Hebrews 3:7-19 | Resting in Canaan Pt. 1 | Can Christians lose their salvation?

Hebrews 3 and the Three Kinds of People in the Church

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3, verses 17 through 19. Hebrews 3, 17 through 19.

Let's pray.

Oh God, our God, we come to you in worship. You are the one true God. And Lord, we ask that you meet with us now in your word. Speak to your people.

Feed us, Lord.

We come to Mount Zion for food, for the manna that came down from heaven. Lord, I pray that I've done my due diligence and that you will use me in this moment. Fill me with your spirit in Christ's name.

Amen.

All right, so just a little introduction from what we just went through last week. Last week, I mentioned that there's three types of people that are identified within the church. And I mentioned that all of which are baptized.

I mentioned that there's unbelievers, there's intellectual believers, those who have come to Christ through an intellectual argument. They have been convinced that there is a God and that Jesus of Nazareth was on earth.

They're convinced of this.

They can tell you arguments, but they only believe intellectually. They have not, in their heart, believed that God has raised him from the dead. In their minds, they believe this, but with their hearts, they do not believe this.

And I mentioned that there is true believers. And these true believers, I mentioned that they can be dumb as a rock, and I point it to myself, but they truly believe that God has raised this Jesus from the dead.

They might not have the best arguments, but nothing can change their position. And so in the church, I believe that this has always been, from the beginning of time, you've had those who have taken part in the mark, the significant sign that God has.

And for us today, it's baptism, that really don't believe. And you see that in the Old Testament. You see it in the New Testament. We see that in our lives today. And there's people that have a good argument, and there's some that really believe, and truly believe.

And you can tell, you can tell, you can tell. They live with their life, their profession. And this is not something that they've done by pulling theirself up by their bootstrap, but by trusting and looking to Christ alone.

Before we read our text today, I want to read a text that's going to kind of highlight what I mentioned last week about these three types of people, and it's found in Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verses one through nine, gives us the parable of the sower.

And then verses 18 through 23 will explain the parable of the sower. So if you want to mark where you are in Hebrews and turn with me to Matthew 13. Look at verse one. That same day, Jesus went out of the house and he sat beside the sea, and great crowds gathered around him so that he got into a boat and he sat down.

And the whole crowd stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables, saying, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred, some 60, some 30. He who has an ear, let him hear. Now look over to verse 18 through 23.

He explains what he meant by that parable. Here then another parable of the sower. Here then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown and does not understand it.

In his heart, this is what was sown along the path. So we meet people throughout our days who hear the word of God and they just reject it. That's what this is talking about. This has nothing to do with the church, people that are in the church.

Verse 20, however, as for what is sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and receives it and immediately, I mean, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

Yet it has no root in himself, but he endures for a while and when tribulation and persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. So this is what I would say is the baptized unbeliever.

They hear the gospel, they get excited for a while, they come to Christ, they become a part of the church through baptism. Tribulations, persecution arises, maybe from their friends, maybe from their families, and they leave the church.

Verse 22, as for what is sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfaithful to them. So if you go back to its counterpart where it was speaking of, verse seven, it says, these other seed fell among the thorns and they grew up and they choked them out.

So this is what this is speaking about. In verse 22, it says, the group among the thorns, these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfaithful.

So this is what I would call the baptized intellectual. The baptized intellectual. Then verse 23, as for the one who is sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields.

In one case, 100 fold and another 60 and in another 30. So this is what I'm saying is the true, the baptized true believer. The baptized true believer. So the letter to the Hebrews, this letter was written to a Christian church, a Hebrew Christian church, telling them that the only way that anyone can be a part of God's house is if they're in Christ.

Now, what did we discover last week? What was God's house?

The church.

And we understood that Moses was a part of this house, that Moses himself was a part of this building that was being built up. And that's where covenant theology comes in, not dispensational theology, but covenant theology, that there's not,.

God does not have a wife and a side chick. He has a bride.

Are you hearing me?

The church, as we see right here in the New Testament, the church began with Jewish people, Hebrews. When they preached in the book of Acts chapter two, 3 ,000 heard the gospel and were baptized.

Those were Jews.

They were Jews.

Then it was 5 ,000 more. Were they Gentiles? No, they were Jews. Gentiles are not introduced into Acts chapter 10. Paul was sent to preach to the Gentiles, and they were to be grafted into an already existing church who was made up of Jews.

So we do not believe in replacement theology, but for wishing theology. We do not believe that Jesus came to establish something that was previously not there. Listen, if Christianity began in first century A .D., then we need to repent because it's false.

Christianity has to be owed. The same way Abraham is saved is the same way that I have to be saved. There can't be any difference. By grace through faith are you saved. This is not of yourself, it is the gift of God.

Abraham believed, and it was credit to him as righteousness. And so we see here in our context that Jesus is God, Jesus is God. God is the builder of the house. Moses is a part of the house. God, Jesus, enters the residence.

Moses hands over his lease to God, to Jesus. And it makes this clear that the only way to be a part of God's house is to be in Christ. Again, covenant theology, the promise of the covenant of grace was to believe the promise of the coming Messiah.

For them, for us, it's to believe that this promise has been fulfilled. And the text says, if indeed, if, if indeed, they hold fast to their confidence. What was their confidence? That it's in Christ, not Moses, not in the old covenant, not in anything other than Christ.

In order to be in the house of God, new covenant, I mean, old covenant or new covenant, your eyes had to be centered upon Christ. Christ Jesus was to be your focus whether it was before he came or now after he has already came.

You were to be looking to the Messiah either way, whether you're looking forward or you're looking back. And so our theme for this day, for this Lord's day is called resting in Canaan. Resting in Canaan.

And our timeless truth is this. And listen, you should be able to fill this in your bones. Everyone needs rest. Like I've worked real hard already today. Like I need some caffeine and I need some rest at the same time, okay?

Listen, everyone needs rest, but there's only one. There's only one who can provide rest. And yet just as in all of history, most everyone seems to be restless, even Christians. They walk around restless because they're not truly resting in Christ.

And so my question for you today is this. What is it that you find your rest in? A lot of people find their rest in work. Some it's, you know, like me, like I wish that I could get up real early and start work, but I really need rest in my bed sometimes, you know?

But truly in your soul, what is it that you're resting in? What are you trusting in? What is that one foundation that everything else is laid upon? Now for our text, Hebrews chapter three, 17 through 19.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness where your fathers put me to test and saw my works for 40 years.

Therefore, I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their hearts. They have not known my ways. As I swore my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Therefore, I mean, take care, brothers, least there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God, but exhort one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold to the original confidence firm to the end. As it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who are those who heard and yet rebelled?

Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked with for 40 years? Was it not those whose sin and whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear they would not enter my rest, but those who disobeyed?

So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. And our outline today, it seems to be led by the Holy Spirit in three directions. Point number one, the illustration of the Holy Spirit, point number two, the warning of the Holy Spirit, and point number three, the call of the Holy Spirit.

Now this will be a two-part sermon, so we will only get to one point today, the illustration of the Holy Spirit. And as we transition, I told y 'all last week that there seems to be, during the period from the Old Testament to the New Testament, that there was a time period of 400 years, and I mentioned as we went through Daniel chapter nine, it prophesied a 490-year period before the Messiah would come.

So this will be the intertestaminal period that during this time, during the time of building the new temple, that there was a Jewish reformation. The Jews looked back at the Torah, the Tanakh, they saw what Moses had written, they looked back and they realized that their fathers had not lived the way that they were supposed to.

They even told Jesus, if we would have been alive during the days of our fathers, we would have not have stoned the prophets, Matthew chapter 23. We would have not stoned the prophets like our fathers did.

And so there was this Jewish reformation that takes place, a reformed Jewish society. And this is where Jesus enters in. And right here in our text, we're going to see the illustration of the Holy Spirit being spoken of to the nation which Moses led out of Egypt, and into the nation where Jesus came to lead a nation out of Canaan.

So look with me, chapter three, verses seven through 12. This is our focal point. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, which means immediately, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness when your father put me to the test and saw my works for 40 years.

Therefore, I was provoked with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways. As I have sworn in my breath, they shall not enter my rest. Take care of brothers, least there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God.

So right off the point here, right off the bat, we see the word therefore. The Greek word for this therefore is dio, and it means on account of. It's a different therefore than we saw last week. And as I was coming to this text and I realized that there's a lot of people who do topical preaching, I was so blown away because I feel like preaching a text like this, if you were just to attempt to jump in and preach a text like this without knowing the context, it would be like jumping into a movie 30 minutes before the credits and thinking you know what's happening.

Imagine watching the Lord of the Rings, just the last 30 minutes of the last movie, and you think you know what's going on. How much more of this? How much more of this? I've probably listened to 20 messages this week about this text.

And every one of them was the same. Never did they deal with the context, never did they deal with the people living in that day. They dealt with the people of Moses' time, but they did not deal with the people living in the time of Christ.

And they always pointed from there to the congregation and told them that Christians can lose their salvation. I said this is where the Calvinists get it wrong. The Armenians get it right. You can lose your salvation.

I think strong Southern Baptist preachers, strong Reformed supposed preachers, never once addressed the context of who it is that the writer of Hebrews is speaking to. It was as if they've entered the movie 30 minutes before the credit, and they had not dealt with the text.

And so, it starts out with the word, therefore, on account of, because of verses one through six, Jesus, remember Jesus is the apostle and high priest of our confession. This is the only place in the New Testament or the only place anywhere where Jesus is called an apostle.

An apostle is sent one. This is pointing back to the covenant of redemption, God sending his son, the apostle and high priest. He became the high priest so that he can make propitiation for our sins. But it says the high priest of our confession.

We looked last week that our confession is our baptism. Those who have been baptized in the church. Baptism is our confession. When we go under the water, we identify ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then it spoke about the one who has taken residence, that the creator entered creation. The infinite became finite. The builder of the building, the church, takes residence. And it spoke of Moses. And in our text, it spoke about Moses pointing to the one who was to come, which was taken from Deuteronomy 18 .50.

Moses saying that there's gonna be one coming from our people. He's gonna be a prophet like me. He's gonna be born from among you. You should listen to him. When he comes, listen to him. He said, don't listen to me, listen to him.

And it takes us to verse six again, where it says, but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, the church, if indeed we hold fast to our confession and are boasting in hope.

Now you and I, Christian, we need to look back when times are a struggle. We need to look back at our baptism. I said, man, do I really believe?

Do I really believe?

It says, therefore, on account of these things, as the Holy Spirit says today, immediately, right now, don't wait, immediately, right now, don't wait, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.

The rebellion took place in Exodus. It took place in Numbers. It took place in Deuteronomy. The writer speaks to the Hebrew church who would have considered themselves to be the house of God. So the writer here, he is speaking to Hebrew Christian, a Hebrew Christian church who would have considered themselves to be the house of God in two ways.

One, because this group of believers would have, you know, been baptized into Christ. But in another way, because they were Hebrews. They are from the line of Abraham. They are from the 12 tribes.

They're Hebrews.

And so they would consider themselves a part of God's house. But the illustration given here to us by the Holy Spirit is just that, that this illustration is not something that I have made up. The illustration is from the Holy Spirit.

So what we just read, those seven verses, seven through 11, verse 12 is not a quotation of it, is a quotation from Psalm 95. Listen to how Psalm 95 says this. Maybe it's not Psalm 95. I think I wrote it down wrong.

Does someone have a, hold on, it is, I think so. Yeah, it's Psalm 95, okay, okay, I see it. Psalm 95, beginning in verse seven. For he is our God. We are the people of his pasture. Listen to this. For he is our God.

The writer is speaking about the time of the people who were led out of Egypt. This should have been their voice. For he is our God. We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in Mirabal, as in the day of masses in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to proof, though they had seen my works.

For 40 years, I loathed that generation and said, they are a people who have gone astray in their hearts and they have not known my ways. Therefore, I have sworn in my wrath that they shall not enter my rest.

So the illustration is taken from a Psalm and it's a two-part illustration. The first part of the illustration is pointing to Exodus 17. Exodus 17, which will kind of un-muddy some water here. Exodus 17, one through seven.

I mean, yeah, one through seven. So this is, God has led his people out of Egypt. I explained last week what took place through Moses, so we won't go back into that. Beginning in verse one, all the congregation of the people of Israel moved from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord and camped at Rephiam.

But there was no water for the people to drink and therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink. And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?

So by quarreling with Moses, they're testing the Lord. But the people thirst, I mean, but the people thirst there for water and the people grumbled against Moses and said, why did you bring us out of Egypt?

To kill us and our children and our livestock, we thirst. So Moses cried to the Lord, what shall I do with this people? They are ready to stone me. And the Lord said to Moses, pass before the people, taking with you some elders from Israel and take in your hand a staff with which you strike the Nile and go and behold, I will stand before you there on the rock of Herber and you shall strike the rock and water shall come out of it.

And the people will drink and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel and he called the name of that place Massus and Mirabal before the, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord saying, is the Lord among us?

Again, if you turn to Numbers chapter 20, just look at verse, well, Numbers chapter 20, verse two through five. Again, they're back at the same rock, they're back at the same area. Now there was a, now there was no water for the congregation and the assembly there together and they assembled themselves together against Moses and Aaron and the people quarreled with Moses and said, would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord, they would rather be dead at this moment.

You have brought us out, you have brought the assembly of the Lord out into the wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle. And why have you made us come out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?

It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, there is no water to drink. So right here, they're looking to go to a promised land. They're wanting to go somewhere, the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey.

We're talking about the people of God here who would consider, you know, Romans 9 .4, speaking of this people, he says, these are the Israelites, to them belongs the adoptions, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promise, the promise of a promised land, the promise of a coming Messiah, the promise of a Holy Spirit was given to them.

And they're wanting that promise, they're wanting to enter this promised land. These are the people who saw God through Moses strike Egypt with 10 plagues. They saw God through Moses part the Red Sea and their enemies drowned in the Red Sea after trying to follow them.

These are people who walk through the wilderness for 40 years without their outfit, their clothes on their back, the shoes on their feet being ruined.

40 years, same outfit, same shoes, 40 years.

The people that followed a cloud by day that gave them shade from the sun. The people that followed a pillar of fire by night that warned them from the cold. They're seeing these miraculous things take place.

They were being fed miraculously by manna that fell from heaven. Listen, where is God? You have taken us away from Egypt to kill us.

Would that we had perished with our brothers.

When they perished. They were won't a promised land. And then if you just keep reading, you get to Numbers chapter, I mean, look at Numbers chapter 13 real quick. Numbers chapter 13, we'll read verse one and two, and then we'll skip over to 25 through 31.

One and two says this, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am given to the people of Israel. So he's going to give the people of Israel the land of Canaan. Now we get to verse 25.

And at the end of the 40 days, they returned from spying out the land and they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kurdish. They brought back word to them and all the congregation and shown them the fruit of the land.

And they told them, we came to the land which you had sent us. It flows with milk and honey and here's its fruit. And another chapter talks about how big the fruit was. It took two men to carry a pomegranate.

It's flowing with milk and honey, it's fruitful. However, the people who dwell in that land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there, the Ammonites dwell in the land of Nebra, the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the hill country and the Canaanites dwell by the sea along the Jordan.

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go at once and occupy it. For we well are able to overcome it. Then someone else spoke up. Then the man who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go against this people for they are stronger than we are.

Now go back to verse two. Well, verse one, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am about, which I am given to the people of Israel. So the Lord said that he's going to give them a land, but right here, we are not able to go up against this people.

They are stronger than we are. And if you just, one more verse in the Old Testament, and this is God's reply to them, Deuteronomy chapter one, verse 35. Speaking of what takes place, it's just the same story that's pictured in another area of the Bible.

He says, not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I have sworn to their fathers. And God told them he was going to give them the land. At the place where they were thirsty, they wanted a promised land.

God shows them the promised land. They wanted Egypt. They wanted to go back to Egypt. They would rather be slaves. They would rather be slaves. The words of the psalmist here are applied to the first century Hebrew Christians, but the psalmist himself is speaking to Israel in the wilderness.

The writer of the Hebrews addresses them in the first century, addresses the Hebrews from the first centuries as brothers. Remember, Christ addresses them as brothers. For two reasons. Christ himself became a Hebrew.

So he was their brother by natural descent. He was a Hebrew as well. But also because they were a part of the church.

They were a part of the church.

So by way of being brothers to Christ in two ways, one, by baptism, being added to the church, and the other as being a Hebrew. But also to Moses and to those who fell in the wilderness, that Jesus Christ is their brother by descent, by being a physical Hebrew, by being a Israelite.

This warning was given to them by the Hebrews, which in fact, which in fact the illustration is from the Holy Spirit based upon what happened to the Jews in the wilderness, and it is applicable within the sign of the new covenant.

So this is for us. How is what's taking place here applicable, am I saying that word right, to us today? And it's through the sign, it's through baptism. So this is a warning also for today. So if I was to say, where the Bible says, today as long as it is called today immediately.

All right?

Tomorrow will soon be today. And today will soon be yesterday. As long as there is a today, as long as we have a moment of time where we can say today. Today, as long as it is called today, the minister, whoever the ministry is, whatever time that he is ministering, he's standing before people, he has the word of God open, he is to do what?

Warn the people who are baptized about falling away. Telling them not to fall away. And like this is something that really hits home for us because we have had two women, two ladies apostatized from this church.

They have left the Trinitarian faith.

Right?

Apostasy is real. Apostasy is real. Look back at Matthew 13, verse 20. As for what is sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears with their heart.

And immediately receives it with joy.

And yet there's no root in himself. He endures for a while, but when tribulation and persecution arrives on the count of the word, immediately falls away. As for what is sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful.

They leave the church. They leave the faith.

And so you ask yourself, what was it about the people, or what was it that caused the people to fall away? And it comes down to those two things, tribulation and persecution, and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches.

The tribulation and persecution. So which was it that caused the Israelites in the wilderness to fall away?

Both.

They were afraid to take the land of Canaan because the men were mighty. Tribulation and persecution. They didn't want to fight. They didn't want to go to war. They wanted to just hand it to them. Here, take it.

You don't have to do anything. They didn't want tribulation. They did not want persecution. And they kept looking back to the riches of Egypt,.

Even though they were slaves.

The cares of the world and the riches of the deceitfulness of Egypt. They were supposed to find rest in Canaan, but instead of finding rest in Canaan, they longed to return to Egypt. Which was it for the first century Hebrews?

Was it tribulation or persecution? The cares of the world?

It was both.

The persecution from the Jews, calling them back to the temple. Remember, they're at this time, where they were being persecuted. This was during 64 to 66 AD. They're being persecuted. The Jewish people are killing Christians.

They're throwing them in prison. All they got to do to not go to prison,.

To not die is go back to temple. Go back to temple.

Stop meeting in houses.

Go back to temple. You will live.

And now that they were meeting in homes, they had nothing. And the beauty of the temple was deceitful to them. The cares of the world. They would have been persecuted by the Jews to go back to temple.

They're living in nothing. They had nothing. They'd unsewed all their property. They're meeting in people's houses. And the temple was glorious.

It was glorious.

They were to find their rest in Jesus, but instead they were wanting to rest in Canaan. Verse 12 says this, take care, brothers, least there be in any of you an unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

So what was the sin that causes people to fall away? Like, if you just look at this, what is the sin that caused them to fall away? Anyone? Unbelief.

Unbelief.

They did not believe. Remember, you go back to where we was in Exodus.

Or was it Numbers,.

God told them that he was gonna give them the land.

You're gonna, I'm giving you the land.

And they said, oh no.

We went and looked at that land. There's some big old boys over in that land. Big old country boys.

They're huge.

You know, they're sons of Anak.

Big old boys. Look at this grape we've brought back.

They were afraid. They did not believe God could do it through them.

Unbelief.

Notice it was not hate. Notice it was not lust. Notice it was not any of those other sins that you can commit. They wouldn't commit an adultery. They wouldn't sleep around. They wouldn't murdering people.

Speaking of this church, or speaking of the Hebrew people at all, it's unbelief. They did not believe God. They did not believe what God said. They did not believe God is who he said he was. That God is triune.

That Jesus is not the apostle and high priest of our confession. They didn't understand that Jesus has paid it all and all to him. I owe that death has made a crimson stain, but he has washed it white as snow.

They didn't understand that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, him who knew no sin became sin for us. They didn't understand about the active and the passive obedience of Christ.

And because of what he has done, we can now live for God,.

Not on our own merit,.

But because of what he has done. And so the question is asked, can a baptized member of the church fall away from the faith?