The Danger of an Unbelieving Heart

Pistol Pete Maravich was the youngest inductee in the basketball hall of fame and perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time. While playing a pick up game of ball with some friends he suddenly he dropped dead on the court. It was found later that he had died from a heart attack. Pete Maravich had a congenital heart condition about which he never knew. There was no external evidence that showed he had a bad heart. Yet his heart quit when he did not expect it because it was not right.

The author of Hebrews describes for us a group of people, who in all outward appearance, seem to be Christians. And yet inwardly they have an evil heart of unbelief that could someday fall away from the living God. The key idea of this passage is those with unbelieving hearts may on all accounts appear outwardly as believers but are being led into an apostate state by which their true condition will be made known. In this passage, the author of Hebrews shows us three aspects in describing a heart of unbelief.

I. The Spirit’s Direction to Warn against a Heart of Unbelief

The first aspect in describing a heart of unbelief the author discusses is the Spirit’s direction to warn against a heart of unbelief. We find this aspect described in verses 7-11. There he notes, “Just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you will 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 forty 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.”’” There are three items we can notice about the Spirit’s direction to warn against a heart of unbelief.

A. It is communicated

The first item we should notice about the Spirit’s direction is that it is communicated. God Himself is speaking to us about this matter. In verse 7 it says, “Just as the Holy Spirit says.” Now the quotation the author is using comes from Psalm 95. In the psalm, the psalmist is calling for genuine faith filled worship. But the Psalm is not just a man’s words. It is God communicated truth. The author says the Holy Spirit is speaking. What we have to understand is God uses all types of literary forms to speak to us in the Bible. In this case He is using the poetry of the Psalms to communicate to us. But regardless of the form of communication; history, prophecy, drama, epistle (or letter) we find it to be God’s words to us. This is why Paul is able to say, “All Scripture is God breathed.” There is a real need for caution in our approach to Scripture. Some people will minimize a portion of the Scripture because of the type of literature or how it is written. But regardless of its form all of it is God breathed.

But others minimize the Scripture’s importance in their lives by relegating it to non-relevance. They may say it is the Word of God but indiscriminately throw out the “it doesn’t apply to me” trump card so God has no hold upon their lives. The truth is that we must be very careful to interpret the Word properly so we are not treating the Word of God contemptuously. Even here, in the songbook of Israel, we see God speaking clearly and decisively to us.

B. It is contemporary

And this brings us to the second item we should notice about the Spirit’s direction and that is it is contemporary. The author goes on to proclaim, “TODAY, if you hear His voice . . .” The key word is “today.” The Scripture is always contemporary. Many have said the Bible is an antiquated book out of date for a modern society. But this is not true. It is speaking today and its message remains as a bedrock for a society that finds itself in the instability of flux. The Word of God never loses its significance. People may want to view the Scripture as outmoded but it is not because the Scripture is inapplicable but because they do not want to allow their lives to be ruled by it. Not only is the Holy Spirit speaking through His Word He is speaking to us and He is speaking to us TODAY.

I continually look to the Holy Spirit to apply His Word to our hearts. I find it exciting how often I find God’s Spirit taking His Word and making application of it to each of us each week. And He does this in astounding ways. I remember a few years ago someone came to me after the service and said, “You don’t know what I’m going through but this is exactly what I needed to hear today. If that happened once or twice I would be amazed but God continually does it and in my ongoing prayer to God I persistently claim the promise of God to bring fruit from the proclamation of His Word. This is what Hebrews 4:12 says, into which we will delve in detail in a couple of weeks. “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” There is a living quality to the Word of God. It interacts with our own lives. And the more we ingest it and the more we long for it, the more we will see it doing its work in our lives. It is contemporary. I don’t know about you but I find my own spiritual disposition changes with my engagement to the Word of God. The more I desire the Word of God and look into it I find myself more greatly changed by it. My spiritual temperature rises when I am more intently seeking God in His Word. Even Peter in his first letter says we should desire the pure milk of the Word like newborn babies so we may grow thereby. But Peter says the prerequisites of putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander must be in place in our lives if the Word is going to make a difference.

C. It is commanded

The third item we should notice about the Spirit’s direction is it is commanded. In verse 8 it says, “Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me.” Here enters our responsibility. God commands us not to harden our hearts when we hear His Word. There are only two responses when we hear God’s Word. Either we accept it or harden our hearts to it. There are no other options. There were those in the city of Athens who, upon hearing the Apostle Paul preach on the resurrection, said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” But the reason they did this was to put off their need for Christ. The Scripture said these men, who said this, spent their time doing nothing “other than telling or hearing something new.” They told Paul we will hear you again not because their hearts burned to hear the truth but because they were putting off the Word of God. The Scripture doesn’t say they ever did hear Paul again. There are two responses to the commands of the Word of God. I will obey it or I will harden my heart against it. The Spirit of

God is giving us clear direction to obey God’s Word and not harden our hearts against it.

II. The Serious Application to Avoid a Heart of Unbelief

The second aspect in describing a heart of unbelief is the serious application to avoid a heart of unbelief. We see this in verses 12-14. Here the author says, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any 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.” There are two truths the author regards in the serious application to avoid a heart of unbelief.

A. The result of a heart of unbelief

The first truth he regards is the result of a heart of unbelief. In other words, what is the outcome for a heart of unbelief? Or we might say it another way. What course does a heart of unbelief travel in its journey? You see a heart of unbelief is very peculiar. It may outwardly express a desire to follow God or to “believe” in this God. But ultimately the person who has a heart of unbelief wants nothing to do with the God of the Bible. The author says the heart of unbelief falls away from the living God. An unbelieving heart substitutes genuine faith in the God of the Bible for a pseudo-faith in a god of its own making. Whenever an unbelieving heart encounters a difference between the God of the Bible and the god that it has set itself to follow it falls away from the living God.

I hope you understand there is a big difference between the God of the Bible and God. The God of the Bible is the living God. Any other “God” is an idol. Psalm 96 makes this clear. And the passage makes it clear concerning an issue in the spotlight today. Psalm 96:5 says, “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” You see that which the nations called “God” was simply an idol because it didn’t create the world and all that is in it. The true and living God is the Creator God. But when someone doesn’t accept God created all there is as the Scripture declares He did they have fallen away from the living God and have accepted a god that is after their own making. These people have an unbelieving heart. There are no real substitutes for the living God. And those who have an unbelieving heart fall away from Him.

But what is the pattern an unbelieving heart follows? Does the author give us some clue? Yes he does. In verse 13 he says what we must do so that “none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Those who have a heart of unbelief allow the deceitfulness of sin to gain a chokehold upon their lives. The heart of unbelief doesn’t start by falling away from the living God that is its final outcome. It starts that trek by following the path of the deceitfulness of sin. No person with an unbelieving heart starts out by saying I am going to fall away from the living God. But they end there. Look again at the end of verse 13, “so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” First we must see the great force of sin upon the unbelieving heart. The Scripture here calls it the deceitfulness of sin. He gives sin human characteristics. Sin, comes to us deceitfully. It makes itself appear innocuous or harmless. There is a justifying of it. Well, this group of people does it so it can’t be that bad. This sin can be OK in some circumstances. You don’t think God wants you to be too holy do you? One time won’t hurt. No one will know. This is how the deceitful sin portrays itself in the mind of the person with the unbelieving heart.

It starts with the deceitfulness of sin but continues to progress. What is the next step? Hardness. The person who continues to be duped by the deceitfulness of sin will soon become calloused to his or her condition. The person who first had pangs of guilt associated with their sin will soon become cold to their conscience’s stinging influence. When someone with an unbelieving heart rejects the living God for a kinder gentler god, a god who doesn’t judge sin, a god who winks at our desire to assert our wills over his then their hearts become calloused to the living God and they want less and less to do with Him. The result? They fall away from the living God. So what is the path of an unbelieving heart? Unbelief allows sin to reign in a person’s life. Sin brings callousness to their conscience and callousness results in apostasy.

The author says, “Beware that there not be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

B. The remedy for a heart of unbelief

The second truth the author regards in the serious application to avoid a heart of unbelief is the remedy for a heart of unbelief. In verse 13 he says, “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.” Though there may be those with an evil heart of unbelief, the author holds out hope for them if they will only put off their unbelief, if they will repent. And he gives us a remedy by which we may combat the evil heart of unbelief.

I think the principle we can learn from this is that of genuine concern for one another. He says we are to encourage one another day after day. We are to show concern for each other by being involved in the lives of each other. A body is not a body unless it functions together. We are not a body unless we are interested in the spiritual well being of one another. It is one thing to superficially look to each other but unless we are genuinely concerned for each other’s walk with Christ we are not acting like the body, as we should. If this is the case we are a dysfunctional body. We need to be showing concern for each other by going past the superficial, outward concern that is so pandemic in our frenetically paced society in which each individual doesn’t have time to care for themselves never mind looking out for others. But if we are going to be an authentic church ministering for Jesus Christ then we need to get past our own comfort zone and be concerned about the spiritual good of others in the body. We should be discipling one another. We should be discussing Scripture with one another. We ought to be praying with one another. We ought to be encouraging others in their walk with Christ.

There are two things we ought to notice about encouraging others in their walk with Christ. First, it is to be done continually. The author says to “encourage one another DAY AFTER DAY.” This is not some one-time event by which we are absolved from any further involvement in the lives of others. We need to be continually involved with others. A second thing we should notice in our effort to encourage each other is that it is limited in time. He says that we ought to do this as long as it is still called today. Now I used to think the author meant that “while it is still called today” referred to the present time before we get to heaven. After all we won’t need to encourage one another in heaven because we’ll always be encouraged. And time, as we know it won’t exist. So I thought he meant encourage one another while you are still here on earth. But in the context of this passage the author is telling us we need to encourage others while they can still hear from the Holy Spirit before they harden their hearts. He says, “Today while you hear His voice.” Those who are hardening their hearts against the Spirit of God will one day soon not be able to hear the Spirit of God speaking through His Word and then you will have missed your opportunity. We must be diligent to call people to have a believing heart before the opportunity to do so is gone. So let us encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today. So no one here would be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Let me add one closing remark to this section. Again the author says, “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. Someone in the hold of the deceitfulness of sin can have no assurance of his or her relationship with Christ.

III. The Sad Illustration of a Heart of Unbelief

The last aspect in describing a heart of unbelief that the author discusses is the sad illustration of a heart of unbelief. The author uses a series of questions to bring home the point of what happened to the nation of Israel in the desert. We see this in verses 15-18. There he says, “While 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 bodied fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?”

Three characteristics about these people show the sad illustration of a heart of unbelief. The main event discussed by the author is found in the passage from Numbers 14 that was read this morning. What had happened? God had promised to give them the land of Canaan. But the people failed to trust God and became disheartened at the prospect of dying at the hands of the enemy. They wished they had died in the desert instead. So God granted them their desire. He would send them back into the desert for the next forty years to slowly die one by one in the desert and so that generation (every man 20 years old and upward) were refused the promise of God.

A. They saw the works of God

The first characteristic of these people that shows the sad illustration of a heart of unbelief is they saw the works of God. In verse 16 the author asks, “who provoked God?” The answer he gives is it was everyone who came out of Egypt with Moses. These people had seen the power of the Lord in the plagues against Egypt and Pharaoh. They walked between the walls of water as they crossed the Red Sea. They experienced the provision of bread from heaven and quail for their daily food! They saw water pour forth from a rock to provide drink for 2 million plus people. And yet their heart of unbelief caused them to miss the wonder of God’s awesome power. So when He told them to enter the Promised Land their heart could not conceive that they could conquer the land. What a sad prospect.

But there are people today who are the very same way. They say, “If I had been living in the days of Jesus I would have believed then. If I had followed Moses and seen all those things they saw I would not have doubted. But they will not believe God’s Word now. They say, “God, give me a sign to show me your Word is true.” Or “God I will believe your Word if you only deliver me from this sin or this problem or this difficulty.” That is a heart of unbelief. God says, “Believe My Word first.” God has given us enough to see His Word is true. The Pharisees had seen Jesus perform many miracles and they said, “Lord give us a (that is another) miracle and we will believe.” Jesus said, “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.” A sign is never enough for an unbelieving heart. It always wants one more. Jesus said to Thomas when he said he wouldn’t believe until he put his fingers in the nail marks and side of Jesus. And when Jesus confronted him He said, “Stop doubting and believe.” The author of Hebrews says the same to you. “Stop doubting and believe.” God’s Word is His Word. What He has said is true. Quit being deceived by an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God. Put your trust in Him alone and in no one else. He has provided deliverance from the penalty of hell for you. He has given you everything you need to wage the spiritual battle in which you are engaged. Believe His Word that says the wrath of God abides upon you but that a way for your deliverance has been provided.

B. They experienced the judgment of God

The second characteristic of these people that shows the sad illustration of a heart of unbelief is they experienced the judgment of God. In verse 17 the author says, “With whom was God angry for forty years? His answer? “It was with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness.” Because of their unbelief they experienced the judgment of God. They died in the desert. They wandered, lost and aimless, without hope of ever getting out of there except by death.

But what they experienced did not just affect them. It affected their children as well. The children suffered for their parents’ unbelieving heart. Listen to what the Lord said in Numbers 14:33. “Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness.” It is a sad thing for your family if you have an evil unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God. For the blessings they might have experienced because of your faith and obedience they will forfeit. And the longer you remain in this state of unbelief and disobedience the longer those whom you say you love will languish in the bane, the curse, of wandering in the desert.

Do you yet understand the seriousness of such a condition? You will not only be judged for your own sin but for the folly that you brought upon those around you. And please expand this just a little more. Your faithlessness affects everyone around you. Those who see you at work see someone who claims to have a relationship with God. But what they see does not impress them with the living God. It may even turn them away from the living God. So your faithless unbelieving heart prevents others from experiencing the blessing of knowing the living God.

C. They were refused the promises of God

The third characteristic of these people that shows the sad illustration of a heart of unbelief is they were refused the promises of God. Look at verse 18. “To whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient (or disbelieving).” Because of their unbelief in God’s promises God refused them His promises. He had promised Israel would enter the land but because they refused to believe He refused to grant it. God’s promises are not for those who disbelieve but for those who believe. God will not give the promise of His peace to those who refuse to believe Him. God will not give the promise of His salvation to those who cling tenaciously to their own self-righteousness. He will not give the promise of His power to overcome sin if we do not believe John 15:5, “I am the vine you are the branches, apart from Me you can do nothing.”

These people in the desert were refused the promises of God and they lost their opportunity to know the blessing of living in the land. They even tried it after God turned them out. They said, “We have sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.” But as they attempted to do so they were soundly repulsed by the enemy. They were refused the promises of God. They missed their opportunity to receive them and it was too late. Why? Verse 19 says, “So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” Friends, God has given us so many precious promises. How many of them do you not cling to because you do not believe them? There is a limited opportunity to receive them. Israel was not able to enter the land because of unbelief.

Now I think the main application of this passage is to those who have not found Christ as their Savior, or should I say have been found by Him. There are those who claim to know God but the god they know is not the living God and a show of outward religion is all they have. They may even have some facility in handling the Word of God but they do not believe it. And one day they will fall away from the living God.

But can this passage apply to those who have put their trust in Christ as their Savior? I think so. Does this mean you can lose your salvation? No, someone who has truly been saved cannot lose it, though you can live in misery failing to enter the Promised Land, if you will, the land of claiming God’s promises.

But let me tell you that for anyone who claims to be a Christian this is a dangerous place in which to be. For who can discern whether or not your lack of trust in God’s promises is simply an evil unbelieving heart that will fall away from the living God? This is a dangerous place to be because who knows when you will no longer wish to follow God at all. The author leaves us with a severe warning to cause us to reflect on our position in Christ. As the Apostle Paul said, “Test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.”

Friends, let me encourage you today not to be lulled to sleep by the deceitfulness of sin and be led astray into falling away from the living God. Embrace the promises of God so you might overcome in the battle by His power alone and not find yourself falling away from the living God.