Battling Unbelief • 02.05.23
Nick Lees   -   February 5, 2023

Battling Unbelief

Hebrews 3:1-19

Essential practices to persevere in the faith

  1. Think carefully and often about Jesus
  2. Watch out for the danger of a hard heart
  3. Exhort one another daily

Jesus is worthy of all glory, honor, power and praise! We are here this morning to lift high his name. What a delight it is to do that alongside of you this morning. At this time, we’re going to lift high the name of Jesus through the study of the Word. We’re diving right back into our verse-by-verse study of the book of Hebrews.

From what framework do you approach life and faith? There are likely many options out there… Even the Bible uses many different analogies to describe it… Life/faith are a journey. They’re a race… a calling… An adventure… How about this one – life/faith are a war?

If you’re doing the Fighter Verse memory challenge with us this year… you’ve been in Ephesians 6 this month. What is that talking about? Putting on the armor of God! Standing against the schemes of the devil. Wrestling… Fighting. You don’t wear armor in peacetime. You put armor on to protect yourself in a war! The Scriptures often speak of our lives and faith as a spiritual war/battle. I find this terminology incredibly helpful in how I think about and approach my life and faith.

The reality is that humanity has some real enemies. Last week, we were introduced to two of them – death and the devil. For Christians, both have been authoritatively and decisively defeated through Jesus’ finished work in his death, burial, and resurrection. The Son is superior to our enemies! However, as we heard last week, we are still locked in battle with the devil, yet we know that, in the end, the result will be his defeat. Until that time, we are called to continually resist his schemes and distractions/temptations.

Today we’re going to be brought face to face with another enemy – unbelief. This enemy is different from the others as it comes from within. It is not external but internal. And failing to do battle with unbelief has significant, eternal consequences!

We must do battle with unbelief whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head! As we study Hebrews 3 today, I want to equip you to be aware of the danger of unbelief and give you tools to fight against it, as given from God’s Word. So, let’s turn our attention to the Word.

Remember the author had just encouraged his audience with incredible truths about Jesus’ work of redemption for them. That Jesus had removed the sins of his people and satisfied God’s wrath on their behalf! He faced all of this for them. And now, as their faithful high priest, he is able to help them in their time of need. Let’s hear what comes next…

Hebrews 3:1–19 (ESV)

3 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. 3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4 (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

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.’ ”

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 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. 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.”

16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 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.

In this extended passage we just read, there are two main sections with different yet related emphases. Remember, the author is building his argument as he is trying to help his audience persevere in their faith. The first section is in verses 1-6, where he compares Jesus to Moses and reveals how Jesus is better than Moses. The second section is verses 7-19 where the author again calls back to the Old Testament to encourage his contemporary audience to learn valuable lessons from their ancestors and not repeat their folly. For the sake of our study and growth today, both of these sections reveal…

Essential practices to persevere in the faith

Starting with…

  1. Think carefully and often about Jesus

This practice stems from the words of Hebrews 3:1 – “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession…” He is urging his audience to action. Because of everything that has come before in his sermon, all that is true about Jesus and his great message of salvation… Consider Jesus. The Greek word for consider means to contemplate or think carefully about something.

This resonates deeply with the previous call from Hebrews 2:1 to pay much closer attention to what we have heard from Jesus! The author clearly wants his audience to think carefully and often about Jesus. We’re talking about both a depth of thought, engaging your critical thinking, as well as a frequency of thought, think about Jesus and his message of salvation often!

As you think about Jesus and study this sermon of Hebrews, one of the elements that you’ll notice the author developing is the theme of “Jesus is better”. We see this theme continued in chapter 3.

In Hebrews 3:1-6, the author contends that Jesus is better than Moses. He starts by presenting Moses as faithful in all God’s house. By God’s house he means God’s people. He shares how Moses has received glory as a servant in God’s house (or a servant of God’s people). Moses was a preeminent prophet in the Old Testament. They would have had high regard for him. He was used by God to deliver the Israelites from Egypt and take them to the Promised Land. Along the way, God spoke to Moses often and gave him the Law to share with the people. This was the inauguration of the Old Covenant, delineating how they could be God’s holy people and how he would be their God. Moses was instrumental in the plan of God, and he received glory for his part in the plan. But Jesus is worthy of even more glory!

Jesus is more than a servant of the house; he is the architect and the Son who is over God’s people. Meaning, God’s people, including Moses, have been created by Jesus! So, inevitably, Jesus has more glory and is greater than Moses.

Now you may wonder, “Why does the author need to make this argument? What’s the point?” The point was to convince an audience who had great respect and reverence for Moses to have even greater respect and reverence for Jesus! To worship and follow Jesus! For some reason, at least some in the audience were tempted to drift away from the faith. Some were in danger of developing an evil, unbelieving heart that would then fall away from the living God.

Hence his warnings and encouragements to consider Jesus! He desperately wants his audience to hold firm to their faith. To persevere to the end.

Let’s stop and consider what this means for you today. It is important for you to understand that you too need to consider Jesus. You need to seek to understand him. To think carefully and often about him.

How does one do that? Well, the first place to start would be in studying your Bible. Consistently.

I think we all understand that if you want to grow in a particular proficiency you have to devote consistent time and attention to it. If you want to be physically fit, you’re going to consistently work out in a way that challenges your body. If you want to improve as a cook, you’re going to study flavors and meal prep and keep trying recipes to grow your competency. If you want to improve a skillset at work, you purchase books or programs or get coaching to help you take steps of growth.

Why do we not realize the same intentionality and consistency is required for growth and perseverance in our faith? If you want to be faithful and pleasing to Jesus for your lifetime, (and you should!), the same kind of time and attention is needed in consistently studying and applying God’s Word.

If you struggle to do this, then ask for help. Humans benefit from doing things together. You’re more consistent in working out when you know someone is meeting you at the gym. The same benefits come from studying God’s Word together. When you have accountability or meet to discuss the Word together the benefits abound. This could be done within your small group, or you could join the church’s annual Bible reading plan. They are using a Bible app so you can comment on what you learned each day and read what others are learning too. Plus, it has a little tracker to show your progress. It’s a form of accountability! It could be from meeting with one or more persons to go deeper.

These are helpful ways to think carefully and often about Jesus. To stretch and strengthen your faith. To build your spiritual muscle so you can stand firm until the day of Christ. If you want to endure to the end, make it a priority in your life to consistently pursue God in his Word.

As you do this, I want to encourage you to do it with the goal of cultivating sound doctrine that will help you endure to the end. You’re not reading just to hit a daily goal. You’re reading for understanding about YOUR God. The One who created all things and made you for a purpose!

You read to understand God’s view of reality. Aka the biblical worldview. This is what allows you to approach life through the correct lens. That will help you persevere to the end.

How do we arrive at such an understanding?

I like to share these 4 questions to help you interact with your Bible.

  • What does this teach me about God?
  • What does this teach me about man/myself?
  • How should I give thanks from what I’ve read?
  • How do I need to change based on what I’ve read?

This is a start to helping you interact with the Bible. As you’re considering Jesus and his teachings, it will also be helpful for you to invest in other resources that will help you grow in your depth of understanding. A good “study” Bible is invaluable. I really like the ESV Study Bible because it has the best notes of any Study Bible I’ve read. Realize these notes are not the words of God, they are simply the observations and interpretations of wise men and women. You still need to think critically about these.

If you’re looking for something to help you learn to study the Bible more thoroughly, then I would recommend browsing our resources page. Under the book studies is a resource list that will help you learn how to approach Scripture thoughtfully and to ask good questions of what you’re reading. These and many more resources are recommended or provided on our website.

Another valuable tool would be a commentary. You can acquire a solid whole-bible commentary for a fairly low price. I commonly recommend the Expositor’s Bible Commentary Abridged Edition which is two books, one covering each Testament, and is $52 from Christianbook.com. That’s about the cost of two venti Starbucks drinks these days. Or a few gallons of gas. And this investment will have a tremendous impact on your study of God’s Word.

Not only do you need to be consistent in studying God’s Word to learn about Jesus and how you ought to live, but you also need to be in active relationship with him. There is a necessary response to what you learn about him!

A good starting point for this is to engage him in prayer. Prayer is a response of humility and trust in Jesus. It’s acknowledging that I don’t have it all figured out and I need him to help me. I don’t have enough time to go into a detailed explanation of how to pray or what to pray, but I will point you to our website’s resource page – specifically the prayer page – www.harvestdesmoines.org/prayer – which has resources to help you grow in this spiritual discipline and will continue to be updated throughout the year!

Besides prayer there is also obeying Jesus’ commands. As Jesus teaches you through his word, listen and change. Reject sin and disobedience wherever it is present in your life and pursue godliness and obedience! This is known as repentance – to turn from sin and go a different direction, namely the way God calls you to live! Every Christian ought to be actively repenting daily. We’re constantly identifying temptation and sin and running the opposite direction!

All of this falls under our first practice to persevere in the faith…

  1. Think carefully and often about Jesus

He is better than the prophets, the angels, and Moses…

But there is also a very real danger that is warned about in Hebrews… Which brings us to our second practice to persevere in the faith…

  1. Watch out for the danger of a hard heart

Twice in chapter three, the author has warned his audience of the need to hold fast their confidence in the faith. Let’s look at them again…

Hebrews 3:6, 14 (ESV)

6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

What are we to make of these conditional statements? “if indeed”? They sound a bit intimidating. Is he implying that we can lose our salvation?! No.

The author is shooting straight with his audience. As I mentioned last week, he cannot possibly know where they all stand with the Lord, just as I cannot know where you all stand with the Lord. It is entirely possible for someone to put on a good show and appear to be “in the faith”. However, the test of time and facing trials and persecutions will be telling for many.

Someone who is truly a Christian will persevere until the end. They will not walk away from the Lord forever. That doesn’t mean they won’t struggle or fight along the way. We all wrestle with doubts, fears, and even seasons of temptation towards unbelief. But one who truly is in Christ will persevere.

And this is not because of your own strength or works. The reality is that Jesus is the one who holds us fast. Consider the following truths:

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:5 (ESV)

5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

God protects and keeps all his people in the faith. However, you are also called to keep persevering. This is one of those beautiful tensions of Scripture. You are called to do your part and you can be sure that God will do his:

Philippians 2:12–13 (ESV)

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

If you are in Christ, God is at work in you, and you are called to cooperate with his work.

I really appreciate the comments of Al Mohler on this concept:

The author and the rest of Scripture teach that only those who persevere in faith will be saved, and that all who have genuine faith will persevere.

(Repeat)

What should you do with this? How can this tension in Scripture help you to watch out for the danger of a hard heart that drifts away from God?

Take time to personally evaluate your life and testimony. There are examples of a healthy form of this type of evaluation seen in Scripture. Listen to how Paul speaks to the Corinthians about this:

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!

They were to take time to evaluate their testimony. Are they truly walking with the Lord or not? It is possible to stop and check yourself for evidence of new life. A person who has truly been born again by faith in Jesus Christ will bear fruit in keeping with repentance. You cannot hide authentic faith. There will be a desire to read the Word, to pray, to know God and make him known.

Another great truth that reveals a healthy way to evaluate ourselves is found in 1 John:

 1 John 2:3–6 (ESV)

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Obedience to God’s Word is evidence of a regenerate, humble heart. But disobedience is evidence of a hard heart. Those who know God want to obey him. They realize he is the source of truth and all things good, and they make it their aim to follow him. One of the fruits of faith is obedient living according to God’s Word. A little while later, John writes the following:

1 John 3:18–19 (ESV)

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;

A true believer doesn’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. If your faith is all talk and head knowledge without any real-life change or sacrificial service towards God and others, that’s a problem. *Pause*

If the things we’ve just heard about are absent in your life, then you need to evaluate whether you are really in the faith. And, if you’re not, then I want to encourage you to confess your need for Jesus as Savior and Lord and believe in him for the forgiveness of sins and salvation of your soul. Ask him to change your heart and life!

Thankfully, God tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I appreciated commentator George Guthrie’s summary of what we’re discussing here:

The inner reality of one’s relationship with God is manifested in outward action and gives assurance.

Our changed lives are evidence of the inward heart reality that has taken place, salvation of our soul through faith in Christ.

Unfortunately, there has long been anemic teaching in the western church on these matters. Well-meaning individuals have over-emphasized the necessity of simply ‘praying the prayer’ in order to be saved. “Just pray the prayer of salvation and you will go to heaven.” Or “Just raise your hand if you want to trust in Jesus.” Usually, implied is the escape from hell and God’s wrath from your sin. What is the problem with this? Well, on the surface, there is much that is true – salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and it does free you from the fear of hell and God’s wrath. We heard that last week in Hebrews 2!

However, what is often missing in these types of presentations is a full view of what it means to follow Christ. There are essential truths about the cost of following Christ that need to be understood by everyone who chooses to follow him. Repentance is a key part of the Gospel message. There is a call to turn from sin and change to pursue Christ!

This does not mean that works are required for salvation, it simply means that a changed life is necessarily an outworking of salvation. You are saved by grace and that grace transforms your life. You WANT to know God and live for him.

My concern is for the person who believes they need to pray a prayer or raise their hand to receive Christ but never needs to study the Word or change accordingly. This person has been misled into believing a partial Gospel message.

So they take that step, and they continue with their life and have no inclination or desire to do battle with temptation or sin. They may think “I prayed the prayer” or “I raised my hand” yet live in a manner completely contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the rest of Scripture! This is not some scare tactic or made-up scenario; from my experience this is a significant portion of people who would call themselves Christians in our nation. They have a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel and what it means to follow Christ.

Rather than their hope being in the finished work of Christ and being transformed by Him, functionally they are hoping in their works of a prayer or hand-raising and living like one who does not know God.

Let me share a summary of the matter from GotQuestions.org:

Salvation is certainly free, but, at the same time, it costs us everything. We are to die to ourselves as we change into the likeness of Christ. Where easy believism fails is its lack of recognition that a person with faith in Jesus will lead a progressively changed life. Salvation is a free gift from God to those who believe, but discipleship and obedience are the response that will no doubt occur when one truly comes to Christ in faith. (What is easy believism? | GotQuestions.org)

The author of Hebrews even uses the example of the generation of Israel who escaped Egypt to make his point in Hebrews 3:7-11. He is calling back to mind their ancestors who started the race of faith well but failed to persevere in their faith. They stopped listening to God and did what was right in their own eyes and it prevented them from entering the Promised Land, the land of God’s rest for Israel.

We all know how easy it is to give into sin and, if not convicted by the Holy Spirit, continue in it. There is a real danger in unhandled sin in our lives. It corrupts our thinking and our desires. It tempts us to find our satisfaction in something other than God. “Just one more… look… one more click… one more drink… one more piece of clothing…” Our hearts are easily deceived.

It is of the utmost importance that we are watching out for the danger of a hard heart. We do this by healthy personal evaluation AND by actively living in community with other Christians.

Remember this sermon is being preached to a group of Christians, likely a local church. And the author goes on to command them to watch out for one another and exhort one another daily. Community with the people of God is an indispensable part of faithfully walking with God for the long haul. This is why each of us needs the church!

Alone we are weak and susceptible to temptation and sin and discouragements and our own doubts/fears/etc., – But in authentic Christian community, we are able to come into the light and have our struggles dealt with in gentle and caring ways. A fellow brother or sister can help me to see clearly when I am blinded by sin’s deceitfulness!

This is an excellent opportunity for me to call each of you to value this type of community. To truly desire to let people into your life to this degree. Why would you choose to walk in defeat or to battle with unbelief/sin on your own? You have the people of God all around you who are here to do battle against unbelief/sin with you! We are stronger together. Choosing to go at it alone is foolish and usually a sign of pride…

This also means there needs to be room for us to challenge one another when one of us seems to be living contrary to the truth! It should not be surprising when a brother or sister in Christ comes alongside another to ask questions or to point out clear sin. This is a very real way we love one another in Christian community! This is how we become the compelling community of God that we say we want to be!

And this brings me to our final essential practice to persevere in the faith…

  1. Exhort one another daily

This comes straight from Hebrews 3:13. This is the kind of mutual ministry that we encourage our small groups to be all about. To be, lovingly, in each other’s business to the degree that we’re able to know how to best exhort or urge or implore one another to pursue godliness rather than sin’s deceitfulness.

If you notice, this command can only be carried out in community. Not only is our faith communal, so too our faithfulness is communal. We need one another. We are part of a spiritual family who must look out for one another.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ who share in a heavenly calling, and we have the privilege of helping one another along the way. What a tremendous privilege that is! Which is why it is so important to be deeply committed to a biblical local church. You need fellow Christians who will be committed to the Word and the Lord and committed to your growth.

If you think about this calling to exhort one another… This is only possible if you’re not fixated on yourself. A self-focused person is not going to be looking for ways to help others. If we’re caught up complaining about our trials, or talking about ourselves, or one-upping each other, then it makes it really hard to provide spiritual care for another.

This is why each of us must first fix our eyes on Jesus, the champion of our faith. We must pay much closer attention to him so that we’re able to love others well. When I am satisfied in Jesus, then I’m able to love others well. Asking about their lives and how I can pray for them. Looking for needs they may have that I might be able to meet. Encouraging them with truth from Scripture or sharing a personal testimony for their benefit.

After all, what are we to be exhorting one another? That each of us believes and obey the Scriptures – the revealed words of God. Remember, the sermon of Hebrews is all about perseverance in the faith. And faith comes and is matured by hearing the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 (ESV)

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

All things that pertain to life and godliness – maturity – come through the knowledge of him (God). Where is that found? The Word of God. The created order can tell us general things about God, but only the Bible contains God’s special revelation of himself to us. Consider Paul’s counsel to the Colossians:

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

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.

We’ve got to keep pointing each other back to the Word. Which requires us to be deeply committed to the Word and allowing it to dwell in us richly. So that it pours out of us.

This kind of intentional one anothering happens best in a community of deeply committed believers known as the local church. At our church we want this kind of one anothering to be happening in all sorts of different avenues.

  • Sunday mornings – are you going deep in conversation? Be intentional to get past the superficial conversations and try to find ways to pray for one another.
  • Small groups – ideal venue for us to exhort one another; important to stay in touch throughout the week! It doesn’t do much good for everyone to be radio silent all week long… that’s when we’re in the trenches of battling sin and unbelief! How can we exhort one another every day if we’re not in touch every day!?
    • Students this is true for you too. You need one another just as much as the adults do.
  • Informally – I want to encourage you to develop friendships within the church.
    • That’s going to require you to invite people over. Show hospitality to one another! Go out together. Great opportunity coming up with Parent’s Night Out! Or hosting or attending a Super Bowl party, even if you don’t like football. Do it for the relationships!
    • Parents, help your kids do this too.
      • Ex) Micaela having kids over for our kids
      • W/o deep Christian relationships they will struggle to stand firm!
    • In daily interactions with other believers
      • Parents, exhort your children daily.
      • Spouses, exhort one another daily.
      • If you have Christian co-workers/friends, exhort one another daily.

The teachings of Scripture are clear. As Christians, we are called to a high level of commitment to the church, Christ’s bride, from the moment of our salvation. This is evident in the many passages we’ve read today. How else could we possibly fulfill our calling to daily protect one another from sin’s deceitfulness? *Pause* The answer is you can’t, and you won’t.

The warnings of Hebrews 3 are not to be ignored. There is a real danger of having a hard heart from unchecked sin in our lives. There is a reason the author of Hebrews is using the wilderness generation as his example. They failed to enter God’s rest. He does not want his audience to develop a hard heart that ends in unbelief. Remember, he does not know their spiritual condition, whether they are truly saved or not. He is speaking to them as a wise counselor who is trying to help them avoid the worst possible outcome. Listen to these somber words from Al Mohler:

The danger of having a hard heart is not just that you might stumble. The danger of a hard heart is that it will lead to a final denial of God and rejection of his grace in Jesus Christ. The danger of a hard heart is unbelief. Hard hearts do not recognize or accept their need for a savior. Therefore, the ministry to which the author exhorts his brothers and sisters is no small ministry. Exhorting brothers and sisters in Christ to watch out for an evil and unbelieving heart is an urgent task for gospel faithfulness with eternal significance.

 

Israel failed to enter God’s rest because they presumed on God’s kindness and had their hearts hardened by sin. Therefore, exhort and encourage one another to hold firmly to your confession until the end so that an evil, unbelieving heart will not lead you away from faith in the living God.

Wise words that we would do well to heed today. Let us not presume on God’s kindness and make light of sin. We must actively battle sin/unbelief both individually and corporately. We are in this fight together and our delight is to see faithful Christians persevere to the end, no matter what toils and snares are along the way.

Let’s pray and ask God to help us create this kind of compelling community.