The Point of No Return

Introduction

Well, good morning. It’s wonderful to see everyone. Wonderful to have our visitors that we have today. I want to begin a series today of four lessons. Greg and I are going to team up on sermons from the book of Hebrews. We plan four lessons, two today and two next Sunday. I just thought since the book of Hebrews is being studied in classroom 11, that this will be an appropriate topic for us to look at. Greg and I are not going to follow any certain order as far as going through the book, that sort of thing, just different parts of the book that we would like to emphasize. And so lesson one is the point of no return, Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. If you will open your Bibles there, and I would like to read that passage.

Hebrews chapter 6, beginning in verse 4. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away. It is impossible to renew them again to repentance. Since they again crucified in themselves, the Son of God and put him to an open shame.

One of the strongest.

Now, this next slide up here on the screen is not actually on your printed outline. By the way, the outline that you have there has my lesson on one side and Greg’s on the other. So make sure to hold on to it for Greg’s lesson later. One interpretation of this passage is that it’s difficult to renew them again to repentance. Not impossible. It can be done, it’s just not going to be easy. A second interpretation is it’s impossible for men, but it is not impossible for God. A third interpretation is it’s impossible for the law of Moses to renew them again to repentance. That view being held for one reason because this is written to Jewish Christians who were turning back to the law of Moses.

A fourth interpretation, it’s impossible to renew them again to their whole conversion experience. That initial experience that they had becoming Christians, well, of course, it’s impossible to renew them to that. A fifth is it’s impossible to keep on renewing them, to just continually renew them again to repentance. I believe that none of these interpretations are correct. I believe that they are trying to really get around just the very plain teaching that is there. And as we’re going to see as we go along, I believe that this passage clearly teaches that those who were at one time genuine Christians can so apostasize, they can fall away from God with such a hard heart that they actually are impossible to reach. And thus repentance for them is not a possibility.

One warning that precedes it is in chapter 5, 11 through chapter 6 and verse 3, and is a really a warning against dullness of hearing that there were individuals that really ought to be teachers by now, but they were still feeding on the milk of the word, and they should be feeding on the meat of the word. And so they needed to press on to maturity. And then we have Hebrews 6, 4 through 6, this warning against falling away, which is followed by verses 7 and 8, a warning against bearing no fruit, which says, For ground that drinks the rain, which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God. So when you’ve got ground that is bearing fruit, then that’s what should happen.

And that’s a good thing, and that receives a blessing from God. But if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. And so the parallel is that you and I need to be sure we’re like that ground that produces fruit. We don’t need to, as it were, produce thorns and thistles when God is trying to shower upon us these blessings and cause us to bear fruit. So what we need to do is we need to ask, am I someone who is dull of hearing? Am I a Christian who is not bearing fruit? Because if you are, then you’re in danger of falling away. In fact, you might have already fallen away. And maybe you don’t even know it.

And so this is something that we all need to take to our own heart. Now, the book of Hebrews was written to Hebrews. It was written to Hebrew Christians, Jewish Christians, that once they became enlightened, once they became Christians, they were being persecuted. And so there was this temptation then to go back to the law of Moses and to reject Jesus. And so the writer of Hebrews is saying, listen, Jesus is superior to the law of Moses, superior to anything that could be offered back there. Why would you turn away from Christ to something that is far inferior? You’re giving up everything. Be faithful to Christ no matter what. He is superior. He’s the only way. And so this message of be faithful and don’t fall away is just pounded over and over throughout the book of Hebrews.

1. People Who Were at One Time Genuine Christians

And this passage in Hebrews 6 is one of those passages. And so, now that we’ve set up the context, both the immediate context and the general context of the book, let’s delve in and have a little fun looking at these verses. Now, this is going to be a study. We’re just going to look at phrase by phrase and make some comments as we go along, and then we’ll make some practical points at the end of the lesson. So, verses 4 and 5 describe people who were at one time genuine Christians. For in the case of those who have once been enlightened, so they were enlightened. They had received light.

And had an understanding now of God and of Christ that they did not have before. This is the writer of Hebrews, this is his way of mentioning conversion. In chapter 10 and in verse 32, but remember the former days when after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings. And so when after becoming Christians, you began suffering. The second phrase says, and have tasted of the heavenly gift. Now let me ask you, when it says tasted, does that just mean got a hint of? I had somebody tell me that one time when I was I was having a Bible study with another preacher. We were in a fast food restaurant, and someone came up and said, I believe, you know, once you’re saved, you’re always saved.

And said that passage in Hebrews that says tasted of the heavenly gift doesn’t mean that doesn’t mean they actually had that heavenly gift. It just means they just got a hint of it. You know, kind of like when you just get a sample of a meal in the food court or something, and it’s, you know, it’s just enough food to sort of frustrate you, really. And you’re not getting the whole meal, you’re just getting this little taste of it, just so you can have the idea of what it would be. Is that really the meaning here? No, no, it isn’t. Uh taste is used in the idea of experience. To experience. In chapter 2 and in verse 9, we have this same word used talking about Jesus’ death.

But we do see him who is made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. So does that mean that Jesus just got a hint of death? He didn’t experience death fully. No, if anybody experienced death fully, it was Jesus Christ who died even the death of the cross. So when we’re talking here about tasting the heavenly gift, that means experiencing it. And uh the sense of taste is here, I think, to help us think of the idea of actually enjoying it. You know, you had the sense of sight mentioned there and once been enlightened, and now you have the sense of taste.

And so not only had they experienced these blessings, but they were they were enjoying it. They tasted that heavenly gift, that freely bestowed otherworldly gift that is from God. And have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. Have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Partakers means sharers. So these individuals had become sharers with other saints of the Holy Spirit. And that’s something that all Christians do. In Acts chapter 5 and verse 32, listen to what Peter had to say as he stood before the Sanhedrin, and he’s talking here about Jesus. He says, and we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. So the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey him. Now that doesn’t mean we can work miracles, and I don’t think it’s anything mystical.

But it’s through the influence of the Holy Spirit, just as we have God. We are partakers of God and of Christ Jesus through their influence and the blessings that are there. Tasted the good word of God. By the way, what did the Holy Spirit reveal? And so I think it’s no accident that this is the very next phrase. Tasted the good word of God. Taste it again means to experience, even to enjoy in this context. So they experienced the wonderful soul-saving message of God. You know, Paul says in Romans 1, verse 16, for I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And so these individuals had experienced the Word of God. They came to understand those promises that are in the gospel and the hope that is there of the salvation that is there.

They had that in their grasp. And the powers of the age to come. So tasted is also applied to this phrase. They tasted or experienced the marvelous powers of that eternal era that awaits all true believers. I believe that age to come is a reference not to the Messianic era, as some would argue, but that era which is to follow. Jesus will return. There will be a judgment. And then comes the age to come. Now we are in the latter days. We are in the last days, as Peter says it. That’s the Messianic era. But I believe that age to come is a reference to that eternal era that is to follow. So these individuals had they had experienced that. They hadn’t experienced the age to come, but they had experienced the powers of the age to come.

They had the hope. They knew what it was to have the confidence in the heaven and to believe that one day their bodies were going to be risen from the dead and we’re going to be conformed to the glorious body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and that one day they would rise to meet the Lord in the air and would be with him forever. They had the hope of those powers. And they had tasted of that. And you and I have that too. But just because you have it or have had it doesn’t mean you’re always going to have it. And so I want us to see again that the description is very clear that we’re talking about individuals who are at one time genuine Christians.

The reason I emphasize that so much, and let me just blank this for a second, is because there will be those who say, no, that can’t be talking about people who were genuine Christians. Because if you’re talking about people who were genuine Christians, then you have to admit that they could fall away, and that goes against the perseverance of the saints, the once saved, always saved doctrine. Now, the writer of Hebrews didn’t just come out and say, by the way, I’m talking about genuine Christians, or people who were at one time genuine Christians. But the description makes it clear. Just like if I told you I know a lady that is related to me, that we grew up together in the same house. We used to fight like cats and dogs.

2. The Danger of Apostasy

Now you might already know, I’m probably talking about my sister. But then if I say, and by the way, we have the same father and the same mother. It clinches it. I didn’t have to say, now I’m talking about my sister. But the description makes it exceedingly clear. And so here, this description is very clearly referring to people who were at one time genuine Christians who had the hope of heaven. And what happened to them? Well, in verse 6, we see the danger of apostasy. It says, and then have fallen away. This is a very strong term. In fact, the particular term that’s translated fall away, this is the only time it’s used in the entire New Testament, that particular term. And it has to do with at one time you were very close to someone or something, and now you have betrayed that.

Now you have fallen back into your former ways. This is a complete abandonment of Christ, and not only an abandonment of Jesus Christ, but also a rejection of those blessings that were once held, that were once had, that you once had in your grasp. All of those things that we just looked at. Tasted of the heavenly gift, became partakers of the Holy Spirit, and so forth. They had those. And what was their attitude toward them now? You know what? I don’t want those anymore. I’ve been there, I’ve had that, I’ve experienced that, and I’m not going back there anymore. They closed that door behind them, and therefore it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. Their hearts can no longer be touched because they have become so hardened as a result of their own decision and the distance that they have placed between themselves and Christ.

It is their own self-made prison. That’s what it is that we’re talking about. Now, when it says impossible, it doesn’t mean difficult as someone to soften this passage to mean. You know what impossible means? It means impossible, just like in 6.18, when it says it is impossible for God to lie. Same word in the English and in the Greek. What does that mean? It’s difficult for God to lie. I mean, he could if he really tried. No, it’s impossible. It’s against his very nature. It’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. I mean, we could go on with that idea. And why? Why is it impossible for them to be renewed again to repentance? Since they again crucified of themselves the Son of God.

You know, we all crucified Christ, so to speak. We were all enemies of Christ at one time. It’s like the song, I’m the one who shouted crucify. I’m the one who made his cross so high. I’m the one who stood and watched him die. What have I done? I’m the one. And we realized that. And we repented of that. And we became Christians. And we became friends of Jesus Christ. And these individuals had done the same thing, but now they had turned against Christ and again crucified him and became his enemies again. I mean, it is very similar in thought and principle to what Peter says in 2 Peter 2, beginning in verse 20, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome.

The latter end has become worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered to them. For it has happened to them according to the true proverb, a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire. And so you’ve got this dog going back and eating his own throw up. You’ve got this pig that comes out of the mud and goes right back into the mud. And so these individuals again crucify to themselves, the Son of God. It’s a worse end than it was to begin with. Because now they’ve tried out Christ. They’ve had that, and they thought, no, I don’t want that.

So what else do they have to turn to? They have placed themselves beyond God’s soul-saving influences. What else could influence an individual than the cross of Jesus Christ? What else could save an individual than the cross of Jesus Christ? If an individual rules that out and says, I don’t want that anymore, I’m never going there again. Then there is nothing that could be said or done to convince them to change. That is a dangerous and a scary situation. These individuals are taking their stand with those who crucified Jesus. No, they didn’t literally crucify Jesus. But they are taking their stand with those who did. And what they are doing is just as bad. And we need to realize that for ourselves as well. When you turn against Christ, you’re crucifying him afresh.

And putting him to an open shame. Jesus was put to an open shame. He was taken, arrested by a band of thugs who, through manipulation and lies and illegality, had him put on a cross. And first he was beaten, wasn’t he? He was scourged. He had a crown of thorns placed in his head. He was beaten. He was spat upon. Then he was placed on that cross and large spikes through his hands and feet as he hung between two criminals. This the only man who never sinned, appearing before the world as the scum of the earth, as the lowest of low, because that’s what crucified victims were made to be. That’s what they were shown to be.

I think that infers that they were brazenly renunciating Christ to the world. No, I’m not a Christian. And I’m proud of it. I don’t live in Christ’s ways. I don’t follow that. And I’m proud of it. Putting Christ to an open shame. That is shameful. So now we’ve broken down the different phrases rather quickly in this passage.

3. Falling Away Is Possible

I want to spend the next 10 minutes or so making some practical applications for us. First of all, we need to realize that falling away is possible. As I mentioned, there are many who will teach, once saved, always saved. You’ve got your ticket punched to heaven. I preached a graveside talk for a man who was a Christian and a member of the church where I once preached. And this man had a reputation for being a scoundrel. He really had a reputation for being a very vile man. And I had met with him and urged him to repent. I even told him that on his deathbed. And said, I don’t know if I feel good about your situation and you dying like this. I sure hope he repented.

And I felt that I needed to make that point in this graveside service because people there knew his reputation and that he was associated with the church where I preached. Well, afterwards, I got a real tongue lashing. A guy came up to me, I guess he was a friend, and I mean he was upset that I would that I would say that someone needs to repent if they were a Christian, or else they’re going to be lost. And really what he was saying is repentance is not necessary. It doesn’t really matter how you live if you accepted Jesus. I had an individual tell me one time that their children thankfully will be saved by the skin of their teeth. She said in her old age that her children never served the Lord, but they came to one service and they prayed the sinner’s prayer, which actually is not found in the Bible.

And they never really come to church after that, never really served the Lord at all, but she’s so glad that now they will be saved by the skin of their teeth because they at least made that confession that day. You know, if the Bible taught that, I would stand here and preach it all day long. But the Bible doesn’t teach that. And this passage in Hebrews 6, 4 through 6 is as clear as any in teaching that falling away is possible. It’s not just that you were once saved. You must hold fast to that message that was preached to you. Continue to serve God faithfully. Do not drift away from it. In Hebrews chapter 10, another passage that is similar to this one in Hebrews 6, beginning in verse 26, after this admonition not to forsake our own assembling together, is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you say the day drawing near, says, For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

4. Anyone Can Repent Who Wants To

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve? Who is trampled underfoot, the Son of God, and is counted as unclean, the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Again, another very vivid passage to teach that falling away is a real, a very real danger. And we all need to realize that for ourselves. But we need to realize that anyone can repent who wants to.

Hebrews 6 4 through 6 is not describing individuals who wanted to repent, and for some reason God just wouldn’t allow that, and so it was impossible to renew them again to repentance. No, these people didn’t want to repent. That’s partly why it was impossible to renew them again to repentance. It was a self-made prison. But you may be sitting there thinking, man, I hope I haven’t reached that point. Maybe you’ve fallen away from the Lord. And you’re thinking, I want to repent. Well, you need to know that just by the fact that you want to repent indicates you haven’t reached that level of apostasy that is impossible to reach you. You can still come back. But realize that the farther you drift, the harder it is to repent.

It’s just like someone who goes for a swim in the ocean. And you go and you get out there ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep. Before you know it, your neck deep. You’re still touching the sand. You’re okay. Then you get a little further away. You’re not even meaning to. And by now, you’re not touching the bottom. You’ve got to kick just to stay above water. And before you know it, you’re so far away that you can barely see land. The further you get, the harder it is to get back to land. And before you know it, you can be swept under.

5. Falling Away Can Be Permanent

So, what do we need to remember as Christians? You know, Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1 says, for this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift away from it. It can be a gradual process. It starts by putting your toes in the water. And then getting out there ankle deep and knee deep and waist deep. It’s a gradual thing. So you start by not putting your toes in the water. Stay close to Jesus Christ. Don’t forsake him. Falling away can be permanent. We may not like to say that. We might like to say things like, as long as a person alive, there is still hope. I think, as a rule that’s true, but there are cases where people, because of their decision and their utter rejection of Jesus Christ are impossible to reach.

6. God Will Eventually Stop Trying

And they have reached the point of no return. Or as I like to call it, the point of no repentance. Why is this warning given? So that we don’t do it. It’s scary. That can happen. And so we need to be very careful. And also finally, we need to realize that God will eventually stop trying. He’ll eventually stop reaching out. He’ll eventually stop throwing you that life-saving device. Again, that’s not something that we like to say. It is true that God wants all men to be saved, but it’s also true that in Romans 1, when you have that degenerate world of Gentiles who have utterly rejected God, it says in verse 26 that God gave them over to their degrading passions. He gave them over to what they wanted.

Conclusion

And he will do the same for us eventually. In fact, if we reject a love of the truth and do not receive the love of the truth, 2 Thessalonians teaches, God will send you a strong delusion. There you actually have God working against you. You don’t want God working against you. You want God on your side. And you want God pulling for you. These are scary thoughts, sobering thoughts. Not a pleasant message to preach, nor hear, but it’s needed. But I don’t want to leave you with any of these negative thoughts. I want to leave you with the very uplifting thought that the writer of Hebrews says following, following verse 8. But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward his name in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. And I too have confidence of better things for you. Would you bow your head with me in a word of prayer? Our God and Father, the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ, we trust in you, and we trust in your Son, who is superior to anything that we might turn to. We turn away from Christ, and there’s nothing.

We pray that you will draw us closer, that we will draw you closer and your son closer and closer. Help us to beware that we not drift away and that we not reach that point of no return. Forgive us, Father, for our sins and our trespasses, as we also have forgiven those who are indebted to us. We pray, Father, you’ll be with us and give us strength. Give us focus through the rest of today’s worship and our studying of your word. It is through your son that we pray. Amen.