New Salem Baptist Church

Falling Away

May 19, 2024

Read Hebrews 3:12-19; 4:1

¹² Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ^[1]

Again, as he did in 3:1, the author calls his readers, “brothers,” leaving no doubt that this book with its many warnings is for those who have been regenerated. He doesn’t mean brothers in the flesh as might be presumed, since he is a Hebrew writing to fellow Hebrews. But he not only calls them, holy brothers, but:

• They had received and accepted the elementary teaching about Christ (6:1)
• Had repented from dead works (6:1)
• Were beloved (6:9)
• Worked for Christ’s name (6:10)
• Loved Christ (6:10)
• Possessed a hope that was an anchor for their soul (6;19).

It is impossible to do or have these things or be characterized by these things as a lost person.

Who might obtain an unbelieving heart? Is it only the worst among us? Is it only those who deny the faith altogether? Is it only those who stop coming to church? Look at these three words near the beginning of verse 12: “any of you.”

Not only does the Holy Spirit inspire the words, “any of you,” but he uses these words or the words, “each one of you,” three times!

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]

¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,^[3]

When things are repeated in Scripture, God is letting you know that they are important! Clearly, then, the warnings in this passage are for each one of us. Never think, “it won’t happen to me.”

We are warned against having an unbelieving heart. What may make our heart evil is the unbelief. Although the order of words is evil first and unbelieving second, the logical order is unbelief first and then evil. Our hearts become evil when we concede to unbelief.

We live in an age when the denial of God’s existence is becoming more popular and when the denial of the Bible as the word of God is embraced by many. So, we may be inclined to think that unbelief here pertains to that kind of unbelief. But the context of this passage is about the Israelites provoking the Lord in the wilderness. Of course they believed in God. Their problem was not complete unbelief in who He was. Their sin was not trusting in what God had said. Indeed, the word for unbelieving is just as easily translated as “not trusting” or “failing to trust.”

Consider these trustworthy translations of this verse:

¹² Watch out, brothers, so that there will not be in any of you an evil heart lacking trust, which could lead you to apostatize from the living God![4]

¹³ You should therefore be most careful, my brothers, that there should not be in any of you that wickedness of heart which refuses to trust, and deserts the cause of the living God. ^[5]

⁶ Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God.^[6]

The Israelites did not trust that the Lord would bring them through the wilderness and into the promised land. The “falling away” was not a complete rejection of God by the Israelites. And, the “falling away” for us is not a complete rejection of Christ. As J.B. Phillips translates the phrase, it is a desertion of the cause of the living God. By cause he means the aim, the intention, of God.

Since this warning is for all of us, how can we protect ourselves from not trusting and from deserting God’s cause? The answer is in verse 13:

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.^[7]

We exhort one another every day! Do you see how important fellowship is? Coming to the meetings of the church on the Lord’s day is important and ought not to be neglected (the apostle will come right out and say this in chapter 10), but we need more than one day a week. This is why we have other meetings throughout the week: Lord’s Day evening, Wednesday evening, and Thursday evening.

The early church met daily:

⁴⁶ Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, ^[8]

During the Reformation, in Geneva, Switzerland, the church under the pastorate of John Calvin met daily.

We all need exhortation daily. The author says that, “as long as it is called today,” we ought to be exhorting one another. This is another way of saying, “Don’t miss a day in encouraging one another in the faith!” If today is called “today” then we ought to be exhorting each other, supporting each other, motivating each other. We need it.

Many translations have the word encourage here. Of course, we ought to encourage each other. In English, exhort is a stronger word than encourage. It implies verbally motivating someone rather than just building them up. The ESV, KJV, NKJV, NET, NRSB, WEB, Recovery Version, Geneva Bible, and the RGT (Revised Geneva Translation) all have exhort. Encourage is just fine, but I think exhort is better.

We need daily exhortation so that we will continue to trust God in spite of our circumstances and we also need it because of the deceitfulness of sin. Sin hardens the heart. Thus, to avoid a hard heart we need our brothers and sisters to exhort us to be aware of temptation, to be aware of sin, and to flee sin.

In the classic literary work, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character, Odysseus leads his men on a sea journey. They pass by a place where the sea nymphs, or sea sirens sing. They are seductively attractive and lure sailors to their death by their enchanting music and hypnotizing voices. It was said that their voices are irresistible and when sailors hear their voices their desire to be with the nymphs is so strong that they throw themselves into the sea trying to reach them and perish.

Odysseus had his sailors stuff their ears with wax so as not to hear their voices. But, he wanted to hear their songs, so he instructed his men to tie him to the mast with strong cords and to not untie no matter what he said. They obeyed. He heard the siren songs and begged his sailors to untie him. But they refused.

This is how we are to be to one another. We protect each other from temptation and sin. We warn one another. We need one another!

¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.^[9]

See the condition here.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold on to our confidence to the end. This sharing in Christ is not initial salvation. In the context of this epistle it is sharing in Christ when he returns to set up his kingdom. Our confidence allows us to share in his benefits even now. Like King David, we can be glad. We can greatly rejoice! We can see the desires of our hearts granted. We can receive the blessings of good things even in this life. We possess a more abundant life! (Psalm 21:1-4)

But our confidence allows us to share in the even greater blessings of the age to come. Without confidence we miss out regarding our sharing in Christ both now and when he returns.

¹⁵ As it is said,

       “Today, if you hear his voice,

       do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ^[10]

Those who have been regenerated may still have their hearts become hard. When you hear God’s voice, whether it be:

• In the Bible
• Through your conscience
• In the speaking of a man or woman of God

…do not harden your heart!

¹⁶ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?^[11]

Who heard but refused to trust? It were those who left Egypt. They left Egypt. They left Egypt after they had been redeemed by the blood of the spotless lamb!

¹⁷ And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?^[12]

God can be and is provoked by the sins of his own people. In context, these are not just any sins. As if, when you raise your voice to your husband or wife, or if you look at something you ought not to have looked at, now God is provoked with you. No! The sins of the Israelites in the wilderness were just two and these two are really just one sin. They complained and they did not trust in God’s promises to take them into the good land and grant them victory over the inhabitants there.

But, although complaining and fearfulness appear to be two different sins, they are but manifestations of not trusting God! When a person complains they are not trusting that God knows their needs and provides for exactly what they need (not what they think they need!). When a follower of the Living God will not go forward and conquer the enemies of God it is because they are not trusting in what God has promised about being with us and giving us the victory. Not trusting him is the disobedience that provokes God.

We come to the last verse in chapter three:

¹⁹ So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. ^[13]

I have already spoken about this word, unbelief, at the beginning of this message. But the author of Hebrews brings it up twice in this chapter so I am going to address it twice. It is important enough to do so.

The underlying word[14] in the original language may equally be translated as “failure to trust” or “lack of trust.” And, since it refers back to the experiences of the Israelites on their way to Canaan, this is the better translation. See how these reliable translations render it:

So we see that they were unable to enter because of lack of trust. (CJB)

So we see that they were not able to go into his rest because they did not put their trust in Him. (NLV)

So we see that they were not able to enter in because of lack of trust. (TLV)

Yes, it is all too plain that it was a refusal to trust God that prevented these men from entering his rest. (Phillips)

 [Application]

What ought we to do? In order to answer that maybe we should first ask, how may we fail to trust God? Of course, there are several ways that we may reveal our lack of trust. But I’m only going to mention four. Just by speaking to others, and even my own experiences, I think these four are the most common reasons why a disciple will fail to trust God and press forward to overcome opposition and to enter the rest:

• “I’m not smart enough.” God doesn’t need smart people. He desires faithful people.
• “I’m not capable enough.” God can use what ever capability you have. Do you think the Israelites were stronger than the giants in Canaan?
• “I’m scared.” You must trust that God will give you the victory and you must be willing to not be a coward.
• “I’m lazy.” Choose this day whom you will serve – yourself or the Lord Jesus.

These thoughts, these doubts, are common to all people. They were true of the Israelites. They are among us today.

We must trust in the promises of God! Jesus said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)

Is Jesus telling the truth? You know he is. Therefore, embrace the promise and hold on to your confidence. If you do not, you may fall away. Falling away may happen to “any of you!”

Embrace the promise. Hold on to your confidence firmly!