Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Let's read verses 11 through
15. And we desire that every one
of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
unto the end. That you be not slothful, but
followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
saying, Blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will
multiply thee. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained a promise. For men swear by the greater,
and an oath for a confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Let's pray together. Again, it's so good to be able
to meet together in the name of the Lord Jesus, assembling
ourselves to hear the blessed and glorious gospel of Christ.
Lord, we ask you this evening, would you bless this Word? Bless
it to our heart. Bless it to our comfort and peace. Cause us to hear. Cause us to
understand. Teach us. These things we ask
for Christ's sake. Amen. The Scripture we considered last
week sets forth that the Apostle was persuaded of a work of regeneration
to the Hebrews he was talking to. And this persuasion is what
he said in verse 9. Beloved, we are persuaded better
things of you and things that accompany salvation. Now his
persuasion was not based on his own feelings and thoughts. His persuasion was based on God's
Word. Now I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 7. And let's look at something that
our Lord said. Matthew 7, starting in verse
15. Now this is what Paul based his
persuasion on. We're persuaded of better things. Matthew 7.15, Beware of false
prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
by their fruits you shall know them." Not only false preachers,
but all believers. Some things that accompany salvation. And the Apostle Paul had noticed
that in these Hebrews, these things that accompany salvation,
that God was not unrighteous, verse 10, to forget your work
and labor of love which you showed toward His name and that you
ministered to the saints and do minister. So Paul being persuaded,
confident, he set forth. To these Hebrews, it's evident
that God has done something for you. Whenever there's a work of grace
in a man or woman's heart, it evidences it. You're going to
know it. James said, faith without works. As we said before, we
don't believe in salvation by works. You know that. But we
do believe that salvation is evidenced. Faithfulness. God's people are faithful. Faithful to the gospel of God's
grace. Faithful where the gospel is
preached. Faithful. Supportive in prayer, attendance,
monetarily. They are faithful. Faithful people.
We are persuaded of better things. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5.10,
by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me." Paul wasn't boasting. Almighty God had wrought a work
of grace in his heart. And in evidence, Paul was doing
as all believers do. He was doing what he wanted to
do. That's what God's people do. They do what they want to
do. Your work of faith, labor of
love, patience of hope in our Lord, in the sight of the Father,
it can only find its source in God Almighty that worketh in
you, the Apostle says, both to will and due of His good pleasure.
But remember this, it is your work, not unrighteous to forget
your work of faith, labor of love. It is wrought within the
believer by God Himself, but it's yours. As I said before,
you're doing exactly what you want to do. All men do. Well,
then he's showing his heart and love for the Hebrews, the apostles. He encourages them, and that's
where we'll start tonight. Verse 11, he says, Truly, I long, I long that every
one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope,
full persuasion of hope, firm conviction unto the end, to the
end of your life. You know that God's people are
kept. They are kept by the power of God through faith. And they're
going to inherit, the Scripture says, some promises. Be not slothful. Be followers
of them who through faith and patience are inheriting. And I'll tell you this, God's
people are inheriting right now. And we talk about an inheritance
that we'll have one of these days. One of these days, you're
inheriting it now. You're in the process right now.
I mean, these blessed truths that we're taught, the blessed
assurance that we have, we're convinced that Almighty God is
doing something for us right now. I don't know what we shall
be, but I do know this. When we see Him as He is, we're
going to be like Him. But there's something. We've
got the earnest of God's Spirit right now, inheriting right now. So Paul's desire was that the
hearers would exhibit that same eagerness and full assurance
of hope and expectation, expecting with confidence, looking with
confidence, hoping with confidence, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a wonderful desire, that
we would rest Him looking, praying for one another. I pray, Almighty
God, grow us in grace. Settle our hearts. Teach us of
Himself. As I told you last week, when
we come together expecting that God's going to do something,
expecting that men are going to hear, Expecting, believing
that God is going to do what He said He's going to do. That's
not presumption. You know, the sad part is that,
and I'm confessing, this is made by nature. I don't really expect somebody
that comes in this building and they're an unbeliever. They exhibit
no evidence of faith. Here's the sad thing. Freddie,
I don't expect them to believe. Now that's sad. I don't expect
them to. Why? There's not a believer that's
sitting in this congregation tonight that at one time was
not an unbeliever. We were all in unbelief. We all
came forth from my mother's womb speaking lies. We were all dead
in trespasses and sins. And somewhere along the line,
Almighty God was pleased to cross the path of His people and brought
a work of grace in them. And God called them out of darkness.
And they began to show some interest. And there was some hope there.
And you're thinking, oh, I hope. I pray God does something here.
Wouldn't that be wonderful Saved your kids. They started showing
some interest. They started wanting to come.
Wanting to talk to you about the Scriptures. How about your
mom or dad or wife or husband? That's what Paul was saying.
We desire that every one of you show the same diligence to the
full assurance of hope unto the end. Presently inheriting those
promises. All the promises of God. The
announcement to do good. I love that word of. The promises
of God. The announcement to do good. All the promises of God in Him
are yea and in Him amen unto the glory of God. All of these
truths that we grasp hold of. Do you truly believe that God
has pardoned you? Do you truly believe that in
Him there is no condemnation? That no condemnation to them
that be in Christ Jesus? That right now, robed in His
righteousness, you stand before God Almighty perfect. I look and I see myself. I see
the frailty of my flesh. And I struggle. I read God's Word concerning Christ
through His assurity that I'm going to do you good. I'll never
leave you, never forsake you. And the first time that something
comes up... Oh, Paul said, I desire that
you show the same Be not slothful. Verse 12, don't
be lazy spiritually, but followers of them who through faith, through
the assurance of God's Word and patience, long-suffering, inherit
the promises. Brother Henry Mahan said this
on that passage of Scripture, to not grow careless in spiritual
matters. You know, we're saved by the
grace of God. That's right. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. That's exactly right. You are.
But I will tell you this. We can become very slothful lazy
in spiritual matters. And it gets easier the more you
do. Strive, he said, to not grow
careless. Turn with me to Galatians 5.
Galatians chapter 5. Look at this. Galatians 5, 16,
17. This I say then, Galatians 5, 16, 17. Walk in
the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Now, walk in the Spirit. I've told
you this. I can sum that up. Strive. Believe in God. Believe in God. Walk in the Spirit. and you'll
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and they're contrary
one to another, that you cannot do the things that you would."
I'm telling you, we struggle. Every believer struggles. And the Apostle Paul encouraged
these Hebrews to be not slothful. Don't be lazy. followers of them
who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises. Be imitators. Be imitators of
the faithfulness of those that the Lord has set before us as
examples. You know, that's a strong exhortation. Now, we've all known. I've got
some, and you do too, that you look at and you think about the
faithfulness and the walking after, the keeping after, the
stayingness of men and women that we've known. And you're
thankful for them. You're appreciative. And do you
know that every person that's ever walked this earth saved
the Lord Jesus Christ? They did struggle just like we
do. They were men of like passions.
That's what the Scripture says. Struggling. Go back and read
the entire 11th chapter of this book in Hebrews for the confirmation. But don't be slow-fooled. You know the necessity of hearing
the Gospel. You know the necessity. Don't
be slothful in hearing. Don't be slothful in seeking
the Lord in prayer. Don't be slothful in reading
the Scriptures. Someone might say, well, I tell
you what, that sounds like law or works or something. Not to
a believer, it doesn't. Not to a believer. Because I'm
going to tell you something, you struggle with it just like
I do. You struggle just like I do. Be not slothful, but strive after, emulating those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Remember them which have the
rule over you. This is talking about especially,
I'm going to read this as Scripture, it's Hebrews 13, 7. That have
the rule over you, talking about your pastors that lead you. God's pastors don't lord over
God's heritage. They don't drive them. They teach
them the truth. And they walk before them, or
they ought to, as examples of faithfulness. I tell you, pastors are in a
fishbowl. All believers are, but especially
pastors. It's kind of hard to stand here
and proclaim the exhortation of this
Scripture to be not slopeful, but be followers of them who
faithfulness and patience. It's hard to stand here when
you look at yourself and you struggle with your own faithfulness. Remember them which have the
rule over you. who have spoken unto you the Word of God, whose
faith, whose persuasion, whose truth and faithfulness follow,
considering the end of their conversation." Considering on
the end of their conversation either how they died, how they
died in the faith, or how they're dying now, how they're going
toward their end now. I tell you, these examples that
Almighty God has set forth, especially in these holy Scriptures right
here, consider, consider, consider. I mean, this is convicting. I'm
going to be honest with you. This is tough. I mean, I'm having
to listen to this just like all of us. I know, I know we struggle,
By the grace of God, we read these Scriptures and we set forth. Almighty God is faithful. Lord,
help me. Lord, help me. Keep me. Forgive
me. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
saying, Surely, blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I
will multiply thee. So after he had patiently endured,
he obtained the promise. I'm going to bless you. I'm going
to multiply you. I'm going to make your seed to
be as the stars of the heavens, the sand that's upon the seashore.
And thy seed shall possess the gate of the enemies, and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth Be blessed. Paul said
of that Scripture in Galatians 3.16, Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He said, Not seeds as many, but
as one to thy seed, which is Christ. Listen. We've got some great and precious
promises. We're failing creatures. I know
that. Physically. Emotionally. But those that are enduring to
the end are being kept by the grace of God. And those themselves
that actually are the most fruitful are those that never even see
it in themselves. And those that brag on it the
most are those that don't have any. Do you desire after Him? that
you hunger. That's a precious thought. Lord,
that I might be able to hunger and thirst after you. God made
a promise to Abraham, and the Scripture says, because he could
swear by no greater. There are no greater than him. No greater surety of truthfulness
No greater surety of power, no greater surety of endurance,
mercy and grace, because he could swear by no greater. He swore
by himself, I will do you good. And Abraham believed God. What
a stopping thing. Put your name
in that. Marvin believed God. Boy, that's
a miracle of God's grace. A miracle of God's power wrought
in the heart of a sinner. Abraham spent his whole life,
adult life, regenerated life, as a wanderer. The Scripture
says, looking for a city that has foundations, a city that's
sure a city that endures, whose builder and maker was God. Believe
God. Think of these great and precious
promises. Paul was telling those Hebrews,
he said, don't be slow. We desire for every one of you
diligence to the end. The full assurance of hope in
Christ that God would keep you There is no greater joy for a
pastor than to see, as Scripture says, his children walking after
him. Faith in Christ walking after him. What joy! What a blessing! That we might come together in
fellowship in Him, rejoice in Him, hunger after Him, strive
after Him, faithful to Him. God made a promise to Abraham,
I'm going to bless you. And after Abraham patiently endured,
by the grace of God, and we do too, by the grace of
God, Paul said in Romans 4, 20 and 21, he staggered not at the
promise of God through unbelief. but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised
he was able to perform. Paul desired of those Hebrews,
I desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to
the full assurance of hope unto the end. The one that we believe is alive. He's real. Someone says, yeah,
well, sure, He's real. Lord, make Yourself real to me. Lord, make Yourself alive to
me. I believe, but help mine unbelief. To be able to fellowship, walk
after Him, and speak of Him, to have Him rejoice my heart, to be able by the grace of God
to realize that the endurance unto the end, I know I don't
do that. I know that. And the same token,
it's God Almighty working in me to will and do of His good
pleasure. It's your faith. It's your work. God's not unfaithful
to forget your work and how thankful you are. And
all the while, you watch a believer struggling, striving, hungering,
thirsting, who will say as David, take not thy spirit from me. Lord, would You just allow me
just the privilege today, would You just allow me the privilege
for just a moment, just to be able to enter in, to be able to fellowship, to
be able to just truly think on You. Lord, would You help me
right here because it will be gone so quickly. I'll lose it
that fast. Lord, would You allow me just
to be able to endear for a moment and keep me to the end for the
sake and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the good
of this sinner? Amen.