ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHRIST
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST …
HEBREWS 3 STUDY – PART TWO (v. 12, v. 14, & vv. 16-19)
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but [a]exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers
16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
NOTES HEBREWS 3 – (v. 12, v. 14, & vv. 16-19)
3:12: Those in Christ are not immune to turning away from God … There is a temporary attractiveness in sin, which leads to a hardened HEART and ultimately apostasy … We must take constant daily care not to be deceived and leading us to fall away from God … (see also Mark 4:5-6, & vv. 16-17) …
Mark 4:5-6: 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
Mark 4:16-17: 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
3:14: Union with Christ our God belongs to those who preserve in them TO THE END, not to those who stop with a one-time profession of faith …
3:16-19: THE FIVE QUESTIONS in this text demonstrate the consequences of Israel’s disobedience and her failure to believe God in the wilderness … Once again, FAITH – (v. 19) AND WORKS – (v. 18) are DISTINGUISHED but not separated … As the fundamental component of entering GOD’S REST – (v. 18) is FAITH, so the primary cause of failing TO ENTER – (v. 19) IS UNBELIEF …
PSALM 103 (104) STUDY & BREAKDOWN
PSALM 103 (104) – Opens and closes with, BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL – (vv. 1, 35) … Everything in between gives man reasons why the Lord is to be blessed … He is to be blessed because He is the lover of man, of angels, and of creation … His care runs through all creation, which is filled with His Goodness – (v. 28) … But the visible creation fell into death and decay – (RETURN AGAIN TO THEIR DUST, v. 29); however, He sent forth His Spirit at Pentecost to renew man and creation – (v. 30) …