Continually press on toward spiritual maturity

May 20, 2002

BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for June 16

Continually press on toward spiritual maturity

___Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:11-6:12
___¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. ...
___^5:11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
___^6:1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so.
___⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
___⁷Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
___⁹Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation. ¹⁰God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. ¹²We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

___By Gerald Aalbers
___He looked huge standing on top of his dirt pile. He appeared intimidating, and his performance proved it. With each delivery, his face grimaced and his muscles bulged as he repeatedly unleashed fury and deception toward members of the opposing team. Only 19 batters would face him that day; the first five struck out, and by game's end eight more did too. Not one opponent got on base except by grace. On April 6, 2002, Shelby was king on his mountain--all 12 inches in altitude--as the sophomore delivered a no-hitter shutout pitching performance for his high school baseball team.
___I know his family well. A great deal of preparation went into that performance. Shelby attended two sessions at Baylor University's baseball camp last summer, as well as private pitching lessons in off-season, and he endured endless torturing ice treatments for his arm. His dad told me that he would drive the family nuts as he practiced his pitching release while lounging inside the house, sometimes knocking over his mother's cherished figurines.
___As I watched him that day, each batter was a new challenge; each out was another significant accomplishment. When it looked like he was tired, he would find the strength somewhere to press on to the goal that would be forever engraved in the minds of both he and his teammates. As I watched him and his dad embrace after that game, I could not help but swell up with pastoral pride and cherish that father/son moment.
___Our Christian walk is like that. Yes, we may be on the team. We may be thoroughly prepared and regularly contribute our part, but the real proof of our allegiance is in the performance.
___Our lesson today, Father's Day, reminds us we need to press on toward maturity. The greatest gift you can give your father, whether your earthly or heavenly father, is a diligence to press on in faithful living with Christ.___
___Jesus our high priest
___The writer of Hebrews has gone to great lengths to explain that Jesus is far superior to everything that has come before him. He has told us Jesus is superior to the prophets (1:1-2), angels (1:4), Moses (3:3) and Joshua (4:8). One more superior contrast remains to be made. Jesus is superior as our high priest. The writer has foreshadowed this contrast with earlier references to Jesus as our high priest (2:17-18; 3:1).
___Our high priest has "gone through the heavens" (v. 14). On the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), the high priest would pass through the veil in the tabernacle into the holy of holies and there present the blood of the sacrificial lamb at the mercy seat of God. Jesus, our high priest, passed through the ultimate veil, the heavens, to the ultimate mercy seat, the very throne of God, and there, "once for all" (7:27), he offered his own blood as atonement for us.
___In addition to his atoning work on our behalf, Jesus identified with us in our humanity (v. 15). From his birth in a stable to his burial in a borrowed tomb, he identified with us in every manner possible. He was "tempted in every way, just as we are" but with one incredible difference--he didn't yield to the temptation.
___Because he identified with us in our humanity, he is able to sympathize with us in all of life's struggles. If you thirst, remember, so did he. If you hunger, so did he. If you are disappointed, remember, he was too. Jesus understands your struggles.
___Since he is so superior, what should we do? First, we should "hold firmly to the faith we profess." The Hebrews were going through an intense trial. They needed to hear, just as we do, that Jesus knew what it was like to endure trials and that he cared. Furthermore, because of Jesus' atoning work, we are now our own priests.
___That's the priesthood of the individual believer. We can represent ourselves before God. Indeed, we should imagine God on his throne, but we need not be traumatized by that vision. We can approach the throne of God with confidence and there receive grace and mercy to help us in our time of need, whenever we desire to be in God's presence. We are not limited to once a year like the old covenant. Amen!
___Press on
___The first 10 verses of chapter five introduce Jesus as a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. More will be said of that in the next lesson. Our writer short-circuits that discussion to tell the readers he has much more to say, but he really can't explain it to them because they are such slow learners (5:11). That word can be translated as sluggish, or slow to respond. He laments that while they should be teaching others, encouraging and strengthening fellow believers, discerning right from wrong and good from evil, they still need someone to explain to them the elementary truths of God's word.
___With another strong exhortation, the writer continues that thought in 6:1 and urges his readers to leave the elementary teachings and go on to maturity. The items he mentions are far from unimportant, but he considers them elementary.
___I wonder what God would teach us if we seriously applied ourselves to the study of his word. Various publishing houses offer a plethora of study opportunities for both individual and group studies. We could enrich our lives greatly if we would just whittle away at it a little every day. How many in your class should really be teaching others? Have they told the nominating committee of their availability? Are they really just mere babes in the faith and can't move on to solid food?
___To be sure, some people are babes in their knowledge, and they know it all too well. You run into their opposition when you try to reach out to them. Usually they hide behind some excuse like, "I went to Sunday School as a child but not anymore." Such people generally are totally terrified their ignorance will be exposed in a group study. We need to assure them we are all learners. The need is great.
___A person once asked me very seriously, "Was it on the Jordan River that they set the baby Jesus afloat in a basket?" I started where he was, told him he had some of the facts but they were mixed, and explained the word a little more clearly to him.
___Profession without possession
___"Debates on these verses between Calvinists and Arminians have often produced more flame than insight" (Thomas Lea). There are those who read 6:4-6 and conclude that a person can lose his salvation. That thought stands in direct contradiction to the passages of Scripture that assure believers their security (John 6:39,40; 10:27-29; Romans 8:38-39; 11:29; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 5:9; 7:25; 1 Peter 1:5). Our writer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would not contradict other Scripture.
___Therefore, he did not mean for us to think we could lose our salvation. Some think this passage is hypothetical; others view it as a loss of just rewards; and still others see it as only seeking and searching and not actually becoming a full-fledged Christian. The list of ideas on how to understand these verses is almost endless, and we certainly do not have space here, nor does your class have time to exhaust them.
___To be sure, "Those who have shared the covenant privileges of the people of God, and then deliberately renounce them, are the most difficult persons of all to reclaim for the faith ... nothing is ultimately impossible for the grace of God, but as a matter of human experience the reclamation of such people is, practically speaking, impossible" (F.F. Bruce).
___Chapter 6:4-6 provides a strong warning not to apostasize. Since our writer wrote to Christians who were beginning to suffer persecution for their faith, it would have been very easy for them to forsake their faith to save their hide. He addressed his readers as Christians, but they were not all alike. Many were contemplating returning to Judaism. After all, they would be protected within that framework.
___These verses teach that one should consider the seriousness of what he is contemplating. If one deserts Jesus, it just shows he was never a part of Jesus (1 John 2:19). Only a faithful endurance to the end will demonstrate one ever belonged to Jesus. Although there is the strong warning, even the writer indicated a positive appraisal of the situation when he said, "We are confident of better things in your case" (6:9).
___To drive home the point, a parable is told in 6:7-8 about land. One really doesn't know what kind of a crop will be produced when the seed is sown. A crop that is useful receives the blessing of God, while thorns and thistles are not only worthless, they hinder the land's productivity.___
___Our confidence
___Our writer expresses great confidence in his readers. He has that confidence because "God is not unjust." God will not forget our work, our labor of love, nor the way we have encouraged others to remain true and faithful. Again, there is the encouragement to be diligent to the end (6:11) and not become lazy.
___Paul, in his farewell letter to the Philippians told them I "press on" (Philippians 3:13-14). In our identification with Paul, that turns into a strong admonition for us to "press on." May we press on to experience the full maturity of our faith.

Questions for thought and discussion
___ In what ways have you found that Jesus is able to identify with you in your trials and struggles? What specific thing caused you to realize he is able to sympathize with you?
___ Who do you know who regularly approaches God's throne of grace? How are that person's public prayers different from someone who does not have an active prayer life? What traits are there about either prayer life that you would like to have? Not have?
___ Is there one doctrine that repeatedly rears its head in your class discussions? What would it be? What elementary teachings do you repeatedly discuss? What subject matter would you like to study that could help you advance from elementary level to mature level?
___ In what manner and what ways can your class minister to others? Do you agree or disagree with the statement: Every member is a minister; every minister has a ministry.
___ What warnings are there in this Scripture lesson for your life? How do you respond?
___ If someone approached you and denied the doctrine of "once saved, always saved," and cited Hebrews 6:4-6 to lend validity to his claim, from the verses cited in the lesson text, what could you tell him?
___ What must happen before a person cannot be brought back to repentance? Is there a way you can know for sure whether someone is in that state or not? Have you ever said, "He's hopeless"? Is he?

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