Good evening and welcome to our last Thursday night service online in this format. And we appreciate you being here with us tonight and certainly welcome our church family. And thank God that we're getting ready to transition slowly back to what we'll hopefully be meeting at our church location. So what we're doing starting next week is going to all Zoom services. And so we'll have our Thursday night at six, our Sunday AM service at 11, and our Sunday p.m. service at 6 p.m. and this Thursday night we have a special blessing as Pastor Steve Anderson joins us from the United States and then a week from this Sunday and so the Sunday following that the Andersons will arrive here and then our family will depart to the States for a three-month trip to report to some churches and also to see family and so anyway We've got those things coming up. And if you've been listening in and you're in our local community here somewhere in the Edinburgh area, we would welcome you. in our Zoom services, and we would love to have you join us in that online format. But then, of course, as we get back to our church location, we do hope that we'll see you in church. If you don't have a good church that you're already a part of, we'd love to just meet you and minister to you if God would have us do that. But anyway, we're glad for everyone being here tonight and for the opportunity that we have, again, to study the word of God in the book of Hebrews. And so if you'll open up your Bibles, please, to Hebrews chapter three. We are in the latter half of that chapter tonight. We looked at the first part last week. Remember, Hebrews is written to the Jews that were living in Palestine. And in that place of Israel, they had all the history of the law and the worship that they had, throughout their heritage, but now the Messiah had come. And so they were transitioning from Old Testament Christianity, faith in the coming Messiah, to New Testament Christianity. At the same time, there's some that were not saved, or had been saved out of Judaism. That idea that if you could keep the law, you could obtain righteousness. But then Christ came, and it was obvious that righteousness cannot be earned by works, but it's by faith in Christ and Christ alone, and they've gotten saved. But there was a lot of trappings from their old religion, especially Judaism, that Paul was trying to bring them out of that securely into Christianity. And so chapter 3 began with the supremacy of Christ, is where we were last week. And to a Jewish person, Jesus Christ was relatively new on the scene, but Moses was established. Moses was one of the great old prophets, but in our text last week as we looked at it, Paul showed that though Moses was great and he was faithful, yet there was somebody even greater in the person of Jesus Christ. 5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ as a son over his own house. And again, some of these that would be reading this would be unsaved. They would be lost and they would need Jesus Christ as their savior. They needed to come to the point where they understood that, yeah, Moses is great establishing the truth of the law and pointing to Christ, but now Christ has come and Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. And so Paul is gonna speak to them about salvation that is in Christ Jesus. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we if… for each one of us, no matter who you are or who anybody is, the potential is there for us to be a part of this house and the security that's in Christ Jesus if we meet the conditions of which Paul will speak. Well, let's talk first of all about what is this house. Well, it's not an actual building, it's not a physical structure, but it's a spiritual structure built upon Jesus. Peter spoke about it in 1 Peter 2 verse 5, it says, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. This person that is securely in this house that is Christ Jesus is not gonna be ashamed someday to stand before God and to have that face-to-face with God because they're gonna have Jesus Christ and they are secure as they stand before God. So if you're unashamed or not confounded, then you're a saved person. Romans 10 9 says this, Now man's problem is sin. Man can't go to heaven because of sin. What man needs is righteousness. And so with the heart man believeth on Jesus, unto righteousness God gives it, And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. That's the same idea, not confounded. And so there's this confidence that they have because of being a part of this house. So are you a saved person? Will you stand with confidence before God, assured of that relationship that you have because you're a part of this spiritual house? And what Paul would have us learn from the latter part of chapter three and what we're gonna look at tonight is that our soul's security is in Jesus. And that is salvation, okay? But our soul's security is in Jesus. So let's pray and ask the spirit of God to help us as we come to our text this evening. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. Thank you for the opportunity that we have tonight to study the word of God in Hebrews chapter three. And Father, I'm thankful that we've had this platform, but I'm also thankful that we're getting to the end of this platform and ready to get back into live services, all of them, and then, Father, to transitioning back into our building in a safe way that makes people feel secure. as they come out during this uncertain period of life, Lord, where the fear is great about the pandemic, and we can understand that. There's a lot of people that are afraid of it. But Father, we pray that the Spirit of God would encourage us in you tonight. And Father, that you would guide in this time. I pray that, Lord, that the things that I say would be clearly said. And Father, that the Spirit of God would guide me as I speak. I can't speak without your enablement, but I praise you. for the Holy Spirit, and the gifts that he gives, and the calling that he gives, and the enablement that he gives. And I just prayed, Lord, as a spokesperson tonight, that you'd help me to clearly articulate the truth of the Word of God. But then I pray for each person that sits and listens to the Word of God from Hebrews chapter 3. God, give us an appetite for truth. And Father, Hebrews is a book that does take a little more focus of our brain and understanding. And yet Father, tonight as we look at it, these are very basic, simple truths. And I pray especially for somebody that isn't saved. Lord, they're not secure. Their soul is very insecure. They may not realize it. They may not realize how very ashamed they'll be someday to stand before God if they don't get a soul security of salvation in Jesus Christ. And so we pray that tonight would be the night of their salvation, Lord, that they would put their faith in you and the finished work that you did on Calvary. And so, Father, we commit this service to you, ask that the Spirit of God would be glorified to guide and direct in it, and we thank you for your help now. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, so our soul's security is in Jesus. And as believers, if we're saved, we can think about it like this as we come to this text. What should we say to somebody who needs to be saved? Now, I want to say it tonight. If you need to be saved, I want to say it clearly as Paul does in this text to you tonight. But we need to think about it as believers as well. This is why the gospel is so important. And so our soul's security is in Jesus. So first, grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Verse six says, but Christ, the Messiah, as a son over his own house, whose house are we if, again, there's our condition. We're gonna look at a lot of conditional ideas tonight, but if we hold fast the confidence, right? That's the securely grab a hold by faith in Jesus. My family was watching a documentary recently about helicopter pilots and the rescue helicopters. And every year they have to go back for certification. And so rather than having someone certify them from an actual helicopter, they have a simulator that they have in this huge warehouse. They walk in and I mean, the sounds are the same. The air downforce is the same, but it's all It's not a proper helicopter. It's actually on a track up in the ceiling. And they can practice this. And even the dogs need certification. So the one that we're watching had a dog in the rescue. And the winchman goes down to the victim. And they have a victim that participates in this. And they get down there. They assess the victim. Then they secure the victim to their rescue vehicle and the winch before they securely lift that person back up God's truth that comes down from above is something that a person has to take and secure to themselves by faith to be saved. Once that is secure, salvation has taken place. And so just because even on a night like tonight, somebody hears the gospel and they listen to a message about Jesus Christ and salvation, that all the truth of the gospel, Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. The sinless son of God that went to the cross and died for your sin. And you can be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And yet that truth being known is not enough. That truth has to be secured by faith. That's why in the next part of our text, which carries over, 4. For unto us was the gospel preached, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. And that reality is like an epoxy. An epoxy has two parts that you mix together, and that makes that glue secure. And it's the same with our salvation. We have truth. Jesus Christ died for us in the work that Christ did, and we need to hear that and understand that. That is the gospel. But on our part, we take and we mix it with faith. Believe it. And that secures it to ourselves. And that is how somebody gets saved. Even in Peter's passage, that I think we looked at, I can't remember right now if we did or not, about the lively stones in that spiritual house that God has made. We are a part of that in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 7. It says, unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, Being disobedient where unto they were also appointed and it talked about ye also as lively stones are built up into a spiritual house And so that is that is how we are brought into that but it were brought into that by faith unto you therefore which believe He is precious. How did they stumble? How are they disobedient? They were disobedient through unbelief And so that's the crux of the matter as we come into this text, and you'll see that tonight, that this all has to do with faith. And so somebody has to respond by faith and say, you know what, I need Jesus Christ as my Savior. If I died today without Christ, I would go to hell, but I'm going to take that truth of salvation to myself by faith. Romans 9.33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. So today, it's not enough. Tonight, it's not enough to just know the gospel, that I'm a sinner, that the punishment for my sin is hell, that Jesus Christ died for me, that he didn't stay in the grave, but he rose from the dead, and that by faith in him, I can get saved. It's not enough to know it. You must believe it and personally receive it. And so we start there tonight as we think about how to help somebody that their soul is insecure. The first thing is grab a hold of Jesus by faith. And then secondly, rejoice in the steadfast hope. Rejoice in the steadfast hope. It says, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Okay. You may partakers of this if you grab a hold of Jesus by faith and you have the rejoicing of the hope firm. unto the end. All right, this hope that the Bible is speaking about is a joyful expectation. A lot of times we tend to think about hope like somebody that's an unbeliever that plays the lottery and they hope someday that they're gonna win the lottery. You know, I looked online and your odds of winning the lottery are far less than the odds of you being struck by lightning. I mean, way less, many times less. And yet nobody walks around thinking that they're gonna get struck by lightning, but somehow they hope that they're gonna win the lottery. And so they hope in that, and they waste all their money living their life for a blind expectation that isn't going to take place. Well, that's not the hope the Bible's speaking about. The hope that the Bible is speaking about is a steadfast, certain reality that somebody has that expectation that is very real. It's like, you know, if I go on a trip and I'm looking forward with hope to see my wife as I return, that is not that I don't think she's going to be there. It's that expectation, joyful expectation of seeing her. And so as we think about that, because it does say, hold it firm unto the end, somebody could think, well, my salvation then is insecure. Salvation is not at all insecure. It's very secure. And so John 5, 24 says, truly, truly, I say unto you, he that cureth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. And I like to ask people, if you have everlasting life, can you die? Not, and understand we're speaking spiritually, that it's a second death. The Bible speaks about that as hell. Can you die and go to hell if you have everlasting life? No. And if you could go to hell, then you never had everlasting life because the very statement everlasting life means that it is eternal. And it says, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. I mean, those are very secure statements. Condemnation is not going to happen. You have everlasting life and you have passed from death unto life. Let me ask you, have you done that? Have you received that gift of salvation? 1 John 5, 13, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know. Now, I talk to a lot of people about salvation and they like to say, well, nobody can know. Well, the Bible says that you can know that you're saved and that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. And so our salvation is very secure. Let me say this though. we are saved if we have truly trusted Christ as our savior. Because there are some people that profess faith in Christ, but they never possessed Christ. 1 John 2, 19 says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. And that is the idea of what Paul is speaking about in Hebrews. He's not talking about, you know, you keep hoping, hoping, hoping, hoping that you're saved. It's a confident expectation. I am saved. I'm rejoicing in it. And I'm holding that firm to the end because that is the nature of true salvation. But this person that can walk away from God and walk away from church and walk away from obeying God, pleasing God, it's very likely that they were never genuinely saved. It's like that saying, all that glitters is not gold. I've got a big piece of iron pyrite, and I imagine if it was gold, it'd be worth a couple hundred thousand pounds. And if you think all that glitters is gold, I'd like to sell it to you because it is just a counterfeit. And so there could be somebody with a counterfeit salvation. I mean, they profess faith in Christ. They look nice. They're in church. But if they've never genuinely accepted Jesus Christ, and if at some point they can walk away and there's no reality, to their life in Christ, at the very least, they ought to consider the fact, am I saved? And at the worst, it proves that they indeed are not saved. And so grab a hold of Jesus and rejoice in that steadfast hope. And then if somebody is not saved, we would say to them, don't postpone getting saved. Don't postpone getting saved. It says in verse seven, Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith. Now the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God. He's the third person of the Trinity. He is God. So wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Today, the Bible says, is the day of salvation. You know, if you don't have Jesus, you don't have eternal security. And the Holy Spirit would say, are you listening? Because it says today, if you will hear, Today, if you will listen, and so are you listening because your soul is in a very dangerous place, a very risky place if you're not saved. D.L. Moody, the great evangelist that came to Britain and God greatly used him here, greatly used him in Edinburgh. But D.L. Moody held his usual Sunday service as the fire broke out in Chicago. At the close of the service, he asked his congregation to evaluate the relationship to Christ and to return the following week to make a decision. In his mind, he's thinking, I don't want you to make just a rash decision. I want you to think about it and make a careful decision. That was his logic. but the fire had broken out in Chicago. While Ira Sankey, the song leader, was singing the closing hymn, it was drowned out by the sound of fire trucks and church bells. To his dying day, Moody regretted delaying their decision to the following Sunday. It would be a Sunday that many in the meeting hall would not live to see. Within a matter of hours, many of those who sat under Moody's words were dead. I have never since dared, Moody later said, to give an audience a week to think of their salvation. If they were lost, they might rise up in judgment against me. I've never seen that congregation sense. I will never meet those people until I meet them in another world. But I want to tell you of one lesson that I learned that night, which I have never forgotten. That is when I preach to press Christ upon the people then and there and try to bring them to a decision on the spot, I would rather have the right hand cut off than to give an audience a week now to decide what to do with Jesus. He understood that, with regret, that if he had challenged them to get saved and to obey the gospel that day, even as the Spirit of God here in this text says, that perhaps some of them would not have died and gone to hell. Now we can hope that as that fire came and as they dealt with those truths that Mudia preached about, that as they faced that sudden reality of death, that they did indeed trust Christ as their Savior. But you know, death is very real. My grandpa, many of you know this past week, passed away and I rejoice. My grandpa was 92. He just had celebrated 70 years of marriage with my grandma on Saturday. He had cancer, terminal cancer, and God sustained him. He had a great day on Saturday. And on Tuesday of this week, I think it was Tuesday or Monday, he passed away. You know, and I praise God, my grandpa was a saved man. But I mean, death is real and death happens in COVID-19. We understand that there have been numbers of people that have entered into eternity. Even this past week in the news, there was a Paisley house fire and three children, just young kids were killed in that house fire. There was a stabbing down in Reading, England. And as you know, three individuals entered into eternity unexpectedly. And so today is the day. You know, if the Spirit of God is speaking in your heart, don't put it off. You may not have another day to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. And so the Holy Spirit would tell you that he does not want you to walk away from this message without responding and taking his offer of salvation and securing your soul. And so grab a hold of Jesus by faith and then rejoice in a steadfast hope and don't postpone getting saved. And then fourth, don't harden your heart in unbelief. Don't harden your heart in unbelief. It says in verse eight, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness. The danger of postponing salvation is that to do that, you've got a heart in your heart against God. The Spirit of God has softened it. There's an awareness that, you know what? It's time to make a decision. I need to do something about this. And that conviction is there, and your heart is tender. But to get past that conviction, you've got a heart in your heart against God. Paul now in our text refers back to what a lot of this is gonna be about, and that's about Israel trying to, God seeking to bring them into the land of promise. And yet as he seeks to do that, Israel is giving them a horrible time because of their unbelief in the hardness of their hearts. And if you read the story, I mean, God says, these people have provoked me. He says to Moses, let me just destroy them. I will raise up a people through you. And yet Moses intercedes with God and God spares the people as a nation. But because of their hardness of their heart, they're not gonna enter into the blessing that God had for them. And so Paul's referring back to that saying, don't harden your hearts. not like Israel that never got the blessing that God desired to give them because they hardened their heart against God. Some of you, I think, have met Aidan that works with Leighton Kelly, our missionary in Ireland at the men's home there, New Hope Residential Center. And Aiden, like Leighton, was saved out of a life of drugs. But he shared his testimony when he was over here, and it's a powerful testimony. And I hesitate to share it for him because I'd love to have him come back to our church and share it again. But a summary of that is that Aiden was dealing drugs and part of a gang. and that he lost some money and the gang took him out into the woods, stripped him, broke all his limbs, his arms and his legs, bit off part of his ear and left him to die. But God spared his life. But for three years, he wouldn't come out of his room. I mean, if I remember right, he had a bucket in his room that he used for a toilet and he just, I mean, he wouldn't come out of his room until a missionary came, knocked at the door, and somehow was able to communicate to Aidan that he would help him. And Aidan took his help, and what the help was, he said, we'll take you over to Britain and have you here, and Aidan was from Ireland, and we'll give you PNP to help you get over your addiction. And so Aiden's thinking, great, they've got a drug that can help me. And so he comes over and he gets there and he finds out that PNP is prayer and paracetamol. And when he hears that, he decides he's gonna leave and he's walking away and he's hardening his heart. But the spirit of God spoke to his heart and said, if you leave here, that's it. And when the Spirit of God said that to Aidan, he turned around, he went back, he got prayer and paracetamol, his heart was tender, he received Jesus Christ as his savior, and Jesus Christ set him free from a life of addiction. And see, it could be somebody like that tonight, you've got hope, you've got a chance, there's an opportunity, and the Spirit of God is saying, take it, you need to take it. But you harden your heart if you resist that and say, I'm not ready, or something like that. And it sounds good, and it sounds great, except for this, Jesus Christ died to set you free from your sin. And to walk away from that is to be an offense to a holy God who in his mercy is reaching out, though you do not deserve it, and saying, look, I can save you from that. I can cleanse you from that. And so don't harden your heart in unbelief. Jesus is reaching out. Let him take his hand, take his help, even tonight. And so grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Rejoice in his steadfast hope. Don't postpone getting saved. Don't harden your heart in unbelief. And don't provoke God by blind unbelief. Don't provoke God by blind unbelief. It says, again, about that provocation that took place against God, as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works 40 years. I mean, they had had so many opportunities to see God and to see the glory of God and to see visibly the power of God, but despite that, so they had blind unbelief, they just veiled their eyes and refused to see what God had done, and they provoked God. by their unbelief. And Numbers 14 speaks about that in verse 20, down through verse 23, the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word. Moses interceded and said, please spare the people God wanted to destroy them. But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these 10 times and have not hearkened unto my voice. And God said, you know, they've seen it all. yet they hardened their heart. Surely they shall not see the land, which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it." Okay? And so God said, all right, that's it. They hardened their heart in blind unbelief. They're not gonna get the blessing of what I desire to give them. You think about Israel and all the things that Israel saw. They had seen the 10 plagues against Egypt. They well knew by visual effect the heartache that God could bring in punishment against men's sins. They had seen the waters of the Red Sea part. They had felt the dry land on their feet and seen it as they walked across. They had looked back and watched the Egyptian army try to come through that Red Sea channel that God had made and had watched as those waters returned and the army of Pharaoh was drowned. They had seen the glory of God coming down on Mount Sinai. They had seen the glory of God on the tabernacle that we recently looked at on Sunday that, but the pillar of fire would be upon that place. The pillar of cloud would be upon that place. They saw God provide quail, water, manna, all the things that they needed in the wilderness. And despite what they had seen, they closed their eyes in unbelief. If you're not saved, The problem is not a lack of proof. It's not tonight, and I have no anxiety about saying this, it's not tonight that you cannot see God. It's that you have closed your eyes to what God has done. Think about it tonight, you've got creation. and all the glory of God's creation. Nobody walks into the National Gallery down here in Edinburgh and goes in there and looks at the paintings of beautiful landscapes that are on the wall and says, that just happened. Over millions and millions of years, it just all those little dots of color came together to form what just appears to be a beautiful scenery. And you think about it, mankind looks at the incredible creation that God has made that is not just paint on a canvas, but is multi-dimensional and has smells and sights and sounds and it's alive. And they look at it and they think, oh, you know, it just happened. Why? Because their eyes are closed in blind unbelief. You know, as you think about it tonight, you've got the law of God written in your heart. You've got a conscience. You understand right and wrong. You know that you're a moral being. There's a sense in your heart that I'm gonna live forever, that there is an eternity, even though I can see with my eyes that there is a death that takes place. I sense that there is something eternal. You've got an infallible book that is beginning to end absolutely completely accurate with prophecies in it that tell the future. Even things that are happening right now in Israel are things that the Bible speaks about. And so when it comes to proof, there is an abundance of proof. And so as we think about this idea about your soul security and your need to get saved, don't provoke God by saying, God, where's the proof? There is an abundance of proof to anybody that would honestly open their eyes in faith and look at everything. that God has done and the handwriting in the heavens, the handwriting in the word of God telling them from God exactly everything about life. And so grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Rejoice in a steadfast hope. Don't postpone getting saved. don't harden your heart in unbelief, and don't provoke God by blind unbelief. And then sixth, don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. Don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. Verse 10 says, wherefore I was grieved with that generation, those people that hardened their heart and provoked me, and said they do always err in their heart. That means they deviated and deviated and deviated from God's path, and they have not known my ways. God was seeking them to bring them into the land of promise, but to get there, they had to go God's way. It is the way of faith. That's always the way it is with God. It's the way of faith. You walk in God's path by faith. And so they have this path of faith. They could follow and they could obey God. It's the only way. But they would deviate. They would deviate and they would deviate from that path. And God was grieved by it. You know, as parents, we know the frustration of trying to get a child to do things our way because it's the way that you're supposed to do it and get it done. And so we'll sit there with our little child and And it's time to get their shoes on. And so you want them to get to the point where they put their shoes on themselves. You don't want a teenager that still has to have you come and put their shoes on. So you teach them right foot, left foot, and how to visually understand what shoe goes on what foot, and how to lift the tongue up before trying to put your foot in it. And then hold that tongue back, hold it on the back of the shoe and in that big opening, put your foot in there and then pull that tongue up. And then, you know, tie the laces or put that Velcro across and get it right. And then you watch the kid, you know, that doesn't want to listen to your way, you know, act as if, you know, their leg doesn't bend and they're holding the shoe in an impossible place where they can't possibly get their foot in it. And they're frustrated and they're fussing all because they refuse to do it are way if they just submit. It'd be so easy and we understand that it's not really a very difficult thing to put your shoes on, but they have to submit to your way and understand that's the way to do it and then they're no longer frustrated in life. You know, have you had enough of your own way? Have you had enough of life to realize that your way's not working and you're fussing and making angry faces at God, acting as if life's miserable, and God's just looking at you saying, you know what, if you would do it my way, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and walking the path of faith, that all these things that you look at in your life and say, this is impossible, and you're fussing about and complaining about, the reason they're so tough is because that you are in rebellion against God, seeking to go your own way. And so don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. Matthew 7, 13 says, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be that go in there at. There's a lot of people today saying you don't have to have God. Atheism is true. Evolution is true. Wicked living and lifestyles is true. And they're perverting their way. And yet God says, this is the way, walk ye in it. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. God's way is the way of truth. It's the way of straightness. It's not the way of perversion. Somebody that is in a perverse path of sin and rebellion against God and saying, God, I can do it my own way, that person is walking outside the bounds of salvation. Salvation is found in the path of faith in the place of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and submitting to God's way, the only way of salvation. And so don't grieve God by frustrating his simple gospel by going your own way. And so grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Rejoice in a steadfast hope. Don't postpone getting saved, don't wait. Don't harden your heart in unbelief. Don't provoke God by blind unbelief and closing your eyes to everything God has done. Don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. And then don't upset the God who opened the door to salvation. Don't upset the God that opened the door to salvation. Back in my college years, we still had manners, I guess, the chivalry still existed a little bit and it was right to hold the door. You know on a campus you got 5,000 students and everyone trying to go in the same doors at the same time. It's nice to hold the door and pass the door back to somebody else to hold after holding it for a little while. But it was aggravating sometimes. You hold the door for somebody, man or woman, and they pass through there and act as if that was your job, and that was your responsibility, that you should do that for them. No gratitude, no thanks, or even rudeness as they went past. And you're thinking, you know what, I wish I would have just gone, boom, you know, and shut the door on them because I had the door open for them, but I could have closed it. And see, the thing is, God has opened the door of salvation, and it's God's mercy. You don't deserve an opportunity to enter into salvation. You don't deserve to have God holding that door open. And listen, God could take that door and shut it. And so don't provoke and upset the God who opened the door to salvation. It says in verse 11, so I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. God said enough. Israel, I had the door open. I had the way. I said, this is the way in. And you refused and you refused and you refused and so fine. The door is shut and God swore in his wrath that they would not enter in. There was no appealing it. There was no second chance for Israel to have another opportunity. They had wasted opportunity after opportunity after opportunity until God finally said enough. There's a saying, it says, don't bite the hand that feeds you. It's a good saying when you think about God, don't grieve the God that has the opportunity in front of you for you to be saved. Israel tried to go up despite God closing the door. They thought, well, it doesn't matter that God has closed the door, we'll go up anyway. But Numbers 14, 42, Moses said, go not up for the Lord is not among you, that you be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you and you shall fall by the sword because you're turned away from the Lord. The way to enter the promised land was by faith. They refused and God said, enough. And they said, well, we're going to go up anyway. And it wasn't faith. It was still unbelief. It was still rebellion against God. It was still anger that God had even closed the door. And so now we're just going to go up and do our own thing. And they failed because it was not of God. And so tonight, there would be a severe warning to you. You think that you can despise the goodness of God and put off God, and God's just gonna keep that door of mercy open? Listen, God could close that door at any time. That's why today is the day of salvation. And so don't upset the God who opened the door of salvation. Grab ahold of Jesus by faith, rejoice in a steadfast hope. Don't postpone getting saved. Don't harden your heart in unbelief. Don't provoke God by blind unbelief. Don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. Don't upset the God who opened the door of salvation. Then tonight as we continue on, and just a couple more points this evening, don't think unbelief is a little sin. Don't think unbelief is a little sin. Verse 12 says, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. I mean, unbelief is such a great sin that it walks away from God. And in that sense, it's like adultery, leaving the goodness of God and the covenant of God in the relationship that God desires to give and despises that, that's unbelief. Atheism robs God of his glory. Atheism robs God of his thanks. You know, you think about it, how does an atheist view a sunset or a sunrise? He glorifies evolution. Ah, you know, behold what science has done. And again, he rejoices in the scientific laws rather than in the person that gave the scientific laws. He doesn't stop and say, thank you, God. This is such a beautiful sunset or sunrise that you have made. I see your glory in it. He credits himself for having evolved so cleverly as to be able to perceive such beautiful colors when he says, it's not really beautiful, I just perceive it as beauty. I like to ask atheists, okay, if there is no God, why are there aesthetics? Why does it taste good? Why does it smell good? Why does it sound good? Why is it so beautiful? And a lot of them will say, well, it's because I perceive it as beautiful. It's an evil heart of unbelief. And sadly, in that position, they are getting to a place very quickly where they cannot be saved. Again, D.L. Moody, we've been listening to his radio program biography about Mr. Moody. But D.L. Moody was on a ship with his son, and the ship got wrecked. damaged and they were sinking. And as they were sinking, it was a horrible storm and they were drifting out of the shipping lanes. And if they drifted out of the shipping lanes, the chance of their salvation was very, very low. And God in his mercy saved them. It's a really neat story. But see, salvation is found in the way. Salvation is found in faith. Somebody in unbelief is drifting to a position where it's impossible for God to save them unless they repent of that sin. of unbelief. And so grab a hold of Jesus by faith, rejoice in his steadfast hope. Don't postpone getting saved. Don't harden your heart in unbelief. Don't provoke God by blind unbelief. Don't grieve God's spirit by walking outside of God's way. Don't upset the God who opened the door of salvation. And don't think tonight that just because you're an unbeliever that that is a little sin, that is a great sin against God. Make sure of the salvation of all around you. This is our final point tonight. As we've looked at these truths, these are vital truths. People need a soul security. And so make sure of the salvation of all that are around you. Sin is very deceptive. Unbelief is very deceptive. And it's damning as we just talked about. And so make sure of the salvation of those that are about you. Verse 13. says, but exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Exhort one another daily while it is called today. You know, today is the, again, the day of salvation. It needs to be in our heart to, as we look at people, you know what, I need to speak to them about Jesus Christ even today. D.L. Moody, again, as we think about him, had a great evangelistic heart, and he was a soul winner. And there was a man named Peter Billhorn that shared a story about D.L. Moody, and it was another stormy night, but this time he's on land. And one stormy Monday morning, after reading and prayer, I ventured to ask him where in his power lay. It seemed that every man with whom he spake on the subject of salvation and becoming a Christian was swept right into the kingdom. Oh, how I crave this blessing and power. He said, Bill Horne, I will tell you this much. I made a promise to God and the rule of my life that I would speak to at least one man every day about his soul salvation. And so strong was that conviction that if he got in his bed and he realized that that day he had not spoken to somebody about salvation, he would get up out of his bed and go seek to share Christ with somebody. And so that night, it was a very stormy night. Some people were thinking nobody would be at the meetings. I mean, so stormy that the carriage that they got into was having to drive close to the gutter to stay out of the flood that was there in the road. But as they went along, Bill Horn was wondering why Moody kept sticking his head out the window, but he knew better than to ask. But finally, Moody says to the carriage driver, stop. The carriage, he gets out, he goes up to a man and asks that man a question. And the man says, I'm on my way to the Moody meetings. And Moody says, so are we. And come on up and ride with us. Didn't tell him who he was. But as soon as that man got in, he began to speak to him about his soul's need. And in that carriage, before he got to the meeting, he led that man to the Lord. When the preaching was over, he's gotten done preaching and he's standing up in front of the congregation. Mr. Moody asked all those who were Christians to stand. The man in question also rose. He had sat down front. Mr. Moody pointed at him and said, are you a Christian? With a shout, the man replied, I was saved in a carriage tonight coming here. A man prayed for me. I guess that was you, mister, and it was. He had kept his vow and pledged to God that he would at least speak to one man each day about his soul's salvation. Thus, I learned one reason wherein lay the remarkable spiritual power of that man of God, D.L. Moody." All right, and that's Peter Bilhorn sharing a personal testimony about that. Let me ask you, what is your position on evangelism? Can you go day after day without speaking to somebody about Christ? Reserve passion in your heart, exhort one another while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And there are people that can go astray from God and are astray from God, that by the grace of God, we can impact as we speak to them about their soul and its need for Jesus Christ. Tonight, Do you have soul security in Jesus? And if you said to me, you know, Pastor Ben, I don't have soul security, but I don't really know what the problem is. I think the problem after our study tonight, it's pretty simple to say the problem is unbelief. And so in our text, if you look at verse 14, it says, for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. If somebody has that faith, that saving faith in Jesus Christ, that steadfast confidence, that joyous hope that we talked about, you possess salvation and you've entered in and made a partaker of Christ. But verse 15, while it is said, today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation, for someone they had heard did provoke, albeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. There were two men, Joshua and Caleb, that didn't provoke God, that were spared. They entered into the land of promise by faith, just as God is speaking about, as Paul is speaking about in this text. But the others, for someone they had heard did provoke, And so verse 17, but with whom was he grieved 40 years? Was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? Now just pause and think, and I know this, we're getting towards the end here. But how did they sin? What was the thing that provoked God? Verse 18, to whom swear that 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. And see the problem that you have in your heart tonight, if you're not saved, is that you're an unbeliever. You haven't responded by faith to the gospel, but you need to respond. And so we would say to you tonight and encourage you tonight to grab a hold of Jesus by faith. Take the precious truth about Jesus' death for your sin and his resurrection for your life and grab a hold of that personally by faith and just pray to God and say, dear Jesus, I'm a sinner, but you died for me and you paid the complete price for my sin. And I ask you right now by faith to come into my heart and save me and grab a hold of Jesus by faith. If you have that, you're gonna be rejoicing in a steadfast confidence. that joyous hope that is more than just I hope so, it's I know so because Christ is my savior. And so what? Don't postpone getting saved. Don't walk away from this and think, well, preacher, I need another week or I need another year. Listen, today is the day of salvation. And by God's grace, make that decision. I am going to trust Jesus Christ right now. And then don't harden your heart in unbelief. That's the danger. If you postpone, it's just going to put up a barrier. It's just going to be a cooling down the mercy of God that's working in your heart about that need. Don't provoke God by blind unbelief saying, well, where's the proof? Listen, you've got the Bible, you've got all creation. Don't close your eyes and provoke God by not seeing what he has put out there for you to see. Don't grieve God's spirit. by walking outside of God's way. And again and again, just going away and going away instead of saying, you know what, it's the narrow way, it's the way of salvation. I'm gonna walk that path in obedience to God. And then don't upset the God who opened the door of salvation. I mean, God's got it open. He's saying, come on, get saved, enter into my glory. Even tonight, I want to save you. He's got the door open. Don't upset him. Don't think unbelief is a little sin. Don't think tonight, well, my only problem is unbelief. That is a huge sin against God. It keeps you from everything that we're speaking about. And then if we're saved, make sure the salvation of those that are around you. That's your responsibility. You know, someday you're gonna stand, you're gonna give an account to God. And I believe it's gonna be something like this. Remember that person, remember that person, remember that person, remember the proximity, remember the place that God put you. You never spoke to them about Jesus Christ and the Bible commanded us to. Going into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. We've got a message of soul security that this world needs. And so I challenge us as believers, let's make sure that we do that by God's grace, take the gospel to the world. Let's pray. Father, I praise you for the grace that you give. I thank you for the opportunity that we've had tonight to again, look at the word of God. And Father, it might be, and surely it's gotta be, there's somebody that's listening to this message that's not saved. Surely the spirit of God has spoken to their heart. And I would just think this way, Lord, if they've not been convicted, then their heart is hard. But I pray that the spirit of God would mercifully soften their heart, even right now. And Father, that they'd have yet again an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Father, I pray they'd be afraid to walk away because if they walk away from this opportunity, you don't have to give them another opportunity. They don't have to live another 24 hours. And Father, their soul is not secure. And I pray that today they would hear his voice and listen. And Father, I pray for a burden. in the hearts of believers. We have to take the gospel to the world. We got to stop making excuses. And Father, be faithful to exhort one another daily while it's called today, lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And so Father, help us to be faithful to do that. Thank you for your help. Thank you for your blessing. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.