Hebrews 6:1-12 Press on to Maturity pt3

Introduction

Text Read

Hebrews 6:1–12 “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. ”

Text Explained

Over the last few weeks, we have been sitting in this text. This is a passage that begins with a problem on the part of the listeners. Namely, they had become dull of hearing/did not want to listen. This character problem needed to be addressed before the author of Hebrews could share about the glories of Christ as the Great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Thus the author seeks to correct this problem and he does so by calling the listener to Go On/Press On to Spiritual Maturity. He has told the listener to not be satisfied with the foundational teachings of scripture, as vital as they are, but to build upon that foundation. Last week, we looked at a reason why the Christian was to press on. Namely, they were to press on to maturity because those who had fallen away, from a human perspective, were lost. Stop waiting for them. They had drunk the rain of the Gospel, they had been cultivated for the Master’s use, and in time, they had grown thorns and thistles rather than a crop useful for the Master. In the words of Jesus, Matthew 7:16 “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” The fruit of those who had claimed to be part of the faith, but had apostatized/fallen away revealed that they were never connected to the True Vine who is Christ. It is in this context that we focus our attention onto verses 9-12.Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. So our author, after delivering this dire warning concerning those whose works showed them to be apostates, tells his listeners that he is confident that his listeners are in the Faith. “we feel sure of better things” and out of what do these “better things” come out? Salvation. So the author of Hebrews makes a clear mark of separation between those whose works revealed them to be apostates and those whose works are produced by the tree of salvation. Now why do I say it is their works which identify them? Verse 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown why? for His name how? in serving the saints, as you still do.  Since the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Meaning that our own good works apart from Christ are filthy. It is only in Christ that our works can be acceptable to God. Thus, God looks upon the works of these believers and it is acceptable to Him. In fact, these works will not be overlooked because God Himself is Just. God’s Justice demands that the Good works a believer does will be rewarded. For the unsaved, their works are filthy because they come from a polluted sin cursed heart. However, for a Christian, their good works are acceptable because they have a new heart, a new life, and their sins have been forgiven/washed away in the blood of Christ and the Christian is clothed in the righteousness of God. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Because the believer is in Christ, our good works are acceptable to God because they are free from the pollution of sin. Side Note: I am not saying that everything a Christian does is acceptable to God. We know that the “old sinful man” still lives in us and thus we sin and sin is never acceptable to God. Rather our sin debt has been paid in full and we are now ABLE to live righteously before God. The point here is that the Christian is actually capable of bearing good fruit because the Christian is now grafted into the True Vine. The unsaved cannot bear good fruit for they are not in the True Vine. That being said, the author of Hebrews elaborates a bit on what this work is. Their work was love shown for the sake of Christ by serving other believers. Again, their work that God would not overlook was love shown by serving fellow Christians for the name of Christ. And it was not something they did once or twice, but it was something that they were doing continually. So the author of Hebrews praises them for this true fruit of righteousness that demonstrated they were indeed saved. This is what Jesus spoke of in John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Now we do not know everything involved in these good works, however we do know that they cared for their brethren who were in prison. Hebrews 10:34 “For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” So we know they did not simply say they loved the brethren, they showed it by actions done, not for selfish reasons, but rather as unto the Lord. Their faith had works, and thus it is referred to as true faith. This is the situation that James refers to in James 2:14–18 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” So the listeners of this letter were being commended that their faith was indeed genuine because it had genuine works. Thus, the author of Hebrews encourages them to press on in verse 11 And we desire each one of you to show/demonstrate the same earnestness/diligence with regard to have the full assurance of hope until the end, His desire was that they would continue to be intentional and diligent in their faith until they reach that great and future hope. For it is in the exercise of Christian ethics that we find (both an assurance of salvation and?) Spiritual Growth to maturity. 2 Peter 1:5–11 echoes this thought “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue/moral goodness, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. (These are indeed believers) Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” How do we do this? What does it look like to demonstrate this earnestness? so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ” Sometimes we need an example. So the author of Hebrews calls his listeners to imitate other believers who have ran the race and kept the Faith and have inherited the promises. This echoes Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” And it foreshadows Hebrews 11. Regardless, so that his listeners are not sluggish in their Christian living, the author tells them to look to the past and to look those around them who were in the midst of persevering for the faith. Look around at imitate those saints whose faith has been tested and who have persevered through it. Look at their examples and imitate them as they imitated Christ. Learn the good and avoid their mistakes. So the author of Hebrews tells his listeners to be intentional and diligent in their faith. What does that look like? He says look around at those who have run the race and are faithfully running the race. He says “Copy Them!”

Text Applied

Confidence in a persons Salvation comes from their Works done in Jesus Name. By their fruit you will know them. Last week we looked at those whose fruit of apostasy/falling away demonstrated that they were not in the True Vine. On the flip side, this week we see that the fruit of righteousness, namely love for God shown by acts of love done for the brethren, demonstrates they are in the True Vine. John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Notice love is not an emotion, but an action. This does not mean that love is devoid of emotion. Love is an action often accompanied by emotion. That being said, what does this look like? Matthew 25:35–40 “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’” So what does love for the brethren look like? It looks like giving someone a cup of water or a meal. It looks like welcoming someone, it looks like giving to one in need, it looks like visiting one in prison or visiting one who is sick. This list includes the most basic of kindnesses and everything beyond. None of these evidences of salvation are something we would consider earthshaking. In fact, the people in Jesus’ story are in shock that these small kindnesses done by average normal Christians are even worthy of His notice. Dear ones, the fruits of salvation are most often found in the small acts of love done day by day. A door held for another, a cup of coffee given, sitting with someone who is sick, listening to and praying with one who is hurting, weeping with someone who is weeping, rejoicing with someone who is rejoicing, it is a carton of eggs given. 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Dear one, if you are doing even the smallest of kindnesses in Jesus’ name then you are doing it for Jesus and even those small things are demonstration of love and therefore the fruit of salvation. Notice that this is not about massive acts of faith, but rather daily acts. When we get to heaven, the greatest of those saints will be people who you never heard of. It will be people who simply and genuinely followed the Lord in caring for others day by day week by week and year after year. Those who kept the faith in a thousand small and innocuous ways. Be careful in judging a person’s salvation just because they aren’t perfect. The author of Hebrews is confident in the salvation of his imperfect listeners. So to we need to be careful. However, this does not mean that we should be complacent or stagnant. For the reason this whole section of Hebrews was written was because the listeners needed to Press on. So I call each of us to

Press on By Supplementing your Faith 2 Peter 1:5–11 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue/moral goodness, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. If you persevere in these things, it demonstrates the reality of your Faith For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Look for Examples. Be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Look to those saint of old that we find in Holy Scriptures. Look to those Saints of old, such as preachers and missionaries, such as Spurgeon, William Carey, Johnathan Edwards, and look for those who have recently gone before, such as Art and Hallie. Yet there is another group to look to, look around this church at the men and women who have faithfully followed Christ for years. Young person, look at those who are sitting around you , who have years of wisdom in their hair. I guarantee that those who have wisdom in their hair have seen pain and heartache, they have seen trials and have, by God’s grace persevered. As I stand up here I can look around and know so many hardships that different people here have walked through, yet they, by faith and often through many tears have remained faithful. If you want to know who to imitate, look around. Young person, we sometimes get so comfortable with those around us that they appear to have nothing to offer. I challenge you to take some time and ask them to share their testimonies. Listen. For every “great hero of the faith” there are a hundred faithful servants who fought the fight and kept the faith. But I think we will consider that more when we get to Hebrews 11.