Beware of the Evil Heart of Unbelief - Believe Today - Part 1

Well, if you would, please take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter three, I believe I said in our scripture reading that verses seven to 19 really go together. But I know I said we will be in verses seven to 13 this morning, this will be a part one. And then next week we will look at verses 14 to 19. Now the last time that we were together in our study of Hebrews, we were in verses one to six, which I titled Jesus Greater Than the Greatest. Jesus Greater Than the Greatest.

And I came to that title because in verses one to six, the author was writing to this small Jewish congregation to prove that Jesus was in fact greater than Moses, who was arguably the greatest and most revered of their Old Testament leaders. Now think about what we studied there. The author was arguing the fact that Jesus was greater than Moses in his person. Moses was truly a great man of God in the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, but he was simply a servant. He was no more than a servant. But Jesus was and is the one and only God man, he was and is God.

So this was an argument to prove that Jesus was greater than Moses in his person or in his very being. Now think about something else we learned in those verses. The author was arguing the fact that Jesus was greater than Moses in his position. Some scholars may say his office. The Jews saw Moses as the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because he was the one who delivered the law of God to them as God's people. But as God, Jesus was the one who actually gave the law. And as God the Son, Jesus truly fulfilled the law perfectly in every way, therefore he could be God's high priest to provide purification for the sin of men.

So this was an argument to prove that Jesus' position or his office was greater than Moses' position. And practically speaking, we know why the author was doing all these things. He was making this case to try to prevent these Jews from going back to Moses and back onto the Old Covenant when they had Jesus that was right before them who was and is greater than Moses. You see how it all ties together? But think about this, why in the world? I mean, think about it, why in the world would they go back to Moses?

Why in the world would they go back to the Old Covenant and back to Moses when they had Moses who testified about Jesus who was right in front of them? For us it seems crazy. But that was a true and legitimate threat to many of those in that congregation. So verses one to six are all about Jesus greater than the greatest. But starting here in chapter three, verse seven, really continuing on into chapter four, the author makes a shift in his writing. He moves from this argument in verses one to six into a great and much needed warning.

All that he teaches from chapter three, verse seven into chapter four is centered on the warning to be aware of the evil heart of unbelief. And within this warning, he calls them to make sure that they savingly believe in Jesus. Listen to verse 12. I know we read it earlier, but I'm gonna read it in the legacy standard Bible. See if you can hear the warning. Verse 12, take care of brothers or brothers and sisters. Lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. Now that leads me to the title of our message. It's a little longer than I like, but the title of the message is this.

Beware of the evil heart of unbelief. Beware of the evil heart of unbelief. And I add to it by saying believe today, believe today. Now at this point, I want us to see that the title of the message gives us the main point of verses seven to 19. Let me explain. All that the author says in verses seven to 19 is centered on the fact that he was calling these Jews to be watchful for the evil heart of unbelief. He was calling them to make sure that they did not have or harbor what he calls an evil unbelieving heart. And what would this unbelieving heart cause them to do? They would go back.

They would go back to the old covenant in their former way of life in Judaism, which was apostasy. So he was calling them to make sure that they did in fact possess a believing heart, which would prevent them from falling away from the one true living God. And we will see that this was an individual responsibility and a responsibility that they all shared with one another. Now that we understand the main point of what the author was saying here, I wanna show us in detail how we're gonna cover these things. First, we'll see that he gives an Old Testament example of what this unbelieving heart looks like. That's verses seven to 11.

Second, he gives them a warning to be watchful of unbelief. That's in verse 12. And then third, he calls them to exhort one another or encourage one another not to be hardened by sin and the sin of unbelief in verse 13. So let's get started in these verses. Number one, the example of the unbelieving hard heart. This is seen in verses seven to 11. The example of the unbelieving hard heart. Let's read those verses once more.

The author says, "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," that would be their forefathers, "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 have not known my ways. "As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest." Now here in verses seven to 11, the author is quoting Psalm 95 verses seven to 11.

And certainly those Jews that were receiving this letter originally, they would have known these verses and they would have known the events that are described here. Specifically, these verses from Psalm 95 are in reference to two events in Exodus 17, one to seven, and Numbers 20 verses one to 13. These passages tell the story of very rebellious events in the journey of the Jews after they left Egyptian slavery and they were on their way to the promised land. Simply, we have two events here. One at the beginning of their journey in the desert and one near the end.

Here we have one event at Maribah where the Israelites provoked God to anger by their complaining about no water. We see that in Exodus 17. Then there is another event at another location called Maribah when Moses sinned against God by hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock for water that's seen in Numbers 20. And in these two events, the author of the letter was highlighting two things. First, the great unfaithfulness of the people. Even though they had seen God work wonderfully and miraculously to free them from Egyptian slavery and he had faithfully met all of their needs along the journey, they tested God repeatedly.

They tested God over and over and over. And then second, the great judgment of God on the people because of their continual testing which came from their sinful hearts, God judged them. He literally swore an oath. That might surprise some of you. God literally swore an oath that all those who rebelled against him would not cross over into the promised land. Now think with me about what the author was doing here with this original audience. Remember context of scheme.

He was calling on this small Jewish congregation to make sure not to harden their hearts and walk according to their own ways, therefore rejecting what God had said to them and provided for them, which is exactly what their forefathers had done constantly, repeatedly over and over. For 40 years, their forefather had seen the wonderful and mighty works of God. But instead of reacting to God in worship, in love and in obedience, they tested God over and over and over and over. And the result, I've already mentioned this. But we need to see specifically how God reacted. Verse 10 says that God was provoked with that generation.

The King James uses the word grieved. The legacy standard Bible uses the word angry. So God was angry with that generation that had seen his wonderful and mighty works. He was angry with that generation that he called out of Egyptian slavery and provided for in every way. And notice God had two points of contention with this generation. First, verse 10 says they always went astray in their hearts. This word hearts here in verse 10 speaks of the whole of the inner man. This speaks of the thoughts. This speaks of the emotions. This speaks of the will.

Simply in their innermost self, these Jews went astray in their thoughts, in their emotions and in their wills. The Bible scholar Leon Morris describes these things by saying, and I'm quoting, "They did wrong by virtue of character." They did wrong by virtue of character because of what they were like deep down. And he continues to say, "And they did it always, "their going astray was no occasional accident." Then second verse 10 says that they did not know God's ways. Morris has some good insights here. I'm really putting them in my own words. He says sometimes ignorance is innocent. Think about that. People do not have knowledge.

They don't have opportunity. So they are ignorant and they are innocent. Let me give you an example. I am ignorant when it comes to medicine. If you have a medical crisis emergency here, don't look for me to help you. I'm not a nurse. I'm not a nurse practitioner. I'm not a doctor. If we have a medical emergency here, I'm backing up and I'm letting those who have knowledge take care of that, right? So you would look at me and say, "The pastor is ignorant there." That's okay. Then some have ignorance because of opportunity.

I don't know if you've been in other places in the world, but there's some in the world who do not have opportunity for education. They don't have opportunity for education that we take for granted. They definitely don't have opportunity for college and higher education. So they are ignorant because of their opportunity. But that is not the case here with this first generation of Jews. They knew of God and they knew of God's ways. God had revealed himself to them. God had revealed himself to them clearly, repeatedly for 40 years.

But that first generation of Jews who saw all these things and they knew all these things did not know God nor his ways. Now that seems contradictory. And how was that the case? This doesn't seem possible, but it was and is. Simply it was from willful neglect and willful rejection. You see? And notice the ramifications of their rebellion. Yes, I've already mentioned God's judgment on his people, but I want us to see this from the side of God's people. Because of their rebellion, they cut themselves off from God and they cut themselves off from God's blessing. Do you see that? They cut themselves off from God's rest. Look at verse 11.

God says, "As I swore in my wrath." Now that seems strange. God is making an oath. "As I swore in my wrath," what does he say? "They shall not enter my rest." And this word rest is at the heart of their rebellion and God's judgment. This rest speaks of the end of hard work, rest. Rest from hard work. Because of their own rebellion, they cut themselves off from God. They cut themselves off from God's blessing and they cut themselves off from physical and spiritual rest. So the example of the unbelieving hard heart is seen in this first generation of Jews that came out of Egyptian slavery. Now I will add to this two things.

Really and surely you need to go study those accounts to get a fuller picture of these things, but I will add two things. First, that entire generation died in the wilderness. They died. They did not enter physical rest in the promised land nor spiritual rest, all except two. Joshua and Caleb. You need to go study that. And there's some lessons right here for us. First, we must never become a people who always go astray in our hearts. Folks, it always starts in our hearts. We must never become a people who go astray in our hearts. Second, we must never become a people who do not know the ways of God. You might say, "Pastor, that can never be.

"We have a copy of God's word." What did that generation see? What did they know? We must never become a people who do not know the ways of God. And folks, do not think we cannot ease into this circumstance. And then third, if we find ourselves surrounded by those who do go astray and they do not know the ways of God, we must be like Joshua and Caleb. What did Joshua and Caleb do? They didn't go the way of the majority, folks. So the example of the unbelieving heart is seen in that first generation of Jews that came out of Egyptian slavery. And then next, or number two, in verse 12, we see the warning to be watchful.

Verse 12, the warning to be watchful. Now, right here in verse 12, we have the second warning in this letter. The first warning is found in chapter two, verses one to four, which is the warning not to neglect such a great salvation that is found in Jesus. And this second warning is a call to be watchful for the evil heart of unbelief. But before we get into the warning, I want us to see the type of warning that we have here. This is very serious and very personal. In our Bibles, we can see that the author addresses them as brothers. And in the original, this word can mean brothers or sisters.

That's why some of your English translations will have that foot noted. So this tells us that the author here, he had a tender and a loving concern for those that he was writing to. But remember the context. The author was writing to this small Jewish congregation, and within this congregation, there were some true believers, but there were some who merely professed belief, which meant they were not truly saved. And then there were some that did not profess Christ at all, but they were associated with the congregation. Now, we're gonna come back to that. So hold on to that in your mind.

But we must see the warning to be watchful for the evil heart of unbelief. Look at verse 12. Take care of brothers. Again, it could say brothers or sisters. Take care of brothers or sisters. Lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. Now, I want us to look into this warning by looking at two things that are seen in the verse. First, he warned them of the unbelieving heart. And by the way, we need to see that this was a real possibility. He calls them to take heed. The King James reads. He calls them to take care. The English Standard reads. He calls them to see to it.

The Legacy Standard Bible reads. In this word in the original here, it means to see, but it means to discern. It means to understand. It means to be aware of. It means to watch out. Give you a good example that helps you see the meaning here. If we drive up to a house, and we open the door of our car and we get out, and we see a sign that says, "Beware of the dog." We start looking around for a mean dog. Right? We're watchful. We're watchful. I've told this story before. I'll tell it again. Years ago, when I was in student ministry, I was taking group of guys out on visitation. We were in my wife's car.

At that time, she had a brown Toyota Camry. We pulled up to the house of a teenager who had been visiting our church in ministry, and there on the porch was a dog. And there above the dog was the classic sign, "Beware of the dog." Well, I told those teenagers, I said, "Y'all sit in the car. I'll show you how it's done." I got out and the dog wagged his tail. I had it. I mean, I was in control. I walked a little closer. The dog was friendly. I got between the porch and the car, and the dog's attitude changed. And the next thing you know, I was on top of the car. What did the sign say?

"Beware of the dog." So the author was calling all in this Jewish congregation to be watchful and discerning for a real danger that there could be in any of the, what, an unbelieving, an evil unbelieving heart. Now notice he does not say an evil heart. Notice he does not say an unbelieving heart. He says an evil unbelieving heart. But why the use of all the language here? It is because to possess an unbelieving heart, which is a refusal to savingly trust in Jesus, is evil, it is sinful.

An unbelieving heart at its core simply says, "I do not need God." An unbelieving heart at its core simply says, "I do not need God, and I can be my own God." That is what unbelief is. Simply a refusal to savingly trust in Christ. And look, friend, listen, brother, listen, sister. That is the most sinful of all sins. That is the most evil of all evils. To hold onto an unbelieving heart is the most sinful of all sins. Now think back to the example in the illustration that the author had just given. Numbers 14 tells us the account of how Israel refused to trust God, therefore they could not enter rest in the promised land.

Specifically, Numbers 14.9 tells us that Israel was at a fork in the road. They had to make a decision if they would obey God or not. Well, Joshua and Caleb called on the people not to rebel against God, but the people would not listen. Simply, they had evil, unbelieving hearts, and they demonstrated who they were by what they did. Now think about the Jews who were receiving this letter. The author was using their own Old Testament history to make the same plea that Joshua and Caleb made. With great urgency, the author was calling them to make sure they did not have the same sinful, unbelieving heart in them, just like their forefathers.

Then second, he showed them the results of the unbelieving heart. That's right there at the end. The second part of verse 12. Here the author shows us the inevitable, brutal results of holding onto the unbelieving heart. Apostasy. Apostasy. Apostasy, which means rejecting and abandoning the faith. But a question, does it seem too harsh to say that holding onto an unbelieving heart will result in apostasy? Am I being a little hard? Well, let's see what the author says. And you be the judge. Notice he says that holding onto an evil, unbelieving heart inevitably leads to falling away. And this falling away is simple.

In the original, it means to move, to withdraw, to separate. One commentator said that phrases like turning away are really not strong enough to describe what it means here. He says that this means to rebel against, and he's right. Notice he says this falling away is personal. This falling away, this rebelling against, this is a falling away from a person, not from a doctrine, not from a religion, because this is a falling away from the living God. This means that this falling away is a rebellion against a true and a living person, God. So in verse 12, we see that the author urgently gives a very serious and personal warning.

He was calling these brothers and sisters to be on guard, to be watchful for an unbelieving, sinful heart within them. Occasionally I will read the Amplified because it is accurate. I know it's a paraphrase, but listen to what the Amplified says. Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart, which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart that turns away from the living God. And before we move into verse 13, and the call to exhort one another, there is a lot that we need to see and apply from verse 12.

First, let's think back to that original audience and the fact that the author addresses them as brothers and sisters. I said we'd come back to this. And the fact that he was warning them not to have and to hold on to an unbelieving heart. And this brings me to a question that many wrestle with here. If some in this congregation were true believers, and they were, was the author somehow saying that those true believers could lose their salvation? The answer is emphatically no. A true believer can never lose their salvation. I don't know if you have a copy of our church statement of faith.

I know it's on our church website, but we have physical copies laying around. You need to make sure you get that. See, when it comes to the subject of can a Christian lose their salvation, we've addressed that. We have a section on the perseverance or the preservation of the saints. Let me read it. We believe that God will preserve his redeem throughout life until the end. John one, or excuse me, John 831, first John two, 27 to 28, first John three, verse nine, first John 518, what am I showing you? We didn't just make that statement. It comes out of the Bible.

So that none who have been born of God can ever be lost that their preserving relationship to Christ is the supreme characteristic which distinguishes them as true believers from those who merely profess to believe. First John two, 19, John 1318, Matthew 13, 20 to 21, John six, 66 to 69, Job 17, nine, that a special providence of God watches over the welfare of their souls. Romans 828, Matthew six, 30 to 33, Jeremiah 32, 40, Psalm 121, verse three, Psalm 91, 12, 11 to 12, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith under salvation, from regeneration and justification, through sanctification until final glorification.

Philippians 1, 6, Philippians 2, 12 to 13, Jude 24 to 25, Hebrews 13, 5, Hebrews 114, 1 Kings 6, 16, first John 4, 4. What am I trying to show you? We do not just come up with this statement. Believers cannot lose their salvation. And there are many that go to this verse that believe that they can. But if true believers cannot lose their salvation, then why was the author addressing those who had sinful, unbelieving hearts, and those who very well could totally walk away from the faith, why was he calling them brothers and sisters? This is simple.

He was addressing them as brothers and sisters, not as fellow true believers, but as fellow Jews. They were brothers and sisters in that they were racial brothers and sisters. See how easy it is? That just clears up any misunderstanding there. Now that that's out of the way, we can make some much needed very relevant application from these verses as well. First, we must see and understand the evil of unbelief. A refusal to savingly believe in Christ is the most sinful of sins, the most evil of evils. At the heart of unbelief is a refusal to give God what he most deserves, that is the lordship of the life.

At the heart of unbelief is the refusal of the reign of God in the life, which is total rebellion against God. At the heart of unbelief is self, is self-rule, literally making self one's own God. Hey, listen, young person. Listen, sir, ma'am, no matter your age, if you were in a position of unbelief, please realize that you were committing the most sinful of sins. You were holding on to self-rule. You are keeping self on the throne of your heart and your life. It is the most sinful of sins, unbelief. And last, we must see that the one who has and holds on to the sinful heart of unbelief will apostasize or walk away from the faith.

And one can do that by leaving the church or staying in the church. There are some who hold on to their sinful, unbelieving heart and they ultimately rebel and walk away from God. They leave their Christian families, they leave their Christian friends, and they leave the church. Let me explain something, folks. Our children who grow up and grow up to be teenagers who rebel and grow up to be teenagers who go to college and go the way of the world and they grow up into adulthood and they go the way of the world, the problem is is they're not converted. They're not converted. Matthew 13 deals with that.

First John says they went out from us because they never were of us. That's the brutal reality of it. And what I'm trying to show you is this. When they hold on to an unbelieving heart and the sinfulness of the unbelieving heart, they can go away and out and they most likely will. Why? Because that's the natural progression of the unbelieving heart, apostasy. And it's sad, but we live with that truth regularly. But there are some who do the very same thing, but they don't leave the church. They are rebels and apostates who sit in the pews, in the chairs of Sunday school classes. They even serve physically in the church.

And the way they rebel and apostasize is that they hold on to their sinful, unbelieving hearts and in their rebellion and falling away, they create a Christianity of their own making. They are still the God of their own lives and they sit right on the pews of our churches. Isn't that what Judas did? That's all he was. Isn't that what Diatrophies was in 3 John? He was an apostate in the church. Isn't that what Cora did in the Old Testament? He was quote unquote, within the people of God, in the church, but he was an apostate. So back to verse 12, "Here the author urgently gave these Jews "a very serious and personal warning.

"He called them to be on guard "and to be watchful for an evil, unbelieving heart "that could be within them." Just like they had seen in their Jewish forefathers. And then number three, verse 13, "The call to exhort one another." Verse 13, "The call to exhort one another." Now here in verse 13, the author makes a shift in his teaching that the author has not left the seriousness of sin. He's not left the seriousness of sin, this evil, unbelieving heart that leads to apostasy. But here he shifts to a great responsibility that they had for one another within the church. And we'll see, this is very personal as well.

And notice what this responsibility is, what it was. He was calling them to exhort one another, not to fall into the deceitfulness of sin. He was calling them to encourage one another, not to hold onto an evil, unbelieving heart and letting all of those things sweep them away into apostasy. Listen to verse 13 in the Amplified. "But continually encourage one another every day "as long as it is called today. "And there is an opportunity "so that none of you will be hardened "into settled rebellion by the deceitfulness of sin, "its cleverness, delusional glamor and sophistication." Now what we see here is very simple to see.

The author knows the value of Christian fellowship in a local church. The author knows the life and death value of local church fellowship that all Christians need. Now before we get into verse 13, I wanna point something out that we need to see. We have in our country an entire class of people who profess Christ but they do not live verse 13. They read their Bibles, they know doctrine and theology, they watch preaching and teaching on social media, they go to conferences, but they do not live out the things that are before us in verse 13.

And if you see that you are lacking here a little or a lot, make sure that you repent and you adjust your life to live out what we see here in verse 13. Now at this point I want us to examine this call, this responsibility to exhort or encourage one another. First, this is a personal responsibility. Notice that this was a call to exhort or encourage one another. I call it a responsibility. In this word exhort here in the original, it means to call to one side. It means to draw near to one side so as to comfort, so as to counsel, so as to encourage, even to correct. And notice something about this word in the original.

This is a very different form of the same word that Jesus used of the Holy Spirit in John 14.6. And the basic meaning has to do with coming alongside to give help, to give comfort, to give aid. So what we see here is this. The author here was calling these believers into a very personal work and responsibility. He was calling them to go alongside others and to allow others to come alongside them for the purpose of comforting and encouraging one another. And look church, listen to your pastor right here. Any attitude, any behavior within a professing believer that keeps them distant from other believers within a local church, that is sin.

That is what I call the sin of isolationism and I get it right out of the scripture. Proverbs 18.1 says, "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire." He breaks out against all sound judgment. And if we progress in this verse, we will see this sin of isolationism in a bigger and a brighter way. And again, if this is you in any way, you need to repent here. Obey, adjust your life to the scripture. Then second, this was and is an all inclusive responsibility. Here in the verse, the author says, "But exhort one another." And he says that all are included here except for the pastor. Does he say that?

He says all are included here except for the senior adults. Does he say that? He says all are included here except for the very mature believers. Does he say that? Notice he makes no exceptions. Every believer in the local fellowship of believers has the responsibility to come alongside and to allow others to come alongside all for the purpose of mutually encouraging one another. And Luke Church, any believer who feels like they are beyond this coming alongside and letting someone come alongside them for mutual encouragement, they are in sin. No believer is exempt. No believer is beyond this responsibility.

And if we have any of these ways of thinking and behavior, it's sin we should repent here. So what we see here is this. The author was calling these believers into a very personal work and responsibility. He was calling all of them to go alongside each other for the purpose of comforting and encouraging one another mutually. Third, this was and is an everyday responsibility. Here in the verse, the author says, but exhort one another every day. And this is simple. This speaks to a day-to-day way of life, a day-to-day way of living.

Whereby the believers in the local church are living alongside one another daily for the purpose of mutual edification. One commentator says, I think it was Thomas Shriner, he says occasional encouragement does not suffice. Occasional encouragement does not suffice. It is needed daily. Now we have not gotten to this verse yet, but notice we see the very same thing, this everyday Christian living in Hebrews 10, 25 to 26, or excuse me, Hebrews 10, 24 to 25. The author says, let us consider how to stir up one another to love and to good works.

Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So what we see here is this. The author was calling these believers to an everyday kind of Christian life. He was calling them to daily come alongside one another for the purpose of mutual edification and encouragement. And Luke Church, a professing believer cannot engage in daily coming alongside one another for the purpose of mutual encouragement from internet church. You remember when we had to shut down during COVID? Remember we were all relegated for a little while to internet church.

I heard an old country preacher say it like this, internet church is like kissing your girlfriend through a screen door. Anybody know what a screen door is? My grandpa had a screen door on his house. I'd give anything to hear the screech of that screen door. There's a lot of truth in that. But look folks, we cannot engage in this daily coming alongside one another for the purpose of mutual encouragement through internet church. We cannot be engaged in this daily coming alongside one another for the work of mutual encouragement if you do not attend church regularly.

This daily mutual encouragement comes from engaging in one another's lives as we meet together on Sunday mornings in small groups in the hallways during our fellowship times, on phone calls, text messages, living connected with one another. And let me show you something. If you have no desire to connect with brothers and sisters like this, something's wrong. Something's wrong with you. If you have no ability to connect with brothers and sisters like this, something is wrong. You should naturally, spiritually, organically be drawn to this kind of life. Now I know some are better at it than others. It's a part of the Christian life.

And then fourth, this was and is an urgent responsibility. Now look back at verse 13. The author says, "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." Now here we see that the author uses this word today. And what he was doing is this. He was quoting and highlighting the word today from Psalm 95.7. And this was his point. By using this word today and highlighting it as he did, he was adding the urgency of this responsibility and work. And this work of mutual encouragement is urgent, not just because it is commanded and needed.

This work is urgent because it is for today. It is for today. It will not last for forever. It comes and it goes. Simply he was calling them to see the urgency of this work by showing them that today is here and then it is gone. And when today is gone, the opportunity for this work is gone as well. Now I'm speaking to some of you who've been here for quite a while. Christ Life Church. No names. But how many people have come and gone from our church and the opportunity for mutual encouragement is coming on? On top of that, how many have been in our church that did not want to engage in their responsibility of mutual encouragement?

Let me show you something, folks. Someone can know theology and doctrine. They can teach and they can preach. They can come, they can give and they can serve. But if they do not have this mutual encouragement, something is deeply, deeply, deeply wrong with them. Mark it down. Fifth, this was and is a serious responsibility. Now again, look back at verse 13, really the second part. The author says, "But exhort one another every day "as long as it is called today." Why? That none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Here we see the seriousness of this work and responsibility.

This call, this work and this responsibility was needed, is needed, why? So that none in the fellowship would be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And notice what this hardening was and is. This does not refer to the heart only, but it is a general hardening. So this hardening from deceitfulness of sin refers to a hardening of the heart and the life. Literally their entire life could be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So what we see here is this.

The author was calling them to daily come alongside one another for the purpose of mutual comfort, encouragement and even correction so as to prevent one another from falling into the pit and being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And look, church, we must see the seriousness of this sin in situation. The author is telling us that the hardening of the heart from the deceitfulness of sin hardens our hearts so that we no longer hear the encouragement and the correction of God.

He is showing us that this hardened heart and life hardens our hearts, hardens our minds, hardens our lives against the corrections of the conscience that brings one to repentance towards God. He is showing us that the weapon of deception here is the deceitfulness of sin and sinfulness. A couple of very personal questions. Have you allowed sin and the deceitfulness of sin to harden your heart and your mind and life to the point that you are calloused over to the point where you are not what you should be? Would you allow a brother or a sister to come close to you for the purpose of correcting and encouraging and helping you? Another question.

Do you know of a brother or a sister in this church that has allowed sin and the deceitfulness of sin to harden their heart, harden their mind to the point where they are calloused and not what they should be? And if you know a brother or a sister that is in that predicament, would you draw close to them and come alongside them to correct them and encourage them and help them? Listen, church. Sin and the deceitfulness of sin hardens the heart, the mind, and the life. And we need each other in this battle. We need each other. And if you do not have relationships like this in a local church, you are not the Christian you should be.

There is no way. There is no way. Let me pause here. There's not a better way than God's way. Don't fall for the trap that you can be a Christian disconnected from brothers and sisters. There's no better way than God's way. So in verse 13, we see the author urgently calling these within this local congregation to come alongside one another from mutual encouragement, mutual edification, mutual correction even, so that they would not be hardened by sin and the deceitfulness of sin. Now this morning, we've covered verses seven to 13, a part one of what I call beware of the evil heart of unbelief, belief today.

And I said earlier the next week, we'll finish out the verses, verses 14 to 19 and a part two. But I wanna close this morning in a very simple way and a very short way. And this is much needed today. Now I'm grabbing that verse here that we see from verse seven. Today, today, while the opportunity is before you, if you were hearing God's voice, that you have an unbelieving heart, would you come to him and believe? You see how relevant it is? Today, while the opportunity is before you, and God is showing you that you have an evil, sinful, unbelieving heart, would you please come to Christ and believe and be saved?

Would you go to Christ, come to Christ, believe and be saved? Quit hardening your heart with excuses, quit hardening your heart with sin, quit hardening your heart with religious pride and religious works. All your religious works and the good things you do are sinful. Go to Christ, believe and be saved. Leave your sinful, unbelieving heart behind, believe and be saved. That's the message for you today, today, today, while opportunity is before you. So beware of the evil heart of unbelief. Believe today.