Do you know the warning signs of personal spiritual danger? The Israelites experienced a miraculous deliverance from slavery, but it didn’t take long for them to drift away from God. Their experience provides relevant warnings for potential drifters today. Teaching from Hebrews 3, Alistair Begg identifies the symptoms of a wandering heart and urges believers to encourage each other to persevere to the end.
Jesus Greater Than Moses
1Therefore, holy brothers,1 you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God's2 house. 3For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. 4(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) 5Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6but 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.3
A Rest for the People of God
7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
10Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Series: Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, Volume 1
Other messages in: Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, Volume 1
Written for an audience of Jewish believers in a time of persecution, the book of Hebrews proclaims an eternal truth: Jesus is both the Son of God and our Great High Priest. He is the perfect mediator between God and humanity. As he considers Christ’s work from its foreshadowing in the Old Testament to its present impact, the writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to “fix our eyes on Jesus” as God’s perfect and only provision for mankind’s sins.
In volume one of this series, Alistair Begg explores an important question: If true believers cannot lose their salvation, why does Hebrews warn us not to fall away from faith in Christ? As he explains the purpose of the book’s God-given warnings and describes the danger signs of potential drifters, we are encouraged to focus on Christ’s high priestly role. Because Christ stood in our place as the final sacrifice for sin, we can have confidence to persevere to the end in steadfast faith.
Other messages in: Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, Volume 2
Written for an audience of Jewish believers in a time of persecution, the Book of Hebrews proclaims a thrilling truth: Jesus is both the Son of God and our Great High Priest, the perfect mediator between God and humanity. As he considers Christ’s work from its foreshadowing in the Old Testament to its present impact, the writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to “fix our eyes on Jesus” as God’s perfect and only provision for mankind’s sins.
Hebrews’ early recipients, familiar with ceremonial worship, needed reassurance that the Lord Jesus Christ lived eternally to intercede for them. In volume two of this series, Alistair Begg helps us to understand how the old covenant found completion in the superior new covenant, initiated by God and procured by Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Through the grace, mercy, and preservation of our Lord, believers can persevere as, enabled by the Spirit, we grow in faith, hope, and love.
Other messages in: Fix Our Eyes on Jesus, Volume 3
Written for an audience of Jewish believers in a time of persecution, the book of Hebrews proclaims an eternal truth: Jesus is both the Son of God and our Great High Priest. He is the perfect mediator between God and humanity. As he considers Christ’s work from its foreshadowing in the Old Testament to its present impact, the writer of Hebrews exhorts believers to “fix our eyes on Jesus” as God’s perfect and only provision for mankind’s sins.
In volume three of this series, Alistair Begg points us to Jesus as the focal point of divine revelation and the one accomplisher of our redemption. Walking us through Hebrews’ “Portrait Gallery of Faith,” he encourages us to persevere in trusting Jesus, even when the world is doubtful. God, we discover, uses our struggles to demonstrate His love for us as He teaches us how to be holy. Strengthened by Him, we can therefore press on in living the Christian life by the faith He provides.
