Hebrews 3: 7-15

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'”

Last week, Jesus was our Ambassador from God; He told us of the new world that God has for us. The new world is not new to God, but it will be new to us. Jesus also faithfully told us the truth about both Heaven and Hell. His descriptions of Hell were quite graphic and real scary, to be honest, and designed to help us not want to be there. Sadly, there are many in this world who still choose Hell over Heaven every day. This is the dark side of free will. Today we will be called to be open to the leadership of the Holy Spirit based on the faithful leadership of Jesus.

• Rebellion, verses 7-10

God hates rebellion, and even more so when He has clearly demonstrated His hands-on involvement in our lives. There are times when things happen in our lives, and we can ask questions as to the source of the solutions, but when God has explicitly extended Himself as He did with Jesus to us and the whole world, we are without excuse when we rebel. The writer of Hebrews uses the nation of Israel in the wilderness and their open and, at times, scornful rebellion against God. They took that hatred out on Moses, but they really were acting against God. There are two times in particular, once in Exodus 17: 1-7.

“Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water, that we may drink.’ So, Moses said to them, ‘Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?’ And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, ‘Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!’

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also, take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.’ And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?'”

These folks accused Moses, but really God, of bringing them out to the wilderness to kill them. God had revealed Himself in a mighty way to deliver them from Egypt. He had decimated the Egyptian kingdom, killed off their armies, and destroyed their livelihoods, all the while preserving the Israelite people. And they had the audacity to accuse God of wanting them dead. This was the height of rebellion; this was matched in intensity only at the entrance to the Promised Land. Start reading in Numbers 13:30 and on. Once again, they accused God of wanting them destroyed; they implied God had hoodwinked them into the Promised Land to be killed.

When we hear the Gospel and see the accounts of Jesus being real even from non-religious sources and know that there is no doubt that Jesus changed the whole world with His words, His teaching and His death, burial and resurrection, and then accuse God of not loving us, or worse, not even existing, is rebellion. But as children of God, we can be just as rebellious when we, having put our faith in Jesus to save us, now think that He is against us and trying to do us in. We, like the Jews, can accuse God of horrible things; I have, and I am sure you have as well.

• No Rest verses 11-12

Jesus came to bring us rest. No, not to put us to sleep but to bring us rest from the struggles and worries of life. Jesus promised us this in Matthew 11: 29-30.

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Life in Jesus is rested upon His power, His ability to see tomorrow, His promises, and His great faithfulness. He has proven that He is on our side. Romans 8 reminds us that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. While we will go through some struggles and some harsh times, even disease and some persecution, we can, or rather we should never, accuse Jesus of hating us or not being there for us. In fact, we are told in Hebrew 4: 14-16 that He is there to help us. He went through all He did so that He can be a source of hope, a source of help in our troubled times.

When we rebelliously defy God as His children, we find that God takes away the rest we have in Him; life is uncertain, and the loving presence of Heavenly Dad is not felt. We find that our prayers don’t seem to be heard, and life can become one continuous circle of failure.

Yes, this is about God’s people. You will not go to Hell if you are a child of God, but life on earth can feel that way until you get to heaven.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

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Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

“To be, or not to be; that is the question.” This is the famous line from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet.” Basically, the character was trying to decide if he should live or commit suicide. (all emphasis mine – all verses ESV)

To believe or not to believe does not affect only one person but every living human that is on this earth today. This is covered by one of the most recognizable Bible verses, which is John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” All, everyone on the face of this earth today, can have this Salvation if they will but choose it.

There is a condition to this which is found in John 3:18; “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Later, in 1 John 5:10-12, the apostle expands on this; “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

A couple of points here: for this to be of value, one must believe that the Bible is the true and inerrant word of the Father, passed on to us through about 40 Holy Spirit-inspired writers; and that our Heavenly Father cannot, nor will not lie for any reason (Titus 1:2; 2 Timothy 3;16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Jesus had no illusions of what this earth would be like toward the end of this age that we are living in. In Matthew 7:13-14, He talks about the two paths; one leads to destruction, and the other to Salvation. His comments were that the pathway to destruction is wide, and many will be on it. The path to life, or Salvation, is narrow, and few will be on it. We’re seeing this quite clearly today.

John 16:33 Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Today, it’s become fashionable for the secular world to label the followers of Jesus as “haters.” We represent some conceived threat to all the alphabet groups because we don’t accept their lifestyles. False prophets are being found more and more in the pulpits of “evangelical” churches, and antichrists are causing laws to be made that “criminalize” many of our beliefs. The thing is, we do not hate anyone, just as our Savior commanded. However, we do not have to like or accept their abominations.

One thing is for certain, Satan and his forces are more active today than ever before as he knows his next to last hurrah is very close. That will be the 7-year tribulation. His final act will be at the end of the Millennial Reign of Jesus on earth when he will be cast into the lake of fire forever (Revelation 20:10).

Evil in the world today is increasing and at all levels that we have not seen before. More and more people are being drawn into the things of this earth rather than consider where they will spend eternity. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

The “new world order” is getting bolder by the day, and there’s talk of gaining more and more control of our everyday lives. This is not just in one area but involves the whole world. Cash money is on the brink of being removed, and all ability to buy or sell will be computerized. Right now, in some countries, parents face criminal prosecution for speaking out against all the gender and sexual-related issues to their children. It’s getting very close to this in America today.

Evil is abounding. There are violent episodes taking place more and more that were rare in the past. Yes, there has always been evil since the fall of humans in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), but today the incidents are gaining in volume and becoming more widespread than ever.

Isaiah 5:20, which was written about 2,700 years ago, is just about a perfect description of the radical left’s attitude today. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” Without giving the long list, the “Godlessness” actions and attitudes listed for the last days are all here as well (2 Timothy 3).

Again, the sheer volume should be shouting that Jesus will be calling all His flock up to meet Him very soon. For anyone who believes that they have plenty of time to make their decision, please consider 1 Corinthians 15:52; “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed.” Qualified mathematicians have calculated this to be considerably less than one second.

One day soon, all the true believers will hear that trumpet of God and the shout from the archangel, and we’ll be taken up to meet our Savior in the air. Those left behind will probably notice that something happened, but the full impact will not be realized until a short time later. They will be about to enter the worst period of time that this earth has ever seen or has ever experienced.

Sadly, all who remain will have chosen to be here. Now is the time to really consider that you have a choice of Salvation or Destruction. Yes, there will be those who will call out to Jesus to save them during the tribulation/wrath, but most likely, the cost of this will be martyrdom. The majority will go along with the evil leader and will voluntarily take his mark in order to be able to buy anything.

Jesus paid in full for each and every human soul on this earth, if they will have faith and believe in Him. All who confess they are sinners in need of a Savior and who believe that Savior is Jesus and call out for forgiveness will be saved (Romans 10:9-13).

All who leave this earth without Jesus as their Savior will end up in the Lake of Fire, as given in Revelation 20:11-15. There are no other options in spite of what false prophets are saying.

Therefore, the choice is up to each and every person to make. Will it be eternal Salvation with the Savior, or will it be eternal Destruction with the devil and all his demons (fallen angels)? Our Heavenly Father will force no one to receive and accept His Son but will turn no one away who truly calls on Him. No one has sinned so greatly that they cannot be covered by the gift of the shed blood of our Shepherd.

It is totally your choice, as no one can make it for you. The results of your decision will be made known very soon. We don’t know the day, hour, or even minute that the call will come, but from all the signs present, it will not be very much longer. In Luke 21:28, Jesus said when these things “begin” to happen to look up, as our redemption draws near. All the signs started just a decade or so ago and are speeding up every single day.

Today is the absolute right time to decide your eternal fate: Jesus or the world; Rapture or tribulation. In the end, nothing of this earth will be worth spending eternity in hell for.

Shalom! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com