1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:04,600 Therefore as a holy spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,800 not Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion on the day of testing 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,300 in the wilderness where your ancestors tested me, try and me 4 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:16,800 and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore therefore I saw. 5 00:00:16,900 --> 00:00:21,200 I was provoked to anger with that generation and said they 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,000 always go straight in their hearts as they have not known my 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,200 waist, so I swore, I swore in my anger they will not enter my 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,000 rest. Watch out brothers and sisters 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,200 so that there will be any of you an evil unbelieving heart that 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:40,300 turns away from the Living God but encourage each other daily 11 00:00:40,700 --> 00:00:44,000 while it is called today. So that none of you is hardened 12 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,300 by sins deception, for we have become participants in Christ. 13 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:52,800 If We Hold firmly until the end, the reality that we had at the 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,900 start as it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not 15 00:00:57,900 --> 00:01:02,800 Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion, For who heard and 16 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,200 rebelled, wasn't it all? Who came out of Egypt under 17 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,200 Moses. With whom was got angry for 40 18 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,600 years, wasn't it? With those who sinned whose 19 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,400 bodies fell in the wilderness and to whom did he swear that 20 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,400 they would not enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 21 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,000 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. 22 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,100 This is the word of God, a couple of Summers back. 23 00:01:28,100 --> 00:01:30,400 I had the privilege of officiating, a wedding. 24 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:32,900 For one of our new eating couples, was actually the couple 25 00:01:32,900 --> 00:01:37,400 that we just prayed for. It started out as a sweet and 26 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,200 simple wedding, but by the end of the night for me and one 27 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,800 other young man at turn into a memorable experience. 28 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,000 So the wedding was somewhere out near Chattanooga. 29 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:48,500 Not like what I think of when I think of Chattanooga which is 30 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:52,000 like the downtown area. This was like some random 31 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,200 Mountain through a forest like over 20 creaks back roads out in 32 00:01:56,208 --> 00:01:58,700 the middle of nowhere. And apparently if you came to 33 00:01:58,700 --> 00:02:01,100 the wedding you know this it was like on Orders like three 34 00:02:01,100 --> 00:02:02,600 different time zones or something because no one knew 35 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:04,100 what time the wedding actually started. 36 00:02:04,100 --> 00:02:06,100 So we were just all like hanging around when I don't know, 37 00:02:06,100 --> 00:02:09,199 whatever, we're here. So anyways later after the 38 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:12,500 wedding and reception, and if you're watching guys, I love 39 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:14,800 y'all. I'm glad you picked that spot. 40 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,400 But after the wedding and reception, I find myself trying 41 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,300 to get to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to drop some stuff 42 00:02:23,300 --> 00:02:25,600 off. It was me and Jared Bailey. 43 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,900 Another one of our new Eden members who's back there hiding 44 00:02:27,900 --> 00:02:32,100 behind running slides but He reminded me today that he was 45 00:02:32,100 --> 00:02:34,900 the one driving, but I was the one giving directions and I had 46 00:02:34,900 --> 00:02:38,400 my Google Maps out and if you if you know me, we talked about 47 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:39,900 this. I trust Google Maps with my 48 00:02:39,900 --> 00:02:42,400 life, like they've got my social security number, they've got my 49 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,600 credit card, it's like, take me where I need to go. 50 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,000 I'll follow it. So it says it's like, 45 minutes 51 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,000 away and Jared. Like the whole time is 52 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,300 skeptical. He's like, I don't think it's 53 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:51,200 wise to be that far. I'm like no. 54 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:52,600 No. Like it says like it's like 55 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,200 taking us looks like in the middle of the mountain. 56 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:55,500 Don't like, no. Like this is where we're 57 00:02:55,500 --> 00:02:58,600 supposed to go. So we start driving, not too 58 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,300 long in this little Excursion. We see this barricade that's 59 00:03:02,300 --> 00:03:05,300 like covering half of the road that had this warning on it 60 00:03:05,300 --> 00:03:08,300 about the road, being closed ahead, and some other stuff that 61 00:03:08,300 --> 00:03:10,600 I didn't really care to read. I was just like, Google's 62 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,000 telling us to go this way. Like, it would tell me if it was 63 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,800 closed. So let's go and so we pull 64 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,100 around a little bit, I'm like, you know, jarrod's driving but 65 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:19,300 I'm definitely the one, like, let's go. 66 00:03:19,300 --> 00:03:23,600 It's okay, you know, after about 20 minutes of driving down this 67 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,100 pitch, black single a narrow road, I started wondering maybe 68 00:03:27,100 --> 00:03:29,700 I should have listened to Jared at this point we're like we 69 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:31,700 don't know how this is gonna To turn out like, this is how 70 00:03:31,700 --> 00:03:34,100 horror movies start, right? I mean, in this middle of the 71 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:37,000 road, I mean, it was so weird at one point, like we come around a 72 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,600 corner and our lights hit this like couple that's just sitting 73 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,400 there by a mailbox and we see their eyes and they just like 74 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,900 look up at us like they expected no car to be there at this time 75 00:03:44,900 --> 00:03:49,000 of night and we're just like, keep driving at one point. 76 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,300 I thought I was being funny and there's like a car covering half 77 00:03:51,300 --> 00:03:54,400 the road and we're driving by. And I like lay on Jared's horn, 78 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,500 I reach over and hit it. Thank you so much. 79 00:03:56,500 --> 00:03:59,000 He's in the car and then their headlights flash on and I'm 80 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,300 like, just go. It's So we're just driving. 81 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:06,000 Yeah, I think Jared and I started discussing the odds of 82 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,100 how well we do if we had to get in a fight and defend ourselves 83 00:04:09,100 --> 00:04:10,800 if someone was trying to run us off the road. 84 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,300 But so we get to the drop-off and I'm like, how was it ever a 85 00:04:14,308 --> 00:04:16,700 road here to begin with? Like I didn't understand. 86 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,600 So, we stopped and there's not much room to turn around. 87 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,700 I think of 40 point turn, we get turned around and that we have 88 00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:25,200 to drive all the way back down this back road, like back, 30 89 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,500 minutes. Come to find out if we would 90 00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:30,100 have just listened. If I were to listen and not, we 91 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,100 It's not doing my wife. If I would have listened to the 92 00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:38,400 sign, the warning sign, then the cabin was like ten minutes away. 93 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,100 I mean it wasn't far at all but we went down the wrong way and 94 00:04:41,100 --> 00:04:46,100 that's how that turned out and I say all that long story to first 95 00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:47,800 of all draw you in because I say you're so start with 96 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:52,400 illustrations but second of all to say warnings serve a purpose 97 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:55,000 now not all warnings are trustworthy. 98 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,100 We've all received untrustworthy warnings before but when they 99 00:04:59,100 --> 00:05:03,200 are You're at warnings even when they disrupt our plans. 100 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:08,000 And even when we don't like them, they are for our good, 101 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,400 none of us like it when the check engine light comes on in 102 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,100 the car, right? But if we continue to ignore 103 00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:16,300 that warning, we could have greater problems, we could wind 104 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:19,700 up in serious trouble. And so accurate warnings given 105 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:22,700 from the motivation of love for their. 106 00:05:22,700 --> 00:05:28,400 Here's our good, good for us and good for God's glory. 107 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:30,200 So good morning again. Church. 108 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:31,300 Welcome. To this Gathering. 109 00:05:31,300 --> 00:05:34,300 As I said earlier, my name is Joel and I get to serve as one 110 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:36,800 of the pastor's here. I'm excited that y'all are here 111 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:39,500 as we typically. Do at new Eden, we are working 112 00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:42,500 our way through a book of the Bible, preaching expositionally 113 00:05:42,500 --> 00:05:45,300 through that. And so today, we are in Hebrews 114 00:05:45,300 --> 00:05:48,900 chapter 3, you just turn it red. We're going to be in verses 7 115 00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:52,100 through 19, if you want to, follow along, if you've been 116 00:05:52,100 --> 00:05:56,000 with us through this series, you know, that the theme of the book 117 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,000 of Hebrews is a good. We're like four of you. 118 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,000 All right, let's go. And the theme of the book of 119 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:07,400 Hebrews is awesome. He is more Supreme than anything 120 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,900 else, right? We've seen it just as flood over 121 00:06:09,900 --> 00:06:13,000 and over and over the preacher of Hebrews starts, this, what we 122 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,700 believe to be a sermon and he's calling our minds and hearts to 123 00:06:16,700 --> 00:06:21,700 fix on the beauty, the supremacy and the Majesty of Jesus. 124 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:25,100 And he's doing this because he wants the people, the 125 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:29,800 congregation the hears of this letter to hold fast and how he 126 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,300 does that. That primarily is by offering 127 00:06:32,300 --> 00:06:34,400 them. The Glorious work of Christ, 128 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,000 he's laying it out on a platter and inviting everyone to come 129 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,800 and feast on the riches of Christ. 130 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,500 But as implications of that, a few different times throughout 131 00:06:46,500 --> 00:06:51,300 the book, he offers not only the positive realities of what we 132 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:57,400 receive when we accept Christ. But also the - realities of what 133 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:02,900 happens when we reject what Christ has offered and that is 134 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:05,100 one of the passages that were looking at this morning. 135 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:09,100 So scattered throughout the Book of Hebrews, there are five 136 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:11,300 different sections. Like this one was a short one, 137 00:07:11,300 --> 00:07:13,300 we kind of glossed Overnight a purpose. 138 00:07:13,300 --> 00:07:15,400 It was just a part of our Angel sermon, okay? 139 00:07:15,700 --> 00:07:18,600 So this is the first one. This is the second one of five 140 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,000 warning passages is what theologians have called them as 141 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,900 we preach through the book, we're going to look deeper at 142 00:07:24,900 --> 00:07:27,500 them but this is the first time we're preaching through these 143 00:07:27,500 --> 00:07:31,800 warning passages in detail. And so this one here isn't as 144 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,300 confusing as some of the later ones, but I thought it would be 145 00:07:34,300 --> 00:07:37,300 good to take a little bit of time and just give us all some 146 00:07:37,300 --> 00:07:40,200 contacts. How should we approach these 147 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:41,700 warning? Passages. 148 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,000 We come to the Text and submit ourselves to the text, right? 149 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,300 That's how we come. We don't gloss over it and so 150 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:48,300 we're going to Wade through it together. 151 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:51,000 So let me spend a few minutes before we kind of get into this 152 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,400 text and zoom out and look at all of the warning passages. 153 00:07:54,500 --> 00:07:57,100 Okay so a few things, first of all, let me say that these 154 00:07:57,100 --> 00:08:00,500 warning passages get Hebrews 6, go read, Hebrews 10 gets funky. 155 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,500 They contain some of the more difficult text to interpret in 156 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:05,800 all of scripture. So, if you're really confident 157 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,600 that you figure these out in the last two thousand years, some of 158 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,300 the greatest theologians still haven't figured it out, okay? 159 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:15,200 So most people Come to the table with much humility and 160 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,600 open-handed on how we interpret these. 161 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,400 And that's a good thing. We would be wise to do. 162 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,700 So, with the sense of humility, now, that being said, I do 163 00:08:24,700 --> 00:08:26,700 believe that there are some better ways to approach these 164 00:08:26,700 --> 00:08:29,600 passages than others. To me. 165 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,500 The best approaches is I've been studying through this, take all 166 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:36,700 of the warning passages as a whole, so they're very clearly 167 00:08:36,700 --> 00:08:38,200 kind of marked. You can even see them in your 168 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:39,700 csb. They're labeled warning against 169 00:08:39,700 --> 00:08:43,600 this warning against that. And so, They take all of them as 170 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,700 a whole and say, what do we, what is the author? 171 00:08:45,700 --> 00:08:47,300 Trying to communicate? Remember we think this is one 172 00:08:47,300 --> 00:08:50,200 sermon so if you took any one thing I said at a point in a 173 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,500 sermon you could really twist what I'm trying to say or even 174 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:57,200 over emphasize something, right? As I make an application and so 175 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:58,200 we don't want to do that with this Al. 176 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,500 We want to zoom out and take all of them as a whole and say what 177 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:02,600 are we trying to say? And so let me show you a slide 178 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:03,700 here. You are not going to be able to 179 00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:06,800 see this especially if you're back there, but it might help 180 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,900 you follow through on the the top right are four of the main 181 00:09:10,900 --> 00:09:12,400 views and I'm going to walk through them. 182 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:14,800 I'll say what you're reading up here on the far. 183 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,500 Left are four themes that all of the views about these warning 184 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:21,800 passages have in common. Okay, all of the warnings have 185 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,500 first of all on your far top left and intended audience. 186 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,400 They are written specifically to someone. 187 00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:29,400 Also, if you want this later, I can give it to you. 188 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,100 The other thing they have is a danger. 189 00:09:32,100 --> 00:09:35,500 They are warning them of something specific, a danger 190 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,600 that is being addressed, then they all have an extrication to 191 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,100 the audience. So in light of that danger be 192 00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:45,100 warned, And right. And then there is a consequence. 193 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:48,400 If you ignore this warning, here's what will happen, Okay? 194 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,700 So all the warnings kind of have that flow and then as a whole 195 00:09:52,700 --> 00:09:55,500 there's for kind of main views, I want to walk through. 196 00:09:55,500 --> 00:09:59,200 So there's what I've called first the mixed audience view, 197 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,200 okay. Those who hold this view would 198 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,400 say that the intended audience of These Warnings are both true 199 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,300 and false Believers. What that means is on the 200 00:10:09,300 --> 00:10:11,600 outside, they look like Believers their part of the 201 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,800 visible Church. But some of them are True 202 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,800 Believers and some of them are false believers. 203 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,400 They would say that the danger is the sin of unbelief. 204 00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:25,600 So the the author is talking to those who are not truly 205 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,900 regenerate that are sitting among the church and saying, hey 206 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:34,900 don't reject, what is offered to you in Christ and so the excerpt 207 00:10:34,900 --> 00:10:40,600 ation serves as a genuine warning to those specific people 208 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,100 in the congregation false. Believers that Look like they're 209 00:10:43,100 --> 00:10:45,800 a part of the church visibly but inwardly are not. 210 00:10:46,100 --> 00:10:50,800 And the consequence of this is eternal separation from God. 211 00:10:51,700 --> 00:10:54,700 So that's the mixed audience view another view is the 212 00:10:54,700 --> 00:10:56,900 hypothetical View, and if this stuff is boring, you just hang 213 00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:01,400 on and check back in a minute. Hypothetical view intended, 214 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,800 audience is True Believers. He's not talking to false 215 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:06,400 Believers. People that look like he's 216 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,700 taught, they're all True Believers and the danger is one 217 00:11:09,700 --> 00:11:12,600 of apostasy which is a little bit different I believe but 218 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:14,100 Similar. It means that these people did 219 00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:17,400 want truly believe at a heart level, but they are being warned 220 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,900 against falling away. But this view says that the 221 00:11:20,900 --> 00:11:25,400 warning is actually a hypothetical warning used as a 222 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:30,200 philosophy, philosophical manner, to encourage the 223 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,600 Believers. And to serve as a stark, reality 224 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,000 of what would happen if someone could apostatize, which means 225 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,700 walk away. So that we might be further 226 00:11:39,700 --> 00:11:43,600 encouraged to be spurred on to pursue Christ in All of life. 227 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:46,600 So actually means of Grace to us to say, hey, if this could 228 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,800 happen, it would be horrible. And so, let that encourage you 229 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,800 to run to Christ. The consequence would also be 230 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,600 Eternal separation from God in this view. 231 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:56,900 But again, this view would hold that, it's not actually 232 00:11:56,900 --> 00:12:00,600 possible, okay? Thirdly physical blessings. 233 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:04,000 You this would also be the True Believers, but it would say that 234 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,500 the danger is not apostasy actually rejecting the faith, 235 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:09,300 but just unfaithfulness some people call this backsliding or 236 00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:10,800 drifting away. Okay? 237 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,600 So the exhortation serves Genuine warning, but the 238 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,700 consequence is more like Israel in the Old Testament, which was 239 00:12:17,700 --> 00:12:20,500 loss of physical blessings, not Eternal separation. 240 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:23,400 Okay? And then there's the apostasy 241 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:25,600 view. That means that it's written to 242 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,800 True Believers. It is a willful rejection. 243 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,600 Not just. Oh, I fell into some sin. 244 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,000 And so now, I've walked away from the faith, but no like a 245 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,400 willful rejection of the faith and that it serves as a genuine 246 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,100 warning. And the consequence is eternal 247 00:12:42,100 --> 00:12:43,800 separation. Action from dot. 248 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,500 Okay? Now, all of these views have 249 00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:50,800 some interpretive issues and none of them fit super neatly. 250 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,000 I'm just going to be honest about that. 251 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,300 And that's okay. I don't have to have all the 252 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:56,800 answers and neither do you. I will say throw that slide up 253 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,200 one more time. We're so you guys know where I'm 254 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,500 at. Mixed audience view is probably 255 00:13:01,500 --> 00:13:04,700 the one I'm most convinced of like, give me like a 75% 256 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:07,200 hypothetical view. I thought it was crazy at first. 257 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,800 So I did some study and I'm like, actually I could see that 258 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,300 being a way that the author is approaching this. 259 00:13:12,300 --> 00:13:15,500 So, Give me twenty percent there, maybe 5% physical 260 00:13:15,500 --> 00:13:21,000 blessings and maybe 0.00001 for apostasy, I don't know. 261 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,000 I'm not going to be that. But anyway so let me explain why 262 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:25,300 I think that you can throw the slide down. 263 00:13:25,300 --> 00:13:28,700 Here's my case, a few things I want you guys to keep in mind as 264 00:13:28,700 --> 00:13:31,000 we approach these and then we'll move into our text. 265 00:13:31,100 --> 00:13:32,900 Don't have a bunch of time to make my full case but here's 266 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:36,600 some things that are important. When the preacher and Hebrews 267 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,100 outside of these warning passages speaks of the Assurance 268 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:41,000 of saints, it's very interesting. 269 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:46,200 He speaks typically directly and in first or second person so I 270 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:51,100 or you or we when he speaks of falling away he generally most 271 00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:55,800 of the time speaks in generic third person they them one. 272 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,700 And so I think that's interesting and why it might be 273 00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:02,400 a mixed audience view. He's assuming the best about 274 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,100 those in the congregation but he's also giving Allowance for 275 00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:08,200 those that are in there that need to hear this warning. 276 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,000 I'm also all of the warnings are precluded and followed by an 277 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,200 explicit message. This is important of Christ's 278 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,000 work as the only thing that can keep in hold as fast. 279 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,600 Like, it's the main theme of Hebrews and the like the main 280 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,600 theme of the entire Bible. And so any time we have 281 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:28,200 something that is clear in scripture, we interpret the 282 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,600 unclear passages in light of that, not the other way around. 283 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,000 And our tendency is to hyper-focus on the unclear was 284 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,400 like, I want to figure out. It out and we end up maybe 285 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,200 overemphasizing some of those things and getting ourselves 286 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,000 bent over backwards, okay? Lastly, probably most 287 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,400 importantly we just sang the song grace alone as we read 288 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,100 through, the entirety of the scriptures, not to mention even 289 00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:52,500 the rest of the book of Hebrews. And when I look at my own life, 290 00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:55,000 I cannot help. But believe that the work of 291 00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:00,500 Salvation is one of grace alone. By faith alone through Christ 292 00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:03,800 Lon it is. Not of Works, lest anyone should 293 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,900 boast and so let's keep those things in mind that might create 294 00:15:06,900 --> 00:15:08,500 some tension for you as we go through this. 295 00:15:08,900 --> 00:15:11,600 That's one says okay sorry I'm still living in it. 296 00:15:11,700 --> 00:15:15,900 Alright so the warning passage do exist though and they exist 297 00:15:15,900 --> 00:15:17,700 for a reason so we're not going to skim over. 298 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,600 Let's don't under emphasize them to our detriment but also don't 299 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,400 over emphasize them to our detriment. 300 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:25,300 Ultimately they're meant to serve the greater purpose of 301 00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:28,200 Hebrews which is to drive you relentlessly. 302 00:15:28,300 --> 00:15:33,700 Lie to the grace and Throne of Jesus so that's a lot. 303 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,300 Big broad context. If you checked out check back in 304 00:15:36,300 --> 00:15:40,300 now, we're going into the passage Hebrews 3, 7 through 11. 305 00:15:40,300 --> 00:15:42,500 Let me read it for us. Well, we're 7318. 306 00:15:42,500 --> 00:15:45,400 I'm going to read 7 through 11, one more time to give us the 307 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,300 context of this warning, okay, so I'm going to go back to verse 308 00:15:48,300 --> 00:15:52,000 6, it says Hebrews 3:6 but Christ was faithful as a son 309 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,500 over his household and we are that household. 310 00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:57,900 If we hold on to our confidence, in the Hope, in which we boast 311 00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:01,500 there, Therefore okay if Christ is really better than Moses, as 312 00:16:01,500 --> 00:16:06,500 we just saw last week. As the holy spirit says, today 313 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:10,500 if you hear his voice, do not Harden your hearts as in the 314 00:16:10,500 --> 00:16:14,400 Rebellion on the day of testing. In the wilderness where your 315 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:19,000 ancestors tested me, tried me and saw my works for 40 years. 316 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,900 Therefore, I was provoked to anger with that generation and 317 00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:26,500 said they always go astray in their hearts and have not known 318 00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:30,500 my ways. So, I swore, in my anger, they 319 00:16:30,500 --> 00:16:36,300 will not enter my rest. Amira verse 12 to watch out 320 00:16:36,300 --> 00:16:40,300 brothers and sisters so that there won't be in any of you an 321 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:45,300 evil unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God, 322 00:16:46,100 --> 00:16:48,400 this should be read with pleading because that's the tone 323 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,100 in which this would have been said. 324 00:16:51,100 --> 00:16:53,900 The natural flow. After making the case last week 325 00:16:53,900 --> 00:16:57,100 that we saw, Jesus is better than Moses. 326 00:16:57,100 --> 00:17:02,300 It's to continue recounting some of Israel's history, basically. 327 00:17:02,300 --> 00:17:06,800 What he's saying is if you think rejecting the message of Moses 328 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,500 or sorry, the message of God that was given to Moses was bad. 329 00:17:11,700 --> 00:17:15,300 That would pale in comparison, comparison to rejecting the 330 00:17:15,300 --> 00:17:19,900 glory of God as revealed in offer to you in Jesus? 331 00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:24,599 So don't reject it, he's pleading with them. 332 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:29,100 And so to do this, he quotes a very familiar Psalm, which is 333 00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:32,500 Psalm chapter 95. And that Psalm recounts, this 334 00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:37,500 story of the Israelite people almost verbatim from verse 7 to 335 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:41,600 11, is that Psalm 95. And that story is recounting 336 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,400 even further back in the Hebrew, scriptures from numbers, 337 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,500 chapters 13, and 14. Encourage you later to go back 338 00:17:47,500 --> 00:17:50,500 and read those two chapters. Let me summarize it for you. 339 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,800 Real quick basically Israel had been redeemed from Egypt out of 340 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,000 slavery, okay. They agree to the terms of the 341 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,200 Covenant with Yahweh, The Ten Commandments they were terms of 342 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:02,900 Covenant, it was about a relationship. 343 00:18:02,900 --> 00:18:05,400 They agree to that safe. We're going to we're in, we're 344 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,200 in for this relationship and they're told that they're going 345 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,900 to receive a promised land that they were to go conquer by faith 346 00:18:12,900 --> 00:18:16,200 to trust God and step out. You might remember the story, 347 00:18:16,300 --> 00:18:18,800 maybe you sing the songs, I don't know. 12 men went to spy 348 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,400 on Kane and Tim were bad in to work. 349 00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:22,700 A good he might do that. Maybe our I have people in here. 350 00:18:22,700 --> 00:18:24,900 I don't know. Anyways, so you know what that 351 00:18:24,900 --> 00:18:26,000 is as fine. Ask me later. 352 00:18:27,100 --> 00:18:33,400 All right, so so twelve spies go 10 were bad to we're going, hey, 353 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:34,900 I'll just label them but I guess it's kind of true. 354 00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:36,800 I mean, the read the story. It's they do labeling like that. 355 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,500 But anyways, so these 10 people come back. 356 00:18:38,500 --> 00:18:40,400 Say we can't do it. They're too big. 357 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,200 God's promises. We don't trust in. 358 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,500 All the people are convinced by them other than Caleb and 359 00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:46,200 Joshua. They're the exception right. 360 00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:47,600 Good job guys over here. Yep. 361 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:49,300 All right. These two good ones over here. 362 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,100 Kevin, Josh them. So, you know what they say? 363 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:55,600 What's interesting, like you kind of think that God is being 364 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,200 harsh. When he tells them what God says 365 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,500 the result is okay fine. You're not going to enter the 366 00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,300 promised land, you're going to wonder here for 40 years. 367 00:19:01,300 --> 00:19:03,600 This generation won't and you think that's a little harsh to 368 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:04,900 you go back. And you know what the people 369 00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:07,900 said right before that? I wish we would have just died 370 00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:10,500 in the wilderness that would have been better than going into 371 00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:13,600 the promised land. So, you know, God says, okay, 372 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,900 I'll give you what you want. I'll give you what you ask for, 373 00:19:18,300 --> 00:19:21,200 and he does that. Gotta just Deem them and giving 374 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,800 them everything they needed. He just saved them from the 375 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,300 Egyptian Army yet by their actions. 376 00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:30,800 They rejected his offer of Covenant love and relationship 377 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,600 and so he gave them exactly what they asked for. 378 00:19:34,300 --> 00:19:37,000 You read the story that generation wandered, 40 years in 379 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,600 the wilderness and all of them died off and they did not 380 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,000 receive the physical blessing of the promised land. 381 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,300 I don't think that means they didn't all receive Eternal rest, 382 00:19:44,300 --> 00:19:46,300 okay? Read through Hebrews and other 383 00:19:46,300 --> 00:19:48,300 passages, but they missed out on that. 384 00:19:48,300 --> 00:19:52,000 Physical blessing. They hardened their And saw God 385 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,600 as nothing more than someone to be manipulated, I mean, it's 386 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,600 wild even after he tells them the punishment, you know, what 387 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,700 they try to do and as their repentance is not to trust God. 388 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:03,900 God says, I'm not giving it to you. 389 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:05,800 They said, no. No, God, we want it now and 390 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,800 we're going to go into the land and most says no, like not now 391 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:09,300 bro. Like you already missed it, 392 00:20:09,300 --> 00:20:11,100 right? If you miss the opportunity and 393 00:20:11,100 --> 00:20:14,200 they go and they get like slaughtered because they still 394 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,200 want to manipulate God. And they say I'm going to do my 395 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,900 thing and I just want God to stamp the approval on it, he's 396 00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:21,800 just a Genie in the sky. And says I do my thing and he's 397 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,500 just going to stamp it. That's not God isn't you? 398 00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:27,600 Can manipulate him like that. He is not a thing that you can 399 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,600 just pick and choose. I want to do this with my own 400 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,500 life and then bless it. This is a real Covenant 401 00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:35,400 relationship and God for your good. 402 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,600 And for his glory is a jealous God because he knows that you 403 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,500 United to any false gods will destroy you and so he is jealous 404 00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:47,400 for your relationship. So, the preacher of Hebrews 405 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,900 takes that story, that would have been incredibly familiar to 406 00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:53,300 the here. Of this book and it gives it as 407 00:20:53,300 --> 00:20:57,100 a warning to the visible church. He says, to all of you who can 408 00:20:57,300 --> 00:21:02,400 hear my words today, don't be like that generation that 409 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,100 wanted. Maybe some of the benefits of a 410 00:21:04,108 --> 00:21:08,000 relationship with God without the surrender and the trust. 411 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:13,000 Don't use God, don't manipulate him that will only cause you to 412 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,500 harden your heart towards his offer of Grace. 413 00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:19,700 And in the end, because you can't have both God and sin, you 414 00:21:19,700 --> 00:21:23,600 will choose to reject God and say, just let me die in my sin. 415 00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:29,400 So he offers that warning to us, pleasure of sin. 416 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,000 May seem appealing and pleasurable for a season, but it 417 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,800 will wreak havoc on us and can cause us to miss the Feast of 418 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,100 Grace that's offered for us in Christ. 419 00:21:39,100 --> 00:21:41,300 But here's what I think, it's important to see as we look at 420 00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:48,600 these warnings even though the Disobedience of the people was 421 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,300 the outworking of their sin. There is a route here that the 422 00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:55,800 preacher makes clear and that root cause to all Their sin 423 00:21:55,800 --> 00:22:00,100 ultimately is unbelief and verse 12. 424 00:22:00,100 --> 00:22:04,500 He tells the church to watch out so we won't be found to have 425 00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:08,700 unbelieving hearts in verse 19. He tells us that the Wilderness 426 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:12,800 Generations reason for not entering was due to their 427 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,800 unbelief. There was Disobedience but that 428 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,300 was evidence of a greater problem which was lack of trust 429 00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:23,100 and lack of unbelief. See, there's a difference 430 00:22:23,100 --> 00:22:26,800 between what we say we believe. And what we really believe. 431 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:29,000 What we say, we believe is what we State. 432 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,600 We believe, our stated beliefs are actual beliefs, are what our 433 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:39,100 emotions, and our actions reveal, what we really believe. 434 00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:41,900 My still give you an example. My stated belief on parenting, 435 00:22:42,300 --> 00:22:46,800 is that reacting to your kids in Anger is largely unhelpful, and 436 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:48,900 harmful process. They always unhelpful in 437 00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:51,800 harmful, I can share a blog post on Facebook about it. 438 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,400 I can share a nice quote that affirms this believe, I can talk 439 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,700 about it and community group with y'all that man, he has a 440 00:22:57,708 --> 00:22:59,900 great view of parenting. He's got a spot on. 441 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,600 So you poke into my house, one night when nobody else is 442 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,900 around, and I'm yelling at my kids trying to get it through 443 00:23:05,900 --> 00:23:07,900 them. All right, AJ knows he's sitting 444 00:23:07,900 --> 00:23:12,000 here, right? Now, don't tell him. 445 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,900 In that moment at least, right? And I'm not saying I don't have 446 00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:19,200 a sense of belief that I really do believe that but in that 447 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,400 moment at least my actions, my emotions are betraying. 448 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:24,000 What? I'm really believing. 449 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:27,400 Okay and so here's what the preacher of Hebrews wants us to 450 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,300 do. He's not trying to throw guilt 451 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:32,400 and shame on you. He is wanting you to just be 452 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,500 honest, take stock. Watch out. 453 00:23:37,300 --> 00:23:40,700 Check yourself. Don't Harden your hearts. 454 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,400 We can say that we agree. Sin is harmful but we approach 455 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,600 it as if it's not. We can say Jesus is Lord over my 456 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,000 life and then keep certain corners of our thoughts and 457 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:57,200 hearts locked away. We can say Jesus is savior 458 00:23:57,900 --> 00:24:02,300 butter onto ourselves and pride and self sufficiency or run to 459 00:24:02,300 --> 00:24:06,900 other things to save us. So my question to you is, what 460 00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:11,500 do you actually believe? And here's where there's some 461 00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:14,300 tension in this passage and I hope to resolve it a little bit 462 00:24:14,300 --> 00:24:16,000 for you. But this is where it gets 463 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,300 difficult If we're honest. If I just stand up here and say, 464 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:22,400 hey, get rid of your unbelief, just believe more believe more, 465 00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:29,000 right, if we're We all have some unbelief in us, no matter who we 466 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,900 are at some point, our emotions, and our actions betray us, and 467 00:24:31,900 --> 00:24:34,800 show us that our belief system is out of whack. 468 00:24:35,700 --> 00:24:38,700 We don't have as much Faith as we claim, and we really aren't 469 00:24:38,700 --> 00:24:41,700 believing in Christ alone. We really aren't fully trusting 470 00:24:41,700 --> 00:24:43,900 what he has to say about the danger of sin. 471 00:24:44,500 --> 00:24:46,200 And so the question is, what do we do from here? 472 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:49,900 Do we just close up shop? Let me throw you guys on some 473 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:52,900 guilt and shame, go home and try to conjure up more faith than 474 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:54,500 belief, like just talked yourself. 475 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,900 If into it, work it out, memorize a scripture and you'll 476 00:24:57,900 --> 00:24:59,600 be good. I'm not saying it's bad to 477 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,900 memorize scripture. It sound like I was belittling 478 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,400 that I'm not, but here's the point for me. 479 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,700 Anyways, I don't know if you've tried that, but when I go try to 480 00:25:08,700 --> 00:25:13,300 conjure up Faith, I might have an emotional high, but in the 481 00:25:13,300 --> 00:25:16,600 end, I typically end up with less faith. 482 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,200 Not more. It's typically a pretty damaging 483 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:25,600 Endeavor for me. And so what hope does this 484 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,300 passage offer us? Again, don't forget that this 485 00:25:30,300 --> 00:25:33,000 warning passage is not meant to be taken in isolation. 486 00:25:33,300 --> 00:25:35,600 This flow of thought doesn't actually end to like the end of 487 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,400 chapter 4 in the beginning of chapter 5. 488 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,500 So I'm going to jump there in just a second but this is not 489 00:25:40,500 --> 00:25:42,700 given to you. So you sit there and wallow in 490 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:47,900 your inadequacies this text is calling you to watch out. 491 00:25:48,100 --> 00:25:52,300 Check your heart, so that you might more fully fall on the 492 00:25:52,300 --> 00:25:57,700 grace of Jesus. The first hint we see it that is 493 00:25:57,700 --> 00:26:01,600 in verse 7 13 and 15 and later in chapter 4 there's this 494 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,200 important word that the author highlights over and over. 495 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,100 You know what that word is today. 496 00:26:07,500 --> 00:26:12,700 While it is still today, if you are hearing this, if you are 497 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:17,500 reading this there is hope for you. 498 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,100 It does not matter what yesterday looked like, it does 499 00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:24,700 not matter what last week or last year or your whole life 500 00:26:24,700 --> 00:26:29,400 looks like today. If you are hearing the radical 501 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:37,300 message of Jesus don't turn away, You will disobey you will 502 00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:41,700 mess up, you will run to sin, but Jesus is faithful, you can't 503 00:26:41,700 --> 00:26:45,400 get away from it and Hebrews. Hebrews 12, he is the Pioneer. 504 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,000 So the beginner the author and the Perfecter, The Finisher, the 505 00:26:49,008 --> 00:26:51,500 completer of our faith beginning to end. 506 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:58,700 So, if your faith is like this, Jesus got you In chapter five 507 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,500 right after this kind of closing this flow of thought, we're told 508 00:27:02,500 --> 00:27:09,400 that the high priest is able to deal gently with those who go 509 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,200 astray and are ignorant. Gently. 510 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,600 And in 4:14 at the end of this warning, it's literally where 511 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,200 it's driving us to. We are told that the whole point 512 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,300 of this is to drive you to hold fast to Jesus. 513 00:27:26,300 --> 00:27:31,300 And he says, run to his throne of grace with boldness. 514 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,900 So that you might receive mercy and Grace in time of need the 515 00:27:38,900 --> 00:27:42,500 exposing of your doubts and your unbelief is not meant to drive 516 00:27:42,500 --> 00:27:45,700 you away from Jesus, but further into his arms of Grace to 517 00:27:45,700 --> 00:27:49,200 receive his love, your faith is not increased by trying to 518 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,400 conjure it up. Your faith is increased by 519 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:53,800 looking to the perfectly faithful, one. 520 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:58,600 Jesus, that is how your faith is increased and here's why that's 521 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,400 important because if you just look to how much Faith you have 522 00:28:02,700 --> 00:28:06,200 or the Consistency of your faith and again, your actual faith. 523 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,200 Not what you? Tell people, I'm just trusting, 524 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,600 God, everything's going to be. All right, I'm talk about what 525 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:11,900 you're feeling in the middle of the night. 526 00:28:11,900 --> 00:28:16,700 When you're all alone. If you look to that, you're just 527 00:28:16,700 --> 00:28:20,400 going to be discouraged. That's why the preacher of 528 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,300 Hebrews doesn't want you to talk about the amount of your faith, 529 00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:27,300 or the consistency of your faith, but who your faith is in. 530 00:28:27,900 --> 00:28:30,900 It is the object of your faith that matters. 531 00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:34,000 It is not the amount. That's why Jesus said Faith Like 532 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,400 a mustard seed. The tiniest thing I can think of 533 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,900 can move a freaking Mountain if that faith is in the right 534 00:28:38,900 --> 00:28:42,400 object. We have to grasp this. 535 00:28:42,700 --> 00:28:45,300 Who are you? Relying on not how much, or how 536 00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:49,000 often. And so, we move our eyes from 537 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,800 this warning and we need to look at it. 538 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:56,000 We need to take it seriously, but we fix our eyes on Jesus who 539 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,900 came in flesh to meet a bunch of people in their Disobedience and 540 00:28:59,900 --> 00:29:02,400 doubt. I love this, I could give a 541 00:29:02,408 --> 00:29:05,400 bunch of stories from the gospels but in Mark 9, there's a 542 00:29:05,408 --> 00:29:08,900 story of this man who has a son who needs to be freed from a 543 00:29:08,908 --> 00:29:13,000 demon the Apple's can't cast them out and so this man comes 544 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,000 to Jesus and says, will you please heal my son? 545 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,800 If you can do it, will you please do it. 546 00:29:18,900 --> 00:29:25,100 And Jesus says, if you can If you can, all things are possible 547 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:29,900 for the one who believes. I love the man's response. 548 00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:36,400 He says, I believe. Help my unbelief. 549 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,300 Does it make sense, Riley? Seems like a contradiction. 550 00:29:40,300 --> 00:29:41,800 What do you mean? You believe help my unbelief? 551 00:29:42,100 --> 00:29:43,500 Because I did this all or nothing. 552 00:29:43,900 --> 00:29:45,900 He's like, I believe like this. Why? 553 00:29:45,900 --> 00:29:47,700 I'm here. That's why I'm desperately 554 00:29:47,700 --> 00:29:49,700 coming here because I mean, I'm out of options and I'm gonna 555 00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:51,300 hide it up here, but I got no other option. 556 00:29:51,300 --> 00:29:53,600 So I'm here. I believe, I want to believe, I 557 00:29:53,608 --> 00:29:55,700 want to believe it's true, but help my unbelief. 558 00:29:59,300 --> 00:30:01,500 And this is often, our faith journey is. 559 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,900 So I've got it tattooed on my arm, help my unbelief, because 560 00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:10,200 that's my story. We believe and we want to 561 00:30:10,208 --> 00:30:12,900 believe more but it's messy and it's scattered and it's 562 00:30:12,900 --> 00:30:14,400 inconsistent. And sometimes we have like 563 00:30:14,500 --> 00:30:16,800 incredible Faith were like, let's freaking go. 564 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:18,900 Like we're gonna drive to the Asbury Revival because we just 565 00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:21,200 want to be a part of it or something, you know? 566 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,900 And then we show up here and we can barely even get in here. 567 00:30:23,900 --> 00:30:26,300 Like, I just need some coffee because I just want to survive 568 00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:28,200 and the drums are too loud on what it that's not actually 569 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:29,100 true. I like loud drums. 570 00:30:29,300 --> 00:30:31,100 I'm just saying, maybe some of you are there, you're like I 571 00:30:31,100 --> 00:30:33,100 don't even people singing me are annoying me right now because I 572 00:30:33,108 --> 00:30:36,900 just don't feel it, right? We have a guest drummer today 573 00:30:36,900 --> 00:30:38,900 and I'm bashing them. I thought it was great. 574 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,200 So I no one else made comments either, he's going to be 575 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,100 anyways. Play them loud. 576 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:49,200 All right here's the thing. When we're there we have room 577 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:54,900 and freedom to just be honest I believe God I'm trying but just 578 00:30:54,900 --> 00:30:58,300 help my unbelief. We can't even do faith and 579 00:30:58,300 --> 00:31:01,800 dependents, right? But Jesus is faithful to meet us 580 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,900 there because he is greater than your unbelief. 581 00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:10,800 He is greater than your doubts. This is possible because Jesus 582 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,200 is the truly faithful one. In our behalf, he did perfectly 583 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,500 trust his father. When he prayed in the garden. 584 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:20,700 Yes, in his Humanity. He was like I don't want to do 585 00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:23,800 this. Is there any other way, but Not 586 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,000 my will but yours be done. I'm trusting you. 587 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,800 It looks bleak, it looks dark. I'm heading to death on a Roman 588 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:37,200 cross and it's going to suck. But I trust you and his actions 589 00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:41,300 proved his faith to be pure. His disciples. 590 00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:45,100 Don't stay around, they flee, they begin to doubt, they run in 591 00:31:45,100 --> 00:31:49,300 fear and unbelief, but Jesus remains steadfast and this leads 592 00:31:49,300 --> 00:31:54,800 him to death on a cross alone. and there he takes on the fruit 593 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,100 of our rebellion and Disobedience all that sin thrown 594 00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:01,200 on his shoulders so that he might in exchange give you 595 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:07,400 perfect life and may I say perfect faith, We know that he 596 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:11,100 didn't stay in the grave, he rises again, you know, it's 597 00:32:11,100 --> 00:32:14,000 proving to the entire world that my testimony was true. 598 00:32:14,500 --> 00:32:16,300 I'm here, like, it's the greatest evidence. 599 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,600 There's a lot, we don't know. And we're going to sing about 600 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,800 this in a second, but I know that Jesus rose. 601 00:32:21,900 --> 00:32:24,500 Like that's it. Everything hinges on that if he 602 00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:28,400 didn't get it from the grave. Let's go home. but I love this 603 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,300 because he rises again and even after the resurrection guys like 604 00:32:32,300 --> 00:32:37,800 Peter, who denied him at his darkest moment, Guys, like, 605 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,800 Thomas who are like, I don't care. 606 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,200 What you tell me, unless I see it for myself. 607 00:32:42,300 --> 00:32:45,100 I ain't believing. And some of you are like that 608 00:32:45,100 --> 00:32:48,500 and that's okay, because, you know what Jesus does, he doesn't 609 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:51,900 break them, he doesn't shame them and say, where were you at? 610 00:32:51,900 --> 00:32:55,300 You want to show up now? Now that I'm up from the grave, 611 00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:59,000 he doesn't do that. He meets them where they're at, 612 00:32:59,900 --> 00:33:02,900 he deals gently with them in their ignorance. 613 00:33:02,900 --> 00:33:05,200 And what are, you know, what? He does have Peter, he cook some 614 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,700 breakfast. I love it, like Peter. 615 00:33:07,700 --> 00:33:10,400 So full of Shame and guilt anything. 616 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,900 You can be used and she's like, just come eat and you've been up 617 00:33:12,900 --> 00:33:15,900 all night. It's been topic just eat bro. 618 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,200 And we'll talk. He restores them, Thomas. 619 00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:25,900 He shows up face-to-face meet some where he's at. 620 00:33:27,900 --> 00:33:30,200 Makes it plain to Thomas. What does Thomas say? 621 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:35,500 My Lord and my God, he declares this for us and Jesus said, 622 00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:38,200 blessed, are you because you've seen him believe, but even more 623 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,500 blessed. Are those who have not seen and 624 00:33:40,500 --> 00:33:43,600 believed and all of this is written the entire Book of John 625 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,200 that we went through a couple years ago or a year ago, 626 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:46,700 whatever it was. He said, I wrote all this so 627 00:33:46,700 --> 00:33:49,500 that you might believe and see him have life in his name. 628 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,300 When the spirit works and shows up and I don't understand how 629 00:33:55,300 --> 00:33:58,700 this works, but you get that Mustard Seed in the inkling of 630 00:33:58,700 --> 00:34:04,400 faith and trust the work of Christ is imputed to you and you 631 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,000 receive his perfect faithfulness. 632 00:34:09,300 --> 00:34:14,500 So today, if you have not trusted in Christ, he is 633 00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:21,199 preparing A Feast for you. To come based on his life, his 634 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:24,900 death, his burial, his resurrection and the 635 00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:27,900 consequences of rejection are great. 636 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,500 We're not gonna hide that when I gonna pretend that doesn't 637 00:34:30,500 --> 00:34:35,199 exist, but the reward of receiving his life is beyond 638 00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:39,600 anything you could ever imagine. So while it is still today, 639 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:44,500 Turned him. And there is a promise on the 640 00:34:44,500 --> 00:34:48,199 authority of scripture, that those who come to him will never 641 00:34:48,500 --> 00:34:54,000 be cast out. And for those of us who have 642 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,700 placed our faith in Christ, we don't have to sit and wallow in 643 00:34:58,700 --> 00:35:01,500 Wonder. Did we do it right then we have 644 00:35:01,500 --> 00:35:03,300 enough. Faith was the experience 645 00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:06,600 emotional enough that I pray the right prayer did the right 646 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:11,000 person Lead Me in the prayer to the right person baptize me Have 647 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000 I remained steadfast enough? Have? 648 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,400 I believed enough. Let me just free you up, you 649 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:21,500 have it. I haven't, and that's okay. 650 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,300 That's literally why. Jesus came and lived and died 651 00:35:24,300 --> 00:35:28,500 and buried and rose again. And he's got you, he is greater 652 00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:31,400 than your unbelief, he is greater than your doubt. 653 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:37,500 So don't ignore the warning signs, They are there to serve 654 00:35:37,500 --> 00:35:39,200 you there. Actually a means of Grace to 655 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,200 cause you to persevere until the end because the work of 656 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,000 perseverance is not this isolated thing that God says. 657 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,000 All right, we did a transaction now, I'll see you on the other 658 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,000 side. No, he invites, you into 659 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,400 relationship and he lets you play a part even though you've 660 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,700 messed it up, and you will continue to because he cares 661 00:35:53,700 --> 00:35:56,200 about the relationship. And so, he's inviting you into 662 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,700 that. So we don't ignore these warning 663 00:35:57,700 --> 00:36:01,100 signs, but when the warning signs show up, right? 664 00:36:01,100 --> 00:36:04,700 That the lights go off and your emotions and your actions Reveal 665 00:36:04,700 --> 00:36:08,400 Your unbelief. Sure your response, my 666 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:12,800 exhortations to you is to just fall on Jesus by faith, just let 667 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:18,500 go of all this stuff and fall on Jesus hang onto the core truth 668 00:36:18,500 --> 00:36:21,300 of the gospel and mean it like there might be a million 669 00:36:21,300 --> 00:36:24,000 questions you have and go explore those. 670 00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:27,800 I mean it like go process that there are some things you need 671 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:32,600 to tear down false ideas, about who God is absolutely but the 672 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,600 core truths of the Gospel. Hang on to those. 673 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:41,100 And fall on Jesus with them, all your doubts. 674 00:36:41,100 --> 00:36:46,900 All your questions, Fallen him, both today and the next day, and 675 00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:51,000 the next day. And the next day until we get to 676 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,600 the day when he will return and all your questions will be 677 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:59,000 answered, all your doubts will be resolved and you will see him 678 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,100 face-to-face. He will complete the work. 679 00:37:02,100 --> 00:37:06,100 He will hold you fast. This is why we need each other. 680 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:11,200 First 13 tells us encourage each other daily while it is still, 681 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,600 today, we need Community. We preach the true to each other 682 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,000 in our moments of weakness, and I'm amazed how God takes just 683 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:20,600 people in my life. When my faith is at its absolute 684 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,800 lowest, and it gives me people that like, have faith that I can 685 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,500 just borrow from. And I don't mean, it's like 686 00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:27,000 contract. Like just hang on brother. 687 00:37:27,100 --> 00:37:29,300 Like no. Like I'm not hanging on right 688 00:37:29,300 --> 00:37:32,200 now like they're telling me. Jesus is got you, bro, and 689 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:33,400 you're good. I'm here for you. 690 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:36,900 I ain't going nowhere. And I want to remind you. 691 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,700 For those of you who are like in that we are here for it, 692 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,100 perseverance of the Saints is a community project. 693 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,900 We're not going anywhere. We're not running from your 694 00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:51,200 freaking mess. We're here because Jesus was 695 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,300 here for us. We have all become participants 696 00:37:55,300 --> 00:37:59,600 in Christ. And the way it's said, I believe 697 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:02,600 that that is evidenced by the fact that the end of our lives. 698 00:38:03,700 --> 00:38:05,600 Those of us that are Christ's will look up. 699 00:38:06,700 --> 00:38:09,200 We'll find out that we're still holding firmly on to what it was 700 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,800 that got us started. She's Christ alone. 701 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,400 So we got, it's why? We are absolutely. 702 00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:17,900 There's not many things were resolved to do. 703 00:38:17,900 --> 00:38:19,800 I ain't like Jonathan Edwards and, you know, like 45 704 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:21,200 resolutions aren't keep them all. 705 00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:25,300 But one thing I know we are resolved to preach nothing else, 706 00:38:25,300 --> 00:38:30,600 but Christ crucified, it is all we have to offer but it's enough 707 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:32,800 to turn the world upside down for the glory of God. 708 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:40,000 So Church, watch out be alert, don't let anything distract you 709 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:43,000 from the gospel. And when the spirit uses his 710 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:47,300 voice or he uses warnings in scripture or he uses brothers 711 00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:53,600 and sisters to reveal your sin and unbelief fall on Jesus, All 712 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:57,900 on Jesus today. Fall on Jesus together. 713 00:38:59,100 --> 00:39:00,800 When Everything feels like it's falling apart. 714 00:39:01,900 --> 00:39:03,900 And you're not sure you have enough Faith to make it through. 715 00:39:03,900 --> 00:39:07,500 That is. Okay, in simple desperation of a 716 00:39:07,500 --> 00:39:13,300 father, losing his son. Just say I believe help my 717 00:39:13,300 --> 00:39:17,900 unbelief and I promise you, I promise you on the authority of 718 00:39:17,908 --> 00:39:21,300 scripture and on the evidence of just my life and others, Jesus 719 00:39:21,300 --> 00:39:24,400 will meet you where you are because he is greater than your 720 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:25,500 unbelief.