This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.
Last month I began a two-part message on Christian hope. I want to continue with part two of that message. Now I would like to bring out some things about having this hope from Hebrews 6:11-20.
The background and historical context of the book of Hebrews is important. It was written to professing believers in Christ Jesus who were living in Jewish communities. They had professed to own Him as Messiah and Lord. Some were genuine and others were false professors and were not yet truly saved.
They were living as Jewish Christians before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. Therefore, they had been persecuted by their own religious and ethnic culture. Under that persecution many of them were being swayed back to the traditional Judaism of their time which included the Old Testament sacrificial system. That system rejected Jesus as the fulfillment and final sacrifice for sins. The fact that they re-converted to Judaism proves many of them were not truly saved.
In the last half of Chapter 6, the ones that were sincere believers were examples for the unsaved to follow or "imitate." Therefore the unsaved ones were (and by application, are) being called upon to make an all out commitment to faith in Christ alone. At the same time the truly saved were being called to persevere against their unsaved religious culture and keep on growing in their faith. This included the importance of not letting go OF THE HOPE SET BEFORE THEM as part of their faith.
There are many applications for 21st century believers here. In America today and more specifically in the correctional system, more and more of the prevailing culture is going to persecute true followers of Christ. Like the unsaved Jews that were being called to a genuine commitment to Jesus, there are many who are stuck in false religion today, and by application this passage also is calling out to them.
Last month I spoke of three truths true Christians have to look forward to in hope. They are: 1) the return of Christ in glory, 2) the glorification of their own body and 3) being with God in His presence, forever.
I explained that HOPE is faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of these promises of God that cannot fail, because He cannot lie. This hope always accompanies true saving faith in Christ.
In Hebrews 6:11-20 we see FOUR great encouragements that relate to the third aspect of Christian hope I just mentioned. It is TO BE WITH GOD IN HIS PRESENCE IN HEAVEN FOREVER. That’s what salvation is for. That’s what salvation looks forward to, being with God in His presence forever.
I believe that is the thrust of this passage, which guarantees the promises of God to a true follower of Jesus Christ. I believe this because verse 19 speaks of ENTERING THE Presence (a Hebraism, meaning the glory of God’s presence) BEYOND THE VEIL.
Of course, the writer is using Old Testament tabernacle and temple imagery in reference to "behind the veil," to speak of being in the very Presence of God. The first encouragement is to truly embrace Christian hope. It comes in verses 11 and 12. It is evangelistic. It is:
A Great Prompting – to Have a Saving Faith and Hope in Christ - that Perseveres
11 And we desire that each one of you (that are not yet saved) show the same diligence (as the true believers, referred to in verses 9 - 10) to the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 that you do not become sluggish, (slow, dull, lazy) but imitate those (the true believers) who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
In verse 11, the word "diligence" which gives the idea of an eager strong effort, is a very energetic term. In this verse, the writer and his true fellow believers are urging even prompting the unsaved professors of Christianity to truly embrace Christ with all haste. They were doing so with great desire.
This Christian writer and his fellow believers (the "we" of v. 11) wanted them to have the same FAITH EXHIBITED BY HOPE as they and others true believers do. That faith is characterized by an endurance that never gives up! Christian hope perseveres to the end. This hope, faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of the promises God has made, never quits or gives out. It remains firm until the end to inherit the promises.
It is interesting to compare the word "diligence" in verse 11, with the word "sluggish," in verse 12. They are opposites. Great effort and haste are included in the original word translated as "diligence" - whereas boredom, laziness and slowness to move, are part of the original word here translated "sluggish."
Those who truly embrace Christ and His gospel put forth effort to hold on to God’s promise in Christ to inherit the blessings of His presence. On the other hand those who repeatedly hear the gospel but still haven’t truly come to Christ are dull and sluggish about laying hold of that promise in true saving faith.
I think you need to press the point brought out here to the inmates that are the "fence sitters." They come to Christian Chapel services and your Bible studies for many reasons (some of which are not good) yet they fall short of truly grabbing hold of the gospel. You see this by their waffling back to false religion and by a lack of Christian fruit.
A great point here is that true Christian faith and hope PERSEVERES. It hangs on until the blessing is realized. It never gives up. Look at what Hebrews 10 :35-39 says:
35 ... do not cast away your confidence (this includes faith that embraces hope in the promises of God being fulfilled), which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 " For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
39 But we (true believers) are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
NEXT, in verses 13-15 we see the example of Abraham, a true believer. In faith he hoped and patiently waited for the promised child, who was the start of the nation through whom would come the Savior of the world. As such he is a great example of faith that hopes.
So in Abraham we see - A Great Pattern – to Pursue
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."
15 And so, after he (Abraham) had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
The fact that God made a promise was good enough. God cannot lie. But here, in verse 13, and 14 the text points back to Genesis 15, where God confirmed His prior promise to give Abraham a son who would become a nation and a land and eventually through his line the Blessing of a Savior for the whole world. Compare also Genesis 12:1-3.
God did not need to confirm His prior promise, but He did. Verse 13 makes the point, God made a promise TO Abraham BUT He made it WITH Himself. God’s covenant was really with His own perfect holy nature. I will explain this momentarily.
But first, the point I want to make here is in regard to Abraham. He believed and had a hope that endured patiently. Christian hope does that, and thank God He gives us many examples in His word of people like Abraham who "contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations," Romans 4:18
You need to be constantly giving inmates and residents GOOD EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO NEVER LOST HOPE IN GOD’S PROMISES. Then you need to CHALLENGE THEM TO BE LIKE FORMER HEROS OF THE FAITH - LIKE ABRAHAM.
Give them illustrations of people whose faith endured. They are the good patterns to follow, to pursue. A great list of them is found in Hebrews 11, but that great Chapter is introduced by Hebrews 10:38,39.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
39 But we (true believers) are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
The opposite of “drawing back” is persevering in faith believing in the hope God has set before us – just like Abraham who “patiently endured.”
As Hebrews 6 continues, it focuses the reader again on God’s gracious promises and an incredible confirmation through an oath pledged. Here in verses 16-18 note God’s Gracious Promise – that He Pledged
16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel (the unchangeableness of what He said), confirmed it by an oath,
18 that by two immutable (unchangeable) things, (God’s promise and His oath) in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation (or, that we might be gripped tightly with encouragement), who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Wow! What a great God! Let me explain my emotional response to what these verses are talking about. In Genesis 15, God reconfirmed the promise He made to Abraham by entering into a customary practice of his time. In Abraham’s day when two men made a covenant, which had binding obligations on both parties, they sealed it through a special ceremony.
It was done in this way - the two men would sacrifice an animal and split its carcass in two. Then, the two men that were making the covenant, would set the two parts of the carcass opposite each other and WALK TOGETHER THROUGH THE SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO PARTS - TOGETHER. This signified it was a covenant made with blood. In effect the two men were saying if either one of them reneged on their responsibility to keep their part of the promise, they deserved to have their own life’s blood poured out, just like the animal sacrifice.
So in Genesis 15, God graciously answered Abraham’s question, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” “IT” is a reference to the land for the nation that would bring the Savior of the world. God then answered Abraham IN this way -
9 ... "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
What an act of condescension on God’s part to Abraham – and by extension to us!
10 Then he (Abraham) brought all these to Him (the Lord GOD) and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other;
Then, in Genesis 15:17 we read: "And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a SMOKING OVEN and a BURNING TORCH that passed between those pieces." The “smoking oven” and the “burning torch” were manifestations of the Presence of God! This means, contrary to custom - God did not walk through the carcass pieces with Abraham, BUT WITH HIMSELF! Ultimately, God’s promise to keep His covenant with believers (like Abraham and all his spiritual descendants) DOES NOT DEPEND ON THEM KEEPING THEIR PART OF THE BARGIN. Rather, it depends on God’s faithfulness with Himself! WOW!
Lastly, our Hebrews 6 passage ends with A Great Illustration – Pictured in verses 19,20.
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Our hope as true believers is the truth Jesus’ gospel. To be saved we have had to "lay hold" of it. We have had to believe the gospel facts as true, and believe in Jesus. He is even described in another verse, as our very hope. Note 1 Timothy 1:1, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,"
But here, in Hebrews 6:19 the anchor is our faith and hope in Him and in His gospel. Then there is a beautiful word picture of Jesus in verse 20. He is called "the forerunner" and in the NASB, "a forerunner for us."
In the ancient Roman world a FORERUNNER was actually a little boat. When a ship was in troubled waters, and hidden reefs or rocks made navigation into the harbor of safety very dangerous, this boat – the forerunner, would be sent ahead WITH THE ANCHOR INTO THE HARBOR OF SAFETY.
Once safely there, the sailors would drop and fix the anchor. So, even though the ship and cargo and the mariners were being battered by the waves outside the safe harbor, they knew they were safe BECAUSE THE FORERUNNER HAD GONE AHEAD AND SECURED THEM!
The Amplified Version brings this out as it renders verses 19 and 20 this way:
"(Now) we have this (hope) as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it – a hope) that reaches farther and enters into (the very certainty of the Presence) within the veil, where Jesus has entered in for us (in advance) a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek."
Wow! What a picture of the security of the believer’s future hope! In conclusion, we have four encouragements to continue to believe in the Christian hope of being with God eternally. From Hebrews 6:11-20 they are:
1. Our true saving faith is proven by our PERSEVERANCE IN HOPE.
2. We have some great examples of people like Abraham, whose faith ENDURED PATIENTLY IN HOPE.
3. God has graciously PLEDGED to keep His promise to save believers. He did this by taking part in a confirmation of a human oath. That ought to give us great hope!
And finally -
4. Jesus has securely fixed BELIEVERS HOPE AS AN anchor in the inner sanctum of God’s PRESENCE.
Rich Hines - Aurora Ministries – Chaplain Help Ministry
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