WEBVTT

00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:05.422
We are still in Hebrews,

00:00:05.422 --> 00:00:12.454
and we have now finally arrived at one
of the most controversial texts in

00:00:12.494 --> 00:00:14.314
all of the New Testament.

00:00:15.134 --> 00:00:17.326
And so I'm going to assure you now,

00:00:17.326 --> 00:00:22.638
since I am not the brightest candle
in the candelabra there,

00:00:22.806 --> 00:00:31.634
that I'm probably not going to give you
the decidedly all knowing answer

00:00:31.674 --> 00:00:33.090
to the questions this morning.

00:00:33.090 --> 00:00:33.410
All right,

00:00:33.410 --> 00:00:35.602
I'm just going to go ahead
and warn you of that.

00:00:35.602 --> 00:00:37.954
There are about four different
ways to look at this thing.

00:00:37.954 --> 00:00:39.054
And today,

00:00:39.434 --> 00:00:40.602
more than any other day,

00:00:40.602 --> 00:00:44.786
I got more handwritten notes on
my notes than I normally do.

00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:46.698
So I got to go fast,

00:00:46.698 --> 00:00:48.130
and y'all got to listen fast.

00:00:48.130 --> 00:00:48.914
So here we go.

00:00:48.914 --> 00:00:51.570
We are still talking about
the object of our faith,

00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:52.948
which is Jesus himself.

00:00:53.036 --> 00:00:55.772
Jesus is the object of our faith.

00:00:55.908 --> 00:00:57.828
He is the object of faith.

00:00:57.684 --> 00:01:02.244
And the book of Hebrews is the book
that ties the Old Testament to the

00:01:02.244 --> 00:01:02.980
New Testament,

00:01:03.012 --> 00:01:06.868
and it brings out all of God's provision
and preparation together with

00:01:06.868 --> 00:01:11.812
the fulfillment in Jesus Christ in the
book of Hebrews is kind of what is

00:01:11.812 --> 00:01:14.580
the binder that holds
both books together.

00:01:14.692 --> 00:01:16.756
And so as we read,

00:01:16.820 --> 00:01:18.484
we are going to read Hebrews,

00:01:18.484 --> 00:01:19.252
chapter six,

00:01:19.308 --> 00:01:20.754
verses one through eight.

00:01:20.884 --> 00:01:21.822
And here we go.

00:01:21.822 --> 00:01:27.814
Therefore, let us leave the elementary
teaching about Christ and go on to

00:01:27.854 --> 00:01:32.398
maturity, not laying again a foundation
of repentance from dead works,

00:01:32.446 --> 00:01:33.318
faith in God,

00:01:33.318 --> 00:01:35.222
teaching about ritual washings,

00:01:35.318 --> 00:01:36.430
laying on of hands,

00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:37.662
the resurrection of the dead,

00:01:37.662 --> 00:01:39.006
and eternal judgment.

00:01:39.150 --> 00:01:41.790
And we will do this if God permits.

00:01:41.734 --> 00:01:45.278
For it is impossible to renew to
repentance those who were once

00:01:45.278 --> 00:01:47.618
enlightened, who tasted
the heavenly gift,

00:01:47.666 --> 00:01:49.082
who shared in the Holy spirit,

00:01:49.082 --> 00:01:52.562
who tasted God's good word and
the powers of the coming age,

00:01:52.562 --> 00:01:54.212
and who have fallen away.

00:01:54.434 --> 00:01:56.274
This is because to their own harm,

00:01:56.274 --> 00:02:00.906
they are recrucifying the Son of God
and holding him up to contempt for

00:02:00.930 --> 00:02:04.506
the ground that drinks the rain that
often falls on it and that produces

00:02:04.506 --> 00:02:07.786
vegetation useful to those for
whom it is cultivated,

00:02:07.850 --> 00:02:09.274
receives a blessing from God.

00:02:09.274 --> 00:02:11.584
But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

00:02:11.794 --> 00:02:15.946
it is worthless and about to be cursed
and at the end will be burned.

00:02:15.946 --> 00:02:17.040
Let's pray.

00:02:17.232 --> 00:02:18.800
God, thank you for your word.

00:02:18.584 --> 00:02:20.176
Thank you that you've spoken,

00:02:20.176 --> 00:02:22.744
God, that's the first truth
we pulled out of hebrews,

00:02:22.744 --> 00:02:26.536
is that you have spoken and you've
spoken through your son Jesus.

00:02:26.536 --> 00:02:26.912
And God,

00:02:26.912 --> 00:02:27.902
I thank you,

00:02:28.584 --> 00:02:30.924
God, that your word is clear.

00:02:31.304 --> 00:02:33.684
Our understanding not always is.

00:02:34.144 --> 00:02:34.600
And so,

00:02:34.600 --> 00:02:37.184
God, my prayer this morning is
that we would hear from you,

00:02:37.184 --> 00:02:38.200
that we'd hear your voice,

00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:41.008
we'd understand that which you
would say to us today,

00:02:41.008 --> 00:02:44.312
and that God we'd get that better
glimpse of who you are,

00:02:44.312 --> 00:02:47.746
God, so that we might walk
with you before you,

00:02:47.810 --> 00:02:51.026
that we might be your children,

00:02:51.170 --> 00:02:51.946
that, God,

00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:54.030
you would be our heavenly daddy.

00:02:54.162 --> 00:02:55.242
And we draw near,

00:02:55.242 --> 00:02:57.552
and we pray it in Jesus name.

00:02:56.618 --> 00:02:58.482
Amen. Alrighty.

00:02:58.538 --> 00:03:00.518
So when I read this passage,

00:03:00.570 --> 00:03:03.146
the point that kind of
came out to me was,

00:03:03.146 --> 00:03:05.554
is the verse down there toward
the end where it says,

00:03:05.554 --> 00:03:07.818
for the ground that drinks the rain,

00:03:07.818 --> 00:03:09.138
that often falls on it,

00:03:09.138 --> 00:03:10.570
and that produces vegetation,

00:03:10.642 --> 00:03:13.082
useful to those for whom
it is cultivated,

00:03:13.082 --> 00:03:14.434
receives a blessing from God.

00:03:14.434 --> 00:03:16.514
But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

00:03:16.514 --> 00:03:18.450
it is worthless and about
to be cursed,

00:03:18.450 --> 00:03:19.890
and at the end will be burned.

00:03:19.890 --> 00:03:23.906
Reminded me of a parable that Jesus
taught us about the Sower.

00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:26.266
That the sower came out
and was sowing seed,

00:03:26.266 --> 00:03:27.106
the word of God,

00:03:27.106 --> 00:03:27.714
the gospel,

00:03:27.714 --> 00:03:28.530
the good news.

00:03:28.530 --> 00:03:30.994
And. And some of the seed
fell on the road,

00:03:30.994 --> 00:03:33.098
and some fell by the
road in the rocks.

00:03:33.098 --> 00:03:34.738
Some fell among the thorns,

00:03:34.738 --> 00:03:36.354
and some fell on good ground,

00:03:36.354 --> 00:03:37.344
and that some.

00:03:37.434 --> 00:03:41.242
The seed on the road just got
picked up by the birds.

00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:44.670
Immediately, the seed that fell by the
road into the rocks got a little

00:03:44.706 --> 00:03:45.338
bit of growth,

00:03:45.338 --> 00:03:45.818
but then it.

00:03:45.818 --> 00:03:47.798
Just because it had no root,

00:03:47.806 --> 00:03:48.894
no depth of root,

00:03:48.894 --> 00:03:49.622
it dried up.

00:03:49.622 --> 00:03:54.174
And then the thorns of the world choked
out the seed that fell among the

00:03:54.174 --> 00:03:58.934
thorns. But the seed that fell among
the good ground produced fruit 30,

00:03:59.014 --> 00:04:01.046
60, 9000 times.

00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:02.118
All that stuff.

00:04:02.286 --> 00:04:02.718
You know,

00:04:02.718 --> 00:04:03.238
the story,

00:04:03.238 --> 00:04:04.154
the parable,

00:04:06.294 --> 00:04:08.382
it's in two of the gospel accounts.

00:04:08.382 --> 00:04:10.454
And so when I read verses
seven and eight,

00:04:10.454 --> 00:04:11.294
I started thinking,

00:04:11.294 --> 00:04:11.590
all right,

00:04:11.590 --> 00:04:16.744
so let's put this text in context
with the book of Hebrews,

00:04:16.784 --> 00:04:18.008
the writer of Hebrews.

00:04:18.008 --> 00:04:18.936
And again,

00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.712
some of you know who it is,

00:04:20.712 --> 00:04:23.888
or at least have a conviction
of who it is.

00:04:23.888 --> 00:04:25.264
Other scholars do not,

00:04:25.304 --> 00:04:27.624
and I'm not sure that we do know.

00:04:27.624 --> 00:04:29.274
But I will say this.

00:04:29.744 --> 00:04:32.144
The writer is communicating
to an audience,

00:04:32.224 --> 00:04:34.128
and he knows who his audience is,

00:04:34.128 --> 00:04:37.648
and he's communicating the truths that
that audience needs to hear.

00:04:37.648 --> 00:04:40.520
And then that is written and
given to us by the author,

00:04:40.520 --> 00:04:45.120
who is God himself and is passed down
to us in 2024 so that we can get an

00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:48.164
understanding of what God
wants to say to us.

00:04:48.704 --> 00:04:52.632
Many of the believers that hear this
whole text of the book of Hebrews

00:04:52.632 --> 00:04:57.280
are former practicers of Judaism.

00:04:57.432 --> 00:04:58.352
They're probably,

00:04:58.488 --> 00:05:01.784
the majority of them are hebrew people
that have trusted Jesus,

00:05:01.784 --> 00:05:05.084
have received salvation through the
shed blood of Jesus Christ.

00:05:05.088 --> 00:05:10.000
And yet the challenges of the faith
in that time period was that they

00:05:10.032 --> 00:05:12.342
wanted to turn around and go back.

00:05:12.304 --> 00:05:16.320
I want to go back to Judaism because
it was very rigid and it was very

00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:19.168
fixed. And as long as
I dot this sign,

00:05:19.168 --> 00:05:20.960
as long as I cross that t,

00:05:20.960 --> 00:05:22.504
then, then I'm good.

00:05:22.664 --> 00:05:23.112
You know,

00:05:23.112 --> 00:05:24.648
as long as I follow the rules,

00:05:24.648 --> 00:05:25.484
I'm good.

00:05:25.904 --> 00:05:26.564
And yet,

00:05:26.624 --> 00:05:29.072
what we've learned in this
is that God speaks.

00:05:29.072 --> 00:05:31.016
God has spoken through Jesus.

00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:32.248
Jesus is the son.

00:05:32.248 --> 00:05:33.856
Jesus is the heir of all things.

00:05:33.856 --> 00:05:34.968
Jesus is creator,

00:05:35.056 --> 00:05:36.064
he is sustainer.

00:05:36.104 --> 00:05:37.008
He is the,

00:05:37.008 --> 00:05:39.648
the exact expression of
the essence of God.

00:05:39.684 --> 00:05:41.900
He is the radiance of God's glory.

00:05:41.700 --> 00:05:42.852
He is the king.

00:05:42.852 --> 00:05:44.012
He is the high priest.

00:05:44.012 --> 00:05:49.060
And we're in the section where we're
understanding how much higher the

00:05:49.092 --> 00:05:55.068
priesthood of Christ is over any other
priesthood that has preceded

00:05:55.196 --> 00:06:00.788
Jesus. So Jesus is proclaimed the high
priest who brings the sacrifice

00:06:00.956 --> 00:06:02.504
once for all.

00:06:02.824 --> 00:06:03.432
Because, remember,

00:06:03.432 --> 00:06:06.680
the Old Testament sacrifice was every
year we got to do the day of

00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:07.168
atonement.

00:06:07.216 --> 00:06:12.304
Every year we've got to do the regular
ritual things of Judaism.

00:06:12.344 --> 00:06:18.272
But Jesus is the once for all sacrifice
for the sin of mankind,

00:06:18.328 --> 00:06:20.308
for the sin of the world.

00:06:20.464 --> 00:06:23.464
That's why this whole passage
opens up with this thought.

00:06:23.464 --> 00:06:27.144
Therefore, let us leave the
elementary teachings.

00:06:27.184 --> 00:06:29.164
Now, that doesn't mean
bad teachings,

00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:31.142
doesn't mean wrong teachings.

00:06:31.238 --> 00:06:34.590
It just means the first teachings,

00:06:34.742 --> 00:06:36.598
the basic teachings,

00:06:36.726 --> 00:06:41.894
the foundational ideas that once we've
trusted and received salvation

00:06:41.974 --> 00:06:44.150
provided in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ,

00:06:44.150 --> 00:06:48.462
we don't have to keep going back and
making sure that we've received

00:06:48.598 --> 00:06:49.874
that. You see,

00:06:50.254 --> 00:06:52.302
once you know Jesus right,

00:06:52.358 --> 00:06:55.062
once you've been adopted by God as,

00:06:55.118 --> 00:06:56.900
as our heavenly Father,

00:06:57.062 --> 00:06:59.372
then you're a part of the family.

00:06:59.864 --> 00:07:03.704
And I'm going to go ahead and tell
you the overwhelming evidence of

00:07:03.704 --> 00:07:05.784
scripture is that what God does,

00:07:05.864 --> 00:07:07.444
we can't undo.

00:07:08.024 --> 00:07:10.644
Okay? When God works,

00:07:11.184 --> 00:07:13.008
you're not strong enough,

00:07:13.176 --> 00:07:17.440
you're not powerful enough
to undo what God does.

00:07:17.632 --> 00:07:23.924
So what we see throughout scripture
is this assurance of what God has

00:07:23.964 --> 00:07:25.524
provided in salvation.

00:07:25.684 --> 00:07:28.900
And then you get a verse like
this or a passage like this,

00:07:28.900 --> 00:07:32.940
and it's one of the passage
in hebrews ten.

00:07:33.052 --> 00:07:36.916
Sort of is a corollary
to this right here.

00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:38.044
But the point is,

00:07:38.044 --> 00:07:40.944
is that God's the one who saves us.

00:07:41.884 --> 00:07:44.384
And if you can unsave you,

00:07:45.044 --> 00:07:47.184
that means you're stronger than God.

00:07:49.824 --> 00:07:51.804
Raise your hand if you are.

00:07:52.024 --> 00:07:53.644
I didn't think so.

00:07:54.304 --> 00:07:55.208
You're not.

00:07:55.336 --> 00:08:00.112
Okay, so I'm going to kind of make my
way through this text and try to

00:08:00.112 --> 00:08:00.976
point it out.

00:08:00.976 --> 00:08:04.276
I can't follow my notes
because I got too many.

00:08:04.264 --> 00:08:05.164
All right,

00:08:05.624 --> 00:08:07.816
let me remind you of
a couple of things.

00:08:07.816 --> 00:08:09.488
Matthew 20 413 says,

00:08:09.536 --> 00:08:11.844
those who endure will be saved.

00:08:12.424 --> 00:08:18.576
So there is this encouragement that
we persevere in our faith.

00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.124
Okay? Those who endure will be saved.

00:08:23.944 --> 00:08:27.176
I want to reflect on another
passage from one John.

00:08:27.176 --> 00:08:28.124
Oh, man.

00:08:28.944 --> 00:08:29.672
One John,

00:08:29.728 --> 00:08:30.724
chapter two,

00:08:31.344 --> 00:08:32.464
when John says,

00:08:32.544 --> 00:08:35.284
there are those who
went out from us,

00:08:36.104 --> 00:08:38.604
but they were not of us.

00:08:39.464 --> 00:08:43.204
Okay? So there were people
in the body of Christ.

00:08:44.033 --> 00:08:48.281
When John was one of the elders and
one of the leaders of the body of

00:08:48.281 --> 00:08:51.413
Christ, there were people
who left the body,

00:08:52.233 --> 00:08:55.533
but they were not actually
a part of the body.

00:08:55.953 --> 00:08:59.433
Okay? So there's some things
here that we draw in.

00:08:59.473 --> 00:09:03.553
So I want to remind you that of the
things we've learned in Hebrews,

00:09:03.553 --> 00:09:04.321
I listed them.

00:09:04.321 --> 00:09:04.921
All right,

00:09:04.921 --> 00:09:05.377
son.

00:09:05.465 --> 00:09:06.497
Air, creator,

00:09:06.545 --> 00:09:09.943
sustainer, radiance of God's glory,

00:09:10.113 --> 00:09:12.948
exact expression of the
essence of God.

00:09:12.996 --> 00:09:13.884
Jesus is God.

00:09:13.884 --> 00:09:14.748
He is king,

00:09:14.748 --> 00:09:16.684
he is the highest priest,

00:09:16.724 --> 00:09:17.372
all of those things.

00:09:17.372 --> 00:09:19.780
But there are also the fore warnings
that we've talked about.

00:09:19.780 --> 00:09:23.080
The first one was a warning
not to drift away,

00:09:23.884 --> 00:09:24.244
right?

00:09:24.284 --> 00:09:26.594
And I talked about surfing that day.

00:09:27.404 --> 00:09:31.932
Second warning is the warning
against unbelief,

00:09:32.028 --> 00:09:34.844
as in the days of the rebellion.

00:09:34.924 --> 00:09:39.258
Now, the context is the hebrew people
and what God has done on behalf of

00:09:39.258 --> 00:09:40.248
the hebrew people,

00:09:40.330 --> 00:09:43.090
right? So the days of the rebellion,

00:09:43.162 --> 00:09:44.866
being in the wilderness,

00:09:44.970 --> 00:09:47.410
when they had seen God work,

00:09:47.562 --> 00:09:51.890
when they had experienced the spirit
of God moving them through the

00:09:51.922 --> 00:09:54.130
wilderness, the pillar
of fire and the.

00:09:54.130 --> 00:09:54.818
And the cloud,

00:09:54.818 --> 00:09:55.746
by day,

00:09:55.930 --> 00:09:57.130
God had worked.

00:09:57.162 --> 00:09:58.946
They had seen the spirit of God,

00:09:58.946 --> 00:10:00.954
they had heard the word of God.

00:10:00.954 --> 00:10:02.098
They had heard all those things.

00:10:02.098 --> 00:10:04.698
That's the context for this
passage right here.

00:10:04.698 --> 00:10:07.950
They had presence of the fellowship.

00:10:08.102 --> 00:10:09.438
And when God said,

00:10:09.526 --> 00:10:11.014
go, take the land,

00:10:11.094 --> 00:10:11.910
they said,

00:10:12.062 --> 00:10:15.430
no, we want to go back to Egypt.

00:10:15.622 --> 00:10:17.182
So you see the context there.

00:10:17.182 --> 00:10:17.914
All right,

00:10:18.334 --> 00:10:18.750
all right.

00:10:18.750 --> 00:10:20.070
So the third warning,

00:10:20.118 --> 00:10:21.646
which is right here in chapter six,

00:10:21.646 --> 00:10:25.326
is the warning against apostasy.

00:10:25.510 --> 00:10:29.154
What that means is to
reject the faith.

00:10:31.114 --> 00:10:32.746
To reject the faith,

00:10:32.890 --> 00:10:34.490
to have been made aware of,

00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:35.922
enlightened in a sense.

00:10:35.978 --> 00:10:37.250
See, because we're going
to get into that.

00:10:37.250 --> 00:10:38.810
For it is impossible to renew,

00:10:38.810 --> 00:10:40.682
to repentance those who
were once enlightened.

00:10:40.682 --> 00:10:42.042
Now, in this context,

00:10:42.098 --> 00:10:44.506
the greek philosophy and
all that sort of thing,

00:10:44.506 --> 00:10:50.426
enlightenment is a reference to a knowledge
to come to an awareness of

00:10:50.490 --> 00:10:53.534
something. And just going,

00:10:54.074 --> 00:10:55.394
I don't believe that.

00:10:56.854 --> 00:10:58.504
I don't think that's true.

00:10:58.694 --> 00:11:00.614
See, those who have
been enlightened,

00:11:00.614 --> 00:11:03.434
those who have tasted
the heavenly gift,

00:11:04.694 --> 00:11:07.070
what does that mean when
you say the word taste?

00:11:07.070 --> 00:11:08.334
What do you think?

00:11:08.334 --> 00:11:09.526
See, it's Sunday morning.

00:11:09.526 --> 00:11:11.286
Y'all already looking
forward to lunch,

00:11:11.286 --> 00:11:12.034
aren't you?

00:11:12.894 --> 00:11:17.078
Well, the idea of tasted the
gift of God from heaven.

00:11:17.126 --> 00:11:20.142
This idea that God's people
in the wilderness,

00:11:20.238 --> 00:11:23.488
they literally tasted
the gift of God.

00:11:23.686 --> 00:11:25.148
The manna on the ground,

00:11:25.148 --> 00:11:26.676
the quail flying through the water,

00:11:26.676 --> 00:11:27.788
out of the rock.

00:11:27.788 --> 00:11:28.556
You see,

00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:31.264
there was a literal tasting there.

00:11:31.964 --> 00:11:36.676
See, who've shared in the Holy spirit
the fact that they're in the

00:11:36.740 --> 00:11:41.664
presence of God at work
among his people.

00:11:42.324 --> 00:11:49.024
They shared the benefits of the spirit
of God at work among the people.

00:11:49.484 --> 00:11:50.036
You see.

00:11:50.036 --> 00:11:54.092
They shared that goes on to say,

00:11:54.228 --> 00:11:56.028
who tasted God's good word.

00:11:56.076 --> 00:11:59.904
See, Moses is delivering
God's word to them.

00:12:00.244 --> 00:12:02.224
And they had shared in that,

00:12:03.644 --> 00:12:04.532
you see,

00:12:04.708 --> 00:12:06.644
and the powers of the coming age.

00:12:06.644 --> 00:12:07.964
What is he saying?

00:12:07.732 --> 00:12:09.712
That's the reference to the future,

00:12:10.084 --> 00:12:12.824
what God has directed for the future.

00:12:15.304 --> 00:12:19.112
So we get this picture in the context
of the writer of Hebrews,

00:12:19.112 --> 00:12:20.392
the author of scripture,

00:12:20.392 --> 00:12:21.624
which is God himself,

00:12:21.624 --> 00:12:26.604
inspiring these words to encourage
people to be careful,

00:12:27.344 --> 00:12:29.324
beware. There is a warning here,

00:12:29.344 --> 00:12:34.696
folks. There's a warning here that what
I put in the context of what I

00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.564
refer to as churchianity,

00:12:37.544 --> 00:12:40.968
there are people who sit in churches
every Sunday morning who hear the

00:12:40.968 --> 00:12:41.958
word of God,

00:12:42.364 --> 00:12:45.344
who see the work of God's spirit,

00:12:45.804 --> 00:12:50.372
who see the goodness of God and
taste the goodness of God,

00:12:50.508 --> 00:12:52.488
and who walk away and go,

00:12:53.204 --> 00:12:54.524
I don't want that.

00:12:55.764 --> 00:12:57.084
What does that mean?

00:12:57.764 --> 00:12:59.944
Does that mean they've really,

00:13:00.524 --> 00:13:07.064
truly, genuinely trusted
Jesus for salvation?

00:13:08.424 --> 00:13:09.084
All right,

00:13:09.168 --> 00:13:13.992
so the last warning we'll get to later
in Hebrews is just the outright

00:13:14.048 --> 00:13:15.672
rejection of God.

00:13:15.848 --> 00:13:18.512
So elementary teachings does
not refer to bad teaching.

00:13:18.512 --> 00:13:20.822
It just refers to the
elementary stages,

00:13:20.864 --> 00:13:22.040
not the mature stages,

00:13:22.040 --> 00:13:24.804
because this is an encouragement
to maturity.

00:13:25.504 --> 00:13:27.096
So when we look at this,

00:13:27.096 --> 00:13:34.042
this idea of when it says repentance
from dead works,

00:13:34.208 --> 00:13:35.070
what is he talking about?

00:13:35.070 --> 00:13:37.350
He's not talking about the
Old Testament practice.

00:13:37.174 --> 00:13:39.662
What he's talking about is people who
think they can earn their way into

00:13:39.662 --> 00:13:42.662
heaven. You think you can be good
enough to get to heaven?

00:13:42.662 --> 00:13:46.574
No. So it doesn't matter
how hard you work,

00:13:46.614 --> 00:13:47.782
just try to earn heaven.

00:13:47.782 --> 00:13:49.762
You're not going to earn it.

00:13:49.414 --> 00:13:53.198
Okay? That's what he's referring to
as the dead works right there.

00:13:53.198 --> 00:13:54.486
Faith in God.

00:13:54.630 --> 00:13:57.646
So our elementary trust,

00:13:57.750 --> 00:13:59.934
belief, our faith in God,

00:13:59.974 --> 00:14:00.814
what is that?

00:14:00.814 --> 00:14:03.430
That's getting the knowledge right.

00:14:03.622 --> 00:14:04.926
That's believing,

00:14:05.030 --> 00:14:08.574
which believing in the context of scripture
means putting your full

00:14:08.574 --> 00:14:10.646
trust, everything that you are,

00:14:10.670 --> 00:14:14.154
your identity in the person
and work of Jesus Christ,

00:14:15.574 --> 00:14:17.366
committing to it,

00:14:17.550 --> 00:14:19.714
meaning, this is my life.

00:14:20.974 --> 00:14:23.214
And finding the hope that
we have in God.

00:14:23.214 --> 00:14:23.894
You see,

00:14:24.054 --> 00:14:26.174
that's what he's referring
to right there.

00:14:26.174 --> 00:14:27.310
Ritual washings.

00:14:27.342 --> 00:14:28.550
Now, see what they're coming.

00:14:28.382 --> 00:14:29.942
The hebrew people are
coming out of this,

00:14:29.942 --> 00:14:33.242
this thing where they got to continually
be washing ceremonially,

00:14:33.342 --> 00:14:37.736
washing their hands and doing the washings
and the ritual washings that

00:14:37.760 --> 00:14:38.440
he's talking about.

00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.120
They're laying on of hands,

00:14:40.272 --> 00:14:45.576
this idea of passing something
on by the laying of hands.

00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.240
And we see it in a couple of different
ways in the Old Testament and the

00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:53.008
new. But the idea is that these are the
things that once you are in the

00:14:53.008 --> 00:14:54.264
faith. And I'll go on and say,

00:14:54.264 --> 00:14:56.244
in the resurrection of the dead,

00:14:56.504 --> 00:14:59.364
right, eternal judgment.

00:15:00.694 --> 00:15:03.366
See, Christ is the first resurrection
of the dead,

00:15:03.366 --> 00:15:10.214
and yet we get to be the promise
of the following resurrection.

00:15:10.374 --> 00:15:11.150
And the truth is,

00:15:11.150 --> 00:15:14.450
eternal judgment is we're all going
to stand before judgment.

00:15:14.774 --> 00:15:17.934
Some of us are going to
be seen in Christ,

00:15:17.934 --> 00:15:19.154
some are not.

00:15:20.374 --> 00:15:22.022
So when I look at all
of this together,

00:15:22.022 --> 00:15:24.332
I see the parable of the soils,

00:15:24.454 --> 00:15:28.034
or the parable of the sower that's
found in Matthew 13.

00:15:28.704 --> 00:15:31.344
The seed is the word of the kingdom.

00:15:31.424 --> 00:15:34.524
The road is no understanding at all.

00:15:34.864 --> 00:15:39.824
The rocks are those that have a
sort of immediate instant joy,

00:15:39.864 --> 00:15:41.184
but there's no root.

00:15:41.504 --> 00:15:44.024
The thorns are the ones
that root grow,

00:15:44.024 --> 00:15:48.364
and then the concerns and distractions
of the world choke it out.

00:15:49.864 --> 00:15:55.918
But then there is good soil where the
seed goes in and roots plants,

00:15:56.046 --> 00:16:00.834
and is real and produces fruit
in multiplication.

00:16:01.814 --> 00:16:04.114
So here's the challenge for us.

00:16:05.454 --> 00:16:06.774
What is it that.

00:16:07.854 --> 00:16:08.942
How do we read this?

00:16:08.942 --> 00:16:10.654
For it is impossible to renew,

00:16:10.654 --> 00:16:11.558
to repentance.

00:16:11.686 --> 00:16:14.182
Those who were once enlightened
tasted the heavenly gift,

00:16:14.182 --> 00:16:15.182
shared the Holy Spirit,

00:16:15.182 --> 00:16:16.262
tasted God's good word,

00:16:16.262 --> 00:16:19.562
the powers of the coming age
and have fallen away.

00:16:20.594 --> 00:16:21.666
What's that a reference to?

00:16:21.578 --> 00:16:21.778
All right,

00:16:21.778 --> 00:16:23.410
so there's four ways you
can understand this.

00:16:23.410 --> 00:16:24.066
You ready?

00:16:24.066 --> 00:16:27.842
Now, this is where I'm not going to
tell you what you have to believe.

00:16:27.842 --> 00:16:29.202
Cause that ain't my job.

00:16:29.202 --> 00:16:29.934
All right,

00:16:30.234 --> 00:16:31.426
I'm gonna get to the end of it,

00:16:31.426 --> 00:16:33.330
and I'm gonna tell you
what I believe.

00:16:33.034 --> 00:16:35.810
And you can either go along
with me or not.

00:16:35.810 --> 00:16:38.242
You're not gonna hurt my
feelings either way.

00:16:38.242 --> 00:16:38.962
So, one,

00:16:39.018 --> 00:16:43.774
the first understanding is that you can
be saved and then not be saved,

00:16:44.594 --> 00:16:47.978
right? If that is your understanding
of what this says right here,

00:16:47.978 --> 00:16:49.236
then guess what?

00:16:49.410 --> 00:16:52.848
There is a lot of theology and a lot of
groups out there that believe you

00:16:52.848 --> 00:16:54.168
can lose your salvation.

00:16:54.048 --> 00:16:55.368
Well, if that's true,

00:16:55.384 --> 00:16:58.888
then there is no possible way
that you can be saved,

00:16:58.888 --> 00:16:59.560
be lost,

00:16:59.632 --> 00:17:01.284
and then be saved again,

00:17:01.824 --> 00:17:03.884
according to that one sentence,

00:17:04.744 --> 00:17:05.724
no way.

00:17:06.224 --> 00:17:07.284
And yet,

00:17:07.704 --> 00:17:09.080
I know people who tell me,

00:17:09.080 --> 00:17:09.816
say, oh,

00:17:09.840 --> 00:17:11.560
I've been saved several times.

00:17:11.752 --> 00:17:13.232
Well, not according to that verse,

00:17:13.232 --> 00:17:14.044
you're not.

00:17:15.003 --> 00:17:19.635
Okay, so if you believe there is
a place where you can truly,

00:17:19.739 --> 00:17:22.659
genuinely be saved and then be lost,

00:17:22.771 --> 00:17:26.667
then according to what that is saying
in that interpretation of it,

00:17:26.667 --> 00:17:31.027
then you cannot be saved again
because then you would be.

00:17:31.075 --> 00:17:32.725
You would have to re.

00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:36.959
Jesus would have to come back down here
and get crucified all over again.

00:17:37.083 --> 00:17:40.131
And we know that's not happening.

00:17:40.267 --> 00:17:41.726
Right? All right,

00:17:41.790 --> 00:17:42.870
second understanding.

00:17:42.902 --> 00:17:44.830
Now, I'm gonna tell y'all
something I'm on.

00:17:44.574 --> 00:17:46.046
Cause I did this this week.

00:17:46.046 --> 00:17:48.678
You can go to YouTube and find some.

00:17:48.678 --> 00:17:56.086
Some really strong conviction people
who believe any one of all four of

00:17:56.110 --> 00:17:57.678
these. These views.

00:17:57.846 --> 00:17:58.310
And, man,

00:17:58.310 --> 00:17:59.300
they sound good.

00:17:59.286 --> 00:18:02.256
They're sitting in front of
a well lighted camera,

00:18:02.774 --> 00:18:04.394
right? And they're.

00:18:05.294 --> 00:18:05.862
And I go,

00:18:05.862 --> 00:18:07.262
and the second view is,

00:18:07.262 --> 00:18:10.750
is that this is not a reference
to losing your salvation.

00:18:10.750 --> 00:18:15.834
This is a reference to bad behavior which
causes you to lose your rewards

00:18:16.734 --> 00:18:17.794
in heaven,

00:18:18.494 --> 00:18:23.686
that you lose some sort of blessing
because you were not completely

00:18:23.750 --> 00:18:26.430
faithful to your faith.

00:18:26.542 --> 00:18:26.958
Right.

00:18:27.046 --> 00:18:27.350
All right,

00:18:27.350 --> 00:18:28.670
that's one and two.

00:18:29.534 --> 00:18:35.030
Third one is this is a hypothetical
statement or rhetorical statement

00:18:35.182 --> 00:18:41.734
saying if it is possible
to fall away,

00:18:43.274 --> 00:18:46.442
then it is impossible to renew,

00:18:46.578 --> 00:18:47.618
to repentance.

00:18:47.746 --> 00:18:51.778
Now, I will tell you that most of the
guys that I really like listening

00:18:51.778 --> 00:18:55.094
to and reading and studying
actually believe this one.

00:18:56.074 --> 00:19:01.202
They believe that the writer of Hebrews
is setting up an impossible

00:19:01.298 --> 00:19:04.938
question, saying that if
it were impossible,

00:19:04.986 --> 00:19:08.214
if it were possible to be unsaved,

00:19:08.544 --> 00:19:12.800
then it is impossible for them to
repent because Jesus can't be

00:19:12.832 --> 00:19:19.304
recrucified. That's that hypothetical
rhetorical empire.

00:19:19.344 --> 00:19:20.192
They call it something.

00:19:20.192 --> 00:19:21.024
It's something Latin,

00:19:21.024 --> 00:19:26.964
something absurd that he's making
an absurd statement right there.

00:19:27.544 --> 00:19:31.888
Then the fourth one is this is that these
people are like those folks in

00:19:31.888 --> 00:19:32.548
one john,

00:19:32.560 --> 00:19:33.524
chapter two.

00:19:34.084 --> 00:19:35.404
They were with us.

00:19:35.556 --> 00:19:36.988
They were among us.

00:19:37.156 --> 00:19:38.784
They looked like us.

00:19:40.484 --> 00:19:42.700
They were a part of everything
that we are,

00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:44.024
and they left here.

00:19:46.124 --> 00:19:50.956
But what we realized because they didn't
endure was that they weren't

00:19:51.060 --> 00:19:53.984
real. They were fakers.

00:19:54.644 --> 00:19:56.676
They were false in their belief.

00:19:56.820 --> 00:20:05.384
Now, I can find evidence for both three
and four in these arguments.

00:20:06.284 --> 00:20:12.932
I have always said that a person who
would turn away from Jesus never

00:20:12.988 --> 00:20:14.344
really knew Jesus.

00:20:15.084 --> 00:20:18.304
Okay? That's always
been my statement,

00:20:19.044 --> 00:20:22.724
because I don't believe I can undo
what God's done in salvation.

00:20:22.724 --> 00:20:23.780
And secondly,

00:20:23.892 --> 00:20:24.882
if I really,

00:20:24.948 --> 00:20:27.324
truly know Jesus,

00:20:29.704 --> 00:20:34.444
I'd have to be insane to
walk away from Jesus.

00:20:35.624 --> 00:20:40.440
Okay? So I tend to lean
into the fourth one,

00:20:40.552 --> 00:20:43.522
but can see the case
for the third one,

00:20:44.944 --> 00:20:47.184
that if Christ in all of scripture,

00:20:47.184 --> 00:20:51.400
neither height nor depth nor any other
thing can separate me from the

00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.444
love of God.

00:20:53.714 --> 00:20:57.818
That at my salvation I'm written
in the palm of God's hand,

00:20:57.986 --> 00:21:00.738
that my name is written down.

00:21:00.826 --> 00:21:01.298
You know,

00:21:01.298 --> 00:21:01.882
this was.

00:21:01.882 --> 00:21:05.226
And I used to do this with people
because I love the absurd.

00:21:05.226 --> 00:21:05.886
All right.

00:21:06.018 --> 00:21:06.370
I said,

00:21:06.370 --> 00:21:06.786
all right.

00:21:06.666 --> 00:21:06.962
You know,

00:21:06.962 --> 00:21:10.262
God's got the book of life
up there in heaven,

00:21:10.634 --> 00:21:15.810
and I receive Christ and trust
Jesus as my lord and savior,

00:21:15.842 --> 00:21:19.098
and God writes my name down in
the lamb's book of life,

00:21:19.098 --> 00:21:19.694
right?

00:21:21.954 --> 00:21:24.770
And then I decide and
understand this.

00:21:24.802 --> 00:21:27.854
This idea of falling
away is not casual.

00:21:29.514 --> 00:21:33.894
It's not some accidental walking
away from the faith,

00:21:34.554 --> 00:21:35.650
right? Oh,

00:21:35.682 --> 00:21:36.922
I said a four letter word.

00:21:36.922 --> 00:21:38.572
I must be lost again.

00:21:39.634 --> 00:21:41.714
Oh, I treated somebody poorly.

00:21:41.754 --> 00:21:43.404
I must be lost again.

00:21:44.314 --> 00:21:46.954
That's not what this
is a reference to.

00:21:47.254 --> 00:21:51.862
This is a reference to having an awareness
of who God is and what God has

00:21:51.862 --> 00:21:52.852
done, and saying,

00:21:52.934 --> 00:21:58.314
I don't want that apostasy
rejecting the faith.

00:21:59.414 --> 00:22:01.014
But I used to tell people,

00:22:01.014 --> 00:22:06.262
once God's written your name down there
and you decide to go do something

00:22:06.318 --> 00:22:07.214
else, what did you do?

00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:08.074
Oh, excuse me.

00:22:11.834 --> 00:22:15.234
Sorry. In the character of God,

00:22:15.274 --> 00:22:17.254
I just see that as ridiculous.

00:22:18.914 --> 00:22:26.418
I see the assurance of God working in
our lives to produce our salvation.

00:22:26.546 --> 00:22:28.614
He's the one that saves us.

00:22:29.034 --> 00:22:31.802
The evidence of that
salvation is fruit.

00:22:31.858 --> 00:22:32.514
30, 60,

00:22:32.594 --> 00:22:37.454
90 times and enduring unto the end.

00:22:38.494 --> 00:22:42.474
Perseverance, not falling back.

00:22:42.894 --> 00:22:44.110
Because quite honestly,

00:22:44.142 --> 00:22:45.814
folks, if the first one is true,

00:22:45.814 --> 00:22:49.366
that you can be saved and
then lost without the.

00:22:49.470 --> 00:22:53.154
Without the possibility
of repentance,

00:22:55.854 --> 00:22:57.174
that can be frightening,

00:22:57.174 --> 00:22:59.710
right? Well,

00:22:59.742 --> 00:23:01.990
it is frightening because
this warning is in here.

00:23:01.830 --> 00:23:03.966
So I'm not saying it's
not a warning.

00:23:03.966 --> 00:23:05.286
It is a warning.

00:23:06.484 --> 00:23:09.124
So if you're sitting in
here this morning,

00:23:09.124 --> 00:23:15.356
right, the parable that goes hand
in hand with the soils seed.

00:23:15.420 --> 00:23:16.036
30, 60,

00:23:16.100 --> 00:23:17.148
90. Right?

00:23:17.196 --> 00:23:18.084
After that,

00:23:18.244 --> 00:23:24.316
in Matthew comes the parable of the wheat
and the tares that it grows up

00:23:24.340 --> 00:23:26.452
together. The weeds grow
up with the wheat,

00:23:26.452 --> 00:23:28.432
and you can't tell them apart,

00:23:28.604 --> 00:23:32.564
but one of them produces fruit
and the other one does not.

00:23:32.894 --> 00:23:34.846
Folks, you know what
this warning is,

00:23:34.846 --> 00:23:37.816
and I'll go ahead and
finish out the text.

00:23:39.414 --> 00:23:41.158
They've tasted everything
fallen away.

00:23:41.206 --> 00:23:42.542
This is because to their own harm,

00:23:42.542 --> 00:23:45.830
they are recrucifying the son of God
and holding him to contempt.

00:23:45.830 --> 00:23:46.454
Listen to this.

00:23:46.454 --> 00:23:48.414
For the ground that drinks the rain,

00:23:48.414 --> 00:23:49.822
that often falls on it,

00:23:49.822 --> 00:23:51.494
and that produces vegetation,

00:23:51.574 --> 00:23:56.158
useful, produces fruit to those
for whom it is cultivated,

00:23:56.326 --> 00:23:59.244
receive the blessing of God.

00:24:00.424 --> 00:24:02.536
But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

00:24:02.536 --> 00:24:07.804
it is worthless and about to be cursed
and at the end will be burned.

00:24:08.104 --> 00:24:09.832
There is a warning in this text,

00:24:09.832 --> 00:24:13.904
folks, where you choose to fall out,

00:24:13.944 --> 00:24:14.392
guess what?

00:24:14.392 --> 00:24:18.288
The gathering is made up of all kind
of folks from all kind of different

00:24:18.288 --> 00:24:21.368
backgrounds. I grew up in a really,

00:24:21.416 --> 00:24:24.456
really, really baptist
house in a really,

00:24:24.520 --> 00:24:26.204
really baptist church,

00:24:26.704 --> 00:24:30.352
and I was always subjected
to that phrase,

00:24:30.408 --> 00:24:31.080
once saved.

00:24:31.152 --> 00:24:34.072
Always say that just means you
can act any way you want to.

00:24:34.072 --> 00:24:34.576
Well, no,

00:24:34.576 --> 00:24:36.886
that's not what it means at all.

00:24:37.144 --> 00:24:39.328
What it means is if you know Jesus,

00:24:39.328 --> 00:24:44.164
you'll act like you know Jesus and
fruit will be seen in your life.

00:24:44.624 --> 00:24:50.924
Okay? And if God has genuinely
and truly saved you,

00:24:51.374 --> 00:24:53.674
you can't unsave yourself,

00:24:54.934 --> 00:24:58.434
okay? You can't undo what God does.

00:24:59.854 --> 00:25:00.686
So, folks,

00:25:00.790 --> 00:25:02.214
our effort,

00:25:02.374 --> 00:25:07.954
our energy has to be applied
to the fruit.

00:25:08.574 --> 00:25:10.934
You're not going to work your
way into salvation,

00:25:10.934 --> 00:25:13.274
but with God pouring into you,

00:25:14.614 --> 00:25:21.274
let your effort be the fruit in your
life to let God produce fruit in

00:25:21.314 --> 00:25:23.134
you. Okay?

00:25:25.074 --> 00:25:30.058
Whew. I'm glad that's over
because every scholar,

00:25:30.146 --> 00:25:32.874
every preacher I listened to over
the last three or four weeks,

00:25:32.874 --> 00:25:33.850
everything I saw in this,

00:25:33.850 --> 00:25:39.874
they say this is one of the most controversial
texts in all the New

00:25:39.914 --> 00:25:42.174
Testament. Okay.

00:25:42.844 --> 00:25:43.732
All right.

00:25:43.908 --> 00:25:45.004
Do you know Jesus?

00:25:45.004 --> 00:25:45.784
This morning?

00:25:46.444 --> 00:25:48.132
See if you know Jesus.

00:25:48.308 --> 00:25:50.344
Hey, you know what?

00:25:50.804 --> 00:25:52.704
That's the identity,

00:25:53.124 --> 00:25:55.188
not something that the
world assigns,

00:25:55.236 --> 00:25:57.464
not the distraction of the world.

00:25:57.924 --> 00:25:59.624
If you know Jesus,

00:26:00.324 --> 00:26:04.860
then draw near every chance you get,

00:26:04.932 --> 00:26:07.104
every opportunity you find,

00:26:07.444 --> 00:26:08.920
draw near to God.

00:26:09.052 --> 00:26:09.784
I told y'all,

00:26:09.784 --> 00:26:11.312
I got saved when I was
eight years old.

00:26:11.312 --> 00:26:13.292
My mama led me through scripture.

00:26:13.344 --> 00:26:14.004
I prayed.

00:26:13.992 --> 00:26:14.280
I said,

00:26:14.280 --> 00:26:15.424
yes, God,

00:26:15.464 --> 00:26:16.992
please forgive me for my sins.

00:26:16.992 --> 00:26:20.912
Jesus, come into my life and save
me and help me to live for you.

00:26:20.912 --> 00:26:22.400
Now can I just tell y'all,

00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:23.764
I was a teenager.

00:26:24.944 --> 00:26:26.624
I did teenager stuff.

00:26:26.744 --> 00:26:31.168
I went to my first two years of college
acting like a look and see if

00:26:31.168 --> 00:26:36.404
there's any children in the
room acting like an idiot.

00:26:36.734 --> 00:26:38.754
College, just to be honest.

00:26:39.374 --> 00:26:41.142
But in my second year of college,

00:26:41.142 --> 00:26:42.238
God said to me,

00:26:42.238 --> 00:26:43.262
my way or the highway.

00:26:43.262 --> 00:26:45.126
Guess what I realized
in that moment?

00:26:45.126 --> 00:26:47.994
God had never turned loose of me.

00:26:48.774 --> 00:26:51.510
God had never released me.

00:26:51.662 --> 00:26:55.114
God had never kicked me
out for my behavior.

00:26:55.494 --> 00:27:00.394
Okay? He was always
holding on to me.

00:27:02.394 --> 00:27:07.854
Those who endure to the end will
be those who are saved.

00:27:08.354 --> 00:27:11.418
Okay, we're going to
sing one more song.

00:27:11.466 --> 00:27:14.354
You get to respond to the word
of God because by all means,

00:27:14.354 --> 00:27:16.004
you're not responding to me.

00:27:16.434 --> 00:27:19.394
You respond to what God has
said to you this morning.

00:27:19.394 --> 00:27:20.690
And if you know Jesus,

00:27:20.690 --> 00:27:23.634
yay. If you don't know Jesus,

00:27:23.674 --> 00:27:24.810
we want to introduce you.

00:27:24.810 --> 00:27:25.458
Okay?

00:27:25.586 --> 00:27:26.226
Let's pray.

00:27:26.226 --> 00:27:29.368
God, thank you for today and
for all that you do.

00:27:29.368 --> 00:27:30.616
Thank you for loving us.

00:27:30.616 --> 00:27:32.472
Thank you for your word.

00:27:32.568 --> 00:27:33.884
God, you've spoken,

00:27:34.264 --> 00:27:41.168
and I can see where lots of people can
have well intentioned ideas about

00:27:41.216 --> 00:27:42.164
these things.

00:27:42.464 --> 00:27:42.960
But, God,

00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:47.580
your word teaches us over and over again
that you are faithful and true.

00:27:47.664 --> 00:27:48.368
And, God,

00:27:48.456 --> 00:27:51.424
you're the one who begins
a good work in us,

00:27:51.424 --> 00:27:55.064
and you will bring it through
to completion.

00:27:56.804 --> 00:27:57.372
So, God,

00:27:57.372 --> 00:27:59.068
just continue to work in me.

00:27:59.068 --> 00:28:00.476
Continue to work in us.

00:28:00.476 --> 00:28:02.456
God, continue to draw us near.

00:28:02.404 --> 00:28:02.844
And God,

00:28:02.844 --> 00:28:05.704
help us to draw near to you.

00:28:06.164 --> 00:28:10.124
And if there's even one person here
this morning that doesn't know,

00:28:10.684 --> 00:28:11.628
isn't sure,

00:28:11.756 --> 00:28:15.900
God, I pray that we would know that
we know that we know that we have

00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:16.588
eternal life,

00:28:16.636 --> 00:28:18.516
and we pray it in Jesus name.

00:28:18.516 --> 00:28:18.804
Amen.