WWUTT 1828 But You Need to Grow Up (Hebrews 5:11-14)

All of us have an obligation to grow in our faith. You should not look today like you did when you first got baptized, unless you got baptized last week.

Let us grow up together in Christ Jesus when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study of Hebrews 5.

I've sectioned this up into three parts, and we're looking at part three today, verses 11 through 14.

So let me begin by reading that out of the Legacy Standard Bible. This is the word of the Lord.

Concerning him 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 have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant, but solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern both good and evil.

Before getting into this section of text, which I've opened with today, let's review what we've read in chapter 5 thus far.

So part one of chapter 5 was pointing us to how Jesus is the greater high priest.

That was in verses 1 through 4. And then in verses 5 through 10, which we looked at yesterday, we considered how

Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. And as the preacher is explaining these things, it's almost as if he breaks from the argument here for a moment to rebuke his hearers for not being more mature in the faith than they should be by this point.

Now as the preacher has said that Christ is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he is going to lay that out more.

He fleshes it out in chapter 6, it gets mentioned, but really unfolds in chapter 7.

He is going to get to that, but first he rebukes his hearers to say, we've got more about this we want to say, but it's hard for us to explain it to you because you've become dull of hearing.

He's going to explain it anyway, and hopefully as they mature, at least those among the audience that are immature, as they grow up in this faith, then the things that have been preached will begin to make more sense to them.

Praise God that this was written down. We can come back and review this fabulous sermon again, and as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of who

Christ is and what he has fulfilled in the scriptures, it begins to make more sense how Jesus is the great high priest.

He is a greater high priest than even Aaron was. He is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Let's examine the characteristics of that just from what we have read in chapter 5.

Before the preacher fleshes these things out more in chapter 6 and 7, let's just look at what we have thus far in chapter 5.

So first of all, we have Aaron's high priestly ministry in verses 1 through 4, and how this was a type in a shadow of Christ, who is the greater high priest.

First of all, you have a mention of humanity. Chapter 5, verse 1, every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

So that's talking about Aaron, and Aaron, by the way, gets mentioned in verse 4, so that's how we know it's about Aaron.

That's directly corresponding to Aaron, but it's even Christ, whom those characteristics describe, his humanity, because he put on flesh and dwelt among us.

Secondly, we see the priest's sympathy, verse 2, being able to deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weaknesses.

So he sympathizes with those people that he is meant to minister on behalf of, and so Jesus Christ does so with us as well.

Now, the weaknesses that Christ had are different than the weaknesses that Aaron had.

Jesus never sinned, and Aaron, of course, did. We find all kinds of foolishness that Aaron did, even in the book of Exodus.

He's the one who came up with the golden calf that the people were worshiping when Moses was coming down off of Mount Sinai, having received the

Ten Commandments. So Aaron did all kinds of foolish things. Jesus was without sin, but his weakness was in the sense that he was indeed human, and he was tempted, just as we were tempted, only he was without sin.

He did not give in to temptation, though we do. So Jesus, in his own weaknesses, because he entered into human flesh and dwelt among us, he got hungry, he got tired, he was tempted.

He was even grieved and prayed on our behalf to the Father. He sympathizes with us, and so, therefore, he was subject to weakness and ministers with compassion.

The third characteristic of Aaron's ministry, and therefore also fulfilled in Christ, is the ministry itself.

Verse 3, because of it, he is obligated just as for the people also to offer sacrifices for sins in the same way for himself.

So that's talking about Aaron, but Jesus Christ also sacrificed on our behalf.

He sacrificed himself. And then the fourth characteristic of Aaron's ministry, which we see fulfilled in Christ's ministry, his authority.

The high priest was chosen by God for this ministry. That's in verse 4. No one takes this honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

So that's describing the high priest ministry in Israel and how Jesus is a greater high priest.

Next, we have how Jesus is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, and this is 5 -10.

So once again, we have the same characteristics, humanity, sympathy, ministry, and authority. We start with authority this time.

So verse 5, in this way also, Christ did not glorify himself to become a high priest, but he who said to him, you are my son, today

I have begotten you. He is the son of God. That is his inherent authority.

And God, the father, chose him, chose the son to be the high priest. He was designated as the

Messiah. He was honored by God, even in the sense that he was honored by God, designated as a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Verse 6, just as he also says in another passage, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

So that's speaking into Christ's authority. Secondly, his humanity.

Just as Melchizedek was a human, so was Christ. Christ, fully God and fully man, but he was indeed a human.

Christ was appointed on behalf of men in the worship of God. And we have this in verse 7, he in the days of his flesh offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death.

And he was heard because of his reverence. Jesus even lifted up tears on our behalf.

He suffered in his own flesh as we suffer. And so we have somebody who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses.

Secondly, we saw, well, Christ's sympathy is explained there. And then also his ministry, verses 9 through 10, having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

So again, in both places, the high priest ministry, the Melchizedek ministry, we have authority, we have humanity, we have sympathy, and we have the ministry itself.

Now again, the preacher pauses here to rebuke his audience and say, I've got more that I want to say about this, but you've become dull of hearing.

Verse 11, concerning him. Now the him there, the nearest antecedent is

Melchizedek, concerning him. So that's going to be a lowercase H if you read from a

New Testament that has the capitalized pronouns when referring to God. So in this case, it's a lowercase

H because it's talking about Melchizedek. It's not talking about Christ. Melchizedek is a mysterious figure.

As I mentioned yesterday, he's mentioned in Genesis 14. He's mentioned in Psalm 110. And then he doesn't ever come up again until we get to Hebrews, where he's mentioned in chapters 5, 6, and 7.

More of Melchizedek talked about here than anywhere else in the Bible. So he's a mysterious figure.

And the preacher here says, we have much more to say about this, how Christ is connected to Melchizedek.

And it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

Like whatever we have to say about this is going to be difficult for you to comprehend because you've become dull of hearing.

How is it that they are dull of hearing? It goes on to explain verse 12, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

So the argument here is one of progression. They have not been progressing.

They have not been growing up in their faith. They've rather become kind of stagnant. They're still just as immature now as they were when they first came to believe.

How have you grown up in your faith? And since you haven't been growing in these things, then you are unable to understand some of the deeper concepts that we have to share with you.

I'd love to go into this stuff with you, but I can't. You won't understand it because you've grown dull of hearing.

So as he does go on to explain these things, those people that cannot understand what the preacher is talking about, it's because they have not grown up in their faith as they should.

All of us have an obligation to grow in our faith. You should not be where you are now, like where you are in your walk of faith right now, should not be where you were the day that you got baptized.

If you haven't grown up from there, it doesn't mean you're not saved, but you're closer to failing the test than passing it.

You know what I mean? On the day that you stand before God in judgment, are you confident that you have done the works that you have done, the things that God has asked you to do?

We are not saved by our works, but our works will confirm that our faith in God is genuine.

In Revelation chapter 21, it says at the final judgment, great books will be open and we will be judged according to what is written there in those books.

Jesus even said at the great white throne of judgment in Matthew chapter 25, those that will enter the kingdom of God will be those who did the will of the father who is in heaven.

And as Jesus said in Matthew seven, those who will be cast out will be those who did lawlessness depart from me.

You workers of lawlessness, I never knew you. So we are judged by our works and our works will verify whether we believe or whether we did not.

Did we have faith in Jesus? Did we believe him? Did we do what he asked? Then that's going to be exemplified by our works.

We're not saved by those works, but if we are saved, those works will show that we are walking in that salvation, that we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

And so, as I said, if you've not been growing in your faith, you're closer to failing that test than you are to passing it.

And this is the word of caution that the preacher has had over the course of the book of Hebrews. Continue to hold fast to this faith lest you fall into disobedience and then unbelief.

That was the warning that we had at the end of chapter three. Many churches in America celebrate mediocrity.

You don't get from a lot of preachers in American churches, this encouragement to grow and mature in your faith.

What you have is a celebration of mediocrity. The whole thing of, you know, however many

American churches it is, the vast majority of them that have this seeker -sensitive sort of motivation, like we're looking for seekers.

We want to attract or draw in those people that are searching for something.

And then it's always seeker -motivated, so it's never growing. They're always looking for the least common denominator, it seems, at the very best.

So that person that is just looking for something, we're trying to draw that person in. And all the rest of the church needs to be in on that as well.

You're in the doors, you're here, you're fine, you're taken care of. So now we need to go out and find the rest of the seekers.

And I say go out, they don't really go out, because the whole church service is catered to basically unbelievers.

We want to get you unbelievers in here and then, I don't know, not even obligate you to believe, it seems like.

Again, it's a celebration of mediocrity. You all just have to remain very, very immature. Just make a confession of faith, and that's all.

And we wonder why so many people are walking away from the church. They've never really been given any solid footing in their faith.

We don't behave or act this way about any other kind of career or job.

Like if a person starts a job, you expect them to get better at it, right?

Who they are in that job 10, 20, 30 years from now, they're so much better at that job than they were when they first started it.

I got a friend of mine who is an electrician and he's working to get his journeyman's license. You actually have to learn and progress in your ability to do electrical work in order to get your journeyman's license.

You can't be at the same place you were when you started that process. Mediocrity is not celebrated, but we do it so much in the church.

We congratulate a person just for staying exactly when they were when they started in this faith.

But that leaves you so susceptible, so vulnerable to disobedience, to being enticed by temptations in your flesh, the schemes of the devil, the ways of this world.

So easy to be tempted into disobedience, and that's going to lead you to unbelief. People who walk away from the church, they do so because their sin that they liked more.

And the church, I mean, really, either wasn't doing me any good anyway. I mean, what was the point of going to church?

I just have to get up earlier on a Sunday morning when I could be watching football. Either the church wasn't giving them anything at all, or the church was teaching them something that was contrary to the sin that they wanted.

So they walk away from the church because they love their sin more than they love God. We need strong, established footing, and that comes from sound doctrine, teaching the word of Christ.

And so Paul says to these people, to these hearers, by this time, you ought to be teachers.

You should have grown so much in your faith by this point that you should be teaching others. And especially consider who

Paul's audience is. If this is Paul, the preacher, the preacher here, who is the preacher's audience?

It's the Hebrews. And they were the first to be given the oracles of God and even to be given the gospel.

The first gospel proclamation was in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2. So they are the oldest

Christians. They've heard the gospel the most. And yet there's so many of them that have become dull.

You need to have someone teach you again the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you've come to need milk and not solid food.

That's a common rebuke. Paul made that rebuke of the Corinthians, that they needed milk and not solid food.

Going into 1 Corinthians chapter 3, I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to fleshly men, as to infants in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are still not able.

And Paul was with the Corinthians for a year and a half. He's gone on to Ephesus and he's writing this letter to the

Corinthians from Ephesus. They were with the apostle for a year and a half. How have they not grown in their faith?

So Paul issues that rebuke there. And then it sounds pretty similar to this here, right? Because Paul is probably the preacher that is delivering this particular sermon.

So he says to the Hebrews, you need again to be given milk and not solid food.

Verse 13, for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.

He's not accustomed to the word of righteousness, meaning he has not come to live out the commands that have been given to him in the word.

There are things that you must do. The call to hear the gospel is not just a call to give mental assent to the gospel.

It is a call to believe it and do it. There is actually an action that must follow the faith that you have in the message that you heard.

You turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. That would be your first action. Repent and believe the very thing that Jesus preached at the very start of his ministry in Matthew 4, 17 and in Mark 1, 15, repent and believe the gospel.

There's a turning action that happens. They're turning away from sin, turning to Jesus Christ, then being baptized and then walking in his commandments.

All of these things that we do in the word of righteousness, word of righteousness means there is good work that should follow.

Yes, we are saved by grace through faith, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, but we are predestined for good works,

Ephesians 2, 10. So it's not just believe and that's it. You know, I've made my confession of faith.

Now I've got my way into heaven. No, you need to walk in those good works that have been prepared for you beforehand to do these things.

The word of righteousness calls you to live righteously. Verse 14, but solid food is for the mature who because of practice, notice that you're putting these words that you have heard that you believe into practice because of practice.

They have their senses trained to discern both good and evil.

That's not something that comes automatically. Now, some have a better spiritual gift for that than others, but even that spiritual gift needs discipline.

It needs growth. It needs practice. And so because of practice, they have their senses trained.

To be able to discern both good and evil. And what the preacher wants his hearers to be able to do here is discern the good in the doctrine that he is teaching to them and be able to know the evil so that they will not go in that way.

Remember, that's been the warning that has come up again and again. He gave the example of the Israelites. Don't follow in their path, lest you be like they were and you fall into disobedience and then unbelief and you fail to attain the promised land, which in our case is heaven.

So we need to hear the word. We need to do what it says. And doing what it says and doing that over and over and over again is practice.

It grows us in our abilities. It grows us in our faith. Just like, again, the illustration of my friend who's an electrician.

As he does this job over and over and over again, he gets better at it. Certain practices, processes, things he has to do.

It's almost like second nature to him. He just knows how to do them. And the more he does that, the more qualified he becomes to earn a certain license that then sets him out on his own.

He's a trustworthy electrician that anybody can call upon to do electrical work. And so this needs to be us in our walk of faith.

We're practicing. We're practicing. We're practicing. We're doing. We're obeying. We are walking in these things so that we grow in this faith.

And then we become someone trustworthy that someone else relies upon to help them in their faith walk.

Because, again, the preacher is saying here, you ought to be teachers by now. But you need to go back to the basics.

Why do you have to be fed milk again when you should be on to solid food? And we're going to get into more of that solid food as we keep going here in our study of Hebrews chapter 6 and 7.

Let me end with something here. And I'll pick this up and flesh it out a little bit more when we resume our study next week,

God willing, in Hebrews chapter 6. When we talk about certain doctrines for the mature, it's not that they're different doctrines.

It's the same ones that you learned in the very beginning. Doctrines of soteriology, which is the study of salvation.

The doctrine of justification, how you were declared innocent before God by faith in Jesus Christ, a doctrine of sanctification, of growing in holiness, a doctrine of glorification, that we're going to join him forever in glory.

On and on it goes. I could list other doctrines. These are basic things that you learn when you came to faith.

But as you grow in that faith, your knowledge and understanding of those of those doctrines deepen. Right. So it's not that you have these doctrines that are in category 101 and then you move on to category 102 or 202 or whatever it might happen to be.

Like a college course progression would go. It's the same doctrines, but you get deeper in it.

It becomes more amazing to you. The more you study God's word, the more you obey him and walk in these things, your knowledge and your faith, your relationship with God, your trusting in him, your knowing that he is working in the midst of all circumstances.

You are being able to resist temptation and hold fast to that which is good.

All of these things get perfected as you continue to grow and walk in this faith. So let us walk in obedience today.

Turn from the sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more you do that, the more you obey, the more you learn and grow.

Heavenly father, we thank you for the words we've been given today and may we know how to apply them and live them out today for your glory.

Keep us from the schemes of the evil one. Lead us not into temptation, but lead us into your good truth.

In Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an

Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an