In Hebrews chapter 6 this morning,
we will look at verse 4 down to verse 8. We read, 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. 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, receiveth blessing from God.
But that which bare thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh
unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." The title of our
lesson, this is lesson 17, and the title of it is More Than
Tasting. More Than Tasting. There's a
faith which is not true faith. It's the product of Satan and
of the carnal mind. And this is a solemn fact, a
sobering fact, which should cause us all to give some serious examination. It's possible to profess faith
in Christ, to believe the doctrine of Christ, to even have peace,
assurance, and security regarding eternal matters, and yet still
not have a saving interest in Christ. Many have a form of godliness,
but deny the power thereof. The apostles asked, Lord, is
it I when he said somebody would forsake me? They asked, Lord,
is it I? And Judas sat there confidently
and never asked. He never asked. As we study this
passage, I'd encourage myself and everyone here What Paul encouraged
the Corinthians, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith,
prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates? Peter
said, Wherefore, the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never
fall. The psalmist wrote this, Search
me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. That ought to tell us that there
is a very real possibility that we don't know ourselves. That
ought to be our prayer, that God would reveal to us our own
thoughts, and search us, and prove us, and teach us if our
If what we've called sweet is really bitter, and what we call
bitter is really that which is sweet. There's four things in
these verses here in Hebrews 6, verses 4 through 8. There's about four things I want
you to look at with me here this morning. First, there's the warning
against apostasy. It says, it's impossible for
those who were once enlightened have tasted of the heavenly gifts.
were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, have tasted the good word
of God, the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away,
it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance. They crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open
shame. Let's examine what the Holy Spirit is calling false
faith here. That's what we're identifying
here is false faith. It first of all says they were
once enlightened to an understanding of gospel truth. Intellectually,
they perceive and submit to the doctrinal truths of the gospel. The doctrines of the gospel were
logical to them and reasonable to them. They accepted these
facts as being revealed in the Word of God. The natural man
can do some things, but not other things. He can see glory in doctrine
by natural ability. but he cannot see the glory of
God in the face of Christ Jesus but by supernatural ability. He can love doctrine, but he
can't love Christ. He can be an astute theologian,
but still lack the wisdom of an uneducated fisherman like
the Apostle Peter. He may speak Hebrew, Aramaic,
Greek, but until the Holy Spirit enters in, he cannot speak the
language that God speaks. I read an interesting quote this
week. God doesn't speak Hebrew. He doesn't speak Greek. He doesn't
speak Aramaic. He doesn't speak Latin or any
other language, English. He speaks to the heart of regenerated
sinners. And the language that He speaks
is love in His Son. That's the language that God
speaks. And when He speaks that language, we hear it. By God-given life, faith, we
hear what He says. So they were enlightened to some
things. And then they tasted the heavenly
gifts. They tasted some heavenly gifts,
but they didn't taste Christ begift. Tasting is not eating. Medicine can be given to you,
and you can taste it and not like it and spit it out. and
it'll do you no good whatsoever. We must eat the bread from heaven
if we'd have life. Heavenly gifts and powers of
the world to come are not salvation. Knowing the powers of the world
to come, that's not salvation. Having heavenly gifts given to
us, that's not salvation. Judas preached. He was enlightened. He preached with power, but he
didn't know Christ. Pharaoh's magicians perform miracles,
but they didn't know God. Satan transforms his ministers
into angels of light and preachers of righteousness. That one that's going to fall,
that harlot, Babylon, is not found out in the bars and in
the immoral gutters of this world. pews and behind pulpits. We must not look to spiritual
gifts and usefulnesses as evidences of grace and salvation. What
did Paul say? Henceforth we know no man after
the flesh. Do we look at some ability we
have, some understanding we have, some gifts that we have or that
our brethren have and say, that shows there is no God? We judge
after the Spirit. Judge after the Spirit. That's
how we discern, is after the Spirit. Look at our text again. The lost men and women described
here have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Many people
look at that statement and they say, these were once saved people. They had to have been if they
partook of the Holy Ghost. That's not the case. That's not
the case. Wicked king Saul, that wicked
king, The Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied through
the Spirit, didn't he? How do you think Judas preached
what he preached? Balaam, even his ass, spoke by
the Spirit and prophesied of Christ's coming. Neither one
of them were born of God. When the Lord walked this earth,
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover. And in the feast day, many believed
in his name. when they saw the miracles which
He did. But the Scripture says Jesus did not commit Himself
unto them, because He knew all. He knew what was in their heart.
He knew they weren't His. He didn't commit Himself. But
they believed something. These people tasted the good
Word of God and the powers of the world to come, but they didn't
live on Christ alone. Outward gifts. and sincere emotions
impress the flesh. That's what they do. And they
deceive men. They deceive men. I can't press
the importance to you enough to not look to the flesh. Good or bad, do not look to the
flesh. It will deceive you. It will
deceive you. Believers worship God in spirit
and in truth. We don't worship God with these
hands. We've got nothing we can give God with these hands. We
worship God in spirit and in truth. We must have and be settled,
rooted and grounded and have the love of Christ in the heart. We speak about loving one another.
We'll never love one another, ever, until we have the love
of Christ in our heart. And then we love one another. not looking to our love, not
looking to what we've done. We look at what we've done and
mourn over the fact that we have not begun to love our brethren,
not in the least bit. Look over with me at Ephesians
3.16. I want to put two verses of Scripture
together and I want you to compare them with me. Ephesians 3.16
and 1 Corinthians 13. This is the prayer of Paul toward the Ephesian brethren. He said in chapter 3, verse 16
of Ephesians, that he would grant you, according to the riches
of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love. Not just some sentimental
love that we have towards one another. He's talking about the
Spirit of Christ working in you, Christ working in you, that love
of God might be rooted and grounded in you. That you may be able,
and this is the only way we're able, to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. There's no limits on His love.
There's no restraints on God's love. Christ loves all those
that He redeemed. The worst from the gutter of
immorality to the palaces of religion, He has a people. This
is a great love. And to know the love of Christ
by the Spirit in the inner man, by Christ dwelling in us. That's
how we're rooted and grounded, to know the love of Christ. which
passeth knowledge, that you might be filled." When something is
filled. When you poured water into this,
it was empty. But when you poured something
into it, it's full now. It's been filled. God does the
filling. That's what we're talking about.
That you might be filled with all the fullness of God. All
the fullness of God is in Christ. And when Christ enters in through
the Spirit, we have the fullness of God. We understand the fullness
of God. We don't comprehend it like we
will one day, but we see that all fullness dwells in Him. This
love is the love of Christ in our heart. Now look over at 1
Corinthians 13. This same love. This same love. Here's the point Paul is making. If we don't have that love, We
don't have the Spirit of God in the inner man if Christ is
not entered in, if His love is not shed abroad in our hearts,
and we see the fullness of our freedom and liberty and redemption
in Christ, in God's love, in Christ, the fullness. Paul says,
chapter 13, verse 1, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, and have not charity. I am become a sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity, love, I am nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Are
you sitting there thinking about love to one another? That's not
totally error there. We do love one another. But first
and foremost, as Paul said in Ephesians, this is to know the
love of God. We could believe, to move Mount,
we could have gifts, we could have prophecy, we could have
all these things if we're not in love with Christ. A tinkling
cymbal, sounding brass. It's worthless. See, they tasted
the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come.
but they weren't in love with Christ. That's what we're talking
about here in Hebrews. Now look back here at Hebrews
for a minute, verse 6. Those who fall away are lost
forever. Hebrews 6, 6. If they shall fall
away, this passage begins with, it's impossible. If they shall
fall away, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance,
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put
Him to an open shame. God's elect shall not and cannot
fall away and perish. We know that. Those to whom Christ
gives eternal life shall never perish. The gifts and calling
of God are without repentance. Eternal life is just that. It's
eternal. It's eternal. Yet many fall away,
don't they? We see many begin, and they're
turned away, and they fall away. What is that? Remember Lot's
wife? Those that were freed from Israel long to go back to their
bondage, they crucify the Son of God afresh and put Him to
an open shame. They themselves crucify Him all
over again and put Him to an open shame. What does the Holy
Spirit mean by those words, if they shall fall away? It's not
sin or a specific act of sin. What about David? David committed
adultery. David sent Bathsheba's husband
into the heat of battle so that he would die. And yet, was David not loved
of God? Was he not redeemed in Christ?
This falling away is not sin or acts of sin. Peter denied
the Lord. But the Lord bought him, and
the Lord came back came to Peter and recovered him from his sin
and drew him back. This falling away is not sin
or acts of sin. Falling away involves two things.
To fall away is to depart from the faith of the gospel. Number
one, Galatians 5.1 says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage in any shape, form, or fashion. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised, and I'll
add to that, not adding to God's Word, but telling you what Paul's
talking about, if you're circumcised or look into any other form of
the law, period, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify
again to every man that is circumcised that wants to look to one aspect
of the law, he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ has
become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you have fallen from grace. And that is what it is
to look back to the law. It is to consider that I am going
to be justified by this law. We cannot be enlightened to see
Mount Zion and then turn around to Mount Sinai. That's not what
we've come to. We've come to Mount Zion, to
heavenly Jerusalem. We've come to just men made perfect
in Christ and to Christ. We've not come to the mountain
that burned and quaked and that they couldn't even look upon
it. They had to have a mediator to go to that mountain. We've
come to Christ. We're free. to forsake the assembly of God's
saints, the fellowship of the gospel, and the ministry of the
word, to abandon the worship of Christ, that's what it is
to fall away and be lost forever. To forsake the assembly of God's
saints, the fellowship of the gospel, the ministry of the word,
to abandon the worship of Christ is to fall away and be lost forever. Aren't all of those things summed
up in the worship of Christ? If we're just assembling, and
I'm just going to preach to you how important it is for you not
to go out and commit fornication. Have we really worshipped Christ? We really hadn't even assembled
to worship Christ. But if we're assembling and we're
worshipping Christ, and I'll tell you something else, this
is a heart matter just like all other true worship is. You may
defend the gospel of Christ and still not believe on Christ,
There's many out there that defend the gospel of Christ that don't
believe Christ. You may attend a worship service. You may do
it with some regularity and yet have no spiritual fellowship
with God's saints whatsoever. Why? Where is our fellowship?
It's in Christ. We fellowship in Christ. Our common bond is Christ. That's
what keeps us together. We talk about If you're out in
the world and you go to a gathering of people, it's called a party.
But for some reason, when religious people get together, it's called
fellowship. You know where fellowship is? It's in the heart. And you
know where we fellowship most? When we're here in Christ exalted
as our full atonement before God. Our righteousness. Our redemption. Our sanctification. Our completeness. All being in Christ. That's when
the heart Hearts unite together in Christ. That's fellowship.
We're going to go over here after service today and we're going
to have a party. We're going to fellowship right here. We're
going to fellowship right here. Forsaken, fallen away, is to
depart from the faith of the Gospel. That's Christ. And then
secondly, is to forsake the saints and the fellowship of the Gospel
and the ministry of the Word and the worship of Christ. Those
two things right there are falling away. So don't think. I urge you to live a holy life
before God. I urge you to walk honorably
before Him because you love Him, because you want to, because
you desire for His name to be magnified in your walk. I urge
you to do that. But let me tell you this. When those night seasons come,
and you're sitting there in your bed, and you realize, and you're
thinking upon the best deeds you've done, and you know they
are altogether filthy, outside of Christ. You know that the
very best you, and in those times when you fall into outward sin,
and you have outwardly, you know you have just directly sinned
against God, what God has told you to do. That's not falling
away. Falling away is if you do that
and continue in it and continue in it and leave and never return. David sinned against God. David
sinned against Bathsheba and against her husband. And David
came to God and he said, against thee and thee only have I sinned
and done this evil in your sight that you might be just when you
judge. He didn't fall away. Why? because
God put him in Christ before the world was made. Christ came
and redeemed him. That's who David looked to. Everything
David wrote about was God breathed, God writing through David, and
everything David wrote about was Christ. Look over at Psalm
1. Look over at Psalm 1. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is
in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day
and night. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper." You know who that is? That don't describe but one.
That's Christ Jesus the Lord. He is the man. that's righteous. He is the one like a tree planted
by the water. He is the one that will bring
forth his fruit in his season. He is the one in whose heart,
he said, I have the light to do thy law. Oh my God. That's Christ. Well, there's
an illustration given for us here. It says this, verse 7 and
8 in Hebrews 6. The Holy Spirit illustrates the
fact that the Gospel is to some a savor of life unto life, and
to others it is a savor of death unto death. And here is what
He says. When the Gospel is blessed of
God to the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners by the power
of His almighty grace, it springs up unto life everlasting. Here
is the illustration, verse 7. 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." The rain, the words going forth. And to some, it's planted in
their heart, God waters, God gives the increase, and it grows
up. And it springs up, and it's a
blessing from God. It brings forth delightful herbs,
fruit, meat for them by whom it is dressed. Who dresses God's
vineyard? Who is going to pull it up one
day and harvest the fruit? Them. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But those who hear Christ the
Gospel and reject Him are rejected of God, cursed, and shall be
burned like useless weeds in hell. There is the illustration,
verse 8. But that which bears thorns and
briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to
be burned." We're going to fall into one
of those two camps. Everybody in this world. We're
either saved by grace or we're saved by works. We're either
going to spring up fruit unto God and be harvested by God or
we're going to be gathered together and cast aside to be burned like
chaff. Who makes the difference? God
does. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have that you didn't receive? Why then do you boast as if you
didn't receive it? Why do we say we let God do something? Why do we say that we cast the
deciding vote for God? Why do we look to the flesh? Because we've heard, we've been
enlightened, we've tasted, and we turned away and fell away
from it. That's the only way a man will
say those things. The true man, the man that's
been redeemed of God, he's going to say, God loved me. I didn't
love Him. He chose me. I didn't choose
Him. Christ redeemed me. I didn't do anything for Him.
The Spirit of God blew right where God sent it, and He gave
me a heart. I didn't make myself alive. I
didn't want God. I had my fist shoved in His face,
and I didn't want to have anything to do with Him. And I still wouldn't
if He didn't keep me and give me a heart of love and grace
for Him. Look over at Hebrews 6 with me
and we'll close. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just
want to close with it. I will read out the rest of that
chapter because I want to give you some hope here. And we'll
look at this next time. Verse 9, the writer says this,
But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you in things
that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 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 the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
until the end, that you be not slothful, but followers of them
who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when
God made promise to Abraham, Because he could swear by no
greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely, blessing, I will
bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee. And so
after Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Because
men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation
is to men an end of all strife. Once an oath has been made, Therefore,
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath, that by two immutable things, his oath and the fact
that it's impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul. What keeps us from going and
returning? What keeps us from wavering back
and forth? What keeps us from being tossed
to and fro by every strong wind of doctrine? This anchor of the
soul. both sure and steadfast, which
entereth into that within the veil." Our hope looks into the
veil, beyond the veil. It looks into the very throne
room of God. Whither the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. There's where our hope is. There's
where our anchor is. I persuaded better things of
you. I've seen your work and your labor of love toward me
and toward these other saints, and I'm persuaded better things
of you. Let's examine ourselves and let this be a serious, it's
a serious thing, it is. These children here, we sometimes
think that we pray and pray and pray that the Lord would just
save them and call them out. I'll tell you something else.
It's a sad thing for a man to go through his whole life thinking
he's saved. The hardest thing to be saved
from is not our sin, it's our righteousness. It's a sad thing
to go through this life and to meet the Lord of Glory, who said,
many, many shall say unto me, didn't we prophesy in your name?
Didn't we cast out devils in your name? Didn't we do many
wonderful works in your name? And He'll say, I never knew you.
All your work was for yourself. It was to show what great things
you had done. He said, I never knew you. It's
all iniquity. Depart from me. That'd be a sad
day. A sad day. It says there that
they'll say, Lord, Lord. They're not going to say, Lord,
Lord, because that's what they considered Him to be throughout their life.
They're going to say it because they see Him as He is and are astonished
that they don't have Him. Well, I hope that's a blessing
to you. Let's stand and we'll be dismissed in prayer and we'll
come back after the break for our message.