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The Apostle writes, Therefore, 
brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood 
of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for 
us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest 
over the house of God, 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. Let us 
hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He 
who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another 
in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the 
assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but 
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the 
day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after 
we have received the knowledge of the truth, There no longer 
remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation 
of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 
Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the 
testimony of two or three witnesses. 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 was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit 
of grace. For we know Him who said, Vengeance 
is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will 
judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall 
into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days 
in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle 
with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both 
by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions 
of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me 
in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, 
knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for 
yourselves 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, 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. God Most High, 
we thank you for this Lord's Day. We thank you for this house 
that we can gather in. We pray to you, Father, through 
the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, that God 
would be all in all in this place, that you would be glorified and 
exalted and praised and worshipped, and that in your mercy and in 
your kindness and in your grace you would send forth the Holy 
Spirit, that we may receive with thanksgiving your word. We pray 
that He would guide us and illumine our minds and our hearts, that 
He would show us the things of Christ, and may we indeed praise 
and honor You as a result of this study. We also ask that 
You would forgive us for our sin and our transgression. Whenever 
we consider the holiness of our God, the majesty of our God, 
we see our own sinfulness and our own waywardness. So we confess 
our iniquities now, thanking You that we have an Advocate 
at the right hand of the Father, even Jesus Christ our Lord. And 
for any and all who have come here this morning outside of 
Christ, those who are in unbelief, we pray that you would do what 
is impossible with men. We pray that you would bring 
the conviction of sin and show sinners the glory of Christ and 
the fact that He alone saves to the uttermost all who draw 
nigh unto God through Him. Do this for your honor, for your 
praise, and for the good of men and women and boys and girls. 
And we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we considered last week, 
specifically in verses 19 to 25, we made the observation that 
the largest block of doctrinal teaching is from 5.1 to 10.18, 
and that section deals with the high priestly office of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And that section, 5.1 to 10.18, 
is bookended, both in chapter 4, verses 14 to 16, and then 
the section we looked at last Sunday morning, chapter 10, verses 
19 to 25. And essentially what the author 
does is he provides encouragements to the people of God, and then 
he sets forth exhortations. Look at verse 19. Again, parallel 
to what we see in Hebrews 4, 14 to 16. Notice in verse 19 
of chapter 10, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood 
of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for 
us, through the veil that is His flesh. This is an encouragement 
for the people of God. We have access to the presence 
of the Father. We now can enter into the holiest, 
the Holy of Holies, that place reserved for the High Priest 
in Israel alone, one day out of the calendar year. And then 
the second encouragement is found in verse 21, and having a high 
priest over the house of God. So those two encouragements, 
access into the presence of the Father and the fact that we have 
the priest, Christ. And then he gives us these three 
exhortations, let us draw near. In other words, you've been given 
this privilege, you've been given this benefit, use it. Draw near 
unto God. He then says in verse 23, let 
us hold fast the confession of our hope. And then in verse 24, 
let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good 
works. So encouragement, exhortation, 
and now in verses 26 to 31 we find warning. And there are several 
warnings in the book of Hebrews. In many respects, verses 26 to 
31 here parallels what we find in Hebrews chapter 6, and we'll 
identify that as we move along. So we'll take up 26 to 31 this 
morning under three observations. First, the particular sin in 
view. Verses 26, 27, and then we'll 
pull from verse 29 as well. So the particular sin in view. 
Secondly, the covenantal comparison made in verses 28 and 29. And then the terrifying punishment 
proposed in verses 30 and 31. Now if I were to ask you as believers 
in Jesus Christ, if you have ever read Hebrews 10, 26 to 31, 
and been stricken with fear, I suspect many of you would raise 
your hand. In fact, oftentimes persons read 
Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10, and they're weak saints, or they're 
struggling saints, or they're agonizing saints, and they see 
themselves in these particular passages. Believe it or not, 
this exposition is born out of a desire to encourage the people 
of God. It doesn't sound like it on the 
front or the face of it, but that's the purpose this morning. 
I think that if we understand what the Apostle Paul, as I understand, 
is dealing with in Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10, then it ought to 
produce comfort for the souls of God's people. As well, it 
does issue a warning for those who are in unbelief. Those who 
persist in their rejection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But let's 
look at the particular sin in view. Notice, the willful sin 
in verse 26, for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge 
of the truth. Again, persons stumble here because 
they reckon or they conclude or they think, well, what I did 
yesterday when I raised my voice at my little baby, or I raised 
my voice, hopefully not at the baby, at the two-year-old, that 
was willful. Nobody put a gun to my head. 
Nobody put my arm behind my back. No one told me to shout at that 
blessed, wonderful gift from God. It was a willful sin. And so persons see this particular 
statement, and they conclude, this is me. I'm the man. I'm the woman. I'm the boy. I'm 
the girl. In verses 26 to 31. Well, whatever 
this particular sin is, we have to realize the sin in view is 
not or cannot be those dealt with by Christ. Look at Hebrews 
2.17 for just a moment. I think we're going to look first 
at what it isn't, what it doesn't mean, before we define what it 
is. Notice in Hebrews 2.17, the glory of the gospel is that we 
have a great high priest. The glory of the gospel is that 
that great high priest deals with our sin. Not just our present 
sin, but our past sin and our future sin. Verse 217, "...therefore, 
in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might 
be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to 
God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people." So if 
Christ accomplishes that, then whatever verse 26 means, it does 
not fall under that particular application. As well, the sin 
in view cannot be those which we, by God's grace, confess and 
forsake and find mercy for. 1 John 1, what does the Apostle 
tell us? If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness. In 1 John 2, he says, my little 
children, I write these things so that you may not sin. But, 
if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even 
Jesus Christ the righteous. What does John assume? He assumes 
that the believing people of God will continue to sin. And 
when those believing people of God plead the advocacy and the 
merit and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are forgiven. So verse 26 in Hebrews 10 cannot 
invalidate that reality. It cannot invalidate Psalm 130, 
verses 3 and 4. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with 
thee, that thou mayest be feared. Certain Psalms just sound better 
in the King James Version. As well, the sin identified in 
verse 26 cannot be those sudden, surprising sins, Owen's language, 
such as befell Peter. Peter denied his Lord, didn't 
he? Peter denied Jesus Christ. Peter denied Jesus to a servant 
girl. And yet, by the grace of God, 
he found repentance. By the grace of God, he found 
forgiveness. So whatever we say about Hebrews 
10.26, we must conclude that it didn't apply to Peter, and 
as well, the sin in view cannot be to the large and vile sins. Now, I'm not justifying any sin. I don't want you to conclude 
that from our study this morning. Don't sin. Be holy. Pursue those 
things which are pleasing in God's sight. But don't necessarily 
conclude you're outside the grace of God because there's remaining 
corruption in your life. Paul says such in Romans 7 and 
Galatians 5. The Spirit lusts against the 
flesh, the flesh lusts against the Spirit. These two are contrary 
to one another, so that you do not do the things that you want. 
There is the doctrine of remaining corruption, so chapter 10 of 
Hebrews, verse 26, does not invalidate that. But when we think of large 
sins, when we think of benchmark sins, have you ever asked anybody, 
or have you ever talked to anybody, or shared the gospel, and you 
say, you know, I want to try and tell you that you're a sinner. 
People love that, don't they? Oh yeah, just tell me how bad 
I am. I want to try and convince you 
that you're a sinner. Or do you think that you're a 
sinner? Well, no, I've never committed murder and I've never 
committed adultery. Raised as a papist, that was my go-to line. 
Whenever anybody tried to evangelize me with the truth of the gospel, 
I concluded and I told them, well, I've never killed anyone 
and I've never committed adultery. So therefore, had no concept 
whatsoever of perpetual, exact, entire, and personal obedience 
to the law of God. Had no concept of that. But ask 
people. Tell them. You're a sinner. Ask 
them if they believe you. And then they'll say stuff like, 
well, I've never done those big things. It's always intrigued 
me that those big things were atoned for by God with the case 
of David of Israel. David committed adultery with 
Bathsheba, and in order to cover it, he murdered Uriah. And yet, 
he's in heaven, brethren. So whatever 1026 means, it does 
not mean that David and Peter are excluded. He says the occasion, 
the sin's occasion, if we sin willfully after we have received 
the knowledge of the truth, after we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, that's the occasion wherein this sin is committed. 
And he highlights this in Hebrews 2, 1 to 4. If we take Pauline 
authorship, 1 Timothy 2.4, 2 Timothy 2.25, 2 Timothy 3.7, this whole 
idea of the word of truth, the knowledge of the truth, the truth 
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth that God is 
holy, we are sinful, and that Christ is the only mediator between 
God and man. If we receive that truth, and 
then we engage in this willful sin described herein, then we 
are in a bad condition. Owen says, "...they were such 
as unto whom the gospel had been preached, who upon conviction 
of its truth and sense of its power had taken upon them the 
public profession of it." You can go back to Hebrews 6 for 
just a moment to flesh this out in a little bit more detail. 
Hebrews chapter 6. Again, the language here causes 
the saint to stumble at times, but we need to realize that in 
Hebrews 4-6, he's not describing genuine believers. We're going 
to get to this in just a moment as to what it is. But notice 
what he says in Hebrews 6-4. For it is impossible for those 
who were once enlightened, they had come under the power of the 
gospel, not savingly, but perhaps in a church context, in a church 
setting. They have tasted the heavenly 
gift. They haven't eaten it. They haven't swallowed it. They 
haven't devoured it. They haven't been sustained by 
or provided the nourishment of it. They taste it. They have 
become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Again, not savingly. It's not as if they are born-again 
believers in Jesus Christ. They come into the church, the 
gospel is preached, the Spirit is at work, and they are somewhat 
brought nigh. And then he goes on to say, "...and 
have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age 
to come." They come close, they make a profession, they hear 
the Word of Truth, and they affirm it at least to some degree. And 
then he goes on to describe in verse 6, if they fall away, to 
renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for 
themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame. So you see, there is this category 
of sin, not like what we've already described, David, Peter, those 
things we can confess and forsake and find mercy from God through 
Christ for, but there is those sins, or there is this category 
of sin. Persons hear the gospel, they make a profession of faith, 
they continue for a time, they look like the genuine article, 
they look like the real deal, but they turn away. Note the sin's finality. He says, if we sin willfully 
after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer 
remains a sacrifice for sins. I'll argue in just a moment, 
the particular sin in view is apostasy. It is a repudiation 
of the sacrifice of Christ. So you see the Apostle's argument. 
If the sacrifice of Christ is that once for all offering for 
sin, and we repudiate it, and we reject it, and we just disdain 
it, and we continue in obstinacy, there's no other sacrifice that 
exists out there. There's no bull, or bullock, 
or lamb, or goat, or bird, or anything that we can bring. that 
can indeed atone for our sins when we have taken our stand 
against Yahweh and against His Christ, specifically at the cross. He says there no longer remains 
a sacrifice for sins. The sin in view cannot be atoned 
for by the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ because the sin in 
view is an utter rejection of that once-for-all sacrifice of 
Christ. Therefore, there's not another 
sacrifice out there. This is it. You've got a sin 
problem this morning. If you're not a believer, you've 
got a sin problem even if you are a believer. Your problem 
is real. You turn on the television, or 
you flip on the Internet, or you look at the papers, and they're 
going to tell you what your problem is. You don't have enough money. 
You don't have enough good looks. You don't have enough wisdom. 
You don't have enough skills to compete in the marketplace. 
All those may be issues, but your problem is alienation from 
God. Your problem is that God counts 
you an enemy, and you count Him an enemy. And if you reject the 
one sacrifice for all offered by Jesus Christ, if you continue 
in unbelief and continue to repudiate that, there's no hope for you 
elsewhere. You can't go down to the Buddhist 
wherever, or to the Shinto temple, or you can't go to the Muslim 
imam and find another pathway to avail with God. You see, if 
you reject the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, there no longer remains 
a sacrifice for sin. It's a terrifying thing, and 
that's why the passage speaks in such stark warning. Calvin 
says, but Christ's sacrifice is efficacious to the godly even 
to death. See, Calvin knows that he's not 
dealing with genuine believers here. He says, Christ's sacrifice 
is efficacious to the godly even to death, though they often sin. Nay, it retains ever its efficacy 
for this very reason, because we continue to sin, because they 
cannot be free from sin as long as they dwell in the flesh. The 
apostle then refers to those alone who wickedly forsake Christ 
and thus deprive themselves of the benefit of His death. In 
other words, what the apostle is dealing with is apostasy. That is a defection from, that 
is a rejection of, that is an obstinate repudiation of the 
Christian gospel, of the truth as it is in Jesus. Now, note 
how he goes on to describe the apostate in verse 29. He gives us three particulars 
concerning this particular category of sin. He says in the first 
place, the apostate has trampled the Son of God underfoot. Notice 
verse 29. Of how much worse punishment 
do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son 
of God underfoot? That's powerful language, isn't 
it? It's very powerful. Notice what he says in Hebrews 
6. We already read it in verse 6. "...if they fall away, to 
renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for 
themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame." Here 
he describes it as trampling underfoot the Son of God. Now, it doesn't speak to the 
fact that they genuinely do this. It's not the case that a sinner 
can actually pull Christ off of His throne and trample Him 
underfoot. Gil explains, could they, the 
apostate, have had their will of him, they would have pulled 
him from his throne and trampled upon him. It is a phrase expressive 
of the utmost scorn, contempt, and ill usage, and which such 
are guilty of who deny his deity and eternal sonship. who render 
Him useless in His offices, undervalue His sacrifice, despise His righteousness 
and strip Him of the glory of His person, office and grace. 
They trample Him underfoot in their rejection of, in their 
repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, when they obstinately 
deny, when they turn to some other path, when they go after 
some other means, they are, as it were, trampling Christ underfoot. Notice the second description 
that He gives us of this apostate in verse 29. Just before we move 
on, I want to encourage the saints of God that oftentimes struggle. 
It's interesting, the commentators, when they come to this passage, 
acknowledge the people that are most affected by Hebrews 10, 
26 to 31 are weak saints. It's not the apostates. Apostates 
aren't in churches right now concerned for their souls. Apostates 
don't go to Bible studies learning about the crucifixion so they 
can, by God's grace, come to Christ. Brethren, there's a huge 
difference between spitting in the face of the high priest and 
agonizing over your sin, confessing them to God and pleading the 
advocacy of the high priest. Do you see that? We're not dealing 
with the former. We're not dealing with the saint 
who is exercising 1 John 1.9, who is confessing his sins and 
asking for forgiveness. We're dealing with somebody who 
tramples underfoot the Son of God. Notice what else he does 
according to verse 29. He counts the blood of the covenant 
by which he was sanctified a common thing." Now, there's a false 
idea here that the he involved is himself. The idea seems to 
be that, well, he's sanctified, me, the believer, or me, the 
professing believer, is sanctified by the blood of the covenant. 
It really sounds like somebody can lose their salvation. The 
he in this particular statement is Christ. He is sanctified. He is set apart. He is the high 
priest of God, for service unto God. So what the apostate is 
doing, according to verse 29, he counts the blood of the covenant 
by which Christ was sanctified a common thing. It's nothing 
that demands my attention. It's nothing that deserves my 
focus. It's not something that concerns me whatsoever. It's 
not the idea that the sinner himself was sanctified and somehow 
lost that sanctification. It's that Christ was sanctified 
for performance as priest before the living God according to the 
eternal covenant, and it's in that light that this apostate 
counts it as an unclean thing. And then notice the third thing 
the apostate does, and he insults the Spirit of grace. He insults 
the Spirit of grace. The Spirit is referred to in 
the other warnings contained in the book of Hebrews. The Spirit, 
according to 9.14, is the one through whom Christ offered up 
His sacrifice. And the Spirit is active in the 
proclamation of the gospel. Owen notes the two particulars 
characteristic of these men, these women, these boys and girls, 
these apostates, is that they deny and reject and repudiate 
the blood of Jesus Christ, and they deny and reject and insult 
the spirit of grace. He makes the sideline application, 
such were they who fell off from the gospel unto Judaism in those 
days. Remember we have argued at least 
last week and several times at least that I remember that the 
Apostle Paul is most likely the author of the book of Hebrews, 
that it was written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem 
in A.D. 70, and that it's specifically 
directed to Hebrew Christians. That's why it's got the name 
Hebrews, those of the Jews who professed faith in Christ, those 
who, of the Jews, made this profession and now are being tempted to 
turn back. Leave off this Nazarene and come back to Moses. Leave 
off this spiritual sacrifice and come back to the Levitical 
system. That's why the author takes pains to highlight the 
superiority of Jesus Christ, to exhort, to encourage, to challenge 
the people that have made this profession, to endure, to hold 
fast the confession of their hope, to not let go. Much of 
this epistle is written in that particular context. Doesn't mean 
it doesn't apply now to those who apostatize from profession 
of faith and, you know, join Islam or join Hinduism or just 
become an atheist or whatever. Certainly applies to that category 
as well. But as Owen notes, it did have 
relevance in the first century. Such were they who fell off from 
the gospel into Judaism in those days. So he deals with the particular 
sin. It's a willful sin. But before 
we move on, note the certain expectation of verse 27. If you 
do this, then this is essentially his argument. If we willfully 
sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there 
no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. But notice, but a certain 
fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will 
devour the adversaries. There is a fearful expectation 
of judgment for those who reject Christ. If, as I've said, your 
problem isn't that you're not handsome enough, or your problem 
isn't that you're not rich enough, or you're not well-educated enough, 
your problem is sin. You know what the end of sin 
is? Wages of sin is death. God Most 
High cuts off sinners on that day of judgment, and He sends 
them to hell. The apostle alludes to this reality. He may also allude to the destruction 
of Jerusalem, which came via burning, fiery indignation from 
God. But note as well what verse 27 
indicates about our interpretation concerning apostasy. It confirms 
it. Look how he addresses the people 
in view. but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fire 
and indignation which will devour the adversaries." Now certainly, 
every sin you commit is adversarial in the sight of God. But if we 
confess our sins, we forsake our sins, we plead the merit 
of Christ vis-à-vis 1 John 1. We're not adversaries. You're 
not an adversary if you don't spit in the face of the high 
priest, but you plead with him. To point you to the sacrifice, 
to point you to the merits and the mercies. See, I was thinking 
about this. I don't know that high priests 
did this in Old Covenant Israel. They meet, you know, people for 
coffee at the local Jerusalem Starbucks. Did they, you know, 
hang out and, you know, talk about soulish matters? Well, 
if they did, that man, that woman who comes to meet with the high 
priest and says, I'm struggling with sin, I've got these issues, 
I've got this remaining corruption, I've got this evil in me that 
I don't want to do, and the good I want to do, I don't find myself 
doing. That's a different scenario for 
him to go to the high priest seeking out help and therapy 
and some sort of treatment, rather than him spitting in the face 
of the high priest. God doesn't count us as adversaries 
in Christ. We've got issues, we've got challenges, 
we've got problems, but we are not opposers of the living God. We are in Christ. The Geneva 
Bible makes this comment in this place. For it is another matter 
to sin through the frailty of man's nature, and another thing 
to proclaim war, as it were, to God as an enemy. The Apostle 
isn't dealing with us in our frailty. He's not dealing with 
us in our remaining corruption. He's dealing with the adversaries 
who have raised their fist at God Most High, who have trampled 
underfoot the Son of God, who have counted the blood of the 
covenant an unclean thing, and who have insulted the Spirit 
of Grace. Those are the adversaries of Jehovah. Not the Saint of 
Christ who goes before God and says, be merciful to me, the 
sinner. You see, how many times have 
you read this passage of Hebrews 6 and found yourself here and 
described and gotten shaken? Again, I don't want you to be 
comfortable with sin. I can go home and sin now because Butler 
said that doesn't apply to me. You continue in rebellion and 
wickedness against God. That's not good for your soul. 
But brethren, one of the glorious aspects of the glorious gospel 
is the priestly office of Christ. The 1st John 2.1 reality, and 
if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Or 
this Hebrews 10.21 reality, and having a high priest over the 
house of God. Five bleeding wounds, he pleads, 
received on Calvary's tree. This is a blessed reality. So 
the passage does not speak concerning David, Peter, or those who confess 
their sins and seek mercy from God on the basis of the priestly 
office of Christ. I don't believe God will ever 
send a sinner to hell who actually sings and means it from the heart. My hope is built on nothing less 
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest 
frame. Moat knew us, didn't he, when 
he wrote that hymn. Aren't we inclined to trust sweet 
frames? Well, I feel especially good 
today, so I'm happy in my relationship with the Lord. I feel especially 
accomplished this week, so I'll participate in the supper. I 
dare not trust the sweetest frame, because when that sweet frame 
ends, when that sweet frame banishes, what will be of my soul? I'll 
be in panic, I'll be in confusion, I'll be perplexed. I dare not 
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. You see, brethren, if by the 
grace of God, that's you. You're not the apostate in Hebrews 
6 or Hebrews 10. Now note, secondly, by way of 
a larger concern, and we're going to not spend so much time in 
this section, because I wanted to hopefully identify who's in 
view here. Note the covenantal comparison 
made, verses 28 and 29. Now, this isn't a detailed, systematic, 
you know, comparison and contrast of the two covenants. He's giving 
us a specific understanding in terms of the crime or the sin 
of rejecting the offer of grace in Christ. Notice, the penalty 
in the Old Covenant Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies 
without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. You've 
all read the Old Testament, you've participated in our studies, 
and Wednesday night when we went through in detail the book of 
Deuteronomy, probably behind the Apostles' words here is Deuteronomy 
17, wherein a transgression of the covenant as a whole was in 
view. The comparison seems to be that 
if you reject the offer of God in Christ in the New Covenant, 
that is akin to engaging in idolatry, to transgressing or violating 
the entirety of the covenant in the Old Testament. And he 
says specifically, you understand this, and he's writing again 
to Hebrew Christians or those who professed faith who were 
Jewish. They would understand what he's 
talking about. Anyone who has rejected Moses' 
law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Now note, he speaks of a greater 
penalty in the New Covenant. Of how much worse punishment 
do you suppose? I mentioned just a little while 
ago what one of the concerns of the author is in the book 
of Hebrews. It is to demonstrate the superiority 
of Christ. It is to demonstrate the supremacy 
of Jesus. He is over the angels. He is 
the definitive word. God spoke to us by the prophets, 
but now He has spoken to us in the Son. He's over the prophets. He's over the angels. He's better 
than Moses. He's better than Joshua. He offers 
up these several lines of evidence to confirm the reality that Christ 
is superior. What's the implication according 
to verse 29? If He is superior and you reject 
Him, how much worse punishment? The specific punishment in Deuteronomy 
17 was to take them out and to stone them to death. There's 
a worse punishment for trampling underfoot the Son of God, for 
counting the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified as 
an unclean thing, and by insulting the Spirit of grace. There's 
a worse thing than being taken out today and stoned in the parking 
lot of the Free Grace Baptist Church. He will develop this 
in just a moment. It is to fall into the hands 
of the living God. 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 was sanctified a 
common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Now, before 
we move on, I want us to consider that not every unbeliever is 
an apostate. Every unbeliever and an apostate 
share a common bond. They do not believe the gospel. 
These apostates had come under the word. It looked as if they 
were the real deal. They had made a profession of 
faith. They had made some sort of a 
confession or self-identification that they were one of God's people, 
and then they sin willfully. They deny the sufficiency of 
Jesus Christ. They repudiate the work of Christ 
on behalf of sinners. So again, all unbelievers have 
that in them, that they are like the apostate in that they do 
not believe the gospel. But not all unbelievers have 
reached that particular point. where there's this obstinacy 
and where there's this rejection. In fact, in his comments on Hebrews 
chapter 6, Owen makes this very valid observation. He says, Nor 
does he, the apostle, teach anything whereby the conscience of any 
sinner who desires to return to God and to find acceptance 
with Him should be discouraged or disheartened. So before we 
move on, if you're an unbeliever here this morning, do not necessarily 
conclude that you're an apostate. But if you continue in your unbelief, 
you get closer and closer to that precipice. You get closer 
and closer to that edge. You get closer and closer to 
that hardened heart and that state of soul wherein you cross 
over. And you can be considered as 
one who tramples underfoot the Son of God. You can be considered 
as one who has rejected all things Christ. But if you're not that 
apostate, you're still under the sound of the Gospel, You're 
still under the preaching of the Word. You still have that 
concept of God, and Christ, and man, and His sin in particular, 
and the need for atonement, the need for redemption. Take Owen's 
encouragement to heart. There ought not to be anything 
whereby the conscience of any sinner who desires to return 
to God and to find acceptance with Him should be discouraged 
or disheartened. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. See, that's always the answer 
for us, isn't it? It's what you hear, I hope, every 
Sunday when we gather together here, in the morning and the 
evening, at least in one form or another. That's what we exhort. That's what we call. That's what 
we encourage. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of saying this morning, 
am I that guy? Look and live. Am I that girl? Look and live. Believe on Him. Turn from your sins by the grace 
of God and know the joy of being found in Him. Not having your 
own righteousness, which is from the law, because you ain't got 
none, but that righteousness which is from God through faith 
in Jesus Christ the Lord. Believe. Just as Moses lifted 
up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted 
up. We've gone through this many times. When that serpent was 
lifted up and that bitten Jew was, you know, struggling in 
his pain, the call wasn't, drag yourself over and kiss that brazen 
serpent. Drag yourself over after having 
sucked out the poison. It was look and live. You know 
what God's word to you today is? If you are in your sins, 
look and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved as the testimony of Holy Scripture. Notice in the third place, the 
terrifying punishment proposed, verses 30 and 31. The vengeance 
of God. He says, For we know Him, verse 
30, who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. 
Now that word vengeance causes us to suspect that God is sort 
of like us. We, you know, stub our toe on the coffee table and 
then we give it a kick with our other foot. There's a vengeful 
spirit in us. We want to exact punishment and 
we want to bring, you know, our mind and our hearts to bear on 
a situation. So we hear that word applied to God, we start 
to suppose that perhaps He's like us. Is He lashing out in 
this fiery vengeance wherein He, you know, He cannot contain 
Himself or control Himself? Gil explains this well. He says, 
Vengeance belongs to God, not as to the affection, as if there 
were any such passion in Him, but as to the effect, there being 
that produced by Him, which answers to the effect of such passion 
among men, namely punishment. By this phrase, wherein God says, 
Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, we are to understand properly 
concerning God, His holiness, His righteousness, His justice. In other words, when you continually 
reject the offers of grace proposed to you in the gospel, there is 
proposed to you a terrifying judgment from God Most High. And then notice, before we move 
actually, your problem this morning, if you are in sin, and by that 
I mean you're not a Christian, you haven't believed, your problem 
isn't with your converted spouse. I mean, that may cause some friction 
and tension when light and dark try to dwell in the same, you 
know, habitation together, same house together. There may be 
some friction and difficulty. If you're unconverted as a child 
this morning, your main issue isn't your parents. They're going 
to be so upset when they find out that I've been living this 
life of lies. They're going to be so upset 
when they find out. If they, you know, look at my 
search history on my computer, or they seize my phone and they 
go through it, they're going to be so upset. The problem is 
the living God. It's what the apostle says here. 
Again, not to minimize parental authority and those sorts of 
social relationships that we thrive on and flourish in and 
hopefully will try and maintain with all our heart, soul, mind, 
and strength, but note what he says. Your problem is with God. 
For we know Him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the 
Lord. And again, the Lord will judge 
his people. And he summarizes, he concludes 
with this statement in verse 31, it is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God. The absolute contrast with 
the believer, right? Do the believers say it is a 
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? No, 
that's exactly where believers want to be, isn't it? Don't you 
want to be in the hands of the living God? Don't you want to 
know the nearness of God is my good? We considered Psalm 67 
last week. How does the psalmist pray? God 
be merciful to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon 
us, echoing that Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6. This is the apex 
of the Christian faith. We have access to the holiest. 
The believer loves to fall into the hands of the living God. 
But remember, we're not dealing with the believer in this passage. 
We're dealing with the adversary of God. We're dealing with the 
enemy of God. We're dealing with the one who 
has squared himself against God. And this is the apostle's word 
of absolute terrifying warning that it is a fearful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God. You will indeed be punished. You will indeed be cut off. You will indeed be cast into 
the fire that burns forever. That place that Jesus spoke of 
many, many times in his earthly ministry. You've got to take 
these things seriously. Again, I think this transcends 
anything that's important in our lives. I've got to get good 
grades at school. I've got to maintain a good relationship 
with my employer. All that stuff's important, but where do you stand 
today before this living God? He's not a dead god. He's not 
the gods of the heathen. How does the psalmist describe 
him? He doesn't have ears. Or he says 
concerning the idols, they have ears, but they don't hear. They 
have eyes, but they don't see. They have noses, but they don't 
smell. They have mouths, but they don't speak. God is spirit. He doesn't need ears. He doesn't 
need eyes. He doesn't need a mouth in order to do all those things, 
because he's most pure spirit. You see, the living God, in contrast 
to the dead idols of heathen man, that's who you will fall 
into, or whose hands you will fall into ultimately on the day 
of judgment. I want to conclude with three 
observations here. The first, the connection the 
text assumes. The connection the text assumes. We ought not to read 26 to 31 
apart from 19 to 25. I think the flow goes something 
like this. The apostle gives us our encouragement 
in 19 to 21. You have access, you have a high 
priest. And then he gives us encouragement. 
Let us draw near. Let us hold fast, and let us 
consider one another. What's the emphasis now? If you reject these things, If 
you do not do these things, if you are not drawing nigh unto 
God, if you are not holding fast the confession of your hope, 
if you are not stirring one another up to love and good deeds, then 
you're in a perilous position. You are on that precipice. You're 
looking over, as it were, into apostasy. Owen sees this with 
reference to the connection. In those verses, the apostle 
gives vehement enforcement of his preceding exhortation. In 
those verses, 26 to 31, he gives a vehement enforcement of his 
preceding exhortation. Let us draw near, let us hold 
fast, let us consider one another. Owen says, "...from the dreadful 
consequences of a total neglect of it, or uncompliance with it." 
In other words, you're not saved because you draw near, you're 
not saved because you hold fast, you're not saved because you 
consider one another. Those are consequences of justification 
by faith. When by the grace of God we believe 
the gospel of God, we are now enabled to draw near. We are 
now enabled to hold fast the confession of our hope. We are 
now enabled to consider one another, to stir them up to love and good 
deeds. These things flow from us having been saved. So what 
ought we to conclude? If those things are absent, then 
it's questionable whether faith is there. You should appreciate 
the close connection between these two sections. If you continue 
to not draw near, you continue to not hold fast, you continue 
to not consider one another, You are edging closer to this 
26 to 31 eventuality. Please, please appreciate that. 
And please see how important it is, by the grace of God, to 
draw near, to hold fast, to consider one another. In many ways, this 
encompasses the Christian faith. Doesn't it? And he's going to 
go on and give us several exhortations later in Hebrews 13, you know, 
we are not to be discontent with the things we have, we're not 
to be covetousness, we're not to defile the marriage bed. All 
those are several applications of what it is to live as men 
and women in Christ. But if we consider these three 
drawing near to God, holding fast the confession of our hope, 
Considering one another, in many respects, this encompasses the 
entirety. So if those things are absent 
in our lives, then we might conclude the absence of justifying faith. There is a close connection between 
the two sections that you ought not to neglect. In the second 
place, I want to bring out the warning the text communicates. 
So we've got the connection the text assumes, the warning the 
text communicates. The apostate willfully rejects 
the truth of the Gospel. He's heard it, perhaps made a 
confession or a profession of faith, now he willfully rejects 
it. He repudiates the sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ. The apostate places himself in 
a position where repentance is impossible. Hebrews 6. Again, I don't think the idea 
is a poor, agonizing sinner saying, I want to repent! I want to trust! He doesn't want to! He's thrown 
it all off! He's trampled underfoot the Son 
of God! He's put him to hope and shame, 
according to Hebrews 6. He has no interest, he has no 
desire, there's no longing for repentance. But if you get to 
this place, in apostasy, it is a dreadful position to be in. 
The apostate makes God his enemy and will ultimately be dealt 
with, according to strict justice, by God Almighty. It is a fearful 
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Just read 
the Old Testament. See how the comparison is made. 
They died when they broke Moses' law. They were taken outside 
the camp and they were executed. I don't want to... you know, 
get to New Living translation-ish with the interpretation, but 
essentially what the author is saying, and how much worse, he's 
saying, that's a walk in the park to what's going to happen 
when you have willfully rejected the once-for-all sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ. It's a fearful thing to fall 
into the hands of a living God. The apostate as well, we need 
to understand, isn't just the crack dealer that lives down 
the street, I think we get this conception. There are really 
bad people out there. They wear t-shirts that say, 
I hate God, or I'm the Antichrist, or something like that. Do you 
realize, in this given context, if someone made the profession 
of faith in Christ, and then they went back to Judaism, how 
would those people have looked? There would have been an appearance 
of piety. They went to the synagogue, they 
went through the sacrificial system, There would have been 
an appearance of piety. So the apostate can't be seen 
because he's got horns, and he carries a pitchfork, and he's 
got this long tail, and he wears a robe, and he declares himself 
an avowed enemy of God. To repudiate the sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ for another religion. To reject the sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ for our self-righteousness. If you are trusting in your ability, 
or in your works, or in your goodness, or whatever the supposed 
cause you may think will commend you to God, you're as much an 
apostate. It's not just the guys out there 
that look shady. They can look pious, they can 
look holy, they can make long prayers for a pretext. What does 
Jesus say in His given context? The harlots and the publicans, 
they enter the kingdom of heaven and you are cast out, the religious 
ones. Who's the apostate in that particular 
scheme? or those two men who go to pray 
and the Pharisee stands there and basically, in prayer, congratulates 
himself. Don't pray like the Pharisee. 
Nobody at prayer meeting wants to hear how great you are. We 
want to hear how great God is. Thank you, God, that I'm not 
like other men. Thank you that I'm not an extortioner. 
Thank you that I'm not an adulterer. Thank you that I'm not like this 
wretch standing over here. I'm quite the polished, accomplished 
person. I fast twice a week. I tithe of all that. We don't 
want to hear that in prayer. What happens with the public 
then? He can't even look up to heaven. He beats his breast and 
he says, God be merciful to me. The sinner. Jesus says, this 
one goes to his house justified. Who's the apostate in that scenario? It's the man who looked polished. 
It's the man who looked pious. It's the man who looked good. 
You see, I think there is that in the minds and hearts of people. 
They think, well, I'm not a crack dealer. I'm not a prostitute. I'm not engaged in internet pornography. I don't do all those horrific 
things. But you repudiate the offer of mercy. You reject the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ. You, as it were, trample underfoot 
the Son of God. You put Him to open shame. You're 
not in a good position there. You need to lay down your opposition 
and believe on the Lord Jesus. And in the third and final place, 
I want to look at the comfort the text affords. This may be 
a bit of a harder sale. I think the warning is obvious. 
I think it's evident. I think as we read through this 
passage, we are sufficiently warned. But how does it provide 
comfort? Well, the text speaks specifically 
to apostasy. A defection from, a falling away 
from God. We see it in the context. Verse 
27, they're identified as adversaries. We see it in the larger context. 
The description of apostates in verse 29, vis-a-vis, trampling 
underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant an unclean thing, 
and insulting the spirit of grace. We see it in larger concern of 
the book of Hebrews. Don't turn back from Christ. Don't go back to the sacrificial 
system. Christ is superior to Aaron. Christ is the altogether lovely 
and chief among 10,000. Christ is the one whom you should 
have allegiance toward. As well, the biblical theological 
argument. David and Peter are in heaven, 
brethren. David, when found out, after 
a while, Nathan comes. Nathan tells him the story. David 
gets upset. He's upset about the story about 
the man who had the little ewe lamb, and that big bully came 
and took it away to make dinner for his visiting friend. David's 
incensed and he's outraged, and Nathan says, Thou art the man. Then God uses Nathan to say, 
I gave you houses. I gave you wives. I gave you, 
gave you, gave you. And if this was enough, I would 
have given you much more. God, through Nathan, pronounces 
the judgment that is going to befall David. The sword will 
never depart from your house. I will raise up from your own 
house adversity, and your wives will be publicly violated in 
the sight of all Israel. David does confess, I have sinned 
against Yahweh. And what happens? God atones 
for his sin. David's in heaven, brethren. 
So is Peter. See, the biblical theological 
argument, taking Scripture as a whole, will tell us that 1026 
cannot refer to those two particular men. Now, as well, I've got a 
historical argument. Here I'm going to lean on some 
of the giants of the faith that we respect and we love and we 
know. I think I've shared with you before, I don't like that, 
not that I don't like it, but I'm really uncomfortable with 
whiny pastors who think that theirs is the hardest job in 
the world. It's not brain surgery. You brethren here work hard. 
I hear about some of your days, 19 hours, 20 hours. You guys 
work hard. Pastors should work hard, but 
they ought not to whine and think. They're in this class or category 
all by themselves that nobody knows about, and isn't it rough 
to be us? There is one thing that is difficult 
as a pastor that I will concede. It's giving counsel to needy 
souls. Because I imagine if I was a 
brain surgeon and I had a shaky hand and I messed something up, 
I'd really not like to deal with the consequences of either A. killing that person or B. rendering 
him handicapped for the rest of his life. There's a certain 
risk involved in brain surgery. There's a certain risk involved 
in giving spiritual counsel to needy souls. if I can lean upon 
these brothers to hopefully help you to see that I'm not being 
novel here. I didn't just pull this rabbit 
out of the hat this morning. Listen to some of these other 
men concerning the sin of apostasy, or a falling away from, or defection 
from the gospel of Christ. Owen on Hebrews 10. Wherefore, 
the sin here intended is plainly a relinquishment and renunciation 
of the truth of the gospel and the promises thereof, with all 
duties thereunto belonging, after we have been convinced of its 
truth and avowed its excellency and power." All the puritanical 
language notwithstanding, you ought to understand, it is a 
relinquishment and renunciation of the truth. Oh, and on Hebrews 
6, it must consist in a total renunciation of all the constituent 
principles and doctrines of Christianity whence it is denominated. Such 
was the sin of them who relinquished the gospel to return unto Judaism, 
as it was then stated, in opposition unto it and hatred of it. This 
it was, and not any kind of actual sins that the apostle manifestly 
discourses concerning. You've got to understand what 
he says there, not of actual sins. What does that mean? We 
have an advocate with the Father. When we sin, we confess, we forsake, 
we find mercy from God. It's a different thing to spit 
in the face of the high priest than to plead his merit and his 
mercy. Owen, on Hebrews 6, this is the 
falling away intended by the apostle. A voluntary, resolved 
relinquishment of an apostasy from the gospel. The faith, rule, 
and obedience thereof, which cannot be without casting the 
highest reproach and harshest language imaginable upon the 
person of Christ himself. Calvin, on Hebrews 6. There is 
a twofold falling away, one particular and the other general. He who 
has in anything or in any way is offended has fallen away from 
his state as a Christian. Therefore, all sins are so many 
failings." So what he says is that all sin, in some sense, 
is a falling away. You go home today and you yell 
at your two-year-old, that's a falling away. That's not the 
falling away that's in view in this particular passage. He says, 
but the apostle here speaks, and I just don't think we would 
ever write this today. I don't. I don't think we're 
as honest as these brothers are. Listen to what Calvin says. He 
says, but the apostle speaks not here of theft, or perjury, 
or murder, or drunkenness, or adultery. If we confess our sins, 
those little bitty tiny ones, then he is faithful and just 
to forgive us. No. If we confess our sins, those 
big, nasty, wretched ones, He is faithful and just to forgive 
us. Again, do not go home and say, 
wow, I get to sin. Don't do that. But you need to 
understand that we have forgiveness with God that He may be feared. 
Again, back to Calvin. He says, the apostle speaks not 
here of theft or perjury or murder or drunkenness or adultery, but 
he refers to a total defection or falling away from the gospel 
when a sinner offends not God in some one thing, but entirely 
renounces His grace. Again, Calvin on Hebrews 10, 
I read this earlier. But Christ's sacrifice is efficacious 
to the godly even to death, though they often sin. Nay, it retains 
ever its efficacy for this very reason, because they cannot be 
free from sin as long as they dwell in the flesh. The apostle 
then refers to those alone who wickedly forsake Christ and thus 
deprive themselves of the benefit of his death. Gil on Hebrews 
10 says it intends a total apostasy from the truth against light 
and evidence joined with obstinacy. And then our Sinus in his commentary 
on the Heidelberg Catechism in his discussion of church discipline. He says an apostate is not one 
who occasionally or even often offends in doctrine and life 
and repents again of his sin. But is such an one who, being 
convicted of error and open wickedness, is still unwilling to abandon 
his sins and to renounce his errors? You see, what goes into 
this Hebrews 10.26-31 context is total rejection, a renunciation, 
an obstinacy, a defiance, one making themselves adversaries 
of the living God. If that's not you this morning, 
but you're not a believer, then believe. you're inching closer 
and closer to that place. I think I've told you before, 
when our kids were little, we were reading through the Book 
of Exodus and the Ten Plagues. You know, it talks about God 
hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh's heart got hard. We 
took a piece of bread and put it on the counter during that 
time that we were reading that, and we noticed that that bread 
just got harder and harder and harder. It didn't get softer, 
softer, softer. It got harder, harder, harder. 
So every time you come unto the Gospel, every time you reject, 
every time you resist, It's kind of like that bread. You just 
get harder and harder and harder. Come to the Savior. Believe on 
Him. You have warrant in Scripture 
to look unto Him and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, God 
says through the prophet. For I am God and there is no 
other. Brethren, this text speaks to apostasy. The Gospel speaks 
to believers. There is remaining corruption 
in the heart of God's people. Again, I don't want you to be 
free to go out and sin, but I want you to find comfort in the Savior, 
comfort in the Advocate. Romans 7 and Galatians 5 indicate 
this remaining corruption. Our confession said this before, 
if we understand doctrine, it provides comfort. If you understand 
the truth as it is in Jesus, if you understand the truth as 
it's been articulated by the church, there's great comfort. I think for any believer that 
is struggling, those who are frail, which is all of us, those 
who are weak, those of us who have remaining corruption, we'd 
do well to reflect upon the London Confession of Faith, 17.3. Again, 
listen to the honesty and the realism that these brothers put 
forth in this paragraph. There's not stuff written like 
this today. And though they may, talking 
about genuine believers in Christ, through the temptation of Satan 
and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, 
and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into 
grievous sins. and for a time continue therein, 
whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve His Holy Spirit. They 
come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their 
hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded. They hurt and scandalize 
others." Doesn't that sound like what we do? Isn't that a picture 
of each and every one of us at some point in our Christian life? and they bring temporal judgments 
upon themselves, yet they shall renew their repentance and be 
preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. The author 
doesn't end here. The author turns a corner. He 
calls to their remembrance the past as a present reminder. And 
then he describes genuine Christians in verses 38 and 39. 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. And that by the power and the 
goodness of our great and glorious God. I'm not telling you to go 
out and sin, but when you do sin, we have an advocate with 
the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. God is not going 
to upbraid you, God is not going to reprove you, God is not going 
to hold you in contempt and reproach for using the mediation of Christ. That is precisely what we are 
supposed to do vis-a-vis 1 John 2.1. So be encouraged, be strengthened, 
be helped, and hopefully be comforted by this look at Hebrews 10, 26 
to 31. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in Heaven, we thank You for the clarity of Your Word and the 
consistency of Your Word and the glory of the Gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing truth that God 
has sent the Son into this world to live in obedience to the law, 
to die as a sacrifice at the cross, and to be raised the third 
day. And as Paul says so wonderfully, 
he was delivered up because of our offenses and raised up for 
our justification. I pray that you would encourage 
your people here this morning, that you would strengthen each 
and every one of us and cause us to grow in the grace and in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And for 
any and all here this morning that have not come to Christ, 
we pray that today would be the day of salvation. We pray that 
you'd open their hearts to hear the truth, and by grace to believe 
that truth. We praise You now. We would ask 
that You would go with us, and we ask through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.