Hebrews chapter 6, after warning
us of the impossibility of someone who leaves the gospel, the impossibility
of renewing them, he said, to repentance, seeing, he said,
they crucify to themselves Christ and put him to open shame. He
then says, verse 9, but beloved, we are persuaded better things
of you, things that accompany salvation, things that follow
or prove us to be his people. Even though we speak this way,
though we warn you, we are persuaded, we are convinced, better things
of you. even though we warn you. Now,
let me say this for the comfort of some who know people, maybe have loved ones
who have come to hear the gospel and maybe attended for a while
and then left. The Lord is saying this so that
we won't presume. He's talking to us so that we
won't presume upon his mercy and his grace. And he's warning
us, isn't he? My pastor will tell you of some
over the years who have left and come back. It's rare, but
it does happen. The Lord is merciful. There are
exceptions to that rule, and it's totally up to the Lord,
isn't it? attended for years, made a profession
of faith, and I played the prodigal. But the Lord brought me back.
So there's hope. There's always hope as long as
the gospel men pray. So this is said to us to keep
us from presuming. to prevent dullness of hearing
and falling into that. So you see why I said that? That's
why I said, though we thus speak, even though we speak this way
and warn you, we're persuaded better things of you. Persuaded
better things. But you're blessed of God. Now,
I want to know if he's talking to me. Am I one of these beloved? That's what he calls in verse
9. Beloved. That means loved of God. I want
to know. Am I one of the beloved? Am I
Christ's beloved? And is he mine? Can we know? John said we could. Didn't he? Over and over again, didn't he?
Hereby we know we have passed from death unto life, and so
on. Beloved, we are persuaded better
things of you, things which accompany salvation. Up in verse 7, he
gave this illustration. The earth which drinketh in the
rain that come often upon it. The rain often falls. God graciously
keeps sending that water of life. And it keeps coming down from
above, and the earth drinks it in. And then it brings forth
herbs, that's fruit, vegetables, things. It's fitting for the
use of them by whom it's dressed, or those that planted the seed,
those that water. It's only fitting that the earth
bring forth fruit to the one that dresses it. Now, we are
earthen vessels, like the earth. We are earthen vessels, God's
people, creatures of clay, earthen vessels. And God in mercy sent
the gospel, the water of life, Christ, the water of life, himself,
down upon us. And it broke the hard heart. broke up the fallow ground, the
hard heart, so that it began to drink in. That ground that
once was impervious to that rain, in God's time, He broke it up
and you heard and you drank it in. Alright? That water keeps coming. God
keeps sending this gospel to us, doesn't He? Our blessed God,
in mercy and grace, keeps sending this water of life. Well, how
do you know you're one of his people? If you keep drinking
it in. That's the first thing. The earth
drinks it in, and so do his people. Unlike the hard ground. Paul,
who we believe wrote this, told young Timothy, time is coming.
In the last days, men will turn away their ears from the truth.
Hardness of heart. Turn away their ears from the
truth and hear dullness of hearing. Be forgetful hearers and let
it slip. And they become hardened and
they don't hear it anymore. Don't hear it anymore. Well,
how do you know, though, you're one of his people? If you keep
hearing it. If you keep drinking it in. Keep
drinking it in. How blessed, our Lord said, are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. God does that. God's the one
who opens the ears and digs the ears and opens the heart to receive
the Word. We keep praying that way. I love
when we pray, Lord, open our ears. Let us hear. Let us hear. That's how you know you're one
of His. Drink in the gospel. Some never drink it in. Some
never drink it in, or at least grow tired of it. And that's
how you know they were not of us, John said, or they would
have continued with us. They're not thirsty or they would
have come to drink. Keep drinking. You ever quit
drinking? I just took a drink about ten
minutes ago. I'm thirsty again. You would be too if you were
standing up there. But we drink all our lives, don't
we? We need it, we need it. So does
a sinner who's alive unto God. He's thirsty the rest of his
life. He hungers, she hungers and thirsts after Christ. And
to the beloved, this is one thing that accompanies salvation. And
they thirst after the gospel. David said, My soul thirsteth
after thee in a dry and thirsty land. Like the heart panteth
after the water broke, so thirst panteth my soul after thee. Oh
God, I've got to have this gospel. And it says they bring forth
herbs. The earth brings forth herbs. It's just fitting. It's
for the use of the one that planted the garden and waters the garden.
Fit, fit. All right? Our Lord said, herein
is the Father glorified that you bear much fruit. All right, now what is this?
And we're just going to dwell right here, these few verses. What is this fruit? What are
things that accompany salvation? Here's a man who plants a garden. He plants a seed and waters it. And if it brings forth briars
and thorns, he's going to burn it. That's what he just said,
he's going to burn it. But fruit, now, he's going to
use that. He's going to use that. What
is this fruit? What things accompany salvation? Follow it, go along with, to
accompany. keep company with salvation.
All right? What do you think? Verse 10 tells
us, verse 10, look at it. He says, God is not unrighteous
to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed
toward His name. Your work and labor of love. James says, Faith without works
is dead, isn't it? The Scripture says, their works
follow. Their works follow them. That
is, they're believers, these works will follow. Our Lord in
Revelation to every church said, I know your works, alright? By grace he's saved through faith,
that's not of yourself, that's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good work." Okay? This is what is his fruit. All right, what is it? What are
these works? What is this work? Well, look
at it again. He said in verse 10, and labor. One thing, he said,
not works, but work and labor of love. It's not law, this is
love. Your work and labor which you
have showed, read it, verse 10, which you have showed toward
his name. Right here to you. And turn to
Revelation 2. Revelation 2, okay? This is it. This is that which follows salvation. God saves people for His glory,
for His namesake, for His honor, for His glory, to the praise
of the glory of His grace. This is the work. This is what the church is about.
This is what the believer is about. And it's a labor of love. It's a work. It's toward His
name. It's all about Him. It's all
about His glory, he said. Religion. I urge you to study the difference
between religion and the true people of God. Religion is all
about Man, religion's all about what have you got for our young
people? What have you got for us? What
can you do for us? How can you entertain us? We'll
come there and we're going to give our money, but what can
you do for us? Will you acknowledge me? Will
you put a brick in the wall with my name on it, or on the pew?
Or will you, here I am. What's in it for me? When God
saves somebody, they don't feel worthy to be there, but why they
come is for His glory. From then on, it's all about
Him. Heaven's not, well, I ought to
be here, aren't you all glad I'm here? I've been a good boy."
No, it's for unworthy people who don't belong there, who feel
they don't belong there, but they're there because God in
mercy, for His glory, for His namesake, called them, quickened
them, saved them, and brought them there to sing His praise,
His honor, and His glory. That's what the church is all
about. That's why God saves sinners,
not to pat themselves on the back. But to sing to the praise
of the glory of his great, to his name, that's the difference. Who's getting the glory? That's
how you know. Right there. That's the litmus,
that's the acetis. Acetis. Toward his name. And it's a labor of love, it's
not something... it's because you love His glory,
you love His salvation, you love His honor, you love His Son,
you hate anybody and anything that steals His glory and His
honor, that takes away from Him. Anybody or anything that's bringing
Him down. Don't do that to my Lord. Don't
do that to my love. Will you defend someone you love? Are you getting mad when somebody
is defiling them and saying derogatory things about them, do you? Will
you lay down your life for them? I'm sure you will. That's what
this is all about. That's the work. That's the work. And everything follows that. I told you to turn to Revelation
2. You know, when the Lord told
Israel he had saved them, You know what he said to them? He
said, I didn't do this for your sake. Remember that? He said, I did
not do this for your sake. I did it for my holy name's sake. which is being blasphemed among
the heathen. And you're not going to blaspheme
me, God said. You're going to glorify me. Everybody
else is blaspheming me. Everybody else is talking about
man. Everybody else is worshiping the creature more than the Creator.
You're not going to do that. You're going to worship the Creator.
You're going to worship God in spirit and in truth. You're not
going to do it with your lips only. It's going to be a labor
of love. It's going to be from the heart. You love his glory.
I'm going to put that love in you. And you're going to love
to worship. You're not going to come to worship
because you have to. You're going to come because
you love to. See, there's the difference. That's what accompanies
salvation. It's like a man falls in love
with a woman and vice versa. And they get married. They have
their two become one flesh. And they do it not because they
have to, not because somebody put a shotgun to their head.
I don't think any of y'all that happened, did it? No, it's not
because your wife's got a big dowry. No, no, no. Love. Love. Right? It's all about love. In fact, you start out with nothing,
don't you? Start out with nothing. And you're
just happy as hogs in a slot. That's all you need. You live
on love. God's people worship. That's
how they continue to live. Revelation 2, look at this. Throughout
these letters here, Revelation 2, verses 2 and 3, I know thy
work. This is to the church at Ephesus.
We love that letter to Ephesus, don't we? One of our favorites. Verse 2 and 3, he says, chapter
2, I know thy works, thy labor and thy patience. How thou canst
not bear them which are evil, and thou tried them which say
they are apostles, and are not, and found them liars, and hast
borne, that is, carried, and hast patience for my name's sake,
hast labored, and haven't quit." See that? That's the work. Church
is the pillar and the ground of what, John? The truth. The
truth as it is in Jesus Christ. for his glory, for his honor.
Look at chapter 2, verse 9. Here's the letter to the Smyrna. Verse 9, I know thy works and
tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. You're rich. I
know your poverty. I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue
of Satan. I hear the blasphemy, he says,
and you do too. Verse 13, I know your works. You dwell where Satan is. And
you hold fast my name. See that? Chapter 3. Go on. Chapter 3, verse 8, to
Philadelphia. I know thy works. Behold, I have
set before thee an open door. No man can shut it. Well, they'd
like to shut the door where the gospel is preached. They're not
going to do it. No man can shut it. Thou hast
a little strength, not much. A little, and you've kept my
word and has not denied my name. But there it is. Many say his
name. Many come in his name. Christ
said that many will come in my name. But they're in it for his
own glory and all of that. They have their names everywhere.
It's pretty obvious, isn't it? Well, His name, what is His name?
His name is His glory. Lord. He really is Lord. When we say God is God, we mean
it. And we declare it and we define
it, don't we? When we define who God is, people
say, let God be God. They're just blaspheming His
name. You don't let God. do anything. Isaiah 13 tells us that, doesn't
it? He said, God says, I will work
and who will let me? He says over and over through
Isaiah, who did I ask before I did anything? In the beginning
I said, let there be light. Who did I ask permission to do
that? God is God. When we say God, we mean it.
Honor His name. Pharaoh even found it out, didn't
he? Moses' God is God. Our God's not. He is God. What's that mean? He does as
He will, because He will, when He will, why He will, and none
can stay His hand or say unto Him, You can't do that. Yes,
you can. That's what makes Him God. when you say his name. And this
is how we clearly define the gospel in this day. Many say
God, many call him Lord, say Lord, Lord. When we say Lord,
we define it. Lord means absolute sovereign
over everything. Lord of lords. It means, like
Scripture says, the king's hand is in the heart of the Lord.
Like the rivers of water, he turneth and withers, soever he
will." That's the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. Now, that
gives his people such peace. The Lord, Jehovah, Sidkenu, Jehovah. They love His name, they love
His glory. Do you remember we looked years ago at Deuteronomy
12, all the way through chapter 17, the place which the Lord
thy God hath chosen to put His name there. Do you remember that? Look it up for yourself. Deuteronomy
12, chapter 12. Keep looking all through there,
all the way through about chapter 17. He says over and over again,
I have a place that I've chosen to put my name there. That means put my glory, put
my honor. And they're few and far between.
He said, you go there and you'll be fed and your people, and that
will prove you're my people. You love my glory. You love my
honor. You still love to hear that,
Brother Henry. When you first heard this gospel,
that's what you heard. God is God. Christ is on the
throne. Christ effectually accomplished
redemption of his people. All given to him by the Father
in a covenant of grace, Christ came down here and shed his blood
and put away their sin, put away sin, and went back and sat down
expecting his people to come and his enemies to be made his
foes. That's what you first heard, wasn't it? Well, you're still
hearing it. You still like it? He's doing that. I could learn
from him. He could preach to me. They're still drinking it in.
That's how you know. This is a company salvation. Company salvation. To love his
name. To love his name. All right,
look back at our text, chapter 6, verse 10. He says, you showed this work
of love and labor. It's one work. This is the principal
work of God's people. This is the work. I read this
is why God saved us, to the praise of the glory of His Christ. They
say, you go out and tell others, not what you've done for Jesus,
but what wonderful thing the Lord has done for you. You go
tell them salvation. Say among the heathen, the Lord
reigneth. That's why I saved you. See,
you're going to be doing that forever and eternity. All right. Verse 10. And he says, So you have showed
that toward his name, and in that you have, this is what accompanies
salvation, you minister to the saints. You've ministered and
do minister to the saints. Verse 10. Doesn't that take it
all in? Dad, love toward God and love
to his people. This is it. This is it. This
is what accompanies salvation. Love to God, love to his people. Serve his glory, serve his people. Serve his people. He said, and
you've done it. Our Lord said, and as often as
you've done whatever, to the least of these my brethren, you've
done it to me. You've done it to me. This proves, this accompanies
salvation. You see, before God saves us,
we're in it for ourselves. It's all about me. We love ourselves.
It's all about me. When He saves you, you begin
to hate yourself. Before you think you're something,
when He saves you, you realize that you're nothing. Before He
saves you, you think, they'll be glad to see me. After He saves
you, you're glad to see them. Right? Before he saves you, you
think, boy, they could use a fellow like me down there. After he
saves you, you think, boy, I hope they'll take me. That's the way it is. Before
he saves you, it's, what's in it for me? And then after he
saves, what can I do for you? What can I do to show my gratitude? I'm less than the least of all
saints, not fit to be called an apostle," Paul said. They minister, they serve the
body. That's what he's saying. You did minister and you do minister.
You ministered and you do minister. You serve the body. And there
are countless scriptures Let's speak about this. Romans 12,
1 Corinthians 12, the members of the body, members one of another,
and the toe, the little toe is not less than the hand, and you
know how it's said. All members one of another and
all serve the body, which serves to do what? Hold up the head. The only one that is exposed
all the time and should be is the head. The rest is covered. Well, he says you do serve and
you have served and you do serve. You have. He said, God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love in the ministry
to the saint. That's why Christ said, you give
and it will be given to you. That's why he said that. You
wait and see. Our Lord said, you wait and see
if the Lord doesn't give it back with interest. He says, no man.
Peter, you know, was feeling sorry for himself. And he said,
Lord, what do we get? We've left everything for you.
And he did. He said that. The Lord said,
there's no man that hath left father, mother, husband, wife,
son or daughter for my name's sake, that he'll not receive
a hundredfold in this life and in life to come eternal salvation. Nobody. The Lord is not unrighteous. He pays back. He pays back. Every sin will receive a just
recompense of reward. And every good deed, God's righteous. That went unnoticed. Oh, no. That's what the world said. God
didn't say that. Oh, yes, He did. And believers
say, oh, no, by the way, that's anonymous. Oh, somebody, the
only one that matters, saw it. Now you just wait. You just wait. Now look at the next line. We
desire, verse 11, that every one of you do show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope unto the ends. You be not slothful,
but follow them who through faith and patience We desire that every
one of you show the same diligence. He's been talking about this
since we started this letter. You ought to give them more earnest
heed. Get diligence and so on and so
forth. Don't let us slip. Let us fear
lest a promise be left to us of rest. Any of you should seem
to come short of it. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into this rest. He said, we desire that every
single person show the same diligence. What's this diligence? Diligent
attendance to the Word. Diligent service to the body. Diligent support of the gospel. That everyone show the same diligence
so You'll reap. That's what he said. That's what
he said. So when you reap, to the full assurance of hope. That you might have full assurance.
Wouldn't you love to have full assurance of hope? Alright, let me try to illustrate
this. We talked about giving diligence. Those who do
not diligently seek will not find. And this seeking is all
the time. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened. Ask. We need to seek the Lord
daily because we need peace. We need wisdom. We need hope. We need comfort. We need assurance.
We need strength. Without Him we can do nothing. We need to seek. Diligently seek. Give diligence. Constant, watchful, prayerful
seeking. Seeking. Diligently seek. Seek. You'll find. Seek. Diligent
attendance. Diligent attendance. Let me illustrate. Thomas was absent, wasn't he? I'm going to meet you here. Thomas
wasn't there. He was absent. So therefore,
Thomas had no hope for a day or two. He had no hope. He had
no assurance. He was full of doubts and fears
and troubles while everybody else that was there and heard
the Lord and saw His glory and heard Him speak, they were just
so confident. They were full of assurance.
They said, He's alive. Thomas said, I don't believe
it. Oh, we're sure of it. He's alive. We have hope. We're
certain. I just won't believe it until I see it. And we come here
and the Lord said, I'll be there and I'll show you. You come where I promised to
be, I'll give you assurance. I'll give you hope. I'll give
you a piece that no man can take away from you. You'll be so sure. You'll have full assurance. Temporarily. Oh, he said, I would that every
one of you would show the same diligence and attendance and
seeking that will give you full assurance and hope And that you
be not slothful. Slothful. This goes along with
dullness of hearing. You know, the lazier you are,
the more worthless you become. Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Why sleepest thou, O sluggard? Arise! Slothful. Slothful is the opposite of diligence.
Diligence. He said in verse 12, Be followers
of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Be following. Don't forget. Remember. Consider this great
cloud of witnesses that we're surrounded with who, just like
us, went through the same world Same temptations, same trouble,
same sin, no different than you. In fact, they probably had it
a lot harder. They didn't have a Bible. You know that? Most of these people
didn't have a Bible. They depended on the prophets.
Hebrews 12 talks about Old Testament saints. They depended on the
prophets to come. If they wanted to find out anything,
they had to come hear that man. Please tell us. They didn't have
a Bible. He said, We've got a great cloud of witnesses. Remember
them? Who threw faith? subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,
obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness
made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the alien. Women received their dead raised
to life again. Others were tortured, didn't
accept deliverance. that they might obtain a better
resurrection. Others had trial of cruel mockings
and scourging and bonds and imprisonment and stone, saw cut in half, tempted,
slain with a sword, wandered about in sheepskin, destitute,
afflicted, torment, the world was not worthy, wandering in
deserts and mountains and dens and caves, but they all obtained
a good report through faith." They're there right now. Praising God according to the
promise that God who cannot lie said, you follow me, and you'll
be with me in glory. Those are they that followed
the Lamb. And according to his blessed
promise, there they are. There they are right now. And
what about us? Give the same diligence, he said,
the same diligence, in spite of this Tough, hard world and
all. We've got a great cloud of witnesses
that prove to us that God is true. That every man is a liar. He is true. And keep yourselves
in the love of God under the Word which keeps you. You'll
have full assurance of faith. You'll live by faith. God has
promised. He's promised to give that strength. Okay.