2nd Corinthians 12:10. Therefore I take pleasure in the infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions and distress for Christ's sake. But when I am weak, then I am strong. 

You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I seek. You are my all in all. Seeking you as a precious jewel, Lord, you give up, I'd be a fool. You are my all in all. 

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Vain my sin, my cross, my shame. Rising again, I bless your name. You are my all in all. 

When I fall down, you pick me up. When I am dry, you fill my cup. You are my all in all. 

Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is your name. Worthy is your name. 

Thank you, Doug, for that good song. We're going to talk about that this morning, really. Jesus is our all in all, sufficiency in Christ, really full assurance in Christ. 

Well, good morning to everyone. Another beautiful summer day out there this morning. Nice on the farm this morning. I had millions of new friends flying around my head as I did chores this morning. 

Well, we're working through this section in chapter 6 of the book of Hebrews. I'd like to call your attention as we begin to verse 11. The author writes, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. 

The desire of the author of the book of Hebrews, and really the Holy Spirit who authored the book, is that every person would come to faith in Jesus Christ. He would come to an understanding of the gospel, and in faith in Christ, being in Christ, he would have full assurance in Jesus. 

So we're working towards that positive verse, the contrast that comes in verse 9 and following, but we have a little business here in verses 4 to 8 first. We've been working through this warning section in chapter 6 of the book of Hebrews, and it's a difficult section of Scripture. But I think it's an important one to get right, because there are many implications involved here. 

And not only do we want to get the right understanding of the passage and rightly apply it, but in a unique way, getting this passage wrong has some dire consequences. We found consistently back through the end of chapter 5, and really in the pattern of the whole book, that the author's intent, the context, the flow, and the audience all dictate that he is warning those who are yet unbelieving about the danger of going back to Judaism, of turning from their profession of faith and forsaking Jesus Christ. 

And the warning is severe, my friends. For whatever your understanding of this passage is, you must deal with the first verse of our text, verse 4, and the clear statement that says, if they fall away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. 

This statement makes us uncomfortable, it makes us uneasy, but it's here. And I think rightly understood, it has an important place in the body of truth and in application, especially for these Hebrews to which he writes. 

The important thing to understand in interpreting and applying this text is who he is writing to, who the author's addressing in this passage, and just exactly what he's warning against. And it is abundantly clear, I believe, that he is concerned in this verse and this warning with apostasy. 

It is most important how we define and understand what apostasy is. Generally, apostasy is defined as an abandonment or renunciation of religious beliefs. Synonyms include recantation, defection, or desertion. But the vital qualifying factor that we find in the Scriptures is that the apostate differs from normal unbelievers, from those who may not believe Jesus, in that the apostate has full knowledge of the truth. 

And as we see here, has often been a part of the fellowship of believers, has professed faith in Christ, has sat in the teaching, been enlightened to a point, understood completely the promises, the implications of eternity. This person is not ignorant, is not without knowledge, but knows and understands the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And having known makes a willful choice, a decision to abandon, to forsake, to denounce Christ and all His claims, and turn away to something else for His salvation. So in a great sense, this is a unique individual. And in our text, these are certainly unique people in a specific time, these Hebrews that he's concerned about. 

But apostasy is warned about throughout the Bible. And it most often takes the form of turning away from the true God, from truth to error, and very often involves false teachers or false teaching drawing people away. So the warnings are against false teachers and teaching and against turning from God or from His truth. 

And I want to just take some time to look at a few scriptures, because I want for us to have a clear understanding of what apostasy is as we come to verse 4 of our text. Let's begin back in Deuteronomy 13. We'll go all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 13 at verse 4. 

You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice. You shall serve Him...now look at this...and hold fast to Him. But that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, this would be one who's teaching false teaching, who's drawing away the people from holding fast to God, shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. 

If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, Let us go and serve other gods which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you, or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him. 

Nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him, but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. 

Well, you can see immediately, all the way back in Deuteronomy, how serious God is about false teaching, about turning from God to error, following after those who would teach things contrary to the truth of God, who he is, and the salvation he provides. 

The false teacher is to be stoned to death in this old covenant, and even if your own brother entices you away, you should expose him and he should be stoned to death with stones. This idea of false teaching and being drawn away, turning from God, is a serious issue all the way through the scriptures. 

And to denounce knowingly, willingly, the truth of God, the God of salvation, and even specifically Jesus the Christ, is to condemn oneself to eternity in the lake of fire. 

Jesus talked about this falling away, this turning from the true living God for those with revelation when they rejected him. In Matthew 11, verse 23, he said, And you, Capernaum... This is where Jesus did many of his works. You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 

Jesus warned the disciples about the teaching of the Pharisees and how dangerous they were. Listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 23. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. For you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you desire widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive the greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte. And when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 

He said this to them publicly. God is concerned about false teachers. He's concerned about drawing away with error. And He's concerned about the one who would fall away from the truth, who would turn from Christ with full knowledge and understanding and reject Him and the salvation which only He provides. 

We could look at many passages. But I think two really stand out as clear and instructive, and I want to look at one now and then pick the other one up later in the message. 

The first one is 2 Peter. In the book of 2 Peter, I'd like to show you the contrast between those who do receive the truth and believe and those who merely make a profession and come into the church but then turn away and apostatize. 2 Peter 2 at verse 1. He says, But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 

And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. Notice that these false teachers are in the church, they are among the people. Jude tells us they have crept in unnoticed. They are spots, blemishes in your love feast, feasting with you. 

Look at verse 15, 2 Peter 2. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Baal, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness... I love that phrase. When they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 

Now look at verse 20. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to a true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

You see, they knew the right way. They understood the gospel. They understood and knew the claims of Christ. They even professed to believe them. They even escaped the pollutions of the world and came into the church. They were part of the fellowship. But then they turned away from Christ. They reject Him, showing the true nature of who they are. 

You see, they escaped the pollution of the world. But they never escaped the inner corruption of sin. They were never saved. Pollution is an external thing. I've used this illustration before, but I like it, so I'm going to use it again. Just this morning, I was in the living room there, and I was going to go into the bathroom, and all of a sudden, I saw she had that can in her hand. 

And when my wife sprays her hairspray in the bathroom in the morning, that's pollution. And if I'm in there, it invades my nose and my lungs, and I have to escape the pollution running out into the living room, holding my breath. That's like these professors of faith in Christ. They escape the pollutions of the world, Peter says, by running into the church. 

But I want you to notice what Peter says about the true believers back in chapter 1. Look at 2 Peter 1, the beginning of the letter, verse 1. Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these, you may be partakers of the divine nature. 

Look what he says here. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Clearly, Peter here is talking to those who have believed. And notice what he says in verse 4, having escaped the corruption. This is an inside thing, corruption, lust. We can escape pollution, the external. If we live in Los Angeles, we can move up to Montana and escape the pollution. 

But if we have cancer, the inner corruption, then it goes with us wherever we go. It's an inner corruption. And this is what sin is, corruption. Peter calls it lust, an inside truth for the sinner and Adam. But the believer, through faith in Jesus Christ, has escaped inner corruption, that sin that dominated him and Adam, indwelling sin that controlled him and manifest itself out through the members of the body. Because in Christ, he is a new creation. He has a new heart and a new spirit. God crucified that old man with Christ and buried him and raised him to a new life when he came to faith in Jesus. 

And now he's no longer corrupt on the inside. But he has a new nature. And his spirit witnesses with the Holy Spirit that he is a child of God. This is the difference between a professor and a possessor. 

Jesus also teaches us about this in the parable of the soils. The seed which fell on the rocky soil produced a plant which shot up immediately. But when the sun beat down on it, it withered because it had no root. This is the man who hears the gospel. He makes a profession of faith. But when persecution comes, he turns away. This is exactly what was going on in this Hebrew church to which he writes. They had professed faith. They had left Judaism. They'd come into the church. Some of them were in danger of turning back because of the persecution of their family, of their friends, of the legalistic Jewish community. 

You see, this one appeared to have faith to believe. But it was made manifest when he leaves that he never was saved. The one who comes to faith in Christ is so transformed, so changed in the very essence of who he is that he must have a change outwardly. That's why Jesus said, the seed which fell on the good ground bore fruit. Believers bear fruit, some 30, some 60, some 100-fold. 

This regeneration, recreation that God performs when we believe is not something that can be undone because we did not do it. And we cannot undo it. And God has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us, that he will keep us by his power, that he will produce fruit and holiness through our lives by his very life living in us. You see, we are secure in him, my friends. And he wants us to know that we have eternal life. 

I've written you these things, John said, that you may know that you have present possession, eternal life. We can have full assurance in Jesus Christ. And that's the message I want you to get today. But let's get to our text here before we run out of time. 

Hebrews 6, 4. Hebrews 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. 

For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. 

But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. 

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 

I've given you three points on your outline. First, if they fall away. Second, fruit. And third, full assurance. 

Well, the author gives a strong warning against apostasy in verses 4 to 6. These are words that are hard for us to hear, hard to receive, but it's important that we understand them rightly. The language gives us a bit of trouble because it sounds or perhaps feels as though he's speaking of a believer. But if we remember the context into whom he is writing, the Jewish history and framework in which he addresses them, it becomes clear that he's talking to unsaved Hebrews within this community, the rocky soil professors who are in danger of turning away. 

We covered those phrases in verses 4 to 5 last time and how they applied to these Hebrews who had been enlightened by the pre-salvation work of the Holy Spirit, drawing them, speaking to them through the gospel preached and the teaching that they had set under in the church. How they had tasted, but not eaten, not taken for themselves and fully consumed. How they had cooperated with or become partakers of the Holy Spirit. 

The word partakers here means a partnership or to work in cooperation with. I looked up 10 different passages in the New Testament that speak of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with believers in Jesus. And they all spoke of the Holy Spirit indwelling or being in the believer. This is a totally different word here. It means actually to come alongside or to partner with. It's not the language used of a believer concerning the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

These phrases all make the best sense when viewed in the Jewish old covenant context. So we come to these words at the beginning of verse 6, if they fall away. And here's the crux of the matter, my friends. This speaks of apostasy. This is the only time that this word fall away is used in the New Testament. It literally means to deviate from the right path. It's used in Greek literature of falling back to a former position. 

To deviate from the right path or to fall back to a former position. It's interesting that the author uses this word here to warn these Hebrews. It's a perfect word if you think about it. They were on the right path. Imagine them climbing a mountain. Mount Everest has been in the news a lot lately and some people have perished there. Imagine them climbing a mountain, carefully choosing their steps, their handholds, working their way arduously up the mountain, climbing toward the peak. 

They were on the right path, leaving Judaism, coming into the church, sitting under truth teaching about Jesus Christ. But imagine that if before they reached the summit, the peak of the mountain, they just let go and fell away. Fell back to where they had come from. This is the warning. He's saying, you must keep looking to Jesus. You must consider Jesus. You must fully fix your attention on Him. You must go on to perfection through faith in Him. 

You must reach the summit, completion. For if you fall away from the truth, from the new covenant reality in Christ, and go back to your former position, the law and the sacrificial system, if you with all knowledge and understanding reject Jesus Christ and turn away from Him and believe, trust, depend on something else for your salvation, if you apostatize, then you're finished. 

Like the climber who took the wrong path, grabbed the loose stone and put all of his faith in it, applying his weight to it, and when it slipped, he fell from the goal, from the summit, falling back to the rocks below in certain death. This is the word, this is the picture here. You're almost there, you need to go on, but if you fall away, if you go back, then you will perish. 

I want to be clear here, my friends. We're not talking about falling into sin. We're not talking about living like mere men, acting in carnal ways or backsliding for a time. That's not at all what is in the mind of the author here. That's why the carnal versus spiritual Christian view is so problematic in this text. 

What we're talking about is a man who understands and knows the gospel, has even professed to believe it, has had much revelation and teaching, and with this full knowledge, makes a willful choice to reject Christ, to affirm His crucifixion as valid and good because He was not the Son of God, He was not the Messiah, as the Jews said, and to turn from Jesus back to Judaism for His salvation. 

It's a willful choice with clear open eyes that constitutes apostasy. Turn over to Hebrews 10, 26. This is the other passage I wanted to share with you. It's a very similar warning passage, but I think the language will give us some more clarity. 

Hebrews 10, 26. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, do you see that? The words are so beautiful to explain. If we sin willfully, a willful choice, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 

Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, has counted the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified a common or useless thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord, and again the Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

This is the same warning. The willful sin, after knowing the truth, is to reject Jesus Christ and all that He is. And what we must deal with in the text is that it says that if a man commits apostasy, as we have described, if he falls away, then it's impossible for him to be renewed to repentance. 

I read some commentaries that say the word really means difficult. It doesn't mean difficult. It means impossible. Every time the word is used, it means like it's impossible for God to lie. Is it difficult for God to lie? No, it's impossible for God to lie. So this is a unique situation, a circumstance, where a man can so clearly, knowingly reject Jesus that he can never come back. 

But it was the situation that these Hebrews found themselves in, at the precipice, and that is why the warning is so strong, my brothers and sisters. So we see the warning not to fall away. Then we see an affirming illustration in verses seven and eight, speaking of fruit. 

Hebrews 6, seven. This is just an illustration to explain his point. For the earth, which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. 

I'd like to just make an important observation about illustrations. They must be true, and they must illustrate the point. In other words, they are very useful things to us in interpreting a text, because they must fit into the context and flow to illustrate the truth that the author's trying to convey. 

What we see here is a very simple agrarian illustration that would be quite obvious to the audience, and should be to us. There's a blessing, a revelation from God represented by the rain in this illustration. The earth receives the rain. And the intention is that in receiving the rain, the earth should produce good fruit. 

But if the rain comes, and there's no fruit, but thorns and briars, then it is cursed by God. All the Hebrews in this community, in this congregation to which he writes, had heard the gospel. They had received revelation from God. They had heard a lot of teaching. Truth concerning the New Covenant and Jesus and the salvation He provides. 

Now the question is, what did they as individuals do with this? Did they believe and produce fruit? Or did they reject and produce thorns and briars? And the ones who produce fruit, it says, are blessed by God, they're believers, they're safe and secure in the New Covenant promises of God. 

But the ones who did not believe, who had yet to go on to perfection and now were leaning back toward the legalistic way, who turned away from Jesus and the gospel, they produced only thorns and thistles and they were near to being cursed whose end is to be burned. 

It's a perfect illustration for what the text says, for the warning against apostasy. But it's quite a problematic illustration if you believe this text is referring to Christians and levels of maturity. 

So we see the warning, do not fall away. We see the evidence of fruit in our illustration and our final point this morning is full assurance in Christ, verse 9 of our text. 

But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. 

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 

Well, in verse 9, the author switches gears here in the flow out of his illustration. He uses the contrasting word day, but, but beloved. He addresses the believers calling them beloved, he says, but, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, things which accompany salvation. 

He's just given an amazingly strong warning and he wants to assure those who had believed that they need not apply this to themselves or concern themselves with it. It was meant for those who had not believed or who were in danger of turning from Christ, who had no fruit, who were considering going back to Judaism. 

But for those who had believed, who had produced fruit, they need not worry because they could have confidence that they possessed salvation in Jesus Christ. And he highlights the fact that they had produced fruit and that God was quite aware of this fact and He wanted them to have assurance in Christ. 

The love of God toward others was manifest in their lives and that they had ministered to others and they were ministering. Their confidence and full assurance was in Christ. This is important, my friends. They were not leaning back toward Judaism, they were not turning from Christ and talking about the rituals and the priests and the sacrifices. 

They were not lending credibility to these false things and considering them as valid. Sometimes we hear that, don't we, in Christian circles? Well, I think there's some good in that church. I think there's some good in that system. I don't think it's all bad, you know, they share some of the same truths. 

You can imagine these Hebrews, these Jews, well the sacrificial system was given by God. The priesthood was given by God. We've grown up our whole lives, our whole culture with the temple. It can't be bad. I mean, maybe we need Jesus too, but these things aren't bad, they're just maybe a little off. You ever heard people talk about that, concerning Christian denominations that teach a false gospel? 

These believers weren't doing that. Their full assurance and hope was in Jesus Christ. Not Jesus in baptism, not Jesus in sacraments, not Jesus in works, not Jesus in anything. And they weren't lending credibility to false systems. They were holding fast to Jesus Christ. Their faith was in Him. 

And that is why they could have assurance of their salvation, full assurance in Jesus Christ. I'd like for you to turn to one more passage here as we close, Colossians 2, we've been studying Colossians on Thursday night, I'd like for you to look at Paul's words in Colossians 2. 

Verse 1, Paul's expressing his love for them even though he never met them, he says, therefore, I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged. This is Paul's conflict, his agony, the word is agonized there. This is the agony I have for you in the church, that your hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him by faith, rooted, build up in Him, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 

Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power." 

Amazing words from Paul. The world and false religion tries to draw men away from the truth, my friends. Satan masquerades as an angel of light and his ministers as ministers of righteousness. We must beware of these things, of anything more than Christ, of Jesus plus anything. We don't need the wisdom of men, we don't need the philosophies of the world or the traditions of religion, what we need is Jesus. 

In Him dwells all wisdom and knowledge. He's the fullness, He's the sufficiency, and it says we are complete in Him. Peter says He's given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. What an important message for us to understand. 

And this is what the author of Hebrews wants for every person who would read or hear his letter. He wants to warn the unbelieving. He wants to assure the believers. But his ultimate goal is that each and every one would come in faith and find full assurance in Christ. 

We desire that each one of you, he says, show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope till the end. This is God's desire for every man. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 

And this is the love and great desire that God has put into our hearts as believers, to be witnesses in this world, to bring the good news of the gospel to lost men and to implore them to believe Jesus Christ. 

That's the message of Hebrews 5.11 to 6.12, my brothers and sisters. It's not been an easy journey through this section. It's difficult. It requires diligence and study. But I think now we can see how important this warning and this exhortation is, and how affirming it is to those of us who believe, who find our full assurance in Christ and Christ alone. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful that you keep teaching us, you keep guiding us, that you've given us your Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, and we thank you that some of these passages are difficult and hard to understand because it drives us to this book, it drives us to dependence and prayer and need for you to show us and to teach us and guide us, and you promise that if we will to do your will, we will know concerning the doctrine. 

And that's what we want, Lord, we want to know the truth. Just teach us and show us and tell us the truth and help us to trust you and believe you and apply it in our lives as we walk and as we witness to bring a clear message of salvation through Jesus and Jesus alone and faith in Him. It's in His name we pray.