Well, let us turn to the portion
we were reading here in Hebrews chapter 10, and just to direct
you for a short while to the words that we have right at the
end of the chapter, verses 38 and 39. Hebrews 10, 38 and 39.
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. Real faith is surely enduring. The Lord Jesus himself says,
He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And we have these passages here
in the epistle to the Hebrews where we do read of some who
who draw back, draw back to perdition. Solemn words, such as we find
previously in chapter 6 of verse 4, it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift
and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance. seeing
that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put
Him to an open shame. Striking words and something
similar here in the context of the text that we've read previously
at verse 26. If we sin willfully after 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
and maybe when we read these words they do trouble and disturb
us and they're not easy to understand, to interpret but they're here
left on record in scripture and surely it's good, it causes us
to examine ourselves and to prove ourselves and to know ourselves
that Jesus Christ is in us except we be reprobate well as we come
tonight to look at these verses at the end of this 10th chapter
I want to say something with regards to the enduring life
of faith the enduring life of faith now we see that faith is
very much linked to life we see it here at the beginning
of verse 38 that just shall live by faith. Faith and life are
joined together. And it's strange that the first
sign of that spiritual life, that eternal life, when it comes
into our souls, the first sign is that we are made to feel our
true condition as those who by nature are dead in trespasses
and sins. We're made, aren't we then, at
the beginning to believe the truth of our total depravity. Because when the life comes we
feel it. You actually quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. And the necessity of the new
birth is so obvious. And of course, when the Lord
is speaking of regeneration, the new birth there in John 3,
He does prefix His teaching with a double, verily, verily, verily,
I sound to you except a man be born again. He cannot see the
kingdom of God. We need that new life, that spiritual
life to come into our souls. Paradoxically, the first sign
of life is that feeling of the deadness of our souls by nature. Paul says, I was alive without
the law once but the commandment came and sin revived and I died. I died, he says. He was so self-righteous
as a Pharisee that then he saw that he had no spiritual life
at all. He felt something of the condemning power of the law
of God. It's that ministration of condemnation. It's that ministration of death.
Whatsoever things the law saith, it is such to them who are under
the law, that every man may be stopped, and all the world become
guilty before God. and Paul knew it, he had no righteousness
then in himself previously he thought he had a righteousness
touching the righteousness which is of the law he says he was
a Pharisee, he was blameless and he thought it, he believed
it I was alive without the law when the commandment really came
to him or he thought he had no righteousness himself But all
his righteousness must be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, to
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, the law he says, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. This is what we have here, isn't
it? The just shall live by faith. The justified life is the life
of faith. And as I'm sure you're all well
aware, the words that we have here in the text are originally
found in the prophecy of Abba Cook, there in the Old Testament,
Abba Cook 2 verse 4, and on three separate occasions when we come
to the New Testament, Paul quotes those words. He quotes the words
here, of course, at the end of Hebrews 10 but we also have it
there at the beginning of Romans in Romans chapter 1 verses 16
and 17 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone the believer to the Jew first
and also to the Greek for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by
faith And then the third occasion we
find in Galatians 3.11 that no man is justified by the law in
the sight of God is evident for the just shall live by faith. And what is that justifying faith? Well, it's the righteousness
of another that we're living by. It's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We know that justification is
really a judicial term. We have it back in the Old Testament
when we read of the responsibility of the judges. There in Deuteronomy
25, when there's controversy, what are the judges to do? They
are to condemn the wicked and they are to justify the righteous. to justify those who are innocent,
to make righteous judgments. But the amazing thing is that
God justifies the ungodly. And how can God justify the ungodly? How can that be? Well, it's all
through the Lord Jesus Christ, that One who has come, made of
a woman, made under the law, to stand in that law place of
all His people, and to answer for them all the demands of the
law, both in living and in dying. to honor, to magnify the Lord
of God. Oh, we are to live then the justified
life, which is that life that's always looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ for our righteousness. What a comfort even as we come
together tonight to know that our righteousness is something
objective, it's there in heaven, it's before the throne of God.
it's there in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who has done
that great work here upon the earth who has finished the transgression
and made an end of sin and made reconciliation for iniquity and
brought in everlasting righteousness the language that we have back
in the book of Daniel that's where we look for our righteousness
even as we come to pray and we know that for the sake of the
Lord Jesus. God will hear our prayers. We
come as those who are justified sinners. Yes, we're sinners,
but we're justified. We stand before God in the righteousness
of another, even his eternal Son. But this life, it's not
only the justified life. The believer also is to live
a separated life. He lives the life of faith. Faith in Christ is that that
governs the man in all his thinking, in all his words, in all his
deeds. I am crucified with Christ, Paul
says. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself foreman or that person who by faith is in the
Lord Jesus Christ if any man be in Christ he's a new creature
all things are passed away and behold all things are become
new what a different life it is what a separated life it is
and of course in the following chapter as we know 11th chapter
here, the Apostle goes on to speak much of this life of faith,
as it was experienced by believers in the Old Testament. We're told,
aren't we, there at verse 13 in chapter 11, how they all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen
them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, or
they were strangers to the world and the ways of the world. Love
not the world, says John, neither the things that are in the world.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but
is of the world. And the world is passing away,
and the lust thereof. How these Old Testament believers,
these men and women of faith, embrace the promises, they receive
the promises, seeing them afar off. How remarkable. And so, those who are living
this life, that just shall live by faith, They don't follow the
ways, they don't conform to the habits of this world. All the
exorts believe us in the church at Rome. By the mercies of God
that ye present your bodies is as a living sacrifice, wholly
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and
be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. by the
renewing of your mind that you may prove what is a good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. Those who are living this
life of the justified sinner, yes, our righteousness is in
Christ, but we will be those also who know something of sanctification,
not conforming to the ways of this fallen world. But following
these that we read of here, and how they were those who had to
fight that good fight of faith how they had to lay hold on eternal
life all we read at the end of that 11th chapter the catalogue
and then he comes to verse 32 the time would fail me he says
to tell of Gideon and of Beric and of Samson and of Jephthah
that David also and Samuel under the prophets, who through faith
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the
edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant
in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, received
to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, aimed moreover at bonds and imprisonments.
They were stoned, they were sworn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world was not worthy. They wondered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. what lives
he's lived, living that life of faith, fighting that good
fight of faith. And this is the same life that
we're to live, that just shall live by faith. But if any man
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we're
not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe
to the saving of the soul. He that shall enjoy to the end. It's not just the beginning,
it's the continuing, it's the carrying on. I remember some
years ago, I think it was at Hazelmere anniversary service
and the late John Marshall was preaching and made a very simple
statement in the course of his ministry and he just said, you
know, the fact that you're here, and you've been here many times,
and you're still here, and you still attend regularly. Isn't
that some comfort? You're enduring, you're carrying
on, you're persevering. He that shall endure to the end,
says the Lord Jesus. Isn't that endurance the indication
that the faith is genuine? True faith is the life of God,
deep in the heart it lies, it lives, it labors, under loads
of damped It never dies. We don't just look back to the
first time we came to understand what faith was, the first time
we truly believed. We exercise faith. We don't just
look back to that. That was the beginning of salvation,
but we need faith today. And we need faith tomorrow. is
in faith a continual living experience. We live off another, we live
off the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God, it
says, revealed from faith to faith. From faith to faith, as it is
written, the just, the justified sinner shall live by faith. And we need fresh supplies. And
as we go on, we're aware of the danger of drawing back. It says here, if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, but we're not of them
who draw back onto perdition. This drawing back, this shrinking
back Oh, the character of true faith, of course, is that it
presses forward. Yes, there is to be the backward
look, we examine ourselves, but there's always that forward look,
that upward look. We press forward, press towards
the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus
Christ. And isn't the fact that we're
those who are moving forward as we live the life of faith,
isn't that indicated at least two ways here in Scripture? We
know how the Lord has made provision for his people as they engage
in that good fight of faith. There is the believer's armour
and we're familiar with the provision that's spoken of there in Ephesians
chapter 6, the various parts of that armor are given to us
in some detail by the Apostle. There's protection for various
parts of the body. Paul says there in Ephesians
6.13, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all to stand. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace. Above all, take in the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God. And then praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there
unto with all perseverance. But the various parts and all
this protection really indicates there's a going forward. There's
the breastplate, there's the shield, there's the helmet. We
press on. And it's not just the matter
of the believer's armor that enables him to engage in that
good warfare. But also, we have the idea of
the believer as one who is actually running a race. That's the other
figure that's used, isn't it? After chapter 11 and the catalogue
of the faithful, and then we come into the 12th chapter and
we see the connection. He makes a deduction. Wherefore,
he says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, all those who have gone before
let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily
beset us and let us run with patience the race that he set
before us looking on to Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
despising the shame and he sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God why Christ is that one who himself pressed towards
that mark He must be about his father's business. Whilst it
was day, the night was coming when no man would work. His meat
was to do the will of him who had sent him and to finish his
work. He would be the one then who
would accomplish all that he had engaged to fulfill in the
eternal covenant. He's the pattern, but we're We're
to be those who, being aware of the great cloud of witnesses,
those who have gone before, we too are pressing toward that
mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, there's to be no drawing
back. No drawing back. It's quite clear, isn't it? We
are not of them who draw back unto perdition. says the Apostle,
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. A faith that
is an active faith from day to day, from moment to moment. Or
there is danger. The danger is drawing back and
that's why we have those solemn passages as we said back in chapter
6, but also here previously in verses 26 and 27. But then we recognize, I'm sure,
the vital place of perseverance and the doctrine of perseverance.
Real faith is perseverance. It must be so. Because we walk
by faith and not by sight. That's what faith is. There is
diligence, there's perseverance, there's striving. The kingdom
of heaven, of course, suffereth violence, and the violent take
it by force. That's how it begins. It's a
violent grace, is the grace of faith. And what do we read at
verse 36 here? You have need of patience. Literally,
the word is endurance. You have need of endurance, that
after you've done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."
Or the only way to obtain the promise is by perseverance, to the end. And we read it there, don't we,
in that 11th chapter, verse 33, of them who through faith obtain
the promises. That's how they obtain the promises,
through faith. But we have to have that enduring
faith, the patience of faith, doing the will of God, receiving
the promises from God. Perseverance is a vital truth. We know it's there, isn't it,
in the five points, the canons of Dort and that little mnemonic
that we're familiar with, Tulip, and the last of those doctrines,
the doctrines of grace, we call them. It's interesting, those
who drew up that great statement of faith, they don't talk so
much of the preservation of the saints. That is a truth, of course.
God will preserve his people. They're kept. They're kept by
the power of God. But it's through faith unto salvation
ready to be received in the last day. But those men who were there
at Dortrecht, they declared that truth, the final doctrine in
terms of perseverance. the perseverance of the saints.
Yes, God preserves his people, but how does God preserve his
people? Well, they have to live the life of faith, the justified
sinner. That's how he lives his life
in this world. He's at enmity with the world.
He fights the good fight of faith. He's aware of the activities
of the great adversary, Satan. And so he continues in the warfare,
in the conflict, right to the bitter end. No, the just shall
live by faith, says the apostle, 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. O God, grant that we might know
then something of this precious truth, the enduring life of faith,
the life of the justified, sinner. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. We're going to sing Gadzbi's
hymn now on that theme of what we have here in the text
and as I say it appears some four times in scripture once
in the Old Testament there in Habakkuk and then we have it
Romans and Galatians and Hebrews the just shall live by faith
nor fear the powers of hell, for blessings that a God can
give in Christ most richly dwell. It's the hymn 605. We're going
to sing to the tune St. George, number 59.