Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me back to the book of Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, it's good to be able
to come before You in the name of the Lord Jesus and to pray,
lifting our hearts before You and asking You, have mercy. Lord, we are in such weak frames. This stammering lip truly does
realize something. the need of your strength. I pray would you bless the word
tonight to help us. Lord, if you bless not, we're
not going to hear anything. We pray that you would honor
yourself, bringing honor to our blessed Lord and Savior. Help
us. Comfort us. We pray for Christ's
sake. Amen. Last week, we started in this
passage of Scripture, chapter 6, verses 1 to 3. And the Apostle
Paul, speaking to a group of Hebrews, was going to teach them something of going
on into perfection, into maturity. Now, you have to understand,
and I'll remind you again, so help me to be reminded too, these Hebrews have sat under
the law. And those principles that were
taught under the law, knowing that they're the schoolmaster that was to
bring them, point them, teach them of Christ. That was the
purpose of the law. And the teaching of the law that
they sat under was actually those first principles of the oracles
of God. That's where the gospel was set
forth in that. But it took new eyes to see. They thought that they were converted. They thought that they were right
before God because they kept the law. The purpose of the law
was to bring them to Christ. And so therefore, knowing what
those first principles were, Paul started off in the first,
and I'll just, there were six principles that he said we're
not going back to. It was principles that were taught
under the law. Principles that set forth the
glory of Christ. But Paul was saying we're not
going to, we're not going back to those first principles anymore.
Those first principles. that which pictured Christ. They weren't the substance of
Christ. And now that the substance of Christ, the Lord had come
forth and revealed Himself to be who He was, the fulfillment
of the law, Paul said, well, we're not going back to that.
So he starts off in verse 1, and he said, therefore leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, that word of the beginning
of the preaching of the gospel that was set forth in the law,
in the ceremonies and sacrifice. When he says leaving those principles
of the doctrine, he's not talking about leaving the preaching of
Christ. He's talking about leaving those
first teachings set forth in the law. Let's go on into perfection. Let's go on into maturity. Those
first principles, as I said, were a schoolmaster to point
us to Christ. And we don't go back to the schoolmaster.
We go on to the one that the schoolmaster pointed to, that
the law set forth for the Lord Jesus Christ, not laying again
the foundation. The law was a foundation. It was a foundation. of the setting
forth in type, pictures, shadows of Christ. It was a foundation,
no doubt about that. And Paul the Apostle gave six
foundational truths that definitely set forth our Lord and His work. But now the foundation and the
substance of that foundation has been set forth. That foundation
was laid. The substance has been set forth. Revealed it's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now Paul said, now let's go on into perfection. We're not going to look to shadows
anymore. We're going to look at Him. We don't see the types
anymore. We don't want to see Him. And
we looked at three things that he said we weren't going back
to. One of them was the repentance from dead works. That setting
forth of those first principles in the law They would shed the
blood of bulls and goats. And that was a work that was
absolutely ordained of God. It was given to Moses for Aaron
to perform. They would take blood and take
those bulls and goats and they'd kill them. But you know that
that pictured Christ. That was a type It pictured the
Lord Jesus Christ, and it was a work that God had ordained
as the first principles of the gospel. But it was a dead work,
meaning this, the blood of bulls and goats could not put away
sin. Paul said, no, we're not going
back to that. We think differently concerning that. The thing that
we looked at last week was the repentance of faith toward God. And if you remember, I said,
now Paul didn't say faith toward Christ, but he said faith toward
God. Now you remember that the Hebrews
believed that they were the sons of God because they were a Hebrew. God Almighty had come to Abraham. and made known His covenant to
Abraham and to his seed. And the Hebrews thought that
salvation was according to natural birth. I'm a Hebrew. Jehovah is my God. But they had
no realization that that set forth that God was a covenant
God, but that God Almighty had a covenant with His true Israel. The true Jews, the elect of God,
and it was in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jehovah is approached
only in Christ Himself. He said, the Lord said, I'm the
way, I'm the truth, I'm the way. No man comes to the Father but
by me. These Hebrews thought, we're sons of Abraham. And then thirdly, we looked at
the repentance of the doctrine of baptism. Washings. Washings. It wasn't
talking about baptisms as we know as the believer's baptism. No, it was washings as in Mark
7, 8, you hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots
and cups and many other such like things you do. Now, what
was set forth in that? It was absolutely setting forth
that the Hebrews would be taught through the law. through that
ritual, through that shadow, that God was holy and that no
one could approach Him undefiled. Or defiled, I'm sorry. Unclean. It was typical that a sinner
must be cleansed. That was what was being set forth.
They thought because they washed unclean before God. Wash this
cup. Those washings set forth that
everlasting cleansing before God Almighty, this is what it
set forth, was only by the blood of Christ. So Paul told those
Hebrews that the foundation of repentance from the doctrine
of baptism, that ceremonial washing, it was not going to make one
that performed that service perfect. It was a picture. It was a type. He said, now let's go on. We're
not going to lay that foundation again. So now we're going to
pick up with the last three of these ceremonial pictures that
Paul is going to set forth in telling these Hebrews those types,
those pictures, they were so. They were types. They were pictures
that had been fulfilled. Now here's the next one. repentance
from the laying on of hands. Now, when a Jew was spoken to
concerning the laying on of hands, he naturally, and I want you
to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Leviticus chapter
16. When they talked about laying on of hands, this is what a Hebrew
thought about. Hebrews, I'm sorry, Leviticus
chapter 16. Verse 21-22, Leviticus 16-21, And Aaron shall
lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess
over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all
their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them upon
the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of
a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited, and shall
let go the goat in the wilderness." Now, you know now what that pictured. You know that that was a type.
Whenever that priest laid his hands upon that goat, that was
a picture. of our Lord Jesus Christ being
made sin. He set his hands on them. He
confessed over him the sins of the people. And all of the people
watched that. And that priest, when he laid
those hands on that high priest, when he laid his hands on that
goat and confessed the sins, the transgressions, the iniquities
of all the people, You know and I know those sins were not truly
transferred. That was a type. That was a picture. It was not actually buried. That goat was not actually burying
away. But it was a picture. It was
a type. But concerning our Lord, 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, how many times have we looked at this? He hath made
him sin. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." The Hebrews had
repented. God had changed their minds from
their trust in those shadows and types and pictures that were
set forth. And they knew that Almighty God
alone satisfied the divine justice by making His Son sing for His
people. Paul said that was a foundation,
the first principles of the teaching of the gospel. We're not going
back. We're going on into perfection.
Here was the next thing, back in Hebrews 6. It says the repentance of the
resurrection of the dead. Now to understand the heart of
thinking differently about the resurrection of the dead, we
have to understand that there was a great difference between
what an unconverted Jew believed concerning resurrection and what
a regenerated sinner believes concerning resurrection. Now
you know that there were some Jews, the Pharisees, believed
in the resurrection. Sadducees didn't. Now, you think
about this. Now, the Pharisees believed in
the resurrection. Remember, that was the point
that Paul used against the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees
believed in the resurrection. But how many Pharisees did you
find that believed Christ and looked at Christ? Now, you're
thinking, now, wait a minute. The Pharisees, they did believe. They said they believed. We don't
have any doubt. I tell you, remember when the
Lord came to Martha. Lazarus, her brother, had died.
And the Lord had waited. He heard that Lazarus was sick. He whom thou lovest is sick.
And he came after waiting. Lazarus died. And the Lord came
and He talked to Martha and Mary. Both of them told Him, You know,
Lord, If you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And
Martha said unto him, when the Lord told her, he said, your
brother will rise again. She said, I know that he'll rise
again in the resurrection at the last day. They believed in
a resurrection. The Lord revealed something to
her that she didn't know. She was a Jew. And she believed
in the resurrection. What did he reveal to her? The
next thing he told her, he said, I am the resurrection. I am the
resurrection. You see, the Pharisees believed
and they taught the doctrine of the resurrection. They knew
that that was taught in Scripture. But what did they believe about
it? What did they think? Looking
at a few passages of Scripture will give us a good indication,
some understanding. I'll tell you, they didn't understand
that the Scriptures set forth two resurrections. Now, a believer
knows this, and you know what they are, I'll tell you. And
you'll say, oh, I knew that. I knew that. And you do. The
first resurrection is regeneration. In Revelation 20, verse 6, blessed
and holy, is He that hath part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death hath
no power. But they shall be priests of
God, and Christ shall reign with them a thousand years." So here's
the first thing that the Pharisees, the Jews, didn't know anything
about. They didn't know anything about this first resurrection.
Regeneration. You remember The Lord came to
Nicodemus and Nicodemus was told by the Lord. He said, Nicodemus,
you must be born again. Regeneration. You must be born
again. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He
was a ruler, a teacher of the Jews. And he said, born again? Does a man have to go back into
his mother's womb? What do you mean born again?
He said you're a teacher of the Jews and you don't know these
things. He didn't know anything about the first resurrection. But concerning the resurrection
that they knew about, I want you to turn to John 5. John 5. They knew that there was going
to be a resurrection, a coming out. All right? Let's look at John 5, verse 24,
26. John 5, verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For
as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to
have life in Himself." So the Scripture sets forth. that there
was going to be a resurrection, but the resurrection of all men
before God was that which the Jews didn't know anything about. That's set forth in John 5, continuing
on in verse 28. The Lord told them, Marvel not
at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the
graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Now, the resurrection
of the last day is going to be universal. You see, these Pharisees
felt, we're sons of God. sons of Jehovah because of Abraham's
covenant. These Pharisees thought themselves
to be the only people that God was going to have anything to
do with. The Pharisees stood and prayed with themselves, God,
I thank Thee that I'm not, as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even if it's just public I fast twice
a week. I give tithes of all that I possess."
And the Lord told him, and he says, I want you to not marvel
at something. Marvel not. John 5.28, marvel
not at this. They believed in the resurrection.
And we're going to be the only ones to come out. That's what
Martha told us. She was a Jew. Oh, I know that
He's going to rise in the last day. He's a Jew. Marvel not at
this. The hour is coming in which all
that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come
forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life,
and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of the
damnation." Now let me tell you what He just said. There is going
to be a resurrection, and everybody is coming out. Everybody. All,
all that are in the graves are going to hear His voice. Everybody. He gave two classes of people
that's going to come out of the grave. Those that have done good
to the resurrection of life. They that have done evil. You
know, if left to a man's understanding,
that leaves a real broad Those that have done good and those
that have done evil, well, I can tell you this, I know this, I'm
not evil. I may not be as good as, you
know, I mean, I'm as good as anybody else.
I, you know, I pay my bills, you know. Let me turn back to
John chapter 3. And I want to read a couple of
verses of Scripture to you. And this verse of Scripture,
I read this today, and this hit me. I mean, I knew this. I knew this. But it hit me today. The difference between what the
Lord calls doing good and what the Lord calls doing evil. There's
going to be a resurrection, He told those Jews. Everybody that's
in the grave is coming out. And those that's done good unto
life, those that's done evil. And the Lord distinguishes right
now. Alright, let me show you those
that have done evil. Now here it is. I'm going to
tell you something. You might as well just get everything
out of your mind that you think is evil. The Lord's going to
tell us exactly what it is. John 3.20, every one that doeth
evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved, made manifest. Now, if you want to
know what the Scripture sets forth, this is what the Lord
told those Pharisees. Oh, we're coming out. We believe in the
resurrection. We're coming out because we're Jews. We're sons
of Abraham. And we're coming out to the resurrection
of life. The Lord says there's going to
come a day in which all men are going to hear the voice of the
Son of God. And everybody is coming out of
the grave. And those that have done evil unto damnation, those
that have done good unto eternal life. This, summed up, is the
totality of evil. Every man that does not come
to Christ. Every man that does not come
to the light. Everyone that doeth evil hates
the light and will not come to the light. That's evil. That's
the essence of evil. Those that have done good, unto
life eternal. Look at verse 21. But he that
doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God. Here's the essence of doing good. God Almighty has
made a man willing to come to Christ. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line. That's
the bottom line. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of Thy power." Not by works of righteousness that we've
done. What does a man think of Christ?
That's the heart of it. That's the heart. We're sons
of Abraham and we believe in the resurrection. Marvel not
at this. The day is coming when everyone
in the grave is going to hear the voice of the Son of God. And they're all going to come
out. Those that have done evil that have not come to Christ,
not bowed to Christ, not looked to Christ unto damnation. And those that have done good,
those made willing in the day of His power to call upon Him and to vie for Him for life,
to grasp hold by faith, that's what it is to do good. And I'm
telling you, Almighty God must grant repentance for man to cling
to Christ. That's the bottom line right
there. That picture set forth talking about the repentance,
the resurrection. Paul said, yes. Yes, that was a picture. That
was a type. There is going to be a resurrection.
But Almighty God has set forth that all men are going to come
out unto life or unto damnation. And then lastly, the foundation
of repentance, of eternal judgment, back in Hebrews chapter 6, and of eternal judgment. Now the significance of this
last point is not whether or not the Jews believed in judgment. They did. They did. The significance
lies in the one before whom they were
going to stand. Now, you have to understand again
that these Jews fell. Turn to Acts 17. I'm going to
read something here. Acts 17, verse 31. These Jews believe that there was going
to be a judgment. One side, there's going to be
the Jews. The other side, there was going to be the heathen,
the world, the dogs, the Gentiles. The Lord Jesus Christ sets forth
through the Apostle Paul, Acts 17, verse 31, hath appointed a day into which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some mocked. Others said, Well, we'll hear
thee again of this matter. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one before whom they're going to stand. The one that Peter
said, you with wicked hands have taken and crucified. The Jews believed that there
was going to be a judgment, a general judgment whereby God would examine
every man's life. There's going to be a judgment.
They believed this, and I'll tell you why they believed it.
The Old Testament taught it. Ecclesiastes 12, 14, For God
shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether
it be good or whether it be evil. And a Jew thought to himself, I'm okay. You know how I know
they thought they were okay? Now listen, listen. God shall
bring every work into judgment. Now this is taught in the Old
Testament. And the Jews, they had the Scriptures. They had God's Word. God is spoken. And they had the Scriptures. Therefore, God speaking to them
is going to be a judgment. And God's going to bring every
work into judgment. Every secret thing, whether it's
good, whether it's evil. Now, I want you to turn to Matthew
chapter 19. Matthew 19. And I'm going to
show you what a Jew thought about his works, about his ability. Matthew 19, verse 16, And behold,
one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall
I do that I may have eternal life?" What good thing? They've
read Ecclesiastes. God's going to bring every work,
every good thing, every evil. What good thing can I do? And He said unto him, Why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one. That's
God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,
He saith unto him, Which? Jesus says, Thou shalt do no
murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. The young man saith unto him,
All these have I kept from my youth up. What? Like I am. I'm in good shape. Eternal judgment's
coming. I'm in good shape. What good
thing can I do? What must I do? What does the
Scripture say? And the Lord told him, well, those commandments. Honor
your father and mother. Don't commit adultery. Don't
murder. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. I kept every one of them. What
lack I yet? Let judgment come. Paul the Apostle
talking about himself before he was converted. He said, touching
righteousness which is in the law. Man, I'm blameless. I'm blameless. I have no thought
whatsoever. So the Hebrews to whom Paul spoke,
having confessed faith in Christ In so doing, they had forsaken
the first professions, the shadows of the law. They were warned
by Paul. Don't yield to the temptation
of going back either from persecutions, from Judaizers, longings within
yourself. We're not going back to the shadow
of the law. The law is not. your salvation. We're not going
to lay again a foundation that's been left behind. It's been fulfilled.
Now, you rest assured, believers are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. But the Apostle, under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, knew something about the frailty of our flesh
and knew The need of continual encouragement. You know, Paul said to these
Jews, these Hebrews when he was talking to them, he said these
things that he set forth, not laying again the foundation. God Almighty has changed our
heart. Repentance from these dead works. Baptism. laying on of hands,
eternal judgment, resurrection. All of these pictures that in
the mind of a Hebrew was distorted. And they thought, we're keeping
all that. We're doing all that. And they
did not realize the perfection of God's law. They didn't realize
what God's law actually set forth. Paul says, have you considered
what the law says? You offend in one point. That
young man back there was talking to the Lord. He said, I kept
every one of them. Paul said to these Jews concerning
going on in perfection, verse 3, and this will we do if God
permit. Do you realize the wonder of
the grace of God that God Almighty would teach a man or a woman
anything? about the glorious perfection
in Christ. That the keeping of the law.
I'm telling you that man by nature, that's what a man thinks. He
thinks that by his action, these Jews came up under the law. They
looked at the law. They thought the law was their
salvation. God Almighty was pleased with
them because they were born Jews. They were Hebrews. They were
sons of Abraham. They trusted in themselves that
they were perfect. Think about where many of us,
but really all of us, have come from. Different ones have come
up from different things. And I'm going to tell you something.
Don't think that old grave clothes are easy to get rid of. They're
not. I'm telling you, we're plagued. Wars against the Spirit. Spirit
against the press. They strive one against the other.
And we need to be reminded often of the liberty that we have in
Christ. We hear this and it's like we never heard it before.
A believer will hear of the liberty in Christ and he'll stop and
he'll say, tell me that one more time. Tell me. Remind me again
how I have no confidence in the flesh. That's right. Oh, we say
it and we believe it. But I'm telling you, we struggle.
We struggle. Any man, any woman says they
don't struggle, they're just not being truthful with themselves
or with others. Oh, these Hebrews, Paul loved
them. We're going to find out today.
Paul said, we're persuaded of better things than you. But I'm
telling you what an encouragement. Tell me one more time how Almighty
God has put away my guilt. Tell me one more time that there's
nothing that I've done for salvation. Tell me one more time how God
Almighty has granted me grace to believe Him and keeps me believing. Tell me one more time when I'm
struggling to pray And I find my mind just going off. Tell me again how He's pardoned
me by the blood of His Son. Tell me one more time how He'll
never let me go. Tell me one more time how I have
peace with God and I'm accepted in the Beloved. Tell me one more
time that God Almighty for the sake of His Son has chosen a
people in Christ. And those people, the evidence,
Those people, they're going to believe God. Tell me that one
more time. I need to hear that. Paul says
these shadows, these types, this foundational truth that was set
forth in the law, he said that was the first oracles of God.
God Almighty gave that. That was the foundational teaching.
But it was a picture. It was a type. And Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe. And he
said we're not going back there. There is liberty, there is peace,
there is comfort in Him. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart. For Christ's sake, Amen.