Let Us Go on to Maturity — Hebrews 5-7

0:00 If somebody wouldn't mind, grabbing a glass of water for me. I I have heard some talk behind my back that I'm a dry preacher. So, I hope to prevent that this morning. No. I do have a bit of a dry throat, so I know I'm gonna need it.

0:18 Well, thank you for inviting me to participate in your Hebrews study which is a fantastic book. I'm sure you are finding it so. Tremendous things said in there, things that we would never have imagined in the word of god. We thank god for giving us that book. Whoever, the writer he used was, we know god gave us the book.

0:46 Now, we already went through this as a chapel a year ago or or a year and a half ago. I can't remember now during a midweek bible study. So we crawled through Hebrews and enjoyed it very much and went chapter by chapter and verse by verse. So this is bringing me back to a lot of the things that we discovered back then. Now, as assigned Hebrews chapter six today but I would like to read with you starting in chapter five verse eight.

1:22 Oh, my son's bringing me water. Thank you, son. Hebrews chapter five verse nine is, where I wanted. I'm sorry. Verse nine.

1:41 And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Called by god as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Of whom we have much to say and hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. 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.

2:17 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. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of 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. For it is impossible for those who are 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?

3:13 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. For the earth, which drinks in the rain and 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. But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you.

3:46 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. You do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply you.

4:26 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise, for men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus, God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Let's ask our great high priest to bless us as we learn his word this morning. Lord Jesus Christ, we join with that throng of angels and redeemed who love you and who sing your praises.

5:33 We say, lord Jesus, you are worthy to have power and blessing and honor and glory. We pray this morning that you would help us in our pilgrim journey on Earth to understand what you have written to us that we may fight the good fight, that we may run the race, that we may, give glory to your name, that we may see many people come to love you as we do. In your precious name, we ask, Lord. Amen. Well, the reason I started in chapter five is to hopefully bridge that unfortunate chapter break in chapter six which seems to interrupt what's going on there.

7:09 The first time the mention of Melchizedek in the New Testament. Of course, it was in the Old Testament concealed. Now, it's in the New Testament revealed. You will find Melchizedek in Genesis 14, and you'll also find him in Psalm Psalm a 110. But here in five verse nine, if you just put your finger on the last phrase of verse 10, sorry, according to the order of Melchizedek and then put your finger on six twenty, the last phrase, it says, according to the order of Melchizedek.

7:49 So, the writer has come full circle. He said what he wanted to say in between that and now he gets back to his argument which is in chapter seven verse one. For this Melchizedek and he goes on to teach for two chapters or sorry, all of chapter seven and a bit of the subsequent chapters about this Melchizedek. But his point was in verse 11 that he had lots to say and hard to be understood. And he tells them why.

8:22 He tells them that they become dull of hearing. He tells them in verse 12 that they ought to be teachers by this time. Sounds like they've been saved for quite a while. He says that they need milk, saying that they are babes in verse 13. So, when we come to chapter six, the writer's great concern is that they would go on to maturity.

8:55 In fact, he puts it in the plural, let us go on to perfection, King James, New King James, but really the idea is maturity. Let us go on to completion. It's that great bible word telos, which says to bring something to its end, to its completion. See, idea of maturity. That's what the writer wants to do.

9:22 That's what God wants the Hebrew Christians to do. And in verse three, he says, and this we will do if God permits. Isn't that an interesting phrase? If God permits. Why wouldn't God permit someone to go on to maturity?

9:45 Well, in that little section from verse four to six, it shows us that there is sort of a breaking point. There is a point of no return. And this is where the chapter gets really controversial. On the one side, this passage is loved and taught by those who think and want to tell the world that once you're saved, you can lose your salvation. This is one of their favorite passages that they go to.

10:17 And it's caused a lot of concern and confusion for a lot of people because of those who use that passage in this way. Others who do not believe that you could ever lose your salvation interpret it another way. And this morning, I thank Roger sarcastically for giving me such a lovely passage to be be loved and hated by after the service. But I hope to prevent that by saying a few things before we begin. Now, Bill McDonald's commentary, if you've read it, and I'm sure many have, he was a great man of God and a great teacher.

11:00 I think those are two separate things. He was a great man of God and a great teacher of the word of God. And he thinks that chapter six verses four through six are talking about apostates. Jewish people back then who heard the gospel but didn't believe it. They came close but turned back.

11:22 And he makes a very strong argument for that. In fact, one of his examples would be Judas who tasted these things, who saw the powers of God, and who partook of the Holy Spirit presumably when he cast out demons and healed the sick. It says they did that collectively, so we don't know if he did it specifically, but anyways. Bill Macdonald makes a strong case. So there you could say, well, there you go.

11:50 That's what the passage means. But when we were going through this as a chapel a year and a half ago, I was nominated to do Hebrews chapter six, so I needed to know what it taught and I studied it out for many, many nights, came to a conclusion on my own. After reading many of the, sides of of the debate. And to me, the clincher that made me feel that these were not apostates or these were genuine believers, not in danger of losing salvation, but in danger of bringing down judgment on their lives for the way that they neglected the salvation given to us. The word that did it for me was that word again in verse six.

12:47 If they fall away, to renew them again to repentance. It's impossible to renew them again. So, in my mind, if you're renewing them again, it means they were already once renewed to repentance. So, unless you are going to stand and say, repentance has nothing to do with salvation or say that this was somehow a fake repentance, I don't know how we can escape the conclusion that these were once believers and were still believers because no one ever loses that salvation. So, that was my little journey.

13:25 That word really did it for me. But, I wouldn't be so silly as to presume that I know the answers being a young guy in my thirties from Canada. I mean, come on. What do they know? So, I phoned up somebody I hoped would talk to me and that was Jade Nicholson and he called me back.

13:46 What a nice fella. He doesn't know me that well. I really respect that he did that. And we talked for an hour on this passage, and lo and behold, Jaeb thinks they are believers. So, we have Bill MacDonald and Gabe not agreeing on this passage.

14:04 So, that puts us in a spot where we always should be. We have to make up our own minds, don't we? Apparently, Jab's father, was a great bible teacher in his own right, Boyd Nicholson, also believed that this passage was speaking about believers. You can listen to their messages if you'd like because there isn't a believers commentary that you'll find by Boyd or Jeb. You'll have to go to Voices for Christ website and just look them up in their hundreds of messages on there that speak on Hebrews chapter six or chapter 10 or chapter two and you'll hear what they think.

14:46 Anyways, I hope you're still listening to me and I hope to, make a case because I do have to preach what I what I think is going on here. So, I think the warning is this, that there is a danger. Let's say two things. Number one is, we know there's a ton of Christians out there. Christians, who aren't Christians.

15:13 We know they're just going to church. We know they're just playing games or we know they're just false professors. That is a category of people out there. And they're really messing up the testimony of Christ because people think they're the real deal and they're not. There's a lot of hypocrisy.

15:32 There's a lot of carnality. A lot of lukewarmness. A lot of liberality. But there's another category, I believe, and that is true Christians who remain babies and never mature. There is carnal Christians, and that's who I believe is being addressed here in verses four through six and the warning to them is is watch out because if you keep going down that path, you may find yourself in a spot where it is impossible to be turned around again, to be renewed to repentance.

17:02 A judgment will fall on them. We don't know what that judgment will be but it is given to us in a picture in verse seven and eight. It says in verse eight, if briars and thorns is all you produce in your Christian life, Says there it is rejected and near to being cursed whose end is to be burned. I know many would use that to say, that means the person is going to lose their salvation. I don't think that.

17:33 I just think they're going to lose their opportunity of serving Christ on this earth, which is the most precious thing, whether we know it or not, we will ever receive while we are human beings, is to serve the lord Jesus for a short time before eternity begins. And to lose that opportunity will bring tremendous shame when we stand before him. Little children, let us abide in him that we may have confidence before him at his coming and not be ashamed. It says in first John two twenty eight. Notice it says in verse three of chapter six, or sorry, verse one, let us go on to maturity.

18:23 It's not saying, let us go on to salvation. As these folks in verses four through six are saying are are saying, if it is apostates, it's people who have come close, who have heard, who continue to for a while and then turn away. He he doesn't say let us go on to salvation. He says, let's go on to maturity. That's why I feel so strongly that this is a warning for us Christians.

18:54 Apparently, that's also what Warren Weirsby thinks about this passage, if you enjoy his, bible teaching. He says this, the ABCs of the Christian life are important. Thinking of the ABCs, he's talking about chapter six verse two. Those six things that are listed. Verses one and two.

19:19 Repentance from dead works, of faith towards God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment. Those six things in one sense are the ABCs. They're the entry door. You must repent. You must have faith.

19:39 Resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, these are all the things that we first learn. Warren Risbee says, the ABCs of the Christian life are important but they must be a launching pad and not a parking lot. For the challenge is, let us go on to maturity. If we get sluggish, verse six, sorry, chapter six verse 12, and dull of hearing, chapter five verse 11, dull of hearing towards the word, we may fall by the wayside, Warren Weirsby says, and stop being fruitful. As long as the disobedient believers are bringing shame to Christ, it is impossible to bring them to repentance and god must deal with them.

20:38 Warren Griersby also had this to say which I thought was a good way to start thinking about it. He said, the milk of the word is what Christ did for us while he was on Earth. The meat of the word is what Christ is doing for us now in heaven, in his office as great high priest. And I would venture to say that there are a lot of Christians out there that have no idea what Christ is doing up in heaven. But the Bible tells us that he is our advocate, that He is our intercessor, that He is our great high priest, and that He is ministering to us in our time of need.

21:23 And we can come confidently to His throne of grace to receive help in the nick of time, one translation says. So, there's a lot to learn from this passage. Let's just go over it a little bit at a time. Chapter six verse one says, we need to leave something. That would be those elementary principles of Christ or metaphorically speaking, the milk.

22:13 We know that in the physical. We know that... Sorry if I stepped on any toes there. I think I'll take a drink. But spiritually speaking, there is a time to grow up as well.

22:33 You know, The amount of time somebody's been a Christian doesn't necessarily indicate how mature they are. Vance Havner had a funny one. He said, the length of time someone's been on the road doesn't necessarily tell you how far down the road they are. Being a Christian for a long time is not an indicator of maturity. It can be, of course.

23:05 If we have been walking with Christ, sending down deep roots with Christ, laying aside the temptations and allurements of the world and feeding on him and finding everything in our savior. This is maturity and we want to go on to maturity. Verse three says, if god permits, notice it's god who gives the increase. We can't just choose to mature. I know we do have to make choices but it says, god permits maturity.

23:41 Again, it is by grace. I am what I am, the apostle Paul would say. It's by grace that we grow. It is by neglecting these things and trifling with them and yawning at them and saying, whatever. Christian life, yeah.

24:00 We'll do that later. I got some other goals I want to achieve first. Well, be careful. Be careful because god has blessed you with understanding his word. God has blessed you with knowing people who live for Christ.

24:23 God has blessed you with Bibles and commentaries and so many things at our fingertips. And if we do not grow with those things, I think we are incurring his displeasure. He says in verse seven and notice all this section is connected, right? When he says in verse four, it starts with the word F O R and that always connects us back with what was just said in verses one, two, and three. In verse seven, it starts with the word F O R and again, that connects us back to what was just said in verses four, five, and six.

25:06 Or sorry, actually, the word four in verse seven connects us to the whole thing. One through six because he's talking about those blessings we've received. For the earth which drinks in the rain, that would be the blessings of knowing Christ, coming to know him, that often comes upon it, the growth we've already experienced, the goodness, it bears herbs useful for those by whom it was cultivated, right? God is seeking honor from our lives, fruit, growth, This receives blessing from god but if that same ground, not two different grounds here, same ground but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. They tell me sometimes farmers burn their fields in order to start again with a new crop.

26:11 I'm not sure if the writer means in this section that god that we are incurring god's chastisement on our lives if we sit like parked cars and go nowhere for him or if he's saying something more drastic because chastisement although it might be unpleasurable, at least it gives us a new direction in our lives. There's nothing like affliction to get you thinking in a different direction. And sometimes that is the best thing we could ever receive. Jonah certainly learned that in the belly of the great fish. But the writer to Hebrews also talks about God's discipline of his sons in chapter 12 verses five through 11.

27:05 Says that, If you're without discipline, you're not even his sons, because every father disciplines his sons as best as he knows how, God does the same. And he says that that discipline is not pleasant, but it yields good fruit in our lives. So I'll just put a question mark on that. I'm not sure what verse seven and eight means, if it's more drastic than chastisement. More drastic than chastisement would be something like maybe a premature death for a Christian.

27:38 Going to heaven early, which is quite drastic if you think about it. Now, the word of God says that elsewhere by the way. It says in first Corinthians chapter 11 verse 30 to 32, because people were not treating the breaking of bread properly at all, they were not discerning the lord's body. Some were coming drunk to the supper. Others were just trampling on the poor.

28:08 There was division. I mean, the breaking of bread was a farce. To the Corinthians. It says in one Corinthians eleven thirty that many were weak because of this. I assume that means spiritually weak, still babies.

28:26 Some were sick and some were dead. Some were asleep. So, there is drastic measures at times. I think god has to maybe clear up his name at times by removing some. Another passage that speaks of this is Romans 11 verse twenty one and twenty two and again, these passages are used by some to teach that we can lose our salvation.

28:59 But that's not what the word of god teaches. So, we seek a different answer. Let me just read to you Romans eleven twenty one and twenty two. For if god did not spare the natural branches, he may not spare you either. That sounds pretty severe.

29:18 Therefore, consider the goodness and severity of god on those who fell severity but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness, Otherwise, you also will be cut off. So either that means you're cut off and you lose your salvation, or it means you're cut off from something else. And I believe that something else would be cut off from our opportunity to serve him. One more passage and then we'll move on from these harsh sounding passages, but we should hear them once in a while just to wake ourselves up. First John five sixteen says, there is a sin unto death.

30:05 And we are not to pray about that. Not exactly sure when we know somebody's doing the sin unto death. And so we know to stop praying but it's there. First John five sixteen, there is a sin unto death. I do not say to pray for that.

30:57 They were babes. They were being chastised. They were neglecting. So great a salvation. Chapter two verse three.

31:09 And he's urging them to press on. That's the theme of Hebrews. Let us run the race. They weren't running. They were holding back.

31:23 Says in chapter four verse 11, let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest. We need diligence. It says the same thing here in verse 11, chapter six verse 11. We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. We show great diligence when it comes to our schooling.

31:50 Man, I can do my homework and write essays like the Dickens. But when it comes to studying the Bible and really seeking out what it means and listening to others and searching, sometimes not as diligent. For our job, oh, we can get up early for that and we can stay up late. We can work till our hands ache and feet ache, and back aches, but serving others in the church and beyond the church walls, sometimes we're not so diligent in that. We've already spent all our energy.

32:26 Now, we're tired. What we need is patience as well. We need diligence. We need patience. Look at verse 12.

32:37 You do not become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Now, again, this may sound like being saved for the first time but it's more than that. It's the promises. There's many promises of god. He lays before us a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus name.

33:04 He lays before us an opportunity to serve him, to hear that wonderful voice of approval, well done, my good and faithful servant. I mean, that's the highest thing we could ever achieve in life. What we need is patience and when I say patience, I mean endurance. As it says in verse 15, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. The example there is is Abraham.

33:39 I mean, he walked with god for years waiting for promises, right? We had his promised son. It took twenty four years for him to arrive. That's a long time waiting for a child. But it finally came.

33:57 He waited his whole life for a city whose builder and maker was god and he lived in a tent waiting for it. It never came. He died in faith waiting for that, but that's okay. God likes that. He rewards those who diligently seek him, it says in Hebrews 11 verse six.

35:02 Forerunners, not the strongest translation. Maybe it's lost something over time but a trailblazer is Christ. He showed us how to live for god's glory. He is the greatest inspiration for the Christian life. Hebrews three verse one says, consider him the apostle and high priest of our faith.

35:30 Hebrews twelve three says, consider him who endure... Endured such contradiction of sinners. In chapter seven verse five says, consider how great this man was. That's our lord Jesus Christ. And we have fled for refuge in him.

35:54 It says there in verse 18, we fled for refuge. Now, as a Hebrew reader, your mind would immediately pick up on the illusion there that there were cities of refuge in the Old Testament. Six cities of refuge where those who killed somebody by accident could flee because there were no police back then. The police was that the avenger of that person's murder or death was their relative, and they were allowed to do that. If someone killed your family member, the avenger would be one of the kin, next of kin or whatever related to that person.

36:41 So you could flee to that city and get a fair trial, but you had to go there and you had to stay there. If you left that city, you were in danger. You took your own life in your hands. And you stayed in that city until the matter was cleared up or till the death of the high priest. And that's what the writer is bringing us back to.

37:06 Is that just as there was a city of refuge in the Old Testament, there is now an ultimate city of refuge because Christ is greater than all. He is the seventh city of refuge, the perfect city where the high priest never dies. And those who are guilty of sin can flee to him and be forever safe. But not only do we have a refuge, we also have a hope. A hope.

37:39 I think the hope set before us speaks of the Christian life because if you live by hope as in the verb, you are actively every day hoping and seeking that city that is to come. You're living for it. It's a living hope. That maybe today Christ will return. That blessed hope.

38:04 And so this hope that we have is an anchor pulls us home. If you're thinking of an anchor like the three pronged anchor you throw overboard, it's probably not the idea. The ancient anchor was a big rock called the Ankoria in in Greek and what you do when you're a big ship coming into harbor that was shallow and there are rocks. You send in a little boat with the rope and with the rope they would tie it onto the Ankoria. And then the ship could be pulled in slowly and straightly so that it didn't shipwreck.

38:44 This is the idea of the anchor that we have. Our faith is that rope and we are pulling ourselves into the veil. Behind the veil. In Hebrews talks about that a little bit more. Chapter 10 verse 19 through 25 that Christ has made a new way, a living way for us to enter into the presence of god behind the veil.

39:14 Things that would blow your mind if you were a Jew back then to understand. It wasn't without precedent though. It already years before when Christ died, the veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom. Symbolically, that veil was ripped because when Christ died, it says his flesh was the veil. When Christ died, he entered, he opened that door that we might enter in and enjoy his presence and his help.

40:17 I would think it's a beautiful thing to know well and to dwell upon and to live by, to realize a great high priest whose name is love, has my name written on his hand, who bears my name on his heart, who has my name on his shoulders, and who represents me to god, who intercedes for me. As it says in Hebrews seven twenty five, he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to god through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. Now that word saved, you know, it's more than we think it is initially when we get saved. The milk of the word is that, yes, saved means you're going to heaven when you die. But the meat of the word lets us understand there's more to being saved than initial salvation, right?

41:25 You could say after this message today that you got saved during Shane's message. Which means you understood something and it helped you and now you're growing. You could also say if someone asks you, are you saved? You can say, well, not yet because there's a future salvation coming as well. Saved is a is a great Bible word but it's bigger than we think and Christ, our great high priest is able to save us to the uttermost.

41:55 He's able to redeem our life for what he intends it to be, which I think is vastly different than what we might intend it to be. So let's draw close as it says in Hebrews with full assurance and come boldly or confidently into his presence and find grace to grow for him. Let's pray. We thank you precious lord Jesus for all that you are all that you are and yet we don't even know all that you are, all your loveliness, all your graciousness, and all your goodness. We have yet to discover as explorers of the greatest land there ever was.

42:54 Emmanuel's land and all that it entails. So help us, Lord, to seek your face and to grow in the things that you have given to us, To apprehend those things that we were apprehended for. And let us press on to the high calling in Christ Jesus. In his precious name we pray, amen.