← Back to sermon library

Chapter 10 for our meditation 
tonight before the supper, Hebrews chapter 10. Our focus will be 
on verses 26 to 31. It's a warning against apostasy. At first glance, it might seem 
an odd choice of a passage relative to our Lord's Supper, but I think 
if the believer understands what the apostle is saying here, it 
affords great comfort. There is that tendency in the 
people of God to fear that they've committed the unpardonable sin, 
or they've engaged in sort of a sin or practice in which there 
is no recovery. Again, when you look at this 
passage, or when we unfold this passage, I think you'll conclude 
that the people guilty aren't afraid that they've committed 
the unpardonable sin. They're not the sorts of people 
that have sensitive consciences and who oftentimes bemoan their 
sin. They're the sort of people that 
have repudiated outright the gospel of our Lord and Savior, 
Jesus Christ. So there is a wonderful encouragement 
in a proper understanding of verses 26 to 31. But I do want 
to read beginning in verse 19 and read to the end of the chapter. 
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. It's that page just particularly. Beginning in verse 26. 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. Our 
Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the fact 
that You have given it to us, that it is truth, that it abides 
forever. We thank You that the Spirit has called us not only 
to read and study, but to preach that Word. So give us ears to 
hear and hearts to receive it even now. And may it afford great 
encouragement to Your people, and may You build us up in our 
most holy faith. As well, may we glean the warning, 
and may we take from it that that which the Apostle intends 
in terms of those who are perhaps tempted to go back in terms of 
redemptive history. We just pray now for your blessing, 
we pray again for the forgiveness of our sin, and we ask now that 
you would be glorified, and we pray through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Now this message was supposed 
to be connected to this morning's message. So if you go back to 
just a moment to John chapter 10. John chapter 10 in our study 
in the Good Shepherd discourse, we stopped at verse 18. But in 
verse 19, we find that there was a division based on the sayings 
of our Lord. His teaching concerning being 
the Good Shepherd promoted that schism or division that we've 
seen in John's gospel. And notice what one group responded 
with. Verse 20, many of them said, 
he has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to him? Again, 
this is the religious leadership, the same religious leadership 
that Jesus condemns in Matthew's gospel. You can turn there, Matthew 
chapter 12, specifically at verses 31 and 32, the sin against the 
Holy Ghost. So in Matthew chapter 12, verses 
31 and 32, the Lord Christ says, therefore I say to you, every 
sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against 
the Spirit will not be forgiven men. anyone who speaks a word 
against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever 
speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, 
either in this age or in the age to come." So my intent this 
morning, and God willing, when we come back to John's gospel, 
is to see that in chapter 10, verse 20, they were guilty. They 
had committed the unpardonable sin. They had seen the power 
of Jesus Christ in their midst. They had seen the glory of Jesus 
Christ in their midst, and they reject it. They despise it. They 
repudiate it. And then they blaspheme him and 
say that he has a demon and that he's mad. Again, when it comes 
to this sin against the Holy Ghost, the people who have committed 
it don't care. They don't ask the question, 
have I committed it? They don't weep over it. They 
don't concern themselves about it. And when we come to the book 
of Hebrews, specifically here in chapter 10, verses 26 to 31, 
and then again in Hebrews chapter 6, we see the sin of apostasy. And it's just like it. The sin 
against the Holy Spirit. The sin against the glory of 
God. A repudiation of the truth as 
it is in Jesus. When we look at verses 26 to 
31, we ought to appreciate two things. First, the nature of 
the sin of apostasy. We'll see that in verses 26 and 
27, and then in verse 29b. And then secondly, the judgment 
of God against the sin of apostasy in verses 28 to 30. So let's 
look first at the nature of the sin of apostasy, and notice the 
willfulness of it. Verse 26, for if we sin willfully, 
Now, every sin that we engage in is willful to one degree or 
another. It's not that anybody puts a 
gun to our head and calls us to engage in a lustful thought. 
It's not like there's some divine coercion that comes upon us that 
makes us go into a bank and rob it. It's not like there's something 
outside of ourselves that forces us to engage in fraud on our 
tax returns. So there is a willfulness to 
be sure about the sins that the people of God commit. We see 
that treated in Romans 7 and in Galatians chapter 5. It is 
the doctrine of remaining corruption. In other words, when a man is 
born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, he's a new creature. 
All things are new. There is nevertheless remaining 
corruption in him. There will never be a time on 
this side of heaven in which we achieve perfection. there'll 
always be a degree of remaining sick. So again, the Apostle treats 
that. And we could argue that when 
we engage in that remaining corruption, again, we do so willfully. But 
this willfulness needs to be conditioned by the context in 
which we find it. So this particular sin cannot 
be those sins that are dealt with by our Lord Jesus Christ. Look back to Hebrews chapter 
2. Hebrews chapter 2 to see what 
Christ does in terms of our sin. So in Hebrews 2.17, 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. Christ 
makes propitiation for the sins of the people. Look at Hebrews 
chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7, specifically 
at verse 25. Therefore, he is also able to 
save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since 
he always lives to make intercession for them. So whatever the sin 
is in view in chapter 10, verse 26, it cannot be those sins that 
are dealt with by Christ. Neither can it be those sins 
by which or of which we confess to God and find forgiveness. 
1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just 
to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
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. So whatever the sin in view in 
chapter 10, verse 26 is, it cannot be those things that Christ dealt 
with, cannot be those sins that we have confessed and found forgiveness 
with God from. As well, it cannot be those sudden 
and surprising sins that God's children sometimes commit. Think 
Peter. Think denial of his Savior. Think 
denial of his master. Brethren, Peter is in heaven. 
His sin was not unto death. His sin was not to the place 
where he was rejected ultimately by the Savior. As well, it cannot 
be large and vile sins. Think of David. David, according 
to 2 Samuel 11-12, committed the sin of adultery, and he covered 
that sin by conspiracy to murder, which made him guilty of the 
sin or crime of murder. David himself is in heaven. He 
rejoices in the forgiveness of sins in Psalm 32. He rejoices 
in the forgiveness of sins in Psalm 130, verses 3 and 4. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquity, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
thee that thou mayest be feared. So when it comes to this Hebrews 
10, 26 to 31 sin, this willful sin, it cannot be those things 
dealt with by Christ. It cannot be those sins forgiven 
by God. It cannot be those sudden things 
that come upon believers in certain times like Peter, and it can't 
even be the great big benchmark sins that David committed. Now 
notice as you move through verse 26, the person's involved. After 
we have received the knowledge of the truth, for if we sin willfully 
after we have received the knowledge of the truth." So whatever's 
in view here can't be symptomatic of the pagan or the heathen, 
the person in the bush that never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ 
our Lord. So not everybody out there who's 
not a believer in Christ is necessarily an apostate. The apostate must 
fall prey or must fall into this particular description. So what 
this is predicated of is that the one guilty of this sin makes 
an outward profession of faith in the gospel. They've heard 
the truth. They've looked like they've received 
the truth. They look like they've confessed 
the truth. 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 them the 
public profession of it. So again, not your garden variety 
unbeliever or the heathen that hasn't received the knowledge 
of the truth. This is case specific. This is 
persons within the context of the professing church. They receive 
the knowledge of the truth. They look like they embrace the 
knowledge of the truth, but then they go on to repudiate or reject 
that knowledge of the truth. The one guilty of this sin is 
identified in Hebrews 6. You can go back there for just 
a moment. Let's read verses four and five. 
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, 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. It's a particular 
class of persons that are in view in this section. Notice, back in Hebrews 10, 26, 
the finality involved. So you see that willfulness involved, 
you see the persons involved, but then the finality involved 
in verse 26c. There no longer remains a sacrifice 
for sins. So for the person guilty of this 
particular sin, or this apostasy, there no longer remains a sacrifice 
for sin. In other words, there's no hope 
for him. It is impossible to renew him 
unto repentance. Now again, before you say, well 
that doesn't sound fair, That seems pretty unjust. I mean, this man is weeping, 
he's sad, he's hurting, and he wants nothing more than repentance. 
No, the man who is guilty of this sin does not have that. 
He does not have sorrow. He does not have repentance. 
He does not have a sensitive conscience. He has no desire 
whatsoever for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This isn't 
the sensitive saint who's having trouble with remaining corruption 
during the week and cries out to God for forgiveness and who 
cries out to God for strength to resist that temptation. That's 
simply not the sinner in view in Hebrews 10. It is an apostate. The sin in view has specific 
reference to Christ and His sacrifice. 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. 
It is a repudiation, dropping down. It is a trampling of the 
Son of God underfoot. It is crucifying anew the Son 
of God, according to Hebrews chapter 6. Listen to John Calvin, 
and later on in the sermon, at the time of application, there's 
going to be a historical argument. Basically, I'm just going to 
suggest we listen to the brothers that have gone before us and 
who have commented on Scripture, and men who have thought through 
Scripture theologically, exegetically. It is good to reflect upon the 
gifts given by Christ to His Church, and I want to cite Calvin, 
I want to cite Owen, Ursinus, and Gill concerning this particular 
sin. But for right now, listen to 
John Calvin in his comment on this. 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 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. So this is the people, this is 
the person in view. Now the identification of the 
sin comes out in verses 27 and 29. Look at verse 27, but a certain 
fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will 
devour, notice, the adversaries. The believer in Jesus Christ 
is not an adversary of God. The unconverted, there's a sense 
where God has enmity or wrath toward the unconverted in general, 
but this particular individual has heard the word, he's made 
some external profession of that word, and then he has repudiated 
that word to the point where he has set himself against the 
God of heaven and earth. Now, brethren, in the scriptures, 
you will see that Christians are referred to in ways like 
sheep. And again, that's not a commendation. Sheep aren't brilliant. Sheep 
are pretty ignorant. So we're likened unto sheep. 
We are called sinners in James 4. I know MacArthur thinks that 
the New Testament doesn't call Christians sinners. I think he's 
wrong. I think it does call us that. 
This idea of remaining corruption. There is the reality that we're 
prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. But 
we're not adversaries. We're not enemies of God Most 
High. And He is not our enemy. When 
you go out and sin this week, and I'm not saying this to encourage 
you to go out and sin this week, but realize that there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. If we confess our sins, 
He's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all 
unrighteousness. We don't put ourselves in the 
camp of the adversary of God Most High for the remaining corruption 
that is in us. That is simply untenable in light 
of the entirety of God's Holy Word. So the particular sins 
or sinners here are adversaries. They are opposed. They are contrary. They are hostile to the Word 
of God, to the gospel of our salvation. And then notice, he 
gives a three-fold description of these apostates in verse 29. He tells us three things that 
they do. Notice, the apostate tramples the Son of God underfoot. 
The apostate has counted the blood of the covenant as a common 
thing, and the apostate has insulted the Spirit of grace. So those 
are three things that describe the apostate. Again, this isn't 
you on Wednesday bemoaning the reality that you've got remaining 
corruption. This man doesn't bemoan that. 
This man doesn't, not just men, women can commit this sin as 
well, but they don't have this sorrow. Their conscience is not 
penetrated. They don't have any concern whatsoever. They are open rejecters and despisers 
of the crossword of our Lord Jesus Christ. So let's look at 
those. The apostate has trampled the 
Son of God underfoot. Turn back to Hebrews chapter 
six, you see the same language employed by the apostle there 
in a similar context. Hebrews 6.6, 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. Same idea in Hebrews 10.29. Of 
how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought 
worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot? So you see 
where this particular sin, this particular apostasy has sort 
of its focal point. It is a rejection of the cross 
of Jesus. It is a repudiation of the means 
by which God has purpose to save his people from their sins. It 
is to understand it, it is to nod along with it, at least for 
a time, and then to come to the place where, no more, I'm done, 
I want nothing to do with this Jesus, I want nothing to do with 
His sacrifice. Now brethren, if you're thinking 
in terms of the context, what particular temptation might have 
been facing the original audience when the Apostle writes this 
concerning apostasy? Well, it's the Levitical system. It's the temple that's still 
standing. It's the sacrificial system that's still in play. 
So what is it for someone to confess faith in Jesus Christ 
and then come to a place because of societal pressure, familial 
pressure, job threat, or the threat of a job loss? You need 
to come back to Moses. You need to come back to the 
temple. You need to go back with your sacrifice to the priest. 
It is a rejection of the once-for-all sacrifice of our blessed Savior. 
In fact, Owen notes that the two things primarily renounced 
here are the blood of Christ and the Spirit of grace. He goes 
on to say, such were they who fell off from the gospel unto 
Judaism in those days. It's very important that you 
keep that in your mind. Hebrews is written at a time 
prior to the destruction of the temple. The temple is standing. 
The temple is still engaging with the priesthood and the sacrificial 
system and all that stuff. So a first century Jew that confessed 
Jesus as Lord and Savior, no doubt came under pressure. No 
doubt came under some degree of coercion. some degree of badgering. You need to forsake this Jesus 
of Nazareth, and you need to come back with us to the temple. 
Collect your bull, bring it to the temple, and offer it up through 
the priest to Yahweh. That would be to repudiate what 
Christ has done, and it would be to crucify anew or afresh 
the Lord of Glory, or to trample underfoot the Son of God. Now notice, secondly, the apostate 
has counted the blood of the covenant as a common thing. Now notice in that next clause. 
So it says, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted 
the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common 
thing. Now the typical interpretation 
is, is that the he here, it's not a capital H, so that refers 
to the person. In other words, the person was 
sanctified by the blood of the covenant. Sounds like he's saved. 
Sounds like the real deal. Sounds like he had it, but then 
he lost it. I want to suggest that the he 
here is Jesus. It's not the person. Notice again. counted the blood of the covenant 
by which he, Jesus, was sanctified a common thing. Jesus was set 
apart or sanctified to function as a priest. And as a priest 
who is not only the offerer, but the offering. Jesus functions 
in that particular capacity. John 17 in verse 19, in the high 
priestly prayer of our Lord, he mentions or he references 
this reality. 17, 19, and for their sakes I 
sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 
And then in Hebrews chapter nine, specifically at verses 11 and 
12. Hebrews chapter nine, verses 11 and 12. But Christ came as 
high priest of the good things to come with the greater and 
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. That is not of this 
creation. not with the blood of goats and 
calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place 
once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. The he in 
our passage is Jesus. It is a repudiation. He tramples 
the son of God underfoot. He counts the blood of the covenant 
by which Jesus was sanctified as a common thing that doesn't 
deserve or demand my attention. And then thirdly, notice he insults 
the spirit of grace. So you see, there is this opposition 
to the second and third person of the triune God. There is this 
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. There is this forsaking and rejecting 
of the Lord Christ in His person and in His offices. It is a repudiation. It's not remaining corruption 
over which a sensitive saint or any saint is sorrowful and 
repentant. This is the kind of sin that 
says, I see what God has provided, but I also feel the pressure 
that family is placing upon me, so I'm going to reject Jesus, 
I'm going to go back to Moses, and I'm going to do my thing. 
That is to defect, that is to fall away, that is to apostatize, 
and that is what happens in this particular instance. Owen says 
it is Christ Himself that is spoken of, who is sanctified 
and dedicated unto God to be an eternal High Priest, by the 
blood of the covenant which He offered unto God. As well, with 
reference to this insult of the Spirit of Grace, the Holy Spirit 
is referred to in other warnings. There are several warning passages 
in the book of Hebrews, and in a few of them, the Spirit is 
specifically mentioned. So again, when we compare this 
with Matthew 12, 31 and 32, the sin against the Holy Ghost, the 
unpardonable sin, it is to reject our blessed God. It is to repudiate 
the means by which He has purposed to save His people from their 
sins. I like what Berkhoff says. He says, it is not so much a 
sin 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. So it's 
not just one comment here or there, but as I said, it is a 
rejection of the office of the Holy Spirit, whose purpose it 
is to shine the light upon the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the sin in 10, 26 to 31, the 
sin in six, four to six, the sin in Matthew 12, 31 to 32 is 
not the saint who's struggling with remaining corruption, but 
typically those are the persons who get affected when sermons 
like these are preached. Now, I don't wanna tell you when 
and when not to be affected under preaching, but I do wanna suggest 
that the person guilty of this is probably not here. The person 
that is guilty of this probably has no desire whatsoever to be 
in a church, to be in a place that celebrates the once-for-all 
offering of our blessed Savior. That person is gone. That person 
is an adversary. That person has consigned himself, 
as it were, in opposition to God Most High. Now, brethren, 
I should say we don't know who apostates are. We don't know. As long as there is breath in 
a person's lungs, as far as we can tell, there is hope for them. 
They don't wear an A. They don't have some, you know, 
pitchfork and horns sticking out of their head to sort of 
identify themselves as apostate. We don't know. But God knows, 
but as far as we're concerned, we preach the gospel indiscriminately 
to every creature and call upon them to believe the gospel and 
promise with absolute certainty that those who believe will be 
saved. It is a most blessed emphasis. 
Our God tells us to be faithful in proclaiming the truth, in 
calling sinners to believe that truth, and we trust in God to 
deal with the application. We trust in God to deal with 
the salvation or the rejection as He deems fit. So we don't 
know who the apostate is. We use that word sort of casually 
from time to time. We use it like we do heretic. 
Well, heretic is a very strong, powerful word. And heresy is 
not, or heretic, is not something that an individual should, you 
know, label. It should be an ecclesiastical 
sort of deliberation. But with reference to apostate, 
it's the same sort of a thing. Just because somebody's not a 
believer or somebody's a heathen that hasn't heard the knowledge 
of the truth doesn't necessarily include them in this unpardonable 
sin or make them an adversary in this particular way. And then 
notice as well what he says in verse 27. We bypassed much of 
it just to deal with the word adversaries, but notice, "...but 
a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation 
which will devour the adversaries." So with the believer there is 
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. It's not the 
case with the believer that you are an adversary of God Most 
High and He is going to destroy you. That's the way we typically 
respond to passages like these. The Geneva Bible makes this observation. They say, 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. That makes 
sense, doesn't it? It's one thing to sin through 
the frailty of man's nature. It's another thing to proclaim 
war, as it were, to God as an enemy. Guess which one the apostle 
is dealing with? He's not dealing with the frailty 
of our nature. He's not dealing with those sins 
propitiated by the blood of Jesus in Hebrews 2.17. He's not dealing 
with that salvation to the uttermost of Hebrews 7.25. He is dealing 
with the person who at least looks like they've received the 
word of truth, They've confessed the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, 
but they have gotten to the point where they have made themselves 
adversaries against the true and the living God. They don't 
sing prone to wander, prone to leave the God I love with a tear 
streaming down their face. They don't think about those 
things. They despise those things. They reject those things. And 
in the language of the apostle Paul in this passage, they trample 
the Son of God underfoot. So that's the nature of the sin 
of apostasy. Notice quickly, secondly, the 
judgment of God against the sin of apostasy. Note this covenantal 
comparison. The punishment in the Old Covenant, 
verse 28, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy 
on the testimony of two or three witnesses. I think the backdrop 
here is Deuteronomy 17, verses 2-7. Again, there, in context, 
it's a repudiation, a rejection of Yahweh. It was an act of treason 
in the old covenant commonwealth of Israel. To repudiate Yahweh 
was religious in nature, but it was also civil in terms of 
its application. To repudiate Yahweh was to engage 
in treachery and treason against the civil state. Well, of course, 
on the basis of two or three witnesses, they would be executed. 
They would be punished with death because that was, in fact, a 
capital offense. But then notice the penalty in 
the new covenant of how much worse punishment You think that 
Old Covenant Israel was tough? It's a walk in the park compared 
to the New Covenant in terms of a repudiation and a rejection 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So I don't want to minimize the 
warning aspect either. I want the Saint of Christ to 
be encouraged to identify that, no, I haven't engaged in making 
myself an adversary of the living and true God, but also we ought 
to take notice that this was happening in the first century, 
it's happened in centuries since then, and it will probably continue 
to happen in perpetuity. There is that reality where persons 
come under the sound of the gospel, for a time they make a profession, 
and then they fall away. Now hopefully passages like this 
will promote fear in the hearts of God's people so that they 
will not do that, so that they will not depart, so that they 
will not defect, so that they will not let go of their faith 
or let go of their hold on our Lord Jesus Christ. So notice 
in verse 29, of how much worse punishment do you suppose will 
he be thought worthy of, worthy, and then he mentions those three 
things. And then notice, dropping down to that reality of the justice 
of God in both covenants in verses 30 and 31. For we know him who 
said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. We know 
this, right? The person that commits this 
particular sin, again, he's not ignorant. He's not some rube 
that just fell off the turnip boat and said, wow, what's this 
religion of Jesus? He knows who the God of Israel 
is. He knows God as he's revealed in the New Testament. He knows 
that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living 
God. And yet in light of all that, in spite of all that, he 
counts himself or he makes himself an adversary of that particular 
God. Now this act of vengeance, I 
think Gil gets it right, vengeance belongs to God, not as to the 
affection, as if there was any such passion in Him, but as to 
the effect there being that produced by Him, which answers to the 
effect of such a passion among men, namely punishment. So he 
cites or invokes this statement. We know him who said, vengeance 
is mine, I will repay says the Lord. And again, the Lord will 
judge his people. And then the consideration of 
his judgment in verse 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into 
the hands of the living God. Look at the way that this is 
sort of a bookend to what was said positively in verses 19 
to 25. Notice in 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. So in verses 
19 to 22, we see the blessedness of the people of God in terms 
of the presence of God. We can draw an eye, we can enter 
in, we have access, we have boldness to access His presence through 
the blood of the covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's 
a good thing. But then notice in verse 31, 
it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
God. The curse of the presence of God for the apostate. When 
it comes to hell, when it comes to destruction, it's not as if 
God is not present. We saw that this morning. We 
touched on that a little bit in our study in the Confession, 
chapter 31. It's not that hell has no presence of God. It just 
has no presence of the goodness of God. God is present, God is 
the one who sustains it, God is the one who punishes people 
there. So it's a blessed thing for the 
people of God to fall into the hands of the living God. It is 
a most horrific thing for the apostate to fall into the hand 
of the living God. There is blessing and benefit 
and joy for the believer, and there is curse and punishment 
for the unbeliever. So hopefully, as we move our 
way through this text, you get the gist, or you get the drift, 
that he's not dealing with the remaining corruption in the hearts 
of God's people. I take it that Paul wrote Hebrews, 
so Paul wrote Romans 7, Paul wrote Galatians 5. He understands 
remaining corruption. He understands it in his own 
heart. He understands it in his own 
experience. He understands it in his own 
life. And as well, he understands that that's not what's in view 
in Hebrews 6 and in Hebrews 10. So in conclusion, just a couple 
of things. First, the connection the text assumes. Notice how 
verse 26 starts, 4. That's an argument or a reason 
or some sort of a proof or inference or implication. Well, it's an 
implication or an inference from what precedes it in the preceding 
section. So there is this close connection 
between verses 19 to 25 to verses 26 to 31. There are three exhortations 
given in verses 19 to 25. Notice, draw near, verse 22, 
hold fast, verse 23, and consider one another, verse 24. He's not 
saying this is what you must do in order to be saved. No, 
he's come to deal practically with what God's people now have 
in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that, verse 19. 
That's a therefore. It comes on the heels of a long 
discussion of the priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. Based 
on what he's done, based on the giving of his own life, based 
on his resurrection from the dead, based on the superiority 
of the New Covenant, based on the promises involved in the 
New Covenant, based on the better hope afforded by the New Covenant, 
you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Therefore, Therefore, 
just like he does in Romans chapter 12, after explaining the gospel 
in chapters one to 11, he comes with a therefore in Romans 12, 
one and following. This is practical application. So the justified by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ alone believer, now has the ability, 
now has the power, because God has granted it to him, to draw 
near, to hold fast, and to consider one another. This is not how 
we are saved, this is a result of us having been saved. Now to reject those, the drawing 
near, the holding fast, and the considering one another, is to 
give evidence that there's no justifying faith in your heart. 
If there is justifying faith in your heart, you'll do these 
things. These are exhortations you'll embrace. You won't whine. 
You won't cry. You won't say, I don't want to 
assemble with the people of God, even as the day is approaching. 
No, you want to go to the house of the Lord. You want to draw 
near into the presence of God. You want to hold fast that confession 
of faith. You want to do this because you've 
been justified freely by God's grace. Now I think the implication 
that we ought to derive is that if you are justified by faith 
and you are not doing these exhortations, you put yourself in a precarious 
position. In other words, it may demonstrate 
or indicate that there is no justifying faith. We know the 
tree by the fruit that it produces. We know the saved sinner because 
he draws near, he holds fast, he considers one another, he 
attends the means of grace as God's ordained for his benefit 
and blessing. So if these things are lacking, 
or these things are wanting, or these things are absent, guess 
what might be the inevitable outcome? Apostasy, declension, 
a falling away. of making yourself an adversary. And I don't think Paul's doing 
this in a manipulative or a passive-aggressive way. There is just this connection. If you don't live according to 
your confession of faith, it may ultimately betray. Your confession 
of faith is spurious. It's false. It's not the real 
deal. So there is this close connection 
assumed by the apostle between verses 19 to 25 and 26 to 31. In short, if you don't fulfill 
or you don't carry out or you don't engage in these exhortations, 
it might indicate you don't have justifying faith. And if you 
don't have justifying faith, you're an unbeliever, but you 
may set yourself up to become an apostate, to engage in that 
sort of adversarial conduct wherein you see God as an enemy. Secondly, 
the warning the text communicates. The apostate willfully rejects 
the truth of the gospel. The apostate willfully rejects 
the truth of the gospel. Again, there's no gun to his 
head, there's no coercion, but he willfully does that. There 
might be some external pressure, there might be friends and family, 
there might be the threat of job loss, there might be the 
threat of imprisonment, there might be the threat of martyrdom, 
there might be those things. But the apostate, in the final 
analysis, willfully chooses to side against Jesus. Now, he doesn't 
fear that he has committed this sin, like believers do. As well, 
the apostate places himself in a position where repentance is 
impossible. Again, he has no desire for it. He doesn't want to repent. Every 
believer I've ever talked to that is sorrowful over his or 
her sin They want to repent. They want to forsake. They want 
to be holy. They want to glorify God. Now, 
that's ebbs and flows too. There's no formula in the Christian 
life where we're all operating on the cylinders, all eight cylinders 
all the time. No, we've got the ebb and flow 
of the Christian life. But the true child of God sorrows 
over their sin against the Lord Most High. The apostate doesn't. There's no desire for repentance. 
As well, the apostate makes God his enemy and will be dealt with 
according to justice by the Almighty. Believers can't. I mentioned 
Romans 8, 39 this morning. There is nothing that shall separate 
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
And then I would suggest the apostate is not only one who 
publicly repudiates Christ, There's this sort of open rejection of 
the cross, but also one who privately repudiates Christ in his self-righteousness. Isn't self-righteousness, if 
not apostasy, dangerously close on the precipice, dancing around 
it? Self-righteousness, when I think 
that I'm good, I'm okay, never done anything really bad, I have 
every hope in myself that I'm gonna enter into heaven. Isn't 
that to repudiate the very crosswork of our Lord Jesus Christ? Paul 
says in Galatians 2.21, I do not nullify, I do not set apart 
the grace of God. For if righteousness comes to 
the law, then Christ died in vain. I think Paul makes that 
close connection between a self-righteousness and a repudiation of the crosswork 
of our blessed Savior. So it's not just the guy standing 
out on the street corner with a sign that says, Christianity 
is bad, Christianity is wrong, I want to trample the Son of 
God underfoot. It could be the person that has 
heard it, made a profession, but then turned back to their 
own works, their own law-keeping, their own righteousness, in a 
repudiation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Thirdly, the 
comfort the text affords. The text speaks specifically 
to apostasy. Several arguments here. First, 
the lexical. The word adversaries. Again, 
you've got to get around verse 27 to try and explain how this 
is true of the people of God. They are adversaries. They are in opposition to. They 
are hostile toward God. Secondly, the contextual argument, 
the description of apostates in verse 29 and the larger concern 
of the book itself. Hebrew Christians tempted to 
renounce Christ and go back to the old covenant, to go backwards 
in redemptive history. We have the once for all sacrifice. 
We have everything that God has provided in and through our Lord 
Jesus, but we're not gonna do that. We're gonna go back to 
the temple. We're gonna bring our goat. We're gonna hand it, 
cut its throat, hand it to the priest and let him do his thing. 
As well, the biblical argument. Brethren, in terms of persons 
that have entered into heaven by the redeeming power and work 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we've got three pretty solid evidences 
that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. 
I mentioned David. David sinned horrifically against 
God. David did horrible things against 
God. Typically, if you ever evangelize, 
you ever ask somebody, Do you think you're going to go to heaven? 
If they're not Christians or have some semblance of normalcy, 
they say, yeah, I think I'm going to go. Most people, at least 
outside certain denominations of Christianity, think they're 
OK. I'm OK. I'm going to go to heaven. 
And they typically cite benchmark sins. I've never killed anyone, 
and I've never committed adultery. I used to say this as a young 
papist. I thought everything was cool because I'd never killed 
anybody and I'd never committed adultery. Those are the benchmark 
sins. You can't go to heaven if you've 
killed somebody or committed adultery. David is in heaven 
because of the virtue of the Son of God. Jesus Christ atoned 
for the sin of David. But then you've got Peter. Peter 
says that he will follow Jesus unto death. Jesus says, no, you're 
gonna deny me. Oh no, everybody else may deny 
you, Lord, but not me. What happens? He denies the master 
to not the police, not to the emperor, not to the, you know, 
the SS. He denies Jesus to a slave girl. But I want to add a third. My 
brother reminded me of this this morning. I cited the thief on 
the cross as one who departed and went to be with Jesus. The 
spirit departs and is present with the Lord while the body 
goes into the ground in terms of the intermediate state. What 
happened just a few minutes before he said, Lord, remember me when 
you come in your kingdom. He was blaspheming Christ right 
alongside of the other thief. Now, if that's not a display 
of mercy, if that is not the communication of grace, if that 
does not underscore what God reveals at Sinai to Moses and 
the children of Israel after they transgress, after they break 
the covenant, after Moses says, show me your glory, How does 
God show him his glory? God is gracious. He abounds in 
mercy. He abounds in long-suffering. He has forgiveness for sin and 
transgression and iniquity. Just in case you think there's 
any difference or shade of variation in those three things, whatever 
you've done that is against Yahweh, there is forgiveness with thee 
that thou mayest be feared. Now listen to the brothers, listen 
to the brothers in the church commenting on these apostasy 
passages. 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. That's what I said at the outset. 
Every sin we engage in is a willful sin, and this is what he says. 
He says, therefore all sins are so many failings. 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 God, not God in some one thing, but entirely 
renounces his grace. I think there's a fear in the 
heart of the modern preacher to say such things for the thought 
that persons might go out and steal. They might go out and 
murder. They might go out and get hammered. 
Well, if that's true, then I can go do whatever it is I want. 
No, the gospel counters that double logic. What shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. Oh, and 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. 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. Again, he's not talking about 
the sins that we commit with which there is forgiveness with 
thee. Gil, on Hebrews 10, it intends 
a total apostasy from the truth against light and evidence joined 
with obstinacy. And then there's Sinus in his 
discussion of church discipline on the Heidelberg Catechism. 
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. This is not the saint 
who has a tear rolled down his face when they sang, prone to 
wander, prone to leave the God I love. This is not the saint 
who says with Paul, the good that I wish to do, I don't do. 
The evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing. crying out, 
O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body 
of death? This is to renounce, this is 
to reject, this is to repudiate, this is to crucify anew the Son 
of God or trample Him underfoot. The gospel speaks to believers. There is remaining corruption, 
as I said, Galatians 5 and Romans 7. Our confession speaks to this, 
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 Holy 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." That's a horrific laundry list 
of things that our remaining corruption can do. But it goes 
on to say, yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved 
through faith in Christ Jesus to the end. There is a difference 
between the remaining corruption in a believer and that one who 
is now the avowed enemy of God Most High as specifically seen 
in his rejection of and the repudiation of the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. So believer, be encouraged. Be 
warned, guard the heart, engage in the exhortations, draw near, 
hold fast, consider one another, do the things consistent with 
sanctification, which is yielded by justification, but be encouraged 
that there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. Unbeliever, 
the fact that you're here tonight, argues that most likely you haven't 
committed the unpardonable sin. There is hope in Jesus. There 
is forgiveness with him that he may be feared. Ask anybody 
in this room what it's like. We weren't born coming out of 
the womb as little reformed Baptists. We weren't, you know, cutting 
our teeth on the catechism and declaring the chief end of man 
when we were, you know, in our cribs. It's a blessed thing to 
see the families in the church catechizing their children to 
be sure, but some of us didn't have that. Some of us were not 
only prone to wander, we had wandered. We were in the far 
country. We were way gone, way far off, way distant, and it 
was God who sought us, it was God who found us, it was God 
who blessed us, and it was God who brought us nigh. So we can 
testify There is forgiveness with Him that He may be feared. 
We have tried and proven our God, and we know for a fact that 
He does abound in grace, He does abound in mercy, He does abound 
in long-suffering, and He does forgive sin, iniquity, and transgression. So believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and you shall be saved. He saves to the uttermost all 
who draw nigh unto God through Him. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this, your word. And on the one hand, 
it is a scary passage in terms of warning. On the other hand, 
it's an encouraging passage in terms of identification, who 
the particular adversaries are. Give us grace, Lord God Almighty, 
to walk in righteousness and holiness, not so that we will 
be saved, but because we have been saved. And help us to draw 
nigh, help us as well to hold fast and to consider one another. and to glorify you. Protect us, 
preserve us, watch over us, we pray and we ask in Jesus' name, 
amen. Well, you can turn in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 26 as we rehearse the supper