This is a very powerful and a
very hard passage of Scripture to unravel, but let's look at
it. We've been looking at it for
a few weeks. Paul said, 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, 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." And verse
7 and 8 are our text today, "...for the earth, which drinketh in
the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God."
But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is
nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But, beloved,
we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak." Verse 7 and 8 again, "...the
earth which drinketh in the rain, that cometh upon it." brings
forth herbs, vegetables for those for whom it is dressed. For that
which bear thorns and briars is rejected, nigh unto cursing,
and whose end is to be burned." Now, just looking back very quickly
for some review to bring us up to speed on our study. The Apostle had laid before his
readers the essence and the nature of apostasy, and that is a falling
away from a profession of the gospel after having been enlightened
to its nature and its truth. So that an apostate is one who
has been enlightened to a degree, who has understood some of the
things of God, and has come unto some knowledge, and then forsakes
that profession. and not only forsakes it, but
also repudiates the whole Christian system after, to a point, and
for a time, being enlightened to the things of God, and tasting
the good word of God, the power of the world to come, and such
like, as described, and having a visible change of life and
of habits. and then throwing it all away.
And in the case of the first century Jews, to abandon Christianity
and the gospel and return again unto Judaism and the law and
animal sacrifices was indeed a case of apostasy. Now, two things were summed up
in the last part of verse 6. We look at them again. the reason
they cannot be renewed. Verse 6 has given us the reason
why they cannot be renewed. And, B, it has given us also
the essence of their sin. It is this, seeing they crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh. put him to an open shame,
trod underfoot the blood of the covenant, and do despite under
the spirit of grace. This is the ultimate and consummate
essence of apostasy, a rejection of Christianity after a period
of acceptance or professed acceptance and some progress in it. And as was stated earlier in
one of our studies out, of this passage, this apostasy from Christianity
is seen in many areas in the world today and in the course
of human history. In the fact that all the Christ-denying
cults that are upon the face of the earth today, some of them
who established these cults had their beginnings their early
training in Christianity. Many of them did, if you looked
and studied the cuffs. Some denomination of Christianity
were they born into and reared up into a degree. For example,
I looked it up this week, did a little research and found that
Charles Taze Russell, who founded and is known in connection with
the Jehovah Witnesses, was born into a Congregationalist This
same was true of Mary Baker, Eddie Patterson's lover, who
gave the world Christian science. William Miller, prominent in
the early history of seven-day Adventism, was for a while a
Baptist preacher. Father Divine, who once was a
Negro Baptist, who proclaimed himself later as Father Divine,
that he was God, that he was indeed God. Now one thing that
cults and apostates have in common is that they, to a man, trample
underfoot the blood of the Son of God. And thus, because of
that, they will meet their great and awful destruction at the
hand of a vengeful God who will take vengeance upon those who
have done so under His love, grace, mercy, truth, and under
His gospel. Now, our present study, I have
pointed out, will focus on and will flow out verse 7 and verse
8, but also verse 9, where the apostle uses a simile. And I want us to look at that
simile this morning. He uses a simile or a metaphor
or an illustration in order that he might illustrate and apply
the truth just expounded, particularly in verse 4 through verse 6. He
paints or draws a very clear picture for our mind's eye that
we cannot help but see and understand. You know, as we look at the writings
of the Apostle Paul, the Spirit of the Lord inspired him with
some very special ways to illustrate divine truth. When he would speak
of a divine truth, then God's Spirit would give unto him special
and extraordinary ways in which he might a given example or a
nature or compliment the teaching that he had just given. One that
I think of is Paul's contrasting of the bondage of law and the
freedom of grace. What it means to be under law.
What it means to be under grace. By that great allegory and picturesque
it is in Galatians chapter 4 verse 21 through verse 31. And he makes
this allegory from the history of the patriarch Abraham. He says, I want you to see the
difference between law and grace and bondage and liberty. And
so he speaks of two women of two sons, of two covenants, and
of two conditions in that wonderful allegory in Galatians chapter
4. And here in Hebrews chapter 6
verse 7 and verse 8, he uses a sort of a parable or a similitude
to make a very forceful representation of the doctrine that he had just
taught them. In very figurative language,
he illustrates In 7 and 8, he illustrates the two classes of
professors that he had been discussing. He illustrates it by this little
parable or simile. And there were two, those that
had fallen away, but those also that had continued in the principles
of Christianity. Now, let's notice that the similitude
does not deal only with the one class of apostate. No, he brings in both classes
and the simile covers them both. He does not restrict the simile
to the one class that is the apostate. And as Owens wrote,
he comprises both sorts of professors and gives a lively representation
of their condition and of God's dealing with them in the event
thereof." And we have that in verse 7 and verse 8. And we know
that the apostle here, we notice that he does not interpret the
various parts of the similitude or of the parable. He does not
say, for example, The earth or the field is a picture of a professor
of the gospel. He does not say that the rain
is the word of God or the good doctrine of God Almighty. Still, the implications are not
at all obscure. And there is no way to separate
them from the context. They are an illustration of what
he has been saying unto them. And they are figurative pictures,
therefore, of what he had just declared literally, the natural
to illustrate the spiritual, a lesson out of nature that might
mirror or that might illustrate the spiritual. Now, he has a
way to illustrate by a lesson from nature the two types or
classes of professors that there are, even as Owen wrote, he comprises
both sorts of professors and gives a lively representation
of their condition." So that the mini-parable, therefore,
is not confined to the apostates, but it also represents the true
professors as well, to whom he follows with the comfort and
the assurance, in verse 9, to the end of the chapter. This
is dedicated to those who, through their trouble and persecution,
yet remain faithful and hold their profession and the gospel. Perhaps next week we'll have
our final lesson on that, verse 9 to the end, as he turns to
comfort those who are holding fast their profession and standing
by the truth of the gospel. Now, let's note in this mini-parable
Three things that we want to look at this morning. First of
all, the earth, or the ground, or the field. Verse 7, For the
earth which... There is the earth brought forth
in simile to illustrate something of truth. And as action which
is ascribed unto the earth, it drinks in. Now secondly, we want
to notice the rain. The rain that comes off or often
upon it. The earth which drinks in the
rain that cometh off upon it. The earth, the ground, the field.
Rain falls upon the earth, revitalizing it, giving it moisture, watering
the ground, which is needed for the production of a crop. And then the third thing that
we want to notice out of the text is the two sorts of produce
which the earth yields. Verse 7. Herbs. Now my interlinear,
one of them, renders this word fodder. Fodder, which the earth
produces. Another renders it herbage, that
is vegetation. Good growth. Grazing pasture. This is the only time in the
New Testament when this particular word is used. and it pictures
a good, worthwhile, useful vegetation or herbage suitable for the one
who has dressed it in order that he might receive fruit from its
field. And then B, we notice verse 8,
thorns and briars. Not only does this earth receive
the rain that falls upon it and bring forth herbage, but also
brings forth thorns and briars, stickers and thistles, cuckleburs
and grassburs, worthless things as we know them to be. In other
words, useless vegetation, wild plants with no good use under
the tiller, no beneficial worth attached to them whatsoever,
fit only for gathering and for casting into the fire. Now the
common denominator here in these three things is the earth. For notice, it is the same earth
receiving the same rain that falls upon it, both as to time
and amount and also as to place. And yet the very great difference
in the two sorts of produce is the thing that Paul wishes to
illustrate to us. One good way to understand the
Scripture is by making comparisons one with another. And so two
comparisons, or rather contrasts, are set forth here in verse 7
and verse 8. Let's point them out and note
them. First of all, number 1. In verse
7, the one brought forth herbs, meat, for him by whom or for
whom it was dressed. But verse 8, which bringeth forth
thorns and briars. There's that first contrast.
Notice the second contrast, verse 7, receives blessing from God,
or literally is blessed of God. But verse 8, is rejected, nigh
unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. Now notice those two
contrast that we have pointed out. Back to the thought that
it is the same earth receiving the same rain in amounts and
time and place, by the way. It is the same rain upon the
very same earth. This is essential to the illustration
in our understanding of the simile, the parable, or of this matter. as foreshadowing for his readers,
the two sorts of professors who receive the same teaching of
God's Word. Here they are receiving the same
teaching of God's Word. They are hearing the exact same
doctrine. In fact, they are in the same
congregation side by side. And yet, one brings forth good
herbage, the other brings forth thorns, briars, and thistles. One is blessed of God, and one
is nigh under cursing. Notice again, not only is it
the same earth receiving the same rain, but the idea is this,
the rain falls equally upon both types of growth. Upon the earth,
and both types of growth. The thorns and the briars are
not caused by drought. The thorns and the briars in
the simile are not caused by the fact that it didn't rain,
that the earth was dry and was arid. Not caused by drought. Not because deprived of rain. Not in a dry desert somewhere
where these thorns and these briars sprouted in the earth. God sends rain upon the just
and upon the unjust. And He causes the sun to rise
upon the just and the unjust. Matthew 5, verse 45. In other
words, the difference is not to be attributed to the lack
or abundance of rain. Not the lack, not the abundance
is that which makes the difference in this case. Notice verse 7
again. The earth drinks in the rain, or the tense is drinking
in the rain. That would be the tense out of
the Greek. It's plentiful. It rains enough. It rains an abundant amount upon
them. Then look at verse 7. That cometh
often upon him. It's not a drought we're looking
at that's caused the thorns and the briars. The rain is plentiful. It is frequent, and it is repeatedly
poured out or rained out upon this earth, and it drinks it
in. Now, let's make a point here,
and that is that the finest soil in the world, the richest and
the finest soil in the world, is rendered impotent and dormant
by prolonged drought. The finest soil anywhere upon
the face of the earth. The choicest piece of ground
produces not without rain or without water. Whether natural
rain or irrigation, the choicest soil will not bring forth. We therefore consider the intimate
connection between something here in this simile. Number one,
the earth, and number two, the rain that comes or falls often
upon it. Only the earth is fitted and
suitable to receive and to nourish various types of seed and to
produce vegetation. Right? That's God's plan from
the very beginning. God endowed His earth with the
capacity and the capability to nourish in its bosom the seeds
that are planted there, And in the terminology of Genesis chapter
1 again and again, to bring forth, let the earth bring forth. Notice that and tie it together
here with Hebrews chapter 6 verse 7 and verse 8. No husbandman
who expects a crop plants his seed in the air or in the water,
they are put in the bosom of the earth, puts them down in
the earth. And verse 7 said of our text,
the earth brings forth. Just like in Genesis chapter
1, this is God's plan and God's design. Also in verse 7, the
earth brings forth how? By drinking in the rains coming
often upon it. Notice again the words, drinketh
in, or drinking in the rain. Listen, for example, to a portion
of Psalm 65, verse 9 and 10. Quote, Thou visiteth the earth,
and waterest it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof
abundantly. Thou settlest the furrows thereof. Thou makest it soft with showers. Thou blessest the springing thereof."
Wow, what a picture have we here of God's design. This is part
of the effect of rain upon the earth. It drinketh it in and
then it brings forth. Now the earth has one needful
thing to make it fruitful. That is beside the sun that comes
and shines upon it. It brings forth by drinking in
the rain. This is the one thing needful
to make the earth fruitful for the husbandmen who dress it.
Thus the psalmist wrote of God making the earth soft by showers
in order that it might bring forth. Thou blessest the springing
thereof. The rain or the moisture or the
water is, said John Owens, quote, that whereby the earth is impregnated
and made fruitful." Think about that, for certainly this is God's
design and God's ordination. That by water coming upon the
earth, it therefore is able to be fruitful. That text in Psalm
65 and verse 10. Spurgeon wrote on that particular
passage, and I quote, vegetation enlivened by the moisture leaps
into vigor, the seed germinates and sends forth its green shoots,
unquote. That is under the blessing of
the rain, so that the earth has need of the rain. to give it
nourishing virtue under production of any vegetation whatsoever,
thorns and briars, but also of herbs. Now, granted, these are
all evident truths of nature that we've just discussed, but
they're also corroborated by the testimony of the Holy Scripture. Yes, thou makest the earth soft
with showers It springeth forth then unto the blessing of all
of the rain." So back to our text again, and the question
is, what is the meaning of these similes, or how to open this
little parable in Hebrews 6, verse 7 and verse 8? For it's
clear, is it not, that the apostle does not limit his application
to the inanimate objects The earth, the rain, the herbs and
so forth, that's not the end of his illustration. To the literal
earth, to the physical rain, no, that's not the end of it.
Obviously, he is making a spiritual application by these two verses
of Scripture. By making the simile to correspond
to the truth, he is teaching that the earth drinking in the
rain, And yet producing two such opposite sorts of agitation is
illustrative of something in the spiritual realm. So let us
look at it from this standpoint, and there are two figures to
consider. Again, the earth and the rain. And also to remember that the
first application of this is to the first century Jew and
his case with Christianity. and Judaism, and in Scripture,
Israel is likened under a choice vine planted in a very fruitful
hill. God says that in Isaiah 5, 1
and 2. He says it again in Psalms 80,
And verse 8 through verse 16, I brought you, I made the best
vineyard, I cast out the stones, I put up a wall of winepress,
and I look for grapes, and behold, wild grapes. And Israel is chastised
for that. Again, they are likened unto
a fig tree that is fruitless and marked to destruction. Luke
13, verse 6 through 9, Fig tree, oh, full of leaves, full of growth,
looking vigorous, but look among it and no fruit whatsoever. And the husband says, cut it
down. Why is it cumbering the ground? Cut it down. And three years
do I come looking for fruit. Well, we see a picture of that
towards Israel. Pink, John Gill, Calvin say,
John Owen, John Brown, that the earth or the ground or the soil
And this little simile is a figure of the souls, the hearts, the
minds of men. That this is a figure of the
souls and the hearts and the minds of men. Well then, what
is the rain a symbol of? For they must be correlated.
Rain is a symbol of the doctrine and the word of God. God's truth,
the gospel, rained upon them constantly. And it is likened
unto rain in Isaiah 55, verse 10 and 11. It says this, As the
rain comes down, so shall my word be. Again and again, God
likens the dew that settles upon the earth unto His blessing.
Deuteronomy 32 and verse 2 again, My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as showers upon
the grass." And so the Word of God is that gentle, wonderful,
fructifying rain that falls in the minds of men. Thus the emblem
of the earth drinking in the rain, and yet producing opposite
results, is a figurative representation of two kinds of professors that
are described here in the context. Both were well-reigned upon. Both were reigned upon often. Both had heard the same word
of God. both instructed in the gospel
and both influenced by the word of God that they had heard, to
the extent, as John Brown wrote, that they obtained knowledge
enough of the gospel sufficient to induce them to make a profession
of it." So, influential was it upon them that they made a profession
of themselves, called themselves Christians. an answer to walking
under the Christian banner. And in the case of the apostates,
in verse 4 through verse 6, they had had a non-saving enlightenment
from the Holy Spirit, whereby they had been enlightened, they
had tasted of the heavenly gift, the good word of God, the powers
of the world, and the age that was to come. And yet after the
frequent rains of gospel truth, after being rained upon with
wonderful, good and sound doctrine, brought forth what? Thorns and
briars in the final end. While in the case of the beloved,
in verse 9, they under the same doctrinal teaching, having the
same doctrine rained down upon them. Drinking in the heavenly
doctrine yields herbs. fit for the table of him for
whom it is dressed." Which the apostle uses to draw a conclusion,
those in verse 7 are blessed with fruitfulness, those in verse
8 are cursed with barrenness. Though both have been rained
upon, we understand that and we must keep it in our mind.
Let us consider those in verse 7 first as we look at them individually. After we made the point, those
totally ignorant of and unaffected by the gospel are to be, for
the purpose of this discussion, excluded from the equation. We're not talking about those
who have no concern, who never hear or makes no impression upon. We're talking about those who
have been impressed and influenced by the truth that they have been
given. Two things are said of those
in verse 7. And let's look at them. Number
one, being reigned upon, often hearing the Word of God, bringing
forth herbs, good fruit, vegetation, fruit such as is meet and suitable,
pleasing and acceptable to them for whom it is dressed or cultivated
or for whom it is tilled and farmed. God's people are God's
husbandry. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse
9. Ye are God's husbandry, Paul
said to those believing Corinthians. Note the similarity to the language
again in Genesis chapter 1. And the earth brought forth and
brings forth herbs, meat and suitable for the one to whom
it is dressed. The Word of God as rain upon
the soul and the mind, as coming often brings forth this some
fruit to God. And then secondly, such, verse
7, let's look at verse 7 again, receives blessing from God, or
as we might express it, is blessed of God. I agree with John Brown
that that's the meaning here, that's what is expressed, is
blessed of God, being, having been blessed of God, the raining
down upon them of the doctrine, or as 1 Corinthians 3, verse
6 through 8 calls it, watering and planting. One planteth, another
watereth. So ye are God's husbandry. Let us tread carefully here in
dealing with the blessings of God lest we fall into a pit from
which the Arminian cannot help us out. The pit of Arminianism
we must avoid here. And that is this era which would
make the blessing, and Arminians would do this, Arminians would
make the blessing a reward for the fruitfulness of the person. while in fact his fruitfulness
is the result and the evidence of God's blessing, not a reward
for man's production. And we must keep that in mind.
On the other hand, verse 8, but that as having been rained upon
often, the same rain as those in verse 7, and in spite of being
instructed, or as John Brown put it, coming to knowledge enough
to profess and bring forth briars These are not open infidels. These have not been open infidels,
but persons who had had Christian instruction. They had confessed
it to be true. It had made an impact and an
influence upon their life. And they made a profession of
believing and yet bear thorns and briars. Now this passage
teaches us Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of God. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21. Not everyone that runs around
saying, God did this and God told me that and this and that.
Not everyone that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom. That's a very sobering passage
in Matthew 7, 21 and 22. We've done many wonderful works,
they said. The Lord said, depart. I never
knew you. Now notice, not somebody who
fell out of grace. I never knew you. It's not I at one time knew you.
You one time were a Christian. You one time were my true servant. No, even when you were doing
these many mighty and wonderful works, I never knew you. Nor is everyone a true disciple
who has some advanced knowledge of the gospel. Not everyone who
has some advanced knowledge of the gospel is a disciple. That
he or she that is raised up by sound doctrine, that reject and
apostatize from the truth, well, puts one nigh unto cursing, according
to this text of the scripture, whose end is to be burned. Jude, a book that deals with
apostasy. If you'd like to turn to the
little book of Jude, next to the last book of the Bible, a
little short book, one chapter, just before Revelation, but this
is a book that describes the acts of apostates. Apostates
such as Balaam and Cain and Korah are described in these verses
of the Scripture. I want you to look at verse 5
and 6 and 7. Here's what God did. And here's
the reminder of the sentence that awaits the apostate. Verse
5, I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once
knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of
the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed
not. That's one example of the fate
of apostates. They went out under the same
cloud. They went out in the same congregation. They saw the same
power, the same mercy. They drank of the same water.
They ate of the same manna. And yet they were unbelievers,
and God destroyed them. There's another one in verse
6. And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, He hath reserved an everlasting change
unto darkness unto the day of judgment of the great day." I
think verse 6 proves that apostates are irrecoverable. Holy angels
of God at one time around the throne of God in heaven with
all the other hosts of the angels, yet they left their first estate. What did God do with them? Have
mercy, bring them back, redeem them, restore them? No. He cast
them down into darkness reserved in everlasting chains unto the
day of judgment. And a third illustration, verse
7, of Jude, Sodom and Gomorrah. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and
the cities about them in like manner giving themselves over
to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for
an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. But I want to
take you to Hebrews, the second chapter also. Back in Hebrews
2, verses 1-3. Let's read that passage of the
Scripture. And I would that you might flip
there. It's not far from our present text. Let's look at this.
Paul had already made a declaration, a warning against apostasy. Hebrews 2, verses 1-3. And I'm going to read it aloud
for our consideration. Therefore, based upon chapter
1, Christ's excellence over angels. Therefore, we ought to give them
more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest at any
time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by those that heard it." Now notice,
"...the things which we have heard." Notice that in Hebrews
chapter 2, "...the things which we have heard, the gospel, the
person and the works of Christ, the great doctrine of salvation,
and even the superiority of Christ above all other beings, especially
so great salvation, lest we should let them slip. Notice the margin
of your Bible, if you have a center reference Bible, that we might
let them slip or leak out, run out as leaking vessels. Let it run out as leaking vessels,
to let what they had heard slip away from them. and cast it away
as not being valuable. Seep out, leak away, and then
how shall they escape that neglect so great salvation? And again,
I want to point out that the first or primary reference of
this is to those Jews of the first century to whom Paul is
writing. A. W. Pink calls this the first
warning against apostasy in the epistle of the Hebrews, unquote. Now, the application of all of
this that we have said today to professors would include all
that God had said. These professors, the application
today would include all that God has said to us today and
an apostate today, what God has said in His Word. If God rains
His Word upon us, If God rains His Word upon you and you make
a confession of it and then let it slip, run out as a leaking
vessel, how can you escape with the privilege of hearing and
being enlightened? And then to drift away and to
turn your back upon all of it puts one in a worse state than
if they had never heard. Take seriously, my brothers and
sisters, the hearing of the Word of God. If God rains His blessed
truth upon us and it affects us, let us take seriously the
hearing of God's Word. Now again, that text in Hebrews
6, 4-6 seems suited to refute the doctrine of gospel regeneration. This seems like a perfect text
to refute the doctrine of gospel regeneration, for they were so
as it were, in gospel truth, and though enlightened, yet not
quickened to spiritual or to everlasting life. If the Word
of God is the quickening agent, why was it not so in the case
of these? If the Word of God is the quickening
agent preached in all of its purity, even, why was it not
the quickening agent to all of these who turned out to produce
thorns and briars. Now, the Word of God is like
a good rain, and we are like that earth, and it rains upon
it, and we soak it in unto our blessing. In some cases, it falls
upon the natural soul. In some cases, it elevates their
understanding, God does, so that they understand more than a pure,
natural man. And yet, when abandoned, puts
one in a very sad condition indeed. And he's illustrated this by
our text today. The rain, the earth, one bringing
forth herbs, the other bringing forth thorns and briars and stickers
and such like. What a picturesque example of
this that the apostle has given us. The picture is so clear for
us to see and to understand. May God bless his word to our
heart. May God Apply it to us, help us to understand it, to
walk by its principle, hide it in our heart that we might not
sin against him. And then let me just close by
saying it is perhaps the greatest of all privileges to be able
to hear the Word of God and hear with understanding. He that does
so is blessed, blessed of God, to hear and understand God's
Word so that We walk by it and therefore it influences our life
every day. All right, thank you for your
kind attention. Let's stand to our feet please for a final word
of prayer.