but all for His glory and our
good. Turn back to Hebrews chapter
6. Last week we looked at the latter
part of chapter 5 where the writer of Hebrews chides them or becoming dull of hearing,
disinterested. The gospel when it was preached did not have the effect on them
that it had in the beginning. Their hearts, their affections
were not wrapped around Christ as it was in the beginning. There in Revelation chapter 2,
they were charged, that church of Ephesus was charged with leaving
their first love. And here in Hebrews, he says,
you have become dull of hearing when for the time you ought to
be teachers, you are still babes and you still need to be taught
your ABCs. all over again. And then in chapter
6, there's four words in verse 1 that's very important for this
whole epistle, and actually for the whole of the believer's life. In the book of Hebrews, Christ
is set forth as being superior to all the Old Testament types,
pictures, the Aaronic priesthood and all those sacrifices. But
there's something else set forth here. In these four words, let
us go on. These children, when they go
to kindergarten, you want them to go on to the first grade.
You want them to go on to the second grade, third grade. You
want them to go on and graduate. You want them to go on, and they
get an education, and they're able to go out into the world,
and they're able to make a living. They're able to become productive
citizens. That's what you want. Productive
citizens. And he's writing here, and he
said, let us progress. Let us progress is what he's
saying here. And then he lays these six foundational
truths that are the very principles, the very beginning. It's the
ABCs of the gospel. It's how God's faith centers.
And let me make this statement, and remember this. Even though
he says here, therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine
of Christ, he's not saying leave them behind. as though we never
mentioned them again. Listen, we never leave these
truths. We always build on them. We are to go on to grow up in
Christ, to grow in our experience concerning this union we have
with Christ, just like the husband and wife, you know, they're first
married, but this union just gets You know, if it's of the
Lord, if it's blessed of God, if it's blessed of God, it gets
stronger. You grow, you progress in it.
And he's talking about here, let us progress in our relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And in progressing, we build
on these foundations, these foundational truths. We always build on them
because they always concern Christ. But we're going on in our experience.
Paul said this. in Philippians chapter 3, years
after he knew the Lord. Oh, that I might know him better. That I might know him more fully. You see, Christ is God. Can that
be exhausted? Can we exhaust the knowledge
of Christ? Are you satisfied? I ask myself,
am I satisfied? With what I know, I could know
so much more. I feel ashamed, I feel ashamed
that after 31 years, 31, 30 some years, hearing and believing
the gospel, that I don't know more than I do. That the relationship, and I
tell you this, the relationship, if it's not more rich, I promise
you, it's my fault. You remember over there in the
song of Solomon's, he came to the door and she said, I put
off my coat, you know, I can't get up. She didn't get up to
open the door. He was there. If there's a problem, I've learned
this, I've learned this. If there's a problem, it's with
me. Always with me. He's always ready to receive
me. He's always ready to commune with me. It's with me. And so he says here, and keep
this in mind. Let us go on. Let us progress
in our experience with the Lord. Let's not just learn a few things
and then just walk out and just make a living. Let's go to work,
make a living, buy a house, cars, raise a family, and then we die.
This life is to be spent knowing the Lord. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. And what? All these things will
be added to you. You won't have to stretch yourself
out trying to get them. And I've learned this, and I
think this is subtle. The more I know Christ, the more
I have an experimental knowledge and union with Christ, the more
content I am and the less dead I'll be in. I promise you. The more you're taken up with
Christ, and the more you're content with Christ, the less debt you'll
be in. Because these things just don't matter. These things won't
matter nearly as much as Him. You'll be happy to live in a
shack and know Him, than to live in a mansion and not know Him
at all. There's a real difference. Real difference. So let us go
on. He said, let us go on. And let
us build on these foundations through our experience with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Not having to learn our ABC,
but I tell you this, we never forget them, do we? Every word
that I have to say right now, every word has the letter of
the ABC in it. And everything I have to preach,
everything I have to say has Christ in it, or it's not the
gospel. It's not the gospel. Now, and
this, he says, will we do if God permits. And then he says
here, and here's a verse or a portion of scripture that especially
when I was younger, scared me. Scared me. One reason, ignorance. I didn't know that much. Babes
don't know that much. Babes have to learn. They have
to grow. I didn't know that much. And
here's another reason it can scare you. Dull hearings. You really don't know what it's
saying. This is where he's saying, when you ought to be teachers,
you ought to know what these things are. You ought to know that rightly
divide the word of truth. Rightly divide it. And I pray
the Lord will enable me to do this this morning. Now he says
here, 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 that they have crucified themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Who is
he talking about here? I looked at this, and I looked
at this. This is not an easy portion of Scripture, and I looked
at it. Is he speaking here of the hypocrite?
Is he speaking of someone that's made a false profession? Who's
come very close, as Christ said to that young man, thou art not
far from the kingdom of God. Is he talking about like over
here in Mark chapter 4, her old Mark chapter 4? Mark chapter 4 is the parable of the sower.
He said the sower went out to sow. Some of it fell among stony
ground, and then some of it fell among thorns, and it choked it,
and others fell on good ground. And our Lord says here in verse
13, He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then
will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word, and
these are they by the wayside. where the word is sown. But when
they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which
are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word
immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves,
and so endure but for a time afterward when affliction or
persecution arises. For the word's sake, immediately
they are offended." Is that who he's talking about? I don't think so. I don't believe
so. I don't believe so. Is he speaking
here of one who has believed the gospel, who's been born of
God, but through whatever means he has apostatized? That's what
fall away means here. He's talking about falling into
apostasy, not sin. That can't be so. We have to
interpret scripture with what? Scripture. You have to take the
whole Word of God's teaching and interpret the Word of God,
to interpret these passages. Our Lord said this, that no man
could pluck the sheep, the sheep the Father
gave him. No man could pluck them out of
my hand. No man could pluck them out of
my Father's hand. My Father which gave them is
greater than all. He said they shall never perish. He said his
sheep shall never perish. He said he would lose none, but
he would raise them up again at the last day. So we know, we know that it can't
be a believer that's fallen away to apostasy. We know by the teaching
of God's word that it can't be so. Then who are these spoken
of here? Well, let's look at the description
given of them, and let's see if we can apply this. He says here, for it is impossible
for those who were once enlightened, given an understanding. You know,
for a person to be enlightened, that person must be born again. There is a difference between
being informed and being enlightened. A man could walk in here lost
as the day he was born, sit here and hear the gospel. He'd been
informed. Another walk in here lost, God
gives him a hearing ear. God gives him, listen, God gives
him understanding. That's enlightenment. The enlightenment
here is understanding. It's to be illuminated. It's
to be illuminated. It's to be given an understanding
of the gospel. It's to understand how God can
be a just God and the Savior of me. It is to understand and experience
what I am by nature. I am a wretch, O wretched man
that I am." Paul would have never said that, and he never said
that until God enlightened him, until he was enlightened. I would have never known my need
of Christ. I would have never known him
to be the Savior that I need had God not enlightened me, given
me an understanding. I would have never known my need
of his blood or the power of his blood to put away all my
sins. I would have never known his righteousness unless God
had enlightened me. I would have not known it. I
would have never known or understood the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, God incarnate. I talked to someone some years
ago. And this person made a profession. And they was telling me about
it. None of you all know them. And this person was telling me
about her experience. And I began to talk to her about
the gospel. And I was telling her how that
Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh. And she said, I
didn't know that. I didn't know that. Well, who
do you trust? Just another man? You trust in just another man?
If he's not God, he's worthless. If he's not God, he's no better
than I am. She was informed about some things
and then made a decision. She was not enlightened. You
see, if God enlightened you, you'll say, my Lord and my God.
And not just someone save you from going to hell. That's what
you'll see. And you'll understand that. And
then, have tasted the heavenly gift. This person spoken of here, that
he's speaking of, have tasted. Now, you know what that means? It means to experience. It means
to literally eat. To eat. A lost person is not
going to do that. The lost person is not going
to do that. It says in 1 Peter 2, 3, if so be ye have tasted,
you have tasted, you have experienced that the Lord is gracious. You've
experienced it. You know it. You know it by experience. You just wasn't informed about
it. You know it. You know he's good. I read that
to Job and David. The Lord is good. Right in the
midst, if you'll read that chapter, right in the midst of nothing
but trouble and turmoil that's going on in Israel, right in
the midst of all that, Nahum bursts out and says, the Lord
is good. A stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows them that trust in him.
He's talking about something, or he's talking about someone
he's experienced. He's tasted that the Lord is gracious. That he's good. Salvation is
real to you. You see, the heavenly gift, you
know what the heavenly gift is? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the gift. Eternal life is the gift, and
eternal life is Jesus Christ. And it says, you have tasted
this. No lost man tastes Christ. He does not have a taste for
the gospel. He doesn't do it. He doesn't have an interest in
Christ. Oh, he has an interest in not going to hell. Everybody's
got to have a brain to want to go there. But he has no interest in this
relationship. You see, this thing of salvation is a true relationship
with God. It's just not an insurance policy.
It's knowing Him. It's real. And then he says,
You are partakers of the Holy Ghost. Now, has God made a lost
man a partaker of the Holy Ghost, and that man not be saved? Look over in Romans chapter 8.
Look in verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. If you have him, you've tasted
of him, he's in you, and he's in you now. He doesn't visit. He's not a visitor. He's an abider. Look over in Ephesians chapter
1. He abides. He comes to stay. That's right. He didn't come
to visit. He came to eat. He took possession of you. He took
possession of you. I'll tell you one thing. Somebody
possesses you. It's either him or some evil
spirit. The spirit of darkness or the
Holy Spirit. in whom ye also trusted. After
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed." Have you ever
been doing canning? Have any of you ever been doing
canning? You hear it seal. It seals. And it's sealed until
you open it. But it's sealed. You were sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance. until the redemption of the purchased
possession and to the praise of his glory. He's not visiting. No, no, no. You partakers. Just
like that word that says you are partakers of what? The divine
nature. And you are partakers of him. When God saves a sinner, That
center is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the redemption of
the purchased possession, until he's brought home. He's brought
home. And then have tasted the good
word of God. You've tasted, listen, the quickening
power of the word. You have tasted the sanctified
power of the word. Let me see if I can find Thank
you, First Thessalonians. The gospel came to you not in
word only. Is that right, Frank? Let's see here. I like it when the
crowd's smarter than the preacher. What is it? First Thessalonians.
First Thessalonians. Well, I know I've got it. Okay, here it is. 1 Thessalonians
1, 5. Let me read verse 4. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
and you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
But you tasted, you have tasted, listen, the
good word of God, the gospel. You've tasted it. It's come to
you in power, quickening power, sanctifying power. You've tasted
the living Word of God, Christ. You've tasted the written Word
of God. You've tasted the Gospels. It's been preached. You've tasted
it. You've experienced it. You've eaten it. Christ said,
he that what? Eats my flesh and drinks my blood. You've done it. You've done it.
And then he speaks of the powers of the world to come. The kingdom
of God is very real. Our Lord said the kingdom of
God is in you, and it's very powerful. But the powers of the
world to come is recognized in these three things, faith, hope, and love. If you have truly experienced
that, you've experienced the power of the world to come. Go
over and read Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, Abraham did this. By faith, Moses. He goes right
on. They did these things by faith.
They conquered their enemies by faith. That's the power of
the world to come. You're experiencing it. When
the trial comes upon you, and it can knock you down, but you
keep going. You keep going. That's the power.
That's the power of God. That's the power of that world
to come, and it's in you, and it's faith, hope, and love. Now,
he says over here, let's go back, over here in verse 6, if, if they shall fall away, he doesn't
say if they shall sin, David sinned, and Nathan said you're
not going to die, God's put away your sin. You're not going to
die. David sinned. Peter denied the
Lord. He denied Him. But this following
away is to apostatize. It is to leave Christ. It is
to leave the gospel. It's to leave it. I guarantee
you're not going to quit being religious. You just go someplace
that tells you what you want to hear. But it's to leave the
gospel. That's what apostasy is. That's
what it is to fall away. You leave the gospel. And I'll
tell you this, if we could fall away, we would. Every last one
of us, we would. If we could, we would. If it were possible. But it's
not. It's not. It is not possible
for a true born again believer. One that's truly been born again.
One who, listen, one who has been enlightened, one who has
tasted the heavenly gift, one who has partaken of the Holy
Ghost, who has tasted the good word of God and the powers of
the world to come. Now, if that person, if that person was to
fall away, let's just say hypothetically, if that person was to fall away,
it would be impossible to renew them again into repentance, seeing
they crucified themselves the Son of God. Here is what would
have to happen. Christ would have to come into
flesh again. He would have to live a perfect life again. He
would have to be crucified again. He would have to rise and go
back to be seated at the right hand of the Father again. And
God would have to grant you repentance and faith all over again. And
that ain't going to happen. If it didn't work the first time,
it wouldn't work the second, or the third, or the fourth, In other words, if it were possible,
that's a key word there, if, if, if it were possible, if they
would fall away, if they were possible, where would you go? If Christ
is not enough, if his blood is not enough, there's nothing else. There's nothing else. He's the
only Savior. His blood is the only blood that
cleanses. And for a believer now to fall away, his blood would
have to lose its power. God would have to lie, and it
says in Hebrews it's impossible for God to lie. Impossible. So it's not possible. It's impossible
for one who has truly been born of God to fall away. Hypothetically, if that happened,
there wouldn't be any hope because there's no other Savior. To whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Then he gives us an example here
in verse 7 that really explains the first six verses here. He
says, And what he's going to prove
here is that God's Word never returns void. That's what he
said over in Isaiah, My Word shall not return void, it shall
accomplish the thing whereunto I sent it. And then he says,
The earth was drinketh in the rain. And here, the rain here is the
grace of God. It's the gospel. And those who
have been enlightened and tasted They are the ones this grace
has fallen on. Grace has fallen on you. That's
why you've been enlightened. That's how you've tasted. The
Lord has been merciful to you. He's given you life. And the
gospel came to you in power. God's grace has reigned on you.
And it comes upon you often. It continually falls on us. Continually. Someday we're going to be just
totally amazed and awestruck of God's continued grace on us, minute after minute, minute after
minute. It's never off from us. It's
never off from us. And here's what happens. Here's
what happens when God's grace, when the gospel comes in power
and God's grace reigns on you. pours down on you. You see, we
don't get a little grace. It's a downpour. I tell you, if you ever stand in
a downpour, you can't even get from here to that door without
getting soaking wet. And God's grace is a downpour
on His people. And here's what happens when
God's grace rains down on you. It brings forth herbs. Fruit. Fruit. for them by whom it is
dressed receiveth blessing from God. And these people will not fall
away. If you've been once enlightened,
you will not fall away, not to apostasy. They say you couldn't
fall in sin, but you cannot fall away to apostasy. He's not going
to lose his own. But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected. It's not in the cursing whose
end is to be burned. That's what you do with them.
God's going to burn them up. He's going to burn up the tares. He's going to burn up the goats. But those who have tasted the
good word of God, you're going to bring forth fruit. You can
bring forth proof, because Paul says in verse 9, and I'll close
with this. But beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you. We are persuaded better things
of you. Paul said, I'm not saying that
you have apostatized. He said, I am absolutely persuaded
you belong to God. And you're not going to leave. You're not going to leave. You're
his. Be bought by the blood, redeemed by the blood. And we
are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany
salvation. Though we thus speak, though
we thus write to you. You know, we're given warnings,
aren't we? All through the Word of God. And those warnings apply
to everybody. When we read them. Examine yourself
whether you be in the faith. Scripture says. But what are those things? that
accompany salvation. What are the evidences of those
things? What are the evidences? Faith. You believe. You believe. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
But you believe. Repentance as turning from the
old dead works to Christ and Christ alone. Love. Love to Christ. Love for one
another. These are things that accompany
salvation. The things that accompany salvation is the fruit of the
Spirit. Love, faith, hope, joy, peace,
longsuffering. These things are evident among
God's people. They're evident. Now, if it were possible, if
it were possible for you to fall away, first of all, you would.
And secondly, there wouldn't be any hope at all because you
just left the only one that can save. You just left the only
Redeemer. You just left the only blood
that can wash away sin. There is no other Redeemer. There
is no other Savior. But it's not possible for those who have
been born of God to apostatize. That's good news to me. We are
kept by the power of God through faith. He's the one who keeps
us believing. He keeps us coming here. He keeps
us hoping. He keeps us loving. He keeps
us. He keeps us. Now, let us go on. Let us go on from this hour.
You know, often I do think at times I should be further along
than I am. But I tell you what, Paul said, forgetting
those things which are behind. Quit looking back. You can't
run a race looking back. You're just going to stumble
and fall every time. But with this determination, let us go
on. Let us progress. Let us enjoy
a deeper, richer experience with the Lord Jesus Christ now. And not become dull and hairy,
but up on the edge of the seat. Ready to hear. Quick to hear.
Quick to hear. Power of Life.