 Okay, good morning everyone. Thank you for connecting to this class. The recording has started. We can pray and begin this morning. Let me just start with the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to You, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Father, we thank You for another new day. And Lord, Your mercies in our lives, Father, which are new every morning. Father God, as we take time in Your Word, we pray that, Lord, You will help us anchor our lives, God, to the Word of God, which is eternal. Strengthen us, Lord, establish us and enable us, O God, to live for the glory of Your Name. Father, we speak blessings upon all the faculty. We speak blessing upon all the students and their families. Father, commit every single person into Your hands. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So let's proceed with the book of Hebrews. Yesterday we talked about moving towards maturity in God in Hebrews chapter 5. And then we went to Hebrews chapter 6, which is warning us about falling away. We just started that section and we had identified who it was talking about. It is very clearly talking about a born-again, spirit-filled believer. And the text is suggesting that there is a possibility of a believer in Christ going away from God. So that was what we were discussing. So this morning, once again, let's go back to that text. We were at verse 4. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 4, all the way till verse 8. So let me just leave this time open to discuss about falling away. Are there any questions from our side about somebody going away from God? It's not falling. Instead it is falling away. And yesterday I clarified the difference between the two. Falling is to come short of God's standard sometimes in our walk with the Lord as believers because we may fail, we may have shortcomings. But as long as sincerely we are coming back to the Lord with a repentant heart setting our lives right before Him, it's okay. That's the journey of every believer, an overcoming life. But falling away means somebody who has gone away from God completely. And they have, we could even say rejected Christ. So that is the status. So any questions regarding that? I have a question. So about the preachers nowadays when they preach and they preach so good. And then we hear some false accusations sometimes later of their life. Which are quite serious accusations even, which one of the worst thing I've heard is some abuses that they have. So what happens today or do they really get saved? Or they are forgiven? Response to the question, they fell away or they just, I don't know. Yeah, I know it really affects us as believers when we hear such stories of mighty men and women of God. Suddenly there are these stories about them not living a godly life. See, ultimately I think one is known by the fruit of their faith and their ministry. So we can observe the fruit of their lives and their ministry and see whether it is really leading people to Christ. If yes, then we know that they were a true minister of God. But if it's not, the Bible also shares that in the last days there will be those. We'll come to it when we study the book of 2nd Peter and the book of Jude, that there would be some who call themselves as ministers of God who were actually not born again, were actually not of God in the first place. So there is a possibility for something like that to happen. But in the case of a minister of God who was doing so well and doing everything right, glorifying God, and then they went wrong, it's very difficult for us from the outside to really judge and say that, oh, will they be with God or how will God, I think it would be between God and them. Because now there are all these comments that people have before us, which some, maybe they can be verified, some cannot be. So it's very difficult for us to judge and say what happened, whether they died in Christ or they didn't. We don't only, in heaven, we know, I suppose. Is that okay, Jafina? Does it make sense? Yeah, good question. Yes, Zellie, please go ahead. I have a question. One of my friends, that person backslided and that person also wants to come to the Lord again. But what I heard from that person is that the mentors, they're not fully supporting him. They're just that person, and that person is isolated. And I heard from that person that the mentors, you know, what to say, like, instead of encouraging that person, they are just, I heard, you know, like very negative comments about that. That person, and he was so hurt with that mentor that he, that person left the church. So in that situation, like, as a friend, I'm so concerned about that very person. So how can I encourage that person so that he, that person will be built up in the faith and, you know, from the first perspective? Yes, thank you, Zellie. That's very, you know, like a real situation and struggle that somebody could be having. And I can share some of my own thoughts. If we look at James chapter five, James chapter five from verse 19, it says, Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. So when we find somebody who's gone away from God, our responsibility is to help bring them back. When we look at Hebrews chapter six, you know, where it says it is impossible for someone, you know, who has tasted of God so wonderfully, and if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, it's talking about an extreme situation. And this is not the norm and I don't think we can quantify this, but just for our understanding, I would say something like, you know, in 99.9% when believers repent and they want to come back to God, they can be restored, but this would probably be, you know, maybe 0.1% or if you want to bring that number down 0.01%, it could even be, you know, that fewer number that this particular passage is talking about. So then in our everyday scenario, we find that some of our friends, our loved ones have gone away from God. Instead of applying what we read in Hebrews six, we can consider passages like James five, which is, which talks about bringing back someone, turning them away from their error and saving their soul. So we must do that for our friends. So Zellie, good that you're thinking about it and you want to help your friend in this situation. Now how to do it? I think Galatians six also has something nice to tell us. So let me just quickly put it. Okay. So Galatians chapter six verse one, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. So it is telling us to help them with a spirit of gentleness, meaning we see their weaknesses, we understand what could be going wrong. And instead of accusing them, condemning them, pulling them down, tearing them apart, we in a spirit of meekness, we very humbly try to guide them. Now this does not mean that we don't speak the truth to them because the same Bible also tells us that we must speak the truth in love. Right. So don't hide their faults. We need to let them know what they did wrong. But do it in a gentle way. Do it in such a way that it could really help that person come back to God. So does that help personally? Yes, that was helpful. But that very person like who I mentioned, like that person was saying like, okay, I have fallen. I agree that I've fallen, you know, but that person said, I'm very much disappointed with my mentors, you know, instead of encouraging me, now they've just let me let him own his own and they're not trying to communicate with that very person. So like as a friend, I can feel what that person is going through, you know, like he's like that person is like kind of isolated in that way. So yeah, again, from the friends perspective, you know, how can I encourage that very person more so that, you know, he will fellowship with other like minded believers. Okay, so see if if at all the mentors are rejecting him at this point and not helping him come back, that is very sad. However, we don't know though your friend is stating that the mentors are not taking me back, we don't know if there are there have conversations have taken place where your friend is probably, you know, not willing to listen to the mentors, maybe they've said something and your friend is not willing to do it. We don't know, there could be a lot of things that are unsaid. Alright, so what I would suggest is I would suggest that your friend, you can encourage your friend to approach the mentors and to like maybe state to the mentors and say hey, I'm sorry. And I could you please give me a chance be repentant before the mentors that will be helpful at least it'll help them know that this person is making a turnaround. Okay, so that might be a good thing to do but even after letting them know very clearly that this individual wants to come back to God if they are not helping then I think he or she may only have to strengthen themselves in the Lord by on their own and let the spirit of God, the word of God, wash them, restore them and I believe that as they are seeking the Lord, God will bring good, godly people into their life to speak and sort of, you know, revive, refresh, restore them once again. Okay, thank you. Okay, thanks Sally. Thank you. It is quite challenging. And from what I have observed, you know, whatever a little bit of ministry experience that I have, I feel when when people want to come back to God, working with them. It's, it is quite challenging, especially the part where, where as someone who's working with them, you help them know that you are for them, you're not against them. And what they did doesn't stop you from, you know, helping them out. For them to be convinced of it is quite difficult. Like they sometimes carry so much of shame that they are not able to be back in the kind of relationship that, you know, they had with their leaders or with their mentors earlier. But yes, as we speak to them, pray for them and affirm them again and again and say, hey, hey, don't worry about what has happened. You can make a change. And let's work together, hopefully, hopefully, both the person and the mentor can come to a place where, from where they go forward. Okay, sure. Thank you. Very practical issues there. And good, it's good that we are talking about it. Anything else to discuss before we get back into the passage? Okay. So with regard to helping those who have fallen away from God or dealing with conflicts, I think there is content in the book Kingdom Builders quite elaborately pastor writes about these matters. So I encourage you to go read that. And coming back to the text here from Hebrews chapter six, that is pointing out somebody who has fallen away. Okay. They have rejected God. Now again, you know, some questions that people ask is if the grace that God has given is so immense. Then why how can people fall away? Because Christ has already paid for our sins. And no matter what somebody has done, they can find redemption amidst that you see this falling away. Generally, this would happen if the individual rejects Christ. Okay, and that's what verse eight, sorry, verse six says here, since they crucify again for themselves, the Son of God, and put them to an open shame. So how do these individuals crucify the Son of God by living in their sin willfully. So when something like that happens, it is the will of the person to reject the finished work of the cross. Otherwise, you see the redemption bought by the work of by Jesus on the cross is so powerful and, you know, so generous immense that anyone who's repenting can come under that grace. Isn't it? But why is it not happening for the person who's falling away? Because they are willfully rejecting it. That's the only way to, you know, keep the power of God, the cleansing work of the blood of Jesus out of our lives. So that's the kind of person that this falling away passage is talking about. Okay, so it also says here that they put him to an open shame. That means that what an individual who's away from God is doing is they, we say, right, like the life that God has given us is to glorify and honor him. So someone who's fallen away from God are going in their own way. So there's no glorifying God. There's probably glorifying self and pleasure and, you know, all sorts of things. Now moving on to the next two verses here was seven and eight. It simply states, for the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. So what does this mean? It's in continuation to what we said about somebody who's fallen away. So then what does it mean this passage? It means what it states. It says that when the rain comes down on the earth, the plants bear good fruit. And that's how it's supposed to be, right? But the blessing of God, the spirit of God at work, we're supposed to produce fruit for God. That's the normal way of the natural process. But let's say the rains come, but ultimately you find thorns, briars, then that is sort of, you know, it says it is rejected and near to being cursed. God doesn't want that. Rather, God rejects fruitlessness. And we know the passage in John chapter 15, where the scriptures talk about we being the branches of the wine, we bear fruit. And how does the father work on us? He prunes us to bear fruit. So every life must bear fruit for God. If there is a life that does not bear fruit for God, that's something that God rejects. And that's what he's saying here. Someone who's fallen away, living willfully in sin and putting God to public shame, right? And not glorifying God. That's not the kind of life that God wants us to have. And there is a warning. We've been seeing this throughout the passages of the book of Hebrews that the writer is warning that in any given situation, don't allow yourself to be in a place where you reject God. And, you know, you let go of the faith that you have. Right? So let's move on. We'll go to the next section here. We'll go ahead with reading verse nine to verse 12. Can one of us please read it? But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation. Do 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. 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. Okay, it's like a father talking at one point. He's very stern. He's very direct. And he talks about matters that are quite difficult to digest things like falling away. And again, you know, he comes back so gently, but he says, Hey, but it's not you. I'm not saying that you did it. Okay, but you, you're, you've done so well. So a little bit of encouragement mixed with the earlier warning that came across. So from verses nine, he says, but beloved, so you see how with that in the endearing word, he encourages them once again, less the people become fearful. And, you know, they, they go away from God. So he says, but beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. It's as if he's saying, but don't worry, you know, this won't happen to you. You will do better with your faith. We are confident about better things about you. Things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. Now again, a word of encouragement, verse 10, it seems like the Hebrew believers, they had a good testimony. They were serving God faithfully. And that's why in verse 10, he says, see, God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love. And he adds there that they had ministered to the saints. So we recognize that it was a very hospitable community. And in those days, it is said that when ministers of God went from city to city, town to town, they would stay back in the homes of believers in that place. So the Hebrew believers might have taken care of, you know, preachers and believers and others who were traveling, traveling ministers. So he's encouraging them and saying, look, you've done so well. You have served God faithfully. And God is a good God. He recognizes the work that we do for him. And he says that God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love. Okay, so that's so beautiful. That's a word of encouragement for all of us today. I know that all of us in various capacities, we are serving the Lord in our own local churches. And any opportunity that God gives us, always know that God is faithful. He'll not forget. It says he's not unjust to forget your work. Sometimes when we work so hard for the Lord, and maybe we are tired or we are discouraged, that people didn't affirm us, they didn't praise us. You know, there can be all kinds of reasons. One thing that we can encourage ourselves with is that God sees it. Okay, and he is a rewarder. He's a rewarder. And I really love that passage. I think it's Romans, it says that there's no partiality with God. So if there's any one of us serving him, he is faithful enough to bless our lives. At the right time, you know, the blessings will flow. So with that assurance, we can serve him. Don't worry about people recognizing or people affirming praise God, you know, sometimes people see our work and they say, Oh, well done. So good and all. But then there are other times that nobody may know how we are serving God, but stay encouraged because God is just God is faithful. God is not partial. God is a rewarder. And he also says labor of love. So it tells us that when we love God, when we love people, there is some exertion there, some strain, some putting in effort. Right. And maybe at times we have to go out of our way. And that's giving us the understanding of labor. Labor is what when we see someone striving in the sun, working hard, we say, Hey, look how they are laboring. So even in the ministry, there will be times when we labor, but it's a let it be a labor of love. Let it not be a labor of complaining. Oh God, why should I do this? Why did you ask me to do all these things? If it's a labor of love, which we do towards God and for his people, there is a blessing and that blessing will not miss us. Okay, that assurance we can carry. So it's a beautiful, encouraging passage or a scripture here, Hebrew 610. I'll read it again for us 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. So he's encouraging the believers and saying, good job. You're doing well. Keep it up and God will reward you for it. And going on to verses 11 and 12. It's an encouragement to continue in God and receive the promises of God into their lives. So he says, we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. Okay, and verse 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So he's saying, starting off on a journey is so good, but finishing is even better. The problem is when we give up midway and no matter what is going on in our lives. Let's have this focus that we move on with diligence until the end. Keep that faith alive, hope alive until the end. That should be our goal as believers. Yes, I started wonderfully, but I have to finish. Finishing is very, very important. Finishing well is so very important. Okay, so that's the focus that he wants to bring to the believers. And he says that, see that you don't become sluggish. But like those who have inherited the promises of God, how did the people in the Bible inherit the promises of God? We'll come to it. We'll come to a beautiful passage, Hebrews 11, where we'll have the list of so many different people who walked into the promises of God of various kinds. How did they do it? He shows us two elements. One is faith. Of course, without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith, it's impossible to serve God the way he wants to be served. But secondly, patience. Patience, where we are continuing through the struggles and through the difficulties. We need both faith. Sometimes we have a lot of faith, but zero patience. It won't work. And sometimes we're just persevering patience, but no faith. Will God do something? I don't know. I'm just doing the right thing. It's showing that we lack faith in God. But both of these are so necessary. Have faith and also have patience. These are the two things that have helped people to walk into the promises of God. And we can be those people. Whatever it is that God wants us to accomplish in our lives, as long as we journey with these two things, we will be able to step into those promises. But if we are discouraged, then what happens? It seems like that in what the writer is saying here. Maybe the people were serving God and going through the opposition, the persecution, the lack, and they became discouraged. What can discouragement do to the service of a minister or a believer? The writer says here, sluggish. Sometimes we become so weary where we are serving, but there's no passion. There's no zeal. There's no hope in our serving. We are doing because it's the right thing to do. But God does not want that attitude. So the writer is telling them, I know you're discouraged, but don't allow that to make you sluggish. Continue to trust that God is not unjust. He will surely reward us. And with faith, with patience, like those who have already inherited the promises of God, let's keep our lives in check and aligned. Alright, let's move on now to the next section here. Again, he's talking about how faithful God is. So that's the essence of the next section. Could somebody please read from verse 13 to verse 18? 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. 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 how abundantly to the cares 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. 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. Thank you Rosalind. So along what we are saying now, encouraging them to have faith and patience. Don't become sluggish because of your discouragement. He goes on to tell us how firm and certain God's word is. So he takes us back to the promise that God made to Abraham and when God said something to Abraham. What was the word that he stated here in verse 14? He says surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you. We also noticed that there was nobody else required to back up God's word at that time. God's word was enough by itself. So today we understand that when we are stating something about ourselves, sometimes we have to get it authorized by a lawyer, some statement that one has made or a change of name or a change of place, but it needs an authorization by a legal body or a person in authority only then it becomes valid. But when it comes to God, whatever he says, it's so certain, it's so true. We don't even have to worry. And at the time when God blessed Abraham and said, look, Abraham, I am going to bless you. I am going to multiply you. There was no need for a backup of any sort by anyone else because God's word is true in itself. It has integrity in itself. And going back to the example of Abraham in verse 15, it says that Abraham, he received the promise of God. He was very blessed, his children, his descendants were very blessed. But how did that happen? It just did not happen only by faith. Yes, Abraham is our father of faith, but we also know about his patience. There were instances where he had to trust God, wait on the Lord 25 years. He waited for one son and even after that son came, there was a test given to him. He trusted God enough to sacrifice Isaac. So there are many other things in the life of Abraham that reveal his patience to us. So it's a reminder for us as believers. Sometimes we feel God is not moving fast enough, quick enough. But there are examples in the word of God for us who took God at his word. And they had faith in God. They also employed patience. And that's when they actually walked into the promises of God. And we too should be patient. Exercise our faith, but be patient. Surely God is true. His word is true. And it says here that, you know, in verse 17, notice it says the... Okay, I'll read the whole passage. Thus God determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. So immutability of his counsel refers to how unshakable God's word is. What he said, it stands. So it's immutable. It cannot be changed. It's very sure. It's very pure. And in verse 18, 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. So once again, we are told that God's word is certain. That's the essence. I'm just going with the essence of what this passage is saying that God's word is true. Stay focused on it. Be confident about it. Surely it will happen and have patience. Okay. Right. Verse 19, which says this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil. So this is revealing to us the function of hope or hoping in God in moments of discouragement. One of the first things that gets affected is our hope. We just become so hopeless. What we don't have any hope for the future for good things to happen in our lives. So that is the nature of discouragement. It just sucks the hope out of our lives. But the author is encouraging the believers that we need to have hope. If there's no hope in life, we are like a ship that is floating in the sea or the ocean. No direction. We're just like, okay, we exist here right now. There's no storm. So I'm still there and the storm happens. I don't know what's going to happen in that kind of a life. We may have in God, but that's not what God wants for us. We've all got to live with hope. So today I just want to ask us this question. What is the hope that we carry in our hearts for ourselves? Our personal growth, our family life, our finances. Is there any hope? Do we have any hope? Are we hoping that we are heading towards this or one day it will be like this in my home, in my family, in my health, in my ministry, in my church? I hope there is hope, okay? Because if there is no hope, then what does the scripture say? It says, there's no anchor for the soul. Hope is the anchor of the soul. You've got to have hope in our soul, birthed by God. When we have that, then what happens? There is some grip that we have in our lives for our soul. And it's also saying, both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil. It's kind of, I've heard somebody say this when this last portion, right? It says, which enters the presence behind the veil. It is talking about the Holy of Holies in the temple worship. There was a place where one would go into the presence of God and that is the Holy of Holies. And here it says that hope is the anchor of the soul. First of all, it gives us some steadiness in our life. Secondly, our hope is felt in the presence of God or rather God feels it. God senses our hope is what the author is saying. So it's very beautiful. When we are in the presence of God, God also senses what we are carrying in our hearts, what we are believing in for in our hearts. And the author is saying, don't become so discouraged that there is no hope. There's no sense of that steadiness in God where we are trusting that surely one day all these things are going to take place in different areas of my life. And even in the presence of God, in the very presence of God, when we encounter God, God also senses that hope that we carry and that hope that makes us steady. So keep hope alive. It's so beautiful. We can talk so much about this passage. It says it's the anchor. It's the anchor. Hope gives us steadiness. If you've ever looked at stories of people who've gone through maybe a huge crisis in their lives. But when people keep hope alive in the crisis situation, maybe they lost all their finances. But as long as they have hope, we hear stories of them rebuilding their whole, their company and their business and once again shining or maybe something happened in their family. But they stand up again and they're able to see God work. But what if a person loses hope because of the crisis, the discouragement? It's very unfortunate. They may not be able to do much because they've lost the anchor itself. It's quite dangerous actually to live hopelessly without having our hope in God. And later we will see when we come to Hebrews 11, we'll see that hope is the precursor of faith. Because in Hebrews 11 1, we'll see faith is the substance of things hoped for. So there's got to be some things that we are hoping for. If you're not hoping for anything, there's no question of faith. So hope is attached to faith and there's got to be hope in our lives. And godly hope, not just fantasizing about different things. And verse 20, he says, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus having become high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So going back to the temple worship practices, we know that the high priest was the one who was permitted to go into the Holy of Holies. But in our case, Jesus being our eternal high priest, our high priest forever has already gone into the presence of God. And the word forerunner is used because forerunner in military terms is a person who goes ahead of everybody else and the others follow. So what did we read? Our high priest has gone up into the presence of God. That's something we've seen earlier in the book of Hebrews. He's gone into heaven itself, the very presence of God. And that's the high priest whom we have. He's already gone into the presence of God and he's the one who leads us into the presence of God. And when we call him the forerunner as a high priest, which order does he belong to? We've talked about this earlier as well. He's of the order of Melchizedek. So I'll stop right here. If there's any discussions regarding what we have spoken so far, we can take that up. If not, we can pray and close and we'll start with chapter 7 in the next class. I just want to know if I'm understanding what you're trying to say. In verse 17 it says, sorry, in verse 18 it says that by two immutable things, so in verse 17 it says immutability of this council and conformed by a move. So that you are in immutable things for the council and the oath. I'm on my right. Thank you, Jafina. Thank you for asking that question. So in verse 17, as of promise, the immutability of his council, immutability of his council is separate from what verse 18 is talking about over here. Now coming to verse 18, 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. So once again, I'm going to show you to the as of promise, immutability of his council. So there are two things that we can anchor our faith to. One, I think you're right. It is the promise of the immutability of his council, immutability of his council. And second is, it is impossible for God to lie. So two things, one is the word of God and the second is the character of God. So the immutability of his promises that God's word is truth, whatever he says is truth. Secondly, in God's character, he cannot do anything that's evil, one of which is lie. So based on his word and based on his character, we can have hope in God. Sorry for that confusion. So all this is just encouraging us to have hope in God and hope is the anchor of the soul and hope goes into the presence behind the veil where our forerunner, Lord Jesus has also gone and is of the order of Melchizedek. So if that's the last question, we can pray and close up. Okay, let's pray. I would like to request someone from our class to please lead in prayer. Anyone who can unmute and pray please. Thank you Lord for the session that we had. Thank you for the teachings that we went through. Help us to have patience and hope in you along with faith so that we may please you in our walk with you. We also thank you for our dear pastor Nancy. We ask you to bless her even more and keep her in good health as she serves you. Thank you Lord for hearing us in Jesus mighty name, victory. Amen. Thank you Rosalind. Thank you everyone. God bless you. We'll get back into our classes next week. So yeah, see you then. Bye.