Therefore as a holy spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do
not Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion on the day of testing
in the wilderness where your ancestors tested me, try and me
and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore therefore I saw.
I was provoked to anger with that generation and said they
always go straight in their hearts as they have not known my
waist, so I swore, I swore in my anger they will not enter my
rest. Watch out brothers and sisters
so that there will be any of you an evil unbelieving heart that
turns away from the Living God but encourage each other daily
while it is called today. So that none of you is hardened
by sins deception, for we have become participants in Christ.
If We Hold firmly until the end, the reality that we had at the
start as it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not
Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion, For who heard and
rebelled, wasn't it all? Who came out of Egypt under
Moses. With whom was got angry for 40
years, wasn't it? With those who sinned whose
bodies fell in the wilderness and to whom did he swear that
they would not enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?
So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
This is the word of God, a couple of Summers back.
I had the privilege of officiating, a wedding.
For one of our new eating couples, was actually the couple
that we just prayed for. It started out as a sweet and
simple wedding, but by the end of the night for me and one
other young man at turn into a memorable experience.
So the wedding was somewhere out near Chattanooga.
Not like what I think of when I think of Chattanooga which is
like the downtown area. This was like some random
Mountain through a forest like over 20 creaks back roads out in
the middle of nowhere. And apparently if you came to
the wedding you know this it was like on Orders like three
different time zones or something because no one knew
what time the wedding actually started.
So we were just all like hanging around when I don't know,
whatever, we're here. So anyways later after the
wedding and reception, and if you're watching guys, I love
y'all. I'm glad you picked that spot.
But after the wedding and reception, I find myself trying
to get to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to drop some stuff
off. It was me and Jared Bailey.
Another one of our new Eden members who's back there hiding
behind running slides but He reminded me today that he was
the one driving, but I was the one giving directions and I had
my Google Maps out and if you if you know me, we talked about
this. I trust Google Maps with my
life, like they've got my social security number, they've got my
credit card, it's like, take me where I need to go.
I'll follow it. So it says it's like, 45 minutes
away and Jared. Like the whole time is
skeptical. He's like, I don't think it's
wise to be that far. I'm like no.
No. Like it says like it's like
taking us looks like in the middle of the mountain.
Don't like, no. Like this is where we're
supposed to go. So we start driving, not too
long in this little Excursion. We see this barricade that's
like covering half of the road that had this warning on it
about the road, being closed ahead, and some other stuff that
I didn't really care to read. I was just like, Google's
telling us to go this way. Like, it would tell me if it was
closed. So let's go and so we pull
around a little bit, I'm like, you know, jarrod's driving but
I'm definitely the one, like, let's go.
It's okay, you know, after about 20 minutes of driving down this
pitch, black single a narrow road, I started wondering maybe
I should have listened to Jared at this point we're like we
don't know how this is gonna To turn out like, this is how
horror movies start, right? I mean, in this middle of the
road, I mean, it was so weird at one point, like we come around a
corner and our lights hit this like couple that's just sitting
there by a mailbox and we see their eyes and they just like
look up at us like they expected no car to be there at this time
of night and we're just like, keep driving at one point.
I thought I was being funny and there's like a car covering half
the road and we're driving by. And I like lay on Jared's horn,
I reach over and hit it. Thank you so much.
He's in the car and then their headlights flash on and I'm
like, just go. It's So we're just driving.
Yeah, I think Jared and I started discussing the odds of
how well we do if we had to get in a fight and defend ourselves
if someone was trying to run us off the road.
But so we get to the drop-off and I'm like, how was it ever a
road here to begin with? Like I didn't understand.
So, we stopped and there's not much room to turn around.
I think of 40 point turn, we get turned around and that we have
to drive all the way back down this back road, like back, 30
minutes. Come to find out if we would
have just listened. If I were to listen and not, we
It's not doing my wife. If I would have listened to the
sign, the warning sign, then the cabin was like ten minutes away.
I mean it wasn't far at all but we went down the wrong way and
that's how that turned out and I say all that long story to first
of all draw you in because I say you're so start with
illustrations but second of all to say warnings serve a purpose
now not all warnings are trustworthy.
We've all received untrustworthy warnings before but when they
are You're at warnings even when they disrupt our plans.
And even when we don't like them, they are for our good,
none of us like it when the check engine light comes on in
the car, right? But if we continue to ignore
that warning, we could have greater problems, we could wind
up in serious trouble. And so accurate warnings given
from the motivation of love for their.
Here's our good, good for us and good for God's glory.
So good morning again. Church.
Welcome. To this Gathering.
As I said earlier, my name is Joel and I get to serve as one
of the pastor's here. I'm excited that y'all are here
as we typically. Do at new Eden, we are working
our way through a book of the Bible, preaching expositionally
through that. And so today, we are in Hebrews
chapter 3, you just turn it red. We're going to be in verses 7
through 19, if you want to, follow along, if you've been
with us through this series, you know, that the theme of the book
of Hebrews is a good. We're like four of you.
All right, let's go. And the theme of the book of
Hebrews is awesome. He is more Supreme than anything
else, right? We've seen it just as flood over
and over and over the preacher of Hebrews starts, this, what we
believe to be a sermon and he's calling our minds and hearts to
fix on the beauty, the supremacy and the Majesty of Jesus.
And he's doing this because he wants the people, the
congregation the hears of this letter to hold fast and how he
does that. That primarily is by offering
them. The Glorious work of Christ,
he's laying it out on a platter and inviting everyone to come
and feast on the riches of Christ.
But as implications of that, a few different times throughout
the book, he offers not only the positive realities of what we
receive when we accept Christ. But also the - realities of what
happens when we reject what Christ has offered and that is
one of the passages that were looking at this morning.
So scattered throughout the Book of Hebrews, there are five
different sections. Like this one was a short one,
we kind of glossed Overnight a purpose.
It was just a part of our Angel sermon, okay?
So this is the first one. This is the second one of five
warning passages is what theologians have called them as
we preach through the book, we're going to look deeper at
them but this is the first time we're preaching through these
warning passages in detail. And so this one here isn't as
confusing as some of the later ones, but I thought it would be
good to take a little bit of time and just give us all some
contacts. How should we approach these
warning? Passages.
We come to the Text and submit ourselves to the text, right?
That's how we come. We don't gloss over it and so
we're going to Wade through it together.
So let me spend a few minutes before we kind of get into this
text and zoom out and look at all of the warning passages.
Okay so a few things, first of all, let me say that these
warning passages get Hebrews 6, go read, Hebrews 10 gets funky.
They contain some of the more difficult text to interpret in
all of scripture. So, if you're really confident
that you figure these out in the last two thousand years, some of
the greatest theologians still haven't figured it out, okay?
So most people Come to the table with much humility and
open-handed on how we interpret these.
And that's a good thing. We would be wise to do.
So, with the sense of humility, now, that being said, I do
believe that there are some better ways to approach these
passages than others. To me.
The best approaches is I've been studying through this, take all
of the warning passages as a whole, so they're very clearly
kind of marked. You can even see them in your
csb. They're labeled warning against
this warning against that. And so, They take all of them as
a whole and say, what do we, what is the author?
Trying to communicate? Remember we think this is one
sermon so if you took any one thing I said at a point in a
sermon you could really twist what I'm trying to say or even
over emphasize something, right? As I make an application and so
we don't want to do that with this Al.
We want to zoom out and take all of them as a whole and say what
are we trying to say? And so let me show you a slide
here. You are not going to be able to
see this especially if you're back there, but it might help
you follow through on the the top right are four of the main
views and I'm going to walk through them.
I'll say what you're reading up here on the far.
Left are four themes that all of the views about these warning
passages have in common. Okay, all of the warnings have
first of all on your far top left and intended audience.
They are written specifically to someone.
Also, if you want this later, I can give it to you.
The other thing they have is a danger.
They are warning them of something specific, a danger
that is being addressed, then they all have an extrication to
the audience. So in light of that danger be
warned, And right. And then there is a consequence.
If you ignore this warning, here's what will happen, Okay?
So all the warnings kind of have that flow and then as a whole
there's for kind of main views, I want to walk through.
So there's what I've called first the mixed audience view,
okay. Those who hold this view would
say that the intended audience of These Warnings are both true
and false Believers. What that means is on the
outside, they look like Believers their part of the
visible Church. But some of them are True
Believers and some of them are false believers.
They would say that the danger is the sin of unbelief.
So the the author is talking to those who are not truly
regenerate that are sitting among the church and saying, hey
don't reject, what is offered to you in Christ and so the excerpt
ation serves as a genuine warning to those specific people
in the congregation false. Believers that Look like they're
a part of the church visibly but inwardly are not.
And the consequence of this is eternal separation from God.
So that's the mixed audience view another view is the
hypothetical View, and if this stuff is boring, you just hang
on and check back in a minute. Hypothetical view intended,
audience is True Believers. He's not talking to false
Believers. People that look like he's
taught, they're all True Believers and the danger is one
of apostasy which is a little bit different I believe but
Similar. It means that these people did
want truly believe at a heart level, but they are being warned
against falling away. But this view says that the
warning is actually a hypothetical warning used as a
philosophy, philosophical manner, to encourage the
Believers. And to serve as a stark, reality
of what would happen if someone could apostatize, which means
walk away. So that we might be further
encouraged to be spurred on to pursue Christ in All of life.
So actually means of Grace to us to say, hey, if this could
happen, it would be horrible. And so, let that encourage you
to run to Christ. The consequence would also be
Eternal separation from God in this view.
But again, this view would hold that, it's not actually
possible, okay? Thirdly physical blessings.
You this would also be the True Believers, but it would say that
the danger is not apostasy actually rejecting the faith,
but just unfaithfulness some people call this backsliding or
drifting away. Okay?
So the exhortation serves Genuine warning, but the
consequence is more like Israel in the Old Testament, which was
loss of physical blessings, not Eternal separation.
Okay? And then there's the apostasy
view. That means that it's written to
True Believers. It is a willful rejection.
Not just. Oh, I fell into some sin.
And so now, I've walked away from the faith, but no like a
willful rejection of the faith and that it serves as a genuine
warning. And the consequence is eternal
separation. Action from dot.
Okay? Now, all of these views have
some interpretive issues and none of them fit super neatly.
I'm just going to be honest about that.
And that's okay. I don't have to have all the
answers and neither do you. I will say throw that slide up
one more time. We're so you guys know where I'm
at. Mixed audience view is probably
the one I'm most convinced of like, give me like a 75%
hypothetical view. I thought it was crazy at first.
So I did some study and I'm like, actually I could see that
being a way that the author is approaching this.
So, Give me twenty percent there, maybe 5% physical
blessings and maybe 0.00001 for apostasy, I don't know.
I'm not going to be that. But anyway so let me explain why
I think that you can throw the slide down.
Here's my case, a few things I want you guys to keep in mind as
we approach these and then we'll move into our text.
Don't have a bunch of time to make my full case but here's
some things that are important. When the preacher and Hebrews
outside of these warning passages speaks of the Assurance
of saints, it's very interesting.
He speaks typically directly and in first or second person so I
or you or we when he speaks of falling away he generally most
of the time speaks in generic third person they them one.
And so I think that's interesting and why it might be
a mixed audience view. He's assuming the best about
those in the congregation but he's also giving Allowance for
those that are in there that need to hear this warning.
I'm also all of the warnings are precluded and followed by an
explicit message. This is important of Christ's
work as the only thing that can keep in hold as fast.
Like, it's the main theme of Hebrews and the like the main
theme of the entire Bible. And so any time we have
something that is clear in scripture, we interpret the
unclear passages in light of that, not the other way around.
And our tendency is to hyper-focus on the unclear was
like, I want to figure out. It out and we end up maybe
overemphasizing some of those things and getting ourselves
bent over backwards, okay? Lastly, probably most
importantly we just sang the song grace alone as we read
through, the entirety of the scriptures, not to mention even
the rest of the book of Hebrews. And when I look at my own life,
I cannot help. But believe that the work of
Salvation is one of grace alone. By faith alone through Christ
Lon it is. Not of Works, lest anyone should
boast and so let's keep those things in mind that might create
some tension for you as we go through this.
That's one says okay sorry I'm still living in it.
Alright so the warning passage do exist though and they exist
for a reason so we're not going to skim over.
Let's don't under emphasize them to our detriment but also don't
over emphasize them to our detriment.
Ultimately they're meant to serve the greater purpose of
Hebrews which is to drive you relentlessly.
Lie to the grace and Throne of Jesus so that's a lot.
Big broad context. If you checked out check back in
now, we're going into the passage Hebrews 3, 7 through 11.
Let me read it for us. Well, we're 7318.
I'm going to read 7 through 11, one more time to give us the
context of this warning, okay, so I'm going to go back to verse
6, it says Hebrews 3:6 but Christ was faithful as a son
over his household and we are that household.
If we hold on to our confidence, in the Hope, in which we boast
there, Therefore okay if Christ is really better than Moses, as
we just saw last week. As the holy spirit says, today
if you hear his voice, do not Harden your hearts as in the
Rebellion on the day of testing. In the wilderness where your
ancestors tested me, tried me and saw my works for 40 years.
Therefore, I was provoked to anger with that generation and
said they always go astray in their hearts and have not known
my ways. So, I swore, in my anger, they
will not enter my rest. Amira verse 12 to watch out
brothers and sisters so that there won't be in any of you an
evil unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God,
this should be read with pleading because that's the tone
in which this would have been said.
The natural flow. After making the case last week
that we saw, Jesus is better than Moses.
It's to continue recounting some of Israel's history, basically.
What he's saying is if you think rejecting the message of Moses
or sorry, the message of God that was given to Moses was bad.
That would pale in comparison, comparison to rejecting the
glory of God as revealed in offer to you in Jesus?
So don't reject it, he's pleading with them.
And so to do this, he quotes a very familiar Psalm, which is
Psalm chapter 95. And that Psalm recounts, this
story of the Israelite people almost verbatim from verse 7 to
11, is that Psalm 95. And that story is recounting
even further back in the Hebrew, scriptures from numbers,
chapters 13, and 14. Encourage you later to go back
and read those two chapters. Let me summarize it for you.
Real quick basically Israel had been redeemed from Egypt out of
slavery, okay. They agree to the terms of the
Covenant with Yahweh, The Ten Commandments they were terms of
Covenant, it was about a relationship.
They agree to that safe. We're going to we're in, we're
in for this relationship and they're told that they're going
to receive a promised land that they were to go conquer by faith
to trust God and step out. You might remember the story,
maybe you sing the songs, I don't know. 12 men went to spy
on Kane and Tim were bad in to work.
A good he might do that. Maybe our I have people in here.
I don't know. Anyways, so you know what that
is as fine. Ask me later.
All right, so so twelve spies go 10 were bad to we're going, hey,
I'll just label them but I guess it's kind of true.
I mean, the read the story. It's they do labeling like that.
But anyways, so these 10 people come back.
Say we can't do it. They're too big.
God's promises. We don't trust in.
All the people are convinced by them other than Caleb and
Joshua. They're the exception right.
Good job guys over here. Yep.
All right. These two good ones over here.
Kevin, Josh them. So, you know what they say?
What's interesting, like you kind of think that God is being
harsh. When he tells them what God says
the result is okay fine. You're not going to enter the
promised land, you're going to wonder here for 40 years.
This generation won't and you think that's a little harsh to
you go back. And you know what the people
said right before that? I wish we would have just died
in the wilderness that would have been better than going into
the promised land. So, you know, God says, okay,
I'll give you what you want. I'll give you what you ask for,
and he does that. Gotta just Deem them and giving
them everything they needed. He just saved them from the
Egyptian Army yet by their actions.
They rejected his offer of Covenant love and relationship
and so he gave them exactly what they asked for.
You read the story that generation wandered, 40 years in
the wilderness and all of them died off and they did not
receive the physical blessing of the promised land.
I don't think that means they didn't all receive Eternal rest,
okay? Read through Hebrews and other
passages, but they missed out on that.
Physical blessing. They hardened their And saw God
as nothing more than someone to be manipulated, I mean, it's
wild even after he tells them the punishment, you know, what
they try to do and as their repentance is not to trust God.
God says, I'm not giving it to you.
They said, no. No, God, we want it now and
we're going to go into the land and most says no, like not now
bro. Like you already missed it,
right? If you miss the opportunity and
they go and they get like slaughtered because they still
want to manipulate God. And they say I'm going to do my
thing and I just want God to stamp the approval on it, he's
just a Genie in the sky. And says I do my thing and he's
just going to stamp it. That's not God isn't you?
Can manipulate him like that. He is not a thing that you can
just pick and choose. I want to do this with my own
life and then bless it. This is a real Covenant
relationship and God for your good.
And for his glory is a jealous God because he knows that you
United to any false gods will destroy you and so he is jealous
for your relationship. So, the preacher of Hebrews
takes that story, that would have been incredibly familiar to
the here. Of this book and it gives it as
a warning to the visible church. He says, to all of you who can
hear my words today, don't be like that generation that
wanted. Maybe some of the benefits of a
relationship with God without the surrender and the trust.
Don't use God, don't manipulate him that will only cause you to
harden your heart towards his offer of Grace.
And in the end, because you can't have both God and sin, you
will choose to reject God and say, just let me die in my sin.
So he offers that warning to us, pleasure of sin.
May seem appealing and pleasurable for a season, but it
will wreak havoc on us and can cause us to miss the Feast of
Grace that's offered for us in Christ.
But here's what I think, it's important to see as we look at
these warnings even though the Disobedience of the people was
the outworking of their sin. There is a route here that the
preacher makes clear and that root cause to all Their sin
ultimately is unbelief and verse 12.
He tells the church to watch out so we won't be found to have
unbelieving hearts in verse 19. He tells us that the Wilderness
Generations reason for not entering was due to their
unbelief. There was Disobedience but that
was evidence of a greater problem which was lack of trust
and lack of unbelief. See, there's a difference
between what we say we believe. And what we really believe.
What we say, we believe is what we State.
We believe, our stated beliefs are actual beliefs, are what our
emotions, and our actions reveal, what we really believe.
My still give you an example. My stated belief on parenting,
is that reacting to your kids in Anger is largely unhelpful, and
harmful process. They always unhelpful in
harmful, I can share a blog post on Facebook about it.
I can share a nice quote that affirms this believe, I can talk
about it and community group with y'all that man, he has a
great view of parenting. He's got a spot on.
So you poke into my house, one night when nobody else is
around, and I'm yelling at my kids trying to get it through
them. All right, AJ knows he's sitting
here, right? Now, don't tell him.
In that moment at least, right? And I'm not saying I don't have
a sense of belief that I really do believe that but in that
moment at least my actions, my emotions are betraying.
What? I'm really believing.
Okay and so here's what the preacher of Hebrews wants us to
do. He's not trying to throw guilt
and shame on you. He is wanting you to just be
honest, take stock. Watch out.
Check yourself. Don't Harden your hearts.
We can say that we agree. Sin is harmful but we approach
it as if it's not. We can say Jesus is Lord over my
life and then keep certain corners of our thoughts and
hearts locked away. We can say Jesus is savior
butter onto ourselves and pride and self sufficiency or run to
other things to save us. So my question to you is, what
do you actually believe? And here's where there's some
tension in this passage and I hope to resolve it a little bit
for you. But this is where it gets
difficult If we're honest. If I just stand up here and say,
hey, get rid of your unbelief, just believe more believe more,
right, if we're We all have some unbelief in us, no matter who we
are at some point, our emotions, and our actions betray us, and
show us that our belief system is out of whack.
We don't have as much Faith as we claim, and we really aren't
believing in Christ alone. We really aren't fully trusting
what he has to say about the danger of sin.
And so the question is, what do we do from here?
Do we just close up shop? Let me throw you guys on some
guilt and shame, go home and try to conjure up more faith than
belief, like just talked yourself.
If into it, work it out, memorize a scripture and you'll
be good. I'm not saying it's bad to
memorize scripture. It sound like I was belittling
that I'm not, but here's the point for me.
Anyways, I don't know if you've tried that, but when I go try to
conjure up Faith, I might have an emotional high, but in the
end, I typically end up with less faith.
Not more. It's typically a pretty damaging
Endeavor for me. And so what hope does this
passage offer us? Again, don't forget that this
warning passage is not meant to be taken in isolation.
This flow of thought doesn't actually end to like the end of
chapter 4 in the beginning of chapter 5.
So I'm going to jump there in just a second but this is not
given to you. So you sit there and wallow in
your inadequacies this text is calling you to watch out.
Check your heart, so that you might more fully fall on the
grace of Jesus. The first hint we see it that is
in verse 7 13 and 15 and later in chapter 4 there's this
important word that the author highlights over and over.
You know what that word is today.
While it is still today, if you are hearing this, if you are
reading this there is hope for you.
It does not matter what yesterday looked like, it does
not matter what last week or last year or your whole life
looks like today. If you are hearing the radical
message of Jesus don't turn away, You will disobey you will
mess up, you will run to sin, but Jesus is faithful, you can't
get away from it and Hebrews. Hebrews 12, he is the Pioneer.
So the beginner the author and the Perfecter, The Finisher, the
completer of our faith beginning to end.
So, if your faith is like this, Jesus got you In chapter five
right after this kind of closing this flow of thought, we're told
that the high priest is able to deal gently with those who go
astray and are ignorant. Gently.
And in 4:14 at the end of this warning, it's literally where
it's driving us to. We are told that the whole point
of this is to drive you to hold fast to Jesus.
And he says, run to his throne of grace with boldness.
So that you might receive mercy and Grace in time of need the
exposing of your doubts and your unbelief is not meant to drive
you away from Jesus, but further into his arms of Grace to
receive his love, your faith is not increased by trying to
conjure it up. Your faith is increased by
looking to the perfectly faithful, one.
Jesus, that is how your faith is increased and here's why that's
important because if you just look to how much Faith you have
or the Consistency of your faith and again, your actual faith.
Not what you? Tell people, I'm just trusting,
God, everything's going to be. All right, I'm talk about what
you're feeling in the middle of the night.
When you're all alone. If you look to that, you're just
going to be discouraged. That's why the preacher of
Hebrews doesn't want you to talk about the amount of your faith,
or the consistency of your faith, but who your faith is in.
It is the object of your faith that matters.
It is not the amount. That's why Jesus said Faith Like
a mustard seed. The tiniest thing I can think of
can move a freaking Mountain if that faith is in the right
object. We have to grasp this.
Who are you? Relying on not how much, or how
often. And so, we move our eyes from
this warning and we need to look at it.
We need to take it seriously, but we fix our eyes on Jesus who
came in flesh to meet a bunch of people in their Disobedience and
doubt. I love this, I could give a
bunch of stories from the gospels but in Mark 9, there's a
story of this man who has a son who needs to be freed from a
demon the Apple's can't cast them out and so this man comes
to Jesus and says, will you please heal my son?
If you can do it, will you please do it.
And Jesus says, if you can If you can, all things are possible
for the one who believes. I love the man's response.
He says, I believe. Help my unbelief.
Does it make sense, Riley? Seems like a contradiction.
What do you mean? You believe help my unbelief?
Because I did this all or nothing.
He's like, I believe like this. Why?
I'm here. That's why I'm desperately
coming here because I mean, I'm out of options and I'm gonna
hide it up here, but I got no other option.
So I'm here. I believe, I want to believe, I
want to believe it's true, but help my unbelief.
And this is often, our faith journey is.
So I've got it tattooed on my arm, help my unbelief, because
that's my story. We believe and we want to
believe more but it's messy and it's scattered and it's
inconsistent. And sometimes we have like
incredible Faith were like, let's freaking go.
Like we're gonna drive to the Asbury Revival because we just
want to be a part of it or something, you know?
And then we show up here and we can barely even get in here.
Like, I just need some coffee because I just want to survive
and the drums are too loud on what it that's not actually
true. I like loud drums.
I'm just saying, maybe some of you are there, you're like I
don't even people singing me are annoying me right now because I
just don't feel it, right? We have a guest drummer today
and I'm bashing them. I thought it was great.
So I no one else made comments either, he's going to be
anyways. Play them loud.
All right here's the thing. When we're there we have room
and freedom to just be honest I believe God I'm trying but just
help my unbelief. We can't even do faith and
dependents, right? But Jesus is faithful to meet us
there because he is greater than your unbelief.
He is greater than your doubts. This is possible because Jesus
is the truly faithful one. In our behalf, he did perfectly
trust his father. When he prayed in the garden.
Yes, in his Humanity. He was like I don't want to do
this. Is there any other way, but Not
my will but yours be done. I'm trusting you.
It looks bleak, it looks dark. I'm heading to death on a Roman
cross and it's going to suck. But I trust you and his actions
proved his faith to be pure. His disciples.
Don't stay around, they flee, they begin to doubt, they run in
fear and unbelief, but Jesus remains steadfast and this leads
him to death on a cross alone. and there he takes on the fruit
of our rebellion and Disobedience all that sin thrown
on his shoulders so that he might in exchange give you
perfect life and may I say perfect faith, We know that he
didn't stay in the grave, he rises again, you know, it's
proving to the entire world that my testimony was true.
I'm here, like, it's the greatest evidence.
There's a lot, we don't know. And we're going to sing about
this in a second, but I know that Jesus rose.
Like that's it. Everything hinges on that if he
didn't get it from the grave. Let's go home. but I love this
because he rises again and even after the resurrection guys like
Peter, who denied him at his darkest moment, Guys, like,
Thomas who are like, I don't care.
What you tell me, unless I see it for myself.
I ain't believing. And some of you are like that
and that's okay, because, you know what Jesus does, he doesn't
break them, he doesn't shame them and say, where were you at?
You want to show up now? Now that I'm up from the grave,
he doesn't do that. He meets them where they're at,
he deals gently with them in their ignorance.
And what are, you know, what? He does have Peter, he cook some
breakfast. I love it, like Peter.
So full of Shame and guilt anything.
You can be used and she's like, just come eat and you've been up
all night. It's been topic just eat bro.
And we'll talk. He restores them, Thomas.
He shows up face-to-face meet some where he's at.
Makes it plain to Thomas. What does Thomas say?
My Lord and my God, he declares this for us and Jesus said,
blessed, are you because you've seen him believe, but even more
blessed. Are those who have not seen and
believed and all of this is written the entire Book of John
that we went through a couple years ago or a year ago,
whatever it was. He said, I wrote all this so
that you might believe and see him have life in his name.
When the spirit works and shows up and I don't understand how
this works, but you get that Mustard Seed in the inkling of
faith and trust the work of Christ is imputed to you and you
receive his perfect faithfulness.
So today, if you have not trusted in Christ, he is
preparing A Feast for you. To come based on his life, his
death, his burial, his resurrection and the
consequences of rejection are great.
We're not gonna hide that when I gonna pretend that doesn't
exist, but the reward of receiving his life is beyond
anything you could ever imagine. So while it is still today,
Turned him. And there is a promise on the
authority of scripture, that those who come to him will never
be cast out. And for those of us who have
placed our faith in Christ, we don't have to sit and wallow in
Wonder. Did we do it right then we have
enough. Faith was the experience
emotional enough that I pray the right prayer did the right
person Lead Me in the prayer to the right person baptize me Have
I remained steadfast enough? Have?
I believed enough. Let me just free you up, you
have it. I haven't, and that's okay.
That's literally why. Jesus came and lived and died
and buried and rose again. And he's got you, he is greater
than your unbelief, he is greater than your doubt.
So don't ignore the warning signs, They are there to serve
you there. Actually a means of Grace to
cause you to persevere until the end because the work of
perseverance is not this isolated thing that God says.
All right, we did a transaction now, I'll see you on the other
side. No, he invites, you into
relationship and he lets you play a part even though you've
messed it up, and you will continue to because he cares
about the relationship. And so, he's inviting you into
that. So we don't ignore these warning
signs, but when the warning signs show up, right?
That the lights go off and your emotions and your actions Reveal
Your unbelief. Sure your response, my
exhortations to you is to just fall on Jesus by faith, just let
go of all this stuff and fall on Jesus hang onto the core truth
of the gospel and mean it like there might be a million
questions you have and go explore those.
I mean it like go process that there are some things you need
to tear down false ideas, about who God is absolutely but the
core truths of the Gospel. Hang on to those.
And fall on Jesus with them, all your doubts.
All your questions, Fallen him, both today and the next day, and
the next day. And the next day until we get to
the day when he will return and all your questions will be
answered, all your doubts will be resolved and you will see him
face-to-face. He will complete the work.
He will hold you fast. This is why we need each other.
First 13 tells us encourage each other daily while it is still,
today, we need Community. We preach the true to each other
in our moments of weakness, and I'm amazed how God takes just
people in my life. When my faith is at its absolute
lowest, and it gives me people that like, have faith that I can
just borrow from. And I don't mean, it's like
contract. Like just hang on brother.
Like no. Like I'm not hanging on right
now like they're telling me. Jesus is got you, bro, and
you're good. I'm here for you.
I ain't going nowhere. And I want to remind you.
For those of you who are like in that we are here for it,
perseverance of the Saints is a community project.
We're not going anywhere. We're not running from your
freaking mess. We're here because Jesus was
here for us. We have all become participants
in Christ. And the way it's said, I believe
that that is evidenced by the fact that the end of our lives.
Those of us that are Christ's will look up.
We'll find out that we're still holding firmly on to what it was
that got us started. She's Christ alone.
So we got, it's why? We are absolutely.
There's not many things were resolved to do.
I ain't like Jonathan Edwards and, you know, like 45
resolutions aren't keep them all.
But one thing I know we are resolved to preach nothing else,
but Christ crucified, it is all we have to offer but it's enough
to turn the world upside down for the glory of God.
So Church, watch out be alert, don't let anything distract you
from the gospel. And when the spirit uses his
voice or he uses warnings in scripture or he uses brothers
and sisters to reveal your sin and unbelief fall on Jesus, All
on Jesus today. Fall on Jesus together.
When Everything feels like it's falling apart.
And you're not sure you have enough Faith to make it through.
That is. Okay, in simple desperation of a
father, losing his son. Just say I believe help my
unbelief and I promise you, I promise you on the authority of
scripture and on the evidence of just my life and others, Jesus
will meet you where you are because he is greater than your
unbelief.