HoHum:
We have all been around people who could change their moods at the flip of a switch. Don’t know exactly how to take them. Have a good time with them and then out of nowhere they slap us in the face. Bob Deffinbaugh tells about one of his teachers who was like this. His name was Mr. Riddell. Says Bob, “Mr. Riddell was a very jovial fellow, and so we laughed a lot in class. But at the very hint of losing control, he would immediately change his demeanor to a very stern disposition which tolerated no nonsense. I have to tell you that it worked – it worked well.”
WBTU:
In our series through the book of Hebrews we have come upon Hebrews 10. The first part of this chapter talks about the blessings of the New Covenant through Jesus Christ and how it is superior to the Old Covenant. Last week we jumped ahead to Hebrews 11 for the 4th but today we come back to ch. 10. Read Hebrews 10:19-25. What an uplifting section!
Then we get slapped in the face. Vs. 26-31 is one of the harshest rebukes in all of Scripture. These verses have been described as hellish. Why such a change?
Thesis: From these verses let’s talk about the people, the problem and the punishment.
For instances:
The people- To whom is the writer of Hebrews talking?
A. To people who have been presented with the gospel of Jesus but reject it. They have rejected the knowledge of the truth so there is no sacrifice for sins for them. They will be punished severely if they die without Jesus. It will be a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Luke 12:47: That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
B. To people who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ but then continue in their old sins. They do not repent and change their lives through the power of Jesus Christ. “Since Jesus Christ will forgive me anyway I might as well keep on sinning.” Eventually, their sins will not be forgiven- no sacrifice is left. Loved their idols more than Christ. They have insulted or grieved the Holy Spirit- the Spirit of grace- by their sinful lifestyles. The Lord will judge them. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Jude 4: They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. They deliberately keep on sinning.
C. To Jewish people who are trying to keep the Old Covenant but reject the New Covenant through Jesus Christ. I doubt that this group would go this far through the letter but it is a warning to them. Because they reject the sacrifice of God’s Son, no sacrifice for sins is left. Vs. 28- The OT said that anyone who rejected the law of Moses upon the testimony of others would be stoned. Because they have rejected God’s covenant through His Son, they will be punished more severely than stoning. The Lord will judge His chosen people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. John 3:36: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.
D. All of these apply but the group that it most refers to is the Jewish Christians. The group he is addressing has a firm understanding of the OT but also an understanding of Jesus Christ.
From chapter 10: 1) called “brothers”—verse 19 2) made holy, sanctified and experienced forgiveness of sins—verses 10, 14, 17 and 18 3) called God’s people—verse 30
The Problem
Vs. 26- “Deliberately keep on sinning.” This is more than occasional sin or even a habitual sin with which a Christian struggles. What is this talking about?
Have our answer in vs. 29
1) Trampled the Son of God under foot
he rejects the person of Christ—he denies who Jesus Christ truly is. He once acknowledged Christ but now he denies it. He regards Jesus as just another man—nothing special about Him.
We devalue God by devaluing His Son, God’s greatest gift to us.
2) Treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant
The ’blood of the covenant,’ is the death of Christ, which is the foundation of the new covenant. The writer says they regard it as ’common’. Nothing special
By counting the blood of Jesus of little importance, they also devalue baptism and communion. These two things mean very little to them.
3) Insulted the Spirit of grace
reject God’s gift of grace and seek to be justified by law. Galatians 5:4: You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
He wants nothing to do with the workings of the Holy Spirit in his life. He has turned his back on the things of Christ. He has deserted the Christian faith. And it’s possible for a true believer in Christ to do that—to abandon the gospel that he once embraced.
Why would they want to do this? Because times were hard. In their society if they would just abandon the Christian faith and go back to the Jewish OT faith, things would go well for them. Vs. 32-34 we see suffering, insults, and persecution. We see some put in prison and some having their property confiscated.
They were ready to throw the towel on this Christian stuff. Their enthusiasm was fading, they had lost their courage, lost their zeal for their faith and their attendance at church was falling off. This is what caused the writer of Hebrews to give them this stern warning.
The writer of Hebrews was exhorting them to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ, no matter what kind of trials they might have to face. This is not the first time he has done this.
In this place we do not have those conditions, but we still have these things going on. People taking Jesus Christ, His salvation, His Word and His church lightly. If we turn our backs on Christ, then what hope is left for us?
People do it today because they think that God will accept them if they are good enough. We don’t have to have Jesus Christ or baptism or the church to go to heaven. We just have to be good. Story of my great grandmother LuReign Strong and the Strong men.
Ephesians 2:8-9: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. The reason God gives why salvation cannot be obtained by doing good deeds is so that no one can boast about it. No one can argue that they are better than anyone else. They aren’t going to be able to say that they ‘saved themselves.’ We must all come to Jesus the same way. We must admit that we are sinners and we must put our faith and trust in His Son Jesus Christ.
Plan of salvation
The Punishment
Psalm 36:15: But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. However, if we persist in trampling the Son of God under our feet, and treating His blood as an unholy thing, and insulting His Spirit of grace, God will punish.
“Hell won’t be that bad.” the Bible speaks of hell in a different way. Verse 27 says the judgment of God will be ’terrifying.’
Why is His judgment so ’terrifying’? The writer continues, illustrating that the judgment of God is a ’raging fire that will consume.’ This is not the out of control, raging fire that we picture in our minds. Rather, this means a personal ’jealous anger’. It is the jealous anger of God which results in a fire that consumes all those who have set themselves against Him. This idea is taken from the Old Testament (Isaiah 26:11, Zephaniah 1:18), and proves that God alone has the right to be jealous. Why? Because He alone is worthy of all praise, all attention, all honor, and all glory. Those who reject Him, provoke Him to unleash His ’fury of fire’ upon them in the day of judgment.
For Christians that terror does not exist. We have been forgiven of every sin we have ever committed, or will commit. We anticipate with eagerness the day that we will see our Savior face-to-face. But for the unbeliever and those who persist in vs. 29, that moment will be filled with a gnawing, uncontrollable, terrifying fear.
Vs. 31- It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Revelation 14:11: And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night
In his book The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel tells of an interview he had with Charles Templeton shortly before his death. Earlier in his life Templeton had been a popular evangelist with Billy Graham. Later on, he wrote a book expressing his disbelief in Jesus called Farewell To God . When Strobel went to interview him, Templeton was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, but Strobel caught him on a day that he was in his right mind.
Templeton recounted his path from belief to agnosticism on that day. He told Strobel that he thought Jesus was only a man, and that there was nothing special about his death. But Templeton did say that he admired Jesus. And that he tried to follow Jesus’ example and ethics. Let me read to you Strobel’s words at this point: “Abruptly, Templeton cut short his thoughts. There was a brief pause, almost as if he was uncertain whether he should continue. ‘Uh … but … no,’ he said slowly. ‘He’s the most …’ He stopped, then started again. ‘In my view,’ he declared, ‘he is the most important human being who has ever existed.’ That’s when Templeton uttered the words I never expected to hear from him. ‘And if I may put it this way,’ he said as his voice began to crack, ‘I … miss … him!’
The most frightening description of hell to me is that I will be all alone only with my misery and sins. God, Jesus and friends will be nowhere and I will be completely alone.
