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The Severe Danger of Unbelief
Hebrews 3:7-19
In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Faithful reached Vanity Fair. Her residents sold flashy but cheap products and Beelzebub was worshiped. They were already warned by Evangelist that one of them would die there. They were mocked, smeared with dirt, and thrown in a cage. Despite given a chance to recant, they were resolute in going to the Celestial City. Both were condemned to death. Faithful was burned to death, but Christian escaped. After continuing his journey, he reached the Plain of Ease. There, he met Demas - a gentleman with fine manners - who enticed him with buried silver and prospects of riches. He rejected him and went on his way. But as he left, he noticed a pillar of salt. It was Lot’s wife. While fleeing to the place of salvation, she looked back at what she left behind. She started well, but ended badly. Demas started well, but ended badly. Why? Because of unbelief. When it came down to it, both didn’t want to escape destruction. So both were destroyed. That’s the severe danger of unbelief. But this is a common occurrence. It’s happened before. It still happens today. The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was the greatest migration ever. 2 million slaves, for centuries, were now conquerors. The Egyptians gave them clothes and precious gold. Those who were rich were now impoverished. And slaves who were poor were now rich. They fled destruction and headed to the Promised Land. But they couldn’t enter because of unbelief. The writer of Hebrews used their history to exhort his readers. And his three exhortations to them are to us too. Firstly, learn from our father’s unbelief. Secondly, learn to prevent unbelief. Thirdly, learn the severe consequences of unbelief.
Firstly, learn from our father’s unbelief. Verses 7-8 - “Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness…” Here, the writer quoted from Psalm 95 which quoted what happened during the Exodus. What this means is that unbelief repeats itself. It’s not theoretical. It’s historical. Psalm 95 asks Israel to remember what happened to their forefathers. Hebrews 3 calls on God’s people to do the same. And we preach, we remind you of our fathers’ history. Israel’s history is our history. It says “wherefore” which links back to previous chapters. Christ’s the God-man who restores our high status, only if we continue to be his people. But remember what happened to Israel? Many didn’t want to remain as God’s people. Yes, they saw wonders and even responded to them with praise. After they crossed the Red Sea, Israel celebrated! They praised God for being “their strength and song, he’s my salvation!” Exodus 15:17 says they desired the Promised Land - “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance.” But out of 2 million, only those younger than 20 years old would enter Israel. What should’ve taken 4 months or less took 40 years. Their graves littered the desert. Why? Unbelief.
When they first reached the Promised Land, they provoked God. That day of provocation is recorded in Numbers 13-14. They sent 12 spies - one from each tribe - to do recon in Canaan to figure out their strategy. After 40 days, they emerged; their reports were conflicting. While all agreed it was a good place flowing with milk and honey, 10 spies were afraid. “They’re stronger than we are. Israel will fail! We’ll be crushed like grasshoppers!” But Joshua and Caleb believed differently. Numbers 14:9 - “Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.” Don’t fear! The Lord’s with us! They’re like bread! We’ll eat them up! These brothers were bold, but they were in the minority. Unbelief spread and Israel sought to kill Joshua, Caleb, Moses, and Aaron; and return to Egypt. Numbers 15:4 - “…were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” This was a rejection of God. That Psalm 95 and Hebrew 3 are reminders proves unbelief repeats itself.
And unbelief is not passive. It’s actively rebellious. The people actively disobeyed. They witnessed what God had done - the 10 plagues, parting the Red Sea, sending manna and quail, water from the rock, sweetening water at Marah, giving the law at Sinai and displaying his glory - so their unbelief was a radical rejection of clear knowledge. Verse 19 says they couldn’t enter the Promised Land because of unbelief. And we see how sinful their unbelief was. Verse 8 says they hardened their hearts. This phrase was once used of Pharaoh - how he hardened his heart. But now, they disbelieved like he did. Amazing isn’t it? They escaped slavery, but were exactly now like their chief slaver. And they were obstinate. Verse 9 says they challenged God. They tested him and tried his patience. Verse 10 - they went astray in their hearts. Meaning, though they saw God’s ways, they hadn’t known God’s ways. Despite seeing all he had done, and experiencing all his benefits, they refused to follow God’s ways. Verse 16 - they rebelled. Verse 17 - it was sinful. Verse 18 - they refused to believe. Remember, faith is commanded. So unbelief is never passive. It’s actively rebellious. It’s a conscious rejection of God.
And unbelief grieves and angers God. God’s response to such unbelief in verse 11 was to “sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” Why? Because he was grieved with that generation, verse 10. God’s wrath is not a tantrum. It’s not a sudden outburst of anger. God’s wrath is the most extreme form of God’s anger. But it takes time for that anger to build up. God is long-suffering. But when he judges, he does it to the extreme. And after experiencing all they had - they still rebelled. On the day of provocation, their sins had filled themselves up. And notice it was no more than 4 months after Egypt. Compare God’s anger against the wicked Canaanites - it took him 430 years to build up his anger against them. As evil as they were! Why? Because those who are enlightened but reject, evoke greater anger from God than those who didn’t. And we see his resolution. God swore - he made an oath - meaning he won’t change his mind. God’s punishment for their unbelief was that they’d wander for 40 years. For every day the spies were in Canaan, would the people wander in years. And they wouldn’t even enter. Only those 20 years and above could. And the 10 spies were immediately executed. Why? Rebellious unbelief causes anger in God. Causing unbelief and mistrust in God makes God angry. Was God serious? Absolutely. The next day, they changed their minds. In Numbers 14:40 they admitted they sinned and now wanted to go in. Some tried and were thrashed in battle. God was resolute. So why did the author quote this example? To help us learn from our father’s unbelief.
But the author also wants us to learn how to prevent unbelief. That’s the second exhortation. Verse 12 - “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” It says to “take heed.” The original words means to look out, to watch out for unbelief. Why? Because unbelief is not just a phase. It’s serious. The irony is this - we parents watch out for the slipping of grades more than slipping faith. Slipping of grades - oh no! We must do something! Let’s look for tutors. Slipping of health - this is serious! My child’s not growing! What Chinese herbs can she take? But when it comes to faith? When the elders want oversight, to encourage your children to follow after Christ? To press on your conscience for you to fellowship? Leave my family alone! But it’s described as an evil heart of unbelief. When our friends are struggling with unbelief - do we say - if God means for them to be saved, they’ll be saved? No. We must watch. Why? It’s an evil heart of unbelief! It leads to departing from the living God. It’s a departing that leads to death. A living God gives life. Depart from him and die. So we must watch carefully because slipping away is unnoticeable. No one wakes up one day and decides to rebel. It happens gradually. We must watch out of an evil heart of unbelief.
And the way to prevent this, in the midst of the world’s opposition, is to exhort one another daily. Verse 13 - “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Meaning, we must fellowship today to prevent unbelief. Folks, in our Calvinism, some of us emphasize election over perseverance. We say - those meant to be saved will never stop believing; they’ll naturally persevere. But we don’t emphasize the commands to persevere in faith. But we have the commandment here. Exhort one another daily. When? Today! Why? Lest anyone be rebellious in unbelief through sins deceitfulness! Follow the argument. Exhort one another. That requires fellowship. It requires contact and conversation. It requires care and priority. Because there’s the deceitfulness of sin. You see, when we stop believing in Christ, it isn’t because we’ve stopped believing in anything. We actually start believing something else. What we believe instead is Satan’s siren call. We start to believe in the lies the Devil tells us.
Wanna be wise and happy? Eat the fruit. It’s okay if it makes you happy. You can justify it. God doesn’t want you to be unhappy. The church is so oppressive. They’re legalistic - they only care about the law not you. But God’s all for you. He’ll forgive. You’re not evil. You see, sin is deceitful because it only gives half the truth. Eve was given a deceitful promise. She didn’t read the fine print. But God already gave them the penalty in bold print. He welcomed them to eat the tree of life. But they believed Satan and died spiritually. But what does fellowship do? It strengthens us in the faith. A lone sheep is a dead sheep. A single glowing ember will turn rock cold. We’re not strong. We can’t handle the world on our own. None of us is beyond apostasy. That’s why we need to meet often for exhortation. And exhortation isn’t only positive. It’s preventative - we need to admonish one another. Friends don’t let friends slip away. Apostasy takes place in isolation and separation; but faith takes place in congregation and association. That’s why verse 14 says, “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.” Notice the plural. We’re partakers, if we hold our confidence to the end. And such fellowship must have the attitude of urgency. Verses 13 and 15 say the same thing - exhort one another daily while it’s today. Now, before night-time, when men can work no more. Everyday before you have no more days. When? “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.” Today’s the day of salvation. The fact that the words “today” and “daily” are repeated shows urgency. Fellowship isn’t optional. Admonition isn’t optional. Why?
It’s because he wants us to learn the severe consequences of unbelief. That’s the last exhortation. That’s why he’s so forceful. But remember - the writer is not the ultimate one speaking. It’s the Spirit. He quoted Psalm 95 which quoted Numbers 14. It’s the Spirit who spoke there, and also in Hebrews 3. It’s the Lord Jesus speaking now by his Spirit, warning you against unbelief. Why? Because he knows 2 things - how wonderful the Promised Land actually is; and how severe his judgment really is for those who don’t want the Promised Land. You see, unbelief leads to a full and permanent falling away. Verse 16 says the some, who heard, provoked. God was angry with those who sinned, for 40 years. He swore they wouldn’t enter. And they didn’t. Verse 17 - their carcasses fell in the wilderness. It took 40 years to whittle away all those above 20 years old. The youngest to die would’ve been 60 - 10 years short of the three score and ten in Psalm 90. This means that along with setting up camp at night, breaking camp at dawn, and picking manna on a daily basis; they buried their dead every day. In a nation of 2 million, you can imagine the number of funerals - how busy their bereavement services were. And if one dropped dead in the middle of walking, they couldn’t hold a funeral - just dig a shallow grave. God used this to picture the full and permanent falling away brought about by persistent and final unbelief. You can’t enter heaven. Yes, once truly saved, always saved - and the truly saved remain in church - that’s how you know. Once prayed the sinner’s prayer or baptized or made confession doesn’t mean always saved. And we know that heaven is in view because in verse 18, the word “rest” is used. The unbeliever cannot enter eternal rest because of unbelief. Note well, this warning was not to any unbelievers. This warning was to professing believers who willfully stopped believing.
But there’s always hope. Beloved there’s hope for believers. For those who are weak, but in church, there’s still hope. Not all in the church are rebellious. We see the writer switching pronouns. All along he addressed his readers as you or we - you be careful, you be watchful, lest you have an evil heart, lest you be hardened, you exhort one another, we are all partakers. But now, he uses “they.” Verse 16 - “For some, when they had heard, did provoke.” Verse 17 - with whom was he grieved? With them who sinned. And verses 18-19 - who could not enter? Them that believed not. They couldn’t enter because of unbelief. How many times does he say it? Many - there had been those who had denied Christ. They were lost. But in verse 16 we see these words - “For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.” Not all! God was not angry with all! There were those who continued to believe. These are the we and you, the you and me. These are the ones in church. The strong ones, the weak ones, the ones who exhort, the ones who receive exhortation. Beloved, when you’re in church there’s still hope. And yes beloved, where there’s life, there’s hope. There are those who’ve left, and struggle with unbelief - but while there’s life, there’s still hope. Beloved, there are some struggles which are very tough. Perhaps some of you have been tempted to leave Christ and the church. And because of a lack of fellowship, you find yourself wavering. You know it’ll only get worse - unless today, you hear these words and turn back.
Our Lord Jesus can help. His people can help. After he was baptized, he was led from the city into the wilderness to be tempted 40 days. There, he had no manna, only stones. He was tempted with the delectable cities around him and he knew his high status as Son. But he chose not to give into temptation. He chose not to turn back like Lot’s wife, not to go into the world like Demas. Why? He knew Psalm 95. He knew not to provoke God. In the wilderness, Jesus said to Satan - thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when Peter tempted him, Jesus rebuked him - Get behind me Satan. Why? Because his eyes were fixed on the Celestial City, so he could bring many sons there. And he’ll bring you. And by his Spirit, he speaks to you presently - today, if you will hear, do not harden your hearts. Blaspheme not the Spirit. And we have that promise today. But we’re not promised that today includes tomorrow. As we partake of the elements, will you take that manna today from him, proving you believe him? Will you take that wine gushing from his side, that shows you love him?
1. Learn from Our Fathers’ Unbelief
A. Unbelief repeats itself
B. Unbelief is not passive but actively rebellious
C. Unbelief grieves and angers God
2. Learn to Prevent Unbelief
A. We must watch out for unbelief
B. We must fellowship to prevent unbelief
C. We must have an attitude of urgency
3. Learn the Severe Consequences of Unbelief
A. Unbelief leads to a full and permanent falling away
B. Not all in the church are rebellious
Conversation for Change:
1. What practical ways of fellowship and exhortation can we perform to those who are wavering in their faith that are gospel oriented?
2. How can the knowledge of God’s sovereignty in salvation assure and comfort believers in the church as we look at those who have fallen away? Do you agree that surrendering to this doctrine makes it easier to accept their rebellion? Do you also agree that refusal to receive this doctrine makes us deluded?
3. What kind of urgency does this passage instruct us to have toward those who are wavering? What action must we take?
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
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