“Deceitfulness Of Sin”

Hebrews 3:7-19:

⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,⁸ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:⁹ When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.¹⁰ Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.¹¹ So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)¹² Take heed, 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 To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.¹⁴ For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;¹⁵ While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.¹⁶ For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.¹⁷ But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?¹⁸ And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Context of Hebrews 3:7-14:

Verse (7) denotes words that were originally a warning to Israel not to provoke God, lest they be excluded from the “rest”.  This same warning is given to us as Christians today.  In verse (8) the Israelites had hardened their hearts against God in the wilderness and the same is possible for Christians today and when we harden our hearts we provoke God and we provoke God through our unbelief.  In verse (9) when it says “your fathers tempted me” It means they tempted God through their rebellion and unbelief.  The proof was forty years in the desert as their punishment and they still did not believe.  In verse (10) the Lord was grieved with that generation because of that unbelief because they errored in their heart and had not known God’s ways. This means they could have known but had no desire to know.  So, in verse (11) God said “I am swore in my wrath and you will not enter into my rest.” And when it speaks here of “rest “it pertained to the land of Canaan, however in our case today as Christians that would be enter into my salvation.   In verse (12) Paul says take heed, he warns the believers by the examples of the Israelites failures in the wilderness.  Then in verse (13) Paul tells them to exhort one another daily, meaning preach to one another daily in a constant frequency and preach the Cross and then he said do it while it is day, which means do it now for the Cross is the only answer.  Then he says lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, which is a rejection of the sacrifice of Christ.  Paul says in verse (14) we are partakers of Christ, if we remain steadfast in Christ and the Cross.  Then verse (15) goes on to say, today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.  Then Verse (16) says for some, when they had heard, did provoke, meaning they all provoked God to wrath (except Joshua and Caleb). Then in our final verse (17) it says “but with whom was He grieved forty years.  This refers to God’s wrath continuing simply because their unbelief continued.  So, with that said are we willing to die in our wilderness of sin today because of our unbelief, because of unconfessed sin in our life?    So, let’s talk about sin and what it is and how God hates the sin in our lives.  Amen.

What the Bible Says About Sin:

Let’s start with what sin is, sin is lawlessness, in 1 John 3:4 it says “”Everyone doing sin is doing lawlessness.”    In other words God sets up the rules by His word and sin breaks God’s rules.  When we break God’ rules through our sin we enter into what is evil, what is unjust and what is unholy.

Although we serve a loving and merciful God he still holds us accountable for our disobedience.   This is why Psalm 110:10 says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  We ought to have a reverential fear of the Lord in that we aim to please Him in our walk before Him.  Paul said in 1 John 1:8-9 “⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”  “This is what God wants me to focus on in this teaching tonight and that is the” Deceitfulness of Sin”.

Are we aware of the sin in our lives or are we deceiving ourselves by acting like it’s not sin. By pretending we have no sin?   When God led me to these few verses of scripture I was reminded of what is happening today with this pestilence that is spreading rampantly throughout the world.  This COVID-19 or Corona Virus if you will and I had to ask Lord have we provoked you to wrath like the Israelites did. Have we hardened our hearts against you?  Have we deceived ourselves to think that we are righteous when really we have provoked you because of the constant sin in our lives? That’s when I thought, sin is deceitful because we truly believe we have no sins.

We think because we have not murdered somebody or hurt somebody physically through abuse we say we have no sin.  But there are sins of the heart and spirit.  When you are full of hatred and wickedness it is sin.  When you lie, cheat and steal it is sin.  When you have affairs with someone else’s husband or wife it is sin.  When you practice all kinds of perverted sexual behavior it is sin.

So, if we think we have no sin thin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

When we continue in sin we continue in lawlessness, which means we continue to break God’s law and it speaks to our unbelief and our unbelief is what provokes God.  Amen

So, God wants us to examine ourselves, he wants us to specifically examine any sin that is in our lives and repent and return to Him while there is still time.  God was wroth with the Israelites for forty years in our text and He caused them to wonder in the desert for forty years because of their sin, unbelief and the hardness of their heart.   It’s time to do a heart check; it’s time to examine the heart because of the “Deceitfulness of Sin” in our lives.  The bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 “⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”  This means to you and I that we cannot trust our own hearts.  Why?  Because the heart it is desperately wicked.  This is why when Jesus made his triumphant entry in John 12:12-13 in the morning the people said  Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel that come in the Name of the Lord and they laid palms at his feet and it was the same people who later said crucify Him.  So, you see we can’t trust your own heart without the love of  Christ abiding down on the inside, without the word of God down on the inside of us. Amen.

Confessing Our Sins To God:

Romans 10: 9-10 says “  ⁹ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  So, we confess, we believe in our heart and we are saved.  It is with our heart that we believe, but our speaking and confessing brings about the salvation.  Amen.   The bible also tells us It is of the utmost importance to repent and confess our sins before God, for it says here He is faithful and just and that He will forgive us our sins and not only will he forgive us He also will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Amen

Sin is Rebellion Against God:

Leviticus 26”27-28 says “²⁷ “‘If you still refuse to listen to me and still turn against me, ²⁸ I will show my great anger; I will punish you seven more times for your sins.”  So sin is reacting against God, it is in opposition to God. Sin is spiting God; the Hebrew word for sin is “pasha” which means to transgress or transgression.  It means to revolt or rebel.   So when we refuse to listen to God, when we refuse obey his laws or his Word then we provoke God like the Israelites did here in our focus text.  We just cannot live life on our own terms.  God provided the rule book on how we are to live and that rule book is the Bible.  Amen.  So based on what we are looking at today in lieu of this pandemic, I believe our sin has provoked God. So we must now repent of our sins and ask for mercy to a Holy God and pray that He will hear our cry. Amen.

The Stain Of Sin:

The bible says in Romans 7:22 “²¹ I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.²² For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.²⁴ O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”  Even though we have been transformed by Christ’s redeeming work, even though we wish to do good, the doing good is not always there.  Proverbs 30:12 says “¹² There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.”  This is the stain of sin. We can wash and wash but we will not become clean unless we confess our sins unto a Holy God.  Are we that generation that believe we are pure in our own eyes?  You see, that is the “Deceitfulness of Sin.”  It’s time to repent, today is the day of salvation.  It is time to remove the stain of sin from our lives.  No longer should you allow Satan to deceive you, no longer shall you be deceived by your own sin.  Repent today and receive the salvation of the Lord.

God Hates Sin:

Deuteronomy 25:16 says “¹⁶ For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.” So you see that sin is an abomination to the Lord, he hates sin.  It is contrary to His nature according to 1 John 1:5 which says “⁵ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”(NASB) There is a penalty for sin for the scripture says in Ezekiel 18:4 “⁴ Behold, all ^[a]souls are Mine; the ^[b]soul of the father as well as the ^[c]soul of the son is Mine. The ^[d]soul who sins will die.”

 

So where sin is something has to die for its penalty is death.  So I submit to you to come out from your sins and receive the salvation of the Lord for it says in 2 Corinthians 6:17 “⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”  We must understand that sin defiles and sin pollutes the soul.  In 2 Corinthians 7:1 it says 7 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” So let us cry out to the Lord for salvation and through that salvation let it cleanse our flesh and spirit in the name of Jesus.

All Have Sinned and Come Short of Gods Glory:

In 1 Kings 14:8 David was a man after God’s own heart, yet he entered into temptation and committed unimaginable sin, adultery, deception, betrayal and murder. This is why the bible tells us in Romans 3:10 “There is none righteous, no, not one.”

This means that sin has affects everybody. None can escape sins grip without the help of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  The scripture further tells us in Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin: and so death passed on all men.”  When Adam sinned we all fell.  You see Adam was the origin of all sin and death, while Christ is the origin of all redemption and life.  So no longer shall you and I be deceived by the “Deceitfulness of Sin.”  We have been redeemed from the curse of the law.  Choose Christ today and receive the free salvation of Christ.  The word repent means to turn away from all transgressions for Ezekiel 18:30 say “³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.” So in conclusion of this teaching I submit to you to do what Proverbs 28:13 says “¹³ He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”  So will you repent and receive the mercy of God today. If you are ready and willing to receive the salvation of the Lord, please repeat the sinner’s prayer for salvation after me.

Lord Jesus, I confess to you that I am a sinner, I repent to your Lord of all my sins and I ask that you come into my heart and be Lord over my life.  I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day.  From this day forward I believe that I am saved and set free and I commit my life, my soul and my salvation unto you and your kingdom work.  I thank you Lord Jesus for my life and my salvation.  In Jesus Name!  Amen.

If you prayed that prayer with me then you are now a born again believer.  Please follow up by finding you a bible believing church that teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. Attend regularly and go to Bible Study regularly and you will grow in Christ and develop a personal relationship in your salvation.

God Bless You!

Pastor Gina