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#15: Mature Bible Understanding

Hebrews

Apr 19, 2015


by: Jack Lash Series: Hebrews | Category: NT books | Scripture: Hebrews 5:11–6:1

I. Introduction
A. This is actually the same passage I used in my first Hebrews sermon.
B. This morning I want to begin with an alert. There is a big passage coming up soon (Heb.6:4-6) — one of the most difficult passages in the NT and one of the most frequently-asked-about passages in the Christian community.
C. Context of 5:11-6:1a
1. The theme of the whole epistle
a. The letter was written to a community of Jews who had come to faith in Christ. But now their faith has begun to erode under the pressure of their fellow Jews.
b. And virtually everything in this letter is written for the purpose of convincing them not to abandon Christ. It is summarized by Heb.10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
2. In light of what was going on among the readers, it is surprising that there is not more rebuking in this letter. There are warnings, but few rebukes. But in this passage we have some.
3. The challenge to Christ’s high priesthood
a. It seems that their fellow Jews, in arguing against the Messiahship of Jesus, were challenging the notion that Jesus was a priest — since he wasn't a Levite.
b. Instead of working to figure it out, instead of asking their teachers (It doesn’t seem that their leaders were falling into this same trap. Hebrews 13:7 “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Cf. Hebrews 13:17), they just assumed the argument had merit. They listened to the lie.
4. The author has introduced the fact that Jesus was a high priest not according to the order of Aaron but according to the order of Melchizedek.
a. When he says “about this we have much to say” in v.11, by "this" he means the Melchizedek priesthood, among other things. (He goes into more depth re: the Melchizedek connection later in chapter 7, after he finishes some practical exhortations.)
5. He wants to show them how the old things of Judaism are pictures of the new and better things of Christ. However, they’re still in child mode and aren’t ready to grapple with the deeper meanings of things.
a. E.g. the Judaizers couldn’t see that Gentiles could become Jews by faith.
b. The Jews as a whole couldn’t accept the fact that Judaism wasn’t ultimate, that it was a giant pointer to Jesus.
II. Read Hebrews 5:11–6:1a
III. The thing God is saying to us in this passage: Much of what God has to say in His word is never received because of a lack of interest.
A. The author’s frustrated. You can sense that in v.11-13 “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.”
B. Their faith is being undermined by certain arguments & claims coming from their Jewish friends.
C. You can understand why he’s frustrated. He’s got a lot to say about these challenges; he’s got good answers for the things they’re struggling with; there is no lack of answers. But because of their neglect, their sluggishness, and their lack of engagement, they’re not knowledgeable enough to understand what he’s talking about.
D. You see, the word here for “dull” in v.11 doesn’t imply a lack of intelligence, but laziness and sluggishness.
1. He blames their vulnerability to these lies on their sin.
2. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all confusion is because of sin. But it does mean that not understanding the truth CAN be a result of sin.
3. I took a number of speech classes in college. I was taught that if communication is not received by the recipient, it’s the communicator’s fault. (Then they give you a bad grade if you do poorly on the test. Those professors know well that the failure can well be on the side of the listener, not necessarily on the hearer.)
4. But here we see that it can be the listener’s fault. Much of what God has to say in His word is never received because of a lack of interest.
E. Many who should know a lot and be very skilled in the word of God and who should be ministering the word to others do not and are not.
1. 12-13 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.”
2. Growth is an important part of the Christian life.
a. And we grow in two ways. We grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. (2Pet.3:18)
b. Growing in knowledge isn’t enough, but growing in knowledge of Jesus is an important part of growth. And the primary way God gives us knowledge of Jesus is through His word.
c. So, to grow in the knowledge of Christ is going to involve growth in your knowledge of the Bible.
d. And an important way you grow in your knowledge of God’s word is by being taught by others “who have had their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
3. There’s a cycle of life in the church: students learn from teachers and then become teachers, passing on the baton.
a. In 2Timothy 2:2 Paul talks about this: “What you have heard from me entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” We see four stages here: Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others.
b. With age is supposed to come wisdom and knowledge so you can help the less mature.
c. But not all men are faithful. Sometimes, instead of taking on the mantle of helping to lead others, they remain as babes who need to be taken care of.
d. For a long time I’ve had in my head an image of the church as a truck-sized cart being pushed down the road. Some people are riding inside the cart and others are pushing and steering outside the cart. And that’s the way it should be. However, some who should be pushing on the outside are still inside enjoying the ride — and it makes the cart go slower.
4. It’s not enough to be satisfied in your own soul about the truth of Jesus. You need to worry about the faith of others as well. You need to be able to refute challenges that trouble others.
a. The goal is not to be self-sufficient, the goal is to be a blessing to others.
b. E.g. the problem of evil (If there is a good and sovereign God, why does evil even exist?) may not trouble you, but it’s going to trouble lots of people you interact with for the rest of your life. So, you ought to have a good answer when the question is raised.
5. Verse 13 refers to those who are “unskilled in the word of righteousness.”
a. The word is a sword. It requires skill to handle it well.
b. Think about someone who is really skilled at something. It is always a result of lots and lots of experience/training.
c. And when it is a matter of knowledge, it involves discernment. What is it saying and what is it not saying? Sound Bible interpretation is the art of making proper distinctions.
d. v.14 “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” This verse is so important for Bible interpretation. There is a science to it, there is a skill to it, there is a proficiency. And it comes with a long time of effort and attention.
6. So, in terms of the Christian faith, there are some who should be on a teacher level, and yet are still in elementary school. Why? Because of laziness, distraction, earthly-mindedness, intoxication.
a. All of us are guilty of this to some extent. I know I am. There are some things I should know about which I don’t, because of a lack of zeal.
F. Think about this in comparison to the 12 year old Jesus “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” – Luke 2:46-47
1. Here was a mind fully engaged in what you should be engaged in. Whereas many adults act like children when it comes the word of God, Jesus acted like an adult when He was a child.
2. He was the opposite of what we see here in the Hebrews.
3. Praise God that He lived the life we – because of our sin – couldn’t live.
G. There is hope even for those who have been guilty of this neglect of God’s word.
1. 6:1 “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity...”
2. Next week we’ll talk about what he means here, but for now let’s notice that he doesn’t say that their stunted growth means they aren’t saved.
3. He’s not just venting, he’s trying to move them to a better state.
IV. Why does this happen?
A. Some folks are afraid of teaching, like some are afraid of parenting. Teaching and parenting are heavy responsibilities. They require devoting yourself to another person’s welfare. They require having an understanding of things. They require being willing to lead.
1. When you are a kid, and some calamity occurs, you’re not the one who has to figure out what to do, you’re not the one who has to get everyone out of this mess. But when you’re the teacher or the parent, you’re supposed to know what to do, you’re supposed to figure it out, you’re supposed to lead the others to where they need to be.
a. When you become a teacher, you put yourself in a vulnerable place, a place of answering questions, a place of solving dilemmas, a place of taking responsibility for others.
2. Some people don’t seem to want to grow up. They don’t want responsibility. They don’t want to take care of themselves, much less others. They just want to be served and protected and provided for. They want to continue with the safety, the comforts, the simplicity, the ease of childhood. They don’t want to learn math or geography or history or grammar or science. Why? Because they don’t ever want to have to know all that kind of stuff. They don’t want to be teachers.
3. And sometimes even when they’re in their 20's or even 30's, they still live with their parents, they don’t work, they play video games, they sit around and eat off their parents. They haven’t taken responsibility for their own lives and they don’t want to.
4. Just because you’re old in years doesn’t mean you’re grown up, it doesn’t mean you’ve stopped being a child.
5. Well, all this kind of thing is sometimes true with regard to the Christian faith and the Christian church as well.
B. Some folks don’t realize that faith is not just something you “let happen.” Faith is something you have to fight for.
1. In Hebrews 6:11–12 our author describes his goal for his readers: he wants each one of them not to be sluggish but zealous to have the full assurance of hope until the end.
a. God wants us to be passionate about growing our faith.
b. The only way you’re going to have full assurance of hope until the end is if you don’t believe lies about the Christian faith. And in order to not be subject to lies, you need to be able to seek out answers to challenges to the faith.
c. E.g. a few years ago, a slew of lies about Christianity and the Bible was dumped out in Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, along with the movie version. Mainly the lies were embraced by those who were happy to have more excuses to not believe in Jesus. But it has been said that a number of Christians lost their faith as a result of this. Well, I can tell you one thing: there is nothing said in that book against the Bible or the Christian faith which is not very refutable, if someone was willing to do the necessary homework or ask appropriate people for explanation.
d. But some people are especially vulnerable to arguments against Christianity. It’s almost like they’re ready to believe the worst about the church, the Bible, or even about God.
2. We are engaged in a war against lies, “destroying arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” – 2Cor.10:5
3. If you went to the doctor and got a diagnosis about a serious condition, or your spouse or child did, you’d shift into learning mode, and within days or even hours you’d know a lot of what there is to know about that condition.
a. And yet for many of us this same zeal is not there re: our sin or our faith.
C. I think the story of King Josiah cleaning the temple and finding the Bible (2Kings 22) is a vivid picture of many people’s lives and many churches today.
1. The inspired word of God is in some dusty box somewhere and so there is no source of knowledge or reproof or correction, or for training in righteousness equipping for every good work. (2Timothy 3:16–17)
D. Believing in Christ isn’t all about knowing the Bible well. It’s about knowing Jesus well. But the fact is that the most important way God has given us to know Jesus is through His word.
1. “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity!” – Hebrews 6:1