“In the Order of Melchizedek” [Matt's Messages]

“In the Order of Melchizedek”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 21, 2026 :: Hebrews 7:1-19  

Fix your eyes on...Melchizedek.

No. The author of Hebrews does not say that! He does not say “Fix your eyes on Melchizedek.” He says to fix our eyes on Whom? Jesus. That’s the theme of this whole letter.  

We should fix our eyes, our spiritual eyes, on the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He is better than anyone or anything else. He is greater than anyone or anything else. He is worthier than anyone or anything else.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.

The Christians that this letter was written to–who were apparently primarily Jewish (hence the name Hebrews)–were getting scared. They were being threatened with persecution. None of them had died yet, but it was getting really hard to follow Jesus.

And they were being tempted to quit following Jesus. To quit trusting Him. To quit identifying with Him. To quit meeting together as followers of Jesus. And to fall back on just being Jews. To fall back on the familiar. To  fall back on the Old Covenant worship that they had known all of their lives. 

And this pastor who cared about them so much knew that they were tempted to quit, and so he wrote them this letter to encourage them to stay focused on Jesus Christ. 

And we need that, too!

What keeps you going as a Christian? What keeps you on track? What keeps you following Jesus when there are so many temptations to fall out of the race?

This writer tried to focus their attention on how just how great Jesus is. 

He started with that explosive paragraph in chapter 1 about Who Jesus is as God’s Son, the final and fullest revelation of God to human beings. And then he started comparing and contrasting Jesus with all of these great things in the Old Testament and showing how Jesus is greater.

Jesus is greater than the angels (as amazing as they are!). (Chapters 1&2.)

Jesus is greater than Moses (as faithful as he was). (Chapter 3.)

Jesus is greater than Joshua (and gives a greater rest than Joshua did for his people). (Also chapter 3.)

And in this middle section, in the heart of the letter (chapters 4 through 10!), he sets out to show how Jesus is greater than Aaron the Priest and all of Aaron’s sons in the Levitical Priesthood.

Jesus is our Great High Priest.

Remember that? We said that those three words might sum up chapters 4 through 10. Great High Priest.

Or we might say, “Greater High Priest.” Because Jesus isn’t just great at being our High Priest. His priesthood is greater than any other. Amen?!

I know that you already believe this. We all agree with this, but this is the big place in the Bible that explains and expounds and explores this crucial truth about Who Jesus is.

He’s our great high priest. He’s like all the other high priests in the Bible. He’s human in nature. He’s subject to weakness. And He’s called by God, and He represents us to God.

But He’s also unlike any other high priest.  He’s a different kind. He’s part of a different order.

He’s a priest, “In the Order of Melchizedek.”

What’s a “Melchizedek?” 

Well, first off, what’s an “order?” This used to be harder to explain because we don’t tend to use that language of “order” to mean a “class, category, kind, rank, or species,” but those in this generation who have read The Order of the Phoenix have a better idea of what that means, “an order.”

It’s a grouping. It’s kind of like a team that someone is on of people that are something like them. And the Bible says that Jesus is “In the Order of Melchizedek.” 

Hebrews has already said this in chapter 5 (verse 6), chapter 5 (verse 10), and chapter 6 (verse 20)–the immediate verse right before our passage for today! And he’s going to say it two more times in this section (v.11 and v.17). Jesus is “In the Order of Melchizedek.”

In chapter 6, the author said that he had much more to say about this Melchizedek thing, but he wasn’t sure they were listening. Remember that?

Remember how he scolded them and then warned them to pay attention, to grow up, to fix their eyes on Jesus before it was too late for them to repent? To not fall away. To wake up!

And then he encouraged these folks that he fully expected them to pull up and keep focusing on the hope we have in Jesus. The anchor for our souls.

Well, having said all of that, he’s ready now to take them deeper in their understanding of Jesus’ great high priestly role in the order of Melchizedek.

Now, again, what is a Melchizedek? It’s not a “what;” it’s a who.

Melchizedek was a person. He shows up only three times in our Bibles. Once towards the beginning in the book of Genesis, about 2000 BC. Then again towards the middle of the Bible, the book of Psalms, about 1,000 years later. Copper read it to us. And then here towards the end of our Bibles about a 1,000 years after that. Here in the Book of Hebrews.

The Mysterious Mr. Melchizedek. 

The writer thinks that if we think about him some more, we will be encouraged to keep going as followers of Jesus Christ. So let’s do that. Look at chapter 7, verses 1 through 4.

“This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace.’ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!” (Hebrews 7:1-4).

There is a lot there about the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek. And it’s all stuff from Genesis chapter 14. You might want to read that chapter this afternoon. Genesis 14.

It’s another story from the life of Father Abraham. Last time, it was the story of when Abraham had to take his son Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice Him, and then God intervened.

This is a time before that when Abraham (at about 75 years old) led a crack team of commandos against a superior force and beat them. Abraham’s nephew Lot had been taken hostage by 4 major kings with big armies, and Abraham had saddled up a plucky group of special forces, 318 soldiers, and they routed the 4 kings and their armies. God’s blessing all around!

And then when he came back from that victory, Abe was met by this man named Melchizedek who was both a king and a priest. In fact, he was the first person in the whole the Bible who is called a priest.

And note this: he is both a king and a priest (which for Israel was unusual, to say the least). He’s the king of Salem which was probably eventually Jerusalem, and he was also a priest of God Most High (that’s the real God). How he became such, we don’t know.

We don’t know much about him at all! We know that he showed up. He blessed Abraham. And Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. He recognized Melchizedek as the real thing and gave him a tithe. And then we know that he disappeared. He doesn’t come again into the story of Genesis. He never shows up again the storyline.

And we don’t know who his momma was. Or his daddy. We don’t know when he was born or when he died. Or even if he died. He probably did, but we have no record. Which is weird! Genesis is chock full of genealogies. For all of the godly characters, we know who at least one of their parents are. And we know most of when they were born and when they died.

But not the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek!

We know what his name means, “Melchi” (king) “Zedek” (righteousness). “Salem” (peace)–names with qualities that remind us of the Messiah to come. 

But we don’t know where he came from or where he went. I think that’s what verse 3 means when it says that he was “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life.” I don’t think that it means that he was supernatural. Some people have thought that. Some people have thought he was an angel. And some have even thought that He was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

But verse 4 says, that he is “like” the Son of God. He “resembles” the Son of God. So I don’t think he was the Son of God. I think he was a “type” or “proto-type” or “prefigurement” of the Son of God.

And when it says that he had no mom or dad, it doesn’t mean that he never could celebrate Father’s Day. It means that we don’t know who his dad was (because he doesn’t have a genealogy), and that it didn’t matter for becoming the priest.

Is it important for the Levitical priests to know who their daddy was?

You know what I mean by Levitical priests? That’s the main “order” of priest in the Bible. The ones we are most familiar with. The ones that are the children of Levi (one of the 12 tribes Israel) and specifically the children Aaron who was the first official high priest of Israel. The order of Levi. Team Levi.

Was it important to know your genealogy to serve on Team Levi as a priest? You bet it was! It was one of the chief qualifications! They had to be from the tribe of Levi.

But not this guy. Not the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek. And you don’t have to be from his line to be in his order. (For all we know Melchizedek never had any sons!)

And his priesthood is open-ended in some way. Because his death is not recorded, the end of his priesthood is not recorded either. He probably did die, but it’s not recorded so there is an open-endedness to his priesthood. Verse 3 says, “he remains a priest forever.” His priesthood is still in effect.

And it says that this is like Jesus. “Like the Son of God.” (And I think it’s actually saying that Melchizedek is modeled in some ways after the Son of God! Jesus is actually the model of Melchizedek who is then the model of priesthood for Jesus!) “Like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.”

That’s going to become really important as the chapter goes on. “A priest forever.”  Stick those words in your mind. And chew on them. 

Those words “a priest forever” come from Psalm 110, verse 4. In Psalm 110, King David was meditating deeply on Genesis 14, and he was given a prophetic word about his greatest Son (David’s greatest Son), a king Who would one day come and sit at the LORD’s right hand until He made all of His enemies a footstool for his feet (see Psalm 110:1-3). 

And we know that was a prophecy of King Jesus. (Jesus made that clear Himself (see Matthew 22) and so has the letter to the Hebrews. See 1:13!)

And then King David wrote this prophecy in His song to this conquering king to come, “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4).

The Messiah would not just be the conquering king of kings. He would also be “a priest forever” just like the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek. Not just King Jesus but Priest Jesus.

This morning, I have two points of application that I think we should make from this passage today. And here’s the first one:

#1. JUST THINK HOW GREAT JESUS IS!

Just think about how great Jesus is! That’s what this whole letter is trying to do to us. To get our minds focused on Jesus and how awesome He is. All of these complicated arguments that the author is making are aimed at raising our gaze so that we consider the all surpassing greatness of our Lord. Look at what He says in verse 4.

“Just think how great he was!”

And who’s he talking about? Melchizedek! He wants us–to fix our eyes for just a second to contemplate the greatness of Melchizedek. Why?

Because Jesus is like Melchizedek! And the more we see how great Melchizedek is, the more we’ll see how great Jesus is.

So how great was Melchizedek?

Let me ask you this question. Who is greater in stature: Melchizedek or Abraham?

Is that a tough one? We have one passage and one passage alone for Melchizedek, and we have so much about Father Abraham. The Father of Faith! The Father of Isaac and then of Jacob. The one all of those promises were given. Offspring, Land, and Blessing. Which one?

It’s the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek. Look again at verse 4.

“Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!”

Abraham recognized that he was supposed to give him a tenth. Melchizedek had not fought in the battle. This was not a payment for service render. He was just representing God. But he was representing God! He was the priest of the Most High. So Abraham gave him a tenth. 

Now, the Hebrews reading this letter might have said, “Well, yeah, but the Levites also receive a tithe.”

Because the real question for this letter is which is greater:

“Team Melchizedek or Team Levi?”

“Team Melchizedek or Team Aaron?”

Which order of these is greater? Which team wins the World Cup for High Priests?

Someone might say they are equals. Both of them receive a tithe. Look at verse 5.

“Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people–that is, their brothers–even though their brothers are descended from Abraham.”

That’s true. The Levites had a kind of priority over the other sons of Israel. Verse 6.

“This man [Melchizedek], however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater.”

Do you see the point he’s making? This pastor was a great theologian. He thought long and deep about his Bible. He read Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 over and over again until it showed him amazing things about Jesus! 

Melchizedek got a tithe from Abraham and blessed Abraham (who had the promises) and the unerring principle is that the lesser person is blessed by the greater; The one who is greater confers the blessing. Abraham gave the tithe. Melchizedek conferred the blessing. V.8

“In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die [Levites]; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living [Melchizedek, who kept on living according the records]. 

One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor” (vv.8-10).

That’s quite an argument! That’s some Hebrew logic there. It’s like saying that my sons here, Pete and Isaac, were in the body of my Dad Chuck over there. My hero. Levi (and Aaron in him) was still in the body of Abraham when Abraham paid the tithe, so if we’re trying to figure out who is greater: Melchizedek or Aaron, the answer is...

Melchizedek!

Team Melchizedek is greater than Team Aaron.

Because Melchizedek is greater than Father Abraham.

So Melchizedek is greater than his descendent Levi.

So Melchizedek is greater than his descendent Aaron.

And what does that matter? It matters because Jesus is a priest not like Aaron but like Melchizedek. Jesus is great because Jesus is on Team Melchizedek.

Does all of this sound too confusing and boring to you? It can be confusing, and I may be doing a poor job of untangling it for you. But it is anything but boring when you understand it. Jesus is the greatest priest ever, and we need to fix our eyes on Him.

In verse 11, the author starts to explain why this is important to the Hebrews.

Because if they thought they could just fall back on the Levitical priesthood and just stay Jews and not be Christians, they had another think coming. Because the whole Levitical priesthood was temporary. It was going away. Here’s how he knows...Psalm 110! Look at verse 11.

“If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come–one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?”

Do you see what he’s saying? Psalm 110 announced to the world that there was another priest coming. The priest we need!

And the priest we really need won’t be a Levite. He won’t be on Team Aaron. He’ll need to be on Team Melchizedek! If Team Aaron could pull it off, why would the LORD have sworn that he would make the Messiah a priest according to the order of Melchizedek?!

This is really important to understand. He’s going to camp on this idea in chapter 8 and chapter 9 and chapter 10. The Levitical Priesthood (as good as it was) was inadequate. It was insufficient. It was not enough. Aaron was not the priest we need!  Jesus is the priest we need. 

And He brings with Him the covenant we need. Did you see in verse 11 where it says, that the law was given on the basis of the Levitical priesthood? That’s not the way we normally think of it. We think of the Law as the basis for the Levitical priesthood (and that’s true as well) but the law covenant really springs up from whoever is the priesthood. That’s the point of verse 12.

“For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.”

If there is a new kind of priest, we need a new kind law covenant. And we have a new kind of priest on the scene! Verse 13.

“He of whom these things are said [Jesus] belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. [Jesus was not a Levite. V.14] For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 

And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’” (vv.13-17).

It’s all becoming clear now.

There is a new sheriff in town. 

There’s a new high priest in town.

And He’s not like the old ones.

He’s like...Melchizedek!

He’s not from Levi. He’s not from Aaron. He’s from the tribe of Judah (see Matthew 1, Luke 3, 1 Timothy 5, Revelation 5:5). He’s the long expected lion of the tribe of Judah.

He’s a king! And He’s a priest at the same time! He doesn’t get His priesthood from his earthly daddy. He gets His priesthood from the power of an indestructible life.

Wow. What a thought that is! Jesus did die. He died on the Cross making atonement for our sins. But He came back to life. And now He cannot die again. Jesus cannot die again.

Just think about that for a hot minute. Jesus cannot die again. He is indestructible, so that whatever kind of a priest He is... means that that’s the kind of priest He is forever! We’ll think about that more next week.

But think about it this week! Just think about how great Jesus is.

How much do you know about your salvation? We should want to know as much as we possible can about our salvation. If this Melchizedek stuff seems to weird to you, don’t stop pondering it until it shows you how great your Savior is so you know how great your salvation is.

Your salvation is forever because your high priest is forever! Jesus is the priest we need. And because of that, He brings the covenant we need and the hope we need. Look at verse 18.

“The former regulation [the Old Covenant] is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (vv.18-19).

That’s point number two. Our last point.

#2. DRAW NEAR TO GOD THROUGH JESUS.

He’s saying some pretty strong stuff about the Old Covenant, isn’t he?

“Weak and useless.”

Does that mean that Old Covenant was bad? No, of course not. It was from God. It was good.  But it was temporary, it was passing, and it was just showing them their need for something even better. And now that better hope is introduced (see 6:18-20 again).

The law made nothing perfect, but now Jesus has come to perfect us! He has made the perfect way for us to draw near to God. He is the way to draw near to God.

So, therefore, church, let us draw near to God!

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess... Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14 and 16).

Come to God.

Don’t turn from Him.

Don’t run from Him.

Don’t fall way from Him.

Come to Him.

You’re invited!

You’re welcome!

You’re safe!

You’re accepted.

You’re perfected.

Approach the throne.

Draw near!

You have a great high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9
05. "Flesh and Blood" - Hebrews 2:10-18
06. "Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus" - Hebrews 3:1-6
07. “Today, If You Hear His Voice” - Hebrews 3:7-19
Bonus Historical Message: The Gift of My Rest - A Fictional Letter of Sabbath Theology
08. "A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God" - Hebrews 4:1-13
09. "Great High Priest" - Hebrews 4:14-16
10. "The Source of Eternal Salvation" - Hebrews 5:1-10
11. "On To Maturity" - Hebrews 5:11-6:3
12. "We Speak Like This" - Hebrews 6:4-12
13. "An Anchor for the Soul" - Hebrews 6:13-20

Bonus Message: "Fix Your Eyes on Jesus" - 2026 West Branch Baccalaureate

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32 Years of Favor

"He who finds a wife finds what is good 

and receives favor from the LORD." 

-Proverbs 18:22

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“Putting Us In Our Place” [Matt's Messages] Family Bible Week 2026

“Putting Us In Our Place”

Illumination Station :: Family Bible Week 2026

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 14, 2026 :: Psalm 8  

I have seen so many humans in the last two weeks!

I have seen so many humans in the last two weeks as I helped our daughter Robin move across the country to Vancouver Washington in the Pacific Northwest.

Robin and I jumped into her 2003 Ford Ranger stuffed to the gills with her tortoise, her gecko, and her three exotic frogs in the backseat, and we traveled 3,000 miles (with no air conditioning) crossing over 11 states in 6 days. 

We saw a lot of America the Beautiful! The spacious skies and amber waves of grain in Nebraska, the towering mountains of Colorado, the high desert mesas of Utah, and the green forests of Oregon ending up on the Columbia River as it empties into the Pacific Ocean. 

Robin now lives on the north side of the Columbia across from Portland in the beautiful city of Vancouver in the shadow of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens. Tomorrow is her first day of work as a Vet Tech. We got her all set up in her new apartment, and thank you for praying that her stuff that we sent ahead arrived ahead of time so that I could help her unload it and unpack it before coming home this week. A wonderful answer to prayer!

I started flying home on Thursday and got as far as Chicago when a major storm canceled flights out of Chicago and into State College. So I had to spend the night in a hotel near O’Hare, and there was a tornado sighting nearby, sirens going off and everything. It was a little too exciting traveling back. But I got home, and eventually my luggage did, too!

So I have been traveling a lot in the last two weeks, and in my travels, I have a seen so many human beings!

And they come in all sorts. Big ones and small ones. Rich ones and poor ones. Red and yellow and black, brown, and white. Some with lots of hair of all kinds of color, some with no hair, much like the top of my head. Men and women and girls and boys. Speaking different languages. Different accents. Different ways of dressing. Human beings in all of their splendid diversity.

I love people-watching, especially in rest areas and hotel lobbies and airports. And as I watched all of these beautiful human beings, I thought about the theology class I’m teaching this year for Family Bible Week.

This, by the way, is the first lesson in the class. Tomorrow night, we’ll have the second lesson. My class is for the adults who are not going to the parents’ class and for the older teens who are not helping with a little kids’ class. Everybody is welcome, and welcome to the first class!

We’re in a ten-year series of classes on systematic theology. In 2024, we studied from article 1 of our EFCA Statement of Faith, the doctrine of God. Last year in 2025, we studied from article 2 of our EFCA Statement of Faith, the doctrine of the Bible. This year, hopefully not surprisingly, we’re studying article 3 of our Statement of Faith, the doctrine of humanity, what we believe about the  human condition. Let’s say it together as our Worship in Unity this week. It’s in your worship bulletin, and I also have it up here on the screen:

“We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.”

That’s our topic for the next 5 days. There’s a lot there! 

The image of God!

Adam and Eve. Men and women. Male and female.

Satan, temptation, sin.

And salvation through Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. 

If you haven’t planned to come yet, please plan now to join us. Dinner is at 5:30 tomorrow night. There will be plenty for everyone. The program starts at 6:15. This is for you. 

We’re going to be learning about what it means to be human. To be a human being created in the image of God. All of those humans I saw in my travels were created in the image of God.

Cody referenced that big idea in his message two Sundays ago. Thank you, Cody, for teaching us God’s Word–how and why to glorify God and enjoy Him forever! That’s why we are made. That’s what humans are for. We are made with a special connection to God and are intended to reflect Him to the world. Humans are made to be like mirrors reflecting the glory of God for the world to see.

God is the light (Psalm 27:1, John 8:12). And we are intended to be little mirrors reflecting that light.

And as I was thinking about where to go in holy Scripture to kick off our study of what it means to be a human, part of mankind, my mind kept coming back again and again to Psalm 8.

Especially because in verse 4, King David writes the question into his song:

“What is man?" What is a human being? What does it mean for us to be human?

And King David directs that question at God Himself. Because that’s where we are going to get the real answer to that question.

Everybody has an answer to that question, “What is man?” but so many are just plain wrong. 

And what I love about Psalm 8 is that it puts us humans in our place in all the right ways. Psalm 8 puts me in my place. 

Psalm 8 is about God. It's an amazing song about our amazing God. It starts and ends with magnificent praise to God, and the middle is full of worship, too. And while King David is leading us in worshipful praise of our magnificent God, he is also, at the very same time, masterfully putting us in our place in all the right ways.

I don't know about you, but I often need to be to put in my place.

I need to be told where I belong, where I fit in the grand scheme of things. So that I don't get too big for my britches. (Or too small for them either.) Psalm 8, while praising God, puts us in our place in all the right ways. Let me show you what I mean. Psalm 8, verse 1.

“For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David. 

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”

Here's my place:

#1. LOOKING UP AT OUR LORD'S MAJESTY.

King David wrote this song “according to gittith.” We don't know what that means. Maybe it's a song for people from Gath or maybe a “gittith” is a musical instrument or musical style. We don't know. But David wrote it and gave it to the director of music for the temple for God's people to sing their hearts out.

And for people who were in church of a certain age, there’s a song that immediately jumps to mind by Michael W. Smith. Anita played it as the prelude this morning.

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”

You can just feel the praise pulsing through the psalm! David is joyfully overwhelmed with the glory of God. 

He names God here. He uses God's covenant name: YHWH. Whenever you see that capital L-O-R-D in your English Bible, the covenant name for God revealed most gloriously at the burning bush is standing behind it. Yahweh. "O YHWH, our Lord," our sovereign. 

King David is singing about His Heavenly King and claiming Him as his. You see that little word “our?” That's a relationship word, isn't it? He isn't just saying, “God, you are majestic.” He is saying, “Our God is majestic.” The one we belong to. The one we are in relationship with.

“O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Do you feel it? That word “majestic” means "awesome, magnificent, splendid, beautiful, grand, exalted.”  “High and lifted up!”

King David is enthralled by how dazzling, awe-inspiring, sensational, and glorious God is! His name (His reputation, His glory, His name) is majestic, not just here but everywhere, “in all the earth.” Wherever you go, God's glory fills the earth.

And above! “You have set your glory above the heavens.” All creation (in heaven and earth) is a testimony to the glory of God. All things point to the majesty of the name of the LORD. God is transcendent over all.

That puts us in our place, doesn't it? Looking up at the majesty of our God. He is worthy of our worship. 

That's one reason why we need to set aside time every day and especially every week just to worship. We come together as a congregation this morning to worship, to declare the majesty of the name of Yahweh. His name deserves our praise. His name deserves our singing! He is transcendent and glorious over all. Amen?

And then, verse 2 is a real surprise to me. It calls for more praise, but the people praising are the surprise. Verse 2.

“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, but I never see those kids coming in this psalm. The Lord's name is majestic over everything, and He has ordained praise from the lips of children and infants. 

From the smallest and the weakest. I guess he's putting us in our place. He doesn't start with the great and the strong. He starts with the humble and weak. When the humble and the weak praise God, there is strength. 

That word for “praise” there in verse 2 is literally, “strength.” Strength of praise is the general idea, I think. And when the weakest lift up the name of the LORD, they shame the supposedly strong. They silence the foe and the avenger, the enemies of God.

Remember when Jesus quoted this verse? It was Palm Sunday when Jesus came into town riding on a donkey, the little children praised Him. And it enraged the Pharisees, but Jesus said, in a mic-drop moment, “Haven't you read Psalm 8? That's what the little kids are supposed to do.”

God loves to humble the proud by using the praises of the humble. I love it when the stage up here gets filled with little kids praising God. God loves to humble the proud by using the praises of the humble. Because He deserves it.

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

How are you doing at looking up at the majesty of our God? Are you worshiping the Lord every single day? Are you seeing how majestic He is in all of the earth? Not just on Sundays when we're singing in here, but on Mondays when you're slogging it out at work?

It helps to get out into creation. I saw a lot of beauty in the last two weeks. Snow-capped mountains. Rushing rivers. The vast ocean. Huge trees. Water falls. Even the high mesas with their massive piles of sand and stone were beautiful in their own way. These all reflect the majesty of God. He made them! In just a minute, we’re going to sing:

“The mountains are His!

The valleys are His!

The stars are His handiwork, too!”

That line comes from Psalm 8. I think that David probably wrote this song at nighttime reflecting on sleepless nights on guard duty as a shepherd on the hillside looking up at the night sky filled with stars and thinking, “My God made those.” Which is very humbling, but also very exhilarating, isn't it?

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

And then verse 3 is surprising, too. In fact, even David is surprised by it! Look at verse 3.

“When I consider your heavens [YOUR heavens], the work of your fingers [handiwork, like my wife's knitting], the moon and the stars [it's nighttime], which you have set in place...what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”

Do you see David's question? The Lord is not just majestic. He is mindful!

He is mindful of David and other human beings. That's what “son of man” means here, it means humanity, humankind, probably represented by the first man, Adam.

When I look up at the Milky Way, I think, how is it that that majestic God would even have one thought about me? Little old me!

Do you feel the amazement? Do you get a sense of the wonder that David is singing about? This song really puts us in our place. It humbles us, but in a thrilling way.

And then it humbles us again by telling us that we are not insignificant. Yes, we are small, but we are not insignificant. You would think that we are less than a speck. When you think about God and Who God is in all of His majesty and splendor and beauty and glory and magnificence. And then you think about who you are...

And then you think, “God thinks about who I am? I am in God's mind? God cares for me?”

What dignity! What significance! What meaning that gives to our lives!

The world will not tell you this. The world will either tell you that you are the greatest, you are a god, and you deserve all of your wildest dreams to come true. Or the world will tell you that you are worthless, a nothing, a meaningless speck, a cog in the machine, here today and gone tomorrow.

Neither are true, because of Who God is.

God is majestic over all creation, and God is mindful of His special creation, humankind.

And even more mindful, if you can say it that way, of His own children, those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Remember when Jesus said, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).

This majestic God is mindful of you.

And we know even better than King David how big the universe is.

One author I read said it this way, “On a clear night David could likely see 2,000-3,000 stars. What if he'd had a good pair of binoculars? Up to 100,000 [stars]. What if David knew...that if the Milky Way galaxy were the size of the entire continent of North America [which I traveled across last week], our solar system [!] would fit in a coffee cup, and that the Milky Way is one of perhaps 100 billion such galaxies in the universe? [David] would have been even more staggered than he was–but he had enough to stagger him, to be impressed with the massive vastness of his world over against his apparent insignificance...When he exclaims, ‘What is man?' he is speaking in baffled wonder and perplexed joy! Only the condescension of God can hold together astronomical vastness and individual concern. It gives David liturgical goose-bumps" (Dale Ralph Davis, "The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life, pg. 97-98).

David breaks out in song, and so should we!

This majestic God is mindful of you.

Do you need to hear that today? God's mind is on you.

He sees you.

He knows you.

He knows what's on your mind.

He knows what's on your plate.

He knows what's coming this week.

And you matter to Him.

Not because you're so grand. He's so grand!

But because you're His. And because He made you to represent Him.

That's where David goes next in verse 5. He goes back to the creation account in Genesis 1 and sings about that. Look at verse 5.

“You made him [Adam, the Son of Man] a little lower than the heavenly beings [or literally, “a little lower than God”] and crowned him with glory and honor.”

The majestic and mindful King of the World made us...little kings and queens of the world.

Remember what God said in Genesis 1? 

This will be what we will focus in class on tomorrow night, and I’m sure it was rolling around in David’s head as he wrote this song. Genesis 1:26-28.

God says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. [Rule.] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The image of God and rulership go hand in hand. God made us to represent Him and together to rule the world as those made in His image.

He put a crown on our heads! How's that for putting us in our place? Didn't see that coming!

The shepherd boy who became a king knew that He was tiny and made out of dust and yet was also made to wear a crown and help rule the world for God!

Did you know that you were made to wear a crown?

Verse 6. “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”

We were made to rule all of that. Just think about everything in those categories.

Here's your place: Looking Up at Our Majestic God. But also:

#2. LOOKING OVER THE REST OF CREATION.

As one of our God's faithful representative rulers.

Humans were meant to be a kind of royalty. If you've ever read the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis was a master at creatively communicating that truth. King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy learn of their royalty that comes as a gift of the Christ-mirroring Aslan and the Emperor Over the Sea. And they learn to rule as representatives.

How are you doing at representing God in this world? You may not rule over very much right now.

I have a little 5 acres I’m responsible over in Lanse. And for 28 years, I have had a leadership role here though I’m certainly not the ruler of Lanse Free Church and don’t ever want to be. I don't rule over very much. But how am I doing at representing the God in whose image I am supposed to rule?

What do you rule over?

It was fun to see Robin setting up her home in her apartment in Vancouver. To see Fritz the Tortoise and Winona the gecko and the three frogs, one of them is Dolly and another is Dex, and I think the other one is Mustachio. And she cares for them. She feeds and waters them. And makes sure they have light and heat. I’m not sure how you can tell a tortoise is happy, but I think those animals are pretty happy there in Robin’s domain.

What do you rule over? And how are you doing at representing God there?

Maybe in a workplace?

Maybe in a household?

Maybe in a community?

What's your dominion?

We were made to look up to the majesty of God, and (amazingly) in the mindfulness of God, we are also made to look over the rest of creation and represent our Lord to it as responsible rulers.

And of course, as an entire race, we are not doing a very good job it. We have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And our rule over the world God made has been despotic, and disappointing, and disastrous. That's why we have wars and violence and rioting and racial injustice and even hurricanes and raging forest fires and raging epidemics. Because, as the human race, we have dropped the ball.

Only one human has ever lived up to the promise of Psalm 8. And it sure wasn't David. David could see it, and he could sing it, but he couldn't live it out the way it should be.

Do you know where this Psalm gets sung again in the New Testament? You should. We just studied it a couple of months ago!

It's the Letter to the Hebrews chapter 2. Listen to this:

“But there is a place where someone has testified: ‘What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.' [Sound familiar? Hebrews says...] In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. [Things are not the way they are supposed to be.] But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone" (vv.6-9).

Psalm 8 puts us in our place. Here's our place:

#3. LOOKING FORWARD TO JESUS.

Looking forward to Jesus, because of His death and resurrection and present session, putting everything back to the way it was always supposed to be.

“We see Jesus...now crowned with glory and honor.” Fulfilling Psalm 8, being everything we were always supposed to be. And, one day, making everything new. Majestic, Mindful, Messiah.

What’s the application of that?

“Fix your eyes on Jesus!”

He is the image of God. He “is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being...” (Hebrews 1:3).

The radiance of God’s glory! Or another way of saying, He is the Light of the World. 

No wonder, David returns in the last line to the first.

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

***

Note: Astute readers with long memories will recognize that a hefty portion of the message has been adapted from a previous sermon I preached during covid, “Majestic and Mindful,” August 30, 2020.

The major difference is that I have been sharpened in my understanding of the image of God, especially by reading Dignity and Destiny by John Kilner. I no longer believe that the image of God has been lost or even damaged by our sin. All humans (lost and found) are still made in the image of God with a special connection and substantial reflection of God. It’s because of that status that sin is so grievous and salvation so glorious.

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“Fix Your Eyes on Jesus” - 2026 West Branch Baccalaureate

“Fix Your Eyes on Jesus”

2026 West Branch Baccalaureate

Hebrews 12:2-3 :: May 26, 2026

All this year at Lanse Free Church, we have been studying together a particular book of the Bible called “The Letter to the Hebrews.” We’ve been studying Hebrews every single weekend at Lanse Free Church in 2026 so Tyler, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, and Haley may be a little tired of hearing me talk about it.

Too bad. Here we go again! 

The Letter to the Hebrews was written by an unnamed pastor in the first century to a group of scared Christians most of whom were apparently ethnically Jewish, i.e. Hebrews.

They were scared because they were beginning to be persecuted for following Jesus. The government did not like it. Their neighbors did not like them being Christians. Some of them were getting thrown into jail. None of them had yet died for a being a Christian, but it sure looked like it was coming.

So they were starting to think about quitting this Christian thing. They were starting to lose heart and give up. It was getting hard. 

Sometimes, it’s hard to follow Jesus. 

And so this pastor wrote them this letter which eventually became a part of the Bible that is for us today.

And the advice that this letter offers to those scared Christians is the same advice that I want to press upon you as you graduate from West Branch this week. It’s the same thing that I have said to Tyler, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, and Haley every single Sunday this year. (I’m like a broken record.) And it’s this:

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Whatever you do. Wherever you go next. Fix your eyes on Jesus and never take them off of Him.

If you’re looking at that passage that MacKenzie read to us (it’s in your program), the writer says that these Hebrew Christians are in a race.

He says that they are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. It’s a metaphor. 

There’s a giant crowd at the race track. And they (and we) are being cheered on by those who have raced before us. For the Hebrews it was the believers in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. They had believed God and trusted Him even when things got hard, and God had rewarded them.

Class of 2026, you also have a great crowd of people cheering you on. You have this crowd out here, and you have your home churches. And you have all of the Christians who have gone before you.

And they are cheering you on. Bigger than any crowd at L.T. Drivas Memorial Field. And they are saying, "Fix your eyes! Fix your eyes! Fix your eyes on Jesus!"

You are starting out on the race of a graduate. The race of an adult. The race of life outside of these walls.

And let me tell you, this race is not a sprint. It’s a marathon.  hat’s why Hebrews 12:1 says to run “with perseverance” the race marked out for you. It’s not a dash. It’s a hike. 

My son Andrew a wild-land firefighter that jumps out of helicopters for a living, and this summer he is taking the fire season off and hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT is a trail that runs 2600 miles from Mexico to Canada across the mountain peaks of California, Oregon, and Washington. They are doing it all summer long. Up till now, the longest run he’s ever done is a 50K. This is a 4,200K. That’s a hike!

And the Christian life is like that. It’s a loooooooooong haul.

And we who follow Jesus need to prep for that long haul. The Bible says here in Hebrews 12, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”

My son has this little backpack with just the essentials. And there are a lot of essentials. But he doesn’t carry around anything that he will not need. He does not have a chainsaw with him this summer. Normally he carries one everywhere he goes. But not for this hike.

Is there anything that you are carrying around that you don’t need to run the race for Jesus? Take this special moment in your life to toss those hindrances and sins away. “Throw them off.” The Bible calls that “repentance,” and it feels heavy at first, but it actually lightens your load. Repent and fix your eyes on Jesus.

That sounds simple, but it’s not always easy. There are going to be so many distractions for you from here on. Nobody’s going to be telling you what to do. Actually, lots of people are going to be telling you what to do, but you’re going to be the one deciding what you’re going to do with all that advice. Here’s my advice:

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Don’t fix your eyes on your parents.

Don’t fix your eyes on your friends.

Don’t fix your eyes on the culture.

Don’t fix your eyes on a political party or a politician.

Don’t fix your eyes on a social movement.

Don’t fix your eyes on an influencer.

Don’t fix your eyes on a romantic partner.

All of those things are good and helpful in their place, but they are terrible as the ultimate guide to your life.

The Bible says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus.”

Here’s why. Because of how special He is.

He’s the only Person worthy of our undivided attention.

Listen to what Hebrews chapter 1 says about Who Jesus is. This is the first paragraph of the letter to these scared Christians. Listen to what this pastor says about Jesus. I believe he wrote this without the assistance of ChatGPT!

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son [that’s Jesus], whom he appointed heir of all things [like the owner of everything, and I mean everything], and through whom he made the universe. [The universe that you learned about in your science classes here at West Branch was made through Jesus!] The Son is the radiance of God's glory [mind-blowing!] and the exact representation of [God’s] his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word [He didn’t just make everything. He keeps everything going. His word is the glue that holds the atoms of the universe together! And that’s not all. Listen to what Jesus did when He came as a human to planet Earth]. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:1-4).

That’s who Jesus is! He’s the maker of all things, the owner of all things, and the sustainer of all things. He is the Son of God and God the Son.

Who else would we fix our eyes on?!!!

Verse 2 of Hebrews 12 calls Jesus, “the pioneer and the perfecter of faith.” He’s the starter and the finisher for this race, and He ran it before us.

I love that about Jesus. He doesn’t just tell us to run. He ran before us. He’s the pace-setter on this race. And it was not an easy race for Him either. His race included the Cross. You know what happened on the Cross, right?

You know that they killed Jesus. They crucified Him.  He knew that was going to happen, and He ran towards it for you and me. Not away from it.

It says that He “scorned the shame.” There was all kinds of shame at the Cross. Death, nakedness, suffering, mockery, ridicule.

They spit on Him.

They flogged Him.

They nailed Him to the Cross.

They nailed Jesus.

And He knew that this was coming, and He chose it anyway. 

Why? Why would Jesus chose the Cross when He did not deserve it any way? Hebrews 12 says he did it for the joy.

“For the joy set before [Jesus], He endured the cross, scorning its shame.”

He could see the joy before Him at the end of His run. What was that joy? I believe it was the joy of pleasing His Father and the joy of having us (His children) with Him forever in His kingdom. Because His death paid for sins of all of His followers. He died for us in our place.  And that was worth it for Jesus. He fixed His eyes on His Father and on us. And we are called to fix our eyes on Him. He’s the pioneer and the perfecter of our faith. 

He’s the finish line for our race. He’s what we are racing towards. I love that it says that when He reached the end of His race, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Don’t miss that. That means that Jesus did not just go to Cross, He came back from the dead. He won His race! And then He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Do you know where Jesus is right now? He’s at the right hand of God. That’s the highest place there ever was. His work on the Cross was perfect and finished. So that He could sit down. And so we can run towards Him.

Class of 2026, fix your eyes on Jesus. 

I remember going to a football game over here last fall, and there was kick-off, and Coby caught it and ran it back for like 90 yards for a touchdown. Man, that was exciting!

Coby, what were you focusing on?

Was it your dad shouting from the sidelines?

Was it the other team racing at you to take you down?

Was it a cute cheerleader?

Was it your teammates blocking for you?

All of those were good and helpful. (Maybe not your dad.)

But it was the end-zone right? It was the last yard-line. That’s what you were focused on.

Class of 2026, fix your eyes on Jesus.

“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow wear and lose heart.”

Don’t just drop out of the race! So many Christian kids leave high school and then leave Jesus. They get distracted at college or in their first job. Or they get disillusioned or disappointed by the church, by other Christians. Don’t focus on the church. Don’t focus on other Christians. Don’t focus on me.

Focus on Jesus. He will never let you down. He’s sitting at the right hand of God!

Class of 2026, fix your eyes on Jesus. 

***

Previous West Branch Baccalaureate Messages

June 2, 2005 "Don't Waste Your Life"

June 7, 2012 "Three Things I Pray"

May 31, 2020 "Certainties"

May 28, 2024 “The Way, the Truth, and The Life”

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“An Anchor for the Soul” [Matt's Messages]

“An Anchor for the Soul”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

May 24, 2026 :: Hebrews 6:13-20  

I was greatly encouraged when I realized that this would be the particular passage we were set to study in the Letter to the Hebrews on Graduation Sunday 2026.

Because the point of this passage is to greatly encourage the Christians who read it.

In fact those words “greatly encouraged” show up in verse 18. Some of your versions have “strong encouragement.”

And that’s what I want to do for our nine graduating seniors today.

Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, I want you to be greatly encouraged as you reach the end of one journey and begin the next. And I want that for all of the Christians here.

We all need strong encouragement in our lives, and this passage has it by the truckful. And perhaps the most encouraging words are this curious image that shows up in verse 19 where the writer says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul firm and secure.” That’s gotta be our title for today!

“An Anchor for the Soul.” Doesn’t that sound good?! The quartet just sang about it. “My anchor holds.”

“Tho’ the angry surges roll

On my tempest-driven soul,

I am peaceful, for I know,

Wildly though the winds may blow,

I’ve an anchor safe and sure,

That can evermore endure.”

- W. C. Martin (1902)

That’s poetry! The picture is a storm at sea, and there’s a little tiny boat that might get blown away and shipwrecked. Except that it has a strong anchor that goes down, down, down, in the seabed and secures the boat. “My ‘bark’ [my boat] so small and frail.”

Have you ever felt that way? Did you feel that way this week? The storms of life are crashing around you, and you feel like you’re going to drown.

Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, have you felt that way? If you haven’t already, just wait, you will. Life has a way of storming on you, and you feel lost at sea. I’ve felt that way a few times this week myself.

These primarily Jewish Christians who were receiving this letter were beginning to be persecuted for their faith in Jesus.

The waves of state oppression and governmental attack were starting to pound against them. Their neighbors hated them. And they felt so small and frail. 

So much so that they were tempted to bail! They were tempted to go backwards in their race and give up. They had definitely slowed down. So much so that this pastor had begun to scold them to get them to press on to maturity. And he had also warned them to not fall away because they might not be able to find their way back.

He was using strong words, speaking this way, to try to wake them up and keep them from crashing on the rocks. May-day! May-day!

But just as strong as his warning was, so strong was his encouragement. He was sure that this little Hebrew church was actually full of genuine believers who were being saved. They had worked for the Lord and shown love for His name as they have helped and were helping His people (see 6:9-10). They were the real deal. And the writer called upon them to hold on to the very end. Look at verses 11 and 12 which we ended with last week:

“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Hebrews 6:11-12).

That’s what he wants for them and from them. And to get there, he says that we have “an anchor for the soul.” Our souls, our innermost beings, have an anchor that is “firm and secure” tied to something so strong that we cannot be lost. Doesn’t that sound good? 

Let’s see what this anchor is. I’ve got two points this morning that I think sum up a little bit of what this anchor for the soul really is. And here’s the first one:

#1. AN UNCHANGEABLE PROMISE.

 

He says (v.12 again), “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

We are supposed to imitate other people who have gone before us who have believed God for what He promised and received what He promised by faith.

Like Father Abraham.

This imitation of believers who have gone before us is a major theme for this pastor. He’s going to really camp on it when we get to Hebrews chapter 11. The Hall of Faith. This pastor has read his Bible carefully and seen how all through the Old Testament men and women trusted God’s promises–often through the storms of life–and they saw God’s faithfulness. Like Father Abraham.

Do you know Abraham’s story? It’s been a very long time since I preached through the book of Genesis. You know when it was? It was the year that the Folmar twins were born. And my son Pete. 2003. 

That’s the last  time we were through Genesis up here in the pulpit. But we studied the life of Father Abraham. He was the Father of what? He is known as the Father of Faith. Because God made some promises to him. Does anybody remember the three big promises that we call the Abrahamic Covenant?

Offspring, Land, and Blessing. 

God promised these things to little old Abraham in Genesis 12, and repeated them in Genesis 15 and then again in Genesis 17.

And over the span of 25 years, he didn’t have very much land (just a burial cave). And he didn’t have many children. How many? Just Ishmael (which was him trying on his own to make the promise happen) and Isaac for whom our beloved son is named. Our Isaac came the year after I preached Genesis! His name means “He laughs!” God made these promises and Abraham had to wait for them.

And then one day, God told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. He told him in Genesis chapter 22 to take Isaac up on a mountain and sacrifice him. Do you know this story? Maybe read it this afternoon? It’s a really scary story for any parent. 

Talk about a storm?! It seemed like the LORD was sending the storm! I preached on it June 13, 2003.

Abraham took Isaac up the mountainside with the kindling and his knife, and Isaac said, “Where is the sacrifice? Where is the lamb?” And Abraham said “The LORD will provide.”

Abraham trusted the LORD. He didn’t know what was going to happen. But Hebrews tells us in chapter 11 that Abraham figured that the LORD could resurrect Isaac if that’s what it took. 

And God had promised many children to Abraham through Isaac. So it wasn’t clear how it was going to happen, but Abraham believed God would somehow keep His promises.

And, you know what? He did! He provided a ram. At the very last second, the LORD told Abraham to hold up, and He provided a substitute sacrifice in Isaac’s place. And then He made these promises. Listen to Genesis 22, verses 15 through 18.

“The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:15-18).

He promised again. He renewed his promise and made it gigantic.

“...descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore!”

And he did more than just promise. Did you notice? He swore. He added an oath. Not a profanity–not that kind of swearing–but an oath. “I swear by myself, declares the LORD...”

Now, this pastor two thousand plus years after Genesis, is reading Genesis, and he notices that. And he says, “Huh. Notice that. The LORD swears by Himself. Why does He do that?” And he thinks about it, and he writes this for us. It’s our first verse, verse 13.

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ [That’s Genesis 22:17.] And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised” (vv.13-15).

God made a vow on top of His promise. 

And Abraham believed. He trusted God’s promise. And it took a long time. He had to wait patiently. It took 25 years until he had Isaac, and then he nearly lost him. But he waited and waited, and he began to see God keep His promises.

You know what phrase we repeated more than any other as we studied the book of Genesis?

“God always keeps His promises!”

Do you believe that? It sure doesn’t seem like it sometimes. Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, sometimes it’s going to be hard to trust God’s promises. And sometimes you’re going to have to wait a really long time.

But I’m telling you, he LORD is trustworthy.

Abraham is telling you, the LORD is trustworthy.

And the LORD Himself is telling you that He is trustworthy.

Or else!

He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to make an oath and swear by Himself, but He chose to.

Why do people make oaths? Look at verse 16.

“Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.”

Sadly, men do not always keep their word. So sometimes, you have to put your money where your mouth is and invoke someone or something greater than yourself to prove that you mean what you say.

Sometimes that doesn’t actually work when you try to use an oath to wiggle out of telling the truth. That’s the main thing that the Lord Jesus was telling us to put a stop to in His Sermon on the Mount. Christians shouldn’t need oaths to tell the truth. Our “yes” should mean “yes” and our “no” should mean “no.”

But an oath done right invokes something stronger to make it doubly sure. And often what the oath is saying is that you would lose the thing that you are swearing by if you break this oath. Kind of like a down payment. If you break the terms of the loan, if you break your promise, then you lose the down payment. Some of these oaths back then were backed by their very life. “May the LORD strike me dead if I break this promise. May I be cursed by the LORD if I break this promise in His name.” Or by the life of the thing that is being sworn by!

But here’s a problem. What can the LORD swear by? What is greater than the LORD?

Let me see. Let me think. Hmmm. Nothing. I got nothing.

And that’s why He swore by Himself! And think about what that means. It means that if the LORD failed to keep His promises, then the LORD would die. The LORD was invoking the life of the LORD when He swore by Himself.

“I will be cursed if I fail to keep this promise.”

“I am trustworthy...or else.”

Did He have to do that? No, He didn’t have to do that. But He did do that. Why? To encourage us. To encourage us to no end. Look at verse 17.

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged” (vv.17-18).

Do you see what he’s saying? Can God lie?

No. It’s impossible. Same word as we saw last week in verse 4. Impossible. So if God makes a promise, is it trustworthy or is He just blowing smoke?

You’ve got to think about this when people promise you things. Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, people out there are going to promise you all kinds of things. You have to think about their character. You can’t just trust everybody. 

But God cannot lie. You can trust Him. His word is unchangeable. Irrevocable. Inviolable. Immutable. You can trust Him when He says something, and that’s enough.

But He goes beyond that. He doubles it. He double His promise by adding a confirmatory oath. “I do solemnly swear by My Own Godself.” Two unchangeable things. The promise and the oath. 

The promise (and He can’t lie!) and the oath (and He can’t lie!). 

Hebrews says that He did that so that we may be greatly encouraged. Because we are (v.17) “the heirs of what was promised.” Not just Father Abraham. All of those promises are fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ. He says “we...have fled” to Him. We have run to Him. Run to Him! And we have put our faith in His promises. We have taken hold of the hope. You see that in verse 17. “Take hold of the hope offered to us...” by God’s promises. We have every reason to take God’s Word for it.

I hope that encourages you today. Strongly. Greatly. If you know God’s promises, you can bank your life on them. Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, you can bank your life on God’s promises. He is completely trustworthy. So we can be greatly encouraged. It’s an anchor for our souls. That’s what he says in verse 19.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

It’s an unchangeable promise. I love those words, “firm and secure.” The word for “firm” in Greek is “asphalay.” We eventually get our word  “asphalt” from it. This anchor is fixed, certain, safe, and secure from all alarms.

That means that our souls can be, too! This anchor cannot be dislodged. It’s an unchangeable promise. But it’s more than that. It’s not just a promise. It’s a person. 

And it’s not just any person. It’s our great high priest.

#2. AN UNSTOPPABLE PRIEST.

Look at verse 19 again.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (vv.19-20).

You knew that he was going to get back to Melchizedek! He said he had a lot say about him, and next time we will go deep into the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek.

What we need to remember now is that in Psalm 110, the LORD swore an oath about Melchizedek. Remember this from a few weeks ago?

In Psalm 110, verse 4, the LORD says this King David’s Lord (who we know turns out to be the Lord Jesus), “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You [Jesus] are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Ps. 110:4).

God says so. And you can trust Him. And more than that. He swears so, and He cannot lie. 

So Jesus is unstoppably the great high priest forever. And what did He do? Church, what did Jesus do? He died on the Cross and shed His blood, and He came back to life. And then He passed where? He passed through the heavens. That is He went to the heavenly temple that the earthly one was just a shadow of. He went up, up, up into the heaven as our great high priest with the sacrifice of His own blood.

Abraham’s only beloved son got to live. God’s only beloved son had to die. Jesus was the substitute sacrifice for you and me. And He went up, up, up behind the curtain.

What was that? In the earthly tabernacle and temple, it was the veil, the curtain between the holy place and the most holy place.

Remember, on earth only one person could go in there with a sacrifice once a year. He had to have a human nature, subject to weakness, called by God.

They called him the high priest.

But now, we have this great high priest who went before us. He was our forerunner. He went where we could go and do what we could not do.

He went before us–for us!

But that also made the way. So that we can go there, too. The curtain of Herod’s Temple was ripped in two. And we have now have access to the holy God! Nothing could stop Jesus. And nothing did. And nothing ever will! “He has become a high priest forever” and ever and ever and ever.

That’s our anchor.

He’s our anchor!

He’s our anchor for the soul.

It’s quite an image, isn’t it? Look at verse 19 again. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain...”

What does? What enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. It could mean “the hope” does. That would make sense. But it might mean the anchor. 

Which is really strange. Anchors normally go down, down, down. But this anchor goes up, up, up to heaven. And goes behind the curtain. It’s like it’s wrapped around the mercy seat.  And it can’t be budged.

Our anchor holds.

Our anchor holds.

Jesus is our anchor.

Isn’t that greatly encouraging? Tyler, Ashlee, Keagan, Noah, Katie, Coby, Payton, Kyla, Haley, Jesus is a firm and secure anchor. Grab ahold of Him. Fix your eyes on Him. He’s our forerunner. He’s gone before us. He’s shown us how to run the race. Let’s fix our eyes and Jesus and flee to Him and take hold of the hope that He offers.

Church, make Jesus your anchor. Don’t try to grab on to any other security. They are all sinking sand. 

“His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support [us] in the whelming flood;

When all around [our] souls give away,

Jesus is then is all [our] hope and stay.”

- Edward Mote, 1834

He’s the anchor for our souls.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9
05. "Flesh and Blood" - Hebrews 2:10-18
06. "Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus" - Hebrews 3:1-6
07. “Today, If You Hear His Voice” - Hebrews 3:7-19
Bonus Historical Message: The Gift of My Rest - A Fictional Letter of Sabbath Theology
08. "A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God" - Hebrews 4:1-13
09. "Great High Priest" - Hebrews 4:14-16
10. "The Source of Eternal Salvation" - Hebrews 5:1-10
11. "On To Maturity" - Hebrews 5:11-6:3

12. "We Speak Like This" - Hebrews 6:4-12

Read More

“We Speak Like This” [Matt's Messages]

“We Speak Like This”

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus - The Letter to the Hebrews

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

May 17, 2026 :: Hebrews 6:4-12 

Don’t miss the point of this passage. Don’t miss what the writer is trying to do to his original readers and to us as we read it today. Don’t miss the point of this passage. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds.

A number of you have told me that you’re looking forward to the sermon on this particular section of Hebrews because you have questions. 

You’re not alone. This is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to interpret and to harmonize with the rest of our theology. Biblical scholars and faithful theologians have debated it for centuries. There are a lot of weeds to get lost in.

And it’s very heavy. It’s not just tricky. It’s scary. The author paints a very provocative and horrifying picture with strong and potentially terrifying words. 

And that’s on purpose. He has something incredibly important to say to these folks, and he does not mince words to get it out. But he has a reason for it, and it’s not just to shock them, and it’s certainly not to confuse them.

Don’t miss the point of this passage. And the point is:

Fix your eyes on Jesus. 

And don’t stop fixing your eyes on Jesus. Don’t turn away from fixing your eyes on Jesus. Or else.

I’ve pulled the title for this message from verse 9 where it starts, “Even though we speak like this...”

He’s very aware of how strong his words are. This pastor knows that he is speaking in a very provocative way.  

“We speak like this...”

He pulls out all the stops. He cranks it to 11. He types in all caps, underlined, and italics in 50pt font.

“We speak like this...” For a good reason.

Last week, we said that he was like a wise mom who uses a proper scolding at the right time to bump her kids into listening once again. This pastor was concerned that these primarily Jewish professing Christians had become “slow to listen.” Lazy. Sluggish. Dull. They had potentially stopped even trying to understand and grow.

And he was worried that they were stuck in a perpetual spiritual infancy and not going on to maturity. It seemed like they were baby Christians still nursing when they should have been eating solid food and feeding it to others. And maybe even going backwards. 

He did not like their general spiritual trajectory.  If they stayed on this course, it could lead to spiritual disaster.

Is it good to yell at somebody? It can be if they are headed towards disaster. If you are watching someone with headphones on walk backwards into a busy street or maybe over a steep cliff, it would be bad to not yell!

“We speak like this...” When there is danger. And rightly so. And this pastor senses some real potential danger for these people. If they keep on this downward track and don’t pull up, they might not be able to come back from it. And so he speaks like this.

Pull up! Don’t go there! Fix your eyes on Jesus. And don’t fall away.

I have just two points of application this morning, and like last week, they are basically two sides of the same coin. Here’s number one. We speak like this:

#1. TO WARN YOU TO NOT FALL AWAY.

To warn you to not fall away from trusting in Jesus. Because there comes a point for some people when they fall away that they can never come back. 

It’s impossible. The first word in the original Greek of the long sentence of verses 4 through 6 is “impossible.” It can’t be done. It’s out of the question. He grabs their attention with that word “impossible,” but doesn’t say what is impossible until down in verse 6! He holds them in suspense. Look at verse 4.

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, [it is impossible] if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance...”

You see how heavy and how scary this is? He’s saying that for some people there is a point of no return...to God and therefore to God’s salvation. “[It is impossible...] if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance...”

Now, I know you have questions. So do I. But don’t miss the point. Don’t miss what this pastor is trying to do to us. He’s trying to warn us to not fall away. So the application is to not fall away! Fix your eyes on Jesus and keep them there. Don’t miss the point.

Before we get to the questions that we all want to ask, notice what he does not say.

He does not say that they have fallen away. He does not say that they have reached that point of no return. If they had, this would be a very different letter. He might not even be bothering to send them a letter.

Notice that he uses the words, “they” here and not “you” or “we.” He’s big on “you” and “we,” and is going to return to them in verses 9 through 12. But here he’s laying a scenario for them. He’s not saying that this is them, but he’s laying out this scenario so that they don’t go there. It’s a warning. He speaks like this to warn them to not fall away.

Notice also that he never says that God will reject anyone who genuinely repents. He never says that. The Bible never says that. What does it say about repentance in verse 6? It’s impossible for these people to repent. It’s impossible for these people to be “brought back to repentance.” They are unable to repent of their unrepentance.

But anyone who does repent genuinely in this life will be received. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

But some people reach a point, where they will never come to Him and never come back Him. And for them, there is nothing to be done. It’s impossible.

Now, the big question everybody always asks here is...what?

Who are these people? Who are these people whom it’s impossible to bring back to repentance?

Because it sure seems like he’s describing genuine Christians who fall away. And if that’s true, does that mean that a genuine Christian can lose their salvation?

Genuine faithful Christians have disagreed about that question for many centuries. The Christians in this room may come to different answers on that question, and that’s okay.

What we don’t want to do is to decide what the passage says before we read it carefully. We don’t want to simply import our theology into a passage or force our theology upon it. We want every passage of Scripture to have its own say.

At the same time, we believe that God does not contradict Himself, and that His Scriptures are internally coherent. So at the end of the day, we have to synthesize and harmonize everything that the Scripture does say to build up our consistent theology from all of the things that it clearly says. Does that make sense?

So who are these doomed people? I think it’s really interesting that there is a debate. That there is a question. Some people feel really strongly that it’s obvious, but most people point out that there is some vagueness here. Perhaps intentionally. There is no slam dunk.

I resonate with those who think that verses 4 and 5 describe a genuine Christian.

Read it like that. They are (v.4) “...those who have once been enlightened [they had the Light of the World shine on their hearts], who have tasted the heavenly gift [the gift of salvation? And the word “tasted” doesn’t always mean just a nibble. Remember chapter 2 said that Jesus “tasted” death (same word), and He didn’t just munch on the edges of death. He tasted the whole thing and swallowed it down.], who have shared in the Holy Spirit [Who has a share in the Spirit but real Christians?], who have tasted [same word] the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age...” It sounds like citizens of the kingdom that has started now and is going to go on forever.

That sounds like genuine Christians. 

And (v.6) “if they fall away...” or literally “and they fall away...” Does that mean that genuine Christians can fall away? If this was the only passage of Scripture that I had, I would probably come to that conclusion. And it could be.

Notice that if it is true that a genuine Christian can fall away and lose their salvation, they also lose their ability to come back to salvation. 

“[It is impossible...] if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance...”

Once apostatized, always apostatized. 

Now, I personally don’t think that a genuine Christian can fall away and lose their genuine salvation.

And that’s based mostly on other passages of holy Scripture. There are so many that seem to teach to me that once a person has genuine saving faith that God will so preserve them that they most certainly will reach heaven.

One of my favorites is in John chapter 10 when Jesus, the Good Shepherd says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand” (John 10:27-29).

We are safe in Jesus’ hand in the Father’s hand. Unsnatchable. 

There are so many more passages like that. 

And there are plenty in the Letter to the Hebrews. In the very next chapter, when he gets back to teaching about how Jesus is our great high priest, he points out that because Jesus lives forever, His priesthood is forever. And he says, “because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:24b-25).

If you come to Him, Jesus is able to save you completely. To the uttermost. 

This book emphasizes how perfect Jesus’ priesthood is and therefore how powerful. His sacrifice is perfect and completely saves all who genuinely come to Him.

Or in chapter 10, also about His great high priesthood, it says, “...by one sacrifice [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (10:14).

So for me and my theology, it’s once truly saved, always truly saved.

But, we can’t always tell who is truly saved. There are a lot of professing Christians who turn out to not be possessing Christians.  There are a lot of fake Christians who can seem very real.

A number of theologians that I highly respect think that’s who verses 4 through 6 are talking about. Fake Christians. Or we might say, “Almost Christians.”

Let’s go through verses 4 through 6 again, and see how that would read:

Verse 4: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened [they had some light, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they came into the light themselves], who have tasted the heavenly gift [maybe that is just a nibble? Maybe it’s talking about the Lord’s Supper? Some fake Christians do that. Or if this is like those who died in the wilderness that we read about in chapters 3 and 4, it was the manna and yet they didn’t enter the promised land], who have shared in the Holy Spirit [That’s the hardest one, but maybe it means that they have been a part of a work of the Spirit, present during revival, seeing from the outside the blessings that the Spirit bestows on the people around them and getting the blessed in the overflow], who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age...”

You know, there is a way of reading those words that just sounds like someone who has been around church a lot. Someone who has made a profession of faith, but it was only skin deep. It wasn’t the real heart change. 

You know who it reminds me of? Judas Iscariot. He was so close! He followed the Light of the World. He probably did miracles in the name of Jesus. It doesn’t he didn’t in those passages where they were all sent out and came back successful. He tasted “the powers of the coming age.” But I don’t think he was ever genuinely saved.

He was so close, but he was also so far away. And then he betrayed Jesus, and he could not find his way back. Judas was seized with remorse, but he did not repent. He went out and hung himself. He did not turn back (like Peter did).

I think it’s likely that at least some of the people to whom this letter was written were like Judas. Not yet Christians, almost but not quite, and if they were to fall away, there would be no coming back.

“You have experienced all of these blessings, got so close, and then to turn your back on the whole thing?!”

Because that’s what it means to “fall away.” This is not just sinning (as bad as that is) or even “backsliding” which is worse, but apostatizing.

Deliberately, decisively, finally, fully rejecting Jesus. Repudiating Him. Perhaps under persecution. It’s turning your back on Him, and rejecting Him. Rejecting Jesus!

Do you see why they can’t be renewed to repentance? Look at verse 6.

“...because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

They have repented of their repentance. They have changed their mind about Jesus and have decided that, “Yeah, Jesus does belong up on that cross! He deserves it. He’s not taking my place. He’s not my great high priest. I’ll go back to Levitical priests. Let Jesus be shamed. Let Jesus be damned!"

This is not a sin of ignorance. This is sinning against the light. This is knowing better and having gone along with it for so long, and then choosing the opposite and turning your back on Jesus. 

And you know what’s impossible? It’s impossible for Jesus to die again. He cannot die again. He’s indestructible now. “...because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” No, they cannot come back.

In verse 7, the writer turns to an illustration from the world of agriculture. He talks about two kinds of farms. Verse 7.

“Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. [As it should be. You get these amazing blessings of verses 4 and 5 and the good soil drinks it in and produces a fruitful harvest. That’s a picture of how it should be. V.8]  But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.”

That’s these people who have been given so much blessing. So much “rain” from the Holy Spirit, from being around the people of God, from being so close. But if there is no good fruit, it was all worthless. It’s the same “rain” that falls on both kinds of people. But some people take in all of that external blessing, and their hearts are not actually changed. Instead of eternal salvation, they have eternal damnation, and rightly so.

Now, there is a third way of reading this passage that I have come to appreciate in the last few years. 

And it’s a little different from the other two that I have been talking about.

It’s this. In this third view, many of the people of verse 4 through 6 are genuine Christians who if they did fall away would not be able to return, but because they are genuine Christians, they will hear this warning and heed this warning and not fall away.

You could say that it’s like a hypothetical, but it’s actually stronger than that. The warning isn’t just hypothetical. It’s real. But if a real Christian hears this real warning, they will really persevere. They will pull up.

Do you remember when the Apostle Paul was in that shipwreck in Acts chapter 27? And he said that God said that they would all safely reach the shore? Not one of them would be lost. Only the ship.

But he also said that the sailors shouldn’t try to escape and leave the landlubbers behind. If they did, then the sailors would be lost.

So, which is it? Would they be lost if they did that or will all of them reach the shore? It’s both, right? Both are true. They had to hear the warning and heed the warning and they did, and they were safe.

I think maybe that’s what’s going on here with these warnings in Hebrews.

Some fake “almost” Christians will hear it, and some will repent and become real genuine Christians. They will not fall away.

Some fake “almost” Christians will hear the warning and ignore the warning, and they will be doomed.

But real genuine Christians, those who perhaps have been sloughing off, will hear this warning and because he’s speaking like this, they will turn away from turning way before it’s too late!

Now, don’t miss the point. In a very real way, it does not matter a whit who these people are in verses 4 through 6. Whether they are genuine Christians or not. 

What matters is that he is speaking like this about these people to the Hebrews to warn the Hebrews to not fall away. And he is warning us today. Do not repent of your repentance. Don’t even try to find out if a genuine Christian can lose their salvation. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Don’t even flirt with being the thorny, thistly farmland.

Remember, the point of this passage is not abstract theology. This is a sermon. This is theology that is supposed to move you. Heed the warning.

I’m sure you have questions about all of this. I’m sure I haven’t answered all of them. 

Some of you are worried that maybe you have committed the unpardonable sin. That you have fallen away. If you are worried that you have, then you almost certainly have not. If you love Jesus and are following Him by faith, you have not. If you can repent, you have not. Those who have fallen away in Hebrews 6 way, cannot be brought back to repentance. It’s impossible. So if you can repent, this is not describing you.

But if you are not repentant, then you should be worried.

This warning is for you if you have been blessed to hear the gospel and come to church over and over again, and now you are headed out the door? Turning your back on Jesus?

I know it’s hard. The world hates you and is putting all kinds of pressure on you. It’s hard to follow Jesus. These people were feeling it. None of them had died yet, but some had gone to prison. 

It’s surprisingly easy to turn your back on Jesus. The world laughs at us. All of a sudden what we believe doesn’t seems so plausible. It’s easier to go with the flow. But if you do, you will be crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Don’t do it. Don’t fall away. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Some of you are worried for your loved ones who once made a profession of faith and claimed to be Christians and are not walking with Christ right now. It is right to be concerned for them. This passage does not tell us if they will return or not. It doesn’t give us false hope, but it doesn’t tell us that they are inevitably doomed either.

Many prodigals do come home, praise God. Pray for it. Pray for that with all you heart! And what you pray is that they repent. Because anyone who does repent genuinely in this life will be received. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

But it is possible that some of our loved ones will not come to Him in the end, and that is so very scary. Because we are not all going to get to heaven. When the roll is called up yonder, not all of us are going to be there. Only those who repent and fix their eyes on Jesus.

So if you have a good opportunity, warn your loved ones, too. Because it is loving to speak like this.

Number two: We speak like this to warn you to not fall away and...

#2. TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO MAKE YOUR HOPE SURE.

Look at verse 9.

“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case–things that accompany salvation.”

Ohhhh. That is so good to hear, isn’t it?! He calls them “dear friends” or “beloved.” The Greek word is “agapaytoi” which the Apostle Paul uses all the time when he’s writing the churches, but this is the only time that Hebrews uses it. Right where it is needed most.

He has just given them one of the scariest warnings ever, and now he gives them one of the sweetest encouragements ever.

“Even though we speak like this [with terrifying warnings that must be heard], dear [dear, dear] friends [beloved], we are confident of better things in your case [than Better things that curses and burning, than damnation. We are confident of ]–things that accompany salvation.” Eternal salvation!

He believes that his warning will work, and that they are not ultimately going to be in danger.

Remember, he has never said that any of them have fallen away. Just what would happen if they did. He has switched to “they” back to “you” and to “we.” He doesn’t think they are bunch of Judases. He thinks they are more like a bunch of Simon Peters.

Why? Because of the past, the present, and what he wants for their future. Look at verse 10.

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

This pastor knows their history. He knows that there is plenty of evidence that they are genuine Christians from their past. They have worked. They have labored for the Lord. And He saw it, and He will not forget it. Double negative there. “God is NOT Unjust.” In other words, He is just. He is justice itself. And if God can see that they are real, they have nothing to worry about.

He says they have shown love to Him. Literally “in His name.” There is evidence that they are real deal. They have loved God as they have loved His people. V.10 “as you have helped his people (the saints) and continue to help them.”

They are still doing it. At present.  They may have grown kind of sluggish, but they are still doing some ministry.

Are you working for the Lord?

Are you loving in His name?

Are you helping His people?

That’s good evidence that you are real. Keep it up. That’s what he says. Past, present, and here’s the future. Verse 11.

“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

We don’t speak like this to spook you. Unless you need spooked! And we don’t want you to stay spooked. We want to urge you, spur you, encourage you to keep on keeping on “to the very end.”

And as you do that, you will see the realization of your hope. When the roll is called up yonder, you will be there. 

“Each one of you.” Did you see that in verse 11? We want each of you...to stick with Jesus. We don’t want anyone to fall by the wayside.

That’s my heart for all of you. It breaks my pastor-heart know that there are people I’ve preached to and shepherded and shared the goodness of the word of God who have fallen away and won’t be there when we all get to heaven. 

Don’t let that be you! Show this same diligence, zeal, earnestness you had before to make your hope sure. Do not become lazy. That’s the same word for “slow of learning” in chapter 5, verse 11 that we looked at last week. Don’t go there. Don’t stay. Don’t let your fingers stay in your ears.

But instead by like all those who have gone before. Like Abraham. Next week, he’ll be talking about Abraham. Abraham had faith and patiently waited for the promise to be fulfilled. He held on firmly to the promise.  

Now, don’t miss the point. Right now, you might be feeling like your job is to somehow save yourself. “Look inside yourself and find the faith and courage to reach heaven.”

No. No. No. Don’t look inside yourself. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He’s the Son of God. He’s our great high priest. He has gone through the heavens.

Hold firmly to Him. Put your hope in Jesus.

***

Messages in this Series:

01. "The Son" - Hebrews 1:1-4
02. "Superior to the Angels" - Hebrews 1:5-14
03. "Such a Great Salvation" - Hebrews 2:1-4
04. "We See Jesus" - Hebrews 2:5-9
05. "Flesh and Blood" - Hebrews 2:10-18
06. "Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus" - Hebrews 3:1-6
07. “Today, If You Hear His Voice” - Hebrews 3:7-19
Bonus Historical Message: The Gift of My Rest - A Fictional Letter of Sabbath Theology
08. "A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God" - Hebrews 4:1-13
09. "Great High Priest" - Hebrews 4:14-16
10. "The Source of Eternal Salvation" - Hebrews 5:1-10
11. "On To Maturity" - Hebrews 5:11-6:3

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