In 1993 in the movie, “The Sandlot” there was a young guy named who they called “Squints” whose whole name was in love Michael “Squints” Palledorous.
If you saw the movie, you will know that “squints” was secretly in love with the lifeguard, Wendy Peppercorn and his love for her was so deep; that it drove him into the deep. That’s right, although he could not swim, he jumped into the deep end of the pool and almost drowned so that she would rescue Him and provide “mouth to mouth” resuscitation.
As she was resuscitating him, he woke from his near-death experience and shocked everyone with this smile for his friends and a kiss for Wendy Peppercorn.
Although he could not swim, his love drove him into the deep end of the pool. He could not stay in the shallow anymore; He had to get out of the kiddie pool because He knew He was destined for the deep.
Transitional Sentence:
Hebrews 6 is an intriguing chapter because it addresses two different types of people:
a) People who think they are Christians, yet the seed of salvation had not taken root;
they are as verse 8 says: “thorns and thistles” people who received God’s Word
but their concern for the world choked out their acceptance of Jesus.
b) People who were truly Christians who the seed of salvation went deep, it had taken root,
and it was impacting their life as they were challenged to leave “shallow” “pseudo” “fake”
Christianity and “go deep” because of their love for Jesus.
Let me ask you which are you? “Are you a kiddie pool religious person or has your love for Jesus driven you to the deep?”
Perhaps today you are on the edge of making a true commitment to Jesus. Why should you do it? Why should you leave behind the shallow thorn and thistle belief and become a true believer?
Transition: Why take the plunge?
I. There’s No Satisfaction in the Shallow
Vs. 9- “But beloved we are convinced of better things concerning you....”
Explanation:
This passage is penned to the real believers. We know this because it begins with a simple phrase, it is the second word in verse 9. The word is the word: “beloved.” (agapetoi)
This phrase is God’s title of endearment for us. It’s like calling your wife “honey” “sweetie” or “pretty momma.” Right?
The word is set aside for believers who genuinely accept Jesus, make Him their Lord and Savior, and have set out on the journey of life following Jesus. It is the highest expression of how God feels about us: He loves us!
It is used 60 times in the New Testament and often it is used in contrast to the Heavenly Fathers love for Jesus and His love for us. It is precisely the same. Remember when Jesus was baptized? God the Father spoke from heaven and said: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
God feels the same way about you if you’ve truly joined His family and accepted His Son.
After identifying who He is talking to He tells us why it’s not safer nor it’s it satisfying to hang out in the shallow. He tells us why it’s so satisfying to “go deep” and “take the plunge” when it comes to following Jesus.
When we follow Jesus:
a) His Presence In My Life Is More Than Skin Deep- vs. 10- “For God is not unjust so as to
forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name....”
In verse 10 we are reminded that when our relationship with Jesus is authentic, His presence is
authentic in our lives. He is present and knows everything we are doing and He remembers
what we have done because He’s been there with us all the way.
The verse here speaks of God “not forgetting.”
Illustration: The Hippocampus
Do any of you struggle with forgetting things? If so, take hope, a recent study was done that says that the average adult loses 9 items that they own ever day.
We lose our keys, our phones, glasses, remotes, and other stuff. Guys, not good news but one study concluded that we lose stuff more than women and that we spend an average of 15 minutes a day looking for things we misplace.
Yet, did you know that there is a neurological reason for it? The study says that the reason we misplace things is because we have an “encoding” part of our brains that controls our attention and memory drive.
That’s right. Here’s the scientific excuse we can now use for forgetting stuff. Ready? This is the scientific explanations: “ The hippocampus is like a camera for our brain. It is responsible for taking a snapshot and preserving our memory in a set of neurons and when it is not activated due to lack of focus, we don’t have a snapshot stored and can’t retrieve our stuff.”
Here’s the good news. God does not need a hippocampus. The only thing he ever forgets us our sins when we confess them.
Hebrews 8:12 says: “For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Aren’t you grateful for that?
In this verse he tells us that He remembers and reviews things he’s seen in your life. He makes sure you know He has no fuzzy memories:
a) He’s remembers your work- The things you have done together. (vs. 9)
b) He remembers your love- The closeness you have together. (vs. 9)
c) He remembers your care- The way you helped others together. (vs. 9)
The fact is God remembers because He’s been there with you. He’s had the same experience with you because you have more than a religion you showed up for on Sunday, you have a present God who is really with you on Monday and every other day of the week
If all you have is a little religion; you have structure without a Savior; you have a persuasion without the presence of God.
When we have Jesus, we have Immanuel, God with us. And He is with us always and forever.
b) His Presence In My Life Never Ends- vs. 11- “And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the end.”
In verse 11, he reminds us that when God’s presence comes into our life; He comes in to dwell perpetually. He moves in as resident and president of our life and this gives us an assurance that no matter what; Christ is with us.
I absolutely love Psalm 23 that says: “Yea though I walk through the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and staff they comfort me.”
Perhaps nothing in life is worse than feeling like we are alone. Yet, the Psalmist reminds us that even at our time of death, Jesus comes to us. We don’t cross the chasm of death alone. He is with us. We don’t get in line to meet Jesus in heaven; He takes us the heaven!
Yet, when Jesus comes into our life religion is replaced by a relationship and there is a
confidence and security of His presence that results.
The Apostle Paul was like us, outside of the Damascus road experience, He did not see Jesus physically but he said: “At my first defense no one took my part, all deserted me....but the Lord stood by me and gave me strength...” II Timothy 4: 16-17
A lot of people are like the Charlie Brown cartoon. He was talking to Linus one day who didn’t want to go into the library alone. Charlie Brown said: “Everyone has some place where they feel alone. It’s o.k.”
Linus then asked: “Where do you feel alone Charlie Brown? He replied: “Earth.”
Listen: The writer of Hebrews wants us all to know that shallow religion will not satisfy any of us. We all benefit from “taking the plunge” and going deep.
Listen: We are destined for the deep. Jesus even illustrated this to the disciples when he took them away from the shore, allowed a storm to come on the sea, and came to them, inviting Peter to step out of the boat, walk with him into the deep.
If you are hanging around the shallow kiddie pool of religion, avoiding the relationship, let me encourage you to hear what God says in verse 9. “But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation....”
Take a moment right now for a spiritual inventory of your life. Have you taken the plunge and given your life truly to Jesus or are you hanging around the kiddie pool of religion?
In verse 12 God tells you to not be “sluggish.” Don’t delay. Come dive in to the deep.
Listen: There’s no satisfaction in the shallow, God is calling you into the deep.
Transitional Sentence: Why should I take the plunge?
II. There’s No Safety In the Shallow
vs. 13- “For God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, He swore by himself saying, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”
Explanation:
We live in a world where there’s a lot of mistrust. Promises are often made lightly with little intention of them so people struggle with banking on anyone or anything.
Yet, when you know and walk with Jesus, you have a trustworthy guide and friend for life. One of the greatest benefits of being a true believer and follower of Jesus is knowing that the God you are following is safe, secure, and steadfast to lead your life.
The people that the writer of Hebrews was penning these words to needed an example. Because they were Jews, the writer decided to just pull out Abraham and let them examine their history books and see that God was faithful on every page of Abraham’s life.
He is the perfect example of someone who struggled like you and me.
He experienced his fair share of problems, uncertainty, and even mistakes that he sought to “get right” in his life. Abraham learned, just like you and me, that his only way to live life was to learn to trust in the God who led him.
Abraham was raised a pagan. He was the descendant of Shem; one of Noah’s three boys and after several generations, their family went astray and worshipped pagan gods.
Yet, in this verse in Hebrews we discover what Abraham discovered in life. When he “took the plunge” and started walking with God he discovered a few things about God:
a) God is a promise keeper- In verse 14 we read one of those promises: “I will surely bless you
and I will surely multiply you.” God made good on that promise. Did you know that there
are over 14 million descendants of Abraham on earth today? God did not fail to keep His
promises to those who trust and follow Him. He never will.
b) God helps us achieve our purpose- In verse 17 we are reminded that God had a purpose
behind His promises. Through them God would bring the Messiah. God drew up a prophetic
plan for Abraham’s descendants and that plan has not only proved to be fulfilled in the past
but is in process even today and will be in the future.
Basically, the writer is building a case for them to trust God for their lives. Let me ask you, what kind of evidence do you need to truly turn everything in your life over to God and trust Him with it?
Illustration: I’ll have what Dad is having
I was reading this week about a young boy who was traveling with his family on vacation. While traveling he said he would always order a “kids meal” and after a while it got really old.
Finally, one day on vacation he started something new. He simply said: “I’ll have whatever my Father is having.”
At first he wasn’t sure if he had made the right decision because He had become accustomed with his normal burger, fries, and a toy. He said: “ I especially liked getting a toy.”
But, soon he figured out that his Dad always had something more appealing than what he had in front of him and the rest is history. For the remainder of his “growing up years” he would always say, “I’ll have what my Dad is having.” That statement became a family phrase because whenever they came to a drive-thru window, the whole family would say: “He’s having what Dad is having.”
Application
When it comes to life, one of the greatest lessons to learn is simply that our Heavenly Father always knows what is best, and part of spiritual maturity is coming to the point when we simply say: “I want what my Heavenly Father wants.” “I’ll have what Dad is having.”
One of the greatest spiritual plunges in our life is to come to the point where we pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6: 10
Do you want to go deep with God? Just let Him take over your life.
Do you know how rare it is to find someone who let’s God take over their life? Yet, it is the safest place to be on earth.
People who don’t know where Jesus is in their life stay in the shallow. But people in the deep, do you know what they say? They make a radical faith statement. They say things like this: “Your will be done.” and, “I’ve decided to follow Jesus. I’m going deep.”
Getting out into the deep is never easy. If God is good enough to call you into the deep; he is able to sustain you in the deep.
You don’t drift out into the deep when it comes to Jesus; if you are drifting, you will always drift to the shallow because the pull of the world is like the tide. It pulls you into the shallow; not out into the deep.
Lord, I trust you, I’m going to let you change the way I forgive people.
Lord, I trust you, I’m going to let me change the way you invest your life and your resources.
Lord, I trust you, I’m Let me change the way you talk, speak, and your opinions about things in life.
When you take the plunge, he takes you places you’ve never been and makes you better than you ever were. That’s what God does. He doubles down and changes our lives.
He convinces us that there’s no safety in the shallow. Trusting Him is the better way. His ways are higher than ours. He shows us that we are destined for the deep. The greater.
Transition: Why should I take the plunge?
III. There’s An Anchor in the Deep
vs. 19- “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one who enters the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Explanation:
The final reason why the writer of Hebrews tells us that we should “take the plunge” is because that’s where we find the anchor for our life; it’s in the deep.
In nautical life, you know that anchors are made for the deep.
The anchor is not very impressive; but it is impactful.
What does an anchor do? It holds a boat steady. The sea may be “a rockin’” but the anchor keeps holds you in place despite the turbulence.
The writer here tells us that Jesus Christ is like an anchor that has been set in heaven. Jesus as our High Priest has ascended to heaven like an anchor attached to our soul. While we are living in the trying and turbulent seas of life; God’s got us because our souls are attached to anchor.
In heaven, an anchor is there for us. He’s praying for us. He’s interceding for us. He’s our attachment from heaven to earth. We can live a steady life because we have a Savior who is holding us steady despite the storms of life we are facing.
1. He’s our anchor when things are not working out at home.
2. He’s our anchor when things are not working out at work, in our finances, and health.
3. He’s our anchor when things are not working out in our mental well-being.
Through life there are things that often make us feel that at any minute we might be blown away, but if you have an anchor; it holds you steady in spite the turbulence you are facing.
Illustration: The Catacombs- The fish and the anchor
In the catacombs in Rome, those tunnels under the ancient city, were the places where the early Christians hid and some were buried there.
They experienced difficult times of deep persecution and difficulty was a daily reality. Some might say, they were in deep waters.
Yet, in those tunnels we grasp a picture of what they were thinking about during those turbulent days. Notice the symbols of their faith that they carved there:
The “fish” (like today) was a Christian symbol because the letters of the Greek word for "fish," ichthys, stand for the words Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior. It also came to represent the believers who had “gone deep” -- taken the plunge-- and genuinely followed Christ.
Yet, in their carvings they left us a message about that which kept them secure in those difficult days. It was that in the deep waters; they had an anchor above; Jesus was their anchor and their secure place in life.
In Isaiah 43:2 God promises us: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
Do you know where you find an anchor for your life? It’s in the deep; not in shallow “religion”-- it’s in a real, authentic, and deep relationship with Jesus.
