Good morning, everyone. It's a blessing to be with you all this morning in the house of our great God and have this opportunity to gather around his table and around his word. You've heard it several times recently in time of invocation, praying for our suffering brothers and sisters around the world. It's just because it's the need that we have. We'll come across it later in Hebrew as I talk about pray for those that are suffering, pray for those that are in prison. That refers applicably to those believers who have been put in prison because of their faith. And so we want to be sure to remember those that are suffering because of Christ. And so as we gather, enjoying the ability to do so freely, peacefully, we want to continue to pray for our brothers and sisters who don't have that same blessing. Just a brief Update on the Walk for Life yesterday. There was a great turnout. It was a beautiful day to walk on the dam and have fellowship with one another. And the last I heard was the total was Caring for Women raised just under $64,000 for their ministry over the next year. And so all praise be to God as we continue in this battle for life, want to cultivate a culture of life, a sanctity of life from the moment of conception to the time of natural death. I don't think I need to remind you, but I'm going to say it anyway. The battle for truth is real. With a constant barrage of information that comes at us, all the different philosophies and worldviews that compete for our attention, statistics and surveys show that, unfortunately, far too few professing evangelicals are able to actually articulate a Christian worldview. a biblical worldview. They also reveal that far too few actually live according to a solid biblical worldview. For the way they make decisions and use their time and spend their money and go to day-to-day differs very little from those who make no pretension to claim the name of Christ. A recent survey of theological beliefs by Ligonier Ministries entitled, The State of Theology, shows that there is reason for concern. There's a great need for us to continue to emphasize the biblical truths to help inculcate a biblical way of thinking that overcomes, perhaps, patterns of thinking that we have developed. that we need to continue to build one another up in the faith and help each other understand the truths of God. I want to give a few examples from the surveys, and I want you to understand that the percentages that I give you are answers given by self-professing evangelicals. Statement number three says, God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 58% of self-confessing evangelicals agree with that statement, 40% strongly. Statement four asks the question, God learns and adapts to different circumstances. 48% of evangelicals agree with that statement, 31% strongly. Statement six says, Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God. 61% of evangelicals agreed, 48% strongly so. Statement nine, The Holy Spirit is a force, but is not a personal being. 55% agree. 34% strongly. Statement 12. Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature. 55% of evangelicals agree. 22% strongly so. Statement 15. Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God. 66% agree with that statement. An amazing 52% strongly so. Friends, these are nothing less than a complete surrender of biblical truth. Do we recognize them as such? Will we be able to give biblical responses to questions like this? How about some questions for us today? Do you know what justification by faith alone means? Can you explain it to others and explain why the Reformation had to happen and why the Reformation is still important? Could you articulate what the gospel is? What does Jesus demand of us? And is that a message that we share with others? Could you give the Ten Commandments in order and show their application for us today as a redeemed people? Could you explain why Jesus needs to be both God and man in order to save us and to be our perfect Redeemer? Would you know how many books are in the Bible and the time periods in which they were written and what was their main message? I ask these questions to stimulate us to think a little more seriously about what we believe and why we believe it. But it's also a direct response to the passage that we're going to be studying today. Hebrews chapter 5 verse 11 all the way to chapter 6 verse 3. The author is writing to a church struggling under persecution and mockery from the larger culture. They feel the pressure to leave the faith and to go back to the old ways of doing things. And so the author warns them not to pursue that path, and he'll do so by exposing their lack of understanding of the deep truths of God's Word. You know, we who have the privilege of having a copy of God's Word in our hands and are called to live holy and obedient and joyful lives, we do well to listen to what the author has for us this morning as we study this passage together. And with that as our introduction, I invite you to stand for the reading of our passage this morning, as I've said, from Hebrews 5, verse 11, to chapter six, verse three. And the inspired and truthful word of God says this. About this 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 need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. This is the word of God given to remind a people in the first century not to be lack in their understanding. May we receive it as a challenge, but also as a blessing today as we study together. Please be seated. And let us pray. Our God and our Father, as we Reflect. We've come to the table this morning. We've declared our God is great, and we want to behold him. We've talked about the wondrous grace, and we've prayed in song that you would speak, and we would hear. So, Lord, would you, through the power of your Holy Spirit, touch us Open our eyes to see and our ears to hear and our hearts to receive so that we would know that we have met with You this morning through the teaching of Your Word. Guide us in these moments, Father, because we need You. In Jesus' name, amen. As you turn in your sermon outline, as we prepare to take notes together, we get to our first major point this morning, which is the woe of immaturity. The woe of immaturity. He began an argument on the priesthood of Jesus Christ in the middle of chapter four, and he's gonna continue with this extended argument into the middle of chapter 10. And the last time we were together in Hebrews, he began the case of showing that Jesus is this great high priest, for he is the true son of God, a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. We've seen him that he's the ultimate son of David. So he's the king of kings. but he's also the ultimate high priest because he comes from a line that is greater than that of Aaron, than that of the tribe of Levi. And he's going to continue that argument that he's given a great beginning, and he has much more to say than he wants to say, but he discovers that there's a problem among his hearers, and that is he finds them lazy and listless. Lazy and listless. He begins by saying about this, about this great teaching of Melchizedek as the high priest and how he brings together the line of David and the line of Melchizedek in a way that's unique. He says, I have much to say about this, and it is hard to explain, since you've become dull of hearing. He says, I can't go on. I want to go deeper into things of God. And so he has to enter into a bit of a parenthesis, if you will, because of the problems of these first readers. And what was their problem? They had become dull of hearing. And the word behind this in the Greek, nathros, has several different meanings. It can mean lazy, sluggish, unresponsive, hard of hearing, not being moved by what one hears. In the athletic realm, it was used of one who was lazy and out of shape. In the realm of learning, it is one who is dull, sluggish, unresponsive. And he's worried because as the pastor of this first century church, he says their dullness has affected their ability and capacity to receive and apply good instruction in their lives. They're not able to hear the preaching of God's word. So like the prophets of the Old Testament, he has to jar them a little bit, he has to warn them of the dangerous situation that they're in. Perhaps he would have in mind a number of different prophetic warnings, of which we see an example in Ezekiel chapter 12. Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see but see not, who have ears to hear but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. He's already said to this church, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard. And now he's saying, I want to go deeper, but you're dull of hearing. Wow. What a statement. What a description. You know, communication is a multifaceted process. It's at least a two-way process. I've had to learn again and again over the years that whatever the role that I had, whether it was in campus ministry, whether it was in a Bible college, whether it was in a seminary, whether it was a teaching elder, communication I have to continue to work on, and I've appreciated over the years those teachers, those friends, those people who've come alongside me and offered some suggestions. I got a few a couple weeks ago that I found helpful. But as I read the author this morning, As he's talking to this church in the first century, I hear him asking the question, are you a good listener? Are you working at improving and being a good listener? He's pleading with his readers to have a better understanding of Jesus as the high priest, and that should be a subject that should stimulate them, that should move them out of their condition, but instead he says, you're dull of hearing. What a wake up call. So they want to take you deeper into the truths of God, but you're still in the shallow end with your floaties on. And the issue is suffering for the gospel. And the more we understand Christ, the better we understand who he is, the better we are equipped to handle trials and difficulties and challenges, but this author finds his readers not ready. And so he has to warn them, take heed. Don't commit the sins that our people committed in the past. He's worried that they're not paying attention. You know, one of the challenges that we have today is we're so easily distracted, easily led astray by the next beep of the phone, the noise from the neighbor, a dog that's barking at the wrong time, the advertisement we just saw, a little sleepy. But it can sometimes even get worse. We can get so used to hearing the things of God that after a while they seem boring to us. So many things battle for our attention. And as we looked at the survey in the beginning, many who claim the name of Christ have trouble expressing what they truly believe and why they believe it. This first century church had heard so much. They had been taught many things, but as they begin to face persecution, it's as if they haven't heard anything. They are poor listeners, the author says, and that worries him, because not only are they poor listeners, they are also poor learners, for they are stuck on the basics. In verse 12, he says, for by this time you ought to be teachers, and you need someone to teach you again the principles of the oracles of God. What a stinging indictment. He said, you've been taught these things again and again, but it seems as if you've not really heard. Instead of going deeper into the Christian life, they want to stay with the ABCs that you learn in Christianity 101. And so they're not paying attention to what they've heard, and they're not going deeper. And as Dr. Al Mohler reminds us, that scripture teaches us again and again that ignorance of God's word is a moral problem, not an intellectual one. So may the Lord give us ears to hear and eyes to see, as this author pleads with his audience to get right in their relationship with God through his holy word. He's exercising pastoral love, tough love. He says, don't settle for a simplistic face, which is different than a simple face. You need milk, he said, not solid food. And that's not a compliment. Living on milk is a sign that somehow growth has been slowed down. It's been arrested. It's not happening. And so we have a situation here in Hebrew similar to what Paul had to deal with in the church of Corinth, a church that he had planted. And yet five years later, he has to write to them and say, you're still acting like children. You need to grow up. You need to move forward. You need to become mature in your faith. You need to grow. Stop being plagued by all kinds of problems of the flesh and of the world. It's a tough word that this author gives us this morning. Do we feel the anguish of his heart as he's dealing with the people that are stuck in immaturity? Now, it's natural that children would want milk. That's what's expected from the beginning. But eventually, they cut teeth. Eventually, they're able to start taking more solid food. Growth is expected of a child. Well, growth is expected of believers. God is the one that gives the new birth. God is the one that brings new life. He gives the new orientation. He plants his spirit within us. And then he says, now let's grow, let's go, let's continue. Growth is expected in the Christian life. If we take any profession, a teacher, a plumber, a doctor, an architect, a highway patrolman, we expect to see them growing in their careers. not have the same level of knowledge and application and doing the same things 10, 20, 30, 40 years into their future and their career. Why is it then that so many evangelicals can't answer basic questions about what we're supposed to believe? Why do they pull back and feel like they have nothing to teach, they have nothing to give, like they just need to wait and, I'm not ready yet. The author says, you should be teachers, but you're stuck in the patterns of sin and rebellion Lack of fruit. You need to be taught again, which means they've heard it already. But do they really believe it? I think one of the problems we run into that we need to work hard to avoid is this idea that says, I don't need theology, I just need Jesus. But think about what theology is. It's just two words. Theos, logos. It's the study of God. So whenever we utter a sentence about Christ, about God, about sin, about the Bible, we're already engaging in theology. That means we're already theologians. So the question is, are we good or are we in need of improvement? I think a second error we need to work hard to avoid is that we just don't need to think about the deep things of God. But what could be more exciting than studying God? What could be more passionate than learning about who Jesus Christ is? What could be more wonderful than to recognize He's given us a book and He wants us to know it so that we know Him? You know, to use a simple illustration, those of us that are married, have been married for some time, do we love our spouses the more we know them? And the answer is obviously. The more experience we have with them, the more we know them, the more we learn about them, we love them all the more. How much more the God and Savior of our souls. The more we should learn about Him, the deeper we get into who He is, and His character, and His word, and His truth. We should love Him all the more. We should be growing. And so we hear this author just crying out to a people, saying, you're still stuck in infancy. And while milk is okay, for babies and children. It's a sign of maturity that we move on to the things that will really stir our souls. So they're stuck on the basics, and as a result, they're unable to handle God's word. He said, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. And it helps us to understand that though we have many aspects to our being, it must work together. You see, the heart cannot rejoice in what the mind does not understand. And so if we're to love God with our minds, which we are, and we love God with our hearts, then we need to be feeding our minds with the truths of God so that we understand Him all the more, and we know Him all the more, and that elicits all the more praise from our hearts. But if we're not growing in our minds and in our understanding, in what can our heart rejoice? We're called to go into the deeper things of the Word of God. The word of God should affect us head, heart, and hands. It should be a holistic response to the whole of God's word that should be stirring us and moving us to deeper holiness. But these believers were unskilled in the word of righteousness. The general theme of the gospel is that it's through being clothed in the righteousness of Christ that we're saved. It's that state of declaration where God sees us in Christ and says, you're not guilty, moreover, you're holy. And from that position of holiness and acceptance, we're now to move into our practice of applying and growing and becoming holy because our position is one of holy. We're saved by the righteousness of Christ, but that's just to get us moving forward so that we actually start growing and applying and living out and demonstrating the righteousness of Christ. Now, in the middle of the early second century, one of the early church fathers, Polycarp, was writing to a church. He used this exact same expression, unskilled in the word of righteousness, and what was he talking about? He was preparing the Christians of that day for persecution that they would face from the Roman Empire. That's exactly the situation we have here in the book of Hebrews. So we hear the author of Hebrews writing to these first century believers and saying, you're going to have persecution. You're going to face difficulty. So be clothed in Christ and stand firm in Christ so that you can grow and go in Christ and stand firm. And this issue is gonna come up again and again in the letter to the Hebrews because it's the theme of the book. Jesus is better, come what may. So keep going further in Jesus. In fact, as he moves through the book, He's gonna dedicate an entire chapter to those who persevered in faith, many times in the midst of persecution. We'll get to that as time allows in the future. But these first century believers were immature. They're not ready to really handle and to hear about the high priesthood of Jesus, though that is exactly what they need to hear about. When you think of how great your struggles and challenges and trials might be, what's the thing you need to hear? How great Jesus is. As we've already seen, how he helps you in all of your temptations because he knows them far deeper than we ever did. How he can help us in our struggles and trials because he has borne our burdens and he can set us free. And so we need to remember that this Christian walk with the Lord is a journey. And it has an ending point when we meet the Lord face to face. And so we need to be moving forward because there's no static or status quo in the Christian life. We're either moving forward and growing or we're starting to slide back into immaturity. And so we need to push forward and continue in our commitment. And by all means, let us never call the things of God boring. So how do we avoid that? Well, I've found just in my own ministries, I've worked with students and I've worked with people, if they start to see the things of God boring, it's usually because they're hiding sin in their heart somewhere. It's usually because they're walking in some level of disobedience. So are we reading the Word of God? Are we allowing the Word of God to get into us? Or are we stuck? We need to listen to the woe of immaturity, and we need to move forward to the blessing of maturity, the blessing of maturity. Verse 14 says, but solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Solid food, we're told, is for the mature, growing in their faith, living out in word and action what they have said. But take note, this is his warning. It's not the same as age. A person can be in faith a few years and growing greatly. Or a person can claim to be in faith for many years and not grow at all. Charles Spurgeon warns us, growth and grace does not run side by side with growth in years. Let us heed the warning. Let us keep moving on. Let us keep encouraging. How many times has the author up till now encouraged us Persevere. Encourage us to watch over. Encourage us to confess. So let's go ahead and do that. Because we want to be those who grow in maturity. We want to be those who are walking together. We want to be those who look to the Lord. We want to be those who truly are listening. And how do we do that? Well, the mature discern. Solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment. Discernment is the ability to see right from wrong because of clear principles of scripture. The word of God is so deeply in us that we're then able to act according to it and make right decisions and recognize what is right and wrong. If we go back to a profession, let's say a surgical doctor. Do you want a surgeon who has to stop at each step along the way to open his manual and figure out what's the next thing he has to do? No, you want that one that knows that manual so well and is so experienced that he just reacts to what he sees and he moves forward accordingly. What about us as believers? Should we have the Word of God so stirring in us that it becomes just the regular way we act as we discern right from wrong, as we see truth from light, as we recognize what is really going on, they discern. Secondly, they are disciplined. They are disciplined. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice. This phrase, constant practice, is better rendered as a state of condition. It's their actual state of being, actually what they are growing in. It's a pattern of life for them. They're growing in the Word of God that has just become part of their DNA and part of their behavior. So they're those that are growing, they're looking forward, they're looking outward, They're not continuing looking back. This is a sign of the one who has been touched by the Spirit of God, who's growing in the graces of God, who's growing in the Word of God. Again, we have an athletic term here. It's of the one who has been in the gym regularly and who's developed skills that have allowed him to excel in his craft. But, of course, we're not talking about an athletic craft here. We're talking about a life craft. We're talking about a pattern of life. The mature that are growing, they're so into the Word, they know what is true, and they know what to do. So they discern, they're disciplined, and they distinguish. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. And so we're to grow. This pastor, he's in agony as he writes to this first century church. He's saying, I want to see so much more. He wants to see what is reflected in Psalm 1 with the blessed man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight, look at that word delight, is in the law of the Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. As you know, in recent months, we have been on a search to see the man that God would set apart to come and be associate pastor with us. And one of the things we've emphasized is that we're a church that loves the Word of God. And we want a man who can handle the Word of God. And that's the responsibility of the church, that we teach well the Word of God, that we hear well the Word of God, that we live well the Word of God. While we see this church here in the first century, you have On the one hand, immaturity. You have maturity. What will be the author's response? And that is, well, move on to maturity. Move on to maturity. Now, in light of everything that has just been said, you're dull of hearing, you're listless, you don't apply the things of God, you need to be taught over and over again, you should be teachers, you should be advanced, and yet you're still on the practice squad. We might expect him at this point to say, okay, okay, Let's go back to the beginning one more time. We might expect him to say that. The great late Vince Lombardi was known to begin training practice every year by gathering the men around and saying, gentlemen, this is a football, starting from the beginning. We had the privilege of visiting Pebble Beach Golf Course a few weeks ago, just as a tourist, just watching. But Jack Nicklaus, who made that golf course famous, would begin every golf season by calling up his college, or his golf coach, and saying, teach me the game of golf. We might expect that's what the author's going to do here. Okay, all right, one more time. Let's go back to the beginning. But he doesn't. He's told them they're dull of hearing. He told them they should be advanced teachers. But he says, let's leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. He's given them a stern warning. He's trying to shake them up. He's trying to warn them a little bit. We're going to move beyond the basics now, he said. We're going to begin to teach the deeper things of the word of God. And as he does that, he says, let's get going. Let's get going. Not laying again a foundation. The author knows that once the foundation is laid, it's set, you don't lay another foundation, you build on it. You show progress, you show growth. Our minds should be stretched, our hearts should be expanded so that we can understand and apply and love the things of God. And so he's going to remind them, it's very subtle how he does it, he's going to remind them of what the foundations of the Christian faith are, even as he's saying we're gonna move forward. And so we see the things that he mentions here, in a sense, give the three phases of the Christian life. So we see the beginning of the Christian life, which is repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Repentance, it's a big word, it's an important word. It's a word that means to change our minds about the things of God, about sin. It's this gift of God that enables us to recognize our sin, to recognize the beauty of a Savior, to recognize our need to turn away from the way we're living, because the way before Christ that we were living is on this pathway that's leading us straight to destruction and our rebellion and sin and disobedience and hard-heartedness. But repentance is when we recognize that that is the wrong way, that is turning away from all those dead works that lead us to hell and turning and turning towards Christ. Repentance from dead works are those sinful things that just lead to death. And we see the word repentance, and we're reminded it was among the first words that Jesus uttered in his public ministry. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, the early church right after the generation of the apostles, didn't have Bibles to give out to everyone, so they had to put together instruction manuals to teach people the good theology of the faith, so they had a teaching manual called the Didache. It's the Greek word for teaching. And in one section there where they're talking about what we're to avoid, they give this list of sins that lead to death. And they list things that we would expect. Lusts, and adulteries, and malice, and arrogance, and fraud, and stubbornness, and filthy language, and on it goes, just like Paul says in Colossians chapter 3. But then they're reminded that the gospel sets us free from those things, and empowers us to live according to the ways of God, to do the works of God, by the power of God, for the glory of God, for the good of the people of God. But with repentance, on the other side of repentance, there is faith. They're of the same coin, different sides. They work together. If repentance is turning away from our way of living, faith is turning towards God in a trusting relationship that He will save all who come unto Him. And so that's why we turn to Christ and we cry out to Him. Say, have mercy on me and forgive me and give me eternal life. It's this relationship of trust whereby we walk with Him and we keep on walking with Him because though these happen at the beginning of the Christian life, they continue all throughout the Christian life. They're part of the ongoing Christian life because we all have things that we have to repent of every day. We wake up every day with the need to spend time with God and confessing our sins so that we get our heart back in right alignment with God. So we can recognize where we're starting to move away and we can move back and we repent, we confess our sins. That's just a daily practice because the more we realize who God is as we study his word, the more we realize how deeply sinful we are and how much we need a savior. And we have a Jesus who covers it all. We see this idea of ongoing repentance and faith mentioned many times. I'll just simply put one in from Mark. This is an ongoing action of repenting and believing in the gospel. And as the prophet Habakkuk says, and we'll come across this verse, the just shall live by faith. So this is the beginning of the Christian life, this turning away from ourselves, away from our sin, away from the world, turning to Christ. But it is ongoing. But is that true of us? Are we growing in faith today? And what are the markers that show us that we are? Well, if he's showing what's beginning the Christian life, he talks about those things that we continue in the Christian life. He says it has instructions of washings, the laying on of hands. Initially, this would refer to all the ceremonial washings that the Jews would perform as an idea to try to cleanse from sin. But the writer of Hebrews would tell us it's not these external ceremonial washings that will cleanse the conscience from sin. That is something that comes about by the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from guilt and sin the soul. It's as we repent and we believe in Christ that we experience this ongoing refreshing and cleansing That's why we confess our sins, because He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, this ongoing application of the gospel truths in our lives. And I love this because He didn't put it in His Word, but I think we can hear in the background, again, quoting from Ezekiel, the promise of the new covenant. I will sprinkle clean water on you. And you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. In the new covenant as we encounter Christ, we get a new heart. a new way of thinking, a new life. And now we want to obey God because He's so desirable and He's worth obeying. Of course, this is fulfilled in Christ, who is the living water, who gives the living water to all who come to Him and say, have mercy on me. And it continues to walk with Him. These are things that go on in the Christian life. Baptism may be referred to here, but only in the sense that it recognizes what has already happened to us in Christ. But then we have the finishing of the Christian life, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And that's our hope. On Friday evening, I had the privilege and blessing of doing something that unfortunately, however, has been far too common, and that is I performed another memorial service. And yet, there's the hope of the resurrection. We will all be resurrected one day. Some for eternal bliss, some for eternal condemnation. That's the clear teaching in the Old Testament. It's the clear confession of Jesus Christ, who says, I am the resurrection and the life. And the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, which is what every Sunday is, a celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. Because he rose from the dead, it is the promise that we also shall rise from the dead. And our hope as believers is that we long for that day. But there's the reality that all will face final judgment one day, final judgment given by Jesus, who scrutinizes every aspect of our lives with eternal consequences for all. So it's a good reminder for us to live today and every day that God gives us in light of that day. Now, the author knows that there's so much more that he wants to say about Melchizedek, but he's working him through this parenthesis, if you will. It's gonna take us till the end of chapter six, actually. But what does he say? He says, move beyond just the ABCs of Christianity 101. Move on towards maturity. And he says, we will move on, God willing. And this we will do if God permits. He doesn't go back and reteach the beginnings. He just says we're going to move on with persistence, with love, for he knows that all things happen only according to the will and good pleasure of God. He is the sovereign one. We're not. He is in control. We're not really in control. He is the ruler, and we are not. And so everything in our lives will happen as he permits. It is God who enables, it is God who strengthens, it is God who calls, it is God who commands that we grow in holiness. And so the author has taken some time to show us what those elementary things are, but what's missing? What's the very theme that he wants to get back to? And that's the superiority of Christ as the ultimate high priest. And he said, we will get to it. but he starts with a stern warning, and he starts with a word of admonition. You know, I began in our sermon today by pointing out some of the weaknesses of evangelical understanding of basic Christian doctrine. What are some suggestions I might bring? We just need to recognize that truth enters through the mind. Now, it should not stay there. That truth that enters through the mind should have an impact on our hearts, but it has to start with, we understand what truth is, we see what truth is. So Paul calls on the church in Rome to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. So there's a sense where God calls all of us to love Him with our minds, to love Him with our hearts, to love Him with our actions in an ever-growing manner. Learn a little more, go a little further, go a little deeper, but it starts with the mind. John MacArthur is right when he says, what controls your thoughts will control your behavior. It starts with getting the truth in your mind. And we're commanded to love God with our minds. which means then we need to be growing. So here, the challenge of the author of Hebrews, he says, I want to explain to you more things, but let us not be those who stop there. Say, yeah, the things of God are so great, they're so wonderful, let's keep on going. But I wanna ask a very practical question. I asked myself this question earlier this week as I was looking at this passage. I asked myself, do I know more about God than I did five years ago? But then I took one word out. Do I know God more than I did five years ago? Do you know God more? Not just about Him, not facts. Do you know Him more than you did before? Are you growing and going forward in the deeper things of life? When we were at this conference a week or so ago, I got to hear some words from Michael Kruger. I came across something else that he said. He's a very talented teacher on the East Coast. He said this, I come across so many people in the church who may be true believers, but the understanding they have of their faith is still at this simple level. They know that the gospel requires repentance and faith. They've joined the church. They've been baptized. They're looking forward to the second coming of Christ. But that's where it stops. He goes on and says, of course, those are great truths. But there is so much more to learn. There is so much more growth possible. There are great meals yet to enjoy. Don't be satisfied with milk when you could be enjoying a wonderful steak dinner. Do we know God? more than we did a year ago, five years ago, 10 years ago. Is it our goal to know him more in this upcoming year? I think as the writer of Hebrews was writing this passage, he certainly was steeped in the teachings of Jesus. But what did Jesus say about hearing the word of God and applying it? Well, just read briefly from Matthew 7. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." Are we the ones that are growing in our faith today? Next week, the author is going to continue in this same argument, stirring this church to move on to maturity. But I hope this week we'll take some time to reflect on what we've seen in our passage today, and maybe have some questions to guide us, or points of application. Because we are all prone to dullness of hearing, we will confess our sins daily and ask for His help in understanding truth. We're needy. We need the Spirit of God to be working in us every day. We need the Word of God to touch us every day. We need to be in the Word of God every day. Because we grow mainly by studying His Word, we ask Him to make us hungry and thirsty for His truth. Has your time with the Lord grown a little stale? The first step is confess it to Him, admit it, and then say, help me, refresh my heart, refresh my mind. Because we are called to maturity and growing is hard work, we ask for strength to persevere in doing right. It is this daily walk with Christ where we just lean into Him and lean upon Him, and we work hard to grow in holiness. And then, we're not to be sponges. We just absorb. No, we're to share what we have learned with others, so we will teach others what we are learning in the Word. What a privilege, then, to be able to share with others what God is showing us in His Word. This is a hard word from the Lord, And yet there is grace because as he opens our eyes and as he gets our attention, he's also bidding us come, come to me. Let's have fellowship together. Let's deal with the issues. Let's keep on moving forward. Let us pray. Father, it is certainly in moments like this where the words of Paul echo in my ears, who is worthy of these things? And I'm so thankful for the gospel that it is Jesus Christ who qualifies us to serve him. And so thank you for that that comes from Christ alone. Thank you for that hope that is found in him alone. the joy and the privilege we have of having your word so accessible. So, Father, this week, would you burn in our hearts just the need to grow in our listening? Oh, Lord, where there is dullness of hearing, would you grant repentance? And where there is despair, would you bring hope? And where there is confusion, would you bring wisdom and clarity? But in all things, Father, continue to point us to the beauty of Christ, that in Christ we will see that He alone is able to meet all of our needs, and may we continually turn to Him. And so to that end we plea, as we pray in Jesus' name, amen.