Doom of Apostates (Part A)

Structure is critical, but without a foundation, it won't be a structure very long. So he hits six principles here that are all of Jewish origin, but only Christ in fulfillment. And that is one of the disconnects that the early Jewish Christians were struggling with. Our faith is built upon the Old Testament, but it is a development. And a fulfillment of those things in the Old Testament.

And this is where they were getting into trouble. We are continuing in the letter to the Hebrews. If you have your Bibles, please open to Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6, verses 1 through 8. Therefore, leaving the discussion of elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. For if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame. For the earth, which drinks in the rain and often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessings from God.

But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. When I first read Hebrews and for years after, it was more of an experience of enjoying unconnected points. There are many things in Hebrews to take out that you just right there on the surface and you get it. But of course in the time of study and preparation and reading much about Hebrews, I've come to understand very much, I think, what this letter is all about.

And I've been trying to hammer that home every session so far and I will do so this morning. I warned you that this would be the case using a pile driver as an example when we first started our study in Hebrews. And, you know, you'd like to come into the pulpit and always talk about just the love of God, the grace of God, his forgiveness and his mercy and all of those things are beautiful. And we will talk about those things if God permits, as the writer said when he's writing to these Hebrews.

But this is a no-nonsense letter. It reminds me of Moses when he failed to circumcise his kid, his children, his two sons. The Bible says that God was going to kill him for it. Had it not been for his wife, Sephora, stepping in, we would not have had Moses. And you read that in Exodus and you say, but this is serious business. There's a side of God that is so holy and righteous and fierce that we mustn't lose sight of it and though we enjoy his grace and his friendship.

That is the Hebrew letter. Now, he starts off the first verse with that, therefore, he's connecting it to everything he has just said and what we know to be chapter 5. But he is still speaking to low interest believers. That is the problem that he is having with these Jewish Christians. And in verses 1 through 12, he is addressing any who have received Christ and may be now in the process of refusing him.

In verses 13 through 20, he will address those faithful believers that will go to their graves loving and wanting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So you have a contrast here in this sixth chapter of those two attitudes found in those exposed to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Trinity as we know it. The early, or the apostles in the early church, they battled constantly the mingling of Christianity, first with Judaism, that's what Paul's letter to the Galatians is all about.

Who has bewitched you, O Galatians? If anybody comes preaching any other Christ, let them be accursed. I mean, just dealing with these Jewish Christians and then Gentile Christians trying to embrace the Old Testament in a way that it was superior to the New Testament. And this was an ongoing struggle, even in the Roman letter. With the passage of time, as the Gentiles began to be more in number, the majority in the church, then the apostles had to deal with Gnosticism.

You know, this is a deep thought and Jesus really wasn't physical as a phantom and all this nonsense. But the Christians were taking it in, they were beginning to mingle it with the faith and the apostles rose up to deal with this and thus you have John's writings and his first three epistles. Three epistles and his gospel, saying Jesus is God, he came in the flesh and he is real and this is not something that you want to play around with.

Paul, when he again wrote to the Galatians, he says a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. A little bringing in of contraband, a little bringing, mixing in that which Jesus has forbidden with what Jesus has said. You try to do that and that will spread through the church. It is a toleration of evil, it is a toleration of that which Christ has forbade. And if you do it, you're messing with your own salvation and others because you're sharing this junk. You're putting up this posture as though we're a church, we follow Jesus Christ and Buddha and this one and that one and anybody else. The apostles didn't play around with that stuff.

They hid it and that's what we're getting in this Hebrew lesson, this Hebrew letter, these vital lessons. Satan is always trying to pour into our faith that which does not belong and there is never a shortage of Christians who are welcoming him and doing it. Because he doesn't come in wearing his Satan hat. He comes in dressed like one of those in the congregation.

He speaks to Christianese and he mingles in the crowd. And the next thing you know, the pastors are slamming that kind of an attitude and people are protesting. What could be wrong with this? Well, here, read it. It's right here. Here's what's wrong with it.

Too many to itemize. Well, let's get rolling unless we can't finish this section. Verse 1, therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and the faith toward God. Now these, again, in this group were those who just refused to grow. They wanted to cling to a counterculture known as we know as Judaism. It is the Old Testament without Christ and they wanted to hold that and also mix it in. And so we're going back to chapter 5 where it all began because it was an abrupt change. He turns to this behavior in them and he says in verse 12 of Hebrews 5, if you have your Bibles, please look down at that. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God.

And you have come to need milk and not solid food. So he's not playing now. He's gotten very serious with them.

He's going to go back to other stuff, but throughout this letter he is going to slam it. Total intolerance for error being mixed in. Now this is a little different, but not too much, from the Christians in Corinth. You see, here they're mingling two different religions that are irreconcilable. But in Corinth, they were not growing because they were too carnal. They were too unlike Christ. They were just behaving as though they weren't Christians while they carried out Christianity. You say, does that happen?

Of course it does. We know that. If you look at the Revelation chapter, the second and third chapters, it's all about Jesus dealing with the church. The problems in the church.

Except for two of the churches, they were all in trouble. 1 Corinthians 3, and I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal. He's talking. He's coming up into the pulpit. He says, I can't talk to you people like Christians. You're too messed up.

That's pretty intense. Of course, that's me helping it along, but that is essentially what he is saying. He continues, he's not done. He says, but as to babies. I fed you with milk, and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able, for you are carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you are you not carnal, behaving like mere men. You don't even act like Christians. You act like you're still lost in your sins, and then you want to come play church. So, we understand, going into this, that these apostles were not fooling around. They weren't then, and the Holy Spirit, who ministered through them, is not fooling around this very moment.

We're going to get a heavy dose of that this morning. Well, let's just receive what it has to say, and not miss the importance of this introduction to this sixth chapter first paragraph that I've just given. He says in this first verse, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, he's saying we want to get you past the ABCs of Christianity. We want to move you deeper into the faith so that you can be more effective for Christ and in your own life. He's nudging them beyond pop sermons.

You know, preach what I like to hear. Don't make me uncomfortable. I did not come to church to be uncomfortable with what is being said. Well, if you want to not be uncomfortable with what is being said, two things. Don't come to a church that preaches a word and don't read your Bible.

And you can be as comfortable as you want, and this is just the way it is. I don't write this. I wish I could write like this, but I cannot. But I can preach it, and so can you.

You can say, well, I can't create a document like the Hebrews or Romans or even Jude, but I can preach it. In love, always in love, and the writer is loving them. That's why he's writing to them. Because they don't like it doesn't mean he doesn't love them. It's one of the early lessons of parenting, is it not? You're going to have to do things to your children or withhold things from them that they don't like, but because you love them and you understand you are forming a human being.

And to be popular with your kids when they are doing things that are wrong is not a good idea. He says, let us go on to perfection. That Greek word for perfection is the finish. Let's go on to the finish line. We're running a race, and the goal is not just simply to run the race. The goal is to reach the end of the race, which is heaven, of course. And his appeal is based on the superiority of Christ over everything else.

Today we don't meet many Christians in this part of the country or the world that are trying to mingle Judaism with our faith, but we meet people who are mixing everything else. There's some sort of contemplative meditation or prayer or some other piece of junk. Some pop psychology. Here, you need to know how you need to behave.

Follow this. Why? I get that from Scripture. Only Scripture knows the heart. And if I follow the word of God, I'll be all right. And if I start mixing into the word of God, I'm going to head into dangerous waters.

He says, let us go on to perfection. Paul, when he wrote to Timothy, he said, meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them, which many don't want to do. I need to save 90% for me and 10% for God. I mean, we do that with the offering box, do we not? Well, I do that with my life.

I don't think anyone would come out and say that, but many do it. He tells Timothy, meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. It's a witness. It's called a testimony. People can look at you and say, man, when I'm around you, I feel like I want fire too. Or when I'm, you know, iron sharpens iron, make each other stronger. And so we are to go on to perfection. This is not laying again the foundation. Foundations are not to be laid over and over again. You're supposed to build on them. You're actually supposed to do something with the foundation, other than lay it. That was nice.

Let's do it again. Well, that's what they were doing. Foundation is critical, but it is not enough. And the structure is critical, but without a foundation, it won't be a structure very long. So he hits six principles here that are all of Jewish origin, but only Christ in fulfillment. And that is one of the disconnects that the early Jewish Christians were struggling with. Our faith is built upon the Old Testament. But it is a development and a fulfillment of those things in the Old Testament.

And this is where they were getting into trouble. We know John the Baptist, he was baptizing people, but his baptism was a little different than the baptism that we have as Christians. Luke 3, speaking of John, he went into the region all around Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And we believe that.

But we have more information. If that's all we had, we would be thinking about the Jewish cleansing rites, and that's where this is going. He says, not laying again the foundation of repentance of dead works. Judaism's view of repentance was missing one critical thing. Jesus Christ. That's what it was missing.

That's what they were going back to. See, when they were going back to the temple and saying, Well, I've come and I've brought my sheep to be offered. Aren't you a Christian?

Yeah. Well, isn't that Christ the fulfillment? Aren't these things just symbols of what he fulfilled?

And that these things not only are no longer necessary, but forbidden. Because he is the Lamb of God. There is no other lamb to bring before the throne of God.

He and he alone. And so this he's dealing with. First, repentance and faith. Both have to do with conversion. There's no conversion without repentance, and there's no conversion without faith. There's no salvation of the soul. Conversion is what it's all about for the unbeliever. And if there's anyone here, you've not opened your heart to Christ. You've not been born again. Everything that the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart is about converting you from doing life your way to coming under his lordship and doing it his way. You see, repentance deals with personal sin.

My wrong. My wickedness. My being separate from God. Jesus said, I tell you, unless you repent, you will perish. Luke's Gospel 13. Now understand, for the believer, for the believer who's not mingling these things and struggling, I have to put this sort of a savor-mercial in, because the heat of the sermon is someone who may be a Christian, you're struggling with some sin, and you think that you just have nothing but condemnation now.

That is not the case. We'll get to the difference between the backslider and the apostate momentarily. These were becoming apostates. They were actually leaving the faith.

Again, Paul writes to Timothy. We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. See, the New Testament recognizes the Old Testament under the authority of the new, but it says the Old Testament moral code is perfect. Thou shall not kill, covet, steal, adulterate, lie. But when it comes to salvation, it is weak.

It's not able to do it. So I have to read a few verses to make sure you understand this. You say, wait a minute, are you saying Abraham and David weren't saved? They weren't able to go to heaven without Jesus Christ. They went to righteous Sheol and they died.

They did not go into paradise. Only Jesus opened that door. Romans 8, 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, of course, on our behalf. Hebrews 7, 19.

For the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God. And of course, that's Christ. Galatians 2, 19 and 21. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. He's saying, my Old Testament understanding was damned in my soul. It wasn't until I grabbed the New Testament understanding. That's the case of Paul.

What was he doing? He was killing Christians, going after Christians. He had no problem watching Stephen, that righteous man, full of the Holy Spirit be stoned to death.

He would have thrown a stone too, had he not been a Pharisee and prohibited by the rabbinical laws. He continues in Galatians, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2, verse 21.

You cannot bring sheep to the temple and say you're a Christian. And that's what he is saying when he said, I do not set aside the grace of God. If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. But he didn't die for nothing. He died for me.

He died for anyone who wants to come to him. Levitical system, it really, as I said, it never provided forgiveness of sins. It promised the forgiveness of sins. It illustrated it in the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. That he would again be restored, because man is not born in a restored state to God.

He was born in a sinful state as a child of Adam. The prophets, they promised the coming of forgiveness from God through Messiah. And Christ said, I've not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. And so he says, and of faith. You don't want to leave the conversation of repentance, and you should, because you should already understand that. You've repented, you understand what that means. Now you want to just talk about faith.

It's the heart God would. He's not saying these things aren't necessary. He's just saying you're not advancing beyond these things. These are the ABCs of our faith. Faith addresses a personal God as holy and righteous and high, and we are not those things. And yet, we trust that he can make us acceptable to him. That God is indeed God, not applying for the job. He is God.

He doesn't need me to see that and say it, but he wants me to. He'll be no less God whether I do or not, but I'll be much better off if I do. And so we'll read later in Hebrews 11, without faith it is impossible to please God. For those who come to him must believe that he is a rewarder. That he rewards those who trust him. And so Judaism's view of faith was missing one thing.

Jesus Christ. And that's what he's working with, and you'll meet people like this today that call themselves Christians and think there's some other way to cry to salvation. Acts chapter 20 says this about Paul testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So what was Judaism's faith missing? Same thing repentance was missing.

What was that? Jesus Christ. So we love him. We absolutely love him when we sing of his love and his mercy and his holiness.

We are moved emotionally and rightfully so. And the best has not yet come. There will be a day in heaven when we will stand clean, cleansed forever, never again in jeopardy of anything harmful. And we will sing, sing, sing. There used to be a prison named Sing Sing. This is a different one.

Not a prison, sing. Verse 2, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. So he's saying, I know you want to just keep talking about this stuff, but there's more to the faith than this. This doctrine of baptisms, ceremonial washing with water, the Jews were big on that. That's why one of the reasons they were so receptive to John. God in his wisdom used John to do this to open the door for Messiah. That's why John is known as the forerunner of Messiah.

One of the reasons why. Baptisms here is plural, not singular. It's not my baptism, it's the washing, the immersing with an S. Because it is talking about the Levitical system of ceremonial washings, the rites of cleansing. They incorporated this into everything.

By the time the rabbis were doing it, every house had a little mikvah, a little tub just for this purpose. You've been listening to Cross Reference Radio, the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast, today's teaching is available free of charge at our website. Simply log on to CrossReferenceRadio.com. That's CrossReferenceRadio.com. We'd also like to encourage you to subscribe to the Cross Reference Radio podcast. Subscribing ensures that you stay current with all the latest teachings from Pastor Rick. You can subscribe at CrossReferenceRadio.com or simply search for Cross Reference Radio in your favorite podcast app. Tune in next time as Pastor Rick continues teaching through the book of Hebrews, right here on Cross Reference Radio.