Hebrews chapter six, I want to preach on the portion of scripture beginning in verse four
and ending in verse nine.
Title of my sermon this morning is Rejected and Nigh Unto Cursing.
Now I had brought up this passage in my sermon last Sunday night and I hate to
bring up a passage that's this deep and just brush by it and just kind of quickly
explain it, which is what I did in my sermon just because I had so many other
things I was trying to cover.
So I want to spend a whole sermon on this passage this morning because I believe that
this passage warrants its own sermon.
It's a deep passage.
Now first of all, let's start out by getting the context leading up to this.
Let's go back to Hebrews chapter five, verse number 12 at the very end of the preceding chapter.
The Bible reads, for when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need
that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and
are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe,
but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
So the Bible's teaching us that there are things that have to do with the word of God.
There are doctrines that are simple doctrines, easy doctrines, and we would call these
the milk of the word that even a babe in Christ could understand.
Even someone who just got saved yesterday would have no trouble understanding some of
the simpler doctrines in the word of God, similar to a newborn baby having no trouble
digesting breast milk.
But strong meat, on the other hand, would be the more difficult things in the word
of God that a babe in Christ might not be advanced enough to quite understand.
And especially by themselves, they might need an adult to cut that up into little pieces
or put it in the blender and make it a little easier for them to understand.
They can't just pick up the fork and knife and feed themselves difficult doctrines because
they're a babe in Christ.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3 that in Paul's epistles are many things, quote, hard to
be understood.
So the Bible makes it clear that some things in the Bible are hard to understand.
And then many other things in the Bible are easy to understand, the milk of the word.
It's universally accepted among Christians that the Gospel of John is the easiest book
in the Bible.
Most people would agree with that.
If you go to most churches and somebody gets saved, they'll usually start them out
on the Gospel of John and say, here, start reading the Bible in John.
Who's heard that advice before in churches?
All the time.
Not only that, but if you went to a Bible college and you took a Greek class, usually
every Greek teacher will start you out going through the Book of John because it's
the simplest part of the language and so forth.
Most people would agree with that.
And that makes sense when you get to the end of the Book of John and it tells you
the purpose of the Book of John is for people to be saved.
It says these things have been written.
He said if you were to write everything that Jesus said and did, all the world couldn't
contain all the books that should be written.
But he said these are written that you'd believe, and I'm paraphrasing, but that you'd
believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through
his name.
It's a book that's written to tell you how to get saved.
It's simple.
Why?
Because the Gospel is really simple.
The Gospel is really easy.
It would have to be since an unsaved person obviously isn't going to be experienced in
the deep things of God.
So the Gospel is so simple that a child could understand it, a physical child, and
a babe in Christ has no trouble having a firm grasp on the Gospel.
That's the milk of the Word.
Whereas other things in the Bible are hard.
Now you might ask yourself, why didn't God just make everything in the Bible easy?
Well because then the Bible would be a very boring book because you'd learn everything,
you'd understand everything, and then you'd be looking to God saying, okay, what's
next?
What do I read next?
What do I learn?
Oh, that's everything.
I remember I was at a job where I was at that job for six months, and after six months
I'd learned everything at that job.
And I was bored, and I wanted to move on to something else.
I wanted to grow in my work, and I wanted to move on to a more advanced job.
So I ended up changing jobs.
A lot of people change churches because they say I wasn't being fed at that church.
Because we need a mixture of that which is milk and that which is meat so that as we grow
up we can still be learning and still be growing.
We don't just read John over and over again, do we?
No, we read the whole Bible, even the difficult parts of the Bible.
The book of Hebrews is one of those more difficult books, tougher books.
Now look at chapter six, verse one with that in mind, it says, therefore, leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.
Now what does he mean by perfection?
Well if you study the word perfection in the Bible, for example, the Bible talks about
in the parable of the sower that the seed that fell among thorns, it brought no fruit
to perfection.
So when a plant produces fruit, bringing fruit to perfection means the finishing stages
of the ripening of that fruit.
I mean when that fruit goes from being a greenish apple and it starts to turn red
if that's the style of apple you're getting, then you say, okay, this apple is ripe now.
This has reached perfection.
Or the green bananas begin to turn yellow and they reach perfection.
What it's talking about is completion, the final stages.
So when he says, let's leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and let's go on
unto perfection, he's saying, okay, let's stop talking about the really basic milk
of the word, doctrines of Christ, just the basic who Jesus is, the fact that he died
on the cross and was buried and rose again.
He said, let's go on unto perfection, saying, let's move into things that are more advanced,
right?
That's why he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 6, howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes of this
world that come to naught.
So again, perfect does not mean what we would think it would mean in 2016 being sinless.
No one is sinless.
When the Bible says Job was perfect, it means he was complete, he was mature, of
a believer, he was advanced in his Christianity.
That's what that means.
That's why the Bible talks about God giving us pastors and teachers in Ephesians chapter
4 verse 12 for the perfecting of the saints, finishing them off, completing them, helping
them grow to a higher level of understanding in the word of God.
So the Bible says here, 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.
He's saying we've been talking about very basic things up to this point.
Now for the rest of the book of Hebrews, we're going to get into more complicated things.
As we get into chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, we're going to go deeper, he's saying, whereas
before this we were talking about simpler concepts.
Now when he says here that doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, what he's listing
here are simple doctrines.
These are milk of the word type doctrines.
I mean obviously, repents from dead works, faith toward God, I mean that's just talking
about getting saved.
So obviously that's pretty basic, right?
Baptism, that's something that you do right after you get saved.
That's really basic.
Laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment.
You know, we're talking heaven and hell.
Laying on of hands has to do with basically the power of God and where one man would
lay hands upon another man to ordain him and give him the power of God to do some
great work for God.
These are just kind of basic rudimentary things that the Bible talks a lot about that
aren't that hard to understand that you could explain to a brand new believer with
very little Bible knowledge and they could understand these things.
So he says let's move on from that into something harder, okay?
He says in verse 3, and this will we do if God permit, okay?
And now we're going to get into the passage in question here, verses 4 through 9.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened.
Now before I go any further, let me just point out that the those who were enlightened
is in contrast with those in verse 3, okay?
In verse 3 he says, we are going to move on from the basic doctrines, right?
And we're going to move on to harder doctrine and this will we do if God permit.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened.
Let's understand who this group of people is.
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 into repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh upon it and bringeth forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God.
But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose
end is to be burned.
But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation
though we thus speak.
Now this is pretty much universally acknowledged to be a difficult passage which makes sense
because he just finished saying, hey, we're going to move on from simple things and
we're going to move into things that are a little bit harder.
I don't want you to think though for a moment that this sermon this morning is going to
be over your head because the purpose of a pastor or a teacher is to bring your knowledge
to a higher level.
And so I'm going to break this passage down for you and help you understand it, help
you compare scripture with scripture, and bring it into bite-sized pieces for you
so that you can understand it even if you are new in the Lord.
Even if you are a babe in Christ and then those that are more mature are going
to have an easier time understanding this doctrine because you'll already know a lot
of the things that I'm covering.
But this sermon this morning is to explain this passage.
That's the purpose of the sermon here, to explain this passage in Hebrews.
Now why does this passage need to be explained?
Well, there's a lot of false doctrine associated with this passage because people
who believe that you can lose your salvation will go to this passage and use it to try
to prove that you can lose your salvation.
Now let me just be really clear.
Let's go back to the milk of the word for a minute.
You can't lose your salvation because the Bible says I give unto them eternal life, eternal
means forever, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand.
The Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal
life, and eternal means never ending.
The Bible says verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting
life.
It doesn't say he will get everlasting life.
It says he already has everlasting life.
Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
And by the way, these are all quotes from the book of John, the simple book, the book
that says it's written that you might be saved.
Over and over again in John, for example, chapter 5 verse 24, verily I say unto you,
he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life and
shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life.
Jesus Christ will never leave us nor forsake us.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God once we are in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation is just a matter of believing in Christ, receiving that free gift of eternal
life, and then we are sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption.
He which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
And I could quote for you literally a hundred verses right now that make it crystal clear
that once you're saved, you're always saved, amen.
But people who want to teach a works-based salvation that says, well, yeah, I believe
but you also have to continue obeying and living the life and keep on serving the Lord
and they want to turn it into a works-based salvation.
They grasp at straws to find passages that they can twist in order to teach a works-based
salvation.
Now they don't find these verses in a simple book like the book of John.
They go to a difficult book because difficult scriptures are easier to twist.
Why?
Because people don't always have a firm grasp of what they mean so it's much easier
to trick people, deceive people, move things around.
It's a little harder to twist John 3.16, isn't it?
It's going to be tough twisting John 3.18, John 3.36, John 1.12.
These are going to be tough to twist because they're so clear.
How do you twist John 6.47?
How do you twist John 10.28?
You can't.
So they go to difficult passages and twist this so I've heard a lot of people pull
this out to try to say that you can lose your salvation but let me just make this
very clear in this passage starting out the first thing I want to establish is that the people
being described here are not saved and never were saved.
That's where the misunderstanding is coming from.
These people were never saved.
Let me show you what it says.
Look at verse 4.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened.
Now let me stop right there and say this.
Being enlightened does not make you saved.
What does it mean to be enlightened?
Enlightenment is when you understand something.
That's what it means when you are enlightened, when you comprehend something, when something
clicks in your mind, sort of like a cartoon where a little light bulb would come on
above somebody's head.
That is enlightenment.
Oh, I get it.
I see it.
I understand it.
But just because you understand the gospel, just because that light bulb has gone on
your head does not mean that you're saved.
The next thing here it says they've been enlightened.
Number two it says they have tasted of the heavenly gift.
Now this is a word that comes up repeatedly in this description.
Let's look at the list here.
They've been enlightened.
They've tasted of the heavenly gift.
They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
They've tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come.
So there are five things listed here, right?
Okay, out of those five, three of them have to do with this word tasted.
Everybody see that?
Because the first thing is they're enlightened, right?
The second thing is they've tasted the heavenly gift.
The third thing is they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
The fourth thing is they've tasted the good word of God.
And the fifth thing is they've tasted the powers of the world to come.
So they've tasted three things, been a partaker of one thing, and had enlightenment.
Those are the five things that have happened to this person.
Let me submit to you that none of these five things make this person saved.
This person did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
This person did not receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.
This person does not have everlasting life.
This person does not have eternal life.
They've not been passed from death unto life.
This person has not been forgiven of all their sins.
This person has not received redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.
But they have been enlightened.
They have tasted.
Now you say, well, but I've heard some people say this, well, if they tasted it
though, that means they ate it.
So they must have been saved.
If they tasted the heavenly gift, they must have taken a bite out of it or received it.
They're getting really literal with the illustration.
But actually this is not the case.
Go to Matthew chapter 27.
Matthew chapter 27, let me illustrate for you that tasting does not necessarily mean
reception.
It does not necessarily mean that you've received the heavenly gift just because you
tasted it.
You see, salvation does not come in a trial size.
Salvation is not a free sample.
This is not Costco where you're offered a sample on a toothpick.
With salvation, you're either all in or you're all out.
The Bible says if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest.
You have to step out in faith and put all of your faith and trust on Jesus Christ
in order to be saved.
You can't just kind of, you know, kind of dabble, no, no, you have to get all in.
And I'm not saying with your lifestyle.
I'm saying with your faith.
You can't just say, well, I'm Hindu, but yeah, you know, I'll pray to Jesus.
See how it goes.
You think that that makes it a Hindu saved?
I mean, I'm Hindu.
I mean, I'm burning incense to a bunch of idols.
But I mean, sure, I'll pray a prayer to Jesus or all, you know, I'll start going
to church and, and kind of taste it and see, no, no, no.
That's not salvation, salvation.
You got to get all the way in.
You can't just go take a tour of the ark.
Look around the ark, taste it, check it out.
No, you have to get in the ark and stay in the ark until the door shuts, right?
And you're in the ark.
That's salvation.
You can't just sit there and dabble, but look at Matthew chapter 27 and I'll show
you from the Bible that what I'm saying is true.
Verse 34 of Matthew 27 says this, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with
gall and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
So here's an example because they say, well, but if you tasted the water of life, that
means you drank of the water of life.
And Jesus said, if you drink of the water that I shall give you, you'll never thirst
again.
But wait a minute, you can taste it and then decide, you know what, I'm not going
to drink this.
That's what Jesus did.
Now later, Jesus has offered vinegar without gall mixed in it.
And it says they gave him vinegar to drink.
That's not to be confused with this verse where he's given vinegar mixed with gall,
okay, which is something that is disgusting, poisonous, tastes horrible.
They're doing this to mess with him.
Vinegar mingled with gall.
Gall is bile.
Gall is something nasty, poisonous.
He tasted it, but he didn't drink.
And I submit to you that the people in Hebrews chapter six, they tasted the heavenly
gift, but they did not drink.
They did not receive the gospel.
Let's go back to Hebrews chapter six.
And keep your finger or a bookmark or a pen or something in Hebrew six because that's
where we're going to be the whole sermon, but we're going to cross reference other
scriptures to understand it.
So we understand that tasting the heavenly gift doesn't make you saved.
You got to down that sucker.
You got to put all your faith in Christ.
You can't just dabble or experiment with salvation.
You got to get saved by putting all your faith and trust in Jesus.
So tasting the heavenly gift doesn't make you saved.
Tasting the good word of God.
The Bible says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
So you taste, but then you got to decide, are you going to trust in him?
Once you've tasted the word of God, once you've been exposed to it, you've
learned it, you've understood it.
You have a choice to make about whether or not to receive it.
Just as Jesus decided not to receive the poisonous, disgusting beverage that he was
being offered on the cross.
Tasting the heavenly gift, tasting the good word of God, tasting the powers of
the world to come, none of those three things make you saved.
Being enlightened and understanding the gospel does not make you saved.
I remember one time I was in Tempe and I preached the gospel unto a lady and it was
a really unreceptive neighborhood.
It was one of these really left wing liberal downtown Tempe neighborhoods.
And I was given this lady the gospel and I was thinking to myself the whole time, hallelujah,
finally somebody is listening.
Finally somebody is going to get saved.
And I get through it, she's understanding it, she's nodding her head, she's answering
all the questions right.
It totally made sense to her.
I'm thinking, wow, this was a low hanging fruit.
This is easy.
And then I get to the very end and I said, do you understand this, oh yeah, so what about
this, what about that?
And then I said, so do you believe that?
No.
She's like, no, no, I don't believe the Bible.
But I understand everything you're saying.
Look, she understood it very well.
That didn't make her saved.
The gospel is not that hard to understand, folks.
Many people understand it without being saved.
Now, the fifth thing that sometimes people struggle with is where it says they've been
made a partaker of the Holy Ghost.
Do you see that in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4?
It says we're made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
And people will say, well, how could you partake of the Holy Ghost without being
saved?
Well, go if you would to John chapter 16, John chapter number 16.
We're also going to look at John chapter 11.
John chapter 16 and John chapter 11.
Now let me start out by saying this.
If you actually look up every time the word partaker is used in the Bible, many times
it is not referring to someone who literally partook.
In fact, often it's being used of people who did not literally partake.
For example, it says in 2 John verses 9 through 11, if there come any unto you and bring
not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed.
For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.
So to be partaker of their evil deeds, you didn't actually have to do the deeds.
You just had to bid that person Godspeed or have them in your house.
The Bible says of Babylon in Revelation 18, come out of her my people, that ye be not
partaker of her sins and receive not of her plagues.
Part if you just look up the word part, you know, having a part in this or a part
in that.
I mean, what about people whose part is removed from the holy city?
Their part is removed from the book of life.
Partake if you're not familiar with that word because it's not a word we use very
much, it means to take part.
Take part, partake.
Partake is just a compound way of saying took part in, okay?
So they have taken part, they've been a partaker of the holy ghost.
Now the holy ghost, and this is what people are missing, the holy ghost has a ministry
in the hearts of unsaved people and that's the part that they're missing.
They think people who are, you know, maybe using this passage to teach that you can
lose your salvation or that, hey, this is describing people that are saved.
They're basically saying that if you partook of the holy ghost, you must be saved.
But that's not really true because the holy ghost has a ministry in the hearts of
unsaved people.
Look at the Bible, John chapter 16 verse 7.
Now the holy spirit is called the comforter.
And it says in verse 7, nevertheless I tell you the truth that is expedient for you
that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you.
But if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
So notice, the holy spirit does not just have a ministry in the hearts of those that
are saved.
He does not only work in the hearts of those that are saved.
The holy spirit also works in the hearts of the unsaved.
That's why when we go out soul winning and we're preaching the gospel to the unsaved,
we will sometimes pray that the holy spirit would go before us and work in the hearts
of those who we're about to preach to.
Who's ever prayed that prayer?
Lots of people said, hey, I pray that the holy spirit, or maybe a loved one, I pray
that the holy spirit would begin to work in that person's heart and draw that person
unto Christ.
That's a biblical prayer, that's a biblical concept.
What does the Bible say here?
That the holy spirit will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment
verse 9, of sin because they believe not on me.
Do these people believe in Christ?
No, but they're still being reproved of sin by the holy spirit because they believe
not on Christ.
The holy spirit is working in their heart.
Of righteousness because I go to the father and you see me no more.
Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged.
The holy spirit has a ministry amongst the unsaved, amongst the world, to reprove the
whole world, to reprove the whole world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
The Bible says, no man can come unto me except the father draw him.
But then later in the same book, John, he said, if I be lifted up from the earth,
I will draw all men unto me.
So the holy ghost has a ministry to draw men unto Christ, to reprove the world of
sin and righteousness and of judgment.
So the fact that somebody was a partaker of the holy ghost does not make them saved.
Just because the holy spirit did a great work in their heart.
That's how they tasted the powers of the good world to come.
That's how they tasted the heavenly gift.
That's how they were even enlightened was through the power of the holy spirit.
You can't be enlightened as to the nature of salvation without the holy spirit doing
the work.
You're not going to taste the good word of God and the powers of the world to come
unless the holy spirit is giving you a taste of that.
Because salvation is supernatural.
Salvation is done through the washing of regeneration by the renewing of the holy
ghost.
The Bible says that it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but
according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the holy ghost.
You see, people when they get saved, it's the holy spirit that works in them to get
them saved.
Now, some people will get into a false doctrine where they say the holy ghost is only going
to do that for certain people.
When in reality he said if I be lifted up from the earth, referring to his crucifixion,
he said I'll draw all men unto me.
Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely.
And that holy ghost is not just drawing certain people.
He desires to draw all men unto him.
And it's the free will of the people involved that determines whether or not they
get saved.
But God's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Now we'll skip it for sake of time but I was going to show you in John chapter 11
where a man actually prophesied by the holy ghost without even being saved.
Where unsaved Caiaphas in John chapter 11 verse 49 through 52 speaks the word of
God and it says this spake he not of himself but being the high priest that year.
The holy ghost actually came upon him in that passage and he spake as he was moved
by the holy ghost being an unsaved man.
Balaam is another example of that.
Unsaved man, God used him to speak his word.
God has a ministry of the holy ghost to the unsaved.
Let's go back to Hebrews 6.
So we've seen very clearly that the five things on this list do not make a person
saved.
Being enlightened, understanding the gospel, tasting it, three different ways they tasted
it.
The Bible is clearly emphasizing the tasting aspect if out of five things in the list
three of them have to do with tasting.
That's key.
That's very important.
They were made partaker of the holy ghost.
So what are we saying about these people?
It says in verse 6 if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance.
Now let's back up.
This is a compound sentence.
This is a sentence that runs over the course of several verses.
So we have to understand.
Look at verse 4.
Beginning of verse 4.
I'm trying to break it down for you.
It is impossible for those who were once enlightened.
So it's impossible for these people, jump down to verse 6, if they shall fall away
to renew them again unto repentance.
That's the full sentence.
That list of five things is kind of thrown in there and it can cause some people to
lose their train of thought of the sentence.
But the sentence is saying it's impossible for this certain group of people, if that
group of people falls away, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance.
Does everybody understand the sentence?
Now let me illustrate this to you.
Isaac, bring me up that rope that I gave you.
I want to give you an object lesson just to make this simple to understand.
Thank you.
All right.
Who wants to be my volunteer?
Come on up here for the Dominique.
Come on up here.
Okay.
So you go ahead and take hold of this rope and go stand all the way over there.
So in this illustration, I'm going to represent the Holy Spirit of God.
I'm going to represent the Lord Jesus Christ desiring Dominique to be saved.
I want him to be saved.
So I want to draw all men unto me.
And the Holy Spirit is going to reprove him and work in his heart and have a ministry
of drawing him unto Christ.
Okay.
So basically what I'm going to do is don't come to, whoa, you can't come to me unless
I draw you.
No man can come unto me unless the father draw him.
Okay.
So, you know, he basically, as I begin to draw him, okay, I'm bringing him this way.
Right.
Okay.
Most people, when they get saved, it's not the first time they hear the gospel that
they get saved.
Most people, the seed has to be planted and then the seed is watered and then it's
watered some more and then it's watered some more and then eventually God gives the
increase.
That person ends up being saved, but most people don't get saved the first time they
hear the gospel.
Now, some people do.
You'll see in the book of Acts where the apostle Paul will come to a group of people,
he'll preach the gospel to people who've never heard of it, and there is a group that
will instantly receive it.
And then there's another group that will mock and scoff at it.
And then there's another group that said, we will hear thee again of this matter.
So there are different types of people in this world and most people have to hear the
gospel and then they hear it again and then a little more of the Bible, the seed being
watered, the seed being watered.
Now he's not saved yet, but he's getting closer to getting saved.
He's getting closer and closer.
And you know, and I know if you've been saved for a long time and if you've been
a soul winner, you'll have people that you're working on and you're thinking, you
know what?
I think he's getting closer to getting saved.
I think he might get saved soon.
I'm working on him.
Okay.
I'm praying for him.
Maybe I'm fasting.
I'm preaching the word of God to him.
Maybe I'm bringing him to church every week.
I mean, look, there are unsaved people who go to church.
Sometimes you can get an unsaved person to go to church with you.
I can think of people when I was a teenager that I brought to church two, three, four,
five times and they never even claimed to believe in Jesus, but they were interested.
They're exploring.
The seed has been planted.
The seed is being watered.
They're considering it.
Okay.
Now a lot of times a person might just get stuck at this point right here because nobody's
giving them the gospel.
Nobody's praying for them.
He's watering the seed, right?
Oh, somebody just knocked on his door and gave him the gospel again.
Okay.
So look, the seed was watered.
Now he's getting closer.
He's getting closer.
Does everybody understand the concept here?
Okay.
Here's what's going on.
The Bible says in this passage that it's impossible for those who were once enlightened
and have tasted 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.
What that's basically saying is, and by the way, when he's at this point, he might not
yet even fully understand the gospel at this point.
For example, if you asked my wife, I gave her the gospel at least 20 times before
she got saved, and she will tell you that the day that it actually clicked with
her and the day that she finally understood it was the day that she got saved.
She didn't quite grasp it up to that point.
So a lot of people, but she was still, she was being drawn.
The seed was being watered.
He was getting closer, but she didn't quite get it.
She didn't comprehend it.
So what the Bible is saying is that if a guy gets drawn all the way in, and he gets
right to this point where it's like he's face to face right here, it's like, here
I am, buddy.
You know, you can either receive me as your savior.
You can either believe on this.
I mean, he's here.
He understands it.
He can taste it.
He can reach out and touch it.
It's right there.
He comes face to face with it.
It's not that he needs to understand something else.
No, no, no.
He gets it.
The seed has been watered and watered and watered, and it gets to a point where there's
a decision that has to be made.
And at this point, if he says, you know, he comes face to face with me, you know,
I'm representing, of course, the Lord.
He comes face to face and he says, you know what?
I know who you are.
I understand what you're offering me.
And you know what?
I reject you.
And he basically did what he just did.
He throws this down and he walks away.
Okay, now, it's, you know, now I'm basically, I'm like, it's impossible for me to get this
guy back to this point once he's walked away.
You know, it's like, whoa, where are you, buddy?
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
This is what the Bible is teaching.
What the Bible is teaching is that, you know, God's long suffering, God is wanting
to work with people.
And you know, if they, the first time they hear the Gospel, if they walk away
and don't get saved, God doesn't just say, oh, that's it.
That was your last chance.
I'm done with you.
No, no, no.
He'll send somebody else.
He'll send another Bible verse.
He'll send more preaching.
He'll send another soul winner.
He'll try to get them in another church service and in another opportunity.
And he keeps giving them more of a chance.
But when they get to the point where they've been enlightened, they get it.
They understand it.
It's so close, they can taste it.
And they're right there and the Holy Ghost is moving in their heart and they just reject
it and say, no, no, I'm not going to be saved.
And they walk out and they don't come back.
And the Bible says that people like that, it's impossible to renew them again into repentance.
What does it mean to renew them again into repentance?
Let's break down that phrase.
He says it's impossible for those who were once enlightened, verse six, if they shall
fall away, to renew them again into repentance.
Now what that means is repentance is when you change your mind about something, right?
So basically he chose, after all that drawing, he chose to walk away.
It's impossible to renew him again to repentance, meaning it's impossible to get him to change
his mind and come back.
If he falls away at that point, if he gets that close and then falls away, it's impossible
to get him to change his mind at that point.
Now why would it be impossible to get him to change his mind at that point?
It's going to be explained in the passage here.
Because you say, well, why can't we just throw him another lifeline?
Why can't we just start over?
Okay, let's hook him up to another rope.
Let's start over again, right?
Why can't we start over?
Why is it impossible to renew him again to repentance?
Repentance is what?
Turning and changing his mind.
He rejected the gospel.
He's walking away, and let's say as he's walking away, he says, you know what?
I changed my mind.
I'm going to start seeking the gospel again.
No, no, no, it's impossible at that point for this certain group of people.
Now we're not always going to know who these people are, but there are people out there
who this applies to.
Many times it's obvious who these people are.
Sometimes it's not.
But the Bible says here, if they shall fall away to renew them again into repentance,
now he's going to explain why.
Why is it impossible to renew them again into repentance?
Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame
for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off upon it and bringeth forth
herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed receive with blessing from God, again sort
of referencing the parable of the sower in a sense there, but that which beareth thorns
and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned.
Here's what the Bible's saying.
The Bible is saying it's impossible to renew them again to repentance because they've
been rejected by God.
That which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing.
And you say, why would Christ reject that person?
Why would he reject them?
Why have they been rejected?
Why are they nigh unto cursing?
Why is their end to be burned?
I'll tell you exactly why because it is as if they crucify to themselves the Son
of God afresh and put him to an open shame.
Now go to Matthew 27.
One of the main themes of Christ's crucifixion was the shame that he endured.
The Bible says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.
Jesus endured the cross, but Jesus despised the shame.
He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the
throne of God.
Then he explains it further in verse 3 of Hebrews 12, when he says, For consider him
that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint
in your minds.
Look at Matthew 27 verse 17, Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto
them, Whom will you that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called
Christ?
For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou
nothing to do with that just man?
For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas
and destroy Jesus.
The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will you that I release
unto you?
They said, Barabbas.
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And the governor said, Why?
What evil hath he done?
But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
And when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made,
he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person, see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us and on our children.
Now that's pretty bad to sit there and say, crucify him.
His blood be on us and on our children.
What a wicked thing to say.
And it says in verse 26, Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged
Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto
him the whole band of soldiers, and they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
And when they had planted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed
in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him.
Saying, Hail King of the Jews.
And they spit upon him, and they took the reed, and smote him on the head.
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe from off of him, and put his
own raiment on him, and let him wait to crucify him.
Now that's putting Jesus to an open shame.
Spitting on him, hitting him, making fun of him, mocking him, reviling him, saying
kill him, we want his blood on us and on our children.
That's pretty bad.
Now you say, well wait a minute Pastor Anderson, didn't Jesus when he was hanging on the
cross say, Father forgive them for they know not what they do?
Yes he did, but let me tell you something.
There's a difference between knowing what you do, and not knowing what you do.
There are some people who do know what they're doing.
And you know who it is that knows what they're doing?
It's this guy, when he's right here, and he's been drawn, and drawn, and drawn, and
the seed has been watered, and watered, and watered, and he's right there.
This guy knows what he's doing when he rejects the Son of God.
This guy knows what he's doing when he walks away.
Paul said that he had been a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious.
He said, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief.
Say well the Apostle Paul was really bad before he got saved, but he did it ignorantly
and unbelief.
He had not been enlightened.
He thought he was doing God's service.
If he would have been enlightened, if the Lord's angel would have met him on the road
to Damascus, and he would have heard the voice of Jesus Christ saying, I'm Jesus,
whom thou persecutest, and then he would have walked blinded for three days to go
see Ananias, and Ananias would have given him the Gospel, and then he would
have heard the Gospel, comprehended the Gospel, and rejected the Gospel.
He would have been, then, he knows what he's doing at that point, if he walks away
at that point.
I obtained mercy, Paul said, because I did it ignorantly and unbelief.
But once a person gets to a point where they fully understand, they're fully enlightened,
the Holy Ghost has been reproving them, and working in them, they've tasted it,
and they knowingly, willfully, brazenly reject the free gift of salvation, then God puts
them in the same category as those people who said, his blood be on us and on our children.
He said, it's like you're like the guy who spat in his face.
You're spitting in Jesus' face if you reject the Gospel at that point.
It's like you're the one that took the reed out of his hand and hit him in the head
with it.
It's like you're the one who bowed the knee and mocked and said, hail King of the
Jews.
You, in your heart, unto yourself, are crucifying the Son of God afresh, afresh means doing
it again, and putting him to an open shame.
Now look, we know Christ only died once, and he's never going to die again.
He doesn't keep dying over and over again.
He died for our sins once.
But he's unto you crucified afresh, in your heart, sort of like if you hate your
brother in your heart, it says you're a murderer at that point, in your heart.
Or if you look on a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery in your heart.
These people are shaming, ridiculing, mocking, and rejecting the Lord and crucifying the
Lord in their heart, not unknowingly, but knowingly, but having been enlightened.
Let's go to Matthew chapter 7 while we're in Matthew anyway.
Another key component of the passage of Hebrews 6 is that it says that these people,
which bear thorns and briars, are rejected, nigh unto cursing, and their end is to be burned.
You say, well, pastor, I think these people were saved, but hold on a second.
These people bear thorns and briars, and thorns and briars cannot be borne by him
which is saved.
Look what the Bible says in Matthew 7 verse 15, beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Now are these false prophets in verse 15?
People who are ignorantly messed up in false doctrine like in Apostle Paul?
No, these people are wolves in sheep's clothing.
They are pretending to be one thing, and they are something completely different on
the inside, and they know it.
They know they're a fraud.
They know they're wicked.
They know they're a wolf.
They know that they've just put on a sheep's clothing.
You should know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
Does that sound familiar?
Thorns and thistles?
And so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit?
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
Go to Luke 6.
Luke chapter 6.
I've got to hurry, I'm running out of time.
Luke chapter 6.
These people that we're talking about in Hebrews 6, they bring forth thorns and briars.
They're not a good tree.
They're an evil tree.
They're in the same boat with a brazen, knowing, false prophet who knows that he's a wolf
in sheep's clothing.
Luke chapter 6, verse 43.
For a good tree bringeth forth not corrupt fruit, neither does the corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit.
For every tree is known by his fruit.
For of thorns, men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
So the good fruit would be grapes and figs.
What is the bad fruit?
Thorns and thistles in both Matthew 7 and in Luke chapter 6, both places.
Go if you would to Jeremiah chapter 6.
Jeremiah chapter 6 in the Old Testament and then we're going to go to Romans 1 quickly.
Jeremiah 6 and then to Romans 1.
So what we see here is that the one who has been rejected by God, the one that is
impossible to renew under repentance, the one who is a reprobate, because reprobate
is synonymous with rejected.
Don't let the word reprobate confuse you.
It just means rejected.
That's all it means.
Very simple.
This person is one who brings forth thorns and thistles, bad fruit.
Remember the book of Jude when it talks about certain men crept in unawares, who were
before of old ordained of this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
And he said that these people are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast
with you, feeding themselves without fear, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their
own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
But he said clouds they are without water carried about of winds, trees whose fruit
withereth without fruit, meaning without legitimate fruit, twice dead, plucked up
by the roots, twice dead, twofold more the child of hell, twice dead.
Look at Jeremiah 6 verse 30, let's define the word reprobate and then we're going to
quickly look at every mention of the word reprobate in the Bible.
Don't worry, it's only mentioned a few times, but we're going to look at the definition
because remember these people who it's impossible to renew to repentance, he said
that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose
end is to be burned.
Why can't they be renewed?
Why can't we throw them another lifeline?
Because when they get that close and reject it, it's too brazen, it's too knowing, they
crucify the son of God afresh, they put them to an open shame in their hearts and
at that point they're rejected by the Lord.
The Lord's done with them at that point.
That's a scary thought to be in that position.
Man alive, if you're here, you know what?
There could be people here in this room right now that are at that point where they're
actually considering getting saved, where they're thinking about being saved.
Maybe you're a visitor this morning, maybe somebody brought you or maybe your family's
just bringing you and you're actually contemplating salvation.
You know what?
You better get saved today because you don't know when it's going to be too late.
Look I can name for you people where I've seen a Hebrew six scenario in their life.
I've seen it.
My parents had situations that they experienced and that I saw them experience where they
would give the gospel to someone and they would bring that person.
They had friends that they met through dirt bike riding or friends that they met at this
gathering or through sail boating or through whatever the hobby.
They met people.
Right?
Hey, come to church with me.
I saw those people come to church and then come to church a second week, come to church
a third week, come to church a fourth week and maybe on the fourth week there's a real
strong salvation sermon.
There's a real strong sermon on hell.
Maybe there's some kind of an altar call.
Maybe somebody took them aside and gave them the gospel clearly and then that person rejected
it and said I'm never coming back and that person just became more wicked and blasphemous
and ungodly and you could see that person go down the toilet spiritually.
You could watch it happen in their life because they'd been rejected at that point.
God wasn't working in their heart anymore so they just kept getting worse.
They just kept getting more blasphemous and then they get to the point where they'll
say bleep church or bleep bleepity bleep the Lord Jesus Christ.
I mean they're like whoa.
Even unsafe people normally wouldn't do that, right?
Even unsafe people would be a little fearful to just completely blaspheme Christ but you'll
see these people just blaspheme at the top of at the drop of a hat.
Jeremiah 6 30 is the first mention of the word reprobate in the Bible.
This is where we get a definition of the word reprobate.
Verse 30 reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them.
Go to Romans 1.
Let's look at the next mention.
Just a few mentions of the word reprobate to understand what he meant when he said
that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing.
And I've taught on this passage many times but I've never devoted a whole sermon to
it.
It deserves a whole sermon because there's a lot here.
There's a lot of doctrine here.
I've touched on this in an old sermon I did a long time ago called beware of the evil
trees and you know I talked about the evil trees that bring forth thorns and briars
and this has been something that I've seen and observed so this passage is one that
really resonates with me.
I think Hebrew 6 is an important passage.
Even though it's the strong meat of the word it doesn't mean that it's not important.
I think it's very important to understand this doctrine.
It's been something that's been a part of my life ever since I was a child.
My parents taught it to me.
I've watched it play out in their lives as they tried to win people to Christ.
I've seen it with my own eyes.
I've seen it confirmed in so many passages of scripture but yet today many people have
no concept of what I'm teaching on this morning.
There are churches all over America.
There are independent Baptist churches up and down the land that don't have any concept
of this.
They need to get on the spiritual meat.
It's like they're a bunch of spiritual vegetarians or something.
They need to get into the strong meat because I'm telling you that there are churches all
over this country that would tell you, oh it's never too late to get anyone saved.
It's never too late.
They don't even know what a rep, you'll say reprobate and they'll say literally what's
that?
It's like whoa this is biblical doctrine.
Now thank God the churches I grew up in, they all taught this.
They all taught some aspect of this reprobate doctrine.
Look at Romans 1 verse 21.
Tell me if this reminds you of Hebrews 6.
Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful
but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.
Now just that verse alone, doesn't that remind you of Hebrews 6?
They knew God, meaning that they were what?
Enlightened, tasted, they're right there, partaker of the Holy Ghost.
God's working on it.
I mean it's not that these people just have no clue, no they knew God.
And when they knew him, they glorified him not as God, became vain in their own imagination,
their foolish heart was darkened.
By whom?
By God.
And it says here, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds
and four footed beasts and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie.
So I mean these people knew the truth and then they changed it into a lie.
I mean knowingly.
And worshipped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever, amen.
For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change
the natural use into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts
one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves
that recompense of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over
to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.
Now look, this is crystal clear, these people knew God, they knew the truth, and
they willfully, brazenly rejected it, turned away from it, in fact they're so hateful
about it, they even said we don't even want to retain God in our knowledge.
I don't even want to remember that the God of the Bible even exists, I just want
to just push him out of my mind.
I mean that's like the kind of anger that you saw in Matthew 27.
His blood be on us and on our children, I mean it's that hateful.
That's why a couple of verses later it says these same people are haters of God.
Let's look at the next mention of the word reprobate in scripture, 2 Corinthians
chapter 13, 2 Corinthians chapter 13.
I want to show you all this just to show you the consistency of this doctrine in the
Bible.
2 Corinthians chapter 13, 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5.
The Bible reads, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves,
know ye not your own selves, how the Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates?
But I trust that ye shall know that we're not reprobates.
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear proved, but that
ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
That's three back-to-back mentions of reprobates.
And let me explain to you the context of the passage, okay?
The context of the passage is the Apostle Paul is angry and upset with the church
at Corinth, not everybody, but a certain faction in the church, and he says, look,
I'm coming to get you.
You guys talk real big, and if you read, you know, 2 Corinthians, the last several
chapters, you'll see this is true.
You guys are talking real big.
You think you're so tough.
You're saying Paul's not going to come down here, or you say that I talk a big talk.
He says, you know what?
When I come down, it's not going to be talk, it's going to be power.
And he says, what do you want me to do?
You want me to come in love, or do you want me to come with a rod?
That's the context of this passage.
He says, I'm coming with a rod, I'm coming to get you.
And he says in 2 Corinthians 13 verse 1, just to give you the immediate context,
that's kind of the context of what he's saying in the last few chapters, but in the immediate
context here, give me a second to get there, he says, this is the third time I'm coming
to you, verse 1, in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
Look, this is confrontational.
He said, I have a problem with you, because the two or three witnesses goes back to Jesus
telling them, if you have a problem with somebody, you get the two or three witnesses.
He says, hey, I got a problem with you, buddy.
I'm coming to face you.
I'm coming with a rod.
I'm coming to show you guys which way is up.
Now what does he say to these people?
He says to them, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves.
He's basically doubting these people's salvation.
He says, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you
be reprobates.
So here's basically what he's saying.
You guys in that church at Corinth, you guys have been there a long time.
You guys have heard a lot of preaching.
You've heard my preaching.
You know what the truth is.
You know what the gospel is.
And he says, either you guys are saved or you guys are reprobates.
You guys are either saved or you're reprobates.
Because there's no way.
And look, if somebody sat in this church for like a few years, they're either saved
or they're a reprobate.
Especially if they came here and they're going soul winning and they're in the gospel
over and over and over and over again, Paul's saying, look, you're probably a reprobate
if you're not saved because you had so much water put on you.
You've been drawn and drawn and drawn and drawn.
You've heard the truth, heard the truth, heard the truth.
That seed's been watered and watered and watered.
Now you guys are attacking me, a man of God, an apostle.
He's saying, you're throwing me under the bus.
You're trying to lead people astray doctrinally.
He says, look, you guys are either saved or you're a reprobate.
And he says, I trust that you shall know that we're not reprobates.
What's he trying to say?
Look, are you saying we're a reprobate?
He says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, know
you not your own selves, how the Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobate.
See if you took that verse all by itself, you could be misled to think, oh, anybody
who's not saved is reprobate, wrong.
He's saying, you guys, if you're not saved or reprobate because you are key players
in the church at Corinth, you've been a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church,
you have no excuse for not knowing the truth and the gospel.
He says, I trust that you should know that we are not reprobates.
Now I pray to God that you do know evil, not that we should appear approved, but that
we should do that which is honest.
And he says this, though we be as reprobates, what he's saying there, we be as reprobates,
he's saying like, you're rejecting us.
You're rejecting me and Barnabas.
You know, you're treating us as reprobates in that reprobate means what?
Saying like, I'm a reject to you guys, apparently.
I mean, I trust you know, I'm not a reprobate, but you're sure treating me like one, because
you're sure rejecting what I'm saying to you.
Go if you would to 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 7, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 7, I got to just
go through each of these quickly, because the focus this morning is Hebrews 6.
Let's move on to 2 Timothy 3, there's only two more left, mentions that is, 2 Timothy
3, 7, ever learning, watch this, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth.
Does that sound like somebody who it's impossible to renew them to repentance?
Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth, men
of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
Go to the last place, Titus chapter 1, the last mention, Titus chapter 1.
Titus chapter 1 verse 15, unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are
defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled,
they profess that they know God.
These people are lying, they're the wolves in sheep's clothes, they're claiming to
be God's people, but they're lying false teachers if you get the context of the passage.
He said these people's mouths have to be stopped, they're wicked.
They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him.
Being abominable, and Romans 1 talked about people that were pretty abominable.
Being abominable and disobedient and unto every good work, reprobate.
So you can see when the Bible talks about reprobate, it's people that are rejected
and it's people for whom it is too late.
That's every mention.
Did I miss one?
You know, I'm trying to leave no stone unturned.
Let's go to Hebrew 6 now, read it, and pray and go home.
Now that we have all the background, now that we've compared scripture with scripture,
now that we understand what God's telling us, now let's just read the passage with
these new teachings in mind.
Not that they're new, because I've been preaching this ever since I've been a preacher,
but I'm saying they might be new to some people in this room.
Those who've been in the church a long time, you've heard all this taught.
I've not taught anything new this morning.
But those who are newer to the church, maybe you're new in the Lord, I hope that this
opened your eyes to some important teaching.
Let's go to Hebrews chapter 6 again.
Verse 3, and this will we do if God permit, 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 into repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
For the earth, which drinketh 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 unto cursing whose
end is to be burned.
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation,
though we thus speak.
What's he saying there?
I don't think you guys are reprobates, because he's saying, I think you guys are saved.
Now what's funny is that people will take this and try to twist this, right, and make
it about save people and say that you can lose your salvation.
But you know what's dumb about that?
Is that how could anything be impossible for a saved person?
Explain that to me.
How can there ever be no hope if you're saved?
Those who are without Christ are the ones who have no hope.
Listen to me.
If you're saved, it's never impossible for you to come back to the Lord.
And here's what's funny.
These same people that say that you can lose your salvation, those same people believe
that you can be like, now I'm saved, now I'm not, now I'm saved, now I'm not.
They don't teach that you lose it one time and you can never come back, but they'll
try to use this passage to teach you can lose it and then turn around and say that you can
come back.
Well, this says you can never come back.
Because guess what, it's talking about people who were never saved in the first place.
Because look, if you're saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God.
God will never reject you.
He says, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.
How could you teach a doctrine that a saved, born again, child of God, a Christian could
ever be rejected?
No, because I'm telling you, it's never too late for you if you're saved.
If you're saved, if you're a believer, and again, all it means to be saved is that
you've put all your faith in Jesus.
Not the trial size or the sample pack, but if you've put all your faith in Jesus,
let me tell you something.
You put all your spiritual faith, you know, you put everything down on Jesus.
Let me tell you this, I don't care how many sins you commit after you're saved.
I don't care how long you spend out of church, out in the world, out being a fool.
Listen to me, you can come back anytime.
You can always come back.
Remember the story of the prodigal son?
What's that story about?
It's about a child of the father who goes out, wastes his life, hanging with harlots,
hanging with the world, blowing his money, partying, and he comes back and he's welcome.
He's welcome because Jesus is always ready to welcome you back to church, welcome you
back to the fold, welcome you back to serving the Lord.
You can always get back up and dust it off and do it again.
It says, a just man falls seven times and rises up again.
If you're saved, it's never too late for you unless God is so disgusted by what you're
doing that he actually ends your life.
Obviously, when your life's over, you know, but you're in heaven at that point.
You just lost your rewards, okay?
But if you're on this earth and you're breathing air, it's not too late for you to come back
and be used by God and come back and get in church and God's not going to reject
you and turn you away.
But let me say this, that's not the way it is with unsaved people, oh no.
With unsaved people, the clock is ticking, the chances are running out, seek the Lord
while he may be found, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.
Don't just say, oh, I'll do it on my deathbed, oh yeah?
You might go through a Hebrew six before your deathbed.
And on your deathbed, it'll be impossible to renew you to repentance.
You might be a reprobate by then.
Being a reprobate is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone.
And not only will you go to hell if you're a reprobate because you can never believe
on Christ because your mind is dark and the Bible says they could not believe because
God blinded their eyes, not only could you never be saved if you're a reprobate,
God gives you over to vile affections on this earth so you end up living a disgusting
life on this earth.
Your life becomes like a living hell.
Your life is a living hell.
And then you go to the literal hell.
That's what it means to be a reprobate, friend.
It's the worst thing that could happen to anyone.
But beloved, we're persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation
though we thus speak.
Father, thank you so much, Lord, for just illuminating the scripture to us this morning,
Lord.
I feel like your Spirit really opened things up this morning in the sermon.
I feel like there's a spirit of understanding in our church right now that the scripture
came clear for many people.
I know many people already understood it, but Lord, I know it's a tough passage.
And Lord, I don't fault anybody who doesn't understand this or didn't understand it because
it is a tough passage, Lord.
But thank you for making it easy for us this morning by providing other scriptures, Lord,
to illuminate.
And we thank you for your Word and we thank you that we're on the right side of
things, Lord, those of us who believed on Christ.
And I pray that if there's anybody here who's not saved, Lord, that they would
be saved before it's eternally too late, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.