A Spiritual Wake Up Call
0 Amens
A Spiritual Wake Up Call
Hebrews 5:11-6:12
October 14, 2007
Series 3 Sermon 17
11 About this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 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. 6 Therefore
let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not
laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward
God, 2 and of instruction about
washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. 3 And this we will do if God
permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore
again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if
they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to
their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 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. 8 But
if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and
its end is to be burned. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet
in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to
salvation. 10 For God is not so unjust as to
overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the
saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to
show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so
that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises.
Introduction
One of the common needs that we as humans must have is rest. We need sleep. I remember after Abby was born I got a new job that required three weeks of intense training before you could start. The lady that led the training was a very nice woman whose gift was not public speaking. Dani and I had our care for our newborn down to a science. Abby would cry, I would get up and so would Dani. I changed her diaper and handed her to Dani and she would feed her. I would go fix Dani something to drink and then I would go back to sleep while she fed the baby. After she was done Dani would tell me and I would get back up and change her diaper again and put her back to bed. Then I would go back to sleep. This went on at least two or three times a night. Not to mention times where Abby would not just go back to sleep. So when I would arrive at work in the morning I was very often in need of a lot of coffee or a nap. Neither of which were readily available to me. I survived and learned a lot but there were days that I did not think I was going to make it.
With Katie Beth it was a little different but we had a very
similar routine. I was in seminary and
was working full time and when you are in seminary they require you to take a
missions class. Well the instructor was
a really nice man and a very boring speaker.
He could have made any story boring.
It was a night class and I had already worked all day and had to sit on
Monday nights in class from 6pm to 9pm.
He told a lot of stories and this professor was the very first Southern
Baptist missionary ever in
As mere mortals we need rest. We have to have it. Our bodies need it so that they can be replenished. Our brain needs the sleep so that it can be restored. God has designed us so that we get tired and need to rest. Some people even need more rest than others. Some can function very well on five to six hours of sleep. Others need eight to ten to correctly function and get through the day.
What happens to you when you don’t get proper rest? You are tired. Your energy seems to be zapped. You can’t function the way you want to. And if you have to listen to something that requires a lot of concentration well you can almost forget about that.
Life causes us to need rest. But life can also cause us to not get rest. That can result in many negative things.
Context
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was addressing a very spiritually weary group of people. They had experienced a tremendous amount of persecution and trials. They had watched as other believers left the faith for the easier paths. Life was difficult. Rest was hard to come by. They were worried at the future prospect of more persecution and more trials that accompany the Christian life. It probably seemed to them that the world was caving in on them and there was no end in sight, no rest. The writer of Hebrews has been constantly exhorting this group of believers to hold fast their confession of Christ. He has warned them of the judgment to come on the unbelieving world. He has shown them the convicting power of the Word of God and how nothing is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is laid bare in his sight right down to the intentions of the heart. He has exhorted these abused, persecuted, tired, and weary Christians to look to Christ for their hope and to run to the throne of grace which God has decided to make available to them in time of need. There they can receive mercy.
And now the writer is going to exhort these believers to press on toward maturity. But it is in these times of trouble that spiritual trouble can come our way. The pressure from the outside world and from unbelievers can drive us into our spiritual shell and we are no longer practicing our faith. I have said this over and over in this series but this was the situation the people the writer of Hebrews was writing to. They were contemplating heading back to Old Testament Judaism and away from New Testament Christianity because of persecution and because it would have been easier. And the writer has shown time and time again that just because Old Testament Judaism may be easier, New Testament Christianity is far superior to it in every way. In our immediate context the writer is presenting the Lord Jesus Christ as our great High Priest who being in the order of Melchizedek is far superior to the Aaronic line of earthly high priests. If you will recall I told you that our section runs from 4:14 through 10:22 where the writer unpacks the superiority of Christ in His High Priesthood. Within this section there is some tremendously wonderful theological insights into the sacrifice and atonement of Christ. This is deep theology. This is paths that far too few Christians are able to tread.
And the unfortunate reason for this is spiritual immaturity. Christians like many people just simply do not want to grow up. Remember the Toys-R-Us theme? I am surprised that that jingle hasn’t become a praise song in today’s churches.
So what we have in our text this morning is a spiritual wake up call to press on toward maturity. To move along in our understanding and practice of the Christian faith. We are not to stay where we are in our understanding of Scripture but are to press on to understand and live out our faith as fully as God will allow on planet earth. But this takes work. It takes effort. It takes discipline and rigorous spiritual training to accomplish. You can’t sit back and neglect your faith and expect to be a mature Christian in practice and in understanding. If you are going to engage the world with the Gospel then you need to understand the deep things of God and His Word. And you need to be adequately equipped to live out that faith in the face of great difficulty.
What would cause a person to willingly accept martyrdom because of their faith in Christ? It is knowing and understanding the security we have been given in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What can cause a person to live out their faith in a world that is in total opposition to that faith? It comes from the deep conviction that Christ is our only hope and whoever loves Him obeys Him.
What about you this morning, are you a maturing believer or have you stalemated in your walk with Christ? Are you pressing on toward maturity or are you falling back into old habits and ways of doing things? It does not matter whether you have been a believer for a month, a year, a decade, or decades we are called by God to mature in the faith.
Now that I have laid this groundwork for our text of Scripture this morning I want to say some things about this hotly debated section of Hebrews. We are dealing with Hebrews 5:11 through 6:12 as a whole because it is a whole. The chapter break is unfortunate because many make the mistake of thinking that a new thought is being started in chapter 6. That is not the case. Keep in mind the words of Scripture are inspired by God not the chapter breaks and numbers. They were added later by well meaning people and they do make it easier to navigate the Bible but sometimes the thoughts the writers were intending are impeded by these chapter and verse assignments.
The clue in the thoughts of these verses are found in one word that opens the section in 5:11 and closes it in 6:12. Notice Hebrews 5:11.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
The word I want you to see is the word dull. It is the Greek adjective νωθροί
It means sluggish or lazy or slothful. Now look at chapter 6:11 and 12.
11 And we desire each one of you to
show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so
that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises.
Sluggish in verse 12 is the same word as in verse 11, νωθροί.
The writer of Hebrews is constantly using rhetorical devices to encapsulate his thoughts, draw us into what he is saying, and to teach us what we need to know.
But what about chapter 6? Show of hands, how many have ever heard a sermon on Hebrews 6 and any of the verses between 1-12? How many have ever wondered about these verses and what they mean?
The almost immediate reaction that people have to these verses I will boil down to three. The one who believes that a person can lose their salvation will quickly point to Hebrews 6 and say, “See, the Bible says that you can lose your salvation.” The person that holds to eternal security of the believer will say, “No, you can not lose your salvation because this is referring to Jews that might go back to the Judaism they came out of.” The third group will just throw up their hands and say, “I will just avoid these verses and not worry at all about them.”
But what all three groups miss is the irony the writer uses in this section. The irony is used to draw the readers into the text so that they will understand what he is trying to get across to them. Some of you may wonder what irony is. Irony could be used in different ways but here in our text the writer uses irony to overstate something. Let me give you some examples.
You have a friend who shows up at your house and they have on this ragged worn out pair of pants. And you say, “Wow, you really should not have dressed up just to come over.”
I had a friend in seminary that called me slim. He happened to be bald and when he called me slim I always said, “Get a haircut hippie.” That is irony. It is saying the opposite to get attention. But there can also be cutting irony.
If there is a lazy person that is working with you and you notice this you might say, “You really need to be careful doing all that work. You don’t want to wear yourself out.”
Paul used irony in addressing the stubbornness and pride of the Corinthian church. This is 1 Corinthians 4:8-16.
8 You are already filled, you have already
become rich, you have become kings
without us; and indeed, I wish
that you had become kings so that we
also might reign with you. 9 For,
I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death;
because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We
are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but
you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To
this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and
are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and
we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are
persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we
try to conciliate ; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all
things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to shame
you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For
if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have
many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore
I exhort you, be imitators of me.
Likewise there is biting irony in Hebrews 5 and 6. Let’s look at some of it before we get started in our points. Look at chapter 5:11-12. Especially notice verse 12.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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,
The irony comes in when he tells these believers that they need to be taught again the simple things of the faith, the basic principles. They had been believers for a while and had been taught the Scriptures but they had grown so spiritually lethargic that all this teaching had done them little good. That is the irony.
Now look at chapter 6:4-10.
4 For it is impossible to restore
again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if
they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to
their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 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. 8 But
if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and
its end is to be burned. (Here is where we pick up on the irony. Notice verse 9.) 9 Though
we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better
things—things that belong to salvation.
Let me say to you this morning and I want you to remember this. This section of Scripture, though often used to teach this, has nothing at all to do with whether or not a person can or can’t lose their salvation. If we miss the irony in the passage then we may go down that road. Plus, you have to do exegetical contortioned gymnastics to get around verse 4 if you believe a person can lose their salvation because it plainly says that if they do they can not be restored. “It is impossible…” are pretty strong words. Most theological systems that teach that a person can lose their salvation also teach that they can get saved again anytime they repent. So they get saved, lose their salvation, get saved again and repeat as necessary. Those that hold to eternal security or perseverance will often avoid verse 6 altogether.
But, we will not avoid any of it. We are going to get to the point of the passage and that point is that we are to press on to maturity. That is chapter 6:1. Look at it with me.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to
maturity,
Purpose
So the purpose for this passage is to press on the readers and on us today the need to move on toward Christian maturity. And that is my purpose as I preach this text.
PNP
So, after that lengthy introduction, this morning from our text I want you to see the first of two key ingredients in the Christian life that will move us on to maturity. Let me give you both and where they come from and then we will focus this morning on the first.
1. As believers we should learn obedience through what we suffer. (5:11-14)
2. As believers we should learn perseverance through the beauty of our faith. (6:1-12)
Obedience and perseverance are two key ingredients in the Christian life. Of that we can be absolutely sure. The Lord Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In Matthew 10:22 the Lord reminds us that it is those who persevere to the end that will be saved. So with irony the writer of Hebrews is driving home the need for these two key ingredients for Christian maturity.
RPNP
So look with me at the first of two key ingredients in the Christian life that will move us on to maturity.
1. As believers
we should learn obedience through what we suffer.
Look with me at 5:11-14.
11 About this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 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.
Now I know some of you are thinking right now, “Joe, what in the world does this passage have to do with obedience? And furthermore there is not one word in this passage that seems to have anything to do with suffering.”
Here is where understanding the context and the terminology is so important. There is one word that the writer uses over and over in a different way that shows us the connection of our passage with the concept of Christian obedience. Look at 5:8.
8 Although he was a son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered.
Notice the word obedience. Now look at verse 9.
9 And
being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey
him,
Notice again the word obey. Now look at verse 11.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing
In verse 11 the word hearing, in verse 8 the word obedience,
and in verse 9 the word obey all come from the Greek root ajkouw.
Which means in its base form to hear. Now something has happened to the hearing and thus the obedience of these believers in verses 11-14 of chapter 5. Look at verse 11 and see this with me.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing
The this in verse 11 refers back to the explanation of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Great High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And the writer tells the readers that he has much to say to them about this biblical truth. But first he has to wake them from their slumber. Look at what the writer says about what he has to say about this in verse 11.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain,
Notice the phrase “hard to explain” in verse 11. The KJV says “hard to be uttered.”
The word that is translated “hard to explain” is a very
interesting word. This is the only time
it is used in the Bible and it will sound a lot like our word sermon. The word is δυσερμήνευτος.
It is a compound word and the root word is where we get our word hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the rules for interpreting something and in our case the Bible. You don’t just interpret Scripture any way you want to. There are rules. Do all people follow them? No and then many are carried away by any wind of doctrine.
The word dysermaneutos means hard to explain but here is where the irony comes in. The folks that are going to hear what the writer has to say about the Great High Priesthood of Christ are dull of hearing. Here is where many people miss the interpretation. They focus on the dullness of hearing in the people. Even though that is a problem and a major one, that is not what makes what the writer unpacks any more difficult than it already is. What he is going to teach is in itself difficult and hard to explain and the dullness of hearing further exacerbates the intrinsic difficulty of the truth of Christ’s priesthood.
Folks, everything is not so simple in the Gospel message. I think good people have tried to boil it down to essential elements but in reality the Gospel is linked to its Old Testament roots and until you understand the roots of the Gospel much of the Gospel will be hard to understand. If you miss the Old Testament then you miss the concept of sacrifice that God established right after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. You miss the link between Christ, the second Adam and the first Adam.
This is why liberal theology begins its attack on the Bible right in the pages of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These are the foundational books upon which the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands.
There is more in verse 12. Look at it with me.
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,
The irony continues. Instead of being teachers they needed to be taught. And it wasn’t that they were never taught these things. Look at verse 12 again.
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.
The writer was very sure of a few things. What he has to teach them is difficult. The people were dull of hearing. It seemed that they had forgotten the basic
principles of the Gospel. Look at verse 12
and 13 together.
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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
I know I have given you a lot of information here but I want you to remember what we are talking about this morning. The writer is telling the readers and us included that in the Christian life we are to press on to more maturity. We are not to remain childish in our faith. We are to grow in knowledge and in Christian character. We are not to be like we were when we first were saved. A Christian that does not grow would be like one of us with a child that all of a sudden stopped growing before they reached maturity. Something is very wrong.
The problem that had effected this congregation was the trials and persecution they had received simply because they were now Christians. Some were killed, some were thrown into prison, their belongings were pilfered, and many received physical and emotional abuse simply because of their faith. And now because of this they were acting like children. They had become unskilled in the word when in fact by now they should have been able to teach the word.
The persecution that should have pushed them toward maturity was having the opposite effect. It was making them withdraw and instead of great zeal for the Gospel and courage in living it out they were timid.
What had they forgotten? What did they know to start with that now had been pushed to the back of their minds? Remember verse 8? Look at it with me.
8 Although he(Christ Jesus) was
a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
With all the privileges that were rightfully His, the Son of God learned obedience through what? Suffering. And by the way, God is still in the business of teaching His people obedience through suffering. If it was good enough for His only begotten Son then it is not too good for His redeemed children.
I believe it was Charles Spurgeon who said, “God only has
one perfect Son, but he has no son without sorrow.” Isaiah 53:3 says, He was despised and forsaken of
men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ; And like one from whom men hide
their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
God uses the sorrow and the suffering in our lives to push us on to maturity and faithfulness. And somehow along the way this group of believers had forgotten this. I have used this passage before but it bears repeating right now. You ought to memorize it.
It is Philippians 1:29.
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
God used suffering in the earthly life of Christ to use the terminology of the writer of Hebrews, perfect Him. Look at verse 9.
9 And being made perfect, he became
the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
I take verse 9 as not being perfected but rather proving Christ’s perfection.
Just like when the writer used the word “akouw” (to hear) to show us the importance of obedience in the Christian life, he uses another word to show us the importance of maturity.
Verse 9 says, being made perfect. Look at verse 14.
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.
It is the word τέλειος.
It means to complete, bring to maturity, or perfect. The writer will use it again in 6:1 and 6:11. That is why I told you this section is not about whether or not you can lose your salvation but rather an indictment of the readers’ maturity level and an exhortation for them to press on to maturity.
Look at what this group should have been. Look at verse 14 again.
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.
They should have been mature. They should have had their powers of
discernment trained. How was this done?
Look at the end of verse 14. constant
practice to distinguish good from evil.
What were they to practice? What has the writer been talking about? Hearing and obeying in spite of suffering and persecution that should drive us to the Lord and to the Word that leads to maturity.
But what do we do? Our sinful nature will lead us astray every time if we allow it to. When trials come our way Christians will resort back to the behaviors and habits that helped them deal with the problems that they faced as unbelievers. When persecution comes we want to withdraw when we are supposed to press on. When overwhelming pressures and problems come our way instead of driving us to prayer it drives us to pity ourselves and wonder why God has allowed this to happen to us when in fact God has allowed this to happen to us for our own benefit.
The last time I checked all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. The last time I checked there was nothing that could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus and in fact we are overwhelmingly conquerors in all these things through Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us.
We have to be careful of the same thing that the people who first read this letter had to be careful of and that was not to let life and everything that it entails drive you toward childishness. Rather constantly practice hearing and obeying the Word so that you will press on to maturity.
Next time we are together we are going to see what the writer tells us about neglecting the beauty and the magnificence of our faith which will drive us more and more toward immaturity and possible apostacy.
But let me ask you this morning, how’s your hearing? How’s your hearing that leads to obedience and maturity? Have you let this world and the problems that accompany it drive you away from the Word instead of toward it?
I know the Word is preached here at GFC every Lord’s Day but that does not mean everyone is listening. As believers we should allow suffering to push us on to maturity.
Let’s pray.
A Spiritual Wake Up Call
Hebrews 5:11-6:12
October 14, 2007
Series 3 Sermon 17
11 About this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 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. 6 Therefore
let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not
laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward
God, 2 and of instruction about
washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. 3 And this we will do if God
permits. 4 For it is impossible to restore
again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if
they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to
their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 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. 8 But
if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and
its end is to be burned. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet
in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to
salvation. 10 For God is not so unjust as to
overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the
saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to
show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so
that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises.
Introduction
One of the common needs that we as humans must have is rest. We need sleep. I remember after Abby was born I got a new job that required three weeks of intense training before you could start. The lady that led the training was a very nice woman whose gift was not public speaking. Dani and I had our care for our newborn down to a science. Abby would cry, I would get up and so would Dani. I changed her diaper and handed her to Dani and she would feed her. I would go fix Dani something to drink and then I would go back to sleep while she fed the baby. After she was done Dani would tell me and I would get back up and change her diaper again and put her back to bed. Then I would go back to sleep. This went on at least two or three times a night. Not to mention times where Abby would not just go back to sleep. So when I would arrive at work in the morning I was very often in need of a lot of coffee or a nap. Neither of which were readily available to me. I survived and learned a lot but there were days that I did not think I was going to make it.
With Katie Beth it was a little different but we had a very
similar routine. I was in seminary and
was working full time and when you are in seminary they require you to take a
missions class. Well the instructor was
a really nice man and a very boring speaker.
He could have made any story boring.
It was a night class and I had already worked all day and had to sit on
Monday nights in class from 6pm to 9pm.
He told a lot of stories and this professor was the very first Southern
Baptist missionary ever in
As mere mortals we need rest. We have to have it. Our bodies need it so that they can be replenished. Our brain needs the sleep so that it can be restored. God has designed us so that we get tired and need to rest. Some people even need more rest than others. Some can function very well on five to six hours of sleep. Others need eight to ten to correctly function and get through the day.
What happens to you when you don’t get proper rest? You are tired. Your energy seems to be zapped. You can’t function the way you want to. And if you have to listen to something that requires a lot of concentration well you can almost forget about that.
Life causes us to need rest. But life can also cause us to not get rest. That can result in many negative things.
Context
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews was addressing a very spiritually weary group of people. They had experienced a tremendous amount of persecution and trials. They had watched as other believers left the faith for the easier paths. Life was difficult. Rest was hard to come by. They were worried at the future prospect of more persecution and more trials that accompany the Christian life. It probably seemed to them that the world was caving in on them and there was no end in sight, no rest. The writer of Hebrews has been constantly exhorting this group of believers to hold fast their confession of Christ. He has warned them of the judgment to come on the unbelieving world. He has shown them the convicting power of the Word of God and how nothing is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is laid bare in his sight right down to the intentions of the heart. He has exhorted these abused, persecuted, tired, and weary Christians to look to Christ for their hope and to run to the throne of grace which God has decided to make available to them in time of need. There they can receive mercy.
And now the writer is going to exhort these believers to press on toward maturity. But it is in these times of trouble that spiritual trouble can come our way. The pressure from the outside world and from unbelievers can drive us into our spiritual shell and we are no longer practicing our faith. I have said this over and over in this series but this was the situation the people the writer of Hebrews was writing to. They were contemplating heading back to Old Testament Judaism and away from New Testament Christianity because of persecution and because it would have been easier. And the writer has shown time and time again that just because Old Testament Judaism may be easier, New Testament Christianity is far superior to it in every way. In our immediate context the writer is presenting the Lord Jesus Christ as our great High Priest who being in the order of Melchizedek is far superior to the Aaronic line of earthly high priests. If you will recall I told you that our section runs from 4:14 through 10:22 where the writer unpacks the superiority of Christ in His High Priesthood. Within this section there is some tremendously wonderful theological insights into the sacrifice and atonement of Christ. This is deep theology. This is paths that far too few Christians are able to tread.
And the unfortunate reason for this is spiritual immaturity. Christians like many people just simply do not want to grow up. Remember the Toys-R-Us theme? I am surprised that that jingle hasn’t become a praise song in today’s churches.
So what we have in our text this morning is a spiritual wake up call to press on toward maturity. To move along in our understanding and practice of the Christian faith. We are not to stay where we are in our understanding of Scripture but are to press on to understand and live out our faith as fully as God will allow on planet earth. But this takes work. It takes effort. It takes discipline and rigorous spiritual training to accomplish. You can’t sit back and neglect your faith and expect to be a mature Christian in practice and in understanding. If you are going to engage the world with the Gospel then you need to understand the deep things of God and His Word. And you need to be adequately equipped to live out that faith in the face of great difficulty.
What would cause a person to willingly accept martyrdom because of their faith in Christ? It is knowing and understanding the security we have been given in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What can cause a person to live out their faith in a world that is in total opposition to that faith? It comes from the deep conviction that Christ is our only hope and whoever loves Him obeys Him.
What about you this morning, are you a maturing believer or have you stalemated in your walk with Christ? Are you pressing on toward maturity or are you falling back into old habits and ways of doing things? It does not matter whether you have been a believer for a month, a year, a decade, or decades we are called by God to mature in the faith.
Now that I have laid this groundwork for our text of Scripture this morning I want to say some things about this hotly debated section of Hebrews. We are dealing with Hebrews 5:11 through 6:12 as a whole because it is a whole. The chapter break is unfortunate because many make the mistake of thinking that a new thought is being started in chapter 6. That is not the case. Keep in mind the words of Scripture are inspired by God not the chapter breaks and numbers. They were added later by well meaning people and they do make it easier to navigate the Bible but sometimes the thoughts the writers were intending are impeded by these chapter and verse assignments.
The clue in the thoughts of these verses are found in one word that opens the section in 5:11 and closes it in 6:12. Notice Hebrews 5:11.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
The word I want you to see is the word dull. It is the Greek adjective νωθροί
It means sluggish or lazy or slothful. Now look at chapter 6:11 and 12.
11 And we desire each one of you to
show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so
that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises.
Sluggish in verse 12 is the same word as in verse 11, νωθροί.
The writer of Hebrews is constantly using rhetorical devices to encapsulate his thoughts, draw us into what he is saying, and to teach us what we need to know.
But what about chapter 6? Show of hands, how many have ever heard a sermon on Hebrews 6 and any of the verses between 1-12? How many have ever wondered about these verses and what they mean?
The almost immediate reaction that people have to these verses I will boil down to three. The one who believes that a person can lose their salvation will quickly point to Hebrews 6 and say, “See, the Bible says that you can lose your salvation.” The person that holds to eternal security of the believer will say, “No, you can not lose your salvation because this is referring to Jews that might go back to the Judaism they came out of.” The third group will just throw up their hands and say, “I will just avoid these verses and not worry at all about them.”
But what all three groups miss is the irony the writer uses in this section. The irony is used to draw the readers into the text so that they will understand what he is trying to get across to them. Some of you may wonder what irony is. Irony could be used in different ways but here in our text the writer uses irony to overstate something. Let me give you some examples.
You have a friend who shows up at your house and they have on this ragged worn out pair of pants. And you say, “Wow, you really should not have dressed up just to come over.”
I had a friend in seminary that called me slim. He happened to be bald and when he called me slim I always said, “Get a haircut hippie.” That is irony. It is saying the opposite to get attention. But there can also be cutting irony.
If there is a lazy person that is working with you and you notice this you might say, “You really need to be careful doing all that work. You don’t want to wear yourself out.”
Paul used irony in addressing the stubbornness and pride of the Corinthian church. This is 1 Corinthians 4:8-16.
8 You are already filled, you have already
become rich, you have become kings
without us; and indeed, I wish
that you had become kings so that we
also might reign with you. 9 For,
I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death;
because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We
are fools for Christ's sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but
you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To
this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and
are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and
we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are
persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we
try to conciliate ; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all
things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to shame
you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For
if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have
many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore
I exhort you, be imitators of me.
Likewise there is biting irony in Hebrews 5 and 6. Let’s look at some of it before we get started in our points. Look at chapter 5:11-12. Especially notice verse 12.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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,
The irony comes in when he tells these believers that they need to be taught again the simple things of the faith, the basic principles. They had been believers for a while and had been taught the Scriptures but they had grown so spiritually lethargic that all this teaching had done them little good. That is the irony.
Now look at chapter 6:4-10.
4 For it is impossible to restore
again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if
they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to
their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 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. 8 But
if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and
its end is to be burned. (Here is where we pick up on the irony. Notice verse 9.) 9 Though
we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better
things—things that belong to salvation.
Let me say to you this morning and I want you to remember this. This section of Scripture, though often used to teach this, has nothing at all to do with whether or not a person can or can’t lose their salvation. If we miss the irony in the passage then we may go down that road. Plus, you have to do exegetical contortioned gymnastics to get around verse 4 if you believe a person can lose their salvation because it plainly says that if they do they can not be restored. “It is impossible…” are pretty strong words. Most theological systems that teach that a person can lose their salvation also teach that they can get saved again anytime they repent. So they get saved, lose their salvation, get saved again and repeat as necessary. Those that hold to eternal security or perseverance will often avoid verse 6 altogether.
But, we will not avoid any of it. We are going to get to the point of the passage and that point is that we are to press on to maturity. That is chapter 6:1. Look at it with me.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to
maturity,
Purpose
So the purpose for this passage is to press on the readers and on us today the need to move on toward Christian maturity. And that is my purpose as I preach this text.
PNP
So, after that lengthy introduction, this morning from our text I want you to see the first of two key ingredients in the Christian life that will move us on to maturity. Let me give you both and where they come from and then we will focus this morning on the first.
1. As believers we should learn obedience through what we suffer. (5:11-14)
2. As believers we should learn perseverance through the beauty of our faith. (6:1-12)
Obedience and perseverance are two key ingredients in the Christian life. Of that we can be absolutely sure. The Lord Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In Matthew 10:22 the Lord reminds us that it is those who persevere to the end that will be saved. So with irony the writer of Hebrews is driving home the need for these two key ingredients for Christian maturity.
RPNP
So look with me at the first of two key ingredients in the Christian life that will move us on to maturity.
1. As believers
we should learn obedience through what we suffer.
Look with me at 5:11-14.
11 About this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 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.
Now I know some of you are thinking right now, “Joe, what in the world does this passage have to do with obedience? And furthermore there is not one word in this passage that seems to have anything to do with suffering.”
Here is where understanding the context and the terminology is so important. There is one word that the writer uses over and over in a different way that shows us the connection of our passage with the concept of Christian obedience. Look at 5:8.
8 Although he was a son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered.
Notice the word obedience. Now look at verse 9.
9 And
being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey
him,
Notice again the word obey. Now look at verse 11.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing
In verse 11 the word hearing, in verse 8 the word obedience,
and in verse 9 the word obey all come from the Greek root ajkouw.
Which means in its base form to hear. Now something has happened to the hearing and thus the obedience of these believers in verses 11-14 of chapter 5. Look at verse 11 and see this with me.
11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing
The this in verse 11 refers back to the explanation of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Great High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And the writer tells the readers that he has much to say to them about this biblical truth. But first he has to wake them from their slumber. Look at what the writer says about what he has to say about this in verse 11.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain,
Notice the phrase “hard to explain” in verse 11. The KJV says “hard to be uttered.”
The word that is translated “hard to explain” is a very
interesting word. This is the only time
it is used in the Bible and it will sound a lot like our word sermon. The word is δυσερμήνευτος.
It is a compound word and the root word is where we get our word hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the rules for interpreting something and in our case the Bible. You don’t just interpret Scripture any way you want to. There are rules. Do all people follow them? No and then many are carried away by any wind of doctrine.
The word dysermaneutos means hard to explain but here is where the irony comes in. The folks that are going to hear what the writer has to say about the Great High Priesthood of Christ are dull of hearing. Here is where many people miss the interpretation. They focus on the dullness of hearing in the people. Even though that is a problem and a major one, that is not what makes what the writer unpacks any more difficult than it already is. What he is going to teach is in itself difficult and hard to explain and the dullness of hearing further exacerbates the intrinsic difficulty of the truth of Christ’s priesthood.
Folks, everything is not so simple in the Gospel message. I think good people have tried to boil it down to essential elements but in reality the Gospel is linked to its Old Testament roots and until you understand the roots of the Gospel much of the Gospel will be hard to understand. If you miss the Old Testament then you miss the concept of sacrifice that God established right after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. You miss the link between Christ, the second Adam and the first Adam.
This is why liberal theology begins its attack on the Bible right in the pages of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These are the foundational books upon which the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands.
There is more in verse 12. Look at it with me.
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,
The irony continues. Instead of being teachers they needed to be taught. And it wasn’t that they were never taught these things. Look at verse 12 again.
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.
The writer was very sure of a few things. What he has to teach them is difficult. The people were dull of hearing. It seemed that they had forgotten the basic
principles of the Gospel. Look at verse 12
and 13 together.
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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is
unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
I know I have given you a lot of information here but I want you to remember what we are talking about this morning. The writer is telling the readers and us included that in the Christian life we are to press on to more maturity. We are not to remain childish in our faith. We are to grow in knowledge and in Christian character. We are not to be like we were when we first were saved. A Christian that does not grow would be like one of us with a child that all of a sudden stopped growing before they reached maturity. Something is very wrong.
The problem that had effected this congregation was the trials and persecution they had received simply because they were now Christians. Some were killed, some were thrown into prison, their belongings were pilfered, and many received physical and emotional abuse simply because of their faith. And now because of this they were acting like children. They had become unskilled in the word when in fact by now they should have been able to teach the word.
The persecution that should have pushed them toward maturity was having the opposite effect. It was making them withdraw and instead of great zeal for the Gospel and courage in living it out they were timid.
What had they forgotten? What did they know to start with that now had been pushed to the back of their minds? Remember verse 8? Look at it with me.
8 Although he(Christ Jesus) was
a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
With all the privileges that were rightfully His, the Son of God learned obedience through what? Suffering. And by the way, God is still in the business of teaching His people obedience through suffering. If it was good enough for His only begotten Son then it is not too good for His redeemed children.
I believe it was Charles Spurgeon who said, “God only has
one perfect Son, but he has no son without sorrow.” Isaiah 53:3 says, He was despised and forsaken of
men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ; And like one from whom men hide
their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
God uses the sorrow and the suffering in our lives to push us on to maturity and faithfulness. And somehow along the way this group of believers had forgotten this. I have used this passage before but it bears repeating right now. You ought to memorize it.
It is Philippians 1:29.
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,
God used suffering in the earthly life of Christ to use the terminology of the writer of Hebrews, perfect Him. Look at verse 9.
9 And being made perfect, he became
the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,
I take verse 9 as not being perfected but rather proving Christ’s perfection.
Just like when the writer used the word “akouw” (to hear) to show us the importance of obedience in the Christian life, he uses another word to show us the importance of maturity.
Verse 9 says, being made perfect. Look at verse 14.
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.
It is the word τέλειος.
It means to complete, bring to maturity, or perfect. The writer will use it again in 6:1 and 6:11. That is why I told you this section is not about whether or not you can lose your salvation but rather an indictment of the readers’ maturity level and an exhortation for them to press on to maturity.
Look at what this group should have been. Look at verse 14 again.
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.
They should have been mature. They should have had their powers of
discernment trained. How was this done?
Look at the end of verse 14. constant
practice to distinguish good from evil.
What were they to practice? What has the writer been talking about? Hearing and obeying in spite of suffering and persecution that should drive us to the Lord and to the Word that leads to maturity.
But what do we do? Our sinful nature will lead us astray every time if we allow it to. When trials come our way Christians will resort back to the behaviors and habits that helped them deal with the problems that they faced as unbelievers. When persecution comes we want to withdraw when we are supposed to press on. When overwhelming pressures and problems come our way instead of driving us to prayer it drives us to pity ourselves and wonder why God has allowed this to happen to us when in fact God has allowed this to happen to us for our own benefit.
The last time I checked all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. The last time I checked there was nothing that could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus and in fact we are overwhelmingly conquerors in all these things through Christ who loved us and gave Himself for us.
We have to be careful of the same thing that the people who first read this letter had to be careful of and that was not to let life and everything that it entails drive you toward childishness. Rather constantly practice hearing and obeying the Word so that you will press on to maturity.
Next time we are together we are going to see what the writer tells us about neglecting the beauty and the magnificence of our faith which will drive us more and more toward immaturity and possible apostacy.
But let me ask you this morning, how’s your hearing? How’s your hearing that leads to obedience and maturity? Have you let this world and the problems that accompany it drive you away from the Word instead of toward it?
I know the Word is preached here at GFC every Lord’s Day but that does not mean everyone is listening. As believers we should allow suffering to push us on to maturity.
Let’s pray.
2. As believers we should learn perseverance through the beauty of our faith. (6:1-12)
2. As believers we should learn perseverance through the beauty of our faith. (6:1-12)
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