Will you please turn with me this meeting to the second half of Hebrews 10. We are going to speak today about the second half of chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews. And this is a very interesting passage because there is a twofold thought here in this chapter. From verse 19 to the end of the chapter, the apostle, the writer to those Jewish believers, Showing them two things. On the one hand, the privileges that they have, and you and I as well. And on the other hand, the responsibility that they have. And he gave them what is known in the book of Hebrews, the fourth warning. Always bear in mind that when we read this book of Hebrews, the writer dealing with believers.

And sometimes those warnings sound like as if he's telling them that they can lose their salvation. But if you are carefully seeing who he speaks to and connecting it with other passages, you will definitely understand that it's not an issue of one losing his or her salvation, but it's an issue of the danger of departing from the Lord, even for a believer. So look at this, Hebrews 10 verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy of holies, or as we say in Hebrew, Kodesh HaKodashim, the holiest, by the blood of Yeshua, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the profession or the confession of our faith or our hope without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exalting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching for if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for of a judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.

Of how much sorrow punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified as an unholy thing and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great light of affliction partly whilst ye were made against saying stock both by reproaches and afflictions and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so youth for ye had compassion on me in my barn and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an undoing substance.

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry, now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Very interesting chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, that really shows us. The ways of God with men, with the people of God, and here we are today in the second half of the book of Hebrews.

In this chapter what we really see is the superiority of Yeshua the Messiah in the sacrifice which he had offered in comparison to the other sacrifices that had been offered by the priests on the altars that God had given to our people of all to the nation of Israel. There are three things that we have really in this chapter. Those three things, two of them we have already covered. The first 10 verses of chapter 10, which we have covered in our last meeting together, we see that the Messiah's sacrifice does not only atone or cover sin, but Messiah's sacrifice takes sin completely away. This is something we have to be so thankful to God that our sins were not only covered and atoned for, but they have been removed completely.

Because the sacrifice of the Messiah completely removed sin and sin question before the presence of God. As we have read in the first 10 verses that he came, he says, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. We have read it in the first 10 verses, and we said that through the offering of the body of Yeshua, we have been sanctified once and for all and we read that by one offering he completely put forever away sin from the presence of God that is the first 10 verses now in verses 11 to verse 18 which we have also covered in our last meeting together we discovered that the sacrifice of the Messiah do not need to be repeated again and again once you have done it remove the sin completely from the presence of God never needed to be repeated and that's why he said in verses 11 to 18 and the verse that we have covered that he.

One offering he perfected forever them that are sanctified we read this in verse 14 of Hebrews chapter 10 never need to be repeated any longer we do not need to come every Shabbat or every sunday or every day or every week or every month or every year we don't need to come and over sacrifice because it has been done once and for all the sacrifice of Yeshua HaMashiach completely satisfied God and we do not need to repeat bringing that sacrifice again but again that was the danger of the Hebrew believers of first century which have experienced temple sacrifices which have had lived in the time where the temple was standing and some of them had the inclination to go back and to offer sacrifices again at the temple.

Now, here we are going now from the verses we have read, and here we find out the third thing that Hebrews 10 teaches us. Hebrews 10 teaches us the third lesson that Messiah sacrificed. Open for us a way to God. Open the way that we can go into the immediate presence of God. The sacrifice of the Messiah, which is the theme of Hebrews chapter 10, It tells us, the third thing in this chapter, that the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah not only removes sin, not only not needed to be repeated, but it opened the door, opened the veil, opened for us a way to God, which Israel as a nation, prior to the coming of the Messiah, have not had.

And now look at this. Look what he's telling them here in this chapter. First of all, verses 19 to 25. He gives them an invitation to draw near. You know, brothers and sisters, look. When God gave the law to Israel in Exodus 19 and 20, Israel was so fearful from the thunder, from the power of God, that they could not come nearer to God. In fact, they drew back and they said to Moses, we do not want to draw near. In fact, God said to Moses, tell the people of Israel not to touch the mountain. Because the mountain with the presence of God there caused Israel as a nation not to draw near but to stay back.

The veil that God had given to Israel, to Moses and to Aaron to create, which was between the Holy of Holies to the holiest place, the separation veil only proved that they could not draw near. But here, the Hebrew writer tells those Hebrew Jewish Israeli believers on first century, he's telling them three things here in these verses 22 to 25. He is inviting them to draw near. And look what he's telling them. First of all, he tells them in verse 19, Before he's coming to that verse 22, he said, brethren, listen, heavy, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Yeshua. He's telling them, heavy, therefore, brethren, boldness.

Now, boldness here in verse 19 is not carelessness, is not without respect to the Lord, but boldness. Actually, in this passage, it's the freedom that we have to come into the immediate presence of God. The boldness is not carelessness, but liberty and freedom. How can we come to the presence of God? He says, look, in verse 19, we have brethren, having. By the way, this having means that we have it. It belongs to us. We don't need to search for that, but we have the boldness. We have the freedom to enter into the Holy of Holies. But how? It is by the blood of Yeshua. When you and I come into the immediate presence of God, what do we present before God?

Not our deeds, but the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. We tell God, really, God, I'm coming into your presence because of what Yeshua has done for me, because of the price that he had paid, because of the blood that he had shed, because of the life that he had given. We have boldness to enter in. You notice when he says to enter into the holiest. What is the holiest? The holiest is the immediate presence of God. If you look at the temple, tabernacle, it is the Kodesh HaKodeshim where Aaron, the high priest, would enter only once a year and no more. And he will never be able to come into the presence of God without blood for himself, for his family, and for the nation.

But we have the blood of Yeshua the Messiah. Now, we don't have the literal blood in our hands, but we have in the value of the blood of the Messiah, we can come in with boldness. And you notice it says here something that is very interesting in verse 20. We enter in by a new and living way. You see what it says in verse 20? By a new and living way. What does that mean? We have the new way, it simply means, that is no longer by the old way which God had given. It is he who had given to his people the nation whom he loved to come into his presence by that old way.

But it is he who introduced the new way. The old way was through the sacrificial system. The new way was through the sacrifice of the Messiah. But you notice he doesn't only say by a new way, But he says also in verse 20, by a living way. What does that mean? You see, when the Lord Jesus died for our beloved, thank God that God had been so satisfied with his work that he did not leave him in the tomb. We have just had our Bible class in John chapter 2, when Yeshua said at the end of chapter 2, he said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

He's speaking about his resurrection. You see, thank God that we don't have a dead leader like many religious groups have today, like all religious groups have today, except the believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. We have a living way. We have a living Savior. We have a living Son of God, the Messiah, who is now in the presence of the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf. He is both the priest and the sacrifice and the altar and everything in the presence of God. And he is there in the presence of God. And we are to come in by that new way and the living way.

You know, what a sad thing for people to go through the routine of ritualizing that have no power, no value. You know, I've seen it many times. Even many professing churches, you know, you can see people kiss stones, light candles, do all kinds of things that is merely rituals. We, when we light those candles, it's to speak to us of the sevenfold Spirit of God, to speak to us about the Messiah, not to focus on candles, but to focus on the person of the Messiah. But you see, there's all kind of groups and religious people that are having a dead religion. No power, no liberty, no joy, no anything that has to do with life.

It's all dead. Worshipping stones, worshipping sticks, worshipping all kind of men and people that are no longer alive. But we have a living Mashiach. We have a living Savior. So he's telling them, you come, you have boldness to enter into the Kodesh of Kodeshim by the blood of Yeshua. It is a new and living way which he has consecrated for us. He made it possible for the Hebrew believers. He made it possible for the believers in Yeshua, the Messiah. Now, how he made it possible, beloved? This is ever something that we need to remember. And you notice what he says in the second half of verse 20, through the veil.

And then he adds that statement. That is to say, through his flesh. It sounds very strange. But you see what we learned from this passage, that the veil in the Holy of Holies, that separated between the holy from the holy of holies, really spoke to us of the Messiah. The veil, with all its glory and its beauty, but is the one that is limited or did not allow the high priest to enter in more than once a year, that veil represented the body and the flesh of our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. Do you remember that we read very clearly in the Gospel of Mark, and I'm going to turn there to chapter 15.

It says in verse 37 and 38, And Yeshua cried with a loud voice, and he gave up the spirit. In other words, he died. And immediately when he died, we read that the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. When Yeshua gave his life, his flesh, when he gave his body, himself, when he shed his blood, he gave up the spirit. When he said, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? When he gave up the spirit, the veil of the temple had been rent in twain. And God opened the door, opened the gate, opened the veil so we can enter in.

So the veil really represented the body, the flesh, the life of the Messiah in his humanity. And that he was willing to lay down his life. That the world will have an opportunity to enter into the presence of God. That believers can enter in. That the lost world can have eternal life through him. And so what's happening, it is a new way. It is a living way which he, Yeshua, have consecrated for us through his body that he had given for us on the cross, on the tree. And that's why he could say, Elohi, Elohi, lama shuvaktani. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?

Because when God forsook him, it enabled you and I to come into the presence of God. When God judged him, it enabled a sinner to receive forgiveness of sins. And when God punished the sinless one, it enabled a sinner to receive forgiveness of sins. If he or she only trusts in Yeshua, the Messiah. And so here is the writer telling in verse 19 and 20 that we have boldness, we have freedom. We can come into the immediate presence of God. It is a new way. It is a living way. It is through the body, the flesh, the blood, the shed of Yeshua, the Messiah, through the price that he paid for us on the tree.

And by the way, there is no other way. There is no other way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one come to the Father but by me. John chapter 14 and verse 6, Yeshua said, It is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. We read in the book of Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, There is no other way. It is only through the veil, through his flesh, his body, that had been given for us on the tree. And then we read in verse 21, And having a high priest over the house of God. You notice that? Aaron was a high priest in the house.

Yeshua is a high priest over the house. He is the one who is over everything. He is the one that is supreme. He's the owner of the house. He's the creator of the house. He's over the house of God. That's precious. And so now he tells them in the next verses, he gives it a threefold invitation. And beloved, you and I are right here in these verses. It's not only applied to first century Hebrew believers, it's applied to you and I today. And the challenge is for us to ask ourselves this question, am I answering to the invitation of God? The first thing that he tells us is in verse 22, he tells us, Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The first thing he is telling those believers, he says, let us draw near. You know, to draw near is to come closer. You know, oftentimes when I go to a meeting and whether I speak to young people or other group of believers, it seems to be that many people, for some reason, sit in the back seat. And I have to always invite them to come closer. Come to the front seat. Don't sit in the back. Sit in the front so you can hear me better and you can be closer and we can communicate. But sometimes we like to be in the back seat. Now, I'm not talking about here.

We have children and all kind of situations. For some reason, we don't draw near, we don't take the opportunity to get closer to the Lord. Why is it that we stay afar off? Why don't we draw near to the presence of God? And to draw near because what's happened in the presence of God? He has dealt already with the question of sin. He has dealt already with the problems that we have, and we have to draw near. We can draw near, And notice it says here, with a true heart. You know, what does that mean, a true heart? An honest heart before the Lord. Not pretension.

No all kind of things that break fellowship. He knows our problem. He knows ourself. Yesterday we just read John 2. We just finished the second chapter of John 2. And you know what? Many people believe on his name, but Yeshua did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men. And he knew what was in men. He knew what was in the heart of man. And you know what? He knows what is in our hearts also. As believers, we do not surprise him with the things that we do. We do not surprise him. He doesn't think and he says, oh boy, if I knew that this person would be like that, I wouldn't have saved him.

I wouldn't have saved her. He knows about us, but he wants us to draw near with a true heart. Telling him, Lord, you know everything about me. You know my struggle with sin? You know the problems that I have, Lord? I'm telling you honestly, Lord, I want to get closer to you. I'm coming to your presence, Lord. I want to draw near with a true heart. And you know what? If we have sinned, if there is sin in our life, let's confess it. 1 John 1 verse 9, he gives us a provision. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If there is sin in my life, in your life, what we need to do is to tell that to the Lord. To confess it before him. But not to stay back. Not to stay away from him. To draw near. That's the encouragement here. He says, let us. He doesn't talk about the unbelievers. We're talking about believers in Yeshua. Believers in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Let us draw near. And you notice when he says us, it's include himself. The reader and the writer. He's speaking about himself. Let us draw near with a true heart. With a full assurance of faith. What is faith? In what?

It's in a person. To have assurance of faith in the Lord himself. And to have our hearts sprinkled, whether we're sprinkling the blood, whether we're sprinkling the water we have here. It doesn't talk about baptism here. It doesn't talk about that. It has nothing to do with baptism. It simply has to do with our hearts that are sprinkled by the blood of the Messiah from an evil conscience. And our body is washed with pure water. And you know, the Bible often is called as the water of the word. You remember in Ephesians 5, we have husbands love your wives as the Messiah loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify her.

And let me just read it properly. Where it says here that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word. You know how we get cleansed? Judicially we are cleansed by the blood of the Messiah, but morally we are cleansed by the washing of the water by the word. You know, we get very dirty very quickly. We live in this world. We watch television. We go places. We say things. We hear things. We do things. We're getting dirty all the time. How can we get cleansed? By the washing of the water by the word. The Lord Jesus, you remember when he was in the upper room with his disciples, he washed the feet of the disciples.

And he took the basin with the water and he washed it with water and he cleansed it. And it's speaking about a foot washing of the life of the believer being cleansed as he and she reading the word, Speaking of the word, meditating about the word, encouraging each other with the word of God. And that's why he says, let us draw near. Don't stay back, come near, get closer to the Lord. Don't stay far. And let me tell you, you and I are either an encouragement to each other or you are discouragement. We are either a hindrance or help. When we come to the meeting, we have to ask ourselves the question, how did I spend the week before that?

Have I been in the word? Have I read my Bible? When I'm coming to the midst, am I coming to be an encouragement to the people of God? Am I an asset among the people of God, whether it is here in the meeting or in everywhere, wherever I am? Am I a blessing to the people of God? That's the question. And that's what he's saying. He's encouraging them. He says, let us draw near. Don't stay back. Don't stay away, but draw near with a true heart. God knows it. Tell him everything. Tell him your issues and come closer. You are not going to surprise God.

We are not going to surprise him. He knows it when you stay away, and he knows it when we come close to him. It's far better to come closer to him, tell him our issue. But let us do that. The second thing that he tells us in verse 23, he tells us another let us. The second let us is to hold fast to our confession of hope. I know it's used the word faith here in verse 23. Look what he says. Let us hold fast, not the profession, but the confession of our faith, which is actually our hope, without wavering, for he is faithful that promise. Here is the second thing that he is telling them.

Not only let us draw near, but let us stand fast. Let us hold fast to our confession. What is our confession? You know, our confession is that we belong to the Lord. That he, we confess, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10. Well, that is our confession. We confess that we belong to Yeshua. Let us stand fast on that. Let's not waver. I believe, I don't believe, he is, yes. You know, let us hold fast. I mean, we know from Scripture that he is the only answer for sin.

We know that he saved us and forgave our sins. Let's hold fast to that. Now, I'm not saying that there may not come a time that we will be in weakness and lack of trust in God and self-confidence that we will not stumble. He is going to help us. We should not trust ourselves. We should have confidence in Him. And that's why it says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope. The confession of our faith will lead us to hope in Him without wavering for His faith. And you notice what it says here? He doesn't say, because you are faithful. He says, for he is faithful.

Because we are not always faithful. You know that. We are not always faithful the way we should be. But he is faithful. He is faithful and he promised, I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be with you up to the end of the age. He is faithful in spite of our unfaithfulness. Look at the history. Remember, he is writing to Jewish believers. And he always takes them back to history of our people Israel. And you know, Israel have not been faithful all along in the journey of the wilderness journey, these 40 years of wilderness journey, but God was faithful to Israel. God took care of the nation.

God's purposes came to pass, even if Israel did not do the will of God. But God was faithful. There's a verse in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13. There is no temptation that is taking you such as is common unto men, but God is faithful, who will not allow you, will not suffer you to be tested above what you are able to bear, but will, with the temptation, with the testing, also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. God is faithful, even if we have failed Him and haven't been faithful to Him. This is an amazing thought for us to get a hold of beloved brothers and sisters.

And so he's inviting them. Let us draw near with a true heart. Verse 22. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope in verse 23 without wavering. And then he continued in verse 24 and he gave them the third invitation. Look at this. And that is also very important, beloved. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and unto good works. You see, brothers and sisters, apparently we have a problem. Many times we provoke each other, instead of to love, to anger. Instead of stimulating each other to love one another, what we do, we're provoking each other to anger or to wrath. You see, apparently it is not only a Jewish Hebrew-Israeli problem.

We see it throughout the age of history of the church of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. It started then, and we see it today. We see it throughout the 2,000 years of church history that we're oftentimes provoking others instead of to love, to anger. Instead of to grace and to good works, to bad works and not to love. And you remember what God told the Romans? Romans, where we read in the book of Romans, the responsibility of believers towards even the nation of Israel. The church is responsible to provoke the Jewish people to jealousy. You remember what we read? It's found in Romans chapter 11. The responsibility that the church has is to provoke the nation of Israel into jealousy.

This is important for the Christians to do then towards the nation of Israel. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Romans 11, 11, God forbid. But rather that through their false salvation came unto you, the Gentiles, for to provoke them, the Jewish people, to jealousy. You see, Christians are supposed to provoke Jewish people, the people of Israel, to be jealous because of what they believe and who they believe upon. But also you and I as believers are responsible to provoke each other to love and to good works. Not to provoke each other to anger, not to provoke each other to being upset, but to provoke each other to love.

And you see, that's what he's saying. The third thing here in our chapter, the apostle is saying, let us consider one another. To consider each other. To be sensitive towards each other. To consider. And not to impose upon others ourself and our ways and our will. But to consider the other. To bring about out in our brothers and our sisters the love for each other. The love for the Lord. Good works towards each other. You see, good works do not save, But good works is coming out of a believer who loved the Lord and loved the people of God. Good works coming after a person is saved.

And here he said, let us consider one another to provoke each other to love and unto good works. Three things he is inviting them to do. Draw near, number one. Hold fast confession of our hope, number two. And let us consider one another in fellowship of love. Love for the Lord, love for each other, and unto good works. By the way, you notice that there are three words here that are very interesting. Faith, hope, and love. You see that? Verse 22, assurance of faith. Verse 23, confession of hope. Verse 24, provoking to love. You know, if you read in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, it's the love chapter. And you know what it says at the end?

Verse 13 of 1 Corinthians 13, 13. Now abideth faith, hope, and love. These three. And the greatest of this is love. You see, there's only three things that we have really here in time now. Faith, hope, and love. But you see what's going to happen? When we're going to see the Lord, hope will vanish. We're going to see him. We don't hope to see him anymore. We're going to see him. Faith, when we are going to be with him, faith will become reality. We don't need to have faith anymore but we're going to see him and we're going to be with him but there was one thing that will always remain and this is love love in the presence of God throughout eternity love in heaven love in the eternal order the love of God will be shed abroad in our hearts forever and ever as it is shed abroad in our hearts today as well and so beloved here's the invitation now notice what he continued to do and he's pressing upon them in verse 25 when he inviting when he gives this invitation he says listen not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as the many of some is but exhorting one another as so much the more as you see the day is approaching you see what he's telling them.

Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as it was then. And it is now the manner of some. Some think that they don't need to come to a meeting where the people of God are gathered. They think that they can do with God on their own in the four doors and the four walls in their own home and they don't need to come to the meeting. Now listen, I'm not going to condemn or judge anybody because sometimes I feel like staying at home. Don't feel going to a meeting for one reason or another. Discouragement may be coming through. Maybe think of brother so and so, sister so and so, and the ritual here, and this thing here, and I feel like I'd rather stay at home, and I'd be the best place for me.

And you know what? Sometimes it may be necessary to stay at home and to be quiet before the Lord. But you and I know very well some reasons that cause us not to come to the meetings. You see, by the way, it's not a new story. It started. Them he said listen not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as the many of some is he was writing to them there was some apparently from the Hebrew believers which did not come to the assembly meetings you know brothers and sisters we cannot say i don't need the collective assemblies of the saints to be there we cannot say that because biblically speaking God gave us various types of gathering of the people of God.

And he gave us the responsibility of gathering together at the meeting place with other believers. And you know, it's not new because when Israel, before the church began, God wanted his people to be around him. And what happened? He set up holidays and feasts and Shabbats and all these things where he gathered the people around him. Make me a sanctuary, he said, that I may dwell in the midst of my people. He wants to be in the needs of the people. He delighted to be in the meeting where the people are. You remember we read in Luke, when the hour was come, he sat down with his disciples.

By the way, when he was at the meeting, it was on time. The hour was come, he sat down. There's a time we need to come and just have a sense of the presence of the Lord. Even if we said very little next to nothing and we left the meeting and we knew we sang one song about Yeshua and we left the meeting and we sensed the presence of the Lord when they gather saints together you know what you're going to do in heaven by the way in heaven we are not going to sit every one of us in his quarter and we say wow praise the Lord i'm going to pray you know we are going to be together surrounding him like we have a book of Revelation.

The 24 elders surrounding the throne and the Lord Jesus the Messiah going to be in the center and we're going to worship him we're going to praise him we're going to adore his name we're going to exalt him before God we're going to give him his rightful place in the midst of the saints And that's what he wants us to practice now, to begin with it now. He says, let us draw near, let us hold fast, let us consider one another. Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the middle of some is. But notice now he said, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see that the day is approaching.

Now, I want you to also notice here in this verse, Hebrews 10, 25. It doesn't say, let us come to the meeting so you can only take. But he says, let us come to the meeting so you can give, exhort the others, encourage the others. Give something in a sense of encouragement to our brothers and sisters instead of taking, give. And I'm not talking about money here. I'm talking about give from what you say, with your attitude, with your behavior, with your conduct. Give, encourage, exhort, instruct, be a blessing to the other. It does not say here that we are to come and to ask, what can I get?

But what can I give? What can I put into the whole community of believers? How can I be a blessing to my brothers and sisters? You see, we are members of the body, and every one of us have a responsibility and a privilege. We are to put our shoulders into the work. In any meeting, you know, you don't realize, and I don't think any one of us realize, how important every part that each one of us does in our little fellowship here. If one member is not there all of a sudden and doesn't do his or her part all of a sudden, the other has to take the load.

And you know what they say? Usually in a local church, a local congregation, it is 10-20% who does the work and the rest don't. Everywhere I go and you hear, it is the 10-20% who put their shoulder into the ministry and the rest don't. And you know what we learn from that? It is a loss of everybody. Not only the loss of those who don't do, And don't encourage, and don't, as it says here, not provoking the others and exhorting the others to bless them. The loss of everybody losing out of it. When one member of the body doesn't function, the rest of the body had to depend, the load come upon other members of the body.

And it's in a family setting, it's in an assembly setting, it is in a Job setting, it is everywhere. And you remember what, if I'm correct, it is John Kennedy who asked in the United States, don't ask what America can do for you, but ask what you can do for America. The Lord Jesus says, don't ask what others can do for you, but ask what you can do for the body of the Messiah. And that's how you build. That's how you have satisfaction in the soul when you have been a blessing to your brothers and sisters, to the family of God. And so, beloved, now that I've spoken about this encouragement, now he gives us in the next verses, 26 to 31.

In fact, it's almost to the end of the chapter, but specifically in verses 26 to 31, he gives now in the book of Hebrews the fourth warning to the believers there. And you remember the first warning was in Hebrews 2 verses 1 to 4, do not neglect the word of God. And then in the second warning was do not doubt the word of God and then we talked about the third warning in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 to 6 20 and it was the necessity of grow up in the word of God now he's talking about do not despise the word of God you know there is like order of the way things are progressing if you neglect the word.

Of God you will begin to doubt the word of God and if you doubt the word of God you will stop to grow up in the word of God and what's happened is the next step in this is did you begin to despise the word of God that's the way it's going to progress you neglecting then you doubting then you not growing you shrinking and then you start to despise the word of God and notice that I'm reading verse 26 to 31 after he said having therefore boldness in verse 19 all the way to 25 now he said in verse 26, For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour their adversaries.

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment, Suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who has trodden on the foot of the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God. In those verses, what we really see in other exhortation that the apostle exhorting the first century Hebrew believers, and look what he does here.

Notice that he says that the believer cannot go on sinning without facing God's judgment. You know, you and I cannot go on live in sin willfully and not thinking that we will not face the judgment of God. And when we are talking about the judgment of God for a believer, we are not talking about eternal judgment. We are talking about judgment with respect to here and now. When it's come to our eternal judgment, we have already dealt with in the person of the Messiah when he died for us on the tree and when we accepted him. And so he says in verse 26 and 27, For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice of sin, but a certain fearful looking, or for judgment, or fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary.

You see, sinning willfully is simply this. It's one saying, listen, I'm going to continue on with my lifestyle away from the Lord, without submission to the Lord, without confession of sin, carrying on a lifestyle without self-judgment, without recognizing, Lord, I need forgiveness. I need cleansing from this sin. I repent. And you see what happened. You remember what happened to Israel? When Israel came out of Egypt, they were under the blood. They came. They killed the lamb. They were covered. They were under the blood. But who entered into the land? Only two have entered into the land from the initial people who have gone out. Caleb, Kalev, Ben-Yephune, and Yeshua Binun.

What happened to the rest of them? They died in the wilderness. Now, I want you to understand, they died physically. The lesson there is not dealing with the issue of their eternal separation from God, but they died physically. 1 Corinthians 10 makes the very same comparison, that we, too, are not to do what they did. We, too, are not to have lack of trust in God. We too are not to sin willfully because God is going to judge us also. He will judge the believer as much as he judged the unbeliever. We are not exempt from the judgment of God. Let us remember that and we need to remember that all the time because sometimes we think that God is love and therefore because he's love I can do as I please.

I can do what I want. No, God is love but also God is light and that's why it says if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth and again i want you to notice he used the word we and none of us can say that the writer is not a child of God and none of us can say that the writer can lose his salvation we are not talking about here a loss of salvation we are talking about the judgment that God will impose upon individual who believe, a child of God, who refuse to submit to God's will. And God will judge.

Believers. And how he's going to judge them? There are many ways. Sometimes he might discipline us here in one way or another through experiences that we go through life. But sometimes he might remove a believer outside of this scene, outside of this world. You remember what happened in the book of Corinthians some of you are weak some of you are sick and some of you have fallen asleep and he's not talking about that they took a nap he's talking about that they died physically while they were still the children of God God says you are no good testimony for me here in this world we read by the way in first John there is a sin unto death and that sin can be different in every situation to every person may be a different sin but this is unto a physical death and not a spiritual death there is a sin that one may commit here in this world that the pastor said i don't.

Want you to pray for that God is going to remove a believer out of this sin out of this world because he is not a testimony for the Lord Yeshua the Messiah so believers cannot go on sinning without facing God's judgment and you can read it it has to do with the physical death first Corinthians 11 30 first John 5 and verse 16 deal with that special that particular part now verse 28 under the mosaic law there were no sacrifices for deliberate and willful sins you see what he's saying in verse 28 he says this he that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. This is the physical death.

And you see here again in Deuteronomy chapter 17 with two or three witnesses who have witnessed to the one who despised the law of Moses died without mercy. They were stoning them. Physically they were stoned. We're speaking about physical death. And so you and I are not exempt from the judgment of God because look what he says in verse 29. How much. Solar punishment, how much greater punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, set apart an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace.

God will give a punishment, even believers, to the believers who is going on living in sin. There is a greater discipline that God will discipline the believers. Greater than what happened after the law of Moses. Because why? Because, look at this, trodden underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith notice he was sanctified. Set apart already. You remember, if you will look back in verse 14 of our chapter, for by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. He is sanctified, but he take it lightly, not carefully recognizing that the preciousness of the work of the Messiah is like trodden underfoot the Son of God.

And, you know, that was the danger that had happened in the first century with those Hebrew believers who were, in a sense, trodden underfoot the Son of God when they are going to the sacrificial system in the temple. And they were actually conveying as if it's not sufficient what Yeshua have done. I need to offer another sacrifice of a lamb or sheep on the altar, on the brazen altar. And God says, listen, how much sorrow punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, not set it apart, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace.

Remember, by grace we are saved, through faith. And this is not of ourself, it is a gift of God. And the grace of God that we have received, we should never neglect to remember that. We should never neglect to appreciate it every day of our lives. And so now, it says in verse 30 and 31, For we know him that has said, Vengeance is mine. I want you to catch that, what it says in these verses. For we know that he says, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, listen, the Lord shall judge his people. He's talking about his people. God will judge his people.

He will discipline his people. And if he will not discipline his people, it will not be the right thing to do. And you know, when we sometimes don't discipline, when we have a family and children and we don't discipline our children, does that mean that our children are not ours anymore because we don't discipline. And if we do discipline them, does that mean that they stop to be our children because we spank them? Not at all. It only shows how much we love them and how much because they belong to us, we really care for them and they need to be disciplined, we discipline them.

And we often make the mistake and we don't discipline our children and that's why sometimes we have many problems. But discipline is part and parcel of being a parent and God here we read God shall judge his people he will judge his people vengeance belong to me I will recompense says the Lord he will deal with his people when Israel disobeyed God and took lightly the things of God God disciplined Israel and brought Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel and he took them and he used the hand of Nebuchadnezzar to drive the people of Israel into Babylon and there in Babylon the people of Israel wept there by the rivers of Babylon you remember there we sat down and we wept as we remembered Zion there they asked of us those there sing us one of Zion's songs and they said how shall we sing the Lord song in a strange land.

If I forget the Jerusalem, let my right hand forget my cunning. Well, why now you are singing? Why now all of a sudden you remember Jerusalem? When you were in Jerusalem, you didn't remember Jerusalem. That's how we are beloved. When we are in a place of blessing, we neglect this and we forget this and we take it for granted until God remove it from us and then all of a sudden we start to remember what we had. And that's the way it is with God's people. And you notice it is a fearful thing, verse 31, to fall into the hands of the living God. Do you remember what we read today in our reading?

And I enjoy this passage in the book of Chronicles. Do you remember we read in the book of Chronicles, 1 Chronicles chapter 21? Do you remember what David said? Do you remember when David disobeyed God and Satan stood against Israel. Satan provoked David to number Israel. And David, instead of trusting God, he began to number the people of Israel. And he wanted to see the amount of power that he had. And how many men and strong men in Israel that he had. And he was proud in what he is capable to do. You see, look how many Hebrews, how many Israelis, how many Jewish soldiers that can fight.

We have not recognizing that it was God who fought for him. It was God who empowered him. So because he numbered the people, in 1 Chronicles chapter 21, God was rough with David. It says here, God was displeased with this thing, therefore he smote Israel. God disciplined David and the nation of Israel because David did not submit himself to God, did not recognize who God was. But when God punished Israel, David realized that. And so you know what? God gave him a chance. God told David, David, through God, the prophet, he said, you choose three things. Either three years of famine, David, for Israel, or three months to be devoured before thy foes, while the sword of thine enemies overtake you, David, and take the nation, or three days of the sword of the Lord.

You choose, David. And you know what David chose? It says here, let me fall now into the hand of the Lord. David chose to fall into the hands of the Lord, to fall to the hand of a merciful God. It is a fearful thing to fall into God's hands in judgment, but it is a blessing. It is a wonderful thing to fall into the hands of God's cleansing and forgiving and restoration. God's hands of restoration. And that's why in 1 Chronicles, David chose to fall into the hand of God rather than to fall into the hand of man. He chose to fall into the hands of God in his grace, in his love, in his forgiveness.

When he confessed his sins, God has forgave. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, listen to this. In this chapter, he's saying to the Hebrew believers, listen, if you continue on in sin, without judgment, without confession, without repentance, without turning to God, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of God, recognizing that He is a holy God and He is going to judge men. But if you confess your sins, if you repent and you recognize that you need Him, it is a wonderful thing to fall into God's hand for cleansing and for restoration. And that's the thought that we have here in Hebrews chapter 10.

Now quickly, to wrap everything up, In verse 32 to 39, look what he's telling the believers there. The encouragement for us all. Encouragement for those Hebrew believers in verses 32 to the end. But, you notice there's a turning here. There's a pivot here. After he said in verses 26 to 31, the but is shifting us into a proper way. But call to remember the former days in which after ye were illuminated, he endured a great fight of affliction verse 33 partly while he were made gain stock or a gazing stock both by reproaches and affliction and partly while he became companions of them that were so used in verse 32 and 33 he says you need to remember the former days look back Hebrew believers in the past he says look you were illuminated you were enlightened by God's word and you have endured affliction you suffered for the Lord before you remember those days in which you were faithful to the Lord and you suffered for the name of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and remember you were gained saying stop both by reproaches and affliction in other words they were afflicted they were reproached they were put to shame by others those Hebrew believers and he says look back and you remember those days how come at that time you continue to follow the Messiah how come now you start to waver how come now you start to desire to go back to things that.

Have been done away with look back and remember and you and i can definitely look back and remember i remember years ago when i first became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah i literally fell in love with Jesus. It was such a love for the person, the beauty of the Lord. He was such a beautiful person before my eyes. And I'm sure you felt the same when we first became believers. We wanted so much to be close to him and to be with him. But things got slack, right? We become smarter all of a sudden. I'm a believer now for 10 years, you see. I don't need so much those things, you see.

I needed them then. But things come in between us and the Lord and the relationship on the enjoyment of the relationship is began to be torn. Something happened. It's not him, beloved. It's you and I. It's not him, beloved. It's the Hebrews of old. It is not him. It is the believer who allows sin to come into his or her life, which caused us all of a sudden not to walk with him the same way we used to walk with him in the past. Look back a little bit in your history as a believer and look back and you will see I remember those days.

It's the same thing with the husband and wife relationship. You know when we first got married and the love relationship that we had with our wives and our husbands and we wanted to be with them all day long and all the time and we phoned and we wrote and we did everything until time passes by we start to get used to each other. I see him all the time, I see her all the time. We're getting older, we don't look as good as we used to look. We're getting chubbier and bolder and wrinkler and all this kind of thing we have. All of a sudden, the love that we used to have towards each other began to diminish.

But it shouldn't be with the Lord like that. We should love him ever more, recognizing how much we need him even more in our lives. But unfortunately, it is like this with us much of the time. And he continuing in verse 34, he says, the Hebrew believer did care for the writer. You notice apparently they knew the writer. They knew the one who wrote him. And in verse 34, he says, for ye had compassion of me in my bonds. And you took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourself that ye have in heaven a battle and an enduring substance. You see, apparently the Hebrew writer and the readers knew each other and they loved him.

They cared for him and you see they gave of their substance to him to that servant of the Lord it says there look in verse 34 you had compassion on me in my bonds when they found out that he was suffering he was perhaps if the apostle Paul wrote it he was in jail or so on and they had compassion on him so what did they do they gave him of their substance they sent gifts towards him The Philippians did to the Apostle Paul. And he said, knowing yourself that ye have in heaven better and an enduring substance. They have helped him in a practical way.

They have helped the writer. Notice verse 35 and 36. There is a need of confidence and there is a need of patience. He says to them in verse 35. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has a great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. You see, those Hebrew believers in the first century should have been encouraged by the writer, by the apostle, to have confidence in the Lord and to have patience. And you know, tribulation teaches us patience. If we don't go through trouble in our life, we will never learn patience.

Romans 5 teaches us this. Tribulation works patience. Don't ever pray for patience because if you're going to pray for patience God is going to give you trouble in your life so we need patience but patience come through experience through trials and sufferings and all kind of things that happening to us in our life so they needed to have confidence in him and in his word and patience to wait on the Lord they that wait upon the Lord they will renew their strength and finally verses 37 and 38 the Messiah will return and trust him and have faith in him he's saying to them in verse 37 and 38 for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry you understand yet a little while now the little while for them was not too long but we are already 2 000 years later and he still haven't come and he's telling us the same thing yet a little while and he that shall come you see the assurance he will come he.

Promised that he will come he will come and he will not delay he will come the reason that he's delayed so far is perhaps beloved brothers and sisters and you and i do not every situation perhaps for you to come to faith in a Messiah and to be part of the family of God perhaps for me perhaps for one of our children one of our parents one of our brothers and sisters perhaps today one of them will come to faith in a Messiah yet a little while he will come he that shall come will come and he will not tarry and now what he does beloved he quoting for them a verse from the Hebrew Scriptures in verse 38 here.

Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him or in hell. And in order, he says, the just shall live by faith. In Hebrew, it is taken from the book of Habakkuk. And in the book of Habakkuk, It's amazingly unfolded before us, this statement. The just shall live by faith. Actually, it really should be read. The just shall live by his faithfulness. God wants us to be faithful to him. And that's the thought that we get here. The just shall live by his faithfulness to the Lord. Faith in the Lord, but faithfulness to the Lord.

The word emunah in Hebrew also means steadiness. When Moses, you remember when Moses had to lift up his hand when there was the war between Israel and the Amalekite, and because he was heavy, his hand was heavy, he got some help to hold his hands up. And we read in Scripture, and his hand were emunah. His hand in English, they said they were steady. And you know what we need as believers? Is to have a steady, consistent life. Not like that and like that. Not like wavering. One day asal, one day basal. One day we are going, the next day we don't. One day we are faithful, the next day we don't.

We need a steadiness of walk with the Lord. How much we need that. We should seek by the grace of God, not in our own strength, by the grace of God, to have a steady, step-by-step walk with the Lord. We don't need to be on cloud nine one day and then in valley seven the other day. We need to be steady, consistently walking with the Lord, with his help, with encouragement from each other. And he will enable us to do so. And by the way, this verse is quoted three times in the New Testament. It's quoted in here, Hebrews 10 and verse 38. It's quoted in Romans chapter 1 and verse 17.

And it's also quoted in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 11. It is interesting verse, the just shall live by his faithfulness. Romans 1, 17, Hebrews that we have here at chapter 10, verse 38, and Galatians 3 and verse 11. And in every book, two words of this verse is emphasized. The just, two words, shall live, two words, by faith, two words. You see every one of them emphasize another aspect of this verse in Romans 1 17 the emphasis is on these two words the just because the theme of Roman is justification and then the second shall live is emphasized in Galatians 3 and verse 11 it's on the living of the believer and in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38 is the last two words by faith or by his faithfulness the just Romans 1 17 shall live Galatians 3 and verse 11 by his faithfulness Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38 all this statement has been taken from Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 and here's the conclusion of course is in verse 39.

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The word for perdition here is found quite a few times in the Bible, and the word perdition can mean to perish, can mean to die, can mean to be distracted, and can also mean to be wasted. And here the thought is that we are not of them that draw back into wasteful life. We are not to waste our life. We are to use our lives in a way that it is pleasing to the Lord. And therefore, we are not of them that believe unto perdition, unto a wasteful life.

We are those that believe unto the saving of the soul. The saving of the soul is that God has saved us eternally, but he's also saving us presently from all kind of mischief, of our mischief. He can deliver us, even now, from all kind of things that would present themselves in our lives, that will cause us to shift and go astray from the will of the Lord. And beloved brothers and sisters, what a chapter. What an interesting chapter. The fourth warning that he gives us here, it's a warning not to despise the word of God. Take it to heart. Remember what the Lord has done for us and let us move on and live for him in this world.

Can we say Amen to that?