Last Sunday night, I preached
from this chapter and got as far as verse 9, so
I'm going to pick up tonight there. But back in verse 7 and
8, it says, "...the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh
upon it, the rain is out there now. It rains quite often. The rain comes
down and waters the earth. Over here in Isaiah 55, Isaiah
said, The rain cometh down in the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth
in blood. But it brings forth two kinds of growth. It brings forth, over
here now, it brings forth herbs, vegetables, and fruit, and good
things. It brings forth good things,
herbs, meat for them by whom it's dressed, receiving blessings
from God. And that's what it says over
here in Isaiah 55, the rain cometh down, the snow watereth the earth,
and it brings forth and buds, that it may give seed to the
sower and bread to the eater. And the Lord said in verse 11
of Isaiah 55, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth. It doesn't return to be void.
It shall accomplish that which I please. It may be a message of blessing
and salvation. It may be a message of condemnation. You know, Paul said we never
fail when we preach God's word. We never fail. We do what God
sent us to do. He said, thanks be unto God who
always causes us to triumph in Christ. If we preach this word
and the power of his spirit, God is in the message. Everybody
that hears it It's either going to bring forth fruit for his
glory and blessings and salvation to which he sent it, or it will
add to the condemnation. It says, like Paul went on, he
said, Thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in
Christ. We are unto those who are saying
a sweet fragrance of Christ, and unto those who perish. an
odor that's detestable, and it adds to their condemnation. Life,
where life is given, death, where death reigns. And that's what
he's saying in Hebrews 6, verse 7, "...the earth drinketh in
the rain, cometh often upon it, bringeth forth herbs, good things
meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God." That which bears thorns and briars, the word is despised, the word
is hated, the word is rejected, the word is refused. That sweet fragrance of Christ
which is pleasant to the believer is unpleasant to the unbeliever
and is now into cursing. Whose end is to be burned? Whose
end? Well, you gather herbs and eat
them. You gather thorns and burn them. You gather fruits and vegetables
and eat them. You gather wheat and take it
to the mill and make flour and bread. You gather the tares and
the thorns and the briars and you burn them over there on the
side of the field. It's clear you feel up and burn
them. And that's the two things, the two results of the preaching
of the Word of God. It saves and it condemns. It gives life, and it adds to
death. It's a blessing, and to those
who do not love it and receive it, it's a curse. Better for that man, he'd never
been born. That's what Christ said. Better for that man, he'd
never been born. And now let's start at verse
9. That's where, But Beloved, I like the way you read that
a while ago. You just paused there and said, But Beloved.
You read that, and it gripped your heart while you were reading
about the thorns and the briars but beloved." Who's this beloved? Well, they're beloved of God.
Paul said, I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He said,
I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness
I've drawn you. Beloved, they're beloved of God.
But the apostle in writing frequently uses this term to refer to God's
people whom he loved, beloved of God and beloved of Paul, not
merely because they were his countrymen. He loved his countrymen,
as all of us have a place in our hearts for our countrymen.
But he loved these people because they were the family of God.
is a special place in the heart of every believer for the family
of God, and they are beloved. But, beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you. Better things than what? Thorns
and briars. When the word is preached and
the seed is sown, I'm persuaded a lot better things than thorns
and briars and prickly pears, a lot better. Things that accompany
salvation. Sir, there's company salvation, though we thus speak. One of
these things that are not salvation, but company
salvation. Salvation in Christ, salvation
in his blood, salvation in his obedience. Salvation is a gift. Salvation is not something we
add to in any way, shape, form, or fashion, before we're saved
or after we're saved. But there are some things that
accompany salvation. It's called fruit. It's called fruit. Turn to John 15. I'm persuaded
he's talking about bearing fruit. He talks about the rain coming
down and the plant growing and producing bread to the eater,
seed to the sower. Herbs to the people, herbs to
those by whom it's dressed. Here in John 15, our Lord says
in verse 4, "...Abide in me, and I in you. The branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine. No more
can you except you abide in me." That's bearing fruit, that's
herbs and fruit, good things to eat, pleasant to the taste. you abide in me." That's how
you're saved, being in Christ. That's how you have life, being
in Christ. And you bear it. It's not the fruit of the branches,
it's the fruit of the vine. It's divine fruit, but the branches
bear it. I'm divine and you're the branches,
verse 5, he that abideth in me and I in him. It's ain't bringing
forth much fruit. Without me, you can do nothing.
The branch brings forth fruit. Down here in verse 8, look at
it. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. So
shall you be my disciples. His disciples are going to bear
fruit. He came to a fig tree one time and had no fruit, and
he said, dig around it and dung it. And when I come back and
there's no fruit, we're going to cut her down. Didn't he say
that? We're going to cut her down.
It's not going to encumber the ground any longer on my place.
We're going to get rid of it. And if you will turn to Galatians
5, this is what this is talking about, bearing fruit. Galatians
5, verse 22, the fruit of the spirit. That's what we're talking about.
It's the fruit of the Spirit, it's the fruit of the vine, it's
the fruit of Christ, but the believer bears it. I'll show
you that in a moment, but here, verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, genuine, God-given, sincere love, joy, rejoicing
in Christ's peace. Peace in the home, peace in the
family, peace in the church, peace in the neighborhood, peace.
That's where the peacemakers, they're the children of God.
long-suffering, patience, gentleness. He's a gentle man, a gentle woman,
gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, temperance. Against such there is no law. That's what it's talking about
over here. When he says, Beloved, I've persuaded better things
of you than thorns and briars and prickly I'm persuaded that
that salvation which is in you will produce fruit which accompanies
salvation, verse 9, chapter 6, says thus, though we thus speak. Now look at verse 10. God is
not unrighteous or uncaring to forget or overlook your work. your labor of love. Paul in 1
Thessalonians calls it your work of faith, your labor of love.
God's not uncaring and unthoughtful and unrighteous to overlook your
work, which you have shewed toward his name, in that you have ministered
to the people of God. You have, with your hands, And
your means, you've ministered to the people of God, and you
do still minister. Now, here are two things for
us to remember. The first one is this, and there's no reason
why I should even have to mention this, but we know that any grace,
love, faith, gentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance, patience
in is the gift of God. I know that. Paul said, I've
labored more abundantly than all of you, yet not I, but Christ
in me. I know that. That anything done
in earth, I am what I am by the grace of God, he said. Yet it's called your work. Isn't
that what that says there? Let your light so shine before
me, and they may see your work." Do you know what that says? I think that's what that says.
Your work, your labor of love, what does that mean? It's done
with your hands. It's God that does it. It's not
me preaching, it's God who preaches, if I'm preaching the truth. If
I'm preaching the word of God, if a guy having a gift, he gave
him. If I know anything, he taught it. If I say anything worth hearing,
he said it. I know that. But I said it. All
right? I took the time today to study
this so you'd have something to feed on tonight. God won't
bless laziness. I'll show you that in a minute.
But it's your work because it's your hands and your faculties
and your heart and your will by the grace of God through which
he does it. He bragged on those people on
his right hand, he said, I was in prison, you visited me. I
was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was weary and you strengthened
me. Lord, when we ever see you in
prison and visited you, hungry and fed you, naked and clothed
you, inasmuch as you've done it, who did it? You did it. Inasmuch as you have done it,
to the least of these my brethren did it to me." And that other
crowd, he said, I was in prison, you didn't visit me. I was next
to you and you didn't call me. I was hungry and you didn't feed
me. Lord, when we see you, if we had seen you that way, we
would have done it. And as much as you did it not to my brethren,
you did it not to me. That's right. You don't have
trouble with that, do you? I deny grace. We're not preaching
works. We're preaching grace that produces
works, grace that produces love, grace that if it doesn't produce
it, is not God's grace. That's fact. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus that we should walk in him. You know that so. I know that
so. And that's beautiful, that. And
God's not unrighteous, uncaring, to forget your work and your
labor of love, which you shall do toward his name, for his sake,
not for your glory, his glory, for his glory. It's in that you
minister to the Saints and you do ministry. And verse 11, he
desires two things for every one of us, two things. And we
desire that every one of you show two things. One, diligence. What's diligence? Commitment.
That every one of you show diligence, commitment, dedication in exercising,
stirring up these gifts of God's grace. faith and faithfulness,
love and consideration, reaching out, giving and forgiving,
growing in grace, studying the Word, bearing witness to the
glory of Christ, diligence. And the second thing he desires
for every one of you is a full assurance of hope. diligence
in the things of Christ and a full assurance of hope. And that full
assurance of hope is a confidence in Christ and a confidence of
our hope in Christ. A confidence in him first. I
know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded he is able to keep
My confidence is not in me, it's in him. But I also have confidence
of my hope in him. Because he said over here in
2 Thessalonians 2, this would be good for you to look at, 2
Thessalonians 2, verse 16. We have confidence in our Lord
Jesus Christ, and we have confidence in the hope that we have in him.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, who
hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and
a good hope, and a good hope for grace. Comfort your hearts. Establish you. Establish you. Strengthen you in every good
word. and work," every good word and every good work. Here is
that word, and be not slothful. What does that word mean? It
means lazy. It means also sluggish, and it
means indifferent. What he is talking about here
And it's not a one of us here that could be called lazy. I know this congregation. Lazy
or indifferent or sluggish in material things, in secular things,
in family things, in education, in work, in labor. We're not
talking about those things. We're talking about spiritual
things. We're talking about our commitment to the one truth,
our commitment to Christ. Our commitment to his word, his
truth, and that's what he's talking about, commitment to works of
faith and labor of love, the kingdom of God. That's when our
Lord said, well, the heathen, their concern is what shall we
eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear? This is what the
heathen seek. But your Father knows you have need of these
things. It doesn't mean you're not going to put forth every
effort to do that. He'll supply it, but seek ye
first. seeking with the same diligence and the same commitment
and the same dedication the kingdom of God. And these things will
be added too. David said, I'm old, I've been
young, I'm old now, but I've never seen God seek bacon bread
yet. So apply, every one of us, apply
that same work ethic and commitment and dedication to what you do
and do well to the kingdom of God. That's what it is. Don't be indifferent and lazy
and sluggish. But I'll tell you what to do.
He said, go on, but follow us. Don't be lazy, but be followers
of them who through patience, through faith and patience, inherited
the promise. Who's he talking about? Don't
be lazy and indifferent and slothful in things pertaining to our God. It's like I told one of the men
in the study, every once in a while now, you've heard me preach from
this chapter a dozen times. And somebody once
in a while will come up to me after I preach a message from
a passing description, they have my initials or something there,
and they say, I heard that sermon three years ago. I said, thank
you, but I want to say, you didn't hear that sermon. You didn't
hear that sermon. I never preach the same sermon
twice. Never. That would be lazy. That
would be slothful. That would be indifferent. I
take the same scripture and spend the same amount of time, the
twelfth time I spent the first time preparing the message. Exactly
right. God's not going to bless laziness.
God's not going to bless slothfulness. It's too important. Every time
we teach or preach the same scripture, we get something else for that
time, for that experience, for that moment. We don't preach
a message again. When you do that, it's laziness. So who is he talking about here?
He's talking about Abraham. He said, Don't be lazy and slothful,
but be followers of them who through patience Faith and patience
inherited the promise. Abraham was a perfect example. He believed God and kept on believing
God. He waited on God and kept on
waiting on God. He persevered in faith. Let me
read you about him over here in Hebrews 11. This is our example, and this
is what he said. Don't be lazy and indifferent
and careless in things pertaining to the kingdom of God, but be
followers of those who through faith and patience inherited
the promises. Hebrews 11, 8, listen. By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive an inheritance, obeyed. He went out not knowing
where he was going. By faith he sojourned in a land
of promise as in a strange country. running in tabernacles with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. He looked
for cities which have foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. Turn to Hebrews 11, verse 13. These all died in faith, Abraham
and Noah, not having received the promises, that is, the fulfillment
of them, But having seen them afar, they were persuaded of
them, and embraced them, and confessed they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly, they seek in a better country." Now, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
had plenty of opportunity to go back. But no, dedicated. And have you thought about Abraham's
trials? He was 75 years old. when God told him to take Saul,
his wife, and his servants and leave his family, home, friends,
neighborhood, everything he called home for 75 years, and go to
a strange land that I'll give you. That's a real trial. Secondly,
at 100 years of age, 25 years later, he still had no heir. God had promised him a son. He
hadn't come along yet. That's a trial. Then he had such
a pleasant relationship with his nephew Lot and his herdsmen,
and Lot and his herdsmen had a big division, a big blow-up. And Abraham had to say, well,
we'll just have to divide. You go your way and I'll go mine.
I'll tell you what to do. You pick out the land you want
and I'll take what's left." That's a trial. He was the senior officer,
but he didn't use his weight. You pick out what you want. Then the kings of Sodom, he never
owned any land. Abraham never owned any land. He always lived in the wilderness
in tents with Isaac and Jacob. And those kings of Sodom met
him after he had delivered them, and they said, Son, we're going
to make you rich. We're going to make you rich.
All of these riches that you brought back, you keep them,
and we'll take our wives and children and leave it ever bit
with you. Now, sir, he said, I'm looking for a Cindy. whose
foundation, whose builder and maker is God, and I've lifted
my hand to him, and I'm not going to say that you fellows made
me rich. If I ever am rich, you made me."
He gave it to him. Then he had that boy Ishmael,
and God told him to cast him out. Then he had the boy
Isaac, and God told him to take him up on a mountain and sacrifice
His entire life was one trial after another, but he never quit. And isn't that what this says
here, that you be not indifferent, lazy, sluggish, but be followers
of them who through faith and patience inherited the promises. I want to show you something
here. It's so beautiful. Verse 13, are you with me? When
God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no
greater, he swore by himself. What was that promise? That promise
accompanied by an oath. What was the promise? When God
spake to Abraham and made a promise and added an oath, he swore by
himself. Well, let's go back to Genesis
12. First time God spoke to Abraham. Genesis 12, verse 1, The Lord
said to Abram, He changed his name later, "...get thee out
of thy country, from thy kindred, from thy Father's house, unto
the land I'll show thee, and I'll make of thee a great nation,
and I'll bless thee, and make thy name great, and I shall be
a blessing. I'll bless them that bless you, and curse them that
curse you, and in thee shall all the families of the earth
be blessed." There's no oath there. Well, that's a promise
to give him a land and Jews are coming from him. God's particular
chosen people, but there's no oath there. That's not the promise, then,
with the oath. Turn to Genesis 15, verse 1. After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram,
I am your shield, and you are exceeding great reward. Abram
said, But Lord, what will you give me? The steward of my house is Eliezer
of Damascus, and Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given
no seed. I have no son. One born in my house is my heir,
somebody else's boy. Behold, the word of the Lord
came to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir. He that come
out of your own bowels shall be your heir. He brought him
forth and said, Look at the heavens, and tell the stars, if you be
able to number them, so shall your seed be. He believed God
and accounted for righteousness, but there's no oath there. That's
not the promise. He's going to have a son, Isaac. Here's the promise, Genesis 22.
Here's the promise. Here's the promise, Genesis 22,
verse 14. And you know when this promise
came was when Abraham took that boy Isaac, God said, take your
son, your only son whom you love, to the top of Mount Moriah and
put a knife through his heart, shed his blood, burn his body
as a sacrifice to me. That old man never, never answered
that. He gathered his servants and
Isaac, that strong, handsome object of his love, big boy. He said, Let's go to the mountain
and worship God. And three days later, God still
hadn't said another word to him, not a word. Three days later,
he came to that mountain, and he turned to the fellows with
him, his servants, and said, You fellows stay here with the
animals, and the boy and I are going up to worship God, and
we'll be back. We'll be back. Abraham intended
to offer it, but Abraham knew God had raised him from the dead,
because God made that promise back yonder that his seed would
come from his own bough. And there he stood, and it had
to be offered. But there wasn't any oath connected
with that, just the Word of God, which is sufficient. And they
went up there, and as he lifted the knife to slay Isaac, the
Lord spoke and said, And he turned, and there was
a lamb caught in the thicket. And the Lord instructed him to
take Isaac off the altar, put the lamb in his place, and sacrifice
him. Now then, verse 14, And Abram
called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will
see to it, the Lord will provide, as he said, to this day in the
mount of the Lord it shall be seen, and the angel of the Lord
called unto Abraham out of heaven." Who is this angel of the Lord?
You know who this is. This is the Lord Jesus. He called
him out of heaven, a voice from God. And he said, "...by myself
have I sworn." Ah, here's the oath. He swore by himself. He could swear by no other. Isn't
this it, John? Here's the oath. God said, by
myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because you have done
this thing, you have not withheld your Son, your only Son." God
didn't spare his only Son. That in blessings I will bless
thee, in multiplying I will multiply thy seed. As the stars of the
heaven, as the sand which is upon the seashore, thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies, who is his sufferer? You know
who his sufferer is, thy seed, which is Christ. And in thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you
have heard my voice." Well, how do you know that's Christ talking
of thy seed? it was, turned to Galatians,
Galatians 3. Christ, Galatians 3.13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, Cursing is
every one that hangeth on a tree. that the blessings of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith, not the Jews only, but
the Gentiles. Brethren, I speak after the matter
of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet it be confirmed,
no man shall disannul or add thereto. Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made, and he didn't say unto seed as
of many, but as of one. to thy Savior, which is Christ,
as the promise, as the oath." Let's read it again in Genesis.
You still have your hand there, don't you? God said in verse
16, Genesis 22, "...by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
Because thou hast done this thing, and withheld thy Son, thy only
Son, in blessings I will bless And multiplying, I'll multiply
thy seed as the stars of the heavens, as the sands of the
seashore. Thy seed shall possess the gate
of his enemies, there being his footstool. And thy faith, all
the nations, not just these Jews, but all nations of the earth
shall be blessed in Christ." Back to Hebrews, and let me kind
of draw it to a close here, show you some things here. Hebrews
6. Verse 13, Hebrews 6, let's look
at it again. When God made the promise to
Abraham, he could swear by no promise of Christ, come through
his house and lineage. He could swear by no greater,
he could swear by himself, saying, Blessing, I'll bless thee, and
multiplying, I'll multiply thee." And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. Now, then, I'm going to give
you five reasons for this oath. And here it is right here, starting
with verse 16. God's word is enough, sufficient.
But God, when he promised Christ, he said, You have my word and
you have my oath. I can swear by no greater. Our
redemption is so sure, it assures the throne of God and the Word
of God as the character of God. The character of God is at stake
in the redemption of his people, not only in satisfying the law
and justice, but in fulfilling his promise, the character of
God. Here is the first reason. Verse
16, "...men barely swear by the greater." Men swear, and they
swear by the greater. They swear by something greater
than themselves. They'll swear by the Bible. That's what they
do in court, they put their hand on the Bible. Swear by my mother's name. They
swear by something, they just take something bigger, more awesome
than they are. And so God, knowing our weakness
and our ways, to confirm his promise, he swore it too. But
there's nothing greater. So he swears by himself, he says.
Men swear, it impresses them, they like it, they do it, I'll
do it. But I'll swear by myself, Christ
will come and redeem the people. And a fellow wants to emphasize,
he said, I'll swear on the word of God. Well, that's the end
of the strife. That ends the strife. No more
argument. You've picked out the highest
thing that is and swore by it. Swore by it and hold on. So God Almighty confirms things
which are in doubt. If you have any doubt about the
promise of Christ's coming, he swears it by himself. And that's
Ian Stratton. The discussion's over. I won't
argue with you about something God wouldn't. You won't argue
with me. The discussion's over. God said
it, that settles it. God swore it, that settles it. Here's the third reason. willing more abundantly to show
to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, he confirmed
it with an oath. God willing to help us, to encourage
us, meets us where we are in our doubts and fears and weaknesses,
willing to show us the heirs of promise, that's us. willing
more abundantly to show us, more abundantly to show us, convinced
us of the unchangeableness of his
counsel, he took an oath. And he said to Abraham, I swear,
thou savest for conquerors' enemies, thou savest for redeemer's people,
and I swear it by myself. To show his elect the immutability
of his counsel and decree in Christ to save a people, he confirmed
it with an oath. And here are the two things.
That by two immutable things, two immutable things, and you
write this in the margin of your Bible, here are the two things,
the two unchangeable things. One, his word. Second, his oath. That's the two immutable things,
unchangeable things. God's word. both sure and steadfast, which
entereth into that within the Babel." Our forerunner, our mediator,
our redeemer, has entered into the very presence of God within
the Babel, in the secret place, and there he makes intercession
for us, and there we are in him. That's what he says in verse
20, "...whether the forerunner is for us already entered, even
Jesus. And here is the beginning of
our message, the next message from Hebrews. Even Jesus made
a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The greatness of God's goodness
and the greatness of God's glory, the certainty of God's promise
unchangeable.