Producing Fruit

Good morning. Would you stand with me, please, and open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are in the New Testament book of Hebrews, right near the end of your Bible. You can open to the very last book, the book of Revelation, and turn to the left. You'll pass Jude and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, 2nd Peter, James, and then the big book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 6 is where we are today, and we're going to pick it up at some verses that we studied through last week, just to give context. Hebrews chapter 6, beginning at verse 4, says, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted of the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."

For the earth, which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated; it receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister.

We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitators who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."

So, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.

Confirmation is for them the end of all dispute. Thus, God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath. By two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Father, Your word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Sometimes there are challenging and heavy passages that cut deep, and yet, Lord, we need those things to cause us to grow and become more fruitful in You. We pray that, God, You by Your Spirit would speak to us through what is a challenging passage of Scripture, continuing to grow us to maturity. Lord, that our lives would be fruitful for You. We pray that You would, just as You promised, Jesus, give the Spirit of Truth to guide us in all truth and to teach us all things this morning, that we would be able to make application from this passage, and that our lives would grow more for Your glory. So speak to us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."

Then you can be seated. A farmer went out to plant seed, said Jesus. As the farmer was scattering the seed, He said that some fell on a footpath by the wayside, and as it did, birds came and snatched away the seed that had been scattered there. As the farmer went along, some more of the seed fell on shallow, stony ground that had very shallow footing. The growth sprang up quickly, but because there was no depth of root, the sun came and caused all that new growth to wilt and die. Then some of the seed fell...

Among thorns and weeds, as it began to grow, the weeds and thorns choked it out, and it would never become fruitful. Finally, some more seed fell on ground that had been prepared and was ready, and it brought forth fruit. It grew up and produced fruit, some thirty times what was planted, some sixty, and some a hundred times that which was planted.

This, of course, is one of the parables of Jesus, maybe the most famous of His stories in His life and ministry. As He would go about teaching around the Sea of Galilee, most of the time He would teach in stories and illustrations. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the section that presents all of those parables, this one always appears as the first and is one of the longer ones that Jesus told. Most certainly, it was one of the only ones that He explained.

Thankfully, His disciples, His closest followers, when they heard Jesus tell this story, sensed that this first of Jesus's parables was not just about farming. Something about the way He told it, something about the story itself, clued them in that this wasn't merely an anecdote about planting on good ground. So, they came to Him. The Gospel of Luke records that they said to Him in Luke 8, "What do you mean by this story? What does it mean?"

Jesus thankfully answered their question and began to explain it. It's recorded in Luke's Gospel, chapter 8, verses 11 through 15. You don't have to turn there; I'll just read it.

Luke 8:11: "Now the parable is this," Jesus said. "The seed is the word of God. Those that are by the wayside are the ones who hear the word of God, and then the enemy, the devil, comes like the birds and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock, the shallow ground, are those that when they hear, they receive the word with joy. It instantly springs up and begins to grow, but because there's no depth of root, they believe for a little while until the sun comes. The sun, like temptation or trials, burns it out and causes it to wilt and fall away.

Now, the ones that fell among the thorns are those who, when they hear, receive it with joy, but their growth is choked out.

He says that by the cares of this world, the desires for riches, and the pleasures of this life, no fruit comes from the growth. Finally, the ones that fell on good ground are those who, having heard the word with a good and noble heart, receive it, keep it, and bear forth fruit. They bring forth fruit—some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.

As we continue to progress through these hard passages of the Book of Hebrews, we just dealt with verses 4 through 6, which we considered together last time. If you weren't here, you can find it on our website, LifeInConnection.com. We were going through a passage of Scripture that dealt with the hard truth and the difficult challenge of the issue of apostasy.

Now, as we come into verses 7 and on through chapter 6, we encounter a metaphor that is used quite often throughout the Scriptures. It is used by Jesus, the Apostles in their letters, and even by some of the prophets in the Old Testament. This metaphor, or word picture, is one that the writers of Scripture constantly return to: the idea of farming and fruitfulness as it relates to the Christian life, faith in God, and faithfulness to God.

This illustration is prevalent; Jesus used it in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8. It is also seen in Matthew, chapter 13, and in Mark's Gospel. Jesus frequently returned to this teaching. Farming and fruitfulness are related to our Christian life and our faith in God.

The author of the Book of Hebrews has dealt with that hard truth, that hard teaching, and the caution against apostasy—rejecting your faith in God and turning away from it. Now, he moves immediately into the same illustration, dealing with fruitfulness in verses 7 and 8 of Hebrews chapter 6. There he says, "For the earth which drinks in the rain..." We couldn't have a better illustration for us today on a rainy day here in San Diego County.

The earth, which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, if there are herbs useful for those by whom the earth is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. I think we all acknowledge that rain is a blessing from God. Amen? It is a wonderful thing, and we most certainly need it. Even though we've had a really rainy season, I'm sure your yard, my yard, and everything quickly started to turn brown. The hills are quickly starting to turn brown as well. So, it is a wonderful thing to see the rain come back again, although it is a little bit cold. I've been freezing! For those of you who are not from around here, if you are from other parts, you might say, "This is not rain, and this is not cold." I know, but for us...

Who grew up here? This is the time to break out the fleece jacket and bundle up because it's cool. I mean, half the church stayed home to bundle up today because this is like storm watch, May 2017. They are going to be out there in full force.

But the rain that comes upon the earth is a blessing. God causes the rain to come, and it waters the earth to bring forth and produce. However, as I think all of us recognize, among the good things that are watered when the rain comes, there are some things that we'd rather not be watered.

Look at verse 8: "But if the earth brings forth thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." I'm sure that some of you, like me, have been cursing some growth in your yard. In my backyard, the last third is kind of a bank that goes down. You know, in the middle of last year, I got it all prepped with just dirt only, and I had plans. You always have plans of what you're going to do there. But, of course, I didn't quite get to it.

By January of this year, there was some little green growth, some little weeds. By the beginning of March, it was like waist high. I was cursing the ground, cursing the weeds and the thorns. I was out there trying to pull some of them. Finally, I just went to Home Depot and got something to burn it all—some good chemicals to burn it—and it's gone.

But there's that part where the water that comes as a blessing from God waters everything. In areas that are cultivated and planted and ready, good things grow up. However, in some other areas, we have thorns, briers, and weeds that come up—those things that are rejected, that are really not useful, and so they are cursed; they are to be burned.

This illustration is one we come back to quite a bit in the Scriptures. Again, Jesus gives it, the apostles and the letters give it. We see this metaphor used a lot to describe the Christian life, with the picture of farming and fruitfulness. In a number of places in the Bible where this picture is used, God is often seen as the tender of the garden. He is the keeper of the garden, the farmer of it. He is the one who graciously pours out water upon it. In another passage of Scripture where the same sort of illustration is used, Jesus speaks of God as the keeper of the garden.

In John's Gospel, specifically in John chapter 15, Jesus begins with one of what are called the "I am" statements. The Gospel of John is built around seven statements that Jesus made, beginning with the words "I am." You can see it right there in verse one of John chapter 15: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser."

He, the keeper of this vineyard, looks for fruitfulness in the life of the branches. Every branch that is in Him and does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes so that it may bear more fruit. Clearly, in a number of these passages, God is interested in fruitfulness in our lives. We, you and I, are the branches; we are the planting of the Lord, and God wants to see fruit come in our lives.

Here, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, while God the Father is the vine dresser. He comes into His vineyard and looks for fruit, longing for fruitfulness. Where there is no fruitfulness, He prunes the branches so that they would bear more fruit.

Jesus says, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me; stay plugged in as a branch into the vine. Abide in me, and I in you." The branch cannot bear fruit of itself; it cannot produce fruit on its own. You need to be plugged into Jesus, into the vine, as we are told in this passage.

So, abide in me, because you cannot bear fruit by yourself. "Unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." In verse five, Jesus states, "I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me, you can do nothing."

This is a really important truth for all of us to meditate upon and remember: without the Lord, we can do nothing—not just a few things, but nothing. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, note this: he is cast out as a branch, and it is withered. They gather them up and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. These are striking words that we come back to here in Hebrews chapter 6.

Find it in John chapter 15 and a number of other places as well. Where there is no fruit, the vine dresser, the keeper of the garden, comes in and surveys what is planted. Where there is no fruit, he lovingly, carefully, and wonderfully prunes it, tends to it, waters it, and fertilizes it to try to promote growth and fruitfulness. However, where there is no fruitfulness, he takes it away, and it is burned.

We have this idea connected with the apostasy passage that we considered previously in verses 4 through 6. Apostasy leads to unfruitfulness, and this unfruitfulness leads to a place of judgment. That which is unfruitful is cut off and cast into the fire.

Point number one on your outline: Don't be burned by unfruitfulness. It's challenging; it's a heavy truth. It's even a hard point for us to sometimes struggle with, to stand under the weight of it. Do not be burned by unfruitfulness. The concept of unfruitfulness being dealt with and burned is throughout the Scriptures. Every time we come to it, we should key in on it and take careful note of what is being said. Even though, like you, I don't like cautions and warnings, I prefer passages of Scripture that are encouraging and happy. But it's a rainy day, so let's get right into the cautions and warnings.

This same idea of an unfruitful vineyard or field being dealt with in this way is not only found in the New Testament; we also see it in the Old Testament. One really clear section of Scripture is in the Book of Isaiah. You can turn there if you like; it's right about the middle of your Bible. You'll find the Psalms, and if you go to the Psalms and turn to the right, you'll pass Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. Then, the Book of Isaiah is a big book; you can't miss it.

In Isaiah chapter 5, God is speaking through a prophet who lived 2,700 years ago. I'm sure you can tell by the name of the book that his name was Isaiah. Isaiah is picturing the same thing that we find in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 8, as we looked at the planting of the Lord passage, or in the Gospel of John in chapter 15.

In Hebrews chapter 6 and Isaiah chapter 5, verse 1, Isaiah says, "Now let me sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved regarding his vineyard." Isaiah is giving this song about his well-beloved God and God's vineyard. Here is Isaiah's song about the vineyard of the Lord:

"My well-beloved God has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it and cleared out all the stones, preparing the land. He planted it with the choicest vine; he went out and found the best vines for his vineyard to plant in this vineyard that he purchased, procured, and readied. Now he is planting it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in the midst of this vineyard for its protection. He also made a winepress there, so he is going to be gleaning the grapes. From those grapes, he will press them into wine. He put a winepress in it because he expected it to bring forth good grapes.

Here, God, the vine dresser and vineyard owner, purchases this land and makes it ready. He removes all the stones and weeds, creating the perfect land on this hillside for this great vineyard. He wants it to be a beautiful, choice vineyard, so he gets the best vines and plants them there. He puts a hedge of protection around it. It has all the possible blessings it could ever have. This is not just ground out there in the hills that no one has ever cultivated; this is the perfect land for this purpose.

He sought for it and expected that it would bring forth good fruit, good grapes. However, at the end of verse 2, it brought forth wild grapes. Despite having every possible blessing, it produced pitiful grapes—sour grapes that are not going to be useful.

Now, in verse 3, God speaks: "O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge please between me and my vineyard." He asks them to make a judgment call between him and his vineyard. "What more could have been done to my vineyard than I have done to it?" he says. "Is there some more blessing that I could have brought upon it? Did I do something wrong in the midst of this? What more could have been done? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?"

Now, please let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard, God says. Since it brought forth these wild grapes, here is what I am going to do, even though I previously blessed it and poured out everything possible.

Upon it to make it the perfect vineyard, I will take away its hedge. In the middle of verse five, it shall be burned. There are those words again: I’m going to take away the hedge of protection that is around this vineyard, and it will be burned. I’m going to break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they will no longer rain upon it. I’m going to remove my blessing from it.

Now, is Isaiah and God just speaking about an actual, real vineyard and an actual planted vineyard? Look at verse 7: For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, His own people, and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant. God says, "I procured a choice vine. I selected you, and I redeemed this land. I prepared this land, and I put you there in this land, this promised land. I poured out blessing upon you, and I put a hedge of protection upon you."

The outcome of your life is that the same people He’s speaking of—Judah and Jerusalem—walked away from God. They first took God and began to worship and bow down to idols. The Book of Isaiah is all about how these people, who were redeemed by God and planted in a good land with blessings poured out upon them in abundance, turned and walked away from God.

Then God says, "Well, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to step back, and I’m going to remove my protection. I’m going to allow judgment to come upon you." These are sobering words; they are heavy things that we come across in the Scriptures—in Isaiah 5, John 15, and Hebrews chapter 6. They remind us and challenge us with this point: Don’t be burned by unfruitfulness.

God is the one who has redeemed you and me, and He’s planted us in this land of blessing, in this place under His blessing. He’s looking for and desiring fruit from our lives. Where there is no fruit, He lovingly cares for us and tends to us. The Scriptures say there in John 15 that He comes in and prunes the unfruitful branch. In another one of Jesus’s statements, He tells a story about a fig tree that’s unfruitful and how the master of this land is going to come and uproot the fig tree. But the one he had hired to oversee the tending says, "Give me just one more season. I’m going to plow a trench around it."

Fertilizer, there is no water, and we'll see if we can't get some fruit out of this fig tree. God is always graciously and mercifully tending to my life and your life to see fruits come in our lives. He doesn't just quickly come in and say, "Cut that thing down; throw it in the chipper." He wants to see fruit come from our lives.

However, where there is no fruit, after He continues to look for it, He cautions us with these challenging passages of Scripture that deal with judgment. They deal with a burning that comes through, and these are sobering metaphors. Yet, they are here in the Scriptures, even though we would rather they not be. We cannot overlook them; we cannot just quickly run over them. We have to look at them carefully and take care to understand them.

In light of such warnings, what should we do? Well, point number two on your outline is that we should challenge ourselves to make our call and election sure. Back to the book of Hebrews, chapter 6, look at verses 9 and 10. The author of the book of Hebrews says, "But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister."

Now, we need to make our call and election sure. We need to make it sure to ourselves and make it sure to others that God has called us and set us apart; He has elected us. Even in the midst of these challenging cautions in Hebrews chapter 6, verses 4 through 8, the author of the book of Hebrews, whom I think was Timothy, encourages his readers. He says, "Listen, I realize that I'm giving you some really heavy, strong warnings."

Hebrews chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 4, and Hebrews chapter 6 contain very hard-to-bear passages with cautions and warnings. I understand that I'm putting this on you, but I want you to know that we see in you fruitfulness. We see good things in your lives, the things that accompany salvation.

Good things happen in your life, but God sees what truly matters. It is an encouragement to know that God sees the good fruit in our lives. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 10 states, "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown towards His name, and that you have ministered to the saints and do minister." God sees our service; He takes careful note of it. We see the fruitfulness in people's lives.

The author of the book of Hebrews is saying, "I want to encourage you. We see great fruit in your life." Even though I am giving you these warnings, cautions, and heavy passages to bear, I want you to understand that we still see great things in your life.

In verse 11 of Hebrews chapter 6, it says, "We desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end." Listen, we see the fruit now, but we want to continue to see that through. That's why He gives these challenges. We see the way you serve, we feel the way you love, and we see the expressions of your faith as you trust in God and follow Him. We see fruit in your lives, but we want you to show the same kind of diligence and the same full assurance of the hope that you have in eternity, in heaven.

We want you to show that same full assurance of hope until the very end because, apparently, it just hasn't happened yet. We're not there yet. Maybe it might be just around the corner, but we're still here, so it's not over. God says, "I want to see you continue to press on and move forward with full assurance of faith until the end." In other words, do really well to keep doing well. Keep pressing on.

As the author of the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul, says in Galatians chapter 6, "Do not grow weary in doing the right thing. Don't grow weary in doing good, for in due season you shall reap a harvest if you don't faint."

How many of you have ever planted some sort of vegetables or fruit, or had a garden? Any of you planters in here? Okay, a few of you. I'm really good at killing things, but I've had a gardener too, and some of them actually produce some stuff. It takes work and time.

When I was about 14 years old, I decided to get a job. I went down the street from my parents' house to a farm stand and asked if they had any openings. They said, "Okay, we'll hire you." They explained that there was about an acre and a half of land right behind the farm stand, and they wanted me to farm that. I told them, "I don't know anything about farming." They replied, "Don't worry, we'll teach you." So they had me out there.

Weeding, getting everything ready, doing trenches, and planting all the stuff took about four to six months. That was what I did through the spring and summer one year when I was about 14 years old. I’ll tell you, it’s hard work. I have a lot of respect for people who do that for a living. I was just trying to make a little bit of money on the side.

You plant all those things, and then you have to wait. You have to wait, and you have to weed and water. Then you wait some more. Eventually, you see some sprouts come up, and you get really excited. But then, it’s back to more weeding, watering, and waiting. However, there is joy in the harvest when something actually starts to come in. It’s the joy that all that work was not in vain.

Paul says, "Do not grow weary in that day-to-day weeding, watering, and waiting." Let me tell you, some of you may not realize this, but the Christian life involves a lot of weeding, watering, and waiting. Maybe you’ve been in a season of weeding, watering, and waiting. In the midst of that, there’s the temptation to say, "This is not worth the four dollars and twenty-five cents an hour that I’m getting paid for the weeding and watering." That was my pay rate at 14 years old, which was a lot for me at the time. Still, there comes a point when you wonder if you really want to keep weeding, watering, and waiting.

Paul encourages us not to grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart. So, what does that weeding, watering, and waiting look like in the Christian life? In my life and your life as followers of Jesus, we are seeking to make our call and election sure, as point number two says. When I mention making your call and election sure, some of you might recognize that phrase because it’s found in the Bible. It’s in the book of Second Timothy. If you’re in Hebrews, just turn to the right a few pages, and you’ll get to the book of Second Peter, chapter 1.

In Second Peter, chapter 1, beginning at verse 5, Peter says, "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence," speaking to Christians.

He says to add to your faith. Here’s the weeding, the watering, and the waiting. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness. Be building these things up in your lives. To godliness, add brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love.

Why should I keep weeding, watering, and waiting? In verse 8, it states that if these things are yours and they abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things, where this fruit is not seen, is short-sighted. He doesn't see the big picture or the long game; he is even blind to it and has forgotten that we were cleansed from our old sins.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. If you do these things, you will never stumble, for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

What’s the long game? What’s the view we need to have to avoid being short-sighted? The long game is eternity and the blessing and wonder of eternity with God. That’s the vision we need to have. However, it’s so easy to become short-sighted, to grow weary in doing good, and to just give up.

The people to whom the author of this book was writing were in a place of weariness, ready to give up, ready to throw in the towel, and to abandon this whole Jesus thing. The author of the book of Hebrews says, “No, no, don’t do that.” We desire that each one of you would show the same diligence, the full assurance of hope until the end, that you would not become sluggish.

In verse 12 of Hebrews chapter 6, it advises not to become lazy, but instead to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Be an imitator of those who, through faith and patience, receive this great blessing of promise.

Point number three: your online faith toward God produces.

Confident hope for eternity and faith in God produce in us a confident hope for eternity, leading to patient perseverance here and now. I know there's a lot there, but I think it's a really important truth. My trust, your trust in God will give to you and give to me a confident hope for eternity with God. That confident hope is the very thing that should lead us, or will lead us, to a patient perseverance here and now.

By this time, as we're going through Hebrews chapter three, Hebrews chapter four, and Hebrews chapter six, particularly the apostasy passages and the warning passages, these hard things in the book of Hebrews, I could not fault you for beginning to think that the author of the book of Hebrews, or I, Pastor Miles, am saying that your salvation, your hope of eternity, is dependent upon your works. It may seem like I am saying that you were saved by grace, but now you are sustained by your works. This is the objection that some who follow Calvinistic teaching on a passage like this might bring, and so we have to have an answer to that objection.

Notice that the author of the book of Hebrews concludes verse 12 of chapter 6 with the words, "Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." As we get into verse 13, he gives us an illustration of someone who, through faith and patience, inherited the promise. Who was that? Look at Hebrews chapter 6, verse 13: "For when God made a promise to Abraham."

It is the normal method of the author of the book of Hebrews, since he is writing to a group of Christians who came out of Judaism, to explain things by going back to their Jewish teachings, Jewish tradition, and Jewish history. That's why he now, in verse 13, refers to Abraham, who is mentioned at the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis chapter 12. He is the father of the Jewish faith, the father of the Jewish nation, but he is also the father of all those who believe in God.

When God made a promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself because He could swear by no one greater. When someone makes a promise, they often say, "I promise," and to emphasize their sincerity, they might swear on something significant. In Hebrews chapter 6, we see that when you make an oath, you must swear by something greater than yourself.

In the time of Jesus, one of the significant things people would swear upon was the temple. They would say, "I swear on the temple I will keep my word." However, if someone broke their word, they might think that swearing on the temple wasn't enough. So, they would elevate their oath by saying, "I swear by the gold of the temple." This seemed like a more serious commitment.

Verse 16 states that men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is the end of all disputes. If someone swears by something greater, we tend to trust them because of that greater reference. But here lies the problem: if God is going to make an oath, what does He swear by? Since He could swear by nothing greater, He swore by Himself.

God said to Abraham, "Listen, I’m going to make a promise to you. How do I know that you will keep this promise? I swear by Myself that I will do this." God, who is revealed in the Bible as immutable and unchangeable, does not change. If He says He will do something, He will do it.

In verse 14, God says, "Surely, blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." After Abraham had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. This raises an interesting question: God promised by Himself that He would fulfill His promise, but Abraham inherited the promise only after he patiently endured. Did he receive the promise because God promised it, or did he receive it because he patiently endured? It seems to be both.

Like doublespeak, the answer is both yes and no. Let's see what he is saying.

For men, indeed, verse 16 states that they swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus, God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, confirmed the unchangeability, the immutability of His counsel, by an oath. By two immutable things—His oath and His promise—in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

Abraham was called to follow God. God said, "You trust in Me, you follow Me, and I am going to bless you." At that time, Abraham was 75 years old and had no children. His wife, Sarah, was ten years younger and barren. God promised Abraham that he would have descendants as many as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. So, God said, "You come, follow Me, and I will do this."

Abraham responded, "Okay, well, how do I know?" God replied, "I swear by Myself that I am going to do this." Abraham found that sufficient, so he followed Him by faith.

Twenty-five years passed, and the promise was not yet fulfilled. Yet, Abraham patiently endured and continued to trust in God throughout that time because God had made a promise. His hope was built on the promise of God, not on his own perseverance. He followed because God had made that promise, and he trusted that God was unchangeable and would fulfill that promise.

Even though, at 99 years old, he thought it was impossible—considering that his wife was 89 and beyond childbearing years—Abraham's faith was remarkable. Can you imagine having a baby at 90? That is faith.

No wonder he is called the father of faith. What motivated Abraham to persist in his trust of God was the fact that God had made a promise and sworn an oath. By swearing on His unchanging, immutable nature, Abraham said, "I am going to trust You because You said You would do it. I will continue to follow."

Don't misunderstand. During the time of Abraham following God, he still fell into sin. If you read through the book of Genesis, chapters 12 through about 30, you'll find that Abraham messed up, but he persisted in trusting in God and ultimately obtained the promise.

We'll talk more about Abraham in Hebrews chapter 11 because he's listed in what we sometimes refer to as the Hall of Faith. He trusted even when it seemed impossible that God's Word would come to pass. He said, "You said it, and you're unchangeable, and you swore that you would do it, so I'm going to persist in following you."

Point number four: God's unchanging oath and promise are the basis for our confidence in hope. This is so important, Church. God's unchanging oath and promise are the basis for our confidence in hope. My hope is not built on my perseverance; my perseverance is built upon my hope. My hope is not built in my perseverance, thinking that if I just keep persevering and following, then I'm going to get the promise.

I will keep following and pressing on because I have hope, because He promised it. This is why Abraham persisted; this is why he persevered. God, who does not change, swore an oath and a promise and said, "I will do this." Abraham said, "Well, you said you'll do it, so I'm going to keep following because you'll do it," even though it seemed impossible.

Then, at ninety years old, Sarah conceived and bore a child to Abraham, who was a hundred, and God made good on His promise. God's unchanging oath and promise are the basis for our confidence in hope.

Look at Hebrews chapter six, verse 19. This hope, along with God's promise and God's oath, comes from the unchanging God who has promised you and me, because of what Jesus did on the cross, that we will have salvation in Jesus Christ as we trust in Him. This we have as an anchor for our soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever.

According to the order of Melchizedek, what is the author saying here? Listen, Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. God gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him and trusts in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Even though some may say that sounds far out or too good to be true, it can't possibly come to pass. But the unchanging, immutable Creator of all things swore an oath and gave a promise to you and to me. If we trust in Jesus and His death on our behalf there on the cross, He will give us salvation. Therefore, the author of the book of Hebrews says, "Don't turn away from that. Persist in following and have that sure hope."

We have an anchor for our soul. This hope is that anchor for our souls; it is anchored to Jesus and the finished work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. My salvation does not depend on how well I persevere; I persevere because I hope in the salvation that Jesus earned for me and for you on the cross.

Point number five: our confidence and hope of salvation in Jesus will produce the fruit of faithfulness to Jesus. You see, the extent to which you are faithful and persevere as a follower of Jesus is the extent to which you have hope in His salvation.

Do you have a sure and steadfast hope? Do you have a hope that is the anchor of your soul, anchored to Jesus and Him alone? Or do you have the kind of hope that I've heard from a number of people over the years? When I ask that heavy question, "Hey, listen, if you died tonight, do you think you'd go to heaven?" they look at me with a little bit of despair on their faces and say, "Well, I hope so."

How about you? Do you have that hope? I have an absolute certainty that I will be with God in eternity in heaven. Why? Because Jesus, who died on the cross for my sins, told me that if I trust in Him, He will give me that salvation. So, I say to someone, "If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?" If they say, "I hope so," I ask, "What's the basis of your hope?" They often respond, "Well, you know, I'm a pretty good person." Listen, if you're...

Basing your hope on being a pretty good person gives you every reason to question your home. However, if the basis of your hope is the sure rock of our salvation, Jesus Christ the Righteous, you can stand with total confidence that you will be with Him in the end. He promised it and swore an oath to you. That's good news!

Amen. Just stand with me as we close in prayer. Jesus, we come before You today, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, which we'll delve into to understand a little more in the coming weeks.

Jesus, I thank You that You offered this sacrifice once for all, and that we don't need to perpetually try to muster up some new sacrifice to cover all of our failures. We all fail all the time, and yet what You did is sufficient. It's enough to give us steadfast and enduring hope, an absolute certainty that we will be with You—not wishful thinking, but certainty.

We thank You, Jesus, as we stand here now. Maybe you don't have that absolute certainty. You hope that you'll get there, but you kind of hope to get to heaven like you hope to win the lottery, knowing that the odds are stacked against you. If you want the absolute certainty, the hope that Jesus alone gives, I want to give you a chance to put your trust in Him today and to have that hope as an anchor for your soul.

If that's you today, would you lift up your hand high so I can see it? Anyone here? I see you in the back. God bless you. Anyone else? If you want to receive that hope for salvation from Christ, just lift up your hand.

He said, "Whosoever comes to Me, I'll give him the opportunity to drink of living water." All you have to do is come and put your trust in Him. Ask Him to come into your life and to forgive you of your sin. If that's you, I want to lead you in a prayer. Just where you're at, pray out loud with me: "Dear Jesus, I know that I need You. I cannot save myself."

But I trust that You died to save me. I pray that You would come into my life, that You would forgive me of my sin, and that You would help me to follow You by faith. In Jesus' name, amen.

Isn't that a good sound? Let's praise God for His blessing.