Hebrews Talk 6 (3:7-19)

0:00 As the choir head out, I just want to say thank you to them and to the band for leading us and really setting up what we're going to be talking about this morning really well. I'm up here a little bit earlier. We had baby Thanksgiving at first service, so you get to have a little bit of a shorter service today, which is nice. Let me just pop up a photo to begin with. If you have been in any shape or form watching the Winter Olympics over the last couple of weeks, you might recognize this guy here. His name is Matt Weston. He's not a curler. I know a few people might have been watching the curling.

0:36 He's not a curler. This guy has won two goals for Team GB, for men's skeleton and for the mixed team skeleton. And as I was watching him hurtling headfirst down a tube of ice at around 80 miles per hour on an upside down tea tray with only a thin layer of lycra and a motorbike helmet, I did ask myself, what sort of psychological profiling do these people have to go through to actually be accepted to do this sport? And that question led me then to try and find out a little bit about Matt's story. And without going into lots of detail about it, the story is one of lots of ups and downs. The journey is one of lots of ups and downs. Of serious injuries.

1:32 Of crushing disappointments. This guy came 15th in the Olympics four years ago, and he was this close to giving up the sport altogether. And I realized as I was watching and then reading about his story that those of us like me who witnessed his glorious gold medals, we only witnessed the joyous destination of a very long and a deeply arduous and challenging journey that required enormous amounts of perseverance and self-belief, but ultimately a journey, including all of those ups and downs, that made him into a champion of his sport. Now, the writer to the Hebrews is focused on a very different journey, with a destination that is far, far more glorious than a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. It's a journey that Jesus has already made ahead of us as our pioneer, and it is a journey that he promises to walk with us as our high priest. And this journey's glorious destination, as we have learned as we've gone through this letter, is us becoming sons of glory. That's the term the writer uses, sharing in the inheritance of the son Jesus and having everything placed under our feet in his new heaven and new earth kingdom.

3:04 That's the destination. So what about the journey? What should we expect this journey, this journey of our lives to be like? Is it, and some preachers might teach you this, is it trust in Jesus? And then just blessing automatically comes and the journey's a sort of easy, passive, you know, like lie back on a lilo on a lazy river with a drink in your hand, entertainment on the sidelines, sing a few worship songs as you go along, and you're just going to gently drift easily into that final destination of sun of glory. We might like it to be that way, but that's not what the Bible teaches. It's not what Hebrew teaches. It's not God's plan.

3:50 You see, what the writer to the Hebrews is telling his readers and us is this, that the purpose of the journey is to make us ready for the glorious destination. The purpose of the journey is to make us ready for the glorious destination. And as with our pioneer, that journey involves and will involve struggle and suffering and discipline to make us ready. And we should not be surprised by that's part of why this writer is writing to these people, that they would not be surprised by these circumstances that they are facing. But it also must involve, as well as all of that, and this is absolutely central to the letter, it must involve faith. It must involve belief. This journey must involve faith. Not faith in ourselves, not self-belief like Matt Weston in the Olympics, but faith in God and his word, Faith in his pioneer son's ability to bring us through to our final destination.

4:55 And that's what he's writing into in this chapter. And he's writing actually into this mixed group to bring both assurance. There's assurance in here, but there's also a warning too. So let's read through it. But just as I do, I want us to go back first of all to where Gilbert was last week, just to the opening verse or so. Because it's crucial that the verses we're going to read, verses 7 to 19, are heard in light of what these opening verses say. Therefore, holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus. Consider Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

5:41 He was faithful to the one who appointed him. He was faithful. He is faithful. That is crucial for us to remember. Gilbert mentioned the high priestly garments last week. And I just wanted to put up an image of that as we move in through this this morning. Of those 12 precious stones on the high priest's heart, representing the 12 tribes, representing God's people, as a reminder to us that right now, Jesus, our high priest, has us on his heart. And that we consider his faithfulness, not as a servant, but as the son, as the heir of all things, as the one who's made the perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins, the one who's gone on that journey before us and has made it through to the glorious destination.

6:36 He is seated at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. He has made it so we can trust that we then too will make it his brothers and sisters. And now we turn into this morning's passage, which begins, as I mentioned at the start, with the writer quoting from the second half of Psalm 95. And here's what it says. Let's read this. So as the Holy Spirit says, interesting, if you're reading this week, did you pick that up? He attributes the Psalm as the words, not of a human writer, but of the Holy Spirit. Today, if you hear his voice, Do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the wilderness when your ancestors tested and tried me, though for 40 years they saw what I did.

7:20 This is why I was angry with that generation. I said, their hearts are always going astray and they have not known my way. So I declared on oath in my anger, they shall never enter my rest. So that's the quotation from the psalm. Now the writer moves on speaking directly to his audience and telling them the lesson that they should take from the story of their ancestors. See to it, he says, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart. That idea of unbelief is crucial here. That turns away from the living God, but encourage one another daily as long as it is called today so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

8:04 We have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. And then he drives his point home. He repeats the key part of that psalm as has just been said. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. And then he firmly, forcefully puts his point forward again. Drives it home. Who were they who heard and rebelled? He asked questions, but he answers them for them as well.

8:34 Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief. An intriguing passage. Not necessarily the most straightforward, but we have three steps, really, that I want to work through here over the next while. First, we want to get the grips with this story that is talked about in Psalm 95.

9:08 And the writer would have known that his audience would have known this story incredibly well. We might not all be on the same page with that, so I want us to get us onto that same page and understand the background to what the psalm is saying. Second, we want to consider the application for that original audience. What's the point of the writer getting them, this church made up of these Jewish Christians, to consider this particular story in this psalm. And then finally, we wanna think about, well, what's it say to us, non-Jewish Christians, in a totally different context around, what, 1,960 years later? What has it gotta say to us? So step one, let's get to grips with the story. The psalm is looking back to a journey.

10:01 the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness under the leadership of Moses. Let me give you a brief reminder overview. God saves his people from his wrath by the blood of the Passover lamb. He rescues them. He parts the Red Sea to enable their escape. He provides a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them in the desert. He provides water and sustenance in the form of manna. He reveals the law to Moses on Sinai.

10:36 And then crucially, he promises the people that he will fulfill his covenant promises to their ancestors and bring them to the promised land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of rest. But the psalm here, which was originally a warning, of course, for the people of Israel in David's day, the psalm highlights ongoing, continuous, rebellious response, that response of the people in the desert. From the very beginning, they constantly grumble, they persistently complain, they repeatedly plead for a return to Egypt, idealizing their safety and their comfort there. In the midst of the struggles of their journey, they keep on looking back in unbelief and longing for their previous slavery rather than looking forward and fixing their eyes on God's promised freedom and rest in the promised land. And these words in the Psalm from God, they shall never enter my rest, are quoted from a central episode recorded in Numbers 13 and 14, where God commands Moses to send 12 men, one from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan, including Joshua and Caleb. You'll probably remember the song, 12 men went to spy on Canaan, 10 were bad, 2 were good. Remember?

12:14 It's not actually the reality, 10 were bad, 2 were good, but we'll get into that. And when they returned from the wreck of the land of Moses at a place called Kadesh. They confirm that the land does indeed flow with milk and with honey, but crucially, the 10 apart from Caleb and Joshua do not believe that they can enter the land because they claim the people there are stronger than we are. They see the giants, they say, and they say they're stronger than we are. No mention at all of the strength of God. No mention at all of his deliverance in the past or his promise for the future to lead them into the land of rest and his power. No, just they're too big and they're too strong. Only Caleb, we should go up and take possession of the land for we can certainly do it.

13:07 And Joshua, the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. Demonstrate their belief. Demonstrate their faith. but the people listened to the tent if only we had died in Egypt we should choose a leader and go back there and because of their hardened hearts towards God because of their hearts that had gone astray because of their unbelief that's what that last verse says they were not able to enter because of their unbelief that whole generation everyone over the age of 20 apart from Caleb and Joshua, they would die before the land was entered. And only their children, the next generation who had faith, would inherit the covenant promise of God to his people. So that's the sort of basics of the story that the writer is referring to as he goes back to this psalm.

14:12 But the next question then is, why is he using it here with his audience? Why does he tell them this story? Why does he give them this story? Well, let's remember, if you've been here throughout the series, back to week one's introduction, back to what Gilbert and I have been saying repeatedly throughout the series, drawing our attention back to the fact that this group the writer is writing to here are like any church, like this church, they are a mixed crowd. They are a mixed audience. They're not all the same. Some are genuine believers. Some are not.

14:52 The writer's fervent hope and desire is that they would all become genuine believers. That's what he wants. He wants them to be that, all enjoying and thriving in the peace and assurance that can be theirs. And Jesus, all trusting in him as their pioneer, all leaning and depending on his high priestly help, all living lives aimed in the direction of moving forward and towards his destiny for them to be sons of glory in the promised rest. That's what the writer wants. But if that is his goal, he needs to help those who aren't genuine believers actually see that they aren't. He needs to open their eyes to their unbelief so that they may choose faith while there is still time.

15:48 And then on the other side, He needs to help those who are genuine believers to see that their future arrival at the glorious destination is utterly secure in Christ in whom they have placed their faith. Look at what he says to him. See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. The writer is encouraging self-reflection here. He's encouraging self-examination. He's holding this story up as a mirror to them. And he's saying to them, look at this story and then look at yourself. Are you a Caleb and a Joshua?

16:32 Or are you one of the ten and the rest of the people? And the difference between them, we've got to be careful here. It's not great heroism. It's not great courage. It's not gallant bravery or fearlessness. It's not inner strength. It's not goodness or badness. Ten were bad, two were good.

16:54 It's ten didn't believe and two did believe. It's ten didn't have faith. It's two did. It's faith in the living God. It's belief in his word. Back in the Exodus story, the Israelites professed to believe when they left Egypt. but that consistent and persistent rebellion and complaining and pleading to go back, to return to their slavery,

17:24 actually showed they never truly believed God and his word at all. That's made clear in what the Lord says to Moses in Numbers 14. How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me in spite of all the signs I have performed among them. See, the moment at Kadesh was a pivotal, climactic one. Their fear of the giants in the land as opposed to their faith in the word of God starkly exposed their settled unbelief. This wasn't a stumble on the path forward. Like Peter's denial of Jesus that Gilbert highlighted last week, Like every single one of us knows, in our own journey of faith, in some shape or form, this was a specific and climactic illustration of the settled and permanent unbelief of their hardened hearts.

18:28 And as a result of their unbelief, they wouldn't enter the land. They wouldn't enter that rest because they could never be people who could actually live in the land in the way that God wanted them to without being people of faith. They were not ready for the land and they would never be ready. And so the writer holds this story up as a mirror to his audience and in doing so, he's not condemning them. Let's be careful when we read these warnings to get the sort of posture of the writer correct here. He's not condemning them. His hope is that they all are, in fact, true believers. His hope is that his warning might even be redundant, that it may not be even necessary.

19:11 He calls them holy brothers and sisters in the hope that they all are. But based on what he has heard about some of their responses to the hardship and the pain and the pressure of the journey, especially as we've talked about from those Jewish authorities, some giving up meeting together, some eager to settle for the rest of old Judaism which actually just meant going back into the slavery of an old covenant that could never be kept. Based on this the writer is deeply concerned that it isn't the case that they're all genuine believers and he's urging each and every one of them while there is still time, while it is called today before their hearts get hardened to the message to the point where it just will not break through anymore. He's urging them to personally respond to Christ, to God's final word, his son, in faith. If we think of Jesus' parable of the sewer, he is concerned that some of them are the rocky ground in the parable. seemingly received a message with joy, but now they appear to be falling away under pressure, revealing that there was no true root of faith to begin with. As Gilbert highlighted last week from verse six, genuine faith is evidenced by, here's what it says, if we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

20:52 And then this mirror verse in our passage this morning, we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original conviction to the end. The people in the wilderness never had that conviction and hope to begin with. They never held it, that confidence. They never believed. And that climactic moment in Kadesh revealed that reality of their hearts. And so the writer here pleads with some of his mixed audience with these words from Psalm 95. Today, if you hear his voice, if you hear his voice.

21:29 And then if we remember back to chapter one in terms of what is said there, in these last days, God has spoken to us by his son. If you hear his voice by his son, do not harden your hearts. He's saying, have you truly responded? Have you truly repented and believed? Have you truly put your faith in the final word of God, his son Jesus? Or are you just sort of like a fellow traveler going along with some of these people? Rather than a genuine believer.

22:11 And what he's saying is, with this pastoral heart, there's still time. There's plenty more we could talk about there, but let's move on to our third. And final point consideration, reflecting on how this section might apply to us. And I really want us to think about both warning and assurance here, because both are present in this passage. The problem is when we see a warning, sometimes we totally miss the assurance that's sitting there. So yes, some of us are meant to look into this mirror, and we are meant to be shaken in the response. But the rest of us are meant to look into this mirror of this story and actually come away with our assurance being deepened and strengthened. It all depends what you see when you look into it.

23:07 So let's go with a shaken into response first. And like the writer, my hope and my prayer is that the warning in that sense is redundant, that it's unnecessary that everyone here who thinks of themselves as a genuine believer is indeed a genuine believer in the gospel of Jesus, in God's word and his son. Everyone here is saved by faith. Everyone here does share in that heavenly calling. But here's the warning just in case. The mirror tells some of us that we are not genuine believers just because we're part of the crowd. tells us we're not genuine believers simply because we go to church regularly or because we come from a Christian family or because we were baptized as an infant, that we're not genuine believers because we're culturally and socially Christian. We're not genuine believers because we know the Bible.

24:08 We're not genuine believers because we know the gospel. We're not genuine believers because we've had spiritual experiences. we're not genuine believers even if in some emotional moment in the past we made some sort of response but like that parable of the sower there is absolutely nothing in our lives to demonstrate that there's any fruit that's come off the back of that genuine belief true faith involves a submission to and trust in Jesus as savior and Lord. Not just Savior, but Savior and Lord. Think back to the story. It's not just about escape. The Israelites accepted the opportunity of rescue from slavery, but the reality is that they never believed God's word for the journey, And they never believe God's word for the destination.

25:13 How long will they refuse to believe in me? True faith in Jesus. It's trust in him and his faithfulness and his power and his promises for the whole inseparable package. Escape, journey, destination. true faith is saying yes to Jesus for the whole thing for the whole gospel it can't be broken up into separate parts today then if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion but say Yes, Jesus.

26:11 I repent of my own efforts of escape. I repent of my own efforts for the journey of this life. I repent of my own attempts at finding true rest and always taking myself back into slavery. And I say yes to you as my savior from the guilt for my sin. I say yes to you as my high priest for the journey walking alongside me. And I say yes to you as my faithful pioneer who will bring me into true rest because you're faithful. And I will aim my life in the direction, in that direction, in faith. I will submit to your Spirit's transforming discipline to make me ready for the destination.

27:09 I will be interested in him making me holy. I will falter. Yes, I will fear. This isn't the absence of fear. I will fall. I will sin. But I will put my trust in the one who will not falter, not fear, not fall, not sin. the one who will walk alongside me and take me by the hand and lead me into being and becoming a son of glory.

27:41 It's still today. There's still time. But for many of us, this mirror is not held up to shake us into response. This is where we've got to be careful not to misapply warnings here. This mirror is actually held up to fill us even more with deep, deep assurance and encouragement. That's what it's done for me this week. That if we have truly said that yes to Jesus as Savior and Lord, if we have said all I have is Christ, Jesus is my life. well then we look at the picture of those people in Israel and we are nothing like them it is not congruent with us at all and that should bring us deep assurance we are assured in our hearts then in two connected ways first that our inheritance our rest our eternal destiny as sons of glory cannot be lost we don't have to worry about whether or not we'll make it to be sons of glory We don't need to be anxious about whether we'll share in the eternal inheritance.

28:56 We don't have to panic at all about whether we'll get to enter that promised rest. And we don't have to worry. And we don't have to be anxious. And we don't have to panic because the arrival at that destination is not reliant on our goodness. Or our courage. Or our achievements. Or even on the strength of our faith. It's reliant solely on the strength of the one we have faith in.

29:30 Christ, who is faithful as the son over God's house. So the writer can say, we are his house. The writer can say, we have come to share in Christ. Past tense, done, irreversible. And that means then that the journey, however full of the giants of hardships and struggles and pressures and setbacks and painful discipline it involves. And I know there are many people in this room right now who are right in the middle, right in the fiery heart of those setbacks and struggles and sufferings and challenges.

30:24 But this means that the journey is worth it. Because the journey is making us ready for the glorious destination that cannot be lost. It's only the destination that makes sense of it. And it's only the certainty of the destination that makes any sense of it. By his grace, God, by his spirit, is using every step of that journey, including every setback, heartache, disappointment, hardship, to make us ready for our future inheritance as sons of glory. The purpose of the journey is to make us ready. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8, Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we might also share in his glory.

31:17 Share in his sufferings in order that we might also share in his glory. Our pioneer who went before us. And Paul goes on to rejoice in that same chapter. and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him. That's what the writer of the Hebrews is talking about here. These things match up. That in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose, who share in that heavenly calling. The journey is worth it.

31:58 And by his grace, Jesus will be with us every step of that journey as our great high priest, sympathizing because he knows. Praying, interceding at the right hand of God for us, like as Gilbert said last week, he did for Peter. Supporting, encouraging, leading. Totally reliable as our help. So, this week and every week, this day and every day, as long as it is called today, this time before Christ returns for his people, let us as his brothers and sisters together, as his church, as his co-heirs, draw alongside one another and encourage one another with the truth of this gospel and what it means for our lives. Wherever we are in the ups and the downs and the struggles or the joys, we are meant to be there for one another to bring the encouragement of this truth.

33:15 And as long as it is called today, this time yes before Christ returns for his people, but also this time before Christ returns to judge the world. Let's too encourage those who haven't already to accept the invitation of God to find salvation by faith in his son. As his church, how can we do those things? today, tomorrow, this week? How can we respond to this call?

33:59 Let's pray together as the band come back. Father, by your spirit we pray that you would lead us and guide us as to how to respond to this call. Today, tomorrow, this week. Father, I thank you that by your grace, by your great mercy, in your great love, you have given us today. May we never take the opportunity for granted. Help us to consider Jesus, the son who is faithful, and trust in him for his rescue. Trust in him for his help in the journey.

34:49 and trust in him, in his word and in his power to bring us through to the end of the journey as sons of glory co-heirs with him. Thank you for the great salvation that is ours in him. And we ask all this in his name. Amen.