Hebrews 10......greater than Aaron part 5
Chapter 7 a new priesthood; chapter 8 a new covenant; chapter 9 a new sanctuary; and now chapter 10 a new and greater sacrifice. Thus the superiority of Christ eclipses all aspects of the old worship, thus rendering it obsolete and replacing it altogether. The thrust of this chapter is seen from the point of view of true worship as is required by God from a redeemed people...chapter 10 v1 “..the comers thereunto...”; 10 v2 “...the worshippers once purged...”; 10 v14 “..perfected forever them that are sanctified.”; 10 v19 “..boldness to enter into the Holiest...”; “...let us draw near in full assurance of faith...”. The priesthood, the covenant, the sanctuary, the sacrifices, were all about approach to God in worship. The creation of the earth was couched in the context of worship (35 times a reference to God-Elohim, the supreme object of worship). The redemption of Israel from Egypt was for the purpose of worship, Exodus 5 v3 “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God”. Exodus 8 v27 “We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He shall command us.” This resulted in the tabernacle which was all about Divinely instituted worship. Now in Christ, the worship of God has been perfected, and we see in the chapter this concept of a perfect worship.
The chapter can be divided into three sections which maintain the flow of thought of the entire epistle:
Verses 1-14 The deficiencies of Hebrew worship Judaism in view
Verses 15-25 The delights of Christian worship Christianity in view
Verses 26-39 The danger of apostasy Apostates in view
Before the verse to verse exposition notice the overall context. In chapter 9 v8 the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest; in chapter 9 v24 Christ entered into heaven itself; in chapter 10 v19 we can now enter in directly to the inner shrine of the presence of God. In verses 1-14 we have the expression “no more conscience of sins”, a thing not possible in Hebrew worship; in verses 15-25 there is “no more offering for sin”, for there is now no necessity in Christian worship, a perfect offering has been made; and in verses 26-39 there is “no more sacrifice for sins”, no more possibility of any hope for the apostate who has rejected a perfect sacrifice. The issues of the chapter are very important. In verses 1-14 the Hebrew worshipper “comes to” the tabernacle; in verses 15-25 the Christian worshipper “enters into” the holiest; in verses 26-39 the apostate “draws back” unto perdition. Throughout the chapter there is reference to the will of The Father (v7, v9, v10, v16, v17, v36); the work of the Son (v10, v12, v14, v18, v20) and the witness of the Holy Spirit (v5, v7, v9, vv15-17, v30, vv37-38). The Holy trinity speaks in this chapter, they have moved away from the insufficiency of the old to the new “He taketh away the first that He may establish the second”. If we would worship Him truly in the post-Judaism era we must follow Christ.
Verses 1-14 The deficiencies of Hebrew worship
The law (representing the entire Hebrew system of worship) was (and was designed to be) inadequate for true worship. It was the shadow and not the substance. It was a shadow of “good things to come”, that is Christianity, as stated before in chapter 9 v11 “Christ come an high priest of good things to come” The whole of old testament scripture pointed to “better things”...Abraham “rejoiced to see my day”...Moses “endured as seeing Him who is invisible”. The old prophets foretold of “the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow”. It was necessary that the type be inferior to the antitype, due to the unrivalled and supreme glories of Christ. The old system was but an object lesson of a perfect worship that is now here. To enhance the glories of the new we must understand the deficiencies of the old.
• The manward aspect......the perfection of worship was not possible verses 1-4
Those coming to worship were not fitted to worship in the true sense of the word (the sacrifices continually offered could not make the comers thereto perfect). This was so because the sacrifices did not deal with the conscience of sins and continually brought the remembrance of sins. Verse 1 “..can never ....make the comers perfect..”; verse 4 “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins”. “Can never” and “not possible” seal forever the argument.
• The Godward aspect.....the pleasure of God was not satisfied verses 5-10
He quotes from Psalm 40 vv6-8, note again an old testament principle. God was dissatisfied with the constant sacrifices of people which had just become a meaningless ritual. “Thou wouldest not”....”Thou hast had no pleasure”. There was no meaning in it for man there was no pleasure in it for God. It was not worship as God intended, true worship is from the hearts of people to a God who is worthy. Note the range of offerings quoted “Sacrifice (the peace offering) and offering (the grain offering) thou wouldest not.....in burnt offerings (the ascending offering) and offerings for sin (the sin offering and trespass offering) thou hast had no pleasure. These represent the sum total of the major offerings of the Hebrew worship. They have been fulfilled and replaced by the one offering of Christ. Many offerings......the one offering of Christ. This means that the old testament offerings were but different aspects of the one offering of Christ. The details are found in Leviticus chapters 1-7 and provide the believer today with much food for worship as they interpret these varied offerings as symbolic of the life and death of Christ. He came as the antitype to these offerings and to replace these offerings, but in them are precious truths for Christian worship today. Note the emphasis by the writer.
a) He came with a conscious mission in mind...”Lo I come...to do thy will o God”. No longer the mindless unwilling sacrifice of an animal, but a conscious devotion of a human being. His mission was to do the will of God (v7, v9, v10).
b) A body prepared....the Holy Spirit uses literary licence to expand the thought of Psalm 40 which refers to a part of a body (the ears) to be opened to the mind of God, here He refers to the entire body of Christ in the incarnation being completely devoted to God. In life as in death He lived to do only the will of God.
c) A book which prophesied of the coming one who would fulfil all God’s will. The volume of the book (the scroll), the old testament scriptures from beginning to end testifying of the seed of the woman who would make everything right!
d) All these sacrifices were offered by the law, but none could keep the law, thus negating the value of the sacrifice. It was when all had failed He came to fulfil the law which represented the will of God and He fulfilled it perfectly. Because of this (and only this) God can save us “By the which will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. The word sanctified suggests more than just freedom from guilt but also fitness for service. It is important to note “He taketh away the first that He might establish the second”. The old and the new cannot dwell together, God has taken the first away and the second is now in place.
Verses 11-14 The work of the priest of old was never finished, having to be repeated daily, but never able to bring perfection. “But this man (this priest) after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God”. He sat down by reason of a finished work, no more offering, no more sacrifice, no more daily ministration, the work is done, it is perfect, as are all who follow Him. His present position at the right hand of God means that The God who found no pleasure in old testament sacrifices has found complete satisfaction in the finished work of Christ and so must we. He only awaits the day when this perfect work will be universally acclaimed!
Verses 15-25 The delights of Christian worship
We have seen the will of the Father satisfied, and the work of the Son completed, now we have the witness of the Spirit expounded “Whereof (But) the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us...”. This is a powerful message, the threefold witness of the Godhead, who can refuse it? The argument expands through all of these verses, notice the wording...verse 15 “after that He said before....” verse 18 “now...” verse 19 “Having therefore boldness....” verse 22 “Let us draw near...” verse 23 “Let us hold fast...” verse 24 “Let us consider one another....”. Because such wonderful things are now in place, certain patterns of behaviour are now a must and indeed possible in the life of the Christian.
The whole thing stems from chapter 9 v8 “The Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest”, now in chapter 10 v20 “...a new and living way”. Everything has now changed! What was not possible before is now gloriously true, and so God is completely satisfied and we can approach directly (though not irreverently) the presence of God. How does He make it practical for us? He does so by putting His laws in our hearts (quotation from Jeremiah 31...the new covenant). Not by setting laws before our minds which we could not keep, but placing laws within our hearts so that we want to keep them and can by the Spirit’s power (Romans 8 v4 “...the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”). He gives the desire, He provides the power.
We are now free from sin, from it’s penalty, from it’s guilt, we are free to worship God without fear. Our sins have been remitted, we worship without conscience of sins, there is no barrier between us and God. The word remission (Greek aphesis) means a removal; God has taken the issue of sin out of the reckoning altogether. As a result of this we are free to come, indeed we should come with boldness, not brashness but with reverence. This is astonishing privilege, the liberty to enter at any time the inner sanctuary of the presence of God. We can do this “by the blood of Jesus”, whose blood has satisfied every demand of God. We come by a ”new and living way”, we enter through the veil that is His flesh. We enter by His merit, in all the merit of a perfect life and sacrifice, by the abiding value of His blood, in His name, we have immediate audience with God. The veil of the old temple was rent but the veil of Heaven is still in place and His flesh, symbolic of a real man in Heaven. is our way in.
He is our great high priest and we can draw near with a true heart, no pretence, no falsehood, everything clear between me and God. We come in full assurance of faith, that is believing without the shadow of doubt, all that God has said about the work of Christ. We come having our hearts (our inner man) sprinkled, the blood applied to our consciences, and our bodies (the outer man) washed with pure water (we approach reverently, we clean ourselves up, we wear fitting clothes for the presence of majesty). We receive from Him the forgiveness of sins, what only He can give to us, we render to Him our best appearance, what we can give to Him. Reverent appearance and thankful hearts is the order of true spiritual worship.
In verses 23-25 this discipline of worship should result in two practical outcomes; first toward the outside world (in verse 23) we hold forth a public testimony and we proclaim our hope without wavering. We approach God in worship in full assurance of faith; in the same measure we testify to our fellow man; then in verses 24-25, toward the saints, we encourage each other in the faith. We do so by “considering one another to provoke to love and good works”. Also by our regular gathering together with the saints, not forsaking the meetings. There is a pharisaic tendency in all or hearts to be one thing to the Lord and another thing to His people, but true worship demands a consistency before God and men.
Verses 26-39 The dangers of apostasy
This is a thread running through the whole epistle, and the warnings seem to get stronger as we progress. Perhaps the mention of “the manner of some.......forsaking the assembling of themselves together” (verse 24), due to persecution, raised this spectre in the mind of the writer. He was convinced their absence from church gatherings may be an indicator of a more serious problem. These verses are an exposition of Habakkuk 2 vv3-4, with verse 4 reversed for the sake of emphasis , and the “lifting up of the soul” translated as “drawing back”, and “not right within him” as “my soul hath not pleasure in him”. Clearly the warning is against apostasy, the drawing back is to perdition (always seen as eternal punishment), and scripture is sounding a warning against a flippant attitude to these high and holy things of God. The present generation also needs this warning and the words of Bob Utley in Bible.org/Hebrews 10 are very much relevant to all professing believers today:
“The real issue in security is not struggling believers, but the multitude of modern western church members who have no evidence of faith in their lives. Easy believism with an overemphasis on security has filled our churches with baby Christians at best, and lost people in Christian clothing at worst. Discipleship and the call for radical holiness are missing in a materialistic, capitalistic, decadent, modern western culture. Salvation has been turned into a product (a ticket to heaven at the end of a self-centred life or a fire insurance policy against ongoing sin), instead of a daily growing relationship with God. The goal of Christianity is not only heaven when we die (product), but Christlikeness now!! God wants to restore His image in mankind so that He can reach fallen humanity with His free offer of salvation in Christ. We are saved to serve! Security is the by-product of a life of service and discipleship”.
This issue is discussed in the verses in three short sections;
Verses 26-27 Sinning against Divine light The Lord Jesus defined the greatest sin as rejection of Himself (“of sin, because they believe not in me” John 16 v9); the whole gospel of John is about Christ being the ultimate revelation of God....the letter to Hebrews is about God speaking to the world in His Son. Rejection of this revelation, involving the sacrifice of Calvary, will have fearful consequences. There is no longer a sacrifice for sin, there is no possibility of salvation to Christ rejecters, only “a kind of fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries”. There is in the heart of some a cynicism about this, a half belief but careless thought of future judgment. Romans 1 v32 “...who knowing the judgment of God...” yet continue to pursue careless lives.
Verses 28-31 Evidence of Divine judgment based on past history “He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses....”. The record is there for all to see; Exodus 32 v28...... 3000 men were executed instantly over the incident of the golden calf; Leviticus 10 vv1-2..... Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron the high priest, died instantly before the Lord at the altar of incense; Numbers 16 vv27-35..... 250 men of the sons of Korah and associates in the rebellion....and many more instances too many to mention. These historical facts, unpleasant as they are, stand as a beacon of warning that God will punish rebels. The despising of Moses law was severely punished, how much more to despise one so great as the Son of God?! The descriptions of their sin is awesome......”...they have trodden underfoot the Son of God....they have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was (potentially) sanctified an unholy (common) thing (that is reduced the blood of Christ shed for all sinners as valueless as the blood of an animal)...and they have despised the Spirit of grace”. (the Holy Spirit who in grace offers salvation through the blood of Christ is thus rejected). On such God will pour vengeance for we know Him who saith “Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense saith the Lord”. Again it says “The Lord will judge His people”. The most favoured and blessed nation on earth, brought near to God by Divine mercy, brought to the very gates of heaven, taught in the things of God, part of the nation that would bring eternal blessing to the world, yet themselves cast out. This is solemn beyond words “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”
Verses32-39 Appeal from recent history “Call to remembrance former days......”. The temptation to go back to Judaism must have been enormous, the history, the family connections, their career prospects, their lives were all under threat if the pathway of Christianity is to be trodden, and it may be the same today in different religions; the earthly cost can be severe, but the heavenly cost if otherwise is much greater, so the appeal is strong. He says “you were illuminated”; “you endured”, partly by personal reproach, and partly by association with others, including myself. He said “you had compassion” on us and indeed you suffered loss of material possessions with joyfulness. You did this because your eyes were fixed in heaven where “you have a better and enduring substance”.
Now he says “Cast not away your confidence”; you need to endure to the end. There will be an end, the Lord will come, He will not tarry. Your life is now the life of faith as stated in Habakkuk chapter 2. There now follows in chapter 11 v1-12 v13 the great examples of faith and the supreme example of suffering endurance for your encouragement.
Chapter 7 a new priesthood; chapter 8 a new covenant; chapter 9 a new sanctuary; and now chapter 10 a new and greater sacrifice. Thus the superiority of Christ eclipses all aspects of the old worship, thus rendering it obsolete and replacing it altogether. The thrust of this chapter is seen from the point of view of true worship as is required by God from a redeemed people...chapter 10 v1 “..the comers thereunto...”; 10 v2 “...the worshippers once purged...”; 10 v14 “..perfected forever them that are sanctified.”; 10 v19 “..boldness to enter into the Holiest...”; “...let us draw near in full assurance of faith...”. The priesthood, the covenant, the sanctuary, the sacrifices, were all about approach to God in worship. The creation of the earth was couched in the context of worship (35 times a reference to God-Elohim, the supreme object of worship). The redemption of Israel from Egypt was for the purpose of worship, Exodus 5 v3 “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us; let us go we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God”. Exodus 8 v27 “We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He shall command us.” This resulted in the tabernacle which was all about Divinely instituted worship. Now in Christ, the worship of God has been perfected, and we see in the chapter this concept of a perfect worship.
The chapter can be divided into three sections which maintain the flow of thought of the entire epistle:
Verses 1-14 The deficiencies of Hebrew worship Judaism in view
Verses 15-25 The delights of Christian worship Christianity in view
Verses 26-39 The danger of apostasy Apostates in view
Before the verse to verse exposition notice the overall context. In chapter 9 v8 the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest; in chapter 9 v24 Christ entered into heaven itself; in chapter 10 v19 we can now enter in directly to the inner shrine of the presence of God. In verses 1-14 we have the expression “no more conscience of sins”, a thing not possible in Hebrew worship; in verses 15-25 there is “no more offering for sin”, for there is now no necessity in Christian worship, a perfect offering has been made; and in verses 26-39 there is “no more sacrifice for sins”, no more possibility of any hope for the apostate who has rejected a perfect sacrifice. The issues of the chapter are very important. In verses 1-14 the Hebrew worshipper “comes to” the tabernacle; in verses 15-25 the Christian worshipper “enters into” the holiest; in verses 26-39 the apostate “draws back” unto perdition. Throughout the chapter there is reference to the will of The Father (v7, v9, v10, v16, v17, v36); the work of the Son (v10, v12, v14, v18, v20) and the witness of the Holy Spirit (v5, v7, v9, vv15-17, v30, vv37-38). The Holy trinity speaks in this chapter, they have moved away from the insufficiency of the old to the new “He taketh away the first that He may establish the second”. If we would worship Him truly in the post-Judaism era we must follow Christ.
Verses 1-14 The deficiencies of Hebrew worship
The law (representing the entire Hebrew system of worship) was (and was designed to be) inadequate for true worship. It was the shadow and not the substance. It was a shadow of “good things to come”, that is Christianity, as stated before in chapter 9 v11 “Christ come an high priest of good things to come” The whole of old testament scripture pointed to “better things”...Abraham “rejoiced to see my day”...Moses “endured as seeing Him who is invisible”. The old prophets foretold of “the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow”. It was necessary that the type be inferior to the antitype, due to the unrivalled and supreme glories of Christ. The old system was but an object lesson of a perfect worship that is now here. To enhance the glories of the new we must understand the deficiencies of the old.
• The manward aspect......the perfection of worship was not possible verses 1-4
Those coming to worship were not fitted to worship in the true sense of the word (the sacrifices continually offered could not make the comers thereto perfect). This was so because the sacrifices did not deal with the conscience of sins and continually brought the remembrance of sins. Verse 1 “..can never ....make the comers perfect..”; verse 4 “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins”. “Can never” and “not possible” seal forever the argument.
• The Godward aspect.....the pleasure of God was not satisfied verses 5-10
He quotes from Psalm 40 vv6-8, note again an old testament principle. God was dissatisfied with the constant sacrifices of people which had just become a meaningless ritual. “Thou wouldest not”....”Thou hast had no pleasure”. There was no meaning in it for man there was no pleasure in it for God. It was not worship as God intended, true worship is from the hearts of people to a God who is worthy. Note the range of offerings quoted “Sacrifice (the peace offering) and offering (the grain offering) thou wouldest not.....in burnt offerings (the ascending offering) and offerings for sin (the sin offering and trespass offering) thou hast had no pleasure. These represent the sum total of the major offerings of the Hebrew worship. They have been fulfilled and replaced by the one offering of Christ. Many offerings......the one offering of Christ. This means that the old testament offerings were but different aspects of the one offering of Christ. The details are found in Leviticus chapters 1-7 and provide the believer today with much food for worship as they interpret these varied offerings as symbolic of the life and death of Christ. He came as the antitype to these offerings and to replace these offerings, but in them are precious truths for Christian worship today. Note the emphasis by the writer.
a) He came with a conscious mission in mind...”Lo I come...to do thy will o God”. No longer the mindless unwilling sacrifice of an animal, but a conscious devotion of a human being. His mission was to do the will of God (v7, v9, v10).
b) A body prepared....the Holy Spirit uses literary licence to expand the thought of Psalm 40 which refers to a part of a body (the ears) to be opened to the mind of God, here He refers to the entire body of Christ in the incarnation being completely devoted to God. In life as in death He lived to do only the will of God.
c) A book which prophesied of the coming one who would fulfil all God’s will. The volume of the book (the scroll), the old testament scriptures from beginning to end testifying of the seed of the woman who would make everything right!
d) All these sacrifices were offered by the law, but none could keep the law, thus negating the value of the sacrifice. It was when all had failed He came to fulfil the law which represented the will of God and He fulfilled it perfectly. Because of this (and only this) God can save us “By the which will we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. The word sanctified suggests more than just freedom from guilt but also fitness for service. It is important to note “He taketh away the first that He might establish the second”. The old and the new cannot dwell together, God has taken the first away and the second is now in place.
Verses 11-14 The work of the priest of old was never finished, having to be repeated daily, but never able to bring perfection. “But this man (this priest) after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever sat down on the right hand of God”. He sat down by reason of a finished work, no more offering, no more sacrifice, no more daily ministration, the work is done, it is perfect, as are all who follow Him. His present position at the right hand of God means that The God who found no pleasure in old testament sacrifices has found complete satisfaction in the finished work of Christ and so must we. He only awaits the day when this perfect work will be universally acclaimed!
Verses 15-25 The delights of Christian worship
We have seen the will of the Father satisfied, and the work of the Son completed, now we have the witness of the Spirit expounded “Whereof (But) the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us...”. This is a powerful message, the threefold witness of the Godhead, who can refuse it? The argument expands through all of these verses, notice the wording...verse 15 “after that He said before....” verse 18 “now...” verse 19 “Having therefore boldness....” verse 22 “Let us draw near...” verse 23 “Let us hold fast...” verse 24 “Let us consider one another....”. Because such wonderful things are now in place, certain patterns of behaviour are now a must and indeed possible in the life of the Christian.
The whole thing stems from chapter 9 v8 “The Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest”, now in chapter 10 v20 “...a new and living way”. Everything has now changed! What was not possible before is now gloriously true, and so God is completely satisfied and we can approach directly (though not irreverently) the presence of God. How does He make it practical for us? He does so by putting His laws in our hearts (quotation from Jeremiah 31...the new covenant). Not by setting laws before our minds which we could not keep, but placing laws within our hearts so that we want to keep them and can by the Spirit’s power (Romans 8 v4 “...the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”). He gives the desire, He provides the power.
We are now free from sin, from it’s penalty, from it’s guilt, we are free to worship God without fear. Our sins have been remitted, we worship without conscience of sins, there is no barrier between us and God. The word remission (Greek aphesis) means a removal; God has taken the issue of sin out of the reckoning altogether. As a result of this we are free to come, indeed we should come with boldness, not brashness but with reverence. This is astonishing privilege, the liberty to enter at any time the inner sanctuary of the presence of God. We can do this “by the blood of Jesus”, whose blood has satisfied every demand of God. We come by a ”new and living way”, we enter through the veil that is His flesh. We enter by His merit, in all the merit of a perfect life and sacrifice, by the abiding value of His blood, in His name, we have immediate audience with God. The veil of the old temple was rent but the veil of Heaven is still in place and His flesh, symbolic of a real man in Heaven. is our way in.
He is our great high priest and we can draw near with a true heart, no pretence, no falsehood, everything clear between me and God. We come in full assurance of faith, that is believing without the shadow of doubt, all that God has said about the work of Christ. We come having our hearts (our inner man) sprinkled, the blood applied to our consciences, and our bodies (the outer man) washed with pure water (we approach reverently, we clean ourselves up, we wear fitting clothes for the presence of majesty). We receive from Him the forgiveness of sins, what only He can give to us, we render to Him our best appearance, what we can give to Him. Reverent appearance and thankful hearts is the order of true spiritual worship.
In verses 23-25 this discipline of worship should result in two practical outcomes; first toward the outside world (in verse 23) we hold forth a public testimony and we proclaim our hope without wavering. We approach God in worship in full assurance of faith; in the same measure we testify to our fellow man; then in verses 24-25, toward the saints, we encourage each other in the faith. We do so by “considering one another to provoke to love and good works”. Also by our regular gathering together with the saints, not forsaking the meetings. There is a pharisaic tendency in all or hearts to be one thing to the Lord and another thing to His people, but true worship demands a consistency before God and men.
Verses 26-39 The dangers of apostasy
This is a thread running through the whole epistle, and the warnings seem to get stronger as we progress. Perhaps the mention of “the manner of some.......forsaking the assembling of themselves together” (verse 24), due to persecution, raised this spectre in the mind of the writer. He was convinced their absence from church gatherings may be an indicator of a more serious problem. These verses are an exposition of Habakkuk 2 vv3-4, with verse 4 reversed for the sake of emphasis , and the “lifting up of the soul” translated as “drawing back”, and “not right within him” as “my soul hath not pleasure in him”. Clearly the warning is against apostasy, the drawing back is to perdition (always seen as eternal punishment), and scripture is sounding a warning against a flippant attitude to these high and holy things of God. The present generation also needs this warning and the words of Bob Utley in Bible.org/Hebrews 10 are very much relevant to all professing believers today:
“The real issue in security is not struggling believers, but the multitude of modern western church members who have no evidence of faith in their lives. Easy believism with an overemphasis on security has filled our churches with baby Christians at best, and lost people in Christian clothing at worst. Discipleship and the call for radical holiness are missing in a materialistic, capitalistic, decadent, modern western culture. Salvation has been turned into a product (a ticket to heaven at the end of a self-centred life or a fire insurance policy against ongoing sin), instead of a daily growing relationship with God. The goal of Christianity is not only heaven when we die (product), but Christlikeness now!! God wants to restore His image in mankind so that He can reach fallen humanity with His free offer of salvation in Christ. We are saved to serve! Security is the by-product of a life of service and discipleship”.
This issue is discussed in the verses in three short sections;
Verses 26-27 Sinning against Divine light The Lord Jesus defined the greatest sin as rejection of Himself (“of sin, because they believe not in me” John 16 v9); the whole gospel of John is about Christ being the ultimate revelation of God....the letter to Hebrews is about God speaking to the world in His Son. Rejection of this revelation, involving the sacrifice of Calvary, will have fearful consequences. There is no longer a sacrifice for sin, there is no possibility of salvation to Christ rejecters, only “a kind of fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries”. There is in the heart of some a cynicism about this, a half belief but careless thought of future judgment. Romans 1 v32 “...who knowing the judgment of God...” yet continue to pursue careless lives.
Verses 28-31 Evidence of Divine judgment based on past history “He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses....”. The record is there for all to see; Exodus 32 v28...... 3000 men were executed instantly over the incident of the golden calf; Leviticus 10 vv1-2..... Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron the high priest, died instantly before the Lord at the altar of incense; Numbers 16 vv27-35..... 250 men of the sons of Korah and associates in the rebellion....and many more instances too many to mention. These historical facts, unpleasant as they are, stand as a beacon of warning that God will punish rebels. The despising of Moses law was severely punished, how much more to despise one so great as the Son of God?! The descriptions of their sin is awesome......”...they have trodden underfoot the Son of God....they have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was (potentially) sanctified an unholy (common) thing (that is reduced the blood of Christ shed for all sinners as valueless as the blood of an animal)...and they have despised the Spirit of grace”. (the Holy Spirit who in grace offers salvation through the blood of Christ is thus rejected). On such God will pour vengeance for we know Him who saith “Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense saith the Lord”. Again it says “The Lord will judge His people”. The most favoured and blessed nation on earth, brought near to God by Divine mercy, brought to the very gates of heaven, taught in the things of God, part of the nation that would bring eternal blessing to the world, yet themselves cast out. This is solemn beyond words “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”
Verses32-39 Appeal from recent history “Call to remembrance former days......”. The temptation to go back to Judaism must have been enormous, the history, the family connections, their career prospects, their lives were all under threat if the pathway of Christianity is to be trodden, and it may be the same today in different religions; the earthly cost can be severe, but the heavenly cost if otherwise is much greater, so the appeal is strong. He says “you were illuminated”; “you endured”, partly by personal reproach, and partly by association with others, including myself. He said “you had compassion” on us and indeed you suffered loss of material possessions with joyfulness. You did this because your eyes were fixed in heaven where “you have a better and enduring substance”.
Now he says “Cast not away your confidence”; you need to endure to the end. There will be an end, the Lord will come, He will not tarry. Your life is now the life of faith as stated in Habakkuk chapter 2. There now follows in chapter 11 v1-12 v13 the great examples of faith and the supreme example of suffering endurance for your encouragement.
No comments:
Post a Comment