July Sermons

For July, our preaching schedule looks like this -- D.V. --

7/7/13

 Hebrews 11:4  “Abel”

7/14/13

 Guest Preacher:  Will Lampe

7/21/13

 Hebrews 11:5  “Enoch”

7/28/13 
 Hebrews 11:6  “Faith & Belief”

Join us for worship at 10:30 AM!

"Faith" Sermon: Hebrews 11:1-3

“Faith”

[Hebrews 11:1-3]

June 30, 2013 Second Reformed Church

            We’ve heard before that the character, Archie Bunker, on the TV show, “All in the Family,” once defined faith this way:  “Faith is something you believe that nobody in their right mind would believe.”  I hope we all understand that is wrong.

            However, have we ever heard anyone say, “I can’t explain it, I just have faith.” Or, “It can’t be understood, you just have to take it on faith.”  That is not biblical faith – that is “blind faith.”  Certainly there are difficult things in the Bible.  But the Bible is a rational document based on historical evidence and eye-witness testimonies.  We don’t talk about other historical events as those they are irrational or mythological or unknowable, but we talk the Bible and the teachings of the Bible that way – we shouldn’t.

            Last week we began considering faith as we saw the author of Hebrews turn to his readers and remind them of how they suffered after their conversion to Christianity, and did so, believing by faith that “a better possession and a more abiding one” lay beyond everything in this life.

            We saw him argue, using the most quoted verse in the Bible, “the just shall live by faith,” that justification – being declared righteous through Jesus’ Work of receiving our sins and giving us His Righteousness – can only be received through faith.

            And we used the example of the gutters and leaders on our homes or apartments to understand faith:  faith is like those gutters and leaders – just as the rain in guided to wherever we want it to go by the gutters and leaders – the rain is received by them – so we receive doctrine – the teaching of the Bible – what God has said – by faith.  Faith is the means by which we receive what God has for us.

            And the author of Hebrews reminds his readers that they need endurance – patience – because God brings to pass His Will in the right time – and that may be awhile – we may not see Jesus on earth in our lifetime – we may encounter suffering for Christ and not escape persecution in this lifetime.  But, if we have faith, and have received what God has said and promised, we can be patient.

            He continues – in this morning’s reading – first, by looking at two aspects of what faith is:

            “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

            First, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for.” 

            Faith is the assurance, the substance, the ground, the foundation.  Faith is the reason or reasons – it is the logical argument – the rational understanding.  Faith – as the receptor of the Word of God – receives God’s Word and the promises in it, with the arguments for it and the proof that it is true – and this becomes the assurance – not the wish for something to be, but the proof – the evidence – the unshakable reasoning that forms the base of it.

            “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.”  Faith is the rational foundation for believing in the things we hope for.  What do we hope for?  World peace?  Riches?  Weight loss?  We use the word “hope” to refer to things we would like, but which may not happen.  In our text, we are referring to the things we hope for – the things we look forward to – the things that God has promised which have not yet come to pass, but will come to pass because they have been promised with air-tight reasoning behind them.

            Through faith, we are assured that Jesus is going to return, just as He left – is that not our great hope?  We believe – unshakable – by the witness of God’s Word – the argument – the reasons and proofs given – that Jesus will most assuredly return – just as He said He would – just as it is promised in the Scripture.  Faith says, “God said it – that settles it” – and if you take a look, there is historical and eye-witness testimony – including the testimony of God, Himself, which is indisputable and incontrovertible.

            Through faith, we believe that when Jesus returns, He will remove all evil and sin from the earth, restoring the earth, and bringing we who believe into glory, so we will be holy, just like Jesus, and live in His Presence forever.  Don’t you hope for that?  Don’t you look forward to that day, believing that that is what God said will happen, and God’s Word and the argument of the Scripture are proof that it will happen, just as He has promised?

            So, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute certainty that everything that God has promised and said will come about, will come to pass, exactly as it has been given to us and received by us in faith.

            In having faith – “the assurance of things hoped for” – we have a taste of what will be, we have  encouragement to continue on – even through persecution, as we look forward to those things we hope for.  We can stand amidst anything that occurs and not worry as we look forward in patience and with all hope.  Nothing that occurs to us can take away our sure hope, and no matter what we endure in this lifetime, everything will be far greater than we can even imagine in our hope.

            Faith is also “the conviction of things not seen.”

            Again, the author of Hebrews is not talking about something we just “feel” is true.  When he talks about faith being “the conviction,” he is saying it is the inner conviction, the confident assurance, the evidence, the proof – the conviction we have is based on the evidence, not based on our feeling that something “might” be true.

            And this solid conviction – this interior assurance based on the proof and evidence before us historically and by eye-witnesses – is of those things which are “not seen.”  What things are not seen?  Things that are invisible.  Things that happened before our existence or somewhere out of our purview.  Things that will assuredly happen in the future.  These are all “not seen,” yet, through faith, we have received convicting evidence that such things are true.

            For example, as far as I know, none of us have seen an angel or a demon – they tend to be invisible to us – though there are times when they took on visible form in the Scripture.  Still, we believe they exist based on the convincing evidence before us.

            None of us have seen Heaven – the place where God has always lived – yet, we believe it exists based on the convicting evidence which we have received.

            None of us have seen God the Father or God the Holy Spirit or God the Son – prior to or after the Incarnation, but we believe God exists because of the convicting evidence we have received.

            “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29, ESV).

            Jesus, speaking of those who would come after His Ascension said that we who believe in Him not having seen Him, but receiving the truth of Him through faith by the convicting evidence we have received, are blessed.

            Paul, writing about the future glory into which all we who believe and all the non-human creation will be received into at the time of the Restoration, wrote, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?” (Romans 8:24, ESV).

            Paul, again, writing about how our human bodies waste away in this life, but, in the life to come, we are received into glory and restored with incorruptible bodies, like Jesus, wrote, “as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18, ESV).

            So, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute conviction based on the evidence we have received that things that are spoken of which are not seen by us, either by difference of time, or because such are invisible to our eyes have happened, will happen, and do exist, exactly as they have been given to us and received by us in faith.

            The author of Hebrews gives his own example of that thing which is unseen, yet we receive by faith with abundant evidence, convicted of its truth, but first, he gives a prefatory note about the people he will be talking about for most of the rest of the chapter.

            “For by it the people of old received their commendation.”

            That is, by faith, the ancestors – the forefathers – the patriarchs and faithful women of biblical history and all those believers prior to the Incarnation – received their commendation – they were approved.  The biblical persons that the author of Hebrews will talk about in this chapter – and others – received their approval – their commendation – by faith.

            And that leaves us with four questions.  Who is commending them?  For what?  And where did they get their faith?  What was their commendation?

            As we will see as we go through chapter eleven, the ancestors were commended by God the Holy Spirit.  And they were commended for their faith in the Savior that God was sending – the Messiah.

            This makes sense:  since “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The believers in God and the Savior He would send had faith in that Savior – and hoped for the coming of the Savior – even though He was unseen.  They we assured and convicted that God would send the Messiah, because everything that God had always said and everything that was witnessed throughout the ages proved that God would keep His Word and bring this about.  And so, the Holy Spirit commended them – He blessed their faith in the coming Savior, and it was accounted to them as righteousness.  For, true faith looks to Christ, first and foremost as its object.

            So, where did their faith come from?  How is it that they had a hope grounded in history and eye-witnesses, and evidence of the promises that God gave?  Where do any of us get faith – true, biblical faith?

            It is a matter of our setting our minds on believing?  Is it a matter of our thinking we can?  Do we just decide that this is what the evidence leads up to, so, we hold on to such and such until death?

            Thankfully, God tells us where faith comes from:   “ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8, ESV).

            What does the word “this” refer to?

            If I said, “I planted a tulip, and this is my favorite flower.”  What would the word “this” refer to?  “Tulip.” 

So, Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8, ESV).  What does the word “this” refer to?  “Faith.”  “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And [faith] is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8, ESV).  Faith is a gift to us.  The ability to receive God’s Word, to have hope, to believe in His Promises, to believe in what we cannot see which God has told us is or was or will be – this is all the gift of God to the believer.

So, by faith the believers prior to the Incarnation were approved.  That is, they pleased God.  By faith the believers prior to the Incarnation were found to be pleasing to God.

We’ll look more at the idea of pleasing God in a few weeks, D.V.

After this, the author of Hebrews turns to his first example, which does not look back to those believers before the Incarnation, but is addressed to the Hebrews, and we ought to receive this word ourselves today:

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

            How many of you were alive at the creation of the universe?

            So, here – the first example – deals with faith being a “conviction of things not seen” – because none of us saw the creation of the universe.

            So, how do we know how the universe was created?  God has given us His Word, and He has also given us the witness of the universe which we come to understand more fully through science.  And take note:  the theologian and the scientist both understand the creation of the universe through faith, based on the evidence, because neither of them was there.

            Who created the universe?

            God, through Moses, tells us, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”

(Genesis 1:1, ESV).

            Some will not like to admit that God created the universe, but Paul explains that everyone knows that God exists and this is His work:  “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20, ESV).

            How was the universe created?

            In the opening chapters of Genesis, we are given the repeated refrain, “And God said…and there was…”  Everything that is was created by God’s Word – God spoke everything into existence.

            Where did the building blocks of the universe come from?

            The Scripture makes it clear that before the creation of the universe, only God existed.  There was a time when there was no time, space, or material stuff – there was only God.  So, God spoke time, space, and the material stuff into existence.

            As Paul writes about Abraham and his God, “as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist (Romans 4:17, ESV).

            And so, as our text tells us, “what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”  God did not make the universe out of anything that was in existence – God made everything in the universe out of things that did not exist – He brought them into existence by His Word – He spoke them into being.

            Although science and logic and just general awareness backs up what the Scripture says – we receive this by faith – not irrationally – there is an eye-witness and there is good proof for this in the Scripture and through science, but none of us were there, so we received what God has said in His Word and we believe it through faith, based on all the evidence supporting it, even though we were not there – it was something we did not seen.

            And we might wonder – why is belief that God created the universe out of nothing faith?  Haven’t we said that faith is only given to the believer?  Yes, but the unbeliever can come to understand and know certain things without the gift of faith, which makes it look like they have the gift of faith – such as that God exists and created the universe.  The difference is that the believer who has faith does not merely look at the evidence and see that God created the universe out of nothing – he also sees the wisdom, the goodness, and the power of this God, and he finds reason to love and worship this God.

            So we have seen:

First, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute certainty that everything that God has promised and said will come about, will come to pass, exactly as it has been given to us and received by us in faith.

Second, faith receives the Word of God, the history and promises and witnesses statements therein, and believes with absolute conviction based on the evidence we have received that things that are spoken of which are not seen by us, either by difference of time, or because such are invisible to our eyes have happened, will happen, and do exist, exactly as they have been given to us and received by us in faith.

Third, by faith the believers prior to the Incarnation were found to be pleasing to God.

And fourth, as a first example, we saw that we believe through faith that God created the universe out of nothing, as a conviction of something that we did not see.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for the gift of faith.  We thank You for raising us to spiritual life and giving us the ability to receive what You have said.  We thank You that faith is not based on non-sense, but on facts, history, eye-witnesses, and good evidence.  Help us to present Your Gospel and all things in Your Word with reasons to all those who ask.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

"By Faith Alone" Sermon: Hebrews 10:32-39

“By Faith Alone”

[Hebrews 10:32-39]

June 23, 2013 Second Reformed Church

            We have been considering that the author of Hebrews explains that we must both understand the teachings of the Bible with our mind – and especially the Gospel – and sincerely believe those teachings in our heart if we are to be saved from the Wrath of God for our sin.  Knowing what the Bible says and what the Gospel is without sincerely believing it, leaves you dead in your sin.  Believing what we feel is true, although it is not in line with what God has told us in the Scripture, leaves you dead in your sin.

            The section we looked at last week ended with the warning that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31, ESV).  If you believe something other than what God has said or if you know what God has said but don’t believe it, you in the position where you are right to be afraid:  you are in the Hands of God and at His Vengeance.

            The author of Hebrews now turns his attention to those who have truly understood and believed the Gospel:

            “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,”

            Here we get some additional insight into the reason for the writing of the letter to the Hebrews.  The letter primarily argues that the Old Testament Sacrificial Laws have been fulfilled in Christ – the perfect High Priest and Sacrifice – so they do not – and should not – be offered any longer.  So, as we look back at the first days of the Hebrews conversion, it is not a far stretch to see that the motivation for this letter was that the Hebrew Christians, at the hands of persecution, were turning back to the Old Testament Sacrificial System.

            And, so the author of Hebrews tells the Hebrew Christians to remember the time right after they professed faith in Christ – remember how they endured suffering – remember the hard struggle they endured for believing that the Gospel is true – with all of their heart and soul and mind and strength.  “Remember how you suffered, Hebrews, after your conversion to Christianity?”

            And note:  the point is that they suffered for being Christians – not for anything else – not for sinning or doing anything wrong.  They were persecuted because they became Christians – because they converted to Christianity.

            “sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.”

            These Hebrew converts endured reproach and affliction – that indicates severe trials.  As the author of Hebrews relates later in his letter, this included trials such as:  “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:35b-38, ESV).

            Many of us have hardly had any notice of our conversion, except to be told that polite people don’t talk about politics and religion – though I know some of you have suffered and can relate to this.  In many countries, if you convert to Christianity, you can lose your job, your family, your freedom, even your life – just as it was in the first century – just as it was for the Hebrews that the author was writing to – and he wants them to remember what it was like when they first believed – when they first felt the sting of persecution for knowing and believing the Gospel.

            He also wants them to remember how – in those first days – and even as he was writing – they joined in as partners with others who were suffering.  There was a fellowship of suffering.  Christians did not suffer alone – and we should not suffer alone – for the sake of the Gospel.  Christianity is a communal religion – God has chosen to save a people, as Paul writes, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26, ESV).

            The author wants them to remember how they suffered for their faith and how they supported their fellow Christians who suffered for their faith –

            “For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

            Remember – they had compassion on those who were in prison – they provided for them and their families while they served their sentence for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

            Remember – they joyfully accepted their property being stolen.

            What do you think of that?  Part of their persecution for believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ was that the authorities, the religious leaders, their neighbors – whoever it may have been – stole their property – and their response was to rejoice.

            They weren’t stoics – they didn’t see that their property was gone and say, “Oh, well, here today, gone tomorrow, never mind.”  No, they rejoiced.

            If you were being persecuted for your faith in Jesus as the Only Savior, and you came home one day to find everything in your house gone, would you rejoice?  Is this a reason to believe that Christians are nuts?  Is this a reason to look down on Christians – or at least pity them?

            Why does the author of Hebrews tell us that the Hebrews Christians “joyfully accept the plundering of [their] property” – were they nuts?  He tells us, “since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

            The Hebrew Christians were not unfeeling.  They didn’t not care when they found all their property gone.  Surely they were sad over losing certain items of sentimental value – or even very valuable things.  Yet, they rejoiced, because they had a better possession – something that was worth far more than all their stuff – and it is an abiding possession – it is something that no one can take away from them.  They could lose their stuff, their home, their family, their job, be tortured, and even killed, and still rejoice, because what is most worthwhile – what is most valuable – could never be taken from them.

            Do you understand?

            If that kind of persecution came to the United States – to all Christians here – could you lose your stuff, your home, your job, your family, be tortured, and even killed, and rejoice, because no one could take your greatest treasure from you?

            Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12, ESV).

            Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name”

(1 Peter 4:12-16, ESV).

            And Paul wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:18-25, ESV).

            “Think back to when you first confessed faith in Jesus, Hebrews; remember that you suffered for the sake of Christ.  You joyfully endured all types of loss – some, even the loss of their lives – for the sake of Christ.  Remember how you ministered to your brothers and sisters as they suffered for the sake of Christ.  Remember that you are a body in Christ called to support each other in the faith.  Remember that what we shall receive in the Kingdom is greater than everything we ever had here – in this life.”

            Paul wrote, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

            “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

            “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:7-18, ESV).

            The Scriptural witness is that it is normal for Christians to suffer for the sake of Christ and for believing in Him.  And the author of Hebrews is calling his readers to remember all that they had gone through since believing in Christ, how they had helped their fellow Christians, and that they had done all this because the promise of the Gospel and the life in the Kingdom is greater than anything they might suffer for Christ.  And the same is true for us.

            “Therefore” Because that is all true – here’s the point:

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

“If you remember everything you have suffered in becoming a Christian,” the author of Hebrews writes, “that you are one in Christ with your fellow Christians, and you are joyful in looking forward to the reward you shall receive – don’t throw it all away by going back to the Old Testament Sacrificial System!  Hold on to Salvation through Jesus Alone – through His Sacrifice Alone – endure, be patient – hold on – work hard at doing the Will of God – following after Him in holiness, and you will receive what God has promised.”

And, again, as we have noted before, very few of us here are still sacrificing animals to God in worship – we do not tend to fall back on the Old Testament Sacrificial System.  And hopefully, we do not misunderstand the Old Testament Sacrificial System as a way to salvation.  Let us note it again:  the Old Testament Sacrificial System was never intended and never could be a way to salvation.  There only ever was and still is only One Way to salvation through the Savior God promised to send, Who we now know is Jesus of Nazareth, the God-Man, the Incarnate Son of God.

Even though we may not even be tempted to offer up Cali, Annie, Teddie, Shema, Doxology, or any other of our animal companions, we may find ourselves tempted to look back at what God has said and say, “I’ve been a pretty good person.  I have kept most of God’s Law.”  The author of Hebrews screams at us:  “Don’t throw away your confidence!”  We have nothing to offer, nothing to add, to the salvation that comes to us through Jesus Alone – and, if we find ourselves thinking that we do – then we’re back to last week’s sermon, “Be Afraid” – do you trust in something other than Jesus Alone for your salvation.  Check yourself – don’t throw away that only assurance there is!

This is not to say that we are to “let go and let God.”  No, we are to endure through suffering for the sake of Christ by remembering and holding before ourselves the better and abiding possession of Christ and His Salvation that we receive in all its fullness in the Kingdom.  And we are to do the Will of God until we receive the promised reward.

“Well, how do I know what God’s Will is for my life?”  Pick up a Bible, start reading it, and when you have mastered everything in it, we’ll see what else we can find.  Now, that may sound kind of flippant, and it kind of is, because people often try to avoid what they plainly see in the Scripture by asking what God’s Will is for their lives. 

Quickly, there are three types of law in the Bible:  Judicial, Ceremonial, and Moral.  The first two were just for Ancient Israel, and we don’t have to keep them.  Moral Law is for everyone forever.  So, when we read that we are to stone fortunetellers to death, don’t do that – you’ll be arrested – that was a Judicial Law, just for Ancient Israel.  When we read that God wants us to sacrifice animals on the altar, please don’t do that, that was part of the Ceremonial Law for Ancient Israel.  But when we read we are to care for the widow and the orphan, when we read that we are not to hate each other, when we read that we are to be in worship one day a week, when we read that God Alone is to be worshipped, when we read that we are to work hard and honestly, when we are told not to steal – even little things – even things that everybody else steals, and so forth – that is Moral Law which we are all called to keep.  And, if you’re stuck on something, see me.

Remember when you came to Christ and any suffering you may have endured on His behalf – this is a blessed suffering.

Remember that all Christians are one body and minister to each other, especially those who are suffering.

Remember that – even if we lose everything on earth – our joy is in Christ and His Promise in the Kingdom.

Remember not to throw away your confidence, but find your assurance in Christ Alone.

Remember to endure and do the Will of God that He has revealed to us in His Word.

“For,” – because – here’s the reason for doing all these things:

            “’Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;’”

            The Coming One is coming!  What does that mean?

            It means that Jesus is returning, and He is returning soon.  No matter what happens – and especially if you suffer for Christ – hang in there with your eyes focused on Jesus and His Return and the Restoration of all things in the Kingdom.  God the Holy Spirit indwells you and the Church is your body to support you, especially in matters of the faith.

            And we ask, “How?”  “How can we do these things and hold on when we are suffering and made to look like fools when we speak the Gospel?”

            “but my righteous one shall live by faith,”

            “The righteous shall live by faith” Paul also quotes this verse in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11.  It is quoted from Habakkuk 2:4.  It is the most quoted verse in the Bible.

            If you haven’t read the book of Habakkuk, take some time to read it – it’s three chapters – about three pages, near the end of the Old Testament.

            The book of Habakkuk opens with the prophet praying to God, pleading with God on Judah’s behalf, as the neighboring nations were attacking Judah and winning against her.  God answered Habakkuk and told him not to worry, that God had heard his prayer, and God was sending the Chaldeans to slaughter Judah.

            Habakkuk prays again and tells God this was not exactly the answer he was looking for – and he didn’t understand how the Holy God could use a pagan people to punish the people of God.  God answers again and tells Habakkuk that the just will live by faith – and, eventually, God will punish the Chaldeans.

            What did God mean when He told Habakkuk that the “just will live by faith”?  Who are “the just”?  “The just” are all those who believe in the Savior God promised to send – so we who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation are part of the just.  How do we “live by faith”?

            An example I have used before is that faith is like the gutters and leaders on your house or apartment – when the rain comes down, the gutters and leaders are the means by which the rain is transferred to the ground – or out to the street.  In the same way, we receive the doctrine – the teaching – what God has said, through faith – it is the means by which the just – the believer – receives what God has said is true and right.

            So, in Habakkuk’s case, God was telling him, “I know you don’t understand, and there are things that you – and all my people – are not going to understand.  What is important and necessary for you to do is to live by faith – that is – to receive everything I have said and sincerely believe it.”

            So, how do we live by faith when we are being teased or mocked or throw in jail or beaten or kept out of jobs or being robbed – and still be able to praise and glorify God for Who He is?  Through faith alone.  Faith enables us to receive everything God has said, sincerely believe it, and respond – “This is what I know about God.  This is what I know about humanity.  This is what I don’t understand.  But I’m going to press forward with everything I know and hold on to it with everything that I am, because I am sure what I know is true, and I am waiting in hope for the Promise of God to come – and one thing I know is that God is always worthy of my praising and glorifying Him.”

            We are to be people who live by faith alone.  People who receive the Word of God and the Salvation God provides – not blindly, but having been made sure of the Truth of God’s Word and sincerely believing it.

            But not everyone does that, do they?

            “’and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’”

            The author of Hebrews reminds us that there are two types of people:  those who say they are Christians, but prove they are not by either not sincerely believing the Word of God or by believing things which contradict the Word of God, and there are those who know what God has actually said and sincerely believe it.

            “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

            The author of Hebrews ends this section encouraging the Hebrew Christians letting them know that he recognizes them as Christians who sincerely believe in the Word of God and know what they believe.  And he says that they are people who have faith and their souls will be preserved by God because they do.

            In whatever situation you are faced with, do you find yourself giving up or becoming downcast or turning to things that have been done away with or forbidden in the Bible, or do you trust in God Alone through faith alone through Jesus Alone – even when you don’t understand and don’t know what’s going to happen?  Do you trust in God and His Plan, or do you worry that God needs your help?  Will you live by faith alone, or will you run away?

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God, we are men and women of dust, weak, and too easily swayed by the wind.  Help us to trust You, to believe everything You have said, to work hard to become the men and women You have called us to be, and – no matter what happens – to look to You and the Salvation You have given us in joy, always seeking to praise and glorify You.   Cause the Holy Spirit, God Who dwells in us, to build us up as Your people that we would live by faith alone.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reformed Wisdom

John Calvin on Hebrews 10:32 --

"In order to stimulate them, and to rouse their alacrity to go forward, he reminds them of the evidences of piety which they had previously manifested; for it is a shameful thing to begin well, and to faint in the middle of our course, and still more shameful to retrograde after having made great progress. The remembrance then of past warfare, if it had been carried on faithfully and diligently under the banner of Christ, is at length useful to us, not as a pretext for sloth, as though we had already served our time, but to render us more active in finishing the remaining part of our course. For Christ has not enlisted us on this condition, that we should after a few years ask for a discharge like soldiers who have served their time, but that we should pursue our warfare even to the end."     

"Hell On Trial" Study

D.V., we will continue our study this evening, looking at several modern figures and their views on Hell.  Join us at 7 PM!

"Be Afraid" Sermon: Hebrews 10:26-31

“Be Afraid”

[Hebrews 10:26-31]

June 16, 2013 Second Reformed Church

            There is a good reason to be afraid of God:  God knows your heart.

            Last week, one of the things we saw is that as we draw near to God we must have a true heart – that is, we must have right doctrine – we must believe what the Bible says – especially about salvation through Jesus Alone, and we must have full assurance of faith – that is, we must believe what we believe sincerely.

            And we saw that there is a problem, because we must have both to draw near to God – it is possible to only have one or the other.  It is possible to know everything that the Bible says, to be able to explain all the doctrines of the Scripture and all the distinctive of our denomination and explain why we believe that our interpretation of the Scripture is the better one, and not believe that it is sincerely and necessarily true.  It is also possible to believe all kinds of things the Bible does not say – “God only wants us to be faithful, He doesn’t care what we believe,” “If we’re good enough, God has to receive us into the Kingdom,” “All religions lead to the same end – they are many paths to the same God,” and so forth – and be totally sincere in such beliefs, yet be wrong.  So, if we are to draw near to God, we must believe the things that Bible says – especially about salvation – and we must believe them sincerely with all our heart.

            Why?  Because, if we know everything in the Bible – and especially those things about salvation in Jesus Alone – but don’t believe them, we are still in our sins.  And, if we sincerely believe things which are not true, we are still in our sins.  Unless we believe the truth with all sincerity, we have not been saved – we are still in our sins.

            If we know all the right things, but don’t believe them, we have not been forgiven for our sins.  And if we believe things that are wrong, but believe them sincerely, we have not been forgiven for our sins.

            Do we understand?  Right knowledge must be combined with sincere belief.

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,”

If we continue in unrepentant sin – deliberate, happy, joyful sin – after we have come to rightly know the truth of the Bible – the truth of the Gospel – there is no longer a sacrifice for sins – there is no sacrifice for such a person.

“Wait a minute,” someone is thinking, “Are you saying that someone can believe the Gospel and then sin and lose their salvation?”

No.  As we go through our text, we must remember:  right knowledge must be combined with sincere belief.

What the author of Hebrews is picturing for us is someone who knows the Bible very well – who knows the Gospel very well – perhaps a pastor or a Sunday School teacher – they’re on TV, they write books, they’re on their way to General Synod, but, for as much as they can repeat all the facts accurately, they have never sincerely believed.

“Well, why would a person do that?”

Perhaps because people like to be part of a group.  Perhaps because people think having some sort of religious upbringing makes a person moral.  Perhaps because they enjoyed using their minds in understanding the Scripture.  Perhaps because they enjoyed teaching and entering into conversation with those who came to be taught.

But these are not people who “lose” their salvation – no – these are people who never had salvation – these are people who had knowledge, but never sincere belief.  These are people who participated in the life of the Church.  These are people who confessed the confessions.  These are people who in the end renounce the teachings of the Gospel – they forsake the Church – they turn their backs to Christ and say, “not for me!”

And, if that repudiation of Christ is permanent, the sacrifice of Christ which they seemed to have received is no longer available to them.  And the terrible thing is there will be people that come before the throne of God at the end of the age and say, “What do you mean we’re going to Hell?  We preached the Bible for fifty years.  We taught Sunday school for seventy years.  We participated in the Church and tithed and did everything that was right according to the book.”  But Christ will tell His Father, “These are not mine; I don’t know them.”  Because they did not sincerely believe what they knew, but continued in their sin with abandon.

“but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

If you memorize the Bible and can explain all the doctrines of the Bible, you may still go to Hell, if you don’t sincerely believe.  Although metaphors – images – are used to describe the horrors of Hell -- and that’s why the images are there – to disturb us – to frighten us – to alarm us, we are told that the judgment that such people receive is that they will be consumed by fire.  And the word, “consumed” there does not mean that they will at some point go into non-existence.  The word, positively, means, “to make a living,” and negatively, indicates a continual taking away – an eating that does not end.  And notice that God calls these people His “adversaries.”

And we might wonder:  “What if someone wrote the top hundred orthodox books, and led thousands of people to salvation in Jesus Alone each year, and pastored a mega-church, and taught through various media, inspiring other leaders and missionaries around the world – wouldn’t that count for something?”

If that person did not both know the Truth and believe it sincerely, it would be as if he had spit in the face of Christ and told Him to “be gone.”  It would be no better that if he were the chief proponent of atheism and attacks on the Church.  It would be accounted to him as sin – unrepentant, deliberate sin – leaving him without the Sacrifice necessary for Salvation and facing a fearful and horrific judgment and sentence.  The reason for all he did was not the love of Christ and His Salvation – it was something else.  It may have been useful to the Church and those who came to Christ through what he did, but there would no longer be the Sacrifice available for him, because he denied the Very One he had spent his life teaching.

This is not a popular thing to talk about – I’m sure some of you are hoping I will move on to something else pretty quickly.  But I would be lax in my duty if I do not call you – and me – to make sure that we have not even fooled ourselves – because it is possible to fool yourself.

Peter wrote, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11, ESV).

Do you believe the teaching of the Bible that there is only salvation through Jesus Alone?  If you know and really believe that, you are a Christian.

Peter wrote, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’” (1 Peter 4:17-18, ESV).

We who believe are saved, not based on anything we are or do, but on the work of Jesus Christ – His Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  There aren’t many ways – there are thousands and thousands of ideas out there, but only One Way through Jesus.

Some of you may be doubting that there are really people like the author of Hebrews is warning – one example:  some of us will be familiar with Charles Finney.  He was a revival preacher during the Second Great Awakening – perhaps the greatest revival preacher of the Second Great Awakening.  Thousands of people believed in the Gospel under his preaching.  Do you know what he wrote in his autobiography?  “Jesus is not necessary for salvation; we are able to do enough good works to merit our own salvation.”  He knew his Bible, but he didn’t believe.  He was an apostate – and God visits apostates with expectations of His Wrath, and then the judgment.

“Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.”

The author of Hebrews sets up a comparison from the lesser to the greater:  first, he reminds his readers that those people who committed capital crimes against the Law of Moses received the death penalty.  How much greater – he argues – how much heavier – is the punishment of those who break the Covenant with Jesus – those who reject His Salvation?  Breaking the Law of Moses and rejecting God’s Promised Salvation through Jesus are both apostate works – it’s saying “I know what’s true, and I don’t care, I’m going to sin and sin, because I like it.”  It’s the person sitting in the pew who says, “I hear what you have to say, and I don’t care, I’m comfortable doing what I’m doing and I’m going to keep on doing it” – never believing that God’s Wrath is about to fall on him.

“How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Both the breaker of the Law of Moses and the rejecter of Salvation through Jesus will be punished without mercy, but the one who rejects Christ has committed a greater offense, which the author of Hebrews breaks down into three parts:

First, he says that the one who has participated in the life of the Church claiming to be a Christian and then proving himself not by renouncing the Gospel “trample(s) underfoot the Son of God.”  How is that so?

In this way:  rather than just rejecting Christianity, this type of person wants the benefits of the Church, but still wants to be in control of his life.  This is a person who hears the call to submit to the authority of Christ and responds, “You’re not the boss of me!”  This is the person who says he will gladly participate in the Church and say all the right things, but he will not allow Jesus to dictate how he lives and what he believes.  This person likes the Church, likes Jesus, but says he will not allow Jesus to have authority over him.  Rather than bow before Jesus, he tramples Him.

Second, he says that the one who has participated in the life of the Church claiming to be a Christian and then proving himself not by renouncing the Gospel has “profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified.”  Do we see an immediate problem?

If this person is not really a Christian, how can it be said that “he was sanctified”?  How could someone who does not believe receive the gift of becoming holy in the Father’s eyes – and at the end of the age?

The answer is found in the meaning of the phrase “he was sanctified.”  As it is worded here it can merely refer to a person’s confession, not actual, sincere, belief.  So, we could read this verse, “profaned the blood of the covenant which he said he believed, by which sincere belief and confession one is found to be sanctified.”  This is important to understand, because the author of Hebrews is not saying that this person was a Christian and then renounced his Christianity – that he sincerely believed the Covenant and was made holy, and then renounced it and became unholy again – that is not what the author of Hebrews is telling us.  He is telling us that holiness only comes through the Covenant to those who sincerely believe the Gospel.

So, what has the person who renounces the Gospel he said he believed done in this second case?  He has profaned the blood of Christ – he has considered the blood sacrifice of Jesus and said it is nothing to him.  He has said he does not need a high priest or a sacrifice; he can make himself right in God’s eyes.

Third, he says that the one who has participated in the life of the Church claiming to be a Christian and then proving himself not by renouncing the Gospel has “outraged the Spirit of grace.”  How does one “outrage the Spirit of grace” – that is, the Holy Spirit?

Such a person outrages the Holy Spirit by lying to Him:  this person has come into the Church, learned what the Bible and the Gospel say, acted in a proper way, taken part in everything of the Church, but said, “I don’t need Jesus, and I don’t need His Sacrifice or High Priestly work “And the Holy Spirit cries out; “Liar!  Hypocrite!”  And we know that lying to the Holy Spirit is the height of sin – it is the unforgiveable sin:

As Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:31-32, ESV).

If a person – in the end – refuses to believe the Gospel, in faith, with sincerity of heart, truly, not just as an abstract truth, but as his ultimate need and only salvation, that person will not and cannot ever be forgiven.  Every other sin can be forgiven, but even if a person looks like a Christian, acts like a Christian, calls himself a Christian, knows the Bible and the Gospel inside and out, takes part in everything the Church does, but says that he doesn’t need Christ and His Salvation – His Gospel – or if he merely does not truly sincerely believe in faith that it is his only hope and salvation – he will not be forgiven – he will face the Wrath of God for his sins.

Be afraid.

Peter writes, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them” (2 Peter 2:20-21, ESV). 

“For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’”

For a second time, the author of Hebrews uses a comparison from the lesser to the greater, both using these two quotes from Deuteronomy 32.  They are taken from a song Moss sang and taught the people right before he died.  It is a song which accuses Israel of being unfaithful and promises that God will not stand for an adulterer to be His Bride, but He will take vengeance upon them and judge them.  And Moses warns the people not to come into a state like that – where they are calling themselves the people of Israel, knowing the Word of God, participating in Temple worship and sacrifice, yet proving their lack of belief by worshipping other gods on the side.

The same is easily put to the Church today:  are we a faithful, believing Bride?  Do we know what God has said – and all that is in the Bible – and all that is in the Gospel – we even have copies that we can read at home – and do we sincerely believe it through faith?

Do you know the expression:  “If it walks looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck – it’s a duck”?  It’s not true!  If I put on a duck costume, and walked and quacked like a duck, I would not be a duck, I would be an imposter – a hypocrite.

God will not tolerate hypocrites in His Church – if you are boasting of being part of the Church – of being in the Church – but you don’t believe, be afraid!  The day is coming when God will bring judgment.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Human judgment is only for the length of this life, but the judgment of God is forever.  God brings the measure of His Holiness and Righteousness and executes vengeance upon all those who fall short.

The author of Hebrews does not write these words merely to frighten us, but to encourage us to make sure of what and Whom we believe in before the time is too late.  It’s wonderful to come to the worship service and be part of the Church in various ways, including being gifted in the Word and teaching it and preaching it to others, but if that is all it is – if there is no faith received belief at the core of what each one of us is doing, the author of Hebrews wants us to be afraid, because we are without help before a God Who requires holiness.

Is there any good news?

There is almost a mirror image of our concluding verse in the book of Second Samuel – David had disobeyed God, and God came to David through the prophet, Gad, and told him to choose one of three punishments that God would bring on the nation.  David was heartbroken – all of the punishments would bring great distress on the nation, especially as they were in the midst of war.  “Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man’” (2 Samuel 24:14, ESV).

David chose to suffer at the Hand of God rather than at the hand of his enemies, because he knew that God is merciful.

God has sent the Savior – just as He promised – we can read about it and know of the promise of the Savior and all the signs of the Savior by reading the Bible, but that does not save us.  We are saved for sincerely believing in Him through faith.

Paul summarized the Gospel like this:  “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, ESV).

Believe in Jesus, God the Savior, and what He has done to accomplish salvation for all those who will ever believe, and you no longer have to be afraid of the judgment.  But make sure you believe.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, it is disturbing to talk about Your Wrath and Judgment, but it is necessary to warn those who believe they are right with You when they are not, and it is good for us to remember from whence we have come through the blood of Jesus.  Lord, make it clear to each on here, if we have truly, sincerely believed in Jesus as Savior by faith alone, and if any have doubts, haunt us with the fear of Your Judgment until we are sure – for the sake of our eternal life depends on it.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.