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2:47Then in Psalm 95, remember David wrote that psalm, and that's what is cited here in verses 7 through 11. Psalm 95, David wrote that. Psalm to mitigate Israel as a nation, the generation of David and then subsequent generations, from them too becoming hard in heart. The psalm was almost surely used in celebration of the Feast of Booths, where people lived in the booths as they celebrated and remembered the time in the wilderness and the lessons that would have learned, they would have learned. One of those lessons being an entire generation that hardened their hearts, even after seeing all the great things that God had done.

3:40But it's a good question. How should they have responded when they encountered all these adverse conditions? How should they have responded? It was a difficult time coming out of Egypt and going through the wilderness. Well, how should they have responded? Well, in faith. That's how they should have responded. Faith. What does faith look like? Well, there was an excellent sermon preached from this pulpit last Sunday evening by John Davis, and he was preaching about the Amos generation. And he boiled it down to two things. I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. Humility and hope. How do you respond? What does faith look like in adverse situations? Well, humility and hope. Hope in the character and promises of God. So think about that for us today. As we encounter adverse situations, sometimes we're tempted to fear or despair or disregard God altogether or be mad at God or for some other reason turn away from him rather than wait for him.

4:59So think about that. How should the Exodus generation have responded when they were blocked by the Red Sea? I mean, if that were us, that'd be pretty frightful with Pharaoh's armies in pursuit. You've got the Red Sea. You're blocked in. How do you respond? What does a faithful response look like? Well, humility. God, we're not getting out of this on our own. And hope. God, we know you delivered us from Egypt because you had another purpose, and that purpose was to take us into the land. So dying here is not part of that plan. And so we can have hope in God's promises. How should the Exodus generation have responded when they lacked water or lacked food or any other adverse conditions there in the wilderness? Same way. Humility and faith. Humility. God, there's no way this many people... Could be sustained by this desert. There is no way we can survive.

6:06We need you. Hope. God, we know that you will provide because you have promised to provide. You have promised to take us into your rest, that there is a destination in mind, and killing us or letting us die in the wilderness doesn't fit within your character or promise. So, in whatever adverse situations that we may be facing in life, respond in faith, humility, and hope. Each time we encounter adverse situations that tempt us to turn away from God, let us respond in humility and hope.

6:53Well, the author of Hebrews is talking to a generation in the first century, and he too is concerned about the hardening effect that's taking place in the congregation. A hardening, a stubbornizing heart. What is a hard heart? It's one that turns back. You can think about the original group of Hebrews, this audience, seems to be of a mixed group of Christians. There were Christians, true Christians, there were professing Christians. Certainly, a large part of them were Jews. I don't think we can assume that all of them were Jews, but certainly a large majority, target audience, Jewish.

7:40Probably a number of them were curious Jews who were listening to the gospel, intrigued by the gospel, but had not embraced the gospel yet. But what's happening all around is pressure. There's pressure mounting from Nero's persecution. That was getting intense. There's the pressures against the church from the synagogues. That is getting very intense. And so many Jews were contemplating turning away from the gospel. Turning away from the confession of Jesus and going back to Judaism or going back to a form of religion that would help get them out of the hot spot, the cultural collision that was happening. What a lot of people are doing in our culture today. It's a way to step back and avoid the cultural collision by stepping back from confessing Christ.

8:50How should they have responded? How should this first century group of Hebrews responded to the mounting pressures of their times? Well, the same way, in faith, humility, and hope. Hope in God's character and Christ's promises. You see, to abandon Christ, not just to abandon Christ, but to abandon the gospel of Christ, it was like going back to Egypt. That's the comparison that the author of Hebrews is saying. It would be a faithless action to having heard all that we have heard about Christ and the riches of his blessing, what he accomplished, what he did, and why he did it. And for us to abandon him would be worse than going back to Egypt.

9:46Because we've heard somebody greater than Moses. We've heard from the Son Himself. No, the only way to the rest is forward in faith. And so, coming to our generation, how should we respond when we encounter difficulties on our journey to heaven, to our eternal rest? Go by faith. Faith demonstrating itself in humility. God, I need you. God, I'm not going to get there on my own. And hope. God, I know you've called me to this purpose.

10:29Unbelief. Responds in pride and cynicism. God, I don't think you're there. God, you're not going to fulfill your promises. Well, like I said, this exhortation in verses 12 and 13 come after a lengthy exposition, no doubt, that took place in the synagogues at some time, but a lengthy citing of Psalm 95. Look at verse 7. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, it is the Spirit of God that is speaking. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. Do not harden your hearts.

11:16As when they did, as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me by testing me and tried me by testing me and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with this generation and said they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways, and I swore in my wrath they shall not enter my rest. It's very clear what the Holy Spirit is saying through that is, number one, this is review. The Holy Spirit, hardening your heart or stubbornizing your heart, exasperates God. It puts God to the test. It will always lead you astray and will never allow you into. God's rest. Follow your heart and it will lead you astray.

12:15Of course, this message today, if you hear, don't harden your hearts, soften your hearts, follow his way, that's very countercultural today. The message that we hear all around us is follow your heart. Justify where your heart wants to go, and then celebrate where your heart wants to go. Thumb your nose at God. What is most important is following your heart. Prepared a little video that I think I've shown parts of it before, but just to give you a little bit of how prevalent it is.

13:35When life gets me down, I play my guitar. The rest of the world may follow the rules, but I must follow my heart. If you follow your heart, your dreams will fly on magical wings when you follow your heart. I believe that you and Miss Lawrence have something that you won't allow yourselves to lose. And if you search your heart and listen to its instruction, you won't go wrong. Don't make your own patience of the beauty within.

14:25When you follow your heart, there's no way you can win. Your duty was to stay home, but your heart told you to break the rules. How did you decide between duty and heart? By following my feelings, I wound up doing the right thing. I guess I learned that my duty is to my heart. My duty is to my heart. Well, pretty catchy, right? If you. Follow your heart, right? We can all do that, right? I had to do that illustration before I turned 60.

15:18Probably better for the pastor to stay behind the pulpit. That's why we put a sheer ledge there. But I don't think the pastor should not pay attention to where his heart is leading him. You? In fact, if you just blindly follow your heart, you're sure to go off a cliff. But this little video, we've seen that. I mean, this isn't a crusade against the entertainment world because it's not the problem with the entertainment world, it's the human heart. This idea of following your heart, the reason it sells so well, and the reason that is the script of fallen humanity. I want to justify where I want to go. I want to celebrate it. You see this throughout scripture. They all did what was right in their own eyes. That's why you see it so much in the media and you see it so much in the philosophy of the world. Because it's something that's in you and it resonates with our fallen humanity. Just justify what you want to do and then celebrate what you want to do.

16:44But there's a danger, right? Falling off a cliff, and I'm not just talking about a ledge, an eternal destruction. That so I would say to the little confused girl at the end who seems to have a revelation, My duty is to my heart. No, the text that we're reading says, Our duty is to make sure our hearts do not fall away from the living God. That is your duty. And be careful because your heart will turn away and lead you away from the living God. That's the exhortation. Look back. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

17:40Our duty is to make sure that our hearts do not fall away from the living God. And there's a dimension of this that's on an individual level, but then on a corporate level. This is what happened in the wilderness. Why did their hearts go hard? Why? It's just. It's a lesson we need to learn, and we need to know how to avoid Emmanuel Baptist Church becoming a collection of people whose hearts are hard to the Lord individually and corporately.

18:18So that's what I want to look at this morning. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Talk about what's going on in the world, but think about this body right here that you're part of. What's different from us than this Exodus generation? They had so much shown to them, and yet corporately they turned and wouldn't walk in his way. And then the generation that crucified Christ, they saw so much. Why did their hearts stubborn, become stubbornized?

18:55Well, we're not any better than they are. So let us understand how we keep our hearts from being hardened or stubbornized. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to us this morning. Everyone here must guard their own hearts. This is an individual aspect of it. Look back, take care, see to it. Y'all be making sure that this is paid attention to. You all take care. Take care, brethren. Brethren, those he identifies with as close to him in the faith, take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you, in any single individual among you, an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

19:58I've already been talking a lot about the last few sermons the many characteristics of a stubborn heart. Looked at Pharaoh, we looked at the Exodus generation, we looked at some earlier in chapter 3. Well, here, in verse 12, there's three more characteristics of a stubborn heart that you need to pay attention to. Notice the sequence there: an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away. Three characteristics: evil, unbelieving, falls away. Here's an importance to that sequence. Evil, it's a noun. That's the whole idea of wicked, arrogant, degenerate. And it speaks of one, evil, it speaks of one whose industry is fundamentally evil. It refers to that nature, the nature of an individual. So we can say something. About a heart that turns away from God, it is fundamentally evil. In nature, it is evil. To turn away from God is an evil act.

21:12And it's in accord, the same word is used to describe the evil one. Sometimes it is the evil one. That is exactly what it's translated as. Think about 1 John 3:12, where John is saying, Do not have a heart like Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. Remember Matthew 13:19, Jesus is telling the parable of the soils. And he says, This, When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whose seed was sown beside the road. The evil one. He doesn't want you to understand it. And so, as you check out, every time the gospel is proclaimed, there's an influence of causing people to check out, not get it. That's the evil one taking the seed. Truth, the evil one. Remember Jesus' prayer in John 17, 15, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, praying for his disciples and future generations of his disciples. I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. One.

22:33John 15, or John, 1 John 5, 18 says this. We know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. What is evil about? It's fundamentally this idea of when push comes to shove, choosing your own way over God's. That's the original sin, disposition of the fallen human race. Without God in our life, our natural inclination is to turn away from him, to follow our hearts, to justify our hearts, and to celebrate. So the very nature of a heart that turns away is evil. But then there's a second word here: evil and unbelieving. Make sure you don't have an evil, unbelieving heart. Now, unbelieving is also a noun.

23:43One who is in a state of unbelief. Evil refers to the nature. Unbelieving refers to inclination. And the difference is that evil Is fundamentally why the connection, the source, being identified with the evil one, and the inclination is unbelief. But the connection between evil and unbelief is unmistakable. Those who chronically will not believe God's word do so because they are inclined to evil. He's not. This is why you've got to see to it that you don't have such a heart, because it's in league with the evil one, and it tends to look for reasons not to believe than to believe. I mean, where are you in your journey with the Lord today? Do you always sit and are you more prone to say, well, God, look for reasons not to believe in him? Or do you look for reasons to believe into him? That tells you a little bit about the inclination of your heart. And more than that, it tells you who your soul is married to. Very source of evil. So the very nature of unbelief is evil.

25:01And then there's the third word, falls away. Now, this is a verb. So you can kind of get, you see the idea here, right? You've got an evil heart, source, an unbelieving heart, an inclination, and falls away is the action, a verb. And the word literally is apostasize. It's where we get the word apostasy from. It means to go astray, and it's an action. Active verb. It's not like falls away. You might kind of think like falls away is oops. Passively, something caused me to detach me. No, it's a much stronger, it's active. To turn away is a better, not just happen to fall away like you're some hopeless or hapless victim. No, it's much more evil than that. It is apostasized. Yeah, I know what God says. I know what he says, and I either think he is not God, or regardless, I'm going my own way.

26:11And that's action. You remember the person named Turnback in Pilgrim's Progress, who turns back. You remember Lot's wife, turn back. Remember the generation that came out of Egypt. They wanted to go back and appoint a leader to take them back to Egypt. The word for apostasize is also used in Jesus' parables of the soils, but this time the rocky soil. Listen to what he says there. Luke 8:13. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no firm root. They believe for a while and In a time of temptation, fall away. Again, it's that strong word, apostasize, turn away.

27:09I read to you earlier, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, that there is a day when there is going to be an ultimate expression of earth's apostasy, the great apostasy, the great turning away. And turning away means from a held position. There's going to be an apostasy on a level that this world has not seen, and it's because it's going to be the culmination of all nations, Jerusalem, Israel, and the nations, and an individual who takes his place, and it says it like this, Let no one in any way deceive you, for it, the day of the Lord, will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, and the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

28:13That's the great apostasy. And you see it already at work. You see, it is our mainstay if you're in entertainment. It is the story, that novel, follow your heart, go your heart, do whatever. Is right in your own eyes and crystallize in a government that would allow that to take place. But here's the point. Whatever's coming and when, we're here. We want to know what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today. Here's the bottom line. Our profession must be tested.

28:57And the very test, this is what the reformers would call perseverance, the perseverance of the saints. By its very nature, what faith does is it perseveres, it continues. That's the very nature of the faith that comes from heaven. And it has to be born in you. Because it doesn't come from the fallen side of human nature. It comes from the one from above. And we saw him. We saw him. Our eyes are through the pages of Scripture. We know him.

29:31And he trusted God to the very extreme limits. And God showed himself faithful. God can be trusted. But our profession must and will be tested. And that is why we have this word here. See to it. Make sure that your hearts do not fall away by holding. Fast to him. Look at verse 14 in chapter 3 of Hebrews. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast to the beginning of our assurance firm to the end. Again, perseverance. We have a responsibility in this salvation enterprise. And that doesn't set well with some.

30:24Doctrine that's been abused over and over. God is sovereign, indeed, sovereign in salvation. Our responsibility, giving us responsibility in salvation in no way takes God off the throne and puts man on the throne. God is sovereign in salvation, and we are responsible, as this text says, to hold on to him. Sovereignty. Responsibility. We are responsible to hold on to him. Now, if you're looking at this, how? As we look at this text, let's not make it say something it's not.

31:07How are we to respond to such a necessity, such an important necessity of salvation? How can we do that? How are we to respond to this teaching? Well, in faith. In humility and in hope. In humility. There is no way I am going to be able to hold on to you. You must give me a faith, the kind of faith that doesn't let go, the kind of faith that our very Lord and Savior demonstrated as he went to the cross. That's the kind of faith I need from you. I don't have it in myself.

31:51Humility. That's how we respond. But we also respond in hope. Father, we know your promises. As we sojourn among this world and travel to heaven, you have promised to receive everyone that calls upon your name. Jesus Himself said, Come to me and I will give you rest. Hope. You see, that these teachings like this that are to exhort us to exercise faith are not saying that this is somehow a man salvation, a man-centered salvation. No. But we are to exercise faith. And the kind of faith that He gives us, say it like this: He needs to give us faith, but He doesn't believe for us. So we are dependent upon Him. Humility. But we have hope, because He will withhold no good thing from those He loves. And so, you have to say to the Lord, Lord. I need a greater deliverance than what was needed at the Red Sea because I need the kind of faith that holds on to you and hope. God, I know you will keep me in the faith because of your character and because of your promises.

33:19And so, guard your own heart. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying. Each of us, how do we avoid being a church with hardened hearts? Well, first of all, on an individual, guard your own heart. Second, strengthen the hearts of others. Strengthen the hearts of others. Look at verse 13. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

33:53This verse gives us insight into one of the primary ministries of the church. We are part of the persevering ministry of one another. It's the Holy Spirit's ministry. But we all play a role in this persevering ministry and to help one another persevere and not turn back. Look at the command, but encourage one another. Encourage. That's the command. Y'all be encouraging. I love. The y'all part. Y'all becoming to the side of one another. Y'all be coming to the aid of one another. You all be helping one another. You all be exhorting. You all be urging. You all be coming around each other with the gospel to remain in the gospel. And look at who. That's what you're to be doing. You're to be encouraged.

34:58Encourage one another. Literally, the expression, encourage yourselves. Keep in mind, now we're thinking about the corporate entity. You all be encouraging yourselves. You can think about the same thing in the wilderness. Israel, it just came out. Y'all be encouraging yourselves. You all be remembering what God did in Egypt. You all be remembering what happened at the Red Sea. You all be remembering and exhorting one another, how he provided over and over. Y'all keep that in your mind, and let's not forget that. That even though we're in a dark place now and a rough place now, y'all be remembering these things.

35:38How long? How long are we to be doing this? As long as it is still called today. In other words, as long as there is opportunity, there is time when it will not be called today. Today will be over. One another, day after day, each and every day, as long as there are. Opportunity. This is one of the primary modes of life for the church. We are to care for one another, pray for one another, comfort one another. We are to admonish one another. We are to edify one another so that we will have peace with one another. And in this way, that's the only way you can really help one another.

36:19But notice verse 13, there's a so that. Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you, here comes this logical sequence, consequence, so that none of you should be made stubborn. So that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Think about what was happening in Nazi Germany. Nazis Germany's ambition was to take over the world and beyond. Their goal was to Nazify the world.

37:00Well, think about evil's goal. It's to harden the hearts of people against God, to stubbornize hearts. That's the goal of this cosmic war between evil and good that we're caught up in. To stubbornize your heart. That's the goal. What are the weapons? Look back. The deceitfulness of sin. Sin. Here, that's that umbrella term that encompasses all the terms. Of sin, such as transgression, wickedness, rebellion, all that fits under that large category of this word, sin. It's the cause of why people defect from God's sin. But notice that there's the deceitfulness of sin.

37:49Evil relies upon lies. Evil relies on lies. You remember back at Christmas Eve, there was a three-point sermon that I shared. Satan's weapons consist of a lure, a lash, and a leash. And when we come to Christ, the leash is broken. The lash has been absorbed. But he still has the power of the lure, the deception. And that is at the core of his power. If you don't know Christ today, you're still under his leash, and you're still under his lash, as well as the lure.

38:32One commentator said it like this: All the devices of sin are as fair baits, whereby dangerous hooks are covered over to entice silly fish to bite at them. In such manner, they are taken and made a prey to the fisher. You see, sin is based on lies, and it does not deliver what it promises. Bottom line is: the evil one is not your creator. He does not love you, and he will not provide for you. In fact, the very opposite. He wants to destroy you because he hates the image of God. He hates God. You happen to bear his image.

39:20So, evil has launched this deceitful propaganda war against the good. And it goes something like this: it's better for you to follow your own heart. That will pay much better than obeying the ways of God. It's deceitful. And it tempts you, and yielding to temptation hardens the heart. And so, what this implies for us here at Emmanuel and all around us is that people in this room, in our church, are constantly being tempted to turn away from God, to apostasize.

40:06And what is God's remedy for such a stubbornizing influence at work in our hearts? It's the encouraging ministry of the church. You see, a person who gets isolated from the church is far more likely to yield to temptation and not to know what to do once he or she does, and therefore. Experiencing this stubbornizing or hardening effect. But being around those who love God, who talk of His Word, who genuinely follow His Son, they are going to have a sanctifying or softening effect.

40:49You see, church isn't just merely about socializing, teaching, or singing. It includes all of that, but it's about ensuring that people do not turn away from the living God because this world is full of sin, and there is a deceitfulness connected to that sin, which causes people to want to abandon and turn away from God and go back to Egypt. Go back to the one who enslaved them. And that is not out of faith. Have you sinned against God?

41:32Some of you think you've sinned greater than God will forgive. Well, guess what? The good news of the gospel is he will forgive you. You think you've outsinned God? Yeah, right. Arrogant. Have you wronged somebody? God will show you how to make it right. Are you stuck in a pattern of sin? There is a way out. These are all the kinds of things that we talk about over and over here among the community of the redeemed.

42:01These are the truths that echo through us and that we're excited about and that we need to hear from one another and that we need to talk about because there's a softening effect. Well, in the context of Hebrews, regardless of who you were, whether you were Jew or Gentile, to turn away from the gospel was likened to going back to Egypt. And there is no salvation, nor is there any rest for those who go back to Egypt. They died in the wilderness. The Hebrews were being tempted to abandon their hope and confession and distance themselves from the gospel. When you turn away from the gospel, there isn't another salvation plan, there isn't another rest.

42:53You see, we are called to walk in faith. And inevitably, all of us are going to face challenging circumstances that test our faith and will tempt you and I to turn away from God. So we need to learn from Pharaoh's journey into hardness. He wouldn't learn who God was and is. So he had to learn the hard way that there is absolutely no profit in fighting against the Almighty. I hope you've learned that lesson. There is no profit by. Against God. We also need to learn from Israel's journey into their hardness of heart. The Exodus generation also refused to learn who God was and is. And they had to learn the hard way that there is no benefit to grumbling against God.

43:53I think about the World War II generation that had to come together in order to defeat the threat that was coming against the world. And so we who are redeemed in this great cosmic battle between evil and good, we are to unite together to conquer this threat of a hardening influence that turns us or any one of us away from the living God. We are to guard our own hearts from turning away from God. And we are to strengthen the hearts of others who are being tempted to turn away. Let's pray.

44:38Heavenly Father, we do bow our hearts before you. Said, coming to the end of ourselves, there's no way anything we say or do can implant in a person's heart the faith that comes from above. That is a miracle. That is something that takes place in. It's a work of your spirit, the hidden chambers of the human heart. Father, all we can do is look at externals. Father, you see the heart, and more than that, you transform the heart. Your first miracle was one of transforming something common into something glorious.

45:23Father, we thank you that you're at work awakening, sanctifying, healing, renewing lives today. And so we call out to you to do that for your glory and our well-being. In Jesus' name, amen.