01.08- CHAPTER 8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
CHAPTER 8
CONCLUDING REMARKS
We have considered the five warnings of Hebrews. Here are five flashing red lights on the road of disobedience. They are five stop signs on the freeway of backsliding. Each one of these warnings may be illustrated by the nation of Israel in covenant relationship with the Lord.
Just as these things happened to the nation of Israel under the blood of the first covenant, so these things may happen in the church under the blood of the new covenant.
1. The Danger of Drifting (Hebrews 2).
The children of Israel who were redeemed by blood and by power, drifted from the truth at Mount Sinai, and they made a golden calf. It cost the physical life of 3,000 saved Israelites. So the question is asked us: "How shall we escape . . . if we drift from so great salvation?"
2. The Danger of Not Entering Into Rest (Hebrews 3-4).
After leaving Mount Sinai, the nation of Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. The nation and generation that accepted His salvation perished in the wilderness because they refused to continue a life of faith. Over a million perished.
We are not only saved "by faith," but "the just shall live by faith." Here is the danger for us of doubting, of not walking by faith as a believer, and of missing His rest and His best.
3. The Danger of Not Going on to Maturity (Hebrews 5-6).
This was the state of the nation after entering into Canaan under the judges, the kings and the prophets. They never grew up as a nation. They were never able to use the Word of GOD in their lives. They never applied it to life situations. The result was that thousands upon thousands perished in the sieges and conflicts of the Assyrian and Babylonian Captivities.
4. The Danger of the Willful Sin (Hebrews 10).
Here is a picture of the nation at the time of the first coming of CHRIST. They kept on sinning willfully. CHRIST even spoke a parable against those of His generation.
"Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them." (Luke 20:9-19).
"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:43)
Consequently the Lord Himself said: "The blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world (shall) be required of THIS generation" (Luke 11:50). Josephus tells us that it was in the millions of Jews that perished in A.D. 70 under the Rome General Titus. The nation had committed the willful sin.
5. The Danger of Indifference (Hebrews 12).
This will yet be the sin of the nation of Israel during the coming tribulation. The Lord speaks in Matthew 25:1-13 of the five wise and five foolish virgins, and shows the indifference on part of even those who profess. Many will not patiently endure.
The Old Testament prophets have prophecied that two-thirds of the nation of Israel will perish in the tribulation period because they are indifferent to spiritual realities.
You may have noticed that each of these warnings is greater than the previous one, and that failure to heed them brought in each case more severe discipline.
This same progression of sinning that is possible in the life experience of these second generation believers, and that may be illustrated in the history of the children of Israel, may also be illustrated in the history of the church as seen in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.
1. The Danger of Drifting.
While this is a danger to any generation of believers, it was an actuality in the time of the church of Pergamos, which is a picture of the exalted church from the time of Constantine to Gregory the Great. They drifted from the truth, and had those in the church with different doctrine - - doctrines of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes.
The message was "repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." They did not repent and the Lord Himself destroyed those in the church with the sword of His mouth even as the Levites had destroyed 3000 at the time of the Golden Calf incident.
2. The Danger of Not Entering Into Rest.
The church at Thyatira went into open rebellion against the Lord even as Israel openly rebelled against the Lord and against Moses. For Israel it was a very dark period of her history where a generation perished in the wilderness. For the church it is the dark ages where a millennium of souls perished without light.
3. The Danger of Not Going on to Maturity.
The church at Sardis had the truth, but not the life. They had a name that they lived, but they were dead. They failed to use the Word in daily practice, and so failed to go on to maturity even though they had come to salvation. Their works were not perfect before GOD, for they produced only things destined for the bonfire.
4. The Danger of the Willful Sin.
The church at Philadelphia faced a crisis in which they had to decide whether they would keep true to the Lord’s Word and not deny His name, or whether they would give up both. This church did not fail this crisis. But the implication is that there were others who did. It was only a very small church, a remnant, that remained true to the Lord.
This is a picture of the Modernism-Fundamentalism controversy that took place in the last half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. At this time most of the church committed the willful sin, denying the person of CHRIST, the blood work of CHRIST and did despite unto the Spirit of Grace.
5. The Danger of Indifference.
Here is the Laodicean period of the church, or the modern ecumenical church. The Lord is seen standing outside the door of His own church, and the church itself is totally indifferent to His knock and His voice. Therefore His call is to any individual who will hear and let Him come into them. GOD will spew their works out of His mouth.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
As a believer I cannot live just any way I want to and expect to get away with it. I am not going to get by; I am going to get it.
But "if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged" (1 Corinthians 11:31). But when we will not judge ourselves then "God will judge His people."
Write this on your heart, and live accordingly. You cannot love one that you do not respect.
Disobedience brings discipline; obedience brings blessing: it is just as we will it.
THE END
~ end of book ~