17) Hebrews - 3rd Warning Part 2
Notes
Transcript
For people to “Be Reconciled to God” What is their biggest need?
Deal with Root and Fruit Sin “Unbelief, Pride, Selfishness”
Gathering - Community Announcements
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Call to Worship
35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Corporate Prayer -
Worship through Song
Scripture Reading
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Worship through Song
Worship through Song
Sermon
Prayer
Introduction
Introduction
We will continue to work through the 3rd warning of the book of Hebrews. The author has come to speak of Jesus as the great high priest and as he continues to delve into who Jesus is as the great high priest to the church. He stops and provides this warning.
11 We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. 12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. 13 Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil. 1 Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do this if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
The first part of this warning is a warning about immaturity. The final passage of chapter 5 is what we covered last week. The author says that he has much to say but it is difficult to explain because they have become too lazy to understand. Slow of hearing and dull or sluggish to understand. They hear the words but they do not have any effect on the hearers.
Though they have spent enough time being exposed to the teaching, that they should be teaching some of it to other people by now. Because they have stopped listening, they are infants and inexperienced. they need the basic principles taught over and over again. They are stuck in the basics. They need to move beyond the milk to solid food. Which is for the mature.
He defines maturity as those who’s senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.
Because over time they have become slow to hear, they now do not have the ability to distinguish between good and evil. What is right or what is wrong.
As we discussed last week there is a large divide the specific meaning of the parts of this warning. The differences really hing on who the question of who he is speaking too.
There is much consensus on the belief that the book is written to Jewish Christians. So in the whole it is to Christian’s. But there are parts of the books that are interpreted as speaking to non-believers in the community of the church.
This should be common in our churches today. The teaching of the Word of God is presented to the church, to the believers, with the understanding that there will most likely always be people among the group that have not come to a place of faith in Jesus as their savior.
There are four things that I believe lead to the disagreement between whether the warning here is to believers or unbelievers. And I am not talking about new or fringe theologians. These are people that I have seen as a proven desire to present the Word accurately, who have given their lives to the study of God’s words.
The first is that it is hard to understand the context and the language that was used at the time to communicate these ideas. To be a Jewish Christian was completely new. They have millennia of God relating to the Jews through the Jewish Covenant. And now they are under the new covenant. We will never understand what it is like to be pulled between the Old and the New covenant. We had no covenant and then a new one. This makes it had to understand the pull back to Judaism. What was it like to be persecuted by your own family and leaders?
The second is that the words the author uses translates into non-specific wording or he uses language that is unique to his writing so it does not have as much to compare to as in the case with Paul. There end up with some possible double meanings.
Third is that both of the interpretations are plausible, and biblical. This isn’t an argument about correct doctrine it is a debate about which doctrine is being presented.
The fourth is that both sides see the warnings as applicable to both believers and to non-believers so there is a need for these things to be said.
I believe that the section we looked at last week and this week are speaking to people who were not believers in Jesus. However I am going to present both sides to be fair and show why this is the conclusion I have made.
1 Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do this if God permits. 4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
Let us Leave the Basics
Let us Leave the Basics
After he spoke that they were stuck on the basic teachings. That they were spiritually immature and contracts with the characteristics of the spiritually mature. The ones who can discern between good and evil.
Then he says Therefore. Because of where you are at lets do this. The main thought of this section can be boiled down to the following:
Therefore, go on to maturity. And this we will do, if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those that have been enlightened to restore them to repentance.
Every other part of this passage is expanding on this idea.
1 Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
He tells them they must leave the elementary teaching about Christ. There is something they must leave behind and they must also go forward. Go on to maturity.
The first word we must look at is the word “leave”. The Greek word used here means
to abandon (cognitive) v. — to stop maintaining or insisting on; used of ideas or claims.
It is to give up thinking a certain way. To abandon that way of thinking.
7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands. 8 Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.”
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
This word is always used in a way to completely leave something not to move from on part to another.
When this is tied to the elementary, or the basics. They were to abandon the beginning part of the gospel of Christ. Of the Messiah.
Let us leave the beginning part of the message of the messiah and go on to maturity.
Where did the Jewish people find the elementary teachings about the Messiah? In the Old Testament. These were the foundations of the message of the messiah the anointed one but they were no complete.
And what were they? They were taught to turn away from the evil things. To turn away from sin and to turn towards God. To have faith in him and his provision to believe in his promises. Remember they did not enter the promised land because of unbelief because of a lack of faith.
But they were not only to believe in God but to have faith in the work of Jesus.
21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
They were to change their behavior but it would not change their heart. Only Jesus can make a person a new creation.
They were to also abandon the religious activities. Such as ritual washings. Some translations say of baptism. That is because they have the same root word in Greek. But this word is never used to describe the baptism of believers. Each home would have a basin in it for ceremonial washings. They were being told to leave these behind.
The laying on of hands refers to the OT requirement to lay hand on the sacrifices as a symbol identifying themselves with the sacrifice.
4 He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him.
They were to look to the clearer picture of resurrection that came from the messiah. Jesus said he himself is the resurrection.
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.
And at verse 12
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. 20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.
He says to turn to the clear and detailed teaching of the resurrection of the dead in the covenant of Christ.
And along with that is the teaching of eternal Judgement. The judgment that is now different for those who turn to see and believe in Jesus.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Remember they have become dull of understanding. He is calling out to them wake up and see the Christ. See the savior. Let us walk forward to maturity. The word here means completeness. They are to abandon the shadows and see things clearly.
If this section is speaking to believers then the elementary truths are
Repentance from dead works - Faith in Christ beginning salvation
The ritual washings is translated as baptism which would be uniquely used here.
Laying on hands would be the apostles work of laying on hands
The Resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment would be the basic teachings of Jesus.
Though these are all true in the sense that they are the beginnings of a person’s walk with Jesus it is had to align them with truths new believers are to abandon. Truths that they have gone back too.
If God permits
If God permits
3 And we will do this if God permits.
He make a promise with a condition. This what we will do if God allows it. If it is God’s will. The author recognizes to the audience that it is God who permits men and women to move forward into maturity, into completeness.
Impossible to Renew
Impossible to Renew
The first section hinges on the word leave and what the elementary truths are. The next section hinges on the word impossible.
4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.
The word impossible is the main word in question here some believe it means what it says and other say it means difficult. in the greek it means impossible. The same word is used in other places in Hebrews that helps us with that definition.
18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
It would not make sense for the author to use this word if it just ment difficult.
This becomes a very direct and final statement. The impossibility of something. If God does not permit something then it is an impossibility.
So it is impossible to restore to renew certain people to repentance. And who are these people.
The are the ones have once been enlightened. They have been illuminated at one time. Some will take this to mean those that were once saved. However it that is what God is saying here then this is the only place that God would speak of salvation in the terms of being enlightened. The other issue is that it is more likely that the following list describes these people who have been enlightened.
If they are an unbeliever then the enlightened one. Is the person who is stuck on the elementary truths of the OT. They are the ones who have
tasted the heavenly gift. The revelation of Christ but did not consume it.
they shared in the Holy Spirit. The word means to partake. It means to be in association. Would have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in there midst. Miracles of God. Christians have the Holy Spirit in them not in association with them.
Having tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the age to come. The age to come is the age of the saved.
But they have fallen away. To fall out of a state.
These are the people that it is impossible to renew to repentance. The only two option that can be plausible is that the people who have seen all of the work of Christ. Heard the testimonies. Had a keen interest in them. Had came right to the point of putting their faith in Jesus as their savior and they weighed the cost, failed to pull the trigger or some other reason and they drifted back to the elementary teachings of Judaism.
They came to the cross seen him for who he was and looked at him hanging there and said in their heart. You are not my savior. You are not my Jesus. You are just a man and I will keep looking for the promised one.
There is no saving a person who rejects Jesus as savior. There is no other way to be reconciled to God.
As the author puts it, they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him in contempt.
It cannot be a christian who loses their salvation for that would be in conflict with
27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
So this cannot be a christian that has left the faith as john say those who
19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
The only way that this section can be to believers is if this is a figure of speech to warn them about a hypothetical situation. On that can never happen. That if a person where to somehow come to a place to loose the holy spirit then there would be no saving them. So be encouraged that that has never happened.
He then adds this picture.
Fruit of the Ground
Fruit of the Ground
7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
Every person will produce something. The same ground has been plowed and watered but some will produce useful vegetation and will receive a blessing. But other ground will produce worthless vegetation and will be cursed.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The author is i believe calling out to the Jews in the community of the church that were struggling with the saving faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah. He tells them, you have gone back to the basics. The OT teachings and rituals that you are comfortable in. Leave those behind and move on to completeness.
I see Paul’s encouragement in Philippians.
12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
We may not be Jewish and we may not be dealing with the persecution and the conflict that there were dealing with but as men and women we all have ways that seem comfortable to us that take us away from Christ.
It is likely that every church has people in them that have come right to the edge, right to having faith in Christ, they may even serve and maybe even serve in leadership. They have been enlightened but they have not been justified. They have not submitted to Jesus and Lord and savior. And we see them leaving the community of believers and forsaking the savior.
We are told in scripture to examine ourselves. Each of us should examine our selves. Are we settling for basics? Have gone back to the elementary teachings? Are intellectually convinced but have not put our faith in the one one who can save us. If that is you don’t let time pass. Let’s talk about it so that you may be saved.
Maybe you examine yourself and you are a believer but you have still gone back to the familiar ways of the world that are comfortable to you. And as Paul encourages, you need to press on, look ahead and not behind. Seek him. There are great opportunities to do that with other people so that you can be encouraged and helped along the way.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Communion
Warning
Children, Lost, Sin
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Blessing/Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.