Series: Warning Passages
Sermon: Hardened Heart
Bible Passage: Hebrews 3:7-19
I. Introductory information
The writer of the book of Hebrews presents a Christian interpretation of Psalm 95:7-11
1. Verse 7 “today you would listen/hear as He speaks!”
a. It’s a pastoral wish, not a condition as it is in a few translations—
b. You are habitual not to listen to God!
c. God speaks today
i. “Today” conveys the period of God’s allowed time before He exercises His justifiable punitive judgement/anger
ii. It’s the grace period! It’s God given time to make changes!
d. “Hearing” here is not just audible voice (which everyone does), but becoming obedient to what is said
e. In this verse, the emphasis is not on hearing but on obedience
2. Verse 8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness
a. “Hardening the heart” was the issue of this passage
i. The word “harden” means “unyielding”/“resisting”
ii. “Hardening of heart” is equivalent to “unbelief”? “apostasy”
iii. “Hardening the heart” is a metaphor to refer to “refusal to do the will of God” or “not yielding to the will of God”
b. The writer of the book of Hebrews is telling his readers not to be like the Jews who rebelled against the LORD and tested Him (cf. Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:13)
i. Even after seeing the power and glory of the LORD in Egypt, at the Red Seas, and manna in the wilderness, they still rebelled against God when there was no water temporarily (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13)
ii. Most likely, this happened forty years after the wilderness wandering! (verse 9)
3. The rebellious stubbornly disobedient Jews provoked the LORD (verse 9)
a. They had a wandering heart (verse 9)
b. Instead of going in the correct path, they had an intentional tendency to go astray
4. God said that some Jews had not known my ways (verse 9)
a. The ways in which God acts and the way God expects His people to act (it’s not that they did not know cognitively, but intentionally
b. They knew intellectually but they did not make God’s way as their own
5. Instead of readily complying with God’s plan and use every opportunity to bring glory to God, a group of Jews angered God
a. Verse 11: “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest”
b. God’s anger is His holy righteous justifiable response to man’s sinful behavior (God has not changed it even today)
c. Someone said: “because God is wrathful, sinners must repent; yet because he is merciful, they can repent”
d. Quality of a follower is obedience to God; not to be contentious against Him
6. Consequence of hardening their hearts towards God, being rebellious towards God, and testing God results in them not attaining the rest God had promised to them
The message of verses 7-11 is that the recipients of the book of Hebrews must not be like the Jews who hardened their hearts towards God—they did not listen to God
7. They must not develop a wicket heart of unbelief that turns them away from God
a. They can “be distanced” from the living God (verse 12)
b. The distance is caused by “unbelief”
c. The author says, “see to it” or “be careful not to develop”
8. They must protect themselves from deceitfulness of sin that perpetuates hardening of heart (verse 13)
a. Exhort one another with admonition
b. Exhortation needs to happen “today” i.e., before God employs His righteous justifiable punitive punishment
Believers must know that they become partakers with Jesus Christ if they remain faithful till the end (verse 14)
9. Christ is heir of all things (1:2)
10. The blessing of a Christian is not just at the beginning of their journey, but in their continuing and concluding (verse 14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end)
Just as on those who hardened their hearts and rebelled against God died before they entered the Promised Land, those Christians who do not persevere and conclude will not make it to the heavenly Canaan, i.e., God’s rest (3:15-19)
II. True believers continue their confidence from the beginning until the end
1. Just because you’re on the journey does not mean destination is guaranteed
2. During the journey you need to do what you need to do
3. While you’re on the journey, your real sinful rebellious self is bound to come out
4. Your unbelief and hardness of heart can provoke God’s anger
III. Remedy
1. Encourage/exhort one another every day so that they can be protected from sin’s deception (verse 13)
2. Listen to God
IV. Theology
1. Just because a person is on a Christian journey, God’s rest (heavenly Canaan) is not an automatic entry
2. In their journey, they need to align with God’s plan for this journey and comply with His guidance
3. If they do not consciously align with God’s plan and comply with His guidance, they can harden their hearts towards God and rebel again Him with their sins
4. God has a window of tolerance which is called “today” where believers can repent and take care of their hardened heart
5. Failure to do so will result in God’s righteous anger, the punitive judgment
6. Listening to God and admonishing one another with God’s plan keeps a Christian in their journey
7. A true Christian perseveres; an unregenerated person may have claims but their fruit, hardness of heart and rebellion, point to their status before God
8. Every believer is called to God’s rest through Christ
Take Away:
Repent from your rebellion and hard heartedness and listen to God with obedience