A hardened heart is a decision of the will. We decide to harden our hearts. It is our choice to fall away from God just as it ultimately is our choice not to forgive, not to work through problems, not to stay under the pressure and allow God to work His work in us.
IF YOU ALLOW YOUR HEART TO BE HARDENED, YOU WILL DRIFT away from Christ. The more the heart is hardened, the greater distance between you and Christ. The softer the heart, the closer you will draw near to God. A hardened heart can cause you to turn away from Jesus altogether.
JESUS SAID…
NAS John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
IF YOU TURN AWAY FROM JESUS YOU ARE TURNING AWAY FROM the way, turning away from truth, and turning away from life. When we are disobedient to God’s will, we are turning away from Jesus, and we are, at least to some degree, hardening our hearts. When we are proud, arrogant, stubborn, unloving, unforgiving, overly fearful and overly concerned with our own little world and our problems; when we know we should reach out to that other person and don’t; when we know we should read our Bibles but watch television or play video games instead, we are turning away from Jesus and we are hardening our hearts.
A HARDENED HEART WILL LEAD TO SPIRITUAL DISASTER. The writer of the book of Hebrews is exhorting us in our passage this week to learn from the mistakes of the ancient Jews in the wilderness. God commanded the Jews to go through the wilderness and possess the land. They tragically choose to disobey God. They tragically chose not to believe God. They did not enter into God’s rest. They hardened their hearts. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that those who dabble in their faith and never really commit to living in obedience to Christ, can never know eternal rest. Hebrews 3:7-19 is warning us for our own good.
“HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS”…
“HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS”…
“HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS”…
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
