{"id":19136,"date":"2017-01-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-22T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-045\/"},"modified":"2017-01-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T06:00:00","slug":"soteriology-045","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-045\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 045"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[103],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19136","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-hebrews","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 045","sermon_date":"20170122","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":5072,"sermon_slides":4295,"sermon_mp3":4300,"sermon_id":"122171059585","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":103,"chapter_and_verse":"10:26-39","sermon_transcript":"

Andy Woods<\/p>\nSoteriology 45, Hebrews 10:26-39\n\nJanuary 22, 2017\n\nLet\u2019s go ahead and open with a word of prayer.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for today and we\u2019re grateful for a lot of things, I\u2019m grateful for the cool weather, and I ask that You\u2019ll be with us during this time of study as we try to understand an issue that\u2019s kind of complicated.\u00a0 So I ask that\u00a0 You\u2019ll be with us, I ask that You\u2019ll be with us during our worship service, and I do pray for, plead for the illuminating ministry of the Spirit and if there\u2019s anything not right in us right now, Father, that may be inhibiting our fellowship with you we\u2019re just going to take a couple of moments and privately confess that to you.\u00a0 We\u2019re thankful, Lord, for the promise of 1 John 1:9, that \u201cif we confess our sins You are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness\u201d and we thank You for the fellowship that we have with You, and we claim the promise of the Spirit\u2019s illumination which we need today and every day.\u00a0 We lift these things up in Jesus name, Amen.\n\nIt\u2019s good to see everybody.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you could take your Bibles and open them to Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 26.\u00a0 If you\u2019re visiting for the first time let me let you know what we\u2019re doing; we\u2019re doing a study of the passages that seem to deny eternal security.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve sort of laid out the positive arguments for eternal security, but then we say what about all those difficult passages that seem to go the opposite direction.\u00a0 And there are a ton of them, at least five, in the book of Hebrews.\u00a0 Do you all remember what the book of Hebrews is about?\u00a0 Hebrews.\u00a0 And by the way, if you want your husband to make coffee in the morning quote the book of Hebrews because it says Hebrews and not Shebrews.\u00a0 I\u2019ve acquired these jokes over a great career and I\u2019ve just got them ready to unleash at any time.\u00a0 So that\u2019s your biblical authority.\n\nA.D.\u00a0 70 is around the corner which the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple and so the nation of Israel at this time is under the judgment of God, it just hasn\u2019t been meted out yet.\u00a0 The discipline of God might be a better term.\u00a0 As the church is born, Acts 2, Peter is\u00a0 trying to get, under God\u2019s power, Jews to come out of Judaism and into the new church.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why he says repent, which means change\u00a0 your mind, and save\u00a0 yourself from this perverse generation.\u00a0 And when you did that you went through a ritual called baptism, which the book of Hebrews refers to as their confession because what is baptism but an outward symbol of an inward reality.\u00a0 So baptism doesn\u2019t save anybody but baptism is the confession to the world that you now are identifying with the message of Christ.\u00a0 And the unbelieving Jews didn\u2019t like Jesus doing that so they were always trying to put them under pressure to return to the institutions of Judaism.\n\nAnd the audience had been under this persecution from these unbelieving Jews, these Hebrew Christians, for a long time, several decades and they\u2019re being worn down.\u00a0 At the bottom of the screen I\u2019ve got several verses that indicate the temple was still standing.\u00a0 [Hebrews 8:4, 13; 9:6; 10:1-2; 13:10]\u00a0 So the temptation to return to the temple is very, very real.\u00a0 So the whole book of Hebrews is really an encouragement not to lapse back into Judaism.\u00a0 And the point of it is what you possess now in Christ is the highest revelation.\u00a0 And the author skillfully weaves that together, that point, by showing how Christ is higher than everything Old Testament Jews, or Hebrews revered.\u00a0 So Christ is higher than the angels, Christ is higher than Moses, Christ is even higher than Aaron.\u00a0 And so he\u2019s shown that Jesus is the highest form of revelation because the Jews in the Old Testament received their revelations from angels, God used angels quite a bit in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Christ is higher than Moses so therefore Christ is higher than the what?\u00a0 The Law, which was very revered in Judaism.\u00a0 And then number three, Christ is higher than Aaron, and who did the priesthood come from?\u00a0 Aaron, so in so doing the writer shows that Christ is higher than Aaron.\n\nAnd in the process of making his point many times he\u2019ll interrupt his train of thought and he\u2019ll issue a severe warning.\u00a0 These are what are called the warning passages and this happens five times.\u00a0 So he interrupts his train of thought, he gives a severe warning, if you lapse back into Judaism something bad is going to happen to you, and then when he\u2019s finished with his warning he just goes right back on his point, developing his point.\n\nSo the warning passages, there\u2019s five of them, are the ones that are hotly debated; those are the ones that people\u00a0 use to argue over and over again that you could lose your salvation.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone through the four major ways of interpreting these warning passages and the view that I\u2019m an advocate of is view number 4, which is the loss of blessings view.\u00a0 And what I think he\u2019s saying is if you go back into the institutions of Judaism he\u2019s not saying you\u2019re going to hell, he\u2019s not saying you\u2019ve lost your salvation.\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying is you\u2019re depriving yourself of blessings, the key one being maturity, because the Old Testament can\u2019t bring you to maturity, only the New Testament can.\u00a0 So you\u2019re depriving yourselves of blessings you could have had in your Christian life if you had not drifted backwards.\n\nAnd the paradigm of the whole book is, as we\u2019ve talked about, the Kadesh-barnea incident where the Jews came out of Egypt, they had been there for 400 years, and they got to the southern border of the land of Israel and what did they see in the land?\u00a0 Giants, and they fell into fear.\u00a0 So that whole generation, and I\u2019ve tried to document this, so I\u2019m not trying to prove anything right now I\u2019m just summarizing where we\u2019ve been, that whole generation did not go to hell or else you\u2019d have to say Moses went to hell.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any real sense because Moses is with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.\u00a0 So they did not go to hell, they lost a blessing they could have had, which was the Promised Land, that generation.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why back in Hebrews 3:7-11 you\u2019ll see the writer, towards the beginning of the book, making reference to that generation.\u00a0 God was angry with that generation.\n\n[Hebrews 3:7-11, \u00a0Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, \u2018TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [8] DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, [9] WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me<\/em> BY TESTING Me, AND\u00a0 SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.\u00a0 [10] THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERA\u00adTION, AND SAID, \u2018THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART,\u00a0\u00a0AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS\u2019; [11] AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, \u2018THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo that becomes the paradigm through which to filter the book of Hebrews and to interpret the warning passages.\u00a0 So he\u2019s building a deliberate relationship parallel between the Kadesh-barnea generation and the predicament that the Hebrews are in and he\u2019s saying in both cases if you drift back you forfeit something major, although it doesn\u2019t refer to hell or loss of salvation.\u00a0 So that\u2019s just sort of review and we\u2019ve been looking very carefully at these warning passages and I\u2019ve been trying to show you how to understand these warning passages in light of what I just said.\n\nWe looked last week at the warning against drifting, and then we looked last week at the warning against disobedience, that\u2019s the second warning, I have the Scriptures there where all the warning passages appear, [Hebrews 2:1-4, Hebrews 3:7-4:13, Hebrews 5:10-5:20; Hebrews 10:26-39, Hebrews 12:25-29]\n\nAnd even before we got into this we spent three classes or Sundays looking at the warning against immaturity.\u00a0 We spent some time on that because I believe chapter 6, verses 4-6 of Hebrews is probably the most controversial passage, maybe in the whole Bible.\u00a0 So we spent a lot of time there and we just have two other warning passages to cover, but don\u2019t celebrate yet because they\u2019re not that easy.\u00a0 Chapter 10 is the difficult one.\n\nSo let\u2019s go to Hebrews 10:26-39, let\u2019s take a look at that.\u00a0 I\u2019m just going to read the whole things, there\u2019s about 13-14 verses and then I\u2019ll come back and comment on it.\u00a0 He says, \u201cIf we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, then there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.\u00a0 [27] but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. [28] Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of<\/em> two or three witnesses. [29] How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know Him who said, \u201cVENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.\u201d And again, \u201cTHE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.\u201d [31] It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\u00a0 [32] But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, [33] partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. [34] For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. [35] Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. [37]<\/a> For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.\u00a0 [37] FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.\u00a0 [38] BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.\u00a0 [39] But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.\u201d\n\nSo the Arminians, someone who thinks you can lose your salvation, believes that these verses teach, and you can see why they think this because it talks about a fiery indignation, it talks about it\u2019s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God.\u00a0 So the Arminian basically says these are people who were saved but if they lapsed backward they lost their salvation.\n\nThe Reformed view comes along and basically says the book of Hebrews was written to Christians, that\u2019s true, but in this case the writer targets unbelievers.\u00a0 So there\u2019s some unbelievers in the flock and what he\u2019s saying is it\u2019s a warning that if the unbelievers don\u2019t become believers like the rest of the flock that they\u2019re on their way to hell.\n\nAnd I want to show you another possibility that for whatever reason doesn\u2019t get a lot of air time but I think there\u2019s something very different going on here than threats of hell, loss of salvation, or you never had salvation.\u00a0 The first thing to understand, and we\u2019ve already talked about this, is the audience is believers and as you go through this you\u2019ll see very clearly that the audience clearly has salvation because if you look at verse 26 it says, \u201cFor if\u201d what? \u201cwe go on sinning willfully,\u201d so the author, by using the pronoun \u201cwe\u201d is identifying with the status of his audience.\u00a0 So the author would be saved, right?\u00a0 Would you agree with that.\u00a0 So if the author is saved then the audience must be saved because he keeps saying we, we, we, over and over again.\n\nAnd then as you drop down to verses 19-25 he says, verse 22, \u201cLet us\u201d, verse 24, \u201cLet us\u201d, if you look at verse 19 he uses the word brethren, \u201ctherefore brethren,\u201d these are all terms that are applicable to Christians.\n\n[Hebrews 10:19-25, \u201cTherefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, [21] and since we have<\/em> a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean<\/em> from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; [24] and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, [25] not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another;<\/em> and all the more as you see the day drawing near.\u201d]\n\nHe indicates, down in verse 29, that these people have already been sanctified.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see that at the end of verse 29, they\u2019ve already been sanctified.\u00a0 [Hebrews 10:29, \u201cHow much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?\u201d]\n\nVerse 32 indicates they\u2019ve already been enlightened and enlightened here is salvation, because he goes on and he talks about how they have lasting possessions there in verse 34.\u00a0 And he basically indicates in verse 35 that they\u2019re on track for a great reward in heaven so even though they\u2019re being tempted to lapse backward they haven\u2019t lapsed backward yet.\u00a0 [\u201cHebrews 10:32, \u201cBut remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings\u2026[34] For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.\u201d\u00a0 [35] \u201cTherefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.\u201d]\n\nSo if you just look at this at face value the basic terms he uses seems to be descriptive of believers.\u00a0 And these believers are being tempted to lapse back into the institutions of Judaism for the simple purpose of escaping persecution.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s going on here.\n\nWell if all of that is true, then how in the world would I interpret verse 26; look at verse 26, \u201cFor if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.\u201d\u00a0 Let me give you\u00a0 my shot at this, what I think this is talking about.\u00a0 When Jesus died on the cross, remember the veil in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place?\u00a0 And by the way, it wasn\u2019t a shower curtain; Josephus, a first century Jewish historian tells us it was actually close to a foot, maybe more, thick.\u00a0 So it was a beautifully embroidered veil, and that veil was in existence for 1,500 years, going back to Mosaic tabernacle days.\u00a0 So what happened to that veil the instant Jesus died?\u00a0 It was torn.\u00a0 And you see that in Matthew 27:50-51, you\u00a0 probably know that but it\u2019s always good to read God\u2019s Word, \u201cAnd Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.\u201d\u00a0 The King James says He gave up the ghost, in other words, He died.\u00a0 And then the very next verse says, \u201cAnd behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.\u201d\n\nSo the moment Christ died is this Mosaic system lost its power.\u00a0 This system, the reason God gave it is because it postponed the note of indebtedness for another year, is what it did.\u00a0 It kicked the can down the road for another year.\u00a0 And so Yom Kippur was a very solemn time, when Aaron would enter the Holy of Holies after the sacrifice had been offered, first of all for him, and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, and it\u2019s called the Day of Covering, Yom meaning day, Kippur meaning covering, because it never really alleviated the sin problem, the great debt that separates man from God; it just kicked the can down the road another year.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why the next year they had to do the whole thing all over again.\u00a0 If it permanently solved the problem they wouldn\u2019t have to do it the next year.\n\nSo the moment Jesus died is the moment this system was no longer needed because Christ took care of what?\u00a0 The whole thing and that\u2019s the significance of the miraculous ripping of that veil; the veil was no longer needed.\u00a0 Man, through the shed blood of Christ could now approach God anytime they wanted, as long as they came through Christ, because this system was a good system but it had served its\u00a0 purpose.\u00a0 And what you have to understand about this system is even though it was theologically and spiritually impotent at this point it was still in existence.\u00a0 The Jews continued, the unbelieving Jews continued to offer up sacrifices in the temple right up to the point of time when the temple was destroyed.\u00a0 When was the temple destroyed?\u00a0 70 A.D.\u00a0 Now when was the veil ripped?\u00a0 Probably A.D. 33.\u00a0 So from A.D. 33 to A.D. 70 you\u2019ve got the temple system still functioning, it just didn\u2019t have any power.\u00a0 See that?\n\n \n\nSo this, I think, is the meaning of verse 26.\u00a0 He says if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth,\u00a0 there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,\u201d you\u2019re going back to something that has no power to do anything for you, it\u2019s just an empty husk if you will, just a ritual, it has no power, its days are over and even the power that it had in Old Testament times to kick the can down the road, even that power is now gone.\u00a0 So I think that\u2019s the right way to understand verse 26, \u201cFor if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.\u201d\u00a0 The background I just gave you is what usually isn\u2019t factored in when people interpret this verse.\u00a0 So that would be verse 26.\n\nNow look at verse 27, this is another difficult one, \u201cbut a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.\u201d\u00a0 See that word \u201cfire\u201d and people automatically think hell.\u00a0 And then drop down to verses 30-31 of Hebrews 10, \u201cFor we know Him who said, \u2018VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY. And again, \u2018THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.\u2019\u00a0 [31] It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.\u201d\u00a0 And people automatically, when they see this, interpret it as hell.\n\nLet me give you another option here if I could.\u00a0 I think the meaning is not hell but if you go back to the institutions of Judaism you\u2019re going to be swept away in the fiery ordeal of A.D. 70.\u00a0 We know that Titus of Rome came in A.D. 70 and he set the temple on fire.\u00a0 In fact, the gold, Josephus tells us, melted and oozed down in between the bricks and dried there, and the greedy Roman soldiers, to get their hands on the gold, what did they do to the temple?\u00a0 They took it apart brick by brick, kind of something Jesus said would happen, over in Matthew 24:1-2.\u00a0 [Matthew 24:21, \u201cJesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.\u00a0 [2] And He said to them, \u201cDo you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd what you have to understand about A.D. 70, it was a horrific event; over a million Jews died in A.D. 70.\u00a0 That\u2019s one-sixth of the holocaust that Adolf Hitler introduced.\u00a0 And what Titus did when he came is he built an embankment around the city so that you could not get out, even if you wanted to get out you couldn\u2019t get out, it was too late, and you were going to be killed.\u00a0 And the Roman soldiers, this is Sanctity of Life Sunday so it\u2019s a good time to talk about the unborn, the Roman soldiers, Josephus tells us, tore open the wombs of pregnant Jewish women and strangled the child inside of them.\u00a0 And so it was a terrible thing.\n\nAnd so what he is saying is if you go back to the temple you\u2019re going to be locked into this and maybe you\u2019re going to die and go to heaven but you\u2019re going to be one of the million or so that\u2019s going to be killed, and it\u2019s going to be a fiery indignation and God is using A.D.\u00a0 70, just like He used the Assyrians in the Old Testament, to scatter the northern kingdom, just like He used the Babylonians in the Old Testament to take into captivity the remaining two tribes in the southern kingdom.\u00a0 Those were terrible, terrible times, and difficult times and many people lost their lives but it\u2019s not necessarily a statement about heaven or hell.\u00a0 You can be stuck in this time of intense discipline, die at the hands of Titus but still go to heaven.\u00a0 Follow what I\u2019m getting at.\n\nNow take a look at the predictions of Jesus; go over to Luke 19 if you could; this was on Palm Sunday, Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.\u00a0 I believe He\u2019s riding into Jerusalem on the exact day that Daniel predicted He\u2019d ride into Jerusalem; Daniel 9:25 gives us that.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:25, \u201cSo you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.\u201d]\n\nBut if you look at Luke 19 and if you take a look at verses 41-43 of Luke 19, \u201cWhen He approached Jerusalem,<\/em> He saw the city and wept over it,\u201d and that\u2019s kind of strange, why would He look at Jerusalem and weep?\u00a0 Because He understands what\u2019s happening here.\u00a0 He understands that they are going to reject His Messianic credentials and He understands what Daniel predicted in Daniel 9:26, that He Himself would be cut off and inherit nothing.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:26, \u201cThen after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.\u201d]\u00a0 He would not receive His kingdom, which He should have received back in the first century, and Daniel 9:26 says, \u201cthe people of the prince who is to come\u201d this is Daniel predicting this all the way back in the sixth century, \u201cthe people of the prince will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel is predicting A.D. 70.\u00a0 Jesus, obviously familiar with Daniel\u2019s prophecies is riding into Jerusalem and He knows what Daniel predicted, he knows they are going to reject Him, He knows what\u2019s going to happen as a covenant penalty for their rejection of the Messiah, and He sees A.D. 70 happening almost four decades before it transpired.\u00a0 So He\u2019s weeping; that\u2019s why He\u2019s weeping.\n\nAnd then as you continue to move on in Luke 19 He begins to describe prophetically A.D.\u00a0 70.\u00a0 He said, [42] \u201cIf you had known in this day,\u201d now what day?\u00a0 The day that Daniel predicted He\u2019d ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and proclaim His Messianic credentials, \u201cIf you had known even you, the things which make for peace!\u201d You could have had the kingdom, \u201cBut now they have been hidden from your eyes.\u201d\u00a0 And see, that\u2019s the penalty that Israel is now under because of the rejection of her Messiah.\u00a0 And this is developed many places in the New Testament, Paul, Romans 11, 2 Corinthians 3 and 4, there\u2019s literally a veil, a spiritual veil over the eyes of the Hebrew nation.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that Jews can\u2019t get saved today, many do, but that\u2019s not the majority.\u00a0 The majority of people in the church today are not Hebrews (the majority of people in the church today are Gentiles) because a judicial blinding has been placed over their eyes.\n\nAnd then He says in verse 43, \u201cFor the days will come upon you when your enemies\u201d that would be Rome, \u201cwill throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,\u201d when you study Josephus, this first century historian who documents how these events happened, that\u2019s exactly what Titus did.\u00a0 He put a barricade around the city of Jerusalem.\u00a0 So once he laid siege to it everybody in the region was going to die.\u00a0 There literally was no way out; there was no escape.\u00a0 [44] \u201cand they will level you to the ground\u201d look at this, \u201cand your\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cchildren within you,\u201d that\u2019s talking about what that grizzly practice I mentioned earlier is about, the tearing open of the wombs of the pregnant Jewish women.\n\nBy the way, you notice what it says here, \u201cyour children within you.\u201d\u00a0 Shall I say that again, \u201cyour children within you,\u201d so that means that what\u2019s happening in the womb of the mother is a child. So if you assign any credibility to the Bible, and I think you all do or\u00a0 you wouldn\u2019t be here, your\u00a0 political\u00a0 position automatically becomes prolife.\u00a0 You know, God doesn\u2019t give us an option to choose what political position we want; God has revealed information on this.\u00a0 And I know that\u2019s frustrating because sometimes it\u2019s hard to find candidates that think the way we do.\u00a0 But does that not make sense, if the child within the womb of the mother is a child, doesn\u2019t is stand to reason that there ought to be laws protecting that child?\u00a0 I mean, this is kind of a no-brainer, right; we\u2019ve been debating this in this country for what\u2026 thirty, forty, fifty, however long it\u2019s been, years.\u00a0 And this is why, I don\u2019t mean to get into politics, I\u2019ll try to control myself, this is why the left hates the Bible.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Because the Bible reveals\u2026 that\u2019s why I did that series, The Bible and Voting, not to make you one party or this party or that party, I just wanted people to see that God has spoken on a lot of different subjects.\u00a0 So when Marxists take over societies the first thing they want to do is they want to persecute pastors, they want to push the Bible out of school and these are the things that we\u2019re seeing today.\n\nWe\u2019re to the point now where in a public school a teacher puts their Bible on a desk and that\u2019s illegal in some places.\u00a0 So they\u2019ve taken the establishment clause and perverted it and they\u2019ve perverted it so greatly that it\u2019s destroyed the other side of the First Amendment, the free exercise clause.\u00a0 But there\u2019s a reason why they\u2019re always trying to get rid of the Bible, trash the Bible, illegalize the Bible, because if you think biblically you can\u2019t agree with the left on so many things.\u00a0 All right, end of political sermon.\u00a0 [Luke 19:44] \u201cand they will level you to the ground and your children within you,\u201d and look at this, \u201cand they will not leave in you one stone upon another,\u201d I\u2019ve been to Jerusalem, I\u2019ll give you the pictures sometime, I\u2019ve used them before, that this is literally what happened, the stones were taken apart brick by brick because the Roman soldiers wanted to get their hands on the dry gold that had dried in between the stones. Why, \u201cbecause you\u201d that\u2019s Israel, \u201cdid not recognize the time of your visitation.\u201d\n\nSo when Hebrews 10 is talking about the fiery indignation of God and \u201cIt\u2019s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God,\u201d [Hebrews 10:31] it\u2019s talking about the events of A.D. 70. which was a fiery indignation.\u00a0 It never even mentions hell; it never even says hell, it doesn\u2019t use the words for hell all the way through Hebrews 10.\n\nNow something very interesting happened in church history about this time, just prior to the events of A.D. 70, and we don\u2019t know this from the Scripture, we know it from the writings of Eusebius; Eusebius wrote what\u2019s called ecclesiastical history, and he is considered one of the greatest church historians of the early church.\u00a0 And you can see when he wrote there in the third century and a prophecy of some sort came to the Hebrews Christians that were living in the Jerusalem area and it was a prophecy given to tell them to get out, \u201cget out of Dodge,\u201d you\u2019re going to have to escape to a place called Pella, I\u2019ll show you Pella in just a second, and the reason this prophecy was given is because the Holy Spirit\u2026 if you believe what I\u2019m saying here\u00a0 what Eusebius says the idea is the prophecy indicates Titus is coming, he\u2019s going to build a barricade, you\u2019re not going to be able to escape, if you go back to the temple you probably are going to die in a fiery indignation, although your soul is still in the book of life, you\u2019re going to heaven.\n\nSo a prophecy was given to the Hebrew Christians to leave Jerusalem. So here\u2019s what Eusebius writes and in this day of the internet you can easily find this.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBut the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approve men\u201d in other words, people that the early church acknowledged this as prophets, \u201cthere before the war.\u201d\u00a0 What war?\u00a0 A. D. 70.\u00a0 Actually A.D. 70 and the events of A.D. 70 started as early as A.D. 66, so it\u2019s generally referred to as the war of A.D. 66-70.\u00a0 So sometime before Rome really began to escalate against the nation of Israel this prophecy was given, before the war to do what?\u00a0 To leave the city.\u00a0 What city?\u00a0 Jerusalem.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella,\u201d which is east of the Jordan River, from the point of view of Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd when those that had believed in Christ had come tither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men\u201d in other words, when God\u2019s people got out, \u201cthe judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrageous against Christ and His apostles\u201d speaking of judgment there on unbelieving Israel for their rejection of the Messiah, which is part of the penalties of the Mosaic Covenant, you might remember that we\u2019ve studied, \u201cand totally destroyed the generation of impious men.\u201d\n\nSo this is mentioned by Eusebius and also Epiphanes records the flight of the Christians to Pella.\u00a0 So this prophecy came and said you need to leave because Titus of Rome is coming, he\u2019s going to build this embankment and if you go back to the temple you\u2019re stuck in the fiery indignation of A.D. 70.\u00a0 Where is Pella?\u00a0 Pella was a town situated beyond the Jordan, in the north of Perea, within the dominions of Herod Agrippa II. The surrounding population was chiefly Gentile\u201d\u00a0 And then you see the sources where I got this from, Pliny, Josephus talks a lot about Pella. \u00a0[See Pliny V. 18, and Josephus, B. J.<\/em> III. 3. 3, and I. 4. 8.]\n\nSo what I\u2019m trying to say is that\u2019s how I\u2019m understanding Hebrews 10.\u00a0 Hebrews 10 is a warning of A.D. 70 and I\u2019m connecting the dots with this prophecy that was given around this time telling the Hebrew Christians to leave.\u00a0 And so this whole book is don\u2019t go back to the temple, don\u2019t go back to the temple, don\u2019t go back to the temple because what you have in Christ is superior.\u00a0 But here\u2019s warning after warning after warning telling them what will happen to them if they do go back to the temple, not speaking of hell but loss of some kind of temporal blessing.\u00a0 And right in the mix he adds, by the way, if you go back to the temple you\u2019re going to be locked in and there\u2019s going to be a fiery indignation and I think he is making a prediction here about the events of A.D. 70.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a statement that oh no, you\u2019re going to lose your salvation and go to hell.\u00a0 So it\u2019s talking about the temporal discipline of God which in some cases can cause one to forfeit their life, although the soul is still saved.\n\nAnd then as you go down to verse 28and 29 he says, \u201cAnyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.\u00a0 [29] How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has\u201d and he names some sins here, \u201ctrampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?\u201d\n\nNow do you remember the argument that\u2019s being used here all the way through Hebrews?\u00a0 It\u2019s called a what in Latin?\u00a0 A fortiori<\/em> argument which is an argument from the lesser to the greater, and he uses that style of argumentation all the way through the book.\u00a0 And what he\u2019s saying is if violating the Mosaic Code brought death, and someone saw you committing a capital crime\u00a0 you could be put to death on the authority of two to three witnesses.\u00a0 By the way, that\u2019s Deuteronomy 17:4-7 if you\u2019re interested.\n\n[Deuteronomy 17:4-7, \u201cand if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. Behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, [5] then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed to your gates, that is,<\/em> the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death. [6] On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. [7] The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.\u201d]\n\nHow much more could the Hebrews expect to be swept away in A.D. 70 for departing from, not the incomplete revelation of Christ but the full revelation.\u00a0 In other words, if God punished people for violating His revelation in the Old Testament, which was incomplete, now that you have the complete package how do you think you can escape the disciplinary hand of God if you apostacize from the complete revelation, or the full revelation of Christ. So you\u2019re going to be stuck, A.D. 70 is going to happen, and you could forfeit your life, which is very severe, but the \u201chell\u201d does not necessarily refer to the fires of hell.\u00a0 A person can die in A.D. 70 and their soul can still go to heaven.\n\nAnd by the way, if you capitulate to persecution and reject your baptism and go back to Judaism what, in essence, have you done?\u00a0 You have, number 1, trampled underfoot the Son of God.\u00a0 You have, number 2, regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which you\u2019ve already been sanctified.\u00a0 And you have, number 3, insulted the spirit of grace.\n\nSo the very act of publicly going backwards into Judaism is akin to number 1, trampling the Son of God underfoot.\u00a0 Number 2, treating the blood of the New Covenant as a common thing, just acting like it\u2019s no big deal.\u00a0 And number 3, insulting the spirit of grace.\u00a0 Now why the harsh terminology?\u00a0 Because you are publicly identifying with the nation that rejected Jesus.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Your baptism, you\u2019re saved by faith but your baptism was a public statement that Israel was wrong for rejecting Christ and the church is right.\u00a0 Now you\u2019re being persecuted to come back to Judaism; you\u2019re being tempted to do it.\u00a0 And when you do that you\u2019re making a public statement, whether you recognize it or not.\u00a0 This is why the unbelieving Jews pressured these people to come back.\u00a0 You\u2019re publicly saying that Israel was right in what they did and the church was wrong.\n\nThe greatest sham of justice judicially in the history of the legal system, in my opinion, we talk about sham trials today, kangaroo courts, I mean, the whole trials, particularly the Jewish trials of Jesus were a total joke.\u00a0 They broke every rule in the book.\u00a0 And if they didn\u2019t break what was in the Old Testament, which they did, they broke all their traditions.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve been teaching on that here.\n\nAnd so if you go back into that system\u00a0 you may be saved and you may be going to heaven but you are making a public statement that Israel had it right and the church has it wrong.\u00a0 And is it not possible for the New Testament Christians to grieve the Spirit?\u00a0 I mean, we\u2019re told not to do that, right, in Ephesians 4.\u00a0 [Ephesians 4:30, \u201cDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.\u201d]\n\nSo if a Christian can grieve the Spirit a Christian, through his public actions or her public actions can insult the Spirit and you\u2019re just treating the precious blood of Christ as if it\u2019s just some common things.\u00a0 That\u2019s what your actions\u2026 what\u2019s the saying, \u201cactions are louder than words.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what your actions communicate.\u00a0 So he reminds them that they don\u2019t have to do this because he says you\u2019ve been under persecution before and you\u2019ve stayed with the truth, verses 32-36, and also verse 29.\n\nAnd then he gives an exhortation from the book of Habakkuk.\u00a0 Do you guys know there\u2019s a prophet in\u00a0 your Bible called Habakkuk?\u00a0 How many of\u00a0 you did your devotional reading this morning out of Habakkuk?\u00a0 Richard did, his hand was up.\u00a0 He quotes here Habakkuk which says, \u201cFor in a very little while He who is coming will come and will not delay, [38] but my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in him.\u201d\u00a0 So Habakkuk is a prophet that prophesied just prior to the Babylonian deportation.\u00a0 It was a done deal, Israel was going to go into captivity and so God raised up Habakkuk to tell the Hebrews that are going through this difficult time that the just, as it says, shall be saved by faith?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that does it, \u201cshall live by faith.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a done deal, you\u2019re going through troubled times so you\u2019ve got to just keep trusting Me on this.\u00a0 This is what God is saying.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Habakkuk is quoted here, because you\u2019re being pressured to go back to Judaism but you need to just trust the Lord and not do it, so that you don\u2019t forfeit blessings and you\u2019re not swept away through the events of AD 70.\n\nJust so you people don\u2019t think I\u2019m completely insane I want to show you, I won\u2019t read the whole thing, there\u2019s three slides here, but Arnold Fruchtenbaum holds the exact same view.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t say he holds my view but I think I hold his view.\u00a0 But you can read through these quotes on your own, it\u2019s from his Israelology, but he says: \u201cThe nature of the judgment is threefold: physical death (10:28\u201329);\u201d look at this, \u201cthe A.D. 70 judgment being the time of death (10:25, 27); and the loss of rewards.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s not interpreting this the way a Calvinist would interpret it, these are unsaved people.\u00a0 He\u2019s not interpreting it the way an Arminian would interpret it, these are people that lost their salvation.\u00a0 He\u2019s interpreting it as a temporal judgment which doesn\u2019t send a soul to hell but it can be very severe, and I\u2019ve already described the severity of A.D. 70.\u00a0 So all of this to say this is not a loss of salvation passage, Hebrews 10, although it\u2019s typically interpreted that way.\n\nNow let me show you one more baby passage, little passage, and I can do this fast and then we\u2019ll stop.\u00a0 Look at the last warning passage, Hebrews 12:25-29 this is the last warning so we\u2019ve gone through every warning passage.\u00a0 This is the warning against denying the truth.\u00a0 It says: \u201cSee to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them<\/em> on earth, much less will<\/em> we escape<\/em> who turn away from Him who warns<\/em> from heaven. [26] And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, \u201cYET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.\u201d [27] This expression,<\/em> \u2018Yet once more,\u2019 denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. [28] Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; [29] for our God is a consuming fire.\u201d\n\nIn verse 25 you see again the a fortiori <\/em>argument from the lesser to the greater, when he says, \u201cSee to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them<\/em> on earth, much less will<\/em> we escape<\/em>\u201d so if those that had the Mosaic earthly voice did not escape judgment\u2026 in the Old Testament did not God deal very severely with those who heard His earthly voice?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got Aaron there building the golden calf, in fact, he claimed he never built it, I just threw all this metal in the fire and this calf popped out you know\u2026 [Andy laughs] kind of like these kids, I used to be an associate teacher and I watched this kid, on a field trip take a Frisbee and throw it in a lake, I was an eyewitness, I saw it happen but he didn\u2019t see me looking at him, and\u00a0 I went and confronted this kid, I said hey, what happened to the Frisbee and honest to God, this is what this kid said, he says \u201cthe lake took it.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s kind of how we are, we never want to take responsibility for our actions.\u00a0 So I threw this metal into the fire and this golden calf popped out kind of thing.\n\nAnd God almost wiped out everybody in the nation because of that, except for Moses.\u00a0 And had it not been for Moses interceding the whole nation would have been destroyed, other than Moses and God would have just started all over again, which God is pretty good at doing, isn\u2019t He?\u00a0 He\u2019s good at getting rid of one generation and starting over with just some faithful people.\u00a0 So if those that had the Mosaic earthly voice did not escape his judgment, how much more would the Hebrews escape the discipline hand of God.\u00a0 This has to be divine discipline because what does Hebrews 12:5-13 say?\u00a0 \u201cWhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cchastens.\u201d\u00a0 This is not a hell context, this is a discipline context.\n\n[Hebrews 12:5-13, \u201cand you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, \u201cMY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, \u00a0NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; [6] FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.\u201d\u00a0 [7] It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his<\/em> father does not discipline? [8] But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [9] Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us<\/em> for our<\/em> good, so that we may share His holiness. [11] All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.\u00a0 [12] Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, [13] and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb<\/em> which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.\u201d]\n\nSo if the Hebrews never escaped God\u2019s disciplinary hand by rebelling against a partial revelation, if you reject the full revelation how in the world do you think, as a Hebrew Christian that you\u2019re going to escape the disciplinary hand of God.\n\nNow you go down to verses 26, 27, 29 and this is where people think again this is talking about hell.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, \u201cYET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.\u201d [27] This expression,<\/em> \u2018Yet once more,\u2019 denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. And then down in verse 29, \u201cfor our God is a consuming fire.\u201d\n\nI\u2019m interpreting those verses the same way I interpreted Hebrews 10.\u00a0 I believe this is not speaking of hell; I believe this is speaking of A.D. 70 and what he is saying is the very thing that you are retreating back into, which is the temple.\u00a0 And what you have to understand about the Jewish mind is they never thought the temple would ever be destroyed.\u00a0 Even the first temple that Solomon built they never envisioned a day that it would be destroyed, and it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 And then under the days of Ezra, when they returned into the land and rebuilt the temple and it became beautified, they never thought it would be destroyed, and yet what is being predicted here is the very thing that you think is your good luck charm, the very thing that you think is your security blanket, is about to be wiped out.\u00a0 And I think he\u2019s alluding to the prophecies that Jesus made, where the temple is going to be torn apart brick by brick in a fiery indignation.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why he quotes Deuteronomy 4:25 and Haggai 2:6, he\u2019s applying those verses that really speak of end time judgment to the shaking that God is going to allow to happen with the destruction of the temple.\n\nBy contrast what are the Hebrews going to receive?\u00a0 \u201cTherefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be\u201d what? \u201cshaken.\u201d\u00a0 Why are you going back to that old system that\u2019s first of all defunct and can\u2019t do anything for you, and secondly it\u2019s about to be destroyed.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you understand that you are an inheritors of a coming kingdom that Daniel spoke of, with \u201cthe stone cut without human hands,\u201d remember Daniel 2, which strikes the feet of the statue and destroys the kingdoms of man, and grows and grows and grows to fulfill the earth? \u00a0Why are you going back to this system that\u2019s about to be wiped out within your lifetime?\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you live for what you have, which is the fact that you are inheritors of a coming kingdom.\n\nSo once again I\u2019ve just given you an interpretation of this, it has nothing to do with loss of salvation or hell.\u00a0 And you know, people are like this, they have their good luck charms.\u00a0 I remember when I used to be a courier, one time I got in a guy\u2019s car for whatever reason, he had to take me somewhere, and he had, at the front of the car, those fuzzy gambling dice from Vegas, he had them hanging from his front mirror.\u00a0 And then I looked in the back of the car and he had a statue of the virgin Mary, and I finally said to this guy, do these two contradict or what?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve got gambling under the mirror and you\u2019ve got the virgin Mary in the back.\u00a0 And he said well, I just want to have both ends covered, I\u2019ve got the gambling side covered and if I need religion I\u2019ve got that covered too.\n\nSo people are like that, they have these good luck charms and that\u2019s what Israel was with the temple, it\u2019s like a good luck charm.\u00a0 And so the Jews were always tempted to go back to it and the author of Hebrews is saying the whole thing is about ready to be wiped out. Isn\u2019t it foolish to build your hope on these silly good luck charms in the car when you have an unshakeable kingdom that you\u2019re an inheritor of? \u00a0So he\u2019s just trying to get them to see the foolishness of their decisions.\n\nSo, we finished Hebrews, the warning passages, and I\u2019ve tried to show you that that book does not deny eternal security and we\u2019ll be finishing this series I think, pretty quick.\u00a0 Of course I said that three months ago, but we just have a few more verses to cover in the general epistles.\u00a0 Okay, I\u2019ll stop talking at this point.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t