Paul was urging them to go forward in the doctrine of Christ. You don't stay there, you need to learn, you need to grow, you need to continue, you need to move on. Not learning those things that's the basics. Not that the basics aren't important, but they are, because that's how you're saved. But you need to move on from that. And the consequences of apostasy, of turning back, are described. If you should fall away to come back again, you'd have to bring Christ back, crucify him all over again to an open shame. course those that are truly his do not fall away. And he and then last week we seen he expressed to satisfy he was satisfied with some of them or most biggest part of them because he seen in their lifestyle that they were saved. There's evidence that he saw there that And that's what you do see. When somebody has truly repented, repentance means what? A change of mind. So, you're going to see a change in their life. You don't see a change and something is wrong. You really need to examine your profession of faith. The Lord will change you. He gives you a heart, a new heart. He opens your understanding, so forth and so on. So, there will be a change. Then we got, we're down to verse 11 through 20. And since there is that change, and since there is, in your life, you've become a Christian, it doesn't mean that everything's gonna be just perfectly smooth. Everything's gonna be fine and dandy. You'll learn quite quickly that it isn't. It isn't always smooth. It isn't always dandy. A Christian's life can be very hard sometimes. So what does he do? He encourages them to persevere in their faith, persevere in their faith and in their holiness. The verse 11, he begins, he says, and we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. And he said, we desire that everyone, every single member, this is something that he had a desire for them to do, to show forth. And back in the fifth chapter, we saw that he was really kind of coming down on them because they wasn't learning what they needed to be learning. And he said, you're babes. I mean, you should be teachers. And again, when he said you should be teachers, that doesn't mean you stand up front and teach, but with your life and you have the knowledge, you gain the knowledge. and that you can take that and give it and share that with people, that's what he's talking about. He wanted not just the pastor or the deacons, but he wanted everyone, just like this, everyone to have that ability. To do what? To have that knowledge. And here he's saying, hey, once you have that knowledge, he wanted you to continue into that. He wanted you to be diligent in that. Every member have that same diligence. To what? To the full assurance of hope. Full assurance. Firmly persuaded. The state of mind of the believer should have be fully assured what of their salvation. Look at 1 Thessalonians, the first chapter, a full conviction that there be no doubt And this is why he was getting on to them about being babes and not learning what they should know, that should be growing. And that assurance comes not because Not when you say a baby. You know, as a baby begins to walk, they're really not sure, are they? They're wobbly and they're holding on to stuff. They're not sure that they can walk yet. But as they learn and as they grow, then they let go of things and then they're not as wobbly and then they're walking just like us. And that's the same way for Christian in his knowledge. He knows the basics, but then he needs to grow in those things. He needs to have a diligence in those things of gaining that knowledge to what it helps them with their salvation. You're not wobbly, you're not wishy-washy. Am I saved? I'm not saved. You know, we're not wishy-washy. You're not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, but you know assuredly you're confident. Paul's preaching, when he preached in 1 Thessalonians 1 of 5, he said, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake." That preaching was in much assurance. He didn't go there and thinking, is this right or is this wrong? No, he was assured. He knew what he was preaching was the Word of God, and he preached it with the power of the Holy Spirit. He was assured of that, and He wanted these people to be also assured of those things, be fully assured of those things. First Peter, the first chapter, in verse 3, it says, and I'll kind of move right along if we're going to get this in. 1 Peter 1 and 3 said, Blessed be the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us into a, what kind of hope? A lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a lively hope, it's not a hope of, I hope, I hope, like we use hope today. This is a hope of a, I know, for sure, an assurance, and it's alive, it's real. It's guaranteed. He goes on to say, through a lively hope by Jesus Christ, who's resurrected from the dead to an inheritance, verse four, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, it fadeth not away, it's reserved in heaven for you. And how is this all obtained? Verse five, who are kept by the power of God through faith into salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. A full assurance of hope, a lively hope. He wanted them to desire for them to have the same diligence in understanding that, in seeking that, in growing in that. And how long? Well, let me read Romans 15, 13. It says, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope. How? Through the power of the Holy Ghost. Again, we got to rely on God. We got to rely on His Spirit. Our nature doesn't want to be diligent about anything, really, and especially the things of God. But we need to be diligent. We need to pray that, Lord, give me that diligence. Give me that desire. Give me that full assurance of hope. And how long was it say? And we desire that every one of you to show the same diligence to the full assurance of your hope. How long? Until the end. Until the end, the end of life, this perseverance. It isn't I'm going to persevere today and I'm done with persevering. No, perseverance, it's every day of our life. Plumb to the end. We have to persevere, and he's telling, and especially these Hebrews, they was gonna meet much afflictions. We don't meet afflictions today, people. We don't, not like the people of God of the Bible. So they was gonna need to persevere till the end. Second, that's, let me read, let me see here. I'm trying to leave some of this out because I ain't no way I'm going to be able to do it. Perseverance to the end of life. And guess what? 1 John 5 and 5 tells us, who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God. We will overcome the world because of him, because of who he is. He will bring that about. So his desire is that every one of them, not missing a single one, show the same diligence, the same effort, the same desire to what? To have that full assurance, complete assurance. No doubts, no doubts in that hope until when the Lord comes back. Verse 12, that you be not slothful, The followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise. Be not slothful, be not inactive. It's a work. It is a work. And it's a work that we need not be slothful in. Proverbs 18 and nine says, he also that is slothful in his work is a brother to him that is a great waster. Now, it would have been real easy for these Hebrews to say, man, this is tough. This new religion, this following after Christ, It's tough. It's hard. There's persecution with it. We just slide back to where we was in the old ways. We already know them. It's the sacrifice system. We got that. It would have been easy to have been slothful not to move forward, but to go backward. He says, hey, don't be slothful. You need to what? Be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise. Hebrews the 12th chapter, you can turn there. Hebrews the 12th chapter, what do we call this chapter? Anybody know? Hebrews 12? Pardon? Yes, faith. The faith chapter, and in beginning at verse 1, it says, So this was a great cloud of witness. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto the Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down on the right hand of God. He said, because of this great witness of who, who was he talking about? As you look at that chapter, you look at Abraham, you look at all the great people of the Bible, and you look at all, and he talks about all their great acts of faith, and all their great patience, and all their great endurance, and all their great perseverance. They could read about those, they knew about those. And he says, hey, be followers. That's who you want to follow after. Of them who through faith and patience, those who had faith, those who had confidence in God, and they showed their faith and their patience, even in trials. They didn't give up. They didn't fold. They didn't fall backward. No, but they persevered. Don't be slothful, but follow them through faith and patience. Did what? Inherit the promises. Inherit the promises. We have great promises today, do we not? in the Lord. And the greatest promise, Revelation 14, 13, What a promise. Death is a victory for someone who's saved. It's a rest. from their labors. They endure. That's a promise of God. That's a guarantee from God. He says, therefore, be not slothful, but follow them who through faith and patience inherit the promise. Well, then he goes and gives them an example, verse 13. And when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. When God made a promise to Abraham that he would bless him, Genesis 22 and 16, it says, and I said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. The Lord swore on his own name, no greater name to swear on, the one with the greatest power and so forth. For because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thy only son, he was going to kill Isaac. and he would have killed Isaac because he believed that God could raise him from the dead. He goes on to say that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars are in heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. God promised Abraham this. But you know what? And he swore by no name no greater than his own name. He swore by himself. You definitely don't swear by a name that's inferior to you, do you? No, you swear by a name that is greater. And there was no another greater than himself. And God said, in my name, I swear this to you. But you know what? Abraham had to persevere. That didn't happen overnight. That didn't come to him the next day. He had to persevere. Verse 14 goes on to say, saying, surely, surely, or confirmation or affirmation, surely, blessing I will bless thee, and I will multiply, and multiply I will multiply thee. What he said he was going to do, it was going to happen. It was going to be a great increase. There was going to be a numerous prosperity of Abraham. But again, that didn't happen overnight. verse 15, and so after, and so after God made this promise, he said, your seed is going to be as the sands of the sars, your seed's going to be that way. And so after he had what patience, Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. He patiently endured, he waited a very long time for that to happen. Very long time. Trying to leave some of this out. He patiently endured. Endurance. TO OBTAIN THAT PROMISE. NOW, AGAIN, WHEN HE TOLD ABRAHAM TO LEAVE, AND YOU CAN SEE THIS IN GENESIS... LET'S JUST READ GENESIS 12 AND 1. IT SAYS, NOW THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO ABRAHAM, excuse me, Abram, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house into a land that I will show thee, and I'll make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I'll make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was 75 years old when he departed out of Haran. 75 years old. He hadn't attained the promise. He didn't even have the son. But the Lord was going to bless him with it. It was assured. He swore by his own name that this was going to happen. He swore that and he attained that promise. Now, did he see? Did he see the great number of people? Well, no, he didn't see that. He didn't physically see that. John 8 and 56, it says, Jesus says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Did Abraham see the Messiah? But God promised him the people were going to be there, the Messiah was going to come through that generation, etc. He saw it. How did he see it? Not with physical eyes, but he saw it by faith. And he persevered. You know, it's easy to persevere when you already have something. But when you don't have it, then it's harder to persevere. But he's telling these people, Abraham did. He was an example of that. He didn't have that promise. He didn't see that promise fulfilled. But yet, did he give up and quit? Oh gosh, it didn't happen today. I'm gonna quit. No, he continued on every day. He continued. He endured. It said patiently. Oh, that's tough there. He patiently endured. He obtained the promise. He saw it by faith. He believed God. He swore by his own name that it would happen. That was the guarantee. He didn't have to see it with his eyes, but he saw it by faith. Verse 16. For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. For men verily swear by the greater. Again, we don't swear by a name that's inferior, because why would you do that? It's inferior. You don't know that it could even happen. It's inferior. But no, men verily swear by that, but they swear by a greater name, the Lord, the Lord. They appeal to God. They look to God. They look to His words, His promises, His guarantees. It's a confirmation that it will happen. Guarantee what's in this book, whatever He said. It will happen. It has happened. You can see evidences of that from the Old Testament. You see many prophecies fulfilled. Why? Because God said it was gonna happen and it happened. Now, it don't always happen in our time and in our way and so forth. But he confirmed it. An oath to confirm it is to them an end of all strife. In other words, I don't have to be, I don't have to worry about it. If God said it, He's got it, He will do it. I don't have to, it's the end of all strife. I don't have to worry, I don't have to fret. God said He's gonna take care of His children. You know, our world looks pretty bleak right now. Our nation looks very bleak. But you know what? The Lord promised that He would take care of His children. Even in the United States. And we need to what? That gives me strife. I don't sit around and worry about it. Does it pop up every now and then when I see certain things happen? Absolutely. Then I have to go what? I have to, Lord, your word. I have to confirm it, not by what Mike or this world may say or do. I have to confirm it by the word. I have to stand on this. I have to endure with this. I have to have patience in this. And this is what he's telling the people there. Verse 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. Wherein is who? God. God. He made an oath in his own name to Abraham. He swore that his people would be as the sands of the seas and the stars in the sky. Willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of that promise. Who's the heirs of that promise? We are. We're heirs to that promise also. the immutability of his counsel, his fixed purpose. Immutability, it doesn't change. It's fixed. I can't do anything to change that. This world can't do anything to change that. It won't. It can't. It's fixed. His immutability does not change. God's plans never change. He's not going through the plan and say, oops, there's a road in my plan. I bumped in my road. I didn't expect that. He knew the end before the beginning begun. And I know we can't fathom that, but that's God. He confirmed it by an oath. He confirmed that. He told Abraham, Abraham believed him, and then he persevered. Even though it didn't happen right then, even though he didn't see it, all the numbers of people, even though he didn't see the Messiah, yet he believed it by faith. that by two, he confirmed it by a note, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Two immutable things, the grounds of our security for our salvation and his people, those are both unchanging. Who's the author of our salvation as we read earlier? God is. Who's the finisher of it? God is. He doesn't lie about that. He can't lie. That's not part of his nature. His nature is holy, righteous. It's impossible. It says, which is impossible for God. He can't lie. It's impossible for him to lie. Titus 1 and 2 tells us, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. Even before the plan begun, that was his promise to his people, that he would save them. What does it say? Because of that, we might have strong consolation. Our mind can be at ease about that. The consolation that we have, again, is not in our own strength, in our own abilities, because then we would be doubtful, and then we would not be assured. But our consolation is in what God has said, what God has promised. He cannot lie. So we have strong consolation. Who have fled for refuge? In the Old Testament, we had cities of refuge in which if you killed somebody by accident, you would flee to that city. And there you could be protected until it was all worked out that, hey, it was just an accident. But you fled to that city. Who do we flee to? Jesus. Jesus is our Redeemer. We flee to Him. The Gospel message, we flee to that. That is our refuge. He is our refuge. To lay hold upon, to seize, to hold fast. What? To Him, to Jesus. THE HOPE THAT IS SET BEFORE US. THAT HOPE OF WHAT? ETERNAL LIFE. AS WE READ THERE IN TITUS 1 AND 2, IN HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE WHICH GOD THAT CANNOT LIE PROMISED BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. THAT HOPE THAT'S SET BEFORE US. WE DON'T HAVE IT NOW IN THE GRASP. WE'RE NOT IN OUR ETERNAL LIFE. WE'RE IN THIS OLD BODY OF FLESH WHICH IS GOING TO DIE. AND WHAT'S THIS OLD BODY GOING TO DO? This hope that's set before us, it's guaranteed, it's impossible for God to lie about that, and we flee to Jesus Christ, his son, which made it possible for us to be redeemed. Moving on, verse 19, which hope we have, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil. An anchor. What does an anchor do for a boat? Well, it makes it sure. You drop your anchor, it holds you in place. The winds come, the storms come, but the anchor holds. It holds the ship in place. It gives the people on the ship what? Hope. It gives them hope. We have an anchor of the soul. Jesus, we have that anchor. He's both sure and steadfast, which is entered into within the veil, the Holy of Holies, which is what? That's where the throne of God is. That anchor reaches right into the presence of God and is there and is sure and it's steadfast. And we have that promise of our salvation based on that. Again, not ourselves, and it's sure and it's steadfast. We'll read this, Romans 8. I'm leaving a lot out, but that's fine. We're moving right along here. Sure and steadfast, which is entered into the veil. These verses we're very familiar with. We should read them every day because they're so encouraging. Romans 8 28 for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. Again this is conditional. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God. to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to conform to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified." You see the whole plan of salvation right there. The whole plan. Is man in there anywhere? Nope. Man's not in there anywhere. It's all of God. It's all of Him. That's why it's steadfast and sure. It's all of Him. And then He goes on to say, verse 31, what shall we say to these things? As we look at this plan of salvation, what can we say about this plan of salvation? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or neckiness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all things we are more conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor death, nor any other creature shall be able to what? Separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Wow, what verses there. What assurance that we have. Ephesians 2 and 6, we read this this morning, says, He entered right into the veil and secured all of that for you and I, for His people. He is our anchor. I got a gnat up here. Verse 20, and we'll quit. Whether the forerunner is for us, whether the forerunner is for us entered, and even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Meschizedek. Who is that forerunner that entered in for us? It was Jesus. He entered into that veil. He went to the Father with his blood and the holies of holies. and made atonement for his people. And they stand assured. We can rest in those promises just like Abraham. But we need to endure, we need to persevere. And that's what he's telling them. The Lord has done the work, but you still need to persevere. The trials of life are going to come. Don't worry about the anchor. The anchor is steadfast and sure. It's Jesus Christ. Don't worry about that. Don't worry about those promises. They will be met by Jesus. And it says Machelzedek. Now, I'll give you an assignment. Who is Machelzedek? How do you say that? Machelzedek. Yeah. Who is it? Who is it? I tell you what, do some studying on that. Who is that? I've been doing some studying on it and I tell you, I ain't gonna tell you anything. But do the study. Try to form an opinion on who that is.