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A FEARFUL THING. Hebrews 10:26-31. 01/21/2024. #33.
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
1. Rebellion in the ranks
a. Hebrews 10:24-25 believers are admonished to gather together for edification
b. Hebrews 10:26-31 believers are warned against sinning
c. If we continually willfully sin, there is no more sacrifice for sin
a1. Jesus not only died to save us from sin, but also to empower us not to keep on sinning
a2. To continue to sin indicates either willful rebellion (apostasy) or that one is not truly saved (false brethren)
d. To continue to sin is to trample Jesus’s sacrifice with His blood underfoot
a1. It is to treat it lightly or common (koinea)
a2. Jesus is treated as just another ordinary man who died for a cause
e. I Corinthians 3:9-17 the works of sin and rebellion are burned up like wood and straw (eternal loss of reward that could never be regained)
f. The Lord will punish willful (stubborn defiance) acts with a fiery zeal (great indignation) – not fiery judgment
a1. God sent fire down on rebels in Wilderness
a2. God consumed rebels with a plague at Baal Peor (Numbers 26)
a3. 70 died at Beth-shemesh for opening ark
2. A greater offense
a. If a Jew who violated the Law of Moses was executed, how much greater would be the punishment of those who trampled the blood of Christ underfoot
a1. I Corinthians 11:17-22 the Lord executed believers for taking communion in an unworthy way
a2. Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira immediately struck down for lying to the Spirit
b. Insulted (Eng. word hubris) the Spirit of grace (only use of this phrase in NT)
a1. The Spirit calls us to Christ (Jn. 16:8-15)
a2. The Spirit indwells and seals believers (Ephesians 1:13-14)
a3. The Spirit makes intercession on behalf of believers in prayer (Romans 8:26)
a4. The Spirit fills obedient believers with holiness, but if grieved when we sin (Ephesians 4:30)
c. Not only is rejecting Christ a serious offense, but so is rebelling against Him
3. Judgment begins at the household of God
a. Dt. 32:35 “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord
a1. God is offended at sin no matter who commits it (believer or unbeliever)
a2. Sinning believers grieve the God who saved them (Luke 12:48 more accountable)
b. Dt. 32:36 God will judge His own
a1. Not for loss of salvation, but eternal reward
a2. Rebellion is an affront to God who loves us and sacrificed His Son for us (I Samuel 15:22-23)
c. The attitude that salvation is enough, so I don’t care about rewards is an insult to our gracious God who wants to teach, guide, and use us for His glory
a1. God wants a vibrant relationship with us
a2. II Peter 3:18 God wants us to grow (Hebrews 5)
d. It is a fearful (dreadful) thing to fall into the hands of a living God
a1. Fearful = frightening or terrorizing (only time this word is used in NT)
a2. Only awestruck reverence brings submission
Key Verse: I Corinthians 3:9-17
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone [a]defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.