Sunday Night Bible Study Hebrews 3:14-19 February 13, 1994 Hebrews 3:14-19 Hebrews 3 Introduction The Point of Hebrews is: Jesus is better! He's better than the angels. We need to be careful about not falling away from the Lord [14]For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end; [15]while it is said, #"\Today if you hear His voice\, \Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.\"# :14 if we hold fast ... firm until the end The writer said practically the same thing back in verse 6. You could look at this passage as if it's saying that if you don't hold fast, you could lose your salvation. Jonathan Edwards once said that the sure proof of election is that one holds out to the end. The whole point is not to look at letting go, but to look at holding on. Mt 24:13 But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Mt 10:22 And ye shall be hated by all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Illustration: Holding On On a commuter flight from Portland, Maine, to Boston, Henry Dempsey, the pilot heard an unusual noise near the rear of the small aricraft. He turned the controls over to his co-pilot and went back to check it out. As he reached the tail section, the plain hit an air pocket, and Dempsey was tossed against the rear door. He guickly discovered the source of the mysterious noise. The rear door had not been properly latched prior to takeoff, and if flew open. He was instantly sucked out of the jet. The co-pilot, seeing the red light that indicated an open door, radioed the nearest airport, requesting permission to make an emergency landing. He reported that the pilot had fallen out of the plane, and he requested a helicopter search of that area of the ocean. After the plane landed, they found Henry Dempsey - holding onto the outdoor ladder of the aircraft. Somehow he had caught the ladder, held on for ten minutes as the plane flew 200 mph at an altitude of 4,000 feet, and then, at landing, kept his head from hitting the runway, which was a mere twelve inches away. It took airport personnel several minutes to pry Dempsey's fingers from the ladder. Things in life may be turbulent, and you may not feel like holding on. But have you considered the alternative? :15 while it is said ... The writer quotes the "Today" passage again because it's a continual thing we have to keep doing in holding on to Jesus. We never get past "today", so we need to keep holding on. As long as it's "today", we need to be holding on to Jesus, lest we fall away. [16]For who provoked {Him} when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt {led} by Moses? [17]And with whom was He angry 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 should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? :18 to those who were disobedient Over and over again, the characteristic of the Israelites in the wilderness was one of disobedience. And God was not too happy with them. [19]And {so} we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. :19 because of unbelief It seems a little contradictory to first say it was because of disobedience, then to say it was because of unbelief. The unbelief was the real reason, the root issue. It finally came out when the spies were sent into the land. Numbers 13-14 The spies were sent out to the promised land. The bad report came back: There's giants in the land! The people didn't want to go in. That was the last straw! Nu 14:22-24 Because all those men who have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it. Nu 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. The very root to all the disobedience came down to unbelief. They did not want to believe that God was able to finish what He started. They did not want to believe that God was big enough to deliver them from all their enemies. So they never made it into the promised land. If we really believed these verses, how many problems would we have? Attacks Isa 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue [that] shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This [is] the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness [is] from me, saith the LORD. Warning: Believing this verse doesn't protect you from bad things. But if you believe this verse, and something bad happens to you ... Then you have to come to the realization that either the thing really isn't bad at all (maybe even a blessing), or, if it is bad, you know that the badness isn't going to prosper, but God will sooner or later turn it to the good. Think of Joseph and his brothers: What was meant for evil, God turned to good. If you choose to not believe this verse, then you become discouraged and defeated, ready to quit, just where Satan wants you to be. Temptations 1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]. If you don't believe this verse, you already know that the current temptation is just too much for you and you better stop fighting, go ahead and give in and get it over with. But if you believe this verse, it doesn't mean you won't be tempted, but when you are tempted, you'll start actively looking for the escape hatch. And if it takes a little time to find, you know that God is confident that you are able to handle it until then. What keeps us from receiving the peace and victory attached to these verses? Unbelief. Illustration: Available Power Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting the power to work. J.B.Phillips paraphrases Ephesians 1:19-20, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us. We've taken many other people's opinions on how things should be, that we're just going to be tempted and sin, and to learn to live with it. But all we really need is to fix that old loose wire and varoom! There's power! What do I do if I have a problem really believing these verses? I need to get more faith. How do I get more faith? 1. The Word. Ro 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The more time I spend in God's Word, the more I see just how good God is at keeping His word. Psalms 77 1. <> I cried to God with my voice, [even] to God with my voice; and he gave ear to me. 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. 4 Thou holdest my eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. 5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. 6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with my own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. 7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? 8 Is his mercy wholly gone for ever? doth [his] promise fail for evermore? 9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. 10 And I said, This [is] my infirmity: [but I will remember] the years of the right hand of the Most High. 11. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. 12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. 13 Thy way, O God, [is] in the sanctuary: who [is so] great a God as [our] God? 14 Thou [art] the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people. 15 Thou hast with [thy] arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah. 16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. 17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thy arrows also went abroad. 18 The voice of thy thunder [was] in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. 19 Thy way [is] in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. 20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Look what the psalmist did! When he was majorly depressed, he forced himself to think about God's deeds (like the things you find in the Word). As he began to think about God's great deeds, the problems kind of fall away. 2. Try living the Word. Start making your own track record. Psalms 18 1. <> I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. 2 The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower. 3 I will call upon the LORD, [who is worthy] to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies. 4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of hell surrounded me: the snares of death seized me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, [even] into his ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was angry. 8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness [was] under his feet. 10 And he rode upon a cherub, and flew: yea, he flew upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion around him [were] dark waters [and] thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness [that was] before him his thick clouds passed, hail [stones] and coals of fire. 13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail [stones] and coals of fire. 14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and destroyed them. 15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them who hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18 They came upon me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. 19 He brought me forth also in a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. David is recounting a time when he trusted the Lord and how the Lord delivered Him. Not only can we draw upon the examples in the Bible how God has delivered His people, but we should be able to draw from our own experiences how God has delivered us. Hebrews 4 HEB 4:1 Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. HEB 4:2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. HEB 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, #"\As I swore in My wrath\, \They shall not enter My rest,\"# although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. HEB 4:4 For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh {day}, "\And God rested on the seventh day from all His works\"; HEB 4:5 and again in this {passage}, "\They shall not enter My rest.\" HEB 4:6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, HEB 4:7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, #"\Today if you hear His voice\, \Do not harden your hearts.\"# HEB 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. HEB 4:9 There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. HEB 4:10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. HEB 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through {following} the same example of disobedience. HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. HEB 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. HEB 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as {we are, yet} without sin. HEB 4:16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.