HEBREWS 6:9
PURSUING PERFECTION PRODUCES PROTECTION
I. THE POSSIBILITES: Hebrews 6:1-8
A.Permanence. 6:1-3
B.Prevaricating. 6:4-7
C.Perishing. 6:8
II. THE PERSPECTIVE: Hebrews 6:9-10
A.Pride. 6:9
B.Proofs. 6:9
C.Promise. 6:10
III. THE PRESCRIPTION: Hebrews 6:11-20
A.Persistence. 6:11
B.Pattern. 6:12
C.Partaking. 6:13-20
In chapter one, the author of the book of Hebrews proves that Christ is “better” than all the other created beings in the universe. In this chapter, the writer sets out to tell his readers that serving Jesus is “better” than falling away.
Evidently, the recipients of this letter were having some hard times as they looked around them and found that apostasy was already besetting some early believers. The test was on for these new Christians. They must have been facing some strong doubts about the validity of serving Jesus. So many of them came out of the Law and some others came out of gross paganism and their faith was being tested as to whether or not they had made the right choice in serving Jesus. For so many of these early believers serving Jesus was more than just going to a church service and declaring one’s allegiance to Christ and then go about one’s life the next day. For so many of these believers, it meant a whole new life style. Many of them were disowned by their family. Many were persecuted; many were ostracized by society and worse. These believers openly declared their belief in Jesus-His death, His resurrection, His ascension. They openly embraced Jesus and so many of them lost everything they had. Now, doubts and discouragements were beginning to bother some and they were questioning their decision of openly embracing Him to their world. The writer of the book tells these down cast saints just how much better it was to stay the course and to continue to believe in and to serve Christ.
I see three things in this chapter that proves the thesis of the writer-that serving Jesus was/is better than not following Him and once started in the faith, it was/is better to continue in the faith. These three parts of my sermon deals with THE POSSIBILITES of what the situation was in following Christ. The second part of my sermon has to do with THE PERSPECTIVE of the writer’s point of view. The last part of the sermon deals with THE PRESCRIPTION of getting on top of overcoming all obstacles and pressing on towards Heaven.
I. THE POSSIBILITES: The possibilities of serving Christ are endless. The God we Christians serve is a God that is alive and well both on this planet Earth and in Heaven. As the writer sets out to prove that serving Jesus is the best thing in the world, he lists one great thought and then follows with two not so great thoughts. All of these are options that the Early Church had to face-we still have to face the same things in our day.
The first POSSIBILITY to consider when thinking about going on with Christ or leaving Him behind is to look at that which He did, who He is and what we did when we accepted Him as our Savior. The writer reminds his readers that what was once done-in public it should continue. He outlines the steps we all take in following Christ and the warning is to not go backward and re-do what was once done when we came to Jesus. He encourages the saints to press on to new and better things in our walk with the Master. Oh the time wasted of repeating that which was already done when we came to Him the first time. The aspect of repentance, baptism which we all went through is completed. The doctrines we expostulated to our friends and families are to be embraced and not to be done over and over in an endless succession of never maturing in the faith. The writer tells his readers the one major truth of Jesus is that He, His doctrine, His essence are Permanent, verses 1-3. What He did stands for ever. When we accept Him, we accept the fact that His death, His resurrection, His life are rock solid and we, as Christens, have the great opportunity to grab a hold of something in this shifting world and remain grounded in the basics of Christianity. The facts of Christ are set-they never will change. When we come to Him, we accept the fact that He is who He said He was and we are to build on this certainty and go on to maturity. The probability of Him changing is non existent: that should anchor the soul.
Next, the writer acknowledges the POSSIBILITY that there were those who were giving up the faith; they were Prevaricating the truth of the gospel, verses 4-7. The debate has raged for centuries in Christian circles that if one was truly born again, could that one loose the faith and if that one lost the faith, is there any hope for one to be restored? To answer these questions, it is best to look at the time in which the writer was writing and to gain insight from that time frame.
As I noted before, these Early Christians had a heavy load upon their shoulders when they openly embraced Christianity. In their days, living among the pagans and the followers of the Old Law was not easy. It was not easy to take one’s stand for the truth. When a convert embraced Christianity, it meant that that one publicly told one’s world that one believed in the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of this Jesus into Heaven. The faith of the convert set that one as different. Usually that one began to endure sever persecution for one’s belief. However, for one to prevaricate, to apostatize, it meant that one openly rejected all of Christ-His death, His resurrection and His salvation. It meant that a public disgrace would condescend on the Christians and the Church. How could that one ever return to the fold and erase the negative effects that one caused by openly denying everything that one once accepted as truth about Jesus? The damage was done, there was no way that person could ever come back to the fold and try to be a Christian again-no one would believe that one and the damage to the body of Christ would be beyond repair. Yes, there was the option to Prevaricate, to lie, to deny one’s faith, but the end results of that action was to Perish for ever away from God, His mercy and His love in a Devil’s hell.
What were THE POSSIBILITES that faced the Early Saints? One was the option of looking to Jesus and their faith as being something that was and would be Permanent. Another possibility that the saints faced was to turn from the permanent faith in Christ and to deny Him, to Prevaricate the truth, but if that was done, then the only other option was to perish in Hell away from God. In other words-once one started for the Kingdom-one should continue. There were no “better” choices for the saints.
II. PERSPECTIVE: After outlining what has been going on around the saints and the open options for them to choose, he now gives them his opinion of them and in so doing, seeks to give them encouragement along the way. He simply states that he is convinced that they are “better” than what they have witnessed. Others might choose to apostatize; others might choose to regret their earlier choice of following Christ; others might wish to renounce Him and return to their former heathen ways and seal their hope of ever erasing their mistake; but, he is convince that these readers of his writing are better than that and then proceeds to give them much needed encouragement. As I read the words of the writer of the book, I cannot but help feel that this person had a great deal of Pride in his readers.
Here they were, surrounded by heathens. They were seeing some of their former believers leaving the faith and returning to the ways they left. They were maligned, persecuted and despised. They had the choice as others had of throwing all overboard and say, “What is the use?” Yet, through all things, all trials, all tests, they still clung to their faith tenaciously and refused to deny Christ. No wonder the writer said that he was convinced that they were “better” than the rest and he was proud of their faith. He was convinced they were made up of “better” stuff and their faith was better than just a pipe dream-it was the real thing that held them to Jesus.
Not only was he proud of them, but from his PERSEPECTIVE he was able to see and note Proofs of their better faith in Christ. What were these “things” to which he referred? The writer does not give too many hints of his Proofs of their salvation, but in reading the entire chapter one gets the picture that some of these Proofs had to deal with their steadfastness, and, “things that accompany salvation.” The writer could have in mind that some of these “things that accompany salvation” are the same things that we have which accompany our salvation. Things such as peace with God; the surety of sins forgiven; the reality that all things are made new in Christ; the ever present inner dwelling of His Spirit in this temple of clay; and, the promise and assurance of a Heavenly home. These things which accompany our salvation accompanied theirs and the writer was certain that his readers were better than the ones who fell by the way side because these saints still believed in Jesus. I guess one cannot improve on this formula.
Even today, we who stubbornly cling to the fact that Jesus is our Divine Lord, can be assured that our faith is still better than the rest of the religions of this world. Our God is alive and well and dwells on the Earth, in His saints and inhabits eternity. He is the one who still redeems mankind; who answers the sinners’ prayers; who transforms lives; who seeks to dwell with His saints; and who is coming again to this Earth to claim His Church. Our faith is better than the heathens; our faith is better than the ones who have Prevaricated the truth, denied the Son of God, left the faith and brought shame on His name. Our steadfast faith in the light of this uncertain world is better because we do have the things that accompany our salvation. And, if we hold on just a little bit longer; if we stay true just a few more days; if we cling ever more tightly to His garment, some day He will call and this Earth and the life we live will fade away and we will fall asleep in the arms of Jesus to awake in His Heaven. Just a few more days; just a few more miles; just a few more battles; just a few more hills; just a few more tears; just a few more sorrows and they will all be gone and “the things which accompany our salvation” will be made real and final to us. Hang on, He is getting ready to call you and me Home; remember, this world is not our home-we are just passing through. Certainly our treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue-He is coming, He is coming, He is coming and when He does, let us go to meet Him.
I then have to look at the writer’s PERSPECTIVE in relation to the Promise given in verse ten: the certainty that God is aware of the readers’ faith and works. What an encouragement! Surrounded by heathens; battered by turncoats; rejected by family, friends and followers of the Law, the writer tells his readers, “God knows what you are suffering and what you are doing for Him.” If that does not move one on to shouting ground then something might be wrong with our “shouter.” God knew what they did-He knows what we do. God was well aware of their circumstances as He is well aware of ours. These Christians labored under some pretty onerous circumstances and they might have thought that their faith and service to God was going unnoticed. Not so, says the writer-God knows. He was certain their faith was “better” than the rest and he also knew that they were being seen by God. Their “better” faith was being observed from the Heavenly portals and God knew what was going on. Wow!!! How much more encouragement does one need that that?
To the pastor that serves the little church in a big denomination-God knows. To the saint that prays for her family and lives on meager substances-God knows. To the one who is bed ridden and still believes in the promises of God-He knows. To the missionary who labors in a far away country-God knows. To all Christians who get up on Monday morning and go to work among those who curse God and belittle His saints-God knows. To the persecuted Christian in Moslem countries-God knows. To the Christian spouse who goes to church alone-God knows. To the Christian family member who suffers from scorn from godless family members-God knows. The writer tells his readers that God knows what they are enduring and He will set things aright for them soon. The Promise of verse ten is still real for us today as it was for the first readers of the book of Hebrews.
Yes, the writer had certain PERSPECTIVES in mind regarding his readers so long ago. His view of them was one of sincere Pride of them as he referred to the certain Proofs of their faith and lastly assured them of a Promise of being observed by God Himself in their walk with Him. Their faith was “better” because it was real.
III. PRESCRIPTION; The writer then broadens his appeal to his readers to stay the course by encouraging them to pursue certain objectives. He has a broad range from which to chose but breaks it down into three steps for spiritual maturity.
The first object he notes is the need for Persistence, in verse 11. There is nothing for which the saint of God needs to return once one has embarked on a journey of faith. He urges each one to show “diligence” in one’s pursuit of following Jesus. The time in which this letter was written was no different than the world of today. It is so easy to take one’s salvation for granted. That was one of the curses of which he warned his readers then and it is still one warning we need to head today. Lives are full of living. There always seems to be not enough time to get things done. It is too easy, far too easy, to let the Bible sit on the coffee table and promise oneself, “Tomorrow.” It is far too easy to not pray for help on a daily bases and think, “I have enough spiritual reserve to carry me for one more day.” The sad thing about our busy life now as it was then, is the fact that far too many are not being “diligent” in their walk with God. However, the writer said he thought they were “better” than others who had allowed themselves to drift. May he say the same thing about us today. Christianity demands diligence. The Bible warns us that the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour and it behooves us as it did the first readers of this epistle, to be diligent in our walk with God. This in one good PRESCRIPTION for all of us who claim the name of Jesus.
The next thing he prescribes is to study the Pattern which is set before us. There were saints in his day who were making it for Jesus and his formula for success was to take a page from their book and see how they were surviving in a hostile world then do likewise.
It is so sad that today, the world-even some Christians-regard so many Hollywood types of people as being something special. Far too many Christians set up late watching the talk shows and listening to the trash that so many of these lost souls dribble as being entertaining. I concurred a long time ago, these godless people are not interested in my life, why on the world should I be interested in their life? No, no, no. I chose not to conform my thinking or my life after the worldly, godless people. Give me people like D. L. Moody, Charles Haden Spurgeon, Madame Guyon, the Wesley brothers, John Calvin, John Wycliffe, John Bunyan, John (Praying) Hyde, and a host of other saints who have lived in this world but were not of this world and let me follow their example. Let me learn to pray and preach like they did. Let me learn the secrets of obtaining power with God as they did. Let me learn how they suffered and some even died for Jesus. Let me learn the secrets of the Most High God as they did. They are the ones after whom I wish to pattern my life. These early saints may not have the ones I listed but they had Moses, Jeremiah, Isaac, David and a host of other saints they could study and to pattern their lives accordingly. The PRESCRIPTION the writer gave for success in living a “better” Christian life then is still apropos for today.
Besides giving the early Christians his formula for success in living the “better” life for Jesus, the writer gives one more valid PRESCRIPTION for his readers and that was in Partaking of what was already accomplished in Christ. In verses 13 through 20.
Beginning with the Patriarch Abraham and going on to Melchisedec, the writer tells his readers that God has supplied all things necessary for their salvation-now it was up to them to enjoy the rewards of that benevolent action wrought by God. He reminds his readers that the “better” faith he sees in them is the direct result of that which God began in Abraham, confirmed by Himself, and urges all to lay a hold of the that faith and hope which He has provided for all of us.
It is just like our Lord to provide everything we need for our success in living for him. He provided the foundation of faith in Jesus in the opening verses of this chapter; He then has provided a sure and steadfast hope for all of us through the calling, confirming and confessing of Father Abraham in our walk with Him. He has done it all-all we have to do is seek to be “better” for Him.
