Don’t Fall

Introduction

Good night’s sleep last night. I may have selfish reasons for asking that question. But how did you sleep? Or maybe here’s another question how generally do you sleep? There’s usually two camps of people, those for whom sleep comes easy, and those who struggle to embrace it. There are some who seem to fall asleep even before their head hits the pillow, and they get a good solid eight hours, only interrupted by that loud, rude alarm clock. And then there’s the others who struggle, who can’t turn off the brain and lay there and toss and turn and try to squint their eyes so closed and force themselves to sleep and just hope that they’ll get three or four hours of sleep. And then there’s those times when, regardless of what kind of sleeper you are, there’s just something that keeps you awake.

That’s a good spiritual probing question. What keeps you awake at night? I want to tell you what keeps me awake at night.

We studied in our Bible class this morning in James chapter 3, where James warned, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that you shall receive the stricter judgment. If I can be serious for a moment, that keeps me awake at night. You keep me awake at night. I have a deep concern for you and your spiritual well-being and your soul. And I worry. Am I doing enough? Am I saying enough or saying it in the right way? To have an impact upon your life and your heart and your soul and your eternity. Or will I stand before you one day, and you won’t be there. Not because you’re homesick or away on vacation or even passed on to your reward. But one day your seat will be empty because you just gave up and quit.

And that keeps me awake at night. This morning I’d like for us to take a sober look at the book of Hebrews. If you’ll turn with me there to Hebrews chapter one. The Hebrew letter was written because the Hebrew writer was having trouble sleeping at night. His brethren were keeping him up. He was worried in particular about his Jewish brethren, some of them at least, who were being tempted to leave, to go back to their former lifestyle and conduct in Judaism, and therefore leaving Christ Jesus, the source and the place of their eternal salvation. And so he wrote the book of Hebrews with really this warning. This is the warning I want to impart to you this morning. And that’s simply don’t fall. We can word that various ways.

1. Don’t Fall Because of What Christ Has to Offer

We could add the word away, don’t fall away. If we wanted to add maybe a little bit more punch to it, we would just simply say, don’t give up. Or don’t quit. And that’s my plea, the Hebrew writer’s plea to you this morning. Don’t fall. And we’ll talk about three things. One is we’re going to talk about the superiority of Christ. What you’re leaving if you do leave or fall. And then we want to talk about what will happen if you do, the warnings, the frightful warnings that the Hebrew writer will give. And then lastly, before the lesson is yours, we’ll talk about some things and some ways that God has given you to not fall. Some helps. But let’s start at the start. He says, first of all, don’t fall because of what Christ has to offer you.

And the Hebrew writer talks over and over throughout this letter about the superiority of Christ. If you’ve ever studied, and I know you have, the book of Hebrews in a Bible class, you know the key word, one of the key words of the book of Hebrews is better. Christ way is better. Rob so ably directed our minds in our Lord’s Supper observance earlier this morning. And talking about how Jesus in every way and in every time evoked wonder. And that’s who will leave. If we fall.

Today I have begotten you. And again I’ll be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame, a fire, but to the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions. The angels, in ways unknown to us, were the messengers of that old covenant, but Jesus, the messenger of this new covenant, is greater than those angels.

And even the angels themselves look at him in wonder and bow down and worship him. That’s the Jesus that we serve. Not only is he greater than those heavenly messengers of the old covenant, he is greater than the earthly messenger of that old covenant, Moses. Look over in chapter 3 and in verse 1. Therefore, Hebrews 3, verse 1, therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ, who was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses was also faithful in all his house. For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as that he who built the house has more honor than the house. As great and as noble and respected as Moses, that mediator of the old covenant, the lawgiver of that old covenant was, he was just the house.

He was just a part of the work, but Jesus is the owner and the builder of the house. And so we esteem to him greater honor. And that’s the Jesus we serve. Jesus is superior to the heavenly messengers of that old covenant, to the earthly messengers of that old covenant, and to the priest who offered the sacrifices. Look over in chapter four, beginning in verse 14. Jesus is our high priest, and he is better than those old Testament high priests. Hebrews 4, verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin.

And so let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. They, under that old system, needed those priests, and they fulfilled a great and noble purpose. But we have a great high priest, who has passed not through the veil of the temple, but has passed through the heavens. And who goes not with sacrifices for himself, as he would point out later, but with the blood of an offering just for us, because he is without sin. And that’s the Jesus that we serve. He’s brought a better covenant. Chapters eight, nine, and 10 talk about the excellence of that covenant. Look at one point in there, Hebrews chapter 8 and in verse 7.

He simply says, For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I’ll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. Because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with those in that day, says the Lord. I’ll put my laws in their mind and I’ll write them on their hearts, and I’ll be their God, and they shall be my people.

And none of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all of them shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. That’s the covenant that we live under, and that’s the Jesus that we serve. And he brought a better sacrifice. We won’t take the time to read it, but in chapter 9, verses 11 through 14, he talks about how the sacrifice of that old covenant, the blood of bulls and goats, couldn’t take away sins, but with the better sacrifice and a better blood, our sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. And that’s the Jesus we serve.

2. Don’t Fall Because of What Will Happen

And he’s given us, chapter 11, verse 39, beginning, a better hope. Hebrews 11. In the last two verses of this chapter. And all these, that is, all those great men and women of faith, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. We have a better hope, a better faith, a better covenant, a better priest. Because of Jesus. And that’s the Jesus we serve. And if we give up, that’s the Jesus we’ll lose. And what we will give up. And so don’t fall because of what Jesus has to offer you if you stay. Don’t fall because of what will happen if we do. Now we get into the difficult part of the lesson, the uncomfortable part of the lesson, but it’s necessary, isn’t it?

The Hebrew writer issues these warnings of what will happen. And at the top of that list is the punishment. Go back to chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1. The Hebrew letter is interspersed with warnings. Here’s what you have, but here’s a warning if you lose it. Here’s what God has done for you, and here’s a warning if you lose it. Look at the first of those warnings, chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things which we’ve heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his will. You read about the judgments and the pronouncements of judgments of God in that old covenant. A covenant that was just sealed with the blood of bulls and goats. And so he says, if you think God judged those people for breaking a covenant that was sealed with animal blood, what’s going to happen if we violate a covenant that was sealed with his son’s own blood. Me illustrate it.

Everyday dishes and what we called company dishes. We weren’t rich enough to have China. But we had the nicer set of corral that was for company.

Now our everyday dishes were made up of a hodgepodge and a potpourri of different glasses that had been handed down to us and been bought at yard sales, or you remember the old jelly jars that became glasses. We had some of those with cartoon characters on them. And one day I was goofing off and broke one of those glasses that had been a jelly jar and had some cartoon character on it, and I got in trouble. And rightly so. I was goofing off and broke one of those glasses, and so I was punished.

Throwing a ball in the house, and the ball got away from me, and it hit not a jelly jar, but one of eight crystal goblets that were for company dishes.

To me when I broke the company dishes. And so when she got home, she found my suitcase packed and ready to leave. Because I understood the argument from the lesser to the greater. And that’s the argument the Hebrew writer is making. If they were punished for breaking a covenant that was sealed with the blood of a bull, how will we be treated when we disrespect and abuse the blessings of God that were sealed by his own son’s blood? We’ll be denied his blessings. Look in chapter 3, verses, beginning in verse 7. Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7. If you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial, where your father tested me and tried me and saw my works forty years.

Therefore I was angry with that generation. Said they always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways, so I swore in my wrath. They shall not enter my rest. Brethren, beware, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. But exhort one another while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful of sin, deceitfulness of sin, for we have become partakers of Christ. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. We have become partakers of Christ and all of its bountiful blessings. And those will go away if we go away. Here’s a warning in chapter six. That if we go away, we may stay away.

Chapter 6, verse 4 says, For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of to come and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance. Since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame. The Hebrew writer says it may be impossible. The impossibility here, we understand, does not lie in God or His grace or His mercy, but the impossibility may lie with us. He says, if we have come to Christ and have experienced and have tasted what He has to offer, what is there to entice us to come back?

Let me illustrate it this way. You know, and I haven’t really figured out why, but you know that many of my illustrations revolve around food. It’s a mystery to me. But one of my favorite foods is a lemon ice box pie. A real lemon ice box pie. I love it. And I love telling others about it and how good it is. And let’s just say you’ve never had a piece of true lemon icebox pie. It has to have the meringue, not that cool whip stuff on it. And I put it before you and I tell you how good it is. And I can show you how good it looks. I might convince you to try a piece. But let’s say you’ve tried a piece. You’ve had several pieces.

But you decided that you don’t like it. You’ve tried it, but it’s not for you. And you push it away. And I come to you with a new pie, slice of pie, and I try to convince you. My task is much harder, isn’t it? Because you’ve already tasted it. And you said no. So what am I going to say? How am I going to convince? What am I going to describe about that pie that would entice you to try something that you’ve already tried and passed on? That’s his point. If you’ve experienced and tasted the goodness of God and then passed on it, what can we say? You’ve had the blessings of God. And you said they weren’t for you. That’s scary. To think that once I walk away, I may never come back.

It’s also scary to know that there’s no more sacrifice. Look in chapter 10 of the book of Hebrews. And in verse 26. Not only is there nothing else to entice me back, to draw me back, but there’s no other sacrifice coming. There’s no other Lamb of God to be sacrificed. There’s no other Sermon on the Mount to be delivered. There’s no other Christ. Hebrews 10 verse 26, for if we sin willfully, after we’ve received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. But a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. There’s not going to be another Christ. If you reject this one, that’s it. There’s not another covenant. There’s not another messenger. There’s not another sacrifice coming.

You miss the last one. And so don’t fall.

3. Ways God Has Given You to Not Fall

We talked about what you will experience if you leave. But let’s close our lesson by talking about the reasons and the things that God has given us to help us not to fall. God hasn’t just said, don’t fall, or I will strike you down. God has said, don’t fall. Because I don’t want to strike you down. And here’s how I can help you. He’s given us his word. In chapter one, he begins this whole letter of warnings against falling away by saying, chapter one, verse one, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things, and through whom he also made the worlds.

He has spoken to us.

And just think about that. That God would speak to me. That God would open up his heart and his divine mouth and talk to me. Tell me who he is and how he loves me and what he has and will do for me. And that word is there to help me, not to fall. And so it is no coincidence that falling away is connected to a neglect of his word. God has helped us. God has given us a hope. You know, sometimes hope is all we have to hang on to. In chapter 2 again, and in verse 14, he says, inasmuch, Hebrews 2, verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

He’s given us hope. He’s released us from that fear.

We have a hope. And he talks about that hope throughout this book. He’s given us focus. We need that, don’t we? We need that now more than ever. When there is so much to distract us and vying for our attention, so many screens and images and things, I need focus. And he’s given me that. Look at chapter 3 again, verse 1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and the high priest of our confession, Jesus Christ. He just simply says, consider Jesus. To these who were falling away or being tempted to fall away, he just simply and calmly and quietly says, Consider Jesus. Think about Jesus. That’s focus. Look over in chapter 12. After talking about those great men and women of faith, he would say in chapter 12, verse 1, therefore, we also, since we’re surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking, verse 2, looking unto Jesus, casting aside all of the burdens and the weights and the distractions and the sin, he says, focus on Jesus.

And that helps.

The encouragement not to fall. Look over in chapter 10, verses 24 and 25. He says, Let us consider one another in order to stir up to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much more as you see the day approaching. He’s given us focus to see that these assemblies have been given for our benefit, for our encouragement. And then lastly, he’s given us discipline. In chapter 12. He would say in verse 5, do not forget the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord. Nor be discouraged when you’re rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives.

Conclusion

God’s given me the encouragement. But He’s also given me the chastisement that I’ve needed. The discipline. Why? To help me. To help me have that focus. To help me remember where my hope lies. And to help me not fall. Look to Jesus. Remember the warnings. And consider the help that he has given you. To not fall away. Don’t give up. Do you need to render obedience to the gospel this morning? Maybe you’ve never obeyed the gospel. Maybe you thought it was too daunting of a task, but understand that God’s help, even in the form of discipline, encouragement, is always there. You can do it. These wonderful brethren right here will welcome you and encourage you and help you along this journey. Would you start that journey today?

Or would you restart that journey today if you’ve already stumbled on life’s journey? Can we help you in any spiritual way? Can we help you in any way as you render obedience to the gospel? Let us know right now, as together we stand and as we sing.