Sunday School | Hebrews Part II

Introduction

Wyatt. Yes, ma'am. Max. Okay. I'll yeah. That's a great thank you for asking me that. So Helen just asked me how Max is. Max is our son who's in a motorcycle accident about seven weeks ago. And the answer is Max is doing okay. He it's complicated. I mean, he's he's, you know, well past anything, you know, dangerous. He got cleared on Friday. Is he in the room? Max isn't in here, is he? He got cleared on Friday to bear weight on his leg, which is great. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's capable of doing that. You probably have noticed that most hospital situations, like, they want you up and out immediately. They want you moving immediately. Max's thing was complicated. He had numerous injuries up and down his leg, they interacted in complex ways such that he had a tib fib repair. They shoved a nail into the big bone in his lower leg, which should be active immediately. But he also had bone chips in his hip socket because when he dislocated his hip, little parts of bones flaked off or whatever. And they were actually most concerned about that because if those bone chips, like, shifted or something, then it could just cut off the blood supply, kill the hip, you need to get a hip replacement. So that was the top priority. And because that was the top priority, he hasn't been able to move his leg for seven weeks. And if you don't get to move your legs for seven weeks, everything goes all to crap. Like the nerves stop learning how to talk to the muscle, the muscle fibers shorten, muscle atrophies. So so he's like he walks with a very awkward gait right now because he can't put his heel down before he puts his toe down because he has no ankle flex. So he's got a whole bunch of stuff. He starts PT on the twelfth, and I'm sure that won't be any fun. But Max, if you know anything about my son, he is highly active. And so he is going to be a very he will be very aggressive in trying to shorten up those timelines, which may go well, may not go well. We'll see what happens. But he's got he's got a lot of PT. His surgeon told him it will be twelve to eighteen months before he's like back to normal. That seems like a very long time. Max thought that was absurd. I don't know what he thinks now. He's not allowed he says not that he's allowed he said he won't be capable of wakeboarding all summer, and so that's not exciting for him. But he's very much alive and not paralyzed, you know. Did I miss anything, Kelly? That's it. Okay. So that's Max. Thanks for asking. So he'll get there.

Hebrews: The Big Picture

Alright. So you guys, we're gonna we're gonna be in Hebrews. Two weeks ago, we started our look at Hebrews. What we've been doing for months now is looking at every New Testament book. Once we get every we're basically giving every New Testament book one week. We give Romans two weeks because it's Romans. I think we gave John two weeks because it's John. And my undisguised bias is that the three most important books in the New Testament are John, Romans, and Hebrews. And so we're gonna give Hebrews at least two weeks. I might give Hebrews three weeks, which might tell you something about how important I think this book is.

So two weeks ago, go back. Can you go back two weeks? What did we talk about? What was what's Hebrews about? I know it's been a little while and you're welcome to cheat, but let's just kinda load back into our brains. What are we saying is true about this book or important things in the book of Hebrews? Gil? Don't know who wrote it. Yeah. This is kind of a mystery. People have thought maybe Paul. I think it's very unlikely that it was Paul. Maybe he was a disciple of Paul's, but nobody really knows. Right? It's a little unusual thing. Jesus is better. Say that again. Jesus is better. If you have one single summary of the book of Hebrews, it would be that Jesus is better. Right? That is really the driving message of Hebrews. What is Jesus better than in Hebrews? He's better than Moses? Better high priest. He is a better high priest. He's better than the angels. Okay that one one bears a brief moment. What does that mean? Why is he better than I mean who's even competing for the angels? What does that mean? Messenger. Angels are messengers. When hear it when when Hebrews is talking about he's better than the angels, the angels are the ones this is a little bit obscure, but it's true. The angels are the ones that brought the law. Their message was essential to the 10 commandments, and Jesus brings a better message than the angels. He speaks a better word than the angels. Good. Anything else? Better, better, better? There is more. Brother. Doesn't say so much. It's funny. It talks more about king and priest than we have to put king, priest and prophet. He's a better king. He's the son. He's the royal son. Remember we talked about the different senses of son. He is a better prophet in as much as prophets bring a word. It's true. Say it again. Forerunner for sure. The last section of the book is gonna be that Jesus is a better forerunner or that he is because he's better in all these ways, he is our forerunner. Meaning, he goes before us and we follow him. Right? He's a better priest who offers a better sacrifice and a better sanctuary, leads to very good Bob, a better covenant. And in fact, Hebrews, do you guys remember? Like this is like super bonus points. Hebrews contains the longest single Old Testament citation in the New Testament. There's a chunk of Old Testament, biggest most words in a row that shows up in Hebrews. Anybody know what it is? Jeremiah 30 Jeremiah 31. It is the new covenant passage. And in fact, next week, I'll be teaching in the other room on Jeremiah 31. And so we'll have a little bit of an overlap there for those of you that are geeking out on Hebrews. Better covenant, better sanctuary, better sacrifices. Better, better, better, better, better. Okay? Good enough. Anybody wanna throw one more thing on Hebrews? Yep. The hall of faith. Hall of faith. And we didn't really talk too much about that. That is what might get us a third week in Hebrews, because I think Hebrews 11 is magnificently important. We might we might do that. We'll see how this hour okay? So hall of faith, we'll talk more about that probably.

The Purpose of Hebrews

Alright. Here's the thing. Go back to this notion that Jesus is better. Typically, we're gonna ask if I said, what is Hebrews about? A really good answer would be, it's about the fact that Jesus is better. He is better than angels. He speaks a better word. All these things. That's great. All true. Yes. Yes. Yes. However, it's a different it doesn't answer a different question, which is this. Why did the author of Hebrews write the book? Or you could say, why did the author of Hebrews preach this sermon? Or you could ask, why was this particular sermon captured, transcribed, and recorded in scripture? Okay. We know that Jesus is better, but so what? What is the point of Hebrews? What is the motive of Hebrews? What is the problem that Hebrews is addressing? Kelly, do you wanna take a shot at this? That's right. Now I just need to affirm once again, we do not cheat, okay? Kelly is not a plant. She just this chick just reads her bible a lot. Okay? So but she's exactly right. The book of Hebrews is written. It is about the fact that Jesus is better. Okay? But the linkage that you got to see, it's because he is better. He's radically, ragingly superior to every alternative. Don't abandon him. Don't walk away from him. Cling to him. Draw near to him. He's better. What have you found that is better than him? Why would you leave him? Why would you trade in the greater for the lesser? How catastrophic, how tragic it would be if this one who is superior in all regards, if you were to turn your back on him and walk away, that would be madness. But it was happening then and it's happening now. And the book of Hebrews is so fantastically important, not just because Jesus is better, but because it draws out the implications of his superiority, and the fact that we must not walk away from him. That is why the book was written, why the sermon was preached. Okay? Robin. Wait. Wait. People are coughing. Slow and go. I think it also connects to the fact that he points out how many people believed and trusted in his his coming but didn't see it in your life. And here they they've seen it. Yes. So don't let go. Yes. Okay. So Rob, and this is one of the major arguments. Hebrews is permeated with an argument of the greater and the lesser. And he says there were people that had access to less information than you did and were faithful about it. And there were people that had access to less information than you did and they walked away. We spent a lot of time in Psalm 95, their bodies fell in the desert. Numbers 14, their bodies fell in the desert. And he said that if when those ones who had less information, had less experience, had a weaker touch, if their rejection was absolutely catastrophic for them, and we have so much more, so much more particular knowledge, so much more insight, so much more experience of the means of his salvation, of the depth of his grace. If they walked away and it was catastrophic, how bad do you think it will be if we walk away? We who have been given more have so much more reason to cling to him, to draw near to him, to never let him go. Make sense? That's the driving driving theme of the book of Hebrews. And I have only in the last week reconsidered something that I've said about 50 times in this room, which is that I think first Peter is maybe the most relevant book in the New Testament for the church in America at this particular moment in time. You may have I've taught first Peter a bunch, and I often will say, I think first Peter is the most relevant book. Do you remember me saying this? Why is first why do I think first Peter is so relevant? Hope in a very particular circumstance. Bob, I know you know everything I've ever said. What is it? We aliens and strangers. Absolutely. And the book of Peter is all about that we are aliens and strangers and I'm like you guys we're getting weirder and weirder and weirder. To be a Christian today, you are a stranger, you are more bizarre, people look at you funny more than they did ten years ago, more than they did fifty years ago. We are becoming freakier and freakier and freakier and I think first Peter is really relevant. Think that's all true. I don't repudiate that. But a new love is eclipsed that in my heart and it is the book of Hebrews because people are leaving. People are leaving. Kelly and I have been doing a bunch of research just in the last couple of weeks looking at trends of Christianity in America. And it's a it's a do you know? Have you paid attention to any this? Pew Research Center has done a number of different studies. They just track things. They track a lot of things, but they do really high caliber research. And the reports that I've been reading talk about how this generation of Christian parents on large numbers, is failing to transmit Christianity to their children. Between the ages of 15 and 29, thirty one percent of people raised in Christian homes abandoned Christ. So basically almost a third. And that number is increasing and increasing. If you think about this, if if we're only retaining 60 something percent of believers in one generation, then you have like, let's say 68% of 67% of 65%. Right? So it's smaller and smaller. This thing projects that by 2070, certainly within our lifetimes, very likely the majority of people in The United States will be atheist, agnostic, or really largely just don't care. That's that's where we're trending. And we are seeing new people come to faith. Evangelism is happening, the gospel is being preached, people are believing, but the back door is bigger than the front door. We are losing people faster than we are gaining people. That can make it sound like all we care about is cultural trends, but that's not the case. It's the individuals. It's each individual person. What's happening, what was happening in the book of Hebrews is happening now. People are saying, yeah, mean, yeah, whatever, I don't really care. It's happening at scale. And so that's why in my mind I'm shifting and thinking, I think the book of Hebrews might be the most relevant book for the church. And so we're gonna spend this time today looking at all of the warning passages in Hebrews. So follow with me and I want you to see go to Hebrews and I'm just gonna skim through it. Want you to hear the logic and the language. It's just gonna be kind of a dump truck on this. What happened? I got into Jeremiah somehow. Hebrews. Alright. So just follow with me and we're gonna skim through and pick out some of these arguments. Hebrews 2 verse 1, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we've heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

For God so loved the world... — John 3:16

Keep going. Let's go down to chapter four verse one. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message that they heard didn't benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened. He's like, man, they blew it. Let's not be like that. Let's not blow it.

Later down in that chapter four sixteen, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do you hear that's the flip side of the warning? The warning is don't walk away. The exhortation is do draw near. Right? This just permeates the letter. Don't walk away. Don't drift away. Don't stop gathering. Draw near to him. Pursue him. Seek him.

Later on, he's gonna say in chapter five seven, and we're gonna we're gonna or chapter six seven rather. We're gonna we'll look at this in greater depth in a minute. But six, seven, and eight, for the land that is drunk, the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful for those who sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it's worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

He's saying, if you have been rained on, if the sun has shined upon you, bear fruit. And if instead you become the land of thorns and thistles, invokes the curse of Genesis three, something has horribly gone awry.

Later on, in fact, skip down here, we'll get we'll get to the kind of the main meat of this actually. It's not chapter six. People all freak out about Hebrews six. The main passage is really Hebrews 10. Go to ten twenty two. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

For if we go on sitting deliberately, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there's no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

Listen to this language. But a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who is trampled underfoot the son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace.

Verse 32. Well, actually, I'm gonna skip 32 because that's too biographical. I wanna I wanna save that for a second. Go down to twelve twelve one, chapter 12 verse one. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance, meaning don't give up. Endurance is about not giving up. Let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross. He endured, you endured, he's the forerunner, we follow him. He was faithful when it was hard. Let's be faithful when it's hard.

For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that you may not grow weary or faint hearted. We don't want you to give up. Later down in that chapter, 25, see that you don't refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven?

For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have no benefit to those devoted to them.

Verse 13, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach that he endured. Outside the camp is a metaphor that he's drawing through, that Jesus was crucified outside the city in a place of shame and ignorance, that we too, if it becomes costly to follow Jesus, so what about that? Pay the price because there's nothing better than Him.

Go outside the city. Let them think you're an idiot. That's okay. No big deal. Verse 15, through Him then, let us continually, again, enduringly, perseveringly, without giving up, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not become silent. Don't stop talking about him because it's out of fashion or out of favor. He is better, better, better, better. Never, never, never, ever give him up.

Okay? That's why he wrote the letter. That's why he preached the sermon. Making sense so far? Now, the passage I skipped, I just wanted to set it up before I read it. Chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews is really important, not just because of the argument that he makes, but because of the biographical information that he's gonna give us there. Okay? You could read through the book and not really know who he's talking to or what they're going through.

We've talked about this, that epistles have a function. One of the rules of the genre of a letter is that they are do you remember the word that I always use for this? It's a little bit of a tricky word. The epistles are occasional. Do you remember this? What does it mean that a letter is occasional? It to be. Okay. Yes. It doesn't mean periodic. We use the word occasional to mean like intermittently. I will occasionally go to the gym. Right? That's that's not what we mean. It is occasional in a sense of they are responding to an occasion. Right? Something was happening. And Hebrews 10 is really the one place in the book where the occasion is laid out. We know what is going on. So let's go let's go take a look at that and we'll see where the argument fits in. He says, we'll pick it up in 10:32. This is why he wrote the letter. This is to whom the sermon was preached.

Recall the former days. Hey guys, go back in time. Go back five years. Go back ten years. Go back 20. Remember the former days when after you were enlightened, when you came to faith, when the light went off, the penny dropped, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings. Sometimes being exposed publicly, being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, sometimes being partners with those so treated.

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Do you remember those days? What they're saying is, you know what? When you became Christians, it wasn't easy. There was a cost to be paid, and you paid it, And you stayed in the game, and you endured. In fact, there was economic cost, the plundering of your property. You willing to associate others that were imprisoned. You entered into the shame of being a Christian. You did. Do you remember that? Do you remember doing that? The implication is you don't want to do that anymore. And of course you don't. It's one thing to do something you know, speaking of going to the gym, everybody can go to the gym for three weeks. But can you go to the gym for eight weeks? Can you go for twelve weeks? Can you go for forty seven weeks? How many of you could endure a Susan McQuade spin class? You might go once, you never know. Could you stay? Those are things like, you did it! But now you're like, it's hard, I don't want to do it anymore.

Therefore do not this is verse 35. Therefore do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. You have need of endurance so that when you've done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. For yet a little while, and the coming one will come, and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, walks away, falls aside, my soul has no pleasure in him.

And then he says this, and this is a feature, I'll show you this in a couple other places, a feature of Hebrews is when he gives a warning, he says, don't blow it, Don't shrink back. Don't fall away. Do draw near. It would be catastrophic if you fell away, if you drifted. But then he says, but you're not going to. Right, Charlie? Because you can't help it. Can't? As Charlie is fond of saying, you can't hep it. 39, we, Charlie and I, we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed. We are of those who have faith and persevere their souls.

And that is the message of Hebrews. He's saying, you guys, don't be like the ones that walk away, and you're not, because you are hidden in him. And you know his beauty, you know his supremacy, you know that he is better, better, better, better, better, you're not going to walk away. Let's go make sure that nobody else does either. Let's go. That's what this book is about. Making sense? This is a group of people that were growing weary, and they were beginning to forget, they were failing to see his supremacy. He's like, don't you realize what you have? For what would you throw it away? So you can go to more soccer games in Richmond? Like, come on. Right? This is this he's he's speaking to a church and for there's a million things. You can and you can answer the question. What are the things why don't you go to church? I mean, I know you're here today, but why aren't you going in two weeks? Why aren't you involved in a small group? Why do your quiet times start to drift away and it becomes less and less frequent? Why does that happen? This is the question he's asking. What did you find that's better than him? And do you realize the catastrophic risk that you take to just stop coming, to cease leaning into him? He's better, don't walk away. And friends, people are walking away at scale in massive numbers. And the book of Hebrews is for us.

The Urgency and Final Warnings

Robin. Interesting thing in Revelation when there is talking to the churches, and it's talking about losing the first love. And I think that doesn't happen overnight. It's like a a a gradual numbing, and you don't even realize that it's happening till you've gotten to a point where you're so far away you either, one, don't know how to talk to him or definitely start not having any joy in being in the presence of either in church or in the word. Rabbi Robbin saying this isn't this isn't an overnight choice. Right? And that's the language of Hebrews is that they're drifting away. You know how that works. You guys ever go to the beach. Right? And if you just aren't paying attention, you know, your your towel's there, you're in the water. But if you're just monkeying around, whichever way that current rose, you're gonna you're gonna you look up and your towel's over there, you drift. You just we're getting we're getting slowly, slowly pulled away.

There was a story that I heard years ago that stuck with me, simple little parable esque thing of a pastor who went to visit some members of his church that just hadn't been coming to church. They're still Christians. They love Jesus. They're just not coming. And there was a fireplace filled with, you know, burning logs and hot coals. Without And saying a word, the pastor grabbed these tongs and just pulled a coal out just set it on the hearth. He just let it there while they had this conversation. As you can imagine, five minutes, ten minutes, thirty minutes, all the coals that were in the fire were bright red and hot, but the one that had been pulled out of the community, it had cooled. Right? And not it didn't turn to an ice cube. It just started to abate. And this is not exactly you know this in your own life, right? We all have these things where we are the coal on on the hearth, and it just begins to slowly and perceptibly cool. And the author of Hebrews is saying, back in the fire, don't walk away. Yeah, sure. I think at present day, that a lot of those that are walking away, it's not like there was not that richness with Christ. They were surrounded by religion. Yeah. And the practice, the culture of our family goes to church and and they and by no one's bad intentions but ourselves as parents maturing in our own faith and finding our own relationship with Christ perhaps too late in their lives. Yes. They were exposed to all this religion and culture, is not always a positive thing. For sure. You know, we're we're sinners and sometimes we don't treat people the way we should. And that is what they're walking away from. Yeah. Okay. Did you get that was so well said. Did guys hear all that in the back? I need to repeat that. Did you get that? There is this phenomena of the when we're when people are walking away with walking away from Jesus, are they walking away from real Jesus or are they walking away from some, like, religion that was never actually that nourishing and life giving? And Sherry made this very fascinating comment. Sometimes, perhaps when we were young parents and not as mature in our faith, were we imparting to our children the external religiosity and they didn't get the best version because we were not ourselves as mature and deep to offer them the best version. Right? There's something to that. Right? There is Jesus uses this illustration of he represents Christians as wheat and the non Christians as weeds in a community. That in any gathering of believers, there's real believers and fake believers. There's weeds and there's wheat. You could translate that a little bit to like muscle and fat. Right? There's the real thing. And sometimes when a thing shrinks, what we're really doing is we're burning off the fat. And that's good news. But then sometimes your body starts to eat the muscle. Are we losing muscle? Are we losing fat? I think the truth is we're losing both. Some of the people we're losing are there was never any real sense that it never had landed. But then other believers begin to drift away, and then they will be absolutely unable to replicate their life and the life of others. Because they're not seeking him, they're not in love with him. So there is this generational drop that is just incredibly tragic. Right? So Hebrews is telling us, don't do it. Don't walk away. Do draw near. And in fact, let me show you this. If you go to your document, the way that I've kind of, you know, organized this is the blue pages here is all the Jesus is better, the supremacy of Christ, the theme that drives through. But he punctuates all of the supremacy of Christ with these warning passages. Those are the things that are in red. And this isn't comprehensive. It's just kind of a representative summary of it. But then these green passages, and I don't remember if I talked about these last week or not, but these green passages are really important. They they're the dividers. They're the hinges. Right? These things in the middle. And those hinges are exactly what we're talking about. As he summarizes the hinges summarize the argument. Okay? Listen to how it goes in the first one. Therefore, since we have a great high priest, which is to say, therefore, since Jesus is better. What's the implication? Since Jesus is better, he's ascended into heaven, the son of God, what do we do? We hold firmly to the faith we profess. That should be bright green. I missed that. That should have been green. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet has not sinned. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence. Those two things. Let us, in the first instance, hold firmly to the faith we profess. Don't walk away. Let us approach his throne, draw near to him, be close to him. He's so great, never leave him. The second hinge, on the other side of the page. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, open for us through the curtain that is his body, it says we have a great high priest. Again, given the supremacy of Christ, given that he's better, better, better, better, what do we do? We draw near to him with a sincere heart, with full assurance. Right? We hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. That is the these hinges are his summary statements. Why am I talking to you? To encourage you to hold unswervingly to the hope you profess. Don't abandon him.

Warnings About Falling Away

Now, I got a few more minutes and I just gotta give you this because Kelly said if you don't teach them about Hebrews six, it's gonna be bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Are you to tell me to get to Hebrews six? Literally while you were raising your hand? I wanted to say that if we do walk away, we're not necessarily helping you come back. Okay. Okay. So let's go to Hebrews six is the scariest passage in the New Testament to many people. So here's what it says. Take a look. Hebrews six. Let's see. Where do I go? I'm gonna actually switch to the NIV. I've been reading to you from the ESV. I don't know why I would even do that. If we go to six, go there, ESV to NIV. Okay. Here's what it says. Verse four, it is impossible for those who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance because to their loss, they are crucifying the son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. And then verse seven, which we read a minute ago, land that drinks in the rain often falling on and that produces a crop useful to those for whom is farmed receives the blessings of God. Blessing of God. The land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, it will be burned. Alright. We'll get to verse nine in a minute. When he says all of these little hooks up here, to be enlightened, to taste the heavenly gift, to share in the Holy Spirit, to taste the goodness of the word of God, and the powers of the coming age, what is he talking about? It's an it's an odd list. It's a very intentional list. What are those what is what is it to do all of those things? Any idea? Or is he just finding like random ways to say Christians? Is he saying, if you're a Christian, you can't fall away? Or if you're a Christian and you fall away, you can't come back? That's how most people take it. Do you have any sense of what he's saying there? In the wilderness. In the wilderness, Bob. Okay. Hebrews the author of Hebrews, his favorite time not his favorite, maybe his least favorite time period, but the one that he constantly refers to is the wilderness. Hebrews endlessly points back to this time. Remember, we've about this that you left Egypt and you're entering the promised land, but you live in the wilderness. Right? We've been set free from bondage in Egypt, but we haven't crossed the River Jordan quite yet. We're living out here in the sand. Okay? He looks back to that period of time, which is basically the book of Numbers is mostly about their time in the wilderness. Deuteronomy as well, some of Exodus, but Numbers right here. Psalm 95 is about that period of time. And he says, you've left Egypt, you're not on the promised land, you're in the wilderness. And what happened the last time we were in this situation? The answer is a whole bunch of people died. Their bodies fell in the desert. We are at a moment in salvation history that we're between Egypt and promised land. We live in the desert. Your whole life has been in the desert. And so if we look back to those in Israel that spent their time in the desert, there might be some things we can take from them. What he's pointing to, every one of those lines is language drawn from the wilderness. So when you hear this, what does it sound like when he says the enlightenment? Okay? So these ones that are illumined, these ones that have light. Can you think of where that ties in to the time in the wilderness? What was the light in the wilderness? Say again? The pillar of The pillar of fire. That is an allusion to the pillar of fire. Right? He is recalling the pillar of cloud and fire that lit the way for Israel. How about this one? This one's maybe a little more obvious. Tasted the heavenly gift. Okay. Now you start first you're like, I don't know if you're telling me the truth. Now you're beginning to suspect that maybe that's true. Right? Tasting the heavenly gift is an obvious reference to the gift of manna when they were hungry and starving in the desert. God caused some weird honey wafer bread stuff to collect on the ground. How about this? This one's a little more obscure. Those who have shared in the Holy Spirit. You know what that is? Referencing their time in the land? I mean, their time in the wilderness. Do you remember when Moses was getting ready to go and God said, lead these people through and Moses says, okay, I'll do it, but on one condition. Do you remember his one condition? You me. Go If you if your presence goes with me, maybe. Right? But if you don't, no deal. Right? This is what it is. The Holy Spirit is his he that is the manifest presence of his people. Right? That pillar of cloud wasn't just a light bulb. It was God there with them. The gift of his own presence was throughout. And then finally, this one's maybe a little bit more obscure, but when he talks about the word of God and the power of God, there back in Hebrews six, do you know what that's talking about from their wilderness time? This is this is the the driving theme throughout this whole moment, is that God argues, I was constantly speaking to you. I was constantly showing you. You were never alone, but I was with you every step of the way. I told you what to expect, and then it happened. I performed miraculous wonders. I'm the one who opened the Red Sea. I'm the one who blew all the quail in. I'm the one that sent in all the frogs. I'm the one who made rocks gush water. For forty years, you heard my voice. For forty years, you saw my actions, and you still didn't believe. You were there, and you still didn't didn't do it. And then finally, the language maybe that is the most frightening is this language of falling. Hebrews six. It's an exhortation that we not fall, that we not fall away. That is exactly the language of Numbers 14, that their bodies fell in the desert. Over and over again, their bodies fell in the desert. Their bodies fell in the desert. That whole thing is meant to evoke the dread terror of that group of people who had left Egypt, but they fell before they ever entered the Promised Land.

Which is to say this, guys. Oh, and then finally when he talks about the, you know, the land producing thorns and thistles, he's reaching honestly past Numbers 14 all the way back to Genesis three to the original curse. All sin, all rebellion, all of it. It's not just anchored in the time in the wilderness, it goes back to the Garden of Eden. It goes back to the fall. And so he's looking through this. Said, you guys listen, we are of the people that blew it in the garden. We are of the people that blew it after a great deliverance. We should be circumspect about our lives. We should not be so arrogant as to think, you know what? I don't really need to go to church. You know what? I don't really need to I've read it before. I know what John's about. I don't need to have a quiet time. You know what? I don't really need to be involved in a small group of people. You know what? I don't really need to go to church. I'm fine. He said, are talking about? Have you not ever noticed that at every stage in human history, we are liable to blow it? Like, we're in the Garden of Eden, and there has never been anything evil, and we completely screwed that up. We are drawn out of this great enslavement through miracle upon miracle, and we just blew it. We are the sort of a creature, we are the sort of a thing that should constantly be dependent, circumspect, recognizing our need. If we ever get arrogant and feel like, yeah, man, I'm good, it's like, what are you talking about? Have you ever read a book? Have you ever been outside? Have you ever been married? Have you ever noticed that, like, we are the sort of a thing that needs constant engagement, constant encouragement, constant confession. We need short leashes, people. That's what he's saying. You you with me? We're a short leash sort of thing. And so, yeah, we've been enlightened, we've had all these things, and we may not take any of it for granted. We lean into him, we draw near to him. That's what Hebrews six is saying. And then, just like we saw earlier in chapter 10, look at what he says. Okay? It's all scary. I'll give you all the scary stuff again, and we gotta go to church. It's verse four, it's impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age. It's impossible for wilderness people like us, if they fall like the wilderness people to be brought back to repentance because to their loss, they are crucifying the son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

And verse 7, which we read a minute ago, land that drinks in the rain often falling on and that produces a crop useful to those for whom is farmed receives the blessings of God. Blessing of God. The land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, it will be burned.

We're all supposed to be terrified at this point, but verse nine, even though we speak like this, dear friends, even though I'm scary right now, even though I'm warning you and and and with threatening language, even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case. Things that accompany salvation. You're hidden in him. And I am gonna threaten you, I'm gonna cajole you, I'm gonna warn you, I'm gonna put before you a vision of the dread terror. But it's only so that, and because I believe that, you are in him. And I want get back in the furnace. Get back in the fireplace. Stay with the people of God. Stay in his word. God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love that you've showed him if you helped his people and continue to help them. That's a little bit anticipatory of of Hebrews 10. Once upon a time you were getting it right. I haven't forgotten it and neither has God. And we want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end. Endure, remain, don't walk away in order to make your hope sure. We don't want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. You get it? Yeah. You guys, Hebrews, we have to live. We cannot disregard the threatening language. We're not supposed to live in a state of perpetual fear. We are allowed to have confidence of greater things, things that accompany salvation. John wants us to know that we're safe. He wants us to know that we're in him. He wants us to see the evidence. But they also want us to lean in, to never drift away, to be so mindful, so aware of our nature that we'll cling to him forever. Right?

Now this little bit here of like, if you walk away, you can't come back because you're crucifying Jesus all over again. Here's what I think that means. I think that what he's saying is that if the supremacy of all that you've seen of Christ crucified and that for you, if that is not enough to anchor you, to secure you in him, like, he's like, I got I don't know what else you want. What else can I possibly offer you? If the crucifixion of Jesus if you if you look at that and you're like, I mean, okay. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. That's nice. Anyway, like, what in the world if that the reason he's better is because of his cross. The reason he's better is because not only was he able to do that, but he was willing to do that. And if that doesn't if that doesn't satisfy you, like, I I don't really know what you're looking for. Like, there we we have nothing better to offer you than Christ and him crucified. He is the whole game. So don't let some silly thing drift you away in pursuit of some vacuous thing that will do nothing for you. Cling to the one who was nailed to a cross because he treasures you above himself. Dig it? Okay. We will do it a little bit more. We'll look at we'll look at chapter 11 next week. So if you wanna read chapter 11, do that, and then we'll move on from Hebrews. Alright. Good enough.