What Will You Do With Jesus? – Part 2
Hebrews 10:26-31
November 8, 2015
If you were with us last week you know that we entered
A very important and also confrontational portion of the book of Hebrews.
After 9 ½ chapters of pure and amazing theology
The writer now demands that you make a decision.
As we said last week, the Bible is a unique book.
• In chapter 4 the writer said it is “active and living”.
• He said it pierces as far as “the division of soul and spirit of both joints
and marrow”
• He said it is “able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”
In short the Bible is unlike any other book you will ever read.
That is because the author of this book is the God of the universe.
Simply ignoring what God says is not an option.
You either believe what He says and submit to it,
Or you choose not to listen to what He says and rebel.
And because your response is to the God of the universe,
There are consequences for your choice.
IN SHORT, THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
FOR 9 ½ CHAPTERS GOD HAS BEEN SPEAKING.
He has told us how Jesus is greater than any and everything else.
• Prophets
• Angels
• Moses
• Joshua
• Aaron
• Sacrifices
He has explained to us how Jesus accomplished what no priest nor sacrifice ever could.
• He actually entered God’s very presence
• He actually took an acceptable offering (His own blood)
• He actually atoned for the sin of God’s people
• He sat down when He was finished and now intercedes for us.
If you need tangible proof of what He did,
Look at the event that occurred on the day He was crucified.
The veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.
Through Jesus access to God was granted.
Through Jesus forgiveness was purchased.
Through Jesus sinners can finally be saved.
It is the greatest truth to ever be revealed.
And now we come to the portion where
The writer forces us to do something with it.
Last week we saw the first half of his request.
He told us how we should respond. (3 things)
Because of what Jesus did, we should respond with:
1) SINCERE FAITH
(19-22) “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
The writer here is playing very heavily to the Jewish crowd.
Everyone who ever attended the Day of Atonement knew that the priest never entered behind the veil until he first sprinkled the blood of the bull for a sin offering and washed his body with pure water.
Here the writer says that Jesus has already done that for us.
He cleansed us. He sanctified us. He perfected us.
And so now the writer says, “Go ahead, enter the veil”
It is an absolutely remarkable statement.
It was literally unheard of to the Jews.
But the writer says, “Go ahead, Jesus made the way!”
Now there is no way any Jew is actually going to enter that veil
Unless he really believes Jesus has made him pleasing to God.
That is why the writer said we must have sincere faith.
You must believe that Jesus has in fact made you perfect.
So respond with sincere faith.
2) UNWAVERING HOPE
(23) “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;”
Since Jesus is the only way to make you pleasing to God, not only should you believe Him, but you should never waver in your belief.
In short, hold fast to Him.
Don’t retreat, don’t turn back.
I know the pressure is hot, and the persecution is real,
But don’t leave Jesus to return to Judaism.
He is faithful.
3) EVIDENT LOVE
(24-25) “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
The writer reminds that not only should you believe and keep believing,
But make sure your brother holds on too.
Perhaps the most telling attribute of a truly redeemed person
Is that they love their brother.
And if you love your brother, prove it by encouraging him.
This is going to require you to be faithful to the assembly of the brethren,
Since it’s hard to encourage your brother from home.
So be faithful and help him endure.
And this was the response that the writer desired for each of us to have.
Because Jesus shed His blood to atone for sin and make us perfect
Then we should trust in Him, keep trusting in Him,
And make sure your brother keeps trusting too.
WELL TODAY WE LOOK AT THE “FLIP SIDE”
We saw what a positive response to Jesus was,
This morning we see the negative one.
This morning we get the “or else” portion of the passage.
And while this is not a pleasant topic
It is a very important topic because it is true.
Many today have tried to rob the gospel of this very important reality.
Today many invitations are given to people to follow Jesus
And only the positive is mentioned.
• They offer “eternal life” if you’ll just follow Jesus.
• They offer “abundant life” if you’ll just follow Jesus.
• And they say “Jesus is so good, don’t you want to follow Him?”
And the only recourse for not following Jesus is that
“you’ll be missing out if you don’t.”
But that is NOT the recourse for failing to trust Jesus.
FAILURE TO TRUST JESUS BRINGS CERTAIN JUDGMENT.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
The simple fact is that God judges sinners.
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
God can and God will.
I was doing some research recently regarding
The arguments of non-believers (even atheists) regarding God.
And it doesn’t take long until you run across some type of cynic
Who wants to point out how awful God is
Because of what He did in the Old Testament.
Have you ever read the book of Joshua?
We call it the conquest.
And God had the children of Israel literally annihilate people.
They destroyed entire populations young and old.
And people look at that and say, “I could never believe in a God like that”
First of all, God is not up for election.
He’s going to be God whether you believe or not.
And since He is God, you’d better figure out what He requires
Beyond that, do you know what those stories in the conquest teach us?
The unequivocally teach us that God will in fact destroy sinners.
He will in fact judge and destroy all who are not His children.
LOOK AT THE FLOOD IF YOU MUST.
People love to pain nurseries with the theme of Noah’s Ark.
But you realize the world has never known a greater judgment than the great flood.
I realize the doctrine of eternal punishment is a hard doctrine.
But that doesn’t change the fact that it is true.
There is coming a day when God will judge sinners
And send them to eternal hell.
BUT GOOD NEWS!
God has first offered forgiveness through the death of His Son Jesus!
And that is why the writer first said – BELIEVE IN JESUS!
• He is the means of forgiveness
• He is the means of salvation
• He is the means of perfection before God
You should believe in Jesus.
However, there are some who choose not to.
And now the writer deals with them.
It is the people who respond negatively to Jesus.
He introduces them in verse 26 “For if we go on sinning willfully…”
• Some are confronted with the truth of Jesus and they choose to repent of their
sin and trust in Christ.
• Some, however, are confronted with the truth of Jesus and they instead
choose to keep their sin and reject Christ.
It is those people the writer is dealing with
And the word of the day seems to be “terrifying”
• They receive (27) “a terrifying expectation of judgment”
• And in verse (31) “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
In short, all those who reject Jesus can expect is a terrifying judgment.
And the writer wants to show you why.
There are three reasons why the person who rejects Jesus
Should have “a terrifying expectation of judgment”
#1 THE REJECTED SACRIFICE
Hebrews 10:26-27
He is talking about a person here who had received
“the knowledge of the truth”
In short, this is not an ignorant person.
This is not someone who has never heard of Jesus.
In fact there are two Greek words that are commonly translated “knowledge”
One is GNOSIS which refers to “ordinary knowledge”
And then there is EPIGNOSOS which means “full knowledge, understanding, and discernment”
The writer here uses the word EPIGNOSIS
If I could bring a little closer to home,
This is a person who has studied the first 9 ½ chapters of this book.
After studying this book we now know all about why Jesus is greater.
• We know all about His role as our high priest.
• We know all about His effectiveness as our sacrifice.
• We know all about how He made us perfect before the Father.
Thanks to the detailed style of the writer of Hebrews
We know what Jesus did.
The writer is talking about a person who knows all that,
But still chooses not to respond to Jesus.
They have chosen to “go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth”
They know about Jesus, they just don’t want Him.
And the writer gives two realities to that person.
What they don’t have & what they do.
Look at what they don’t have.
“there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”
WHAT DOES HE MEAN?
What did we learn about what God thinks of the sacrifice of goats and bulls?
They don’t work.
Hebrews 10:1-4 “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
God doesn’t accept goat’s blood as a payment for sin.
There is only one thing that God has ever accepted.
What was it? Christ’s blood.
Hebrews 9:24-26 “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
Christ was the only offering God has ever accepted.
That is why Jesus made statements like:
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
JESUS IS THE ONLY SACRIFICE FOR SINS
But this person rejected that.
Therefore they no longer have a sacrifice for sins.
They will attempt to approach God empty handed,
And I promise you, it will not work.
They cannot possibly anticipate that God will accept them
Without a suitable offering.
WHAT CAN THEY EXPECT?
(27) “but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
God is a holy God who will judge sinners
By destroying them in hell for eternity.
BUT GOD, in His mercy first offered one way of forgiveness,
And that is Jesus.
If you reject the only way of forgiveness you will not escape the judgment.
And that is the first major problem for those who reject Jesus.
The Rejected Sacrifice
#2 THE RIDICULED WITNESSES
Hebrews 10:28-29
It becomes apparent that our writer
Is laying out for us a court-room analogy.
And why not, we are after all talking about judgment.
We discovered in verses 26-27 that the defendant (us) IS IN FACT GUILTY.
They chose sin
Let me lay it out like this.
• You go out this week and commit murder.
• You then get arrested and the prosecuting attorney comes to you and offers
you a deal.
It is a onetime offer that says, “If you will plead guilty, confess your crime, and renounce it, I’ll have the sentence waived”
But we already saw in the first two verses
That the defendant wouldn’t take the deal.
They didn’t want to give up murdering.
They decided to take their chances in court.
So now the trial has started and what the murderer didn’t realize
Is that there are some witnesses against him.
And Jews would understand how bad this is.
(28) “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Now Jews certainly understood this reality.
Deuteronomy 17:2-7 “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded, and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”
That was a person who knew what God said, but just ignored it.
They knew the difference between right and wrong because of the Law of Moses.
They knew what was right, they just didn’t want to do it.
And the Law said if a person knows better but chooses to do it anyway
And there are two or three witnesses who see it,
That person shall be killed “without mercy.”
In short you could be killed for simply offending Moses.
Well, I’ve got some bad news for you.
It seems for those who hear the truth about Jesus and understand it,
But then choose to reject it.
Their crime didn’t go unnoticed.
There are in fact three witnesses who saw exactly what happened.
WHO ARE THESE WITNESSES?
• It is God the Father
• It is God the Son (Jesus)
• It is God the Holy Spirit
You see in verse 29
That this person “trampled under foot the Son of God”
That is to say he totally rejected what Jesus did.
I can give you an analogy.
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
The only thing you ever “trampled under foot” was something
You deemed to have no value. (like tasteless salt)
And that is what the writer says this person did to Jesus.
They appraised Him as having no value.
(They actually chose to value the goat over Him)
They saw His sacrifice on the cross as unimportant and unnecessary.
But He isn’t the only witness they ridiculed.
He also “regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified” which was the covenant offered by God the Father.
• Remember the book of Jeremiah?
• Remember how God promised a new covenant?
• Remember how God said He would forgive our sins under that new covenant?
In short, the new covenant would offer full blow pardon and sanctification
Through the death of Jesus.
It was in the upper room where Jesus took the cup
And said, “this is My blood of the covenant”
God offered full blown sanctification and perfection
Through this new covenant.
But what did this person do?
He “regarded [it] as unclean”
That is to say, he also tossed it out.
He rejected it.
So not only has this person rejected the sacrifice of Jesus,
He has also rejected the new covenant of God.
But he’s not done.
And he “insulted the Spirit of grace”
How did he do that?
Who do you suppose it was that made the sacrifice of Christ known?
Who do you suppose it was that made the new covenant known?
Who do you suppose it was that inspired all these truths to be written?
Who do you suppose it was that convicted your heart and called you to trust in Jesus?
It was the Holy Spirit.
Remember what the writer said very early on?
Hebrews 3:7-8 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS,”
Remember when we looked at the parable of the Day of Atonement and talked about the veil and what it symbolized?
Who did the writer say was making that point?
Hebrews 9:8 “The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,”
It has been the Holy Spirit who has been calling you to salvation.
But what did this person do?
“insulted the Spirit of grace”
They refused to listen to Him.
Told Him to get lost.
Ignored what He had to say.
Incidentally this is what your bulletin was referring to.
Your bulletin today said, “The Unpardonable Sin”
WHAT IS THAT?
Matthew 12:31-32 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”
There is no sin you can commit too bad that God won’t forgive it.
However it is through the Holy Spirit that God offers this forgiveness.
If you reject the offer, there is nothing that can be done.
The unpardonable sin is to reject God’s offer of salvation.
It’s not that God WON’T forgive it, it’s that He CAN’T forgive it
Because forgiveness itself has been rejected.
And that is what this person has done.
• He has rejected and insulted the Son
• He has rejected and insulted the Father
• He has rejected and insulted the Spirit
All three are witnesses of this person’s rejection
NOW, AT THIS POINT THE WRITER APPEALS AGAIN TO LOGIC.
You’ll notice that he actually asks your opinion.
“Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment DO YOU THINK he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
Did you catch the question?
If God would kill you for insulting Moses, how much more severe do you think it will be for insulting the Trinity?
The answer is obvious – WAY MORE SEVERE
(as in “a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries”)
All of a sudden our defendant isn’t looking too good.
• He has rejected the plea bargain
• Now he finds that there are in fact 3 iron clad witnesses (whom he has
insulted) who stand against him.
He’s in trouble.
I suppose his only hope now would be that somehow the judge
Would just overlook the fact of his sin,
Disregard the testimony of the witnesses and decide just to let him go.
That’s really his only hope.
(and people bank on this – “I don’t think a loving God would send anyone to hell”)
But for that person I have some bad news. It won’t happen.
Rejected Sacrifice, Ridiculed Witness
#3 RESOLUTE JUDGE
Hebrews 10:30-31
All our defendant has to do is take a look at the bench
And there he finds the most resolute, just, uncompromising Judge
There ever was.
“For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
• Our defendant is standing before the Judge who avenges.
• Our defendant is standing before the Judge who is not afraid to judge.
In fact the writer talks about what it is like to be a defendant
Whose only hope is this judge being lenient.
(31) “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
See, this Judge offered a pardon through the death of His Son.
But this man rejected that pardon.
Now he will face the Judge who has no problem judging.
Romans 2:5-6, 11 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS…For there is no partiality with God.”
Are you catching the writer’s point?
What you do with Jesus matters.
It has extreme eternal ramifications.
YOU DO NOT GET THE CHOICE OF REMAINING NEUTRAL.
Every one of us came into this thing as sinners who have already offended God.
Every one of us comes into this guilty deserving of judgment.
But that is where the good news of the gospel comes in.
God offers pardon, forgiveness, righteousness, sanctification
Through the sacrifice of Jesus.
And the Writer (who is the Holy Spirit) holds out His hand and says,
“Now please accept Jesus”
• Through Jesus draw near to God.
• Hold fast to Jesus no matter what.
• Encourage your brother to hold fast to Him too.
And then the writer says, “But if you don’t…”
• If you choose not to turn from your sin
• If you choose not to trust in Jesus
• If you choose not to hold fast to Him
Then all you have to look forward to is a terrifying judgment.
And it will happen.
“The Lord will judge His people”
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
That “book of life” is the registry of all who place their faith in Jesus.
And it is the only thing that allows a person to escape judgment.
If you reject Jesus, judgment is what you receive.
Now friends that puts every one of us on trial.
You will either accept Christ or reject Him.
In fact, to not accept is to reject.
So you only get two options.
You either come under the blood of Jesus for forgiveness
Or you reject Him and trample Him under foot
“Under the blood or on top of it”
That is your decision, but you will make the decision,
There is no way around it.
This morning, my invitation to you is for you to choose to trust Jesus.
HOW DO I DO THAT?
It’s real simple, you simply believe.
• You believe that you have sinned and offended God.
• You believe that what Jesus did is enough to forgive you.
• You believe that Jesus will forgive you.
And if that belief is real in your heart it will cause something.
(It’s a chain reaction)
• It will cause you to confess Him with your mouth. (because the mouth speaks what is in the heart)
• It will cause you to obey His commands (because true faith acts on what it believes)
• It will cause you to keep obeying (because true faith never stops)
Paul said it like this:
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
So I’m asking you to believe.
And if you do believe, I ask you to confess it with your mouth.
For knowing the truth and then choosing not to respond to it
Only brings a terrifying expectation of judgment.
