Well, we're going through the
book of Hebrews in the New Testament, and there's a couple of verses
in chapter 10. This is not my text for this
morning, but it's so relevant to what we are going to see.
in chapters five and six. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
21, we read this, and having a high priest over the house
of God, that's our Lord Jesus Christ, has been established
earlier in the chapters all leading up to this, having a high priest
over the house of God It has an effect on us. Let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. draw near with a true heart in
the full assurance of faith. This epistle to the Hebrews is
all about God's revelation of the full assurance of the kingdom
of God in Christ. It's not what you do to please
God. that makes the difference, that
gets you there into that eternal bliss of heaven. It isn't that,
but it is what He has done, what our God has done, to redeem His
people, to buy His people from their captivity under the sin
that condemns them and keeps them in bondage. And so, understanding
this, coming in the full assurance of faith, there are great benefits. We make sense of life. We know
what it is to be the creation of God, those made by the living
God, given life by God. We understand more, though never
fully, but we understand more of the purpose of our life, what
it's for. So many people are in despair
in the world in which we live because they have no purpose.
They see no point in it. And indeed, outside of Christ,
there is no point, there is no purpose. Without God and without
hope in this world is the testimony of scripture. And we see what
our destiny is, our eternal destiny. It's a destiny in heaven. The
kingdom of God, triumphant, is the destiny of those who believe
the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do we grasp this? How
do we get hold of it? How do we make it our own? It's
by God-given faith. It's by faith. All the hymns
this morning are about faith. They're based on faith. It's
the gift of God that enables a sinner, the natural man, who
has no idea of the things of the living God. They're foolishness
to him. Neither can he know them, says Paul to the Corinthians.
But by faith, that gift of God, we see the things that the natural
man cannot see. The Spirit of God comes and causes
the new birth, gives new life, spiritual life to the child of
God, gives faith to see and believe, and we see things that the natural
man does not, cannot see. But it isn't any faith. It isn't
any faith. You know, we're singing about
faith. It's not any faith, because you see, there's lots of faith
of all sorts in this world, in religion. It isn't any faith,
but it is the true faith what Paul writes to Titus in the opening
verse of his epistle to Titus, it's the faith of God's elect. God has a people, an elect multitude
that no man can number from every tongue and tribe and kindred,
and we don't know who they are except that We know some because
they have believed the gospel of grace. And having believed
and trusted Christ, we know they are amongst, we are amongst those
that were elect in Christ before the foundation of the world.
And they have faith, which is the true, pure gift of God. And it's that faith of God's
elect, which is the key. That faith is focused on one
object. Faith trusts in something. The
faith of God's elect is focused on one object. It's focused on
God. But you say that's a bit airy-fairy,
isn't it? That's a bit esoteric. How can we grasp it? It's focused
on God. manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ,
because that's how we know. No man has seen God at any time. He dwells in unapproachable light,
but the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
He is God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He manifests
the essence of God, and by faith we apprehend it. And his spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God, communicates all this truth to us. He takes
of the things of Christ and reveals them to us. Now this epistle,
this letter, this book, was written to Jewish believers. They'd been
Jews who had believed the preaching of the gospel of the early church.
And this book is written to them to wean them away from the pictures
and blueprints and types of their Old Testament religion. I'm not
saying that that Old Testament religion was irrelevant. Of course
it's not. It's the Word of God. It speaks of Christ throughout.
But from the picture aspect of it, wean them from that to the
reality. to what the New Testament calls
the substance, which is Christ. To take them away from all of
those symbols, all of those patterns, which all pointed to and spoke
of Christ, but were not Christ. To wean them away from a love
of those things, those types, those rites, those ceremonies,
to the reality, the substance, the body, which is Christ. And
this is very relevant to us today. all of the Old Testament types.
All of the Old Testament pictures, the temple, the priesthood, the
animal sacrifices, the law, all of it is fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And all of that is apprehended,
grasped, understood by belief of the truth. For example, as
we saw in recent weeks, the Sabbath rest, there remains a rest, Hebrews
4 verse 9, there remains a rest to the people of God, there remains
a Sabbath rest. It's not a day of deprivation
and austerity. It's not making Sunday a day
where you don't do this, that and the other, as you would the
rest of the week. It's belief in Christ. It's trust
and rest in Him. Because He is the reality that
fulfills that which was the type, that which was the fourth commandment,
to remember a day. The day was a symbol of the rest
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told to labour to enter
into that rest. Labor in what? Labor, we're not
going to go back through it again in chapter four, but labor in
the word of God, the Bible, the truth of God. What is the word
of God? It is Christ. Christ is the word
of God. It's his name. It's the name
written on his thigh. He is the one who was in the
beginning with God. The word, his name is the word
of God. And we're born along in that
labor to enter in by a high priest. What does a priest do? He intercedes.
There is one God and there is one mediator between God and
man. Only one. Only one. People that
dress up with dog collars and robes and hats and all sorts
of silly things in the so-called Christian church today, they're
not priests, they're just impostors. There is one high priest. Apart from him, all true believers
are a priesthood, because we all have direct access to God.
But in him, our true high priest, we're born along by him, we have
access by him, we come by him and by his shed blood. And he
is a priest not after the order of the Levitical priesthood of
the Old Testament, the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament,
He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, this mysterious,
mysterious character. And in verse 11 of chapter five
of Hebrews, I believe it's Paul writing, says, we have a lot
to say about Melchizedek. We have a lot to say about Melchizedek. And they're difficult things
doctrinally. They're hard to be uttered. Why
are they hard to be uttered? Because you can't hear them.
You that I'm writing to, says Paul, you that I'm writing to,
you're dull of hearing. You can't understand it. You're
immature. You're not able to take it. You're not able to understand
it, but we must go on and grasp it. So this morning, I've got
three main, sorry, four main sections, a rebuke for immaturity,
a warning to those who presume that they're amongst the people
of God, but in truth they're not, comfort to the true sheep,
and an encouragement to go on. So those four things. So first
of all, a rebuke for immaturity. What will bring believers to
full assurance, that full assurance of faith that we read about in
chapter 10? clearer understanding of the revelation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why? Why will that bring believers
to full assurance? What do you want as you face
your mortality, which we all do, we all face. You say, oh,
it's years away. You don't know. You don't know,
you've no idea when you will be taken from this life. The
rich fool thought he had goods and riches and pleasure forevermore,
and God said to him, thou fool, this night your soul shall be
required of you. And then whose shall these things
be? Oh, those of you listening that trust in riches and your
position in this life, take heed of that message from God. Thou
fool, you're trusting in those things, but they can be taken
from you in a moment. So it's not in those things,
but in Christ, if we understand him, we understand this. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath the Son hath life. It's in John's epistle, first
epistle, but it's again and again throughout the scripture. He
that has the Son of God has life, and if you have not the Son of
God, you do not have life, and the wrath of God abides upon
you. You believe basic doctrine of
redemption. You might be, these Hebrew believers,
they'd heard the gospel of Christ, having been Hebrew believers,
Jewish believers, and they'd believed the basic doctrine of
redemption. What do I mean by the basic doctrine
of redemption? I mean that Christ as our substitute,
Christ as the substitute for his people, has paid the debt
to the offended justice of God for the sins of his people. God
cannot overlook sin. The soul that sins, it shall
die. It is appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment, and we must give account for all
our sins. But Christ, for his people, has
redeemed them from that condemnation, from that curse, the curse of
the law, the curse of sin, the doctrine of redemption. Christ
has paid its debt so that the justice of God is satisfied,
so that the judge is satisfied, so that the judge says, release
him from the pit Let him go free from the pit. Why? For I have
found a ransom. What is the ransom? The ransom
was the money to be paid to achieve the release of the prisoner,
the captive. What have we been released from? If we're his,
we've been released from the bondage of sin, from the curse
of sin. And what has paid the debt? The
blood of Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us, his people, from all sin. Oh, I sin constantly. Will his
blood reach to that sin and this sin and the sins I'll commit
tomorrow? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Not all sin so far and you're
responsible for everything you do from now on. From all sin.
The blood of Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the law. But we need to progress from that basic understanding
to grasp all that God has revealed. He's revealed so much more. The
fullness of assurance in the things that we believe, as it
says in Isaiah, layer upon layer, line upon line, Precept upon
precept. We grow in grace. Peter, the
apostle, in the last verse that appears in scripture of his 2
Peter 3, verse 18, he encourages his readers. to grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Grow! Don't stay static. Grow in it. Learn more. Become
more confident of your position in eternity. We need to grasp
all that God has revealed, or else why would He have revealed
it if it wasn't there for us to pick up? There's things that
we will never know, never understand, because He hasn't revealed them
to us. But what He has is here in His Word, and we need to progress
to grasp all of it. For example, Melchizedek. He's just talked about Melchizedek
and his priesthood being superior to the Aaronic, Levitical priesthood. But he says to these Jewish listeners,
but he says, you haven't progressed in maturity. Look what he says.
Again, let's read it. Chapter five, verse 11. We've
got a lot to say about Melchizedek. Hard to be uttered, seeing ye
are dull of hearing. For when for the time, you've
been believers a long time, you ought to be teaching others,
you ought to be teachers. But you still need that one teach
you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of
God. You need to keep having the basic
foundations laid again. You'll become such as have need
of milk and not of strong meat. There's a fella down the road
who's been building a wall round his garden, and we've been watching
it. It's the most elaborate wall I think we've ever seen. It will
take an enormous thing to make it fall down. It's so well built.
But he put the foundations down. He didn't keep laying the foundations. He laid brick upon brick on top
of that foundation. And only now is it looking like
he's got a finished wall. This is the principle here. We
shouldn't keep laying the basic foundation. He said, you'll become
such, even though you've grown up, you become such that need
milk and not strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is
unskillful in the word of righteousness and is a babe. But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, mature, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil. These Hebrews Perhaps some of
them had been there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, when
Peter preached, and they'd come out of their rejection of Christ,
their crying, crucify, crucify him, and they believed the gospel.
This would be some 30 years before this was written at Pentecost.
But what sort of spiritual nutrition do they still need? He says they
still need milk. You need milk. You need milk,
not strong meat. Babies need milk. 1 Peter chapter
2 and verse 2. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. But grow and not
remain dependent on milk. Grow that you might be able to
eat strong meat. You know what it is with a baby.
To start with, a baby can only take milk. and then gradually
they progress to solids, and then gradually they progress
to meat, and then gradually they progress to strong meat. But
look, Hebrews 5, 13, everyone that useth milk is unskillful
in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. If you still
need milk years later, something's wrong, isn't it? Isn't there
something wrong? It's amusing and it's tragic
at the same time, that somebody who's grown up still needs his
mother's breast milk. It's a hideous idea, isn't it?
The objective is to go on to maturity. Look what Ephesians
4 says about this. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse
11 to 14 says that God gave to his people, his believing people,
his church, he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors and teachers. for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying, building up
of the body of Christ. Building up on top of the foundation
that's been laid. Edifying the body of Christ.
Why? Till we all come in the unity of faith, in the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, and to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ. You see it's saying exactly the
same thing? that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Oh, so-and-so
says this, and oh, somebody else says this, and oh, no, I think
I'll think that today, and no, I think I'll think that. No,
stable, solid, anchored. Tossed about by every wind of
doctrine by the slight, the cunning of men, cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive. So the objective is to go on
to maturity and be anchored to the truth of God. Verse 19 of
chapter 6 of Hebrews. Which hope we have, the hope
of God, the hope of heaven. We have it as an anchor of the
soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters into that within
the veil. What is an anchor for? It stops
a ship drifting in the storm. It keeps a ship stable. We often like to watch the Saving
Lives at Sea about the lifeboat institution. And there was an
instance on it yesterday evening in the episode that we saw of
a big ship, a big cargo ship, that ran aground on the Wolf
Lighthouse Rock just off Land's End, pointing out into the Atlantic
Ocean. And you would think, oh, such
a massive ship is going to destroy that Wolf Rock. No, it didn't. It stuck on it and the high tide
lifted it off and they recovered the situation. But you know,
the anchor he's talking about is as solid as that wolf rock. We need to be anchored to the
truth of God, unmoved by anything in life or in death. to be eternally
found in Christ. You know, this is echoes of what
Paul wrote to the Philippians. I want to be found in Christ
when it comes to that day of judgment, knowing him resting
in him, my Sabbath is in him, fully committed to him, that's
where I want to be. I want to rejoice in the hope,
because it isn't a maybe hope, it's a certain hope, it's a confident
hope. I want to be separate from this
world, this broad way that leads to destruction. I want to be
on that narrow way that leads to the celestial city, for here
we have no continuing city. We seek one which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God. I want to grow out of childish
picture stories, if that's what I can call the Old Testament
Levitical priesthood. It's there for a purpose, it
teaches us good things, but don't stick with it. The practice of
it is just a childish picture story compared to the truth revealed
in Christ. I want to mature into the truth
of God, the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek,
which is Christ and him alone. But he says to them, this is
what I want to teach you, but you can't take it. You can't
digest it. It's like giving a medium rare
steak to a baby. Their digestive system is immature.
Couldn't possibly digest it. What's led to this immaturity? Now think about this. I think
there are two things primarily. Number one, even if you know
the gospel, unlike the majority of so-called Christian religion
that hasn't got a clue what the true gospel is, There is a tendency
to make religious idols. In the flesh, we are always prone
to idolatry. There is a tendency, even in
the most correct doctrinal church situation, to make religious
idols. And idols, I don't mean little
icons, little statues, stained glass windows, and all that sort
of thing. You know, the most subtle deceiving idols are the
idols of your own mind. They're hidden away in your own
mind. Sincere babes in Christ. They might be real, but they
love their brand of religious icons and idols. They love their
religious traditions. Oh, they believe the gospel and
there's a preacher that preaches the true gospel. But oh, they
love their denominational practices. And we can't move away from those. They love the physical things
by which they judge one another. whether we're in the faith. They
love the physical things by which they make judgments about one
another, the way we dress. We've been to churches when we've
been away on holiday, and I'm telling you, talk about a uniform.
I mean, it might as well have been an Amish community in North
America, but it was 21st century Britain, and all the men are
dressed exactly the same. But I would say this, that's
fine. But it's completely, completely contrary to the way that anybody
in the world, around, culture, business dresses. People just
don't dress like that anymore. But they stick to it, they adhere
to it. You can't possibly change it.
And the place and all these things, they put such value by all of
those things. And it's immaturity. It's not
growing. It's not building on the foundation
into the fullness of the knowledge of Christ. And then secondly,
the flesh. The flesh is lazy. The spirit
might be willing, but the flesh is weak. Laziness. We're lazy. We're naturally lazy. Let's all
confess it. We're lazy concerning laboring
in the word of truth. It takes effort. It doesn't just
spring naturally. It's so much easier just to listen
to some music or to play some trivial game or to watch some
entertainment than to labor in the word of truth. Secular things,
worldly things, rather than spiritual exercise. It's an irreverence
for the word. It's not taking it seriously.
It's approaching worship and fellowship as a light and casual
thing. Do you know something? In this
day of the... I think the internet is wonderful
because it's where God feeds his people who are in wilderness
separation from this world, and there are no others who believe
the same as them within reasonable distance that they can go to
worship together. And so the internet has provided
that food, a place where God feeds her there, as it says in
Revelation 12. But beware of becoming casual about worship. To gather together for the worship
of God is such an important thing, and must be taken so seriously.
And if ever we possibly can, we must go out of our way to
avail ourselves of fellowship with fellow believers. You've
heard the story many times about the church fellowship and one
decided that he didn't need to go anymore and he kept missing
a meeting, then another meeting, da-da-da-da-da, and so on. And
the pastor went to visit him and they sat and they just exchanged
pleasantries and they sat by the fire and the pastor leaned
forward with the tongs and he took one of the coals out of
the fire and he set it down on the hearth. And gradually, after
a few minutes, that coal had stopped glowing and was just
smoking, and then it went out. And the man looked at his pastor
and said, Pastor, you don't need to say another word. I'll be
there next time. That's it. That's it. It's so
serious. So, we must invest effort and
time in spiritual exercise, and don't be fooled by the deceitfulness
of riches, by the covetousness for the things of this world,
by the love of the world, the cares and the stresses of life. I know some are going through
trials, we all go through different degrees of trials at all stages,
but don't let that distract us from the need to invest in the
word of truth, to lay up treasure in heaven. But perhaps some,
that he was writing to, perhaps some had not progressed because
they were false believers. There's a warning then to the
presumptuous. In verses 4 to 8 of chapter 6
he says it's 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 to repentance seeing they crucify to themselves the Son
of God afresh and put him to an open shame. He says You haven't
grown in spiritual maturity. He said, you're showing signs
of folk who profess that they're true believers, but never really
were. You're just religious professors. Once you were enlightened, enlightened
in head knowledge, but not in heart experience, you've tasted
the heavenly gift, just tasted it on the end of your tongue,
but you haven't imbibed it, taken it within you. It was sweet on
the tongue. It says the word of God in Revelation. It says the word of God, that
little book in Revelation 10, the little book was sweet on
my tongue and I was told to eat it. And when it went down in
my belly, it was bitter. Yeah, you've tasted the sweetness
on your tongue, but it's never become bitter in the belly. Why
does it become bitter in the belly? Because of the conflict
it brings with this world around. Like Judas, who walked with the
disciples for three and a half years. Is it not interesting
that not one of them suspected that Judas was not true, and
yet he wasn't? Lot's wife was brought out of
Sodom with Lot and the two daughters. Lot had other daughters that
were married who stayed in Sodom. But Lot's wife was brought out
with him, and her heart was really still in Sodom. And she looked
back and was turned to a pillar of salt. King Saul did many things
which made him appear that he was a believer. He prophesied.
They said, is Saul also among the prophets? He confessed his
sin, et cetera. But he wasn't like David, who
was a man after God's own heart. There are those that have a reputation
in the church, like Diotrephes, that John writes of in his second
epistle, or maybe his third. Diotrephes, who loves to have
the preeminence. He wasn't true. Like a fellow
worker with Paul, called Demas, who had been with him and served
him and helped him and no doubt preached with him. But Paul said,
Demas has left me, having loved this present world. Trembling
at God's word, like Felix when Paul gave his testimony to him.
But Felix didn't go on. Felix found an excuse. A name
like the church at Sardis, one of the seven in Revelation. You
have a name that you live, said the Lord Jesus Christ to them,
the church at Sardis. He said, you have a name that
you live, but you're mostly dead. There were some, but mostly you're
dead. Beware. Woe to those who are
at ease in Zion. Amos 6 verse 1. Those who are
like Laodicea, who think that they're rich and are filled with
goods and have need of nothing. But to the Lord Jesus Christ,
he says, you're revolting to me. You make me sick. I'm going
to spew you out of my mouth, is what he says. All shocking
words. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ said to them. But partakers
of the Holy Ghost, even, it says at the end of verse 4. But you
know, all those people, all those Israelites that came out of Egypt
and walked through the wilderness wanderings, they were partakers
of that heavenly manna, yet they didn't apprehend Christ in any
of it, and through unbelief they could not enter in. There are
some who have tasted the good word of God. Verse five, tasted
the good word of God. Balaam, the false prophet, had
tasted the good word of God. He said in Numbers 23, verse
10, oh, that I might die the death of the righteous. They're
the words of a true believer, but he wasn't, he was false.
If they shall fall away, says verse six, if they shall, I think
the thing is gradually walk out. It's rarely a sudden thing. If
they shall gradually walk out on truth, on the worship of God,
on the service to the kingdom of God and the cause of God,
on commitment to it, if they shall walk out on it, They proved
to be like stony or thorny ground believers. You remember the parable
of the sower? Some fell by the wayside, the birds of the air
picked it straight up. Some fell on stony ground and
germinated. It looked like they were real,
but had no root, and soon withered away. Some looked like they were
healthy plants, but the thorns and the thistles choked them,
and they died off. It was the cares of the world,
the things of the world. I'm not talking here, we're not
talking here about backsliding or a temporary lapse into sin,
which we're all prone to, even as believers. We're weak in the
flesh, but this is true apostasy. It's slipping away and walking
out on that which you once professed to believe. True disciples always
ask, like the disciples did around that last supper table, when
Jesus said, one of you will betray me. And they didn't say, oh,
we all know who that is, that's Judas. No, they all said, Lord,
is it I? Is it I? They knew the weakness
of the flesh. You may say, this is referring
to the little article that I put in the bulletin. You may say,
they may say, I'm not a duck. But if you look like a duck,
and you quack like a duck, and you swim like a duck, there's
a good chance that you might be a duck. So beware. But then,
he doesn't want to leave them there, and I'm running out of
time, but he wants to comfort the true sheep. And that's in
verses seven and eight, the same rain from God, the same truth
of God, falls on ground people, which produces both good fruit,
but some produces thorns. It's the same rain. It depends
what it falls upon. Tender sheep, true sheep, are
prone to alarm that they might be apostate, they might be the
ones that the warning is given to here, and ultimately be eternally
lost. But, verse 9, look at verse 9,
but beloved, says Paul, I'm sure it's Paul, but beloved, We are
persuaded better things of you that you're not like I've just
you're not a duck You you really are not one that this is just
a temporary thing and and come on out of it You have evidence
of true faith. What is the evidence? You have
the things that accompany salvation Verse 10, for God is not unrighteous
to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed
towards his name in that you have ministered to the saints
and do minister. It's a work of belief, a work
of belief. What must we do that we do the
work of God? Asked the Pharisees of Jesus.
And he said, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he has sent. And love from a purified heart,
selfless service, as to Christ's name. As to Christ's name. Selfless service to Him. You
know, the weeds and the wheat grow side by side. The sheep
and the goats look similar, but there's a day coming when Christ
will divide them. But only the sheep hear the Good
Shepherd's voice. Only the wheat bears that true
grain that we need. And it's the voice of rebuke
as well as of encouragement. And hearing it, they follow.
They know the only place to look for assurance of our place in
eternity is to the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he has done.
They believe the truth and they love one another. They love one
another. I put a little article in by
Todd Neibert about The mark of the Spirit of God is believers
love one another. He brings them to that love.
So then, finally, very quickly, an encouragement to go on. And
that's at verse one of chapter six, therefore leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Christ. And that doesn't mean abandoning
the gospel. That means building on the foundation of which Christ
is the chief cornerstone. Let us go on to perfection, not
laying again the foundation. Let's build the wall on the foundation.
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Don't
remain static, but build on the solid foundation. Don't progress
away from gospel doctrine, absolutely not, he's not saying that, but
build upon it to know Christ more deeply, to rest in him more
surely, to know Him and the power of His resurrection, as Paul
said. Paul the Apostle, writing Philippians, he says in chapter
3, oh, what's your desire, Paul? Oh, to know Him and the power
of His resurrection. To press on, verse 14 of chapter
3, he says, I press toward the mark. I don't just idly sit back
saying it's all done. I press toward the mark. What
of? Improving what Christ has done?
No, of course not. But learning more about it, understanding
more about it. I press toward the mark of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So Robert Hawker puts
it this way. He says, be more earnest to be
satisfied with the substance, which is Christ, than being amused
by the shadow. That's what he's saying to these
Hebrew believers. They're still amused by the shadow
of their Old Testament religion. Be more earnest to be satisfied
with the substance, which is Christ, than being continually
amused by the shadow, which are the religious things that are
tangible, and we can see them, and oh, that's why we like them.
Please don't take them away from us. No, no, they must be taken
away that you look to Christ and him alone. Verse 11 and 12,
We desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to
the full assurance of hope unto the end, that ye be not slothful,
lazy, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises. Look what Peter says in his second
epistle and chapter 1, verse 5. He says this, beside this,
he's talking about the great and precious promises that are
given to the people of God. He said, beside this, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge,
and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience,
build, build, build on the foundation, and to patience, godliness, and
to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity,
love, the love of God. For if these things be in you
and abound, They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he
that lacketh these things, he that hasn't made any effort,
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar
off, and has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
Wherefore, rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure, For if ye do these things, ye shall never
fail. You say, how can you make your calling and election sure?
Wasn't your election determined by God in eternity? Yes, of course
it was. But do these things and grow
in grace and the knowledge of God. Let us not judge one another. No, I'm not saying that. But
we are encouraged to examine ourselves, whether we be in the
faith, 2 Corinthians 13 verse five, whether we are progressing
to maturity, in the understanding of the things of Christ, whether
we're running the race really with effort, looking unto Him
who is the author and finisher of our faith, whether we're fully
committed to Him and His cause and prepared to lose everything
for His sake. What do I mean? Ask yourself
this question. What do I mean? Am I prepared
to lose the esteem of the unbelieving world for His sake? Am I prepared
to lose status and respect in this world, wherever it be, business,
socially, whatever, for the truth of Christ? Am I prepared to be
hated for allegiance to his doctrine of electing particular grace?
You know, when he preached that clearly in John 6, many who called
themselves disciples went away. He said to them, will you also
go? To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. Are you prepared to lose material well-being if so called
to do? He said, don't be surprised if
the world hate you. It hated me, so it will hate
you. Is my testimony the same as that of Happy Jack? You've
heard me speak of him many, many times. If it is, we'll want to
know ever more of our all in all, which is Jesus Christ. Amen.