Communion Sunday: Play video Body worship during the passing out of the elements.
On the lighter side of life:
Open up with funny signs and then end with the picture of the signs pointing in different directions.
We can learn from the Bible which way to go if we listen to its directions.
Today we are continuing with questions from the survey we passed out a few months back. You had the opportunity to challenge the pastor to “preach this!” You had the opportunity to answer questions people had about the Bible and Christianity.
Preach this: Hebrews 6:4-6
Thesis: “Can a Christian Lose their salvation?”
Primary Scripture Text:
Hebrews 6 :1-8 (NASB)
The Peril of Falling Away
1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
3And this we will do, if God permits.
4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV)
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because£ to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Hebrews 6:1-6: The Message
1So come on, let’s leave the preschool finger painting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God;
2baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.
3God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
4Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit,
5once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us—
6if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if nothing happened. That’s impossible. Why, they’ve re-crucified Jesus! They’ve repudiated him in public!
7Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God’s “Well done!”
8But if it produces weeds and thistles, it’s more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.
Other Scripture texts that refer to what is addressed in Hebrews:
Matthew 24:22-27:
22“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
23At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25See, I have told you ahead of time.
26“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-24:
19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.
20Do not treat prophecies with contempt
21but test them all; hold on to what is good,
22reject whatever is harmful.
23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
1 Timothy 6:20-21:
20Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,
21which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
2 Timothy 1:13, 14:
13What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
2 Timothy 2:14-19:
14Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
16Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
17Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
18who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
19Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
Introduction:
Many of the verses above warn us that it is possible to wander away from the faith – to in essence lose our salvation or to move away from God’s truth into lies and deception. The New Testament is adamant about the importance of the Christian in not being deceived and not losing the precious gift of salvation given to them by Jesus. The Christians are told repeatedly to hold onto the precious gift of holiness and salvation granted to us freely at our point of repentance and at the Born Again experience. We must turn from wickedness or jeopardize our position in the family of God. Even the church of Laodicea was warned by Jesus to repent or risk being spit out of His mouth. This church – these believers risk losing their salvation if they do not change their ways, they risk losing their position with Jesus and God the Father (Revelation 3:14-22). We are also warned by the book of Revelation chapter 3 to be careful that our name is not blotted out of the “Book of Life.” Remember Jesus is speaking to the church of Sardis and tells them that they can lose their salvation, their position for eternity in the book of life is in jeopardy if they don’t repent and turn from their wicked ways (See Revelation 3:1-6).
I also want to preface in the introduction here the following truth. If a person at any point genuinely confesses His or Her sin to God He will forgive it. Too many times the Devil uses these verses to tell backslidden people that they cannot return to the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. These verses are addressed to the person who has chosen to become an apostate of the Lord. They are people who were Christians who consciously and willingly rejected Jesus and His Gospel. They have willingly abandoned, deserted and forsook the truth of God for the lies of the world and of Satan. I want to make this clear this morning God is a forgiving loving and merciful God – just read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
The key in understanding these verses lies in the first verse found in the NASB “1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.”
Works – Many people – many Christians believe that their religious works will save them, that their religious traditions and forms will save them. Many of the Christian denominations and religions of today started out on the right track. They preached and taught that we are saved by faith alone not by works but somewhere down the line they made it into a works religion. The Pharisees of the NT fell into this category and Jesus opposed them adamantly. Why? Because he said they led people away from Him not toward Him. The truth is we can never earn enough merit points with God by our good works to get ourselves into Heaven. We must constantly remind ourselves we are saved by grace. By Grace alone! Communion reminded us of that today!
To understand our text better we need to look at who this letter was originally written too.
Writers of Hebrews: Paul, Origen, Priscilla and others.
Recipients Second-generation Jewish Christians, probably living in or near Jerusalem, who had been Christians for some time (2:1-4; 5:11-14; 10:32) and had suffered persecution (12:3-4).
Hebrews 2:1-4
Warning to Pay Attention
1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,
3how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
Hebrews 5:11-14:
Warning against Falling Away
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 10:32: 32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.
With the study of Hebrews we see that the author is addressing Christians so this segment in Hebrews 6:4-6 is directed at Christians.
T. S. - Hebrews describes for us the type of person who can “Fall Away” let’s look at this text in more detail and see what type of character this person had.
1. What kind of person can fall away from the Lord?
a. Enlightened – is defined the following way:
i. From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
1. en-lı̄t´’n:
a. (1) אוֹר, ʼōr, “illumination” in every sense, used in the ordinary sense of giving natural light (Ps 97:4 the King James Version; see also Ezr 9:8) or as a sign of health and vigor (1 Sam 14:27, 29). “His eyes were enlightened,” literally, “became bright.” He had become weary and faint with the day’s exertions and anxieties, and now recovers (see Job 33:30 and compare Ps 13:3). Thus in sickness and grief, the eyes are dull and heavy; dying eyes are glazed; but health and joy render them bright and sparkling, as with a light from within.
b. (2) In Ps 18:28 the King James Version, The word נָגַהּ, nāghah, figuratively describes the believer’s deliverance from the gloom of adversity and the restoration of joy in the knowledge of God.
c. (3) Most frequently the terms so translated mean the giving of spiritual light to the soul (Ps 19:8; Eph 1:18, φωτίζω, phōtı́zō; Heb 6:4; 10:32). This spiritual enlightening the Spirit of God brings about through the Divine word (Ps 119:130; 2 Tim 3:15; 2 Pet 1:19). Sin mars the intellectual discernment; “but he that is spiritual discerneth all things” (1 Cor 2:15 King James Version, margin). M. O. Evans
ii. Barnes states, “Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of knowledge, holiness, and happiness, and there is no impropriety here in understanding it in accordance with the more decisive phrases which follow, as referring to true Christians.”
b. Tasted the Heavenly Gift
i. This reference means those who have partaken of communion and have spiritually tasted the gift of forgiveness and grace in their lives.
ii. They have par-took of the communion – they have remembered and recalled Jesus Great sacrifice on the cross for them.
iii. Barnes, “To “taste” of a thing means, according to the usage in the Scriptures, to “experience,” or to “understand” it. The expression is derived from the fact that the “taste” is one of the means by which we ascertain the nature or quality of an object; compare Matt. 16:28: John 8:51; Heb. 2:9. The proper idea here is, that they had “experienced” the heavenly gift, or had learned its nature.”
c. Shared in the Holy Spirit
i. The person referred to in this passage shared in the Holy Spirit – I compare this to the warning Jesus gave in Matthew 7:15-29:
1. A Tree and Its Fruit
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
2. Jesus said “Just because a person prophesies, cast out Devils and done many wonderful works, “ does not mean they are right with God – because some will be rejected by God himself because he never knew them.
3. I look at this passage and say some people who have been used by the Holy Spirit and have used their spiritual gifts can decide at some point to walk away from the Lord - to abandon the faith and think they are the one’s performing the miracles!
d. Tasted the goodness of the Word
i. Barnes, “meaning—that the Word of God, or the truth which he taught, was itself a good. It was what the soul desired, and in which it found comfort and peace; compare Ps. 119:103; Ps. 141:6. The meaning here is, that they had experienced the excellency of the truth of God; they had seen and enjoyed its beauty. This is language which cannot be applied to an impenitent sinner. He has no RELISH for the truth of God; sees no beauty in it; derives no comfort from it. It is only the true Christian who has pleasure in its contemplation, and who can be said to “taste” and enjoy it. This language describes a state of mind of which every sincere Christian is conscious. It is that of pleasure in the Word of God. He loves the Bible; he loves the truth of God that is preached. He sees an exquisite beauty in that truth. It is not merely in its poetry; in its sublimity; in its argument; but he has now a “taste” or “relish” for the truth itself, which he had not before his conversion.
ii. I believe it point to the feeling we get when we dive into God’s Word and receive that verses which leaps off the page at us. That speaks to our heart – that epiphany moment of Word speaking right to our situation.
e. Experienced the powers of the coming age
i. They experienced the Love of the Lord – personally!
ii. They experienced the power of forgiveness and the acceptance of the Lord for eternity. They knew in their heart they were going to heaven. There was no doubt-no fear. They had peace for their position in eternity.
T.S. – The text makes it clear that the person who can fall away is a Christian.
2. The Warning: A person who has experience God can fall away and it’s hard to come back
a. Why?
i. Because pride and arrogance toward Jesus keeps them from repenting.
1. They do not have a humble Spirit.
a. People who reject the path of Jesus are prideful.
i. Some may reject the path of grace for the path of works where they think they earn their way to heaven by Good works.
ii. Others simply reject the truth of the Gospel for another religion which they feel is superior to Jesus message of the resurrection from the dead for all who repent and turn from wickedness.
2. They refuse to admit they are wrong.
a. People who fall into apostasy cannot admit they do wrong.
b. They are convinced their mindset is right and God is wrong, God’s word is not truth but filled with lies.
3. They think they know more than God.
a. People who fall into apostasy believe they are better than God.
b. If they were God everyone would get into Heaven – no one would be judged.
c. If they were God they would fix this planet and all of its injustices.
4. They do not fear God.
a. People who fall into this kind of apostasy have no fear of God.
i. Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
ii. Because they crucify Jesus over a second time, repeatedly.
1. People like this just keep placing Christ back on the cross.
a. They are the ones who keep crying out crucify Him.
b. Just like the Pharisee’s did the religious ones!
iii. They undermine the power of the cross to deliver and set people free.
1. People who walk away from God and His Word undermine the power of the cross.
iv. They undermine the name of Jesus.
1. They give Jesus’ name a bad reputation and give His face another black eye.
2. They shame the name of Jesus over and over again.
a. They mock the name of Jesus – they drag His name through the mud over and over again.
T.S. – People who have become apostates are those who openly and vehemently reject the truth of God’s word, they have a total disrespect for God Himself.
3. The writer of Hebrews tells us in verses 7, 8 that a Christian is one who produces fruit.
a. They compare life to land that has had proper rain.
i. The nutrients are there to bring forth an abundant crop.
1. But instead of bringing forth a crop it produces thorns and thistles which are dangerous to the crop so they are weeded out and burned.
ii. This comparison is applied to people who know the truth but yet do not produce spiritual fruit in their lives.
1. They claim to be a Christian but they keep re-crucifying Jesus.
a. They keep giving the name Christian a bad name.
b. They actually are a hindrance to the Gospel and openly fight against it.
b. Tony Searles from sermoncentral.com in his sermon “Individual Apostasy states the following about our final verses in this text:
i. The Natural Conclusion
God confirms what is just said about His natural laws?
-Often times, natural laws are linked to spiritual laws because BOTH have the same originator.
-And for this reason, natural phenomena can also serve for spiritual analogies!
Nature supports that truth that the neglect of proper cultivation of the land will lead to worthless results?
-And in similarity, the refusal to adhere to the Scriptures, and to cultivate a wholesome Spiritual life, will also lead to a spiritual bankruptcy in your soul.
The thorns and the thistles are reminiscent of Genesis 3, when God cursed the land, and the people had to till the land in order to find fruit from it.
-And that same principle applies to our lives as well?
-We must cultivate our spirit man, because there will be no good fruit that will just naturally come from it, unless we have planted the Word within us, and developed the fruit from it.
And remember what use do these thorns and thistles have? They are of no use, but to be burned? A steep warning for us to hear in relation to what will become of the careless- the hard-hearted-and the rebellious one. The lukewarm, He will surely spit out!
Conclusion:
So what do I take home from these verses today? What have we learned?
Here is the application to the Christian today:
1. We must never allow a religion of works to lead you away from Jesus.
2. We must be on our guard to make sure we hang on to our salvation and we don’t allow the deceiver to steal it away from us.
3. We need to not just her the Word but live it out.
4. We must avoid evil and wickedness.
5. We need to listen to the voice of the Lord and obey it.
6. We need to know the Word of God.
7. We need to not allow sin to woo us back into its wicked grasp.
Here is the application to the non-Christian today:
1. Repent today and God will forgive you!
2. Don’t harden your heart toward God or you may never have chance at eternity in Heaven.
3. Don’t make the mistake of rejecting The Bible’s warnings about being lost for eternity.
4. Don’t let the realities of the world and the lies of enemy to steal away you glorious future in Christ.
5. Do not become tolerant of sin in your life it will eventually kill you.
6. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit today and come to your heavenly Father.
7. Make the decision today to commit your life to Christ and to forsake the way of sin.
Altar Call:
The bottom line is we have the choice to decide which way to go in our life – one way leads to eternal life in Heaven the other to eternal condemnation in hell.
