My subject this morning is apostasy. I fear that what I have to say
about it will be somewhat scattering, so I beg your patience and even
your forgiveness. I want to begin reading here
in Hebrews chapter 10. Let's begin reading all the way
back up in 17. This is where the Lord said a
new covenant I will make with them. I'll put
my laws in their hearts. I'll write them in their minds.
In verse 17, their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now
where remission, where forgiveness of these is, there is no more
offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter unto the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated, he is made for us
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having that
high priest over the house of God, since we have such a high
priest in heaven at God's right hand, he tells us to do three
things. Verse 22, let us draw near with
a true heart, a truthful heart and an honest heart, in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Number two,
in verse 23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith,
our faith in Christ, without wavering, for He is faithful,
that promise. Number three, let us consider
one another to stir up, to provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaken the assembling of
ourselves together, as the custom, the habit, the manner of some
is, but exhort in one another, and so much the more as you see
the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains 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 sore punishment,
suppose you, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified in that unholy thing, and hath done despite,
the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongs 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. But call to remembrance
the former days in which after you were illuminated, you were
you endured a great fight of affliction, partly while you
were made a gazing-stock by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while
you became companions of them that were so used. 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 an enduring substance, Cast not away, therefore, your confidence,
which hath great recompense of reward. For you have need of
patience, endurance, that after you have done the will of God
you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 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 into perdition, destruction, final and total destruction,
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." I think Paul, or whoever the
writer of this book was, defines the word apostasy here in the
verse that I read to you. We are not of them who draw back
unto perdition. Apostasy is drawing back. It's drawing back unto total
and absolute and eternal destruction. It's the most horrible thought,
most horrible word. And the most serious subject,
I tried to study on this subject in my mind. I told my wife last
night, I said, my mind, absolutely, my mind is, I can't get my mind
around this thing. So I just, I threw my notes away.
And I thought we'll look at it and see if the Lord will help
us simply without using big words or phrases none of us can understand. Look at this serious subject,
just for a few minutes, of apostasy. First of all, what is it? As it's defined here in this
chapter, what is it? Can a believer do it? If not, why write to him about
it? Has anybody ever did it? Does
other people do it? There's all sorts of interpretations
of this, but what is apostasy? Well, according to this passage
here, apostasy is someone making a profession of faith in Jesus
Christ. It's a drawing back from something.
So it's advancing to this point. It's making a profession of faith
that Jesus Christ is who He says He is. And that He has done what
He says He did. It's reaching that point. Making
a profession. That's why the Apostle said here
in this passage to hold fast. O fast your profession of faith."
What have you professed about Jesus Christ? He's the Son of
God. What have you professed about
where He is? Well, He's in heaven. What's
He doing there? He's the priest on God's right
hand. His blood has completely and
fully atoned for sin. We are saved by His righteousness,
by His obedience. We make a confession of faith
in Jesus Christ. And then we draw back. We draw back from that profession
of faith in Christ. The writer here says, I take
no pleasure in them. That draw back. They draw back
into apostasy. Now how does that happen? How
does a person apostatize from the faith? Well, he tells us
here in verse 29, to get to the point of what it is, he says
here of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy. And here it is, three things.
Who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God. That's the first thing. Here's
what a man does. When he draws back from his profession
of faith in Christ. The knowledge of the truth that
he said he has received, he draws back from that profession. He
does what you can't do, actually. He does what a man cannot do
in all reality. He tramples underfoot the Son
of God. Now, they did that, in a way,
when he was here. They took him and crucified him. Pilate delivered Him into their
will to do with Him as they will. They took Him and punished Him
and crucified Him because He allowed them to. This here is
not done that way. It's not done physically. That's
impossible. Jesus Christ is in heaven. He'll
never be humiliated again. But this is done through a person's
confession that I am leaving Christ. I am turning from my knowledge
I had of Him. I am leaving Him. It's as though
that Jesus Christ was standing in the door. And you say, I'm
leaving Him. And as you go out, you trample
upon the Son of God. Paul said in the 6th chapter
that they crucify Him afresh and they put Him to an open shame. Now that's what's done by drawing
back. It's a denying of Christ. It's
a shaming of Him. It's a trampling Him, His glorious
person, under their feet. The person that God has exalted.
This is the Son of God who created the worlds by His power and upholds
all things. This is the Son of God whom the
Father says, set on my right hand till I make your enemies
your footstool. This is that name that's above
every name. He has obtained a better name
than the angels. The Son of God. And that's why
it's so serious. To shame an angel? To curse an
angel, to trample an angel, that would be bad enough. To do a
saint this way, to shame him, that would be bad. But the Son
of God, when a person draws back from their profession of Him
and says, I deny all that I've said about Him. I deny that He
is the only sacrifice that can take away sin. I deny who He
is, I deny where He's at. And they do that by leaving their
profession of Him. The second thing they do is this. They trot underfoot the Son of
God. They count the blood of the covenant, the blood that
was ratified, the covenant that was ratified by blood. God made
a covenant with His Son, didn't He? And God says, here's everything
I'll do for you. I'll give you these people to
save them. I'll be with you when you're
upon this earth. I'll strengthen you. I'll uphold
you. When they crucify you, I'll accept
your sacrifice to put away sin. I'll raise you from the dead.
I'll exalt you at My right hand. I'll give you a name which is
above every name. He did all of this and more for the Son
of God. He said, I seal it with My oath. You're my son, this
day have I begotten you. I swear. And the Son sealed His
part of the covenant with His blood. That's why it's called
the blood of the covenant. And when a person draws back,
when a person leaves their profession of faith in Jesus Christ, they
count the blood of this covenant, now unholy, That unholy, that
word is worthless, common, no better than a dog's or an animal's
blood. That unholy thing. And many have tried to figure
out here in verse 29, who's this speaking of? The blood of the
covenant wherewith he was sanctified. Some say that's speaking of Jesus
Christ. By his own blood he set himself
apart. I sanctify myself that they also
might be sanctified. Others say it's those who believe
that a saint can fall away. They say this is the blood wherewith
the saint, the true believer, was sanctified. Others say this
is those who profess to be sanctified. They seemingly were sanctified.
But in any way, apostasy is this. It's trampling underfoot the
Son of God, and it's counting the blood, the blood of the covenant,
the only blood that can wash sins away, that unholy, common
thing. The third thing, verse 29, the
last portion, "...and hath done despite my Margin says they've
insulted the spirit of grace. That's the three things they
do. And they do it to the point that there's no hope for them. If a man tramples underfoot the
Son of God, there is no other Savior. Is there? If a man says the blood of Christ
and he finally professes it to be worthless, then how is his
sin going to be atoned for? It's impossible. If a man so
insults the Holy Spirit and so grieves Him that he leaves Him
never to visit Him again, how is that man to be called to repentance? How is he to be taught of Christ?
How is Christ to be revealed to him? There is no other spirit
that can save us, regenerate us, and seal us, and teach us,
and keep us but the Spirit of grace. So the Son of God, the
High Priest, is denied. The blood that cleanses us from
sin is denied. And the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier,
the teacher, the revealer of the secrets of God, He is so
grieved and so offended. that he never will visit that
soul again. Now, that's apostasy. That's
apostasy. Now, let's try to answer this
question. Who was the apostle writing this to? Who was he writing
this to? And maybe this will help answer
the question, why would he write it to two believers? And let
me say this. If you're here and you're afflicted
about this, and a lot of conscience has been afflicted through the
ages, especially in the days of our purity family, believe
in they, being children of God, had committed this sin. And they were awfully afflicted.
So let me say right off the bat that a child of God One who is
in the Lord Jesus Christ can never commit this sin. Now, I think we have to go ahead
and answer this next question, then why is this written? Why
is it even written? Let me tell you, let me say this
before we go to who this is written to and why. This apostasy isn't done immediately. I mean, it's not done. in one
sudden act. You don't trample underfoot the
Son of God. You don't tempt the blood of
the covenant in an unholy thing. You don't do despite unto the
Spirit of grace suddenly through some kind of a sudden or prolonged
temptation. This is something, he tells us
in verse 26, that is done willfully. It's not done in a person's ignorance. Knowing what he's doing. It's
done knowingly. It's done in a presumptuous manner. It's knowing what you're doing.
Absolutely denying the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely, willingly
doing it. And in verse 26, something else,
not only something that's willful, but after we have received the
knowledge of the truth. It's knowing the truth. It's
receiving it into the mind. It's having some understanding
about Christ, who He is, and His blood and His Holy Spirit.
So it's something that's done willfully. Don't that make you
tremble to think you might commit this sin? But it's not easy done,
brothers and sisters. It's not easy done. Who was the apostle writing to?
Well, I think, first of all, we could say this. He was definitely
writing to those who had professed. He was definitely writing to
those who had believed. And he could have been writing,
first of all, to the Pharisees and the Sadducees who also come
to some light. They made a profession of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Acts chapter 15? There rose up certain of the
Pharisees which believed. They believed. What did they
believe? They professed everything that the apostles had taught
them about Jesus Christ. That He was virgin born, He lived
holy, He died a sacrificial death for sinners that He arose, He's
on the right hand of God. They believed all of that. Now
that was a lot of life, wasn't it? If you think of those Pharisees
that hated Christ when He was here, and at first hated the
church, and now they came To say, I understand that Jesus
was the Messiah, that He has done what He says He did, but
here was the catch. Boy, here was the catch. Even
after they had this light to see that He was the Christ, that
His blood did purge from sin, they could not let go of this
ceremonial law. There rose up certain of the
set of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was necessary
to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses."
Here in the early church, they had thousands of these kind of
people, and they came and attended the worship service. James said
in Acts 21 or 22, he said, he was talking to the Apostle Paul,
and he said, Paul, you see how many thousands of the Jews which
believe and they are very zealous to the Law of Moses. They don't
want to let it go. They want to profess Christ.
And their profession seems to be real. But boy, after a while,
after a while, what happened to them? They went out from among
us. Ain't that what John said? They
denied what they knew about the Son of God. Finally, they said,
He is not enough, and we want people to know it. We're going
to hold to these sacrifices? We're going to go to the temple
and offer these sacrifices to the priests? We're going to hold
to circumcision. We're going to hold to the Sabbath.
And what they did is they left Jesus Christ. And they went back
to the ceremonial law. And Paul said, and the writer
here said, you've done this willingly. You've done this deliberately.
You've done it after having some knowledge. These could have very
well been the men that were in danger of committing this sin. But he was writing also to some
more people, and I think this begins to get a little bit closer
home here. He was writing to men in this church, these Jewish
people, who had made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And
without saying whether it was real or not, let me say this.
They had fallen on some difficult times. I call this the middle-age crisis. During the fifth chapter, he
said, for the time you should be teachers, you have went backwards. You
literally have left this place where you were and you went backwards. You've become very dull. You
can't even sit and listen to a message anymore. You're so
dull you can't tell right from wrong, good from evil anymore.
I call this the middle age crisis because you talk to people that's
been on the way a long time. You talk to old preachers and
old saints. And they can almost, without
exception, point you to some time in their life where they
said, I went through the most dreadful place. I never in my
life spent, sometimes, months or years in this coldness, this
lukewarmness, without any desire to read or pray, and everything
was forced. You ever seen people, especially
men, how silly they act when they come to that age where they
go through their midlife crisis? I mean, their whole attitude
about things change. You'll see an old man trying
to dress like a young man. And that's what had happened
to these folks. And the apostle here was encouraging
them to hold fast your profession. Bruce, was he telling them that
they may fall away? Well, here's what he was telling
them. Hear what he's telling them. Without judging where they
were saved or lost, here's what he was telling them. Brethren,
listen, there is some evidence, there is some signs of the beginning
of apostasy among you. That's what he was saying. You
know some people, and don't you see this in yourself, Some people,
they won't hardly be constrained by the love of Christ. Oh, the
love of Christ constrains them, but their makeup, their whole
demeanor demands that they be ruled with warnings. We see some children that are
that way. You speak to some of your children, and you just speak
roughly to them, it breaks their hearts. Oh, they begin to cry. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I should
have never did that. But others, what do you have
to do? Speaking to them will do no good. You have to threaten
them, don't you? Sometimes, professing Christians
are that way. Threatenance. Threatenance. Let me give you one of the, let
me give you one of the Here in verse 25, one of the
evidences, one of the signs of apostasy, the beginning of apostasy
that the Apostle Paul mentioned. Look in verse 25. Not forsaken
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is. See that? Here is the first outward,
visible sign of the beginning of apostasy. Did you ever wonder why he just
said that and went on to tell us about apostasy? Because this
is the beginning of it. This is the first open sign of
it. He says, don't forsake the worship. Don't forsake the public
worship. This is what God has ordained
for His saints. This is the way in which we worship
Him one with another in public. This is the way we encourage
one another. Have you ever came to the worship
service and you've been so down? You needed instructions. You
needed help. You needed encouragement. And
you left the worship service encouraged and edified and helped. That's what he's saying. That's
what he's saying. And he's saying there are some
people that you seldom see them. Their manner is, their habit
is, they're always, always, missing the public worship of God. Now, it's not that, well, I had
something to do. Bruce, we had to go here. We
had to do this, that. That happens to all of us. But
this wasn't that. This was a habit these people
were in. This was their manner of life. And the Apostle said here, that's
the first open side of apostasy. But you know, here is something
that we see going on behind the scenes. If you quit coming to
the worship, if you just quit coming to the worship, two months
went by, you quit coming to the worship. Before you quit coming
to the worship, Something happened within you. Something was taking place to
discourage you from coming. You lost your desire to worship
God before you ever quit coming to the worship service. This
is the first open sign of apostasy. But boy, I tell you, the first
sign. is when we want to leave Him in our hearts. That unbelief. Don't that scare you? Don't that
scare you? That's intended to scare you.
That's intended to concern you. That's intended to wake you up. That's intended to make you examine
yourself and say, where am I? Have I drifted? Am I in danger? Some people want to know if a
saint can't commit this sin of apostasy, then why even write
this to them? Because God keeps us by
warnings. And I tell you, He keeps us by
letting us see what other men have done. How many people here
have you and I seen who have made professions of faith? And
I thought they were good professions. I had one person that came here
for years. And I remember preaching a message
one night, and this person came to me after that and said that
was one of the most powerful messages. And that person's gone. That person denied their faith
in Christ. That person's damnation may be
sealed. I don't know. But I know this
much. For several years now, that person
has been gone. And you know what that does to
me? I tell you, that concerns me. That makes me watchful. Can I do this? When my desire for Christ, when
my felt need of not seeking Him earnestly in private prayer,
when I do become dull in spiritual things, that concerns me. That concerns me. Not forsaking the assembling
of yourselves together, but exhorting one another And so much more
as you see the day approach him. Now what's he talking about,
the day? He tells him about a day that's approaching. He says,
you've had it rough in the past. You had your goods confiscated.
You suffered great affliction because of your faith in Christ.
And now you've got through that. You've got through that. But
now look at you. You're slipping. You become dull. And he says, here is what I want
you to think about. There's some more rough time
coming. There's another day coming. Now, what was he talking about?
Well, all the commentators that I've read on this say he was
speaking probably, most probably, about the destruction of Jerusalem. Jerusalem in 70 A.D. was overthrown. Titus, the Roman
general, came in. Most of the Christians, if not
all of them, had gotten out. Over a million people, they said,
was in that city. Those who left suffered great
affliction. Many of those in there were killed.
Some of them were taken captive, sold, used for slaves, and whatnot. But it was one of the most terrible
times in the history of that nation for the Christians who
got out and those who stayed. So the writer is saying here,
listen, listen. Look at the people around you.
Look at those Pharisees. Look at those nominal believers
that have already gone back. They've left their profession
of faith in Christ. Look what they've done to His
name. Look how they've openly shamed Him. And look how dull
you all are about it. And this awful day is coming. And if you don't become more
settled in the faith, if you don't hold fast your profession
of Christ, then this day that's coming, you're going to find
yourself strained. Just endure it. against that day, approaching,
approaching day. But you know, there's another
day coming. I think this is not just written to the church in
the New Testament, the Jews, but it's written to the church
of all ages. There's a last day coming. The last days that you
and I are probably in now. And Paul said, because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. It's going to
be dangerous times. It's going to be perilous times.
And those who have a form of godliness, but not having the
power of it, you're going to see a bunch of them in that day.
The day that, brothers and sisters, that's coming on us. And it seems
like we can see it approaching, can't we? Have you ever seen
things change as quickly as they're changing? And I bet you we haven't
seen anything yet. We don't know the persecution
that's coming, how dead things are going to get. But as we approach that day,
you and I must, as true believers, become more sound in our profession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Get a fresh hold upon Him by
faith. Live more upon Him and let this
world and its toys and its things go. And look to Him and plead
to Him more than we ever have in all our life. Because we're
probably coming into a trying hour. And many, at least some,
shall depart from the faith, the doctrine of faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils." And that
day, as you see the day approaching, Brother Larry's been telling
us about the day of Christ, that day is approaching, isn't it?
We'll see the scoffers increasing. Where is the promise of His coming?
That day is approaching. Get a firm hold upon Him. Look
to Him. Be looking to Him always and
more. That day is approaching. Assemble with the Lord's people.
Fellowship with them. Encourage them. As you see this
day approaching. Getting back to apostasy, one
more thing, and I'll let you go. The Apostle talked about it in
the second chapter of this book. The second chapter. In verse one, he says, We ought
to give the more earnest heed. And that's what he's writing
about. That's what I've just been talking to you about. Give
the more earnest heed. to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip." How easy the Word
can slip from our hearts. Get a firmer grip upon it by
faith. For if the words spoken by angels
were steadfast, And every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of the reward if those who sinned against Moses' law
suffered so greatly. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard it? It begins with neglect. With
neglect. But if the neglect is not corrected,
how can it end? How can it end? It can't end in apostasy. And
that's what the Apostle is teaching. He says here in our text, in
chapter 10, In verse 30, here he says, We know him that
hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. That's something we talked about
last Sunday when the Lord sent out the message and they made
all these excuses and He said the master of the house was angry.
Here is vengeance taken upon the apostate. And he lives, and I don't know
the degree of this, he lives with this certain fearful looking
for of judgment. He now has a fear of judgment.
Maybe he never thought too much about turning from his profession
of Christ. Denying what he professed about
Christ and going to something else. Denying the only high priest.
Denying the only blood, the Spirit. Maybe he never thought too much
about that at first. I don't know. But he begins to
have this sense, when he thinks of judgment, when he thinks of
eternity, it makes him afraid. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
You remember the man in the cage? He was shut up in a cage and
couldn't get out. He says, this is what I've done.
This is what I've done. And Christian encouraged him
to believe in Christ. He said, there's nothing in the
Bible that encourages me. All I have is these threatenings
that God's going to get even. that I've so shamed His Son by
denying Him, done despite to His Spirit, that He's going to
get even with me. He's not out to save me. He's
out to damn me. I wonder sometimes when that
person I was telling you about left their profession of Christ,
walked over Him, His name, brought Him to an open shame, So many
people knew. I wonder if that person hasn't
got this feeling down deep in their heart. God's going to get even. What
have I done? My dad had some understanding
that he did this. I don't know if he actually did
it, but he'd come to believe it. And just before he died,
he looked at me in his suffering hours. He looked up at me. And
he said, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? Vengeance is mine. And that's what this is about.
It's disturbing us. It's awakening us. It's arousing
us to hold fast to Christ. He's everything to us. And without
Him, we have nothing and are nothing. Hold fast your profession
of Him. Don't let Him go. Don't misuse
the means. Don't deny the means. Don't neglect
the means that God has given us to keep us. Read your Bibles. Have your secret devotion. Pray
and seek Him. Watch and be sober. And gather
with the Lord's people to encourage one another and be encouraged. He says two things here. In verse
30, he says, Vengeance belongs to me, I'll recompense. And therefore,
he says in verse 31, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God. But the last portion of verse
30, he says something else. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. If you'll read where he got this
from in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 35 and 36, you'll see
these two things. He quotes these two verses. The
first verse, verse 35 of chapter 32, vengeance is mine, saith
the Lord, I'll recompense. He's going to recompense the
apostate. And then he says in the next
verse, verse 36, the Lord shall judge his people and avenge his
people. What's he talking about there?
He's going to avenge His people. Well, when a person in earnest
openly denies the Son of God, when they bring Him to open shame
by their perfection, I tell you, it affects us. It breaks our
hearts. It puts us in great fear. It throws us for a loop, does
it, Mark? The Lord says, I'm going to get
even for you. Those folks that went out from
among you and caused you so much heartache and denied the Christ
that you believe and spread all these rumors on you, and gossiped
about you to the breaking of your heart, I'm going to judge
them on your behalf. Don't you do anything. You don't
have to say a thing. I'll do it for you. I'll do it
for you. Peter, James and John, I know
what Judas did to you guys. I know how he hurt you. I know
how he brought shame on your little group. I'll get even with
him. I'll avenge you. Don't say anything
about it. I'll get him. I'll get you. I don't know if Paul's fellow
laborer, Demas, ever came back or not. I don't know anything
about that. Demas has forsaken me, having
loved this present evil world. I'll tell you this. I'll tell
you this much. If Demas became an apostate,
to the breaking of Paul's heart. I tell you, somebody's going
to get even with him for it. And that's the Lord. That's the Lord. The Lord will revenge. He'll
avenge His people. God bless His Word. Let's pray.