Hebrews Chapter 6 — Chip Brogden

Rejoice and be glad in it. Hello again everyone, this is Chip Brogdon coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. I'm streaming online at www .watchman .net. And we are continuing our series of messages from the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews Chapter 6 and the New Covenant

This week we are in Hebrews chapter 6. So grab your Bible and let's turn to the book of Hebrews to the 6th chapter. And while you are doing that, let's go ahead and turn our hearts to the Lord. And ask Him to bless the time that we have together in the study of His word.

Thank you Father for this time we have. And for all the people that are listening to your word. And to the things that you want to communicate to us by the Spirit of God through these pages. I thank you Lord that this book of Hebrews is full of many words of wisdom and of knowledge and of grace.

And I thank you Father for we are able to see Jesus in the pages of this book of Hebrews. I pray Lord that you would open our eyes and open our hearts. And give us understanding and insight and revelation into these scriptures.

So that we can take them and apply them and find liberty and grace and freedom in this new covenant of Jesus Christ. I thank you Lord that your words are spirit and truth. They are spirit and life. And so Father as we continue through this series of messages in the book of Hebrews.

I thank you for quickening this word to our hearts. And just encouraging us and imparting life to us as we turn our eyes upon Jesus and fix them upon Him. So Lord bless this time that we have. Let this be a profitable time.

Let it be a fruitful time. And I thank you for it and I praise you for it in Jesus name. Amen and Amen. Well we are studying the book of Hebrews. We left off last week with chapter 5 of Hebrews. And I think before we move forward with chapter 6.

Because the division of the chapters here kind of break apart a thought. And I think we should go back and reintroduce that thought. And then carry it on into chapter 6. But when we left off last week with chapter 5.

Spiritual Maturity and the Priesthood of Melchizedek

We were talking about spiritual maturity. And so Paul again we believe Paul wrote this letter. You can take that or leave that. We believe Paul wrote the letter for reasons we have already established and discussed.

But Paul writing in chapter 5. He begins to talk about and introduce this concept of Christ being a priest forever. According to the order of Melchizedek. And just as he begins to talk about this high priest Melchizedek.

He kind of stops and begins to explain how difficult it is to teach this to them. And to explain this to them. So then he goes on kind of a parenthetical passage here. Beginning in Hebrews 5 .11. So we will get to chapter 6.

But let's go back and read again and complete this thought here. Where we left off last week with Hebrews 5. And this interruption or this parenthetical passage if you will. Begins in verse 11 of chapter 5.

Where he introduces Melchizedek. And says of whom we have much to say. And hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. Verse 12. For though by this time you ought to be teachers. You need someone to teach you again.

The first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness. For he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age.

That is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And that passage is so important as we move into chapter 6. I want to read this to you from a paraphrase that you may or may not have heard of.

You may or may not have access to. But it's the J .B. Phillips paraphrase. And it was interesting the way he paraphrased this. And I just wanted to share it with you. The passage I just read to you. I read in the New King James Version.

Phillips says this. There is a great deal that we should like to say about this high priesthood. But it is not easy to explain to you. Since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others.

You'd need teachers yourselves to repeat to you the ABC of God's revelation to men. You have become people who need a milk diet. And cannot face solid food. For anyone who continues to live on milk is unable to digest what is right.

He simply has not grown up. Solid food is only for the adult. That is for the man who is developed by experience. His power to discriminate between what is good and what is evil. I just enjoy that paraphrase so much.

And I think it really gets right to the heart of a problem that I see. In this series I've been saying quite a lot about organized religion. And for the Christian in the time of Paul. In the days of the early church.

The organized religious system was Judaism. And the challenge facing the church was. How do you follow Christ without falling back into Judaism? Back into old covenant law. And so you saw the Galatians.

The Galatians and the Temptation to Return to Old Covenant Law

They were not Jewish. They were Gentiles but they became Christians. And then their big temptation was. Shouldn't we behave more Jewish? Because after all Jesus was Jewish. And it's a Jewish Messiah. And so their big struggle was circumcision.

And should we obey the old covenant now that we're Christians? Should we go back and adopt the old testament laws and commandments? And Paul very frankly told them. In the book of Galatians. In his letter to the Galatians.

That if you allow yourselves to be circumcised. Then Christ profits you nothing. And I would say the same thing to Christians today. Who were not Jews. And yet somehow they've become involved in this messianic Jewish movement.

That calls itself Christian. That says that in order to really obey God. And please God. And really embrace what God is doing. It's necessary for you to understand all of the Hebrew commandments. And not only that.

But you need to keep the Sabbath. And you need to keep the food laws. And you need to keep all the feasts and all the ceremonies. And they are making the same mistake that the Galatians made. And I'm simply pointing out to you.

That it's nothing new folks. If you'll look back and you'll read in the book of Galatians. The same thing was going on then 2000 years ago. As is going on today. And you know the people that really take the most offense at what I'm saying.

Are the very people I'm talking about. They are the same type people that went to the Galatians. And said now that you're saved. God expects you to be circumcised. And to keep the Sabbath. And keep all these laws.

And Paul told the Galatians. If you allow yourself to be circumcised. You Christ profits you nothing. Furthermore if you obey in one point. You are obligated to keep all the law. And I can promise you folks.

No matter how much people tout. The necessity of keeping the old covenant. And the Passover. And even tithing. All of these things are aspects of the old covenant. The new covenant says if you want to live under the old.

You're obligated to stay under the old. Paul says that Christ profits you nothing. If that's the way you want to live. And I don't want to live that way. And I suspect most people do not. But there's this spirit of religion.

That is so hard to break. And I think that's part of the problem here. That Paul is addressing. It's an issue of spiritual immaturity. It is simply a religious spirit that gets hold of someone. And it keeps them spiritually immature.

It keeps them on milk. Folks all of this wrangling about Sabbath day. Whether it's Saturday or Sunday or Friday night. Or whether you should keep the Passover or not. Or whether you should say Yahweh or Yeshua.

And all of these different little nuances. They are for babies. You need to grow up. You need to quit spending so much time and effort and energy on those things. And you need to learn how to walk by the spirit.

And handle the meat of the word. That's what Paul is trying to say to these Hebrews. He's speaking. Remember he wrote this letter to Jewish people who had become Christians. They had accepted the Lord Jesus.

And now because of persecution they were being tempted to drop that. And revert back to their old Jewish customs. Their old Jewish ways. The old Jewish religious system. That was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Jesus as High Priest, Final Sacrifice, and Mediator

Remember three things that we learn about Jesus in this letter to Hebrews. First that Jesus is our high priest. Second that Jesus is our final sacrifice. And third that Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant.

And that's where we need to focus our attention on. Because frankly that is where God is today. God is not in the old covenant. God is not in the old system of priesthood. In the old system of sacrifices.

That was appropriate for that time and that season and for that nation. But we are a holy generation. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. A peculiar people. With a high priest that is passed into the heavens.

Jesus the son of God. Who gave himself as the final sacrifice. So we don't have to go out and slaughter lambs and cows. And offer up sacrifices. Bulls and blood. And all of the things of the Old Testament.

Those things were types and shadows. I hope by now we're almost halfway through the book of Hebrews. And believe me the best is yet to come. But I hope by now you're at least beginning to get on the same page with me.

In being able to see that the new covenant has surpassed the old covenant. The new covenant has replaced the old. The new covenant has overshadowed the old. In fact the old covenant was pointing to the new covenant the whole time.

And so we should study the old covenant. We need to understand it so that we can appreciate the new covenant. Not so we can go back and bring people into bondage to the old. But so we can compare the new with the old.

And show people and demonstrate to people. Just how valuable and how precious this new covenant is. This new high priest. Jesus the son of God. His sacrifice. And the mediation. The mediator of a new covenant.

Those are the things that lead people to spiritual maturity. Now Paul says to the Hebrews. Your problem here is there are things that we want to teach you. Things that we want to explain. But it's hard to do it because you have failed to grow up.

You have remained babies. See the word of God says you desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. Now here's one of the issues facing us today. In the context of organized religion.

And here's the problem. People coming out of organized religion. Whether they're in it or out of it. It doesn't make any difference. Either they have never been fed at all. Or they have only been fed milk.

As such. What you have in organized religion. Is a lot of overgrown, spoiled, selfish, self-centered, spiritual babies. Who have never grown up. Now I'm not down on spiritual immaturity. Because we all have to grow.

Growing in Grace and Moving Beyond Spiritual Infancy

It says grow in grace. And in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible does not condemn you for being a baby. But it does convict people who fail to grow. God's life. God's spirit is spurring us on forward towards growth.

Just as Christ must increase. And of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. That is applicable to you on a very personal level. And here's the question. Here's the application.

Is Jesus increasing in your life? Are you growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? Or are you like the ones Paul is talking about. Who still, even though by this time they should be teaching others.

Instead they still need someone to come and teach them. The very basic fundamental truths of what it means to be in Christ. To live and walk in this new covenant. And it prevents people. That mindset.

That spiritual immaturity. It prevents people from growing up. It prevents you from understanding what I'm trying to teach you. It prevents you from being able to read and digest the strong meat of the word of God.

And folks there is so much here. So much more. Why in the world we are so content to just live on milk. I'll never understand. Why people are so content. Week in and week out to sit underneath teaching.

That does not challenge them. Does not spur them. Does not create any kind of a hunger and thirst for the things of God. Instead it just satisfies their flesh. And they just sit there and they lap it up every week.

Living the same way. You never see any fruit. But the devil you know is better than the God you don't know. I mean that's just putting it in very frank terms. And the Bible encourages us to move on. And that's where number six is.

Leaving Elementary Principles for Maturity

Hebrews chapter six verse one. Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ. Let us go on to perfection. Go on. Go on. Go on in Jesus name. In the name of Jesus grow up. Move on to perfection.

And again I like to point out to people. Perfection there does not mean sinless perfection in that you'll never make a mistake. Perfection means maturity. Go on to maturity. Go on to fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

You were not created to be a baby. You were born as a baby. But you were created for a higher purpose and a higher calling than just to be a baby. Just to sit around in your diapers all the time. It's time for us to grow up.

To become mature men and women. Sons and daughters of the most high God. And we're missing it folks. We are failing miserably in that regard. Organized religion is the biggest cause of that. The second biggest cause is we have put up with it for so long.

We depend on everybody else to tell us what to think. Tell us what to say. Tell us what to believe. Tell us what the Bible says. Tell us what God is saying. And that is not the purpose of the ministry gifts folks.

The purpose of the ministry gifts that God gives is to stir us and spur us and encourage us on to go into the depths of Jesus Christ and experience Him for ourselves. Not through someone else. Not through the pastor.

Not through the teacher. Not through the prophet, the apostle, the evangelist. They can't take you any farther than what you're willing to go. And they can't take you any farther than what they're willing to experience and go on their own.

They can't take you any farther than what they've gone. And you've got a lot of immature babies who want to be in leadership and they are so insecure and so self-centered that they can't even function as they ought to encouraging one another, strengthening one another, teaching one another, being an example to others.

They're so busy trying to protect their own power base and they're so afraid someone's going to get offended and leave the church that they don't even give clear, sound instruction in how to live, how to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, how to overcome.

It's a problem. It really is a problem. Now Paul says, let's leave the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ. In other words, he's saying, you've already got the fundamentals. You've got the basics.

Move on. Let's get going. Grow up. Let's leave the elementary principles of Christ. Now, if you've never learned those principles, then we'll teach you those principles. And Paul would teach you and I would teach you.

And anyone who knows those principles will teach you those basic fundamental principles. But once you get the foundation, it's time to move on. And what's happening with a lot of people, the reason why they're leaving institutional church, the reason why they're leaving organized Christianity and the Sunday go-to-meeting type of lifestyle is they have simply outgrown it.

They've outgrown it spiritually. They've outgrown it emotionally. It just does not feed their spirit anymore. It does not quench that hunger and thirst for righteousness. And so they're moving on. And God's moving them on.

Sometimes they're being driven out by forces that they don't even understand. It's this hunger and thirst for God and it will not be satiated. It will not be fulfilled by going through the same old religious motions.

You can't get there through that. But to get to where God wants you to be, it's going to require stepping out and going deeper. And that's what Paul's saying. Leave the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, Hebrews 6 .1.

Let us go on to perfection. Go on to maturity. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Now, he's going to list some things that we should already know by now and it's time to move on.

But just look at some of the things he lists. Let us go on to perfection. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. Faith toward God. Of the doctrine of baptisms. Of laying on of hands.

Of resurrection of the dead. And of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. Now, you look at the things he says that we need to move on. We need to go on to maturity and not lay these foundations all over again.

These things that he lists here, these are the very things right now that are being debated and argued about among most Christians. Charismatic Christians. Laying on of hands. The resurrection of the dead.

Which, you know, when is it going to be? Pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib. Eternal judgment. Well, what about all of that? Well, Paul says once you get the basic knowledge of that, you should move on.

You shouldn't base your life on the foundational things. Foundational things are important, but once you get the foundation, it's time to go on to maturity. Go on to maturity. Now, he gives us a warning here, and let's look at it in verse 4.

The Warning About Falling Away

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

Now, what does that mean? You know, a lot of preachers, I think, have put fear into people's hearts about what it means to fall away, and it's impossible to renew them again to repentance. I think what Paul is saying is it reaches a point where if you're not going to grow up, you're just going to die.

Either you're growing or you're dying. There is no in-between. There is no static place where I'm just trying to keep everything level. You're either growing in God or you're dying on the vine. There's just no in-between.

And so Paul says it's impossible for someone once they've been enlightened. What is that? I think you've got a progression here. You have those who have been enlightened, and to me that's the revelation of Christ.

Those who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and to me that is coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And then those who are partakers of the Holy Spirit. In other words, they've experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the filling, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And I don't necessarily mean it the way a charismatic would mean it, that you've had some kind of experience. I mean the filling of the Holy Spirit by reason and by virtue of your union with Jesus Christ.

Verse 5, and have tasted the good word of God. In other words, based on what he said previously, I think that means that you have some experience with the meat of the word. Baby Christians, if they fall away, they can still be restored.

What we're talking about here is people who have tasted, first they've had the revelation of Christ. They have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and they've tasted of the good word of God.

In other words, the meat of the word. These are spiritually mature people. And then, not only that, the last half of verse 5 it says, and they have tasted the powers of the age to come. To me, that is more than just spiritual gifts.

That is actually having experienced what it means to live and to walk as an overcomer. And I've written quite a bit about the overcomers. And I wonder how many people have actually tasted of the powers of the age to come.

I believe that's a reference to overcomers. And you can see the promises and the powers of the overcomers throughout the book of Revelation. That is something that is achievable and is something that you can experience today.

It's not for after you get to heaven. Look folks, after you get to heaven, there's nothing left to overcome. But it's right here in this earth where we are still battling and we are still fighting and wrestling with principalities and powers.

And with that spirit of Antichrist and that Jezebel spirit that comes against the testimony of Jesus. That's the entire battle that we're facing. And so once you've experienced all these things, Paul says, if you fall away after that.

You get to a point where you can't be persuaded anymore. And this is what he's warning them. They've already experienced all of these things. They've tasted of the good word of God. They've tasted of the powers of the age to come.

And now he's saying, if you turn back now, if you give up now. It's going to be impossible for anyone to convince you and turn you back around and bring you to repentance. In other words, you'll be like the group that he talks about where they're ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

Once they fall away, he says, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance. And you know, there's a lot of people like that today. They go from website to website and they read the messages. They listen to all the sermons.

They got all the books. They listen to all the tapes. They watch Christian TV and Christian radio. And they are so full of stuff. And yet, for all of that, they still have not come to the full knowledge of the truth.

It is mind-boggling just to peruse all of the information that's out there. And then compare it to how much people are really living. How many people are really living the life of an overcomer? Versus how many people are listening and watching and immersing themselves in the Christian subculture?

It's absolutely amazing to me that we don't have more victory than what we have. Because we've certainly got plenty of teaching, plenty of teachers, plenty of prophets to give us words. But we don't live on a tenth.

We don't live on a fifth of what we know to live on. It's just... If I sound discouraged, I'm not. I'm just speaking the truth. It's time to move on. It's time to go forward. It's time to grow up in Jesus' name.

And that's who I want to spend my time with. I want to spend my time ministering to people and teaching people who are hungry and thirsty and want to go on to maturity. And they're not going to argue over things like baptisms and laying on of hands and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Because they've already dealt with those issues. They're foundational. And now they're moving on. So, praise the Lord. Verse 7. For the earth, which strings in the rain, that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God.

But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. Once again, the law of sowing and reaping. If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap of the Spirit life everlasting.

But if you sow to the flesh, you'll reap of the flesh destruction. And again, walking after the Spirit, producing the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5. Same message is being given to us here in verses 7 and 8 of Hebrews 6.

Faith, Patience, and Finishing Well

Verse 9. And here's some encouragement. After that tough word, Paul comes with some encouragement. But, beloved, we are confident of various things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.

See, that's the key, folks. It's not how you start. It's how you end. It's not how you begin. It's how you finish. We've got a lot of people that they begin well, but they don't finish well. And Paul says, look, you've got to be diligent all the way to the end.

Verse 12. So that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Faith and patience. Don't be sluggish. Don't be lazy. James says, be sober. Be diligent.

Peter says, to grow in grace. And folks, it is time. It is past time. Don't be sluggish, he says. Don't be lazy. I think the problem is we just have a lot of lazy people. Lazy spiritually. Lazy mentally.

Lazy physically. And it's easy just to give all responsibility over to leadership. Just let the church tell me what to do. Let the pastor tell me what to do. Let the prophet give me the word from God.

Because it's too much work to develop a spiritual life on my own. So I'm just going to depend on everyone else to do it for me and tell me what to do. Paul says, don't be sluggish. But with perseverance, overcome and obtain these promises through faith and patience.

Praise the Lord. I'm all out of time for this week. And you're probably saying, praise God for it. But I hope that you are challenged and encouraged to, in the name of Jesus, rise up. Begin to grow up spiritually.

Study this word. Read this word. Put this word into practice. Develop a prayer life. Begin to talk to God. Begin to worship God. Get on fire for the Lord. And do not let mediocrity take over. Do not let laziness consume you.

Don't rely on everyone and everything else to tell you what God is doing, what God is saying. You press into the Lord for yourself. And you find out what God is saying and what God is doing. Be a voice.

Don't just be an echo. Don't just repeat what everyone else is saying. But be a voice in the wilderness. In Jesus' name. I challenge you with that. So praise God. Take that to the Lord in prayer. If you're offended, then that's okay.

He can work it out. And He can make it plain to you. And He'll encourage you. And maybe He will convict you also if this word is applicable to you. And if not, then praise the Lord anyway. Well, this is Chip Brogdon.

Streaming online at www .watchman .net. We're all out of time for this week. Next week we'll pick up where we left off. So I look forward to seeing you there. God bless you.