Signalman 3rd Class Elgin Staples, was knocked overboard around 2 a.m. by the blast from a direct hit from a Japanese battleship. Wounded in both legs by shrapnel and in semi-shock, he was kept afloat by a life belt that he managed to activate with a simple trigger mechanism.
Four hours later at 6 a.m., Staples was rescued by a passing destroyer and returned to the Astoria, later that day the captain attempted to save the cruiser by beaching her, but the effort failed, and Staples, still wearing the same life belt, found himself back in the water. He was rescued again, this time by the transport ship USS President Jackson (AP-37).
On board the transport, Staples closely examined the life belt that had saved his life twice. The manufacture tag listed a registration number by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio.
After the surrender of Japan he was granted leave and went home to Ohio. Staples told his story to his mother, who worked for Firestone, asking about the purpose of the number on the belt. She replied that the company insisted on personal responsibility for the war effort and that the number was unique and assigned to an individual inspector. Staples remembered everything about the lifebelt, and quoted the number. It was his mother’s personal code and affixed to every item she was responsible for approving.
(Commander Eric J. Berryman, U.S. naval reserve, proceedings, U.S. naval institute, vol. 15/6/1036 (June 1989), p. 48.)
A mother’s unheralded diligence in an anonymous wartime job made the hope of survival possible for her shipwrecked son.
How much greater are the stakes in eternal matters and how much greater is the challenge of diligence in eternal matters! That is the focus of this section in Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews said in verse 11 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.”
In Hebrews 6, our passage begins with the author tenderly expressing confidence in the believers by calling them “beloved.” It’s if he is fanning the embers of faith and love so the Hebrew Christians could ignite a burning passion for spiritual progress.
From the start of chapter 6, the believers were challenged to grow in their faith by moving beyond elementary principles of Christ v.1 Now, we come to this passage. Notice how the writer expresses that better things are coming and for them and to put their trust in this hope.
Hebrews 6:9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.
The Hebrew believers were told in verse 9, “We are sure of better things” convincing the readers that they should go on to spiritual maturity. Therefore he encourages them to…
Place THEIR FAITH IN GOD’S PLANS.
Trusting in Christ means that He saves you from hell, but He also saves you so you can spiritually grow.
A lady named Tammy who was a homeless woman, lived under a bridge in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. A pastor named Justin heard about her situation and provided her with some basic hygiene supplies. So she started attending church. The church provided her vouchers, so she could buy food and other items.
But that created a problem: Tammy kept giving the vouchers to other people. They told her, “Tammy, you need to keep this for yourself. Otherwise you’ll run out of food.” But living under the bridge meant living with other needy people, and it was unthinkable for her to receive a gift and then not share it with others. So, with an incredulous stare she asked, “Why can’t I give some too?”
The pastor gave her a very pragmatic answer: “We’re giving this to you, not to everyone else you meet.” Yet, he recognized the deeper problem: to only receive and never give back is not normal for a believer. The good news is that God not only made us to be recipients of His grace but also participants in the movement of His generosity for our good and His glory. (Kelly M. Kapic, God So Loved, He Gave, Zondervan, 2010, pp. 147-148; www.PreachingToday.com)
God lavished His grace generously upon you in order to grow and share His generosity with others.
God’s salvation is intended to produce fruit in your life…so a believer should
LOVE TO DO GOD’S WORK
Hebrews 6:10-12 “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And 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 imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
God’s salvation should lead to loving service, and even if others don’t see your service, God will. He will reward such ministry even if nobody else appreciates it. The encouragement is to put hope in God’s salvation and minister to others while looking forward to His promise of eternal life.
There are three exhortations for the believers to spiritually grow by serving.
First, the writer wanted them to continue to show the same diligence to the end. A believer must proclaim their hope by faith, (faith is a verb) A believer’s faith is worked out through love for others which is motived by the hope they know.
Secondly, he wanted them to not to be “sluggish” (hoarders or lazy) with God’s grace. Here is a question? Is a hoarder greedy or lazy? In either case, when it comes to the gospel and spiritual growth, those are not what pleases God.
Third, he wanted them to be imitators of those who inherit the promise. It is interesting that when someone wins the lottery or inherit wealth they generally do not sit on it. They use it. They put it to work. How much more should we do with the precious grace of God.
I need to take you to what the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-7 “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia”
Now it shouldn’t surprise us that Abraham is the author’s example of persevering in faith. It’s amazing to think that we don’t see Abraham hoarding or sitting on God’s blessing. He went where God led, and he did what God asked. A believer is to be diligent and …
Place THEIR HOPE IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.
Hebrews 6:13-15 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. “And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Just as God was faithful to fulfill His promises to Abraham after a long wait He is faithful to fulfill His promise to us. Abraham went through life, working (ministering) and “patiently waiting.”
Yet God promised blessing through Abraham’s offspring. And according to Galatians 3:16, that “offspring” is Jesus! Jesus is the One in whom all the nations are blessed.
God wants you to spiritually grow, God is waiting for you to respond with love to love, waiting for you to respond with trust in His promises.
The author of Hebrews is promoting one way to hold fast to your hope, and that is to serve and therefore grow your faith. God made a promise; He swore an oath to keep that promise. We should be confident in God’s dependability and be sure that God will keep His promises.
Hebrews 6:16-18 For men indeed 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 the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that 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.
Just as Abraham trusted in the faithfulness of God to see him through times of difficulty, believers in Christ can lean on the same promise keeping God.
Hebrews 6:17 refers to two facts that convince believers that God’s promises are worth trusting.
First, God’s purpose is unchanging. It’s His nature to remain steadfast and unchanging. What He determines to do will happen. God is immutable; (He does not change.)
Second, God’s promise is expressed in an oath. The moment His promise is spoken to His people they can immediately count on it without wavering, because (“it is impossible for God to lie.”)
Hebrews 6:18 and 19 have three benefits for believers who follow the example of Abraham;
- They receive encouragement that will help overcome obstacles that stand in the way of spiritual progress.
- They can take hold of the hope set before them. The author uses the image of firmly gripping or grasping something that can’t be seen. To have a handle on hope is the antidote to despair.
- In verse 19, they have an anchor for the soul. God will keep them sure!
Hebrews 6:19-20 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and 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.
The author of Hebrews takes the anchor metaphor in an unexpected direction. He doesn’t envision an anchor to stay put or firm as one is dropped in the sea to keep a ship. This anchor is not of this world. In this context we come back to the high priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus is unlike any earthy anchor that gives that kind of security! Jesus anchors us upward, not downward. Jesus anchors us “behind the curtain” in heaven’s holy of holies, not to this earth.
I like what Warren Wiersbe said, “We are anchored, not to stand still, but to move ahead!”
More than that verse 20 says, Jesus is our “forerunner.” In other words, He has gone into heaven so that we may follow!
Warren Wiersbe also wrote that “an Old Testament high priest was not a “forerunner” because nobody could follow him into the holy of holies. But Jesus Christ is a unique High Priest who we may follow” (Warren Wiersbe, The Bible exposition commentary, Vol. 2, p. 298. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996).
A believer will grow spiritually by, 1st, placing YOUR FAITH IN GOD’S PLANS; 2nd, by being diligent and LOVE TO DO GOD’S .WORK; and 3rd, By placing YOUR HOPE IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS.
This message was to encourage the Hebrew believers to press on and make a distinction in their world. A world that had oppressed, martyred and ostracized Christians. It is also a message to believers today to press on by faithfully living, working and ministering as examples of people who believe in God’s promise. “Beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation” – Hebrews 6:9