GOD'S TODAY


A. "WHEREFORE AS THE HOLY GHOST SAITH, TODAY, IF YE HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART." Heb. 3:7, 8
  1. Today may mean eternity:
    1. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, his brother; and Jacob made this offer to Esau, "Sell me this day thy birthright" - Gen. 25:29-34
    2. That the word "today" meant eternity - compare Gen. 25:34 with Rom. 9:13 and Heb. 12:16
    3. The decisions of Ruth and Orpah were eternal - Ruth 1:14-19. Orpah returned to her people and her idols; that was the end of her, as far as the record goes.
  2. The word today meant the conversion of a nation, as in the case of apostate Israel: 1 Ki. 18:36, 37-39.
  3. It meant redemption to the penitent thief on the cross: Luke 23:43
B. "IF YE HEAR HIS VOICE"
  1. The voice of assurance:
    1. "Fear not" - Isa. 41:10, 13, 14; 44:8
    2. "Come unto me" - Matt. 11:28-30; Isa. 65:1-3
    3. "It is I" - Matt. 14:27
  2. The voice of power: Heb. 12:26; Ex. 19:18; Luke 8:24, 25
  3. The voice of love: Jer. 31:3; John 13:1-3; 1 John 4:8
  4. The voice of hope: Jer. 29:11; 31:17
  5. The voice of a friend: John 10:4, 5. "What a friend we have in Jesus."
  6. The voice of truth: John 14:6; 16:12, 13
  7. The voice of our God and our Redeemer: Isa. 41:14; 49:26; 54:5; Jer. 50:34
C. "HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS"
  1. Not to respond to the call of mercy is to harden the heart:
    1. Lot's sons-in-law did just that - Gen. 19:14
    2. Pharaoh of Egypt hardened his heart at every appeal by God to let God's people leave Egypt - Ex. 7:14; 8:15
    3. Stephen's message was rejected by the Jews, and hardened their hearts - Acts 7:1-53
    4. The invited guests rejected the wedding feast of the gospel and so hardened their hearts against God - Luke 14:16-24
  2. Every time we hear God's word and refuse to accept it:
    1. We harden our hearts.
    2. The people before the flood heard Noah preach for about one hundred and twenty years; they rejected his message, and so hardened their heart - Gen. 6:1-9; Luke 17:26-29
  3. Not to respond to God's invitation of mercy is to reject mercy:
    1. Saddest words our Lord ever spoke -- "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." - John 5:40
    2. Paul uses very strong words to express this truth, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" - Heb. 2:3
  4. God's today:
    1. Excludes man's tomorrow.
    2. Jesus emphasizes this fact in the parable of the rich farmer who planned for tomorrow - Luke 12:16- 20
    3. James, too, calls attention to this same truth, "Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain. Where as ye know not what shall be on the morrow" - Jas. 4:13-16
    4. God's today means now! 2 Cor. 6:1-3; Heb. 3:13; Isa. 49:8


Design © John Bryant 2011