Beware Apostasy - 47

Most of God's people are aware that the book of Hebrews contains a number of solemn warning passages.

Perhaps the best known is that in chapter six, verses one through six, which has occasioned, I'm afraid, a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation about the doctrine of salvation and the doctrine of eternal security. But understood properly, it is a very sober warning to the professing people of God, as is the one that we are looking at today in Hebrews chapter 10, also very solemn and also dealing with the same concern, namely those who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ and then turn away from him. The warning is about what we call apostasy, a renunciation of the faith once professed, once embraced, once believed, at least to some extent, which later is renounced, is departed from, is no longer believed and followed. And this is a sin which is committed by those who once professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the very nature of the term, the definition of apostasy, it must always be that of those who formerly professed to believe, but no longer continue to do so. In other words, those who worshiped God with the people of God, those who worshiped God perhaps beside you on the pew of your place of worship, even those who at one time proclaimed the word behind pulpits, and in other ways were very involved in the work of the church, have nevertheless fallen away. That is a fact of life, that is a truth revealed in the Bible, that is a sad, sad condition that many of you have experienced up close, and that is what it dealt with in our passage in Hebrews 10, 26 and following. These are people who have fallen away from the faith who at one time were where you are now, and they thought they would never, never, never, never fall away, but they have.

It's a warning. They did, and so could you, and therefore pay close attention to what the word of God says, do not let your Christian profession turn into another sad case of apostasy. We are going to examine verses 26 through 31 in four parts, and we begin by noting a serious condition in verse 26. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, stop there. This is the serious condition. If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth.

The condition is described, and then I will take it a little bit further with the condition analyzed, but first how is it described? It is described as a persistent sin. For if we sin willfully, could and perhaps more accurately be translated, if we go on sinning willfully. Persistent sin, committed, continued to be committed, not renounced, not acknowledged, not confessed, not turned away from, persistent sin. If we go on sinning day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, there's great danger in that. It is persistent sin.

It is intentional sin. If we sin willfully. Now in one manner of speaking, every sin is a willful sin, so we need to ferret out exactly what the writer of scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit of God means by that term as he applies it in this passage. If we sin willfully, if we sin deliberately, if we sin presumptuously, if we sin with what is described in some translations of the Bible with a high hand. We may get some understanding of that by referring to Numbers chapter 15.

And in Numbers chapter 15 verses 29 through 31 we read the following. God speaking through Moses to the people of Israel, you shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, for him who is native born among the children of Israel, for the stranger who dwells among them, but the person who does anything presumptuously. Whether he is native born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord and he shall be cut off from among the people, cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be completely cut off.

His guilt shall be upon him. And so here we have reference to unintentional sin and presumptuous sin. Again this passage doesn't completely resolve the question that is before us right now, namely what does it mean to sin willfully, but it begins to move us in the direction of a proper understanding. There is a great difference, there is a great demarcation between some sins for which there was a remedy unto the old covenant and other sins for which there was no remedy unto the old covenant. There are degrees of seriousness in the way that people sin, and some sins are committed presumptuously.

There's a special rebellion involved with them, a special intentionality, a special deliberateness, a special defiance, and that is what is being referred to here. Persistent sin, if we go on sinning. Intentional sin, done presumptuously and defiantly. Knowledgeable sin, for the text in Hebrews 10 26 says, in spite of the knowledge of the truth.

Let me read it exactly, for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth. Sinning against truth from God that you do not know is not necessarily excusable, any less than disobeying or going too fast. In a, I wanted to say in a speed zone, in a certain section of highway, because you didn't observe the sign that told you the speed limit, so you really didn't know, but you're still guilty of breaking the law. And if someone, if a policeman stops you, he probably is not going to say, oh I'm sorry, you didn't see the speed sign, well then in that case you're not held accountable, you can go.

That's not probably what he's going to say, though I can't guarantee what he may say in that situation. But we all know there is a difference between sin that is done unintentionally in the sense that we weren't aware at the time we did it that we were sinning. In the case of the man in the speed zone, he knows that speeding is wrong, he knows that much, but he doesn't necessarily know what the speed limit is at the moment that he trespasses in this particular location. Some new cars, some of the newer cars tell you on the dashboard what the speed limit is, where you are at any particular moment.

That's very helpful, isn't it? Because sometimes you don't see the speed limit signs. Sometimes they may have been removed for one reason or another, and so you couldn't see the speed limit signs. So there are some sins that are an infraction of the truth, the law that God has given to us, but we may not be aware of that.

And God, who is totally just, totally righteous, totally fair in all of his sin, knows exactly the thoughts of every heart, he knows the degree of knowledge of every heart, he knows exactly how to evaluate that infraction and to assign to it a degree of culpability. But when somebody knows what the speed limit is, but they say, I don't care, you see some of these guys on the interstate all the time. You're going along at the speed limit, or maybe even five miles an hour above the speed limit, and somebody goes along and just about blows your doors off, they must be going 100 miles an hour. There's no way that that person doesn't know what the speed limit is, but they have determined to defy it anyway. I hope they get stopped, don't you?

And I hope they throw the book at them, don't you? Because that is a high-handed sin. That is done intentionally, deliberately, willfully, with full knowledge of what the person is doing, and he doesn't care. That's what the writer of Hebrews by the Spirit of God is talking about.

It is a serious condition. Now let's take it a little bit further as we analyze this condition. What is this sin? For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth. The statement begins with a connective particle, 4, which connects it back with what has gone before, and would cause us in the first instance to look at the statement immediately preceding, which is not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. Could it be that this deliberate sin is a deliberate abandonment of the assembly of the saints?

The linguistics forces us to consider that. But the context forces us to dismiss that, at least in the main, because the larger context causes us to move past that closest context into a slightly more distant, but nevertheless more relevant context, which fix the words of the passage that follow the statement in verse 26. And so what is this sin? It's not the forsaking of the assembly as such, but it is the rejection of the gospel.

The 4 takes us back a little bit farther. We could go back, for example, to verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiness by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. This, of course, is referring to the work that Jesus Christ did to atone for the sins of his people and to represent his people as high priests before the throne of God. It is part of the fuller picture of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we could read that far through verse 21 and say, for verse 26, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, if we reject the privilege of entering into the holiest by the blood of Christ, if we renounce the new and living way that has been consecrated for us through the flesh and blood of Christ, if we ignore the high priest who has been given to those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we sin willfully after having received a knowledge of the truth. And that understanding of the statement in verse 26 is not only the main point of the preceding context, which contains more than just that admonition not to forsake the assembling of the saints, but gives us clear elements of the gospel in a nearby context of verse 26. And as we know, is actually the main theme of the whole book of Hebrews. What is Hebrews about? It's written to professing Christian Jews, Jewish people who were professing Christians, to warn them not to succumb to the temptation to leave the new covenant and go back to the old covenant.

And in that context, it's clear, therefore, what he's saying. If we, the writer of the book of Hebrews, puts himself in this category, I take it, therefore, that he must be a believing Jew, one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we sin willfully after we have received the gospel, in fact, after we have embraced the gospel, at least in some sense, after we have professed to become followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, for whatever reason, we change our mind, we turn our back upon the gospel of Christ, and we go back to the law of Moses and continue to worship God according to our traditional religion, rejecting all of the new covenant truth that has come to us that we are fully aware of, but for whatever reason does not please us, and so we turn and go back. In the broader context of Hebrews, that's clearly what is being spoken of here, but do not make the mistake of saying, I'm not a Christian Jew, I'm not a Jew who's believed in Christ, there's nothing here for me, no concern of mine, no warning for me, wrong, it's here in the Bible for all believers of all vocations, of all centuries, of all places, for a reason. It's a warning for all of us, it does apply to all of us, if we will pay it close attention. But he's talking about apostasy, renouncing the gospel that previously was professed, and doing so knowingly and willingly, it is an intentional renunciation of the gospel of Christ.

That's the serious condition. Secondly, we will note a sobering consequence. Following this serious condition, there is a sobering consequence in the last part of verse 26 and on into verse 27. If we sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, here's the consequence, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but, it goes on, a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. The sobering consequence of apostasy is that there's no longer any sacrifice for sins, because Christ's atoning death is the only way of salvation.

There is no other way. There's no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. And because Christ's atoning death is the only way of salvation, it is the only efficacious sacrifice for sin, and a sacrifice is required. If you reject this sacrifice, that of Christ and his shed blood, you have nothing else which can save you before the holy, just, righteous wrath of a holy God. There is nothing else except the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Leave that, and you have no possibility of salvation. But is it possible that you could repent of apostasy and be restored? Someone might ask. And my answer to that is both yes and no. You say, I don't like those kind of answers.

Well, I would put it this way. Yes, if you truly repent and believe, but no if God's Spirit does not work within you to enable you to repent and believe. We who know the full gospel and the sovereignty of God in salvation recognize that no one repents truly.

No one believes truly apart from the working of God's Spirit. If God's Spirit says, that's all, I'm not going to come to you anymore to try to impress truth upon your soul. I'm not going to come to you anymore to try to convince you of your need of Christ. I'm not going to come to you anymore to convict you of your sin and cause you to repent and turn to Christ.

Then the answer is no. There's no hope for anyone unless the Spirit of God works within their soul. And so the answer is no unless God has mercy upon you.

But the sternness of the warning here would seem at least to suggest that that's not very likely to happen in a case like this. If you renounce the gospel that you once embraced and deliberately and knowingly turn from it, you not only have turned away from the message that must be believed for you to be saved, but you may be turning away from the operations of God's Spirit, which are also necessary to bring you to repentance and faith. And if God says, I'm leaving you alone, then your damnation is sealed at that point no matter how much longer you live.

It is a serious, serious matter, isn't it? So the sobering consequence is that there is no more sacrifice for sins. And if there is not repentance and renewed faith, true faith, which evidently was not the condition before, there is inevitably a fiery judgment that awaits you. There is no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

What can we say about this judgment described as a fiery judgment which awaits those who have committed the sin of apostasy? It is certain. It is known. It is frightening. It is certain. A certain fearful expectation of judgment. Now the English word certain to us carries the idea of inevitable.

It is certain in the sense that it cannot fail to happen. But actually the Greek word is a bigger word than that. It's a richer word than that.

It includes that idea, but it also includes this idea. It is an undefined judgment. Undefined and we might say undefinable. It is a judgment that is inexpressibly inconceivable. It is a certain judgment. It is the judgment that we all have heard about and know something about, but I can't really tell you more about because nobody really understands it fully. That's basically what's being included in this word certain. It is a judgment, the nature and limits of which are not fully understood.

So it is certain, but number two, it is known. It is an expectation, a certain fearful expectation. The ones upon whom this judgment falls know ahead of time that this is the judgment for those who are not clinging to Christ. And they have renounced Christ at least in his gospel saving work. And therefore they have every expectation to receive this judgment.

And in their proud haughtiness they say who cares. We've all known people who make lightly of hell. I'm not worried about going to hell. All my friends will be there. Ha ha ha. You won't derive any comfort from that on the day that you are cast into the lake of fire.

I promise you that. And what I'm taking from this description, this certain judgment, known judgment, frightening judgment, it's a fearful judgment, it's a fiery judgment, it is a judgment especially reserved for the adversaries of Christ, that is those who have made themselves enemies of Christ. By turning from the gospel and by turning from their identity, former identity as friends and followers of Christ, they have now made themselves enemies of Christ like those who crucified Christ out of animosity and hatred. And for whom, and this is the point, for whom is reserved the greatest and most frightful judgment. There are degrees of suffering and eternal punishment. Not everyone is going to get the same degree of judgment, but the greatest judgment, the most fearful judgment, the most fiery judgment is reserved for those who make themselves enemies of Christ in an especially defiant way. Now that brings me to touch upon one subject which I have, even as I've been talking to you, I've been deliberating in my mind whether I would or not mention this and I've decided to do it.

I'm amazed. I read that Charles Spurgeon claimed that he could have four different realms of thought going on in his mind while he was preaching. I occasionally can have two and not for long, but while I was speaking there I was trying to decide am I or am I not going to bring up this question and that is, is the fire of hell literal fire?

You've probably heard that address sometime in the past and occasionally people will say it is absolutely literal and anybody who doesn't say so is a liberal, they're an agnostic. Well I've come to a different conclusion. You can call me what you want to, but think about this for a minute. My wife and I, something in our devotional material this last week caused us to discuss this very subject so it's still fresh on my mind. Since the lake of fire is designed to torment Satan and his angels, and Satan and his angels are what now? Spirits. Would a literal fire have any effect upon a spirit?

No. Do not conclude therefore, as some have, it's not a literal fire therefore it's not so bad. No, this picture is telling us the literal fire, calling it a fiery judgment is to describe it in the most fearful terms that are available to us in our understanding, but the actual reality is worse, it's greater than literal fire.

Whatever it is, it will be capable of tormenting spirits, it is far more frightening than if you were cast into a bonfire in your body which of course would succumb to those flames. It is a fearful judgment. It is a fiery judgment beyond, way beyond our capacity to understand. So that explains number one the serious condition and number two the sobering consequences, but we come third to a significant comparison in verses 28 and 29. 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. Here is a comparison to show us how serious is the judgment that will come upon one who apostatizes in this way. And the comparison is between the punishment that came upon those who became apostates under the law of Moses and those who become apostates under the new covenant under the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider first the judgment for apostates in the old covenant. And now I turn to Deuteronomy 17 and I think this will add another dimension to our understanding of what this willful, this high handed, this presumptuous, this intentional sin under Moses is. Deuteronomy 17 to if there is found among you within your gates any which the Lord your God gives you a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord in transgressing his covenant.

Keep that in mind. Who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them either the son of the moon or any of the host of heaven which I have not commanded. And it is told you when you hear of it then you shall inquire diligently and if indeed it is true and certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel then you shall bring out, bring out, bring out to your, bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed this wicked thing. And shall stone to death that man or woman. Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death and afterward the hands of all the people so you shall put away from you evil, so shall you put away the evil from among you. Now what is this high-handed presumptuous sin for which there was no remedy? It is apostasy from the Old Testament which is the subject that's under consideration in Hebrews chapter 10. And he makes it clear there if somebody renounces Jehovah God, renounces the God of Israel, turns to idols, worships false gods that is a sin that is so serious that it deserves death at the hands of the congregation.

He shall be stoned to death upon the testimony of two or three witnesses. That's the high-handed sin. It's apostasy. Same as in the New Testament. Apostasy.

And the point here is this. If the offense for apostasy under the law of Moses was physical death, he dies without mercy. If that's been committed, if he's been known to be worshiping false gods, there's no reprieve, there's no comfort, there's no extenuating circumstances. He dies without mercy on the evidence of the testimony of two or three witnesses. The two or three witnesses not only ensure that somebody with a grudge against him, one person who makes a false statement is not sufficient to put such a person to death, it takes two or three witnesses who can testify together. Now as we know, reading the Bible, there are occasions when even two or three witnesses were bribed or induced to give false witness and to testify against somebody and bring about their death unjustly. But at least this is a curb against premature judgment of such a serious offense.

But it's more than that. It indicates open defiance of a public knowledge. This is a sin which is known at least to some other people. It's not a sin simply in the mind or the heart.

It's not a sin of somebody wrestling with doubts that they need to resolve. But it's somebody who openly worships false gods, idols, clearly forbidden, thou shalt not have any other gods before me, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, any likeness, thou shalt not bow down myself to them nor worship them. Everybody in the nation of Israel knows those laws, those Ten Commandments for sure, all the other ones, they may not know as clearly but they certainly know this one. Anybody who defies that law and worships a false god and does so openly publicly enough that others observe it, know it, and can testify concerning it, that person upon the witness of two or three witnesses, testimony of two or three witnesses, is going to be put to death without mercy. His penalty is physical death. In all likelihood it means his spiritual death as well, but that's not what is dealt with here. It is physical death that is the punishment. But that's compared now with the punishment for apostasy under the New Covenant. Considering the judgment under the Old Covenant, we now consider the more severe judgment under the New Covenant. Verse 29, 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. This opens with what is known as a rhetorical question. It's asked to make us think about the answer, to consider it, to weigh it.

It's very simple. If Old Covenant apostasy deserved death, and that is the lesser of the two covenants, it's not as important or as majestic or as final as the New Covenant. If Old Covenant apostasy deserved death, what does New Covenant apostasy deserve? If the inferior covenant, broken in this way, brought the penalty of death, what does the superior covenant, broken in a similar way, bring?

Well it brings death, but not just physical death, it brings eternal death. It compares the law of Moses, given by God, but nevertheless a temporary covenant with the law of Christ, which is a permanent relationship. It compares the blood of animals, by which the Old Covenant was ratified, with the blood of Christ, by which the New Covenant was ratified. It compares physical death, which was the penalty for breaking the Old Covenant, with spiritual death, eternal death, which is the penalty for breaking the New Covenant.

And to make sure we understand, there's a three-fold description of this apostasy, what it looks like. Number one, it rejects the person of Christ. Number two, it despises the gospel of Christ. And number three, it insults the spirit of grace.

It rejects the person of Christ, tramples the Son of God underfoot, not only rejects the person of Christ, that is, does not accept him for who the Bible reveals him to be, the eternal Son of God, who came in human form, he was both man and eternal God, but doesn't believe that to be true, but even goes further and mocks and scoffs at the claims about the person of Christ, tramples the Son of God underfoot, dishonors him, rejects the person of Christ. Number two, despises the gospel of Christ, counts the blood of the Covenant a common thing. The blood which ratified the New Covenant, the gospel of Christ, becomes that a common thing. That's not any different from any other religious practice of any other people throughout history. This is just the way that Jews worship. This is just the way that the disciples of Jesus worshiped. And that's very interesting, but it means nothing to me.

It's of no special significance to me. So, rejects the person of Christ, despises the gospel of Christ, counting the blood of the Covenant a common thing, and insults the spirit of grace, the Holy Spirit who must quicken sinners to life, the Holy Spirit who must convict sinners of their sins, the Holy Spirit who must draw sinners to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit who must illuminate the mind so that we understand the truth of the gospel. This is touching very close upon what we find elsewhere in the New Testament, in the words of Jesus even, especially about the unpardonable sin, speaking blasphemy regarding the Holy Spirit of God. And the whole question is, if apostasy from the law of Moses deserved death, and it did, you say, well, I'm not sure whether it was that bad or not. If the apostasy from Moses, from the Old Covenant, deserved death, and it did, because a holy righteous God who makes no mistakes and is always just and holy made that the penalty, don't start letting seeds of apostasy infect your mind by calling these things into question.

These are true, and they are certifiably true, and they are divinely true. And if this penalty of death was appropriate for apostasy from the Old Covenant, then how much greater must be the deserved punishment of those who apostasize under the New Covenant. And that brings me to number four, a solemn confrontation, verses 30 and 31. A serious condition, a sobering consequence, a significant comparison, and a solemn confrontation which awaits, verse 30. For 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. For we know him, verse 30. We know him, we know God. How do we know him?

By his word. We know him who said. That's the only way we know him, by receiving what he has spoken, by receiving the revelation he has given, by receiving and believing what he has said, what he says about himself, what he says about us, what he says about salvation. That's how we know God. We know God through his word, both generally and specifically. By that I mean we know God through the entire revelation of Scripture.

All of it, in one way or another, teaches us about God. But in this particular case, we know something very, very specific about God, who said, and then two quotations are offered, to tell us what God said that speaks to this particular situation. Verse 30. For we know him who said, number one, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, another quotation, the Lord will judge his people. These two quotations are back to back in Deuteronomy chapter 32. Verse 35, it says in speaking about the enemies of Israel and how God will judge them, and it says vengeance, God speaking, vengeance is mine, your version of the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 32, 35 may say, I will recompense. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will recompense. Well, what is recompense?

That is pay. That's what it means. So it comes across in this New Testament quotation, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. That language is more clear to us.

It means exactly the same thing. God is reserving for himself the right of ultimate and final judgment. God will judge.

God will repay. God will revenge the rebellion of those who have defied him with a high hand. But then verse 36 goes on to say the Lord will judge his people. And you have to study that in the context to realize this is God's promise to uphold his people in the day of judgment. Enemies of God, he will fearfully punish. The word judge has both the connotation of bringing them to a judgment bar where they will be righteously judged and the truth of the matter will be determined along with the punishment that is suitable in that situation. So vengeance is mine.

I will repay. God is going to judge the evil doer with punishment appropriate for his evil doing. But for his people who also are sinners but have trusted him, have believed in him, have received the mercy which he has provided for them, he will cause them to be upheld in the day of judgment. So these two verses speak first of all in the first case of unmitigated justice and in the second case of diverted judgment. Unmitigated justice, righteous punishment for all rebels, righteous punishment for all who are unrepentant, righteous punishment for all who are not true heart believers in Jesus Christ. But diverted judgment for those who are truly God's people, righteous acquittal of all true believers. It's not that God just overlooks their sin, says I'll pass over and I won't pay it any attention. No, it's a righteous acquittal because he gave his son to pay for it and he placed upon his son the sins and the judgment for those sins of all who trust in him. So the sin debt has been paid.

It's an acquittal, but it is a righteous acquittal. God will judge his enemies to their proper punishment. God will judge for acquittal all who have had their sins placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So what do we know about this final judgment, verse 31? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

We know number one, it is inevitable. In this life we sometimes escape the just judgment that our infractions deserve. Children sometimes disobey their parents and get by with it and laugh about it. That's not a good thing.

It's better to get caught and learn not to disobey, because those are the ones who go on later and defy other authorities and laugh about it when they get away with it, and shoplift little things and laugh about it if they get away with it, and on and on they go. But in this life it is possible to sin, to break the law, and escape the judgment that is due, but I am here to promise you, dear friend, nobody but nobody but nobody but nobody will ever escape the final judgment that is carried out by Almighty God, who knows everything and who has all power. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

It's inevitable. It's infallible. God knows the heart. No pretense, no hypocrisy, no false religion will shelter you in that time of judgment.

It is fearful. Do not find yourself in that day apart from the imputed righteousness of Christ. Please, please, please do not enter into eternity apart from the imputed righteousness of Christ applied to your soul. For no empty professors, those pretending to believe who have not truly believed, will stand this judgment. No open rejectors of Jesus Christ will stand this judgment.

Now I have to make a selection based upon time as to what of the final applications I have prepared to bring, I have time to bring. This one, number one, the warnings in the Bible are to be taken seriously. No one should say and no one can righteously say, well, that one's not for me.

I don't need to pay attention to that one. Remember back in verse 26, talking about this fearful condition of apostasy and the judgment that follows, the writer of Hebrews said, not if you, he said, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth. He puts himself in the position of one for whom this could happen.

You say, how could that be? Isn't he a true believer? Well, he thinks he is at the moment, but he knows that others have thought they were, and then their apostasy revealed that they were not. Morning passages like this do not contradict the doctrine of the security of the believer. Every true born again believer is secure forever. But it does contradict the presumption of empty professions of faith of which many people are recipients, are candidates of that who many own professions of faith which are mere empty professions of faith. They do not represent the new birth.

They do not represent a real work of the Holy Spirit in regenerating them. They have merely professed some kind of mental assent to the gospel of Christ and now consider themselves to be eternally safe. And that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches take the warning passages seriously as a remedy to keep, make sure that your claimed profession is a genuine profession. This is how you examine yourselves to see if you be in the faith.

This is how you make your calling and election sure by taking this seriously and considering it and weighing it heavily. Take the warnings of the Bible seriously and give careful attention to the revealed means of grace that are given to us in the word. And I mentioned three, prayer. Make prayer daily practice. And when you pray, make sure you ask God to show you your sins and you acknowledge and confess them and turn from them. Don't just glibly go along from day to day, yeah I know how to do that but I don't have time and after all I'm a Christian, nothing can ever happen to me.

That kind of thinking may be a manifestation of counterfeit profession rather than genuine one. Give attention to prayer. Give attention to the Bible, both your own reading of it and the exposition of it in the assembly of the saints. Make that a high priority which therefore requires number three, give attention to the assembly of the saints. There is a connection here. Though the apostasy described in verse 26 is not a direct reference to the forsaking of the assembly in verse 25, the forsaking of the assembly is one manifestation of a beginning of a spiritual decline which can and will in some cases end in apostasy. One of my commentaries, and I forgot to write down the source for this but I'll give you the quotation, said the forsaken assembly is a step toward total apostasy.

It may not eventuate in that but it is a carelessness, a presumption, an indifference. I don't need that. I don't need to obey those commands. Yes, you do. Yes, you do.

Yes, you do. There's no substitute for it. Watching sermons on the computer screen are not a substitute for assembling with the saints according to the command of God if you are able to do so. And it's dangerous to neglect that as if it is of little consequence. When it comes to apostasy, don't presume that it can't happen to you. Remember virtually every apostate comes from off a church pew.

Virtually every apostate at one time sat in a church like this one, like you are right now. Don't assume this doesn't apply to you. Be warned. Be wise. Be vigilant. Let us pray. Father, cause these words to find lodging as needed and do your work in hearts we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.