A Common Thing

A Common Thing Hebrews 10:26-39

• • We’ve all drifted in our lives. I’ve started more eating plans, workout plans, financial budgets than I can count. It always starts with vigor and enthusiasm, but eventually, I’m back to ice cream and unbudgeted late night memos runs. Its human nature. We start strong and drift. 
  • But in reality, none of those things are going to keep us out of heaven. Chubby, inconsistent taco eaters are going make heaven if they trust in Christ as savior. (you should amen this)
  • This Hebrews passage is much more sobering and has eternal consequences if ignored. The warning is far more serious. This drift has eternal consequences.
  • The danger is not that Christ is unable to save. The danger is walking away from the only Savior who can. The danger is treating a relationship with God as a common thing 
  • For ten chapters, Hebrews has been proving that Jesus is better. Better than angels. Better than Moses. Better than the priesthood. Better than the sacrifices. Better than the old covenant.

• So the warning is simple: Don’t go back. Don’t treat him as a common thing. 

• Today we’re going to answer a very important question: Are you running toward Christ, or are you running away from Him?///

• A common Thing

• • I want to start in the middle of the scripture today because the context of the verse matters. The meat of this scripture is the “if we sin willfully” but before we start talking about sin, we need to establish what that sin is predicated on. 
  • Covenant. This portion of scripture is establishing that the Hebrews are under the New covenant, and not the Old covenant and they can’t go back to the old covenant. 

• You can’t treat it as a common thing. 

• • If they go back to the Old Covenant, they are 1. Trampling the Son of God underfoot 2. Counting blood of the covenant a common thing 3. Insulting the spirit of Grace. 
  • What is a common thing? A thing that has no high value and importance. Not Elevated in regard
  • People have difficulty with deference. Its rare- Deference refers to yielding or submitting to the judgment, opinion, or wishes of another person, usually out of respect, reverence, or recognition of their authority, age, or expertise. Its widespread in American culture. 
  • Disrespect of Parents from children. Dishonoring of one another in marriage. Defiance of a Pastors authority in a Church. Dismissal of the value of your fellow believer in the Church. 

• The rugged American individualistic mindset many is not compatible with covenant living. 

• • People treat their relationship with God, others and his church as common. “Just another thing”
  • But they’re not common. And when we treat God, His Word, His church, or His people as common, we’re moving in the same direction Hebrews warns about.
  • Trample the son of God, Count the covenant an common thing and insult he spirit of his grace. 
  • When you enter into relationship with God, you are entering into a covenant with God. 
  • A covenant is a binding agreement in which the parties agree to certain terms and conditions
  • God’s side– Jer 24:7 I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
  • Our side- Jos 22:5 – love the Lord, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, hold fast to Him
  • Jeremiah 31:33-34 – I will be their God, forgive their iniquity, remember their sin no more

• 1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

• If you have received Christ, been baptized, took communion, you’re in a covenant with God

• Heb 8:7 if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.

• We, and the people of Hebrews are under the new covenant of his grace. 

• • We can’t treat it as a common thing. What we do. Who we are. How we live, it matters. 
  • Christianity is not an activity of the civic virtue, it’s a deep covenant with the creator./// 

• And what Hebrews is saying, is if you break this new covenant, its dangerous and eternal 

• He Goes so far as to say- 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

• It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Why? He takes it seriously

 The whole argument of Heb. is Christ is your high priest, not the law of moses- don’t go back

• • Hebrews says this-10:28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 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
  • He’s referencing Deuteronomy 17:2-6 Lets read it together- 
  • Notice- Transgressing the covenant is wickedness, Gone and served other Gods and worshipped them, Bring them out to your gates and shall stone them to death
  • That scripture connects with us today- You’re in a covenant with God and if you reject  that covenant- ‘there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”. You’ve treated the cross as “common”

• Why? Because Jesus is the new covenant. the only one who can save you from your sins, and if you willfully, deliberately leave the covenant which you now know to be true- you’re sunk

• there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries
• What’s your plan when you stand before God on judgement day? To what will you point to as your justification of the forgiveness of your sins besides Christ? There’s nothing else! 
• If Christ is rejected, what exactly are you planning to stand before God with?///

• Don’t Reject The Covenant (v26-31)

• • 26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
  • The willful deliberate sin in the context of this verse is not about deliberate transgression of God’s Moral laws. Its about willfully rejecting the covenant of Grace you’ve entered into. 
  • Here’s the truth- We all sin. Every single one of us. I don’t need to sell you on it. 
  • A simple application of this verse would lead someone to believe that those who sin willfully, will no longer be in God’s grace and that Christ can and will no longer forgive you
  • The primary issue in this passage isn’t merely habitual acts of sin. The primary issue is abandoning Christ Himself. That’s the deliberate sin. Leaving the high priest and going back. 
  • But don’t miss it- Sin is bad. It transgresses God’s law and affects our fellowship with the Father. 
  • The Bible is clear- Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
  • 1 cor 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor [c]sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 

• We aren’t supposed to take part in sin we’re to reject it, repent of it and come to Christ. 

• • 1 Cor6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

• That’s who we were and that’s not who we are. Christ is FAITHFUL to forgive our sin. 

• • 1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1 Jn 2:2 And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous Acts 13:38-39 through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

• The issue of this text is not the willful breaking of God’s law by the believer. If it were, then all of us would be condemned and sentenced to Hell because of our willful disobedience.

• • Church, sin is serious. All sin is serious. Whether it’s sexual sin, drunkenness, jealousy, gossip, selfish ambition, or hatred. Don’t let sin deceive you. It can and will contribute to Drift. 
  • The danger is not that every sin is apostasy. The danger is that unchecked sin hardens the heart and leads people away from Christ. Hebrews “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin”
  • That’s the outcome-  The ultimate deception of sin is convincing you that you no longer need Christ./// That you can find some other remedy for your sin. You continue in Sin and die. 
  • Its not about ordinary failures, struggles and outright disobedience to the precepts of God. 
  • Its about Deliberately rejecting the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Its going back to law. 
  • The Hebrews were considering Going back to the Old system. You’re not considering Judaism
  • You’re considering Going back to a life where you live on your own terms away from the Father and try to forgive yourself, fix yourself, Focus on yourself. Your flesh wants you to live for You. 

• If Christ isn’t what you’re holding onto for your eternity, what exactly are you holding onto?

• • God’s remedy for sin is simple- trust in the sacrifice of Christ as your high priest to forgive. 
  • He is the better way and the High priest that wants to forgive your sin and change your nature. 

• Hebrews is a big long sermon about not going back.Heb 2:1 drift away, Heb 2:3 neglect so great a salvation, Heb 3:12 departing from the living God, Heb 3:13 hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, Heb 4:1 come short of it, Heb 4:11 fall according to the same example of disobedience, Heb 5:11 dull of hearing, Heb 6:6 fall away,

• And remember, just a few verses ago Hebrews told us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Why? Because isolation accelerates drift. God gave you the church as a safeguard, not a burden. The Church is the greatest safeguard to drifting. 

• Don’t insult the spirit of his grace. Don’t go back to your old way of life. Don’t Go back. 

• Dont consider going back to a life without Christ. Don’t quit going back to the cross. 

• When you sin, RUN to him. Don’t treat it as a common thing. Its majestic that he forgives

• Hebrews 7:25 – able to save to the uttermost, always lives to make intercession

• 1 John 2:1 – if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father
• You can violate a law and still love God. You cannot despise Christ and remain close to Him.
•  Drift rarely begins with open rebellion. It begins with a shrinking affection for Christ.
• Nobody wakes up in apostasy. They drift there. Its compounding sin and isolation
• The question isn’t merely, ‘Have I sinned?’ The question is, ‘Am I still running to Christ?

• Persevere Because You Know The Truth (v32-39)

• • However demonstrative and challenging the scripture is, Hebrews gives immediate remedy
  • READ V 32-39 recall the former days ,you endured a great struggle ,you had compassion, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves ,He who is coming will come and will not tarry, The just shall live by faith;

• we are not of those who draw back to perdition, we are those who believe to the saving of the soul. That’s not who the Hebrew people are and that’s not who we are either. 

• • We don’t treat him as common and we don’t draw back. The opposite of apostasy is not perfection. It’s perseverance. We don’t draw back. We live by Faith. 
  • The evidence of faith is not that you’ve never fallen. It’s that you keep getting back up and following Christ. We Keep going back to the cross. We keep repenting. Its not common to us. 
  • Our hope is not that we never stumble. Our hope is that we never leave Christ.
  • We don’t persevere because we’re strong. We persevere because Christ is worth holding onto.
  • We recall the former days- Time and time again Christ has forgiven our sins, we always go back
  • We endure great struggles– Christ has forgiven and sustained us in our periods of sinful despair
  • We Know we have a possession- Christ has saved us, forgiven us and has sealed us in promise
  • We know he will come for us– We live with an expectation of his imminent return to rescue us
  • We live by Faith- He who has saved us will continue to save us, intercede for us and redeem us
  • Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
  • My salvation isn’t on me, its on him. I didn’t save myself and I can’t keep myself on my own 
  • He started the work and he’s the one who is going to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ
  • I stay in the covenant. I don’t treat it as a common thing. I stay in the New Covenant of Christ
  • I’m not going to drift away, I’m not going to neglect so great a salvation, I’m not going to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, I’m not going to come short of it, I’m not going to be dull of hearing, depart from the living God. I’m not. I’m staying in his grace and mercy. 
  • I’m going to keep going back to the cross because it’s the only sacrifice for sin. No other way. 

• Are you trusting Christ to save you and forgive you or are you trusting yourself? 

• • Are you Drawing near to the covenant through the cross to forgive you? Holding fast?

• Because the remedy for Hebrews 10 is not panic. The remedy is perseverance.///

• • Yes, the danger is real. The judgement is real. The warning is real. But so is the savior. ///
  • Don’t trample the Son of God underfoot, Don’t counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insult the Spirit of grace

• He will intercede for you. He will hold you. He will forgive you. You need to not draw back

• You’ve been told the truth, you know the truth, you persevere and stay in the truth. 
• We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.——That aint us. It never will be. Jesus our high priest will never be a common thing to us.