Hebrews 6. I want to preach on the portion of scripture beginning in verse four and ending in verse nine. The title of my sermon this morning is 'Rejected and Nigh Unto Cursing'. Now, I had brought up this passage in my sermon last Sunday night, and I hate to bring up a passage that's just deep and just brush by it and just quickly explain it which is what I did in my sermon just because I had so many other things I was trying to cover, and so I want to spend a whole sermon on this passage this morning because I believe that this passage warrants its own sermon. It's a deep passage.
Now, first of all, let's start out by getting the context leading up to this. Let's go back to Hebrews 5:12 at the very end of the preceding chapter. The Bible reads, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful 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." The Bible is teaching us that there are things that have to do with the word of God.
There are doctrines that are simple doctrines, easy doctrines, and we would call these the 'Milk of the word', that even a babe in Christ could understand. Even someone who just got saved yesterday would have no trouble understanding some of the simpler doctrines and the Word of God, similar to a newborn baby having no trouble digesting breast milk, but strong meat on the other hand would be the more difficult things in the Word of God that a babe in Christ might not be advanced enough to quite understand and especially by themselves. They might need an adult to cut that up into little pieces or put it in the blender and make it a little easier for them to understand. They can't just pick up the fork and knife and feed themself difficult doctrines because they're a babe in Christ. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3 that in Paul's epistles are many things "Hard to be understood".
The Bible makes it clear that some things in the Bible are hard to understand, and then many other things in the Bible are easy to understand. The milk of the word. It's universally accepted among Christians that the gospel of John is the easiest book in the Bible. Most people would agree with that. If you go to most churches and somebody gets saved, they'll usually start them out on the gospel of John and say "Here, start reading the Bible in John". Who's heard that advice before in churches?
All the time. Not only that, but if you went to a Bible college and you took a Greek class, usually, every Greek teacher will start you out going through the book of John because it's as simple as part of the language and so forth. Most people would agree with that. That makes sense when you get to the end of the book of John and it tells you the purpose of the book of John is for people to be saved.
Church:
Yeah. Amen.
Pastor:
It says "These things have been written". He said "If you were to write everything that Jesus said and did, all the world couldn't contain all the books that should be written", but he said, "These are written that you'd believe", and I'm paraphrasing, but that "You'd believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life through His name". It's a book that's written to tell you how to get saved. It's simple. Why? Because the gospel is really simple.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
The gospel is really easy, it would have to be since an unsaved person obviously isn't going to be experienced in the deep things of God, so the gospel is so simple that a child could understand it. A physical child. A babe in Christ has no trouble having a firm grasp on the gospel. That's the milk of the word. Whereas, other things in the Bible are hard.
Now, you might ask yourself, "Why didn't God just make everything in the Bible easy?" Because then, the Bible would be a very boring book because you'd learn everything, you'd understand everything, and then you'd be looking to God saying, "Okay. What's next? What do I read next? What do I ... Oh, that's everything".
I mean, I remember I was at a job where I was at that job for six month, and after six months, I had learned everything at that job, and I was bored and I wanted to move on to something else. I wanted to grow in my work, and I wanted to move on to a more advanced job so I ended up changing jobs. A lot of people change churches because they say "I wasn't being fed at that church", because that we need a mixture of that which is milk and that which is meat so that as we grow up, we can still be learning and still be growing.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
We don't just read John over and over again, do we? No. We read the whole Bible, even the difficult parts of the bible. The book of Hebrews is one of those more difficult books. Tougher books. Now, look at chapter six verse one with that in mind.
It says, "Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection". Now, what does he mean by perfection? If you studied the word 'Perfection' in the Bible, for example, the Bible talks about in the Parable of the Sower that the seed that fell among thorns, it brought no fruit to perfection. Okay? When a plant produces fruit, bringing fruit to perfection means the finishing stages of the ripening of that fruit.
I mean, when that fruit goes from being a greenish apple and it starts to turn red if that's the style of apple you're getting, then you say "Okay. This apple is ripe now. This has reached perfection" or "The green banana has begin to turn yellow and they reached perfection". What it's talking about is completion. The final stages.
When he says "Let's leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and let's go on unto perfection", he's saying "Okay. Let's stop talking about the really basic milk of the word, doctrines of Christ, just the basic who Jesus is, the fact that He died on the cross and was buried and rose again". He said "Let's go on unto perfection". He's saying, "Let's move into things that are more advanced". Right?
That's why he said in 1 Corinthians 2:6, "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to nought". Again, perfect does not mean what we would think it would mean in 2016, being sinless. No one is sinless. When the Bible says Job was perfect, it means he was complete, he was mature of a believer. He was advanced in his Christianity. That's what that means.
That's why the Bible talks about God giving us pastors and teachers in Ephesians 4:12, "For the perfecting of the saints", finishing them off, completing them, helping them grow to a higher level of understanding in the Word of God. The Bible says here, "Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection", not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. He's saying "We've been talking about very basic things up to this point. Now, for the rest of the book of Hebrews, we're going to get into more complicated things as we get into chapter six, seven, eight, nine, ten. We're going to go deeper", he's saying.
Whereas before this, we were talking about simpler concepts. Now, when he says here the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, what he's listing here are simple doctrines. These are milk of the [word-tied 00:07:40] doctrines. I mean obviously, repentance from dead works, faith toward God, I mean, that's just talking about getting saved, so obviously, that's pretty basic. Right?
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Baptism, that's something that you do right after you get saved. That's really basic. Laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment. We're talking heaven and hell. Laying on of hands has to do with basically the power of God and where one man would lay hands upon another man to ordain him and give him the power of God to do some great work for God.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
These are just basic rudimentary things that the Bible talks a lot about that aren't that hard to understand, that you could explained to a brand new believer with very little Bible knowledge, and they can understand these things. He says "Let's move on from that into something harder". Okay? He says in verse three, "And this will we do if God permit". Okay?
Now, we're going to get into the passage and question here, verses four through nine. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened". Now, before I go any further, let me just point out that those who were enlightened is in contrast with those in verse three. Okay? In verse three, he says, "We are going to move on from the basic doctrines, and we're going to move on to harder doctrine, and this will we do if God permit, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened".
Let's understand who this group of people is. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God, but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." Now, this is pretty much universally acknowledged to be a difficult passage which makes sense because he just finished saying "Hey, we're going to move on from simple things, and we're going to move into things that are a little bit harder".
I don't want you to think though for a moment that this sermon this morning is going to be over your head because the purpose of a pastor or a teacher is to bring your knowledge to a higher level, and so I'm going to break this passage down for you and help you understand it, help you compare a scripture with scripture, and bring it into bite-sized pieces for you so that you can understand it even if you are new in the Lord, even if you are a babe in Christ and then those that are more mature are going to have an easier time understanding this doctrine because you'll already know a lot of the things that I'm covering. This sermon this morning is to explain this passage. That's the purpose of the sermon here, to explain this passage in Hebrews. Now, why does this passage need to be explained? There's a lot of false doctrine associated with this passage because people who believe that you can lose your salvation will go to this passage and use it to try to prove that you can lose your salvation.
Now, let me just be really clear. Let's go back to the milk of the word for a minute.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
You can't lose your salvation because the Bible says "I give unto them eternal life".
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Eternal means forever, "And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". The Bible says "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
Church:
Yeah.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Eternal means never-ending. The Bible says "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." It doesn't say he will get everlasting life. It says "He already has everlasting life". Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die". By the way, these are all quotes from the book of John.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
The simple book. The book that says it's written that you might be saved. Over and over again in John, for example, chapter five, verse 24, "Verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life". Jesus Christ will never leave us, nor forsake us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God once we are in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Salvation is just a matter of believing in Christ, receiving that free gift of eternal life, and then we are sealed by the Holy Ghost unto the day of redemption. "He which hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ", and I could quote for you literally a hundred verses right now that make it crystal clear that once you're saved, you're always saved. Amen.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
People who want to teach a works-based salvation that says "Yeah, believe, but you also have to continue obeying and living the life and keep on you serving the Lord", and they want to turn it into a works-based salvation, they grasp at straws to find passages that they can twist in order to teach a works-based salvation. Now, they don't find these verses in a simple book like the book of John. They go to a difficult book because difficult scriptures are easier to twist. Why? Because people don't always have a firm grasp of what they mean, so it's much easier to trick people to see if people move things around. It's a little harder to twist John 3:16, isn't it?
Church:
Hard.
Pastor:
It's going to be tough twisting John 3:18, John 3:36, John 1:12. These are going to be tough to twist because they're so clear.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
How do you twist John 6:47? How do you twist John 10:28? You can't, so they go to difficult passages and twist this. I've heard a lot of people pull this out to try to say that you can lose your salvation, but let me just make this very clear in this passage. Starting out, the first thing I want to establish is that the people being described here are not saved and never were saved.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
That's where the misunderstanding is coming from. These people were never saved. Let me show you what it says. Look at verse four. "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened".
Now, let me stop right there and say this. Being enlightened does not make you saved.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
What does it mean to be enlightened? Enlightenment is when you understand something.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
That's what it means when you are enlightened. When you comprehend something. When something clicks in your mind, sort of like a cartoon where a little light bulb would come on above somebody's head. That is enlightenment. "Oh, I get it. I see it. I understand it".
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Just because you understand the gospel, just because that light bulb has gone on your head does not mean that you're saved.
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Pastor:
The next thing here it says, "They've been enlightened". Number two, it says, "They have tasted of the heavenly gift". Now, this is a word that comes up repeatedly in this description. Let's look at the list here. "They've been enlightened", "They've tasted of the heavenly gift", "They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost", "They've tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come".
There are five things listed here. Right? Okay. Out of those five, three of them have to do with this word 'Tasted'. Everybody see that? Because the first thing is "They're enlightened". Right?
The second thing is "They've tasted the heavenly gift". The third thing is "They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost". The fourth thing is "They've tasted the good Word of God", and the fifth thing is "They've tasted the powers of the world to come". They've tasted three things, been a partaker of one thing, and had enlightenment. Those are the five things that have happened to this person. Let me submit to you that none of these five things make this person saved.
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
This person did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This person did not received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. This person does not have everlasting life. This person does not have eternal life. They've not been passed from death unto life.
This person has not been forgiven of all their sins. This person has not received redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, but they have been enlightened. They have tasted. Now, you say, "But ..." I've heard some people say this.
"If they've tasted it though, that means they ate it, so they must have been saved. If they tasted the heavenly gift, they must have taken a bite out of it or received it". They're getting really literal with the illustration. Actually, this is not the case. Go tot Matthew 27.
Matthew 27. Let me illustrate for you that tasting does not necessarily mean reception. It does not necessarily mean that you've received the heavenly gift just because you tasted it. You see, salvation does not come in a trial size.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Salvation is not a free sample.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
This is not Costco where you're offered a sample on a toothpick.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
With salvation, you're either all in or you're all out.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
The Bible says "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest".
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
You have to step out in faith and put all of your faith and trust on Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
Church:
That's right.
Pastor:
You can't just dabble. No, no, no. You have to get all in.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
I'm not saying with your lifestyle. I'm saying with your faith.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
You can't just say "I'm Hindu, but yeah, I'll pray to Jesus, see how it goes". You think that that makes a Hindu saved?
Church:
No.
Pastor:
"I mean, I'm Hindu. I mean, I'm burning incense to a bunch of idols, but I mean, sure. I'll pray a prayer to Jesus or I'll start going to church and taste it and see". No, no, no. That's not salvation. Salvation, you got to get all the way in.
Church:
That's right.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
You got to get all the way in. You can't just go take a tour of the ark, look around the ark, taste it, check it out. No. You have to get in the ark and stay in the ark until the door shuts and you're in the ark. That's salvation.
You can't just sit there and dabble. Look at Matthew 27 and I'll show you from the Bible that what I'm saying is true. Verse 34 or Matthew 27 says this. "They gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink."
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Here's an example because they say "But if you tasted the water of life, that means you drank of the water of life". Jesus said, "If you drink of the water that I shall give you, you'll never thirst again". Wait a minute. You can taste it, and then decide, "You know what? I'm not going to drink this".
Church:
Yeah.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
That's what Jesus did. Now later, Jesus is offered vinegar without gall mixed in it, and it says "They gave him vinegar to drink". That's not to be confused with this verse where He's given vinegar mixed with gall which is something that is disgusting, poisonous, tastes horrible. They're doing this to mess with Him. Vinegar mingled with gall.
Gall is bile. Gall is something nasty, poisonous. He tasted it, but He didn't drink. I submit to you that the people in Hebrews 6, they tasted the heavenly gift, but they did not drink. They did not receive the gospel.
Let's go back to Hebrews 6, and keep your finger or a bookmark or a pen or something in Hebrews 6 because that's where we're going to be the whole sermon, but we're going to cross-reference other scriptures to understand it. We understand that tasting the heavenly gift doesn't make you saved. You got to down that sucker.
Church:
Yeah. Yeah.
Pastor:
You got to put all your faith in Christ. You can't just dabble or experiment with salvation. You got to get saved by putting all your faith and trust in Jesus. Tasting the heavenly gift doesn't make you saved. Tasting the good Word of God. The Bible says "O taste and see that the Lord is good".
Church:
That's right.
Pastor:
"Blessed is the man that trusteth in him".
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
You taste, but then you got to decide, "Are you going to trust in Him?" Once you've tasted the Word of God, once you've been exposed to it, you've learned it, you've understood it, you have a choice to make about whether or not to receive it. It just says "Jesus decided not to receive the poisonous, disgusting beverage that He's being offered on the cross". Tasting the heavenly gift, tasting the good Word of God, tasting the powers of the world to come, none of those three things make you saved. Being enlightened and understanding the gospel does not make you saved.
I remember one time, I was in Tempe, and I preached the gospel unto a lady, and it was a really unreceptive neighborhood. It was one of these really left-wing, liberal, downtown Tempe neighborhoods. I was given this lady the gospel, and I was thinking to myself the whole time, "Hallelujah".
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
"Finally, somebody's listening. Finally, somebody's going to get saved", and I get through it. She's understanding it. She's not in her head. She's answering all the questions right. It totally made sense to her.
I'm thinking, "Wow. This was a low-hanging fruit. This is easy". I get to the very end and I said, "Do you understand this?" She says "Oh, yeah, I understand you. What about this one?"
Then I said, "So, do you believe that?" "No". She's like, "No. No. I don't believe the Bible, but I understand everything you're saying".
Church:
Wow.
Pastor:
She understood it very well. That didn't make her saved. The gospel is not that hard to understand, folks. Many people understand it without being saved. Now, the fifth thing that sometimes people struggle with is where it says "They've been made a partaker of the Holy Ghost".
Do you see that in Hebrews 6:4? It says "We're made partakers of the Holy Ghost". People will say, "How could you partake of the Holy Ghost without being saved?" Go if you would to John 16. John 16. We're also going to look at John 11.
John 16 and John 11. Now, let me start out by saying this. If you actually look up every time the word 'Partaker' is used in the Bible, many times, it is not referring to someone who literally partook. In fact, often, it's being used of people who did not literally partake. For example, it says in 2 John 9-11, "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed, for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
To be partaker of their evil deeds, you didn't actually have to do the deeds. You just had to bid that person God speed or have them in your house. The Bible says of Babylon in Revelation 18, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues". Part. If you just look up the word 'Part', having a part in this or a part in that.
I mean, what about people whose part is removed from the holy city? Their part is removed from the book of life. Partake if you're not familiar with that word because it's not a word we use very much, it means to take part. Take part. Partake.
Partake is just a compound way of saying took part in. Okay? They have taken part. They've been a partaker of the Holy Ghost. Now, the Holy Ghost, and this is what people are missing, the Holy Ghost has a ministry in the hearts of unsaved people, and that's the part that they're missing. They think people who are maybe using this passage to teach that you can lose your salvation or that, "Hey, this is describing people that are saved", they're basically saying that "If you partook of the Holy Ghost, you must be saved", but that's not really true because the Holy Ghost has a ministry in the hearts of unsaved people.
Look at the Bible. John 16:7. Now, the Holy Spirit is called the 'Comforter'. It says in verse seven, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you, and when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment". Notice, the Holy Spirit does not just have a ministry in the hearts of those that are saved.
He does not only work in the hearts of those that are saved. The Holy Spirit also works in the hearts of the unsaved. That's why when we go out soul winning and we're preaching the gospel to the unsaved, we will sometimes pray that the Holy Spirit would go before us and work in the hearts of those who were about to preach to. Whose ever prayed that prayer? Lots of people said "Hey, I pray that the Holy Spirit ..." Or maybe a loved one.
"I pray that the Holy Spirit would begin to work in that person's heart and draw that person unto Christ". That's a Biblical prayer. That's a Biblical concept. What does the Bible say here? That "The Holy Spirit will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, verse nine, of sin because they believe not on me". These people believe in Christ?
Church:
No.
Pastor:
No, but they're still being reproved of sin by the Holy Spirit because they believe not on Christ. The Holy Spirit is working in their heart of righteousness, because I got to the Father and you see me no more, of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. The Holy Spirit has a ministry amongst the unsaved, amongst the world to reprove the whole world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. The Bible says "No man can come unto me, except the Father draw him". Then, later in the same book, John, he said, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me", so the Holy Ghost has a ministry to draw men unto Christ to reprove the world of sin and righteousness and of judgment.
The fact that somebody was a partaker of the Holy Ghost does not make them saved. Just because the Holy Spirit did a great work in their hearts, that's how they tasted the powers of the good world to come. That's how they tasted the heavenly gift. That's how they were even enlightened was through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can't be enlightened as to the nature of salvation without the Holy Spirit doing the work.
Church:
Right.
Church:
Yup.
Pastor:
You're not going to taste the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come unless the Holy Spirit is giving you a taste of that, because salvation is supernatural. Salvation is done through the washing of regeneration by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. The Bible says that "It's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost". You see, people, when they get saved, it's the Holy Spirit that works in them to get them saved. Now, some people will get into a false doctrine where they say the Holy Ghost is only going to do that for certain people.
When in reality, he said "If I be lifted up from the earth", referring to his crucifixion, he said, "I'll draw all men unto me. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely", and that Holy Ghost is not just drawing certain people. He desires to draw all men unto him, and it's the freewill of the people involved that determines whether or not they get saved, but God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now, we'll skip it for the sake of time, but I was going to show you in John 11 where a man actually prophesied by the Holy Ghost without even being saved.
Church:
Right.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Where unsaved Caiaphas in John 11:49-52 speaks the Word of God, and it says "This spake he not of himself", but being the high priest that year, the Holy Ghost actually came upon him in that passage and he spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost being an unsaved man. Balaam is another example of that unsaved man. God used him to speak His Word. God has a ministry of the Holy Ghost to the unsaved. Let's go back to Hebrews 6.
We've seen very clearly that the five things on this list do not make a person saved. Being enlightened, understanding the gospel, tasting it, three different ways they tasted it. The Bible is clearly emphasizing the tasting aspect if out of five things in the list, three of them have to do with tasting. That's key. That's very important.
They were made partaker of the Holy Ghost. What are we saying about these people? It says in verse six, "If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance". Now, let's back up. This is a compound sentence.
This is a sentence that runs over the course of several verses, so we have to understand. Look at verse four, beginning at verse four. I'm trying to break it down for you. "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, so it's impossible for these people", jump down to verse six, "If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance". That's the full sentence.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
That list of five things is thrown in there and it can cause some people to lose their train of thought of the sentence, but the sentence is saying it's impossible for this certain group of people if that group of people falls away, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance. Does everybody understand the sentence?
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Now, let me illustrate this to you. Isaac, bring me up that rope that I gave you. I want to give you an object lesson just to make this simple to understand. Thank you. All right.
Who wants to be my volunteer? Come on up here. Dominic, come on up here. Okay? You go ahead and take hold of this rope and go stand all the way over there. Okay?
In this illustration, I'm going to represent the Holy Spirit of God. I'm going to represent the Lord Jesus Christ, desiring Dominic to be saved. I want him to be saved. Okay? I want to draw all men unto me and the Holy Spirit is going to reprove him and work in his heart and have a ministry of drawing him unto Christ. Okay?
Basically, what I'm going to do is don't come to ... Woah. You can't come to me unless I draw you. No man can come unto me unless the Father draw him. Okay?
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
He basically, as I begin to draw him, I'm bringing him this way. Right? Okay? Now, listen. Most people when they get saved, it's not the first time they hear the gospel that they get saved.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Most people, the seed has to be planted, and then the seed is watered, and then it's watered some more, and then it's watered some more, and then eventually, God gives the increase. That person ends up being saved, but most people don't get saved the first time they hear the gospel. Now, some people do. You'll see in the book of Acts where the apostle Paul will come to a group of people. He'll preach the gospel to people who've never heard of it and there's a group that will instantly receive it, and then there's another group that will mock and scoff at it, and then there's another group that said "We will hear thee again of this matter".
There are different types of people in this world, and most people have to hear the gospel, and then they hear it again, and then a little more of the Bible, the seeds being watered, the seeds being watered. Now, he's not saved yet, but he's getting closer to getting saved. He's getting closer and closer. You know and I know if you've been saved for a long time and if you've been a soul winner, you'll have people that you're working on, and you're thinking, "You know what? I think he's getting closer to getting saved."
"I think he might get saved soon. I'm working on him. I'm working on him. Okay. I'm praying for him. Maybe I'm fasting."
"I'm preaching the Word of God to him. Maybe I'm bringing him to church every week". I mean, look. There are unsaved people who go to church.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Sometimes, you can get an unsaved person to go to church with you. I can think of people when I was a teenager that I brought to church two, three, four, five times, and they never even claimed to believe in Jesus, but they were interested. They're exploring. The seed has been planted. The seed is being watered. They're considering it. Okay?
Now, a lot of times, a person might just get stuck at this point right here because nobody is giving him the gospel. Nobody is praying for him. Nobody is watering the seed. Right? Somebody just knocked on his door and gave him the gospel again. Okay?
Look. The seed was watered. Now, he's getting closer. He's getting closer. Does everybody understand the concept here?
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Okay. Here's what's going on. The Bible says in this passage that "It's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance". What that's basically saying is ... By the way, when he's at this point, he might not yet even fully understand the gospel at this point.
For example, if you ask my wife, I gave her the gospel at least 20 times before she got saved, and she will tell you that the day that it actually clicked with her and the day that she finally understood it was the day that she got saved. She didn't quite grasped it up to that point, but she was still, she was being drawn. The seed was being watered. She was getting closer, but she didn't quite get it. She didn't comprehend it.
What the Bible is saying is that if a guy gets drawn all the way in and he gets right to this point where it's like he's face-to-face, it's like, "Here I am, buddy. You can either receive me as your Savior. You can either believe on this". I mean, he's here. He understands it. He can taste it.
He can reach out and touch it. It's right there. He comes face-to-face with it. It's not that he needs to understand something else. No, no, no.
He gets it. The seed has been watered, and watered, and watered, and it gets to a point where there's a decision that has to be made.
Church:
Right. Right.
Pastor:
At this point, if he says, "He comes face-to-face with me" ... I'm representing of course the Lord. He comes face-to-face, and he says "You know what? I know who you are. I understand what you're offering me, and you know what? I reject you", and he basically did what he just did.
He throws this down and he walks away. Okay. Now, I'm like "It's impossible for me to get this guy back to this point once he's walked away". It's like, "Woah. Where are you, buddy?" Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
Church:
Right. Yeah.
Pastor:
This is what the Bible is teaching. What the Bible is teaching is that God's long suffering. God is wanting to work with people. The first time they hear the gospel, if they walk away and don't get saved, God doesn't just say, "Oh, that's it. That was your last chance. I'm done with you".
No, no, no. He'll send somebody else.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
He'll send somebody else. He'll send another Bible verse. He'll send more preaching. He'll send another soul winner. He'll try to get them in another church service, and in another opportunity, and he keeps giving them more of a chance, but when they get to the point where they've been enlightened, they get it, they understand it, it's so close, they can taste it, and they're right there and the Holy Ghost is moving in their heart, and they just reject it and say "No. No. I'm not going to be saved", and they walk out and they don't come back, and the Bible says "The people like that, it's impossible to renew them again unto repentance".
What does it mean to renew them again unto repentance? Let's breakdown that phrase. He says "It's impossible for those who were once enlightened, verse six, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance". Now, what that means is repentance is when you change your mind about something. Right?
Basically, he chose after all that drawing, he chose to walk away. It's impossible to renew him again to repentance, meaning it's impossible to get him to change his mind and come back. If he falls away at that point, if he gets that close and then falls away, it's impossible to get him to change his mind at that point. Now, why would it be impossible to get him to change his mind at that point? It's going to be explained in the passage here.
Because you say, "Why can't we just throw him another lifeline? Why can't we just start over?" Okay. Let's hook him up to another rope. Let's start over again. Right?
Why can't we start over? Why is it impossible to renew him again to repentance? Repentance is what? Turning and changing his mind. He rejected the gospel.
He's walking away, and let's say as he's walking away, he says, "You know what? I change my mind. I'm going to start seeking the gospel again". No, no, no. It's impossible at that point for this certain group of people.
Now, we're not always going to know who these people are, but there are people out there who this applies to.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Many times, it's obvious who these people are. Sometimes it's not. The Bible says here "If they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, now he's going to explain why". Why is it impossible to renew them again unto repentance? "Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs, meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God", again referencing the Parable of the Sower in a sense there, but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned".
Here's what the Bible is saying. The Bible is saying it's impossible to renew them again to repentance because they've been rejected by God. That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing". You say "Why would Christ reject that person? Why would He reject them?
Why have they been rejected? Why are they nigh unto cursing? Why is their end to be burned?" I'll tell you exactly why. Because it is as if they crucified themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. Now, go to Matthew 27.
One of the main themes of Christ's crucifixion was the shame that He endured. The Bible says "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame". Jesus endured the cross, but Jesus despised the shame. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God. Then, he explains it further in verse three of Hebrews 12 when he says, "For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds".
Go to Matthew 27:17. "Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, 'Whom will you that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?', for he knew that for envy, they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him saying, 'Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him', but the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, 'Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you?' They said, 'Barabbas'. Pilate saith unto them, 'What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?'"
"They all say unto him, 'Let him be crucified', and the governor said, 'Why, what evil hath he done?' But they cried out the more, saying, 'Let him be crucified'. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather, a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it'. Then answered all the people, and said, 'His blood be on us, and on our children'." Now, that's pretty bad, to sit there and say, 'Crucify him. His blood be on us, and on our children'.
Church:
Yup. For sure. Right.
Pastor:
What a wicked thing to say.
Church:
Yeah. Horrible.
Pastor:
It says in verse 26, "Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers, and they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews', and they spit upon him, and they took the reed and smote him on the head, and after that, they had mocked him. They took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him." Now, that's putting Jesus to an open shame.
Church:
Yeah. Yeah.
Pastor:
Spitting on him, hitting him, making fun of him, mocking him, reviling him, saying, "Kill him. We want his blood on us and on our children". That's pretty bad.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Now, you say, "Wait a minute, Pastor Anderson. Didn't Jesus when He was hanging on the cross say, 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do'?" Yes He did, but let me tell you something. There's a difference between knowing what you do and not knowing what you do.
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Pastor:
There are some people who do know what they're doing. You know who it is that knows what they're doing? It's this guy when he's right here and he's been drawn, and drawn, and drawn, and the seed has been watered, and watered, and watered, and he's right there. This guy knows what he's doing when he rejects the Son of God.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
This guy knows what he's doing when he walks away. Paul said that he had been a blasphemer and a persecutor, and injurious. He said, "But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief".
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
You say, "The apostle Paul was really bad before he got saved", but he did it ignorantly in unbelief. He had not been enlightened. He thought he was doing God's service.
Church:
Right in this one.
Pastor:
If he would have been enlightened, the Lord's angel would have met him on the road to Damascus ad he would have heard the voice of Jesus Christ saying, "I'm Jesus whom I'm now persecuted", and then he would have walked blinded for three days to go see Ananias, and Ananias would have given him the gospel, and then he would have heard the gospel, comprehend the gospel, and rejected the gospel, then he knows what he's doing at that point if he walks away at that point. "I obtained mercy", Paul said, "Because I did it ignorantly in unbelief", but once a person gets to a point where they fully understand or fully enlightened, the Holy Ghost has been reproving them and working in them. They've tasted it, and they knowingly, willfully, brazenly reject the free gift of salvation, then God puts them in the same category as those people who said "His blood be on us and on our children". He said you're like the guy who spat in His face. You're spitting in Jesus' face if you reject the gospel at that point. It's like you're the one that took the reed out of His hand and hit Him in the head with it.
It's like you're the one who bowed the knee and mocked and said, "Hail, King of the Jews". You in your heart unto yourself are crucifying the Son of God afresh. Afresh means doing it again and putting Him to an open shame. Now, look. We know Christ only died once, and He's never going to die again.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
He doesn't keep dying over and over again. He died for our sins once, but He's unto you crucified afresh in your heart, like if you hate your brother in your heart, it says you're a murderer at that point in your heart, or if you look on a woman to lust after, you've committed adultery in your heart. These people are shaming, ridiculing, mocking, and rejecting the Lord and crucifying the Lord in their heart not unknowingly, but knowingly, but having been enlightened. Let's go to Matthew 7 while we're in Matthew anyway. Another key component of the passage at Hebrews 6 is that it says that "These people which bears thorns and briers are rejected, nigh unto cursing, and their end is to be burned".
You say, "Pastor, I think these people were saved". Hold on a second. These people bear thorns and briers, and thorns and briers cannot be born by him which is saved. Look what the Bible says in Matthew 7:15. "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, they are ravenous wolves".
Now, are these false prophets in verse 15 people who are ignorantly messed up in false doctrine like in apostle Paul? No. These people are wolves in sheep's clothing. They are pretending to be one thing, and they are something completely different on the inside, and they know it.
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Pastor:
They know they're a fraud. They know they're wicked. They know they're a wolf. They know that they've just put on a sheep's clothing. You should know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?
Does that sound familiar? Thorns and thistles? "Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire".
Go to Luke 6. Luke 6. I got to hurry. I'm running out of time. Luke 6. These people that we're talking about in Hebrews 6, they bring forth thorns and briers.
They're not a good tree. They're an evil tree. They're in the same boat with a brazen, knowing false prophet who knows that he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Luke 6:43, "For a good tree bringeth forth not corrupt fruit, neither that a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit, for every tree is known by his fruit, for of thorns, men do not gather figs, bramble bush gather they grapes." The good fruit would be grapes and figs.
What is the bad fruits? Thorns and thistles in both Matthew 7 and in Luke 6, both places. Go if you would to Jeremiah 6 in the Old Testament, and then we're going to go to Romans 1 quickly. Jeremiah 6, and then to Romans 1. What we see here is that the one who has been rejected by God, the one that is impossible to renew unto repentance, the one who is a reprobate, because reprobate is synonymous with rejected.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Don't let the word 'Reprobate' confuse you. It just means rejected.
Church:
You're right.
Pastor:
It's all it means. Very simple. This person is one who brings forth thorns and thistles, bad fruit. Remember the book of Jude when it talks about certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and he said that "These are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever", but he said, "Clouds, they are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit", meaning without legitimate fruit.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
"Twice dead, plucked up by the roots". Twice dead. "Twofold more the child of hell".
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Twice dead. Look at Jeremiah 6:30. Let's define the word 'Reprobate', and then we're going to quickly look at every mention of the word 'Reprobate' in the Bible. Don't worry. It's only mentioned a few times, but we're going to look at the definition because remember, these people who it's impossible to renew to repentance, he said, "Thou which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, his end is to be burned". Why can't they be renewed?
Why can't we throw another lifeline? Because when they get that close and rejected, it's too brazen, it's too knowing, they crucify the Son of God afresh, they put him to an open shame in their hearts, and at that point, they're rejected by the Lord. The Lord is not with them at that point. That's a scary thought to be in that position.
Church:
Yeah. Yeah.
Pastor:
Man alive. If you're here, you know what? There could be people here in this room right now that are at that point where they're actually considering getting saved, where they're thinking about being saved. Maybe you're a visitor this morning. Maybe somebody brought you, or maybe your family is just bringing you, and you're actually contemplating salvation.
You know what? You better get saved today because you don't know when it's going to be too late.
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
Look. I can name for you people where I've seen a Hebrews 6 scenario in their life. I've seen it. My parents had situations that they experienced and that I saw them experienced where they would give the gospel to someone, and they would bring that person. They had friends that they met through dirt bike riding or friends that they had met at this gathering or through sailboating or through whatever the hobby.
They met people. Right? "Hey, come to church with me". I saw all those people come to church, and then come to church the second week, come to church the third week, come to church the fourth week, and maybe on the fourth week, there's a real strong salvation sermon. There's a real strong sermon on hell.
Maybe there's some kind of an altar call. Maybe somebody took them aside and gave them the gospel clearly, and then that person rejected and said, "I'm never coming back", and that person just became more wicked and blasphemous and ungodly, and you could see that person go down the toilet spiritually. You could watch it happen in their life because they've been rejected at that point. God wasn't working in their heart anymore, so they just kept getting worse. They just kept getting more blasphemous.
Then, they get to the point where they'll say, "Bleep church", or "Bleepity bleep the Lord Jesus Christ". I mean, I'm like, "Woah. Even unsaved people normally wouldn't do that".
Church:
Right. Yeah.
Pastor:
Right? Even unsaved people would be a little fearful to just completely blaspheme Christ that you'll see these people just blaspheme at the drop of a hat.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Jeremiah 6:30 is the first mention of the word 'Reprobate' in the Bible. This is where we get a definition of the word 'Reprobate'. Verse 30, "Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them". Go to Romans 1. Let's look at the next mention.
Just a few mentions of the word 'Reprobate' to understand what he meant when he said, "That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing". I've taught on this passage many times, but I've never devoted a whole sermon to it. It deserves a whole sermon because there's a lot here.
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
There's a lot of doctrine here.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
I've touched on this in an old sermon I did a long time ago called 'Beware of the Evil Trees', and I talked about the evil trees that bring forth thorns and briers. This has been something that I've seen and observed, so this passage is one that really resonates with me. I think Hebrews 6 is an important passage. Even though it's the strong meat of the word, it doesn't mean that it's not important. I think it's very important to understand this doctrine.
Church:
Yes. Amen.
Pastor:
It's been something that's been a part of my life. Ever since I was a child, my parents taught it to me. I've watched it play out in their lives as they tried to win people to Christ. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've seen it confirmed in so many passages of scripture, but yet today, many people have no concept of what I'm teaching on this morning.
There are churches all over America. There are independent Baptist church up and down the land that don't have any concept of this. They need to get on the spiritual meat.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
It's like they're a bunch of spiritual vegetarians or something. You know what I mean? They need to get into the strong meat, because I'm telling you that there are churches all over this country that would tell you "Oh, it's never too late to get anyone saved. It's never too late".
Church:
Right. Yeah.
Pastor:
They don't even know what rep ... You'll say reprobate, and they'll say, "Literally, what's that?"
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
It's like, "Woah. This is Biblical doctrine". Now, thank God, the churches I grew up in, they all taught this. They all taught some aspect of this reprobate doctrine. Look at Romans 1:21.
Tell me if this reminds you of Hebrews 6. "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened." Now, just that verse alone, doesn't that remind you of Hebrews 6?
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
They knew God. Meaning that they were what? Enlightened, tasted. They're right there, partaker of the Holy Ghost. God's working on it.
I mean, it's not that these people just have no clue. No. They knew God.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
When they knew Him, they glorified Him not as God, became vain in their own imagination. Their foolish heart was darkened by whom? By God. It says here, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie".
I mean, these people knew the truth, and then they changed it into a lie, I mean, knowingly, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient". Now, look. This is crystal clear.
These people knew God. They knew the truth, and they willfully, brazenly rejected it, turned away from it. In fact, they're so hateful about it, they even said "We don't even want to retain God in our knowledge. I don't even want to remember that the God of the Bible even exist. I just want to just push Him out of my mind".
I mean, that's like the kind of anger that you saw in Matthew 27. "His blood be on us and on our children". I mean, it's that hateful. That's why a couple verses later, it says "These same people are haters of God". Let's look at the next mention of the word 'Reprobate' in scripture 2 Corinthians 13.
2 Corinthians 13. I want to show you all this just to show you the consistency of this doctrine in the Bible. 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13:5. The Bible reads, "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith."
"Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now, I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates". That's three back-to-back mentions of reprobates.
Let me explain to you the context of the passage. Okay? The context of the passage is the apostle Paul is angry and upset with the church of Corinth. Not everybody, but a certain faction in the church, and he says, "Look. I'm coming to get you. You guys talk real big".
If you read 2 Corinthians, the last several chapters, you'll see this is true. "You guys are talking real big. You think you're so tough. You're saying Paul is not going to come down here or you say that I talk a big talk". He says, "You know what? When I come down, it's not going to be talk. It's going to be power".
He says, "What do you want me to do? You want me to come in love or do you want me to come with a rod?" That's the context of this passage. He says "I'm coming with a rod. I'm coming to get you".
He says in 2 Corinthians 13:1, just to give you the immediate context, that's the context of what he's saying in the last few chapters, but in the immediate context here ... Give me a second to get there. He says, "This is the third time I'm coming to you", verse one. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." Look, this is confrontational.
He said, "I have a problem with you", because the two or three witnesses goes back to Jesus telling them "If you have a problem with somebody, you get the two or three witnesses". He says, "Hey, I got a problem with you, buddy. I'm coming to face you. I'm coming with a rod. I'm coming to show you guys which way is up".
Now, what does he say to these people? He says to them, "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves." He's basically doubting these people's salvation. He says "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
Here's basically what he's saying. "You guys in that church of Corinth, you guys have been there a long time. You guys have heard a lot of preaching. You've heard my preaching. You've know what the truth is. You know what the gospel is".
He says, "Either you guys are saved or you guys are reprobates".
Church:
Yup.
Pastor:
"You guys are either saved or you're reprobates", because there's no way ... Look. If somebody sat in this church for a few years, they're either saved or they're a reprobate, because think about it.
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
I mean, especially if they came here and they're going soul winning, and they're in the gospel over and over and over and over again. Paul is saying, "Look. You're probably reprobate if you're not saved because you had so much water put on you. You've been drawn, and drawn, and drawn, and drawn. You've heard the truth, heard the truth, heard the truth. That seed's been watered, and watered, and watered. Now, you guys are attacking me, a man of God, an apostle?"
He's saying, "You're throwing me under the bus? You're trying to lead people astray doctrinally?" He says, "Look. You guys are either saved or you're a reprobate".
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
He says, "I trust that you shall know that we're not reprobates". What's he trying to say? "Look. Are you saying we're a reprobate?" He says, "Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
See, if you took that verse all by itself, you could be mislead to think, "Oh, anybody who's not saved is reprobate". Wrong. He's saying, "You guys, if you're not saved or reprobate because you are key players in the Church of Corinth, you've been a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church, you have no excuse for not knowing the truth in the gospel". He says "I trust that you shall know that we are not reprobates. Now, I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that we should do that which is honest".
He says this, "Though we be as reprobates". What he's saying there, "We be as reprobates", he's saying like "You're rejecting us. You're rejecting me and Barnabas. You're treating us as reprobates", and that reprobate means what?
Church:
Rejected.
Pastor:
He's saying like, "I'm a reject to you guys apparently. I mean, I trust you know I'm not a reprobate, but you sure treated me like one because you're sure rejecting what I'm saying to you". Go if you would to 2 Timothy 3:7. 2 Timothy 3:7. I got to just go through each of these quickly because the focus this morning is Hebrews 6.
Let's move on to 2 Timothy 3. There's only two more left mentions that is. 2 Timothy 3:7, "Ever learning ..." Watch this. "Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth".
Doesn't that sound like somebody who it's impossible to renew them to repentance? "Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth, ,en of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith". Go to the last place. Titus 1, the last mention.
Titus 1. Titus 1:15, "Unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled, they professed that they know God". These people are lying. They're the wolves in sheep's clothing. They're claiming to be God's people, but they're lying false teachers if you get the context of the passage.
He said, "These people's mouths have to be stopped. They're wicked. They professed that they know God, but in works, they deny him, being abominable". Romans 1 talked about people that were pretty abominable. "Being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate".
You can see when the Bible talks about reprobates, it's people that are rejected, and it's people for whom it is too late. That's every mention. Did I miss one? I'm trying to leave no stone unturned. Let's go to Hebrews 6 now.
Read it, and pray and go home. Now that we have all the background, now that we've compared scripture with scripture, now that we understand what God is telling us, now let's just read the passage with these new teachings in mind. Not that they're new because I've been preaching this ever since I've been a preacher, but I'm saying they might be new to some people in this room. Those who've been in the church a long time, you've heard all this taught, and I've not taught anything new this morning. Those who are newer to the church, maybe you're new in the Lord, I hope that this opened your eyes to some important teaching.
Let's go to Hebrews 6 again, verse three. "And this will we do if God permit, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God, but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." What's he saying there? I don't think you guys are reprobates, because he's saying, "I think you guys are saved".
Church:
Amen.
Pastor:
Now, what's funny is that people will take this and try to twist this, and make it about saved people and say that you can lose your salvation. You know what's dumb about that? It's that how could anything be impossible for a saved person?
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
Explain that to me. How can there ever be no hope if you're saved?
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Those who are without Christ are the ones who have no hope.
Church:
Right. Amen.
Pastor:
Listen to me. If you're saved, it's never impossible for you to come back to the Lord.
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
This is not about ... Here's what's funny. These same people that say that you can lose your salvation, those same people believed that you can be like "Now, I'm saved. Now, I'm not. Now, I'm saved. Now, I'm not". They don't teach that you lose it one time and you can never come back, but they'll try to use this passage to teach you can lose it, and then turn around and say that you can come back. This said you never come back, because guess what?
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Pastor:
Some people were never saved in the first place because, look, if you're saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Church:
Amen.
Church:
Right.
Pastor:
God will never reject you. He says, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out".
Church:
That's right.
Pastor:
How could you teach a doctrine that has saved born again child of God a Christian could ever be rejected? No, because I'm telling you, it's never too late for you if you're saved.
Church:
Amen. Amen.
Pastor:
If you're saved, if you're a believer, and again, all it means to be saved is that you've put all your faith in Jesus, not the trial size or the sample pack, but if you've put all your faith in Jesus, let me tell you something. You put all your spiritual faith, you put everything down on Jesus, let me tell you this. I don't care how many sins you commit after you're saved. I don't care how long you spend out of church, out in the world, out being a fool. Listen to me. You can come back anytime.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
You can always come back. Remember the story of The Prodigal Son? What's that story about? It's about a child of the father who goes out, wastes his life, hanging with harlots, hanging with the world, blowing his money, partying, and he comes back and he's welcome. He's welcome because Jesus is always ready to welcome you back to church, welcome you back to the fold, welcome you back to serving the Lord. You can always get back up and dust it off and do it again.
It says "A just man falls seven times and rises up again". If you're saved, it's never too late for you, unless God is so disgusted by what you're doing that He actually ends your life, obviously, when your life is over, but you're in heaven at that point. You just lost your rewards. Okay. If you're on this earth and you're breathing air, it's not too late for you to come back and be used by God and come back and get in church, and God's not going to reject you and turn you away.
Let me say this. That's not the way it is with unsaved people. Oh no. With unsaved people, the clock is ticking. The chances are running out.
Seek the Lord while He may be found. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Don't just say "Oh, I'll do it on my deathbed". Oh yeah? You might go through Hebrews 6 before your deathbed.
Church:
Right.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
On your deathbed, it'll be impossible to renew you to repentance. You might be a reprobate by then. Being a reprobate is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone.
Church:
That's right.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Not only will you go to hell if you're a reprobate because you can never be believe on Christ because your mind is dark, and the Bible says "They could not believe because God blinded their eyes". Not only could you never be saved if you're a reprobate. God gives you over to vile affections on this earth so you end up living a disgusting life on this earth. Your life becomes like a living hell.
Church:
Yeah. Right.
Pastor:
Your life is a living hell, and then you go to the literal hell. That's what it means to be a reprobate, friend.
Church:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Pastor:
It's the worst thing that could happen to anyone.
Church:
Yeah.
Pastor:
Beloved, we're persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, thou we thus speak.
Church:
Amen. Yeah.
Pastor:
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank You so much, Lord for just illuminating this scripture to us this morning. Lord, I feel like Your Spirit really opened things up this morning in the sermon. I feel like there's a spirit of understanding in our church right now, that the scripture came clear. For many people, I know many people already understood it, but, Lord, it's a tough passage.
Lord, I don't fault anybody who doesn't understand this or didn't understand it because it is a tough passage, Lord, but thank You for making it easy for us this morning by providing other scriptures, Lord to illuminate. We thank You for your Word, and we thank You that we're on the right side of things, Lord, those of us who believed on Christ. I pray that if there's anybody here who's not saved, Lord, that they would be saved before it's eternally too late, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
