“We Have a God Who Can be Trusted”
(Sunday Morning March 26th, 2017)
Passage: Hebrews 6:13-20
O.S. I Want to Begin This Sermon by Bringing You Into the Context of This Passage
of Scripture
-> The Writer of Hebrews, Who Was Writing Under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Was Faced With the Challenge of Getting a Group of Jews to Commit Their Lives
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
-> Now, I Want You to Try to Put Yourself in Their Shoes; They Had Grown Up Under
the Influence of Judaism
-> They Were Accustomed to Bringing Sacrifices to the Temple; TheyHad Grown Up
With Circumcision, and the Priesthood, and They Were Accustomed to Observing
Allof theRituals Associated With That Old Covenant System
-> But Now, They Were Being Told That the Old Covenant System is Obsolete, That
They Now Have Access to a New and Superior Covenant, and That There is No
Longer Any Need for the Priesthood, or the Sacrifices, or the Rituals Etcetera
-> It Was Not Easy for Them Jettison All of That; and in Addition to That, They
Were Facing Some Very Real Pressure by Committing Their Lives to Christ
-> They Had Already Seen What Had Happened to Others Who Had Committed
Their Lives to Jesus Christ, and It Wasn’t Pretty
-> The Jews, Most Likely, Had Taken Away All of the Property and Possessions
of Those Who Had Committed Their Lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ
-> In Hebrews 10:34, the Writer Said This About Them; He Said, “For you showed
sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing
that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one”(Imagine That)
-> And the Pressure Was Only Getting Worse, the Writer of Hebrews Implied That
They Might be Called Upon to Shed Their Blood or Even to be a Martyr for Christ
-> In Hebrews 12:4, He Said, “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood
in your striving against sin”
-> In Other Words, It Hasn’t Happened Yet, But This CouldHappenin the Near Future
St = And So, It is Somewhat Understandable That the Writer of Hebrews Was Having
Difficulty Getting Some of These Jews to Get Off of the Proverbial Fenceand toCome
All the Way to the Point of Placing Their Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ
-> He Was Faced With the Task of Trying to Convince Them That They Needed
to Place Their Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ Even Though They Were Going
to Face a Tremendous Amount of Pressure if They Chose to do So
-> And So, His Objective, at This Point, Was to Convince Them of the Fact That
We Have a God Who Can be Trusted
Q.n = And It is Important for All of Us to Understand This as Well, Isn’t It?
-> It is Important for All of Us to Understand This, Because We Also Have to Face
Pressure and Problems in Life
-> In Fact, the Only People I Know of Who Aren’t Facing Any Problems in Life
Right Now are Over There in the South Park Cemetery (Can I Get a Witness?)
Pt = We are All Facing Some Problems and Difficulties; You’re Facing Some Problems
and Difficulties Right Now, and I Didn’t Have to Read Your Mail to Know That
-> And So, It is Important for All of Us to Know That We Have a God Who Can
be Trusted
-> In Proverbs 29:25, Solomon Said, “…whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe”(NKJV)
-> And in Psalms 37:4, David Said, “4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall
give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him,
and He shall bring it to pass”(NKJV)
-> I Believe Most of You Would Agree With Me When I Say That There ARE NOT
a Lot of People in This World Who Can be Trusted
-> I am Skeptical, for Example, AboutTrusting Politicians, andAttorneys, andDoctors,
and Salesmen, andContractors, and Teachers (Elaborate), and Daycare Workers
(Elaborate),andSadly, I Have to Include Preachers is This List
-> But Listen, I Have Some Good News This Morning, and That is That We Have
a God Who Can be Trusted
______
T.S. And in This Passage of Scripture, the Writer of Hebrews Gives Us Some Biblical
Evidence That Will Reassure All of Us of This Very Simple Fact
I. …Because We Have a SurePromise
1) An Example
Verses 13-15 (Read)
-> Since He Was Addressing Jews, We Should Not be Surprised by the Fact That
the Writer of Hebrews Chose to Use Abraham as an Example
-> God First Gave This Promise to Abram When He Was Seventy Five Years of Age
and This is Found in Genesis 12:1-2 Which Says This
“1 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives
and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make
you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great;…”
-> Ten Years Later, That Promise Had Still Not Been Fulfilled; So, at the Age of 85,
God Reassured Abram Again by Saying
"Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward
and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you
and to your descendants forever. 16 "I will make your descendants as the dust
of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants
can also be numbered.”(Gen 13:14-16)
-> The Name “Abram”, by the Way, Means “Father of Many”; So, This Must Have
Been Somewhat Embarrassing for “Abram” at Times (Elaborate)
-> And Then, to Make Matters Worse, God Gave “Abram” a New Name in Genesis 17;
He Renamed Him “Abraham” Which Means “Father of Multitudes” (Elaborate)
-> But Ultimately, God Fulfilled His Promise, and Isaac Was Born When Abraham
Was One Hundred Years Old and Sarah Was Over Ninety
Q.n = So, What Does All of This Prove?
Ans = Well, It Proves That God Can Perform Miracles, Because Abraham and Sarah
Were Way Past Their Child Bearing Years
Ans = It Also Proves That God Keeps His Promises, and the Jews to Whom This Letter
Was Written Were Themselves an Evidence of That
St = Now, With This in Mind, I Want to Remind You of the Fact That Our God
Has Also Given Us Some Promises
-> The Most Important Promises That God Has Given Us are in Relation to Our
Salvation
-> In John 3:16, for Example, We are Told That "…God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life”
-> By the Way, Some People Try to Say That the Warning Given in the First Part
of This Chapter Proves That a Christian Can Fall From Grace
Q.n = But Listen to Me, are You Listening?
-> Some of the Strongest Evidence We Have for the Doctrine of the Eternal Security
of the Believer is Found at the End of This Same Chapter (Read the Entire Chapter)
-> And Jesus Himself Gave Us a Promise Related to This in John 5:24,When He Said,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into
life”
-> We Also Find Promises in the Bible Related to Our Daily Needs; in the Gospels,
for Example, Jesus Points to the Birds of the Air and the Lilies of the Field, and He
Tells Us to Stop Worrying About Things Like Our Food and Clothing (Matt 6:26-29)
-> And inPhilippians 4:19, Paul Said, “And my God will supply all your needs according
to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”
-> In Addition to This, We Find Promises Related to Divine Protection, and a Divine
Purpose for Living(Ephesians 2:10), and Divine Healing(James 5:13-15)
-> And in Hebrews 13:5, This Writer Said That Our God Will Never Leave Us
or Forsake Us, and I Love the Way That Reads in the Original Greek (Elaborate)
______
Ill: This Reminds Me of a Story I Came Across One Time About a Woman Who Had
the Letters “T” and “P” Written All Throughout Her Bible
-> Her Pastor Asked Her About That, and She Said, “Oh That Stands for ‘Tried’
and ‘Proved’”(Elaborate = Every Time God Came Through, She Would Write “T” and“P”)
______
T.S. 1) An Example
2) An Emphasis
Verses 15-17 (Read)
-> Now, This is Very Interesting, Because God Did Not Have to Take an Oath
But He Did So
-> And This Came in the Form of an Unconditional Covenant That God Made
With Abram in Genesis 15
Gen 15:1-6 (Turn and Read)
-> I Want You to Notice That Abram, at This Point, Simply Believed God, and He
Was Proclaimed Righteous by His Faith Before the Law Was Even Given
-> And Then, God Told Abram to Bring a Three Year Old Heifer, and a Three Year
Old Female Goat, and a Three Year Old Ram, and a Turtledove and a Pigeon
-> And He Told Abram to Cut Them, in Half, Because This is How a Covenant
Was Made in Those Days (The Word “Covenant” Literally Means “To Cut”)
-> And Then, AND PLEASE DON’T MISS THIS, He Caused Abram to Fall Asleep
-> Then, God Who Was Symbolized by a Smoking Oven and a Flaming Torch Passed
Through These Pieces
Q.n = Now, Why Did God Cause Abram to Fall Asleep?
Ans = In Order to Make This an Unconditional Covenant
-> You See, God Did Not Really Make This Covenant With Abram; He Made This
Covenant With Himself; and Therefore, It is an Unconditional Covenant
-> Someone Might Say, “But Wait a Minute, the Jews Have Never Even Possessed All
of This Land That God Promised to Them”
-> You’re Right, But Listen, They Will, and I Can Promise You That They Will Based
on This Promise in the Word of God(This is Why I’m a Premillenialist)
Q.n = God Made an Oath, and Why Did God Make an Oath?
Ans = To Show Them and Us the Unchangeableness of His Purpose
-> God Wanted Them and Us to Have Same Additional Reassurance of the Fact That
He Would Cause All of These Things to Come to Pass
Q.n = So, What Does This Have to do With All of Us Who are Sitting Here in These
Seats at the Providential Baptist Church This Morning?
Ans = God Has Also Given Us an Oath, or Perhaps, I Should Say “A Pledge”, and God’s
Pledge Has Come in the Form of the Presence of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives
-> In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul Said, “13…you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit
of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption
of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory”
-> The Word “Sealed”, by the Way, Refers to Divine Protection, and I Want You
to Notice That It is in the Past Tense
-> We Have Been “Sealed”, Note This, “in Him” Which Means “Positionally in Christ;”
So, We are Safe “in Christ” Just as Noah Was Safe “in the Ark” Which Represents
Christ
-> And Not Only This, We Have Been Given “A Pledge” or Literally, “An Arabone”,
a Down Payment That Guarantees That We Will Receive the Rest
-> So, Let’s Go Back and Consider the Context of This Passage of Scripture Again
Q.n = What if the Worst Happened to These Jews in Regard to Their Property
and Possessions? What if They Were to Lose It All Because of Their Faith?
Ans = They Would Still Have Jesus and No One Could Take Him Away From Them,
and He Owns the World and All That It Contains (Psalms 24:1)
Q.n = What if They Were Called Upon to Shed Their Blood for Jesus or Even to Die
as a Martyr as a Result of Their Faith in Jesus Christ?
Ans = They Would Immediately Wake Up in His Presence in Heaven
-> This Was True for Them,and This is True for Us; in Fact, This is Guaranteed
-> We Not Only Have This Promise; We Have This Promise From Our God Who
is Immutable Which Means That He Cannot Lie
-> And Not Only This, He Has Also Given Us an Unconditional Oath, and Unconditional
Promise and an Unconditional Pledge
-> In Fact, I Want to Remind You and Myself of the Fact That the New Covenant That
We Have is Also an Unconditional Covenant, and It is a Covenant of Grace
-> This New Covenant is Not Based on Our Performance, Thank God, It is Based
on God’s Grace; and Therefore, We Don’t Have to Worry About It Being Rescinded
II. …Because We Have a SafeRefuge
1) A Problem
Verse 18 (Read)
Q.n = By the Way, What are the Two Unchangeable Things?
Ans = God’s Promise and God’s Pledge (One is Enough)
-> Now, He is Referring Here to the Old Testament Cities of Refuge Which, as We
Will See, Were Actually an Old Testament Type or Symbol of Jesus Christ
-> There Were Three Cities of Refuge on the West Side of the Jordan and Three Cities
of Refuge on the East Side of the Jordan, and They Were There for a Reason
-> If a Person Accidentally Killed Another Person, if It Was a Case of Involuntary
Manslaughter, He Would Have to Flee to One of These Cities of Refuge
-> In Fact, an Example of a Reason for Fleeing to One of These Cities is Given to Us
in Deuteronomy 19:5 Which Says “…when a man goes into the forest with his friend
to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips
off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies — he may flee to one of these cities
and live”
-> As You Can See, That Was Accidental; the Axe Head Just Came Off and Struck His
Friend and Killed Him
-> It Was Important for This Man to Flee, However, Because the Family of the Deceased
Would Select a Blood Avenger (Elaborate = A Close Relative, Strong, a Good Tracker)
-> If the BloodAvenger Got to This Man Before He Could Get to a City of Refuge,
He Could Take This Man’s Life Without Even Waiting for a Judge and a Jury
-> So, We Could Say That This Man Had a Problem, a Serious Problem, and That
is Why He Needed to Find a City of Refuge
Q.n = And Listen to Me, are You Listening?
-> We Need a City of Refuge for the Same Reason; We Need a City of Refuge, Because
We Have a Problem or Problems
-> This is Just the Way Life is; Job Said That We are All Born for Trouble as the Sparks
Fly Upwards; and if Someone Tells You Differently, They’re Lying (Job 5:7)
St = So, I Want to Tell You Something About Your Problem or Problems That You May
Not Know
-> Your Problem, or Problems, Have Been Allowed to Come Upon You by God; That
Problem or Problem Has Come With Your Zip Code on It (Example = Job)
-> If You are Not a Christian, I Can Tell You That Your Problem(s) are Designed
to Cause You to Seek the City of Refuge Which is Jesus Christ
-> It Was C.S. Lewis, Who in His Book “The Problem of Pain” Said, “God Whispers
to Us in Our Conscience; He Speaks to Us in Our Prayers, But He Shouts to Us
in Our Pain; It is His Megaphone for Rousing a Deaf World.”
-> You See, Unfortunately, Our God Needs a Way to Get Our Attention, and I Know
That Was True for Me, and Sometimes It Takes a Lot to Get Our Attention
-> If You are a Christian, Your Problem(s) are Designed to Bring You Closerto Christ
-> “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, …” , James Said, “…when (Not “IF” But “WHEN”)
you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing.”(James 1:2-4)
-> He is Saying That These Problems Cause Us to Seek Christ; and as We Seek Him,
He Makes Us “Complete” Which Refers to “Spiritual Maturity.”
______
Q.n = Have You Ever Had Anyone Accuse You of Using Christianity as a Crutch?
-> This is How I Think We Should Handle That; I Think We Should Handle That
by Congratulating Them on Their Insight About the Christian Faith
-> I Think That We Should Admit That Christians are Wimps, and That We Can’t
Handle All of the Problems That Life Throws at Us All by Ourselves
-> But Then, I Think We Should go on to Point Out That Everyone is a Wimp; None
of Us Have the Ability to Reconcile Ourselves to God
-> None of Us Have the Ability to Take on the Devil by Ourselves; We Can Only
Defeat the Devil Through Jesus Christ and the Strength of His Might
-> In Fact, We Can’t Even Conquer Ourselves, Our Lower Nature, Without
the Presence and the Power of the Holy Spirit Working in and Through Us
-> And So, the Truth is That We All Need a Crutch; We All Need This City of Refuge
2) A Place
-> These Cities of Refuge Had Some Interesting Features Related to Them
a. These Cities Were Appointed
-> Before They Even Came Into the Promised Land, God Instructed Moses to Make
the Necessary Preparations for Building These Cities (Deut 19:1-3)
-> Likewise, We are Told in Revelation 13:8 That “…the Lamb (Jesus) (was) slain
from (before) the foundation of the world”(Did You Know That?)