The Warning of Apostasy

If you would take your Bible and turn back to Hebrews 6. I'm going to reference the passage a little later on. Acts 8, verses 5-25. That's a good portion of Scripture for you to go read on your own. I'm going to reference a particular character there. And that character really highlights what we're studying this morning. So Hebrews 6 will be in verses 4-8. And I will reference some other Scripture as well. I say often write those down, make that a part of your own study.

Now last week in our study through the book of Hebrews and these verses that are before us, we saw how the author of the book here interrupted his teaching on the high priesthood of Jesus. And we see that starting in chapter 5, verse 11, the author interrupted this teaching and he starts to unfold a very, very serious warning that is all centered on apostasy. This would be the third warning in the book of Hebrews. Some of you know that the book of Hebrews is famous for its warnings. And we see that apostasy is a lot more than maybe you know.

Apostasy is much more than someone coming to church for a little while and just leaving and never coming back. And we will see that this warning applied to both the true believers in this church and those professing believers who had not come to saving faith and those who were on the verge of apostasy. Now in last week's message we saw that the author started this warning by calling the believers in this church to move out of their spiritual digression and to move out of their spiritual immaturity.

We saw that there were some true believers in this church who had become spiritually dull and their dullness came out of or it was a result of spiritual laziness. I called them spiritually hardheaded. That's accurate. They were spiritually hardheaded, really spiritually hardhearted. Simply they had allowed themselves to become spiritually lazy and that produced this spiritual dullness in them. And because they had become spiritually dull the author told them that they could not and they would not receive all that he had to say about the high priesthood of Jesus.

And he went on to expose the fact that their spiritual laziness and this dullness had produced great spiritual immaturity in them. He actually condemned them and he shamed them for their spiritual digression and immaturity. And then he exhorted them. He encouraged them to move on to spiritual progression and to spiritual maturity. Now I called that message the call to spiritual maturity. And if you've not gotten that I encourage you to do so because these messages do all go together. But I highlight and I revisit what we looked at last week to show us that here in verse 7 the author makes a very, very big shift.

We could call this a hard shift. So let's read verses 4 to 8 again and I think you'll see this shift. 4, it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened who have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. There's a transition right here again. He speaks in an illustration but this all goes together.

Verse 7, "For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. But if it, that's the land, if it bears thorns and thistles it is worthless and near to being cursed and its end is to be burned." Now take a step back from what we've just read and think about what the author is saying. I'm really putting these verses into my own words but listen close. It is truly impossible for certain ones in this congregation who have experienced certain things pertaining to the true Christian life and then fall away.

It is impossible for those that fall away to be restored again to repentance. He goes on to say that would be like crucifying the Son of God all over again. Now I don't know about you, that leads me to all kinds of questions. What is this talk about the impossibility of people who fall away to be brought back to repentance? What does that mean? What is this talk about crucifying again the Son of God? Can that even take place? Now I'll give you a little encouragement and this is some encouragement that I ran across this week. I want to read for you what Al Mohler says about these verses. The first thing he says in his commentary is this.

These verses are some of the most difficult verses in the entire New Testament. How about that for encouragement? As I was doing some studying this week I shared this with my wife at lunch and she said, "Well why don't you just skip over those hard verses?" I said, "Well sweetheart if we go verse by verse we can't do that." Now it jokes aside in putting any fear because of the difficulty of these verses putting all that aside. Before we dive in here I want to address certain mistakes that many can make here and this will help us show first off what these verses don't mean. First some see the ones described here as true believers.

They see them as truly repentant believers who have been united with Christ and they are active in this local body of believers. But they have fallen away, they have fallen from grace, they have fallen and lost their salvation. And I'm sure that if we read these verses with that in mind we can see how some could come to this conclusion. And if we understand verses 4 to 8 in this way what we have here is this. This is a warning to true believers about the dangers of falling away and losing their salvation. But there's a problem with that interpretation.

The only problem with that interpretation is that that is not what these verses mean and that's not what the Bible teaches. Here is where we apply the rules of proper Biblical interpretation. And the first rule is this, the Bible never contradicts itself. Simply the Scriptures in their totality teach us that when we become true believers God keeps us. Jesus says in John 5.24, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes, him who sent me has eternal life, he does not come into judgment but has passed from life or death to life." Now I would say how can someone believe and possess eternal life if it can be lost?

Eternal life by definition is eternal. And if it is eternal then it is not temporary so it cannot be lost. Paul says in Romans 8.39, "Nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul says that being at the top of the highest mountain peak nor being at the deepest place in the deepest ocean can separate us from the love of God. And he goes on to say that nothing in all the creation can separate us from the love of God. So that means that as a believer even our own sin and sinfulness cannot separate us from the love of God.

Paul also says in Romans 11.29, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." Now this is simple. Paul says that the calling of God is irrevocable which means that God's calling in salvation cannot be repented of by God. It cannot be revoked or taken back. So the point I'm making here is this. The total message of the Bible teaches us and tells us that the true believer cannot lose their salvation. That is simply impossible. So if that is the case and it is, then Hebrews 6 verses 4-8 in this warning that is all about apostasy cannot mean that true believers can fall away.

But second, some may be tempted to see these passages as some kind of a hypothetical warning. They may see this as hypothetical and rhetorical. And the author was writing these things to make the original recipients of the letter just kind of think on these things. But that approach is wrong as well. This was a real church with real people. This was an actual church consisting of Jewish converts to Christ. We've learned that some were true converts but some were just merely professing converts. So here in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4-8, these verses were written to a real church and a real people in a real set of circumstances.

This was a real problem in the church and the author was writing to address these things. So with those misunderstandings and those errors out of the way, let's get into the verses. Now here in verse 4, it is plain to see that the author was writing to certain individuals. Look at verse 4. He says, "For it is impossible in the case of those." Now to me, he goes on to explain three things here. First, he describes those in question. I see that in verses 4-6. Second, he describes what they are like by using an illustration. We see that in verses 7-8. And then third, he gives the grim end of the apostate.

And I'm going back to verse 4 and to verse 6 to see that truth. So that's how we're going to approach our verses. So number 1, those in question. We see this in verse 4. Down to the beginning of verse 6. Those in question. Let's read the verses again. "For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away." Now here we see those in question. And they're described in a very great way.

And we see that they experienced some great things, and all that they experienced was good, except one. Now here I want to make two observations about these people in question. I want us to look at what they experienced and what they did. First, what they experienced. In verses 4 to 5, the author shows us that they experienced five things that pertain to the true Christian life. Notice he says they had been enlightened. Now all of the translations we study use the same term, "enlightened." And in the original, this means to give light. It means to shine upon. It means to illuminate, simply to enlighten.

And the enlightenment spoken of here pertains to spiritual truth or biblical truth. More specifically, they were enlightened to the truth of the Gospel, the truth of eternal life that is found in Jesus as the promised Messiah of God. Remember the context. These were Jews who had heard the Gospel and accepted Jesus as the Messiah. So they had been enlightened to the message of the Gospel. They had been enlightened to Jesus as the promised Messiah. But the question were these believers, true believers, or just professing believers. And then also, they had tasted the heavenly gift.

Now all the translations I reference use the same term here as well, "heavenly gift." And here we have two words, "gift" or that which is freely given, and "heavenly" or that which comes from above. So simply the author is talking of a gift that was from above, but we've got to ask what is the gift. Context tells us. In light of the fact that the author was warning of apostasy, starting in verse 11, going all the way through to the end of chapter 6, I think it is safe to say that the gift here is none other than Jesus as the promised Messiah that the Jews, the Jewish people, have been waiting for.

So this simply means that the gift of Jesus, the promised Messiah of God, and the one who brought redemption from man, he is the heavenly gift. But again, were these true believers. Also, they had shared in the Holy Spirit, the text says. Now here the King James and the New American uses the word "partakers." It says "partakers of the Holy Spirit." The English standard says "shared in the Holy Spirit." And this word "partakers" in the original is very, very simple. It means to share. It means to partake of. So the author is saying that they were partakers of, they shared in the Holy Spirit of God.

But again, were these professing believers or true believers? And they tasted the goodness of the Word of God. Again, all the translations basically say the same thing. Again, we see that they tasted something and here it is the Word of God. The text says the good Word of God. One thing that is interesting about the language here, the word that the author uses here for "word," it refers to that which is uttered, that which was given by a living voice. Of course this comes from God. But this does not speak of the entirety of God's Word. It emphasizes a part of the Word. And this shouldn't surprise us, remember the context.

Those in this church would have heard the Gospel, the message of Jesus as the promised Messiah of God. Not necessarily. They would have not necessarily heard the entire message of the Bible. But again, were these true believers or just those professing believers who were not true believers? And then last, the author says they tasted in the powers of the age to come. Here we see the same thing in all of our translations. They tasted the power of the world or the age to come and this speaks of the future kingdom of God. But what does this powers refer to?

John MacArthur says that these receiving this letter, they actually saw the miracles of the Apostles. One commentator said these powers speak of the powers associated with the coming Messiah. This would mean they saw the power of God being demonstrated in the lives of others when the Gospel was preached. But which is it? Well, I think it is safe to say all of the above. There are many scholars that say that these Jews definitely would have witnessed the miracles of the Apostles. And they definitely saw the power of God at work all around them as their fellow Jews were changed by the power and the message of the Gospel.

But were these true believers here? So, notice what we have here. We see what they experienced. Five good things, not just good things. These are Christian things. But then second, notice what they did. Look at the beginning of verse 6. He says, "And then have fallen away." Now here in the beginning of verse 6 we see they fell away. And this comes from a word in the original that means to fall beside or to slip aside. And the meaning here is simple. These particular people in question they fell away from all the things they had experienced.

And by seeing this falling away within this context and all that is seen here, they fell away from their profession of faith in Christ. They fell away from Christ Himself. They fell away from the body of believers in this church. But were they true believers? That's a question that we have to ask. But notice what we have here. Those in question are those who had experienced what we would call wonderful Christian things. They had come to see biblical truth, the truth of the Gospel, and the truth of Jesus as the Messiah. They had tasted the heavenly gift of Christ. They had been partakers of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Spirit.

And they had tasted the goodness of God's Word. They had even experienced the power of Christ which is the foretaste of the power of the world to come. But they fell away from those things. They fell away from their profession of faith in Christ. They fell away from Christ Himself. They fell away from this body of believers in this church. And this leads us to ask some questions here that we must ask, we must answer, and this gives us understanding, vital understanding here. First, were they true believers? The answer is no. Now we believe in the perseverance of the saints.

But this teaching does not undermine the belief in the perseverance of the saints, but it enforces it. That is because those who do persevere prove they were saints to begin with. But those who do not persevere prove they were never saints all along. So those who fell away were never true believers. These in question here were those professing believers who had never been born again in the first place. But the second thing, was this a warning of a possible or potential falling away, or was it a warning of an actual falling away? If you do some study, you'll run across the debate here.

Many scholars say that this was a potential falling away, and some say it was an actual falling away. Well, what is it? I think it's both. No doubt there were some in and around this congregation who had fallen away. And this teaching was and is an explanation of what took place with those who had fallen away or apostasized. Think about it. Those who had not fallen away within this congregation, but those who had seen some fall away, no doubt this explanation was helpful. No doubt it was painful to see probably some loved ones, friends, family who had fallen away. So this was helpful. But there was also a great warning here.

To those in this congregation who were on the cliff of decision, those who were contemplating walking away from these things and going back to their former life in Judaism, going back to living under the Old Covenant, they desperately needed to hear this warning and to heed this warning. We must always keep in mind in these verses and all through this study, the biggest threat to so many in this church. And that was the temptation to leave Jesus as the promised Messiah and go back onto the Old Covenant. So this great warning was an explanation. It was an explanation and an understanding of what had happened.

And this was an actual warning for those who were on the verge of falling away. Now before we move on into what they were like, I want to demonstrate it in verses 7-8. I want us to see a wonderful example in the New Testament. As a matter of fact, we see the very same thing with a man called Simon the Magician. We see this in Acts 8. Now I'm not going to read those verses because of time, but I instruct you, I call you, go to Acts 8, verses 5-25. Now in these verses we see this man, Simon the Magician, he says that he believed. Philip preached the Gospel and he believed, verse 13 says. And also verse 13 says he was baptized.

And also the verse says that he continued and he traveled along with Philip. Now think about that. Looks like some pretty good evangelism, does it not? Philip preached the Gospel, Simon heard the Gospel, he believed, he was baptized, and he followed Philip. But notice a comparison, in Hebrews 6, verses 4-6, we see experiences that we would normally and naturally attribute to the true believer. But in Acts 8, verses 5-25, we also see experiences that we would normally and naturally attribute to the true believer.

But just like Simon the Magician, those in question here in Hebrews 6-4, they fell away from all that they had experienced and professed. They fell away from Christ because they were never true Christians to begin with. And this leads us to a very important lesson and an opportunity to come to a very important place of understanding. Church, we must understand people can profess belief in Christ, they can be baptized, and they can even seemingly follow after Christ, follow after the church in the things of God, and they can fall away. People can experience an illumination of God's Word, the things of God and His church.

They can experience and come into contact with Jesus Himself. They can share in the work and the works of the Holy Spirit all around them. They can taste and experience the goodness of God's Word. They can experience and be around the power and the work of God among others. They can experience all those things and still purposefully fall away. John MacArthur gives more insights into why these people in Hebrews 6-6 were never, ever truly Christians to begin with. And this helps me. I think it will help you. He says that the author here makes no mention of salvation.

He makes no mention of justification, of sanctification, of the new birth or of regeneration. MacArthur goes on to say, and I'm quoting, "None of the normal New Testament terminology for salvation is used here." And Luke Church, this is very difficult for some to accept. Even true and strong believers can struggle to accept this reality, especially when one or the ones in question are family, especially when the ones in question are people we've known and even seem to be so Christian. So we see those in question in the fact that they were never Christian to begin with. And then number two, we see what they are like in verses 7-8.

We see what they are like. Let's go back and read the verses again. You'll see the transition into an illustration. "For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. If it, that would be the land, bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned." Now here we have an illustration. This is a teaching example. And notice this illustration is very similar to what is taught in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. Now let me pause here.

I want to encourage some of you who are new to our church, go and find my teaching on Matthew 13. That is when I was dealing with what is called the Kingdom parables. The teaching in Matthew 13 is very similar. It is very foundational. This all really goes together. But here in this illustration, the earth speaks of those who hear the Gospel. The rain speaks of the Gospel message. The fruitfulness speaks of the true believer. The unfruitfulness speaks of the unbeliever. And in the illustration, we see the rain or the Gospel seed that is planted in the earth or in the human heart and it is fruitful, it is useful.

It is truly fruitful, it is useful, and it receives a blessing from God. But also in the illustration, we see the rain or the Gospel seed that falls on the earth or the human heart that is not fruitful and not useful. It is not only not fruitful, but it produces thorns and thistles. And this heart and this life is fruitless, it is useless, and ultimately it is cursed and judged by God. And notice what's taught here, two things. First, this reinforces the teaching of the perseverance of the saints which is found all throughout the Bible.

Simply those who are true believers, they receive the rain, that's the Gospel, they receive the Gospel into their lives and they are fruitful, they are useful. Their lives are blessed by God and fruitful for God. And then second, this reinforces and explains and illuminates the true meaning of what's taught in verses 4-6. Simply those who fall away, they receive the rain of the Gospel, but their lives are unfruitful, unuseful, and ultimately they are cursed and judged by God. And notice what this would have said to those two audiences in this congregation.

First, for the true believer and even those who were struggling with spiritual digression and immaturity, this was meant to encourage them to spiritual progression and spiritual growth. And this was meant to call them, to examine themselves, and to look for true fruitfulness and true usefulness. But then second, for the ones who were only professing believers, they were not true believers. This was part of this great warning not to apostasize. The author was showing them who and what they would be and what would happen to them and in them if they did not come to true saving faith and they apostasized. And look at the lesson right here for us.

This illustration and this teaching from this illustration applies today. It is simple church. The true believer is fruitful. The true believer is fruitful. Matthew chapter 13 and the parable of the sower tells us that. But those who profess Christ but leave the faith, they are unfruitful. But I want to give you a warning here that we need to accept church. It takes time to see these things. It takes time. Believers produce fruit in different ways. And what I'm trying to show you is this. It takes time to see true Christian fruitfulness in the believer.

So let's not appoint ourselves as fruit inspectors looking into the lives of those who profess Christ. And if we don't see fruit just right, we say, well, they're not a true believer. So the illustration of what the apostates are like and what the true believer is like. And then number three, I want us to see what I call their grim end. Their grim end. We see this in verse four and verse six. Look back at verse four.

For it is impossible in the case of those who have, when we see these experiences, you see, it is impossible in the case of those who have experienced all of those things and then look at verse six, and then have fallen away to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt. Now from these verses, we have seen what those who fall away have experienced, I'll reference that, but we have not looked into their end except for the illustration. But here the author shows us what takes place as a result of their apostasy.

And to be honest, these are some very difficult verses for some. Now let's look at their grim end. First notice the impossibility of their situation. Now here I want to focus on the beginning of verse four. The author says, "For it is impossible." And if you notice the English Standard has impossible in verse four, the New American and the Legacy Standard Bible has it in verse six. That's because of the construction of the original. But I need to point out what some do wrong here. Some see this as difficult, but that's not what the language says. This word here in the original truly means without strength, powerless, disabled, or impossible.

And MacArthur points out that this same word is used in chapter 6 verse 18 where it is impossible for God to lie. It is used in chapter 10 verse 4 where it is impossible for the blood of animals to take away sin. It's used in chapter 11 verse 6 where it is impossible to please God without faith. So my point here is this. The author was speaking of the impossibility of their situation. And then second, notice the impossibility of their repentance. Here the author says it is impossible to renew or restore the ones who have fallen away. It's impossible to restore them back to repentance. But what does that mean?

This does not mean that they had truly repented and been saved and they lost their salvation. That is impossible. It is impossible for them to repent again and be saved again. We've already established that fact. This means that they had been brought up to the point of true repentance and salvation, but they were unwilling to repent and in time, or at the right time, they fell away. Simply we need to remember the context. And this is what took place right here. These in question here, they left Judaism.

They had left behind the old covenant and they had entered into the Christian life and the Christian experience far enough to know what the Christian life and the Christian experience was all about. They had even experienced many things pertaining to the true Christian life and the author listed those in verses 4 to 6. But they had not truly repented savingly. Therefore, they turned away and they fell. Now church, there is something extremely important for us to see here. It's hard for some to accept, but it must be understood. People can actually come into the church. They can profess Christ. They can seem truly repentant.

They can be baptized and join the church. They can experience and even participate in Christian things and the Christian life, but they can truly be unrepentant. See what happens is they come in and they do all those things, but what they're really doing is turning over a new leaf. See what's really happening is they come into the church and they do all of those things, but they're reforming their lives instead of repenting of sin.

See what they do is they come into the church and they do all of those things and they come out of sin, never repenting of sin, and they put on this outward exterior of Christianity and Christian living, but they never truly repent of sin. Now let me ask you, have you repented of sin savingly? Did God by the power and the work of the Holy Spirit bring you to the place where you savingly repented of your sin? Or did you assimilate? Did you come in? Did you turn over that new leaf? Did you reform your life instead of repenting?

Did you come out of sin putting on all the externals of the Christian life, but yet you've never repented of sin savingly? It's amazing people. It's amazing church. There are people that can live the Christian life in a very good way externally, even though they've never savingly repented of their sin. But then third, I've got a question here. Why is this the case? I'm speaking of the impossibility of their situation. Why is it impossible? Here the author shows why it's impossible for these who fell away to be restored to that place of repentance. This is simple.

They have not only fallen away from all that they experienced, from their profession, from Christ Himself, they have truly committed the sin of apostasy, which is completely different than simply dropping out of church. You see, they did not simply quit coming to church and still profess Christ. No, they fell away from the faith. They turned their back on the faith. They denied the faith. They turned from the faith. They rejected the faith. They repudiated the faith, which means they declared it all to be untrue.

And the author says that it was impossible for those to come back to that place of repentance because they would be crucifying the Son of God all over again, meaning they were raising up against Him, these things. They were siding with those who crucified Him. And if they could have, they would have joined the crowds that screamed, "Crucify Him." And if they could have, they would have joined in with the religious leaders who conspired to crucify Him in the beginning. One writer said it like this. I'm really putting it into my own words.

They exchanged their place with the disciples and they took up the place with those who literally crucified the Lord. They once professed. And notice, church, there is a difference between the one who leaves the church but they still profess Christ and those who truly apostasize. The apostate truly becomes a Judas selling out Christ for their own 30 pieces of silver. So notice what we have here. The grim, the hopeless, the terrible end of the apostate. William McDonald says they have reached the place where the lights go out on the way to hell. Now, I want to begin to close and I want to give us four short lessons.

Four short lessons, four short points of some instruction here. First, we need to make sure we understand the difference in the one who simply leaves the church and the one who truly apostasizes. The apostate not only leaves the faith, they turn their back on the faith, they reject the faith and they even fight against the faith that they once professed.

Second, for those who were not born again, you need to take this teaching serious because it is a very serious and very dangerous thing to be a professing Christian in and around God's people, in and around the church, in and around the things of God, and not come to a place where you savingly believe in Christ. Look, if that's you, I beg you, don't be casual here. Don't be dismissive here. Don't ignore these things. You are in a very, very dangerous place. Third, the reality of the almost Christian. That might surprise you. The reality of the almost Christian.

The ones who have once been enlightened spiritually and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of this age in the world to come, they are the almost Christian. You see that? They seem like the Christian. They are almost Christian, but they are not. That's the terrible problem we have today because of cultural Christianity. Our churches are full of people who are the almost Christian. They've never savingly repented. They are the almost Christian. And look, folks, they can look like the real thing.

But then fourth, the warning of apostasy is not only for the loss in and among the church. This warning and teaching is for all. There are many lessons and much truth that is found in this teaching and we must, as God's people, accept this teaching, work hard to understand this teaching and the implications of this teaching. And for the almost Christian and the one who is thinking of rejecting Christ, I say, please come to Christ. Please come to Christ. No matter where you are on the spectrum of being an almost Christian, please come to Christ.

And for those of us who are Christian, we must pray for those and even evangelize those who are on the cliff. They are almost Christian. And some of them, whether you know it or not, they may be on the verge of apostasy. So the title of the message, the warning, you could say the warnings plural because there's so much here, the warning of apostasy.