Sermon Reflection Questions – Hebrews 3:12–14

[12] Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. [13] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hebrews 3:12-14

In yesterday’s sermon, we saw the need from these verses to be intentionally involved in one another’s lives. There is a danger that we all face of having a heart hardened to God, but the church has been given to us by God to be the remedy. The church is a gift given to us by God. The church is the people with whom we share in Christ together, with whom we hear God’s word together, with whom we follow Jesus together.

As a follow-up from the sermon this week, take some time to think through these questions below. Read the other passages mentioned. Consider God’s word, and think about how you need to apply it in your life and in your relationships at Mountain Creek.

• Read Hebrews 3:6–19.

• What’s the connection between the history of the wilderness generation in v.7–11 & v.15–19 and this exhortation in v.12–14?

• Is it possible for someone who has truly been saved to lose her salvation? (See Romans 8:31–39; John 10:27–30; Philippians 1:6)
  • What then is Hebrews discussing here in this chapter (particularly in v.6 and v.14)? (See 1 John 2:19)

• According to these verses, what is one provision that God gives to ensure that his people stay faithful to the end?

• How does this change the way we typically think about the church?

• What are the commands in v.12–13?

• Who are we to be sure doesn’t have an “evil, unbelieving heart”? (see v.12)
  • How are we to go about that? (see v.13)
  • What does that mean, to “exhort” someone? (consider the same word translated as “appeal” in Romans 12:1 and 15:30; as “urge” in 1 Cor. 4:16; and as “entreat” in Philippians 4:2)

• Has anyone ever done that for you in your life? What was the circumstance, and what was the outcome?

• In what ways has sin deceived you and hardened you at different points in your life? How could a sister or brother have helped you in that time?

• But some may say, “Doesn’t this mean that we’re being judgmental?” What does Jesus say about that, not only in Matthew 7:1–2, but also in Matthew 7:3–5?

• What would it require of us, to truly live out Hebrews 3:12–13, on both the giving end and the receiving end?

• Practically, what should this look like for you in your Life Group at MCBC? What specific steps can you take to exhort / encourage one another towards greater faithfulness and to receive that same encouragement from others?

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Bert Watts has served since December 2016 as the Senior Pastor at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, where he has been on staff since 2012.

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash