Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 16

                                          Hebrews 6:4-8

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 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. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.


        Our church just put on "Hearts on Fire" where 15,000 youth descend on Pigeon Forge and destroy hotel rooms in the name of Jesus. (I'm only kidding - sort of) If I was preaching, I might use this most controversial passage, and it would go something like this:

     "You kids came in church vans and buses filled with people from your youth group to have a fun time, hear the best Christian music out there, start some long distance romances, and hang out with friends without your parents telling you to quiet down or when to go to sleep, or when to stop eating Krispy Kremes. But what is going to happen during this weekend is that the Holy Spirit will descend on this place, God will be present, and you will feel things you've never felt before. Your friends are going to be moved to tears as they confess sins. Some, maybe you, will be spoken to in your hearts by God, telling you that you have never been saved and will make that right this weekend.

    Yet, in the midst of all the incredible things that will happen, 40 days from now most of you will forget about it and go back to your old sins. How can I say that? Because you are human beings just like the Israelites. They saw the miraculous plagues, passed through a divided sea which collapsed on the pursuing Egyptians, drank water from a rock, ate bread off the ground, heard God's voice thunder from the mountain and yet when Moses was gone on the mountain for 40 days they built an idol and engaged in sinful and sexual behavior that was sucking them back in.

     This passage in Hebrews is talking about this. You are going to be enlightened, check. You are going to taste a little bit of Heaven, check. You are going to share in the Holy Spirit's presence, check. You are going to hear the Word of God preached and feel it come alive in your soul, check. You might even sense some spiritual warfare going on, check. And, like a field that experiences rainfall seasonal soaking, this may not be your first "Hearts on Fire". You may have felt things and experienced things like this before, check. The author of Hebrews says, "What are you going to do about it?"

       Statistics say that 70% of you, after graduation will leave the church and basically your faith. Look around you. That means 7 of the 10 people sitting around you are going to leave the faith even though there is no sign of that now. It was no different for the Israelites. Two chapters before this in Hebrews the author says though they applied the blood to their doorposts, which is analogous to applying Jesus blood to your heart for forgiveness of sins,  they went through the Red Sea which symbolizes baptism,  they were among the throng of 2 million which means they were part of the youth group - yet their bodies were strewn across the desert because of disobedience and unbelief. In other words, although it appeared they were saved, they weren't really.What I'm saying is 7 out of 10 of you aren't really saved and it will be revealed in the future. Those statistics were even worse for the Israelites because the Bible tells us that only Joshua, Caleb, and Moses - 3 out of 2 million - made it to the promised land and Moses didn't make it until many years after he died at the mount of transfiguration.

        You might say, "May it never be! I want to be part of that three!" Well, looking at Moses and Joshua, what distinguished them from the rest? They continually spent time in the presence of God while the others hung out in the camp. As Hebrews would say, they continually drank in the rain. If you go home and start a personal home Bible Study either with the help of a study book or just journal what God is saying to you through reading the Bible, you will start to glow like Moses. As Paul would say, you are making your calling and election sure - you are working out your salvation. The second thing this passage says is to use what you are learning and use it to serve the body. Maybe you could start a Bible Study or morning devotional at your school. Maybe you could start an FCA group. Maybe you could help out at the rescue ministry or soup kitchen. Ask the youth pastor how you could help him. The Dead Sea is "Dead" because there is no outlet for what is coming in. If you want to make sure you stay alive as a follower of Christ be an open faucet of blessing to others."

     Yah, That's what I would say.