“Today, If You Hear His Voice” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“Today, If You Hear His Voice”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

March 15, 2026 :: Hebrews 3:7-19

In today’s section of the sermonic letter to the Hebrews, we have another serious warning.

This pastor who is writing this letter of exhortation to this group of primarily Jewish Christians is concerned that they may be going off the rails. He’s concerned that they might be tempted to veer off the path, out of the race of faith in Christ.

So, he’s started writing this letter to encourage them (and all of us!) to fix our eyes on Jesus. And to not stop fixing our eyes on Jesus.

He’s been motivating us to fix our eyes on Jesus by reminding us Who Jesus is and how much greater Jesus is than anything and everything else including the angels and including Moses.

Last week, he got into Moses (verses 1-6). He told these Hebrews that the great Moses was faithful as a servant in all of God’s house. Worthy of much honor. But Jesus is faithful as a Son over all of God’s house. Worthy of infinitely greater honor and attention. He urged his readers to fix their thoughts on Jesus. To consider Jesus and meditate on Jesus and fix our thoughts on Jesus as the apostle sent on a mission from God to save us and the faithful high priest to represent us to God through the sacrifice of His own flesh and blood.

He said, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus”... or else. In verse 6, he said that we are God’s “...house [or household, God’s family], if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” Which implies that if we do not hold on to our courage (our bold confidence in Jesus) and the hope of which we boast (and glory in Christ Jesus), then we are not actually a real part of God’s household after all.

And it’s that scary thought that prompts him to write the warning of verses 7 through 19, our text for today.

[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]

Listen to the first part, verses 7 through 11.

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.’”

The title of this message is taken right from verse 1 (and also verse 15!) and also from Psalm 95[!] where it was written first in holy Scripture:

“Today, If You Hear His Voice”

That word “Today” is very important in this section of the letter to the Hebrews (3:1-4:13). It shows up in verse 7 and then in verse 13 and then in verse 15, and then we’re going to see it again and again in chapter 4. “Today,” he says.

When does he mean, “Today?”

Well, interestingly, he’s quoting from Psalm 95 which was written about 1,000 years before Hebrews was! That’s the psalm on the front of your bulletin. The psalm I read from earlier. The psalm that we were singing at the start of our worship time. And the psalm that was just read to us.

It was written 1,000 years before this pastor wrote Hebrews!

And it starts with that beautiful reminder that we should bow down and worship and kneel before the LORD our God our Maker. We should be thankful and sing to the Rock of our salvation. Because He is the great God and the King above all Gods. He made everything, and He is our God, and we are His sheep, just the sheep of His hand!

And then, without warning, the psalm turns into a warning!

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...”

What day is “Today?” It was the day of the psalmist! It was the day it was written as a song for Israel to sing and pray and heed.

I read this week that Psalm 95 was often read on the Sabbath at the start of a weekly time of worship and learning in the synagogues of Israel. So, “Today” was the day that the Psalmist wrote it, but it’s was also every day that the people heard it. Every Saturday.

And the writer to the Hebrews applies it to his readers in that day in the first century, about two thousand years ago now.

And so it’s appropriate for us to say that this “Today” is...today.

Isn’t that amazing?! In a sense, this is the same “Today” as when the psalmist wrote it 3,000 years ago.

How can that be? Well, it’s because of Who was the Author behind the author. Who does Hebrews say wrote Psalm 95? What’s it say in verse 7? “As the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today...’” Ultimately, the Holy Spirit wrote Psalm 95. And He’s eternal, so He can say a word that lasts 3,000 years and it still be “Today.”

And, at the very same time, that word “Today” expresses urgency. Even though it’s been 3,000 years, it will not always be “Today.” Certainly many people have lived and died during this “Today.” You and I might die today.

The psalmist and the epistle-writer both want those who hear God’s voice in this moment to respond.

“Today, if you hear his voice...”

#1. LISTEN UP.

I have four points of application I want to make from this passage this morning, and that’s the first one.

Today, if you hear his voice, listen up. Don’t block your ears. And whatever you do, don’t harden your hearts.

There is a potentiality that the ones who have been singing, “We are the sheep of His pasture,” will find themselves hardening their hearts against their Shepherd.

Don’t do it! Don’t join them. Don’t put your fingers in your ears. Don’t harden your heart. If you do, you’ll be acting like whom? Who is the most famous person in the Bible to harden his heart?

Pharaoh, right? The enemy of God. The enemy of God’s people in the Book of Exodus. God said, “Let my people go.” And Pharaoh said, “No.” God was speaking to Pharaoh through Moses, and Pharaoh refused to listen. And then God’s people refused to listen to Him, too.

That’s what the psalmist was writing about in Psalm 95. ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did” (vv.7-9).

What’s he talking about? He’s talking about the Book of Numbers and the Retreat of Unbelief. Probably the lowest, saddest moment in the Torah.

God’s people had been rescued from Pharaoh and escaped from Egypt. They had seen the Ten Plagues and not been touched by any of them. They had walked on dry ground through the Red Sea parted on both sides. They had seen Pharaoh’s army drowned. They had been to the mountain and been given the Law through angels (2:2). They had been fed manna. They had built the Tabernacle. They had drank water that came out of a rock!

And then one day, God said “Ok. It’s time to go into the Promised Land.”

And they said, “No.” You can read about this in Numbers chapter 14. Maybe this afternoon, go back and read the story that inspired the song that is quoted in the letter and is applied to us today.

Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land to get some intel before their God-sent invasion. And they all came back and agreed that the Promised Land was as wonderful as promised, but ten of them said that it was impossible to conquer. There were giants there and giant problems there. “We are like grasshoppers. There’s no way.” And two of them (Joshua and Caleb) said, “With God we can do it! Those giants are grasshoppers to Him.”

But that entire generation of Israelites who had left Egypt refused to go into the Promised Land. They hardened their hearts against God. And not just once but again and again for forty years! The psalm says that they tested and tried God for forty years and saw what He did and still they rebelled. It wasn’t just once but repeatedly. Verse 10.

“That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' [This is what they are like.] So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'” (vv.10-11).

What a sad and scary thought. God made a promise that the entire generation of Israelites would not enter the Promised Land. He promised that they wouldn’t get the promise. “I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

We’ll talk more about that word “rest” next time when we get to chapter 4. The writer of Hebrews thinks it stands for something much bigger than just physical rest in the land of Canaan.

For the Israelites then it was rest from their enemies and a home of their own flowing with milk and honey. And they were barred from receiving it. The door was shut in their faces. Because they refused to listen.

Now, we know that the second generation was eventually let in after the forty years was up. Caleb, Joshua and all of those who were kids during the Retreat of Unbelief were eventually allowed into the Promised Land.

But all of the rest of them died in the wilderness. More than 600,000 just counting the men. More than a million, I’m sure.

And that cautionary tale inspired this song, Psalm 95, a real banger, that says, “Don’t be like them!” And Hebrews quotes that psalm and says, “Today[!], if you hear his voice...”

#2. WATCH OUT.

Now here’s the warning. The warning is in verse 12.

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

See to it. Take care. Look out. Watch out, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a hard heart that turns away from the living God.

The Greek word for “turns away” in verse 12 is “apostaynai.” We get our word “apostatize” from it, “apostasy.” That means to willfully, stubbornly, finally reject and forsake God. To put your fingers in your ears and turn your back away from the living God.

He’s warning them. They’re in danger. God has spoken by His Son, and they are in danger of ignoring Him. Today, if you hear His voice, watch out. ...

Now, we all need to hear this warning. Sometimes more than others. But we all need it. Because we can be in this danger and not realize it.

You know when the danger comes? When things are going really well (and we forget that we need God from whom all our blessings flow) and when things get tough.

That’s what was happening to these Jewish Christians. They were starting to be persecuted. Things were getting rough. All of a sudden, following Jesus wasn’t so fun.

It was the same thing for the Israelites in the wilderness. They weren’t the only ones handing out tests in the desert. God was testing them, too. He allowed hard times to fall on them. He let them see the giants in the land. There was suffering on the menu. God was testing them.

And they failed.

This pastor tells these brothers and sisters to watch out that they don’t fall into the same trap as their forefathers did.

Don’t let your heart grow hard.

Don’t let your heart grow cold.

Don’t let your heart grow sinful.

Don’t let your heart be taken over with unbelief.

Don’t stop trusting Him. Watch out. Or you won’t be let in.

Where is your heart right now? What’s it like? Is your heart soft? Is your heart tender towards God? Is your heart pliable and hopeful and trusting? Is your heart open?

See to it, church, that it stays that way. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He’s our only hope. Today!

And He’s talking to you today. When it says, “Today, if you hear his voice...” he’s not talking about some mystical out-of-body experience where God invades our soul with some extra-biblical word from God. For you and me, we are hearing from Him any time we open this book and read God’s Word!

Greg Strand talked about that this week at Stay Sharp. He said some people say, “I just want God to speak to me.” But they keep this book closed. This is the chief place where He speaks to us! Today!

The Holy Spirit is speaking to us today as we read His Word. Are you reading His Word? Last week, we talked about making a plan. Setting an alarm. Putting it on the calendar. You want to hear God’s voice? “In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son” (1:2).

Listen up and watch out. Because it’s possible to make what looks like a good beginning and yet have an awful ending.

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

How do you keep from doing that? How do you keep from becoming a statistic?

Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We do it together. Look at verse 13.

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

#3. HELP OUT.

Today, if you hear His voice, help out your brothers and sisters in Christ by encouraging them. You see, fixing your eyes on Jesus is a group project. Notice that he says, “one another.” We can’t do this alone. We need each other. I need you, and you need me. We all need the church. Not just this hour of singing and praying and preaching, but church as family. Church as community.

We need to be in each other’s lives.

We need to be in each other’s faces.

We need to be in each other’s inbox.

We need to be in each other’s ears.

Verse 13 says, “Encourage one another...” How often? Daily!

It’s not enough to just come to church once a week (or once a month). We need to get into each other’s ears every single day with encouragement.

The Greek word there is “parakaleo.” It’s the same word that we learned all about last Summer in Thessalonians. Remember that there are two flavors to encouragement: consolation and exhortation. Comfort and calling. And we need both. We need to be reminded of God’s promises and His work in our lives. And we need a good swift kick in the pants.

We need to be exhorted and challenged to keep trusting in God’s promises. We need to help each other out. We don’t run the race by ourselves. We run the race together.

We’re coming into track and field season right now. And I’ve been to some of your track meets. You run better if someone is running alongside you. And you run better if someone is shouting encouragement from the stands.

“Encourage one another daily...” Who do you need to encourage today?

Write their name down right now. Somebody’s name came to your mind. Write their name down and make a plan to say something, write something, text something encouraging them today to fix their eyes on Jesus. While they still can!

He says, “...as long as it is called Today.” That’s not forever. Tomorrow will come some day. The window will close. This moment will pass. But as long as it is called “Today,” while we have the opportunity, we should be encouraging each other to trust in Jesus. Because here’s what’s at stake. Look again at verse 13.

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”

If we are doing our job of encouraging each other to fix our eyes on Jesus, our hearts will not get hard. And they will not be fooled by the lies of sins.

You know that sin lies, right? “Sin’s deceitfulness.” Sin lies. What lies does sin tell?

“I’m just a little sin.”

“I don’t hurt anyone else.”

“It’s just this one time.”

“You can stop any time.”

“Everybody else is doing it.”

Here’s another one:

“You can’t help it.”

“You can’t stop.”

“This is just who you are.”

“This sin is a giant in your life and you are a grasshopper. You will be crushed. You might as well give in.”

Sin lies and lies, and as we give in to sin and believe its lies, then our hearts can grow cold and hard. When you are sinning, it gets harder and harder to remember what is real. To remember Who God is. To remember Who Jesus is. To remember where Jesus is!

This church was in danger.

And this pastor said, “Church! You’ve got encourage each other. You’ve got to get into each other’s faces and remind each other Who Jesus is! You’ve got to get into each other’s ears and remind each other what Jesus did. You’ve got to remind each other where Jesus is right now! You’ve got to remind each other what is true.”

As long as it is called Today.

Or else some of you (some of us) may not make it. Look at verse 14.

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

#4. HOLD ON.

Today, if you hear His voice, hold on to Jesus Christ.

Verse 14 is very encouraging and also a little scary. It’s supposed to be both.

First off, it says that we have come to share in Christ! Wahoo! We are His house (like it said in verse 6). We share in the heavenly calling (like in verse 1). And there is nothing greater.

And that is right now. We have come to share in Christ, right now. But for that to prove to be true, we have to have hold on to Christ till the end. “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

Now, that doesn’t mean that we somehow earn our salvation by willpower. No! We can’t earn our salvation. Never could. Never will! Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But we have to continue in our faith. We have to continue to believe.

The Bible has no category for a saved person who is not trusting in Jesus. A believer who doesn’t believe?! That’s not a thing.

And it’s not saying that we will somehow make it all happen by our perseverance. No, our perseverance shows that it all happened.

“We have come to share in Christ [right now by God’s grace!] if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first [by God’s grace].”

But we do have to hold on to Jesus. Today! Verse 15.

“As has just been said [Psalm 95]: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.’ [And then presses it home with a series of rhetorical questions.] Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? [Yes, it was them.] So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” (vv.15-19).

They didn’t hold on.

And that’s scary because they had all of those blessings. They had seen God do so many great things. But they stopped believing. They listened to sins lies. They didn’t listen to Caleb and Joshua who were trying to encourage them as long as it was called Today to trust the Lord and take hold of the promises and enter the Promised Land. No, they never made it because they didn’t hold on.

Canaan was closed to them. Because they didn’t believe.

Don’t you be like them. Hold on.

Some of you are worried now, hearing this, that you have turned away from the living God and are in danger of never entering His rest.

If you have turned your back on Him, I urge you to repent right now if you still can. Today. Don’t wait. There is no guarantee that you can break out of that if you’re going down that road. Take your fingers out of your ears. Repent or fall as a corpse in the desert.

But most of you who are hearing this just need reminded to keep trusting Jesus.

Are you trusting Jesus?

Are you obeying Jesus?

Do you love Jesus?

Then don’t worry that you have fallen away.

Worry if you never worry if you have fallen away!

Worry if you don’t care any more.

Worry if you don’t care if you sin.

Worry if you don’t believe any more.

Worry if this word of warning doesn’t scare you at all.

Today.

Today, if you hear His voice. (And we are right now because the Holy Spirit is speaking through His Word: