Do Not Harden Your Heart
- Details
- Sunday Morning Service
- Jeremy Richards
- Copalis Community Church
- 26 July 2026
- Hebrews 0:
And we've been talking about the two different houses that Jesus built was instrumental for building the house in the desert, which is according to the law. The goal of that house was for it to be the most effective means for bringing people into his eternal house, into the one house built on grace and his work in our lives. The goal is the law is our invitation to bring us into Christ's house. It is the most effective invitation that exists. That house we see that Christ is the head over, that is his spiritual house has two pillars that we looked at last week.
And these pillars exist without end, firm to the end. The one is confidence. That Christ's people exude a confidence as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Confidence. We see that in the lives of the apostles they were untrained and ordinary men, yet standing before the Sanhedrin, the most powerful religious council, they exuded confidence.
We see that they exuded confidence until the day of their death. It's a part of the Christian life. Confidence. Individuals who were not confident before the Holy Spirit produces confidence in the life of every believer. The second end is rejoicing of the hope there is joy in a Christian's life.
This joy is especially seen in difficult times when other types of foliage, temporary happiness, die away. Joy remains rooted and producing. These things are continuing pillars in the life of every believer. They last from the beginning of their walk with Christ until the end. They don't fail.
They hold up in a Christian's life. Okay, chapter three, verse seven. What happens if you don't enter that spiritual house as a result of having an invitation?
Chapter 3, verse 7. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness when your fathers tested me, tried me and saw my works 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with that generation and said they always go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways. So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. So here we see that there is a strong communication happening that there is a danger associated with not heeding the invitation to enter Jesus Christ spiritual house.
You, I'm sure, have been invited to parties and you had to weigh the, you know, do I go? Do I get out of my chair? Do I put my pants on? Do I get out of my work clothes? Do I come to the party or not?
Right? And you make a decision. I either go to the party or I stay home. Here we're going to recognize that There is an invitation to come into Jesus house. Yeah, you might miss what he has.
But there are also consequences for not heeding an invitation to enter. And we're going to look at those a little bit today. Today, you do not remain static just because you refuse to enter Jesus's house. That there is a house that you remain in. Just as there were pillars in Jesus's house based on confidence and joy, so the house that people who refuse to enter Jesus's house, there are also things that are apparent in the life of every person who stays in that legal house.
Okay, we need to question. Okay, which houses I am I in? In verse seven, it says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says. So we're going to be looking at a chapter, chapter 95, which is the rest of all the way into verse 11 in. In Psalms 95.
But it's prefaced with a statement here. It says, therefore, as the Holy Spirit says. What this church believes and is in our statement of faith and what the Christian church has believed since the beginning is that the Holy Spirit is a person, a person. That in the Trinity, in the one Godhead, one God, there exists three independent persons who, who have responsibilities, feelings, who speak, who act. Now, the question that you and I can never fully come to an understanding of is, how is that possible?
No one ever has. No one ever will. It is an enigma. But the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit speaks. People speak.
Powers don't speak. I've been. I was talking to an individual this week, and he didn't understand how his cherries got stolen out of this tree because he believed in karma and he was a good person. And my understanding, whenever I think about karma is, who controls karma? If it's just a power, if I would say, you know, bring power here, electricity.
We work sometimes with our breaker boxes open in the houses we work on. And I tell my kids, hey, look, you touch that, it looks like nothing, but it's powerful. You touch those metal spots in there, you'll see that there's power. Well, how can that power differentiate between one good person and another if it has no mentality, if it has no ability to understand, if it has no personality, how can it decide something? Power has no value unless it has direction.
Here we see that the Holy Spirit has direction. He is a person. He speaks. He can differentiate. He can make decisions.
He is a person, and therefore he has something to say. The Holy Spirit is speaking to us not just as a power, not as just stars shining in the sky. They can't do anything. They're powerful, absolutely. But can they do anything for you except direct you north if you're lost?
They have no power. They have power, but they cannot use that power to help you. Would a person turn to power over the individual who has made that power?
The Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit says. This is what he says today. If you will hear his voice. Number one, that Christianity, what the Holy Spirit is doing, he is doing today.
Christianity as a religion is interested in accomplishing something today. It is wanting something to happen now. It is not so concerned about yesterday. It is not living in remorse about what happened or what could have been or the things that fell by the wayside. No, it is about you acting today in what God is calling to you.
It's not so much worried about tomorrow, the things that could happen. It is worried about what is happening today. And so you and I, if we're to be in a receptive space to what the Holy Spirit is saying, it has to be focused on what is God calling you right now. Stop being worried about yesterday. Stop being concerned about what happened in the past.
How can you let the weight of years add up and that be the thing which is influencing you today? Bad things happen. They hurt, they're a struggle, they're a weight. But if you continually allow those things to be the thing directing you, you will always struggle.
We went hiking and Obed was concerned the whole way that someone put a weight in his pack, a rock in his pack, and he always wanted to take off his pack just to make sure that someone didn't put a rock there. He was concerned that, hey, I got to carry today's burden for me, but I have to carry a rock too. It's more than I can handle. Some people are experiencing today's problems with the added weight of years worth of rock in their pack. The Holy Spirit wants to speak to you and motivate you today, not based off of yesterday.
Today. This is the moment. It is not about yesterday or tomorrow. It is hearing what an individual who claims to have authority over the whole universe, who knows the end from the beginning. It is the ability to hear his voice, know the truthfulness of it, and act according to what he is saying today.
Today, if you will, hear his voice, this voice that he is speaking with us, is desirous of getting people to understand that there is.
Let me think of the word for a minute. There is disastrous consequences for rejecting an invitation. If you remember, we talked about last week, there was an invitation sent out by the master of a feast. He wanted his house to be filled. And he sent out that invitation.
His goal was that his house would be filled. We see it wasn't just that they were missing the feast that was significant, but there were also consequences for missing the feast. It means they had to live in the position that they were in before they had the invitation. They had to continue in the house that they were a part of before they were invited to the house where they could be feasting. Yes, it is an absolute thing to miss out on what God has for you.
But it also means that you have to experience the damage as a result of living in the house of the law. There are only two houses. You're in one or the other one. There is eternal felicity and it's based on confidence and joy. I know whom I have believed and I am confident that he is able to keep that which I have entrusted to him until the day of Christ Jesus.
There is a confidence in the house of God. There is a joy that when everything else goes wrong, I have something that flourishes under the heat of the sun. Son. It's a beautiful thing. You lose your happiness when you what you depend on breaks down.
But what Christian depend on never breaks down. Rejoice when your enemies say bad things about you. When you go through difficulting trials. No. Look up.
Your salvation is nearer now than when you first believed.
Praise God. When the day comes when they strip us of the things that we trust in temporarily, then what flourishes in the sun will make real noise.
It's coming. Be patient.
But if you refuse to enter that house, you remain in a house. Just because you don't want to come to the party doesn't mean you're excluded from that which the house you live in offers. Just because you don't want to live in a house that exemplifies joy doesn't mean you escape from the one where hatred reigns. It says, today, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. Today is the opportunity.
You are presented with an invitation and you have the willingness, the ability to make a decision, to enter into one or stay in the other. This is given to us in a picture.
I'm going to read the scenario a little bit in Numbers, chapter 13.
In chapter 13, verse 1 of Numbers and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am given to the children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone, a leader among them. So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord. All the men who were heads of the children of Israel. We're going to skip all their names, Though it is interesting.
In verse 17. Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. And said to them, go up this way into the south. And go up to the mountains. And see what the land is like.
Whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many. Whether the land they dwell in is good or bad. Whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds. Whether the land is rich or poor. And whether there are forests there or not.
Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. I think Moses was kind of like my wife. Without fruit for a long time. You know, Spy out the land.
But make sure to bring back some fruit with you. Also, we've been just having just some. It's been winter a long time with no fruit. But he wanted to know what this land was like. He wanted to send out the spies, go up and see what it is.
We've been in the wilderness a long time. We've been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. We've been living dry and dusty. And I want to know what the land is like.
It says in verse 23. Then they came to the valley of Eshcol. And there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes. They carried it between them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs.
In verse 26. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron. And all the congregation of the Children of Israel. In the wilderness of Paran and Kadesh. They brought back word to them.
And all the congregation showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him and said, we went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey. And this is its fruit. They were given the opportunity.
Yes, we sent spies. And it is that good land which the Lord promises. Flows with milk and honey. This is the fruit of what we received. But they were told something else.
Verse 28. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south.
The Hittites, the Jebites. The Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea. Along the banks of the Jordan. So here we see a picture.
There is a report given. Yes. That land, that house in which the Lord is leading us. Is a good house. But the journey to inhabit that land is a difficult and a dangerous one.
There are enemies that are present there that want to keep you from inhabiting the land. That's the decision that you and I have today. We're being called by the Holy Spirit. I want you to enter into a land. The land is flowing with milk and honey.
Goodness is there in which you are able to participate today in the feast of the Lord. It bears fruit year round. This is the fruit of it. And all of us, I think, can testify that that house, that land which the Lord has promised in us, is a good one. We want it.
We've been living in dry and dirty conditions for too long. But then they speak up and say, yeah, but the journey there is difficult. It's dangerous, the way is hard, the gate is narrow, it is an upward path. And some of us are discouraged today from entering the land because of the bad report that our carnal flesh gives us. It's too difficult to go there.
It's too hard of a path, the one in which is easy and broad today is better. Because of the difficulty of obtaining that good land.
As a result of the bad report that these 10 men, 12 gave, 2 gave good, 10 gave bad, the whole congregation rebelled. They decided it would be better to stay in the house that we currently have in the desert, then confront the dangers on the house that's built on promise, the promised land. You and I also, I believe if you would ask yourself honestly in your heart, you would recognize that the way of the Lord is better. His promises are true. That thing which he promises to you and your family is much better than the world you live in.
I can't see otherwise. But people turn back. They decide the way is too hard, and they decide not to know. I'll stay where I am. They think it's better there than risking the danger of the path to this.
In this house and to this house, that rebellion has consequences. It is not just an invitation. It is an invitation to escape something without the method of escape, you remain entrapped under the law, which has consequences, says, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. In the day of trial in the wilderness, Moses said to them, just as Moses said to everyone that's still under the law, turn around and head back into the wilderness.
The people lifted up their voices and wept. No, he said, 40 years, you rebels, until every single one of your bodies is turned into a corpse. In the desert, the laws work in on the life of every individual, always produces death. When you reject an evil invitation, an Opportunity from what? What you're being invited to out of fear.
It puts you in the place of having to continue under the law. You say, not me. Well, let's look. What is that law based on? What is it based on?
In 9 and in verse 9, we're going to see that. It says, in the day of trial, in the wilderness where your fathers tested me and tried me and saw my works. 40 years. If you look at those wilderness wandering years under the law, there is a repetitious pattern that develops. Even God saw it.
He says, these 10 times you have tested me. These 10 times you have tried me. There is a motivation within people under the law to push the limits of the law, to always see what you can have and escape with a desire always for more, a pushing against God's commandments. It says, where your fathers tested me, tried me. They were wanting something different than what God had given them.
This lasted, it says, and saw my works. 40 years. They wanted something and they always complained against God. They resented what he gave them and they always wanted more. This, this, this, this struggle between God and man.
Him wanting to give something, but man also struggling for more. As a result of this, that God inflicts different kinds of punishment on this. People who strive against him struggle against his dominion, push against his boundaries, want something more than what he offers, wanting to eng lifestyles that are different than he has commanded. That God responds to this push.
It says, I was angry with them these 40 years. This 40 years represented their whole life. A whole life wasted in a futile struggle against God Almighty. Has anyone ever fought against someone stronger than them before?
My kids would say, no, never.
But as I get older, I'm recognizing that I'm not as strong as I used to. And when I sense that there's a possibility that one of my children is stronger than me, I give up. I don't want to do it. I don't want to fight against someone. I like wrestling.
Off Neil, he's my partner. I tell him, hey, off Neil. You're never going to beat me. I can beat you every time. He's £50 and I can handle him easily, right?
But there's a fear one day he might be stronger than me and I will wrestle him no more, right? And so people sometimes have fought against stronger people and they realize, you know, know I'm never going to do that again. But there's someone stronger than man that people fight against their whole life. They wrestle with him. I don't know what they're thinking.
I don't Understand why they would strive against the individual who has enough power to call out the universe by name, as if they could forge a path in his kingdom under his dominion successfully, as if they could navigate without his wisdom. Why in the world would they struggle and test and push against the limits of Almighty God? And yet individuals just like these people in the wilderness engaged in that struggle their entire life and then their bodies died. It says that this kind of struggle evokes a response from God. It says in verse 10, therefore, I was angry with that generation and said, they always go astray in their heart and they have not known my ways.
Individuals in this under. In this legal house, in this house that is built on law, are focused on obeying and putting external regulations in their lives, trying to benefit themselves in some way. But they always go astray somewhere. There's always a place where they are at fault. I couldn't believe.
One thing I was unprepared for in Israel was the religious nature of people who live in the year 2026. I couldn't believe it. When we were walking down Jerusalem and see these people with these big fur hats, I thought, what in the world? All different kinds of hats and weird types of clothes. I was like, really?
That is interesting. What are they trying to accomplish? To see people wrapping themselves around their arms with things and putting things on their heads as they go to prayer. What are they trying to do under the law? But just as we see with Jesus, they did something to the external.
But they always falter in their heart.
They always falter in their heart just because they put on an external show. The law cannot touch the heart. Jesus came to address the heart. It says, they always go astray in their heart as a result of not having the heart of God. They cannot walk in the ways of God.
They are foreigners to that path which Jesus Christ has for people that love him. They cannot understand, nor commune with, nor walk in a way that is truly people pleasing to God. They go astray, and they did not know my ways. In verse 11, it says, so I swore in my wrath.
These people, this house, this group of individuals who walks according to the law in this house of which we were all born into. I swore in my wrath. They shall never. They shall not enter my rest. The good that I have prepared for them that love him, they will not be able to participate in.
My friends, I would say encouragingly that this is a strong warning to us that this is a very powerful motivation, that this invitation that you are and I are hearing is not one that should be taken lightly. That should not be dismissed and put off until tomorrow. You should not let the past influence what you are hearing today. You should not let the future difficulties of the journey influencing that which Christ is calling to us. That this is a very serious invitation that the Holy Spirit gives to the life of people.
You may think that you need to wait for something, but the Holy Spirit does not. You may think you may need to accomplish something or to feel some sort of emotion, but the Holy Spirit just wants you to come. You may think that you're not good enough or something, but the Holy Spirit is just saying, I want you to accept the invitation just the way you are.
He wants us to do it to escape the punishment and degradation, the humiliation, the spiritual drying up of souls in the desert. He wants that, but he wants us to experience his true rest. Therefore. And what we're going to be talking about for the next few weeks is there remains a rest for the people of God. He wants you to participate in that rest with Him.
My hope, if the Holy Spirit is talking to you today, some of us have stories. For me, it was when I was 18. I had the things that I wanted at that moment. I have been accepted to an engineering college. I had a basketball scholarship.
And my goals, I wrote in my thing. When you graduate, you write a little blurb about what you want. And I wanted to work half a year and ski the rest. I just wanted to satisfy my flesh with fun. That's it.
And then I was in a little Sunday school class and Newt Razor was the one. There was maybe two or three people in it. My sister, myself, and maybe one more person, I don't know. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me. And what I remember, if I could put it in words, is, jeremy, you are a slave to sin.
And you will be empty the rest of your life unless you serve me. At that moment, skiing lost its value. A lot of money lost its value. The emptiness of my soul was more than I could live with the rest of the my life. The hypocrisy, the ugliness, the hatred, the judgmental attitudes was more than I could handle.
And I personally, I believe, made a decision at that moment to follow God. And I am grateful. I am very grateful. And now I wouldn't trade what I have for what I wanted back then. Him.
My encouragement for you and I is to listen to that voice and respond to it today. Don't harden your heart. There's only one other option. Let's pray. Oh, Father, we do come to you, Lord so full of grace and opportunity, Lord, without even denying that there's difficulties, Lord, give us courage to respond to the voice of the Lord, to enter into that spiritual house to avoid the alternative, Lord, and we thank you.
In Jesus name, amen.