On the Shetland Islands off the northern coast of Scotland, there stands a 62-foot steel yacht that weighs 126 tons that a man spent 5 years having built and spent a lifetime of savings to construct.
On the day of its launching, he invited a local band to play and the whole town turned out to help him celebrate the completing of this amazing ship that represented his life dream.
The band played, the bottle of champagne was smashed across the bow, and the ship was lowered into the water; ready for launch.
But, to everyone’s surprise, as the ship was lowered into the water it sank to the bottom of the harbor. Do you know why? That boat would not float.
The man was mortified to discover that on that day that he expected his life dream to be complete; that dream turned into a nightmare. He pulled out all the stops, spent all his money, wasted all that time only to discover that his boat would not float.
Transition:
When Paul spoke about the day of his death, he used nautical terms. He said: “My time of departure is at hand.” Literally, he was saying: “Like a sea going vessel; I am ready to launch.”
Simply stated: He knew that when it came to his salvation; His boat would float and take him away from this world, to the place He had always longed for: He longed to be forever with Jesus.
Hebrews 6 provides two things for us:
a) A warning to those who think that are saved who are not.
b) An assurance to those who are saved and struggle with doubt.
It is quite normal for Christians to have doubts along this journey in life. One of the reasons is theological. They wrestle with passages like Matthew 12: 31-32 that talk about the unforgivable sin. Not to mention, they read phrases like Hebrews 6:6 that talks about “falling away” and they wonder if they have crossed the line, or committed a sin that will not be forgiven.
God does not want you to be afraid when it comes to the day you depart from this earth. He loves you and the Bible tells us that: “Perfect love casts out all fear.” I John 4:18. The God that loves you wants you to know for certain that you are ready for launch; whenever or however that happens.
Hebrews 6 is not the only place in the Bible where this is discussed. The Christians in Thessalonica feared that they would never see their loved ones again, so in I Thessalonians 4: 13-18 Paul wrote to give them assurance.
The reason for lack of assurance may vary but the biggest problem is faulty Bible teaching; that’s why the writer of Hebrews clearly provides a list of evidences that should give us assurance of our salvation.
Assurance is vital for life. You are never really ready to live life; until you are assured about what is going to happen to you in death. So let’s pull of the evidence box and see what is in our life that proves that we really are on our way to heaven.
Transition: What proves that I am really “born again?” What are the birthmarks of a true believer?
I. Like A Defector, You Abandon Law and Choose Liberty
vs. 1-3- “Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God, of instruction about washing and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.
Explanation:
In April of 1967 a plane landing at the JFK Airport with a 41-year old woman who was defecting from the Soviet regime. What made her the most famous defector of all time was that she was Josef Stalin’s daughter.
When she landed she publicly burned her Soviet passport, declared her father a spiritual and moral monster, and said that he father called her the “little sparrow” her whole life and now she had chosen to simply “fly away” and leave the false and enslaving teaching of her father and his regime.
As the writer of Hebrews speaks, he reminds them that they “said” that had defected from the incomplete teachings of Judaism. Yet, now they were moving backward instead of forward spiritually. They were moving back from Jesus to Judaism again.
In verse 1 we read: “Therefore leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ the Christ let us press on...”
In other words, they could not turn the page from the Old to the New Testament; they were choosing the law instead of liberty.
Illustration: The pacifier
The best way I know to explain what they were doing was they were leaving the milk for the pacifier.
How many of you have ever given your children a pacifier? Do you know what it does? It pacifies. It provides comfort until the real milk is ready and available.
Last week I spent some time with my 6-month old granddaughter. In other words, I got to do some babysitting. I’m not complaining. I loved it. Except for when she started crying.
You have to understand why she cries. She cries because she gets hungry. Naturally, she wants milk. Now understand, I don’t have the equipment necessary to provide milk for Ellie. God didn’t design me that way. I’m a dude. Dudes, as you well know, don’t produce milk.
Yet, until the proper person (her mother) came that had that ability to provide for her needs, she was stuck with me. Do you know what I had? I had a pacifier. My granddaughter had to settle for what I had. I had a pacifier and it worked for a while.
She went to town on that pacifier. My granddaughter is a true Fowler; she’s smart. It did not take her long until she knew I didn’t have milk. The pacifier was a temporary fix. It was not a perfect solution.
Before long, she let me know that the pacifier was not satisfying her real hunger and she began to cry out and spit the pacifier out.
Application:
The Old Testament is like a pacifier. It created a hunger for the real thing. The real Messiah. The real one named Jesus would could satisfy the hunger of our souls.
Notice verse 1 defines the Old Testament as: The elementary teachings about the Christ.
That’s what the Old Testament did. It points us to Jesus. The Old Testament lays the foundation identifying the need for Jesus and preparation for Jesus; then the New Testament opens with the birth of Jesus.
In verse 2, He points out 6 different teachings of Judaism that were incomplete without Jesus finishing the picture:
a) Repentance in introduced in the Old Testament; but the one we turn to is introduced in the
New Testament.
2) Faith in God is introduced in the Old Testament; but that God we put our faith in
becomes flesh in the New Testament.
3) Ceremonial washings point to Jesus in the Old Testament; but the one who washes away
sins is introduced in the New Testament.
4) Laying on hands is introduced in the Old Testament, but laying hold of Christ is
introduced in the New Testament.
5) Belief in the resurrection of the dead is introduced in the Old Testament; but the one who
rose on the third day is introduced in the New Testament!
6) Belief in eternal judgment is introduced in the Old Testament; but the one who is coming
again with judgment in his hands is introduced in the New Testament.
Throughout history, people have often chosen the law over liberty. Instead of following the liberating Word of God, they chose the binding laws of religion instead of Jesus.
Listen: If you are truly born again, one of the birthmarks of a believer is that you run to Jesus. You trust Jesus. You live life with Jesus. Christianity is no longer a set of rules, it is a relationship of living for and following a person; that person is Jesus Christ.
True believers find life in Jesus and the law only made them long for a Savior who truly satisfies.
Transition: What proves that I am really “born again?” What are the birthmarks of a true believer?
II. Like A Good Judge; Your Verdict Concerning Jesus Is True
Vs. 4-6- “For 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, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and 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.”
Explanation:
The scripture here tells us that all of us must come to a decision about Jesus Christ and who He is.
Like a courtroom, evidence is laid out before each of us and we must make a verdict about who Jesus is.
Isn’t this what Jesus did with the disciples? Jesus simply said: “Who do men say I am?” (Son of Man) The response of the Jews of Jesus day was that many thought he was; John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or some other prophet.
Yet then Jesus said: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Christ the Son of the Living God.” Jesus affirmed his statement assuring him that “flesh and blood (a human) had not made this known to Him, but the Heavenly Father revealed that fact to him. Matthew 16: 13-17
Like a judge, we all stand to receive the evidence of who Jesus is. The writer of Hebrews said that he was writing to people who:
a) Had been enlightened- (photizo) We get our word “photo” from this word. It means to “put
light on the subject or to be made aware. We literally “get the picture.”
b) Had tasted the heavenly gift- The idea is samples had been tasted. You not only see, but get
a taste. The senses are elevated when we senses are aligned to a higher level through taste.
This is happening in the room today. You sense God is here and feel something. God’s
handing out samples of His Spirit today.
c) Had been partakers of the Holy Spirit- The word “partaker” (metochos) means
“association” but does not mean “possessor.” It means: “Being around” when he was
around.
Illustration: Who is the most famous person you’ve been around
I have to admit, I have not been around a lot of famous people. Some of you have. Some of you have hung around with Presidents. We have a guy in our church who was the helicopter pilot for a former Vice-President. We have guys in our church that played baseball with Hank Aaron; as a matter of fact, he was on the front of Sports Illustrated years ago.
While I have not been close personally to a lot of famous people, I do remember visiting a amusement park and walking past Nancy Kerrigan one time. She won two Olympic medals. If you don’t know her she was a Olympic figure skater back in 1994 who gained notoriety from being assaulted by an opponent’s husband by being hit in the leg with a baton. (Tanya Harding.) From this she became well known and loved.
As I walked past her I recognized her and said, “Hi Nancy.” She immediately stopped, looked back and me with that: “How do I know you? look” and then it obviously dawned on her that everyone knew her and she walked away.
I knew all about her. I was even at the moment “around her” and “in her presence” but the bottom line was; she did not know me.
Application:
This was the case with the recipients of the Hebrew letter. They had been around the Holy Spirit, they partook of His presence, but were not possessed by the Holy Spirit.
d) Had tasted of the Word of God- The word used for “word” here is rhema. The word means: “a small portion or part”- it’s like a pie. It’s like a piece of the pie but not the whole pie. They had nibbled on God’s Word, sampled it, possibly even went to church from time to time but did not make it their regular diet.
e) Had tasted of the Powers of the Age to Come- Simply said: “They saw God’s miracles.”
Many have been like them. People who saw Lazarus raised instead of falling to their knees in
worship; ran off and planned Jesus’ execution. Miracles were not enough.
In the case of these recipients of the Book of Hebrews, despite the evidence brought to them of the truth of Jesus, they dropped the gavel and (according to verse 6) “fell away.” Which means: They were once almost convinced. They stood at the threshold of salvation and “fell away.”
Instead of falling in love with Jesus; they fell away to doubt, distrust, and disbelief and passed down a verdict of rejection.
Application:
In verse 6, we gain an understanding of what their verdict produces. The Bible tells us that their verdict seals their heart of rejection. They were at the peak of God’s revelation of Himself to them; and instead of receive; they reject Jesus.
Instead of allowing the gospel to open their heart, their verdict seals their heart with rejection of Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews says that it becomes impossible to bring them back. They close their heart to Jesus and close the door to belief.
The phrase “open shame” is reminiscent of Calvary. When Jesus was put in the cross; He was subjected to a judgment of open shame. In other words, these people pass the same type of judgment that the crucifiers passed down. Despite the evidence that Jesus is the true Savior and Lord of all; they fall away, walk away, in agreement that Jesus got what He deserved.
The warning here is that there is a day and a moment when our heart closes and the day of grace is complete. It’s like the day when the door was shut on the Ark with Noah. He preached for 100 years, but when the time came, the door closed and the rains fell.
The reality is: One of the birthmarks of a believer is that we’ve decided on Jesus and put our trust in Him.
Transitional Sentence: What proves that I am really “born again?” What are the birthmarks of a true believer?
III. Like A Good Plant; You Bring Forth Good Fruit
vs. 7-8- “For the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is tilled, receives a blessing from God; but it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”
Explanation:
He concludes the section of scripture with a familiar picture from one of Jesus’ stories. Jesus told the story called “The Parable of the Seeds.”
In His story the seeds represented God’s Word that was cast to the earth.
a) Some of the seed fell on the bare ground and the birds ate up the seed.
b) Some of the seed fell on rocky ground and the seed did not take root. It was on shallow
soil so while it sprang up, the sun scorched it.
c) Some of the seed fell among thorns and the thorns choked it.
d) Yet, some of the seed fell on good soil and it produced a crop- 100, 60, and 30 times that
was sown.
Verse 8- Many of these written to in this passage were ones whose seed had been choked out by thorns and thistles and the affairs of this world. Verse 8 speaks to this and warns against it.
The point is that God sends for the seed to our hearts; then the Word and then like the rain, the Holy Spirit softens the heart to seek to get it to take root.
Yet, in the end, we all have a choice of what our hearts do with what God has given to us. Will we accept the truth that God has revealed to us, or will we reject it.
Unfortunately, Hebrews 6 is an appeal to those who were on edge. They were about to fall away and forget what they had heard, sensed, felt, and came close to following. They were living on the edge.
Conclusion: Camping out on the side of a cliff
One of things thrill seekers are doing now days is camping on the side of cliffs. The call it “virtual camping.”
One camper said: “I love camping on the side of a cliff. It’s just a cool thing that humans can do.” When I read that I thought: “Yea, humans can do lots of things like drink turpentine, it might not kill them, right?.”
One climbing couple said: “For us as a couple, it’s the most romantic things we can do. Waking up on the side of a cliff is one of my favorite memories of life. Literally, love is in the air.” It thought: “Yea, I also have heard about people falling in love too, right?”
Some people think this is thrilling. I think its crazy. But to each his own I guess.
But when it comes to Jesus and your eternity, gambling with your soul, and spiritually living on the edge is more than dangerous; God tells us that it is foolish.
Do you know why? There’s a 100% chance that you and I will meet God face to face someday and when it happens, as Jesus said: “You must be born again.” John 3:3
Invitation:
Let me ask you: “Do you have the birthmarks that prove you are born again?” If not, today you can experience the new birth. You can genuinely know Jesus personally in your life. You can have salvation without a doubt.
