No Way Back

Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4 through 12, but we're jumping in in the middle of a paragraph if you

Hebrews 6:4–12

look in the Bible, but in the middle of the author's train of thought. So I want to step

back to 6.1 and start reading at verse 1 so we can catch a little bit of the bigger picture

of what is going on in this passage. So Hebrews chapter 6, I'll be reading verses 1 through 12.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

The author writes this, he says,

in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift,

and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the

powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance,

since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for

whose sake it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles,

it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way,

yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.

For God is not unjust, so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name

in serving the saints as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness,

to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish,

but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Several years ago, I was meeting with the former pastor of this church, Josh Moody.

For many years, Pastor Josh invested a lot of time in meeting with me regularly, in mentoring me,

praying for me, and gradually giving me opportunities to serve and teach in this church.

And one day we were talking, and he said to me,

one of the hardest things about preaching is that you want to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

In fact, many passages of scripture seem designed to do just that.

But the problem is, when you preach a message of comfort for those who are afflicted,

the people who are comfortable in their complacency hear it and feel justified in their complacency.

And then when you preach a message of warning to the complacent,

the people who are afflicted hear it and feel even more discouraged and afflicted by the warning.

He said it's hard to get the message across to the people who really need to hear it.

Now this morning's passage contains both a warning to awaken the complacent,

as well as a comfort to strengthen believers who are afflicted.

And this passage is not easy to understand and apply rightly.

Throughout church history, it has often been misunderstood.

And we too are prone to misunderstand some parts of it.

Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire the author of Hebrews to write these words,

not only for the original hearers, but also for our benefit.

So as we prepare to dive into this sometimes difficult passage, let's pray together.

Almighty God, we pray that you would open our hearts and our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit,

that as we look into this passage, into the warning, as well as the comfort,

that we may hear clearly what you have spoken,

and that we may apply it to our hearts and our lives, as you desire.

For your glory, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

So before we jump into this passage, let me set the broader context just a little bit.

Last week, Pastor Nick preached on chapter 5, verse 11, through chapter 6, verse 3.

And this is sort of the beginning of the section that he's in.

Now the writer begins, if you look up in chapter 5, verse 11,

he begins by addressing a problem in the community that he's writing to.

He says, you have become dull of hearing.

And that word dull could mean lazy or sluggish or complacent.

And so he urges them in chapter 6, verse 1,

And then in verse 4 through 12, the author gives two reasons why we should go on toward maturity

and not remain complacent and stagnant.

He gives a word of warning in verse 4 through 8,

and then a word of comfort in verse 9 through 12.

And then at the end of the passage, chapter 6, verse 12,

he reminds us of the purpose of everything he said.

He said, all this I've said so that you may not be sluggish.

That's actually the same word that he translated dull,

that was translated dull back in chapter 5, verse 11.

So at the beginning and the end of the passage, he's addressing the same issue.

He's saying this is so that you may not be sluggish or complacent,

but through faith and patience inherit the promises of God.

So that's sort of the big picture of our passage today.

There's a warning to the complacent,

and there's a comforting word for God's people.

And it's all part of an exhortation not to be complacent,

but to press on toward maturity in Christ.

Now this passage is primarily directed toward people

who have already identified themselves as Christians.

But if you're here today, if you're not a Christian,

if you're spiritually exploring or searching,

I hope this passage will be helpful to you as well.

In particular, this passage may give you insight into the nature of the Christian life,

both the challenges that Christians face,

as well as the comforts that Christians hold on to.

But even more than that, I hope you'll see in this passage

the character of the God that Christians believe in.

So first, let's look at the warning in chapter verses 4 through 8.

Now, this is not the first warning passage in the book of Hebrews.

If you were here for our last fall, when we started the book of Hebrews,

we looked at a warning in chapter 2, as well as in chapter 3.

In chapter 2, he says, chapter 2, verse 1 through 4,

he says, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard,

to the message of Christ,

so that we do not drift away from it.

And the image is of a boat without an anchor,

drifting slowly down the stream,

and eventually ending up far away from its original destination.

Chapters 3 and 4, he gives another warning.

And there he says,

take care, brothers and sisters,

lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart,

leading you to fall away from the living God.

But exhort one another every day,

so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So there are the images of a heart

that gradually grows hardened in its resistance towards God.

And there he gives the example of the people of Israel,

who had been rescued from slavery in Egypt

and brought out into the wilderness.

And they heard God's word,

they saw God's power,

but over and over they did not trust God.

They did not believe in Him,

they did not obey Him.

And as a result,

many of them did not enter the promised land.

And as we'll see,

some of these themes from these two prior warnings

come up again in this passage.

So as we look at this warning

in verse 4 through 8 of chapter 6,

we might first ask,

well, what does this warning mean?

Well, the clearest thing it means

is that spiritually speaking,

there is what we might call

a point of no return.

In other words,

if you drift far enough downstream in the boat,

eventually you will come

to a point of no return,

where the current will take you over

the spiritual equivalent of Niagara Falls.

And the result will be

certain and unavoidable destruction,

without any hope

of being rescued or restored.

Now this is a terrifying warning,

but it's the very clear teaching

of this passage.

Verses 4 through 6 are one long sentence,

but the main clause says,

it is impossible,

in the case of certain people,

to restore them to repentance.

He doesn't just say it's difficult

or unlikely or unusual,

he says impossible.

Now this is not the only passage

in Scripture that teaches such a thing.

In Mark chapter 3,

Mark 3 · chapter mention

Jesus himself says,

all kinds of sins

will be forgiven,

the children of man,

and whatever blasphemies they utter.

But whoever blasphemes

against the Holy Spirit

never has forgiveness,

but is guilty of an eternal sin.

In other words,

there is a point of no return,

spiritually speaking.

Now over the years,

different people have come to me,

and they've said to me,

I'm worried that I have crossed this line.

I'm worried that,

according to this passage,

there's no more hope for me,

and I'm forever lost.

What do I do?

Now if there is a point of no return,

it's a good question to ask.

Who exactly is this verse talking about?

How can you know

if you've crossed that line?

Well, in order to answer that question,

we need to look carefully

at how Hebrews describes these people.

In verse 4 through 6,

and he describes them in two ways.

First, he describes them

as people who have experienced

rich blessings

in the context of a community

of believers.

Now very much like

the Israelite community

who as a group

had experienced God's deliverance

from slavery in Egypt.

And in fact,

the terms he used here

would have reminded his hearers

of Israel's experience

in the wilderness.

So he says,

they've been enlightened.

Well, the people of Israel

had seen God's glory

descending on Mount Sinai

in fire and smoke.

They were led through the wilderness

by the pillar of cloud by day

and the pillar of fire by night.

He says,

they had tasted the heavenly gift.

The people of Israel

had tasted the manna from heaven,

bread from heaven

that God had provided for them.

It says,

they shared in the Holy Spirit.

Well, Moses

and the 70 elders of Israel

were filled with the Spirit

and their Spirit-led leadership

benefited the whole community.

He says,

they not only heard God's word,

but they saw evidence

of God's power

parting the Red Sea,

providing water from the rock,

defeating their enemies.

And in a similar way,

this passage is describing people

who have experienced

rich blessings

in the context of a community

of believers.

So from their outward appearance,

from a human perspective,

these people would appear

to be Christians.

Right?

They've been baptized.

They've received the Lord's Supper.

They've had powerful

spiritual experiences.

They've enjoyed

some of the benefits

of being involved

in the Christian community.

They've not only heard

the word of God

from reliable messengers,

they've seen evidence

right in front of their eyes

of its truth and power

and goodness.

But then he says in verse 6,

they have fallen away.

And the emphasis here

is on the contrast

between God's generosity

and kindness

toward these people

and their utterly ungrateful response.

In other words,

God has exposed these people

to numerous spiritual blessings,

most especially the message

that God loved the world

so much that he sent his son,

Jesus Christ,

who willingly came into the world

and willingly died on the cross

as a sacrifice for sinners.

But after having publicly

embraced this message

and identified with

the Christian community,

their response is to crucify

the Son of God once again.

In other words,

to publicly and definitively

reject him.

And in their public rejection

of Jesus,

to scorn him before the world.

Verses 7 and 8

present the same contrast.

There are two kinds of land.

Both kinds of land

are watered by the rain

and cultivated

by the goodness of God.

But the land in verse 8

bears only thorns and thistles.

No good fruit.

And in the end,

he says,

it is only fit for burning.

In Jesus' parable of the sower,

which we heard earlier,

the seed of God's word

is sown everywhere

on all four kinds of soil.

On the hard ground,

on the rocky ground,

on the thorny ground,

as well as on the good soil.

And so in all these examples,

God is shown to be

not only righteous and just

in his judgment,

but generous

and loving

and kind

far more than any of us deserve.

But despite God's generosity

and his kindness

and his love,

it says that these people

have fallen away.

Now when this passage

talks about falling away,

it's not talking about

a temporary relapse,

but an ongoing

and permanent condition.

John Calvin said this,

he said,

the writer is not talking here

about theft

or lying

or even murder

or drunkenness

or adultery.

He is referring to

a complete falling away

from the gospel

in which the sinner

has offended God

not in one respect only,

but has utterly

renounced his grace.

Now in the Bible,

there are several examples

of believers

in both the Old and New Testament

who fall into

serious and damaging

patterns of sin,

sometimes even

for extended periods of time.

But eventually,

the Holy Spirit

convicts them of sin.

They're never totally satisfied

in their patterns of sin.

And eventually,

they turn back to God

and they repent

and they ask for forgiveness.

And you know,

the New Testament says

it's not,

it doesn't just say

forgiveness is possible

if we repent.

It says forgiveness

is promised

to all

who repent.

To repent

simply means

to turn

to Jesus.

If we confess

our sins,

God is faithful

and just

to forgive our sins

and purify us

from all unrighteousness

because Jesus Christ

is the atoning

sacrifice

for sin.

And His blood

covers anyone

and everyone

who turns to Him.

And the writer of Hebrews

is in full agreement

with this promise.

Notice what he says here.

He does not say

it is impossible

for some people

to be forgiven

even if they repent.

What he says is

it is impossible

for them to be brought

to repentance.

In other words,

they never turn

back.

They fall away

and they never turn back.

And Jesus says

a very similar thing

in that passage

about the blasphemy

against the Holy Spirit.

He says it is an eternal sin.

In other words,

it is a permanent

and unchanging

and ongoing state

of willfully refusing

Jesus Christ

who is God's only provision

for forgiveness.

So if you are concerned,

if you have read passages

like this

and you have wondered,

have I passed this point?

If you have been driven

to despair

by that thought,

if you are concerned

that you have done

something so bad

that God cannot

or will not forgive you,

your concern itself

and your desire

to be in right relationship

with God

is clear evidence

that you have not

done so.

The author of Hebrews

did not give this warning

because he thought

that the people

had already passed

this point of no return.

If he thought

they had already passed

the point of no return,

the warning would be useless.

You don't warn somebody

when they've already

fallen off a cliff

and died.

You warn someone

so they don't fall

off the cliff.

It's like the rumble strip

on the highway.

It's not the most pleasant

noise to hear,

but it saves you

from going over the edge

inadvertently

or without realizing it.

Now the reason

why the author

gives this warning

is because he saw

that many of the people

were beginning

to drift away,

to drift down the stream.

They'd become dull,

sluggish,

complacent.

And so he warns them

spiritual complacency

is dangerous.

Drifting toward

the point of no return

begins

often as a gradual process.

Jesus describes

the seed

sown among thorns

as seed that begins

to grow

but is choked out

by the cares

and riches

and pleasures

of this world.

Think of a plant

in the middle

of a field

that is gradually

overtaken by weeds

and thorn bushes

and vines

that gradually

entangle it

and suck the life

out of it.

It doesn't happen

all at once,

but it's a gradual process,

but it ends

in suffocation.

And similarly,

he's warning them

because the path

to the point

of no return

begins

with lots

of small decisions.

Whether it's deciding

that life

is just too busy

so it's not worth

the time to pray

or read the Bible

anymore

or deciding

that it's not worth

coming to church

because you're

just too tired

or deciding

to distance yourself

from other Christians

because you don't

want them to challenge

you and hold you

to a higher standard

or deciding

to tell little lies

out of a desire

to please

other people

or indulging

in hidden

sinful patterns

because they bring

immediate comfort

in a stressful time.

The warning is

when these patterns

continue

unchallenged,

unchanged,

over time,

your heart

becomes increasingly

entangled

in the cares

and riches

and pleasures

of the world

and increasingly

numb

and hardened

toward the reality

of God

and Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit.

And so the author

of Hebrews is

throwing a bucket

of ice-cold water

on us

and he's saying

wake up!

Don't be caught

in complacency.

Don't live

a sluggish

Christian life.

Don't continue

along

this dangerous path.

So that's the warning.

But thankfully

the writer of Hebrews

not only gives a warning

because I think

if that's all he gave

we might be startled

but we might not

quite know where

to go next.

He also gives us

a word of comfort

to encourage us

to press on

in verse 9

through 12.

Now in verse 9

his tone shifts

from stern warning

to tender

brotherly affection.

He says

though we speak

in this way

with stern warnings

yet in your case

beloved

we feel sure

of better

things.

Things

that belong

to salvation.

Notice how

the pronouns

shift in this passage.

Verses 1

through 3

he says

therefore let us

go on to maturity.

First person plural.

This we will do

if God permits.

Verse 4

through 8

however

he uses the third person.

He doesn't say

you

he says

in the case

of those

them

they

so he's warning

them

but he's not

putting them

in that category

of people

who have

done that.

But then in verse 9

through 12

he goes back

to the first

and second person

he says

in your case

we feel sure

of better

things.

Now you might ask

why does he

feel sure

of better things?

How can I

feel sure

of better things

for me?

Well in verse 10

he goes on to give

two reasons

for his confidence.

So first

he says

that he is confident

because of

their track record

of work

and love.

Or if we use

the metaphor

of verse 7

he's confident

because of

the good fruit

that he has

already observed

in their lives.

Now later on

in the book

in chapter 10

verse 32

and 34

and chapter 13

verse 1 and 2

he elaborates

on the good fruit

that he's observed

in their lives.

He says

they've endured

a hard struggle

sometimes being

publicly exposed

to reproach

and affliction

because of their

faith in Jesus

sometimes standing

alongside other

Christians who were

mistreated

and imprisoned.

In other words

they faced

suffering

and opposition

things that would

have could have

tempted them

to give up

or turn away

but they didn't

give up

and in fact

in their trials

they held on

to the promises

of Christ.

Chapter 10

verse 34

says

they joyfully

accepted

the loss

of worldly

possessions

and status

because they knew

that they had

a better

and lasting

possession

in Jesus Christ.

now the point

of this

is that

suffering

and trials

will either

drive you

away from

God

into things

like bitterness

and despair

and anger

and anxiety

or they will

drive you

to God

and the Psalms

invite us

to bring

our bitterness

and despair

and anger

and anxiety

to God.

you know

it's very

common

to feel

all of those

emotions

but the question

is will we

hold on

to those

things

deep inside

ourselves

where they'll

gradually eat

away at us

and then poison

our relationships

with others

or will we

bring those

things to

God

honestly

and seek

our refuge

and our help

in him.

you see

when we

suffer

and take

refuge

in Jesus

and bring

all of the

stuff

that we

feel to

him

he begins

to work

in us

things like

humility

and trust

and compassion

and so he

turns

suffering

and evil

into things

that can be

a means

for our

spiritual

growth

and maturity

and Jesus

has been

there

Jesus

himself

has suffered

he knows

what it's

like

to go

through

hard

trials

and opposition

and he

has come

so that we

might never

suffer

alone

but that

all our

sufferings

might be

with him

by our

side

so if

you've

been through

trials

if you can

look back

at your

life

if you've

been through

trials that

could have

pushed you

away from

God

but you're

still here

you still

believe in

Christ

you still

pray

be encouraged

that's a

good sign

now the

second thing

he points

to is not

only their

their work

and their

endurance

through trials

but their

love for

one another

again suffering

and trials

can either

cause us to

distance ourselves

from other

people

or to come

closer together

and stand

together in

the midst

of them

and instead

of distancing

themselves

from each

other

the Hebrews

loved and

served one

another with

warm affection

it says in

chapter 6

verse 10

you have

shown love

for God

in serving

the saints

as you

still do

in other

words they

had served

not only the

Christians in

their own

church but

the saints

more broadly

speaking

Christians

perhaps

throughout

the world

or in

other

churches

chapter 13

verse 1

and 2

tells us

they opened

their homes

to each

other

they loved

each other

like brothers

and sisters

in the family

of God

they even

welcomed

strangers

and foreigners

because they

knew that

God and

Jesus Christ

had welcomed

them

and God

had opened

his home

to them

and so they

opened their

homes

to others

it says

they cared

for those

in prison

had compassion

on them

because they

knew that

Jesus Christ

had paid a

high price

to set them

free

from their

bondage

and so they

cared for

those

who were in

bondage

themselves

and he

says you've

continued to

do these

things

brothers and

sisters

may we be

a church

that is

characterized

by loving

service

to one

another

and in

many ways

we already

are but let

me urge you

let us

continue to

do so

more and

more

we live in

a culture

that's

it seems

like

everybody's

busy

right

hardly anybody

how are you

doing

I mean my

natural response

is saying

things have

been pretty

busy lately

we live in

a high

stress

high achievement

culture

that places

a high value

on individual

freedom

and autonomy

and privacy

but the gospel

tells us that

Jesus Christ

willingly laid

aside

his freedoms

and became

a servant

to love

us

on the night

that he was

betrayed

he knelt down

and he washed

his disciples

feet

and then he

said as

I have loved

you

you also

are to love

one another

and by this

all people

will know

that you are

really my

disciples if you

have love

for one

another

and so the

author of

Hebrews

could say

I see

your acts

of loving

service

to God's

people

your love

for God

is shown

in your

love

for others

and that's

one of the

fruits of

the Holy

Spirit

it's another

sign that you

have really

experienced

salvation

from God

because you

see true

salvation

is not a

temporary

experience

that doesn't

last

that's not

real salvation

at all

true salvation

is an eternal

reality begun

continued

and completed

by the grace

of God

and that's

actually the

second reason

why we can

have assurance

why we can

have confidence

not only because

of good fruit

that we see

in one another's

lives

and that we can

encourage each

other as we see

that good fruit

but ultimately

because of the

character

of God

the ultimate

foundation of

our assurance

as Christians

is the character

of God himself

and the writer

of Hebrews

says this

in verse 10

he says

God is not

unjust

so as to

overlook

your work

and your love

that you have

shown for his

name

you see

God is the

source

of all

the good fruit

we produce

that's why

the apostle

Paul calls it

the fruit

of

the Holy Spirit

not just the

fruit of

our good

efforts

but the fruit

of the Holy

Spirit's work

in our life

and in the

gospel of John

Jesus says

I am the vine

and you are

the branches

whoever abides

in me

and I in him

he will bear

much fruit

apart from me

you can do

nothing

and he continues

he says

you did not

choose me

but I chose

you

and appointed

you to go

and bear

good fruit

that will

last

you see

God promises

that he will

not overlook

the good fruit

that he himself

has produced

in our lives

verse 7

says land

that produces

a crop

useful

to those

for whose sake

it is cultivated

receives a blessing

from God

Jesus himself

promised blessings

to his disciples

both now

and in the future

read through the

Sermon on the Mount

it's full of them

the Beatitudes

blessed are you

when people

revile you

and persecute you

and utter all kinds

of evil against you

falsely

on my account

in that case

he says

rejoice and be glad

for great is your

reward in heaven

or in Mark

Mark 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

he said to his

disciples

he said

whatever I call

you to sacrifice

and leave behind

for my sake

and the sake

of the gospel

you'll receive

many times

more

and in the age

to come

eternal life

because God

is not unjust

when he makes

a promise

he will keep it

he is faithful

when he produces

good fruit

in our lives

he will sustain it

and he will reward

it in the end

because he

has done it

and so he goes

on

in verse 11

he says

we desire

for each

one of you

to show

the same

earnestness

to have

the full

assurance

of hope

until the

end

so that you

may not

be sluggish

but imitators

of those

who through

faith and

patience

inherit

the promises

of God

you see

the purpose

of both

the warning

and the

comfort

is to

protect us

from becoming

complacent

and you know

there's no joy

in spiritual

complacency

it's not even

fun while it

lasts

but he's

spurring us

on to

persevere

in earnest

love

verse 10

in assured

hope

verse 11

and in

patient faith

as he says

in verse 12

love

hope

and faith

in Jesus

you see

the purpose

of the

comforting word

is not to

comfort us

in our

complacency

but to

spur us

on

to earnest

love

for one

another

and the

purpose

of the

warning

is not

to make

us

despair

and it's

not to

make us

endlessly

anxiously

introspective

either

but to

spur us

on to

persevere

in looking

to Jesus

with our

faith and

hope fixed

firmly

on him

you know

if you're

hiking in

the mountains

and the

trail passes

by some

steep cliffs

it is good

to be aware

of the

danger

but you

will make

no progress

by just

peeking over

the edge

of the cliff

and imagining

how horrible

it would be

to fall off

you will just

make yourself

dizzy

and unnecessarily

scared

and in the

same way

if you

are endlessly

anxiously

introspective

about your

spiritual state

you will not

make much

spiritual

progress

the encouragement

here

is to be

aware

and take

the warning

seriously

but to keep

going up

the trail

to follow

in the

footsteps

of those

who have

persevered

in faith

all the way

to the end

and inherited

the promises

of God

and most

especially

to fix

our eyes

on our

Lord and

Savior

Jesus Christ

because Jesus

is the

pioneer

of faith

in other

words

he's the

one

who's

blazed

the trail

for us

and he's

the perfecter

of faith

he's the

beginning

and he's

the end

he stands

waiting to

receive us

at the end

and he

watches over

our every

step

along the

way

let us

pray

Lord Jesus

where we

have

become

complacent

we pray

that you

would stir

us up

to an

active

faith

hope

and love

in you

and where

we have

become

discouraged

or even

despairing

would you

comfort

and strengthen

us

with your

words

of assurance

and hope

we pray

that we

would live

a life

of earnest

love

of patient

faith

and of

assured

hope

in our

Lord and

Savior

Jesus Christ

we pray

in his

name

amen