Warnings

The Warning Passages in Hebrews and Their Purpose

Once again this morning, we'll be working out of the book of Hebrews, but we will be looking at a subject from Hebrews, not so much just a singular text. In our study of Hebrews, we come now to the second chapter, but the second chapter introduces us to a difficult subject, and that is the warning or exhortation passages in the book of Hebrews.

And so I think it would be wise if before we delve into the text, we consider this overarching theme of the warning passages in Hebrews. And so as you turn there, that will be our subject this morning.

Before we look to the Word of God, let us pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we beseech your presence with us by your Spirit. We ask that by your Spirit you would bear us up, you would give us strength, you would give us understanding of your Word, we pray in Christ's name, Amen.

Warnings, warnings. I don't know about you, but I remember as a young child, it's amazing some of the things you remember from your youth, but I remember as a young child I was making one of those faces that only young children can make, and my mother looked at me and she said, you better stop doing that or your face will freeze that way.

Now that was scary to a little child, because I didn't want my face to freeze with my eyes crossed and my tongue out and my nose doing all sorts of odd things. It never really crossed my mind. I had never seen anybody with their face frozen.

I'm not sure how faces freeze, but given the chuckles I'm hearing, something tells me my mom was not the only one to use that particular warning. And then we have, this must have happened since I was young, because I can remember being able to buy a hammer and it didn't have a bunch of warning stickers all over it.

Or buy a ladder. And back, I guess, when I was younger, we sort of figured people had common sense. But today, everything you buy has got warning stickers all over it, as if anyone actually reads them.

But there are warning stickers on everything. I think they've got warning stickers on bubble gum now. It's amazing how we think that people need warnings about everything. You buy a, you get a plastic bag, and there's a warning on the plastic bag, don't stick it over your head.

Now I just, I have to admit, it gets to a point, doesn't it, where the warnings start not really having much impact, because they don't really have much meaning. But then there are other times, there are very serious warnings.

Very, very serious warnings. Sometimes some of those warning stickers are wise. I mean, there are folks that get right up on that top step of that ladder and then they have to call the fire department to get them down and things like that.

But there are other times when warnings are very serious and they go unheeded. We were reminded of this. Rudy warned us of this in the experience that he had recently with the young men who by the lake or by the river, warning signs, don't jump in here.

I imagine you look at that water and sure looks inviting, sure looks cool. The warning sign says, don't jump in here. You can jump in and maybe for a while everything's okay, but we know what happened.

And there was a reason why those warning signs were there, because what you could see did not necessarily actually communicate to you the full depth of the danger. Life was lost. And I have to wonder sometimes if maybe the fact that we overuse warnings might result in maybe sometimes we don't really take them seriously.

We can be sure of absolutely one thing. The Word of God gives us a warning. It's there for a reason. There are no frivolous warning signs in the Word of God. And the book of Hebrews contains a number of warnings.

And I don't know if it's because these warnings, one of the reasons is that the book of Hebrews isn't all that popular is because it's got these warnings in it. I don't know. But they're there and we have to deal with them.

And we have to listen to them soberly. And sometimes those of us who are Reformed are accused of ignoring these warning passages. You don't really believe those warning passages. You believe that a person is saved by Jesus Christ.

They cannot be lost. And so you really don't believe these warning passages as if the only reason that there would be a warning passage is if you have a Savior who can't save. But remember what the context of Hebrews actually is.

You're writing to Hebrew Christians. And that means you're writing to a group. And just like this morning, I stand before a group of people. And I can look into your eyes. And many of you have known now for many years.

In fact, I'm sure that Roxy is well aware of the fact that in just two months, it'll be 20 years ago that a guy that I've been reminded was wearing suspenders that night walked in on a Sunday night and attended, and she'll probably point right now to exactly where I sat that first evening.

And given the look on her face, she knows exactly where it was. I can tell she's that confident. Anyway, I've known many of you for quite some time now. And I can look into your eyes. But I don't know the state of your soul.

I don't know what's going on in your life. We know how to put on the Sunday face. And so some of you I know better than others. Some of you I don't know at all. And so I'm addressing a group just as the writer of Hebrews addresses a group, a group that he may not have even known the individuals in that group.

It's not addressed to a particular church in a particular place. And so when you address a group, you have to recognize that there are going to be different kinds of people in that group. And since we know that apostasy is a reality, there are people who make a profession of faith, and then they deny that profession of faith.

I, unfortunately, given my work, have to deal with a lot of people like that. Sometimes they're just sad to deal with. Often they're very distasteful to deal with. The ones that are the worst to deal with are the people who are apostates, but they're still calling themselves Christians.

Those are the really ones that are very, very hard. But we all know apostasy takes place. You cannot be in a fellowship for any length of time until you become aware of those who have fallen away. And so how do we understand that idea of apostasy in light of these warning passages?

That's what I think we need to deal with first, because in this second chapter we have the first of these. We could view them as exhortation passages. We can view them as warning passages. But what they clearly are is the writer addressing the Hebrew Christians and saying, since this is so, therefore you must do this or this will happen.

You must be aware of what can happen if you ignore what I'm telling you. If you ignore the truth, there are consequences to your actions. And so let's look at some of these warning passages. Let's read them, because they're not exactly, again, the most popular texts.

We don't like dealing with this subject. It would be a whole lot easier for me this morning to talk about uplifting things, maybe sort of skip over the warning passages and start dealing with the later part of the chapter where we have verse 9 and the common misuse of verse 9 to try to deny particular redemption.

It would be much easier to jump to all that. We'll get there eventually. But we've got to deal with the book of Hebrews as it stands. And so let's look at Hebrews chapter 2. Let's look at the beginning of these warning passages.

And we're going to walk through the book of Hebrews and look at all of them, because putting all of them together is a little bit tough. But let's take a look at them. Chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore we must give the more earnest heed.

We must pay more careful attention to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. And I'm going to come back and exegete these texts, but it can either mean to drift away, as in being at the right place, but the currents take you someplace else.

Or it could also mean being on a river and you want to land at that point over there on the shore, but the current's too strong and you miss. They're related ideas, but it could be either one. For if the words spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape?

If we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders of various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will.

So here's the first warning passage. It falls on the heels of what has been said. Look at how great Jesus is. Look at how great the salvation it is that He has brought. Therefore, if the Old Testament law, which came through angels, and we'll talk about that when we come back to it next GED text, but this Old Testament law which came through angels proved to be inalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, well, we have an even greater message which has come through the Lord and those who heard Him.

And therefore, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? What else is there to go to? If we neglect this great salvation which has been pronounced by God, how shall we escape? Good question.

But then, notice this theme is picked up in chapter 3. Let's go ahead and start around verse 12. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God.

But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said, today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, for who, having heard, rebelled?

Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was he angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey?

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed, the gospel is preached to us as well as to them, but the words which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.".

Strong words. And of course, the second most famous, or maybe the most famous, depending, chapter 6, verse 4,. For it is impossible for those who are once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

For the earth which drains sin, the rain which often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God, but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things which accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. And then, of course, the other one that's either the most famous, or the second most famous, again depending, Hebrews chapter 10, beginning at verse 26,.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains the sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries.

Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy, on the testimony of two or three witnesses, of how much more worse punishment. Do you suppose he will be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant, by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Warning passages. Who are they addressed to?

What do they mean? Well, certainly, the author of these words is not simply playing games with us. Certainly, we recognize that the first thought that crosses our mind is, well, how can these things be when we have the biblical teaching of the perfection of Christ as a Savior?

But I think we err when we start by leaping to the end of the conversation rather than starting at the beginning. There is no question that we have the presentation in the very book of Hebrews of the perfection of the work of Christ as Savior.

There is no question of that. We are going to read in Hebrews chapter 7 how he is able to save to the uttermost. He has that power. He has that capacity. The new covenant is going to be described as a covenant that brings the very knowledge of God into the hearts and minds of the people.

His is a better covenant. He is a better mediator. Better promises. All of that is there. There is no question about that. It is interesting to me that if you read each one of these warning sections, if you just keep reading, what do they conclude in?

Exhortations based upon what? But we know you are going to pull through. You are going to make up enough faith in yourself to make it. No. Every text is found in the context of the perfection of Christ as Savior.

The promises of God. All of those things are true. But you see, I think the fundamental problem that many have had in approaching these texts is that they ignore the reality. Not only of the context, that is, this is being addressed to a mixed company, but the fact that God uses means to accomplish His purposes and ends.

You see, people seem to think that if a warning is to have any effectiveness for those who are truly in Christ, those who have truly been regenerated, those who have truly experienced the work of grace, then it must follow that that person must live their life in fear of the imperfectness of their relationship to Christ.

I don't think that that follows. I think that when a person who has been changed by the Spirit of God hears the words of God and hears these warnings, I don't know about you, but they make me very sober.

I don't just look at something like this and go, Oh, well, hey, you know, I believe one saved all is saved, so I don't have to worry about any of that. Instead, the Spirit of God within us causes us to obey and believe and hear the Word of God.

And when the Word of God gives warning, my attention becomes very focused. And when I hear these words, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I think about how great that salvation is.

And I ask myself those questions. The Apostle Paul said we had to test yourself to see whether you're in the faith. When I'm feeling apathetic, when I'm recognizing spiritual coldness, I do think about these things.

And they cause me to flee to Christ. They don't cause me to engage in navel-gazing. They don't cause me to try to engage in work salvation or I better do something for God today to try to earn some favor from Him.

No, they drive me away from myself and to Christ. But you see, we also have to recognize that an exhortation addressed to a group of people is obviously meant to have multiple applications. If I exhort you this day as believers in Christ to take seriously the words of Scripture and to take seriously your calling and election as servants of Christ and therefore to give heed to the exhortations of the Word of God to be holy as He is holy as we did just a few weeks ago address that text.

My desire is for believers to take seriously the commandments of God and to recognize that the world is seeking to deflect you from true service to Christ. And therefore we want to put thought into how we might avoid sin, how we might avoid putting ourselves in positions where we're constantly sinning, where we are constantly falling and failing, how we can cultivate true godliness.

I want that to happen in the minds of true believers. But there might be those sitting in front of me who have not made that profession of faith. And so what's my desire in saying the very same words?

That the Spirit of God will bring conviction of sin. That the Spirit of God will cause anyone within the sound of my voice to think, I'm not holy. And God says only that which is holy will dwell in His presence.

And there will be two reactions to that. If the Spirit of God is active in that person's life, then there is a granting of more light, more understanding. There is maybe a fear of judgment, a recognition of one's own mortality.

And it is our prayer that God would use that to bring His elect people unto Himself. But we also recognize that there are many who hear the very same words and they go, what is this holiness you talk of?

I have no desire for these things. You are a hypocrite. No one can live that way. God loves us all the way we are. Who do you think you are? You're a legalist. And there is rebellion that comes up in the heart.

There is a rejection that eventually leads a person, I don't want to be amongst those people. I don't want to hear that message. There are many places I can go where they are going to talk to me about how much Jesus loves me and how God has a wonderful plan for my life and He'll make that plan whatever I want it to be.

That's where I'm going to go. But then there are others. Then there are others. And I think that's what these warning passages are about primarily, are the others. That is those who have made a profession of faith.

The sixth chapter says they've tasted. They've partaken. And yet, is theirs a true faith? We know the Bible talks about people who make a profession of faith. And for a while they're amongst us. And as far as we can tell, they're really of us.

We've been with them at the Lord's table. We've been with them around the tables while we pray. They may even come with us to the hospital and made visits. They've come down. They've volunteered their time.

And they've mowed lawns or trimmed bushes. Everyone who's been around here long enough can think of people that did that, but they're not here anymore and they're not anywhere else either. What about them?

What about those who are among us? They made the profession. We're not talking about those who have not made a profession. We're not talking about those who recognize they're unbelievers. We're talking about those who've made the profession.

There are those who come to the text of the Bible and they don't recognize that there is a difference between true saving faith, which is the work of the Spirit of God in someone's heart, and mere religion.

They don't recognize that difference. They don't see what John saw when he talked about those who've gone out from us so that it might be demonstrated they're not truly of us. No. Any faith is saving faith.

And this is one of the major problems when you have a man-centered system that tries to worm its way into the God-centered Scriptures. And those folks say, hey, any profession of faith is a true profession of faith.

Well, those folks are going to be stuck with one of two possibilities. They're either going to come up with this one saved, always saved theory that basically you can become a Christian as long as you have faith.

And then it doesn't matter what happens to you. You can go off and become a Buddhist or a Muslim or an atheist. It doesn't matter. You can live a worldly life the rest of your life. And you've got your ticket punched.

You're going to heaven. That's real popular today. Then on the other hand, you have those who go, no, no, no. It's real obvious that the Scriptures don't teach that. They teach directly against that. And so we must believe that you can have true saving faith.

You can be in Christ. He can be your Savior. You can be one of His sheep. He can be your shepherd. And yet He will lose you. That's not so much Him losing you as you just walking away. But I'm not really sure how you make that work.

But there's genuine salvation that can result in genuine apostasy. And there's all sorts of groups that present that as well. What about those who sit in the congregation and play the Christian? In the outward perspective, they look like one.

And let's be honest, it wouldn't take a smart person very long to pick up our lingo, our language, see how we dress, see how we sing, see how we behave, and put on a front, would it? I mean, really, it wouldn't take that long.

Especially if you grow up amongst the people of God. Born into a Christian family where you're exposed to the things of God regularly. It's real easy. In such a way, it's not bringing attention to yourself.

It's real easy to sit in the Sunday school class and you can pick up the answers. You can learn something about the Bible. Got a good memory, you'll answer the questions right. And yet, that person, even though the people around them assume, that person has no saving faith.

They can be there a long time. I can't tell you how long. It seems to me that in most situations, eventually something happens where conviction comes to the heart. Something happens where offense takes place and eventually, I just don't want to be there anymore.

Sometimes there are other reasons why a person stays in the confines of the congregation for a long period of time. Hey, if I leave here, my wife's got nothing to do with me. My children are going to disrespect me.

I need to be here because it's good in my line of work to be somewhat religious. It can be all sorts of reasons. I can't divine what all of them might be. The fact of the matter is, we all know there have been people who have played religion for a long, long time.

The warning passages would seem to speak most directly to them. To those who have made some kind of profession. Someone said, oh, you're a Christian? Well, yeah, you know, I go to church. Yeah, I'm a Christian.

And yet, eventually, things come along. Jesus told the parable of those soils. How fast it takes a flower to die, how fast it takes a plant to die, might differ. Around my house, it's almost instantaneous.

But we don't have green thumbs. We have black thumbs. If you want to kill a plant, give it to me or my wife. Either one of us, it's toast. But some people, it lasts a little bit longer before it dies.

I don't know how long it might be. The fact of the matter is, if you don't have any root within yourself, the plant's going to die. If there is no true concern about the things of God, there's no spiritual life, eventually there's going to be a drifting away.

And so there are warnings that are given. And these warnings, I believe, function within the congregation of faith to accomplish God's purposes. How so? Well, let's look at the warning in chapter 2, since that's where we are.

Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away, or lest we pass them by. And he explains why. Why? He's just explained to us who this Jesus is. He's greater than the angels.

He's the Creator of all things. And this is the message of Him. This is the message of what He has done. He has brought us this message about Himself. And He says, for if the words spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience receive a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

So the point is, if you recognize that God was just to bring punishment for a lesser message that came in a lesser way, how much more will God be just to punish those who ignore this message? Now remember, Hebrew Christians under great pressure to go back to the temple, to go back and offer sacrifices, and thereby deny the uniqueness of Jesus, deny that everything in chapter 1 is true.

That's where the pressure is. And so how is the Hebrew Christian who is truly regenerate going to hear these words? What's going to enter into that person's mind? Well, he's going to recognize the truthfulness of what's being said, first of all.

There is a taste for truth. There is a love of truth. First of all, he's going to realize who Jesus really is from chapter 1. This is Yahweh who has entered into His own creation. This one's divine. He's deity.

And then as a result, he's going to go, my goodness, yes, something special has taken place. God has entered into His own creation. And yes, God was just to bring about punishment based upon the old law, but now that Christ has come, how much more seriously should I give consideration to these things?

And I don't want to neglect so great a salvation. Instead, when I hear about these things, my heart is filled with thanksgiving at what God has done. I am rooted and grounded in this. I do not want to drift away.

I do not want to drift past. Instead, I recognize this is at first spoken by the Lord, confirmed by those who heard Him. God has borne witness with signs and wonders, various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

I recognize and accept the testimony of Jesus and His apostles. There will be an acceptance of the truthfulness of God's revelation about the Gospel. And is that not the very mark of what we see of God's people down through the ages?

A consistent acceptance of what God has spoken. Not a critical, questioning, well, I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure I like this part, you know. But I sort of like to tweak this over here, tweak that over there.

When I hear people doing that, I'm really concerned about their spiritual state. There is a recognition. God has spoken in His Word. So when I hear these things, I don't want to drift away. I don't want to neglect so great a salvation.

But what happens to the person who maybe really hasn't believed? Do they hear this warning? Are they concerned about drifting away from the truth? Are they concerned about how they shall escape if they neglect so great a salvation?

What if they give in and go back? Think about it. That first day, they go back into the temple. It's another good reason to think that this was written before the destruction of the temple. And they lead that sacrifice to the priest.

What's the thought process going through their mind? They know what they're doing. They hear the bleeding of this animal. It's making these noises. They come to this man, this priest. And they see he's aged.

He's not going to be here forever. And they're breeding this animal. In the back of their mind, they've heard the preaching. High priest. Never passes away. Don't need another priest because we have one priest.

And he's sufficient. He's enough. And he's in the presence of God. He ever lives to make intercession for us. And this sacrifice, this animal, hasn't it always pointed away from itself? How can my sins truly be forgiven here when Jesus has died upon the cross?

The final sacrifice has been given. And God has proven that that was the final sacrifice because there's an empty grave over there. What was the thought process of that apostate who goes back? And we know there were some who did.

Oh, would these words not echo in the ears? Would they not, in fact, increase the condemnation? I think that's why they sort of get louder and louder and louder as you go through the book. And so, remember that 10th chapter?

They crucified themselves, the Son of God afresh. They do despite to His name. They're spitting on the finished sacrifice. Think of what that person would experience. Now, some of you might be somewhat psychologically oriented and you might be going, well, I don't know if that's overly wise because if you give that kind of warning, maybe you'll end up with people who stay in the fellowship just because they're scared and they're not really Christians.

Well, I suppose on some psychological level you could parse things that way. Of course, it might just be the means that God uses to finally bring that person to salvation too. The fact is, that there might this morning be in this room people who have been playing at religion.

You might have been raised hearing the message of Christ over and over again. You might have even identified yourself with the people of God by the regularity of your attendance or maybe even called yourself a Christian.

But you know in your heart of hearts, you've not experienced true repentance. You're not following the lordship of Christ. You're following the lordship of yourself. And you know there are times you hear Pastor Fry stand up here, you hear me stand up here, and you hear me say things, and you chafe.

I don't think that's right. I don't need to do that. I don't need to mortify my flesh. I like my flesh. I like these desires that are mine. You may not say it openly, but you know in your heart of hearts you've never truly repented.

I honestly can't think of a more dangerous spiritual statement than to be a Christian hypocrite. A Christian who claims to be one outwardly but knows inwardly that I'm not. It's so easy to just go through the motions.

So easy to be religious, but you've never actually closed with Christ. How shall you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? You might say, well maybe someday, maybe someday down the line you don't know about tomorrow.

You don't know you'll make it through the corner of 12th Street and Indian School if that's the direction you go. My family was driving here about, I don't know, about three months ago. Sunday morning you can see, on a clear Sunday you can see forever down Indian School Road.

Not a whole lot of people rushing to get to church. We were coming up on 19th Avenue and Indian School Road. Thankfully we were still a good distance away. I'm looking at the light. We're slowing down a little bit.

And it turns green for us. It's green for quite a while so I'm accelerating back up. And what do I see? But a truck just go whoosh heading northbound. Light's absolutely green. We're not talking, it wasn't orange here.

It had been red for a long time on 19th Avenue. And he didn't even notice. I'd seen that exact same thing happen years ago when I was riding my bicycle. A car went past me heading toward, at that time I think it was Thunderbird or Greenway on 51st Avenue.

My mind did quick calculations and I realized that truck's not slowing down. Little old man and his wife in it coming in the other direction I believe on Greenway Road was a dump truck. My mind did the calculations and I just sort of held on.

Thankfully the little truck hit the dump truck in the side rather than the other way around. I think they lived, I don't know. They didn't look good. But as I saw that and I saw that truck just go whipping right on through the light I was heading toward once again I just thought how many times has the Lord spared me from that situation?

How many times do I go through a light and I just assume they're going to stop? It's just a reminder. We can't boast of tomorrow. We can't boast of today. And you can't either. If you have sat here and you have heard the Gospel explained to you you know what sin is.

You know the wrath of God against sin. You know the only way of salvation is in Jesus Christ. If you have not repented of your sins and embraced Him as Lord and Savior how shall you escape? If you neglect, so great is salvation.

Because that's what you're doing. You're neglecting it. It's right there in front of you. And there are few straighter paths into the very center of the wrath of God than from a Baptist church pew. If you neglect, so great is salvation.

Hear me. Do not test the grace of God. Repent and believe. If you're here this morning and you hear these words and your heart trembles within you because you know you have fled to Christ and these words should not only make you sober, but they should also make you thankful.

Thankful that God has woken you out of your stupor. Thankful that God has said to you, Flee! And you fled. I don't want to drift away. I don't want to miss. I don't want to neglect. The Spirit of God in this past week has over and over again reminded you of your duties, reminded you of the Gospel, reminded you of your privileges.

And you have responded. Then be thankful. Give all the praise and glory to Him. None to yourself. It's not because you're somehow better than somebody else. The Spirit of God is active within your life.

Give thanks. That when you hear these words of warning, you believe. And you say, Oh Lord, Lord, I don't want to be one of those who drifts away. I don't want to be one of those who neglect so great a salvation.

Thank you for the so great a salvation that I possess. As we look at each one of these texts, we're going to see that each has a little bit of a different application, a little bit of a different context.

There will be much for us to learn from each one of these warning passages as we walk through this book of Hebrews. Let's pray together. Indeed, our Heavenly Father, we do ask that you would help us to rightly discern your truth, to hear even the hard words.

Use your Word to awake your saints. Cause us to be sober, vigilant, to recognize the importance, the seriousness of the Christian life and what you've called us to be, servants of Jesus Christ. And, O Father, if there be any here this day who have not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ, may you by your Spirit bring conviction of sin and understanding of the perfection of Christ.

And if there be any here who have made false profession, O Lord, show mercy. May they see their state. May they flee from the raft to come. We pray these things in Christ's name.