A Fearful Thing

Hebrews 10:31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

1. Introduction.

Can you imagine falling into the hands of God in judgment of your sins?

The Bible gives us some examples of some individuals who did fall into the hands of the living God for judgment:

Belshazzar (Dan. 5:3-5)

Daniel 5:3–5 “Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.”

Herod (Acts 12:21-23)

Acts 12:21–23 “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”

Jezebel (2 Kings 9:33)

2 Kings 9:33 “And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.”

It is a terrible and fearful thing to fall int the hands of God in judgment of your sins. Since falling into His hands is so terrible, I would try to avoid to do so.

Today, we are going to answer this question: How does one fall into the hands of the living God?

2. One falls into the fearful hands of God by sinning willfully.

Hebrews 10:26–27 “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”

Hebrews 10:26-27 are describing the person who makes a false profession of faith.

A. How do I know that this is describing a person who has not truly been saved?

1. The person is sinning willfully.

2. There remains no more sacrifice for sins.

Jesus Christ died one time for your sins. If you are truly saved, you will not continually and willfully live in sin.

What does that mean? It means that you will not look to sin.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

These verses are self-explanatory. When you are saved, you become a new creature, a creature bought with a price. As a new creature, you are to flee sin. (2 Cor. 5:17, 20-21, 1 Cor. 6:18-20)

If a person is saved, he or she is a new person. The Bible is clear. It is not he or she might become a new creature. He or she is a new creature instantly.

The old things are passed away. What are the old things? The desire to continually sin. (2 Peter 2:20-22)

2 Peter 2:20–21 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”

2 Peter 2:22 “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Peter is not saying a person loses his or her salvation. He is saying that the person was never truly saved. Evidence of that, like an old dog and a nasty hog, is that person’s nature has not changed, and Peter says it would have been better if that person had never known about salvation.

If you are going through the motions with no change of nature, you better do as the Bible says before it is tool late.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

Listen to me. I cannot even begin to tell you how serious what I am talking about is.

If you are a member of this church, but not really saved, I would not want to be in your shoes.

Hebrews 6:4–5 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,”

Hebrews 6:6 “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

If you are sitting here as a member of this church or any church yet know you are lost, you are teetering upon falling into the hands of a fearful God.

Jude 4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jude says people creep into the church who are not truly saved that have been long marked for condemnation.

How can the true Christians in the church identify those who have crept in unawares?

The Bible in Jude says they turn the grace of God into lasciviousness which is an unbridled desire to sin, and Jude says that a person that has an unchecked desire to sin has denied our Lord Jesus Christ and has turned the grace of God into a license to sin.

If you deny the Lord Jesus Christ, are you saved? NO!!!!!

God takes willful, unchecked sin seriously, especially by those who have been exposed to the truth yet deny it by continuing in sin.

Luke 12:48 “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”

Hebrews 10:30 “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.”

I am telling you, dear friend, if you are putting up false pretenses before the world saying you are saved but acting like you are lost, WOE BE UNTO YOU!

Can I say this?

DO you know what the Bible addresses in the verses prior to Hebrews 10:26? Did you know what the writer is saying?

Hebrews 10:23–24 “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:”

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

The writer of Hebrews, more than likely Paul, is saying that forsaking church attendance is a sign that something is not right. If a person can casually miss church, more than likely, he or she can just casually sin too. I am not saying you are lost, but you might be.

What you are doing in your life must match what the Bible says. What does the Bible say?

1 Corinthians 10:12–13 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

If you can casually sin and if you are careless about church attendance, you might need to be saved. The Bible says that God will make it possible for us to escape any temptation. If you are not seeing a way out of temptation, it might just mean that you need to be saved.

3. One falls into the fearful hands of God by stomping on the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 10:28–29 “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot 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?”

Hebrews 10:30 “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.”

Notice the beginning of this passage.

A law breaker could be put to death by the word of two or three witnesses.

Then the Bible says rejecting and disrespecting the blood of Jesus will receive punishment worse than death.

Denying the blood of Jesus is so severe that God Himself avenges that denial according to Hebrews 10:30.

What could be worse than death? HELL!!!!

Hell is a place where you never die but suffer the consequences of denying the blood of Jesus forever.

Luke 16:22–23 “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

Luke 16:24 “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Matthew 22:13 “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Matthew 13:41–42 “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

You might try to diminish Hell by saying the verses I just read are symbolic, but my experience tells me that the reality is far worse than the symbolism. If you continue stomping on the blood of Jesus, your access to mercy and grace will be denied.

You live in the age of grace now, but if you continue as you are, there will be no mercy and no grace.

If you reject the blood of Jesus, you will be in Hell forever and ever because you will keep on sinning and never repent.

What a dreadful, fearful, terrible thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God!!!!

What do you need to do to keep that from happening?

(1) Admit that you are a sinner, ask God to forgive you of your sins in the name of Jesus Christ, and repent.

(2) Believe that Jesus Christ is the perfect Son of God who died for your sins and was resurrected on the third day.

(3) Confess Jesus Christ publicly.

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

You are teetering on the edge. Once you fall into the terrible, fearful hands of God in judgment of your sins, it will be too late. Will you come to Jesus today?