"But we are not those who draw back," are we?
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 90 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
A timely reminder
A timely reminder
Introduction
If only we knew, brothers and sisters … ?
“If only we knew!”
Have you thought those words?
“If only we knew?”
How drastically life can change, in an instant - and suddenly we find ourselves - so alone, so confused, often, with this thought: “If only we knew!
Perhaps they were in the thoughts of the next of kin of the four Victoria policemen,
who was so suddenly, unexpectedly, unnecessarily, taken from their families and loved ones.
One can imagine them saying goodbye to their loved ones, that fateful morning, the day before yesterday!
And now, they will be busy making funeral arrangements.
And perhaps they are thinking … “If only we knew ...”
Like the soldiers who clambered into landing craft to attack the Turkish might at the Dardanelles, at Gallipoli, that dark, cold and icy gales morning of April 25, 1915.
I can imagine the commanders saying: “If only we knew ...”
“If only we knew how many men would die.”
And, perhaps, in the thoughts of many a soldier, some only boys: “If only I knew this was what was waiting for us! Perhaps then I would have hugged my mother, my father, my brother, just a little longer … just a little tighter ...”
If only we knew ...
It turns out, loved ones, that we can know!
I don’t mean, we can know the hour of our death, or the circumstances of our death - but we can know and do know that such and hour will eventually come for all of us!
Now if we know that this is so, friends, it seems to me the question that we find so daunting (If only we knew…) turns into something else!
And that “something else” is as urgent, as grave, as immediate, than, “If only we knew?”
That question is:
“As we do know that sooner or later our hour will come, what will be our experience of that hour, and beyond …?”
And what are we to do to reconcile that moment? Is there anything we can do to give us hope and the courage to fact that moment?
Well, for Christians, the answer is yes!
And doing this, comes with a guarantee! If, you do this, you will find the peace you long for, the certainty you seem to be searching for, when all the time it is there for your grasping!
Do this - and you will live. Now; everyday; and forever! Even though you die!
John 3:16
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
An urgent warning!
An urgent warning!
And if you don’t?
Then watch out! The day will come like a thief in the night, like the Corona Virus, like a routine traffic stop that turns into “the day” -
and then we will be devastated - but consoled, comforted ...
or we will be left numb with disbelief and hopeless grief!
There is no middle ground, friends!
What are we to do, then?
To recap, we should freely display our confidence of trust in the One who has made us right again with God, our maker!
Last, week’s passage, in summary of the “what should I do,” question:
Heb. 10: 22- 25 : (22) Draw near; (23) Hold on!; (24)Watch out for one another; (25)Do not neglect to gather together (as some are in the habit of doing - and all the more as you see the day approaching!
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
That is what we are to do!
And then follows, immediately, a stark warning:
Heb. 10:26
26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
With other words, friends, drawing last week’s passage and this week’s passage together:
to draw near (to God) with a true heart, in full assurance of faith;
to hold on to our confession of hope - WITHOUT WAVERING -;
to watch out for one another - to provoke (Christ-like) love and good works;
and to not neglect meeting together (as some are in the habit of doing) but encouraging each another - by doing all of these things - that is the way to life and love. That is the way God decrees we are to live. That is living a holy life!
And the opposite of this:
to not draw near to God with a true heart, in full assurance of faith;
to not hold on to our confession of faith, our hope;
to not watch out for one another and not care for one another’s peace in Jesus by us spurring each other on to love and good works;
to neglect to meet together (as some are in the habit of doing!) not encouraging one another; by not doing all of these things
is Sin!
Can you see it?
The author of Hebrews is saying: Either you know that these things are true, and in that case, you do have the knowledge of the truth! (This knowledge is God given! It has a name! It is called FAITH!)
And it has a measurable result! We will be watching out for one another, be concerned for one another, provoking love and good works in each other
- that is how you know!
And You do know the difference, don’t you?
Because you have been given knowledge of the difference!
“Where?” you might ask. Or, “When?” “Where and when have we ever received this knowledge?”
To which my best answer, is: “At the Cross!”
(Were you there when they crucified my Lord?)
You do know why He was crucified, don’t you?
You do know what His death meant for you and me, yes, even you and me, don’t you, Loved Ones?
Isn’t that why you care?
Isn’t that why we draw near to God at our every care and suffering and joy?
Isn’t that why we have a hope that we can cling to?
Isn’t that why we long to be together, to encourage one another, to do good for one another, even as the Lord Jesus did good for us?
Or will we go on sinning?
Heb. 10:26
26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
You know there was a Sacrifice for sins, but if you deny that Sacrifice, the sacrifice becomes null and void for you!
With other words, - and let’s be lovingly frank - you know that since Adam and Eve first chose to be disobedient to God, in the Garden, restitution was owing to God to restore our broken relationship with God; you know that God gave us temporary relief from our sins, by prescribing a sacrificial system, whereby the sins of God’s people, would be visited on an animal - the life of an animal - but that that system was never sufficient, because, the punishment for the sin of mankind, is the life of mankind! And we know now, that God gave us this Old Testament system, so that we could come to the wisdom that while that system was insufficient, to give us relief in the meantime, He promised that He would send a Sufficient Sacrifice, even Jesus, His only Son, so that we could be right with Him again and live eternally in His presence, even now!
That is the Gospel!
And you will deny Jesus? Our Supreme Offering?
By continuing to live in willful disobedience, even though you know God’s Law?
Well, God has no pleasure in that! (Heb.10:38 )
38 But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him.
And if you have forfeited your sacrifice, you can expect just punishment, surely we see that?
If no penalty was paid for your sin, or unless someone came forward and said: I will pay for him, surely you would expect to serve your punishment yourself?
How would the loved ones of the murder victim feel if the judge was simply to set the murderer free, because he rather liked him.
And yet, Jesus is obedient to the Law, that demands a life as a penalty for sin, and He pays it on our behalf - and we will trample His love, and God’s Mercy, underfoot?
Here’s what will happen, God says: Heb. 10:27 … you can have ...
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.
And you say, “If only we knew?” Well, now you do know, loved ones ...
So, rather ask in stead, friends: “What shall I do to be saved?” Or, in the context of this passage: “What shall I stop doing, to be saved!”
Stop continuing to sin, deliberately!
And if you don’t - then watch out! The day will come like a thief in the night, like the Corona Virus, like a routine traffic stop that turns into “the day” - and then we should freely be able to know, that even the greatest catastrophe, cannot separate those who live according to the instructions, from their eternal safe-keeping!
To explain this, the Spirit inspired author of this letter, then gives us a history lesson, as explanation, so that we will have no excuse for supposedly not understanding:
A clear history lesson
A clear history lesson
Heb10: 28
28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
This past Friday morning, for our family worship, we read together Leviticus 24: 10: 10-23.
For no specific reason, and at the time, certainly not in the preparation of this sermon. But later I understood what our Hebrews passage was saying all the better, in the light of this Old Testament Passage:
In short, God was saying, through Moses, that He will not have anyone take His name in vain! And those who do, will die, or, in Old Testament terms, are to be killed!
Leviticus 24:13-16
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 14 “Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him. 15 And tell the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; the whole community is to stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the resident alien or the native.
In our letter to the Christians over all of the ages, the author is saying: If this is how God ordained what would happen to those who turn against Him in those days, before an offering was made for us; how much more would God bring down His wrath on those who profane His name, now, that God sent His Son as a sacrifice for us who say we belong to God - we are the people of God - we are Christians! We were there, we remain in faith, there, together, looking up to the Cross. We have seen the Sacrifice!
And now we just turn away and keep on doing whatever comes most enjoyably, least costly, most self-centered to us?
Without a second though on what God demands?
Heb. 10: 29
29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
The lesson we learn from this history lesson
The lesson we learn from this history lesson
You see, friends, there is no other sacrifice to come any longer.
If there was, it would nullify Jesus’ death on the Cross!
It would make it inferior to something else to come - and what higher sacrifice can be brought, than Jesus own life! He who made us, gave His life for us, so that we would be unblemished again, remade in His Image by His blood alone.
Non other can make us! Non other can restore us, or re-make us!
Are you ready to challenge God?
Friends, we should consider this quastion!
Because : -
Heb 10: 30-31
30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
If you are, willfully, purposely, self-servingly so cold we simply carry living lives in contrast to God’s law and Covenantal decrees, we will find ourselves in the hands of an angry, Living God!
It is a promise! And God is faithful!
Where will our help come from? A test of endurance!
Where will our help come from? A test of endurance!
It is a glorious thing the day we come to understand that “our help is in the Lord” (Ps 121!)
And it is a most comforting realisation that we are living lives of good works and love, in accordance to God’s law, by His grace and favour alone!
Please note how I have said that last sentence: You see, it is not our good works, but good works we do in faith and dependence on God, who is the giver of all good things!
We are “living” lives of obedience, when we are, by His grace and mercy, alone!
With Paul, we might cry out:
Rom. 7: 19
19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.
And yet, knowing himself for what he is, a wretched sinner, like all of us, by God’s grace, when Jesus comes to him and says: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me, and having come to the “knowledge of the truth”(verse 26!) Paul is able to stop sinning, and is able to endure in a righteous life, suffering many pains and transgressions!
That’s verse 32!
Hebrews 10:32
32 Remember the earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.
Do you remember those days, friends?
Are you persevering in that way of life, seeking to please Jesus, guarding against wilful sin?
Good on you! To God be the glory!
You are the ones who know without hesitation, without looking back, that you are to live lives according to God’s decrees, not according to that which is against God’s will!
And God’s will determines our direction, not ours, for whatever reason!
God determines the boundaries of our being, our gender, our sexuality, our relationships, our marriage, our family bonds; the beginning and the end of our lives - and all of life!
God made us and we are His! Not our own!
In the Heidelberg Catechism we ask: (Lord’s day 1)
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,1 but belong—body and soul, in life and in death2—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.3
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,4 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.5 He also watches over me in such a way6 that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;7 in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.8
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.10
How will we achieve this?
Heb10:36
36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised.
This verse is balanced by verse 23:
Heb.10:23
23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.
And it is embroidered on, in verse 36 and 37:
Heb.10: 36-37
36 For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
And that is what you are holding on to, isn’t it, as in verse 22.
Heb.10:22
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
Because the whole world can see it in the lives of those who have such faith!
We live by the faith, in obedience, in fear and trembling of wanting to be right with God! And if we have that fear and trembling, which is a positive, joyful experience, not a frightening one - like a child loves his parent in respect and love - then we become all the more caring towards ecah other, wanting to meet together, to encourage one another, watching out for one another to provoke love and good works among each other!
For we are those who have faith!
Not those who draw back and are destroyed!
Heb.10:39
39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.
Aren’t we, Loved Ones?
Amen!