Solid Faith: Best Way to Avoid the Slippery Slope
(Hebrews 12:1-17)
1. A mother asked her son, “What did you learn about or do in school today?”
Son replied, “We studied explosives and even made some.”
“Really?” the mom responded. “And what will you do at school tomorrow?”
The boy answered, “What school?”
2. We could say that studying explosives led to making explosives led to no school. That is a prime example of the slippery slope.
3. According to Wikipedia, “A slippery slope argument … is a consequentialist logical device in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually negative) effect… The strength of such an argument depends on the warrant, i.e. whether or not one can demonstrate a process that leads to the significant effect.
4. We certainly know that much sin is a slippery slope issue. That’s why we try to check our thoughts. We see people like Rob Bell or Alexander McClaren who begin with one compromise and then eventually deny the major tenets of our faith.
5. The writer to the Hebrews feared that these Messianic Jews were on a slippery slope. They had made professions of faith in Jesus as Messiah, but some of their number had backtracked into Christ-denying mainstream Judaism.
6. The writer to the Hebrews fears that others might be considering doing the same — and considering defecting can be the beginning of a slippery slope.
Main Idea: The road to deeper faith comes through contemplating the Word, the discipline God sends our way or allows, and faithful perseverance. This deeper faith helps us resist the "slippery slope."
I. The Great Men and Women of Faith WITNESS to the Blessing of Committed Faith (1-3)
When I read books, particularly in the realm of counseling, I appreciate actual case studies. It is one thing to state principles, another to see them in action.
A. The witnesses of chapter 11 do not observe us, we observe their EXAMPLE (1)
1. Their example keeps us from throwing in the towel.
2. Sin is like a weight that slows us down; toying with apostasy
Bangledesh: Thirty families turned back to Islam after facing intense community pressure, said local church planter Sujen, who became a believer through a Bible correspondence course several years ago. After becoming convinced Jesus was the Way, the Truth and the Life, he began gradually sharing with others in his community. Though his parents rejected him, Sujen went on to lead all his brothers and their spouses to Christ. Over time, he baptized almost 100 families in four villages. … Last year, however, a wealthy Muslim patron hired a thug to go around intimidating the new Christians. Several lost jobs. Those who had small businesses found no one would buy from them. Eventually, a group of 30 families were taken to the mosque and asked to reconvert to Islam, and they gave in. www.icommittopray.com].
Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
B. Jesus is the ultimate CHAMPION of faith (2-3)
1. He is the founder, leader, originator of our faith
2. He completes our faith and brings it to an amazing destiny. — all of life
The road to deeper faith comes through contemplating the Word, the discipline God sends our way or allows, and faithful perseverance.
II. The Discipline of God Does Not Mean He Has Forsaken Us, But, Rather, That We Are Truly HIS Inheriting Sons (4-8)
A. God disciplines those He LOVES (4-6)
B. If we are not disciplined, we are not HEIRS (7-10)
1. Good parents think of child’s future and preparing them for adulthood; they think about what is in the child’s best interest, not temporary pleasantness.
2. The idea of being a son meant being an heir, not just to descend from.
3. Discipline evidences our legitimacy.
4. If good earthly fathers discipline their sons, shouldn’t our heavenly father?
5. Discipline is an important part of the sanctification process.
C. Nobody LIKE discipline, but it is to our benefit (11).
The road to deeper faith comes through contemplating the Word, the discipline God sends our way or allows, and faithful perseverance.
III. We Need to MONITOR Our Spiritual Behavior and Attitudes, Despite Others Who Might Cave-in (12-17).
A. It is too easy to become WEARY in well doing (12-13)
2 Thessalonians 3:13, KJV, “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.”
B. It is too easy to let VIRTUE slide because of laziness, fatigue, or lack of morale (14).
1. Peace is a pursuit. The most disobeyed command in Scripture is, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” (Mat. 18:15)
2. Holiness refers to the purity of God’s character. What does this mean, without holiness? Well, all in heaven are holy and are made holy at death or rapture. Real believers attain a measure of holiness now.
C. There are always some BLIND to the Gospel among the congregation of the sighted, and we must try to bring them along (15a).
D. For others, a ROOT of bitterness brings God’s wrath by turning away from faith in Jesus as Messiah and returning to Christ-denying Judaism (15b).
Deuteronomy 29:18-20, “Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. “
• For a professing Christian to say that Jesus was a fake is equivalent to an Old Testament Jew turning to other gods.
E. A huge reason people reject Jesus is because of His MORAL demands (16-17).
“Esau is the perfect antithesis of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, for he trades off what is unseen and what lies in the future for immediate material gratification in the present.” [Ben Witherington III paraphrasing Donald Hagner]
1. The freedom to engage in immoral behavior or to FIT into their peer group drives many away from faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Like Esau, they do not properly VALUE the Gospel.
3. They can find forgiveness, but they cannot regain the spiritually MEANINGFUL life they have wasted.
• Some make professions of faith fall into serious sins, but they can and do recover, assuming they have not totally renounced Christ as Messiah.
• Others, however, trash Jesus Christ as a myth or false messiah after professing to be one of his followers and after having been taught well.
The road to deeper faith comes through contemplating the Word, the discipline God sends our way or allows, and faithful perseverance.
