Full Assurance - [Hebrews 6:9-12]

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I've been here for 21 and a half years now, and one day
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I'll either retire, get fired, move on, or die, and you'll have to find a new pastor.
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What will you look for when you are looking for a new pastor? What kind of qualities or attributes or characteristics would you look for?
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I did some research this week, and one researcher interviewed a few hundred lay people from 60 different churches, and in order of top responses, this is what they said they would look for in a new pastor.
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Number one, the love of the congregation. Number two, effective preaching.
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Number three, strong character. Number four, good work ethic. Number five, cast a vision.
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I have no idea what that means. Demonstrates healthy leadership. Joyous, does not yield to critics, transparent, and models evangelism.
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Some pretty good things on that list in terms of what to look for for a pastor. I also looked up this question, if you're a
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Roman Catholic and you need a new priest, what do you look for for a priest, in a priest?
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And here's what one website said down in Florida. If you need a new priest, this is the kind of priest you need.
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Number one, a love for the Eucharist. Number two, a strong prayer life.
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Number three, need for scripture. Four, generosity. Five, a good listener.
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And they gave some other ones, love for the Catholic Church and its teaching, healthy self -image, courage to take risks, and open to different races, ethnic groups, and cultures.
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If you need a new priest, what do you look for? Here's the interesting thing. If you need someone to represent you before God to be a priest, guess what's the main thing you're looking for?
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What's the main thing that you need in someone to represent you before a thrice holy God? What's the answer?
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Perfection. That's what you need. If you need a pastor to tell you about Jesus, that's one thing.
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That's a pretty good list over there. But if you need someone to intercede on your behalf, to be an advocate, to put one hand on God, as it were,
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Job 9, and the other hand on mankind, to be the intercessor, to be the advocate, to be the lawyer, to be the one who stands before you and God, he better be perfect.
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If you'll take your Bibles and turn to the book of Hebrews, that's what we're talking about in the book of Hebrews, the perfect high priest.
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Linton, what are you doing here? I thought you were preaching at Cape Cod. How'd it go this morning, the sermon? The book of Hebrews is about this perfect high priest.
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And we know from earlier studies, he's not only God, so he can represent us before God, but he's also man.
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He's a human. He's completely human. He's truly human. He's perfectly human, so he can be the great mediator, and he's perfect.
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And the whole book of Hebrews is about this high priest that you have. If you go to chapter 8, verse 1, it summarizes the entire book of Hebrews.
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Hebrews 8 .1, what's this 13 -chapter, sometimes difficult book all about?
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Simply is about chapter 8, verse 1. Now, the point in what we are saying is this.
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We have, present tense, such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven.
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You've got a priest, you've got an advocate, someone to represent you before God. And we're going to need someone who's perfect because if that priest who represents us isn't perfect, he's going to need someone who's perfect to make him have a representative.
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After all, there's only two ways to heaven, right? The first way is complete, perpetual, personal, perfect obedience.
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Perfectly obey God to get to heaven. But we know that cannot happen because of Adam's fall, and we know we're born sinners and we sin.
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So the other way to get to heaven is trust in the one who can perfectly obey for you and who perfectly dies for the transgressions that you've committed.
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Everyone knows there's a God. Everyone has a conscience. Everyone sees creation and they realize they stand before God and they need to give an account.
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They might not want to think about it, but it is, in fact, true. So how can you do that? How can you stand before God knowing who you are, knowing who
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I am? And the answer is we have to have a high priest. So for 13 chapters, this writer is talking about this great high priest.
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You can't hear enough about this priest. You don't want to hear enough about this priest. I received a letter this week from No Compromise Radio, and here's what the letter reads.
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We have the dearest, sweetest pastor and we love him, but his preaching is more like a glorified Bible study.
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From the pulpit, he teaches us how to outline a chapter, how many times a Greek word appears in the New Testament, what
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Calvin or James Boyce has to say about a passage. But he doesn't bring Christ. I love all the things that he teaches us.
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And then I about cried when I read this line. The lady writes, but I need to be reminded that I'm forgiven, that Christ loves me, that I will not lose my salvation despite my remaining sin, the weight of the cross, et cetera.
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What can I say to my pastor? If anything, I would never want to hurt his feelings, as it is apparent that he spends a lot of time preparing his sermons.
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Thanks for any advice. And here's the great thing about the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews reminds you,
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Christian, you're forgiven because you have a great high priest. The book of Hebrews reminds you that this
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God in eternity past set his love on you, and in time, he loves you. And even though you sin,
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Christian, that can undo the love of God. The book of Hebrews reminds us that you can't lose your salvation in spite of remaining sin.
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Everything in this book is about the Lord Jesus and his gospel and how he provides and he accomplishes salvation based on his death at Calvary, his perfect life confirmed by the resurrection.
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If your pastor gets up to preach and he doesn't talk about Jesus, I don't think he has anything to say. I'd like to learn about who
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Jesus is. And this sermon, the book of Hebrews, talks about Jesus over and over and over.
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And that's why we regularly say at this church, if you like to hear about Jesus, you're at the right church. Sinclair Ferguson said, it is disheartening fact that evangelical
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Christians who write vast numbers of Christian books preach sermons, sponsor conferences and seminars, preach few sermons devoted to the theme of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
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We give our best and most creative energies to teaching God's people almost everything except the person and work of the
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Lord Jesus. This should cause us considerable alarm. We need to return to true preaching to the heart rooted in the principle of grace and focused on the person of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Then people will not say about our ministry merely, he was an expository preacher, he was practical, he cut open our consciences.
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Instead, they will say, he preached Christ to me and his preaching was directed to my conscience.
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It was evident that he gave the best of his intellectual skills and the warmth of his compassion to thinking about, living for, and proclaiming his beloved
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Savior, Jesus Christ. That's why we're in the book of Hebrews. So let's go to chapter 6 where we picked up last week.
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And this is a section in chapter 6 that tells us to continue to keep trusting in Jesus, resting in him, believing in him since he is the high priest.
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There are 13 chapters in Hebrews and sprinkled throughout those chapters, there are some warnings because like a good pastor, he not only tells you what the truth is, but he'll warn you and he'll goad you and he'll tell you these things to watch out for.
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And in the book of Hebrews chapter 6, you can sense some of that warning here. Remember that outline from last week, you're not saved by doing religious things, verses 1 and 2.
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You're saved by the work of Christ Jesus and trusting in him. You're not saved by doing religious things.
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Remember verses 1 and 2, chapter 6? Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ, the
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ABCs. Wonderful things, but they're just building blocks, they're just foundations. And go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washing, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
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The preacher is saying, it's one thing to have building blocks, it's another thing to trust in those building blocks.
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When they were pointing to someone else and that other person, that person was Christ. So don't just go by knowledge and religious things.
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Secondly, you're not saved by your own power or your own will. Verse 3, and this we will do, that is go on to maturity, if God permits.
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It is true, Romans 9, that it does not depend on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
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These things are dependent upon the Lord. You're not saved by religious experience, you're not saved by your own power or will, and we looked at last week, verses 4 to 6, you're not saved by having religious experiences.
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Christians can have them, but they're not saved by them. Verses 4 through 6, and when
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I read these, think of Israel in the wilderness, they had religious experiences. Think of Judas, he had religious experience, and they didn't make it into the land, and he didn't make it into eternal life.
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For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, you can feel and sense and think through, enlightened by that pillar of fire in the wilderness, tasted the heavenly gift of manna.
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This is language from the Old Testament, wilderness wanderings that this writer of the book of Hebrews is writing to Hebrews about, and have shared in the
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Holy Spirit, the powerful things the Spirit of God has done, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God.
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They heard from God through Moses, through Aaron, and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the
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Son of God to their own harm, and holding him up to contempt. Remember what the writer is saying?
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If you understand who Jesus is, and you turn your back on the Savior, there's no hope for you because there's not two saviors.
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If there were three saviors and you turn your back on Jesus, fine. If there were two, fine. But since there's only one
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Savior, one mediator, one God -man, when you stiff -arm Jesus, there's no hope for you.
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There's no going back. And it's as if you're saying at the foot of the cross when
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Jesus is getting crucified, crucify him. It's as if you're saying, I'm going to spit in his face because what he's doing,
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I don't want any part of, and the language is actually frightening. They are crucifying once again the
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Son of God. You know, if Jesus comes back, let's crucify him again. We want no part of this man. We will not have this man reign over us.
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And they do it to their own harm as they hold him up to contempt. This is the one that the
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Lord God the Father said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well -pleased. And the people that won't trust in him and believe in him are essentially saying, are effectively saying,
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I will want him crucified again. And you can see this is apostasy.
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Christians can't lose their salvation, but professing people, people that make a profession who don't really possess, they can turn their back.
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And he's warning against people who turn their back on Jesus. And he gives an illustration of this apostasy in verse 7.
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There's fruitful land for the land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated.
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Receives a blessing. And there is a fruitless land. There's a faith that doesn't save.
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It bears thorns and thistles. And then the language here, wow, worthless, cursed, burned.
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That's the end. There's condemnation for those that won't believe. And today, we're going to look at chapter 6 verses 9 through 12.
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You are saved not by just what you know in religious things. You're saved not by your own power or will.
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You're saved not by having these religious experiences only, but you're additionally not saved to just coast, but to persevere.
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This section, verses 9, 10, 11, and 12, is about an encouragement to persevere in the
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Christian faith. And I have in my notes right here, smile and pause.
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Why? Because he talks now completely differently. Verse 9, though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, first time he calls him that, we feel sure of better things.
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What are those better things? Better than verses 1 to 8, things that belong to salvation. Everything in 1 through 8 had nothing to do with salvation, except it was a building block.
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Now, let's talk to you, Christian, beloved. The sense of endearment is there.
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The sense of encouragement is there. You kind of got this warning ringing in your ears, and now this encouragement comes along, and he wants to encourage people.
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What does he say, verses 10 through 12? God's not unjust so as to overlook your work and love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
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And we desire that each one of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
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It's so much a different tone than it was in verses 1 through 8, with cursing and burning and fire, and now it's beloved.
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It's a term of endearment. He calls these listeners, these Christians, the ones that really possess, not just profess.
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He says, you're beloved. That reminds me of when the father said to the son, as I mentioned earlier, this is my beloved son in whom
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I'm well pleased. This term, beloved, is never used in the New Testament to describe unbelievers.
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Oh, there's a general love for unbelievers. Does God love unbelievers? Yes, in a creating way, in a sustaining way, in a providential way, but not in a saving way, not in a way that says, this is my bride.
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And he calls these people here, the Christians, the real possessors, not just the professors, beloved.
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Dear friends, and why is he doing that? He wants to encourage them. He's just got done saying, if you're going to turn your back on Jesus, it's like standing to the cross, spitting on Jesus, but now
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I know you're different. You've been changed. You trust in this Messiah. You trust in this mediator. You're completely different.
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Now let's change the tune. We've gone from kind of this starkness to this kindness.
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And what does he say in verse 9? We feel sure of better things for you. I have this settled persuasion.
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I wish they would not have translated, we feel sure, because I'm always kind of blasting feelings. You know, feelings come and feelings go and all that.
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Don't trust your feelings. Probably the better way to say this is, I've got a settled conviction. I had this conviction about you and I still haven't, that you're the real deal.
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We're warning people that if you're going to turn your back on Jesus, there's hell to pay. But you're different.
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You're different, beloved. And he calls them beloved and I've got this settled conviction. I want to encourage you.
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I want to reassure you. I mean, there were people last week that came up to me and said, I'm a
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Christian, but I'm still afraid of that message you just gave me. And I thought, well, rightfully so, because that message is to make you really examine yourself to see if you're in the faith or not.
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And what I wanted that message last week to do, do you have Judas faith or not, is to just really hit you, settle in.
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And then now this week to encourage you. That person that said to me, I was afraid last week, even though I'm a
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Christian. And now I want to say, but I've got a settled persuasion about you. I've seen you. I've seen your fruit.
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I've seen what you've done. And now let's talk to you, Christian, in an encouraging way, in a better way.
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So for an outline for the rest of the message today, by the way, just to change things up for a second, that was my introduction.
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So, 16 minute introduction. I think it's bad preaching skills to have your watch here and then every once in a while look at a watch.
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Because if you saw me looking at my watch, what would you be thinking? But I want you to know that I can see every one of you at all times, and I can tell when you look at your watch.
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Somebody said to me the other day, I was falling asleep today, Pastor. Could you see me? Yeah, duh, so could everybody else.
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I tell the video people, put them on camera. If you can't motivate by gratitude, you motivate by shame around here.
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He's warned these people who are trusting in Jesus, make sure you really believe. And don't just say, well, I believe that because I had an experience, and I know the facts, and I've got the data down.
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That's not enough. Demons believe that. Now he's going to switch gears because he knows many of these people are
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Christians, and now he wants to encourage. And let me give you the outline. Three responses to Jesus, the great high priest, so that you might persevere.
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Christians, persevere. Yes, you'll be preserved, but here he's talking about the response of the
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Christian to salvation. Since you've got such a great high priest, how should you act? Like pagans?
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No. How should you act? Coast, lay back, and let God? No. How should you act?
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To just be lazy? Hey, I can't lose my salvation. I'm not there spitting on Jesus at the cross again.
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So how should I act? And he says, I want you to persevere. Keep going. Three reasons, three responses, rather, to persevere.
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Number one, persevere a Christian because God is not unjust. That's in verse 10. Persevere a
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Christian because God is not unjust. He gives a reason why he's so confident with this first word, for.
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Why is this preacher so confident in these people? Because he's confident in who
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God is, essentially. He's resting his confidence on the character of God and the response to the character of God.
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For God is not unjust. So as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name, for the sake of the name of God, and for the triune
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God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, when you do other things for him, for his name, do you think God's going to forget?
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For his name. That's right. For in his name, in serving the saints as you still do.
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I want to give you encouragement, the writer says. How do you encourage people? Let's talk about the character of God.
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Let's talk about confidence that God will not forget what you have done. These people have suffered.
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Remember, they're getting persecuted. They're on the run for their faith, and they're tempted to go back to Judaism. And he says,
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I don't want you to do that. And one of the reasons I don't want you to do that is because Judaism's dead. The temple's going to be destroyed soon.
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And the things that you've done for other Christians, the things that you've done for other saints, the things that you have done as you've served them, because you've wanted to serve the
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Lord Jesus, but since he's up in heaven, you've served the people that are his instead. God knows those things.
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He remembers those things. They demonstrate that you have a real affection. You're getting persecuted, yet you're still loving other people.
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And he says, God knows that, because God has worked that in your heart, Ephesians 2 .10. And as you're doing those things,
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God has remembered. You have real affection to God as you have served other people.
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You're not just professing, you possess because you are serving other people. You are loving other people.
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You didn't do that when you were an unbeliever. No, you served other people as an unbeliever, but you never served for his name as an unbeliever.
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And God recognized this. He will give you full payment for what you have done.
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You're not saved by doing these things, but Christians do these things. As evidences, as fruit.
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Perseverance doesn't merit salvation. It just shows that you have it. And he says, I can see it. I can see it in you and God knows.
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He's not going to do the wrong thing. Yes, but you know, I'm suffering and I'm still serving other people. And I know
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I'm supposed to love God and love my neighbor, but it's hard. And he says, Christian, God knows.
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He's a righteous judge. He will reward you on that day. You have given evidence of true piety.
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Be motivated to continue to do the same. God really knows you are tending other
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Christians' needs. This reminds me of Galatians 6, and let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
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So then while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
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Christian, make sure we understand this. The ground of your salvation, the legal standing, is based on the perfect work of Jesus Christ.
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True or false? True. The evidences that come from it are fruit that shows how you love
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God and love your neighbor. That's exactly true. I stand before God based on Christ's life, his work, his intercessory work as representative and risen substitute.
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But that faith alone in Jesus that saves won't be alone when it comes to my sanctification, when it comes to fruit and evidence.
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And this preacher says, I see that in you. I could have said it last week to this man, but I decided not to because I wanted to say it today.
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He said, I'm scared. I'm a Christian and I'm still scared. And I could have said to him, and I say it through the preacher's words of this book.
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Well, you shouldn't be scared because I've seen fruit of Christianity in your life for the last 15 years since you've gotten here.
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And God is not going to be so unjust as to forget that. He knows that it's there. He knows what your heart is.
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Yes, sinful, but still turned. He says, I want you to respond to the great high priest because God is not unjust.
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I want you to to persevere. God knows this. And he he says something else. Verse 11. Persevere because God is not unjust.
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Secondly, the second response. Persevere through earnestness, earnestness.
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Verse 11. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end.
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This word earnest means diligent. Actually, it's a fun Greek word to say. Spudazzo, right?
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If I wanted some kind of a special Italian ice cream, I might say gelato or I might say what?
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Spumoni, what is that? Is there something like that, Spumoni? No, you guys are looking at me. Three people just looked at me with a mean look and that mean look was translated this way.
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Get back to the text. You know nothing about culinary things and comida. You need to get back to the text.
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I'll get back to the text. Spudazzo means with earnestness, with passion, with sweat and with toil.
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God has done all this. He saved you. Your legal standing is set. So how do you respond? I'll just do whatever
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I want. I can be antinomian. I don't have to do anything to keep my standing. That's true.
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You don't have to do anything to keep your standing. But even out of gratitude, and if somebody would love you like that and forgive you all your sins and have the father crush the son in your behalf when you should have been crushed, don't you think you'd want to respond differently now?
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Don't you think you'd say, well, the old me said I've got to get to heaven by keeping the law, by loving
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God and loving my neighbor. I could never do that. I've fallen short. So I'm thankful that Jesus loved
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God and loved his neighbor and I'm trusting in his perfection. And now Jesus hands me that same law, love
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God and love neighbor, because God is immutable and he does not change. His law doesn't change, but now it's handed to me from the son to me.
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And now I say, do you know what? I love other people and love God, not to keep my salvation, not to earn my salvation, not to have legal standing with my salvation, but because of my salvation.
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And now my savior has paid for my sins. Don't I want to respond with earnestness?
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With zeal? And when you do that, guess what you get? What's the text say?
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Assurance. Assurance. And you say to yourself, pastor, didn't you come back from sabbatical and preach four weeks on assurance?
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Yes, because I knew I was getting here. Remember assurance. Nine times out of 10 as Christians, we say assurance is based on what we do.
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And if you're not doing the right things as Christians, you don't get assurance. That's true, but it's not primary.
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Here's how you get assurance. You fix your hope completely on the work of Christ Jesus. You say to yourself, listen, chapter one, matter of fact, we should just do this.
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Let me give you the objective basis of your assurance that's primary. Go back to chapter one. We can't just come to chapter six and say, listen, assurance is only based on earnestness.
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It's not only based on earnestness. It's based on chapters one, two, three, four, and five and earnestness.
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And one, two, three, four, and five, talk about the objective work of Christ. Remember Luther, when I look to myself,
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I don't know how I can be saved. When I look to the Lord Jesus, I don't know how I can be lost. Let's look at the
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Lord Jesus in chapter one, verse three. He's the radiance of the glory of God and exact imprint of his nature.
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He upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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He purified sins, it is finished. He sat down. That's the objective work of Christ.
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He paid for all believers sins. Chapter two, verse 14. What's assurance driving from?
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The objective work of Christ primarily, secondarily earnestness. Since therefore, chapter two, verse 14, the children share in flesh and blood.
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He himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has power of death.
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That is the devil and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
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For it is surely not the angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation or assuage wrath for the sins of the people.
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For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
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How do you get assurance? Objectively, you look at the work of God. You look at the promises of God. You look at the love of God.
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Subjectively, you are earnest. And let's go back to chapter six. He wants them to display the fruit of the spirit in their life.
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He wants them in light of the objective work of Christ, his promises, his love to show earnestness, not to keep it, not to earn it, but because he's already got it.
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Since God has loved you, you respond this way. Not because you want to get God to love you. If you think God loves you because you obey, you're thinking wrongly about God's love.
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God loves you because Christ obeyed and you're trusting in what Christ did. He wants them to be earnest, to have, what does the text say in 611?
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To have full assurance of until the end. He wants them to be fully convinced.
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That's the word that is used in Romans chapter four about Abraham. He grew strong in the faith as he gave glory to God.
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Fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. So you think, you know what? There's people over here, they're spitting in the face of Jesus as it were, wanting to be crucified again.
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I don't want to be in that crowd. I want to be far away from that crowd. So now the writer says,
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I want to convince you you're not in that crowd. I want you to be fully convinced and convicted and assure of this.
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And he says, I want you to do it through earnestness. Now, Christian, let me ask you a question.
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Can you really have high levels of assurance if you're not earnest?
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If you've got a bunch of sin in your life and low levels of obedience, can you really feel assured?
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Could there be full assurance? One writer said, nothing will darken your soul more than a dull, lazy and negligent walk of life.
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And so the writer here says, since Jesus is who he said he is, chapters one, two, three, four and five, your response should be earnestness.
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I mean, I grew up in the 70s. My mom had kind of Christian kitschy kind of stuff and we had on our bumper sticker, on the bumper,
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I found it. Remember that? You guys are way too young. That was back in the days when the
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Celtics were good. No, just kidding. Just kidding. I go to the games when
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I get free tickets. I found it.
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What do you mean you found it? I thought no one seeks after God. And this is kind of this kitschy stuff.
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One of the things was, since God is so great and since he's accomplished salvation, since he's perfectly obeyed, let's just lay back and let
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God. And they always pronounced it with God, not G -O -D, but G -A -W -D. You ever notice that?
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Lay back and let God. I'm like, what does it have to do with anything? Lay back and let
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God. What a horrible slogan. The Puritan Thomas Brooks said, a lazy
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Christian shall always want four things, comfort, contentment, confidence, and assurance.
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God hath made a separation between joy and idleness, between assurance and laziness, and therefore it is impossible for you to bring these things together that God hath put so far asunder.
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I labored for the first four weeks after my sabbatical to talk about objective assurance because we always run to this subjective assurance without thinking about objective.
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Because I knew once we got here, you would think that assurance is only earnestness. It's not only earnestness, but it includes earnestness -ness, earnestness.
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How do you say that? Maybe you all have one of those kind of chairs at home. And maybe some of you have dad's chair.
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You know, no one can sit there except guests and dad. And then other people have kind of like an easy chair.
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You have an easy chair at your house? When I was younger, I always wanted an easy chair, but couldn't afford it, so never got one.
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Now I don't want an easy chair because if I lay back in the easy chair, I fall asleep. It doesn't work out so well.
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These people over here profess Jesus. They know about him. They have all kinds of experience, and they're burnt and cursed and going to hell because it's all lip service.
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The writer says, but I know you. I've seen you. It's not lip service. And by the way, as you do things for his name to other saints, keep doing that with earnestness, and God grants you assurance, confidence.
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Don't be slothful when it comes to sanctification. Don't be slothful when it comes to growth.
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This is 2 Peter 1. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.
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There's an old maxim of the Puritans, and it says, faith of adherence comes by hearing, but faith of assurance comes not without doing.
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And if you want a modern day Puritan, Sinclair Ferguson writes, high degrees of true assurance cannot be enjoyed by those who persist in low levels of obedience.
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High degrees of assurance are not enjoyed by those who live at low levels of obedience. If you live in sin and disobedience,
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Christian, you will not enjoy assurance. Sin will cancel it out. There is a great gulf between sin and peace, sin and joy, sin and assurance.
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To live in sin is to doubt. When you sin, coming alongside of it, doubt about your spiritual condition, and the
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Spirit of God then withholds the good assurance.
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Don't you want assurance? Don't you need assurance? If you don't have assurance, what do you do?
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You run around like that spiritual hypochondriac, just, you know, am I saved? Am I saved? Am I saved? Am I saved? And then you don't have time for good works.
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And God loves to give assurance. High degrees of assurance do not come from low degrees of obedience.
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So the writer says, beloved, I know God won't forget what you've done, so keep on doing those things.
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I met with somebody recently and they said, I'm really struggling the last month in my Christian life. And I said, okay, well, tell me about it.
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I'm just struggling, I've been so busy, and I'm struggling in my Christian life. I know what I'm supposed to do, but I'm not doing it.
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And I said, did you lose your salvation? They said, of course not. Okay, good.
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It's a different conversation. I said, before you were a Christian, did you have this kind of guilt that you weren't doing the right thing when you weren't doing the right thing?
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No. And then he looked at me like, I see where you're going with this. If you say, you know what,
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I'm sinning as a Christian, but I don't like it and I'm convicted and I know it can't happen anymore and I'm reading
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Psalm 51, created me a clean heart, oh God, and cleansed me in 1 John 1 and 2. That's already a sign of fruit and evidence that you do have the right legal standing.
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And so then just keep going. Even that, can a Christian have assurance when he's enslaved in sin?
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I don't think he can until he looks up and says, this is the one who made an end of all my sin. What else could you do if you wanna persevere?
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Remember, God's not unjust, you're earnest. And then number three, persevere through imitation.
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Oh, this is so interesting. I would never write this or say this as a preacher, left to my own natural mindset.
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Verse 12, so that you may not be sluggish, right? That's the big problem, they're dull.
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Sluggish is an interesting word. Have you ever fallen asleep at night and had your leg fall asleep and in the morning you've gotta get up and you've got to turn off the alarm clock?
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Now I can set my alarm right here and I can wake up with that alarm. But in the old days, I had to set my alarm clock across the room because I wouldn't wake up.
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And so I remember sometimes getting up in Nebraska, having to go to work really early and I would hop up to go turn off the alarm and my leg would be asleep and it would just be slain in the spirit, down I would go.
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My leg wasn't working, it was numb. That's what this word is, sluggish. It's like your leg's asleep, your arm's asleep, it's not doing anything, slothful.
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If your leg's asleep, you can't run very far. He says, I don't want you to be slothful, but imitators of those who through faith, read carefully, and patience inherit the promises.
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I want you to imitate other people who had faith and patience. This word imitate is where we get the word mimic.
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This is the kind of word we might say if I was not in a spiritual realm, I might say to kids, you know, monkey see?
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And how would you respond? Monkey do, mimicking. And so he says, okay, listen, what are you gonna do,
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Christian? You're not meant to live this life alone and you're trying to struggle through your Christianity and you're trying to persevere, you're trusting in Christ and you're trying to be earnest.
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Find some other people who walk by faith and imitate them. That's what he's saying.
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Those who through faith and patience, never, ever, ever read the word faith as faithfulness.
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These people aren't walking by faithfulness and doing a good job and being faithful all the time.
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They're walking by faith in the Messiah who is to come and who did come. There's a big difference between faith and faithfulness.
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This is faith in Jesus. By the way, if you go to chapter 11, is that the hall of faith chapter or the hall of faithfulness chapter?
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You say, you know what? I'm really struggling and you know, I've come to know the depths of my own sin. So how can
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I do this? How about read chapter 11? This is the hall of faith chapter, not the hall of faithfulness chapter.
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And what is true about all these people? Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah. Let's make it even wilder.
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What's true of all these people? Gideon, Samson and Jephthah, verse 32.
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If I wanted to motivate you by faithfulness, imitate faithful people, who would I show you?
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Would I show you Jephthah? The first person walking through that door, I will sacrifice. Would I show you
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Samson? Get me a wife. Can you imagine he said that to his parents? It's a biblical form of getting a wife,
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I guess. Very sinful, but in the Bible. Would I show you if I wanted to motivate you by, how about David?
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Speaking about get me a wife, how about go get me that woman on top of that roof there?
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And I think, matter of fact, since she's pregnant, I better kill the husband.
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How would I motivate you? Do what they do. How about Abraham? Verse eight, by faith,
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Abraham obeyed. Yeah, he did do some faithful things, but did he do a lot of faithful things?
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Did he do many faithful things? Was he always faithful? The first time he said, pretty please don't kill me.
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Why don't you sleep with my wife instead? She's really my sister. Or the second time he did that.
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This is by faith. All these people, sinful although they were and are, when they were alive, they had faith in the
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Messiah. They knew the Messiah was coming. So you say, I'm struggling with sin. I'm a
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Christian, I still sin. Yes, because you're simultaneously just and sinful. Why don't you say, you know what?
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God knows what I've done for him, and I wanna be earnest, and I'm gonna pick people who walk by faith, faith in the
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Messiah. I mean, I think we've got such a convoluted attitude when it comes to the Old Testament, and we just try to pick these characters, and we pick character studies.
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Be like Abraham, be like David, be like Sarah. Was David a new Christian or a really, well, sorry, that doesn't make sense.
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Was he a new believer or a very mature believer when he killed Uriah? Might be interesting to find out that he wasn't skying in all kinds of progressive sanctification, always getting better, better, better, better, better, better.
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We look at the Old Testament, we think, you know what? Let's have a character study with Abraham. Be like Abraham, be like Daniel.
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You've heard me say it a thousand times. Dare to be a Daniel, dare to be a Gideon. Like, wait a second, these characters are sinful people.
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Remember the three in the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Should we follow their faith?
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Left to themselves, they shouldn't have been in that fire, they should be in the eternal fire. Except God, the
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Messiah, pays for their sins. By faith means by faith in Jesus, and I can make it very clear if I read chapter 12, verse two, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith.
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Here's what we do with chapter 11 in Hebrews. Chapter one, faith in Jesus. Chapter two, faith in Jesus.
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Chapter three, faith in Jesus. Chapter four, faith in Jesus. Chapter five, and we go all the way to chapter 11, and then look to faithful people.
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No, keep looking to Jesus, because these people were looking to Jesus. Say, I'm struggling with my life.
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What's the point, pastor? The point is, find people that in spite of their sin and their trials and their troubles, have an attitude of trust in the
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Messiah. Find those people, look for those people. I remember people would come to me, and, you know, you have trouble in your life, and Kim and I, we had
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Haley, and then there was a miscarriage and a molar pregnancy, and we lost the baby. You know, when you first have your wife is pregnant, it seemed like everybody's pregnant in the entire world.
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They're just the same amount, but now I know, and I see them all, and then all of a sudden you think, you know what, it's bad to have a miscarriage, and it would be horrible and sad.
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But then when you have one, then you're like, you notice. And then I remember sending people, young couples here that have gone through hardships and trials and pregnancy and issues, sending them to Dave and Deb Jeffries.
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Dave and Deb Jeffries at the church, he was an elder here and a pastor here. Was Dave perfect? Well, I guess
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I could ask Deb that or someone. He's not, he's a great guy. But I know
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Dave up close, he knows about my sins and imperfections, and I know about his. But you know what? He was one of those guys with Deb and still is.
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Do you know what? This is difficult, hun. And how many babies have we lost?
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A lot. But we're gonna just keep entrusting our souls to the faithful creator who does what's right.
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And so when a Christian struggles, they need to find those people that God has placed, that they can say, you know what,
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I wanna imitate your faith, not your faithfulness, because I'm not very faithful, and they're not either, but they're trusting in the faithful one.
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That's why the body is so important. That's why it is such a joke to do these online churches. How are you gonna imitate people who are trusting the
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Messiah through a video screen? And every one of those people would say, you know what, it has nothing to do with me because I sin like everyone else, but it is the
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Lord Jesus that I'm looking to, the founder of my salvation. Christian, you persevere because God is not unjust.
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You persevere through endurance and you persevere through imitation. One day,
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I will either get fired, die, retire. What do you look for in a pastor to replace me?
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Celtics fan, you look for someone that every week says, you know what, pastor, are you gonna remind me that Jesus is the high priest and that I'm forgiven?
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Are you gonna remind me that even though I sin, God, the son still loves me? Are you gonna remind me that he's loved me with an everlasting love?
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Are you gonna remind me that he's the advocate between God and man who's made propitiation for our sins,
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Jesus the righteous? And if you'll remind me that every week, pastor, you're hired. Father, I thank you for our time in your word.
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I pray for Bethlehem Bible Church that she would continue to look to the Lord Jesus, the faithful creator.
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He is the shepherd. He is the good shepherd. He's the shepherd of our souls. And we're thankful for that.
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I do pray that you would help us as a church to respond to this kind of grace that you have saved us with, not with laziness, but with earnestness.
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And Father, for all of our lack of earnestness, that's something that can never be said of Jesus.
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He always trusted in the Father, always knew the Father was just, always was earnest. We're thankful for that.