Sermons

Hebrews 5:11-6:20 - Persevering in Faith to the End

May 26, 2013 Speaker: Dick Bowser Series: Hebrews

Topic: Sunday Worship Passage: Hebrews 5:11–6:20

 

Hebrews 5:11- 6:20

Persevering In Faith to the End

Grace Presbyterian Church, Fuquay-Varina, NC

May 26, 2013

I. Preliminary matters

For those who have a call to preach, it is a difficult thing and awesome responsibility. The work is to bring the word of God to the people of God as a way by which God will care for His people – More about that later. The weight of the burden, no doubt, is felt during the whole period of preparation. But, I am told, by those who have this calling, it is never more acutely felt than when one steps to the pulpit. I can testify as one who does not have that calling, that all the weight and the awesomeness of the responsibility is just as intense, maybe even more so. I can also testify to this - that the weight is for me no more intensely felt than coming up those stairs. Which reminds me of this, if any of you ever travel to Savannah, Ga and are there on the Lord’s day, I commend to you Independent Presbyterian Church (something of an oxymoron – no more on that later). The church itself dates to the middle of the 18th century. It was populated by early Scottish immigrants. The current building dates to the turn of the 20th century. The previous two having been destroyed by fire. In good Scottish Presbyterian order, the pulpit is in the center of the worship area, and elevated, not a few steps but - nearly at the level of the balcony. To preach in that pulpit one must ascend an entire flight of stairs. The Scots used that type of architecture to communicate visually to the congregation that the word was always to be at the center of their lives and that they were always to live under the Word. I wonder if they also raise the pulpit so high to impress upon those who would preach to the people the weight of the task. Let me say, I am thankful today that we have only two steps. I could not have borne the weight of a whole flight.

B. What makes the common weight of this task, even somewhat heavier, at least for me, is the text to which we come. This is by some accounts one of the most difficult texts to parse in NT. For that reason, it is one of the more controversial texts in the NT. But we come to it none-the less and humble ourselves before it knowing that it is profitable for God’s people because the Spirit has given it to us and in it our Savior is lifted up.

[Read the text: Hebrews 5:11-6:20]

II. Expositional Beginnings

As I read the text, I suspect that you noticed a number of things that are difficult to understand. Why the teacher-student metaphor? Why the use of the language of infant and mature? What are the basic principles of the oracles of God? What does it mean to be unskilled in the word of righteousness? And those questions only get us to verse 13! Interestingly, to me is this, because we know that the author has no desire to be mysterious, but rather wants to communicate clearly, what we count as questions really makes it clear that this is a letter from a pastor to his close friends. It seems, since these matters are left unexplained, that both the author and audience know well what is being communicated. We on the other hand, who are not privy to all of their context and conversations, count them as mysterious and find it more difficult to understand. So we are God-appointed overhearers of this very personal communication from the Pastor to his congregation.

What we do know, what we can clearly see, is that this section is an extended, but very purposeful, parenthesis. The parenthetic nature is seen by the bracketing language of Melchizadek in 5:11 and in 6:20. The Pastor has begun to make the point that in His life and death, Jesus fulfilled the Aaronic priesthood, by offering himself once for all to make a full and perfect atonement for the sins of His people. And in His resurrection, He assumed the character in which Melchizedek foreshadowed Him—a royal Priest – who having made propitiation for sin sat down at the right hand of God. This Priestly King, Jesus, now rules and communicates to his people the benefits of the Kingdom that He has won for them by His obedience.

The pastor will have much more to say about this. Chapters 7, 8, 9 and10 continue to develop this idea. And in the pastor’s judgment, the congregation very much needed to hear this word and so, it appears, he pauses before he goes on to say more about Jesus as this kingly priest, so that they will hear this word. As he pauses, he rebukes them and he warns them and he exhorts them to persevere in faith, to hold fast to their confession, to believe that in life and in death, they can entrust themselves to Jesus, their faithful champion, their faithful king, their faithful priest, who has gone before them – passing from humiliation unto glory.

So if the first thing that we can say about this section is that it is a purposeful pause (or parenthesis), the second thing that I think we can say is this, the literary center of this parenthesis is the grave warning in 6:4-8. So that’s where we will look first.

III. The Warning:

The controversies abound when it comes to these verses, but the controversies boil down to two questions: (1) Who is being described? And (2) What does it mean that it is impossible to restore them again unto repentance?

As to the first of these two questions, we ask - Are those who have “once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come” those who were once believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have now fallen away and who have now repudiated the Lord Jesus, treating now the one in whom they trusted contemptuously? OR

Are the individuals whom the writer describes, those who were once part of the visible church, who have professed faith in Christ, who saw the benefits of the age to come and experienced them in very real ways, but who never actually entrusted themselves to Jesus, and who have now given themselves outwardly to some other hope and have walked away from the church?

Without trying to address it fully, it seems that the better answer is that the author has in view those who have at one time professed faith in Christ and joined with the visible body of Christ, and witnessed up close the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but who never actually entrusted themselves to Jesus. Here are three reasons why I think that that is the better way to understand this section.

First, it is important to recognize that while these folks are described as educated (enlightened) ones, sharers in good things (holy things), tasters of the powers of the age to come, they are never described by the writer as those who once had faith in, or who once held fast to, Jesus. They certainly saw a great deal of the evidence of, and gained a great advantage by being close to, the saving work of Christ, but they are not described as those who embraced Jesus or clung to Him as their very own savior.

The second reason for seeing those described in the warning as professor, but not believers is this - The pastor seems to be drawing once again on the history of Israel as they left Egypt and were headed to the land of the promise. Like the folks mentioned here, those Israelites saw the glories of God revealed; they were instructed in God’s word; and they in a very literal sense, “tasted the goodness of God.” They even made affirmations of trusting in the promises of the Lord. And yet, they did not trust the One who promised and would be faithful. We heard anticipations of that repeatedly throughout their time in the wilderness – why did you bring us out here to die, they would say to the Lord - but their lack of faith became irrefutably evidenced when they said, the Lord cannot give us that land. He will not keep His promise. It was evident then that their unbelieving hearts had not been changed by seeing the mercies of God, but sadly hardened by witnessing them.

Lastly, it’s best to see those in view in these verses as those who have experienced much but who have not trusted in Christ, because the rest of the NT makes clear that those who by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit belong to Christ, God will by the continuous work of the Holy Spirit bring those, though weak and frail and without merit in themselves, to the end in faith. Philippians 1:6 “ he who has begun a good work in you will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” You see salvation from its beginning to its end depends on the free and unchangeable love of God and the all-sufficient merit of Jesus. If it depends upon anything, Christ would have died in vain. But He did not die in vain. As Jesus said, 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand., John 10:28-29

So it appears that those of which the warning speaks are those who profess faith, but never believed in Jesus. We move then to the second of the two questions: What does it mean to be unable to be restored unto repentance? Like the first question, there is much disagreement. However, it seems that the writer is simply stating that for those who persist in unbelief, there is no hope of salvation. The historical evidence seems to indicate that “repentance” was in the first century used by Jews as a synonym for salvation. This audience of Hebrews would have known that. They would have used that term themselves, no doubt. If that is the case, then those who are described here as crucifying again the Son of God and holding him up for contempt are those who are engaged in full-fledged rejection of Jesus, the Only Savior, the Only name by which anyone will be saved and as such they cannot, they will not, be saved – or in the Jewish idiom – there is no restoration to repentance for them. Remember again the imagery of Sinai, the choice was to believe God’s Promise and go into the land or die in the desert. Rejecting the promise meant death in the desert. Likewise, there is no salvation for those who reject the Lord’s anointed. Judgment will be the final word – in the imagery of the writer to the Hebrews – those who reject the Lord’s Anointed are like land that produces nothing, the only end “is to be burned.” (v.8). That is a most sever, but most true, warning to those who profess but do not trust at all in Jesus.

But if that is the warning, then why does the Pastor give that to his friends? It would seem that the easy answer is that he thinks them to be mere professors, but not believers. However, the evidence points in the opposite direction. It’s true that the Pastor describes the recipients of this “sermon – letter” as those who are “dull of hearing (5:11)”, those who are acting like infants (5:12-13), those who are unskilled in discerning that which is true (5:13-14) and those who are prone to be “sluggish” (6:12). However, at the same time, these same folks are those of whom the pastor is sure of better things, of things belonging to salvation (6:9). They have shown a love for Jesus and a care for the saints (6:10). To such people as this, why address such a warning about professing without believing?

I think that the answer is this - because the Pastor believes that the grace of faith, which Jesus as its author has worked in his friends and as its perfecter continues to work in his friends, will use this threatening word of warning to cause them to entrust themselves to Jesus all the more. While the congregation had been tempted by their circumstances to shrink back from Christ and to look back to their old life under the old covenant for comfort in this world and the next (that’s really the point of 5:11- 6:2), the Pastor was confident in this, that to those who belong to Christ even if they are beset by sin and temptation and doubt, they will, by the work of the Spirit, when they hear such a warning (and they will always, ultimately hear their shepherd’s voice) will say, “Lord, may it never be true of me.” Those in whom Jesus has authored faith, will say “O Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” When such a warning comes, by the grace of God and the faithfulness of the Father to the Son, those who belong to the Son will come again to the only one who has the words of life. If they love Jesus at all, that is a work of Spirit, and that same Spirit when such a warning is heard, will cause believers to lean into the Son and find again and again and again that their only true comfort in body and soul and in life and in death is that they belong to a faithful savior who has given himself up for them and that Savior’s name is Jesus.

Likewise, for us as God-appointed overhearers, we should hear this warning. For those who have never trusted in Christ, this warning, strangely it would seem, is good news, because this is the day of salvation. None who come to Jesus will ever be cast out. And to those who are by the grace of God in Christ, we should also hear such warning and say “Lord may it never be.” Hold onto me Lord, please never let me go. We say with the hymnist, I am prone to wander Lord, Oh I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, take my heart Lord take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. That prayer of God’s people, God will ALWAYS answers for Jesus Sake.

IV. The Exhortation and Encouragement

The warning may be the literary center of this text, but it is not the last word. The last word here is an exhortation and along it with the reason to heed the exhortation. The exhortation is found in 6:12. The pastor wants his friends to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The reason for pressing on in faith and patience that the pastor gives is this - God has made a promise and He has Kept it and He will keep it.

The Pastor reminds them that Abraham received a promise to which God himself swore an oath. While the language that the pastor uses is directly from Genesis 22, the oath in view is Gen. 15, where the Lord brought a deep sleep upon Abraham and then singularly performed the covenant oath. God walked between the slain animals and thereby pledged his life to keep the promise. And Abraham, who had no earthly reason to believe that that which was promised would one day appear, did see in God’s appointed time the first fruits of the promise fulfilled in the birth of Isaac.

But the pastor wants these brothers and sisters, who are inheritors of God’s redemptive promise – it is now their promise – to know that God has demonstrated the unchangeable character of his redemptive purpose, by keeping that Oath which He took upon himself. He pledged His life to keep His promise and He kept that pledge, the Son was delivered up unto death that the promise of redemption would not be thwarted. You see, as the apostle Paul puts it, “every promise of God is Yes and Amen in Jesus.”

The Promise that God made to Abraham, the Oath that He took was not the first. You see, in the Garden, God made a promise- there would be one of Adam’s seed who would crush the head of the serpent, even as the serpent delivered to him a mortal wound. And the writer of Hebrews understands, in these last days, that promise came IN THE FLESH. The Son, was born of a woman and born under the law. He was like us in every way and yet without sin. He was obedient in every way – He was the true Adam, he was the only Faithful Israel, and he offered his righteous perfection on behalf of sinners, the just for the unjust. He was obedient to death, even death on a cross. And when he had delivered himself up once for all, He was raised for our justification and he entered the heavenly, holy place in the presence of the Father, and took his rightful throne at the right hand of God almighty – the Royal priest of a Kingdom that would never end and that even now has broken in and will one day come in all its fullness and glory.

You see, if the pastor’s friends are going to press on in faith and patient endurance amidst their very real suffering and persecution, they need to know this Jesus. They need to know that He is a faithful royal priest because they need to know that their pain, their suffering, their persecution (as real and as severe as it was) will not be the last word. They must remember Jesus, now unseen to them, but wholly real and the eternal one, who as THE word of these last days, will, on the last of these last days, have the last word. This pastor’s friends need to know that this Jesus, who has put death to death, is the one who can say to the church “be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” and make it so.

In the midst of our world of real suffering and real pain, don’t we need the same word of encouragement to press on in faith and patient endurance? In a culture that is addicted to the immediate, in a culture where Your Best Life Now sells millions and millions of copies, if you’re anything like me, we need to hear regularly that same word of encouragement to press on in faith and patient endurance because of Jesus our Priestly King. We have this treasure of another age – a savior who has been raised for us and in him our life is hid, but we have such a treasure in jars of clay. And as such, it is so easy to look to the things seen, very real things, and not those unseen, very real and eternal things, and to lose heart. And so we gather, as the Pastor has told his congregation to do (and will tell them again to do), and we hear the words of this King and Priest, and by the work of the Spirit we persevere in faith and faithfulness. We gather and share the meal appointed by and hosted by this King and Priest and receive it by faith and it shall nourish our souls. And in response to God’s provision for us of that which we need for our perseverance in faith and faithfulness, by the Holy Spirit, we reply in prayer, bringing our praises and thanksgivings, our petitions and our laments. And we remember that in the King and Priest, Jesus, who has gone before us into the eternal heavenly, holy place we can draw near to the throne of grace with confidence - and there we will receive mercy and grace to help in time of need.” May the Lord press us on in faith and patience until the end. AMEN.

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