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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Alrighty, everybody. We're going to go ahead and get started this morning. If you would, find a hymnal and turn to hymn number 16. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned. Hymn number 16 will go ahead and start there right on the first. Majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon the Savior's brow. His head with radiant glories crowned. His lips with grace or flow. His lips with grace or flow. The mortal can with him compare Among the sons of men. Bearer is he than all the fair Who fill the heavenly drain. Who fill the heavenly drain. He saw me plunge in deep distress And flew to my relief. For me he poured the shameful cross And carried all my grief. And carried all my grief. To give my own, my life and breath And all the joys I have. He pays me triumph over death And saves me from the grave. And saves me from the grave. Good singing will open with the word of prayer. Dear Father, thank you for this day And thank you for this time that we have to sing praises unto you And to gather together as a church. I pray that you would bless the remainder of this church service at this time, Lord. And be with those at the conference this weekend and give them safe travels back. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. For our next hymn, if you would, turn in your hymnals to hymn number 155. Doxology, hymn number 155. It is a short one, we'll go ahead and sing it twice. Hymn number 155, we'll go ahead and start there right on the beginning. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. We'll quickly go through our announcements this morning. This weekend is the Heritage of the Lord Conference. I was able to go down on Friday night just to quickly visit Steadfast and had a great time. It was cool to see evangelist Tanner Furh already again. It was really quick, but cool to see him and his family settling in down there. Him and his family are doing really well. The church is going great down there. I don't know the exact attendance, but I know that they broke 200 for service Friday evening. So it's definitely a great conference so far. We're just praying that they have a great conference remaining. Our memory verse of the week is Hebrews chapter 6 verse number 9. Our service times are listed there on the left-hand side. Sunday morning at 1030, Sunday evening at 430 p.m. and our Wednesday evening Bible study through 1 Samuel at 7 o'clock p.m. Sewing times are listed there, and remember all those meet here at the church building. Our nursing home schedule ministry is listed there if you take part of that ministry. Also, our year-to-date salvations and baptisms. September was definitely a great month, and we're looking forward to keeping that going this month. Please be in prayer for our expecting ladies, Miss Whitney Reed, for her pregnancy. Upcoming events, like I said, the Heritage of the Lord conference is going on right now. And next weekend, on Sunday, Pastor Shelley is going to be visiting us from Cedar Hill. He's going to be preaching both services, and we're definitely looking forward to that. So invite your family and friends for that one. Finally got this in the bulletin. Looking forward to our chili cook-off, October 31st. Really looking forward to that. Rather than doing all the crazy things that people do on Halloween, it's always great to have an activity at church, where you don't have to hear your doorbell being knocked a million times and all that crazy stuff. On October 31st at 630 p.m., we're going to have the church set up with tables and chairs. Church is a fellowship event. There's no preaching or anything like that. It's just a good evening of having fun together. And we are going to have a competition and prizes. If you want to be a judge, I do need some help from people to judge this competition. So if you're not entering a chili to be judged, or if you don't have a family member that's entering a chili, then you can be a judge. I still encourage you, though, if you are not going to put in a chili for the prize, you can still make one and bring it just so people can eat it. I'm going to do that. I'm not going to enter one into the competition, but I'll still make one. But if you want to help with that, that'd be great. We are going to have a first, second, and third place prize for all the chilis. And then, you know, here's the thing. People got to realize, I am not a Texas sycophant. I am not someone that's going to say that Texas is right about everything. But I believe they're right about the chili doctrine. So I will allow beanless chili for the regular prize, but we are going to have a preacher's pick where basically I'm just going to give a special prize for the chili that's my favorite chili. That one has to have no beans. So if only one person puts in a chili with no beans, that person will automatically win the preacher's pick. So, you know, if you're just like, ah man, I want to win something, there you go. You will automatically win that one if you're the only person that does that. So I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to that. Also, November 10th through the 6th is the Faithful Word Missions Conference. We are looking forward to that as well. Prayer list is on the back. If you ever have any prayer requests, feel free to email the church. I'd be happy to update that for you. At this time, we'll go ahead and go to our third song. For our third song, we'll go ahead and sing hymn number 15, Lead Me to Calvary, hymn number 15 in your hymnals. Hymn number 15, we'll go ahead and start there right on the first. King of my life, I crown thee now, Thine shall the glory be. Lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow, Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Show me the tomb where thou wast laid, Tenderly mourned and wept, Angels in robes of white arrayed, Guarded thee whilst thou slept. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Let me, like Mary through the gloom, Come with a gift to thee. Show to me now the empty tomb, Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. May I be willing, Lord, to bear Daily my cross for thee, Even my cup of grief to share, Thou hast borne all for me. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Good singing. As the offering plates are being passed around, turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter number six, Hebrews chapter number six. Hebrews chapter number six, Hebrews chapter number six. Hebrews chapter six, Bible reads, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into 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 the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. 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 of the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away to renew them again under repentance, saying 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 drinketh 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. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have shown toward his name and that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you should show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show, under the errors of promise, the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who hath fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and that which entereth into the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made in high priests forever after the order of Melchizedek. Let's pray. Lord, thankful for this church. Thank you for those that are gathered here today. We're thankful for your Word. And I pray, Lord, that you help us to minimize distractions, that you would build brother odds with the Spirit, Lord. Help us to see what you can preach in, and apply for our lives, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, the time I served... In the world in general, you know, a lot of people teach that this chapter teaches you could lose your salvation, which, of course, this church believes that you can never lose your salvation for any reason. But even just amongst our friends, there's some debate as to what this chapter is talking about. And I never want to try to preach a sermon to try to be in competition with other preachers or anything like that. So don't take this sermon as me trying to be in competition with them, or don't ever try to, you know, pit me against one of my preacher friends or anything like that. That's not my heart or goal at all with this sermon. My goal with this sermon is just to simply preach what I believe this chapter is teaching. So we're going to do a little bit of a Bible study this morning. And number one, I want you to notice the author's desire to move on. The author's desire to move on. Now, I believe that the author of Hebrews is the Apostle Paul, but I can't say that dogmatically. The Bible doesn't say for sure. So I'm just going to say the author's desire to move on. Look at verse number one. It says this. 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. So what I want you to notice first is notice how the author who, again, I believe is the Apostle Paul, he wants to leave something. He wants to move on from something. And I think when it comes to understanding Hebrews chapter six, the context is extremely important to understand. So to understand the context of this chapter, go back to chapter number five, chapter number five, and let's start reading in verse number nine. The Bible says, In being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. So notice the author, he has a desire to talk about Melchizedek. He says, Man, I have a lot of things to say about Melchizedek, but the problem is you guys are dull of hearing. So he's not really able to talk about that. Look at verse number 12. It says, For when the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles, notice that that word first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as has 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 notice in chapter five, he's saying, Look, I really want to teach you guys a lot about Melchizedek. But when it comes to Melchizedek, that's kind of an advanced doctrine in the Bible. That's not necessarily just the milk of the word. That's not something that's super simple and easy and just every Christian understands. And he's saying, Man, I really want to talk to you guys about Melchizedek, but you're dull of hearing you guys should be teachers at this point. But you're still babes. You still have need of the milk. And of course, we know in Christianity, being saved for a long time doesn't necessarily mean that you're spiritual. When it comes to maturity spiritually, it has nothing to do with how long you've been saved. It has to do with how much you're exercising yourself in the Bible. So, you know, someone could have been could have been saved for five years and have really been taking the word of God seriously, reading it, studying it, obeying it. And that person could be pretty mature, where oftentimes in the world we get someone saved at the door and they never really go to church. They never really crack their Bible open. And they remain a babe in Christ their entire life. And so the author here saying like, Man, I really want to teach you about this. But you guys are carnal. But you guys are babes in Christ. But I want to move past this. I want to move on from this. That's why in verse number one of Hebrew six, he says, Therefore, so that context is very important. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith toward God. So notice he does not want to talk about the basics anymore. Why? Because he wants these people to move on in their faith. He wants them to grow and no longer be babes, no longer have need of milk, so that he can teach them about more dense things like Melchizedek. Now, verse number two, he's going to explain what the first principles of the doctrine of Christ are. So he's going to list some basic doctrines for us. Look at verse two of the doctrine of baptisms. That's a very simple doctrine right there. The first thing that we ask someone to do after getting saved is what? To be baptized, right? To identify them with Christ, to obey Christ so that they can say like, Hey, I want to walk in newness of life. That's very simple. And of laying on of hands. I believe that's referring to ordination and of resurrection of the dead. Right. So, you know, talking about the rapture and the resurrection, things like that and of eternal judgment. So according to the Bible, these are the first principles. These are things that are pretty basic, pretty easy to understand. And now he's going to he's giving basically an example of doctrines that he does not want to discuss anymore. He wants to move on past these. Verse three says, And this we will do if God permit. What will we do? We're going to move on from these basic topics so that I could teach you about things I want to teach you about, like Melchizedek. We're going to move on from these things if God permit. Now, don't let that phrase freak you out or anything. We use this phrase all the time. God willing. Right. It's just kind of a colloquialism that we use all the time. Like, hey, God willing, I'll see you in Texas next weekend or God willing, I'm going to do this or God willing, we're going to do that. Paul saying like, hey, I want you guys to move on from these basic doctrines and we're going to do this, God willing. You know, he has faith in them. He's trusting that this is going to happen. So number one, we saw the author's desire to move on. That's very important. Number two, I want you to notice the reason to move on to more advanced doctrines. The reason to move on to more advanced doctrines. Now he's going to explain to us why we should do this. Notice verse four. The first word is what? For meaning because we can't forget everything we just talked about. 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. Now go to Ephesians chapter number one, Ephesians chapter number one. So notice he's talking about how something is impossible for a certain group of people. And he describes this group of people as having once been enlightened, having tasted of the heavenly gift and having been made partakers of the Holy Ghost. So when it comes to being enlightened, where else does the Bible use this phrase? Let's learn about it in Ephesians one. Look at verse 13. It says, In whom also ye trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also that after ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Now, this is a very familiar verse to us. And of course, we know we're talking about a saved person here. Why? Because this is a person who has believed in Jesus Christ. So we know this person saved. Verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Verse 15, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Verse 18 is very important. Notice the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Go to Acts 28. So notice in Ephesians Chapter one, someone that's saved, someone that's believed in Jesus, who's trusted in him, who's been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of redemption. That person has the eyes of their understanding being enlightened. So the Bible refers to a safe person as someone that has been enlightened. Why? Because the world that's unsaved, that hasn't yet trusted in Christ, they're blind spiritually. Their understanding is blind, right? They're trusting in some false God or they're trusting in their works to save them. And that is a blind person. But once you see the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, once you understand what he did for you on the cross and that you only have to trust him for your salvation, now you've been enlightened. Now you've seen the light. Once was I blind, now I can see, right? Those of us that can see are those of us that are saved. Look at Acts 28, verse 18. To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. So notice when you get someone saved, you're turning them from darkness to light, from someone that's blind to be able to see, from someone who's unenlightened to someone who is enlightened. Go back to Hebrews 6, Hebrews chapter 6. So for me, when I read Hebrews 6 and I see it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, I believe this is talking about a saved person here. Now let's notice the second part of this. It says, 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. Now, what about this word taste? Well, I think we could get an idea of what this word taste means, even from the context of the same book that we're in. Go to Hebrews chapter number 2, Hebrews 2. Taste in the Bible often means just to experience something for a short duration, right? I mean, if you ate a Thanksgiving meal, you wouldn't say like, oh, yeah, I tasted mom's Thanksgiving dinner. You would say, no, I ate it. I fully partook of it, right? You wouldn't say that, like, I just taste it. But, you know, if you get like a sample at Costco and you just eat it real quick, you would have said like, yeah, I tasted it because you experienced it for a short duration. Look at Hebrews 2, verse 9. It says this. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should, notice, taste death for every man. Now, I don't think this is referring to his physical death here. I think this is referring to the fact that he experienced hell because we know that death is hell. The second death is the lake of fire. Now, Jesus, was he in hell for a very, very long time? No, he wasn't. He was there for three days and three nights. So you could say that he tasted of it. Why? Because he was experiencing hell for a short duration. Now, think about this back in the context of Hebrews 6. As you're turning to 1 Peter 2, think about the context that we're thinking about. Paul, or the author of Hebrews, is saying, I want to explain to you guys some more advanced doctrines, but you're babes in Christ. And so we need to move on from these things so that I can teach you about more of these doctrines. Doesn't it make sense to explain these individuals that are babes in Christ as having tasted of the heavenly gift? Why? Because it's very likely that they haven't been saved for that long. So that would make sense to say that they tasted of it because they've experienced being saved for a short duration. Look at 1 Peter 2, verse 2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. Verse 3, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. So notice we're talking about another group of Christians that are what? Babes in Christ, right? They need to desire the sincere milk of the word that they can grow. They need to be reading their Bible. They need to be reading the basic doctrine so that they can grow on to the more advanced doctrines. And these people have what? They've tasted that the Lord is greatest. Why? Because they're babes in Christ. Because they likely have not been saved for a very long amount of time. Go back to Hebrews 6, Hebrews 6. So he's explaining why we would move on from basic doctrine. Verse 4, 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. We already read in Ephesians 1 that you get sealed with the Holy Ghost when you get saved and notice have tasted the good word of God. So they haven't really endured the word of God that much. They've just had a little bit and the powers of the world to come. Notice 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. Now, I think this language can be kind of hard for some people to understand. So let's go back to verse 4 and connect verse 4 with verse 6. Because he's saying something is impossible in verse 4. Then he's giving all these qualifiers of describing a person. But let's not miss what he's saying is impossible. Look at verse 4. He says, for it is impossible for those, and I believe those people are Christians. So just do a thought experiment with me here. Let's read this verse like this. For it is impossible for Christians, look at verse 6. Go down to verse 6. 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. Now some people when they read this, they are teaching that verse 6 is teaching that you can lose your salvation. But hold on a second. The Bible is saying that something here is impossible. So let's just for a thought experiment say that this is teaching that. Which of course it is not teaching that. But let's say that verse 6 is teaching you can lose your salvation. This is what people would have to believe. They would have to say, if someone falls away, and they believe that means losing your salvation, that it would be impossible to renew them again unto repentance. Now you know what that would mean? That would mean that if someone lost their salvation, this verse would then be teaching that it's impossible to ever get saved again. Now is that what people teach? No it's not. Most of these people would say, oh yeah, you could lose your salvation, but you've got to repent of your sins, you've got to ask God for forgiveness, you've got to get back on the wagon, you've got to start following Christ again. But hold on. If you believe this is teaching you could lose your salvation, then this is saying it's impossible to be renewed unto repentance. It's impossible to ever get saved again according to their interpretation of this verse. Now here's the thing. If you could lose your salvation, all of us would. Because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So if you're going to say, well yeah, if you sin, you lose your salvation, well then literally no one would ever be going to heaven. Heaven would have this many people inside of it. Why? Because according to them, it would be impossible to be renewed again unto repentance. Now that is garbage my friends. That makes no sense whatsoever. Now what does it mean to fall away? Go to Luke chapter 8. I think the confusion in this chapter comes to the point of what it means to fall away. Because some people would say, fall away means lose your salvation. Well let's look at the Bible and see how the Bible uses this phrase. Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8 verse 13. They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word of God with joy and these have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation, notice, fall away. Now in this parable, this is a saved person being described. But this saved person, he's believed for only a short amount of time. So he doesn't have deep roots in the ground that's grounding him in the faith. He's not going to be able to stand in that evil day. He's not wearing the full armor of God. He hasn't built his house on the word of God and on doctrine. He hasn't dug real deep and built really strong roots to get him through the persecution and trials of life. So when persecution comes because of the word, this person does what? They fall away. Now don't we see this happen in Christianity? Don't we see someone get saved and they might even come to church for a little while? They've tasted of the heavenly gift. They've tasted of the word of God. You know, they've come to a few services and then the church gets on the news and then the pastor goes viral for some sermon. And what does that person sometimes do? They stop coming to church and oftentimes when people stop coming to church, they stop reading the Bible. They stop praying. They stop going soul winning. And so what has that person done? They've fallen away. Now did that person lose their salvation? Absolutely not. Because the Bible teaches it's impossible to lose your salvation. But that person has fallen away. They've fallen away from what? From the word of God? From serving him? They've fallen away from being steadfast? Hey, let's let's look at that verse. Look at second Peter chapter number two or second Peter chapter three. Second Peter three. Second Peter chapter number three. Look at verse six or I'm sorry, verse 17. Second Peter three, verse 17. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness. So isn't it possible for a safe person to fall? Yes, it is. Is it possible for a safe person to fall away? Absolutely. Is it possible for a safe person to fall away from their own steadfastness? Yes, it is. And the Bible here in second Peter three is describing a safe person that's been led away with the error of the wicked. Don't we see that sometimes in our life where the wicked will rise up and they will rail against the Bible? They will rail against men of God and they will try to sow division in churches, sow division amongst Christians. And sometimes we see people that aren't really rooted and grounded in the word of God. They're not really spiritually mature. They're babes in Christ. And what do we see? We see them fall away from their own steadfastness. We see them led away with the error of the wicked. Did those people lose their salvation? No, they did not lose their salvation. But are those people steadfast? No, they're not. Did they fall away? Yes, they did. Go back to Hebrews chapter number six. So notice the people in Hebrews six and again, let's read verse number six. It says, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance. So whatever group of people we're talking about, they have already repented. OK, they've repented from what? Verse one talks about repentance from dead works. And isn't that what you do when you get saved? You repent from trusting in going to church, living a good life, reading the Bible, following the commandments. And you trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. That is repentance from dead works and a faith toward God. You better believe you have to repent to be safe, but you don't have to repent of your sins to be safe. You're repenting from trusting in something else. And now you're trusting in Jesus Christ. No one's trusting in their sins to save them. I've never gone soul winning and asked someone, what do you think someone has to do to go to heaven? And they said, sin a lot. Then that person would have to repent of their sins because they would have to repent of trusting in their sins to save them. But no one believes that. But people are trusting in good works to save them. And according to the Bible, those are dead works that can't save you. So, yes, these people have already repented. Now, here's the thing. If this is talking about a person that is a reprobate. My question would be, well, what have these people already repented of? Nothing reprobates. They didn't get saved and then lost their salvation and became reprobates. Reprobates have never repented. Right. But according to Hebrew six, the Bible saying it's impossible for this group of people to renew them again unto repentance. Well, that makes sense for a safe person, because the Bible is basically saying here that it's impossible for a saved person to lose their salvation. That's what it's saying. And so, of course, if someone's backslidden, like this group of Christians in Hebrews five, if someone's backslidden, what would be the course of action to fix this individual? Let's say Brother so-and-so in our church is backslidden. He fell away from his own steadfastness. He wasn't, you know, standing on the word of God and he's fallen away. What would be the action that I would take to fix this person? Would it be to knock on their door and ask them if they were to die today? Are they 100 percent sure they'd be going to heaven? No, because they're already saved. Would it be to preach messages every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday night about salvation? No, because everyone's already saved. What would be the action step for a Christian who's backslidden to get back on track? It's to read the word of God. It's to get back on track in serving God, in doing important works like going to church, reading your Bible, praying. That would fix that person. But you know what? It's impossible for those who were once enlightened and all those descriptions it gives, if those people fall away, it's impossible to renew them again under repentance. Why? Seeing that they crucified to themselves. Look at verse six. Seeing that they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. You know, if you could lose your salvation, then what you're saying is that the sacrifice of Christ wasn't good enough the first time. And guess what? It's impossible to crucify Christ again and again and again and renew someone again under repentance. It's impossible. Why? Because he already died once. He's a once for all sacrifice. So think about this. What do we have so far? We have the author saying, Hey, guys, I want to teach you about Melchizedek, but you're dull of hearing. You're babes in Christ. OK, so what do we need to do? We need to move on from these basic doctrines. We need to go on to perfection, meaning that we're well-rounded Christians. We're developed Christians. Why? Well, because it's impossible if someone falls away from the things of God to get them saved again. It's not like we need to preach them the gospel again. It's impossible for them to lose their salvation because Christ is a once for all sacrifice. Verse six, again, if they shall fall away to renew them again under repentance, seeing they crucified to themselves, the son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. Number three, this morning, God expects us to bring forth fruit. Look at verse seven. For the earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed, receive its blessing from God. But that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. Now, I think what will help us understand this analogy that the author is drawing here is by going to Luke Chapter eight and looking at the parable of the sower. Because elsewhere in the Bible, a piece of land or the earth, if you will, often represents a person. OK, so I believe in Hebrew six where it talks about the earth drinking in the rain, that that is talking about a person. And let me explain to you why I believe that. Look at Luke Chapter eight, verse number five. A sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down in the fowls of the air, devoured. And some fell upon a rock. And as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture and some fell among thorns. And the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other fell on good ground and sprang up and bare fruit and hundredfold. When he had said these things, he cried, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? So get the picture. Jesus has given this parable. And the cool thing about the parable of the sower is it's one of the parables in the Bible where Jesus just explains to you exactly what it means. We don't have to really struggle as to the interpretation of this parable because he's going to explain it to us. Verse number 10. And he said, and he said unto you, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand. Now, the parable is this. Notice the seed is the word of God. So don't get this confused. I've heard people preach this. The seed is not a person. OK, the seed is the word of God. We know that because Jesus literally tells us in this parable. So it's not like, you know, the good seed is a good person. A bad seed is a bad person. No, the seed is the word of God. Verse 12. Those by the wayside are they notice people that hear then come at the devil and take away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. So notice the wayside is a piece of ground or an or earth, if you will, representing a person who does not get saved. And in this parable, the person, the ground, the wayside, that is the only individual in this parable that does not get saved. How do we know that? Because it says that they don't believe and they don't get saved. Verse 13. They on the rock are they notice people which when they hear receive the word of with joy. And these have no root, which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away. So that's the rock is a piece of ground or earth, if you will, who believes they get saved. But and they're joyful, they're happy. But when persecution comes, time of temptation, they quickly fall away. They're not they're not saved for a very long time. You could say that they've tasted of the word of God, if you will, but they're not steadfast. They fall away because of persecution. Are they saved? Yes, they are. Have they fallen away? Absolutely. Verse 14. And that which fell among thorns are they so people which when they have heard go forth and are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. So the thorns is a piece of ground or earth, if you will, where this person gets saved. But the cares of this world stops them from ever bringing forth fruit. And isn't there people like this today where we get them saved? But you know what? They're never coming to church and they may never crack open their Bible. But the Bible does teach that it's possible to have no works and to still be saved. Go to Romans chapter four, verse five, if you want to see that. No, don't actually go there. I'm just telling you. That's a verse where you could find that doctrine. All right. So again, this this this ground is a person that is saved, but they don't bring forth good fruit. Now, verse 15 says this. But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. So what is the good ground? It's it's a person is the earth. The good ground here is a person that receives the word of God. And because they have a good heart, they receive it. They read the word of God. They apply it to their life. They're bringing forth fruit. They're going out and getting people saved. But here's the thing. We just read a lot of people that are saved and only one group of ground here is actually doing a lot of work for God. Now, go back to Hebrews, chapter number six, Hebrews six. Hebrews six, look at verse number seven. So think about this in context of what we read for the earth, which I would say that represents a person which drinketh in the rain that cometh offed upon it and bring it forth. Herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receive blessing from God. Now think about this. If the earth represents a person here, what does the rain represent? I think that represents the word of God. The word of God often is represented as water or as rain. And us as Christians, if we're the earth, if we're receiving in the rain and we're letting it sink into our hearts, if we have a good heart, we're applying it to our lives. We're doing what the Bible says. You know what we're going to do? We're going to bring forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed, which I believe is a picture of the Trinity. I'll get to that in a minute. And it says receive a blessing from God. The Christians that read the word of God, believe it, apply it to their lives, bring forth fruit. You know what you're going to receive? Blessings from God, right? The Christian that lives a good life is going to be the one where their Heavenly Father is pleased with them. And so God is going to bless them. But I think what's happening in this chapter is it's comparing and contrasting two groups of Christians, because notice what it says in verse eight. It says, but that. What is the that referring to? Grammatically, the that is referring to the earth, which again represents a person. So that piece of ground or that earth, which beareth thorns and briars, is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. Go to First Timothy, chapter number two, First Timothy, chapter two. Now, I think this is contrasting two types of saved individuals. OK, one drinks in the rain and brings forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed. What does it mean when some things meet? It means that something is fitting or something is suitable. Look at First Timothy two, verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that name it the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified and notice meat for the master's use and prepared unto every good work. So when you as a piece of earth, when you drink in the rain or the word of God, you'll bring forth fruit, which is meat or suitable for them by whom it is dressed. Now, the them who I believe that's referring to, obviously in a parable, it would be referring to the people working the field. Right. The people sowing. And who is it that sows? Well, it's it's God that sows and it's soulwinners that so. But what I think is saying here in Hebrew six, meat for them by whom it is dressed. I think that's a good picture of the Trinity. OK, because it says them. And of course, we know the Trinity is three persons, the father, the son and the Holy Ghost. So when you as a Christian, you are good ground, you drink in the rain, you bring forth herbs, you're doing works that are meat or suitable for God, suitable for the father, suitable for the son, suitable for the Holy Ghost. Now, what about verse eight? Verse eight says, but that which bear thorns and briars. So that piece of ground or that person that doesn't bring forth herbs, meat for God, they're producing what thorns and briars. That person is nigh into cursing, whose end is to be burned. What I think this is saying is that a Christian who they they get the word of God, but they don't do anything with it. What's going to be produced in their lives? Thorns and briars. And if you know anything about having a yard or about having a field or anything like that, if you just do nothing to it, you know what it's going to produce? Thorns and briars. It's not like you have to work to produce thorns and briars. If you just let a field sit there and do nothing, it's going to produce thorns and briars. You know, I grew up hunting a lot in Idaho and you go out to the desert and there's just tons of just thorns and briars out there. Why? Because that piece of ground isn't being used by anyone. It's not being tended to. It's not being worked on. And so when a person, when a saved person is not applying the word of God, is not doing anything in their life, they're just being lazy. They're being slothful. You know, what's going to be produced in that person's life is thorns and briars. Meaning worthless, meaningless works that are not neat or not suitable for God. They're just worthless. And, you know, oftentimes what farmers or people do when they have worthless thorns or briars in their field, you know what they do? They burn them. Why? Because it's representing trash. It's representing something that has no value. It's not helping your field. It's not helping you produce anything. So what would you do with trash? You would get rid of it. Go to First Corinthians nine. Now, this is not saying that a saved person would go to hell. OK, oftentimes in the Bible, terminology can be used like this, where it's not necessarily referring to someone going to hell. But think about it. If God is investing all this rain into you, into your life, into your field, and you're not producing anything with it, you're just producing thorns and briars. Well, you're nigh unto cursing. You're ready to be rejected. Your life is ready to be destroyed. Why? Because God has no value for you. You have no value. You're not bringing any value in your life to serving God. You're not serving others. You're not getting anyone saved. So why even are you on this earth? You're not doing anything, right? Everyone good? Distractions over there. All right. Go back to First Corinthians nine, First Corinthians nine. You know, a Christian that does nothing for God, their life, carnally speaking, is completely meaningless. The works that we do in this earth, the pleasure that we enjoy, you know, the businesses that we make when we just eat, drink and be merry. There's not really any value in that eternally. Right. The only things that matter eternally are the souls that we win to Christ. But notice someone can be cast away. Someone can be trashed in this life and still be saved. First Corinthians nine, twenty four says this. Know you not that they which run in a race run all but one receive at the prize. So run that you may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is tempered in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. But we an incorruptible I therefore so run not as uncertainly. So fight I not as one that beat at the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means. When I have preached to others, notice I myself should be a castaway. So think about the apostle Paul. This is the good. The apostle Paul is the good ground. I mean, he is the earth where he's receiving the rain and he's bringing forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed. Right. He's going out. He's preaching the gospel. He's turning the world upside down for Jesus Christ. He has a lot of good works that are meaningful and valuable. And so his life brings value to the kingdom of God. But he's saying, hold on, though, I'm running in this race, but I still have to check myself. I still have to be temperate in all things. I still have to subject my body to make sure that my flesh is not dominating in my life. That my flesh is not telling me what to do in my life, that I'm telling my flesh what to do. Otherwise, in this race, I'm going to be a what? A castaway. Right. You know, if an athlete is training for an athletic event, they have to be very diligent in what they eat. They have to be diligent about their sleep. They have to be diligent about their training schedule. But if you just throw all that away and you start shoving the doughnuts in every day, you don't get good sleep. You know, you're not caring about your body. You're going to be trashed in that race. You're going to lose that race. Right. And he's saying, if I just start letting my flesh rain, if I just start letting the sin nature in me rain, you know what could happen to the apostle Paul is that he could be cast away. What could he be cast away from? Well, how about his position as an apostle? Right. I mean, if someone is in a position of leadership, let's use in our modern day, like a pastor. If a pastor is not walking diligently, if they're not keeping their flesh in subjection, if they're letting their sin nature rule and they're going out and they're getting drunk or they're committing adultery or they're doing drugs, you know what could happen to that pastor is he could be cast away. Now, could he lose his salvation? No. But could he be cast away from his position and what he's doing for Christ? Absolutely he can. OK, so go to Luke, chapter 13. When it comes to a Christian that's not bringing forth any good herbs, they're just bringing forth thorns and briars. You know, their their life can be cast away. They can lose the position that they have in this life. Yeah, they could even lose their very life themselves, because quite honestly, the reason that we're on this earth is to win others to Christ and to do work for God. God did not just save us that we can just live pleasure in this life and just, you know, eat, drink. And tomorrow we die. That's not what God created us for. He created us to bring forth fruit for him. Luke 13, verse six. He spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit thereon and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard. Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? So notice God wants fruit from the tree. He wants us to bring forth fruit as trees, as a good piece of earth. And when he sees no fruit on the tree, when our lives aren't producing any value, you know what our life is in danger of? It's being cut down. OK, but look at verse number eight. And he answering said unto them, unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also till I shall dig it about and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well, and if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down. And what can we learn from this? Well, you know, God desires us to bring forth fruit. God desires saved people to bring forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed. But if God sees our lives and we're not producing any value, we're not producing any fruit, oftentimes he will be very gracious and merciful unto us. You know, he'll give us a year. Maybe he'll give people more. You know, he'll dig it around about. He'll give you sermons. He'll give you Bible verses to try to help you heal. He'll dung it. He'll he might even punish you a little bit in this life. But eventually, if a Christian is just rebellious, stiff necked, not going to bring any forth fruit from God. You know, that person's life is in danger of being cut down. That is a truth in the word of God. And you know what? You see God kill safe people in the Bible. You see God kill unsafe people in the Bible. And I'm not saying that God's on a hair trigger to kill Christians that aren't serving him. But I'm just saying God desires us to bring forth fruit in our lives. And when we don't bring any value to God, our life is nigh unto cursing. Carnally speaking, look at Luke Chapter 14. Let's look at this principle again. Verse 34 salt is good. But if the salt have lost his saver, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit or meat for the land nor yet for the dung hill. But men cast it out. He that had ears to hear, let him hear. And, you know, your life, if you are the salt and you've lost your saver, if you're the tree and you're not bringing forth fruit, if you're the piece of ground and you're bringing forth thorns or briars, your life is nigh unto cursing. You are nigh, you are close to being rejected or discarded or thrown away by God. And so that is just a reality of what the Bible teaches. Go back to Hebrew six. I'll read for you. John 15 six says, If a man abide not on me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and cast them into the fire. And they are burned. So, again, a safe person not bringing forth any fruit, just like a farmer that has a tree where a branch is not producing, where a branch is dead, they're going to cut that thing off and burn it. And what is that a picture of? It's them just being trashed, basically. It's them being discarded, them being set aside. Why? Because God is looking for vessels of honor today. God is looking for branches that bring forth fruit. God is looking for ground that produces herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed. God is not looking for people today to bring forth thorns and briars because, quite frankly, the unsaved are doing that. Their life is thorns and briars. You know, we're supposed to be different. We're supposed to go on unto perfection. Why? God wants us to bring forth fruit. Hebrews chapter 6. With that in mind, I think we'll understand these verses a little bit better. Verse 7, For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft 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. So get the picture here, because I believe he's addressing a saved audience here. He's basically telling them, look, there's two types of Christians in this world. Those that bring forth herbs, meat for the master, and those that bring forth thorns and briars who are going to be cursed, who are going to be trashed, who are going to be set aside. But he's saying, look, I'm persuaded better things of you. He's saying, I'm persuaded you're not like this second group. I'm persuaded you guys are going to be the Christians that actually go forth, that go on under perfection, that bring forth good fruit and notice and things that accompany salvation. What are things that accompany salvation? Well, God desires that we have works that accompany our salvation. Notice works are not our salvation. Bringing forth herbs aren't our salvation, but they are things that should accompany salvation. We don't do good works to get saved, but once we're saved, God desires that we have works that's accompanying that salvation. And he's saying, look, guys, yeah, I want to teach you about Melchizedek. You guys are babes in Christ. We should go on. We should move past these things. It's not like I can get you saved again. You know, God desires you people to bring forth fruit. There's two types of Christians, those that do, those that don't. And you know what? I'm persuaded that this group is going to be the one that brings forth fruit. That's what he's saying so far. Number four, notice this God's unforgettableness. So with all that in mind, he starts off in verse 10 saying for meaning because don't lose the context. It's so important when you're reading the Bible. So because of all that, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which he have showed toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. What is the author trying to get them to do? He's trying to get them to work. He's trying to get them to do. He's saying, look, you guys should be teachers already, but now you need the milk. I want to teach you about Melchizedek. You know, God's not going to forget the work that you do. How are you the good ground? How are you the good earth that brings in the rain, that brings forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is dressed? You have to work. You have to do. You have to perform actions for God. And you're saying, look, God's not unrighteous. He's not going to forget the work and the labor that you do. In verse 11, notice we see the heart of what he's trying to accomplish in this letter. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. Go to First Corinthians 15. What is he saying there? He's like, I want you guys to work. God's not going to forget about your work. We're desiring that you do the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. He's saying, I want you to be Christians that bring forth fruit your entire lives. You know what that describes? That describes a steadfast Christian right there. And that's what Paul wants to produce or this author wants to produce. First Corinthians 15, 57. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're talking about safe people. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Isn't that the same message that he's trying to convey in Hebrew six? He's saying, look, I want you guys to work. I want you guys to be steadfast. And guess what? It's not in vain. That's why he says in Hebrew six, God's not going to forget your labor of love. He's not unrighteous. He's going to remember. He's going to reward you. And guess what? The earth, the ground that brings forth fruit. That's the person that God's going to bless. But on the flip side, the person or the ground that just does nothing. They just let their life sit. They produce thorns and briars. That's not going to be blessed by God. That person's nigh unto cursing. Number five. Notice the exhortation to patiently work. Verse 12 of Hebrew six, verse 12. Hebrew six, verse 12. And really, I think verse 12 is the application of the truth that we've heard so far. Verse 12, that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So he's saying, look, I don't want you to be slothful. And why does someone remain a babe in Christ? It's because they're slothful. Why does someone not grow spiritually? Because they're too lazy to read their Bible. Because they're too lazy to come to church. They're too lazy to become a soul winner. And he's saying to these people, look, I don't want you to be lazy. But what does he want them to do? I want you to be followers of them who through faith and patience, notice, inherit the promises. So notice those that aren't slothful, those that do work, they're going to inherit the promises, meaning they're going to be blessed by God. They're going to receive blessing from God. Now he's going to give us an example. Verse 13. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Go to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews 11. So he gives us an example of someone that did this. Abraham, someone that worked patiently, someone that had faith in God patiently. You know, that's what God desires for us in our life is to walk by faith and to patiently endure in this life and to keep doing the things that God wants us to do, regardless of how our flesh feels, to be diligent, to keep our bodies under subjection and to serve God and bring forth fruit. Hebrews 11, verse eight. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went out, not knowing whether he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Look at verse 17. By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. And I think the reason the author in Hebrew six brings up Abraham as an example is because Abraham was willing to do whatever God asked him to do. By faith. And that is the attitude that is going to bring you blessing from God in life. When you read the Bible and you don't necessarily understand it or you think, man, I don't know if this is going to be the best decision in my life. I don't know how this is going to affect me super positively, but you see the word of God and you obey it anyways. That's the person that's going to receive the blessing from God. That's going to be the person that inherits the promises and not just the person that does that. But Paul's hope or the author's hope is that they would do this until the end, that we would not just be steadfast for a day or for a week. That's not being steadfast, but rather that we would be steadfast our entire lives. What does that take, though? It takes you not being slothful. It takes us getting to work. It takes us being diligent. It takes us like a farmer would constantly have to work and tend to his field and work super hard. Not someone that just lets the thorns and the thistles and the briars grow because that's a person that is lazy. Go back to Hebrews six. Number six. Notice God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness, because, you know, God's not asking us to do all this and he's just going to leave us high and dry. He's not going to forget about us. We're not going to be ashamed. Hebrews six, verse 16. For men verily swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us. What is it that gives us hope? Well, it's the fact that God promised us and God can't lie. How is it that I know I'm never going to lose my salvation because God promised that I wouldn't and God can never lie? You know, I wouldn't really have full assurance of hope. And it wouldn't be like the level of hope I have in God when a person promises me something because a person can lie. You can lie. I can lie. Right. But you know, who can never lie is God. And so when God promises us something that should enable us to have faith in that and to continue going forth and serving him, knowing that, hey, if I serve God, I know that my labor is not in vain in the Lord. I know when I go and do something for God and I'm doing things for the right reason and I'm obeying his words, no matter what comes of that, I know that it was not in vain. Right. And, you know, there could be situations in life where you put a lot of work, effort and energy into something and something bad could happen. And you kind of feel like, was all that work in vain? Was all that worthless? And you know what? If you're doing it for God, none of that work is in vain. None of that work is void. Why? Because we're not trusting in man. We're trusting in the Lord. And so when God promises us something and we're doing it because of him, none of that work is in vain. Verse 19, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enter it into that within the veil. This is such a powerful verse. It's one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. I love this verse so much. And I plan on preaching a whole sermon on this verse soon. But it's just so beautiful to think about because of the fact that God promised, because he can't lie. This hope that we have in him is like an anchor of the soul. Like when you're in a ship and you drop that anchor, it doesn't matter the storms of life that you're going through. It doesn't matter the tempest. It doesn't matter the rain. All that matters is that you're tethered to that anchor and that anchor is sure. That anchor is steadfast. It's not like man that's going to fail you. No, it's an anchor of our soul. And thank God that we could take salvation and be and have that as an anchor to our soul. Why? Because God promised and he can't lie. You know, thank God that we could have the word of God that is completely pure, that everything is true, and that could be an anchor of our soul. Why? Because it is true. It'll never fail us. Verse 20. Whither the forerunner for us is entered, even Jesus, made in high priest after, sorry, made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So notice in verse 20, he's kind of bringing it back to our original context. And then if you read Chapter seven, all of Chapter seven is about what? Melchizedek. So so don't miss this. So far in this chapter and in this book, what have we had? Chapter five. He's desiring to teach us about Melchizedek, but he can't because these Christians are dull of hearing their carnal, their babes in Christ. And so in Chapter six, he's saying, look, let's move on from the basics. Let's move on from salvation. You're already saved. You can't lose your salvation. But what you do need to do is work so that you can grow so that you can handle these hard doctrines. And he explains them multiple reasons why they should grow. The fact that God's not going to lie to us. The fact that he's not going to be unrighteous to forget our work. The fact that we have an anchor of the soul. There's lots of reasons to work. But then in Chapter seven, he goes and just explains what he was trying to explain in the beginning in the first place of Melchizedek. Now go to Hebrews, chapter number six. Hebrews, chapter number six. And so to me, this interpretation, though some of the language admittedly is pretty difficult in this chapter, it's not one of the easiest chapters in the Bible to me, the flow and the context of this makes sense. He wants to explain Melchizedek, their babes in Christ. Let's move on from this stuff. I can't get you guys saved again. You need to work. God's not going to forget your labor. God's not going to forget your work. You know, we have an anchor of our soul. Let's get out and work. I'm persuaded of better things of you. I'm persuaded you're going to be the Christians that can handle this and grow. And then what does he do in Chapter seven? He just gives them Melchizedek. And some people say like, well, what changed from Chapter five to Chapter seven? Why did he start teaching them about Melchizedek if their babes in Christ? But remember, the author is writing a letter here. It's not like he's preaching a sermon. He's writing a letter. So he's writing the whole book of Hebrews and he's giving it to these Christians. And here's the thing. Christians can read Chapter five and read Chapter six, and then they could spend the next weeks, months, years of their life getting better. And they're still going to have Hebrew seven to come back later to once they grow in Christ. So, yes, it is true that probably at the moment that the Christians who originally received this letter, they're not going to necessarily understand Hebrew seven right away. But guess what? Neither do we when we got saved either. Right. I mean, the first time you read Hebrews through cover to cover. Did you understand everything in it? Absolutely not. You probably don't understand everything in it right now. Probably myself included. But you know, what's going to help us to understand more is to grow, is to be diligent, is to work hard, is to read the Bible. That's what's going to help us understand. That to me makes sense. That to me fits the context. What does not make sense to me is saying, hey, you guys are babes in Christ. You guys need to grow. I want to move on from these things because you're going to lose your salvation and never be able to earn your salvation back again. Here's Melchizedek. That makes no sense. Right. And just to be honest, to me, it doesn't make sense in the context. And I'm not against anyone that has this view. But for me, it doesn't make sense in the context of this chapter to see, like, hey, you guys, I want to teach you about Melchizedek, but you're babes in Christ. I can't. We need to go on under perfection. I just want to explain reprobates really quick to you. By the way, work really hard. And now I'm going to explain Hebrews 7. I just don't think that that really makes sense in the context of this chapter. And if you believe that, I'm not against you whatsoever. There's a lot of men that are way smarter than me, way more spiritual than me that believe that. I'm just telling you what I believe is that that's not the case. What I believe is the way that I appreciate this morning to you all. Hebrews chapter six, verse 10. I want to leave you with this powerful truth of Hebrew six says this. Hebrews 6 10. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have showed toward his name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end, that you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. I do not want to fall away in my life. I don't want to fall away from my steadfastness. I don't want to fall away from my position. I want to be greatly used by God in my life. And I don't want any of you to fall away either. And so what is it going to take for us as Christians to be the type of people that when persecution arises or when the wicked are trying to lead us away with the error of the wicked, that we remain steadfast, that we remain not falling away from the things of God? It's going to take us to work. Christianity, when it comes to getting saved, it's by grace. It's easy when it comes to being a disciple, when it comes to growing in the Lord, when it comes to understanding hard doctrines of the Bible, when it comes to being steadfast your entire life. That's a lot of work. And so, you know, let us as a church remember that God's not going to forget your labor. God's not unrighteous to forget your labor of love that you show out soul winning to the lost in Oklahoma City. God's not going to forget the labor and love that you show when you help with the cleaning of this church, when you help with the administration, when you help with the nursing home ministry, or you help song lead or you help preach or any of these works that you do for God. God is not going to forget those works. God will be sure to repay you. God will be sure to bless you. But look, if you just let your life just sit and you don't work, you don't tend to it and you just bring forth briars. You bring forth thorns. You know what? You're living a very worthless life. You're living a life that is going to be going to heaven and not having very many rewards. And quite honestly, you're living a very dangerous life where God might just cut that branch off, where God might just gather those branches that aren't producing and he might just burn those and toss those aside as trash. So, you know us, if we want to be valued very highly, if we want to be used greatly of God, we're going to have to work hard. And, you know, I love the name of our church, Steadfast Baptist Church. You know how you remain steadfast? You do the work and you keep doing the work until you die. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for Hebrews chapter six and the great truths found in it. I just pray that all of us would labor and that we would remember that we have an anchor of the soul, which is Jesus Christ, salvation, the word of God, and that we would not get led away with the error of the wicked. The people would not fall away from you, but that we would remain loyal and steadfast. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's turn to hymn number seven. I gave my life for thee, hymn number seven. Hymn number seven. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed, that thou might ransom be, and quicken from the dead. I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? My Father's house of light, my glory circled throne, I left for earthly night, for wandering sad and lone. I left, I left it all for thee, hast thou left aught for me? I left, I left it all for thee, what hast thou left aught for me? I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell, of bitterst agony to rescue thee from hell. I've borne, I've borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for me? I've borne, I've borne it all for thee, what hast thou borne for me? And I have brought to thee, down from my home above, salvation full and free, my pardon and my love. I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to me? I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee, what hast thou brought to me?