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Hebrews 10:1-39
"For
the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin thou hast had no
pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come
(in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and
offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein; which
are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may
establish the second. By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take
away sins: but this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts,
and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. Now where
remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us
consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after that we
have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: of how much sorer punishment,
suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of
God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God. But call
to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured
a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by
reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them
that were so used. For ye had
compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods,
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance. Cast not away therefore
your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that,
after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that
shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of
them that believe to the saving of the soul."
"It Is Not Possible
That The Blood Of Bulls And Of Goats Should Take Away Sins"
"Hebrews
chapter 10, we have been journeying through, ah, I believe Paul's argument with
these Hebrew believers, encouraging them onward, that Christ is superior to
angels, to Moses, to Joshua, ah, to Aaron, and that the sacrifice of Christ is
a superior sacrifice. And we'll
talk more about that this evening, that he is superior in every way than God's
last revelation to man, and that the law certainly served it's purpose, but
looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. [Comment: Hebrews 10, by context, is talking about the ceremonial laws contained
within the moral law of God given to Moses. It is not talking about the abrogation of God's moral code
of laws, the 10 Commandments, as Jesus by example and his sermon on the Mount
re-affirmed these more than ever.] He begins in chapter 10 by saying "For the law having a shadow of
good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." (verse 1) The law was just a shadow, it tells us in Colossians that the law was a
shadow, but Christ is the body that cast that shadow, as it were, into the Old
Testament. That the law was a
shadow, it was a type, it was looking forward to the reality of the things that
it reflected. And is says, of
course there was a problem in that it was just a shadow, and it could never
make those who came to worship under it complete or perfect, because the
sacrifices themselves were offered year by year, and there was in that a
testimony that the law was not accomplishing, the sacrifices were not
accomplishing what they were seeking. [Again, by context of what Paul says, the entire 10th chapter
of Hebrews is talking about the sacrificial or ceremonial part of God's law,
and not the moral part, the 10 Commandments, and those laws and ordinances
based on them. The four Gospels
and Epistles re-iterate the 10 Commandment moral laws of God, and make them
more binding, in a sense, as in Matthew 5;17-48. Paul was referring to what the Jews called "The Law of
Sacrifices."] Verse 2 says, "For then would they not have
ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had
no more conscience of sins." If the Old Testament sacrifices were
effective, and the believer, worshipper came, and was purged, cleansed
internally, purged by that sacrifice, it wouldn't have to be offered over and
over again. "But in those sacrifices
there is a
remembrance again made of sins every year." (verse 3) In the morning and evening sacrifices
certainly, but Yom Kippur, the Feast of Atonement that every year, year after
year, the sacrifice was offered again, was a testimony of itself that the
sacrificial system was not removing sin. If it did, it would only have to be offered once, and never again. Verse 4 says, "For it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins." It's not
possible, "Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and
offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:" (verse 5) "when he" speaking of Messiah, and he's quoting Psalm 40. So, 'sacrifice and offering you
didn't desire, but a body you've prepared for me,' he said "he saith", that's through David, and that's 500
years after the law was given. So,
if the sacrificial system had the power to cleanse, why would David, their
king, the Hebrews he's arguing with, 500 years later be saying 'Sacrifice
and offerings, he didn't take any pleasure in that.' "Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared for me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure."
(verses 5-6) Now, he had pleasure in the
worshippers, God, you know, challenged the Old Testament saints, he said that
rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, stubbornness is like idolatry, there
was something he wanted in the heart of the worshipper, and he had pleasure in
the worshipper. But he took no pleasure
in the blood of the bulls and of the goats they sacrificed, there was no
pleasure in that. There was
pleasure in God's heart in the fact that there would be those who would come
"in faith" in the sacrificial system, in faith, believing that they needed
atonement, that an innocent substitute could die in their place. But it says all the while, God was not
taking any pleasure in the blood of that animal that was shed, because it
wasn't taking away sin, but it was looking forward to the One who would come. [Comment: the blood of those sacrifices temporarily hid or covered
their sins from God's view in the Old Testament, but it never removed them, nor
healed the sin nature in the worshipper, which only the coming of the Holy
Spirit could do, after Jesus Christ's sacrifice, providing spiritual empowerment
and enablement for the believers after Christ's coming and sacrifice.] So, "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no
pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come
(in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God." (verses
6-7) Christ, in the volume of the Book, from
Genesis to Revelation of course. Not when the Psalms were written, but in the volume of the Book. "Above when he said, Sacrifice and
offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein,
which are offered by the law, then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. He taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second." (verses 8-9) He saying, 'In the fact that he says these two things, that God is
not a God who takes pleasure in watching the blood of these animals spill all
over the place, but rather a body you have prepared for me, lo, I come in the
volume of the Book,' and so forth, 'to do thy will O God,' he's saying 'in that he's saying
that, 500 years after the law,' "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." (verse 9b) The first, that is the sacrificial system [i.e. the sacrificial or
ceremonial laws within the moral law of God], "that he may establish the
second." He's replacing the first covenant with
the new covenant, or he wouldn't bother to say that. If the first covenant was effective, then Christ never would
have said, 'Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of me, to
do thy will O God.' "By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (verse 10) "we are sanctified", now it's interesting, it's 'by
the will of God we are sanctified permanently,' and Paul's repeating this over and
over, and over, and over, and over, and over, reiterating certain truths to
these Jewish believers, because every day they saw the smoke of the Temple
morning and evening sacrifice. Every day they heard the stringed instruments and trumpets, every day
they were surrounded with their families, every day that which would wear them
down and take them away from the Faith, surrounded them, just like every day
the world that we live in would do that same thing. The media around us would do that same thing, the standards
around us would wear us down and do the same thing. So, he's over and over and over and over again making a
point with them, because he wants to bring them to the love of God in Christ
Jesus. He wants to bring them to
say 'This is superior to everything that the law [sacrificial law] only
could reflect.' He says, "By the which will we are
sanctified" permanently is the idea, "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all."
(verse 10) He's going to make this point, look
back in verse 2, if
sacrifice and offerings were effective, he said, "that the worshippers, once
purged, would have no more
consciousness of sins." If it was effective, it would happen
once and not need to be repeated. Now down in verse 10 he says, 'but Christ, through the sacrifice of his body, has died once,
and for all, and sanctified us permanently.' Once,
and that once is this effective, for all, every age. "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:" (verse 11) now King James, this is one of the
"eth's" I appreciate here, "every priest standeth" when you see that in your King James
it's pointing at a tense, "continues to stand," it doesn't say "every priest stands",
which that would just be a fact, but when it says "standeth" or "believeth" it's pointing us to a present tense,
and it's one of the verses, strong verses, that point to the fact that this is
before 70AD, and the sacrifices were still being made in the Temple. What it says is 'Every priest
continually is standing daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins.' He says that's the reality of what's going on in the Temple every
day. "But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of
God;" (verse 12) they're standing every day (the Levitical priests at this time), and here it is
the third or fourth time he tells us that Christ is seated. Ah, there were no seats in the
tabernacle or Temple, no benches, no seats, because their works were never
finished, because it was only a type. [Comment: I believe the
Jerusalem Temple built right after Jesus Christ's 2nd coming, the
outline of which we have in Ezekiel chapters 40-48, will have benches, seats
and tables, because we the saints will be ruling with Jesus over the whole
world from that very Temple. Exciting times coming. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm] But over and over he's telling us that Christ is now seated at the right
hand of God, resting in his completed work, and the fact that he was able to
sit down after sacrificing himself means it was offered once and for all, it
never needs to be repeated. The
beauty of that is when you and I struggle, we fall short, Christ doesn't have
to die again, Christ is not offered every Sunday in the Mass, that's over and
over and over and over again in regards to a priesthood. It's saying that he died once and for
all, never to be repeated. The
beautiful thing for you and I now is we can go to him, we confess our sins, and
he's faithful and just for forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because when he died, it paid for all
sins, past, present and future. The
ladies that come to our church that are pregnant, their babies haven't been
born yet, 2000 years ago on the cross Christ paid for the sins of those unborn
children, he paid for sins past, present and future when he died on the cross,
and the payment was completely sufficient. This man, in contrast to the priests that were ministering
(in the Temple at the time Paul was writing this), obviously then there's no
need of any other priests, "this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (verses 12-13) His work is done, he's seated, he's waiting for the consummation of all
things, until Satan is crushed under his heel, and his enemies are made his
footstool (cf. Revelation 19:1-21; 20:1-3).
He's The One That
Calls Things That Are Not As Though They Were, Where He Stands Is Timeless
Here
it is again, "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified." (verse 14) Isn't that great news? "For by one offering he hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified." So when your
wife says to you, 'You think you're perfect, don't you?' you can say 'Yea, it's right here,
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 14, "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified." Or wives when your husband says 'You
think you're perfect?' Those that are sanctified, that's where
we get our word "saints", we're saints. You can sit in here, you don't have to be on a dashboard, we're saints
[laughter], perfected, on God's side of this equation he's imputed that to us,
we're justified, sanctified, and glorified. He's the one that calls things that are not as though they
were, where he stands is timeless. And he's outside of this Time-Space Continuum, and he sees his work
complete and perfect in our lives, and speaks it to us, and wants us to
appropriate that by faith. It's
hard, because this world is distracting. This world plays so much to our flesh, in it's advertising, in the
media, there's so much that plays to our physical appetites. There's so much that's set around us in
regards to standards that are in contrast to what the Scripture has to say to
us, that we really as individuals have to settle ourselves before our own Lord
and Saviour to receive some of these things. He wants to implant them in us. That he's died once and for all, that we're perfected, that
we're sanctified, and that we can embrace that, we can take hold of that.
What Is The New
Covenant Really?
"For
by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to
us:" 'is
constantly witnessing to us' is the tenses there, 'the Holy Ghost is constantly putting this on our
hearts,' "for
after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with
them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put [be putting, progressively be putting] my laws into their hearts, and in
their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more." (verses 14-17) "And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more" that's emphatic, it's 'Their sins and their iniquities
will I positively remember no more.' And he of
course, he quotes this from Jeremiah 31:31-34. He says the Holy Spirit said this before, here he is
speaking through Jeremiah, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD. That I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring
them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, which though I was
an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the
LORD, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people. And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I
will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah
31:31-34) So he says, this is what the Holy
Spirit is constantly trying to get over to us. He said this is the truth of it in Christ. [And we are in-process, the process of
God writing his laws into our hearts and minds, which is constantly conforming
us into the image of Jesus Christ. The new covenant as defined here is not anti-Torah in the sense of God's
10 Commandment moral law (cf. Matthew 5:17-48), but it thoroughly involves God
through his Holy Spirit actively writing his laws into our hearts and minds,
it's a process he's thoroughly involved in, along with our puny efforts, yes,
of course, but he's the potter, and we're just the clay. The new covenant is far, far more than
merely legalistic law-keeping, God is the one doing the writing of his laws
within us, internally. It is our
job to be willing participants with the Lord in this process called salvation,
which interestingly enough, he sees as a finished work.] He died once and for all, and through
that, you and I are perfected, we're sanctified. He said this is the very thing the Holy Spirit is trying to
tell you. Now, remember, writing
to these Hebrew believers, now he's saying 'Just sit quietly, and just
look in the Scripture, read Jeremiah, read the Psalms, see how long after the
law these things were said, and see, and you'll hear.' You know, it's a subjective experience here that has to be real. [Oxford American Dictionary, "Subjective: existing in a person's
mind and not produced by things outside it, not objective."] It can't be, 'You know, I heard
this, ah, from somebody else,' or 'I grew up in the Church,' that doesn't make any difference, you can come to church all the time, that
doesn't make you a Christian. It
has to be something that's real in your life, and part of what you and I
believe is objective, there's truth that comes to us. But part of what we believe is subjective, and it has to be
real to us. And he says this is
the very thing that the Holy Spirit is constantly trying to communicate, and
the Holy Spirit never gives up. Because even in the ages to come, we're going to be learning about his
grace and his mercy. And Peter
said 'Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who
has begun a good work in you is going to continue to do that.' Paul said the Holy Spirit is continually telling, is continually taking
us deeper. And it's in the first thing that we ever heard, and he's continually
taking us deeper in that. And that
is that in Christ, we're forgiven. That in Christ he will absolutely not remember our sins or our
iniquities anymore. It's never an
excuse for us to compromise and live in sin, that's not the issue. If the truth of that really resonates
in our hearts, why would we go out and sin? [i.e. that goes against the very thing God is writing in our
hearts and minds through his Holy Spirit, writing his laws in our hearts and
minds. And as John defines sin, it
is the transgression of God's law.] You know, Jesus says, 'The one whom I've forgiven the most is the
one who loves me the most.' And the more we realize the reality of
this, life is passing by, and the remarkable truth is, that God through his
sacrifice of his Son, that he offered once and for all, has taken us and put us
in a position spiritually where sin does not stick to us anymore. But because there's that traitor that
dwells within that we wrestle with it everyday, we constantly need to grow, and
we constantly need that reassurance that he's made us his own, that he's put
his law in our hearts and our minds, and that 'our sins and iniquities I
will remember no more.' What a blessing.
The Three "Let Us"
Exhortations
"Now
where remission of these is, there is no
more offering for sin." (verse 18) When sin is gone, and dealt with, it
doesn't need an offering anymore. And that's why the offering of Christ once and for all. "Now where remission of these is,
there is no
more offering for sin." He begins an exhortation (cf. verses
19-25) "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus," and
it's, by the way, boldness of speech, he told us that we can come to his throne
of grace in time of need (cf. Hebrews 4:14-16), we have boldness in speech in
the sense that we can say, I'll tell you the boldest thing you can do is lift
your head to heaven and say 'Dad, Father,' it still staggers me. I can come here and play my role as Pastor Joe, and do
everything I do in life, but when I'm quiet and alone with Almighty God, and I
lift my head to heaven and I say 'Father,' since my dad's gone on to be with him,
it means more to me than it's ever meant. But for me to lift my head to heaven and say 'Father,' still staggers me, and it still blows
my mind. That I can be sitting in
my car in traffic, and bow my heart, and say 'Oh Lord,' and go to the holiest place in the
universe, right in traffic. Or
here in the sanctuary, in the song service, you can close your eyes, raise your
hands, or just lift your heart, and enter into the holiest, with boldness. You just fought with your wife on the
way to church, your kids were driving you crazy, you walked in the front door
and somebody said 'How you doing?' you said, 'Great!' you lied on your way in. [loud laughter] And then you come and sit right here, and when we start to sing some of
these choruses and worship songs and lifting our hearts and asking his
forgiveness, that we can do that with boldness, we can come, because the
sacrifice that paid for all that happened once and for all, it never needs to
be repeated. Oh, we should never
take that for granted, it doesn't mean we can go out and sin. But what it means is there's room [for
growth], there's grace, we're growing, we're changing, and it's all been taken
care of. So we have this "boldness
to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus," notice, "by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for
us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of
God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water." (verses 19-22) "now by a new and living way" now it's
interesting, the translation is 'By a newly slain and living way,' very interesting structure here. So we are able to enter in through the veil now. Not the veil the high priest would
enter behind on the Day of Atonement. You remember, when God drove Adam and Eve, you don't remember, but it's
in here. And when God drove Adam
and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, it says he put a cherubim there with a
flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life, lest Adam and Eve would
partake and life forever in a fallen state, the cherubim, guarding the way to
life. When God constructs the
tabernacle, the veil has the cherubim embroidered on it, guarding the way, once
a year the high priest would go behind this veil. You look at the camp of Israel from above, from a
helicopter, and the four flags that were in the farthest corners were the face
of a man, the face of an ox, the face of an eagle, the face of a lion, the four
faces of a cherubim. And when you
count the tribes [twelve tribes of Israel], the number of the tribes given, you
can actually see that is was actually shaped like a cross, the smaller three
tribes, smaller three tribes, and the greatest number of three tribes, you had
this cross camped around the tabernacle with the faces of the cherubim, all a
picture. And then again in the
Temple, when Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn from top to
bottom. That veil had the cherubim
embroidered on it. 'We have
a way now in beyond the veil, into the holiest, and the veil' he says, 'is the body of Christ,
torn as it were for us, offered for us.' That veil,
you and I, we have "a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of
God;" (verses 20-21) "Let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us
consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
(verses 22-25) Three responsibilities here, three
exhortations, notice in verse 22 it says, "let us" in verse 23 it says "Let us"
and then in verse 24 it says "let us." OK? And none of those
verses say 'Let Pastor Joe, let Pastor Frank,' they all say "let us." OK? So this is for all of us, I'm always relieved, we're all in this
together. The tenses are in all
three places 'let us continually draw near' verse 22, 'let us continually
hold fast,' verse 23, speaking
of our hope, and lastly 'let us continually consider one another.' So the exhortations are, 'Let us continually
draw near in faith,' first exhortation, faith. Second
one, 'let us continually hold fast our hope [profession of our faith],
faith, hope,' the
last one, 'let us consider one another, to love,' so this exhortation, as it always is,
through the New Testament, faith, hope and love.
1. "Let Us
Continually Draw Near, With A True Heart In Full Assurance Of Faith"---In
Inward And Outward Purity'
First
exhortation, "Let us continually draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water." He's asking here, 'lets draw
near, knowing there's inward, our conscience, our hearts, our bodies, inward
and outward purity. Let's do it
with full assurance,' he
says. Why? Because you look in the mirror and see
somebody that's holy? No, no, no,
no, by faith, he's taking us to chapter 11, by faith, full assurance, by what
has been accomplished once and for all on our behalf, by our High Priest, whose
superior, who by his sacrifice is superior. The fact that it took place once and for all, that our
conscience then doesn't have to watch somebody every day offer a sacrifice for
us, or every year on the Day of Atonement. We believe the one who paid for us did it once and for all,
and if we believe that, we know that it was encompassing, paid for our
sins. So the challenge is that we
would grow in grace, and that we would continually then draw near. Drawing near to him this week is different
for me than drawing near to him last week. It's the same, ultimately, but it's different in that
hopefully this week I see more of him, I'm resting more in his love this week
than I did last week, I'm growing in these things. Paul says 'Forgetting those things that are behind, I
press forward for the mark, the high calling of Christ, I have not yet
apprehended that which I have been apprehended of,' we're all in this process. The first exhortation, 'seeing
that we have this boldness to come into the holiest place in the universe, in
the presence of God, let us [continually] draw near with a true heart, full of
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled,' you know, 1st John, if we
confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us, we can make sure that
our hearts are right, we can keep all of our accounts current, 'let's
draw near, sprinkled from an evil conscience, with our hearts and our bodies
cleansed in inward and outward purity.' Important.
2. 'Let Us Hold
Fast Our Faith, Hope'
Second
exhortation is in regards to our hope. King James says "Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith", your translation might say 'let
us hold fast the profession of our hope,' which gives us the idea of what it's saying in this
verse. 'Let us hold fast,
constantly be holding fast,' because if we don't, these things can slip, he told us that in chapter 2, that
people let these things slip. 'Let
us constantly be holding fast the profession of our faith, of our hope, without
wavering,' that
is, 'without bending,' literally, because there's going to be a lot of pressure on you to set aside
the hope that you have in Christ and pick up some other hope. What is our hope? Is our hope we're going to make our
first million and retire? Some of
you, maybe. That guy on the TV
show, the price is wrong or whatever, he passed a million bucks there, what's
that show? You're all watching,
aren't you? Everybody knows
that. I can't even remember the
name of the show, I wouldn't go far with them. What's your hope? It boils down to some very tough things sometimes. Is it that this is going to continue
the way it is? [talking of our bodies, perhaps] Because it isn't. But we have a hope, immovable, that no one can take from us. 'Let us constantly hold fast the profession
of our hope, without bending,' "(for
he is faithful that promised;)" what a day ahead of us, our inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, that fadeth
not away, what a day.
3. 'Let Us Be
Considering One Another To Love'
And
lastly, look at this, "And let us continually be considering one another to provoke
unto love and to good works:" (verse 24) Now I don't
know about you, but I need that exhortation, because I'm continually
considering myself. When I'm tired
and it's time to go to bed, I don't think about other people, I think about
myself. When I'm tired when I wake
up in the morning, isn't that sad, I'm tired when I go to sleep, and I'm tired
when I wake up. And I don't want
to get out of bed, and somebody needs a ride, I'm considering myself. When I'm in traffic, of course I left
ten minutes late, but if they would drive at the proper speed, I could make up
for that. I'm considering myself
when I'm in traffic, because I'm a busy man, the world's coming to an end, and
I have things to do, and I can't waste that ten minutes, because I wasted it
getting out into the car on time. But you know what I'm talking about, we don't have any trouble
considering ourselves, we're made that way. That's why Jesus says 'Love your neighbour as
yourself.' You know, people say 'Well I need to
learn to love myself first,' what a bunch of nonsense. If
there's one person we're in love with it's our self. "Let us constantly be considering one another' for this reason, "to provoke unto
love and to good works:" to encourage one another. That
word "provoke" is
used only one other time in the New Testament, and that's where it talks about
the contention between Paul and Barnabas, because it was so great that they
split up. They were contending
over something there. 'Let
us' it says, 'constantly
be considering one another.' That's hard. Isn't it? But
you know the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness,
temperance, faith. The fruit of
the Spirit will make us other-centered instead of self-centered, and I have a
long way to go. You know, at the
end of the day 'Lord, I considered two people today,' [he laughs] 'Me, and somebody else.' 'Let us constantly be considering one another, to contend
with one another, to provoke one another to love and to good works, to be an
encouragement,' and that's of course within the fellowship of the saints. And look, "not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (verse
25) These kinds of things, he's saying,
flourish within the fellowship of the saints. How can we provoke one another to love and good works if we
don't see one another? [And that's
in the context of church, whether that be Sunday-observing or Sabbath
observing, makes no difference, you can't fellowship with the brethren if you
are a stay-at-home Christian.] And
it can't just be, you look at the model of the Church in Acts chapter 2, verse
41, and onward, those last few verses, they were daily with one another,
breaking bread, house to house, fellowshipping, with thanksgiving and prayers,
stedfast in the apostles doctrine. [They initially were so excited to be called, and for what that
represented, that they had an ongoing 7-day-a-week Sabbath.] If you read, this koinonia we have is to be a lifestyle, it's not
to be where we go out and we live like hell all week, and we do all worldly
things, and we shoot in here once on Sunday [or the Sabbath] to get our golden
star to put on the refrigerator for the week and we're out, you know. That's not what the Body of Christ is,
what would it be like if your arm did that? All week you walked around without a right arm, and it
showed up on Sunday morning for an hour, 'But come back! Wait!' but we think the Body of Christ can
function like that. You know, it
says 'not to neglect the assembling of ourselves,' it doesn't say 'the gathering of
ourselves.' You know, when my kids were younger,
one of the things I didn't like about Christmas Eve, was we would get one of
these toys that had a thousand parts, and it was like 25 pages of instructions, 'Take part A,' and
there's parts all over, or you can flip it over and there's like a picture of
it exploding and you can try to do it that way, and just figure out all the
parts. But I could take a rake and
just scrape them all into a pile in the middle of the living room, that's
gather. That's not assembling. It says not to neglect the assembling
together of ourselves here. Because every joint and every ligament supplies (cf. Ephesians
4:4-16). If the Holy Spirit is
challenging you to be regular in your fellowship, to attend a home-fellowship,
to be part of a particular ministry here, and you don't yield to that, we're
missing a part, standing around scratching our heads saying, 'How do these
go together,' there is
the assembling together of ourselves. The eye can't say it doesn't have need of the ear, Paul says, and so
forth, ah, the body, every joint and every ligament supplies, Paul says, the
Body of Christ can't build itself up in love unless this is a fraternity that
we're all committed to, we're brothers and sisters in Christ. And there's an exhortation here, 'not
to forsake the assembling of ourselves together,' "as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day
approaching." Do you see the day approaching? You know, it's like a runaway
freight-train. I can remember
years ago when we first started to study at Arthur's, 22-years-ago, and you'd
be reading Time Magazine or Newsweek or anything, if you could find a piece of
the prophetic puzzle you were excited, 'Oh look! Do you think maybe this
fits!?' I can't keep up with what's going on
now. [me too, and I cut my teeth
on prophecy, current events and world military preparedness, and things are
happening so fast now, 10 years after he preached this sermon, that it's not
funny.] I can't keep up with the
changes that are happening around us, that are telling us that we have to be in
the days that Christ said would precede his return. We should see the day approaching, all of us are Biblically
literate enough to sense that, and to exhort one another, and so much the more
as we realize where we're living. We know where the world's going. You know, I can't imagine some of what's going on. You know, I read this article today,
and I think it's in Virginia there's a judge there whose trying to uphold a
nudist camp for kids 11 to 14 years old. It's a summer camp. And
somebody got involved protesting, 'They should be able to do that nude if
they want to.' So they're not allowed to pray in
school, but the people that are in the judicial system, the judicial branch of
government, which has lost its mind, no wonder that lady is standing out there
blindfolded, holding that thing up in front of the courthouse. We want to give these kids the right to
go to summer camp nude? Every counselor in the camp will be a
pedophile. What are we talking
about? We've lost our minds. The day is quickly approaching. But Paul said in these days people
would love pleasure more than God, they would be truce-breakers. Look where we are. So it's bitter-sweet. In one sense you're sickened by it, it
says Lot his righteous soul was vexed when he saw what was going on. The other side of it is 'Hey, bottom
line, Jesus is coming!' Jesus is coming, he's going to get us
outa here. Then you don't have to
listen to me, you should all be rejoicing. The angels will be doing worship there, and your bodies,
everybody's vocal cords, everybody will have perfect pitch. Exhorting one another, building one
another up in love and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Flip Side Of The
Three "Let Us's"---The Three Despisings
"For
if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for
of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose
ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God." (verses 26-31) Now some of you
have probably read through these verses, and they're troubling, and they should
be. If you are claiming to be a Christian and living in sexual sin and you're
troubled by this, great, you should be. Because, I'll give you my opinion, but I was a Hippie taking drugs, I
was dropping LSD and I got saved, so I don't know if you want to bet your eternal
destiny on my opinion. Ok? You better study the Bible and see what
it says. Paul said the Bereans
were more noble because they studied the Scripture to see if those things were
so that he taught to them and preached to them. This exhortation, all this opportunity that's ours,
everything that God's put in front of us, that through the single sacrifice of
Christ, we're accepted, we can come boldly to his throne of grace, we have
these privileges. "For if we
sin" present perfect
tense, 'if we go on continually sinning, there's no change,' I don't believe these verses are
talking about a backslider, I believe they're talking about an apostate,
somebody whose turned their back and left the faith, and I'll show you
why. Then you have to decide, is
an apostate someone who was saved, who turned their back and left the faith, or
somebody who really wasn't saved. And you can develop your own position on that. "For if we continually sin wilfully" there's no mistake here, there's no
ignorance or weakness, this is "wilfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," the knowledge, epicknosis, it's not oedis, a divine knowledge, but it's "a
complete knowledge", 'come to a complete knowledge of the truth,' "there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins," Now this was particularly poignant to
the Hebrew Christian in Jerusalem, who would come to Christ, and then for some
reason, out of frustration, feeling, if they had unrealistic expectations, he
says 'let us cling to the hope that Christ has given us,' what happens is a lot of Christians
get another hope. I have people
come up to me and say 'You know, I was engaged to this person, and they
broke up with me, and because they broke up with me I'm going back to the
bars.' I think, 'Wait a minute, Jesus
didn't break up with you, you know, they broke up with you.' People, you know, it's unrealistic expectations. Even John the Baptist had them, he said 'Are you the One that should come, or do we look for another?' Why? He had unrealistic
expectations, he expected the Messiah was going to come, and just set up his
Kingdom and do everything, and sometimes we feel like 'ok, I'm a Christian,
everything is going to be hunky-dory.' And for these Hebrew Christians, a lot
of them were being persecuted, a lot of them were going through very difficult
circumstances. And I've seen folks
in the church go through a divorce, lose a child, lose a parent, lose a spouse,
suffer some illness, suffer the loss of job, income, be betrayed by a loved
one, one thing or another, and I've seen some of those folks just turn away,
and go back to the world, try to drown their sorrows in a bar, or just go back
to an addiction. And I've seen
some, more than not, I've seen very, very remarkable, heroic Christians who
have laid hold of Christ and refused to let go, and have moved through some of
the most difficult circumstances in life, his grace aiding them and upholding
them, and manifesting in their lives. And there's a challenge to these believers and particularly to us as we
look at this. "For if we continually
live in sin
wilfully after we have received the complete knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no sacrifice for sins," what else are you going to sacrifice? "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries." (verses 26-27) Now verse 28, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses:" so he's
talking in verse 26 about those who sin wilfully are those who despise the
truth. And in verse 29 he's going to outline it by three
points. "He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose
ye, shall he be thought worthy," who
does three things,
1st Despising: 'Those Who Trod Under Foot The Son Of God'
number
1, "who hath trodden under foot the Son of God," 'who hath trodden under
foot the Son of God, so he's talking about
those who come to a knowledge of Christ, are they believers or are they not
believers? You decide. They come to a complete knowledge. Not a divine knowledge, epicknosis, an
experiential complete knowledge of Christ. And yet they go on wilfully, living in sin, there's no change. And he says 'What that is, is
that's despising what's been held out to them by God Almighty in Christ, and
what they're doing is they're treading underfoot, they're just stepping all
over Jesus Christ.' Now I'll tell you something, you can
hear it in the media today, you can see it in the news reporting, you can see
it in the New York Times, you can see it in places that are so biased to me
it's unbelievable, and they are trampling all over the Son of God, Jesus
Christ. And it's happening around us. And there are people that know
better. So the first challenge,
you know, that's what the first part of despising looks like.
2nd Despising: 'Counting The Blood Of The New Covenant An Unholy Thing'
Secondly, "and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an
unholy thing," doesn't
care about the blood of Christ, taking it for granted. [Comment: The Corinthians, in how they were observing the New
Testament Passover in the early Church were unwittingly doing this, and the
apostle Paul had to correct them, look up and read both 1st Corinthians 5:6-8 and 1st Corinthians 11:20-34. 1st Corinthians must have
been written just after the Passover season, after Paul had heard about how
they were observing it, based on his corrective statements in these two
passages.]
3rd Despising:
'Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit'
And
thirdly it says, "and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace" certainly the blasphemy of the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit which has come to convict the world of sin, and righteousness
and judgment. This person coming
face to face with the truth, and not caring, going on living in sin wilfully,
trodding underfoot the Son of God, ah, not caring about the blood that was shed
for them, and doing despite to the Spirit of grace that's trying to minister to
them about what a great privilege that stands in front of them, and to be
forgiven and cleansed and walk with the Lord. So a three-phase description of what despising these things. Now look, that stands in contrast with "let
us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,let us hold fast the
profession of our faith, our hope,let
us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works." Is this the other side of people that have heard and been confronted
with the truth of Christ, and just have walked away? Or is it talking about those who had come to some knowledge
and have turned away once and for all, never to look back again? It's challenging. I know this, it ain't describing my
life. Because if I go AWOL for an
hour I'm miserable, I'm back again. This is somebody who goes on and on and on. "For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, The Lord
shall judge his people." (verse 30) And he says, 'God doesn't need
any little judgment-helpers,' ok? Please remember that. If you want to get even with somebody,
you want to get back at somebody, God doesn't need any little ax-man helpers. He says "Vengeance belongeth unto me," and it's 'to me alone, I will
repay, I will recompense, saith the Lord.' "And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God." (verses 30-31) So, that's
the exhortation in regards to this. Look, this is what we should do. Christ is coming, the sacrifice has been made, God's love has been
offered to us, we can come boldly before his throne with exceeding joy, we can
come and we have a way into the holiest of all, that Christ made, that through
his own flesh, his sacrifice, he died once and for all to pay for us. So, let us draw near continually with a
full heart of assurance, let us take hold of our hope and not bend under the
pressure of this world, let us consider one another, constantly, to build one
another up in regards to faith and good works, not neglecting the assembling of
ourselves as is the manner of some, but especially as we see the day drawing
near. Because if we turn away, and
if we do all of these things [just described in verses 26-31], and our heart is
hard, and we do despite to the Spirit of grace, we need to remember the
Scripture says 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay, that
it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' That's good, sound advice.
"You Took Joyfully
The Spoiling Of Your Goods, Knowing You Have Something Better In Heaven"
Verse
32 says, now speaking
to his readers again, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which,
after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly,
whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and
partly whilst ye become companions of them that were so used." (verses 32-33) part of it was 'you were made a
spectacle,' it's a
word that means to be part of a theatrical show, you were humiliated. Ah, Claudius, not long before this,
expelled all of the Jews from Rome. So there is a general persecution of the Jews that has begun at this
point in time, and a general persecution of Christians in some parts of the
Roman Empire that was beginning. There was certainly a persecution of Hebrew believers in Jerusalem. So how that would apply specifically
I'm not sure, but the idea is, he says 'You've gone through hardship, you
call to remembrance the former days in which you were illuminated, you endured
such a great fight of afflictions, partly because you were made a gazingstock,
both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while you became companions of
them that were thus used. You were
merciful, and you stepped in with those who were being persecuted and took the
heat.' "For ye had compassion of me in my
bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that
ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance." (verse 34) Now it sounds like Paul. Doesn't it? Man, something
changed their lives, didn't it? I
don't know the last time when I took joyfully the spoiling of my goods. 'You took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have something better in heaven.' [i.e. the New Jerusalem, that city Abraham looked forward to.] 'You allowed difficulty in your
own life, and did that the right way, knowing that you have an enduring
substance, you have something real ahead of you in heaven, and you weighed them
against each other, and it determined your behavior here.' I tell you, that's a challenge. I remember when Cathy and I were engaged, you know, she just
was crazy about me. [laughter] And she still
is. But you know, we lived in a
communal house, and we didn't have a lot of money, it was clean, there was no
nonsense, but you know. So when
you had a treat, you know, we'd let people in off the street and everything, so
some of the girls in the house were on W.I.C. you know, the W.I.C. program, and
when people started to steal their cheese and their milk at night, we'd say 'OK,
who was down there last night?' so we had to put a lock on the refrigerator, because you were taking people off
the street, and they didn't care if women were pregnant, so we went through
this. But once in a while, you
know, we didn't have much money in those days, if she would get like a brownie,
she has a problem with chocolate [what self-respecting woman doesn't?], that is
where the love ended, if I took a part of that brownie without, you know, to me
that wasn't a big test, I had to do that test over and over, because I wanted
her to pass that test. [loud laughter] Isn't it interesting, how easily we can be irritated about certain
things? 'Suffer the spoiling
of your goods, knowing, you know the Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness,
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.' And I can tell you stories about myself
too. I'll let her do that during
the women's study. But how easily
we forget, 'That donut really doesn't matter,' it's heaven, it's heaven [i.e. the
Kingdom of God] that matters. And
that's mine. These were bigger
issues.
'For You Have Need
Of Patience, That After You Have Done The Will Of god, Ye Might Receive The
Promise'
"ye
had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods,
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance. Cast not away therefore
your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that,
after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise." (verses
34-36) Notice, it doesn't say 'You have
need of information.' It doesn't say 'You have need of
theological positions,' he says 'You have need of patience, hupomene, the bearing up under the
pressures of life.' You know, usually, you and I in our
marriages or even in our child-raising, we don't lack for knowing, we usually
lack for doing. 'You have
need of patience,' he says, 'that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the
promise.' "For
yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."
(verse 37) and this is
emphatic, the King James says "for yet a little while, and he that shall
come will come, and will not tarry" speaking of Christ, this is the way it really reads, "And yet a little
while, a very little while, and he that shall come will come, and not
tarry." [by God's timing, according to 2nd Peter 3:8, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one day." So
in the Lord's timing, his coming was only two days away, prophetically
speaking, two Lord-days. What is
two Lord-days compared to eternity thereafter?] So our author is expecting Christ in his own day. That's the way to live, expecting
Christ. You know, you read some of
these guys who, whatever their theological position, I'm not going to mention
their names, but they think that you're a buffoon because you believe, you
know, Israel is the State of Israel, and the signs that are around us in the
world are the signs that the Bible spoke of, and you believe that Christ could
come at any time, and they think you're stupid and uninitiated, and what really
bothers me about that is, ok, you can drum up your authors and your scholars,
but to do that you have to set aside a long list of godly scholars and saints
that teach in seminaries, that held pulpits that God raised up, that believe in
the imminent return of Jesus Christ, and taught it and lived it, and
evangelized under it. And you know
what, whoever wrote this says, "For yet a little while, a very little
while, and he
that shall come will come, and will not tarry." And we can say that tonight.
"Now The Just Shall
Live By Faith"---What Is Faith?
"Now
the just shall live by faith: but
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." (verse 38) over in verse 26, 'if any man sin
wilfully,' "if any
man draw back
my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul." (verses 38-39) So we're not these people in verses 26 through 31. Now the just shall live by faith. And now he's going to head into chapter
11, into this Hall of Faith, and tell us what faith is. He's quoting from Habakkuk, "the just
shall live by faith." Habakkuk
said, "Behold, the soul that is lifted up is not upright in him," speaking of pride and so forth, but he
says, "but the just shall live by faith." And Habakkuk
ends by saying, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the
fruit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, the fields shall
yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, there shall be no herd
in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my
salvation." He's quoting from there, it's quoted
three times in the New Testament, Romans chapter 1, verse 17, Galatians chapter
3, verse 11, and here in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38, "The just shall live by
faith." Ah, you break that down in the New
Testament, of course it's interesting, because the Book of Romans, the emphasis
is on "the just," in the Book of Galatians the emphasis is on "shall live,"
having begun in the Spirit, and of course here in Hebrews, it's "by
faith." That's where he's brought
us, "the just shall live by faith." 'Well wait a minute, what kind of
faith is this?' He says back there in Habakkuk, 'I'm going to believe in the God
of my salvation, though the fig tree doesn't blossom, though there's nothing in
the stall, the vine's not producing, there is no evidence around me in life
that says that God's hand and his love and his compassion is on my life at this
moment.' That is when your faith scrapes to the
very bottom of the barrel and finds that underneath it are the everlasting
arms. When it goes all the way to
the bottom, and you realize this is the God of my salvation. I have need of patience, because he
that has promised, is going to fulfill the promise he's made in a little while,
he's not going to tarry, he's going to come. And as I'm waiting here, and there's no evidence around me,
of his love, of his blessing, of his provision, "the just shall live shall
live by faith." And faith, it's not faith in faith,
it's not positive confession, confess this, confess that and then you'll
have a Mercedes, you'll have a million bucks in the bank.' No, no, no, this is 'though the fig tree doesn't blossom, though
there's no calf in the stall, though the vineyard doesn't produce, that's the
faith that God is extolling, it's the faith that says 'I will rejoice in my
God, my salvation.' And he's taken chapters here to
develop, in these last days God has spoken in finality in, that through his
Son, and Jesus Christ the Son of God, God manifested in the flesh, is superior
to angels, to Moses, to Joshua, to Aaron, to any other priesthood, to any other
sacrifice, and he's ours. And in
him all of his promises are yea and amen, God has given us everything in
Christ, and what we have need of now is patience, because it's all going to be
made manifest. And for now, you
and I in this world, I thank God every day for the blessings that wash over my
life. We live in America, we're
surrounded by a thousand blessings. But there are days when they seem very much stripped away. But his is not stripped away. And it is then that the just shall live
by faith, because faith is only as valid as the object that it's placed
in. You have faith. Every day, you're on your way to work,
you're doing 50 miles and hour in a 35 mile and hour zone, the light changes
red, you have faith that your brakes are going to work, as you step on the
brakes. You go shopping, and you
fill your refrigerator with food, you've got faith that the electric company is
going to supply all week and that food's not going to spoil. We do a thousand things every day
believing in something. You get in
that elevator and you believe that cable is not going to snap when you're at
the 15th floor. When
you say to a dentist 'Go on, do whatever you want to do to me,' that's faith. The value of our faith is the object
that we placed it in, and that's in Jesus Christ. It isn't faith in faith, faith in prosperity, faith in
healing, our faith is in Christ, Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other
ground is sinking sand. Thank God
for his blessings here, thank God we can have a school, thank God we can have
concerts, thank God we can have Over-50's and Career, and Fall Soccer for the
kids, and church basketball leagues and outreaches, we have a thousand,
thousand things that he blesses us with. But when they are all stripped away, if we ever end up living like
people live every day in Afghanistan, if what we know as government and order
falls apart and we're still alive, what we believe in will not have been shaken
in the least, in the least. 'We
have need, yes, of patience, because he that has promised is faithful.' And before we know it, we're all going to be standing
there, we're all going to be standing there. And then you'll be able to say, 'You wrote Hebrews! I knew it. I thought it was you.' Read
ahead. "Faith then is the
substance of things hoped for, it is the evidence of things not seen," please read ahead. Faith, then, is the substance, hupostasis, what stands under, from the Latin, we
get submarine, and stas substance, means 'faith is what stands under the things that we hope
for.' Are we insane? We believe Jesus is coming. I'm waiting for the blast of a trumpet,
I'm looking forward to the return of Christ. Am I out of my mind? I'm very informed, faith is not blind, faith is not ill-informed. I have a thousand prophecies that tell
me that we're living in a time that I should have expectations in my
heart. 'But faith is the
substance, what's standing under the future things that I'm hoping, and it is the evidence' and that's a very interesting word,
that is, 'the conviction,' and that's how it's used in the rest of the New
Testament, 'it's the conviction of things not seen.' So our faith is attached to the future, and to the invisible. And it is objective in the fact that
it's what stands under what we're hoping for, and it is subjective, because it
is a conviction in our hearts about things that are not seen. That's what changes in our lives when
we get saved. When I got saved, I
knew that Christ was real. I knew
my sins were forgiven, I knew I was not playing with religion anymore, but that
I had come into a relationship with the Living God. Faith is both objective, it's the substance, it's the
foundation, it's the underpinnings of what we're hoping for, and it is the
conviction which is subjective, that you and I, in our hearts believe that
there's another realm around us, and that this is the illusion, and that it's
passing away. Faith is the
conviction about things not seen. How wonderful. 'Eye
hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man
the things that God has prepared for those who love him, but by his Spirit he's
made those things real to us.' We're not insane. Our relatives might think we're insane,
rightly so. But we have a
foundation that they don't have, we have a conviction they don't have. We have laid hold on the future in the
unseen realm, and it's been real to us. Not with the physical hand, not with the physical eye, not with the
physical ear, but by the new birth, by the Spirit, and that is as much a
reality as the physical reality of what surrounds us,[transcript of a
connective expository sermon on Hebrews 10:1-39, given by Pastor Joe Focht,
Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]
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