Gospel of John [Joh 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 6. Heb 10:26-31; Deu 17:2-7; Luk 21:20-24.Title: Gospel of John [Joh 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 6. Heb 10:26-31; Deu 17:2-7; Luk 21:20-24.
A note to all those who are suffering - the healing ointment for your soul is God's love. Go for this and trust that God the Holy Spirit will empower you to do so: 1Co 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails [is eternal]
We are looking at the titles for God the Holy Spirit given in the word of God.
The attribute of grace is found in two titles, Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29), and Spirit of Grace and Supplication (Zec 12:10).
Heb 10:26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
In Heb 10:26 this sin is revealed as a wilful sin, and is analyzed in 10:29 as the threefold sin against the three Persons of the Triune God.
This sin could only be committed in the first century while the temple was still standing and only by an unsaved Jew or proselyte to Judaism. In this case, there can be no secondary application to present day circumstances or individuals.
The willfullness reveals that it is not a sin of weakness or a sin unawares but a repetitive and deliberate act. All sin is paid for, willful, ignorant, or unexpected weakness, but this is a particular sin that is unique to the unsaved Jew in Jerusalem between 33 AD and 70AD.
"knowledge of the truth" - epignosis. They were fully informed by the HS of the gospel and the issues that differentiated the old and new Testaments.
A false gospel might be termed gnosis, but a full understanding of the issue of the true gospel through the conviction ministry of the HS would be termed epignosis.
Thus it is clear that the Jew who committed this sin, was fully informed by the Holy Spirit of the issues involved between the First Testament and the New Testament, and also of the meaning and the implications of the New Testament, (6:4, "who were once enlightened") and therefore, he sinned with his eyes wide open.
These Jews sat in the Christian assemblies in Jerusalem and heard the truth taught. The HS convicted them as per Joh 16 concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment and they concluded, like those in Jerusalem 30 years prior, that Jesus was a blasphemer and they rejected Him and went back to the Levitical sacrifices.
There was one sacrifice for sins for all time. There remains no other. They shut the door on Christ and went to, now meaningless, rituals.
This was not a snap judgment to go back to the sacrifices, but an epignosis understanding of the gospel added to the understanding they already had concerning the meaning of the animal sacrifices and they chose to reject the one sacrifice of the Messiah and accept the OT Levitical offerings.
Heb 10:27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
The word judgment is very nearly almost always used for God's judgment of the unbeliever and adding the word "fearful" makes it almost certain that the writer is referring to the last judgment or the GWTJ. It is so used in:
2Pe 3:7 But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
The believer is not judged.
Joh 3:18-19 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.
If any of the Jews in Jerusalem at this time that were attending the Christian assemblies were tempted to go back to the temple sacrifices because of the persecution of their brethren, they would certainly have given it a second thought after hearing this part of the letter. A million animal sacrifices would not deliver anyone from God's wrath in judgment. A believer could never come under judgment and to go the way of those who will, and to willfully sin in this manner and at this time, can only carry with it the most severe discipline, which would be the sin unto death. It won't be long until Jerusalem is destroyed by the Romans. Jesus gave them all a warning to get out before it happens and certainly, only the believer's would have heeded that warning.
In the Olivet Discourse Jesus answered the disciples question about the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple.
Luk 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand.
Luk 21:21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city;
Luk 21:22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luk 21:23 "Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people,
Luk 21:24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
This prophecy was fulfilled in a very marvellous way. In the year AD 66, the first Jewish revolt broke out against the Romans. When the revolt first began, the Roman general in the land, Cestus Gallus, came with his armies from Caesarea and surrounded Jerusalem. The surrounding of the city marked the sign that Jesus had promised, and the Jewish believers knew that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed. Jesus had commanded the Jewish believers to desert the city when they saw this happening. However, it was impossible to do so while the Romans were surrounding the city. Then Cestus Gallus noticed that his supply lines were not secure. He did not have enough supplies to maintain an extended siege, so he lifted the siege of Jerusalem in order to go back to Caesarea. On the way, he was attacked by Jewish forces and killed. Temporarily, the city was no longer surrounded by the armies, so every single Jewish believer was able to leave Jerusalem. They crossed the Jordan River and set up a new community of Jewish believers in the town of Pella in the Trans-jordan. They were joined by Jewish believers from Judea, Galilee, and the Golan. There they waited for the prophecy of Jesus to be fulfilled. In the year A.D. 68, a new Roman general by the name of Vespasian and his son, Titus, again besieged the city, and in the year A.D. 70, the city and the Temple were destroyed. All together, 1,100,000 Jews were killed in this final onslaught, but not one Jewish believer died who obeyed the words of their Messiah. Since that time, Jerusalem has indeed been trodden down of the Gentiles and continues to be so to the present day. Jerusalem will not be free of Gentile nations treading upon her until the Messiah returns.
If you were a Jew in the temple offering sacrifices, would you have heeded this warning by Christ?
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
What he is saying here is that if the transgression of the Mosaic Law in worshipping false gods, which is akin to what they are doing in transgressing the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, was deserving of death then how much severer is the punishment of this particular sin?
Deu 17:2 "If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the Lord your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant,
Deu 17:3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded,
Deu 17:4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. And behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
Deu 17:5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed, to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death.
Deu 17:6 On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
Deu 17:7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
After the resurrection of Christ, offering animal sacrifice to Jehovah is very much like worshipping an idol or false God since no one could then come to the Father but through Him.
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
Heb 10:29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
After hearing all the facts and being convicted by God the Holy Spirit they concluded that Christ was just a common man and that His blood, or His spiritual death, was of less importance or of no more importance than animal blood that is just walked over.
Treading underfoot the Son of God, is a sin against God the Father who gave the Son to become the Sin-offering (Joh 3:16). Counting the blood of the New Testament [the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ] an unholy thing, is a sin against God the Son who shed His blood.
"regarded" - diaqh,kh [diatheke] = an obligation taken by a single person or a covenant made in the mind.
The word "regarded" in the Greek text refers to a conscious judgment resting on deliberate weighing of the facts. In the Septuagint it is used for making a covenant. Here it implies a deliberate, contemptuous rejection of the Messianic sacrifice of the Son of God.
"unclean" - koino,j[koinos] = common, coming into contact with everything, public. Not something that is set apart unto God.
The word "unclean" is the translation of koinos, the fundamental idea of which is "shared by all, public." From this comes the idea of "not sacred" that is, "not set apart for God's use." The idea here is that the apostate regarded Messiah's blood, meaning His Person, His life, or His work as common, having no more sacred character or specific worth than the blood of any ordinary person.
"by which he was sanctified" has an application to the unsaved ones who got to hear this letter in that they professed to be sanctified but their actions reveal that they were not or the writer could simply be referring to the cross where sancitification was accomplished and he is entreating them to go there. To believers who heard the contents of this letter there is also application in revealing to them their incredible insult to the HS and to the Son of God by heading to the peer pressure of the non-believing Jews at the time.
K. Wuest states: The difficulty disappears when we remember that the writer is addressing himself to the professing Christian church, made up of saved and unsaved, and that the idea here is, "wherewith he professed to be sanctified." [K. Wuest]
The Spirit of grace is the bringer of common grace, which is the conviction of the sin, righteousness, and judgment of Joh 16. This sin insulted Him.
No one in the world can see the light of the gospel without Him. That is a gift of grace to the world. In the circumstances He sees fit, and using the agents that He sees fit, or whatever medium through which the gospel message is given, He gives a grace gift of lifting the veil and revealing Christ and His work. The free will of the recipient is never violated. It is then that the person has an opportunity to believe, and for those who do, His work has just begun, and for those who reject Him, there is a terrible expectation of judgment if that state of unbelief remains until death. The same gospel brings exceeding joy to some and condemnation to others.
Heb 10:30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people."
Vengeance is not vindictiveness but the meting out of justice.
Heb 10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [applies only to the apostate unbeliever]
The believer has exceeding joy falling into the hands of the living God where he is kept and protected forever.
At the Second Coming of Christ in fulfilment of the New Covenant.
Zec 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
This promised would have been fulfilled earlier if Israel had accepted Jesus Christ but since they did not, the covenant to them is not void, nor did it change to the church, but it will be given to them during the Millennial reign of Christ.
"supplication" - tachanauwn = an action from a superior to an inferior who has no real claim for gracious treatment.
Many of the titles referred to as indicating His attributes also connote His works. We have already noted several of these.
In the discussion of the titles revealing His attributes, it may be noticed that:
Spirit of Glory(1Pe 4:14) engages in a work to bring the saints to rest in the midst of persecution.
Spirit of Life(Rom 8:2) is the agent of regeneration.
The Spirit of Holiness (Rom 1:14), the Holy Spirit (Mat 1:20), and the Holy One (1Jo 2:20) is our sanctifier.
The Spirit of wisdom (Eph 1:17), the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and of the Fear of the Lord (Isa 11: 2) speak of the several ministries of God in teaching, guiding and strengthening the saint.
The Spirit of Truth (Joh 14:17) has a similar idea.
The Spirit as one who manifests grace is revealed in the titles, Spirit of Grace (Heb 10: 29), and the Spirit of Grace and Supplication (Zec 12:10).
In addition to these, two other titles are given the Holy Spirit, affirming His works.
The Spirit of Adoption (Rom 8:15) has reference to His revelation of our adoption as mature sons. |