I just saw Seth. Doesn't he look
handsome in that uniform? Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. I've entitled
this message. Is it still the way it was? Is it still the way it was? What initially drew me to preach
on this was verse 34 of Hebrews chapter 10. For you had compassion of me
in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing
in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and enduring
substance, you received favorably the confiscation of your property
and your goods. Now, I want you to think about
that. Because of their identification with their writer to the Hebrews,
he was put in jail for preaching the gospel. And you stood with
him. You identified with him. That's
what he's saying. You identified with me. And because
of your identification with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you had your goods taken away. Your savings account was drained. You lost your property. I got to thinking about that.
Let's say if you attended this church, you'd have your goods
taken away from you. Would you still come? I'm asking
myself that question. Let's say your property was taken
away. Your savings account was drained. You lost your job. Would
you come to this place? Now, a lot of folks would say,
man, there's a church on every street corner. I'd go to a different
one. Well, you haven't heard that. You haven't heard. Would
I do this and receive it favorably? It
says you took joyfully. You received it favorably. You
counted it a blessing. You actually counted as a blessing.
You didn't look at it as that big a loss. You lost your possessions.
And it was not that big a loss because you had some understanding
that you have possession in heaven that can't be taken away. I asked
myself, and I asked you, would you receive it joyfully? These people did. And I see in
their example the power and the realness of faith in Christ. That's what faith in Christ does.
It makes someone count joyfully, receive favorably the spoiling
of their goods, their stuff, as it were. Now, the writer to
the Hebrews had been warning them about apostasy, leaving
the gospel. That's what apostasy is. You
claim to believe and you leave. Look in verse 23 of Hebrews chapter
10. He says, let us hold fast the
profession or the confession of our faith without wavering,
for he is faithful to promise. Don't you go back and forth.
Don't be trying to straddle the fence. Don't be in one day and
out the other. Let us hold fast the confession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful to promise
and let us consider one another. to provoke and to 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 you see the day approaching. For if we sin
willfully, after that we've received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now, let me stop just for
a moment before we go on reading. That verse of Scripture, I suppose,
has caused me more trouble than any other verse in all the Bible.
I read that if we sin willfully. What's that mean? Now, has there
ever been a time when you sinned when your will wasn't involved?
Every time you sin, you know what you did? You did what you
wanted to do. You can't blame the devil. You
did it. Is that what he's saying? If
we sin with our will, there's no more sacrifice for sin? That
sin was an accident. That one's okay. That was a will. I'm in trouble. No. What is you
look at the context of this passage of Scripture? You've been talking
about the gospel being perfected by Christ Jesus. You read beginning
in verse 10 all the way up to that point. You've been talking
about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says now, after hearing
that, if you willfully go back to works, you've had it. It's
over for you. There's no more sacrifice for
sin. You've left your only hope. That's what he's saying. I don't
want to leave you. I don't want to leave the gospel.
That's what he's referring to. When he's talking about forsaking
the assembling of yourselves together, he's not just talking
about missing worship services. He's talking about removing yourself
from identification with the message of the gospel. That's
what he's talking about. Verse 26, For if we sin willfully,
after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, how that
God saves by Christ, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but
a certain fearful looking for judgment, and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries." Now, he that despised Moses'
law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Now,
of how much sore punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought
worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and accounted,
had viewed the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing." Now that word unholy is common. Common. As a matter of fact, by definition
it means that which is general to all. as opposed to that which
is peculiar to the few. And isn't that the way most people
view the blood of Christ? General for everybody. He died
for everybody. Wants to save everybody. Made everybody's payment.
All that is, if you believe that, all that is is salvation by works.
It's saying, you make the difference. He died for everybody. His blood
is common. It's general. It's shed for everybody.
But there's something you need to do to make it work. Now, that's
to trod underfoot the Son of God and to count the blood of
the covenant, the covenant of grace wherewith He set Himself
apart for an uncommon thing, an unholy thing, and have done
despite the Spirit of grace. For we know Him, verse 30, that
hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord, And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It's
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So we see from this passage of
Scripture, he's exhorting them to perseverance, into faith,
to not leave, to not sin willfully after having received the knowledge
of the truth. Now, he reminds us of something.
Verse 32. But call to remembrance the former
days. Now, evidently, it appears that
these people that the writer of the Hebrews is writing to
seem to be going back. That's why he made these exhortations
to perseverance. They seem to be going backwards.
So he says, I want you to remember the way you used to be. Call
to remembrance the former days, and that's why I entitled this
message. Is it still the way it was? Now you call to remembrance
The former days, verse 32, in which after you were illuminated,
you endured a great fight of afflictions. You were illuminated. You were given light. You were
made to see who God really is. You saw Him in His holiness,
in His unapproachableness. You saw that He was utterly and
absolutely sovereign. You saw the truth in the Word
of God. You were illuminated. You were
given life to see who He is. And you know what else you saw?
When you saw who He is, what did you see next? You saw who
you were. You saw that indeed, in truth,
not just doctrine, but in truth, you were totally and completely
depraved, full of sin, nothing but See it. You saw that. You hadn't seen it before, but
you do now. Oh, when you were illuminated,
you saw your sinfulness. But not only did you see who
God is, not only did you see who you are, when you were illuminated,
you saw the complete salvation that's in Christ Jesus. Look
in Hebrews 10. By the witch will. By God's will. That's witch will He's talking
about. By God's will. By God's will, by the witch will, we are,
what's that next word? Sanctified. Declared by God. Actually made holy. That's what the word means. We
are holy. Who's the we? Everybody that
He died for. Everybody who believes. By God's
will, we are sanctified once for all. That means it's a completed
action. It's not going to be repeated.
It's perfected. Now, when you were illuminated,
you saw who God is, you saw who you are, and you saw that Christ
is a completely sufficient Savior. You were made to actually trust
Him as your righteousness before God. You were made to really
believe in the power of His precious blood after you were illuminated. Now, what happened after you
were illuminated? You found out that people had no love for what
you believed. Look what happened. The call
to remembrance in the former days in which after you were
illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions and trouble. It brought some trouble to you,
verse 33, partly whilst you were made a gazing stock, an object
of ridicule and contempt, both by reproaches and afflictions,
and partly whilst you became companions of them that were
so used, you became an object of ridicule. Do you really believe
that the Bible is the Word of God? You actually believe God
wrote it and there's no error in it? Why, you're an idiot.
Science disproves so much that's in the Bible. I mean, look at
the facts. That's the kind of stuff here
you believe. So you really believe. Do you really believe that Jesus
Christ, that one who's nailed to the cross, is God? Do you
really believe that he's the creator of the universe? And
you mean to tell me you believe that I'm in his hands and he
can do with me whatever he's pleased to do? You really believe
that? You believe he's got that much power? Do you really believe
that you're saved by the righteousness of somebody else? Do you really
believe you were condemned by what somebody else did? How can
you believe something that stupid and ignorant? How can you believe
that? Why, do you really believe that
men are totally and completely depraved, unable to save themselves?
Don't you believe in free will? Well, that's the most ridiculous
thing. You must be crazy to believe that. You really believe that
God chose who'd be saved before time began and that they're the
only ones who will be saved? You really believe that? You
really believe that Jesus Christ died for the elect only and he
didn't shed his blood for everybody? You believe something that foolish?
Why, nobody believes that. How big is your church? Man,
you all, that's ridiculous. I mean, the theologians don't
believe that way. The big shots don't believe no
one. You really believe that God's grace can't be resisted?
You really believe God's... That's foolishness. That's stupid. That's some ignorant,
country bumpkin, idiotic... I don't believe anything like
that. You really believe that? You became a gazing stalk. An
object of ridicule. You're crazy. And you were reproached. Look what he says, partly why
you were made a gazing star, both by reproaches and afflictions. Now, reproaches is the defamation
of character. Why, if I believed what you believed,
if I really believed my acceptance before God had absolutely nothing
to do with my works, if I really believed that, I'd live however
I want to. I'd sin all I want and wouldn't worry about it.
You're really an evil person if you believe something like
that. Why? You're an antinomian. You don't
care anything about holiness or good works. All this talk
of grace. Why? You're an evil person. This
is just a cover-up for sin. This is what this is all about.
You're defamed and reproached for what you believe. And afflictions,
and partly why you became companions of them. that were so used, you
identified with. They were companions of those
who were persecuted for the preaching of the gospel. You stood with
them and confessed, this is what I believe. Here I stand, I can
do no other. You stood with them. You stood
with them. And the writer to the Hebrews
is saying, you stood with me. You actually took joyfully the
confiscation of your goods. the spoiling of your goods. It
didn't bother you. You took it joyfully. You received
it favorably. Look at the way you were then.
Is it still that way? You had compassion on me in my
bonds. You took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better
and more enduring substance. Is it still that way? People's stuff, their material
stuff, that's so important to them. This is my stuff. This
is my savings. This is my security. This is
my sense of well-being. He says you had that taken from
you, stripped from you, and you received it joyfully. Favorably. You're like those fellas we just
read about in Acts chapter 5 who rejoiced that they were counted
worthy. To suffer shame for his name. He's saying to the Hebrews. Is it still that way he knew? They were not what they had been,
and that's why he tells them to remember the former days.
Remember the former days. Look at verse 38. Of Hebrew chapter
10, now the just. Shall live by faith. But if any
man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Now, to draw back is a nautical
term. It means literally to let the
sails down so you don't drive quite so fast. That's all it
means. You slacken the sails, you put
them down so the boat doesn't move as quickly. That's what
it means to draw back. You don't go quite so fast. It's
to shrink back. It's to not be too radical or
too extreme. It is the middle of the road. It is laissez-faire. It is being
lukewarm. It's no longer being a fanatic
and a fool. Yes, following Christ is important,
perhaps very important, but He is not all. At least my conduct
seems to say that He is not now all to me, what He was to me,
Then, the person who's drawn back has become mellow. You know
what mellow is? It's the first step before rotten. Mellow. Mellow. I've become tolerant
and mellow. Perhaps they were like the Ephesians
who had left their first love or the Laodiceans who had grown
lukewarm. Now, he says in verse 35 to these
people, he sees struggling. seemingly going back, and I'll
tell you what, it would have been a lot easier on the flesh
to go back at this time. I mean, it would save them a
lot of trouble. It would save them a lot of persecution. They
would have had a lot easier life. Now, look what he says to them
in verse 35. Cast not away. Don't lay aside. Don't throw
away your competence, which had great recompense of reward. Now what is the confidence he's
speaking of? Turn back to Hebrews chapter
3. But Christ, verse 6, but Christ
as a Son over His own house, whose house are we if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end? Now, what is the confidence and
the rejoicing of the hope? Now, what's my hope? It's the
same hope every believer has. My hope is this. My hope is regarding
the future, isn't it? It's a confident expectation
regarding the future. Now, here's my hope. I've got
a confident expectation regarding the future that when I stand
before God in judgment, God's going to say, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. What makes you think that? What
makes you have confidence like that? I'll tell you exactly what
makes me have this confidence. When my blessed Lord bowed His
mighty head and said, It is finished. My salvation, my perfect standing
before God was accomplished. It didn't have anything to do
with my works. His work. What confidence I have in his
work. Now, that's the confidence he's
speaking of, and it's a it's a great confidence. I've got
such confidence in Jesus Christ, the Lord. I don't have any confidence
in myself. I really don't. I don't trust myself as far as
I can throw me. I really don't trust you either.
I mean, really, I mean, as far as what we are, we have no confidence
in the flesh. But oh, what confidence we have
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, this word confidence
is quite often translated boldness. Boldness. I love that verse of
Scripture in Acts chapter four, verse 13, when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and they perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men. They took knowledge of him that
they'd be with Jesus. Boldness. You know what boldness
is? By definition, boldness is Speaking boldly, freedom of speech
to speak without ambiguity. I can't stand to hear a preacher
when his words are so convoluted, you can't really tell what he's
saying. You're not sure if he means this or that. That's not
preaching God, the Holy Spirit blesses. It doesn't come from
God, the Holy Spirit. God's word is bold. It's bold. No, no ambiguity, no, no, no
mistake in what's being said. Now, I know nobody can understand
it unless God gives them life to understand. It's not like
you can preach so simply and clearly and boldly. That's going
to make people believe. No, I'm not saying that at all. But I
know in the preaching of the gospel, there's true boldness.
There's not an apology. God's sovereign. That's what
the Bible teaches regarding Him. He's in control. You're in His
hands. He's not in your hands. You're in His hands. He can do
with you whatever He's pleased to do. That's just the way it
is. Men are dead in sin. God elected
a people before time began to be saved. Christ died for them. He accomplished their salvation.
The grace of the Holy Spirit is invincible and irresistible.
I don't apologize for that. It's what the Word of God teaches.
It's the only way this sinner will be saved. Boldness. What
is boldness? What's confidence? Did you notice
how I said there's great recompense of the reward? What's the reward? Confidence. Isn't it great to
have confidence? Confidence in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I mean, there's nothing. There's nothing. It's, you know,
even in worldly things, when you don't have confidence, you
never do any good, do you? Oh, it's such a blessing to have
confidence, confidence. The great recompense or reward
is the confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse back to Hebrews
10, verse 35, cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which
hath great recompense of reward for verse 36, you have need of
patience. Isn't that the truth? You have
need of patience that after you've done the will of God, you might
receive the promise. Now, patience is the fruit of
faith. Faith believes. The Word of God. Faith believes God reigns. Faith believes that Christ is
all in salvation. Faith really does. Faith really
believes God controls the outcome, that the outcome has already
been determined. The will of God is going to be done and there's
really nothing to worry about. Now, when you really believe
that, you have patience, don't you? You wig out and you stress
out. When you're not believing that
everything's already taken care of, that you don't know what's
going to happen, you're stressing, you're worrying, which is the
opposite of faith. And that's why it says you have
need of patience, don't you? I need patience. Patience, really
believing God is in control, really believing that my salvation
is accomplished. Really believing that I have
a high priest that's representing me before the Father. Really
believing that everybody's in his hands, everybody's just his
pawn. And he's in control of everybody and everything. That's what Sardony's God is.
God really is God. He's in absolute control. And
when you really believe that, you know what you have? Patience.
Patience. Turn over to Romans 12. Here's
what this is all about. We're to persevere in doing the
will of God, believing on Christ all the way to the end, looking
not behind, not to the right, not to the left, but doing this. Verse one of Hebrews chapter
12. Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses. When's the last time you read
Hebrews chapter 11? It's a blessing. This great cloud
of witnesses. Let me say just a few things
about them. Look in verse 33. This great line of witness, he
mentioned so many of them. He said in verse 33, who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promise
that stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were made strong,
waxed valiant to fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Verse 35 of Hebrews 11, women received their dead raised to
life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. that
they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had a trial of cruel
mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, were
slain with the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of
whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And these
all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise. God, having provided some better
thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect,
wherefore seeing we also are compassed, surrounded by this
great cloud of witnesses that I just read about, let us lay
aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. Anybody know what that is? Well,
my particular besetting sin is this or that. No, he's talking
about unbelief. Unbelief. That's the sin that
does so easily throw us over. Let us lay aside every weight
of the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with
patience. The race that is set before us
looking unto Jesus. The one who is the author and
the finisher of our faith. That's the Jesus we look to.
You know, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the faith I have,
I know who the author of it is. It ain't my free will. It's the
Lord Jesus Christ. And He's the one who will finish
it and complete it and cause me to persevere all the way to
the end. He's such a glorious Savior.
He's such a complete Savior. Looking to Him, I run with patience. It's not going to last much longer.
You know, none of us have much more time. Looking unto Jesus, the
author and the finisher, the perfecter of our faith. Back to Hebrews 10. For you have
need of patience, verse 36, that after you've done the will of
God, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you might receive the
promise. the promise of eternal inheritance,
the promise of being just like the Lord Jesus Christ, the promise
of being a part of that great heavenly choir. Verse 37, for yet a little while,
and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now, it may
be rough, but it's only for a little while. He that shall come will
come. Can you say from your heart,
even so come Lord Jesus? Come, Lord Jesus. Whatever you're
going through, whatever I'm going through, it's just for a little
while. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal way to glory. While we look not at things which
are seen, but things that are not seen. For the things which
are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal. You know, I can't see that I'm
perfect before God, but I believe I am. That's a thing that's not
seen, but I believe. For yet a little while, and he
that comes shall come and will not tarry. Verse 38, now. Verse
38, now. The just shall live by faith. This is one of four times that
this is Said in the scriptures must be awfully important four
times. Habakkuk chapter 2, Romans chapter
1, verse 17, Galatians 3, 11 and here the just shall live
by faith. The just, who are the just? The
just are the justified. The justified. You know what
justified means? It means not guilty. It doesn't
mean forgiven. It means not guilty. There's nothing for me to be
guilty about. There's nothing for me to be
condemned for. I'm not guilty. Now, how in the
world can that be? Hold your finger and turn to
Romans 4. Verse 5, But to him that worketh
not, he sees that he cannot. obligate God to save him by his
works. And the reason he sees that is
he sees that indeed all his works in and of themselves are nothing
but sin. He really believes that. So he doesn't work. You know,
it would be plumb stupid to work with it. I mean, it wouldn't
do you any good. To him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now, here's my hope. that God
actually justifies the ungodly. Now, the first thing that you're
going to have to be in order to be justified is what? Ungodly. Ungodly. Now, to that ungodly
person, that person who truly is ungodly. And I can say this
to every ungodly person, every sinner. That's what that means.
Every sinner. Every sinner here. Here's a blessed hope. God actually
justifies the ungodly. He makes you not guilty. And if God justifies you, you're
justified. You really are justified. But how do you do that? He takes
the righteousness of his son, the perfect obedience of his
son, and places it upon you. He took your sin and placed it
upon him. It's called substitution. The
just for the unjust. And now every believer is justified. That's who the just are. The
just shall live by faith. They can't live off their works.
Can you live off your works? Can you live off your feelings?
Feelings go and feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are
deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
Can't live off the feelings. Can't live off anything but faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The justified live by believing
that. Now, if you don't believe that, if you don't believe on
him to justify the ungodly, if you don't believe that, and you
die not believing that, then he never justified you. You see,
the just live by faith. Here's the evidence that God's
done something for them. They believe the gospel. They
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they live Paul said, I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me. Now, the just shall live
by faith, verse 38, but if any man draw back, let the sails
go down. My soul shall have what? How
much pleasure in them? pleasure in them. If any man
lets the sails down so he doesn't go quite so fast and he saves
himself from the trouble of being an out and out disciple of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he begins to be tolerant. He mellows out
the step before complete rottenness. The Lord says, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him. Now, you listen to this real
carefully. The gospel of Christ, if true, is of infinite importance. If false, it is of no importance. But one thing that it cannot
be is moderately important. It can't be. If what I'm saying
is the truth, this is of infinite importance. If it's not the truth,
we've really wasted our time. We would have been better off
watching Meet the Press, wouldn't we? But one thing it can't be
is of moderate importance. And God says concerning that
one who draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Now, verse 39, But we are not of them who draw back
unto perdition. God won't let me. By His grace,
I'm not one of these people who draws back to perdition. That's
only by His grace. But I'm not one of them. He says,
we're not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul. I believed, and I believe. I believe God. I believe Christ. And by His grace, I'm not letting
the sail down. Don't you find it challenging
by the Lord's grace to make the sail go up even higher and to
go even faster, depending upon the Lord? Now, he's saying to
these people, there was a time when You took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods. Is it now the way it was then? I want to close by reading a
passage from Revelation chapter 2. Verse 1. Unto the angel of the church
of Ephesus. Where is the church of Ephesus
now? That's a sobering thought, isn't it? If the Lord doesn't
come back, same thing's going to happen to this place one of
these days. Lord's going to remove the candlestick. That's a sobering
thought. There's no local church that
continues, including this one, unless the Lord first comes back.
Under the angel of the church at Ephesus, that's the pastor,
the preacher. Right. These things say, if he
that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, the churches, I
know your works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou
canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them
which say they are apostles, and are not, and you found them
liars, and you bore them, and had patience, and for my name's
sake you've labored, and have not fainted. Now that's some
pretty high commendation, isn't it? But look what he says next.
Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence
thou art fallen. That's exactly what he said to
the Hebrews. Remember the four days. Remember from whence thou
art fallen and repent and do the first work. What were the first works? I
know what my first work was. My first work was this. I saw
that I didn't have one work to recommend me to God. That's my
first work. I saw that the only hope I had
was Christ. I didn't have any good works
to recommend me. I didn't have any evidence. Didn't
have anything like that. All I had was Christ. That's
the first work. I trusted Him. Now, you remember
that. You remember that. Do the first
work. Remember, therefore, from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first work, or else
I'll come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick
out of its place, except thou repent. I said that was the last
scripture, but I think I better read one more. 3rd Nicolausians,
Chapter 2. This is what keeps somebody from
getting off track. Verse 6, As you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord as an empty-handed sinner needing
His mercy, so walk ye in Him. May God give us grace to do so.
Let's pray together.