Sold Out For Christ.

Intro

Good Morning! Grateful to be here with you all again this morning!

For the past two weeks, Pastor Jon has been walking us through the book of Hebrews, last time working through Hebrews 4:15-5:10. Now, as we move on from this section we will continue into chapter six, and explore what God’s Word has for us in our passage. However, as we move into our passage today, I’d like to start by building a word-picture in your mind. I’m going to ask you to focus on just one word. I want you to think on that word for a few seconds and build a picture in your mind of the type of person you would think of when thinking on this word. Ready?

Ok the word is: Maturity.

Everyone got a picture in their heads? Ok, if I had more time I’d love to explore what everyone came up with, but for time’s sake, I’ll share with you what I thought of.

When I think of maturity, I think of someone in a suit and tie, nicely dressed, good paying job, maybe a nice house. They’ve got it all together. That’s just where my mind automatically goes! Kinda weird perhaps… or maybe not considering I used to dress like I was 40. Haha, that’s my mind’s version of maturity. Got it all together! You’ve reached the pinnacle of your life, you have become… mature. Congrats.

Here’s the thing: In my humble opinion - and right Katie would look at me and go “oh so humble” - I would suggest that maturity for the Christian has much more to do with the condition of your relationship with God than the condition of your social status.

Pray

Today we will be looking at Hebrews 5:11-6:8.

Hebrews 5:11–6:8 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.

Pastor Jonathan has spent the last couple of weeks working through Hebrews, talking and our high priest in the order of Melchizedek - Jesus Christ. This is because the author of Hebrews spends considerable time on this concept of Jesus as our high priest. He will continue to do so later in the book, but here he stops, and says that although he would like to go on, he cannot because his readers are “dull of hearing.” Or, as the NIV puts it

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.”

So instead, the author switches gears to give his readers a scathing warning. He sums up what an immature Christian is like, yet added to this he reveals a sobering conclusion to the lives of those who choose to reject the gospel, even after having accepted it.

I believe that Hebrews 5:11-6:8 shows us that mature Christians are sold out for Christ

The author presents three qualities that expand on true commitment to Christ...

Quality 1- Committed to Growth

The first of these qualities that the author gives us is that maturing Christians should be “growing up in Christ.” We read in verses 11-14 that these Christians were dull of hearing, and needed someone to teach them again the basic principles of the gospel. They were like babies, without solid food! Therefore, they remained infants in Christ.

I think of my own son, whose still very young at the moment, and can only digest milk. He can’t handle all the foods that you and I eat everyday and take for granted. So much variety and richness, but he cannot handle it because he is too young. So he only knows only the very basic of foods. So too, the author of Hebrews says that immature Christians - Christians who should be able to teach the basics of the faith they claim to hold dear, in fact must be taught it all again, because they have forgotten. Thus, they cannot handle more in depth study and training in the Word, because they are still stuck back at the very basics of the Christian walk.

The author is calling these people out and correcting sluggish, lazy investment in Christ. 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 sluggishness is not a matter of intelligence, but rather one of moral character. They are not taking seriously the Word of God and their Christian walk. They should not need basic 101 teaching again and again. In fact, they really should be teachers of it! Yet because of their own sluggishness - their own lack of commitment - they are having to relearn the very rudiments of faith in Christ (EBTC Hebrews). So we see: We do not ever leave the basics behind in the sense that we forget them. After all, this is the foundations of our faith! Yet we should be as maturing Christians at least able to teach others the basics! Moreover, we should not treat our faith with such sluggishness as these Christians were starting to lean towards. To do even becomes moral failure on our parts!

I was talking the other day with a pastor in the Saskatchewan district. One of the things he told me was that there are some churches that don’t really have a vision moving forward. Instead, they just want you to keep getting up and preaching a salvation call. Sound familiar? I want to be very clear in saying that we NEVER LEAVE BEHIND THE FOUNDATION OF THE GOSPEL! But if that is all we ever preach from our pulpits, we are developing sickly infants. Why? Because we are not encouraging maturity in Christ through the reading and understanding of God Word! The Christian cannot simply choose to not develop their understanding of the Bible, and live forever stuck in their “newly saved” life. No, but they must get up begin the journey of learning more and more about God from His Word. They must continuously be developing a deeper understand of the Bible in order to grow in Christ.

This was the first of our three attributes of what a maturing, healthy Christian should look like: to be always developing a more sound Biblical understanding. Now, as we move into chapter 6, I believe we see the second attribute of a maturing Christian:

Quality 2 - Christ as our first love

In vv. 6:1-3 the author turns from the metaphor of infants to outline some basic teachings that the Christian should not have to be re-taught.

I like how the NLT translates the author’s opening thoughts in Hebrews 6:1:

Hebrews 6:1 (NLT)

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.

But when I look at verses 2-3, the things the author list all seem good! Again I was confused. What’s wrong with any of these? Nothing! However, contextually it seems that these Christians may have been trying to remain minimal in Christianity in order to not estrange themselves from their Jewish friends or relatives. As you may have noticed, at least some of these on this list share similarities with the Jewish faith. By emphasizing the similarities these Christians were trying to not loose family and friends in the wake of their new faith.

A story came to mind for me as I was writing this from 1 Kings 19:19-21. This is where Elijah meets Elisha for the first time, and in a life changing moment Elisha moves from being a plowboy to following Elijah, and God. He leaves it all behind to follow the call of God. One commentary noted that Jesus echoed this in Luke 9:62, where he notes that “no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” The illustration presented here holds an important message: we must place Christ as our first love.

This I believe is what the author presents here in Hebrews as well: Mature Christians Place Jesus as their first love! However, this means that we don’t stick around at the basics of faith all our lives, hoping to “double-dip” if you will in different religions. We don’t get the option to try and make others happy. Jesus notes in Matthew 10:35 that his message will separate one from another - the gospel can have a polarizing affect. Jesus says two verses later in Mat 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (ESV).

This is our second attribute: Mature Christians place Christ as their first love. He is top priority. As we saw with the first attribute, the mature Christian has a hunger for God’s Word - they want to know Him more! Now, we see that the mature Christians have Christ as their first love. We must, as Revelation 3:15 puts it, be hot, or cold when it comes to faith, but not lukewarm. Either you are all in with Christ, or you are not.

Quality 3 - 100% Investment

Having explored the first two of our three attributes, I want to walk through the final attribute of Christian maturity with you. I believe if I could sum it up, it would be that Mature Christians are sold out for Christ. We read in vv. 4-6 about the one who has - after seeing and knowing the power of God, tasting of God’s goodness and what the Holy Spirit can do in the life of the believer; of knowing the goodness of the Word of God - turned away from these things. What happens? 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!

The author moves on to an illustration in vv. 7-8. Talking about a farmer’s field (a popular illustration in the Bible it seems), he shows that the field that produces fruit in keeping with what is sown is blessed by God. The field that produces only thorns and thistles is burned up. I believe this for us is a powerful illustration showing us that those who do not produce fruit in keeping with the gospel may be in danger of eternal judgement on the last day - even the day of judgement. The author here is not saying that his readers are cursed, but rather are near to being cursed.

I think at this point it is important for us to explore what the author means by the word “impossible.” In Greek, this word is ἀδύνατος (a-thoon-a-toes), meaning incapable or impossible. The Cornerstone commentary for Hebrews notes that in this sense impossible is not like “impossible for humans, but not for God.” No, this is impossible like “God can’t sin” kind of impossible. It is severe, and it is irreversible. Why is this? The author of Hebrews sees his readers at a crossroads: a choosing point. Either they choose Christ, or if they don’t they will leave that “Old life” of faith behind. Hence there will be no way forward for them in repentance and faith. He is speaking pastorally, not prophetically, and giving them a timely warning. If they choose to reject the the gospel after having believed, they would be committing apostasy. A way back from this definitely shouldn’t counted on, as the UBC commentary notes. It is a serious enough matter 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.

What then is the mature Christians response? The writer warns against rejecting the gospel after having seen and heard and believed. So the mature Christian must instead dive into faith. They must hold fast to that which is given to them. They have tasted the goodness of God, they know Holy Spirit empowerment, they have been enlightened by the Spirit of God. Therefore, the believer should hold fast to this and produce fruit in keep with God’s investment. This is the hallmark of those who are truly sold out and invested in Christ.

Conclusion

We’ve gone through what it means to be a mature Christian in this last few minutes. We’ve seen that maturity means to be seeking growing understanding in God’s Word. It also means that we need to place Christ as our first love. Finally, the mature Christians don’t look back. They may sound similar, and yet they are all vastly important.

What does this mean for us? How do we live in light of the stern warning the author gives us here?

I believe that this is a chance for us to examine our “sold outness” if you will. The warning and hallmarks of the immature Christian (and by immature I mean someone who is a nominal Christian, and not truly sold out for the gospel) are laid out for us in a clear fashion. Those who are not sold out for God never dive deep into His Word. They never move past the basics but instead need to be saved over and over again. There is no starting over or turning back. Either you are for Christ, or you are not. What I would ask you then is where is your heart? Are you sold out for God? What does this look like in your life? Does He get the priority, or is it other things? If He does, great! But I would challenge each of us that there are areas for each of us that are not surrendered to Christ. Heed the word of the author of Hebrews. Deepen your maturity in Christ. Live with growing understanding of God’s Word. Place Christ First in your life. Don’t look back. Live sold out for Christ.