When Repentance Becomes Impossible

Transcript

GR 1687
04/28/2013
When Repentance Becomes Impossible
Hebrews 6:4-8
Gil Rugh

Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 6. We come to a very interesting and challenging portion of the book of Hebrews in our study together of this important book. We come to a passage of Scripture that is one of the most challenging in all of the Scripture. Some of you have studied the book of Hebrews and have wrestled with this passage. It's important in our study of any book of the Bible and it's true of Hebrews that we have to be careful to understand the context and what is being addressed. The letter is written to a congregation of Jewish believers. They have been saved for awhile. They have been together as a congregation for awhile. Earlier in their lives as believers and as a congregation, they have suffered for their faith in Christ—persecution, opposition and so on.

In fact turn back in your Bibles to Hebrews 10. This is the next warning passage after the one we are presently studying, so we will get to it a future time. But note what this writer says to them in verse 32, “but remember the former days when after being enlightened you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property.” So you see here is a congregation of believers who have been through the fire. Earlier in their history as a church together, they have suffered rather intense persecution. Some of them went to prison, some of them lost their property. It was a time of suffering. Now they are in a situation where they are facing the probability of more persecution and suffering, more trials, maybe more imprisonments, more losses of possessions. And this is having an impact on them. Some of them are contemplating a return to Judaism. Maybe we should return to Judaism, the Law, the Levitical system, its priesthood. Why would that help?

Let me read you what one writer has written about these times, New Testament times. This is not a biblical commentator, this is a secular writer, writing on the life of a Roman ruler of New Testament period. But he talks about what it meant to be a Jew and a Christian. He says, “anti-Semitism among the Romans was relatively strong. Normally Romans were tolerant of the religions of their subjects, but Judaism, because of its strongly monotheistic nature, presented a challenge to their toleration. The Jews condemned idolatry and objected even to Roman coins since they bore the image of the emperor or members of his family. The Roman government, however, did recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish religion. Like paganism, Judaism was ancestral, that is it went back into early times. Romans understood that and they later differentiated between Judaism, which was ancestral, and Christianity, which was not. It was a crime to be a Christian in the Roman Empire, but it was not a crime to be a Jew.”

So you can see in spite of the fact that anti-Semitism did permeate the Roman Empire, Judaism as a religion was accepted. It was a legal religion. Romans tolerated and incorporated many religious practices and beliefs. But Christianity was the new man on the block, it was not accepted, it had no history. So it was not a legal religion. Now keep in mind where we are timewise. The book of Hebrews was written about 65 A.D. and Nero ruled as emperor over Rome from 54 to 68 A.D. So you see as the letter is written to the Hebrews Nero is in the closing years of his reign. And we know something of what that was like for Christians—the intensity of the persecution he directed to them, their great suffering. So these Jewish believers see something of that on the horizon for them. And so they contemplate, we could go back to Judaism. I mean, God had revealed His will in past times, He had given the Law, He had given the Levitical priesthood. Perhaps we can return to Judaism and be spared some of the suffering and persecution that will come to Christians.

The writer to the Hebrews is writing to explain to them why that is not an option. In doing that he is presenting the finality of revelation given in Jesus Christ, God's Son— His greatness in His person and His greatness in His work. And intermingled with that doctrinal teaching he applies it to them. Since Jesus Christ, God's Son is the final revelation and the culmination of God's provision for man and for the cleansing from his sin, there can be no turning back to Judaism. And he interjects a series of warning passages or exhortations to them to apply the truth concerning Christ, to explain why they cannot turn back to Judaism. In fact he is going to become clear again—if they turn back to Judaism, they will be lost forever with no hope of ever changing their mind and being saved. This becomes one of the most severe and strong warnings we have in all of Scripture.

This warning passage encompasses Hebrews 5:11-6:12. He began by rebuking them for their lack of maturity as Christians. He says “they were dull of hearing, they had lost that focus and that seriousness of approach to the truth of God. They were still on milk, not on meat.” So he rebukes them and says, “by this time you've been believers long enough so that you ought to be able to explain to others these great truths that God has revealed in His Son. But you are still infants.”

So he began Hebrews 6 by exhorting them in verse 1, “let us press on to maturity.” You have to go on, you have to grow, you have to proceed in maturity. That means you have to leave behind those basic ABCs, the foundational things of Judaism—“not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instructions about washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment.” Not that these things were wrong as they were revealed in the old covenant, but we have to go on from there. God has given fuller, more complete revelation now in His Son and we must come to understand that more fully, more clearly, leaving behind those former things. We will do this if God permits. He is sovereign in it.

But now he turns to direct a warning to those who do turn back to Judaism. And the warning is dire. If you turn back to Judaism, you will be lost forever. There will never be an opportunity for you to be saved again. This is a passage that is often discussed, there are varieties of interpretations of it. I think we have to be consistent with the book of Hebrews as well as the rest of Scripture.

You'll note verse 4 begins with “for.” This is following on what he has just said in the previous verses, particularly the importance of pressing on to maturity and leaving behind the former things. Why do we have to do that? Because the alternative is hell. The basic statement here is for, then down in verse 6, “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” That's the basic statement. We must press on to maturity, leaving these things behind because if you don't, and you turn back to Judaism, you cannot be renewed again to repentance. Now what he's going to do is give five or six phrases here to explain why they wouldn't be able to be renewed to repentance. Because they have had full light from God and full exposure to the truth of God. And he's going to describe them. He says, “for in the case of those,” and then he begins this series of phrases, participial phrases because they are built around participles, each one of them.

“In the case of those who were once enlightened.” And these descriptive phrases, each are characteristic of this group of people, those who. Ties them all together. Those who can be described this way. We're going to walk through each of these and see what they are describing. And some would take these as describing true believers who could lose their salvation. But I don't think that is correct. Many years ago I believed you could lose your salvation. This passage was one that I was taken to. Then I began to be troubled by something else in this passage—if I would that salvation, I could never be saved again. I had been to the altar in my early years many times to get resaved because I thought that week I didn't live a perfect life. I sinned, I'm sure I've lost my salvation. God forgive me just one more time, I'll never do it again. And on it goes. But you understand, those he is talking about here, when they turn back from Christ, they can never come back again. I think he is describing those, as we have seen in the previous two warning passages, who have had a full exposure to the truth in Christ, have identified themselves with it, and have professed to believe it but have never had saving faith.

Let's look at these different expressions. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened. There is the first phrase—they have “once been enlightened.” And you'll note he has done a change here. He has addressed them as ‘you’ earlier in this passage and then “us” in the first part of Hebrews 6. Now he talks about “those.” He doesn't include or accuse the whole congregation of being in this condition. He doesn't join himself with those are in this condition. But he recognizes there may be some in that congregation who can be characterized in this way and thus are contemplating a return to Judaism.

They have once been enlightened. Sometimes we read this and say, they have been enlightened. That means they have been saved. This word enlightened is never used as a synonym for salvation. It often accompanies salvation because you must be exposed to the light of the truth of God's revelation to be saved. But just because you are exposed to the light of God's revelation, does not mean you are saved. They have been exposed to the truth of the gospel. They are part of a congregation of believers. They have professed faith in Christ, perhaps they were baptized. They have been exposed to the truth but that doesn't mean they have been saved. Remember John 1:9? It said concerning Jesus Christ that when He came into the world, He is the One who enlightens everyone, every man. The One who coming into the world enlightens every man. Why? He is God's Son. By the very fact He comes into the world He brings the light of God's revelation and God's truth. We are told concerning His ministry in Galilee, “those who lived in darkness have seen a great light.” But not everyone who was exposed to the truth of Christ and who He was, was truly saved.

Turn over to 2 Timothy 1. Talking about the revelation that has now come through Christ in 2 Timothy 1:10, “the purpose and grace of God now revealed in Christ has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,” note, “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” So now we have fully revealed how we can have life, eternal life in Christ. He brought life and immortality to light through the truth concerning Himself and His work.

Back in Hebrews, these Hebrews, part of this congregation of believers, have been exposed to the light, they have been enlightened. They knew the gospel, they could have told you the gospel, they have professed to believe the gospel. They have once been enlightened.

Secondly, they have “tasted of the heavenly gift.” We say, that sounds like they have partaken of salvation. Well in one sense they have, but not in a saving way. They have heard about it, they have understood it enough to say, yes, I'm going to believe it. So in that sense they have partaken of it. You understand these Jews have a background in the Old Testament. He has used the Old Testament, the writer in the prior warning passages. For example you just turn back to Hebrews 3, the previous warning passage or exhortation. And you'll note the quote in verses 7-11 talks about the experiences of Israel after they left Egypt, after they were turned back from the Promised Land. What happened? The spies went into the Promised Land, over into Canaan where God had promised the riches of His blessing. Those spies went into the land, partook of the fruit, the promised blessings of the land, brought samples back to the people. They partook of what God had promised. But do you know what? Look at Hebrews 3:12, “take care, brethren, that there be not in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Because that's the experience of the Jews who partook of that blessing and that provision. They never got to enjoy it because they had an evil, unbelieving heart. We'll come back to this passage again in a moment.

In Exodus 16:4 we're told that God gave manna from heaven and all the Jews partook of it. But they didn't have saving faith. Do you know what they did? They complained and grumbled, we want meat and all we have is this miserable manna. They partook of that gift God gave from heaven. So these Jews can identify with these connections of people who partook, tasted of God's blessings but never really entered into God's salvation. They tasted of the heavenly gift. That doesn't mean that they were saved, just some of God's provisions and blessings they have shared in.

Third statement back in Hebrews 6, third phrase—“they have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit.” We say, wait a minute, that has to be salvation. No, it doesn't. They are part of a local church, they are part of a fellowship of believers; they have heard the truth of the gospel, the ministry of the Spirit who will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. They have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit in that sense. That doesn't mean they were saved.
Turn back to Acts 7. Stephen has been put on trial for his proclamation of the gospel before the Jewish leadership, representing the nation. And as he concludes his sermon, talking about all that God has done and what God had said to them and how He had prepared them for the coming of their Messiah and so on, he then says in verse 51, “you men who are stiff necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.” See the Holy Spirit was working in the nation as God revealed Himself. He spoke to them through His prophets, He did great things. They partook of that ministry, the Spirit was ministering and they were fighting against Him. They had partaken of His ministry but they were rejecting it. Not partaking of it in a saving way but in a unique way, in a way that God had not chosen to minister among the Assyrians, the Hittites, other peoples in Old Testament times. But they had been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. The nation Israel had been called out by God for Himself, they were part of that nation but many of them had evil, unbelieving hearts.

So now you have people who have joined in an assembly of Christians in a local church and have gone through a lot of the things, claiming to believe in Christ. They've partaken of the Holy Spirit's ministry, they have heard the gospel. They have come under that conviction enough that they say, yes, I ought to turn to Christ, I am. But that doesn't mean that they were truly saved, that they had truly believed.

The fourth phrase here—they have “tasted the good Word of God.” It's often a way that is used in the Old Testament and New Testament, the Word of God is our food. Deuteronomy 8:3, a verse quoted by Christ in the temptation with Satan, “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The Jews in the Old Testament had the Word of God, that was to be their food. That's why Deuteronomy 8 speaks that. You don't only need just physical food, you need the food of God's Word. They had the prophets come to them, they tasted that Word, they partook of it. That doesn't mean they believed it in a saving way.

That's true of these believers, they have partaken of the Word. They know the gospel, they could tell it back to you. They could tell you they have believed in the Messiah of Israel as their Savior. They have partaken of the Word at that level but that doesn't mean they are saved.

Connected closely to this, and some make this one phrase with two parts. I've broken it down. That's why I have six phrases and you read some commentators and they say five because you'll note, “have tasted the good Word of God and the power of the ages to come.” You only have one participle here—have tasted governing both statements. And they are connected by a little participle that ties them closely together, but I've broken them out. But you ought to remember that they are closely connected. Have tasted the power of the ages to come, this has to do with hearing the good Word of God. They have tasted it, they have had the truth through the message of Christ and His servants given to them. They have been able to feed upon that, to taste it, to know what it says, to have some understanding. They have tasted the powers of the age to come. This refers to the signs, the wonders, the miracles.

Come back to the first warning passage in Hebrews, Hebrews 2:3, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation after it was at the first spoken through the Lord?” So they've tasted the good Word of God. It was first spoken through Christ and then confirmed by those who heard. God also testifying with them by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. These Jews have experienced these. These are powers of the age to come. That was a foretaste of the coming kingdom when the Messiah would rule on the earth and all sickness would be removed and all enmity, even in the animal world and so on. So they have tasted these powers and the miracles done by Christ and by His followers. But that doesn't mean they are saved. But they partook of that in a sense, they experienced it, they were part of that.

Now these five phrases would remind these Jews of Israel's experience in their wilderness wanderings and the impact it had. Israel had that in the miracles, all the miracles in bringing them out of Egypt, culminating with the death of the firstborn. Then a pillar of fire and a cloud to lead them, visible manifestations of God's presence. The cloud that would descend on the Holy of Holies when God was coming to speak, His descending on Sinai, the mountain quaking and thunder and lightning, causing terror in the people. His provision for them through the wilderness wanderings—manna from heaven, the quail, their sandals didn't wear out. On it goes. Remember when He brought them up to the land of Canaan that we mentioned.

Come back to Numbers 14. This prepares us for the next phrase, and they have fallen away. Here the children of Israel, this is prior to the forty years of wanderings, they have come out of Egypt, and they have come to where God promised. They are on the brink, they can look and see Canaan over there. They are going to send spies into the land. They send the spies in, they bring back all that good fruit from the land as a sample as mentioned in Numbers 13. But they also say, eight of the ten spies, “I don't know that we can go into this land. There are a lot of giants in there, it's a fierce people, I don't think we can take it.”

And so Numbers 14 opens up, “the people cried and wept, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron. Oh that we had died in Egypt. Oh that we had died in this wilderness. But we don't see ourselves going into Canaan.” Then God intervenes and He says, “that's enough.” So He pronounces judgment. And just come down to verse 29, “your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward who have grumbled against Me.” Verse 34, “according to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt, even for forty years. You will know My opposition. There is judgment here, you are not going into the land.” Do you know what the people do? They repent. Verse 39, “when Moses told them this word from God, the people mourned greatly and they said, ‘we have sinned. But now we'll go up into the land as God told us to.’” Do you know what? The door is closed, there is no opportunity for repentance here. They can't change their mind. Those who try to go up into the land are killed. The judgment of God has been pronounced.

This is the background these Jews have, so when you come back to Hebrews, in spite of all these blessings that some of these in this congregation of Jewish believers have experienced, if they, and this is the sixth phrase, “and then have fallen away.” That's the sin of apostasy. Back in Hebrews 3:12, after the experiences of the Jews quoted from the Old Testament in verses 7-11 God had said, verse 11, “I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.” We just looked at that in Numbers 14. Then the warning, “take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” So now in Hebrews 6:4-6 he uses these six phrases describing those who “have once been enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, have tasted the good Word of God, have tasted the powers of the age to come and have fallen away, have apostasized, have turned back from God, have refused to acknowledge Him and bow before Him, have been defiant against His will.” There is no remedy. They have fallen away.

So you keep in mind these are people who have had that full experience. We're not talking about Christians who sin. We all “stumble in many ways” even as believers, James reminded us. That's not an excuse for sin. We're talking about those who have had this exposure and involvement with the Word of God and now the truth concerning Christ, but now they are contemplating turning back from Christ. And it might sound like this is not such a big deal. We're not turning away from God. Remember it was God who gave the Law to Moses at Sinai, it was the Law the governed Israel's conduct for 1500 years. It was the Levitical priesthood and the high priest after the order of Aaron who represented the people before God. We're not turning back from God, we're just turning back. Wait a minute, you're turning back from God's Son, the finality of His revelation. It's like these Jews saying, we wish we were back in Egypt, we wish we could stay in the wilderness. Wait a minute, that's a defiant denial of God and His purposes. That's what it means when you have had all the experiences with God's truth and God's work and now you fall away. You manifests “an evil, unbelieving heart” in falling away from the living God as Hebrews 3:12 said. And that's in the context of using the experience of Israel and being turned back from the land of Canaan, God's promised rest for them. If that happens, these six things characteristic of these people, culminating with they turn back, they become apostates. They reject God's revelation in His Son.

Then you have the statement in Hebrews 6:6t, ”It is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” Impossible. I want you to note how strongly this word is emphasized here. In our English Bible they have put it in verse 6, it is impossible. Do you know where that appears as the writer to the Hebrews wrote it? It is the first word in verse 4, this one long sentence encompassing verses 4-6, the first word in verse 4 is impossible. It's even before the preposition for which is the second word. The writer, as they could do with the Greek language—rearrange the word for the emphasis they want—put this word impossible right at the beginning of the sentence. So as you were reading this as the writer wrote it, the first word you would read in verse 4, impossible for those who have been once enlightened, have had all these experiences, to renew them again to repentance. So you start with verse 4, impossible, then you come down to verse 6. Impossible what? Impossible to renew them again to repentance. But the emphasis is on that word impossible. Impossible.

It is used three other times in Hebrews. Look down in Hebrews 6:18, “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie.” Look in Hebrews 10:4, “for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Look in Hebrews 11:6, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” It doesn't mean it's hard, it doesn't mean it's difficult. It means there is no possibility for this happening. For those who have received this enlightenment, this experience with the truth of God and the ministry of God's Spirit, yet have stopped short of true saving faith, now they turn away from Christ, there is no opportunity for them to ever come back to repentance. God's grace is withdrawn, His judgment is pronounced. It's like the children of Israel on the brink of the Promised Land. They've experienced all these blessings, provisions and involvement with God's truth that was conveyed to them, and now they plant their feet in defiance against God. And God says, that's it. When they recognize the severity of the judgment, they say, we mourn, we changed our mind, we acknowledge our sin. God says, no, that day is gone for you. You can never come into the land. Period. You see the finality of it. Impossible to renew them again to repentance. They can't be brought back to a place where they could change their mind and place their faith in Christ. Their decision here is viewed as final.

Look at the reason given back in Hebrews 6:6. “It's impossible to renew them again to repentance since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” With all the truth that God has given to them, all the light they have been exposed to, the ministry of the Spirit of God they have defiantly opposed God, treat Him with contempt. They are viewed as saying we agree that Christ should be crucified, we'd do it again. And they put Him to open shame. That's a word that was used where someone was punished with the purpose of holding them up to open ridicule. Like when Christ was crucified, the people scoffed at Him and so on. That's part of the purpose of crucifying—to mock Him, ridicule. That's the way they are treating Christ. This is how God says I see their action. These people think this is not so serious, it's like a choice. We're not denying God, we're simply going back to His previous revelation. We're going to submit ourselves to the Law, we're going to submit ourselves to the Levitical priesthood, the high priest after the order of Aaron. That can't be so bad. God said, “that's not the way it is. The way it is, is I have revealed Myself now fully and finally in My Son. You turn back from Him, that is displaying your contempt for My Son and you are identifying with those who would crucify Him. And for that there is no forgiveness.”

Jump ahead in Hebrews to Hebrews 10, this is one we'll get into, the next warning passage that parallels the one we are in for its severity. Verse 26, “if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.” Persistent unbelief after having been exposed to the truth, taught the truth, even having identified with the truth. You keep in mind these are believers that in this same chapter, verse 32, we read that they had experienced suffering and persecution before. All that remains when you turn back from Christ is a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, the fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. Verse 29, “how much severer punishment do you think he will deserve?” Now look at how God views this, “who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, has insulted the Spirit of grace.” This is no small matter before God. He says, you are treating My son as though you would trample Him under your feet, you'd wipe your feet on Him and His death. You think nothing of blaspheming against the Spirit of God and rejecting His ministry. All that awaits you is judgment.

For some people there comes a time after their involvement with the truth and exposure to the truth and continued rejection of the truth that God says, enough, the door is closed for you. We don't like to think there are people who may have been part of this church, and sad to say I could give you examples, who have turned away from Christ. Gone to what? And in that action they close the door to any hope of salvation forever. All that awaits them now is judgment.

Come back to Hebrews 6. Look at the two verses, 7-8, that give an illustration to show the condition. It's of the ground and the ground is watered and cared for. And some ground produces good crop, good fruit. Some ground is watered, is cared for but it just produces weeds and thorns. Picturing the two kinds of responses. Verse 7, “the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled receives a blessing from God.” God pours out His blessings as these people have experienced. They have once been enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gift, been partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good Word of God, the powers of the age to come. They have experienced that. Well those who respond in faith produce a crop, receive a blessing from God. They experience His salvation and go on with Him, so to speak. “If it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless, close to being cursed and ends up being burned.” That's the danger of these people that he has described. You have had all these experiences and then you fall away and we don't want to minimize it. This is an apostate defiantly rejecting what has been revealed in Christ, going back to an old system.

A man several years ago was head of the Evangelical Theological Society, scholarly association of professing believers. He was converted out of Catholicism, spent many years in evangelical higher education, was leading this scholarly organization. He resigned because he was returning to Catholicism. Is that an option? No, no. Well, he just found things in . . . No. He returned to liberal Protestantism. No. There is no turning back from Christ and full commitment to Him. Saving faith transforms a heart.

The ground here, turn back to Matthew 13. If you've been in the study in Mark, we looked at this in Mark, we'll do it in Matthew 13. In Mark 4, Mark records it. In Matthew 13 the parable of the soils. Same kind of picture. Jesus talks about the seed of the Word of God being sown. Verses 3-5, the different kinds of ground. Hard ground, the seed doesn't penetrate at all; shallow ground, it penetrates quickly and springs up quickly and looks good among the thorns but gets choked out; and then good soil. And then He explains it down in verse 19. And we want to pick up in verse 20 with the second kind of soil. “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy.” So you see like these they have welcomed it, they have tasted of the Word, they want it. Yet he has no root in himself, he is temporary. When affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away. That's where these Hebrew professing believers are. Now it's interesting, they have experienced some persecution.

You know I've observed over many years of ministry, some people endure certain things and seem to do well, but it takes the right thing. You know the things that hit us emotionally shake us the most. We're going to stand for truth, we're going to be faithful. Something emotional hits. I had someone stand in the foyer a number of years ago, one of the members here and say, “you have no idea the pressure in the family, for our family to leave this church. It is relentless. Every time we are together it is there.” People endure it, and then the right things comes, the devil knows how to hit us, and our emotions sweep over us. Now we are thinking differently.

Now here, now they are facing persecution again. They went through it once, I don't think I can do it again. Now their character will be revealed. The true believer may have to do it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. They are like the ground that God tills. We won't go back to Isaiah 5. He says, Israel was My vineyard and I cared for it and I took care of it and I did everything necessary. And it produced weeds and thorns. It's not God's fault. We are so confused, we are so confused, maybe we did something different. Paul said, ”I'm free from the blood of all men because I have taught you the whole counsel of God.” I can't change a heart, I'm not going to be responsible for the condition of your heart. You won't be responsible for the condition of my heart. Well, if you had been nicer, if you had said it this way, if you had brought me a sandwich when I was . . . What is your response to the Word? That's what it is.

One more passage and we're done. Come back to 2 Peter. In 1 and 2 Peter, Peter is writing to Jewish believers as well, not the same congregation but to Jewish believers experiencing similar kinds of problems. He starts out 2 Peter 2 by warning them “there will be false teachers among you, just as there were false prophets among the people.” Remember I've shared with you, reading an evangelical seminary professor, and I read this here not too long ago. He said after many years of being an evangelical professor in evangelical schools I'm convinced many of the professors in our evangelical schools have never truly been born again. Amazing how much truth a person can learn well enough to give back and never have his heart changed.

Look at 2 Peter 2:20, “for if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” So similar to the descriptions we had in Hebrews 6. “They've escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.” It has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to its own vomit, a pig after washing returns to wallowing in the mire. You see there has been no change, they are what they are. And in the right situation they go back to it. Better not to have been exposed to the truth than to be exposed to the truth and reject it.

Jesus said “it would be more tolerable for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than it would be for the people He ministered to because they have greater light.” Think about us, we have the completed revelation of God. We sit week in and week out and hear it again and again and again. Serious that some may hear it, some may outwardly conform to it, some may get involved in the ministry but have never truly come to place their faith in Christ and have their heart changed. The warnings are serious. Salvation is offered. There may come a time when we reject that salvation for the final time and then there is no future opportunity.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the clarity of Your Word. Thank You for Your patience, Your longsuffering, Your mercy, Your grace. Thank You for the truth that has been brought to us in Christ, thank You for the fullness of Your revelation we have contained as our Bible. Lord, what a dangerous thing it is to be exposed to the truth, to know a lot about the truth but to have never believed in the one and only Savior. Lord, for any who are part of our congregation who may be in this situation, we pray that the truth of Your Word might penetrate their hearts before they turn away finally forever. We pray in Christ's name, amen.