majestic sweetness sits enthroned for 16. Thank you for this time that we have. Sing praises unto you, gather together as a church.
Pray that you would bless the remainder of this church service at this time Lord. Be with those at the conference this weekend
and give them safe travels back. I pray. Amen. Next hymn, if you would, turn in your hymnals to hymn number
155. Doxology, hymn number 155. It is a short one. We'll go ahead and sing it twice. Number
155 and start there right on the beginning. Praise God. Weekend is the heritage of the Lord conference.
I was able to go down on Friday night just to quickly visit St. Fast and had a great time.
It was cool to see evangelist Tanner Furr already again.
It was really quick, but cool to see him and his family settling in down there and him and his family are doing really well.
And church is going great down there. I don't know the exact attendance, but I know that they broke 200 for service Friday evening.
So it's definitely a great conference so far and we're just praying that they have a great conference remaining.
Our memory verse of the week is Hebrews chapter 6 verse number 9.
Our service times are listed there on the left-hand side.
Sunday morning at 10.30, Sunday evening at 4.30 p.m. and our Wednesday evening Bible study through 1st Samuel at 7 o'clock p.m.
So many times are listed there and remember all those meet here at the church building.
Our nursing home schedule ministry is listed there if you take part of that ministry.
Also, our year-to-date salvations and baptisms.
September was definitely a great month and we're looking forward to keeping that going
this month.
Please be in prayer for our expecting ladies, Ms. Whitney Reed, for her pregnancy.
Upcoming events, like I said, the Heritage of the Lord Conference is going on right now.
And next weekend on Sunday, Pastor Shelley is going to be visiting us from Cedar Hill.
He's going to be preaching both services and we're definitely looking forward to that.
So invite your family and friends for that one.
Finally got this in the bulletin, looking forward to our Chili Cook Off, October 31st.
Really looking forward to that.
You know, rather than doing all the crazy things that people do on Halloween, it's always
great to have an activity at church where you don't have to hear your doorbell being
knocked a million times and all that crazy stuff.
So on October 31st at 6.30 p.m., we're going to have the church set up with tables and
chairs for just a fellowship event.
There's no preaching or anything like that.
It's just a good evening of having fun together.
And we are going to have a competition and prizes.
If you want to be a judge, I do need some help from people to judge this competition.
So if you're not entering a chili to be judged, or if you don't have a family member that's
entering a chili, then you can be a judge.
I still encourage you, though, if you are not going to put in a chili for the prize,
you could still make one, bring it just so people can eat it.
I'm going to do that.
I'm not going to enter one into the competition, but I'll still make one.
But if you want to help with that, that'd be great.
We are going to have a first, second and third place prize for all the chilies.
And then, you know, here's the thing, people got to realize.
I am not a Texas sycophant.
I am not someone that's going to say that Texas, you know, is right about everything,
but I believe they're right about the chili doctrine, okay?
So I will allow beanless chili for the regular prize.
But we are going to have a preacher's pick where basically I'm just going to give a special
prize for the chili that's my favorite chili.
That one has to have no beans.
So if only one person puts in a chili with no beans, that person will automatically win
the preacher's pick.
So if you're just like, "Oh man, I want to win something," there you go.
You will automatically win that one if you're the only person that does that.
So I think this will be a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to that.
Also November 10th through the 6th is the Faithful Word Missions Conference.
We are looking forward to that as well.
Prayer list is on the back.
If you ever have any prayer requests, feel free to email the church.
I'd be happy to update that for you.
At this time, we'll go ahead and go to our third song.
We'll go ahead and sing hymn number 15, lead me to Calvary, hymn number 15 in your hymnals.
Number 15, we'll go ahead and start there right on the first.
King of my life, I crown thee now, Thine shall the glory be,
'Til I forget to Calvary.
The hymns are being passed around, chapter number 6, Hebrews chapter number 6.
Hebrews chapter 6, Bible reads, "Therefore, leaving the principles of a doctrine of Christ
in place, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works, and of faith toward God.
The doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead,
and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit; for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and
have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.
But they shall fall away, to renew them again under repentance, saying they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off upon it, and drinketh forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God, but that which beareth
thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.
My beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation,
though we thus speak.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shown
toward his name, and that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you should show the same diligence to the full assurance
of hope unto the end, that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sweared by
himself, saying, "Surely, blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply
thee."
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
For men barely swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of
all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show under the heirs of promise the immutability
of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon
the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
in that which entereth into the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made in high praise, forever after the order of Melchizedek, right?
Amen.
All right.
Well, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about this chapter, get us excited
about this chapter.
I highly encourage everyone to memorize this chapter.
And when it comes to Hebrews chapter 6, there's a lot of varying views on this chapter.
It's a pretty controversial chapter in the world in general.
You know, a lot of people teach that this chapter teaches you could lose your salvation,
which of course this church believes that you can never lose your salvation for any reason.
But even just amongst our friends, there's some debate as to what this chapter is talking
about.
And I never want to try to preach a sermon to try to be in competition with other preachers
or anything like that.
So don't don't take this sermon as me trying to be in competition with them or don't ever
try to, you know, pit me against one of my preacher friends or anything like that.
That's not my heart or goal at all with this sermon.
My goal of the sermon is just to simply preach what I believe this chapter is teaching.
So we're gonna do a little bit of a Bible study this morning.
And number one, I want you to notice the author's desire to move on the author's desire to move
on.
Now, I believe that the author of Hebrews is the Apostle Paul.
But I can't say that dogmatically, the Bible doesn't say for sure.
So I'm just gonna say the author's desire to move on.
We'll get verse number one, it says this, "Therefore, leaving the principles of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward God."
So what I want you to notice first is notice how the author, who again I believe is the
Apostle Paul, he wants to leave something.
He wants to move on from something, and I think when it comes to understanding Hebrews
chapter 6, the context is extremely important to understand.
So to understand the context of this chapter, go back to chapter number 5.
Chapter number 5, and let's start reading in verse number 9.
The Bible says, "In being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto
all them that obey him, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Of home we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing."
So notice the author, he has a desire to talk about Melchizedek.
He says, "Man, I have a lot of things to say about Melchizedek, but the problem is you
guys are dull of hearing."
So he's not really able to talk about that.
Look at verse number 12.
It says, "For when the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as has need of
milk and not of strong meat.
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a
babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
So notice in chapter five he's saying, "Look, I really want to teach you guys a lot about
Melchizedek." But when it comes to Melchizedek, that's kind of an advanced doctrine in the
Bible. That's not necessarily just the milk of the word. That's not something that's super
simple and easy and just every Christian understands. And he's saying, "Man, I really want to talk
to you guys about Melchizedek, but your dole of hearing, you guys should be teachers at
this point, but you're still babes. You still have need of the milk." And of course we know
in Christianity, being saved for a long time doesn't necessarily mean that you're spiritual.
When it comes to maturity spiritually, it has nothing to do with how long you've been
saved. It has to do with how much you're exercising yourself in the Bible. So you know, someone
could have been saved for five years and have really been taking the Word of God seriously,
reading it, studying it, obeying it, and that person can be pretty mature. Where oftentimes
in the world we get someone saved at the door and they never really go to church, they never
really crack their Bible open, and they remain a babe in Christ their entire life. And so
the author here is saying like, "Man, I really want to teach you about this, but you guys
are carnal, but you guys are babes in Christ, but I want to move past this. I want to move
on from this." That's why in verse number one of Hebrews six, he says, "Therefore,"
so that context is very important, "Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrines of
Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward God." So notice he does not want to talk about the
basics anymore. Why? Because he wants these people to move on in their faith. He wants
them to grow and no longer be babes, no longer have need of milk, so that he can teach them
about more advanced things like milk Hasidic. Now, verse number two, he's going to explain
what the first principles of the doctrine of Christ are. So he's going to list some
basic doctrines for us. Look at verse two, "Of the doctrine of baptisms." That's a very
simple doctrine right there. The first thing that we ask someone to do after getting saved
is what? To be baptized, right? To identify them with Christ, to obey Christ so that they
can say like, "Hey, I want to walk in newness of life." That's very simple. And of laying
on of hands, I believe that's referring to ordination and of resurrection of the dead,
right? So, you know, talking about the rapture and the resurrection, things like that, and
of eternal judgment. So according to the Bible, these are the first principles. These are
things that are pretty basic, pretty easy to understand. And now he's going to, he's
giving basically an example of doctrines that he does not want to discuss anymore. He wants
to move on past these verse three, he says, and this we will do if God permit, what will
we do? We're going to move on from these basic topics so that I could teach you about things
I want to teach you about, like Melchizedek. We're going to move on from these things if
God permit. Now, don't let that phrase freak you out or anything. We use this phrase all
the time, God willing, right? It's just kind of a colloquialism that we use all the time.
Hey, God willing. I'll see you in Texas next weekend or God willing. I'm gonna do this or God willing
We're gonna do that Paul saying like hey, I want you guys to move on from these basic doctrines and we're gonna do this
God willing, you know, he has faith in them. He's trusting that this is gonna happen
So number one we saw the author's desire to move on that's very important number two
I want you to notice the reason to move on to more advanced doctrines the reason to move on to more advanced doctrines now
He's gonna explain to us why we should do this notice verse for the first word is what for?
Meaning because so we can't forget everything we just talked about for it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of
The Holy Ghost now go to Ephesians chapter number one
Ephesians chapter number one
So notice he's talking about how something is impossible for a certain group of people and he describes
this group of people as
Having once been enlightened having tasted of the heavenly gift and having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost
So when it comes to being enlightened, where else does the Bible use this phrase?
Let's learn about it in Ephesians 1 look at verse 13
It says in whom also you trusted after that you heard the word of truth
The gospel of your salvation in whom also that after you believed you were you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise
Now this is a very familiar verse to us
And of course, we know we're talking about a saved person here
Why because this is a person who has believed in Jesus Christ
So we know this person saved verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance
Until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory verse 15
Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints
Cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ
the father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
Revelation in the knowledge of him verse 18 is very important notice the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling and
What the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints go to acts 28
So notice in Ephesians chapter 1 someone that's saved someone that's believed in Jesus who's trusted in him
Who's been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of redemption that person has the eyes of their understanding?
Being enlightened. So the Bible refers to a saved person as someone that has been
Enlightened why because the world that's unsaved that hasn't yet trusted in Christ
They're blind spiritually their understanding is blind, right?
They're trusting in some false God or they're trusting in their works to save them and that is a blind person
But once you see the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ
Once you understand what he did for you on the cross and that you only have to trust him for your salvation
Now you've been enlightened now. You've seen the light once was I blind now?
I can see right those of us that can see are those of us that are saved look at Acts 28
verse 18 to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto
God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me so notice when you get someone saved you're turning them from darkness to light
from someone that's blind to be able to see from someone who's unenlightened to someone who is
enlightened go back to uh hebrew 6 hebrews chapter 6 so for me when i read hebrew 6 and i see it is
impossible for those who are once enlightened i believe this is talking about a saved person here
now let's notice the second part of this it says for it is impossible for those who are once
enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy ghost now what
about this word taste well i think we could get an idea of what this word taste means even from the
context of the same book that we're in go to hebers chapter number two hebers two taste in the bible
often means just to experience something for a short duration right i mean if you ate a thanksgiving
meal you wouldn't say like oh yeah i tasted mom's thanksgiving dinner you would say no i i ate it i
fully partook of it right you wouldn't say that like i just taste it but you know if you get like
a sample at cosco and you just eat it real quick you would have said like yeah i tasted it because
you experience it for a short duration we'll look at hebrews 2 verse 9 it says this but we see jesus
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and
honor that he by the grace of god should notice taste death for every man now i don't think this
is referring to his his physical death here i think this is referring to the fact that he
experienced hell because we know that death is hell the second death is the lake of fire now jesus
was he in hell for a very very long time no he wasn't he was there for three days and three
nights so you could say that he tasted of it why because he was experiencing hell for a short
duration now think about this back in the context of hebrew 6 as you're turning to first peter 2
think about the context that we're thinking about paul or the author of hebrews is saying i want to
explain to you guys some more advanced doctrines but your babes in christ and so we need to move
on to from these things so that i can teach you about more of these doctrines doesn't it make sense
to explain uh these individuals that are babes in christ as having tasted of the heavenly gift why
because it's very likely that they haven't been saved for that long so that would make sense to
say that they tasted of it because they've been they've experienced being saved for a short
duration look at uh first peter chapter 2 verse 2 as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word
that you may grow thereby verse 3 if so be ye have tasted that the lord is gracious so notice
we're talking about another group of christians that are what babes in christ right they need to
desire the sincere milk of the word that they can grow they need to be reading their bible they need
to be reading the basic doctrine so that they can grow on to the more advanced doctrines and these
people have what they've tasted that the lord is greatest why because they're babes in christ
because they likely have not been saved for a very long amount of time go back to hebrew 6 hebrew 6
so he's explaining why we would move on from basic doctrine verse number four verse four for it is
impossible for those who are once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made
partakers of the holy ghost we already read in ephesians one that you get sealed with the
holy ghost when you get saved and notice have tasted the good word of god so they haven't really
endured the word of god that much they've just had a little bit and the powers of the world to come
notice if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they crucify to themselves
the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame now i think this language can be kind of
hard for some people to understand so let's go back to verse four and connect verse fourth verse
six because he's he's saying something is impossible in verse four then he's giving all
these qualifiers of describing a person but let's not miss what he's saying is impossible look at
verse four he says for it is impossible for those and i believe those people are christians okay so
just do a thought experiment with me here let's read this verse like this for it is impossible
for christians look at verse six go down to verse six if they shall fall away to renew them again
under repentance seeing they crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him
to an open shame now some people when they read this they are teaching that verse six is teaching
that you can lose your salvation but hold on a second the bible's saying that something here is
impossible so let's just let's just for a thought experiment say that this is teaching that which
of course it is not teaching that but let's say that verse six is teaching you can lose your
salvation this is what people would have to believe they would have to say if someone falls away and
they believe that means losing your salvation that it would be impossible to renew them again
unto repentance now you know what that would mean that would mean that if someone lost their
salvation this verse would then be teaching that it's impossible to ever get saved again now is
that what people teach no it's not most of these people will say oh yeah you could lose your
salvation but you got to repent of your sins you got to ask god for forgiveness you got to get back
on the wagon you got to start following christ again but hold on if you believe this is teaching
you could lose your salvation then this is saying it's impossible to be renewed under repentance
it's impossible to ever get saved again according to their interpretation of this verse now here's
the thing if you could lose your salvation all of us would because all have sinned and come short of
the glory of god so if you're going to say well yeah if you sin you lose your salvation well then
literally no one would ever be going to heaven heaven would have this many people inside of it
why because according to them it'd be impossible to be renewed again under repentance now that is
garbage my friends that makes no sense whatsoever now what does it mean to fall away go to luke chapter
eight i think the confusion in this chapter comes to the point of what it means to fall away because
some people would say fall away means lose your salvation well let's look at the bible and see how
the bible uses this phrase luke chapter 8 luke chapter 8 verse 13 they on the rock are they which
when they hear receive the word of god with joy and these have no root which for a while believe
and in time of temptation notice fall away now in this parable this is a saved person being described
but this saved person he's believed for only a short amount of time so he doesn't have deep roots
in the ground that's grounding him in the faith he's not going to be able to stand in that evil
day he's not wearing the full armor of god he hasn't built his house on the word of god
and on doctrine he hasn't dug real deep and built really strong roots to get him through
the persecution and trials of life so when persecution or comes because of the word this
person does what they fall away now don't we see this happen in christianity don't we see someone
get saved and they might even come to church for a little while they've tasted of the heavenly gift
they've tasted of the word of god you know they've come to a few services and then the
church gets on the news and then the pastor goes viral for some sermon and what does that person
sometimes do they stop coming to church and oftentimes when people stop coming to church
they stop reading the bible they stop praying they stop going soul winning and so what has
that person done they've fallen away now did that person lose their salvation absolutely not
because the bible teaches it's impossible to lose your salvation but that person has fallen away
they've fallen away from what from the word of god from serving him they've fallen away from being
steadfast hey let's let's look at that verse look at second peter chapter number two or second peter
chapter three second peter three second peter chapter number three look at verse six or i'm
sorry verse 17 second peter three verse 17 ye therefore beloved seeing you know these things
before beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own
steadfastness so isn't it possible for a saved person to fall yes it is is it possible for a
saved person to fall away absolutely is it possible for a saved person to fall away from their own
steadfastness yes it is and the bible here in second peter three is describing a saved person
that's been led away with the error of the wicked don't we see that sometimes in our life
where the wicked will rise up and they will rail against the bible they will rail against men of
god and they will try to sow division in churches sow division amongst christians and sometimes we
see people that aren't really rooted and grounded in the word of god they're not really spiritually
mature they're babes in christ and what do we see we see them fall away from their own steadfastness
we see them led away with the error of the wicked did those people lose their salvation
no they did not lose their salvation but are those people steadfast no they're not did they
fall away yes they did go back to hebrews chapter number six so notice the people in hebrews six
and and again let's let's read verse number six it says if they shall fall away to renew them again
unto repentance so whatever group of people we're talking about they have already repented okay
they've repented from what verse one talks about repentance from dead works and isn't that what you
do when you get saved you repent from trusting in going to church living a good life reading
the bible following the commandments and you trust in jesus christ for salvation that is repentance
from dead works and a faith toward god you better believe you have to repent to be saved but you
don't have to repent of your sins to be saved you're repenting from trusting in something else
and now you're trusting in jesus christ no one's trusting in their sins to save them
i've never gone soul hunting and asked someone what do you think someone has to do to go to heaven and
they said sin a lot then that person would have to repent of their sins because they would have to
repent of trusting in their sins to save them but no one believes that but people are trusting in
good works to save them and according to the bible those are dead works that can't save you so yes
these people have already repented now here's the thing if this is talking about a person that is a
reprobate my question would be well what have these people already repented of nothing reprobates
they didn't get saved and then lost their salvation it became reprobates reprobates have never repented
right but according to hebrew 6 the bible saying it's impossible for this group of people to renew
them again unto repentance well that makes sense for a saved person because the bible is basically
saying here that it's impossible for a saved person to lose their salvation that's what it's
saying and so of course if someone's backslidden like this group of christians in hebrews 5 if
someone's backslidden what would be the course of action to fix this individual let's say brother
so-and-so at our church is backslidden he fell away from his own steadfastness he wasn't you know
standing on the word of god and he's fallen away what would be the action that i would take to fix
this person would it be to knock on their door and ask them if they were to die today are they 100
sure they'd be going to heaven no because they're already saved would it be to preach messages
every sunday morning sunday evening and wednesday night about salvation no because everyone's
already saved what would be the action step for a christian who's backslidden to get back on track
it's to read the word of god it's to get back on track in serving god in doing important works like
going to church reading your bible praying that would fix that person but you know what it's
impossible for those who were once enlightened and all those descriptions it gives if those people
fall away it's impossible to renew them again under repentance why seeing that they crucified
to themselves the work look at verse six seeing that they crucified to themselves the son of god
afresh and put him to an open shame you know if you could lose your salvation then what you're
saying is that the sacrifice of christ wasn't good enough the first time and guess what it's
impossible to crucify christ again and again and again and renew someone again under repentance
it's impossible why because he already died once he's a once for all sacrifice so think about this
what do we have so far we have the author saying hey guys i want to teach you about Melchizedek
but you're dull of hearing your babes in christ okay so what do we need to do we need to move on
from these basic doctrines we need to go on to perfection meaning that we're well-rounded
christians we're developed christians why well because it's impossible if someone falls away
from the things of god to get them saved again it's not like we need to preach them the gospel
again it's impossible for them to lose their salvation because christ is a once for all
sacrifice verse six again if they shall fall away to renew them again under repentance seeing they
crucify to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame number three this morning
god expects us to bring forth fruit look at verse seven for the earth which drinketh in the rain
that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receive its
blessing from god but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh into cursing whose
end is to be burned now i think what will help us understand this analogy that the author is drawing
here is by going to luke chapter 8 and looking at the parable of the sower because elsewhere in the
bible a piece of land or the earth if you will often represents a person okay so i believe in
hebrew 6 where it talks about the earth drinking in the rain that that is talking about a person
and let me explain to you why i believe that look at luke chapter 8 verse number five a sower went
out to sow his seed and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down and the fowls
of the air devoured it and some fell upon a rock and as soon as it was sprung up it withered away
because it lacked moisture and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up with it and choked
it and other fell on good ground and sprang up and bear fruit and hundredfold when he had said
these things he cried he that hath an ears to hear let him hear and his disciples asked him saying
what might this parable be so get the picture jesus has given this parable and the cool thing
about the parable of the sower is it's one of the parables in the bible where jesus just explains
to you exactly what it means we don't have to really struggle as to the interpretation of this
parable because he's going to explain it to us verse number 10 and he said and he said unto you
it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of god but to others in parables that seeing they
might not see and hearing they might not understand now the parable is this notice the seed is the word
of god so don't get this confused i've heard people preach this the seed is not a person okay
the seed is the word of god we know that because jesus literally tells us in this parable so it's
not like you know the the good seed is a good person a bad seed is a bad person no the seed is
the word of god verse 12 those by the wayside are they notice people that here then come at the
devil and taketh away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved so notice
the wayside is a piece of ground or an or earth if you will representing a person who does not
get saved and in this parable the person the the ground the wayside that is the only individual
in this parable that does not get saved how do we know that because it says that they don't believe
and they don't get saved verse 13 they on the rock are they notice people which when they hear
receive the word of with joy and these have no root which for a while believe and in time of
temptation fall away so notice the rock is a piece of ground or earth if you will who believes they
get saved but and they're joyful they're happy but when persecution comes time of temptation
they quickly fall away they're not they're not saved for a very long time you could say that
they've tasted of the word of god if you will but they're not steadfast they fall away because of
persecution are they saved yes they are have they fallen away absolutely verse 14 and that which fell
among thorns are they so people which when they have heard go forth and are choked with the cares
and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection so the thorns is a piece of
ground or earth if you will where this person gets saved but the cares of this world stops them
from ever bringing forth fruit and isn't there people like this today where we get them saved
but you know what they're never coming to church and they're they may never crack open their bible
but the bible does teach that it's possible to have no works and to still be saved go to
romans chapter four verse five if you want to see that no don't actually go there i'm just telling
you you know that's a verse where you could find that doctrine all right so again this this this
ground is a person that is saved but they don't bring forth good fruit now verse 15 says this
but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the word keep
it and bring forth fruit with patience so what is the good ground it's it's a person it's the earth
the good ground here is a person that receives the word of god and because they have a good heart
they receive it they read the word of god they apply it to their life they're bringing forth
fruit they're going out and getting people saved but here's the thing we just read a lot of people
that are saved and only one group of ground here is actually doing a lot of work for god now go back
to hebrews chapter number six hebrews six hebrews six look at verse number seven so think about this
in context of what we read for the earth which i would say that represents a person which drinketh
in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed
receive its blessing from god now think about this if the earth represents a person here what does the
rain represent i think that represents the word of god the word of god often is represented as water
or as rain and us as christians if we're the earth if we're receiving in the rain and we're letting
it sink sink into our hearts if we have a good heart we're applying it to our lives we're doing
what the bible says you know what we're going to do we're going to bring forth herbs meat for them
by whom it is dressed which i believe is a picture of the trinity i'll get to that in a minute
and it says receive it blessing from god the christians that read the word of god believe it
apply it to their lives bring forth fruit you know what you're going to receive blessings from god
right the christian that lives a good life is going to be the one where their heavenly father
is pleased with them and so god is going to bless them but i think what's happening in this uh
chapter is it's comparing and contrasting two groups of christians because notice what it says
in verse eight it says but that what is the that referring to grammatically the that is referring
to the earth which again represents a person so that piece of ground or that earth which
bareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh under cursing whose end is to be burned go to first
timothy chapter number two first timothy chapter two now i think this is contrasting two types of
saved individuals okay one drinks in the rain and brings forth herbs meat for them by whom it is
dressed what does it mean when some things meet it means that something is fitting or something is
suitable look at first timothy 2 verse 19 nevertheless the foundation of god standeth sure
having this seal the lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that name it the name of christ
depart from iniquity but in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver
but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor if a man therefore purge
himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified and notice meat for the master's use
and prepared unto every good work so when you as a piece of earth when you drink in the rain or the
word of god you'll bring forth fruit which is meat or suitable for them by whom it is dressed now the
them who i believe that's referring to obviously in a parable it would be referring to the people
working the field right the people sowing and who is it that sows well it's the it's god that sows
and it's soul winners that so but what i think is saying here in in uh hebrew six meat for them by
whom it is dressed i think that's a good picture of the trinity okay because it says them and of
course we know the trinity is three persons the father the son and the holy ghost so when you as
a christian you are good ground you drink in the rain you bring forth herbs you're doing works that
are meat or suitable for god suitable for the father suitable for the son suitable for the holy
ghost now what about verse eight verse eight says but that which bear thorns and briars so that
piece of ground or that person that doesn't bring forth herbs meat for god they're producing what
thorns and briars that person is nigh into cursing whose end is to be burned what i think this is
saying is that a christian who they they get the word of god but they don't do anything with it
what's going to be produced in their lives thorns and briars and if you know anything about having a
yard or about having a field or anything like that if you just do nothing to it you know what
it's going to produce thorns and briars it's not like you have to work to produce thorns and briars
if you just let a field sit there and do nothing it's going to produce thorns and briars you know
i grew up hunting a lot in idaho and you go out to the desert and there's just tons of just thorns
and briars out there why because that piece of ground isn't being used by anyone it's not being
tended to it's not being worked on and so when a person when a saved person is not applying the
word of god is not doing anything in their life they're just being lazy they're being slothful
you know what's going to be produced in that person's life is thorns and briars meaning
worthless meaningless works that are not neat or not suitable for god they're just worthless
and you know oftentimes what farmers or people do when they have worthless thorns or briars in their
field you know what they do they burn them why because it's representing trash it's representing
something that has no value it's not helping your field it's not helping you produce anything so
what would you do with trash you would get rid of it go to first corinthians 9 now this is not
saying that a safe person would go to hell okay oftentimes in the bible terminology can be used
like this where it's not necessarily referring to someone going to hell but think about it if god
is investing all this rain into you into your life into your field and you're not producing
anything with it you're just producing thorns and briars well you're nigh into cursing you're ready
to be rejected your life is ready to be destroyed why because god has no value for you you have no
value you're not bringing any value in your life to serving god you're not serving others you're
not getting anyone saved so why even are you on this earth you're not doing anything right everyone
good distractions over there all right go back to uh first corinthians 9 first corinthians 9
you know a christian that does nothing for god their life carnally speaking is completely
meaningless the works that we do in this earth the pleasure that we enjoy you know the businesses
that we make when we just eat drink and be merry there's not really any value in that eternally
right the only things that matter eternally are the souls that we win to christ but notice
someone can be cast away someone can be trashed in this life and still be saved first Corinthians
9 24 says this know you not that they which run in a race run all but one receive it the prize
so run that you may obtain and every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things
now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown but we an incorruptible i therefore so run not as
uncertainly so fight i not as one that beat at the air but i keep under my body and bring it into
subjection lest by any means when i have preached to others notice i myself should be a cast away
so think about the apostle paul this is the good the apostle paul is the good ground i mean he is
the earth where he's receiving the rain and he's bringing forth herbs meat for them by whom it is
dressed right he's going out he's preaching the gospel he's turning the world upside down for
jesus christ he has a lot of good works that are meaningful and valuable and so his life brings
value to the kingdom of god but he's saying hold on though i'm running in this race but i still have
to check myself i still have to be temperate in all things i still have to subject my body to make
sure that my flesh is not dominating in my life that my flesh is not telling me what to do in my
life that i'm telling my flesh what to do otherwise in this race i'm going to be a what a cast away
right you know if an athlete is training for an athletic event they have to be very diligent in
what they eat they have to be diligent about their sleep they have to be diligent about their
training schedule but if you just throw all that away and you start shoving the donuts in every day
you don't get good sleep you know you're not caring about your body you're going to be
trashed in that race you're going to lose that race right and he's saying if i just start letting
my flesh rain if i just start letting the sin nature in me rain you know what could happen to
the apostle paul is that he could be cast away what could he be cast away from well how about his
position as an apostle right i mean if if someone is in a position of leadership let's use in our
modern day like a pastor if a pastor is not walking diligently if they're not keeping their
flesh and subjection if they're letting their sin nature rule and they're going out and they're
getting drunk or they're committing adultery or they're doing drugs you know what could happen
to that pastor is he could be cast away now could he lose his salvation no but could he be cast away
from his position and what he's doing from for christ absolutely he can okay so go to luke chapter
13 when it comes to a christian that's not bringing forth any good herbs they're just bringing forth
thorns and briars you know their their life can be cast away they can lose the position that they
have in this life yay they could even lose their very life themselves because quite honestly the
reason that we're on this earth is to win others to christ and to do work for god god did not just
save us so that we can just live pleasure in this life and just you know eat drink and tomorrow we
die that's not what god created us for he created us to bring forth fruit for him luke 13 verse 6
he spake also this parable a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came and
sought fruit thereon and found none then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard behold these three
years i come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none cut it down why cumber it the ground
so notice god wants fruit from the tree he wants us to bring forth fruit as trees as a good piece
of earth and when he sees no fruit on the tree when our lives aren't producing any value you
know what our life is in danger of is being cut down okay but look at verse number eight any
answering said unto them unto him lord let it alone this year also till i shall dig it about
and dung it and if it bear fruit well and if not then after that thou shalt cut it down and
what can we learn from this well you know god desires us to bring forth fruit god desires saved
people to bring forth herbs meat for them by whom it is dressed but if god sees our lives and we're
not producing any value we're not producing any fruit oftentimes he will be very gracious and
merciful unto us you know he'll give us a year maybe he'll give people more you know he'll dig
it around about he'll give you sermons he'll give you bible verses to try to help you heal he'll
dung it he'll might he might even punish you a little bit in this life but eventually if a
christian is just rebellious stiff neck not going to bring any fourth fruit from god you know that
person's life is in danger of being cut down that is a truth in the word of god and you know what
you see god kill safe people in the bible you see god kill unsafe people in the bible and i'm not
saying that god's on a hair trigger to kill christians that aren't serving him but i'm just
saying god desires us to bring forth fruit in our lives and when we don't bring any value to god
our life is nigh unto cursing carnally speaking look at luke chapter 14 let's look at this
principle again verse 34 salt is good but if the salt have lost his savor wherewith shall it be
seasoned it is neither fit or meat for the land nor yet for the dung hill but men cast it out
he that hath ears to hear let him hear and you know your life if you are the salt and you've lost
your savor if you're the tree and you're not bringing forth fruit if you're the piece of
ground and you're bringing forth thorns or briars your life is nigh unto cursing you are nigh you are
close to being rejected or discarded or thrown away by god and so that is just a reality of what
the bible teaches go back to hebrew 6 i'll read for you john 15 6 says if a man abide not in me
he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire
and they are burned so again a saved person not bringing forth any fruit just like a farmer that
has a tree where a branch is not producing where a branch is dead they're going to cut that thing
off and burn it and what is that a picture of it's them just being trashed basically it's them being
discarded them being set aside why because god is looking for vessels of honor today god is looking
for branches that bring forth fruit god is looking for ground that produces herbs meat for them by
whom it is dressed god is not looking for people today to bring forth thorns and briars because
quite frankly the unsaved are doing that their life is thorns and briars you know we're supposed
to be different we're supposed to go on unto perfection why god wants us to bring forth fruit
hebrews chapter six with that in mind i think we'll understand these verses a little bit better verse
seven for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from god but he which but that which
beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned
but beloved we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation though we thus
speak so get the picture here because i believe he's addressing a saved audience here he's
basically telling them look there's two types of christians in this world those that bring forth
herbs meat for the master and those that bring forth thorns and briars who are going to be
cursed who are going to be trashed who are going to be set aside but he's saying look i'm persuaded
better things of you he's saying i'm persuaded you're not like this second group i'm persuaded
you guys are going to be the christians that actually go forth that go on under perfection
that bring forth good fruit and notice and things that accompany salvation what are things that
accompany salvation well god desires that we have works that accompany our salvation notice works
are not our salvation bringing forth herbs aren't our salvation but they are things that should
accompany salvation we don't do good works to get saved but once we're saved god desires that we
have works that's accompanying that salvation and he's saying look guys yeah i want to teach
you about malkezadeq you guys are babes in christ we should go on we should move past these things
it's not like i can get you saved again you know god desires you people to bring forth fruit
there's two types of christians those that do those that don't and you know what i'm persuaded
that this group is going to be the one that brings forth fruit that's what he's saying so far
number four notice this god's unforgetfulness so with all that in mind he starts off in verse 10
saying for meaning because don't lose the context it's so important when you're reading the bible
so because of all that god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have
showed toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister what is the author
trying to get them to do he's trying to get them to work he's trying to get them to do he's saying
look you guys should be teachers already but now you need the milk i want to teach you about milk
hesedek you know god's not going to forget the work that you do how are you the good ground
how are you the good earth that brings in the rain that brings forth herbs meat for them by
whom it is dressed you have to work you have to do you have to perform actions for god and you're
saying look god's not unrighteous he's not going to forget the work and the labor that you do in
verse 11 notice we see the heart of what he's trying to accomplish in this letter and we desire
that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end go to
first corinthians 15 what is he saying there he's like i want you guys to work god's not going to
forget about your work we're desiring that you do the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
unto the end he's saying i want you to be christians that bring forth fruit your entire lives
you know what that describes that describes a steadfast christian right there and that's what
paul wants to produce or this author wants to produce first corinthians 1557 but thanks be to
god which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ we're talking about saved people
therefore my beloved brethren these steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the
lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the lord isn't that the same
message that he's trying to convey in hebrew six he's saying look i want you guys to work i
want you guys to be steadfast and guess what it's not in vain that's why he says in hebrew six god's
not going to forget your labor of love he's not unrighteous he's going to remember he's going to
reward you and guess what the earth the ground that brings forth fruit that's the person that
god's going to bless but on the flip side the person or the ground that just does nothing they
just let their life sit they produce uh thorns and briars that's not going to be blessed by god
that person is nigh unto cursing number five notice the exhortation to patiently work verse 12 of
hebrew 6 verse 12 hebrew 6 verse 12 and really i think verse 12 is the application of the truth
that we've heard so far so far verse 12 that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through
faith and patience inherit the promises so he's saying look i don't want you to be slothful and
why does someone remain a babe in christ it's because they're slothful why does someone not
grow spiritually because they're too lazy to read their bible because they're too lazy to come to
church they're too lazy to become a soul winner and he's saying to these people look i don't want
you to be lazy but what does he want them to do i want you to be followers of them who through
faith and patience notice inherit the promises so notice those that aren't slothful those that do
work they're going to inherit the promises meaning they're going to be blessed by god
they're going to receive blessing from god now he's going to give us an example
verse 13 for when god made promise to abraham because he could swear by no greater he swear
by himself saying surely blessing i will bless thee and multiplying i will multiply thee and so
after he had patiently endured he obtained the promise go to hebrews chapter 11 hebrews 11
so he gives us an example of someone that did this abraham someone that worked patiently
someone that had faith in god patiently you know that's what god desires for us in our life
is to walk by faith and to patiently endure in this life and to keep doing the things that god
wants us to do regardless of how our flesh feels to be diligent to keep our bodies under subjection
and to serve god and bring forth fruit hebrews 11 verse 8 by faith abraham when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance obeyed and went out not knowing
whether he went by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in
tabernacles with isaac and jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a city
which hath foundations whose builder and maker is god look at verse 17 by faith abraham when he was
tried offered up isaac and he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom
it was said that in isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that god was able to raise him up even
from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure and i think the reason the author in hebrew
six brings up abraham as an example is because abraham was willing to do whatever god asked him
to do by faith and that is the attitude that is going to bring you blessing from god in life
when you read the bible and you don't necessarily understand it or you think man i don't know if
this is going to be the best decision in my life i don't know how this is going to affect me super
positively but you see the word of god and you obey it anyways that's the person that's going
to receive the blessing from god that's going to be the person that inherits the promises and not
just the person that does that but paul's hope or the author's hope is that they would do this
until the end that we would not just be steadfast for a day or for a week that's not being steadfast
but rather that we would be steadfast our entire lives what does that take though takes you not
being slothful it takes us getting to work it takes us being diligent it takes us like a farmer
would constantly have to work and tend to his field and work super hard not someone that just
lets the thorns and the thistles and the briars grow because that's a person that is lazy go back
to hebrew six number six notice god's faithfulness god's faithfulness because you know god's not
asking us to do all this and he's just gonna leave us high and dry he's not going to forget
about us we're not going to be ashamed hebrew six verse 16 for men verily swear by the greater
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife wherein god willing more abundantly to
show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two
immutable things in which it was impossible for god to lie we might have a strong consolation who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us what is it that gives us us hope
well it's the fact that god promised us and god can't lie how is it that i know i'm never gonna
lose my salvation because god promised that i wouldn't and god can never lie you know i wouldn't
really have full assurance of hope and it wouldn't be like the level of hope i have in god when a
person promises me something because a person can lie you can lie i can lie right but you know who
can never lie is god and so when god promises us something that should enable us to have faith in
that and to continue going forth and serving him knowing that hey if i serve god i know that my
labor is not in vain in the lord i know when i go and do something for god and i'm doing things
for the right reason and i'm obeying his words no matter what comes of that i know that it was not
in vain right and you know there can be situations in life where you put a lot of work effort and
energy into something and something bad could happen and you kind of feel like was all that
work in vain was all that worthless and you know what if you're doing it for god none of that work
is in vain none of that work is void why because we're not trusting in man we're trusting in the
lord and so when god promises us something and we're doing it because of him none of that work is
in vain verse 19 which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which
entereth into that within the veil this is such a powerful verse it's one of my favorite verses in
the whole bible i love this verse so much and i plan on preaching a whole sermon on this verse
soon but it's just so beautiful to think about because of the fact that god promised because
he can't lie this hope that we have in him is like an anchor of the soul like when you're in a ship
and you drop that anchor it doesn't matter the storms of life that you're going through it
doesn't matter the tempest it doesn't matter the rain all that matters is that you're tethered to
that anchor and that anchor is sure that anchor is steadfast it's not like man that's going to
fail you no it's an anchor of our soul and thank god that we could take salvation and be and have
that as an anchor to our soul why because god promised and he can't lie you know thank god that
we could have the word of god that is completely pure that everything is true and that could be an
anchor of our soul why because it is true it'll never fail us verse 20 whether the forerunner for
us is entered even jesus made in high priest after sorry made in high priest forever after the order
of melchizedek so notice in verse 20 he's kind of bringing it back to our original context and then
if you read chapter 7 all of chapter 7 is about what melchizedek so so don't miss this so far in
this chapter and then this book what have we had chapter 5 he's desiring to teach us about melchizedek
but he can't because these christians are dull of hearing they're carnal they're babes in christ and
so in chapter 6 he's saying look let's move on from the basics let's move on from salvation you're
already saved you can't lose your salvation but what you do need to do is work so that you can
grow so that you can handle these hard doctrines and he explains them multiple reasons why they
should grow the fact that god's not going to lie to us the fact that he's not going to be unrighteous
to forget our work the fact that we have an anchor of the soul there's lots of reasons to work but
then in chapter 7 he goes and just explains what he was trying to explain in the beginning in the
first place of Melchizedek now go to Hebrews chapter number six Hebrews chapter number six
and so to me this interpretation though some of the language admittedly is pretty difficult
in this chapter it's not one of the easiest chapters in the bible to me the flow and the
context of this makes sense he wants to explain Melchizedek there are babes in christ let's move
on from this stuff can't get you guys saved again you need to work god's not going to forget your
labor god's not going to forget your work you know we have an anchor of our soul let's get out and
work i'm persuaded of better things of you i'm persuaded you're going to be the christians that
can handle this and grow and then what does he do in chapter seven he just gives them Melchizedek
and some people say like well what changed from chapter five to chapter seven why did he start
teaching them about Melchizedek if they're babes in christ but remember the author is writing a
letter here it's not like he's preaching a sermon he's writing a letter so he's writing the whole
book of hebrews and he's giving it to these christians and here's the thing christians can
read chapter five and read chapter six and then they could spend the next weeks months years of
their life getting better and they're still going to have hebrew seven to come back later to once
they grow in christ so yes it is true that probably at the moment that the christians who originally
received this letter they're not going to necessarily understand hebrew seven right away but guess what
neither do we when we got saved either right i mean the first time you read hebrews through
cover to cover did you understand everything in it absolutely not you probably don't understand
everything in it right now probably myself included but you know what's going to help us
to understand more is to grow is to be diligent is to work hard is to read the bible that's what's
going to help us understand that to me makes sense that to me fits the context what does not make
sense to me is saying hey you guys are babes in christ you guys need to grow i want to move on
from these things because you're going to lose your salvation and never be able to earn your
salvation back again here's mochessedek that makes no sense right and just to be honest to me doesn't
make sense in the context and i'm not against anyone that has this view but for me it doesn't
make sense in the context of this chapter to see like hey you guys i want to teach you about
mochessedek but you're babes in christ i can't we need to go on under perfection i just want
to explain reprobates really quick to you by the way work really hard and now i'm going to explain
hebrew 7 i just don't think that that really makes sense in the context of this chapter and if you
believe that i'm not against you whatsoever there's a lot of men that are way smarter than me way more
spiritual than me that believe that i'm just telling you what i believe is that that's not
the case what i believe is the way that i appreciate this morning to you all hebrew chapter 6 verse 10
i want to leave you with this powerful truth of hebrew 6 says this hebrew 6 10 for god is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward his name and that you
have ministered to the saints and do minister and we desire that every one of you to show the same
diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that you be not slothful but followers of them
who through faith and parent patience inherit the promises i do not want to fall away in my life i
don't want to fall away from my steadfastness i don't want to fall away from my position i want
to be greatly used by god in my life and i don't want any of you to fall away either and so what is
it going to take for us as christians to be the type of people that when persecution arises or when
the wicked are trying to lead us away with the air of the wicked that we remain steadfast that we
remain not falling away from the things of god it's going to take us to work christianity when
it comes to getting saved by grace it's easy when it comes to being a disciple when it comes to
growing in the lord when it comes to understanding hard doctrines of the bible when it comes to being
steadfast your entire life, that's a lot of work. And so, you know, let us as a church, remember
that God's not going to forget your labor. God's not unrighteous to forget your labor of love
that you show out soul winning to the lost in Oklahoma City. God's not going to forget
the labor and love that you show when you help with the cleaning of this church, when you help
with the administration, when you help with the nursing home ministry, or you help song lead,
or you help preach, or any of these works that you do for God, God is not going to forget those
works. God will be sure to repay you. God will be sure to bless you. But look, if you just let your
life just sit and you don't work, you don't tend to it, and you just bring forth briars, you bring
forth thorns, you know what? You're living a very worthless life. You're living a life that is going
to be going to heaven and not having very many rewards. And quite honestly, you're living a very
dangerous life where God might just cut that branch off, where God might just gather those branches
that aren't producing and he might just burn those and toss those aside as trash. So, you know, us,
if we want to be valued very highly, if we want to be used greatly of God, we're going to have to work
hard. And you know, I love the name of our church, Steadfast Baptist Church. You know how you remain
steadfast? You do the work and you keep doing the work until you die. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for
this day. Thank you for Hebrews chapter six and the great truths found in it. I just pray that all
of us would labor and that we would remember that we have an anchor of the soul, which is Jesus
Christ, salvation, the word of God, and that we would not get led away with the error of the wicked,
that people would not fall away from you, but that we would remain loyal and steadfast. In Jesus name
we pray. Amen. Turn to hymn number seven. I gave my life for thee. Hymn number seven. Hymn number
seven. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. I gave my life for thee. Precious blood I
shed, that thou had ransomed me again from the dead. Gave, gave, given for me. Give, father's house
of life, my glory circled through. I left for Irina for wandering sad, and the last I saw is for
thee I took and tested.