Hebrews 6, reading verse 7. For the earth which drinketh
in the rain, and we've seen that the past few weeks and we're
so thankful for it, that often cometh upon it, and it bringeth
forth herbs. vegetables and fruits sufficient
for them by whom it is dressed, that earth is blessed of God.
In some places where it rains, it brings forth fruits and vegetables
and herbs, and that's a sign of blessing, blessings from God. But in some places, the same
rain falls upon certain ground, and it It bears thorns and briars. It's rejected, non-to-cursing.
People can't live there. They can't survive, can't make
a living. And the end is to be burned.
What's he talking about? Well, he's referring to the word
of God. If you'll open your Bible to Isaiah 55, Isaiah 55, the
Lord, through Isaiah the prophet, Everything in the New Testament
is preached and prophesied and typified in the Old Testament.
He says in verse 9 of Isaiah 55, verse 9, "...for as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
waters the earth, and makes the earth to bring forth, and doth,"
like I said, Bread from Paul over there in Hebrews, it brings
forth fruits and herbs, vegetables, that it may give seed to the
sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be, here it
is, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth,
the word we are reading, the word that is preached. It will
not return to me void, it shall accomplish that which I please.
It will prosper in the thing whereto I have sent it." Like
God sends the rain to bring the vegetables and fruit, God sends
the word to bring forth fruits of righteousness. In verse 9
of Hebrews 6, Paul says, Some places on the earth where it
rains brings forth herbs and fruits, but some places thorns
and vires. In verse 9 of Hebrews 6, he says,
But beloved, I have persuaded better things of you than thorns
and vires. and ugly things, and things that
ought to be cursed, and things that are doomed to be burned.
I'm persuaded of things, results from the word, things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak. Things that accompany salvation,
things that accompany the rain are herbs and fruits and vegetables,
and things that accompany salvation are the results of the regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit. In other words, our Lord said
through Paul the Apostle, if any man be in Christ, if the
Word has reigned in his heart and been applied in his heart
by the Spirit of God, he's a new creature. That's the result of
salvation. That's the result of regeneration.
He's a new creature. And fruits are born. Now, what
are these fruits? Well, let's turn to Galatians
Chapter 5, Galatians 5, where the word is preached. Some places
people hear the word and it doesn't bring forth any fruits, it brings
forth thorns and briars and hatred and rebellion and anger. Some places it brings forth things
that accompany salvation. Now, Galatians 5, verse 19, here
are the thorns and the briars. Verse 19, Galatians 5, the works
of the flesh are manifest, they are these, adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
valiance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings,
murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like, that's thorns
and wires, now I'm to curse him, that's fit to be burned. That's
not good for anybody. And yet that's so prevalent in
a nation that's got a Bible in every home and a Bible in every
motel room, a Bible in every hospital room, a church on every
corner. But something's wrong. The Word
doesn't, it's not supposed to produce that sort of thing. which
I tell you before, as I told you in times past, they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit."
Here are the things that accompany the Spirit applying the word,
and salvation and regeneration, the fruit of the Spirit. It's
the result of the rain. It's the result of the word,
the effectual word in the heart. And it produces this fruit, which
is blessed of God and Blessing to men and women. It's love.
Joy. Peace. In the home. In the church. Place of business. Long self-patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Just good. Folks that are good to one another.
Faith in God. Humility. Temperance. Control. Self-control. Against
such there is no love. These are the fruits of the Spirit. Fruits of the Word of God. So,
back to our text, Hebrews 6. The rain comes down, produces
some places blessed fruit, some places thorns and vires. But beloved, we're persuaded
better things of you than thorns and vires. We're persuaded that
that fruit that accompanies salvation. It always accompanies salvation.
Well, you have salvation, justification, you have sanctification. Now
verse 10. For God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and your labor of love, which you have shown in his name. These fruits This
blessed gentleness and faith and mercy and tenderness and
care. God's not unrighteous to forget that. Which you showed
toward his name and in that you ministered to the saints and
do minister. Now before I comment on that, let me say one thing.
Paul is always quick to give God the glory for any grace that's
in us or any work performed by us. Now he's talking here in
this verse about your work and your labor of love. Your work,
your labor of love. And Paul is always quick to give
God the glory for anything we say or do or give, or any labor. That's right. Let me show you
that in 1 Corinthians 15. He's talking about himself, and
Paul was a man of labor. Paul was a man of diligence,
Paul was a man of faithfulness, Paul was a man of generosity,
Paul was a man who gave his whole life for others, by God's grace. But that's what it was, by God's
grace. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 9. For I am the least of the
apostles. I'm not meet or sufficient to
be called an apostle. I persecuted the church. But
by the grace of God, I am what I am. By the grace of God, I
am what I am, he said. And his grace, which was bestowed
upon me, it's his grace, which was bestowed, it was given. I obtained mercy. I didn't earn
it, deserve it, work for it, it was bestowed on me freely.
Listen. It was not in vain. It didn't
rain in vain on me, he said. It didn't rain, the word didn't
rain on me in vain. God didn't work in vain. God
didn't say, Me in vain. But I labored more abundantly
than they all. Yet not I. Yet not I. It wasn't me. It was the grace of God in me.
He's the one who did it. It's his work. It's his fruit. It's the fruit of the Spirit,
not the fruit of the flesh. I tell you what the fruit of
the flesh is, all that stuff I read a while ago. but the fruit
of the Spirit. He said that's the grace of God.
One other scripture along this line in Galatians 2.20. Paul talks about himself again
in Galatians 2.20. He said in Galatians 2.20, I'm
crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, Christ lives in me. and the life, and the fruit,
and the work, and the labor, and the effort, which I now live
in this flesh, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me." Is that clear? Before
I say what I'm going to say, I want that to be made, as one
President used to say, perfectly clear. For God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and your labor of love. Paul uses these phrases
two or three times. Work of faith, labor of love.
It would be worth your while to turn to these scriptures.
The first one is 1 Thessalonians 1. Your work of faith, your labor
of love. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. First Thessalonians 1, verse
2, we give thanks to God always for you, for all of you, making
mention of you in our prayers. Remember without ceasing your
work of faith, your work of faith and your labor
of love, and your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ
and the sight of God. your work of faith and your labor
of love. Always on my mind. Galatians 5, Paul uses this frequently. Galatians 5, verse 6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision,
ceremony availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which
worketh by love. Now here's what Paul is saying.
God has given us a faith that works, and he's given us a love
that labors. Now, faith is not produced by
works, but works is produced by faith. And love is not produced
by labor, that labor is produced by love. Love is a gift, but
labor is a result. Faith is a gift, but work is
the result of the gift. the rain coming down from heaven.
You don't have any power or influence over it at all. You can't make
it rain. But I tell you, when God makes
it rain, he makes something come up. And when God gives faith,
that faith works. And when God gives love, that
love labors. And that's what he's saying.
Don't you think, verse 10, for a moment, that God's unrighteous
or unfair. or unaware or indifferent to
your work of faith and to your labor of love. Don't you think
for a moment. You may feel like, well, it's
all in vain. Not for a moment. Nobody cares. Maybe not. He does. He said,
don't you think for a moment that God's unrighteous. He knows
what you're doing in his name. He knows what you're giving in
his name. You know why you're doing it? For his glory. He knows
that he gave you the love that enables you to labor, and he'll
not forget it. In fact, in Matthew 10, if you
want to turn over there, this will bless your heart, what he
says to his disciples, knowing that they'd be the off-scurrying
of the world, knowing that they'd be persecuted and hated and their
names despised and their gospel rejected. But
in Matthew 10, verse 40, he says this to them, to comfort them.
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me
receiveth him that sent me. And he that receiveth a prophet
in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And
he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall
give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water
only, in the name of a disciple, that I say unto you, God is not
unrighteous to forget your work of faith and your labor of love.
He will not lose his reward. God is going to bless him. He
is going to bless those who bless his name and who labor in his
name. He is going to bless them. He reserves his blessing for
his time and in his way and for his glory. He's not unrighteous,
by God, not. Verse 11, Paul desires two things
of all of us. He said, and I desire, we desire,
that every one of you, every single one of you, show two things,
diligence and full assurance of hope to the end. Diligence. That every one of you show diligence.
What's that word mean? It means earnestness. It means
sensitivity. It means a commitment to Christ,
a dedication to the glory of God. That's what Paul wrote to
young Timothy over in 2 Timothy. Paul was in jail up there in
Rome, and this is his last epistle written in about 68 AD, about
40 years after our Lord was crucified. Paul wrote this letter to young
Timothy from prison. In 2 Timothy 1, verse 8, he says
to young Timothy, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the gospel
of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of me, his prisoner.
But you be a partaker. Be thou partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. Be diligent, committed,
sincere. Be faithful to the gospel. Be
willing to bear the afflictions, persecution, and hatred of this
world for the gospel. I tell you, it's getting stronger
and stronger. I was amazed. I'm still amazed. One of the presidential candidates
said before the NAACP, he said, talking about Charlton
Heston, I'm not a Charlton Heston promoter or fan, I'm just telling
you what a man said, and nobody took issue with it. He said Charlton
Heston played Moses, and when the Republican candidate is elected
president, Moses will operate out of the White House. Now listen,
but Moses, the last time Moses got advice from a bush His people
wandered 40 years in the desert. The last time Moses got advice
from a bush, his people wandered 40 years in the desert. And nobody
picked up on that. Not yet. Nobody. The advice Moses
got from the bush was God Almighty. God Almighty spoke to Moses through
that burning bush. That's blasphemy. Blasphemy. Nobody picked up on it. Doesn't
that astound you? If you do pick up on it, here's
the reason. Somebody picked up on it, but
they won't say anything. They won't say anything. You
know why they won't say anything? Because it's unpopular. Unpopular to stand
for anything now. It's unpopular, especially the
scriptures and God and truth. It's unpopular. And the blacks
all cheered it. That bothers me. But now you
be ready when you say something's wrong and the world turns against
you. Be ready. When you say something's
right and they turn against you, be ready to bear affliction.
You understand what I'm saying? It's coming. It's unpopular to
believe. It's not unpopular to be religious.
Not unpopular to quote scripture, but it's unpopular to believe
it. That's what's unpopular. And
I'm not promoting politics, please. I wouldn't dare do that. I wouldn't
dare do that. I don't know of any true believer
or godly person that could survive in Washington. But I'm simply
saying that we're making a joke out of the word of God, and nobody's
objecting to it. Nobody's saying anything. Let
me show you a scripture in Joshua chapter 24. Joshua 24. Listen to this. Joshua 24. This has been misunderstood.
This is quoted. This is the way it's quoted.
Choose you this day whom you will serve, either the gods of
Egypt or the living God. That is not what Joshua said.
That is not what he said. Listen to what he did say. And
if it seemed evil to you to serve the Lord, the living Lord, the
Almighty God, that seems evil to you to believe God, to believe
his word, serve him, take him at his word. It did. There were
a backslidden bunch of unbelievers. That's the reason they didn't
go in Canaan, they were unbelievers. They rejected the living God
and his way. And it seems evil to you to believe
God, to serve God, to honor God, to own God. Then choose you this
day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served
on the other side of the flood, or the gods your father served
on this side of the flood, the gods over there or the gods of
the Amorite. Choose any false god you want. And that's what a natural man
will do when he chooses his god. He'll choose a false god. You
see what he said? They've rejected the living God,
as our nation has. Totally rejected the living God.
The God who is the God of election, and the God of sovereignty, and
the God of effectual salvation, the God who despises homosexuality,
and abortion, and killing babies, God who's true God, the living
God, they've rejected Him. Then choose which God you want
to serve. You can serve the God of the Amorites, or the God of
the Fundamentalists, or the God of the Catholics, or the God
of the Baptists, or the God of the Arminians, or the God you
want to choose. Just choose him! But he says, I'm going to tell
you, not me in my house. We serve the God who chose us. There's a difference. They chose
their God. He chose us. I'm going to serve
the living God. Save the God you want to. And
that's what freedom of religion, that's what we got in the USA,
that's one of the freedoms, four freedoms, freedom of religion.
So choose any God you want to. But it's for me and my house,
we're going to save the living God. God who speaks the truth. Do you see the difference? A natural man doesn't choose
between the living God and a false God. He always chooses a false
God. Always. But God chooses. You didn't choose me, he said.
I chose you. But if he has chosen you, be
diligent. Be faithful. Be courageous. Don't back up. Don't back down. Don't surrender. Don't try to
have fellowship with darkness. It can't be done. Don't walk
with unbelievers. It can't be done. It can't be
done. And another thing he said, full
assurance. I want you to have two things
here. I desire two things that you show diligence and faithfulness. And the second thing is full
assurance. What is assurance? What is assurance? Now listen
to me. I'll help you here if you'll let me. Assurance is not
a feeling you cultivate. Assurance is a confidence. It's
not a feeling. It's a confidence in God, as
the covenant God. It's a confidence in God, our
Father, like Job. Even on the ash heap, with everything
gone, he says, he doesn't feel too good. But he says, though
he slay me, I'll trust him. Though he slay me. That's assurance. Confidence in God. Secondly,
it's confidence in Christ as our Savior and our Lord. It's
like Peter said to the Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of life, we believe and assure that you're the Son
of God. Confidence in Him, that's my
assurance. Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. I trust the living Son of God. No one else is worth believing.
And assurance is confidence in God's Word. Promises. That's what Abraham believed.
God was able to perform everything he promised. That's assurance. And I'm telling you this. Assurance
comes not the more you work, but the more you rest. Think
about it now. You cease from your works and
you enter his rest. Confidence doesn't come the more
you labor, the more you study, the more you read, the more you
work. It comes the more you rest in him. Leaning on the everlasting arms,
safe in the arms of Jesus. saved in his wonderful breast. That's how assurance comes. The
more you trust, the more you rest, the more you're assured. Not the more you work and labor,
but the more you rest. Verse 12 says you've got some
examples to follow. Verse 12 says don't be lazy,
don't be slothful. but followers of them who through
faith and patience inherited the promises." What do we follow? Do we follow
men? No. We follow their faith. Turn to Hebrews 13, verse 7. We've got examples, Moses, Abraham,
different ones. those who preach to us, those
who preach to us today, Hebrews 13. And God doesn't tell us to
imitate men or to follow men. That's the reason I don't recommend
a whole lot of biographies, reading biographies of great men. It's
all right for your pleasure, but for your instructions in
living and life and faith, read the word. But here it says in
verse 7, Hebrews 13, remember them that have the rule over
you, listen to them, who have spoken to you the word of God,
whose faith follow. There's the key, follow their
faith. whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation, the end of their ministry, and
that's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
So it's not men's works and deeds that we follow, that's a fine
example, but it's the faith that produced these works. If I can
find out what Abraham believed, that's what I want to believe.
What he believed made him what he was. I can't be what he was unless
I have his faith. Isn't that right? So don't follow. Too often when we imitate men,
we imitate their bad points. We imitate their cleverness.
We imitate their faults. Because we can do that. That's
flesh. We're made out of the same flesh
they're made out of. And that's easy to do. It's easy to follow
their faults. But their graces are the gift
of God. And the only way I can follow that and take that is
God give me that grace. Give me Moses' faith, Lord. Give me Abraham's faith. And
then I'll be what I'm supposed to be for your glory where I
am. That's right. No use you wearing
a bracelet, what would Jesus do? You can't do what he did
unless you have faith. and grace and love. He won't
do you any good on your wrist. That's what's got us in a mess,
William. We've got religious trinkets and gizmos and all this
other stuff to try to fix us up like somebody else. I don't
want to be like somebody else except Christ. God didn't call me to lead the
children of Israel out of Egypt. He called me to preach the gospel
in Ashland, Kentucky. And I need the same faith Moses
had, Abraham faith, and whose faith follow. Don't be a man
imitator. You'll imitate his faults. You
can imitate, get up four o'clock in the morning to pray, you get
up four o'clock in the morning to pray. But he got a reason to
get up, you don't. That's right. I got to have the
reason. I've got to have the faith. So
don't, whose faith follow. That's worth the whole thing
I've worked on today, right there, just that one thing we can get
a hold of following these men of God and the powers out of
their faith. And here's another one, verse
13. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself.
What was the promise that God made to Abraham? that Abraham
believed, that motivated Abraham, that sent him through the desert,
through the wilderness, kept him faithful. What was the promise?
Was it the land? No. He never occupied that land. He wandered through it. Was it
the heir, Isaac? No. It was the seed, Christ. That's
what motivated Abraham, the promise of Christ. Let me show you that
in Genesis 22. Genesis 22. That's what it was. Abraham, it says here that God
made promise to Abraham, and because he could swear by no
greater, he swore by himself. Let's see where God swore by
himself to Abraham. Genesis 22. This is on Mount Moriah, you
know where he was going to sacrifice his son Isaac and God stayed
his hand. Verse 15, And the angel of the
Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. Who
is this angel of the Lord? This is Christ speaking. Has
to be. And he said, By myself have I
sworn. That tells you right away who
it is. God swore by himself. That's what Paul said. He could
swear by no grave, he could swear by himself. By myself have I
sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and
hast not withheld thy son, thine only Son, in blessings I will
bless thee, in multiplying I will multiply thy seed. Thy seed. as the stars of the heaven, as
the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies, and thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." Who is the
seed? It is not Isaac. Turn to Galatians chapter 3,
and I'll show you who it is. Galatians 3. God promised Abraham
that through his seed all the nations of the earth would be
blessed. So it wasn't the land, and it wasn't just Isaac and
the Jews. Galatians 3. Now to Abraham and
his seed were the promises all made. He saith not unto seed,
as of many, but as of one, to thy seed, which is Jesus Christ."
That's who Abraham looked for. That was his favorite picture,
Jesus Christ. That's when Christ said, Abraham
saw my day. He rejoiced to see my day. That's
what motivated that old man. That's what drove him on. That's
what gave him hope, assurance and confidence in his soul, Jesus
Christ. He saw my day, he rejoiced to
see it. And he believed God, that what
God had promised, a Savior, a Redeemer, God would fulfill. And so, after
verse 15, and so after he patiently endured, he obtained the promise. He saw
the Lord Jesus. He entered heaven. He saw him
by faith here, and he saw him in person there. He obtained
the promise. Now, men, let me show you something
here. God swore by himself. Men barely swore by the greater. God swore by himself. Now, why
did God swore to Abraham? Let me close this message by
giving you several things. Why God swore He didn't have
to. But number one, verse 16, men
swear by the greater. God has none greater than himself.
And condescension I witness, he sware by himself. Secondly,
men sware to put an end to strife. You know what it says in verse
16? An oath for them is an end to the strife. So God sware by
himself to end all controversy. all debate, all argument. It's
Christ, my friends. God swore by himself. Abraham
saved Christ. All right, verse 17. God willing
more abundantly to show to the heirs of the promise, to encourage
us, to comfort us, meet us where we are, human beings, to help
our feelings. willing to show us the unchangeableness,
the immutability of his counsel, he confirmed it with an oath.
To actually show the heirs of Christ more abundantly the unchanging
nature of his purpose, he confirmed it with an oath. That's why God
did it. Verse 18, here's the next reason. That those who have fled to Christ,
that by two immutable things, his word and his oath, in which
it is impossible to him to lie, We might have a strong comfort
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, a strong consolation, a good comfort, a good hope, lay hold
of Christ. That's why he did it. That's
why he did it. That's why he did it. To put an end to all strife. to comfort us and encourage us
in our weakness, to actually show us the unchangeable nature
of his purpose, and that we might have a good hope. All right,
verse 19. Which hope we have as an anchor
of our souls, an anchor of our souls, a sure, steadfast anchor
of our souls. Now watch this. Which entereth
into that within the veil. Our assurance and confidence
and our anchor. goes beyond our present existence,
beyond our confession, beyond our baptism, beyond our church,
beyond this present day. Our assurance and anchor is within
the bagel. It's Christ Jesus. Listen, whoever
the forerunner for us has entered, even Jesus, How great our priest,
you know, back there in the Old Testament, the Lord, when he
made the Holy of Holies, in which the mercy seat and the ark and
the blood atonement was made, he told Moses, he said, tell
Ava not to come in here, but once a year, not without blood. My Shekinah glory will be on
the mercy seat, but don't come into the Holy of Holies, but
once a year, and not without blood. But we have a hope, the
anchor of our soul, our High Priest, is within the veil all
the time. He's already entered within the
veil all the time and possessed it for us. And it's Christ Jesus,
our High Priest, after the altar of Melchizedek. That makes our
hope sure and steadfast. Well, I hope that's a blessing.
I hope you've been blessed by it. I hope the Lord will use
it for his glory.