Hebrews 10:19-39

The great blessing of the gospel is access

to God!

This is done through Jesus Christ, His only

Son who is our Great High Priest!

Avail yourself of this great privilege of

access to God!

Jesus has gone into heaven with His own

blood and has been allowed to sprinkle it

on the mercy-seat. Our sins have debarred

us from standing in the presence of God -

Washed in Jesus' blood, the sinner may

draw near to God with confidence!

It is called "a new and living way"

vs. 19-25 - the practical result of a belief in

Christ as the Great High Priest

An encouragement in vs. 19-24 and a

warning in vs. 25-31

"boldness to enter....by the blood of Jesus

Christ.... a new and living way" - a High

Priest of higher order than any earthly

priest and a spiritual mode of approach

compared to the old approach.

This was signified in Matt. 26:51 - "And

behold, the veil of the temple was rent

in twain from the top to the bottom" at

the very death of Jesus on the cross.

By Christ's work we are exhorted

to confidence and persistence in faith -

"a true heart" and fulness "of faith"

vs. 22-25 - Three duties from such privilege

Towards God faith!

Towards the world hope!

Towards the church love!

Towards God in sincerity - "with a true heart"

and "in spirit and truth" - John 4:23-24 -

in fulness of faith

Towards men by our lips and our lives.

Towards fellow believers - love one another -

we are to take kindly thought of each other's

excellences, defects, needs and dangers, trials

and temptations and to minister to one another

accordingly.

Our duties, motives, aims, trials, joys, and hopes

are very similar to one another in character -

(remember Elijah was a like man, subject to the

passions you have - Remember that Jesus was

in all points tempted like we are and yet without

sin!)

Therefore let us "consider one another" -

and "exhort one another" - vs. 24-25

Godly rivalry in manifesting Christian love!

"so much the more as we see the day approaching"

Love is the supreme grace of Christian character -

"faith, hope and love but the greatest is love"

Love is most Christ-like - "God is love" - it is

that grace which most truly represents our Savior

to the world - it is also THE MOST EFFECTIVE

METHOD OF PREVENTING STRIFE AND

SECURING UNITY AMONG BRETHREN -

v. 22 - "having our hearts sprinkled from an

evil conscience" - the blood of Christ

satisfies Divine justice and satisfies the

conscience of man

Daily cleansing for daily impurities!

And a warning in vs. 25-31 - do not

let the delay of the Parousia cause you

to waiver! But "so much the more as

ye see the day approaching"

vs. 26-27 - apostasy and stubborn defection

from the faith - deliberate sin with

a high hand - fire associated with God's

jealousy!

The sin spoken of is that of the man "who has

received the knowledge of the truth" and has

rejected the gospel after perceiving its beauty!

Basically, it is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit,

the unforgivable sin!

Expand on the significance of vs. 28-29 -

comparing court in Christian County

with the great bar of God in the final day!

Three characteristics given:

a. towards God - "hath trodden under

foot the Son of God"

b. towards the Son - "counts the blood

....an unholy thing ( the blood of Jesus

must be either on the heart or under

the heel) - worthless?????

c. toward the Holy Spirit - "hath done

despite unto the Spirit of grace" (to

deny the Holy Ghost the reverence

and adoration which is His due.

An awful punishment shall descend upon those

who sin away their souls - negatively - "there

remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" - v. 26

conscience destroyed/unhappiness in this life/

anticipation of a terrible eternity/the fierceness

of fire itself/spiritual loss/eternal despair/for ever

shut out from the presence of God!

Under Moses' law - people were stoned for

idolatry - Deut. 17:2-7 but apostates from

Christianity are guilty of a vastly greater sin

and will receive a more dreadful punishment!

To reject the gospel is a more heinous crime

than murder, rape, sodomy, etc. Do not

take encouragement from this!

To tread under foot the eternal Son of God

involves more aggravated guilt than to turn

away from civil law and government which

got the idea in the first place from Moses who

got it from God! Moses was merely a human

messenger - remember Jesus - ch. 1:1-3

So if there is a sentence of death for violating the

Old Covenant, how much more the New!

The spirit of the time (anti-Christ) tempts everywhere

to a life of self-indulgence rather than self-denial.

SOME THINGS ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU!

THANK GOD HE HAS PUT MARKERS ON THEM

Habits of self-pleasing tend to bring a man to the

edge of the inclined plane which slopes towards

the abyss of apostasy!

"He that soweth to his flesh shall reap corruption"

"to be carnally minded is death"

"the wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations

that forget God"

Appended Feb. 4, 2007

I confess to you today to take three steps back prior to

trying to go forward in the book of Hebrews of which

I make no apology in trying to complete.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately - about my call -

about the position I have in this class - about my relationship

with fellow Christians and my fellow citizens of Christian

County - in many ways I am disgusted, perhaps if not

disoriented, I am distracted for one reason or another.

But I feel led in what I am getting ready to teach today

and until I am assured that I do not have the backing of

God, our Father, or until he removes me from the scene,

I will boldly present the following:

Esther is historical/shows providence of God for His people

God is just as providential for us today/we are just

increasingly becoming ignorant.

II Peter 3:3-5 calls it "willingly ignorant"

All things have not always been as they are; there have

been great changes in the world, there was once a great

catastrophe, but this is willingly forgotten!?

Matt. 24:37-42

Profligacy - state of being given up to dissipation (intemperate

living - vanish, dissolve, to lose irrecoverably, scatter,

waste, excess, to be extravagant in the pursuit of

pleasure) and licentiousness (lacking LEGAL or

MORAL restraints marked by disregard for strict

rules of correctness)

Some men do not seem to realize how fearfully wicked

and how fatally ruinous profligacy is!!

I Cor. 10:5-8 - "rose up to play"

It is a sin against God!

It is an offense against society!

Utterly abandoned men will set little weight by such a

consideration, because they have long lost all serious care

for their relations with God.

I Cor. 6:19-20 tells us that every man is a temple - see that

this temple is not converted into a nest of corruption.

a la - "my people love to have it so"

Profligacy ruins the mind, it degrades the thought. It ruins

reputation - who cares anymore? seems to be the attitude of

the day - that is what happens when "the foundations are

destroyed.

Not only so but it ruins physical health - why necessity for

shots for elementary students?? (my grand kids are rapidly

getting to this age)

Profligacy ruins the soul - it brings other sins in its train -

When a man has deluded and ruined a woman, society regards

the woman (or used to) with loathing and contempt, while the

man often escapes seemingly scott-free. This is just one of

the grossest instances of injustice in this world that the future

Judgment of God will rectify - Heb. 10:30-31

Profligacy is fatal to sound social order!

It is a gangrene in society, eating out its very heart.

Nothing more surely undermines the true welfare of a people.

(I keep coming back to that neglected part of the US Constitution

in the Preamble that supposingly is interested in "promoting

the general welfare" of the people???????

PROMOTING SENSUALITY IS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR WELFARE!

Profligacy is fatal to the sanctities of the home and the home

is the very life on which a nation depends.

Gangs or Terrorists were not in the Garden of Eden unless

it was in the person of the serpent!

The profligate is solely interested in selfish pleasure - he does

not even have the excuse of a thief who may rob because he is

starving, neither can he pretend that he is benefiting anyone

else by his wickedness>

Proverbs 7:22-23 describes the condition as

* an ox to the slaughter (he no more realizes the

serious issue of his action than an irrational beast,

without prevision of the future, walks contentedly

to the slaughter house, stupidly placid in the face

of death.

* as a criminal is led unresistingly to confinement and

degradation - like a madman or idiot who is taken

away, unconscious of his fate, to a shameful

deprivation of liberty.

* as a bird in a snare - a trap that catches an incautious

person WHERE HE HAS NO BUSINESS

"as a bird hasteth to the snare and knoweth not it is for

his life" - infatuated youth does not consider his life is at

stake, that he is bringing upon himself, by his vicious

rashness, present and future ruin.

THUS THE CONDITION OF SOCIETY TODAY

Super Bowl/Entertainment at the Super Bowl

Churches/New Era article

ESPN/NFL rule that churches cannot show on a larger

than 44 inch TV

Example of Anti-christ hold on the world's thought

I can't imagine giving an altar call at half-time although

I can imagine skipping the half-time show for aforementioned

reasons.

How do you filter out the expletives that might be said by

the participants of in this day, commentators??

Abortion/homosexuality

Texas - elementary school kids required to take shots for

a certain strain of sexually transmitted disease that is

associated with cervical cancer.

Bro. Purcell's comment Wed. night about everything

bound together

I translate physical laws and moral laws of the universe

are connected - neither can be violated with impunity.

Letter to Global Warmers

Letter to Ted Kennedy - Deut. 29:18-25

END APPENDAGE TO HEBREWS

Even true believers have bought into this - Jer. 5:31 -

"my people love to have it so" - I Kings 16:21 -

half of the people were this and half that -

A majority of the justices of the United States

Supreme Court of the last 50 years will bear their

judgment, along with the presidents, senators,

and representatives of Congress and an American

citizenry that loves to have it so to the point of

DOING NOTHING and don't forget the lawyers

and membership of the ACLU who instead of

gathering, scatter!

vs. 30-31 - "vengeance....recompense....judgement"

"The Lord shall judge His people"

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the

Living God"

Think of:

A time when it is too late for mercy - a time of justice!

No way to escape the wrath of Eternal Righteousness!

Man's liability without atonement!

The spirit of the time also labors to thrust into the

background the doctrine of retributive justice but this

principle is found everywhere -

The justice of the Almighty is asserted here with

peculiar emphasis!

The secularists today and liberalism in theology

which teach that it is by no means such a

fearful thing after all "to fall into the hands

of the Living God" will also bear their judgment!

The Lord Jesus Christ has not sent any such message -

rather he has warned in Luke 12:5 - "I will forewarn

you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He

hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say

unto you, Fear Him"

v. 35-36 - "Cast not away therefore your confidence..."

The doctrine of recompense - Moses - ch. 11:23-26

The full and final enjoyment of what is promised is

still future and is conditioned by perseverance!

vs. 37-38 - Hab. 2:3-4

a transition to contents of next chapter - faith chapter -

Faith is what the righteous person is

to live by until the Lord comes!

Ch. 11 shows that faith was no new thing -

it has been the essential principle of all

true religious life from the beginning!

It distinguished the children of Israel from the heathen.

It distinguishes Christians today from secularists.

They do not believe!

The prophet Habakkuk lived during

the long and evil days of Mannaseh -

(55 yrs) and had in his view the

trials of his time - violence and iniquity

(especially sexual immorality )-

also the threat of attacks of the Chaldeans.

Habakkuk stood on his watch and sits

upon his tower to look out for what the

Lord will say to him in his difficulties -

Hab. 2:1-3

v. 4 - "Behold, his soul which is lifted

up is not upright in him"

"but the just shall live by his faith"

Habakkuk's confidence in troubled times -

ch. 3:16-19***

Despite all appearances the vision will before

long be realized - "Behold I come quickly" -

God's promises to the righteous will

certainly be fulfilled and faith must

be our sustaining principle like it was

Habakkuk's!

The Second Coming of Christ!

Our duty is to cherish this "blessed hope"

and to sit on our watch-tower of prayer

and to look for signs of His appearing!

We prepare for death but He may come

before we die!

vs. 38b-39 - No drawing back