Book of Hebrews - Ch. 5, Vs. 1-14 (12/16/2001)

Park Meadows Church

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Well that's an idea. We're in the fifth chapter of the book of Hebrews.

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What did Abel, Enoch, and Noah have in common?

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And it's, all right, in Abel you have the way of faith.

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In Enoch you have the walk of faith. In Noah you have the witness of faith.

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Life is to be mastered by faith, not doubt. First chapter, first verse now, chapter 5.

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For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

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David, this high priest that was taken from among men, is stated that he can offer both gifts and sacrifices for men.

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Now how come the priest can do that? That's right, he was a picture of Jesus Christ.

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Now he was appointed to his earthly office. The priest must partake of the nature of the person or people for whom he officiates.

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The same with preachers, teachers, or anyone representing you. Now I want to go to Genesis, the fourth chapter, beginning with the first verse, and want to read something preparing us for a point that's coming up.

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Genesis 4, 1. And Adam knew

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Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the

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Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

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These boys were twins. And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the

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Lord. Fourth verse, and Abel he also brought of the firstling of his flock, and of the fat thereof.

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And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. He also brought, the word also, you do well to look it up, it means he brought what

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Cain did, but he also brought a blood offering. Five, but unto

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Cain and to his offering he had not respect, and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

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Now skipping to the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews, the fourth verse, by faith

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Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous.

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God testifying of his gifts, plural, and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

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We wouldn't suspect much without a whole lot of digging if it were not for this verse in Hebrews.

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He offered gifts, plural. That reaches back to the beginning to the fourth chapter of Genesis where Cain brought of the fruit of the ground,

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Abel brought of the fruit of the ground, plus a blood offering. Cain brought from the fruit of his labor, believing that was enough.

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Abel also brought fruit of his labor and a blood offering. We today do the same as Abel.

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We bring a portion of our fruit of our labor such as money, tithes, talents, but we also bring a blood sacrifice.

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Greg, I haven't seen any blood. How can that be? That's it.

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The blood of Jesus Christ we offer that. This is why the world cannot please

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God. All they can bring is the fruit of their labor. This is also why a church has, church as representing

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God on earth cannot, and I stress that, cannot accept anything from the unsaved person.

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To do so is the same as saying they agree with Cain and the blood is not important.

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This causes no little anger with our Lord Jesus the Christ. It accounts for nothing but damnation.

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So, we see that the high priest on earth was ordained of God.

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The high priest on this side of the cross is Jesus the Christ. Who can have compassion, speaking of the high priest now, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way, backsliders, for they, he, for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

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This is describing Aaron. And by reason hereof he ought as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins.

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There's two explanations for the origin of the universe. What are they,

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Dennis? All right,

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I like to put it like this, speculation and revelation. We accept the revelation.

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We believe that it by itself, but even those that believe in some form of popular speculation have to have a whole lot of faith to believe it.

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The Word of God is more powerful than an atom or a hydrogen bomb.

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Someone has said there's three stages of the atom bomb.

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Big, bigger, and where did everybody go? Evolution is not scientific.

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If it was, the scientists would all agree, but they don't. Fourth verse, and no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was

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Aaron. Now I'd like to read you a story taken from the

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Bibles out of Numbers 16 -24, story of a man that tried to take control.

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Reading now from Numbers 16 -24. Speak unto the congregation, saying, get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abram.

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And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan, and Abram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

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And he spake unto the congregation, saying, depart,

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I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all of their sins.

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So they got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abram, on every side, and Dathan and Abram came out and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

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Moses said, hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all of these works, for I have not done them of my own mind.

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If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the

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Lord has not sent me. Now, Moses is standing saying this.

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He does not know. Well, he knows in his heart, but it's a possibility. It's not going to work.

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But he's speaking for God. But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up with all that appertaineth unto them, and they go down quick into the pit, then you shall know and understand that these men have provoked the

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Lord. And it came to pass as he made an end of the speaking all these words, that the ground claimed asunder and was on, that was under them.

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And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto

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Korah, and all of their goods. They and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, that word alive.

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And the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.

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And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them.

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For they said, lest the earth swallow us also. And there came out a fire from the

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Lord, and consumed the 250 men that offered incense.

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Those that have the sin nature, now listen to me, those that still have the sin nature operating in them, should not dare to function for God until called by him.

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This is why I can tell you only what God's revealed to me. I would not dare lead you someplace where he has not been.

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Fifth verse, so also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, today have

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I begotten thee. Now keep this in mind, Jesus did not take on himself this office.

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The man Jesus Christ was also appointed by God to do this most awful yet glorious office.

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Of being the high priest of the elect human race, the

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Jewish high priest represented this by the sacrifices of beasts which he offered.

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The Christian high priest must also offer his own life. Jesus the

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Christ did so. And rising from the dead he ascended to heaven, and there was ever and there ever appears in the presence of God for us.

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Think about Jesus. Just think about him. He is our high priest.

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He offered himself on the sacrifice. He carried himself up to the altar and laid himself on the sacrifice.

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And he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

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We know very very little about this man Melchizedek. If he's a priest forever, then there can be no succession of priests.

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God used Melchizedek, whether he was, well we just don't know.

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He appears a man, but we're not given his history, his lineage.

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We're not told anything about him after he went back. The Old Testament is so constructed that the fullness of its meaning is seen only in the light of the new.

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Only in the new can you understand the old. But don't start studying the new and not the old.

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And both must be taken together in order to have the fullest understanding of the revealed will of God.

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I think that goes without saying. Seven, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared.

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A special act of Jesus the Christ's priesthood was that he offered up.

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He offered up himself. He offered himself.

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He must make atonement for sin by suffering and he can suffer only as who?

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Who? Jesus. Only as man. This points to his human side.

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Only as man can he suffer and die. The cup was death that he prayed concerning.

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If he prayed because he didn't want to die, then he was not heard, was he? What was he praying about just before he was arrested,

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Greg? All right, we need to study that.

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We won't this morning, but I want you to study with the idea that it was a battle that was going on.

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It was a battle between he and the devil. The devil was trying to kill him so he wouldn't go at the cross.

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He didn't mind him dying, but he wanted him to die in the garden, not at the cross.

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The cup was death. His prayer was in regard to the fact that Satan was trying to kill him in the garden to prevent his dying on the cross.

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Eight, though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

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Did you ever think about Jesus having to learn obedience? He says he did.

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He learned obedience by personal speculation, but by real experience.

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He learned obedience not by personal speculation, but by real experience and experimentally understood what obeying was.

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There are two ways of learning obedience. We both practice them.

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We both all teach them. First, you learn obedience by the comprehension of the mind.

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Second, by the experience of the event. Christ as God was perfect in knowledge.

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Is that true? Christ as God was perfect in knowledge.

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Nothing could be added to him, but when he became the man

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Jesus, then he came to understand and learn by sufferings, which was a new method and way of knowing, and the obedience which

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Jesus learned was free and voluntary, universally and complete, sincere and pure, steady and constant.

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Jesus learned this lesson of obedience, not barely to know it, but to do it.

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To learn to obey is to obey by the things which he suffered.

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He did perfectly learn and experimentally understand what obedience was.

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Jesus had to learn obedience. Christ knew it, but he left that office and he came and was born of a woman.

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As a baby, as a young boy, we see him one time. We see his birth and then at the age of 12 or 13, we see him in the temple.

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Then we don't see him again until he was 30 years old. I've often wondered, was he a typical teenager?

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Wasn't anything typical about him? Mine, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all of them that obey him.

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The called, the elect, the chosen, we that are saved.

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Being made perfect, he became the author. He became the author of eternal salvation.

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We know it's eternal because we can't lose it. If you could lose it, it wouldn't be eternal. He became the author of salvation and it included the called.

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Ten called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

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This man, Melchizedek, appeared on stage but a brief moment.

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Roger, where in history do we find him?

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Yes, yes. Well, it was when he did something to somebody.

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That's right. Abraham had gone in force after Lot and had brought them back and brought the people that were conquered back.

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Here comes Melchizedek out from Salem, Jerusalem.

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That's really all we know about him other than he was not of the line of priests.

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He was not from the line of Aaron. He was not according to the law, yet he was a high priest of God.

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Strange. Yes, that's right.

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It might, might well be. We can suppose a lot of things but Melchizedek was a type of Christ.

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Without father, without mother, lived forever. Not of the line of Aaron and Jesus was not in that line.

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Jesus came from which line, David? Judah. Now, we have time.

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The rest of this chapter and going into six really all belong to six.

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I say that because I want to divide right here and we'll start six.

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Of whom we, having many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.

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What does dull of hearing mean, Joy? Well, all right, you don't listen because you don't want to.

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You don't because you do want to. No, you do because you don't want to.

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They didn't listen. They didn't know how to listen. We have our churches full of people that they don't know how to study.

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Absolutely don't know how to study. They think it reads like a novel.

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It isn't. These people to which he's talking were dull of hearing.

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I'm dull of hearing once in a while. We are once in a while.

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Paul starts here to explain that these people are not progressing spiritually as they should.

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Now, you must get this fixed in your mind because it explains chapter six, the opening of it, that has caused so much, so very much, contention.

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But it's simple. These people were dull of hearing.

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Just put yourself in their place. Not progressing spiritual as they should because you have a low

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SQ. Well, what is SQ?

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You know, we know what IQ is. That's exactly right.

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Spiritual quotient. Do you talk and understand only spiritual baby talk?

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Too many preachers of today are getting by with murder in the pulpit. They murder the word of God.

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The congregation wants to hear only what they understand.

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Now, if the room was full of kindergarten children, I would be talking on their level so they could understand.

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There's some things I can't explain to you yet, but I'm talking on your level.

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They're babes and they need pampering. The Holy Spirit will only talk to you at a level that you know.

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Not the level he knows, but the level you know. For when, for when, for when, for the time ye ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.

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To talk to these people with strong meat would be like pouring water on a duck's back.

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Principles. What does principle mean, Dennis? All right, the foundation, the things that that you build upon.

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I heard someone a while back say, you passed me by the other day and didn't even wave.

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That's baby stuff. Someone else said, why didn't Bill sing today?

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I want to hear Bill sing. Baby stuff, filler, just words to say.

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These are little babies wanting their bottle and their rattles. Now a baby cannot eat meat, can it?

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But an adult can drink milk, but he can't live on milk.

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You have to grow up. Teaching should cause you to stretch your mind forward.

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I hope it does. Stretch your mind forward, taking in more and more.

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I don't care how active you are in the church. You may be an officer.

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You may be on all of the committees. You may be a leading deacon or teacher.

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If you're not studying the Holy Word, just don't kid yourself.

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It is tragic that those longtime church members are still going around saying goo -goo with nothing but baby talk waiting to be burped periodically.

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For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

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I didn't say it, God did. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age.

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Even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

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I don't know how to get this over to you other than just by practice. I sit here and I teach.

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I hope I'm teaching. You sit there, you listen, you comment once in a while, but are you really learning?

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What did you learn last week, the week before? Can you remember the first of Hebrews?

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If you're not being fed, your pastor or your teacher is lacking in spiritual wisdom.

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Boy, our pastor is not lacking, is he? Learn the meat of the

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Bible, the part that we can grow on, not the part that makes very little difference to you.

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Now, we can grow on any of it.

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All right, is there any comments now? Well, my approach to that is,

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I'll teach the truth, the pure truth, and if there's something comes you don't recognize, it's evil.

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Unless you can fit it into the Bible, not just a verse, but you have to keep running all the time in your head a history that we've been teaching.

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You cannot take one scripture and use it. You'll get in trouble if you do, but strong meat belongs to you all.

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You're so far above other churches in town that they can't hold a candle to you.

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I don't get the big head, but now

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I forgot what I was going to say. You are far ahead of others, but don't think you've arrived, because is there not more to learn?

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Absolutely. Every time I open the Bible, every time I teach a book that I've gone over and over many, many times, it's like a new book when

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I open it. I see things I never saw before. How many of you are learning

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Hebrews? Let me see your hand. All right, learning from.

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Greg, I like your method of study, because it shows when you get it.

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All of you do. Is there anything else? We have ten minutes.

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Well, if there's nothing else, let's stand and be dismissed. Dennis dismisses, please.