If you are watching the video
of this message, it may seem strange because I'm usually on
Sunday morning, I dress differently, wear the coat and the tie. So
if you're watching, it may seem strange, but just to let you
know, this is a re-recording of Sunday morning's message.
This past Sunday, we came into our building Our power was out
and so we weren't able to tape or record or to live stream. And so I've been doing a series
through the book of Hebrews and I'm actually gonna conclude that
at chapter 10 because I've already preached through chapter 11.
I've got messages on that and we have messages on chapter 12.
I may do some preaching over there a little bit in chapter
13 but this is a re-recording of that message and I didn't
want the series to be interrupted so if you're watching that's
that's the case but the title of this message, I have two messages
actually from these last verses in Hebrews 10 starting at verse
26 and I have two messages both of them are entitled the just
shall live by faith the just shall live by faith. This is
part one, and then next week, Lord willing, part two. Hopefully
we'll have power when we come in next week. But look at these
verses, and I'm taking the title from the last two verses of Hebrews
chapter 10, which says, thou the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. In verse 39, but we are not of them who draw back unto
perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Now,
go back to verse 26. This is a passage, these passages
here are quite often taken in a way that they are not intended
from the word of God. Verse 26, look at it, it says,
for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. And verse 27, but a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries. Now, there's two major heresies
that people use these, especially verse 26, to try to prove, and
neither one of those heresies are supported. They're a heresy,
which means they're against the Scripture truth. For if we sin
willfully, I've heard people say, well, believers still sin,
but they don't do it willfully or willingly. And that's just
not true. I mean, we commit, we're sinners
saved by grace. Nothing we ever do measures up
to the perfection of righteousness that can only be found in Christ
and his works, his law keeping, his death. And that's the righteousness
that God imputes, charges, accounts to us. You see? And within, we do have, when
the Holy Spirit, when we're born again, we're given a new heart,
mind, affections, will. We're given new life, new knowledge,
new motives, all of that's there. That's spiritual life within. Born again by the Spirit, we
have spiritual eyes that we can see things we did not see before. The new birth is not just a gradual
growth from a lie to a truth, it is a radical change of heart
and mind. It's called faith in, it's evidenced
by faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. The things which
I look to Christ and I see the value of Christ and his glory,
his work, his person, his finished work, And I see how the only hope for a
sinner like me is the merits of Christ's obedience unto death,
his blood to wash away my sins, his righteousness imputed to
me for my justification. And then I see that everything
that I used to hold dear and high esteem is nothing but death
and dung. You can read about it in Philippians
chapter three. So it's not just a gradual growth
from a lie to the truth. One old writer called it a radical
spiritual surgery, a new heart, heart transplant. But even as
born again sinners, born again people, we still have the flesh,
the old desires. We have a will given us by the
Spirit to serve God. Paul said, with the mind I serve
the law of God. But we have the old will, which
is to serve self, selfishness. We have thoughts towards God,
but we have evil thoughts too. And they keep us from doing the
good that we want to do. That's what Paul wrote about
in Romans 7. So I don't think it's a stretch to say we as believers,
we have two wills. We have a will towards God and
a will towards self. And sometimes we fulfill that
will towards self. We go that way. We know that
if God didn't preserve us and keep us in the faith, that we
would totally forsake him and go that way. And sometimes we
go willingly in an evil way. We do things willingly, too willingly. And that's why Paul wrote, God,
oh Lord, deliver us from this body of death. So we can't say,
well, we'll sin, but we don't do it willfully. Sometimes it
is willful sin. And then another heresy that's
taken from this verse, Romans or Hebrews 10, 26, is they say,
well, this means that a person can be saved, but if they sin
willfully or whatever way they're talking about here, then they
can be lost. So those who are truly saved
could be lost again. And that's not what this passage
teaches, that's heresy, that's a false gospel. Let me tell you,
I'm not just wanting to upset people or offend people, but
these denominations that call themselves Christians, who say
that a person can be saved by grace, but then lost because
of sinning, they don't know the gospel. That's false religion. The reason they believe that
a person can be saved and lost is because they believe salvation
is conditioned on them and not on Christ and him alone. But
the context determines what he's talking about here. And if you
look up at verse 23, he says, let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, what we profess to believe. Now, what is it we
profess to believe? Well, we could say it in so many
ways, but one way we say it is this, that our salvation, our
whole salvation, was conditioned on Christ. He fulfilled those
conditions by putting away our sins and establishing for us
a righteousness that enables God to justify us, forgive us,
and declare us righteous, And then in doing so, he secured
the eternal salvation, the preservation, and the final glory of everyone
for whom he lived, died, was buried, and arose again the third
day. That's our profession. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation by Christ alone. Salvation in every aspect. From eternity past all the way
unto glory and everything in between. is all conditioned on
the power of Christ, the power of God in Christ, the grace of
God in Christ, the righteousness of God by Christ. He saves us,
he keeps us, he preserves us, he brings us to glory. That's
the profession of our faith. And the writer writes, hold fast,
hold on to, grip that profession of our faith without wavering.
Don't be tossed to and fro. He says that over in Hebrews
13, by every wind of doctrine. The heart needs to be established
with grace. That's what he says. And how's
my heart established with grace? Not by what I do or don't do,
but by continually looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher,
completer of my faith, of what I believe, my salvation. He's
the author of it, the beginner of it, he's the completer of
it. And it says, now this is important, look at the rest of
verse 23, the parenthesis, for he is faithful, that promise.
There's the foundation of it, there's the basis of it, there
is the power of it, God is faithful, Christ is faithful. He that promised
salvation. You see, 2 Corinthians 1 and
verse 20 tells us that all the promises of God in him, in Christ,
are yea, and in him, amen. Those promises of salvation,
which includes every blessing of grace, every blessing, All
right, those things are made sure and certain to the people
of God, not because of what they do or decide to do, it's because
of what Christ did and accomplished and what he does, what he's doing. That's why they're so sure and
certain. The Bible says in Ephesians 1
and verse 3, as we worship God, blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We're accepted in the beloved.
And then in verse 24 of Hebrews 10, he says, let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and to good works. That's the
provocation. There's bad provocations. We
can provoke each other in an evil way, but this is, we're
to provoke one another unto love and to good works. Not as the
ground or the cause of salvation, but as the fruit and effect of
salvation. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is. In other words,
some of these in this day, some of these Hebrews who profess
to believe the gospel and profess to worship God in truth and who
profess to be with the people of God had for whatever reason
separated themselves from the fellowship. And the fellowship
here meaning the assembling of ourselves together. Now that
could be the church services on the first day of the week.
It could be any gatherings of the people of God. It could be
just a general identification with the people of God, but they
had separated themselves. Now, for what reason? Well, we
know that these Hebrew believers were being persecuted in a very
bad way because of their profession. Let us hold fast our profession.
and because of their identification with the people of God, with
Christ and his church. Some of them were being arrested. Some of them were losing their
jobs, their means of income. Some of them were being tortured,
maybe even killed, even though over in Hebrews 12, he tells
them, you've not yet suffered unto death. But that's what he's
talking about now, there's suffering. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 11,
we see a list of Old Testament saints where the people of God
in the Old Testament had suffered over the gospel. They died, some
of them. He says, look over Hebrews 11
and look down at verse 35. Talks about women who received
their dead raised to life again, that's the miracles, that's the
good part. Others were tortured. Now see, the situation and circumstance
of a believer here on earth is no gauge of their right relationship
with God. Some of them were very blessed
to be involved in a glorious miracle. receiving their dead
raised to life again. Wow. Now, you know, when that
happens, something like that happens, there's no doubt that
runs through their mind that this is of the Lord. But then
others were tortured. Others were not accepting deliverance,
that is, not compromising the gospel to save their lives. that
they might obtain a better resurrection. They knew there was something
better in this life. And I know, you know, if we're
tortured, if we're threatened like that, it's gonna take the
grace of God for us to persevere, isn't it? That's not in us by
nature. So here you have some who experienced
a glorious miracle. The greatest of all, they're
dead. come to life. And then you see
others who were experiencing the ultimate horror, being tortured. Does this mean that those who
experienced the glorious miracle that they were saved and the
ones who were tortured not? No. Does this mean that they
were better Christians who received that miracle than the ones? No.
Does this mean that they were holier or more righteous? No.
It's just simply the circumstance that God, for His reasons, His
sovereign reason, put them through this. And these torturings, look
at it. Verse 36 of Hebrews 11. Others
had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of
bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, were tempted, or tested, were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins, goatskins, it's poverty. being
destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and
caves of the earth. And then in Hebrews chapter 12,
we see that all of these things were to be viewed by those who
believed the gospel as the loving chastisements of a loving father. Wow. Now what do we have to prove
that? The word of God. And so what's
happening, go back to Hebrews 10 now, this sinning willfully
has to do with people who claim to believe the gospel and who
totally rejected it for whatever reason, whether it's persecution
or whatever. totally rejected it, turned against
Christ, His truth and His people, calling them accursed as one
section says, and revealing that they had never truly believed
it to begin with. Because if they ever truly believed
it to begin with, they would have stayed with it. I've said
this in the past few messages, that if God, the Holy Spirit,
has done a work of grace in you, in me. If he's given me a new
heart, new life, if he has brought me to true faith in Christ and
repentance of dead works, that's a conviction. And it's a conviction
that I cannot deny. It's a conviction that I cannot
ignore because of the presence of the Spirit within me. It's
a conviction that I cannot ignore, I cannot deny, I cannot ignore.
It's a conviction that I cannot leave. I can't leave it. To whom shall we go? You understand
that? Now, let me go down to the last
two verses and just go over these things briefly. And then I'm
gonna come back next week, and I'm gonna go through the verses
here, beginning at verse 26. But listen to what he says. And
the context determines this. The context before, what did
he say? He said that Christ, by his one
offering for the sins of his people, hath perfected them forever. That's Hebrews 10, 14. For by
one offering, Christ hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
those who are set apart. Now he perfected them. What does
that mean? That means he justified them. He made them righteous before
God. He washed away their sins forever. God said, I'll remember them
no more. What does that mean? That means he will not hold them
against us. That's what he means. He will not impute them to us.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justified. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather He's risen again
and seated at the right hand of the Father. Ever living to
make intercession for us. Ever living. He won't stop. That's
what that means. And this is forever. He says
in verse 17, there's sins and iniquities, well, I remember
no more. They can't be brought back up
again. Listen, if a person dies in sins, in unbelief, lost forever,
that means God imputes, charges, accounts their sins to their
account. David wrote, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputed righteousness without work. God says he won't
do that. And he said it's all based upon
the one offering of Christ. So when we come to verse 38 and
he says, now the just shall live by faith. Who are the just? That's
the justified. who are the justified sinners
who are saved by the grace of God and in a right relationship
with God because their sins have been completely purged away by
the one offering of the Lord Jesus Christ forever. Not temporarily, not conditionally,
but forever. That's who the justified are.
Who are the justified? They are those whom God, in His
sovereign, perfect, holy, just mind, has accounted and declared
righteous in His sight, not fictionally, not just outwardly, but it is
a total exoneration and of their right standing with God based
on what? The one offering of Christ, His
righteousness alone. That's the justified. This verse,
this phrase, the just shall live by faith is seen about four times
in scripture. The first time is Habakkuk two
and verse four. Behold, his soul which is lifted
up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.
And the general design of that prophecy is to comfort the people
of God under the afflictions that were coming upon them, which
in that case was the southern kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem.
And they were about to go under exile to Babylon. And it was
to encourage them to the exercise of faith and patience in hope,
and view of the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. We see
it in Romans 1 17 is the revelation of the gospel. Paul wrote, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first,
to the Greek also. As it is written, the just shall
live, or verse 17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. That righteousness of God is
the merits of Christ, obedience unto death, as the surety, the
substitute, the redeemer of his people. And it's from faith to
faith, from the preaching of the gospel to God-given faith.
As it is written, the just shall live by faith. It's written in
Galatians 3.11 to combat legalism, but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God. It's evident for the just shall
live by faith. And so who are the just? The
justified forever. And that's not a temporary thing.
And then what does he say in verse 30? The just shall what? Shall live, not die. This, This
is the gift of life given from Christ by the Holy Spirit in
the new birth. As the gift of righteousness,
the gift of life comes. They cannot perish, why? They're
justified, they're righteous. Sin demands death, righteousness
demands life. And then how shall they live?
By faith. The just shall live by faith.
As righteousness in life are gifts from God in Christ, faith
is a gift from God in Christ. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Faith is founded upon God's revealed
word. Romans 10, 17, faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith's object is Christ
and his finished work. We look unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. If we have God-given faith, we
cannot deny it, we cannot ignore it, we cannot lose it, and we
cannot leave it. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day. No man shall pluck
them out of my Father's hand, he said. Verse 23 of Hebrews
10, he's faithful that promised. And then he says in verse 38,
but if any man draw back, to turn back, in apostasy, turning
against what he formally claimed to believe. What does that say
about a person? What does the Bible say? They
never had true faith, they never truly believed it, they were
never saved. First John 2.19, they went out
from us, they were not of us. Had they been of us, they would
have no doubt remained with us, but they went out that it might
be made manifest that they were not of us. You see that? Hebrews 11, one says, now faith
is the substance of things hoped for. That word, and the evidence
of things not seen, that word substance is the ground or the
confidence. That word evidence is the conviction. They've got a conviction. If
you're convicted of something, you can't turn back from it.
If you turn back from it, you weren't convicted. You see, that's
what faith and repentance are. It's a conviction brought about
not by some preacher who is eloquent, not by your own free will, but
by God, the Holy Spirit. He'll convict the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. And then he says, if any man
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. The idea
here is the absence of fellowship with God because God is not pleased
with such a person. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. And then look at verse 39 quickly.
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition. You see
that? We are not of them who sin willfully. We don't fall
back so as to be destroyed, to perish in our sins, but we are
of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Perseverance unto
glory by the grace of God. That's the whole issue. Those
who apostatize, we're not of them, that's what he's saying.
Not true believers now, not the justified, not the living, not
those who have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, evidenced
by repentance of dead works and perseverance in the faith. Now
we'll look at the rest of that next week.