“Mistakes We Make”
Hebrews 3:1-10
INTRO. Someone has said, “to err is human, to forgive divine.” What
does the word err mean? According to Webster’s dictionary, it
means “to go astray; fall into error.” One of the definitions
that Webster gives for error is “a mistake.” Making mistakes
are part of our human nature. Some of our mistakes are
great and others are small, but all of us make mistakes. God
said through the writer of Hebrews, that the generation of
Israelites that fell in the wilderness, “..do always err in their
heart.” They saw all God’s marvelous works, His providence,
and His care, and still they rebelled and murmured against
Him!
I want to speak on this subject this morning, “Mistakes We
Make.” If we don’t keep our eyes on the LORD, if we don’t
don’t walk by faith, if we don’t follow Him with all our hearts,
we will find ourselves making these mistakes.
(1) We Undervalue The Preciousness Of Our Salvation
- The word precious means “highly prized; valuable, be-
loved; cherished.” What does your salvation mean to you? Is it precious to you? Why is our Salvation pre-
cious? Because:
1. It was obtained at a Great Price (1 Peter 1:
18-19). Precious blood.
2. It was obtained by a Great Person
(Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 2:5-10). Precious
Savior. Our attitude toward Jesus Christ
determines how dearly we value our
salvation. How dear is He to you? “I can-
not describe all Christ is to us, for what is
He not to us? He is the sun of our day; he
is the star of our night; he is our life; he is
our life’s life; he is our heaven on earth,
and he shall be our heaven in heaven” (1).
“In Jesus we discover all of God we can
know; in Jesus we have all of God we can
need” (2).
(2) We Underestimate the Power of Satan
1 Peter 5:8—“Be sober,be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour.”
Ephesians 6:10-18
- Satan is very powerful and very tricky. The devil is like
a prowling lion seeking its prey. He is looking for weak
areas in our lives to attack. Areas that we have not fully yielded to God, areas we failed to protect.
ILLUS. He is more cunning than the wisest: How soon
he entangled Solomon! He is stronger than
the strongest: How fatally he overthrew Sam-
son! Yes, and men after God’s own heart, like
David, have been led into most grievous sins
by his seductions (3).
B. Satan has seen to it that he is not feared in our world
today. Some of this is the result of televangelists who
incite crowds to wage war against the devil and even
engage in fighting him themselves for all to see! But
Satan is no one to be trifled with. He is more powerful
than our minds can comprehend.
ILLUS. There is a humorous and poignant story from
the early days of football in Dallas. The Dallas
Texans were the first attempt at professional
football in the Lone Star State. They had a
brief history lasting just one year, 1952, and
going 1-11. Their training camp was in Kerr-
ville, Texas. Willie Garcia was their equipment
manager and he had one wooden leg. The first
a football bounced off the playing field into the
tall grass, no one wanted to go after it because
of snakes. Garcia volunteered to retrieve the
ball and wittingly said, “I’ve got a 50-50
chance the snake will go for the wrong leg.”
Many Christians underestimate the power of
Satan and dash through the tall grass of life
thinking he will “go for the wrong leg” (4).
*The best defense we have against Satan is to put on
the whole armor of god and walk in the Spirit without
it we will underestimate his power and fall to his
deceits.
(3) We Underestimate the Value of a Soul
Proverbs 29:18—“Where there is no vision, the
people perish…”
A. What is the value of a soul? Well, it is so valuable
that the King of Glory laid aside His heavenly robes
and was robed in sinful flesh, made like unto us, but
withoutsin to die on an old Cruel Cross that we might
be redeemed. (Hebrews 2:9; Isaiah 53:5-6).
B. A soul is so valuable that He was mocked, ridiculed,
spit upon, slapped, beaten and crucified that we might
be redeemed.
ILLUS. Charlemagne (742-814) was the most famous
ruler of the Middle Ages and a key figure in
European history. It is reported that after his
death, King Charlemagne was buried wrapped
in royal robes sitting in a marble chair. On his
lap was a Bible opened to Mark 8. His finger
pointed to verse 36.
ILLUS. Onesoul is worth more than all the world; our
own souls are of greater value..than all the
wealth, honor, and pleasures of this present
time..Here is the whole world set in a scale
against one soul, and ‘Tekel’ written upon it;
it is weighed in the balance, and found too
light to weigh it down. This is Christ’s judg-
ment upon the matter, and he is a competent
Judge; he had reason to know the price of
souls, for he redeemed them; nor would he
underrate the world, for he made it (5).
C. God gave heaven’sfairest jewel to redeem the souls of
mankind (1 John 4:19) (6).
D. If a soul is that valuable to the LORD should not a soul
be valuable to us? Valuable enough to weep over, pray
for, witness to, and intercede for; that that soul might
be saved by the Grace of God! (Psalm 126:5-6; 1
Peter 3:15).
CLOSING: The “Mistakes We Make” are: undervaluing the precious-
ness of our salvation,underestimating the power of Satan,
and underestimating the value of a soul. Are you guilty of
any of these? Unless we walk in Spirit, keep our eyes on
the LORD, walk by faith, and follow His Word we will find
ourselves making these mistakes and failing in our service
for the LORD!
NOTES: 1. Charles H. Spurgeon. 2200 Quotations From The Writings
of Charles H. Spurgeon. Pg. 111.
2. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &
Classical. Pg. 102.
- Spurgeon. Pg. 57.
- Raymond McHenry. The Best Of In Other Words. PP.
220-221.
- Matthew Henry. The Quotable Matthew Henry. Pg. 293.
- Grady Scott. From a sermon “The Value of A Soul.”