Hebrews 10:26-31

Take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

So I'm thankful that we're a part of a church that has chosen to preach through books of the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter.

One of the most difficult things about it is you run across certain passages that you think, if we were actually preaching a topical series on how to love your mom very well and how to have a good day, this would be one of the passages you would just want to skip.

You wouldn't want to actually read this passage and preach on it.

But since we've been working our way through the book of Hebrews, we land on chapter 10, verse 26 through 31, which it would be a really sad day if a pastor came up and started the sermon with a joke, with a passage like this.

So kind of with a heavy heart, we can read this in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 26 says,

Hebrews 10:26

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay.

And again, the Lord will judge his people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Just join me in prayer.

Father, we just, after even just reading this so many times and reading it out loud now to your people,

I feel very weak and unprepared, insufficient to preach on such a message.

But I know that all those who stand in this pulpit do so by their, by your grace, Lord, and not by their merit.

And so, Lord, I just ask that you would apply your word through your spirit to each individual's heart as you see fit.

And Lord, help us to walk away with a holy fear of you today, but also a deep, deep gratitude for the grace that we have been saved by in Christ.

So, Lord, be our teacher and be honored in this time.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So, with such a text, just so you know, I don't really manuscript a lot up here.

I don't really write out every single word I'm going to say because the more papers I have stacked up, the more stressful it feels to me.

So, I usually condense things and then I print front and back so I don't have a ton of pages up here.

I usually, it's like four pages.

This is six pages.

I'm not saying that to go, oh, gosh, we're going to be late for lunch, but like just mainly because I wanted to make sure I was working through this rightly.

And I hope it lands in the right place.

But remember, the book of Hebrews is written to an audience that has moved out of Judaism into believing in Jesus as the Messiah and embracing the new covenant, embracing the gospel.

Many of them have done that, but many of them are still on defense.

Many of them are still trying to decide whether this Messiah thing is real and whether or not Jesus is the bringer of a superior covenant, that he is the true high priest, etc.

And then many are maybe hearing this and wanting to remain in Judaism and saying, no, you need to come back.

You need to come back to the law of Moses.

You need to come back to the Levitical priesthood.

And so all kind of different people could be hearing this letter.

But today it's a picture of the very scary sin of apostasy, meaning someone that's taken on some outward form of Christianity.

They look like a believer.

They've talked like a believer.

They bought the T-shirts.

They listened to the music.

They went back to the church.

And then in the long run, they end up renouncing the faith and walking away.

And this is very heavy for me.

Many of you are aware that a pastor that I've respected for many years and have really benefited a lot from his sermons, his books,

Josh Harris was Joshua Harris.

One of the most well-known books that he wrote was I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which was like very enlightening to me coming out of a unbelieving lifestyle of just dating around and doing what I wanted to do.

So I wept and I was in mourning for like the first two weeks after that actually came out.

And I really hope and pray that men are pursuing him to bring him back into the faith.

But it just reminded me that many people start well, it seems like they start well, and they don't finish well.

And the chances are that some people in this room today have started and won't finish with a crowd this big.

What you think you believe and confess today, you may not in the future.

As a young believer, the year 2001 or two, I should say.

No, it was 2001.

It was my senior prom at Duluth High School in Garnett.

I had been a believer for maybe five or six months, probably.

And I was very zealous to reach all my crazy friends for Jesus.

Because I would talk about it with them, and a lot of them just didn't want to hang out with me anymore.

Other ones were just like, yeah, that's cool, whatever.

You're still our friend.

Let's just keep talking about fishing and deer hunting and sports and things like that.

But let's not talk about Jesus.

But I was very zealous for evangelism in a good way.

But I also was kind of a bull in a china closet.

I didn't really know what I was doing.

I was just trying to model what I thought was effective evangelism tactics.

Which was really get them saved quick.

Get them to pray a prayer.

Get them to come to church.

Get them baptized.

And then like, we're good.

That's kind of like what I really thought.

So we have to be, one lesson out of this is be very careful how you evangelize.

And be very careful you don't just produce false converts.

And today, I would have sat down with this same young man I'm about to mention.

After I had shared the gospel with him amply and really made sure he understood it,

I probably would have spent two weeks trying to talk him out of following Jesus.

Meaning, following Jesus is difficult.

You have to take up your cross.

People could hate you.

You could lose your friends.

Take him to Matthew 10 or Luke 14.

Get him to weigh the cost of following Christ.

And if the spirit was at work in him, I wouldn't be able to talk him out of it.

Or else, he would just walk away and be like, you know what?

I prefer my sin and my friends more.

But the first guy that I really was intentional with, to share the gospel with, was a guy named John.

He was still a senior in high school.

He was a junior.

I was a senior.

And he was kind of a football player at Duluth.

He was kind of a big sob story, kind of a big soft guy.

And we went to prom that night.

He went with one of my good friends.

And that same night, she dumped him, like on prom night.

So, bad scenario already.

And so, he is just a mess outside, like 3 a.m., tailgating on the back of my truck.

And I go and sit down with him.

And I really desire to show this guy that Jesus cares about him.

I really do.

But I began talking to him about God, about the Lord.

And he was like, yeah, yeah, uh-huh.

Like, I'm all on board.

And just a process began where I started talking to him more and more over the next few weeks and months.

And he prayed the sinner's prayer with me.

He came to my church.

And he came forward and, you know, got introduced to the church.

And then he started coming around our youth ministry because technically we were still in high school.

And, you know, all of a sudden I see him start talking to all the girls there.

And he was very flirty, hanging out.

And I kind of saw what was going on.

And I just said, hey, buddy, I just don't think it's a good idea for you to, like, be trying to reengage in another relationship.

And he was like, oh, I'm not doing that.

And then maybe two months later, he was in a serious relationship with one of them.

And later on, she broke up with him saying, I don't even know if he's actually a real Christian or not.

I just kind of dove into this really quickly with him.

And when she broke up with him, he came to me and said, this has all been like a load of bull.

And Jesus is not real.

You told me if I followed Christ, I would be satisfied and I'm not satisfied.

And pretty much walked away from the Lord.

And ever since then, even today, still not following Jesus.

I think all of us, I could tell you a lot more stories, but that was just impactful because that was the first guy I thought I had led to the Lord.

And I learned so much from that.

You know, and if you look around, many people will not finish well.

It's just a fact.

And I want us to be very careful because we definitely believe that as followers of Jesus, we're supposed to use discernment.

We're supposed to like help some kind of in a helpful way, be able to see where somebody is.

Discern where this person may be spiritually so we can help them.

But be careful that you don't cast the final judgment on someone, meaning I don't think that person is a believer or she's not a believer or he's not a believer.

Be very careful of that language.

And if you're going to even make that statement, please be a part of the process of bringing that person to Jesus.

Just don't say it in a condescending way.

We need to understand that we're supposed to discern, but only God alone knows at the end of the day.

But this is a very heavy subject, and it has to do with the just judgment of God.

And we often think that people are only motivated by the love of God.

People are only motivated by the grace of God.

And those are great motivations.

But in this passage, this writer is also saying that the judgment of God is a great motivation to flee toward Jesus.

A great motivation.

And it warns of the impending judgment upon those people who come around the church, hang out with believers, hear the gospel message, get kind of immersed in truthful knowledge,

appear on the surface to be a believer, but then in the day they reject the faith and walk away.

But he also uses this to exhort the real believers he's writing to, which he affirms based on their perseverance that comes in the next few verses.

The next part of this is about their perseverance under trial.

So really just walking through this by asking two different questions.

But number one, for whom is there no longer any sacrifice for sins?

For whom is there no longer any sacrifice for sins?

And I'm taking this in different parts of the verses, but verse 26, we see,

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth,

and go to verse 27, he mentions adversaries.

And then verse 29,

Who has trampled underfoot the Son of God,

and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified,

and has outraged the Spirit of grace.

So first, in verse 26, we see that

the person that had no longer a sacrifice for sins

is someone who goes on sinning deliberately,

or willfully continuing in sin.

Which begs the question,

you may say,

well, I'm pretty darn sure I'm a true believer.

Like, I really believe that Jesus has saved me,

and I'm born again.

Is this saying that I can't sin as a believer?

Because any sin you commit as a believer is a deliberate sin.

You know, we sin out of our desires.

And so, what is this referring to you?

The quick answer is,

no, I truly believe is not referring to those who truly love Christ.

I don't think he has those people in mind.

He's not talking about those who are being saved,

and being transformed in the image of Christ,

for a couple reasons.

But one, the grammar talks about the present conscious action,

going on sinning,

a deliberate or willful show.

So, it's not just one particular isolated sin,

or moment of sin,

that this person has in mind.

He's talking about

an extensive, habitual lifestyle,

where someone lives in this type of attitude

all the time.

Woefully and gladly sinning against

the sacrifice of Jesus.

Because they have this ongoing love,

growing love,

for sinning against the Lord's grace.

Until they become like Esau,

and they cannot repent.

That's in chapter 12, verse 16.

So, it's not really referring to just

one particular isolated moment of sin,

but the extent of it,

and the willingness of it.

I only have three places for you to look

outside of Hebrews today,

but two of them are in 1 John.

But hold your hand in Hebrews, please,

and look at 1 John.

Turn to your right.

1 John, chapter 1.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

So, even though true believers,

even myself,

have gone through seasons

where we were kind of in rebellion against God,

even as a child of God.

But, if you read Hebrews 12,

we see that God disciplines those whom He loves.

He doesn't allow them to go on long

in that season of rebellion.

He brings them to their senses.

But in 1 John,

most of you know that it's a book

partly written to help people discern

whether or not they are a true believer

or a false convert.

And so He's saying, you know,

people that are true believers

live and act and talk like this.

And then those over here

look and act and talk like this

and they're not.

So, He's asking us to examine ourselves

to build up our confidence.

But in 1 John, chapter 1, verse 5,

1 John 1:5

this is what He says.

This is the message we have heard from Him

and proclaim to you

that God is light

and in Him there is no darkness at all.

If we say we have fellowship with Him

while we walk in darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light

as He is in the light,

we have fellowship with one another

and the blood of Jesus

cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins,

He is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned,

we make Him a liar

and His Word is not in us.

So, it's asking you

to kind of step back and look.

It's saying God is light

and in Him there is no darkness at all.

So, if you are living in darkness,

walking in darkness,

practicing sin and darkness,

you cannot say that you have fellowship with God.

It's just an impossibility

because God is light.

And he's not referring to this

that Christians never sinned

because look, look real closely.

In the same passage,

John reminds us

that when we do sin as believers,

God has provided a way of forgiveness, right?

The blood of Jesus' Son

cleanses us from all sin.

So, we base our confession of sin

on the truth that God is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins.

So, he's not talking about

when a believer,

through sanctification,

goes back to sin temporarily.

Rather, those that go on

sinning deliberately

after receiving the knowledge of the truth

is saying that they are not

and probably never were

genuine believers to begin with.

They never fully, wholly embraced

the gospel of Jesus.

And their life didn't result

in a way that produced faith

and obedience

and love toward Christ.

In other words,

the faith they claimed in Christ

didn't hold water.

It didn't last.

It didn't persevere.

It wasn't real.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians

that he believed that there was

divisions among them

and factions among them,

false teaching coming among them.

And this is what he said,

For there must be factions among you

in order that those who are genuine

among you may be recognized.

So, those who are the true believers

will continue to kind of hold their ground.

the result of false converts,

again, they renounce the faith

and leave the community of believers

and return to their idols

and their former way of life.

And since you're in verse John,

just go to chapter 2

and look at verse 19.

This is a picture of that.

They went out from us,

but they were not of us.

For if they had been of us,

they would have continued with us.

But they went out,

that it might become plain

that they were not of us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One

and you have all knowledge.

I write to you,

not because you do not know the truth,

but because you know it

and because no lie is of the truth.

So, he's saying they left us

because they were never really a part of us

to begin with.

And they left so it would be plain to everyone else

that they were never a part of us.

So, just beware that

it's not referring to just a believer

who sins.

Because when a believer sins,

we confess it.

We don't deny it, we confess it.

We walk in the light,

confessing our sin to God.

We are broken and heartbroken over our sin.

We don't rejoice in it at all.

I thought about using this illustration.

I'm just going to go ahead and use it.

It kind of is silly.

You laugh at first,

but then it really makes sense later.

Because to be born again

is a spiritual miracle.

It's a miracle.

It's not something that's like

in the natural process.

So, let's say that

before you were a true believer,

you were like a fish.

And you lived in the water.

That was your natural habitat.

You had scales,

and you had gills,

and you breathed in the water.

And then a miracle happened,

and you're turned into a human being

from a fish.

And now,

your natural habitat is land,

and you have nostrils

that you breathe air with.

And so,

even though that transformation

has happened,

as a human being,

you can still get in the water.

You can go get in the water

and swim,

but you cannot live in the water.

Like,

you have to come out of it

or you will die.

So,

it's kind of a picture of

a true believer.

We can temporarily

rebel against God

and go against His design for us,

but we cannot remain there.

The Spirit drives you crazy.

He will not allow you

to enjoy your position longer,

and the Father will discipline you,

lovingly discipline you,

back to repentance.

So,

that's the first thing we see

in our question is,

for whom is there no longer

any sacrifice for sins?

First off,

they go on sinning deliberately.

They live in it.

They walk in it.

They practice it.

They love it.

The second thing we see

in verse 27,

God refers to them

as adversaries,

and His fire will consume them.

So,

God is just not buddy-buddy

with people like this.

He's not some weak

old man in the sky

beckoning them

to just come back,

and He can't do anything about it.

He looks at sinners

as an adversary.

We are His enemies

until we become His friends

through Christ.

It's just the teaching

of God's Word.

He's talking about people

in the long haul

that will reject God

and remain His opponents,

living against Him

and called apostate.

So,

they've rejected

God's offering of peace

through the gospel

and have turned around

and walked away

and spat on those terms

so God calls them

an enemy.

And the fact that

they're still walking around

and breathing

and haven't perished

is God's mercy

toward them.

Thirdly,

underneath that same question,

for whom is there

no longer a sacrifice

for sins.

Verse 29,

the ones who trample

underfoot the Son of God.

Doesn't that language

just like make you

nauseous to think about?

Those who have trampled

the Son of God

underfoot,

the one who laid down

His life for them

to be received

as a substitute

for them,

instead of receiving

Jesus with joy

and gratitude

for salvation,

they took a quick pause.

They got some religion.

They got some teaching.

They kind of cleaned up

their outward life

a little bit.

They made some buddies

in the church.

They hung out

with the saints

and thought,

these are nice people.

I don't have a friend group.

These are nice people.

I'll hang out with them.

And then,

eventually,

they stepped back

into their idolatry.

The term trampled

underfoot

is an ancient

Near Eastern gesture

that shows

pure hatred

and contempt

for someone.

And they would literally

walk on someone

or walk on something

that belonged to

that person

to show

their utter scorn.

And this is what

sinners do.

Instead of falling

on their face

before the Son of God,

in humility

and gratitude,

instead

of weeping

at that precious gift,

they turn around

and just spit on it

and choose

to trample

the blood

of Jesus,

the Son of God.

It's dangerous.

It's very dangerous.

And a helpful

thing I've heard

is these people

were never really

a part of,

like,

the vine.

They were a parasite

on the vine.

If you want to think

of it that way.

They were there

receiving all the blessings

that come through

the community of faith,

through the gospel,

all the outward

blessings of that.

But at the end of the day,

they weren't really

a part of it.

Fourthly,

under this,

there's just two more.

For whom is there

no longer a sacrifice

for sins?

Those who have,

in verse 29,

profaned

the blood

of the covenant.

Meaning that

they've regarded

the blood of Jesus

as something common

and ordinary.

Nothing special

about it.

Nothing precious

about it.

They profaned it

instead of loving it.

They looked at that

of the cup

of the new covenant,

the blood of Jesus,

and just said,

that's nice.

No thank you.

And they go on sinning.

So,

if you look,

it says,

by which he was sanctified.

This is a tougher

interpretation.

But after looking at it,

I won't say that

I'm 100% right.

Some say it refers

to Jesus,

how Jesus,

his blood

was sanctified.

But I kind of think

it actually refers

to a different

meaning of the word.

It really just means

a set apart.

That's not really helpful.

But,

so isn't this sanctified

a term for those

who are truly saved?

Isn't it a term

that we use

for believers

who are being transformed

into the image

of Christ?

Yes,

that's typically

how we use

that language.

It is the testimony

of Scripture

and the writer

of Hebrews

that all those

who are truly born again,

truly saved,

are sanctified.

If you just rewind,

look at,

if you're not back in Hebrews,

go back to Hebrews.

Sorry,

but if you go back

to Hebrews chapter 10

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

where we're at

and look at verse 14

and it says,

for by a single offering

he has perfected

for all time

those being sanctified.

So that

is a picture

of eternally saved,

eternal security,

us who are saved

that we're currently

being sanctified.

But because of the work

of Jesus,

we're already perfect

in the eyes of God.

So we're the already

but not yet.

We're pressing into

what we already are.

We're cleansing out

the old leaven

and becoming a new lump,

Paul's language.

So that's the same word.

But I don't,

I think that one of them

in verse 14

proves for eternal perfection

and verse 14

proves toward

the guilt of apostasy.

What is mentioned

in verse 29 then

is what we might call

fruitless

sanctification.

Someone has,

again,

some religious affiliations,

some outward

purification.

Again,

they quit partying.

They kind of clean up

their outward life

a little bit.

They become,

quote,

better people.

They buy Christian

t-shirts

and Christian music

and they appear

to be all in.

But eventually,

again,

something happens

that pushes them away.

If you've ever been

a part of leading

someone to Christ,

just pray

for that first

year

for them

hardcore

because

it usually

is that first trial

or that first temptation

that breaks them.

And if they press

through that,

like still trusting Christ,

still praising Christ,

that's a good sign.

And we have to,

again,

just be careful

about how we

share the gospel

with people.

But I really believe

this term sanctified here

means that

they looked set apart

in an outward form

with God's people.

Example,

in Old Testament Israel,

the people,

the nation of Israel

was sanctified.

They were set apart

for God's purposes.

But we know

within that nation

there were still

many of them

that didn't belong

to the true God.

Not all sons of Abraham

are true sons, right?

So there's this one

outward form

of sanctification.

They were set apart

as a people

to look different,

act different,

and be different

than the rest

of the nations.

But even inside

that nation

there were still

those who didn't believe.

And I really think

that that's how

he's referring to it.

I'm hoping to debate

on that.

But I really think

that's what he's trying

to say.

That it had this

outward form

of being set apart.

But fifthly,

verse 29,

and lastly,

it says,

they outraged

the Spirit

of grace,

meaning the Holy Spirit,

the gracious Spirit

that came to them

when they were

around the church,

around other believers,

and they heard

the gospel message

telling them

to repent

and believe in Jesus

and be saved.

They heard that

and instead of

receiving that message,

they ultimately

rejected it.

Instead of falling

on their knees

and gratitude,

they took a lot

of saliva

and spat

on the gospel terms

brought to them

by the Holy Spirit.

And he's not

going away like this.

He's going away

outraged.

How dare they?

Infuriated

that they rejected

such a gracious

message

that he brought them.

The mercy of God

can influence

unbelievers

to a certain degree.

That's why I use

the term

totally depraved

and not utterly

depraved.

There's still

the common grace

of God

that's at work

even among

unbelievers.

So the Spirit

can have that

kind of influence

on them,

but eventually

they begin to turn

that grace

into license

and using it

to justify

their love

of sinning

and eventually

they throw it away

altogether.

They insulted

the Spirit

and he is furious.

So

the Spirit

will either do

one or two things.

If by chance

God decides

to be gracious

towards you,

the Spirit

will kick down

the door.

Thankfully.

For many of us

he did that.

We were once

stiff-necked

and stubborn

and God said

enough

and he invaded

our hearts

and saved us.

grace.

It's a picture

of the ultimate

grace.

The other thing

you can do

is just leave you

to yourself

and just go away

to which you

will be hardened

and further hardened

to where you

don't care anymore.

And the only message

that could have saved you

you've just

totally abandoned.

And that's judgment.

That's just judgment

if God decides

to do that.

And earlier

in the letter

you're still

in Hebrews

but look at

chapter 6

we already

went over this

but this is

another warning

about

using similar

language

chapter 6

verse 4

and the writer

of Hebrews

says

and I want you

to think about

two things

think about

the story

of Judas

and think about

Peter

and the difference

between the two.

both were around

Jesus

both heard Jesus

both claimed

to be followers

of Jesus

one of them

persevered

and the other

one didn't.

Alright

so Hebrews 6

Hebrews 6:4

verse 4

for it is impossible

in the case

of those

who have once

been enlightened

who have tasted

the heavenly gift

and have shared

in the Holy Spirit

and have tasted

the goodness

of the Word of God

and the powers

of the age to come

and then have

fallen away

to restore

them again

to repentance

since they are

crucifying once again

the Son of God

they're trampling

the Son of God

to their own harm

and holding him

up to contempt

for the land

has drunk

the rain

that often falls

on it

and it produces

a crop useful

to those

whose sake

it was cultivated

receives a blessing

from God

but if it bears

thorns

and thistles

it is worthless

and near to being

cursed

and his end

is to be burned

alright

so look at that

that language

it asks the question

like so where are you

with this

have you come around

the church

and received

some truthful knowledge

you learned some

cool theology

that made you look

smarter than other people

you gotten a scoop

of Jesus

and hoping that

he would just like

make your life

a little better

have you tasted

the goodness of God

and his gifts

and instead of

swallowing them

you ultimately

spat them out

you had your fill

of it

and what kind

of ground

are you

the word of God

the knowledge

of God

has fallen on you

and are you

producing a crop

or are you

producing thorns

because one

receives a curse

and one receives

a blessing

and again

look at the next

verse

he says

right

though

we speak

in this way

yet in your

case beloved

we feel sure

of better things

things that belong

to salvation

so he's saying

right there

what I just

mentioned

those people

didn't belong

to the things

that actually

had salvation

it wasn't real

why is there

no longer

a sacrifice

for those sins

why

why is it

impossible

to bring them

back to repentance

because guys

like they have

they have

heard it all

they have hardened

their hearts

towards it

they've rejected

it

they've rejected

the only message

that can save them

there's nothing else

there's nowhere else

to go

if they've turned

away from Christ

and blasphemed

the Holy Spirit

there's no other

shelter for them

to flee to

we've

it's kind of like

they're flirting

with the gospel

they're flirting

with Jesus

instead of actually

coming toward him

so when you're

sharing with people

and those of you

who are here

they're just kind of

like been sort of

floating around

for a while

hearing some good

knowledge

hearing about the gospel

just beware

like don't harden

your heart

like come

and come to

Jesus

and come now

it's not anything

to be played

with or trifled

with

so I believe

that again

most of you here

I could say

the same thing

that I feel sure

are better things

for most of you

the things that

actually pertain

to real salvation

this is number two

second question

the rest of our

passage

number two

what awaits

those

who trample

the son of God

what awaits

those who trample

the son of God

the beginning

of verse 27

the second part

says but a fearful

expectation

of judgment

and a fury

of fire

that will consume

the adversaries

for we know

we know him

who said

vengeance is mine

I will repay

and again

the Lord

will judge

his people

it is a fearful

thing to fall

into the hands

of the living God

in verse 28

it says

anyone who has

set aside

the law

of Moses

dies without mercy

in the evidence

of two or three

witnesses

how much worse

punishment

do you think

will be deserved

by the one

who does this

so in the

Mosaic law

the death penalty

was given

on the testimony

of two or three

witnesses

for idolatry

for those who

had false gods

for those who

blasphemed God

it was the death penalty

they were stoned

to death

Deuteronomy 17

talks about that

and he's saying

if that was

terrible

that sounds terrible

for them to reject

this

you know

good at the time

but now

inferior covenant

how much worse

punishment

will you face

for actually

trampling the

Son of God

underfoot

it'll be

infinitely worse

much greater

judgment

we will be judged

in proportion

to the amount

of like

and the amount

of knowledge

that we've received

of the truth

it's a testimony

of scripture

so

beware

God has bore witness

of such a sinner

treating his son

with such contempt

he sees it

he sees it in public

he sees it in private

it says

something much worse

is to await

such people

and it says

first

a fearful

a fearful judgment

a terrible judgment

from a just

righteous

holy judge

a legal picture

that those

who have rebelled

against God

and broken

his law

are going

to face

this judgment

unless

they come

to Christ

and earlier

in Hebrews

it says

it is a point

for man

to die once

and then

to face

judgment

Hebrews 9

27

so

as much

as the love

of God

has propelled

him

the grace

of God

to send

Christ

as we talked

about earlier

because of his

great mercy

right

sent Christ

to die

on our

behalf

at the same

time

God has been

devoted to

destroying his

enemies

he's putting out

terms of peace

for people to come

to him

through Christ

but eventually

that time

will end

and he is going

to punish

and annihilate

all sin

and wickedness

from the earth

we know

the wages

of sin

is death

we have earned

death

because of our

sin

myself

in you

there's a

payday

coming

for sin

and no one

will escape

it

all those

who thought

they had

the last

laugh

on God

he says

vengeance

is mine

and I will

repay

and his wrath

is coming

unstoppable

think about

John the

Baptist

in Matthew

3

where he says

flee from

the wrath

to come

like flee

from it

and flee

to the

Savior

there's

so many

other

passages

I could

have

turned

to you

but I

chose

just one

and then

that's

the only

passage

I have

left

for you

but

Zephaniah

Zephaniah 1:14

chapter 1

verse 14

is talking

about the

judgment day

called the

day of the

Lord

I just want

you to hear

some of this

language

Zephaniah

Zephaniah 1:14

chapter 1

verse 14

says

the great

day of the

Lord

is near

near

and hastening

fast

the

sound

of the

day

of the

Lord

is bitter

the

mighty

man

cries

aloud

there

a day

of

wrath

is that

day

a day

of

distress

and

anguish

a day

of ruin

and devastation

a day

of darkness

and gloom

a day

of clouds

and thick

darkness

a day

of trumpet

blasts

and battle

cry

against the

fortified

cities

against the

lofty

embattlements

and now

this is God

talking

he says

I will bring

distress

on mankind

so they

shall walk

like the

blind

because they

have sinned

against the

Lord

their blood

will be poured

out like dust

and their

flesh

like dung

neither

their silver

nor their

gold

will be able

to deliver

them on the

day of the

wrath of the

Lord

and the

fire of his

jealousy

all the

earth

shall be

consumed

for a

full and

sudden end

he will make

to all the

inhabitants

of the

earth

we can read

a lot more

of that

but that's

enough

you know

if that

doesn't

break you

and give you

a holy

fear

of God

jealous

in the

fire

of his

jealousy

because he

deserves

your life

he deserves

your love

and affection

and he is

zealous

for it

it is a

fearful thing

to fall

into the

hands

of the

living

God

those

who

trample

the

son

of

God

reckon

his

blood

to be

defiled

and have

rejected

and insulted

the spirit

of grace

it's a

fearful

thing

and you

see

in that

same

area

back in

Hebrews

that God

is a

zealous

judge

so

earthly

judges

can kind

of pass

out

sentences

almost

mechanically

the law

says this

you need

to do

that

God

is a

language

here

paints

an

emotional

picture

of God's

wrath

he's a

fury

of fire

literally

a zeal

of fire

or a

fiery

passion

so God

isn't just

slightly

irritated

or a little

upset

he is

zealous

about

destroying

all those

who have

rejected

him

as the

king

he is

called

the

righteous

judge

his

judgment

will be

just

and it

says

this

righteous

judge's

fire

consumes

the

adversaries

swallowing

them up

in the

flames

of legal

and just

passionate

judgment

so

consume

doesn't

mean

that he's

just

going to

annihilate

sinners

meaning

that

we're

just

going

to be

like

ceased

to

exist

erased

from

existence

it

means

that

he's

going

to

consume

them

into

an

excruciating

agony

forever

justice

will be

done

and

God's

holy

anger

will be

satisfied

and

even

us

as

believers

we face

a

judgment

too

it's

a

different

judgment

but

we face

judgment

answering

for how

we've

lived

and

answering

for

how

we've

stewarded

what

God

has

given

us

will

be

spared

all

right

and I

just

want to

conclude

with

this

so

if

you

feel

like

you're

in

that

group

of

like

man

I

have

been

trampling

the

son

of

God

and

that's

kind

of

how

I

feel

like

I

don't

really

think

this

is

a

real

thing

or

you

may

have

someone

that

you

know

is

like

that

you're

more

of

a

false

convert

I

would

say

that

you're

in

the

greatest

of

danger

why

again

because

the

grace

of

God

is

I

to

us

we

don't

really

think

it's

good

news

anymore

it's

old

news

boring

news

too

much

light

so

listen

those

who

are

born

of

God

can't

just

walk

up

to

Jesus

hanging

on

the

cross

and

say

I'm

really

glad

that

you're

hanging

there

dying

for

me

and

I

know

it

was

your

dying

wish

that

I

would

just

go

and

sin

no

more

but

I

have

this

one

need

I

fulfilled

by

me

sinning

so

forgive

me

as I

plunge

this

sword

a little

deeper

into

your

side

and

I'm

really

glad

that

your

blood

forgives

me

those

who

are

truly

born

of

God

cannot

think

like

that

we

cannot

we

see

the

blood

of

Jesus

as

precious

if

that's

how

you

think

Romans

6

the

Bible

is

very

aware

of

you

what

shall

we

say

then

are

we

to

continue

in

sin

that

grace

may

abound

by

no

means

how

can

we

who

had

died

to

sin

still

live

in

it

your

sin

killed

Christ

and

it

actually

says

in

Romans

3

8

if

you

actually

think

that

that's

how

you

can

live

it

says

that

your

condemnation

is

just

Romans

Romans 3:8

3

verse

8

your

condemnation

is

just

so

if

you

feel

the

weight

of

that

and

that

really

disturbs

you

come

to

Christ

like

while

you

can

like

repent

now

and

turn

to

Jesus

while

there

is

still

hope