Must See TV - Really

I've been a fan of the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights since its first season. It is always good and often rises to greatness. But nothing in the seasons leading up to the current one prepare you for the absolute brilliance that is "The Son," the fifth episode in the current season. There are a few side stories, but the central story in this episode centers around Matt (played by Zach Gilford) and how he deals with the news that his father has been killed in Iraq. If it is possible for an actor in a TV series to receive an Emmy nomination for a single performance, then Mr. Gilford should be guaranteed not only a nomination but a clear win for this performance. It is one of the most riveting performances I've ever seen on TV. Download it from iTunes, grab a box of tissues (make it a big box) and watch this stunning performance from a truly wonderful young actor.

Everything about the episode's central story works. It is nuanced, tasteful, and walks a tenuous line between what could have been an opportunity to get preachy or overly sentimental to perfection.

One of the things that makes the show so amazing is that they never rehearse and never block and just let the actors do their thing. They often don't even have much in the way of a script, choosing instead to simply outline a scene and let the actors do their thing. I don't know if that was true of the scripting here, but what I do know is that everything we get here absolutely works.

All the way up through the stunning ending (that I was utterly unprepared for).

Its pitch perfect television, and few young actors could pull off a performance like that given here by Zach Gilford. Brilliant, and truly must see television.

Picking Up Where Sunday's Sermon Left Off...

This past Sunday I preached from II Peter 3:15-16 on the portion of the text that instructs believers to "count the patience of the Lord as salvation." Peter is presenting a "third way" after refuting the claims of the false teachers who had been teaching that either...

A) Christ isn't really coming back...because He just isn't. Essentially claiming that the teaching that Christ would return was mythological in nature.

B) Christ isn't really coming back...because of some moral flaw in God's character...akin to the teaching today that God, if He exists, can't be all-powerful AND all good because if He were He would deal with the problem of evil in the world...so either He can't or He won't...either way He's limited...He's flawed.

Peter then presents a third way...count the patience of the Lord as salvation.

1) As long as He tarries, more will come to faith.
2) As long as He tarries, believers will continue to grow in their faith.
3) As long as He tarries, we have opportunity to go and share with others the message of the Gospel.

The opportunities to go and share the message of the Gospel are vast. There is still much to do. Some of the statistics I shared on Sunday...

There are approximately 16,600 people groups in the world today.
Of those...6,600 have yet to hear the Gospel clearly presented.
The Bible in whole or in part exists today in only 82% of the world's languages. This means that 13% of the world is still essentially closed to the Gospel simply because no portion of Scripture exists in a language they can read and/or understand.
There are 5.5 billion lost people in the world today. If my math is correct (which is highly suspect), this means...if a gallon of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico represented a single lost person in the world right now, and at the rate of a million gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf, it would take somewhere in the ballpark of 15 years for there to be enough oil out there for every lost person represented to have one gallon of oil.

Most of us would go to incredible lengths to extract just one gallon of oil from the Gulf if we could...but what are we doing to reach those who are lost and separated from God? Those animals in the Gulf that are dying - as tragic as the situation is - will not die and spend eternity in hell...but those lost people absolutely will. What are we doing so they will have an opportunity to respond to the Gospel before they die?

This is sobering to consider!

I recommended a lot of resources in the sermon on Sunday, but I want to add one more to that list, a new book from David Platt entitled, Radical. I encourage you to read it and to be challenged by it as you reflect over the message from this past Sunday.

See ya Sunday!

Hebrews 6 Notes From Sunday School This Past Sunday

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened,
- Simply means that they have come to understand the truths of the gospel, not that they responded to those truths with genuine saving faith.
- Greek – refers to learning in general, not necessarily a learning that results in salvation…
- The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. (John 1:9)
- “once” simply means it happened once – not that it can never be repeated. The word here is “hapax” not “ephapax” which is biblically used to express nonrepeatable events.

who have tasted the heavenly gift, / tasted the goodness of the Word
- Tasted the heavenly gift…tasted the goodness of the word. Inherent in the idea of “tasting” is the fact that the tasting is temporary and one might or might not decide to accept the thing that is tasted.
- Matthew 27:34 - they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
- There is no requirement that the word be taken to mean genuine saving faith
and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- Metochos – has a range of meanings and may imply very close participation or may only imply a loose association with the other person or persons named. For instance, Luke 5:7
- They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.
- A cognate is found in Ephesians 5:7 (symmetochos) – Paul warns Christians not to “associate” with non-believers. He isn’t telling them not to BE unbelievers, but to not have affiliation with them.
- In the Septuagint its use means “companionship” not life-changing experience or regeneration
- Here it is talking about a person who has been associated with the Holy Spirit and thereby had their lives influenced by him, but it need not imply that they had a redeeming work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, or that they were regenerated.
and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6
- See “tasted the heavenly gift” above

and then have fallen away,
- Fallen AWAY is not the same as Fallen INTO sin. What is in view here is an outright rejection of God’s grace.
- Judas – fell AWAY
- Peter – fell INTO sin
- Fallen away thus means a sustained, committed rejection of Christ and a clear departure from the Christian community
- See I John 2:19
o They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
- Restore AGAIN to repentance – It is not necessary to read this as genuine heart repentance.
- This is clear later in Hebrews (chapter 12:17) where this same Greek word is used to describe a change of mind sought by Esau regarding the sale of his birthright, and refers to it as “repentance.” This would not have been a repentance for salvation, but simply a change of mind.
- Metanoeo – to repent – sometimes is used to refer not to saving repentance, but just to sorrow for individual offenses
- What the writer is saying is this:
o If someone has a sorrow for sin and comes to understand the gospel and experiences these various blessings of the Holy Spirit and then turns away, it will not be possible to restore such a person again to a place of sorrow for sin.
o Obviously, this need not imply that the repentance was a genuine saving repentance in the first place.

So what kind of individual are we talking about at this point?
- People who have been affiliated very closely with the church
- They have had sorrow for their sin (repentance)
- They have clearly understood the Gospel (enlightened)
- They have come to appreciate the attractiveness of the Christian life and the change that comes about in people’s lives because of becoming a Christian.
- They have possibly had prayers answered
- They have probably felt the power of the Holy Spirit at work – perhaps even using some spiritual gift in the manner of those mentioned in Matthew 7
- They have been exposed to the true preaching of the Word
- They have appreciated much of the Bible’s teaching
- In spite of all this they commit apostasy and “crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold Him up to contempt.”
o They are willfully rejecting all the blessings and turning clearly and decidedly against them
- The author now tells us that “if these people willfully turn away from all of these temporary blessings” then it will be impossible to restore them again to any kind of repentance (or sorrow for sin). Their hearts will be hardened. Their consciences calloused.

What more could be done for them?
- If we tell them Scripture is true – they will say they know and that they have decided to reject it.
- If we tell them God answers prayers and changes lives they will respond that they know that as well, but they reject that.
- If we tell them the Holy Spirit is powerful to work in people’s lives and the gift of eternal life is good beyond description, they will say that they understand that, but that they want nothing of it.
- Their repeated familiarity with the things of God and their experience of many influences of the Holy Spirit has simply served to harden them against conversion.

He is warning them to be careful…to watch out. Depending on “temporary blessings” and experiences is not enough. He talks not of any good fruit or of any genuine heart change. He speaks only of the temporary blessings and experiences that have given these persons some understanding of Christianity.

He drives this home in verse 9:

Though we speak thus in your case, beloved, we feel sure of BETTER THINGS THAT BELONG TO SALVATION.

In your case, beloved, what is in store for you are BETTER THINGS AND Things that belong to salvation

OBJECTION…the better things is not in reference to the four participles in 4-6 but to the thorns and thistles of verse 8.

RESPONSE…the comparative “better” is used 13 times in Hebrews to contrast something BETTER with something that is GOOD. Here it compares something better…things that belong to salvation…with something that is good…the temporary blessings of verses 4-6.

What are the “better things” of verse 9?
- Genuine fruit (verse 10)
- Full assurance of hope (verse 11)
- Saving faith, of the type exhibited by those who inherit the promises (v 12)

So…where does genuine assurance come from?

1) Do I have a present trust in Christ for salvation?

Colossians 1:23 - he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast

Hebrews 3:14 - For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

John 3:16 (uses a present tense verb – whoever continues believing in Him)
“For God so loved the world, [1] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes (continues believing) in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Do I today have trust in Christ to forgive my sins and take me without blame into heaven forever?
Do I have confidence in my heart that he has saved me?
If I were to die tonight and stand before God’s judgment seat, and if he were to ask me why he should let me into heaven, would I begin to think of my good deeds and depend on them, or would I without hesitation say that I am depending on the merits of Christ and am confident that He is a sufficient Savior?

KEY – If a testimony of saving faith is genuine, it should be a testimony of faith that is active to this very day.

2) Is there evidence of a regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in my heart?
a. The subjective testimony of the Holy Spirit bearing witness that we are God’s children. – usually accompanied by a sense of being led by the Holy Spirit in paths of obedience to God’s will
b. Is the Holy Spirit at work creating the kind of character traits Paul refers to as the “fruit of the Spirit.”
i. Are these things a general characteristic of my life?
ii. Do I sense these attitudes in my heart?
iii. Do others see those traits exhibited in my life?
iv. Have I been growing in them over a period of years?
c. What does the result of your life, your ministry, and your influence on others suggest?
i. If you profess Christ but your influence is to discourage others, to drag them down, to injure their faith, and to provoke controversy and divisiveness, this doesn’t suggest a work of the Holy Spirit
d. Are you continuing to believe and accept the sound teaching of the church?
e. Are you continuing in a present relationship with Jesus Christ?
f. Does your life give evidence of obedience to God’s clear commands?
3) Do I see a long-term pattern of growth in my Christian life?