This powerful exploration of Hebrews 3:12-19 challenges us to examine the condition of our hearts and the authenticity of our faith journey. Drawing parallels between the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness and our own spiritual walk, we discover three essential exhortations for enduring faith: take care, exhort one another daily, and hold fast to Christ. The message confronts us with searching questions about what we watch, read, listen to, and think about, reminding us that our hearts are like gardens that must be vigilantly protected against the weeds of unbelief. We learn that Christianity is not an individual sport but a team endeavor, requiring us to come alongside one another with encouragement and accountability. The Greek perfect tense of 'we have come to share in Christ' reveals a profound truth: our salvation is a completed action with lasting results, and our perseverance is evidence of genuine faith rather than a condition for earning it. This distinction between professors who merely claim faith and possessors who truly believe becomes clear through the parable of the soils, showing us that authentic faith endures through persecution, crisis, and the darkest nights of the soul because Christ himself holds us fast.

Sermon Transcript

The life of Paul.

I think we could all agree that his faith journey got off to somewhat of an inauspicious start.

In Philippians 3, he described his life before Christ.

Now, this is Paul here talking about his life before Christ.

He said...

I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.

And then as to the law.

A Pharisee.

As to zeal.

A persecutor of the church.

Which means he was actually persecuting.

Christ, yeah, if he's persecuting the church, he's persecuting Christ.

But as we know, God had plans for Paul, right?

Before in eternity passed, he had plans for Paul.

And in Acts 9, 1 through 19, at just the right time that God had appointed on the road to Damascus, Paul came face to face with the risen Christ, the Savior of the world, and his life was changed forever.

Amen?

His life was changed forever.

His life...

A life of dedication, perseverance, endurance.

And what are some of the things that Paul had to endure or persevere through?

Well, let's look at 2 Corinthians 11, 23 through 28, where Paul talked about some of the hardships he faced.

I mean, I faced like a hangnail.

I mean, I whine and complain about all kinds of little things.

But let's see what Paul said he went through.

Let's see.

Mockings.

Anybody ever been mocked?

Beatings.

Now, my dad may have beaten me a little bit.

Beatings.

Stonings.

Shipwrecks.

Imprisonment.

And yet, Paul endured everything.

To the end.

He endured to the end.

In fact let's look at Philippians 4.11-13.

Now listen.

This is the first time he was in prison.

This is his first imprisonment.

And you see that at the end of Acts.

So Acts ends with Paul's first imprisonment.

Where he says.

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation to be content.

I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.

I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Let's say it together.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Paul could do all things through Christ, could strengthen him.

Well, then let's go to the end of Paul's life.

Now, that was the first imprisonment that we see at the end of Acts.

But when we go over to the book of 2 Timothy and look at chapter 4, verses 6 through 8, this is Paul's second imprisonment.

He actually was let out of jail at the end of Acts.

He actually made it to Spain.

And then now he sits back in Rome in Nero's prison.

And it's not a country club that he's sitting in.

He's sitting in Nero's prison.

He is near the end of his life.

And he says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering.

And the time of my departure has come.

I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me but also all who have loved his appearing.

Can you imagine that?

That's Paul right before he was beheaded.

You remember, he's a Roman citizen.

So he didn't have to go through crucifixion.

He got to be beheaded.

He got much more, I guess, I don't know.

Better way to go, so to speak.

Exhorted to endure, to finish well.

Not like the Israelites in the wilderness.

You remember Brian preached last week, verses 7 through 11.

They started well, but ultimately they fail to enter God's promised rest because they had hardened, unbelieving hearts.

But exhorted to lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and run with endurance the race that is set for each one of us, looking to Jesus Christ, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

And that is about our passage this morning.

It's an exhortation from the preacher to us to help us endure, to help us persevere to the end, to run right through the finish line into the promised rest.

And that's what we will hear this morning.

And so let's read it together.

Let's read this passage, Hebrews 3, 12 through 19.

Let's all read it together from your Bibles or from the board.

Take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be any of you an evil spirit.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled?

Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?

And with whom was he provoked for 40 years?

Was it not 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, we are unable to enter.

Heavenly Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts and minds be acceptable and pleasing in your sight.

Oh, Lord, our rock and redeemer.

Amen.

So the book of Hebrews, right?

That's what we're in, the book of Hebrews.

The book of Hebrews, the main focus is on what?

The supremacy of Christ, right?

In chapter 1, we found out that Christ is greater than who?

The angels and the?

Prophets.

And now we've gotten into chapter 3.

And now the preacher has said that Christ is greater than Moses.

So you remember he's talking to Jewish Christians.

And now he's saying, hey, Christ is not only better than the angels.

He's not only better than the prophets.

Christ is greater than Moses.

And that was the focus in verses 1 through 6 in chapter 3.

In verse 6, verse 6 says, Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant.

Christ is faithful over God's house as a son.

Christ is actually the builder of the house.

And he closes verse 6 by saying, And we are his house, we are Christ's house, if we hold fast our confidence.

And our confidence is our faith in Christ.

If we endure to the end.

So remember, throughout this whole book, and especially in this chapter, Paul is preaching to Jewish Christians.

And these Jewish Christians were facing severe persecution for their faith.

And they were wavering in their faith.

They were wavering, possibly considering returning to Judaism, which would have been a rejection of Christ as their Savior and Lord.

So that's what we see in verses 7 to 11.

Verses 1 to 6, Christ is greater than Moses.

7 to 11 that Brian preached on last week is that they proved that they were not of the house of God.

And the preacher is saying, don't be like them because they did not hold fast.

They did not endure.

They did not enter God's promised rest because of hardened, unbelieving hearts.

And now we get to verses 12 through 19.

And we're going to focus just on verses 12 through 14.

And this is the exhortation to us that we not end up with hardened hearts like the Israelites.

And so I've got three exhortations for you from the preacher of Hebrews.

And this first exhortation is found in verse 12.

And it is, take care.

If you're taking notes, the first exhortation is take care.

Let's look at 3.12.

Take care, brothers and sisters, lest there be any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God.

Take care.

This verse in the Greek is in the present active imperative.

So it's a present active imperative, which means it's a command.

It's not a suggestion.

Take care from the preacher is a command.

And it's not a suggestion.

It means to constantly be taking heed.

To be constantly watchful.

To never.

Drop your guard against evil.

To never drop your guard against evil.

This phrase, take care, appears 27 times in the ESV in 27 verses.

And I think we have just a few of those verses up there.

And I'm not going to read all of the verses.

You can see them.

But Deuteronomy 4.9, Moses said, only take care.

And keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things the eyes have seen.

Deuteronomy 4.23.

Again, Moses says, take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he has made with you.

2 Peter 3.17.

Peter says, you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, knowing that Christ is going to return, take care.

Care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Take care.

Do not be nonchalant about your faith because sin can creep into your life and harden your heart against God.

Sin can creep in and harden your heart against God.

Brothers and sisters, there's no attitude more dangerous for us, the church, than that of unconcern and complacency.

The Christian never takes his or her salvation for granted.

Now, a couple of things.

If you are in Christ...

If you have been saved, if you have given your life to Christ, then your salvation is absolutely certain.

And we have a couple of verses on that.

John 10, 27 and 28.

First John 5, 13.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

I give them eternal life.

This is Jesus Christ.

And they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

And I really love this verse from 1 John 5, 13.

Such a wonderful verse.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

Well, not only is your salvation certain, but it's a certain actuality that over time, God is going to conform you or transform you into the image of His Son.

through sanctification and we have just a couple of verses there so first your salvation certain second he's going to transform you into the image of his son over time second corinthians 3 18 and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the lord are being what transformed into the same image for one degree of glory to another for who does it come from

The Lord.

So we're being transformed into the image of Christ.

Philippians 2.13 says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

So your salvation is certain.

He's going to transform you into the image of His Son.

But here's the thing.

This process is an active process that God calls us to participate in.

It is a process that we participate in.

And in fact, I showed this slide last time I preached on Hebrews 2 from Martin Lloyd-Jones.

I really just like this.

Where Martin Lloyd-Jones, the pastor, says, In the matter of our righteousness and justification, we can never say too often that we do nothing.

we can do nothing it is entirely the work of Christ so Christ is the one who saves us

But once we are saved and given this new life, then the progressive work of sanctification does not call for passivity, and we are exhorted to activity.

We are exhorted to take care.

Philippians 2.12 says, "...work out your faith with fear and trembling."

2 Peter 1.10 says, "...be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election."

This exhortation to take care is a call of action to card your hearts in Christ.

Heed the message of Proverbs 4.23, which says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it your heart flows the springs of life.

Flows everything you do, which is another translation.

So let's take a second and take stock.

Everybody with me?

All right, let's take stock.

Just even yesterday, two days ago, what do you tend to watch or look at?

What do you tend to read?

What do you tend to listen to?

What do you tend to think about?

Who do you surround yourself with?

Just think about it for a moment.

Just think about it from yesterday.

What did I look at?

What did I read?

What did I listen to?

What did I think about?

Who did I surround myself with?

Now, these little things can get somewhat of, they can get a reputation, these little computers in the hands.

But I'll tell you what, the iPhone, now you scroll to the right on the iPhone, it's going to tell you what you looked at, what, in essence, you thought about.

So it'll tell you down at the bottom where you spent your time.

So at the end of the day, today, if you have one of these little magic devices, scroll to the right on it.

And see where you spent your time.

Listen.

And Connie's helping me getting into gardening.

So I'm thinking about the heart as a garden.

Think about this a second as the heart as a garden before we move forward.

That we can never be too diligent in guarding our hearts against the spiritual seeds of unbelief.

You can never be too diligent about guarding your hearts against the spiritual seeds of unbelief.

Because if we allow them in, and then we allow them to germinate like weeds, what are they going to do?

They're going to take over the whole garden.

They're going to choke out the life.

It's just going to be hard, trampled down earth.

So take care.

Guard your hearts.

And the second exhortation is to exhort one another every day as long as it's called today.

So that first exhortation from the preacher is take care.

The second one is to exhort one another daily.

This is the first time that the preacher has issued, I guess, a corporate call to the church.

When he says, So he's talking about the whole assembly.

And he's going to talk about that again in Hebrews 10, 24, and 25.

When we get there, he's going to say, So the preacher here is telling us that Christianity is not an individual sport, but it's a team endeavor.

Christianity is a team endeavor.

That Greek word to exhort is para kaleo.

Para means to come alongside.

And the verb kaleo means to call out.

Come alongside, call out.

The picture then is that we are to come alongside one another daily, exhorting one another in the practice of our Christian faith.

That's what the preacher is saying.

We are to speak to each other in ways that cause us to have hearts of faith in the superior value of Jesus Christ over all things.

And listen to this.

We fight...

We fight to maintain each other's faith by speaking words that point to the truth and value of Jesus Christ.

We fight to maintain each other's faith.

John Calvin said it this way.

As by nature, we are prone to fall into evil.

We have need of various helps to help us in the fear of God.

Unless our faith is repeatedly encouraged, it lies dormant.

Unless it is warmed, it grows cold.

Unless it is aroused, it gets numb.

The writer or the preacher of Hebrews, therefore, wishes them, and that's us, to stimulate one another by mutual encouragement so that Satan will not steal into our hearts and by his falsehood lead us away from God.

This is John Calvin.

Well, here's another way of looking at it.

This is Chuck Swindoll.

He said, Reaching out and touching someone is not just a nostalgic, sentimental advertising slogan.

It is a biblical mandate.

And how about Paul in Colossians 3.16?

He said, Let the word of Christ dwell in you, richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Did we do that on Sunday morning?

Did we just do that?

We just did that.

Now listen, when he speaks of the word today, when he says exhort each other today, he's talking about this present age of testing right now with opportunities and dangers like the ones that the Israelites faced.

We must watch out and exhort one another daily in the things of faith.

Specifically, we must watch for the deceitfulness of sin.

That's us.

For each other.

Watch for the deceitfulness of sin.

Here, sin advertises pleasure but delivers only pain.

The problem, because we're human, is that our hearts are so willing to be deceived.

Combine this with the reality that sin is deceitful in its very nature, and you see why we have so great a need of godly fellowship, of exhortation, and of warning at the very first stages of temptation.

Therefore, the preacher says, we must exhort one another, lest some of us should fall prey to sin's deception, even to hardening of our hearts against God.

So let's take stock a second.

What are the ways that we exhort each other?

Well, at our church, I just heard exhortation.

Did you hear the exhortation earlier?

Did you hear Mark exhorting Rebecca?

Did you hear Rebecca exhorting and praising the Lord?

Just this time where our body can share with each other and lift each other up is a great way to exhort one another.

But also, what does our church do?

15 minutes, about 15 minutes before the service and at least 30 minutes after the service, there are Christian brothers and sisters here exhorting one another, lifting one another up, welcoming one another.

And I just think that is awesome.

So you can do that before the service, after the service, during the service.

Here's other things that we can do.

We can reach out by letters.

Texts, emails, phone calls.

Pray for others.

Visit others.

Rebecca's not looking to be called out for this, but she visited Craig in the hospital.

Visit others, cheering the faint-hearted with kind words and deeds.

But here's probably, to me, the most important one or gateway, and that's small groups of some fashion or form.

Small groups of some fashion or form.

That could be a community group.

It could be the men's Bible study.

It could be a women's prayer group.

It could be one-on-one devotional partners.

And there's some ladies and gentlemen here that have one-on-one devotional partners.

These are intimate, confidential settings where we can most fully follow through on this command.

Most fully follow through on this command because we can share our struggles with each other to exhort, encourage, and love each other.

A small group opportunity where we can fully fulfill this command.

So let's take stock a second.

The question I'd have for you to consider.

Do you regularly seek out opportunities to exhort other brothers and sisters in the faith?

That could be other brothers and sisters here at Gateway.

It could be other brothers and sisters at work.

But do you regularly do that?

I read one pastor said to come up with a strategy.

to think about a strategy of who you're going to exhort.

So just even like that.

So I would ask, who might you seek out to encourage after the worship service this morning?

Who might you seek out to pray for?

And then I would ask, do you regularly confess your struggles to other brothers and sisters in an appropriate setting as a means to prevent the hardening of your hearts?

Do you have that opportunity?

And do you take advantage of that opportunity?

A wonderful hymn that John Fawcett wrote back in 1782, Blessed be the tie that binds.

He wrote this as a dedication to his church.

And so I thought, because we were a singing church, and because I don't have a note to sing, that we might at least sing two of these verses together.

So let's do it.

Blessed be the tie that binds our heart and create love.

O ship of kindred minds, it's light to die.

We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear, and often for each other flows the sympathizing tear.

I'll sing this last one.

When we asunder part It gives us inward pain But we shall be joined in heart And hope to meet again Amen.

So take care.

Guard your hearts.

Exhort one another every day as long as it's called today.

And the third exhortation is to hold fast to Christ.

Hold fast to Christ.

Verse 14, For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hold tight.

Our original confidence, that's our faith in Christ, right to the end.

Don't ever let go.

Now we're going to do just a little more Greek work right here because this is one of the warning passages in Hebrews.

This is one of the passages that people can read and misinterpret.

So we at Gateway want to interpret the Greek as it's written.

So this Greek verb is genomai or genomai.

It means to be or to take place.

Now here is the key, if you're taking notes.

The preacher uses this verb in the perfect tense here.

This verb is in the perfect tense here.

And what does the perfect tense mean?

It means a completed action that has lasting results or a state of being that is still in effect.

Let me describe it a different way.

It is used to describe actions that were completed in the past.

It was used to describe actions completed in the past, but their effects or consequences continue in the present and into the future.

So let's read it again with just a little bit more meat on the bone, so to speak.

We have come to share in Christ.

That is the blessings of justification, sanctification, ultimately glorification, bodily resurrection.

We have come to share in Christ.

We have received salvation in the past.

If we hold our original confidence, our confession of faith in Christ firm to the end.

So we have been saved in the past and that continues through today into the future.

And the evidence of that salvation of the past is that we persevere to the end.

Not perfectly perseverance, but persevere to the end.

Here's what it does not say.

And I give credence to John Piper on this.

He's got two great sermons on this.

Here's what it does not say that some people misinterpret it to say.

It does not say that we will come to share in Christ in the future.

That's the future tense.

It does not say we will come to share with Christ in the future if we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Rather, we have come to share in Christ in the past.

And the evidence of that fruit of our salvation is that we persevere today and to the end.

Does that make sense?

Some people look at that as a future tense, like it's a workspace salvation.

That we will come to share in the future only if we persevere.

The perfect tense says, no, we have already partaked or come to share in Christ today.

And so the evidence of that is our perseverance to the end.

Piper preaches this, and I agree with him.

He says, the book of Hebrews teaches eternal security.

If you have truly come to share in Christ, you will always share in Christ.

If you are a child of God, you cannot cease to be a child of God.

You can never cease to be a child of God.

Let's think about it this way a second.

The difference between professors and possessors.

Professors claim they believe in Christ.

Possessors really do believe and God lives in them.

The Holy Spirit has sealed them.

The two are similar.

They may even say the same thing.

But how do you tell them apart?

In Scripture, professors eventually drift.

They eventually leave the faith.

Possessors endure to the end.

Let's look at Jesus.

And Jesus spoke a lot about this.

But one of the main places he spoke about is the parable of the soils.

Mark 4, 1 through 20.

You remember, the seed is the what?

It's the word of God, right?

The seed is the word of God.

And the soil is like what?

The human soil.

Heart.

So the seed is the word of God and the soil is the human heart.

And the seeds that fall on good soil, that tender heart, what do those seeds do?

They germinate and they produce an abundance of fruit, right?

Good soil, they germinate and produce abundance of fruit.

But Christ said there is another soil that looks good on the surface.

Probably the soil at my house.

It looks good on the surface.

The seeds germinate.

They appear to be growing well, but what happens?

The plants die.

Die.

When the sun rises, the sun scorches them because they have no roots.

The reason is because that soil is very superficial.

There are huge rocks underground the thin level of soil.

Professors, hear the word of God, but never really believe.

Receive initially with joy, but when tribulation and persecution come, they leave the faith, never really being born again in the first place.

That's Jesus, Mark 4, 16 and 17.

Professors, when things are going good, when the sun is shining, they come to church and they participate.

They may even participate in the sacraments, but when their son gets sick...

When my wife leaves me, when my financial situation goes awry, I don't believe in God anymore.

Jonathan Edwards said it this way.

The sure proof of election is that one perseveres until the end.

The sure proof of election is that one perseveres to the end.

Pastor Jack Graham from Texas said it this way.

I can more easily understand this way.

The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty at the first.

And what is Pastor Graham saying?

He says the faith that fizzles at the finish was never real faith to begin with.

That's why it was faulty at the first.

Now the preacher here uses this term, hold fast, four times in the book of Hebrews.

Four times you're going to see him call out, hold fast, hold fast, hold fast, hold fast.

Chapter 3, verse 6, chapter 3, 14, chapter 4, 14, chapter 10, 23, hold fast.

And this exhortation to hold fast in Christ for these Jewish Christians was because they were wavering due to severe persecution.

So he was doing everything he could to exhort them to hold fast.

How about you this morning?

Is the Holy Spirit speaking these words to you?

Hold fast to Christ this morning.

You may not be wavering due to persecution, even though Hannah shared that our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and in China and other places, the preacher of Hebrews, if they're looking at this passage today, it does apply to them.

The Holy Spirit is speaking to them to say, hold fast.

Hold fast.

Hold fast, my brothers and sisters in Ukraine, Iran, China.

That might not be the case for you or me this morning.

But what about a crisis of faith?

What about a crisis of faith?

A medical diagnosis, a severe financial strain, issues inside of our families.

Christ says, hold fast.

Hold fast.

How about if you've got some forgiven sin in your past?

Sin that you have been redeemed from, but it still haunts you today and it screams that you're unworthy of God's grace.

No.

Hold fast.

What if you've begun to drift away from God because of the siren song of our culture?

We talked about that a couple of weeks ago.

Christ is in the preacher saying, hold fast.

What if you're facing a dark night of the soul?

The darkest night of the soul that you have ever faced and you can barely see your way through.

The preacher says, hold fast.

Hold fast.

Hold fast to Christ, Charlotte, because here's the thing.

He's already holding fast to you.

Ephesians 1 and 2.

Before the foundation of the world, God chose you.

He protested you to adoption to himself.

He raised you from spiritual death to everlasting life.

And he has sealed you with his promised Holy Spirit.

That is the guarantee of your inheritance in him.

So if you struggle, if or when you waver, when you feel that your grip is slipping, when you feel that your faith may fail, Christ himself will hold you fast and he will never let you go.

R.C.

Sproul said it this way, We are secure not because we hold tightly to Jesus, but because he holds tightly to us.

That's our security.

Don Windmiller said this, It is the arms of Christ that save us.

It is the arms of Christ that keep us.

The arms of Christ that save us.

It's the arms of Christ that keep us.

Carrie Bird, three weeks ago, Our hope is in His perseverance.

And Clint may have said that this morning as well.

Our hope is in his perseverance.

Peter, who once denied knowing Christ, said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Listen to an inheritance that is imperishable.

Undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

Hallelujah.

Paul, who once persecuted Christ.

Philippians 1.6.

He who began a good work in you will what?

He will bring it to completion soon.

And the only way he can bring it to completion is if he holds fast to you.

He will bring it to completion.

King David, who grievously sinned against God, wrote, Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up.

God is our salvation.

Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, says, All that the Father gives to me will come to me.

And whoever comes to me, I will what?

I will never, no, not ever cast out.

So brothers and sisters, take care.

Guard your hearts.

Exhort one another as long as it's called today.

And hold fast to Christ.

Don't let go.

Fight the good fight.

Keep the faith.

The finish line to true freedom is closer every day.

Keep pushing.

Keep striving in the gospel.

But most importantly, keep trusting in Jesus Christ.

For he who has promised is faithful.

He will never leave you or forsake you.

He will never let you go.

Hallelujah.

Amen.

Sermons

Exhorted to Endure - Hebrews 3:12-19 - March 1, 2026 - Jay Rabon