The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 03 :
Have you heard about the new and living way by which we can come into God’s presence? Well, that’s what we’re talking about on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for providing a new and living way to a relationship with you through your son, Jesus Christ. We ask that you would open our eyes to the mysteries and the beauty of your word. In Jesus’ name, amen. Here’s Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Hebrews 10 on Through the Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, here in this section of Hebrews, we are seeing the greatest division that’s being made in the Word of God. fact of the matter is, it’s like a Grand Canyon that is being put now down between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. And let’s remember, God gave both of them. But now he says this, and I’m going to drop back to verse 9 to pick this up. He says, he taketh away the first, that is the first covenant, that he may establish the second. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, that was something that happened. The veil was rent in twain. No longer were men to come by the sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats. But now the Lord Jesus died. has done something in his own body for you and me. Verse 10. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. Now, not for all. It was for all. But the emphasis, he did it one time so that sacrifices are to end. And it’s been interesting that ever since the destruction of the temple in 70 AD by Titus, there has been no bloody sacrifice offered there. And there’s not one being offered today. And the prospects for one to be offered is very dim at the present moment. So that he took away the first, that he might establish the second. Now, I do not know how to overemphasize this, because I don’t think it can be overemphasized. You see, with that first covenant, there were certain rules and regulations given. That old covenant was made up of a law, and a law that had a great many details. In fact, the ceremonial law, all the details that had to do with sacrifices. And then there were the Ten Commandments. And then there were other commandments that were given. And they were rules. And you know that the characteristic of human nature is that appeals to human nature, rules and regulations. Actually, men love rules and regulations. You see, they feel it’s easy to obey rules. And that’s the reason that so many people say today, oh, the Sermon on the Mount is my religion. They really don’t know what it says or what it means, but they like it because they got rules there and they try to kid themselves in that they follow them. And the whole history of man will prove this. It demonstrates it. And all these cults and isms and religions that are springing up today are made up of that. Rules and regulations. You follow a certain little ritual. Now, the thing today is that we are under an altogether different system. And the very interesting thing is, Paul had mentioned this before when he wrote to the Corinthians. He said to them in verse 6, of 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, or the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Now, some strange individuals have come up with a novel interpretation that this means you ought not to study the Bible. and that it’s the Spirit that giveth life, and that the letter here means the Word of God. Do you know that that’s not what Paul’s talking about? If you’d read the next verse, verse 7, he’d make it clear what he meant by the letter. But if the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious. Now, we know what the letter is. It was the Ten Commandments. Now, he says the Ten Commandments were administration of death. And the law kills. The law never saved anyone. It’ll kill you, friends, because it brings you into the judgment of God. It’s the Spirit that giveth life. And you and I are living in this day when the Holy Spirit is the one that regenerates, The Holy Spirit leads us, and the Holy Spirit shows us the will of God. Now, let’s follow through here where we were to begin today. We have certain privileges now. And notice what he says, having therefore, brethren, boldness. And this is boldness of speech, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now, how do we get in there? By the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And when that veil was rent in twain, It was when Christ was crucified on the cross, and it indicated the way to God was open. Now, that ought to tell us something. The word here that is translated flesh, we are told here, a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, through his flesh. Now, that’s the same word. that you find in the prologue of John’s gospel, where he said the Word became flesh. But he didn’t say anything about a new and living way open to God. Because the incarnation, the life of Christ, saves no one. It is now based on the death of Christ, you see. It’s through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, we enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now, our right of entrance is through not his incarnation, but it was through the rending of the veil. And that veil was his flesh through his death. And you and I can only worship God through not the incarnation or not through the life of Christ, but through the death of Christ for us on the cross. And friends, that’s so important that I think I’ve said it now half a dozen times, and I think I’m going to say it another time, maybe several more times. Now, this is called here a new and living way. And that new is newly slain, newly slain. In other words, it speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has opened up for you and me to God a new and living way, and that’s through his crucifixion, that’s through his death upon the cross, you see, newly slain. These old sacrifices, they just won’t help you anymore, friends, at all. Now we come to something here that I feel, frankly, is very, very important indeed. And will you notice, he mentions here that we have these privileges. Now, he mentions another privilege, verse 21, and having a high priest over the house of God. And that’s a wonderful privilege that we have today, that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and that he ever live it to make intercession for us. Now, this is a great encouragement for us, and this is very practical now. We have this privilege today. And this is an invitation not only to the saved, but to the unsaved here. And some believe it’s primarily to the unsaved. I think it’s to both, by the way. And this is through this new way, freshly slain. The sacrifice of Christ never becomes old. And Martin Luther made this statement concerning it. He says, it seems but yesterday that Jesus died on the cross. How wonderful. Now, through that veil, when Christ dismissed his spirit, the veil of the temple was torn in two. And you and I today have a high priest that’s yonder at God’s right hand for us. So what are we to do? Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies washed with pure water. And this has to do, the priests were dedicated in the Aaronic priesthood, the members of the tribe of Levi. Remember Moses did that. He sprinkled on them water, and that was the water of dedication. And their bodies, you remember, he washed them. They had to be washed. And that denoted that they were set aside for the service of God. This is, I think, a very wonderful thing for us to note here, a dedication now unto God that enables us to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now, this full assurance of faith, or as some have put it, in fullness of faith, actually doesn’t have anything to do with the amount of faith, but it has everything to do with the object of faith and that which is real faith, by the way. It’s always the object of faith. Faith can be misplaced. You can put your faith in some individual down here and be disappointed. It’s not just that you believe there’s a God. That doesn’t mean anything at all, other than you’re not an atheist. But it means that not only should you have a knowledge of it, to know the way of righteousness, but that by faith you’ve acted upon it, real faith. That is, that you have actually received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Now, that’s been made very clear to us. He came unto his own. His own received him not, but to as many as received him. To them gave he the right, the exousion power, to become the sons of God, even to those that don’t do any more nor less than simply believe in his name. Now, faith in Christ is to receive Christ. That’s what it means, to receive him. In other words, faith is action that’s based on knowledge. God never asked you to take a leap in the dark. I disagree with that theologian who said faith is a leap in the dark. If it is, don’t leap, friends. You may find yourself going off of a 10-story building, so don’t leap in the dark. God has put knowledge. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. God has put down a foundation. No other foundation can any man lay, not which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. You get on the foundation. That’s knowledge. But it’s faith that puts you there. Faith is action that’s based on knowledge. And that means to trust Christ personally as your Savior. Now we’re told here, let us then draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies washed with pure water. That means that today you and I are a member of a priesthood. One of the great truths that John Calvin recovered was the priesthood of believers. Every believer is a priest. And you can come to God today with boldness of speech. So many people ask the preacher to pray for them. And they send in prayer requests. We follow them. We believe in it. But the thing I’m trying to say is you have access to God. You have as much right in God’s presence as I have or anyone else. Because we come in the name of Christ today. And we can come by the blood of Jesus Christ. He’s made this newly sacrificed way for us. And it’s on that basis that we come to God. Now, we’re told, “…let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he’s faithful at promise.” Now we are to draw near. Actually, faith here has the thought in it of hope. Let us draw near to God. But let us hold fast our confession of faith. Why? Because we’ve got a hope. And hope is for the future, you see. How wonderful this is. And we find now that we can come near to God. and in the full assurance of faith. And also, we can hold fast the confession of our faith. We have a hope. Why? Well, it’s been put like this. So near, so very near to God, we cannot nearer be. For in the person of his Son, we are as near as he. So dear, so very dear to God, We cannot dear a bee, for in the person of his son, we are as dear as he. We are to draw near. We are to hold fast. Now, we have a third thing here. And let us consider one another to provoke. And we get our word paroxysm from that. And that literally means with a view to excitement. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Do I annoy you? Some Christians write me and say, oh, you have troubled my conscience. I hope I’ve troubled your conscience that you love one another and that you’re troubled that you need to do some good works for God. And he says now, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another so much as we see the day approaching. If there ever was a time when believers need to come together and gather together, it’s today. Instead of chopping each other down, why, we need to be drawn together in love around the person of Christ and exhorting one another and studying the Word of God together. Actually, God has something for a group that he’ll not give to anyone individually. One of the reasons I like to teach the Word of God, and I’ll let you in on something right now, and you won’t tell anybody, I hope, I trust you won’t. We’ll keep this a secret to ourselves today, and I’m just telling you. You’re the only ones I’m telling about this. And the reason that I like to teach the Word of God, because God won’t let me grow in the knowledge of the Word unless I share it, you see. Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together. So when they have Bibles studied down at your church, be sure and be there because there’s a blessing there for you. You can’t get in studying the Bible by itself. Now we’ve got something here that’s quite interesting. I have this in my notes. We’re to draw near in faith. That is faith toward God. We’re to draw near in hope. That’s for ourselves, you see. We’re to hold fast our profession. Draw near in love. That’s for others. And so you have here faith, hope, and love again. How wonderful this is. And the day approaching actually, I think, meant here to these people, Hebrews, the destruction of the temple. The temple was to be destroyed. And then where are they going to meet? Well, they’ve been going to the temple. Even Peter and John went up to the temple. They were there on the day of Pentecost, you know. And they went up there afterward. That the beautiful gate of the temple is where they met the impotent man. But where are you going to meet now? Well, what he’s saying, as you see the day approaching, when you won’t have a place, just keep meeting together. And the church started off meeting in homes, by the way. And why, as they see the day approaching, now we come here to another danger signal. This is the fifth day. danger signal that he puts down for us. And this is the peril of despising. And this is the most solemn warning of all. Listen to him now. This is very important. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now, friends, this is something here that’s very important that you and I get a hold of it, that if we sin willfully, now that means to go back to the sacrifices after Christ had come. That means we’re acting as if he had not died for sins at all. That means that we’re attaching no value to his death. Now, listen to Peter in his second epistle, chapter 2, verse 21, what he said. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. In other words, some of these people, they made only a profession of faith in Christ. They were not born again. And they pretended that they were. And to make sure for themselves, they kept going to the temple and offering a sacrifice. And he’s going to say some pretty serious things here to them. In other words, they really were not trusting Christ. They were acting as if he hadn’t come and died on the cross at all. And as a result, they’re guilty of unbelief. And that’s willful sin. These are not Christians, therefore. In other words, there’s nothing between the sacrifice of Christ and his coming but judgment. He’s not coming to die again. Listen to him. Verse 27, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. In other words, friends, if Christ, when he died 1900 years ago, if that wasn’t adequate, then there’s nothing adequate. And therefore, there’s nothing in the world for you but judgment. Now, he that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. That’s verse 28. Now, that was under the law. of how much sore a punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite under the Spirit of grace.” Now that is probably the most solemn statement there is in the Word of God. You can’t find anything wherewith he was sanctified. That is, refers to Christ, the Son of God. And they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh. How? To treat the death of Christ as inadequate, to settle the sin question, and to go on as if he had not died, is to treat the blood of Christ as a despised thing. Privilege creates responsibility. And if you’ve heard the gospel and turned your back on Jesus Christ, my friend, somebody should tell you, you’re going to hell. That’s what the Word of God says. I didn’t say it. That’s what the Word of God says here. Nothing in the world but that. Verse 30, “…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. And you can write that down. God will judge you. I don’t care who you are. You’re going to come up before God for judgment. It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days in which after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. Now, he is speaking to these ones personally, and it’s a personal word to the Hebrews here. He says, “…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. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds.” and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance.” You see, if you’re going to come out for Christ, then you come out for Christ. The proof of your faith is in the life that you live, my friend. That demonstrates it. And here, Paul reveals that, by the way. He says, cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. And you see, he’s talking now about rewards. The confidence is boldness. For ye have need of patience. that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. And again, a very wonderful verse. Patience. You see, he’s saying to them, tribulation worketh patience. Now we’re going to finish this chapter. We’ll have to save that until next time. And we’ll move on from there into that glorious 11th chapter that many call the catalog of the heroes of faith. We have another name for it. We’ll see that next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, we’ve got great journeys ahead of us through the Bible in 2025. If the Lord’s prompting you to stand with us in prayer and financial partnership, click on Donate in our app and online at ttb.org or call 1-800-65-BIBLE. And thank you for investing your heart in God’s Word and for your prayer partnership in taking the whole Word to the whole world. We’ll do this, Lord willing, till Jesus comes again. Wouldn’t it be great if it’s in 2025 that He calls us to meet Him in the clouds? Even so, come Lord Jesus. Here’s wishing you a wonderful new year. Our story on the Bible Bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride, and you’ll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God’s great redemption story. Is this your story too?
