THE SEVEN ALARMS OF HEBREWS
Some may avoid studying the book of Hebrews because of its numerous references to the Old Testament, but this should not be the case because it is full of great instructions for the Christian. The more knowledge you have of the O.T., the more you will be able to appreciate the book of Hebrews and you will have a greater understanding of the NT altogether.
Without the O.T., the N.T. would not make much sense and all the references that are made to prophecies being fulfilled would be meaningless. While it is true that we are not under O.T. Law, the O.T. is still extremely important to the Christian. As Paul said,
Romans 15:4 For
whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we
through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
One of the main themes in
Hebrews is the supremacy of Christ. However, throughout this book are alarms or
warnings that are designed to warn Christians about things that can cause them
to fall away from Christ.
I think we can all
appreciate and understand the necessities of alarms in the Bible and in our
lives today. Even young children are taught to pay attention to alarms. For
instance, if the fire alarm goes off, they know that there may be a fire and
they will take the appropriate action to get out of the building. When we drive
down the road and we hear the sirens of an emergency vehicle we pull over to
the side of the road. When our favorite show is interrupted by the weather man
and he tells us a tornado is heading our way, we jump up and get prepared for
the worse.
When we pay attention to
alarms like we are suppose to they will serve us well, but unfortunately not
everyone does this and many lives have been lost simply because people chose
not to listen to the alarms. The reason some choose to ignore certain alarms is
because they have never seen anything bad happen because of them or because
there had been too many false alarms, so they let their guard down.
While it is a horrible
thing to lose your life for neglecting an alarm, it is much worse to lose your
soul because you ignored the alarms found in God’s Word. Of course a major
difference between alarms of the world and the alarms of the Bible is that the
God’s Word does not contain any false alarms. He warns us that there will be a
final judgment day and that we will all have to give an account to Jesus on
that day on how we lived our life based on His Word (2 Cor. 5:10).
Since it has been almost
2000 years since Christ ascended into heaven some have began to ignore God’s
warnings because they feel like Jesus is not going to come back or that they
have plenty of time. Peter warned us that some people would think this way in 2
Pet. 3:3ff. However, we need to understand that this is not a false alarm and
we need to remain alert.
Sometimes Christians see
the warnings in their Bibles and they realize that they are ignoring them, but
they simply do not care. Since they are not facing any immediate consequences,
it doesn’t bother them. However, the problem is the more you ignore the alarms,
the less you are going recognize the danger you are putting your soul in and
before you know it, it will be to late.
So, I hope this lesson
will help you learn to become more alert and to pay attention to the many alarms
that are found throughout the Bible. The seven warnings that we will be looking
at today from the book of Hebrews are for those who are already Christians.
Our first alarm is deals
with drifting from the Word and it is found in,
Hebrews 2:1
Therefore 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast,
and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both
with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according to His own will?
To help us to understand
this warning better, we need to understand the basic message of chapter 1. We
learn from that chapter that God had spoken to man through prophets in the
past, but now He has spoken to man through His Son Jesus. Jesus is the express
image of the Father and He has the brightness and glory of the Father.
Jesus is far greater than
the angels and He has been appointed heir of all things, and Jesus is called
God by the Father in verse 8. Even the angels are to worship Jesus. Jesus is
the one who created the worlds, and all things are upheld by the power of his
Word.
It is Jesus that purged
us of our sins and who has been exalted to the right hand of God. So, Hebrews 1
shows how superior Jesus is to the prophets of old and even the angels. With
this in mind, look at the first few verses of chapter 2 again:
Hebrews 2:1 Therefore
we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift
away. 2 For if the word
spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation
Since Jesus is far
greater than the angels, and the prophets of old, we better pay attention to
what He says to us through the Word of God. The reason why is given in verses 2
and 3.
Notice, the message
spoken through angels in the past was true and if people did not take heed to
those words, then a swift punishment would happen. Now there are differences of
opinion on who the angles refer to in this text because the word angels means
messenger and can apply to heavenly messengers or earthly messengers.
Personally I can see it
referring to both because chapter 1 talked about both. We learn from other
verses that heavenly angels were involved in someway in the giving of the Law
of Moses:
Galatians 3:19 What
purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of
transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and
it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
Now we are not told how
these angels were involved, but they were there and the mediator was Moses.
Luke also records this fact in,
Acts 7:52
"Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed
those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the
betrayers and murderers, 53
"who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
The
O.T. and N.T. have several examples of heavenly angels being involved with mankind.
For instance,
Of course there are many
other instances of angel’s involvement with mankind, but these are sufficient
to prove it. As the writer of Hebrews said,
Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent
forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
Also all the prophets who
spoke God’s Word to the various people are also called angels are messengers. When
their messages from God were ignored, severe consequences were sure to follow.
For example,
Of course there are many
other instances that we could look at that prove that there were severe
consequences when mankind did not take heed to the words spoken through earthly
and heavenly angles. However, the writer of Hebrews wants us to understand that
there should be no doubt in our minds that the consequences that we will face
for not taking heed to Jesus’ Word will be more severe because our deeds will
make the difference between being saved and being lost, which is why the writer
of Hebrews says,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and
was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both
with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according to His own will?
We need to understand
that there will be no escape for us if we choose to allow ourselves to drift
from God’s Word. Drifting from God’s Word is easy to do because all you have to
do is nothing. Just stop praying to God and stop reading His Word and before
you know it you will begin to drift.
If we want to make it to
heaven and be pleasing to God then we need to take this alarm to heart and,
we must give the more earnest heed to the things
we have heard, lest we drift away.
The second alarm of
Hebrews in found in Heb. 3:7 – Heb. 4:2 and it has to do with doubting the
Word.
Hebrews 3:7
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His
voice, 8 Do not harden your
hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me,
tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10
Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, 'They always go astray in
their heart, And they have not known My ways.' 11 So I swore in My wrath, 'They
shall not enter My rest.' " 12
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God; 13
but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of
Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: "Today,
if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the
rebellion." 16 For who,
having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of
This is a completely
different warning than we looked at earlier because this is dealing with those
who doubt God’s Word. Since the Jews doubted God’s Word it kept them from
entering the promise land. When we doubt God’s Word it can keep us out of
heaven.
It is hard to believe that someone would
neglect their salvation when there is so much evidence that proves that Word of
God is true. However, the children of
Even though they saw all
of this with their eyes they doubted God’s Word and they were too afraid to
enter into the promise land. Because of the unbelief, they had to wander in the
wilderness for a total of 40 years because God was not going to allow those who
doubt His Word to enter the promise land. If God had wanted to, he could have
left the Jews on their own, but he still continued to take care of them by not
allowing their cloths to wear out and he did not allow them to starve or go
without water, yet they still complained and they received several punishments
for their ingratitude and lack of faith.
Paul also used this
example to his letter to the Corinthians, which goes hand and hand with the message
our text. Notice what he wrote in,
1 Corinthians 10:1
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were
under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea, 3 all ate the same
spiritual food, 4 and all
drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their
bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we
should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were
some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink,
and rose up to play." 8
Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day
twenty-three thousand fell; 9
nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by
serpents; 10 nor complain, as
some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened
to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the
ends of the ages have come. 12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Both this message from
Paul and the writer from Hebrews convey the idea that we must not trust in
ourselves and think that we can stand firm in the faith by doing things our
way. Most Christians have no problem walking with God as long as God’s way
agrees with their way, but when their way clashes with Gods’ way some will
choose their way because they feel their way is just fine. But, this is where
we get ourselves in trouble.
When we start trusting in
ourselves more than trusting in God’s way, then we are showing a lack of faith
and trust in God. As the writer of proverbs said,
Proverbs 3:5 Trust
in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge
Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
So, take heed to this
alarm in your life and don’t allow yourself to doubt the Word of God no matter
how much you think your way is better. Again, listen to the latter part of our
text,
Heb. 4:1
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any
of you seem to have come short of it. 2
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which
they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
The third alarm from book
of Hebrew come from Hebrews 5:11-14 and this alarm is a warning against
dullness toward the Word.
The writer starts out in
chapter 5 describing the nature of the high priest under the Law of Moses, and it
talks about how Jesus has been made our high priest under the order
Melchizedek. Instead of continuing on with this thought, the writer pauses and
makes another observation starting in verse 11 that might apply to many Christians
today,
Hebrews 5:11 of whom
we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of
hearing. 12 For though by
this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again
the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and
not solid food. 13 For
everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of
righteousness, for he is a babe. 14
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who
by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
We can understand this
idea when it comes to our world. We know that there are many experts out there
in their given field and there are certain words they use that only on those in
their field will understand. Now if someone just started in that field and they
went to a lectureship that designed for those with experience in that field,
that person would be lost because they wound not be able to understand all the special
terminology that was being used. This is understandable because they are babes
in that field.
However, it is sad when
someone has been working in a field for many years, but they have never grown
and progressed because they are dull of hearing. They have slipped through
cracks and only done as little as possible to keep their job. While they should
be able to teach others or even teach a lecture on their field, they cannot
because they never moved on to solid food.
This same type of
attitude happens to many Christians. They had no problem obeying the Gospel,
but when it comes to growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord their
hearing becomes dull because they are not interested in learning more. Since
they are unwilling to learn they cannot comprehend some of the more difficult
books in the Bible such as the book of Hebrews.
I have known men and
women who have been Christians for almost 50 years, but because of their
dullness toward the Word, they couldn’t tell you much about any given topic in
the Bible and I would be surprised if they could even teach someone the simply
plan of salvation. This is sad because someone that has been a Christian that
long should know a lot about the Bible and especially how to teach the basics
of the God’s Word. People like this are still babes and they have not moved on
to solid food. While this is understandable for a new Christians is should not
be the case for someone that has been a Christians for many years.
Friends, if you find
reading your Bible is boring or if you have been a Christian for many years and
you still cannot teach someone the basic principles of the Bible, then you need
take this alarm to heart and realize that you are being dull of hearing. It is
high time that that you start growing in your knowledge of Christ so that you
can teach others. It is time to wean yourself from the milk and move on to
solid food. Peter tells us exactly what must do to achieve that goal in,
2 Peter 1:2 Grace
and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord, 3 as His divine power
has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us
exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust. 5 But
also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to
virtue knowledge, 6 to
knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly kindness love. 8
For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is
shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from
his old sins. 10 Therefore,
brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you
do these things you will never stumble; 11
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We have no problem making
sure that we feed ourselves daily so that we don’t go hungry, but many times we
have no problem starving ourselves spiritually because of our dullness of
hearing. So, I hope if this alarm applies to you that you will allow it to wake
you up and get your attention, so that you can start growing in Christ today
because if you continue in dullness of hearing, then you may find yourself being
spiritual dead because you did not nourish your soul as you should had. The
writer of Hebrews has taught us that those who do not move on to solid food
will not be able to discern between evil and good. So, I hope that all of us
will take heed to this alarm.
So far we have examined 3
alarms of the book of Hebrews. Next week we will examine the remaining 4. I
hope this lesson has taught you how important alarms can especially when they
come from the Word of God. As we have learned there are many things that we must
watch out for as we strive to walk in footsteps of Jesus, so that we can be
found faithful in the end.
Last Sunday morning we
began a two part lesson on the seven alarms of Hebrews and we learned how
important alarms are in our everyday lives and especial when they come from the
Word of God because those alarms are designed to keep up from falling away from
God. We examined the first 3 alarms of Hebrews last week. The first alarm we
looked at came from Heb. 2 and it was an alarm against drifting from the Word
of God. The second alarm came from Heb.
3 and it was an alarm against doubting the Word of God. Then our final alarm we
examined came from Heb. 5 and it was a warning against dullness toward the
Word.
So this morning we are
going start with the 4th alarm from the book of Hebrews and it comes from Heb.
6 and it warns us about departing from the Word. The first few verses of this
chapter refer back to our third alarm about dullness to the Word. Notice what
it says,
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore,
leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go
on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
and of faith toward God, 2 of
the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead,
and of eternal judgment. 3
And this we will do if God permits.
All of these topics the
writer is mentioning here are considered as elementary principles of Christ. As
Christians we are to grow beyond these basic principles and move on to deeper
topics. We need to understand these basic principles before we can move on so
that we can have firm foundation to work from. Jesus illustrated this principle
in,
Matthew 7:24 "
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him
to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on
the rock. 26 "But
everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
All of us can understand
the importance of moving beyond the basics when it comes to our world. For
instance, if you had 12 year old that had nothing wrong them mental or
physically, yet they had only learned how to count from 1 to 10 and only knew
the letters of the alphabet most people in our society would be very concerned
for him because they know this young man should have already been way beyond
these basics. Yet we don’t seem to bat an eye at someone that has been a
Christian for 12 years and yet they struggle to find where John or 1 Timothy is
in their Bible. Many times we have things so backwards. While we should be
concerned about a 12 year old who has not grown beyond these basics, we should
be more concerned about a Christian who is not growing as they should.
In the next verses, the
writer starts talking about those who have moved on to solid food and have had
a deeper understanding about God’s Word. This is where our alarm comes from
about departing from the Word that we should take it very serious. I am going
to read to the end of the chapter so we can get the entire thought from the
texts.
Hebrews 6:4 For it
is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come, 6
if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again
for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinks in
the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it
is cultivated, receives blessing from God;
8 but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected
and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are
confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany
salvation, though we speak in this manner.
10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor
of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have
ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who
through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made a promise to
Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, "Surely blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." 15 And so, after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. 16
For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for
them an end of all dispute. 17
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the
immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things,
in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind
the veil, 20 where the
forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
This warning is directed
to those who have become spiritual mature and have moved on to solid food. They
understand how they are to live their life for God, and they understand the
consequences of disobedience. They have experienced the power of prayer, and
they know how to teach others about God. Once someone has gained this knowledge
and wisdom, you would think that they would never depart from God’s Word
because they have experienced and understood what it means to be a Christian,
but unfortunately it happens sometimes.
What causes a Christian
like this to fall away is going to be different for every Christian, but most
of the time it starts out as something small that happens in their life and
they become enticed by it and before you know they have allowed something small
to turn into something big that swallows them whole and they depart from God’s
Word. Departing from God’s Word means that you have fallen away. Now there are
some religious groups out there that teach once saved always saved but the
writer here proves that a person can be a spiritual mature Christian that is
saved and then by their own choosing be lost by departing from God’s Word.
Now when this happens,
the writer says they re-crucify Christ for themselves and put Him to open
shame. This warning should scare us to death and make us pay attention to how
we are living our lives so that temptation doesn’t come in and cause us
re-crucify Christ over again and put Him to open shame. This is describing how
Jesus feels about those who loved Him and lived their life for Him and then
they decide to turn their back on Him, it just like you have put Him back up on
that cruel cross.
Also, when a mature
Christians does this, the writer says that it is impossible to renew that
fallen Christians back to repentance. Now this is not saying that God will not
accept that Christian back if they repent. What it is saying is if a Christians
already has experienced the grace of God and understood if and they choose to
depart from it, there is nothing new they can be offered that will cause them
to come back to God because they knew what they left.
We should all pay close
attention to this alarm because none of us should every desire to be in this
situation, but it can happen if we let our guard down and we don’t endure and
remain in the Word of God. As our text said, we should look at examples like
Abraham to encourage us to remain faithful and trust in the promises of God.
Our fifth alarm is a
warning against despising the Word of God and it comes from
Hebrews 10:26 For if
we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will
devour the adversaries. 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? 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. 32 But recall the
former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle
with sufferings: 33 partly
while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly
while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in
my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you
have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. 35 Therefore do not cast away your
confidence, which has great reward. 36
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God,
you may receive the promise: 37
"For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will
not tarry. 38 Now the just
shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure
in him." 39 But we
are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the
saving of the soul.
It is difficult to understand
how a faithful Christian could despise the Word of God and trample Jesus under
their feet and consider His sacrifice as common thing, but some Christians have
done this by not following God’s Word.
However, we can
understand this when we put it into an earthly context. For example, if your
boss gives you assignment to do with specific instructions and you have plenty
of time to do what he said, but you decided to things your way instead of his
way. How much respect have you given to your boss? None. How important was
those instructions to you? Not important at all.
The more we trust and
respect our superior, the more likely we are going to follow their instructions
to the letter to the best of our ability. When we do the opposite, not only do
we disrespect our superior, we are making the statement that we are greater
than they are, and that we should be in their position. This is what Christians
do when they despise the Word of God and they do things their way. They are
showing a lack of respect for God and what Jesus did for them and they are
saying that they are better than Jesus.
Jesus spoke a parable
about 2 sons in Mat. 21:28-32. Their father wanted them to go work in the
vineyard and one son said he would be he did not go. The other son said he
would not, but later he repented and he went. Jesus wanted to know which son
did the will of the Father. The opposing Jews answered correctly that the son
the repented and went and worked did the will of the father.
Then Jesus pointed out
how the harlots and tax collectors would enter the
Our text says that if we
sin willfully after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no more
sacrifice for our sin. All there is to look forward to is a fiery judgment. Now
this is not saying that if a person sins willfully that they cannot be forgiven
of that sin because John says,
1 John 1:9 If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If it was the case that
we could not be forgiven after committing a willful sin, we would have to live
perfectly, which is impossible to do and so all of us would be lost. So, when
it says there is no longer a sacrifice for those that sin willfully it talking
about those who sin willfully and who are not bothered by their sin or feel
like they need to repent. They know what they must do to be right with God, and
there is no other sacrifice that can bring about the forgiveness of their sins
because Jesus already provided this through His death.
Those who have this
attitude toward their sin, are despising the Word of God. Once again, we are
taught about the supremacy of Christ because our text talks about how people
would be put to death under the Law of Moses by two or three witness and then
it says,
. 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?
If we choose to despise
the Word of God by doing things our way, we are telling God by our actions that
His love, mercy and grace is not important to us and the great sacrifice His
Son made for us means nothing to us. When we take on this attitude, we must
understand that our punishment will far greater than those who were put to
death for disobeying God’s Word under the O.T. because His son is greater than
them all.
I also want to point out
that our text says in Heb.10:38 that if we draw back from God that He has no
pleasure in us, which means that we are not fit to enter the kingdom of heaven
as Jesus said,
Luke 9:62 No one, having put his hand to the plow, and
looking back, is fit for the
So, I hope that each of
us will pay attention to this alarm and never throw away our salvation that was
purchased at such a great price by despising the Word by doing things our way
instead of God’s way.
Our sixth alarm of
Hebrews has to do with defying the Word and it comes from,
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue
peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the
Lord: 15 looking carefully
lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness
springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any
fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his
birthright. 17 For you know
that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he
found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. 18 For you have not come to the
mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and
darkness and tempest, 19 and
the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged
that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. 20 (For they could not endure what
was commanded: "And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall
be stoned or shot with an arrow." 21
And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I am exceedingly
afraid and trembling.")
As Christians, we are
encouraged to be peaceful with those around us, and we are to pursue, that is
to continually strive, to be holy because without these our text tells we will
not see the Lord. Our text confirms that if we choose to defy the Word of God,
then we can fall from God’s grace.
Defying God’s is more
than just ignoring it, it means that we take a stand against it. It like a
child who is testing their parents to see what they can get away with. This is
exactly what some Christians find themselves doing with God. It’s like they
test the waters by engaging in an activity that they know is wrong and they
wait to see if God is going to do anything about it. When nothing seems to
happen, they continue engage in more and more sins thinking that they are
getting away with something without any consequences.
Take the classic example
of Esau. He was hungry and choose to sell his birthright for a little bit of
food. Now he was not ignorant of what he was given up, but he did it anyway. I
am sure that he was extremely hungry, but I doubt that he was in any immediate
danger of dying from starvation, and its not like there wasn’t food around that
he could eat a little bit later without selling his birthright. Since Esau did
this he is called a fornicator and profane person.
Let me ask you a
question. Would give up something of great value for a little bit food just
because your hungry, yet not in danger of starving to death? Most of us would
probably say no, but many people exchange eternity in heaven for worldliness.
They are willing to defy the Word of God just so they can enjoy the passing
pleasures of sin. As Jesus said,
Matthew 16:26 "For
what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
We need to understand
that nothing on this earth is worth losing our soul over. We must remind
ourselves that sinful pleasures of this world are only temporary and they will
be burned up. Besides you cannot even begin to compare worldliness to enjoying
eternity in heaven.
The more we defy God, the
easier it is going to be for us to move away from Him completely. If we are not
careful, we can find ourselves past the point of no return because once we have
seared our hearts with a hot iron, it is very unlikely that we will every
return back to God. Remember defiance also starts out small, so if you see that
you are starting to defy God’s Word is one area of your life, you need to
listen to this alarm and change your ways so that it doesn’t lead to more
defiance, which will ultimately cause you to fall from God’s grace. So, don’t
exchange your soul for worldliness.
Our seventh alarm has to
do with dishonoring the Word and we learn about this in,
Hebrews 12:25 See
that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused
Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away
from Him who speaks from heaven, 26
whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet
once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once
more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of
things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are
receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a
consuming fire.
The OT is full of
examples of those dishonored God’s Word by being disobedient and how they were
punished and sometime put to death for this dishonor. When God spoke at
Matthew 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
After this great event,
we were given the kingdom that cannot be shaken, which is talking about the
church. If we want to be part of God’s unshakable kingdom, then we must not
dishonor God by disobeying His commands.
It doesn’t matter if God’s
Word came through an angel, a whisper, or through the written Word, we need to
listen to what He says because He is our creator and it is only through Him
that we can live and have hope of a life in heaven. God deserves our reverence
and if we choose dishonor Him, then we need to be afraid because it is a
fearful thing to fall into hands of a living God.
While God is merciful, He
is also just, so we must do our best to honor our creator and what He has done
for us by obeying His commands. After all, Jesus said if we love Him we will keep
His commands and we will be His friend (John 14:15; 15:14). So, let us never
forget what God has done for us and is doing for us so that we can be
encouraged to do our best to not dishonor Him by disobeying His Word.
As we come to end of
lesson this morning, I hope you have learned how important it is that we pay
attention to the alarms that are found in the Bible. Now we have only examined
7 of those alarms in the book of Hebrews, but there are many more that can be
seen throughout the N.T. and I hope that we will allow them to keep us alert so
that we do not find ourselves falling from God grace.
(This 2-part sermon was
adapted from the excellent chapter “THE SEVEN ALARMS OF HEBREWS” written by
Kenneth E Ratcliff found in the Gospel Journal Commentary Series on Hebrews p.
295ff.)