Hebrews 3:14-19 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Big Idea: Constant disobedience is unbelief. Hebrews 3:14 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. ...untold blessings are the birthright of Christian believers. But the exclusive source and conduit of them is our Lord Jesus Christ. This explains why masters of the spiritual life have always urged us to look nowhere else for blessing, but only to Christ and to the privilege we have of being united to Him. Sinclair Ferguson, in Union With Christ Hebrews 3:13-14 But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality that we had at the start. Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. I see, in one place, God in providence presiding over all, and yet I see, and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his actions, in a great measure, to his own free will. Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act that there was no control of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to atheism; and if, on the other hand, I should declare that God so over-rules all things that man is not free enough to be responsible, I should be driven at once to Antinomianism or fatalism. Charles Haddon Spurgeon Philippians 1:6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Hebrews 3:15-16 As it is said: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses? “Who heard and rebelled?” Exodus 32:1-6 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason – for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves – I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus, I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Martin Luther Galatians 1:10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. The best way to honor Voddie Baucham is not to admire him, but to imitate his courage. Families must be shepherded. Fathers must lead. Churches must resist compromise. And Christians must speak truth in a world drowning in lies. Virgil Walker Hebrews 3:17-18 With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ” We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. 1 Corinthians 6:11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Next Step: I will submit my life to Christ. Hebrews 3:19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. The most important thing to notice in 3:18–19 is the close connection between disobedience and unbelief. In verse 18 we are told that God barred the disobedient from the Promised Land. Verse 19 tells us that the first generation did not enter the Promised Land because of disobedience. This tells us that disobedience and unbelief are ultimately synonymous. If a person professes to believe in the Lord but lives a life of continual disobedience to Him, that person is in danger of being counted among the reprobate. Ligonier Ministries, Promised Land Denied Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’” Next Step: I will regularly examine my relationship with God. Next Step: I will repent of my sins and submit my life to Christ.