Hebrews 6: “Show this Same Diligence”

April 20, 2008

 

There is a time in our lives when we want to be more “grown up” and the words, “My, look how big you are getting” are received as a genuine compliment. A yearly ritual that marked that time in many of our lives was that special wall where every year we saw how much taller we had grown.  Depending on how long we lived in one house and how many siblings we had, one of our greatest joys or darkest moments of dejection came when the magic pencil compared us to everyone else at the same age. This yearly “measuring up” served as an important rite of passage.

 

Unfortunately in the church, many of us struggle because the church in which we worship fails to provide a similar measuring wall. We worship year after year without a visual reminder of our growth in the faith. Then, when the tempter comes and challenges the reality of our faith, self doubt and incrimination often follow. When challenged to demonstrate the validity of our faith, we can lack either the ability to put our faith standing into words or a litany of stories to counter our detractor.

 

In this concluding chapter of our four-week study of Hebrews, our author provides such a measuring wall. I would like for each of us to spend this morning taking the little test our author provides for us in Hebrews 6.  The test has two parts; both are important.

 

Hebrews 6:1-6 provides the first test. We can call this the “How to Know You Are Saved” Test. Let’s read the verses which outline the criteria we need to meet to have this assurance. “

 

“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

 

In this passage our author lists four criteria by which we know we have been saved.  The first is summarized by the phrase, “those who have once been enlightened.”  This enlightening refers to our salvation experience, that time in our lives when the teachings of Scripture began to make sense to us, when we felt that the Bible was written to us. It also refers to the time when God spoke our name, calling us to Him. Some, especially those who grow up in the church, cannot remember the first time this occurred. Remembering the first time is not as important as knowing that these experiences are happening today. These experiences are inward and personal experiences and are one of the reasons why we cannot accurately judge the validity of another’s faith.  But this morning, we need to ask ourselves, “Does the Bible speak to me?  Does it provide the standards by which I live? Have there been times when I felt, believed, or thought God spoke to me?”

 

The second criterion is summarized in the phrase, “who have tasted the heavenly gift.” Notice the importance of our senses as we go through these criteria. The most important heavenly gifts we need to have experienced this morning are the grace and mercy that enable the forgiveness of our sins. God provides comfort, strength, encouragement, and even His intervention in the events of our lives to allow us to know His fatherly care.  When we come to the altar and receive the communion emblems we are literally tasting that which symbolizes our faith in His daily provision. That is why we need to examine ourselves before we come.

 

The third criterion is the reality of the Holy Spirit living in us.  Our author calls it “sharing in the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit as a pledge or guarantee of the ultimate reality we will one day experience when we die to this world and live with Him in a new way. The Holy Spirit is the physical and spiritual reality by which we are empowered to live triumphantly in this world. He carries our prayers to the Father and returns with our answers; He is our true conscience helping us make wise decisions; He is our constant friend and companion as we journey this earth.

 

He is also that which enables us to experience the fourth criterion: to be one of those who “have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age.”  The realities and powers of eternity are available to us right now.  We have everything we need right now, it is at our disposal, enabling us to overcome sin and temptation in any and every situation we face.

 

The author of Hebrews says that if we have experienced these four things in our lives, in even the smallest of ways, we can know we are saved.  If we have ever read Scripture and had it speak to our hearts or to the situations we face in our lives, we are saved.  If we have listened to the quiet voice and turned one way or another and found peace or success, we can know we are saved.  If we have found the strength, even once, to resist temptation and stand tall in our faith, we can know we are saved.

 

Having passed this test, we move onto the next test.  This test is not so easy to pass and is the test that most needs the “measuring wall.”  We can call this the “How to Know You Are Growing” Test.  Hebrews 6:7-12 provides the rest of the Scriptural truth we need to pass this test.

 

“Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

 

In this passage our author lists five criteria by which we know we are growing.  The first two criteria can be summarized under the heading of “bearing fruit.”  Love is he heart condition that leads to the good works we do. Our author compares our lives to land that has been plowed, cultivated, seeded, and watered. Everything that needs to be and can be done to produce a crop has been done when we are saved.  If our salvation is real, we will get involved in other people’s lives in a positive way.  Our lives will make a difference in the lives of those with whom we get involved.

 

The next three criteria help us understand what motivates and drives us on.  Listen to these three phrases again: “we want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end;” “we do not want you to become lazy;” and “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”  All three of these speak to the fact that perseverance, endurance, the courage to stand, and a life of consistent self-control are the keys to our growth in salvation.  God through Jesus has done the rest.  He has given us every chance to succeed. What He requires of us, what only we can do, is stand firm in our faith, maintain our daily disciplines, and have the daily desire to grow.  We must daily, even moment by moment, yield our wills to His. Although we do everything we do in His strength and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we must ask for His intervention in the situations of our lives.  He will not unless we ask.  He tells us we do not have because we do not ask. 

 

Our faith is our profession in both meanings of the word.  We are saved because we profess Jesus as our Savior and Lord and accept the gifts He offers us.  We grow in our salvation because it is our job, our profession. We must be professionals in the way we live each day. When we wake up, we report for duty.  We get our next order and we carry it out under the banner and in the power of our Lord’s Name. We must examine ourselves again. Do the Bible and our Lord speak to us regularly? Is the Holy Spirit an important part of our lives?  Have we experienced the Heavenly power as we face temptations and the trials of this life? All of these are signs that we have received the gift of salvation.  We must also examine what we have done with the gifts we have received.  Do love and “fruit bearing” encounters follow our involvement in the lives of others?  Even though there may be times of struggles, do we want to come to church and give encouragement to others?  Is live exciting and full of potential ways to serve our risen Lord?  Do we continue to find the strength to overcome sin?  Is what was once true of us in a negative way, no longer or even less true of us today?  Do we love God and the lives we are living with Him? Is the thought of living life any other way the furthest thing from our minds?