Transcript

Hebrews 6:4-6. We start looking at the section of scripture where the apostle writing this letter to the Hebrew church is admonishing the pretenders, the hypocrite. Hypocrite meaning one who plays the part but is not the real thing. And there’s some startling things here. There are some troubling things here. There are certainly challenging things here. And I’m spending a lot of time on this because it needs to be looked at carefully and with self-examination and a sober spirit as we think on the things that are being said.

The Hebrew church had a lot of people fellowshipping in the church who were not yet believers or who were false believers or who are considering the faith. And so I believe this is the ones this particular section is addressed to. He begins in verse 4 of chapter 6 and says, “For in the case of those who had once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made 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 is impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Now we’ve already talked about the first phrase of verse 4 and that is “those who have once been enlightened.” And we talked about those who had been enlightened but not changed. Enlightened but not converted, enlightened but not saved. Then he goes a step further and the old Puritan scholar Gough says these are actually progressive steps or rather digressions of more and more light yet without saving faith.

I don’t know if you could make that case but nevertheless we come to the second phrase in verse 4, “and have tasted the heavenly gift.” Now each one of these phrases in verses, 4 and 5, you have to connect the first line of verse 6, “and have then fallen away.” They’ve been enlightened, but then fallen away. They’ve tasted the heavenly gift and then fallen away. They’ve been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and then fallen away. They’ve tasted the good word of God, and then fallen away. They’ve tasted the powers of the age to come, and then fallen away. What was the author doing? He could probably just make one simple statement and cover all of these, but he doesn’t want to do that. HE wants us to look at this. He wants us to dwell on this. He wants us to see the, the, the depth of this thing and the seriousness of this thing, maybe you could say the subtle deceptiveness of thinking you’re a believer when you’re truly not. So he uses phrase after phrase, metaphor after metaphor to picture this situation. And we were looking at last time we were together the phrase of tasting the heavenly gift then falling away. And I worded it this way: A tasting of Christ but not swallowing Him. Tasting but not swallowing. Remember this word for tasting here is geuomai. And geuomai is that Greek word that was used by our Lord when He was hanging on the cross when they gave Him the sour wine. He tasted, but the text says He did not drink. And if the apostle here wanted to mean that someone really possessed something, it was truly theirs, they had fully embraced it and taken it in, I don’t think he would have used the word for taste here. He would’ve used the word for swallow, which means, it’s a Greek word that means take in completely or the word to digest or the word to eat. Common Greek words, but he doesn’t use those words. He uses the word taste.

Josephus, the trustworthy, Jewish historian who lived during this day said that when the new Greek philosophers would come out with some new idea a lot of times the people would seriously consider it, would take it into their minds and roll it around and look at that philosophy, look at the good and maybe be impressed with parts of it. But if they didn’t really follow it or embrace it, they would use this word. They tasted it. So that’s the way it was used in this day and in this age.

And so we looked at that quite thoroughly and exegeted the text. So today to finish up, I want to give you some conclusions for practical application thinking about that phrase that they tasted the heavenly gift but then fell away. I spent quite a bit of time in my study meditating on that. They tasted the heavenly gift but then fell away. Now the first thing I want to bring out of this just looking at the phrase heavenly gift is that this teaches us that Christianity is to be God-centered. Christianity is God-centered. Now you might say, “Well, that’s stating the obvious. It, it’s about God. It certainly it’s God-centered. It’s like saying deer hunting happens out in the woods. That’s obvious. A basketball’s played on an indoor court. That’s obvious.” But Christianity being God-centered in today’s church, that very point of all points is obviously missed. Matter of fact, today’s church is far more man-centered. It’s what do I like about it. What do I feel about it? How am I lifted up? How am I blessed? What do I like? As if I can make God my designer, and God’s going to design me a church for me. God’s not interested in designing a church for man. He’s designed, interested in designing a church for Himself and His own glory. That’s what the scriptures teach.

You men who are heads of your household, you know what you are? As the puritans say, you’re the pastor of your home. As a pastor of your home, you must choose a church that is God-centered. It’s not about man and what man chooses, wants, desires, or likes. It’s about God and what does God say His church is and how should His church function.

So let’s think about the phrase “heavenly gift.” First of all, that phrase means that it, the, Christianity in general, if you will, or the church is of heaven. IF you’re a Christian you got it because you got the heavenly gift. Didn’t come from man. Didn’t come from earth. Came from heaven. This speaks that it’s of heaven. The holy character of your conversion, of your religion is, is of heaven. The quality is of heaven. It has a majesty from heaven. It has a glory that’s the glory of heaven. It has a value because it’s of heaven.

Here’s a couple of references for us here. John chapter 1 verse 14: And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father. The glory of Christ, who is the heavenly gift, He is our salvation is that He’s the only begotten of the Father. He came from God. He’s not of earth. He’s of heaven. John 1:18 states it this way: “No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Jesus explains God. He’s of heaven. None of this silly, foolish, shallow nonsense that’s in evangelical Christianity today that you can sort of design Jesus the way we’d like Him to be. You can design the gospel so that modern man can be comfortable with Him in all of His selfish, sinful preferences.

Well, heavenly gift means salvation is of heaven. Secondly, it’s from heaven. In other words, it has heaven’s power and authority with is. It’s from heaven. First John chapter 4 verse 9 says, “For this is the love of God, which was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.” God sent this heavenly gift. It’s from heaven. We’re not a social club. We’re not a human, religious organization. We are individuals who are saying to the world and to one another, “The God of heaven has done something to us. Made us faithers, if you will, in Jesus Christ. Caused us to see our great need, our abhorrent, wicked nature, and has caused us to turn and embrace Christ.” And this all came from heaven. Man wouldn’t have thought this up. Man wouldn’t have put this together. It’s of heaven and it’s from heaven.

Thirdly, speaking of this heavenly gift, it’s for heaven. It’s for heaven. Sometimes I hear people speak and sometimes I even hear preachers preach and it’s as if they think God is the big God and we’re all little gods. But no, the scriptures teach there’s one God, and that’s it. We are His creatures. Some cross references here. In Ephesians chapter 1 where Paul is outlining the great purposes, actually he’s outlining how God saves and He’s adding the great purposes of salvation. In Ephesians 1:6 he says HE does it to the praise of the glory of His grace. In Ephesians 1:12 he says to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. And then in verse 14 of the same chapter he says He does it to the praise of His glory. Three times he makes it very clear why He did what He did in saving us to the praise of His own glory. He wants to show off who He is. He wants to manifest what He can do and that’s why you’re here on this frigid Sunday morning is so that we can learn more of Him, treasure Him more, be in awe of Him more, love Him more, live like Him better, exemplify Him more completely in our homes, in our marriages, in raising our children, in the office, in the school, in the neighborhood, so that from our lives they will see something that’s different that will glorify the heavenly gift we’ve received, that will give attention to, that will call attention to a heavenly thing has happened to us. That’s why we can’t walk like the world, and that’s why we don’t talk like the world, and that’s why we don’t go where the world goes and enjoy all that the world enjoys. Some things we do, certainly. But all to the end of His glory. It’s a heavenly gift. Christianity is to be God-centered. It’s all about Him. It’s not about us.

And by the way, I know what some of you are thinking if you’re struggling in your flesh right now, you’re thinking, “Well, what about me and what about my pleasures and what about my happiness and what about my joy?” Here’s, now listen. Here’s what God’s in the business of doing. God is in the business of removing all inferior joys. That’s what He’s doing. There are a whole lot of things that you and I get our eyes on, get our ears attached to, and we want to enjoy them. And they’re not all bad by the way. But God will take us through a gracious, infinitely loving process of teaching us to die to inferior joys that we might have the ultimate joy of Him. Of Him. That’s the gift. Him. Knowing Him, loving Him, being saved by Him. It’s all to be about Him. It’s to be God-centered.

Well, talking about this, the fact that it’s for heaven. IN Philippians chapter 2 verse 13 Paul wrote to the church at Philippi and he worded it this way. “For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” If you’re a Christian, God is doing the work in you to will and to work for His good pleasure. Now by the way, it’s all for His good pleasure, but it’s going to be ultimately for your great pleasure. Because He’s very glorified and if you will satisfied when you are most enamored with and in love with Him. When you exhibit to the world that I have found a joy that surpasses all the joys of this world. I have found a love that’s greater than all the loves of this earth. I joy in Him, and I treasure Him.

Remember the parable Jesus gave us when He said, “Here’s a man who finds a pearl of great price and he does everything he can to get that pearl. HE finds a treasure hidden in a field and he sells all he has to buy the field.” That’s what he’s saying about Jesus Christ. He’s the great treasure. And see, the wonderful thing about this is it’s not that you’re supposed to grit your teeth and deny yourself and make yourself learn to love Him. NO, He does something in you whereby there is a drawing and an abiding and a leading to Him as your chief and great joy and pleasure. Why? Because something from heaven’s happened to us. It’s the heavenly gift.

Now in Philippians 2:13 he says HE works and He wills working in us for His good pleasure. You could say it this way: God thought it good and it delighted Him to do this, that is to save us and make us His children. God sending this heavenly gift, His Son, to save us and make us His very own, of course is first and foremost for His own glory. That is to show the wonders of Himself in saving wretches like us. Let me remind you again that God being God must be glorified and admired for all that He is. And a big part of who God is is grace and mercy and love. And God’s grace and mercy and love could not be seen unless HE could save deplorable, loathsome wretches like us. And since you qualify as a deplorable, loathsome wretch, He will save you that He might exhibit who He is. That’s how I know I’m going to be saved forever because His glory’s on the line. He wants to get Jeff Noblit to heaven so that all the heavenly hosts can marvel over what mercy, grace, and love it took to get me there. “Pastor, why are you thinking that way?” Because that’s God-centered thinking, not man-centered. Now it doesn’t mean that it’s wrong to speak of man’s need and man’s salvation and man must repent and trust Christ. OF course. That’s all under the sovereignty of God, of course. Not that it’s wrong to talk about man wants to be with God and miss hell. That’s right. But it’s not the chief emphasis of scripture, and it shouldn’t be our chief emphasis.

So the point of Philippians 2:13 that God’s both willing and working in us for His good pleasure is that God’s saving work of justifying us, declaring us just in His sight the moment of initial faith, and sanctifying us, that progressive work He keeps doing in us in this lifetime is all to the ultimate end that it bring God’s, it brings God, rather, delight and pleasure to do it. You know, sometimes you think of God as saving wretches like us kind of holding His nose and hanging onto our hand and wishing HE didn’t have to do it. Absolutely not. He places the righteousness of His Son in you. You are the cherished, precious treasure. You are the apple of His eye, and it brings Him delight and pleasure to keep you and save you. That’s just, I mean we could talk for untold hours. That’s just a little bit on this heavenly gift that we’ve been given. And it reminds us that Christianity is to be God-centered.

Now let’s go the second thing here in our conclusion for practical application. And that is that the problem of rejecting Christ is the problem of the human heart. The problem in rejecting Christ is the problem of the human heart. The text tells us, Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4, “And they tasted the heavenly gift.” They didn’t swallow. They tasted, but their hearts refused to receive. Jesus said something interesting in Mark chapter 8 verse 17. The disciples are talking about needing bread and all, “And Jesus aware of this said to them, ‘Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread. Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart?’” Now here’s the context. They’ve already seen Christ feed the five thousand miraculously. They’ve already witnessed the feeding of the four thousand. That was a miracle. Yet Christ is trying to show them it’s not about physical stuff. There’s higher, more important things than that. And He makes the connection here. I want you to see the connection here. He makes the connection between you don’t understand and you’ve got a heart problem. You have a hardened heart. You don’t yet understand because you’ve got a hardened heart.

Now He did not say, “Oh, did I fail to properly meet your felt needs, and therefore I’ve kept you from believing? You feel that you need food. That’s what’s occupying your heart and mind. And since I haven’t talked about food lately I’m failing for not giving you your felt need so that then I can open the gospel up to you.” Is that what He said? No. HE said, “You don’t understand, you don’t have faith yet because your heart’s hard. You’ve got a heart problem.” It was not the lack of adequate packaging of the gospel that leads to unbelief. It’s the perverseness in the human heart that leads to unbelief. These unbelievers, these pretenders tasted not the preacher’s creativity. They did not taste the choir’s beauty and ability. They did not taste the church’s dramatic arts presentation. They tasted the heavenly gift. The unbelief of their heart was not the failure of the apos, of the apostle who was writing to them to be culturally relevant. It was the failure of the fallen or depraved heart to treasure and embrace Christ. They tasted Him but did not swallow Him.

Look back if you will at Hebrews chapter 3 right quick. And this letter that is written with a lot of lost listeners in mind, notice how many times he says this. Hebrews 3:7, Therefore it just says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” And then verse 15 of chapter 3, While it is said, “Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts.” Chapter 4 verse 7: He again fixes a certain day, today, saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today, if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts.” Three times. It’s a heart problem that causes men to reject Christ.

Mark chapter 7 verse 6, the Lord Jesus says, “This is a people that honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” What a damning, irrefutable commentary on the wickedness and depravity of the human heart. The human heart can taste the heavenly gift. That means the human heart can taste something of the matchless glory and wondrous beauty of the Crown Prince of heaven, God’s very Son. The human heart can taste something of His dying love, His suffering, His shame, His multitude of sorrows for sinners and be moved by it. They tasted the heavenly gift and then said in effect, “I’m not too moved by it. I’m not too impressed. I’ll look for something better. Ultimately, I’ll have nothing to do with Him.” Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?” The problem with receiving Christ is the problem of the human heart.

Well, a third thing a conclusion for practical application I get by meditating on this phrase “they tasted the heavenly gift and then fell away,” is that a desperately sick heart must have a divine intervention to be healed. A desperately sick heart must have a divine intervention to be healed. By the way, that’s what we’re about. We’re people of divine intervention. We’re people who’ve had a divine intervention in our hearts. Maybe you don’t even see it or understand it, but as you’re taught it you begin to see it and you begin to understand it. That God convicted my heart. God saw that I heard the preaching. God caused me to see my need. God helped me to turn. God gave me faith to trust Him. God is sustaining me all the way through.
You see, a heart that is this desperate and this defiled cannot be helped outside a miracle of God. I mean they tasted Christ. They tasted the heavenly gift. Considered it, enjoyed things about Him, wondered over His love, were moved by His sacrifice. They were touched by His beauty but ultimately said, “No thanks.” By the way, that’s a picture of all of our hearts apart from the work of God in our hearts. That’s a picture of all of… Now let me ask you again. Do you think Jew flesh is worse than Baptist flesh? I mean, yeah, they were so fleshly. They were so unspiritual. They could do all of that and still be lost. So can you. So can I if there’s not a divine intervention in our hearts. Isaiah 53 verse 6 says, “All of us like sheep have gone astray and each one has turned to his own way.” Isn’t that the truth? Apart from God, there we go, going our own way. What we need, what we desperately need is a heart transplant.

How many of you remember an old Baptist preacher by the name of Lester Roloff? Remember Lester? About the first three or four, five years after I was saved I loved listening to Lester Roloff. Now a lot of folks didn’t like Lester. Boy, you talking about tough. One of His phrases that I use is ole Lester’s phrase is he likes a man with a backbone like a saw log. He used to take in these alcoholics and drug addicts and everything else that the courts didn’t know what to do with. He said, “Send them to me.” He’d have a worship service and preach to them in the morning. Work them in the field, before daylight. He’d work them in the field all morning, bring them in at lunch and preach to them again and sing about Jesus again. He’d take them out in the field. They’d work till dark. He’d bring them in again about two more hours of preaching the Word of God, teaching the Word of God. And he said, “Guess what. They all slept every night.” He said, “It was just like when I was a boy when my daddy raised me. We didn’t take pills to go to sleep. My daddy had farm tranquilizers.” Lester Roloff, Corpus Christie, Texas. Ole independent Baptist preacher. I loved hearing Lester Ro, I wish he was still… I remember when Lester Roloff died I wept and said, “God, who’s gonna raise the standard now?” Lester just stood for what was right. In a day when the churches were going with the world, ole Lester just stood.

But he has a famous sermon that I want to share something about it with you. And I’m gonna put myself in here and kind of just go along. And I don’t often read a portion of another man’s sermon, but I want to read this to you. I was not feeling well one day and really troubled on the inside. I knew something was wrong inside of me, so I went to see the doctor. I made an appointment with Dr. Law. I went into Dr. Law’s office, the nurse was there in the reception area. Finally she came to the door and said, “Jeff Noblit, Dr. Law will see you now.” And I walked into Dr. Law’s office and said, “Dr. Law, I, I don’t know what’s wrong. Something’s bad inside of me. I don’t feel right. I, something’s just not right in my life. I need some help.” Dr. Law was a stern doctor, firm doctor. He looked me right in the eyes with those steely cold eyes, said, “I tell you what you got. You got a heart problem.” Said, “Dr. Law, I respect you, sir, and I know you’re a good doctor. But, see, you don’t understand. I think there’s something wrong with my hands. My hands keep wanting to touch things and handle things, play cards and gamble sometimes. I’ve got a hand problem.” Dr. Law said, “No, son, you don’t have a hand problem. You’ve got a heart problem.”

I said, “Dr. Law, I really appreciate your insight and your understanding. But, Dr. Law, you don’t understand. I really think I’ve got a problem with my eyes. My eyes keep wanting to look at things. I can look at those Hollywood pictures all night long and see things I don’t need to look at. Dr. Law, can you help me with my eyes? And not only that, Dr. Law, I think I got a problem with my ears. I like to hear that old filthy gossip, and I enjoy some things that I know I shouldn’t be listening to with my ears. I think I’ve got an eye problem and an ear problem, Dr. Law.” Dr. Law looked at me with that firm resolute voice and said, “Son, you’ve got a heart problem.”

“Dr. Law, I don’t think you understand. I think really I’ve got a tongue problem. I find myself saying things I shouldn’t say. I find myself talking about people when I shouldn’t talk about them. I find myself using dirty words when I shouldn’t use them. Dr. Law, I think I’ve got a tongue problem. By the way, not only that, Dr. Law, I think really the problem is I’ve got a foot problem. My feet keep going in places I shouldn’t go into. My feet keep taking me to areas I shouldn’t be around and with people I shouldn’t be associated with. Dr. Law, I don’t think you understand. I think I’ve got a tongue problem and I think I’ve got a feet problem.” And Dr. Law looked at me and said, “No, no, you’ve got a heart problem. I know what’s wrong with you. You have a heart problem.”

Well, I thought, “I can’t get nothing out of Dr. Law. I tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna find me somebody… Dr. Law, think you very much. I appreciate your time and I respect your opinion, but I’m gonna find me another doctor.” So I went down the road and I went to another doctor’s office and I went into that doctor and I said, you know who I found? Dr. Religion. I said, “Dr. Religion, something’s wrong, something’s wrong. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I don’t know… I’ve been to see another doctor, but he didn’t help me.” “Well, who’d you go see?” “Well, I’ve been down to see Dr. Law.” Oh, Dr. Religion just laughed. “Dr. Law, he’s so antique. He’s so antiquated. Dr. Law’s not up on the modern needs of the baby boomers. He don’t know of the modern modes of medicine.” “But Dr. Law, Dr. Religion, rather, something’s just not right in me, and I’m miserable and I need help. What would you suggest I do?” He said, “Go to church. Go to church, just go to church.” I said, “I think I’ll try that,” so I started going to church. I went one Sunday, went the next Sunday, and something was still wrong, something was still missing. I went back to Dr. Religion. I said, “Dr. Religion, something’s still bad, bad wrong. Can you help me?” He said, “Well, listen. Did you get baptized and join the church.” “No.” “Well, go do that then.”

So I went back to church and I got baptized, and I got my wife to be baptized with me. And we joined the church. Just a few days later I was just feeling awful again. Something wasn’t right inside of me and I didn’t know what I was gonna do, so a couple of my buddies told me they had a couple of other doctors I could visit. And they thought those doctors could help me. Dr. Be Good and Dr. Do Good. So I saw Dr. Be Good and I saw Dr. Do Good. And Dr. Be Good and Dr. Do Good began to tell me about being good and doing good. And I tried to follow what they said. But it didn’t help. Something was still bad wrong inside of me.

So in desperation, I went back to see the old obstinate Dr. Law. When I walked into his office, I sat down. He looked at me with those steely cold and firm eyes and said, “You’ve got a heart problem and you’re gonna have an operation.” “Well, Dr. Law, I’m desperate. Can you perform this operation?” “Nope, I only diagnose the case.” “Dr. Law, you mean I’m in this desperate situation, I’m hurting and I’m miserable and I need some help and you won’t do the operation?” “Son, as far as I’m concerned, you can just die. I only diagnose the situation. You’ve got a bad heart.” “Well, what am I gonna do?” He said, “I tell you what. I have somebody I can recommend you to that I’m sure can fix you.” So Dr. Law took me by the hand. We walked out of Dr. Law’s office and we walked down the hall to his associate. When he opened the door I saw that other doctor. He was the sweetest, kindest looking man I think I’d ever seen. And Dr. Law said, “This is Jeff Noblit. He’s got the same problem all the other patients had that I brought to you. Jeff Noblit, I introduce you to Dr. Grace.” I sat down and I talked to Dr. Grace. I said, “Dr. Grace, I need this heart operation. Can you help me? By the way, Dr. Grace, what are you gonna do?” He said, “I’m gonna take out your old heart and I’m gonna put in a new heart.” “Well, Dr. Grace, do you have a, can Dr. Law come in and help. I mean can a little Dr. Law come in. I mean it’s an important operation.” He said, “No, sir. I do all my operations all by myself.” “What about a nurse? Is there gonna be a nurse there to help you?” “No, no nurses will be there. I perform the operations all by myself.” “What about my wife? Can my wife come stand with me?” “This is totally personal between you and between me. And by the way, I’ve never lost a patient. When I go to work on you, you’ll come out perfect and brand new.”

Dr. Law put me on that operating table and while he had me on that operating table he cut open my chest and he took out my old heart. It was black and filthy and ugly and had such an odor of filth and stench about it. Then he put a brand new heart inside of me. And I healed up and didn’t even have a scar. And I asked Dr. Grace, I said, “Dr. Grace, by the way, what’s the charge for this operation?” “It’s free. It’s already all been paid for.” “Is that right?” “Yes, it’s all been paid for.” And by the way, “Who’s heart is in me?” “The same one that paid for the operation. You now have His heart.” Because I was beginning to feel the spiritual life in my cheeks and a joy in my eyes and a new strength in my body and I said, “Dr. Grace, can you introduce me to the one who paid for my operation and gave me my new heart? And by the way, Dr. Grace before I meet him, what do I do now that I’ve got this new heart?” HE said, “Well, you need to exercise and the way you exercise is you just bend on your knees a lot everyday and just worship God.” He said, “That’s the exercise you need. And another exercise you need is go through your community, through your school, through your neighborhood and tell others about the new heart that you’ve been given.” “Well, can I meet the one who paid for my operation and gave me the new heart and who has given me everything that I have today?” “Yes, you can.” And he opened the door and in walked One who was the most beautiful, the most glorious being I’d ever laid eyes on. And I noticed He had nail prints in His hands, scars on His head, and as His robe fell open, I saw a spear print in His side. I said, “I think I’ll start exercising right now.” Got on my face and worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ.

Problem is so severe it takes a divine miracle to fix it. Have you been to Jesus? You got to go to Dr. Law first and realize your need, and Dr. Grace can get you to Jesus and a brand new heart. Let’s stand in prayer…