Stimulating Repentance and Revival

Take your Bibles, if you would, please, and turn to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 through 9 is the text today. Most of your Bibles may put a pericope or a subtitle before verse 9 to try and perhaps put verse 9 in the next section. But today I want to make a case for keeping verse 9 in this most clear section about stimulating repentance and revival. If you're taking notes, you can put down the title for today's message as Stimulating Repentance and Revival. And this is also going to help us to evade the thistles and the thorns in life, all the traps that Satan tries to set for us. And I'm encouraged with this message in particularly because it communicates the heart of Hebrews. The heart of Hebrews is most certainly to take those who have tasted the goodness of God and to restore them to revival, who have tasted Jesus in the Gospel and seen His goodness, seen God's glories and perhaps fallen away due to trials and tribulations of many kinds, to be restored back to the fullness of Christ and to be revived in this. And this is a motivating message. I'm glad you're here today.

Let's read the text together in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 through 9. Therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ...now this word leaving is not abandoning, it is actually building upon the foundation. So therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on. You get a part of the heart of the preacher, whom I truly believe is the Apostle Paul, perhaps with Luke as an amanuensis here. You really, truly get the heart here when he says, "Press on to maturity." He is including everyone together and that is so shepherdly. "Let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works." Now, granted repentance is necessary for salvation. And so, this is encouraging them not to engage in that all over again. We repent and believe. This is a coupled subject here, repentance and faith, repentance from dead works and faith towards God. These are two concepts of the same salvific coin. And so, repentance is necessary for salvation. You must repent and believe the Gospel, Mark 1:15 states that very clearly. And so, repentance from dead works and faith toward God.

Verse 2, "Of instruction about washings and laying on of hands." Here we see another couplet, and this is, you're going to see in the text, three couplets that establish the foundation of our faith. The first couplet is repentance and faith, and now you're looking at with me instruction about washings and laying on of hands. Now, this subject of washings, theologians have been so divided in centuries past as to what it is representing. Some would think that it is referring to baptism, but the problem is that there's only one baptism. There's only one salvation, and you only need to be baptized one time to symbolically represent the fact that you've been saved, gloriously saved. And so, does this washings refer to baptisms? Well, hold your place if you would there and turn with me to chapter 9 and verse 10. And the case that I would like to make contextually is this simply refers to Jewish regulations that have now been outdated by the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so, in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 10, it says, "Since they relate only to food and drink and various washings." See, that is in the plural. All the feasts and the festivals and the laws and the regulations and the washings, the regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. But when Christ appeared in verse 11, so you see, Christ replaces the regulations. I would say to us today that the washings refer to Jewish regulations that now have been replaced by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And the laying on of hands, back in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 2, the laying on of hands. So, you have washings and laying on of hands. This next couplet that we see in the text, and this laying on of hands could easily refer to the church's approval of perhaps a new convert entering into membership of the church or ordination or approval for service or prayer. All of this is very emblematic and symbolic for approval. And so, now you have the basic teachings of Jewish regulations, the washings, and then the laying on of hands.

Now, to the third couplet, which is, let's see, laying on of hands and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And so, this couplet is talking about the resurrection, which Jesus Christ died and He was resurrected. And so will you if you die before Christ comes again, you will be resurrected, not only believers, but unbelievers as well. And so, that is a basic tenet of the faith, the resurrection, and all of what it has to say. And then as well, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. So, Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27 says it's appointed as to, wants for you to die, and then the judgment. And so, with these couplets, you see the very beginning stages of our salvation, that's repentance and faith, the two sides of the same and then moving on from when you started in the faith and were saved to your participation in Christ with the next couplet about washings and laying on of hands, your church life or your life as a Christian, and then moving on to the future things of the resurrection and the judgment. This is what the author of Hebrews is setting forth as your foundation of faith. This is what God is setting forth as your foundation. And so, he says, "I believe that I will be in Christ." In verse 3, it says, "And this we will do if God permits." Paul said this in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 7, the same phrase, "If God permits." And did I mention to you that I really believe that the apostle Paul was used of God to preach this sermon to the Hebrews.

That makes sense for the book of Hebrews to have been preached in the tongue of Hebrew or the language of Hebrew and then to be translated by such a scholar as Dr. Luke. Nevertheless, these are not coincidences in my mind. They're links and really good indicators to see the why behind the what, who God used to be able to preach this word. This theologian, this pastor, perhaps really does a great job in communicating the continuity between him and the people.

In the book of Corinthians, he starts it off as referring to them as saints, and that is a compliment even though they were Corinthianizers. So, he likens himself with them as ones whom are all trying to press on to become mature in Christ. And then the Hebrews here are guilty of Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1. And so the majority of them, a mixed crowd saved and unsaved, men and women and children have been drifting from their foundation of faith. And he, Paul, perhaps the preacher of Hebrews here, the author, is putting himself within them and saying, "Let's press on to maturity. Let's build on this foundation of faith." And so verse 3 says, "This we're going to give God permits." And verse 4, "For in this case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have been partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance."

This here is very important to realize that if you have tasted the goodness of God, if you have heard the Gospel, if you've been in church and seen Christianity on display daily and the workings of it and how we are so much so a recipient of many benefits, many blessings, rich blessings. In fact, the entire book of Ephesians is written to communicate our richness and so it was ones who have tasted that. Taste means to perceive. To taste means to get to know. There's two aspects of this word taste. If you taste, perhaps think of the idea of tasting food for the first time. Children, you would understand this for sure. Some things you taste and you don't like it and you spit it out. But other things you taste and you like it and you swallow it. And so the author of Hebrews here is encouraging those who have tasted the goodness of God to swallow it completely, to remain in Him, to digest Christ, to apply all of Christianity to your life. Let it become a part of your being and so that you exude Christ and so that you live out the Gospel and so that Jesus is in and through you. Don't just taste and fall away from the foundation of faith. We need to taste and swallow. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste and stay with Jesus Christ.

Here the Hebrews have been guilty of falling away from the foundation of faith and the author is encouraging them, the saved and the unsaved, to repent and run back to Jesus, to jump back onto the foundation of faith. Don't leave the faith, actually build upon the faith. And so we need to then recognize what our foundation is. And as we know Jesus Christ as the author and the finisher of our faith, no builder stops with just the foundation. And the Bible says in the book of Hebrews that God is the one who builds everything. In Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 4 it says, "For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God." And so God is building in us a life, not just a foundation upon Christ. The author in Hebrews here is encouraging us to build a life on top of this foundation. These are really good terms to be able to see visually what the author is communicating.

And then he goes on to really drive the point home with an illustration about the ground. "For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled receives a blessing from God." Okay, so that's good ground that is drinking the rain and producing vegetation and fruit. But the conjunction in verse 8 says, "But if it yields thistles, it's worthless and close to being cursed and it ends up being burned." Do you see the comparison between the ground that drinks or absorbs the rain? It's fruitful, it's useful, as opposed to the ground where perhaps it's hard ground. And the rain just runs off the ground and it's not absorbed, it's not moist soil, it's dry, it's hardened, it's even cracked. And the only thing that can grow and dry hard ground is things like thorns and thistles and weeds. So the comparison then truly is you and your heart being fertile and receiving the Word of God like good ground receiving the rain.

In verse 9 it says, "But beloved we are convinced of better things concerning you and things that accompany salvation through though we are speaking in this way." And so I really couple this verse 9 with this whole teaching because though he's speaking in this way, verse 9 says, though he's laying down a very strong teaching, those who fall away from the foundation of faith and are living in an apostate state, they need to repent and run back to Jesus. And as you think of those who have fallen off of their foundation of faith, we all know those who have grown up in the church, made a profession of faith, and now are living apart from Christ in every way. They really truly do not show any signs of being saved. They're not people of prayer, they're not people who love the church, they're not sacrificial givers, they don't worship God, they don't read their Bibles and they study the Bible, they don't share the Gospel, they don't make disciples, they're not rearing their children in Christ. We all know those who are living in an apostate state.

The important thing to realize is that this is a mixed crowd that the preacher is preaching to. There are those who would be living in not only an apostate state, but those who have perhaps even been given over to apostasy. But you and I, we don't know the state of the soul and we don't know those types of things. So it's better for us just to simply continue to do our part, preach the Gospel and make disciples, to believe truly that it is the power of the Gospel and the salvation and so that we would be ones who would believe that anyone who is still breathing and still has thoughts that they can still repent of their sin and place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved. And so don't ever wash your hands with people and walk away with them so this person can't be saved. They're too far away from God. They're too saturated in sin. They blaspheme the Holy Spirit and they're like a Judas. They're like an Alexander who calls his Paul a whole lot of pain in the ministry. Listen, you don't know the power of the Gospel if you condemn someone. It is truly the power of the Gospel and the salvation. It's not our power to convince anyone to persuade anyone. It's our part to preach the Gospel and to persuade. But it's the power of God for salvation. And so you do your part and give the Gospel no matter how the circumstances look.

And always remember that the Apostle Paul was converted while he was on his way and then made into a missionary. How far away from God can one get? Well, for one, you could be one whom is an actual murderer, not to mention Romans chapter 1 and all of the tell end of that chapter and how bad immoralities can get and how you can be given over to a depraved mind. It's not yours to dice up who can be saved and who can't be saved. Your part then, just like the preacher of Hebrews, is to encourage people to jump back onto their foundation of faith, that which they know, and continue in Christ. John 8:31 is one of our favorite verses around here, "Continue in the Word and so prove your disciples of mine." And so verse 9 again, you see the pastoral heart of the author of Hebrews, but beloved. This word beloved, it is so tender. It characterizes this whole hard teaching.

And in this, you should truly know that if you need to make a correction with perhaps a marital correction or a parental correction or a correction within your family, the church, at work, any of these types of rebukes need to also be coupled with a beloved word, a word of affirmation, a word of the fact that you are convinced of better things. Read this verse again with me and catch the heart of the pastor here, the preacher. "But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you." So those who have fallen away from the faith, he is communicating, he is convinced that they are repenting and running back to Jesus and doing what they know they ought to be doing. He's convinced of better things concerning you or them and the things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way, these hard teachings, the difference between being obedient and disobedient. It's been made clear. Now, this is a sermon that is stimulating repentance and revival inside of the hearts of mankind. This is a motivating message to stay away from the thorns and thistles in life and the cursings in verse 8. "But if you or your life or your heart that yields thorns and thistles," it's worthless and close to being cursed. That word close is very important in this context to be able to realize that people are not condemned when they are living in the apostate state, when they're living as apostates, when they're living away from Christ.

This is a very fascinating illustration. We'll dig into that just a little bit more. But in regards to these thorns, these areas of life for which we kind of fall in and get trapped, these sinful allurements that trap us, they hang on to us like as if you have fallen into a blackberry patch. They grab on to you. Their arms and their thorns and their thistles, they just wrap and they hold on to your clothes. And as soon as you try to get away, there's pain, there's blood, there's scratches, and this is falling into the worldliness of life. It's only going to result in pain and, more pain, and more pain. And you're close to being cursed. You're close to being one who is truly apostatized. Run from these thistles, run from these thorns, evade these types of things. If I could convince you today, and I know that everyone here wants to avoid pain and the entanglements of Satan, to dodge the devil and to sidestep Satan's traps and to evade these unnecessary dark valleys, to have discernment to avoid these distractions, to keep away from worldly concerns in the lust of the world and loving the things of the world because they will choke you. They will grab on to you like a briar patch full of big, nasty, strong thorns, and they'll dig into you and they will change everything in your life for the worse.

Matthew 13, verse 7 says this, "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them." This is a parable that is vivid with imagery. And Matthew was a Jew reaching Jews. And as one who knew how to speak Hebrew, who knew how to reach his own people, he is speaking in very pictorial terms. The Hebrew language is rich with these types of pictorial concepts. And so Matthew as a Jewish man reaching Jewish people like the author of Hebrews as well, the author of Hebrews had to have been Jewish, who have been able to know the Old Testament so well to be not only a theologian but a scholar in Old Testament concepts. So Matthew being a Jewish man and the author of Hebrews had to have been a Jewish man, they are using these Hebraic phrases pictorially to create mental images to evoke the senses and to connect a sensory experience with a spiritual concept. And so if you have ever fallen into the thorns, you remember that day. You remember the pain. And so this is a vivid illustration, a real-life illustration for what it's like to fall away from Christ. So connect these concepts with the authors of Scripture here. God is doing all of His job, His role to communicate clearly to His people. So the Hebrew imagery is inclusive of sight, sound, smell, touch, and that it communicates profoundness about God and the Gospel. This is nothing new throughout Scripture. We see imagery everywhere.

Luke chapter 8 is a parable of the Gospel, seed and soil. It's very pictorial there. I want to prove to you as well, you know it. In Matthew chapter 13 verses 24 through 30, you have the pictorial parable of the wheat and tares. And then in Psalm 34:8, the word "taste" is there. "Taste and see that the Lord is good, and how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." It's not how blessed is the man who jumps off the foundation of faith and goes and does it his own way. It is how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Christ, who remains in Christ, who remains on the foundation of faith. And so, tasting. What good imagery that is. I want you to turn with me and see some rich imagery in the book of Ezekiel chapter 3 verses 1 through 4. And let's just kind of swim in this for a moment and enjoy the Hebraic way of communicating spiritual concepts.

Ezekiel chapter 3 verses 1 through 4 is an area to where God is commanding Ezekiel to eat the scroll. And so, take a look with me in Ezekiel chapter 3. "Then he, that being God, said to me, Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll and go speak to the house of Israel." All right. In verse 2 it says, "And so I opened my mouth and he fed me this scroll." Now, this is illustrative of Ezekiel eating the words of God, consuming them, not rejecting them, not spitting them out, not tasting and spitting, but tasting and swallowing. In verse 3 it says, "And he said to me, Son of man, feed your stomach." There's some progression here from God feeding to now Him feeding Himself. "Feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving to you." Now you see obedience in the words here, "Then I ate it." And the result here is, "And it was sweet as honey in my mouth." And that is very descriptive for those who are absorbing the Word of God like fertile ground absorbs the rainwater and then as well absorbing it and then reproducing it. Here in verse 4 is now regurgitating the Word of God. It says this, "Then he said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them." And so Ezekiel is to consume God's Word and to speak God's Word. And so are we. What imagery.

You know, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13, the Thessalonica Church was commended for receiving the Word of God, for it being the Word of God, for the very thing that it really was. They were receiving the Word of God as it is actually God's words. And so we are blessed as well if we do the same. This is drinking the rain. This is really, truly enjoying Christ. I want to prove to you, back to Hebrews if you would with me in chapter 5, how the Hebrew preacher here is truly using a lot of imagery. In Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 12, you see human growth stages. And then in verse 2, you see milk and meat. These are pictorial images. And then in 5:14, you see training like athletes, another picture, more imagery. In chapter 5 verse 14, you see the absolute contrast of good and evil. And then in chapter 6 verse 1, you'll see the foundation, the word foundation being used. And that is an illustration of a master builder, an architect. And then in verse 7, which we were just referring to, the ground drinking, is a horticultural illustration. I just want to read with you in chapter 5 and verses 12. And you listen for these illustrations and see how the author is stacking and, stacking, and stacking this rich imagery here.

All right, Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 12, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, but you again need for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God." Okay, so you see human growth stages referred to as elementary, as young, as basic, as children in the faith. They need these same elementary principles mentioned to them again. And those are the same things that we just covered in these three sets of couplets in chapter 6. They're still where they have always been spiritually and have not grown in their faith. And then to continue you'll see the illustration of milk and meat of the oracles of God. "And you have come to need milk and not solid food." Solid food could be sound doctrine, could be the meat of the word. Milk could be the necessary nutrients that a child needs in the faith. Okay, the word of God. Okay, in verse 13 it says, "For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, but he is an infant." You see these word pictures in layers, but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. And so this word practice and this word trained is very indicative for athletes. They're training and practicing, and so should we be training and practicing what the word of God says like Ezekiel who was taking in God's word and then practicing it in his own life and then regurgitating or stating what it said.

And then if we go back down to verse 7 or chapter 6 and verse 1, let's look at the word foundation. "Therefore," chapter 6 verse 1, "leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press," that's more imagery for athletes, "press on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance." So you see the word foundation there, the imagery. And then we've already read verses 7 and 8 where the imagery is horticultural. When it comes to ground and vegetation and thorns and thistles and such. All right, so you see that now Christ is our foundation of faith, but we're to move on to maturity and to build a life in Christ. No master builder stops with building the foundation. Have you ever seen someone pour the foundation of a house and just stop and say, "I'm done." No, the house still needs to be built. The life in Christ still needs to be built. The functionings, the eatings, the sleeping, the living, the communing, the everything still needs to be Christ. Grow up and build a life on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Number one, if you're taking notes, build lives on Christ. Build lives on Christ. If you're going to build, you're going to mature. And if you're going to build a life, build it on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This is the idea conveyed in chapter 6, verse 1, "Let us press on to maturity." And I want to say to you that those who are actually saved actually do press on. They are actually led by the Holy Spirit because they have been saved, they have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and the Holy Spirit of God is leading them. Let me give you a proof text, Romans chapter 8, verse 14, "All who are led of the Spirit of God are sons of God." So if you're being led by the God, you are a true son of God. If you are demonstrating in your life that you are progressing in the faith, that you are actually being led according to the Holy Spirit, then it proves that you are actually a son of God, a child. So Romans 8:14. And so we leave the foundation of faith or build upon it, not abandon it, just move forward. So many are stuck in the ABCs of the faith and they need to move on to the EFGs in the faith. And in fact, they need to continue to learn the entire alphabet so they can understand the full counsel of God to build a life that is full of Christ. This is the idea of building a life on Christ, number one.

Point number two is here, the warnings against wavering. This word fall is important. Let's look at it in verse 6 together. "And then have fallen away." There's a two-fold falling away in this idea. "And then have fallen away." Those who have tasted the goodness of God, right, in verses 4 and 5. "And then fall away." It's impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucified to themselves the Son of God and put them to open shame. At this point, you really do need to realize that this two-fold falling away is perhaps described in the words of particular and general. Just like we know of particular redemption, there's such particular Baptists believing in sovereign salvation. Those who have specifically or particularly fallen away, okay, not from salvation because we know that no one can fall away from true salvation because once you're saved, you're always saved. In John chapter 10 and verses 27 and 28, it's a clear case for once saved, always saved. "But for those who fall away," this is a two-fold falling away. "Those who were not saved and fall away and are in the apostate state of living are in danger of being cursed." And then the other side of that coin is a general falling away when believers, those who are saved or those who will be saved, are falling away from the faith as well and will repent and run back to Jesus Christ. So, two-fold falling away here.

Now, for the ones who are not saved and are falling away and heading towards the thorns and the thistles and the cursed life and being ones who apostatize, this is spoken of by the Apostle John. John mentions in 1 John chapter 2, verse 19, "They went out from us, but they were not really of us." They are headed in this terrible direction. And the heart of the Hebrew preacher is to scoop them up before they apostatize and bring them back to the faith. And so now you have a particular falling away that extinguishes the light of Christ, forsakes the Word, rejects the Spirit, completely renounces God. But I want to say to you today, listen to me, it's not for you to judge the condition of a soul, it's for you to evangelize the souls. Be a soul winner. Remember, even the Apostle Peter was one who denied Christ, right? After he was with Jesus for three years and saw the miracles, saw all the preaching, saw all these things, he denied Christ. He was demonstrating one whom was apostatizing, but he didn't completely apostatize. And so I think that we ought to really, truly stay in our lane as Christians, as theologians, and do our part, especially when we look at such a profound teaching here in the book of Hebrews, and look at it contextually for what it truly is.

In Hebrews chapter 6, verse 8, it says that they're close to being cursed. They're not cursed yet. And so we know that Satan is stealthily in his workings. He creeps in, in degrees, slowly. And as he is creeping into people's lives, we need to be attuned to what he's actually doing and point those things out and point people to Jesus Christ and call them to repentance. Now, this general falling away, the particular in a general, anyone who is sinning at any particular state is falling away in a general way. And so whether you are sinning in your mind or in your heart or in what you're doing, these fallings away, you are falling away from Christ. And so this falling away in the text here is a twofold falling away, a believer that is falling away from Christ that needs to repent and run back to Jesus. Remember that these are ones whom are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 says that you've been sealed and you were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise and so saved, gloriously saved means that you're saved forever and these really do demonstrate repentance in a vibrant relationship in Christ. They can be restored in a way that they are revived. And so the heart of this message is pointing people towards repentance and revival in Christ. And so you have this twofold falling away. It could also be viewed as a temporary or permanent falling away. And so if you was to ascertain the heart of the Hebrew preacher here, then you too would be one who warns people against apostatizing, against falling away from Jesus Christ, against this because God will judge us all accordingly.

And we all know people who have externally looked like Christ in a superficial way, but internally they were unlike Christ. They didn't have the heart of God. And this is so agonizing when you see people fall away from Jesus Christ. Never were really truly of us. We all know those who outwardly have benefited from Jesus Christianity through friendships and fellowship and the umbrella of general grace. We all know those who have benefited outwardly, but inwardly they disbelieve in the deity of Christ or in the cross and have it been truly saved. They believe that they're good people. True Christians understand that saved people go to heaven, not good people. And so we don't have faith in our goodness. We have faith in the goodness of God and understand that our soul needs to be truly saved. We all know those who are drifting away in an apostate state who superficially comprehended with their mind the Gospel, but sustainably there was no change in their life. There was no change of mind. And so the encouragement in this text then is to take on Christ-like clothing and let this be your image. Drink in the Word of God, be consumed inside of your heart and soul and let it become who you are in Christ to build a life in Jesus Christ.

Point number two is this. Tasting Christ must lead to consuming Christ. Tasting Christ must lead to consuming Christ. And so absorb the Word in your mind. Absorb the in your heart. It must lead to consuming. You must be one who tastes Jesus and swallows, not tastes and spits Him out. In verse 7 it says, "For the ground that drinks rain, which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation, useful for those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing." Okay, this is a reference to Deuteronomy chapter 11, verse 11. I'm going to read this to you. And so the scholar, the author of Hebrews, reaches back to Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 11, and I'll read this to you, "But the land into which you are about to cross and possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven." In this context in Deuteronomy chapter 11, the author of Hebrews is stating that the land of Canaan, the land of promise, this heavenly destination, is a land that drinks the rain. Okay? And as he goes on in Deuteronomy chapter 11, Moses unfolding this, makes a comparison for which the author of Hebrew also brings over to his sermon. And the comparison is linking land that drinks the rain to those who obey, those who absorb, those who drink the water. In Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 13 it says, "And it shall come about if you listen obediently." So there's the comparison, if you listen obediently. So listening is akin to drinking, just like the ground drinks the rain, so you should drink the Word of God, listen to the and then in verse 14, "And he will give the rain to your land in season." And he will, he will, and all these promises move on to the fact that you will have a blessed life in Christ that is completely opposite of thorns and thistles and cursings. This is very vivid imagery, and this is spoken to people who do not necessarily have readily available to them, pens and pencils, and papers and books. And the reason why this is so pictorial is so that there is a stained image in their mind, the difference between gardens that are full of fruit and vegetables and yielding life and you can live from a garden that is well taken care of and blessed and drinking the rain and producing fruit. The contrast between that and then walking over to a desert no fruit, no vegetables, no food, no water, only thorns and thistles, only pain and suffering. And so building a life in Christ or walking away from Christ. This is so clear, drinking equals blessings, rejecting equals curses, and this is for our benefit to be able to see these things.

So point number three, tasting Christ must lead to consuming Christ. Point number four, we have quite a few points today, so hold on with me. This is motivational. Point number four is spiritual harvest requires spiritual labor. A spiritual harvest requires spiritual labor. We truly must be ones whom, if we want to have a good garden, till the garden, plant the seeds, remove the weeds, keep the pests away, keep the rodents away, keep the other animals that are going to eat the garden away, fence it, watch it, water it, keep it. If you're going to have a productive garden, you've got to work it. And this is illustrative for how you maintain your heart before God. If you want to have a clean heart before the Lord, you've got to work it. You've got to remove these little sinful weeds. You've got to fence it, protect it from the pests and the rodents and the predators and the destroyers, and you've got to take in the Word of God like rain. You've got to work your heart. You've got to truly work it.

Now, spiritual harvests, the blessings, they don't come without the work, so you have a part in this. This is synergistic. You are walking with Christ, and as you walk with the Lord and listen to the Lord, listening to His Word, you obey Him and His Word, there's blessings that are going to unfold in your life that are from the Lord that you could only give God glory for. Blessings unspeakable, truly. Let me give you just a little bit of a backdrop from the Hebrew perspective as they would have heard this type of horticultural imagery. The preacher to the Hebrews is now utilizing another metaphor, rich in imagery. The original hearers of this message would have been in fields daily. Crops in Israel were very fertile. The land was fertile, so they grew their food, and growing crops such as Jaffa oranges, olives, and figs, and dates, and pomegranates, and grapes, and wheat, and lentils, just to name a few. This is such that they cultivated, they worked, so they plowed in the autumn season, and they planted their seeds, and they harvested from the spring through the summer.

And a good harvest comes from fields that have been aerated and infused with organic matter like manure, and then kept moist, that protect it from being dried up. They've been kept clean. They've kept their ground from diseases. They've kept the rain from eroding and washing away. They have dug the necessary trenches. They have graded it, necessarily so the water doesn't run off too fast, or it doesn't stay and become moldy. They keep the pests and the bugs out of their areas that are harmful, but at the same time they keep the beneficial pests and bugs like spiders and worms that are beneficiaries, and they keep a balance of rich soil and sandy dirt for water absorption. And so you have to watch all of these areas. This is just a perfect picture of how you maintain your heart, and how you maintain your marriage, and how you maintain your children's hearts by parenting with the Word of God, and how you maintain even a local church. This is so apical to our everyday lives and how we work the necessary things.

Truly, 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world." Okay? If you consume your life with things of the world and you have pre-spent your time and are not able to invest in cultivating the right garden, the right work, you're not working the right things, you're not going to be yielding a harvest of blessings from the Lord because you're not truly working your heart and working your marriage and working your children and working your church, and working your job and your work and working your homes. We have been given a theological mandate to be workers. Work is not a curse. The curse of thorns and thistles and child labor and all these types of things. Yes, those are the curse. You have to overcome those types of things, but the work, God is a worker. God is a worker. We are workers. We're made in His image. So work is a blessing. He's given us this to do, to be, and to participate in. And so the harvest comes after we have really, truly sown the right seeds, and then we will reap from that.

These areas in the Bible are so clear and it's repetitive, too. You see, to the Galatian church, Paul to the Galatians, he says, "You're going to reap what you sow." And so we really do reap what we have actually done. So what you are doing, you can take a clipboard and write down what you're doing, what you're doing, what you're doing, day after day after day, and draw a line underneath it and see what that equals because your life produces what you're doing. And so you're either your heart like fertile ground in your life or you're not. And so this is motivating us to be able to see that we need to invest in the right things. An unworked field is not going to be producing the right things. The contrast in verse seven and verse eight is a difference between usefulness and worthlessness. And so at the end of the day, you can determine the things that you are doing are either adding up to usefulness or worthlessness.

Point number five is this. Tasting and turning means apostasy. Okay, there's a warning here in verse eight about cursed. And so point number five is tasting and turning means apostasy. And you are promised thorns and thistles and cursings in verse eight. But if it yields thorns and thistles, close to being cursed and it ends up being burned. This is a direct reference to Genesis chapter three in the cursing. Genesis chapter three verses 17 and 18. I want to read this to you. Genesis three, 17, "Then Adam said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from cursed is the ground." And so that word cursed comes up and this is where you see a direct reference from where the Hebrew author is quoting from. And you could perhaps more accurately say that this is an allusion. "Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it. All the days of your life, both thorns and thistles, it shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field." All right, and so now you see these allusions to these rich passages. In verse seven, it's alluding to Deuteronomy chapter 11. And then in verse eight, it's alluding to the curse in Genesis chapter three. The point is here that you need to resolve in your own heart and mind that you will never rebel and betray Jesus. The pictures are clear. The direction is clear. You're either going towards Christ or away from Him. You're either falling off the foundation or building on the foundation. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. These clear pictures have been set before you. And so today, resolve in your heart never to rebel against Christ, never to fall away from the Word of God, from reading and studying and praying and worshiping Him in the local church. The local church is custom designed by God for you as His Lord. The local church is what has been custom designed to meet all of human needs. And so you have these main ingredients in Acts chapter two, verses 42 and following.

And when you engage in all of these things... And by the way, we have been very clear around here as our eldership has developed ecclesiology or the church and what we do as to what the Bible actually prescribes to do. There's no fluff here. There's no fat here. We've cut away all of the unnecessary things and have gone straight for what is necessary. And so if we're doing it, we have a chapter and verse behind it and it is hitting the bull's eye. We are hitting the bull's eye and everything that we are doing and this equals a healthy life in Christ. We're not distracted by thorns and thistles are caught up in them. We're not distracted by the ways that we're not copying a successful church growth model by a secular American Gospel driven ecclesiology. We're not even tempted by that. We're so far away from those things. Now we are truly walking in Christ, walking in the Word. And so we don't want to be ones who are given to uselessness. We don't want to be betraying Jesus Christ in His Word. We don't want to hijack His Word for ulterior motives such as church growth or whatever. We want to actually be engaged in the biblical church growth model which is sanctifying the saints, which is seeing that they are saved and sanctifying and growing and they're growing upon the foundation of faith. This is truly tasting and seeing, not tasting and turning.

And the last point is point number six, accompany warnings with encouraging words. Verse nine is encouraging. And so after a hard teaching, you need to point number six, accompany warnings with encouraging words. It's very important not to be a negative Nelly all the time. Your voice will become like a sounding gong. Nobody's really going to listen if all of what you have to say is negative. Negative, negative, negative, negative, complaining, complaining, complaining, complaining, complaining. Don't be that one. Criticism, criticism, criticism. Fault finding, fault finding, fault finding. That's not how we're to be. In fact, Philippians 2:14 says to do all things without complaining and murmuring. It's one of our memory verses. And so we also, like I would believe the context is here for this text, encourage the people whom we have given a corrective word. So accompany the warnings or the rebukes or the pointing out of errors with encouraging words. Sandwich that thing so people say. If you've got something truthful, accompany it with grace and such, but if you've got something that needs to be said or talked about, sandwich that thing. So if there's a corrective word, give them a lot of encouragement before and after it. And this is what the preacher of Hebrews is doing in verse nine. After he gets through with saying similar apostatizing, and I hope it's not none of you, and some of you are living lives as if you were trapped in thorns and thistles and you're fixing to be cursed, this very hard teaching. Some of you are falling away. You've tasted Christ and you've left Christ. Now he couples it with verse nine, "But beloved, we're convinced of better things concerning you." And so this positive affirmation of the perceived direction of the people, the pastor is saying, "I see you returning to Christ. I see you repenting and engaging in Jesus so much so that revival setting in inside of your heart." He truly is reviving them. And he says from his heart, "Beloved, for we are convinced of better things concerning you and the things that accompany salvation." And so the life that accompanies salvation, you've been saved, and the life of blessings that accompany it.

Now don't hear this message as if being saved doesn't also include sufferings. We've covered that through and through in prior sermons. You know that Philippians chapter one verse 29 accompanies both salvation as what has been granted to you from God and sufferings like what James chapter one verses three, four, and five say. They're there to mature you and the character refinement is there for you. So the sufferings are for you. Romans chapter five verses one through five talk about how the sufferings of this world actually give you the necessary strain to develop perseverance, and perseverance develops hope. And so the sufferings that we engage in because we are Christians, because we are saved, are for us. But if you abandon Christ and live in sin, then the sufferings that you engage in are worthless pain and suffering. They don't add up to anything except for the fact that point out to you, you need to repent and run back to Jesus. And so here in the text it says, "And things that accompany salvation," the life in Christ, the blessings, though we are speaking this way, speaking this truthful way. So accompany the warnings with encouraging words. It is such a basic element of communication to offer comforting solutions alongside of a severe warning. It is so logical to correct someone but also encourage someone. And it's the same with the Gospel. Hebrews chapter one verses one and two actually starts this entire sermon in like fashion. He brings out the law in verse one, all of what the Old Testament has said and accomplished, the law of Moses. The rules, the regulations, the pointing out that we are sinners, that we're depraved, that the curse has been upon us, and we've been affected by that. And then in verse two it says that it moves to Jesus Christ, but now God is speaking to us in His Son. And so it's law to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's law and Gospel. We're moving from the regulations and the rules to Jesus Christ. And so you see a correction and also an encouragement. You see the rules, you see the Ten Commandments, you see where you have fallen short, but here's the solution, the Savior Jesus Christ.

Even the Gospel portrays this. John chapter one verse 17 helps us to see this truth as well. John one seventeen says, "For the law was given through Moses, and grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." This is how we accompany both rules and relationship. In our decades we have experienced and heard relationship, relationship, relationship, all about a relationship with Jesus to the expense of the law. And that is tragic because relationship without rules is libertarianism, but rules without a relationship with Christ is legalism. And both end in the dead religion. And so it's rules and relationship. These things coupled together, even in the Gospel, in our conversations, it's reproof and correction. Second Timothy three sixteen says the word of God is both for reproof that's in the negative, correction is in the positive. And so the word of God, what is it for? I mean, actually, Second Timothy three sixteen is telling you exactly what the word of God is for. And if you were saying what the Scriptures say, not only will you say what sin is, but you will also give the solution. It's reproof and correction.

Three quick take-home points, and we'll be praying and heading out of here. Take-home truth number one, be quick to repent. As I look back upon this text, I say this is a very simple message. You have seen the polar opposites. You've seen the two lifestyles, life in Christ, not in life outside of Christ. You've seen a fertile garden. You've seen dry ground. You have seen it clearly. People who fall away and aren't returning yet, you see people who fall away and are returning. You see the contrast. And what's the secret sauce to remaining in Christ? Be quick to repent. Quick to repent. And so if you are not saved, be quick to repent. Your initial repentance unto salvation. Be quick to do that. Don't delay. You're not promised tomorrow. So if you're unsaved, repent of your sins. God, I understand from creation that have been made in your image. And then I understand in Genesis chapter one, not only am I made in your image, but in Genesis chapter three, there's been a curse upon not only the land, but all of us as well. I'm tainted. I know I'm not perfect. The Ten Commandments clearly show that I've fallen. And in my fallen state, the result is that I will spend eternity away from you and your glory. And I don't want that. Confess this to Christ. Confess Him then as the solution, the Savior, the one who died in your place. Because you know that if you died on a cross for your sin, it would not pay for your sin because your merit and your worth is not enough to pay for what you've done. You cannot undo what you've done by works, by money, by even giving your life. So you're really dead in your trespasses and sins. You're totally depraved. You are apart from God without Him reaching down and saving you. And so you need to be saved. And the solution that He has given for you is to repent and believe the Gospel. Mark 1:15 says, "Repent and believe the Gospel." And the Gospel is that, that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost in Luke 19:10 that is stated. And the way that He saved that which was lost was that He gave Himself as a payment for your sin. He took on your punishment. He took on your pain. He took on your sufferings. Essentially, He took on the curse so that you don't have to be cursed. Essentially, He took on the wrath of God upon sin so that you don't have to. And so repent and run to Jesus. Be saved, gloriously saved. Place your faith and trust in Jesus and be saved. Be quick to repent. But also, for those who are saved, be quick to repent as well. Continue in this wonderful, glorious state of repenting. When you are quick to apologize to Jesus, when you are quick to repent of your sin, you stay walking with Him both in mind and in heart and in life. And the thorns do not trap you because you're nowhere near them. And what that looks like is in Ephesians 4:30 it says, "Not to quench the Holy Spirit." The way that you quench the Holy Spirit as a Christian is that when the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, you continue in your sin. And you're stubborn like a mule rather than being quick to repent. When you know that you have done something wrong, be quick to repent. Don't quench the Holy Spirit. Don't shield, block Him, or push Him away. So point number one, be quick to repent. Continue soaking in Christ every single day in every single way. Read, think, dwell, pray, watch, talk, study, memorize, listen, absorb, incorporate Christ in every aspect of your life. You are wholly a Christian, not a part-time Christian, not a one-day Christian. You are a holy Christian in thought and in heart and in mind and in work and in speak and in character. This is working your heart like working a garden. And if you are quick to repent, then you are pulling those weeds when they're little out of your heart. Pulling those sinful roots out of your heart when they're little, it's easy to pull weeds when they are small. They haven't germinated far at all. You can pull them right out and you can pull them quickly and throw them away. But for a weed that grows seven foot tall, I didn't see that coming, it roots in, the roots entangle into your life. And when you go to pull it out, man, it just makes a mess of good things and bad things. And so don't let sin take root in your life, because as soon as you go then to chop out those roots or shovel out those roots or pull up those sinful roots that you have allowed to take root in your life, it affects others. It affects other things in your life. And so work your heart like a garden. Be watering your heart with the Word of God. Husbands, be reading the Word to your wives. In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 and following, that's your job to be in the Scriptures with your wife, read the Word. It washes you both like water. Work your heart like a garden. Keep the pests out. Keep the temptations out. Keep the sinful things out. Keep the worldly allurments out of your mind. Don't dwell upon them, dwell upon Christ. Keep taking in water. Keep taking in the water of the Word. Keep allowing God to rain on your soul, to rule and rain on your soul, all of these wonderful correlations. Water your heart regularly so that it does not dry up and become hardened towards Christ. Be quick to repent.

Number two is obedience brings blessings. It really does. It really does. Obedience brings blessings. If you work your heart like a garden, if you are responding to this stimulation to repent and be revived, then it will yield blessings. It's like as if you are drinking the ground or you're like the ground that drinks the rain, and then also brings forth vegetation useful for those whose sake it is also tilled and receives a blessing from God. And so if you're obedient to do these things, there are blessings that you will enjoy from the Lord that you will not have otherwise enjoyed because you were not drinking. And so for those of you who drink more of the Word of God, you get more blessings and more joy and more of God, and you look more like Christ. You do word studies. You do contextual studies. You repetitively read the passages of scriptures. You start your day with the Word. You end your day with your day with the Word of God. You're thinking about the Word. You bring note cards with key verses in your pocket throughout the day, and you're memorizing the Word of God. You're dwelling and enjoying Christ. You're walking with Him. You're praying as you go. You're singing as you go. You're filled with the Holy Spirit, and this yields blessings that you otherwise would not have because you've put in the work.

"The Lord will reward your work," Ruth 2:12 says, "May the Lord reward your work." God is not unjust to not reward each person according to His works. Romans chapter 2 verse 6 says this, "God will render to each person according to His deeds." Hey, that is a wonderful promise for those who are walking in Christ. It's a terrifying promise for those who are not walking with Christ. Romans 2:6. So my encouragement is to remain faithful. You'll bear fruit. Wonderful blessings. And then point number three, my last point is a bit of a hilarious point, but I want to give you some imagery. Tackle people that are falling away into the thorns. Tackle people falling into thorns. Tackle them. I mean, I just use that as imagery, not actually specifically. Don't literally tackle somebody, but literally ascertain their attention. Get their attention. Do whatever it takes to get the attention of those who are falling away from Christ and into the thorns. If you can get to them before the thorns, before they fall into the thorns in the Briar Patch, oh, you're rescuing them. Peter did this in Acts chapter 2. Peter did this in Acts chapter 2. It says, Acts chapter 2 verse 14 says that Peter raised his voice and declared to them, "Give heed to my words." And so Peter tackled them or ascertained their attention. And he said, "Hey, listen. Listen up to me." And he raised his voice to do this. And then he went on to say in verses 21 through 24 to be saved in verse 37, this was convicting. So it pierced their hearts. And in verse 38, he said, "Repent all of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus." This is such rich imagery. And I would encourage you today, if you've never been saved to be saved, Luke chapter 8 is another parable full of imagery. And you can think of it like a roundabout. If you're going the wrong way away from Christ and you need to go all the way around this roundabout, make a U-turn, and repent and turn all the way around and come back to Christ or come to Christ whether you're unsaved. There's all kinds of detours in this life. Just like when you go around a roundabout, you can take the first turn, the second turn, the third turn, or you can go all the way around and go back where you came from. Listen. There's three seeds or three paths or three grounds that are wrong in only one way to the Lord Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 8. The first turn as you go around this roundabout, as you envision yourself driving around a roundabout, would be that the seed that sown beside the road and its result is that it's trampled upon. They've heard the word, but they take a detour, it's beside the road. It's the wrong turn. Well, let's just say you continue around the roundabout where there's another temptation turn, another road of temptation to pull off, and that's the rocky soil. And the result is that that seed sown in the rocky soil sprouts up quickly. But when the heat of circumstances come, it withers and falls away. Literally, verse 13 in Luke chapter 8 falls away. But if you stay in your repentive way, you don't succumb to the first turn or the second turn, maybe you're looking at the third turn, verse 7. In Luke chapter 8 is that it's the thorny way. And the thorns are the worries and the riches of this world. And for those seeds that are planted among the thorns, they do not bear any fruit. They're choked, literally choked. And so don't take that turn. Continue in a full repentance, a complete turnaround, and repent and believe the Gospel. Verse 8 in Luke chapter 8 is good soil produces a good crop and bears fruit. And verse 15. And so Luke chapter 8 is a parable that is salvific in nature, but it can be applied to our walk in Christ as well for those who are already saved. Do not take these wrong turns. And if you need to be saved, do not get consumed on the wayside or the thorny side or on the rocky soils of life. Come straight to Jesus. It's not by any other way, but Jesus Christ alone for you to be saved. Jesus said explicitly in John chapter 14 and verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, the light, and no man comes to the Father except through me."

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to preach Your Word. And I pray that it would accomplish all that You have for it to do. You say that Your Word will not return void. If there's one here who's not saved, will You save that soul and give them the faith to be able to confess? And I pray, Lord, that they not only would be saved, but they would continue and be baptized to portray publicly what You've done for them and then to become a member of this church and to learn how to study their Bible and make disciples. And Lord, I also pray for those who are already saved, and perhaps there's some here that are even listening today that are not building a life upon the foundation of Christ. It may grant them the perception, the ability to see clearly how to get rid of all of the unnecessary things in life and focus on usefulness and cultivate a good life, a good ground, a good heart, one that You approve of in every way. God, we love You and we ask You for Your blessings upon us continually as we do our best to be obedient to You and Your Word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.