Hebrew 5:11-6:3
Introduction:
1. Last week we looked at God’s provisions for our steadfastness.
2. This week we are looking at a key responsibility He has given us to lay hold of those provisions and so stand fast.
Discussion:
I. The Charge (Hebrews 5:11)
A. The writer just related Christ’s high priesthood to the mysterious Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18ff).
B. It was prophesied that the Messiah’s priesthood would be on this order, not Aaron’s (Psalms 110:4).
C. In chapter 7, the writer will go ahead with his comparison, but first he had to wake their minds.
D. He does so in a rather biting fashion, saying they had grown “dull of hearing.”
E. He was not saying they were inept/incapable; much worse, he said they were lazy/slothful.
II. The Contrasts (5:12-14)
A. He illustrated the point with five comparisons of where they were versus where they should be.
1. Rather than teaching, they needed taught.
2. Rather than grasping deeper things, they were stuck in elementary (2 Peter 3:14-18).
3. Rather than taking in solid food, they were still dependent on milk (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
4. Rather than mature in Christ, they were still babes (Ephesians 4:15-16; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4).
5. Rather than being trained to discern good and evil, they were susceptible to Satan’s schemes (Ephesians 4:13-14; 6:11; Hebrews 3:13).
B. The writer is not out to insult them; he is out to shake them from their dangerous slumber (Romans 13:11; Ephesians 5:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Peter 5:8).
III. The Challenge
A. A crucial principle for loving rebuke comes out in this section and flows into the next.
B. It is easy to criticize what a person is doing wrong, but we must never leave it there.
C. With the critique must come the direction needed to make the corrections.
D. These Hebrew brethren were apparently content to stay frozen in the elementary things.
E. Having given them a firm shake, the writer leaves no question how they must fix the issue.
F. To avoid fatal apostasy, described in the next section (6:4-8), they had to get growing.
G. There is nothing wrong with infancy, elementary age, adolescence, or any other.
H. If one ages out of one of these stages but does not mature out of it, there is a problem.
I. It was time to move on to spiritual maturity, a task requiring deeper knowledge of the word.
Conclusion:
1. In part 2 of this discussion, we will look at the dire warning to those who refuse to press on to maturity, a threat to every Christian in every place and time.
2. If we are to avoid apostasy from the Lord, we must grow up into Him (Ephesians 4:15).
3. Otherwise, we will not be able to hold fast our confession to the end.