Missing the Message of Christ
Hebrews 6:4-5
Purpose: To warn against relying on an external Christianity.
Aim: I want the listener to find assurance of salvation in a changed life.
INTRODUCTION: What you think you see is not always what you get. Many years ago there was a terrible railroad accident where hundreds of people were killed or injured. A train, loaded with young people returning from school, was stalled on a suburban track because of what is known as a “hot-box.” Al local train was due soon so a flagman was sent down the tracks to warn the engineer so it wouldn’t rear-end the stalled train. Thinking all was well, the crowd laughed and chatted while the mechanics worked on the engine. Suddenly the whistle from the local train was heard and it soon came and crashed into the other train causing a lot of damage.
The engineer of the oncoming train saved his own life by jumping. Later he was called into court to account for his part in the tragedy. They soon discovered a discrepancy in the testimony that was given. He was asked, “Did you not see the flagman warning you to stop?”
He replied, “I saw him, but he waved a yellow flag, and I took it for granted all was well, and so went on, though slowing down.”
The flagman was called, “What flag did you wave?”
“A red flag, but he went by me like a shot.”
“Are you sure it was red?”
“Absolutely.”
Both insisted that they were telling the truth, and it was demonstrated that neither was color-blind. Finally the man was asked to produce the flag itself as evidence. The next day he brought the flag to court and that explained the mystery. It had been red, but it had been exposed to the weather so long that all the red was bleached out, and it was but a dirty yellow![Adapted from Illustrations of Bible Truth by H. A. Ironside, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 62-63. 10,000 sermon illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Dallas: Biblical Studies Press.]
We must be careful that we don’t allow the rich message of the Gospel to fade into another message.
Paul warned the believers about this problem. ☛ Galatians 1:6-10 6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.(NAU)
We must be careful that we don’t believe a counterfeit Gospel. That is why Hebrews gives us:
REVIEW:
5:10-6:8 I. A Warning to Those Who Claim to Know Christ
Vs.10-14 A. Beware of acting like an unbeliever
Vs.10-11 1. Unbelievers are lazy learners “you have become dull of hearing”
Vs.12 2. Unbelievers avoid the Great Commission “you ought to be teachers”
Vs.13-143. Unbelievers neglect God’s grace “word of righteousness”
6:1-3 B. Beware of religion without Christ
Vs.1a 1. Forsake the symbols about Christ “leaving the elementary teaching”
Vs.1b 2. Focus on the perfection that’s in Christ “press on to maturity”
Vs.1c 3. Receive the person of Christ “faith toward God”
Vs.2a 4. Trust the purity that’s in Christ “washings”
Vs.2b 5. Accept the substitution of Christ “laying on of hands”
Vs.2c 6. Rely on the power of Christ “resurrection of the dead”
Vs.2d 7. Acknowledge that the judge is Christ “eternal judgment”
Vs.3 8. Admit that forgiveness is all God’s work “if God permits”
LESSON:
Vs.4-5 C. Beware of missing the message about Christ
In verses 1-3 we are warned against embracing the symbols that point to Christ instead of embracing Christ Himself. In verses 4-5 we are warned against embracing the news about Christ without actually committing ourselves to Christ.
Today we will learn that it is possible to experience a lot of things in Christianity without really being a Christian, for example:
Vs.4a 1. Learning about Christ is not enough “once been enlightened”
Being enlightened is NOT the same thing as being saved. John 1:9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.(NAU) Yet, we know everyone isn’t saved.
The writer is not thinking about real Christians here who could lose their salvation. He makes this clear by changing the pronoun reference. In 5:11-12 he addresses them with “you” five times and then includes himself in 6:1 with the use of “us.” In verses 4-7 there is a dramatic shift to “those” (twice), “them,” and “they.”
We know that the writer is not talking about Christians who may lose their salvation because that would contradict clear teaching that we have elsewhere in Scripture.
For example:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,(NAU)
Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.(NAU)
John 10:27-29 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.(NAU)
By the way, some people who use this text to teach that if you sin too much you can lose your salvation will often then say that you need to get saved again. But, that contradicts verse six which says that “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” So, it is impossible for that person to be saved again. That word IMPOSSIBLE means IMPOSSIBLE not “difficult.” The same word is used in 6:18, 10:4, and 11:6 and they all mean IMPOSSIBLE.
If you have been ENLIGHTENED, then you have a mental understanding about Christ. This was predicted by the prophet Isaiah in, Isaiah 9:2 The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.(NAU) This verse was quoted and then applied to Christ in Matthew 4:16.
✔ Understanding that Christ is the light of the world and accepting Christ as the light of the world are not the same things.
Vs.4b 2. Sampling salvation is not enough “tasted of the heavenly gift”
Jesus is called God’s “indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15 NAU). Being saved is called, “the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8 NAU).
✔ Tasting is NOT drinking. If something doesn’t taste good then we don’t drink it.
When someone comes to Christ they want to feast on Him – a taste is never enough. Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.(NAU)
Jesus told the Pharisees, John 6:32 32 “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 53 . . . unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.(NAU)
God may allow you to taste how good God is but He will not make you feast on how good God is. It is an insult to God to act as if you could get too much of Him. If you don’t come to church as much as you can, then ask yourself, “Why?” Is one message a week about Christ all you want? Are just a few minutes of Christian fellowship all you want? Are you satisfied with only reading a verse or two of the Bible every day? If it tastes good to you, you will want as much of it as you can get.
Vs.4c 3. Watching the Holy Spirit work is not enough “partakers of the Holy Spirit”
PARTAKERS refers to Strong’s #3353: A participant, associate, sharer, partner, companion. The word is a combination of meta, “with,” and echo, “to have.” [Hayford, J. W., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Hayford’s Bible handbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
In other words, they were able to watch when the Holy Spirit worked.
Hebrews 2:3-4 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.(NAU)
These people had actually seen God do the impossible. If you have not committed yourself to Jesus Christ then you are in danger of doing the same thing today. Every time you hear that God answered prayer; every time you watch a believer go through a hard circumstance with joy; every time you see God save a sinner and change his life, you have watched the Holy Spirit do the impossible.
Christians don’t just PARTAKE of the Holy Spirit, they posses the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives inside of them.
Vs.5a 4. Hearing the message about Christ is not enough “tasted the good word of God”
It is possible to hear good preaching every week, read the Bible every day, and even enjoy learning about the Bible and still not be a Christian.
Herod Antipas was an example. Mark 6:20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.(NAU) But, when push came to shove, he had John beheaded.
We are commanded taste how good God is: Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good . . .(NAU) We are in trouble, though, if we are satisfied with a taste. We should be like Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.(NAU)
Vs.5b 5. Experiencing the miracles of Christ are not enough “tasted...the powers of the age to come”
This is referring to the coming Kingdom of God when He will reign in power on earth. The original readers of Hebrews had seen God do some awesome things: Hebrews 2:4 God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.(NAU)
It is dangerous to see God answer prayer, heal people, and change lives and then not give yourself completely to Christ. Matthew 10:1,7 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’(NAU) Don’t forget: Judas was one of these disciples!
Jesus made it clear that participating in religion is no guarantee of salvation. Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’(NAU)
Don’t be a Simon Magus. Acts 8:9-13 9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.(NAU)
Acts 8:18-23 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”(NAU)
Look back over the five religious things that the readers had experienced and notice what is NOT on the list. There is no mention that they possessed the righteousness of Christ or that they were exalting the righteousness of Christ. This proves what is said in Hebrews 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.(NAU)
☛ Romans 10:1-4 1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.(NAU)
CONCLUSION: If you intend to wave the banner of your salvation, make sure that it’s crimson red with the blood of Jesus Christ and not bleached yellow because of your lack of commitment to Christ.
It is dangerous to come to church faithfully and not commit yourself to God.
The righteousness of God . . . is the sweetest object of the church’s joy. -- David Dickson [Thomas, I. (1996). The golden treasury of Puritan quotations. Includes index of authors. General index created by Christian Clasics Foundation. (electronic ed.). Simpsonville SC: Christian Classics Foundation.]
