Well, good morning everyone. It is a wonderful day together
to be here to worship God, and to sing his Praises with you.
And I've enjoyed it very much, thus far enjoyed our prayers
together and our worship to our God.
If you will turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10, we're going
to continue our Study Life. We've been doing for the last
close to a year. Now, about, once a month, we've
taken a chapter out of Hebrews. And today, we're covering
chapter 10. It's good to be back with you
guys. We've been gone for a couple
weeks now. We are in Texas.
Then we want to see my new niece up and Oakdale Taylor and his
new nice. And so we're glad to be back
this week and I'm privileged to have the chance to lead the
study today. And as we do this, there's some
things in here that are that are challenging.
There's some things that are comforting and I think God's
word is good about doing that for us.
And I hope you get the same thing out of it that I have
today we have 37 versus to cover.
It's a long chapter but just for your peace of mind, we're going
to have a pretty Section 2. Beginning, we're going to really
slow down and chew through some meet in the middle and then
toward the end will kind of move quickly through the end of the
chapter. So, if you feel like I'm getting
toward the middle and you're wondering when this, when
Pharaoh is going to let us go, there's probably it's probably
going to come faster towards the end.
Okay, so Hebrews chapter 10, our key verses key ideas that I've
listed on the screen or what he gets into, as the as the
application of all of this, he says, let us draw near Let us
hold fast and consider one another.
So before we get into that a couple lead-up versus clicker
plugged in a couple lead up versus so, Hebrews chapter 9
ended on the note saying this. Not the, he speaking of Jesus
should offer himself often as the high priest enters the most
holy place every year without blood of another.
He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of
the world. But now once at the end or the
consummation of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself and it is appointed for men to die.
Looks but after this the Judgment so Christ was offered
once to Bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him,
he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation.
So we have a running start now into chapter 10.
Beginning in verse 1, it says for the law, okay?
The Lost speaking of the Old Testament, we've been talking
about the Hebrew Christians, their old watch transition has
been a little bit challenging for them.
He says, for this law having just a shadow of the good things
to come and not the very image of the things.
Okay. So in case you're not familiar
with this idea of Shadow and substance.
Basically if you think about it like God is shining a light
through time and that light comes Comes through from time
catches the present object and it cast a shadow on the ground.
And so God in the futurecast, this light of Jesus and behind
Jesus, there is this Shadow, it's not really him, it's his
shadow, it's the shadow of the New Covenant embodied in the Old
Testament. And so Jesus.
And the New Covenant is this new substance?
It's this the very substance of things to come.
That's Jesus. That's the New Covenant.
And the shadow is everything in the Old Law.
There was just kind of a as you see, a picture of this flower
here. It's just a rough outline.
No color just just a dark image with no depth.
No Beauty necessarily in the shadow except for just the
format holds the Old Testament had its place and it had its
beauty. But the real Beauty, the real
thing that God wants us to be focusing on is this New Covenant
and just like this flower has so much depth and color and nuance,
so that's how much different Jesus is compared to the Old
Law. So this law just had a shadow of
good things to come and not the real image of it.
These things can never with the same sacrifices, which they
offer continually year-by-year make those who approach.
Perfect. This is a continuation of the
same argument. We've been covering for a while
now so I don't want to labor it too much.
The point is Jesus is the Supreme sacrifice that got rid
of all of the sacrifices they used to do.
And he says these same sacrifices that happen over and
over and over year after year, they never made people a pro who
approached perfect that man who came up and laid his head on the
bowl or who laid his head on the lamb and the killed it and never
made him. Perfect.
And never what made him complete.
And forgiving like the new law was designed to verse 24.
Then would they not have ceased to be offered?
If it would have made him perfect, they would have stopped
those offerings year after year, right?
For the worshipers once purified would have had no more
consciousness of sins. So here he uses this word
purified, as we've talked about their their, their systems that
they would do in the Old Testament, it was more of a
purification process. It was a cleansing but it was
not an uprooting of the issue. It was not a once and for all
solution, it was a purification, you know, it was cleaned for a
little bit. If you clean your counter tops,
they need to be cleaned again there, it's a purification
process that has to continually happen.
They would have had no more consciousness of sins, if that
would have been it. Because they were not eternally
forgiven, yet verse 3. But in those sacrifices there is
a reminder of sins every year. when they came to sacrifice the
animal, you know that when they had to Slit that throat again,
That must have pain them every single time they had to do it.
It was a reminder of their failures.
It was a reminder of the wrongs that they had done, maybe
knowingly and maybe unknowingly. They had so many things that
they were reminded of verse 44. It is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
They can be purified but they couldn't be taken away.
Verse 5. Therefore when he came into the
world, speaking of Jesus he said sacrifice and offering you did
not desire So this is a quote from Psalm chapter 40 and David
is speaking. Kind of we're connecting some
ideas of Jesus and date is making this prophecy.
But God did not desire sacrifice and offering it says here but a
body you have prepared for me. Jesus had a body prepared for
him by God in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.
You had no pleasure. Then I said, behold I have come
in the volume of the book. It is written of of me to do
your Will O God. So when Jesus came, he was given
a body and it's interesting because We think of we think of
these sacrifices as this was how God's will is set up and it's
true. He's going to say in the next
verse coming up that it was according to God's will that
they were offering these sacrifices, but they didn't
bring him pleasure. Killing these animals here and
after year, what didn't make God happy to see that?
That death continually every year.
That wasn't his plan. God gave them the tree of life
and they rebelled. He wants life for this world. as
I think about this idea when it says here, that Jesus, Came to
God and he had this perspective of I have come to do your Will O
God and in a body you have prepared for me it's a
fascinating thought to think about the perspective of
formation of our Lord and this is kind of a side note.
It's not necessarily what the author is getting out here, but
it's fascinating me to think about Jesus was formed in the
womb just like we are, Jesus was Born just like we were he cried
as a baby just like we did. And as I think about God, the
father's role in that it's fascinating to me to consider
this idea of Jesus being formed and it takes me back to Psalm
139, where the psalmist says O. Lord, you have searched me and
known me. You know, my sitting down in my
rising up. You understand my thought afar
off, you comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted
with all my ways. God you know all about me for
there is not a word on my tongue but behold O Lord you know it
all together. You have hedged me behind and
before and laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is high. I cannot attain it.
Considering God's perspective on us is to me, one of the most
satisfying, and Kind of mind-blowing things to think
about God seeing us in all these deep ways leaves me with the
same conclusion that this psalmist reaches in chapter six.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is high and I cannot attain it.
He goes on to say later in the chapter for you for into my
inward Parts, you covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully.
Made marvelous are your works and that my soul knows very
well. Well, my frame was not hidden
from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in
the lowest parts of the earth, your eyes saw, my substance
being yet unformed, and in your book, they were all written the
days fashion for me. When his yet there were none of
them. And Hebrews chapter 10, that's
part of what he says here. A body you have prepared for me.
And as we think about the fact that God foreknew and planned
for Jesus, to be a sacrifice, one must have that have been for
God's from God's perspective, to know that he was forming and
closely designing a body for his son to be brutally crucified one
day. A body, you have prepared for me
and Jesus says I have come to do your Will O God going on in
verse 8, previously saying sacrifice and offering burnt
offerings and offerings for sin. You did not desire nor had
pleasure in them which are offered according to the law.
So he's saying he's repeating. What you just said, God did not
get pleasure out of these old lost sacrifices and burnt
offerings but he makes this point They are offered according
to the law. So it wasn't like it was wrong
but it just wasn't the full picture yet, it was just a
shadow verse 9. Then he said, behold I have come
to do your Will O God he takes away the first that he may
establish the second by that will we have been Sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The problem wasn't the keeping of the law, but the reality is,
the consummation of God's will, was that there would be a
perfect final sacrifice and just like, Jesus, embodies here a
willingly obedient heart. Within that sacrifice the
sentence holds a lot. You know, that God wanted
something better, and Jesus responds that I have come to do
your will. That's kind of the the New
Testament in a nutshell. It is false complete sacrifice
that paid for our sins and it is willing submission to a loving
God, who did them. That is the consummation of
God's will verse 11 and every priest stands, ministering daily
offering repeatedly, the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins. If you notice, when we went
through the Tabernacle there was nowhere to sit, their work was
symbolically to never end. That was kind of a point, there
was no chairs. There was a table that held the
place where they work, there's a lamp stand.
There was an altar of incense but there was nowhere to sit and
that was supposed to mean that this is never going to end.
Until Jesus comes back. You're never going to be able to
sit down from this endless work of constantly cleaning until
Jesus comes and then yeah. Verse 12, Jesus is going to sit
down in his completed, work verse 12.
But this man Jesus after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever. He sat down at the right hand of
God from that time waiting, till his enemies are made his
footstool These priests could finally take their seat because
it was no longer their job to purify.
The people Jesus had done it, and he took his seat at the
right hand of God, for by one offering, he has perfected
forever. Those who are being Sanctified,
it's hard for me to wrap my mind around, how much death went
through the nation of Israel. If you had millions of people,
they say it probably amassed to millions of people offering
sacrifices. I mean I tried to you know copy
and paste over and over until my fingers, got tired to to think
about how many times that would have happened over and over in
the death and the blood and the sacrifice in The Killing Jesus,
took away all that with one sacrifice.
Verse 15. But the Holy Spirit also
witnesses to us for after. He had said before, this is the
Covenant that I will make with them.
After those days, says the Lord, this is that Covenant.
He didn't want the continual sacrifice has to continue those
in. Bring him pleasure, but this,
this is the Covenant that I will make with them.
After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds, I will write them.
It's not just going to be Thing that's on Scrolls.
Where you follow these lists and directions, it's going to be a
law of the heart. Verse 7 then he adds their sins
and their Lawless Deeds, I will remember no more.
There was a constant reminder, but he cut off that constant
reminder and says I'm not going to remember any more, how
awesome must have been for God. I wonder what his emotions do.
As this course of history runs out, we know God got angry, we
know God, there's things that please God, there's things that
don't please God how much of a relief?
Was it for God to finally have the moment where he could say
it's forgiving? I've LED I let it go.
It's remember no more. God wants us to have that moment
because he paid a lot for that moment Verse 18.
Now where there is a remission of these things.
Now what now, where there is a remission of these, these sins,
there is no longer an offering for sin.
So as kind of a side note, we have to remember that there's no
longer an offering both practically speaking in the form
of sacrifices. But we have to remember in our
spiritual walk, to not treat ourselves, like we are the
punishment for our own sins. Because we can have this
mentality that wants to respond to our own guilt with a
self-punishing attitude with an attitude that says, you know,
some sometimes, it even goes to the extreme people harm
themselves, physically people harm themselves emotionally,
they beat themselves down, they self be a little.
We beat ourselves up. And that's kind of a form of a
sacrifice because then the Old Testament sacrifices, there had
to be life given and in a sense, pain suffered for sin. and we
can sometimes feel that urge to, you know, to beat ourselves down
and you know beat myself up like I messed up and I continue to
mess up and That's not our place.
God has told us that we are forgiven.
God has told us that there is no more sacrifice for sins,
including our own emotional sacrifice for putting yourself
in your place over and over. We do need to repent.
Obviously, that's not in the conclusion.
I'm talking about but beating ourselves up.
We don't need to be a Living Sacrifice in that way.
We're to be, living sacrifices serving God, with our lives, not
making ourselves in offering for sin either.
Verse 19, therefore, Brethren having boldness to enter the
holiest by the blood of Jesus. He says he didn't say you should
have boldness, he says, we're having bolt.
We have boldness. That's the way he's expressing
that verb. It's we have boldness.
It's not that you need to have it.
Maybe we should focus on our boldness, but he's saying you've
got it. Jesus broke down that Veil.
He he made the way you have that boldness.
You can talk to God having that boldness to enter the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. Not by our own goodness, not by
our own Merit by the blood of Jesus, may we be careful to talk
to God without respect that we acknowledge, it's not on our
own, but by the blood of Jesus, by a New and Living Way, which
he consecrated for us, which just means he set up, he
initiated this New and Living Way for us through the Veil.
That is his flesh. And since we have a high priest
over the house of God now, he's going to list those three things
I talked about at the beginning. But before we get into those he
tells us that we have a New and Living Way, okay?
If it's 2,000 years old, a lot of things in our days, rust and
corrupt. After a couple decades he said
that this way is new and it is living and it is true today.
It just as it is true, 2,000 years ago and is fresh.
And that sacrifice is Living for us, which he consecrated her set
up through us through the veil. When when God, when God's
finished worked was completed and Jesus was sacrificed the
veil of the temple that last Veil before the holiest, The
holy play, the most holy place this Veil.
You see here. It was ripped from top to
bottom. It says, and that being to
signify that God is the one who did it.
It wasn't ripped from the bottom to the top, like someone else
came in and pull it up, but God himself torn down the veil, from
the top of it all the way to the bottom, to signify that this old
law, the way to God's presence had been paved and had been made
by the blood of Jesus, and by his sacrifice, Through that
Veil. That is his flesh.
And since we have high priest over the house of God, so he's
finally drawing kind of a conclusion.
He's got a lot of chapters of buildup and lead up and
establishing that Jesus is going to be this this supreme
sacrifice once for all time it would be at the consummation of
the ages. He's been building this a lot
now he says, since we have this high priest He's going to tell
us to draw near hold fast to the confession of Our Hope and
consider one another. So this is the part where we're
going to slow down for a little bit and go through these things.
Verse 22. Let us draw near with a True
Heart in full Assurance of Faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water. So you're probably seeing
there's a lot of Old Testament imagery here, he the but the
main idea he wants us to draw near As you think about what God
wants out of us? He wants us to draw near.
It only makes sense because if you picture yourself as a father
or as a mother who had paid so much to rescue your child.
The only response of a loving parent would say, please draw
near. I saved you.
I rescued, you now come be with me.
That is God's plea to us. Let us draw near with a true
heart and True Heart. I think that's pretty
self-explanatory. A heart that is faithful and
true. And is transparent and real.
A true heart, not a fake heart in full Assurance of Faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.
So that is, we've been talking about the sprinkling of blood
that would purify in the Old Testament.
Our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience, or cleansed and
our bodies washed with pure water.
Now washing is, is a relation to the Old Testament, Washings, but
also an illusion. The baptism where we are washed
and cleansed by the blood of When we make contact with the
blood and baptism, we are washed with pure water.
So what are a couple ways we can draw near to God?
I was trying to think of a couple practical things Beyond.
Maybe just the you need to read God's word and live it and pray
a couple thing practical things. I hope you guys can think of
some things on your own. I'm curious to hear from you,
what you think, maybe after Services.
What are some ways we can draw near to God and Beyond just kind
of the basics? The first thing I thought of was
to pray Ray in a ways that breed closeness and not distance.
Okay? Now, I've kind of put a little
caveat here to Beware of the Never Enough trap.
We have a balance to strike in our prayer lives.
We have balance to strike within God's word that we want to
acknowledge our own. Our own frailties in front of
him. We have to confess our sins,
especially we have to be aware of how great he is, and how
small we are compared to him. That is all a good place in our
prayer lives, but we have to be aware that that can become a
cycle of only talking to God about how I'm so sorry for my
sins. And I'm, I'm solo and I'm never
good enough. God wants us to draw near to him
because he paid to stop that endless cycle of sacrifice where
we were never Her ceremonially good enough.
We are for deemed and forgiving and so we can talk to God in a
way that breathes closeness and where we draw near to him and
thank him for the Forgiveness. What we don't just say, God, I'm
sorry, I messed up, I'm so bad, but we say God, thank you, thank
you so much that you have pulled me near that.
You have saved me that you have welcomed me in your presence.
And I have an open invitation to your throne.
Because as we've said a father that just went through a huge
Rescue Mission rescue mission that took thousands of years to
lay out. He doesn't want us to sit there
and just wallow in our own, our own self-pity, our own wrongs,
he wants us to move forward, and he wants us to thank him and
enjoy a relationship where we draw near to him because of that
a prayer life where we always say the negatives will create
Students in our own minds from God, may we not get stuck in
that trap. So, let's pray in ways that
breed closeness not distance. And so part of that is realizing
God's perspective, meditate on passages.
Like when Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 37, Jerusalem
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and Stones, those who
are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children
together and the way a hen gathers, her chicks under her
wings, and you were Willing but this the context of this is kind
of sad but the blue part I highlighted is special.
It helps us see what God wants us to be aware of is that he's
not just a warning. God, he is a God who I can't
think of a more tender picture than a mother, hen Gathering her
chicks to protect them and shelter them.
And to draw them near. And this ties into the next
thing we're going to talk about in praying, God's word, back to
him. So this this is a huge part of
developing, this closeness is develop a relationship where
we're reciprocating, the communication that God has
started with us through his work, okay?
This has been one of the biggest things for me and helping
develop a prayer life that is. Number one, not vain repetition
and because we can run out of things to say sometimes but also
in a way that I feel like my prayer life Life adapts and
adjust to my understanding of God's will.
So as I grow in knowledge of God's were, I want to pray that
back to God, for example, it's taken it, let's take something
just that we read. Recently, I picked this
scripture at random. If we're reading the scripture
Hebrews 925 where it said not that he should offer himself
often as the high priest enters the most holy place every year
with the blood of another. He then would have had to suffer
often since the foundation End of the world.
But now once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
So I just picked a random passage.
So here's how we might pray. This passage back to God.
God, thank you so much that I don't have to live under the Old
Law where sacrifices were continually made and never
forgiven truly, but thank you so much that I'm now live in this
end of the ages where Jesus has put away sin for me.
That is a prayer to God, where we are reading what God Said.
And we respond with a prayer of thankfulness a prayer that says
God, you know, I'm taking in what you read, what you told me
and I want to turn it into praise and into Thanksgiving.
So, that was just a random example.
You could pray any passage back to God.
Truly, here's another one. If we were to look at Jeremiah
chapter 32 because this is just referenced in the context, I
picked this one. I'll just read the blue section.
It says God prophesying that they shall be my people.
Speaking of this new law and I will be their God then I will
give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever
for the good of them and their children.
After them, I just pulled this out of a recent context and
Hebrews and we can pray that and we can say, God, thank you so
much that you have welcomed me to be one of your people.
Thank you. You can renew my heart and that
you can teach me your ways and I pray that you will teach me.
Teach my heart changed my heart, and renew my ways, so that I can
have a family that follows your will, so that I can pass on your
goodness to others. As this passage says for the
good of their children after them, we can turn every passage
that we read truly into a prayer to God somehow and if you're
struggling with your prayer, Life that has been a big help
for me, and this is something that we are supposed to use in
our classrooms all the time. We just refer to it and
teaching, as a sentence frame, when we're trying to teach
students how to learn how to communicate, we give them a
sentence, like, I like how the author uses blank to show blank
when we're learning to communicate, we need things to
get us started. Things to get us going.
So, this is nothing new. This is not unique to to God's
word and And it's a way we learn to communicate by by taking what
we can start with and working off of that, I think will help
us our prayer lives. So the next thing he says he
says, or the next way to draw near, he tells us to cleanse our
hearts. So we've talked about Having
good prayer lives. We've talked about praying God's
will back to him, but it also tells us in this passage that we
are to have hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.
So way to draw near to God is to cleanse our hearts.
And that's something God can do, but it takes, that's not easy.
It's not easy on us because that means habits have to change.
If we have sinful habits, if we have sinful addictions, if we
have sinful things that we are a part of regularly, those things
are going to pollute our hearts and it's going to keep us from
from fully experiencing The Nearness to God that we need to
living out and thinking on pure things will help call me mind
riddled with the consequences and fears brought on by sin.
So that is a huge step in drawing near to God as cleansing
our hearts. okay, so the second thing he tells us, he says let
us draw near And then he says, let us hold fast.
This is the second one. Let us hold fast.
The confession of Our Hope, without wavering.
For he, who promised is faithful.
They're having challenging times now, and he is telling them
basically, to hold on because you said it in the good times
and now it's time to hold on through the challenging times.
The confession of the Hope, how do we hold on to the confession
of our hope? Well, it's with Session.
It's very very simple. We got to say it we've got to
talk about our hope and I think the simplest way to start is to
talk about our hope to God himself.
This ties in with praying God's will talking to God about our
hope. Talking to God, in the sense
that God, I cannot wait for you to return.
I'm so excited for you to be here.
Maybe, I'm disappointed that you didn't come today but I cannot
wait, maybe tomorrow. You will be here, I don't know,
something, whatever you think of, but having the perspective
that we are talking to God about our hopes that confession of Our
Hope, Number two, we want to talk talk about it and say it
confess it to people who will reciprocate it.
So that might start with your families.
Maybe your families are faithful, and they would
reciprocate that hope they would encourage you in that hope.
But they, maybe it's not your family, and maybe it's the
people in here and hopefully it is, the people in here.
Maybe may we reciprocate and talk about together the hope.
And the confession of our hope that we are, Are looking forward
to an excited for the return of our savior.
The hope that is ahead of us must be shared within us to keep
our faith holding fast and thirdly to those who don't yet
reciprocate it. I've got yet they're highlighted
because we never know who might one day change their heart, and
we can slowly start to work in confessions of Our Hope into our
daily life. There's a lot of ways people can
do that, and you can do that in your own way, but when people
bring challenges to you, is often a good time to share what
gets you through. So you can confess your hope to
God to people who reciprocate it and also to those who do not yet
reciprocate it and that will help to hold on to the
confession of our hope that we have in Jesus.
Okay, the next thing he says, we've got let us draw near
we've, got let us hold fast, the confession of Our Hope.
And the third lettuce is let us consider one another in order to
stir up, love and good works. So, I like the language to stir
up, usually means some trouble, but he says to stir up and to,
to awaken and turn up, good works.
And love, you know, when you have a if you have a cup of hot
chocolate or I don't know, cider or something.
You've poured into a drink where that powder is at the bottom.
It is not good. When all, that's just sitting on
the bottom. You want to, you know, when you
get that drink, you want to Stir It Up so that it goes throughout
the whole body and goes throughout the whole body of
liquid. So you have a good drink, he
wants us to stir up. Love and good works one upon one
or two for one another so that we as a body can all be Growing
and full of those good works and that love.
To consider one another verse 25.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner
of some. But exhorting, one another and
so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So I don't really have to come up with how to consider one
another in this passage, because he tells us an example, he tells
us to not not stay away from when your brothers and sisters
get together. When we are assembling together
as a body. Consider one another, and let's
be here for that. When we consider one another,
that's going to help us hold on in times of challenge but are
also maybe if we're not having the challenging time, it's going
to help other people. Hold on, and their time of
challenge we all come in here, different places.
Maybe this morning, you are high as a kite but maybe if you're in
here today, maybe you're real low.
Today we are constantly at a different point, so sometimes we
need it and sometimes we want to be here.
And sometimes someone else is like, man, I'm pretty good.
I could go do something else today and I'm be fine.
That's not the point. The point is, if we're all at
different places, we all come together throughout that, that's
how we share. That's how we share our
struggles and our good times and our bad times because maybe you
don't need it today, but maybe someone else needs you today.
Consider one another to store up these love and good works. he
says, as the manner of some, you know, I believe we need to
definitely make our best effort to to be in God's worship.
And but if you're worried about, let's say, someone says, man, I
some people are really worried about.
I missed a Wednesday night or something like that.
This is kind of a side point, but, you know, if especially
like if you're sick he's talking about a manner, it's a habit.
Some people make a habit out of just not being there, but if
it's a habit of being there, that's kind of the point he's
making. So the head Mitchell coming to
the assembly. Is the point of this passage.
As is the manner of some, but exhorting, one another and so
much more. As you see the day approaching
that day, I believe is reference to the coming of Jesus.
He's already talked about in chapter 9.
I don't believe this is talking about the destruction of
Jerusalem because it wouldn't really fit the context.
But he has talked about Jesus coming again.
And so as we see that day of Jesus coming, let's do this, all
the more As we see the day approaching, let's assemble,
let's exhort one another. Let's be together and I know
it's been hard after covid. We've kind of separated a little
bit because we just haven't been together as much.
But let's work on that verse 26. For if we sin willfully, after
we have received the knowledge of the truth there, no longer
remains a sacrifice for sins, okay?
So in the Old Testament, they didn't have sacrifices for
willful sins where you just did it anyway.
They had sacrifices for For sins where they're committed
ignorance and other things like that.
But there's no sacrifice for a scene where you just wanted to
do it anyway. And you just went ahead and
rebelled and that's just it. He's saying here that there's
not a sacrifice that covers that type of set.
It doesn't mean that you can't repent, and it's doesn't mean
that if you did it in a moment, knowing what you're doing, you
can't repent. But if that sends stays as a I
did it and I'm unrepentant, if it stays in that category, then
there's no sacrifice for that Sam.
That's it. You can't cover that.
He has a plan to cover people who are willing to repent and
change their lives. And so, if you have sinned, you
feel like Manna the other day. I knew what I was doing and I
messed up and I did anyway, he's not saying that you can't be
forgiven, he's saying that it can't stay as unrepented Sin to
be forgiven of. Okay, so verse 27, but a certain
fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which
will devour the adversaries. When we sin, willfully, we stay
in it. Always got to look forward to is
fear. Here, there's a certain fearful
expectation. He says, and that will devour
God's adversaries. We're going to start moving
faster, through the end of the chapter.
Now, verse 28, and he who has rejected Moses law, the Old
Testament dies without Mercy. On the testimony of two or three
Witnesses. So in the old lock, there were
certain things that if you did and just took two or three
people to say. Yeah, he did that and you could
die. So, if it just took two or three
people in Moses's law, verse 29 of how much worse punishment do
you suppose, will, he be thought worthy, who has trampled, the
Son of God underfoot counted, the blood of the Covenant by
which he is Sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of
Grace A long sentence. But basically, he said, if, in
the Old Law, when I was just bulls and goats who are dying,
if, if people in that time who sinned wilfully could be killed
for that, how much more serious, how much worse do you think it
is? If people see the Son of God,
see everything. He did and trample him
underfoot. Basically, they see that
sacrifice and they just they run right over it.
Those who count the blood of the Covenant Jesus Blood by which he
was Sanctified a common thing. So they treat Jesus blood.
Like yes, any other blood. I don't need to do anything.
It was just a normal guy with with a common blood.
That is insulting, the spirit of Grace that has come to save us.
And it's saying how much more punishment will he be worthy of
who tramples God's son underfoot like this and insults God's
spirit? For we know him.
Who said vengeance is mine? I will repay says the Lord.
And again, the Lord will judge his people.
He's not even talking here about judging the world.
He's saying the Lord will judge his people.
He's writing the Hebrew Christians.
The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the Living God, that's true.
Remember, there's always two sides.
There's always two truths to most of these situations.
So it is a fearful thing to fall into His hands, but he's
speaking in the context of Disobedience and willful
responding with willful sin. The other side of this is that
we already talked about is true. Our Lord Is Still Loving and
good God and he, and he's a refuge for us as we read.
He said, how often I wanted to gather your children together,
the way it chin, but the way hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, it is a fearful thing. If we are not right with God,
but can also be Very comforting thing to be in God's hands
depends on where we're at verse 32 but recall, the former days.
So he's going to think back on, sometimes that was good and he's
going to encourage them to, in this chapter we're going to call
the former days in, which after you were illuminated, when
you're enlightened by God's truth.
You endured a great struggle with sufferings partly, while
you are made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations.
So you had sufferings of your own own and partly while you
became Companions of those who were so treated.
So they suffered in two different ways.
They were mistreated themselves and they were supporting people
who are being mistreated verse 34.
For you had compassion on me and my chains and joyfully accepted
the plundering of your goods, the plundering of your goods, a
lot of people sacrifice to take care of those who are in need in
the early church and they willfully gave what they had to
serve. Knowing that you have a better,
and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
Remember any good you do is just temporary things here.
If you give someone something and it fills their need just
temporary. We have treasure and possessions
in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your
confidence which has great reward for you have need of
endurance. So that after you have done the
will of God, you may receive the promise.
For yet a little while. And he who is coming, will come
And will not tarry. Now, the just shall live by
faith in a little while. He says, he who it is coming, he
who is to come in the future. That's going to be in the past
pretty soon. He's going to come.
He who is coming will come and it's all going to be completed.
One day, it's all going to be over.
Now, the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back,
my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw
back to Perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the
Soul, this is the end of this chapter and he is already making
the transition Hebrews 11, where he talks about those who walked
by faith. He's saying, we are not those
who draw back to Perdition or destruction.
Our It will not those kind of people but where those kind of
people who believe to the saving of the soul.
And next time, I speak, we're going to talk about the kind of
people who do that from the Old Law, and Hebrews chapter 11,
where we hear of the Hall of Faith.
That's the lesson for today from Hebrews chapter 10.
I hope you can take these things for your own prayer.
Life, your own spiritual perspective and I hope you're
both comforted and challenge today.
As I was myself, if you haven't started this walk and you
haven't been Kind of initiated into this New Covenant, broaden
and contacted the with the blood of Christ, you can do that
today. It's simple.
Jesus says, we're told that you can hear God's word believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died for us for the
remission of our sins confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, repent of our past life and say, you know what, I'm going to
take all of that and I'm going to turn and move to God's Will
and follow him. You can repent and be baptized
for the remission of your sins. If I've already done that and
you would like the prayers of the church.
We're happy to take care of either of those things today
while we stand and what we see. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
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