Hold Fast the Profession of Our Faith Without Wavering

Ezekiel 23:1-49; Hebrews 10:19-39; Psalm 109:1-31; Proverbs 27:13

Hold Fast the Profession of Our Faith Without Wavering
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 veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an 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. – Hebrews 10:19-25

If You Sin Willfully After that We have Received the Knowledge of the Truth
For if we sin wilfully 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. – Hebrews 10:26-31

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. – Hebrews 10:32-36

We are Not of Them Who Draw Back
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. – Hebrews 10:37-39

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Brought from Egypt
Neither left she her whoredoms brought from Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her. – Ezekiel 23:8

The phrase brought from Eygpt implies that her prostitution was a seed planted long before they came to Egypt. 

Sin takes hold and is so deceiving that we can think we have pulled it up at the roots when we have actually only mowed the lawn around it. 

We don’t just one day find we have sinned. We don’t just suddenly begin sacrificing our lives and the lives of those around us. No, sinning happened because of our lusts. Seeds of lusts (idolatries), every form of wickedness, and even the seeds of our “little” sins all lie hidden in our hearts.

We can pull out our weed-eater, place chemicals on and around the weeds, and even try to burn them out. We can try, but if even one tiny piece of the root lives, before long that weed will return. When it appears above the surface again, we will act shocked and justify it, but it has always been there.

The images from scriptures of removing leprosy or leaven from the home before Passover show the diligence needed to rid the temple and home and our hearts of sin. Once a sin (any sin)is found, it must be swept out and destroyed, and then the heart must be regularly examined and reexamined and reexamined. Why? To check for recurring outbreaks; to see if the devil, who knows your wick places, has gained a foothold.

We must also remember a seed and its root system are underground, and what we can see of a mature plant looks nothing like the tangled mass of roots that we can’t see. 

But we planted or allowed someone else to plant that seed. To find the true root of our sin, we need prayer, revelation, and trust that God is working things out in our lives. But uprooting it looks like confession, repentance, laying it on the altar, and leaving it there.

Leave it there! Leave it there! Leave it there! 

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That They May Know that This is Thy Hand
Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; That thou, LORD, hast done it. – Psalm 109:26-27

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Surety for a Stranger
Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, And take a pledge of him for a strange woman. – Proverbs 27:13