Don’t Do It! (Part A)

They make that they come to that conclusion on their own will you get to that.

What is a free will offering.

What is this right here was if we willfully sent yet we have assisted him for one minute think that when you become a Christian use free will and you now robot you are a human being. You are intelligent, you have all the resources utilize your intelligence, the king or not this is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Hebrews. Please stay with us after today's message here. More information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now, here's Pastor Rick in the book of Hebrews chapter 10 with a brand-new message called Joe.

Do you have your Bibles. Let's open to Hebrews chapter 10 chapter 10, we will take verses 26 through 39.

If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, they are no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has 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, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace. 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 the living God, but recall the former days in which after you were illuminated. You endured great a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated or 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 and have therefore do not cast away your confidence, which is 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 he who is coming will come and will not tarry the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back my soul has no pleasure in him, but we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul as a firestorm for you. This is the strongest warning in the letter of this passage we are considering this morning.

The writer is telling these Christians don't do it don't do what don't go back to the religion you had before Christ to the life you had before Christ and don't try to mingle those things that Christ has forbidden with the Jesus of your faith.

There are five warning passages in this Hebrew document in Hebrews chapter 2 and that's the first one in Hebrews 3 and four. That's the second in Hebrews 5 in Hebrews 12 in this 10th chapter, there are the warnings given by the writer but this one is the strongest and as mentioned earlier in our studies.

He's not holding back is a very serious matter.

Here he talks about if you willfully sin your done, is no more forgiveness, fiery indignation or worse punishment. God's payback. That's what vengeance is payback or payday. However, you want to look at it if fearful thing he says is not holding himself is not restraining the truth is, letting it out is giving the warnings is giving the advice and is giving the encouragement I we gotta put all this in context as we come away supposing that God is this angry judges looking the white people out. That is not the case.

God is a God of grace and love. But make no mistake, he is also a judge and he will not take lightly the trampling of the blood of Christ, of dismissing all the Jesus is and what he is done for us and what it cost so we look now at that first verse and is very easy verse to understand it is not one of the hard verses of the Bible and I'll explain why in a moment. Verse 26 for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Well, if you take it out of context. You're terrified by what these words say if you take it out of context.

You say that means if I have committed to impulse the weakness of my flesh. Some sin is no forgiveness for me that's taking it out of context. That is not at all what it means context shows the danger of defection from the faith is saying this built on everything he's been saying since the first verse of the first chapter in particular in verse 12 of this chapter he says with this man. Speaking of Christ after he offered one sacrifice for sins forever set down at the right hand of God is saying to the Jews that were wanting to go back to Judaism and they were going to go back for several reasons. One was the pressure put on them by their own within their own culture by their own people to avoid that persecution and that pressure they sought to allow still offer sacrifices and still go to church and claim Christ as Messiah and then others were just thinking about is abandoning it altogether and going back to Judaism, the writer makes it clear these were saved.

People care what others might say the evidence is right there in plain speak Scripture and so again in verse 23 says let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is fatally saying hold it, hold to your faith. Don't let it go because that is what they were thinking about doing and some were already deep into it.

So to take this verse and yank it from its original intended meaning is to contradict the New Testament is to go against everything the greatest preachers you cannot amputate the verse from everything that is been said in this letter and the rest of the New Testament that would be to depart from the rules of reason from analysis and freedom from drawing to the win reading comprehension, but because we tend to be emotional when we are confronted by something frightening we look at that verse, for if we sin willfully after we receive the knowledge of the truth that no longer remains sacrifice we i.e. forgiveness of sins with that is not it. If they go down to the temple and offer a blood sacrifice. Now, there remains. That's what he is saying you cannot receive salvation in Jesus Christ, his blood offering. His death is forgiveness for your sins and the blood of bulls and sheep and birds and whatever else you do that you're done.

You've mocked him.

You said you know your death is not all that it needs to be supplemented with the beast with the blood of the beast that will improve my my my situation so he warns them. We today we we don't have an identical problem but we have still the same issue we have those who think they can mix horoscopes with Jesus Christ or psychology would Jesus Christ or some other thing but just take what the unbelievers are doing… Wrap it into Christ put a bowl named Jesus on it and it will be acceptable. That is heresy. And so here he mentions. If you willfully they by free will. There is a such thing as free will anarchy with the best commentators are not all of them but some of them actually teach is no such thing as free will they make could they come to that conclusion on their own will you get to that. What is a free will offering.

What is this right here was if we willfully sin. Yet we have a say Saddam for one minute think that when you become a Christian use free will and you now our robot. You are a human being your intelligent, you have all the resources to utilize your intelligence for the king or not men are capable of ignoring facts to protect their own theology. The doctrines of men. Many are well-meaning, some get caught up.

It happens very quickly.

I'm sure that there's something I get wrong in my most normal is not right. We all have to be careful and I don't want to sound harsh or my brothers who I don't agree with but I don't agree with them on this point. Those that do not believe in free will and those that think that once you become a Christian, you no longer have free will. I don't agree with it. I don't feel a need to feel very strong in the things of the Bible declares that I don't need to put our rabbits foot in my pocket to make me feel better about the warnings that are in Scripture because I'm not going to do them. I'm not going to violate the warning. I walk hi steel for years, the risk of falling off a beam to a certain death or you can jump.

I never once thought about jumping in. So let us be sober minded. He says after we have received the knowledge of the two truth you catch that received it. There's nothing unclear about this. If you received the faith and you want to go back out of the faith you doomed. So don't know if that's what he's telling them they knew the gospel they surrendered to it. They suffered persecution for the gospel. The apostasy is something that is intellectual. It is intentional. It is not by mistake. People do not accidentally become apostates. They consider the information and they reject the information that is how they become an apostate and that the biblical word and it means to fall away from, and you can only fall away from that which you once held who can fall away from something you are holding to and again the sin of going back to the religion they had before Christ and today it is just a series you want to backslide away from Christ. That's dangerous enough.

You want to then reject him, you better watch out their own religion in his writing to Jews application extends to Gentiles their own religion spoke of this life of Christ is virtuous life.

The virgin birth, the voluntary suffering vicarious death and the victorious resurrection see the alliteration. All the fees involved with that, the virgin birth victorious life. The voluntary sacrifice. The vicarious death in the victorious resurrection.

It was in their writings, and to this day it's there you can take a Jew to Isaiah, a practicing Jew. Isaiah chapter 9, unto us a son is born, unto us a son is given, you can speak of the prophetic verses from from Psalm 22, you can say how could you ever show that your from the line of David. Now it's too late. The Windows close, but it was once opened 2000 years ago and Christ walk through it. You can show them all these things we will submit and show proof from the Scripture of the prophecies all day long to even non-Jews being born again is a miraculous event. Our role is not to interfere with it, but to contribute to it to be used in the process.

It takes courage. It takes knowledge. It takes patience and endurance and it takes love and it is very difficult so he says there no longer remains a sacrifice for those sins night you done as he wrote these words, the forces of horrors were already on the horizon approaching Jerusalem the unseen forces not long after this Hebrew document and we can. We have timestamps and it will get. We have one in this chapter. Not long after this document, the 10th Legion of Rome will completely level the temple mount and destroy the city and kill millions of Jews crucified so many Jews that they ran out of what to crucify them Jesus said these things which you see talking about the temple. The days were common, which not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down again and loose Luke's gospel chapter 21 but when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. Then know that its desolation is near one of those prophecies have been fulfilled and is visible evidence. The archaeologists have uncovered today.

You can walk and you can go to the temple mount to the Western Wall little to the right of it is you're looking at it and there is the Herodian disorder was a mall if you would. There were shops and places to buy goods Herodian Street. The archaeologists of of on earth, and there is a pile of stone the size of of cars and trucks piled up in a heap how they get there. The Roman 10th Legion through them.

There there the stones that made up the temple buildings the priest since the temple itself. The proof is there, the evidence of Jesus wears not one stone will be left upon another knot and structure form, but in a heap. There they are so should you find yourself doubting your Scripture remember the prophecies it dismissed. That's a spiritual feature is a feature of our writing about Scripture that no one else has all the other ones of the writings and the conclusions and the ideas and the insistence of man, but there's no spiritual feature.

Mormons have their book of Mariah and they make these outrageous claims with not a shred of evidence to support it.

But the Scripture has tons of evidence of the support what it is what it has declared to be true. So Galatians 218 where Paul was dealing with this identical problem with the Jews, he says, for if I build again those things which I destroy I make myself a transgressor. If I come out of sin. If I come out of thinking wrong about God. Then I go back into thinking wrong about God. I am where I don't believe in the eyes of God.

I am in sin and if you are an unbeliever and you're listening to me. You may be saying that sounds harsh, sounds narrowminded, broad is the way wide is the gate that leads to perdition that leads to hell and there are many who go and buy it. Because narrow is the gate straight is the path that leads to everlasting life, and few find it manic capable of getting a chip on their shoulder with God for daring to be God. How dare you judge me how day layout.

What is morality will of the watching it in the time we live in every live there there trying to reinvent redefine the word morality so that perversity becomes morality and purity becomes immorality. It's spiritually psychotic and they resent being told that it is so will get back to this. I hope and much more. I don't know how I'm going to get the sin so hope you brought your lunch versus 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries and adversary hearing this was so narrowminded and so draconian is so over-the-top is so intolerant and so loveless was not your your all those things against your maker and had the audacity to accuse those who have seen him with being villains done you no harm. You willing to do harm to them, we don't find true Christians persecuting anyone we find true Christians being persecuted and so people believe in many gods pulses. I got a God for you because even if you don't believe in a God that your God because God by the definition in Scripture includes that controlling influence in your deepest heart that is your God, the one that you submit to you may not be strong enough to comply with what you submit to, for instance, we Christians, we believe were supposed to always be loving, we submit to that, but we don't always pull it off. Somebody just going to pull in your Cape at some point and challenge that commitment does not mean you have abandoned God. It means you're struggling in the flesh world doesn't get this God is lifted for us to explain it is best to begin the process. I got a God for you, he's the God that blinds spiritually blind people. He is the God of all blindness.

Second Corinthians chapter 4, whose minds the god of this age has blinded the god of this age who do not believe is the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ was the image of God, should shine on them. Satan is the world's God. Spiritual blindness says the word of God and use Christians better not be ashamed of that. You better not backup. One speck of finance away from that belief. All the forces of hell will try to get you to do the will of forces assigned to you. When Jesus said, he who believes in the sun is not condemned, but he was a does not believe in the sun is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. This is the condemnation, that the light is coming to the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. They resent God dictating to them what behavior should be. They hated and they hate him along with it and you and me also says fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Many scoff at this. In fact, a lot of them already in hell I'm not making light of you believe the Scripture you can't get away from this. How do you make truth acceptable to a people that reject truth I don't know. All I like what I do know is this.

I can pound them with the truth. I can live my life as correctly as possible to the word and I know that makes a difference that does contribute to the salvation of souls because when I watch the God haters launch in their debates and their books and wherever they get to speak there always pointing to Christians that I look at and say I'm not so sure those are Christians you're pointing you justifying your atheism with make believers not true believers. I don't believe those things wanted to pick a fight with a real Christian. What if you find one that truly believes and understands the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I also don't believe that debates are very effective. There are those that are very good at debating and never coming into the light. There are those that their whole purpose is to not agree with you, and they launch all of these half-baked arguments to which no one can answer is the same old thing goes back to the days of placing is pretty old. How can a loving God and loving what how can he love you, but he does so. We have to have these things solid in our hearts, or else we will be in jeopardy when Andrew and Philip met the Christ. They wanted to bring him or bring in front of him. Others whom they love Andrew brought.

In the bay we found the Messiah. Now you know Peter peters got a guy that is a really good thing he's I could have a part of. Then there was there was Nathaniel.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth and fellow Brazil is debated as currency.

My my brother didn't debate with me when he witnessed me just looked at me and I got saved, not by the look that was a cat that was the catalyst that was the spark that lit the cake. How dare you not argue with me how dear you look at me with love, but I am marking your Savior, so this is for those who don't know, maybe you get similar stories. I went and got a Bible and I was going to prove him wrong and got saved. Verse 28 anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnessed the word of God is fierce and his laws no-nonsense and that was the old economy and in the old economy if you broke the law of Moses, it will if it were a capital crime you were to be stoned to death. In most cases with out mercy. He tells us that right here on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He dies with out mercy.

Aiken when Aiken caused the death of those troops there at the battle of AI. Joshua was gentle.

He says son tell us what did you do and he told me several you going to die.

Leviticus 24 on I can take time to read it, you can reference it yourself. Verses 11 and 23 there was a mother who had a son who blaspheme the Lord. He cursed the Lord they brought him to Moses and they stoned the atheists doesn't understand that the Christ rejected doesn't understand. They think that this is God in all there is to him.

There's a lot more to that story.

We need to tell it to make the distinction of the dispensations of God. The different periods of how God ruled in the lives of men. We are in the age of grace right now the kingdom age is next. Well the rage of grace and tribulation. Then the kingdom age. They're not going to figure out on their own. Not intellectually. Verse 29 says of how much more worse punishment, do you suppose he will 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 is writing to Christians to say how much more punishment using Moses had a tough rule.

If you blaspheme God if you gather sticks on Sabbath you are stone. This is worse than moon you've been listening to cross reference radio the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick asked Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia.

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