Hebrews chapter 10. I want to
begin reading in verse 16. It says, This is the covenant
that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them. Their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of
these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
veil, that is to say his flesh, and having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful
that promised. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but
a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God, and have counted the blood
of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and have done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know
him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. Now, we're not going to actually
be able to even cover all of that, so I'm not going to read
the rest of the chapter. But these are sobering words
to be sure. But I believe as we look at the
context of this passage of Scripture, it becomes clear what it is that
the writer is getting at and the point of emphasis that he
is making. Now, I believe that the The point
of emphasis which is being made in the whole book of Hebrews
is the superiority of Christ over that which was given to
Moses, which would be a necessary thing to teach the Hebrews because
of the fact that they were taught from their youth from the very
moment of their being brought into the world, being circumcised
the eighth day, they were inundated as children and raised up with
the concept that the law of Moses was the basis upon which the
promises of God would be brought unto the people of God. There
was only one problem, of course, with the law, which a man apart
from the grace of God can never see, and that is that the law
could not do anything for him. All it can do is minister condemnation. And so when men go about to establish
their own righteousness, they have a view of the law as though
it is a a moral code that it is something that has been given
that is a good thing for men to do. And some people pat themselves
on the back and say, I do it. In fact, I would venture to say
that if you ask the majority of people, do they keep the Ten
Commandments, they'd tell you they do. Now a man that's been
enlightened as to what the Ten Commandments are about, and is
spiritually taught in his heart and mind about what the law of
God says, would have to confess, no, I don't keep the Ten Commandments. And so while we judge the law
to be just and good, we know that the law is weak. It can't
help us. It can't minister life to us.
It can't do anything but remind us of our sin. That's what it
was for. I mean, the Lord sent the law
for that purpose. And so it is as he brings that
to our awareness. So in contrast to that, he is
setting forth the superiority of what Christ has done over
that which was given in Moses. And he's pointing out the fact
that all of those sacrifices that were made under Moses' law
were simply types. They were simply illustrations.
They were simply something that was given as that which would
point to the more perfect sacrifice that would be given, which is
given in Jesus Christ. For He said those sacrifices
which are offered daily could never take away sin. Now how
do we know that? Because they were offered daily.
I mean, if you've got to keep doing something, there's nothing
finished about that. You know, I remember the old
fellow that I used to work with, he used to think this was really
funny, and it is kind of humorous, but he would always be talking
about somebody calling himself a finished carpenter. And, of
course, that usually is reference to somebody that does finish
work in a house. You know, they actually, instead
of just nailing two boards together, they put up the trim and that
sort of stuff. But he says, I don't want to
be a finished carpenter. Because a finished carpenter,
he's done. I mean, he's not going to do
any more. When you say a carpenter that's
a finished carpenter, he's in the grave over there. in the
graveyard. I mean, that's what a finished
carpenter is. So we know what it means to be finished. I mean,
if something's finished, you don't need to add anything to
it. I mean, if something's really finished. Now, very few things
that we know of in life can't be improved upon. But there are
jobs that we finish, and everybody knows what that means. And that's
what he's saying here when Christ did the work that he did, he
finished the work. And this is in contrast to that
which the Aaronic priesthood did when they were just going
continually offering up offerings day by day, year by year, on
and on and on. But Christ, being come that perfect
sacrifice, He has made one offering forever. And when he had made
that one offering forever, he sat down at the right hand of
God, thus signifying that the work was done. Nothing left to
be done. Now, knowing that, and knowing
that Christ threw the offering up of Himself as the substitute
for sinners, and making his people completely righteous as is described
here in the covenant that God said he would make with his people.
There's not one condition given in this covenant that he said
he would do. He didn't say, I will do this
if they will do this. No, the covenant of God, the
promise that was made to Abraham was not conditional. The promise
that was made to Christ was not conditional, and the promise
that results from that that is brought to us is not conditional
because it is dependent on one thing, and that is the will and
purpose of Almighty God. And he said, I will do this.
And this is what he said. We just read it. This is the
covenant that I will make. I'm going to make a covenant.
Now a covenant normally is an agreement between two people.
You agree to do one thing and I agree to do another thing.
But you see, God made this covenant. It's not an agreement that was
ever needed to be ratified by anybody because God said, I'm
going to do this. Now if God says, I'm going to
do this, you can be sure of one thing. That's what's going to
be done. When God says, I will, He will. Now you say, I will, and you
may, or you may not. You may not even be planning
on doing it and tell somebody you will. You may be just outright
lying to them. You ever had anybody lie to you
and say, I will do this, and they don't do it? Well, yeah,
you have. And you've probably done it yourself.
Maybe sometimes, maybe you didn't mean to, but maybe you did. I
don't know. But nonetheless, Nonetheless,
those things that we do are very conditional. But the things that
God says I will do, they will be done. Now, you can count on
that. Now, it's very necessary that
we have that ingrained in our mind and written there with an
iron pen, as the Scripture speaks about. That is, it's etched in
stone. It's put right there, and we
cannot forget it. Whatever God says He will do,
dear brethren, It will be done. Now, that forms the basis of
all that we stand upon. Because if what God says might
or might not be done, then, brethren, I mean, we're just floating around
out here. I mean, anything can happen,
really. I mean, if God says, I will do something and He may
not, what are we going to do then? I mean, that's what When
Paul writes, he says, God who cannot lie, says he's saying,
what does he mean? He means that whatever God says
is going to be done. And that's the basis upon which
we recognize Him as God. Because whoever... You see, there
can be no God that doesn't do what He wills do. He wouldn't
be a God. He would be just some kind of
figurehead. He might be a God with a little
G like men think of what God is because most people actually
believe that the God that they say is the God of the Bible is
running around out here hoping something gets done, hoping things
happen. I sure want people to do this
and I want people to do that. Dear brethren, the God that made
the heavens and the earth, He formed things to be as He sees
fit to do it. He will do what He says He will
do. And he said, I will make this
covenant. I will put my laws in their hearts. I will write them in their minds. And then the seventeenth verse
sums it up. And he says, And their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. Now write that down. God said
that. He said, I will remember their
sins no more. Now it's very important that
you remember that because we're going to read a verse here. We
already read it in verse 26. And if it means what some people
say it means, then you can throw that out over there, what God
just said. God said, I will remember their
sins no more." Now if we understand that, then we can begin to understand
what it is that the writer is going to be talking to us about.
So he says, now if all these things be true, If we have a
new and living way, if Christ has made an offering for sin
so that there is no more need for any other offering, if he
has went into the holy place in our behalf, he has made that
way into the presence of God, having a high priest over the
house of God, what now? All right, he says in verse 22,
let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance. You see, that's what the purpose
of the preaching of the gospel to the sons of God is, is that
we might draw near with a true heart, with a sincere mind, with
a conscience void of offense, with assurance that if Christ
died, then a way is made into the presence of God in our behalf. In full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. What is that
sprinkling? It's a washing. The sprinkling has to do with
more than just put a few drops, but it has to do with a washing,
a pouring, a cleansing. Our conscience is void of offense
before God if we understand what it is that Christ did. And that's
the whole purpose of what he's writing this book for. is say,
this is what Christ did. Our bodies washed with pure water.
And then He's going to give us three things that He wants. Well, actually, there's four
things, but after He says, let us draw near, there's three things.
But there's actually four things that He said we ought to do.
One is draw near with a true heart. And then having drawn
near with a true heart, He says this. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering." Now that's an exhortation to
the people of God. He said, don't be wishy-washy
on this. Don't be thinking one day the
Lord did this and the next day, well, maybe He didn't. He said,
let's hold fast the profession of our faith, dear brethren.
If we believe Christ finished the work, then He finished the
work. We're not going to be wishy-washy
about it. We're going to say this is it.
This is where we stand. This is that upon which our hope
is built. We're not going to come around
on the back door and say, but we've got to add something to
it. But that's where we're going to stand. We're going to stand
there or nowhere else. See, a lot of people, they want
to stand on the finished work of Christ, but then they want
to kind of, well, maybe we need to be doing this, or maybe we
need to be doing that. Now, brethren, if you're looking
at whatever it is you may be doing as something that might
be enhancing your position before God, then you have wavered in
your faith, because the faith that we have is this, that Christ
finished it. There's not one thing you could
add to what Christ has done. There's not one thing you could
do or anybody else could do to take away from what Christ has
done. And so the exhortation here is
for us to recognize what it is that Jesus Christ has done and
stand upon it. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering. Why? I mean, are we going to just
stand because we've got power to stand? No, you'll waver from
this tomorrow. I mean, if the ability that you
had to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven was based on whether
or not you wavered or not, you'd already be done for. Because our faith is weak and
we are pitiful. Sometimes we don't believe the
promises of God and we get bowed down and weighed down under this
condemnation and that. And think, well, we've got to
do this and we've got to work our way back into the favor of
God. Brethren, that's wavering. That's
wavering. And we'd already be done for
if I were standing with Him dependent on whether or not we wavered.
Now, a lot of people present this as, oh, don't waver. Well,
I'm here to tell you that you'll waver tomorrow. You may be wavering now. But, dear brethren, that's not
the basis upon which our hope and our confidence is built.
It's not on whether or not I won't waver. But it's on this. What does he
say? For he is faithful. That promised. Oh, my hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare
not trust the sweetest thing but holy lean on Jesus' name. Now what is Jesus' name but His
Word? And what did he say? He said,
I will remember their sins no more. Now brethren, that's the
only basis we have to approach to it. Whether you feel like you're
saved or not. Whether you feel like you've
lived up to the lofty standard that's set forth in the Scripture
for the people of God to walk in. He will do what He said He
would do. Oh, what a glorious thing, dear
brethren, that it does not depend on what I do. It does depend
on what I can muster up the faith to hold on to. But you see, we
exhort one another to hold fast the profession of our faith without
wavering. Why? Because he's faithful. See,
we keep telling that to one another. He's faithful. He's true. He said he would do it. And then he says, and let us
consider one another. The Scripture tells us, Paul
writes in his letters, that we are to esteem one another better
than ourselves, that we are to bear one another's burdens, that
we are to love one another with a pure heart fervently. That's
what he's talking about here. He says, in light of the fact
that Jesus Christ has died for us, In light of the fact that
He has made a way into the presence of God for us, in light of the fact that He
has promised that He would do this, let's provoke one another
to love and good works. Dear brethren, you see, because
what Christ has done, I want to provoke you to love and good
works in the knowledge that Christ has paid it all, not in the knowledge
that you're going to enhance your position with God. Let's
do this so we'll have a better reward in heaven. You know, some
folks is just going to get in by the skin of their teeth, and
some of us is going to just ride in Cadillacs. I mean, we're going
to have all these different things, but you don't have to go far
to hear stuff like that. I'm telling you, the world and
the religion of this world is full of folks telling people
what they can do to make themselves pleasing in the eyes of God.
And I'm telling you, you ain't a thing in the world you can
do about it if Christ has not performed it. in your behalf. But, dear brother, we're not
wavering on that. There's no buts when it's attached
to grace. It's not grace but. It's not
God said He would but. It's God said it. Now, dear brother,
are we going to exhort one another to believe that? Of course we
are. We're going to provoke one another
to love and good works? Why? Because we love one another. I don't want to see you walking
in a way contrary to the way of Christ. I don't want to see
you out here trying to add some work that you're doing as though
you think this is somehow enhancing your position in the Kingdom
of God. I want you to flee from such
things. Not from the good works, but
from the notion that the works are anything other. than those
things that are brought about by love. You see, love is the motivation
for the people of God. Our love to Christ. You see,
I'm telling you, it's not a man's devotion in itself that will
cause him to confess Christ in the face of those who would slave. It is the love of God which is
wrought in his heart for the glory of God that is in Jesus
Christ. Now, do any of us have the power
to stand in a situation like that? Not a bit. Every one of
us will turn tail and run, and we will do whatever it will do
to promote and preserve our flesh apart from the grace of God.
And we are exhorting one another to stand firm in that which we
believe. Exhorting one another to love
and to good works, to those things that would honor the name of
Christ. And then he says, not forsaking.
Now this is part of the provoking is not forsaking. the assembling
of yourselves together." Now, he's not talking about here,
don't miss church. I mean, that's not what he said. He didn't say, don't miss church.
He said, don't forsake the assembling of yourselves. Don't regard it
in a low fashion. See, there are people that go
to church, pretty regular, that have a low regard to it. It's
not about the number of times you come, it's what do you come
for? See, when we have a right regard
of what it is that we come together for, then we have a right regard
to the assembling of the saints. What do we come together for,
dear brethren? To provoke one another to love
and to good works. Well, I don't feel like I'm going
to go. I didn't get much out of that
last time. It's not like I want it to be. What's that got to do with anything?
We're not supposed to be gathering up down here because of what
we like or what we want to do, but to provoke one another to
love and to good works. Because we can't do that if we
don't assemble together, can we? I mean, if we don't have
any intercourse with one another in the things of God, in the
gospel of Christ, if our conversation is not knit together in the things
of God, how on earth can we do that? I mean, you can't provoke
somebody to love in good words if you don't ever see them. That's what he's saying. Provoke
one another to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling
of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Because some
people have no regard. And some of these Jews that he
was talking about, they had slipped back and said, well, we're just
going to meet down here at the synagogue because, you know,
we're not so certain. that there's not maybe still
something to do with circumcision and all these other things. Maybe there is still some benefit
in the ceremonial law or whatever. But he said, not forsaking the
assembling of yourselves together because it's a vital part of
the lives of the children of God. We don't meet together just
because it's the things expected of us. Dear brethren, we're to
meet together because we love one another. Because we love
the gospel of Jesus Christ and we want to see one another walking
in the light of it. We want to remind one another
that it's Christ and Christ alone. Oh, there's a thousand places
you can go if all you want to do is just go to church. I'd just about be willing that
everybody that came here this morning drove by at least once.
Well, I know you did if you came from that way, that one place
where you could just go to church if you want to go to church,
and I don't know. You know, they may be standing
there preaching the same thing I'm preaching. I don't have any
idea. It doesn't make any difference. But I know this, that the Lord
puts God's people where He wants them to be, and we are to provoke
one another to love and good works. And what the gospel of
Christ is, now I don't know how you can provoke one another to
love and good works without declaring what it is that the writer of
Hebrews has declared right here, that Christ is the sum and substance
of our hope. Because all other stimulation
to good works is nothing more than the establishment of the
righteousness of men in their own eyes. May the Lord give us grace that
we might be a people that love one another enough to provoke
one another unto love and good words. That love one another
enough that if we see a brother walking contrary to that which
he professes, that we say something to him. You see, we're all in this together.
The Lord put us together. What good is it going to do us
if we neglect it, if we cast it off? Oh, may the Lord help
us and show us His way.