Hebrews chapter 6, title of the message, Persevering Faith. Persevering Faith. You know, back in verses 7 and 8, the apostle speaks of rain coming down on good ground and producing fruit for the farmer, producing a blessing. He has cleared the field, and plowed the field, and fertilized the field, and planted, and God gave the increase. And he was able to partake of that fruit. While the same rain, falling on bad ground, ground that's been unplowed, untaken care of, left alone, all that ground produced with thorns and thistles. And that's really what he's comparing some of the Hebrews that he's writing to here, the Hebrew brethren. There are some in there that are just tares among the wheat. They're just tares among the wheat. There will always be tares among the wheat. We know that from the Scriptures. And there will always be those whom the Lord does save, and He makes good ground out of them, and He gives the increase Paul said, I water, and another one plants, and another one waters, but God gives the increase. And then God makes a good ground out of it, and when He does that, there's fruit. There's evidence of it. There's evidence of it. The rain in verse 7 and 8 represents the gospel. It comes down. He's representing His rain, the grace of God, the gospel of God. And when the gospel comes in power to a person, or to a people, to a congregation as it has here. It always produces fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. It will always produce. It will produce faith and repentance, genuine faith and repentance. When the gospel comes in power, that's what it will do. That's the effect it will have. It will produce faith and repentance. It will produce love. It will produce joy and long-suffering. It will produce perseverance. Patience? It will do that. It will always produce that which God sends it to produce. God said, My word shall not return to me void. It will accomplish the very thing that I sent it to accomplish. Now in verse 9, the apostle let the believers know Those who truly believe God, He let them know that even though He's been writing to them, it was such doubt. In one place He said, you ought to be teachers by now, but you're babes, you're so immature. But He lets them know that He did see some fruit and that He did believe. That He did believe that God had done a work of grace in many of them that He was writing to. that there were things that he saw that gave good evidence that the work of grace was at work in them. Look here in verse 9, But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak, though I have thus been speaking or writing about these things, and writing in such a manner, he said, He said, I'm confident, I'm confident, I'm persuaded better things of you. I believe God has saved you. He said, I believe there are many among you that God has saved. And I have seen evidence of it. I've seen evidence of it. And he tells of that evidence in verse 10. He said, For God is not unrighteous, to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shewed toward his name, and that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." Their work of faith and labor of love was a result, now listen, it's a result of the work of the Spirit of God in you. If I do anything, if you do anything that is genuinely good, That's the work of God in us. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That's what he's saying here in verse 10. Their work of faith and labor of love was resolved of the work of Spirit of God at work in them. Now, it is called their work because they were the instrument that God used. God calls it our good works because we are the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works. Look over in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Look in verse 8. "...For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves." That's not of yourself. Faith is not of yourself. It's not something you produced. It's something God produced in you by His work. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In verse 10, "...For we are His workmanship, Every believer is the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus. We are His workmanship. We are a new creation. Did you get that? Created in Christ Jesus. We are a new creation created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Now apart from Jesus Christ, there's no such thing as good works. There's no such thing. Every work And I know that the unbelieving world would disagree. They would say, well, I know people that have given to charity and done all kinds of good things. And we're going to see Sunday, Lord willing, there are going to be many who will say, Lord, we've done many mighty works in your name. We've done many great works in your name. And he doesn't say, well, I know that, but no. He says, depart from Me. I never knew you. I assure you this, if there's a good work, God will remember it. You can see this here back in the Scripture when we go back here. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained. Listen, over in the margin it says, which God hath before prepared. God prepared this. He's prepared it, He's ordained it, and He's bringing it to pass through every believer where He puts them, where He has put you. And He's ordained every good thing you'll do. And He's at work in you bringing it to pass. Ordained that we should walk, that we should walk in them. He says here, and I go back to here. He said, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. You know, we are. We are unrighteous because we do that, don't we? Somebody does something for us and we forget it. We forget to show gratitude. don't we? We forget to show gratitude, give thanks. We forget it. But not God. God's not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name. And here's how they did it. Here's how they showed their love to God. And here's how we show our love, our genuine love to God is this way, in that you have ministered. You've looked after, you've taken care of the saints and do minister, and you continue to do it. You continue to do it. God forgets our sins. Aren't you glad of that? You know, I can't forget them. You know, I told somebody one time he was wanting to tell me something that they had done. I said, don't do that. I said, because I can't forget it. I did. I was telling someone not too long ago, they were telling me something, and I said, take it before the Lord. Take it before the Lord. You know why? He can forgive and He can forget. He's cast all our sins behind His back. You know God doesn't remember one thing against me? I can look back for years. I can look back as long as I can remember back, and I can bring up things that I've said and done. But you know what the worst of the things are? It's things that I don't think are sinful. I told my dad, I was visiting with him this week, and my dad said, he said, I'm just one of the chief of sinners. He said, you don't know what I've done or said. And he started naming off some stuff, and I was like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I stopped him. I said, wait a minute. I said, you know what the worst thing there is? I said, you know what the worst sin there is? That's the reason I put that little article in the Bulletin, is self-righteousness. You're looking back and you're saying, well, I got drunk one time, or I did this one time, or I've, you know, you've done some pretty bad things, but I've never heard you say, I've never heard, and people, I've not heard people say this. I've never heard, I'm so self-righteous, I can't stand it. I'm so self-righteous. You know, God said that you are smoke in my nose. You know who He said that to? Self-righteous Israel. He said that to those who thought they were holier than thou. That's what He said. You said, stand by yourself. I am holier than thou. The worst of sin is self-righteousness. It's self-righteousness. God forgets our sins, but not any good work done toward His name. Not any. He never forgets it. Never. What is it the Lord says? Let me think here. He says, I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was in prison and you visited me. You can say I was in the hospital and you visited me. And they said, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and naked and in prison? as much as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to me." He never forgot one of them. Never. It's like that woman, when they would throw money into the treasury, there was a woman threw a penny in. And she's the one He recognized. He says, she has given all that she has. These others threw in from out of their plenty. They had plenty, you know, they just took a pocket change, took a little pocket change and tossed it in there. He says, she gave everything she had. Everything. God never forgets that. That's what He's saying here in verse 10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor. Here's what he doesn't forget. The motive by which you did it. Your work and labor of love. You know, for a believer to help one another or to help anybody truly, to do it truly, it's just an act of love. It's an act of love. And that's the motive. That's a motive to do it. Because you love them. Now the apostle tells them and us, because everything he tells them, he's telling us. In verse 11, "...and we desire that every one of you..." Now he's getting personal. "...every one of you and every one of you in this room this evening, we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." And here's what he's saying. He urges them to use the same diligence that they used towards one another in taking care of one another, demonstrating their love to one another because of their love to God. He said, you take that same diligence, now listen, in realizing, in realizing the full assurance of hope until the end comes. You use that same diligence in realizing there's nothing wrong with assurance. It's like we're not supposed to feel like we're saved, or I don't mean the feeling part, but there's nothing wrong with assurance. There's everything wrong with doubt. Everything's wrong with doubt. There's nothing wrong with believing Christ. I fully expect And I'm not saying I'd ever doubt. I'm not saying that. But I can say that I fully expect that when I die, that the Lord will receive me. Totally based on His grace and His person, Jesus Christ, who took my place, lived for me, died for me, rose for me, ascended on high for me, intercedes for me, and prepared a place for me, and I'm going to be there. based on that, and based on God's Word. We'll get to this in a minute. But it's impossible for God to lie. Now He said, come to me, all you that labor and heavy laden, I give you rest. Is He telling the truth or is He lying? He's telling the truth. You come to Him. You come to Him sincerely. If I come to Him sincerely, I promise you, He'll do that." He said, I'll give you rest. We should seek, now listen, we should seek not only to know, but to grow in a full assurance of hope. Not a wish, but a full assurance of expectation. We should fully expect God to do what He said He'd do. That's what faith is. It's just taking God at His Word. Taking Him at His Word. And we should grow in a full assurance of hope. There's no virtue in doubting. There's no virtue in it. We should know our standing in Christ, whether it's real or whether it's not. We should know whether the hope that we have in Jesus Christ is a real abiding hope or it's not. We should know. Now why are we to give such diligence? Here in verse 12, "...that ye be not slothful." See, they had become spiritual sluggards. That's what happened. They had become spiritual sluggards. And he's saying here that you be diligent, diligent to seek and to know the Lord and to know your hope and the steadfastness so that you will not become spiritual sluggards. And I won't have to write like this to you again. They'll have to. But be followers, followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Take Abraham as an example to follow. God tried that man. He tried him as, you know, when I look at the men in the Word of God that's been tried, Job's the first one that comes to my mind that no one's been tried like except for Jesus Christ. You know, he was forsaken of the Father. Job was never forsaken of the Father. But as far as men, like men and women like you and I, Job and then Abraham, Abraham, offer up your son Isaac, your only son. I want you to offer him up on the altar." And you know, when Abraham drew the knife back, he drew that knife back. He was going to cut him open. He was going to kill him. Kill him right there. Offer Him up like He would a sacrifice, like they would the lambs. He was going to do it. And God stopped Him. God stopped Him. Look at His trials. His trials were difficult. They were difficult. But the Scripture tells us over in Romans chapter 4, I think it is. Look over in Romans chapter 4. Let me see here. Let's start in verse 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were, who against hope..." Abraham was an old man when God made him this promise about his seed, which was Christ. He's speaking of Christ. But he was going to have a seed, which was Isaac. He promised him a son. God promised him a son. Who against hope believed in hope? He believed in the God of hope and the God of all grace, that he might become the father of many nations. Abraham believed that was going to happen, just as sure as God said it. according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body." Now, Dad, he didn't look in the mirror and say, you've got to be kidding me. I'm an old man. My body's dead. But he didn't consider that. What he considered was the fact that God said it and it's going to happen. And when he was about a hundred years old, Neither yet, he didn't even consider yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He didn't consider her either. He didn't say, look at both of us. You can't be serious. That's what my granddaughter's all the time. You serious? Seriously. That's what she says to me. Seriously? He didn't say that. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. He never doubted God's Word. He took God at His word, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. Are you fully persuaded that what God has promised in Christ, forgiveness, pardon, life, are you fully persuaded that He's able to perform that? Are you fully persuaded that God is able to raise you back up out of the grave when they put you six foot under or whatever, are you fully persuaded that God's able to do that in Christ? Are you fully persuaded that you will be able to stand in God's presence wholly? and without blemish and without spot." Are you fully persuaded of that? Abraham was fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone. He didn't write this just for Abraham, that it was imputed to him, but for us also. to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." And what he's saying here, what the Apostle's saying here, he says, follow their example of endurance. The trials and the heartaches that come your way, and you say, it's just too tough. He said, when those times come, look at people like Abraham, look at people like Job, who with patience endured all these hardships. Where are they now? Where are they now? You know, it won't be long and we'll lay down and we'll blow out that last breath. And we blow out that last breath. I was thinking a while ago when I was looking at this, I was thinking, when I blow out that last breath, I'm going to blow out all the sin and the heartaches and the troubles. That'll be the last of them. That'll be the last of them. And that won't be long. It won't be long. Follow their example in endurance. You see, God made a promise there in 13 and 15. Let me read them to you. And when God made a promise to Abraham, He promised him this seed and the Son and this seed that was Christ. Because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I'll bless thee, and multiply I'll multiply thee. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. God promised Abraham a son. He'd be a father of a nation. He'd possess a better land. He promised him that. And because God could swear by no greater, there's none greater than God. He swore by His own greatness, His own name, His own person. Abraham proved his faith when God swore to him this oath. Abraham proved his faith by packing up and leaving his native land. By faith, listen, by faith, when God made this promise to Abraham, by faith Abraham saw all that God promised him. The Scripture says he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. That's what he's looking for. What city am I looking for? Where am I looking to dwell? He's looking for a city, a place to dwell, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham never quit because things got too hard. He never went back. He never went back. You know, faith, genuine faith, is to believe God every day until He comes. If I quit believing, I never did believe. I never did believe. And so after he had patiently endured all the trials, all the heartaches, all the disappointments, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Right now, Abraham is well and alive and enjoying the promise, isn't he? He sure is. He's enjoying the promise now. Now God willing to show every believer the unchangeableness of His purpose, bound Himself with an oath, He swears. Does God have to swear? Does God have to swear upon His name that He'll do something? You know God doesn't have to do that, but He did it for the heirs of salvation. He did it for us so that you and I would have great comfort. Because of this oath, we who have fled for refuge... Remember those cities of refuge in the Old Testament? Someday we'll have to look at them. We have fled to Christ from the curse of the law, from our sins. Because of this oath, we who have fled for refuge have a strong consolation, strong comfort, strong encouragement to hold fast our profession to the end. I have a reason to keep on keeping on. I have a strong reason to keep on keeping on because God swore by His name They'll do just what He said He would. And the Scripture tells us that there's, in verse 18, that there's two immutable things. And you know what they are? Here they are. The promise of God, which is His Word, His Word. He's given us His Word. He's good for His Word. And His oath, God cannot lie. It was, as it says, in which it was impossible for God to lie. God cannot lie, nor can He break an oath. The Scripture says, Let God be true, but every man a liar. But God's true. God will not break an oath. He will absolutely not break His covenant. It won't do it. It won't do it. And because of this, you and I have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope. Let this be our aim, let this be our goal, to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. keeps us steady, keeps us grounded. I said to my youngest son, I said, you need to make sure you take those kids, grandkids, to church. I said, without having some understanding of the gospel, without having some understanding of God, there's no foundation. There's no foundation. I said, even if the Lord never saves them, they have some kind of foundation to start with. Apart from that, you don't have a foundation. But the believer now, we have in Christ an anchor of the soul. It keeps us anchored. We're not drifting out here. The human race is, as far as the human race is concerned, as far as they are concerned, they're just drifting. They're just drifting. I'm not. I'm on the rock Christ Jesus. You're not. You're on the rock Christ. You're not drifting. You're not driftwood. You are settled on the rock Christ Jesus, who is the anchor of our soul. And here, listen, this anchor will not slip. It will not break because it's of God. And it says here, it's both sure and steadfast. It's steady. It's steady. It's unchangeable. It's sure. It's solid. And listen, it enters into that within the veil. My anchor, my anchor is not down, you know, they got a ship that's on water, they throw the anchor down in the water. Our anchor is not down. Our anchor is up there. Our anchor is in the Holy of Holies. It's entered into the veils. Our anchor is in the veil where nobody was allowed but the high priest but one time a year. No one was allowed to go in there. If they went in, they would die. They even tied a rope onto the high priest's leg and if he died in there, they could drag him out. Because they couldn't go in there. If they did, they'd die. But our Lord Our hope...that's the way Paul calls Christ in 1 Timothy. Jesus Christ, our hope. Our hope is in the veil. It's in the Holy of Holies. He's entered right in and He's taken us in there with Him. He's taken us in there with Him. He says in verse 20, and I'll close, whether the forerunner is for us, entered." He went in there for someone. He didn't just go in there and say, who's going to show up? No, my friend. He went in there for us, a people. He went in there for a people, God's elect. Even Jesus, that despised Nazarene, that one they said, we will not have this man to reign over us, He's there right now. There's a man in glory representing us. Even Jesus made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The believer's anchor is a person. God incarnate. God incarnate. Even Jesus Christ. What is a forerunner? And I close with this. Just let me answer this question. What is a forerunner? A forerunner is one who goes before, one who prepares the way, One who prepares a place for those coming after Him. The Lord said in John 14, I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. I think, and I don't know, but I think if I were laying in the bed and I was about ready to die, I think John 14 would be the Scripture I would ask someone to read to me. "'Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, and that where I am, there you may be also." I remember that one portion of Scripture stays with me. It just stays with me. But if I lose my mind, like my dad said the other day, he said, if I live long enough, I may lose my mind. I said, what are you worried about? You won't know it. I said, what are you worried about? I said, you won't know it. Mom just started laughing. She'll know it. She'll know it. But anyway, He knows who He prepared that place for. He knows every one of them. I have a place prepared and waiting for me in the presence of God. All right, that's all I got.