Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome here to our afternoon service at Calvary Baptist Church of Trehearne. And once again, welcome all those who tuned in to us via internet. Please open your hymnals to number 63. 63. Take the name of Jesus with you. Number 63. Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of hope. It will do you uncomfort, King. Take it then wherever you go Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Take the name of Jesus ever, As our time for worship's near. If temptation round you gather, Pray that holy name in prayer. Precious name, O how sweet, O how joyous, O the precious name, O sweet, love of earth and joy of heaven. O the precious name of Jesus, how with joyful souls we join, when his loving arms beseech us, And His song of songs employ. Precious name, O how sweet, Of a word and joy of Him. Precious name, O how sweet, Of a word and joy of Him. At the name of Jesus bowing, Bowing prostrate at his feet. King of kingdoms, ever crown him, When our journey is complete. Precious name, O how sweet! ♪ Precious name, O how sweet ♪ ♪ Home of earth and joy of heaven ♪ Our heavenly father, we're thankful for the name of thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful that we can know that name. and know that that is the only savior that there is for mankind, that we can be forgiven and saved through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can be set free from sin. We're thankful that he is a good shepherd. He's the door, he's the living water, he's the light of the world, the bread of life. We're thankful that we can know him as our own personal savior. We're thankful that we can have thy peace in our hearts and have him as the mediator between ourselves and thee. We're thankful again for providing us a place to meet and for each one that has come out. And we just pray that thy will be accomplished here in our services and in our testimony, that we would have a good testimony in this community and be able to help people to see the importance of knowing thy forgiveness and peace in these days of grace. May thy will be accomplished here, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And over to 292. 292. Surely goodness and mercy. Number 292. A pilgrim was I, and I wand'ring In the cold night of sin I did roam When Jesus, the kind shepherd, found me And now I am on my way home Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days, all the days of my life. He restores my soul when I'm weary He gives me strength day by day He leads me beside the still waters He guards me each step of the way Surely goodness me all the days all the days of my life surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days all the days of my life when I walk through the dark lonesome valley my savior will walk with me there and safely his great hand will lead me to the mansions he's got to prepare surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever And I shall feast at the table spread for me And over to 462. 462, Sunshine in My Soul. Number 462. There is sunshine in my soul today, more glorious and bright than glows in any earthly sky, for Jesus is my light. Oh, there's sunshine, blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in my soul There is music in my soul today A carol And Jesus listening in my heart The songs I cannot sing Oh, there is sunshine, blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine my soul. There is springtime in my soul today, for when the Lord is near, the love opens and in my heart, the flowers of grace appear. All the sunshine, blessed sunshine, moments wrong when jesus shows his smiling face there is sunshine in my soul there is gladness in my soul today and hope and praise and love for a blessing which he gave me now Four doors lit up above Oh, there's sunshine, blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll When Jesus shows his smiling face There is sunshine in my soul Take your Bibles and turn to the book of Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six, we'll be reading the first nine verses there. Hebrews 6, verses 1 to 9. We'll stand, please, for the reading of God's Word. Hebrews 6, verse 1. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him in an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful again for thy word, thankful for passages such as this that give us a clear warning in how dangerous it is to come so close to the truth and yet rejecting it. how important it is to not just be hearers of the Word, but also doers of the Word, to actually receive the Word of God into our hearts and to truly be saved and then serve Thee faithfully. So we pray again for each one that's listening today. Thou knowest the heart of each person. Thou knowest how oftentimes we take Thy Word lightly and we think we can just play around with it and we can consider for ourselves if we like it or not and think that we're still okay. How important it is for us to humble ourselves and to realize that we've just read the words of the creator of heaven and earth, the one who is sustaining the earth today, the one who is the judge of all people, and how that we need to understand that we need to submit ourselves to thee and allow thee to work in our hearts that which is well-pleasing in thy sight. So may thy will be accomplished in each one of our lives, that we would want thy blessing as we study these verses, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Title of the message this afternoon is Saved to Grow. Saved to Grow. We know that God is the greatest teacher that there ever was and ever will be. He knows how much basic information we need to have. And he knows what is required for man to repent and to be saved. What does man need to know to understand the need to repent and be saved? He also knows what is needed for the Christian to be able to grow and what Christian growth looks like. And so he gives us exactly what we need. And if we refuse what he gives us, then there is no hope. There is no plan B when it comes to God. He has no plan B. Sometimes we make plans and we decide, well, this is what I'm going to decide to do. And if that doesn't work, then I'll take this other option. But God doesn't give us that. It's a plan A. We need to know him. Adam was told that he was not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of the of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And when he ate of that tree, he fell into sin immediately. There was no second opportunity. That was clear teaching given to him. When he rejected that, he was a sinner, became a sinner. And since that time, the The option for man to know God's peace is to repent toward God, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and walk with Him. That's the way of peace. And so that's very important. I read recently of a man who had a praying grandmother. As a young boy, he observed that. He often, he said he could hear her praying as he was outside. She would be by the kitchen window and praying for him and for his family and for others. He heard that and he respected that, but he did not believe in God. And he became a rock musician of sorts. and he was drawn to a church as a young adult by a girl. That girl was the pastor's daughter, and they created a friendship, and they were friends for a time, and obviously that pastor's daughter, or that pastor, I should say, did not have much discernment to allow his daughter to draw close to an unsaved young man. He attended that church for a while, according to his writings, and a traveling evangelist came through, and that traveling evangelist chose some verses in his message that spoke to this young man's heart. And he could not get past them, and he was under conviction, and he got saved. Eventually, because he knew that from his girlfriend, he knew that she did not want to marry a pastor, so he never told her when he got saved that he believed that God would call him into the ministry, and he never told her that. And eventually, they drifted apart. They didn't get married. They drifted apart. Later, he met a different girl whom he married, and she became a pastor's wife. He was a very studious person and he pursued several degrees. There are a lot of men today that have been brainwashed into thinking that the more degrees they have, the more spiritual they are, which is not true. Degrees tend to drive you away from God, not closer to him. Studying the Bible is important. But by the time you're finished with all the degrees and the requirements of the degrees, you have been dabbling in things that weaken you as a Christian. This man became a very well-respected pastor and preacher among independent fundamental Baptist churches. And recently, I discovered that this man holds a very firm position on the gap theory. I mentioned that this morning. And this belief that he has, this theory that he has, is tainting everything that he believes. And so as we look at our text here, it's important for us to have a good foundation. But as we mentioned, God knows what we need in order to make that good foundation, to hold to that foundation. And then we need to move on and build on that foundation. So as we look at this passage, we see here, first of all, that saints must grow. It says, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. So the first word we have there is therefore, so we know that chapter six is building upon the first five chapters that we have studied. And in those first five chapters, the writer was directed to lay down for us the doctrine of Christ. Who is Christ? And we find that one of the key words in those first five chapters is better. Jesus Christ is better than the angels. He's better than the prophets. He is the one that we need to know. There's very few angels the Bible gives us the names for. We have Gabriel and Michael, but we don't know the names of many angels, and yet there are thousands of angels. But the Bible makes much of the name of Christ. And not just the name of Christ, but who is Christ? What does that mean when we talk about Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? So in those first five chapters, we've been also reminded of the importance of not procrastinating, but today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the days of the provocation. So the provocation that goes back to the wilderness wanderings of the nation of Israel when that entire generation died out except for two men because they hardened themselves against the truth. So in those first five chapters, God gave us everything that we needed to know regarding the doctrine of Christ. Now in chapter six, he tells us it's time to go on unto perfection. So we can't stay there at baby stage. And we saw that in chapter five. Says in verse 14, but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So if you take a young child and you try to feed that child meat, you're not going to get very far. But once that child grows a little bit and their stomach develops and their digestive system develops more, they can take meat. And spiritually, once we are saved, we need to grow. We cannot stay in that baby stage. We can't continue to just talk about the basics of who Jesus is. We need to move on to how does that apply and fit into our lives. So God gives us some examples here, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. So the Christian needs to understand that works, first of all, do not save. And secondly, we need to understand what kind of works don't help us at all, what kind of works are dead works, it tells us here. So what is the things that would hinder us? What are the things that people try to do to gain favor with God that really are of no value at all? So we need to know that and we need to move on past that point. Now there are many religions that use baptism as a means of salvation. Now baptism is a biblical doctrine, but when you take that biblical doctrine and you turn it into a means of salvation, it becomes a dead work because baptism does not save. The Catholics have many sacraments and baptism is one of them, marriage is another, their mass is another, giving is another, so they have sacraments that they use and their sacraments are, according to them, are the means by which their people obtain favor with God. And the hope is that if they do enough sacraments and if they follow the sacraments faithfully, God will be pleased with them and they'll get through purgatory quicker and maybe into their heaven, which is really hell. So that's the difference in Christianity. We have two ordinances. An ordinance is a command of God And the two ordinances that we have is baptism and the Lord's Supper. An ordinance is a command of God, but it's not something that saves. It has no saving merit to it whatsoever. A lost person that gets put in the water is just getting wet. A lost person that partakes of the Lord's Supper is bringing condemnation upon himself. So that doesn't help us anything. So then it says also, and of faith toward God. So that's a pretty basic fact that everybody needs to understand. Hebrews 11, verse six, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So if you're going to get saved, you need to believe that there is a God. That's pretty standard. But you can only spend so much time telling a person that, and especially if the person is saved, obviously they already believe that there is a God. So now it's time to get on with what does that mean when I have my faith in God? How does that affect my daily life as a Christian? So then in verse two of the doctrine of baptisms. Well, the Bible teaches that there are two baptisms. The one baptism that we receive is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we receive at the moment of salvation. Now the Charismatics, they teach that that's a separate event that you need to pray for, and then you need to wait for it. And once you receive it, They claim that you will then speak in tongues and be able to do other things which are not true. And when you look at the Bible, tongues is always a human language. And it's something that was used in Bible times in a miraculous manner to communicate the gospel. It was not ever designed to demonstrate superiority. In the book of Acts, I believe it's four times that you will find that people spoke in tongues. And in all of those four times, there were unbelieving Jews present. And the tongues languages were used as a sign to unbelieving Jews of true biblical salvation. And that was at a time of transition. Tongues ceased. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 tells us that they'll cease when the perfect is come. The perfect is the word of God. It's finished. It's here. We have the word of God. We have no further use for biblical, the biblical sign gift of tongues. So now when someone wants to go into another land or speak to another group of people, they need to spend hours and years studying the language to be able to communicate properly. There are people who learn a language on their own. They don't learn how to pronounce the words properly. You can't understand them properly because they don't learn how to pronounce them right. And so they think they're pretty good because they know all these languages, but they can't communicate properly in those languages. So you need to learn. It takes time to learn a language so that you can communicate with people that they can understand you in their mother tongue. So that's The Charismatics are wrong in teaching their form of tongues. It's not biblical. So the doctrine of baptism, spirit baptism, happens at the moment of salvation. You don't pray for it. You don't wait for it. The moment a person is saved, they receive the Holy Spirit. Water baptism is something that is done to the saved individual after they are saved and proven they are saved, then they are baptized in water. And that is something that does not save either, and a new Christian will be taught that, so it's time to move on past that, the writer tells us here, to other things. And then it says, laying on of hands. What's the purpose of laying on of hands? Well, we know that in Bible times that they laid hands on people that were ordained by God for the ministry. Timothy had Paul and others lay their hands on him in agreement with God's choice of Timothy to be a pastor. It didn't make Timothy a pastor. The call has to come from God, and all that the laying of hands does is to show agreement with God on what is going on. Then we have also the resurrection of the dead. Well, again, the Bible is very clear that the resurrection of the dead is real, saved or unsaved, all will be raised up one day. And the Bible teaches us of the importance of the resurrection of the dead. If you go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, And verse 13, it tells us there, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. So if someone wants to argue against resurrection of the dead, then they obviously are arguing against the risen Savior. That's what Paul was writing there in 1 Corinthians 15. So if Christ isn't alive, then there is no salvation for anyone. But again, this is something, according to what we're told here in chapter 6, this is something that is taught consistently, and every new Christian knows about the resurrection of the dead. Every true born-again Christian accepts the reality of the resurrection of the dead. And then we have eternal judgment, and the Bible also teaches that there is a judgment coming. It's appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. So everyone will face a judgment. Now again there are many religions that teach that when a person dies they go to heaven's gate and Peter will meet them there and Peter will determine whether they're going to get into heaven or not. Well that's a false teaching. That's a heresy. but it's still being taught today. So again, every true Christian is going to know that Peter is not at heaven's gate waiting to welcome you in or to reject you. Peter has no part in that whatsoever. Jesus Christ is the judge. The saved individual will meet Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ. Every Christian will be there, and at that judgment, Jesus will determine what the rewards will be for the Christian or what the lack of rewards will be. Every lost person will be resurrected and will stand at the great white throne judgment. And at that judgment, the books will be opened, the Bible says, and the lost will be judged according to their works. and they will be shown that their works do not meet God's standard of righteousness. So again, those people who believe that Old Testament saints were saved by works, they obviously have not read their Bibles, they have not believed what the Bible teaches, and they are in fact going against the word of God. Nobody enters heaven by works. Anybody that thinks they will, the Bible says the books will be opened and they will be judged by their works and found wanting. They will end up in the lake of fire. So that's again what the Bible teaches and these are basic things that every new Christian needs to be taught and needs to believe. And then it goes on and it talks about, okay, that's the last one there, and then it says in verse 3, and this will we do if God permit. So the writer here is one who is going to obey God, going to follow God, so he's going to move on from what he has been teaching now and into the meat of the scriptures, the things that are important for Christian growth. And so that's what God is giving us here. These first principles have been laid down for us, and now it's time to move on. So the second thing that we have here is facing the impossible. In verse four, it says, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the world to come. So this is something that cannot happen. It's impossible. Now, there are many people who take verses five, six, or four, five, and six, and they use those verses as a proof text to prove that people can lose their salvation. Again, when we take the scriptures, one of the principles of studying the Bible is that you always take the clear passages of scripture as your foundation and a passage that needs some clarification needs to fit in with the clear passages of scripture. You don't use a passage that needs some clarification and make that passage twist the clear passages of Scripture. So, we go back to John chapter 3 and verse 16. Pretty clear, isn't it? So then, let's go over to John chapter 5 and verse 24. John chapter 5 and verse 24. And when we come to that verse, it tells us there, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is past, from death unto life. That's pretty clear too, isn't it? It tells us there that if we hear the word of God and believe on him, that sent me. So if we believe in the true God and we believe that the true God sent Jesus Christ, which then means that we believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, Bible says we have everlasting life. And it says that we will not come into condemnation, but then it says, but is passed, but not, doesn't say, but will pass, is passed. So at the moment of salvation, the person is given everlasting life and will not come into condemnation. He's passed from death into life. So that's pretty clear. So that's, Then we can go to chapter 10. I'm just picking a few here, but chapter 10. And we look at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one." Again, that's pretty clear. And so the clear passages, and there are many more than those three, but the clear passages show us that salvation is a gift of God, and when a person is saved, they have everlasting life. So now we come back to Hebrews chapter six and verses four through six. How do we then understand those verses? Well, we have to understand them in the light of the fact that when a person is saved, they have everlasting life. So now we look at what is it saying in verse four through six. And really, if we follow the scripture, the first place when you're looking at understanding a passage is you look at the immediate context. So I took us past that point and we looked at a further context first. But if we come now and zero in on the immediate context, verses 7 through 8 give us the understanding of verses 4 through 6. So in verse 4, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the heavenly ghost." Now there are people who will argue and they look at the word tasted And they look at that word, and again, this is why you need to understand how to study the Bible. A concordance is a very useful tool in studying the Bible. And so if you take the concordance and you take and look up the word tasted, you will find many references that talk about tasting. And so the person who's not learned in studying the Bible will take that word tasted and will look at other verses that talk about tasting. And in some of those verses, it talks about saved individuals. And they'll say, well, it means saved over there. So it must mean saved over here. Again, you have to look at the context. You cannot just take a word in the Bible and find all the other references and say it always means the same thing in every verse. It doesn't. So again, we're talking here in this passage of people who heard the word of God who even saw the benefits of the Word of God. As I mentioned earlier, this man that I'm reading right now, one of the things that impressed him as a lost man was Matthew's gospel account. And so he read it often. And he was quite impressed with Matthew's gospel account. But at times when he was reading it, he was also offended by it and thought, it can never be. How can Jesus, the man who could walk on water, who could heal the blind and the lame and so on, how could he be crucified? And so he would close his Bible, put it away and promise never to look at it again. But what'd he do? He picked it up again and read the same gospel over again. Why? because it's God's Word and it's powerful. And so he could not just walk away from it. God was working on his heart. But he read it, I don't know for how long a period, it doesn't say, but as many times, it sounds like he read it many times, but he read it every time. He was one that saw, as it says here. He was once enlightened, he saw some things that he could not put away. He saw some things about Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus? He tasted of it. He saw the benefits of what Jesus did in other people's lives. But he never accepted it for quite some time. That's what we're talking about here. We're talking about people who have been around. There were many people when Jesus was on the earth. The Pharisees were right there when Jesus healed people. They saw the blind man in John chapter 9. They knew that that man was born blind. They didn't want to accept the fact that he was born blind because he could see all of a sudden. But yet his parents said he was born blind. He said he was born blind. Other people knew he was born blind. But the Pharisees, they saw it all. And they saw this man can now see. And he told them that a man came and gave him his sight and how he did it. And then later on, Jesus met him again and told him who he was. And yet the Pharisees, everything they knew, having physical eyesight, and yet spiritually, they were blind. They rejected all the facts. They saw the man carrying his bed on the Sabbath. They saw him. They saw him come in on a bed. And they saw him walk out with his bed. And yet, what did they do? They attacked Jesus for healing on the Sabbath instead of recognizing what he did. And so they had all the opportunity, and they are examples of individuals who fit exactly what God is talking about here, These individuals who saw the power of God, and yet they rejected it. And it says, if they shall fall away. Now, what's the falling away got to do with? Well, the falling away has to do with, they eventually come to the place and say, I'm done with this. I'm not going to entertain it any longer. And I'm rejecting it. Well, what did the Jews do when Jesus was put on trial? Many of those Jews that stood at that trial were the same Jews who witnessed Jesus' power in healing and casting out devils and so on. They were fed 5,000 men besides women and children. Many of those Jews were the same Jews. They saw it all. But what did they cry out at that trial? Crucify him, crucify him. They were done with him. Why? Because he didn't fit their imaginary idea of the Messiah. So it says, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance. This would fit into the same category as the person who the Holy Spirit is convicting them of their sin and they continue to say no and what Jesus calls the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What is that? That's rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life and dying as a lost sinner. That's the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That's rejecting His work in your life. And so it says here, to renew them again unto repentance. If you reject God's work, of salvation in your heart, there's no way that you're going to be brought to the place of repentance because you reject every avenue God is using to bring you to repentance. That's what it's talking about. Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. So by rejecting God's convicting work in your heart and life, you are crucifying the Son of God afresh. You're the one that's standing there and saying, crucify him, crucify him. Get rid of this man. We don't want him. That's what this passage is talking about. And there are many people today and many people throughout history who have done just that. They continually reject the work of God in their hearts. They say, no, I don't believe that. I'm not going to accept that. And by doing that, they might as well be standing there with that crowd of Jews and crying out, crucify him, crucify him. They're just as guilty as those first century Jews were. That's what this passage is talking about. So it's a dangerous thing that God is pointing out here, telling us in verse four, it is impossible. So when a person makes that decision, and again, that's something that God sees in the heart of the person. We can't see that. We can see people who do that, they reject it. We've had people attending here that have walked away and said, I'm not interested, not coming back, and so on. They are in that position. But are they hardened to the place where they can't be broken? I don't know. God knows that. But a person that holds to that position, there's no other way of salvation for them. It's impossible. It's what the Bible says. And this is coming from the God who can do anything but lie. He doesn't lie. It's impossible for God to lie. And yet God says it's impossible because God, you see, God could force these people to be saved, but he doesn't work that way. He doesn't force anyone to be saved. But through every means that he has given for people to be saved, all the ways that God works to convince a person of their need to be saved, if they reject that, There's nothing else. Nothing else he's going to provide, nothing else he's going to offer. There's no option. So then, our third point is a practical illustration. So, verse seven starts with the word for. So the word for is telling us that now God is giving us something more to help us to understand what he has given us before. for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it." So we stop there for a moment. When it rains, it rains in that entire area. You don't have rain coming down on a field and one little spot in the middle of the field that didn't get rain. You might have rain over here at this side and over there, it didn't rain. It's a very, very small area where the rain came down. But in that area, wherever it's raining, everything is gonna get wet. So that's what it's talking about. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it. So the soil, if it's raining, all of the soil there is gonna drink in that water. So all of that soil is going to be wet and prepared for the seed. And then it says, and bringeth forth herbs, meat for them by whom it is addressed, receiveth blessing from God. So when the farmer goes out and sows his crop, He wants to make sure there's good moisture there. That's why we see this year that the farmers went out early and they've been seeding because we haven't had any good rain yet this spring. And so they want to make sure they get that seed in where the moisture is. And then once that seed germinates and the roots start to develop, the roots will follow the moisture down. But if you start by putting that seed into dry ground, it can't germinate, so the roots will not form and it's not going to go to where the moisture is. But if you put that seed into the moist soil, the roots will follow the moisture down. And so, even if we don't get rain for quite a while, the crop can still grow. It won't be as good as if it was a good rainy season, but it will still grow and still produce. So here we have all of the soil here is getting this moisture. The herbs are coming up, they're growing, but then notice verse eight, but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected. So in this same field that has received the rain and received the seed, but in certain patches of that field, the thorns and the briars come up instead of the seed. And you know that if you have any idea about farming. If you look at a farm, you look at a crop and you see a nice wheat field, but you notice that there's one patch and as that grain grows up and you see this one patch of purple flowers. Now, what is that? That's thistles. Well, did the farmer stop seeding right there and plant a bunch of thistles? No, he went through the whole field with his seeder and the same clean seed that's over there is also over here where the thorns are. So what happened? It all got to rain. What happened? Well, because of the curse, there's going to be thorns. The Bible tells us there will be thistles. So weeds are going to be there because of the fall of man. That's the picture here with the Word of God, verses four through six. The preaching of the Word of God, everybody that's in the room hears the same preaching. Some people respond and get saved and they grow. Some people say, I don't want that, I'm not interested, and they might come back time and time again, but they say, no, no, no, no, I'm not going there. Well, what's the end result? Well, it tells us here, but that which bear thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned. What does the farmer do with that thistle patch? Well, in today's world, he goes out there with his sprayer and he sprays it. And a lot of farmers now, they put Roundup on first before they seed their crop, and they try to kill off that thistle so that when they sow the seed that the thistle can't compete and the crop can grow. The reality is that even Roundup isn't strong enough to kill out a thistle. It roots deep. So you can knock it back, but you don't generally kill it. But if you take that thistle, as they used to do, and you dig it out, and you burn it before it goes to seed, now you have destroyed that thistle. It's a better, more effective way of killing it than spraying it. But in today's world, Labor costs and so on, they spray. But that's the picture here. The farmer goes out into that field, and he digs out that thistle, and he burns it. He gets rid of it. It's destroyed. So that's the picture again. What happens to the lost person? Well, eventually, he gets plucked up. He dies. Where does he go? He goes to hell. And in the end, he goes to the lake of fire. That's what God is telling us here in this passage. Verses four through six is talking about the fact that that lost person who rejects the truth has all the same advantage as the one who gets saved, but he rejects it. Verses seven and eight gives us a practical illustration of that fact. And then in verse 9, God says, but beloved, so we know that God is talking in this chapter, he's talking to Christians, the beloved. And he's warning the Christians of the danger of those who hear the word and reject it. And so he says to them, he says, beloved, We are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. So the danger, if we go back into the first five chapters, is we see that there were people in those first chapters who were dull of hearing. They were still needing milk. They were not growing. And God says that cannot be the way for true Christians. A true Christian must grow. If you go in your Bibles back to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And in verse 10. And it says there, for we, what's the next word? Are. Not will be, are. But we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So, when a person is saved, They are created in Christ Jesus. Now, if we go back to Genesis chapter one and two, Jesus Christ is the creator of heaven and earth. Did he ever make a mistake in anything he created? No. Everything that God made was very good. The same God in verse 10 here is the one who creates the Christian. takes that fallen creature, saves that person, gives him a new nature, and now, as that new person, what does God require of us? Good works. And those good works, it tells us here, before ordained that we should walk in them. So it's required that a Christian produce good works. It's not an option, it's required. And so we go back to Hebrews chapter six and verse nine, that it says there, but beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation. So we're not saved by works, but if we are saved, there are things that we will produce because we are saved. So the person who claims to be saved, but wants to fight against faithfulness in a local church, that person is suggesting they're not saved. Because they're fighting against what God says they must be as a Christian. The person who claims to be saved but said, well, I'm too embarrassed to go in the water and get baptized. I don't want to do that. Or maybe they say, I'm afraid to get put underwater. And they fight against it. They have a problem with their testimony. Because the Bible says that in Christ we are ordained unto good works. That's what's required of us. And if God requires something of us, he also provides the way for us to meet that requirement. And so back in our text again, that the writer here is saying to the beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, not because of what we're seeing, because obviously they're not seeing that, but because of what the Bible says, because of what God says. We are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. So the writer here is directed by God to rebuke these Christians because they are hesitant to grow as they need to. We could go back to 1 Corinthians and look at the Apostle Paul speaking there to carnal Christians. They were saved, but they're dragging their feet. They're fussing over who they're going to follow, who's the best preacher. And so there were divisions amongst them. Instead of uniting around Jesus Christ, they're dividing around Paul and Apollos and Peter. And so they need to get past that and get on with what really matters and deal with the sin that was rampant amongst them. So here too, these Christians here, they need to start growing. You can't keep sucking on the bottle. And same thing is true today. The person that is saved has to grow. And again, I say has to, but if we're saved, we're not going to be complaining and kicking up our heels and saying, I don't like this, I don't want to do this, don't make me do this. That's not the nature of a Christian. But it is true that we should expect that a Christian is going to grow. And so, what does that mean that we do? We see a Christian that's lagging behind and he's part of our church, what do we do with him? We come alongside and we encourage them to grow. if they are saved. So we talked about that this morning, that a person that is not saved, you can't force them to be saved. You can't force a Christian to be growing in the Lord, but you can certainly encourage them. That's what's required of them. And if they get upset with you for that, well, again, what does that show? That shows where their heart is. That doesn't mean you're wrong by encouraging them. It means they're not right with God. and most likely not saved. Because again, it's a requirement of God that Christians grow. So that's something we need to understand. And that's something that the true Christian is not going to fight against. So again, there's a danger that God is pointing out here in those who are exposed to the truth, they hear it, and they've They've seen the benefits of it. They reject it, though, for themselves. They don't want it. They're going to come to God on their terms. Well, the Bible doesn't give that option. And it's better for us to help people to understand that now than to take the easy believism approach of Jack Hiles and have all these people who think they're saved and end up at the great white throne judgment. We don't want to deceive people. We don't want to deceive people. We want people to know for sure that they're saved. And if they are saved, they will produce fruit that gives evidence of that fact that they're saved. That's how the wise Christian operates. That's what the book of Hebrews is teaching us. That's what the Bible teaches us. that the wise Christian encourages others to walk by faith. And we know from the scriptures that lost people cannot please God. They can't do it, no matter how hard they try. And that's why lost people want to go to a church that teaches easy believism, New Evangelical, compromising. They don't mind going there because they want to feel good about themselves, but they don't want to please God. And so they want to go somewhere where someone's going to tell them, you're a good person. You're a good person. Just give a little bit more in the offering and do this once in a while and smile nicely to that person over there and blah, blah, blah. And it'll all be good. Yeah, I know you like your cigarette and you like your booze and you like to curse sometimes, but that doesn't matter. Don't worry about those things. Just do these nice things and it'll all be good. And so people go there. That's why those churches flourish. But that doesn't help anything in the end. Doesn't help anything in the present, but it certainly doesn't help anything in the end. So it's important for us to teach the word of God faithfully with a loving spirit, but love doesn't lie. Love tells the truth. Love desires to help people to know the peace of God in their heart. That's what's important. And when a person is genuinely saved, there's going to be evidence, there's going to be fruit coming from it. That's because it's God's work, not man's. So again, if you're listening today and you're not saved, That's the place to start. If you're someone that is listening to individuals who are trying to convince you that you're a good person when you know you're not, stop listening to them. Listen to the word of God. You're gonna stand before God. You won't stand before that deceiver who's trying to convince you you're good, you're not, when you're not. You will stand before God. So, submit yourself to what he says. And if you're not saved, get saved and then start serving God and helping others to know the truth. That's what's important. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful again that we have thy word. Thankful again that we can know the truth, we can be forgiven, we can be saved. We're thankful for the power of thy word that works in people's lives and brings them, convinces them of their need of a savior. And yet we realize also that thy word does not take them and force them to bow the knee and be saved. Every knee shall bow before the Lord Jesus Christ one day. But in this life, every individual has the opportunity to choose whether they're going to bow or not. We pray for those that are listening that have seen the benefits in other people's lives, and maybe even brought to the place of tears in their own life at times, and yet are still refusing to bow and trust in thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for their salvation. Pray that they'd be broken and see their need to humble themselves and be forgiven and saved now. Help those of us that are saved. We need to walk in the spirit so that we know how to help people. We know which ones to encourage to walk with the Lord and which ones we need to encourage to get saved. That we would not be a stumbling block, not a hindrance, but that we would be a help to others to know thy peace and blessing. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.