Sermon on 1 September 2024 by Sis Hui Ling
Hebrews 3:7-19
7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. 9 There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.10 So I was angry with them, and I said,‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”
16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.
Hebrews 3:7-11 was first written in Psalm 95:7-11 by the Psalmist to warn the Israelites of his day against unbelief and disobedience.
Writer of the Book of Hebrews is inspired by the Holy Spirit to use the same warning for readers of this letter i.e. the Hebrews in the early Christian age.
Psalms 95:6-11
6 Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, 7 for he is our God.We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.
If only you would listen to his voice today! 8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. 9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ 11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
Recognise that
1. there is a TODAY for the people in the Psalmist day,
2. a TODAY for the Hebrews in the early Christian age and
3. a TODAY of each of us today, as we read both passages
John 14:16-17
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[e] who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
The Holy Spirit talks to us and guides us moment by moment. Today! Now!
So what does God says to us today?
Hebrews 3:7-8
7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,
“Today when you hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.
1. TODAY is a WARNING! Don’t harden/rebel/test.
Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.
Psalmist reminds the readers of Israelites rebelling and testing God in Meribah and Massah. This was despite Israelites experiencing so many miracles before this.
Meribah = arguing
Massah = test
Exodus 17:2, 7
2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.
“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”
7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”
Despite the goodness before, are we complaining every time something goes wrong?
2. TODAY is for ENCOURAGING/EXHORTING one another.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today”, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Good that we frequently meet up. Make it a point during meet-ups to encourage and exhort one another to listen and obey God. Not for gossiping nor discouraging (STOP!).
3. TODAY is about being DILIGENT to enter God’s rest through FAITH.
We access God’s rest through faith. Let’s be alert and diligent in exercise faith!
Hebrews 4:8-9, 11
8 Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. 9 So there is a special rest[ still waiting for the people of God.
11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
1. TODAY is a WARNING! Don’t harden/rebel/test.
2. TODAY is for ENCOURAGING/EXHORTING one another.
3. TODAY is about being DILIGENT to enter God’s rest through FAITH.
Are you ready today to enter God’s rest?
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