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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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You're Not Fooling God |
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Hebrews
4:1-12 Twenty-first
Sunday after Trinity November
1, 2009
Two important points need to be emphasised from our reading in
Hebrews this morning. First, it is not knowing the Gospel that saves us; it is
believing the Gospel. Second,
God knows the difference.
It is not knowing, but believing the Gospel that saves us, or makes
us Christians, or as Hebrews states it, enables us to enter into Christ's
rest. To many people, the
Gospel is simply information. Some
may accept it as true information. Others
see it as false or indeterminate information.
Still others change the information, thus, falsifying it. Those who
accept it merely as true information are generally, though not always,
what we would call good people. They work hard, are good to friends and family, sometimes go
to church, and are generally good citizens.
Those who accept it as false or indeterminate may also be good
people when judged by normal, human standards.
I am not saying an atheist or agnostic is a serial killer. My
point is simply that such people have not believed in Christ, and that
their goodness does not measure up to the immaculate righteousness of God.
The third group is evident in those who attempt to change the
Gospel of Christ, and then act on their own versions of it rather than
Biblical Christianity. My question is; what is the difference between the
person who accepts the Gospel merely as true information; and the person
who accepts the Gospel as indeterminate or false information; and the
person who changes the Gospel and believes a version of it that appears
similar but is, nevertheless, a different gospel?
I say, and I believe this is the Biblical answer, there is no
difference. All three are
unbelievers.
If people on Virginia Beach receive news that a 100 foot tidal wave
is coming toward them, and some people say, "I believe it," but
stay on the beach, are they any different from those who say "I don't
believe it," and stay on the beach?"
And are they any different from people who say, "There is a
tidal wave, but it will not hit us" and also stay on the beach?
When the tidal wave hits, will it make any difference?
Only those who believe in a way that moves them to action will be
saved, because they will leave the beach.
They are the one who truly believe the news.
So there are really only two categories of people in this
situation: those who believe in the tidal wave, and those who don't.
Likewise, regarding the Gospel of Christ, there are only two
categories of people: those who truly believe, and those who truly don't.
Notice what Paul says about unbelievers in Hebrews 4.
He says in verse 6 that some who hear the Gospel do not enter into
the rest of God because they do not believe it. In verse 2 he says the
reason some do not profit, that is, do not enter into rest, from the
preaching of the Gospel is that the preaching is not mixed with faith in
them. That word,
"mixed" is very important because it means to internalise
something. We could translate it, "assimilate."
For so many people the Gospel is simply external information, but
to have real, Biblical faith the Gospel must be internalised.
It must become an inward attitude of the heart that permeates and
controls the entire being. You
can make chocolate milk by mixing chocolate syrup with milk.
But this is not the kind of mixing the Bible is talking about in
verse 2 because the milk remains milk and the chocolate remains chocolate.
The kind of mixing the Bible is talking about is the kind that
occurs when you drink the chocolate milk and it is digested and taken into
the cells of your body to become part of you.
This mixing of the Word and faith is what we pray for in one of the
world's most beloved prayers, the collect for the Second Sunday in Advent. "Blessed
Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning;
grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly
digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may
embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which
thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."
This is why the simple act of eating and drinking the bread and
wine of Communion is such a powerful picture of real faith in Christ.
When we take the elements into our bodies they become a part of us,
symbolising that, when we take Christ into our souls, He becomes a part of
our souls. This is real
faith, and we either have it or we don't.
There is no in between.
In our reading from Hebrews, Paul was writing about Israel as an
example of this very thing. Specifically he wrote about those who were
delivered from Egypt by the mighty hand of God, but, because they did not
believe God would give them the land of Canaan, they did not enter the
"rest" of the Promised Land. You remember how the Hebrews came to the borders of Canaan
and sent spies into the land. The
spies returned saying the land was filled with giants the Hebrews could
never hope to conquer. So
they returned to the desert to wander for forty years until that entire
generation passed away. They
had the information that God would give them the land and give them
victory. But they did not act
on it. They did not
internalise it. In short,
they lacked faith.
In 1614, Adriaen van de Venne painted "Fishers of Souls."
The painting depicts several boats filled with ministers in a large
river or bay filled with swimming people.
The ministers and boats represent the Church preaching the Gospel. The
swimmers represent people hearing it.
Some of the swimmers are climbing into or moving towards the boats.
Others are listening, but not moving, while others are laughing and
playing and ignoring the boats. To
me, the painting is not pretty. It
is well done. It shows great
artistic ability and great painting skill.
It just isn't the kind of thing that appeals to my taste.
I would much rather have a Mort Kuntzler or Franklin Saye, hanging
in my living room. The
captivating thing about the van de Venne is the brutal accuracy of its
portrayal of the classes of people I have just been talking about.
It graphically portrays what Paul tells us in Hebrews 4.
The second point I want to make today is simply this, God knows.
God knows whether you really believe, or are just playing church.
Verse 13 brings this out in the most graphic way, saying, "all
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to
do." Your soul is
naked before God. Adam and
Eve could not cover their sins with fig leaves, and you and I cannot hide
ours with robes of our own making. We
may think our robes are wonderful and elaborate, but in reality they hide
our nakedness no better than a fig leaf.
God does not look on the outward form, but on the heart, on the
soul, on that part of you that makes you who and what you are, and you
cannot cover it or hide it from His eyes.
He sees all. He knows all. He
knows all of your secret sins. He knows your heart and thoughts as well as
He knows your actions. They
are not only naked before Him, they are also recorded.
He remembers them. They
are ever before Him. We try
to convince ourselves we are good, but our sins cry out against us.
We may one day try to convince God that we have lived a good life
and deserve to go to Heaven, but our sins will cry out against us.
"Liar! Fornicator!
Thief! Murderer!
And, worst of all, Idolater!"
God knows if you are really trying to serve Him, or if you are only
trying to make Him serve you. He
knows if you are coming to Him on His terms, or trying to make Him come to
you on your terms. He knows
if your faith is real or phony. You
can fool people. You can fool
ministers. You can even fool
yourself. You can never fool
God.
In Romans we see that knowing, the Law of God does not get anyone
into Heaven. It is not knowing, but doing the Law, 100% correctly 100% of
the time that makes anyone fit for Heaven.
No one can do that. No one can meet that tremendously high
standard. Likewise it is not having the Gospel, but believing it that
makes a person a Christian. It is not knowing the Gospel that separates
the sheep from the goats; it is believing it in Biblical faith that makes
the difference. And here
again Paul reminds us that it is up to us to believe and to accept the
Gospel for ourselves. It is
amazing how God hammers and pounds this into our heads in book after book
and page after page of the Bible. "Let
us labour, therefore to enter into that rest," He says in Hebrews
4:11. "Let us therefore fear,
lest ... any of you should seem to come short of it," He says in
4:1. To "seem" as
it is used in this verse means to appear in reality.
It means there will be people who think to themselves that they are
headed for Heaven, but whose appearance in reality shows they are not.
"Let us labour therefore
to enter into that rest." What
is the labour that will allow us to enter?
Faith only. Biblical
faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of your soul and the sacrifice for
your sins. Labour to have such faith.
Holy Father, grant that we may labour to have Biblical faith, that
we may enter into Your rest. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
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