We turn back to Hebrews chapter
six. Happy Mother's Day. Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
from first Samuel 15. Upon this subject. To obey is
better than sacrifice. Writer to the Hebrews says in
Hebrews 6, verse 1, therefore leaving the principles, the ABCs,
as it were, of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection
or maturity. In verse 14 of chapter 5, this
same word is translated, a full age. And how do we go about that?
By not laying again the foundation. What is the most important aspect
of the construction of a building? I would imagine pretty much everybody
here knows the answer to that question. The foundation. The foundation is the most important
part of the construction of a building. If the foundation is not right,
the building, the superstructure, cannot be right. The foundation must be right. And if I have to lay again the
foundation, something's wrong with the building. Now, Christ
himself is the one foundation of the believer. Paul said in
1 Corinthians 3, verse 11, for other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Christ Jesus
Himself is the foundation of the believer. Oh, what a glorious
thing it is to have Him as my foundation. Now, you will notice
the writer to the Hebrews warned us against having to lay again
the foundation. Look in verse 1 again. Therefore,
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go
on unto perfection. And the only way we're going
to do this is by not having to lay again the foundation. And then he speaks of six truths,
all which come from Christ, the foundation that will tell us
what laying the foundation is, what the foundation is. Now,
let's look at these together. Let's go on into perfection,
not laying again the foundation first of repentance from dead
works. Second, faith toward God. Third, the doctrine of baptisms,
fourth, the doctrine of the laying on of hands, fifth, the resurrection
of the dead, and sixth, eternal judgment. I have entitled this
message, These Six Foundational Truths. And if I have to always
be laying again these foundations. If I don't become settled on
these foundations, if I'm always having to learn these over, if
they don't become natural to me, the superstructure cannot
be built. Now, the writer is not saying,
let's leave these and go on to something bigger and better.
The key word to understanding this passage is not laying again. Not laying again. We do not ever
leave the foundation, do we? If I'm on the foundation, I stay
on the foundation. But if we're always having to
lay again the foundation, there's a real problem. We cannot possibly
reach maturity, perfection, full age, unless we're settled upon
the foundation, which is seen in these six great foundational
truths. This is exciting to me. If, by
God's grace, I'm settled on this, this foundation that is revealed
in these six different truths, I'm going to go on to perfection.
I'm going to go on to maturity. And I'm interested in that, aren't
you? I want to be a mature believer. I want to grow up in Christ Jesus. Now, if you and I, by the grace
of God, become settled in these, we will go on to maturity. Now in the context of this passage
of scripture, the writer had reached the subject of Melchizedek.
Look at verse 9 of chapter 5. And being made perfect, speaking
of the Son of God, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him, called of God and high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. Now Melchizedek is mentioned
in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. If you ask the average religious
person, who's Melchizedek, they wouldn't have any idea who you're
talking about. And yet the entire book of Hebrews is built around
the priesthood of Melchizedek, the priesthood of Christ. Now
look what he says. Call of God and High Priest after the Order
of Melchizedek, of whom, speaking of Melchizedek, we have many
things to say, and they're hard to be uttered, seeing you are
dull of hearing." I can't say what I want to say because you're
dull of hearing. You can't discern because of
your spiritual immaturities, what he's saying, your babies,
your infants. You are dull of hearing. Well, I don't want to be dull
of hearing, do you? I want to be able to discern.
I want to be able to tell the difference if I'm hearing of
God or what I'm hearing is of man. I don't want to be dull
of hearing. Now, he says to these Hebrews,
he says, you're dull of hearing. You can't enter into what I'm
getting ready to say about Melchizedek because you're dull of hearing.
Look what he says in verse 12. For when for the time You ought
to be teachers. I shouldn't have to be teaching
you this all over again. You ought to be the one doing
the teaching, teaching to others. For the wind, 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, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong
meat. Now, he says you need to be taught
over what is the first principles of the oracles of God. Now, what
do you mean by that when he talks about the first principles of
the oracles of God? The principles are the first
things from which all other things arise. In other words, the alphabet. Now, thinking about A, B, C,
D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W,
X, Y, Z, I don't have to think about it. Now, if you're struggling
with the alphabet, you're going to struggle with everything with
regard to communication, with regard to understanding the thoughts,
the ideas, the concepts of the scripture. If you don't know
the alphabet, you can't read. And you must be grounded in the
alphabet. You must understand the alphabet
of the scriptures. It becomes part of you to where
you don't even have to think about it to say it. It comes
natural. Now, that's what he's talking
about. He says these six foundational truths, all which describe Christ
for one foundation, ought to be so natural to you. They don't
have to be proven to you over and over again. You're grounded
in this thing. And until you're grounded in
this, you'll never go on to perfection. You will be a baby. You will be carnal. Now, we love
babies. We love babies. But what if they
stay babies? What if after 40 years, you're
still changing their diapers? There's some real problems, isn't
there? We love babies, but we do not want them staying babies
in any way. Now, because you need to be taught
again, all you can take is milk. You can't handle the meat of
the word. Look in verse 13 of Hebrews chapter
5. For everyone that uses milk is
unskillful or unexperienced in the word of righteousness. Now, the gospel is the word of
righteousness. The gospel tells how a righteous
God can take an unrighteous man like me and make me righteous.
That's the gospel. That's the word of righteousness.
And he says, if all you can take is milk, if you can't go to the
meat of the word, you are inexperienced in the word of righteousness.
Now, what is this thing about being experienced or not experienced?
Listen to me real carefully. You do not believe anything that
you haven't experienced. Not really. It's just theory
to you. But when you experience it, that's when you believe it.
Here's an example. We talk about the total, the
doctrine of the total depravity of man. You say, I believe that. I believe the Bible teaches that
men are totally depraved. It's one thing to believe in
the doctrine of total depravity, and it's quite another thing
to truly believe in your heart that you yourself are totally
depraved. Now, when you believe that you
yourself are totally depraved, you understand how you need God
to elect you, because you'll never choose Him. You understand
how it's absolutely necessary for Christ to die before you
can pay for your sins and guarantee your salvation or you won't be
saved. You understand how God's grace must be irresistible or
you'll resist it. You understand the gospel when
you experience this. You experience the fact that
I am in myself nothing but sin. When you experience that, not
simply you're taught it, but you experience it, you hear.
in a different way, don't you? Now, he says to these Hebrews. If all you can take is milk,
if the foundation has to be laid over and over again, and these
foundations are the milk of the word, then you have no experience
in the word of righteousness. You're a baby. That means you're
an infant. What about an infant? An infant
can't take care of itself, himself or herself. An infant can't feed himself.
An infant can't clean himself. An infant is totally dependent
upon others. It can't help anybody. Now, he
says, if all you can take is the milk of the word, you're
a babe. You're an infant. But strong-meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, who have some maturity,
even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to
discern both good and evil." You see, the mature person can
discern the difference between good and evil. Their senses work. When they hear, they can hear
that which is of God, and they can hear that which is of man.
They discern the difference. They can see the difference between
law and gospel. They can discern the difference
between grace and works. They have a discerning ear. Their
senses work. They see what is true and what
is not. They can smell the sweet savor
of life, and they can smell that which is decaying and of death. They can hear the gospel, and
they can know when they don't hear it. They can taste that
the Lord is gracious, and they also know the taste of the bitterness
of salvation by works. They can feel the pleasure of
the gospel and the pain of that which is not of the gospel. Therefore, leaving the ABCs of
the doctrine of Christ, let's go on unto perfection, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from dead works Faith toward
God is the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and
of resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Let's leave
this. He says we know the only way we'll do it. Now, he doesn't
mean let's leave the foundation. He means don't have to lay this
foundation over and over again. And the only way it's going to
happen is if God permits. He says this will we do if God
permits. And if God permits somebody,
I hope everybody in here is going to become grounded in these six
foundational truths. Now, the first thing he mentions
is repentance from dead works. That's the first thing he mentions.
This is something that if I have to be grounded over and over
again on this, I'm in trouble. Repentance from dead works. Now, let's take these two thoughts,
separate them and think about it. First, repentance and then
dead works. First, what's the Bible mean by repentance? If
you ask the average religious person, what does repentance
mean? What do they think? They think, well, if you repent,
that means you're sorry that you did something and you promised
not to do it anymore. And if you do it again, you didn't
really repent of it. Now, I want to ask you a question. What sin have you ever in your
heart stopped committing? You can't name one. Not in your
heart. And God looks on the heart. So if repentance has stopped
sinning, it means you haven't stopped. It means you haven't
repented. And when are you sorry enough?
Somebody says, well, it's being sorry for your sin. Well, how
sorry? How sorry? How much sorry do you have to
have? Understand this. Repentance. I'm not giving any
excuse for sin. Don't misunderstand me. But repentance
is not being sorry and stopping. Repentance, by definition, means
a change of mind. A change of mind. Now, there was a time when I
did not believe that men were totally and completely depraved
and sinful. There was a time when I didn't
believe that. But I believe it now. My mind's been changed.
There was a time when I didn't believe that God chose who would
be saved before time began. I believe it now. My mind's been
changed. There was a time when I believed
Jesus Christ died for everybody. I don't believe that anymore.
I believe he died for the elect. My mind has been changed. There
was a time when I thought God's grace could be resisted. I don't
believe that anymore. My mind's been changed. Repentance
is a change of mind. Now, what does he say repentance
is regarding? Repentance from dead works. Repentance from dead works. Now what are these dead works
he's speaking of? We'll turn over to Hebrews chapter
9, verse 12. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, But by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption. When he entered into
the presence of God, he had obtained eternal redemption for everybody
he died for, complete salvation. Now let's go on reading. If the
blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctifies the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living God? Now, him offering himself without
spot to God is my salvation. That's the work I'm saved by.
And anything contrary to that is a dead work, a rotten work,
a decaying, smelling work. Now, you purge your conscience
from dead works. Now, dead works. I want to talk
something about dead works. May God give us wisdom and grace
to understand what this concept means, because if I'm not grounded
on it, I'm in trouble. Dead works are any works that are contrary
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you some
examples. Let's say that I believe that I was saved when I, as an
act of my will, decided to let Christ save me. Of my will, Christ
died for everybody. God loves everybody, Christ died
for everybody. But I won't be saved, although He loves me and
died for me, I won't be saved unless I, as an act of my will,
allow Him to save me and accept His salvation. And you know what
that is? That is a dead work. It's rotten. No salvation in
that. Let me give you another scenario. Let's say I believe that through
my acts of obedience here on earth, I can become more holy,
more pleasing to God, and less sinful through what I do. Oh,
that smells of death. That's obnoxious to God. That's taking away from the supremacy
of the work of Christ. That's saying something you do
makes you better. Let's say I believe that through
the things I do here on earth, I can earn a higher award in
heaven, and I can have a higher place in heaven because of what
I've done here. That smells of death. dead work,
obnoxious to God. Purge your conscience from dead
works to serve the living and true God. If I believe that I was saved when I had no
understanding of Christ himself as my righteousness before God,
I just had some kind of religious experience, That's a dead work. If I believe that I was truly
born again and regenerated, that I was a true Christian before
I ever heard the gospel of God's sovereign grace, that is a dead
work, rotting and decaying, and I am to repent I'm to change
my mind concerning these dead works. That's the first principle. Repentance from dead works. May God grant us repentance,
a change of mind regarding these dead works. Now look at the next
thing he says. Look at our text in Hebrews chapter 6. Therefore, leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into perfection, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and
secondly, and of faith toward God." Repentance and faith. They're two sides of the same
coin. Where you have one, you have
the other. Repentance and faith. Now, when you repent of your
dead works, All you're left with is faith in God. You don't have
anywhere else to look. Repentance from dead works and
faith in God, faith in the God-man. Now, the writer to the Hebrews
had been telling these people, you're babes. You're infants. You're not grounded. Always having
to lay again these foundations. You're babies. Now, that's bad. To be a babe is not a good thing.
It's a bad thing. But you know, in faith, in this
thing of faith, also being an infant is a good thing. You know,
the Lord said, suffer little children to come unto me and
forbid them not. Some moms brought their infant
children, infant children, helpless little babies. It means literally
they can't speak. They can't speak. Suffer the
little children to come to me, and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of God. Except you become as infants,
you shall in no wise, under no circumstance, enter the kingdom
of God." Let's think of this faithful God. Faithful God is
like being an infant. How dependent is an infant? An infant. I can't walk. I completely have
to be carried. I can't feed myself. I can't
wash myself. I'm completely dependent. And the way of faith is the way
of complete dependence. I can't wash myself. I can't
walk. I can't feed myself. I'm completely
dependent. I'm dependent upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man. I'm not looking to Christ merely
as a man. I'm looking to Him as the God-man. I can't be forgiven
unless He forgives me. I can't have righteousness unless
He takes His righteousness and gives it to me. I can't have
a sin payment. He's got to make that sin payment
for me. I can't have faith. He's got to give it to me. I
won't persevere unless He preserves me. I'm completely dependent,
just like an infant is. What happens to that infant if
that infant's left to itself? It dies. It starves. It can't protect itself. Now,
that's what faith is. When I see that all my works
are dead works, I'm left with one thing. Faith in God. Repentance and faith. Now, here's the third
foundational truth that I have to be settled on, and if I'm
always having to have this proved over to me, I'm in trouble. He says, Not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward
God, verse 2, of the doctrine of baptisms. The doctrine of
baptisms. Notice it's in the plural. The
doctrine of baptisms, not just the doctrine of baptism, but
the doctrine of baptisms. We read in the scriptures of
water baptism, baptism by immersion, and we read of the baptism of
the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of baptisms. Now, what is the doctrine of
baptisms? Baptism by mercy is that act
of confessing Christ. This is my public confession
of Christ. I confess that this is my hope
of salvation, that when he lived, I lived. When he died, and this
is what we're picturing in baptism, when we go under the water, we
say, when he lived, I lived. When he died, I died. When he
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. When he
was accepted by God, I was accepted by God. The doctrine of baptism
is the doctrine of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
my hope. This is my hope of being accepted
by God, union with Christ, that what He did, I did. When He died,
I died. My sins were punished when they
became His sins. Union with Him, whatever He does,
I do. That's what I'm confessing in
baptism. Baptism is the believer's public confession of Christ.
That's why it's so important. Does it save? No. But if you're
a believer, you must confess Him in believer's baptism. And
to not do so is an act of disobedience. What are you waiting on? It's
such a glorious thing to confess Christ in believer's baptism.
It's confessing union with Christ. This is my hope, that I'm united
to Christ. What He did, I did. And then
there's the doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being immersed
in Christ. You know what that means? This
baptism of the Holy Spirit? Well, let me give you a hint.
It doesn't mean you start speaking in tongues. It doesn't mean you start doing
all kinds of weird things. Here's what it means. It means
you become consciously aware that being in Christ is everything
in your salvation. You become consciously aware
of that. You're aware. You say with Paul, oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You become
consciously aware that you simply want to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ, where God, when he looks at me, All he looks
at or all he sees is Jesus Christ. Is that what you desire? When
God looks at you, all he sees is Jesus Christ. Now, that's
the doctrine of union with Christ, the doctrine of baptisms. And
the fourth thing he mentions, the foundational truth. Verse two, the doctrine of laying
on of hands. Now, what he's referring to is
when the high priest in the Old Testament laid his hands on the
head of the scapegoat. You can remember that the high
priest would lay his hands on the head of that scapegoat and
they'd take that scapegoat out into the wilderness and it would
be seen no more. Now, the doctrine of that is
not just a religious ceremony. The doctrine of that is the transference
of guilt and the transference of righteousness. That's all
that means. And it's critical for me to understand
this, to understand the gospel, the transference of guilt and
the transference of righteousness. Now, listen to me real carefully.
Here's what took place on the cross. My sin became His sin. so that he himself actually was
guilty of it. My sin became his sin. Now, I don't have the authority.
I don't have the ability to take my sins off of myself and place
them upon Christ. I can't do that. But God can. And God does. The sins of His
people are lifted off of Him and placed upon the Lord Jesus
Christ so that He bore in His own body my sins on the tree. My sin became His sin so that
He became guilty of it. Now, what all does that mean?
I don't know. I don't know. I don't understand everything
that took place. That's beyond us. You know, that's
behind the veil. And we can't see what all was
going on, but I know this. My sin became his so that he
became obnoxious to God, and that's why God killed him. God
forsook him because he deserved to be forsaken, because my sin
became his. And the transference of righteousness,
his righteousness becomes my righteousness before God. I don't have the authority to
take His righteousness and make it mine. I don't have the ability
to do that. But here's the mystery of the
gospel. God does. He takes the righteousness of
His Son and makes it mine so that I, in my person, and I wouldn't
say this if the Bible didn't say it, I, in my person, am the
very righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Well, I can rest if I'm the righteousness
of God in him. Now, am I grounded on this? This thing of the transference
of guilt? The transference of sin? The
transference of righteousness. Now, next, he says in verse two,
the resurrection of the dead. I have to be grounded, settled
in this thing of the resurrection of the dead. Now, there are three
resurrections that the scripture speaks of. First, there is the
bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died. He died. They took him down from that
cross dead. They put him in a tomb. That's
so mysterious to me. How can the God-man die? I don't
know, but he did. He did. I've had people argue with me.
Well, God can't die. Well, I know he can, but the
God-man did. And I can't understand that, that he did. It's not like
he did. But you know what? He was raised
from the dead. Now, what does the resurrection
of Christ from the dead signify? It signifies God's satisfaction
with him. Now, I've given this illustration
a couple of times in the last month or so, but I'm going to
give it again just in case you haven't heard it. If somebody killed my daughter
and then they offered me $10 million cash, here, this is to
make up for what took place, would that satisfy me? Well,
I say, oh, OK, it's OK, it's OK. I mean, that's satisfaction. What about $20 million? Would
that satisfy you? No. I could not be satisfied
with any payment. That's why hell is eternal. The
reason hell lasts forever is because God can never find satisfaction
in the punishment of that sinner. It's never enough. It's never
enough. The only thing that could satisfy me. With regard to the
death of my daughter, if you killed her, the only thing that
would bring me satisfaction is if she was raised from the dead.
And if she was raised from the dead, I'd be satisfied. Christ
Jesus the Lord was raised from the dead, signifying God's satisfaction. You see, Christ paid for my sins,
and he satisfied all that God demanded, and that's why he was
raised from the dead. And because when Christ was raised
from the dead, every believer was justified. Justified. The resurrection of Christ speaks
of the satisfaction of God, and all of his people are justified,
not guilty. Sin was put away. The second
resurrection we read of is the spiritual resurrection, and you
hath he quickened, given life to, raised from the dead, who
were dead in trespasses and sins. This is the new birth. And when
you're born again, when you're born from above, you rejoice. in this bodily resurrection of
Christ. This is where you find your comfort,
your confidence in who Christ is and what he did for you. That's
the evidence of the new birth faith. And then there is that
last physical resurrection that's going to come as a result of
these first two resurrections I've talked about where Christ
was raised from the dead and we were raised spiritually. One
of these days. I'm going to die. And you're going to die. Do you
know what? My body is going to be raised
at the last trump. My body is going to be raised
incorruptible, and I'm going to be raised perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. What? You know, if you really believe
that. No matter how bad things are
now, you can get through it. You're waiting on that time where
you're raised to the perfect image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The resurrection. Not just that it happened, but
what it means, what it signifies. God's complete satisfaction.
Spiritual life from death. He gave me life. And what I'm
waiting on, that last resurrection where I'm made just like Christ.
And the last thing he mentions in this passage of Scripture
is eternal judgment. eternal judgment. Now, let's first talk about this
issue of judgment. God's the judge of the earth.
God's judge, and he's just. He's righteous. He judges. Now, there is, and I would say
this with a tear in my eye. That's the way I ought to say
it. There is a place called hell, where God is going to send everybody
who doesn't believe on Christ. And that's where they ought to
be. God's just. God's a God of judgment. Paul
put it this way. If any man loved not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha. Let him be damned
upon the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. If somebody doesn't love
the Lord Jesus Christ, they ought to be damned. They ought to be
judgment. God is a God of judgment. But
not only in condemnation, In salvation, God is a God of judgment. And if I'm saved, it's because
I deserve to be saved. God's just. He only gives people
what they have coming. You see, my sins were paid for. They're put away by what Christ
did. His righteousness is my righteousness,
and God looks at me. Todd Nybert. And He says on Judgment
Day, well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord. Now here's the point. If Christ
did well, I did well. If He's faithful, I'm faithful. And God gives me exactly what
I deserve. In saving me, judgment takes
place. God's judgment. God's just. You
know the gospel is so utterly just. That's one of the glorious
things about the gospel. Many glorious things. But it's
so just. It's so perfect. It's so righteous.
But notice he speaks of eternal judgment. Don't miss that word. Eternal judgment. Judgment that
never had a beginning. Judgment that never has an end. Now, God I can just, I'm going
to talk about things I don't understand. God doesn't dwell in time. There's
not a yesterday with God. There's not a tomorrow with God.
Everything is the eternal now with God. Second, I want you to turn to
this passage of scripture with me so you can read it yourself.
2 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 9, 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9, "...who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Everything
I have Justification. Redemption. Sanctification. Adoption. Glory. Everything that I have. God gave
it to me before the world began. Eternal. Eternal salvation. Eternal redemption. Everything
I have. God gave me before time began. Now, in that sense, listen to
me real carefully. The believer has never been under the wrath
of God. Well, what about that scripture
that says you were by nature children of wrath, even as others?
Well, by nature, I'm just like everybody else, sinful, evil.
By nature, I'm just like everybody else. But my hope is that I've
always been in Christ. And that everything I have now,
He gave me before time began. Somebody says, that will lead
to fatalism. It will not. If you want to use it and turn it
into fatalism, you can do it, but it doesn't make God's people
fatalistic. No, it doesn't. It gives us confidence, though.
It gives us joy. It gives us peace. We've never
been viewed apart from the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Now, these six foundational truths ought not have to be proved
over and over again. Repentance from dead works, faith
toward God, the doctrine of baptism, union with Christ, laying on
of hands, the transference of guilt and the transference of
righteousness, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. May God ground us in this. And this will do, if God permit. Let's pray.