Finding Encouragement

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one 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.”
-Hebrews 3:12-13

Truth is often like a check, it is useless unless we know how to cash it. In this passage, the overarching aim of the apostle is to show us how to make use of Christ’s prophetic office as God’s word to us (Heb.7, 12). Every man has need of two things: a word from God and a way to God. In Christ, we have both. In Jesus, we have the Guide and the Way, the Teacher and the Lesson, the Priest and the Sacrifice, the Giver and the Gift.

The general teaching of this text is to stick close to Christ and to never stray from His side. In order to do so, we need divine counsel. There is a simple division found in these verses, which helps us.

  • First, we are given a condition to avoid (v.12)—“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, that falls away from the living God.”
  • Second, we are given a direction to follow (v.13a)—“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today’…”
  • Third, we are given an admonition to remember (v.13b)—“…so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

A Condition to Avoid (v.12): What is the danger we are to avoid?

The greatest threat of encountering any danger is blindness to it. If you don’t see it you can’t avoid it (Cf. Matt.15:14). Here the Apostle teaches us that falling away is not the danger to avoid, but rather, it is the condition of an evil, unbelieving heart which results in apostasy.

The warning is to “take care,” or “see to it,” or “take heed” as the King James Version translates it. However, what are we to heed? That we not only hold to the Word, but that we believe it. “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, that falls away from the living God” (3:12).

We must not only understand the Bible, but also believe it. God did not give it for speculation, but for our simple, absolute and living faith. The “old school” understanding of the word “believe” was to “to live by.” We will always find that we live by what we believe. The secret of a right life is a true faith, and the only proof that our faith is true, is how we reflect it in the way we live. Do we believe the Word of God and are we living by it? We must “take heed” that we do so or else the condition of an evil, unbelieving heart will be the result. Are we putting our whole weight upon it and making it the standard, the safeguard, and the guide of all that we think and do?

Medicine never taken can never cure. Food never eaten can never nourish. Likewise, a Savior never heeded can never be a Savior to you.

What is the object we are to “take heed” of or “look unto?”
The writer answers, “The heart.” Why?

  1. The heart is as a king, it has absolute command over every other part of your life (Prov.4:2, 23:7).
  2. The heart is a spring from which all the affections and actions flow (Luke 6:45).
  3. The heart is God’s throne; it is where He desires to sit most (Prov.23:26).

What is the cause of an evil heart?
The writer tells us, “Unbelief.”

Acts 15:9 says that God purifies the heart by faith. Do you want a clean heart? Do you want a pure heart? Then faith is the divine channel, which connects you to the blood of Jesus (Rev.1:5). On the other hand, unbelief makes the heart evil, and the mind and conscience are defiled as well. (See Titus 1:15)

  • Unbelief was the door by which sin first entered man’s heart (Gen.2:17, 3:4-6).
  • Unbelief makes useless all the means of grace (Heb.4:2).
  • Unbelief perverts the plainest teaching (John 10:25).
  • Unbelief makes men reject those whom God sends (John 5:38; Matt.21:32).
  • Unbelief is the root of all bitterness (Heb.12:15-17).
  • Unbelief makes men do detestable acts (1 Tim.1:13).
  • Unbelief excludes men from heaven (Heb.4:11).
  • Unbelief thrusts men down to hell (Luke 12:46; John 3:18).

If faith is the mother of all graces, unbelief is the mother of all vices. Since Christ is the Author of our faith, then the way to avoid this condition is to listen to Him, to come to Him, and to rely solely upon Him. The condition to avoid is an evil and unbelieving heart. Moving from a condition to avoid, let us consider now:

 

A Direction to Follow (v.13a)

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today.’”

The first truth we learn here is that this encouragement is to be mutual—“Encourage one another…” This encouragement is not one-sided, or done only by those who have the gift of encouragement. Rather, every believer is to do this—giving it at times, receiving it at times—and because we are a body, then we can be assured that what we do to a brother or sister comes back to us.

The second truth is that this encouragement is to not only be mutual, but continual—“Encourage one another day after day.” It is not enough to think of this duty as something we do sometimes (Gal.6:9-10). We need encouragement daily. The duty is like the food we eat. Just as we need daily bread, we need daily encouragement. This divine antidote is needed every single day of our lives because of the war we’re in from the outside and from within.

How are we to encourage one another mutually and continually?

  • 1 Corinthians 12:25 says to care for one another.
  • James 5:16 says to pray for one another.
  • John 13:34 says to love one another.
  • Romans 15:14 says to admonish one another.
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says to comfort one another.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says to edify one another.
  • Ephesians 4:32 says to be kind to one another.
  • 1 Peter 3:8 says to have compassion on one another.
  • Romans 15:7 says to accept one another.

There is one last directive to follow. Not only are we to mutually encourage each other, and continually encourage each other, but finally, we are also to urgently encourage one another—“Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called, ‘Today.’”

The word “Today” implies a limit; or while there is time and opportunity. Jesus spoke of a work that He had to do while it was day, because when the night comes, no man can work (John 9:4). The Apostle is seeking to remind us that we must perform this duty of encouragement while a man still lives (Eccl.9:10). There is a season for ministry or salvation (2 Cor.6:2), but there is also a time when both the time for ministry and salvation will be over, and that time is the time of death.

What is encouragement? It is pouring courage into the soul. It is a side-by-side ministry. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit in order to encourage us, but the way that we are to find this encouragement is in the Scriptures (Rom.15:4-5) and in the duty of encouragement to others.

“And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Heb.10:24-25).

How do we do it?

  • Ask what another brother/sister needs; do not presume what you think they need.
  • Be faithful in the ministry of attendance. Just showing up not only puts you in an environment of blessings, but it often is an encouragement to others.

The direction to follow is to encourage each other mutually, continually, and urgently, while we have the opportunity, by pouring courage or strength into each other’s souls. Finally, let us come to:

An Admonition to Remember (v.13b)
The consequences of neglecting this duty are that it puts us in danger of being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” How does sin deceive us? John Owen suggests three ways:

  1. It tells us that we can indulge in one sin alone. What’s the deception?
  2. It tells us that we can love God and serve Him while in sin. What’s the deception?
  3. It tells us that after a little while we can give it up on our own before it ruins us. What’s the deception? (Golden Treasury, pg.269)

Here Paul plainly tells us that mutual and continual encouragement is the means of softening the heart, but its neglect leads to hardening of the heart. Like the sun that melts the wax or hardens the clay, encouragement, or its lack thereof, results in a change for the good or for the bad.

This applies to everyone—“so that none of you…” To aid us in preventing the deceitfulness of sin, apply these remedies.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-22—“Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”

  1. Make prayer as naturally and daily as breathing air or wearing clothes.
  2. Learn to thank God in everything knowing that He has a purpose.
  3. Do not forsake assembling together or attendance as a means of grace.
  4. Welcome the Word and take heed to all that it says.
  5. Examine everything carefully by the standard of truth.
  6. Delight in the things God loves.
  7. Avoid sin, even in the least degree, in conscience or action, by the Spirit’s power and the grace of Christ.