Hebrews 10:26-39 — Life Is Short, Don’t Throw Away Eternity For This

Intro |

I have heard the news too many times. A teenager is expelled due to racist comments made on social media, a mother losses the respect of her family as she tries to escape through a few too many glasses of wine, a father losses his family due to his gambling addiction, a pastor looses his ministry for sexual immorality, and the list could go on.

In each of these situations the person sacrificed something lasting and great for a moment of temporary gratification, and these decisions, over time, should cause us eternal concern.

The writer of Hebrews has warned the church against drifting away. In Chp.6 there was a warning against apostasy, and further in Chp.10 the warning of the result of apostasy is given—eternal destruction.

By way of warning and encouragement, the writer of Hebrews is calling all of us not to trade the eternal promises of God for the temporal delights of this life.

1. Who is being addressed?

Before we can understand this passage we have to establish who is being addressed.

The person who rejects the gospel rejects the gospel as good news.

v.26 — “For if we go on sinning deliberately”

This is not occasional sin, but knowing, willing, ongoing.

v.29—This person tramples underfoot the Son of God, profanes the blood of the covenant, and outrages the Spirit of grace.

For this person their is no hope, “no longer remains a sacrifice for sin” (v.26).

This doesn’t mean that they are doomed, but that they are destined for destruction if they continue on their current path.

There is always hope for you if you will call upon the name of the Lord.

However, this could be you, is this you? Do you feel yourself being tempted to abandon the promises of God for temporary satisfaction and approval, and in so doing you feel your desires turning from God’s good promises for you?

This warning is for you!

The person who receives the gospel as good news.

This group is being encouraged, however doesn’t mean that the warnings should be overlooked.

Specifically, this group has a track record of faith, of confidence in the gospel and compassion for fellow christians.

Their faith in the promises of God causes them to live with a healthy respect of the warnings in light of the glorious promises of those who finish well.

Which group are you in? Are these verses a warning to you or an encouragement?

2. Warning against “shrinking back.”(vv.26-31)

Who shrinks back? (v.26,28, 29)

This warning is for those who value this life more than the promises of God (v.36).

This person attended church, went to a life group, loved a good bible study, heard the gospel and gave a response to it that looked genuine, but they now deny the faith and live for their own glory!

v.26 — “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins...”

Are you tempted to abandon the promises of God for the security of a relationship, to be successful in your business, to be who you want to be even knowing it is against God’s good design for you?

(vv.28-29) The writer Hebrews points out the danger of living this way. by comparing judgement under the Mosaic Law and the New Covenant like this, “Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”

The Law of Moses = death for those who “set it aside.”

This was not a once in awhile violation of the law. There were sacrifices for that, but this was an outright blatant rebellion against the Lord.

1 Sam. 2:12-27 The Sons of Eli were said to have “treated the offering of the LORD with contempt.”

v.29— Reveals “How much worse” it is to come under the judgement of Jesus in the New Covenant.

Under the OC the death penalty was the worst punishment one could expect, however in the NC a much worse punishment awaits those who reject the promises of God in Jesus Christ.

The writer of Hebrews gives three phrases to explain the “deliberate sinner.”

“Trample under foot the Son of God”

The title Son of God is given to highlight Jesus’ divinity and the disrespect such an act of denial would require.

Profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified.

To profane such the precious blood of Christ is to declare it and Christ unclean.

When, in fact, the blood of Christ is precious (1 Peter 1:19). It gives us confidence to enter the holy places (Heb. 10:19), and as we sang “it washes us white as snow.”

It was a great sin to treat the elements and the ceremonies of the Old Covenant as if they were trivial— how much more the blood of Christ!

Outrage the Spirit of grace.

Here we see the very one who grants and gives grace to sinners mocked and insulted.

You may think of the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit in Matt 12. This is the rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God that led the Jews to murder Jesus upon a cross.

Do you see the seriousness in the warning of trading temporal gain and comfort for the eternal promises of God.

Simply put, that is what apostasy is.

What is at stake?

The Gospel. (v.29) — Have you considered the far reach of your sin?

As a church member, your sin can taint the witness of this church and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How much worse, if you once claimed to be a Christian and then deny Him, you are, as it were, casting a shadow over the shining light of God’s grace.

v.30, quoting Deut 32, warns that those who live this way will not be overlooked.

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

To live this way and abandon the faith temporarily hurts the gospel, but brings the eternal wrath of God upon the one who falls away.

(what is at stake) Your Soul (v.27, 29, 30)

Today, even in some churches, the topic of Hell is not preach on, taught in small groups, discussed in discipleship meetings, or even shared in evangelistic efforts.

Perhaps this is why many in the church today don’t take the things of God seriously. Don’t take sharing the gospel seriously. or the return of Christ seriously.

It may be temporarily therapeutic to not think about Hell, but there will be an eternal judgement.

v.26-27— warns that there is a “fearful expectation of judgement and fury of fire” to be expected.

(v.27, 30) Hell is Real—Mark 9:48 Hell is “‘where there worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’”

v.31—So the writer of Hebrews warns, ”It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

I mentioned evangelism earlier. So let me ask, by avoiding the topic of Hell“Are you showing a greater concerned with being liked than you are about the person falling into the hands of the living God?”

“To fall into the hands” means to come under the power of another.

When referring to God’s mercy and grace this is a good thing

Heb. 12:29 should be in view here “for our God is a consuming fire.”

John, in Matt 3, speaks of the coming judgement of Christ. Not the earthly ministry of a suffering servant, but the return of a soldier ready to conquer and claim what is his.

Matt 3:11-12, ““[Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

This warning is important because the gospel, and your soul, is important.

3. Encouragement to persevere (vv.32-39)

a. How can we persevere?

In verse 32 the writer encourages the church to recall/remember how they endured so far.

By faith (v.39)—As they remembered they would have their faith stirred up.

Heb. 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Heb.10:39 “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

By faith we gather with together to remember and rejoice, in the promises of God as we recall one another’s compassion and confidence through the good and bad.

So, when the temptation to sin is great and suffering is long we persevere by faith, but why?

Surely for the sake of the gospel, and our own souls, but also to...

b. Why do we persevere?

Receive the promise. (v.34,36) The Hebrew church did not took the teaching of Jesus from Matt 6:19-21 seriously when they were being persecuted. Even when their possessions were being taken, they “laid up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And they were looking ahead to Rev. 21:1-4 knowing the promise of God to Abraham would be fulfilled and far better than any earthly gain. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””

(Why do we persevere?) Christ is coming soon!

Just as real as Hell is, so too is Christ return!

Heb.9:28 “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

v.37—Saints, “For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and not delay.”

1 Thess. 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Church, I am confident with the writer of Hebrews, that you are not of those who shrink back, but if you are tempted...

Heb 12:3 “Consider Jesus who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

Heb. 12:12-13 “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”