Hebrews 6: Let Us Go On

Q: What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

The Bible encourages believers to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, moving beyond elementary teachings to maturity. In Hebrews 6, the Apostle emphasizes the importance of spiritual growth, urging believers to leave the basic principles of the gospel and advance to maturity. This growth is crucial for every believer, as it not only deepens their understanding of Christ but also equips them to be teachers and strong, established followers of Christ. The text highlights the necessity of moving beyond initial teachings and becoming proficient in the deeper truths of the faith. By doing so, believers can produce the fruits of the Spirit and manifest a more profound love and compassion in their lives.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of perseverance is true?

The doctrine of perseverance is based on the belief that true believers, being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, cannot ultimately fall away from grace. The concept of perseverance is rooted in the truth that genuine believers have been enlightened and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, as expressed in Hebrews 6:4-6. This passage suggests that those who have truly experienced salvation will grow and cannot lose their salvation. The rationale is that if believers could fall away, it would imply that Christ's work is insufficient and that they could lose what He has secured for them, which contradicts the nature of their regeneration. Thus, the doctrine asserts that all genuine children of God will continue in faith until the end, reaffirming the assurance of their salvation.

Q: Why is understanding the doctrine of repentance important for Christians?

The doctrine of repentance is essential for Christians as it acknowledges the need to turn from sin and trust in Christ for salvation. Repentance is a foundational principle in the Christian faith, as highlighted in Hebrews 6:1. It signifies a change of mind regarding sin and an acknowledgment of Christ's sufficiency as the sole means of righteousness. Understanding repentance helps Christians recognize that their works are incapable of achieving God's favor, thus relying solely on Christ's finished work. This understanding deepens the believer's relationship with God and informs their continual growth in grace. Repentance should not be seen merely as an initial action but as a continuous attitude of the heart that reflects a life committed to Christ.

Q: What does the Bible say about the effect of the Holy Spirit on a believer?

The Holy Spirit indwells believers, enabling them to live out their faith and assuring them of their salvation. According to Scripture, specifically in Hebrews 6:4, a believer becomes a partaker of the Holy Spirit upon receiving salvation, which signifies a personal relationship with God. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is essential as it empowers believers to express their faith through love and good works. The work of the Holy Spirit includes guidance, conviction, and bearing witness to one’s status as a child of God. Moreover, the presence of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life is crucial for their growth in grace and knowledge of Christ, as it produces the fruit of the Spirit and leads them into deeper theological truths.

Q: How do we know we are saved in Christ?

Assurance of salvation comes from faith in Christ and the evidences of spiritual growth and fruit in one’s life. The assurance of salvation rests in the promise of God and is evidenced through personal faith in Christ. Hebrews 6:9-10 encourages believers by reminding them that God does not forget their work and labor of love shown toward His name. This assurance is not merely subjective; it should be accompanied by observable fruits of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life, as outlined in Galatians 5:22-23. Those who genuinely believe and have experienced the saving grace of God will naturally produce these fruits, reaffirming their position in Christ and their hope in eternal life.

Now let's open our Bibles to
the sixth chapter of Hebrews again. Now if we'll do what we ought to
do, and look at this whole chapter,
look at the chapter as a whole, it'll be perfectly clear to us
that the Apostle is encouraging believers, children of God, to
grow in grace, and to grow in the knowledge of Christ, and
to reach maturity. Statements like this, let us
go on, let us go on, leaving the first principles, the beginnings
of the gospel, let's go on, let's go on to perfection, to maturity.
And then he talked, you remember, about things that accompany salvation? things that accompany salvation.
And then at the close of the chapter, he talked about our
example. He said, be an imitator of Abraham
who patiently endured and attained the promise. So that's what he's
talking about. He's talking about growing in
grace. He's talking about growing up,
growing up from babes. You know, The scripture talks
about babes in Christ, talks about young men in Christ, and
talks about elders. And he tells us to grow up, to
grow up, reach maturity. Don't continue to be a baby. Grow up to maturity, strong,
established believers, faithfully persevering in Christ. Now really,
if you want to study this chapter like we ought to, we'll have
to go back And some of you may weary of me saying this, but
I'm going to keep saying it till we can learn it. You have to
go back to chapter 5. And here in verse 10 of chapter
5, the apostle talks about Melchizedek, called of God a high priest after
the order of Melchizedek. Of whom, that is, of Melchizedek,
I have many things to say. Melchizedek is that pure type
of Christ, that special revelation of Christ that God gave to Abraham. Abraham saw my day, and that
special revelation, that visitation of Melchizedek, the high priest
of God, king of righteousness, king of saving. And the apostle
here says, I've got a lot to say about Melchizedek as a picture
of Christ and about his priesthood and about the priesthood and
work of our Lord Jesus. And hard to be taught, hard to
be uttered, hard to explain, difficult to teach. Why? Because,
he said, so many of you are dull of hearing. It's not that the
truth is hard to teach. It's hard to teach somebody that
ain't listening. That's what you're a teacher. There's some
students that are easy to teach. They're mature, they've done
their work, they've done their homework, they've got their background,
they're there to hear, they're there to listen. Others, if you
could open their ears and pour it in with a funnel, they wouldn't
retain it. They're dull. They're immature. They're indifferent. And that's what he's saying.
He said, I've got so many things to say, so many things to say
of the glories of Christ, of the beauties of Christ, of the
pictures of Christ and the promises in Christ and this man Melchizedek
and all of his mighty revelations of Christ through this mighty
man. But folks are so immature and dull of hearing and indifferent.
Verse 12, listen, for when for the time, that is, after being,
you say, a Christian for 20 years, you ought to be a teacher. Why, he said, when for For the
time, you ought to be teachers. You should be teachers. You've
been converted so long, you've known Christ so long, you ought
to be teachers yourself. But instead of being teachers,
you have need that one teach you again, again. Now, that's
so important, that one word right there, teach you again. Go over
again the things which be the first principles of the articles
of God. The beginnings, the elementary,
the first grade work, the kindergarten work, the second grade work,
when you ought to be graduating, when you ought to be seniors,
when you ought to be elders, when you ought to be teachers,
you're still down here trying to learn to and to as poets.
See Jack Rohn, did you read that book? Rohn, Jack Rohn, that's
exactly what he's saying. First principles of the gospel,
the articles of gospel. Where'd you see that word principles
again? Now here in verse 1, therefore leaving the first principles.
See how it goes together? You just don't go back to kindergarten,
first grade, let's leave, let's go on. There's some things to
learn. There's some riches to partake
of. There's some truth to learn.
There's some growing to be done. But back here at verse 12, when
for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that
one teach you again the very first principles. of the oracles
of God and you become such as need milk. Milk's for babies
and not strong meat. What is strong meat? Strong meat
is the truth of Melchizedek, the priesthood of Christ, the
glories of Christ, the riches of his person and work. Strong
meat's not Armageddon and prophecy. That's not strong meat. That's
speculation. That's speculation. Strong meat
is the person and work of Christ, the beauties of Christ. To know
Him so that you can have that comfort He brings, and that patience
He gives, and that love that He gives, and that rest that
you find in Him, and that peace. It's found in Him. It's found
in growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. That's where
it's found. Maturity, experience, patience,
works, Tribulation work is patience, patience, experience, and experience,
maturity. That's where it comes from. Growing. For everyone that uses milk,
the fellow that has to continually be taught the first principle,
he's unskillful in the word of righteousness, he's a baby. And
nothing wrong with babies, but they'll not stay babies. But
strong meat belongeth them that are mature, them that are of
full age, them that have grown in grace, even those who by reason
of use have had their senses exercised. Use, habit, experience,
using the word that you've learned, have their senses exercised to
discern good and evil, good doctrine, evil doctrine, good and evil
in every respect. Therefore, see that word? Here
we go again, therefore. Therefore, because of what I
just said, and we're just going over it again, you heard it,
therefore, leaving the principles, leaving the first principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let's go on to maturity, let's go on.
This is what we're talking about, moving on, growing in grace,
growing in the knowledge of Christ, growing in experience, being
able to put in practice the life of Christ. This is what Paul
said, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my
own righteousness, that I may know him and the power of his
resurrected life. And the power of his resurrected
life, the power of Christ in me, not just the doctrines in
my head, but the power of Christ in my life. Let's go on to maturity. And then he gives us those six
first principles. He gives us six first principles
of the message of grace. Therefore, leaving the principles,
the beginning, the word of the beginning, the first thing you
heard when you heard the gospel, let's go on to perfection, not
laying again. In other words, for believers
to grow, they've got to leave the elementary teaching. That's
what our children do, is they go from grade to grade. They
don't stay here in the first or second grade. They go on to
third grade. They learn some algebra, and then they learn
some trigonometry, and then they learn some plane geometry, and
then they study the literature, and then they go into the diagramming
synopses, and they learn more. This is what it says. Let's leave
the first principles and go on. Now, wait a minute. Let's don't
lose them. You can't learn higher math until
you learn lower math. 2 and 2 is poorer even in trigonometry. You follow what I'm saying? Let's
don't lose them. Let's don't leave them. Let's
don't forget these first principles. Let's don't deny them. Let's
don't quit preaching them, because there's still some babies to
be taught. In other words, when your children move on up to the
sixth grade, y'all don't do away with the first grade, because
there's some more kids coming along. And that's the way we preach
here. We've got to stay in the elementaries and the first principles,
because there's some students in kindergarten. I've got to
preach here this morning to men 75 years old, one's going to
be 80 in a few weeks, and I'm going to preach to children here
that are 4 and 5 and 6 and 7. So I've got to not lose the first
principles, not leave them, not forget them, not desert them,
but go on. Go on. We lay them in our hearts
as a foundation. All that we believe and profess
are because we believe those first principles. That's right,
and here they are. He said, don't lay again the
foundation of repentance from dead works. That's what God taught
Paul on the road to Damascus, repentance from dead works. What
kind of fellow did God meet on the road to Damascus? A religious
fellow. A fellow that was born a Hebrew
of Hebrews, whose mama was a Hebrew and his daddy was a Hebrew, who
studied under one of the greatest teachers of his day, Gamaliel,
who was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, who kept the
Sabbath day in tithe, every jot and tittle, and concerning the
law was blameless. And Almighty God showed him all
those works were nothing in the sight of God but filthy rags.
All those works did not gain him favor with God, did not gain
him acceptance with God, and he had to repent not only of
his hatred, not only of his lying and his sin, he had to repent
of his dead works. That's repentance of dead work.
What's repentance of dead work? It's just coming to see that
Christ is our work. Christ is our righteousness.
Christ is our sanctification. And there's nothing in what we
do. Now, I'm not going to stay on that from now on. You learn
that. Don't lose it. Don't forget it.
Don't leave it. Learn it and move on. I don't
have to say that every Sunday, do I? I tell you, once you see
their rags, you'll always know them to be rags. But that's the
first principle. Our second link is another, and
faith toward God. I'm going to keep preaching sermons
on faith and definitions of faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. But that's elementary. That's
the first principle. That's the beginning, to believe
God. And no use taking another step until you believe God, is
there? That's the starting point, to
believe God. You can't separate repentance
and faith. You can't separate faith and repentance. To turn
from your dead works is to turn to His living works. To turn
from Yahweh is to turn to the living God, believe God. But
that's the first principle. All right, thirdly, the doctrine
of baptisms. The believers now know the Old
Testament, Hebrews here, they talk a lot about washings. Those
were baptisms, washings. But this, as far as believers
are concerned, is two baptisms that we know something about.
We're all baptized of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.
We're baptized of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. Everybody.
If a man has not the Spirit of God, he's none of his. I'm not
looking for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. If I am, I'm looking
for salvation. Because when a man's saved, he's
baptized into the body of Christ, immersed, included in the body
of Christ by the Spirit of God. Without the Spirit of God, he
wouldn't be in Christ. But then there's also water baptism. in
which we're identified with Christ, in which we confess Christ, in
which we tell the world that when he was crucified, I'm crucified. He's buried, I'm buried. He's
risen, I'm risen. That's baptism. That's where we start. The baptism
of the Holy Spirit is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, the
revealing work of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling work of the Holy
Spirit. When Christ reveals, when the Spirit of God reveals
Christ to you and brings you into the body of Christ miraculously,
Now, there's the filling of God's Spirit. I pray this morning when
I get up here to preach, God will endue me with a power and
speak through me. That's what Alan was praying,
that God would speak through his service. That's the filling
of the Holy Spirit. But that's the first principle,
all right? Third, the laying on of hands. Preacher, what's
that talking about? There was a special power conferred
upon the apostles to give the Holy Spirit and gifts to people
upon whom they laid their hands. Let's look that up. Somebody's
going to want to know that and take down these scriptures. Acts
8, 17. And this is one of those early beginnings, first principles.
Acts chapter 8, verse 17. This is when Simon wanted to
buy the power. Acts 8, 17. "...Then laid their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon
saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money." You know, the apostles
had power to raise the dead. I don't. The apostles had power
to heal the sick. I don't. The apostles had special
gifts and wonders and signs and miracles that confirmed their
ministry, which you don't have, which you don't need, and no
man needs. We got the Word of God, the complete
Word of God. We don't need these gifts. In
fact, actually, if I had some of those supernatural gifts,
it would detract from the gospel. I'd get the attention Christ
would. And those gifts would become play-pretties for us.
That's what's happening in most churches. They're playing with
the toys. They've invented them. They've imitated them. They don't
have the real thing. It's not the gift of God. It's
not the power of the Holy Spirit. It's another spirit, and they've
invented all these little games and toys to play, and the gospel
is not preached at all. And the Christ ministry and work
is secondary to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They're bragging
on the Spirit and never preach Christ. And so these men had
that special power, the laying on of hands by which the Holy
Spirit was given, the laying on of hands to ordain deacons
and send missionaries, the laying on of hands to do things that
God specially called them to do. And because the Word of God
was not complete to give proof and to back up
what these men said, then God backed them up by showing some
power. They laid hands on people ceaselessly and they received
the Holy Ghost. How do you know you have the Holy Spirit? Not
because I laid hands on you, but because it's confirmed by
the Word of God. See what I'm saying? You don't
need these signs, all right? Then the next one is the resurrection
of the dead. Do you believe the dead will
be raised? Do we have to keep coming over
this over and over again that the dead will be raised, that
Christ will raise the dead? that we bury our loved ones in
the ground and God will raise them. Now, we know that. That's first principle. We live
because he lived. We see him resurrected from the
dead and that confirms that Almighty God has accepted him and having
accepted him, he accepted us. And because he lived, we're going
to live. And then the sixth one is eternal judgment. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not
shall be damned. Now, these are solemn truths. solemn repentance, faith, baptism
of the Holy Spirit, confession of Christ, the laying on of hands,
the giving of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the Holy Spirit,
the resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment upon those who
believe not Christ. But must we continue to pronounce
them to the same congregation again and again, and yes, to
the children, Yes to strangers, yes to visitors, but not to you
people who've learned these long ago. And that's the foundation
on which you came in. That's how God saved you. Must
we prove them? If we have to keep proving God's
Word, then somebody doesn't believe God. Must we just continue to rehearse
them over and over? No, he said, therefore leave
him. laying them, loving them, believing
them, and leaving them. Let's go on. Let's go on. Let's go on. You see that? Let's
go on. There's some things to say. Let's
go on to maturity. There's some growing up to do. I know some folks that believe
all these doctrines that are still awful mean. And contrary. They need to learn something
about love. I know some folks that learn these doctrines here
that are not very generous. They're not very generous. They
don't give too much. They don't help others. They need to grow
up. They need to learn something
else to do. I know some folks who believe God's sovereign in
Christ is our only righteousness, and His death is particular,
and God's people will persevere. They know every one of those.
They could write those things down, but they're always feuding
with somebody. And the house always torn up,
and the wife's always mad about something, and they're always
fussing, and something's wrong. Something's wrong. That's what
he's talking about. Let's grow up. Let's leave these things. Let's
quit playing. We laid the foundation. This
is the foundation. This is the foundation. Jesus
Christ himself, the chief cornerstone. But let's put a building on it.
See what I'm saying, Steve? To the glory of God. Let's go! and manifest some grace, and
some generosity, and some love, and some compassion. And verse
3 said, This we gonna do. This we're going to do. And I'm
telling you this, real children of God will do. They just flat
will do. Somebody said to Brother Barnard
one time, said, I heard a preacher preach that revival sermon that
all the preachers preach, the revival sermon. He said, what
was that? You ever heard that sermon? That text, the revival
text. If my people, which are called
by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways out of here from heaven and heal
their land. That wasn't written to Christians.
It wasn't written about Christians. had ridden a bunch of backslidden
Jews that hated God. Israel in the wilderness. Brother
Barnard said, you mean God got some people which are called
by his name that are not humble, and don't pray, and don't seek
his face, and walk in wickedness? Oh no, that's not God's people.
That's not God's people. God's people will go on. Look
at verse 4. It's impossible. It's impossible. Now, this is hypothetical. Now,
I know this. Listen to me. It's impossible
for a person who knows Christ to turn back. It's impossible
for a person who knows Christ to fall away. It's impossible
for a child of God not to grow up. It's impossible. It's impossible
for a child of God not to produce praise. Impossible. Now read what he said, for it's
impossible for those who were once enlightened. Now let me
say something before I go into this. I know John Gill, and John
Gill wasn't right on everything, and I know John Calvin, and I
know other able writers, I've read these fellows, that they
are men. And they say that these are not
saved people, that these are only professors who came along
for a while and then quit. But these men, John Gill and
John Calvin, and some of these other Puritans, are influenced
by a doctrine they're trying to prove. They're trying to prove
a doctrine. That's what they're trying to
do. Instead of declaring what the Bible actually says. Now
this is what the Bible actually says. Read it now. And verse
3 said this, we're going to do. We're going to grow. We're going
to leave these principles and mature. We're going to grow up.
We're going to produce proof, if God permits, for It's impossible
for those who were once enlightened and have tasted 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.
You mean that's an unsaved man? Then under God, who's saved? You read those statements again,
it says they were enlightened. We were in darkness, now we have
light. Who's the light? Christ is the light. They've
been enlightened. They've tasted the heavenly gift.
Who's the heavenly gift? That's Christ. He's the heavenly,
unspeakable gift of God. They've been made partakers of
the Holy Ghost, a partaker of the Spirit of God. Why, if any
man has the Spirit of God, he's His. The Spirit of God doesn't
come into people and go out. That's what the evil spirit does.
When they cast the evil spirit out, he came back, he left, and
he came back. The Spirit of God dwells in us.
Your body is the temple of the Spirit of God. They've tasted
the good word of God. That's the children's bread.
They've tasted the powers of the world to come. That's the
powers of faith and hope and love. If these people are not
children of God, who is a child of God? You say, but it says in verse
6, if they should fall away. Yeah, if, hypothetical. If they
should. If they should. If they should,
what? Well, if they should, it'd be
impossible to renew them unto repentance. The only person who's
repented is a saved man. An unsaved man hasn't repented.
And talk about falling away, you can't fall from where you
aren't. Can you? You can't fall from
a position you've never occupied. Brother Barnett, you say you
can't come back from where you ain't been. If they should fall
away, How can they fall? They haven't been in Christ.
They haven't been elevated. How can they fall? They haven't
been exalted. Children of God have been exalted.
They're seated in Christ. If they should fall away, it
might be impossible to renew them to repentance, seeing they
crucify themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to open
check. What is it to fall away? Now, let me ask you this. What
is it to fall away, if they should fall away? Well, it's not to
lie. Abraham lied. To fall away is
not to commit adultery. David did that. To fall away
is not to deny Christ out of fear. Peter did that. To fall
away is not to quit the ministry. John Mark did that, and then
he came back. What would it be to fall away? Well, number one,
it would be for the Holy Spirit to leave you. Secondly, it would be for the
work of Christ to stop. Thirdly, it'd be for the blood
of Christ to lose its power. Fourthly, it'd be for God to
begin a work and then quit before he finished it. Now, if they
should fall away, why, if a believer could fall
from Christ, how else could he be saved? That's what he's saying,
it'd be impossible. How else could he be saved? Is there a
healing stream better than the fountain of life? Is there righteousness
better than that of Christ? If they could fall from the first
redemption, this is what he's saying, it would require a second
incarnation, a second Calvary, a second suffering, and a second
regeneration. That's impossible, just impossible. John, this is a hypothetical
statement to prove certain facts, that children of God will grow,
they will develop, they will persevere, they will stay in
Christ, because if they didn't, that would be the end anyway.
impossible. Impossible. People who are saved
by the grace of God, and I know there are a lot of religious
people, I know there are a lot of people who walked in the aisle,
made a profession, joined up, they're even in the pulpit, they're
in the pew, they're in the offices, but they've never been enlightened.
They've never tasted the heavenly gift. They've never been made
partakers of the Holy Spirit. They've never tasted the good
word of God, and they've never surely tasted the power of the
world to come. a little bit of heaven on the
way there. No, they haven't. Because if they ever did, they'd
never be satisfied slopping with the pigs again. Never. They want to go on, go on, go
on, go on. And that's what he's saying here.
Let's go on. Far, verse 7, and he gives this illustration. Now
watch it. For the grain which drinketh in the rain, that cometh
off upon it, it brings forth herbs sufficient for them by
whom it's dressed. It receiveth blessings from the
Lord. The rain falls on the ground, and in some places the ground's
prepared. It's good ground, it's fertile
ground, it's prepared ground, it's plowed ground, and there
vegetables grow and fruit grows. It's blessed of God. And that's
his people. But look at the next line. But
that which beareth thorns, that same rain, that same gospel,
that same word, falls upon ground and bears thorns and briars,
and it's rejecting, non-accursing, its end is burning. The rain
is the grace of God. The rain is the gospel of God.
And where the gospel comes in the power of the Spirit of God,
it finds a heart prepared and a soul prepared by the Spirit
of God, and it will bring forth fruit, fruits of repentance,
fruits of faith, fruits of the Spirit. Verse 9 now, At verse 8, it doesn't bring
forth anything. But, beloved, we are persuaded,
confident, that there are better things of you, not thorns and
briars, not thorns and briars, but things that accompany salvation. What are those things? Turn to
Galatians with me, chapter 5. Here are some of them right here.
Here are some right here, things that accompany salvation. Galatians
chapter 5, verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love. It's joy. It's peace. And see, all this
is in Christ. We love as He loved us, that
my joy might remain, my peace I give unto you, longsuffering,
gentleness. Let this mind be in you which
is in Christ, goodness. As you have received mercy, show
mercy, faith, meekness. Let no man think of himself more
highly than he ought to think. Temperance against such there
is no law. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with affections and lusts. If we live in the
Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. And be not desirous of vain glory,
provoking one another in being one another." That's the things
that accompany salvation. You see what we're saying? Back
here, he said, we've got so many things to teach, things to learn,
and folks are such It's dull of hearing that we just have
to keep on rehearsing the same thing. Repent. Believe. Confess Christ. But we're not
going to lose those things or leave those things. We love those
things. We're going to hold on to those things and keep on.
And let's go on. Let's go on. Let's grow. And
we will grow. Because it's impossible for a
person It's impossible for a person to have life and light and go
back. That light is the light of God,
and it'll grow. That life is the life of God,
and it'll grow. The children I beget grow, and
the children God begets grow. And his children can't die. If
they did die, he couldn't go back and do it again. See that,
Richard? He couldn't go back and do it
again. He'd have to have another incarnation, another Calvary, another death.
That's so clear to me. I hope to you. For he said, when
the rain comes down from heaven, the ground that's prepared, the
ground that's plowed, the ground that's fertilized, it brings
forth fruit. And the ground that's untouched
brings buyers. And that's not you, beloved.
He said, I'm persuaded better things than that of you. You
who've been prepared of God, I'm persuaded that you're going
to have some things that accompany salvation. Verse 10, God's not
unrighteous. God's not unjust and unrighteous
to forget your work. And what's your work? It's His
work. It's He worketh in you, both to will and to do His good
pleasure. If you've got any work, it's His work. If you've got
any righteousness, it's His righteousness. If you've got any love, it's
His love. He's not going to forget that. which you showed toward his name,
and that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you should show the same diligence
to the full assurance of hope, clear to the end, clear that
we wind this thing up." And we will. Believers will. John said, they went out from
us because they never were of us. If they had been of us, there
is no doubt. John didn't have a doubt about
it. He didn't entertain a question. They would have continued with
it. And just verse 12, be not slothful, indifferent, but be
an imitator. That's what that word is. Followers
and imitators of them that through faith and patience inherited
the promises. For when God made promise to
Abraham, he could swear by no greater, he could swear by himself.
And he said, surely in my name I'll bless you and I'll multiply
you. And so Abraham, after he patiently endured, He went to
trial after trial after trial, but he believed God. He didn't
quit. He couldn't quit. The disciples
said, well, Lord, to whom shall we go? I got no place to go.
He patiently endured. He obtained the promise. All
right, I'm going to wind it up here now. For men barely swear
by the greater. They take me into court in Kettlesburg
next week. They'll put a Bible out there,
and they'll tell I'm a witness. They'll lay my hand there, and
I'll say, I promise to tell the truth, behold, I swear by the
greater. And that ends the strife. They say, well, get up on the
stand. And if I walked up there, you know, and if the judge says,
you're going to tell the truth, and I say, yeah, I'll tell the truth, well,
there might be somebody who will make him swear. His word's not
good enough. Men swear by the greater in the
conflict. All right, watch this. We're in God. Almighty God willing
more abundantly, more than he needed to, more than we deserve. Willing more abundantly to show
us the heirs of promise, the unchangeableness, the immutability
of his counsel. His promise, he confirmed it
by an oath. I swear, just like up yonder,
he said to Abraham, surely I'll bless you. Surely I'll bless
you. I swear by my name, and I can
swear by no greater. That by two immutable things,
that is, his word and his oath, his promise and his oath, in
which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation who do the best we can, who have fled for refuge,
who maintain our innocence. No, sir. Guilty manslayer who
fled for refuge. He skedaddled to the city of
refuge. We have a strong consolation if we've headed for the city
of refuge as a guilty sinner, if we've looked to Christ who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope. Who is the hope?
It's Christ set before us. Which hope we have? Here it is.
It's an anchor of the soul, most sure and steadfast. Where is
our anchor? It's within the veil. Where is
that? That's the Shekinah glory, John. That's where he is. That's the
presence of God. And you mean you're there? Yes,
sir. That's where my anchor is. That's where my hope is. That's
where my inheritance is. Because, verse 20, my forerunner
My representative is for us already entered, even Jesus made our
high priest forever, and we're going to work on this tonight,
Melchizedek. Isn't the word great? And that's why I'm trying, trying,
trying to teach myself, by the Spirit of God being our teacher,
and you, something so you can have a Foundation I know that
I hear these preachers attorney ranting and raving going up and
down saying you need this and you need that knowledge You need
to learn What this says about him? and I do too and find our
confidence and rest in him and then when you're out of the building
and you wait from the altar in the morning's bench and you're
down there and it's hot 100 degrees in the place where you work and
sweat running down and getting your glasses all fogged up and
And somebody's harping on you behind your back here to get
something done, and all hell's broke loose around you, you can
say, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and His
righteousness. Huh? Well, that better be it,
because anybody can play the game in the building when they're
shouting and yelling and running up and down the aisles and waving
their hands, talking about how good they are. Anybody can play
that game. I want some men and women here
who are real people in a real world, battling a real battle,
facing a real trial. You talked about it a while ago,
that prayer, facing a real trial. And you're cast down, but you
ain't destroyed because you're built on Christ the Rock. And they may burn this thing
down tomorrow, and we may not have anybody to lead the service
next week. But my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus.

Hebrews 6: Let Us Go On

What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

How do we know the doctrine of perseverance is true?

Why is understanding the doctrine of repentance important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the effect of the Holy Spirit on a believer?

How do we know we are saved in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Hebrews 6: Let Us Go On

What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

How do we know the doctrine of perseverance is true?

Why is understanding the doctrine of repentance important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the effect of the Holy Spirit on a believer?

How do we know we are saved in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book