Keystone PC
Sunday, August 30
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  • Scripture Reading Hebrews 10:26-31
    Hebrews 10:26–31 CSB
    26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
    Let us pray.
    Holy and merciful Father, give us ears to hear both the promise and the warning of Your Word. Guard tender consciences from despair, awaken careless hearts from presumption, and fix our eyes upon Jesus Christ, the only sufficient sacrifice for sin. By Your Spirit, lead us not merely to know the truth but to embrace the Son in living faith. We ask this in His name. Amen.
    Introduction: What Will We Do with Christ?
    Last time, Hebrews placed an open door before us. Because Jesus has offered the once-for-all sacrifice, the curtain has been torn, the way into God's presence is open, and believers may draw near with confidence. We heard three gracious invitations: draw near in faith, hold fast in hope, and encourage one another in love.
    But an open door creates a moment of decision. We may enter through Christ, or we may turn away from Him. There is no third door. There is no alternative sacrifice waiting somewhere else. There is no safer path that allows us to keep our sin and still have God.
    That moment of decision is not abstract. When Pilate stood before the crowd, he set Barabbas beside Jesus who is called Christ and asked which one they wanted released. The crowd chose Barabbas and cried out concerning Jesus, "Crucify Him!" Then Pilate asked the question that still presses upon every conscience: "What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
    Pilate's question is not merely part of the trial narrative. It is the question every sermon, every warning, and every invitation eventually brings before us. Christ cannot be handled as an interesting religious figure and then set aside. He must either be received as Savior and Lord, or rejected. Hebrews presses that same issue upon us: What will we do with Christ?
    Hebrews now changes its tone. The same pastor who comforts the weary also warns the careless. The gospel that says, "Come near," also says, "Do not turn away." Grace is free, but grace is not trivial. The blood that opens the sanctuary is the blood of the Son of God.
    This is one of Scripture's strongest warnings, so we must hear it carefully. It is not describing the believer who hates his sin, falls, repents, and runs back to Christ. Neither does it permit us to hide behind a past profession while deliberately rejecting Christ in the present. Hebrews warns against a settled, knowing, persistent repudiation of the only Savior God has provided.
    So let us begin with the first distinction we must hear clearly: struggling with sin is not the same as rejecting Christ.

    I. Do Not Confuse Struggle with Rejection (v. 26)

    Verse 26 says, "If we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth." The emphasis falls on deliberate continuation. This is not an unguarded word, a moment of weakness, or even the painful struggle with a sin that seems to return again and again. Christians still battle the flesh. Christians sometimes doubt. Christians can fall seriously and need serious repentance.
    The language recalls Numbers 15:27-31, which distinguishes unintentional sin from defiant, high-handed rebellion.
    Numbers 15:30 reads:
    Numbers 15:30 CSB
    30 “But the person who acts defiantly, whether native or resident alien, blasphemes the Lord. That person is to be cut off from his people.
    Hebrews applies that distinction to the gospel: the danger is not simply that a person has sinned, but that he knowingly despises God's final word in His Son.
    Scripture itself shows us the difference between a grievous fall and a settled rejection of God.
    Peter denied Jesus three times, but Peter was not abandoned. He wept bitterly, and the risen Christ restored him. David sinned terribly, but when the prophet confronted him, David confessed, "I have sinned against the Lord." The church at Corinth was filled with problems, yet Paul called its members to repentance and restoration.
    The person who grieves over sin and longs to return to Christ is not displaying the hardened rejection described here. A troubled conscience asking, "Will Christ receive me?" should hear His promise: "The one who comes to me I will never cast out."
    Apostasy is different. It receives the knowledge of the truth, stands near the blessings of the covenant community, understands the claims of Christ, and then knowingly turns from Him.
    Unbelief is the root of apostasy.
    Thomas Watson
    It is not stumbling on the road. It is renouncing the road. It is not crying, "Lord, help me." It is deciding, "I will not have this Lord over me."
    This distinction matters pastorally. Satan would like to use Hebrews 10 to drive a repentant believer away from the throne of grace. The Holy Spirit uses it to expose hardened unbelief and summon every hearer to take refuge in Christ.
    Hebrews addresses this warning to a congregation. Physical nearness to Christian worship must not be confused with living faith, yet neither should anyone imagine that withdrawing from Christ and His people is safe. Each hearer must respond to the Son.
    So if you are fighting sin, do not stop fighting. If you have fallen, do not hide. Confess your sin. Seek the help of the church. Use the means of grace. Draw near through the blood of Jesus. The danger is not that Christ refuses repentant sinners. The danger is that sinners hear His voice repeatedly and train their hearts not to care.
    Sin deceives us slowly. A truth we once received with joy becomes familiar. Familiarity becomes neglect. Neglect becomes resistance. Resistance becomes hardness. That is why Hebrews repeatedly says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." It may begin quietly. Prayer becomes occasional. Worship becomes optional. A cherished sin becomes something we defend rather than confess. We avoid the people who speak honestly to us, and eventually we resent the Christ whose voice we once welcomed. Hardness rarely announces its arrival; it grows each time we hear God's voice and decide that we will answer later.
    Do not mistake the patience of God for permission to harden your heart.
    That brings us to the second truth: if we turn away from Christ, there is no other sacrifice to which we can turn.

    II. There Is No Other Sacrifice (vv. 26-27)

    Verse 26 continues: "There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." That does not mean Christ's sacrifice is insufficient for a certain class of repentant people. It means that if we reject Christ, no other sacrifice exists.
    Hebrews has spent chapter after chapter establishing this truth. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. The former priests could never finish their work. The old covenant ceremonies were shadows pointing forward. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever and sat down at the right hand of God.
    If someone rejects that sacrifice, where will he go? Back to an altar that could never cleanse the conscience? Toward moral improvement that cannot erase guilt? Into vague spirituality that cannot reconcile a sinner to a holy God? Toward a different religion that offers a teacher but no substitute?
    There is no plan B for redemption. That sounds narrow only if we imagine that we were sincerely searching for God and He failed to give us enough options. In truth, God came seeking us and provided, at immeasurable cost, the one Savior we need. Christ obeyed where we failed, bore the judgment we deserved, rose in victory, and now freely welcomes every sinner who comes through Him.
    Rejecting Christ is not choosing one adequate medicine over another. It is refusing the only cure God has provided.
    What remains outside Christ? Verse 27 says, "A terrifying expectation of judgment." Scripture speaks plainly because love speaks plainly about danger. A physician who discovers a deadly disease does not show compassion by hiding the diagnosis. A watchman who sees a fire does not whisper so no one is disturbed. God warns because the judgment is real and because today the invitation still stands.
    There is a great difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction says, "Your sin is real; run to Christ." Condemnation says, "There is no use running." The gospel says that everyone who turns from sin and trusts Christ will be saved. But it also says that no one who finally rejects the Son will find salvation somewhere else.
    And that brings us to the third and deepest truth: to reject the gospel is to reject the triune God who gives it.

    III. Rejecting the Gospel Is Rejecting the Triune God (vv. 28-31)

    Verses 28 and 29 argue from the lesser to the greater. Under Moses, deliberate covenant rebellion brought severe judgment. "How much worse punishment," Hebrews asks, is deserved by the person who rejects the Son of God? Greater light brings greater responsibility.
    We sometimes imagine that grace makes sin less serious. Hebrews teaches the opposite. At Sinai, God revealed His holy law. At Calvary, God revealed both the horror of our sin and the immeasurable cost of His mercy. To look at the crucified Son and walk away is not a small mistake. It is an offense against the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
    First, apostasy "tramples on the Son of God." The language is deliberately shocking. It treats the One whom the Father exalted as worthless. It hears the gospel announce, "This is the beloved Son," and answers, "He has no claim on me."
    Second, it regards "as profane the blood of the covenant." The blood of Christ is not a religious decoration. It is the price of redemption and the seal of the new covenant. Hebrews says that this person was "sanctified" by that blood, a difficult phrase Christians have understood in different ways. But the warning itself is plain: a person may live very near the blessings of Christ, understand the gospel, and belong outwardly to the covenant community without finally resting in Christ by faith. Nearness to the gospel is not the same as possessing Christ.
    Third, apostasy "insults the Spirit of grace." The Spirit who convicts, enlightens, and bears witness to Christ is not an impersonal influence. To resist His testimony and reject the Son He reveals is personal rebellion against gracious love.
    This is why the passage ends, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." The God of Scripture is not an idea we can revise. He is the living God: holy, just, patient, merciful, and true. Vengeance belongs to Him, not to us. He judges with perfect knowledge and without injustice.
    Yet remember where this warning appears. It comes immediately after the announcement that we may enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus. The hands of the living God are terrifying to His adversaries, but for those who are in Christ those same hands are the hands of a Father who holds His children and will never let them go.
    Encouragement is coming, but first we must allow this warning to speak with its full force.
    The warning therefore asks us to examine ourselves without looking away from Christ. Are we merely near Christian things, or have we entrusted ourselves to the living Christ? Do we admire Him as a teacher while refusing Him as Lord? Are we depending on a baptism, membership, family history, or past decision while our present heart continues turning away?
    Assurance does not come from searching for one flawless moment in our past. Assurance grows as we look to Christ now, trust His promise now, confess Him now, and see the Spirit producing repentance and faith in us now.
    We have now heard the warning in full, so let us bring it home with one final appeal: do not turn away.
    Conclusion: Do Not Turn Away
    The warning does not compete with the gospel invitation. It guards that invitation against presumption. Christ is sufficient, so do not seek another savior. His blood is sacred, so do not treat it as common. The Spirit is speaking, so do not harden your heart.
    If this passage troubles you because you know your sin, bring that trouble to Christ. Do not wait until you feel worthy. You never will. Come because His blood is worthy. Confess honestly. Receive mercy. Ask brothers and sisters to walk with you.
    If this passage leaves you unmoved, ask God to awaken you. The dangerous heart is not the heart that trembles at His Word, but the heart that has learned to shrug at Christ.
    And if you have been standing near the gospel without coming to Jesus, do not delay. Knowledge is not faith. Admiration is not surrender. Church involvement is not union with Christ. Turn from sin and rest your whole weight upon the Son of God.
    Do not trample the Son. Do not treat His blood as common. Do not resist the Spirit of grace. Come to Christ and live.
    Pilate tried to distance himself from the decision. He washed his hands before the crowd as though he could remain neutral. But no one can remain neutral before the Son of God. The crowd had to answer. Pilate had to answer. Under the warning and invitation of God's Word, we must answer too.
    Jesus Christ is sufficient. His promise is true, and His mercy is offered today. Hear the question personally before the living God:
    What will you do with Jesus?

      • Hebrews 10:26–31CSB

      • Numbers 15:30CSB

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