Okay. Shalom, everyone. I'd like you to turn with me to the passage that it had been said it's one of the most difficult passages to understand in Scripture. And that passage is in the book of Hebrews, chapter 5, the last verses, into chapter 6. I'd like you to turn to this passage right now. And as we are going to read those verses, I would like to suggest that as I have been listening to various individuals who write and teach about the book of Hebrews, I must say that we learn very quickly that this passage is one of the most difficult passages that believers, that brothers who teach the word, had to deal with.

And I'm not for a moment assuming, but confessing that I myself need much grace from the Lord to be able to share, if you will, to be able to communicate with you in a proper way, even this passage. And I hope and trust that the Lord will give us something something to glean from here that will help us in understanding this passage in the book of Hebrews 5. Now, I have listened to various individuals, which I have very much respect. And I believe those teachers, such as I'm sure you are aware of, who you are aware of, Vernon McGee, Arnold Fuchtenbaum, and others, David Jeremiah, and many others who are godly men who teach the word, love the scriptures, and we respect them, that have gone, been teaching the word, and I'm very thankful for them.

But I must say that it is a little bit hard to come to an ultimate conclusion because there is always a few things that one leans towards, or the other leans towards. Now, obviously, because I am the one who is teaching at present time, I'm going to give you my view about this passage, and we'll take it from the Lord, whatever the Lord will help us to understand from this passage. We are dealing today from the book of Hebrews with the third warning that the writer to the Hebrews have been given to us in this book. It is the third warning that we have in the book of Hebrews.

We had one already found in chapter 2, we had the second one found in chapter 3 and 4, and this is the third warning that we have here in the book of Hebrews. Now, let's read in chapter 5 and verse 11, and I'm reading from this verse, chapter 5 and verse 11. He is speaking about Malkitzedek, the last passage we have read in our last study was Hebrews 5 up till verse 10. You notice about the Lord Yeshua, it says, called of God a high priest after the order of Malkitzedek. Then he continues on now, of whom, this is Malkitzedek, we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need of one that one will teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat, strong food belong to them that are of full age, mature, even those who are by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. For God's sake. For God's sake. For God's sake. For God's sake.

the principle of doctrine of messiah let us go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards god and of the doctrine of baptism and of the laying of the hands and of the resurrection of the dead and of the eternal judgment and this will we do if god permit for and here is this very difficult passage verses four five and six for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gifts and were made partakers of the holy spirit and have tasted of the good word of god and the power of the world to come if they shall fall away

to renew them again unto repentance seeing they have crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it and bringeth forth herbs meat for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from god but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burnt but beloved we are persuaded better things of you and things that accompany salvation though with us speak for god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed towards his name in that ye have ministered to the saints and

do minister and we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises now i'm going to stop here in verse 12 though we can continue up to verse 20 from verse 13 but i'm going to stop here because there's so much beloved brothers and sisters in this passage that i'm concerned that we will not lose each other as we are going to speak a little bit today about this passage let me just say a couple of points that need to be said before i'm going to verse by

verse to speak about this passage first of all i want you always to bear in mind that when we are reading such passages as this in the book of hebrews you have to think in your mind understand in your hearts that when the writer was writing this letter the temple in jerusalem still existed the sacrifices that our people of old have offered on the altar still were going on the priesthood was still there and that the jewish people the people of israel were still though under the romans at that time they were still functioning under the period of time in which the temple has existed and the priesthood and the sacrificial system were going on

we have to remember this when we read the book of hebrews number two we have to also remember that by that time the messiah already finished the work on the tree yeshua the lord jesus the messiah the lord jesus christ was already crucified on a roman cross he died and he was buried and he rose again and had been gone to the right hand of the majesty on high seated there in the heavenly places on the right hand of the father in heaven number three the people that received received received this letter were jewish people hebrew people israeli people that have come to faith in the lord yeshua the messiah and when they have come

to faith in the lord jesus the messiah they have been persecuted they have been rejected by their brethren they have experienced things that believers today cannot even imagine the sufferings tribulations and sorrows that they have experienced the loss of relationship with their family they've been cast out being rejected by their own people they were jewish hebrew israeli believers who have come to faith in yeshua the messiah that's the one whom the apostle is writing so here they are those hebrew believers they were experiencing those types of challenges and because of this i mentioned it many times they had an inclination to go back into the the sacrificial system they perhaps would say well what's going

to happen with me here i am a hebrew i believe that yeshua is the messiah my nation haven't accepted the messiah as yet what happened with me how do i fit in into the picture of god's plan they were those that were part in the foundation of what is known today as the ecclesia the church of our lord jesus the messiah but they were hebrews and they were inclined to go back and to go into the system which was divine design god had given that system but there was a type and shadows which have been done away when yeshua where the lord jesus the messiah have come and had died for them on the cross

so that's what we have to bear in mind when we read such a passage as this so because of this inclination because of these tendencies to want to go back into the shadows which have been done away when the person of the messiah have come the writer today's hebrew believers had to send them some warning warning number one was if you remember in chapter 1 verses 1 to 4 that warning was be careful remember chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 the first warning was do not neglect to continue on do not neglect the things of the law the second warning was in chapter 3 verse 7 to chapter 4 verse 13 and the second warning

there if you remember it was do not doubt the word of god god spoke believe on it don't doubt what god had said now we are coming into the third warning and this is one of the most sophisticated passage that we have in the scripture and that's why i'm elaborating a little bit more and this warning is a warning that everyone needs that and i believe all of us here in this room the warning that we have here is the warning of growing up grow up move forward progress spiritually don't stay baby all your life don't stay immature all your life don't stay as a person who is not useful for the things of the

lord when you have accepted yeshua the messiah move forward grow up mature become a man become a man and woman of god who are living for the lord and moving forward in their spiritual progress and so you notice that in the first verses which we have read chapter 5 verse 11 to 14 here he showed them the fact that they were lacking in growth brothers and sisters you and i have to ask ourselves the very same question how have you and i grown in the last year when you check yourself out and you look back at your spiritual progress you have to answer to the lord and i have to answer to the lord how

much i have grown spiritually did i move forward in my spiritual life or did i stay the baby that i have been when i first became a believer in the lord jesus the messiah and you look at this what he tell them in chapter 5 verses 11 to 14.

first of all in verse 11 there are many things that he wanted to say to them but he could not tell them many things about malchitzedek because they were dull of hearing look at that verse 11 of whom this is of malchitzedek we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing that you are dull of hearing you see they were perhaps so much occupied with the problems that they have had well i'm a hebrew believer as they have said in yeshua the messiah and i accepted yeshua the messiah as my lord and my savior but what about my family in the temple what about my people what about the sacrifices are going

on in the temple in jerusalem and they have been they became dull of hearing now sometimes we can say it about ourselves sometimes god is using someone to speak to us and we are dull of hearing it's coming from one ear and going from the other ear and as if nothing moves us in our spiritual progress we are dull of hearing what god has to say to us now i know it's a hard thing to say you know we don't like when somebody say to us you're so dull in your hearing you don't have any response to what i have to say to you you know we say it sometime to our own children you

know those of us who have children we can tell them certain things and we would love to see response from them in their life but no unfortunately many times we find out that we speak a word it comes into one ear and it goes out from the other ear and they are dull of hearing that's still our children they haven't stopped to be our children but they are dull of hearing and the apostle wanted to tell them many more things but he says listen i cannot tell you more of these things because he's saying to them you are dull of hearing in other words you know like when you have a knife that the knife

need to cut when the knife is not sharp a knife cannot be useful and it's exactly what happening it's a dull knife he doesn't cut that's what happened here when a person does not hear does not listen then he become dull you can say whatever you want to say to that person it just doesn't have an effect upon the life of this person but notice in verse 12 he's saying to them not only that he's telling them that they were dull and hearing he says for when for the time you are to be teachers you have need that one will teach you which is the first principles of the oracles of god and you are

become such that need milk and not strong meat you see what we learn about these believers hebrew believers that he says to them you know the time there have been enough long time in the faith in the messiah he said to them you should have been teachers you should have been teaching others but because you are dull of hearing because you haven't listened appropriate what god said to you from his word you haven't appropriated you could not teach others in fact the opposite you have a need that somebody else will teach you again that which be the first principles of of the oracle of god and you become such if you have a need as

a milk and not a strong meat what a state they must have been in now they were believers we understand that so far we have studied from chapter one all the way to chapter five at the end we understand that they were children of god they were hebrew believers in the lord yeshua the messiah but they were dull of hearing number one secondly they should have been teaching but instead of teaching others they needed to be taught instead of having meat the solid the meat of the word of god they needed like a baby need to drink milk and you know beloved brothers and sisters i want to tell you this that this is often

applied to many christians many believers that we are coming along and meeting with them and know them we have to speak of ourselves we cannot just look at those hebrews 2000 years ago and blame them but we look at ourselves how many times instead of growing spiritually we are still like a baby that needs to be burped all the time and not growing in our spiritual growth and that is exactly applying to us here today as we are reading this passage we should have been teaching but instead of being teachers they had to be those that you teach them the aleph bit the a b c again and again and again and again as if

nothing sunk in but not only that and by the way it says in verse 12 the need of milk if you remember it was the apostle paul who wrote to the corinthians in first corinthians chapter 3 it was not only a hebrew problem a jewish early century problem it was also a non-jewish problem of first century in first corinthians chapter 3 the apostle paul write to the believers at corinth and he said in verse 1 and i brethren could not speak unto you as to a spiritual but as to carnal even unto as babe in messiah i have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto you were not able to bear it

neither you are now able to bear it it was not only a hebrew problem of first century it was a non-hebrew problem of first century and i would like to suggest that it is an issue that is even today in this present day there are many christians many messiah followers people who have accepted the lord jesus the lord yeshua is the lord and savior but instead of growing and becoming a pillars those brothers and sisters that we can come to with every problem in our life and tell them the stories that we have and they can encourage us and we can encourage them instead they are like little babies that need to be burped again

and again and again and again and again and this is really challenging for us today this is a warning that has been given to the early believers of first century notice what it says in verse 13 now in verse 13 it says what baby is like baby's behavior is like notice what baby's behavior is like in verse 13 for everyone that using milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe a baby is unskillful you can see a baby he cannot walk or she cannot walk yet they cannot crawl they cannot be useful or unskillful in their walk in the physical walk and how is this true when it's come to

the spiritual life of the believer how often time we can apply it to ourselves we are unskillful in our spiritual growth we are not growing spiritually why because we haven't took heed to the word of god we haven't as it says here we have dull hearing and we have need to summon will teach us again and again and again instead of ourselves being those that teach others now i continue in verse 14 what maturity is like how mature believer conduct himself we find out in verse 14 but strong meat belong to them that are of full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercise to discern between good and evil he

doesn't say that a believer does not sin what he's saying that the believer recognizes this realize the need of growth and that they are maturing and then they can sense they can be exercised they have discernment for certain things in life the believers growth the necessity of the believers growth now beloved brothers and sisters these things i did not initiate this i did not write that it's written here it's written for you and i it's written for our learning like the apostle paul says in first corinthians chapter 10 that all these things that have happened unto them were written for our learning that we will grow and this is a question that we all have

to ask ourselves so here is the context you see that's the text and the connection is immediately with the first few verses of chapter 6 and so let's go into those verses in verses 1 to 8 the apostle continues as he's speaking to these early hebrew believers and here he is telling to those believers the need for progress in the life of the people of god the need to move forward and grow and not remain like we have when we were first became believers in yeshua the messiah now here's the text itself those eight verses need to be interpreted in the light of first century early jewish believers we must recognize this as we read

those verses now i'm going to reread them now and then going to go over them therefore verse 1 leaving the beginning or the principle of the doctrine of the messiah let us go on unto maturity or perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards god of the doctrine of washings or baptisms and of laying on of the hands and of resurrection of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment and this will we do if god permits and as he continues on for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy spirit and

have tasted of the good word of god and of the power of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance see they have crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it and bring forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiving blessing from god but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is burnt let's go here verse by verse and just deal with these verses the first thing you notice in verse 1 to 3 the apostle is encouraging them

to move on and to grow by the way he does not talk here at all about salvation he's talking here of the necessity of growing in grace and in the knowledge of yeshua the messiah look what he's saying leaving the principles of the doctrine of the messiah let us go on unto perfection what does he mean here when he says leaving the principles of the doctrine of the messiah he doesn't mean forsaking the teaching of the messiah no but when he said this word principles it is moving on from the basic moving on from the beginning moving on from the foundational truth that we have learned from the beginning moving on continuing on not staying

there moving on from the shadow to the reality moving on from the basic to that which is making a person mature and appreciating the person and the work of the lord jesus the messiah that's why he said living or moving forward from the principle or from the beginning and basic teaching of the messiah let us go on unto maturity the word here for perfection obviously it's not becoming perfect because we can never on our own here in this world will ever be perfect we are perfect positionally because of christ because of the messiah but he wanted the believers to move on into maturity in verse one and then he's saying let us see let us

by the way he's including himself he doesn't only say let you or let some of you but he said let us the writer as well as the reader because the writer need to grow as well the writer the one who wrote that passage himself need to grow spiritually so he's saying let us grow and move on unto maturity and then he gives us in verse one b to including verse two he gives us six things that are foundational for those who know the gospel who know the lord jesus the messiah six things number one not laying again the foundation of number one repentance from dead works number two faith towards god number three the doctrine

of washings baptisms it's by the way the word baptisms is in plural there's not only one baptism that he's talking about various washings that the jewish people have knew that the hebrews have knew from history the washings through the labor in the tabernacle if you remember the all kind of washings that have existed that god had given the people of israel then he continued and of the layings of the hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment notice those six things those six things are important to understand the first one of course is the repentance from dead works you know what was dead works everything that you do ritual everything that they

have done with rituals in the past before the messiah came was dead works it was only a ritual it's a works that was a shadow that pointed pointed to the coming of messiah to the reality he says when the messiah have come he said listen he said do not lay again that a b c do not always go back to those rituals and how many times dead works appear in the life of christians now remember works are very important but when someone thinks that those works will bring them salvation it is a dead works we have been saved by grace and we are to use whatever the lord has given to us to have good

works but not in order to be saved but because a person is saved but many times there are many works that are done rituals that we do that you can see that they are dead there's no life in them and that's why he's telling them listen that's foundational that's his pointing to the messiah he says don't lay this again don't go back to the don't lay it again this foundation here's the second thing faith towards god you know once we have become believers in the lord jesus the messiah we have to understand it by grace i saved through faith once one time we don't need to be saved again and then get lost again he's

saying to them to the face towards god this is once and for all faith unto salvation understand this he's saying to them then he continues in the next by the way this deals with our conversion when a person become a believer in yeshua the messiah the works that we have done in the past pointed to the messiah when we have accepted him as our messiah once and for all we become saved that is in our initial entering into our relationship with god now we are to grow and to mature he continues in the next verse and he's saying now the doctrine of baptism and as i mentioned earlier the word baptisms here is in pluus

this is washings you know how many washings god had given all diverse kind of washing that he has given to our people israel of all even today by the way we have talked about it in our bible studies when a couple are getting married there is a certain mikvah washing that the woman had to do to symbolize her purity when yohanan hamadbil john the baptizer here baptized people in the jordan that was not yet a believer's baptism or christian baptism as we know it messianic baptism that was a baptism unto repentance there were existing all types of washings but that was foundational that was shadow that speak about the person and the work of the

messiah there was a ceremonial things you know how many times we're doing all kinds of ceremonial things that have no spiritual value it become merely a ceremony he says okay you know it you've done it just move on beyond these initial things that you have done when you became a believer notice the next thing the laying on of the hands you know what there is no command in the new testament to lay hands on somebody there is a suggestion there but you know where did it come from it came from the old testament the tanach scripture we read it today in leviticus chapter one when an israeli individual will come to the temple to bring

an offering unto the lord they were laying their hands on top of the sacrifice and you know what it said when they laid their hands upon the sacrifice the sin of the israeli individual had been transferred to the sacrifice and he spoke about the messiah who took upon himself the same question that is in the sin offering in the bird offering the reverse had happened the bird offering is the value of the sacrifice had been brought over given to the person who accepted the sacrifice both aspects we see the value of the sacrifice the sins of the sinner both have been transformed from the one to the other and he said to them you know

do not lay again those foundational things the doctrine of baptisms face towards god the repentance of dead words and the laying of the hands you can read this in leviticus 1 we have read it today and also in the book of acts we know that they have used that to identify somebody when they committed him to the lord's work and so on they would lay their hands but there's no command for such for us today there is maybe a guidance of someone to do that but in the old testament they had to do that they had to lay their hand upon that sacrifice we continue here in in verse 2b at the end it says

the fifth thing is the resurrection of the dead you see the question of the resurrection of the dead is a question that have been settled there is a resurrection of the dead daniel have taught us in daniel chapter 12 the days of resurrection of the dead isaiah has spoken to the people of israel telling them about the future resurrection of the dead that is a foundational truth we're going to move on we are entering you see they're entering from all testament teaching in connection with the nation of israel moving on to this present day dispensation faith in our lord yeshua the messiah for both jewish and non-jewish individuals in the body of christ in the

body of messiah and finally that it says in verse 2 at the end where it's talking about the fact of the eternal judgment you notice at the end of verse 2 and of eternal judgment you know it is still seems to be people arguing about the fact will unbelievers will be eternally judged well you can look at scripture and the bible does teach us that there is an eternal judgment for the unregenerated one and there is an eternal blessings for those who believe in yeshua the messiah revelation chapter 20 the great white throne judgment teach us today is a judgment that is eternal for those who reject the lord jesus the lord yeshua the messiah

and so you see he did not want them to continue on to lay again and again and again to be occupied with the abc of the truths that they have already known when they have accepted him he wanted to move on into maturity and so verse 1 and 2 he is telling them do not lay again the foundation the abc and move on and that's why verse 3 says and this we will do if god permit and it is true that god will permit to help them to move forward into maturity now here it is the text that we are going to discuss for a few more moments in verse 4 5 and 6 verse

4 says this it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and they were made partakers of the holy spirit and they have tasted of the good word of god and of the power of the world to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they have crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame now from the reading and listening that i have done i've heard three views upon this passage the first views that liberal christians hold is the view that a person once he got saved or she got saved when they have sinned a certain

sin or if they are not continuing to walk all the day faithfully to the lord they are capable of losing their salvation that's one group of individuals who believe in this now i tell you right here i disagree completely with this view i don't believe for a moment that anyone can get saved on his or her own because our salvation is totally a work of the lord jesus the messiah we have never performed anything in our life in order to receive this salvation and i want to prove this for you for a moment turn to romans chapter 8 the apostle paul wrote to the romans and we are studying romans right now in fact we

are studying this chapter romans chapter 8 the apostle paul said to the romans believers in verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in the messiah yeshua if a person belongs to the lord jesus the messiah there is no condemnation to those that belong to the lord yeshua the messiah at the end of the chapter romans chapter 8 romans chapter 8 and verse 31 what shall we say to these things if god be for us who can be against us he that spared not his own son but deliver him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall i hand to the

charge of god's elect it is god the justifier who is he that condemneth it is the messiah that died yet rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for us and look at that last verses verse 35 who shall separate us from the love of christ of the messiah shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written for thy sake we are killed all the day long we are accounted a ship for the slaughter name all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us and listen to the last verse what a beautiful

verses the last verse 38 and 39 for i am persuaded the apostle says that neither death no life no angels no principalities no power no things present no things to come no height no depth no any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in the messiah yeshua our lord beloved brothers and sisters paul wanted to drive into the believers in rome to let them understand that their salvation their justification had been completed when the messiah died for them and they accepted him he wanted to assure them that no one can be against them successfully even though they will accuse them because they have failure in their life

he wanted to give them the assurance that no one could lay anything against them to charge them because the messiah have died for them he wanted to let them know that no one can condemn them because the messiah gave them justification and he wanted them to know that nothing will separate them from the love of the lord jesus the messiah and beloved you know if you or get a hold of this truth if you make it appropriated to your own heart recognizing that it is the lord jesus the messiah that paid for us on the tree and it is nothing that i have done that you have done to receive salvation then you can ground

yourself in that fact that your salvation is secure i am persuaded he said that neither death no life no angels no principalities no power no present things no things to come no height no depth no any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god and that's not the other creature no satan and no other human being not even yourself can separate yourself from the love of god and why i'm saying yourself because some people say you know i was saved years ago but i can unsave myself how can you unsave yourself you cannot jump out of the hands of god even if you wanted because john chapter 10 the lord

jesus the messiah saying this in verse 27 my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me and i'll give unto them eternal life listen they shall never perish what is eternal life it's not six months six years or 60 years eternal life is eternal life is life eternal in the person of the lord jesus they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands my father which has given them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand i and my father i and my father are one

no one is able to pluck himself from the hands of the father we are kept by the hands of the father we are unable to unsave ourselves because we were unable to save ourselves in the first place beloved brothers and sisters our salvation does not depend upon our performance and that's why i completely disagree with the view of those that say that we can get saved one day and get lost the other day my dear friend if you think that you are only saved and the next time you reject the lord jesus the messiah and you say that he is not your lord and savior you have to make sure in the first place that

you have actually accepted him as your lord and savior in the first place you are either in or you're out you are the saved or you're lost you are the believer or you're unbeliever you're either going to heaven or you are going to hell there is no in between to anyone notice what ephesians says in chapter 2 in verses 9 and 10.

ephesians our pastor paul said to the believers he said to them don't think that you save yourself in verse 8 he says by grace are you saved and it is through faith and it is not of yourself it is a gift of god not of works lest any man should boast you know what we are capable of doing we are such a sinful individuals we are that we are capable to say that i've kept myself safe and i did something that god was so happy with me and he saved me beloved brothers and sisters and dear friend i'm telling you there is nothing that you and i could ever do in order to be saved

all our righteousnesses the bible teaches in the prophet isaiah are filthy rags in the eyes of the lord the only thing that we brought to the we brought to the table is our sins that's all god brought the blood of his son the lord yeshua the messiah so i disagree completely with those who take the position that there are some who can be saved but then get lost no you're either saved or you are lost and god knows that even if the rest of us don't we need to make sure that i have said to the lord in an honest way lord i am a sinner doomed for eternal separation thank you for sending thy

dear son to die for me on the tree thank you lord that's what we need to say and he is accepting us in the beloved in his son but now look others have a second view on this passage and a second view on this passage is that the people to whom the writer wrote those hebrews some of them were true believers and others were only professors in other words that they heard about the things of the messiah they came closer and they listened to what he had to say they have mentally have accepted in their mind but not in their hearts and therefore it's a warning to them unbelievers who were part of the people

to whom those hebrews the the letters have been written to as a warning to those that say that they are believers but really they are not and the warning is to them and that's what he's saying that's what some people do say and you know what i have not so much problem with this view the only problem that i have with this this view is the fact that from the time that we began to study the book of hebrews you can see clearly at least it is to my understanding that he is talking to believers in the lord yeshua the messiah again and again and again and oftentimes he clued himself using the word we

in us you remember like we read in verse one let us go unto maturity verse one you remember in chapter 4 verse 14 let us hold fast our confession in verse 16 of chapter 4 let us therefore come boldly he's not talking one time to the believers and one time to the unbelievers and one time to the professor one time to the real one i don't see it some do i just don't see it here i personally and honestly tell you my evaluation as i read and listen to others i incline to believe that this is the passage talking about believers he does not talk about salvation but he talks about rewards in connection with

the maturity of the believers and the growth now look at this also as i said before we must bear in mind that he is talking to hebrew believers of first century whose brethren the rest of the nation did not accept yeshua the messiah and they were awaiting the judgment of the 70 a.d that would fall upon the nation when the romans would come and destroy the temple in jerusalem and they will cause so much sorrows to the jewish people to the people of israel at that time in 70 a.d when they have come and destroyed the temple and they burned the temple and they didn't leave one stone upon another and therefore he is giving

a warning to those believers but in connection with the spiritual maturity don't remain in a state that you will move on continue to grow because judgment is coming upon the nation who refuse to accept the messiah move on to present day dispensation because otherwise you will end to face physical judgment not spiritual judgment that would come upon those that haven't accepted the messiah from among the nation of eathen so here's the verse for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the holy spirit and have tasted the good words of god and of the power of the world to come notice those

five things about these individuals believers it says that they have tasted of the heavenly gift it says that they were made partakers of the holy spirit you either have the holy spirit or you don't have the holy spirit you either have tasted and experienced and digested the heavenly gift or you don't you notice it says in verse five and have tasted of the word of the good word of god and of the world and of the power of the world to come it is clearly beloved brothers and sisters in verses four and five showing to us that these people were believers in yeshua the messiah somebody says you know what really these are not believers

because it says here in verse four that they have tasted of the heavenly gift in other words they really just tasted a little bit but they never swallowed it up and chew it and make it their own well if it's true here it must be also true in chapter two and verse nine about the lord jesus the messiah go back to chapter two in verse nine verse nine look what it said about the lord jesus the messiah in chapter two but we see jesus yeshua who was made a little lower than the angels for the sufferings of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of god should taste death for every

man what do they say here did yeshua really died or he only tasted death didn't really took it upon himself in full force of experiencing death did he only taste what death is all about a little bit or did he really die well we have to choose well the lord jesus did taste death for every man he died literally he died for us on the cross he paid the penalty for our sins and therefore beloved brothers and sisters what we have here in chapter 6 and verse 4 we said it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift they have not only tasted it but they have appropriate

of that heavenly gift they became believers in yeshua the messiah became part of the heavenly company they have received the partakers of the holy spirit as we have here in verse 4 and then it said and have tasted of the good word of god and then finally and of the power of the world to come they became believers in the lord yeshua the messiah and therefore it's clear that they're speaking to believers so he doesn't speak here about their losing salvation but there is something that it was impossible for those individuals to do in fact let me read verse 6 and i want to read a certain portion that arnold forteman wrote and i think

it's very interesting to read that notice what it says in verse 6 if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing they have crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him into an open shame now what we learn here and i want to read this is not mine it's always good to give credit to those that wrote things that help us to understand this is by the way brothers and sisters listen this passage is a difficult passage all those that i've listened to all of them without exception said this one thing it is a difficult passage what the apostle paul already wrote wrote some things are hard to be

understood and perhaps the apostle paul have written this passage look what a commentary on verse 6 that brother arnold forteman wrote he's a jewish believer in yeshua the messiah and look what he wrote verse 6 having fall away to renew again unto repentance seeing they have crucified to themselves the son of god afresh and put him to an open shame now the author deal with this crucial verse the point he is making is that for believers who have these five spiritual privileges that prove them to be true believers there is something that is impossible for them to do and that which is impossible control both clauses here first of all it is impossible for them

to fall away and therefore secondly it is impossible also to be renewed unto repentance the reason it is impossible it is for them to be able to lose their salvation and to be saved again later would require that the son of god would be crucified afresh therefore by their action they re-identified themselves with the decisions of that generation rejecting yeshua as the messiah hence it is impossible for them to fall away and to be saved again later because this would require a re-crucifixion of the messiah the reason he is not coming back to be crucified again is because it puts him to be an open shame it would mean that his first death did not

provide complete salvation that is the first death did not save to the uttermost to understand this verse correctly in the context of this first century messianic jewish situation it is impossible for those who had experienced these five spiritual privileges to lose their salvation and to be saved again later that's what he's saying he's speaking about these first century jewish believers if they would go back into their lack of maturity into the shadow instead of to the reality what they are really saying by this that the value of the work of the messiah was not really there that the shed blood that yeshua the messiah shed on the cross is really not sufficient therefore they need

to go back into that rituals to the sacrificial system to do it again and again and again and therefore he says those things are impossible for them to do because the lord jesus the messiah is not going to come back to die once again he died once he has completely satisfied the righteous requirement of a holy god he will die no more and therefore he says if they go backwards fall away in a sense of not growing and staying in there where they were beginning with or going backwards into the shadow he said it will be impossible for them to be renewed again into repentance why because they are participating in what the rest of

the nation have done the nation of israel israel as a nation have not accepted the messiah in the first coming and therefore the judgment was going to come upon the nation the 70 80 judgment and if any of those first century hebrew believers would not separate and move on into maturity into the present day situation they will suffer the consequences in a sense that physically they will suffer the judgment of god upon them though they will not lose their salvation because they belong to the lord jesus the messiah complicated very complicated very difficult to grasp as we are thinking about it even as i speak about this it is amazing the way those words have

been presented before us today if they shall fall away and by the word the word fall away here is not coming from the greek word apostasia it's not apostasy here here the word falling away is a parapipto it is stumbling it is lack of growth it is falling in a sense stumbling it has nothing to do with apostasy forsaking the truth of believing in the lord jesus but it has to do with stumbling with parapipto means to stumble or to fall but it doesn't mean to fall in a sense of apostasy it simply mean to stumble the same word is used about the lord jesus when he went to the garden of gethsemane and he

fell on his face if you remember parapipto in the greece not apostasia as we have in the book of second thessalonian chapter 2 and so you see i know it is complicated and i know it's not easy passage but the point of the passage is that the believers need to move forward and to grow to move from the shadow to the reality from that which is a type and to the reality from the sacrifices that have been given in the past to that which god had given in the person of the lord yeshua the messiah and i'm moving on now into verse 7 and 8 and that's why you see what's happening he's speaking about

fruit for the earth which drinks the rain that cometh upon it bringeth herbs meet by them to whom they dress they receive the blessings of god but for them which bear thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned and you see he make the contrast here when the rain come down naturally there will be fruits there should be fruit there will be growth there'll be maturity but then if there is no maturity judgment is coming god wanted the early believers to grow up and to move unto maturity and that's what he's saying to them in verses 9 10 11 and 12 beloved we are persuaded better things

of you and things that accompany salvation when a person is saved there are things that supposed to accompany his salvation or her salvation what accompany salvation fruit for god spiritual maturity appreciation of the person of the lord not staying as a baby all their lives as a christian as believer but growing and developing in their most holy faith verse 10 for god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed towards his name in that he have ministered to the saints and do minister and we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that ye be not

slothful but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises and again you see he's speaking about those believers they were believers but he says listen believer need to grow believer need to mature believer need to move forward beloved we are persuaded of better things of you and things that accompany salvation that's what he's saying to the first century hebrew believers in yeshua the messiah and that's what he's saying to you and i he's not only speaking about them of course we see it primary talking about the hebrew christians of first century but he's also speaking to you and i things that accompany salvation you are saved you belong to the lord jesus

the messiah yes if yes there are things that accompany salvation how is your life how is our life how is our conduct are we a testimony for the lord jesus the messiah when somebody hear us and speak to us does he see things that accompany the salvation that we have if not that shows the lack of spiritual growth a person is just like we have here in chapter 5 in verse 11 doll of hearing verse 12 need to be taught babes need milk verse 12 verse 13 a baby and verse 14 you cannot give them meat but only milk that's not speaking about salvation here it's speaking about maturity and spiritual growth that every believer

must have as they are growing and moving forward until the day that the lord jesus the messiah will come to take us to be with him well brothers and sisters listen i'm going to stop right here because this is a tough thing to digest i hope and trust the lord that the spirit of god will clear things up for all of us and i'm sure we're going to talk about it a lot because there are complications that seem to be here but one thing for sure god is able to help us to understand his word in the power of the spirit of god can you say amen to that amen