JESUS CHRIST, THE FORERUNNER

Text: Book of Hebrews Chapter 6

We as believers who want to become Christians must understand the message of the Book of Hebrews!
A believer is one that understands that salvation can only come through the work of Jesus Christ.

There is no salvation without being “Born Again” and being washed in the “Blood of Jesus”.

This is more than just knowing about Jesus!

This is accepting the facts of Jesus, the Son of God!

To be a Christian is to be like Jesus Christ!

To be a Christian is to do the things that Jesus did and what He still does!

In fact Jesus said:

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, [but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise].

It is a fact that Jesus, the Son of God said He did the things that His Father did!

If we want to know where to begin to serve Our Lord and look like a Christian then, wherever we see God working we need to join in!

Ask Brother Buddy why he goes to Hope Children’s Home and you will find out that he sees that God is working in this place and he wants to be a part of that work.

This is where the heart of a Missionary has to begin!

Right here in this church, we can see places where God is working. These are the places we need to join in and be a part of!

This is what Jesus is teaching us all to do. See where God is working and be a part of that work!

This Book of Hebrews makes it very clear to the early Jewish believers that Christianity is “So Much Superior” to their own old religion of Judaism.

Remember they already knew God! They had accepted the Almighty God as the Creator. They had given Him many names such as Jehovah-Jireh, The Lord who provides.

But, They had rejected the teaching of the Holy Spirit and totally rejected the fact that Christ Jesus was truly the Messiah!

This Book of Hebrews is to teach us all that when Jesus came to this Earth it was to begin a new order of worship and a new order of service which is now called Christianity because we are all to do the things that Jesus did!

We cannot become lazy after we are saved!

In Chapter 5 we saw the warning of becoming dull in hearing the Word of God.

In this Chapter 6 we will see that there is a great danger of going back to the old ways.

To those early Jewish believers they had learned the baby things of Judaism and it was now time for them to “Grow up in Christ Jesus”!

No one can escape coming into this world as a baby! This is the only way to get here!

BUT, Every parent wants to see that baby mature and become an adult!

God has that very same desire for all of us!

*****Our text:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, [let us go on unto perfection;] not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

That word “therefore” means from what we have learned in the previous 5 chapters of the beginning of Christ.

In other words since we have this great foundation it is time to build upon it!

It is now  time to prepare for that trip through the wilderness of this world and on to that throne in Heaven!

We cannot spend our whole Christian life building on the foundation!

We must become mature Christians to be of any use to the Lord!

This writer list 6 foundational facts learned from the Old Testament:

1.) A repentance from dead works.
2.) Faith toward God.
3.) A doctrine of baptisms.
4.) The laying on of hands.
5.) The resurrection of the dead.
6.) Eternal judgment.

Those dead works were the works of the Laws of Moses!

No one could keep those old laws and it was foolish to try to believe those laws brought salvation when they had to continuously repent for breaking them.

The writer said this was baby stuff!

This is why all legalist are babes in Christ!

The Old Testament taught “faith toward God” so just to say you believe in God doesn’t mean you have progressed in your walk with God.

This only shows you are a babe in Christ!

The Old Testament had rituals to present a faith by approaching God through the sacrifices and not through the High Priest. The Old Testament High Priest really only presented the sacrifices as we have already studied!

That phrase “let us go” really means “let us move forward”.

If we are standing still in our relationship with God we are still going backwards!

*****Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The Old Testament “doctrines of of baptisms” “or washings” has nothing to do with New Testament Baptism!

This is only referring to the ritual washings of the Laws of Moses by the priests!

Christian baptism is showing our new relationship with the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

There was an Old Testament ritual of “laying on of the hands”. When a man brought an animal in to be sacrificed, he laid his hands on the head of that animal which signified that he identified with that animal and that animal was taking his place on that altar!

In the Church the laying on of the hands simply means we are all want to share in a burden or blessing of one of our brothers or sisters or we all want to share in one who is set apart for the ministry.

The laying on of hands in both The New and The Old Testaments have never been about some power of God flowing from one person to another!

The “resurrection of the dead” was taught in the Old Testament but now they needed to realize the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the the living eternal Son of God.

All those that where resurrected in the Old and the New Testament had to die again!

Eternal judgment is taught throughout the Bible!

*****Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

Knowing all these things it is time to move on to the real meat of the Bible!

*****Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

These verses have caused many a reader of the Book of Hebrews to worry unnecessarily and have caused many a babe in Christ much concern!

These verses are also miss-applied by many a preacher as a means to frighten those that are still babes!

It is verse nine that is the key to this passage!

We must not think that this Book of Hebrews was written to believers who had lost their salvation.

This is impossible!

The only thing we did in salvation was provide God a sinner to be saved.

It is by the Work of Jesus we are saved and in is by the Work of Jesus that keeps us saved!

We cannot cause changes to this plan of God. It is His plan of salvation and we cannot change His plan!

There are to many people who are not sure of their salvation and therefore they have miserable lives.

This is another lesson we should learn from this Book of Hebrews, HOW TO AVOID THIS MISERY!

Rom 8:1  [There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus], who walk not after the flesh, [but after the Spirit].
Rom 8:2  [For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death].

To believe you can lose you salvation means you have to throw this scripture along with many others out of the Bible!

And also this one:

Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is God that justifieth].

To believe you can lose you salvation after being saved by the power of God is the same as saying Our God is a liar!

And Our God Has No Power!

Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What do we do with this entire passage that was inspired by the Holy Spirit to the Apostle Paul?

There is absolutely nothing that can separate us from God, once we know Him as our Savior!

Those that teach that we can loose our salvation teach also that we can be restored!

This passage in the Book of Hebrews says that if salvation could be lost it certainly could never be restored!

So the Bible contradicts all the teachings of loosing your salvation!

The only thing we can do is be sure we understand where our salvation comes from and that is by the Blood of Jesus!

We need to listen to the Words of Jesus just as this Book of Hebrews tells us:

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and [no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand].

When we are saved it is the gift of eternal life that comes with the promise.

It is not eternal if it can be lost!

It is My God who has my salvation in His hands and I have no control of it anymore!

These believers in the Book of Hebrews are babes in Christ and God wants us all to be “Teachers”!

It is impossible to enter into Heaven by any means except through the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus that is the door to Salvation!

He is not just the door way but He is the actual door!

Joh 10:7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Joh 10:8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
Joh 10:9  [I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

What we should believe from this passage in Hebrews is that it is about rewards after salvation and not about salvation it self!

The Bible says:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

To fall away is to stumble. We will all stumble in our walk with Christ.! It is not so much that we will stumble, but IT IS “will we get back up and repent and go on serving the Lord with all our heart!

We must not ever quit on God because He will never quit on us!

*****Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

God promises in the Gospels that not even one cup of water given to some one in His name will go unrewarded!

Every tract that is sent out, Every testimony that is given giving God the Glory, Every offering made in His name, Every time you have tried to teach others about the Bible and to a Preacher, every sermon that is preached in truth, God will not ever forget!

God is not unrighteous to forget any good work that comes after our salvation!

This would be a fault in a Righteous God and Our God has no faults!

God can see into our hearts and He knows the intent of everything we do! If our hearts are sincere, we can be sure a reward will be waiting in Heaven!

Anyone that is truly saved will want to please Our Father in Heaven!

Every man woman and child that has been forgiven of their sin and adopted into the family of God will have the kind of works that will accompany their salvation.

The only work to do for salvation is to believe!

After salvation there is a work for every one of us and it begins with serving God’s people!

The Bible tells us:

1Th 1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
1Th 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

*****Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Heb 6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Even though God watches over each and everyone of us and provides our needs and will cause each and every one of us to become mature Christians, WE MUST DO OUR PART!

We must apply ourselves to the work God has given to each of us!

“Diligence” means to have a constant effort to accomplish the work of God!

“Diligence” means God does not have partime workers, we have a full time job in the Lord!

The wages of sin is death [But the wages of our labor of love after salvation is not only to inherit the promises of God but to be rewarded for doing so]!

The Apostle Paul said:

2Ti 4:7  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, [but unto all them also that love his appearing].

*****Heb 6:13  For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Heb 6:14  Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
Heb 6:15  And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

What was God’s great promise to Abraham?

Gen 22:16  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18  [And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice].

Most of God’s promises do not depend on our character or our motives but they do depend more on our “faithfulness”!

Every saved child of God has even greater promises than Abraham!

The only thing that holds us all back is that we do not “diligently” apply ourselves to maturing in our spiritual life!

When we ignore church fellowship, and we ignore our Bibles, and we forget to pray as we should we are never going to be mature Christians!

*****Heb 6:16  For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
Heb 6:17  Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

God not only made this promise to Abraham but He also confirmed it with an oath!

God not only did this for Abraham, God gave His oath to all the heirs of Abraham’s promise!

Every Born Again child of God is included in the promise to Abraham!

The Bible says:

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Our  assurance of salvation is guaranteed by God’s promise and God’s oath!

*****Heb 6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

We can see that the Book of Hebrews was not only written to encourage those early Jewish believers but also to encourage every believer!

In the Old Testament, those that fled to the cities of refuge had hope that they would not die!

We must all flee to Jesus Christ who is our eternal refuge!

He is our eternal High Priest because He is our eternal Savior!

Because He is Eternal we have eternal salvation!

Not one of Satan’s avengers nor Satan himself can touch a child of God!

*****Heb 6:19  Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20  Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

When Christ Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He became our High Priest.

As High Priest before God, He has become as an anchor of a mighty ship.

BUT< Our spiritual anchor is different from any ship’s anchor:

Our anchor is anchored in Heaven and that is upward and not downward! Praise the Lord!

We are anchored not to stand still but to move forward! Praise the Lord!

Our anchor is a sure, it cannot break and it will hold! Praise the Lord!

And to top it all off,  Our Savior is our Forerunner, who has gone ahead before us so that one day we can follow Him!

But we can now also go boldly before the throne of God because Our High Priest has passed inside the veil, into the throne room of God Himself!

If we will just anchor our selves to Our Savior, we will never drift into the shallow waters of this world and be destroyed!

When our foundation is laid on the Rock of our Salvation it is Eternal and it is Permanent!

For our house to grow we must not ignore our spiritual growth!

We must be busy about the work of the Lord!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!