Hebrews 6A (2014) This morning we examine what is easily the most controversial and often debated warning in the book of Hebrews the third warning

Transcription

1 Hebrews 6A (2014) This mrning we examine what is easily the mst cntrversial and ften debated warning in the bk f Hebrews the third warning The heart f the warning is fund in chapter 6, but the issue cncerning the writer begins at the end f chapter 5, where we start tday As yu remember, the writer was explaining the High Priesthd f Christ And he was abut t explain hw Christ inherited a priestly rder that is greater than the Aarnic priesthd, the ne given thrugh the Law f Mses Christ s priesthd is the rder f Melchizedek But then the writer paused in 5:11 t chastise the church fr nt having the spiritual maturity t handle the discussin f Melchizedek His cmment reminds me f the famus line spken by Jack Nicklesn in the mvie A Few Gd Men Yu want the truth? Yu can t handle the truth! The writer is wrried his audience can t handle this truth And yet they need this truth, because it will guard them frm cmmitting mistakes that injure their walk with Christ S as pick up again tday, we will fllw the writer s cncerns fr his audience and eventually enter int the warning itself As I said, the warning generates a lt f disagreement amng thelgians and rdinary Christians But that desn t mean it s impssible r even that difficult t arrive at a crrect understanding f the writer s meaning After all, the Lrd didn t authr scripture t cnfuse us S if we remain cnfused, it s nly because ur biblical schlarship is lacking in sme way And I think yu re ging t see that the key t understanding this warning is a familiar refrain: cntext, cntext, cntext 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 Hebrews 6A (2014) 2 f 12 Let s start up again in v.11 and read thrugh the end f the chapter Heb. 5:11 Cncerning him we have much t say, and it is hard t explain, since yu have becme dull f hearing. Heb. 5:12 Fr thugh by this time yu ught t be teachers, yu have need again fr smene t teach yu the elementary principles f the racles f Gd, and yu have cme t need milk and nt slid fd. Heb. 5:13 Fr everyne wh partakes nly f milk is nt accustmed t the wrd f righteusness, fr he is an infant. Heb. 5:14 But slid fd is fr the mature, wh because f practice have their senses trained t discern gd and evil. Cncerning Melchizedek, the writer says we have much t say and it s hard t explain But as we learned last week, the phrase hard t explain in Greek literally means t susceptible t misinterpretatin He knws his audience is likely t misunderstand the truth f Melchizedek because they aren t prepared fr the cmplexity f the discussin S it s that writer is incapable f explaining the truth It s that his audience may nt be prepared t understand it He says they are dull f hearing, which means lazy at being taught the scriptures Listening implies instructin They weren t paying attentin t the instructin f thse sent by the Spirit t educate them n the scriptures They weren t merely lazy at listening t the subject f Melchizedek They were lazy at listening t Gd s wrd in general The issue is their dedicatin t biblical schlarship S having thrwn dwn his gauntlet f an accusatin, the writer ges frward n his tangent t explain what he sees wrng with this church s practices This side bar takes us thrugh the entirety f chapter Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 Hebrews 6A (2014) 3 f 12 Only when we get t chapter 7 des the writer start back up in his discussin f Melchizedek S let s mve int the reasns fr his cncern in this church In v.12 the writer says these believers ught t be teachers by nw When he says by nw he means by this pint in their walk as Christians These churches had been perating fr a decade at least by this pint That s plenty f time t develp spiritual maturity and grw in knwledge f Christian dctrine They can t say they haven t use the excuse f time in explaining why they haven t learned these things yet When he says they ught t be teachers, the writer isn t suggesting that the entire church bdy shuld be engaged in teaching necessarily He means individually that they shuld be able t teach Obviusly, if smene is capable f teaching thers prperly, then it s a sign they ve becme a gd student themselves Additinally, he means that the church bdy cllectively shuld have matured t the pint they culd be a surce f edificatin t thers Instead, they were still dependent n thers instructin rather than being a surce f blessing t thers in need It s bvius this writer expected the church t mature t this pint Every member f any church bdy is expected t embark n a jurney f spiritual maturity Simply put, spiritual maturity is nt an ptinal pursuit, it s ur call and missin And maturity demands becming knwledgeable abut the Bible, including understanding even the mst difficult passages and cncepts We aren t t shy away frm dctrine 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 Hebrews 6A (2014) 4 f 12 Instead, we embrace cnversatins abut sterilgy, eschatlgy, ecclesilgy, phenmenlgy, and the like And if sme f thse wrds are freign t yur ears, then make yur gal t learn these cncepts frm scripture But this writer is clearly unhappy that the church hasn t been actively engaged in this walk Instead, they have becme lazy, starting with a disinterest in learning the Bible It shuld wrry us that s many churches in ur wn day have abandned serius study f the scriptures We re at risk f raising entire generatins f biblically ignrant Christians And this can nly lead t bad things fr the bdy In the secnd half f v.12 and v.13 the writer explains the cnsequence f failing t pursue spiritual maturity He says the lazy Christians nt nly didn t mature, but they are nw regressing in their understanding They need re-educatin They need smene t cme back and re-teach them the basic truths f the Christian faith He refers t the elementary principles f the racles f Gd The Greek wrd fr elementary principles is stichein, which literally describes the letters f the alphabet lined up in a rw And the phrase racles f Gd simply means the wrds f Gd In ther wrds, he s tld them that they need t relearn their ABCs f the Bible Yu can t get mre elementary than that! He s says they ve cme t need milk instead f slid fd Obviusly, when he speaks f milk and slid fd he s nt giving the church dietary advice 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 Hebrews 6A (2014) 5 f 12 He s using these terms as metaphrs fr the kind f Bible material this church can safely cnsume D yu remember in ur 1Crinthians study in chapter 3 we heard Paul saying smething almst identical t that church 1Cr. 3:1 And I, brethren, culd nt speak t yu as t spiritual men, but as t men f flesh, as t infants in Christ. 1Cr. 3:2 I gave yu milk t drink, nt slid fd; fr yu were nt yet able t receive it. Indeed, even nw yu are nt yet able, Bth the writer t Hebrews and Paul are using similar language fr similar purpses They re bth explaining hw the Spirit walks every Christian thrugh a building blck prcess f learning When we re new in the faith, everything is new and the Bible is freign t us We dn t knw where t start r even why we shuld study the Bible S the Spirit first intrduces us t simple, cre cncepts f faith We learn abut the Lrd, His cmmands, His life and death and the meaning f thse things We learn abut the need t put away sin, t lve ne anther, t wait fr the Lrd s return We begin t rethink what we believe abut the beginning f Creatin And ur attentin begins t lk ut int eternity, t the Kingdm, t the things Christ prmised t us Each step f understanding leads t the next, and all these steps are infrmed by a cnsistent study f the Bible These early steps f learning are cmpared t the milk that infants need Infants can t digest mre cmplex fd They can nly handle a mther s milk 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 Hebrews 6A (2014) 6 f 12 But that milk is the perfect fd, and as it strengthens the baby, it grws That grwth eventually allws the child t be weaned f the milk and turn t slid fd But what if the child persists n milk fr t lng? They dn t grw after a certain pint In fact, they regress They grw weaker, malnurished, anemic That s the writers cncern fr this church Instead f using their knwledge f the ABCs f the Bible as building blcks t pursue mre challenging cncepts, they became lazy They stpped maturing They gt the basics, and cnsidered that enugh That s like a tddler refusing slid fd and remaining cntent fr milk alne These Christians were nt regressing and needed t relearn their ABCs There s real danger in nt making it ur gal t be a life-lng, diligent student f the Bible We may think we have enugh knwledge tday And perhaps we d cnsidering where we are in ur walk with the Lrd But what abut tmrrw? What circumstances will we face? What false dctrines will we encunter? What crises f faith must we be prepared fr? The writer is telling us that if we dn t cntinue mving n t greater things, we re in danger f lsing what we have Whatever we have learned is n lnger enugh t guide us in a manner pleasing t the Lrd Because ur flesh and the enemy never stps trying t take us astray 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 Hebrews 6A (2014) 7 f 12 Like the ld stry ges, whichever dg we feed gets strnger S if we re nt feeding ur spirit with slid fd, then we shuld expect t regress as ur flesh and the enemy gains a strnger fthld in ur lives And the end f v.14, the writer shares the reward f seeking spiritual maturity Spiritual maturity gives us the ability t discern gd frm evil Knwing hw t recgnize the schemes and temptatins f the enemy is the fruit f spiritual maturity Cnversely, spiritual immaturity leaves us vulnerable t evil things If we can spt evil, then we can steer clear f the cnsequences f engaging in evil But if we lack that ability, then it s nly a matter f time befre we stumble and make an alliance with evil Maybe we give int t ur lust, anger, fear r greed Maybe we succumb t a false teaching r practice in the church Maybe we ffend ur Lrd with cunterfeit r idlatrus wrship Maybe we fall int ccultic influences Whatever that evil may be, there are always cnsequences fr playing with fire We ll see thse cnsequences here in the frm f brken relatinships, strife, suffering, emtinal trauma and regret And we re putting ur eternal rewards at risk S we shuld seek fr spiritual maturity, but securing that maturity is a matter f practice and training the writer says Yu and I can t expect t simply becme mature as a functin f ur physical age r even the number f years since we ve been brn again It s nt a matter r senirity r tenure It s a functin f practice and training 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 Hebrews 6A (2014) 8 f 12 Practice refers t the regular exercise f spiritual disciplines, principally studying Gd s wrd, prayer, wrship, service and fellwship And may I suggest that these disciplines shuld largely fllw in that rder Our first pririty is t learn all that the Lrd has prvided t us in His wrd It s been given t us fr a reasn And until we ve exhausted all that it ffers, there is little reasn t seek ur answers elsewhere That s the chief cmplaint this writer has against this audience The secnd pririty is prayer Fllwed by crprate wrship, service t the bdy and lastly fellwship S ften I find Christian pririties are almst exactly ppsite f this list, assuming they even have everything n this list Christians lve fellwship, and wh wuldn t? But we ll fellwship fr hurs, but we wn t spend mre than a few minutes each week in study, prayer r wrship That is nt a recipe fr spiritual maturity And therefre, it s nt a recipe fr aviding evil in ur lives S if we re stuck in an immaturity rut, where d we g next? The writer begins his exhrtatin in chapter 6 Heb. 6:1 Therefre leaving the elementary teaching abut the Christ, let us press n t maturity, nt laying again a fundatin f repentance frm dead wrks and f faith tward Gd, Heb. 6:2 f instructin abut washings and laying n f hands, and the resurrectin f the dead and eternal judgment. First, the writer says we have t be wiling t leave the elementary teaching behind 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 Hebrews 6A (2014) 9 f 12 The Greek wrd fr elementary here is different than the ne used in chapter 5:12 This wrd here means the beginning f smething In ther wrds, the writer means leaving behind the beginning things we learned abut Christ Thse are the things ever Christian learns r shuld learn at the utset f their walk f faith We learn these things as a fundatin that we can build upn in years t cme They re essential but they re just the beginning S what kind f things are we talking abut? What cnstitutes the elementary things abut Christ? The writer gives us six things that he categrizes as the basics, the beginning f ur Christian educatin The first teaching in this fundatin is the teaching f repentance frm dead wrks The first thing we must learn as a Christian is that wrks dn t save us Even after a Christian has heard the Gspel and been saved by faith, it s entirely pssible fr that persn t cntinue thinking wrks play a rle in btaining righteusness Paul wrte the letter t the Rmans in part t put an end t that kind f thinking It s natural t think we give Gd an assist in ur salvatin, but scripture stands ready t crrect that thinking S bviusly this is a fundatinal teaching Next, the writer says let s leave behind teaching n faith tward Gd He s speaking f teaching f salvatin by grace alne thrugh faith alne in Christ alne The writer isn t diminishing the imprtance f that truth nr the necessity f understanding it 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 Hebrews 6A (2014) 10 f 12 He s simply saying nce we understand it, let s mve n Leave it behind in the sense that we use it as a building blck t reach mre challenging truths Thirdly, we are t leave behind instructins abut washings The wrd washings is the wrd baptisms in Greek It can refer t a variety f ritual washings, but in this cntext it likely refers t teaching abut baptism Ntice he uses the wrd instructins which refers t Jesus teaching in Matthew 28 n being baptized Every Christian shuld be taught that water baptism is an essential requirement fr fllwing Jesus And nce that issue has been addressed, let s mve n Furthly, there were instructins n laying n f hands in the church This cncerns the aninting f the Hly Spirit fr varius gifts Every believer is granted gifts by the Hly Spirit, which ften accmpanied laying n f hands in the early church Teaching n the aninting f the Hly Spirit had been given by Paul in 1Crinthians, which had been written and circulated well befre this letter was written S every believer shuld understand the ministry f the Hly Spirit t gift us And knwing this, we mve n rather than treading ver well wrn grund Fifth, we shuld all mve n frm teaching n the resurrectin f the dead When the writer says the resurrectin f the dead, he s referring t the resurrectin day appinted fr the Church That day has cme t called a different name in the church tday We smetimes call it the Rapture It s the day that all Church saints will be raised int new bdies Our resurrectin, in ther wrds 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 Hebrews 6A (2014) 11 f 12 Isn t it interesting that this tpic still hlds s much fascinatin and even cntrversy in the church tday, yet the writer says this is simple stuff This is an elementary teaching we shuld understand early in ur walk And then we mve n frm it Yu begin t get a sense f just hw immature the bdy f Christ crprately is tday when yu cnsider that this is cnsidered an elementary teaching And it shuld be elementary, because it represents the hpe f ur faith The hpe f the Christian faith is the cnfidence that Christ s death cnquered death fr all f us S that death n lnger has pwer ver us When ur bdy finally returns t dust, we will simply get a new bdy We will never see spiritual death because Christ paid that price fr us Yet tday we still have s many brthers and sisters wh remain cnfused r ignrant abut this essential teaching Hw can they mve n frm smething they dn t yet understand? And then finally, we shuld leave behind teaching n eternal judgment Eternal judgment refers t eschatlgy in general, but especially t the reality f judgment fr bth the unbeliever and the believer Fr the unbeliever, we shuld knw and understand that there is an eternal place f punishment fr unbelief in Christ The place begins as Hell And it eventually gives way t the Lake f Fire But it is an eternal place f trment fr all wh reject Christ And there is n recvery 2014 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 Hebrews 6A (2014) 12 f 12 As elementary as this teaching is, yu can find sme within the church tday teaching either that Hell desn t exist r that unbelievers wh enter will be released at sme pint They maintain this despite clear scriptural teaching t the cntrary They ve substituted wishful thinking fr the cunsel f Gd s wrd Yet this writer says these are tugh things; they are elementary And we shuldn t be waisting time rehashing them...let s mve n In each f these six examples, we can find individuals, churches and even entire mvements r denminatins that are trying t redefine the meaning f these things They haven t mved n and matured as the writer says we all must seek t d Instead, they ve becme lazy in their hearing f scripture And s they ve cnsigned themselves t regressing int bad thinking, bad thelgy and ultimately bad behavir That was the writer s cncern fr the church in his day And we shuld share that cncern fr urselves, ur families and ur friends if we r they cntinue t neglect the wrd f Gd Pressing n t maturity is the central cncern f ur Christian lives, and there is a real and present danger fr anyne wh fails t mature in this way Ntice the next verse: Heb. 6:3 And this we will d, if Gd permits. Pressing n and maturing as a Christian is a matter f ur diligence and Gd s grace And s the questin cmes if we aren t diligent, what we Gd d with ur laziness? That s the subject f the writer s warning, which we study next time Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.