Hebrews 6 - 12/21/25 - Pastor Charlie Branch

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[music] Pastor Charlie Branch with a

word from God.

>> [music]

>> All right. Hebrews chapter number six.

Hebrews chapter number six.

Lord plugged this little thought in my

mind here few weeks ago. And last week

we dealt with the uh precursor to this

text verses 11-4. Just dabbled a little

bit in verse one of chapter 6. I want to

try to look at chapter 6 verses 1 down

through verse number eight uh today. And

u I was praying what the Lord would have

us to say. This really has been on my

heart the whole time. I knew this is

exactly where I'd be going uh in Sunday

school this morning. But this text, um,

I want you to give me your best

attention this morning. I want try to

expound this the best that I can. And a

lot of different beliefs about this

text. A lot of different things that

been said uh by men a lot smarter than

me, but I just want to follow the

leadership of the Holy Ghost u looking

at this this morning. Hebrews 6 verse

number one. Hebrews 6 verse number one.

The Bible says, "Therefore, leaving the

principles of the doctrine of Christ,

let us go on unto perfection, not laying

again the foundation of repentance from

dead works, and of faith toward God, of

the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying

on of hands, and of resurrection of the

dead, and of eternal judgment. And this

will we do if God permit. For it is

impossible for those who are once

enlightened, and have tasted the

heavenly gift, were made partakers of

the Holy Ghost, have tasted the good

word of God, and the powers of the world

to come, and they shall fall away to

renew them again unto repentance, seeing

they crucify to themselves the Son of

God aresh, and put him to an open shame.

For the earth which drinkketh in the

rain, that cometh off upon it, and

bringeth forth herbs meat for them, by

whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing

from God, but that which beareth thorns

and briars is rejected, and is nigh

under cursing, whose end is to be

burned. Now, Father, I ask humbly that

you would help us as we consider these

verses this morning. I pray you give us

wisdom, discernment, Lord, guard our

lips, Father, that we would say nothing,

Lord, that would uh damage the

credibility of the text, but God, I pray

that we would say everything, Lord, that

would bring to light the truths that are

invested in these verses that we've read

this morning. I pray you'll help us,

fill us with the spirit and accomplish

all your will. We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Chapter 6 verse number one is a

continuation of chapter 5 11 down

through verse number 14. And I dealt

with this subject on last week and I've

gotten a lot of response out of this. I

think everybody pretty much forgot what

I preached last Sunday other than what I

said in Sunday school. And so um I want

to deal with this again this morning.

And uh uh this is not my title, but I'll

give you this title this morning if you

want a title. We're not going to put

this title on the podcast or anything

like that, but the title Dwight

Pentecost gives for this text is

spiritual retardation.

And basically, when you study it, that's

what this is. Okay? You notice in verse

number one down through verse number

three, he describes here the state of

the church that he is writing to. Now,

collectively, I don't I would not say

that he is writing to a single church,

but I think he is writing to the church,

uh, the church as a whole, and he's

writing to the Hebrews. We know that

this is the book of Hebrews. He's

writing to the Jews. And when you study

the book of Hebrews, you've got to

remember that you're on Jewish ground.

Now, there's application for you and I

as the believer because it is the New

Testament, but not everything directly

applies. Now I want to point out some of

that here in just a moment. But when you

consider this chapter, chapter 6:es 1

through verse number eight, I want to

give you three subjects here. And what

this is dealing with is the subject of

growth. And verses 1 through3 deals with

faithful growth. Verses 4-6 deals with a

failure to grow. And verses 7 and 8 deal

with the figure of growth. And all of

this is talking about the growth of the

believer. Now, were you stray in this

chapter is when you try to take this

chapter and apply it to somebody who is

not saved. Now, there's a lot of men

that have done that, and there's men

smarter than I am that have done that,

and they make a good case for this text.

But when you consider the text, the

context, it is not speaking to those who

are lost, but it's speaking to those who

are saved. I I want to consider this

first thought here of faithful growth or

future growth. Verses 1 through three.

Look what the Bible says. He says,

"Therefore, leaving the principles of

the doctrine of Christ, notice this, let

us go on unto perfection." Now, I

consider in this text, we've mentioned

already that this is Jewish ground, but

it is applicable to the church. And so,

what he is saying here when he mentions

the principles, he brings up this

thought, the doctrine of Christ. Now,

you know, the doctrine of Christ came in

before Matthew chapter 1, right? The

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

doctrine of Christ is all throughout the

Old Testament. It's all throughout

Genesis, you know, all the way through

the law. It's all the way through the

historical books, the prophetical books.

They ultimately spoke that Christ would

come. And when he's speaking of the

doctrine of Christ, you got to remember

these boys didn't have the gospels.

Matter of fact, these some of these men

possibly could have been the ones who

are writing the gospels. And so these

men when he's talking about the

principles of the doctrine of Christ,

he's referring to Old Testament truth

about Jesus, that he would be the

Messiah, that he is the son of David,

that he is the one that faith would

proceed from, that he is the one that

would be the king that would reign upon

the father, the throne of his father

David. And so when he says, therefore,

leaving the principles of the doctrine

of Christ, he's telling them, look, you

need to get off of the baser things that

just tell us about who he is. All right?

Or why he came. Now, you need to learn

about who he is. And notice what he

says. He mentions not only the doctrine

of Christ. He he points out what this

doctrine is. Let me say this. First of

all, he mentions the foundation of

repentance from dead works. That's an

Old Testament truth. John the Baptist

came preaching. Repent. What he say?

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at

hand. That's an Old Testament truth.

That's the That's the doctrine that the

prophets preached when they Daniel

preached and Isaiah and Jeremiah. What

was their message? Repent. Amen. Get

right with God. And so there's the

doctrine of repentance. There's also the

doctrine of condemnation in verse number

two, resurrection of the dead and of

eternal judgment. And so this has to do

with the judgment of the wicked. That

too is an Old Testament doctrine that

those who would not follow the ways, the

truths of the word of God, they would be

judged eternally. And then there is the

doctrine of repentance and faith. Verse

number verse number one again repentance

from dead works and of faith toward God.

Of course, we know that's Old Testament

as well. Abraham was the father of the

faith. This there's the doctrine of

baptisms. That's simply the ceremonies,

the doctrines of ceremonies of laying on

of hands. That is the ministry of the

saints. You consider the doctrine of

laying on of hands. What that was? That

was a Jewish thing. The only the Jews

received the Holy Ghost by laying on of

hands. Okay? And you say, "What's the

point of all that, preacher?" Well,

Paul, the writer of Hebrews, is trying

to tell them, "Hey, you need to get past

this stuff." And the application to you

and I today is it's good to be saved,

but you need to learn more about the

Christian life than just being saved.

You need to know more than just

repentance and faith. You need to know

more than just that there is a hell and

there's a heaven. You need to know more

after you get saved. It's never meant

that you just know the baser things.

John 3:16 should not be the only verse

John 3:16

that you're acquainted with. Amen.

>> And so he's telling them it's time to go

forward. What are they going forward

from? The doctrine of Christ. Those

elementary truths as we mentioned on

last week. But then he mentions not only

the doctrine of Christ, but there is a

departure in verse number one. And

listen the way I word this, okay? I put

this this way for a reason. There's a

departure not from Christ, but unto

Christ. You see, those baser things will

hold you back. Okay? If you are

constantly dwelling in the state of

salvation and lost heaven and hell, if

you are living in that that with that

doubt, with that fear in your mind or

constantly rehearsing the events, the

baser things of Christianity, you will

never know the blessing of knowing

Jesus. Listen to how he describes it in

verse one. He says, "Therefore, leaving

the principles of the doctrine of

Christ, let us go on unto what?

Perfection." Now, just to put this on

the outset, I want to give you some

stuff about that phrase, but to put this

on the outset, who's the only perfect

man that ever lived? Christ. Amen. He

was a full maturity. The Bible says in

Hebrews, I believe it's chapter 3 or 4

says that he was made perfect. He was

made complete through sufferings. And

so, the only man that's ever lived,

complete God, complete man, and complete

in life is Jesus Christ. And so, he is

the example. That's why the end of the

book tells us in chapter 12 that we're

to look unto him. Amen. Look unto Jesus,

the author and finisher of our faith. So

what does he mean when he says, "Let us

go on unto perfection." Well, I remind

you this. First of all, I told you this

is not to unbelievers. You say, "How is

that?" Well, notice the collectiveness

that's mentioned in in that phrase. What

does he say? Those first two words, let

us let us. The writer is describing

himself inspired by the Holy Ghost. He

says there's a collective group. There

is a design that also tells us that the

church, amen, was is is pointed out

here. And that's where we find the text

in the book of Hebrews says to forsake

not the assembling of yourselves

together. There's a collective growth

that's supposed to take place.

>> Amen. So it's collective. Not only that,

it's not only collective, but it's

progressive. Look what he says in verse

one. Let us what? Go on.

You know what the biggest problem we

have in the church world in this day and

time is people don't want to go forward.

>> Right?

>> Well, we've always done it this way.

We've always done that. We've always had

that event. We've always had done this.

We've always said that. This has been

the way. It's always been. And if you

want to hinder a church from growing,

that's how you do it.

>> Amen. I'm not talking about

progressivism talking about moving in uh

to the modernistic approach. I'm talking

about going forward for God. He says,

"Let us go on." What are we going on

unto? Well, there is a collective. It's

progressive, but it's also conclusive.

Look what he says. Let us go on unto

perfection. You see, there's a goal in

mind. If you do not have a goal in mind

in your Christian life, you will not

accomplish anything.

>> If I, as the pastor, do not have a goal

in mind for this church, this church

will not go forward. Daddy, if you do

not have a goal in mind for your

marriage or for your family, if you've

not got a mark that you're pressing

towards, amen, you will not accomplish

anything.

>> Amen. It works that way in all of life.

There has to be a a purpose. Amen. But

there also in that purpose, there's a

plan that's laid forth. He says, first

of all, this plan is that we've got to

let go of some things, right?

>> He says verse one, leaving the

principles. There's some things that

we've got to move on from. You need to

learn more about Christ than just the

fact that he he died and was buried and

rose again. And that is the most

precious truth. It's the truth that

won't makes us want to learn everything

else about him. Amen.

>> But we ought to know more than that.

Amen. Notice this. We we consider this

this reference this let us go on unto

perfection. Arthur Pink said this. He

said it is a reference to the

apprehension of the divine revelation of

the full glory of Christ in his person,

his perfections and his position.

[clears throat] It is an apprehension.

That apprehension means to take hold of.

Let us go on unto. We have a we have a

plan. We have a purpose. We're headed

somewhere. Amen.

>> So notice this. You consider this

departure unto Christ. Consider this.

Thirdly, I'm still talking about this

faithful growth here. We consider the

doctrine, the departure. Now consider

the decision in verse number three. And

I find this interesting. Okay, this is

going to lead up to what we deal with

next. Notice verse three. And this will

we do if God permit. Now I want you to

think about this right here. All right,

with me for just a minute. There are

presented to us plenteous opportunities

for Christian growth.

I want to say it again. There are

presented to us, each and every one of

us, plenteous opportunities for

Christian growth. But if we continually

dismiss them, Christ is not obligated to

allow us to continue.

>> Right?

>> In other words, he will let us stay a

baby if that's what we want.

>> Right?

>> And I've said this a thousand times from

this pull pit, but you you are what you

want to be at this present moment.

>> Right?

If you want to go forward for Christ,

you say, "Preacher, well, I'm not what I

want to be." Well, that means you're

pressing forward. Amen. You've got a

plan. You got a purpose in mind. There's

an end goal. There's a vision that you

have for your life. But if you are

satisfied with what you are right now,

you will never be more than who you are

in this moment.

>> Right?

>> And I want to remind you this, okay?

Everything that we have in our life

imparted to us by Christ.

>> Right? The opportunity to grow is given

to us by Christ. I mean, what I'm trying

to say is is that you cannot grow apart

from the impartation of wisdom

>> by Jesus. You do not learn truth on your

own.

>> The most welleducated man earthly in the

scriptures has not even an iota of the

truth that a saved man would learn in

five minutes of studying his Bible.

>> Good.

>> Because this book is not carnally read.

It's not carnally studied. It's

spiritually discerned. And so the

decision here is pointed out. Verse

three, and this will we do if God

permit. Now, what does that mean? Well,

if you have decided so long,

in other words, put it this way. If you

have refused the truth of God's word so

long as a child of God, God is not

obligated to allow you to grow anymore.

>> Right?

>> Now, I'll be honest with you, that's

hard to hear. But you consider that when

you look at the rest of this text, it's

very true. When you consider this

thought now, it is left up to him. I'll

say right now, if you have a desire to

know truth, he wants you to know him.

Amen. Paul said that I may know him.

That is the desire that's on the heart

of every believer. But it is possible

for a saved child of God to get to a

place where they are stagnant. They are

complacent. That they have no desire to

know anything about Christ. What you're

going to see here in this text is what

that describes. Now, we consider here

the faithful growth. What's going to

happen? And it's all hinging on this uh

the truth of Christ's decision if he

allows us to grow. Now, I want to remind

you he he's not he's not going to

withhold you from growth if you desire

that. Okay? But the truth of this text

reveals, all right, when a person

conscientiously chooses to walk away

from Christ, Christ is not obligated to

draw them back.

Notice the text. We consider this

faithful growth. But now consider the

failure to grow. In verses four- six,

notice this verse four. For it is

impossible for those who are once

enlightened. That four connects verse

number three and the phrases before to

this verse. Verse four. For it is

impossible for those who are once

enlightened, and have tasted of the

heavenly gift, and were made partakers

of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the

good word of God, and the powers of the

world to come, if they shall fall away,

to renew them again unto repentance,

seeing they crucify to themselves the

son of God aresh, and put him to an open

shade. Now, what does all this mean?

When you consider this thought, the

failure to grow, you got to look at this

phrase, how it's worded in verse number

four. Look what he says. For it is

impossible for those who are once

enlightened. All right, so there's

obviously an impossibility that's stated

here in verse number four. What is the

impossibility if you connect the phrase

verse four and verse six, for it is

impossible for those who are once

enlightened? Verse six, if they shall

fall away to remove them again unto

repentance. Now verses four and five the

rest of that he describes this right

here and I'll give you these three

thoughts about this failure to grow.

Number one there are the wonders that

are experienced in this these verses.

Notice verse four who are once

enlightened have tasted of the heavenly

gift were made partakers of the Holy

Ghost and have tasted the good word of

God and the powers of the world to come.

Now if you consider all of that there

are some writers that say that this man

described in verses four and five is not

saved. But I do not believe that's

possible. Number one, for this reason.

You see in verse four, if it was just if

it only said enlightened, verse number

four, if it only said that this soul has

been illuminated, that in other words,

that conviction has set in and showed

them that they were lost. But you

understand it doesn't stop there. Look

what he says. And have tasted of the

heavenly gift.

Tasted of the heavenly gift. Now, let me

just let me just say this. All right.

What a salvation.

For by grace are you saved through faith

that not all yourselves. It's the gift

of God, not of works, lest any man

should boast. That's under inspiration

of the spirit of God. There it says the

heavenly gift.

>> Tasted of it. You're not going to taste

of salvation and not possess it. Amen.

>> So if tasted of the heavenly gift and

were made partakers of what? Of the Holy

Ghost. What does the book of Romans say?

If any man have not the spirit of

Christ, he's none of his. So if he's

been made partaker of the Holy Ghost,

he's saved. Verse five, it goes on from

there. And have tasted the good word of

God. What have we just said tonight this

morning? That if a man knows the knows

the scriptures, he has to have the

spirit of God.

>> He has to be saved. You will not receive

the word of God lost. And the powers of

the world to come, this is literally the

progression of salvation. And that

powers of the world to come means the

presence of God manifested

on this earth. The powers of the world

to come. You can't experience the

presence of God as a lost man,

>> right?

>> You can in conviction,

>> but it doesn't go beyond that. And so, I

think we can all agree he's talking to

the saved person, isn't he? Because of

the wonders that are experienced.

There's salvation. There's the spirit's

presence. There's the Savior's power.

There's the sanctification of the

spirit. All of these things are

experiences of a child of God. But

notice verse six. Look what your Bible

says. If they shall fall away to renew

them again unto repentance. Now this

man's obviously been saved according to

everything that's in these verses. So if

the Bible says in verse six, if they

shall fall away. So number one, this

points out that it is possible. Okay?

don't believe this crowd that says once

you get saved you'll never sin again.

Okay?

>> And and there's some that even say in

this day, well, you'll sin, but it won't

be willful sin. But I got a problem with

that. Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7

Romans 7 · chapter mention

says, hey, he said the good that I

would. He said I do not. He said the bad

that I would not, it's that I do. Amen.

>> And if the Apostle Paul had that problem

with willful sin, you and I are going to

have that problem.

>> And so here he says, if they shall fall

away, there's the possibility here. But

what this is, this shows the pattern in

verse six. If they shall fall away. Now,

this does not mean, this is not just a

casual sin. This is not something

that's, you know, well, I I I got

tempted, I slipped up and failed. No,

that's not what this is. Where it says

if they shall fall away, that means a

conscientious choice to walk away.

You say, "Preacher, but I thought that

someone who's saved can't consciously

choose to walk away." Well, let me just

remind you again. You remember about

Peter?

What about David? You say, "Preacher,

but that's Old Testament. They didn't

have the spirit of God." I know that.

But they were saved,

>> right?

>> Amen. Well, it's not the same economy,

preacher. But did they go to heaven when

they died?

>> Right.

>> Let me ask you something. All right.

When you consider this truth, if you if

man is a free moral agent when he gets

saved, all right, if you have to choose

Christ in order to be saved and then

after you get saved, you have to choose

to live for Christ, would it not be

possible that you could do anything

afterward

>> that you could do before?

And he says this, if they shall fall

away. So we consider the wonders

expressed, but then there is the we the

wonders experienced in verses four and

five. Then there is this will that's

expressed. That phrase fall away means a

conscious premeditated choice or

decision to turn back. Now the writer of

Hebrews says this so many times. Notice

chapter number 10.

Chapter number 10

and the last verse verse 38.

Chapter 10 verse 38 and 39.

The Bible says, "Now the just shall live

by faith, but if any man draw back, my

soul shall have no pleasure in him."

Verse 39, "But we are not of them who

draw back unto predition, but of them

that believe to the saving of the soul."

Now, the terminology that's going to be

used in this text is the same

terminology that's going to be used

there in chapter number 10. You you

consider here it's mentioned that it's

impossible to renew them again to

repentance. Verse 8 says that they are

nigh unto cursing whose end is to be

burned. And I submit to you this is not

talking about hell. Okay? Because this

would contradict the doctrine of

salvation.

>> If you could lose your salvation, amen,

that just damages everything about who

Christ is and what Christ did for us.

And so what is he talking about? Well,

he says if they shall fall away, if they

willfully turn away, what happens? Verse

six, it's impossible to renew them again

unto repentance, seeing them c seeing

they crucify to themselves the son of

God aresh and put him to an open shame.

So there's the wonders that's

experienced here by this saved man.

There's the will that's expressed here

by this saved man. But there's a work

that's inhibited in his life because he

is saved. What is that work? Look what

it says. To renew them again unto

repentance. Now notice what's not said

in this verse. It does not say that it's

impossible for this man to repent.

Notice the verse is if they shall fall

away to renew them again unto

repentance. So repentance here is not an

action but it's a state. You say what's

the state? Well repentance when it takes

place when you get saved. What is that?

It's repentance and faith. At salvation

the moment of salvation it is a state of

repentance. And what do you spend the

rest of your life doing as a child of

God? the act of repenting. And so when

he says it's impossible to renew them

again unto repentance, he is saying that

it's impossible for them to experience

after they have willfully walked away

from Christ after they have chosen by

their own decision to walk away from

Jesus. It's impossible for them to come

back and be saved be experience that

same repentance again.

>> What does that bar them from? It bars

them from blessing.

Notice it in the text. Verse six. Seeing

they crucify to themselves the son of

God aresh and put him to an open shame.

You say, "What does that mean,

preacher?" Well, if somebody walks away

and denounces the faith, a child of God

walks away and denounces the faith, you

know what's going to happen if they try

to come back? You know what they're

doing? If they have openly denounced

what they believed in, and it can be

done. Say, "How is that?" Well, Peter

denied the Lord.

>> Said, "I know not the man." And you know

what? Peter had to deal with the

repercussions of that decision when he

decided to come back. He struggled for

many years because of that. Of course,

we know when the spirit showed up, amen,

the work, all of that was worked out.

But what I'm saying is is this. There

were those that looked at him and said,

"Well, you denied him one time."

>> If you walk away and denounce everything

you say, you don't believe any of that.

You know what you're doing? You're

hanging Christ on that cross again,

>> right?

>> When you try to come back. Now, I want

to make this point and we'll move on

here. This failure to what h what what

brings this about is a failure to grow.

And it's like brother Jimmy said it and

it's the best selectment you'll ever

hear on Christian growth. Christian

growth is like paddling up a stream.

You're either paddling against the

current or you're floating with it.

>> And so when you refuse to grow, what are

you doing? You are allowing the world,

the currents of this world, the flesh,

the devil, and sin to take you away. And

because of that, what happens is when

you try to get back right again, the

first thing that you're going to do is

try to get saved again

when you've been out of the will of God

for so many years. Because this is what

what's going to happen to you. You're

going to think, "Well, if I did all

that, there wouldn't know way I was

really saved anyway."

>> You say, "Where's a where's an

illustration of this?" Well, the the

most prominent illustration I think of

is in the book of Numbers.

Numbers chapter number

20.

The Bible says in numbers 20 verse

number 7.

And the Lord spake unto Moses saying,

"Take the rod and gather thou the

assembly together, thou and Aaron thy

brethren, and speak ye unto the rock

before their eyes, and it shall give

forth his water, and thou shalt bring

forth to them water out of the rock. So

shalt thou give the congregation, and

their beast drink." And Moses took the

rod from before the Lord, as he

commanded him. And Moses and Aaron

gathered the congregation together

before the rock. And he said unto them,

"Hear now, you rebels, must we fetch you

water out of this rock." And Moses

lifted up his hand, and with his rod he

smoked the rock twice, and the water

came out abundantly, and the

congregation drank, and their beast

also. And the Lord spake unto Moses and

Aaron. Notice this, because ye believe

me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the

children of Israel. Therefore, ye shall

not bring this congregation into the

land which I have given them. This is

the water of Marabah because the

children of Israel strove with the Lord

and he was sanctified in them. Now, what

does this mean? Well, simply put, that

rod is a type of judgment.

And when God told Moses, he said, "Look,

you take your rod." He didn't tell him

to smite the rock, but he said, "You

speak to the rock." That rod represented

judgment. And so, that rock represents

Jesus Christ. And so, when Moses came

here and God told him to speak to the

rock, it's a symbol of fellowship. Well,

Moses comes up in here and he's angry,

ain't he? He's mad. The children of

Israel, look at that in the text. Verse

number verse number uh verse number 10.

Moses Aaron gathered the congregation

together for before the rock. And he

said to them, "Here now, you rebels,

must we fetch you water out of this

rot," he's angry. Okay? And out of this,

instead of doing what God told him to do

and speaking to the rock, which is a

type of fellowship, he takes the rod and

smites it not once but twice.

You say, "What is the representation?"

Well, he took the judgment

and smites the rock which represents

Christ. Now, what did Jesus do once?

The cross.

>> He suffered the judgment of God once.

And so in this text, when the Bible says

it's impossible to renew them unto

repentance, what you're doing is when

you when you are trying to make another

profession of faith because of the sin,

because you willfully walked away from

Jesus, when you try to come back, here's

what happens. You smite the rock again

when you needed to just speak to it.

You're

>> right.

>> Because fellowship was broken, but there

wasn't a relationship that was gone.

>> Right?

>> Okay. This is what happens when you walk

away from the word of God. And and the

writer said, "Right, it's spiritual

retardation. So, refuse to grow is what

it is. If you refuse to grow, this is

inevitably where you'll find yourself."

You say, "Preacher, well, what's the

truth to the Jews here?" Well, when he's

talking to these Jews, okay, I've given

you the application. Now, here's the

Jewish truth. You remember these Jews

here in this text? It says, "If they

shall fall away." So, if these Jews

willfully decide that they're going to

go back to Judaism, you know what

they're doing? And if they turn around

and come back from that again, they're

saying, "Well, Christ is going to have

to be crucified again." If they turn

around and go back to Judaism, they're

agreeing with the people that crucified

Christ.

>> Right?

>> If you turn around and walk away from

the faith as a believer, you know what

you're doing? You're agreeing with the

world that crucified Jesus.

>> Right?

>> Amen. That's right. Notice this third

one. I'm done. We consider the fa the

faithful growth, the failure to grow.

Here, the foundation cannot be laid

again. The experience of newness and

salvation can only be experienced once.

And I say, "Thank God for that."

Hallelujah. Man, I'm thankful. I ain't

got to worry about whether I'm saved

today and lost tomorrow. Amen.

Hallelujah. I feel bad for the

Pentecostals. Amen. That must be

miserable. Well, I wonder if I got it

today. I wonder if the sin that I

committed was bad enough to make, you

know, just crazy what it is. It's not

scriptural. Notice this. Thirdly, the

figure of growth. Verses seven and

eight. quickly. For the earth which

drinkketh in the rain that cometh off

upon it bringeth forth herbs meek for

them by whom it is dressed receiveth

blessing from God. But that which

beareth thorns and briars is rejected

and is nine to cursing whose end is to

be burned. So there is number one here

the figure of this growth is mentioned.

He pictures the earth. There's the earth

the ground which drinkketh in the rain

that cometh off upon it and bringeth

forth herbs meat for them by whom it is

dressed. He's speaking here first of all

the feeling God sends the rain. He fills

the earth uh with the rain. He sends it

upon the just and the unjust. The Bible

says and so this earth drinkketh of the

rain that cometh. It's the a type of the

blessing of God. Then there's the

fruitfulness in verse seven. It bringeth

forth herbs meat for them by whom it is

dressed because of the rain. That

fruitful ground bringeth forth a

productiveness for those to supply the

need of those that dress that ground.

And then it shows the faithfulness of

God in verse seven. It receiveth

blessing from God. That rain that comes

upon it makes it fruitful and because of

that God is faithful under that fruitful

ground. But in verse number eight, he

says that which beareth thorns and

briars is rejected and is not under curs

and whose end is to be burned. Now, this

is not speaking here once again of those

who are saved and then lose it or those

who are never saved and then they're

judged because of their, you know, they

were close to God in a in a sense. It's

not that's not what this means.

Basically, what this is saying is is

that our works at the end of our life

are going to be judged. Now, that's a

scriptural thought, isn't it? If you are

fruitful, you're going to have something

to lay at the feet of Jesus.

>> But if you are unfruitful, those things

are going to be what? burned.

>> They're going to be burned. You say,

"Preacher, well, how is that?" Well,

turn this turn to this text with me and

I'll be done. 1 Corinthians 3. 1

1 Corinthians 3:1

Corinthians 3:1. Find it interesting the

terminology is used in this text. 1

Corinthians 3 and 11. For other

foundation can no man lay than that that

is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now,

he's mentioned that foundation again.

What does he said in verse number one of

chapter 6? He said, "Not laying again

the foundation." This is a foundational

problem.

>> Okay, notice it again in the text. Verse

12. Now if any man build upon this

foundation gold, silver, precious

stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's

work shall be made manifest. For the day

shall declare it, because it shall be

revealed by what? Fire. And the fire

shall tr try every man's work of what

sort it is. If any man's work abide

which he had built thereupon, he shall

receive a word reward. If any man's work

shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.

But he himself, notice this, shall be

saved. Yet so as by fire.

Now what's what's the parallel here?

Well, Paul is dealing with a

foundational issue. When we are

constantly

trying to relay the foundational

doctrines of who Christ is, you know

what? We're never going to be able to

have a building. You're

>> right.

>> And so, you know what you're left with

in a figurative image? You're left with

a pile of building supplies sitting on

the side that one of these days you're

going to load up and walk through the

fire with it and it's all going to burn

up,

>> right?

>> Because you were continually working on

a foundation that's already been laid.

I think that's a very vivid image, don't

you?

>> We have been given supplies. Look what

he says. For the earth which drinkketh

in the rain that cometh off upon it. We

are, our heart is the ground. Okay?

God's given us that. He's given us the

rain to make that grow. And it's up to

us to be fruitful,

>> right?

>> Those who are fruitful are blessed. He

says in verse seven, verse number eight,

those who are unfruitful, look what he

says. And and I love the King James

Bible, man. I'm telling you, it's it's

perfect. Look what he says. He doesn't

say they are cursed, but look what he

says in verse eight. They're nigh unto

cursing.

It's near.

They can't be cursed. Amen.

>> But they're near to it. Why would a

child of God want to live near cursing?

>> Amen.

>> You think about that. When you are

living in sin willfully, you know what?

You're living near cursing.

>> It's sad that there'll be people who are

saved that will walk along the canyon to

fall off into hell their entire life.

Walk right along the edge. And the

providence, the blessing of God's the

only thing going to keep them out

because they're saved and sealed. But

they're going to live their life walking

along that edge.

>> Nigh under cursing whose end is to be

burned. Everything that you get in that

type of lifestyle is just going to go

>> right

>> and you're going to have absolutely

nothing to lay at the feet of Jesus. So,

I don't know about you, but I want to

grow.

>> Amen. Peter said it best in his epistle.

He said, "But grow in grace and in the

knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ." If you're going to grow, you're

going to have to know him. Amen. And so

you say, "Preacher, I don't agree with

that." That's all right. Amen. You're

entitled to your opinion. I'll tell you

this right here. [snorts] Saved or lost.

All right? If you're lost, you'll live

your life wasted and die and go to hell.

But if you're saved and if you choose to

waste your life, you'll be miserable

come the judgment seat. You're

>> right. Amen. That's just the truth.

Amen. Whichever way you want to put the

text, the truth is you're blessed to be

in the house of God this morning. Amen.

>> Father, thank you for this time for the

truth we've been able to share this

morning. God, help us to grow. Help us

to grow this year 2026. Lord, may this

be the year when we just take off for

you. Grow more than we've ever grown

before. I pray you'd grant it, Jesus.

Help us this morning as we sing. Bless

the preaching, the offering, the special

singing. Just get glory to yourself. Be

sure to thank you for what you do

because we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining [music] our

service today. We'd love it if you'd

join us in person the next time you are

[music] able at Meadows Baptist Church.

Our physical address is 2988 Stewart

[music] Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship [music] at 11:00 a.m., Sunday

evening worship at 6:00 p.m., and

Wednesday evening Bible study at 700

p.m. [music]

For more information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.