Download TITLE: How to Receive God`s Blessings TEXT: Hebrews 6:7

TITLE: How to Receive God's Blessings
TEXT: Hebrews 6:7-12
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
OPENING
SENTENCE: SHOW PLANT- How many of you have ever felt like this plant?
INTRODUCTION: You notice that it appears to still be alive but there are some branches that
have no leaves. If there was a word that could describe the state of this plant I would say that it is
withering. I know I would definitely not say that this is a thriving plant!! It probably would be
something that I would want to hide - I don’t think I’d want it to be in the center of my kitchen
table. I think I would place this plant in my basement or in my garage or I might place it where it
could get some light and give it some water in the hopes that it might revive and start growing
well again but if it doesn’t well I’ll probably toss it. What do you do with your withering plants?
TRANSITION
SENTENCE: How would you describe your Christian life? Is it a life that is vibrant and exciting
or a life that is tired and withering like this plant?
TRANSITION: I’d like to make a statement this morning - "IF YOU ARE WITHERING LOOK OUT! BECAUSE YOU’RE PROBABLY BEGINNING TO DIE! BUT THERE’S
HOPE!!"
It’s sad, but true, that for a lot of Christians - our relationship with Jesus sometimes grows old.
There are so many people who pray to give their lives to Jesus, they get excited for a week or
two and then everything gets old and routine. With some people it takes longer maybe a couple
of months, maybe a year, two years or maybe even five years. What do I mean it gets old?
I mean that it withers - the relationship with Christ that was once so vibrant and fresh and
exciting becomes slow, stale and boring. The sad thing is that sometimes it’s hard to see this
happening because these people still come to church, they still "do ministry", they still say all the
right words, they still sing choruses.
Why does this happen? How can this relationship with Jesus Christ who is really the Lord of the
universe, the Son of the living God, the Resurrected Saviour, the Bread of Life get old? The
answer lies in us as human beings. It’s not God’s fault- He has provided everything we need for
our spiritual growth and health: it’s our fault. As human beings, it’s easy for anything to get old
to us! We get bored, we get disillusioned or disappointed, and we get worn out from our
circumstances. We are not machines. We’re living creatures with active minds who want to be
entertained, mesmerized and tantalized.
SAY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY: Jesus said in John 15:4, "Remain in me, and I will
remain in you." If your relationship with Christ is to be fresh, vibrant and exciting you need to
remain in him. I want us to look at a passage in Hebrews that uses a similar metaphor and
consider from it the question, “How can you receive the blessing of God?” so that you do not
wither up and die spiritually. We will look at three responses to this question and see first to
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focus on producing the things that promote God’s blessings. Second, we will see that we must
love God and help His people. Third, imitate those who have already received it.
TEXT: Hebrews 6:7-12
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
How can you receive the blessing of God?
I.
Focus on producing the things that promote God’s blessings. (7-9)
In this passage we are faced with a serious warning spoken to those who had knowledge of the
gospel. They knew about Christ and the salvation that He brings. They witnessed the power of
the Holy Spirit. They heard the preaching of the Word of God. And yet, they still fell away.
Here is the warning. There is nothing left for them. They cannot go back to the Levitical Law
and expect God to honor their worship because they have turned from the One who fulfilled the
Law. They cannot go back to the Temple and offer a sacrifice, since they have already rejected
the Ultimate Sacrifice. Indeed, if they turn their back on Christ at this point, they cannot even
come back to Him, since there is nothing more to draw them. They have already rejected
everything that God has to offer. He cannot bless them if they keep pursuing the dead-end
course they are on. The following verse lay out the warning.
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for
whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is
worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—
the things that have to do with salvation.
The law of the harvest:
These two verses form an illustration to illustrate the truths that have just been taught. The rain
represents all of those things which God has sent in verses 4-5 to convince men of the truth of
the salvation that Jesus provides. This rain has been offered to all. But it has a different effect in
some areas than it has in others.
A. Land that produces a useful product receives the blessing of God.
B. Land that produces a useless product risks purging.
If the Hebrews stay their present course they are at risk. They illustrate the land that produces a
useless product and run the risk of being purged. The author of Hebrews knew God wanted to
bless them and he was convinced of better things in their case- but not without growing to
maturity .
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ILLUSTRATE: The warning is clear. What kind of ground are you? Are you holding fast to
Jesus Christ? Or are you abandoning Him to chase the wind? We are not talking about loss of
salvation but loss of the blessing for faithfully going on to maturity. You must persevere in your
faith to enjoy God’s intended blessings.
A well know speaker spoke at a spiritual retreat for college freshman who attended New York
University. The speaker looked around at the students and said, “If the statistics are right, two
thirds of you will no longer be walking with the Lord at your graduation.” Even though the group
prospered and grew, the retreat leader’s prediction came true. New people had come, but only a
third of those in the class who were originally at the retreat were still living for God at
graduation. The important key here is that you must take responsibility for your spiritual life.
God wants you to not only be born, he wants you to grow
APPLY: The scripture today talked of thorns and thistles growing in a field instead of the
expected crop. Thorns and thistles grow in a field that has not been worked. There has been no
tilling, no planting, no watering, and there are only weeds. The same is true of your life. “Why
don’t I feel closer to God,” some people say. Because you have done nothing to get closer to
God. You have done nothing and received nothing. This is not a game. It takes effort. You don’t
have to continue to live in defeat, but it means that you have to be intentional about your
relationship with God and your walk of faith When you love God you want to be with him and
do those things that bring you close to him.
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
How can you receive the blessing of God?
II.
Love God and help His people. (10-11)
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have
helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same
diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.
The Old Testament made a strong case that if Israel was faithful and obedient to the one True
God he would bless them. The author brings up that OT sense of the justice of God.
A. God’s justice rewards- He will not forget your work. God recognizes our work
and weighs it out in distribution of blessings.
The work he rewards is when we live our lives out of love for Him. The things we do are
motivated by love for Him and in our loving Him we love and help others who are in his family.
The relationship between love of God and love of his people is a regular them in scripture.
Notice in the following verse the of the metaphor of remaining in Christ is that of a vine (not
unlike the metaphor of land that produces useful things) and is followed by what that fruit looks
like).
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John15: 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a
branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and
burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to
be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my
commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in
his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than
this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ..17 This is my command: Love each other.
I John 4: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because
God is love…11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No
one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete
in us.
B. Keep at it- your hope will be fully realized. Don’t get impatient. Stay the course
no matter how hard.
ILLUSTRATE: John Knight and Denise Knight were happily anticipating the birth of their first
child, a son. They had already decided to name him Paul. But when Paul was born, there was a
big problem: Paul was born without eyes. John and Denise would later discover that their son
had other serious issues, including severe autism and a growth hormone deficiency.
Two months after Paul's birth, as John was looking at his son hooked up to tubes and sensors and
surrounded by medical professionals, he quietly told God, "God, you are strong, that's true, and
you are wicked. You are mean. Do it to me—not to this boy. What did he ever do to you?"
Shortly after that prayer, John and Denise quit going to church.
But one couple from the church refused to give up on them. Karl and Gerilyn never pressured
John and Denise about spiritual issues. Instead, they would often stop by and leave simple gifts,
like a loaf of fresh bread or a basket of soap and shampoo for Denise. John said that it was like
Karl and Gerilyn were saying, "I notice you. I see you. I know you're hurting and I love you."
Eventually John and Denise accepted a dinner invitation from Karl and Gerilyn. During dinner
John told Karl, "You can believe whatever you want. I don't care. I have evidence that God is
cruel." Karl softly replied, "I love you, John. I have regard for you, and I love your boy."
Karl and Gerilyn's four children also displayed unconditional love for their son. John described it
this way:
They'd throw [my son] up in the air and make him laugh and do funny bird sounds and—and that
was confounding, because most people, most adults couldn't do that. And so I would have this
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extraordinary expression of love and affection at the dinner table here, and I would turn to my
left—and there would be at least one of these children playing with my boy like he was a real
boy. I wasn't even sure he was a real boy at times.
Based on this family's quiet, persistent love, John and Denise finally returned to the Lord and to
their local church. And when they returned Karl and Gerilyn stayed by their side, making sure
their son made it into the nursery. John would later say, "They persisted. That was a big deal that
they persisted with us."
APPLY: Karl and Gerilyn are examples for us of what it is to love God and love others and then
stay the course- even when they were not always welcome.
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
How can you receive the blessing of God?
III.
Imitate those who have already received it. (12)
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience
inherit what has been promised.
A. Do not become lazy. When things get hard we tend to give up and do nothing. In
keeping at it we keep working- not becoming lazy.
B. Through faith and patience they inherited what had been promised. Here it is in a
nutshell. They patiently stuck at it because of their faith in what God has
promised.
ILLUSTRATE: In standardized math tests, Japanese children consistently score higher than their
American counterparts. While some assume that a natural proclivity toward mathematics is the
primary difference, researchers have discovered that it may have more to do with effort than
ability. In one study involving first graders, students were given a difficult puzzle to solve. The
researchers weren't interested in whether or not the children could solve the puzzle; they simply
wanted to see how long they would try before giving up. The American children lasted, on
average, 9.47 minutes. The Japanese children lasted 13.93 minutes. In other words, the Japanese
children tried 47 percent longer. Is it any wonder that they score higher on math exams?
Researchers concluded that the difference in math scores might have less to do with intelligence
quotient and more to do with persistence quotient. The Japanese first graders simply tried harder.
APPLY: That study not only explains the difference in standardized math scores; the
implications are true no matter where you turn. It doesn't matter whether it's athletics or
academics, music or math. There are no shortcuts. There are no substitutes. Success is a
derivative of persistence. Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker (Zondervan, 2011), pp. 134-135
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
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SAY WHAT YOU HAVE SAID: This morning we looked at a passage in Hebrews that uses a
metaphor or productive land as a basis to consider the question, “How can you receive the
blessing of God?” so that you do not wither up and die spiritually. We looked at three responses
to this question and saw first to focus on producing the things that promote God’s blessings.
Second, we saw that we must love God and help His people. Third, imitate those who have
already received it.
TIE INTO OPENING SENTENCE: How would you describe your Christian life? Is it a life that
is vibrant and exciting or a life that is like this plant- tired and withering?
APPLY TO SPECIFIC AUDIENCE:
It may be that you’re wither because
 you’re too comfortable and it makes you forgetful of responsibility to God.
 you’re too habitual (stuck in a rut) and need to have some change.
 you’re too judgemental when you need to be forgiving.
 you’re too lazy when you need to be more available and diligent.
 you’re too busy and you need to make time for loving God and others.
HAYMAKER: In 1983, Australia hosted its ultramarathon, a 573.7 mile foot race from Sydney
to Melbourne. This is a race that takes days to run, and professionals from all over the world
came to participate. Shortly before the race began, a 61-year-old farmer named Cliff Young,
wearing overalls and goulashes over his boots, walked up to the registration table and requested a
number to enter the race. The people at the registration table thought it was a joke—that
somebody was setting them up—so they laughed. But Cliff Young said, "No, I'd really like to
run." So they gave him a number and pinned it on his old overalls.
Cliff Young walked over to the start of the race. All the other professional runners, who were
decked out in all their running regalia, looked at him like he was crazy. The crowd snickered.
They laughed even more when the gun went off and the race began, because all those
professional runners had sculpted bodies and beautiful strides, but not Cliff Young. He didn't
even run like a runner. Cliff Young ran with an awkward, goofy-looking shuffle. All through the
crowd people were laughing, and finally, someone called out, "Get that old fool off the track!"
Five days, 14 hours, and four minutes later, at 1:25 in the morning, Cliff Young shuffled across
the finish line of the 573.7 mile ultramarathon. He had won the race. And he didn't win by a
matter of minutes or even an hour or two. The second place runner was nine hours and 56
minutes behind him. Cliff Young had set a new world record for the ultramarathon. The press
mobbed him wondering what kind of special running shoes he must have had, and they
rummaged through his backpack wondering what he'd survived on—he'd lived primarily on
pumpkin seeds and water—and then they discovered the secret to his success: Cliff Young had
shuffled his way to victory without ever sleeping. The other runners would run for 18 hours
straight, and then stop and sleep for three or four hours. He endured running five days, 14 hours,
and four minutes at the age of 61. ( David Allen, from the sermon "Running with Endurance")
The Christian faith is a long distance race that requires us to constantly be moving forward.
THEME: The believer should imitate faithful believers to receive God's blessing.
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