I. Introduction
A. Last week we looked at one of the most difficult passages in the Bible: Hebrews 6:4-6. It talked about the danger and possibility of falling away even after receiving many blessings, like enlightenment and tasting of the heavenly gift and being made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasting the powers of the age to come. It said that if people ever do fall away after receiving all this, they are “recrucifying the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”
B. Hebrews 6:7–9 is a continuation of this same line of thought.
C. It introduces the metaphor of a garden, in much the same way as many other passages of Scripture, from Psalm 1 to our Lord’s parable of the sower in Matthew 13:18–23.
II. Explanation of Hebrews 6:7–9
A. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
1. We have a picture being painted in front of us here.
2. This is not a wild field or forest. This is a cultivated garden.
3. There is a gardener. And He has a purpose and an agenda for it. He is trying to grow fruit.
4. We are the garden, the ground, just as in the case of the parable of the sower.
5. God is the gardener, and the source of the rain.
6. What is the rain? It is the kind of thing we saw last week in Heb.6:4-6: enlightenment, tasting the heavenly gift, sharing in the Holy Spirit, tasting the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.
7. “land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it” We don’t get rain just every once in a while. We get it often.
8. This means it’s easy to take the rain for granted.
a. Much of the world is arid and therefore celebrates rain. But we consider it an inconvenience.
b. When Jesus says “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” (Matt.5:45) we think He’s talking about something difficult. But He doesn’t mean bad things happen to everyone, He means good things happen to everyone!
9. The same is true for those who grow up in the church.
a. Before I went to seminary, I was a youth leader at Fourth Presbyterian Church. The large youth group was generally made up of two kinds of kids: church kids and those who had met Christ through the youth program.
b. I was in the latter group. We grasped much quicker the blessing of the word of God and the church community.
c. The converts were asking questions like this: “Is it OK to come to church even when my parents don’t want me to?”
d. The church kids were asking questions like this: “Mom, do I have to go to church?” For many of them, it wasn’t until years later that they realized what a treasure they had been given.
e. But many privileges have been lavished upon us — the rains of God’s grace, the showers of His blessings.
10. So what then is the fruit/crop in v.7?
a. Is it the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22-23?
b. Remember the situation here. The author is writing to Jews who have come to Christ but now are wavering in their faith under the pressure of their fellow Jews who desire to bring them back to Judaism.
c. So what fruit/crop is the author referring to? The fruit of persevering faith, the fruit of steadfastness, the fruit of endurance.
B. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
1. Now he talks again about falling away.
2. He refers to the fact that there are two kinds of plants which grow in a garden: fruitful & thorny.
3. Just because you're in the garden doesn't mean you're going to be fruitful. As Paul says in 1Cor.9:24, not all who are in the race win the prize.
4. Both fruitful plant and thorny symbolize professing Christians. Each of us is one or the other.
5. The thorny plants get removed and thrown into the fire, as Jesus says in John 15:2: “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away.” And then again in John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
6. Frequent rain and the other environmental blessings of a garden are designed to produce fruit. If they don't, it means that soon the gardener will get rid of the unwanted, unfruitful plants.
a. “if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed”
b. We should fear when our lives are bearing thorns and thistles. It means we are close to being cursed.
c. But even if you are bearing thorns and thistles, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to end up being burned. This is a warning, not a condemnation. You can see that in verse 9...
C. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.
1. In spite of his deep concern, his warnings are not to be read as expectations.
2. This will be our main theme next week, as we see how the author follows his warnings about falling away with words of encouragement and reassurance.
III. Application
A. I am very familiar with the battle between desirable fruitful plants and undesirable thorny ones. In front of our house we have an island inside our U-shaped driveway. When we brought the property in 1986 it had lots of Mountain Laurel in it, underneath the tall trees. But Mountain Laurel doesn’t blossom in shade, so we cut down the big trees, and tried to remove all the other competitors. Next year will be 30 years of battling the thorns and thistles (and vines) in order to protect and prosper the Mountain Laurel. My children and I have spent 1000's of hours in this battle. And the battle continues to rage. If we just let it go, within 3 years or so, you wouldn’t even see the Mountain Laurel. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about.
1. This is my life — and yours. We are in a lifelong battle in our souls.
2. The question is: Who’s going to win the battle of the garden? The fruitful plants or the thorny ones?
B. Why’s it such a big deal to God that we bear fruit and not thorns? Why’s He so zealous for our fruitfulness?
1. We find explanation in John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
a. The fruit is not for the ground but for the gardener.
b. Ultimately, we are planted to produce fruit FOR THE LORD. It's not all about us.
c. How do you like it when people have an agenda for you?
d. But God’s agenda is a lovely agenda. His glorification includes our glorification — by grace.
C. But notice that John 15:8 tells us something else. This isn’t works righteousness. Fruit doesn’t make you disciples. Fruit proves you’re disciples: “bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
D. It’s all from God.
1. John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” It’s from Him!
2. But it still means we have to fight and work and struggle!
3. In one sense, it is a choice. And yet that choice and effort ultimately come from Him, and can be done only by His power.
a. John 15:4 “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
IV. Final appeal
A. Many blessings have been showered into the lives of those who are the Lord's garden. You have been fed the word of God, you have been adopted into the covenant family of Christ (see Rom.3:1-2 and 9:4). You have “been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the powers of the age to come” (Heb.6:4-5)
B. What is going to happen as a result of all these blessings showered upon you? Are they going to produce the sweet fruit of faith and righteousness? Or are they going to produce thorns and thistles?
C. These words were written for those who had committed their lives to Christ. However, my friends, the Bible applies the same principle to all mankind. For, in His goodness God “sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” – Matthew 5:45.
D. Some might question this: “What divine blessings have rained down on my life? I feel like all I get is trouble!”
1. As the apostle Paul said to a group of non-believers in Athens, Acts 17:25, 28 “He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything... for in him we live and move and have our being.”
2. Not only that, but if you’re here this morning, that means that the rain of the gospel has fallen upon your life.
a. What do I mean? Well, you have been told of the One who came from God and who died on a cross in order to forgive sin and reconcile us to God. You’ve been invited to come to Him and put your faith in Him.
3. What if the troubles you resent are actually God’s plow softening up the hard ground of your heart to make you able to openly receive the rain of His truth?
a. Fruitfuless begins with being receptive to and appreciative of His blessings. “Productivity begins with receptivity.” – MacLaren, A.
E. The gospel has rained down upon your life. The question is, What effect is it going to have?
1. Is it going to produce the fruit of faith? Is it going to be met with a welcoming YES!?
2. Or is it going to be met with a stiff-arm, a slammed door, or an I’ll-deal-with-you-later put-off?
3. Don’t refuse Him. Don’t push Him away. Welcome Him! Receive Him! Let every heart prepare Him room!