B464 6/20/71
© Project Winsome International, 1999

"OUR HOPE: JESUS SEES US THROUGH"
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Hebrews 6:4-12; 10:26-39

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. ⁷For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; ⁸but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. ⁹But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. ¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having served the saints, as you still do. ¹¹And we desire each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹²that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
^10:26For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ²⁸Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people." ³¹lt is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ³²But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, ³³partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. ³⁴For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ³⁷For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. ³⁸But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. ³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

In the view of many scholars, chapters 6 and 10 of the book of Hebrews comprise the most difficult of all New Testament passages to resolve. Taken together, they pose agonizing theological and practical problems for some people. Obviously, we shall not exhaust their meaning in the span of these pages. However, we will attempt to resolve the interpretative problem common to both passages. And, as space permits, deal with a few of the precious and practical applications of these truths to our situation as saved-sinners.

One mark of maturity is the ability to disagree without being disagreeable. Rarely is this virtue more to be desired than when we are called upon to "rightly divide" (2 Timothy 2:15) a passage of scripture which is not only complicated but, as in the case of Hebrews 6 and 10, controversial. Equally gifted and committed Bible teachers differ widely in their interpretation of these texts. That's understandable. No one has a monopoly on God's truth.

Unfortunately, instead of differing in love, some scholars have turned our text into a center of fierce theological debate which has often, and tragically, divided members of Christ's body from one another. Hopefully, we can avoid this pitfall. And if, after approaching these passages with an openness of soul and spirit, after seeing what the scripture actually says; after cross-checking these verses with related passages (the Bible must never be made to contradict itself; most assuredly, it doesn't do so on its own); if, after careful and prayerful analysis of these passages our conclusions differ, let's agree to respect the right of each to his own honest opinion remembering that, while truth is infallible, no teacher of truth is, including this one!.

None of us has a monopoly on Biblical knowledge or understanding. Least of all me! So let us commit ourselves here and now to that level of Christian maturity in which, if we cannot agree, we shall agree to disagree without being disagreeable. Agreed? Great!

The best way to begin is to become thoroughly familiar with the scriptures under discussion. A careful reading will show Hebrews 10:26-39 to be a restatement, in slightly different form, of Hebrews 6:4-12. Perhaps chapter 6 is more succinct. Let us look at it in the Authorized Version. "For it is impossible for those who were 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 afresh, and put him to an open shame" (6:4-6, KJV).

The central question at stake here, and the issue around which the whole controversy swirls, is: who were these people described in these verses? Were they Christians? Half-Christians? Non-Christians? Were they possessors of a vital Christian faith, or mere professors of Christianity?

The Hypothetical Theory
There are some serious scholars who resolve the issue by saying the writer of Hebrews was discussing a hypothetical situation in order to strengthen his message of hope for readers beset by great temptation to turn away from Christ. To these particular interpreters, the big word is "if." "If they fall away"(6:6). If it were possible, they say, for someone to be saved and then fall away, he could not be "re-saved" unless Jesus died a second time. Since that is impossible and unthinkable, the catastrophe described in chapters 6 and 10 is hypothetical rather than actual.

This point of view has a certain degree of charm because it clearly defines the people as being Christians, while at the same time it in no way contradicts the Biblical doctrine of the security of believers. But the weakness in this theory is that the entire thrust of the book of Hebrews is away from the hypothetical. Everything this writer has to say is by way of urging his readers to leave the shadow for the substance. To turn away from that which is symbolic to that which is real. It doesn't seem consistent with this pattern of very careful logic to suddenly veer away from this emphasis upon realities and start dealing with hypotheses. So from my perspective at least, we need to look elsewhere for the solution to our apparent dilemma.

The Unsaved Or Half-saved Theory
A second and widely held view is that these folk were never really saved in the first place. They were near, but non-Christian. Professors, but not possessors of the faith. According to this view, they were half-saved people who saw the light, but did not walk in it. They tasted or sampled the bread of life, but did not devour it, that is, make it an integral part of themselves. They shared the blessings of the Holy Spirit as He acted in other lives, but experienced none of His power in their own. They heard the gospel eagerly, but did not act to receive and apply the good news to themselves. They witnessed the signs, wonders and miracles which authenticated the Lordship of Jesus, but shrugged them off as having meaning to other people, not to them. "Jesus healed other people," they might say, "but will He never heal me!"

In other words, as a leading proponent of this point of view explains, "These were persons who had an outward acquaintance with Christianity, who never knew what it was to receive the Lord Jesus as their own personal Saviour."¹

The appeal of this particular interpretation is that "churchianity" can be, and often is, mistaken for Christianity. I fervently believe this happened to millions of people during the post-war revival years of the late 1940s and early 1950s. At that time, there was a tremendous wave of religious interest in America. Hundreds of thousands of people intellectually investigated, philosophically evaluated, some were even emotionally titillated by, churchianity. But, they never really appropriated authentic Christianity through a vital, personal, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

These dear deluded people were not half-saved, or nearly saved. They were, are and continue to be unsaved. Even though they may belong to some church! If you were to ask them why they have been turned off by religion and have become church drop-outs, they might say, "We tried that 'church bit' once and it didn't work." Does that mean there is absolutely no hope for these folk? Yes! If you accept the view which classifies the people described in Hebrews 6 as professors, not possessors. For that's what millions of mildly inoculated church members are: professors, not possessors!

According to this interpretation, there is no hope for folk who nibble at the gospel and then turn away from it. "It is impossible," according to this reading of Hebrews 6:4, to renew them to repentance. They weren't saved in the first place. Just because they investigated Christianity, gave it a whirl, didn't make it work, and gave it up as a bad scene, it is now impossible for them ever to be saved. Does that make sense to you? Does that jibe with the Good News invitation "whosoever will may come"? Not to me.

Similar difficulty is encountered in an adaptation of this view which says these folk were half-saved, because they had gone so very far with Christ before turning back. Is it possible for a person to be half-saved? No more than it is possible for a woman to be half pregnant! Either she is or she isn't. Either a person is saved or he isn't.

Many things can and do happen to deny full life to a fertilized ova. There can be a miscarriage. A malfunction in the growth process which results in deformity. A stillbirth. Furthermore, many things can happen to a child after birth which inhibit natural development. Disease. Malnutrition. Physical mistreatment. But, to say the woman herself was, or had been, only half pregnant is to deny physiological fact.

What is true physically is true spiritually. Many things can and do happen to inhibit the spiritual growth of God's children, But, to say deformed, misshapen, half-grown, grotesque Christians are not, or never were, Christians at all, is to say something no human being is in a position to say. God alone looks at the heart. God alone knows who does or does not belong to Him.

I am fully aware there is a difference between an enlightened soul and a quickened spirit. I know it's possible for a soul -- the mind, emotion and will -- of a person to be enlightened. For him to come under conviction of sin, be made aware of Christ's capacity to deal with sin so he is informed about the need to act. But if that conviction is not followed by action in actually receiving Christ as Saviour, this enlightened soul does not become a quickened spirit!

When Adam sinned, as we learned in chapter 3, the Holy Spirit, the very life principle of God Himself, left Adam. While Adam retained physical life, he died spiritually. He ceased to be true man. Ever since, the sons of Adam have fallen shy of being true men.

Given physical life, they are born in a state of spiritual death. That's why Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life"(John 10:10). Not physical life, we already have that! Spiritual life, so we can become the man or woman God meant us to be. But until that new life comes through Christ, ego remains in control. The person is physically alive, but spiritually dead, no matter how enlightened he may be about the Bible and theology.

Now, if the only available information about these people was that they were "once enlightened" (6:4), we might be able to buy the half-saved/unsaved, professors only, description of them on the premise that they were enlightened, but never quickened. However, the descriptives are heaped one on top of the other making an absolute ironclad case for their having been converted, with a capital "C." Look, for instance, at the word "tasted," which appears twice. "Tasted of the heavenly gift" (6:4). "Tasted the good word of God" (6:5). Those interpreters who suggest that these people "tasted" the gift and word of God in that they only nibbled at them, but didn't really devour or make them their own, also insist that when "Jesus tasted death for every man" (2:9), He drank the cup of death dry! He consumed it to its very dregs!

Yet, the original Greek word found in all three verses is the same. Careful exegesis does not permit a double meaning. You can't say it meant "nibbled" over here and "consumed" over there. Especially since the accurate English translation of the Greek is "consumed, ate or devoured." So we conclude these people were not only enlightened; they were so thrilled with the wonder of the Good News they drank it all in. They devoured it. They made it an integral part of themselves.

Furthermore, the entire text of Hebrews clearly indicates it was written to born-again people. People with whom the writer identifies himself when he repeatedly speaks of "we" (2:3; 3:14; 4:15; 8:1; 10:10 and 12:1 for example). People who bore in their lives the fruit of the Spirit, love (6:10), which is the supreme test of one's Christianity (1 Corinthians 13). People whose past record of achievement and faithfulness is repeatedly commended (6:9, I0; 10:32-34). People who had gone far and grown well, but who now seemed on the verge of succumbing to what we might call a "middle-age spiritual letdown." They were in peril of suffering a devastating loss. But it was not the loss of their salvation.

The reason many scholars are drawn to the theory these were half-Christian, or non-Christian people is because the Bible clearly teaches the eternal security of Christians. Yet, Hebrews 6 seems to say people who fall from grace are lost forever. That it is "impossible to renew them to repentance" (6:6). If this were true, it would be in direct conflict with the "once in grace, always in grace" doctrine. So the simple way out is to declare these folk were not Christians in the first place. However, this does not jibe with the evidence we have about them. Therefore, we need to look elsewhere for a happier solution to the problem. One which more fully fits the fact.

The Historical Situation Theory
A third, more cautious and ingenious solution is that which argues these passages in Hebrews 6 and 10 refer to a problem peculiar to first-century Jewish Christians only. Many Jews believed in Jesus as the Messiah, yet still clung to the temple rites as a kind of spiritual security blanket.

According to this interpretation, if those particular believers -- not Christians in general -- did not go on to full dependence upon Christ for salvation, there was nothing more God could do for them. They were absolutely without hope. "If they, that is, first-century Jewish Christians, fall, it is impossible to renew them to repentance."²

The charm of this view is that it remains true to the historical situation. The prob1em is that consistency of interpretation would completely defuse the message of hope which threads through Hebrews. If these words of warning are "exclusively to a special class of people, in a special circumstance, at a special time in history which has forever passed away,"² what are we to do with the words of promise and hope? Are these limited to a special group, too?

No, proponents of this view say. The promises are for everyone. But can we logically lift out the hard passages which appear to be in disharmony with the glorious guarantees of eternal life for Christians given elsewhere in scripture, and say these difficult-to-harmonize verses are limited in their scope, while the theme of hope which runs throughout the book has no such limitations? Does that hope apply to us, but not to those first-century folk? I don't think God's grace is that specific. Thus, I'm drawn to find a more satisfying explanation.

Once Saved, Now Lost Theory
A fourth and a very widely held view regarding these chapters is that the people described here had been saved, but through some sin or sins, possibly loss of faith or apostasy, had backslidden, lost their salvation, were now unsaved and in peril of hell. This is what is called "falling from grace."

In a nutshell, the teaching is that one can be saved and on his way to heaven, but unless he perseveres, remains absolutely faithful and without fault to the very end, he may even on his deathbed, commit some such sin as blasphemy or doubt which will keep him out of heaven.

Now, I recognize the problem of preaching the blessings of grace without emphasizing the responsibilities of grace. But do we solve the problem by saying one gets saved by grace and then stays saved by works? Does that not place the whole burden of our ultimate salvation upon our own shoulders, as if to say the cross of Christ is not adequate and we need a religion of Jesus-plus?

That is the precise heresy against which the book of Hebrews speaks out so strongly. The heresy of Jesus-plus. Jesus-plus anything. It is a plain fact there isn't anything good enough a person can do to get salvation in the first place. Neither is there anything good enough a person can do to keep it once he's got it. Nor is there anything he can do so bad it will cause him to lose salvation. It was while he was at his worst, his face turned away from God, in a state of rebellion, guilty of blasphemy growing out of an intense determination to be his own god, that God loved him and reached out to save him. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

The thrilling good news is that salvation is a product of God's sovereign grace. All we as humans are asked to do is be joyful, grateful recipients of that grace. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9). We are saved by grace, through faith, plus nothing!

The most serious deficiency in this theory, however, is that if Hebrews 6 and 10 teach a person can be saved today, backslide and be lost tomorrow, then he never can be made right with God again. He's absolutely, utterly and finally without hope. "It is impossible," according to this reading of Hebrews 6:4-6, "to renew them again unto repentance."

Yet, when you compare that conclusion with everything else the BibIe says, you find yourself in deep discord. The Bible repeatedly offers forgiveness and restoration at any time, to anyone who genuinely repents. "I will heal your faithlessness" (Jeremiah 3:22), God promises. All of us in our own experience, and in the experience of others, know what it means to be healed of our faults and failings. To find God's hand reaching out to us when we falI.

In preceding chapters we've seen how the book of Hebrews is in perfect harmony with such great chapters as John 10 and Romans 8, where the Holy Spirit uses His penman to pile argumentation upon argumentation, showing those in Christ are absolutely and eternally secure. The scripture is abundantly clear: when a person comes to God through Christ, the door to heaven is opened. The door to hell is shut. Nothing done, or left undone, can keep that person out of heaven, or put him in hell. "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans l 1:29). "He who believes in the Son has" - present tense - "eternal life" (John 3:36). If you have committed yourself to Christ, though you falter or even fall, you are eternally secure in Him.

While we're thinking along these lines, let me give you a simple rule of thumb to help you interpret the Bible correctly. Whatever a particular verse seems to say, it must find agreement throughout the entire Bible to be valid. If this is not the case, you may not know what the verse does say, but at least you know what the verse does not say.

When you follow this principle, that is, comparing scripture with scripture in the case of these verses from Hebrews 6 and 10, you may not know what they do say, but you are absolutely sure of what they do not say! They do not say a man who has been saved can be lost. There is absolutely no Biblical support whatsoever for that idea. There are not more than a half dozen or so verses in the entire Bible which even remotely suggest that idea (Matthew 24:13; Mark 3:24; Luke 9:62; Hebrews l0:26; I John 5:16). Every one of these verses is open to another and better interpretation.

The clincher for me, however, is found in the book of Hebrews itself. In fact, it is found in chapter 6. I think I am safe in saying you will not find this line of reasoning in any of the commentaries. If it speaks to your need, thank the Holy Spirit. If it doesn't, blame me. "For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed; and it ends up being burned" (6:7,8).

The first-century Bibleland people to whom these words were spoken belonged to an agrarian society. The industrial revolution had not yet taken place. Theirs was an agricultural economy. Therefore, when the writer of Hebrews used this illustration about a farmer burning his land because it produced briars and thorns instead of a useful crop, they knew immediately what he meant. They weren't worried for one moment about losing their salvation because he spoke in this fashion. The thought never entered their minds. Why am I so sure? Because they knew, as every farmer knows, burning a field doesn't destroy the land, it purifies it! Burning gets rid of the weeds and rubble. It prepares the soil. Gives it a chance to produce another, better crop.

In our day, a farmer sprays and discs his land. In the first century, when the book of Hebrews was written, farmers achieved the same purpose by burning the land, a process still followed in certain parts of the world.

So, you see, this passage which has posed problems for so many, and which the devil has used to torment serious and sensitive Christians who, aware of their human failings as sinner-saints worry they may have fallen irretrievably into sin and live in dread of hell-fire, interprets itself. The very illustration the Holy Spirit uses proves it is not a question of someone losing his salvation, for the fire does not destroy. It cleanses. What is lost is not salvation, but the blessings, joy and rewards of a worthy harvest produced by a life of faithfulness! Isn't it amazing how the Bible casts light upon the commentaries?

A Credible, Biblical View
This brings us to the interpretation which, as I see it, harmonizes fully with everything God's written word says about His children, and how He intends to deal with them in time and eternity.

The book of Hebrews, by clear evidence, was written to born-again believers whose security in Christ was absolute. They were people, however, like us, who were confronted moment by moment and day by day with the necessity of choosing. Every choice they made bore a consequence. When their choice was good, they went forward with Christ. They were not only given another star in their heavenly crown, they also experienced a fresh dimension of joy and serenity in Christ here on earth. They felt good about themselves. Secure in their Christian life. In other words, they were happy!

On the other hand, when they made a wrong choice and turned away from Christ, something was lost. The critical point is this: what they lost was not their sonship! Once again the writer of Hebrews helps us with an illustration (Hebrews 12:16). Esau lost his blessing. He tried to get it back, pleading tearfully, but he was unsuccessful. What did he lose? His sonship? No! That never changed. He remained Isaac's son. What Esau lost was the paternal blessing. That was irretrievable. Without it, Esau was miserable. Restless. Unhappy.

Similarly, when we make a wrong choice and turn in the wrong direction, we lose God's blessing upon us. For whatever period of time we are away from Him we struggle along alone. We're on our own. Furthermore, we lose the blessings and rewards which would have been ours had we stayed in intimate relationship with Him.

Let me use a diagram again to illustrate this thought. In figure 5 letter "A" represents Christ, and "B" is a typical saved-sinner. Following "B's" conversion, he and his Lord begin an intimate walk together. It's wonderful. Liberating. Joyous. They come to a crisis point ("X"). The Lord says, "Go this way." "B" says, "No, I choose to go that way." "B" exercises his freedom of choice, and goes the wrong way. He wanders through the maze of problems and difficulties "B" creates for himself. Somewhere along the line ("Y"), like the prodigal son (Luke 15:17), "B" comes to himself and returns to his Lord. He is forgiven and they go on together.

What has been lost? Not "B's" salvation! What is lost is his blessing and reward! At no point was the relationship between "B" and Christ affected. What was destroyed was the possibility of fellowship between them, and the harvest of joy close fellowship could have produced

If "B" is anything like us, this experience happens again and again. He has a choice to make and chooses the wrong path. Goes his own way, and pays the price of it. As a result,"B" loses the blessings and rewards which would have been his had he elected to stay in fellowship with Christ. Those lost blessings and rewards are irretrievable. Gone forever. Hopefully, "B" repents, finds his way back to Christ, renews the fellowship and they go on together, "B" sadder, but wiser. Some, I am sorry to say, start with Jesus, come to a crisis point ("X"), turn the wrong way and never get back to Him (figure 6).

Moments of insight and conviction come ("Y"). They recognize their painful and perilous state, but refuse to repent and change so lost fellowship could be restored. As long as they live, they go their own way. The only time they ever meet Jesus again in serious confrontation is at the Judgment Seat of Christ ("Z"). Their salvation is never in question, but blessing in time and reward in eternity is.

If you read the book of Hebrews carefully, you will discover the writer nowhere speaks of losing salvation, but of losing "confidence" (3:6,14; 10:35). Or, "the assurance of hope" (6:l l). The fact of hope remains, but the feeling, or assurance, of hope is lost through disobedience. What is at stake, Christian reader, is peace for today, and a sense of hope for tomorrow. Security and joy in the present, and expectation of reward in the future.

Even the highly controversial passage in Hebrews 6 does not say it is impossible to renew these people to salvation, but to "repentance" (6:4-6). Which is to say, there is nothing harder than a hardened saint! Some Christians have become so insulated against the lordship of Jesus that even the grace of God can't break through to them. In spite of the wooing love of Jesus, they persist in their rebellion. They are saved, but they don't enjoy it! They have peace with God, but they do not experience the peace of God. They are headed for heaven, but their arrival there will not hold the joy which could have been theirs had they stayed in fellowship throughout their years on earth. As someone has observed, many who blithely sing, "O, that will be glory for me," are in for a rude awakening when, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, their earthly product is consumed by fire and they discover the sadness of meeting their Saviour with empty hands.

Again, I would call your attention to the agricultural illustration (6:8). The burned-over field does not refer to the Great White Throne when sinners are finally consigned to the place of their own choosing. Instead, it speaks of the whole judging, purifying process through which God puts His children as He prepares them, in time, for that day when, in eternity, they shall have the harvest of their years on earth tested by fire. By relating Hebrews 6 and 10 to the Great White Throne instead of to the Judgment Seat of Christ, many expositors miss the whole point. They err either by minimizing or exaggerating the warning God gives us in these inspired pages. We can avoid both extremes if we will maximize the responsibilities of grace as the natural and necessary balance to the blessings of grace.

As Christians we are responsible for ourselves. For what we do and do not do. For what we are and are not. There is no escape from our accountability to God. Knowing that, if we act accordingly, if we become doers of the word and not hearers only, then and only then can we look forward with joy unspeakable to meeting our Saviour face to face. For then and only then, can we be assured our works will not be burned, but, purified by the refining fire, will be cast into a gold crown which we can lay in gratitude at Jesus' feet.

If The Shoe Fits, Wear It
If the shoe fits, fellow Christian, wear it. The easiest way to get rid of an unpleasant message is to apply it to somebody else. That's what turned me off about certain of those interpretations mentioned above. They put the tiger on somebody else's back. Like the woman who heard the pastor's sermon and afterwards said to him, "I wish my husband had been here, that's exactly what he needed."

In all candor, we cannot afford the luxury of such self-deception. Time is too short. The need is too great. The twentieth century is more like the first century than any other. Under pressures and uncertainties quite like those besetting earlier Christians, you and I are called upon to think maturely. To make Christian decisions, moment by moment, and day by day. To live on a knife-edge where there is no room for namby-pamby, lukewarm, milk-and-water, lip-service Christians who don't know who they are, what they believe, or why they are here. The chips are down. If there ever was a time in the history of the world when the people of God need to hang out their flag and let the world know where and for Whom they stand, it's now.

People who say they are Christians, but don't live like it and give like it, "crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame" (6:6). The world looks at that kind of shabby witness and says, "If that's being a Christian, who needs it!" The world is right! We don't need any more "ABC" Christians who sit around playing church. We need bona fide, authentic Jesus people who are prepared to lay it on the line for the sake of a world on fire, and the salvation of people who are lost, regardless of the sacrifice.

The name of the game for Christians today is G-R-O-W, grow! If you are not prepared to do that, move aside. Let those who are ready to take Christ seriously, do God's work. Time is short!

A Word Of Hope
Along with this stern but loving admonition, let me give you the second practical application. It is a word of hope. "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" (6:1).

The maturity mentioned here does not call for moral perfection. It is not an illusionary state of being, in which we never have evil thoughts, or say evil words, feel evil attitudes, or do evil deeds. Rather, it is the perfection of Christian maturity in which we grasp, and apply, the full meaning of God's grace as it relates to saved-sinners.

To really know the true meaning of grace is to see it as greater than all our sins, including, or perhaps especially, those sins which grip us after we are saved. God is concerned about unsaved sinners. We thank Him for that. But the book of Hebrews makes it clear He is also concerned about saved-sinners. He is concerned that sinner-saints grow in their awareness of His provisions for their failing and falling, lest in times of testing they give up in despair born of false pride, instead of giving in to hope, born of wonder at what the Bible means when it says ... . "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20).

All Christians go through arid times. All of us have periods when we know we're just going through the motions. I do. It's par for the course. There are times when the preacher's sermon doesn't say anything to us. When going to church seems like an utter waste of time. When the teaching we do in Sunday School, the singing we do in choir, the service we render on some board or committee, is absolute torture. Devoid of even an ounce of satisfaction or joy.

There are times when prayer is a farce instead of force. When Bible study is a bore. When the very last place on earth we want to be is with our fellow Christians in our Father's house. What are we to do when we find ourselves in such an arid state? We can either do God's thing or the devil's thing. The devil's thing is to give up. Give up attending church. Give up participation in Christian activities. Withdraw. Become a church drop-out. And, I am afraid that's what the multitude of saved-sinners do when the spiritual going gets tough. They give up. As a result, they suffer grievous loss. Not the loss of salvation. The loss of wonderful blessings, rewards and joys which would have been theirs had they remained faithful when the storm flags were up.

We can do it the devil's way. If we do, we suffer loss. Or we can do it God's way. If necessary, we can grimly go on going through the motions, until the meaning of the motions becomes clear again. Instead of giving up in despair, we can give in to Jesus, who is our hope. Jesus who sees us through these arid times.

A strange and wonderful thing happens when we faithfully, though perhaps grimly, go through the motions. Slowly, often imperceptibly, but absolutely surely, the romance and joy of authentic Christianity begins to rise again. The meaning and purpose of the whole Christian thing becomes clear again. And one day, without any fanfare or special feeling, we awaken to know in our heart of hearts it is well with our soul.

Ruth Calkins, a gifted poet, has a bit of free verse which spoke to my condition. Perhaps it will speak to yours.

Lord, with a crooked stick for a cane,
I'm limping home. Mocked and maligned
Stooped and stupid
Soiled and shabby
I limp toward you
You could say "I told you so."
You could say, "It's too late."
You could say, "Wait, while I think it over."
You could sweep me under the rug.
We both know I deserve far less.
But when I see the cross
And the man who died there,
Suddenly I know I limp
Toward unfathomable love.

And there is forgiveness
Rushing toward me.
I don't ask for a banquet, Lord,
I'm hungry
And thirsty
For you.³

Notes
1. H. A. Ironside, Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews (NewYork: Loizeaux Brothers, 19 W. 21 St., New York, 1932), p. 81
2. J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, Vol. 6 (Edinburgh, London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Ltd., 1955), p. 267.
3. Ruth Harms Calkins, Tell Me Again. Lord, Before I Forget! (Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Company).

Download This Sermon