Hebrews #24: an exposition of Hebrews 10:26-31. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, September 28, 2014.
Intro:
You don’t hear it much anymore. It makes few top ten lists. I’m not all that crazy about it myself – preaching on the judgment of God. The truth of God’s wrath is heard from few pulpits today. Where are the “warning sermons” of years past? No, you won’t hear much about God’s judgment on sin or too many messages geared toward warning the backslidden. The church is supposed to encourage. The church is supposed to love and support people. People should feel better about themselves and their lives when they leave church. You can’t grow a crowd with judgment! The world is frightening enough we don’t need to come to church and be scared. A few years ago it was reported that a majority of seminary students, according to surveys, believed it was poor taste to tell someone that they would go to hell. We don’t like that thought so we are just not going to talk about it. Now, I hope you don’t like the thought of people going to hell – if you do like that, you’ve got a problem; but truth is not determined by popularity. Truth is not decided by a majority vote. Like it or not; uncomfortable about it or not we, the church, have been called to declare the whole counsel of God. We’ve been called to declare the Gospel. The Gospel is the “good news” that God has provided salvation in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the good news only makes sense in light of the bad news. Unless you understand the danger you are in; unless you appreciate the fact you are dead in trespass and sin, the object of God’s wrath, the good news doesn’t sound all that good. Love, in a time of danger is expressed as a stern warning. Acceptance and encouragement in a time of danger is treachery. This sets the context of Hebrews 10:26-31.
Text: Hebrews 10:26-31
Times were hard.
They had been stretch to the breaking point.
Some of their dearest friends had abandon the faith.
They were wondering if they should do the same.
What do you say to people in that condition? Certainly you need to encourage them. You need to point out reasons to believe. You need to remind them of the truth of the Gospel and the glory of Christ. You must point them to the faithfulness of God and His great promises. Through it all you must tell them the truth. Truth demands that you tell them everything. That includes warning them of the disastrous consequences of unbelief. Our text is a difficult passage. Difficult not because it is hard to figure out what the writer is trying to say but hard because it is a hard truth. It is especially hard in our day when truth is relative. When there are no absolutes and you are free to make it up as you go along. In our pragmatic world truth is what works for you. Here the biblical writer says there is one truth and you reject that truth to your own peril.
Having called the struggling church to persevere by drawing near to God, clinging tenaciously to their blessed hope and stirring one another up to love and good works the writer now warns them of what happens if they walk away from the faith.
As we work through this passage we discover that…
Thesis: Faithful Gospel preaching warns of the devastating consequences of apostasy.
I want to share with you three (3) demands of Gospel preaching from this text.
- Love demands that we warn of the dangers of apostasy. (10:26-27)
- Honesty demands that we speak frankly about the true nature of apostasy. (10:28-29)
- Compassion demands that we tearfully warn of the certainty and the terror of the coming judgment. (10:30-31)Conclusion:
This is definitely not a “feel good” message. It is not the kind of thing we want to hear but it is the kind of thing we need to hear. Be warned to reject the Gospel is to reject your only hope. To walk away from Christ seals your fate. All that remains for you is the fearful expectation of judgment.