OK, turn to Hebrews three and by God's grace, we'll get from Hebrews three. We left last week. Off at the 15th verse, so we will pick up on the 16th verse and then. We're going to we're going to read through 411. But I believe we'll only get through completely verse 3. So we're going to cover in general through verse 11, but we'll only get to our specific study through verse 3 of chapter 4. So those seven verses. So let's pray again. Lord, we just pray, God, please help us in our study of Hebrews. I pray, God, that who would work these things in our hearts, God, that we would be overcoming, that our lives would be victorious in You, Lord, trusting You, holding fast to You, Lord Jesus, continually, that You would be glorified and others would be brought to know You and worship You, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So as we look at these third and fourth chapters, the third and fourth chapters of Hebrews are actually very closely connected. And you see that. There's a lot in chapter three that you see in chapter four. So with that in mind, let's read, start in verse 16, and we'll read through 411. 316 says, For some, when they had heard, did provoke, albeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not Was it not with them that sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest they promise, being left thus, of entering into rest. Any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as unto them, But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place, again, If they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, they to whom it was first preached enter not in because of unbelief." Again, he limits a certain day, saying to David, Today, after so long a time, as it is said, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterwards have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." So I want to look at two preface points first before we actually get into this and the first is the the paradox of this passage and what a paradox is and how the paradoxes work in the Bible and secondly I would like to look at the great interpretive challenge of the book of Hebrews. Why in the book of Hebrews are Christians being talked to as if they're not Christians. You see that consistent through the book of Hebrews. And why is that? That's a huge interpretive challenge if you study the book of Hebrews. And so I want to look at those two points first before we get into the actual text. And these points are found in the text, so we're not actually leaving the text. But in the third and fourth chapters of the book of Hebrews, we find that two words that connect these chapters the word rest and the word unbelief. And really you can make chapter three and four almost one chapter. In chapter four we see two paradoxical principles in relation to the word rest. A paradox is simply that which is an apparent contradiction, but in reality it is in perfect harmony. The dictionary definition for for a paradox is actually that which is commonly, that which would be commonly known as being wrong, but that is actually right. But there's different ways to look at that. We could also say that a paradox are two theories which seem to oppose one another, but in reality they're working together. Now follow me, because it is absolutely necessary, if we are going to understand the Bible to any degree, to understand that it is filled with paradoxes. The Bible tells us to love the world, for God so loved the world. But then in James we're told, if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. One place we're told to love the world, another place we're told not to love the world. It's a paradox. The Bible tells us to judge, it tells us not to judge. The Bible tells us Jesus came to bring peace on earth. The Bible tells us Jesus didn't come to bring peace on earth. And we can go on and on with such paradoxes in the Bible. I know my one Bible college professor did his doctoral thesis on 120 paradoxes that he found in the Bible. 120. So if you don't understand how to interpret paradoxes in the Bible, you're missing a large portion of the scripture. And many people error because they do not understand paradoxes. They say, well, like for instance, we can take this, we use this commonly here, but the Bible says in Matthew 7, 1, thou shalt not judge. And people say, well, then you can't ever judge. You can never judge anything or anybody. that's simply not true because in first corinthians 2 15 the bible tells us the spiritual man judges all things we must learn to think in a way that is objective and balanced and biblical and that includes paradoxes it includes two theories that seemingly oppose each other but in reality they work in perfect harmony and i think Many of us were blessed by that principle about judging. I mean, in the last several months, I know I was, in the studies that I did on it, because learning how to judge properly will help us not to judge wrongly. And we see that principle over and over again in the Bible, of these paradoxes. But the problem is, oftentimes we'll learn something, and we'll say, this is true, that means the other's wrong. and not understanding how these things work. So, it's important that we learn how to think in paradoxes and in how the Bible teaches them. And in Luke 2.14, when the angel announces Jesus' birth, he says, peace on earth. And in Matthew 10.34, Jesus says, think not that I am come to send peace on earth, but I am come not to send peace, but a sword. How can these two principles be reconciled? Did he come to bring peace or did he not come to bring peace? The obvious answer is that there is a certain type of peace that Jesus did come to bring to earth. And there is another type of peace that he did not come to bring. And we must biblically understand that in order to have, I would say, almost any grasp of the scripture. Because many have a very shallow or no understanding at all of the Bible because they do not take the time to do the work to understand these biblical paradoxes. And it's very popular not to put the time into the Bible and just understand it in generalities. But we must understand these paradoxes in the Bible. But with that in mind, let's go back to our text in Hebrews 4, and in this chapter, We have two of these paradoxes as it relates to this word rest. First in 4.1, look in 4.1, let us therefore fear lest the promise being left us entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. So fear, how can we be fearing and resting at the same time? It seems to be a paradox. Look in verse 11, it's even more of a paradox. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. It tells us to labor, in verse 11, to enter into rest. Again, it's a seeming contradiction. How can someone be laboring and resting at the same time? Well, let's look into that. Let us therefore fear, in verse 1, is a paradox in itself. Just that statement itself is a paradox, because in John 14, 27, the Lord Jesus tells us, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let your heart be afraid. 2 Timothy 1, 7 says, For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. In 1 Peter 2, 7, the Bible clearly says to fear God. And in Matthew 10, 28, Jesus says, Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. I like what Arthur Pink says about it. He said, Fear may be called one of the disliking affections. It is good or evil according to the object on which it is placed and according to the order of it therein. In Hebrews 4.1, it is placed on the right object, an evil to be shunned. That evil is unbelief. which if persisted in, ends in apostasy and destruction." In other words, that's the end of the quote. In other words, what he is saying is what we fear and why we fear it will determine if our fear is biblical or not. If our fear is spiritual or carnal. If it is a work of the spirit or a work of the flesh. The first reason we should fear unbelief is in 3.17 and 3.18. Unbelief is something to be feared. And my friends, I know at times it may seem difficult going through, especially the book of Hebrews. There's so much negativity. It's like, why is it so negative all the time? But it's because of what sin has done to us, it's greatly hindered us, so therefore it has to help us understand. But why should we fear? Look in verse 17. But with whom was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, and to whom he swear that they should not enter into his rest? but to them that believe not, for they could not enter in because of unbelief." This quotation comes from Numbers chapter 14 verse 29. It's a direct quotation of Hebrews 3, 17 and 18. But God pronounces condemnation on all those who are in unbelief. carries with it the sentence of death. Jesus said in John 3, 17, Whosoever believes on the Son of God has eternal life, but whosoever believes not is condemned already. Unbelief carries the curse of God. And we'll come back to that, because I want to ask three questions today. I want to ask three questions today, all found in our text. Before we do that, though, I said that we'll get into the interpretive challenge of Hebrews, of why it talks to believers almost as if they're unbelievers, which we'll get into that as we go through these three questions. We'll answer that question by God's grace. But the three questions I want to ask is first, what is the root of unbelief? What is the fruit of unbelief? And what is the consequence of unbelief? The root of unbelief. Go back to Hebrews 3. Let's look in Hebrews 3.8. We're going to go back to where we were last week. But most of this chapter 4 is about unbelief. So we must look at this. The root of unbelief. In 3.8, it says, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation the day of the temptation in the wilderness. Jump down to verse 12. It says, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. Five times in 3.8-4.7, we see this warning. Harden not your hearts. Harden not your hearts. He says it five times in a matter of about 15 verses. He says, harden not your hearts. Harden not your hearts. And it's directly related to unbelief. Unbelief is in the heart. It is a heart problem. And because of those verses, it gives us insight into the root of unbelief. I believe verse 12 of chapter 3, like I said, says it best, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. This is a heart issue. The human heart is in contempt of God. It is the natural state of the human heart, and none of us are exempt. The human heart is in contempt against God. We, by nature, We must understand this, to understand almost anything about salvation or how to come to God, we must understand that by nature our hearts are at enmity against God. Our natural heart is in contempt against God, and it is in opposition to Him. It's why we need the new heart. Ezekiel 36.26 says, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them." Look at this verse. It says, "...and you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I shall be your God." Again, referring back to the same principle of God leading his people into the promised land, which we read about here often in this verse. We need a new heart, for without this new heart, our heart will only become harder and harder towards God. As we see four times in this chapter, speaking of the hardness, the hardness of the heart, or the hardening of the heart. But this warning against the hardening of the heart only leads us to another question, which is our question that we wanted to ask at the beginning. Why are those who are professing Christians, or even true believers, being warned to fear because of unbelief, if they have been given this new heart? They're not just warned in this one spot, but throughout this entire epistle. This is the great interpretive struggle in the book of Hebrews. I believe if we don't deal with it, we're not really dealing with the book in a proper way. I believe that it must have something to do with the Hebrews themselves, in particular, because although we see this type of language in other parts of the New Testament, nowhere do we see it to this degree or to this severity. And like we've said in the past, it seems as if the Hebrews were apostatizing at an alarming rate. They were going back to the Judaism, back to the Judaical system of sacrifices. And you see that in Galatia. Who was it that was deceiving them? It was the Judaizers that even, God forbid, but that even the Apostle Peter comes to Galatia and he's having problems with the Gentiles. And Paul has to correct him. And you see the Jews are apostatizing at an alarming rate because there was this huge move of God in Jerusalem for a number of years at the beginning. And many came to faith. And you'll see that in many revivals. From a revival, I heard Martin Lloyd-Jones talk about this from the revival. in Wales in the beginning of the 20th century, that from that revival came many professing believers, people who got caught up in the revival and weren't really true believers, but they got caught up in it because it was such a movement, it was so obvious. And then afterwards, when the dust settled, you see all these professing believers can fall away. And I think we can have the same instance here with the Hebrews, that you had this huge, massive revival for the first few years of the book of Acts. And many, I believe, got caught up in it and then soon after apostatized. Why are Christians who are eternally secure in Christ being warned as if they are unbelievers? My friends, the assurance of our salvation is the continuing work, and I think that question is answered in this epistle. The assurance of the believer is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That continuing work is evidenced in the Christian by the exaltation of Jesus Christ in that believer's life. And you see this in this book, by number one, a steadfast profession of Jesus Christ. in 3.1, 4.14, and 10.23 of Hebrews. It's evidence in our life by a steadfast profession. Number two, a steadfast confidence and hope in 3.6, 3.14, and 4.2. It says that of the book of Hebrews. And number three, a rest in the finished work of Christ. Hebrews 4.3, 3.4, and 10. The steadfast profession Confidence and rest is something that the believer grows in. And I believe it is something that the believer can stray from at times. They must be warned to come back to their first love and follow hard after Jesus Christ as they be found as so many that never return. You see these same type of warnings. When Jesus warned the church in Ephesus In Acts chapter 2, what did he say? He said, come back to your first love. And he's talking to believers. So I do believe it is possible for a believer to stray from their first love. But my friends, be careful. Because many stray and never come back. And they're apostates. And they never were truly born again. But we need to hold fast to Christ. who He is and what He's done for us. You see the same thing in the church of Sardis in chapter 3 of Revelation when Jesus warns them and says, Most of you are dead. There's only a few of you that are still alive. To the church of Sardis, He says this. And He says, But hold on to what you do have. Do not harden your heart to the work of the Spirit. But on the contrary, we are to continually be softened. With that soft heart we are able to mix faith with what we hear and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. So that's all under the category of the root of unbelief. The root of unbelief is in the heart. The root of unbelief is in the heart. And the only solution for that is the new heart that is given to us by God. But now I would like to move on to the fruit of unbelief, or the outward manifestation of unbelief. Numbers 14.29, the children of Israel murmured against God, or complained against God. What would cause someone to complain against God? Romans 1.21 says, Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. their foolish hearts were darkened." What does it mean they knew God? Well, verse 20 explains that. But the invisible things of the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. So the end of Hebrews chapter 3 is actually a quotation from from Psalm chapter 95. So go to Psalm 95 and we're going to see how that relates to those verses I just read in the book of Romans. Now we're looking at the fruit of unbelief. The fruit of unbelief, which is a murmuring heart or a complaining heart. But where does that complaining heart come from? In Romans 1 we read, because they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. The first fruit of unbelief is a lack of worship towards God. Therefore, one of the first fruits of true saving faith is the worship of God. Look at this in 95. We'll read the whole chapter 11 verses. So come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, There is a people that do always err in their heart, and they have not known my ways, unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest." So the fruit of unbelief is first, not glorifying God. Not worshipping God. It's not worshipping God, which leads to what? Unthankfulness. Complaining. Because when I'm worshipping God, and I see who He is, in the beginning of this psalm, in chapter 95, we say, glory to His name. He's the creator of all things. The sea is His. The hills are His. The land is His, the sky is His, everything is His and created by Him and for Him. And we worship Him and we bow down before Him and say, praise your name, we worship you, Lord God. But unbelief, unbelief is directly connected to not worshiping God. to not worshiping God, not recognizing who He is. And that unbelief or not glorifying God, like we read in the book of Romans, leads to unthankfulness. To know the greatness of God, the Creator of all things. Let us come and bow down before Him. Sing praises unto His name. Oh, my friends, beware of unthankfulness and complaining. They are a direct result of unbelief, and God does not take kindly to it. For from a lack of worship toward God comes an unthankful heart, and from an unthankful heart comes the vain imaginations that we read about in Romans 1 that I quoted. That word, imaginations, could also be translated as reasonings. No ability to reason Because without the worship of God, a person becomes a slave to their own carnal desires and reasonings. And then lastly, the heart becomes darkened. At this point, the deception goes deeper and deeper. When a dark heart is further darkened, they become further deceived. Until at a point, and this is where I believe, we're at today in our culture, you come to the point where all morality and ethics are defined by a personal pursuit of fulfillment. In other words, and really that's where we're at in our culture today. Morality has been reduced to what makes me happy. That's what's right. You know what right is? What makes me happy. And my friends, that has sadly shamefully infiltrating even the church, that morality is defined by what makes me happy. That is the furthest thing from the worship of God. And that's where unbelief leads to. It leads to a redefining of what right is, to the point where the human heart becomes so darkened that I think that what right is, is what makes me happy. And my friends, we've come that far in our culture, and I believe it's affected all of us, somehow, to some degree. We need to look at our hearts and say, am I living to make me happy? Is that why I'm living? Is that why I'm doing what I'm doing? thinking that that's what the purpose of life is, is to make me happy. And I think it's affected all of us. I really do. I think it's affected me. And I need to check my heart because it shows that that is a heart of unbelief. Because when you see God and you worship Him, you see that, wow, wow, He is the reason we're here. He is the purpose we're here. to glorify Him and to know Him and to show Him to others. He is the reason, not me. Not my happiness is not the most important thing, but it's Jesus Christ, the glory of God, knowing Him and worshiping Him and running to others and saying, you can worship Him too. You can know Him too. But all unbelief, unbelief is so deceptive It can be so subtle on the outward appearance, but on the inside, it is like an open wound that is not bound up. My friends, run from unbelief. Avoid it like the plague, and run to the feet of the Savior and worship the worship of the one and true living God of the Bible. the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. When you worship God, it dispels unbelief. Flee to the cross. Flee from unbelief and flee to the cross. Flee from unbelief and flee to the empty tomb. Flee to the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. That's what He's telling us in the book of Hebrews. Run from unbelief. Don't allow it in your heart. When you see complaining, And this self-centeredness, it's all a sign of unbelief. It's all a sign that I'm not worshiping God. I'm not seeing that God is the reason I'm here. He's the reason I'm here. Not me. Not this. Not that. And complaining and self-centeredness is a sign of unbelief and it's a sign of the human heart that's being darkened It's being darkened further and further. And my friends, run from it. Flee from it. Flee to Christ. Flee to His cross and His tomb that is empty. Flee to Him in every situation of life. Seek ye first His kingdom. And you will not be left in unbelief. For all that is good is found in Jesus Christ. If all the earth were made of gold, then you can have it all. It would not remotely compare to the value that is in Jesus Christ. And unbelief, my friends, is in each of our hearts. And we need to deal with it. And the signs of it are all around us. And I pray that we would flee of Christ and worship Him and bow down to Him and believe what He says and flee from unbelief. Which brings us to our third and final point before we give our conclusion, which is the consequences of unbelief. God pronounces a curse of death on anyone who does not believe His Word. and trust Him. The dead bodies that fell in the desert are only a type or symbol of the death that will happen to all who don't believe. The Lord Jesus explains the death that takes place on those in eternity in Mark chapter 9. In verse 44, 46 and 48, He says, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. This is an eternal death. The death of the bodies in the desert were only a symbol of this eternal death. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This issue of unbelief cannot be taken in a light manner. For the writer of Hebrews takes almost two full chapters to warn us. It cannot be taken as a light manner, and it cannot be understood in a superficial way. But to believe in the context that this chapter is talking about, to believe would mean to hold fast, which means to retain with much pressure to retain with much pressure. To take something like this pen and squeeze it, it means to hold fast. It means to retain with much pressure. It means to squeeze tightly. To squeeze tightly. To squeeze tightly to Jesus Christ. To hold fast. To believe. To have our full hope and confidence in Him and in His Word. There is a healthy fear of unbelief, and we're warned about it in this chapter. There is a healthy fear of unbelief that should cause us to wholly cling to the finished work of Jesus Christ and to turn from our own. And I'll close just by mentioning this verse. Go to chapter 4 of Hebrews again, and we'll just close with this one verse, verse 10. Well, at the end of verse 3, you see, through the works that were finished from the foundation of the world, I believe that's speaking of the finished work of Jesus Christ, and look in verse 10, for he that is entered into his rest, he hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. The rest that the believer has is that he has ceased from his own works. I cease from my own works. I'm no longer trying to make myself righteous. I'm no longer trying to justify myself. I'm no longer trying to make myself happy outside of Christ and His finished work. That He has finished the work on the cross. That salvation and redemption has been accomplished in Jesus Christ. In Him and what He has provided. He is the Lamb. slain before the foundation of the earth in the book of Revelation. And we see that here, that the works that were finished from the foundation of the world, that we would cease from our own works. That is rest. That is rest, to cease from our own works. And the fear that we should have is that in unbelief, In unbelief, we're still trying to justify. We're still trying to justify ourselves. We're still trying to do something to make ourselves right from God. But when I look to Jesus Christ and cling to Him and flee to Him, I say, I can rest. My hope is in Him. My hope is in Him and there's a rest to the people of God. because we know that He has finished the work. And there's also a labor with the people of God. There's a striving with the people of God. And we're going to get into that, because it clearly says that in the next verse. Because when you become a Christian, there's a clash. Now you have a sin nature, and you have the spiritual man, and they clash, and there is a striving, there is a laboring. But ultimately, there's a peace, there's a rest. There's a rest. Even in that labor, there's a rest. And even in that struggle that we go through as Christians, where we fall into sin, and we know we shouldn't, and it grieves us much because we love the Lord Jesus. And that is a deep struggle for the believer. It should be. Each believer should have this deep struggle that when they sin, They are shaming the name of Jesus. And that we are hurting that relationship with Him. And that's hard. It should be hard for us. But at the same time, we have a rest. And we say, thank you Lord, I'm forgiven because of what Christ has done for me. And I have a rest in Jesus Christ. And that's again a paradox. It's a paradox. We grieve greatly when we sin against God, and at the same time we have a rest in Christ. And that's a type of a paradox again, and over and over again. I'll just close by saying this, we see these paradoxes in the Bible, and we need to learn to think in how these things work together. And I'll just end, I want to end with this last thought, flee from unbelief. flee from unbelief, flee from complaining and from not worshiping God and glorifying Him and cling to Christ and worship Him. And I just pray that we will grow in worshiping the Savior together. So let's pray. Dear Father, God, we come to You and we've all been guilty. I have been guilty of complaining, God. Even in the last week, I know I've been guilty of complaining, God. The sin is that, God. I repent, God. Please help us, Lord. For you have provided so much for us. It's amazing. It's incredible who you are and what you have provided for us. We thank you and praise you. And I pray, God, that we would not have unbelief in our hearts, Lord, but that we would have a rest in Christ. and hope and confidence and holding fast to our Savior. I pray, God, work it in our hearts and I pray for those who are here who have never come to the Savior. Oh, Lord, would you please work in their hearts. God, time is short. For those of us who are following Jesus, the urgency just gets stronger and stronger. We see the days are shorter and shorter. And the great day of judgment is coming soon. I pray, God, please would you have mercy on those who are here today and need you as Savior. Lord, please work in their hearts. I pray that you, if you're here, that you would come to Christ. Come to Him. Flee from unbelief and come to Christ. Worship at His feet. And all unbelief will be dispelled when you worship at the feet of the Savior. And we praise you and thank you for your grace towards us, God. showing us your Word, in Jesus' name, Amen.