A Fearful Thing | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 1, 1864

A Fearful Thing.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb. x, 31.

The apostle says this in reference to foregoing statements in this chapter. It is a summing up of the results of the reckless course of some, against which he is giving a faithful warning.

In the first part of the chapter the apostle is contrasting the shadows of the law of Moses with the living realities of the ministration of Jesus Christ. He says, verse 1, "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, &c." Then he goes on to contrast the Jewish sacrifices with the offering of the Son of God; the Jewish priesthood with the ministration of Jesus Christ. That could not take away sin, only in figure; this takes away the sins of the obedient and believing, of not only those of the present dispensation, but of the past. See Heb. ix, 15, 26; Rev. xiii, 8.

The blood of beasts could not take away sins; but by faith in the atoning efficacy of the blood of Christ, we may come into the presence of the living God, even with boldness, and obtain free pardon of sins, and grace to walk with God in obedience, hope, faith, and love, having the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. The apostle then sets forth some of the blessings, high privileges and duties of believers in the present dispensation. He says,

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering: for he is faithful that promised; and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Verses 19–25.

Here reference is made to the approaching day, the day of Christ's coming, in a manner to convey the idea that the Apostle's words of encouragement and warning in this chapter, were designed to have an especial bearing just prior to the second advent, when the fearful apostasies of which he speaks, were to take place. This seems to be confirmed by the closing verses of the chapter as follows:

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." Verses 35–39.

But that portion of this subject which sets forth the Heaven-insulting and fatal apostasies of this time we have yet to present. Paul continues,

"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer 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 unto the Spirit of grace? 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. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Verses 26–31.

On this fearful language of the apostle we briefly comment as follows:

1. Reference is here made to what is called the unpardonable sin, or sin against the Holy Ghost. And let it be noted that it is a willful sin, not a sin of ignorance. Those who commit it are represented as having had a knowledge of the truth. Those who have had a scriptural and experimental knowledge of the infinite value of the blood of the Son of God, which seems to be the burden of the apostle's argument, and apostatize, and regard that blood of no more value than that of any good man, commit the above-named sin. The man who knows nothing of the Holy Ghost cannot commit the sin against the Holy Ghost.

2. He that despised the sacrifices of Moses' law, which only shadowed forth the realities of the great Sacrifice for sins, died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Now comes the inquiry, Of how much sorer punishment is he worthy who robs Christ of his divine nature, and thus treads him under foot, and regards his blood, the sanctifying, cleansing power of which he has felt, an unholy, or common thing? Spiritualism is leading some to thus apostatize, and commit this high crime in the face of Heaven, and call upon themselves the wrath of the living God.

The word rendered unholy in the expression, "unholy thing," is κοινος, and is defined by Greenfield thus: "Common, belonging equally to several."

Robinson defines it, "Common, shared alike by all."

Liddell and Scott define it, "Common, shared in common."

Parkhurst defines it, "Common, belonging to several, or of which several are partakers."

Bloomfield, in his comment on this text, thus paraphrases the passage: "And who regards the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified as a thing common and ordinary, no more than that of a man, and consequently having no expiatory efficacy."

The Syriac reads, "How much more, think ye, will he receive capital punishment, who hath trodden upon the Son of God, and hath accounted the blood of his covenant, by which he is sanctified, as the blood of all men, and hath treated the Spirit of grace with contumely?"

Macknight translates, "Of how much sorer punishment, think you, shall he be counted worthy, who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and reckoned the blood of the institution by which he was sanctified, a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of favor?"

3. Vengeance belongs to God. He will recompense the boastful, apostate blasphemer in his own good time. He has freely given his own divine Son a sacrifice for a race suffering under the results of sin. He offers through the blood of Christ to make them his heirs, and finally seat them upon the throne of his Royal Son. And in his word he holds forth the sacrificial blood of the Lamb of infinite value. For those whose minds have been enlightened upon this subject, and could sing, as the triumphant sentiment of their entire being,

"Worthy, worthy, is the Lamb That was slain,"

and then regard that blood of no more value as a sacrifice for sins, than their own blood would be should they be killed by a mob, commit the highest crime in the sight of Heaven that it is possible for them to commit.

The sin of those who slew the Lamb of God was comparatively small. They did it through ignorance. Christ in his agony could pray for those who were nailing him to the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Those who have had no experience in the things of the Spirit of God, may drift into Spiritualism, and finally be rescued; but "it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Heb. vi, 4–6.

4. Such fearfully fall into the hands of the living God. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Christ in infinite love and mercy has undertaken the cause of sinners, and those who accept of him as the sacrifice for sins, are in the hands of a merciful mediator. But those who apostatize from a state of loyalty and acceptance with God through the blood of his Son, and tread under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant wherewith they were sanctified no more than the blood of any good man, fall into the hands of the living God, rebels to his government, and covered with the high crime of rejecting salvation through faith in the blood of his dear Son. We close with the words of the text, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."