The book of Hebrews warns against neglecting the great salvation offered through Jesus Christ, addressing different groups within the early church, including genuine believers growing weary, those with mere professions of faith, and outright unbelievers. The author emphasizes that just as Old Testament neglect led to punishment, neglecting Christ's salvation carries severe consequences, particularly for those who, after experiencing spiritual enlightenment and the benefits of God's word and the Holy Spirit, willfully turn away from the truth. It highlights the impossibility of renewing such individuals to repentance and calls believers to endure in their faith, drawing parallels with Abraham's faithfulness, to ultimately receive the promised inheritance.
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I am a little concerned with the pattern that's been established that when you don't like what you're hearing, you just say turn down the mic. That might get a little tough. I'd like you to turn to Hebrews chapter two. In the book of Hebrews, there are five warnings. Warning is not a very nice word. is why danger. And it certainly is danger. I'm convinced that the book of Hebrews was written to a group of individuals much like ourselves.
Some were genuine believers in Jesus Christ, serving him, working for him. Some of those believers were tired of working. They thought it was time to answer that. And they were willing to sort of lay back on the oars and take it easy for the rest of their Christian experience. Some of that group who would have received the letter, much like our group, would have been folks who said, yes, I am a believer in Jesus Christ. But their life had very little to demonstrate that.
And they were, at that very moment, considering cashing in on Christianity, and for this group, going back to Judaism. Back to the old way of life. Back to something other than the revelation of Jesus Christ. Along with that group, who were really not believers, though they said they were, would have been unbelievers. Oh, there are no Christian parents of that. You see, it was a normal mix of the gathering of people that would come together for meetings of the church.
Most believers, some professors, we were not really believers, and some unbelievers. The author says we talking to that group. Not that he could be all three of them at once, But as a good preacher does, he says, we do things rather than you do things, because as soon as I say, you do this, you say, and who do you think you are? Right? It's a good preacher. He says, we. Now, it takes more than saying we to make a good creature, obviously. But such was the case with the author of Hebrews. Five times over.
He takes a step back from his doctrinal development in the book and turns to the congregation and says, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? That's what he says in the first warning in chapter two and verse three. He looks back at the Old Testament and says in Old Testament times when people rejected and neglected the revelation of God they were punished. And in verse three he says, How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?
God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. How shall we escape? Escape what? You would respond to that rhetorical question. in accord with your situation. If you were of that first group, Christians who were tired of working for Jesus Christ, the question would come to you, how can I escape if I neglect caring for the salvation that I have received? How shall I escape being responsible for the neglect I am giving to my Christian life.
If you were, in fact, one of those people who had gone off to Galilee Bible camp, and some years ago you were over in a cabin someplace and had heard a stirring gospel message at the midweek service. And during that time, as you went back for cabin devotions, the storm came up. Lightning hit the tree right outside of your cabin at about three o'clock. The entire cabin at that very moment made profession of salvation. That's happened already. It wasn't here or there, but that's happened.
Well, it was a customary thing for your folks to send you off here after year to camp. waiting for that wonderful time when you would send back a little postcard like I did. Just a little postcard. Dear mom and dad, I would save the day, Dave. That's it. And you knew the folks back home were waiting for that kind of response. They've been telling you that since you were born. Well, you grew up knowing Jesus was the answer to everything. What do you want for Christmas? Jesus. You used to say things like that, and parents thought that was so cute. You know. And the first word they want you to say is Jesus.
Because parents want their kids to get saved, don't they? Yeah. And we tell them about it and quote verses about it. And sometimes we bug them the deaf about it, don't we? It's really true. And they come along... Well, everybody else is doing it. My folks be pleased and got saved at camp, did I? You know, in your heart of heart, you've got to go along with the rest. Your parents have always had a question mark over your life. There really wasn't much of a change. Not that you can change going to ten meetings a week very much.
There wasn't a big change. And pretty soon, running with the crowd again, living like the world again, doing all the same things. But there was a profession after all, and he did get baptized there, so we encouraged him to. And he's in fellowship with a text brand. Never says anything. Never see him read his Bible. Never see him show any interest in spiritual things. But there was that profession. And we hang a whole lot on that profession. The author writes to a person who made a profession way back when that didn't really amount to anything real before God and says, how shall you escape eternal judgment if you neglect the salvation that has come so close to you?
How shall you escape? And what is ambiguous in this first four-verse short warning passage, that same phrase can mean different things dependent on where you are in your experience with God, if saved, neglecting salvation and backsliding, if unsaved, neglecting the offer of the gospel and sliding by it, that ambiguous verse becomes very clear. in the four remaining warning passages. In chapter five, in verse eleven, another warning passage begins.
Verse ten of chapter five says, called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Verse twenty of chapter six says in the close, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Everything in between those two verses is a warning. The author of Hebrews, in short, in verses eleven through fourteen of chapter five, says, to that mixed congregation, I want to talk about Melchizedek. That's who he just mentioned. But Melchizedek is a minor character of the Old Testament. And the audience was not spiritually attuned to know what he calls the meat things of the Word of God.
And surely says, you're too dull. even talk about Melchizedek. Verses eleven through fourteen. The first three verses of chapter six. He encourages those folk to go on from biblical Judaism to spiritual maturity. Don't build again biblical Judaism. Go on to grow in the things of God. In verse three he says something very important, and this we will do, if God permit. Now that little rhetorical statement, if God permit, carries some force that's very interesting.
Sometimes when you see if it is legitimate to translate it, since Since you are dead with Christ, seek those things which are above. It really is if, but it is assumed true for the argument and can be translated since. It's not as forceful. It's not as arresting, but it can be handled that way. This conditional clause cannot be. The force of this is, and this we will do if God permits, he may permit it and he may not permit it. Some God will allow to go on. Other God will not.
And that is a solemn message. The hard part of this warning passage is in verses four through eight. For those of you who like grammar, there are six participial phrases. Doesn't that thrill you? Six participial phrases that modify a basic statement. And we often lose the force of the basic statement because there are so many modifying clauses. The basic statement is this.
It is impossible. to renew them again to repentance. This is not, as some would say, a description of an impossible situation. The grammar will not bear that. This is a description of a situation once attained, of which God says it is impossible for that person to reverse the consequences of his actions. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance. And that is modified by six statements.
It is impossible to renew again to repentance those having once been enlightened, those having tasted of the heavenly gift, those having been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. those having tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and those having fallen away. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance. The if in verse six, how many of you have an if in verse six right at the beginning? Bad translation doesn't belong there. It's just like the other phrases, just like the other participle, having fallen away.
six things have been done. The author wants to talk about Melchizedek. He wants us to go on to spiritual maturity. But for some, God will say, you cannot go on. Now, who are these some? What is difficult about these six statements is that they find very little parallel statement anywhere else in Scripture. We really don't know what the specifics are that are in mind. But let's just look at them.
Very general terms. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance, those having once been enlightened. In the New Testament era, in the era of the church, there is a revelation of divine truth in an accelerated pace that would parallel the growth of knowledge and fact in our technological society. Think of what they knew now that people just fifty or sixty or seventy years before did not know. Before they hadn't seen the Messiah, now the Messiah is on the scene.
Before they only saw vaguely the outline of a suffering Messiah, now that was clearly presentable. Before they didn't know very much about the Trinity, hence allusions in the Old Testament, now clearly stated as they baptized folk in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The revelation of the Church. the working of the Holy Spirit. All new truth. A burst of spiritual enlightenment that was common knowledge now amongst the Christian community. Common knowledge amongst these young people. Common knowledge amongst us all.
Once enlightened. A great burst of enlightenment did not belong to the French period. belonged to the Christian era. That's when enlightenment, when the light came into the world in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, have tasted of the heavenly gift. What is that gift? Let's not play games with tasted. This is the same word that we saw earlier in chapter two, where he tasted death for every man. Tasted of the heavenly gift. What is that? The truth of eternal life?
The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. How many of us have heard about that in this room? We all have. Eternal life is the gift of God. Or perhaps it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the bread of life, come down from heaven. That would certainly fit the concept of tasting. And the Lord Jesus Christ says himself, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. Perhaps that is what is in here. Part of that revelation is the gift of God come down from heaven.
And it tasted of the heavenly gift. And we're made partaker of the Holy Spirit. beneficiaries of the coming of the Holy Spirit of God. It does not say indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It does not say baptized by the Holy Spirit. It does not say sealed by the Holy Spirit. Partakers say partook of the ministry and person of the Holy Spirit in his ministry here on earth. In First Corinthians seven it encourages that believing wife to remain with an unbelieving husband.
Else how are the children sanctified? Unsafe person like John the Baptist at birth, I said at birth, was filled with the Holy Spirit during his unsaved years. Caiaphas being priests spoke prophesied by the Holy Spirit. Judas did miracles empowered by the Holy Spirit. He was not a dud after all. I cannot imagine the disciples when they were divided up into two by twos saying, I got Judas this time.
He never pulls his way to miracles. In fact, he was one of the honored and trusted ones, wasn't he? You see what I'm pointing out is to be a partaker of the ministry of the Holy Spirit does not necessarily require salvation. And all of us in this room, in fact all of us in this country, have benefited through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whether or not we know it. We have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit in that sense. have tasted the good word of God.
My God, there's a young person here who can't tell me something about what the gospel is, the good news is. They know about that. They've experienced the benefits of that. There's good news from heaven. They sing about it every Christmas. Peace on earth. Goodwill to man. Take taste of the powers of the age to come. We are ministers of the new covenant, a new covenant that found its basis in Calvary that reaches on into the millennial state that next age to come.
We know. what is yet future for this world. No, we're not going to be blown up by an atomic bomb, not at least for a thousand and seven years. So this earth has a lot more of God's history to spin out yet. God will work that out. We may individually, but the world will not be. As long as Reagan's building the defense budget, I guess we won't be there. We know to some extent what is coming. And we have tasted of that.
Understand that. Most of us could make a nice little prophetic chart and get most of it in proper order, couldn't we? That's all good stuff. It's wonderful to be enlightened, a partaker of the Spirit. Understand the good news of God. Know what it's all about, benefit from it. But the next and last thing is so dreadful. Having done all those things. And then adding one more thing. Turning from that. Turning from that.
Having fallen away. Rejected it. Not a passive casual putting it off. Who hasn't done that? But a rejection, willfully disobey the truth of God, saying, I'll have none of that. Are any of you thinking about doing that now? We celebrated my wife and I our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. this past July twenty-nine not long ago we've been happily married for eighteen years that's not bad for twenty-five isn't I mean the rest of the time I've been away you see at the time of our graduate our wedding graduation.
Everybody in the wedding were a mass graduate of the men that I picked, and they were the leaders and movers in the student government and student body of that era. None of them are going on for Jesus Christ. One denies the very existence of a personal God. And he was thinking that while he was the student government president at a mass. He was thinking that while he was engaged in all night prayer meetings.
He was thinking that when he served on mission teams that went around the world. And what he was thinking then, he espoused later. Some of you have seen people grow up in Christian homes and go off to college and deny the faith. Some of you have seen loved ones who seem to be going on well for God, junk their testimony. The message, this is a solemn message, having turned objectively and willfully from the revelation of truth, the full revelation of Jesus Christ, the benefits that you have received by associating so closely with Christianity, turning from that willfully, treading underfoot the blood of the sacrifice, counting the work of the Holy Spirit, as worthless, doing death's right to the Spirit of God, treading underfoot the blood of Christ, of that person.
And you may be putting yourself in this situation, young person. Of that person, the author of Hebrews says, there is no way to restore them again to repentance. It is a dreadful thing to think that in time, in my lifetime, A person can cross a line beyond which there is no way of salvation. Do you hear that? No repentance. Impossible. To renew again. To repent.
What awaits. They fall away. It's impossible to renew them again to repent and sing. They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. They say that was a worthless sacrifice. Put into an open shame. What awaits them? For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it and bringeth forth herbs fit for them by whom it is tilled receive its blessing from God. But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected and is near unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. That's not talking about a Christian, folks. The end is close to being burned.
What awaits them, the clearer passage that we'll look at in another hour, says what awaits them is the fiery indignation of God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. judgment. You see, when we hear the gospel over and over again, it is a two-edged sword. It may pierce our conscience. It may soften our heart until that time when under the sweet, gentle, convicting works of the Holy Spirit, we respond in faith, and we are saved. That is one response.
For it may cut as a sword of judgment. as rejecting and rejecting and rejecting until God says, you have rejected me once too often. I'll confirm that rejection. No more way of repentance. You see, you can't play games with God. When God in His grace comes to you camp after camp after camp, And you sit and sit and sit. Listen and listen and listen and go off a little further from the truth than you were before.
The invitation will not forever be there. Now is the day of salvation. And it is altogether possible for a person to say enough of that I don't want any more. And God will say, you get your wish. And you will never again sense the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The gospel will never again burn into your heart. You will be concerned by God in your unbelief.
It's a serious thing to play games with God. It's serious to reject the gospel. and reject the gospel and objectively say, I don't want that. Because we can come to that point and God will say to us, as he did early on in Scripture, my spirit shall not always strive with man. You can't have it. Impossible. To renew. Again to repent. The young people all hear those words. There is a line. Beyond which you dare not go. Because you cross that line.
There's no coming back. You are either more sensitive to the gospel tonight. Or you are more hardened. And there is a point. When spiritual hardness will be confirmed. Don't play games with God. Now. It's the day of salvation. The author takes a breath after that in verse nine says, But beloved, isn't that a nice thing and wonderful transition? But beloved, I need some good news. That's solemn stuff I can't handle forever. And he says, But beloved, I'm persuaded better things of you.
And he looks at the mass of the people to which he's writing. And he says, look, I look at you guys. I know you're Christians. I could tell by the way you acted at the beginning. By the good works you did. You don't need to get saved. What you have need of is endurance. Does anyone sense that need? Christian life is a long race, isn't it? It really is. I think I'd have preferred a hundred yard dash, though I wasn't built for dashes. Hundred yard dash. Shoo, it's time. What is it now? How many seconds? Eight or nine, something like that?
It's all over. Christian life is a marathon. Starts when you're born again. Stopped when you drop dead. That's what the first marathon was anyhow, wasn't it? That's the truth. That's where it all started on the plains of Macedon. You know, they got the best Greek runner there from Athens and said, look, you run back to the city of Athens, twenty-six point eight miles away with this message, victory, right? And the best soldier runs. He runs all the way back to Athens after having fought that battle and collapses in the arms of the leaders of Athens with one Weir it on his lips.
Victory. The Assyrians had won. That's the first marathon. That's the way the Christian life is. We start. We end when we die or when we go to be with the Lord through the rapture. There's no retirement this side of glory. We run forever. That's why we're tired. Seriously. How many times, now you young people can go your way for a while. How many times have we said, is there nobody else that's running this race? Can't somebody else do it?
Do I have to sit up the chairs and give out the books and clean up afterward and hook up the PA? Isn't there anybody else in the whole world serving Jesus? Endurance is what we need and we get tired. of running the race. And the author says, you need to run the race. Like Abraham. After Abraham endured, he inherited the promises. We need to endure. Now notice there are unconditional promises. That seems strange. God says to Abraham, blessing, I will bless you. And he enters into an unconditional covenant. Abraham's asleep while God in the smoking pot walks through.
the animal, and there confirms the covenant to Abraham. Unconditional. But after Abraham had endured, he obtained the promises of an unconditional covenant. That is a seeming contradiction, logically. After we endure, we receive the unconditional promise of eternal life in the hereafter. The endurance is part of Christian living. And the author, he's not an apostle, the author is encouraging us to endurance like Abraham.
That's what we need, Christian. We need to keep on those good works that we were so excited to perform on our first days. The zeal that we had then should be growing zeal, not declining zeal. The enthusiasm for serving Jesus Christ should be more now than it was the first day we believed. We need endurance. The author of Hebrews will later quote the verse from Habakkuk, The just shall live by faith. And those who are declared righteous live. and live and live and live by faith in God.
And when we have finished living, then we enter into the promise. We have need of endurance. Which group do you belong to? The Christian who needs to be encouraged to endure? That strikes a chord in my heart. or the professor who is coming close by his action to sealing his eternal doom. The warning to each one of us.
Let's heed the warning. Father, we recognize the seriousness of your word. We see that line that is out there that some may cross to their own judgment. We pray that no young person, no old person may be clinging to an empty profession made years ago when they know in the heart of heart that there is no life, there is no salvation, there is no judgment. We pray for such. We pray for those of us who are believers.
We're weary. We get weary, Lord. You know that. We pray that we may be encouraged to endure. Unless we faint in our minds, we pray that we may fix our vision again on Jesus Christ, who endured the cross, resizing the shame, and finish the work. Help us to be enduring Christians. We pray for your glory, for our benefit. Amen.