Hebrews 6:4a
"For (Paul says) it is impossible…"
I’m going to break the rest of verse 4, 5 and part of 6 down so that you pick up where the thought really goes to and that would be all the way down to verse 6 where it says,
Hebrews 6:6a
"…to renew them again…"
Do you see that? Because after all this is what we’re going to look at. It’s going to be "impossible to renew them again." And in between we’re going to look at the things that makes it impossible. Like I said, this is an area that I suppose angels fear to tread, because there’s so much confusion on these few verses.
It’s a fact that many people teach that you can be saved and lost and saved and lost. No way! No way! That is not what its saying. On the other hand, is the Scripture saying that you’re saved and you’ve got nothing to worry about? No way. So what we’re going to look at is the possibility for people as it says here in verse 4, "who were enlightened", we started to touch on it a bit.
Hebrews 6:4a
"For it is impossible for those who have tasted…"
What does that mean? That they got a brief understanding. They tasted but they never took it in and ingested it. And remember I gave the illustration that if on a hot summer day, somebody comes along with some ice-cold water, are you going to sip it and taste it to see if it’s okay? No, you’re just going to guzzle it down. I couldn’t help but think of some of our soft drink commercials. My goodness, they can guzzle that whole 12 ounce can in a matter of seconds. Well you see, this is what God expects us to do with Paul’s Gospel. Not just taste it. Not just pick at it. But we’re to just simply embrace it and just ingest it. Jesus said that we're to what? Eat of His flesh and do what? Drink of His blood as both are true meat and drink. Do you see now what He was making reference to. And that’s what a lot of people have never done. Oh, they’ve tasted it, they’ve picked at it, they’ve had a little bit of an enlightening, they’ve had an experience, but they were never truly saved.
This reminds me, I didn’t intend to do this but it just comes to mind. I think it was probably in association with our teaching on Noah’s Ark, where I made it so plain that once Noah and the family were in the Ark and God shut the door, that family was what? Safe! Nothing could jerk them back out of that Ark. They were safe, because they were in God’s presence. They had nothing to fear.
But on the other hand, by the same token, I guess I should say, while they were building the Ark there must of have been scores of people that helped Noah and those three sons built that humongous Ark. And they labored for five years, crawling all over that humongous thing. But, yet when judgment came, were they in the Ark? No. They were outside. Oh they had labored, and helped build the Ark and yet – they were lost. Well, the analogy of course is that this is a lot of our Church people. They are active in the Church. They work in the Church. They sing in the choir. They cook in the kitchen. And they do this and they do that, but they have never entered in to a real redemption relationship. They've never entered into the first Covenant stage for training and teaching by the Holy Spirit, what we've called our first estate. And so, that’s what we’re talking about here. They may have redemption but they've not allowed God to begin His work of their coming to salvation and why? Because they've not known to seek Him or to request it of Him.
These people aren’t just saved and lost. They’ve never been saved. Well, about the same time two e-mails came in. One was all upset, he said, "Bill am I reading you right? You believe once saved always saved?" And I said, "Yes and no." He said, "What do you mean by that?" I said, "For the person that’s truly saved, yes, they are safe. They are set for eternity. But remember there are a lot of people who are not truly saved, they’ve simply made a mental assent. They have simply been enlightened without embracing it." And then I added, "They may make a profession of trust. They may walk the aisle. They may join the church or other denominational requirements that put them through the catechism and the communion rite but they’ve never been saved. For these all have a form of Godliness but there's no power in them. Nor is there a willingness to embrace His deeper Truth. They remain as Israel held within the corral of Law under a hard (task master) the tutor of bondage and a burden which they can't carry nor meant the terms and conditions of and therefore are only due the death consequence of the curse.” This all to real because many don't know the difference of the two Covenants and there appropriate purposes or functions. Nor do they know the difference between the two gospels because what we hear from so many is a blending of them and this is not to be. Just as many assume that the Marriage Feast of the Lamb is still out there in some future date and time not knowing that it has already come or taken place as Revelation 19 tells us.
And so, then the world wonders. "Well why are these people claiming to be Christians and they live worse than I do." That’s the pity of it all. Then the same day another person came along and she said, "Now Bill, I don’t know that I can agree with you." She said, "A few years back we had a pastor, who had been our pastor for a few years. Had a lovely wife and three kids. And all of a sudden one day, he ran off with our church secretary and we’ve never seen him since. You mean he’s still saved?" And without even thinking, I said, "He never was." Here in Cle....vagus there are a hundred stories, one for each of many churches that confirm what we're saying. And then there's also those TV preachers and each has a different story to tell but we've only got the Holy Spirit as our guide and friend and teacher and He's all we need.
I know I can’t be that judgmental but see, this is the way I look at these things. When people do things that you wonder how can a believer behave like that and God does nothing to bring them back, they were never saved in the first place. And remember I’m not saying this to make you doubt your own redemption or salvation but on the other hand it is a warning. Peter says, "make your calling and your election sure." What did he mean by that?
What do we really base our redemption and salvation on? And I just ask a few pertinent questions. Do you love the Lord? Do you love His Word? Do you spend time in it day after day? Do you spend time in prayer every day? And then here’s the kicker, would you rather be with God’s people on Friday or Saturday night or out there in some nightclub? Now that’s pretty self-evident. And that’s what being a believer determines. It just simply separates us from the chaff. Now don't get me wrong because I've been used of God in the bar or nightclub as a witness of Him but I don't make it a practice, just like having a beer or a glass of wine we use both in cooking and for drink but not in excess and that is the difference.
Alright, so we’re going to look at this. And it’s so scriptural - I’m going to show you that:
Hebrews 6:4
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost," or "it’s impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakes of the Holy Ghost"
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