Book of Hebrews - Ch. 10, Vs. 19-39 (05/16/2021)

Okay, this morning, we're going to go into the last part of chapter 10 of Hebrews, and I'm sure that we will finish,

God willing. Last Sunday, we finished with an invitation.

This invitation to draw near to Jesus. And I thought I'd start today by reading that invitation again, beginning with verse 19.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, that's the holy of holies, the inner part of the sanctuary, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the matter of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

And as clearly as the author of Hebrews saw the day approaching, and felt like it was very near,

I think at this point in time, we can surely say that it's a lot closer than it was at that time.

This morning, we're going to look at a brief but serious warning to those who refuse this invitation to draw near, followed by a brief message of encouragement to those who are wavering.

But first, let's pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for being here with us this morning.

Thank you for giving us the people that we have assembled together to worship you.

Thank you for giving us the resources to reach out and touch those who are unable to come.

Thank you for your Holy Scripture that is always available to us, and hopefully will continue to be available to us.

Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit, that he might help us to interpret that scripture.

And thank you most of all, for giving us your son. Bless us and keep us and go through all the services today.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, now for the bad part.

If we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.

Now, that's verse 26. Verse 26 begins a passage that deals with the sin of apostasy.

Apostasy is an intentional falling away, or a defection. Apostates are those who move toward Christ, hear and understand

His gospel, are on the verge of a saving belief, but then they rebel and turn away.

This warning against apostasy is one of the most serious warnings in all of the scripture.

You see, not all of the Hebrews would respond to this gentle invitation that we read earlier this morning, that we studied last week.

Some were already beyond response, and those are the ones to whom this warning is addressed.

What's the warning? For if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.

We'll hear when He says if we sin willfully, He's not really speaking of Himself, and He's not really speaking to those who are genuine believers.

He's speaking to the ones who either are wavering or who have turned away.

And we'll see that He excludes Himself and genuine believers from this category if we'll pick ahead to the end of chapter 10, which is what

I did. This is the last verse in chapter 10. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Now, the Greek term willfully carries the idea of deliberate intent.

The sin is deliberately rejecting Christ. According to the

Mosaic Law, deliberate premeditated sin required exclusion from the congregation of Israel.

Numbers 15 verses 28 and on say this,

Numbers 15, And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the

Lord, to make an atonement for him, that it shall be forgiven him. So if the sin is done in ignorance, it's a sin that they didn't understand that they were doing.

Was not deliberately intended. Happened by the spur of the moment. You took a hammer and you hit your thumb when you're driving a nail, and you spoke out in a way that would not be,

I can't think of what I want to say, not be representing a Christ -like attitude in you.

That sin you can be forgiven of. That's what the priest would do.

He would offer his sacrifice for that sin. You shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

So what we have is one law for those sins committed through ignorance, but another more severe law for those who sin deliberately.

Numbers goes on to say in verse 30,

But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, deliberately, whether he be born in the land or a stranger, the same reproacheth the

Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among the people, because he hath despised the word of God, and hath broken his commandment.

That soul shall utterly be cut off, and his iniquity shall be upon him.

Cut off from the people. And it's more serious than just be cast out of the church.

It's more serious than that. Cut off from the people and from their worship.

Such sins also excluded the individual from sanctuary in the cities of refuge.

Now, the cities of refuge were cities that were set up to allow people to go who had a blood obligation upon them.

A place to go to live securely. What that foreshadows is cutting them off from salvation, leading them to face judgment and condemnation.

So they weren't just separated from the people. They weren't just separated from the flock. They were cut off from the flock, and they were cut off from the possibility of salvation.

So this is a serious thing. Verse 27. What do they have to look forward to?

A certain fearful looking for of judgment and fury indignation which shall devour the adversaries.

So that's what they're looking for. They're looking for judgment. Judgment which is certain to come.

And judgment which will ultimately lead to the condemned's existence forever in the lake of fire.

Not just for a little while. Not living in the lake of fire for a few thousand years and then having a way out.

Existence forever in the lake of fire. Verse 28 goes on to describe that law a little bit more.

He that despised Moses's law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 17 verse 2. If there be found among you within any of thy gates which the

Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the

Lord thy God in transgressing His covenant, and hath gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun, moon, or any of the host of heavens which

I have not commanded. Now see that's the most serious really of all of the sins that we can have.

And that is worshiping someone other than God. That includes worshiping the trees, worshiping mother earth, worshiping

Muhammad, worshiping Buddha, worshiping angels.

He spent a whole chapter dealing with the seriousness of worshiping angels.

Worshiping anything which I have not commanded. And what need he command that we worship?

Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And no man come to the

Father, but through Jesus. And it be told thee, so you find that out, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and behold it is true, and the thing certain, that such an abomination is wrought in Israel.

Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman which hath committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shall stone them with stones till they die.

At the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, he that is worthy of death be put to death.

But at the mouth of one witness, he shall not be put to death. So it takes two or more witnesses under the

Mosaic law. The hand of the witness shall be the first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

So all the people had part in putting them to death. So thou shalt put away the evil from among you.

So that's how they dealt with idolatry in the

Mosaic covenant. And now he goes on to compare that serious thing.

What happened if you violated the Mosaic covenant? You were stoned to death on the on the testimony of two or more witnesses.

Now look at verse 29. Of how much more, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the

Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the

Spirit of grace. Now I made one comment here, and then

I'll make a couple more. How much worse could it be? Existence forever in a lake of fire seems bad enough to me.

What do you think? That's pretty bad, isn't it? But the Bible clearly indicates that there are degrees of punishment.

If you would go to Matthew 11 verse 22, Jesus says this,

But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Zidon at the day of judgment than for you.

That means better for them than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which are exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell.

For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.

So of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the

Son of God, hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, hath done despite unto the

Spirit of grace? Okay, what have we done? We have disgraced ourselves before Jesus by rejecting

His greatest work. His work on the cross, we have rejected it. If we move away from Him, if we're in the group that moved away deliberately from Him, we have disgraced ourselves by rejecting

His greatest work, His greatest work, His offering of Himself on the altar for us.

We devalue Him by devaluating what He did. We consider the blood of no greater importance, we consider

His blood of no greater importance than the countless animals that were sacrificed under the

Old Testament. We offend the Holy Spirit, whose purpose it is to present

Jesus and His works to us. We reject

Jesus and His finished work on our behalf. Now Jesus is going to tell us of the importance of the

Holy Spirit, and He will do that in John 16 verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell thee the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away.

For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. That Comforter is the

Holy Spirit. But if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when

He has come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of sin because they believe not on Me, of righteousness because I go to My Father and you see

Me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when

He, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is come,

He will guide you to all truth. Some of the truth will be found in the gospel.

Most of it would be found in the gospel. In fact, I think all of it can be found in the gospel. But we will have to have the

Holy Spirit to guide us so that we can find it. He will guide you into all truth.

For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that He shall speak, and He will show those things to come.

He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and He shall show it unto you.

So where is He getting the things that He's showing us? He's getting the things He's showing us from Christ.

All things that the Father hath are Mine, therefore said

I, that He shall take of Mine, and show it unto you. So when we reject

Jesus, we reject all of the things pertaining to Jesus. We reject the Word.

We reject the Holy Spirit. We reject Jesus, and we reject God. And that's a bad thing.

Verse 30. For we know Him, that He hath said,

Vengeance belongeth unto Me. I will recompense, saith the

Lord, and again the Lord shall judge His people. That's a quotation.

There's another quotation in Romans 12, 19.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written,

Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Now what are they quoting?

They're quoting Deuteronomy 32, 35, where it says, this is

God talking to Moses. To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.

Their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand.

And the things that shall come upon them make haste. So He's saying, don't worry about seeking vengeance for someone that has wronged you, or even for someone who has wronged

Me. Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord. I will recompense.

So you leave it to Jesus, to God, to do the correcting.

Oh, you can speak with the correction. You can speak of the need for the correction, but we don't take it on ourselves to do the correcting.

Vengeance belongs to God. It is way easier. It is way easier for us when someone strikes us a blow, to strike them back a blow and make it twice as hard.

That's what we all want to do. But that's not what the Lord tells us to do. He says, I will repay.

And then He adds something that we can't say. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living

God. If He is going to extract vengeance, if anyone is going to extract vengeance or exert vengeance upon you, who do you want it to be?

Do you want it to be Me who can hit you twice as hard as you can hit Me? Or do you want it to be God who can hit you infinitely harder than you can hit

Him? Whatever you can do pales in comparison to what

He can and will do. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living

God. And that's how He wraps up this warning to those who are rejecting

Him, to the ones that have rejected Him, that are so far gone that they are beyond any help.

And now He's going to go on and deal with encouragement to those that either have accepted

Christ already and are suffering because of their acceptance, or to those that are still wavering.

In verses 32 through 39, the writer of the epistles points out that the

Hebrews' former experiences should stimulate them. The nearness of the reward should strengthen them.

The fear of God's displeasure should prevent them from ever going back to Judaism, from ever going back to the law.

But call to remembrance the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions.

Now I'm going to read that again because it's so easy to let that slip by. What days?

The days after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions.

Not that you saw the light and suddenly everything was peachy. No. After you were illuminated, after you understood and saw the

Scripture, you endured a great fight of afflictions. After they were eliminated, they began to suffer even greater afflictions than before.

And they some of them began to fall away. This is what the writer had warned about earlier.

And now he begins to offer them some encouragement. Verse 33.

Partly whilst you were made a gazing stalk, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst you became companions of them that were so used.

So how were they afflicted? Both by direct afflictions upon themselves and by seeing people that they knew and loved suffer affliction.

In some cases, and I can't speak for myself as well as some of you can speak for yourselves,

I know that Dave the Elder probably would suffer more if Dave the Jr. was suffering than if he were suffering himself.

And I think I could say that for Dave the Jr. in his offspring and for Brother David in his offspring, and I know

I could say that for Mrs. Mitchell. That they would suffer more when they saw you suffer than the suffering that they bore themselves.

I think that's pretty universal. There are some people that I, there's some people that I would suffer more for when

I saw them suffer than myself, but not as many as you, and not probably as intensely as you.

But in any case, you can suffer both by actual suffering yourself and by seeing your friends and your acquaintances suffer.

And the author goes on to say, For you had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourself that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Now that's one of the places where people that believe that this is Paul writing the letter, they think that this may be an indicator that it was

Paul, because we know that Paul was bound up in chains when he wrote most of his gospel epistles.

Well, there were other people that were put in stocks as well as Paul, so that's not a definitive reason.

But here's something that that verse is really all about. Understanding that you have a better home awaiting you in the ages to come.

When you understand that you have a better home awaiting you in the ages to come, you can accept the affliction in this age better and with just better.

You can accept the friction of this age. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.

Don't lose your confidence. Don't lose your assurance that there is a better place awaiting you.

Sometimes we have to wait for that better place. We live in a society where we have instant gratification or none at all.

If we want it and we want it now, we don't want to wait for it. In the old days, we had to wait for it.

In the old days, we wanted a car, we had to save up money and buy one. And these days, we go out and take a loan and pay for it, begin using it, and begin paying it off.

And by the time we get it paid off, it is of no value anymore. You have a great reward awaiting you.

Don't lose your confidence. For you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.

For yet a little while, and he shall come that will come and will not tarry.

Verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Now that's one of three quotes in the New Testament of Habakkuk 2 .4.

Behold, the soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.

Well, there it is. The just shall live by faith. So it's quoted here in Hebrews. The other two are both by Paul.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written.

The just shall live by faith. So there it is again. The just shall live by faith.

And in Galatians 3 .11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident.

For the just shall live by faith. Well, that's three quotes in the

New Testament of one obscure passage in the Old Testament. The one that turned

Martin Luther King, not Martin Luther King, Martin Luther himself, on his journey that led him to becoming a

Protestant, that pointed out that the just did not live by the works that they did, but by faith.

And now verse 39. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

So what does that say? We're not of those who draw back unto destruction awaiting for those who do.

There is sure destruction waiting for those that draw back to turn away from Christ, but we're not of those.

And I've got one other passage, and this is in Isaiah 26, verse 20.

And this has to do with the time when the Lord shall return.

He's been here. He's ascended to heaven. He left. He promised to come back to judge and to rule.

He's going to come back to judge. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber and shut thy doors about thee.

Hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed.

There's going to be punishment coming to those that are judged, and if we're around at the time that that judgment is proclaimed, then we are likely to be caught up in the rage and the indignation.

So come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee and hide thyself as it were for a little moment until the indignation be overpassed.

For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place, out of heaven, to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.

The earth shall also disclose her blood and shall no more cover her slain.

Now that's pretty much it, unless you guys have any questions or comments, and we are a little bit early.

I'm sorry? Well, not if you ever had it.

That's correct, but if you pull away. See, he is saying, if you're a true believer, if you really did believe, it's not just that you came into church and you saw and heard the

Scripture being preached and you read and understood what was being said. There comes a time when you're his and you accept him because he had you accept him, and you came near him.

Now, after that point, can you sin? Well, it is willful in the sense that he chose to do it, and all sin is willful in that you choose to do it, but this is not the sin he's really talking about.

The sin he's talking about is rejecting Jesus, not stealing something, not even committing adultery, which

David did, not even killing someone, which David did also. Well, he didn't kill with his own hands, but he saw to it that he was killed.

To turn away from Christ is the sin. That is, if there's an impartable sin, that's the one it is.

When you turn away from God, when you draw back from him, when you draw back to him to the extent that he never more summons you again, all that you read, all that you study, all that you see pushes you further away from him rather than draws you to him.

If we're drawn to him, then we're his. If we don't, there's no more sin.

Well, see, that I don't think I can answer. I don't think Brother David can answer.

I don't think you can answer it. I think that only God knows. Only God knows when it is that the light that is shown upon you, you truly see.

If you were in here and you were blind, and I had a bright light shining upon you, you couldn't see it.

Well, I think in one sense, you're illuminated, but let's now back a step.

Let's suppose that you had cataracts really, really bad, and you could see that there was a light.

Now are you illuminated? Or when you see clearly, is that when you're illuminated?

Or when you see clearly and when you understand, is that when you're illuminated? I think that's when you are illuminated.

When you see clearly and you understand it, you have been summoned, the light has been shown upon you, you saw glimmers of it, you saw glimmers of it before you accepted

Christ, you saw glimmers at the time that you accepted Christ, you saw it brighter when you accepted

Christ. And I think that's... It is, and that is the source of a lot of people who say, well, you can lose your salvation.

If that were the only verse we had, then I would be more terrified than I am.

But we have too many verses when it says, it's not in my power to do.

I can't draw back enough. I can't reject enough. I can't sin enough that I can escape

God's grasp if I'm in his grasp. If he's got me in his hand, and God's hand is on top of his, holding it, there is no way that I could escape, even if I wanted to.

Brother David's got an answer to that. He was like that at a certain time, and she's very jealous, because she's got

Jesus, and she wants to grow up and fix her life, and I know what they're saying.

He's all over her, he doesn't want her. He'll put his arm in her way, while she's in the dark world, wondering what that is, and what it means to him.

They will know this, if they sit up and preach it, for sure.

But here, God doesn't know that. Faith is faith, too.

Well, since then, it's part of it. There's only fear, and then there's this fear, and then there's this fear of God.

And he's going to have problems with it. But the other thing he will have problems with, and that's the reason, the reason he preaches that, of course, is that he wants to pull out the dogs, they don't want him to come back down to church.

He wants to make the law cheap, get others addicted to the devil's ride, so they can come up early in the morning.

I wish I had a dog, too, because there's an audience. That makes it up. He says he's got a seven o 'clock to eight.

All in all, everything Paul says is all the truth, you know. And even this letter from Paul.

I was just making light of the Hebrews. There's a debate over who wrote

Hebrews. I really think that it's Paul, and I think the strongest message that it is

Paul is in the very last chapter when he says, Timothy's going to come and see me in a few days, and when he comes,

I'll talk with you. And in any case, that's what

I was like. I'm sorry, I went down the wrong trail. But yes.

So, yes,

I like that. I like the idea of keeping in mind, and I should have said that earlier, in keeping in mind that there are three groups of people.

One that's beyond, and they know, and they are assured, and they can sense that they're in the full hand of God and the

Father, and there's no chance that anything can pry them out. They're happy, and they're comfortable, and they're watching the rest of the people squirm.

And one's squirming because they're drawn to him, and one's squirming because they're trying to escape.

And both will go the way that they should go, and that was all foreordained also.

That was always in the plan from the very beginning. Anything else?

If not, let's pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for the Holy Spirit. Thank you for all the things that you've given us.

Thank you for the assurance of our salvation. Thank you for having a God, for being a

God that is stronger, wiser, more understanding, more powerful than anything that can stand in our way, that can come between us and you.

Thank you for having torn down the wall of separation that kept us away from you, and replaced it with a way through Jesus Christ to you.

That we may come near to you. Bless us and keep us, and go through the rest of the classes today.