Hebrews chapter 10, Christ's work is the fulfillment of everything. That's kind of been the last handful of chapters, including the pictures and the hopes. Therefore, and this is your big takeaway, we can, should, and must trust in Christ and in Christ alone. Now what? Well, I'm so glad you asked these wonderful questions. Verse 19. Therefore, see in light of all of that, therefore brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, I'm gonna pause right there, that's like a recap of everything since chapter four. Because of everything that this book, letter, sermon has already said, How now, brown cow? Verse 22. It's awesome when we just like go straight through three verses right there at the beginning, isn't it? Doesn't it make you feel like we're gonna get somewhere today? Verse 22, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. This is the reality of the people of God in Christ that we are redeemed. We can draw near because we have a high priest who has passed through the veil. We have a better sacrifice. It has been offered in the better tabernacle. We have the right Redeemer who can accomplish all of these things. And this is the picture that is given throughout your New Testament. So 1 Peter 3 gives you this rundown of the sacrifice of Christ, and then it says one of the confusing verses that people like to take out of context that we're not going to do that to. So 1 Peter 3 verse 21, corresponding to that, the sacrifice of Christ, baptism now saves you. Don't panic. Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, you were baptized in obedience to the call of Christ. It's not the baptism that saves you, because ultimately, who saves you? Christ. Don't ever get this twisted. Certain strands of the disciples of Christ denomination have really done a good job of twisting this with the baptismal regeneration. Well, Jesus says you have to be baptized. Yes, as an appeal of faith. Just like in the Old Testament, you don't get it twisted. It's not the sacrifice of the animal that saves you, it's God that saves you. The sacrifice of the animal is a picture of the hope that you have in God, so is your baptism in the New Testament. It is a picture of the hope that you have in God. So, because you have this, now what do we do? Verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Because we now see clearly what God has done. In time out, that's kind of been the point of Hebrews since chapter 5, is making sure you see clearly what God has done. Because remember, when Hebrews is building upon Scripture, What is it building upon? Which books? Well, the Pentateuch and the rest of the Old Testament. The prophets, the writings, the wisdom, all of this. There's not some... Sorry, we might have to send an adult. The children have migrated to the hallway, and if I can hear them, I know you guys can hear them. So, because we can see clearly what God has done, we don't have to worry. Worrying is done away with. They are, and we are, secure because we can see the history of the work. And the entirety of the history of that work is meant to point to what? The work of Christ. The sacrificial system is pointing to the work of Christ. The tabernacle is pointing to the work of Christ. The kingdom years is pointing to the work of Christ. The king himself is pointing to the work of Christ. All of that is meant to look forward. Because you now, in light of that warning from chapter five, you should have seen this, but you didn't, so fine, we'll explain it to you. Now that you've seen some of the pictures, you begin to look for all of them, you can trust that God is accomplishing. So, John 6. This is the will of Him who sent me, that of all that He has given me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise Him up on the last day." 1 Corinthians 1. Paul expands on this. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So, pause for a second. One of the things you have to remember about New Testament authors is almost exclusively they are writing to a church facing some sort of difficulty. There's very little in the New Testament, once you get outside of the Gospels, and I guess if you're being honest, very little inside the Gospels, of the people of God just like, everything is awesome, we're fine here, there's no need to worry, and you're just getting a letter because you get a pat on the back. I mean, Colossians? I'm thinking Colossians is it. But Titus is getting a letter because he still has work to do and he needs instruction. 1st and 2nd Timothy, same issue. Philippians has that problem with Euda... how do you say the names? Euda... whatever, you know I'm talking about the end of the book. They're having issues. The Roman Church, I guess you could argue, is not having too many problems, but even Paul is having to answer objections. We won't even get into Corinthians. I mean, Everybody's getting a letter because there's issues going on. There's persecution, there's struggles. I mean, James isn't yelling at anybody, but he's writing to a church under persecution. Same with 1 and 2 Peter. Same thing with Hebrews. You should know better, but you don't. Part of the reason why they don't is because one of the difficulties... So, example from church history. Why does it take 300 years before the church has a full-blown argument about the deity of Christ? And then we have the Council of Nicaea where we tell the Arians that they're heretics and that they don't get to be part of our crew anymore. Why does it take 300 years for that argument to be had? Because for large chunks of the preceding 200 plus years, you could be killed for being a Christian in certain parts of the empire. If we could be killed just for being Christian, do we have time to argue over the finer points of theology? Not usually. And this is what ends up happening to the church, is that part of the reason the Hebrews aren't nailing this, and they're missing part of the stuff, is they haven't had time to sit down and read and think about it. They're just like, how do we get through the day, make disciples, figure this out without losing our heads or having the Jews throw rocks at us? This would be a good deal. How do I become a believer and not lose my entire family? How do I become a believer and not get boiled in oil by Nero? How do I become a believer and not have demission later on, you know, try to separate my head from the rest of me? I'm very big on keeping these attached. I've been attached to myself for a while. I would like to keep it that way. So there's difficulty, there's struggle, there's worry, there's doubt. What Hebrews is trying to tell you now is, because you see the testimony to Christ, because you understand the work that he has done, and you can understand it through history, what are you worried about? What are you fearful over? What don't you understand? Because now you should be able to enter into the world understanding who you are in Christ, what He has done for His people in the past, what He has promised them in the future. Therefore, you can actually hold to this. without wavering because your hope is placed in the right person. Not in ancillary, secondary things, not in temples or tabernacles or anything like that, but in the actual God who redeems, upholds, and brings you to a good kingdom. That's going to be important for the things that come later. Verse 24. So because of that, we do what? And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love in good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near. So, you're doing the stuff that Jesus commanded. You know, walking together. What do I mean when I say Jesus has commanded? John 13, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Now, time out for just a second. I'm going to hop off the highway onto an exit ramp real quick just because Not often. There are advantages and disadvantages to everything in the world. There are a lot of disadvantages to the internet. But one advantage is... that it does do a good job of spreading information quickly. And that's bad and good sometimes. One of the ways that it's good is there are a lot of things that were cyclical for many years in Christianity that would just kind of pop back up every 10, 15 years or so. And that's happening less and less because there's so many blog posts from even 20 years ago where guys are like, seriously, why are we having this argument? So one of the ones that doesn't come around as often is, Well, you know, man, I think I can be a Christian and not have to go to church. It's like, okay. I've said this before, I'll say it again. You don't get to have your Lone Ranger Christianity because you can't do the one another thing by yourself. Like, you can't make disciples if you're never around people who need discipling. You can't be discipled if you're not around other people to look at you and go, should you be doing that? Like, this is important. You can't actually demonstrate love for other people if you never wait for it, are around other people. And always remember that those primary commands, when we talk about love for one another, that scripture's not talking about the world out there, it's talking primarily about the believers in here. We twist it when we say, well, I love the world. Good luck with that. Look, should you be loving in the world? Yes, but do not love the world or the things in the world. So there's a line that you walk. When the world goes off the rails, do you go, but I love you, come back? No, why don't you do that? Because what are you now doing? You're going off the rails, and next thing you know, you turn back and go, how did we get here? I don't know, but are we okay? Well, I'm okay, and you're okay, and everybody's okay. Isn't it wonderful? Kumbaya. No, that's not how this works. That's not how any of this works. In seriousness, tell me that's not what has happened to some members of churches, to some people who claim the name of Christ. In an effort to just chase after everything, they have ended up holding to nothing. Or the advice that my father-in-law gave Cameron when she went to college. Look, think through stuff, be open-minded to what they teach you, but don't be so open-minded your brains fall out. There are things that when you hit the line, you go, no, I'm good. And realize, ooh, it's not often I get to pick on her like this. Realize that was 20 years ago. Does that hurt a little bit? You went to college over 20 years ago. Get an old one. We won't say what that says about me. I'm aging like a fine wine in a musty basement covered in mold. But if the world needed that warning 20 years ago, what warning does it need now? Yeah, they don't get better, they don't change, they don't come around on things. This just is what it is. So again, you have to do what, Christian? You have to be wary, you have to be careful, you have to be part of the body of believers. Why? So you can do the one another's and so you have one of the common means of grace that holds the anchor for you in the world. Part of the reason why the community of faith is Get out of the world! You get to come back and be like, okay, here's a group of people that actually want to study the Bible, hear about God, offer up prayers, care what goes on in the spiritual realm, and not just focus on me in the here and now. I need that. I need to get away from the things that are out there and get back to the things that go on in here. And the world isn't going to grant me that. Never has, never will. And by the way, This is one of those consistent things that God is driving His people towards. Titus chapter 3, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now, the Holy Spirit's primary job is to testify to who? Christ. I'll always accept Jesus, you know that is the answer. So the Holy Spirit's primary job is to testify to Jesus. He does that in the discipling and sanctifying of the people that belong to Jesus, and he does that through the provision of Scripture, which testifies to Jesus. Sir, hold on one second. I have this one spot in my eye, and every time it won't go away, and then I just have this fuzzy spot in my vision, so this entire side of the room is blurry. And it's bothering me, sorry. I like to- it's not- no, that's the weird part, it's not the glasses, it's actually my eye. So, okay. Hey, there you go! I'm not sure you look better, but there you go. You know you love it. Now. Scripture testifying to Christ. This is the work the Holy Spirit does. Now, what's Jesus's job? What's his primary accomplishment? The redemption of the people. So that what will happen to them? They will be brought into the kingdom of God and presented to who? The Father, so the Father can give them back to the Son, and then the Son can give them back to the Father, and then we play hot potato until eternity. You kinda get how that works, sorry. You can read the rest of 1 Corinthians 15 and get that sorted out. Now, does the Holy Spirit sanctify a people so that they would be gathered to Jesus so they can enter into the kingdom separately? No, the whole point of actually living in a kingdom means you live with who? The other people who are, wait for it, in the kingdom. So again, there's no part of this that leads to the individuality of the running astray. Now, I am the guy that tells you to be you unto the glory of God, but that means you be you unto the glory of God in the body of believers, as part of the kingdom that is being built up. Your gifts, your wisdom, your craziness, whatever it may be, unto the glory of God. You ever thought about that? Your weird quirks have been given to you by God for his glory. So be quirky unto the glory of God. Well, and you laugh, but if someone else was supposed to do it, God would have sent them. That's why your spouse, your kids, your family, your church, the people who sit next to you on the row, that's not an accident unless you keep moving rows, but the only person who does that is 80, but that's okay. He hasn't done that in a while. There was a stretch for like six months where 80 would change seats every week. And I was like, stop doing that. You're making, you're making me crazy. It's a Baptist church, man. You pick a spot and you stay there until Jesus comes back. Don't you know anything? You laugh. If somebody comes in next week and sits in your spot, what are you going to do? For a split second, your brain's going to be like. But, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but I sit there. And, and then you're, it's just like your brain just does this little twitchy thing. And it's like, I've told you before, in a Baptist church, it takes all of four and a half seconds for something to become a tradition. You do it like that twice, and this is the way we have always done it. Dude, I was here when we didn't do it like that. Blasphemy. So you laugh, but no, none of those things are accidents. Your quirks, what you prefer, are given to you for the glory of God. Now, figure out how you use those things to disciple and build up the body. Verse 26. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. That escalated quickly, didn't it? Yeah, Hebrews again, following the pattern of your entire Bible. You start reading about all this joy of the salvation of Christ and what's gonna happen in about five seconds. Oh, by the way, we're judging sin. It's gonna be ugly and people are gonna die and weeping and gnashing of teeth and the worm not dying and you know the rest of the drill, right? Now, but why is this important? Christian, this is part of your motivation. Understanding why do you cling to the body that you've been put apart of? Why do you forsake the things of the world? Because you recognize the reality of the world, that Christ has actually died for his people, and if you forsake that, you become them, and you don't want to be where they are when that happens. 1 John 2. Children, it's the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now, many Antichrists have appeared, for this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us. But they were not really of us, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know." Now, time out. How does this connect? Well, if you're capable of never being around any other Christian ever, exercising your spiritual gifts, discipling the body, and being discipled by the body, then it's the Holy Spirit in you. Or does the Holy Spirit suddenly have part of himself that's like the redheaded stepchild that he doesn't want to talk to at the family reunion? I mean, think about that. You know that joke I've told you before. Every family, when you go to the family reunion, there's that one cousin that you hope doesn't show up. And if you don't know who that cousin is, sorry, someone had to tell you. Now, does the Holy Spirit operate that way? Is the Holy Spirit in all of the people except for Dave over here? Like, the Holy Spirit's in Dave, but we don't like the Holy Spirit that's in Dave. That's bad. Does that sentence even make sense? No! Because if the Holy Spirit is there, and the Holy Spirit is here, then the Holy Spirit's gonna say what to Dave after a while? Hey, hey, hey, you see those people? You see that communion? You see that fellowship? If you're capable of forsaking it and it doesn't bother you, then your conscience is seared. You're not getting that smack in the back of the head from the Holy Spirit. You're not actually redeemed. You have heard the truth. You have rejected the truth. You have wandered away. It's the parable of the sower again. Some of the seed got sowed and people are like, ooh, this is awesome. Wait, I have to suffer? Oh, I have to be discipled? You know, I gotta go see a guy about a thing, you know? I gotta go out, I'll be back later. You know, when you try to pull that one on your parents? Same idea. If you're capable of doing that. Something other than God is your God. Something other than Christ is what you've believed in. And if you believe in something other than the actual Messiah who entered into the better tabernacle with the better sacrifice, has a better high priest because he's God in flesh, then what have you actually believed in? Acts chapter 4. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. See, if you've got another Jesus, 2 John, you don't have Jesus. And if you don't have Jesus, you don't have the Father. If you don't have the Father, you don't have salvation. If you don't have salvation, then... Verse 28. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. This is true. Deuteronomy 17. On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death, but he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. So this is a good quote from Deuteronomy. We get it, but it's not the point. The point is in verse 29. How much severer do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" Well, tell me how you really feel. Now, why is that here? That's your three witnesses. So, to trample underfoot the son is what? Or to trample underfoot the son would be to forsake the confession of faith mentioned. To trample underfoot the son would be to disregard the better sacrifice offered in the better tabernacle by God in flesh because he is the good high priest. to cling to something else, to cling to someone else, to look at God's sacrifice. As Romans 4 puts it, it's the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. It's the recognition that you deserve death because of your sin, and seeing that God has actually provided a sacrifice, and you going, there's hope for me yet, go team. No, instead of that, it's you looking and going, I'm good. I'm fine. Really, I don't need your help. Thanks. Appreciate it. Thanks, but no thanks." That would be to take the work of the Son and go, go away. We have something better. No, you don't. To regard as unclean the blood of the covenant is to fail to spur one another to love and good deeds. Because the blood of the covenant initiates what? The giving of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's job is to do what? Testify to Christ. Now stop. Scripture testifies to Christ because it gives you all the pictures, the types, the shadows of the Old Testament, explains them in the New Testament, and then tells you how you're supposed to live. Or better yet, I should say, explains them in the Gospels, and then tells you how you're supposed to live in light of them in the Epistles. Basically, the commentary in the Gospels. Christian, what's the Holy Spirit's job in you? To testify to Christ. How? How? What's mission one? I've already mentioned it once this morning. Spiritual gifts. For the building up of the body. So that we would all come to completeness in Christ. Meaning, who you are, what you are, what you're good at, what you're not good at, is unto the glory of God. This is why... Some of you are victims of this. On behalf of the American church, I'm sorry. I don't know if I have that authority, but I'm trying to take it right now anyway. Some of you were in churches where you were told, no, what you've got to do is you've got to stretch yourself and get outside of your comfort zone. And you see this thing you're terrible at? You need to go do that thing and grow in God. I'm sorry. I'm sorry they lied to you. I'm sorry they hurt you. It sounded good. It got more money and they liked it. If you're terrible at it, you know what you're not? Gifted by God for it. Like, God's not like, you know what? I gave them a gift, but how did we mess this up? It's like, did we give them three left hands? What did we do wrong? How does this work? It's like, you know, God has not gifted me dancing. I should not dance unto the glory of God, unless I'm doing it humorously. And if you give me a ribbon, I will, Cameron will vouch, I have done ribbon dancing. Some of you are like, I want to see this now, and some of you are like, my eyes, my eyes! And you're both welcome. But in all seriousness, if you're not gifted with administration, what are the spiritual gifts? The ability to administrate things. Should we put you in charge of paperwork? No! Every once in a while I'll see that joke, like, do you remember that kid in high school who, like, they never had a folder, they just took all their papers and shoved them in their backpack? Do you remember that kid? Am I the only person that had a kid like this in my classes? You weren't that kid, were you? No, but you had that kid. See, do you ever wonder how they handle life? I often think that's the person that's got like 2,000 unread emails. Like on their phone. They just... Don't point at them! Don't! See, there's two types of people. If you're like me, the phone goes off and you're like, I have to clear that. I can't leave that. And then you'll run across this person and it's like, oh my goodness! Just mark them all as red and start over. You have to. Cameron does this, I check my junk folder because sometimes I get important things in my junk folder, so multiple times a day, I'll check the junk folder when there's three or four things in it and then I clear it. And then I'll grab Cameron's email for something and look at her junk folder and there's like 400 emails in it. And the anxiety that that gives me, it hurts. For a second, I'm the Jeffersons, I'm coming, I'm coming, I can't do this. One of us is gifted for administration, one of us is not. Guess who you should give the paperwork to? Give it to me, I can administrate, I can line this up. This is why calendar apps and all that good stuff. Likewise. Now, here's a fun one. Some people are really good at praying. And what I mean by that is all of our prayers are bad, but some people are really good at remembering the prayer requests, remembering and is able to set out time. Some of us have like drunken squirrels running the operating system and you sit down to pray and you get like one request in and all of a sudden it's like, what was I doing? Okay, you know who shouldn't be in charge of the prayer group? That's why Clark's in charge of it, because what is Clark great at? He remembers the needs, he remembers the things that are going on, and he remembers to put them out, and he can organize and keep up with them. That's why, you know, when I get them, I stop, pray real quick, because if I sit there and go, okay, I will make my list and pray later, I'm gonna forget what I put the list. It's the one thing, I can organize everything else in my life, I can't organize prayers. I don't know what it is, the ADHD kicks in, it's like, wee, what are we doing? I don't know, who are you? So you don't put me in charge of the prayer ministry. You put someone who can keep up with that in charge of the prayer ministry. You don't stretch yourself for the kingdom. You serve where you're actually gifted. Because that's what the Holy Spirit is spurring you towards. To try to do something else is to look at the Holy Spirit and say, we know better than you. That's to forsake the covenant. That's to forsake the work of Christ. Because the work of Christ actually ushers in the work of the Holy Spirit. And to fail in this regard is to again say, no. I don't need your sacrifice. I don't need your spirit. I know better than you. Am I the only one who hears that? It's all good. They'll hang up. Now, to insult the spirit of grace would be to abandon the people of God. The other warning from the previous section. To look away from Christ, to look away from the spirit, to then look away from the community. Because, Christian, what's the protection of someone finally looking at you and saying, don't be the administrator, you can't. We love you, but no. What's the protection on that? The body of faith. What's the protection that goes, you don't need to be in charge of the prayer group. We love you. You can come to prayer meetings. You can pray for the request, but you can't be in charge of the prayer group because you have no idea what's going on. You're the kid who stuck the folders in the book bag. No, you can't do this. Again, to do all of these things is to say to God, we know better. Hasn't that been the entire warning of Hebrews that you don't know better? Because what is Jesus? Better. Better than the angels. Better than the previous testimony. Better than Moses. Better than the high priest. Better than the tabernacle. Better than the lambs. Better than everything. Because Jesus is better for you to say, we know better, is for you to look at God and say, we got this. Narrator, we don't got this. But he does. And the God who can assemble all of this, can keep things together, can do Today, what he has been doing can assemble his kingdom and can build it up. And again, And this is one of those consistent warnings in scripture, and if this is who you're dealing with, it's a confirmation of who they are, not on the outside, but on the inside. Matthew chapter 12, He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Meaning, if you can forsake the work that the Spirit is doing, it's because the Spirit is not in you. If you can say, I know better than God, it's because the Spirit's work is not at work in you, which means Christ's work has not been applied to you, which means the Father has not set His love upon you, which means you are lost. The gospel needs to be proclaimed. Repentance needs to be sought. We don't give up on anything, but at the same time, we do recognize the reality of the world. Because, stop. If you don't recognize the reality of the world, you look at the unbeliever and go, he's okay, he's fine, nothing has to be done when things have to be done. And worse, you look at the unbeliever in your midst and say, this is fine, this behavior is perfectly acceptable. There's no problem with this. You wanna see a church go completely off the rails? I've gotten to see this before. It's not fun. Leave people alone in their sim for extended periods of time, and then put them in charge of things. You want to have fun? Meetings become really interesting in those moments. And by interesting, I mean a complete and utter train wreck. You have not lived until you've left a Deacons meeting with people yelling at each other on the way out the door. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And not just yelling at me, although that has happened. You can't imagine that, could you? No. I mean, I have seen building and grounds committee meetings devolve into arguments, stewardship committee meetings devolve into arguments, deacons meetings become entire screaming matches. Why? Because no one has ever looked at someone and gone, are you sure this is Christian behavior? Are you sure this is not something else? For years. And so what happens when you become the bad guy? and something has been allowed to fester for year after year after year. It matters. This is why the command is love for one another. Christian, we've talked about this before. We're gonna do it again though. If you are in your sin, the most loving thing we can do is not cover it up. The most loving thing we can do is not pretend it's okay. The most loving thing we can do is say, hey, stop that. This is a problem. This needs to be killed with fire. This needs to be cast out. This needs to be dealt with. Otherwise, You're forsaking the work of the Spirit. You're forsaking the work of the Son. You're forsaking the testimony of Scripture. You are saying that God does not abide in you. Verse 30, For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. Yeah, you know who that is. Basically, the entirety of the Bible is about him. Matthew 24. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a bad day. Like, we picked up a moon this week, but I was so disappointed. Did you see? It's the size of a bus. Like, does that even count? Like, how do you even see that? That's not even fair. So, anyway. But this sounds like a bad day. And then, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together as elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. Yeah, that's the guy who says vengeance is mine and the Lord will judge his people. Because that's what's going to happen, is everyone gets dealt with. So what? Verse 31. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Yup. Go back to Matthew 24. If the evil slave says in his heart, my master is not coming for a long time and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That sounds like a good time, doesn't it? No, it doesn't. Now again, If you know that the master is coming back, and you are capable of living like he's not, then what does that say about you? Which is, now, view that in light of the entirety of your Bible. The entirety of your Bible is a testimony to Christ. The entirety of your Bible is a revelation of the Spirit, which is a testimony to Christ. The giving of the Spirit for the spurring on of sanctification as a testimony to Christ. If you're capable of living like Christ does not exist, then it's because the Holy Spirit is not spurring you. Never get this twisted. Never get this twisted. Your hope is in God, the work that He has done, the work that He is doing, and the work that He will do. If you get nothing else out of Hebrews, get that, because this was the problem that the Pharisees had. This was the problem that the people at large had. It was at the end of the day, the entirety of their world became about who? Themselves and what they can do. Now stop for a second. just as a proof that there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 3, and that people really haven't changed a whole lot. Go out into the secular world! Who is the entirety of that world about? Themselves! This is, I mean, I've taken too many psychology classes because people are fascinating to me. So, like, when you start realizing that there are, that we actually talk about things like self-actualization, and you stop for a second and go, you know, that doesn't really mean anything, right? That you understanding you does, like, you know what you do on a regular basis? understand who you are. Most people's problem isn't that they don't understand themselves, it's that they do understand themselves and they don't like themselves. You know what most people's problem is? They shouldn't like themselves. Because the lie of humanity is that we're good people and that we just need a hug and that everything will be okay. We're bad. We're evil. We're selfish and we're pride-filled and we deserve judgment. But, God, demonstrates his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The hope is not in us figuring things out in the here and now. Humanity for the last however many hundred years has decided that our hope is we'll figure this out as long as we just keep on keeping on, we're gonna get to the next best thing. We call this progress. It gave us smartphones and the ability to end the planet. What could possibly go wrong? Yeah, you see the issues. Why? Because we've decided we're the solution, because something else has to be the problem. No, no, no, no. Something else isn't the problem. The problem of humanity is humanity. The cure for humanity is the work of God, the accomplishments of Christ. That's why the judgment comes. If you're capable of ignoring the reality of that judgment, if you're capable of ignoring the kindness of God, then that says something about the darkness of your heart. And that's something that scripture is consistent about, is that they are wandering off because they don't know the truth. They are deluded in their sin because they have not seen the truth and the light, and they don't want to. You don't get saved because you did a good thing. You did a good thing because you actually got saved, because you have been transformed, because you have been redeemed. Verse 32. Remember the former days when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. See, why aren't you afraid of that judgment? Why aren't you afraid of the world? Why aren't you afraid of their insanity? because you don't have any worries and doubts, because you see the testimony of Christ down through the ages and you understand the work of the Spirit being done in your life, therefore fear is gone and you have remained the way that the hope was given. Things like James 1. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. By the way, that same hope is there at the end of the book. One of those passages we like to forget is Revelation chapter two. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for 10 days. And I know what you're thinking, be like, ooh, 10 days, that's gonna be bad, but I can tolerate a lot for a week and a half, right? Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. Well, that escalated quickly. What I love about that is the church in Revelation 2.10 was just told what? Satan's coming and you're going to die, but it's okay. See, does that sound okay? See, if it doesn't sound okay, why not? Because let's be honest, it's really easy to get lost that all of our life is where. The entire point of those opening chapters of Revelation is that your life is not here. Your hope is not here. Your security is not here. Your security is in a future kingdom so that if you die here, you get what? Eternity in the presence of God. The joy and the celebration of who He is for eternity in the kingdom that He is building. This is good. This is what we should be doing, remaining, verse 34, For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." This is good. Believe it or not, because this is the people of God operating according to what God has promised they would do. So go all the way back to Matthew again, Matthew 25. The king will say to those in his right, come you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me and I was in prison and you came to me. And they said what? When did we do all these things? And what's the answer? As you did them to the least of these. Wait, what's the next line? Brothers of mine, you did unto me. Always remember, look, our prison ministry's bad. No, our homeless ministry's bad. No, our food pantry's bad. No, but your primary ministry, Christian, what is your first ministry? At home, now stop. that starts with you and then works out to who? Like the other people that live in your house, but now stop for a second. You are supposed to be connected to what? A body of believers. Hi, we're part of the family. I mean, what's the song? ♪ I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God ♪ ♪ Washed in the fountain, cleansed by his blood ♪ ♪ Join heirs of Jesus as we travel this side ♪ ♪ For I'm part of the family, the family of God ♪ I don't get dancing or singing. You're out of luck, sorry. Make a good vaudeville, though. If only I was born in the 20s. You know, I'd get a little hat and a little... You'll never take me alive, copper! Me and Groucho, to the end. You know it's a good Sunday when you're getting 1920s silent film jokes. Come on! Now, why are these ideas here? Because when we say your first ministry is at home, that doesn't mean you just run home and that's your church and that's the end of it. We're family too, we're part, which means before we give to the huddled masses out there, we should be taking care of the huddled masses that are in here. It just is what it is. I get in trouble for this before, but... Because there's always like a slight argument with this, but I have said this before. I haven't said this in probably years, though. But I have flat out told people that, look, if you are having trouble paying your bills, you don't have any money to give church. You don't. And while we appreciate every gift and every tithe that we are given, If you're trying to figure out whether or not you should feed your kids, or whether or not your kids need new shoes when they got holes in them, it's okay not to put something in the plate this week. Because you have to actually take care of the needs of the people that God has put in your charge. And there's always someone who wants to argue with me about that, and if you want to argue with me about that, you know where to find me, it's not like I'm hiding. But the same thing goes for the church. Like, before you give to the charity out there, you should be giving to the work that is done in here. And if you don't give to anything that's here, then you don't have any money to give to anything that's out there. Now, if I'm not talking to you, wait for it, I'm not talking to you. If I am, don't take it up with me, take it up with your conscience and the Holy Spirit as He guides it. But, and if we're not doing the thing that you want us to do, then by, I've told you this before, if we're not doing the ministry that you want, you know who's now in charge of that ministry? You are, because you care about it. Once again, just like, don't put people who aren't gifted for that thing in charge of that thing. Don't put people who don't care about that thing in charge of that thing. Surefire way for that thing not to get done. Like, hey, let's take the person who can do no maintenance and doesn't care about the building in charge of the building. What's gonna go wrong with that? Walls fall down. I don't even know which end of the hammer works. What do you want me to do? And by the way, I'm about like this far away from that. So don't put me in charge of too much. But this is the reality of the world that we live in. Your first ministry is at home. It starts with how you glorify God in the places where you have influence. Now, again, where do you have influence? Where do you do the work? Do those things. Stand with a clear conscience before God and rejoice. Verse 35. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward." That would be insane, wouldn't it? I mean, at this point, based on what you know about who God is, what Christ has done, who Christ is, how He has fulfilled all of these things, to look to something else, does that even make sense? No, no it doesn't. Mark 4, he was saying to them, to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing they may see, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven. Always remember, if the world outside looks weird to you, it's supposed to. It's supposed to. You don't think like they do. You don't view the world in the same way that they do. And if you do, then the problem is not with them. The problem is with you. So, don't throw it away. 436, you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay. So, Christian, now what? Well, this is why we live like we live. How do we live? discipling and ministry, following the things that God has told us to one another that he has commanded, making sure that our views are right in the world, Philippians 3. I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, that hope in Christ, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Meaning what, Paul? Well, I work in the world, I work on behalf of the kingdom, but recognize that everything that's here is going away. It comes, it goes, it's good, it's bad, it is what it is, but I know what's coming, and there is a kingdom at the end. It is good, and it is righteous, and it is perfect, and I rejoice to see it, 38. But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Yeah, because isn't that a pretty good summation of everything we've talked about? If you're capable of falling away from God, it means what about you? That the Spirit is not in you, that you have not been transformed, that you do not understand, that you are part of the them. So now what? Well, we evangelize, we hope, we proclaim the gospel, we make disciples, we do all the things that we keep doing, and we hope that what happens? Hearts and minds are transformed because who does that work? God does. And we do that for the people in our house and the people that we have influence over and all of these things. 39. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Why? Because as Hebrews has been laying out since chapter one, who Jesus is influences what he does. And what has he done? He has rescued us. He has transformed us by his sacrifice, by his power, by the granting of his spirit, and he has placed us in a good kingdom so that we can see the things of this world clearly and understand. One of my favorite little books, because it's the first little book that I ever preached through in a church, is Jude. It explains it this way. You, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, in the last time there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts. You wouldn't know anything about a world like that, would you? People following after their own, no. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God. How? Remember going all the way back to chapter 4 by entering into His rest by doing what? Remembering Christ and His work. waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life, and have mercy on some who are doubting, save others, snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." How do you know which one it is? I don't know. I don't always know. So what do you do? You love the brethren. You anchor to the faith and the hope that is in Christ. You live in faith, carrying out the one another's, making sure that you're removing the log or the speck from your eye, whichever it may be, trusting in the work of the spirit, trusting in the leading of God where he is sending his people, trusting in the kingdom that he is building, and then letting everything else work itself out. Because as I've said before, if you spend the rest of your life just trying to make sure that you are rooting out sin in your life, and sin out of the lives of the people that you have influence over to make disciples, you're gonna be pretty busy. And you're not gonna have a lot of time to worry about the extra problems of the world, because you're gonna be fairly busy with righteousness and the joy of the work that Christ has accomplished. And that's a life well lived, because it's a life lived into the glory of God with what he's gifted you towards, with the people that he has given you, the family that you're in, with the church that you're a part of, and a joy for the kingdom, because that's where we're called to day by day. This is the application of the program for Hebrews. This is Hebrews saying, okay, you get it now. You see Jesus clearly. You see what he's done. Now, what do you do with it? Well, you trust him in your day-to-day life. You follow after him. You live for him, forsaking everything else, forsaking sin, trusting in his gifting, trusting in his work, and know that as you live that way, the kingdom is coming and that it is good at the end. Let's pray.