Message Playback: Peril of Unbelief | Jesus is Better | Week 18 | Noah Fox | Liberty Church

Hebrews 10 gives a strong warning and a real encouragement. The passage says that “if” a person goes on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, then there is no sacrifice left for sins, only a fearful expectation of judgment. The warning lands on the person who has heard the gospel, knows the truth, has every chance to turn back, and still keeps moving away from Christ. Benedict Arnold had over a year to turn back, but when the truth came, he ran. Hebrews 10 describes that same kind of danger, because what a person does with Christ today shapes what that person receives from him in the end.

The passage does not treat sin like a hand problem or an eye problem. Jesus’ words about cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye press deeper than behavior management. A person could lose legs, hands, eyes, ears, and smell, and still lust in the heart. The problem was never the hands. It was the heart. God’s remedy is not self-improvement, sinning less, or trying harder to appease him. God gives a new heart by grace through faith because Christ has paid the penalty for sin on the cross.

Hebrews 10 then turns from warning to encouragement. The text calls weary believers to remember former days when faith cost them something. These believers endured reproach, affliction, prison ministry, and the plundering of property because they knew they had a better possession and an abiding one. The passage does not explain all the reasons why suffering comes. It points back to the joy that carried them through it. Paul stood alone at his defense, deserted by everyone, but the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. Real weariness is real, but so is God’s presence.

The passage finally draws a line: shrink back or hold on. The believer is told not to throw away confidence because it has a great reward. The reward of Christ is not like an earthly trophy that gets packed away, stolen, faded, or replaced by a replica. World Cup winners may lift the real trophy for a moment, but they do not keep it. God’s reward is the real thing, and it is permanently his people’s possession. Hebrews 10 does not make true believers nervous. It reminds them that God finishes what he starts, and real faith keeps holding on to Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Sin is a heart problem Jesus’ picture of cutting off the hand or gouging out the eye does not let sin stay on the surface. The deepest issue is not access, opportunity, or the body part involved, but the corrupted heart that keeps wanting what God forbids. Grace does not merely restrain behavior. Grace gives a new heart where self-rescue could never reach. [16:12]
• 2. Deliberate rejection has real consequences Hebrews 10 speaks with weight because knowing the truth and refusing Christ is not a small thing. The danger is not weakness that runs to mercy, but a settled turning away that keeps rejecting the only sacrifice for sin. Hell is not a scare tactic in the text. It is the fearful reality of permanent separation from God and everything good. [10:45]
• 3. Weariness belongs before Christ The passage remembers believers who suffered, lost property, and still held onto a better possession. God does not always explain the why, and unanswered suffering can feel heavier because of that silence. The hope of the weary is not an explanation big enough to remove the pain. The hope is the Lord who stands by his people and strengthens them. [24:37]
• 4. Confidence must not be thrown away Hebrews 10 ties endurance to reward, not because believers earn salvation, but because real faith keeps clinging to Christ. Shrinking back begins quietly when hardship isolates a person from the gathered people of God. Confidence is protected as faith stays glued to Christ and to his people. The reward at the end is real because God always finishes what he starts. [31:47]
• 5. Earthly trophies are only temporary The World Cup image shows how even the greatest earthly reward can be held for a moment and then taken back. The world gives replicas, fading praise, and trophies that can be packed away or stolen. God gives what cannot fade, break, or be shipped away. Christ’s reward is not a copy of something better.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:58] - Prayer for Faith and Courage
• [01:30] - Benedict Arnold and Betrayal
• [06:25] - Hebrews 10 Warning Begins
• [08:23] - Real Rejection Brings Consequences
• [10:45] - The Reality of Hell
• [12:15] - Jesus and the Seriousness of Sin
• [16:12] - The Problem Is the Heart
• [19:08] - Bring Weariness to Christ
• [22:16] - Suffering Without Easy Answers
• [24:37] - The Lord Stood by Paul
• [28:11] - Shrink Back or Hold On
• [32:25] - Real Faith and Real Reward
• [35:08] - Earthly Trophies Fade
• [42:07] - Diagnostic Questions and Response

Bible Reading

Hebrews 10:26-39
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” [06:25] [19:16] [28:26]

Matthew 5:27-30
“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” [12:15]

2 Timothy 4:16-17
“At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.” [24:37]

Observation questions

1. In Hebrews 10:26-39, what two different paths are set side by side, and what outcome belongs to each path? [28:26]
2. What kinds of suffering did the believers in Hebrews 10 endure, and what actions did they still take toward others in the middle of that suffering?
3. In Matthew 5:27-30, which body parts does Jesus mention, and where does he say adultery has already taken place? [16:12]
4. In 2 Timothy 4:16-17, who abandoned Paul, and who remained with him? What did the Lord do for him? [24:37]

Interpretation questions

1. Hebrews 10 warns about going on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth. How is that different from a believer who is weak, struggling, and still running to Christ for mercy? [08:23]
2. Jesus speaks about the eye and the hand, but the deeper issue is the heart. Why does that matter for how a person thinks about fighting sin? [16:12]
3. Hebrews 10 remembers believers who suffered and still held on because they knew they had “a better possession and an abiding one.” What does that reveal about what gave them strength to endure? [21:14]
4. Hebrews 10 says, “Do not throw away your confidence,” and later says, “we are not of those who shrink back.” How do those words both warn and encourage at the same time? [31:47]

Application questions

1. Sin is not mainly a hand problem or an eye problem, but a heart problem. When temptation shows up in daily life, is the main response just behavior control, or is there an honest turning to Christ for a changed heart? [18:47]
2. Deliberate rejection of Christ has real consequences. Is there any area where there has been ongoing resistance to what is already known to be true about Jesus? [42:07]
3. Weariness belongs before Christ. What kind of weariness feels most real right now—discouragement, unanswered suffering, doubt, loneliness, or something else? What would it look like to bring that honestly to the Lord instead of hiding it? [27:52]
4. Some believers in Hebrews accepted public reproach, hardship, and even loss of property because they knew they had a better possession. Has following Jesus become costly in a way that has quietly changed faithfulness, courage, or obedience? [43:21]
5. Shrinking back often starts quietly and can show up in pulling away from the gathered people of God. Has hardship made it easier to isolate, skip community, or stay disconnected? What would holding on look like in a practical way this week? [30:45]
6. Earthly rewards fade, get packed away, or turn out to be copies. What earthly reward, comfort, or approval is most tempting to hold onto as if it were permanent? [40:50]
7. The Lord stood by Paul and strengthened him when no one else did. Where is there a need right now to ask not first “why is this happening?” but “how is the Lord meeting me in this?” [24:37]