Jesus: Our Motivation

Well, good morning. Good to see you this morning. That's a great, great, great, great song.

Love that song. Just that last chorus. Some super things to be able to sing from the heart, I hope.

It's just such great truth. One of the great things about visiting other churches,

you get some really innovative ways of doing your announcements.

So I'm going to take some thoughts back with me to the Corubbers this morning

and see if I can change my clothes and make all the intimations the way you guys did here this morning.

Okay, great. Hebrews chapter 5. If you turn to Hebrews chapter 5, you're in a series here in Hebrews.

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

I want to thank John for giving me what could be perhaps one of the most difficult passages in the Bible

to preach through and for being so generous and giving me 30 minutes to do it.

Okay, so we need to move. Okay. We need to really move.

I think John popped onto the Corubbers website at some point and found out that it took me,

I think, three 45-minute messages to get through probably just a bit of this section.

So we are going to have to work through here. It's a great book, isn't it?

You guys have been in Hebrews now. I assume for a while it is a great epistle of the New Testament.

One of, I think, one of the most incredible, what is Hebrews?

In its essence, what is Hebrews?

I think it has to be one of the most incredible expositions of the greatness of Jesus anywhere in the Bible, isn't it?

You probably have gotten some background on this.

You'll know by now, I'm sure, that there are different ideas and different approaches to the book of Hebrews.

I think it's important to study hard before you even get into Hebrews

because I think that depending on your view of the audience,

we're not quite sure who wrote the letter,

but depending on who you think the audience of the letter is,

helps you, I think, to understand something of what the writer is saying here

and to interpret some of the really difficult passages

like this one here this morning in the book of Hebrews.

But regardless of what you think about the specifics of the difficult warnings

and those kind of things that come in the book of Hebrews,

it is one of the most incredible expositions of how great Jesus is, isn't it?

I mean, again and again and again and again,

the author just comes back to the greatness of Jesus.

So keep that in mind as you wrangle about some of the specifics.

Keep in mind that overarching in this whole thing is how great Jesus really is.

The letter is written, it seems to me, to a group of people

who are somehow gathering around this great gospel message

of the greatness of who Jesus is and what he's done.

They're gathering around this great message

in some horrendously difficult circumstances.

Things are hard for these people.

That's obvious.

If you just sense and feel the background radiation in the book of Hebrews,

you'll recognize that things are really hard for these guys

and they need to be hugely encouraged to continue to trust in Christ no matter what.

So it's a really good epistle for us, isn't it?

Because times get hard no matter where we're at or who we are.

Life is just a varied mix of highs and lows and good and bad, right?

Ins and outs.

I mean, we're going to get it.

We're studying Job just now at Grubbers.

So, you know, we're in the thick of it.

But life is just like that.

That is what life is like in a fallen world,

in a sinful world, in a broken world.

Life is just hard.

Life is hard.

This isn't all that there is.

This isn't the end of the story,

but this is the here and now.

And we can't avoid the fact that even as followers of Christ,

there are difficult times that come.

And so this is a great epistle for them.

It's a great epistle for us.

It is an exhortational masterpiece.

It is an exhortational masterpiece,

both to believers who need to hang on

and who need to move on in Christ.

But it's also an exhortational masterpiece

to those, I think, who aren't quite there yet.

They're not quite there yet.

Many years ago, I went to Israel

on a short-term missions trip.

And one of the books that we used again and again and again

with Jewish people,

we went down to the kind of holiday resort of Eilat,

down at the very bottom of Israel,

by the border of Egypt.

And we shared the gospel with Jewish people.

And one of the books that we used again and again and again

was the book of Hebrews.

This is an epistle written as well,

I think, to those who aren't quite there yet.

They need to fully trust Christ as the fulfillment.

Listen.

The fulfillment of what the writer says

are all of those shadowy insufficiencies

of the Old Covenant.

They had a purpose.

They were there.

They told a story.

They prepared the world for what was to come.

But they were shadows, the writer says.

You'll get there more as you go on in the book of Hebrews.

They were shadows.

And not only that,

they were shadowy insufficiencies.

They weren't sufficient.

The Old Covenant,

the Old Testament sacrificial system

wasn't sufficient to deal fully and finally with our sins.

Right?

So one of the things that is being exhorted here

is to trust fully in Christ

as the fulfillment of all those shadowy insufficiencies

of the past.

There's a massive contrast here

between those shadowy insufficiencies of the Old Covenant

and the glorious fulfillment

of all those shadows in Christ

in the New Covenant.

And as we get to this passage now

in Hebrews 5,

the end of Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 6,

I think we come again to one of those exhortations.

And it's kind of,

it's a double-edged sword.

The exhortation can be for those of us trusting in Christ

to hang on and to move on

and to not get stuck

and to take all that God has for us,

but it could be an exhortation as well

for those who are not quite there yet.

They know something of who Jesus is.

They've been informed in some way

as to what Jesus has done

to fulfill all those shadowy insufficiencies of the past,

but they've not yet jumped on board.

And so I'm approaching it in that way.

One of these exhortations is maybe one of the most difficult in the book.

Okay?

Folks are being encouraged to move on

beyond the elementary teachings about Christ

and to grow up.

I think you got a growth passage here.

Okay?

And that's the way I'm going to hit it this morning.

To grow up into all the fullness of Christ.

To steal some of Paul's terminology from Colossians.

To grow up into all the fullness of Christ.

What a huge theme of growth there is right through this passage.

So number one here this morning,

admonishing those who are slow to grow.

All right?

I think at the end of chapter 5,

there's an admonishment here

to those who are following Christ,

but they're slow to grow.

All right?

Hebrews 5, verses 11 to 14.

Hebrews 5:11–14

And it seems to me

that there's a bit of a whooping coming in here.

You know what I mean?

There's a bit of a whooping coming

to the people who are here

who are following Christ,

but they're not quite moving on as they should.

There's a bit of a spanking

that they're going to get here,

and every now and again,

it's good to get one of those.

Okay?

Verse 12.

For though by this time, he says,

you guys have had enough time

to become teachers, he says,

to have moved on to a place

from having been taught things about Christ

and what the Bible has to say

about the Old Testament

and Old Covenant insufficiencies

and the fulfillment of Christ.

You have had enough time now, he says.

And this is a good pastoral thing.

This is a good kind of pastoral place in the epistle.

And I guess it's good for me

to kind of swanee in and swanee out here today

and give you a good whooping

because I don't have to come back next Sunday.

Right? Okay?

So I can do this for John this morning.

Every now and again,

I think as congregations and followers of Christ,

we need a good whooping.

Don't we?

We need to just get whooped into shape

and to be admonished to grow up,

to move on,

to take advantage of everything

the church is offering,

the Spirit is offering,

and to just make the most of the time

God has given us.

You ought to be teachers, he says.

By now.

God plans for his people to grow, doesn't he?

He plans for his people to grow.

What is spiritually alive, listen.

What is spiritually alive grows.

Doesn't it?

Makes sense.

Everything that's alive, by definition, grows.

So what's spiritually alive grows.

If nothing is growing in your body right now,

if nothing is growing in your body right now,

you're not alive.

Okay?

And by the looks of some of you this morning,

okay?

I am told that by the time that I finish this sentence,

over 50 million new cells will have grown in our bodies.

Because that's what happens when you're alive.

Okay?

That's a lot.

That's pretty staggering, isn't it?

But what's true physically is also true spiritually,

according to God.

So that even as your outer man is decaying,

it's growing, but it's dying.

It's a bit of a contradiction, but it's true.

Even as your outer man is decaying,

2 Corinthians 4.16,

your inner man is what?

It's being renewed day by day.

It's growing.

There is spiritual growth that God designs for you

the moment you enter into fellowship with him.

When you're born again, from that moment on,

God's design for you is to grow.

To live is to grow.

It's what God wants.

Ephesians 4.14-15,

being built up to a mature manhood,

no longer children tossed to and fro by the waves

and carried about by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning and craftiness of deceitful schemes.

Rather, God wants us to be speaking the truth in love

and to grow up.

He wants us to grow up

in every way into him who is the head,

even Christ.

It's what God expects.

And he provides everything that his people need to grow.

Verse 13, look at it.

He provides everything that we need.

He doesn't just say grow,

go find some food somewhere and grow.

No, he provides spiritually everything we need.

He gives us the food that we need

and the spirit by which that food is incorporated

into our hearts and our lives

and brings about spiritual growth.

I don't know the dynamics necessarily

of how all that happens,

but I know that he gives us all that we need.

Verse 13, there's milk for the infants, right?

There's milk for the infants

and there is solid food for the mature, he says.

God doesn't ram a steak down your throat

if you're still teething.

Okay?

If you're a baby, you get it poured,

the sense is here.

If you're a toddler, you get it mashed.

If you're a teenager, you get it from the chippy.

If you're an adult, you get it medium rare

with peppercorn sauce, right?

I mean, it's just, that is what God gives us.

The nature of it is here.

There's milk.

If you're immature, you get milk first.

That's God wants you to have.

But you don't stay with milk.

You just, you don't.

Nobody just stays.

If you stay with milk, you're not gonna grow

and become strong as God wants you to become strong.

And so God gives us spiritually what we need in his word.

And I've said this many times

as I've gone through this passage

and thought it many times

as I've gone through this passage.

There are many things about the Christian life.

There's so much about the Christian life

that I just so enjoy doing.

I love to share fellowship with God's people.

On a Sunday, it's one of my favorite days of the week.

It's one of my busiest work days, but I love it.

But that's not my spiritual food.

I love to sing, right?

Some great songs, good band.

I love to sing, but that's not my spiritual food.

I love to pray.

Communion with God through the veil that is torn,

that is Christ, that God has made a way for me to do.

That's not my spiritual food.

Specifically in the Bible.

I mean, my spiritual food might be incorporated

in some way there,

but my spiritual food that God has given me

is specifically his word.

And the writer says here

that you need to be trained by it, trained by it.

You have to use it.

You have to exercise with it.

You have to be trained by it

so that you can grow.

And that is exactly what he provides for us in his word.

So that, look at this,

we can grow so that we can help others to grow, right?

Listen, he says, pleading with him,

you ought to be what by now?

Teachers, teachers, I want you to grow

so that you can pass this on.

You got to teach somebody else.

God is going to take his word.

He's going to pour it into your heart.

That happens in Sunday services.

That happens in your Bible studies.

That happens when you open the word of God

in your private devotions.

It happens in loads of places.

The word is the source.

The spirit is the power, the interpreter.

of that.

And by it, God causes us to grow.

But it doesn't stop there.

You don't just become big and fat.

You exercise that in how you serve and teach others.

But he says, you need now someone to teach you

the elementary truths of God's word all over again.

Can you hear his breaking heart?

I want you to be somewhere you're not there.

It's a very pastoral epistle here.

I want you to be somewhere,

and I think every pastor probably feels this about their flock.

The elders feel this way about their flock.

You just want people to be, listen,

I want to be beyond where I know that I am.

I want to be beyond where I know that I am,

and we want our churches to be beyond where we know that they are.

It's breaking his heart.

And that's why we have training and equipping ministries in the church,

isn't it?

Why we encourage people to read their Bibles,

because after we're taught, God wants us to teach.

2 Timothy 2.2, the things that you've heard from me

in the presence of many witnesses, Paul says to Timothy,

I want you to entrust the faithful men who will then be able to teach others.

Also, there are four generations there.

I've got a photograph at home of my brother's family

with my grandfather, my father, my brother, and my nephew.

Four generations.

And there's four generations here.

It's great.

It's great.

That is what God wants us to do.

It's called discipleship.

Verse 14, to be spiritually discerning,

to distinguish good and evil,

literally to discern what is good and what is not.

So to know God, to know self, to know truth,

to know good, to know evil,

and not just to know it,

but to have our senses trained to discern it.

That's what the word of God does for us.

Spurgeon once said of Bunyan that Bunyan's blood,

he thought, was bibline.

The guy's blood, he said, was bibline.

That means you could cut him anywhere

and he would just bleed Bible verses.

He would just bleed Bible verses.

And I think that is the definition of Christian maturity.

It is when your involuntary responses,

when your involuntary responses are biblical.

That's Christian maturity.

So you don't have to think,

well, I got to go run, find my Bible

to figure out how I respond to this situation.

No, your involuntary responses are biblical.

You just do it.

It's in your blood.

It's okay.

That's kind of the idea here.

Okay, so he's exhorting them not to be slow to grow

because, and here's the second point,

believe it or not, there are those,

there are some who say no to grow.

There are some who say no to grow.

And I think that's the first eight verses here of chapter six.

It's a very tricky passage.

There's loads of different ideas

about what the writer may be saying here.

It's not an easy passage to interpret,

but he's following on in whatever you think.

He is following on directly from what he's just said here

at the end of chapter five

because he starts chapter six with the word therefore.

So he's following on directly in some way

from what he's just said.

Therefore, because it's so crucial

that we grow as those born again in Christ,

because that's true,

because God so wants that for us as his children,

the writer says, let's move beyond.

Let's not just stay with those elementary teachings.

Let's not just stay with the ABCs of the Christian life.

Let's move beyond that.

Let's not get stuck in infancy.

Let's move forward to maturity, he says, verse three.

And this we will do.

As followers of Christ, as believers in Christ,

he says, this we will do.

God's entire intention for us

is through the gospel to be born again.

And then as we're born again as infants,

to feed upon his word and to grow.

That's what God wants.

And this we will do.

We will move on from those elementary principles.

And then he says this, if God permits.

Now, that's a strange thing to say, I think.

And could be a hinge here,

or it could be a hint here in understanding the passage.

I think it is.

It's a strange thing to say, why on earth

would God not permit growth in Christ?

Why would God not permit growth in Christ?

Well, here's what I think he's saying.

I think he's saying that growth in Christ

requires life in Christ.

Okay?

Growth in Christ requires life in Christ.

Does that make sense?

Growth in Christ requires life in Christ.

Could it be that there are people here among this crowd

that he's writing to who are trying to grow in Christ,

but who don't yet have him?

They're trying to grow in Christ.

They hear the exhortations that are coming down

from the writer here, and they're trying to grow in Christ,

but there's a problem with them being able to grow in Christ

because they don't yet have Christ.

I remember a young girl at Corubbers years ago

sharing her story that for years she had come along to church

and she tried to live the Christian life without Christ.

That was her words.

And she said, for years I've been trying to live

the Christian life without Christ.

I've been a part of this kind of Christian community,

and I've been going through all emotions,

but I had never responded to Christ personally.

And I was just, she was killing herself.

She was killing herself.

Can you imagine trying to produce spiritual life

when there's no spiritual life in you?

Can you imagine trying to evidence the fruit of the Spirit?

You know, trying to love, joy, peace, patience, goodness,

kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,

to do all that without the Spirit?

And you know what?

I think a lot of people do.

I think a lot of people do.

And sometimes the fruit even looks like fruit,

but if you were to grab it and be like one of those pieces

is a Christmas plastic fruit that you see.

You'd bite into it.

It wouldn't be real.

It just looks good, but it's plastic.

Trying to live the Christian life without Christ.

Folks, I think a lot of people do this.

And why would it be any different in the first century?

Especially when many of these folks,

it seems like, had a very good working knowledge

of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament.

But something that I learned,

especially when I went to Israel and talked to these Jews,

is you can't stop there.

That is not the end of the story.

That's only the beginning of the story

and is the preparation for something

that is the fulfillment of all the shadowy insufficiencies.

You can't stop with the shadowy insufficiencies

and expect to grow in Christ

when you haven't embraced Christ.

Okay?

And I think that's what seems to be going on here.

Could it be that some of these Hebrews

are still hanging on to the shadowy insufficiencies

of the Old Covenant,

and the reason why God won't permit further growth

and development spiritually for them

is because some of them don't even have a life

to grow in the first place.

Verse 4.

It's impossible for those who have not watched this,

because here's a tough bit.

It's impossible for those who have been,

once been enlightened.

I want you to think through how,

particularly Paul teaches,

some people think Paul is the author here,

I'm not quite sure.

But I want you to think specifically

of a book like Romans

and how crystal clear Paul is

in the terminology that he uses

when he addresses salvation.

Think about the New Testament

and how crystal clear

the epistle writers are

when they use terminology

to refer to salvation.

And then listen to what he says here.

Who have once been enlightened,

who have tasted the heavenly gift,

who've shared in the Holy Spirit.

Now watch that one.

Who've shared in the Holy Spirit.

I didn't say become temples of the Holy Spirit

or indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Just shared in the Holy Spirit.

Who've tasted all this,

this is kind of funny terminology.

It's different.

It's different.

Regardless of what you think of it here,

it's different.

Very different.

Tasted the goodness of the Word of God

and the powers of the age.

There's a lot of tasting going on here.

Have you guys ever gone to like

a taste kind of deal with food?

And you're not really eating it,

you're just kind of sampling it?

Okay, you right?

You with me?

Just kind of,

it's a taste session or whatever.

I don't like going to those

because if I really like it,

I want to just kind of gouge myself.

You can't do that.

Taste of the powers of the age has come.

It's impossible for them

who've had that experience

and who have fallen away,

gone back.

It is impossible, he says,

for them to be brought back to repentance

because to their loss,

they're crucifying the Son of God

all over again

and subjecting Him to public disgrace.

So they're being given

all that they need to have

to move on from those shadowy insufficiencies,

but something's not moving on.

They're being given,

these guys I think have been exposed to,

and they've been given all that they need

to move on from the shadowy insufficiency,

but I don't think they yet have.

They've somehow gone back

to the shadowy insufficiency.

So yes, they've been exposed to gospel truth.

They've been enlightened.

I think a lot of people

are exposed to gospel truth

and are enlightened, right?

Every time we share the gospel

with an unbeliever,

they've been enlightened to gospel truth.

They now have heard gospel truth

and we believe that the Holy Spirit

can take that gospel truth,

Romans 1.16,

and that is the power of God

for salvation, the gospel.

But it doesn't mean

that just when they hear the gospel truth,

they're automatically saved.

We know that.

We know we share the gospel

with a lot of people

who aren't automatically saved.

So they've been enlightened.

They now know

what they didn't know before,

and wow, that's a great thing

that we can do for them.

They've been exposed to gospel truth.

Yes, these people here

have tasted the heavenly gift,

just tasted.

Yes, they've shared in the Holy Spirit,

and I suggest they've shared

in the Holy Spirit

in the sense that they've partaken

of his convicting

and illuminating work in their lives.

But that is not the end of the story.

The Bible says

that we have to then believe.

It's not just when the Spirit of God

convicts us that we're saved.

We have to respond to that, don't we?

As many as received him,

John 1.12,

he gave the right

to become children of God.

Not just giving them the truth.

We have to respond

to the truth.

And I could give you

a whole story

about my own life there,

but I don't have time.

Okay?

They've partaken

of the convicting,

illuminating work

of the Spirit in their lives.

If you have a problem

with somebody

sharing in the Holy Spirit

and not being a believer,

be a believer,

then think of Judas Iscariot.

Because as far as I know,

Judas Iscariot,

along with the other 12,

went out when the 12 were sent out

and he had the power

of the Spirit in his life

to do the, you know,

to cast out the demons

and heal people

just like the rest of them did.

And yet we know

that he was a son of perdition.

So the Spirit was there.

You can be a sharer,

I would say,

in the work of the Spirit

in your life,

but not be a believer.

And yes, the writer says here,

they've tasted again

of the goodness

of the Word of God

and the powers

of the coming age.

In fact,

some of these,

some theologians would think,

some of these folks

that are being written to here,

some of them may have even seen

the Lord Jesus Christ in person.

Some of them may have even seen

the Lord Jesus Christ in person.

And if not,

then they've certainly

heard the apostles.

We know that from earlier

chapters of Hebrews.

They've certainly heard

the apostles

and may have even seen

the miraculous works

that the apostles have done

as a taste of the power

of the age to come.

They've seen it,

they've tasted it.

And I think it's what

he's referring to.

However,

what it seems that some of them

haven't done,

and this is why

they can't move on to maturity.

What they haven't done

is they haven't broken away

from the shadows

of the Old Covenant.

They haven't broken away

from the shadows

of the Old Covenant.

And they haven't placed

their faith and trust

fully and completely

in the New Covenant

work of Christ.

That's what he's exhorting

them to do.

You have to do this.

They're fully aware

of the Old Covenant.

He writes to them.

He makes mention

constantly back

to the writings

of the Old Testament.

So they're very familiar.

If they're not Jews,

they're at least familiar

with the Old Covenant.

But that's where

they have stopped.

They've not fully

embraced Christ.

And if that's right,

then all these descriptions

about tasting and sharing

are all demonstrations

of something of the work

of the Spirit of God

and the grace of God

in these people's lives.

Enlightened, tasted, shared.

But he never says

they've believed.

He never says

they believed.

And that has always

bothered me

about this section.

He never says

they've believed.

He never says

that they've been transformed.

He never says

that they've been saved,

delivered.

That's terminology

that the New Testament

uses again and again

and again

with respect to salvation.

On the contrary,

they can't grow in Christ

because they don't have

life in Christ.

Even though they've been

exposed to everything

they need to get it.

Think about that.

I think that's exactly

why then he gives

this illustration

about the land

that comes next

that John read.

That's why I think

he gives the illustration.

Think about it.

The illustration

of the land.

First,

about the land

that drinks in the rain

that often falls on it

and produces a crop.

I think those

are the ones

who have received

the gospel

and now the job

is to drink in the rain

and grow.

Don't be slow to grow.

There are some

that drink in the rain

that falls upon it

and produce a crop.

Useful for whom

it's farmed.

They receive the blessing

of God.

But second,

the land that drinks

the same rain.

The land that drinks

the same rain

but produces thorns

and thistles.

No life.

No evidence of life.

It's worthless

and it is in danger

of being cursed.

Two kinds of ground there,

right?

Regardless of how

you interpret it.

Two kinds of ground.

One that drinks

and produces.

One that drinks

and doesn't produce.

And I think we know

that there are

two kinds of people

in the world.

Sometimes even

in the church.

Those who do move

on to maturity

because they have life

and those who are exposed

to the same grace,

same gospel,

same convicting

and convincing

Holy Spirit

but don't produce

a crop

because they don't

have the life

that it takes

to move on

to maturity.

Having never

gotten beyond

the shadowy

insufficiencies

of the past.

Even though they've

been exposed

to the reality,

the power,

the sufficiency,

the eternal adequacy

of Christ,

they've turned back

to the shadows

and they have forfeited

the grace of God.

I think this happens

in our churches.

I think people come in.

Listen,

everybody that just

comes in through

the doors of the church

isn't automatically

saved, right?

You guys don't have

some special doors.

Do you?

You don't have wool.

If you do,

I want to get a set.

Right?

Your doors aren't special

and as soon as somebody

comes through your door,

they're nice doors,

they're glass doors.

We like the whole deal

that you've done out there

but they're not

the doors that save.

Right?

So people don't come

through the doors

and they say,

people come into this church

and they've got

all kinds of questions

and it's not just

sitting here

like you guys

are sitting here

that makes you

born again,

transformed by

the great power of God.

You may hear it

week after week

after week

but you got to do

something about it.

Right?

You got to do

something about it

and that might be

you this morning.

I don't know all you guys.

That might be you

this morning.

You might have been

coming around

for a long time now

but you may have

never responded.

Hey,

you know,

now's as good

a time as any.

Today is a day

of salvation,

boy.

Now's as good

a time

as ever.

Okay?

And I think

that's why he says

in the very next verse,

verse 9,

that even though

we speak like this,

he says,

dear friends,

this drastic language

and terminology,

we're actually convinced

of better things

in your case.

And now I think

he's speaking again

to those who can grow.

I think the guy,

the writer here,

realizes he's writing

to a group of people

gathered around the gospel

in difficult times.

Some of them

have come to Christ.

Some of them

are really close.

So now he's just saying,

look,

we're moving back

to your case,

those of you

who are trusting in Christ,

the things that do

have to do with salvation.

Isn't that interesting?

I've just talked about,

it seems to me,

he's just saying,

I've just talked about

things that have to do

with those who don't

have salvation.

Now I'm coming back

to talk to you,

those who do have

salvation.

Okay,

if you are trusting

in Christ,

then in your case

it does have to do

with salvation

and you can move on

in Christ.

And that's how

he ends now

in verses 9 to 12.

There are those

he starts off with here

who are slow to grow.

Listen,

don't be there.

Don't stay a baby.

There are those,

believe it or not,

even in the church,

certainly in our world,

who say no to grow.

No.

I'm just going to stay

with my old kind

of works system.

I like that system.

I like the works system.

I like trying

to do my best.

Most of my family

is still there.

They're stuck

in a works system.

I think most of the world,

if you were able

to get to nuts and bolts

with people,

really,

as to whether or not

they think when they die

if there is a heaven

they might go,

I think predominantly

they would say

that if they are

going to be with God

in this heavenly place,

it's because they think

they've lived a good life.

Most people in our world

still think that.

That's clearly not

what the Bible teaches,

but most people

either think that's

what the Bible teaches

or that's their own

philosophy of life.

They just say no to grow.

They'd rather stick

with their works salvation.

So those who are slow

to grow,

those who say no to grow,

and then finally,

in verses 9 through 12,

I would say those

who actually get up

and go to grow.

Sorry about that,

but I had to keep

the theme going,

all right?

But those who actually

get up and go to grow,

those who actually do it,

boom!

Come, get out there

and do it.

And I think that follows,

this follows something

of the theme of Hebrews

to me.

This little passage

follows,

I don't want to make

too much of this,

but it follows something

of the big theme

of Hebrews to me.

Because what do you got

in Hebrews?

You've got 10 chapters.

The first 10 chapters

of Hebrews

are this great exposition

of the majesty

and supremacy

and the greatness

of Christ, right?

He's greater than the apostles,

he's greater than the prophets,

he's greater than Abraham,

he's greater than the Moab,

everything, boom.

He's just greater,

greater high priest,

he's got a greater sacrifice,

he's a greater tabernacle,

he's just a greater covenant.

No, it's a,

chapters 1 to 10.

There he is!

He presents them with Jesus.

Now, what does God

want us to do with Jesus?

Oh, chapter 11.

It's all about faith.

Believe it, believe it,

believe it.

Like these people did

who believe,

some of them conquered

and went on

and just great,

other people had to suffer

but they believed it

and God called them

to a life that demonstrated

the greatness of who he was

in their lives.

So here's Christ,

chapters 1 to 10.

What does he want you to do?

He wants you to believe it

and then what happens

in chapters 12 and 13?

Run the race.

Get out there

and run that race.

Not in your own strength

but because now

you've trusted in Christ,

get out there

and run the race

and I think chapters 12 and 13

of Hebrews

are those who then

get up and go to grow.

Get up and grow,

go to grow.

God rewarding them,

look at this

and we're just about finished.

God rewarding them,

verse 10,

for their gospel invested life.

God will not overlook

if you have come

to put your faith

and trust in Christ

and you are seeking

to live for him.

Listen,

none of us will do it perfectly,

will we?

We all wish we did better

but if you are seeking

to invest your life for Christ,

God will never overlook that.

He will never overlook

one small little cup of water

that you give to somebody

in his name.

Right?

He'll never overlook it.

So every investment you make

for the sake of the gospel

in this world,

God will reward you for that.

He just loves that.

He loves that.

Rewarding them

for their gospel invested life.

Not forgetting your work

and the love that you've shown God

by doing that.

the love you've shown God

and his people

to continue to help them.

Investing your life

in the things

that count for eternity.

And in verse 11,

being diligent.

So these are those

who are moving.

Get up there.

Get up and go to grow.

Being diligent

to the very end,

he says,

so that what you hope for

may be realized.

What a fantastic thought.

We sit around here,

you know,

as we become more and more aware

of who God is

and what God has for us

and the hope of the return of Christ

and all that he's going to bring us

when he comes back

and transforms us completely

into his likeness.

All that we hope for

as we often feel the weight

of the brokenness

of our own life

and all that we hope for

to be realized.

Oh man,

what a thought that is here

that he gives us.

Hope that is seen,

Paul says in Romans 8,

is not hope.

So there's going to be

an element of this

that you have to just

trust God for.

Hope that is seen

is not hope.

But if we hope

for what we do not see,

then with perseverance,

watch this now,

with perseverance,

we diligently wait for it.

How do you diligently wait

with perseverance?

How do you wait?

Perseverance isn't waiting,

is it?

You want to get out there

and do something,

but no,

there's a sense in which

we have to be doing something

while we wait.

Okay,

that's the idea.

Investing your time

in the waiting room.

Investing your time

in the waiting room.

Jesus talks in Matthew 19,

29 about everyone

who's given up houses,

brothers,

sisters.

Remember that one?

Fathers,

mother,

children,

property for my sake.

Jesus says,

they will receive

a hundred times

as much in return

and will have eternal life.

Just for good measure,

we'll throw eternal life

in there as well.

And will have eternal life.

Listen,

can you imagine

a 100-fold return

on your investment?

Some of you guys

making investments.

You want to invest well,

what God has given you.

Right?

You got banks,

you got whatever,

you're making investments.

Can you imagine,

I don't know,

what's the rate,

what's the interest rate now?

Half a percent?

That's pretty bad.

Can you imagine

getting,

you know,

there's a bank

that's going to offer you

a 100-fold

return on your investment?

That's pretty good,

isn't it?

I'd go for that.

Right?

You've never seen anything

like that in a bank account.

I've seen 7%,

5%,

3%.

We're down to about

a half a percent

just now.

But what if somebody

offered you

a 100% return

on your investment?

You'd take it.

Would you jump all over that?

You'd jump all over that.

Just think about that.

Wow,

boy,

let's do it.

But that's not even

what he's talking about here

because 100% return

on your investment

is only two-fold.

That's only two-fold.

It's just double.

And that's not

what Jesus says here.

He doesn't say

he's going to give you

100% return

on your gospel-invested life.

He says he's going to give you

a hundred-fold.

A hundred-fold

return on your gospel-invested life.

Do you know what that is?

That is 10,000%.

That is 10,000%.

Okay,

I think Santander

down the road there

might be over.

No,

excuse me.

10,000%.

Anybody want to make

a gospel investment?

Anybody want to make

a gospel investment?

Because that's what Jesus says

he's going to give you

on your gospel investment.

10,000%.

So,

verse 12,

don't be lazy.

Imitate those

who through faith

and patience

inherit

what has been promised.

Don't panic.

Stand firm.

stay close

and seek his kingdom

and his righteousness

and continue to invest

your life

for the sake

of his glorious name

and inherit

what has been promised.

Is it worth it?

Is it worth it?

Listen,

10,000% worth it.

Right?

10,000% worth it

and more.

And more.

Eternal life.

Wow.

Well,

anyway,

that's for your submission.

You have something

to talk about

over lunch now.

Okay?

Let's pray.

Lord,

tough book.

Great book.

Great letter.

Some of these things

that have been written

in the scriptures for us

are very,

very quickly comprehensible.

Some of these things

you've written to us

seems like,

Lord,

you're calling us

to dig deep,

dig deep,

dig deep,

dig deep.

And as we dig deep,

we hope and pray

and trust

that you would lead us

to where you want us

to be,

understanding

what your word

has to say,

but not just being

big-headed

followers of Christ,

but being big-hearted

followers of Christ

and putting into practice

what we learn.

And I pray that we would

do that

today

and in days to come.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.