Latest / Wetumpka Church of Christ Online / Hebrews 10: Jesus Is Enough — One Sacrifice, Once for All
Transcript
- 0:23Good morning. I hate to break up all the
- 0:31visiting, but time waits for no man.
- 0:55What I appreciate with all of this is I would much rather have
- 0:58everybody up and walking around and talking to one another than
- 1:00everybody sitting in their seats, silent as a tomb, not
- 1:05having anything to do with one another.
- 1:08So you would much prefer this than the other if you would open
- 1:15your Bibles with me this morning to Hebrews chapter 10.
- 1:18We will be continuing our study through the Book of Hebrews this
- 1:21morning, and unfortunately, I have some bad news to relay.
- 1:29We're not going to make it all the way through the end of the
- 1:32Book of Hebrews by the end of February.
- 1:36I know that shocks you. I actually did have it all in
- 1:41place and all laid out to be able to do that.
- 1:43But as Andrew had mentioned during the 8:30 session with the
- 1:48passing of Ruby Brad, some of you know them, some of you
- 1:53don't. I know several of you are
- 1:54planning to to make the trip up to Illinois this week and we are
- 1:59as well for their for her funeral.
- 2:02Steven and Renee serve on the board of Roundhouse with Shay
- 2:05and I and with Andrew and Rebecca.
- 2:07And we've known them for 20 years and they are extremely
- 2:11close to our family. So our whole family will be
- 2:15leaving on Thursday to make the trip up there and we won't get
- 2:18back till Sunday night. Tom has very graciously agreed
- 2:22to take my spot next Sunday, but I'm also going what?
- 2:28That's the bad news. That's no that the, the good
- 2:30news is Tom's going to take my spot, but I'm also going to be
- 2:34out the 15th because I have to be in Sevierville for the
- 2:37Roundhouse board meeting. And so Benjamin's going to take
- 2:40my spot on the 15th. But that means we have two
- 2:43classes left and four chapters to cover in, in the words of of
- 2:49my dad, when asking for things that I already knew the answer
- 2:52to, it ain't going to happen. We are going to do the best we
- 2:56can. But what I am also going to try
- 2:58to do is we've been recording these.
- 3:00We've been putting them up on the, the podcast that the, the,
- 3:03the church has as far as the podcast page.
- 3:07So wherever we stop or however far we get, what I will endeavor
- 3:10to do in the next couple of weeks after our class closes is
- 3:16to record some lessons for the remainder of the book of Hebrews
- 3:20to complete out the study, even though we may not be able to
- 3:23have it here in the auditorium for that.
- 3:28That being said, this morning we are in Hebrews chapter 10 and we
- 3:32will be picking up in verse one. Our goal is going to be to get
- 3:36through verse 31 this morning, and I think that's about as far
- 3:40as we're going to be able to move.
- 3:44But that will also leave things ripe for us to be able to delve
- 3:48into Chapter 11 for our final class at the end of the month.
- 3:55As we talked about last week in Chapter 9, you have this
- 3:58discussion that has convened in the Book of Hebrews over the
- 4:03course of everything. Remember, going all the way
- 4:05back, the entire statement of the Book of Hebrews is about
- 4:11whether or not Jesus is enough. It is written to Jewish
- 4:15Christians. It is written to those who are
- 4:17struggling with whether or not they should remain with Christ,
- 4:22whether they should remain as as servants of Christ, or whether
- 4:26they should go back to the way things used to be.
- 4:28Go try to go back under the old law.
- 4:30Try to go back under that Old Testament system, and the
- 4:34entirety of the book of Hebrews is the argument of why Jesus
- 4:37isn't only enough. He is everything in the process
- 4:43of our lives and in the process of our service to God.
- 4:48And so much of chapters 3 through 8 has dealt with Jesus
- 4:53as our high priest and the things that come from Jesus
- 4:57being our high priest and why he's qualified to be our high
- 5:01priest. In Chapter 9, we talked about
- 5:03last week as we look through the things that are stated, you have
- 5:08this emphasis of Jesus as the sacrifice and, and the blood
- 5:14that Jesus is going to shed and the way that he is going to be
- 5:17able to do things that were never capable of being done
- 5:21under the Old Testament system. Because the sacrifices under the
- 5:26Old Testament system weren't perfect.
- 5:28They could not take away sins. They could not redeem mankind by
- 5:34themselves. And so as we come to the end of
- 5:37Chapter 9 last week, the last paragraph there in verse 23, we
- 5:42want to utilize because chapter 10 is not a a change of topic.
- 5:47It's a continuation of this discussion of Jesus as the
- 5:51sacrifice. And so in verse 23 it says
- 5:55therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the
- 5:59heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things
- 6:03themselves with better sacrifices than these.
- 6:07For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands
- 6:11which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself now to
- 6:15appear in the presence of God for us.
- 6:18Not that He should offer Himself often, as the high Priest enters
- 6:22the most Holy place every year with blood of another.
- 6:26He then would have had to suffer since the foundation of the
- 6:29world. But now once at the end of the
- 6:32ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
- 6:37Himself. And as it is appointed for men
- 6:39to die once, but after this, the judgment, so Christ was offered
- 6:44once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him,
- 6:49he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation.
- 6:54So the argument that is being made at the end of Chapter 9 is
- 6:59the fact that Christ only had to make this sacrifice once, unlike
- 7:04as he's going to talk about again in just a moment at the
- 7:06start of chapter 10. Unlike the priests under the old
- 7:10law who had to offer these sacrifices over and over again
- 7:15while they still couldn't completely take away the sin,
- 7:20Jesus only had to make this offering once.
- 7:23He was offered once, verse 28, to bear the sins of many.
- 7:29And he doesn't just go into the temples made with hands, but
- 7:35rather he is in the most holy place or the holiest of all.
- 7:41He is in the presence of God himself for us.
- 7:49So as you come into chapter 10, he's going to reiterate some of
- 7:54the things that he talks about at the start of Chapter 9 about
- 7:57why this whole process was necessary, but then he's also
- 8:03going to dive into what changed with this sacrifice of Jesus.
- 8:08Notice what he says beginning in verse one.
- 8:10For the Law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not
- 8:14the very image of the things, can never, with these same
- 8:18sacrifices which they offer continually, year by year, make
- 8:23those who approach perfect. For then would they not have
- 8:27ceased to be offered. For the worshippers, once
- 8:30purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
- 8:34But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year,
- 8:38for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could
- 8:43take away sins. Was the Old Testament law?
- 8:51Was the Old Covenant what God wanted it to be?
- 8:56Yes. Did it do what God wanted it to
- 9:00do? Yes.
- 9:02It fulfilled its purpose. But was it everything that
- 9:07mankind needed it to be? Not from the standpoint of
- 9:13salvation. The blood of bulls and goats did
- 9:17not have the ability to take away our sins.
- 9:23They were not sufficient for that.
- 9:27And so when those things were done in the Old Testament, the
- 9:33statement at the end of verse one is they could never, with
- 9:36these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year,
- 9:42make those who approach perfect. It just simply wasn't in the
- 9:48system. It wasn't capable within the
- 9:51system. It was designed for a different
- 9:57purpose and it was a shadow, he says at the start of verse one
- 10:03of the good things to come. The Old Testament, the Old
- 10:07Covenant, the Old Law was never designed to be the final
- 10:13covenant for mankind. It had a purpose.
- 10:18It had a very distinctive purpose, but that was not it.
- 10:23It was designed to bring about and to bring the understanding
- 10:29about of what the Messiah was going to bring, who the Messiah
- 10:35was going to be, where the Messiah was going to come from,
- 10:39and what he was going to accomplish.
- 10:43If it had been enough, if the sacrifices offered for sins
- 10:48under the Old Covenant had been enough, verse 2 says, they'd
- 10:52have been able to stop offering for the sins, the the offerings
- 10:57would have been sufficient. They wouldn't have had to be
- 10:59continuous by nature. But it wasn't enough.
- 11:05For it is not possible, verse four, that the blood of bulls
- 11:09and goats could take away sins. You know, it's not the priest's
- 11:15fault that the sacrifices weren't enough.
- 11:19We recognize that, that if you go through and you read the Old
- 11:22Testament concerning those who served as priests over the
- 11:25course of time, not all of the priests were good.
- 11:28Not all of the priests did their jobs properly.
- 11:31Not all of the priests acted in such a way that was right and
- 11:34respectable for the jobs that they upheld.
- 11:40But the most perfect priest in the world under the Old Covenant
- 11:43law would still not be able to offer sacrifices that were good
- 11:47enough to be able to take away sin.
- 11:49It's not the priest that's the problem.
- 11:51It's not the sacrifice that's the problem.
- 11:55From the standpoint of whether or not it met the specifications
- 12:00that God gave, it was the process.
- 12:09It was not attempted. It was not created for the
- 12:16purpose of taking away sins. Now it was created for the
- 12:23purpose of obedience, requiring the obedience of the people,
- 12:27requiring the faith in God to do what God had commanded.
- 12:32And in that sense, was it possible for one to receive
- 12:35salvation from the standpoint of being obedient to God, being
- 12:38faithful to God, and doing all that God had commanded him to
- 12:41do? Could he be found faithful
- 12:44before God under the Old Testament system?
- 12:47Yes. But the final thing that was
- 12:54necessary for salvation to be reality was the blood of Christ
- 13:04being offered. And we could get into a lot of
- 13:08deep discussion about how God views time and how God lays all
- 13:12of these things out and how that he was able to treat those
- 13:15living under the old law as if the blood of Christ had already
- 13:19been given because He knew that it would.
- 13:23We don't have time to go through all of that today in detail, but
- 13:27it's the understanding that the Old Testament, the sacrifices of
- 13:31the Old Testament in and of themselves, were not sufficient
- 13:36to be able to take away sins. Well, why does that matter?
- 13:40This letter is written to a bunch of Jewish Christians who
- 13:42are trying to consider whether or not they should try to go
- 13:45back under the old law. That old law is not good enough.
- 13:49That old law can't accomplish what Jesus was able to
- 13:54accomplish by means of His sacrifice.
- 13:57And therefore verse 5. Therefore when he came into the
- 14:03world, he said, sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but
- 14:08a body you have prepared for me in burnt offerings and
- 14:13sacrifices for sin. You had no pleasure.
- 14:16Then I said, Behold, I have come in the volume of the book.
- 14:20It is written of me to do your will, O God, previously saying,
- 14:26sacrifice, and offering burnt offerings, and offerings for
- 14:29sin. You did not desire, nor had
- 14:31pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law.
- 14:34Then he said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, He
- 14:39takes away the 1st, that he may establish the second.
- 14:43By that will we have been sanctified through the offering
- 14:47of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
- 14:52In verses 5 through 7, he's going to say that when he came
- 14:55into the world, he said, and then he's going to quote Psalm
- 14:5840, verses 6 through 8. And in that statement in Psalm
- 15:0440, you've got David who is going to be talking about the
- 15:11the blessings of the man who trusts in God.
- 15:15And in verse 6 he says, and it's a direct quote over here in
- 15:19Hebrews chapter 10. But in verse 6 of Psalm 40, he
- 15:22says, sacrifice an offering. You did not desire my ears.
- 15:26You have opened burnt offering and sin offering you did not
- 15:29require. Then I said, behold, I come in
- 15:32the scroll of the book. It is written of me.
- 15:34I will delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within
- 15:39my heart. It is these words of Psalm 40
- 15:44that are quoted here in Hebrews 10 as being the sentiments of
- 15:49Jesus in this sense. What does it mean when it says
- 15:54sacrifice and offering? You did not desire you.
- 16:06Wanted obedience and I go back to what I believed in Malachi
- 16:11you know they did everything by the law.
- 16:12There was no love associated with that and no and and they.
- 16:21Just did it out of out of routine and not have any psycho
- 16:24commitment to that. OK, you know, you go back also
- 16:25to first Samuel chapter 15 and you have the situation there
- 16:28between Saul and and Samuel and Samuel there is going to make
- 16:32the statement to Saul. He says to obey is better than
- 16:36to sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of Rams.
- 16:42God was concerned with far more than just the sacrifices being
- 16:46offered. They they were there for a
- 16:48reason, They were there for a purpose, but the heart behind
- 16:52them and the purpose behind them was as important, if not more
- 16:56important to God than the actions themselves.
- 17:00Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have
- 17:06prepared for me. In burnt offerings and
- 17:09sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.
- 17:16But aren't those the sacrifices that were required under the old
- 17:19law? Yes, but see, with the sacrifice
- 17:23of Jesus under the New covenant, there's no more need for those
- 17:27sacrifices. Those things aren't required
- 17:31anymore. And personally, if you have
- 17:35looked at the cost of sheep and cattle and goats and everything
- 17:39else, I'm kind of thankful for that.
- 17:45Those sacrifices are no longer a requirement.
- 17:48Why? Because there's a new covenant.
- 17:54There is a New Testament between God and man today.
- 18:02That covenant is brought about by the blood of Christ.
- 18:08He says in verse #9 He takes away the first so that he might
- 18:14establish the second. By that will we have been
- 18:19sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
- 18:24for all. When it says that He takes away
- 18:29the 1st, it should take us back to the statement that Jesus made
- 18:37on several different occasions when He talks about the old law
- 18:44and when He talks about the things that happened in the old
- 18:47law or stated in the old law. Go back with me for just a
- 18:49moment to Matthew chapter 5 there in the Sermon on the
- 18:53Mount. Jesus in in speaking to those
- 18:55present on that occasion will make the statement in verse 17.
- 18:59Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.
- 19:04I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
- 19:08For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away. 1
- 19:12Jot or one title will by no means pass from the law till all
- 19:17is fulfilled. Jesus says I didn't come to
- 19:21destroy the law, I came to fulfill it.
- 19:26Well, here in Hebrews chapter 10, the argument is he takes
- 19:30away the first so that he might establish the second.
- 19:36What does it mean that he takes away the 1st?
- 19:41All right, he fulfilled it. He completed it.
- 19:48He did everything with it that it was supposed to accomplish.
- 19:52It had completely fulfilled its task.
- 19:58And that's where the statement at the end of chapter 8 comes
- 20:01in. Then that he says a new
- 20:02covenant, verse 13, He has made the first obsolete.
- 20:08Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
- 20:12vanish away. That Old Testament is obsolete.
- 20:16That old covenant is fulfilled and it's time to put it away, is
- 20:22what the writer of the book of Hebrews is saying.
- 20:25Not from the standpoint of And this is where sometimes people
- 20:28in our day and time get in trouble.
- 20:30Not from the standpoint of we don't study it anymore.
- 20:33Not from the standpoint that we don't find it to be important
- 20:36anymore, Not from the standpoint that we don't know what it says
- 20:42and we don't care what it means anymore.
- 20:44But from the standpoint of we cannot set it as the standard
- 20:49for our salvation any longer. It's done as an active system of
- 20:57faith because by the new Covenant, by the 2nd, by that
- 21:08will, by that Testament, we have been sanctified through the
- 21:16offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
- 21:22If we throw away the New Testament, if we throw away the
- 21:27new covenant, we throw away the means of our salvation.
- 21:33I can't leave it behind. I can't give it up because the
- 21:38moment I give it up, I give up what it is that has sanctified
- 21:43me through the blood of Christ. Verse 11, He's going to follow
- 21:49it up, he says. And every priest stands
- 21:53ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices
- 21:58which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had
- 22:03offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right
- 22:08hand of God, from that time waiting till his enemies are
- 22:12made his footstool. For by one offering He has
- 22:17perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
- 22:22But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us.
- 22:25For after He had said before, this is the covenant that I will
- 22:29make with them. After those days, says the Lord,
- 22:32I will put my law into their hearts, and in their minds I
- 22:36will write them. Then he adds, their sins and
- 22:39their lawless deeds. I will remember no more.
- 22:44Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an
- 22:48offering for sin. How often did the Old Testament
- 22:58priests have to come to bring new offerings?
- 23:02It was a daily basis, but the sin offerings once a year for
- 23:06the high priest. All right, so you would have the
- 23:08Day of Atonement once a year where where you would have the
- 23:12offerings brought by the High priest into the Most Holy Place,
- 23:16but you have burnt offerings and sin offerings and meal offerings
- 23:20and drink offerings. Trespass day after day after day
- 23:25after day. You want to talk about a full
- 23:30time job? The priest had one.
- 23:34Seven days a week, 365 days a year, sacrifices had to be
- 23:41offered. How many times did Jesus have to
- 23:45offer his sacrifice once for all time?
- 23:53And after he offered that sacrifice once he sat down at
- 23:57the right hand of God. So let's ask the question, is
- 24:01Jesus enough? He was enough to be able to take
- 24:06away all of the continuous ordinances of sacrifice of the
- 24:12Old Testament with one sacrifice that by one offering verse 14,
- 24:23he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
- 24:29Notice the the tense of the statement.
- 24:34He doesn't say those who were sanctified pointing backward.
- 24:40He he doesn't just say those that are sanctified now in the
- 24:45days in which the letter is written, but it's those who are
- 24:49being sanctified, which is all inclusive.
- 24:55It's those in the past, those in the present, those in the
- 24:58future, and those who are continuously acting in obedience
- 25:04to God. Daniel, interesting.
- 25:08To me, that conclusion, if you look at that.
- 25:21It was completed. Isn't that what his final words
- 25:32on the cross were? It is finished.
- 25:40What's that sentiment? The cost has been paid.
- 25:47The sacrifice is complete at that moment.
- 25:56After he says those 3 words, he dies and he is going to be
- 26:08brought to sit at the right hand of God at his ascension.
- 26:15The statements of verses 16 and 17 bring us back once again.
- 26:19This has already been utilized earlier in the book of Hebrews,
- 26:21but bring us back once again to Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 33
- 26:26and 34. But the statement of verse 34,
- 26:30as stated in verse 17 is the important factor that he's
- 26:35bringing back to the forefront in this discussion.
- 26:38Because he says and their sins and their lawless deeds, I will
- 26:43remember no more. Was there anything under the Old
- 26:49covenant that removed the remembrance of sin?
- 26:55No moved it forward, rolled it forward as we often talk about
- 27:01it, but couldn't completely remove it.
- 27:07With the sacrifice of Christ, their sins and their lawless
- 27:10needs. I will remember no more.
- 27:14Now we have to be careful here because it's 2 sided in the way
- 27:18that people will sometimes try to utilize or fail to utilize
- 27:21this particular idea. There are those who will argue
- 27:26or those who will act as though, and I've seen it many times
- 27:30with, with members of the church.
- 27:34They do things before they become a Christian.
- 27:38They become a Christian and they struggle with whether or not God
- 27:44has actually forgiven them for all of the things in the past
- 27:47because they can't forgive themselves or they struggle with
- 27:51forgiving themselves for being able to say that this is done
- 27:55and this is in the past and now I can move forward.
- 28:00And so there's this constant feeling of, well, if, if I ever
- 28:05sin again, then everything that I've ever done comes right back
- 28:09on the Ledger again. That's not the way it works.
- 28:14That's not remission of sin with the blood of Christ.
- 28:20What we are told over and over again is in Scripture is that
- 28:24when the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin, it's gone
- 28:32as far as God is concerned. Now the other area that we've
- 28:36got to be careful about is there are those that will take that
- 28:39and say that means when I'm baptized, it covers all of my
- 28:43sins, past, present and future. Yes and no, because there's a
- 28:55stipulation to the blood of Christ continuing to cleanse us
- 28:59from our sins. What does John say in first John
- 29:04chapter 1? If we walk in the light as He is
- 29:09in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
- 29:13of Jesus Christ continues to cleanse us from our sins.
- 29:19What happens if I stop walking in the light?
- 29:21What happens if I stop caring about what it is that God wants
- 29:26me to do? What happens if I stop trying to
- 29:29serve God? All right, The blood of Christ
- 29:33stops cleansing me from my sin. Well, wait a second.
- 29:37You said my sins are gone. Yeah.
- 29:39The sins that I've committed in the past have been removed.
- 29:45They've been cleansed. But I have to continue to live
- 29:49faithful to God, to continue to have that cleansing for the
- 29:55things that I do in my life. Now, does that mean I'm
- 30:00constantly on this roller coaster of saved, lost, saved,
- 30:04lost, saved, lost, saved, lost? No.
- 30:11It's where we have to understand God's grace, God's mercy, and
- 30:14God's love. When we are striving to do what
- 30:18is right, we are still never going to be perfect.
- 30:21God understands that, and the blood of Jesus Christ continues
- 30:27to cover us through our failures and our shortcomings.
- 30:32When we stop trying to do what is right, that's when we've got
- 30:38a problem. When we don't care about what
- 30:41the right answer is anymore, we're going to do what we want
- 30:43to do no matter what. Now we've got a problem.
- 30:48Now we've got something that's going to stand between US and
- 30:50God. Because the heart of the
- 30:54individual that is seeking to serve God, while never actually
- 30:58going to be perfect in that endeavor to service, what's
- 31:01going to happen when that individual realizes they've done
- 31:03something they shouldn't have? They'll repent.
- 31:09They'll go to the person that they harmed, and they will
- 31:12strive to make it right. It's the reason why God was able
- 31:20to talk about the heart of David in so many different ways.
- 31:24There are so many different things that David did wrong.
- 31:28There are so many different ways that David failed, and yet the
- 31:32heart of David was constantly one that came back to the place
- 31:36of seeking to serve God, and that was always His desire.
- 31:45Now, were there times that they or that God had to be sharp with
- 31:49David? Absolutely yes.
- 31:53Were there times that God had to wake David up, make him pay
- 31:56attention? Yes.
- 31:59Does He have to do the same thing with us?
- 32:01You better believe it but where remission of sins is there is no
- 32:09longer an offering for sin verse 18 Why?
- 32:13Because it's no longer necessary.
- 32:15It's been done, doesn't ever have to be done again for those
- 32:21sins to be covered. And I like.
- 32:25To think of Psalm 23, the Lord. Is my share.
- 32:30Yep, absolutely. Verse 19 because I want to have
- 32:38time to talk about some things here.
- 32:41Verse 19. Therefore all of these things
- 32:44being true and keep it in the keep it in the focus in your
- 32:47mind of who he's talking to and what the discussion has been all
- 32:51the way to this point. He says, therefore, brethren,
- 32:54having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
- 32:59by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the
- 33:04veil that is His flesh, and having a high priest over the
- 33:08House of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
- 33:14assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
- 33:18conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
- 33:22Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,
- 33:26for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another
- 33:32in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the
- 33:36assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but
- 33:40exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see
- 33:43the day approaching with everything that we've talked
- 33:50about, about who Jesus is and what he is and what he has done
- 33:54and how all of the things that He has done for us, He says.
- 33:57Therefore, brethren, notice he doesn't say they're for you
- 34:00people. These are Christians, they do
- 34:07believe in Jesus. They have accepted what Jesus
- 34:11has done for them. They're in the midst of
- 34:13struggle. But their brethren, therefore,
- 34:17brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood
- 34:21of Jesus, verse 22. Let us draw near with a true
- 34:26heart, in full assurance of faith.
- 34:29Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.
- 34:32Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
- 34:36works. You've probably heard sermons at
- 34:41various times or sermons series at various times on the let us
- 34:44statements from the book of Hebrews.
- 34:46It's a fascinating study, but you've got three of them in
- 34:49three consecutive verses right here about what our response
- 34:54needs to be given all of the things that were accomplished
- 34:58through the sacrifice of Christ. Let us draw near, let us hold
- 35:14fast, and let us look out for one another.
- 35:23When you're struggling with your faith, what is the worst thing
- 35:31that you can do? Try to handle it by yourself.
- 35:42Let us consider one another to provoke.
- 35:46You know usually when we use the word provoke, we use it in a
- 35:49negative connotation, right? I have 5 boys, they love to
- 35:52provoke each other. Very rarely is it ever to love
- 35:55and good works. When we use the word provoke,
- 36:02we're generally talking about the idea of inciting somebody to
- 36:06do something they probably shouldn't.
- 36:10That's not the way he's using it here.
- 36:12The word here does mean to incite, to stir up, but it's to
- 36:16stir up love and good works. How do you do that?
- 36:23You have to be together, all right?
- 36:28You've got to have those things yourself.
- 36:31Do you actually have to care about the person that you're
- 36:36around? Yeah.
- 36:39Be concerned about somebody other than yourself.
- 36:43Yes. The idea of considering one
- 36:51another literally is to set your eyes upon.
- 36:56And it. It's not this general term.
- 36:58It's actually very specific. It's Tom.
- 37:01I'm focused on you. I'm worried about you, and I
- 37:07want to make sure you have what you need.
- 37:13If all of us are focused in a in a deliberate way on other people
- 37:20in the congregation to help bring them closer, to help them
- 37:24draw near, to help them hold steadfast to the confession of
- 37:32our hope without wavering, you know what happens?
- 37:36It gets really hard for somebody to fall through the cracks.
- 37:43When we make it general, it's easy for somebody to fall
- 37:47through the cracks. This is specific.
- 37:50It is precise, it is intentional.
- 37:57Let us consider one another in order to stir up, to provoke
- 38:01love and good works. Now we have verse 25, not
- 38:09forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as is the
- 38:13manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more
- 38:18as you see the day approaching. The word forsaking here means to
- 38:24turn your back on and walk away from.
- 38:29It is the same word that the apostle Paul is going to use
- 38:33over in Second Timothy chapter 4 when he says for Demas has
- 38:38forsaken me, he turned his back and left me.
- 38:49I have heard Hebrews 1025 used so many times in my life by
- 38:54individuals who are berating another Christian because they
- 38:58couldn't make it for services because they were sick, or they
- 39:03didn't make it for this reason or they didn't make it for that
- 39:06reason. That's not what this is talking
- 39:09about. We're talking about the
- 39:13individual who has turned his back on God and is walking away
- 39:19from the people of God, from the sacrifice of Christ, and doesn't
- 39:23want anything to do with them anymore because they've quit.
- 39:38It starts when we stop coming together because the further
- 39:49apart we are for the longer period of time, the easier it is
- 39:54to stay that way. We don't quit coming together.
- 40:02We don't stop being together. But folks, that doesn't mean
- 40:09that when I am unable to be present for a particular reason.
- 40:17I've turned my back on God or that I am forsaking His people.
- 40:26There are a lot of Christians who would have no place they
- 40:29would rather be than in services, but for one reason or
- 40:33another it is impossible at a given time.
- 40:37Don't make their lives harder and don't make it easier for
- 40:44them to feel pushed away by accusing them of forsaking the
- 40:50assembly. Love them, care for them.
- 40:56And especially when you're talking about someone who's shut
- 40:59in, who's, who's struggling with illness or maybe they're
- 41:02struggling with some anxiety and depression, folks bring the
- 41:06assembly to them, talk to them, visit with them, help them,
- 41:13encourage them. What is the purpose of the
- 41:18assembling of ourselves together, the bringing of
- 41:20ourselves together? Notice the statement of verse
- 41:2225, exhorting one another, encouraging one another,
- 41:29building one another up. And so much the more as you see
- 41:36the day approaching, we have to be those who refuse to quit, but
- 41:48we also have to be those who put our focus on others from the
- 41:55standpoint of, and it's really what's being done here in
- 41:59Hebrews chapter 10. I'm not going to let you quit.
- 42:04You know, if you're going to quit, it's going to be in spite
- 42:06of everything that's been done and not because nobody tried to
- 42:13do anything. Now verse 26, because I said we
- 42:21were going to get through verse 31 and we got 3 minutes for if
- 42:27we sin willfully. Notice the contrast.
- 42:30This individual is not focused on what is right.
- 42:34This individual knows what is right and is intentionally
- 42:38turning the other direction. For if we sin willfully after we
- 42:44have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer
- 42:47remains what a sacrifice for sin that's right, but a certain
- 42:58fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will
- 43:01devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses
- 43:06law, that's the Old Testament, dies without mercy on the
- 43:10testimony of two or three witnesses.
- 43:12Now I want you to notice the thought that he's putting in our
- 43:15heads right here under the law of Moses.
- 43:18Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the
- 43:22testimony of two or three witnesses.
- 43:25Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought
- 43:30worthy? Who has trampled the Son of God
- 43:33under foot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was
- 43:37sanctified a common thing, and insulted the spirit of grace?
- 43:47For we know him who said vengeance is mine.
- 43:52I will repay, says the Lord, and again the Lord will judge his
- 43:58people. That's Deuteronomy chapter 32,
- 44:00verses 35 and 36. Here's the culminating point and
- 44:06verse 32 is actually going to be a transition point.
- 44:09And I wish that they had put the start of Chapter 11 at chapter
- 44:1410, verse 32, and not continue forward because that's the
- 44:17transition point. But the final nail to the
- 44:22statement that he's making is in verse 31.
- 44:26It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
- 44:33God. You're talking about quitting.
- 44:39You're talking about giving up. You're questioning whether or
- 44:43not Jesus is enough, whether he has done enough, whether he is
- 44:47sufficient for our faithfulness, for our service, for our
- 44:51devotion, for our lives. If you can look God in the face
- 44:57as it were, if you can look your Lord in the face for everything
- 45:01that He has done, for everything that He has given you, for the
- 45:04salvation that has been extended to you, and you can still turn
- 45:10and walk away. There is no more sacrifice for
- 45:16sin. But beyond that, how much worse
- 45:24do you think it's going to be you who are considering going
- 45:27back under the Old Testament? You know what the penalty was
- 45:30for being disobedient under the old law.
- 45:33How much worse do you think it will be when, as the statement
- 45:36is made, you have trampled the Son of God under foot?
- 45:47You have counted the blood of the covenant by which you were
- 45:53sanctified as a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace.
- 46:08If I truly love my Lord the way that I say I do, there is
- 46:12nothing that could ever bring me far enough that would cause me
- 46:19to do that to Him. And if I'm willing to do that,
- 46:27then I don't have the love for God that I should.
- 46:32But I should be, as the old phrase goes, scared to death of
- 46:38what awaits because it is a fearful thing to fall into the
- 46:45hands of the living God. We will ick U next time with
- 46:51verse 32 and our goal will be to get from verse 32 through
- 46:54Charter 11. Yes, I have a means of doing
- 46:56that. It won't be verse by verse, but
- 46:59we will go through that study.