In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij looks at Hebrews 6:1-8 and 10:25-31 to warn against the serious sin of apostasy, abandoning Christ and Christ’s truth. Pastor Babij explains how refusing to mature spiritually and abandoning the local assembly are fearful signposts on the way ultimately to despising the triune God and the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, leaving nothing to an apostate person except the terrible judgment of God.
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okay this morning we’ll be looking in the word of God at in the Epistle of Hebrews first in chapter 6 and then in chapter 10 and so if you are unfamiliar with the word of God or you are just using the Pew Bible it’s on page 1,99 and then also page 1,23 now today um is a little different today in my preaching because um really I’m looking at the passages in Hebrews that warn us as Christians uh warn us of the most serious sin there could be and that’s the sin of apostasy I remember reading a practical theology paper written by a a former professor of practical Theology and it was a helpful paper because he was trying to categorize the spirital the spiritual conditions of unbelievers as um he tried to assess their level of spiritual blindness he came up with five basic categories of unbeliever unbel Believers the first one he called the conscious unbeliever and the conscious unbeliever is aware that he’s not a Christian uh now that person could be blantantly immoral uh or it could be someone who is has seriously well-conceived objections to the Christian faith or could be just someone belonging to an organized religion or a cult or a denomination with serious mistaken Doctrine the second category is the non-church nominal Christian he calls it and that person has belief in basic Christian doctrine but with no or remote Church connection and is not regenerated not born again and then the third one is the church the nominal Christian this person participates in church but is not regenerated they are considered to be possibly a semi-active moralist respectfully moral whose religion is without Assurance uh but just a matter of Duty or it could be someone who’s actively self-righteous very committed and involved in the church but Assurance of Salvation is only based on good works and then fourthly there is the awakened sinner stirred and convicted over his sin but without gospel peace yet curious stirred up mainly by intellectual questions and diligent study convicted with false peace without understanding the gospel and has been told if you walk an aisle or pray a prayer or do something that that person is now right with God and then there’s the last one and that’s the apostate and the the apostate once devoted and active in the Church of God but who has repudiated the faith Without Regrets that there is a person like that and Hebrews addresses that person I want to look at that this morning because the spirit of apostasy is blowing through America and at this present time scripture affirms that in the last days we will experience spiritual difficult times and we are living in those times which some are referring to as convergent eschatological times which means that in the end times things globally not just locally will start lining up prophetically and take place in Rapid succession so the church should be able to really to discern those times and seasons and and prepare for what is already at our doorsteps as Paul told Timothy But realize this in the last days difficult times will will come and why do those difficult times come because men will be lovers of self lovers of money boastful arrogant revilers disob obedient to parents ungrateful Unholy unloving irreconcilable malicious gossips without self-control brutal haters of good treacherous Reckless conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God it doesn’t say though in th those scriptures that people won’t be religious people will be very religious they will appear to be connected to God as part of the church however they will have denied its power and Paul even said that to Timothy holding a form of godliness although they have deny its power avoid such men as these of course someone who denies the power means they don’t have the power of the spirit of God living in them to actually carry out what the Bible says so these difficult times will bring with it many false apostate teachers 1 John chapter 2: 18 says children it is the last hour and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have appeared from this we know that it is the last hour so what these false apostate teachers on the scene there will be people leaving the truth for what is false which they will think is the truth even what Paul again says in Timothy but the spirit explicitly says that in the latter time some will fall away from the faith that means the faith the body of Doctrine delivered to the church they will follow fall away from that and what will they do they will pay attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons and believe me demons are right there if you want to start questioning the truth of the word of God and start moving away from it with your own ideas and opinions he’s right there to provide whatever you want that’s that’s exactly where he begins to deceive so but there is a difference between a backslider and an apostate and here’s the comparison a backslider is genuinely saved but gets away from the Lord from a while for a while in that time of being away from the lord they’re usually very miserable in their worldly environment and so the Lord will either bring them back by discipline or in some cases premature death an apostate though despite a profession of faith has never been saved so if he or she leaves the truth the Church the true church they have nothing in their desires to turn them back so the solution and remedy for the backslider would be to return repent resolve to walk pray and to be diligent to advance in godliness and in Holiness but the apostate tree there’s no way this tree could be connected to any soil in which it is able to produce Life John chapter 15 as the branches cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine so neither can you unless you abide in me so a person who is a real Christian is connected connected to Christ and so that lifegiving uh by the the truth coming to us is given to us that we’re able to not only receive the truth but actually do the truth definition of of apostasy in Webster’s new world dictionary defines it as this apostasy as an abandoning of what one has believed in as a faith a cause or principles so apostasy is to fall away from the recognition and submission to fundamental fundamental biblical truths and principles it assumes that a person has been in a practice and mindset which has departed a falling away from the principles of a revealed religion as found in the word of God and God hates when people turn away from the light and privileges that come to mankind whether it is the light of God’s General Revelation or the the light of God’s special Revelation what false teachers introduced is not healthy but their teaching aims at denying essential doctrines like the Trinity and the deity of Christ the Virgin birth the substitutionary atonement the resurrection and the return of Christ false teachers slander the way of Truth as it says in second Peter and because of them the way of Truth is maligned that means the way of Truth is synonymous with the word of God and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ specific truth leads to True faith in Christ and it also leads to Godly living you cannot separate the two you can’t believe in Christ and live ungodly they go together they’re a package that comes to us by the spirit of God false teachers actually abandon the gospel message so if God detests the apostasy from General Revelation in which God gives people over to the lust of their hearts leading to the destruction of the body as recorded in Romans 1 how much more does God uphor the Turning Away from special Revelation not merely turning away from the light of creation stamped upon the consciousness of people made in the image of God but turning from the light of the word of God brought to Men by prophets when they lived and by Apostles when they live all led by the holy spirit of God so apostasy is serious the turning of one’s back on God’s special revealed truth what happens to those who turn from God’s special Revelation what are they left with if they turn from what is true I believe we get a example from the Prophet Jeremiah and I’d like you to turn there Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 11-13 because there Jeremiah kind of shows us even in the Old Testament people apostasies from God’s special word to them and notice what it says in Jeremiah chapter 2: 11 it says in verse 11 has a nation changed Gods when they were not gods question before I read the rest of it the idolatrous Nations around Israel were more more faithful to their false gods than Israel had been to the true God of the universe and then notice what it says in the rest of the verse but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit be appalled oh heavens at this and shudder be very desolate declares the Lord for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters to Hune for themselves systemns broken sister ssts that can hold no water so a sistern of course was was a container that was specifically carved out in order to hold water some liquid a lifegiving liquid that we all need to sustain life so here is a picture that God is the Fountain of Living Water he is the truth and the people turn from the fountain that provides Life Giving water and they stop it up or they turn then turn to chip away their own sisters forsaking the living pure water for sists that can hold no water and the water that is usually accumulated in the sstn is brackish water it’s water that uh whatever the rain brings and whatever is in the ground all seeps into it so it’s not pure water it’s not lifegiving water it’s just available to sustain life but it has no real value so what are the two evils that the people commit the rejection of Truth is the first one the rejection of the source of Life forsaking the living and true God exchanging God for an imaginary God Phantoms without being that bring no help or profit to the worshippers and then the second evil they commit is the evil of the reception receiving error they replace the true God with false Idols that’s the stagnant water and at worst the water seeps out of that sstn and that just is equal to the dead Idols that cannot impart life so Jeremiah really compares the nation’s actions to something someone abandoning a spring of living water running water for broken systemns the most reliable and refreshing sources of water in Israel were her natural springs and this water was Dependable it was clear it was cool and had a consistency to satisfy but in contrast the most unreliable source of water was sists cuz sists were large pits dug in the Rock and covered with plaster and these pits were used to gather rainwater this water was as I already mentioned brackish and if the rains were below normal there would be no water so to turn from a Dependable pure stream of running water to a broken brackish sister is idiotic yet that is what Judah did when she turned from God to Idols so that is the picture of religious apostasy in the Old Testament so in order to get a better understanding of the devastating consequences of this apostasy that we should all be warned by turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 6 and let me set up the context because what we have here in this section of scripture is what is called in literature an inclusio and let me show you what I mean in Hebrews chapter 5 if you go back to chapter 5 verse 11 notice what it says there it says since you have become dull of hearing or another way to say that sluggish in your hearing and then if you look to chapter 6 verse 12 it says so that you will not be sluggish or dull in hearing so the what the author is doing is he is giving hope to the listeners he’s warning them he’s warning them specifically go on to learn more of Christ and to grow deeper in your knowledge and understanding of the word of God and what God has done because that’s what gives you stability that’s what keeps you from slipp flipping into backsliding and then possibly apostasy so from chapter 5: 11 to chapter 6:12 there’s four exhortations given the first exhortation in chapter 5: 11 through 14 is basically a call to be attentive hearers as he tells them they are spiritually immature you should be teachers by now but you’re not why not and then he says to them if chapter 5:14 but solid food is for the mature who become who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil so from This this term train is actually the word we get gymnasium from it means to exercise the mind to the point where one becomes accustomed to the word of God your radar is up when the word of God is being spoken you’re adding to the knowledge you already have of the word of God and because of that because of constant use and interaction with the word of God your mind begins to judge correctly and as necessary and then in Hebrews chap 6: 1-3 he calls them to correct their present course and move toward spiritual maturity but then chapter 6: 4 to8 he warns them of the devastating consequences of apostasy and then in chapter 6 verse 9-2 he exhorts them that you can overcome the dullness of hearing by learning God’s TR truth through diligence and to imitate also those who through faith persevere in God’s truth and inherit the promises so therefore Believers are expected by God to move from being reluctant Learners to lifelong Learners and they need to advance in their understanding about Jesus Christ in other words press on to become spiritual Believers of mature Age come on we all know that if a baby stays a baby there’s something wrong so if you’re a Christian you cannot stay a baby if you stay a baby there’s something wrong that’s what he is saying to them listen if you are really Believers you will grow you will grow and so part of that growing is you press on in what you already know one reformed Theologian reminded me of a very important truth and he said it is not possible of one born of the Holy Spirit not to grow and not only that in Hebrews chapter 6 verse number three it is God’s will for you to grow but it’s not notice how it’s said here the author is really confident that his audience living listening would progress to maturity and it says there and this we will do if God permits now of course the phrase if God permits does not ask uh if it is God’s will to mature in Christ but rather it assumes it is his will so the point being in the whole section here is that the reason why it is possible for the believer to press on to maturity is the fact that the basic issues of death of faith and resurrection and has all been finished in the work of Christ therefore you and I like the Hebrews are free to get on with the business of living for Jesus because he has resolved forever the question of our relationship to God but what if someone who claims to be a Christian does not mature and one year after another year after another year after another year goes by and they are not growing in the Lord what happens well I want you to notice the warning passage in Hebrews chapter 6 verse number four now here he is talking about apostates now these apostates have come under the influence of the message of the good news of Jesus Christ the gifts that God has given because of the Savior and the blessings that flow to his children when they come to the Lord yet these he’s describing not only drift away but fall away and notice in verse number four it says for in the case of and he lists all these things in verse number four those who have been enlightened here’s the people he’s speaking to and what is somebody who’s enlightened an enlightened person is a well-informed person a person who has been enlightened with the principles of Christianity they have known the way of righteousness also and have tasted of the Heavenly gifts that word taste means more than a sampling but it means a full participation and the Heavenly gift is the gospel of the reel ration of Mercy through Jesus Christ and to taste the Heavenly gift is to have experienced it it doesn’t mean you have it it means you have experienced it also he says in verse number four and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and then in verse five he says and have tasted the good word of God that they have come under the tasteful influence of the word of God concerning the promise of God respecting the Messiah and that God had been faithful to his promises all along the way being fulfilled in one person Jesus Christ but they no longer see Christ on the pages of the Old Testament or through the inspired teaching of the of the Apostles and then also it notice in verse 5 and the powers of the age to come so in other words this group of people have been exposed to the full revelation of the word of God they saw the power of the word of God they saw the power of Miracles they saw and when the Old Testament prophets when they spoke and it came to be they saw those things but notice in verse number six what it say says who are these people first of all it says and then have fallen away so they no longer are willing to hold to the essential aspects of the Christian faith dropping out of the contest all together places them from all hope or restoration this means that Falling Away cannot mean loss of Salvation because it is not possible to to lose one’s Salvation And if it were possible the text would mean such individuals could never again be saved so if you have been around for any length of time you may have seen someone who came been excited about the things of God and and quit in a very short period of time time as their Zeal evaporates they go back and live as they did before or they go off onto some other Venture of seeking out religion but whatever happened they never were converted to Christ and then notice in verse number six what they abuse it says since they again crucified to themselves El the Son of God and put him to an open shame in other words these actually identify themselves with Christ’s persecutors that first Good Friday who deliberately mocked and ridiculed and rejected and humiliated Jesus publicly during the crucifixion and they CED out crucify him crucify him this is just another extension of the same crowd they become part of the Lawless and the Godless crowd and then notice in verse number six they forfeit God’s blessing notice what it says it is impossible to renew them again to repentance now that’s a pretty strong statement in impossible in reference to whom to God or man well it’s in reference to man in this sense it is the assertion that it is possible by any renewed course of Elementary instruction to bring them back such apost states to the acknowledgment of the truth see once you have the truth and have been exposed to the full truth of the gospel and you turn away from it what what what is there left once the spiritual appetite is lost how difficult it is for someone to be brought back to repentance with all this exposure they had not become different there was no change in their mind especially concerning the truth as it is in Jesus Christ an old old commentary said something interesting at this point Raymond Brown said we must at least make the observation that we are not dealing with a sincere believer who is in despair about some spiritual failure neither are we dealing with a backslider who has temporarily lost interest in the things of God this person is one who is in Fierce opposition to Christ and his gospel in public Rebellion against Christian things and a determination to bring Christ work to an end so the main purpose of uh the letter to the Hebrews you know we don’t really know who the author of Hebrews is I have a good guess who it is but we really don’t know and I that’s purposeful by the spirit of God because it is epistle that urges the Jewish element of Christianity not to allow themselves under the pressure of persecution to abandon the distinctively Christian aspects of their faith and slip back into the Jewish element of thinking in other words anyone who refuses they want to go back to Judaism and anyone who refuses to grow spiritually or returns to the system of good works is in dangerous territory one ultimately concludes that Jesus work was not enough so were such people saved is an honest question we are not really confronted with someone who had made a profession of of faith and forly had a uh had visible signs of and marks of being truly committed Christians but in the the end they refus to grow they refuse to continue in the faith the apostles Doctrine they now give fruit that they were not genuinely Born Again by God’s spirit they had may maybe have convinced others that they were Believers and at the at one time even persuaded themselves that they were they belonged to Christ but their so-called conversion was just furious it was just count fit because we all know if we’ve been Christians for a while real regeneration results in the Believers POS possessing a radical transformed nature a new nature that is predisposed to Holiness as the old nature was to sin in regeneration and being born again God gives the de dead sinner a new heart God also puts his holy spirit within the sa causing him to walk in his statutes this renewed and spiritually alive nature drives the saint to be faithful to be obedient to be reverent he wants to grow spiritually and practice righteousness because the seed of God abides in him and he can no longer persist in sin doesn’t mean he doesn’t sin but he doesn’t persist in it doesn’t habitually want to sin anymore because he’s truly Born Again of God so in other words the believer can’t lose his regenerate nature the Bible never speaks of regenerate people reverting back to their unregenerated condition or old Natures changing back into old ones losing salvation would necessarily require reversing regeneration and if God is the one who does the Regeneration how can we reverse that so it’s precisely the concept unregenerate is nowhere to be found in the Bible in fact if you look right back in Hebrews chapter 6 he now gives a a pretty simple illustration from Agriculture and he says in verse number seven notice what it says there Hebrews 67 for the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled receives a blessing from God but if it yields thorns and thistles it is worthless and close to becoming cursed and in the end being burned up so the good land and the bad land receive the rich blessings of the rain just like someone can receive the rich blessings of the word of God but one produces vegetation and receives the blessing of God and produces fruit but one also receives the same blessing but one Bears useless and harmful thorns and receives God’s present curse and future destruction so the genuine believer and the apostate have received the blessing of God’s Rich goodness one goes on to grow and mature and become holy and godly not perfect but holy and godly and another one repudiates the faith so here’s a warning to all believers especially to those who have become dull of hearing hearing who have become callous who have become stagnant in their faith that they must leave spiritual infancy behind and move toward maturity in Christ that is the admonition to these first recipients of this letter and us also today it is the same thing so if one persists in unbelief they will also abandon meeting with the gathered assembly because the writer of Hebrews also said this in chapter 3 he said take care Brethren that there not be in any one of you an evil unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living God so see in other words underneath all this exposure to this truth the heart still unbeliev it doesn’t believe it goes along with things it likes to be religious it likes rules it likes structure but there’s no belief and God knows the heart he knows the heart so this is a warning to us that if we do not grow and are not growing you have to question whether you’re a believer because it could lead to this very thing I’ve had all this exposure all this truth and I really don’t believe it it really hasn’t affected my life I just go along and doing the same thing I always done I have not grown in Christ I have not become a soldier of Jesus Christ I have not been embedded in the truth where no one could move me one way or the other because because I know what it says and not only that I love Christ because of what he’s done for me and for you I love him I know what he did there on the cross I know the wrath of God he took there for me I deserved it he did it for me and you and I know that he took care of everything on that cross where he put his righteousness on my account and nailed my sin to the cross and washed them away see once you have that Truth by God’s grace if they need to put a gun to your head and said you would you repudiate your faith I would say no by God’s grace and I hope you would say it the same because you know what that’s how serious Christianity is that’s how serious the word of God God is it’s not a take or leave proposition it’s once you receive it you keep it and you persist in it until the day God takes you and he will be faithful to you I don’t know of any Christian who would say that since I’ve believed in Christ and been faithful and he’s grown me that somehow God pulled a rug out from underneath me and has not been faithful to his promises I don’t know if anybody would say that if they know the word of God they won’t say that the problem is that people don’t have the exposure to the word of God that they should have and they don’t even think often that the word of God is that important that somehow you don’t need it it’s a big book from Genesis to Revelation there’s a lot to know and I’ve been studying it for years years and Pastor Dave been studying it and you’ve been studying it for years and you know what we come away with saying you know what I still don’t know what I need to know there’s so much more to know about what Christ has done now I want you to take your scriptures and turn to chapter 10 because this is the the last warning he gives to the Hebrews and this is the warning where apostasy has consequences so the first indication of potential apostasy is number one you don’t mature in Christ the second indication of potential apostasy look at what it says in Hebrews 10:25 well in even even Hebrews 10:24 it says this let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works and then it says in verse 25 and we I know you and I have quoted these these passages not forsaking our own assembly together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day Drawing Near another words a second potential of apostasy if where a person is not mature assuring but now they are forsaking the assembly I don’t need church anymore I just go learn on my own I’m going to learn on my own so so this admonition is put forth actually in the Hebrew in the in the Greek very strongly see the failure of someone to continue attending the Gatherings of the community is not simply neglect or a decision just not to come it is actually a wrongful abandonment because Christ actually died for the church the word forsake has been used 170 times in the sep tuin that’s the Greek translation of the Old Testament to translate when the people abandoned the Lord in his ways they abandoned his Covenant his and his commands that’s the word he’s used and this is the word he uses here and why is it that some people forsake the assembly we don’t always think it’s important that we and decide not to go to church for a while some may be not come because they uh they falsely assume that Christ had delayed his return and disappointed they left at least this audience some stop attending in order to return to their old religion s synagogue or Temple or worship with rituals and ceremonies to any system which a person tries to establish their own righteousness based on their own good works and that’s all religious systems and then some when tested for their faith they did not want to hold fasted to the profession of faith in Christ so became Rebels to the way and to the work of Christ giving up all belief in Jesus Christ that’s the apostate so you see whatever the reason someone would stop attending the gathered assembly that they are belong to does discredit their their their faith because how serious are you about what Christ has done died for especially if the word of God teaches that the church lies at the very center of the Eternal purpose of God you see the thinking is still very much alive maybe more so than in the past that it is still possible for a person to think that he is a Christian and yet abandon the habit of worshiping with God’s people in God’s house on God’s day but let me say that it is at this particular juncture that this fourth warning passage is injected into the message and the abandoning of the gathered assembly of Believers is linked with the first indication of a a potential apostasy or in this case the third indication so Brethren no matter what the condition may be Believers are to stick with Christ’s local church and we should exhort each other to continue attending Faithfully especially in light of These Warnings and the soon coming of Christ so then corporate worship is important because to neglect worship Gatherings to withdraw from the Christian Assembly leads to either or both two things despicable Behavior or worst deliberate rejection that means the rejection of God and his message spoken through his son and here is the warning a warning to avoid because it is a sin of it’s an absolutely fatal sin the text before us shows us what this sin is how it is committed and inevitably the consequences of committing it and those who are inclined to fall into this sin are not just temporarily temporary backsliders who lost interest in the things of God for a while neither are they believers who are in despair about some spiritual failure or in temporarily their floundering nor are they Believers sinning unintentionally or in ignorance for sure their response to the Lord here is an inappropriate one one that is to be avoided by all costs well then let’s just see what the scripture says about these persons and make sure that we never become one of them see warning doesn’t mean here in the passage that anyone of his hearers actually have committed this willful sin but some could be close to falling over the edge of the cliff and we do know some have committed it and look at verse number 26 of Hebrews 10 here’s a description of the one committing this Fai fatal sin the first thing that happens is they despise and they release the true of god notice what it says in verse 26 for if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth so here the the New Testament uses uh the word two times meaning a voluntarily a person who’s voluntarily sinning and when do they sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth that is they are sinning to deliberately after they have received the full message of the saving gospel also this phrase in verse 26 of chapter 10 there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin and it does not merely mean that such a a sin cannot be forgiven there is a larger argument here that Christ sacrifice is God’s full and final Revelation and provision for sin and that anyone who knowingly rejects that sacrifice is without hope they’re without mercy so the willful sin of Hebrews 10: 26 is the defiant rejection of the sacrifice of the Son of God so the great great concern here is that the effects of Jesus sacrifice does not extend to so-called believers who sin persistently or willfully in this manner if they reject Christ what else is there to save their souls the repudiation of Christ and his sacrifice leaves them nothing nothing is left and if one spurns God’s mercy all that is left is God’s judgment in verse 27 that’s what he says but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fir it’s the fury of fire which will consume the adversaries they have become God’s enemies and the phrase expectation of judgment means right here and now they will be haunted by the fear of hell not only in the end they will of course finally suffer for it so the first thing they do is they definitely dis despise and release the truth that they do know and then secondly verse number 29 they despise and reject the Son of God it goes all the way this far notice who has trampled underfoot the son of God so they make a serious C miscalculation in that they treat the son as having really no value no special thing about Jesus like would some religions say he’s just a prophet he’s just a good teacher he’s just a good example he came and did like all the other prophets did that’s a miscalculation a severe one a second thing they do is they a serious Mis miscalculation that says in verse 29 and has regarded as unclean the blood of the Covenant by which he was Sanctified so in other words the New Covenant inaugurated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that this is Christ’s blood shed on the cross provides for us definitive forgiveness of our consciousness and brings really us into a Sanctified and holy relationship with God and wins for us Eternal Redemption that’s what this new covenant has done for us the New Covenant in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and what do they think that this costly sacrifice of Christ they calculate as unclean a sacrifice that is unfit and ceremonially impure so instead of counting Jesus as the Messiah they count him as an impostor instead of considering Christianity as the true way of Salvation they conclude it was a cunning devis Fable instead of concluding that salvation through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as the Revel ation of the will of God they conclude it to be a hellish delusion they commit the Fatal sin of no return so in other words that these group this group has never never been saved and yet they had all the truth to be saved and then there there’s one other thing in verse 29 of Hebrews 10 they despise and resist the spirit of God now I want you to notice it says there in verse number 29 and has insulted the spirit of Grace that means the the unmar favor extended to the guilty who deserve damnation of justi as if that Mercy extended to them by the holy spirit of God is rejected what then they heard it all they had the Full Gospel they’ve been involved with the church and the people so their problem is not ignorance in the full light of the truth they reject Christ in the full light of the truth they reject Christ and commit the unpardonable sin Matthew 12:31 says therefore I say to you any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven shall be forgiven people but blasphemy against the spirit shall not be forgiven so the sin here just described is against the Divine persons of the godhead and what they have done in behalf of Sinners to save them from God’s Wrath a rejection of Christ’s sufficient complete sacrifice means all that is left for them is punishment and what do you think God will do this is what he will do he will hold them responsible he will hold them responsible in fact it’s amazing what what the writer here does he says if under the old Covenant God held them responsible by two or three Witnesses how much you think God’s going to hold you responsible under the new Covenant look what it says in verse number 30 verse number 28 here’s the lesser the Covenant as mediated through Moses it says anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without Mercy on the testimony of two or three Witnesses he’s quoting from Deuteronomy there in other words if those who violated moses’ law died without Mercy under the Lesser Covenant what do you think God will do to those who violate the greater Covenant the greater Covenant is the New Covenant me mediated through the Sun and so the argument is this if God was steadfast on how he held people responsible to the law under the old Covenant which acted as a sign that pointed to God’s final Revelation if God was firm then how much more after he has given his final Revelation in Jesus Christ the son hold people responsible under the New Covenant look what it says in verse 29 of Hebrews 10 well the punishment will be far worse it says 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 so how much will God hold people responsible who shrink back from Christ and willfully repudiate the only way of Salvation well the next verse says this for we know here’s the character of God for we know him who said vengeance is mine I will repay and the glor and the Lord will judge his people that’s the character of God so there is a terrifying nature to God’s judgment as it says in verse 31 it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and to fall into the hands of someone means to come under their complete power to come under the power of not dead Idols not a fictitious God who’s merely imagined but to come under the power of the Living God who keeps his promises and executes his threats and judgments with surgical Precision so who can escape no one can escape There Is No Escape now I don’t know about you but this is heavy and I knew it was Heavy when I started looking at it but this is a warning to us so were such people ever saved again is an honest question we were again not confronted with someone who have made a profession of faith and formerly had a visible we are confronted with someone who has really made a professional faith and has formerly had visible signs and marks of being truly committed Christian but by their refusal to grow and continue in the faith now they give fruit that they were not genuinely Born Again by God’s spirit they have may may have convinced others they may have even convinced themselves but their conversion proves to be spirous and counterfeit and when tested for their faith they did not hold on they became Rebels to the only way of Salvation to the finished work of Jesus Christ and you saywell Pastor why are you preach this today well I preached it not only because it’s a warning to us that Christianity is serious the church is serious your con your relation with God is serious