He Who Hesitates …
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Introduction
Introduction
One of the most striking moments in Scripture comes at the end of the book of Joshua. Joshua stepped into Moses’ place and led the second generation of Hebrews across the Jordan river and into the promised land. At the end of his life he gathered all the tribes to Shechem, right in the middle of Israel’s territory, right between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where the Israelites had gathered to read the blessings and the curses of the Law, and, by the way, less than two miles from Sychar, where Jesus met the woman at the well.
Speaking as God’s prophet, Joshua summarized the history of Abraham’s family: how Yahweh, God of Israel, called Abraham out of a family of idol worshipers; how Yahweh led Abraham from beyond the Euphrates River to the land of Canaan; how Isaac was born to Abraham, and Jacob to Isaac; how Jacob’s sons ended up in Egypt; how Yahweh raised up Moses and Aaron, punished Egypt, and delivered His people, first from slavery, and then from the Egyptian army; how Yahweh acted to protect and bless His people in spite of countless enemies, and brought them into the promised land.
And then Joshua gave the people this command:
“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
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The people, of course, eagerly promised to serve Yahweh, but almost immediately began to fail, and continued to fail until the curses of the Law fell upon them in full force.
The problem was always the same one. The people of Israel worshiped others gods. Sometimes they worshiped those gods instead of Yahweh, but far more often, they blended worship of false gods with the worship of Yahweh.
We find the same sort of circumstance in the letter to the Hebrews. Of course, many Jews who have trusted in Christ were genuine in their faith, and were truly born again in Him. But many of them, as Elijah describes, tried to have it both ways:
Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
And so the man who wrote to the Hebrews, more likely Paul than anyone else, speaks with urgency and clarity about the issue at stake in . Those who hesitate between two opinions, those who refuse to truly abandon the old in favor of Christ, are in terrible danger.
In the preceding verses we see that spiritual growth is expected; when those who should be mature still need spiritual milk, like infants, there is a serious problem. We see that while new Christians need to be grounded in the basics before moving on, false Christians never move on. tells us that there is a genuine need to move on beyond the basic Old Testament teachings about the Messiah, repentance, faith, and other practices, into the fullness of Jesus Christ.
If they are truly Christians, then it’s high time that they grow and move beyond the basics of Old Testament religion, described in . The very same challenge is presented to us.
Genuine Christians will produce the fruit of a transformed life. This is not through strenuous efforts and human religion, but through the changes brought about by the Holy Spirit.
Beyond question, there are always going to be false Christians in the church. speaks of “false brethren.” Jude describes them as “mockers” (). Paul says that they have an outward appearance of godliness, but they deny the power of godliness, revealed through a changed life ().
This brings us to the core of our passage today.
Concerning him 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 have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.
What to notice about the context:
It’s only natural that new Christians, like newborn babies, need to be taught the foundational truths of the faith. The Gospel is not the end of learning, but the beginning. Being a disciple of Christ means being a student of Jesus and His teaching. Discipleship lasts our entire lifetime, from conversion to death.
This is what the Word says …
It can be hard to tell non-Christians from new Christians. Both might carry a Bible, go to church, participate in certain activities, claim some basic beliefs.
But non-Christians will not grow in faith, because they have no actual faith to grow into. Those who merely adopt external Christian language and habits are not Christians, like the “false brethren” who pretended to be Christians, but were still full faithful to Old Testament Judaism (we see them in ).
True Christians will grow in their faith and sanctification. Even the Law of God called for the heart, soul, and mind to be fully engaged in faith: . Regeneration through the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit brings about genuine inward change ().
Growth as disciples of Jesus Christ took them beyond Old Testament religion. These include the basic teachings of the Christ, or Messiah; repentance from dead works; faith toward God; instruction about ceremonial washings and laying on of hands in the sacrificial system; resurrection and judgment. For our time, growth as disciples of Christ takes us beyond the human religions of our time, and into genuine faith in Jesus.
It is only possible to move beyond old, dead religion by the grace of God. “If God permits” is not just a polite phrase; it emphasizes the spiritual reality of God’s sovereignty.
Simply pasting a picture of Jesus over a religion doesn’t make it true. False Christians never really let go of their traditions, old religious systems, and personal assumptions and beliefs. They are not in Christ. They may well have added Jesus to their beliefs, but He has not added them to His church.
Only spiritual growth in Christ will reveal that someone is truly in Christ. As the parable of the wheat and tares teaches, there is only one way to tell whether a person is truly a Christian or not, and it’s not by their basic, outward appearance.
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
Genuine Christians will produce the fruit of a saved life. This is NOT through their own strenuous efforts, but because the grace of God that saves us from sin also grows righteousness within us. Let it be said that NO Christian has authority from God to peer into eternity and say whether a person IS or ISN’T in Christ.
There will be false “Christians” in the church. We see them described in the New Testament as “false brethren” in . Jude describes them as "mockers” (). Paul says they have an appearance of godliness, “although they have denied its power.” ().
But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t signs that concern us on the one hand, and comfort us on the other.
What Jesus particularly emphasizes is that we will not be able to tell who they are. For one thing, they fit in so very well, and for another thing, we are not God, to determine who is and who isn’t in Christ. It is up to the Lord to separate the wheat and the tares on the day of judgment. But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t signs that concern us on the one hand, and comfort us on the other.
This brings us to the core of our passage today.
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
You can see in that the writer draws on similar language to the parable Jesus told of the wheat and tares in .
Some who claim to be Christians will bring forth fruit: “vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled,” and receive “a blessing from God,” eternal life.
Some who claim to be Christians will bring forth fruit: “vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled,” and receive “a blessing from God,” eternal life. And some who claim to be Christians will bring forth no fruit, only “thorns and thistles,” and are compared to ground that is so barren and fruitless that it is “worthless” and “close to being cursed” in judgment, and “ends up being burned.”
And some who claim to be Christians will bring forth no fruit, only “thorns and thistles,” and are compared to ground that is so barren and fruitless that it is “worthless” and “close to being cursed” in judgment, and “ends up being burned.”
Think about these five statements.
Let’s look a little more carefully at the five statements made about these people.
Let’s look a little more carefully at the five statements made about these people.
They “have once been enlightened.” That is, they have come to understand the stakes of the Gospel, and the promise of Jesus Christ. They have heard about heaven and hell. They have come to understand what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. It’s so common for people to say, “Yes, I know … but.” But … I’ll live for Jesus later. But … that’s for religious fanatics. But … my job requires that I have different values.
It’s so common for people to say, “Yes, I know … but.” But … I’ll live for Jesus later. But … that’s for religious fanatics. But … my job requires that I have different values.
They “have tasted of the heavenly gift.” Salvation is never described as “tasting” Christ; in fact, in the Lord Jesus describes saving faith as drinking and eating, not simply tasting. Jesus calls us to come to Him and drink and drink, to receive all that He is, to trust Him with everything we are. But these folks sprinkle Jesus on their lives like salt on food.
They understand that people are sinners, and that only Jesus Christ can save. Being enlightening is not a description of being saved; it simply means understanding. People can understand the elements of the Gospel without personally believing in Jesus Christ.
They “have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit.” The word partake has the sense of participation. There are many who are moved when the Lord moves His people with joy or conviction. Unbelievers shed tears at the stories of faith told by those who suffer, or feel the need for forgiveness and reconciliation at times.
Here’s the bizarre thing. I have no doubt that people came to faith in Jesus Christ when Rob Bell preached the Gospel. I have no doubt that believers were encouraged in their faith in Christ through his so-called ministry. That wasn’t because he was right with God, but because of the grace of God, who blesses His Word. God spoke through Balaam’s donkey, and he spoke with Rob Bell, but unless Rob Bell repents and believes the Gospel, you won’t find either him or Balaam’s donkey in heaven.
They “have tasted the good Word of God.” Again, tasting is not eating. Mark writes about king Herod arresting John the Baptist, because Herod had married his brother’s wife, Herodias, and John was bluntly preaching against it. Mark writes that Herod was afraid of John, and confused by him, but, “he used to enjoy listening to him.” The Word of God wasn’t food to Herod, it was entertainment.
for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.
Mark writes,
mark 6 17-
For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so; for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.
What a stunning statement: Herod didn’t understand John, but he enjoyed listening to him. People who listen to preaching for the entertainment value are multiplying their judgment. Jesus pronounced a curse on Capernaum:
“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
The more truth someone hears, the greater the judgment of God will be toward their unbelief.
They have “tasted the powers of the age to come.” The recipients of this letter lived during the apostolic age, when the apostles performed genuine miracles, comparable to those performed by the Lord Jesus. These were true miracles, not the false claims made by so many today, like angel feathers and gold dust falling from ceiling vents (I am not making that up). But merely witnessing miracles – even personally experiencing one – didn’t save anyone. Jesus healed a crippled man who later turned Him in to the Jewish authorities; that’s in .
In Jesus healed a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. The man initially didn’t know who had healed him, but
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Why would he do that? Since I’m confident that Scripture tells us what it means, I have to conclude that he was angry that Jesus accused him of being a sinner. “Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” This man “tasted the powers of the age to come” in a way that few human beings have, but that wasn’t enough.
Here’s the danger. None of these experiences describe salvation. Faith in Jesus and the Gospel is never mentioned. Neither is repentance from sin. We don’t see any indication of transformation or new birth.
Faith in Jesus Christ.
Listen again:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
And if
and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Repentance of sin.
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
Note that word, “impossible,” in . The originally Greek word means … impossible! We could translate it “there is no power to renew them to repentance.” Why? Because they have come to sufficiently understand the Gospel and the power of God, but ultimately choose to return to their old religion.
“Fallen away” doesn’t mean committed an act of sin, even a terrible act like murder or adultery. It means to fall away from Christ back into their Old Testament temple religion.
The picture here is people who are riding on the fence, like their ancestors did. Joshua warned them, “choose this day whom you will choose.” Elijah warned them against hesitating between two opinions. Yes, they had left the temple and its practices, but they had not committed themselves to Christ. They were still holding themselves back, perhaps trying to hold on to the old and the new at the same time.
Personal confession of Jesus Christ.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Here’s the picture. These are people who have heard the Gospel preached, and it touched something inside of them. Perhaps it gave them hope. Perhaps they were attracted by the thought of forgiveness, or of being loved, or of being part of something.
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They came into the church and made themselves comfortable. They became accustomed to the songs and the format, and got to know people. But Jesus Himself remained far away. As Paul writes in , they do have an outer form of godliness, but inside they are still trapped in sin. They love themselves, or money. They are boastful people, arrogant, proud of themselves, even proud of their religion. But they are also revilers, accusers, disobedient. They are ungrateful for the blessings of God, unholy in their conduct, unloving toward others, unwilling to be reconciled. They bring division into the church through gossip. They appear to be good, but they lack self-control, and can be brutal toward others. They hate what the Bible says is good. They are treacherous and reckless toward others, and so conceited that their own pleasure matters more than God.
So they have had experiences, but have not personally trusted in Jesus Christ, or given evidence of any
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Notice what the final two verses in our passage say:
But false Christians can only thrive in a place where false religion is practiced. Where the Word is preached, where genuine believers love and support one another, where conviction is followed by confession rather than argument, non-Christians will turn away.
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
This is a parable. In this parable we are the ground, and the Gospel is the rain that falls over and over again. Whether or not we are good ground is determined by the fruit produced by the Gospel-rain.
If the Gospel produces genuine faith and life, humble trust in Jesus Christ, a hunger for holiness and righteousness, peace with God, a hunger for the Word of God, an affection for God’s people, the desire to be like Jesus – that’s good fruit, vegetation is that useful to God, and we are blessed.
But if the Gospel-rain, which falls repeatedly, produces no good fruit, but only thorns and thistles, sin and anger and rebellion, arguments and unholy behavior, then that ground is is worthless. It is close to being cursed; only the mercy of God prevents an immediate judgment. And, if there be no change, it will end up being burned.
. It is close to being cursed, and it will end up being burned.
In the Lord Jesus says,
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“So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
The more of the Word of God we hear, the more accountable we are for what we hear. So we must take care how we hear. Do we hear in order to receive, in order to be blessed, in order to grow? Do we hear the Word according to the promise of Scripture, that it teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, and trains us in righteousness? Or do we hear the Word reluctantly, unwillingly, even resentfully.
The more we hear and believe and trust and respond with humility and faith, the more we will be given by the Lord. The more we will grow, the more we will be blessed with faith and strength.
But the more we let go by without thought or examination, the more we reject hard things, the more we defend ourselves against the Word as though the Word were an enemy, the more we will lose. I’ve seen people start out with such huge enthusiasm, but when their pet theories and personal opinions clash with the Scriptures, they will slowly begin to distance themselves from genuine teaching, and increasingly seek out teachers who will, as Paul puts it in , tickle their ears.
Bringing it Home
Bringing it Home
There are a couple of reasons these words are contained in the Scripture.
For one thing, there are always false believers in the church at large, and often in individual churches. Those false believers usually don’t understand that they are not truly saved. They aren’t false in the sense that they are con artists or frauds, but that they are deceived into thinking that what they have is Christ, when all they have is religion. Being in the church, they hear the Gospel, they hear testimonies of the work of God in lives, they sing words of faith in Jesus Christ, and yet they’ve never personally trusted Jesus. They need to be warned that he who hesitates is lost, and these words provide that strong, clear warning.
They need to be warned that he who hesitates is lost.
God’s mercy prevails today, and each of us here today has the opportunity to examine our own hearts and ask if we are in the faith, as Scripture commands us to do.
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Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
But the clock is ticking on the mercy of God for each and every sinner. Death is approaching, and the Bible tells us that a person dies once, and then comes judgment. Access to the mercy of God is limited. The door does not remain open forever. Those who fall away from Christ rather than falling into Christ face certain judgment.
But the clock is ticking on the mercy of God for each and every sinner. Death is approaching, and the Bible tells us that a person dies once, and then comes judgment. Access to the mercy of God is limited. Those who fall away from Christ rather than falling into Christ face certain judgment.
And there is a second reason we find this passage in Scripture. God has not only decreed the ends, but also the means. He has promised to save His elect and to keep them for all eternity. He doesn’t do this mechanically, utterly apart from us, but through the faith He gives us to exercise in Jesus Christ, which is most often prompted and built through the preaching of the Word.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
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“Faith comes by hearing” the promises and truths of God, and we hear those promises and truths “by the Word of Christ,” the Scripture. This is why we read the Bible together; it’s why the core of the church’s gathering is focused on hearing the Word of God declared and taught. It’s why our songs of worship should be packed with Scriptural truth.
Genuine believers grow in their lives and truth through the preaching of the Word of God. That’s what strengthens them, confirms them, holds them up, undergirds their lives. And when we hear a warning, like we have in , our hearts chill a little bit, because we know that there is nothing good that dwells in our flesh (), that Christ in us is a priceless treasure, but that we ourselves are jars of clay, unworthy of even a single blessing we have received (), that each believes himself or herself to be the worst of sinners (). These warnings remind us that it is only by the grace of God that we are saved, and not in any sense because of our own worth or ability. And our faith in Him grows, and our love for Him grows.
to keep those who are His, and He will never let them go. That is worked out in our lives through various means, which include suffering (which reminds us that we are weak and needy), and dire warnings such as this one.
Are you concerned about being caught between two opinions? That’s great news. It means that the Lord is calling you to trust in Him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. There is secret to repentance. It simply means turning toward Jesus Christ, and away from everything else. If you are convicted this morning that you have trusted in other things, then leave those things and turn to Jesus alone. Stop trusting in past experiences or decisions, and trust in Jesus alone today.
As you hear these words this morning, are you reminded that your salvation is a tremendous gift of God’s grace and kindness and mercy, a gift that you do not deserve, and can never repay? That’s wonderful - praise God! Keep trusting in His promise to save you. Keep exalting Jesus as your Savior.