Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19–39
We can turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, we'll return to our exposition of the book of Acts, God willing, next Sunday morning. But this morning I want to preach from Hebrews 10, specifically verses 26 to 31, which is a warning against apostasy, a warning against apostasy. But I want to read beginning in chapter 10 at verse 19.
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 and 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.
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for the written word of the living and true God. Thank you for its profitability in our hearts and lives. And even now we pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to take that word and make it effectual in each one of our hearts. May we receive the warning, but as well, may we see the encouragement that the text holds out to those who do believe the gospel, to those who do walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us.
And God, we pray that the Spirit would be at work in those who are dead in trespasses and sins. awaken them to their state before a holy God, cause them to ponder the verse that says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, obviously apart from that righteousness of Jesus Christ. We pray that they would take heed, that they would listen and by grace would believe on that one that is altogether lovely, that one that is chief among 10,000. Again, do forgive us for our sins and unrighteousness and we pray through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as we come to this particular section in chapter 10 at verse 19, the apostle shifts direction and he begins to get real practical. Up until this point, he has set forth the superiority of Jesus Christ. He has highlighted the priestly office of the Lord Jesus Christ specifically as the priest and as the victim, as the sacrifice himself, as the one in whom there is forgiveness of sins. Well, here specifically in chapter 10 at verse 19, he gives some encouragement, and then he gives some exhortations.
And those exhortations are found in verses 22 to 24. Notice he says, let us draw near. Verse 23, let us hold fast. And then verse 24, let us consider one another.
And then in verses 26 to 31, he gives a bit of a diversion or a bit of a digression. It is intimately connected to verses 19 to 25, but he deals with apostasy. And apostasy means basically to fall away from, to defect from. He's already dealt with this in Hebrews chapter 6, and we will have cause perhaps to refer to that passage as well.
So on one hand, this is a warning passage, and we need to take it as such. But on the other hand, I don't know that we always appreciate who the apostle is identifying in verses 26 to 31. The typical believer comes to verse 26, and he reads about this willful sin. And he realizes, or she realizes, that when I sin, I do it willfully.
When I sin, I choose to do it. When I raise my voice, or when I'm unkind, or when I get upset, or when I... whatever it is, I do that willfully. And so therefore, with reference to verse 26, good... Christian people at times begin to suspect that they're the ones in verses 26 to 31.
So while I want to deal with the warning that the passage affords, I want us to be encouraged because it's not condemning weak believers. It's not condemning believers. It is condemning those who fall away, those who are obstinate, those who are incorrigible. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the persons pictured in verses 26 to 31 are most likely not in churches on Sunday morning.
They repudiate the very gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, if you understand the context of the book of Hebrews, it's helpful to understand the specific application that Paul is making. I take it that Hebrews was written before AD 70. It was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple.
That means the temple was still standing. That means the sacrificial system was still being engaged in. That means that there was a real temptation for Jewish believers to leave Christ and go back to Moses. And one of the purposes of this particular letter is to exhort those who have started with Christ to persevere with Christ.
Do not submit to the pressures around you. Do not fall back into this pattern of old covenant worship, but rather go forward, serve the Lord God most high, through Jesus Christ.
The Particular Sin in View
I want to look at three things in verses 26 to 31 this morning. First, the particular sin in view. And we're going to look at verses 26, 27, and then 29b here. And then secondly, we'll look at the covenantal comparison made in verses 28 and 29.
And then finally, the terrifying punishment proposed in verses 30 and 31. But note in the first place, and this is where we're going to spend the bulk of our time so that we really know what Paul is saying here, with reference to this situation. Now, some will obviously hear that I affirm Pauline authorship. Notice the triad in verses 22 to 24.
Faith, hope, and love. It's another evidence that the Apostle Paul actually wrote the book of Hebrews. And I take it that way, and I want to preach it that way, and if that makes you uncomfortable, I'm very sorry. Actually, I'm not very sorry.
You just have to deal with it. Pauline authorship of Hebrews is a is a good thing, and I think that's what's happening here. But
The Willfulness of the Sin
I want to identify, first, the willfulness involved with the sin. Secondly, this is under the particular sin in view. Secondly, the identification of the sin, and then the certain expectation associated with the sin. Notice the sin in view.
For if we sin willfully, after we have received, verse 26, the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Now, we have to absent certain things when we come to this particular passage. In Hebrews 2.17, we learn that Christ makes atonement for the sins of his people. So those sins cannot be numbered here in verse 26.
We know from 1 John 1.9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We know that it can't be the sorts of sins that erupt upon a man with some sudden vehemence. And we see that in the life of Peter. Peter in Matthew 26 denies Jesus Christ on three occasions, or three times, to a slave girl.
That wasn't the willful sin that the Apostle is dealing with in verse 26. Nor can it be the enormous, vile, horrific sins that even the people of God at times commit. David is in heaven. David is not an apostate according to Hebrews 10, 26 to 31.
David committed adultery and murder and nevertheless he found forgiveness with God that God may be feared. So whatever the sin in verse 26 is, it isn't those that are dealt with by Christ, it isn't those that we confess and find forgiveness with by God, it isn't those that are sudden surprising sins that oftentimes befall the children of God, and the sin in view cannot be even large and vile sins. In fact, when you consider 1 John 1.9, how do you ponder that text? If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Are you the kind of person that sort of has the big sins and then the not-so-big sins? We can confess the not-so-big sins, but the big sins, that just disqualifies us. David's in heaven, Peter's in heaven. Big sins aren't necessarily disqualifying sins.
Now I'm not advocating go out and sin big, but I am suggesting that we have a bigger savior than we have big sins. As Newton said, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great savior. And we mustn't ever forget that. Notice as well the occasion of this particular sin.
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth. The one guilty of this sin makes an outward profession of the faith. They have received the knowledge of the truth and they have accordingly acted upon it. John 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 themselves the public profession of it.
So this isn't necessarily describing the heathen, the pagan, the person that has never heard the gospel. Rather, it is specifically attributable to those who had received the knowledge of the truth. As well, we see the finality of this particular sin. Notice in verse 26 at the end, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.
That is a very final statement and one that echoes what he says in Hebrews chapter 6. You can turn there. Hebrews chapter 6. He speaks in verse 4 to apostasy.
He says, "...for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come." Got to remember, these are not believers. Because if you actually believe, if you are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, you will never fall away. We have the promise of God that there is nothing that shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have Philippians 1.6 that says and assures us that he who began this good work in you will complete it unto the day of Christ.
These persons tasted but they hadn't These persons became partakers of the Holy Spirit, not in terms of the internalization of the Spirit of God, but they were in churches, the Holy Spirit was active, and they got to benefit from it to some degree or others. They tasted the good word of God through the preaching of the gospel and the powers of the age to come. We ponder heaven, we ponder the inheritance of the saints, and those among the people of God get some of that at least externally. But notice what he goes on to say.
He says, 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 both in chapter 6 and 10, the apostle underscores the impossibility for the sinner of this particular sin to be saved. Again, that cannot apply to every other sin, because we know that Christ came to die for our sins and to be raised again. The sin in view cannot be attuned for by the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, because it's Christ's sacrifice that's utterly repudiated.
It's Christ's sacrifice that is mocked. It's Christ's sacrifice that is ultimately trampled underfoot. And in the context, you need to appreciate the specificity. If as we understand the book of Hebrews, it comes to Jews, and some of these Jews make this external profession of faith.
Some of these Jews say, yes, Jesus is Messiah. They confess him as Lord and Savior, but then they turn from Jesus and they go back to the Levitical system. What is that but to trample underfoot the Son of God? To take that sacrifice that was once for all and to repudiate it, to reject it, to despise it, to forsake it.
That's what's in view with reference to these particular persons. They are apostates. John Calvin mentions or makes a comment concerning Christ's sacrifice for his people. He says, Christ's sacrifice is efficacious to the godly, even to the death. though they often sin.
Now, brethren, I don't read this and I don't bring this to encourage sin. John 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. My purpose is to encourage you that we have an advocate, we have a Redeemer, we have a Savior, that when we sin and confess that sin, there is forgiveness with Him that He may be feared.
Calvin goes on to say, nay, it retains ever its efficacy, the sacrifice of Jesus, for this very reason, because they cannot be free from sin as long as they dwell in the flesh. Right? We need an efficacious sacrifice based on the fact that we are who we are. We every day need the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
We every day depend on blood. We every day need that Savior interceding on our behalf and being our advocate with the Father every single day. If anybody here says, well, I didn't need him on Thursday because I had a pretty good day. You don't understand sin, you don't understand law, and you certainly don't understand the gospel.
You need him constantly because you're not obeying. You're not glorifying. You're not loving God and loving neighbor as yourself. He goes on to say, the apostle then refers to those who alone, to those alone who wickedly forsake Christ and thus deprive themselves of the benefit of his death.
See, when you or I sin, what do we do? We feel bad about it. I'm just generalizing here. And then we confess it, don't we?
That's not what these people do. These people aren't weak saints. These people aren't struggling believers. These people are people who are openly mocking the very crossword of the Son of God.
That's why there no longer remains a sacrifice for that sin, because they repudiate the very sacrifice for sin. That's who's in view. It's apostates. Now
The Identity of the Apostate
notice specifically the identification of the sin in verses 27 and 29. Look at verse 27. But a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fire indignation will devour the adversaries. Believer, when you sin against God and you confess that sin to God, you're not his adversary.
Can I just encourage you with that? You're not His adversary when you do what He calls you to do. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to condemn us as adversaries.
No! It's not the adversary who struggles over his sin. It's not the adversary who's convicted of his sin. It's not the adversary who says, the good that I wish to do, I don't do, and the evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing.
The adversary is an adversary. He is opposed to God. He is hostile to God. He is contrary to God.
And that's what the word used here means. Opposed, contrary, and hostile. The persons in view heard the word of God, they make some sort of external profession of faith with reference to the word of God, and then they repudiate and reject that word of God, and thus make themselves adversaries of the living and true God. Now, the apostate is described in detail in verse 29.
We'll get to that in more detail later in terms of the punishment, but notice how the apostate is described in verse 29. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy? Now notice the three things. Who has, first of all, trampled the Son of God underfoot.
Secondly, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing. And then thirdly, and insulted the Spirit of grace. Again, your sin against God doesn't necessarily do that. Your sin against God is an offense, it is a transgression, it is a lack of conformity unto that law, it is bad, and it is to be confessed and forsaken, but you will find mercy.
That's not so with this particular person. It's impossible to renew them to repentance according to Hebrews 6. And here there's no sacrifice that remains for the person guilty of these three things. Now, what does it mean to trample underfoot the Son of God?
It means what I've already stipulated, to reject the sacrifice of the Son of God. The Apostle says earlier in this chapter, the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. So the idea is that you've heard of the one who the bulls and goats pointed to. Remember the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is how the Baptist identifies Jesus Christ.
So you've heard of Christ. You've heard that those animals in the old covenant simply typified. They were shadows. They pointed forward to that one who would come and fulfill all that the father had laid upon him.
And so then you hear that word, you hear the gospel, you make this external profession of faith, and then you say, forget it. I want the bulls and the goats. I'm gonna reject Jesus, I'm gonna repudiate Jesus, I'm gonna despise Jesus, and I'm gonna go back to the temple, I'm gonna take the bull out of my flock, I'm gonna cut its throat, I'm gonna hand it to the priest, and then he's gonna do his thing with it. You see, that is to trample underfoot the Son of God.
Again, I'm not saying every sin doesn't to some degree bring despite upon the name of the Lord Jesus, but not like this. These are apostates. These are the ones hostile. These are the ones opposed.
These are adversaries of the living and true God. Brethren, if your doctrine of salvation yields the idea that as believers we're adversaries, you need to reform your doctrine of salvation. It's the blessing of the gospel. God takes adversaries and through the blood of Jesus Christ, makes them his sons, makes them his blood bots, makes them participants in his own family.
John Gill says this with reference to this trampling underfoot the Son of God. He says, could they 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. And I'm not saying go out and sin, brethren, but I am saying that when you do sin, you have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous.
These persons don't come and say, oh Lord, in heaven, please forgive me. That doesn't even come up. And don't get it in your head that the 26 to 31 or the Hebrew six people, you know, those poor innocent people, you know, they are actively at enmity with God. They are opposed to God.
I don't know if you saw this week, but in Chile, I think it was in the country of Chile, there were pro-abortionists that were burning effigies of babies to evidence and to indicate how much they support abortion. That is sick beyond all possible comprehension. To burn effigies of babies to celebrate abortion? I'm not suggesting all apostates will necessarily do that, but it's that kind of stuff.
It's that open disavowal of the gospel of free grace. It is profligate, it is wicked, it is incorrigible. It's not this poor innocent person wants to repent, but God won't let him. That's not it at all.
He is not a poor innocent person. He has heard the word of the gospel. He's made a public affirmation of that word of the gospel. And then he has reputed it.
He has trampled underfoot the son of God. He says, no, I'd rather have the blood of bulls and goats. No, I'd rather have my own works. No, I'd rather have my own free will.
No, I'd rather do it on my own. I'd rather go it without the Christ. That's the mindset of the 26 to 31 person, and you need to keep that in mind. He goes on to say, it is a phrase, or says, 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." Now, for those of you here that may not be believers, don't immediately conclude that you're an apostate.
Not all unbelievers are apostates. All unbelievers are sort of in the same boat with the apostates, but there is nothing precluding you from here and now believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. See, we don't ultimately know who an apostate is until they're dead and in hell. That's why it's very ill-advised to bandy this term around without knowing the hearts of men.
We don't ultimately know who's an apostate in this life. We may see some open, profligate, wretched sinners that deny Christ and that openly trash His name and whatnot, but you see that even in the pages of the New Testament. The apostle Paul was a blasphemer. He was a persecutor.
He was an insolent man, and yet Christ saved him. So if you're an unbeliever this morning, don't immediately conclude that you're an apostate. The fact that you are here is a good indicator that perhaps you're not. Now, if you are an unbeliever, though, believe.
Look to Christ. Do not trample underfoot the sacrifice. Do not trample underfoot Christ himself, but rather believe on him. Look to him in his grace, his offices, his righteousness, all that John Gill has mentioned here.
So the apostate has trampled the Son of God underfoot. Secondly, notice that the apostate has counted the blood of the covenant as a common thing. Notice in verse 29, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing. Now, a lot of people think, well, this is it.
This is the indicator. This shows that you can be saved and then lose your salvation. Because after all, this person was sanctified by the blood of the covenant and then lost it. The he there is Christ.
The he there isn't the apostate. Christ is sanctified by the blood of the covenant. Christ is set apart for the high priestly office. It is to do despite to Christ in terms of the sacrifice and in terms of his office as the specific emphasis, he has counted the blood of the covenant by which Christ was sanctified a common thing.
Owing again says, it is Christ himself that is spoken of who was sanctified and dedicated unto God to be an eternal high priest by the blood of the covenant, which he offered unto God. So it's not teaching that the apostate was sanctified by the blood of the covenant and then lost it. No, it's more despite done to the name of Jesus. See, who's the target in the apostate's hostility?
It's Jesus and it's the Spirit. Look at the last or the third identifier of the apostate there. The apostate has insulted the Spirit of grace. So we've got Him trampling underfoot the Son of God, counting the blood of the covenant by which Christ was sanctified, a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace.
Now remember that Jesus in His earthly ministry taught about an unpardonable sin. It was the sin against the Holy Spirit. That's probably what's happening in this particular passage. Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, and that unpardonable sin, that sin against the Holy Ghost, is what's in view.
It is apostasy. Birkhoff helpfully explains what the sin against the Holy Ghost means. He says it is not so much a sin against the person of the Holy Spirit, against the person of the Holy Spirit as a sin against His official work in revealing, both objectively and subjectively, the grace and glory of God in Christ. It's not just the person of the Spirit, but the Spirit is the authorized representative of the glory of God in Christ.
That's what's being blasphemed. That's what's being repudiated. That's what's being rejected. So the counting or the trampling of the Son of God underfoot, the counting of the blood of the covenant is a common thing, and then insulting the Spirit of grace.
Again, your garden variety sins, brethren, that you commit on a daily basis, ain't that. So please don't go home and say, well, I can go sin now because Butler said I'm not an apostate. Please don't take the sermon that way. My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin, but If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.
If there's one thing I could pass on as a legacy to all of you, it's that. Luther said, I preach justification by faith every week because my people forget it every week. So many believers, weak believers, are brought into such consternation over passages like these, and it's not to be the case. Apostasy is not your garden variety sin.
Apostasy is a willful rejection after having heard it of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is an open, vile repudiation of who Jesus is. It is to trample him underfoot. It is to insult the spirit of grace.
And it is to count a common thing, the very blood of the covenant by which Jesus was sanctified. Now again, in the context, as Owen rightly points out, such were they who fell off from the gospel onto Judaism in those days. Don't forget the context. You've got a group of people that have heard the truth, a group of people that have confessed the truth, and a group of people have repudiated the truth by going back to the bulls and goats of old covenant worship.
For us, it may not be that, but it may be this open avowal that we no longer want Christ. this open repudiation of the gospel and all things concerning the righteousness of Jesus, this trampling underfoot the Son of God, or insulting the Spirit of grace, or counting as a common thing the blood of the eternal covenant, is done by those who openly say, absolutely, positively, no, to the Lord Christ. It's not the reality that they are innocent people that are struggling with a particular sin, and the Lord God has shut them out or banished them. No, God invites those who are struggling with sin to come to him. Doesn't he?
Doesn't Jesus say, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Doesn't the Lord God give us those blessed privileges and promises in the scripture? I think all Christians should have those passages in their minds, in their hearts. You know, before the internet, before the internet, I'm not that old.
I guess the internet was around in the nineties, but you know, some of us had to write, you know, like I was be looking for books and I'd have to write it all down on a piece of paper and put it in my wallet. There was no Amazon wishlist, right? That's a really good thing. But back in the day, it taught you to do certain disciplines like that.
You write down some important things and put it in your wallet. I think there's texts that Christians ought to put in their wallets. Psalm 25, 11 is one of them. Psalm 130, 3 and 4 is one of them.
Matthew 11, 28 to 30 is one of them. And 1 John 1, 9 is certainly one of them. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Brethren, the believer, the Christian, the one struggling with remaining corruption, is not an adversary of the Most High.
It is the person described in Hebrews 10, verses 26 to 31. Now notice, the certain expectation associated with this sin in verse 27, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. I think this echoes or is an allusion to the prophet Isaiah chapter 26, 11. But again, it confirms the identity of apostasy as the sin in view.
This adversarial language, you've got to get it out of your head, that if you are a believer struggling with remaining corruption, you're an adversary of God. The passage is not intended to condemn weak believers. The passage is intended to condemn apostates and warn weak believers from becoming such. The Geneva Bible, I think, is very helpful at this point.
It says, 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. Doesn't Jesus deal that way in the garden of Gethsemane? I want you men, Peter, James, and John, to watch with me and pray. And what do they do?
They sack out, they fall asleep, they saw logs. What's Jesus say to them? The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He doesn't say, you adversaries, you wretches, you terrible people, I cannot believe it.
He chides them to be sure, he wants them to stay awake to be sure, but he is akin to the father in Psalm 103.13. He pities us. He knows our frame. He knows that we're but dust.
Weak believers are not condemned in Hebrews 10, 26 to 31. Open apostates are. Defectors are. Tramplers underfoot of the Son of God are.
Those who count as common the blood of the eternal covenant are. Those who insult the spirit of grace, they're the ones condemned in this passage. Not you or I who are trying to confess our sins, forsake our sins, and find mercy from God. These people don't do that.
They don't rejoice in Psalm 133 and 4, which says, If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. They're not the Psalm 2511 man who says, Pardon my iniquities for your name's sake, O Lord, for they are great. The greatness of your sin ought to promote frequent access to the throne of grace.
What an argument! Pardon my sin, for it is great. Don't we typically think, pardon my sin because I'm a good guy otherwise, pardon my sin because I'm really trying, pardon my sin because I don't know what else. All these reasons we proffer.
For David, the issue is pardon my sins because they're great. If I don't have God to pardon my sin, I got nothing. In Psalm 116 or one of the 100s, it's escaped me now. What does the psalmist say?
I love the Lord. Why? Because he's heard the voice of my supplications. Brethren, God does not treat us as adversaries when we come to him in faith.
So that's the particular sin. It's willful, it's apostasy, and there is a certain expectation associated with it.
The Covenantal Comparison
And now notice the covenantal comparison made in verses 28 and 29. Verse 28, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. I think the specific passage in view here is Deuteronomy 17, 2-7. And in Deuteronomy 17, 2-7, it's not a sin here or there that the person is guilty of.
The language is conspicuous, and it says, transgression of the covenant. going after other gods. See, all throughout the Mosaic law, there is a place for sinners. All through the Mosaic law, there is a place for sin. The sacrificial system as a whole existed, why?
So that sinful man could draw near to a holy God. It's built in the five books of Moses that men will sin, but God has provided a means for men who do sin and it's the sacrificial system, tabernacle, temple. But in Deuteronomy 17, 2-7, it is a transgression of the covenant, a repudiation of all that is God, and it's demonstrated in the fact that this person now goes after other gods. So you see, it's not the suffering, struggling saint in Leviticus that ate jackdaw. or ate something that he was forbidden.
He had a shrimp. Well, you're done. It's out. You're over.
You can't be in the covenant. You've eaten shellfish and you're now damned to hell. That's not the way the old covenant read. That's not the way the old covenant is structured.
But a repudiation of the covenant, the transgression of the covenant, going after other gods, you have to see that that's a bit of a different thing than eating shrimp. Now, I'm not suggesting it was okay to eat shrimp. God said, don't eat shrimp. When God says, don't eat shrimp, don't eat shrimp.
But it's not the same. There was atonement for the shrimp eater in the old covenant, but not for the one who transgressed the very covenant itself and the one who went a whoring after other gods. And that's what the author invokes here, Deuteronomy 17, 2-7. The issue is not breaking a specific command, but a rejection of the law as a whole.
And then notice the greater penalty involved. Verse 29, he says, of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy of who has? And then it's trampled the Son of God underfoot. counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified as a common thing, and insulted the spirit of grace. What's one of the main emphases in the book of Hebrews?
It's to emphasize the superiority of Jesus. So what's the argument? You sin against Jesus, and the punishment that you will receive is far worse than what you would have received under Moses. Not that it was okay under Moses, but there's a worse punishment involved in having heard the word of the gospel and then openly renouncing and disavowing any connection to the Lord Jesus Christ whatsoever.
There is greater punishment associated with rejecting greater light. And this is where we all ought to stand a bit afraid in light of this reality. We have a lot. That poor guy during the times of Moses that ate a shrimp didn't have the same light that we have.
We have an abundance. Everybody here has a Bible, probably has two, three, four, five at home. We have sermon audio. I'm sure somebody out there knows how many sermons are actually posted.
I mean, it's overwhelming to go to sermon audio, isn't it? Unless you know who you're looking for. It's one of those things, it's like, it's just too much. Like the cereal aisle at the grocery store, it's too much.
I don't know what to pick. There's too many choices. There's too much good stuff in this aisle. The same thing with sermon audio.
There's just a glut of information. We've got book publishers. We've got it now so that if you're too lazy to actually pick up a book and put it in your lap and read it, you've got a device that will read it to you. Come on, there is no excuse for biblical illiteracy in the 21st century.
When we can put the earphones in and hear a man read to us the book of Romans. I still like picking up the Bible, I mean, it's so heavy. I'm just such a slugger and I can't move off my bed to be bothered. Can you reach over and grab your iPhone and plug it in your head?
Well, that might be a stretch in the 21st century, I'm sure, but you get my point. We are the benefactors of great light. And in our particular tradition, the Reformed tradition, with our creeds and our confessions, there really is no excuse whatsoever to be illiterate with reference to the doctrine of justification, with reference to the identification of the sin of chapter 10, 26 to 31. So you see what the apostle's point is.
If you did this in that society, you were put to death. There wasn't mercy. But how much worse punishment do you suppose there is for those who've heard the gospel, who make an open profession of the gospel, and then openly repudiate that gospel? Of course, there is a greater degree of punishment that will come upon that particular person.
The Terrifying Punishment Proposed
And then notice finally, the terrifying punishment proposed, verses 30 and 31. He says, 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.
The vengeance of God. It's a terrifying concept, isn't it? It's terrifying. See, the adversaries will reap the vengeance of God.
The weak believer won't. Why do you think God and his vengeance is gonna come out and get you if you confess your sin and you seek mercy from Christ? That's not an adversary, brethren. Adversaries don't pray.
Adversaries don't read the Bible. Adversaries don't bemoan their sin. Adversaries don't recognize the conflict that exists vis-a-vis Galatians 5. The flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh.
These are contrary to one another so that you don't do the things that you wish. The adversary doesn't care. The adversary lives as if there is no God. The adversary's already openly pronounced there is no God as far as he is concerned.
But with reference to the people of God, we will not be subject to the vengeance of God. And you can thank the Lord Jesus Christ for that, because he took the vengeance of God that was due for us. He took the wrath and fury and the punishment of God that was due for us. He cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me so that you and I will never have to?
We will not fall prey to the vengeance of God because God has expressed his vengeance in the person of his son. When the son went to the cross, bearing our sin, carrying our sin, the Lord God most high was pleased to bruise him. was pleased to crush him, according to the prophet Isaiah. But for the apostate, for the one who rejects, for the one who is identified in verses 26 to 31, it is a terrifying judgment that awaits you. Notice, the backdrop is Deuteronomy chapter 32, 35 to 36.
Now, if you're familiar with Deuteronomy 32, it's in the context of the covenant community. See, this sin isn't the sin of the pagan. Not to say the pagan isn't going to meet the vengeance of God. Not to say that the pagan isn't going to meet the terrifying judgment of God.
He has to be sure. But this language, initially it was spoken to Israel in Deuteronomy 32. Those who have come close those who've made an outward profession, and then those who openly repudiate, those who openly reject. It's a sin that takes place among the professing people of God, both in the old covenant setting and here in the new covenant setting.
But the apostle says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. And then that final statement in verse 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Consider the contrast in the chapter.
Go back to verse 19 in chapter 10. 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. Draw near to what? God.
It's God. Who are we drawing near to? It's not nebulous and undefined. We're just gonna draw near.
I mean, that's probably a post-modern thing now. We're just drawing near to what? Doesn't matter, we're drawing near. Kind of meet with this in the life of faith.
Well, it doesn't matter what you believe in as long as you have faith. It absolutely positively does matter what you believe in. You can believe in that piano until the cows come home, but it ain't gonna save you. You need to believe the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.
This drawing near is a blessed provision for the people of God because of this new and living way that has been inaugurated by the blood of Jesus Christ. We have access. Back to Hebrews 4, we considered some of these passages earlier in the confession study, but in Hebrews chapter 4, notice what the apostle does there. Verse... 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize, notice, with our weaknesses. That doesn't just mean your physical inability to bench press 250. The weaknesses there are your sins, your remaining corruption, the reality that you are weak. He sympathizes with us.
Do you understand that? He's omnipotent. He has compassion. He's a sympathetic Savior.
He actually cares for us. Again, the echoes of Psalm 103 ought to ring in our ears. The Father pities us. He knows our frame.
He knows that we're but dust, and therefore it evokes from the Father's heart pity towards His children. Well, here we have it in verse 15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Brethren, our time of need is all the time. Our time of need is oftentimes instigated by the presence of sin. And so what the author is saying is in that time of need, when we've either, A, sinned, or we're about to sin, or we're tempted to sin, what are we supposed to do? I gotta go clean myself up from my sin, and then I can draw near to God?
No, that's the devil's logic. Draw near to God, and He may give you the power to resist that sin. It's the interesting thing about the supper. You know, we have the Lord's Supper once a month, and sometimes I think people don't come to the service because they've sinned.
It's especially designed for those who sin. Would we ever conclude this, I'm not gonna go see that hip surgeon, because he'll fix my hip. I'm not gonna go get that shot of penicillin because it'll cure my mallet. No, we don't do that.
The supper isn't designed to be a reward for your good works. It's a reminder for the glorious works of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do this in remembrance of me. Now, if you are not dealing with your sin, you are openly profligate, you are not living with a conscience void of offense toward God and men, then obviously the warnings in 1 Corinthians 11 obtained, don't take.
But if you're struggling, you're weak, you're agonizing, you're confessing, you're forsaking, you're saying with the apostle, the good that I wish to do, I don't do, the evil I don't wish to do, I find myself doing, the supper is for you. We don't pray because we've sinned. The emphasis of the scripture is you better pray because you've sinned. Go back to the father.
Remember that bit in Jeremiah the prophet in chapters two and three, read that sometime in light of your own position before God. In Jeremiah chapter two, God, through the prophet, indicts the people. Why? Because they were wicked.
They were terrible. They did horrible things. In fact, God is able to say to them, has a nation exchanged its gods for another? And yet my people do that.
And then he says five times in chapter three, yet return to me, says the Lord. Yet return to me, says the Lord. Yet return to me, says the Lord. Do you know what the answer is when you sin against God?
It's not to live at a distance from him. It's not to avoid him. It's not to say, well, you know, I've got to clean up. It's to go to Him.
Isn't that the emphasis in our text, or here in 4.10? 4.16, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So that is the blessing of falling into the hands of the living God for the believer. There's no place we'd rather be, isn't there? Oh, that we could fall into the hands of the living God even more and more because he's so gracious, he's so glorious, he's so wonderful.
In the language of the bride, with reference to the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon, he's what? He's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Who doesn't want to fall into his hands? But in terms of the apostate, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
That living God is going to send forth his vengeance, his judgment, and a worse punishment than that which was associated under the old covenant to those who have heard, those who've made an open profession of faith, and then those who have taken the apostates route and openly disavowed any interest in our Lord.
Application
Well, brethren, I want to make a few final thoughts and then we'll close.
The Connection the Text Assumes
First, the connection the text assumes. There is no... haphazardness in the way that Paul has put this chapter together. In fact, if you look at verse 26, it starts with four. Four, if we sin willfully.
That expresses a connection to what has preceded. And the connection is simply this. If you do not do what Paul says in verses 19 to 25, especially 22 to 24, this drawing near, this holding fast, this considering one another, that is the high road to the apostasy that is described in verses 26 to 31. In other words, it's God who keeps us, and God uses means by which He keeps us.
And the means that God uses to keep us are the sorts of things that are indicated in verses 22 to 24. Let us draw near. If we're not, we run the risk of apostasy. Let us hold fast.
If we're not, we run the risk of apostasy. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. If we're not, we run the risk of apostasy. Does everybody see that connection?
Because you have to. Because that's how verse 26 starts. For we willfully sin against God by reputing the sacrifice of Christ. That is demonstrated and manifested in the way that we despise the means that God has given.
We're not saved because we draw near, we're not saved because we hold fast, and we're not saved because we consider one another, but these are the fruits of the consequences of us having been justified by faith. So if we are not engaged in these particular things, we run the risk of apostasy. In other words, brethren, come to church. In other words, brethren, stir one another up.
In other words, brethren, be right with reference to sound doctrine and hold it fast. And in other words, brethren, draw near to God. He has bought this privilege for you through the blood of His own dear Son. Are we not going to use it?
Are we not going to pray? We're not going to read? We're not going to come to the supper? We're not going to avail ourselves of the things that God has given to keep us from this sin of apostasy?
See, apostasy doesn't just happen either. I doubt anybody wakes up on a Sunday morning and says, that's it, I'm done, it's over. No more for me. I'm not going to serve Jesus any longer.
Now, that may happen, but typically it's persons that compromise. It's persons that don't draw near. It's persons that don't hold fast. It's persons that don't consider one another.
It's persons who throw off the things that God has given that run the risk of apostasy. And this is the connection that the text assumes.
The Warning the Text Communicates
Secondly, the warning the text communicates, the apostate willfully rejects the gospel. He's heard it. He's understood it. He's made a profession of it. but then he tramples underfoot the Son of God.
The apostate places himself in a position that is beyond hope with reference to repentance. That's Hebrews chapter 6. It is impossible to renew them. The apostate ultimately makes God his enemy.
The apostate ultimately makes himself the adversary of the living and true God and is therefore susceptible to the vengeance and the fury and the wrath of God Almighty. And the apostate is not only one who publicly repudiates Christ, which we might assume is always the case, the apostate's gonna stand up at a prayer meeting or on a Sunday and say, that's it, I'm done, it's over, I'm out. It could be sort of that open vociferous profession, but it could be a self-righteousness, it could be quieter, it could be a defection or a departure from the gospel that isn't necessarily visible to everyone around us. So we need to be aware that this text does communicate a very stern warning to the professing people of God.
The Comfort the Text Affords
But I do want to highlight the comfort the text affords. I mentioned to the brethren in the last hour that I wanted to preach this tonight with reference to our Lord's Supper service, but I thought it'd be a bit of a hard sell to preach on apostasy for the Lord's Supper. I actually think if you follow the apostles' logic, If you connect the dots as to what he is saying, there's a great deal of comfort in this passage, isn't there? There's a great deal of encouragement in this passage.
If you are not the person that is here in described, you ought to stand up and kick your heels together and say, praise Jehovah, from whom all good things flow. The lexical argument, that means the language of the text, adversaries. Christians are not adversaries against the living and true God. the contextual argument, the description of apostates in verse 29, those three particulars that are involved in apostasy, and the larger context of the book of Hebrews. The apostle is saying to those Jews who had professed faith in Jesus Christ, keep going forward to Zion.
Keep going forward with Jesus. Don't go back to Levitical priesthood. Christ is superior to Moses. Christ is superior to Aaron.
Christ is superior to that sacrificial system. Christ is the one to whom all those things pointed. So stay with Christ. Do not reject Christ.
Do not repudiate Christ. And then of course, the larger biblical theological argument, David and Peter are in heaven. That ought to encourage us not to go out and commit adultery, not to go out and commit murder, and not to go and deny our Lord, but to realize that God's grace is powerful enough to even forgive that. See, we need to be reminded of that.
And then there's a historical argument. You know, there are times when You know, a kid on the playground isn't taken seriously, so he brings his big brother. Well, I'm gonna bring my big brothers to bear on this particular subject of apostasy so that you'll understand this isn't an invention in my own head. John Owen says 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 there unto belonging after we have been convinced of its truth and avowed its power and excellency.
You hear? That's what's in view. Not the person who sins tomorrow, goes to God, confesses, and forsakes it. Hebrews 6, John Owen again says, it must consist in a total renunciation of all the 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 manifest a discourse concerning." In other words, it's not particular sins that God has afforded forgiveness for in and through the gospel of Jesus. And then John Calvin on Hebrews 6, there is a twofold falling away, one particular and the other general. He who has in anything or in any ways offended has fallen away from his state as a Christian.
Therefore all sins are so many fallings. Right? There is that general sense. He says, but 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.
I mentioned to the brethren in Surrey last week that we live in a time where in our discourse, in popular discourse, if I were to say, I love apples, somebody today might say, well, why do you hate oranges? I don't hate oranges, I just love apples. So when Calvin mentions theft and perjury and drunkenness and murder, he's not saying go out and do those things, but what he is saying is that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. It's not the particular sins, but it is rather a renunciation of the gospel and the very sacrifice of Christ that that gospel communicates.
Calvin on Hebrews 10, but Christ's sacrifice is efficacious to the godly even to death. I've already read this, though they often sin. John Gill on Hebrews 10 says it intends a total apostasy from the truth against light and evidence joined with obstinacy. And then in his excellent commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, Zacharias Ursinus.
In his discussion of church discipline, he says, an apostate is not one who occasionally or even often offends in doctrine in life and repents again of his sin, but is such and one who, being convicted of error and open wickedness, is still unwilling to abandon his sins and to renounce his errors. There is an obstinacy involved in apostasy that the garden variety saint, who is seeking to deal with his or her sin each and every day, doesn't have. If you don't see that, we can talk later. I can try to convince you more, because you need to understand the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, does cleanse us from all sin.
The gospel speaks to believers even in their remaining corruption. The gospel speaks to believers in the real language of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. In the real language of our confession of faith. In chapter 17 at paragraph 3.
And though they may, 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 grievous spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded, hurt, and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves, yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. Brethren and son, please recognize the difference between a weak saint and an open enemy of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you are in the former category, then do not let 10, 26 to 31, nor Hebrews 6, cause you to fall to pieces. Understand that there are persons running the risk of these things, and certainly pray for them.
But as one who is seeking, by God's grace, each and every day, to maintain a conscience void of offense toward God and man, be encouraged, be helped, be blessed, and be strengthened. And if you are not a believer here this morning, again, doesn't necessarily mean you're an apostate. But do not continue in this trajectory. Do not continue living at a distance from the prophet of mercy.
Do not continue to live at arm's length from the living and true God. He bids men come all over scripture. It's not one place here or there where the God of heaven and earth. says to sinners to come. It's all throughout.
In fact, God comes to sinners beginning in Genesis chapter three. God comes to sinners in Genesis chapter 12. God comes to sinners all throughout the Psalter and the prophets. God comes to sinners in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That one said, my mission, my purpose, my meat is to do the will of Him who sent me in terms of His obedience to the Father. He says on the occasion of Zacchaeus' salvation, He has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Do not reject it, do not repudiate it, but rather believe on Him in whom there is salvation. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this passage of Holy Scripture. And while on the one hand it is