Good afternoon. Take your Bibles if you
will and open them to the book Hebrews.
The Hebrew writer is going to write
to primarily Jewish Christians,
to those who had been in the faith for
some time.
They had gone through a number of things
as they
had been pushed back upon by their own
nation.
They had been pushed out of the synagogue
in some circumstances.
Some scenarios they had faced persecution
from their own brethren,
and yet in the midst of all of this,
they are considering going backwards.
They are considering returning to the law
of Moses.
If you turn over to Hebrews chapter 5,
you learn a little bit about these
individuals in that they’re not new
Christians.
In Hebrews chapter 5 and in verse 12,
the Hebrew writer writes, For though by
this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you again the
first principles of the oracles of God,
and you have come to need milk and not
solid food.
As the Hebrew writer writes to these
Christians,
he’s writing to a group of people,
at least predominantly,
Who are not novices. They’re not brand new
in their Christian walk.
And yet, he says, you’re acting like you
are.
You’re acting like your babes.
You are behaving and you are in your own
spiritual walk,
those who are immature in Christ.
But notice, the Hebrew writer will point
out,
this isn’t because they hadn’t been
taught.
This isn’t because they were in a scenario
where there was no opportunity
for them to grow. This was because of a
lack
of decision making and action on their own
part.
Verse 13 for everyone who partakes only of
milk is unskilled in
the word of righteousness, for he is a
babe.
But solid food belongs to those who are of
full age.
That is
Those who, by reason of use,
have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil.
The Hebrew writer, as he writes to these
Christians,
says: the reason why you aren’t mature is
because you haven’t used your senses.
Because you haven’t used the revelation of
God to build yourself up.
As we look at our lives.
And we look at the decisions that we make.
The fact of the matter is we choose where
we are spiritually.
Now, when a f person is first converted,
they don’t. They’re in a natural state.
Their natural state is most likely that of
being a novice in
the scripture because they’ve just now
been acquainted with it to be able
to be converted by it, to be able to.
be right in the eyes of God, and as a
result of that,
they are still novices.
But the Hebrew writer points out that
these Christians have become
satisfied with being novices.
He says, as we just read in verse 13,
for everyone who partakes only of milk.
Now it’s it’s in the analogy, right?
A baby partakes only of milk. But it’s
also in this text a choice.
They have chosen to stick with the basics
only.
They have chosen to focus so entirely on
the basics that they haven’t consumed
anything else. They’ve never determined to
move beyond infancy.
They would ask,
as it were, to their teachers,
no, no, just give us the easy things.
Just give us the basic things.
Don’t challenge us. Don’t push us.
Don’t force us to become more than we are.
Let us stay right where we are.
One of the things that the Hebrew writer
confronts in Christians in his
day and time is a satisfaction with
a spiritual state of being ignorant.
As we think about our lives,
as we think about our choices,
whether in the body of Christ or outside
the body of Christ,
whether someone who is in fellowship with
God or someone who’s outside
of fellowship with God.
Whether someone who is a Christian who has
just become a Christian or
one who’s been a Christian for many years,
we all make a choice whether we will
improve from
our current position or stay in our
current position.
We all choose wha how we will handle the
Word of God.
Turn over, if you will, to 2 Timothy
chapter 2,
and notice what Paul
Writes to Timothy. Now Timothy was one who
was a young man,
yes. He was one who was faithful and had
been taught the scriptures from infancy,
yes. But in 2 Timothy chapter 2,
as Timothy is going through hardship,
he is described by Paul at being as being
almost on the brink of tears because
~ and despair, because of the hardships
he’s going in,
and he’s suffering the hardships of
Not primarily from the world, he’s
suffering them from the church.
But he is told by Paul in Titus or sorry,
Second Timothy chapter two, verse 10.
Therefore I endure all things for the sake
of the elect,
that they also may obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal
glory.
This is a faithful saying.
For if we died with him, we shall also
live with him.
If we endure, we shall also reign with
him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
If we are faithless, he remains faithful.
He cannot deny himself. Remind them,
Paul says. Remind the people who you
teach,
Timothy. Remind them.
These things, charging them before the
Lord,
not to strive about words to no profit,
to the ruin of the hearers, be diligent to
present yourselves approved
to God, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
Paul tells Timothy, You have a choice.
You have a choice how you stand before
God.
You have a choice to stand before God as
an approved worker,
or you have a choice to stand before God
as someone who has failed
in the basic function of working in the
body of Christ.
Now, as we go back to the book of Hebrews,
the Hebrew writer also points out that
the situation that the Hebrew Christians
are in.
is not because they’ve never been put to
the test.
It is not the situation that they’ve never
had to endure anything hard.
You know, sometimes, especially if you’ve
worked with people when they’re young
in age, when they’re just growing up,
when they’re just getting out of those
late teenage years,
you get one a few of these people and and
they’ve never had to do anything hard.
They’ve been coddled pretty much their
entire life.
And they get out into the workforce and
it’s quite apparent they don’t know
how to do anything. If you ask them to
clean the bathroom,
they wouldn’t know how. If you ask them to
make a meal,
they wouldn’t know how. It’s been done for
them their entire life.
The Hebrew writer is writing these
Christians,
and he’s not saying, I know you’ve never
done anything,
I know you’ve never exerted yourself,
I know you’ve never suffered, I know
you’re in this state of of infancy.
He says, No. Turn to Hebrews chapter ten.
In Hebrews chapter 10, he writes to them,
beginning in verse 32, he says,
But recall the former days in which after
you were illuminated,
that is, after you came to a knowledge of
the truth,
after, as it were, the light of the word
of God shone in your life
and you became obedient to it.
He says, After you were illuminated,
you endured a great struggle.
with sufferings. The Hebrew writer,
as he writes these Christians,
says, I know what you’ve been through.
But here’s the key. They went through
those things when they were infants.
They went through those things when they
were novices.
They went through those things when they
were new Christians,
when they were on fire for Christ,
when they had a zeal for Christ.
Notice what he says. He says, partly.
While you were made a spectacle,
both by reproaches and tribulations,
and partly while you became companions of
those who were so treated.
He points out that in the former days,
in the earlier times of their Christian
walk,
they not only suffered persecution,
they were willing to walk alongside those
who were suffering persecution.
He says, For you had compassion on me and
my chains,
and joyfully accepted the plundering of
your goods,
knowing that you have a better and an
enduring possession for yourselves in
heaven.
Therefore, do not cast away your
confidence,
which has great reward. The Hebrew writer
writes
to them and he says, I know what you’ve
been through in the past,
because you went through it with me.
You helped me. You sent your funds to help
me as I was being persecuted,
as I was in chains, and now you’re
considering turning your back
on your faith?
You see, they had gone through hardship,
but they had gone through it when they
were young and zealous
and had bunches of strength to be able to
endure,
and now they’ve become complacent.
He says, Verse thirty five, Therefore do
not cast away your confidence,
which has great reward, for you have need
of endurance.
So that after you have done the will of
God you may receive the promise
for yet a little while, and he who is
coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith,
but if any one draws back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him.
As the Hebrew writer here
Brings to mind the things that Habakkuk
was told.
The things that he was told when God says,
Listen, I’m gonna bring the Chaldean
nation against my people,
but don’t worry, I know who belongs to me.
I know who are mine. The just shall live
by faith.
And I’m coming, and I’m going to judge,
and I’m going to deal with your enemies,
but you be faithful. The Hebrew writer
says,
You listen, you have need of endurance.
Because the immediacy of the problem is
not your persecution.
It’s not the people who are against you.
It’s your own state of mind.
One of the greatest struggles,
as identified by Brother Franklin Camp in
the church,
in any generation, isn’t persecution.
It isn’t the difficulties within the body
of Christ by way
of contentions or arguments. It’s apathy.
It is being in a state of being complacent
and no longer having the zeal.
That we had when we were younger,
no longer having the desire to endure hard
things for
the cause of Christ. The Hebrew writer
writes,
verse 39, but we. One of the things you’ll
notice in the book of Hebrews
is the Hebrew writer will talk about them,
talk about them, talk about them.
But every time he turns it around and says
something about what they’re about to do,
he includes himself in it.
As if it is a forethought that they are
going to follow his example.
They’re gonna do what he’s gonna do.
Over and over in the book, he’ll say,
Let us, let us, let us, let us,
as if, here’s my plans, here’s what I’m
doing.
Come on, let’s go. Brings to mind,
in my mind, at least, the end of the book
of Joshua,
where Joshua will say to the people,
Choose you this day whom you will serve.
But as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord.
The Hebrew writer says, but we are not of
those who draw back to perdition,
but of those who believe to the saving of
the soul.
The Hebrew writer says, I know what camp
I’m in.
And I know what camp you’re going to be
in.
There are times in life
Where we have to help people make
decisions.
I’ve seen this with missionaries,
I’ve seen this with elders, I’ve seen it
with preachers.
Where they’ll take somebody who’s kind of
waffling on something,
the idea of doing something in the kingdom
is in their mind,
but they just can’t make a decision,
and they’ll walk up to them and say,
Brother so-and-so, here’s what you’re
gonna do.
And that person will go, okay,
let’s go. They couldn’t make the decision,
but they could do the action. As soon as
someone presented them with
an already determined decision.
They were indecisive, but they were not
uncommitted.
And so the Hebrew writer says,
Listen, you need endurance, and here’s
what we’re going to do we’re
not going to draw back to perdition.
We are going to move forward. We are going
to believe to the saving of the soul.
But then consider as well that the
placement of this book
is likely before the fall of Jerusalem.
It’s during the period of the church.
It’s after the church has been established
for some consigant period of time.
But it’s not yet at the point where
Jerusalem has fallen.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 8.
In Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 1,
we read, now this is the main point of the
thing we are saying.
We have such a high priest who is seated
at the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens.
As the Hebrew writer has written to them
about the high priest,
about Melchizedek, about this idea of a
king and priest.
He says, We have one of those.
And he’s sitting or serving at the right
hand of God.
But then he says, a minister of the
sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which
the Lord erected and not man. The Hebrew
writer says,
Let me tell you where our high priest
serves.
Our high priest is in heaven. Our high
priest is in the tabernacle,
not the tabernacle made by hands,
but the tabernacle of God. And he is
seated at the right hand of
the throne of God. But he goes on to say,
For every high priest is appointed to
offer gifts and sacrifices.
Therefore it is necessary that this one
also have something to offer.
For if he were on earth, he would not be a
priest,
since there are priests, and notice the
phraseology,
who offer present tense, the gifts
according to the law.
As the Hebrew writer is writing this book,
the the fall of Jerusalem has not come
yet.
The temple has not been destroyed yet.
The priests are still there. The Jewish
priests are still making offerings.
They’re still offering these sacrifices
every day in Jerusalem.
And the Hebrew writer says listen,
if our high priest was a high priest under
the law of Moses,
he wouldn’t even be able to go up on the
altar.
He wouldn’t be able to offer those
sacrifices,
but the priests are offering them right
now.
As the Hebrew writer writes to these
Christians,
they’re facing the difficulty of the fact
that they still
have a choice. Consider that for a moment.
Sometimes when a person has no choice at
all,
they’re not given an option, they just
move forward and serve.
But when they’re given a choice,
when there’s an alternative, there’s a war
going on in their mind
as to what decision to make. These Hebrew
brethren were at a point where they’re
in a war in their own mind. Do I continue
to follow Christ with all
the things that are going on, with all the
hardships,
with all the things that are involved in
my nation?
In the situation where I’m set apart from
my nation,
where I’ve been kicked out essentially of
Jewish society?
Do I continue to serve Jesus?
Or do just go back to Moses? It’s easy
enough that the temple’s still here.
The priests are still offering sacrifices.
Surely it would be okay for me to just go
back to Moses
and to the law and to the priesthood and
to the temple.
And the Hebrew writer says, No.
Not only is it not alright,
this is what would happen if you do.
Turn back to chapter ten.
He says, therefore, brethren, verse 19,
having boldness to enter the holiest by
the blood of Jesus.
He establishes that their current
spiritual condition
is a state of being holy,
washed in the blood of Jesus Christ,
and that because of that holiness,
they are holy and they are able to enter
the presence of God.
Notice what he says.
He says, by a new and living way,
which he consecrated for us through the
veil,
that is his flesh. The Hebrew writer says,
you can approach God. You can go into the
holiest.
The phraseology here means the holiest of
holies.
In the old tabernacle, when God gave the
tabernacle and told them how to build it,
there was the holy place.
At the outer portion of the tabernacle,
when the when the person went in,
the priest went into the holy place,
they entered into the tabernacle,
the very first room they entered into was
the holy place.
And then there was a veil right in front
of them.
And beyond the veil was the holiest of
holies.
They couldn’t go in there except once a
year,
and only the high priest could go.
So nobody from the tribe of Judah could go
in.
Nobody from the tribe of Naphtali could
even enter the holy place,
let alone the holiest of holies.
And yet the Hebrew writer says,
Jesus Christ consecrated and made possible
a path
for you to boldly enter the holiest,
the holy of holies, by his blood,
by his flesh. And then he says,
having a high priest over the house of
God,
let us draw near.
With a true heart, in full assurance of
faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. He says, You’ve gone through the
process of salvation.
You’ve gone through the process like the
high priest of old would have done
on the Day of Atonement. He would have
gone through that brazen labor before
he ever was able to enter into the
tabernacle,
before he was ever to go into the holy
place,
before he could ever enter in through the
veil.
He had to first be washed.
And the Hebrew writer says that’s happened
to you.
You’ve been washed,
you’ve been consecrated, you’ve had your
evil conscience cleansed.
He says, Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering,
for he who promised is faithful.
As they’re considering the direction
they’ll go,
as they’re considering whether to stay
with Christ or whether to return to Moses,
the Hebrew writer says, Don’t you waver.
You made a decision, and you have access
to the holiest.
You have access to something you never had
in the Old Testament.
You never had through Moses.
But then he says, and let us consider one
another in order to stir up love
and good works, not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together as
the manner is is of some, but exhorting
one another and so much the more
as you see the day approaching.
I firmly believe because of the Hebrew
context,
because of the context of the entire book,
that the Hebrew writer is saying,
Listen, there was a day that Jesus told us
was coming.
In Matthew chapter 24,
Jesus told us about a day where the temple
would be destroyed
and not one stone would be left upon
another.
And as Hebrew brethren, you need to exhort
one another to be faithful.
You need to make sure no one gets caught
up in iniquity.
You need to be focused on remaining in the
assembly of the body
of Christ and remaining faithful and
steadfast because the day of the demise
of the Jewish nation is at hand.
He says, verse 26, but if we sin
willfully,
after we’ve received the knowledge of the
truth,
there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins.
See, Their mindset was, you know what?
Well, Under the old law, we could offer
these sacrifices,
we could offer blood the blood of bulls
and goats,
we we could offer atonement for our sins,
and God accepted it in under the old law.
Can we not just go back?
Will God not now accept it again?
If we just turn back from Christianity and
go back to the law of God,
I mean God gave the law. Surely we can go
back to what God gave.
We’re not asking to go off into paganism.
We’re not wanting to go off into man-made
doctrines.
We just want to go back to what God gave
that we’ve always had.
And the Hebrew writer says, no.
Because If we sin willfully after we’ve
come to a knowledge of the truth,
there is no sacrifice for sins.
There’s only been one, and it’s Christ.
He goes on to say but a certain fearful
expectation
of judgment and fiery indignation that
will devour the adversaries.
Anyone who rejected Moses’ law dies
without mercy on the testimony of
two or three witnesses.
Of how much worse punishment do you
suppose will he be thought worthy
who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?
The Hebrew writer asked them if they would
think back
to the judgment that was given in the Old
Testament,
in the law of Moses. What happened to the
individual,
for instance, under the law of Moses,
as the law had been given, the ordinances
had been given,
and then there was the man who determined
to go out and pick up sticks
on the Sabbath day.
As if he were to shake his fist at God and
say,
You know what? I don’t care that you said
we weren’t to work on the Sabbath day.
I’m going to do it anyway.
He was observed, he was found,
he was taken, he was brought under
custody,
and it was questioned of Moses,
what are we to do? For he has violated the
Sabbath,
what does the law say we’re to do?
And so Moses goes to the Lord and inquires
what it is that they are to do.
And the punishment was death.
The man suffered the punishment under two
or three witnesses because he had rebelled
against God.
And the Hebrew writer says, think back.
What was the punishment when someone
rebelled against the law of Moses?
It was death. How much.
How much worse do you think it’s gonna be
if you take the very Son of
God and the blood that He offered for you
and you walk on it as
if it means nothing? He says,
Of how much worse punishment do you
suppose will he be thought worthy
who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,
counted the blood of the covenant by which
he was sanctified a common thing,
and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, Vengeance is
mine,
I will repay, says the Lord, and again the
Lord will judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of a living God.
You say in your mind it ought to be okay,
God gave the law to begin with.
In your mind you can’t see a problem with
it.
