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 Previous Return to Hebrews Next 

DEALING WITH SIN

Hebrews 10:35-39

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    The cause of all this discussion is sin.

 

B.      Hebrews 10 has a lot to say about sin. 

1.      We have entitled this chapter:  “Dealing with Sin.”

2.      Keep in mind that the writer is dealing with Jewish believers returning to Judaism.  There fore, he continues to make contrasts between the system of Judaism and the system of Christianity.

 

C.     In this chapter, the writer will end the doctrinal details of his discussion (See vs 18-19, 22-24) and begin to make some very practical admonitions to his readers.

 

D.    Outline:

 

i.                    SINS REMAINED (Heb. 10:1-4)  Remembrance of sins

ii.                  SINS ARE REMITTED (Heb. 10:5-14)  Remittance from sins

iii.                SINS REMEMBERED NO MORE (Heb. 10:15-18)  Remembered no more sins

iv.                NO SINS BRING RESPONSIBILITY (Heb. 10:19-25)  Responsibility after sins

v.                  SINS ARE RECOMPENSED (Heb. 10:26-31)  Recompense for sins

vi.                SIN:  NO RETURN (Heb. 10:32-39)  Resolution against sin

 

I.                   SINS REMAINED (Heb. 10:1-4)

 

II.                SINS ARE REMITTED (Heb. 10:5-14)

 

III.             SINS REMEMBERED NO MORE (Heb. 10:15-18)

 

IV.             NO SINS BRING RESPONSIBILITY (Heb. 10:19-25).

 

V.                SINS ARE RECOMPENSED (Heb. 10:26-31)

 

VI.             SIN:  NO RETURN (Heb. 10:32-39) 

 

A.    Remember the former days (Heb. 10:32-35)

1.      The Appeal (Heb. 10:32a)

2.      The Afflictions (Heb. 10:32b)

3.      The Allocation (Heb. 10:33-34)

4.      The Admonition (Heb. 10:35)

 

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

 

a.      The action:  Cast not away therefore your confidence

1)      Cast not away: 

a)      don’t throw off or lose

b)      The reference seems to involve the loss of a shield in battle which was a tremendous dishonor

c)      Our confident faith protects and preserves us, even during afflictions.

2)      Confidence:

a)      Strong (3954):  assurance

b)      Thayer:  free and fearless confidence

3)      Question:  If it is not possible for a Christian to throw away his assurance, why did the inspired writer warn against it?

b.      The account:  Great recompense of reward

1)      Definitions:

a)      Great

-          Strong (3173):  big

-          Thayer:  great, splendid, prepared on a grand scale, splendid

b)      Recompense of reward

-          Strong (3405):  requital

-          Thayer:  payment of wages due

2)      LESSONS

a)      Again, we learn that a reward is a motivator.

b)      We must never forget that our reward is great, prepared on a grand scale.

c)      If we cast away our confidence, we will lose our reward.

 

B.      Renew your patience (Heb. 10:36-37)

1.      The assessment (Heb. 10:36a)

 

For ye have need of patience…

 

a.      Patience

1)      Strong (5281):  cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy

2)      Thayer:  steadfastness, constancy, endurance, in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings

3)      Barnes:  to lie calmly in the hands of God, and submit to His will day-by-day

b.      The word “patience” involves our remaining under trial.

1)      We want relief from our sufferings.

2)      Sometimes the only way to get the relief, it seems, is to forsake the Christ and His way.

3)      NO.  It is at that point we need to remain under trail.  This may not seem like the logical thing to do, but it is the wise thing to do.

2.      The Aim (Heb. 10:36b)

 

…that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

 

a.      The reward: “ye might receive the promise.”

1)      The promise involves the “better and enduring substance” in heaven (Heb. 10:34).

2)      Remember, it is promised by God, who is faithful and cannot lie.

b.      The requirement:  “after that ye have done the will of God”

1)      In order to receive the promise, we must first do the will of God.

2)      This is why it is imperative for an individual to be patient and endure through sufferings.

3)      Matthew 10:22

 

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake:  but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

 

4)      NOTE:  If we fail to do the will of God, the promise will not be ours.

 

3.      The Alert (Heb. 10:37)

 

For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

 

a.      The passage comes from Habakkuk 2:2-3 with some variation.

 

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:  though it tarry; but it will surely come, it will not tarry.

 

b.      Some teach that this is referring to the Second Coming.  If so, it means that the words “little while” have no meaning either to us or to the Hebrew Christians.  If a little while is two thousand years away, why refer to it as “a little while”?

c.       The word “come” can refer to a coming in judgment.

1)      Vincent tell us that “yet a little while” strictly means “in a very little while.”

2)      In the context, the writer is referring to coming of God’s judgment upon the city of Jerusalem.

3)      When it was time for this destruction to occur, it would occur.  The Lord would not tarry to bring it to pass.

4)      Looking back, we know the date to be A.D. 70.

d.      This was just another reason these Christians needed to remain faithful.  If they went back to Judaism, it would soon come to a devastating end.

e.       If they were suffering most of their persecution from the Jews, they would not have this to contend with in the near future.  Barnes:  “The Christians in Palestine were oppressed, reviled, and persecuted by the Jews. The destruction of the city and the temple would put an end to that power, and would be in fact the time of deliverance for those who had been persecuted” (e-sword).

f.        LESSON:  When suffering, we should not give up because deliverance may be just around the corner. 

 

C.     Resignation to be faithful (Heb. 10:38-39)

1.      The axiom (Heb. 10:38a)

 

Now the just shall live by faith…

 

a.      This statement has been true in every dispensation.

b.      It is interesting that is follows hard upon a verse that reveals that after we have done with will of God we will receive the promise.  Living by faith and doing God’s will are synonymous.

c.       This phrase was originally stated by the prophet Habakkuk (Hab. 2:4).

d.      It is found three times in the New Testament (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).

2.      The apostate (Heb. 10:38b)

 

…but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

 

a.      Draw back

1.      Strong (5288):  to withhold under, to cower or shrink

2.      Thayer:  draw back, to withdraw oneself, shrink, to be timid

b.      Barnes:  “If such a case should occur, no matter what might have been the former condition, and no matter what love or zeal might have been evinced, yet such an apostasy would expose the individual to the certain wrath of God” (e-sword).

c.       My soul:  The Greek word is “psuche.”  Here, it refers to the heart of God.

d.      God has no pleasure at all in the individual who obeys the gospel, then draws back. 

1)      He forsakes God, and, for what?

2)      Is the “what” better than God?  Can the “what” do more for him than God?

Is the “what” lasting and enduring?

 

                        3..   The appraisal (Heb. 10:39)

 

But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

 

a.      The writer is sure that he and his readers are not part of the group who would turn back.

b.      He says that they turn back to “perdition.”

1)      Strong (684):  loss or ruin

2)      Thayer:  destroying, utter destruction, a perishing, ruin

3)      NOTE:  The Calvinists tell us that the Christian might back slide, but he cannot fall away and be lost.  This passage refutes this.  He can draw back and face perdition, that is, utter ruin.

c.       He then affirms that he and his readers are in the group who “believe to the saving of the soul.”

1)      This is not salvation by faith only.  (See verse 36 again).

2)      This is the group that all should desire to be part of.

3)      It is choice that all men can make.