A Fearful Expectation of Judgement Versus A Confident Expectation Of Good

18 May 2008 

1st Service preached by Ps Jo Prince

boker tov = morning, good

layla tov = night, good

Deacon Chee Ram’s testimony of how he has been flu-free for 2 years: Reject the symptons and the expectation that the symptoms will lead to full-blown sickness and  your body will not manifest. Be conscious of the zoe life  in you rather than the so-called symptons in body. The life of Christ in you swallows up every weakness.

Heb 10:26-27

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

The act of sinning willfully = rejecting Jesus Christ as messiah

This is because we have to be consistent. The “sin” in Heb 10:26 can only refer to rejection of Jesus Christ. If this is not so, we are finished and disqualified from salvation.

The fiery indignation of Heb 10:27 refers to the fire on the Temple when attacked and burnt by Roman general Titus. Jesus went to the Cross at about AD 30 and Romans sacked Jerusalem in AD 70. The Jews were preached and exhorted to by Peter, James, etc for about 40 years but sinned wilfully in still rejecting Jesus as Messiah. The consequence was the sacking of Jerusalem and its Temple.

In Hebrews, it is recorded that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father having finished the work on the Cross. However, Stephen, the first martyr post Cross, before he was stoned by the Jews said this in Acts 7:56: “… Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”. Jesus is standing Stephen’s vision because He has a special covenant with Israel and He would immediately come back to Earth and rescue Israel had they called upon Him as Messiah.

Jesus succeeded in nullifying the power of sin in separating us from GOD.  With respect and in reverence, His death on the Cross did not stop us from us commiting sins daily. What happened on the Cross is that He died to remove the appeal and power of sin in our lives.

The power of sin lies in guilt and shame.

You do not preach about character in order to produce character. You preach about Jesus and that produces character and fruit of the spirit.

In the New Covenant, we are sons not servants. After instructing our children, should they fail, we don’t disown or replace them. We continue instructing them. This is the same with GOD. He continues to insturct us despite our repeated failures. In the Old Covenant, the Hebrews were servants and not sons.

Heb 10:23: “Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith [Greek = elpis] without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)”

Elpis (Strongs’ #1680) is almost always translated as HOPE which is defined as: a ceryain joyful and confident expectation of good.

Don’t play the blame game! Don’t find out who sined when someone falls ill. If there is sickness, heal it. If there is a need, meet it! This principile is drawn from the story of Jesus healing the blind man  born blind but not before being queried by disciples on reason for man’s blindness and whether it was due to the man’s sin or his parents’. It was a silly question in the sense that the disciples even contemplated attributing blindness to a child’s sin before he was even born. The disciples and so many of us are so sin-conscious in their every-day lives that they asked silly questions.

Where judgement is concerned, we expect it easily.  This is the normal human response. But where HOPE is concerned, we must hold FAST to it. Why? As this is contrary to normal human expectation.

When you have expectation of judgement, you get stressed and many diseases are stress induced. Expectation of judgement also leads to relationship problems.

Heb 10:2-4

“For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those [sacrifices there is] a remembrance again [made] of sins every year. For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”

Heb 10:12

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

Heb 10:17-19

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these [is, there is] no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, “

Jesus does not remember sins = He does not punish you for those sins.

We should emulate Jesus example too.

In the NT there is no expectation of punishment for sin. This is in direct contract to OT expectation of punishment – e.g. the proclamation by GOD that He will visit sin to children’s children

The lesson we draw from Heb 10 is that should we sin, we don’t have expectation of judgement but expectation of good.

The only time Grace is effective is when we are undeserving, That is why Grace manifests most in those who are most useless in the natural. They are the most ‘graced’.

First accusation against Paul:

Rom 6:1-2

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

What Paul actually preached:

Rom 5:19-20

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded [greek = pleonazo] , grace did much more abound:”

When you are in Christ, you are no longer in Sin.

Sin “abounded” or “increased”  i.e. Pleonazo #Strongs’ 4121

Grace “did much more abound” i.e hyperperisseuō = soared in superabundance and much more on top of that, or abound beyond measure, overflow

Therefore where sin increased, Grace soared in superabundance and much more on top of that.

Second accusation against Paul:

Rom 3:8

“And not [rather], (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.”

Paul never said to purposely do evil so as to produce good. Paul, said that, EVEN if evil comes, good will arise out of it.

GOD’s supply is always greater than the need. A good illustration is the Sun. The Earth requires the Sun’s energy for survival yet most of the Sun’s energy is dissipated into Space and not actually used by the Earth. The Earth only uses a tiny fraction of Sun’s energy.

A good example of where sin increases, grace much more abounds is in Abraham’s life:

Gen 12:10-20

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Gen 13:1-2

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.”

Abraham a picture of man justified by faith gives us the testimony of superabunding grace in the above chapters notwithstanding the sin he did.

AFTER the Sin-Offering is made, becaue of the operation of Grace, the offeror is now better off than before he offered the sin-offering, he is now not only forgiven  (and without sin) BUT righteous (and in a position to attract all the blessings of Heaven) . The very place of evil, good comes out of it.

Heb 8:12

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no [Greek = ou mei] more.”

Heb 10:17

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no [Greek = ou mei] more.”

ou mei = Greek (Strongs #3364) = no no (double negative) or never ever

GOD will never ever remember our sins because of Jesus.

When you forgive be like Jesus. Forgive and forget. Jesus has paid for the sin. This was the way Jesus operated even when He walked the earth.

Rom 4:6-8

“Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [Saying], Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not [Greek = ou mei] impute sin.”

That is why, we can have a certain confident expectation of good.

Once you impute sin on yourself, sickness etc will follow.

In the Hall of Faith mentioned in Heb 11, no sins are mentioned. Why? Because Jesus Christ has obliterated all the sins. Your past cannot block the future.

Another example of where sin increases, Grace much more abounds is Matt 1:1-6 and the inclusion of 4 women of dubious background in Jesus geneology. E.g. Rahab was a harlot and Tamar dressed up like one to deceive Judah. The lesson we draw here is that your past does not determine negatively your future. Rahab and Ruth were Gentiles, while Bathsheba and Tamar were Jews. For both Jew and Gentile, God redeems your past and gives you a bright future.

EVERY fall, will make us fall even more in love with Jesus.

FACE LIFE WITH A CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOOD.

© 30 May 2008 Yeo Choon Meng Terence