“Hold Fast”
Hebrews 10:26-31
In the Spring of 1924:
Jack Sundine was a four-year-old kid,
standing in a line with his father inside the White House,
waiting to meet President Calvin Coolidge.
As they neared him:
Jack noticed that he said something
to each visitor as they shook hands.
Soon, the thrilling moment arrived:
Jack put his small hand into the President’s.
Then the President said words
Jack will always remember: “Move along.”
In contrast:
aren’t you glad that when we come to God,
He doesn’t tell us to move along.
Instead:
He is personally involved in our lives and
He is concerned for our lives and our souls…
And when there is danger, He warns us…
Every loving parent warns their children of danger ahead…
Here is our 4th warning in Hebrews:
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 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? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews 10:26-31 (NIV)
This is written to people who have been:
presented with the gospel of Jesus but reject it.
so there is no sacrifice for sins for them.
They will be punished severely if they die without Jesus.
This is written to people who have accepted 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.
Some of them 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.
Their souls were in danger:
- they were not persevering in their faith
- they were not finishing the race they began…
The purpose of the warnings in chapter 10:26-31:
was to warn the Christians of the consequences
of rejecting Jesus our great high priest
who has secured our entry into heaven by his own blood
This warning is a call to perseverance.
For the Christian to:
keep defying God through deliberate rebellion
is sinful and puts one again under the wrath of God.
Our salvation ought:
to transform our behavior,
We are new creations in Christ
The old is gone, the new is here
We were dead, we are now
To reject God and instead to embrace sin is to:
spit in the face of the Salvation of Jesus.
But that is what some were doing.
The fair question is raised,
“If the blood of Jesus isn’t enough to save your soul, what else is there?”
First of all:
the blood of Jesus is enough to bring salvation, but
It is of no use if we throw away that salvation.
Secondly that:
there is no other hope for salvation outside
of the blood, cross and resurrection of Jesus.
There is no second salvation waiting to be found by the believer.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12 (NIV)
The book of Hebrews makes it plain:
that there is no secret knowledge to find,
All we need is found in the blood of Jesus.
Once we have salvation:
it is paramount that we
never return to the sin we just died to,
that we persevere in our faith.
Hebrews to the consequences that:
- come with abandoning our faith, and
- that is abandoning their hope of salvation.
If these Christians:
were to abandon their faith
there would literally be Hell to pay.
The cross of Christ:
- is the solution to our greatest problem
- our greatest problem is OUR SIN
- our rebellion has created a debt that earns us death and HELL
Sin brings Hell, Jesus brings salvation:
- but some have treated that salvation with contempt
- some have turned their back on the very gift that saves them
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”
Acts 13:38-9 (NIV)
The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
- and still the people who fear the Lord are dwindling in number
- those falling away from the faith is increasing
- devoted Christians are an abnormal and uncommon people
The world fears a lot of things:
- they fear poverty of money, but not poverty of soul
- they fear loss of health, but not eternity in Hell
- they have a fear of missing out on the blessings of earth,
but not a fear of missing out on the blessings of heaven
Jesus says…
“But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”
Luke 12:5 (NIV)
The wayward Christ:
- is in danger of backsliding into Hell
- without giving it a second thought
- they are playing fast and loose with their salvation
The jeopardy here is that we listen to these warnings in Hebrews:
- and think about someone else
- and how if they don’t REPENT,
- if they don’t change their ways the may go to HELL
The risk is that we listen to these warnings:
- and miss the message because
- we think the message is for someone else.
- The warning is for others, but it is DEFINITELY FOR US
For the listener, the loss of salvation would mean:
that they would once again
come under the wrath of God.
There is no way:
- to walk out on God, and
- still have His benefits.
The warning:
is severe because the danger
is serious and the consequences eternal
1. The Problem of deliberate sin
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
Hebrews 10:26-27 (NIV)
Deliberate sinning:
- is more than occasional sin
- or even habitual sin which a Christian struggles
- this is more of a state of intentional sin
Where is the line?
- I mean how do we know if our sin is occasional or deliberate?
- how can we know if we have sinned so much that we have
- left our salvation and turned our backs on GOD?
The point is we don’t know how far is too far:
- we don’t know where the line is
- we don’t know how far we can wander from God
- and still retain our salvation
The point here is not to see:
- how close to the edge of our salvation and still be SAVED
- the goal is not to determine the minimum standard of the Christian
The aim is to recognize:
that there is a point of no return, and
- we need to get away from that THREAT
We once had a little dog that went camping with us:
- when he’d get loose at home, he could always find his way home
- but when we were camping, he got loose
- and he was just doing what he wanted like he always did
- but this time he got lost in the forest and couldn’t find his way back
- we found him, but only because when we got near he came to us
The peril for the wayward Christian:
- is doing our own thing, adventuring where we should not
- and no longer listening to God’s voice
- no longer hearing God
- and we’ve put ourselves in the position of imminent death
If we trade our salvation for this world:
- we are trading God’s best for Hell’s worst
- there is no hope for us
- we are once again destined for Hell
2. The reality that sin comes with a cost
“Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 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 10:28-29 (NIV)
These Hebrews were Jews who converted to Christianity:
- they understood the old sacrificial system
- they made routine and occasional sacrifices
- the sacrifices pushed back the debt of sin they owed.
With all the OT sacrifices:
- the debt of sin was not paid
- but only moved until the sacrifice of Jesus
Hebrews 10:4 just said that:
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
So even if these Hebrews:
- rejected salvation in Christ
- they would still owe their own death
- because animal sacrifice does not pay off our sin death
The point here is that:
- rejecting our great salvation is to spit in Jesus’ face
3 things are done when sin is chosen instead of Christ…
1) The Son of God is trampled under foot
2) Treat as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant
3) Insulted the Spirit of grace
Most of the time Dalyn and I have been married:
- we haven’t had much money
- so we bought used furniture
- to this day the only new furniture we have is our beds
We aren’t a broke as we once were:
- but we still have used furniture
- one reason is that quality furniture is expensive
- the other reason is I don’t want to spend money on things I don’t value
I just don’t put a lot of value on furniture:
- you sit on it
- you put plates on it
- you put clothes in it
To me furniture is a tool:
that does something,
not a decorative statement…
Dalyn does not like my furniture philosophy…
But there is one piece of furniture I do value:
- It’s my grandma’s hutch
- it was a very expensive piece
- most people wouldn’t pay much for it, but it’s important to me
- in fact I spent $800 to get it from Missouri
It’s special to me:
- and there are times I’ve been upset
- when people haven’t respected it
One time the Internet guy:
- was fixing our internet
- and he put his drill on it, and tool bag
- I watched him, said nothing but inside I was plotting his end.
Last week someone put a coffee cup on it…not pleased.
That is how I feel about my grandma’s hutch:
- It’s not right when people dishonor it
- It’s not right when people reject it’s value
- It’s not right when it is abused
If I can get pretty mad about the mistreatment of a hutch:
- can you imagine how furious God gets
- when His Son is dishonored and disrespected
- treat their salvation as if it were nothing?
For those who reject Jesus and will not repent there is Hell to pay
3. The punishment for the LOST
“For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews 10:30-31 (NIV)
Our generation is off balance:
- our ideas of God are out of balance
- we put a lot of weight on GOD’s LOVE,
- but give almost no attention to His RIGHTEOUSNESS and WRATH
When a professor is teaching on a subject:
- inevitably someone will ask the question
- “is this going to be on the test”
- meaning do I have to pay attention and retain this
- or can I ignore it.
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
Hebrews 10:26-27
This warning:
- is to be heeded,
- retained and not forgotten
- YOU NEED THIS FOR THE TEST
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 bring punishment
While people say:
Hell won’t be that bad.
Or my friends will be there
We’ll relax and drink beer have a party
The Bible speaks of hell in a different way:
the judgment of God will be ’terrifying.’
A lonely, painful dark place
With weeping and gnashing of teeth
Never ending death
For Christians that terror does not exist:
Our sins have been forgiven
We eagerly wait for the day that
we will see our Savior face-to-face.
But for the unbeliever and those who persist in sin:
that moment will be filled with
a gnawing, uncontrollable,
terrifying fear.
Hebrews 10:31 says:
“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
This text has been kind of dark and scary:
- there is a lot of punishment and pain
- for things they weren’t doing
- because their hearts and lives had wandered away from God
But instead of looking like this as:
- a person yelling at their dog. “NO! BAD, BAD, BAD”
- it would be best to see it as a
- parent trying to get their child out
- of the street before they get hit by a car
The writer of Hebrews was:
encouraging them to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ,
no matter what kind of trials they might have to face.
And warning them of the consequences of turning back..
The first part of our salvation:
- for many of us came a long time ago
- but the beginning for us all is at the foot of the cross
It is the decision to follow Jesus:
- to get on the faith path
- to believe in Jesus, confess Him as Lord
- to reject sin and be immersed in Christian baptism
That puts us on the Highway to Heaven, not the Highway to Hell:
- and the job now is to stay committed
- not to get off at the exit of laziness or the sin of idolatry
- to keep going, and not to go back
Credit:
I used a lot of sources. I honestly don't remember where it all came from, however if you see your work here I will gladly give you credit. I invented the outline.
