Hebrews 6:9-20: A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

Hebrews 6:9-20

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After warning those inside and those outside the church that only in persevering in the faith and bearing fruit can you find salvation, he now turns his intention from warning to encouraging.  This, most tender section of Hebrews, follows arguably the strongest section of warning.  It’s the “I love you” after the spanking. The reassurance after discipline. The video is below, and my notes follow.

1. 6:9
1. Although we speak in this way, yet in your case… persuaded.
1. Persuaded (Πεπείσμεθα) implies that a prior objection has been overcome, and now they are firmly attached to this conclusion.  
2. The speaker has been convinced by many proofs to the validity of what he says.
2. Beloved.  ἀγαπητός agapētos The most tender of addresses, lit “those upon whom the love of God has been set.”   Used 60 times in NT. First 9 times by Father of Christ. Only here in Hebrews.
3. Better things, things belonging to salvation.  This serves as the head to all that follows through verse 12.  
1. Belonging to… lit to attach oneself to.  
2. These things have become who you are since your salvation.
2. 6:10-12 The characteristics of a saved life.
1. God will not overlook the evidence of a saved life.  
1. The only assurance you have that you are being saved is the fruit in your life.  
2. This is also what God looks for as an external sign of what He is accomplishing internally.
2. Work and service
1. Works don’t save, but saved people work.
2. This is a very common word that can mean any accomplished work or action, but here, as many other places, it refers to good deeds done in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
1. Matt 5:16
2. Matt 11:2
3. Eph 2:10
3. Similar useage by Paul in Eph 4:12ff
4. Ongoing.  They were working before, and they still on.  The life of service never stops.
3. Love for his name
1. Love is the principal characteristic of a Christian’s life
1. 1 Cor 13:13
2. Gal 5:22
3. John 13:1; 15:13
2. “In his name” ἐνδείκνυμι endeiknymi This verb, awkward in English, means literally to show as part of yourself, to demonstrate a characteristic of oneself.  
1. Love is a fundamental aspect of God’s nature.
2. We show that we belong to him when we also show that characteristic as part of our nature (Jn 13:35)
4. Assurance of hope
1. Hope, not in a worldly sense.  For a Christian, hope is the expectation that what God has declared over our lives will come to be, since, from His perspective, it is already accomplished (Rom 4:21; 8:29-30)
2. However, even with this perspective, it is hard, in our own minds, to be confident in what we cannot yet see (Heb 11:1; Rom 8:24)
3. So it is the desire of the preacher that we don’t begin to doubt our salvation.  
4. πληροφορία plērophoria  
1. Col 2:2
2. 1 Thes 1:5
3. Heb 10:22 ← significant that the only other use of this word in Hebrews is also associated with a strong warning section of this sermon.  The preacher gives strong assurance both times he shakes us up.  The believer is not meant to be shaken.  The unconverted are meant to be given a clear picture of their condition before a Holy God.
5. This confidence is not only for some super-Christians but for “each one of you” who believe.
5. Not be sluggish
1. Same verb as in vs 11 “lazy hearers.”
2. Lit “might become not lazy.”  You have become lazy (5:11).  Now become not lazy!
3. Again, saved Christians work.
6. Imitators of those…
1. Christians are in community and under authority.
2. Not self-styled, setting our own standards and expectations.  The scriptures give us our standards in Christ (Phil 3:12-14) and examples to follow (Ch 11).
3. Danger of the emergent church. There needs to be leadership, discipline, accountability, and solid teaching.
7. Faith is the main ingredient in the formula for salvation
1. Required to begin the journey of the Christian life (Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9; John 3:16)
2. Required to continue in a life that pleases the Father (Heb 11:6)
3. This will be the main focus of the last portion of this sermon.
8. Patience, μακροθυμία makrothymia lit “Large-souled.” You have the ability in your character to endure for a long time without giving into violent emotions, despair, anger, or wrath.  
1. Used in only one work outside of scripture before the LXX to describe victims of a siege turning over all the stones in their city to look for every edible thing (roots, bugs, etc) in order to survive long enough to break the siege.  Also, in the same work, it describes sailors on a ship that sank a long-distance offshore swimming for days to get to land.  
2. Used in LXX many times to reflect the attribute of God that he puts up with much sin before he brings his final judgement (Ex. 34:6-7).  Long-suffering.
3. Used in the NT in the same way (Rom 9:22)
4. Usually an attribute of God.  Only attributed to men rarely. Here only in Hebrews.
9. Inherit the promises,
1. Present participle.  Rather, “Are inheriting the promises.”
2. We are all in process.  The promises will not be fulfilled in their fullness for us until we are in glory and the heavens and earth are recreated.
3. 6:13-18 Oaths of Men and God
1. Vs 16: Oaths of men
1. Less confident than the oaths of men, yet even these are sufficient for settling disputes.
2. Examples in scripture: Ex 22:10-11; Rom 1:9
2. The Promises of God:
1. Example of the oath to Abraham
1. First promise: Gen 12:1-3
2. Formal oath ceremony Gen 15.
1. The covenant is unilateral.  Abraham is put to sleep and only witnesses God make the covenant with him.  
2. Nothing about Abraham affects the efficacy of this covenant.
3. God swears by Himself in Gen 22:15-18.
1. Man swear by something greater (The temple, the altar, etc)
2. Told to swear by the name of the Lord (Deut 6:13; 10:20; Isa 19:18)
3. There is nothing higher by which to swear, so God swears by himself in Gen 22:16 (and Psalm 110:4).
2. Two things by which the promise is sure:
1. His original purpose/promise in Gen 12:1-3.  God cannot lie.
2. The self-witnessed oath in Gen 22:16
3. Connection to us and our salvation?
1. Not replacement theology.
2. The preacher is saying that if the Old covenant were that secure, surely the new covenant by His Son is more so.
4. Summation (6:18-20)
1. We who have fled for refuge καταφεύγω katapheugō
1. An intensified version of the verb “to flee.”
2. “For refuge” is implied from context and other usages in ancient literature.
2. God sacrificed bulls and goats to enact the old covenant.  He slew his Son to enact ours.  How much more confident can we be?
3. To where do we flee?  To the Holy of Holies!
1. Jesus has gone behind the veil as a forerunner.
1. Without precedent in scripture.
2. Never any expectation that “normal” people would enter the Holy of Holies
3. God is intimate with His people in being:
1. Initially, in their midst physically (Gen 3:8-9)
2. Among them in his temple/tabernacle (Ps63:1-11; Zeph 3:17; John 1:9)
3. Able to hear them (Isa 65:24; Jer 33:3)
4. Constantly thinking of them (Isa 49:15)
5. Aware of their troubles (Ps 23; 139)
6. Concerned with their future (Jer 29:11; Isa 55:1-6)
7. Yet far off (Jer 31:3; Ps 42:1-2; Isa 6:5)
2. High priest once a year with fear and trepidation (Lev 16).
3. We go continuously with courage and peace (4:16).
4. Even greater than if he had gone to intercede in the Earthly Holy of Holies, Jesus has gone into the real Holy of Holies and is seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1Pe 3:22; Rev 3:21)
4. Key verse (19).  Hope as an anchor for the soul.
1. Need for an anchor.  Life is full of storms:
1. James 1:6
2. Disciples in the boat Matt 8:23-27
3. Maturity in Christ brings stability. Eph 4:11-16
2. Sure: ἀσφαλής asphalēs a-negating sphales-to fail.
1. Unfailing.
2. In the NT 5 times.  Translations:
1. Facts (Acts 21:34)
2. Real, actual (Acts 22:30)
3. Definite (Acts 25:26)
4. Safeguard (Phil 3:1)
5. Here in Hebrews, Sure.
3. Is there any time when you feel that your actions have failed God and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
4. Have there been times when you feel that God has forsaken you and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
5. Jesus will never fail you. Neither should your hope in Him.
3. Stedfast: βέβαιος bebaios Bedrock, foundational, at the bottom of things.
1. Used 9 times in the NT
1. Guarantee (Rom 4:16)
2. Unshaken (2 Cor 1:7)
3. Reliable (Heb 2:2)
4. Firm (Heb 3:6, 14)
5. Certain (2Pe 1:10)
6. Confirmed (2Pe 1:19)
2. This is the “at bottom” thing in our life.  It, above all else, is worth of our unreserved trust.  Jesus loves you, has done everything to merit your salvation, and WILL follow through on what He has promised you. On this, you can rest, set your anchor, build your life, and return to when the storms of life try to toss you around.