Passionate and Strong

What does a strong, and passionate individual look like to you? Maybe they are strong on their convictions. Maybe they can be a bit outspoken? Maybe it’s not outwardly, so much as inwardly you notice the strength. You watch someone go through a hard time, and yet through it all they remain steadfast. Passion I think can function this way to. That same person is committed, and excited even, to whatever he or she is set upon.

So often when I think of passionate and strong folks, I think of my wife. Earlier this year, we met with the district leadership team of the Alberta and Northwest Territories district of PAOC. I was going for my credentialing interview. Katie was invited to join as well, so that they could interview us for a couple. We sat in this meeting, and they asked us lots of good questions. Then one of the things they brought up was how we felt called to a more rural community, to pastor in that setting. One of the guys asked us what was driving that. Katie hadn’t said too much during this meeting. Mostly chiming in on points I made, or answering a few short questions. But it was here that her passion and strength came out. She told them how God has placed rural ministry on our hearts. How much the gospel needed to go forth in rural areas as in bigger centers. She told them about her experience in a small town, and the hurt that can plague those places. It was awesome! All her heart and passion and strength came forward. She believed so strongly in the calling God had placed upon her - upon both of us.

When she had finished, I figured “well gee, I guess I better say something to.” I kind of made a half hearted attempt to add to what she said, failed, and the guy goes “I think this is where you just nod your head and agree man. There’s nothing else to say!” It was awesome to watch her passion - really the heart God had given Katie for rural ministry, come forward in such a strong and passionate way.

have you experienced a similar time? A time when you believed so strongly in something that you couldn’t help but advocate for it, or be passionate about seeing it happen?

This is how we, as believers, should treat the gospel.

Hebrews 5:11–6:12 ESV

About this we have much to say, and it is 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 basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We need to be passionate and strong followers of Jesus!

This section of Scripture is not an easy one. In fact, it will most likely shake us up a bit. There is a warning here that is somewhat frightening. Yet there is also much positive here, and certainly from all of this we receive a call to be growing upward in Christ - mature believers. To that end, we are going to break the text into three parts, and explore three vital elements of remaining passionate and strong.

11- 14 Maturity

Last week we discussed how Jesus is qualified to be our high priest, and is able to understand our experience. We also encountered for the first time Melchizedek, whose name I never plan on using for my own children. IT would logically follow now that the author of Hebrews would start expanding on Jesus’ high priesthood, who Melchizedek is, and so on. The author does do this in chapter 7, but here - to our surprise - he stops.

Instead, the author says

Hebrews 5:11 ESV

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Ouch. Hebrews cuffs its readers over their heads, and tells them that this is something that they need to be learning, but instead because of their dull (or sluggish) hearing. The word “dull” in the ESV, or “sluggish” in the NET frames this entire section, from 5:11 right through to 6:12. The Christians the author is writing to are edging on lethargy, and so the author must write a warning to them. This suggests not that they were somehow hearing impaired, but rather slow to heed the teaching they had received and grow in maturity of faith! They are not taking seriously the Word of God and their Christian walk.

The author essentially says that while they should be at a point of knowing and teaching others the basic elements about Christ, instead they are are needing this teaching again themselves. How can this be? While we don’t exactly know the audience to which this sermon was written, clearly in the author’s opinion these christians should have progressed to becoming fully mature. This meant they needed to be disciple-making disciples. Think of human physical growth. Generally speaking, one of the evidences that a person has reached physical maturity (or is on their way to it) is that they are able to reproduce. Likewise, Christian spiritual maturity is shown through our disciple-making. That we too can and do teach others the facts about Christ, even as we grow. To only be able to handle milk, and not solid food as the author says means that these Christians, despite more than enough time, are not progressing as they should. Something is wrong. Literally, it seems the author is suggesting that he must simply start all over again with them.

They can only handle milk. This comparison is common in the NT. 1 Corinthians 3:2 says

1 Corinthians 3:2 ESV

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

Paul encountered a similar problem with the Corinthians. They chose to hold onto worldly ways. Therefore, they could not grow and mature. There is more and deeper wisdom to be gained as one grows in Christ! But Paul has to treat the Corinthians like spiritual infants, because they are not ready. The Hebrews here are being babies. they are choosing not to grow by being sluggish. Therefore, they are weak Christians, untrained in discernment between good and evil. What of course helps us in this discernment? The word of God, which we saw in chapter 4 is

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Pretty hard for the Word of God to be active in our lives if we are sluggish about growing in it. So this then is the concern: These Christians are sluggish. They are slow to grow, despite more than enough time. They are unskilled in God’s Word and certainly not spiritual mothers or fathers. Instead they are infants.

Remember the main point this morning: We are required to grow! if we do not grow, our spiritual life and vitality diminishes, and eventually we die. The concern here is that we must grow and be continuing to mature in faith.

1-8 Warning

Do you know what I love about the writer of Hebrews, he’s always throwing a curve ball. You’d expect the writer of Hebrews to say “ok, c’mon guys, let’s start at the beginning.” But the author doesn’t do that, instead, he goes “ready or not here we go!” He doesn’t start back at the beginning. The first three verses of chapter 6 show us what the author would have spent his time on had he backtracked. Incidentally, these are all things not necessarily distinct of Christianity over Judaism. This tells us that at least some of the christians might have actually been gentiles that were first converted to Judaism. From this they converted to Christianity. The author shows them that they cannot go back to the moment of their conversion, but instead must move forward. Yet we must recognize that these six things the author lists:

Repentance from dead works

Faith towards God

Washings (or baptism)

Laying on of hands

The resurrection of the dead

Eternal judgement

Are all foundational. The author is not advocating a total abandonment of the basics. Instead, the author pushes forward into greater understanding as the answer to their sluggishness.

The author starts 6:1 one not with “nevertheless,” but rather “therefore.” The author realizes that the kick in the pants his audience needs is for them to truly understand who Jesus their high priest is. I cannot give you the exact particulars of how these Christians were immature. But to the author, it seemed the best antidote to get them going again was for them to appreciate Jesus as high priest. Therefore the author says, we’re going to keep trucking along. Ready or not, here we go.

Moreover, I think there is another principle at play here. As we read in verses 4-8, if someone has experienced the fullness of walking with Jesus, and they choose to turn away, there is no hope for them. Let’s read verses 4-8 together

Hebrews 6:4–6 ESV

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Notice how the author talks: Those who have been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s goodness, tasted the powers of the age to come. The author isn’t talking about somebody who kinda came to church once or twice and wasn’t really sure what they thought. The author is talking about those who have had the real thing. Not just a taste, but rather the full experience. What happens if they blatantly and maliciously choose to reject it? The author condemns them as those who “are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” As the NLT put its, “by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.” What a scathing remark! Anybody here interested in re-crucifying Christ and holding Him up to public shame? I know I’m not!

What is the unforgivable sin?

Otherwise known as apostasy, the unforgivable sin is described here as a willful rejection of God’s working. When someone who is convinced of the gospel in their mind, yet consciously, willfully, and maliciously instead chooses to reject God’s work and claim it as Satan’s, there is no hope for them. If someone has been converted, and truely falls away, can they be converted again? Hebrews says they cannot.

We find a similar passage from Matthew 12:31-32

Matthew 12:31–32 ESV

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Jesus speaks here to the Pharisees, who after seeing Jesus drive out a demon from someone, attribute the work instead to the devil. This is a serious error. They blasphemed the Holy Spirit with the blatant rejection of God’s work and attribution of it instead is Satan. This warning of judgement that Jesus gives tells us just how severe their error was.

The farming metaphor in verses 7-8 helps us to understand better what the author is getting at. Land that is watered and cared for, but produces no fruit despite being sown upon, it near to being rejected, even burned. Hebrews 12 29 says

Hebrews 12:29 ESV

for our God is a consuming fire.

Those who are cultivated, yet produce no fruit are left fallow, and are subject to God’s consuming fire as judgement.

We must heed the warning here! This is wilful sin. Think about the pharisees in Matthew 12. They saw Jesus cast out a demon and heal a man. Only God has that kind of power! Yet they attribute it to the devil. This is blatant, willful, apostasy. So to, If one has experienced and been a part of what God is doing, and willfully rejects it, they have given themselves over to be consumed by fire. We need to heed the warning here. It is serious. Serious enough that the author makes sure to include what can happen to those who commit true apostasy. The road back is certainly not well marked, if not entirely nonexistent altogether. What we need to understand with this passage is the warning to avoid apostasy, and not that the readers of the author’s letter are all at that moment judged. Those who choose to reject the working of God even after being convinced are without hope. Those who have shared in the promises of God, and then choose to reject them, are irretrievable. We need to understand: Like the people of Israel who willfully chose to reject God’s working even after seeing and experiencing everything God had done, so those who preform the same sort of blatant rejection now, offending the Holy Spirit, are without hope. The commentator F.F. Bruce puts it well:

God has pledged Himself to pardon all who truly repent, but Scripture and experience alike suggest that it is possible for human being to arrive at a state of heart and life where they can no longer repent. - NICNT

9-12 Faithfulness

Now, at this juncture, we’re all probably a little shaken up. Well we should be. But I would like to stress that while we need to heed the warning, we also don’t need to live with fear. The sheer fact that this scares us also tells us that God is alive and at work in us.

In the case of the Hebrews, the author says something similar:

Hebrews 6:9 ESV

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

The author of Hebrews finishes off this section by saying that the way to not be sluggish is to keep earnestly desiring salvation. In other words, remain faithful to the hope, and continue with zeal. (v.11). This is the third and final element that the author gives us as we grow in our faith. Remain faithful and zealous. Remain passionate and strong in the faith. Do not become sluggish. Do not forsake what you have been taught or have heard. We have heard this same message before in Hebrews. Don’t forsake your faith! Remain faithful!

Verse 12 draws on the Old Testament’s fulfillment in Jesus to illustrate this. We’ve got people like Abraham, David, Joshua, Solomon, Samuel, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, Micah, and others who were all looking with hope to the coming of Jesus. They had to press on in their faith.

Jesus tells us at the end of the gospel of John:

John 20:29 ESV

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

These patriarchs and prophets did not get to see the fulfillment of their hope in God with their physical eyes. They lived well before the time of christ! Many saw suffering, pain, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the depravity of man. Sound familiar? Yet as we will see next week with Abraham, he was faithful. therefore, he also inherits the promise of a Saviour, and will share with us in eternity!

God is faithful to His people. He sees our labor for Him, even when no one else does. Verse 10 addresses this faithfulness of the Hebrews. they are told that God sees this, and will be faithful to them. Does this mean that works are the basis of our salvation? No! We are not saved by works, but by Christ alone! Yet, out of our love for God we produce fruit in keeping with what He is working in us. A new spirit, a new heart, that is for God.

Conclusion

We must be passionate and strong believers.

Whether you’ve been a believer for two minutes, 2 years, 20 years or more, you must remain faithful, passionate, strong. The writer of Hebrews here gives a strong warning to us. We need to be maturing in our faith, keeping our first love, and remaining zealous pr passionate, for Jesus!

Remember the story from the beginning. What makes you get passionate about something. So fired up that you have to speak out. What are you so convinced about that you can’t be moved, even when people think you’re nuts? Again I will say it: this is how we should be when it comes to the gospel.

I get it. There’s people out there who are creepy evangelists. You meet them and three seconds later they are like “do you know the LORD???” I’m not telling you to shove Christianity down the throat of every person you meet. That’s certainly not what Hebrews is saying. Yet we need to be characterized by what? well, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. We need to be characterized by a love for God above all else, followed then by love for our brothers and sisters, and the rest of the world.

We need to be strong believers. Believers who are willing - even as the early church was - to die for our beliefs. We must hold fast to Jesus, even when it’s hard, even when people ridicule us, even when we don’t feel God near.

We also need to be passionate. Our emotions need to be tangled up in our faith. It should get us fired up when we start talking about Jesus. It should make us cry when we someone get saved, or get baptized, or hear about some amazing work God has done. Christianity isn’t a stoic religion. It is a faith of both determination, and passionate emotion.

Hebrews tells us that the hallmarks of strong and passionate faith are a growing maturity, heeding of the warning not to fall away, and the need to remain zealous, or enthusiastic and striving, in our faith.

If you do not know Jesus here today, this is a call for you to hear and respond to the truth about who Jesus is. Do not be dull of hearing, or sluggish in responding to what God is stirring in your heart. If you feel God drawing you toward Jesus, and are convinced of the fact that Jesus is Lord, Saviour, and God, then you are without excuse, and in need of salvation. I encourage you to accept Jesus today as Lord and Saviour.

if you have accept Jesus as Saviour, I pray you will be found - all of us in fact - as strong and passionate. Firmly rooted in Jesus, enthusiastically living for him. This is a call for you to grow, no matter how old you are or what you may have studied. this is a call for you to get excited and passionate about the work that God is doing, and advancing His kingdom. This is a call to heed the warning: Do not hold Jesus up to shame but rejecting Him. This is blatant apostasy, and can even be the end result of a sluggish, half-hearted Christianity.

My prayer for us as a church is that we will be strong Christian, who are passionate about our faith. So much so that we cannot help but tell others about Him.

Pray