11. Jesus the Only Way, Hebrews 6:4-9

[Music] good morning everybody let's open up our Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter six as you're finding your way to that passage I do want to remind you of something that's very important because this morning we're only going to be taking a look at I don't know five or six verses and I think it's it's important for us to take such a short section because of where we're going and what we need to talk about but there's always this danger of losing the big picture of the book of Hebrews let's remind ourselves that the letter written to these Christians from a Jewish background in the first century was written to encourage discouraged believers who for several different reasons some of it because of cultural pressure some of it because of persecution they felt like giving up they felt like either turning their backs on Jesus or we could say easing off on the fervor in the sincerity of their Christian life and this letter was written to persuade these believers to keep going strong with that in mind let's take a look now and if you don't mind I'm going to ask you to stand in reverence to the word of the Lord as I read our texture this morning Hebrews chapter six beginning at verse four and ending at verse nine for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and had become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age of come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame for the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God but if it bears thorns and briars it's rejected and near to being cursed whose end is to be burned but beloved we are confident of better things concerning you yes things that accompany salvation though we speak in this manner father would you please make our hearts alive to your Living Word and would you speak to us by the power and the presence of your Holy Spirit right here right now we believe that you will in Jesus name Amen you may be seated this is a passage that we come to and making our way through the letter to the Hebrews and it's a passage of some controversy because it touches on many theological issues that are of concern of some to many people but this is one thing that I want to make very clear I think it's important for us as we approach any passage like this especially a controversial passage that we be careful that we don't try to mold the passage so that it fits into a theological bent or perspective that we have that we don't treat the Scriptures like wax or play-doh that we shape and fit in to a preconceived notion rather to the best of our ability and I'd say it's probably an imperfect ability but to the best of our ability we do the best we can to let the Scriptures speak for themselves instead of trying to conform them to a system of theology so with that in mind let's take a look now at verses 4 5 & 6 of Hebrews chapter 6 where he says where it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly gift and had become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame it's pretty dramatic beginning to the verse 4 don't you think for it is impossible now both in the English rendering this and the ancient manuscripts that the text is taken that word impossible is placed in a position of referent of of emphasis the idea is meant to be emphasized that it is impossible it is without possibility not merely difficult and sometimes we use impossible sort of in a figurative or metaphorical sense in that way don't we oh it's impossible that this could happen impossible that could happen we're really we don't mean actually impossible we mean very difficult or very very difficult but yet how should we regard this as very difficult or as impossible well if you take a look at the book of Hebrews and other places where this word impossible is used I think you get an indication of this for example in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 18 it says that it is impossible for God to lie now does that mean very very hard for God to lie or impossible I think it means impossible any chapter 10 verse 4 it says it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin really really hard or impossible I think impossible and then finally in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 it says that it is impossible to please God without faith again I think you come back to the same thing again and again this isn't talking about something that's very difficult it's talking about something that's genuinely impossible and what is it that it is impossible to do if you notice it says later on in verse 6 it says that it is impossible to renew them again to repentance my friends I gotta say as someone who reads the Bible and hopes to study it carefully and loves to explain it to other people I find this startling this makes me sit up in my chair straight when I'm studying I say wait a minute with the right of the Hebrews under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is telling all of us is there are some people out there it is impossible for them to find repentance now I don't know about you but I find that somewhat disturbing because one of the things I love to emphasize and that I believe that the Bible emphasizes Allah is that the door of repentance is open if you're willing to turn from your sin if you're willing to come to Jesus and have forgiveness of sins and put your trust in who he is and what he did you the door is wide open yet in some sense and some understanding what he's telling us here in very strong terms is that there are some people for whom this repentance is impossible well who are these people I think that they are marked by two significant characteristics the first characteristic is this they have impressive spiritual experiences did you see that list that he rattled off there and verses 4 & 5 I'll read it through again and then we'll take a look at it piece by piece ready who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come that's five different characteristics if you put them all together that's pretty impressive look at the three that are mentioned in verse four first of all it says that they were once enlightened the idea behind that is just simply what we would say in English light has come into them light has come upon them where once they were in darkness now they have light secondly it says that they have tasted the heavenly gift in other words it's been an experience that they have taken in within themselves and I know that some people might approach that and say well taste it means just to bite something and then maybe spit it out or something like that maybe a light experience and I'll agree it could be understood that way however when you take a look at the other places in the book of Hebrews where he uses it idea of tasted it's a very strong use such as in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9 where it says that Jesus tasted death he didn't take just a nibble he fully subjected himself under the power of death and then triumphed over it in resurrection the third thing mentioned in verse 4 is it says that they have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and Friends this is pretty strong phrase I can't tell you I know exactly what this means because it's a completely unique phrase in the New Testament Jesus never used it in the Gospels Paul never used it in his letters James and Peter etc they don't use it and so what we don't know exactly precisely what this phrase mean it means to have some kind of sharing with some kind of fellowship some kind of participation with the Holy Spirit and then you go to the two characteristics that are mentioned in verse 5 where it says they have tasted the good word of God this means that they have experienced the goodness of God's Word and they have seen that goodness at work in them and then finally in verse 5 it says that they have experienced something of the powers of the age to come that there are supernatural spiritual experiences that have touched their life so when you take this list in totality once enlightened having tasted the heavenly gift having become partakers the Holy Spirit never tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come all five of them together if you take that list what do you make of such a person I'll tell you what I make of them I might just put them in leadership here in the congregation I mean I got to say that's a pretty impressive list if somebody would to be put in some position of servanthood or leadership here in our congregation and have some you knows place of note well we would want to know well what what kind of spiritual maturity do they have one that kind of character that they have and somebody could rattle off those five things about him my heart might be at ease I might say well that's that's pretty good look here's kind of difficulty pastors and teachers and Bible scholars and seemingly everyone has an opinion on this particular passage whether or not this passage describes someone who is a true Christian or someone who is not a true Christian does this describe a true believer or a false believer and so this is a matter of great big controversy whether this person is genuinely a Christian or simply thinks of themselves as a Christian now I suppose in this it's helpful for me to fine just a little bit what a true Christian is and of course that's a pretty big subject I can't go too into it in depth but let me deal with it just in this beginning idea a true Christian I think needs to be understood in this sense it's not only so to speak receiving salvation in the sense let's just say that you know here's like a ticket to heaven okay well I'm handing out tickets to heaven who wants one well I want one I'll take it great I got the ticket to heaven I put it in my pocket great everything's good great I got the ticket to heaven I go on living my life okay in a biblical understanding that person falls short of what we would call a true Christian experience because even though being a Christian it definitely involves and it begins by receiving something freely given by God there's no doubt about that God freely gives it and we freely receive it by faith yet the biblical understanding is something like this that once we receive this and we take it into our life there is a transforming effect of God's holy spirit upon our lives and if I genuinely hold this ticket to heaven so to speak there's gonna be some transforming work of God upon me now look we understand this the changes don't come all at once and there's some of us who have walk with the Lord for a long time and we recognize he still got some changing to do in me alright well maybe it is just me maybe it's not any of you but it is me he's got some changing to do in me we recognize that the changes don't come all at once and we also recognize that the changes are not complete until we come to be in glory with Jesus himself that's when the changes will be complete yet nevertheless being a Christian is more than just receiving a ticket to heaven it's having once received it God works a transforming power upon my life now this is what we understand biblically that it is possible for a person to have significant spiritual experiences and still not genuinely belong to Jesus Christ are you aware that I mean if you look at the pages of the Bible it's actually quite impressive and maybe just a little bit scary I mean Jesus mentioned that there would be people who did many spectacular things and on the last day that they would come to him and they would say Lord Lord didn't we do me as many things in your name and what would be his response to them depart from me I never knew you I also look at another class of people in the scriptures that really frankly sort of frightens me and I think in a good way it warns me let's say that not so much frightens me it warns me and those people are a very impressive group in the New Testament this is what they did they energetically evangelized they impressively prayed they made rigorous religious commitments they strictly and they carefully tithe they honored religious traditions and they practiced fasting regularly do you know who I'm talking about the Pharisees of Jesus's day impressive religious experiences absolutely a heart truly changed by Jesus Christ no so it's a it's possible for someone to have a pedigree of spiritual experience without actually having a transformed heart by Jesus Christ but yet we have to come back and look at this from the only perspective that we have and that's a human perspective friends if I see somebody who has the five things mentioned that the writer of Hebrews mentioned in verses four and five I look at their life and by all appearance to me they're a believer I'm sorry I don't have the x-ray spectrograph binoculars that can look into their soul and actually see the status of their soul I don't have any of those I don't think God gave you any of those out but all we can talk about is what we can see and by all appearance those people have impressive spiritual experiences and we would regard them as believers as followers of Jesus Christ so that's the one thing we know about these people number one they at least have the appearance of being followers of Jesus Christ number two look at this in verse six we know they fall away it says there in verse six if they fall away I put emphasis on that when I said that on the word away because I think that there is a very important distinction to make in our understanding of biblical truth between falling and falling away I think it's possible for a man or a woman who really loves God to fall to stumble into some kind of sin to seize upon some kind of doubt to conform to the world in some way or another to fall yet to pick themselves back up again God's grace working in them and to continue on the way but then there's other people they just don't only seem to fall they seem to fall away I like the way that proverbs 24 illustrates this verse 16 says this for a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again but the wicked shall fall by calamity I mean if I could put that sort of into New Testament language you could say this a righteous man may fall and get back up but the wicked fall away and if one does fall away from Jesus look what the writer to the Hebrews says he says there is no possibility of restoring them again to importance now why is it because their sin is too bad I wonder if some people fear that okay your sin and your sin and your sin okay that's right Jesus can deal with that but your sin over there forget it you're gone it's too big for Jesus he can't deal with that no that's not the idea at all you see the idea is they can't find repentance because they are not seeking it in Jesus they're seeking repentance through religious traditions there speak is seeking repentance through what they might do to save themselves they're seeking repentance in some other way but I'll tell you this if you're not seeking repentance in Jesus it is impossible to restore you unto God he is the only path of repentance you could say that this is the difference between a Peter and a Judas what do I mean by that we remember these two from the Ministry of Jesus these two men who were both disciples of Jesus and followed him around as members of the twelve did not they both betray Jesus did not they both turn their backs on Jesus in some way or another they both betrayed Jesus they both turned their backs on him they both denied him in some way or another yet Peter was restored he was restored so much that he was restored back to a sense of leadership among the Apostles themselves Peter was restored but Judas fulfilled the role that Jesus spoke of him and that he went away and became the son of perdition now what's the difference between the two not so much in their sin and not so much in the fact that they both offered some kind of repentance you know Peter repented before the Lord of course he did and he was restored but you know the Judas offered up a type of repentance Judas felt terrible about what he did horrible he was so racked with guilt so racked was shamed that the you know what the Bible says it he did then he took that bag of the thirty pieces of silver and he went over to the temple and he cast it into the temple and it was scattered all around and he said I don't want anything to do with his blood money listen he was grieved he went to the temple it was some kind of a religious act but I'll tell you what Judas did not do is he did not seek any kind of repentance in Jesus he sought it in ceremony he sought it in his own grief he thought maybe that his own sorrow could have toned for his sins but none of that could do it only Jesus and because his repentance wasn't found in Jesus it was impossible for that so-called repentance to restore him see I think that this difficult passage is best understood in the context of the first two verses of Hebrews chapter 6 you see remember those two verses we studied him a couple weeks ago and I would recommend to you the tape or the video of that you could see it on our website you see there the writer of the Hebrews meant that if they retreated back to Judaism back to the safe common ground of common doctrines so they wouldn't face the stress of persecution or social pressure against them anymore but all that sort of safe calm and comfortable ground would do them no good that they had to live a distinctively Christian life and so I just imagined one of these Old Testament which should be one of these New Testament followers of Jesus from a Jewish background saying well you know they have Cilmi for praying to Jesus they hassle me for considering these in Messiah but I want to repent of my sins I'll just go up to the temple and offer sacrifice do you see what the right of the Hebrews are saying saying don't you think that that kind of repentance is gonna do anything for you that kind of repentance it's impossible to restore you to God that way because you got to turn to Jesus or you can't turn it off and do you see that this really makes sense then what is it that is impossible to renew them to repentance it's were possible to renew somebody to repentance if they don't come to Jesus himself with that repentance and the message to these Christians who felt like giving up was clear if you continue on with Jesus don't excuse me if you don't continue on with Jesus don't suppose that you're gonna find salvation by going on with the ideas or the experiences that Christianity and Judaism happen to share if you are not trusting in Jesus you have no grounds for confidence at all there's no safety in a Christian life that's not distinctively Christian now this helps explain why they can't repent and the idea is not if you fall away you can't ever come back to Jesus which by the way sort of interestingly at least to me that's how it was understood at some phases in church history there were times in the church where people sincerely wanted to come back to Jesus and the church told them nope forget it sorry here's your ticket to hell do not pass go do not collect $200 go right there I think that's a tragedy and a misunderstanding of the scripture but rather if their repentance isn't focused in Jesus it's impossible No the idea is not you can't ever come back to Jesus but the idea is if you turn your back on Jesus don't expect to find salvation anywhere else not even in the practice of religion apart from the fullness of Jesus it'll never do you any good now friends I think that that's the most simple and straightforward way to understand this difficult passage but I think in really grabbing a hold of it we got to deal with some Christian cliches that I think muddy the water and let me say this word about Christian cliches I am NOT all in all against some Christian cliches sometimes are very helpful sometimes they sort of put a handle on something that's good for us to understand so I'm not against all Christian cliches sometimes I'll use them but sometimes they're not helpful so let me talk about two Christian cliches statements that are not found in the Bible that are commonly spoken among Christians and I don't think they're particularly helpful but because they're not in the Bible I feel very free to criticize them so here we go number one the phrase is losing your salvation I don't like that phrase you know what I'd like about it first of all it sounds so casual doesn't it or I lost my keys I lost my wallet where's my this salvation I placed it some I just don't know where it is I must have lost it I must have lost it and there's a complication on top of that isn't it I mean how is someone who's born again by the Spirit of God how do they get unborn again someone who's sealed by the Holy Spirit how do they get unsealed by the Spirit of God I can't figure those ones out so I don't like this idea this phrasing losing your salvation and as I said because it's not a biblical phrase I feel free to knock that out in my Christian phrase book let's just say well let's just it just doesn't interest me I'm just not gonna use that here's another Christian cliche that I don't particularly like once saved always saved I don't like that one either and let me tell you there's a few reasons why I don't like it number one it's because to me when I hear that phrase it seems to imply that we already possess the entirety of our salvation where the Bible says to me and says to all of us very clearly that you were saved you are being saved and you will be saved and to me it just sort of is it sort of a trite misunderstanding of what this business of salvation is all about in our life but the other thing that I don't like about this too is this idea of once saved always saved that particular phrase bothers me because to me it suggests something that we go back to with the ticket right well I was a junior high camp and I got the ticket and I haven't given Jesus of recognition since in my life but man I got the ticket once with the ticket always with the ticket right now look there's nobody who actually believes that I mean even people who believe in the security of the believer they believe that it's demonstrated by an ongoing walk but you see I think that that phrase isn't helpful in understanding this so I got a proposal let's replace some phrases let's replace this phrase losing your salvation let's replace it with this the falling away of the apparent believer does this text tell us that someone who is an apparent believer can fall away it certainly seems like it that's what the whole warning is engineered towards so I would rather replace losing your salvation with the idea of the falling away of the apparent believer number two I'd replace the phrase once saved always saved with this how about this really saved always saved now I can I can dig on that that's like yes I mean if somebody's really transformed by the Spirit of God then they're secure in that and and the evidence of the reality of it is proved in their life as they continue to live I mean when I think of it those terms to me at least it's not that complicated it's actually fairly simple and with that sort of mentality they're in my heart as a pastor it enables me to minister to people the way that I should because I'm very aware that when I speak to people and try to connect with them on the basis of what God needs to do their life sometimes I'm speaking to two very different kinds of people aren't I not sometimes I'm speaking to that weak discouraged believer who just is so insecure and they wonder oh is God gonna hang on to me and I need to come alongside of them and put my arm around them and say you are so secure in Jesus brothers sister would you please get your eyes off yourself and put them on your Savior would you please just put your trust in him and realize that far more important than you holding on to him he's holding on to you and you're secure in him and that's what I want to do to that weak insecure discouraged believer then again we have the believer that's kind of rebellious and maybe they are in sin maybe they're in a season of compromise maybe it's like the Prophet Nathan speaking to King David in his season of sin and what did he do did he put his brave big arms of the Prophet around him and say oh don't worry about it David you're safe and that no heed I hope I'm not speaking disrespectfully here he kicked him in the rear end and he said you better be cautious here friend and that's the other pastoral way that I need to speak to people sometimes I need to put my arm around say listen I don't deny that God has done a work in your life but you better watch out you're treading on some dangerous ground here you need to come back and abide in Jesus the way that he's called you to this isn't messing around this is a bad path that you're on you need to repent and I just pray that God would give me the wisdom and give you the wisdom because you're ministering to people into similar circumstances but I pray that God would give us all the wisdom to know when to comfort the afflicted and when to afflict the comfortable and that's what we can do when we understand these passages are right now in verses 7 and 8 he sort of gives an illustration of the very serious consequences of falling away look he says this in 7 and 8 for the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears you herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God but if it bears thorns and briars it is rejected and near to being cursed who and is to be burned you see the picture that he's using there in verses 7 & 8 here the rain comes down and it waters ground but the ground doesn't bear any fruit so what's the farmer gonna do run the plough through it burn it up let's plant something all over again that ground needs to bear fruit and friends with the right of the Hebrews is trying to assure us of is that the security we need in Jesus is evidence by I'm not going to say it's founded on this but it's evidenced by the bearing of fruit in our life the transformation that I spoke of before and so do you know something of that I wonder if this morning I'm not speaking to some people well you kind of thought that live being a Christian was just about receiving this ticket and putting it in your pocket and right now you honestly say has there been any transformation in my life has the Holy Spirit of God come within me and do I have any desire to live truly as a spiritual man or as a spiritual woman before God I say if that's your question would you please settle it with the Lord you can really settle it with them very quickly very easily right here right now let's take a look here at verse 9 but again understanding this principle that real faith is going to show on the life the grace that saves my soul is also going to change my life and it will show evidence even unto the end anyway verse 9 but beloved we are confident of better things concerning you yes things that accompany salvation though we speak in this manner now there are some people who take this word of assurance in verse 9 we are confident of better things concerning you to mean that the warning that the writer of the Hebrews just gave wasn't real that this is almost his way of saying just kidding I don't regard it that way at all I don't think that this is a great big just kidding in the text but I do think it's placed there for a very important reason you see he was confident a better thing concerning them because I think the writer of Hebrews understood that there's more than one reason why someone might fall away as he mentioned previously I think there's some people they fall away maybe out of intellectual reasons or or doubts that come in maybe they hear some hotshot skeptic or opponent of Christianity and maybe they're not equipped to know better answers know how to answer somebody and maybe that makes them say well I'm gonna turn my back on Jesus I'm not gonna seek God through him anymore I'm gonna maybe it's that maybe there's other people who turn their back on Jesus in some way or another because of the moral demands that following Jesus puts on our life we're aware of this aren't we the following Jesus means that the transforming power that he brings into our life is a power that enables us to live a particular way and it's a power that enables us not perfectly but certainly in a general direction to live according to the morality that God gives us in the Bible and let's face it there's some people they just don't want to live according that morality the Bible says that there's a certain way that we should regard sexual morality or life and we just need to conform to this God helping us we will that certain things having to do with intoxicating substances or a materialistic lifestyle or pride or whatever you could just go on and on and make a list but you understand that there's some people who at least in appearance they fall away from Jesus because they don't want to live under those moral demands any longer but you know I don't think that those two groups are really who the writer the Hebrews most has in mind in this passage I think the bigger of these groups is not the first one the intellectual one not the second one the moral one the third one is those who are tempted to turn their back on Jesus just because they're weary and discouraged they feel the constant pressure that there is in living a life that glorifies Jesus in a world in a culture that doesn't care much for him and that pressure wears on them in a discouraging way they're discouraged by the constant battle that they have to live to glorify Jesus in their family at their workplace in their neighborhood whatever it is and because of that weariness because of that discouragement they're tempted to just first loosen their grip on Jesus and then let go perhaps and with the writer of the Hebrews he says no way not you I'm confident better things concerning you and if I could just say if I could be bold enough to say it in the Lord I'll say the same thing to you no way not you you're discouraged you feel weakened perhaps you feel attacked but today next week next month your whole life it's not the time for letting go of Jesus or turning back from him in any way we are confident of better things concerning you know that good work that Jesus Christ has begun in you he's going to continue it until the day that it's perfected so for some of you you need to come back and just say Jesus you know I've been discouraged Jesus you know I've been down but Jesus would you please bring that transforming power of the Holy Spirit into my life I want to press forward because I assure you friends there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved you think you can turn your back on Jesus and get to heaven by a good moral life you think you can turn your back on Jesus and get to heaven through church attendance you think you can turn your back on Jesus and I could go on and on down the list but you get the idea no we reorient our compass more than ever dead reckoning right upon Jesus our Savior the only way and in him we are utterly completely secure father that's my prayer for each and every one of us lord I think of how much you love every person in this room I think of how patient and merciful you have been and you are with me I think about the tie Lord that I've fallen but thank you Jesus I am falling away Lord I pray that you'd give renewed energy that you'd give renewed strength that you'd give renewed inspiration to your children here right here right now today encourage the discouraged and we take this Lord as a real warning but receive it hopeful that we will you working innocent through us continue to the end we thank you for it all Lord in Jesus name you know it's totally appropriate for us to make some kind of response to God in his word so let's do it now in worship we worship Him we'll prepare our hearts for prayer but sing some prayers to the Lord and let the word that he's spoken to us digest so to speak let's come before him right now in an attitude of worship [Music] you

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: hebrews 6, hebrews, david guzik, guzik, enduring word, jesus the only way, book of hebrews

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Length: 36min 48sec (2208 seconds)

Published: Wed May 22 2019