Sermon Cloud

Lest We Fall Short 2

Hebrews 4:1-3

Grace Fellowship Church

August 26, 2007

Series 3 Sermon 11

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. ³ For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Introduction

Walking by faith can be a very difficult thing.  But it is exactly what our Lord has called us as Christians to do.  But have you ever stopped for a moment and thought that through?  Probably our most important sense is our sense of sight.  By our sight we are able to spot dangers that may be in our path.  We see potholes in the road or we see the turn signal on the car ahead of us and the brake lights so we know by sight we need to start slowing down.  We look at our circumstances that we are in whatever difficulty we may be going through with our eyes and with our emotions.   The natural human tendency is to look before we leap right?  

In the Lord’s earthly ministry He healed several blind men who rejoiced to have their sight.  Seeing is very important to we humans. 

But God calls His people not to sight but to faith in Him.  Faith in God supplants sight in the Christian life.  We are called to a standard that the unbelieving world can not understand and in our immediate context this morning, the false believer will not understand either. 

In our passage today, the writer is speaking specifically to one group of people that had been given the greatest message ever given as a result of the work of the greatest messenger that has ever been, the Son of God. He is also using the example of the children of Israel who received the Law and witnessed all the miracles and provisions that God would supply through Moses.    Both groups are without excuse.  As a matter of fact all people everywhere are without excuse because God has revealed Himself but people prefer to walk by sight in the darkness and not by faith in the light. 

Faith has been a constant in God’s creation.  We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God.  God’s people have always demonstrated a living faith.  By faith Adam woke up every morning and found fruit to eat.  By faith Noah built an ark when God said it would rain for forty days and forty nights and the earth would flood.  Noah could have said, “What is rain?”  By faith Abraham left his father’s house to follow God to a new land.  By faith Moses went back into Egypt where he was a wanted criminal and walked into Pharaoh’s court and demanded he let the Hebrew slaves go.  All of these stories of faith the people in Moses day would have been very familiar with.  Yet there was a problem.  Many of those who witnessed great miracles in the wilderness did not have faith. 

What about you?  You have heard and read all the stories.  You have heard missionary testimony of the faithfulness of God among them in urgent times.  You have had many privileges that most people never experience.  Do you have faith?  Or a better question would be do you have saving faith? 

The children of Israel had enough faith to do certain things.  They had enough faith to walk out of Egypt but not without complaining.  When situations seemed dire they would grumble and complain only to witness the deliverance that God would give them, celebrate that deliverance, then complain some more later. 

What we all desperately need to understand this morning is that there is a great and real danger that those who hear the Word of God will fall short of entering that rest. 

Listen to me this morning and be warned.  Being privileged to hear the Word is no guarantee of salvation. 

Judas Iscariot heard the Word.  Demons hear the Word.  Satan knows the Word and yet these three most certainly will not enter salvation. 

This is a great spiritual danger. 

Last week we saw the first of two reasons we are to fear.  The reason we are to fear lest any of us should fall short of entering God’s rest.  We looked at how the Israelites exhibited their unbelief in their unwillingness to follow God into the Promised Land.  God was angered and swore in His wrath that these Israelites from 20 years old and up would die in the wilderness over the next forty years.  The Lord slammed the door shut on these people once and for all and the writer of Hebrews warned us that we must enter while there is still opportunity. 

Over and over the writer has told us that “Today” is the day that we should fear, that we should examine our own hearts “today,” that we should lovingly protect one another “today” through mutual accountability, and “Today” we should fear.     

PNP

From our text this morning, Hebrews 4:2-3, I want you to see the second reason we are to fear.  Remember the reason last week?   

1.  We are to fear lest any of us should fall short of entering God’s rest.

This week we need to pay close warning to the second reason.    

2.  We are to fear lest any of us should be vain hearers. 

Purpose

This morning my purpose in preaching this passage is to give a congregational warning which includes the pastor of the real possibility of hearing the Word of God and yet still missing salvation. 

It is possible.  It is possible to be a deceived hearer of the Word.  It is possible for any of us to hear on the day of judgment, “Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.” 

Yes, the perseverance of the saints is a biblical doctrine. It is not a fabrication of men.  But how people arrive at personal security is often unbiblical and very spiritually dangerous.  

RPNP

So look with me at this second reason we are to fear.

2.  We are to fear lest any of us should be vain hearers. 

I want you to keep in mind the passage from Psalm 95.  “Today, if you hear His voice..”  The truth is that all do not hear the Lord’s voice.  We are indeed privileged to hear the Word of God read and explained.  This is a privilege that most of the world never enjoys.   But there is a real possibility that we can be vain hearers.  We can get so accustomed to hearing the Word of God that it becomes tiresome.  This happened in the Old Testament.  In Malachi chapter 1 the people of Israel were merely going through the motions of the religious practice of the Jews and the sacrifices to God were just commonplace.  They were thinking that these sacrifices just had to go on and on and would they ever end?  Verse 13 quoted an Israelite as he describes the sacrifice this way, “My how tiresome this is.”  Or as the KJV says, “Oh what weariness.” 

Here we must be very careful.  We at GFC are committed to the Lord and to His Scriptures.  We read the text as a congregation and the elders preach expositionally.  But this commitment as good as it is, if we are not careful can become just something that we do.  We can go through all the motions of worship and never actually worship.  We can say the right things and even do the right things but if not done in faith then it is useless and God does not accept it.  We can hear the Word and it not benefit us at all.  But how can this be?   

Look at verse 2.

² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Notice again the first phrase. 

For good news came to us just as to them…

What the writer is doing here is placing these first century believers in the same category with the generation that came out of Egyptian bondage.  He says, “For good news came to us..” The writer uses a perfect tense verb here for “good news” which tells us that the action was done in the past completely and its results carry on into the future.  So the message that these readers had heard was the complete Gospel message.  Nothing was left out.  They had completely heard the saving message of Christ crucified. 

 The good news that came to the Israelites was Caleb’s message.  The land is good and we can take it.  The good news that came to us is that Christ died for sinners and that His rest is available to us.  The Good News is the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ who paid the penalty for our sins and has secured entrance into God’s rest.

So why did the Israelites miss God’s rest?  Why did the message not benefit them and how is it possible for the good news to not benefit us? Look at verse 2 again.

² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

In other words, unbelief had robbed them of their reward.  Over and over the Israelites proved their unbelief by complaining against Moses and complaining against God.  They wanted to go back to Egypt where slavery was easier. 

The warning to us is to make sure that we have received the Good News united with faith.  This faith is an eschatological faith.  It is faith in what God has promised to fulfill.  This is not a sight unseen faith, it is a faith founded in the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 is the basis for this faith. 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

The Gospel is God’s final word to mankind. And therefore what we hear must be heard with faith.  Matthew Henry does a fine job of explaining this.  Listen as I read a quote from his commentary on this passage.

“That which is at the bottom of all our unprofitableness under the word is our unbelief. We do not mix faith with what we hear; it is faith in the hearer that is the life of the word. Though the preacher believes the gospel, and endeavours to mix faith with his preaching, and to speak as one who has believed and so spoken, yet, if the hearers have not faith in their souls to mix with the word, they will be never the better for it. This faith must mingle with every word, and be in act and exercise while we are hearing; and, when we have heard the word, assenting to the truth of it, approving of it, accepting the mercy offered, applying the word to ourselves with suitable affections, then we shall find great profit and gain by the word preached.” —Matthew Henry Unabridged 

Let me ask you this morning, do you hear in faith or has the Word of God become wearisome to you?  Is it possible this morning that you are like the Israelites who heard the Word proclaimed and yet still will fall short of entering that rest? How can this happen?  Look at verse 2 again.

but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

What the writer is telling us here that we should be very careful of in our own lives is the danger of hearing the word but it is not beneficial to us because it is not received in faith. 

The Lord’s half brother warned us of the same thing.  James 1:22-25 says this,

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

The proof is in the pudding.  The faith filled hearer will prove his conversion by not only hearing the word but also obeying the Word.  This is what the Israelites had failed to do.  Sure they rejoiced at times.  They had religious experiences.  I am sure the miracles that they experienced brought them many warm fuzzies.  But when the time for obedience came in the face of difficult circumstances they failed the test. 

Real faith is not proven by what many hold as the standard for real faith today.  I heard recently from a pastor that he was so proud that several people had stood bravely professing their faith in baptism.  Folks, that is not bravery.  Getting dipped in water before a friendly clapping congregation is not brave.  If you stand a good chance of being killed because you have been baptized then that is bravery and a real test of faith. 

Real faith is proven in the fires of adversity and difficulty and circumstances that require faith in God.  Anyone can nod in agreement to the Gospel and say that they believe but when the trials come, when it is time to be obedient to the Word these false professors will surely fall away.  Like the Israelites they will prove their unbelief by their disobedience.  Remember Hebrews 3:19?

So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

And then with a master stroke the writer of Hebrews correctly equates unbelief with disobedience to the Word.  Look at Hebrews 4:6.

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,

Disobedience to the Word is proof positive of unbelief.  That is the warning. 

Real faith, saving faith, God given faith in Christ will result in a humble heart that is obedient to the Word. 

About a decade ago there erupted a great controversy between John MacArthur and some of the faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary.  The argument was over what is called Lordship Salvation.  MacArthur who I personally stand with in this controversy said and I believe correctly and biblically that if a person was saved that faith would be evidenced by Christ being Lord of their lives.  Said another way, if Christ was not Lord of all then He is not your savior.  Some of the faculty at DTS got up in arms and called MacArthur a legalist and a few other choice phrases because they believed that a person could be saved and yet live in constant disobedience.  Said a different way, they believed a person could “accept” (a term which I really despise) Christ as Savior and not necessarily as Lord. 

So obviously, if this discussion is even being had there is a major problem in understanding the difference between real faith and illegitimate faith.  So it is imperative for us to consider what a biblical saving faith really is. 

But there is good news within this warning.  From verse 2 to verse 3 we have a shift from a warning to a promise.  What we must understand is that God has from the very beginning initiated and provided for sinful fallen humanity to be redeemed and enter His rest. He has provided faith for His people.  Look at the first phrase in verse 3.

³ For we who have believed enter that rest,

What we have here is a particular group of people that enter God’s rest.  Notice the phrase “we who have believed.”  This is a participle in Greek and it characterizes a group of people.  This group of people are those who have believed when the message of salvation was proclaimed. This group of people have found that the only hope is in Christ and they are clinging to Him in spite of present difficult circumstances. 

Let me ask you this morning, are you part of this group of believers?  Have you examined your own self to see if within you is an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God?  Are you presently believing in the Christ of the Gospel?  Are you looking to Him for salvation alone? 

This group of people in the first century had watched as those around them fell away as the trials that accompany the Christian life came their way.  What these who fell away did not hold onto in the Gospel message is that within entering the rest of God the path is narrow and difficult.  There are many obstacles on the way to trip up and cause unbelief.  The demands of the Christian life are impossible without faith. 

Two groups that would have a serious problem dealing with this passage are those who hold to an easy believism “gospel” and the Universalists.  Our passage rightly equates faith with obedience which the easy believism folks would have a very difficult time with and for the Universalists makes the claim that not all enter God’s rest, only the believing ones.  That is what the next phrase in verse three says.  Look at it with me.

as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter my rest,’ ”

What the writer is showing us is that within a group of people who are privileged to hear the Word of God on a consistent basis there is the possibility for some to have an illegitimate faith.  The example of the children of Israel would have been in the back of their minds at this point.  We all need to fear lest we fall short of God’s rest and be exposed as one who has a faith that is not a saving faith. 

But how do you know the difference?  How do you know if your faith is legitimate?  How do you know whether your faith is a gift of God unto salvation or if it is a fake manufactured faith on your part? 

The writer has thus far given us some important clues. 

1.  Legitimate saving faith is a faith that has for its object only the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at Hebrews 1:1-2.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

True biblical faith first has for its object the Lord Jesus Christ understanding that Christ is the full and final revelation of God to humanity and that there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved.  To believe something else is to have a false faith. 

The writer further drives home this point in Hebrews 2:1-4.  Read those with me.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, ⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

2.  Legitimate faith is a faith that constantly looks not a ourselves but to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our faith is not in something we have done or can do, it is constantly focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews 3:1.

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

If you recall, when we looked at this passage I told you that the verb for consider was a command and it was an active verb meaning we are commanded to do this constantly.  As believers we are not to be involved in some self absorbed focus on ourselves but we are to be looking to Christ alone.  The faith that is legitimate will find all of the peace and rest available to humanity in Christ alone.  We will never be self satisfied with our own righteousness and so called holiness when we have looked at the One who is truly holy and righteous.  When we look to Christ in real faith we see our need for Him and His righteousness to cover these filthy rags we think of as personal holiness and righteousness. 

3.  A legitimate faith is a tested faith.  There are several passages that deal with this.  First look at Hebrews 3:6.

but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

These first century Christians were under intense persecution and in the midst of that persecution they are commanded to hold fast their confession of Christ.

Look at verses 12-13.

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ¹³ 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.

Here in this self examination we are not counting the number of steps we have taken in the Christian life.  We are not examining ourselves up against another person to see how holy and righteous we have become. We can Pharisee ourselves and other people to death.  Faith is a heart issue and real faith accompanies a changed heart.  Faith that springs from a wicked and rebellious heart will only prove itself evil and unbelieving in times of trial. 

Also faith that is real will be concerned when other believers are in danger of falling. 

4.  Real faith is a persevering faith. Look at verse 14. 

¹⁴ For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Did you notice the consistency of the writer to the Hebrews.  Not once is the focus of faith on us.  It is always on Christ.  This is the testimony of the New Testament.  This is where real faith is found and that is in the author and perfecter of our faith.  Those with real saving faith will not look at their own selves and what they have been able to accomplish for God but will see themselves truly in the light of Christ and the Word of God and know that their only hope is in the perfect One, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Saving faith is a desperate faith that clings to Christ as its only hope. The person with saving faith is aware of their own depravity and understands their need for constant mercy and grace and therefore will cast themselves upon Christ as their only hope. 

Its like a death row inmate at 11:30pm.  They know their only hope of not being executed is to plead with the governor of the state to grant a stay of execution.  They plead with him not based on anything they have done but just simply for mercy in this their final hour. 

A person with true saving faith will understand their guilt before God and they will know that their only hope is not in deeds that they can do but in Christ who suffered, bled, and died for sinners and was raised on the third day for our justification. 

Good works are not the basis for our salvation but these works are the natural outgrowth of our salvation. 

Do you have saving faith?  Is your faith legitimate or are you in spiritual danger?  Have you been taught to weigh your good works in the balance of eternity to see if you might make it to heaven?  If so you have been sold snake oil that could be your destruction. 

The testimony of the entirety of Scripture is faith in God for salvation alone.  Sole Fide is a biblical doctrine and we look to Christ alone in faith alone to receive His grace alone for the only salvation available to men, to women, and to children.  I close with the biblical command for all of us this morning.  It is from Isaiah 45:22-24.

"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other. ²³ "I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. ²⁴ "They will say of Me, 'Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.'

Let’s pray.