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🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 Good evening and welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Can I please have everyone find their seats and grab their songbooks and we're going to turn to page number 255. We're going to start the service off singing Come and Dine. Please find your seat and grab your songbook and turn to page number 255. We're going to sing Come and Dine and let's go ahead and sing that out on the first verse. Jesus has a table spread where the saints of God are fed. He invites his chosen people come and dine. With his manna he defeat and supplies our every need. Oh it's sweet to sup with Jesus all the time. Come and dine the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. Page 255 let's sing it out on the second. The disciples came to land thus obeying Christ's command. For the master called unto them, come and dine. There they found their hearts, these are bread and fish upon the fire. Thus he satisfies the hungry every time. Come and dine the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. Page 255 let's sing it out on the last. Soon the lamb will take his pride to be ever at his side. All the hosts of heaven will assemble me. God's will be a glorious sight. All the saints in spotless white and with Jesus they will feast eternally. Come and dine the master calleth, come and dine. You may feast at Jesus' table all the time. He who fed the multitude turned the water into wine. To the hungry calleth now, come and dine. Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church in the Wednesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Father God, thank you so much for this church, Lord. Thank you for these people who come out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you. I pray that our singing would glorify you, Lord. I pray that you bless the service and the preaching to come. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, turn to your songbook, page number 206. Page number 206. We're going to sing, Oh Say But I'm Glad. Page 206, and let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. There is a song in my heart today, something I never had. Jesus has taken my sins away. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad, I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh, say but I'm glad. We have a fellowship rich and sweet. Tongues can ne'er relay. Abiding in him the souls retreat. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh, say but I'm glad. Let's finish it strong on the last verse. Won't you come to him with all your care? Weary and worn and sad. You two will sing as his love you share. Oh, say but I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. Jesus has come and my cup's overrun. Oh, say but I'm glad. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week is thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119 11 and that's a good verse there. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. and we do invite you of course to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church. We have our Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. and then of course our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. If you look at our our main soul-winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. and then we have additional soul-winning times Thursday and Friday are postponed for now but on Sunday at 2 p.m. so of course we'd love for you to join us for soul-winning sometime during the week. And then of course if you are a first-time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church, we are so glad that you are with us and we have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building this evening as you go out the main foyer. You'll see a little table set up and on that table you will see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. The one I like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. It's very well made, very interesting. We think you'll like it and we want to give this to you as a gift so please make sure you don't leave here tonight without grabbing one of these gift bags. And then of course if you are a guest, we'd ask that you please take a moment to fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen and you're welcome of course to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We would like to just have a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift but we need your information to do that so please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering and as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. And if you look at the announcements there, of course we are a family integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. So if you have a child that's been distracted during the service, if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you need to be baptized, of course, please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course, we have the Lord's Supper service coming up on Wednesday, March 27th and we just want you to be aware of that. Don't forget about the Lord's Supper service. Make sure you're here for that special service. We take the Lord's Supper once a year, the Wednesday before Easter, so make sure you are aware of that. And then of course the week the weekend leading up to Easter, we have a soul-winning push Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and that is on Thursday, March 28th, 6 p.m., Friday, March 29th, 6 p.m., and then Saturday, March 30th at 10 a.m. So make sure you're aware of that. Of course, the Next Generation Youth Rally. We've got 60-some odd kids that are registered so far, so just be in prayer for that. And if you have a team that hasn't registered yet, make sure you register them, please. Nine Chapters a Day Challenge. I think we'll have the clipboard back there for tonight. It'll probably be the last night, so make sure you go back there and check for your name. And then there's other things there for you to look at. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service, so they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March this week was Caleb Urquiza's birthday on March 17th, and Madison Pendleton had a birthday on March 19th, and then later this week we have Zuri O2's birthday is on March 23rd. And then there's, of course, Praise Report, Money Matters, all those things are there for you to look at. I do have several other announcements to give out. First of all, I'm sure you probably noticed, but we got our new chairs in, and we got them all set up in time for the Wednesday evening service. So just to kind of help you get an idea, because I think sometimes people when you redo things, it's hard for you to understand, but just so you understand the capacity of the building that we are in. With the new chairs, you know, when we moved in originally and we set up the chairs that we brought from the other building, we were able to really spread out those chairs or whatever, but with these chairs what we have set up right now is rows of 12, rows of 12, and you can tell that with the rows of 12 there's still normal size center aisle, still normal size aisles down the center, but this gives us the ability to see it a lot more. So just to kind of give you an idea, right now we have 183 people in church tonight, 183 people in church, and I think we have about 280 chairs, and as you can tell, we have a lot of room to be able to put more chairs down as the church grows, and especially on Sunday mornings of course, so you can kind of see how this building could easily house 380 people, 400 people, so we're excited about that, and we're thankful for that, and I like just having you up close anyway, so I know you guys like to be backslidden and be on the back rows, so we just make the rows come up closer to me, but we appreciate, just want to make you aware of that, and of course we're still working. There's, you know, we're not done with this building. There's still lots of things that need to be done and things that we'll be working on and upgrading as we go. A couple of other announcements. I do have a birth announcement, and I want to introduce or announce the birth of Valentina Mia Zuniga, who was born yesterday, March 19th, and she weighs seven pounds, 19 inches long, and baby's doing well, mother's healthy, everybody's doing good, so of course want to congratulate Ms. Julissa and the Zuniga family, and I do want to announce that if you'd like to help bring a meal for Ms. Julissa and for her family, then of course please see Ms. Melody. Ms. Melody Gonzalez has the sign up sheet for that, so you can see her after the service, and you can get signed up. The meals for her are not going to begin until Monday, so just be aware of that. They don't begin until Monday, but we want to be a blessing to her, of course, and help her, so make sure you see Ms. Melody to sign up to bring Ms. Julissa meals, and I would like to give you just an update on my wife. Many of you have been asking about my wife and praying for my wife, and we appreciate that she's not here tonight again, but just to give you an update, for those of you that are wondering, she's doing better. I did have to take her back to the emergency room on Monday, and the reason for that is she was experiencing shortness of breath, and she had chest pains and tightness in her chest, and just light-headed and dizziness, so I took her back to the ER, and they concluded that it's either the effects of the medication she's on, and they have her on on blood thinners, or it might have been a partial pulmonary embolism, which is not as serious as a full pulmonary embolism, but it's all serious. I mean, people die from pulmonary embolism, so just keep her in prayer. They're continuing to treat her with blood thinners, but these things that she's experiencing, the shortness of breath and all that has not gone away yet, so just pray for her that she can get better soon, and that there will be no further complications with these things that she's dealing with, and we do appreciate everybody's prayers and your concern, and we've had some ladies bring us some wonderful meals, and we appreciate that. It's been a blessing to our family. I think that's it for all of the announcements, so we're going to go ahead and take our song books, and go to page number 175. Page number 175, and we're going to sing It's Just Like His Great Love, 175. A friend I have called Jesus. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. A friend I have called Jesus, whose love is strong and true, and never fails, how ere tis tried, no matter what I do, I've sinned against this love of His, but when I knelt to pray, confessing all my guilt to Him, the sin clouds rolled away. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. Good, 175. Sing it out on the second. Sometimes the clouds of trouble dim the sky above. I cannot see my Savior's face. I doubt His wondrous love. From heaven's mercy seen, beholding my despair, in pity burst the clouds between, and shows me His name. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. 175. We're going to sing it out on the last as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. On the fourth stands the, Oh, I could sing forever of Jesus, love divine, of all His care and tenderness. For life of mine, His love is in and over all, and wind and waves obey. When Jesus whispers, peace be still, and moves the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away. It's just like Jesus to keep me day by day. It's just like Jesus all along the way. It's just like His great love. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time, and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you bless the offering, the gift, and the giver. We pray that you bless the time set aside for prayer and, of course, for the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our prayer sheets tonight. If you do not have a prayer list, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a prayer sheet, just put your hand up, and we will get one for you. And, of course, I want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card. On the back of the card, there's a place for you to write down a prayer request. Make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's private, then only I will see it. If it's public, then we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out, but we usually do not add those. And we do add the request in the order that they are received, and they are on the prayer sheet for a couple of weeks. If you want them to be longer than that, you'll have to fill out another card. And, of course, I just want you to take this home and be in prayer for our entire church family. I'm going to go ahead and take these requests. Lord, I'm going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask that you would pray in your mind and your heart with me. Let's bow our heads and pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these prayer requests from our church family. And, Lord, we begin with these requests regarding salvation, and we pray for Miss or Melissa Garza and praying for her family's salvation. Of course, Miss Rebecca Arias praying for her family's salvation as well. Maria Koutalima praying for her daughter's family's salvation. Miss Natalie praying that her husband would get saved. Miss Christine Ortiz praying for her family's salvation. Miss Docma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation as well. Lord, we ask for all of these individuals, and we pray that you would help them and that you would be with them. And, Lord, we ask that you would allow a soul winner to come to these individuals and present the gospel clearly to them. We pray that your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their minds and that they would be ready to receive the gospel, that you would do whatever you need to do in their lives, that they would be ready to receive the gospel and be saved. Lord, we also pray for these that have health requests. Itziana praying for her health and Chris Williams praying for healing after his surgery. For the Ryan Gibbs praying for the health of his friend Brandon Davis. Miss Michelle Scott praying for her co-worker Cheryl who is having another surgery and that her pain would be relieved and that there'd be a speedy recovery. Lord, we pray for Miss Christine Ortiz praying for her personal health and also for her sister Judy's health as she battles cancer. Brother Salvador praying for his health and for the recovery of his leg. He injured his leg last week. Lord, pray that you'd help him to get better. Miss Dogma praying for relief for her pain. Brother Edgar, Miss Alina praying for Uretzi, continuing to keep her in prayer regarding her health. And missionary Dave Camunta's wife, Miss Angel, praying for her health and her treatment as she battles breast cancer. Lord, we ask for these individuals. We pray that you would help them and be with them. We ask that you would help them to get better soon. We ask that you'd give wisdom to the doctors and nurses dealing with them. We also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting Miss Julissa. We thank you for Miss Julissa who had her baby this week and thank you for the healthy pregnancy Miss Taylor and Miss Esther, Miss Ariel, Miss Rizel and Miss Rebecca. We pray for their expecting babies and we pray that you keep them healthy and the babies healthy, that there'd be no issues and no problems there. And Lord, we also pray for these that are praying for their family and friends. It's Yana praying for her family as they mourn the loss of her uncle Joe and Maria Koutalima praying for Roma and Skylar's victory over drug addiction. Miss Natalie praying for her family. Brother Salvador praying for his family as well. Lord, we ask for these individuals. We pray that you'd help them and be with them. We also pray for these that have financial and physical needs. Brother Brandon praying for success at his current job and his finances and to find better housing. And Brother Salvador praying for his finances and work as well. Lord, we also pray for Miss Christine Ortiz and Brother Salvador for their walk with you and their faith. We ask that you would help them and be with them. Then Lord, we pray for these that have unspoken requests. Miss Rebecca Arias having an unspoken request and Brother Nate Deakins having an unspoken request. Miss Natalie having an unspoken request. Brother Salvador having an unspoken request. Miss Docma having an unspoken request. Then Lord, we also, we ask for these individuals. We pray that you would answer their prayers, that you'd make it clear. We pray for our church and for our ministries, the prison ministry and the members of the prison ministry and their families, that you'd help them, help us to be able to get back to ministering to them. We pray for our work in the Philippines in Manila, Pampanga. Be cool for Pastor Stuckey and his family. You'd bless them and help them. Lord, we pray for the upcoming events, the Easter service on March 31st, the Next Generation Youth Rally, April 9th and 10th. We pray that you would help these events, help them to run smoothly, to go well, help us to be able to have many visitors and guests and Easter and to be able to get people saved and help people get connected. We pray for this youth rally, that you would begin to work in the hearts of all the young people that are going to be coming for the youth rally. Lord, that you would use this event, not just as a fun event in their lives, but that you would draw them closer to you, that they would walk with you. Pray for the preachers, that you would prepare their hearts and their minds as they communicate to the young people. And then Lord, of course, we want to just take some time and I'd like to just pray specifically and especially for my wife. And Lord, I ask that you would be with Ms. Joanne at this time, Lord, and we pray for the blood clot in her leg. And we ask, Lord, that you would help it to be healed, that there'd be no complications. Lord, I pray that you would just help her with these symptoms that she's feeling. And Lord, we just ask that you would help her to be able to get past those things, to get back to normal soon. I know she misses church and she misses seeing all the different church people. Lord, I just pray for my wife. I pray that you put your healing hand over her, help her to recover and to get better, help her to be back with us soon. Lord, we ask for our church in general that you just continue to help us, Lord, and be with us for all the things that we're having to do as we just continue to get settled in this new building. Lord, I ask that you'd meet with us tonight as we take some time to open up the Bible, to study the Word together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please open up to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter number 10. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and unless you can bring your Bible. Hebrews chapter number 10. We will read verses 26 through 39. Hebrews 10 verses 26 through 39. Hebrews 10 beginning verse number 26. For if we sin willfully, after that we receive the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But called to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, he endured a great fight of afflictions. Partly, we'll see you were made a gazing stock both by your approaches and afflictions, and partly, we'll see you became companions of them that were so used. For he had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance. Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For we have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word and for our church. I say please give us all tender hearts with a message tonight. I say please be the pastor. Please strengthen him and fill him with spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Hebrews chapter number 10, and let me just say that I'm having a meeting tonight with several of the guys that have been helping us. The contractors, of course, have been helping us through moving here and getting things ready to talk about. We've got several quotes for an air conditioning system, so just know that we're working on that, and that is on its way. For now, you'll just have to suffer for Jesus and earn some rewards in heaven. But anyway, I'll be in prayer for that as well. We're there in Hebrews chapter number 10, and of course, on Wednesday nights, we've been going through the book of Hebrews verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and my philosophy when it comes to Bible studies, some people in this, there's no right or wrong way to do this. Some people have a rule that they take one chapter a week. I've seen some preachers who will take even two or three chapters in one sermon and cover it, and I'm not opposed to that. I don't think I'd ever do more than one chapter in one sermon, but whenever the book calls for it, whenever there's enough information there, I think it's good to slow down, and if we're going to study the book of Hebrews, I think we should study it, and we should take the time to really look at it and deal with it, and tonight we find ourselves here in Hebrews chapter number 26. We are going to finish chapter 10 tonight, and we're going to look at verses 26 through 39, but what I'd like you to know just as we begin is that this portion of scripture that we're looking at, Hebrews chapter 10 verses 26 through 39 can be divided under two headings, and I'll give those to you up front so that you can have them if you're taking notes. I always encourage you on the back of your course the week there's a place for you to of course take some notes. The first heading would cover verses 26 through 31, and you could entitle that Dealing with Defiance, Dealing with Defiance, and then the second heading would cover verses 32 through 39, and we could title that Dealing with Difficulty, Dealing with Difficulty. So we'll look at these verses under those headings, Dealing with Defiance, Dealing with Difficulty, and then just one more thing by way of introduction I'd like to point out for you that this portion of scripture, Hebrews chapter 10 verses 26 through 39 is actually a bit, a little bit of a controversial passage in the sense that there's a lot of controversy as to who the writer of Hebrews is speaking to here, and some people want to say that he's speaking to unbelievers, other people want to say that he's speaking to people, Christians that have lost their salvation, obviously that's completely wrong, the Bible teaches you can't lose your salvation, and I want to just show you just real quickly by way of introduction that the writer of Hebrews is speaking to believers in this passage, and that's very clear when you just look at the text if you notice there in Hebrews chapter 10 in verse number 26, the Bible says this, for if we sin willfully after that, and we're going to get in and dig into the passage here in a second, but I just want you to notice the writer of Hebrews who I believe is the apostle Paul, if you disagree with that, that's fine, but we know that whoever the writer Hebrews is, he's a believer, and he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and I want you to notice what he says, he says for if, notice the term he uses here, he says for if we, so he includes himself in this group, if he was talking about unsaved people or unbelievers, he would say they, but here he says for if we sin willfully after that, notice the wording, we have received the knowledge of the truth, so he's talking to believers because he's including himself with this group, he's saying if we sin willfully after that, we have received the knowledge of the truth, now we've seen in the book of Hebrews in chapter six how an unbeliever could also receive the knowledge of the truth, but here we see that the context is referring to believers, the writer says if we sin willfully after that, we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, look at verse 29, notice what he says, of how much sore punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the son of God, and this is why people like to make this argument and say no, this is talking about somebody that lost their salvation or somebody that wasn't saved because they've trodden underfoot the son of God, but notice what he says here, who hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and like I said we're going to come back and dissect all these verses in a minute, but notice the last part of verse 29, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace, so the Bible here is telling us that these individuals who are part of the we that the writer of Hebrews is referring to, and of course we're seeing individuals here who are backslidden, they are sinning willfully, he's warning people who know better, who have received the knowledge of the truth, but they're just sinning willfully anyway, and he says that those individuals have trodden underfoot the son of God, but then he also says this, and this is what he means by that, he says, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace, so let me just show you, you know, why do I believe these individuals are saved? Well, number one, he's referring to them as we, but number two, he's telling us that they have the spirit of grace, what does that mean? It means that they're indwelt with the Holy Spirit, which means that they're saved, it's a capital S there, spirit is referring to the Holy Spirit of God, and of course it's the spirit of grace, how do you get the spirit of grace? Well, for by grace are you saved through faith, so we know, of course, that this is talking to individuals that are saved, and just to give you one last, just in case you're still on the fence, you're like, I don't know, is this about believers or not? Look at verse 30, for we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord, look at the last part of verse 30, and again, the Lord shall judge his people, so notice that the context is about God judging his people, it's about his people who know better and are sinning willfully, they're despising the spirit of grace, and in the context he's telling us, look, the Lord shall judge his people, so I think that should be pretty clear, that should be an open and shut case, that this passage is talking about believers, this is not talking about unbelievers, it's definitely not talking about a believer who lost their salvation, but it's talking about a believer who is backslidden, who's not right with God, and who is sinning willfully, so now let's dig into the passage, and we'll begin with this first heading of dealing with defiance, dealing with defiance, and I want you to notice that what we're dealing with, or what the writer of Hebrews is dealing with, he's dealing with a believer who is being defiant, he is being defiant, and he is having defiance towards the word of God, and I'd like you to notice the standard of judgment, because remember, what is the purpose of the book of Hebrews? As we've been studying the book of Hebrews, what have we been seeing? We've been seeing that the book of Hebrews, the purpose of the book of Hebrews is to help us transition out of the Old Testament into the New Testament, the book of Hebrews was primarily written to first century Jews, we know that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's all profitable, of course it's for us, and we can learn, but we know that the main subject was for first century Jews, and it was believing Jews who had grown up in Judaism, grown up under the Old Covenant, and the book of Hebrews is there to help them transition out of the Old Covenant into the New Covenant, help them correlate how the Old Covenant, how the Old Testament correlates to the New Covenant and the New Testament, and of course what we've been seeing through the book is that the New Testament is better, that Jesus is better than the Old Covenant, than the Old Testament. With that context, I want you to understand that the writer of Hebrews now begins to talk about the standard of judgment, and he's going to continue this argument about the Old Testament versus the New Testament, and what he's going to show us is how the standard of judgment is in the New Testament versus the Old Testament. Now look at there in Hebrews 10, 26, he's talking about the Old Covenant, that's what the entire book of Hebrews has been about, the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant, notice what he says, he's using the Old Covenant as an example, he says for if we sin willfully, he's talking to New Testament believers, but talking to them and using this illustration of the Old Covenant, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, he says there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, and again he's talking to first century Jews, and he's using this terminology that they would understand, that they would connect with, and the idea is this, and we've learned about it as we study the book of Leviticus, and recently as we study the book of Numbers, we've learned about the sin of ignorance, and how God looks at somebody who does not set out to sin, they did not premeditate sin, they just went out and they sinned either through ignorance because they didn't know something was wrong, and they did it, or maybe they did know it was wrong, but they didn't have the intention to do it, they didn't set out to do it, it just happened in the heat of the moment, they got upset, they got angry, they said something they shouldn't have said, or they did something they shouldn't have done, but they didn't set out to do it, God says there's a sacrifice, under the Old Covenant there was a sin of ignorance, a sacrifice for the sin of ignorance, but when somebody premeditated, and just set out, they knew something was wrong, and they set out to do it, there was no sacrifice for that sin, that sin, you were just going to be punished by God, you were going to have to deal with the consequences, that's what he's talking about, and the writer of Hebrews is talking to first century Jews and saying, you understand that under the Old Covenant, and he's using that as an example, because though we're not under the Old Covenant anymore, that principle still applies, that if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, there's no way to excuse that, there's no way to say, well, you know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I wasn't planning on that, it just happened, God says, look, there's no more sacrifice for sin, but again, the context is the Old Covenant, look at verse 27, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, here's what he's saying, under the Old Covenant, when somebody set out and they purposefully sinned, they willfully sinned, they intentionally sinned, knowing full well they had received the knowledge of the truth, then there was no sacrifice for sin, they were just waiting for God to basically lay the smack down on them, right, I mean, it was just, it was a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries, look at verse 28, here's how we know he's using an illustration from the Old Covenant, verse 28, obviously verse 26, he's talking about sacrifices, that should be an idea that we're talking about the Old Covenant, but then in verse 28 it's clear that it's the Old Covenant, because then he says this, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses, so it's clear that we're talking about the Old Covenant, and he's saying, look, you know that under the Old Covenant, this is the writer of Hebrews speaking to first century Jews, he's telling them, you know that under the Old Covenant, if we sin willfully, after that we had received the knowledge of truth, so it's not that we didn't know, it's not that we were ignorant, it's not that we were not aware, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, and all that would remain is a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fire indignation, all that you would have is to just kind of wait and brace yourself for God to chastise you and for God's judgment to come upon your life, and in verse 28 he says because he that despised Moses' law, remember they were aware of Moses' law, they knew what Moses' law said, for he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses, if they knew what Moses' law said, if they had received knowledge of the truth, and they just did it anyway, then they died, the Bible says, without mercy, that's the standard of judgment under the Old Covenant, or under the Old Testament, in Hebrews 10 verses 26, 27, 28, he's explaining to us, this is the standard of judgment under the Old Covenant, what is it? If you sinned woefully, and you knew better, there's no sacrifice for sin, there's a certain fearful looking for judgment and fire indignation, and he that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses, that's the Old Covenant, then in verse 29 he says, let's look at the judgment, the standard of judgment under the New Testament, because remember the whole book of Hebrews has been comparing, compare and contrast the Old Covenant with the New Covenant, he's been showing us how the Old Covenant is, how the New Covenant is, and he's been telling us how the New Covenant exceeds the Old Covenant, the high priest of the New Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is greater than the high priest of the Old Covenant, the tabernacle of the New Covenant is better than the tabernacle of the Old Covenant, all these things that we've seen, Jesus is better than the angels, he's better than Moses, he's better than Abraham, he's better than all these things from the Old Testament, and now he's talking about judgment, and I want you to notice, he's telling us in verses 26, 27, and 28, the judgment of the Old Testament was pretty bad, and look if you've ever read the Old Testament you know that's true, there's all sorts of judgment that we see in the Old Testament, I mean you don't get a few chapters into the book of Genesis before God is flooding the entire earth in judgment, and all throughout the Old Testament God is plaguing them, and punishing them, and doing things as a result of their sin, so he says look, the judgment in the Old Covenant was pretty bad, but then he says in verse 29, look at it, of how much sorer punishment, he says look, it's even worse in the New Testament, he says you think it was bad back then if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fear for looking of judgment and prior indignation, he'd have despised Moses' law without mercy, died without mercy, he said you think it was bad back then, let me tell you something, under the New, he said if God's judgment was bad in the Old Testament, it's even worse in the New, now this goes against what a lot of liberal preachers like to teach today, but look at what it says, look I didn't write the Bible, I'm just telling you what the Bible says, verse 29, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified in holy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace, he says look, if it was that bad in the Old Testament, if the standard of judgment in the Old Testament was pretty severe, then the standard of judgment in the New Testament is even more severe, he said of how much sore punishment, let me just give you a couple of applications here to help you understand this, first I want you to understand this, why is the judgment of God more severe, he says of how much sore punishment, why is that, well there's a couple of reasons for it and they're here in our text, the first one is this, when they sinned willfully in the Old Testament, who were they despising, they were despising Moses' law, Moses was the one that gave the law, obviously all throughout the Old Covenant, all throughout the Old Testament, the law is equated to Moses, Moses is a representative of the law, so the idea is this, Moses gave the law, and if somebody said I don't care what the law says, I'm just going to do what I want anyway, they were despising Moses, now that was pretty bad because Moses was a pretty great man, of course to all of us, but especially under the Old Covenant, Moses was the man, and he says look, he that despised Moses' law died without mercy, but the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is this, that in the Old Covenant, when you just decided I don't care what the Bible says, I'm going to do it anyway, I'm going to sin willfully, under the Old Covenant, you were despising Moses' law, but under the New Covenant, look at verse 29, last part of verse 29, and had done despite, you see in verse 28 it says he had despised Moses' law, to despise means to look at with hostility, to look at as something that is low, that is not a value, the word despite is the same idea, but the difference is this, under the Old Covenant, they despised Moses' law, under the New Covenant, they despite the Spirit of grace, and have done despite unto the Spirit of grace, see it's a more severe judgment for the New Testament, why? Because in the New Testament you and I have something that the Old Testament believers did not have, we have the Holy Spirit of God, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we have the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, the Bible says that Christ is in you, the hope of glory, and we know that he's in us through the person, the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, he indwells us, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, and the Bible says this, when you and I sin against the Holy Spirit, we quench the Holy Spirit, the Bible commands us to quench not the Holy Spirit, the Bible also commands us to grieve not the Holy Spirit, now why does the Bible tell us not to quench the Holy Spirit? Well you know why it tells us not to quench the Holy Spirit? Because obviously, if the Bible's telling us not to quench the Holy Spirit, it's because you can quench the Holy Spirit, I know that's not that complicated, but do you understand that? I mean I'm trying to state it as simple enough that even a theologian can understand, if the Bible tells you not to grieve the Holy Spirit, you know what that means is that it's possible for you to grieve the Holy Spirit, so it says don't grieve the Holy Spirit, it says don't quench the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit's telling you something, when the Holy Spirit's trying to communicate with you, when the Holy Spirit is telling you, hey don't do that, hey don't go there, hey don't say that, hey don't look at that, hey don't listen to that, hey don't consume that, and you say I'm just going to do it anyway, hey that's even worse than the New Testament, because at least in the Old Testament they didn't have the Holy Spirit, all they had was maybe the knowledge of Moses said don't do X, Y, and Z, but in the New Testament we have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it reproves us in our heart, it pricks us in our heart, and when we just go forward with sin anyway, we quench the Spirit, we grieve the Spirit, we upset the Spirit, and let me just say this because some people like to take this page and say oh these people lost their salvation, well if you lose your salvation every time you sin, then it makes no sense that the Bible says and quench not the Holy Spirit of God. Then it makes no sense that the Bible says and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. I mean do you understand what I'm saying? If the Holy Spirit just left me every time I upset him, then why is God telling me don't grieve him? If the Holy Spirit just left me every time that I'm quenching him, why would God tell me don't quench him? He's telling me don't quench him, don't grieve him, because the Holy Spirit doesn't leave you because you're sealed into the day of promise, that's eternal security. And if you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you and living in you, then the Holy Spirit will be grieved when we sin woefully. The writer of Hebrews is explaining look I've been telling you, I've been telling you how the New Testament is greater than the Old Testament. I've been telling you about Jesus being greater than the angels, greater than the prophets, greater than Moses, greater than Abraham, greater than the covenants, greater than the tabernacle, greater than the ark, I've been telling you he's greater than the Sabbath, I've been telling you he's greater, we have a better covenant on better promises. He says the New Testament is better, but you also need to know this, not only is the New Testament better, but the judgment is more severe. Because you have the Holy Spirit of grace that lives inside of you. Then there's another application I'd like you to notice it, there in verse 29. He explains that it's worse because of the fact that we have more knowledge. Look at verse 29 there, of how much sour punishment suppose ye. Now here's what he says, in verse 26 he says this, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received knowledge of the truth. In the old covenant, they had to receive the knowledge of the truth. But here's what you and I need to understand, we have been given a lot more knowledge than they were given in the old covenant. Go with me to the book of Luke if you would, New Testament, Matthew, Mark, then the book of Luke, Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, we've actually been looking at this verse in Luke a lot over the time that we've been in the book of Hebrews because it applies so well to the book of Hebrews. And the idea is this, you know more than any Old Testament believer. You have, let me say it this way, maybe you don't know more, and if you don't know more, that's your fault. You've got the King James Bible and you go to a Verity Baptist Church. Good night. But let me just say, let me say it this way, every New Testament believer has more access to the word of God than any Old Testament believer ever did. I mean that's how you look at the story of Josiah, we studied the story of Josiah just a few weeks ago, and to us it's like how can it be that they lost the Bible? Remember they lost the Bible? Then they have a work day and they clean out the temple and they're like we found it! And to us it's like how can that be? But it was that way because not everybody just had access to the word of God. The word of God was precious in those days. Today, you and I, not only do we have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us, but we have access to the word of God. You can go to the 99 cent store and for 99 cents or a dollar and seven cents because of taxes or whatever, purchase your own copy of the word of God. You've got one in your hand, you've got one in your car, you've got one in your living room, you have one in your bedroom, and you probably didn't even read it this week. Hopefully that's not you, but the average Christian did not read the Bible today. You have more access to the word of God than believers have ever had throughout history. And here's what I'm telling you, is that God judges based off knowledge. Luke 12, look at verse 47, notice what he says, this is a parable but this helps us understand this principle. Luke 12, 47, and that servant which knew his Lord's will, he knew what his Lord wanted, and prepared not himself, neither according to his will, shall be beaten with, look at the words here, many stripes. The servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Look at verse 48 though, but he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, this guy did wrong things too, but he didn't know. He didn't have access to the truth, he was ignorant. Notice what the Bible says, but he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. He says the guy that knew better got more stripes than the guy that did not know. Now they both got stripes because God is going to hold us accountable for right and wrong whether you knew or not. But God considers and takes into account how knowledgeable you are. Look at the last part of verse 48, for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much, of him shall they ask the more. Look the Bible is clear about the fact, for unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required, and much has been given to us. We have the entire Old and New Testament available, we have it in our language, we have the inspired, inerrant, preserved Word of God, we have a copy of the Word of God in our hands, we have the Holy Spirit of God in our hearts that helps us to understand and read the Word of God. We have been given much, and as a result, because of that knowledge, the writer of Hebrews says, the standard of judgment is more severe in the New Testament than under the Old Testament. Go back to Hebrews chapter 10 if you would. Like you notice verses 30 and 31, I'd like to make a point regarding verses 30 and 31. He says, for we know him that hath said, and again he's talking about our knowledge, he says we know him. We can't say we don't know him. We know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I want you to understand what the writer of Hebrews is saying, what he's saying is this. Because look, today, many Christians have this idea, and they might not say it, although plenty of them actually say it, verbally communicate this thought, but even if they don't say it, you know it's true. Today, many Christians have this idea that the God of the Old Testament was just really angry and grumpy, but the God of the New Testament, he's really nice and merciful. I mean, isn't that kind of the idea you get from a lot of liberal Christians today? Like in the Old Testament, God was really angry, really strict, really upset, but in the New Testament, he's a lot more laid back, he's really nice. The writer of Hebrews is explaining that the same, excuse my terminology, but the same old God that was in the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. And the God of the New Testament is just as powerful and terrible and awe-aspiring as the New Testament. He says, for we know him that hath said, vengeance was longer than to me, I will recompense the Lord, and again, the Lord shall judge his people, and he says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. He's telling them, look, it's the same God in the Old Testament and the New Testament. He was just as loving in the Old Testament, and he's just as wrathful in the New Testament. He's just as powerful in the New Testament. He should be feared in the New Testament. What's interesting to me is that we get this phrase here, Hebrews 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. There's a famous sermon from the yesteryear, old preacher, used to preach the sermon at revival meetings and such, and it was called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. And I'm not, look, I tried to read the sermon years ago, and obviously it was a different age, and it was not something that I was interested enough to even read the entire thing. But supposedly it was a sermon that this guy would preach, and he'd preach it to unsafe people, and he'd preach the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and the story goes that he would read, it was very somber and monotone, he wasn't dynamic, but he would read the sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and then people would fall under so much conviction and fear that they'd walk down the aisle and get saved. And look, I'm not attacking the sermon, maybe it was a good sermon, I'm not attacking the preacher, I don't know a lot about the preacher, maybe it was a good guy, I don't know. I want to make the point that's interesting, the only phrase in the Bible that even comes close to the title of that sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is Hebrews 10 31, when it says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. What's interesting to me is that Hebrews 10 31 is in the context of not a sinner falling in the hands of an angry God, although we know that sinners will fall into the hands of a God of judgment. We understand that, I'm not refuting that, but what's interesting is this is being applied to believers. Look at verse 30, for we know him that has said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense the Lord, and again, the Lord shall judge his people. That is the context of verse 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Who's he saying it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? Who's he talking to? He's talking to God's people. He says the Lord shall judge his people. Go to 1 Peter chapter 4, you're there in Hebrews, if you just go past James into the book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 4, look at verse 17, 1 Peter 4.17, the Bible says this, for the time has come, 1 Peter 4.17, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Look, please understand something, the Bible is clear, God begins his judgment with his people. The time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Look, I'm here to tell you something, the unbeliever needs to know it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. And I think there's verses to apply to that. The Bible says fear not him that is able to destroy the body, but fear him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. So it is, for unbelievers, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, but let me just say this, believer, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God as well. When you're sinning willfully, and you're despising the word of God, and you're grieving the Holy Spirit, the Lord will judge his people, for the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Go back to Hebrews chapter 10. I just want you to focus on this little phrase just for a little bit. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We need to understand this, that the Bible paints a picture of God that I think has been lost in modern Christianity. The Bible describes God as being high, holy, and lifted up. The Bible describes God as someone that should be feared. It is a fearful thing. By the way, the Bible says that we should fear nothing but God. We should not fear man, we should not fear what man can do to us, we should not be afraid of the economy, we should not be afraid of the future or the government, but the Bible says that we should fear God. The Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. I think that the problem with a lot of Christianity today and with a lot of Christians is that they don't have a proper view of God. If we got a view of God that He was high and holy and lifted up, a lot of the nonsense that you see in Christianity today would not happen. Let me just read a few verses for you. You don't have to turn here unless you want to. I will just read these for you. Deuteronomy 10 in verse 17 says this, For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and terrible, which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward. Psalm 47 in verse 2 says this, For the Lord most high is terrible, He is a great King over all the earth. Psalm 95 in verse 3 says this, For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. 2 Corinthians 5 and 11 says this, Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Look, I'm just telling you, I think it's time that we got the proper view of God. I think it's time that we started digging into the Bible. We need a revolution back to the Bible and back to the Word of God. And we need to understand how the Bible describes God and how we ought to see God and how God really is. Go to Isaiah chapter 6 towards the end of the Old Testament. You've got the big major prophet Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah chapter 6. Here we have a story and I've showed this to you in the past where Isaiah gets a vision of God. Isaiah chapter 6 in verse 1 says this, In the year that king Uzziah died, Uzziah was a king that was a good king and he died. Look, Christians need to stop being so apprehensive about who the king is, who the president is. Here the Bible says in the year that king Uzziah died, which was a good king, which would have been something that would have caused anxiety for believers because a good king has died. But here the Bible tells us in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Let us remember, I think we're in an election year, no matter who sits in the White House, the Lord sits on the throne. It doesn't matter who the governor is, the Lord is on his throne. And here Isaiah says that I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high, holy and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Verse 2, Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. Look, even these cherubims under the presence and before the presence of God, there was shame and there was this idea that God was so much better, that the Bible says they covered their face. They have these wings, these six wings, and with two they covered their face, and with two they covered their feet, and with twain they did fly, verse 3, and one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the whole earth is full of his glory. And look, I'm just telling you, if Christians got a proper view of God, a lot of the silliness that goes around in Christianity today, it wouldn't happen. Preachers wouldn't approach the word of God wearing shorts and flip-flops if they got a proper view of God. I mean, think about this, the seraphims in heaven, in the presence of God, cover their feet to show respect. Suppose that preachers today mount pulpits that they don't even have, wearing flip-flops and t-shirts and skinny jeans, and if they had a proper view of God, I'd tell the men that preach in our ministry, that preach for me from time to time, and in the past when we've had men's preaching nights, I know it's been a while since we've had one, with all the work days and all that. I tell them, look, when you stand up to preach at Verity Baptist Church, you're going to wear a shirt and tie. It's not because you're special, and it's not because I'm special, it's not because we're special, but it's because the word of God is special. And we're not going to take a casual approach to God. You ought not take a casual approach to God. Please don't refer to God as the man upstairs. He is the Lord God. He is to be feared. He is high and holy and lifted up. And here we see this proper view of God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Look, I'm just telling you, I think, and I know you, the problem with making statements like the one I'm going to make is that people who already believe it get it, and people who don't get it, they just don't get it. And I understand that. But I'm just telling you, if you had a proper view, if you got a proper view of God and who God is, it would revolutionize your life. You wouldn't sit there and play on your phone when the word of God was opened and being preached if you had a proper respect for God. You wouldn't sit there and joke around during church time while the word of God, while the eternal word of God is being preached if you had a proper view of God. I think the casual, the casual Christianity, the goofball Christianity, the silly Christianity, it just takes everything like a joke. It just shows that you don't have a proper view of who God is. But if we got a proper view of God, I think it'd change things. If you got a proper view of God, I don't think you'd miss your appointments in the morning to spend time with God. If you knew who God was. I don't think you'd live your life in such a way that would bring disgrace to the name of God, that would bring disgrace to Christianity if you understood who God was. I pray that you get a proper view of God. High, holy, lifted up. Go back to Hebrews chapter 10 if you're not there. I said we can see this passage in the two headings. The first is dealing with defiance and we see it here. He says, look, the standard of judgment in the Old Testament is severe, but the standard of judgment in the New Testament is even more severe. Why? Because you know more and you have the Holy Spirit. Then he explains that the same God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. You ought to get a fear, a fear of God and a good view of God because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And then I'd like you to notice secondly, we see the second heading here, not only dealing with defiance, but we see the second heading of dealing with difficulty, verses 32 to 39. And we can see this dealing with difficulty under two subcategories. The first is hostility. Look at it. Hebrews 10, 32. He's speaking to believers now and he says, but call to remembrance. And he's talking about a specific situation that dealt with the people that he's literally talking to. And of course this isn't happening to us, but we can look at this and learn from it and relate to it. He says, but call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great flight of affliction. He's talking to first century Jews and he's saying, do you remember, call to remembrance, he said the former days, remember back in the day, after ye were illuminated, after you got saved, after you got the Holy Spirit of God, how you endured a great flight of affliction. Look at verse 3. Partly whilst ye were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. What the writer of Hebrews is saying to them, and what we can learn from it is this, that the world has always been and will always be hostile to biblical Christianity. Look, we need to just understand that. Today, the same churches that don't have a high view of God, they're trying to portray this Christianity that's not biblical. They try to explain away this holy God, God of judgment, God of holiness, God of righteousness. They try to explain him away, well God's not as angry now as he was in the Old Testament. These things don't apply today anymore. Now God, you know, I mean in the Old Testament he was really mad about homosexuality, but now let's let them teach Sunday School. I mean that's literally the thought. And they try to portray this God of the Bible that's patable, compatible to our society. Look, our society, we do not need to portray God as compatible to our society, we need to call our society to become compatible to God. We should not be trying to conform God to the world, we should be trying to conform ourselves to God. And he says, look, biblical Christianity, when done right, will produce hostility against you. Just know it. Just understand it. The world has always and will always be hostile towards biblical Christianity. And I say it that way for a reason. Because you can have churches that have all sorts of big entertainment centers and rock concerts and sermons that are shallow and they don't preach the Bible and they avoid the parts of scripture that are not popular and the parts of scripture that are a little controversial. And the world loves that, but when you just say, I love Jesus and I love the word of God and I love every part of the Bible, and I believe all of it, the world is hostile towards us. You don't have to turn here, but let me just read this for you. Actually, just turn here real quickly. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, if you would, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. Keep your place there in 1 Corinthians if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, look at verse 12, notice what Paul says, and labor working with our own hands. Notice what he says, he says, being reviled we bless, being persecuted we suffer it, being defamed we entreat. He says, we are made as the filth of the world and are the obscuring of all things unto this day. It sounds to me like Paul's Google ratings were not that great. It sounds to me like Paul's Yelp ratings were not good. I mean this makes me feel good because it's like, yeah, this is New Testament Christianity. Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world and are the obscuring. The word obscuring means rejected by society of all things unto this day. Look, I'm just telling you, that's Biblical Christianity. The world's going to hate you. Hostility, the world has always and will always hate Biblical Christianity. So what do we do? Well, if you love Jesus, you embrace it. Keep your place there in Luke. We're going to come back, or 1 Corinthians. We're going to come back in that area real quick. Go back to Hebrews chapter 10. Actually go to Hebrews 11, just real quickly. I just want to show you a verse real quickly in Hebrews 11. We've got to finish this thing up. Hebrews 11, verse 24. Hebrews 11, 24. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. This is Hebrews 11. We're going to get to it soon. But I want you to notice here, the Bible says that Moses, when he was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Look at it, verse 25. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. I'd rather suffer affliction with the people of God. He says than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Look at it, verse 26. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Look at Hebrews 13 and verse 13. Hebrews 13 and verse 13 says this about the Lord Jesus Christ. He encourages us and commands us. Hebrews 13, 13. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. They crucified our Savior. He was reproach. Do you understand that? Jesus wasn't a popular preacher. They killed him because of what he preached. He was reproach and then we are commanded. Let us go forth therefore unto him. Without the camp bearing his reproach. We ought to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of this world. So we see the hostility and I'd like you to notice, secondly, go back to Hebrews 10. We see the hope. Look at what he says here in verse 34. For ye had compassion of me and my bonds. Paul is telling his audience, speaking specifically to people that he knows. For ye had compassion of me and my bonds. Look at what he says. And took joyfully the spoiling of your goods. Look at that. He's talking to first century Christians who he's telling when they got saved. Look at the context. Look at the context. He said remember the former days? When you were illuminated? When you got saved and you began to associate yourself with Christianity? I mean look at what he says there. Hebrews 10 verse 32. But call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great flight of affliction. He says there was a couple of reasons for this. Verse 33. Partly, he says, part of it was while ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions. He says part of it was that you got saved and just getting saved made you a gazing stock, made you a reproach, put a target on your back. And he says also partly while ye became companions of them that were so used. He said part of it was that you got saved and people started attacking you because you got saved. And he said part of it was that you started hanging out with people like me. Which is what Paul says. Which is why Paul is often telling people remember me and my bonds. He said don't be ashamed of my chain. Now Paul is telling us here in verse 35, excuse me, verse 34. For ye had compassion in my bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods. What's he saying? He's saying these individuals when they got saved it cost them. I'm not saying it cost them like the cause of Christ cost us something. It literally cost them when they got saved the culture and society they lived in spoiled their goods. The word spoil is a term that is used when people steal stuff. The idea is often used in a military sense when after a battle a battle is won and the soldiers would spoil the town, spoil the city. They take things, they pillage, they take things from the people. And here the Bible is saying when the culture and the time of these first century Christians when they got saved they became a gazing stock. There was a target put on them when they started hanging out with Paul and the other apostles, another Christian. They became a target to the point where they were spoiled of their goods. Where people literally took their things because they were Christians. I've got to ask you a question. How would you take it? How would you take it if you lost your job due to your testimony? How would you take it if you lost your house due to your testimony? How would you take it if you lost your business due to your testimony? How would you take it? I can tell you I don't know how you would take it. I don't know how I would take it. I don't want to say that we know what a day will bring forth but I can tell you these Christians Hebrews 10-34, for ye had compassion on me in my bonds. And Paul says, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods. When they took their goods they took it well. They rejoiced, they took it joyfully. You say, why? Here's why. Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance. You say, well this is first century Christianity, that would never happen in America today. Really? You couldn't get sued in the United States of America because of your beliefs? I happen. Twice. I'm just asking. What if the testimony of Christ actually cost you something? I'm not saying cost me something. I'm saying money in your account cost you something. Like house you live in cost you something. Like car you drive cost you something. How would you take that? Because the Bible says that we should take hostility with hope knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance. The idea is that we should not live for this world. First Timothy 6 says this, but godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be there with content. For they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. I look at this and I think to myself, I'm not going to pretend that what we've suffered here at Verity Baptist Church is anywhere close to what they're suffering and what the writer of Hebrews is referring to. But I'm saying, I'm just telling you, our church has been sued, I've been sued for my testimony, for my preaching. We've had church members that have been threatened to be sued. And praise God, and I'm so thankful and I'm so impressed with many of the men in our church that had been threatened to be sued. They said, we don't care. God be the glory. But we've had people leave our church out of fear of losing their job being sued. Out of fear that the cause of crimes would cost them something. But if you got a proper view of God, you would say, I don't live for this world. I don't care for this world. Knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and enduring substance. And he says in verse 35, verse 34, he says we don't live for this world. In verse 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, he says we should live for the next world. Look at verse 35, cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. Look, come with me. It's just a little while. So what if things get worse? It's just a little while. I'm just telling you, I don't know that we're ready for the type of Christianity that has to shed blood for our cause, for the cause of Christ. We complain because it's a little warm in the room. It's a little warm in the room and they haven't got the A.C. as quickly as I thought they should and we're suffering for Jesus. He says for yet a little while, and he has, that shall come will come. That ought to give you comfort. And will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. Not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Let me just share one passage of scripture with you and we'll finish up. Go to Colossians chapter 3. If you kept your place in 1 Corinthians after 1 Corinthians, you have 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Look, the idea is this. God is not against, I'm not against, and God is not against us having nice things, material things. God is not against us having those things. We believe that in many ways it's the blessing of God upon our lives to have nice things. But let's always remember that God is the one that gave us those things and it's fine to have those things, but make sure those things don't have you. And we should have the attitude of Job that says, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord. If God wants to give me something, praise God. And if God wants to take it away, that's fine too. Because the life of a Christian should be wrapped up, not in this life, but in the next. Colossians chapter 3 verse 1, hear the apostle Paul, I just like how he words in, how he makes the point. Colossians 3 verse 1, he says, if ye then be risen with Christ. He asks it as a question. He says, if you're going to be risen with Christ, what he's saying is, if you're saved, if you're saved and at the last trump you're going to be risen with Christ, and I hope that would be your testimony here tonight. If you're saved, you know that heaven is your home, you know that you're on your way to heaven, you know that you've believed and called upon Jesus for salvation, you're not trusting in your works to save you. He says, if ye then be risen with Christ, he says, seek those things which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. And here's what he's saying, if you're going to be risen with Christ, then consider yourself with what Christ is concerned with, and Christ is sitting at the right hand of God in heaven. And Christ is sitting on the right hand of God in heaven, then we ought to seek those things which are above. Verse 2, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. You say, well how can I do that? How can I not be wrapped up in the things of this earth? Verse 3, you can do it if you live your life this way, for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When your life becomes the life of Christ. When it's not just, I go to church, I kind of do this church thing, I do this Christianity thing, but there's me, then there's church. When your life is hid with Christ in God. Verse 4, when Christ who is your life, when Christ who is our life, when you can get to the place where you say, my life is Christ. My life is hidden Christ. Everything I am, everything I care about, everything I have, everything I possess, it's Christ that belongs to Christ, it's not just something I do on Sundays or Sundays or Wednesdays, it's not just something I do every once in a while, but Christ who is our life. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Here's what he's saying, he's saying, we are going to spend eternity, not in this world, but the next world. So why not live for that world? Seek those things that are above, set your affections on things above. Get a proper view of God. Because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Spire heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we do love you. And I understand that these portions of scripture from Hebrews can be heavy. And Lord I just pray you'd help us to understand it. Help us to live our lives in such a way where we would say, I'd rather suffer the reproach of Christ, I'd rather suffer with the people of God, even if it costs me to serve Christ, I choose Christ because I don't live for this world. If we could get to the place in our lives where we get a proper view of God, I think it would change so many things. Lord I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd be with us. Because I do think things are going to get worse in this world. Help us to be ready to sacrifice by making our lives the life of Christ. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to remind you of a couple of things. First of all, don't forget that if you'd like to sign up to bring a meal for Miss Julissa, see Miss Melody after the service. She has a sign-up sheet. She can get you signed up for that. The meals will not start until Monday, so just remember that. We'd like to get that list going. Of course we have soul winning at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. We want to encourage you to be here for our big soul winning rally. I just want to ask you to please continue to keep my wife in prayer. Those of you that have been praying, we just ask that you keep her in prayer. Lord willing, she'll get better and be back with us soon. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. I'm going to ask Brother Moses to lead us in a final song. Please turn to your song books, page 190. Page 190, we're going to sing Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus. Page 190, and let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. There is never a day so dreary There is never a night so long But the soul that is trusting Jesus Will somewhere find a song Wonderful, wonderful Jesus In the heart he implanted the song A song of deliverance Of courage, of strength In the heart he implanted a song On the second There is never a cross so heavy There is never a weight of woe But that Jesus will help to carry Because he loveth so Wonderful, wonderful Jesus In the heart he implanted the song A song of deliverance Of courage, of strength In the heart he implanted the song Let's sing it out on the last There is never a guilty sinner There is never a wandering one But that God can in mercy pardon Through Jesus Christ his Son Wonderful, wonderful Jesus In the heart he implanted the song A song of deliverance Of courage, of strength In the heart he implanted the song Great singing. Can I please have brother Johnny close us one word of prayer? Heavenly Father God, thank you for this sermon. We want to thank you for all that you have done for us. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.