Well, good morning to everyone. Beautiful cool morning up there. We had a little touch of frost this morning. So I don't think enough to hurt the flowers. So that was good. It's a good song we were just singing—"Calvary Covers It All," speaking of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And that's really the central message of the text that we're studying. It's a kind of a deep, complicated text, and we're working through it together. But the main message is Calvary covers it all, that there's no need to go anywhere else to add anything to what Christ did. His death in our place for our sins was sufficient.

Well, we began our study of this most fascinating passage in Hebrews 5 and 6 last week, and really, we find it to be a difficult, challenging section of the Word of God. I hoped, as we began last week, to emphasize the tremendous importance of maintaining sound hermeneutical principles in our study of the Bible, especially when we come to these more difficult passages. We spent a good deal of time in the message last week observing the words before us, and I think this is a really important discipline. The words make up the meaning, and it’s vital that we observe what is here and try to get a feel for what it's saying in the context and the flow of the text, keeping in mind the intent of the author and the audience to which he writes before we begin to interpret.

The key observation we made was that the pattern of the book of Hebrews shows us that the author is writing primarily to encourage believers, to strengthen them in their faith, to really assure them that they've made the right choice in leaving Judaism and the sacrificial system and going on to faith in Jesus Christ. So there's a lot of doctrine about Jesus and who he is and what he's accomplished, especially in relation to the Jewish context in which they lived. Along with this, we see interspersed warnings to those Hebrews within this community who may have come up to the point of faith in Christ, perhaps given intellectual assent to the claims of Christ, but had not gone on to completion, perfection, salvation through faith in Him. 

When we understand this intent of the author and when we observe this pattern, and when we look at the consistent doctrine followed by the warning method of the author, this passage fits clearly into that design. Along with this pattern, we also notice some very important words in our text, especially in chapter 6, at verse 1. The word translated "leaving" is very specific, widely used in the New Testament, and it means to utterly forsake or to leave one thing in order to go on to another. This word really makes clear that what the author is doing is warning unbelievers rather than talking about the spiritual condition of believers. The whole idea of carnal versus spiritual believers is foreign to the entire epistle of Hebrews; it does not fit into the flow.

In verse 1 of chapter 6, the central exhortation of the whole text shows us that what the author is doing is employing these unbelieving Jews to leave behind the elementary principles of the Christ found in the Old Testament and to go on to perfection in the new covenant sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We're going to see this morning that he goes on to list those Old Testament elementary introductory principles in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 6. 

So it is crucial that we keep these things in mind as we study down into the serious warning of verses 4 to 6, in order that we might rightly interpret and apply these words. It is my experience in studying the Word of God that the most difficult sections are often the most rewarding, but we must be disciplined in our study, and we must agonize to understand what is written and to apply it correctly. This process, my friends, is the means of our growth, and it's our privilege to study and to know and to believe this book. 

Let's look at our text. We'll begin again in Hebrews 5:11. He's speaking of Melchizedek, and that's kind of where this parenthesis comes. He's wanting to tell them about the order of the priesthood of Melchizedek. He says, "Of whom we have much to say and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame. 

And we'll stop there in our text. I've given you four points this morning. First, we're going to look at “Be Done With It.” Second, “Go On.” Third, “Elementary Principles.” And fourth, “Falling Away.” Well, it is important as we begin this morning to recognize the spiritual state of the Hebrews to which the author is writing, perhaps not only where they are now, but where they have been and how they got to where they are now. We have many indications of this in our text. It begins back in verse 11 of chapter 5. The author has been broaching the subject of the Melchizedekian priesthood and how Jesus and His perfect, complete New Covenant sacrifice is so much better.

I'd really like you to just turn over to chapter 7 with me. Go over to chapter 7, and we're going to kind of pick this up on the other side of this parenthesis. We'll see where the author was going with this and where he wanted it to go before he had to address the spiritual state of some within this community. 

Hebrews 7:4 speaks again of Melchizedek. "Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed, those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better."

Here mortal men receive tithes, but there He receives them, of whom it is witnessed that He lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 

So all that's just saying that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, the king-priest, and the Melchizedek blessed Abraham. So he's just trying to show that this order of Melchizedek is a better order, a better priesthood than that of the Old Covenant. 

Now, verse 11: "Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar, for it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'"

For on the one hand, this is kind of his conclusion that you want to get here—for on the one hand, there's an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness. There's an annulling and doing away with the Old Covenant, for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God.

Really, the essence of what he wanted to teach them about Melchizedek and particularly about Jesus as the high priest is that the New Covenant sacrifice of Jesus is so much better than the sacrifices of the Old Covenant priesthood. And this is because those Old Testament sacrifices could never take away sins. They were never complete or finished, and they could not make those who approach perfect. But Jesus’ sacrifice is a one-time sacrifice, taking away the sins of the world, accomplishing our salvation forever. And He has the power of an endless life, a continual priesthood seated at the right hand of God, and He is able to save us to the uttermost. 

These are the things that he wanted to say, the things he wanted to teach, but he could not address so many of these folks to whom he writes because of their inability to process and to understand these great truths, because they had become dull of hearing. You remember that means spiritually sluggish, unable to comprehend. We saw last week that this was a process; they had become. The process was ongoing and had completed its work on these Jews because they failed to fasten their attention on Christ, and they had begun to entertain going back to the old. Their hearts had become hard as we read about in chapter 3. 

You see, it began with compromise. Think about this with me. They began to flirt with the idea of legitimizing that which is false, namely salvation through ritual, tradition, works, the Old Covenant sacrificial system. There's such an important lesson for us here, my friends. We need to heed the words and warnings of the book of Hebrews as well as we observe those who were discussing going back to religion as a means of salvation. We need to beware, to exercise caution, because compromise of the truth will lead us into spiritual confusion. 

And this is what we see so often in the church today. Rather, we need to apply the message in Hebrews 2 and give our full attention to Jesus, forsaking all that does not line up with the truth about Him, who He is, and what He's done. We need to be careful not to entertain false teaching, not to be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies, which can render us useless to the cause of Christ or fruitless. 

And it is a process; it's a sliding down a slippery slope. It's vital that we look to Jesus, that we keep our eyes on Him, and speak truth about Him and the great salvation that He provides in the sufficient New Covenant sacrifice for our sake and for the sake of those who have not yet come to faith in Christ. This is an issue in the church—compromise. 

We’ll see later that they had begun to forsake the gathering together of themselves. They quit coming to church, they quit going to Bible study, they quit hearing the truths of the New Covenant, the truths about Jesus. They quit fastening their minds, holding fast to Jesus Christ. And if we do that, we too will be vulnerable to distraction, to false teaching; we will lose discernment. 

So, in a sense, there’s a principle here that we need to pay attention to as well. We see that some of these Hebrews had, through a process of failing to hold fast and through entertaining the ideas of the Old Covenant and the sacrifices in the temple as a means to salvation, come to a spiritual state of imperception. He writes of the inability to discern good and evil, and that’s why it’s difficult for the author to really dive into the depths of the priesthood of Melchizedek and really explain the greatness of the sacrifice of Christ. Rather, they needed to be taught the first principles of the Christ, the foundational pictures and their purposes in pointing to Christ. 

Really, like so many religious men in our communities today, they needed to come to an understanding of the purpose of the law and the Old Covenant—all its sacrifices and systems—and how they were given to show us our sin, to show us our need, and to give us a picture of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of these things. 

It’s a common problem for religious men. I’m sure you’ve experienced this in your life and witnessing men who are looking to the law as a means to religious rituals and sacrifices and sacraments as a way to salvation. They are difficult to talk to regarding New Covenant truth; they're dull of hearing; they don't understand; they don't get it. But what is it they need? They need to come to a right understanding of the purpose of the law, of their sin, their need for a Savior through the hearing of the gospel message about Jesus. They need to then forsake those things as a means to salvation. 

They need to utterly abandon them and go on to the new thing, the new way, the perfect sacrifice of Christ—the only way of salvation through faith in Him. You see, my friends, these people were discussing. Did you notice that word in 6:1? They were talking about these things. They were thinking—flirting with the idea of salvation through the law covenant. 

In Hebrews 10:23, it says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as we see the day approaching." 

It’s important that we focus on Christ, that we renew our minds to these truths that are in His word, and along with that, that we’re exhorting one another, we’re ministering to one another, we’re encouraging one another. 

How easy is it to become distracted by this world? How easy is it to become busy and not to think on these things and to kind of go through the motions of life? It’s important for us as well to hold fast, to focus our attention, and then to be bearing fruit by encouraging one another and bringing the gospel to the lost and these truths to each other. 

We need to remember one more important detail about these Hebrews being addressed in our passage, and that’s that they’ve not always been in a state of spiritual sluggishness. They were once enlightened. They once were attracted to and affirmed the gospel message, the sacrifice of Christ, to a point where they’d even left the temple and came into the church. They once knew the truth and at least gave intellectual assent to it, made a profession of faith, and acted on it. They knew the truth; they knew the gospel. But then they took their eyes off of that truth. They stopped agonizing to know the truth and hold it for themselves, and under pressure from family and friends, and even under persecution from legalistic Jews, had begun to entertain, to discuss among themselves, the option of going back—back to the old, forsaking the new. 

And these discussions, thoughts—entertaining these ideas—had led to a spiritual degradation of falling away from the truth to a point where they were now forsaking the assembling together. They quit coming to church; they quit hearing the Word of God taught and preached; they ceased fastening their hearts and minds on Jesus and the New Covenant truths, and they began to drift away (Hebrews 2) and harden their hearts (Hebrews 3) to a point where they were leaning back toward the Old Covenant. Now they were considering going back to Judaism.

And this really brings us to our first point in the exhortation of the author, the warning really, that they needed to utterly abandon and forsake the discussion of the old—this entertaining of the Old Covenant and all of it as a means to salvation. They needed to leave it behind; they needed to be done with it. My mom used to say that to me; that’s why I came up with that point. It just came to my mind when I would say, "Be done with it! Right? It’s over!" That’s what they needed to do.

And they needed to go on to the new. Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection." We've pretty well covered these words, I think, but again remember the words mean to utterly forsake, completely abandon one thing to move on to a new thing. So the clear meaning in the context is that they needed to abandon the old, especially as a way of salvation, and go fully on to the New Covenant sacrifice.

But I want you to notice; he then spells out the things he’s talking about. He lists examples of these elementary principles—they are to quit discussing, entertaining as a means. And these are all Old Covenant elementary pictures, shadows, teachings about the promised Messiah. 

First, he writes, “Not laying again the foundation.” Now, this is an interesting phrase. If the Hebrews were to go back to the First Testament, they would be laying again the foundation. The first principles—the Old Covenant was the foundation—and they wanted to go back and lay that foundation again, which was already laid. 

Turn over to 1 Peter 2 with me, please. 

1 Peter 2:4, "Coming to Him—to Jesus—as to a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 

Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious; and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 

Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. 

The foundation, the first thing—the pictures, prophecy, shadows were laid down in the Old Covenant, really in the First Testament. Then Christ, the fulfillment of all these things, was laid as the chief cornerstone. Peter says we’re like spiritual stones being built into the household of God. 

Turn over to Ephesians 2 with me also, please. Ephesians 2, at verse 19. Paul writes, "Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." 

Now, how about Hebrews 3? You remember Hebrews 3 at verse 3, speaking of Jesus, he says, "For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house." 

"For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward. But Christ, as a son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." 

This illustration is used over and over. The author here is saying, "Look, we laid the foundation in the Old Testament—laid down all the prophecies, promises, predictions about the promise of God fulfilled in Christ." 

And we had the pictures in the sacrifices and in the whole system—the basic things, the shadows. But now we have the substance in Christ, and Jesus and the apostles are building on that foundation a glorious house—the house of God, the church, in the New Covenant. Don’t go back! 

And try to lay the foundation again. This reminds me of all the things I’ve been involved in building. Whenever you build something like a house, you must lay a good foundation, but that’s not really the exciting part; it’s not the glory part. It’s necessary, but once it’s laid, it is the house that you want to put up—the walls, the roof, the inside finishing—that is the glory of the house. 

The foundation is necessary; it must be laid. But once the chief cornerstone is laid and the house has begun to be built, you see the glory of it. You forget about the foundation! That’s what the author is saying here in our text: Forget about the foundation. Move on to the house. Don’t go back and try to relay the foundation. Go on to the glory of the house.

And the examples, the doctrines he uses here are clearly all Old Testament foundational doctrines—not specific or exclusive to Christianity, but general in the shadows of the old. 

First, we see “repentance from dead works” and “faith toward God.” This brings to mind John the Baptist, the greatest Old Covenant prophet. He preached repentance from dead works, but what did that Old Covenant teaching mean to those Hebrews to whom he preached it? It was a preparation; it was a willingness to receive the Messiah, but it was cloudy; it was a picture. 

It wasn’t the clarity of the gospel. In the Old Testament, repentance from dead works and faith toward God were the call. But I want you to look at Acts 20 with me, please, and see the call of the New Covenant. 

Acts 20:18, "And when they had come to him, he said to them, 'You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly from house to house.'" 

Now look at verse 21: "Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Have you noticed that you can talk about God all you want in our culture? Talk about God, believing God, having faith in God—we're sending thoughts and prayers, all these kinds of things—but if you talk about Jesus Christ, and you talk about the exclusivity of the gospel, that He’s the only way, and only by faith in Him then you’re going to be in trouble. Faith in God is not sufficient in the New Covenant. Our faith must be particularly in Jesus Christ, His sacrifice for our sins, His resurrection from the dead. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ—that’s what Paul preached!

Second, we see the doctrine of baptisms in verse 2 of our text. It’s the same word translated “washings” in Hebrews 9, and in fact, this word is used five times in the New Testament and all four other times it’s translated “washings.” There’s only one reason they translated it “baptisms” here, and that’s because they believe this passage was referring to Christians, which it is not. It’s the word “washings.” It refers to those Old Covenant divers baptisms—ceremonial cleansings. These were ritual washings, not Christian baptism; they were a picture of the regeneration, the washing that would come. 

These doctrines of baptisms mentioned here were Old Covenant teachings. When you came into a house, there would be pots of water and you had to wash or sprinkle water on the furniture before you’d sit on it. There were all kinds of ceremonial cleansings, and that's what he’s talking about. 

Next, he says “the laying on of hands.” This refers specifically to the Levitical sacrifices, where the hand was laid upon the sacrifice before it was slaughtered. Leviticus 1:4 says, "Then he shall put his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf, to make atonement for him." It was an identification with the sacrifice that he was dying in your place. 

Resurrection from the dead is certainly not exclusively a New Testament doctrine, although it's more clearly developed in the New Testament. You remember Job said, "I will see him in my flesh." Eternal judgment was something the Jews understood very well, and we see in the New Testament clarity that the law, the Old Covenant, is the ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3). It's the ministry of condemnation. Paul calls it that, and Romans says that the law brings only wrath. Romans 8 says, "What the law could not do in that it was weak in the flesh because men are sinners”—they couldn't obtain righteousness through the law; they couldn't keep it. 

So going back to the law meant certain judgment, as we’ll see in coming warnings in chapter 10. The point here is that the author’s not telling these Hebrews to leave or forsake or to utterly abandon the gospel to go on to some higher spiritual realm in the Christian life. What he’s telling them they must do is abandon the discussion of the Old Covenant law doctrines, the pictures and shadows, and go on to the substance. 

They had to quit talking about, dwelling on, entertaining the old, and go on to the new. They were already leaning back; they had already become spiritually numb to the truth. They had better make a clear decision now to fasten their hearts and minds on Jesus and get back to the truth before it’s too late.

We’ve seen that the Hebrews needed to be done with it—the Old Covenant. They needed to go on to faith in Christ alone. And we’ve looked at what the elementary principles are of which the author speaks, and now we need to look carefully, begin to look here at the warning to not fall away. 

In verse 3, the author says, "And this we will do if God permits." I was working on some fence on the farm the other day, and I had my phone and I thought, "I'm going to try to find a sermon that teaches the other side of this." It says this is about Christian maturity, so I searched, googled it, you know, and the only one I saw that I knew was John Piper. So I listened to John Piper, which really was a painful experience for me. He really was confused in this text, but here's the thing that really struck me.

When I was working on the fence right there along the road, he came to this verse 3, "And this we will do if God permits." And he went on this long—about half the sermon—about how we can only come to faith, we can only be saved, we can only repent, we can only grow if God permits by His grace. And we have to understand that if God decides that He doesn't want to sanctify us, then He won't. 

And it made me think of Thessalonians: This is the will of God for you—your sanctification! Right? But he went off on this verse, “if God permits.” And even I was talking to Ricky about it later and Ricky said, "I saw a sermon where he was talking about praying for his kids." 

He said, "I pray for my kids for salvation; I pray for my kids." But then at one point I had to realize, "If God doesn’t want them to be saved, they just won’t be saved." That’s not what this verse is saying, my friends, and in fact, it’s saying quite the opposite because the emphasis is on the hearts of these Hebrews.

One could simply pass over this verse and go on to the warning of verses 4-6, but it’s important that we dwell here for a moment because this is important what he’s saying. Vincent says on this verse that it gives the idea that one can come to a point where the grace of God cannot reach the heart of man, and he says it is important to note that the language does not place the limitation on the grace of God but on the heart of man. 

Please follow me here, my brothers and sisters. The warning is qualified by verse 3. What it is saying is that they must make a decision. They must decide to forsake the old and hold fast to Christ, or they will come to a point where it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. The day of grace will pass, because you can only reject Jesus Christ with full knowledge so many times. 

Adrian Rogers gave a great illustration of that with a forest fire. You can imagine the old white pines we had up here forever when they came and logged this place. He said, "Imagine a forest fire and a fire comes through and there’s lots of fuel, and it burns hot. And he said, ‘Imagine that stump; it burns down to the stump and it burns hot, but then there’s just a charred stump left. And the next time a fire comes through, it just kind of… a few embers, and the next time barely burns at all.’" 

And he said that’s like the gospel. When a man first understands the truth of the gospel, when he understands his sin and his need—that Jesus is the sufficient sacrifice for him and can deliver him and give him eternal life—that burns hot in his soul, and the Holy Spirit is drawing him and working on him. 

If he chooses to reject that, the next time he hears the gospel, it doesn’t burn as hot. And if he’s willful in his rejection and he continues to reject the truth—that’s where these people were. They knew it. They heard it so many times. And what he’s saying is if you continue to reject it, there will come a point where you can’t be renewed. 

If you turn away fully and finally with full knowledge—that’s what we’re going to see next week, the definition of apostasy—then you’re in a dangerous place. We saw this warning clearly laid out in Hebrews 3: "Do not harden your hearts.” Today is the day of salvation.

The priest comments on verse 3 that as clear as there is the sovereign grace of God in salvation, there is just as clearly the will of man. Man must be willing to receive the truth of God and believe Jesus, and if a man is not willing, then God will not save him against his will. 

I know this is blasphemy to our Calvinist friends, but it’s clear in the Word of God that man has a will; man has a choice—whosoever will may come. These are important truths, and it’s important that we are clear about this truth as we move into verses 4 to 6 in this amazing warning, and that’s why verse 3 is here.

Let’s read those verses. I just want you to—we’re going to end here and pick it up next week, but I want you to ponder these words in 6:4: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame."

Some say this is the most difficult text in all the Bible—in all the Bible to interpret and to understand. But let me ask you, my friends, having come to this point, through our study of the words, and having read in their context and flow, and remembering the audience and the intent of the author—don’t these words make sense? 

It's impossible for those who were once enlightened. Were these Hebrews once enlightened? Yes. They were given the revelation of the gospel, of new covenant truth about Jesus. They understood them. They even professed to believe them and acted on that belief, leaving the synagogue. I’d say they were enlightened. 

But notice it says, "once enlightened." Remember, a process had begun and been completed that made them spiritually dull of hearing. They could no longer hold on to the gospel truth. 

Then he writes, "have tasted the heavenly gift." Well, this was certainly true of these Hebrews. But I want you to notice he uses the word "tasted." Could we say that a true believer has only tasted the heavenly gift of salvation? Jesus said, "Take, eat." In John 6, He said to those, “Eat My flesh, drink My blood,” have life—not merely taste. 

In John 6:29 He said, "This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent." Later, He begins to speak metaphorically to them because they weren’t willing to believe. It’s just like Pastor talked about this morning. Jesus is a door; Jesus is a light; Jesus is a loaf of bread. What’s that all about? 

Well, how do you enter through the door? Faith. Right? How do you receive the sheepfold? Believe Jesus. How do you receive the light? Believe Jesus. How do you eat His flesh? Believe Jesus. It’s synonymous with believing. 

And he makes that clear at the end. He says, "I’ve spoken to you in metaphorical language." There are some of you who do not believe. Faith is the issue—believing Jesus, my friends—and eating is synonymous with faith. 

But these Hebrews had only tasted the heavenly gift. Verse 5 says, "tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come." They experienced the truth and its power so much so in the hearing of the evangelists that they’d responded, and they’d shot up like that plant in the rocky soil. But now, because of the cares of the world and tribulation, they’re now in danger of going back, of withering away because they had no root— because they only tasted. They did not eat. 

The final phrase in verse 4, "have become partakers of the Holy Spirit." Now this one gives us pause, right? A reason for caution, because the words make us think of the New Covenant doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for every believer. But it doesn’t say He indwelled them. 

Everywhere else in the Bible, it talks about the Holy Spirit and a believer; it says He is in them. He indwells them. The word used here, translated "partakers," does not mean possessors. It literally means a partner or associate to work in cooperation with. It’s used six times in the New Testament; five of those are in the book of Hebrews. 

In Hebrews 12, it speaks of partaking in discipline. I want you to listen to Luke 5:7: "So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink." Partners. Partners. 

It’s the same word. It means to work together, to partner, to be associate. It does not speak of possession or indwelling. So what we see here is that the Hebrews had, to a point—even the point of repentance—worked in cooperation with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, drawing, wooing, revealing the truth, carrying along, as he says in 6:1. 

And the idea here is that they had cooperated with the Holy Spirit up to the point of faith. They had repented from Judaism; they’d come into the church. But they needed to believe to go on to perfection. And at this point, like so many millions of souls throughout history, they were in danger of turning away, of going back, of succumbing to the pressures and persecutions of the world. 

They were in danger of falling away, committing apostasy—the final rejection. And we’ll talk next week more about what falling away means, but it’s knowing fully the truth about Jesus and choosing to reject Him. 

So this is where we’ll pick it up next time, my brothers and sisters, as we continue this study of this important text. And I really just want to encourage you to roll these things over in your mind this week. Read this passage and study and pray that you might come prepared to hear and understand the truths of the Word of God, because this is for your edification and it’s for His glory. 

Let’s close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for Your patience with us, Your longsuffering, Your faithfulness to continue to teach us. We thank You that You’ve told us that it is Your will for us to be sanctified, to be conformed to Christ, to become like Him and to show the power of the gospel—the transforming work that You do in salvation in us, out through our lives so that we might be a witness in this world. Thank You, Father, that You’ve given us these precious promises and that we can trust You and believe You. In Jesus’ name, amen.