Sermon Central
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Sealing The Threat Of Apostasy
Contributed by Byron Sherman on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: The writer to the Hebrews was not satisfied with apostasy’s threat to his audience. & thus tried to circumvent that threat. The threat of apostasy is unacceptable & preventable. But what seals this threat? 3 factors sealing the threat of apostasy are
Illustration:
Corn must flower or you have no corn/Each of the silks is attached to a kernel of corn-a flower/Imagine corn which never goes beyond the foundational stalk & leaves!/Now imagine a 10,000 acre farm in the midwest planted with this kind of corn/Disaster!/FOUNDATIONAL STASIS
Me at the creek/Some water would become isolated after an initial flood/Pockets of water standing/Get a film which could be broken with a finger/Different kinds of animals lived there in comparison to the swift waters of the creek/Stagnant water would eventually evaporate, killing everything in it/FOUNDATIONAL STASIS ruins everything
I have a few cacti/The form is appealing to me/Lack of flowers is no problem/but in the wild it is!/
Animals that hibernate/Enter into a sort of suspended life/Survival technique of God’s design/Spring arrives & hibernation ceases/Immediate search for food/Left to continual hibernation, no animal will survive/FOUNDATIONAL STASIS
Application:
?Has A FOUNDATIONAL STASIS sealed the Threat of Apostasy to you?
?Has the Threat of Apostasy been sealed with you?
2—A factor sealing the threat of apostasy is...
A FOUNDATIONAL DEPARTURE(:4-8)
Explanation:(:4-8)
:4—“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, & have tasted the heavenly gift, & have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,”
Why should we leave the elementary teaching about the Christ? It is a very dangerous position to be in before an awesome & holy God because there is an “impossibility” into which one has thereby placed himself.
Abandoning what has occurred with our relationship with God in the past is literally damning.
:5—“& have tasted the good word of God & the powers of the age to come,”
The fact remains that we must reach & go beyond being satisfied with our PAST...
1) “Enlightenment”—There is the same to be had at every moment of every day.
2)“Tasting— “of the heavenly gift”—To full-blown ingestion of salvation of Christ Jesus.
3) “Partaking”— of the Holy Spirit”—To being used of the Holy Spirit....from taking to giving.
4) “Tasting”—the goodness of “the word of God”—To consuming “the good word of God.”
5)“Tasting”—“of the powers of the age to come”—To enable the future powers to be manifested thru our living— working, playing, worshiping.
“Impossible”—adunatov—1) Without strength, impotent, powerless, weakly, disabled; 2) Unable to be done, impossible. Strong—Unable, i.e. Weak (literally or figuratively); passively, Impossible:-- Could not do, impossible, impotent, not possible, weak.
“Enlightened”—fwtizw—1) To give light, to shine; 2) To enlighten, light up, illumine; 3) To bring to light, render evident—3a) To cause something to exist & thus come to light & become clear to all; 4) To enlighten, spiritually, imbue with saving knowledge. Strong—To shed rays, i.e. To shine or (transitively) To brighten up (literally or figuratively):-- Enlighten, illuminate, (bring to, give) light, make to see.
