Hebrew 3:13a
"But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; (in this Age of Grace) lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." (and be lost lawlessness of humanity)
Now we have already looked at how Eve was confronted by deception. And after all, what did old Satan, the Devil say to Eve? "Hey, it will do you good! There is nothing bad going to come from eating of this tree. It will do you good. You will be like God!" Well what was that? Deceit! And we see it at every hand today. We're just reading another article on the meth drug problem. How in the world can our young people even think of taking a chance? Because it has such immediate, evidently, immediate gratification. And it just puts them in an immediate euphoria. But what happens. Within a little while they have to have another one. And in a little while they have to have still another one and pretty soon they are hooked.
My goodness, we just read that since the gas prices have been so high, that there have been a lot of drilling activity there in Oklahoma, Wyoming and other Nortwestern states once again and we're sure you read the same things we do. Last spring when a lot of these drilling companies were looking for men to work out there in the drilling fields, you know what the employment rate dropped out there, NO, it should have dropped but because of drugs? Fifty percent! Fifty percent of the applicants could not be hired because of their drug problem. Now listen, that is shocking. What is our nation coming to? But, you see, that is the deceitfulness of sin. Oh, it just looks so good. It’s so inviting. Yes, it gives you euphoria. It makes you feel good for a little bit. But then it drags you down and we know the end result. Ruined lives by the thousands all around us. And the sad part is that those of us that behave ourselves have to pick up the bill for it. That’s what gripes us. Why are our health expenses so ferocious? Because most of the people laying in our hospital beds are there because they have abused their bodies with cigarettes, booze and drugs and we have to pay for it.
Well, we love them for Christ’s sake, because He loves them, but the sad fact is, it was their choice. You know, we always have to think when we were just a young fellow and we will never forget the term that we used. Self-destruction! The human race is just bent on self-destruction. Isn’t that what it is? They just self-destructive. Why? Through the deceitfulness of sin! Oh, it is deceitful.
Alright, then we're going to come on up to the first word. Hardened. We’re still in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13.
Hebrews 3:13b
"…Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness…"
What does that word hardened imply? Well, the further people go into sin the more their consciences are seared against what is wrong and they know it’s wrong, but it doesn’t bother them. Then finally they get to the place where they can do it without batting an eye. And they become hardened to it. Alright, let’s go back to Romans again because we like to back everything up with Scripture. Because after all, what William thinks, that doesn’t mean anything. But, what does The Book say? Alright, for one thing, some of the results of man’s sins are listed here in Romans chapter 3 and we are all aware of it. We see it all around us. This isn’t anything that was unique only to Paul’s day. It is just as evident today. Romans chapter 3, and we are going to start in verse 10.
Romans 3:10
"As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." Now that comes clear out of the Old Testament, so it has always been this way. There is none that understand. There is none that seeks or searches after God. Why? They’ve got their own laws. They are lawless, so far as the things of God are concerned. Now verse 11.
Romans 3:11-12
"There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one." They are of no earthly good so far as God is concerned. And there is none that does good, no not one. Now here it comes. This is the description of the lawless, hardened individual in verse 13.
Romans 3:13-18
"Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have use deceit; the poison of asp (or poisonous snakes) is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes."
Why? They are lawless. They have no concern about the law of God. Alright, keep your hand in chapter 3 and we will be back in a little bit. Now, let’s flip over to Galatians, because, see, this is what the Book called it. This isn’t our idea. This is what The Word of God calls it. Oh, the deceitfulness of sin! It has such an allurement. We don’t think any of us would deny that most sin, on the surface, is alluring. That’s why we call it temptation. It has that ability to get our attention. Alright, now in Galatians chapter 5, here they are listed. They are listed for us to be aware of. That we never, never compromise the fact that these things are the result of sin. Lawlessness. You know, we are living in a society where nothing is wrong anymore. We don’t know what sin is. It is a sad commentary and our nation is suffering the results of it. For we have evil on every side and the choices we have are all of them evil but one is more evil than the others. Alright look at how Paul lists it here in Galatians chapter 5 verse 19. This right along with what he wrote in Romans chapter 3.
Galatians 5:19-21 "Now the works of the flesh (of the carnal individual) are manifest, which are these; adultery, (sexual immorality is always at the top of the list.) fornication, (which is just another word for it only in a worse state.) uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, (instead of worshiping the Living God, what are we worshiping? A dead god! That’s what idolatry is. It’s worshiping a dead god instead of the Living One.) witchcraft, (what’s that? Drawing on the powers of the satanic world.) hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Why? Because they are lawless. They are hardened by the deceitfulness of lawlessness. Alright, come back to Romans chapter 3. And oh, this just says it so clearly. It’s their lawlessness and their living in the deceitfulness of sin which is far worse than they have any idea of. That it’s going to be when they start in on it, then it follows that they are guilty. They know that they are guilty. And that is why they have got to constantly subject their guilty feelings with more and more of the same. But, deep down they know that in the eyes of a Holy God, they are guilty. Alright, let’s look at it. Romans chapter 3 now verse 19. Now, don’t lose sight of the verse in Hebrews: through the deceitfulness of sin, they are being hardened.
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