Assurance and Hope

Once again, if you would take your Bibles, please, and turn to the book of Hebrews. We turn to our study through Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6.

Hebrews chapter 6.

Let us ask the Lord to bless our time together.

Our gracious Heavenly Father,.

Once again we come into your special presence at this time where your Word is open. And we confess that we believe that we are listening to the very Word of God. And so we would pray that you would impress upon our hearts the importance of this time, that you would protect us from distraction, that you would cause us to do the work of worship as we hear with obedient hearts and minds.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen. We have been working our way through the book of Hebrews and the last time that we were together in this study, we entered into the sixth chapter. A chapter that unfortunately is frequently one of the only sections of Hebrews known to many in the modern day church because of the first few verses and their discussion there of apostasy.

And we saw that this actually is a continuation of an entire section of warning and exhortation. By now, we should be familiar, I would think, with this concept in the book of Hebrews of warning and exhortation.

We've seen it beginning in chapter two. We have warnings to the congregation. Do not go back to the old ways. There's nothing to go back to. Followed by exhortation to remain faithful in the path of following after Jesus Christ.

And as we look at the text, we see that the author back in chapter five, verse 10, began talking about Melchizedek, but then he sort of had to stop and he had to begin this lengthy section of warning and exhortation because he was concerned that what he was about to discuss in regards to Melchizedek, the concept of the priesthood and the fulfillment of Old Testament types and shadows in the ministry of Christ, would not be heard by those who have not been properly prepared, both with warning and exhortation, to listen carefully to what he has to say.

And so you will notice if you just look at, again, the overall flow of the text, that that's gonna continue all the way through the end of this chapter. Finally, in verse 20 of chapter six, he will once again raise the name of Melchizedek and then beginning at chapter seven, go into his explication of who this Melchizedek was, a name we only encounter twice in the Old Testament in Genesis and once in the Psalter, but he is going to expand greatly upon this priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

So we find ourselves this morning in that continued section of warning and exhortation. We recall the last time we were together, the strong warning that was given to the congregation about those individuals who would be in the congregation, who would benefit from the ministry of the Spirit of God and yet would fall away.

Those who would not partake truly of regeneration and a commitment to Jesus Christ, the fact that they have been benefited by the proclamation would actually be their undoing. They would, in essence, by going back to the old sacrifices, be trampling underfoot the blood of the Son of God.

They would be doing despite to his name and there would be no renewing them again unto repentance. But then we saw that the author then immediately beginning in verse 9, which is where we'll begin this morning, begins a section of exhortation.

There he says, though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that pertain to or belong to, relevant to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name and serving the saints and continuing to serve the saints.

And we desire 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 or lazy, but be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself saying, surely I will bless you and I will multiply you. And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

For people swear by something greater than themselves and all their disputes and oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly the errors of the promise, the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast the hope set before us.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The Assurance of Salvation and the Marks of True Faith

And so here we have a section of exhortation. The writer begins by saying that we are convinced beloved, the only use of that term in the book of Hebrews, beloved. The terminology used throughout this section is very, very personal.

It's interesting that as soon as you have the strongest warning, you likewise have the strongest, most heartfelt language used by the writer. We are convinced concerning you, brethren, of better things, things which accompany or belong to salvation.

And so, though the preceding section talked in the third person about in the case of those who have done these things, now when the exhortation comes, it becomes very personal. Now it is direct address.

But concerning you, beloved, we are convinced of better things, things that accompany salvation. And so there is this warm encouragement on the part of the writer saying, though we know that there are those like that, of you, my beloved brethren, we are convinced of better things, things that accompany salvation.

Now if the preceding things that we're seeing in verses four and five are not therefore infallible signs of conversion, what might be? Well, I think in the following section, in essence, we have laid out for us something we've seen many times before.

And I know that there are many within the sound of my voice who would like to be given a nice, easy, simple, no-hassle way of producing absolute assurance in the heart and always being able to recognize who is a Christian and who is not.

Well, if that's what you came here this morning to get, I'm afraid you're going to be a little disappointed. Because the answer that Scripture gives to that regular question that we ask, how do we know?

What are the signs of truly following after Christ? The answer that is given is especially and particularly unpopular in our microwave society. It is unpopular because it refers to faithfulness until the end.

It refers to a steadfastness. It refers to being rooted and grounded and built up and having a conviction of the truthfulness of God's promises. Not so much a conviction of our own faith, but a conviction, a faith in God's promises.

That is what we find in this particular section. So the author knows that he has used a strong language. He says, even though we are speaking in this way, we are convinced of better things concerning you, things which accompany salvation.

For God is not unjust. God is not unjust so as to forget,.

To overlook your work of love.

Which you have shown to His name. And so there is a work and it is marked by love. A work unto the name of God that is marked by love. Now, really at this point, once again, we are facing that question, how can we tell the difference between the two?

I mean, I know people involved in all sorts of false religions who are willing to give their lives for that false religion. And we know people who are willing to do great deeds in behalf of others, their love of country or their love of other people.

And so how do we recognize a work of love to the name of God? What would mark that off? Well, notice in this particular instance, this work of love to which the reference is being made is in having served, and that is the very term from which we get the diaconate, the ministry, it's a service ministry, having served the saints and serving.

And so the emphasis is on this is something you've done in the past and it is something you are continuing to do in the present. There has been a consistency over time in your involvement in servanthood, in giving service to the saints.

So notice how service to others is identified as a work of love to God's name. I would assume because this is ministry to the saints. And so just as Jesus identified himself with his saints when they were being persecuted, remember what he says to Paul on the road to Damascus, why are you persecuting me?

In the same way in this text, service past and present to the saints is seen as a work of love that has been shown to the name of God, to his name. Now there are so many texts we could go to from here if it was our intention to do so, especially in the epistle of 1 John that bears this out.

Love for the brethren, love for the church, the fellowship of the church, central in the demonstration that one has eternal life. I mean, you may come to our fellowship from a church, and it is very, very common to hear this, where 1 John 5 .13 will be quoted.

And there we are told about how we can know that we have eternal life. By this we know that we have eternal life. A wonderful promise, but there's only one thing. That this is the rest of 1 John, and 1 John talks about love of the brethren.

The person who says, I love my brother, but then turns around and does not demonstrate that, does not live in light of that, is a person who is a liar. And so here in this text, that which accompanies salvation is seen in the consistent demonstration of love to God shown in ministry to his saints.

It's a simple fact that when you see what God has done in Jesus Christ, when you see that he is about redeeming a particular people unto his own name, and that he is glorified in that, then the redeemed heart goes out to God and to those who likewise have received the same kind of faith.

I have a serious problem.

With people who call themselves Christians, but have nothing but harsh words and detestation for his people.

I don't get it.

I don't understand it.

Oh, I know.

Jesus is perfect. And Jesus is never hypocritical. And Jesus is wonderful, but people of God, that's true. Everything true in the observation that the fellowship of the saints is marred by imperfection and sin, including in the life of anyone who will make that observation.

But if we see that it is Christ who is at work in us, how can we not see that it is Christ who is also at work in others? If what binds us together as the body of Christ is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and is that not the very thing?

We are so different from one another. We have such different lives and different gifts and different callings in our lives. But what binds us together? What is it that Paul can say over and over again to the believers?

You have received the Spirit of God. You have been baptized into the Holy Spirit. He is what binds us together. He is that down payment that God places into the life of every regenerate believer as His pledge that He is going to finish the work that He's begun in that person's life.

And if I, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, recognize my imperfections, then by that same Holy Spirit, I should recognize others who are likewise indwelt by the Holy Spirit and should be the first one to be forgiving of their shortcomings.

Unless I myself do not recognize my own lack of sanctification in many areas in my life. To hate Christ's body and to be unwilling to be a part.

Of Christ's body,.

I think is one of the clearest signs of self-righteousness, of a lack of regeneration to begin with. We cannot hate those for whom Christ has given Himself and united us to them by His Spirit. And here, the very demonstration of a work of love to the name of God is in the serving and continuing to serve of the saints.

And God will not forget that service that has been given, but it is a service not based upon some type of servile fear. It is a work of love. It has its origin in love for God and love for His people, and it is marked by self-sacrificial love.

In light of that, then, the writer goes on to say, we desire that each one of you demonstrate or show the same term that was used in the preceding verse that shows that work of love, that each one of you show veal, that each one of you show earnestness toward, and this is such a rich phrase I want us to struggle with it.

It's literally toward the full assurance of hope unto the end. Well, what does that mean? Well, there are a couple of different ways to take it, but it seems that what the author is talking about is we desire, we truly have a heartfelt desire, not just for you as a group, but for each one of you that you give a show of true earnestness.

Zeal, the opposite of what we're going to see later on about laziness. And he's warned back in chapter 5, you've become dull of hearing, but our true desire is not that you be lazy. Not that you lack zeal, but that you give evidence of a true zeal toward something.

Toward this full assurance of hope until the end. Full assurance of hope. What is that? Well, again, I remember as a young man going through a period of time in my teenage years, and I think pretty much everyone in their teenage years has times when they examine themselves as that period of time when you're switching from believing what you believe because your parents believed it, to believing what you believe because you believe it.

And so it involves examination of the trustworthiness of the sources that you have depended upon in the creation of your own world view. That's one of the reasons why in sermons and in Sunday school as I teach and preach, I'm so often boring you with background information and things that I know are so important in knowing why you believe.

What you believe.

Because I have to deal with people who when they hit that time in their life, they come to the conclusion that the sources they've been trusting are not trustworthy. Because those sources have not laid a foundation and given a demonstration of their trustworthiness and their consistency.

I remember a time when I was questioning, obviously, my understanding of the faith. Grand issues of assurance and election and predestination and all those things. And I remember that a lot of the advice that I got, now in hindsight, was not actually the best.

And the reason for this was that many of those from whom I received snippets of advice looked at these questions primarily as they focused upon me as an individual and upon humankind. And when we look at the big questions of life, I suggest to you that as believers, we have no right to be humanists.

Perspective must be marked first and foremost by divine right and divine light, so that we might see God's purposes first and foremost, and then see ourselves as we relate to those purposes,.

Not the other way around.

And yet, so many people create their theology first and foremost on what's God doing with me? And then creating a God that fits the conclusions they come to at that point. The result is rampant confusion and a willingness to overlook entire sections of Scripture and its teaching about the sovereignty of God, the power of God, and our creatureliness.

Now, why do I raise this here? The full assurance of hope until the end. I suggest to you that the point of the writer is this. That true assurance for a Christian believer is found in the trustworthiness of God first and foremost.

If I start with myself, I'm starting at the wrong end of the equation. I'm starting at the weak end of the chain. I need to start with a much more fundamental question. Is God trustworthy? And if you recall in reading through the text,.

That's the whole point.

God wants us to recognize His trustworthiness. The phrase that is just tremendous in v. 17, the unchangeable character of His purpose. That's where you start. You start with the trustworthy God and the fact that He is going to accomplish His purposes, and then you move from there to yourself.

If you go the other direction, none of this is going to make any sense. It's not going to give you much in the way of hope and assurance. And it really seems to me that this may be why there has arisen throughout the history of the church, but we've seen this in the history of the American church, whenever the focus becomes unbiblical and man-centered in the proclamation of large portions of the Christian church, there arises a kind of Christianity that is completely soaked in the emotions.

It is emotional Christianity.

Now, don't get me wrong.

Christianity is not emotionless. God saves all of us. Yes, I know I just uttered heresy in a Reformed Baptist church, but even Reformed Baptists have emotions. We hide them well. Once in a while, they escape me and go, Amen?

But not very often.

God saves all of us, including our emotions. But Christianity is not a faith that is defined by, formed by, grows out of the emotions of mankind. And that you and I both know that there are huge, massive churches this day.

We're in the course of the entire period of worship today, and in many of them, they would not even identify what we're doing right now as worship. They worship before the guy gets up to speak. But in that entire period of time of worship, which may be much longer than we spend in here, there will be a tremendous amount of music, a whole lot of clapping and singing, and various and sundry other vocal participation, maybe in different languages, or things that are supposed to sound like different languages.

There will be very little in-depth presentation of the Scriptures and the Word of God. But the reason for it is not just, well, the people just like that. The reason for it, I think, really goes along these lines.

You need to get people revved up and charged up so they can make it to Wednesday. And then you give them a quick jumper charge on Wednesday and hope they make it through to Sunday again so you can get them the full charge again and make it through to Wednesday again, see?

It's all based upon revving up the emotions. Because you see, once you've lost the focus upon the God-centeredness of the faith, and that He's the one accomplishing His purposes, once it's all me, well then, I've got to really get revved up.

Because I've got to get this faith flowing in myself, and I've got to bring this out of myself, and me and the Spirit, we've got to work together, see here. And I think that's a lot that has to do with the excesses that we see, where the Word of God gets lost, and eventually you have people standing there, well, pretending that they are speaking forth the Word of God as if the New Testament isn't really completed yet.

You need the 28th book, and 29th book, and 30th, and so on and so forth. But have you ever noticed those are the very same groups that have the greatest problem with assurance? Because the individuals know that by Tuesday night, they're really running low on spiritual energy.

Because their focus is not upon the God, who's going to accomplish His will, but upon the individual who has to somehow stay in that will. And so, in verse 11, the writer is expressing a sincere desire that each one of us shows zeal in pursuing full assurance of hope throughout the Christian life.

In other words, what the writer desires is not that we be like some people I know, who are like this, you know? This is the emotional chart. It's the rollercoaster, up and down.

Oh, she's up today, but that means.

It's not going to be long before she's down, and then no one wants to be near her,.

And then she's going to be up.

We all know folks like that.

That's not how we're supposed to be as Christians. Now, I'm watching some people looking at other people, looking down rows, mm-hmm, yeah.

Now, don't get me wrong.

I realize there are certain believers who are going to be more subject to undulation than some of us who look like we flatlined a long time ago. I understand that. What I am saying is, there is supposed to be a full assurance of hope until the end, and it's not something that we only have on Sundays and Wednesdays.

It is to mark our lives.

Isn't that what faith is?

Faith has always got an object in the promise given God. When Abraham believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, he believed in the promises that had been given to him by God. And in essence, what's being said here is that our faith should find as its hold, its anchor, to use a term later used in this very text, in the trustworthiness of the God who has accomplished the work of salvation,.

Not in anything else.

And so this desire is expressed for us to show the same zeal, the same earnestness, unto the full assurance of hope until the end. Hope should be something that marks our everyday life. It should be there in the little things just as it needs to be there only by the power of the Holy Spirit in those great tragedies of life.

We should not be thinking about hope the first time only at the side of the bed of our loved one as they're ready to go into eternity. Or when we ourselves get the diagnosis of a terrible disease. That shouldn't be when we become familiar with hope.

I've told you this story before, but I'm gonna tell it to you again. If Pastor Fry can quote the Interpreter's House from Pilgrim's Progress about every two months, I can tell you this story more than once too.

When I was a hospital chaplain, I never got to speak with the man, but I met a saint of God in his 90s who was dying in the ICU and the nurses kept coming to me and saying, you've got to meet this guy.

He's incredible. When you take his blood, he says, thank you.

He's always so sweet.

And every time I went into the ICU, he was not awake. I never got a chance to talk to him. But one of the nurses told me that she was talking with him and she said, you know you're dying, right?

Oh, I know, honey.

You know, when you're 90, you can call everybody honey. You know, nurses are probably in their 50s, but hey, when you're 90, that's still a kid.

And I said, oh, I know, honey.

And she says, are you afraid?

This was an aged saint of the Lord. And he looked at her and he said, honey, I've talked to the Lord for nearly 90 years. Why should I be afraid to go see him?

Now there's a testimony.

There's someone who is familiar with hope. Not just at the end, but the familiarity they have at the end is because they've been familiar with it every single day along the way. That's the full assurance of hope until the end.

And in God's providence, I stood at his bedside as he died. I'd come in, I was speaking with the one relative that was there and I work in a hospital long enough, you recognize when someone's about to die.

You see the look, you see the monitors. And we stood there as he passed into eternity. What a testimony. One that I think hopefully we all should seek to have as well. He had a full assurance of hope until the end.

And if you have that full assurance of hope, so that you may not become sluggish. So you may not become, oh, that's not something we want to be described at, is it? We talk all the time about wanting to glorify God.

How often do we really pursue that with zeal? Apathy, sluggishness, laziness. Oh, the writer says, don't fall into that. So that you may not become lazy. But instead, be imitators. A term that's found all through Paul's writings.

Imitators of those who through faith and patience become inheritors of the promises. They don't become inheritors of the promises through self-righteous acts, accomplishment of works. You see, the reason that the biblical basis for assurance is not popular today is because it takes time.

It takes time. And people want a right now stamp on the forehead. I've shined one of those ultraviolet lights they have at the airport now. You know, the TSA agents, you know, they look at your license.

You know, or I guess I'm gonna stamp you on the back of the hand with some things. And you can look at that and you'll see it, whatever. And shine in people's eyes. That's how you're gonna find out who is really in with the Lord.

No, it doesn't work that way. It takes faith. It takes patience over time. You see, these are descriptions, my friends. They're descriptions. True, saving faith will produce full assurance of hope until the end.

It will produce this faithfulness, this patience, even in the midst of persecutions until the end. These are the ones who inherit, not earn, not receive, because they've purchased something. They become inheritors of the promises.

You want an example? Well, what's the example that scripture always likes to give? Good old Abraham. Another reason why, whether it was Paul who wrote this or not, it was certainly someone who knew Paul.

The language, even though the form of language is very different than Paul's, the theology and the pattern of thinking, very, very similar. Abram, just as Paul turns to Abram in Romans chapter four as his ultimate example, so too here in verse 13.

He brings up Abraham, but he's not talking so much about Abraham's faith here. Notice the difference. For when God made promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, I mean, that is sort of a problem for God, isn't it?

I mean, if you want to, and I've got to admit, our society struggles at this point. We really don't find this text to be quite as compelling because we live in such a dishonest day. For how many people anymore is their word mean anything?

When we see our leaders,.

I mean, let's face it,.

We expect our leaders to be liars.

It's the first thought across our mind.

The first time someone shows a contradiction in something said by a political leader. Today, do any of us go,.

Oh, that's impossible, he's in politics. No, the first thought across our mind is,.

Yeah, he's in politics.

That's what you do.

But you see, that undercuts the entire society because that enters into the courtroom where we're supposed to be making an oath, swearing that what we are saying is true. Now, I don't want to embarrass anybody, but I know that we have an officer of the court, an attorney amongst us.

And something tells me he might tell us that he's run across a little bit of dishonesty. People, you know, shading the law just a little bit.

To try to make some money. And it's so common that for most of us, it's a given. And yet the result is that when someone, well, I don't place their hand on a Bible anymore, but says, I swear to tell the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me.

Great deity in the sky. Type stuff anymore in our society,.

Not God, we can't talk about God anymore.

And certainly not the Christian God.

See, that once had a meaning.

It once said, I'm swearing by my creator that what I'm saying is true. The very one who keeps me alive, the very one who will judge me someday for everything I say, I swear by him that what I'm saying is true.

There was a day when that carried weight, but I submit to you when a society is filled by people who no longer believe that they're creating the image of God, truth and honesty is irrelevant. It's whatever helps you to get ahead.

There was a time when a person believed in the certainty of the coming of the judgment of God. And that meant that when you swore by something, it might actually mean something. But simply highly evolved hominids don't have anything to swear by, do they?

What does it really matter? So when God swears, when God wants to make a promise, he has nothing greater than himself by which to swear. He can't as human beings do. And the argument here is human beings use the oath and the oath finishes the argument, but he had no one greater by whom to swear.

So he swore by himself saying, surely I will bless you and multiply you. And it's really interesting at this point. And I don't want to distract you by mentioning this to you, but I think it is important to see that in verse 14, when it says, surely I will bless you and multiply you.

In the original language, it literally says, blessing I will bless you and multiplying,.

I will multiply you.

And that clearly shows a Hebrew or Aramaic background in the thought of the person writing this. I mean, he's writing to the Hebrews. This is the epistle to the Hebrews. And even though it's written in classical Greek, that's how the Hebrews think.

Anyone who's gone through the Psalter or anything like that in the original languages, you will see over and over again, the use of the same word twice to emphasize something. So here you have it, blessing, I will bless you.

Multiplying, I will multiply you. That's Hebrew thought, very, very clearly. Doesn't come across very well in most of our English translations, but it's there. And it reflects what God originally said to Abraham in the way that he said it.

And so God makes a promise. Surely I will bless you and multiply you. And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, there's that patience again. Having patiently waited, he waits for the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation.

So, verse 17, when God desired to show more convincingly the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath. He guaranteed it with an oath. Now, I'm not gonna be able to unpack all of this.

We'll probably pick this up this evening, but I do want to emphasize one aspect of this text. God wanted to do something. Why did God want to do something? Well, it's discovered in what it is that he wanted to do.

He wanted to demonstrate convincingly. He wanted his people to understand without possibility of confusion the unchangeable character of his purpose. We have a beautiful hymn that we sing. It's Thy Faithfulness.

That goes back to that term in the Old Testament, Chesed, his covenant faithfulness, his loving kindness, which is what?

It's new to every generation.

And here we have expressed for us one of God's desires. God desires that his people have a clear, unquestionable assurance about the unalterable purpose that is his. I close with one story, and we'll pick up, as I said, with this study this evening.

Many years ago, when I was actually younger than these two young men, I met with two LDS missionaries, Elders Reed and Reese. And we met on a Monday and a Thursday for about two to three hours each time.

In between that time, I read about two or three books on Mormonism. At the end of that time, I shared with them something that has stuck with me ever since then. And it fits perfectly with what this text just said.

I said, gentlemen, someday you're going to need to know a God who does not change. The God of Mormonism was once something he is not now. He has progressed to become a God. But someday you're gonna need a God, a real God, who does not change.

And I hope that you will know that the Christian scriptures present such a God. Now, I don't think there's any Mormons amongst us today. The truth of what I said those two young men, and I was all of 19 years old when I spoke to them, the truth of what I said to them today is exactly the truth of what this text is referring to.

Have you recently thanked God that he does not change? Can you imagine what it would be like to arise each morning and to have to wonder and think and consider in your mind whether the God who provides you with life and salvation will be the same today that he was yesterday?

What if he was as changeable as you are? What if he was as fickle as you are? What if his zeal and love for you and his compassion for you ebbed and waned and flowed the way that your zeal for him does?

Wouldn't be a wonderful message that we proclaim, would it? I mean, think about it. What would you proclaim to people? If you'll confess with your mouth, Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God might have raised him from the dead, you might be saved.

We're not sure.

I mean, that's the way it is now,.

But it might change tomorrow.

That's not much of a message, is it? God has given absolute evidence of the unchangeable and unalterable purpose that is his. And I think one of the reasons that he has delayed the parousia, the coming of Christ, for as long as he has, is that we can look back over history and we can see he has been building his church.

He has been saving his saints all along. We have no grounds for questioning him. He has proven his faithfulness. And on that basis, we can have full assurance. And for all eternity, we'll be able to worship him for what he has done.