A New And Living Way

Introduction

A key verse from this section of Scripture today is “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29 NIV).

The story is told of a great scientist, a naturalist, who one lovely summer day, went out in the Highlands of Scotland to study under his microscope the heather bell in all its native glory. In order to see its perfection, he got down on his knees, without plucking the flower, adjusted his instrument, and was reveling in its color, its delicacy, its beauty, lost in "wonder, love, and praise." How long he stayed there he does not know, but suddenly there was a shadow on him and his instrument. He waited for a time, thinking it might be a passing cloud. But it stayed there, and presently looking up over his shoulder saw a Highland shepherd watching him. Without saying a word the scientist plucked a heather bell and handed it, with the microscope, to the shepherd that he, too, might see what he was beholding.

The old shepherd put the instrument up to his eyes, got the heather bell in place and looked at it until the tears ran down his rugged face like bubbles on a mountain stream. Then handing the microscope back to the scientist, he said, "I wish you had never shown me that. I wish I had never seen it.” "Why? asked the surprised scientist. "Because," was the reply, "This rude foot has trodden on so many of them." Even so, when once you look through God's telescope – the Word of God – and see the marvels of His love displayed at Calvary's Cross, you, too, will accuse yourself for having ever treated Him badly for a single moment. The Lord open our eyes to see the exceeding sinfulness of any light-hearted regarding of the sacrifice He made there for our salvation.”

Transition

A couple of weeks ago spoke to you on a precious doctrine – eternal security. I spoke to you of how a man may not lose that which he cannot earn. Salvation is the gift of God’s grace alone by faith and consequently it cannot be lost. The question naturally and rightly arises, “What about passages like this in Hebrews?”

CIT / CIS: Salvation cannot be lost but it can be proven invalid. In other words, there those professed believers who profess faith but it isn’t genuine. There are those who look, act, and talk like disciples but their heart is far from Christ. And the truth eventually and often does come out.

You cannot lose salvation if you are in Christ but some prove themselves to never have actually been in Christ through their continual, willful, and sinning. A lot of folks today come to church to be entertained not disciple. A lot of folks today come to Christ for what they think He can give them but are unwilling to pay the price, to give the cost of discipleship.

Exposition

(1) A New and Living Way (19-25): When Jesus died on the Cross the veil in the Temple was torn in two. “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44-46 ESV) In this the law was fulfilled in Christ.

Christ had become the sacrifice that saves God’s covenant people. The fulfillment of the law laid aside the way of death and the slaughter of animals for the atonement of sin. It brought into fullness the living way of God. The Christian life is new in that we walk in newness, freshness, the brilliance of the new birth.

It is also new in that the old system was done away with. Now the law is fulfilled in Christ and you and I are found alive in Christ. The way of Jesus and consequently the way for His followers, is “A new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.” We are no longer separated from God.

Listen, this is too easy to overlook; take for granted for familiarity with the terms.

I remember once when I was about twelve falling asleep for a nap on a Sunday afternoon while my parents thought I had left with a friend to his baseball game. I fell into such a deep sleep that when I awoke I thought I had slept all afternoon, into the next day, and everyone had left for work or something. I fell into a panic that I had overslept for school. Then I thought that surely they would have woken me for school so something must have happened to them! They were all gone.