The Gathering Surf City

We are still in Hebrews,

and we have now finally arrived at one
of the most controversial texts in

all of the New Testament.

And so I'm going to assure you now,

since I am not the brightest candle
in the candelabra there,

that I'm probably not going to give you
the decidedly all knowing answer

to the questions this morning.

All right,

I'm just going to go ahead
and warn you of that.

There are about four different
ways to look at this thing.

And today,

more than any other day,

I got more handwritten notes on
my notes than I normally do.

So I got to go fast,

and y'all got to listen fast.

So here we go.

We are still talking about
the object of our faith,

which is Jesus himself.

Jesus is the object of our faith.

He is the object of faith.

And the book of Hebrews is the book
that ties the Old Testament to the

New Testament,

and it brings out all of God's provision
and preparation together with

the fulfillment in Jesus Christ in the
book of Hebrews is kind of what is

the binder that holds
both books together.

And so as we read,

we are going to read Hebrews,

chapter six,

verses one through eight.

And here we go.

Therefore, let us leave the elementary
teaching about Christ and go on to

maturity, not laying again a foundation
of repentance from dead works,

faith in God,

teaching about ritual washings,

laying on of hands,

the resurrection of the dead,

and eternal judgment.

And we will do this if God permits.

For it is impossible to renew to
repentance those who were once

enlightened, who tasted
the heavenly gift,

who shared in the Holy spirit,

who tasted God's good word and
the powers of the coming age,

and who have fallen away.

This is because to their own harm,

they are recrucifying the Son of God
and holding him up to contempt for

the ground that drinks the rain that
often falls on it and that produces

vegetation useful to those for
whom it is cultivated,

receives a blessing from God.

But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

it is worthless and about to be cursed
and at the end will be burned.

Let's pray.

God, thank you for your word.

Thank you that you've spoken,

God, that's the first truth
we pulled out of hebrews,

is that you have spoken and you've
spoken through your son Jesus.

And God,

I thank you,

God, that your word is clear.

Our understanding not always is.

And so,

God, my prayer this morning is
that we would hear from you,

that we'd hear your voice,

we'd understand that which you
would say to us today,

and that God we'd get that better
glimpse of who you are,

God, so that we might walk
with you before you,

that we might be your children,

that, God,

you would be our heavenly daddy.

And we draw near,

and we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. Alrighty.

So when I read this passage,

the point that kind of
came out to me was,

is the verse down there toward
the end where it says,

for the ground that drinks the rain,

that often falls on it,

and that produces vegetation,

useful to those for whom
it is cultivated,

receives a blessing from God.

But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

it is worthless and about
to be cursed,

and at the end will be burned.

Reminded me of a parable that Jesus
taught us about the Sower.

That the sower came out
and was sowing seed,

the word of God,

the gospel,

the good news.

And. And some of the seed
fell on the road,

and some fell by the
road in the rocks.

Some fell among the thorns,

and some fell on good ground,

and that some.

The seed on the road just got
picked up by the birds.

Immediately, the seed that fell by the
road into the rocks got a little

bit of growth,

but then it.

Just because it had no root,

no depth of root,

it dried up.

And then the thorns of the world choked
out the seed that fell among the

thorns. But the seed that fell among
the good ground produced fruit 30,

60, 9000 times.

All that stuff.

You know,

the story,

the parable,

it's in two of the gospel accounts.

And so when I read verses
seven and eight,

I started thinking,

all right,

so let's put this text in context
with the book of Hebrews,

the writer of Hebrews.

And again,

some of you know who it is,

or at least have a conviction
of who it is.

Other scholars do not,

and I'm not sure that we do know.

But I will say this.

The writer is communicating
to an audience,

and he knows who his audience is,

and he's communicating the truths that
that audience needs to hear.

And then that is written and
given to us by the author,

who is God himself and is passed down
to us in 2024 so that we can get an

understanding of what God
wants to say to us.

Many of the believers that hear this
whole text of the book of Hebrews

are former practicers of Judaism.

They're probably,

the majority of them are hebrew people
that have trusted Jesus,

have received salvation through the
shed blood of Jesus Christ.

And yet the challenges of the faith
in that time period was that they

wanted to turn around and go back.

I want to go back to Judaism because
it was very rigid and it was very

fixed. And as long as
I dot this sign,

as long as I cross that t,

then, then I'm good.

You know,

as long as I follow the rules,

I'm good.

And yet,

what we've learned in this
is that God speaks.

God has spoken through Jesus.

Jesus is the son.

Jesus is the heir of all things.

Jesus is creator,

he is sustainer.

He is the,

the exact expression of
the essence of God.

He is the radiance of God's glory.

He is the king.

He is the high priest.

And we're in the section where we're
understanding how much higher the

priesthood of Christ is over any other
priesthood that has preceded

Jesus. So Jesus is proclaimed the high
priest who brings the sacrifice

once for all.

Because, remember,

the Old Testament sacrifice was every
year we got to do the day of

atonement.

Every year we've got to do the regular
ritual things of Judaism.

But Jesus is the once for all sacrifice
for the sin of mankind,

for the sin of the world.

That's why this whole passage
opens up with this thought.

Therefore, let us leave the
elementary teachings.

Now, that doesn't mean
bad teachings,

doesn't mean wrong teachings.

It just means the first teachings,

the basic teachings,

the foundational ideas that once we've
trusted and received salvation

provided in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ,

we don't have to keep going back and
making sure that we've received

that. You see,

once you know Jesus right,

once you've been adopted by God as,

as our heavenly Father,

then you're a part of the family.

And I'm going to go ahead and tell
you the overwhelming evidence of

scripture is that what God does,

we can't undo.

Okay? When God works,

you're not strong enough,

you're not powerful enough
to undo what God does.

So what we see throughout scripture
is this assurance of what God has

provided in salvation.

And then you get a verse like
this or a passage like this,

and it's one of the passage
in hebrews ten.

Sort of is a corollary
to this right here.

But the point is,

is that God's the one who saves us.

And if you can unsave you,

that means you're stronger than God.

Raise your hand if you are.

I didn't think so.

You're not.

Okay, so I'm going to kind of make my
way through this text and try to

point it out.

I can't follow my notes
because I got too many.

All right,

let me remind you of
a couple of things.

Matthew 20 413 says,

those who endure will be saved.

So there is this encouragement that
we persevere in our faith.

Okay? Those who endure will be saved.

I want to reflect on another
passage from one John.

Oh, man.

One John,

chapter two,

when John says,

there are those who
went out from us,

but they were not of us.

Okay? So there were people
in the body of Christ.

When John was one of the elders and
one of the leaders of the body of

Christ, there were people
who left the body,

but they were not actually
a part of the body.

Okay? So there's some things
here that we draw in.

So I want to remind you that of the
things we've learned in Hebrews,

I listed them.

All right,

son.

Air, creator,

sustainer, radiance of God's glory,

exact expression of the
essence of God.

Jesus is God.

He is king,

he is the highest priest,

all of those things.

But there are also the fore warnings
that we've talked about.

The first one was a warning
not to drift away,

right?

And I talked about surfing that day.

Second warning is the warning
against unbelief,

as in the days of the rebellion.

Now, the context is the hebrew people
and what God has done on behalf of

the hebrew people,

right? So the days of the rebellion,

being in the wilderness,

when they had seen God work,

when they had experienced the spirit
of God moving them through the

wilderness, the pillar
of fire and the.

And the cloud,

by day,

God had worked.

They had seen the spirit of God,

they had heard the word of God.

They had heard all those things.

That's the context for this
passage right here.

They had presence of the fellowship.

And when God said,

go, take the land,

they said,

no, we want to go back to Egypt.

So you see the context there.

All right,

all right.

So the third warning,

which is right here in chapter six,

is the warning against apostasy.

What that means is to
reject the faith.

To reject the faith,

to have been made aware of,

enlightened in a sense.

See, because we're going
to get into that.

For it is impossible to renew,

to repentance those who
were once enlightened.

Now, in this context,

the greek philosophy and
all that sort of thing,

enlightenment is a reference to a knowledge
to come to an awareness of

something. And just going,

I don't believe that.

I don't think that's true.

See, those who have
been enlightened,

those who have tasted
the heavenly gift,

what does that mean when
you say the word taste?

What do you think?

See, it's Sunday morning.

Y'all already looking
forward to lunch,

aren't you?

Well, the idea of tasted the
gift of God from heaven.

This idea that God's people
in the wilderness,

they literally tasted
the gift of God.

The manna on the ground,

the quail flying through the water,

out of the rock.

You see,

there was a literal tasting there.

See, who've shared in the Holy spirit
the fact that they're in the

presence of God at work
among his people.

They shared the benefits of the spirit
of God at work among the people.

You see.

They shared that goes on to say,

who tasted God's good word.

See, Moses is delivering
God's word to them.

And they had shared in that,

you see,

and the powers of the coming age.

What is he saying?

That's the reference to the future,

what God has directed for the future.

So we get this picture in the context
of the writer of Hebrews,

the author of scripture,

which is God himself,

inspiring these words to encourage
people to be careful,

beware. There is a warning here,

folks. There's a warning here that what
I put in the context of what I

refer to as churchianity,

there are people who sit in churches
every Sunday morning who hear the

word of God,

who see the work of God's spirit,

who see the goodness of God and
taste the goodness of God,

and who walk away and go,

I don't want that.

What does that mean?

Does that mean they've really,

truly, genuinely trusted
Jesus for salvation?

All right,

so the last warning we'll get to later
in Hebrews is just the outright

rejection of God.

So elementary teachings does
not refer to bad teaching.

It just refers to the
elementary stages,

not the mature stages,

because this is an encouragement
to maturity.

So when we look at this,

this idea of when it says repentance
from dead works,

what is he talking about?

He's not talking about the
Old Testament practice.

What he's talking about is people who
think they can earn their way into

heaven. You think you can be good
enough to get to heaven?

No. So it doesn't matter
how hard you work,

just try to earn heaven.

You're not going to earn it.

Okay? That's what he's referring to
as the dead works right there.

Faith in God.

So our elementary trust,

belief, our faith in God,

what is that?

That's getting the knowledge right.

That's believing,

which believing in the context of scripture
means putting your full

trust, everything that you are,

your identity in the person
and work of Jesus Christ,

committing to it,

meaning, this is my life.

And finding the hope that
we have in God.

You see,

that's what he's referring
to right there.

Ritual washings.

Now, see what they're coming.

The hebrew people are
coming out of this,

this thing where they got to continually
be washing ceremonially,

washing their hands and doing the washings
and the ritual washings that

he's talking about.

They're laying on of hands,

this idea of passing something
on by the laying of hands.

And we see it in a couple of different
ways in the Old Testament and the

new. But the idea is that these are the
things that once you are in the

faith. And I'll go on and say,

in the resurrection of the dead,

right, eternal judgment.

See, Christ is the first resurrection
of the dead,

and yet we get to be the promise
of the following resurrection.

And the truth is,

eternal judgment is we're all going
to stand before judgment.

Some of us are going to
be seen in Christ,

some are not.

So when I look at all
of this together,

I see the parable of the soils,

or the parable of the sower that's
found in Matthew 13.

The seed is the word of the kingdom.

The road is no understanding at all.

The rocks are those that have a
sort of immediate instant joy,

but there's no root.

The thorns are the ones
that root grow,

and then the concerns and distractions
of the world choke it out.

But then there is good soil where the
seed goes in and roots plants,

and is real and produces fruit
in multiplication.

So here's the challenge for us.

What is it that.

How do we read this?

For it is impossible to renew,

to repentance.

Those who were once enlightened
tasted the heavenly gift,

shared the Holy Spirit,

tasted God's good word,

the powers of the coming age
and have fallen away.

What's that a reference to?

All right,

so there's four ways you
can understand this.

You ready?

Now, this is where I'm not going to
tell you what you have to believe.

Cause that ain't my job.

All right,

I'm gonna get to the end of it,

and I'm gonna tell you
what I believe.

And you can either go along
with me or not.

You're not gonna hurt my
feelings either way.

So, one,

the first understanding is that you can
be saved and then not be saved,

right? If that is your understanding
of what this says right here,

then guess what?

There is a lot of theology and a lot of
groups out there that believe you

can lose your salvation.

Well, if that's true,

then there is no possible way
that you can be saved,

be lost,

and then be saved again,

according to that one sentence,

no way.

And yet,

I know people who tell me,

say, oh,

I've been saved several times.

Well, not according to that verse,

you're not.

Okay, so if you believe there is
a place where you can truly,

genuinely be saved and then be lost,

then according to what that is saying
in that interpretation of it,

then you cannot be saved again
because then you would be.

You would have to re.

Jesus would have to come back down here
and get crucified all over again.

And we know that's not happening.

Right? All right,

second understanding.

Now, I'm gonna tell y'all
something I'm on.

Cause I did this this week.

You can go to YouTube and find some.

Some really strong conviction people
who believe any one of all four of

these. These views.

And, man,

they sound good.

They're sitting in front of
a well lighted camera,

right? And they're.

And I go,

and the second view is,

is that this is not a reference
to losing your salvation.

This is a reference to bad behavior which
causes you to lose your rewards

in heaven,

that you lose some sort of blessing
because you were not completely

faithful to your faith.

Right.

All right,

that's one and two.

Third one is this is a hypothetical
statement or rhetorical statement

saying if it is possible
to fall away,

then it is impossible to renew,

to repentance.

Now, I will tell you that most of the
guys that I really like listening

to and reading and studying
actually believe this one.

They believe that the writer of Hebrews
is setting up an impossible

question, saying that if
it were impossible,

if it were possible to be unsaved,

then it is impossible for them to
repent because Jesus can't be

recrucified. That's that hypothetical
rhetorical empire.

They call it something.

It's something Latin,

something absurd that he's making
an absurd statement right there.

Then the fourth one is this is that these
people are like those folks in

one john,

chapter two.

They were with us.

They were among us.

They looked like us.

They were a part of everything
that we are,

and they left here.

But what we realized because they didn't
endure was that they weren't

real. They were fakers.

They were false in their belief.

Now, I can find evidence for both three
and four in these arguments.

I have always said that a person who
would turn away from Jesus never

really knew Jesus.

Okay? That's always
been my statement,

because I don't believe I can undo
what God's done in salvation.

And secondly,

if I really,

truly know Jesus,

I'd have to be insane to
walk away from Jesus.

Okay? So I tend to lean
into the fourth one,

but can see the case
for the third one,

that if Christ in all of scripture,

neither height nor depth nor any other
thing can separate me from the

love of God.

That at my salvation I'm written
in the palm of God's hand,

that my name is written down.

You know,

this was.

And I used to do this with people
because I love the absurd.

All right.

I said,

all right.

You know,

God's got the book of life
up there in heaven,

and I receive Christ and trust
Jesus as my lord and savior,

and God writes my name down in
the lamb's book of life,

right?

And then I decide and
understand this.

This idea of falling
away is not casual.

It's not some accidental walking
away from the faith,

right? Oh,

I said a four letter word.

I must be lost again.

Oh, I treated somebody poorly.

I must be lost again.

That's not what this
is a reference to.

This is a reference to having an awareness
of who God is and what God has

done, and saying,

I don't want that apostasy
rejecting the faith.

But I used to tell people,

once God's written your name down there
and you decide to go do something

else, what did you do?

Oh, excuse me.

Sorry. In the character of God,

I just see that as ridiculous.

I see the assurance of God working in
our lives to produce our salvation.

He's the one that saves us.

The evidence of that
salvation is fruit.

30, 60,

90 times and enduring unto the end.

Perseverance, not falling back.

Because quite honestly,

folks, if the first one is true,

that you can be saved and
then lost without the.

Without the possibility
of repentance,

that can be frightening,

right? Well,

it is frightening because
this warning is in here.

So I'm not saying it's
not a warning.

It is a warning.

So if you're sitting in
here this morning,

right, the parable that goes hand
in hand with the soils seed.

30, 60,

90. Right?

After that,

in Matthew comes the parable of the wheat
and the tares that it grows up

together. The weeds grow
up with the wheat,

and you can't tell them apart,

but one of them produces fruit
and the other one does not.

Folks, you know what
this warning is,

and I'll go ahead and
finish out the text.

They've tasted everything
fallen away.

This is because to their own harm,

they are recrucifying the son of God
and holding him to contempt.

Listen to this.

For the ground that drinks the rain,

that often falls on it,

and that produces vegetation,

useful, produces fruit to those
for whom it is cultivated,

receive the blessing of God.

But if it produces thorns
and thistles,

it is worthless and about to be cursed
and at the end will be burned.

There is a warning in this text,

folks, where you choose to fall out,

guess what?

The gathering is made up of all kind
of folks from all kind of different

backgrounds. I grew up in a really,

really, really baptist
house in a really,

really baptist church,

and I was always subjected
to that phrase,

once saved.

Always say that just means you
can act any way you want to.

Well, no,

that's not what it means at all.

What it means is if you know Jesus,

you'll act like you know Jesus and
fruit will be seen in your life.

Okay? And if God has genuinely
and truly saved you,

you can't unsave yourself,

okay? You can't undo what God does.

So, folks,

our effort,

our energy has to be applied
to the fruit.

You're not going to work your
way into salvation,

but with God pouring into you,

let your effort be the fruit in your
life to let God produce fruit in

you. Okay?

Whew. I'm glad that's over
because every scholar,

every preacher I listened to over
the last three or four weeks,

everything I saw in this,

they say this is one of the most controversial
texts in all the New

Testament. Okay.

All right.

Do you know Jesus?

This morning?

See if you know Jesus.

Hey, you know what?

That's the identity,

not something that the
world assigns,

not the distraction of the world.

If you know Jesus,

then draw near every chance you get,

every opportunity you find,

draw near to God.

I told y'all,

I got saved when I was
eight years old.

My mama led me through scripture.

I prayed.

I said,

yes, God,

please forgive me for my sins.

Jesus, come into my life and save
me and help me to live for you.

Now can I just tell y'all,

I was a teenager.

I did teenager stuff.

I went to my first two years of college
acting like a look and see if

there's any children in the
room acting like an idiot.

College, just to be honest.

But in my second year of college,

God said to me,

my way or the highway.

Guess what I realized
in that moment?

God had never turned loose of me.

God had never released me.

God had never kicked me
out for my behavior.

Okay? He was always
holding on to me.

Those who endure to the end will
be those who are saved.

Okay, we're going to
sing one more song.

You get to respond to the word
of God because by all means,

you're not responding to me.

You respond to what God has
said to you this morning.

And if you know Jesus,

yay. If you don't know Jesus,

we want to introduce you.

Okay?

Let's pray.

God, thank you for today and
for all that you do.

Thank you for loving us.

Thank you for your word.

God, you've spoken,

and I can see where lots of people can
have well intentioned ideas about

these things.

But, God,

your word teaches us over and over again
that you are faithful and true.

And, God,

you're the one who begins
a good work in us,

and you will bring it through
to completion.

So, God,

just continue to work in me.

Continue to work in us.

God, continue to draw us near.

And God,

help us to draw near to you.

And if there's even one person here
this morning that doesn't know,

isn't sure,

God, I pray that we would know that
we know that we know that we have

eternal life,

and we pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.