Hebrews 10:26-31
Notes
Transcript
Hebrews 10:26-31
Hebrews 10:26-31
Writer of Hebrews spends more than 9 chapters proving that Christ’s Priesthood is better than the OT Levitical priesthood
And last week, in light of the superiority of Christ, the author called us to do three things
Draw near to God
Hold fast to our confession
Stir up one another to love and good works, gathering together with the body
And we saw last week that the writer is encouraging his hearers to persevere
And this week, He is going to warn us of what happens if we don’t endure
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 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? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
vs 26
Deliberately is the first word of this sentence in the Greek
Remember, he is talking about those who have been a part of the assembly, those who would seem to be believers
But they don’t remain. They don’t hold fast.
But they used to gather together, they used to hear the Word preached, they know the confession
But this knowledge hasn’t changed their heart
Mohler says this is an action where the person continues in sin, and refuses to repent, willingly rejecting the Gospel
They know the truth, but they have not been changed by the truth
They have turned their back on the one and only sacrifice for sin
vs 27
Without Christ’s sacrifice, the unbeliever is still under the judgement and wrath of God
Every sin will be paid for, whether on the cross or in Hell
Look at the completeness of the devastation here
“A fury of fire that will consume the adversaries”
The adversaries: no neutral parties
vs 28
Continues his comparison with the Old Covenant law
“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
vs 29
If the rejection of the old Covenant was death, and the new covenant is greater than the old, then the writer argues the punishment for rejecting the covenant is greater
Trample underfoot the Son of God
Remember, these people know who Christ is
They know about Christ’s life of perfection, His sacrifice. The fact that He is fully God and fully man
And with all that knowledge, they still choose their sin
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
To reject the Son is to reject the Father
Profaned the blood of the covenant
The writer has shown that it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us, that sanctifies us and secures the forgiveness of sins
But these people know of this cleansing blood, and yet reject it, throwing it aside as if it was unclean
Outraged the Spirit of Grace
Just as to reject the Son is to reject the Father, to reject the son is also to reject the Spirit
The Spirit is given to the church to comfort us, give us peace and sanctify us
The choosing of sin is a rejection of both the Son’s blood, and the Spirit’s work
vs 30
vs 31
Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the hand of an Angry God”
He is not only able to cast wicked Men into Hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly Prince meets with a great deal of Difficulty to subdue a Rebel, that has found Means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the Num- bers of his Followers. But it is not so with God. There is no Fortress that is any Defence from the Power of God.
God is Holy, and God is Just
He is right to punish sin, He is blameless in the execution of His wrath
Hey Brandon, that’s OT God
Not NT God
Jesus is full of Grace, peace and love
God is not some teenager that was cranky in the OT but has grown up in the NT
God’s wrath is still weighing on those who are dead in their sin
But this morning we celebrate that His wrath no longer weighs on those who trust in Jesus
You see, God’s wrath was poured out on the sins of His people through the very thing we celebrate this weekend.
At the cross we see the Love of God, that He pours His righteous wrath out on His son, and not His people
But for those who are not in Christ, that wrath remains
There is only one sacrifice for Sin, and that is the shed blood of Jesus Christ
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And as we have seen in this passage, coming to the father through Jesus is not what you know.
The people in this passage knew. But they did not believe
They had not repented of their sin, and trusted in Christ for salvation and forgiveness
Application
Application
So we would be remiss if we did not take the time to ask you this morning
Do you know about Jesus? or have you put your faith in Him?
Have you grown up in and around the church, but it hasn’t made any change in your life?
Is there any chance that you could know, but not believe?
This morning let me remind you that the stakes of this are eternal
There are two possible eternities,
One with God, which comes through faith in Jesus
Or one in Hell, which comes through rejection of Jesus
Do you know where you stand?
If not, please don’t walk out of here without knowing
Let Rob or I show you from the Scriptures how you can know
Verse 31 reminds us, that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God
We have no guarantee of tomorrow, no ability to know that we will live past today
Don’t put off until tomorrow what the Lord is showing you today
Rob will be at the back of the sanctuary after the service, please talk with him or myself if you aren’t absolutely sure that you are covered by Christ’s blood.