The Book of Hebrews 6:9-12 "Better things concerning you."
Hebrews 6:9-12 · Vern Peterman · Sep 15, 2013
Hebrews, No. 22
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/492642147136

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. I want to let you know that I was considering changing the message topic to assuring you that the flood was not going to reoccur. I was concerned, however, that you wouldn't believe me. And so I decided to stick with the Hebrews passage. So that's where we're going here.

I first want to take a look at Hebrews 5.11 through 6.3, just kind of bring us up to speed with what this passage is presenting here.

And starting in Hebrews 5.11, we saw that there was this need for a warning, and it comes this way.

The readers of this letter were said to be intentionally dull of hearing, spiritually speaking. that they had, in fact, just stopped their ears and were quitting listening, even though they'd had plenty of teaching. Even though they'd been taught to the point where the author of this book says that they ought to be teachers, they had quit listening, they had stopped their ears intentionally, and there was a consequence to that.

One of the things was that all they could handle was spiritual milk. They were spiritually immature. Though they had been brought along to the point where they ought to have been handling some more significant and substantial teaching, they were back to the points of being infants because they just couldn't hear it.

Though they had repented of the dead works, that is, all the things that were involved in the Jewish sacrificial system, they were ready to go back to it. because they had so intentionally limited what they could take in. So, in 6.4-8, which we looked at last week here, the author of Hebrews tells these believers who had been through an actual spiritual decline where they could be headed. Now, it doesn't say exactly that they were there, it's in fact a warning, but where they were headed if they continued that spiritual decline. They needed to stop that decline and start growing again.

They were getting to a place they couldn't hear. They couldn't understand some more significant and substantial teaching. They had intentionally become dull of hearing. He tells them they could get to a point where they could not turn around. spiritually speaking, a point of no return, we would call it. An ability, not because of anybody on the outside, but an inability to make a U-turn, spiritually speaking, by their own deliberate action. From the point of the spiritual outlook on this planet, things start to look pretty grim.

You've got nowhere to go. You've reached a spiritual point of no return. And so he's warning them, you're not there yet. You're not there yet, but that's where you're headed. That's where you're headed next if you don't turn it around. So this is a kind of a message, go back, you're going the wrong way.

Some years ago, my oldest brother was driving down the freeway and he was noticing as he was driving, you know, those headlights are coming straight at me. And so he pulled over in the next lane and the guy went whizzing right by him. And those were the days before cell phones. So he found the next turn off and found a phone and called and said, hey, you got a guy going full speed the wrong way.

And so this is a part of the severe message that the author of Hebrews has given him. You know, you're going full speed the wrong direction. You need to turn it around now. Right now. And so that's the message he's giving them. And that's why the message comes across so intensely and severely in verses four through eight. But he doesn't want to leave them hopeless.

It's not like, look, you guys are already dead goners. He's giving them a warning before they get to that point. He's given them a harsh assessment. You guys are dull of hearing. You guys, you should be teachers by now. But instead, all you can tolerate is spiritual milk. So he warns them of a hopeless possibility if they don't turn it around. So he's written a warning about where these believers could be headed if they don't turn back so that they would respond and not end up sinking so low to the point of no spiritual return.

So one of the key themes that we find in Hebrews, and we find it here in this passage here in verses 9 through 12, is better. Right? Better. The assessment we saw before in Hebrews 5, 11-14 and the warnings in Hebrews 6, 4-8 were intended to help these believers have a better spiritual future. And so one of the things we find is this word better is not only key here but throughout the whole book of Hebrews. Part of the hopeful outlook that the author is presenting in 9-12 is what these believers have been and are doing. what they have been and are doing. They had not been doing everything wrong. You get that? They had not been doing everything wrong. So in Hebrews 6, 9 it goes like this, But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.

Let's take a look at what does he mean by those words here. So it starts off with but beloved. The author used this word beloved, and by the way, this is the only time it occurs in this letter. With these saints, as we might guess, the word is based on this word you've probably heard before, agape, kind of love. And you've got to be careful, because I took my Greek in Texas, where it's agape, you know, agape, kind of love.

A love that comes from God, and that also loves unconditionally. Get that? God is the source and it's unconditional love. It is not, I love you because, I love you if. It is unconditional love that he's presenting to them. Beloved who are loved from God, from a love that comes from God unconditionally.

That's the word he's using with them. These believers are loved both by God and by the one who is writing this letter. as we'll see shortly, and by the others who are with him. It's important that these believers know that they are loved without any conditions or anything in return.

See, when the author gives this really intense, severe warning, they need to know that the warning comes not because, boy, I'm really mad at you and I still am, but the warning comes because I love you. And I love you unconditionally. And it's real important that the author get that across. And that's why after the severe warning, and it's intense, after the severe warning that they understand, I love you. I'm writing even these words of warning, even the harsh assessment that you're dull of hearing, that all you can tolerate is spiritual milk, that in fact, I gave you the warning because I love you.

One of the things we see, we see in this passage, and it starts off this way and it continues this way, starting off in verse 9, in fact twice, is the word we. So the author writes we repeatedly in Hebrews, I mean dozens of times, sometimes referring to what is true of all believers, in other words we, and then something stated for all believers, and sometimes referring to the author as part of a group of church leaders or elders. So what he's doing is he's writing as a representative of a group of leaders who are kind of backing him up on this letter that he's writing. So this we Roger had taught a couple times now this year out of 33 riches of divine grace and it's things that are true of all believers. That's the first kind of we that's referred to here.

This particular one however he has is he's referring to we as the group of elders or leaders of which the author is a part. So he repeatedly in the book says we twice in verse 9 and then you'll see again later on in the passage we're taking a look at here. I is not used of the author until the last chapter of Hebrews, chapter 13. He doesn't write I until the very last chapter. Everything else is stated up to that point as we when he writes. Now, here's this better again, right? Mobetta, right?

Starting with the first chapter, this letter of Hebrews has been about more and better. That sounds like Sesame Street, right? This book is brought to you by the words more and better. And then once each in the book, we find much more and much better.

So he's all about better in this thing. And why is that? What he's saying is, you guys have been on this path, let me tell you about a better path. Better, again. Better, better, better. And I think that's something for us believers to think about. The Lord isn't telling us these things just because he says, hey, I want you to do it this way. He's saying it's better. He's saying it's better.

It's better for our individual lives. It's better for our marriages. It's better for our families. It is better for our kids. It's better for our grandkids. This is a book about better. And this passage here is no exception. Better things. Now, you're familiar with this device, probably. Which is better, this or this? Sometimes I look at it, and I think, well, duh. Can't you tell? Why do you have to ask me? Obvious which one's better. But anyway, the author is asking them, which is better, this or this? And let me tell you, this is better. This is better.

Hebrews has given these believers this harsh assessment, back in chapter 5, this stern warning here in 6, 4 through 8, but he is convinced of better things about them. He is convinced that, you know, the assessment is pretty rough, kind of hard, you guys are not in great shape, and I've given you a stern warning, but I'm convinced you'll turn around. I'm convinced that the warning will be worth it, that it won't be just empty words, that you'll turn this thing around. In order for these believers to see and seek better, the author warns and now encourages them towards it.

Isn't that the way things are with us? Sometimes we need a warning and then an encouragement. A warning and then an encouragement. And that's exactly what he's doing here in this passage. Last week's passage was the warning. This passage here is the encouragement. Sometimes we need that.

Now, so the believers are at a fork in the road. That's where they're at. They're at a fork in the road. What kind of fork? Not that one. More like this. There's an uh-oh path, and he just told them about that. And then there's a better path. He says, let me tell you about better. He says, I told you about the uh-oh. Now let me tell you about the better path.

And one of the things in verse 9, he talks about things that accompany salvation. And one of the things we want to point out with that, he's not talking about just getting saved because you believe that Christ died for his sins and was buried and rose again. He's talking about everything about salvation. So it's not mini-micro salvation, it's mega-macro salvation. So the things regarding salvation, it's the big picture, everything about salvation. Everything that happened in the eternity past, everything that is true now, and everything about the future. Everything about salvation. We talked last week about what's the gospel, what do you need to be saved, and we'll point that out briefly. In order for a person to be saved, you must believe that Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins, and He was buried and rose again. Do you believe that? You're saved. It's that simple.

Instead of just that aspect of salvation as fantastic and wonderful as that is, it is everything about our salvation in the past, in the present, and in the future, on into eternity, including what God has done, what God is doing right now, and what God will do in the future. So the author is going to continue to write about everything regarding salvation as he continues on in this book.

Now, he talks about in this way. What does he mean by that? The author desired along with the others in leadership to see these believers see a return to the temple sacrifices as a return to dead works. What are you going back to? As a return to dead works that they had repented of long ago.

But he had to give also this warning. Instead, the author first had to give him a harsh assessment and a serious warning. So that's what he means by, though we speak in this way. We speak in a way of harsh assessment first, and we speak in a way of a severe warning. So in this way is talking about the warning and assessment. We've had to talk to you in tough, difficult terms.

But we want you to know we're convinced of better things regarding you, and we're going to talk about the things that accompany salvation. It's going to be okay. It's going to be all right. He wants to comfort them. You know, you guys are not there where I warned you about. You're getting close, but you're not there.

So here's Hebrews 6.10, for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown for toward his name and having ministered and in still ministering in the present to the saints.

One of the things he starts off with there is for God. In our human relationships which matter a great deal It is important for us to keep in mind there is nothing that will matter more than relationship with God and His character and what He says and what He does. There is nothing that will matter more. It is absolutely essential that we get that straight. For the believer walking in fellowship with Him, God is our starting point. God is our starting point. For an individual, for the church, for families, God is our starting point and our orientation to everything else in our lives. In the lives of others, in our own families, and in the life of the church, God is the starting point.

Has to be. There isn't any other way around it. At one time, I heard the story of this doctor who had a patient come in to him and say, Doc, I've got this problem. And so the doc gave him the solution to his problem. And then the patient asks, have you got anything else? And the doc's going, what? I just gave you the solution. There isn't any other solution but for us to go to the Lord. God has no plan B. Look, if you don't want to have fellowship with me, then you can do this instead. There isn't any plan B. There isn't any other way.

Now, in Hebrews 6.10, there are the words, not unjust so as to forget. So there's a set of words that's essentially stating things in reverse, in order to get the point across. Stating things backwards. It's a figure of speech, known as le totus, and if you don't remember that, so what? Okay.

Peter is not a slow cyclist, means that Peter is a fast cyclist, right? Nancy is not a bad cook, means that Nancy is a good cook. Denver is not a small town, It's a downtown, but it's a small town. Denver is a big city, actually. So, these are stated in reverse. These are stated in reverse. And that's what the author is doing here.

Not unjust so as to forget. It could have been stated positively to make the point, God is just so that he remembers. That's the positive statement here. But the point is made with this figure of speech, God is not unjust so as to forget. But something that it does for us, this set of words tells us about two attributes of God. And one of those is God is infinitely and perfectly just. God is a God of total and absolute justice.

One of the things that I'm fond of reminding people, because for me it was a pivotal truth to absorb, is that In one of three places, every single injustice will be dealt with. Either on the cross, sometimes in this life. Sometimes. And in eternity. Every single injustice will be dealt with. Every single one.

And for me, that had personal significance because for me, I had to settle down on that. See, I used to have this fiery, flaming temper. But then I had to realize, why am I so mad? I was so mad because I had settled on, boy, I'm going to make justice. I'm going to make it happen now.

Instead of realizing, you know, everything has been taken care of on the cross. Once in a while, justice happens here on this planet. Sometimes not. But between the cross, this planet, and eternity, it is all dealt with. Every single little thing. So I don't have to get ticked.

God's going to take care of it. God's going to take care of it. And for our hearts to get settled down on that, it's a very important thing. To realize God's going to take care of justice. It's not my job to go and make sure justice happens everywhere. Not going to happen. Not my job. It's God's job.

God will take care of every injustice because he's a God of total and complete justice. But the other thing this passage tells us is God is all-knowing. He is neither ignorant nor forgetful. God knows everything. And that matches well with the injustice and justice issue because God's not going to overlook something or go, oh man, I forgot. God's not going to do that. God knows everything.

Every little thing and he is a God of total and complete justice and I can rest in that I can settle down on that Now What does God consider God considers your work, okay? It's one of the things he's telling these people You haven't you guys have been in a bad way, but you haven't done everything wrong Okay He considers your work and the love which you have shown towards His name. And I think that's important for us to take a look at. How do we show love towards His name?

And this verse, Hebrews 6.10, answers that question. In having ministered, okay, past tense, and in still ministering to the saints, now. And God's not going to forget that. So how do we show love towards His name? We show love towards His name in ministering to the saints and having ministered to the saints.

So these believers had not just sat on their hands. He doesn't accuse them of gross sin. Isn't that interesting? He doesn't accuse them of gross sin. Here these believers had declined, they were dull of hearing, they were in danger of getting to a place where they couldn't turn around, and yet they hadn't yet committed gross sin. The problem so far was all heart condition and not what they carried out.

Ministering to the Saints shows love toward God's name. That's a key truth to be drawn out of this verse. Ministering to the Saints shows love towards His name. And we say His name, what do we mean by that? God's name is about Him and who He is. When you hear that, God's name in Jesus' name, it's Him and who He is. So when we say, we pray this in Jesus' name, we pray it on the basis of Him and who He is.

Now, Hebrews 6, 11, and 12 goes like this, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. And so he starts off, and we desire, here's this we again, right?

So he's writing as a representative of a larger group, likely of elders or church leaders, perhaps, those elders of the church in Jerusalem. What had happened in Acts 15, the apostles got together with the elders of the church in Jerusalem, the founding church.

And they had gotten together in Acts chapter 15 and had a meeting and made decisions about things and then sent letters off about their decisions. Well, by the time this book was written, the apostles had many of them either one died off or two had gone to different parts of the world. And so this leaves the elders, whatever ones remained, and James, Jesus' half-brother, had likely, not certainly, but likely died by this time. He was killed in the early 60s A.D. in Jerusalem.

And so you have the remaining church leaders in Jerusalem as a possibility from where this letter was written. The desire or will of these leaders here, for which the author of Hebrews writes, who he's writing as a representative of them, expressed the will of God in the lives of these Jewish believers in Christ.

So he says, each one of you, in verse 11, so what this part of the exhortation shows is this, that the diligence in the things that these believers were doing was not across the board. He's saying, you know, you have work and you are ministering to the saints and you have ministered to the saints And let me just bring this up, all of you are not even in that. Some of you are really going out and doing that, and some of you are kind of being a little sluggish and slothful in it. So he's saying you've got some room for improvement there. Some were more diligent, and he uses that word diligent, some were more diligent than others in carrying this out.

So diligence in the things that God has called us to is a good thing. And by the way, that's grace diligence. It's possible to be diligent because somebody's holding the law over you and beating you up and threatening you, and that's not what he's talking about. This is grace-motivated diligence.

In Ephesians 4.3 it says, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. That's one of the places the scripture talks about diligence. And it's grace diligence, not diligence because, boy, you're being threatened and if you don't you're going to get X, Y, and Z. So diligence that's grace-motivated diligence is a good thing.

It's important to be diligent in the things that matter the most and that ought to be done again and again consistently. Think about some of the things that we do regularly. Like when you're driving, I really hope that you have your eyes on the road in front of you. Diligence in that is important. Occasionally glancing in front of you is not a good idea. There are things in which it's important for us to be diligent and consistent. I recommend that you breathe regularly.

That's a good idea. same thing spiritually so he says each one of you that there was a Non-uniformity to their diligence and he is saying each one of you, okay? Needs to be diligent Now this this term full assurance of hope in verse 11 hope is different for believers than for unbelievers the best kind of hope that unbelievers have is and I hope so kind of hope I Hope things turn out this way I hope that it happens this way and not that way. I hope I get this job. I hope that I don't get this job. I hope this. I hope that. That's the way the world works, and it's a matter of hoping for a better outcome or probability. I hope the dice roll in my favor.

But believers at least ought to have a full assurance of hope. Full assurance of hope. A hope that is certain and fixed and totally expected. Not depending on earthly probabilities and all the I hope so possibilities. Is it okay for us to hope this thing turns out this way instead of that?

Yeah it is. But we should not lose sight of the hope that we have that is absolutely certain. That's why later on in Hebrews, as we pointed out last week, God says, I will not, even remotely, not by the slightest chance, will I leave you or forsake you. Not happening. Not even remotely possible. We can be absolutely certain that He will be with us in everything.

Until the end. Is there an end? Yeah. But the end is before the beginning. But, yeah, let's talk about that. We are to live life here and now according to certain truths and principles. And when I say principles, there are two main ways the word principle is used. Principle is either the way things work or a fundamental truth, sometimes both. These are fundamental truths and principles, the way things work. up to the end of this present life until the end. Be diligent towards the end of this life. Keep going all the way then. All the way to the end.

The end of this present life marks the beginning of life with Christ, face to face. That's why I say the end is the beginning. So that is the beginning of our being with the Lord forever. 1 John 3, 2, and we shall be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. 1 Thessalonians 4, forever we will be with the Lord. That's the beginning.

But up until the end of this life, whenever that is, we're to be diligent towards that end. We are to have an assurance, a full assurance of hope to that end. Now, that you not be sluggish. Let's take a look at sluggish here. This is in verse 12. There are two hidden truths in the Greek words that we need to be aware of here.

One, this is the same Greek word as was translated dull in Hebrews 5.11. In fact, that word only occurs in those two places, 5.11 and here, in verse 12. It's translated dull in that passage, and it's translated sluggish here. In fact, It is the same word and it means the same thing. The other thing, this word was used in an athletic context, as much of Hebrews is, indicating being out of shape. So when he says, not be sluggish, not be spiritually out of shape.

And we quote here from Hebrews 13.9, which of course we'll eventually get to. It's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace. What does grace do? Does it make you all mushy? No. It's strengthening. Spiritually speaking, grace gets you in great shape. Grace. Grace is what gets you in great shape. So believers ought to be spiritually in shape that is living always strengthened by grace. Grace in our individual lives, grace in our marriages, grace in our families, grace in our church body, grace among us all.

Now, in Hebrews 6.12 we have this word imitate that shows up.

Two words in the Greek New Testament speak of copying the life of another and we need to talk about that because that can easily be misunderstood. One of those words, and it's the word that's used here, mimitis, is where we get our word mimic in English. The meaning in the Greek New Testament is to imitate the behavior of another in a positive way.

We're going to talk more about that because it's not superficial. The other one, and it doesn't show up in this passage, is tupos. We get our English word type from that. And it means a pattern or example. And what they would do is they would take a hard metal stamp and they would go bang and hit it and put some impression in there, maybe a letter or a number or a symbol into the receiving, usually metal, that it would go into there.

And so that was the use of that word. Here is an example of how the Apostle Paul uses it in a couple places so we get the idea. First Corinthians 11.1, we saw that sometime back when we studied it. Paul writes, Be imitators of me, Paul, just as I also am of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5.7 Our gospel does not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction, just as you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. For you also became imitators of us and of the Lord. having received the word and much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example, that's that word tupos, to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. Here are all the passages that have those words. In some cases, you'll notice in Philippians, 1 Thessalonians 1, it actually has both words in the same passage, just like we saw.

Hebrews 6.12 is the place where that word is used here again.

And we need to talk about what this imitating is. Biblical imitation is not what would Jesus do? Okay? Not, what would Jesus do? Okay, I'll do that. Okay? It is not what would Moses do? Certainly. Okay? Not that. Biblical imitation is not just trying to act like a Christian. Got that? Very important. We not think that. Let me talk about something.

Anthony Hopkins and Deborah Winger did a movie, oh it was probably a couple decades back now, called Shadowlands. In that movie, Anthony Hopkins plays C.S. Lewis and he plays a Christian. And it definitely comes across as Christian. And you know what? Anthony Hopkins did a great job acting like a Christian.

I don't think he's saved, okay? But as a superficial acting job, he did very well. I could even recommend that you watch this. It's a good one. But, Anthony Hopkins, I don't believe is saved. As shown by the movies that he gets involved in before and after this one. He did a great job acting like a Christian. That's not what God has called you to do. It's not superficial acting. If that's what God called us to, then let's just hire Anthony Hopkins to do the job. But he hasn't. It's not just imitation. It's not just trying to act like a Christian. As a matter of fact, we've said here before, I don't recommend that you try to be a good Christian. It's not a good idea. God doesn't want you to try to be a good Christian. So give up.

Biblical imitation is not superficial mimicking. It isn't a theatrical acting job like Anthony Hopkins did. He did a great job at it. As we see another believer walking in fellowship with Christ, abiding in Him, as Paul said, depending upon and trusting in God moment by moment, imitate that. See the difference?

It's not just, I try really hard to act like this guy. I try really hard to be a good Christian. I try really hard to act like a Christian. No. God does not want that. He does want us to look and say, oh, that's what walking in fellowship with the Lord looks like. That is abiding in Him and depending upon and trusting in God moment by moment. Imitate that. See the difference there? It's not superficial. You get no acting awards. You get no acting awards.

The next set of words that comes out in Hebrews 6.12 is faith and patience. Now, think about it. Faith is essential. Without faith, there is no salvation. Christ could die on the cross, be buried, and rose again. If you don't believe it, you're not getting there. You take no advantage of it if you don't believe it. The only way to take advantage of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is by faith. No walk of fellowship with Christ the Lord, no spiritual growth, nor exercise of the Spirit's gift among us for the growth of the body of Christ, without faith. without patience added to it. And this is patience with other people. There are two different words for patience in the New Testament. One of them is patience under circumstances. The other is patience with people. This one means patience with people.

There is no allowance for God work in their lives or in our own lives. Suppose I come along and insist everybody's got to do this and they got to do it when I say to do it and they've got to act this way and this way and this way and do this and this and this exactly when I say to do so What room does that leave for the Lord to work? It doesn't Patience recognizes that it takes time for the Lord to work in people's hearts and in people's lives And if you've ever raised kids, you know what I'm talking about, right? We have to leave room for God to work. Faith, absolutely. But patience is just as important. Patience to allow God time to work and the opportunity to work.

He talks about inheriting the promises. And the first thing we have to realize is that God is the promise maker and the promise keeper. Got that? God's the promise maker and the promise keeper. It's not your job and my job. God does not want me to go around making promises and trying hard to keep them. One of the more famous promises we have is New Year's resolutions. Good luck with that. Our place isn't to go about making those promises or trying to keep them. It's not our job. He is the promise maker. He is the promise keeper. My trust in Him, my faith in Him is where it's at. By faith we trust in His promises to us and learn about them and know them and count upon them. And it is entirely by grace we have a most awesome spiritual inheritance. And that goes on forever. That goes on forever. It's entirely by grace. Grace alone.

God is the promise maker. God is the promise keeper. We put our trust in the promises He's made and that He will keep them. And he always does. You know, he made promises to Abraham 4,000 years ago, and he's still going to keep them? Yeah. He's still going to keep them. He doesn't forget. He's a God of total justice. When he makes a promise, he makes it and keeps it for good. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness that when you make promises, and you do, that we can count upon them. You keep them forever. You keep them throughout all our lives. You are ever faithful in everything. We thank you, Lord, for the character that you have shown. Thank you for the character that comes out in these verses we just looked at here. And we thank you that we can trust you for the promises you've made and to keep them on into eternity. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.