Amen. Turn with me, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Last week, we looked at chapter
5. And you may remember that the
subject of that chapter was the milk and the meat. The word and
the walk. Obedience to God, that's what
it was talking about. Obedience to the word of God. Seeing and hearing what he says
and then doing it, obeying it. James said, be doers of the word
and not hearers only, right? And our Lord was the example
in how he obeyed God his Father in everything that he commanded
him to do and not do. He was our example. And here's
what the apostle is dealing with. I think this Bible study and
the morning message both require a lot of thought, require a lot
of concentration, and I pray the Lord will give it to us.
But here's what the apostle is dealing with. When you start
talking about a believer's responsibility to obey God, a believer's responsibility to
do what he commands us to do. our conduct, the way that we
should conduct ourselves in honor to him as an example to everybody
for what he's done for us and in us. When you get on that subject,
there are babes in Christ. And that's what he was talking
about in chapter 5 verse 12. Look at it here in chapter 5
verse 12. He said, when for the time you ought to be teachers,
you have need that one teach you again which be the first
principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have
need of milk and not strong meat for everyone that uses milk is
unskillful in the word of righteousness for he's a babe. So when you
start talking about this subject of obeying God, those who are
babes in Christ, and before we go any further, we have to say
this, being a babe in Christ or being an aged believer in
Christ cannot be calculated just by how long you've been sitting
under the gospel. Generally, the longer a person sits under
the gospel, the more that believer grows in the word and in the
knowledge and the Lord confirms these things to the heart. But
there are people who have been under the gospel forever and
they're still babes. And there are some that the Lord
gives them a knowledge of the truth, and then gives them an
exceptional discernment in some of these things. So you can't
just look around a room and say, okay, we were here first and
you were here second. You guys are babes. We're aged
believers. It doesn't work that way. That's
completely up to the Spirit of God. But when you start talking
about the fact that believers must obey God, that our commandment
It's a commandment, it's not an option. Disobedience is not
set forth in the Word as an option, it's a commandment. When you
start talking about the fact that believers must conduct themselves
in a way that is honoring to Him and is a true example to
everybody, not just other believers, unbelievers too. When a babe
in Christ who has just been pulled out of religious works. He's heard works all his life.
Works, do's and don'ts. If you want to be saved, you
have to do this and you better not do that. When he's been pulled out and
told to rest, In the liberty of grace, you sit still and rest
in the liberty of Christ. When he hears about our obedience
to good works, he says, well, that's false religion. Obeyed
in Christ, that's what he'll say. That's just false religion.
What's the difference in that and what I was just pulled out
of? You're going to sit here and tell me what I have to do
and not do? What's the difference? God has just revealed to this
babe in Christ that salvation is not by works. And he's seen it and he believes
it. Salvation is not by man's works. Salvation is by God's grace. Period. So he shuts his ears
to that teaching. He fights it, fights against
it, he rebels against it. It happens all the time, all
the time. So that's why the apostle said
in chapter 5 what he said, you ought to be teachers but you
need to go back to the word again. Verse 14 he said, strong meat
belongs to them that are of full age even those who by reason
of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. As God gives spiritual maturity,
it only comes from God. When he gives it, that discernment
comes to know the difference, to truly understand and have
our minds and our hearts around the difference in trying to work
our way into salvation in trying to obey and thank and honor the
God that saved us. That discernment comes. There
is a difference. Look with me at Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3 verse 23 says,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
A bloody victim through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness that
He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It's excluded. By what law? Of works? No. but by the law
of faith. He is laying the foundation of
grace, is he not? I mean it's by grace. Now look
at verse 31. Do we then make void the law
through faith, because of faith? He didn't just say no. He didn't
just say nay. He said God forbid. God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. You see a commandment anywhere
in the scripture, especially in the Old Testament, the books
of Moses, those first Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy, all those laws were given. You see a commandment
in there and somebody will say, yeah, but that's just law. Somebody will say that. You see
it says to do something. That's the Old Testament. That's
the Old Testament. That's the has been stuff. That's
just law. You want to obey that, then you're
just going to be back under the law. If that's what you want
to do, you're just putting yourself right back under law. Oh. Well, then why don't we just
start worshiping other gods before the true and living God? That
first commandment he gave, thou shalt have no other gods before
me. That's just law. That's all. And why don't we
stop coming to church? We don't need to remember the
Sabbath. That's law. There is no good reason to be
true and faithful to our wedding vows. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Law. That's law. If you want it, take
it. Thou shalt not steal. That's
law. You see that? There is not one
commandment in this book that the brand spanking new heart
that God gives to a believer hates and rejects and does not
want to obey. There's not one. There is not
one. We don't rebel against this law. This law is not the enemy. God said, I am. I'm the enemy. That law is his
character. God said by nature, I'm the enemy. Look over at Romans 7. Romans 7 verse 7 says, What shall
we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but
by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. I would have never
known it. Look at Romans 6 verse 15. What
then? Shall we sin because we're not
under the law but under grace? God forbid. Chapter 6 verse 1,
what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that
are dead to sin live any longer therein? Why would we say, oh
well, I'm just a sinner. I might as well just keep on
doing what I'm good at. Saved by grace anyway. That's
not the heart that God puts into his child. It's just not the
heart that God puts into his child. David said, and I believe
we all would agree with David, I love thy law. Can't we say that? I love thy
law. When it comes to this thing of
believers learning how to be believers, learning how to live
in this world as believers. We know what our God has said.
We know we've been called. We know we've been sanctified.
That means set apart for holy use. Our God said he put a difference.
We know he said come out from among the people. We know he
said don't be unequally yoked. We know all those things, right?
And when it comes to this thing of learning how to live in this
world as believers, God's followers of Christ, how we should conduct
ourselves or how we should not conduct ourselves. Should we
do this or should we not do this? Everybody else is doing this.
Does that make it okay? If we're struggling over things
like that, I believe this is a good rule of thumb. I believe
this is a really good rule of thumb. If we can envision our
Lord doing it, then it's okay for us to do it. But if we envision
Him doing something and the thought of it just seems blasphemous,
whatever it is I'm thinking about and pondering, should I do this?
If I envision Him doing that and it's just Just the thought
of it is just an abomination to me. It's just, something's
not right. Then why would I want to do it?
Why? Our heart's desire is to be like,
and look like, and walk like, and talk like, and act like Him. That's our heart's desire. Do
I do it? No. Right there in Romans 7,
Paul's talking about that struggle. Oh, I wish I did. I just hate
myself. Who's going to deliver me from
this body of death? But that's still the new heart's
desire. That's the heart's desire. Now,
the opposition to this says, if you tell believers these things,
if you stand up and tell believers, if you teach them the importance
and the necessity of being obedient doers of the word, all you'll
do, all you'll do is create a bunch of little self-righteous Pharisees.
That's all you'll do. And they'll start believing that
somehow their works do play a role in their salvation and they'll
start seeing themselves to be more saved than other people
because they do and others don't. You will change their foundation
from grace to works. If you start teaching this, You
will change their foundation from grace to works. Now this
is what we're about to see in Hebrews 6. I realize that's the
longest introduction I've ever given in my life. It's not going
to affect, I don't believe, the time of the message. But here's
what we're about to see in Hebrews 6. The apostle says, that's impossible. for God's true child, that's
impossible. God convinces His people that
these things are not the cause of salvation, but these are the
things that, as we're going to hear Him say, accompany salvation. Alright, now go with me to Hebrews
6. Hebrews 6 verse 1 says, leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of
baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of
the dead, and of eternal judgment, And this will we do if God permit. Now he is not saying in verse
1 that we are to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ. He
is not saying that. If you remove chapter 6, that
little chapter division, chapter 6, if you just take that out,
therefore is connected to chapter 5. Therefore is because of what
he just said in chapter 5. And the rebuke in chapter 5 verse
12 is, when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have
need that one teach you again, which be the first principles
of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk
and not of strong meat. What he's saying is you need
to go back to the word. Go back to the word. That's what
he's telling them. Don't leave it. Get back in it.
That's what he's saying. So we can grow in it and we can
grow on it. When a building is built, the
more that building grows, the farther it leaves the foundation
in a good way. Right? If it grows, it is leaving
that foundation. We do that in school. So what
did they say? You learned everything you need
to know in kindergarten, right? Well, do we just stop right there?
We go to first grade, second grade, middle school, high school,
college, put it all into practice in the world. We grow when we
leave that foundation, but we don't actually leave the foundation. We don't walk away from the foundation. If a building ever gets off the
foundation, not only will it not grow, it's coming down. Right? So he says in verse one, therefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, Let us go
on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation. Again,
he is not saying, don't teach the foundation anymore. Don't
lay that foundation anymore. He's not saying that. This is
important. This is why I say it was so tedious.
He's saying the exact opposite. The word laying, when you go
look that up in our concordance, it means throwing down. And he
said, go back to the Word. Pick it up. Let's grow on it
and let's not throw that foundation down anymore. We're not going
to lay it down anymore. In building on it, we're going
to cling to it. That's what he's saying. In building
on it, we're going to cling to it. Now what is the foundation
of our salvation? What is the foundation of our
salvation? He said first it's repentance
from dead works. That's what he said right there.
Repentance from dead works. Somebody say repentance. All
you've been talking about is works since you started this
thing. Not for salvation. Not for salvation. We are not
throwing down that foundation. We are not doing it. He said
we're not going to throw down the foundation of faith toward
God. That's the end of verse one.
What must a sinner do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just trust Christ. Just look to Christ. And I won't
take the time to go into that's not of yourself, it's the gift
of God. Just trust Christ. That's it. That's it. Verse 2,
he said, we're not going to throw down the doctrine of baptisms.
This word right here says a believer ought to confess Christ, be identified
with Christ in the baptism of water. Should a believer do that?
Yep. Is that the true saving baptism
of God? Nope. Nope. That's God's Holy Spirit immersing
a sinner into Christ. We will not throw that down as
we open the word and teach water baptism. We're just not going
to throw that down. He said in verse 2, we're not
going to throw down the foundation of laying on of hands. They could
transfer the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They could transfer the
gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But he said, we're not
for one minute going to act like we can transfer the Holy Ghost. The Spirit, the wind blows where
it listeth. The Spirit, that's of God. He
said, we're not going to throw down the foundation of resurrection
from the dead. We're not going to throw down
the foundation of eternal judgment. We were eternally judged in Christ. Therefore, we have risen with
him. Verse three, he said, this we
will do. We're going to hold to this foundation
and we're going to build on this foundation if God permit. Whatever it is we do, it's only
going to be by the grace of God. That's it. Verse four, for it
is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted
of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the
world to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again
unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son
of God afresh and put Him to an open shame." I don't know
if you entered into what that just said, but that has scared
a lot of believers. It's impossible for those who
were once enlightened. and have tasted the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him
to an open shame." If they fall, it's impossible to bring them
back. It is impossible to bring them back. If a true believer
has been truly enlightened I'm not talking about somebody who
has seen a couple of doctrinal truths in the Word of God or
somebody who attends a place where the Gospels preach but
just doesn't, you know. I'm talking about somebody who
has been truly enlightened, somebody that has truly tasted the heavenly
gift has received faith, I mean faith, God's faith, has been
made a partaker of God's Holy Ghost, the Word of God, the power
of the Gospel. If he could be convinced of a
new foundation based on his works, if he could be convinced of a
brand new foundation based on his works, he would deny the
blood of Christ, He would kill to himself everything Christ
accomplished on the cross, and he would make a mockery out of
Christ, and he would bring himself into open shame. But the apostle
said, it is not possible. It is not possible. Not one time
has that ever happened. If it could, it would never come
back. But not one time has that ever
happened concerning a true child of God. Not one time. God's people
are secure in Christ. They are in His hand. He is in
His Father's hand and they are going to be kept. Kept by the
power of God. So this is what He's saying.
Let's teach these commandments. Don't worry about that. Teach
these commandments and let's do them. Verse 7, he said, for
the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off upon it
and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed
receives blessing from God. Here's his illustration. God
gives rain. God gives rain. All right. The
earth responds in some places. And it receives a blessing from
God. Verse 8 says, But that which beareth thorns and briars is
rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. God's
reign fell on all of it. But the part that did not bear
fruit, the part that did not respond, is just thorns and briars,
and is good for nothing but to be burned. That's all it is.
That which bears thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto
cursing, whose end is to be burnt. But beloved, we're persuaded
better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though
we speak thus." Here's what he's saying, and this is what Gabe
Stoniker is saying. He's saying, I'm teaching you
all these things and don't think this of any of you. Even though
I'm saying this, he said, we're all persuaded better things of
you. These things are so true, but he said, we're persuaded
better things of you. these good, obedient works that
accompany God's salvation, he said, we're persuaded God's doing
a work in you. Verse 10, 10 through 12, and
we'll be done. For God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward
his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one
of you do show not just understand, not just
hear, show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
unto the end that you be not slothful. He's exhorting, let
us press toward the mark. Let's not be lazy, be not slothful,
but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promise. May God teach us these things.
May God teach us these things. Can we work our way into heaven?
No, sir. Because of what God did, does
it deserve our all? Yes, it does. Yes, it does. And he said, this is what honors
me. This is what dishonors me. And
he said, do the work for love's sake, for love's sake. May he
teach us to be true followers of Christ. All right, you're
dismissed.