Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter six? I was reading this passage of
scripture last Thursday or Friday, and I just haven't been able
to get it off my mind. And that usually indicates to
me that I probably ought to try to preach from it. Let's read
these verses again. 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 under repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. I've entitled this message, Five
Reasons for Eternal Life. security. And they're found in the text being once enlightened. And the word once does not mean
you're one time enlightened. You're not anymore. Once for
all enlightened, conclusively enlightened. and having tasted of the heavenly
gift and being made a partaker of
the Holy Ghost and having tasted the good word
of God and the powers of the world to come. Now, what's that
sound like to you? Sounds like a believer, doesn't
it? I wouldn't read that and think anything else, but of that
being a believer. And that is why these people
are eternally secure. Now, I feel quite sure when I
read that passage of scripture, somebody in here has felt uncomfortable.
What in the world does that mean? Is there any comfort in that
passage of scripture? Now, this is being one of the
most debated passages of scripture throughout the centuries. And
there are three views of this passage of scripture. The first
one is something that teaches that a true believer can fall
away and be damned. and it would be impossible to
renew them to repentance. And if you don't know the rest
of the scriptures, I can see why somebody would think that.
You just read it on the surface and you don't know the rest of
the gospel. And you think, well, that sounds like a believer can
fall away. The other view, there are three
views. The second view is that this
is how close someone can come and yet not be saved. I don't like that. Don't like
that at all. And the third view is that this describes every believer
and it is impossible for them to fall away. And it's found
in that word at the first of verse four, for it is impossible. It is impossible. It is impossible. For somebody once enlightened,
somebody that's tasted of the gift, that's more than just knowing
what it is. Tasting is entering in. Taste
and see that the Lord is gracious. If somebody's been made a partaker
of the Holy Spirit, regenerated, born from above, if someone has
tasted the good word of God, it's good to them. and the powers
of the world to come, it would be impossible for that person
to fall away. And if they did, Christ would
have to be crucified once again for them to be renewed to repentance.
Now, understand this, the word fall away doesn't simply mean
to fall. Have you fallen today? Without question you have. The
scripture says a righteous man falleth seven times a day. You know what that means? All the time. But he rises up. This is not talking about a fall,
this is talking about someone departing from the gospel. Someone
departing from the gospel. Now if somebody that had those
five things, enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, partakers
of the Holy Spirit, tasting the good word of God and the powers
of the world to come, and then if they leave the gospel, why,
for them to be renewed to repentance? Christ would have to be crucified
once again. And that's not gonna happen.
And it would bring him to an open shame. Somebody that he
saved and they ended up being lost, That would bring shame
on him. He would not be the savior he
claimed to be. I'm trusting him only. Now, if
I end up on the way, I lose a lot. He loses more. His honor as the
complete sufficient savior of sinners. Now we know a saved
person cannot become unsafe. We know that, don't we? Somebody
says, do you believe in once saved, always saved? Well, it
depends. If you saved yourself, no, I
don't believe once saved, always saved, you'll end up falling
away. But if the Lord saved you, yes, I believe in once saved,
always saved. The Lord said, I give unto them
eternal life, not temporary life. Eternal is eternal. You see this
thing of eternal security begins in eternity. That's why it's
so certain. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him. Now that took place before
time began and it's not going to miscarry. What is the evidence? that God has chosen a man or
woman to salvation. What is the evidence that Christ
actually paid for their sins? What is the evidence that God
the Holy Spirit has given them life? They keep believing. They persevere. The Lord said, if you continue
in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. He that endureth to the
end, the same shall be saved. We are made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. We're wholly unblameable and
unreprovable in his sight if we continue in the faith, grounded
and settled, and be not moved from the hope of the gospel. This scripture is not teaching
that a believer can fall away and perish or fall from a state
of grace. I've heard people use that terminology
before where they've fallen from grace. No, they haven't, you
haven't. Grace they don't hope they have. If you can fall from
grace, that means you're kept by your works. That's a denial
of salvation by grace in the first place. I do not believe for a second
it means that you can come this close and still be lost. A child
would never read, just a child that didn't have preconceived
notions, he would never read that passage of scripture and
say, well, that's somebody how close they can come and end up
being lost. You just wouldn't do that. You have to have some
other view that's got hold of your mind to make you think it
could mean something like that. Well, among other things, the
book of Hebrews is an encouragement to persevere. And it's a warning
against apostasy. Now, somebody may think, well,
if a believer can't fall away, what's the point in a warning
against apostasy? Well, because God does it. It's very unwise to look at anything
God says and say, what's the point of that? If God said it,
there's a point. Isn't that true? So God warns us against apostasy
and we're given this exhortation to persevere and the warning
against apostasy or falling away throughout the book of Hebrews.
Look at Hebrews chapter two. Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at
any time we should let them slip. Let them leak out as a seed. Look at chapter three, verse
six. But Christ is a son over his own house, whose house are
we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope
firm unto the end. Look at verse 12 of this chapter.
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one
another daily while it's called today, lest any of you be hardened
through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers
of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end. In chapter four, verses one and
two, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering
into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For
unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith
in them that heard it. Verse 11. Chapter four, let us
labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief. Look in chapter five, beginning
in verse 11. Now he had began to speak of
Melchizedek, who's only mentioned in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Only time he's mentioned, but
yet he's going to bring up something about Melchizedek. And then he
says in verse 11 of whom we have many things to say and hard to
be uttered seeing you are dull of hearing. For when for the
time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach
you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of
God. You haven't learned the ABCs. And it becomes such as
have need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that
uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. He's a
babe, but strong meat belongs to them which are a full age.
Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil, to know the difference. Therefore,
leaving the principles, the ABCs of the doctrine of Christ, let
us go on unto perfection. Maturity is what that means.
Maturity. Not, and here's where the problem
was, not having to lay again the foundation. And I've brought
this up several times. This is the foundational truth
of Scripture. First one, repentance of dead
works. Repent of every work but his work. Looking to him alone
and seeing all your works are nothing more than dead works
in and of themselves. And then he speaks of faith toward
God, faith toward Christ, who is God. The doctrine of baptisms
and all the doctrine of baptisms is, is union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. You can't really understand anything
apart from being eternally united to Jesus Christ. The doctrine
of the laying on of hands, that's the transfer of guilt. The transfer
of sin. From my sin being transferred
to Christ, his righteousness being transferred to me. The
resurrection of the dead. Christ's bodily resurrection
because of his satisfaction. God was satisfied with what he
did. Our spiritual resurrection when we're born from above. The
final resurrection. And I love the way he says eternal
judgment. He doesn't just say judgment, he says eternal judgment.
He also speaks of eternal salvation and eternal inheritance. You
see, everything God does is eternal because of who he is. And he
says in verse three, this we will do if God permit for it
is impossible. This is the key word to understanding
this passage of scripture. It is impossible. for those who were once enlightened.
It is impossible. Now there are some things that
just are not possible. Matthew 19, 26 says, after the
disciples saw the rich young ruler leave, they said, who then
can be saved? If this fellow can't be saved,
who then can be saved? And the Lord said, with men.
It is impossible. Salvation is impossible with
men, but not with God. But with God, all things are
possible. Luke chapter 17, the Lord said,
it is not possible that offenses will not come. You're gonna offend,
I'm gonna offend, James said, in many things, we offend all. Can you say the amen to that?
Don't you know it's so? It's impossible, but the defenses
will come, but woe to him by whom they come. Hebrews 6, 18
says it's impossible for God to lie. I love that. In Hebrews
10, four, we just read that it is not possible. for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sin. It's not possible. Hebrews
11, six says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. The only way God could be pleased
is by me believing on his son as everything in my salvation.
Without that, it's impossible to please God. And then it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened. Let's talk about that for a couple
of minutes. That's really the, remember the name of this sermon
is five reasons for eternal security. And that's not many people use
this passage of scripture looking at it that way. They think, well,
this is how close you can come. And this is this warning. Well,
it is a warning. I wouldn't deny that, but five
reasons. for eternal security first, once
enlightened. And that doesn't mean that at
one time you had some light and you don't have it anymore and
you're now in the dark. That word once, once for all. Now,
if God has enlightened you, he's revealed to you his character. He's revealed to you his holiness,
his sovereignty, his justice. His power, His grace, you know
Him. You recognize Him because He
has enlightened you. What took place first in the
physical creation? Let there be what? Light. What takes place in the second
creation? For God who commanded the light
to shine out of the darkness, has shined in our heart to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now, you know how you can know
whether or not he's giving you this light of his character? By how you see yourself. If he's
given you the light of his character, you've seen yourself. that you're
sinful. That's what you see about yourself.
And if you don't see that about yourself, you've never seen him. Daniel said, when I saw him,
my comeliness turned to corruption. You see something of your own
sinfulness and inability. but you also have light as to
how God can embrace you and accept you through the sacrifice, the
life, the death, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love
when the Lord said, I'm the light of the world. And that's right
before he talked about that woman who was taken in adultery in
the very act, there wasn't any doubt about her guilt. And he
says, woman, where are those nine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She said, no man, Lord. He said,
neither do I condemn thee. You see, she wasn't guilty. That
sin had been put away. You're given light, once enlightened. Do you reckon God would give
you this light and not save you just to tantalize you? No, no. If you have been given this light,
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, you see His glory is in His Son. You have the light of how He
can be just and justify somebody ungodly like you. And you rejoice
in that light. Once enlightened, it's impossible
for that man who's been Enlightened. He's been enlightened to see
that I'm complete in Christ. I don't need anything else. I've
been given the light to understand that Christ really is all in
salvation. And I rejoice in that. I'm glad
it's that way because if he's not all, that means something's
expected out of me. I got no hope under that kind
of thinking. But oh, the light that Christ
is all. Now, if you have light, it's
because he enlightened you. You know, that word is actually
in the passive tense. It's not like you were searching.
You were searching, finally you found the light. No, he enlightened
you. He gave you light. And let's take the next step
in verse four. It is impossible for those who
are once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift. Now, first let's consider this
word gift. If you knew the gift of God,
remember the Lord saying that to the woman at the well? If
you knew the gift of God and who it was that saith to thee,
give me the drink, you would have asked And he would have
given you living water. Christ is called the unspeakable
gift. He's called the free gift. He's
called the gift of grace. He's called the gift of righteousness. You see, every aspect of salvation
is the gift. of God. And it's a gift given
with no strings attached. There's not something you have
to live up to before he'll give you this gift. It's the free
gift of God. And all I prove if I think that
there's something I can pay for it is how little I think of that
gift. You think there's something you could pay for this great
gift? Now, if I gave you my house, I said, I'm gonna give you my
house. I'm gonna give it to you. And you say, well, I don't wanna
be your debtor. I'll give you a nickel for it. I'm gonna get
pretty offended. That's a whole lot less severe than someone
thinking they can pay for his heavenly gift. The gift, the
free gift of God. Now, when God's gift is given,
it's received. If you don't receive it, he never
gave it. It's not like it's just out there
and it's up to you to accept it or reject it. The gospel's
not an offer. God's not offering you anything.
If he gives you his gift, you receive it. And you receive it
gladly. John 1, 12 and 13, as many as
received him. that to them gave he the power
to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his
name, which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Every believer has tasted of
this heavenly gift. You see, if you've received it,
you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. Let me ask you a question. Do you find it good tasting that
God left it to people? Do you find justification by
grace? Does that taste good to you?
Does the excellency of being saved by the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, does that taste good to you? Does it taste good
to you to think that his blood is actually successful? Without any help from you? Without
any contribution from you? You've tasted, you've tasted
that the Lord is gracious. You've tasted of the heavenly
gift. It tastes good. Does the gospel
taste good to you? Okay, let's look what he says
next. For it's impossible for those who were once enlightened
and have tasted of the heavenly gift, thirdly, and were made
partakers. of the Holy Ghost. Now, once again, made partaker
is in the passive tense. That means this is something
God did to you. And let's look at how the writer
to the Hebrews uses this word partaker. Look in Hebrews chapter
three. Wherefore, holy brethren, don't
you love that? That describes every believer.
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. Look in chapter
three, verse 14. We are made partakers of Christ,
sharers. We enter in. We're made partakers
of Christ himself if we hold the beginning of the confidence
steadfast unto the end. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. We'll get some idea of what he
means by this word partakers. Verse seven, if you endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom
the father chastens not? But if he be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers. Then are you bastards and not
sons? The point is, all of God's children are partakers of his
heavenly chastisement. So this word partaker is a very
powerful word. Partakers of the Holy Spirit,
the gift of God. You were born of the Spirit.
This is that holy nature of which John said, whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. But he that's begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. You know the reason the wicked
one doesn't touch that man? Now, if he dealt with your flesh,
there's plenty for him to work with. He wouldn't have any problem
turning you inside out just like he did Peter. He'd do the same
to me, he'd do the same to you. But that new nature, he can't
touch it because there's nothing there for him to work with. It's
a holy nature. That which is born of God sinneth
not. He keeps himself and that wicked
one touches him not. Now the Holy Spirit is called
in the scripture, the earnest of our inheritance. You know
what that is? That's a guarantee. We are said
to be sealed with the spirit until the day of redemption.
That means you have the Holy Spirit. If you believe you have
the Holy Spirit. Let me repeat that. If you believe
the gospel, If you're relying on Jesus Christ, you're a partaker
of the Holy Spirit, and you've been sealed by the Spirit of
God into the day of redemption. That man who is a partaker of
the Holy Spirit cannot fall away. You see, these are reasons for
eternal security. Enlightened by God, tasting the
heavenly gift, Being a partaker of the Holy Spirit. And look
what he says next. Back to Hebrews chapter six, verse five. And have tasted,
there's that word again. And have tasted the good word
of God. The word of which the writer
to the Hebrew said in Hebrews chapter four, you can probably
look on the same page. Verse 12, for the word of God
is quick, living and powerful and sharper than any two edged
sword. piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joists and marrow, and
as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but
all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him whom we
have to do." The Word of God. Is that talking about the Scriptures?
Yes. Is that talking about the Living Word? Yes. Is that talking
about the Spoken Word? Yes. The Word of God. And every believer has tasted the good Word of God. It's good
to you. It's good to you. Aren't you
thankful for one thing? I ought to say this every time
I preach. Aren't you thankful for the written revelation? The
Word of God. It is the Word of God. I think
of the honor the Lord put on it. when he used it during the
time the devil was tempting him. Thus it's written. Thus it's
written. How many times did he say, thus it's written, thus
it must be. These things he said that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled. God's Word gives us something
we can go to. You can know if I'm telling you
the truth by the Word of God. If we don't have the Word of
God, all you've got is the Word of man. What's that good's going
to do you? None at all. And oh, don't you
love the Word? In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. Word is a vehicle of communication. The only thing, the only way
you can find out what's going on here is by the words that
come out of my mouth. The Word that comes out of God's
mouth is Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God. and the gospel message, that's
the power of God unto salvation. You've tasted, you've tasted
the good word of God, not just the word of God, but the good
word of God, it's good. And then he says, you've tasted
of the powers, verse five, you tasted the good word of God and
the powers of the world to come. Now, that is almighty power. The same power that raised up
Christ from the dead, raised you up from the dead and gave
you life. The power of the Spirit, the
power of the Lord Jesus Christ. One scripture I love, thou has
given him power over all flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou has given him. You think of the power of
the Son of God, the power to make you to be without sin, the
power to make you to be without guilt before God, the power to
keep you, the power to, glorify you. I love that passage of scripture
in 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, and 5, where Paul says, know him,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Well, how do you know,
Paul? He doesn't have access to the Lamb's book of life. How
do you know? For our gospel came unto you, not in word only, but
in power, and the Holy Ghost, and much assurance. That doesn't
mean much assurance of your personal salvation. As soon as you start
thinking about whether or not I, do I have full assurance? I guarantee as soon as you start
thinking about that, you got a question mark somewhere in
there. The only time you're fully insured is when you're hearing
the gospel and really not even thinking about yourself. As soon
as you start trying to figure out whether I have full assurance,
you'll find reasons to question it. The full assurance he's talking
about is this is the gospel. That's when it comes in power,
not just in word only. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe
in it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, one who has
been illuminated by God, given light to see who he is, to see
the evidence that you see who he is, you see who you are. I'm
not just talking about seeing you do bad things. I mean, see,
you are bad. And the reason they're bad is
because you do. That's all that's needed. And
you see how this holy God through the Lord Jesus Christ can embrace
you and accept you and love you and have fellowship with you
and communion with you through the Lord Jesus Christ. And you've
tasted the gift. You've seen that salvation really
is the gift of God. It's not of works lest any man
should boast. Every aspect of salvation is
His free gift. There's nothing you do to pay
for it. There's nothing you do to get
it. It's what He gives you freely. And when He gives it to you freely,
you receive it. And being a partaker of the Holy
Spirit, given a new heart, a new nature, birth of the Spirit of
God, tasting the good word of God and the powers of the world
to come, and I love to think about the powers of the world
to come, that world to come, I'm gonna be just like Christ.
I'm gonna be satisfied when I awake in his likeness, beholding his,
what power there is in that world to come. But aren't you, don't
you long for that world to come? Now, this could be viewed and
should be viewed as a warning against apostasy. I'm not saying
it's not. He actually says, if this person
would fall away and leave the gospel, two things would take
place. If this person really was saved
and leaves the gospel, two things would take place. For them to
be saved once again, Christ would have to die again. And that's
not gonna be, he's appeared once in the end of the world to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Once, accomplished it. And second, what about that passage
scripture says, well, if that person falls away, put Christ
to an open shame. You see, Christ's honor is involved
in the salvation of every one of his people. And if I end up
being lost, I lose a lot, but Christ loses more. His honor
as the altogether perfect Savior. Now, this is an encouragement to perseverance. It's an encouragement to rest
in Christ. Now, I believe in the eternal
security of all of His sheep. And I don't wanna fall away. Those two things together. I
believe in the eternal security of his sheep. And I do not want
to fall away. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word How we thank you for the completeness
of the salvation that's in the free gift of your son. Lord,
we confess the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you
for the freeness of your gift. How we thank you that all you
require of us. You look to your son for. And
Lord, we ask in his name that we might be enabled by your grace.
To persevere. all the way to the end. Keep
us, Lord. If you don't keep us, we won't
be kept. Lord, we confess that we will fall away if we're not
kept from it. But how we thank you for the
keeping grace of your spirit. Lord, cause us to continue to
look to Christ only as everything in our salvation. Deliver us
from anything else. In his name we pray.