Problems   of Unbelief
Heb.   3:7ff

Intro:
l. The Exodus is the celebrated example of Jewish beginnings. lt was not without its problems. Recall these important details.--The struggling, despairing Jewish people in slavery in Egypt. On the scene comes a mighty leader who is commissioned--so he says--to deliver them. After a few skirmishes with the King of Egypt, Moses and his people depart. God's great power is manifested in this deliverance and they head out for the promised land. After a trip thru the wilderness and organization of the people, they come to the point of entering their promised homeland. Moses then sent a group of l2 spies to scout the land and the people and the fortrésses. The men secretly searched the land: as they returned they brought one cluster of grapes that needed two men to carry. They brought juicy pomegrantes, and tasty figs. They told Moses that it was a land of plenty., a land flowing with milk and honey, but the people in it are giants and are very strong. Ten_of the men said, we cannot go into the land
the great people. We were as grasshoppers them beside them .All the people began to lift uip their voice and weep and cry. They were going to stone Moses and elect a new leader who would take them back to the slavery of Egypt.  Just as they were going to stone Moses and kill him, the Lord saved him and told the rebellious people that because of their rebellion,and unbelief, every person over 20 years of age shall die in the wilderness and shall not enter into this great land." Only after 40  years of wandering warfare in the wilderness did they descendants go into the land.

2.The exodus story is an analogy used by the writer of Hebrews to teach some lessons about disbelief.

I Unbelief about God‘s works. 3:9
1. O.T. In the Exodus story many works of God were seen. God had delivered them from bondages of slavery. They went thru the sea on dry land. They were fed in the wilderness with manna, and given water to drink in a desert. They had God's protection and direction, but yet they rebelled when it came to going into the promised land. They declared that it would he better to die in Egypt. In haste they began to organize and elect a leader to carry them back to slavery. If God had brought them out of slavery, could he not bring them into the promised land? But unbelief about God's work caused them to draw back.

2.  The Christians addressed by the letter had a similar experience. They had experienced the resurrection of Christ. They had known what God had done for them. They had been liberated from the bondage of sin. Their lives had been changed and they too were children of promise. God had promised a place of rest for them. Now, they were wavering and wanting to return to their old way of life.

3. We have seen how God has worked in our  past. But do we have faith and confidence that he will continue? Do we have faith that God is going to bring us to people to witness? Do we have faith that God is going to use us for the gospel’s sake? Unbelief put off the work of God in the Exodus and it can do the same in our
generation. David Maclagan wrote of asking a minister to preach in his church in the western part of Scotland._ He asked, "What shall I speak about?" "Anything you like, " I replied, He suggested"How about my wasted years? Maclagan didn't know what he meant for he knew he held an important position in the church of Scotland
At the close of his sermon, he told this story: When Billy Graham came to Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, in 1955, this man was a young minister. He heard Billy preach and give an invitation to receive Christ as Savior, and the young man stood up. An older
minister next to him grabbed his jacket and said, "Sit down, you don't need to do that. You're making a fool of yourself." So he sat down. He then informed Maclagan's congregation that he had wasted the next l2 years of his life. Sunday by Sunday he proclaimed the Gospel of Christ but did not know Jesus Christ for himself. Then one night in the big tent at Keswick, Englandhe did what he should have done a dozen years earlier."(Decision)

4. Unbelief about God's ability to work in the future, as well as his works in the past, brought the Israelites to waste 40 years of their lives. Today, God says, is the day
of faith and commitment.

II.    Unbelief about sins’ results 3:13

l. Sin does three things as seen in this passage: A. Hardens the heart, B. alienates from God, and  C. brings death. Let's look at these.

A. Hardening the heart refers to the basic rationalizations for doing wrong. (Sin promises what it cannot fulfil.) A friend told me recently of his pastor who preached for a vindication of drinking. My immediate response was: he drinks, and wants to justify it. I don't want to push this too far, but I have observed that often people who defend these kinds of practices do so because of a guilty conscience. Students who arrive at a conclusion that morality is relative, do so because they do not want to condemn their own activities. We lose perspective on right and wrong when we sin.

B. Sin alienates from God . Unbelief causes a blindness about God's nature. God is holy. God commands holiness. But sin causes us to distort the issue. Sin separates.
It is just that inevitable consequence of sin that it does. A sin or wrong leads to separation in marriage, in business, friendships, family, or in almost any relation. Our relation to God is no different. Sin alienates, and we "fall away from the living God."

C. Sin brings death. The Exodus story is pointed. During a 40 year period, all over 20 years old died. Look at v. l7 where it says, "And with whom was God provoked those 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?" Biblical scholars vary about the number of people who left Egypt. Let's look at the 600,000 figure. During 40 years, 15000 a years would have to die, 41 a day. Every two hours some  were weeping over people who died. Sin had kept them out of the promised land. Sin brought death. Sin brought lost opportunity. Sin's death kept them from enjoying the fruit of living.

2. In a devotional book by Virginia Ely, Adoration, there is a story about a young pastor who received a letter from one of the members of his congregation which brought great sorrow to his inexperienced heart. "Too late," it read, "have I recognized the will of the Lord in my life. I wonder if souls will be lost because of my mistake.” The letter went on to tell how the Lord has spoken to her in her youth about giving her life for mission service. Instead, she followed her own desires, had married, and become the mother of three children. Now, married to a husband who was not a Christian, and with obligations to her children, she realized that she had missed the Lord's aim for her life. The letter revealed an anguish of spirit that tore at the pastor's heart. While the pastor was thinking on the tragedy of this misspent life, the superintendent of the junior dept. of the SS came in. "We have just lost a class of nine junior girls," said the SS. “Why?” asked the pastor,”what's the matter? The teacher has not met the class regularly. She never visited any of them. One by one they have all left our SS.” To the amazement of the pastor, he learned that the derelict teacher was the writer of the letter he held in his hand. Nine golden opportunities had been given her, and although she sensed a responsibility for the lost millions on the other side of the world, she had failed to see her obligation for those young lives there were in her immediate charge. The woman's spiritual vision was faulty. It was caused by sin, rebellion against God’s call,  sin had destroyed her hopes, her happiness, and damaged her life.

3. Sin is deceitful. It promises great things, but delivers a hard heart, alienation from God, and death.

III. Unbelief about God's Rest. 4.5

1. verse 4:2 says that the good news came to us just as to them. The good news to the Israelites was a land of their own.The good news to the present generation is the gospel of Jesus which is a promise of everlasting life beginning now. The writer uses an analogy about the land of Canaan and the City of God. At best Canaan provided a haven,a harvest, and a happiness that was good. But at best it was insufficient. Now there is yet a second rest, the rest of God’s presence toward which we are all moving. This is seen in vs. 9-10. The appeal is then made in v.11. "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience."

 2. The appeal is for confidence, loyalty, and obedience despite what comes to you. The mountain people on the Island of Formosa (Taiwan) illustrate the point. Long ago these people had been head-hunters, but all that was changed because one woman had heard about God and one by one her people came to love Him. Then there was a change of rule and the mountain people were forbidden to go to church. When it was learned that the mountain people were continuing to become Christians the little village of Mikasayama was warned: "within three days everyone in the village must appear at the police station and swear that he will not become a Christian. Those who do not appear will be bound to heavy stones and thrown from the high bridge into the raging river. Late that night the village people met secretly. "You must decide what to do, the chief said,"Remember, if you say you are Christians you will be killed." One spoke up, "Let us remember Jesus words, not to fear those who have power to kill us, but who cannot harm our souls." The people said that they would rather die than to deny that they were Christians.
The next day the soldiers at the Mikasayama police station were informed of the decision. The leader replied, "The executions will take place tomorrow morning. Tonight my men and I will have a feast and make merry in the preparation of the event."
After the leader of the soldiers drank heavily of wine, he went to the river to catch some fish for the celebration feast. He waded out into the river and before he could catch a singlefish somethings struck his leg. But in spite of being a good swimmer he was drowned in the raging water. Meanwhile, the mountain people had gathered to pray, thinking that this was their last night together. Suddenly they heard a shout, "The man who was going to kill us is dead!" " ‘
Today Mikasayama is a Christian village because the people were courageous. (as told by Mrs.Missionary to Formosa   Lillian R. Dickson)

3. These days are not as difficult for us, because we have having it so well that we don't need a future rest.But life is short, and the warning is yet sure, "Let us striveto enter into that rest.

Conclusion:

l. Unbelief can cause our fellowship  great losses in the coming days. God wants to work and prosper us in the Gospel. But unbelief can thwart it. Our sins express  our unbelief in our lives, and lead us astray.
Let us turn from sin to serve the living God.