Scripture referenced 9 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Hebrews 5:11-6:3 the main passage for the sermon, covering diagnosis and remedy for spiritual dullness
11 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.
12 For although by this time you should be teachers, you again need to have someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the revelations of God. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.
13 For everyone who lives on milk is not experienced in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.
14 But solid food is for those who are full grown, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
1 Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,
2 of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 This will we do, if God permits.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Hebrews 7:1-10 (implied, Melchizedek context)
the him referred to at the start of 5:11, discussed as possibly Melchizedek
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, “king of righteousness”, and then also “king of Salem”, which means “king of peace”;
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best plunder.
5 They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham,
6 but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises.
7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.
8 Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives.
9 We can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes,
10 for he was yet in the body of his father when Melchizedek met him.
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Hebrews 5:7-10
read aloud describing Jesus offering prayers and supplications and becoming the source of eternal salvation
7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered.
9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
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1 John 1:9
cited to show that confessing sins leads to God forgiving and cleansing from all unrighteousness
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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Hebrews 2:1
quoted to reinforce paying closer attention to what has been heard so as not to drift away
1 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.
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Hebrews 3:7-8
quoted as the Holy Spirit saying today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart
7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,
8 don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
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Hebrews 3:15
quoted again: today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart as in the wilderness
15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”
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James (unspecified)
referenced in connection with the phrase if God permits, likening it to James's teaching about not boasting about future plans
Keep this verseJames (benediction, unspecified)
closing benediction: do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself, do what it says, cited as New Living Translation
Keep this verseRecap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from Hebrews 5:11 through 6:3, the section the preacher described as a diagnosis and a remedy before the strongest warning in the New Testament arrives next week. Pastor Scott walked the congregation through what the writer of Hebrews says has gone wrong with his original readers, and what the path forward looks like. The two main points were the problem, dullness of hearing, and the response, pressing on to maturity.
What was said
The writer of Hebrews says he has much to say about Melchizedek but that it is hard to explain, and the reason he gives is not that the subject is too advanced. The reason is that his readers have become dull of hearing. Pastor Scott pointed out that the verb tense matters here: they were not always this way. Something changed. They had been sharp and attentive, and now they are sluggish, the word carrying the sense of blunt or lazy, like an axe that will not cut because it has not been kept sharp.
The sign of that dullness is that people who should have matured enough to teach others now need someone to go back and teach them the ABCs of the faith. Pastor Scott used the image of a child learning to read, starting with the alphabet, moving to words, then sentences, then complex thought. The readers of Hebrews have reversed that process. They have gone from solid food back to milk, and the writer of Hebrews treats that as an abnormal condition, the kind that signals something is wrong, not a normal plateau in growth.
What they are rejecting, according to the text, is described as the word of righteousness. Pastor Scott tied this to the context of the letter: these were Jewish believers who were being tempted to drift back into the religious system they came from. Legalism feels safer because it is familiar and measurable. But the writer of Hebrews sees them trading the real thing for a shadow of it, the same move that would have been wrong for Abraham if he had refused to leave the land he knew when God called him forward.
The remedy in verses 6:1 through 6:3 is not to keep laying the same foundation over and over. Repentance from dead works, faith toward God, washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment: those are the elementary things, and the congregation already has them. Pastor Scott was clear that none of those foundations are wrong, but arguing endlessly over the mechanics of how a church does those things is one of the things that pulls people apart from each other, and isolation from the community of believers is exactly the condition Hebrews has already warned against.
The call is to press on to maturity, but Pastor Scott noted that the verb construction is passive. The movement forward is not something a believer generates by willpower alone. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, and the believer's part is to stay open and submitted to that work, the same submission Jesus himself modeled constantly. The section closes with a phrase that sounds like James: "this we will do, if God permits." Plans to grow, stated confidently on your own authority, miss the point. The posture is willingness, not self-sufficiency.
Pastor Scott closed by telling the congregation to read ahead in Hebrews 6 before next week. The warning coming in verses 4 through 8 is the strongest in the New Testament, and he did not want to hand anyone a conclusion before they had wrestled with the text themselves. He also did not want to leave the warning sitting alone without the encouragement that follows it in verses 9 through 20, so the plan is to cover both together next Sunday.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Andrew pointed out that the Hebrew Christians were being drawn back to what was familiar rather than pressing forward in Christ. When have you felt that pull toward spiritual comfort or familiarity instead of growth? What did that look like for you?
- The writer of Hebrews says the audience 'had become' dull of hearing, meaning something changed from how they once were. What do you think causes a person who was once sharp and attentive to God's word to drift into that kind of sluggishness?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,372 words
0:02
Speaker 1How are y'all this morning? Sounds like a pretty rowdy crowd actually. It was a mighty quiet bunch that first service. If you would stand, I'm going invite Scott to come forward and sing. We'll sing a few this morning to get things going there.
0:16
Sing em in from the vestibule. We're going to start off with blessed assurance. We're in Hebrews chapter six and we're going to sing blessed assurance. Would you all stand? Hymn number five seventy two.
0:26
If you want to find your part, it's hymn number five seventy two.
0:38
Speaker 2Blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine heir of salvation purchase of God born of his spirit washed in his blood this is my story this is my song raising my savior this is my story this is my song praising my savior this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long last perfect submission all is at rest I am my savior and blessed watching and waiting looking above filled with his goodness lost in his love this is my story this is my song praising my savior this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long.
2:41
Speaker 1Amen. Let's sing wonderful grace of Jesus. Now, if you know your part, please sing it, alright? This one is what I'm going ask you to look up. Three thirty eight and that's because the two guys that are up here are going to sing the guys parts and ladies, y'all have some heavy lifting to do on your own.
2:58
It's hard to get all the words up there on the screen when there is this much going on in the song. So, hymn number three thirty eight. I'll give you a second to find it. The wonderful grace of Jesus. It's fun.
3:10
If you if you get into it, it's fun.
3:16
Speaker 2Wonderful grace of Jesus greater than all my sin I'll shout my tongue describe it where shall its praise begin save to the uttermost chains have been torn us under giving me liberty for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus deeper than the mighty rolling sea higher than the mountains sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient grace for even me. Broader than the hope of my transgressions, greater far than all my sin and shame. Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus. Praise his name. Wonderful grace of Jesus reaching the most defile by its transforming power making him God's dear child purchase and peace at heaven for all eternity for the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
6:04
Wonderful, the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea, higher than the mountains sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient grace for even me. Broader than the scope of my transgressions, greater far than all the sin and shame oh magnify the precious name of Jesus praise his name
6:40
Speaker 1Wow. Amen. Amen. Thank you for joining in that little experiment. When you got two guys leading, we're singing the same part and y'all are y'all did a really, really good job of projecting out.
6:54
I could hear you. That's good. We have a few announcements here this morning. One of em is Monday nights at First B. Carl, what's
7:02
Speaker 2going on?
7:15
Speaker 1So doors open at six. Doors it's a soft start. It the doors are open before that. Come on when you can. But meal, music, and a message.
7:24
Beef stew is the meal. The music is gonna be great from the band. And then we have the message is from why encouragement matters. It's the fifth in a series on our words and using them well. At the same time as that down the hall, Monday nights, we have Awana happening starting out in this room.
7:46
The big game circle is back on the floor and we are pouring scripture into the minds of kids and if you want to volunteer, there's still space to volunteer. We had 56 show up first first Awana of the year was last Monday night. We had 56 kids show up. We had five five puggles. Puggles are the littlest of our Awana crowd, two and three year olds, and they were here this past week, but 56 is a pretty good number to start out.
8:14
It usually grows and we could use more volunteers if you wanna be a part of sharing the word with a receptive audience. It's pretty fun. That's Awana. Cowboy Church is happening tonight. And so there's a horse whispering demonstration.
8:29
I don't know the exact order of the service exactly how it's going to go, but from five till about eight, they said, is how this will be. There is a meal and there is a silent auction and there is a horse whispering demonstration. Primarily, the demonstration is gonna be about how we deal with God and how God deals with us. Grant Gallaher is gonna be taking either a mustang horse that's never been broken before or a troubled horse that maybe has but has difficulty. I don't know exactly how it's gonna go, but it should be really, really good.
9:04
Barjay said they're taking the night off tonight to go see it. So, alright. Yeah. So, Cowboy Church is happening. It's a horse whispering demonstration 05:00 tonight.
9:15
It is tonight and the youth group usually meets at 05:00 here. They're going to meet earlier than that so they can ride out. It takes about forty minutes. Do y'all know where it is? The Diamond Cross Ranch.
9:25
It is beyond like if you're going up like you're going to go to the park passing the Moose entrance, passing the Moran entrance, keep going like you're gonna go up Togarty Pass, in between that north entrance and what we call Buffalo Valley, the Diamond Cross Ranch. It's just before you get to the first gas station on the right. Are you with me? There's there's a card out there with the actual address. Use your phone just like you do everything else.
9:49
Alright? Alright. So that's the Diamond Cross Ranch. It's just past the Fates Ranch. There's a big red barn on the left hand side.
9:57
Tanya is going to Kenya this week. That Kenyan flag is to remind me that she is going. Thank you all so much for the support. We, I think we are fully funded on that but we want to make sure that y'all know she's gone and praying and some of y'all have called me and asked how Tanya's doing because you thought she was already in Africa But she's leaving Tuesday about 01:00 and she'll be gone for a couple of weeks to that. While I'm mentioning missions, Eugene Morningstar who plays with our band, he plays a lettower in the band in the first service.
10:28
He is leaving to go to YWAM, Youth with a Mission, Montana, like that and he'll be up there for a school of worship and Becky Grist, if y'all know her, Becky Grist is also going and they have been actively actively, actively serving for the last for Eugene. It's been seven years of playing in the band and doing anything anybody needs and he is dedicated servant and he's going up to see where God would send him in the world. Hopefully, before the end of too long, he'll be back in Greece or Ukraine where he went last year and Becky is open to where God would send. Youth with Mission is a great organization. So, I just mention that while we're going.
11:08
Community Bible study, actual CBS Community Bible study is happen here at First B. It starts September twenty fifth and twenty sixth. That is coming up. It's just a week and a half away. There are books and they are available but we'll let you know how to do that.
11:24
They're going be studying Galatians together. It's a coed group. It can be morning on Wednesday, nine to 11:30 or Thursday in the evening, six to eight, whichever one of those works for you. That's community Bible study. There's a girls Bible study and this is the time of year where we start all the Bible studies.
11:39
I wanna announce these every single week but I want you to know what's available before they get here. September 18 through November 20, so that's starting this Wednesday. They found that 04:00 works better than 03:30. So for girls eight to 13 years old, 04:00 at the whole grocer community room, Dancey, and a few other ladies are leading this for young ladies after school is over on Wednesdays, 04:00. There's also a junior high and high school girl study that started today downstairs.
12:08
Judy Wales is leading that for the junior high and high school girls, and that's during Peak Children's Church during the first service, so about 09:25 or so. Precept study is starting up has started back up or starting up starting this Thursday. Nine to 11:30, sharpen your pencils, sharpen your colored pencils, and come in and do an inductive Bible study on the second half of Acts, Paul's witness to Jesus's witness to the Gentiles through Paul. I mentioned youth group. It happens at five to seven on Sundays but since Cowboy Church is happening this week, the youth group had dibs on the church van and they're going to take as many as will fit in the van as many other cars as we need to go up to the Diamond Cross tonight.
12:50
So if you wanted to know where youth group is meeting, it's at the Diamond Cross Ranch for Cowboy Church. Connect hour still on between services. There's always coffee and there's always something good to eat down there in between services and I think, oh, there's one more. So, I don't have a slide for it but we started out about six years ago or so with an another Bible study that was a women's Bible study particularly. It was on Wednesdays for many years it met in this room right here on Wednesday but this one is now it's moved over for a while to the Presbyterian Church and it may move somewhere else next year but it's a true community gathering.
13:28
Deborah Buckingham is leading and Nancy Irwin is our contact here at First B if you want to know more about it. It's on from ten to twelve on Wednesdays at the Presbyterian Church. Okay. Any anything else I forgot? Okay.
13:45
Good. Well, would you all stand and greet one another and we will bring you back together with the next song.
13:54
Speaker 2When peace like cross and I praise the Lord praise the Lord my soul it is well with my soul it is well
16:35
Speaker 1Amen. The greatest thing in all my life is knowing, loving, and serving you.
18:32
Speaker 2I want to
18:49
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm going invite the frontline team to come forward and as we're singing that, the greatest thing is knowing you and then the next verses is loving you and the next verses is serving you and you might look at that and say, that's three different things but to know him is to love him and to love him is to serve him and that's the same thing. It really really is and I think Hebrews drives that point home in particular today what we're going to be seeing, I think it does and one more thing before we pray. Horatio Spafford who wrote It Is Well With My Soul.
19:19
Y'all know who that is. He had a very tragic circumstance where he lost his family. And after that, his knowing God and his loving God, he testified that he got to the place of serving him in a different way than he ever had ever before. He actually moved to Jerusalem and his house, if you're standing at the Garden Tomb, his house is right there and you can see his window from what the the Garden Tomb in Old City Jerusalem and he served the American colony is what they called and he took the rest of his life serving all of the different sects of religious religious people there but he did it in Christ name given a cup of cold water in Christ name and did so for the rest of his life. Lord God, we want to know you.
20:07
We want to love you and we want to serve you and lord, where we are questioning you or we are sluggish and holding back from you, would you show us who you are, lord? I, we want to be active participants. You say, you've given those who believe the right to become children of God. You say that we have the possibility of participating in the divine nature through your Holy Spirit empowerment, lord. I pray right now that we would place ourselves in these plates that we would place our lives.
20:36
I mentioned Eugene going with an eye to a call to see where you would send them and Becky, Christ, going where you would send, lord, given their all. I pray lord that we would take a portion of what you have given us. Place it in these plates. Lord, expectantly that you will do your will and your way through it. In Jesus name, lord, I pray that you'd move us to be carriers of the spel and that we'd send it out with others.
21:06
In Jesus name, lord, do your will this morning. Amen. Isn't he? This morning, we're up to in our chronological study. We've been going through this for a while now, right?
24:41
We did the life of Jesus in the book of John, the life of the early church in the book of Acts. Going forward in the order that they were written and we're up to Hebrews five eleven. We're going through six three. Now, six four starts the strongest warning in the whole New Testament. Probably, maybe the whole Bible but definitely the whole New Testament, strongest warning and this is kind of building up to that.
25:06
I'm going to ask you before I even get started today. If y'all would get ahead of me, last thing I said last week in the first service at least was please, please, please, read ahead. Read ahead in this text because this is something that y'all, all of us, but I've been reading ahead. Okay. I'll tell you, I've been reading ahead for a while.
25:25
All of us need to wrestle with this for our own good. We all need to wrestle with rather than let me wrestle with it and then tell you what I think. We all need to wrestle with especially the warning and encouragement that's coming. So, today, we're going to cover just two two points, diagnosis and remedy. The first three verses are going to be the diagnosis by the writer of Hebrews of the problem that they were facing.
25:49
His recipients' letter were facing and folks who had come out of Judaism, Steeped in first century Judaism but turn into Christ and seeing him as the fulfillment of all the messianic promises and prophecies and claims. Seeing that but then being tempted to go back in because of persecution, because of problems, because of doctrinal issues, it seems. Feeling drawn back into what they knew. It's always struck me as kind of unusual that God called Abraham and and this group of Jews always call back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham, Abraham, Abraham but when they were called away from that which they knew, a shadow of what was to come.
26:33
A type of this anti type that was coming. Jesus that's coming. All of this is pointing towards him and that the writer of Hebrews sees that they're being drawn back to what they knew. Now, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness and what did he believe him on? He said, Abraham, leave the land you go and go to a place I'll show you.
26:54
He was calling away from familiar that they knew into the new. Good old gospel way. Long time before but that's considered to be the proto Euangelion, the pre gospel. He said, leave that what you know, Abraham and go as I direct. We walk by faith not by sight.
27:12
Okay. Diagnosis and remedy. We'll get to the text here in just a second. That's five eleven through 14 and then six one through three. We start off this way.
27:23
Concerning him, we have much to say. Now, I gotta stop right there because we we did go last week. The last person that I mentioned was Melchizedek and then the very next verse says, concerning him, we have much to say but I want to read and ramp up to this from verse seven through 10 right here. In the days of his flesh, that's Jesus. He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one who's able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety although he was a son, he learned obedience from things which he suffered and haven't been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him.
28:08
That's key right there. He became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation. It really is about salvation. Yes, we are in peril until we trust in Christ. Being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of, oh, sorry, Melchizedek.
28:26
So, who is him? I led you down the Primrose path. Everybody argues about who him is right here. Some people want to capitalize the H and say it's Christ and so far, Jesus is better than. It's been this whole book, right?
28:46
The only reason that I think it maybe, probably, is Melchizedek is because this is a big parenthesis right here. It opens up right here into parenthesis, kind of a digression from Jesus is better than Jesus is better than. It it opens us up. We'll go into it in a minute but then when it closes it back off, it goes immediately back to Melchizedek. So, it's a parenthesis, kind of a digression and it's a strong one.
29:11
So, I said the warning, the real heavy warning is next week. I'm I'm not taking anything off of this week. It's pretty heavy too. Here we go. For concerning him, I think that's Melchizedek but people do argue over whether it's it could be Christ and it certainly could be.
29:24
You should have heard the first service. All of them said Jesus. Jesus. Because I'd highlighted he he he he all the way through. And that's the right answer in church most of time.
29:34
Sounds like a bunny rabbit but I know the answer is Jesus, right? Concerning him, I think it's milk is a day. We have much to say and he says, it's hard to explain since you've become dull of hearing for this is the diagnosis. The four is the diagnosis. We'll get to remedy.
29:51
Next week, we'll get to that strong warning and we'll get through that to the encouragement. I wanted to offer both because to give that warning without that following encouragement is is half the story. So that's what we're working towards. I'd really love it if you'd read up through chapter six next week. Six twenty I think is the last.
30:10
So diagnosis and remedy, here it is. Concerning him, I think that's Melchizedek, we have much to say and it's hard to explain Hard to explain in English is translating just one word. Kinda hard to explain but sorry. Do sermon do do sermon nurture. That's hard to say too.
30:32
Difficult to interpret, hard to be understood. Now, this is the only place in scripture where this word is used. It's the only one. Peter says that Paul sometimes is hard to understand but he doesn't use this word. It's a hypoxlagomena.
30:44
It's the only place it's choose. Difficult to interpret and hard to be understood. Now, that's odd. It's very odd that scripture would say that about scripture because all of the rest of the teaching of scripture says it is perspicuous. It's clear.
30:58
It's easy to understand. The way of the gospel is easy to understand. A child can understand it unless you understand like a child, you're not going to get it. But when this says it's hard to explain, you have to pause right there for a minute and say, why is this so hard to be understood or difficult to interpret? Well, the answer is the next line concerning him that we have much to say and it's hard to explain.
31:20
Why is it hard to explain? Because you have become dull of hearing and the emphasis of the verb there is you have become this. You were not this but now you are. That's hard. That's hard because it says that at some point, you were listening and you had a sharpness and acuity to your hearing but you have become dull of hearing.
31:42
So, something has changed and whatever it is that's changed has gotten you in a situation where it's hard to explain things to you. Actually, dull of hearing is even worse. I heard one translation from, what was yours? Holman Christian Standard Bible says that you have become lazy in heeding this or something like that. The too lazy to understand.
32:06
Whoo. That's what it says though. That is a good accurate translation of it. Nothros is the word. Blunt or dull like an axe can be Nothros.
32:15
Blunt or dull. Where it doesn't do what it needs to do because it's blunt or dull. And hence, spiritually sluggish, remiss, slack, or better yet just straight up lazy. That's what's changed. You're dull of hearing, there's a laziness to do it.
32:33
Now if you're y'all have young, y'all have kids, y'all have children, right? You have children and if you said to a child, alright, it's time for you to go clean up your room, they may or may not listen to that, right? It's time for you all to sit down and be quiet. There are lot of teachers in here right now. It's time for you all to listen, grab your pencils, get your paper out.
32:51
They may or may not hear that if you say, ice cream. Ice cream. Everybody hears ice cream, right? Everybody hears what they want to hear but dull of hearing is you're not listening to the word. Now, concerning him, we have much to say.
33:08
It's hard to explain. Since you've become dull of hearing, four, though by this time, y'all ought to be teachers. You have accepted the gospel. You've accepted the truth that Christ is the answer to all of these prophecies. He is the answer to all these questions.
33:23
You've accepted that and the normal path is to mature in that and to walk it out, submitting your will to God and seeing him sanctify you. That's the normal path but it says, the path you have become the path, something's interrupted this. 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. Oh, that's saying something's not right. Something is not right.
33:56
In fact, the ABCs is the way, rudimentary principles, it's the word for somebody needs to teach you your ABCs again. Now the normal course for a child when they're growing up, they hear their parents, they start to hear what's going on, they know the sounds. Usually before they start reading, we teach the alphabet so they can start to codify this in written language. Right? But we even have the different sounds that the letters make.
34:19
We make those sounds over and over. You learn that, but then you start getting into words. And then with words, you start to get into sentences and you get into paragraphs and then, you get to where you can convey very complex but you gotta know your ABCs, right? You gotta know that to begin with. The writer of Hebrews is saying to this audience that though you have had sufficient time to mature, you haven't matured.
34:44
In fact, you've gone backwards. Now, I'm from Georgia and I grew up Southern Baptist and so my backsliding is a word that I think in my head all the time but I think I've been here for seven years. I don't think I've ever used the word backslide before. I should though. I should.
34:59
The problem is, when you say backsliding, it's almost like that's a normal thing. It's not a normal thing. It's not a normal thing for you to accept the gospel and then not grow. That's not a normal thing. You should concentrate.
35:12
If you get the goodness of it to know you is to love you, to love you, is to serve you. If you get the goodness of it. You have need again for somebody to teach you the ABCs or the elementary principles of the oracles or word of God and you have come. Now, to say you have come, the tense of the verb there also agrees with this, you have become dull of hearing and you have come to need milk and not solid food. Now, now, when you've got kids, we have several little kids that have been born recently and several of em are are just on milk at this point.
35:43
Mama's milk but as they grow up, it would be very odd for them not to at some point eat solid food, right? Yeah, it'd be crazy not to. It's you progress and a little at a time, it goes to puree and then it goes to solid food. If somebody gets to the point where they have to go back to just milk, that's an unusual condition and it's brought on by some kind of a sickness. This is happening in this place right here.
36:09
You have come to need milk and not solid food. When solid food is presented, you reject it and you're going back and just living on the milk. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness and there's the difference. That's where it hangs. The elementary principles, he's going go into in just a minute.
36:30
The writer of Hebrews is going to go into that but for everyone who partakes only of milk and that will be described in a minute, the remedy. Is not accustomed to the word of righteousness. So, this is the difference. This is what has happened. This is what's being rejected.
36:45
It's the word about righteousness. We serve a righteous savior. He walked righteously, walked sinlessly, and when it comes to discipleship and walking a holy life out, this is the place where they just want to go back and do what we know. Does that make sense? Legalism is the temptation because I know how to do this.
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I don't have to walk it out in everyday situations around people. I just have to do this. I'm gonna concentrate on this. This is easier for me rather than leaving the land which you know and go into the place that I'll show you and walk in in righteousness as you go. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness.
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For he is an infant. You know, for an infant, they're not discerning with their diet, right? Mud goes in the mouth just like food goes in the mouth and spiritually speaking, I think we do that sometimes. We put mud in our mouth instead of food in our mouth. And already in Hebrews, we have been admonished to encourage one another, build each other up, encourage one another day by day more and more because we don't want to fall into the deceitfulness of sin.
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We don't want to put mud in our mouth, right? We want to just go for milk and then solid food and encourage one another with that walk of righteousness. Solid food, it says, is for the mature. Mature is as perfect as one can be at that point, okay? Mature an apple seed is mature and as it matures into an apple, yeah, but all along there's a pattern of growth and this is pointing to a normal pattern of growth where you would arrive at that but there's something wrong here because they're being told that they're infants and not mature.
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Solid food is for the mature and who are those mature? Those mature are those who because of practice. How you walk it out matters. How you walk out your faith in Christ matters. It's not just about salvation.
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It is also about the sanctifying walk. Those who because of practice have their senses trained and your senses do become drained if you'll walk it out. You will walk and couple weeks ago, I mentioned this. It said that the Old Testament system, the priestly system was good. This writer of Hebrews recognizes that there was some good in it.
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The good in it was that a good priest can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided. Do you ever feel ignorant and misguided? I'll raise both hands on that. Yeah. We need to be dealt with gently, ignorant, misguided.
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If you take a step and then you find that that was wrong and you didn't see it, you weren't convicted about it until you did it. You can know that you can go to Christ. God tells us. First John one nine tells us that if you're confessing your sins, God is faithful and just to be forgiven your sins and will cleanse you of all unrighteousness, cleansing you of all unrighteousness opens you up to the whole word of righteousness, right? To a holy life.
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It's starting with humility and recognizing our lack and then realizing that God can and does cleanse and make us righteous. He imputes it automatically at salvation. Yes, but he'll give it to us to walk out as we will submit our will to his will. Here we are still in the diagnosis here but solid food is for the mature who because of practice and it does take walking it out. It does take it and you're going to be walking it out with other people.
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We're to be together, encouraging one another day by day so that we don't fall into deceitfulness of sin and you'll see and you'll have your sense of praying to discern good and evil. It's a it's a narrow gate. It's a narrow path. It's great, the good old gospel way, but you can be too legalistic, and you can be licentious. I say not too legalist.
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You can be legalistic and you can be licentious. You can be on opposite ends of a spectrum, but right here in the middle is the cure for all of those. Legalism's cure is the gospel. Licentious behaviors cure is the gospel. It's not that legalist need to sin more and it's not that sinners need to be more legalistic.
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It's that we need to trust Christ. The elementary principles of Christ we're going go to in just a second. So, the diagnosis is that. You dull actually but therefore, I'll let the scripture say it instead of paraphrase. Therefore, what's the therefore therefore?
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It is because though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you have need again for somebody to teach your ABCs. You come to need milk and not solid food. That's wrong and that everybody knows that that's not the way things should go. Everyone who partakes only of milk is not a custom and the word of righteousness is what this is all about. We don't want to remain in infancy and we certainly don't want to have gotten to this place and then back off.
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That's what the warning is about. Next week, that's what the warning is going to be about. Haven't tasted and then turned back to this. It's wrong and backwards. Solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
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If you're recognizing truthfully what is good, Jesus is better than. Everything. This whole book says, Jesus is better than. If you're recognizing the good but sin is deceitful and when you start to get off track, it's really really easy, really easy to isolate yourself alone and get out of community of believers. That's what Hebrews says in chapter six and in chapter 10, it points to us sticking together in chapter three.
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It says, to encourage one another in the good and then, you don't have that problem of isolating, getting out of community. This also could be summarized right there. It's hard to explain because you're dull of hearing. It doesn't matter. Somebody gave me a shirt a while back.
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I didn't get this shirt. I didn't buy this shirt. Somebody gave me a t shirt. It was a Smart Alky t shirt from the Internet. And it says I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
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Glad they bought it. I didn't say that but that's it's hard to explain if people are dull of hearing. Hebrews two one has already covered this. For this reason, we must pay closer attention to what we have already heard so that we do not drift away from. Hebrews three, seven, and eight and then again in 15, he's quoting from a Psalm that says, today, if you hear his voice and it's talking about the Holy Spirit.
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Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear the voice of God directing you, pointing you to scripture, pointing you to do something whether it's forgive your mother, start a new ministry, offer yourself to help serve in the nursery, or Wanna, whatever it is, if today, you hear his voice, do not harden your heart like they did in the wilderness. Don't provoke it. Verse 15 says, today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. There is a certain striving that needs to happen. Don't be dull of hearing.
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Hey, if you hear his voice, listen to it. If you ignore the still small voice of God and you're taken in by the deceitfulness of sin, it becomes harder and harder and harder to hear what he's saying and then, you don't practice and you don't train yourself in what is and isn't good and evil. So, therefore, here we are. Last three verses. Therefore, the remedy, leaving the elementary teaching about Christ.
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Wait a second, we need to have gospel preaching. We absolutely do but the gospel is good not just for salvation but also for our sanctification. The argument from this first three verses right here, it's saying, you need to know your ABCs. Therefore, leaving behind the ABCs, get to what you know to be true. Get to more of what comes after this.
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Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, about the Christ. Knowing Jesus is not the same as knowing about Jesus. Knowing him is loving him and serving him. Obeying him the last chapter would say. Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, let us press on.
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Let us press on to maturity. The tense of the verb, I didn't clarify it on the next slide but the tense of the verb here is let us press on. It's let us go forward but it is a passive voice construction where it's saying that there's an outside influence that is going to be the one that moves us on. We have to open ourselves and be willing to do it but the Holy Spirit will do the work. Submit your will to his will as Jesus did constantly in submission to the spirit and God will keep you on the path going forward.
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Let us press on to what maturity because there is a condition right now that the writer of Hebrews has described where they are immature. Let us press on maturity. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. Repentance from dead works is absolutely essential part of accepting the gospel. You turn from your wicked way.
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Whether it's a legalistic way or a licentious way, you turn from your own sin towards God. You agree with him about your sin, confess it, and he cleanses you. Of that sin and says, when you place your faith in him, he will continually sanctify you. He will work on you and make you into what he wants you to be but we're not going to lay that foundation again. You got that?
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You understand that? That's a part of it. Yeah. Walk away from your sin and walk towards God. God will empower you to do that but we're not going to lay that foundation again.
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Instructions about washings. So, first century Judaism had all kinds of washings. You're supposed to wash your hands this way before you eat, you wash your hands this way before you worship, you wash your whole body this way before you do these things. It's not about Christian baptism. It's just about the different ways that we practice what it is.
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In fact, the laying on of hands. Some of y'all, we we do laying on hands for elders. We do it sometimes when we're sending missionaries off and and some churches, I say, we're going to lay hands on this brother right now and people in the back row are reaching out and for some of us, that's kind of odd but this passage is saying, it doesn't matter as much how you do this as that why you do this. Are you with me? I'm not going to go in to the elementary stuff about repentance and faith towards God.
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I'm not even talking about the washings or the laying on hands. How you do church to me doesn't matter. That's something that you can fight over. Man, once you start fighting over it, doesn't that just gripe you? We're supposed to encourage one another day by day so that we don't fall into the deceitfulness of sin but if we are at each other about how we do what we do, it really really starts to isolate us from each other.
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I'm not even going into resurrection of the dead. Yes, the dead will be resurrected. There will be those who resurrected to eternal life to spend eternity with God and there will be those who suffer eternal judgment. You got that? That's the elementary stuff of Christianity.
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Yes, salvation is necessary. It saves from damnation. That's the part of it too but you got that. The word of righteousness is what you're having struggle with that once you have tasted and seen that Jesus is good. Don't turn away from him.
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He is better than. He is better than. In fact, the last little verse right here and this we will do. It says, in the middle of this parenthesis and this we will do if God permits. That's the last part of the text today.
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If God, as God wills, it sounds like James. Don't brag about what you're going to do in the middle of this letter that the writer of Hebrews is writing. Going forward and going and I'm going to do this. I'm going to get back to this for sure. We're going to get to this.
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We, if God permits, as God wills. This sets up the warning. The warning is coming next week. It's forceful and strong and it's good and it's good for you. So, I'm going to ask you if you will read it.
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Go ahead and read it and it might be uncomfortable for you but it's good for you. I think that this is one of the places in the Bible where our preconceived theology will show itself and so some of you are going to want to do this to some of the verses and then the other half of you are going want to do this to the other half of the verses. Read the warning and read the encouragement in chapter six of Hebrews. It'll be four through eight and then nine through 12 at least but you can go to verse 20. I think that's what we're going to do next week.
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We'll close off the parenthesis and then we'll get to Melchizedek the following Sunday. So, that's a dot dot an ellipsis because we're building towards something. I don't want you to think it's just stopped. Hebrews more than any other book in the New Testament is every single line is connected to everything else in the whole book. It is so intricate and so beautiful and I want for y'all to experience it, so read it.
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And if you read it and you go, I didn't get anything out of that, read it again. Pay more attention to that which you've already heard so that you won't drift away from it. It is so good and my life has been enriched since we started this study just by paying attention to what it says and I want that for all of us. Maybe we could take turns. No, I'm just kidding.
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Just kidding. The preaching is something that I I absolutely love. Would y'all stand and I'm short this week, okay? I'm pointing it out. I'm seven minutes till the hour.
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So, that gives you seven minutes of time when you get home to read Hebrews. You can read it. You can read that passage several times in seven minutes. Would you, would you sing this out as a prayer to God right now? I pray that we would.
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All of us could. Where he leads me, I will follow.
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Speaker 2I can hear my savior calling I can hear my savior calling go with him with him all the way. I'll go with him through the judgment. I'll go with him through the judgment I'll go with him through the judgment him
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Speaker 1Let's stop right there. It does go on. He will give me grace and glory. That's ice cream. Alright?
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Yes, he will give you grace and glory. Will, is it true? I'll go with him. I can hear my savior call. I'm listening.
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I'm paying attention to what he says and I'll do it. Where he leads me, I'll follow. Is that true? Lord, would you concentrate our efforts and our mind this week? We know grace and glory is coming.
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We've got the eternal judgment. We've got the resurrection of the dead in mind. It's our blessed hope. That's great but lord, would you show us how to live it out here? May we live on this Earth not so heavenly minded that we're of no earthly good would show us how to know and love you in the way that we serve you.
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God, would you show us your way? I pray that we would all wake up this morning in the morning saying, lord, I long to do your will. Show me your way and I'll walk in. In Jesus name, lord, we ask a blessing on this gathered crowd. Amen.
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Amen. I also have a quick little one from James right here. Blake often picks out our benediction at the end and I love it and this is perfect for this message. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself. Do what it said.
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Do what it says. That's the New Living Translation. God bless us when we do. Amen.
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