The Danger in Not Believing, Part 1

If you were with us last week, we had the opportunity to involve ourselves in the Lord's table and commun, we made reference to the fact that you were in a place where God does surgery. The Bible says in Psalm 26, verse number 1: Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Examine me, O Lord, and try me. Test my mind and my he. Today, as always, we are going to let the Lord test. Your heart. We're going to let the Lord do an inter scrutiny. We're going to let the Lord do intensive surgery on your heart. I hope you're prepared for heart surgery this morning because that's what's going to happen. In fact, it's going to happen in a way that is going to help us all to realize where we stand with Jesus Christ. Today we embark on the second warning passage in the book of Hebrews.

There are five of them. And each of those warning passages does an inter scrutiny. And because the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-ed sword, it does intens surgery. And so today and next week, and like always, as we gather together to open the Word of God, we know that God's Word is like a hammer. Jeremiah tells us it shatters the soul. It's like fire, it refines the soul. So we know that God's word is powerful. And so we're going to show you what God's Word says today, and God is going to use His Word to do surgery on your he.

Remember in Hebrews chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 we embarked on the very first warning passage in Hebrews.

Why does the author of Hebrews do this? He does this five times. Because he's writing to Jewish people. Jewish people that. Some truly believe and are truly committed to following the Lord. But there is in that audience people that are curious but not committed, people that are even convinced of Christ but are not committed to him. And so the writer of Hebrews is going to warn them of impending judgment. He's going to warn them that they need to commit themselves to Christ. Now, one of the great things about the Bible is that the Bible is filled with warnings.

God is so merciful. God is so kind. He doesn't want you to be caught off guard. He doesn't want you to be surprised. God doesn't have surprises. He reveals everything you need to know so that you are without excuse. And so the Bible begins with a warning. You know that, right? The Bible begins and ends with a warning, and all throughout the Bible there are warnings. The very first warning is given to Adam and Eve when it says, You can eat of any tree that you want to eat of, but there's one tree you can eat of, that's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And if you eat of it, the day you eat, you shall surely die. That's a warning God gave to them. Well, they didn't heed the warning. You know the rest of the story, right? That's why we're here today. And the Bible ends with a warning. And the Lord makes it very clear that if you in any way add to the words of This prophecy in Revelation 22, or take away from the words of this prophecy, then God will add to you the plagues that are written in this book. Wow. That's pretty severe. That's a strong warning.

But God gives that warning. So the Bible is bracketed with warnings, and then all everything in between. God gives warning after warning after warning so that you know who He is. And what he expects from those who are going to follow him. God is good, God is merciful. And so he gave us a warning. So, the writer of Hebrews gives us a warning through the inspiration of Scripture in Hebrews chapter 2, verses 1 to 4, when these words are spoken. For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

Because we are accountable to the revelation of God, you must pay very close attention to what you have just heard. So that you will not drift from it, that you will not wander away, that you will not let the opportunity pass you by. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, and it did because God gave the law, if you disobeyed the law, the penalty was death. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken to the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.

How should we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? How do we escape the penalty of God if we let the opportunity for salvation pass us by? So he gives the very first warning.

When you come to Hebrews chapter 3, verse number 7, he gives the second warning. And that warning will continue into chapter 4. And then in chapter 6, he'll give another warning: how it's impossible to renew those to repentance who have heard of the word of the Lord and tasted of the good graces of God. God and not respond. And then again in Hebrews 10, he'll give more warnings that if you go on sinning will, There no longer remains a sacrifice for you. The Bible gives warnings. Hebrews 3 is that second warning, verse number 7, down to the end of the chapter and into chapter 4.

And here's what it says. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. As in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with this generation. And said, they always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. Well, it is said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. For who provoked him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest? But to those who were disobedient. So we see that they were not able to enter because. Of un. Now, this warning is a lot stronger than the warning in Hebrews 2. When you come to Hebrews chapter 6, the warning even intensif because the writer expresses his urgency. And how important it is for you to respond today if you hear his voice. Not tomorrow. There might not be a tomorrow. So today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the wilderness.

Now, I want to talk to you about that, but I have to introduce this in a specific way. And probably we'll just get through the introduction this morning. But you have to understand this. We live in a world, in a society. That stresses the fact that if you believe in Jesus, you're going to go to heaven. Really? Is that what the Bible truly says? Is believing in Jesus Enough for you to go to heaven. We have a plethora of preachers today who just preach, he, man, just believe in Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, man, that's all you need.

Because the Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And we know that verse. And they'll, see, you just gotta believe in him, you just gotta believe in Jesus. Really? Believe what about Jesus belie In what? And who about Jesus? You see, we must understand that there were many people who believed in Jesus. In the Bible, but do not and did not go to heaven. Is believing in Jesus all there is for you to go to heaven? Now, before you brand me a heretic, please understand exactly how we're going to lay this out for you. Okay? Very important. Believe what about Jesus?

Think about it this way. The Bible says in Acts 16:3: belie in the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Well, that kind of qualifies it a little bit, doesn't it? It qualifies the fact that Jesus is Lord. And unless you believe that Jesus is Lord, you cannot be saved. In fact, the Bible says this in Hebrews, I mean, Romans chapter 10, and you know the verse.

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as what? As Lord. Not just if you confess your mouth Jesus. But if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, let me tell you something.

Every Jew I know believes in Jesus. Did you know that? They believe in Jesus. They believe in young Yeshua. They knew that Yeshua made a prophecy about how the stone, not one stone, will be left upon another. And that's why outside the Western Wall, they leave all those stones outside. There in a jumbled, crumbled mess. Because it pro not only was there a temple on the Temple Mount that was built by Solomon, the son of David. But it also proves that young Yeshua was a prophet and his prophecy came to fruition.

So the Jews believe in Jesus. Does that mean they're saved? No. They have an intellectual assent of the existence of Jesus. Well, how about this? The demons believe in Jesus. In fact, the demons believe more about Jesus than all of us put together. They are more orthodox in their belief about Jesus than all of us in this room. Because they know everything about Jesus there is to know. Yet they tremble. But no way are they redeemed, those fallen angels. Nope. But they believe in Jesus. This is very important.

So, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Why? Because with the heart, man believes unto what? Right. Man believes in the righteousness, and with the mouth, man confesses unto salvation. In other words, my confession about salvation is evident by a righteous life. Based on a heart that believes in the truth about Christ, who is Lord over all. That's a lot different than saying, got to believe in Jesus. We have made it, excuse me, so easy for people to get to heaven.

That we have duped them into thinking they will end up in eternity with Christ. That's awfully sad. Awfully sad. You say, well, Pastor, isn't salvation free? Oh, yeah. It's free. It's totally by faith, through grace, by grace, through faith in Christ alone. Absolutely. There are no works on my part that will get me into heaven. But I must understand what the Bible says.

So, the right of Hebrews, 11th chapter, says this. He says, He who comes to God must believe that He is. And that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Let me ask you a question: Do the Jews believe in God?

Yeah, they do. Absolutely, they believe in God. But he who comes to God must believe that he is. He's what? He's everything that the writer of Hebrews said up to Hebrews chapter 11. As he describes the sufficiency and the superiority of Jesus over angels and over the law and over Moses and over the Aaronic priesthood, and that he's after the order of Melchizedek, that Jesus is God in the flesh. To God, must believe that He is. He's everything that the writer of Hebrews has just said, and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

In other words, to believe in the Lord means I see him clearly. For who he is in Scripture, and that upon seeing him clearly for who he is, then I must seek him diligently based on who he is. And once I seek him diligently for who he is, then I will submit. To him, wholeheartedly based on who he is. And that's why the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 11 goes and gives us the hall of faith because everybody in the hall of faith not only saw him for who he was, saw Him based on who he was, but submitted to him based on who he was.

Very important. Illustration, the wise men. The wise men follow the star. Why? Because they sought The star. Why? Because their fathers from generations of old passed down to them what the prophet Daniel taught the Magi because he was overseeing the Magi in the book of Daniel. He was their leader. He taught them about Numbers 24:17. That a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a scepter shall be in his hand. Stars the king. And these were stargazers. And it passed it down from generation to generation.

And these wise men would seek or look for a star. Once they saw the star, they sought. The star, and so when they came to Jerusalem, and they sought the star for probably two or three years before they got there. Where is he who is born king of the Jews? Because they knew the star was a king. Where is he who was born king of the Jews? And they sought for him diligently because they saw clearly who the star was. And when they found the star, what did they do? They fell down, bowed down in submission to the star because the star was Jesus.

What's it mean to believe in Jesus? It means that I see him for who he is. I seek him based on who he is, and I will submit to him. Because of who he is. You see, that's very, very important to understand. Because I can talk to almost anybody. And they'll tell me they believe in Jesus. Oh, yeah, I believe in Jesus. But what is it you believe about Jesus? That's very important. Let me show you this in Scripture by having you turn me to John chapter 2.

This is all introductory to what we're going to talk about in Hebrews chapter 3. But I got to give this to you because it's very, very important. John chapter 2, verse 23. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many Believed in him. Wow. Really? Yeah, this says many believed in his name. What's his name? His character. His nature. Name is always representative of character. Many believed in his name, observing the signs which he was doing, but Jesus. On his part, he was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men.

And because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he him knew what was in man. See, he knew that their belie was a super belief, not a supernatural. Belief. He knew that their superficial belief was a temporal belie. But he also knows that his supernatural belief is a trans belie. So Jesus was not entrusting himself to them. But did they not believe in his name? Wouldn't they not say, We believe in Jesus? Do you? We believe in Jesus. But Jesus did not entrust him to them because he knew what was in man.

So let me ask you a question as the scriptures begin to slowly but surely cut into your heart, in my heart.

Do you have a superficial belief or do you have a supernatural belief in Jesus? Is it temporal or is it trans? Does it last? Because it truly is committed to Christ. You see, the right of Hebrews is right in the Jewish people who all believe in Jesus. They all believe in Jesus to some extent. Some were very curious about Jesus. Some were convinced that he existed and lived, he died, and even arose again. They believe that. They knew the facts about Jesus. But that's not enough. You can know all the facts about Jesus and still wake up in hell.

You must commit yourself to him. You must entrust yourself to him. You must embrace him as Lord and Savior. Of your life, you must submit to his lordship. You must follow him explicitly, or he does not entrust him to you. Because salvation is Christ in you, the hope of gl. Christ in you. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, exam yourself to see if Jesus. Is in you. Wow. Do a little intensive surgery on your own heart and open it up and see if Jesus is even in there. That's what we want to try to do with you as we open God's word.

So, turn with me to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Jesus has just given this long exhortation on how He is the light of the world. Okay? Jesus is the light of the world. And listen to what it says in verse number thirty. After he spoke these things, many came to believe in him. Oh, there you go. You got more people believing in Jesus. And they would all say, Yeah, man, we believe in Jesus. We believe in exactly what he said. Yeah, we believe in Jesus. Really? Listen to what he says. Listen carefully.

Listen to what he says to those who believed in him. He says, verse 31: Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him: If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. You will know the truth. The truth will make you free. He wants them to know that if you truly believe in me, then you will abide in my word, and my word will abide in you. You will know the truth. It will set you free. They answered, We are Abraham's descendants. And have never yet been enslaved to anyone, how is it that you say you will become free?

And Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, every who commits sin is the slave of sin. So, what does he just say? He just said to those who believe in him, you are slaves to sin. How can you believe in Jesus and still be a slave to sin when you have been Truly, if you believe in Jesus, you have been transformed and saved out of the enslavement of sin, and now you are a slave of God. So Jesus says to those who believed him, who believed in the words that he said, who outwardly, who outwardly They were saying to him, What you say is true, and we believe that, but yet they refused to hearken to the words they heard.

And they put themselves in a very dangerous position. Same position the people of Hebrews were in. In chapter 2 and chapter 3, as they would hear the word of God, the question would be: would they heark unto what the word of the Lord says? So in verse 35, Jesus says, The slave does not remain in the house forever.

The Son does remain forever. So the Son makes you free, you'll be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you seek. To kill me. Wow, wait a minute, wait a minute. I thought they believed in Jesus. How is it you can believe in Jesus and still be a slave to sin? How can you believe in Jesus and still seek to kill Jesus? What does it mean to believe in Jesus? You see, we have been duped. So long in churches across America, because the gospel has been so severely diluted, we don't even know what it means to believe in Jesus anymore.

We just think, we just believe some facts about Jesus and his existence. We just think, well, he died on the cross and rose again the third day.

It's good enough for me. Is that good enough to save you? No. It's not. These people believed in what he said. He said they were slaves of sin. They sought to kill him. Look at this.

He says, I speak the things which I have seen with my father. Therefore, you also the things which you heard from your father. Whoa, wait a minute. How can you believe in Jesus and have another father than Jesus has? Good question, right? Read on. The answer said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God, this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.

And they said to him, We were not born of fornication. We have one father, that's God. We have one father. He's God. Wait a minute. I thought you believed in him, and yet him he's born of fornication. Can you believe in Jesus and say that he's born of fornication? Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would what? Love me. So he's talking to people who profess their belief in him, who are still slaves of sin, who sought to kill him. Had a different father and did not love Jesus. How could you believe in Jesus and not love Jesus?

For I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father, the devil. Wow. How can you believe in Jesus and have your father the devil? He says this: You want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature.

For he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me. Wait a minute. I thought they did believe him. But Jesus says, You don't believe me, but they said they believed him.

So who's right? Them or Jesus? Jesus is always right. Then it says, Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God. It gives you a whole new perspective on what it means to believe in Jesus. Because these people. Evidently, by the words of the Lord, they did not believe in him because they loved themselves, not him. They were not of the same father. They were of their father, the devil.

They were still slaves of sin. They sought to kill him. He tells them, You hear my words, but you do not obey them. You don't follow them through. He tells us one very important truth: that when God speaks, Those who love him listen and follow. They see him for who he is. They seek him. And will always sub to him. That's what it means to believe in Jesus. Look at John chapter 12, verse 42.

You hear that sound? You hear that sound? The turning of pages, and that is the sweetest sound in the history of man: the turning of pages. It's like a sweet sound that just sweeps through the congregation when people turn the pages of the scriptures. If you're on your iPad, you don't hear that. It's just all it is. But here. When you open the scriptures, you hear that sweet sound. Listen to what Jesus says in John 12:4.

Nevertheless, many, even of the rulers, belie in him. Whoa! I mean, all these people believing in Jesus. And John's Gospel is filled with people who believed in Jesus. And many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing him. Wait a minute. I thought that Jesus said, if you. Believe in your, if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. But these guys aren't confessing Jesus as Lord because of the Pharisees.

Jesus said, if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father who is in heaven. But if you do not confess me before men, neither will I confess you before my Father who is in hea But yet they believed in him, but they were unwilling to confess him. Why? For fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. They were afraid. They weren't afraid of the one they sought. Okay? The one they saw, but they were afraid of those around them and what they might lose. Listen, they were not willing to pay the price for following Jesus.

If you're not willing to pay the price to follow Jesus, you cannot be saved. If any man come back to me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. Because if you want to keep your life, you're going to lose it. But if you lose your life for my sake, you'll keep it. So Jesus says this.

Why is it they feared the Pharisees? They loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. They just could not break away from man's recognition of themselves. They just could not break away from the affirmation and attention that they received. They could not deny themselves. They could not because they would not. They could not because they love themselves. They did not love the Christ. They could not deny themselves because to deny themselves would mean that they have to set their ambitions aside, their desires aside, their aspirations aside and follow Jesus, and that would cost them everything.

But they believed in him. They believed in Jesus. Or did they really believe in him? See? And so when you read the scriptures, you have to ask yourself this question: what is it I believe about Jesus? Listen to this, and you know this, you should know this extremely well. Jesus says in Matthew 7, verse number 13, Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad, that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it, for the gate is small and the way is narrow, that leads to life.

There are few that find that. Jesus gives an invitation, and in that invitation comes an injunction, a warning. About entering through the narrow gate. He's preaching this sermon to Jewish people, people who believe in God. People who worship God, he's telling them to enter through the narrow gate. They tell them to beware of false teachers because they're going to paint the broad gate heaven. And they're going to convince you that if you just believe in Jesus, you can go through to heaven. And they're going to lead you astray.

Then Jesus says this as a dire warning. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, verse 21. But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Listen carefully. It's not what you say, what you say that gets you into heaven. But it is what you do that gets you in heaven. You must do the will of your Father who is in heaven. Then he says this, for many will say to me on that day, how many is many? But it's more than a few, it's more than a couple. Many is the majority.

Many will say to me on that day. Lord, Lord, a term of intimacy. Did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles? Did we not do this for you? We believed in you. We believed in you. And so we went to church and we served in the church and we sung in the choir and we went on the trips and we did what you asked us to do. Lord, we did these things. And Jesus says, Many are going to come to me on the day of judgment, and they're going say, Lord, we did all this for you.

And Jesus will respond and say, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Wow, that's just so sc that you could actually be here today, sitting here today, and be in that position. And the funny thing about that is, is that people around you might not know that's you. For example, nobody ever questioned Judas's belief. Nobody ever questioned Judas' faithfulness or Judas' commitment. Because he heard for three years everything that Jesus said. He saw for three years everything that Jesus did.

In fact, he was even involved in performing some of those miracles, and he was even involved in preaching some of those messages. And he was the most trusted of the 12 because he was the one who held the money. And you don't get the money to somebody you don't trust. So, who was the most trusted disciple? Who was the most loyal disciple? Who was the most committed disciple on the outside? It was Judas. But he was the son of perdition. He had all the externals. His hypocrisy was so so incred, if I can use that word.

That up to the very, very end, nobody ever questioned his belief in Jesus. No one. Because he fooled everybody except Jesus. Because Jesus knew what was in his heart. See, you can come to church and you can fool everybody in the room. But you can't fool Jesus. You can be sitting here today and be the most loyal, committed person in the church. And that would say that you believe in Jesus. Look, I'm here. Look what I do. But in the inside, there is no supernatural belief, it's only a superficial belief.

Because there's not a trans from the inside out. If any man be in Christ, he is a new cre. Christ gives a warning in his Serm on the Mount. Gives a warning so everyone will know. And Judas? He was that classic apostate who knew everything about the truth. Who, even to some degree, affirmed everything about the truth. And that would be looked like he believed the truth. But inward, he was an apostate. So the writer of Hebrews says, Beware. If you hear his voice, Do not harden your heart. See, just because you say you believe in Jesus doesn't make it so.

Jesus said these words. You know them well. Someone had asked the question: Lord, are there just a few being saved? And know what Jesus said to them? Yeah, there is. Tell you what, we're going to do. We're going to change the gospel just a little bit. So more can come. So more can follow. So more can be a part of the train, the Jesus train. So there'll look like there's a lot of people who believe in Jesus. So what changed that? That's not what he said. He said, str to enter. Agonism might fight.

Struggle. It's a struggle to enter the kingdom. People say, Well, I thought it was easy to be saved. Now, according to Jesus, it's a struggle, it's a fight. He says, str to enter through the narrow door. Oh, there you bring through the narrow door again. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Wow. Okay, the narrow door is hard to find. And once you find it and you're there, you better strive to get in because of the few that strive to get in, even fewer getting in. Wow! How does that go against the grain of today's society, in today's churches, and what we preach?

Strive to enter. Because you're fighting. You're fighting everything. You're fighting the devil, his grip on you. You're fighting your own selfish desires, the things that you want. You have to give them up. Because you can't take all that baggage through the narrow door. And Jesus would say this. Matthew 11:1. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. What is that? The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force? What about belie in Jesus and you'll be saved?

And he says this, Luke 16. The gospel of the kingdom is preached, and everyone is for their way into it. What? You are forcing your way into the kingdom? How do you can't force your way into the kingdom? You can't make yourself get into the kingdom. No, but the The forces against you, the wiles of the devil, everything he's doing to hold on to you, to keep you from believing that Jesus is true and that you were to follow him and commit yourself to him. That's what Peter said in 1 Peter 4:18, if it is difficult that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?

If it's difficult, if it's difficult that the righteous is saved, then what's going to happen to the godless man and the sinner? You see, the popular teaching that we hear today is believe in his name. Just come down. Come on down here. Say a prayer. That phrase, come on down and accept Jesus as your Savior. What? What is that? Do you find that in Scripture anywhere? Accept Jesus as your Savior? As if we are in charge of accepting Him and bringing Him into our lives? You see, we have become so en with TV preachers and conference speakers and big church atmosphere that we have forgotten the truth of the gospel.

And how Jesus presented the truth. That's why there were very few that followed Jesus. Because you had to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. You see, it's important that we understand that the gate is small and few there be that find it. We have a huge responsibility to preach the gospel of the Christ so others will know who Jes is. And so I ask this question: having heard what you have heard today, as we have read God's word, do you see Jesus? For who he is in Scripture? Do you see him clearly?

Do you see Jesus as the Son of God? Do you see Jesus as the Holy One of God? Do you see Jesus as God in the flesh? Do you see Jesus as Messiah of Israel? Do you see Jesus as the incarnate God? How do you see Jesus? If you've seen him, clearly do you seek him diligently. The Lord said in the book of Jeremiah, Seek me. And you will find me if you seek me with all of your heart. If you see him, have you sought after him? If you've seen him clearly, then you can't help but seek him diligently. If you seek him diligently, you can't help but submit to him wholeheartedly.

Because you know who he is. You know he's the God of the universe. He is the Lord of all. You know that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You know that. So you willingly submit to him because you have denied yourself. You have taken up your cross and you have followed Christ. He is everything to you. See, people aren't saved unless they want Jesus to be everything to them. Because Jesus has no rivals. Jesus will not share his throne with anything or anyone.

So the question comes: as it was in Jesus' day, they had heard his teaching, and there were many that believed in him. Yet John's Gospel tells us that Jesus, although they believed in him, he was not entrusting him to them. Because he knew what was in the heart of man. He knew it was a superficial belief. He knew it wasn't a true belief in him. So the question comes for us: Is your belief true? Because the writer of Hebrews is talking to people who believed in God. Yet they died in unbelief. They believed in God, but died in unbelief.

How can you believe in God and die in unbelief? That's next week. You come back. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word, the beauty of it. We ask that you'd go before us. May what we know be true in our hearts. May we truly seek after the true and living God and follow you. Lord, you are so good to give us warnings so that none of us are surprised. That we would have been sufficiently warned in Scripture so that we know where we stand with the true and living God. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.