Hebrews 6 (Part 3)

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Today we�re talking about Hebrews chapter 6 in our ongoing discussion.

What do we have planned here in the future? Well, this Saturday, we�ve got a Men, Marrow, and Meat breakfast, so that�s fun.

By the time this plays, I think it�ll already be done, but maybe we�ll put that online discussing the marrow of the gospel and categories like justification, sanctification, law, gospel, faith, faithfulness.

It�s kind of a weird -tasting coffee. Those No Compromise Radio listeners have not been sending in the

Pete�s Coffee like they used to. We just have to go to Costco now. There�s a Costco up in New Hampshire.

That�s the closest one. It�s about 45 minutes away. I think I like Costco better than BJ�s, but maybe

BJ�s will send us some swag. You can follow us on Twitter, at NoCoRadio.

That�s usually the place that I engage most people, and then I do hootsuite it. That is to copy it over to Facebook.

I don�t engage very much there. I don�t know. I feel that the

Facebook people are more touchy, more sensitive, and maybe it�s because they can express themselves more.

But on Twitter, most people, I don�t know, the circles I hang out in, they�re fine with scuds and bombs, metaphorically, figuratively speaking, but who knows?

Hebrews 6, last time we were looking at verses 1 -3, and then Pastor Steve and I talked a little bit about interpreting

Bible passages that are difficult. Hebrews 6, 4 -6, some people call the most difficult passage in all the

Bible to interpret. I don�t really think it�s that hard, and I think if you go to 6 -9, �Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.�

That is to say, verses 1 -8, whatever they�re saying, they�re not specifically salvation verses in the

Lord Jesus Christ. Saved by Jesus, there�s not language that is specific to that.

That�s what 6 -9 says. Therefore, whether it�s the

ABCs of dead works and faith toward God type of thing, or the experiences found in verses 4 -6, it�s not saving.

And the writer is essentially saying, �You need to move past Judaism because there�s no hope in it.

It was all pointing to the Lord Jesus, and now that you have Him, why would you go back?

If you go back, there�s no hope.� It�s like you�re standing there re -crucifying Jesus.

That�s how bad it is. And I think if you want to think big picture about this passage, you can profess

Christ but still not possess Him. This is the doctrine of apostasy.

People leave the church, they leave the faith, they leave Jesus, and they never were part of Him.

They never were followers of Him. John 6 -66, �As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.�

You can be close. You can be a Judas close and still not be a believer.

2 Timothy 4 -3 and 4, �For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.�

There are some people who apostasize. They don�t lose their salvation. That�s impossible to do.

And we�ll talk more about that passage and what does it mean �impossible� at the beginning of verse 4 of chapter 6 in the book of Hebrews.

But you probably know someone, listener, who�s walked away from the faith. And how do you categorize that?

How do you, you know, where do you put that in your mind theologically? They�re like Demas, 2

Timothy 4 -10, �Having loved this present world, deserted, and off he went.�

So, while it is impossible for a Christian to apostatize, the professing Christian can apostatize.

What does that mean for you? That means if you�re listening, make sure you�re trusting in Christ Jesus. Make sure you�re resting in Him.

Make sure you believe in the Lord Jesus or unto the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 16 -31.

Jesus is such a great high priest, the book of Hebrews says. Make sure you trust in Him. Make sure you rest in Him.

Make sure you walk by faith. When troubles happen, when persecution arises, don�t abandon your faith.

Because if you do, it�ll show that you never had it in the first place. And actually, I think that�s very gracious of the

Lord. Maybe you don�t want me to use the word �grace ,� but I think that�s merciful of the Lord, so then at least you know.

And when I say at least you know, at least you, the person who�s turning your back, you know.

And then the church knows as well they�re turning their back, and so we all can pray and we all can understand where they fit in terms of these theological categories.

Since Jesus is worthy to be praised in the book of Hebrews and sits at the right hand of the majesty on high and has purged sins, and who is the high priest as truly

God and truly man, don�t go back to Judaism. I mean, for the listeners and the recipients of this sermon, this letter, the temple was still up, right?

We�re talking about present tense Levitical system, because the temple�s still up.

I mean, of course, it�s not doing any good because the veil has been rent, torn asunder, ripped down when

Jesus died and finished atonement, but that doesn�t prevent people from still going back there.

God will prevent them from going back there in a few short years, 70

AD, when the Romans totally annihilate Jerusalem. And the writer is saying, since Jesus is great, he�s a great high priest, he�s a great shepherd of the sheep, chapter 13, he provides a great salvation, chapter 2, he gives you better hope, better covenant, better promises because he�s a better sacrifice, why go back to Judaism?

Why go back to anything that doesn�t show him the way he is? I mean, Judaism was pointing as a type in the shadow and revealing who

Jesus was, and now that we know that he�s this mediator and that he�s the Son, you�re going to go back?

You�re going to go backwards because there is trouble? Don�t turn your back on Jesus. And he says, you know, in chapter 6, verses 1 to 3, as we talked about last time, there�s this elementary doctrine of Christ in the

Old Testament, and some of those things are repentance from dead works and a faith toward God, washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment.

That language is generic, it�s not Christocentric as it were. It might be

Christotelic, it might be going to who Jesus is, but they�re wanting to go back to these basic foundational building blocks, these elementary doctrines, these foundations when there�s a lot more on the building than just the foundation.

And you might have some ABCs, but that�s not going to do you any good.

Those religious ABCs without Jesus aren�t going to help. You can do religious things, verses 1 and 2, and still not be saved.

You can�t be saved by your own power or will, verse 3, and this we will do if God permits.

And you�re not going to be saved by having religious experiences, verses 4 through 6.

So that�s really what this is about. You can have a religious experience, but you still could be less than a

Christian. Don�t be Judas, don�t have a Judas experience, in other words.

There are consequences to apostasy, for it is impossible, verse 4, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the

Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance.

It�s impossible, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding

Him up to contempt. Now again, in light of the first five chapters and who

Jesus is, in light of chapter 6, verse 9, �Better Things Concerning Salvation�, I don�t think this passage is that intimidating.

Lloyd -Jones said, �I can say definitely after some 35 years of pastoral experience that there are no passages in the whole of Scripture which have more frequently troubled and caused them sole agony than the passages in Hebrews 6 and 10.

Large numbers of Christian people are held in bondage by Satan owing to a particular misunderstanding of these statements.

I do not say that these are the two most difficult passages in the Bible. I do not regard them as such, but I do assert that they are passages the devil seems to use most frequently in order to distress and to trouble

God�s children.� Very well said by the doctor, Dr.

Martin Lloyd -Jones, David Martin Lloyd -Jones. G. Campbell Morgan, I think, took over for Lloyd -Jones.

Or was it the other way around? I think Lloyd -Jones took over for G. Campbell Morgan. He didn�t even,

Campbell Morgan, didn�t even talk about this in his commentary on Hebrews. He just avoided this chapter.

So when you come to Hebrews chapter 6, essentially there are four views. There are more, but these are the four big ones.

This is someone who�s a real Christian and they can lose their salvation. Number two, this is a true

Christian who loses their reward when they walk away. Three, this is a true believer and it�s kind of a hypothetical loss of salvation.

I don�t know why you warn somebody if it�s only possible, hypothetical. And the last view, which is the no -compromise view, that is, this is a false believer.

This is a non -saving faith believer. This is someone who believes but without knowledge, assent, and trust in the

Lord Jesus. And they don�t just lose their reward. They don�t just lose their salvation because they didn�t have it to begin with.

There is eternal condemnation waiting for them, punishment for those that will not heed these very stern warnings.

Essentially, here�s what�s happening. You profess Christ, trouble comes, and you turn your back on Jesus.

There�s no other hope for you. There�s no next Messiah who�s going to show up. You�ve got all the facts.

This is not like, you know, you�re never knew about Jesus and you�re learning and you�re questioning.

This isn�t, you know, your unbelieving family member who says, �Well, you know, I�ve never really read the Bible. I should probably learn more about Jesus.

But for right now, I don�t really think I believe.� These people had the facts and they knew the basics and how they pointed to Jesus and how they had experiences with God, but they said, �You know what?

We�re not going to do it.� Whatever we do with verses 1 to 8, it doesn�t have to do with salvation.

It�s pointed to salvation, yes, but it�s not salvation because 9 says, verse 9 says, �Things that belong to salvation.�

So, He does not want you to abandon faith. If you�re a believer, keep believing. That�s simple. If you�re not a believer, you need to believe.

You don�t need to say to yourself, you know, �I�m close.

I might be there, but just, you know, not going to go for it.�

It�s impossible. What does that mean? If you think you can lose your salvation, well, then don�t ever backslide.

Don�t ever fall away. Whatever �fall away� means in verse 6, if you do fall away as a

Christian, if that�s what the text means, which I don�t think it does, but if you think it means that, then it�s impossible for you to ever be restored unto repentance.

So, that�s one and done. Then you have to start changing around what �fallen away� is or �repent� or �impossibility.�

It says impossible. No power, no ability, no resources. This doesn�t say, well, you know, strong probability, improbability.

No, it�s impossible. That�s clear. It�s very clear. It�s emphatic.

Some people say, well, it�s difficult. It�s not profitable. No, it�s impossible. Same language in 6 .18.

It�s impossible for God to lie. It�s not difficult. It�s not not fitting. It�s not profitable.

No, it�s impossible for God to lie. Chapter 10, verse 4, it�s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Well, it�s kind of just difficult. It�s really hard for that to happen. No, it�s impossible, and that�s what this word here is in 6 .4.

It�s impossible. 11 .6, it�s impossible to please God apart from faith in Jesus.

Well, it�s kind of hard. It might be difficult. No, it�s impossible. That�s what the word means, impossible, and it�s tied to the words to be brought back to repentance.

These people cannot be restored. Once they turn their back on the

Lord Jesus, you cannot be saved. They have examined everything.

They know the promises, and it�s very difficult. This translation, sorry, this interpretation that I hold, it�s nothing new to me.

Calvin had this view that there are unsaved people, and they receive

God�s mercy in lots of ways, but they weren�t regenerate. They could fall away, right?

Like any believer, we fall away for a season, but these people fall away by having an apostasy that means, �I reject

Christ. I don�t want to have anything to do with Him.� This is kind of, you know, language of Calvin would be the blasphemy of the

Holy Spirit type of thing. We can talk about is that really what it is or not, but for Calvin, quote, �The danger was pointed out by Him in time that they might be on their guard.�

That�s why the believers needed to know about this, and the unbelievers needed to know about it because this is very, very serious.

Calvin, �But I cannot admit that all this is any reason why He should not grant the reprobate some taste of His grace, why

He should not irradiate their minds with some sparks of His light, why He should not give them some perception of His goodness, and in some sort engrave

His word on their hearts. There is therefore some knowledge even in the reprobate which afterwards vanishes away, either because it did not strike roots sufficiently deep or because it withers being choked.�

So, the way we can think about it today, there are people who are involved. They have a background of Christianity, and they're close, and they've had experiences, and they've had these characteristics that would be similar to chapter 6, verses 4 and 5, but there's no inward genuine repentance.

It's a false repentance. There's no true saving faith. It's intellectual only. It's knowledge only.

It's ascent only. There's not knowledge, ascent, and trust. The language in Hebrews 6 has a definite article, those who, is the definite article in the original, and it governs all those participles, all the same kind of people.

�Once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the word and the powers of the age to come.�

These descriptions are of people who profess but do not possess.

This language here does not say they're predestined, they're foreknown, they're called, they're justified, they will be glorified, they're regenerate, they're saved, they're born again, they're truly trusting in the

Lord Jesus Christ, they're converted, they have been reconciled, they have been redeemed, they have been...they're

since propitiated by the blood of Christ Jesus, He is their surety, He is their refuge,

He is their high priest. It doesn't say any of that. These things could essentially be true of Judas, tasted the heavenly gift, enlightened.

Even with Judas, did Jesus not give the Twelve, which is including

Judas, power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal?

The answer is yes. I mean, Judas was close. He professed, he preached, he healed, he did ministry for three years right next to Jesus with the

Savior. Five thousand fed, Judas was there handing out the pieces of bread and the fish.

Storm, Judas was right there. Sermon on the Mount, Judas heard it, but he was not saved.

Judas said, why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? Master, is it

I? Whosoever I kiss, that same is he, said

Judas. I have sinned and then I have betrayed the innocent blood. If you read

Hebrews 1 to 5, you'll realize that the security of Christ's sheep is a fact.

Saints in heaven are happier but no more secure than true believers here in this world, Lorraine Betner said.

God's gifts are irrevocable. God's call is irrevocable. When Jesus said,

I give them eternal life and they shall never perish and neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand, he meant it.

Westminster Confession, they whom God hath accepted in His beloved, effectually called and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved.

This is the doctrine of the preservation of God's sheep. Preservation by God and our side is through the perseverance of the saints.

Not to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in His presence, in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy.

That is what we're talking about in this passage. That is to say, that's not what we're talking about in this passage, but what

I'm talking about in this passage is, it has to be less than this, right? Because God can save the Christian and He saves them to the uttermost, and He doesn't lose one, so these have to be less than Christians.

See Hebrews 6, 9. All the Father gives me shall come to me,

John 6. Here's what Spurgeon said, I like this. This perhaps will be one of the greatest cordials to a

Christian in heaviness, that he is not kept by his own power but by the power of God, and that he is not left in his own keeping, but he is kept by the

Most High. Ah, what should you and I do in the day when darkness gathers round our faith, if we had to keep ourselves?

I can never understand what an Arminian does when he gets into sickness, sorrow, and affliction. For what will he draw his comfort?

I do not know, but I know whence I shall draw mine. It is this, when flesh and heart faileth,

God is the strength of my life and my portion forever. I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which

I have committed unto Him against that day. But take away that doctrine of the Savior's keeping His people,

Spurgeon said, and where is my hope? What is there in the gospel worth my preaching or worth your receiving?

Shall they not perish then? No, they shall never perish. But suppose the pain should grow so hot that their faith should fail, shall they not perish then?

No, they shall not perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. But suppose their sense should seem to wander, and some should try to pervert them from the faith, shall they not be perverted?

No, they shall never perish. But suppose in the hour of some extremity, hell and the world and their own fears should all beset them, and they should have no power to stand, no power whatever to resist the fierce onslaughts of the enemy, shall they not perish then?

No, they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Ah, Spurgeon said, this is the doctrine, the cheering assurance wherein we greatly rejoice, though now for a season it needs be we are in heaviness through manifold temptations.

Our salvation is as secure as if we are already in heaven. But if you're not a believer, but you're playing games and you're close to Christianity, and you think, well, you know what, but I'm turning my back on Christianity, there's no hope for you.

That's what this passage is teaching. There's no hope for the person who understands Christianity and stiff arms the

Lord Jesus and His gospel. Hebrews 6, verses 4 and following, remind me of Judas.

Remind me of Israel in the wilderness, wandering, close, but not close enough.

So, he first says, one who have once been enlightened. Easy for me to say.

By the way, if you are listening and you want to have your sermons critiqued, it's NOCOXPXP, is what it's called.

I don't know why I called it that. But you can go online and I will help you with your sermons, since that's what

I do for the Master Seminary and the European Bible Training Center, and for what I used to do at other schools too.

We're going to have to do this once been enlightened thing a little bit later. If you want to order the book,

Sexual Fidelity, and you want to order a bunch of them for men's Bible study, just had a few churches in the last year do that.

We can probably get you the book about half price if you order in bulk. I think I probably have, I don't know, with this run about 700 more copies.

And so, we need to get those out of the closet. Let's get those out of the basement, out of the shed. Where do we keep them?

I don't know. We are thinking about new buildings and such here at the church, so maybe we'll have a little studio,

No Compromise Studio. Anyway, my name is Mike Abendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. At NOCO Radio for Twitter, our

Facebook has a No Compromise Radio, and YouTube. I don't know if you know that we have lots of videos. Ben has done a great job filming those.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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