Daniel 12:1-2
"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(the Hebrews) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book (in other words, the Book of Life – believers; now here it comes) And many of them that sleep (or who have died physically) in the dust of the earth shall awake, (resurrection) some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting (what?) contempt."
There are the two alternatives. It’s either a life of bliss and glory in the presence of the Lord or it’s a life of doom. Which the world doesn’t even want to think about. Now verse 3.
Daniel 12:3
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
That is as plan and easy to understand as it gets. And then as you end up the book of Daniel God rehearses with him as to the timing of the resurrection of the Old Testament saints. Alright, let’s look at one more in Christ’s earthly ministry. That will probably suffice. Let’s go back again to John chapter 11, the death of Lazarus. You all know the story I trust, how that Jesus has been out of town, as we would say, and Lazarus has died and the girls are rather shook up. Why didn’t you stay around? You could have healed him from being so sick. Well, of course, the Lord did it purposely. Because He was going to prove again, some of His and the Fathers power. Alright, verse 23, Jesus comes back to Bethany, and He’s telling Mary and Martha,
John 11:23b
"…Thy brother shall rise again."
Now here it comes. You think they didn’t have an idea of resurrection. Why of course they did.
John 11:24
" Martha saith unto him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
Just exactly what Job, and Daniel were talking about. And then Jesus went on to rehearse that He was the Resurrection and the Life and that any that put their trust in Him.... But the point I wanted to make is that this foundation from which the Hebrews were now to move on, was not something new and fresh and that they had never heard before. They knew all these concepts.
Alright, back to Hebrews chapter 6. And again in verse 2, that not only were they aware of baptisms, laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead. They were also aware of what? Eternal judgment. And we’ve already seen an alluding to that. They understood that there was a choice to be made and that the unbelieving and lawless element would be going to an eternal doom, separated from God.
Maybe I can show it the quickest by just flipping on over to Revelation chapter 20. This is the doom that all of human history is going for. It’s not explained this graphically in the Old Testament, it was simply a separation, but here the Revelator tells us exactly what it is in verse 14.
Revelation 20:14
"And death and hell (that is the inhabiting area of the lost) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
I'd like to point out that secular archeology proves these events. You know, Christ was crucified in about 29 AD. Paul begins his ministry, around 40 AD. And so here you have these Hebrews who had come out of Christ’s earthly ministry still under the Law. Remember I am emphasizing that during Christ’s earthly ministry they were still keeping the Jewish Law. They had Saturday Synagogue, they kept their food kosher. I mean everything was still under the Law.
Then, when we come into Paul’s ministry, the first thing that Paul makes so plain is "you’re not under the Law, you’re under Grace!" But you see, like the Epistle of Hebrews is telling us, a lot of these Hebrews had not yet made the break from Judaism though they had embraced Jesus as the Messiah - putting that behind them and moving into Paul’s doctrines of Grace. Faith plus nothing, as we see in I Corinthians 15:1-4 and Romans 10:9-10.
Alright, secular archeology has pretty much proven that there were Hebrews up until about the end of the first century, who were showing in their potsherds, the clay particles that archaeologists find, that in the same small piece of clay, there would be a symbol of the menorah – the seven candled candle stick, and the fish. You know, the mark of Jesus of Nazareth, or Christianity, that came later on. The little known sign or symbol of being a “Christian”. The means of identification as those who were Christians suffered under the hands of both secular, Romans, and religious Judaizers great persecutions.
Now what does that show us? That these Hebrews were still practicing both sides. They were still involved in the legalism of Judaism but they also had embraced Jesus of Nazareth. And for that reason, of course, they had been scattered out of Jerusalem because of Paul’s persecution. And so one of the cities of the Decapolis, I think, was Pella. And that’s where a lot of those Jerusalem Hebrews fled to - the area of Pella up there just east of Galilee that the archaeologists have found so much evidence of just this very thing. That they must have been practicing both aspects. They had Judaism and yet they were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. The book of Revelation tells us that they had not made a total break from Judaism in chapters 1-3.
See, this is what Paul is dealing with, it was to a congregation maybe in a city like Pella that the Epistle of Hebrews was written. We don’t know, but that’s just my own idea. He has now been telling them that they’ve got to grow up spiritually. They’ve got to get off the milk-bottle of the simple things and get on into the deeper things of Paul’s revelation of the mysteries and what we call the Age of Grace. But, oh, they were having a problem.
And that’s understandable because we run into it all the time where people may come out of a cult, or what we certainly feel is a totally false religion and it’s a struggle. It is a struggle to just simply cut the ties of that old religious form and step out here in Grace. Where it is all based on an individual relationship with the Son, the Father of spirits and the Holy Spirit now dwelling in us. And our placing our wholehearted trust in His faithfulness by believing or by taking Him at His Word.
Remember, human nature says, "I’ve got to do something," and that appeals to most people. And when I come along and say, you step out by trusting in His faith and that faith alone. Well, it’s just like telling somebody to step out in the street without any clothes on. And I’ve used that analogy because you do, you step out naked before God. With nothing else to enhance eternal life. It’s His Faith plus Nothing! Alright so now then, Paul is saying:
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