Bible Study: Hebrews 6

Okay, last week, as you remember, we were talking about Melchizedek, and we got through chapter...

Let me get two Hebrews here... Chapter 5, right? We got through chapter 5, and we're starting on chapter 6 this week. So we talked about Melchizedek, and Melchizedek is an interesting, interesting high priest, if you will. And I think, as we talked last week, and as you have probably thought about it over the...

since then, and contemplated Melchizedek and some of the verses that we read last week, hopefully some of the significance of Jesus Christ even more sink in on you. I remember the verse that we read that talked about Jesus Christ becoming, through suffering, the perfect high priest that we would need... that we need him to be, and that he is. And so Melchizedek, while he was...

well, he was the perfect high priest and Jesus Christ himself, the one who would become Jesus Christ, who appeared to Abraham back in Genesis 14 that we talked about, he became... he became Jesus Christ through the time that he was on earth, lived as a human being, suffered the things that we have, and became Jesus Christ. You know, after the Bible study last week, I had a few phone calls about Melchizedek and processing that together, but you know, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but he... Jesus Christ...

Jesus Christ was... he became perfect to be our Savior through that process. It's hard for us to understand a bit because Jesus Christ is perfect. He never sinned. He never fell short of the glory of God. He came to earth. He was born as a human.

He endured all those things, and to the very end, he was... he was killed. He fulfilled all...

all the commission that God had for him, fulfilled all the prophecies, and when he was resurrected, he became Jesus Christ. Same... same God as Melchizedek, but the Bible says he became a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Not after the order of Aaron, who was the physical high priest, but after the order of Melchizedek, who was eternal without beginning, without end, no genealogy, as we read. So, as we think of Jesus Christ, and we understand who he is and his, you know, his existence from the... his... his infinity from beginning to end, as we look through chapter 5, and as we have gone through Hebrews and see Jesus Christ is, you know, is better than the angels, better... better than Moses, and I use that word better in the right sense of the word that the Bible uses in. He's better than flesh and blood. We see that even he is better than Melchizedek, because now he has lived as us. He understands everything that we've been through. He is our intercessor. And so, while they're the same, there's this progression, even in Jesus Christ, when the Bible talks about him, you know, him becoming perfect, perfect through sufferings. And I just... just... you know, just think about that. And I want to...

I want to begin in verse chapter 5, because in the last four verses there of chapter 5, it leaves us off to the beginning of chapter 6. I don't want to spend a lot of time in those verses, because we talked about verses 12 through 14 last time. But let's just read through those, because the author talks about Melchizedek, and he says, you know, you should... you should understand these things. They're have... they're... they're hard to... they're hard to explain. They're hard to understand. We have to dig deep. We have to have God open our minds to understand these concepts. And then he says, you know, he warns us again not to be dull of hearing. So in verse 12, he says, so for by the... for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. So he's talking about the progression. You know, we... we have to become spiritually mature. God doesn't call us and want us to stay at the same place. We continually grow. We continually overcome. We continually become more and more like Jesus Christ as his Spirit leads us. So he's showing us the projection, the progression in our lives. When we start off, we drink the milk of the word, but then it becomes, you know, the solid food we have to take. If we're going to grow into the spiritual...

spiritually mature people God wants. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. We learn as we go through life to use, as we read...

while we read in verse 14, if we use, you know, we use the word of God. We study it. We delve into it. We grasp these concepts. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age. That is, those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And so that's who God wants us to become. In the book of Hebrews here, the author is telling us you have to grow. You have to continually... you continually have to progress in the word of God. It's like, as he's going to tell us in chapter 6, it's like building a house. You start off with foundational principles, but if all it ever is is the foundation, then it's a meaningless piece of property. We're probably driven by houses that have sat there for years, and someone started that, laid the foundation, but was never able to build on it, you know, for lack of finances, for whatever the... whatever the case might be. But it's a testament to no one building that house. And God... it's not what God called us to do. So in chapter 6, verse 1, he starts off with that word that we've seen so many times. Building on the verses that we've just read, he says, therefore, God has called you to become spiritually mature. You have to continue growing. You have to continue exercising the word. You can't relax and just think, I've reached... I've reached perfection, because none of us have. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let's go on to perfection. So what he's saying... what he's saying there is, okay, we, you know, we have established again in the first five chapters of Hebrew, we've established the superiority of Jesus Christ.

He is what we need. We have gone through it in chapter 1 and 2, and 1 and 2, and shown that he's...

again, he and the calling he gives us is better than that of angels, better than the prophet Moses, who the people back then looked to, better than... you know, he's better than the high priests of old who were called to do God's will. And here we are, you know, we've proven it. Through five chapters, Jesus Christ is supreme. So we've built that. That, you know, we could go through... maybe we should, maybe we should go through some of the verses, you know, that tell us Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. He is the basis of the house God is going to be building in us. He's the basis of everything and the foundation of everything. So why don't we look at a few of those? Someone offhand, do you remember some of the verses that talk about Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone? I've got one written down. Let's say Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 verse 19.

Paul, Paul writing about people then, writing to you and me today. When we read these words, we have to look at them as if this is being written to you and me, as well as everyone else that God calls. Ephesians 2 verse 19. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

So Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. Through five chapters of Hebrews, we see that he's the one on who everything is built. If we're looking to ourselves, if we're looking to anyone else, we're wasting our time. He is the chief cornerstone. There is none beyond no one other than him, you know, through which salvation comes. In verse 21, Paul goes on and notice he, you know, he mentions Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, but we do have the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Word of God that has to be part of that foundation as well. And in verse 21, it says, in whom the whole building, you know, that that's that's you and me and the church that Jesus Christ started in whom the whole building being fitted together, you know, one brick attached to another, all one part of one building being together as one in whom the whole building own scriptures being fitted together, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you, talking about you and me, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God and the Spirit. So there's other places that we could we could learn that we could look to as well.

But, you know, as we begin, as he gets into chapter six, he goes right back to the basic. Okay, we've established Jesus Christ. He is the chief cornerstone. We should all know that we've been in the church for a while. We understand Jesus Christ, but he's saying we have to grow beyond that. The building has to grow. Any comments or anything as we pause there for a moment? I know I've said quite a bit here in the opening minutes, so there might be some questions or observations on some things. Okay, I'm looking at a verse I have written down here to see. I think I know what it says, but oh yeah, let's go back to Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28 as well.

I think it's always good as we, you know, when you look in the Bible, you know, we see the symmetry and we see the continuity between the Old and the New Testament. So when we find principles in the New Testament, we can go right back to the Old Testament and see the very same concept that God is talking about. It shows us again that his plan was the same from the very beginning. He hasn't changed it. He hasn't altered it. What was there before the foundation of the earth remains until Jesus Christ returns and beyond. And there's comfort and there's that steadiness and that rock that we can cling to knowing that God's plan has always existed and it is still in place. In verse 16 of Isaiah 28, he speaks of Jesus Christ, the coming Jesus Christ, as being our chief cornerstone as well. In verse 16 it says, Therefore, thus says the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, whoever believes will not act hastily. And he says, And also I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plummet. So in those verses he's talking about Jesus Christ who will come. He is the sure foundation. He is justice. He is righteousness. He is those things that we talk about and that we count on. That very steady rock that we can always cling to no matter how uncertain and no matter how stormy life gets in our personal lives, in our national lives, or whatever it is we go through, there is one sure thing, one sure being that we can cling to, and that's God and Jesus Christ, just like there's one sure word we can go to that is absolute truth. And then that's his Bible, his word.

Let me give you, if you're taking notes, I've got a couple other scriptures written down here, too. 1 Peter 2 verses 4 through 6 talks about Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Matthew 21 42 Psalm 118 and verse 22. Let's look at Psalm 118. I like to turn to the Psalm that shows us that, you know, God was working with David. David knew the plan of God. David understood the things that we did and we read through the Psalms and look at some of the verses. We see the understanding that God had given him in Psalm 118 and verse 22. It says, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Of course, he's talking about Christ living, the people that he came to, the Jewish people that day, they rejected him. But he is the chief cornerstone, and they rejected him. This was the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. That was God's will. It came about exactly the way God said it would happen. Probably different than the way we would have planned it if we were planning it out, but it was God's will, and it's the perfect way for it to have come about. So when we go back to Hebrews 6, I'm going to mute you for a minute here.

Well, I clear my throat. I think that did it. We go back to Hebrews 6.

You know, again, we see in Hebrews these fundamental principles that are there, compacted, if you will, because each one of these chapters and each one of these verses has so much meaning into it. I said, and I'll say it again, each one of these verses, it could be a sermon, parts of them could be sermonettes. And in chapter 6 and verse 1, we've already spent some time just on rehashing Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone, as He reminds us of that, as He has been reminding of that through the first five chapters. And He tells us we don't stop there just because we know who Jesus Christ is, just because we believe Him doesn't mean we stop there and our job's done.

Like so many of the so-called Christian churches in the world will say, all you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and the Son of God, and that's enough. But the Bible clearly shows that's not enough. Right here in chapter 6, He says, let's go on to perfection. That's the lifelong pursuit that we have that only can happen as we're led by God's Holy Spirit, and as He opens our minds, and as we use the Scripture and the opportunities that God gives us to understand His Word. Let's go on to perfection, He says, not laying again the foundation. There's that ground layer that, you know, in Florida, you know, so many of them have this cement slab that the houses are built on, not lying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith toward God. You know, before we were ever baptized, you know, we learned these things. We learned about repentance, and we knew that we had to repent, and we had to have that deep conviction to God that we were willing to give up our past life and turn our lives completely and totally to Him. That happened once. We know that repentance happens throughout our lives. As God opens our minds to see where we've been sinning and falling short, we continually do that. We're never, we'll never in this life be done repenting. God will always show us where the imperfections are and the sins are. Our job is to repent, but there was that foundational repentance where we understood we had been living apart from God and we turned holy to Him. He says, look, we don't do that again. That was there. We go on from there. We've laid that foundation. Now we're going to build on it, not going back. Doesn't mean we never sin again. Doesn't mean we never mess up. But that foundation is there and is to stay there. The commitment that we had to God that we should never lose focus on, we should never lose sight of, and always remind ourselves we committed to God, and we are going to go forward no matter how tough the times are or how good the times are or how many people might tell us, drop it, forget it, or whatever obstacle they might throw in our way, that we always go on with that foundation that God has laid in us. The foundation of repentance from dead works, dead works, they really are dead works because sin leads to death, so they are dead works and a faith toward God. We look to Him. He is our only hope. He is our salvation. That we don't lay again the foundation of baptisms. We're baptized once. We go through the immersion. We bury our past lives. We come up out of the water of baptism, and we are a clean creation of God's sight, brand new. We bathe in His sight. We ask Him, do we lay hands on it as part of the laying on of hands? It says there in verse 2. We lay hands on. We have God's Holy Spirit. We become His begotten children at that time. That continues the rest of life. Some of these things as I was looking through them, there are sermons on our YouTube channel that talk about repentance, that talk about faith toward God. Baptisms, laying on of hands. Laying on of hands, of course, spans our life. We have the laying on of hands when we're baptized and the Holy Spirit comes on.

God, we ask God to put the Holy Spirit in the one baptized. When we're sick, we lay hands on people to ask God. It's kind of like Him touching us through the ministers that perform those things. The laying on of hands, when someone is ordained a deacon or elder, hands are laid on them. There is that concept of laying on of hands, and there is a sermon I gave a few years back on that. If you ever wanted to listen to it, it's there on the YouTube channel or in our website. I'm sure there are others that you would be able to find online as well at the UCG website. That's part of the foundation that we have. We understand those things. We understand the resurrection of the dead.

As we think about Mary Lee and the others who have died, we recognize what hope there is in the resurrection. Our lives are meaningless without that knowledge that we have. A resurrection of the dead and an eternal judgment. You know, that there is that, well, the judgment is on the house of God, and everyone will face judgment. That judgment will be eternal, whether it's to life, as Jesus Christ said in John 5, 25, and 28, or whether it's to condemnation, to eternal death. As it tells us in the same chapter and back in Revelation 20, there is an eternal judgment. What we do in this physical life, as God judges us and as God watches what we're doing, he will make the determination, whether that judgment is eternal life or whether that judgment is eternal death, called in the Bible the second death. And so the author, he takes the time to remind us, therefore, now we know Jesus Christ, he's the foundation. Here's these elementary foundational principles upon which we need to build our lives. We don't want to go back and revisit all those then, because we should be adding very good bricks that are solid, that will withstand the winds and the storms that come our way as the house is built. And he says in verse 3, and this we will do if God permits. You know, it's it, everything is God's will, and we know what God's will is. You know, 2 Peter 3 verse 9 tells us, it's God's will that everyone comes to repentance. It's not his will that anyone would perish, but that all would have eternal life.

And this we will do if God permits. He's the one who gives us this Holy Spirit. He's the one who opens our minds. But it has to be us who do the work. We have to build, we have to build the house with the tools that he gives us. Again, if any questions, comments, observations, we can stop anywhere along the line. Verse 4, you know, he talks a little bit about this eternal judgment and this calling that we have. Now, you know, as we get into verse 4, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, the next few verses are interesting, but he's warning the people. Remember the book of Hebrews was written to a people who the author was seeing that they were beginning to drift away.

They were beginning to fall asleep. Some were falling away. They were getting caught up in whatever the cares of the world were. They were going back to their old ways. And so in chapter 2, it warns us, don't be drifting away. And, and in verse 4 here of chapter 6, it says, reminding them, this is the foundation.

This is what you've been called to. This is who you are. This is who, oh, you're supposed to be, and you're supposed to be building on that foundation that Jesus Christ, you know, gave us and that we know of. That don't, don't fall away is, is pretty much the message here in verses 4, 5, and 6. In verse 4, he says, it's impossible. That's a really strong word, right? We know, you know, by contrast, it says, all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us. But here, God inspires us to say, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, those who knew the truth, those who had the scales taken off of their eyes, who know the truth, who committed to God, who understood his truth, and who began this building process in him.

It's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift. You know, that'd be the Holy Spirit. That would be understanding what joy is. You know, I, I'm sure you've, you've said it, I, I said in my life, I, I don't know that I would have ever known what joy is without God's Holy Spirit.

I don't think the human experience, we may understand happiness, we may understand elation, but joy, there's a joy that comes from God, you know, God's Holy Spirit. There's a peace that surpasses all understanding, Paul says. All those fruits of the Spirit, all those things that God works in us, you know, the author says, once we've tasted that, and we've become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and we've tasted the good word of God, we understand, we get it, we understand these are the words of truth, we understand when we practice these things, this is eternity, this is the way that leads to everything that mankind has always wanted, but always rejected, you know, the way that God has shown them that they can be.

If we've tasted all those things, if we've been there, if we've been in the Church of God, if God has begun the building in us, verse 6, if they fall away, he's being right there, if they fall away, if you go back to the world, he says it's impossible, impossible to renew them again to repentance, impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves, the Son of God, and put him to an open shame. Now those are very harrowing and alarming words, I guess, if you just take those and you understand that we could have begun down the path of salvation, and because of our own lack of fortitude, our own lack of conviction, the things that we allow ourselves to get into or think or whatever, that we could begin to drift away, maybe have the warnings, you know, come back to shore, come back to the dock, start again.

How many times in the Bible does God warn us to renew, you know, renew our first love, to rekindle the fire, that if we don't do that and we just keep drifting away, and if we eventually we fall away, it's just too far away to bring back again, it's impossible to renew them again to repentance. And then he gives us this concept, since they crucify again for themselves, the Son of God, and put him to an open shame, they would have to lay that foundation, a foundational repentance again.

And God says that's impossible. If you give it up, if you drift away, if you fall away, there's a point in time where you're not coming back. That's the judgment he and he alone makes. Now, when he makes it and that Holy Spirit is taken from us, it's a dangerous, well, I don't even know the appropriate word. It's a time, you know, well, back in Hebrews 10 later on, he comes back to the same concept of eternal judgment in the fact that we could fall away. In Hebrews 10 and verse 26, right after we complete the five chapters on here's the doctrines that are foundational to us and that we need to be holding on to when we begin to talk about what we need to do.

You know, the Christian living element part of the book of Hebrews right after he cautions us to be, don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, stay with one another. It is a foundational principle. Verse 26, he says, if we sin willfully, after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. We've already claimed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once, he says. We did that at the time that we were baptized. We did that at the time we claimed to sacrifice. There's one sacrifice for sin, is what he's saying. There no longer remains a sacrifice for sin. There's not a second chance, if you will. Everyone is given the time that they can claim Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

When we claim it, we have to live it. But he says in verse 27, there's a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. You know, down in verse 31, he says, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. A fearful thing? We've disappointed God. We've left him. We've turned against him, so he turns against us. And there's a realization for the people who do that somewhere down the road when it talks about weeping and gnashing of teeth that they realize they threw away the greatest thing that could ever have happened to them.

For what? No matter what we turn away for, whether it's our comfort, whether it's our luxury, whether it's our kids, whatever it is that we do, you know, to satisfy self and choose self or someone or something else other than God, how meaningless is that going to be? Now, Peter talks about the same thing. Peter has the same thing to talk about that Hebrews does here in 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2 and verse 20. And he uses some pretty graphic descriptions here to describe what it looks like to God when we might fall away. Now, what we might just count as not that important, what God calls us to. Verse 20 of 2 Peter 2, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Jesus Christ, the only way we can escape, you know, the pollutions of this world, if they are again entangled in them and overcome, you know, if we get too involved in the world and everything there looks more enticing and more alluring and we get led away and, you know, stray from that, if they're again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Verse 22, very graphic, it says, happen to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vine and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire.

You know, you may know, you may know some people who have fallen away, and not just your judgment that they've fallen away, that they really have left behind everything that they knew.

You know, sadly we all know some of them, and I think back to people that we used to do, used to be in church, and I knew that they knew, knew for whatever reason, they got tired and they left, and he said that I watch him and think back on their lives and what they've done.

Boy, that verse comes to my mind. I've even mentioned it a couple of times. You know, as you watch, watch things, it's like the dog returning to its vomit. They go back to what they were before. They just, and after a few years or going back to that, it's like they don't even remember what they knew. There's no recollection. God just takes it all away from them. They rejected it, and they've become who they used to become. And we can see who we naturally are, or who people naturally are, when they leave the church and they go back, and you see them years later and see how their lives have turned out and the things that they've done. And you sometimes look at it and say, how sad is that? They've become totally different people and whatever. But anyway, that's what the book of Hebrews or there are... Yes, ma'am. Yeah, Winoma. Okay, hi. Okay, in verse 26 of 10, where it says, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. So is this saying that we can reach a point of no return in the world in which we live now? And if so, they won't be able to have a chance once they get into the millennium, because I'm assuming that in the millennium more is going to come out for God's people. They're going to learn some more things. And then these people here, if they get to a point in the world of which we live now, they will have a chance to learn more of what God has in store for us. Or am I going off the wall? No, no, no. It gets into a discussion, and this is why we are not anyone's judge. Only God is the judge, right? He knows what's in our hearts. He knows who we are. And when I speak of those who have left, right, who have left the church, I mean, it's like they're not attending now. They're not doing this years ago type stuff. God knows who's converted and who is building the house. You know, I think we all understand people can be attending church, but not really be building the house. There's the parable of the wheat and tares, and God says, you don't be the judge. You don't determine who they are and what they're doing. You let the wheat and tares grow together. I'll make the determination of who really is growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. I'll make that determination, you know, Christ says, when I return. So with all that, I don't want anyone to think that we should be sitting here and thinking, oh, that person has fallen away or this person that it is God's determination. Some people who are in the church, I don't know, perhaps they never were converted. Maybe it just made sense to them that there is a Sabbath day and the Bible's there, but they never really did repent. I, you know, I tell people when I'm baptizing them often, you can fool me. You can fool me and you can tell me anything I want to hear.

But you can't fool God. So when you're answering questions, just remember that. I'm not going to be making the determination. It's God who will give you the Holy Spirit. It's God who is going to be growing you. I'm just here as his agent or whatever to do what he needs to do, but you have to be answering the questions to him and looking into your heart. Don't just fool me to get what you want and think that just because you're baptized, you're saved, because there is the life we have to live. So what you're saying, I've gone a long way, Wynoma, I do think there are people who come to church and who never really did get it or want it that, you know, as God is their judge, they may get it later on. I don't know that. I know that God is merciful. I know God is merciful and he's not willing that any should perish. But I also know that if someone has started down the road and we have God's Holy Spirit and we're working toward that, if we fall away, and I have no doubt that if I ever fell away and went back to the world, I would fully expect that God would say, your eternal judgment is the second death. I believe, you know, I believe and I know that about me, but I'm not going to make that determination about anyone else that that's God. So I know, I know he's merciful and there's some who will learn it in the millennium as God is their judge if they haven't, if they were here for the wrong reason or whatever, but others who leave, you know, he makes the determination. Now we can't forget 1st Peter 4.17 that I wrote about last week. Judgment is now on the house of God. He's watching what we're doing and he expects that what he expects that what we what we're learning and what we're doing we are living the life he's called us to. Does that does that answer your question at all? It is. It is. Okay. Okay. Sir Shaby. Yes, yes, sir. Yeah. Also, another point about that verse is that there is a difference between sinning willingly and sinning willfully. I think that it talks there about sinning with a spirit of rebellion. Yes. Where basically you don't care for repentance because we all sin because of weakness and, you know, even being careless. But it is basically beyond that is when you're willfully rebellious, you're basically sinning presumptuously against God. That's that's that's exactly right. There's that willful attitude. I'm going to do it anyway. I know better, but I'm going to do it anyway. It's almost you made a determination at that point to turn against God. Yes.

Because we all sin. We all sin. We all repent or should repent when it's brought to our attention.

Hebrews 9, 28. Let's go back to Hebrews 9 verse 28 here.

And I think the concept in Hebrews 6 is Jesus Christ, he died, he died once. You know, he died once and we claim his sacrifice once. Well, in verse 27 of Hebrews 9, it says, it's appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is there for us once. It's up to us what we do with it. God will give us everything we need. He will answer every prayer we have.

We have to stay on the path. We have to keep close to the vine. We have to do the things that God said and not let the world and our own ideas or our own wants to have to separate us from that.

And in Hebrews 6, you know, where we were, he's cautioning the people of that. He's letting them know, again, I see something here, Hebrews, the Hebrews of the first century, and I say, you know, we can say that to people clearly in the 21st century. We can look and see some could appear to be drifting away. Some in this COVID time has exacerbated that, frankly. You know, I look, it's been a time of trial on the church and a time that people can drift away. And a time that we do have some things that we really need to look at and pay attention closely to what's going on in our lives and how close we are to God and how, through the opportunities that we have, that we build, you know, build the house together that God is building in us. So Hebrews, those verses 4, 5, and 6, He's getting in their attention. He's getting their attention. You could fall away. You could fall away, and it's impossible to come back when you make that decision. If indeed, if indeed you've fallen away and you have begun building that gift, if you had tasted that gift that God gives us, and then you reject it, you know, it's impossible for those, as God is their judge, you know, to come back. Again, doesn't mean, if I can talk about, you know, worldwide, doesn't mean that everyone who was in worldwide who didn't keep up with the church would never would never come back to the church. Doesn't mean that at all, right? God's their judge. We all, you know, and so we have several who, you know, several who didn't come to church for a while, but they're back again. God never, never let go of them, and they never, they didn't do that eternal judgment thing that we've been talking about, and so they're back, and God is still working with them, and hopefully those and all of us just know, cling very closely to God. Don't, you know, if we drift away, swim back to that dock and tie yourself to it, and don't ever let yourself drift again. Any, any, any more questions or comments on that as we move to verse 7? In verses 7 and 8, He uses an analogy, if you will. You know, God often uses the physical to teach us spiritual principles. It says in verse 7, the earth, which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God. Well, we see that, you know, it's kind of nice to see the rain. You see the plants green up. You see, you see them grow throughout the growing season. They eventually produce the fruit. We eat the herbs for food. They are the good things that God has provided for us. They go through that growth process. They go through that fruit development process. It's been ordained of God. But if those things have been planted that should have been bearing fruit, bear thorns and briars, it's rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. When God plants the garden, when God plants his Holy Spirit in us, he expects it to bear fruit, fruit pleasing to him.

You know, let's just, you know, let's go back and look at a few verses on that in John 15.

Because again, the author here is reminding them of our calling, reminding them of what God has said. Same things that we're reminded of in John 15. That's the heart of Jesus Christ's message to the apostles that night that he was going to be arrested. And he talks about bearing fruit. In John 15 verse 1, he says, I'm the divine. I'm the true vine. My father's divine dresser.

Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. It's an unprofitable branch. He plants it because he expects it to bear fruit. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. It's a productive vine. And so there may be that pruning that isn't always pleasant, as God brings to our attention what we need to do or puts us through a trial that's always designed to strengthen us and develop us. Always what God does might be painful, but it's there to make us to make us better Christians, if I can put it that way. So if a tree could talk, we have a productive tree, and we go there and we cut off a branch, it might scream, ow, but it's going to produce more fruit. It's a productive tree. On verse 8, he says, By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. That's what God wants. Hebrews verses 7 and 8 there in chapter 6 talking about that. In verse 6 of chapter 15, he talks about the other aspect of it. You know, what he talks about in verse 8, If anyone doesn't abide in me, if he's a branch that doesn't bear fruit, if he produces briars and thorns instead of the fruit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, all those fruits we read about in Galatians 5.22, if anyone doesn't abide in me, he's cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned.

God likens us to that, and he's pretty detailed and pretty clear with us what happens if we don't bear fruit, if we aren't building the house that he wants us to build, if we're not committed the way we are, if we become unprofitable, if our foundation has never been built upon, or if we produce briars and thorns and the things the opposite of the fruits of the God's Holy Spirit.

He tells us what our faith is. He also talks about, you know, let's look at Matthew 21.

Matthew 21 and verse 19. This is a very interesting thing, as Christ is walking with his disciples, and they see this fig tree, this fig tree by the road. Verse 19, it says, seeing a fig tree by the road, Christ came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And so he said to it, let no fruit grow on you ever again.

Immediately, the fig tree withered away. And of course, the apostles were, you know, they were puzzled by what was being said, and they were just kind of, oh look, he just said don't, you know, and the tree just withered. So they were interested in, you know, how did that tree just immediately wither? But the message for us is, is that, you know, God, if God determines that our tree has no fruit on it. And it's, it's, you know, and as you read through some of the commentaries and understand some of what fig trees do that maybe many of us don't knew, don't, I've learned a little bit about figs as we have a fig tree growing here. And it's interesting when you find out the different properties of these trees, but, you know, you can have leaves, and underneath those leaves are figs. So when you see leaves on a fig tree, you expect that there's going to be figs underneath it. The tree looks good. The tree looks healthy. Jesus Christ would have looked at this tree and we thought, oh, here's a tree that's good for fruit. But he lifted up the leaves and there was no fruit there. No fruit there at all. And so it was disappointing and frankly irritating to him. And so what he said was, let no fruit grow on you ever again. The tree just died. The tree just died.

You know, the commentaries will liken that to hypocrites. Boy, they look good. They can say the right things. They can be everywhere. They can tell you everything you want to hear.

They are the people who, you know, might be here and there and everywhere, but there is no fruit growing on them at all. And so, you know, and I do think, looking at verse 19, that's what God is saying about. They look promising. They say the right things. They have the right smile. They're there among you. But boy, when you look underneath, there's nothing there at all. We know what Christ thinks about hypocrites. About hypocrites, and He cautions us, don't be like the Pharisees.

You know, do it. Not only say the right things, but do the right things. You got to walk the walk and talk the talk. Finally, back in Isaiah 5, I think just such a picture that God paints for us about our lives and what He's wanting of us and what He does for us as He calls us and He grows us and He nurtures us and brings us to who He wants us to be. And Isaiah 5 and the verses, the first six verses here, and He talks about Israel, you know, ancient Israel, but He's really talking about us as well. You know, we know as we look back at God, He did everything for Israel, and they disappointed Him at every turn. You know, we have to determine in our hearts, we aren't going to be disappointments to God, but we're going to be pleasing God. Isaiah 5, verse 1, I'll just read through it because I think it's pretty much self-explanatory when you look at the symbolism of what God has said there and how it pertains to our life. He says in verse 1, Now let me sing to my well beloved, a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard. My beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and He planted it with the choices vine. He took good care of that land He was cultivating, and everything is what it's saying here. He built a tower in his midst, even so that he could take a watch and keep a watch of anything that was coming that might destroy that vineyard. He had everything done perfectly. He provided everything so that that vineyard could grow. He also made a wine press in it, so He expected it to bring forth good grapes. But it didn't. It brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge please between me, God says, and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I haven't done in it?

Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

Remember the analogy in Hebrews 6, verses 7 and 8, and what God is looking at is us, because He's given us everything. He's provided everything we need, and this is what He expects of us. But when we bring forth wild grapes in His eyes, what His question to us would be, listen verse 5, and now please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its edge and it will be burned. I will break down its wall and it will be tumbled down. I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned or dug. And then He continues on. You can read the rest of that chapter if you want. It's very instructive to us in the 21st century, just as it was, you know, in Isaiah when God inspired Isaiah to write it. So, you know, God has an expectation of us, and Hebrews, the author of Hebrews, is reminding us of that. And He gives us everything. He waters us. Well, He plants His truth in us. He waters us. He nurtures us. He provides everything we need. He watches how we live our lives. And if we're living our lives, He'll whatever we ask, He says He'll give because He's interested in us, you know, being there with Him for eternity. But, you know, if we don't, if we fail, if we drift away, if we fall away, as you know, we talked about in verses 4, 5, and 6, the fate is clear. It's to be burned. So He's reminding us of that, something that we need to keep in mind. I mean, it's not what the world teaches to the Christians of the world, or those who believe and say they believe in Christ of the world, but it's the truth of what the Bible says. So it's kind of a sobering thought that the author is talking about here. It's kind of, you know, someone's saying, well, that's a really negative thing to say, you know, well, we're gonna, you know, if we fall away, we're gonna be burned up and all these things. But notice the hope. There's always hope with God.

He knows, remember Jesus Christ is our High Priest. He knows how feeble we are. He knows how fragile we are. He is the Intercessor of God. He knows how difficult life can be. And God is always there to help us if we seek that help. So in verse 9, the author says, but beloved, still love you. We know we go through these things, but beloved, we're confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. You know that this is, you have to be reminded that this is what's going on here, but that's not going to be you. There's better things in mind for you. We're confident that you're going to endure to the end. We're confident that you're going to be there when Jesus Christ returns. You'll be part of that first resurrection. And we're all confident of each other. But we know we all go through things in life. And so, you know, when we go back to Hebrews 10, 24, and 25 again, other things that we can read in Galatians and in Colossians and Ephesians that we help each other. We see someone drifting, you know, we don't accuse them, but we, how can, how can we help bring them back? What can we do? We watch out for each other because we're, we want everyone to be in the kingdom. And we only know, can do that if we know each other. If we're working with one another. Verse 9, you know, even though I have to say these things, the author is saying, even though I have to remind you what the end is, if you fall away, we're confident that's not going to be you. For God is not unjust, verse 10, to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name.

You know, He remembers, He remembers, we got to be doing it until the end. We can't just do it part of our life. And then at the end, go back and do nothing. Just fall asleep or just drift away or whatever. God's not unjust, to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints. Here's the agape, that you have ministered to the saints. God looks at that fruit to the spirit. Yes, we need to keep the Sabbath day. Yes, we need to do all the things that we know that's in part of His way of life. But He's looking for that fruit to the Spirit that comes from doing, applying His principles, using His Holy Spirit. And if we have that Holy Spirit in us, He's going to begin to see that agape. He's going to be seeing that we are ministering toward one another, that we're looking out for one another, that we're helping one another, and if we can help someone, we're not just burying our heads and walking away like the Levites and priests of the Good Samaritan tale, but we're there. We're there. We're not shirking our duty because we love each other. He says that you have ministered to the saints. You've been doing it in the past. And notice what He says, and you do minister. You're still doing it right until the end, right until the end of your life. Agape never stops. We may be doing it in different ways. When we're younger, we might be able to go out and help people paint houses, clean up yards, whatever it is that someone needs to do. We have widows that need help or assistance or anything. Later on in life, we may not be able to do that, but we can certainly encourage each other and via-service each other through the words that we speak, through even making someone else aware of the needs of someone else so that something can be done. You know, I've heard of people just writing letters just to encourage people and kind of writing letters is a lost art in the world today.

We get less and less mail, you know, even from our relatives and our grandkids. We get everything through texts and we get everything through email. So when you get a card or a letter for some of them, they actually took the time to write and put a stamp on it and drop it in the mailbox. It's like, oh, that's even more special than it used to be because they took the time to do things. And we could do some of those things to encourage each other.

Nothing wrong with emails, nothing wrong with texts and keeping everyone in mind. But what God is showing here is a continuing pattern of agape love, the very first fruit of the Holy Spirit. Your fruit is bearing fruit and as it says in Psalm, I think it's Psalm 1, it says, even in old age, it continues to bear fruit, you know, right until the end.

Let's do go back and look at, I think it's 1 John 5, 1 John 3, 1 John 3, and verse 16. You know, again, the apostle John, he walked with Jesus Christ those three and a half years, day in and day out. Here he is in the 90s AD, you know, writing in the three epistles that he wrote. In verse 16, he talks about this agape love. In verse 16, he says, But this, by this we know love, by this we know agape, the first fruit of the Holy Spirit, because he laid down his life for us.

I think he's want, I mean, I shouldn't say, I mean, he wanted to do it because it fulfills God's plan, but what does a human is like, you know, this is something we would choose to do. He did it for us. He did it for us, not because of him, other than that it was his mission. By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. Now, we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Is that the love he says that you're developing? You know, over the course of time, would you be willing to do that? Whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

What John is saying, there's the things we do in the physical life that we would never learn if we weren't part of a body that had other people in it, you know, that we can demonstrate and grow this fruit of love that God wants us to have. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, like, I don't want to go there. I don't want to deal with that. How does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue. Let's just not talk the talk, but do it, but indeed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. Yeah, God is looking for obedience. He's looking for the fruits of the Spirit. He's looking for the fruits of the Spirit and not just bushes, you know, and isn't going to tolerate bushes that bear thorns and briars. He's looking for the fruit that comes from that obedience and that commitment and that surrender to him and the use of his Holy Spirit and the use and application of his word. Back in Galatians 6.

Galatians 6 verse 9 speaks to a concept we're going to come up on here real quickly in Hebrews in Hebrews 6. He says in verse 9, let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we don't lose heart. That means if we just think, why do we keep doing this and nothing ever good for us? You know, God expects us to keep doing, keep doing, even though in our physical minds there's never been any blessings from it or whatever. You still have to keep doing. It's the same concept that Christ says in Matthew 24 when he says, you know, just keep doing the will of God until Jesus Christ returns. Just keep doing it. Now, we have to just keep doing it no matter if we don't see blessings from God. It's still the thing to do and we continue to do it. He says, don't get weary of doing good, for in due season it might not be in this lifetime we will reap if we don't lose heart. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith, especially to those who are of the household of faith. So God is saying, I put you in a body, watch out for one another. You are family, and as you have the opportunity to serve, as you have the opportunity, and you see things that need to be done, if you can't do them, make someone aware of it. But, you know, work together on that. Well, God will give us the opportunity because it's through those opportunities that we grow and our fruit, you know, the fruit ripens or becomes visible. Okay, back to Hebrews.

We read, okay, we were in 10, so we can see what the author here is saying. Again, remember the author is God, no matter who the man is, and we don't know who the man is. The author of this is God. He's saying, this is what I want you to do. We're talking about the elementary principles and how we build our house and how it progresses. We have to produce the fruit. We have to continue to minister. And verse 11, he says, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. You know, we want you to continue until Jesus Christ returns, or the day and age we're living in, we could say that, or until we die. Whatever time God determines that He has looked at us and our time is up. And then He takes the body, the body of commitment, the body of work, if I can put it that way, that we've done in this physical lifetime that makes the judgment. Yes, yes, they have followed Me. Yes, they have their Holy Spirit. Yes, look at the fruit that they produced, or are we disappointing? But we have to do it until the end. We have to do it until the end and not give up. Not... well, I mean, you know that. I don't have to keep repeating it. We desire. That's what all of our desire for each other is, is that we will endure to the end, as Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24. In verse 12, it comes here, we come to this, don't become weary and well-doing, that you don't become sluggish. You don't become sluggish. I mean, all those dangers that befall all of us. The same things that the author was seeing in the first century Christians back then, who have been around for 20 and 30 years, who are beginning to feel some persecution, who are beginning to feel some pressure to go back to the world and conform to the world and do the things the way the world did. Because it was tough. It was tough to look at what was ahead and to stand against what the tide of society was. And so he would see some of those things and he would, you know, he's encouraging them, you know, don't look back, don't become sluggish. You know, we could run through, it might be just an interesting Bible study for you to type in the word sluggish or slumber and look through some of the proverbs that are there and talk about being sluggish. God didn't call any of us to be sluggards and just to sleep through. In Matthew 25, again, the parable of the 10 virgins, they were sleeping, they were sluggish. You know, when we, you know, a little bit of the, how does that proverb say it? A little bit of the holding of the hands to sleep, a little slumber and what is it, sudden or poverty comes, I think is what it is. We can look at that in a very physical thing, you know, if we're always looking to see how we can rest and do nothing and not become hard workers, that that's a very dangerous thing and poverty comes when we do that. But spiritually, it has such an application to our lives as well. If we become sluggish, if we become sluggish, if we fall asleep, we have Christ's own words in Matthew 25. But what happens to those virgins, those five virgins who were so soundly asleep? We have his words, God's words here in Hebrews 6 about what happens if we become sluggish, if we fall away, and if we aren't working until the end. The first one he says that you don't become sluggish, but you imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

And so we're not there yet, but you know in Hebrews 11, later on in the book, when he begins, when the author begins to show how we apply and the things that we've talked about through the first 10 chapters, you know, here's the things you need to do if you're going to do it, then we have this Hebrews 11, you know, the faith chapter that talks about all these men and women who remained true to God until the end. They had faith in him, and they they suffered, in many cases, horrible deaths. Horrible deaths, but they remained true to him until the end. They never became sluggish. If they had become sluggish, it certainly would have been easy to say when the end was there, okay, it's okay if I compromise just a little. If I'm trying to just say this and make it look like I believe this, I maybe can get out of this. They weren't worried about how they can get out of it. They were worried about pleasing God and doing that, and their faith, their faith and commitment was strong. So the author says, imitate those. Look at these people in the Old Testament. 1 Corinthians 10, was it? 1 Corinthians 10, 11, I think, tells us, look at the examples in the Old Testament. You know, we've done some of that recently in the sermons. Look at those men. What did they do? How did they live? How did they live their lives? What are the things they did?

Where did they mess up? You know, what did they do that we don't make the same mistakes they do? God said, I've preserved all these things for you, all these examples to those upon whom the ends of the ages have come so that you could look back and you could say, I can't let that happen to me. I see myself in that position, and I see myself kind of going down that same road. I have to reverse the course and go back to these people who did remain true to the end.

Now, Paul says in 1 Corinthians, again, I think it's verse chapter 11, he says, imitate me or follow me as I follow Christ. He followed Christ implicitly. Imitate those who follow Christ. Follow Christ, but look at the men in the Bible. Look at those, you know, who follow Christ. Look at what they do and pattern your life after them. Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. And we'll get to chapter 11, but you go through there and you see the things they did. He gives us an example right here in verse 13, the father of the faithful, Abraham. He brings him up right here. Look at Abraham. When God made a promise to Abraham, and it was a promise that physically couldn't be fulfilled. You will have a son, Abraham. You and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was well past childbearing years. So physically, Abraham, you know, Sarah doubted, but Abraham didn't. You know, she's well past childbearing years, but we could look at it and say it's impossible. It's impossible for her to have a child now. She's 90 years old. There's no way. There's never been a woman 90 years old to have a child. For when God made a promise to Abraham, made a promise to him, and it extended beyond where the physical possibilities were. And then it gives us concept because God could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself. And I'll show you what he's talking about here if we just look at verse 16. He says, men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them, an end of all dispute. So today, you know, if we were people who swore, if we were in the world, we would say, I swear, I swear to God, I'm going to do this. You've heard people say that. They don't swear by themselves because we don't really rely on man's word, but we might use God's name and invoke man's or God's name in an oath that we have because he's the greater power. But that's what I'm saying here in verse 13. There's no greater power than God. So he had to make that promise, giving himself as the witness when he said when he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself saying, surely blessing Abraham, I will bless you. And multiplying, I will multiply you. Multiplying, I will multiply you. And so we know the story of Abraham. We don't have to go back there if you want to. You know, you can go back to Genesis 22 and recount the story of Abraham and the blessing and Isaac being born, you know, when he was 100 and Sarah was 90. And so after he had he, Abraham, after Abraham patiently endured, didn't happen immediately. I forget how many years, I think it went on for what, 20-25 years that they waited for this son that God had promised. He promised the son, but he didn't give it to him immediately. Didn't give it to him even when she was in childbearing years. But his promise stood. And through all those years, and Abraham not wavering, not wavering in faith, but continuing to believe in God and having that extended period of time that he can cemented his faith in God. I believe him. I believe him. I believe him. I believe him. My wife has passed childbearing years. I believe him. He can do it. He's God. He can do anything. There is nothing impossible for him. And Abraham patiently endured. He continued until the time that God did allow Isaac to be born. It was a miracle. And there, and in that we see, God calls Abraham the father of the faithful how his faith was built. It wasn't by immediate answer to prayer. I prayed for a son. You said you'll give me a son. Six months or nine months later, I have a son. Didn't happen in that way. And God knows what we need to build our faith.

And from time to time, I'll get the question. How come God doesn't answer prayers? It seems like they never answers prayers. We can pray for something for years and years and years and years for something. And he never answers. Well, he does answer. He does answer. He might not answer yes immediately. He might not be saying no just because it doesn't happen. He might just be saying not yet. Not yet. There's something you learn by waiting. And we've talked about waiting for God and learning to wait for Him. David talks about how we have to patiently wait for God and what happens when we wait for God. The faith that we have. In 2 Peter, when it's talking about Christ coming and those who will mock and say, really? Haven't you been talking about Jesus Christ returning for the last whatever it is? We could go back to Mr. Armstrong's days and say, wasn't he saying that in the 1940s and 50s that Jesus Christ is returning? How many people believe that? How many people have died? He's not returning. You know, we could fall prey to some of those things. But God says, don't you continue to wait. You continue to believe. He said it in Isaiah 46. He said, my promises stand. My counsel stands. It may not be in the time you want it or the time you expect it, but it will happen. Abraham believed that. And so the message to us is, you know, we will inherit the promises that God gives us if we remain true, if we continue to work toward the end, if we don't lose hope, if we don't lose heart, if we continue to let him build our faith, because as we patiently endure, he does build, he does build that faith in us. And so right here in Hebrew 6, he gives us one of those examples. You know, so maybe we have something going on in our lives that God, it just doesn't seem like he's answering. Maybe we just need to go back to him and ask the question, you know, but just patiently wait and believe and believe. You know, Abraham, remember, he kind of listened to Sarah somewhere along the line, and you know, Sarah said, well, maybe what God meant was you should have a baby by Hagar, and that's what he meant. That's how you'll have a son. And even Abraham, the father of the faithful, you know, he gave into that and thought, well, maybe that is what God meant. But he repented of that, and he still, you know, I mean, we make mistakes along the way, but we have to keep our eyes on God and always remain, you know, true to him and never allow ourselves to just give up on him, you know, never give up on him.

Okay, where am I here? Verse 17. We looked at verse 16. So God, you know, God swears by himself here to Abraham that it's going to happen, and it did. It's an example for us. And when we find ourselves in a similar situation, remain faithful. Verse 17, thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, that's you and me, just like it was those first century Christians, the same thing to you and me, God, determining to show us more abundantly the immutability of his counsel. We know what immutability is, right? It doesn't change. It's absolutely sure. It's very, it doesn't change. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's the Isaiah 46 verse 10. When God says, my counsel shall stand. My word will not return to me empty. I said it, and it will happen. He gives to show us the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, just like he did to Abraham. Abraham, I swear by my name, I will bless you, and I will multiply you. God does the same things to us. I'm telling you this is my word, this is my promise to you, that by two immutable things, you can count on it. It absolutely is written in rock that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.

When that goes to us, do we know that God doesn't lie? He's truth. He's absolute truth. If he says it, it's going to happen. So we have to believe that. We have to see that truth in God. We have to believe with all our heart, mind, and soul, and it's impossible. He's chosen. He would not lie. He's not taking us on our ride. He's not fooling us. He said it will happen, and we believe it.

It's impossible for God to lie by two things. One, which is impossible for God to lie. We might have strong consolation. Well, it's a rock. It's an anchor. We can hold on to that. We can cling to it in the tough times. It's impossible for God to lie. We might have strong consolation. Who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. A lot of words there. We have fled for refuge. We go to God. He, I think we even saw him singing hymn, right? God is our refuge and our strength, and straits the present aid. God is our refuge. We have fled for refuge to Him. When we need refuge, we go to God. We don't find it in this world. We don't find it in ourselves. We don't find it in our worldly activities. We find the refuge in God. We have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. Hope is such a dynamic thing in our lives. If we lose hope, we lose everything.

We just give up. We just roll over and die. Even in the physical realm, people have chronic illnesses. If they have hope, if they believe, and if they have something to live for that they're looking forward to, all the science and all the case studies show that that is so important. But if they give up, if it's just doom and gloom and, you know, God wants me to die and anything like that, you know, then death comes. Hope, spiritually, is even more important than the hope physically. God's given us hope. He said, Christ is returning. You will reign with me on earth if you endure to the end. You do have a reason to living. Every single day you are alive in this physical life, there is work to be done. God is continuing to work with you, continuing to perfect you. He has never just taken hands off and said, you know, I'm not doing anything with you. He is always attentive. He is always there. He is always wanting us, and there's always a purpose for us to be alive. We just have to hold on to that hope and keep going and be looking to God to do in us what He wants to do. That hope is alive. Peter, Peter calls it a living hope. Where is that? 1 Peter.

Let me look for a minute here. 2 Peter.

Ah! 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 3. 1 Peter 3 verse 4.

You know, he writes about this hope. He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us, has begotten us again to a living hope, to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Is that enough hope? Is that enough hope?

I think if we recognize, if we take the time to realize what God has called us to and never lose sight of that, Jesus Christ remembered, said that He suffered all those things for the joy that was set before Him. He remembered, and He always had before Him. This is going to be tough. It's going to be it's going to be it's going to be tough. But in the end, I will have accomplishment, the mission that God had for me. Mankind will have the opportunity to live forever. The plan will go forward, and I'll be sitting at the right hand of God, and life will be good. And that's the same hope that God gives us. He's made the promise. We have to keep that hope always in front of us.

I could, well, you could probably, um, did I write down any scriptures on hope? Just a minute here.

Well, you can, what time do we have here? I'll give you Romans 15 verse 4, um, and verses 12 and 13. There in those verses, Paul again talks about the hope, the hope that we have and that we need to hold on to. Verse 19 of Hebrews 6, the author here, he says, this hope, this hope that we have, what God's promise is, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul. We can tie ourselves to it. It keeps us steady. Remember what Peter said? You know, he says, I, I, I pray that you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, that you are established, that you are steady, that you hold fast. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil. Always remembering that Jesus Christ, he's the one on his death, that veil was separated in two. Now we have access to the throne of God, that only the high priests, Aaron and his successors, had high access to the throne of God, but today you and I have direct access to the throne of God. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus.

And then we come back to where we began. Chapter six, at the end we come back to Jesus Christ and Melchizedek, which we talked about last week. We have this Jesus, who by his death and by his sacrifice, tore that veil was torn apart. We have access to God's throne, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

And then next week we'll begin in chapter seven and go back to Melchizedek and see his name several times in verse seven. And several times, you know, through the next few chapters, we'll see the concept of the high priest and the comparison there and what we learn from those things. So let me let me stop there for today. I'll ask if there's any questions, any comments, anything at all?

Oh, Mr. Shavey. Okay, the calendars. Are they in? The calendars, the magnetic calendars? Yes. They are. They are. And I, you know, I left I left all the ones with Jacksonville with Shirley Sundberg. So yours is there. We will get it to you. The next time in Jacksonville. I know, we'll do a mask room. We'll do a mask or we'll bring it over to you. We'll get it to you. I know.

Oh, okay. Okay. I thought Sherry usually have them. Yeah, I yeah. Well, Sharon wasn't there the day I dropped them off there. So I gave them to Shirley. So they're there. But we will we will get what we'll get that and we'll get that over to you. So or come to services this weekend is there too. We could set you up maybe with a mask room this week. So just just follow up with me. We'll get it.

Yeah, bud.

I want to.